OCR Text |
Show PARROT HAROLD MACGRATH AUTHOR OF O T "THE CARPET FROM IX i it I BAGDAD," "THE PLACE OF W HONEYMOONS," ETC. ' Copyricbt by tbo Bobbs-Murrili Company CHAPTER I. E?st Is East. H began somewhere in the middle of the world, at a for lorn landing on the west hank of the muddy, turbulent turbu-lent Irrawaddy, remembered by man only so often as it was necessary for the flotilla boat to call for paddy, a visiting commissioner anxious to get away, or a family homeward bound. On the east side of the river, over there, was a semblance of civilization That is to say, men wore white linen, avoided murder, and frequently paid l heir gambling debts. .Hut on this west side stood wilderness, not the kind one reads about as being eventually eventu-ally conquered by white men; no, the real, grim desolation, where the ax cuts but leaves no blaze, where the pioneer disappears and few or none follow. It was not the wilderness of the desert, of the jungle; rather the tragic, hopeless slate of a settlement that neither progressed, retarded nor stood still. Between the landing and the settle-ment settle-ment itself there stretched a winding road, arid and treeless, perhaps two miles in length. It announced definitely defi-nitely that its end was futility. The dust hung like a fog above it, not only for this day. but for all days between the big rains. When the gods, or the elements, or Providence, arranged the world as a tit habitation for man. India In-dia and Burma were made the dustbins. dust-bins. And as water finds its levels, so will dust, earthly and human, the quick and the dead. Ming the road walked two men, phantrimliko. One saw their heads dimly and still more dimly their. bodies to the knees: of legs .there was nothing noth-ing visible. Occasionally they stepped aside to permit some bullock cart to pass. Cue of them swore, not with any evidence of temper, not viciously, but in a kind of mechanical protest, which, from long usage, had become a habit. He directed these epithets never at anything he could by menial j or physical contest overcome. Hej swore at the dust, at the heat, at the wind, at the sun. The other wayfarer, with the Inherent Inher-ent patience of his blood, said nothing and wailed, setting down the heavy kit bag and the canvas valise (bis own). When the way was free again he would sling the kit bag and the valise over his shoulder and step hack into the road. His turban, once white, was brown with dust and sweat. His I khaki uniform was rent and the rag- I ged canvas shoes spurted little spirals of dust as he walked. James llooghly j was Eurasian; half European, half Indian, In-dian, having his place twixt heaven and hell, which is to say, nowhere. He 1 was faithful, willing and strotig; and . as a carrier of burdens took unmur- 1 muringly his place beside the tireless ', bullock and the elephant. He was a Methodist; why, no one could find lucid lu-cid answer. Ity dint of inquiry his master had learned that James looked upon his baptism and conversion in Methodism as a corporal would have . looked upon the acquisition of a V. C. j Twice, during fever and plague, he had saved his master's life. Willi the cuiiohssnoss of the Oriental he con- ' sidered himself responsible for his master in all future times. Instead of pavin:- off a debt he had acquired one. Treated as he was, kindly but always hrmly. he would have su'rendered his life cheerfully at the beck of the' white j man. j Warrington was an American. He I was also one of Ihose men who never held misfortune In contempt, whose outlook wherever It roamed was tolerant. tol-erant. He had patletu;e for the weak, resolution for the si rung and a fearless fear-less amiability toward all. He wns like the St. P.ernard dog. very difficult diffi-cult to arouse. It Is rather the way j with all men who are strong mentally j and physically. He was tall and broad j and deep. I'ndor the battered pith 1 helmet his face was as dark as the I Kuraslan's; but the eyes were blue, bright and small implied, as they are with men who live out of doors, who are compelled of necessity to note things moving at distances. The nose J mas large and well defined. All! framed iu a tangle of blond beard and ! mustache which. If anything, added to the general manliness of his appearand'. ap-pearand'. He, too, wore khaki, but with the addition of tan riding leggings, leg-gings, which had seen anything but' Pickiugl-orse service. The man was 1 yellow from the lop of his helmet to , Hie soles of his shoes- Hillside. 