The place was crowded with ship hands and dock labourers, and reeked
with that indescribable odour which is peculiar to the locality. Without
receiving an order, a one-eyed waiter slammed a cup of thick coffee and
two hunks of bread and butter before Dene; and Dene, eating and drinking
the rough fare with an enjoyment which amused him, looked round him with
the keenness of a man who is watching for an opportunity to seize upon
the extended hand of Chance.
At the same table were seated two men whom he found it rather difficult
to place; they did not look like dock labourers or sailors; and there
was a mixture of the artist, the actor, the cheap-jack about them which
stirred his curiosity; he found himself listening to them involuntarily.
"About time we were moving, isn't it?" said one. "The whole caboose will
be down there by now; and it will be a devil of a job getting it on
board in the dark. Why the old man didn't go by the regular line I can't
think."
"'Thrift, Horatio, thrift,'" responded his companion; "he'll save a lot
of money by hiring this old tramp; and he won't care how we have to pig
it, so long as the blessed animals are all right. I had a look at her
just now, and if ever there was a jumping, rolling, sea-sick old tub,
she's one."
"A nice prospect," grunted the first man; "and we're short-handed, too;
catch the old man taking a single man more than he wants."
Dene pricked up his ears. Was the hand of Chance being extended already?
He waited for more, but the men ceased talking, and presently rose and
walked out, with a gait which was as curious as everything else about
them. Obeying an impulse, Dene rose and followed them. They joined the
crowd going down towards the docks, and, keeping them in sight, he
merged into a group of excited persons who were moving about in a scene
which struck Dene with amazement.
On the quay, beside which a steamer was moored, towered a couple of huge
elephants, surrounded by camels, horses, and mules, while on trollies
stood cages of wild beasts, lions, tigers, jackals; one of the elephants
was trumpeting, the camels were groaning, the carnivora roaring; mixed
with their din were the voices of a motley crew, men and women, having
the same appearance in dress and manner as that of the two men he had
followed. Dene saw that it was a travelling menagerie and circus, and he
looked on it with an amusement which predominated over his
self-interest. Presently there darted into the conglomerate mass an
extraordinary object--it might have been one of the monkeys escaped from
its cage and miraculously raised into imitation of a man's stature. The
diminutive figure was enveloped in a fur coat, much too large for it,
and crowned by a ridiculous sombrero hat. An extinct cigar was held in
the clenched teeth, and as the thing waved its hand Dene caught the
glitter of innumerable rings.