After the welcome of the Bornean hunters had spent itself in kissing and handshaking, the question came up as to why the "Big Four" had abandoned their explorations after one week in the island instead of three, the time arranged for them to remain there; and they had fixed the time themselves.

"I thought three weeks was a rather long time for you to be in the island," said Captain Ringgold after the question had been opened for discussion.

"We fixed the time before we knew anything about the island," replied Louis. "But I want to say, in order to counteract the impression which appears to prevail in this company, that our trip was not a failure; for we had a fine time, and enjoyed our trips on the rivers."

"If you had a good time, why did you cut it short by two-thirds of the period allotted to the excursions?" asked Uncle Moses.

"We went up the Sarawak, the Sadong, and the Simujan, up the last to the mountains, passing through Lake Padang, and we have shot an orang-outang, and might have killed more of them, to say nothing of other game," replied Louis, whom Scott had requested[164] to do the talking. "We visited three Dyak villages, sailed the Blanchita through a forest, and killed a good many crocodiles."

"You seem to have had sport enough," added Uncle Moses. "Why did you give it up in the cream of the thing?"

"I believe you like a good dinner, Uncle Moses; such a dinner as you always have on board of the Guardian-Mother," continued Louis, who was evidently pluming himself to make a point.

"I do like a good dinner, and enjoy one very much," replied the worthy trustee of the young millionaire. "But I doubt if I am any more devoted to such a banquet as we get every day than my beloved friend, Brother Adipose Tissue, and all the rest of the voyagers all over the world."

"I plead guilty to the charge of Brother Avoirdupois; and I acknowledge myself to be a worshipper at the shrine of Mr. Melancthon Sage, and I invoke a blessing upon the head of Monsieur Odervie, the chief cook. Our life on the ocean wave is a constant promotive of the appetite. If the proof of the pudding is not in the eating of the bag, it is in the eating of the dinners; and I think we pay an abundant tribute to the talent of Mr. Sage, the prince of stewards, in the quantity of the well-cooked food he causes to be placed before us."

"We get through dinner about seven o'clock. I see that the accomplished chief steward is standing at the door," continued Louis. "Now, Mr. Sage,[165] would it be possible and convenient for you to have another dinner on the table, say at eight o'clock, an hour after the first feast had been finished?"

"Quite possible, and even convenient; the only persons to complain of such an arrangement would be the cooks and stewards," replied Mr. Sage.

"Captain Ringgold, might I so far presume upon any influence I may have with you as the owner of the Guardian-Mother to request you to order a second dinner to be served at eight in the evening, beginning, say, with to-morrow evening?" asked the young millionaire, looking as serious as though he was about to preach a sermon, though the party were generally laughing.

"As I have always told you, I take my orders from the owner; and if you desire such a dinner, I shall certainly give Mr. Sage an order to that effect," replied the commander.

"But who is to eat the dinner after it is provided, an hour after the passengers have gorged themselves at the table?" demanded Dr. Hawkes. "Is this a conspiracy to make more work for the surgeon?"

"Not at all," protested Louis. "It is to give the gentlemen who question so closely an opportunity to have an abundance of a good thing."

"But we could not eat the dinner," said Uncle Moses. "We are not hogs."

"Oh, you are not!" chuckled the owner.

"But what has all this to do with hunting and exploring in Borneo?" inquired Mr. Woolridge.[166]

"Well, sir, after we had taken a full dinner in Borneo, Uncle Moses and the commander ask us why we did not eat another dinner immediately on the top of it, as I observe that they are not disposed to do on board of the ship," returned Louis.

Some of the party had penetrated to the conclusion of Louis's argument, but most of them did not see the point of his illustration till he made his last remark; then Mr. Woolridge began to clap his hands, and the whole company applauded vigorously.

"I suppose the interpretation of the whole matter is, that the hunters in Borneo were gorged with hunting," said Captain Ringgold; "and that when they stipulated for three weeks of the sport, they overdid the matter."

"That was precisely the situation, Mr. Commander; and if you had been with us on the waters of Padang Lake, you could not have defined it better," replied Louis.

"But it is almost incredible that a quartet of such Nimrods should have become disgusted with their favorite sport in a single week," added Captain Ringgold.

"We are not hogs, as Uncle Moses gently suggested, and we could not eat a second dinner on top of the first so soon. If we had gone to Borneo a second time, after a reasonable interval, I am confident we should have enjoyed a second week of hunting, even along the muddy rivers and inundated jungles," Louis explained.[167]

"In other words, you bit off a bigger mouthful than you could swallow," said the commander with a hearty laugh; for he had predicted that three weeks of hunting at one time was too much. "But we understand the situation now up to the time of the departure of the Nimrods from their happy hunting-ground. It was a rather daring enterprise to make a voyage of nine hundred miles in an open boat; and I should like to ask who was the originator of the idea."

"If there is any blame for this trip, we were all in the same boat, and we share the responsibility," answered Louis. "Captain Achang Bakir was with us; and he has sailed in all the seas of the Archipelago in an open boat, and we had his advice. Then we sailed all the way to the entran............