They were clad in rags, and were so miserably thin
that they had evidently been on short rations for a long time. White's
belief that they were hungry was borne out by the ravenous manner with
which they fell upon the provisions he presented to them.
Arsenic seized the piece of pork and whipping out a knife cut it into
strips, which he, his mother, and his sisters devoured raw, as though
it were a delicacy to which they had long been strangers. The hard
biscuit also made a magical disappearance, and when all were gone,
Arsenic, looking up with a hideous grin, uttered the single word:
"More."
"Good!" cried Cabot, "he can talk English. Now look here, young man,
if we give you more--all you can carry, in fact, of pork, bread, flour,
tea, and sugar, will you show us the road to the nearest
mission--Ramah, Nain, or Hopedale?"
"Tea, shug," replied the boy, with an expectant grin.
"Yes, tea, sugar, and a lot of other things if you'll show us the way
to Nain. You understand?"
"Tea, shug," repeated the young Indian, again grinning.
"We wantee git topside Nain. You sabe, Nain?" asked Cabot, pointing to
his companion and himself, and then waving his hand comprehensively at
the inland landscape.
"Tea, shug, more," answered the young savage, promptly, while his
relatives regarded him admiringly as one who had mastered the art of
conversing with foreigners.
Pages:
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143