Schomberg, looking up from the stern-sheets of his steam-launch, which he used for boarding passenger ships on arrival, discovered a dark sunken stare plunging1 down on him over the rail of the first-class part of the deck. He was no great judge of physiognomy. Human beings, for him, were either the objects of scandalous gossip or else recipients2 of narrow strips of paper, with proper bill-heads stating the name of his hotel —“W. Schomberg, proprietor3, accounts settled weekly.”
So in the clean-shaven, extremely thin face hanging over the mail-boat’s rail Schomberg saw only the face of a possible “account.” The steam-launches of other hotels were also alongside, but he obtained the preference.
“You are Mr. Schomberg, aren’t you?” the face asked quite unexpectedly.
“I am at your service,” he answered from below; for business is business, and its forms and formulas must be observed, even if one’s manly4 bosom5 is tortured by that dull rage which succeeds the fury of baffled passion, like the glow of embers after a fierce blaze.
Presently the possessor of the handsome but emaciated6 face was seated beside Schomberg in the stern-sheets of the launch. His body was long and loose-jointed, his slender fingers, intertwined, clasped the leg resting on the knee, as he lolled back in a careless yet tense attitude. On the other side of Schomberg sat another passenger, who was introduced by the clean-shaven man as —
“My secretary. He must have the room next to mine.”
“We can manage that easily for you.”
Schomberg steered7 with dignity, staring straight ahead, but very much interested by these two promising8 “accounts.” Their belongings9, a couple of large leather trunks browned by age and a few smaller packages, were piled up in the bows. A third individual — a nondescript, hairy creature — had modestly made his way forward and had perched himself on the luggage. The lower part of his physiognomy was over-developed; his narrow and low forehead, unintelligently furrowed10 by horizontal wrinkles, surmounted11 wildly hirsute12 cheeks and a flat nose with wide, baboon-like nostrils13. There was something equivocal in the appearance of his shaggy, hair-smothered humanity. He, too, seemed to be a follower14 of the clean-shaven man, and apparently15 had travelled on deck with native passengers, sleeping under the awnings17. His broad, squat18 frame denoted great strength. Grasping the gunwales of the launch, he displayed a pair of remarkably20 long arms, terminating in thick, brown hairy paws of simian21 aspect.
“What shall we do with the fellow of mine?” the chief of the party asked Schomberg. “There must be a boarding-house somewhere near the port — some grog-shop where they could let him have a mat to sleep on?”
Schomberg said there was a place kept by a Portuguese22 half-caste.
“A servant of yours?” he asked.
“Well, he hangs on to me. He is an alligator23-hunter. I picked him up in Colombia, you know. Ever been in Colombia?”
“No,” said Schomberg, very much surprised. “An alligator-hunter? Funny trade! Are you coming from Colombia, then?”
“Yes, but I have been coming for a long time. I come from a good many places. I am travelling west, you see.”
“For sport, perhaps?” suggested Schomberg.
“Yes. Sort of sport. What do you say to chasing the sun?”
“I see — a gentleman at large,” said Schomberg, watching a sailing canoe about to cross his bow, and ready to clear it by a touch of the helm.
The other passenger made himself heard suddenly.
“Hang these native craft! They always get in the way.”
He was a muscular, short man with eyes that gleamed and blinked, a harsh voice, and a round, toneless, pock-marked face ornamented24 by a thin, dishevelled moustache, sticking out quaintly25 under the tip of a rigid26 nose. Schomberg made the reflection that there was nothing secretarial about him. Both he and his long, lank27 principal wore the usual white suit of the tropics, cork28 helmets, pipe-clayed white shoes — all correct. The hairy nondescript creature perched on their luggage in the bow had a check shirt and blue dungaree trousers. He gazed in their direction from forward in an expectant, trained-animal manner.
“You spoke29 to me first,” said Schomberg in his manly tones. “You were acquainted with my name. Where did you hear of me, gentlemen, may I ask?”
“In Manila,” answered the gentleman at large, readily. “From a man with whom I had a game of cards one evening in the Hotel Castille.”
“What man? I’ve no friends in Manila that I know of,” wondered Schomberg with a severe frown.
“I can’t tell you his name. I’ve clean forgotten it; but don’t you worry. He was anything but a friend of yours. He called you all the names he could think of. He said you set a lot of scandal going about him once, somewhere — in Bangkok, I think. Yes, that’s it. You were running a table d’hote in Bangkok at one time, weren’t you?”
Schomberg, astounded30 by the turn of the information, could only throw out his chest more and exaggerate his austere31 Lieutenant-of-the-Reserve manner. A table d’hote? Yes, certainly. He always — for the sake of white men. And here in this place, too? Yes, in this place, too.
“That’s all right, then.” The stranger turned his black, cavernous, mesmerizing32 glance away from the bearded Schomberg, who sat gripping the brass33 tiller in a sweating palm. “Many people in the evening at your place?”
Schomberg had recovered somewhat.
“Twenty covers or so, take one day with another,” he answered feelingly, as befitted a subject on which he was sensitive. “Ought to be more, if only people would see that it’s for their own good. Precious little profit I get out of it. You are partial to tables d’hote, gentlemen?”
