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diff --git a/40142-0.txt b/40142-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f98720c --- /dev/null +++ b/40142-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11068 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40142 *** + +Transcriber's Notes: + + 1. Page scan source: + http://books.google.com/books?id=UGopAQAAIAAJ + (University of California) + + 2. The diphthong oe is represented by [oe]. + + + + + + + Miss Stuart's Legacy + + + + By + + Flora Annie Steel + + AUTHOR OF + 'ON THE FACE OF THE WATERS,' ETC. + + + + + London + William Heinemann + 1900 + + + + + +_All rights reserved_ + + + + + + + MISS STUART'S LEGACY + + + + CHAPTER I. + + +An Indian railway station in the first freshness of an autumn dawn, +with a clear decision of light and shade, unknown to northern +latitudes, lending a fictitious picturesqueness to the low-arched +buildings festooned with purple creepers. There was a crispness in the +air which seemed to belie the possibility of a noon of brass; yet the +level beams of the sun had already in them a warning of warmth. + +The up-country mail had just steamed out of the station after +depositing a scanty store of passengers on the narrow platform, while +the down-country train, duly placarded with the information that it +carried the homeward-bound mail, had shunted in from the siding where +it had been patiently awaiting the signal of a clear line. The engine +meanwhile drank breathlessly at the tank, where, in a masonry tower +overhead, a couple of bullocks circled round and round, engaged in +raising the water from the well beneath to the reservoir beside them. +Round and round sleepily, while the primeval wooden wheel creaked and +clacked, and the clumsy rope-ladder with its ring of earthen pots let +half their contents fall back into the bowels of the earth; round and +round dreamily, with the fresh gurgle of the water in their ears, and +the blindness of leathern blinkers in their eyes; round and round, as +their forebears had gone for centuries in the cool shade of sylvan +wells. What was it to the patient creatures whether they watered a +snorting western demon labelled "homeward mail," or the chequered +mud-fields where the tender wheat spikelets took advantage of every +crack in the dry soil? It was little to them who sowed the seed, or +who gave the increase, so long as the goad lay in some one's hands. So +much the cattle knew, and in this simple knowledge were not far behind +the comprehension of their driver, who, wrapped in his cotton sheet, +lay dozing while he drove. + +The sweetmeat-seller dawdled by, pursued even at dawn by his pest of +flies. The water-carriers lounged along uttering their monotonous +chant, "Any Hindu drinkers? Any Mussulman drinkers?" while in their +van, dusky hands stretched out holding metal cups and bowls, from the +very shape of which the religion of the owners might be inferred, +owners sitting cheek by jowl in third-class compartments with a gulf +unfathomable, impassable, between them in this world and the next. The +lank yellow dogs crept among the wheels, licking a precarious meal +from the grease-boxes. The grey-headed carrion-crows sat in lines on +the wire fencing with beaks wide open in unending yawns. Nothing else +appeared to mark the passage of time; indeed the absence of hurry on +all sides gave the scene a curious unreality to Western eyes, a +feeling which was plainly shown in the expression of a young girl who +stood alone beside a small pile of luggage. + +"A new arrival," remarked a tall man in undress uniform, who was +leaning against the door of a first-class compartment, and talking to +its occupants. + +"Yes, to judge by complexion and baggage," was the reply. "You'd +hardly believe it, but Kate was as trim once; now!--just look at the +carriage!" + +A gay laugh came from behind a perfect barrier of baths, bundles, and +bassinettes. "We hadn't four babies to drag about in those days, +George, and I can assure Major Marsden that I'm not a bit ashamed of +them, or my complexion. George, dear! do for goodness' sake get baby's +bottle filled with hot water at the engine; if he doesn't have +something to eat he will cry in ten minutes, and then you will have to +take him." + +While George, with the proverbial docility of the Anglo-Indian husband +and father, strolled off on his errand, the feminine voice came into +view in the shape of a cheerful round little woman with a child in her +arms and another clinging to her dress. She looked with interest at +the girl on the platform. "She seems lonely, doesn't she?" + +Major Marsden frowned. He had been thinking the same thing, though he +was fond of posing as a man devoid of sentiment; a not unusual +affectation with those who are conscious of an over-soft heart. "I +wonder what she is doing here," he said, kicking his heels viciously +against the iron step of the carriage. + +A twinkle of mischief lurked in his companion's blue eyes as she +replied: + + + "'What are you doing here, my pretty maid?' + 'Going a-marrying, sir,' she said. + + +Can't you see the square wooden box which betrays the wedding cake?" + +"Then if you want to do a Christian act,--and you ladies love +aggressive charity--just step out of your car as _dea ex machine_, and +take her home again. India is no place for Englishwomen to be married +in." + +"Now don't go on! I know quite well what you are going to say, and I +agree,--theoretically. India is an ogre, eating us up body and soul; +ruining our health, our tempers, our morals, our manners, our babies." + +The laugh died from her lips at the last word, for the spectre of +certain separation haunts Indian motherhood too closely to be treated +as a jest. Instinctively she held the child tighter to her breast with +a little restless sigh; a short holiday at home, and then an empty +nest,--that was the future for her! So she went on recklessly: "Oh, +yes! Of course we are all bad lots,--neither good mothers, nor good +wives." + +"My dear Mrs. Gordon! I never said one or the other. I only remarked +that Englishwomen had no business in India." + +"What's that?" asked George, returning with the bottle. + +"Only Major Marsden in a hurry to get rid of me," replied his wife. + +"Don't believe her, Gordon! For all-embracing generalities, +convertible into rigid personalities at a moment's notice, commend me +to you, Mrs. Gordon. But there, I regret to say, goes the last bell." + +The train moved off in a series of dislocations, which, painful to +witness, were still more painful to endure, and Philip Marsden was +left watching the last nod of George Gordon's friendly head, with that +curious catching at the heart which comes to all Anglo-Indians as they +say good-bye to the homeward-bound. He was contented enough, happy in +his work and his play; yet the feeling of exile ran through it +all,--as it does always, till pension comes to bid one leave the +interests and friends of a lifetime. Then, all too late, the glamour +of the East claims the heart, in exchange for the body. + +The girl was still standing sentinel by her luggage, and as he passed +their eyes met. In sudden impulse he went up and offered help if she +required it. His voice, singularly sweet for a man, seemed to make the +girl realise her own loneliness, for her lips quivered distinctly. "It +is father! I expected him to meet me, and he has not come." + +"Should you know him if you saw him?" She stared, evidently surprised, +so he went on quickly, "I beg your pardon! I meant that you might not +have seen him for some time, and--" + +"I haven't seen him since I was a baby," she interrupted, with a sort +of hurt dignity; "but of course I should know him from his +photograph." + +"Of course!" He scanned her face curiously, thinking her little more +than a baby now; but he only suggested the possibility of a telegram, +and went off in search of one, returning a minute afterwards with +several. Behind him came the stationmaster explaining, with the +plentiful plurals and Addisonian periods dear to babudom, that without +due givings of names it was unpermissible, not to say non-regulation, +to deliver telegrams. + +"I forgot you couldn't know my name," said the girl frankly, when a +rapid scrutiny had shown that none were addressed to her. "I'm Belle +Stuart; my father lives at Faizapore." + +"Not Colonel Stuart of the Commissariat?" + +"Yes! Do you know him?" + +A radiant smile lit up her face with such a curve of red lips, and +flash of white teeth, that the spectator might well have been infected +by its wholesome sweetness into an answering look. Major Marsden's +eyes, however, only narrowed with perplexed enquiry as he said +bluntly, "Yes, slightly." + +"Then perhaps father sent you to fetch me?" + +This time he relaxed; confidence is catching. "I'm afraid not; but +possibly if he had known I was to be here he might. At all events I +can make myself useful." + +"How?" + +"I can get you a _gharri_--that is a carriage--and start you for +Faizapore. It is sixty miles from here as you know." + +She bent down to pick up her rugs. "I did not know. You see I expected +father." + +Philip Marsden felt impelled to consolation. "He has been delayed. +Most likely there has been"--in his haste to put forward a solid +excuse he was just about to say "an accident," but floundered instead +into a bald "something to detain him." + +"There generally _is_ something to detain one in every delay, isn't +there?" she asked dryly; adding hastily, "but it is very kind of you +to help. You see I have only just arrived in India, so I am quite a +stranger." + +"People generally _are_ strangers when they first arrive in a new +country aren't they?" retorted her companion grimly. Then as his eyes +met her smiling ones, he smiled too and asked with a kinder ring in +his voice, if there were anything else he could do for her. + +"I'm _so_ hungry," she said simply. "Couldn't you take me to get +breakfast somewhere? I don't see a refreshment-room, and I hate going +by myself." + +"There is the _dâk_ bungalow, but," he hesitated for an instant and +stood looking at her, as if making up his mind about something; then +calling some coolies he bade them take up the luggage. "This way +please, Miss Stuart; you will have to walk about half a mile, but you +won't mind that either, I expect." + +In reply she launched out, as they went along the dusty road, into +girlish chatter about the distances she could go without fatigue, the +country life at home which seemed so very far off now, and the new +existence on which she was just entering. + +"You are not in the least like your sisters," he said suddenly. + +She laughed. "They aren't my real sisters, you see. Father married +again, and they are my stepmother's children. There are five of +them--three girls and two boys, besides Charlie who is only six years +old--but then he is my brother--my half-brother I mean. It's very +funny, isn't it? to have so many brothers and a mother one has never +seen. But of course I have their photographs." + +He said he was glad of that; yet when he had seen her safely started +at breakfast, he retired to the verandah under excuse of a cigar, and +found fault with Providence. Briefly, he knew too much of the reality, +not to make poor Belle's anticipations somewhat of a ghastly mockery. +"Poor child," he thought, "how much easier life would be to some of +us, if like Topsy, we growed. What business has that girl's father to +be a disreputable scamp? For the matter of that what business has a +disreputable scamp to be any girl's father? It's the old problem." + +Belle meanwhile eating her breakfast with youthful appetite felt no +qualms. Life to her was at its brightest moment. This coming out to +India in order to rejoin her father had been the Hegira of her +existence, with reference to which all smaller events had to be +classified. His approval or disapproval had been her standard of right +and wrong, his mind and body her model of human perfection; and so far +distance had enabled Colonel Stuart to do justice to this pedestal; +for it is easy to touch perfection in a letter, especially when it +only extends to one sheet of creamlaid note-paper. Most of us have +sufficient principal for such a small dividend. + +"I knew father had not forgotten," she said calmly, when an abject +badge-wearer was discovered asleep under a castor-oil bush, and proved +to be the bearer of a note addressed in the familiar bold flourish to +Miss Belle Stuart. "You see he had made all the arrangements, and I am +not to start till the heat of the day is over." + +"Then I will resign my charge, and say good-bye." + +When they had shaken hands he went round to the other verandah where +her baggage lay, and looked at the wooden box. Was it a wedding-cake? +Even that might be better than life in the home to which she was +going, though, for all he knew, the latter might suit her admirably. +Then he went and kicked his heels at the station in order to be out of +the way, for the bungalow only boasted one room. