Sam'l Ravonino--I've heerd wuss;
anyhow it's better than the entire complication--eh, Ebony?"

"Mush better," assented the negro; "dere's no use wotsomediver for de
hitri--hitri-folderol-ony bit of it. Now, 'Ockins, fair play wid de
marrow-bones. Hand me anoder."

"Is it far, Mr Ravonino," asked Mark, "from here to the capital--to
Antananarivo?"

"You cleared 'im that time, Doctor!" murmured Hockins, wiping his mouth
with a bunch of grass which he carried as a substitute for a
pocket-handkerchief.

"Yes, it is a long way," said the outlaw; "many days' journey over
mountain and plain."

"And are you going to guide us all the way there?"

"No, not all the way. You forget I am an outlaw. It would cost me my
life if I were to appear in Antananarivo."

Mark was on the point of asking why, but, remembering the rebuff of the
previous night, forbore to put questions relative to his new friend's
personal affairs. Indeed he soon found that it was useless to do so,
for whenever he approached the subject Ravonino became so abstracted and
deaf that no reply could be drawn from him. As if to compensate for
this, however, the man was exceedingly communicative in regard to all
other subjects, and there was a quiet urbanity in his manner which
rendered his conversation exceedingly attractive. Moreover, to the
surprise of Mark, this mysterious stranger gave evidence of a
considerable amount of education. He also gratified Hockins by his
evident delight in the flageolet, and his appreciation of nautical
stories and "lingo," while he quite won the heart of Ebony by treating
him with the same deference which he accorded to his companions. In
short each of our travellers congratulated himself not a little on this
pleasant acquisition to the party--the only drawback to their
satisfaction being their inability to reconcile the existence of such
good qualities with the condition of an outlaw!

"However," remarked Hockins, after a long talk with his comrades on this
subject when Ravonino was absent, "it's none of our business what he's
bin an' done to other people. What we've got to do with is the way he
behaves to _us_, d'ee see?"

"He's a trump," said Ebony, with a nod of decision.

"I agree with you," said Mark; "and I only wish he was a little more
communicative about himself. However, we must take him as we find him,
and try to win his confidence."

During the whole of that first day their guide conducted them throu