He had
learnt arithmetic from the transactions of bubble companies; modern
languages from the lips of the women who loved him. He was a crack shot,
a perfect swordsman, a reckless horseman, and a dancer in whom dancing
almost rose to genius. Beyond these limits he was as ignorant as dirt;
but he had a cleverness which served as a substitute for book learning,
and he seldom failed in impressing the people he met with the idea that
he, Gomez de Montesma, was no ordinary man.
Directly after dinner the preparations for an immediate start began;
very much to the disgust of skipper and crew, who were not in the habit
of working after dinner; but Montesma cared nothing for the short
answers of the captain, or the black look of the men.
Lesbia wanted to learn all about everything--the name of every sail, of
every rope. She stood near the helmsman, a slim graceful figure in a
white gown of some soft material, with never a jewel or a flower to
relieve that statuesque simplicity. She wore no hat, and the rich
chesnut hair was rolled in a loose knot at the back of the small
Greek-looking head.
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