"You?"
"Yes. Who's to pay for this?" he pointed to his bandaged head.
Without changing his bland expression, Senor Perkins apparently allowed
his soft black eyes to rest, as if fondly, on the angry pupils of the
Peruvian. The eyes of the latter presently sought the ground.
"My dear Yoto," said Senor Perkins softly, "I scarcely think that
this question of personal damage can be referred to the State. I will,
however, look into it. Meantime, let me advise you to control your
enthusiasm. Too much zeal in a subordinate is even more fatal than
laxity. For the rest, son, be vigilant--and peaceful. Thou hast meant
well, much shall be--forgiven thee. For the present, vamos!"
He turned on his heel, and ascended to the upper deck. Here he found the
passengers thrilling with a vague excitement. A few brief orders, a
few briefer explanations, dropped by the officers, had already whetted
curiosity to the keenest point. The Senor was instantly beset with
interrogations. Gentle, compassionate, with well-rounded periods, he
related the singular accident that had befallen Mr. Hurlstone, and his
providential escape from almost certain death. "At the most, he has now
only the exhaustion of the shock, from which a day of perfect rest will
recover him; but," he added deprecatingly, "at present he ought not to
be disturbed or excited."
The story was received by those fellow-passengers who had been strongest
in their suspicions of Hurlstone's suicide or flight, with a keen sense
of discomfiture, only mitigated by a humorous perception of the cause
of the accident. It was agreed that a man whose ludicrous infirmity had
been the cause of putting the ship out of her course, and the passengers
out of their comfortable security, could not be wronged by attributing
to him manlier and more criminal motives. A somnambulist on shipboard
was clearly a humorous object, who might, however, become a bore. "It
all accounts for his being so deuced quiet and reserved in the daytime,"
said Crosby facetiously; "he couldn't keep it up the whole twenty-four
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