take charge of your niece on the way out, I told you
frankly that my opinion of your good sense was shaken."

"Yes, you did express yourself with some strength," the Major laughed;
"but then one is so accustomed to that, that I did not take it to heart
as I might otherwise have done."

"That was before you knew me, Dr. Wade, otherwise I should feel very
hurt," the girl put in.

"Yes, it was," the Doctor said dryly.

"Don't mind him, my dear," her uncle said; "we all know the Doctor of
old. This is my bungalow."

"It is pretty, with all these flowers and shrubs round it," she said
admiringly.

"Yes, we have been doing a good deal of watering the last few weeks, so
as to get it to look its best. This is your special attendant; she will
take you up to your room. By the time you have had a bath, your boxes
will be here. I told them to have a cup of tea ready for you upstairs.
Breakfast will be on the table by the time you are ready."

"Well, old friend," he said to the Doctor, when the girl had gone
upstairs, "no complications, I hope, on the voyage?"

"No, I think not," the Doctor said. "Of course, there were lots of young
puppies on board, and as she was out and out the best looking girl in
the ship half of them were dancing attendance upon her all the voyage,
but I am bound to say that she acted like a sensible young woman;
and though she was pleasant with them all, she didn't get into any
flirtation with one more than another. I did my best to look after her,
but, of course, that would have been of no good if she had been disposed
to go her own way. I fancy about half of them proposed to her--not that
she ever said as much to me--but whenever I observed one looking sulky
and giving himself airs I could guess pretty well what had happened.
These young puppies are all alike, and we are not without experience of
the species out here.

"Seriously, Major, I think you are to be congratulated. I consider that
you ran a tremendous risk in asking a young woman, of whom you knew
nothing, to come out to you; still it has turned out well. If she had
been a frivolous, giggling thing, like most of them, I had made up my
mind to do you a good turn by helping to get her engaged on the voyage,
and should have seen her married offhand at Calcutta, and have come up
and told you that you were well out of the scrape. As, contrary to my
expectations, she turned out to be a sensible young woman, I did my best
the other way. It is l