But the moment he saw me looking at him, he made an imperative2 little gesture, and—
"Tell th' Professor that other one, Casey," a husky voice commanded. "You know. Th' day we lost th' friend o' Sly's."
Thereupon the even, drawling, dryly humorous voice began to speak. This is what it said this time:
"An' then Terry says, 'You're too skinny to fight, an' you ain't big enough to kill, an' I wouldn't feel much lonesome if you was somewheres else. You're what I call superfalous.'" The voice dwelt on the magnificent polysyllable lovingly. "An' th' mayreen hobo, he lays his head down on th' table an' weeps some weeps into his glass. It was empty. It always was. 'That's th' wye it gaos with me,' he says. 'I can't never myke no friends. F'r twenty year I've been sylin' th' seas fr'm the North Paole to th' South, fr'm th' East Paole to th' West, chysin meridiums fr'm wyve to wyve, lookin' f'r a friend. But ev'rywhere I gaos—'
"'Hell,' says Terry, 'if you feel that bad about it, we'll have one more. Casey,' he says to me, 'is they an East Pole? It sounds reas'nable, some way.' An' then," the voice mused4 blissfully, "we had th' tamarin' cocktails5, an' then we went to ride with the accidental caraboo. That was a batty day."
"Ain't I never told you about that day?" Suddenly the voice was coy. "Oh, I don't dast to tell," it murmured. "Local 23 o' th' Christian7 Temp'rance union'll be gettin' after me f'r makin' it look like th' Army still drunk. I don't want to spread no false impressions. Ev'rybody knows that since th' vile8 canteen was took away, an' we was give a real chance to lead th' sinful life, there ain't one soldier in ten would even pass a saloon, willin'ly. No, sir," the voice remarked thoughtfully, "I don't reckon there's more'n one in twenty in th' whole Army would let a s'loon get by him, if he had to walk a mile out of his road.
"Who this superfalous man was," said the voice, "I don' know. An' where we was, I've been tryin' to find out ever since. We started in on beer, but we switched to th' tamarin' cocktails, an' we ended in th' Lord knows what. Don't you never drink a tamarin' cocktail6, 'nless you want Local 23 startin' a grand guard patrol across your trail.
"That day begun," the voice continued, "with a terrible painful talk me an' Terry had with th' Old Man. It was th' summer we laid in Maniller after th' Samar campaign, an' me an' Terry an' the Irishman named Schleimacher had that patriotic9 go with th' gu-gu theayter. That coincident shook the Old Man's faith in us way down to th' roots, an' f'r weeks afterwards he kep' us doin' double guard an' double kitchen police an' stunts10 like that till we was all wore out. So this mornin' we bucks12 up an' tells him we needs some more passes an' a day off.
"'H'm,' says the Old Man. 'If I done my duty by sersiety, you two'd never get out together, less'n one was in a submarine an' th' other in a b'loon, and then I'll bet,' he says, 'you'd manage to get your trails tangled14 some ways. H'm. Who am I to butt15 into the stars in their courses and get a sore head? I can't keep ye in quarters no longer; y'r luck at poker16 is causin' too many hard feelin's. An' I don't dass to let ye out sep'rate, f'r each of ye needs th' other one to bring him home. H'm.' He gives us th' passes an' then, just when we thought we was saved at last, he calls us back. 'How much money have ye got, anyway?' he asts.
"We hates to name th' size. Th' cards had run favorable since last pay-day.
"'That had ought to keep ye in fines f'r quite a spell,' he says, when we told him. 'H'm. Give it here. I'll help ye save it.'
"We hands over, an' he peels two skinny little bills off them nice fat rolls. 'I'll let ye have five apiece,' he says. 'That makes three dollars f'r chow, an' a dollar to hire carrermatters, an' ten beers apiece. Ten is all ye need. Y'r stummicks is only supposed to hold a pint17 and a half, anyhow,' he says. 'I'll send th' rest of th' money over to the Adjutant's safe, where you can get at it handy after summary court to-morrer. H'm.'
