"She looked to me as if she could eat you," said the doctor. "I say, though, Chumbley, that was all nonsense of yours; the Rajah's as square as a cube. Not half a bad fellow; says he's coming to consult me about some of his symptoms, and is going to get me to put him right. Precious stupid of you to put such an idea in a fellow's head." "Pitch it out, then," said the lieutenant, coolly. "I've done it, my boy. I say, Chumbley, I'm like you, precious hungry, too. Look out for the sambals, my boy, and the curry. You'll get them all in delicious trim, I'll be bound. They say the Inche Maida keeps a capital cook, and I think it was a splendid idea to bring us here. The dinner will be ten times better than in a boat or on the shore. I say, my dear boy, what a tip-top place! Why, if I were a bachelor, I wouldn't mind marrying the Inche Maida myself, and succeeding to all her estates." "It really is a charming place," said Chumbley, thoughtfully. "A man might make himself very jolly here. There's plenty of fishing, and shooting, and--" "He could learn to chew betel, and smoke opium, and settle down into an Eastern dreamer." "Oh, I don't know," said Chumbley, quietly. "He might make himself a sort of example to the people, and do a deal of good." "Yes," said the doctor drily, "or let them do him a lot of harm. Hallo! where are the ladies going?" "Oh, up to the rooms, I suppose," said Chumbley. "I expect the Princess does things in style. I wouldn't bet a sovereign that she has not got a regular dining-room and drawing-room with a Broadwood piano." "I don't care a dump what she has got so long as she has a good cellar and a good kitchen," replied the doctor, "for I'm ravenous." "Gentlemen," said the Rajah, coming forward, "the Princess begs me to act as host. Will you come indoors until the dinner is ready to be served?" "There, doctor," whispered Chumbley, "I told you so;" and they followed the smiling Rajah into the drawing-room of the Inche Maida's house--a large roomy apartment, kept cool by mat-covered windows, and whose polished bamboo floor would have delighted a modern aesthete. The place was a strange compound of Malay and European customs, showy articles of French furniture being mixed up with the mats and hangings made by the natives; but everywhere there were traces of the Princess possessing an ample income to enable her to indulge in any little whims or fancies in the way of decorative art. But the group of gentlemen had hardly had time to look round before the Inche Maida appeared with her lady guests, and not being accustomed to the etiquette of modern society, led the way to a lofty room, in the middle of which, upon English table linen, was spread such a repast as would have satisfied the most exacting; and about this the party took their seats upon the soft mats in the best way they could, for there was neither chair nor table. Still it was a picnic party, so everyone was, or professed to be, satisfied.