Page:Henry rideout--The siamese cat.djvu/209

 make her yet, sir. Give the gentleman his property."

"Ho, hindeed!" growled Bob. "Wot are you sufferin' from, Metcalf? I say this is my cat, 'cause it is mine. 'E's gone many a voyage along of me." Scowling pugnaciously, he perched the cat on his broad shoulder. "If any o' my mates was 'ere, they'd swear theirselves black in the face to that. 'E's a Japanee cat. I bought 'im in Kobe, and I lost 'im 'ere this mornin'."

"That's odd," retorted Scarlett. His hope of reaching the ship had revived; and with rising temper, he sketched Chao Phya's history. Their common interest in pets drew the sailors by one's and two's, into a group round the disputants,—a group that broke out in good-humoured wrangling.

"That's wot 'e is.… Who's to prove it?… I tell you it ain't no Jap …