Page:In a Steamer Chair and Other Stories.djvu/160

148 stood, and very likely Mrs. Tremain as well. As Captain Tremain essayed to pass us I collected my wits as well as I could, and said:

"Oh, by the way, captain, I wanted to speak to you about Mexico. Do you&mdash;do you&mdash;think that it is a good&mdash;er&mdash;place for investment?"

"Well," said Captain Tremain, pausing, "I am not so sure about that. You see, their Government is so very unstable. The country itself is rich enough in mineral wealth, if that is what you mean."

All the while Howard stood there with his mouth agape, and I felt like shoving my fist into it.

"Here, Howard," I said, "I want to speak to Captain Tremain for a moment. Take this shawl and find Mrs. Tremain, and give it to her." Saying this, I took the shawl from the captain's arm and threw it at young Howard. He appeared then to realize, for the first time, what was expected of him, and, giving me a grateful look, disappeared toward the stern.

"What I wanted more particularly to know about Mexico," I said to the captain, who made no objection to this move, "was whether there would be any more&mdash;well, likely to have trouble&mdash;whether we would have trouble with them in a military way, you know&mdash;that's more in your line."