Venning ran off, and returned with a basin of thick oatmeal
porridge. The man took it gravely, made another salutation, and ate
the whole.

"There's nothing wrong with him," said Mr. Hume, with a smile. "Now
we'll get him out of that and fix him up comfortably. I like his
looks, and have hopes that he will be useful."

They removed him to a deck-chair, whither he was followed by the
jackal, who was in such a state of suspicion that he declined food.

"What I think," said Mr. Hume, in answer to the boys, who wanted his
explanation, "is this--that the man and the jackal have come from
the interior."

"From the Great Forest?"

"Probably from the Great Forest; for these reasons--that the men who
shaped the canoe had no knowledge of the coast-built craft with
their high bows; that the man is of a different race from the coast
tribes; and because the jackal, from his dark markings, is evidently
from a thickly wooded region. That is merely a theory, which does
not help us much, and certainly does not explain how he came to be
bound and gagged in a canoe at sea hundreds of miles from the
forest. However, the main point is that we have got him, and having
got him, will keep him."

"Against his will, sir?"

"Oh, I reckon he will be only too thankful for our protection."