104 SIMPSON, MYSELF AND THE PERSONAGE. 



I laughed outright. So did Rudder, and in 

 we went. 



A pulparee is by interpretation a grog-shop. 

 Pulparia is the Spanish, but we mariners give 

 it a turn of our own. Dark and grimy is the 

 pulparee; desperate and dangerous are the idlers 

 that lounge there ; vile and strong is the fiery 

 liquor they drink. 



I stepped across the well-worn threshold with a 

 stinging sense of guilt. I had never entered such 

 a place before. I was a thorough-going teeto- 

 taller. And besides I began to wonder how ever 

 should I manage to comport myself becomingly in 

 the fellowship of these hard and reckless chole 

 drinkers. I was sorry, now, that I had let Rudder 

 Simpson take me in tow. 



My embarrassment, however, was soon relieved, 

 for a superb native, gorgeous in many dazzling 

 colors, stepped up to Simpson and engaged him 

 in conversation. 



" Bowling-alley o," said the glittering stranger, 

 " Senor lika play nine-pinza ? " 



" You're right," said Rudder, flattered with the 

 attention, " Where away ? " 



" Come," said the dazzling personage, with a 

 stagy gesture. He lookei as if he had just 

 stepped out of " Carmen." 



