"'Come along,' I shouted to him.
"We charged, the seven of us, up to the chart-room. All was over. There
stood the old man with his sea-boots still drawn up to the hips and
in shirt-sleeves--got warm thinking it out, I suppose. Bun Hin's dandy
clerk at his elbow, as dirty as a sweep, was still green in the face. I
could see directly I was in for something.
"'What the devil are these monkey tricks, Mr. Jukes?' asks the old man,
as angry as ever he could be. I tell you frankly it made me lose my
tongue. 'For God's sake, Mr. Jukes,' says he, 'do take away these rifles
from the men. Somebody's sure to get hurt before long if you don't.
Damme, if this ship isn't worse than Bedlam! Look sharp now. I want
you up here to help me and Bun Hin's Chinaman to count that money. You
wouldn't mind lending a hand, too, Mr. Rout, now you are here. The more
of us the better.'
"He had settled it all in his mind while I was having a snooze. Had we
been an English ship, or only going to land our cargo of coolies in an
English port, like Hong-Kong, for instance, there would have been no
end of inquiries and bother, claims for damages and so on. But these
Chinamen know their officials better than we do.
"The hatches had been taken off already, and they were all on deck after
a night and a day down below.
Pages:
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143