ALCIDES AND HIS WAYS 
He quarrelled all the time with all the other men, 
and to enforce his words was constantly producing his 
automatic pistol, fully loaded, or else his rifle. 
When I first employed him I had the misfortune to 
send him on some messages to two or three people, with 
the result that those former friends became my bitterest 
enemies, as he had insulted them terribly. He was one 
of the men who cannot open their mouths without offend¬ 
ing. Wasteful to an incredible degree, his only ambition 
was to show how much he could spend — especially when 
he was spending other people’s money — a most trying 
thing for me when we were, months before, near any shop. 
When you mentioned anything to him he immediately 
said that it was impossible to do it, no matter how simple 
the matter was. He spent much time looking at himself 
in a small pocket mirror he carried on his person, and 
would grumble for long hours over the stings of mosqui¬ 
toes and gnats which had dared to spoil his features. He 
used violent language against the impudent rocks which 
had injured his feet. 
His brutality to men and beasts alike was most hurtful 
to me. He once abandoned his favourite dog on an island, 
simply because he had kicked it viciously the day before 
and the dog would not respond to his calls and enter the 
canoe. He now proposed to kill the other dogs, as he 
said they had finished their work as watch-dogs, since we 
never came across any Indians, and it was no use taking 
them along. 
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