I was told that by a gentleman on the
steamer coming here. He was a native of the island, I think--or perhaps
it was the captain, or the mate, or the boatswain. I can't recall. Or
maybe it came to me from my manager, Darius Boland, who hears things
wherever he is, one doesn't know how; but he hears them. He is to me
what your aide-de-camp is to you," she nodded towards a young man near by
at the table.
"And do you dress your Darius Boland as I dress my aide in scarlet, with
blue facings and golden embroidery, and put a stiff hat with a feather on
his head?"
"But no, he does not need such things. I am a Republican now. I am a
citizen of the United States, where men have no need of uniform to tell
the world what they are. You shall see my Darius Boland--indeed, you
have seen him. He was there to-day when you gave me the distinction of
your presence."
"That dry, lean, cartridge of a fellow, that pair of pincers with a
face!"
"And a tongue, your honour. If you did not hear it yet, you will hear
it. He is to be my manager here. So he will be under your control--
if I permit him.
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