ehind the range
of mountains, because great heavy wagons and ambulances and cannon were
emptied from the ships at the wharf above and were drawn away in long
lines behind the ragged palms, moving always toward the passes between
the peaks. At times he was disturbed by the thought that he should be up
and after them, that some tradition of duty made his presence with them
imperative. There was much to be done back of the mountains. Some event
of momentous import was being carried forward there, in which he held a
part; but the doubt soon passed from him, and he was content to lie and
watch the iron bars rising and falling between the block-house and the
white surf.

If they had been only humanely kind, his lot would have been bearable,
but they starved him and held him down when he wished to rise; and they
would not put out the fire in the pillow, which they might easily have
done by the simple expedient of throwing it over the ship's side into
the sea. He himself had done this twice, but the keeper had immediately
brought a fresh pillow already heated for the torture and forced it
under his head.

His pleasures were very simple, and so few that he could not understand
why they robbed him of them so jealously. One was to watch a green
cluster of bananas that hung above him from the awning twirling on a
string. He could count as many of them as five before the bunch turned
and swung lazily back again, when he could count as high as twelve;
sometimes when the ship rolled heavily he could count to twenty. It was
a most fascinating game, and contented him for many hours. But when they
found this out they sent for the cook to come and cut them down, and the
cook carried them away to his galley.

Then, one day, a man came out from the shore, swimming through the blue
water with great splashes. He was a most charming man, who spluttered
and dove and twisted and lay on his back and kicked his legs in an
excess of content and delight. It was a real pleasure to watch him;
not for days had anything so amusing appeared on the other side of the
prison-bars. But as soon as the keeper saw that the man in the water
was amusing his prisoner, he leaned over the ship's side and shouted,
"Sa-ay, you, don't you know there's sharks in there?"

And the swimming man said, "The h--ll there is!" and raced back to the
shore like a porpoise with great lashing of the water, and ran up the
beach half-way to the palms before he was satisfied to st