Four Young Explorers; Or, Sight-Seeing in the Tropics, Oliver Optic [best thriller books to read .TXT] 📗

that in the larger ones the temple was a handsomer structure.

"How far is it from the sea to Saigon?" asked Bangs, speaking to the pilot for the first time; but the Frenchman could not understand him, and the quartermaster called Louis in, who repeated the question in French.

"Sixty miles if you go one way; thirty-five by another," Louis translated the reply.

"That may account for the difference in the distance given in the books," said the captain, who was in the pilot-house. "But the information we obtain from what are considered the authorities is so various on the same subject that I don't know where the fault is."

"This is the largest village we have seen," said Louis to the pilot in French.

"Yes, sir; and the next place is Saigon," replied the Frenchman; but he was so much occupied with[207] his duty that he would not talk much, even in his own language.

The city was soon in sight, and the pilot began to feel about for the bell-pull. He spoke to Louis, and the quartermaster was told to ring the speed-bell. A little later, off the town, the gong sounded for the screw to stop. The anchor was all ready, was let go, and the steamer swung round to her cable. The Blanche had not so readily obtained a pilot as her consort, and she was an hour behind her in arriving.

The Guardian-Mother was surrounded by boats as soon as she was at rest, but the boatmen kept their distance till the port physician and the custom-house officials came on board. Both ships passed the ordeal of the examination, and the boats closed up. They were manned by all sorts of people, and they were in all sorts of craft. The captain said that most of them were Chinese sampans, and the boatmen were of the same nation.

"There comes the Blanchita!" exclaimed Felix, who was walking about the deck with his spy-glass under his arm.

"They got her overboard in a very short time," said the captain, who had joined the company on the promenade. "I am glad she is coming, for I desire to see the general."

The gangway had already been rigged out; and the launch came alongside the platform, containing General Noury, his wife, the rajah, Captain and Mrs.[208] Sharp, Dr. Henderson, the surgeon of the Blanche, and the French maid of the princess. They were warmly greeted on the platform by the commander and Louis, and the ladies were assisted from the boat. They mounted to the deck; and the usual hugging, kissing, and handshaking followed in the boudoir.

"I am glad you have come, General Noury," said Captain Ringgold, after he had shaken hands with everybody. "We have been shut up on shipboard for some time now; and as we have come to a French city, I propose to take my party to a hotel for a day or two. Of course you can do as you please, General."

"I like the idea, Captain, if there is a decent hotel here," replied the pacha. "What do you think, Zuleima?" he asked, turning to his wife.

"I like it very much; and the hotel cannot be any worse than some we have lived in on our yacht voyages," replied the princess.

"Here is the medical officer, and he can tell us something about the hotels," suggested the commander.

The doctor was consulted by the general in French, and he said the Hôtel de l'Europe was very good. The entire party of both ships were invited to go on shore, and remain at the hotel. All of them accepted, including Captain Sharp and his wife. Those on board the Guardian-Mother went below to prepare for the shore, and the Blanchita returned to[209] the Blanche for the same purpose. The gentlemen were on deck again in a few minutes.

"A visitor to see you, Mr. Scott," said a seaman, approaching the third officer as he came from the cabin.

"Captain Rayburn!" exclaimed Scott as soon as he caught sight of the visitor. "I am very glad to see you, Captain;" and the young officer grasped his hand.

"I am quite as pleased to see you, Captain Scott, though I hardly knew you," replied the English captain.

"I am no longer captain, though I am the third officer of this ship; and I did not wear my uniform when I met you at Kuching."

"How are the rest of your party?" inquired the captain of the Delhi.

"Very well, and here they are."

"I am delighted to see you on board of your own ship, Mr. Belgrave," said Captain Rayburn, rushing to the young millionaire as he came on deck with his bag in his hand.

Felix and Morris soon appeared, and gave the captain a hearty greeting. The commander happened to pass near them, and he was approached by Scott.

"Captain Ringgold, allow me to introduce Captain Rayburn, of the steamer Delhi, to whom the Borneo party are greatly indebted for his kindness; and the Blanchita sailed in company of his ship from Kuching to forty miles inside of Point Cambodia."[210]

"Captain Rayburn, I am very happy to meet you; and I am glad of the opportunity to thank you for your kindness to my young men, and especially for standing by the Blanchita during the worst part of her voyage to Bangkok. But we are all going ashore at once to spend a day or two at the Hôtel de l'Europe; and I cordially invite you to be my guest."

After some objections to the plan, he accepted the invitation. He was well dressed, and a gentleman in every sense of the word. He ordered the men in his boat to return to the Delhi, and to bring off certain garments to the hotel. The Blanchita came up to the gangway again, and the party embarked in her.[211]

CHAPTER XXIII A LIVELY EVENING AT THE HOTEL

The Blanchita had been painted since her return from Borneo, and she had a decidedly holiday appearance. Captain Rayburn had been introduced to all the ladies and gentlemen on board; and in the steam-launch he was presented to General Noury and his wife, and to the others of the Blanche. The port physician went on shore with them, pointed out to them the landing-place, and directed them to the hotel.

