Dick, too, had purchased
a pair of native spectacles, with large round glasses and broad
black-horn rims, that made him look, as he said, like an astonished
owl. It was agreed that Surajah should wear, under his dress, a very
thickly padded vest, which would give him the appearance of being fat,
as well as elderly.
They proceeded for seven or eight miles at a walking pace, and when
the heat of the day rendered it necessary for them to stop, turned
into a grove by the roadside, as they had no intention of going on to
Savandroog that day, intending to halt some miles short of it, and to
present themselves there the next afternoon. They therefore prepared
for a stay of some hours. The pack horses were unloaded, and the
saddles taken off the other animals.
Half an hour later a party of twelve men, travelling in the same
direction as themselves, also halted and turned in among the trees.
The man who was apparently the leader of the party came across to
where they were sitting.
"We do not disturb you, I hope, brothers?" he said. "The grove is
large enough for us all. I see that you are traders, like myself."
"By no means," Surajah replied. "The wood is open to all, and even
were it not, we should be discourteous, indeed, did we refuse to share
our shade with others.
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