and do you, Mr. Scarlett,
sit in between us, and keep the peace. It's fearful, this livin' alone
with a dar'ter that thumps me." The old fellow chuckled internally, and
threatened to explode with suppressed merriment. "Some day I shall die
o' laffing," he said, as he pulled himself together. "But you was asking
about Sartoris." He had now got himself well in hand. "Sartoris is like
a pet monkey in a cage, along o' Chinamen, Malays, Seedee boys, and all
them sort of animals. Laff? You should ha' seen me standing up in the
boat, hollerin' at Sartoris, and laffin' so as I couldn't hardly keep me
feet. 'Sartoris,' I says, 'when do the animals feed?' An' he looks over
the rail, just like a stuffed owl in a glass case, and says nothing. I
took a bottle from the boat's locker, and held it up. 'What wouldn't you
give for a drop o' that!' I shouts. But he shook his fist, and said
something disrespectful about port wine; but I was that roused up with
the humour o' the thing, I laffed so as I had to set down. A prisoner
for full four weeks, or durin' the pleasure o' the Health Officer,
that's Sartoris. Lord! _what_ a trap to be caught in."

"But what's the disease they've on board?" asked Scarlett.

"That's where it is," replied the Pilot--"nobody seems to know. The
Health Officer he says one thing, and then, first one medical and then
another must put his oar in, and say it's something else--dengey fever,
break-bone, spirrilum fever, beri-beri, or anything you like. One doctor
says the ship shouldn't ha' bin currantined, and another says she
should, and so they go on quarrelling like a lot o' cats in a sack."

"But there have been deaths on board," said Rose.

"Deaths, my dear? The first mate's gone, and more'n half the piebald
crew. This morning we buried the Chinese cook. You won't see Sartoris,
not this month or more."

"Mr. Scarlett is going into the bush, father. He's not likely to be back
till after the ship is out of quarantine."

"Eh? What? Goin' bush-whacking? I thought you was town-bred. Well, well,
so you're goin' to help chop down trees."

Scarlett smiled. "You've heard of this gold that's been found, Pilot?"

"I see it in the paper."

"I'm going to try if I can find where it comes from."

"Lord love 'ee, but you've no luck, lad. This gold-finding is just a
matter o' luck, and luck goes by streaks. You're in a bad streak, just
at present; and you won't never find that gold till you're out o' that
streak. Y