"Who may that be?"
"Our dashing young friend, Mr Bob Roberts."
There was a bit of a scuffle here as the whole party burst into a roar
of laughter.
"Oh, I beg your pardon, Roberts," said the resident. "I did not know
you were there."
Bob Roberts felt red hot with shame and annoyance, as he made a rush and
retreated from the group, by whom his presence had been unperceived.
"I hope, Linton," said Captain Horton, in command of the "Startler,"
"that my youngster there has not been behaving impertinently to Miss
Linton."
"Not at all," said the resident quietly; "both Mr Long and Mr Roberts
have been full of respectful admiration for the young lady, who has
sufficient common sense to behave to the silly young gentlemen as they
deserve. It is all connected with the hair-brushing stage, and will, I
have no doubt, help to make them both grow into fine manly young fellows
by-and-by."
"Why, I can see through the mill-stone now," said the doctor, laughing.
"What mill-stone, doctor?"
"Why, I have been puzzling myself as to why it was those two boys were
always squabbling together. I see now; they're as jealous as can be. I
say, Mr Linton, you ought not to bring such a bone of contention on
board as that daughter of yours, and her cousin."
"Seriously, my dear doctor," said the resident, "I do sometimes feel
that I am to blame for bringing those two motherless girls out into the
jungle; but Rachel declared that she would not be separated from me; and
Miss Sinclair, my sister's child, seems more like one of my own, and
shared her cousin's feelings."
"They are two ladies, Linton," said the major, "for whom we feel the
deepest respect; and, speaking selfishly, I am only too glad that my
wife has a couple of such charming companions."
"Yes," said Captain Horton; "and if I had known what I know now, I
should have let Mrs Horton have her wish, and accompany me."
"Well, gentlemen," said the resident, rather sadly, "I don't know, but I
have a sort of presentiment that it would have been better if we had
been without ladies, or soldiers' wives, if you come to that; for I
cannot conceal from myself that we are bound upon a very risky
expedition, one out of which I hope we shall all come safely."
"Oh, we shall be safe enough," said the major.
"Do you think there is really any danger, Mr Linton?" said Captain
Smithers, rather hoarsely.
"Why, you are not afraid, are you, Smithers? Come, you must not show
the white feather!"
"I am not afraid for myself, Major Sandars," said the young captain,
quietly; "and I hope I shall never show the white feather; but when
there are women and children in an expedition--"
"Oh, come, come," said the resident, gaily; "I am afraid I have been
croaking. There may be danger; but when we are surrounded by such brave
men as the officers and crew of the `Startler,' and her Majesty's
somethingth foot, I see, after all, nothing whatever to fear."
"Fear? no!" said Captain Horton. "Why, we could blow the whole place to
Cape Horn with my guns; and the Malays would never face Sandars' boys,
with their bayonets."
"Did you notice that sentry, Smithers?" asked the little doctor, in a
low voice, of his companion, as the conversation now became less
general.
"Sentry? which one?"
"This one," said the doctor. "Don't speak aloud, or he'll hear you."
"Private Gray? No, I did not notice anything. What do you mean?"
"The light of that lantern shines full on his face, and he made a
movement that drew my attention, when we were talking of there being
danger."
"Indeed?" said the captain.
"Yes; he was evidently listening to the conversation, and I saw him
start so that he nearly dropped his piece; his face was quite convulsed,
and he turned of a sickly pallor. The light was so strong upon him that
I could see his lips whiten."
"Or was it fancy, doctor?"
"Fancy? No, my lad, that was no fancy; and I hope we have not many more
like him in the regiment."
"Well, for my part," said Captain Smithers, quietly, "I have often
wished that my company was composed of Adam Grays."
"Adam, eh? To be sure; I remember the fellow now. Well, he's a poor
descendant of the first Adam, for if that fellow is not an arrant coward
my name isn't Bolter."
"Really, doctor, I think you do the man an injustice. He is a very
superior, well educated fellow; and it has often puzzled me how he
became a private soldier."
"Scamp!" said the doctor, shortly. "Some runaway or another. The ranks
of the army are made a receptacle for blackguards!"
"Hang it, doctor!" cried the young captain, warmly, "I cannot sit here
and listen to such heresy. I confess that we do get some scoundrels
into the army; but as a rule our privates are a thoroughly trustworthy
set of fellows, ready to go through fire and water for their officers;
and I only wish the country would make better provision for them when
their best days are past."
"Ah, that's right enough," said the doctor; "they are all what you say,
and they do deserve better treatment of their country. I mean, ha, ha,
ha! to make teetotallers of them this trip. I'm not going to have the
men poisoned with that red hot country arrack, I can tell them."