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + +The dawn of another day was just breaking, when the rattle and clatter +which had formed an accompaniment to Belle's wakeful dreams all night +long, ceased at the last stage out from Faizapore. Belle stepped out +of the _palki-gharri_ to stretch her cramped limbs, and looked round +her with eyes in which sleep still lingered. + +A mud village lay close to the road, and from an outlying hut the +ponies, destined to convey her the remaining five miles, struggled +forth reluctantly. The coachman was furtively pulling at some one +else's pipe; a naked anatomy, halt and blind of an eye, dribbled water +from an earthen pot over the hot axles; two early travellers were +bathing in a pool of dirty water. Belle standing in the middle of the +glaring white highway, instinctively turned to where, in the distance, +a slender church-spire rose above the bank of trees on the horizon. +_That_ was familiar!--_that_ she understood. Born in India, and +therefore a daughter of the soil, she could not have been further +removed in taste and feeling from the toiling self-centred cosmogony +of the Indian village in which she stood, had she dropped into it from +another planet. So, alien in heart, she passed through the tide of +life which sets every morning towards a great cantonment, looking on +it as on some strange, new picture. Beyond all this, among people who +ate with forks and spoons and went to church on Sundays, lay the life +of which she had dreamed for years. The rest was a picturesque +background; that was all. + +A final flourish of an excruciating horn, gateposts guiltless of +gates, a ragged privet hedge curving intermittently to a bright blue +house set haphazard, cornerwise, in a square dusty expanse,--and the +journey was over. + +It was not only her cramped limbs that made Belle feel weak and +unsteady as she stood before the seemingly deserted house. Suddenly, +from behind a projecting corner, came a wrinkled beldame clad in dingy +white bordered with red. With one hand she grasped a skinny child +dressed in flannel night garments of Macgregor tartan, with the other +she held up her draggling petticoats and salaamed profusely, thus +displaying a pair of bandy, blue-trousered legs. + +Belle looked at her with distinct aversion. "I think I have made a +mistake," she said; "this can't be Colonel Stuart's house." + +The woman grinned from ear to ear. "Ar'l right, missy _ba_. _Mem +sahib_ comin'. This b'y sonny _baba_." She broke in on the whining +wail of her voice (which made Belle think of a professional beggar) to +apostrophise her charge with loud-tongued abuse for not saying good +morning to his "sissy." + +Belle gasped. Could this dirty dark boy be her brother Charlie? Then a +sudden rush of pity for the little fellow whose big black eyes met +hers with such distrust, made her stoop to kiss him. But the child, +reluctant and alarmed, struck at her face with his lean brown fingers +and then fled into the house howling, followed full tilt by his aged +attendant. + +Belle would have felt inclined to cry, if the very unexpectedness of +the attack, joined to the sight of the ayah's little bandy legs in hot +pursuit, had not roused her ever-ready sense of humour. She laughed +instead, and in so doing showed that she could hold her own with life; +for no one throws up the sponge until the faculty of coming up +smiling, even at one's own discomfiture, has been lost. And while she +laughed, a new voice asserted itself above the howls within; a voice +with, to Belle's ears, a strangely novel intonation, soft yet +distinctly _staccato_, sharpening the vowels, clipping the consonants, +and rising in pitch at the end of each sentence. It heralded the +advent of a tall, stout lady in a limp cotton wrapper, who straightway +took Belle to a languidly-effusive embrace, while she poured out an +even flow of wonderings, delights, and endearments. The girl, with the +reserve taught by long years of homelessness, felt embarrassed at the +warm kisses and tepid tears showered upon her; then, ashamed of her +own unresponsiveness, tried hard to realise that this was really the +great event,--the homecoming to which she had looked forward ever +since she could remember. She felt vexed with herself, annoyed at her +own failure to reach high pressure point. Yet she was not conscious of +disappointment, and gave herself up willingly to the voluble welcomes +of three slender, dark-eyed girls, who presently came running in, clad +like their mother in limp cotton wrappers. They sat beside her on the +bare string bed in the bare room which looked so cheerless to Belle's +English eyes, and chattered, fluttered, and pecked at her with little +kisses, like a group of birds on a branch. + +Mrs. Stuart was meanwhile drying her ready tears on a coarse, +highly-scented pocket handkerchief, giving orders for boundless +refreshments, and expressing her joy in alternate English and +Hindustani. Belle, beset on all sides by novelty, found it difficult +to recognise which language was being spoken, so little change was +there in voice or inflection. At last, amid the babel of words and +embraces, she managed to enquire for her father. The question produced +a sudden gravity, as if some sacred subject had been introduced. In +after years she recognised this extreme deference to the housemaster +as typical of the mixed race, but at the time, it made her heart beat +with a sudden fear of evil. + +"Colonel Stuart is very well, thank you," replied her stepmother, +showing a distinct tendency to reproduce the coarse handkerchief. "He +will, I am sure, be very pleased to see you;--indeed that is one +reason why I am glad myself. Though, of course, I welcome you for your +own sake too, my darling girl. I am only a stepmother, I know, but I +will allow no difference between you and my own three. So I told the +mess-president yesterday--'My daughters cannot go to your ball, +Captain Jenkins,' I said, 'unless Belle goes also.' So, of course, he +sent you an invitation." Mrs. Stuart had a habit of saying "of course" +as if she agreed plaintively with the decrees of Providence. + +"But when"--began Belle, her mind far from balls. + +"To-night," chorused the three girls; a chorus followed by voluble +solos adjuring her to put on her smartest frock, because all the men +were frantic to see the original of the photograph which, it appeared, +had been duly handed round for inspection and admiration. Belle +neither blushed nor felt indignant; her face fell however when she +found that her father would not be up for another two hours, but the +bated breath with which they spoke of his morning sleep prevented her +from rebellion. Those two hours seemed an eternity, and as she sat +waiting for him in the dim drawing-room, her heart beat with almost +sickening force at each sound. + +Unconscious as yet of disappointment, of anything save not unpleasant +surprise, she still was conscious of an almost pathetic insistence +that father _must_ be the father of her dreams. + +A mellow voice from the window calling her by name startled her from +her watch by the door. She turned, to see a tall figure in scarlet and +gold standing against the light which glittered on a trailing sword. + +There was no doubt this time. With a cry of "Father? oh yes, you are +father!" she was in his arms. To him also came the re-incarnation of a +half-forgotten dream. The fair, slim, white-robed girl standing in the +dim shadows, made the years vanish and youth return. "Good God, child, +how like you are to your poor mother!" he faltered, and the ring in +his voice made his daughter feel as if life held no more content. + +Despite years of dissipation Colonel Stuart was still a singularly +fine-looking man; well set up, and if a trifle fat in his +dressing-gown, no more than portly in a tightly-buttoned tunic. He had +always had a magnificent way with women, a sort of masterful +politeness, a beautiful overbearing condescension, which the majority +of the sex described as the sweetest of manners. And now, inspired by +his little girl's undisguised admiration, he excelled himself, +discoursing on his delight in having her with him, and on the +impossibility of thanking Heaven sufficiently for the care it had +taken of her. On this last point he spoke in the same terms that he +was accustomed to use towards his hostess at the conclusion of a +visit; that is to say, with the underlying conviction that she had +only done her duty. He drew a touching picture of his own forlornness, +when, as a matter of fact, the very thought of her had passed so +completely out of his life, that her death would only have caused an +unreal regret. His eloquence however brought conviction to himself. +So, to all intents and purposes, he became a fond father, because he +felt as if he had been one. After all, Belle, even had she known the +truth, would have no real cause for distress. We have no lien on the +past of another, or on the future either; the present is all we can +claim, and that only to a certain limited extent. + +In truth it would have required little self-deception to convince any +one that Belle had always been an abiding factor in life. She was a +daughter any man might well have been proud to possess. Tall and +straight, clear-eyed and bright, with wholesome thoughts and tastes +expressed in every feature. As she brought a cup of tea to her father, +her face alight with pleasure, her eyes brilliant with happiness, she +looked the picture of all an English girl ought to be. + +"Thank you, my dear," said the Colonel viewing the offering dubiously. +"I think,--I mean,--I should prefer a peg,--a B. and S.,--a brandy and +soda. The fact is I had a confounded bad night, and it might do me +good, you know." + +He was faintly surprised at finding himself making excuses for what +was a daily habit; but it was delightful to bask in the tender +solicitude of Belle's grey eyes, as he poured out, and drank the dose +with an air of accurate virtue. Once more he imposed on himself; on +every one in fact but the servant, who, with the forethought of +laziness, sat outside with the brandy-bottle lest he should be +summoned again. And when, finally, the Colonel rode off to his +committee on his big Australian charger, Belle thought the world could +never have contained a more magnificently martial figure. That this +gorgeous apparition should condescend to wave its hand to her at the +gate, was at once so bewildering and so natural, that all lesser +details faded into insignificance before this astounding realisation +of her dreams. + +This was fortunate, for many were the readjustments necessary ere the +day was over. Breakfast, where Belle sat blissfully at her father's +side, revealed two handsome, overdressed young men redolent of scent +and sleek as to hair. These the Miss Van Milders, still in rumpled +wrappers, introduced as their brothers Walter and Stanley, adding by +no means covert chaff about "store clothes," whereat the young fellows +giggled like girls, and Belle became almost aggressively sisterly in +her manner. Walter was in tea, or rather had been so; as the +plantation appeared to be undergoing transmutation into a limited +Company, in order, Belle was told, to produce a dividend. Stanley was +reading for some examination, after which somebody was to do something +for him. It was all very voluble and vague. Meanwhile they stayed at +home quite contentedly; satisfied to lounge about, play tennis, and +keep a tame mongoose. + +Towards the end of the meal, however, a red-haired youth slouched into +the room, thrust an unwilling hand into Belle's when introduced as +"your cousin Dick," and then sat down in silence with all the open +awkwardness of an English schoolboy. Afterwards, whenever Belle's cool +grey eyes wandered to that corner, they met a pair of fiery brown ones +also on the reconnoitre. + +Besides these present relations there were others constantly cropping +up in conversation; and of them Belle had enough ere the day was done. +The young men chattered over their cigarettes on the verandah; the +girls chattered over Belle's boxes, which they insisted on unpacking +at once; Mrs. Stuart chattered of, and to her servants. It was