't,r , the 1 lie war. a mystery. In .lames J to all who thought they knew hini, and 1 most of nil lo himself. A pariah, an oulea.'l, a fupllive from the hloodhe s 1 land of t!i" law; a gentleman horn. 1, lire upon a tune a el'ibnum, college lued . a ( on: r-idii 1 i.iii. a puzzle for which H.eje v, n 1 mil nnv solution, 1101 i v . ) 111 I he hidden corner of the mii loart His name wasn't War ,!!..' ,11; li'nl he had rul'ljeil olbown with the li"gs of Immunity, and still' ,,, I'.- d v'l 1,' mi i I'll t In 1 he e e 1,01 ;nine ho hud (one- through Inferno without l,i nixing any of Hie dellllng pilch. I 1 mil I line lo time he pnu.'od to re light bin ( rumbling cheroot. 'I he ionic io-nic 0 una ulroiiK "I'd hitler mid slung h m pinched Hps; but t) cf vIiik for the tang of the smoke on his tongue was not to be denied. Under his arm he carried a small iron cage, patterned something like a rat trap. It contained a Rajputana parrakcet, not much larger than a robin, but possessor of a soul as tierce as that of ralladin, minus, however, the smoothing influence of chivalry, lie I'.ad been born under the eaves of the scarlet palace in Jaipur (so his history ran); but the proximity of Indian In-dian princes had left him untouched; he had neither chivalry, politeness, nor diplomacy. He was, in fact, thoroughly thor-oughly and consistently had. Round and round he went, over and over, top side, down side, restlessly. For at this moment he was hearing those familiar evening sounds which no human hu-man ear can discern the mutterings of the day birds about to seek cover lor the night. In the field at the right I of the road stood a lonely tree. It was covered with brilliant scarlet leaves and blossoms, and justly the natives call it the Flame of the Jungle. A flock of small birds were gyrating above it. "Jah, jali. jab! Jah jah Ja a-a-h ! " cried the parrot, imitating the Burmese Bur-mese bell gong that calls to prayer. Instantly he followed the call with a ; shriek so piercing as to sling the ear of the man w ho was carrying him. t "You little son of a gun!" he I laughed; "where do you pack away all , that noise?" There was a strange bond between the big yellow man and this little : green bird. The bird did not suspect it. but the man knew. The piuck, the ; puennoily and the individuality of the feathered comrade bad been an object j lesson lo the man, at a time when he 1 had been on the point of throwing up the light. ! "Jah, jah, jah ! Jah jah jaa-a-h!" I The bird began its interminable sotn-1 sotn-1 crsaults, pausing onlv to reach for the J tantalizing finger of the man, who I laughed again as he withdrew the j digit in time. I For six years he had carried the bird with him, through India and Burma Bur-ma and Malacca, and not yet had he won a sign of surrender. There were many scars on his forefingers. It was amazing With one pressure of his hand he could have crushed out the life of the bird, but over Its brave, unconquerable un-conquerable spirit he had no power. And that Is why he loved it. Far away in the past they had met. He remembered the day distinctly and bitterly. He had been on the brink of self-destruction. Fever and poverty and terrible loneliness had battered and beaten him flat Into the dust, from which this time he had no wish to rise. He had walked out tc the railway station at Jaipur to witness wit-ness the arrival of the tourist train from Ahmadahad. The nal i ves su rged about the Ir.iiu. with brnssware. antique an-tique articles of warfare, tiger hunting hunt-ing knives (accompanied by perennial fairy talesl, skins and silks. There were beggars, holy men, guides and fakirs. Squatted in the dust before the door of a tirst-elass carriage was a solemn, lirnivii man. in turban and clout, exhibiting exhib-iting performing parrots. It was Rajah's Ra-jah's turn. He fired a cannon, turned somersaults through a little steel hoop, opened a tiny chest, took out a four anna piece, carried It to his master, mas-ter, and in exchange received some seed. Thereupon he waddled resentfully resent-fully back to the Iron cage, opened the door, closed II behind him. and began lo mutter belligerent ly. Warrington War-rington haggled for t w o straight hours. When he returned to his sordid, evil smelling lodgings that night he kib-sessed kib-sessed the parrot and four rupees, and sat up the greater part of the night trying to make the bird perform his