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"Wanchee look see, all same look see can do," said Jukes, who having no talent for foreign languages mangled the very pidgin-English cruelly. He pointed at the open hatch. "Catchee number one piecie place to sleep in. Eh?" He was gruff, as became his racial superiority, but not unfriendly.

He gripped the lapel of his blouse, as if he would remove it and exchange for another. "You wanchee clange?" The Chinaman squinted at him with an air of incredulity. Then a light of understanding seemed to over-spread his face. "Ow!" he exclaimed, "no can do, Mellican officer, not any. No can do."

"Hi, lilly pijjin," cried this worthy, receiving me far more pleasantly than I'm sure the Portuguese would have done, for as I passed under the break of the poop I heard the latter clattering his tins about in the pantry, as if he were in a rage at something. "What you wanchee hey?"

He had discovered his shop by accident when out scouting for billets for American soldiers. He had later assisted in protecting the place from a raid by Japanese military police. "You wanchee somsling?" The Oriental grinned, as Johnny seated himself cross-legged on a grass mat. "Yep," Johnny grinned in return, "wanchee change."

Passing through the main streets of Ushidzu in search of the best yadoya, I am accosted by a middle-aged woman with, "Hello! you wanchee room? wanchee chow-chow." Her mother keeps a yadoya, she tells me, and leads the way thither, chatting gayly in pidgeon English, all the way.

"Ow!" grunted Wo Cheng, ducking from sight and reappearing quickly with a great coat of real seal, trimmed with sea otter, a trifle which had cost some noble of other days a king's ransom. "No wanchee," Johnny shook his head. "Ow!" Wo Cheng shook his head incredulously. This was his rarest offering. "You no got cumshaw, money?" he grinned. "All wite, my say." "No wanchee my," Johnny repeated.

"Him no sabbey," he exclaimed, pointing down to the still prostrate Pedro, who, now that the Chinaman's grip had been released from his throat, began to show signs of returning life, "what me can do. Him more wanchee, Ching Wang plenty givee chop chop!"

"He talkee my, wanchee cook makee one piecee burfday-cake." He set the cake down in front of Prudence as he spoke. "Welly good, Ah Kew, Master b'long quitey righty," said Hugh approvingly. "Cook makee jolly-good cakee, me eat jolly-good cakee. Cook pleased, me pleased, cakee pleased, all jolly-welly pleased."

Then, turning briskly, she slipped out of the garments and back into her own. "You wanchee cumshaw?" she asked, handing the furs to the Chinaman to be wrapped. The Chinaman grinned. From somewhere on her person she extracted bills, American bills. Johnny was not surprised at that, for in these uncertain times, American money had come to be an undisputed medium of exchange.

Ah Kew smiled a slow and mysterious smile, his black eyes closing up under his slanting eyebrows, and his blue-capped head nodding. He glanced over the tea-table. "Tea b'long all plopper?" he asked anxiously. "S'pose you wanchee more can have plenty more." "No, thank you, Ah Kew, me eatee more me bustee," Hugh replied politely.