He would arrive in some settlement up a river, make a present of a cheap carbine or a pair of shoddy binoculars, or something of that sort, to the Rajah, or the head-man, or the principal trader; and on the strength of that gift, ask for a house, posing mysteriously as a very special trader.

He would spin them no end of yarns, live on the fat of the land, for a while, and then do some mean swindle or other--or else they would get tired of him and ask him to quit.

And he would go off meekly with an air of injured innocence.

Funny life.

Yet, he never got hurt somehow.