"Oh, in the tropics, you know, there are no such formalities."
"But surely that's immoral?"
"We don't know the word in those parts." And the Admiral rose to his feet.
The parson plucked up courage and said quietly: "But you yourself were a Christian, Admiral, were you not?"
"Mind your own business, please," answered the Admiral, at the same time opening the door politely, that the parson might slip out. The latter also availed himself of the chance; he was not without a certain uneasy feeling that if he failed to do so now, his exit might take a less peaceable form.
How the question was finally settled the writer cannot say; the fact remains that the town was no wiser than before.
The Princess was confirmed, and received into the best society of the town, as one of themselves. She was slender and finely built, with a pretty face and charming eyes. The only thing that marked her as different from the other girls was the yellowish-brown of her skin, and even this seemed to be growing fainter as the years went by.
As to her antecedents, she herself never referred to the subject, and no one was ever indelicate enough to ask her.
Altogether, then, matters were going very well indeed, both for the Admiral and the Princess. He began to feel at home in his old town, and did not regret having settled down there.
And the townsfolk, for the most part, gradually got used to the rough old fellow and his ways, though there were still a few who declared they could not "abide" him.