Page:Ballinger Price--Fortune of the Indies.djvu/229

 Mark considered her proudly, his head on one side.

"She 's a jolly little piece of work," he said. "Look at her! Wake up, you old stick, and look at her!"

The baby crawled toward Alan, who was regarding her dubiously, and made a few monosyllabic remarks which might have been youthful attempts at almost any language. Mark slapped his knee.

"There 's a discovery!" he said. "All babies talk Chinese to begin with, and branch out into other tongues later on. Here's proof!"

"Oh, pshaw!" said Alan. "This isn't any time for idiotic theories. Do something about sailing this boat, and keep your weather eye out for that old woman."

"What old woman?" Mark asked.

"The old woman we're going to hand over the kid to," his brother said.

"Assuredly," said Mark. "Port, there, you lubber, or you'll have us up a tree. Whoa, Ping-Pong! Stop climbing up my leg!"

But old women seemed scarce along these