The new guest made answer that he liked a hotel where one could find some local people in the evening. It was infernally dull otherwise. The secretary, in sign of approval, emitted a grunt34 of astonishing ferocity, as if proposing to himself to eat the local people. All this sounded like a longish stay, thought Schomberg, satisfied under his grave air; till, remembering the girl snatched away from him by the last guest who had made a prolonged stay in his hotel, he ground his teeth so audibly that the other two looked at him in wonder. The momentary35 convulsion of his florid physiognomy seemed to strike them dumb. They exchanged a quick glance. Presently the clean-shaven man fired out another question in his curt36, unceremonious manner:
“You have no women in your hotel, eh?”
“Women!” Schomberg exclaimed indignantly, but also as if a little frightened. “What on earth do you mean by women? What women? There’s Mrs. Schomberg, of course,” he added, suddenly appeased37, with lofty indifference38.
“If she knows how to keep her place, then it will do. I can’t stand women near me. They give me the horrors,” declared the other. “They are a perfect curse!”
During this outburst the secretary wore a savage39 grin. The chief guest closed his sunken eyes, as if exhausted40, and leaned the back of his head against the stanchion of the awning16. In this pose, his long, feminine eyelashes were very noticeable, and his regular features, sharp line of the jaw41, and well-cut chin were brought into prominence42, giving him a used-up, weary, depraved distinction. He did not open his eyes till the steam-launch touched the quay43. Then he and the other man got ashore44 quickly, entered a carriage, and drove away to the hotel, leaving Schomberg to look after their luggage and take care of their strange companion. The latter, looking more like a performing bear abandoned by his show men than a human being, followed all Schomberg’s movements step by step, close behind his back, muttering to himself in a language that sounded like some sort of uncouth45 Spanish. The hotel-keeper felt uncomfortable till at last he got rid of him at an obscure den19 where a very clean, portly Portuguese half-caste, standing46 serenely47 in the doorway48, seemed to understand exactly how to deal with clients of every kind. He took from the creature the strapped49 bundle it had been hugging closely through all its peregrinations in that strange town, and cut short Schomberg’s attempts at explanation by a most confident —
“I comprehend very well, sir.”
“It’s more than I do,” thought Schomberg, going away thankful at being relieved of the alligator-hunter’s company. He wondered what these fellows were, without being able to form a guess of sufficient probability. Their names he learned that very day by direct inquiry50 “to enter in my books,” he explained in his formal military manner, chest thrown out, beard very much in evidence.
The shaven man, sprawling51 in a long chair, with his air of withered52 youth, raised his eyes languidly.
“My name? Oh, plain Mr. Jones — put that down — a gentleman at large. And this is Ricardo.” The pock-marked man, lying prostrate53 in another long chair, made a grimace54, as if something had tickled55 the end of his nose, but did not come out of his supineness. “Martin Ricardo, secretary. You don’t want any more of our history, do you? Eh, what? Occupation? Put down, well — tourists. We’ve been called harder names before now; it won’t hurt our feelings. And that fellow of mine — where did you tuck him away? Oh, he will be all right. When he wants anything he’ll take it. He’s Peter. Citizen of Colombia. Peter, Pedro — I don’t know that he ever had any other name. Pedro, alligator hunter. Oh, yes — I’ll pay his board with the half-caste. Can’t help myself. He’s so confoundedly devoted56 to me that if I were to give him the sack he would be at my throat. Shall I tell you how I killed his brother in the wilds of Colombia? Well, perhaps some other time — it’s a rather long story. What I shall always regret is that I didn’t kill him, too. I could have done it without any extra trouble then; now it’s too late. Great nuisance; but he’s useful sometimes. I hope you are not going to put all this in your book?”
The offhand57, hard manner and the contemptuous tone of “plain Mr. Jones” disconcerted Schomberg utterly58. He had never been spoken to like this in his life. He shook his head in silence and withdrew, not exactly scared — though he was in reality of a timid disposition59 under his manly exterior60 — but distinctly mystified and impressed.
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1
plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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recipients
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| adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器 | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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emaciated
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| adj.衰弱的，消瘦的 | |
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7
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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8
promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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9
belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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10
furrowed
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| v.犁田，开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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12
hirsute
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| adj.多毛的 | |
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13
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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14
follower
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| n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒 | |
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15
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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16
awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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awnings
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| 篷帐布 | |
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18
squat
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| v.蹲坐，蹲下；n.蹲下；adj.矮胖的，粗矮的 | |
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19
den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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20
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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21
simian
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| adj.似猿猴的；n.类人猿，猴 | |
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22
Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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23
alligator
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| n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼) | |
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24
ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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25
quaintly
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| adv.古怪离奇地 | |
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26
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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27
lank
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| adj.瘦削的；稀疏的 | |
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28
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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29
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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30
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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31
austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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32
mesmerizing
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| adj.有吸引力的，有魅力的v.使入迷( mesmerize的现在分词 ) | |
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33
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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34
grunt
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| v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝 | |
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35
momentary
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| adj.片刻的，瞬息的；短暂的 | |
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36
curt
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| adj.简短的，草率的 | |
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37
appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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38
indifference
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| n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎 | |
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39
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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40
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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41
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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42
prominence
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| n.突出；显著；杰出；重要 | |
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43
quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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44
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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45
uncouth
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| adj.无教养的，粗鲁的 | |
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46
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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47
serenely
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| adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地 | |
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48
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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49
strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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50
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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51
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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52
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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53
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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54
grimace
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| v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭 | |
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55
tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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56
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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57
offhand
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| adj.临时，无准备的；随便，马虎的 | |
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58
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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59
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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60
exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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