"He must have been a rotter. What did he say?"
"Huh! just the regulation patter, but he used a megaphone, so I gave
him best. . . ."
But, so far as Elsie was concerned, Boyle's fund of reminiscence had
dried up.
After the midday meal on Christmas day--a sumptuous repast, for the due
preparation of which Elsie had come to the Chilean cook's assistance in
the matter of the plum-pudding--Suarez suddenly reported that a new
column of smoke was rising from Guanaco Hill, a crag dominating the
eastern side of the bay. The hill owed its name, he explained, to a
large cave, in which a legendary herd of llama was said to have its
abode. Probably there had never been any llama on the island, but the
Indians were frightened of the cave, with its galloping ghosts, and
would not enter it. He was unable to attribute any special
significance to the signal on that particular place. During the five
years with the Alaculof tribe he had never seen a fire lit there
before. That, in itself, was a fact sinister and alarming.
Suarez had sufficient tact not to make this statement publicly. He
told Christobal, and the doctor passed on the information to the
captain.
Pages:
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255