ashing through the town on the
river's right bank--swinging to her moorings; for she had reached her
destination--the campong, or village, of Sultan Hamet, the native Malay
potentate, who was under British protection, and who sought our aid to
rule his land beneficially, after our manners and customs, and who now
professed the most ardent friendship for those who were ready to do
their duty; though the trust they felt in the Malays was not untempered
by suspicion--in some cases, perhaps, with fear.

It was a very busy time for all, and after the "Startler" had been made
what Dick the sailor called snug--that is to say, firmly anchored head
to stream, for they were now far above the reach of the tide--a strong
party of the blue-jackets were landed upon the pleasantly umbrageous
island, along with the soldiers; for this island was to be the site of
the residency, and it proved to have four good-sized buildings amidst
the trees, which had been roughly prepared by Sultan Hamet's orders.

Doctor Bolter was almost the first man to land, and for a long time he
was fussily perspiring about, as he abused the sanitary arrangements of
the place to every man he met, pausing last of all to stand mopping his
face in front of Bob Roberts and Tom Long.

"Pretty sort of a wilderness to bring us to, young gentlemen!" he
exclaimed. "I don't know what to start at next. The place will be a
very hot-bed of fever, and we shall all be swept away."

"What do you say to this for a neat spot, doctor?" said Bob Roberts.

"Neat spot? what for?"

"Burying ground."

"Burying ground? What do you mean, sir?"

"To bury us all decently, doctor," said Bob, grinning. "And I say,
doctor, who's to bury the last man?"

"If you were under my charge, Master Bob Roberts," said the doctor,
panting with the heat, "I should reduce that vital force of yours a
little, sir."

"Thanky, doctor. But I say, doctor, which is to be the resident's
house?"

"That, sir; and those three buildings are to be turned into barracks,
and fort, and officers' quarters; and how I am to get them all into a
sanitary state, I don't know."

But the doctor did manage it somehow in the following days, when, in
spite of the heat, every one worked with a will; the resident's house
was improved, and boats were constantly going to and from the
"Startler," whose hold was something like a conjuring trick, as it
constantly turned out household necessaries and furniture. Handy
w