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"Are you English?" I asked, perhaps tactlessly. "Rather. You
don't think I look like an American, do you? British to the backbone,
that's what I am."
To prove it, Mr. Kelada took out of his pocket a passport and
airily waved it under my nose.
1
King George has many strange subjects. Mr. Kelada was short
and of a sturdy build, clean-shaven and dark-skinned, with a fleshy
hooked nose and very large, lustrous and liquid eyes. His long black
hair was sleek and curly. He spoke with a fluency in which there was
nothing English and his gestures were exuberant. I felt pretty sure that
a closer inspection of that British passport would have betrayed the
fact that Mr. Kelada was born under a bluer sky than is generally seen
in England.
"What will you have?" he asked me.
2
I looked at him doubtfully. Prohibition was in force and to all
appearance the ship was bone-dry. When I am not thirsty I do not
know which I dislike more, ginger ale or lemon squash. But Mr.
Kelada flashed an oriental smile at me.
"Whisky and soda or a dry martini, you have only to say the
word."
From each of his big pockets he fished a flask and laid it on the
table before me. I chose the martini, and calling the steward he
ordered a tumbler of ice and a couple of glasses. "
"A very good cocktail," I said.
"Well, there are plenty more where that came from, and if
you've got any friends on board, you tell them you've got a pal who's
got all the liquor in the world."
Mr. Kelada was chatty. He talked of New York and of San
Francisco. He discussed plays, pictures, and politics. He was
3
patriotic. The Union Jack is an impressive piece of drapery, but
when it is flourished by a gentleman from Alexandria or Beirut, I
cannot but feel that it loses somewhat in dignity. Mr. Kelada was
familiar. I do not wish to, put on airs, but I cannot help feeling that it
is seemly a total stranger to put "mister " before my name when he
addresses me. Mr. Kelada, doubtless to set me at my ease, used no

1
King George V (1910—1936).
2
Prohibition: “Сухий закон”
3
The Union Jack: Британський прапор