Mr. Jack Hamlin's Mediation by Bret Harte
page 50 of 195 (25%)
page 50 of 195 (25%)
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was indignant, because not guilty.
"Do as you please, then," he said shortly, and reentered the cabin. But the next moment he saw his error in betraying an irritation that was open to misconstruction. He came out again, scarcely looking at the girl, who was lounging away. "Do you want me to explain to you how the thing works?" he said indifferently. "I can't show you unless a ship comes in." The girl's eyes brightened softly as she turned to him. "Do tell me," she said, with an anticipatory smile and flash of white teeth. "Won't you?" She certainly was very pretty and simple, in spite of her late speech. Jarman briefly explained to her the movements of the semaphore arms and their different significance. She listened with her capped head a little on one side like an attentive bird, and her arms unconsciously imitating the signs. Certainly, for all that she SPOKE like an American, her gesticulation was Italian. "And then," she said triumphantly when he paused, "when the sailors see that sign up they know they are coming in the harbor." Jarman smiled, as he had not smiled since he had been there. He corrected this mistake of her eager haste to show her intelligence, and, taking the telescope, pointed out the other semaphore,--a thin black outline on a distant inland hill. He then explained how HIS signs were repeated by that instrument to San Francisco. |
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