PAGE 11
A Short Natural History
by
“There’s the man you take your orders from if you join us,” explained Powers, flirting a thumb toward the sleeper. “Name of Riley, he is. But you draw your pay from me.” With his arm he described a circle. “And here’s the stock you help take care of. The only one you need to be careful about is that leopard over yonder. She gets a little peevish once in a while. Well, I would sort of keep an eye on the ostrich here alongside you too. The old bird’s liable to cut loose when you ain’t looking and kick the taste out of your mouth. You give them both their distances. But those bears behind you is just the same as a pair of puppies, and old Chieftain here–well, he looks pretty fierce and he acts sort of fierce too when he’s called on for it, but it’s just acting with him; he’s trained to it. Off watch, he’s just as gentle as an overgrown kitten. Riley handles him and works him, and all you’ve got to do when Riley is putting him through his stunts is to stand outside here and hand him things he wants in through the bars. Well, is it a go? Going to take the job?”
“Boss,” said Red Hoss, “you speaks late–I done already tooken it.”
“Good!” said Powers. “That’s the way I love to do business–short and sweet. You hang round for an hour or two and sort of get acquainted with things until Riley has his nap out. When he wakes up, if I ain’t back by that time, you tell him you’re the new helper, and he’ll wise you up.”
“Yas suh,” said Red Hoss. “But say, boss, ‘scuse me, but did I understand you to mention dat eatin’ was in de contract?”
“Sure! Hungry already?”
“Well, suh, you see I mos’ gin’rally starts de day off wid breakfust, an’ to tell you de truth I ain’t had nary grain of breakfust yit!”
“Got the breakfast habit, eh? Well, come on with me to the cook house and I’ll see if there ain’t something left over.”
Despite the nature of his calling as a tamer of ferocious denizens of the tropic jungle, Mr. Riley, upon wakening, proved to be a person of a fairly amiable disposition. He made it snappy but not unduly burdensome as he initiated Red Hoss into the rudimentary phases of the new employment. As the forenoon wore on the conviction became fixed in Red Hoss’ mind that for an overlord he had a white man who would be apt to listen to reason touching on any proposition promising personal profits with no personal risks.
Sharp upon this diagnosis of his new master’s character, a magnificent idea, descending without warning like a bolt from the blue, struck Red Hoss on top of his head and bored in through his skull and took prompt root in his entranced and dazzled brain. It was a gorgeous conception; one which promised opulent returns for comparatively minor exertions. To carry it out, though, required cooperation, and in Riley he saw with a divining glance–or thought he saw–the hope of that cooperation.
In paving the way for confidential relations he put to Riley certain leading questions artfully disguised, and at the beginning seemingly artlessly presented. By the very nature of Riley’s answers he was further assured of the safety of the ground on which he trod, whereupon Red Hoss cautiously broached the project, going on to amplify it in glowing colors the while Riley hearkened attentively.
It was a sheer pleasure to outline a proposition to a white gentleman who received it so agreeably. Fifteen minutes after the first tentative overtures had been thrown out feeler-wise, Red Hoss found that he and Riley were in complete accord on all salient points. Indeed they already were as partners jointly committed to a joint undertaking.
After the third and last afternoon performance, in which Red Hoss, wearing a proud mien and a somewhat spotty uniform coat, had acquitted himself in all regards creditably, Riley gave him a leave of absence of two hours, ostensibly for the purpose of quitting his boarding house and collecting his traveling wardrobe. As a matter of fact, these details really required but a few minutes, and it had been privily agreed between them that the rest of the time should be devoted by Red Hoss to setting in motion the actual preliminaries of their scheme.