by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XVIII
LOUIS'S DOUBLE-DINNER ARGUMENT
After the welcome of the Bornean hunters had spent itself in kissing andhandshaking, the question came up as to why the "Big Four" had abandonedtheir explorations after one week in the island instead of three, thetime arranged for them to remain there; and they had fixed the timethemselves.
"I thought three weeks was a rather long time for you to be in theisland," said Captain Ringgold after the question had been opened fordiscussion.
"We fixed the time before we knew anything about the island," repliedLouis. "But I want to say, in order to counteract the impression whichappears to prevail in this company, that our trip was not a failure; forwe had a fine time, and enjoyed our trips on the rivers."
"If you had a good time, why did you cut it short by two-thirds of theperiod allotted to the excursions?" asked Uncle Moses.
"We went up the Sarawak, the Sadong, and the Simujan, up the last to themountains, passing through Lake Padang, and we have shot anorang-outang, and might have killed more of them, to say nothing ofother game," replied Louis, whom Scott had requested to do the talking."We visited three Dyak villages, sailed the Blanchita through a forest,and killed a good many crocodiles."
"You seem to have had sport enough," added Uncle Moses. "Why did yougive it up in the cream of the thing?"
"I believe you like a good dinner, Uncle Moses; such a dinner as youalways have on board of the Guardian-Mother," continued Louis, who wasevidently pluming himself to make a point.
"I do like a good dinner, and enjoy one very much," replied the worthytrustee of the young millionaire. "But I doubt if I am any more devotedto such a banquet as we get every day than my beloved friend, BrotherAdipose Tissue, and all the rest of the voyagers all over the world."
"I plead guilty to the charge of Brother Avoirdupois; and I acknowledgemyself to be a worshipper at the shrine of Mr. Melancthon Sage, and Iinvoke a blessing upon the head of Monsieur Odervie, the chief cook. Ourlife on the ocean wave is a constant promotive of the appetite. If theproof of the pudding is not in the eating of the bag, it is in theeating of the dinners; and I think we pay an abundant tribute to thetalent of Mr. Sage, the prince of stewards, in the quantity of thewell-cooked food he causes to be placed before us."
"We get through dinner about seven o'clock. I see that the accomplishedchief steward is standing at the door," continued Louis. "Now, Mr.Sage, would it be possible and convenient for you to have anotherdinner on the table, say at eight o'clock, an hour after the first feasthad been finished?"
"Quite possible, and even convenient; the only persons to complain ofsuch an arrangement would be the cooks and stewards," replied Mr. Sage.
"Captain Ringgold, might I so far presume upon any influence I may havewith you as the owner of the Guardian-Mother to request you to order asecond dinner to be served at eight in the evening, beginning, say, withto-morrow evening?" asked the young millionaire, looking as serious asthough he was about to preach a sermon, though the party were generallylaughing.
"As I have always told you, I take my orders from the owner; and if youdesire such a dinner, I shall certainly give Mr. Sage an order to thateffect," replied the commander.
"But who is to eat the dinner after it is provided, an hour after thepassengers have gorged themselves at the table?" demanded Dr. Hawkes."Is this a conspiracy to make more work for the surgeon?"
"Not at all," protested Louis. "It is to give the gentlemen who questionso closely an opportunity to have an abundance of a good thing."
"But we could not eat the dinner," said Uncle Moses. "We are not hogs."
"Oh, you are not!" chuckled the owner.
"But what has all this to do with hunting and exploring in Borneo?"inquired Mr. Woolridge.
"Well, sir, after we had taken a full dinner in Borneo, Uncle Moses andthe commander ask us why we did not eat another dinner immediately onthe top of it, as I observe that they are not disposed to do on board ofthe ship," returned Louis.
Some of the party had penetrated to the conclusion of Louis's argument,but most of them did not see the point of his illustration till he madehis last remark; then Mr. Woolridge began to clap his hands, and thewhole company applauded vigorously.
"I suppose the interpretation of the whole matter is, that the huntersin Borneo were gorged with hunting," said Captain Ringgold; "and thatwhen they stipulated for three weeks of the sport, they overdid thematter."
"That was precisely the situation, Mr. Commander; and if you had beenwith us on the waters of Padang Lake, you could not have defined itbetter," replied Louis.
"But it is almost incredible that a quartet of such Nimrods should havebecome disgusted with their favorite sport in a single week," addedCaptain Ringgold.
"We are not hogs, as Uncle Moses gently suggested, and we could not eata second dinner on top of the first so soon. If we had gone to Borneo asecond time, after a reasonable interval, I am confident we should haveenjoyed a second week of hunting, even along the muddy rivers andinundated jungles," Louis explained.
"In other words, you bit off a bigger mouthful than you could swallow,"said the commander with a hearty laugh; for he had predicted that threeweeks of hunting at one time was too much. "But we understand thesituation now up to the time of the departure of the Nimrods from theirhappy hunting-ground. It was a rather daring enterprise to make a voyageof nine hundred miles in an open boat; and I should like to ask who wasthe originator of the idea."
"If there is any blame for this trip, we were all in the same boat, andwe share the responsibility," answered Louis. "Captain Achang Bakir waswith us; and he has sailed in all the seas of the Archipelago in an openboat, and we had his advice. Then we sailed all the way to the entranceof the Gulf of Siam in company with the steamer Delhi, whose captainagreed to stand by us, and to supply us with coal if we came short."
