Explore "Tide Marks" by H.M. Tomlinson on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
One day the chief engineer of the _Savoe_ was feeding his parrots. He has a noisy display of them on the boat deck. When I spoke to him he turned on me abruptly and peered intently at my face for a clew, perhaps, to what he thought was an English joke. "You cannot stay at Ternate," he said, doubtfully. I explained that this was easy. One merely left the ship and did not return. It was not possible, the chief replied. And then I learned that the island might vanish at any moment. It was only a volcano. And while it remained above the sea I should be without electric light, intellectual resources, gin, himself, and news of the world. There was nothing at Ternate but barbarians and nether fires. I told him that barbarians would be a nice change and that I had a morbid interest in the infernal.
"All right," he said, bitterly, "when we find you again you will 'ave fezzers in your 'air. " He pantomimed with his fingers, to represent quills upright on his brow. He turned to his parrots and refused to converse any more with an ungrateful fool.