CHAPTER II 

 GEORGE : A MIXED CHARACTER 



GEORGE, who considered himself as accomplished and as 

 cultivated as a white man, was assisting his master in the 

 building of a dinghy. Contemplating the work of his un- 

 accustomed hands in a rueful frame of mind, the boss 

 recited, " Thou fatal and perfidious barque, built in eclipse 

 and rigged with curses dark ! " " Ah," said he, " you bin 

 hear that before, George ? " " No," replied the boy ; " I no 

 bin hear 'em. What that ? Irish talk ? " 



A few days after, George peered into one of the rooms 

 of the house, the walls of which were decorated with prints, 

 among them some studies of the nude. He sniggered. 

 " What you laugh at, George ? " " Me laugh along that 

 picture naked. That French woman, I think, Boss ! " 

 He was evidently of opinion that all true and patriotic 

 Irishmen talk in verse, and in throaty tones, and 

 that the customary habit of French ladies is "the alto- 

 gether." 



Proud of his personal appearance, George shaved 

 regularly once a week, borrowing a mirror to assist in the 

 operation. He was wont to apply the lather from pungent 

 kerosene soap with a discarded tooth-brush which he had 

 picked up. Long use had thinned the bristles woefully, 

 but the brush was used faithfully and with grave delibera- 

 tion. One morning he came and said " Boss, you got any 

 more brush belonga shaving ? This fella close up lose 'em 

 whisker altogether." 



The sensational episodes of his trooper days provided 

 George with unending themes. He gave an account to a 



friend of the suppression of a black rogue, a faithful report 



281 