"That puts a new face on the matter."
"It was in the head waters of the Simujan that the plan was discussed,and Captain Scott was the originator of the idea," continued Louis. "Iwas in favor of it first because it would save the Guardian-Mother thevoyage from Saigon back to Kuching, about a thousand miles."
"Where is Kuching?" asked Dr. Hawkes.
"It is the native name for Sarawak."
"I am heartily glad you have come to us, Louis, for the reason you havegiven," added the commander.
"How did the steam-yacht work, Mr. Belgrave?" asked the rajah.
"Exceedingly well, sir; nothing could have done any better; but Mr.Scott can answer you better than I can, sir."
The third officer of the ship, late captain of the Blanchita, describedthe working of the yacht, and gave her liberal praise. He related inwhat manner she had beaten the Delhi in the race, and that he hadcarried sail all the way nearly from the start. He gave the party theroutine of the boat,--how they had taken their meals, and how they hadslept on board.
"But I think it is time for us to return to the Blanche," interposedCaptain Sharp, as the clock struck eleven.
"I must make an announcement before you go," said Captain Ringgold. "Weshall not be able to sail for Saigon to-morrow morning, as arrangedbefore. We have to clean the Blanchita in the morning, and she has to beput on the upper deck of the Blanche. As the Nimrods have come toBangkok, I wish to give them a day on shore to see the temples, and callon the king if they are so disposed. We will sail on Tuesday morning onthe early tide."
"But we have not had any account of the adventures of the Nimrods inBorneo," suggested Uncle Moses.
"We shall do so at eight o'clock in the morning; and you will allassemble for the purpose at that time. The lecture on Siam and Cambodiahas been postponed till all hands could hear it; and if General Nouryis ready, that shall follow the adventures," replied the captain.
"I will be here at the time stated, for we all desire to know what theNimrods have been doing," replied the general, as the party from theBlanche retired from the music-room.
The rest of the company
went to their staterooms, while the commandergave his orders for the work of the morning. All hands were called atdaylight; and the young adventurers shook hands with the officers theyfound on deck, and spoke a pleasant word to the seamen on duty. Thelatter were hoisting the coal, provisions, and stores of the Blanchitaon board of the ship; and by breakfast-time the yacht was as clean as aDutch chamber.
At the appointed time the company, including the party from the Blanche,were seated in the arm-chairs of Conference Hall; and Louis went throughhis narrative of the adventures of the Nimrods in Borneo. During themorning, Achang had placed the stuffed orang-outang on a shelf thecarpenter had erected at the head of the platform, with the proboscismonkey on one side, and the argus-pheasant on the other. The Bornean hadhad some experience as a taxidermist, and Dr. Hawkes declared that hehad done his work well.
Louis explained these specimens, and gave the measurements of the orang.The proboscis monkey and the bird were also described. When he said hehad not been disposed to shoot monkeys and other harmless animals forthe fun of it, the audience applauded. He had killed a specimen ofseveral animals, and several pigs, deer, and one bear, most of thelatter for food. The cook had packed the last of the fish in the ice, sothat it had kept well, and it had been served for breakfast thatmorning. Everybody had praised it. The surgeon called it the gourami,and said that some successful attempts had been made to introduce thefish in American waters.
The audience laughed heartily when Louis related in what manner they hadkilled and sold one hundred and eight feet of crocodile for about fortydollars. He told what he had learned about the Dyaks, and described thelong-house they had visited, and the head-house, and gave the story infull of Rajah Brooke, and their visits to his nephew and successor, thepresent rajah. He might have gone on with his narrative till lunch-timeif he had not known that General Noury was waiting for him to finish hisaccount.
"Did you see the Dyak women, Louis?" asked his mother.
"Plenty of them. The older ones reminded me of the French women; forwhen they begin to grow old, they wrinkle and dry up. The morality ofthe Dyaks is much higher in tone, even among the laboring-classes, menand women, than in civilized countries. They are all honest; and theysteal nothing, even in Kuching, though the Malays and Chinamen do it forthem."
"Were the young women pretty, Mr. Belgrave?" inquired Mrs. Woolridge.
"To a Dyak gentleman I suppose they are; but I was not fascinated withthem, though I saw some on the Simujan who were not bad looking. Theprettiest one I saw was at a village near the mountains. But the generalis waiting for me to finish, and I must answer no more questions atpresent," replied the speaker, as he bowed, and hastened from therostrum.
Then it was found that Mr. Gaskette had not hung up the map of CochinChina, for Achang and the carpenter had taken up the space beforeappropriated to it. Mr. Stevens, the carpenter, suggested a way to getover the difficulty; but it would take him half an hour to put up aframe in front of the orang.
"I shall not be able to get half through Cochin China beforelunch-time," said General Noury, consulting his watch.
"I am afraid your audience will be scatterbrained, General, there is somuch going on about the decks. Perhaps we had better postpone thelecture till after we have sailed to-morrow morning, especially as theNimrods will be on shore this afternoon," suggested the commander.
"I approve the suggestion; let it be adopted."
The Blanche party lunched on board, and spent the afternoon there.