Spaniards under the boina of the Pyrenees, Spaniards from Castile
speaking like a gatling-gun in action, now and again even a
snappy-eyed Andalusian with his s-less slurred speech, slow,
laborious Gallegos, Italians and Portuguese in numbers, Colombians
of nondescript color, a Slovak who spoke some German, a man from
Palestine with a mixture of French and Arabic noises I could guess
at, and scattered here and there among the others a Turk who
jabbered the lingua franca of Mediterranean ports. I "got" all who
fell into my hands. Once I dragged forth a Hindu, and shuddered
with fear of a first failure. But he knew a bit of a strange
English and I found I recalled six or seven words of my forgotten
Hindustanee.

Then suddenly a flood of Greeks broke upon us, growing deeper with
every moment. Above the pandemonium my companions were howling
hoarsely and imploringly for the interpreter, while clutching
their trembling victim by the slack of his labor-stained shirt
lest he escape un-enrolled. The interpreter, in accordance with a
well-known law of physics and the limitations of human nature,
could not be in sixteen places at once. I crowded close, caught
his words, memorized the few questions, and there was I with my
"Poomaynes?" "Poseeton?" and "Padremaynos?" enrolling Greeks
unassisted, not only that but haughtily acting as interpreter for
my fellows--not only without having studied the tongue of Achilles
but never even having graced a Greek letter fraternity.

Quick tropical twilight descended, and still the labor-smeared
line wound away out of sight into the darkness, still workmen of
every shade and tongue jingled their brass-checks timidly on the
edge of the pay-window, from behind which came roaring noises that