You don't think I would hang back, do you? His Chink, of
course, I'll shoot like a dog the moment I catch sight of him; but as
to that Mr. Blasted Heyst, the time isn't yet. My head's cooler just now
than yours. Let's go in again. Why, we are exposed here. Suppose he
took it into his head to let off a gun on us! He's an unaccountable,
'yporcritical skunk."
Allowing himself to be persuaded, Mr. Jones returned to his seclusion.
The secretary, however, remained on the veranda--for the purpose, he
said, of seeing whether that Chink wasn't sneaking around; in which
case he proposed to take a long shot at the galoot and chance the
consequences. His real reason was that he wanted to be alone, away from
the governor's deep-sunk eyes. He felt a sentimental desire to indulge
his fancies in solitude. A great change had come over Mr. Ricardo since
that morning. A whole side of him which from prudence, from necessity,
from loyalty, had been kept dormant, was aroused now, colouring
his thoughts and disturbing his mental poise by the vision of such
staggering consequences as, for instance, the possibility of an active
conflict with the governor. The appearance of the monstrous Pedro with
his news drew Ricardo out of a feeling of dreaminess wrapped up in a
sense of impending trouble. A woman? Yes, there was one; and it made all
the difference.
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