"I did think of asking for them," said the Resident, "but on second thoughts it seems hardly necessary. I would do everything without exciting suspicion, and as if you were only inspecting the fort. Now go." "Right," said the captain; and he walked away, saying to himself: "He's a good fellow, Harley, that he is, and he does not bear a bit of malice against me for cutting him out. Poor fellow! he must have felt it bitterly. Hang it all! I could not have borne it. The very fact of this fellow proposing for Helen nearly drove me wild. I think if I were to lose her I should die." Chumbley was about to follow Hilton, but the Resident laid a hand upon his shoulder. "Of course I can count upon your discretion, Chumbley?" he said. "Oh, yes, I suppose so," said the young man, "so long as you don't want anything done in a hurry. Nature seems to forbid a man to be scurried in this climate; but I say, Mr Harley, don't let's have a row if you can help it, I'm a soldier, but if there is anything I do abhor, it is fighting. I hate blood. The very idea of having to make our lads use their bayonets gives me a cold chill all down the back." "Depend upon it we will not have a quarrel with the natives if we can help it, Chumbley. If diplomacy can keep it off, there shall be none;" and nodding his head in a friendly manner to the young officer, he strolled away. "But diplomacy won't keep it off, my dear sir," said Chumbley. "If Mother Nature turns loose such a girl as Helen Perowne, to play fast and loose with men like Murad, a row must come. "Let me see," he said, after a pause, "what shall I do with myself to-day? Best way to avoid scrapes is to keep up friendly relations with the natives. "Oh, what a worry this love-making is! We all go in for it at some time or another, but hang me if I think it pays. "Little Helen quite hates me now, since I've broken the string and will not be cajoled into coming back. By Jove! what a wise little girl little Stuart is. One might get up a flirtation there without any heart-breaking. No: won't do, she's too sweet, and wise, and sensible. Hang it all, can't a fellow talk sensibly to a pretty girl without thinking he's flirting! I like little Stuart. You can talk to her about anything, and she never giggles and blushes, and looks silly. She's an uncommonly nice young girl, and twenty years hence, when beautiful Helen has grown old, and yellow, and scraggy, Stuart will be a pleasant, soft, amiable little woman, like Mrs Bolter. There's a woman for you! 'Pon my word I believe she likes me; she talks to me just as if I were a big son. "Well, now, what's to be done? I'll go and see if Hilton wants me, and if he doesn't I shall have a few hours ashore.