might be bad."
"The closer to England, the fewer her ships," Slade said.
Argandeau raised his shoulder. "I hear Dominique Diron when he make that saying, and in return I make one of my own. Englishmen are where you find them. If it should be my business to fish for them, I would fish in any waters at all, and have better luck than those who say We will not fish in those waters, for the English never go there.'"
"I'd go into Morlaix," Slade remarked hoarsely.
"Morlaix is not bad," Argandeau admitted. "Me, I prefer Brest
CAPTAIN CAUTION 343
maybe, or Lorient, where there are guns to get under, eh, in case a frigate thinks she would like to come in to sit beside you. There are no guns in Morlaix."
Slade swept back his long hair. "But no frigate will ever make free with Morlaix," he said. "You couldn't get a frigate in there unless you Boated her in on a raft."
"Do you know Morlaix?" Corunna asked Argandeau.
"Do I know it? In Morlaix I have five brothers-in-law three of one family and two of another! To me it is like the face of my own neck, where I shave it each morning."
"And we'd have no trouble landing our cargo?" she persisted.
Argandeau laughed. "France and England, they are alike. Both countries are alive with thieves and politicians, which are the same things. Those who are not thieves or politicians are either smugglers, users of smuggled goods, fools or sailors. With a little money here and a little money there, you do as you like, oh?"
"Then it's to Morlaix that we'll go," Corunna said. She looked ruefully at the elbows of her gray, water-stained Chinese jacket; elbows so crossed and recrossed by now with silken darns that they had the look, almost, of embroidered pads fixed to her sleeves. "And high time, too," she added, "unless I'm to do my sailing in a skirt with a band of grapeshot sewed to the bottom."
Slade touched her arm gently. "All the finery in France," he assured her, "can be no more beautiful than this."
She shook her head and smiled; and almost to Marvin's horror it came to him that there was a misty softness in her eyes that had not been there since the day her father died. He rose so noisily to his feet that both Corunna and Slade looked around at him in disapproval. "I'll go on deck," he said. "Somebody's got to be there if the rest of you want to talk dress all day."
Argandeau, following him on deck, laughed softly at him. "I think you are all alike, you Americans without subtleness with your woment Look now what you have done] You have barked at this rabbit, so she will move her nose and sit where she is, to show you she does not wish to be barked all To me it is a strange thing, dear Marvin, that any woman in your country consents to become married to an American man, when even your language of love consists of barks and growls, eh? We in France, we are subtle! We hunt always for the heartstrings of a woman, and we play softly on them, so that she is moved to do our will. You should learn from well, I will not say from whom, but from someone whose words of love are like the whispering of spicy winds among roses."
344 CAPTAIN CAUTION
"No doubtI"Marvin said bitterly. "No doubtl Slade must have taken lessons from a Frenchmant"
Argandeau looked condescending. "Perhaps. He does very well, too, though one would never mistake the little chameleon for the superb tree he strives to imitate. However, ladies are sometimes pleased with those little creatures, the chameleons."
There was anger in Marvin's voice. "You mean she's pleased with this one now?"
'Well, she's taking her time to listen to him. No?"
Marvin made no reply to this inquiry; and the two men, one meditative and the other moody, began to pace the quarter-deck in silence.
The Olive Branch had rounded Ushant and stood off to the eastward along the brown-spired nose of the cruel dragon's head of Brittany before Corunna came on deck again.
"Why not say it?" Argandeau said in a low voice to Marvin.
"Why not say whatP"
"What
"The closer to England, the fewer her ships," Slade said.
Argandeau raised his shoulder. "I hear Dominique Diron when he make that saying, and in return I make one of my own. Englishmen are where you find them. If it should be my business to fish for them, I would fish in any waters at all, and have better luck than those who say We will not fish in those waters, for the English never go there.'"
"I'd go into Morlaix," Slade remarked hoarsely.
"Morlaix is not bad," Argandeau admitted. "Me, I prefer Brest
CAPTAIN CAUTION 343
maybe, or Lorient, where there are guns to get under, eh, in case a frigate thinks she would like to come in to sit beside you. There are no guns in Morlaix."
Slade swept back his long hair. "But no frigate will ever make free with Morlaix," he said. "You couldn't get a frigate in there unless you Boated her in on a raft."
"Do you know Morlaix?" Corunna asked Argandeau.
"Do I know it? In Morlaix I have five brothers-in-law three of one family and two of another! To me it is like the face of my own neck, where I shave it each morning."
"And we'd have no trouble landing our cargo?" she persisted.
Argandeau laughed. "France and England, they are alike. Both countries are alive with thieves and politicians, which are the same things. Those who are not thieves or politicians are either smugglers, users of smuggled goods, fools or sailors. With a little money here and a little money there, you do as you like, oh?"
"Then it's to Morlaix that we'll go," Corunna said. She looked ruefully at the elbows of her gray, water-stained Chinese jacket; elbows so crossed and recrossed by now with silken darns that they had the look, almost, of embroidered pads fixed to her sleeves. "And high time, too," she added, "unless I'm to do my sailing in a skirt with a band of grapeshot sewed to the bottom."
Slade touched her arm gently. "All the finery in France," he assured her, "can be no more beautiful than this."
She shook her head and smiled; and almost to Marvin's horror it came to him that there was a misty softness in her eyes that had not been there since the day her father died. He rose so noisily to his feet that both Corunna and Slade looked around at him in disapproval. "I'll go on deck," he said. "Somebody's got to be there if the rest of you want to talk dress all day."
Argandeau, following him on deck, laughed softly at him. "I think you are all alike, you Americans without subtleness with your woment Look now what you have done] You have barked at this rabbit, so she will move her nose and sit where she is, to show you she does not wish to be barked all To me it is a strange thing, dear Marvin, that any woman in your country consents to become married to an American man, when even your language of love consists of barks and growls, eh? We in France, we are subtle! We hunt always for the heartstrings of a woman, and we play softly on them, so that she is moved to do our will. You should learn from well, I will not say from whom, but from someone whose words of love are like the whispering of spicy winds among roses."
344 CAPTAIN CAUTION
"No doubtI"Marvin said bitterly. "No doubtl Slade must have taken lessons from a Frenchmant"
Argandeau looked condescending. "Perhaps. He does very well, too, though one would never mistake the little chameleon for the superb tree he strives to imitate. However, ladies are sometimes pleased with those little creatures, the chameleons."
There was anger in Marvin's voice. "You mean she's pleased with this one now?"
'Well, she's taking her time to listen to him. No?"
Marvin made no reply to this inquiry; and the two men, one meditative and the other moody, began to pace the quarter-deck in silence.
The Olive Branch had rounded Ushant and stood off to the eastward along the brown-spired nose of the cruel dragon's head of Brittany before Corunna came on deck again.
"Why not say it?" Argandeau said in a low voice to Marvin.
"Why not say whatP"
"What
Similar Books
