e time before Desmond was
sufficiently familiar with the language to pick up more than a few words
of the stories here and there, but in three months he found himself able
to follow the narrative with ease.

Meanwhile he was growing apace. The constant work in the open air, clad,
save during the rains, in nothing but a thin dhoti {a cloth worn round
the waist, passed between the legs and tucked in behind the back},
developed his physique and, even in that hot climate, hardened his
muscles. The Babu one day remarked with envy that he would soon be deemed
worthy of promotion to Angria's own gallivat, whose crew consisted of
picked men of all nationalities.

This was an honor Desmond by no means coveted. As a dockyard workman,
earning his food by the sweat of his brow, he did not come in contact
with Angria, and was indeed less hardly used than he had been on board
the Good Intent. But to become a galley slave seemed to him a different
thing, and the prospect of pulling an oar in the Pirate's gallivat served
to intensify his longing to escape.

For, though he proved so willing and docile in the dockyard, not a day
passed but he pondered the idea of escape. He seized every opportunity of
learning the topography of the fort and town, being aided in this
unwittingly by Govinda, who employed him more and more often, as he
became familiar with the language, in conveying messages from one part of
the settlement to another. But he was forced to confess to himself that
the chances of escape were very slight. Gheria was many miles from the
nearest European settlement where he might find refuge. To escape by sea
seemed impossible; if he fled through the town and got clear of Angria's
territory he would almost certainly fall into the hands of the Peshwa's
{the prime minister and real ruler of the Maratha kingdom} people, and
although the Peshwa was nominally an ally of the Company, his subjects--a
lawless, turbulent, predatory race--were not likely to be specially
friendly to a solitary English lad. A half-felt hope that he might be
able to reach Suwarndrug, lately captured by Commodore James, was dashed
by the news that that fort had been handed over by him to the Marathas.
Moreover, such was the rivalry among the various European nations
competing for trade in India that he was by no means sure of a friendly
reception if he should succeed in gaining a Portuguese or Dutch
settlement. Dark stories were told of Portug