"Words on two bracelets are Identical," replied Lee Ching, precisely
Lee Ching took the trinkets and examined them minutely. Presently he asked:
"Will ladies have what say by word of mouth?" The captain was about to answer yes, and then changed his mind:
"No. It may be rather important, and we want to remember it accurately. We would be obliged if you would write it out."
Lee Ching nodded gravely. "Will captain permit I retire to cabin?" he requested, and on being dismissed, he retreated with a formal bow.
"But can he write English?" cried Marcia, when he had disappeared.
"Of course he can, better than he can speak it!" laughed the captain. "English is child's play compared to that brain-paralyzing language of his! I must say, though, that Lee Ching is rather unusual—as Chinese sailors go. He's studied in the University of Pekin, reads and writes English well, and never speaks Pidgin-English. Why he's spending his life as boatswain of a trading-steamer I don't know. He's fitted for far different things. But I have an idea it's on account of his health that he follows the sea."
The time before Lee Ching's reappearance seemed to the girls interminable, though, in all probability, it was not more than fifteen minutes.