"
"Not at all," the captain replied quietly. "Your powers as a ruler
would not be interfered with in any way, as long as they were
properly exercised. You would have the power of executing ill doers
in accordance with the custom of your country; but the murder of a
person who had committed no crime whatever is not to be permitted,
and anything like wholesale cruelty and tyranny would be sternly
repressed."
For some time the rajah sat without speaking; then he said, with
an evident effort of self control, "I must think all this over; it
is all new to me."
"By all means do so," the captain replied. "The matter is an important
one, and you will do well to consider it in all lights before you
take a step that, once taken, cannot be undone."
"I don't like the fellow's looks, Doctor," the captain said; "he
intended to use us as a cat's paw against his neighbors."
"I think that he is a thoroughly bad lot, sir; and if he accepted
the terms, I should be very sorry to be appointed Resident, for I
should not feel that my life was worth a day's purchase."
"Well, there is nothing to do but to wait until we get a definite
answer from him; and my instructions are that, if I find that he
is not a desirable man to have to deal with, I am to enter into
negotiations with other rajahs, and to endeavor to do something
to open the trade of the river and to render it safe for merchants
who come up to trade.
Pages:
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56