a +relief when, after luncheon, the whole house settled into the silence +of siesta, though Belle herself was far too excited to rest. + +Dinner brought a bitter disappointment in Colonel Stuart's absence; +for she had excused herself from the ball on plea of fatigue, in the +hopes of an evening with her father. It was Cousin Dick who, as they +sat down to table, answered the expectation in Belle's face. "The +Colonel never dines on ball nights, he goes to mess. You see, the +girls bobbing up and down annoy him, and it is beastly to see people +bolting their food in curl-papers." + +"I'd speak grammar if I were you," retorted Mildred Van Milder, +flushing up. Her fringe was a perpetual weariness to her, sometimes +demanding the sacrifice of a dance in order to allow hair-curlers to +do their perfect work. + +"And I wouldn't wear a fringe like a poodle," growled Dick; whereat +Mrs. Stuart plaintively wondered whence he got his manners, and wished +he was more like her own boys. + +Poodles or no poodles, when the dancing-party appeared ready for the +fray, Belle could hardly believe her eyes. The sallow-faced girls of +the morning in their limp cotton wrappers were replaced by admirable +copies of the latest French fashion-prints. Their elaborately-dressed +hair, large dark eyes, and cream-coloured skins (to which art had lent +a soft bloom denied by nature under Indian skies), joined to the +perfect fit of their gowns, compelled attention. Indeed, when Maud, to +try the stability of a shoe, waltzed round the room with her brother, +Belle was startled at her own admiration for their lithe, graceful, +sensuous beauty. + +"I'll tell you what it is," cried Mabel, the eldest of the three; +"you'll have a ripping good time tonight, Maudie. I never saw you look +so cheek." She meant _chic_, but the spelling was against her. As for +Mrs. Stuart, she appeared correctly attired in black satin and bugles. +The girls saw to that, suppressing with inexorable firmness the good +lady's hankering after gayer colours and more flimsy stuffs. + +Left alone with Cousin Dick, Belle pretended to read, while in reality +she was all ears for the sound of returning wheels. It was nearly ten +o'clock, and, to her simple imagination, time for her father to come +home. The clock struck, and Dick, who had been immersed in a book at +the further corner of the room, laid it aside, and bringing out a +chessboard began to set the men. He paused, frowned, passed both hands +through his rough red hair, and finally asked abruptly if she played. +A brief negative made him shift the pieces rapidly to a problem, and +no more was said. Again the clock struck, and this time Dick came and +stood before her. He was a middle-sized, broad-shouldered youth about +her own age, with a promise of strength in face and figure. "You had +better go to bed," he said still more abruptly. "The Colonel won't be +home till morning. It isn't a bit of good your waiting for him." + +This was the second time that he had stepped in to her thoughts, as it +were, and Belle resented the intrusion. "Don't let me keep you up," +she replied. "I'd just as soon be alone." + +"Then you'll have your wish, I expect," he answered coolly, as he +swept the chessmen together and left the room. + +Some two hours after Belle woke from sleep to the sound of an +impatient voice. "Bearer! Bearer! _peg lao_, quick! Hang it all, Raby! +you must, you shall stop and give me my revenge. You've the most +cursed good luck--" + +"Father!" She rose from her chair with cheeks flushed like those of a +newly-awakened child. The tall, fair young man who stood beside +Colonel Stuart turned at the sound of her voice, then touched his +companion on the arm. "Some one is speaking to you." + +"God bless my soul, child! I thought you were at the ball. Why didn't +you go?" His tone was kind, if a little husky, and he stretched a +trembling hand towards her. + +"I waited to see you, father," she replied, laying hers on his arm +with a touch which was a caress. + +The tall young man smiled to himself. "Will you not introduce me to +your daughter, Colonel?" he said with a half-familiar bow towards +Belle. + +Colonel Stuart looked from one to the other as if he had never seen +either of them before. "Introduce you,--why not? Belle, this is John +Raby: a fellow who has the most infernal good luck in creation." + +"I have no inclination to deny the fact at _this_ moment," interposed +the other, bowing again. + +The implied compliment was quite lost on Belle, whose eyes and ears +were for her father only. "I waited for you," she said with a little +joyous laugh, "and fell asleep in my chair!" + +Once more the Colonel looked from one to the other. The mere fact of +his daughter's presence was in his present state confusing, but that +she should have been waiting for him was bewildering in the extreme. +How many years ago was it that another slim girl in white had gazed on +him with similar adoration? + +"You had better go to bed now," he said with almost supernatural +profundity. "Good night. God bless you." + +"Let me stay, please, father. I'm not a bit tired," she pleaded. + +He stood uncertain, and John Raby drew out his watch with a +contemptuous smile. "Half-past one, Colonel; I must be off." + +"Hang it all!" expostulated the other feebly. "You can't go without my +revenge. It ain't fair!" + +"You shall have it sometime, never fear. Good night, Miss Stuart; we +can't afford to peril such roses by late hours." + +Again his words fell flat, their only result being that he looked at +her with a flash of real interest. When he had gone Belle knelt beside +her father's chair, timidly asking if he was angry with her for +sitting up. + +"Angry!" cried the Colonel, already in a half doze. "No, child! +certainly not. Dear! dear! how like you are to your poor mother." The +thought roused him, for he stood up shaking his head mournfully. "Go +to bed, my dear. We all need rest. It has been a trying day, a very +trying day." + +Belle, as she laid her head on the pillow, felt that it had been so +indeed; yet she was not disappointed with it. She was too young to +criticise kindness, and they had all been kind, very kind; even +Charlie had forgotten his first fright; and so she fell asleep, +smiling at the remembrance of the old _ayah's_ bandy legs. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + +Early morning in the big bazaar at Faizapore. So much can be said; but +who with pen alone could paint the scene, or who with brush give the +aroma, physical and moral, which, to those familiar with the life of +Indian streets, remains for ever the one indelible memory? The +mysterious smell indescribable to those who know not the East; the air +of sordid money-getting and giving which pervades even the children; +the gaily-dressed, chattering stream of people drifting by; but from +the grey-bearded cultivator come on a lawsuit from his village, to the +sweeper, besom in hand, propelling the black flood along the gutter, +the only subject sufficiently interesting to raise one voice above the +universal hum, is money. Even the stalwart herdswomen with their +kilted skirts swaying at each free bold step, their patchwork bodices +obeying laws of decency antipodal to ours, even they, born and bred in +the desert, talk noisily of the _ghee_ they are bringing to market in +the russet and black jars poised on their heads; and if _ghee_ be not +actually money, it is inextricably mixed up with it in the native +mind. + +All else may fade from the memory; the glare of sunlight, the +transparent shadows, the clustering flies and children round the +cavernous sweetmeat-shops, the glitter of brazen pots, and the +rainbow-hued overflow from the dyers' vats staining the streets like a +reflection of the many-tinted cloths festooned to dry overhead. Even +the sharper contrasts of the scene may be forgotten; the marriage +procession swerving to give way to the quiet dead, swathed in muslins +and bound with tinsel, carried high on the string bed, or awaiting +sunset and burial in some narrow by-way among green-gold melons and +piles of red wheat. But to those who have known an Indian bazaar well, +the chink of money, and the smell of a chemist's shop, will ever +remain a more potent spell to awaken memory than any elaborate +pictures made by pen or pencil. + +On this particular morning quite a little crowd was collected round +the doorway leading to the house of one Shunker Dâs, usurer, +contractor, and honorary magistrate; a man who combined those three +occupations into one unceasing manufacture of money. In his hands pice +turned to annas, annas to rupees, and rupees in their turn to fat. For +there is no little truth in the assertion that the real test of a +_buniah's_ (money-lender's) wealth is his weight, and the safest guard +for income-tax his girth in inches. + +Nevertheless a skeleton lay hidden under Shunker Dâs's mountain of +prosperous flesh; a gruesome skeleton whose bones rattled ominously. +Between him and the perdition of a sonless death stood but one life; a +life so frail that it had only been saved hitherto by the expedient of +dressing the priceless boy in petticoats, and so palming him off on +the dread Shiva as a girl. At least so said the _zenana_ women, and so +in his inmost heart thought Shunker Dâs, though he was a prime +specimen of enlightened native society. But on that day the fateful +first decade during which the Destroyer had reft away so many +baby-heirs from the usurer's home was over; and amid countless +ceremonies, and much dispensation of alms, the little Nuttu, with his +ears and nose pierced like a girl's, had been attired in the _pugree_ +and _pyjamas_ of his sex. Hence the crowd closing in round the Lâlâ's +Calcutta-built barouche which waited for its owner to come out. Hence +the number of professional beggars, looking on the whole more fat and +well-liking than the workers around them, certainly more so than a +small group of women who were peeping charily from the door of the +next house,--a very different house from Shunker Dâs's pretentious +stucco erection with its blue elephants and mottled tigers frescoed +round the top storey, and a railway train, flanked by two caricatures +of the British soldier, over the courtyard doorway. This was a tall, +square, colourless tower, gaining its only relief from the numerous +places where the outer skin of bricks had fallen away, disclosing +the hard red mortar beneath; mortar that was stronger than stone; +mortar that had been ground and spread long years before the word +"contractor" was a power in India. Here in poverty, abject in all save +honour, dwelt Mahomed Lateef, a Syyed of the Syyeds;[1] and it was his +hewers of wood and drawers of water who formed the group at the door, +turning their lean faces away disdainfully when the baskets of dough +cakes, and trays of sweet rice were brought out for distribution from +the idolater's house. + +The crowd thickened, but fell away instinctively to give place to a +couple of English soldiers who came tramping along shoulder to +shoulder, utterly unconcerned and unsympathetic; their Glengarry caps +set at the same angle, the very pipes in their mouths having a drilled +appearance. Such a quiet, orderly crowd it was; not even becoming +audible when Shunker Dâs appeared with little Nuttu, the hero of the +day, who in a coat of the same brocade as his father's, and a _pugree_ +tied in the same fashion, looked a wizened, changeling double of his +unwieldy companion. The barouche was brilliant as to varnish, vivid as +to red linings, and the bay Australians were the best money could buy; +yet the people, as it passed, took small notice of the Lâlâ, lolling +in gorgeous attire against the Berlin-wool-worked cushion which he had +bought from the Commissioner's wife at a bazaar in aid of a cathedral. +They gave far more attention to a hawk-eyed old man with a cruel, +high-bred face, who rode by on a miserable pony, and after returning +the Lâlâ's contemptuous salutation with grave dignity, spat solemnly +into the gutter. + +This was Mahomed Lateef, who but the day before had put the +talisman-signet on his right hand to a deed mortgaging the last acre +of his ancestral estate to the usurer. Yet the people stood up with +respectful _salaams_ to him, while they had only obsequious grins for +the other. Indeed, one old patriarch waiting for death in the sun, +curled up comfortably, his chin upon his knees, on a bed stuck well +into the street, nodded his head cheerfully and muttered "Shunker's +father was nobody," over and over again till he fell asleep; to dream +perchance of the old order of things. + +Meanwhile