"Poor as we was, we'd a been glad to get away, but he stops us again. 'Won't ye be good this once?' he says. 'I can't make it out,' he says, sad-like, to th' ceilin'. 'Here's Maniller layin' open before them, with nice long walks stretchin' out all around her. All kinds of nice long hot walks beckonin' them out among th' rice-paddies. An' th' Luneta, where they could set and look at th' ships when they was tired, and kill muskeeters. An' th' Y.M.C.A. readin'-room. An' th' Lib'ry. H'm. Yet I'm mor'lly certain they'll pass all them things by on the off side, an' fetch up in some low groggery, debauchin' young Engineers and Marines an' shatterin' th' Gover'ment. Why can't my oldest soldiers ack decent?' he says, 'sos't I can take some pride in th'm?'
"'May I ex-plain to th' Captain, sir?' asts Terry. 'That theayter biznai was an axxident.'
"'An axxident!' says the Old Man. 'H'm. If you see any axxidents comin' along to-day, give them the road. They'll get into just one more axxident,' he says to th' ceilin', 'an' they'll break my heart an' then,' he says, 'there'll be something noticeable doin'. Something noticeable. H'm.'
"We seen that was no place for us, and we sneaks18 out like a pair of cats that had got caught in swimmin'. 'Did you see his eye?' I says, when we was safe outside. 'It's up to us to walk cracks to-day.'
"Terry just grunts19, and the silence didn't really get broken till we'd beat it down Real and was settin' on a bench in th' Luneta. Terry spoke20 first. 'Any man that figures up my stummick,' he says, 'at a quart and a half, has got another guess.'
"'That's a handsome Chink cattle-boat out by the end of the breakwater,' I says. 'Ain't she got graceful21 lines?'
"'Why,' asts Terry, scuffin' away at the gravel22 under the bench, 'didn't he give us a nickel and ast f'r the change? Whose money is that, anyway?'
"'That transport's a picture,' I says. 'If she was on'y a little closer, we could almost see the stripes round her smoke-stack.'
"'If,' says Terry, 'they was any way of makin' those dollars stretch, I'd paint a first coat of blood-color all over Maniller, just to show him what I could do. But he got th' bulge23 on us when he got th' cash.'
"'Get on to the ships,' says I. 'He'll ast us how they was lookin'.'
"All to once Terry begins smoothin' the gravel back with his toe. 'Casey,' he says, 'they will stretch! This is the day we walk on our feet and save two dollars carrermatter money. It ain't such a much, but—an' then,' he says, 'they's the chow money. I know a hash-fact'ry where we can get a plate of beans f'r a peseta y media, an' beans is fillin'. Y'r stummick don't hold but two quart and a half, anyhow, and you don't want to overload24 it. Come on,' he says, jumpin' up. 'Altogether there's about seventy-seven beers got by the Old Man. Come on! We must have lost a lot of time.'
"'As you were,' I says. 'If you take me f'r a low booze-fighter like yourself,' I says, 'you're much mistaken; and besides,' I says, 'did ye ever hear the Old Man talk like he did this mornin'?'
"'Onct,' says Terry.
"'An' you know what you got,' I says. 'It's up to you and me to roost high and pull up our feet, f'r if old Ma Trouble gets her claws into us this happy day, th' Old Man is plannin' to draw cards, too, and they're a bad pair to buck11. Sabe?'
"Terry seen I was right, an' that's the way we come to land down there on th' waterfront. Don't ast me where it was. We walked through about six gates in th' Walled City and come out on the river, an' took a canoe and landed somewhere way down on the other side. That's all I know. There was the place waitin' for us. Café of the 400 Flags, it says in Spanish over the door, and underneath25, in English, Sailor's Friendly.
"And it was a nice friendly sort of place. We was the only ones there, and after we'd got sat down in a corner by a window, we figured we'd fooled old Ma Trouble f'r once. There warn't anybody within a mile to lead us astray, an' we just aimed to set there an' look at th' boats on th' river till we'd had enough, and then go back to Barracks and surprise the Old Man, and make him ashamed of himself. But it warn't to be.
"We hadn't been settin' there more'n half an hour, when that A.O.H. sailorman Schleimacher from Cavite comes in the door, and th' sorrerful lad was right behind him. It was all off then, on'y we didn't know it.
"'Ahoy, amigos,' says Schleimacher. 'Well, well, well, if it ain't the two paytriots! Always sloppin' round in beer, ain't you? Don't go dilutin' your insides with that stuff. Here, you,' he yells to the Malay pirate behind the bar, 'fetch along th' thought-remover f'r th' Se?ors.'
