Then he shut
his book with a snap and moved away, Binat plucking feebly at his elbow.
his book with a snap and moved away, Binat plucking feebly at his elbow.
Kipling - Poems
and for my
degradation so tremendous! I will not. Take him away. He is a devil.
Or at least do thou, Celeste, demand of him more. " The excellent Binat
began to kick and scream.
"All things are for sale in Port Said," said Madame. "If my husband
comes it will be so much more. Eh, how you call 'alf a sovereign. "
The money was paid, and the mad dance was held at night in a walled courtyard
at the back of Madame Binat's house. The lady herself, in faded mauve
silk always about to slide from her yellow shoulders, played the piano,
and to the tin-pot music of a Western waltz the naked Zanzibari girls
danced furiously by the light of kerosene lamps. Binat sat upon a chair
and stared with eyes that saw nothing, till the whirl of the dance and
the clang of the rattling piano stole into the drink that took the place
of blood in his veins, and his face glistened. Dick took him by the chin
brutally and turned that face to the light. Madame Binat looked over her
shoulder and smiled with many teeth. Dick leaned against the wall and
sketched for an hour, till the kerosene lamps began to smell, and the
girls threw themselves panting on the hard-beaten ground.
Then he shut
his book with a snap and moved away, Binat plucking feebly at his elbow.
"Show me," he whimpered. "I too was once an artist, even I! " Dick showed
him the rough sketch. "Am I that? " he screamed. "Will you take that away
with you and show all the world that it is I,--Binat? " He moaned and
wept.
"Monsieur has paid for all," said Madame. "To the pleasure of seeing
Monsieur again. "
The courtyard gate shut, and Dick hurried up the sandy street to the
nearest gambling-hell, where he was well known. "If the luck holds, it's
an omen; if I lose, I must stay here. " He placed his money picturesquely
about the board, hardly daring to look at what he did. The luck held.
Three turns of the wheel left him richer by twenty pounds, and he went
down to the shipping to make friends with the captain of a decayed
cargo-steamer, who landed him in London with fewer pounds in his pocket
than he cared to think about.
A thin gray fog hung over the city, and the streets were very cold; for
summer was in England.
degradation so tremendous! I will not. Take him away. He is a devil.
Or at least do thou, Celeste, demand of him more. " The excellent Binat
began to kick and scream.
"All things are for sale in Port Said," said Madame. "If my husband
comes it will be so much more. Eh, how you call 'alf a sovereign. "
The money was paid, and the mad dance was held at night in a walled courtyard
at the back of Madame Binat's house. The lady herself, in faded mauve
silk always about to slide from her yellow shoulders, played the piano,
and to the tin-pot music of a Western waltz the naked Zanzibari girls
danced furiously by the light of kerosene lamps. Binat sat upon a chair
and stared with eyes that saw nothing, till the whirl of the dance and
the clang of the rattling piano stole into the drink that took the place
of blood in his veins, and his face glistened. Dick took him by the chin
brutally and turned that face to the light. Madame Binat looked over her
shoulder and smiled with many teeth. Dick leaned against the wall and
sketched for an hour, till the kerosene lamps began to smell, and the
girls threw themselves panting on the hard-beaten ground.
Then he shut
his book with a snap and moved away, Binat plucking feebly at his elbow.
"Show me," he whimpered. "I too was once an artist, even I! " Dick showed
him the rough sketch. "Am I that? " he screamed. "Will you take that away
with you and show all the world that it is I,--Binat? " He moaned and
wept.
"Monsieur has paid for all," said Madame. "To the pleasure of seeing
Monsieur again. "
The courtyard gate shut, and Dick hurried up the sandy street to the
nearest gambling-hell, where he was well known. "If the luck holds, it's
an omen; if I lose, I must stay here. " He placed his money picturesquely
about the board, hardly daring to look at what he did. The luck held.
Three turns of the wheel left him richer by twenty pounds, and he went
down to the shipping to make friends with the captain of a decayed
cargo-steamer, who landed him in London with fewer pounds in his pocket
than he cared to think about.
A thin gray fog hung over the city, and the streets were very cold; for
summer was in England.
