下载辰思小说免费APP
amagovernmentofficial——youtelltherascal……Eh？What？Friendofyours？“……Hecontinuedwallowingcalmlyinthechair……“Yousaidso；that’sjustit；andIampleasedtogiveyouthehint。Isupposeyou，too，wouldliketogetsomethingoutofit？Don’tinterrupt。YoujusttellhimI’veheardthetale，buttomygovernmentIhavemadenoreport。Notyet。See？Whymakeareport？Eh？Tellhimtocometomeiftheylethimgetaliveoutofthecountry。Hehadbetterlookoutforhimself。Eh？I
promisetoasknoquestions。Onthequiet——youunderstand？You，too——youshallgetsomethingfromme。Smallcommissionforthetrouble。Don’tinterrupt。
Iamagovernmentofficial，andmakenoreport。That’sbusiness。Understand？
Iknowsomegoodpeoplethatwillbuyanythingworthhaving，andcangivehimmoremoneythanthescoundreleversawinhislife。Iknowhissort。“
Hefixedmesteadfastlywithbothhiseyesopen，whileIstoodoverhimutterlyamazed，andaskingmyselfwhetherhewasmadordrunk。Heperspired，puffed，moaningfeebly，andscratchinghimselfwithsuchhorriblecomposurethatIcouldnotbearthesightlongenoughtofindout。Nextday，talkingcasuallywiththepeopleofthelittlenativecourtoftheplace，IdiscoveredthatastorywastravellingslowlydownthecoastaboutamysteriouswhitemaninPatusanwhohadgotholdofanextraordinarygem——namely，anemeraldofanenormoussize，andaltogetherpriceless。TheemeraldseemstoappealmoretotheEasternimaginationthananyotherpreciousstone。Thewhitemanhadobtainedit，Iwastold，partlybytheexerciseofhiswonderfulstrengthandpartlybycunning，fromtherulerofadistantcountry，whencehehadfledinstantlyarrivinginPatusaninutmostdistress，butfrighteningthepeoplebyhisextremeferocity，whichnothingseemedabletosubdue。
Mostofmyinformantswereoftheopinionthatthestonewasprobablyunlucky——likethefamousstoneoftheSultanofSuccadana，whichintheoldtimeshadbroughtwarsanduntoldcalamitiesuponthatcountry。Perhapsitwasthesamestone——onecouldn’tsay。IndeedthestoryofafabulouslylargeemeraldisasoldasthearrivalofthefirstwhitemenintheArchipelago；andthebeliefinitissopersistentthatlessthanfortyyearsagotherehadbeenanofficialDutchinquiryintothetruthofit。Suchajewel——itwasexplainedtomebytheoldfellowfromwhomIheardmostofthisamazingJim-myth——asortofscribetothewretchedlittleRajahoftheplace；——suchajewel，hesaid，cockinghispoorpurblindeyesupatme(hewassittingonthecabinflooroutofrespect)，isbestpreservedbybeingconcealedaboutthepersonofawoman。Yetitisnoteverywomanthatwoulddo。Shemustbeyoung——hesigheddeeply——andinsensibletotheseductionsoflove。
Heshookhisheadsceptically。Butsuchawomanseemedtobeactuallyinexistence。Hehadbeentoldofatallgirl，whomthewhitemantreatedwithgreatrespectandcare，andwhoneverwentforthfromthehouseunattended。
Peoplesaidthewhitemancouldbeseenwithheralmostanyday；theywalkedsidebyside，openly，heholdingherarmunderhis——pressedtohisside——thus——inamostextraordinaryway。Thismightbealie，heconceded，foritwasindeedastrangethingforanyonetodo：ontheotherhand，therecouldbenodoubtsheworethewhiteman’sjewelconcealeduponherbosom。’
wasthetheoryofJim’smaritaleveningwalks。
Imadeathirdonmorethanoneoccasion，unpleasantlyawareeverytimeofCornelius，whonursedtheaggrievedsenseofhislegalpaternity，slinkingintheneighbourhoodwiththatpeculiartwistofhismouthasifhewereperpetuallyonthepointofgnashinghisteeth。Butdoyounoticehow，threehundredmilesbeyondtheendoftelegraphcablesandmail-boatlines，thehaggardutilitarianliesofourcivilizationwitheranddie，tobereplacedbypureexercisesofimagination，thathavethefutility，oftenthecharm，andsometimesthedeephiddentruthfulness，ofworksofart？
RomancehadsingledJimforitsown——andthatwasthetruepartofthestory，whichotherwisewasallwrong。Hedidnothidehisjewel。Infact，hewasextremelyproudofit。
`ItcomestomenowthatIhad，onthewhole，seenverylittleofher。
WhatIrememberbestistheeven，olivepallorofhercomplexion，andtheintenseblue-blackgleamsofherhair，flowingabundantlyfromunderasmallcrimsoncapsheworefarbackonhershapelyhead。Hermovementswerefree，assured，andsheblushedaduskyred。WhileJimandIweretalking，shewouldcomeandgowithrapidglancesatus，leavingonhe
