Chapter 25 Chapter Twenty-Four

About ten o'clock that night the doctor and Captain Nichols were playing pickle in the drawing-room of the hotel.The veranda was full of flying ants attracted by the lights and had to be moved indoors.Then Eric Christensen walked in. "Where have you been all day?" the doctor asked. "To the manor we passed by last time, the one on the other side of the island. I thought I'd be back sooner, but the manager there just had a baby and was having a party, so I couldn't go." "Fred was looking for you. He wanted to go for a walk." "I wish I had known earlier, so I'll take him with me." He sat down in a chair and ordered a beer. "I walked ten miles, and it was the most beautiful stretch, and then I had to Row back to the boat."

"Playing chouette?" "No, I'm tired. Where's Fred?" "Just having fun in bed, I guess." "There aren't many girls here," said Eric honestly. "Don't be so sure. Girls love that face, you know. Back in Merauke I had a special job of helping him get rid of girls. Let's talk privately, he It must have been a complete success.” "with who?" "A girl over there." "Louise?" Eric laughed, which seemed ridiculous to him. "I don't know the details, but she came to the boat with him this morning to have a look. Tonight he dressed up carefully, shaved, combed his hair, and put on clean clothes. I asked him where he was going. Why, he told me not to meddle in my own business."

"Fries was here this morning," said Dr. Saunders. "Maybe Fred is called to dinner tonight." "He's had dinner on the 'Fenton,'" said Nichols. He sorted out the cards and continued with the previous round.Eric sat watching them, smoking a big Dutch cigar and sipping his beer.The captain glanced at him sideways from time to time, and there was a kind of dissatisfaction in his eyes, which made people shiver down the spine.His little eyes, set close together, were full of evil thoughts, but they were bright with joy.After a while Eric looked at his watch.

"I'm going aboard the Fenton, and maybe Fred would like to go fishing with me tomorrow morning." "He won't be there," said the captain. "Why? He couldn't have stayed so late at the Swan's." "how do you know?" "They went to bed at ten o'clock, and it's past eleven o'clock now." "Perhaps he went to bed too." "Nonsense." "If you ask me, I think that girl has a good eye too, and I wouldn't be surprised if they're comfortably wrapped together now. How nice, if only I were there."

Eric stood up and looked down at the two sitting at the table playing cards.His face was pale, and his fists were clenched, as if he wanted to beat the captain.He growled vaguely.The captain looked at him and grinned.Dr. Saunders looked at them. Nichols was not afraid at all. Eric's big fist would knock him to the ground. He was a mean man, but he was not short of guts.The doctor saw that Eric was trying his best to control his emotions. "It's really okay to make assumptions about other people." His voice trembled, "but a mean scoundrel has no such qualifications."

"Did I offend you by what I said?" asked the captain. "I didn't know that lady was your friend." Eric glared at him, his face filled with disgust for the man in front of him, as well as that embarrassing disdain.He turned around and walked out of the hotel.Every step he took hit the floor hard. "Captain, do you want to die?" The doctor asked dryly. "I've seen a lot of big guys like this. They are emotional, that's how they are. They don't attack people who are weaker than themselves. They don't have a good brain, and they are kind of stupid in general."

The doctor giggled.And then he understood one thing—the rogue in front of him was cunningly exploiting other people's decent emotions to satisfy his own wicked and obscene taste. "You're taking a risk. If he's in the mood, he'll knock you down before he knows what he's done." "Why is he so nervous? Does he like that girl?" Dr. Saunders felt it unnecessary to tell the captain that Eric and Louise Fries were engaged. "Some people don't want their female friends to be criticized." The doctor replied. "Come on, doctor, don't do this to me, it's not for you. Men like flirtatious girls, because since others can fuck her, then they have a chance. It's reasonable."

"You know what, you're the meanest bastard I've ever met," said the doctor objectively. "In a way, that's a compliment, right? But it's funny that you don't like me any less because I'm an asshole. Which, in my opinion, shows you're not a saint yourself. It’s okay to tell you clearly, I’ve also heard a lot about you in various places.” The doctor's eyes flickered. "Captain, has indigestion tormented you tonight?" "I'd be lying if I said yes. I'm sick, but it doesn't hurt. Listen, I'm just sick." "You have to take your time, you can't expect to swallow a pound of lead after only a week of treatment."

"Doctor, I didn't think I'd recover so quickly, I didn't even pretend to think about it, listen, I'm not complaining, and I'm not saying your treatment didn't work for me, it worked, but I still have a long way to go let's go." "I told you, it's absolutely useless to have that decayed tooth pulled out, and God knows how ugly it is." "I'll pull it out, I promise, as soon as the voyage is over. I thought it would be nice to go to Singapore. There must be a good American dentist there. And now the kid says he's going back to Batavia."

"yes?" "Well. He got a telegram this morning. I don't know what it said, but all he wants to do now is stay here a few days and then go back to Batavia." "How do you know he got the telegram?" "I found it in his trouser pocket. He put his dirty trousers there when he came ashore in a clean suit. What a sleazy bastard. You can tell he's not a sailor, and a sailor is always neat and tidy. A way. That telegram is like a bible, I can't understand it at all, it's all numbers." "I suppose you didn't notice that the telegram was addressed to me?"

"For you? I really didn't pay attention." "Go back and have a look. I told Fred to decipher it." Cutting off Captain Nichols' thread was a lot of fun for the Doctor. "Then why did he change his mind all of a sudden? He's been avoiding big cities all the time, which I naturally assume is to avoid the police. I'm going to Singapore anyway, or I'll sink the damn ship. "Captain Nichols leaned towards the doctor, looking straight into the doctor's eyes sincerely, making people unforgettable, "I was thinking, do you know that for a person who has not been able to eat a bite of kidney pudding or steak for ten years? , What does an obedient stomach mean. Take a girl as an example. Suppose I have all the beautiful women in the world, but as long as I can eat a piece of butter pudding covered with honey and butter, no girl is I don't want to give it. This is the paradise in my heart, where you can put your golden harp where the monkey hides the nut."