wooden
horses and mules and seen the shrieking muchachos aloft in the swings
for two whole days before they allowed even one of their youngsters to
set foot on the strange-looking unholy things. Then one intrepid
full-grown Moro gave it a trial, then another, and another. Then ten
went on together. The market grew empty of vendors and buyers. Every
Moro from the plains or the hills who had come in on foot or on
carabaos and ponies to buy or sell now sat, betel-chewing and
contented, on a wooden horse, ostrich or zebra, careering in wild
circles to the mad fiesta tunes of a cracked ex-military drum and
improvised cymbals, while the wives held the ponies and carabaos on the
edge of a crowd of bare-bellied phlegÂmatic Chinos.
But
the real fun was this. Once a Moro had got on the roundabout or swing
you couldn't get him off again. His wife might yell, his youngsters
slobber, newcomers clamor for the privilege of a ride, but he wouldn't
budge for hours. He figÂured that the five copper centavos he had paid
had bought the whole show.
In
the cotta on the mountain the fighting men heard tales of this
newfangled amusement. They sheathed their krisses and came down the
long trail in single file for a mad ride on real wooden horses. For the
time being they forgot war.
After
that, we on the island settled down again. For me trade was brisk. I
was, as Don Pedro declared, "buying my head off." Indeed, I was now
beginning to get known to those who mattered. And just because so many
pearls were brought to me at that time, I never had enough ready money.
There was no bank on the island. The English pound was equal to ten
pesos, but a pound in gold was worth eleven. Naturally I preferred to
pay in gold, and I had given instructions to my bank in Singapore to
ship gold coin for all my remittances from London or Paris. Very often
my shipments of specie were long delayed and might have caused me great
embarrassment, or, if another big buyer had in the meantime arrived on
the scene, might even have lost me my trade.
