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ran up and asked did they want some mountain chicken. "I guess that means wild women, sure," said Joe. "Al bets are off tonight." The little dinge took 'em into a bar kept by a stout mulatto woman and said something to her in the island lingo they couldn't understand, and she said they'd have to wait a few minutes and they sat down and had a couple of drinks of corn and oil. "I guess she must be the madam," said Larry. "If they ain't pretty good lookers they can go to hel for al I care. I'm not much on the dark meat." From out back came a sound of sizzling and a smel of some-thing frying. "Dod gast it, I From out back came a sound of sizzling and a smel of some-thing frying. "Dod gast it, I could eat something," said Joe. "Say, boy, tel her we want something to eat." "By and by you eat mountain chicken." "What the hel ?" They finished their drinks just as the woman came back with a big platter of something fried up. "What's that?" asked Joe. "That's mountain chicken, mister; that's how we cal froglegs down here but they ain't like the frogs you al has in the states. I been in the states and I know. We wouldn't eat them here. These here is clean frogs just like chicken. You'l find it real good if you eat it." They roared. "Jesus, the drinks are on us," said Larry, wiping the tears out of his eyes. Then they thought they'd go pick up some girls. They saw a couple leaving the house where the music was and fol owed 'em down the dark street. They started to talk to 'em and the girls showed their teeth and wriggled in their clothes and giggled. But three or four nigger men came up sore as hel and began talking in the local lingo.

-155-"Jez, Larry, we'd better watch our step," said Joe through his teeth. "Those bozos got razors." They were in the middle of a yel ing bunch of big black men when they heard an American voice behind them, "Don't say an-other word, boys, I'l handle this." A smal man in khaki riding breeches and a panama hat was pushing his way through the crowd talking in the island lingo al the time. He was a little man with a gray triangular face tufted with a goatee. "My name's Henderson, DeBuque Hen-derson of Bridgeport, Connecticut." He shook hands with both of them.

"Wel , what's the trouble, boys? It's al right now, everybody knows me here. You have to be careful on

this island, boys, they're touchy, these people, very touchy. . . . You boys better come along with me and have a drink. . . ." He took them each by the arm and walked them hurriedly up the street. "Wel , I was young once . . . I'm stil young . . . sure, had to see the island . . . damn right too, the most interesting island in the whole Caribbean only lonely .

. . never see a white face."

When they got to his house he walked them through a big whitewashed room onto a terrace that smelt of vanil a flowers. They could see the town underneath with its few lights, the dark hil s, the white hul of the Cal ao with the lighters around her lit up by the working lights. At in-tervals the rattle of winches came up to them and a crazy jigtune from somewhere.

The old fel er poured them each a glass of rum; then another. He had a parrot on a perch that kept screeching. The landbreeze had come up ful of heavy flowersmel s off the mountains and blew the old fel er's stringy white hair in his eyes. He pointed at the Callao al lit up with its ring of lighters. "United Fruit . . . United Thieves Company . . . it's a monopoly . . . if you won't take their prices they let your limes rot on the wharf; it's a

-156-monopoly. You boys are working for a bunch of thieves, but I know it ain't your fault. Here's lookin' at you." Before they knew it Larry and Joe were singing. The old man was talking about cotton spinning machinery and canecrushers and pouring out drinks from a rumbottle. They were pretty goddam drunk. They didn't know how they got aboard. Joe remembered the dark focastle and the sound of snoring from the bunks spinning around, then sleep hitting him like a sandbag and the sweet, sicky taste of rum in his mouth. A couple of days later Joe came down with