out making the best of things.
They went down to the quay and got out of their boxes a number of
books. The doctor called on the chief surgeon of the naval hospital and
went round the beds with him. They left cards on the governor. They
passed Miss Thompson on the road. The doctor took off his hat, and she
gave him a "Good morning, doc.," in a loud, cheerful voice. She was
dressed as on the day before, in a white frock, and her shiny white
boots with their high heels, her fat legs bulging over the tops of them,
were strange things on that exotic scene.

"I don't think she's very suitably dressed, I must say," said Mrs
Macphail. "She looks extremely common to me."

When they got back to their house, she was on the verandah playing with
one of the trader's dark children.

"Say a word to her," Dr Macphail whispered to his wife. "She's all alone
here, and it seems rather unkind to ignore her."

Mrs Macphail was shy, but she was in the habit of doing what her husband
bade her.

"I think we're fellow lodgers here," she said, rather foolishly.

"Terrible, ain't it, bein' cooped up in a one-horse burg like this?"
answered Miss Thompson. "And they tell me I'm lucky to have gotten a
room. I don't see myself livin' in a native house, and that's what some
have to do. I don't know why they don't have a hotel."

They exchanged a few more words. Miss Thompson, loud-voiced and
garrulous, was evidently quite willing to gossip, but Mrs Macphail had
a poor stock of small talk and presently she said:

"Well, I think we must go upstairs."

In the evening when they sat down to their high-tea Davidson on coming
in said:

"I see that woman downstairs has a couple of sailors sitting there. I
wonder how she's gotten acquainted with them."

"She can't be very particular," said Mrs Davidson.

They were all rather tired after the idle, aimless day.

"If there's going to be a fortnight of this I don't know what we shall
feel like at the end of it," said Dr Macphail.

"The only thing to do is to portion out the day to different
activities," answered the missionary. "I shall set aside a certain
number of hours to study and a certain number to exercise, rain or
fine--in the wet season you can't afford to pay any attention to the
rain--and a certain number to recreation."

Dr Macphail looked at his companion with misgiving. Davidson's programme
oppressed him. They were eating Hamburger steak again. It seemed the
only dish the cook kne