Chapter Four.
All in to begin.
The first words which saluted the boys were from Sir James:
“Why don’t you start your sun helmets?”
“Not unpacked, father. You said—”
“Oh, never mind what I said, boy, but get them out as soon as you can; a straw hat, as the doctor has just been saying, is no protection here; is it, doctor?”
“Certainly not, sir; but we shall not feel the heat so much as soon as we leave here, for the country rises.”
“Pretty country!” said Sir James sarcastically. “But you boys, who was that rough looking sailor you picked up with?”
“We didn’t pick up with him, father,” said Mark sourly.
“What, sir! Don’t tell me that! I distinctly saw you with him out of the window.”