The Rise of Don Antonio 241 



channel the incident of one Tony Oromo, now the 

 captain and proud owner of a glass-bottom boat. 



He was a very superior person, this " Don " Antonio 

 Oromo, and interest in him was accentuated by certain 

 legendary wraiths, possibly of the imagination, that 

 drifted in and out, and were common talk about the 

 gaily decorated boat-stands of Santa Catalina. Don 

 Antonio certainly never claimed to be a descendant of 

 Montezuma, or that his ancestor was a great captain of 

 Viscaino's fleet, which visited the island in 1602 ; in 

 fact, nothing could be traced to him except a statement 

 that his grandfather once owned the island and traded 

 the property, now worth millions, for a white horse ; 

 why white no one knew. I had fished with him, as the 

 guest of a friend, on divers occasions, and the only 

 words he uttered were, " Si, senor," in a mellifluous 

 voice, in response to the stern demand for more 

 " chum," when possibly he had fallen asleep. Yet 

 despite this, Don Antonio had "an ancestral reputa- 

 tion," which a certain manner, suggestive of romance, 

 lent colour to. No one had ever heard of him as a 

 boatman or fisherman until my friend discovered him ; 

 indeed, a Mexican rival in the gaffing line, of no par- 

 ticular ancestry, laughed loud and long when he 

 learned that " Tony " was going to row during the tuna 

 season. 



" What, him !" said Nicola. " He never see a gaff 

 in he life. He fish ? Why, he don' know a tuna from 

 a skip-jack. He mak' me tired, he do, there 's a fac'. 



16 



