There was then a great company started, for the purpose of reclaiming some miles of the shallow sea around Bombay. Antonio was much taken with the scheme, and bought heavily of the shares at par. They mounted up to a wondrous price; and one night, so he told us, he had a dream. Some thing, or creature, covered with slime and seaweed, crawled up out of the sea, and thrice repeated a warning to Antonio, anent the Ocean Reclamation Company.
Next day Antonio sold out, and only just in time, for a week or two after, the bubble burst. Perhaps Antonio Garcia and the promoters of the scheme were the only persons who had profited thereby.
But the questions remained. What was the meaning of the man, so to speak? Was he a wizard or a sorcerer—his powers of hypnotism were very great—or was he mad? Why his haste to amass wealth?
Again, we could not help noticing his great influence over the lower animals. Whence this magic power that caused even the birds of the air, and smaller beasts of the jungle, to come at his call, and even feed from his hands?
While out walking—and he used to walk a deal—I have never met him without seeing a pigeon or two, or gulls flying tack and half tack close around him.
Again, he was ever trying to do good to those around him, even to little Hindoo children. Was he sincere?
This question we had to answer by asking another: Would birds, and beasts, and children have loved him so had he not been sincere?
Something else we could not help noticing: every forenoon a tall and handsome Mahommedan, dressed outwardly in a long green cloak of camel’s hair, used to call at Antonio’s bungalow, leaving his sandals on the doorstep. (We never went in when we saw the sandals.) This reverend, patriarchal-looking old man was a real scion of the prophet, and used to teach Antonio both Hebrew and Sanscrit.
But this was another mystery. I remember that in our mess we summed Antonio up thus: He is either a sincerely pious and good man, as he appears to be, or he is working towards some mysterious end, and is in league with the Evil One.
Reader, I should be giving myself away were I to unravel the mystery now.