Onward again. Here a little village of mud-huts, with its clump of "feather-dusters," as Bob persisted in calling the palms; there a caravan plodding along the marshes against the sky-line. Flocks of water-fowl faring gracefully over the broad pools gave place to yellow sands, and the sands again to clear green water and sighing reeds. At last the good ship _Osprey_ emerged from the narrow, lonely, sluggish stream into the sparkling waters of the Indian Ocean. CHAPTER VII. O-HANA-SAN'S PARTY. O-Hana-San was to give a party. She announced the fact with pride to her schoolmates, who, with the frankness peculiar to childhood, eagerly demanded invitations. Had they been older, they would have called on the lady who was to entertain, and, after flattering her and making their personal regard for her as prominent as possible, would have brought the conversation round to the party, in order to show that they knew all about it and of course should expect an invitation. Being little girls, they just said, one and all, "Oh, do ask me to come, Hana!" Miss Blossom (for that is the English equivalent for her name) considered. "I can only invite twelve," she finally announced. "Twelve girls," she concluded, with a sigh; "no boys." "Why not?" demanded one of the larger boys, pushing forward. "You must ask me, anyway, Hana!" O-Hana-San shook her head. "It is not permitted," she said. "I cannot invite you, Oto Owari. Only girls--no boys." It was after school-hours. The children had been summoned to their tasks by a drum-beat, and at noon they had marched out of the schoolhouse, in orderly fashion, the boys in one division, girls in another. Once beyond the school limits, the two divisions became mixed. O-Hana-San was only nine years old, and Oto, being fifteen (this was about a dozen years before the building of the _Retvizan_ and the cruise of the _Osprey_) considered that he did her great honour in applying for an invitation to her party. He scowled, at her refusal, and turned away abruptly. "Come, Oshima," said he, to a comrade a little younger than himself, "let's go down to the shore." When Oto was disturbed in his mind he always wanted to "go down to the shore."