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The tamarind is a universal and thrifty tree in the island, lofty and umbrageous, a quick grower and yet long-lived. The fruit is contained in a pod, like a full, ripe pea-pod, covering mahogany-colored seeds. The pulp when ripe and fresh is as soft as marmalade, and quite palatable; its flavor is sugared acid.
The traits, good and bad, persist; they may be veneered or restrained, they are seldom eradicated. All the traits that made the great Napoleon worshiped, hated, and feared existed in the little Bonaparte, as perfectly as the pea-pod in the flower. The whole of the First Empire was smirched with Corsican vulgarity. The world always reckons with these radical influences that go to make up a family.
Percy pointed toward the landlocked Sly Hole. A thin column of blue smoke was rising above it, as if from the stovepipe of an anchored boat. Budge debated for a moment, then turned the bow of the pea-pod toward the narrow entrance. "We'll go in and see who's there." A dozen quick strokes sent the boat through the winding channel into the little harbor.
Making the Barracouta fast, the boys went ashore in the dory and pea-pod. Percy became conscious that he was thirsty. "Where can I get a drink?" "There's the spring at the foot of that bank." Opening a trap-door in a rude wooden cover, Percy looked down into a shallow well. The only cup at hand was an empty tin can. Rather disdainfully he dipped it full and tasted, then spat with a wry face.
A sheep bleated plaintively high above in the pasture; while far over the ocean to the south floated the faint, weird cry of a gull. The tide was more than half down, and dory and pea-pod lay high and dry on the shingle. The sloop rode at her mooring in the cove. Percy hesitated. Her engine would take him to Head Harbor in less than two hours, and save him a long, hard row. But no.
Larger, higher, brighter, nearer, until they burned, a sparkling triangle of white and red and green. Soon the steamer crossed his bow not far to the north. He could hear the rush of foam and the throbbing of her screw. Gradually she passed eastward and blended again with the horizon. Slower and weaker fell Percy's blades, until the pea-pod was barely moving.
What d'you say, Filippo? Shall we take a chance and surprise the rest of 'em?" Filippo flashed his white teeth. "I go with you," he smiled. "Then go it is!" decided Percy. He headed the pea-pod for the Dog and Pups. "We'll keep a sharp lookout, and if it starts to grow anyways thick we'll strike back for old Tarpaulin."
The sounds on board evidently drowned the dipping of his oars, for it was not until the stem of the pea-pod struck the rusty side that the voices stopped and two startled brown faces popped up out of the companionway. Both men had sharp black eyes, and black shocks of hair badly in need of the barber. One was slightly gray, and a prickly stubble of unshaven beard covered his chin.
"The best thing to do," remarked Alcahazar, the oldest of the magicians, "would be to inform the King and his army of the place where the Princess is confined, and let them go and take her out." "O no!" cried Ting-a-ling, who, if his body was no larger than a very small pea-pod, had a soul as big as a water-melon.
A few strokes more and the pea-pod grounded on the beach. It was twenty minutes to twelve! Percy staggered up to the cabin. All was dark and quiet. Gently lifting the latch, he slipped inside, pulled the door to again, and stood listening. The regular breathing of his sleeping mates reassured him.
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