th, Stanley. I
bought an uncommonly good native horse, as you know, six weeks ago;
and I am going to ride him for the first time now but, really, that
is almost the first penny that I have spent since we left Rangoon.
There is nothing to buy here except food and, of course, that is a
mess business. I had an idea that this was a rich country but, so
far, one has seen nothing in the way of rich dress materials, or
shawls, or carpets, or jewelry that one could send home as
presents. Why, in India I was always being tempted; but here it is
certainly the useful, rather than the ornamental, that meets the
eye."

"I saw some nice things at Ava but, of course, all the upper
classes bolted as we came up the country; and the traders in rich
goods did the same. Are you going to take a servant with you,
Harry? I don't think that there is any occasion to do so, for
Meinik can look after us both, well enough."

"Yes, I am thinking of taking my native, the man I hired just after
I got here. He is a very good fellow, and made himself very useful,
while I was ill. I picked up a tat for him, yesterday, for a few
rupees. I know that your man would do very well for us both but,
sometimes, when you make a village your headquarters and ride to
visit others from it, I may not feel well enough to go with you;
and then he would come in very handy, for he has picked up a good
many words of English. Your man is getting on very well, that way."

"Yes; he was some time before he began for, of course, he had no
occasion for it; but now that he has taken to what he considers an
English costume, and has made up his mind that he will never settle
down again under a Burmese government, he has been trying hard to
pick up the language. I found that it was rather a nuisance at
first when, instead of telling him what was wanted in his own
language, I had to tell him in English, and then translate it for
him. However, he does understand a good deal now and, whenever he
has nothing else to do, he is talking with the soldiers. Of course,
from his riding about so much with me, he is pretty well known,
now; and as he is a good-tempered, merry fellow, he makes himself
at home with them and, if the campaign lasts another six months, I
think he will speak very fair English."

"I fancy that you will have to make up your mind that he is a
permanency, Stanley. I am sure he intends to follow you, wherever
you go; whether it is to England, India, or anywhere else.