"'W'isky?' asts th' pirate.
"'No, we ain't, dankum Himmle,' says Sly, an' th' sorrerful sailorman butts26 in, layin' his head down on th' table and cryin' like a child. 'Times ayn't what they ware27,' he says. 'Men don't drink like they used. Mytes, I remember a dye in Punt' Arenas28, off Tristan d'Acunha—'
"'Who's y'r friend, Sly?' I asts.
"'Damfino,' says Sly. 'He picked me up at th' Navy landin'. Said my clo'es smelt29 so salt it made his mouth water. Some lime-juicer on th' beach, I reckon. No, sir, dankum Himmle, there ain't no more canteen. When I think,' Sly says, 'of th' pay I've wasted aboard, f'r belly-wash, but now,' he says, 'you don't hit th' beach on'y after pay-days, an' then you've got th' money, an' you've got the thirst, an' Mine Gott!' he says, 'the load you can get on! No canteens in mine. Fill th'm up. They's one f'r you, Barnacles, if you can keep the tear-drops out of it.'
"The guy sat up straight enough, soon as a drink was mentioned, and we got a good look at him. Talk about y'r hoboes! That mayreener looked like he'd been trampin' it way down on th' bottom, and hadn't got around to shakin' himself and combin' the shells and seaweed out of his hair.
"'Well,' says Terry, when he'd took him in, 'he sure does look superfalous to me.'
"The guy mops up his drink, an' lays his head down on th' table again. 'That's th' wye it gaos,' he blatters. 'I can't never myke no friends, and so I gao chysin' meridiums over the angry wyves. I 'ad a friend onct, to Valparaiso, as smart a 'and as ever reefed a stuns'l—' he chokes up so bad he can't talk.
"'Good Lord, Sly,' says Terry, 'have we got to set around with that all day?'
"'Chuck him overboard if you want,' says Sly. 'He ain't mine. But let him stay, and I'll pay for his. I like a crowd around to kind of keep them movin'.'
"'I 'ad a shipmyte onct off Comorin,' bleats31 th' sorrerful lad, 'but 'e was lost, steppin' of th' bowsprit'—he chokes up.
"'Oh, well,' says Terry, 'if you feel that bad about losin' him, we'll have one more. We'll all pay f'r his rounds, Sly, if he's broke. On'y, he does look superfalous to me.'
"I reckon that wanderer must have felt near as bad as he looked! Seemed like he'd been pretty near everywhere once or twice, an' ev'ry place he remembered, something about it made him cry. We got ust to him after a while, and he just sat with his head among th' glasses, 'ceptin' when a drink come by.
"Long about noon we got to wonderin' what we'd better drink next. Th' thought-remover warn't workin' to suit Sly. 'Th' ferry goes at six,' he says, 'an' I ain't even got a start yet. Le's try an' find somethin' certain.' Then th' weeper looks up.
"'I can't 'ope to myke no friends,' he says, eyein' us mournful, 'but I can myke a tamarin' Cocktail. A little lydy down to Macassar learnt me. Mytes, w'en I think of that pore young girl an' the 'orrible wye I lost 'er—' it took two thought-removers to get him sos't he could tell th' pirate what bottles to bring f'r th' cocktail. They made a bunch. Th' sorrerful lad most looked happy when he saw them.
"'They ayn't no tamarin's,' he says, 'but that don't myke no differunce. Mytes, you'd ought to see th' tamarin's at Isle32 o' France! W'en I think I'll never see no tamarin's like them no more—' On'y th' bottles saved him. He took a swig out of the first one he touched. Right there th' Sorrers o' Satan lad begun to look fishy33 to me. Didn't seem like anybody'd need quite so many drinks to drown anything but a thirst. But I forgot all that when he gave me th' cocktail.
"'Stead of a kick it had a kind of a pull to it, that drink did, like a b'loon. 'Two more of them,' says Sly, settin' down his glass, 'an' th' Cavite ferry can go when it very well pleases. I can walk.'
"'If so be I 'ad a friend,' says th' mayreener, sort of proud at th' way we lapped them up, 'they's nothin' I'd love better'n to set all dye long mykin' tamarin' cocktails for 'im.' I reckon that was no lie. 'Mytes,' says he, 'w'en I think I'll never 'ave no real friend to myke th'm for—'
"'Brace34 up, Bo,' says Terry, like a father. Th' tamarin's had took holt that quick. 'Brace up, old sport. We're all friends o' your'n here. Ain't that so, boys?'
