"She asked me to keep an eye on you and give you a leg up whenever I could. That is why I got you off the sick-list yesterday."
"What did Dr. Fox say when you asked him, sir?"
"Curse the boy! take him away and drown him for all I care."
"What a brute he is!" I said, rather forgetting myself, and wanting to bite my tongue off directly I had said it.
"He's the most kind-hearted man on board the Laird, Glover, and don't you forget it," the Commander answered severely.
I felt snubbed, and knew that I deserved it.
* * * * *
The steam hooter sounded again, but the coolies were not taken back to the ships; they seemed to be all collected round one of the sheds, and were making a great clamour. Something unusual seemed to be going on, but we could not make out what.
Half an hour later the Commander passed me the glasses and pointed to the side of the high hill. Looking through them I saw a long file of coolies slowly tramping along a zigzag path, looking like a great snake, and winding up the hill towards the gun. They were in groups of eight, and each group of eight had some very heavy weight between them, going very slowly and frequently stopping.
"They are taking up shell," the Commander said.