The party broke up without delay, and Sam walked off
with Cleary, who had been present, to see the prize-fight.
"The commissioner isn't much of a talker, is he?" said Cleary. "That
was a bad break about the postmaster. I hear they've arrested Captain
Jones for embezzlement too."
"Good heavens!" cried Sam, "what an outrage!" And he told Cleary of his
narrow escape from complicity in the matter, and how the military
operations had prevented him from calling on the contractors.
"Civilians don't understand these things," he added. "They oughtn't to
send them out here. They don't understand things."
"No. They haven't been brought up on tabasco sauce. What can you expect
of them?"
They soon arrived at the Alhambra Theater at which the fight was to
take place, and found it in progress. A large crowd was collected,
consisting of soldiers and natives in equal proportions. The last round
was just finishing, and Joe Corker was in the act of knocking his
opponent out. The audience was shouting with glee and excitement, the
cheers being mixed with hisses and cries of "Fake, fake!"
"I know Corker," said Cleary. "Come, I'll introduce you."
They pushed forward through the crowd, and were soon in a room behind
the stage, where Corker was being rubbed and washed down by his
assistants. Sam looked at the great man and felt rather small and
insignificant.
Pages:
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162