notice
at midnight in the stiffest breeze, if news should come in of a lucky
find. They were cunning, had endless patience, and could easily outstay
and outwit a Moro or even a Chinaman. They were rogues, liars and
cheats in the way of business, and conformed to a strict code of
personal honor, albeit outside the Koran.
Sayid
ben Abu Bakur, who for short I always called Sayid, for I had no time
to spare for his full name, also to save time, I suppose, familiarly
called me Master Loo-iss; and from then on I was Master Loo-iss to all;
to Americans, Moros, Chinos, Filipinos, to the Sultan and the divers
and the Government men.
Sayid,
no doubt, had some virtues. He also had some failings, chief of which
was his habit of helping himself twice a day to a dose out of every
bottle and box in my medicine chest. He had immense faith in the white
man's pharmacopoeia. When I warned him that this was a dangerous
practice, he doubted my sincerity and fully believed my warning was
due merely to my meanness. He would of a morning lay the foundation
with a dose of Epsom salts, then mix himself a delightful glass or two
of Eno's. Three two-grain pills of quinine he swallowed with glee,
knowing that his mosquito bar was full of holes. Then he dipped into
box after box according to the labels he happened to fancy that day.
Amongst
the Moros who came to see me there was one who brought a pearl of
moderate size, but of exquisite quality. Contrary to my expectation he
asked a low price, quite unlike the usual practice of his tribe. I
bought and paid. He then gave me to understand that what I had bought
was only one of many hundreds to be had on the small island he came
from, and that most were in the hands of his kinsmen. Would I go with
him in his vinta; it was only a day's sail? I could take a man or two
with me. But to make sure of the goods I should have to bring the gold
with me.
Now
in the ordinary way I frequently made short buying expeditions to the
various small islands in a launch or in an open Moro vinta, but there
was something in the eyes of my
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