258 TROPIC DAYS 



not quite beyond recognition, and no musician was 

 ever more in earnest, ever more soul-tied to an elusive, 

 unwritten air than the black boy who wore little else 

 than his own unwashed complexion and a strip of red 

 Turkey twill. For long months he had pursued it with 

 all the fervour of his simple soul, and though it said him 

 nay, still did he hope and woo. Out of his scanty 

 earnings he bought mouth-organs by the dozen, for 

 he believed that owing to some defect on the part of 

 such instruments the tune was impossible save to one. 

 Would he ever obtain that prize ? The organ which 

 could play that tune as he had once heard it when his 

 boss took him to a concert at Cairns had to be discovered, 

 and to earn money to buy it Mammerroo shipped on 

 these detestable beche-de-mer cruises. In the meantime 

 he would play with all his energies and with endless 

 repetition the halting, nerve-disturbing notes he knew 

 to be incorrect. 



"That boy will drive me mad. He bought ten 

 mouth-organs at Cooktown, and he hasn't got the one 

 that plays the tune yet. Does this smell like ' The Last 

 Rose of Summer' ? Why, you can hear those fish of 

 yours humming ! What with hardly any fish, the stink 

 of the whole boat, and that maddening mouth-organ, 

 I feel almost inclined to jump overboard and marry a 

 mermaid. Let's chuck it." 



"It's you as got the bad breath, Jim. Every man 

 when he gets nasty temper he gets bad breath. That 

 tune it's little bit close up. He can play right up to the 

 'left blooming alone' sometimes." 



"He's taken four months to get up to the ' left bloom- 

 ing alone' 1 At that rate it will be years before he gets 

 to the finish. I'll be mad if he stays on this hooker 

 another month. I'll chuck the three of them organ, 

 boy, and tune overboard." 