"It is terrible stuff, I believe."
"Terrible? It's liquid poison, sir! and I don't know that I sha'n't try
and set up a private brewery of my own, so as to supply the poor fellows
with a decent glass of beer."
"Poor fellows! eh, doctor? Why, you said just now they were a set of
scoundrels."
"Well, well, well; I didn't mean all. But look at that fellow Sim--
there's a pretty rascal for you! He's always on the sick-list, and it's
nearly always sham."
"I'm afraid he is a bit of a black sheep," said Captain Smithers.
"Inky black, Smithers, inky black. I shall poison that fellow some day.
But I say, my dear boy, the brewery."
"What about it?"
"What about it? Why, it would be splendid. I mean to say it is a grand
idea. I'll get the major to let me do it."
"My dear doctor," said Captain Smithers, laughing, "I'm afraid if you
did brew some beer, and supply it to the men, fancy would go such a long
way that they would find medicinal qualities in it, and refuse to drink
a drop."
"Then they would be a set of confoundedly ungrateful scoundrels," said
the doctor, angrily, "for I should only use malt and hops."
"And never serve it as you did the coffee that day, doctor?"
"Well, well, I suppose I must take the credit of that. I did doctor it
a little; but it was only with an astringent corrective, to keep the
poor boys from suffering from too much fruit."
"Poor boys! eh, doctor? Come, come, you don't think my brave lads are a
set of scoundrels then?"
"I said before, not all--not all," replied the doctor.
"Ah, doctor," said Captain Smithers, "like a good many more of us, you
say more than you mean sometimes, and I know you have the welfare of the
men at heart."
"Not I, my lad, not I. It's all pure selfishness; I don't care a pin
about the rascals. All I want is to keep them quite well, so that they
may not have to come bothering me, when I want my time to go botanising;
that's all."
"And so we have fewer men on the sick-list than any regiment out here?"
"Tut! tut! Nonsense!"
Just then the ladies came up from the principal cabin, and began to walk
slowly up and down the quarter-deck, evidently enjoying the delicious
coolness of the night air, and the beauty of the sea and sky.
Captain Smithers sat watching them intently for a time, and then, as he
happened to turn his head, he caught sight of the sentry, Adam Gray, and
it struck him that he, too, was attentively watching the group of
ladies. So convinced did the young officer become of this, that he
could not refrain from watching him.
Once or twice he thought it was only fancy, but at last he felt sure;
and a strange angry sensation sprang up in his breast as he saw the
sentry's countenance change when the ladies passed him.
"An insolent scoundrel!" he muttered. "How dare he?"
Then, as the ladies took their seats at some distance, he began thinking
over what the doctor had said, and wondering whether this man, in whom
he had heretofore taken a great deal of interest, was such a coward; and
in spite of his angry feelings, he could only come to the conclusion
that the doctor was wrong.
But at the same time what he had heard and seen that evening had not
been without its effect, and he found himself irritable and vexed
against this man, while his previous good feelings seemed to be
completely swept away.
At last he rose impatiently, and strolled towards where the ladies were
sitting, and joined in the conversation that was going on round a bucket
of water that the doctor had just had dipped from over the side, and
which he had displayed, full of brilliantly shining points of light,
some of which emitted flashes as he stirred the water with his hands, or
dipped glasses full of it, to hold up for the fair passengers to see.
"All peculiar forms of jelly-fish," he said aloud, as if he were
delivering a lecture, "and all possessing the power of emitting that
beautiful phosphorescent light. There you see, ladies, if I had a spoon
I could skim it off the top of this bucket of water, just like so much
golden cream, and pour it into a glass. Very wonderful, is it not?"
"Look, look, doctor!" said one of the ladies, pointing to the sea, where
a series of vivid flashes rapidly followed one another.
"Yes, my dear, I see," he replied; "that was some fish darting through
the water, and disturbing the medusae. If you watch you can see the
same thing going on all round."
So glorious was the aspect of the sea that the conversation gradually
ceased, and all on the quarter-deck watched the ever-widening lines of
golden water that parted at the stem of the corvette and gradually died
away, or were mingled with the glistening foam churned up by the
propeller.
For the sea seemed to be one blaze of soft lambent light, that flashed
angrily wherever it was disturbed by the steamer, or the startled fish,
that dashed away on every side as they swiftly ran on towards the land
of swamp and jungle, of nipah and betel palm, where the rivers were
bordered by mangroves, the home of the crocodile; a land where the
night's conversation had roused up thoughts of its being perhaps the
burial-place of many a one of the brave hearts throbbing within the
timbers of that stout ship--hearts that were to play active parts in the
adventurous scenes to come.