Following the Equator

Excerpt: ...waiting for orders. Dear me, what a rustler he was after the slumbrous way of Manuel, poor old slug! All my heart, all my affection, all my admiration, went out spontaneously to this frisky little forked black thing, this compact and compressed incarnation of energy and force and promptness and celerity and confidence, this smart, smily, engaging, shiney-eyed little devil, feruled on his upper end by a gleaming fire-coal of a fez with a red-hot tassel dangling from it. I said, with deep satisfaction- "You'll suit. What is your name?" He reeled it mellowly off. "Let me see if I can make a selection out of it-for business uses, I mean; we will keep the rest for Sundays. Give it to me in installments." He did it. But there did not seem to be any short ones, except Mousa-which suggested mouse. It was out of character; it was too soft, too quiet, too conservative; it didn't fit his splendid style. I considered, and said- "Mousa is short enough, but I don't quite like it. It seems colorless-inharmonious-inadequate; and I am sensitive to such things. How do you think Satan would do?" "Yes, master. Satan do wair good." It was his way of saying "very good." There was a rap at the door. Satan covered the ground with a single skip; there was a word or two of Hindostani, then he disappeared. Three minutes later he was before me again, militarily erect, and waiting for me to speak first. "What is it, Satan?" "God want to see you." "Who?" "God. I show him up, master?" "Why, this is so unusual, that-that-well, you see indeed I am so unprepared-I don't quite know what I do mean. Dear me, can't you explain? Don't you see that this is a most ex--" "Here his card, master." Wasn't it curious-and amazing, and tremendous, and all that? Such a personage going around calling on such as I, and sending up his card, like a mortal-sending it up by Satan. It was a bewildering collision of the...