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 



