"A thousand thanks." The face disappeared, and the hair was pulled after
it.
I waited. I could hear nothing distinctly, but in a moment Schneider
came running quickly and stiffly down the creaky ladder from the door.
He saw me--of that I am sure--but I did not blame him for not greeting
one who had doubtless been giving aid and comfort to the enemy. I
squatted on the low railing of French Eva's compound, but she herself
was not forthcoming. After ten minutes I heard a commotion in the
poultry yard, and found her at the back among her chickens. Her hair was
piled up into an amazing structure: it looked as if some one had placed
the great pyramid on top of the sphinx.
"Do you need my further services?"
She smiled. "Not in the least. But I like to speak to animals, when
possible, in their own language. It saves time." By way of illustration,
she clucked to a group of hens. She turned her back to me, and I was
dismissed from her barefoot presence.
Stires was my logical goal after that, and I found him busy with the
second mate of a tramp just in from Papua and bound for the Carolines.
After the man had gone, I informed Stires of the episode. For a man who
had damned Schneider up and down for making presents to a lady, Stires
reacted disappointingly.
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