tricks. The Idea of suicide no longer bothered him; trifling though It was, he had found an Interest. In life. And on the. morrow came the Furaslnn, who trustfully loaned Warrington every ev-ery coin that he could scrape together. Often, in the dreary heart-achy days that followed, when weeks passed ere he saw the face of a white man, when he had to combat opium and lihang nnd laziness In the natives under him. the bird and his funny tricks had sail (1 him from whisky, or worse. In camp he gave Itnjah much fr loin. Its wings being (dipped; nnd nollilng pleased the Utile rebel no much as lo claw his way up to his master's shoulder, Hit there and watch t''o progress of the razor, with Intermittent Intermit-tent "jawing" i:l his own reflection In the cracked hand mirror. I'p and down Ihe Irrnwnddy, nt the rei.l house'i. on the boats, lo those of a Jocular turn of mind Ihe ihree were known ;i'i "Parrot ,C- Co." Warring-ton's Warring-ton's iini'.iihil.l.v often misled Hie vnrl on scoundrel;, with whom he was at limes forced lo associate. A man v l.o 1 miled mm t of Ihe lime nnd inlki d 1 1 1 lulus! ani lo r parrot w iih mil In be accord' d much -ourlrsy; until one day Warrington lind sell led nil d is' i in t I'liii', finally ami pi Imoi dial i.v . with Hi" rqiiare of Ills fists. Alter thai be weiiL on bin wnv unmolested having roundly trounced one of the I lilirei'l I.11 1 1 I.m in the leak timber I . 11 nls 11 1 II a 11oori. II" made no friends; he bad no coll j fidences to exchange; nor did he offer to become the repository of other men's pasts. Hut he would share his' bread and his rupees, when lie had them, with any who asked. Many tried to dig into his past, but he was as unresponsive as granite. It takes a woman to find out what n man is and has been, and Warrington went about women in a wide circle. In a way he was the most ballling kind of a mystery to those who knew him; he frequented the haunts of men, took a friendly drink, played cards for small sums, laughed and jested like any other anchorless man. In the Kast men are given curious names. They become known by phrases, such as. The Man Who Talks, Mr. Once I' pon a Time, The One-Rupee Man, and the like. As Warrington never received any mail, as he never entered a hotel, nor spoke of the past, ho became be-came The Man Who Never Talked of Home. "I say, James, old sport, no moro going up and down this bally old river. We'll go on to Rangoon tonight, if we can find a berth." "Yes, sahib; this business very piffle," replied the Kurasian without turning his head. Two things he dearly loved to acquire a bit of American slang and a bit of English silver. He was invariably changing rupees into shillings, and Warrington could not convince him that he was always losing In the transaction. They tramped on through the dust. The sun dropped. A sudden chill began be-gan to penetrate the haze. The while man puffed his cheroot, its wrapper dangling; the servant hummed an Urdu lullaby; the parrot complained unceasingly. Warrington laughed and shook the lust from his heard. "It's a great world, James, a great, wonderful world. I've just two rupees myself. In other words we are busted." "Two rupees!" James paused and turned. "Why, sahib, you have three hundred thousand rupees in your ' pocket." "But not worth an anna until I get to Rangoon. Didn't those duffers give you anything for handling their luggage lug-gage the other day ?" "Not a pice, sahib." "Rotters! It takes an Englishman to turn a small trick like that. Well, well; there were extenuating circumstances. circum-stances. They had sore heads. No man likes to pay three hundred thou sand for something ho could havo bought for ten thousand. And 1 made them come to me, James, to me. I made them come to this god-forsaken hole, just because It pleased my fancy. 