def _pad(slist, n, c=" "):
    """_pad(slist, n, c=' ') pads each member of string list 'slist' with
    fill character 'c' to a total length of 'n' characters and returns
    the concatenated results.

    strings longer than n are *truncated*.

    >>>
    >>> _pad(["this","that","the other"],9," ")
    'this     that     the other'
    """
    if isinstance(slist, str):
        if n > len(slist):
            return slist + c*(n-len(slist))
        else:
            return slist[:n]
    else:
        result = []
        for s in slist:
            if isinstance(s, str):
                if n > len(s):
                    t = s + c*(n-len(s))
                else:
                    t = s[:n]
            else:
                t = _pad(s, n, c)
            result.append(t)
        return "".join(result)