re will be war."

There was general regret on board the Serpent when the little princess
said goodby to all her friends and went down the accommodation ladder to
the boat with her father. The chief had said but little to the two young
midshipmen, for he saw that they preferred that the matter should not be
alluded to, but he held their hands at parting, and said:

"I shall see you again before long; but if at any time you should
want me, I will come, even if your summons reach me in the middle of a
battle."

"It is such nonsense, Doctor," Harry said, as the boat pushed off, "to
have so much made of such a thing as jumping into the water. If one had
been alone, and had tried to save a man or a woman, in such a state of
funk that there was a good chance of their throwing their arms round
your neck and pulling you down with them, there might be something in
it, though everyone takes his chance of that when he jumps in to save
anyone from drowning; but with a little child, and two of us to do it,
and the ship close at hand, it was not worth thinking of for a moment."

"No, Parkhurst, from your point of view the thing was not, as you say,
worth giving a thought to; but, you see, that is not the point of view
of the chief. To him it is nothing whether your exploit was a gallant
one or not, or whether you ran any danger; the point simply is, his
child would have been drowned had you not seen her and fished her out,
and that it is to you that he owes her life. I think you have reason to
congratulate yourselves on having made a friend who may be very useful
to you. It may be that there will be trouble up the river; and if so, he
might possibly be of real service to you. But in any case he may be able
to give you some good hunting and fishing, and show you things that you
would never have had an opportunity of seeing without his friendship and
assistance."

"I did not think of that, Doctor; yes, that would certainly be a great
thing."

"I can assure you I look at it in that light myself, Parkhurst, and I
am looking forward to paying him a visit, as, under his protection, I
should get opportunities of collecting which I could never have in the
ordinary way; for, unless they are greatly maligned, one could not trust
one's self among the Malays without some special protection."

"But they are not savages, Doctor. Hassan is a perfect gentleman in
manner, and in that silk jacket of his and handsome sarong he really
looks like