The party landed, and found the hotel "good enough," though hardly in the slang sense of the phrase. Apartments were obtained for all, and dinner was ordered. Captain Rayburn had been a couple of days in Saigon, and had learned something about the city. He was the guide of the Nimrods when they took a walk before dinner. They went through the French portion of the place, where they found the streets broad, and ornamented with trees. The houses were seldom more than two stories high.

The governor's palace was a magnificent residence for Cochin China, and the cathedral was also a fine building; but after going half over the world the young voyagers did not find much to attract them.[212]

They were more interested in what the country itself produced than in what had been brought from France. There was a European garrison in the citadel; but the natives were enlisted as soldiers, and drilled in French tactics. The promenaders met a squad of the latter. They wore blue blouses, white pants, and a flat cork-lined cap; but they did not wear shoes, and they looked very odd to the visitors in their bare feet.

The walk ended with a visit to the botanical garden; but the tropical plants were what they had been seeing for two months, and they were not a novelty to them. The foreign plants and trees were more interesting to them, and they had been set out with a view of ascertaining what were adapted to the soil and climate of the country.

"This place consists really of three towns united," said Captain Rayburn as they walked back to the hotel. "It was formerly but a group of fishing villages, though even then it was the capital. Pingeh is the commercial town, on the west side of the river, and Cholon is the native quarter. The citadel or fortress is in Pingeh, but we have not time to visit either of them to-night."

"You have been here before, Captain?" asked Louis.

"Not in the Delhi. I was for some years the commander of one of the P. & O. steamers; but I was taken very sick six months ago, and was obliged to spend three months in Calcutta. When I got well,[213] a merchant there who had been a good friend of mine during my illness, was in a great strait to find a captain for the Delhi in place of one who had died. I agreed to take her for a single voyage; for she is a very small craft for me, as I have been in command of ships of six thousand tons. I shall return to my steamer when she comes to Calcutta in a couple of months."

"I thought you were too big a man to be in command of such a puny vessel as the Delhi," added Scott.

"I took charge of her only to accommodate my friend her owner. I don't find any fault with her, except that she is old and very slow," added the captain as they came to the hotel.

"Ah, Captain Rayburn, how do you do?" exclaimed a gentleman, extending his hand to him. "I was a passenger in your ship to Hong-Kong last year."

"O Monsieur Frôler!" replied Captain Rayburn, grasping the proffered hand. "Of course I remember you very well, for I don't often get so fully acquainted with my passengers as I did with you; and I only wished I could talk French with you. But you speak English as well as I can, so that it made no difference. Do you reside here?"

"I went from Hong-Kong to Canton, and several other Chinese cities, and then to Japan, after we parted, and finally I came here. I like the place, and have been here six months," replied the French[214] gentleman, who was not over thirty years of age. "I live at this hotel; and we have a great American party here, with an English steamer that has a Moorish pacha on board with his wife, who is an Indian princess, so the landlord told me; and I wish to be introduced to them."

"I can assist you to that, Mr. Frôler. Are you in business here?" asked the captain.

"Not at all; my father made my fortune for me, and I do nothing but travel, and when I come to a place I like I stay there as long as I please; and I am doing that here."

"Mr. Frôler, allow me to present to you Mr. Louis Belgrave, the owner of the Guardian-Mother, the American steam-yacht in the river," continued Captain Rayburn.

The French gentleman received the young man with the greatest deference and politeness, and introduced him to his companion. A conversation in French followed; for Louis was inclined to use that language when he could, to keep "his tongue in," as he put it. Mr. Frôler told him that he was well acquainted in the city with all the principal men, and was familiar with all the localities. He would be very happy to escort the party wherever they wished to go, and to introduce them to the governor and other officers of the army and officials.

Louis then conducted the Frenchman to the large parlor where the tourists were waiting for dinner, and introduced him to Captain Ringgold, who re[215]ceived him with his usual politeness. While Louis was introducing him to all the members of the party, Captain Rayburn informed the commander that he had first met Mr. Frôler when in command of a P. & O. steamer.

"Were you in command of a P. & O. steamer?" asked Captain Ringgold, opening his eyes very wide.

"I am still in command of one," replied the English captain; and then explained how he happened to be in the Delhi. "Mr. Frôler was really the most agreeable passenger I ever had, and I became very intimate with him. He is very wealthy, and travels all the time, though he sometimes stops a year in a place. He is a high-toned gentleman in every sense of the word. He is acquainted with the principal merchants and all the officials in Saigon, and desires to assist your party in seeing the city and its surroundings."

"I shall certainly be very grateful to him for his services," replied the commander, as Mr. Frôler approached them after making his round of introductions with Louis.

The Frenchman formally tendered his assistance to the party, and they were gratefully accepted by the commander. Of course he was invited to dinner with the party; and the seat of honor on the right of the captain was given to him, while that on the left was appropriated to Captain Rayburn. The princess was placed next to the Frenchman, with the pacha next. The others took seats to suit themselves.[216]

The dinner was excellent, and Dr. Hawkes wondered if Monsieur Odervie had not had a hand in its preparation; and this afterwards proved to be the case. French