"Ye've got things mixed up," said Mr. Dooley. "I get th' news sthraight.
'Twas this way. Th' Spanish fleet was bottled up in Sandago Harbor, an'
they dhrew th' cork. That's a joke. I see it in th' pa-apers. Th'
gallant boys iv th' navy was settin' out on th' deck, defindin' their
counthry an' dhrawin' three ca-ards apiece, whin th' Spanish admiral
con-cluded 'twud be better f'r him to be desthroyed on th' ragin' sea,
him bein' a sailor, thin to have his fleet captured be cav'lry. Annyhow,
he was willin' to take a chance; an' he says to his sailors:
'Spanyards,' he says, 'Castiles,' he says, 'we have et th' las'
bed-tick,' he says; 'an', if we stay here much longer,' he says, 'I'll
have to have a steak off th' armor plate fried f'r ye,' he says. 'Lave
us go out where we can have a r-run f'r our money,' he says. An' away
they wint. I'll say this much f'r him, he's a brave man, a dam brave
man. I don't like a Spanyard no more than ye do, Hinnissy. I niver see
wan. But, if this here man was a--was a Zulu, I'd say he was a brave
man. If I was aboord wan iv thim yachts that was convarted, I'd go to
this here Cervera, an' I'd say: 'Manuel,' I'd say, 'ye're all right, me
boy. Ye ought to go to a doctor an' have ye'er eyes re-set, but ye're a
good fellow. Go downstairs,' I'd say, 'into th' basemint iv the ship,'
I'd say, 'an' open th' cupboard jus' nex' to th' head iv th' bed, an'
find th' bottle marked "Floridy Wather," an' threat ye'ersilf kindly.'
That's what I'd say to Cervera. He's all right.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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