"'Is it, mytes?' says th' mayreener. 'Is it? Well, well, I never thought to 'ave three friends all to onct! W'en I think of all the 'undreds of shipmytes—I'll be mykin' up another, mytes.'
"So Barnacles, he got started makin' th'm, an' we got started drinkin' th'm. So did he. I never seen a drink ack like them. Didn't seem to have no real effeck, but things just moved away back where they belonged an' let you alone. And sympathetic! Say, if we could on'y manage to throw a few of them into Local 23, we'd get th' canteen back. They sure are a funny drink. 'Bout3 th' sixth, we couldn't do enough f'r that stranded35 mayreener. I'd forgot all about his seemin' fishy, and me an' Terry an' Sly hung round him like a bunch of old-maid aunts, givin' him drinks ev'ry time he remembered anything. He sure had a great mem'ry. 'Twarn't till th' middle of the afternoon it begun to show signs of givin' out. An' then he thinks he wants to have a look at Maniller—sos't he could remember that, I reckon.
"His legs wouldn't quite hold him. 'Mytes,' he says, 'me knees ayn't what they ware. W'en I remember them trips to Kerguelen's Land, down round San Fernando Fo—in them dyes no smarter 'and rove a dead-eye or 'auled a keel. But now—'
"'Give him an arm, Casey,' says Terry. 'Can't you see he ain't as young as us? Brace up, old sport, we'll look out f'r you.'
"So th' three of us steers36 th' sorrerful sailorman out onto th' muelle, an' there warn't a livin' soul on th' whole river front but just the accidental caraboo! He was standin' hitched38 to a cart, right where old Ma had left him.
"Th' mayreener breaks down when he sees that caraboo. 'A buffalao!' he blatters. 'I ayn't seen one of them since I was a gye young sheperd—fisherman, on me father's little farm in th' valleys—beaches o' Bengal! Mytes, lead me to th' buffalao.'
"'That ain't a buffalo39, sport,' says Terry. 'Buffalos has hair. That's a caraboo, an' you don't want no part of him. They ain't safe.'
"''E'll not 'urt me,' says th' mayreener. 'Aoh, th' buffalaos I've fed and watered with these 'ands in th' dear old dyes. Lead me to 'im, mytes.'
"We steers him over and he falls on that caraboo's neck and cries into his ear and blubbers some kind of talk to him: an' th' caraboo wriggles40 his ear an' waggles his little tail an' blubbers back. Them two understood each other! It knocked me flat. All my respec' f'r th' mayreener comes back.
"'Ay, mytes,' he bleats, 'it mykes me young again to talk with 'im. Put us up on th' cart, mytes.'
"'Ye can't drive him, sport?' says Terry, doubtful.
"'F'r years I done nothink else,' says th' mayreener. 'Aoh, the old, 'appy dyes! Put us up, mytes, an' pass us th' nose rope.'
"'If th' caraboo kills him,' says Terry, 'it'll on'y put th' pore old feller out of his mis'ry.' So we hists him up an' gives him th' nose rope, and there he set cross-legged like a nigger, jerkin' th' rope an' talkin' caraboo-talk, an' th' caraboo goes! Yes, sir, th' mayreener drives him up an' down like he'd been born there! I never seen no other white man that could do that.
"'Come aboard, mytes,' he says, pullin' up. 'We'll tyke a little turn about th' taown.'
"Seems like I heard old Ma Trouble scratchin' herself somewheres. 'You go along an' help Ma, Terry,' I says, 'an' I'll report the axxident to th' Old Man. When it comes to takin' a ride with a stolen caraboo an' a hayseed mayreener fr'm th' beaches of Bengal—-'
"'I knowed I couldn't 'ope to 'ave three friends,' says th' mayreener, doublin' up an' cryin' like a child. It didn't touch my heart, not hard, but Terry an' Sly was still full of tamarindy feelin's. 'Don't spoil th' pore old feller's fun,' they says. 'We'll bring th' caraboo back, so it ain't as if we stole him. He's just borrered.'
