But, coward as he was, he had been afraid of me.
When they found that I was on the quay, they had been afraid of me,
not knowing how to get rid of me. I wish that I had kept the quay
all day, and stared them down one by one as they entered the boat.
But I was down in the mouth, and when the Consul left me, I crept
wearily back to my bedroom.
And the Consul did leave me almost immediately. A faint hope had,
at one time, come upon me that he would have asked me to breakfast.
Had he done so, I should have felt it as a full compensation for all
that I had suffered. I am not an exacting man, but I own that I
like civility. In Friday Street I can command it, and in Friday
Street for the rest of my life will I remain. From this Consul I
received no civility. As soon as he had got me out of the way and
spoken the few words which he had to say, he again raised his hat
and left me. I also again raised mine, and then crept up to my bed-
room.
From my window, standing a little behind the white curtain, I could
see the whole embarkation. There was Mahmoud al Ackbar, looking
indeed a little hot, but still going through his work with all that
excellence of deportment which had graced him on the preceding
evening. Had his foot slipped, and had he fallen backwards into
that shallow water, my spirit would, I confess, have been relieved.
But, on the contrary, everything went well with him. There was the
real Sir George, my namesake and perhaps my cousin, as fresh as
paint, cool from the bath which he had been taking while I had been
walking on that terrace.
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