Meanwhile, Biff had invited Kamuka to come from Brazil and spend his vacation in the United States. By a quick switch of plans, Biff and Kamuka had flown to San Francisco just in time to take last-minute passage on the Northern Star, which cost less for both than Biff's trip would have by air.
The freighter had been scheduled to call at Honolulu, so Biff had written ahead to Li, who had not only met the ship there, but had decided to come along on his own. They had broken the monotony of the long voyage with brief stops at ports on the way, but so far, it had been more of a sightseeing tour than an adventure. They still had one more night to spend on shipboard as the Northern Star had reached Calcutta a day ahead of schedule.
"Tomorrow," Biff declared, "Dad will be here to meet us. By now, my mother and the twins should have reached Darjeeling, so he may be bringing them along to visit the gold fields."
"I hope that Mr. Brewster shows us the Kolar Mines at Mysore," declared Li enthusiastically. "They have shafts that go down two miles, the deepest in the world."
"Except for those in South America," put in Kamuka stoutly. "They are the world's deepest. I learned that at technical school in Brasilia."
"And I suppose they taught you that South America has the biggest mountains, too," returned Li. "Just wait until we see Mt. Everest. Those Himalayas will make your Andes look like a lot of ant hills."
"I shall wait until I see them before I judge," said Kamuka complacently. "But since you speak of ant hills, the ones we have in Brazil are bigger than anywhere else."
"You can't win, Li," laughed Biff. "Kamuka has an answer for everything."
"You're telling me?" returned Li, with a grin. "He even answers questions before I ask them."
This good-natured banter had been going on all across the Pacific. In the friendly disputes between Kamuka and Li, Biff had been called upon to act as judge. So now he gestured toward the river, with the comment: