"
Mr. Pike's harsh face carried the faintest shadow of an amused grin
as he stolidly regarded the tablecloth. I glanced to Miss West for
sympathy. She laughed frankly, and said:
"You see, father never has any sailors. And it's a good plan, too."
"A very good plan," Mr. Pike muttered.
Then Miss West kindly led the talk away from that subject, and soon
had us laughing with a spirited recital of a recent encounter of hers
with a Boston cab-driver.
Dinner over, I stepped to my room in quest of cigarettes, and
incidentally asked Wada about the cook. Wada was always a great
gatherer of information.
"His name Louis," he said. "He Chinaman, too. No; only half
Chinaman. Other half Englishman. You know one island Napoleon he
stop long time and bime by die that island?"
"St. Helena," I prompted.
"Yes, that place Louis he born. He talk very good English."
At this moment, entering the hall from the deck, Mr. Mellaire, just
relieved by the mate, passed me on his way to the big room in the
stern where the second table was set.
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