The St. Mary banner., 1915-08-07

he had to combat opium and bhang
and laziness in the natives under hiIn.
the bird and his funny tricks had
saved him from whisky. or worse. In
camp he gave Rajah much freedom.
its wings being clipped; and nothing
pleased the little rebel so much as
to claw his way up to his masters
shoulder. sit there and watch the
progress of the razor, with intermit-
tent "jawing" at his own reflection in
the cracked hand mirror
Up and down the Irrawaddy. at the
resthouses, on the boats, to those Of
iccuiar turn Of mind the three we're
known as Parrot & Co." Warning
toms amiability often misled the vari-
Gus scoundrels with whom he was at
times forced to associate. man
who smiled most of the time and
talked Hiudustan to parrot was not
to be accorded much courtesy; until
one day Warrington had settled all
distinctions, finally and primordially,
with the square Of his fists. After
that he went on his way unmolested,
having soundly trounced one of the
biggest bullies in the teak timber
yards at RangoOn.
He made no friends: he had no con-
| fidences to exchange; nor did he offer
! to become the repository Of other
mems pasts. But he would share his
bread and his rupees, when he had
| them, with any who asked Many
! tried to dig into his past. but he was
as unresponsive as granite. 1t takes
woman to find out what a man is
and has been, and Warrington went
about women in a wide circle. In a
way he was the most battling kind
of mystery to those who knew him;
! he freQuented the haNnts of men. took
friendly drink, played cards for
+! small sums. laughed and jested like
any other anchorless man. In the
East men are given curious names.
| They become known by phrases. such
as. The Man Who Talks. Mr.. Once
Upon a Time. The One-Rupee Man,
and the like. AS Warrington never
received any mail, as he never entered
hotel, nor spoke of the past, he be-
came The Man Who Never Talked Of
| Home.
Il say. James old sport, no more
going up and down this bally old river.
Well go on to Rangoon tonight. il
we can find a BERTH"
Yes. sahib; this business very
| piff1e," replied the Eurasian without
turning his head. Two things be
dearly loved to acquire-a bit Of
American slang and bit Of English
silver. He was invariably changing
rupees into shillings, and Warrington
| could not convince him that he was
always losing in the transaction.
They tramped on through the dust.
The sun dropped. A sudden chill be-
gan to penetrate the haze. The white
man puffed his cheroot, its wrapper
dangling; the servant hummed an
Urdu lullaby; the parrot complained
increasingly.
Warrington laughed and shook the
world. James, great. wonderful
world I've just two rupees myself. In
other words we are busted"
1.-TWO rupees!" James paused and
turned. why. sahib, you have three
hundred thousand rupees in your
pocket"
But not worth an anna until | get
to Rangoon. Didn't those buffers give
you anything for handling their lug
gage the other day."
Not a pice. sahib."
RIOTERS! 1t takes an Englishman
to turn a small trick like that Well.
well; there we're extenuating circum-
stances They had sore heads. No
man likes to pay three hundred thou.
sand for something he could have
bought for ten thousand. And | made
them come to me. James. to me-
made them come to this god-forsaken
hole, Just because 1t pleased my fancy.
l believe I'm heaven born, after all.
The Lord hates gutter, and SO do
|. nearly quit myself, once: eh.
Rajah. old top? But l made them
come to me- That's the milk in the
cocoanut, the curry on the rice. They
almost had me- Two rupees! 1t
truly is great world"
"Jah, jah. jah! Jah-jah-jah-
ja-a-a-h!" screamed the parrot cha
loot"
Go on! That's the ticket II
were a praying man this would be the
time for 1t. Three hundred thousand
rupees!" The man looked at the far
horizon. as If he would force his gaze
beyond. into the delectable land. the
Eden out of which he had been driven.
james, ! owe you three hundred ru.
pees. and l am going to add seven
hundred more. We've been fighting