"And so"--Ricardo addressed Heyst with animation--"you mustn't be
surprised if--"
"I assure you," Heyst interrupted, "that my wonder at your arrival
in your boat here is so great that it leaves no room for minor
astonishments. But hadn't you better land?"
"That's the talk, sir!" Ricardo began to bustle about the boat, talking
all the time. Finding himself unable to "size up" this man, he was
inclined to credit him with extraordinary powers of penetration, which,
it seemed to him, would be favoured by silence. Also, he feared some
pointblank question. He had no ready-made story to tell. He and his
patron had put off considering that rather important detail too
long. For the last two days, the horrors of thirst, coming on them
unexpectedly, had prevented consultation. They had had to pull for
dear life. But the man on the wharf, were he in league with the devil
himself, would pay for all their sufferings, thought Ricardo with an
unholy joy.
Meantime, splashing in the water which covered the bottom-boards,
Ricardo congratulated himself aloud on the luggage being out of the way
of the wet. He had piled it up forward. He had roughly tied up Pedro's
head. Pedro had nothing to grumble about. On the contrary, he ought to
be mighty thankful to him, Ricardo, for being alive at all.
"Well, now, let me give you a leg up, sir," he said cheerily to
his motionless principal in the stern-sheets.
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