A Queer Race: The Story of a Strange People — page 61: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

58 A QUEER. RACE. anybody. <A great yellow one—twice as big as any of the others--a great yellow one, with black wiiskers, and white teeth, and fierce red eyes, came and sat on my chest and spat at me. It gave me the fever, curse it! Get dogs and cats; set traps; lay poison. Kall it! kill it! Kill that cursed yellow rat, or you will all die. A little more of that eauw-de-Cologne, please; on my eyeballs this time. Thanks. And now I willdrink again. This thirst is terrible. I am very ill, Erle.” I remained with him an hour or more, laving his head with eau-de- Cologne and giving him some drink, and then, leaving him with his boy for awhile, I went outside to get a breath of fresh air, the cabin being both close and hot. Bucklow was still on deck. ‘© How long will he last, do you think?” he asked. «Perhaps until to-morrow,” I answered, gloomily. ‘‘'’hey have all gone on the second day, or sooner, se far; and Peyton has it very badly. Iam afraid he will be wildly delirious. Somebody should be with him con- tinually.” «You have left the boy, I suppose?’’ «© Yes; and I shall go back in a few minutes.” ‘‘Tfow long will this last, I wonder? It’s hell: Tl tell you what, Erle. Ihave a great mind to cast that cursea brig off on my own authority. We have had no luck since we saw her. [amin cominand now. Do you think I might?” “Oertainly. Cast her off, by all means, and let us make all the haste we can for Montevideo, while there’s somebody to navigate and sail the ship; and 1f——” “Rats! Rats! Rats! There’s that great yellow one with the red eyes! Ill catch him! Jl catch him, if ! die for it! Ah! he is making for the Lady Jane, is — he——!” ‘*My God! what is that?” exclaimed Bucklow, as we both turned from the taffrail, over which we had been leaning. It was the captain running across the deck in his shirt, and at the same instant, and before either of us could raise a hand to stop him, he sprung on the bulwark and jumped into the sea. Phe mate, with ready presence of mind, threw a buoy EGOmMiG JOO KS) (E(0)