"I'll show you two genuine Chinamen who have just arrived. You
will like to welcome Whang Lo and Fun See, I'm sure."

"Don't ask me to speak to them, uncle; I shall be sure to laugh at
the odd names and the pig-tails and the slanting eyes. Please let me
just trot round after you; I like that best."

"Very well; now steer toward the wharf where the big ship with the
queer flag is. That's the 'Rajah,' and we will go aboard if we can."

In among the ships they went, by the wharves where the water was
green and still, and queer barnacles grew on the slippery piles. Odd
smells saluted her nose, and odd sights met her eyes, but Rose
liked it all, and played she was really landing in Hong Kong when
they glided up to the steps in the shadow of the tall "Rajah." Boxes
and bales were rising out of the hold and being carried into the
warehouse by stout porters, who tugged and bawled and clattered
about with small trucks, or worked cranes with iron claws that
came down and clutched heavy weights, whisking them aloft to
where wide doors like mouths swallowed them up.

Dr. Alec took her aboard the ship, and she had the satisfaction of
poking her inquisitive little nose into every available corner, at the
risk of being crushed, lost, or drowned.

"Well, child, how would you like to take a voyage round the world
with me in a jolly old craft like this?" asked her uncle, as they
rested a minute in the captain's cabin.

"I should like to see the world, but not in such a small, untidy,