Page:Henry rideout--The siamese cat.djvu/64

 Siamese fashion, was tattooed a circular design in blue.

"An old friend, isn't it?" continued Scarlett. "The symbol of Creation, the Dual Powers—two whales rolled together to form the world—as you see them on the Korean flag, the Madura praus, the Northern Pacific Railroad, and everywhere. He's not a Hoi-how boy."

The pawnbroker suddenly resumed the chaffering.

"Ni! Ni!" he cried vehemently, suspending by the scruff of his neck the fawn-coloured cat, who squirmed and clawed like a dragon. "Ni! Mau! Gi dǒ?"

"M-hai," Scarlett shook his head indifferently. "M-sē-nē. No wantchee."

The Chinaman returned calmly to the blue "miu-chai." And so the bargain tossed and wavered, while the chuckling crowd muttered