e was amused at the description that the
Doctor gave her of some of the people to whom he introduced her.

"I am going to introduce you to that woman in the severely plain cloak
and ugly bonnet. She is the wife of the Resident of Rajputana. I knew
her when her husband was a Collector."

"A Collector, Dr. Wade; what did he collect?"

"Well, my dear, he didn't collect taxes or water rates or anything
of that sort. A Collector is a civil functionary, and frequently
an important one. I used to attend her at one time when we were in
cantonments at Bhurtpore, where her husband was stationed at that time.
I pulled a tooth out for her once, and she halloaed louder than any
woman I ever heard. I don't mean to say, my dear, that woman holloa any
louder than men; on the contrary, they bear pain a good deal better,
but she was an exception. She was twelve years younger then, and used
to dress a good deal more than she does now. That cloak and bonnet are
meant to convey to the rest of the passengers the fact that there is no
occasion whatever for a person of her importance to attend to such petty
matters as dress.

"She never mentions her husband's name without saying, 'My husband, the
Resident,' but for all that she is a kind hearted woman--a very kind
hearted woman. I pulled a child of hers through who was down with
fever at Bhurtpore; he had a very close shave of it, and she has never
forgotten it. She greeted me when she came on board almost with tears
in her eyes at the thought of that time. I told her I had a young lady
under my charge, and she said that she would be very pleased to do
anything she could for you. She is a stanch friend is Mrs. Resident, and
you will find her useful before you get to the end of the voyage."

The lady received Isobel with genuine kindness, and took her very much
under her wing during the voyage, and Isobel received no small advantage
from her advice and protection.

Her own good sense, however, and the earnest life she had led at school
and with her brother at home, would have sufficed her even without
this guardianship and that of the Doctor. There was a straightforward
frankness about her that kept men from talking nonsense to her. A
compliment she simply laughed at, an attempt at flattery made her
angry, and the Doctor afterwards declared to her uncle he would not have
believed that the guardianship of a girl upon the long Indian voyage
could possibly have caused him so little trouble a