Nor
have I ever lacked women," added Don Alonso, boastfully.
"What was I saying, now? Oh, yes. I didn't know any English; the
damned lingo isn't very hard, but I simply couldn't get it into my
head. So I needed an interpreter, and I appointed the Galician as
secretary of the company and ticket-seller. We had been together for
almost a year when we reached an English island near Jamaica. The
governor of the island, the queerest Englishman there ever was, with a
pair of side-whiskers that looked like flames leaping from his cheeks,
summoned me as soon as we landed. As there was no site for our
performances, he made alterations in the municipal school, which was a
regular palace; he ordered all the partitions removed and the ring and
tiers of seats installed. Only the negroes of the town went to that
school, and what need had those creatures of learning to read and
write?
"We stayed there a month, and despite the fact that we had rent free
and that we played to full houses every afternoon, and that we had
practically no expenses, we didn't make any profit. 'How can it be?' I
kept asking myself.--A mystery."
"And what was the reason?" asked Manuel.
"I'm coming to that. First I must explain that the governor with the
flaming side-whiskers had fallen in love with Rosita, and without
beating around the bush he had taken her off to his palace.
Pages:
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132