“Captain,” he declared, “I am ashamed. He has been here all the time and we’ve let him slip through our fingers. Girls,” he went on briskly, turning towards Laura, who had just come up, “India’s off. We’ll catch this barge, if there’s time. Our luggage can be put on shore when the boat docks.”
The Captain walked gloomily with them to the gangway.
“I shall miss you all,” he told Laura.
She laughed in his face.
“If you ask me, I think you’ll be glad to be rid of us.”
“Not of you, Miss Laura,” he insisted.
She made a little grimace.
“You’re as bad as Mr. Harris,” she declared. “We’ll come for another trip with you some day.”
They left him leaning disconsolately over the rails. The Professor and Quest sat side by side on one of the trunks which was piled up on the barge.
“Professor,” Quest asked, “how long would it take us to get to this Mongar village you spoke about?”