or about an hour and a half, by which
time the two white men had mastered the designations of some fifty
objects and were enabled to repeat them when pointed at haphazard.
Kedah graciously expressed his satisfaction at their progress in a flow
of words accompanied by so much action and spoken in such a tone that
there was little difficulty in understanding his general meaning. This
system of tuition was continued day after day, accompanied by a gradual
extension of the hours of study, and, after the first week, by the
introduction of short sentences, such as: "This is a table. That is a
picture. There is a man. Yonder go a woman and child. Observe that
crowd of people," and so on, the sentences gradually lengthening and
becoming more intricate, so that by the end of two months, Kedah's
pupils were not only able to gather the general sense of most of what
was said to them, but also intelligibly to ask for almost anything they
required.

Meanwhile, during the progress of that first lesson, certain muffled
exclamations, accompanied by the sounds of heavy breathing and scuffling
feet, reached the ears of the pupils from the adjoining apartments; and
when, upon the conclusion of the lesson they entered those apartments,
Dick and Earle had the satisfaction of finding that all their belongings
had been brought up and were neatly stowed away; also that Inaguy and
Moquit, two of their Indian followers, had been added to their staff of
servants. And from these men they also received the satisfactory
information that the rest of the Indians were lodged together and being
well cared for in a chamber beneath the palace.

The afternoon was by this time so far advanced that the two white men
felt they might safely venture to sally forth and see something of the
city, without much fear of being unduly incommoded by the heat, and they
were also curious to ascertain how far they were free agents to come and
go as they pleased; they resolved, therefore, to put the matter to the
test without further ado. Accordingly, each thrusting a pair of fully
loaded automatics into his belt, as a measure of precaution against
possible contingencies, they left their apartments and, descending the
stairs, made their way to the garden quadrangle, from whence they
passed, without interference, into the grand square, receiving the
salute of the sentry at the gates as they went.

The temple, situate on the opposite side of the square, was naturally