"Oh, I say, can you speak English?" asked Smith eagerly, suspecting that the man was a Hindu.
"Speak English very fine, sahib," replied the man, with a smile.
"Thank goodness! Well, now, is there a smith in the village? You know what I mean: a blacksmith, a man who makes iron things?"
It was not a very clear definition, but the Hindu understood him.
"Yees, sahib," he said; "smif that way." He pointed to a hut at a little distance.
"That's all right. Fetch the smith along, and I'll get you to tell him what I want."
"I know, sahib, I tell them. I do big trade in this place. They silly jossers, sahib; think you a djinn."
"Well, put that right, and hurry up, will you?"
The Hindu salaamed and returned to the group of villagers. An excited colloquy ensued, the man pointing now to the Englishman, now to the aeroplane, and now to the dhow alongside the jetty. Presently the Hindu came back.
"Silly chaps say what for you come here, sahib. You know too much, they say."