the Lâlâ waited his turn for audience at the District +Officer's bungalow. There were many other aspirants to that honour, +seated on a row of cane-bottomed chairs in the verandah, silent, +bored, uncomfortable. It is an irony of fate which elevates the chair +in India into a patent of position, for nowhere does the native look +more thoroughly out of place than in the coveted honour. As it is he +clings to it, notably with his legs; those thin legs round whose +painful want of contour the tight cotton pantaloons wrinkle all too +closely, and which would be so much better tucked away under dignified +skirts in true Eastern fashion. But the exotic has a strange +fascination for humanity. Waiting there for his turn, the Lâlâ +inwardly cursed the Western morality which prevented an immediate and +bribe-won entry; but the red-coated badge-wearers knew better than to +allow even a munificent shoe-money to interfere with the roster. The +harassed-looking, preoccupied official within had an almost uncanny +quickness of perception, so the rupees chinked into their pockets, but +produced no effect beyond whining voices and fulsome flattery. + +"Well, Lâlâ-ji! and what do _you_ want?" asked the representative of +British majesty when, at last, Shunker Dâs's most obsequious smile +curled out over his fat face. There was no doubt a certain brutality +of directness in the salutation, but it came from a deadly conviction +that a request lay at the bottom of every interview, and that duty +bade its discovery without delay. The abruptness of the magistrate was +therefore compressed politeness. As he laid down the pen with which he +had been writing a judgment, and leant wearily back in his chair, his +bald head was framed, as it were, in a square nimbus formed by a +poster on the wall behind. It was four feet square, and held, in +treble columns, a list of all the schedules and reports due from his +office during the year to come. That was his patent of position; and +it was one which grows visibly, as day by day, and month by month, law +and order become of more consequence than truth and equity in the +government of India. + +The Lâlâ's tact bade him follow the lead given. "I want, _sahib_," he +said, "to be made a _Rai Bâhâdur_." + +Now _Rai Bâhâdur_ is an honorific title bestowed by Government for +distinguished service to the State. So without more ado Shunker Dâs +detailed his own virtues, totalled up the money expended in public +utility, and wound up with an offer of five thousand rupees towards a +new Female Hospital. The representative of British majesty drew +diagrams on his blotting-paper, and remarked, casually, that he would +certainly convey the Lâlâ's liberal suggestion about the hospital to +the proper authorities; adding his belief that one Puras Râm, who was +about to receive the coveted honour, had offered fifteen thousand for +the same purpose. + +"I will give ten thousand, _Huzoor_" bid the usurer, with a scowl +struggling with his smile; "that will make seventy-five thousand in +all; and Tôta Mull got it for building the big tank that won't hold +water. If it cost him fifty thousand, may I eat dirt; and I ought to +know for I had the contract. It won't last, _Huzoor_; I know the stuff +that went into it." + +"Tôta Mull had other services." + +"Other services!" echoed Shunker fumbling in his garments, and +producing a printed book tied up in a cotton handkerchief. "See my +certificates; one from your honour's own hand." + +Perhaps the District Officer judged the worth of the others by the +measure of his own testimonial, wherein, being then a "griff" of six +months' standing, he had recorded Shunker's name opposite a list of +the cardinal virtues, for he set the book aside with a sad smile. Most +likely he was thinking that in those days his ambition had been a +reality, and his liver an idea, and that now they had changed places. +"I am glad to see your son looking so well," he remarked with pointed +irrelevance. "I hear you are to marry him next month, and that +everything is to be on a magnificent scale. Tôta Mull will be quite +eclipsed; though his boy's wedding cost him sixty-five thousand,--he +told me so himself. Accept my best wishes on the occasion." + +"_Huzoor!_ I will give fifteen thou--" British majesty rose gravely +with the usual intimation of dismissal, and a remark that it was +always gratified at liberality. Shunker Dâs left the presence with his +smile thoroughly replaced by a scowl, though his going there had +simply been an attempt to save his pocket; for he knew right well that +he had not yet filled up the measure of qualification for a _Rai +Bâhâdur_-ship. + +While this interview had been going on, another of a very different +nature was taking place outside a bungalow on the other side of the +road, where Philip Marsden stood holding the rein of his charger and +talking to Mahomed Lateef, whose pink-nosed pony was tied to a +neighbouring tree. + +The old man, in faded green turban and shawl, showed straight and tall +even beside the younger man's height and soldierly carriage. +"_Sahib_," he said, "I am no beggar to whine at the feet of a stranger +for alms. I don't know the _sahib_ over yonder whose verandah, as you +see, is crowded with such folk. They come and go too fast these +_sahibs_, nowadays; and I am too old to tell the story of my birth. If +it is forgotten, it is forgotten. But you know me, Allah be praised! +You feel my son's blood there on your heart where he fell fighting +beside you! Which of the three was it? What matter? They all died +fighting. And this one is Benjamin; I cannot let him go. He is a +bright boy, and will give brains, not blood, to the Sirkar, if I can +only get employment for him. So I come to you, who know me and mine." + +Philip Marsden laid his hand on the old man's shoulder. "That is true. +Khân _sahib_. What is it I can do for you?" + +"There is a post vacant in the office, _Huzoor!_ It is not much, but a +small thing is a great gain in our poor house. The boy could stay at +home, and not see the women starve. It is only writing-work, and +thanks to the old mullah, Murghub Admed is a real _khush nawis_ +(penman). Persian and Arabic, too, and Euclidus, and Algebra; all a +true man should know. If you would ask the _sahib_." + +"I'll go over now. No, no, _Khân sahib!_ I am too young, and you are +too old." + +But Mahomed Lateef held the stirrup stoutly with lean brown fingers. +"The old help the young into the saddle always, _sahib_. It is for you +boys to fight now, and for us to watch and cry 'Allah be with the +brave!'" + +So it happened that as Shunker Dâs drove out of the District Officer's +compound, Major Marsden rode in. Despite his scowl, the usurer stood +up and _salaamed_ profusely with both hands, receiving a curt salute +in return. + +British majesty was now in the verandah disposing of the smaller fry +in batches. "Come inside," it said, hastily dismissing the final lot. +"I've only ten minutes left for bath and breakfast, but you'll find a +cigar there, and we can talk while I tub." + +Amid vigorous splashings from within Major Marsden unfolded his +mission, receiving in reply a somewhat disjointed enquiry as to +whether the applicant had passed the Middle School examination, for +otherwise his case was hopeless. + +"And why, in Heaven's name?" asked his hearer impatiently. + +The magistrate having finished his ablutions appeared at the door in +scanty attire rubbing his bald head with a towel. "Immutable decree of +government." + +"And loyalty, family, influence--what of them?" + +A shrug of the shoulders,--"Ask some one else. I am only a +barrel-organ grinding out the executive and judicial tunes sent down +from headquarters." + +"And a lively discord you'll make of it in time! But you are wrong. A +man in your position is, as it were, trustee to a minor's estate and +bound to speak up for his wards." + +"And be over-ridden! No good! I've tried it. Oh lord! twelve o'clock +and I had a case with five pleaders in it at half-past eleven. Well, +I'll bet the four-anna bit the exchange left me from last month's pay, +that my judgment will be upset on appeal." + +"I pity you profoundly." + +"Don't mention it; there's balm in Gilead. This is mail-day, and I +shall hear from my wife and the kids. Good-bye!--I'm sorry about the +boy, but it can't be helped." + +"It strikes me it will have to be helped some day," replied Major +Marsden as he rode off. + +Meanwhile a third interview, fraught with grave consequences to this +story, had just taken place in the Commissariat office whither Shunker +Dâs had driven immediately after his rebuff, with the intention of +robbing Peter to pay Paul; in other words, of getting hold of some +Government contract, out of which he could squeeze the extra rupees +required for the purchase of the _Rai Bâhâdur_-ship; a proceeding +which commended itself to his revengeful and spiteful brain. As it so +happened, he appeared in the very nick of time; for he found Colonel +Stuart looking helplessly at a telegram from headquarters, ordering +him to forward five hundred camels to the front at once. + +Now the Faizapore office sent in the daily schedules, original, +duplicate, and triplicate, with commendable regularity, and drew the +exact amount of grain sanctioned for transport animals without fail; +nevertheless a sudden demand on its resources was disagreeable. So, as +he had done once or twice before in this time of war and rumours of +wars, the chief turned to the big contractor for help; not without a +certain uneasiness, for though a long course of shady transactions had +blunted Colonel Stuart's sense of honour towards his equals, it had +survived to an altogether illogical extent towards his inferiors. Now +his private indebtedness to the usurer was so great that he could not +afford to quarrel with him; and this knowledge nurtured a suspicion +that Shunker Dâs made a tool of him, an idea most distasteful both to +pride and honour. No mental position is more difficult to analyse than +that of a man, who having lost the desire to do the right from a +higher motive, clings to it from a lower one. Belle's father, for +instance, did not hesitate to borrow cash from monies intrusted to his +care; but he would rather not have borrowed it from a man with whom he +had official dealings. + +Shunker Dâs, however, knew nothing, and had he known would have +credited little, of this survival of honour. It seemed impossible in +his eyes that the innumerable dishonesties of the Faizapore office +could exist without the knowledge of its chief. Bribery was to him no +crime; nor is it one to a very large proportion of the people of +India. To the ignorant, indeed, it seems such a mere detail of daily +life that it is hard for them to believe in judicial honesty. Hence +the ease with which minor officials extort large sums on pretence of +carrying the bribe to the right quarter; and hence again comes, no +doubt, many a whispered tale of corruption in high places. + +"I shall lose by this contract, _sahib_," said the Lâlâ, when the +terms had been arranged; "but I rely on your honour's generous aid in +the future. There are big things coming in, when the Protector of the +Poor will doubtless remember his old servant, whose life and goods are +always at your honour's disposal." + +"I have the highest opinion of,--of your integrity, Lâlâ _sahib_," +replied the Colonel evasively, "and of course shall take it,--I mean +your previous services--into consideration, whenever it--it is +possible to do so." The word integrity had made him collapse a little, +but ere the end of the sentence he had recovered his self-esteem, and +with it his pomposity. + +The Lâlâ's crafty face expanded into a smile. "We understand each +other, _sahib_, and if--!" here he dropped his voice to a confidential +pitch. + +Five minutes after Colonel Stuart's debts had increased by a thousand +rupees, and the Lâlâ was carefully putting away a duly stamped and +signed I.O.U. in his pocket-book; not that he assigned any value to +it, but because it was part of the game. Without any distinct idea of +treachery, he always felt that Lukshmi, the goddess of Fortune, had +given him one more security against discomfiture when he managed to +have the same date on a contract and a note of hand. Not that he +anticipated discomfiture either. In fact, had any one told him that he +and the Colonel were playing at cross-purposes, he would have laughed +the assertion to scorn. He had too high an opinion of the perspicacity +of the _sahib-logue_, and especially of the _sahib_ who shut his eyes +to so many irregularities, to credit such a possibility. + +So he drove homewards elate, and on the way was stopped in a narrow +alley by an invertebrate crowd, which, without any backbone of +resistance, blocked all passage, despite the abuse he showered around. +"Run over the pigs! Drive on, I say," he shouted to the driver, when +other means failed. + +"Best not, Shunker," sneered a little gold-earringed Rajpoot amongst +the crowd, "there's a sepoy in yonder shooting free." + +The Lâlâ sank back among his cushions, green with fear. At the same +moment an officer in undress uniform rode up as if the street were +empty, the crowd making way before him. "What is it, _havildar_ +(sergeant)?" he asked sharply, reining up before an open door where a +sentry stood with rifle ready. + +"Private Afzul Khân run amuck, _Huzoor!