Had not been inTahiti long before I met Captain Nichols. He came in one morning when I washaving breakfast on the terrace of the hotel and introduced himself. He hadheard that I was interested in Charles Strickland, and announced that he wascome to have a talk about him. They are as fond of gossip in Tahiti as in anEnglish village, and one or two enquiries I had made for pictures by Stricklandhad been quickly spread. I asked the stranger if he had breakfasted.

"Yes; Ihave my coffee early, " he answered, "but I don't mind having a dropof whisky. "

I called theChinese boy.

"You don'tthink it's too early?" said the Captain.

"You andyour liver must decide that between you, " I replied.

"I'mpractically a teetotaller, " he said, as he poured himself out a goodhalf-tumbler of Canadian Club.

When he smiledhe showed broken and discoloured teeth. He was a very lean man, of no more thanaverage height, with gray hair cut short and a stubbly gray moustache. He hadnot shaved for a couple of days. His face was deeply lined, burned brown bylong exposure to the sun, and he had a pair of small blue eyes which wereastonishingly shifty. They moved quickly, following my smallest gesture, andthey gave him the look of a very thorough rogue. But at the moment he was allheartiness and good-fellowship. He was dressed in a bedraggled suit of khaki,and his hands would have been all the better for a wash.

"I knewStrickland well, " he said, as he leaned back in his chair and lit thecigar I had offered him. "It's through me he came out to the islands."

"Where didyou meet him?" I asked.

"InMarseilles. "

"What wereyou doing there?"

He gave me aningratiating smile.

"Well, Iguess I was on the beach. "

我在塔希提没有待几天便见到了尼柯尔斯船长。一天早晨，我正在旅馆的露台上吃早饭，他走进来，作了自我介绍。他听说我对查理斯·斯特里克兰德感兴趣，便毛遂自荐，来找我谈谈思特里克兰德的事。塔希提的居民同英国乡下人一样，很喜欢聊天，我随便向一两个人打听了一下思特里克兰德的画儿，这消息很快就传到每个人的耳朵里去了。我问这位陌生的来客是否吃过早点。

“吃过了，我一起床就喝过咖啡了，”他回答说，“但是喝一口威士忌我并不反对。”

我把旅馆的中国侍者喊过来。

“你是不是认为现在喝酒太早了点？”船长说。

“这该由你同你自己的肝脏做出决定，”我回答说。

“我其实是个戒酒主义者，”他一边给自己斟了大半杯加拿大克拉伯牌威士忌，一边说。

尼柯尔斯船长笑的时候露出一口很不整齐的发黑的牙齿，他生得瘦小枯干，身材不到中等，花白的头发剪得很短，嘴上是乱扎扎的白胡子碴。尼柯尔斯船长已经有好几天没有刮脸了。他的脸上皱纹很深，因为长年暴露在阳光下，晒得黎黑。他生着一双小蓝眼睛，目光游移不定；随着我的手势，他的眼睛很快地转来转去，叫人一望而知是个社会上的老油子。但是这时候他对我却是一片热诚和真情实意。他身上穿的一套卡其衣裤邋里邋遢，两只手也早该好好洗一洗了。

“我同思特里克兰德很熟，”他说，他身体往椅子背上一靠，点上我递给他的雪茄烟。“他到这个地方来还是通过我的关系。”

“你最早是在什么地方遇到他的？”我问。

“马赛。”

“你在马赛做什么？”

他象要讨好我似地赔了个笑脸。

“呃，我当时没在船上，境遇很糟。”