"I have been accused of
plagiarism. I reply that the accusation is ridiculous. Nature
is the great plagiarist, the sucker of the brains of authors.
There is no situation, however romantic or grotesque, which
Nature does not sooner or later appropriate. Therefore the
more natural an author is, the more liable is he to envious
accusations of plagiarism.... Humour may often be detected in
an absence of leg-coverings. A naval officer is an essentially
humorous object.... As to literary style, it can be varied
at pleasure, but the romantic Egyptian and the plain South
African are perhaps best. In future my motto will be, '_Ars
Langa Rider brevis_,' and a very good motto too. I like
writing in couples. Personally I could never have bothered
myself to learn up all these quaint myths and literary fairy
tales, but LANG likes it."]
CHAPTER I.
[Illustration: "Then a strange thing happened."]
My name is SMALLUN HALFBOY, a curious name for an old fellow like
me, who have been battered and knocked about all over the world from
Yorkshire to South Africa.
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