"So I clumb on and we starts, th' mayreener settin' an' jerkin' th' rope, and us hangin' our legs off th' back of th' wagon41. And by th' time we'd gone a ways, I begin to like it! It was somethin' new, an' then I reckon perhaps th' joltin' freshened up my tamarin's some. Anyhow, th' houses moved back and made room, an' th' people on th' sidewalks, givin' us a glad hand an' a merry ha-ha, sounded far-away an' soothin', and when we'd got up to Binondo bridge it seemed so natchral I wasn't even wonderin' any more why a copper42 didn't pinch us. I don't sabe that yet, but I reckon old Ma kep' them off till she got done with us.
"Yes, sir, that ride went fine, till we come to th' foot of the Escolta. You know what it's like at that time of day? Jam full! A line of rigs was standin' along each side of that narrer little old street, and inside of them two more lines was pokin' along, opposite ways, and in what was left of th' middle th' horse-cars was doin' rapid transit43. Didn't look like you could crowd a thin dog through that mess.
"'Here's where we turn round, sport,' says Terry, but it was no use. Th' mayreener whispers some messages down th' rope an' th' caraboo swings into th' car-tracks, and next minute there we was plowin' a road up the Escolta, and no way of backin' out till we hit the other end, half a mile away. I never felt so conspectuous in my life! Ev'rybody was lookin'. 'Tain't often they see three soldiers caraboo-drivin' up the Escolta, with old man McGinty at th' rope!
"We might have made it, I still think, if th' mayreener had stuck to th' job. He sure sabed caraboo. But he lays down on us. Yes, sir, right there he just curls up and goes sound asleep! 'My watch below, mytes,' he says. 'Relieve th' w'eel,' an' he topples over. Sly grabs th' rope.
"And away we went! Seems like th' caraboo knowed something green had took holt. He puts his nose down an' whoofs an' swings his head. First wipe th' tip of a horn catches a chicken-coop wagon, an' R-r-rip!—th' spokes44 is out of a wheel. He swings th' other way an' takes a piece of varnish45, with th' wood still on it, of a shiny new victorier. Sly gets mad at that!
"'Clear out of th' fairway, ye blinkety-blanked-blicked-zinked longshoreman,' he yells, hittin' th' caraboo a crack with the end of th' rope. Th' caraboo breaks into a gallop46, swingin' them horns like a scythe47, and ev'ry jump Sly hands him another. 'Stand by to repel48 boarders,' he sings out. 'Hit th' victorier guy in th' eye if he sets a foot on deck. Wheee-ee-e! Luff up, ahead there, you're off your course! Luff up! Well, take it, then.' Zing! Bing! One of our wheels—they was sawed solid off a log four foot through—hits a carrermatter an' tosses it onto another, and them two piles up some more. 'Whee-ee-ee!' Sly yells. 'Hold her as she is! Didn't carry away nothin' that trip, did we? Whee-ee-eee!'
"He lights in with th' rope and away we goes again, two ton of caraboo and two ton of wagon, both built low, at a dead gallop! Rigs was pilin' up all around us, an' horses was kickin' an' squealin', an' wheels was lockin' up an' rippin' out spokes, an' cocheros was cussin' in ten languages. Away back I seen a mounted cop chasin' us, but Ma had him headed off in that mess.
"And then She sets her claws in! Right ahead of us a carrermatter was streakin' it hell-bent through an open space, tryin' to get away. We could see th' feller in it leanin' forrard and whalin' th' horse. But, Lord, that caraboo'd a run down a thoroughbred.
"'Sheer off to starboard!' Sly yells. 'What do ye mean, loafin' round th' channel that way, ye blinkety-bling-blanked son of a mess attendant? I report ye to th' Captain of th' Port. To starboard, I tell ye. Port your helm! Hard over! Oh, well,' he says, 'if you want it—Collision bulkheads, boys, I'll have to ram30 him. Hold hard, all! Whee-eee-eeee!' He hits th' caraboo a couple more, and it seems like we go right through that carrermatter. It just fades away. 'Take that!' yells Sly. 'An' I'll report ye, besides.'
"An' right then, risin' up out of what had been th' carrermatter, I seen a short chunky kind of a man, with a tire hung to one ear, and a handful of spokes stickin' out of one pocket, and a piece of dashboard in one hand. I didn't see him long, but I seen him awful plain. It was Him! 'Looka there!' I whispers—I couldn't talk—an' Terry takes one look, an' he couldn't talk.
