“Sacre!” he cried, “nevaire did I such a foolishness see.”
“What’s the matter now?” demanded Jack. “The only foolishness I can see is in our coming to this hotel.”
The landlord shrugged his shoulders as if in despair.
“What else do you expect but zee bat, zee scorpion, zee centipede, zee leezard, zee chigre, zee——”
“What makes a noise like 'becky, becky, becky’?” asked Billy, breaking in on the catalogue.
“Then that fellow that nipped my toe and the one that sang out for Rebecca must be the same individual,” cried Billy indignantly, “but go on with your catalogue.”
“Zere was zee cat and zee dog 'ere, too?” he demanded.
“No, I said the catalogue. The list of insects you were rattling off.”
“Oh, well, I was going to say to you not to leave zee porch doors open in zee night. And also nevaire go to bed wizout lighting one of zees lights.” He tapped the peculiar-smelling night-light he held. “See, here eez one 'ere on zees table.”
“Well, you can’t blame us for not knowing what it was,” protested Jack, as he lighted it. “I thought it was some peculiar kind of drink. It’s the first time I ever saw light served in a tumbler.”
“Zee light veree good,” said the landlord, as he was leaving the room. “Zee animal no like zee light, also they no like zee smell.”
“I don’t blame them,” said Jack, after the man had left, and the odd tumbler lamp was burning with a sputtering, smoking flame, “especially the smell part.”
“Anyhow, anything is better than sharing your bed with you-don’t-know-what creepy-crawly things,” declared Raynor.
“Yes, and lizards that go round hollering girls’ names,” agreed Jack. “I fancy we’ll sleep better now. But, after all, we’ve got to get used to it all for we may meet worse in the jungle.”
The next day was busily spent by the boys. Jack had his portable wireless to assemble. Raynor was assigned as “chief of baggage,” and Captain Sparhawk and Mr. Jukes, with Muldoon, who spoke the Papuan dialect after a fashion, occupied the time rounding up the native bearers and finding a suitable “head man.” The latter was very important to the success of the expedition, both to keep the other natives up to their work and to find trails and, if necessary, act as interpreter. Through the good offices of Jabez Hook, a “smart Yankee” who ran a “general store” at Bomobori, and was a warm friend of Captain Sparhawk’s, they finally found just the man they wanted. He was a tall, up-right Papuan with an exceptionally intelligent face, who spoke fair English, knew the country thoroughly and appeared about thirty years old. Salloo, as he called himself, agreed to have everything in readiness for a start into the interior by the next morning. He held out hopes that from some of the interior tribes they would get news of the lost ones, for among the natives news travels fast, and if ‘Bully’ Broom had conveyed prisoners into the inland some of the tribesmen would be sure to know about it.