Page:On to Pekin.djvu/66

46 "Humph! He'll be killed as sure as you're born. But it serves him right. He had no business to try to take the reins out of my hands. I know how to drive—used to drive the finest high-steppers in Richmond. He don't know the first thing about hosses."

"Well, I hope he isn't killed."

"Oh, he'll be all right—you couldn't kill Jerry Nickerson if you tried. Say, but I'm in a pickle, ain't I?" And Nuggy Polk surveyed himself dismally. He was arrayed in a white linen suit, with a fancy silk dress shirt; and the outfit had suffered much from the contact with mud and water. "I can't go back tp Manila looking like this."

Gilbert could offer nothing but his handkerchief; and this Polk accepted, and washed his face and hands at a near-by pool. He was very unsteady on his legs, and his speech was thick. He declared that he did not care what became of Jerry Nickerson.

"He's my friend, but in a case of this kind he must take care of himself," he muttered. "I suppose those ponies won't run on forever."

"If you got them from a stable in Manila, they will probably go straight home," answered Gilbert.