"An' then th' Old Man catches sight of us, an' he stands up in th' ruins and shakes th' piece of dashboard at us. 'H'm!' he says. 'H'm-mmm!' That's all. He couldn't talk, neither.
"Right there a street turns off the Escolta, an' I seen it was then or never. 'Sly,' I says, 'can ye turn off here to th' lef'?'
"'Sure,' he says. 'Anywheres. He's steerin' fine now. Whoop-eee-eeee-ee!' Zing! Bing! Sly leans back on th' rope, an' th' caraboo puts his nose down, an' Whoof!—he hits that line of rigs between us an' th' road we needed. Talk about football. Two bumps and a hard swaller, an' we was gallopin' down that side street, with th' racket dyin' away behind us.
"'Keep him goin', Sly,' I says. ''Twas th' Old Man we hit!'
"'Mine Gott!' says Sly, and lights in with th' rope. Th' caraboo tries to fly, but that didn't bother us. We wouldn't a cared if he had. We just hangs on and lets him go it.
"When he did stop it was in front of a s'loon! Funny coincident, warn't it? We seen there was just one thing to do, an' th' mayreener thinks so, too. He slep' through all that, but th' minute we was sneakin' up quiet on a drink he comes to life!
"''As anythink 'appened, mytes?' he asts. We tells him.
"'Aoh,' he says, 'I do 'ope ye 'aven't 'urt me buffalao! They're dillikit creachures, mytes. In the old, 'appy dyes—' he has to cry in th' caraboo's ear before he can take his drink.
"Don't ast me how we spent th' rest of the afternoon. Ast th' caraboo; he was boss. We couldn't steer37 him none to speak of, but we could start him goin'. He stopped himself. Always in front of a s'loon, too. I'd like to see th' guy that owned him.
"An' ev'ry time he stopped, th' mayreener would wake up an' mix a tamarin' cocktail an' have a weep. His mem'ry was workin' fine again. An' so we follered th' trail of that intemp'rate caraboo through all th' back streets of Maniller, wanderin' on fr'm one low haunt of vice49 to another till the houses moved back where they belonged again, an' th' sun got nice and hot and shiny, and even th' Old Man didn't seem to matter—much—an' we went to sleep on th' cart, still wanderin'.
"When I woke up, Sly was gone, but Terry and th' mayreener was still poundin' their ears, and th' caraboo was still walkin', quiet, like he was loafin' home with his dinner-pail and pipe after a hard day's work, along a road between some rice-paddies. Things looked new to me and I set up and took a look. We was lost! Th' sun was settin' 'way over across th' paddies, and there warn't no Maniller in sight, nor nothin' but just th' paddies and th' road—and us. And I warn't sure whether it was yestidday or to-morrer! I felt so lonesome I woke Terry up.
"We set lookin' round a spell, and things begun to come back to us. 'Old Ma cert'nly hooked th'm in this time,' I says. 'Th' Old Man's heart is broke now, all right. Did ye spot th' look in his eye when he reco'nized us? That spelt G.C.M. to me.'
"'Th' carrermatter was just an axxi—' Terry stops short. 'I donno,' he says, 'but what it would be safer to desert.'
"'Maybe we've deserted50 a'ready,' I says. 'Lord knows how long we've overstayed our leave. I feel like I'd slep' a month.'
"'I've got a head, too,' says Terry. 'It was them tamarin' cocktails done it. Swelp me if I ever drink another drink.'
"That hits th' mayreener. 'Lead me to it, mytes,' he says, sleepy. 'Me legs ayn't what they ware, but lead me to it.'
"'That's what done it,' I says to Terry.
"Terry looks at th' mayreener a spell. 'Casey,' he says, 'you're right. He done it, th' shrimp51. It was him invented th' tamarin's, and him st— borrered th' caraboo, and him went to sleep on the Escolta. And us aimin' to ack decent, an' gettin' th' Old Man to save our money for us. Th' cock-eyed old cod-fish!' says Terry, eyein' th' slumberin' mayreener. 'I'd like to bat his head off. Swelp me if ever I drink another—'
"'Mytes,' th' mayreener begins, but Terry claps a hand over his mouth. 'What'll we do to him, Casey?' he says.
"'Le's think,' I says.
