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

fleet, we are surely dead, so we must push north and trek onward. Which is what we do.
    As we walk, a tune comes to my head, "The Rocky Road to Dublin," and I sing it out.
In the merry month of June from me home I started,

Left the girls of Kerry so sad and brokenhearted,

Saluted father dear, kissed me darling mother,

Drank a pint of beer, me grief and tears to smother,

Then off to reap the corn, leave where I was born,

And fright'ning all the dogs ...

On the rocky road to Dublin!
One, two, three, four, five,

Hunt the hare and turn her

Down the rocky road

And all the ways to Dublin,

Whack-fol-lol-de-rah!
    "Is nice song, Memsahib," says Ravi. "Though I do not understand meaning."
    Thus encouraged, I continue.
In Donegal that night I rested limbs so weary,

Started by daylight next morning light and early.

Took a drop of the pure, to keep me heart from sinking,

That's an Irishman's cure

Whenever he's on to drinkin'.
One, two, three, four, five,

Hunt the hare and turn her

Down the rocky road

And all the ways to Dublin,

Whack-fol-lol-de-rah.
    There is something about that tune that seems to fit in this foreign land. I don't know why, but it does. Sure wish I had my pennywhistle to try it out. We shall see ... Maybe I'll find one out here, who knows.
    I finish the last verse and feel Ravi bumping up next to me, so I put my arm on his shoulder.
    "Are you happy, Ravi?" I ask.
    "Yes, Missy. I am walking next to Missy Memsahib and she sings nice song. My belly is full of awful clam, but my tummy is silent. My karma is good. Yes. Sun shines and Ravi is happy at this moment."
    "You have a good outlook on life, my lad," I say, smiling down upon him. "Others could learn from your example."
    I hold my face up to the sun and think on this.
    Yes ... others like ... Amy Trevelyne, my dear friend and most melancholy of girls. Yes, you shall soon hear of my demise. Will you be able to look upon the shining of the sun and other delightful things of this world, or will you fall fatally into gloom? Oh, I hope not, for I am not worthy of your grief, but I despair of that. Maybe the news will be long in coming to you. Maybe Ezra Pickering will be there to help you. I hope so...
    "Look, Memsahib," says Ravi, pointing. We have just rounded yet another point and can see far along the shore to the north. "There is village up there!"
    Sure enough, way off in the mist we can see some huts and boats pulled up on the beach.
    I look at the sun, which is quickly setting, and say, "Right, Ravi, we shall go there tomorrow. Tonight we shall sleep here. Let us pitch camp. Right back there in the woods. There seems to be a bit of a clearing."
    I stride in and pull my pack from my back. I open it and take out the large square of canvas and spread it out.
    "What means Memsahib to do?" asks Ravi, his eyes a bit wide and looking fearfully about.
    "Why, I'm going to set up our tent right here," I reply. "See, I'll string this rope from this tree to that tree, throw the canvas over it, and then cut some wooden stakes to hold down the corners. We will sleep very snug underneath it, and then tomorrow, we will go to that town to see what we shall see."
    "Uh ... would Memsahib mind too much if Ravi leave her side and sleep up in tree tonight?"
    "Why, whatever for?"
    Just then, from deep in the darkening jungle, comes this low rumble of a roar, which sends shivers up my spine, and I am suddenly a very small and frightened woodland creature.
    "That is why, Missy," says Ravi, beginning to climb.
    I am right behind him.
    When we get to a good strong crotch in the tree, I look back down but see nothing.
    "Can they climb trees?" I ask, my voice shaking. There was something in that growl that transported me from my modern state and shoved me cowering back to prehistoric times and into some dank, dark cave.
    "Not far up," says Ravi. "They are too big. But they might try."
    I take the canvas that would have been my tent, tie knots into each end, and attach ropes to