and
I shouldn't be the least surprised if my cousin Richard had a hand in
that!"

CHAPTER XVI

MR. AND MRS. ABEL SALTER

Shafto had been six weeks in Rangoon and, thanks to his chums, was
beginning to feel completely at home--as is sometimes the case with
adaptable young people in a strange and fascinating country.

His neighbours, the Salters, who were hospitable and friendly, had lent
him a hand to find his bearings. Occasionally, of an evening, he and
Roscoe would stroll over there after dinner, and sit in the deep
veranda discussing many matters with the master of the house. Roscoe
and Salter were more nearly of an age, and mutually interested in
subjects that to Shafto seemed deadly dull and obscure. He liked to
hear about sport, the country, and the Burmese; to all such topics he
was an eager and ready listener, but when philosophy and sociology were
on the tapis he would join Mrs. Salter indoors, to discuss the paddy
crop, inspect her great rice bins, and argue over prices and sales; or
he would listen to blood-curdling tales about _nats_, or house spirits,
related by his hostess in animated, broken English, and with
appropriate gesticulations. Mee Lay had a high opinion of the young
man, and this was shared by her daughter, for "Shaft," as she called
him, helped her to fly her kite, mended broken toys and brought her
chocolates such as her soul loved.

During one of their prowling expeditions Roscoe had imparted the
life-history of Salter to his chum. Salter's forbears were Yorkshire
folk--thrifty, self-respecting, stiff-backed Nonconformists. His
father and grandfather belonged to what is called "the old school,"
when parents ruled their families with an iron rod, and the meek,
down-trodden children accepted punishment without question. Salter's
grandmother had dismissed grown-up sons from table and kept a
rebellious daughter for weeks incarcerated in her room. Salter's
father had inherited her stern, Spartan spirit; he gave his heir a
first-class education in the neighbourhood of London and, when he was
twenty, recalled him to Bradford, there to take his place in the works
and live at home. But Salter, junior, having tasted the delights of
liberty, found home life unspeakably irksome; the laws against drink,
dancing, smoking and the theatre were Draconic. He hated the long
chapel service on Sunday, the endless hymns and emotional exhortations;
the day concluding with family worship, whi