American fiction -- 20th century; Sea stories; Short stories, American
'What we want, don,' says the capt'n fr'm his chair that was made of
inlaid precious woods an' the horns o' th' anzello, a beeyootiful
creachure like a nantelope, of which on'y one was killed every hundred
years--'what we want, don,' says my capt'n--an' four liveried servants
keepin' the flies 'n' other insecks off him with wavin' pam-leaves
while he's talkin'--'is to take our swamp-root home in bulk.' An' the
don, a man o' most majestic figger, smokin' a fourteen-inch cheroot in
another chair that was inlaid all in di'monds 'n' gold, he considers
the case and finally agrees to sell us enough to fill our tank, which
is two million two hundred 'n' sixty thousand gallons o' Yunzano at
forty-two cents a gallon. An' we despatch a fleet messenger back to
the ship, an' up comes the gold with forty men-at-arms o' the don
guardin' it--a million dollars or so it was, an' all in the coin o' the
realm--shiny ten an' twenty dollar gold pieces.
"Well, that's settled, so we goes back to the ship, ridin' our
sumpter-mules in the dewy morn, an' down the gleamin' silver 'n' gold
'n' copper river comes the Yunzano in the skins o' wild animals on
bamboo rafts, an' while they're dumpin' it inter the tank the capt'n
'n' me, by special invitation, have a look at where the don
manufactured the Yunzano.
"It was dark like the sassaparilla they served out to church picnics
when it oozed first from nature's bosom, an' not till it was mixed with
a native liquid called poolkey did it become th' inspirin' article o'
commerce which the rocks an' fences an' druggists' winders an' the
advertisin' an' sometimes the readin' columns of our American journals
shouted to the public. This poolkey grew on trees, in little cups
like, which all you had to do was to turn upside down an' into your
mouth. It was the grandest proof to me o' the wise provisions of
nature. It was a white-colored stuff, an' tasted like an equal mixture
o' wood alcohol an' red flame. One part swamp root to one part poolkey
made up the Yunzano o' commerce that many folks preferred to tea. The
poolkey kep' it fr'm spilin'. Some o' the most inveterate battlers
agin the demon rum we ever had, some o' the most cel'brated
politicians, platform speakers, an' drug-dealers in the land, certified
over their own signatures to the component parts o' Yunzano an'
indorsed the same highly.
"Well, our tank was fin'lly filled to the hatches with the two million
two hundred 'n' sixty thousand gallons o' prime Yunzano, an' when we
considered the sellin'-price--pints fifty cents, quarts a
dollar--quarts o' the five-to-the-gallon size--up home we felt happy to
think what profits was goin' to be in this v'yage, for--but lemme
see--did I say his name, the owner o' the _Tropic Zone_ an' the fleet
o' drug-stores?"
"No," says Wallie. "An' I was wonderin'."
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