American boys afloat : $b or, Cruising in the OrientOptic, Oliver
General
American boys afloat : $b or, Cruising in the Orient
Optic, Oliver
Voyages and travels -- Juvenile fiction
He was then called upon to give his evidence in respect of the capture
of the Salihé by the smugglers. He gave the details of the excursion as
well as he could in Spanish, and he talked with considerable fluency,
though doubtless he made some mistakes. He appeared to be perfectly
understood by all in the court-room, and only twice did the judge ask
him to repeat anything he had said. Everybody seemed to be deeply
interested in him and in his narrative, perhaps because he was "_muy
ricos_."
"You were intoxicated, were you not?" asked his honor.
"I was not intoxicated: I never drank a drop of liquor, wine, or beer
in my life," replied Louis very gently.
This reply made a decided sensation among the Spaniards in the
court-room, and probably none of them ever saw or heard of a rich young
man who had never tasted any intoxicating fluid, for in France and
Spain even the boys drink wine.
"Were your companions intoxicated?" inquired the judge.
"Not one of them had tasted a drop of anything for months, if ever in
their lives."
The judge glanced at Gray, who had asserted that the party on board of
the Salihé had been drinking too freely, and there was a frown on his
honor's wrinkled face, which indicated that he believed the present
rather than the former witness. Louis proceeded to give his narrative
of the proceedings on board of the little steam-yacht, including the
capture and the recapture of the craft. The lassoing of the Scotchman
greatly amused the Spanish portion of the audience, and all eyes were
fixed about half the time on the burly victim of the operation.
The judge requested him to call up the one who had handled the lasso,
and Louis asked Scott to stand where he was. The hero of the occasion
complied with the request. He saw that the audience were amused and
excited; but he could not understand a word that had been said, and
did not know what it was all about. He was regarded with astonishment,
for the listeners could not comprehend how a mere boy, though a rather
stout one, had been able to overcome a man of Gray's size and weight.
The Scotchman seemed to be very much surprised to hear Louis talk
Spanish, for the latter had concealed his knowledge of the language
from him; and doubtless he could understand now how the "Dutchman"
had made some of his points against him in the affair. But Louis was
permitted to "stand down," as he had told all he knew of the case. The
judge called for Scott next, and evidently felt some interest in him.
A sworn interpreter was called, and Scott told his story through him,
though Louis and Mr. Gaskette watched him very closely; but there was
no important variation in his translation of the witnesses' statements.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account