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“By God, Smith!” he said when the ordeal was over. “I would run the gantlet of all the savages in the South Sea rather than go through this again. Were you ever shaved by the Indians, Mr. Nelson?”

“Once,” Nelson replied. “Captain Cook and I both made the experiment on the island of Leefooga. The native made use of two shells, taking the hairs of the beard between them. It was a tedious task, but not so painful as I had imagined it would be.”

Bligh nodded. “I’ve tried it myself; and I’ve heard that an Indian mother can shave her child’s head with a shark’s tooth on a stick, and make as close work of it as a man could do with a razor. But I’ll believe that only when I’ve seen it done.”

“They’ve great skill, the Indians,” said Peckover; “but my choice is for our own way. I’d be pleased to be sitting this minute in the chair of the worst hairdresser in Portsmouth. I’d call it heaven, though he shaved me with a wood rasp.”

“You’ll see Portsmouth again, Mr. Peckover; never doubt it,” said Bligh quietly.