He might be perfectly willing to tell her anything she wished to know.
He was frank enough in relating his personal experiences up and down
the seas, that was sure!
Cap'n Amazon puffed at his pipe and tried to engage the attention of
Diddimus. The big tortoise-shell ran from him no longer; but he
utterly refused to be petted. He now lay on the couch and blinked with
a bored manner at the captain.
If Louise came near him he purred loudly, putting out a hooked claw to
catch her skirt and stop her, and so get his head rubbed. But if Cap'n
Amazon undertook any familiarities, Diddimus arose in dignified silence
and changed his place or left the room.
"Does beat all," the Captain said reflectively, reaching for his
knitting, "what notions dumb critters get. We had a black man and a
black dog with us aboard the fo'master _Sally S. Stern_ when I was
master, out o' Baltimore for Chilean ports. Bill was the blackest
negro, I b'lieve, I ever see. You couldn't see him in the dark with
his mouth and eyes both shut.
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