You must be dignified, Scraggsy, old salamander.
Remember that you're bigger an' better'n any king, because you're
an American citizen. Be dignified, by all means. These people are
sensitive and peculiar, and that's why we haven't taken any
weapons with us. If they thought we doubted their hospitality
they'd have the court bouncer heave us out of town before you
could say Jack Robinson."
"I'd love to see them giving the bounce to McGuffey," said
Captain Scraggs musingly. Mr. Gibney had a swift mental picture
of such a proceeding and chuckled happily. Had he been permitted
a glance at McGuffey at that moment he might have observed that
worthy sweltering in the heat of the forward hold of the _Maggie
II_, for he was busy getting his guns on deck. From which it will
readily be deduced that B. McGuffey, Esquire, was following the
advice of his paternal ancestor and getting an anchor out to
windward.
One might go on at great length and describe the triumphal entry
of Commodore Gibney and Captain Scraggs into the capitol of
Kandavu; of how the king, an undersized, shrivelled old savage,
stuck his bushy head out the window of his bungalow when he saw
the procession coming; of how a minute later he advanced into the
space in the centre of his wari, where in the olden days the
populace was wont to gather for its cannibal orgies; how he
greeted his distinguished visitors with the most prodigious
rubbing of noses seen in those parts for many a day; of the feast
that followed; of the fowls and pigs that garnished the festive
board, not omitting the keg of Three Star thoughtfully provided
by Mr.
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