The crowd remained outside the office even after
the procession of four had disappeared, and cheered. This
suggested to Gordon that this would be a good time to make a
speech, which he accordingly did, Stedman translating it,
sentence by sentence. At the conclusion of this effort,
Albert distributed a number of brass rings among the married
men present, which they placed on whichever finger fitted
best, and departed delighted.
Albert had wished to give the rings to the married women, but
Stedman pointed out to him that it would be much cheaper to
give them to the married men; for while one woman could only
have one husband, one man could have at least six wives.
"And now, Stedman," said Albert, after the mob had gone, "tell
me what you are doing on this island."
"It's a very simple story," Stedman said. "I am the
representative, or agent, or operator, for the Yokohama Cable
Company. The Yokohama Cable Company is a company organized in
San Francisco, for the purpose of laying a cable to Yokohama.
It is a stock company; and though it started out very well,
the stock has fallen very low.
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