the harsh gutturals choking in his
throat, until at last, flushed and angry, he was forced to transact
his business in Spanish, all of which amused the Britishers to the
chaffing point. Leaving the office, the American flung himself into the
street, muttering savagely under his breath, a torrent of old memories
surging through his brain, those harsh English words in his throat
clamouring for utterance. On and on he went, until at a far corner he
suddenly pulled himself up sharply, turned on his heel, and with all
speed walked back to the English firm, a shrewd smile playing about
his hard old mouth. Throwing open the door of the office, he walked
abruptly in, saying as he did so, in an unmistakable Yankee drawl,
"Blankety blank blank it! I knew I could speak English. All I needed
was a few good cuss words to start me off!"

On the afternoon of January 3d, a party of Monteses visited the
_Burnside_. Gaily turbaned and skirted were these Moro men, their
jackets fitting so tightly that some one suggested they must have
grown on them, that they were "quite natural and spontaneous, like
the leaves of trees or the plumage of birds." One's olfactory nerves
also bore evidence that frequent ablutions or change of garments were
not customary among our guests, and the fact that when shown over
the ship they evinced but little interest in the bath spoke volumes.

Strange to say, what the Moros most admired were the brass railings
around the walls of the saloon, and the brass rods down the different
stairways, in fact all the brass fittings on the ship, a thing that
puzzled us not a little until the interpreter explained that the
Moros thought the brass was solid gold, and were naturally much
impressed thereat. Firearms they also enthused over, and looked
with envious eyes at the shotguns, rifles, and revolvers exhibited,
evincing great delight at the six and the one pounder guns on the
quarter-deck. With the greatest equanimity they accepted several
little presents made them, nor deigned thanks of any sort for benefits
received, stuffing the different articles into their wide girdles with
a stolid indifference which was enlivened by a smile once only. This
was at a case of needles given to the leading Datto or chief, which,
through the interpreter, we told him were for the wives of his bosom;
whereupon they all smiled broadly, the interpreter explaining it was
because we had sent the needles to women, as among Mindanao Moros
men