Part 12 (2/2)
The travelers found themselves in a room which, in view of its distance froht, its furniture modern, its walls decorated with a few excellent pictures, of which the largest was a superb view of the rugged harbor of Rio de Janeiro
Co the walls, and the middle of the room was occupied by a massive square-cornered table on which lay a juh-grade violin and bow Beyond the table stood a swivel chair, evidently the usual seat of the coronel Table and chair were so arranged that the master of this house sat alith his back to a wall and his face toward the door And on a couple of hooks on that wall, ready for instant service, hung a high-power rifle
On their way up the river the A intervals, a few small rubber estates, whose headquarters consisted y houses of Re They had observed, while crossing the cleared space, that it was at least half aand solid; that a goodly number of _barracaos_, or rubber workers' huts, surrounded the house of the master at a respectful distance; and that the owner's hoht rooms This well-appointed reception room and the formal yet sincere courtesy of its owner showed that Coronel Nunes was no mere native of the frontier Later they were to learn that he was a gentle himself from the capital after the death of his wife, had carved frole a fortune in the rubber trade
With the correct touch of Latin punctilio McKay spoke the introductions and stated that they were on their way upriver to explore the hinterland With equal politeness the coronel bowed and begged his illustrious guests to be seated Then he touched a sro appeared
”Cafe,” the coronel ordered As speedily as if these visitors had been long expected, the servant brought in a tray bearing cups of syrupy coffee Each of the guests accepted one Whereafter the decorum of the occasion was shattered by Tiulped his refreshment and vociferated his satisfaction
”O-o-oh boy! That hits right where I live! Gimme another one, feller, and led with his quick h of his race The coronel's eyes twinkled And when Tiarette from his shi+rt, nonchalantly scraped a match on his host's table, blew a cloud of s over a chair ara Deus ajuda_,” laughed the coronel ”Or, as you North Americans put it, 'God helps those who help the ars And--”
Down behind his table, where only the servant saw thea cork 'Tonio, his ebony countenance split by a grin, ducked his head and vanished into the other room
”How is the rubberto divert attention froentleesture
”In truth, it is very poor since the war--so poor that soon I shall abandon this _seringal_ and go out to spend the rest ofat a mere five hundred dollars a ton in New York and the artificial plantations of the Far East growing greater yearly, there is no longer le I really do not knohy I stay here now, unless it is because I have become so much accustomed to this life”
”Why, I understood that there was much money in rubber!”
”You speak truth--there was Now there is not The world ners came into Brazil, helped themselves to the seed of our wild trees, and planted it in Ceylon and the Malay region
That seed now bears such fruit that the world is flooded with rubber
Ten years ago, senhores, a ton sold for six thousand five hundred dollars Now, in this year nineteen-twenty, the price is only one-thirteenth of what it was in those days It scarcely pays for the gathering I hope you have not co to make fortunes in rubber”
”No We are here to find a race of men known as Red Bones”
The coronel's brows lifted They kept on lifting, and he opened his lips tithout speaking After a long stare at Knowlton he looked at McKay, at Tirew on his face And the A his look at the Peruvian, were surprised to see that Jose hi blankly at the speaker
”Jose Martinez!” snapped the coronel, leveling a finger pistollike at the _puntero_ ”What devil's ga now?”
Jose recovered himself and lifted his coffee cup
”I do not understand you, Nunes,” he replied, languidly ”I aed by these senores My only work has been to earn my pay And you may ask _el capitan_ whether I have earned it”
”Ay, he has,” corroborated McKay ”Killed two of his own crew in our defense”
The coronel's jaw dropped He blinked as if disbelieving his ears