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CHAPTER TWO
CHITS AND CATS
Owen let the launch go puffing to the land, bearing with it—a white figure among the bow cushions—all the good, all the gain of the Orient. He stood and formed a plan.
At the foot of the bridge-ladder he found the Captain, mollified by the happy effects of epigram, oratory, command, and a stengah with the Customs Officer.
"Good-bye, sir, I've had a pleasant voyage," said Scarlett; and when they had shaken hands—"By the way, what's wrong with that fellow Borkman? I meant to ask before—"
The ruddy little Captain rested his gaze upon the spire of a distant wat, and meditated, as if the secret were impaled on the pinnacle. "His damned ubiquity, for one thing," he as-
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