"
"You think that everyone should stick to his last, Sandy," Dick
said with a laugh. "Well, I only wish there were more on board of
your opinion, for that would give more chances to us who like to
stretch our legs ashore for a change."
"I can stretch my legs here if I want to," the Scotchman said
quietly, "and am not anxious to do more. I suppose, if there are
expeditions against the Malays, I shall have to go with them; but
the fewer of them there are the better I shall be pleased."
The talk was more serious aft, where the doctor and first lieutenant
were dining with the captain. It ended by the latter saying, "Well,
Doctor, if what your friend Hassan said be true, we are likely
enough to have our hands pretty full, and shall have to watch this
fellow Sehi as sharply as we do his neighbors. He is not under
our protection yet, and if he sends his prahus down the river to
plunder on the coast, as Hassan says, he is not the sort of character
likely to do us credit, and the position of a British Resident with
him would be the reverse of a pleasant one. However, we must hope
that he is not as black as he is painted. He has evidently put the
other chiefs' backs up, and we must receive their reports of him
with some doubt. However, I have no doubt that, if he turns out
badly, we shall be able to give him a lesson that will be of benefit
to him.
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