"Th' caraboo was still loafin' along with his pick and shovel52 over his shoulder, and we sets and looks at him, and th' mayreener, and th' paddies, thinkin'. It was gettin' pretty near dark, and 'way ahead of us was some mountains th' caraboo looked to be makin' for. Then th' plan come to us.
"'Give us th' rope, Casey,' Terry says. 'He might roll off 'n muddy his cloes.' They was a coil of pack-rope on th' cart, and we takes and rolls th' mayreener all up in it and fastens him to th' cart, all safe and sound. He never yips till we're settin' th' last knot. 'Three friends,' he says. 'Mytes, I never thought to 'ave—'
"'Friends!' says Terry. 'Friends! Ain't he got a nerve!'
"We drops off behind and leaves him and his buffalao to jog along. It was gettin' dark, but we set down and watched them out of sight. They was passin' out of our lives slow but sure, joggin' along, him and his buffalao.
"'There may be ladrones in them mountains,' I says.
"'Ladrones,' says Terry, 'wouldn't bother him. He's too superfalous f'r ladrones.'
"It got darker and darker, and pretty soon old Mr. Caraboo grunts up over a little rise and they was gone. 'Well,' says Terry, 'if he ever does get back, he'll have somethin' real to remember this time. Come along, Casey.'
"So we hits th' road. We reckoned if we follered it long enough, we prob'ly strike some place. So we plugs along through th' dark. We warn't worryin' none about Schleimacher. Nothin' ever happens to a full-blooded Marine, anyhow, and we had other things to think about.
"'Did ye notice th' tire round his neck?' I says. 'That tire'll cost us a mont' extry.'
"Terry grunts. 'Considerin' th' months we'll get anyhow,' he says, disgusted-like, 'an extry one is what I'd call superfalous.'
"And so," the voice concluded thoughtfully, "we plugs along."
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1
slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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2
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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3
bout
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| n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛 | |
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4
mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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5
cocktails
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| n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物 | |
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6
cocktail
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| n.鸡尾酒；餐前开胃小吃；混合物 | |
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7
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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8
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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9
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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10
stunts
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| n.惊人的表演( stunt的名词复数 )；（广告中）引人注目的花招；愚蠢行为；危险举动v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的第三人称单数 ) | |
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11
buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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12
bucks
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| n.雄鹿( buck的名词复数 )；钱；（英国十九世纪初的）花花公子；（用于某些表达方式）责任v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的第三人称单数 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃 | |
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13
marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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14
tangled
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| adj. 纠缠的，紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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15
butt
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| n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶 | |
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16
poker
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| n.扑克；vt.烙制 | |
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17
pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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18
sneaks
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| abbr.sneakers (tennis shoes) 胶底运动鞋（网球鞋）v.潜行( sneak的第三人称单数 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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19
grunts
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈 | |
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20
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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21
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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22
gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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23
bulge
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| n.突出，膨胀，激增；vt.突出，膨胀 | |
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24
overload
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| vt.使超载；n.超载 | |
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25
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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26
butts
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| 笑柄( butt的名词复数 )； （武器或工具的）粗大的一端； 屁股； 烟蒂 | |
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27
ware
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| n.(常用复数)商品，货物 | |
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28
arenas
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| 表演场地( arena的名词复数 )； 竞技场； 活动或斗争的场所或场面； 圆形运动场 | |
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29
smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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30
ram
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| (random access memory)随机存取存储器 | |
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31
bleats
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| v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的第三人称单数 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说 | |
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32
isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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33
fishy
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| adj. 值得怀疑的 | |
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34
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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35
stranded
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| a.搁浅的，进退两难的 | |
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36
steers
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| n.阉公牛，肉用公牛( steer的名词复数 )v.驾驶( steer的第三人称单数 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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37
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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38
hitched
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| （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的过去式和过去分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上 | |
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39
buffalo
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| n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛 | |
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40
wriggles
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| n.蠕动，扭动( wriggle的名词复数 )v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的第三人称单数 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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41
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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42
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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43
transit
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| n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过 | |
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44
spokes
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| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
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45
varnish
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| n.清漆；v.上清漆；粉饰 | |
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46
gallop
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| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
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47
scythe
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| n. 长柄的大镰刀，战车镰； v. 以大镰刀割 | |
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48
repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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49
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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50
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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51
shrimp
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| n.虾，小虾；矮小的人 | |
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52
shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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