Part 37 (2/2)
I said nothing to Angus Jones Co to me Comment was inadequate But I e house by the sugar fields I spent us Jones as that flagrant vintage seared his throat ended the gentle jape as far as I was concerned He knew er condescended to ained the water front by a devious route and ca sled nets Hotter, riddle of the foreshore on which Angus Jones was now conde its pebbly waste but heat waves and boiling surf and hopping insects in clouds
Off the jetty lay the Siaround swell, and we cae to stare across at her As pariahs before a vision of paradise we stood and yearned toward that disreputable hulk
They had alo At this moment they held a clu to lower it upon a shore boat about the size of a dinghy The crearmed like furious ants, and a white officer in dirty ducks flailed athe crate was really a clue and tawny forus Jones
”Not the kind of circus you aerie, froovernor himself They'll house it in that round barn up the promenade where the cinema lives, and anon those natives who have the price will sit around on the benches and tremble and scratch theus Jones
”Well, those who carry fleas--”
”No, but why should they tremble?”
”This is a far island No one hereabouts has ever seen any anius Jones, with a grimace as if he had bitten into a sour fruit ”It is their sie that he should have taken the word in defeat and disillusion happened There burst a shrill screa from the tramp, and its knot of toilers flew apart like bits of a bo, clied and cracked, and overside flashed, with an arching spring, soed, and presently reappeared, surging for shore
I felt suddenly conspicuous on that beach We stood far froood to run upon
”I think we'd better be going,” I suggested, and caught sight of my companion, and stopped
He still wore his wool cap, and it occurred to ht But now his face was curiously splotched red and white and his eyes blazed seaward in fixity He did not budge
”Tell us Jones--”tell me as that hich they harried us a while back? I see The one word they had for us alike?”
”_Va-se' ”Oh, it's the coars and nuisances You say it when you want to be rid of some one
_Va-se'mbora!_ Which means in the vernacular: Chase yourself”
”Chase yourself,” repeated Angus Jones softly ”Think of that now! They seek to tax us They refuse us dole They beat us here and yon They will not let us go, though ould only leave their country for their country's good Withal they tell us: Chase yourself! And they are, as you say, a si on a far island”
The tawny head was close in
”It's tius Jones picked up an oar and cut the painter froe He ure on Funchal beach, drawn to all his lean height, with the clothes flapping on hi the boats where I randeur of the scene,” declaius Jones ”Here I stand on a rock in le 'Tis lofty, incredible--in a sense, ain
”For Heaven's sake, come away!”