When it was finished, Lepas took an empty cocoanut shell and went out into the crowd to collect pennies.
I threw in a dollar. Lepas salaamed low as he snatched it out and bit it to test its genuineness. It was his latest accomplishment. Then he hid himself among the laughing crowd.
That Lepas knew me, I could tell by the droop in his eye and the quick glance he gave to the right and left, to see if there was room to escape in case I made an effort to avenge my wrongs.
I had no desire, however, to renew the acquaintance, and was quite willing to let by-gones be by-gones.
King Solomon’s Mines
Being an Account of an Ascent of Mount Ophir in Malaya, by His Excellency, the Tuan Hakim of Maur, and the Writer
“And they came to Ophir, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty talents, and brought it to King Solomon.”—1 Kings IX. 28.
“For the King’s ships went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram; every three years once came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.”—2 Chronicles VIII. 21.
The rose tints of a tropical sunrise had broken through the heavy bamboo chicks that jealously guarded the rapidly fleeting half-lights of my room: there came three deferential taps at the door, and the smiling, olive-tinted face of Ah Minga appeared at the opening. “Tabek, Tuan,” he saluted, as he raised the mosquito curtains, and placed a tray of tea and mangosteens on a table by my side.