Nearer the Truth

For a few moments there was silence. Lucy and Archie sat still, as they
were too much surprised by Don Pedro's recognition of Captain Hervey as
the Swedish sailor Vasa to move or speak. But the Professor did not seem
to be greatly astonished, and the sole sound which broke the stillness
was his sardonic chuckle. Perhaps the little man had progressed beyond
the point of being surprised at anything, or, like, Moliere's hero, was
only surprised at finding virtue in unexpected places.

As for the Peruvian and the skipper, they were both on their feet,
eyeing one another like two fighting dogs. Hervey was the first to find
his very useful tongue.

"I guess you've got the bulge on me," said he, trying to outstare
the Peruvian, for which nationality, from long voyaging on the South
American coast, he entertained the most profound contempt.

But in De Gayangos he found a foeman worthy of his steel.

"I think not," said Don Pedro quietly, and facing the pseudo-American
bravely. "I never forget faces, and yours is a noticeable one. When you
first spoke I fancied that I remembered your voice. All that business
with the chair was to get close to you, so that I could see the scar
on your right temple. It is still there, I notice. Also, I dropped my
cigarette case and forced you to pick it up, so that, when you stretched
your arm, I might see what mark was on your left wrist. It is a serpent
encircling the sun, which Lola Farjados induced you to have tattooed
when you were in Lima thirty years ago. Your eyes are blue and full of
light, and as you were twenty when I knew you, the lapse of years has
made you fifty--your present age."