_" + +Major Marsden threw himself from his horse and looked through the door +into the little court within. It was empty, but an archway at right +angles led to an inner yard. "When?" + +"Half an hour gone--the guard will be here directly, _Huzoor!_ They +were teasing him for being an Afghan, and saying he would have to +fight his own people." + +"Any one hurt?" + +"Jeswunt Rai and Gurdit Singh, not badly; he has--seven rounds left, +_sahib_, and swears he won't be taken alive." + +The last remark came hastily, as Major Marsden stepped inside the +doorway. He paused, not to consider, but because the tramp of soldiers +at the double came down the street. "Draw up your men at three paces +on either side of the door," he said to the native officer. "If you +hear a shot, go on the house-top and fire on him as he sits. If he +comes out alone, shoot him down." + +"Allah be with the brave!" muttered one or two of the men, as Philip +Marsden turned once more to enter the courtyard. It lay blazing in the +sunshine, open and empty; but what of the dim archway tunnelling a row +of buildings into that smaller yard beyond, where Afzul Khân waited +with murder in his heart, and his finger on the trigger of his rifle? +There the Englishman would need all his nerve. It was a rash attempt +he was making; he knew that right well, but he had resolved to attempt +it if ever he got the opportunity. Anything, he had told himself, was +better than the wild-beast-like scuffle he had witnessed not long +before; a hopeless, insane struggle ending in death to three brave +men, one of them the best soldier in the regiment. The remembrance of +the horrible scene was strong on him as his spurs clicked an even +measure across the court. + +It was cooler in the shadow, quite a relief after the glare. Ah!... +just as he had imagined! In the far corner a crouching figure and a +glint of light on the barrel of a rifle. No pause; straight on into +the sunlight again; then suddenly the word of command rang through the +court boldly. "Lay down your arms!" + +The familiar sound died away into silence. It was courage against +power, and a life hung on the balance. Then the long gleam of light on +the rifle wavered, disappeared, as Private Afzul Khân stood up and +saluted. "You are a braver man than I, _sahib_," he said. That was +all. + +A sort of awed whisper of relief and amazement ran through the crowd +as Philip Marsden came out with his prisoner, and gave orders for the +men to fall in. Two Englishmen in mufti had ridden up in time for the +final tableau; and one of them, nodding his head to the retreating +soldiers, said approvingly, "That is what gave, and keeps us India." + +"And that," returned John Raby pointing to Shunker Dâs who with +renewed arrogance was driving off, "will make us lose it." + +"My dear Raby! I thought the moneyed classes--" + +"My dear Smith! if you think that when the struggle comes, as come it +must, our new nobility, whose patent is plunder, will fight our +battles against the old, I don't." + +They argued the point all the way home without convincing each other, +while Time with the truth hidden in his wallet passed on towards the +Future. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + +Had any one, a week before his daughter arrived, told Colonel Stuart +that her presence would be a pleasant restraint upon him, he would +have been very angry. Yet such was the fact. Her likeness to her +mother carried him back to days when his peccadilloes could still be +regarded as youthful follies, and people spared a harsh verdict on +what age might be expected to remedy. Then her vast admiration gave a +reality to his own assumptions of rectitude; for the Colonel clung +theoretically to virtue with great tenacity, in a loud-voiced, +conservative "d---- you if you don't believe what I say" sort of +manner. He also maintained a high ideal in regard to the honour of +every one else, based on a weak-kneed conviction that his own was +above suspicion. + +He was proud of Belle too, fully recognising that with her by his side +his grey hairs became reverend. So he pulled himself up to some small +degree, and began to sprinkle good advice among the younger men with +edifying gravity. As for Belle she was supremely happy. No doubt had +she been "earnest" or "soulful" or "intense" she might have found +spots on her sun with the greatest ease; but she was none of these +things. At this period of her existence nothing was further from her +disposition than inward questionings on any subject. She took life as +she found it, seeing only her own healthy, happy desires in its dreary +old problems, and remaining as utterly unconscious that she was +assimilating herself to her surroundings as the caterpillar which +takes its colour from the leaf on which it feeds. For a healthy mind +acts towards small worries as the skin does towards friction; it +protects itself from pain by an excess of vitality. It is only when +pressure breaks through the blister that its extent is realised. + +In good truth Belle's life was a merry one. The three girls were +good-nature itself, especially when they found the new arrival +possessed none of their own single-hearted desire for matrimony. Her +stepmother, if anything, was over-considerate, being a trifle inclined +to make a bugbear of the girl's superior claims to her father's +affection. The housekeeping was lavishly good, and men of a certain +stamp were not slow to avail themselves of the best mutton and prawn +curry in Faizapore. Where the money came from which enabled the +Stuarts to keep open house, they did not enquire. Neither did Belle, +who knew no more about the value of things than a baby in arms. As for +the Colonel, he had long years before acquired the habit of looking on +his debts as his principal, and treating his pay as the interest. So +matters went smoothly and swiftly for the first month or so, during +which time Belle might have been seen everywhere in the company of the +three Miss Van Milders, cheerfully following their lead with a serene +innocence that kept even the fastest of a very fast set in check. Once +or twice she saw Philip Marsden, and was rallied by the girls on her +acquaintance with that solitary misogynist. Mrs. Stuart, indeed, went +so far as to ask him to dinner, even though he had not called, on the +ground that he was the richest man in the station, and Belle's +interests must not be neglected though she was only a stepdaughter. +But he sent a polite refusal, and so the matter dropped; nor to Mrs. +Stuart's open surprise did Belle make any other declared conquest. + +Yet, unnoticed by all, there was some one, who long before the first +month was out, would willingly have cut himself into little pieces in +order to save his idol from the least breath of disappointment. So it +was from Cousin Dick's superior knowledge of Indian life that Belle +learnt many comforting, if curious excuses for things liable to ruffle +even her calm of content. + +Poor Dick! Hitherto his efforts in all directions had resulted in +conspicuous failure; chiefly, odd though it may seem, because he +happened to be born under English instead of Indian skies. In other +words, because he was not what bureaucracies term "a Statutory +Native." His mother, Mrs. Stuart's younger sister, had run away with a +young Englishman who, having ruined himself over a patent, was keeping +soul and body together by driving engines. In some ways she might have +done worse, for Smith senior was a gentleman; but he possessed, +unfortunately, just that unstable spark of genius which, like a +will-o'-the-wisp leads a man out of the beaten path without guiding +him into another. The small sum of money she brought him was simply so +much fuel to feed the flame; and, within a few months of their +marriage, the soft, luxurious girl was weeping her eyes out in a +miserable London lodging, while he went the rounds with his patent. +There Dick was born, and thence after a year or two she brought them +both back to the elastic house, the strong family affection, and +lavish hospitality which characterise the Eurasian race. Not for long, +however, since her husband died of heat-apoplexy while away seeking +for employment, and she, after shedding many tears, succumbed to +consumption brought on by the fogs and cold of the north. So, +dependent on various uncles and aunts in turn, little Dick Smith had +grown up with one rooted desire in the rough red head over which his +sleek, soft guardians shook theirs ominously. Briefly, he was to be an +engineer like his father. He broke open everything to see how it +worked, and made so many crucial experiments that the whole family +yearned for the time when he should join the Government Engineering +College at Roorkee. And then, just when this desirable consummation +was within reach, some one up among the deodars at Simla, or in an +office at Whitehall, invented the "Statutory Native," and there was an +end of poor Dick's career; for a Statutory Native is a person born in +India of parents habitually resident and domiciled in the country. +True, the college was open to the boy for his training; but with all +the Government appointments awarded to successful students closed to +him by the accident of his birth, his guardians naturally shook their +heads again over an expensive education which would leave him, +practically, without hope of employment. For, outside Government +service, engineers are not, as yet, wanted in India. He might, of +course, had he been the son of a rich man, have been sent home to pass +out as an Englishman through the English college. As it was the boy, +rebellious to the heart's core, was set to other employment. Poor +Dick! If his European birth militated against him on the one side, his +Eurasian parentage condemned him on the other. After infinite trouble +his relations got him a small post on the railway, whence he was +ousted on reduction; another with a private firm which became +bankrupt. The lad's heart and brains were elsewhere, and as failure +followed on failure, he gave way to fits of defiance, leading him by +sheer excess of energy into low companionship and bad habits. At the +time of Belle's arrival he was trying to work off steam as an unpaid +clerk in his uncle's office when a boy's first love revolutionized his +world; love at first sight, so enthralling, so compelling, that he did +not even wonder at the change it wrought in him. Belle never knew, +perhaps he himself did not recognise, how much of the calm content of +those first few months was due to Dick's constant care. A silent, +unreasoning devotion may seem a small thing viewed by the head, but it +keeps the heart warm. Poor, homeless, rebellious Dick had never felt +so happy, or so good, in all his life; and he would kneel down in his +hitherto prayerless room and pray that she might be kept from sorrow, +like any young saint. Yet he had an all-too-intimate acquaintance with +the corruption of Indian towns, and an all-too-precocious knowledge of +evil. + +Belle in her turn liked him; there was something more congenial in his +breezy, tempestuous, nature than in the sweetness of her stepbrothers, +and unconsciously she soon learnt to come to him for comfort. "Charlie +tells such dreadful stories," she complained one day, "and he really +is fond of whisky-and-water. I almost wish father wouldn't give him +any." + +"The governor thinks it good for him, I bet," returned Dick stoutly. +"I believe it is sometimes. Then as for lies! I used to tell 'em +myself; it's the climate. He'll grow out of it, you'll see; I did." + +Now Dick's truthfulness was, as a rule, so uncompromising that Belle +cheered up; as for the boy, his one object then was to keep care from +those clear eyes; abstract truth was nowhere. + +The next time Sonny _baba_ was offered a sip from his father's glass, +he refused hastily. Pressure produced