1 believe I'm heaven born, after all. The Lord hates a quitter, and so do I. I nearly quit myself, once; eh. Rajah, old top? But I made them come to me. Thai's the milk In the cocoanul, the curry on the rice. They almost hail me. Two rupees! It truly is a great world." "Jah, jah, jah! Jah Jail Jah jaaa h!" screamed the parrot, "Cha-loo!" "Cha-loo!" "Co on! That's the ticket. If I were a praving man this would be the lime for it. Three hundred thousand rupees!" The man looked at Ihe far horizon, ns If he would force his gaze beyond, into the delectable land, the Eden out of which he had been driven. "James. I owe you three hundred ru-M'os. ru-M'os. and 1 am going lo add seven hundred more. We've been lighting this old top for six years together, and you've been a good servant and a good friend; and I'll take you with me as far as this fortune will go. If you say the word." "Ah, sahib, I am much sorry. But Delhi calls, and I go. A thousand rupees ru-pees will make much business for mo in llio Chandney Chowk." Presently they became purple shades 111 a brown world. CHAPTER II. A Man With a Past. The oriental night air was stlrless. It was without refreshment; It became a labor and not an exhilaration to breathe It. A pall of Buffocallng dust rolled above and aboul the Irrawaddy flotilla boat which, buffeted by Ihe strong. Irregular current, strained at lis cables, now at the bow, now at Ihe stern, not dissimilar (o the last rocking rock-ing of a descried swing. This sensation sensa-tion was unite pcroepllble lo Ihe girl who leaned over Ihe bow rail, her handkerchief pressed to her nose, and gazed Interestedly at the sleep hank, up and down which Ihe sweallng coolies coo-lies swarmed llkc.Carr.antiian nils. A dozen torches were stuck Into Ihe ground above Ihe crumbling ledge; idle saw Ihe (lames as one Hees a burning mulch cupped In a smoker's hands, shedding light upon nothing save Unit which hIiiikIh immediately behind II. She linked a Utile Her eyes smart-t.( smart-t.( Iler Hps were slightly crackeu. and cold cream seemed only lo provide a surer real lug place for the Impalpable Impalpa-ble dust. II had penetrated Ihrougli wool nnd linen and silk, I n ( 1 1 11 1 1 1 1 1 y , ill III tlueo I.iiIiih a day had become a welcome routine, providing It was possible pos-sible lo obtain water. Wnlor Her longmi ran ncroiis Iler lips Oh, for 11 drink from tl: old cold rnre spring at home! Tea. coffee, and bottled soda; nothing that ever touched the thirsty spots In he throat. She looked up at the stars and they looked down upon her, but what she asked they could not. would not. answer. an-swer. Night after night she had asked, and night after night they had only twinkled as of old She had traveled trav-eled now for four months, and still the doubt beset 1 er. It was to be a leap in the dark, with no one to tell hor what wai. on the other side. But why this insistent doubt? Why could she not .ake the leap gladly, as a woman should who bad given the affirmative to a man? With him she was certain that she loved him, away from him she did not know what sentiment really abided in her heart. She was wise enough to realize that something was wrong; and there were but three months between her and the inevitable decision. Never before had she known other than momentary indecision; and it irked her to find that her clarity of vision was fallible nnd human like the rest of her. The truth was. she didn't know her mind. She shrugged, and the movement stirred the dust that had gathered upon her shoulders "A rare old lot of dust; eh. Miss Chetwood? I wish we could travel by night, hut you can't trust this blooming bloom-ing old Irrawaddy after sundown. Charts are so much waste-paper." "I never cease wondering bow .hose poor coolies can carry those heavy rice bags," she replied to the purse-. "Oh, they are used to it." carelessly. The great gray stack of paddy-bags seemed, in the eyes of the girl, fairly to melt away. "By Jove!" exclaimed the purser. "There's Parrot & Co.!" He laughed and pointed toward one of the torchei. "Parrot A; . Co.? 1 do not understand." under-stand." e "That big blond chap behind the fourth torch. Yes. there. Sometime I'll tell you about him Picturesque duffer." She could have shrieked aloud, but all she did was to draw in her breath with a gasp that went so deep it gave "Two Rupees!" James Paused and Turned. her heart a twinge. Iler fingers tight-, ened upon the teak rail. Suddenly the knew, and was ashamed of her weakness. weak-ness. It was simply a remarkable likeness, nothing more than that; It could not possibly be anyihin,- more. Still, a ghost could not have startled her as this living man had done "Who is lie?" "A chap named Warrington. But over here dial signifies notliln;,; might just as well lie Jones or Smith or Brown. We call him l'urr.t ,C Co. He's always oarr ing that ivaaitaniv parrot. You've seen the kind around the palaces and forts; saberlike wings, long tail feathers, green and blue and scarlet, and the ugliest llltle rascals going. This one Is trained to do tricks." "But the man!" Impatiently. n 111-; niNTiNi'Kii ) - A |