lieutenant--

"I say, Mr Brooke, I wasn't very far wrong?"

"No, my lad," he said, with a smile; "I give in. I was all prejudice
against the poor fellow, but I was justified in a great deal that I
said. Appearances were dead against him. There, I was too hasty."

Meanwhile the stores Ching had bought had been transferred to our boat,
and he had told us a little about his adventures--how, when he had made
his purchases, he had returned to the landing-place and found the crowd
gathering, and heard the men declaiming against the foreign devils who
had stolen the boat they were using. The people were growing so much
excited that he soon found it would be impossible for him to go off with
his load to join us, and as soon as he heard the most prominent of the
men shouting to us to come ashore, he felt that his first duty was to
warn us not to.

"Catchee allee. Takee off to plison. In plison velly hard get out
again," he said, and then went on to tell us how he felt it would be
best to hire a boat to come off to us from higher up the river, but in
spite of all his efforts he could not get one and his stores on board
till he saw the other boats push off to the attack; and then, when his
men willingly tried to overtake us, urged on by promises of good pay,
they had been mistaken by us for enemies.

"But velly good boat, sail velly fast. You tink it Ching coming?"

"No, of course not," I said.

"No, not tink it Ching. Send boat 'way now? Ching go?"

"No, no," said Mr Brooke eagerly. "You will stop with us."

"You no velly closs with Ching now?"

"Cross? No; very grateful."

"You no tink Ching like velly bad man pilate?"

"I think you a very good, faithful fellow," said Mr Brooke, and the
Chinaman's face lit up.

"Send boat 'way now?"

"Stop; I must pay the men."

Ching shook his head.

"No, Ching pay. Velly clebby pay money. Two dollar pay men."

He went back into the other boat, and, producing some money from up his
sleeve, he settled with the men, who nodded, smiled, and, as soon as
Ching had returned on board, were about to push off, when Mr Brooke
stopped them.

"Tell them we shall return the boat as soon as we have done with it."

"Yes; no go steal boat. Plenty boat in steamy-ship. Tell them capen
give dollar, eh?"

"Yes, tell them that."

"You likee other boat and men?"

"Well, I don't know," said Mr Brooke, hesitating, as if he thought some
use might be made of such a fast-sail