The Argosy, Volume XLIV — page 205: what you’re looking at

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

THE CRUISE OF “T don’t see,” remarked Ross, as he stretched himself, “ why people want to live in cities. I can’t understand why we like civilization and theaters with mock sentiment and tinsel. Give me nature in her primitive and grandest mood. Give me the ocean, the sky, the untrodden forest. I tell you, Bayne, I don’t see why people want to live in towns.” The kaybee, who by that time wanted his breakfast, let out his terrible voice to an extent that almost made the island tremble. “Yes, I do,” said Ross sadly. “ There are policemen there to keep the peace.” The professor busied himself feeding the kaybee. He dug roots of which none of us knew a thing. He boiled them in an iron pot, a feature of the process that made Ross sit down and watch. “It occurs to me,” he said, “ that this bird must have had a servant be- fore he flopped down on that ship. Who the deuce cooked his grub for him be- fore that? ” “Well, you see,” said the professor, “it depends on the condition of a bird. In a state of nature a bird of this kind could eat raw food, even raw meat, which all animals and birds who eat meat do, and yet, having constant exer- cise, would feel no harm from it. But in a state of captivity, to feed this bird raw meat, or raw food of any kind, would render it so savage we could not handle it. “This bird does not know its own Strength. It is tame, as you see, and, if one desired, no doubt it could be made much of a pet.” “ Certainly,” said Foster; “it would be much of a pet if it was a pet at all.” “1 have been thinking about that man,” continued the professor. “It is possible that I was mistaken in think- ing him white. There are islands in- habited by people descended from the native population and _ shipwrecked sailors, having a dark, but not black, complexion. This island may be in- habited by the same kind.” “If I knew his address I’d send him a written invitation to come to break- fast,” said Ross. “It could scarcely be expected that b THE HANDICAP. 201 he could read it,” rejoined the profes- sor. We had breakfast, Foster being of the opinion that a cup of coffee was sufficient. “T like cooks who tell me what I must eat,’ said Ross. “ Saves a deuced lot of thinking.” - “Now let’s get down to business,” began Foster. ‘“‘ We’ve loafed around studying the landscape, listened to Ross’ insane murmurings, and seen a face in the window—I mean in the bushes. But if we are going to hunt for kaybees, let’s get at it.” “We don’t want to do anything ex- cept make a camp,” said Ross. “I, sir, am well born. I was raised in a house. I prefer to live in a house. Get an ax and chop me out a house.” “Oh, that be hanged! Can’t we get some saplings and tie their tops to- gether, and weave sides with pieces of bark? Seems to me [ye read of such things in books.” ‘But look here,” objected Ross. “ If we are expecting to do everything Robinson Crusoe did, and the Swiss family Robinson, and Captain Cook, and the king of the Cannibal Islands, well never gct back to the yacht. What’s more, we'll never find a kaybee.” ‘Well, it would take longer to build a house.” | “The face! The face!” cried the professor, pointing into the bush again. The kaybee screamed, Ross leaped for the bush wnarmed, and Foster and I grabbed guns to go in pursuit. There came from the bushes a voice. “Do not harm me,” it said. “TI will not and cannot harm you. I was afraid that you would shoot.” | Foster and I stopped short and looked at each other. “It’s a man!” exclaimed the profes- sor, In as much excitement as though we had found a kaybee. Ross came walking back to the camp leading by the hand one of the stran- gest looking characters I had ever seen. He even went ahead of the professor. He was tall, straight as an arrow, and wore a suit made of a kind of cloth woven from the fibers of a tree. His beard was long and unkempt. He was thin and emaciated, and apparently ECOMRiNIEloOO@ SS) Colin