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An' then along come you all a-lookin' like hell an' shyin' at questions." We took the information with no sign, although it confirmed our theory about the ferry. Ump turned gravely to the tavern-keeper. "I'll clear it all up for you slick as a whistle." Then he arose and pressed his fingers against the tavern-keeper's chest. "Roy," he said, "this is the marrow out of that bone.
The Cardinal went straight into the air. I clung to the bit, dragged up out of the saddle. I felt my foot against the pommel, my knee against the steel shoulder of the great horse, my face under the Cardinal's wide red throat. I heard the reins snap on both sides of the bit pulled in two. And then the loud, harsh laugh of the man Ump. "Hell! It's Jourdan an' Red Mike."
What do you think about it?" "I don't know," I answered; "what does Jud think?" The face of the giant was covered with perspiration standing in beads. He clenched his hands and clamped his wet fists against the legs of his breeches. "God damn 'em!" he said. It was the most terrible oath that I have ever heard. Then he closed his mouth. Ump looked at the man, then rode his horse over to me.
Presently they handed the letter gravely back to me and set the lantern down in the leaves. Jud was silent, like a man embarrassed, and Ump stood for a moment fingering the buttons on his blue coat. Finally he spoke. "What's in it?" he said. "I don't know," I answered. I was sure that the man's face brightened, but it might have been a fancy.
And tonight the trombone player plays what he will play a thousand nights from tonight umpah ump. The bassoon and the bull fiddle they umpah ump along. Underneath the quaver and whine of the jazz they beat the time, they make the tuneless rhythm. The feet dancing on the crowded cabaret floor listen cautiously for the trombone, the bassoon and the bull fiddle.
Then Jud should follow to keep the bunch moving, while Ump and the two ferrymen fed the line, a few at a time, keeping it unbroken, and as thin as possible. This was the only plan offering any shadow of hope. We could not swim the cattle in small bunches because each bunch would require one or two drivers, and the best horse would go down on his third trip.
"She gave him an affectionate slap, but he did not respond, and a few minutes afterwards, muttering some excuse, he rose and left her, and I followed him as he made his way towards the refreshment-room. At the door he met one of his pals. "'Hullo! was the question, 'wot 'a yer done wi' 'Liza? "'Oh, I carn't stand 'er, was his reply; 'she gives me the bloomin' 'ump. You 'ave a turn with 'er.
The Bay Eagle, quick-witted as any woman, crowded the Cardinal close, throwing her weight against his shoulders, and El Mahdi, indifferent, but stubborn as an ox, held his ground as though he were bolted to the road. I heard Ump cursing, now Jud for his cowardice, now the ghost for its infernal riding. "Damn you, fool! Stay an' see it. Stay an' see it." And then, "Damn Bodkin an' his dead wife!
Here sat these grateful gentlemen, lately returned by a sort of miracle to the carpet of the green sod, swapping gibes like a couple of pirates. "Old Nick was grabbin' for us this time," said Jud, "an' he mighty nigh got us." "I reckon," answered Ump, "a feller ought to git down on his marrow-bones." "I wouldn't try it," said Jud. "You might cork yourself."
It was nearer, yet the words were no clearer. "A-a-all about the lubble-lubble-lubble in ump Street!" He passed. His cry died in the distance. Gwendolyn let the window-shade go back into place very gently. To prepare properly for her trip downstairs meant running the risk of discovery. She tiptoed noiselessly to the school-room door. There she listened. Thomas's deep voice was still rumbling on.
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