Their Lordships Request: A Harry Heron Adventure (125 page)

             
"
Remarkable
animal,
"
he
told
Harry.
"
They
respond
only
to
their
handler,
though
the
beast
purloined
fruit
and
some
specimens
from
my
satchel
with
its
trunk
while
I
examined
its
hide.
"

             
Harry
had
to
hide
his
smile.
Knowing
the
Parson
as
he
did,
he
could
well
imagine
him
becoming
so
engrossed
that
he
would
not
notice
the
beast
engaged
in
examining
the
contents
of
his
bag.
"
A
bold
thief,
sir,
"
he
managed
as
they
swung
alongside
the
ship
and
he
gave
his
attention
once
more
to
the
task
of
managing
the
boat.
"
Toss
your
oars.
Bowman,
hook
on.
"

***

             
As
the
Master
had
described,
the
approach
to
Muscat
was
a
tortuous
one.
Fortune
favoured
them
for
the
wind
was
favourable,
though
it
required
them
to
enter
with
every
sail
braced
hard
round
so
that
the
ship
lay
as
close
to
the
wind
as
possible.
They
slipped
past
the
ancient
battery
guarding
the
entrance
with
the
early
light
of
a
clear
dawn
and
made
their
way
up
the
harbour
toward
the
fort
occupying
the
crown
of
a
rocky
islet
joined
to
the
mainland
by
a
low
sandy
isthmus.

             
"
A
pity
we
could
not
use
the
southern
entrance,
"
Mister
Wentworth
told
the
Captain,
"
But
the
channel
there
is
too
shallow
for
anything
larger
than
a
small
dhow
–
I
doubt
me
that
even
a
cutter
could
make
the
passage
without
striking
ground
there.
"

             
"
Worth
remembering,
"
replied
the
Captain
studying
the
shoreline.
"
These
islands
are
deceptive,
without
them
this
harbour
could
not
exist.
"
He
swung
the
telescope
again.
"
We
will
anchor
where
those
Dhows
will
be
betwixt
us
and
the
battery
at
the
Fort
–
what
is
its
designation?
"

             
"
Fort
Jallaly,
sir,
"
responded
the
Master.
"
The
residence
of
the
Sultan
lies
between
it
and
the
Fort
Al
Minari
atop
that
outcrop,
or
so
I
was
informed.
"

             
"
Very
well,
fire
the
usual
salute
to
a
Sultan
if
you
please,
Mister
Bell.
Twenty-one
guns
I
think
should
satisfy
diplomacy.
Once
we
are
at
anchor
have
my
gig
hoisted
out
and
I
will
take
myself
ashore
to
call
on
the
Sultan
'
s
residence.
"
He
turned
as
he
was
joined
by
the
Company
Agent
appointed
in
Bombay.
"
We
are
about
to
anchor
Mister
Stewart,
I
expect
we
will
need
to
call
immediately
on
the
Sultan?
"

             
"
Certainly,
Captain.
"
The
agent
was
self
assured
and
spoke
with
a
drawl
typical
of
many
scion
'
s
of
a
noble
family.
"
We
do
have
an
agent
here,
a
native,
Mohammad
Tanha
is
his
name.
I
would
expect
him
to
come
out
to
the
ship
and
to
accompany
us
to
the
palace.
In
these
matters
one
has
to
'
oil
the
wheels
'
a
trifle,
you
understand,
and
we
employ
the
agent
to
do
that.
"

             
"
I
understand
that
an
exchange
of
gifts
is
usual
in
these
parts,
"
the
Captain
said.

             
"
That
is
so,
with
the
His
Majesty
at
least.
But
smaller
'
tokens
'
for
the
intermediaries
are
necessary
to
reach
the
Sultan.
"
The
agent
shrugged.
"
One
purchases
one
'
s
position
in
the
administration
and
then
recoups
one
'
s
capital
by
means
of
these
small
'
fees
'
charged
for
the
performance
of
one
'
s
duty.
Not
dissimilar
to
some
matters
in
our
own
society.
"

             
The
first
of
the
saluting
guns
began
to
bang
out
as
the
ship
rounded
into
the
wind
and
the
great
anchor
plunged
beneath
the
surface,
the
reply
from
the
fort
was
ragged
by
the
standards
of
Spartan
'
s
Gunner.
Mister
Spink
ferociously
recited
a
rhyme
which
ensured
that
each
shot
was
exactly
evenly
spaced
as
his
chosen
crew
worked
frantically
around
him
to
reload
the
pair
of
bowchasers
used
for
the
salute.