Dragon's blood

me. We must have a look in on him. Poor old Wutz, he's getting worse and worse. Chantel's right, I fancy: it's the native wife." He rose, wi

ntil this scare blows over, you'd better pos

" stammere

the other clapped

time, with something like enthusiasm. Next moment they had darkened ag

catchee good time.--What? No. Rot! I won't work, and you can't. That's all there is about that. Don't be an ass! Come along. We'll go out first and see Captain Kneebone." And when Rudolph, faithful to certain tradesmen snoring in Bremen, woul

ircular baskets, filled with tiny dough-balls. Makers of rice-wine, said Heywood; as he strode along explaining, he threw off his surly fit. The brilliant sunlight, the breeze sti

od's, and let them come aboard. Summoned by voluble scolding, her husband appeared, and placidly labored at the creaking sweep. They slipped down a river of bronze, between the oozy banks; and the war-junks, the

. Long afterward, Rudolph was to remember her, a wholesome, capable figure in faded blue, darting keen glances from her

ssing the latest lawsuit, which she describes as suing a flea and winning the bite. Her maiden name

er the copper surface of the roadstead, the sampan drew out handily. Ahead, a black, disreputable little steamer lay anchored, her name--two enormous

om the rail in a blue film of smoke. They tw

shouted Heywood. "

a ruddy little face, set in the green cir

n the rail, cigar in one fist, Tauchnitz volume in the other, he roared down over the side a passage of pros

-But he's took to writing plays, they tell me. Plays!" He scowled ferociously. "Fat lot o' good they are, for skippers, and

book fluttering into the sea

I've not finished her. My intention was

rescued the volum

e, captain," he called up. "C

without. Got two cases on board, myself--coolies. Stowed 'em topside, under the boats.--Co

ong, a hedge-priest run away to sea. Two tall Chinese boys scurried about with wicker chairs, with trays of bottles, ice, and cheroots,

Mrs. Forrester,"

listened with painful eagerness. But the c

thinking is, will that there Dacca babu at Koprah slip me t

obscure heroism or suicide, and fortunes made or lost; while the two boys, gentle, melancholy, gliding silent in bright blue robes, spread a white tablecloth, clamped it with shining brass, and laid the tiffin. Then the t

--He shook both fists aloft, triumphantly, as if they had been full of money. "Just ye wait. I've a tip from Calc

violently, to threaten the coast of Chi

roared, "that makes all t

and when at last he turned, sat l

a fortune in a lottery, and then Home! Illusions! And he's no fool, either. Good navigator. Decent old begg

k gradually into the heated blur above the plai

snarling, but mounted; and when Heywood's silver fell jingling into her palm, lighted his lantern and scuffed along, a churlish guide. At the head of the slimy stairs, Heywood rattled a ponderous gate in a wall, and sho

draw the largest in the station. A Portuguese nunnery, it was, built years ago. My boys are helping set it to rights; but if you don't mind, I'd like you to stay on at my beastly hu

the obscure garden and echoing house left a sense of magical ownership, sudden and fleeting, like riches in the Arabian Nights. The road, leaving on the

d begun to pass a few quiet, expectant shops, when a s

rds, Heywood do

ere's a lark--

him, like an actor in a mad scene, a sobbing ruffian, naked to the waist, convulsed with passion, brandished wild fists and ranted with incredible sounds. When breath failed, he staggered, gasping, and swept his au

. Heywood sprang to intervene, in the same instant that the disturber of trade swept his arm down in frenzy. Against his own body, hilt and fist thumped home, with the sound as of a f

ploring Heywood. The young man nodded. "Yes, yes," he repeated irrit

y. Behind them, a sudden voice called out two words which were c

before," he said qui

lunged into the crowd. The yellow men gave passage mechanically, but with low

Never called me 'Foreign Dog' befo

mpt or unconcern. The long, pale, oval face, the hard eyes gleaming with thought, had vanished at a glance. A tall, sligh

wo most dangerous men in the district, he's one." They had swung along briskly for several minutes, before he added: "The

d Rudolph, in du

"The padre. We must find

reless talk and of sunlight. And now this senseless picture blotted all else, and remained,--each outline sharper in memory, the smoky lamp brighter, the blow of the hilt louder, the smell of peanut oil more pungent. The