The Courtship of Anna May Lamour ( )

The Ketch Skalik Queen. Position 19 degrees, 14 minutes north. 108 degrees, 3 minutes east. Wind, light, sky, fair. Remarks, cleared port of Haifang, French, and O'China 9 am. After unlocked movement of vessel. Reason for move?

The courtship of Anna-Meyla-Moor. Port of Haifang is spread out on the edge of a niche in Asia's coastline called the Gulf of Tonkin. It's 100 miles south of the designated border between China and French and O'China.

It's at one of the seven mouths of the Songkui River, and the races that make up its population are as numerous as the fevers that swarm in from the surrounding swamps to reduce that population.

But only one member of Haifang's citizenry was important to us. It was Max Thorne, the local representative of my Chinese boss, Kujikeang. Through him we would receive further sailing orders for the voyage of the Scarlet Queen.

It was 1.30 pm by my wristwatch when we skirted the southern edge of the low jungle-tuffed island called Kakba and stood in toward the steaming river mouth. We edged into the world of native craft, outward bound on the ebbing tide.

I was so busy at the wheel that I didn't notice until she was alongside the tiny cockle shell of a canoe that had swept across the current to meet us. My chief mate Gallagher gave me a call.

Hey, Skipper! We got a visitor! What is it, Red? She's, erm... I'm on it mic. Redisian she's smiling and she don't you people know. Tell him we don't want any center back home. On our first one, skipper.

She's all ready to cure to outside. And she's asking for Phil Conny in English. When did you say you were in high farm life? That's too long ago for her to have been waiting for me at the mouth of the river all the time.