A Servant of Satan: Romantic Career of Prado the Assassin — page 123: what you’re looking at

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

A SERVANT OF SATAN. 115 training, he had succeeded in working his way up to the rank of sergeant. He was regarded with favor by his su- periors and respected by his inferiors. Curiously enough he had kept himself free from any of those entanglements with native women which constitute the bane and shadow ’ of a soldier’s life in the East. At any rate, if he was en- gaged in intrigues of that kind they were kept secret from everybody. The chief trial and annoyance to which he was subjected was the difficulty which he experienced in getting rid of Charles Renier, the companion of his flight from New Cale- donia. The man was constantly getting into trouble and appealing to him for assistance and for money. Frederick dared not refuse him, as he was afraid that he would dis- close his past history. Hardly a month elapsed without Charles being sentenced for some scrape or other to receive ‘‘twentig Rietslagen” (twenty blows from the terrible Mal- acca cane of the corporal), and he was on the high-road to ‘terminate his military career by the ‘‘ strop,” as the gallows is called out there. At length, catching sight one day of a corporal in the act of leaving the rooms inhabited by the dusky Mme. Renier for the time being, he threw himself upon him and thrashed him to within an inch of his life, showing thereby the superiority of the French “ Savatte” over the Dutch ‘‘ Boxie!” Indeed, he left the unfortunate man in a shocking condition, his jaw broken, and one of his ears partly torn from his head. Then, bursting into the woman’s room, he seized the faithless damsel by the throat and kicked and pounded her into unconsciousness. After these exploits, well knowing that if caught he would prob- ably be court-martialed and hanged, he deemed it prudent to show a pair of clean heels, and on the following morning his name was posted up as that of a deserter, and a reward was offered for his capture. : It may incidentally be stated that there are no less than an Gomicbooks (e(0)