P. seems to
prove conclusively that as a general and all but invariable rule
he wears it pinned to the lining of his coat, or under his lapel,
or on the band of his trousers, or on the breast of his shirt, or
in his hip pocket, or up his sleeve, or at home on the piano, or
riding around at the end of a string in the baby's nursery; though
as in the case of all rules this one too has its exceptions.
Entertainments come rarely to Gatun. The one-ringed circus was
packed with every grade of society from gaping Spanish laborers to
haughty wives of dirt-train conductors, among whom it was not hard
to distinguish in a far corner the uniformed sergeant in command
of Gatun and the long lean corporal tied in a bow-line knot at the
alleged wit of the versatile but solitary clown who changed his
tongue every other moment from English to Spanish. But the end was
already near; excitement was rising to the finale of the
performance, a wrestling match between a circus man and "Andy" of
Pedro Miguel locks. By the time I had found a leaning-place it was
on--and the circus man of course was conquered, amid the gleeful
howling of "rough-necks," who collected considerable sums of money
and went off shouting into the black night, in quest of a place
where it might be spent quickly. It would be strange indeed if
among all the thousands of men in the prime of life who are
digging the canal at least one could not be found who could
subjugate any champion a wandering circus could carry among its
properties.
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