'Ah!' cried he, with a shake of the head; 'I wish I were. I might then prove a true missionary to the poor benighted fellows. Yet I shall hope to have broken heavily into their deplorable and degraded superstitions before I dismiss them at Cape Town.'
I caught sight of the shadowy form of the steward lurking abaft the companion-steps, where he seemed busy with some plates and a basket.
'It is your hope,' said I, 'to convert the Mussulmans?'
'It is my hope, indeed,' he answered; 'and, pray, what honester hope should possess a man?'
'It is an admirable desire,' said I, 'but a little dangerous perhaps.'
'Why?' asked he.
'Well,' said I, 'I am no traveller. I have seen nothing of the world, but I have read, and I have always gathered from books of voyages, that there is no class of men more bigoted in their faith and more treacherous in their conduct than Malay seamen.'
'Hush!' cried Helga, putting her finger to her lips and looking in the direction of the steward.
The Captain turned in his chair.
'Are you there, Punmeamootty?'