The Mark of the Golden Dragon Read Online Free PDF Page A

dubious at this but says nothing.
    "And then I shall cut some smaller strips as I must fashion some sort of cap to hide my hair."
    "Missy not have much hair, at least not on head..."
    "Right. And what I do have is the wrong color, and I won't want to stand out."
    "Ummm..."
    I cut off some lengths of line and coil them into a loop. I also shear off some more canvas to use as blankets or ground covers, plus a bit more to use for whatever. I also sever a medium-sized iron turnbuckle and add it to our pile—it could come in handy should we need a club. When we leave here, we will not be able to come back and salvage any more from the mizzenmast.
    This being done, I spread all out on the beach to dry. After an hour or so, I pull on my salty-stiff pants and shirt and roll up the canvas.
    Using the rope, I fashion two backpacks and make us ready to go.
    "All right, let us head north and see what awaits us there."
    "Uh ... Missy Memsahib," says Ravi, as I adjust the pack on his back.
    "Yes?"
    "We will sleep in jungle?"
    "Yes. Why not? Where else?"
    "Ummm ... is all right ... if Missy have good karma."
    "Why would I need that?"
    He looks again at the wall of jungle. "For there do tigers live."
    Tigers?

Chapter 5
     
    "Come on, Ravi, how can tigers be such a danger? Here? How can they sneak up on us? This is 1807, after all. Modern times."
    We have been walking northward along the shore. There have been no signs of habitation as yet.
    "Tiger do not know that, Memsahib. Many, many poor people in my country are eaten by tigers every year. Much horribles."
    "Hmmm. Can these beasts swim?" I ask, looking toward the ocean. "Would a tiger chase you into the water? Cats don't usually like to get wet, you know."
    "Little kitties, yes, but big tigers not seem to mind," says Ravi. "Many stories of them swimming in rivers to capture luckless peoples."
    "Do you think one of them would chase us into the ocean?"
    "Depends on how hungry tiger is. They very often hungry."

    Hmmm ... I can appreciate that, being rather hungry myself ... and thirsty, which is much more worrying. We can live a long time without food, but not without fresh water—three days tops, if that.
    We come to a large open flat area of beach, and I am gratified to see beneath my feet little round holes marking the presence of some lovely clams.
    "Let us stop and refresh ourselves. Drop your pack and start digging here. Use your hands, as the mud is quite soft."
    "Dig for what, Memsahib?"
    "Clams. Something to eat. You'll see. Just follow those holes down and you'll find clams at the bottom. Roundish things, city boy, like rocks, but different. You'll see. Pile 'em up, and I'll be right back to open 'em and we shall eat ... and, hopefully, drink."
    The lad looks rather dubious, but he kneels down and bends to his task, clawing away at the muddy sand. I, on the other hand, shed my pack and head for the edge of the jungle, where I have spied a few palm trees bearing heavy bunches of coconuts and, possibly, a source of fresh water for us.
    The trees are very long and very high, with no low branches on which to climb, so I whip out my shiv and cut about a six-foot length of line from my copious coils of rope and knot the ends together to form a loop around the base of the palm. Placing myself in the loop, I begin to walk up the slope of the tree, feet on trunk, and rope around my waist—two steps with my bare feet clutching the rough bark, and then move the rope up a few inches, settle back, and then do it again, inch by inch, till I reach the cluster of nuts at the top. When there, I take a moment to look out over the sea.
    Stop that, girl. Ain't no one comin' to look for you this time.
    Shaking such idle thoughts out of my head, I take my shiv and begin cutting the nuts off their very tough stems. One falls, then another. There are lizards all over the place up here, but they seem harmless. Hope so, anyway. When six nuts have hit the ground, I go back down.
    Ravi stands