"
The Rajah nodded.
"Yes. I think, Dick, you are as capable of taking care of yourself as
anyone could be. I hear that Surajah is willing to go with you, and
this will certainly be a great advantage. He has proved himself
thoroughly intelligent and trustworthy, and I have promised him that
someday he shall be captain of the troop. You are not thinking of
starting just yet, I suppose?"
"No, Uncle. I thought of staying another month or two, before I go off
again. Mother says she cannot let me go before that."
"I fancy it will take you longer than that, Dick, before you can pass
as a native."
Dick looked surprised.
"Why, Uncle, I did pass as a native, eighteen months ago."
"Yes, you did, Dick; but for how long? You went into shops, bought
things, chatted for a short time with natives, and so on; but that is
not like living among them. You would be found out before you had been
a single day in the company of a native."
Dick looked still more surprised.
"How, Uncle? What do I do that they would know me by."
"It is not what you do, Dick, but it is what you don't do. You can't
sit on your heels--squat, as you call it. That is the habitual
attitude of every native.
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