a howl of terror; nor was it +without the greatest difficulty that he was subsequently brought to +own that Cousin Dick had threatened to kill him if he ever touched a +"peg" again. Luckily for the peace of the household this confession +was made in the Colonel's absence, when only Mrs. Stuart's high, +strident voice could be raised in feeble anger. The culprit remained +unrepentant; the more so because Belle assoilzied him, declaring that +Charlie ought not to be allowed to touch the horrid mixture. Whereupon +her stepmother sat and cried softly with the boy on her lap, making +both Belle and Dick feel horribly guilty, until, the incident having +occurred at lunch, both the sufferers fell asleep placidly. When Belle +returned from her afternoon ride she found Mrs. Stuart in high good +humour, decanting a bottle of port wine. "You frightened me so, my +dear," she said affectionately, "that I sent for the doctor, and he +says port wine _is_ better, so I'm glad you mentioned it." And Belle +felt more guilty than ever. + +These afternoon rides were Dick's only trouble. He hated the men who +came about the house, and more especially the favoured many who were +allowed to escort the "Van" as Belle's three stepsisters were +nick-named. It made him feel hot and cold all over to think of her in +the company which he found suitable enough for his cousins. But then +it seemed to him as if no one was good enough for Belle,--he himself +least of all. He dreamed wild, happy dreams of doing something brave, +fine, and manly; not so much from any desire of thereby winning her, +but because his own love demanded it imperiously. For the first time +the needle of his compass pointed unhesitatingly to the pole of right. +He confided these aspirations to the girl, and they would tell each +other tales of heroism until their cheeks flushed, and their eyes +flashed responsive to the deeds of which they talked. One day Dick +came home full of the story of Major Marsden and the Afghan sepoy; and +they agreed to admire it immensely. After that Dick made rather a hero +of the Major, and Belle began to wonder why the tall quiet man who had +been so friendly at their first meeting, kept so persistently aloof +from her and hers. He was busy, of course, but so were others, for +these were stirring times. The arsenal was working over hours, and all +through the night, long files of laden carts crept down the dusty +roads, bearing stores for the front. + +To all outward appearance, however, society took no heed of these wars +or rumours of wars, but went on its way rejoicing in the winter +climate which made amusement possible. And no one in the station +rejoiced more than Belle. Major Marsden, watching her from afar, told +himself that a girl who adopted her surroundings--and such +surroundings!--so readily, was not to be pitied. She was evidently +well able to take care of herself; yet, many a time, as he sat playing +whist while others were dancing, he caught himself looking up to see +who the partner might be with whom she was hurrying past to seek the +cooler air of the gardens, where seats for two were dimly visible +among the coloured lanterns. + +For the most part, however, Belle's partners were boys, too young to +have lost the faculty of recognising innocent unconsciousness. But one +night at a large ball given to a departing regiment, she fell into the +hands of a stranger who had come in from an outstation in order to +continue a pronounced flirtation which Maud Van Milder had permitted +during a dull visit to a friend. That astute young lady having no +intention of offending permanent partners for his sake, handed him +over to Belle for a dance, and the latter, failing to fall in with his +step during the first turn, pleaded fatigue as the easiest way of +getting through the penance. + +Philip at his whist, saw her pass down the corridor towards the +garden; and, happening to know her companion, played a false card, +lost the trick, and apologised. + +"Time yet, if we look out," replied his partner; but this was exactly +what the Major could not do, and the rubber coming swiftly to an end, +he made an excuse for cutting out, and followed Belle into the garden, +wondering who could have introduced her to such a man. To begin with +he was not fit for decent society, and in addition he had evidently +favoured the champagne. Philip had no definite purpose in his pursuit, +until from a dark corner he heard Belle's clear young voice with a +touch of hauteur in it. Then the impulse to get her away from her +companion before he had a chance of making himself objectionable, came +to the front, joined to an unexpected anger and annoyance. + +"I have been looking for you everywhere, Miss Stuart. You are wanted," +said Philip going up to them. + +"Hallo, Marsden! what a beast you are to come just as we were gettin' +confidential--weren't we?" exclaimed Belle's companion with what was +meant to be a fascinating leer. She turned from one face to the other; +but if the one aroused dislike and contempt, the air of authority in +Major Marsden's touched her pride. + +"Who wants me?" she asked calmly. + +"Who!" echoed her partner. "Come, that's a good one! We both want you; +don't we, Marsden?" + +Luckily for the speaker Philip recognised his own imprudence in +risking an altercation. The only thing to be done now, was to get the +girl away as soon as possible. + +"Exactly so;" he replied, crushing down his anger, "Miss Stuart can +choose between us." + +Belle rose superbly. + +"You seem to forget I can go alone." And alone she went, while her +partner shrieked with noisy laughter, avowing that he loved a spice of +the devil in a girl. + +Philip moodily chewing the end of his cheroot ere turning in felt that +the rebuff served him right, though he could not restrain a smile as +he thought of Belle's victorious retreat. By that time, however, +subsequent facts had enlightened her as to Philip's possible meaning, +and the sight of her former partner being inveigled away from waltzing +to the billiard room by the senior subaltern, made her turn so pale +that John Raby, on whose arm she was leaning, thought she was afraid. + +"He won't be allowed to come back, Miss Stuart," he said consolingly. +"And I apologise in the name of the committee for the strength of the +champagne." + +Belle's mouth hardened. "There is no excuse for that sort of thing. +There never can be one." + +He looked at her curiously. + +"I wouldn't say that, Miss Stuart. It is a mistake to be so stern. For +my part I can forgive anything. It is an easy habit to acquire--and +most convenient." + + +Belle, however, could not even forgive herself. She lay tossing about +enacting the scene over and over again, wondering what Major Marsden +must think of her. How foolish she had been! Why had she not trusted +him? Why had he not made her understand? + +Being unable to sleep, she rose, and long ere her usual hour was +walking about the winding paths which intersected the barren desert of +garden where nothing grew but privet and a few bushes of oleander. +This barrenness was not Dame Nature's fault, for just over the other +side of the wide white road John Raby's garden was ablaze with +blossom. Trails of Maréchale Niel roses, heavy with great creamy cups, +hung over the low hedge, and a sweet English scent of clove-pinks and +mignonette was wafted to her with every soft, fitful gust of wind. She +felt desperately inclined to cross the intervening dust into this +paradise, and stood quite a long time at the blue gate-posts wondering +why a serpent seemed to have crept into her own Eden. The crow's +long-drawn note came regularly from a _kuchnâr_ tree that was sheeted +with white geranium-like flowers; the Seven Brothers chattered noisily +among the yellow tassels of the cassia, and over head, against the +cloudless sky, a wedge-shaped flight of cranes was winging its way +northward, all signs that the pleasant cold weather was about to give +place to the fiery furnace of May; but Belle knew nothing of such +things as yet, so the vague sense of coming evil, which lay heavily on +her, seemed all the more depressing from its unreasonableness. A +striped squirrel became inquisitive over her still figure and began +inspection with bushy tail erect and short starts of advance, till it +was scared by the clank of bangles and anklets as a group of Hindu +women, bearing bunches of flowers and brazen _lotahs_ of milk for +Seetlâs' shrine, came down the road; beside them, in various stages of +toddle, the little children for whom their mothers were about to beg +immunity from small-pox. Of all this again Belle knew nothing; but +suddenly, causelessly, it struck her for the first time that she ought +to know something. Who were these people? What were they doing? Where +were they going? One small child paused to look at her and she smiled +at him. The mother smiled in return, and the other women looked back +half surprised, half pleased, nodding, and laughing as they went on +their way. + +Why? Belle, turning to enquire after the late breakfast, felt +oppressed by her own ignorance. In the verandah she met the bearer +coming out of the Colonel's window with a medicine bottle in his hand. +Did her ignorance go so far that her father should be ill and she not +know of it? "Budlu!" she asked hastily, "the Colonel _sahib_ isn't +ill, is he?" + +The man, who had known her mother, and grown grey with his master, +raised a submissive face. "No, missy _baba_, not ill. Colonel _sahib_, +he drunk." + +"Drunk!" she echoed mechanically, too astonished for horror. "What +_do_ you mean?" + +"Too much wine drunk,--very bad," explained Budlu cheerfully. + +She caught swiftly at the words with a sense of relief from she knew +not what. "Ah, I see! the wine last night was bad, and disagreed with +him?" + +"Damn bad!" Budlu's English was limited but not choice. She remarked +on it at the breakfast-table, repeating his words and laughing. None +of the girls were down, but Walter and Stanley giggled; and the latter +was apparently about to say something facetious, when his words +changed into an indignant request that Dick would look out, and keep +his feet to himself. + +"Was it you I kicked?" asked Dick innocently. "I thought it was the +puppy." Then he went on fast as if in haste to change the subject: "I +often wonder why you don't learn Hindustani, Belle. You'd be ashamed +not to speak the lingo in other countries. Why not here? I'll teach +you if you like." + +"There's your chance, Belle!" sneered Stanley, still smarting from +Dick's forcible method of ensuring silence. "He really is worth ten +rupees a month as _moonshee_, and 'twill save the governor's pocket if +it goes in the family." + +An unkind speech, no doubt; yet it did good service to Dick by +ensuring Belle's indignant defence, and her immediate acceptance of +his offer; for she was ever ready of tongue, and swift of sympathy, +against injustice or meanness. + +So the little incident of the morning passed without her understanding +it in the least. Nevertheless Dick found it harder and harder every +day to manipulate facts, and to stand between his princess and the +naked, indecent truth. Her curiosity in regard to many things had been +aroused, and she asked more questions in the next four days than she +had asked in the previous four months; almost scandalizing the Van +Milder clan by the interest she took in things of which they knew +nothing. It was all very well, the girls said, if she intended to be a +_zenana_-mission lady, but without that aim it seemed to them barely +correct that she should know how many wives the _khansamah_ (butler) +had. As for the boys, they rallied her tremendously about her +Hindustani studies, for, like most of their race, they prided +themselves on possessing but a limited acquaintance with their mother +tongue; Walter, indeed, being almost boastful over the fact that he +had twice failed for the Higher Standard. Then the whole family +chaffed her openly because she had a few sensible talks with John +Raby, the young civilian; and when she began to show a certain +weariness of pursuing pleasure in rear of the "Van," insisted that she +must be in love with him without knowing it. + +"I don't like Raby," said Mildred, the youngest and least artificial +of the sisters. "Jack Carruthers told me the governor had been +dropping a lot of money to him at _écarté_." + +"I don't see what you and Mr. Carruthers have to do with father's +amusements," flashed out Belle in swift anger. "I suppose he can +afford it, and at least he never stints you,--I mean the family," she +added hastily, fearing to be mean. + +"Quite