Captain Restronguet looked at Captain Jones, and the skipper of the "Pride of Rhodesia" looked at the captain of the "Aphrodite." The absurdity of the Portuguese officer's logic caused them to laugh heartily.
"Tell him we could wipe him off the face of the earth in a brace of shakes," suggested Captain Jones speaking rapidly and in a low tone so that the captain of the gunboat could not understand.
"No, I'll deal with him in quite a different way," was the reply.
"Why you laugh? Me no be laugh at," exclaimed the irate Portuguese. "Me representative of Republica."
"Look here, my friend," said Captain Restronguet. "Do you see that tent pitched on the top of the hill? We've fever amongst us. Had we known you were coming we would have had the yellow flag hoisted to warn you."
The Portuguese officer's face paled under his yellow skin.
"Fever? How say. Madre de Dios!" and he agilely skipped back a couple of paces.
"Yes, very bad case, senhor. Perhaps you would care to see our hospital arrangements?"
But the Portuguese did not care to do so; he precipitately retreated to his boat, followed by his thoroughly scared men, and half an hour later the gunboat was pelting down stream as fast as her crazy engines would drive her.
"Another example of the curse of petty officialdom," commented Captain Restronguet. "No wonder the Portuguese colonies are almost at a standstill. Well, Polglaze, how is the work progressing?"