Before him lay the skeleton draft
of his annual report to the Nicaraguan Minister of Finance, a gentleman
who developed a passionate craving, once a year, to be informed of the
condition of Nepenthe in regard to matters such as shipping and trade
returns, zymotic diseases, and the methods locally employed for
combating beri-beri.
The elaboration of this report had hitherto given Mr. Freddy Parker no
trouble whatever. It was an understood thing between himself and his
protector, Senor Pomponio de Vergara y Puyarola, that his labours need
not be otherwise than purely formal. To every one of the intelligent
queries on the part of a paternal government it had been his custom,
therefore, to append the magic word NIL. Banking system--NIL. Meat
export--NIL. Cotton industry--NIL. Agriculture--NIL. Canal traffic--NIL.
Teak trade--NIL. Emery mines--NIL. Fisheries--NIL.
He could trust Senor de Vergara to arrange matters, in the event of any
complaint arising as to the unwarranted ambiguity or succinctness of
the Nepenthean Report.
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