true, my dear! He's a real good sort, is the governor, about +money, and he can of course do as he likes; but Raby oughtn't to +gamble; it isn't form in a civilian. You needn't laugh, Belle, it's +true; it would be quite different if he was in the army." + +"Soldiers rush in where civilians fear to tread," parodied Belle +contemptuously. "I wish people wouldn't gossip so. Why can't they +leave their neighbours alone?" + +Nevertheless that afternoon she stole over to the office, which was +only separated from the house by an expanse of dusty, stubbly grass, +and seeing her father alone in his private room comfortably reading +the paper, slipped to his side, and knelt down. + +"Well, my pretty Belle," he said caressing her soft fluffy hair, "why +aren't you out riding with the others?" + +"I didn't care to go; then you were to be at home, and I like that +best. I don't see much of you as a rule, father." + +Colonel Stuart's virtue swelled visibly, as it always did under the +vivifying influence of his daughter's devotion. "I am a busy man, my +dear, you must not forget that," he replied a trifle pompously; "my +time belongs to the Government I have the honour to serve." The girl +was a perfect godsend to him, acting on his half-dead sensibilities +like a galvanic battery on paralysed nerve-centres. He was dimly +conscious of this, and also of relief that the influence was not +always on him. + +"I know you are very busy, dear," she returned, nestling her head on +his arm, as she seated herself on the floor. "That's what bothers me. +Couldn't I help you in your work sometimes? I write a very good hand, +so people say." + +Colonel Stuart let his paper fall in sheer astonishment. "Help me! why +my dear child, I have any number of clerks." + +"But I should like to help!" Her voice was almost pathetic; there was +quite a break in it. + +Her father looked at her in vague alarm. "You are not feeling ill, are +you, Belle? Not feverish, I hope, my dear! It's a most infernal +climate though, and one can't be too careful. You'd better go and get +your mother to give you five grains of quinine. I can't have you +falling sick, I can't indeed; just think of the anxiety it would be." + +Belle, grateful for her father's interest, took the quinine; but no +drug, not even poppy or mandragora, had power to charm away her +restless dissatisfaction. Dick's office was no sinecure, and even his +partial eyes could not fail to see that she was often captious, almost +cross. It came as a revelation to him, for hitherto she had been a +divinity in his eyes; and now, oh strange heresy! he found himself +able to laugh at her with increased, but altered devotion. Hitherto he +had wreathed her pedestal with flowers; now he kept the woman's feet +from thorns, and the impulse to make their pathways one grew stronger +day by day. She, unconscious of the position, added fuel to the flame +by choosing his society, and making him her confidant. Naturally with +one so emotional as Dick, the crisis was not long in coming, and +music, of which he was passionately fond, brought it about in this +wise; for Belle played prettily, and he used to sit and listen to her +like the lover in Frank Dicksee's _Harmony_, letting himself drift +away on a sea of pleasure or pain, he scarcely knew which. So, one +afternoon when they were alone in the house together, she sat down to +the piano and played Schubert's _Frühlingslied_. The sunshine lay like +cloth of gold outside, the doves cooed ceaselessly, the scent of the +roses in John Raby's garden drifted in through the window with the +warm wind which stirred the little soft curls on Belle's neck. The +perfume of life got into the lad's brain, and almost before he knew +it, his arms were round the girl, his kisses were on her lips, and his +tale of love in her ears. + +It was very unconventional of course, but very natural,--for him. For +her the sudden rising to her full height with amazement and dislike in +her face was equally natural, and even more unforeseen. The sight of +it filled poor Dick with such shame and regret, that his past action +seemed almost incredible to his present bewilderment. "Forgive me, +Belle," he cried, "I was mad; but indeed I love you,--I love you." + +She stood before him like an insulted queen full of bitter anger. "I +will never forgive you. How dare you kiss me? How dare you say you +love me?" + +The lad's combativeness rose at her tone. "I suppose any one may dare +to love you. I'm sorry I kissed you, Belle, but my conduct doesn't +alter my love." + +His manner, meant to be dignified, tended to bombast, and the girl +laughed scornfully. "Love indeed! You're only a boy! what do you know +about love?" + +"More than you do apparently." + +"I'm glad you realise the fact if _that_ is what you call love." + +"At any rate I'm older than you." + +The retort that he was old enough to know better rose to Belle's lips, +but a suspicion that this childish squabbling was neither correct nor +dignified, made her pause and say loftily, "How can you ask me to +forgive such a mean ungentlemanly thing?" + +The last epithet was too much for Dick; he looked at her as if she had +struck him. "Don't say that, Belle," he said hoarsely. "It's bad +enough that it's true, and that you don't understand; but don't say +that." He leant over the piano and buried his face in his hands in +utter despair. For the first time a pulse of pity shot through the +storm of physical and mental repulsion in the girl's breast, but she +put it from her fiercely. "Why shouldn't I say it if it is true?" + +"Because you are kind; always so good and kind." + +Again the pity had to be repulsed, this time still more harshly. "You +will say next that I've been too kind, that I encouraged you, I +suppose; that would put the finishing touch to your meanness." + +This speech put it to Dick's patience; he caught her by both hands, +and stood before her masterful in his wrath. "You shall not say such +things to me, Belle! Look me in the face and say it again if you dare. +You know quite well how I love and reverence you; you know that I +would die rather than offend you. I forgot everything but you,--I lost +myself,--you know it." + +The thrill in his voice brought a new and distinctly pleasurable sense +of power to the young girl, and, alas! that it should be so, made her +more merciless. "I prefer actions to words. You have insulted me and I +will never speak to you again." She regretted this assertion almost as +it was uttered; it went too far and bound her down too much. She was +not always going to be angry with poor Dick surely? No! not always, +but for the present decidedly angry, very angry indeed. + +"Insult!" echoed Dick drearily, letting her hands slip from his. +"There you go again; but fellows do kiss their cousins sometimes." + +Had there been any grown-up spectators to this scene they must have +laughed at the full-blown tragedy of both faces, and the alternate +bathos and pathos of the pleas. They were so young, so very young, +this girl and boy, and neither of them really meant what they said, +Belle especially, with her vicious retort: "I am not your cousin, and +I'm glad of it. I'm glad that I have nothing to do with you." + +As before her harshness overreached itself, and made a man of him. +"You want to put me out of your life altogether, Belle," he said more +steadily, "because I have made you angry. You have a right to be +angry, and I will go. But not for always. You don't wish that +yourself, I think, for you are kind. Oh Belle! be like yourself! say +one kind word before I go." + +Again the consciousness of power made her merciless, and she stood +silent, yet tingling all over with a half-fearful curiosity as to what +he would say next. + +"One kind word," he pleaded; "only one." + +He waited a minute, then, with a curse on his own folly in expecting +pity, flung out of the room. So it was all over! A genuine regret came +into the girl's heart and she crept away miserably to her own room, +and cried. + +"I wonder Dick isn't home to dinner," remarked Mrs. Stuart when that +meal came round. "I do hope he isn't going back to his old habit of +staying out. He heard to-day that his application for a post in the +Salt Department was refused, and he has no patience like my own boys. +I do hope he will come to no harm." + +The empty chair renewed Belle's remorseful regret. + +"Well! I can't have him kicking his heels in my office much longer," +remarked the Colonel crossly. "The head-clerk complains of him. +Confound his impudence! he actually interfered in the accounts the +other day, and showed regular distrust. I must have good feeling in +the office; that's a _sine qua non_." + +"Oh, Dick's got a splendid opinion of himself," broke in Stanley. "He +had the cheek to tell Raby yesterday that he played too much _écarté_ +with--" The speaker remembered his audience too late. + +Colonel Stuart grew purple and breathless. "Do you mean to say that +the boy,--that _boy_--presumed to speak to Raby,--to _my friend_ +Raby--about his private actions? Lucilla! What is the world coming +to?" + +This was a problem never propounded to his wife save under dire +provocation, and the answer invariably warned him not to expect his +own high standard from the world. This time she ventured upon a timid +addition to the effect that rumour did accuse Mr. Raby of playing +high. + +"And if he does," retorted the Colonel, "he can afford to pay. Raby, +my dear, is a fine young fellow, with good principles,--deuced good +principles, let me tell you." + +"I am very glad to hear it, Charles, I'm sure; for it would be a pity +if a nice, clever, young man, who would make any girl a good husband, +were to get into bad habits." + +"Raby is a man any girl might be proud to marry. He is a good fellow." +He looked at Belle, who smiled at him absently; she was wondering +where Dick could be. + +"Raby isn't a Christian," remarked Mabel. "He told us yesterday he was +something else. What was it, Maud?" + +"An erotic Buddhist." + +"Esoteric," suggested Belle. + +"It's all the same. He said we were the three Thibetan sisters and he +worshipped us all. But we know who it is, don't we?" + +"How you giggle, girls!" complained Colonel Stuart fretfully. "Belle +never giggles. Dear child, I will teach you _écarté_ this evening. It +will amuse you." + +It amused him, which was more to the purpose; in addition it prevented +him from falling asleep after dinner, which he was particularly +anxious not to do that evening. So they played until, just as the +clock was striking ten, a step was heard outside, and Colonel Stuart +rose with a relieved remark that it must be John Raby at last. The +opening door, however, only admitted truant Dick with rather a flushed +face. "From Raby," he said handing a note to his uncle. "I met the man +outside." + +The scowl, which the sight of the culprit had raised on Colonel +Stuart's face, deepened as he read a palpable excuse for not coming +over to play _écarté_. It seemed inconceivable that Dick's +remonstrance could have wrought this disappointment; yet even the +suggestion was unpleasant. He turned on his nephew only too anxious to +find cause of quarrel. It was not hard to find, for Dick was +manifestly excited. "At your old tricks again, sir?" said his uncle +sternly. "You've been drinking in the bazaar." + +Now Dick, ever since the day on which Belle had come to him in +distress over Charlie's abandonment to "pegs," had forsworn liquor, as +he had forsworn many another bad habit. Even when driven to despair, +he had not flown to the old anodyne. But his very virtue had been his +undoing, and a single stiff tumbler of whisky and water, forced on him +by a friend who was startled by his looks as he returned fagged from a +wander into the wilderness, had gone to his unaccustomed head in a +most unlooked-for degree. The injustice of the accusation maddened +him, and he retorted fiercely: "I haven't had so much to drink as you +have, sir." + +"Don't speak to your uncle like that, Dick," cried Mrs. Stuart +alarmed. "You had better go to bed, dear; it is the best place for +you." + +"Leave the room, you dissipated young meddler," thundered the Colonel +breaking in on his wife's attempt to avert a collision. It was the +first time Belle had witnessed her father's passion, and the sight +made her cling to him as if her touch might soothe his anger. + +Dick, seeing her thus, felt himself an outcast indeed. "I've not been +drinking," he burst out, beside himself with jealousy and rage. "The +man who says I have is a liar." + +"Go to bed, sir," bawled his uncle, "or I'll kick you out of the room. +I'll have no drunkards