ladies’ inspection.
The woman’s dark eyes flashed, and she made a movement as if to cover her face, but snatched away her hand directly and stood up proudly for a moment, before bowing low and not ungracefully to the Doctor as he gave her a quick nod.
“Here is Dula,” said Mrs. Morley. “She has brought up her sick child.”
“Yes, I see,” said the Doctor, rather gruffly, as he frowned at the swarthy little patient. “But I wish Dula could talk English or I could talk her tongue a little better.”
The woman smiled intelligently as she rearranged the bright-coloured plaid sarong around the child and said in a pleasant voice:
“Ba-be bet-ter.”
The Doctor took a step forward, and the child shrank from him as he laid his hand upon its head and gazed fixedly in its eyes.
“Now, little one,” he said, “we did teach you to put out your tongue last time.”
“Tongue—tongue,” said the woman quickly; and she held the child towards the Doctor, while Archie and Minnie exchanged glances, and then burst out laughing; for, in obedience to a shake given by its mother, the tiny girl uttered a low whimper, screwed-up her face as if about to cry, and then thrust out a little red tongue, drew it back instanter, and buried her face in her mother’s breast.
“All right,” said the Doctor to the woman. “It is getting well fast.”
“Well—fast!” cried the woman, catching up his words quickly; and then, with the tears welling over from her great dark eyes, she bent down, caught at the Doctor’s hand, and held it quickly to her lips.
“Oh, oh, that’s all right,” said the Doctor hastily, as he drew back his hand and patted the woman’s shoulder.
“Look, uncle, what Dula has brought us!” cried Minnie; and she took from the veranda table a great bunch of the beautiful white creeper which the native women were fond of wearing in their black hair.
“Aha!” said the Doctor. “Thank you.—My fee, Archie.”
“Not all,” said Mrs. Morley. “She has brought you one of those horrible durians;” and as the Doctor’s wife spoke Minnie caught up a little, bamboo-woven native basket, in which, carefully arranged among freshly gathered fern, was one of the peculiar-looking native fruits, the produce of one of the great trees so carefully planted and cared for in nearly every native village. “Don’t! Don’t touch the horrid thing, my dear,” whispered Mrs. Morley.
“What!” cried the Doctor; and he took the great, hard-shelled fruit from the basket and turned it over in his hands. “Capital!” he cried. “A beauty!”
“Ugh!” ejaculated Mrs. Morley; and Minnie screwed-up her face into a pretty grimace, as she once more exchanged glances with Archie.
“Doc-tor like?” questioned the woman, with an anxious look.
“Yes,” he replied, smiling. “I like them very much.”
“Like—very—much,” said the woman. “Dula glad.” And then, soothing her child tenderly, she whispered a few words to it in her native language.
“Oh, come,” said the Doctor, “I do understand that. Your mother’s quite right: I sha’n’t eat you.”
The woman smiled again as she hugged her child closer and kissed it lovingly, while the Doctor nodded to Minnie.
“Quite comic, isn’t it, my dear? What foolish things mothers are, aren’t they? Just as fond of their bairns as Englishwomen, eh?”
“Why, of course, uncle. Such a pretty little thing, too! Look at its eyes!” and, to the mother’s great delight, the girl crossed to her, took the child in her arms, and kissed it, while the little thing smiled, raised one hand, and softly stroked the girl’s white face.
“There, Archie,” she cried; “it is pretty, isn’t it?”
“A beauty!” said the young man, laughing.
“Come and kiss it, sir,” said the girl imperiously.
“All right;” and without more ado the lad took hold of the child, held it up, and kissed it twice.
“Oh, take care!” cried Minnie. “How clumsy you are!”
“Well, it doesn’t seem to think so,” cried the lad, as he handed the little one back to its mother, who said a few words in her own tongue to the Doctor, and then turned to the two ladies, and after bowing to them with native grace, bent low to Archie, gave him a grateful look, and walked slowly away.
“Oh, you young humbug!” growled the Doctor.
“Why?” said Archie warmly.
“Just to show off before my wife and Minnie. I believe you were growling all the time and calling it a dirty little nigger.”
“That I wasn’t! I don’t mind babies when they are as big as that.”
“No—don’t mind,” said the Doctor sarcastically.
“And I didn’t call it a little nigger. I was wishing there was some sugar near.—Oh, I say, doesn’t your durian smell?”
“Horrid!” exclaimed Minnie.
“All right, my dear,” said the Doctor. “I can bear it. But you will come down some day, my lady.”
“Never, uncle!”
“We shall see,” said the Doctor. “My word, what a beauty!—Here, Archie, drop in this evening and help me to have it for dessert.”
“I’m sure Archie won’t touch the nasty thing, uncle.”
“Oh, won’t I?” cried the lad. “Only too glad of the chance.”
Minnie made a grimace and turned away, but turned back directly on hearing Archie’s next words:
“I say, Doctor, that woman shows how the people here like you.”
“Well, yes,” said the gentleman addressed, “I suppose they do feel a little obliged; but I don’t think they care much.”
“Oh, uncle,” cried Minnie, “I am sure they do. See how pleased that boatman was—that man who came up to you out of the sampan, and who brought us that fish afterwards. Why, I believe that he would have done anything for you.”
“I believed once that he was going to do something for me, my dear.”
“Now, don’t talk nonsense, my dear,” said Mrs. Morley. “I told you not to talk about that.”
“You did, Mary. But it was an awkward position; wasn’t it, Minnie?”
“I agree with aunt, uncle, that a lot of it was invention.”
“Oh,
