"I don't think my mother has been greatly worried about me, for she has learned that I am able to take care of myself," said Louis.
"But the mothers will hug their boys as soon as they get hold of them."
"I wish the hugging might be confined to the mothers, for it is perfectly proper for them to do that thing; but when it comes to a grandma who hasn't a drop of Irish blood in her veins, I beg to be excused, and, what is more, I won't stand it," protested Felix, making a very comical face.
"But you can't help yourself, Flix," laughed the captain.
"You see if I don't!" replied the Milesian, shaking his head as though his plan to avoid the endearing reception had already been formed.
"We shall see what we shall see," added the captain. "It seems to me that the breeze is stronger here than it was out at sea."
"There is a hot country to the east of us, and perhaps the wind is hurrying up to fill a partial vacuum there," suggested Louis.
"You are a philosopher, my darling Louis, and that must be the reason," added Felix.
The Blanchita seemed to be flying through the water, for her speed had sensibly increased since she came into the Gulf. There were several large islands along the coast of Cambodia; but the course was fifty miles outside of the mainland, which could not be seen.
"Why do you keep so far from the shore, Captain Scott?" asked Louis; for all the party would have been glad to observe the shore.