here." + +Luckless Dick's evil genius prompted an easy retort. "Then you'd +better go first, sir; for I've seen you drunk oftener than you've seen +me!" + +The next instant he was at Belle's side pleading for disbelief. "No, +no, Belle! it's a lie! I am mad--drunk--anything--only it is not +true!" His denial struck home to the girl's heart when the angry +assertion might have glanced by. A flash of intelligence lit up the +past: she recollected a thousand incidents, she remembered a thousand +doubts which had made no impression at the time; and before Colonel +Stuart's inarticulate splutterings of wrath found words, her eyes met +Dick's so truthfully, so steadily, that he turned away in despair, in +blank, hopeless despair. + +"Why to-morrow?" he cried bitterly in answer to his uncle's order to +leave the room instantly and the house to-morrow. "There's no time +like the present, and I deserve it. Good-bye, Aunt Lucilla; you've +been very kind, always; but I can't stand it any longer. Good-bye, all +of you!" + +He never even looked at Belle again; the door closed and he was gone. + +"Poor, dear Dick!" remarked Mrs. Stuart in her high complaining +voice. "He always had a violent temper, even as a baby. Don't fret +about it, my dear,"--for large tears were slowly rolling down Belle's +cheeks--"He will be all right to-morrow, you'll see; and he has really +been steadiness itself of late." + +"He wasn't anything to speak of either," urged Mildred with her usual +good-nature. "Only a little bit on, and I expect he had no dinner." + +"Dinner or no dinner, I say he was drunk," growled Colonel Stuart +sulkily. "No one lies like that unless he is,--that's my experience." + +But Belle scarcely realised what they said. Her heart was full of +fear, and though sleep came with almost unwelcome readiness to drive +thought away, she dreamt all night long that some one was saying, "One +kind word, Belle, only one kind word," and she could not speak. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + +Outside the parallelograms of white roads centred by brown stretches +of stubbly grass, and bordered by red and blue houses wherein the +European residents of Faizapore dwelt after their kind, and our poor +Belle lay dreaming, a very different world had been going on its way +placidly indifferent, not to her only, but to the whole colony of +strangers within its gates. The great plains, sweeping like a sea to +the horizon, had been ploughed, sown, watered, harvested: children had +been born, strong men had died, crimes been committed, noble acts +done; and of all this not one word had reached the alien ears. Only +the District Officer and his subaltern, John Raby, bridged the gulf by +driving down every day to the court-house, which lay just beyond the +boundaries of the cantonment and close to the native city; there, for +eight weary hours, to come in contact with the most ignoble attributes +of the Indian, and thence to drive at evening heartily glad of escape. +In the lines of the native regiment Philip Marsden went in and out +among his men, knowing them by name, and sympathising with their +lives. But they too were a race apart from the tillers of soil, the +hewers of wood and drawers of water, who pay the bills for the great +Empire. + +Even old Mahomed Lateef came but seldom to see the Major _sahib_ since +he had been forced to send his Benjamin to Delhi, there, in a hotbed +of vice and corruption, to gain a livelihood by his penmanship. The +lad was employed on the staff of a red-hot Mahometan newspaper +entitled "The Light of Islâm," and spent his days in copying blatant +leaders on to the lithographic stones. Nothing could exceed the lofty +tone of "The Light of Islâm." No trace of the old Adam peeped through +its exalted sentiments save when it spoke of the Government, or of its +Hindu rival "The Patriot." Then the editor took down his dictionary of +synonyms, and, looking out all the bad epithets from "abandoned" to +"zymotic," used them with more copiousness than accuracy. Sometimes, +however, it would join issue with one adversary against another, and +blaze out into fiery paragraphs of the following order: + + +We are glad to see that yet once more "The Patriot," forgetting its +nonsensical race-prejudice for the nonce, has, to use a colloquialism, +followed our lead in pertinently calling on Government for some worthy +explanation of the dastardly outrage perpetrated by its minions on a +virtuous Mahometan widow, &c, &c. + + +And lovers of the dreadful, after wading through a column of abuse, +would discover that the ancestral dirt of an old lady's cowhouse had +been removed by order of the Deputy Commissioner! Yet the paper did +good: it could hardly do otherwise, considering its exalted +sentiments; but for all that the occupation was an unwholesome one for +an excitable lad like Murghub Ahmed. While his fingers inked +themselves hopelessly over the fine words, his mind also became +clouded by them. The abuse of language intoxicated him, until +moderation seemed to him indifference, and tolerance sympathy. He took +to sitting up of nights composing still more turgid denunciations; and +the first time "The Light of Islâm" went forth, bearing not only his +hand-writing, but his heart's belief on its pages, he felt that he had +found his mission. To think that but four months ago he had wept with +disappointment because he was refused the post of statistical writer +in a Government office! Between striking averages, and evolving +Utopias, what a glorious difference! He thanked Providence for the +change, though his heart ached cruelly at times when he could spare +nothing from his modest wage for the dear ones at home. He had a wife +waiting there for him; ere long there might be a child, and he knew +her to be worse fed than many a street-beggar. It seemed to him part +of the general injustice which set his brain on fire. + +"Words! Nothing but words," muttered old Mahomed Lateef as he lay +under the solitary _nim_ tree in his courtyard and spelt out "The +Light of Islâm" with the aid of a huge horn-rimmed pair of spectacles. +"Pish! '_The pen is mightier than the sword!_' What white-livered fool +said that? The boy should not have such water in his veins unless his +mother played me false. God knows! women are deceitful, and full of +guile." + +This was only his habit of thought; he had no intention of casting +aspersions on his much respected wife Fâtma Bibi, who just then +appeared with a hookah full of the rankest tobacco. "I shall send for +the boy, oh Fâtma Bi!" said the stern old domestic tyrant. "He is +learning to say more than he dare do, and that I will not have. He +shall come home and do more than he says--ha! ha!" Fâtma Bi laughed +too, and clapped her wrinkled hands, while the shy girl, dutifully +doing the daughter-in-law's part of cooking, turned her head away to +smile lest any one should accuse her of joy because _he_ was coming +back. + +So Mahomed Lateef covered a sheet of flimsy German note-paper, bought +in the bazaar, with crabbed Arabic lettering, and the women rejoiced +because the light of their eyes was coming back. And after all the lad +refused stoutly to return. He wrote his father a letter, full of the +most trite and beautiful sentiments, informing his aged parent that +times had changed, the old order given place to the new, and that he +intended to raise the banner of _jehâd_ (religious war) against the +infidel. The women cried _Bismillah_, and Mahomed Lateef, despite his +annoyance at the disobedience, could not help, as it were, cocking his +ears like an old war-horse. Yet he wrote the lad a warning after his +lights, which ran thus: + + +God and His prophet forbid, oh son of my heart, that I should keep +thee back, if, as thou sayest, thou wouldst raise the banner of +_jehâd_. If a sword be needed, I will send thee mine own friend; +but remember always what the mullah taught thee, nor confound the +three great things,--the Dur-ul-Islâm, the Dur-ul-Husub, and the +Dur-ul-Ummun.[2] Have at the Hindu pigs, especially any that bear +kindred to Shunker's fat carcase; he hath cheated me rascally, and +built a window overlooking my yard for which I shall have the law of +him. But listen for the cry of the muezzin, and put thy sword in the +scabbard when its sound falls on thine ear, remembering 'tis the House +of Protection, and not the House of the Foe. If thou goest to China, +as perhaps may befall, seeing the _sahibs_ fight the infidel there, +remember to cool thy brother's grave with tears. Meanwhile, play +singlestick with Shâhbâz Khân the Mogul, and if thou canst get the old +Meean _sahib_, his father, on his legs, put the foils into his hand, +rap him over the knuckles once, and he will teach thee more in one +minute than his son in five. + + +Then the old Syyed lay down on his bed under the _nim_ tree, and Fâtma +Bi fanned the mosquitoes from him with a tinsel fan, and talked in +whispers to Nasibun, the childless wife, of the deeds their boy was to +do, while Haiyât Bi, the young bride, busy as usual, found time to dry +her tears unseen. A fire burning dim in one corner of the courtyard +was almost eclipsed by the moon riding gloriously in the purple-black +sky overhead. From the other side of the high partition wall came the +dull throbbing of the _dholki_ (little drum) and an occasional wild +skirling of pipes. The marriage festivities in Shunker Dâs's house had +begun, and every day some ceremony or other had to be gone through, +bringing an excuse for having the _marânsunis_ (female musicians) in +to play and sing. High up near the roof of the sugar-cake house with +its white filigree mouldings gleamed the objectionable window. Within +sat the usurer himself conferring with his jackal, one Râm Lâl, a man +of small estate but infinite cunning. It was from no desire of +overlooking Mahomed Lateef's women that Shunker Dâs frequented the +upper chamber. He had other and far more important business on hand, +necessitating quiet and the impossibility of being overheard. Even up +there the two talked in whispers, and chuckled under their breath; +while in the courtyard below the delicate child who stood between +Shunker and damnation ate sweetmeats and turned night into day with +weary, yet sleepless, eyes. + +The moon, shining in on the two courtyards, shone also on the church +garden, as Major Marsden after going his rounds turned his horse into +its winding paths. A curious garden it was, guiltless of flowers and +planted for the most part with tombstones. Modern sanitation, stepping +in like Aaron's rod to divide the dead from the living, had ceased to +use it as a cemetery; but the records of long forgotten sorrows +remained, looking ghostly in the moonlight. The branch of a rose-tree +encroaching on the walk caught in the tassel of Major Marsden's +bridle, and he stooped to disentangle it. Straightening himself again, +he paused to look on the peaceful scene around him and perceived that +some one, a belated soldier most likely, was lying not far off on a +tombstone. The horse picked its way among many a nameless grave to +draw up beside a figure lying still as if carved in stone. + +"Now, my man, what's up?" said Major Marsden dismounting to lay a +heavy hand on its shoulder. The sleeper rose almost automatically, and +stood before him alert and yet confused. "Dick Smith! What on earth +brings you here?" + +The boy could scarcely remember at first, so far had sleep taken him +from his troubles. Then he hung his head before memory. "I'm leaving +Faizapore, and came here--to wait for daylight; that's all." + +But the moonlight on the tombstone showed its inscription, "Sacred to +the memory of John Smith"; and Philip Marsden judged instantly that +there was trouble afoot; boys do not go to sleep on their father's +graves without due cause. Some scrape no doubt, and yet--. His dislike +to Colonel Stuart made him a partisan, and he was more ready to +believe ill of the elder, than of the younger man. + +"Don't be in a hurry," he said kindly. "There's something wrong of +course, but very few scrapes necessitate running away." + +"There's nothing to make me run away," replied Dick, with a lump in +his throat as he unconsciously contrasted this stranger's kindness +with other people's harshness; "but go I must." + +"Where?" + +The question roused the sense of injury latent for years. "Where? How +do I know? I tell you there's nothing for me to do anywhere--nothing! +And then, when a fellow is sick of waiting, and runs wild a bit, they +throw it in his teeth, when he has given it all up." + +It was not very lucid, but the lad's tone was enough for Philip +Marsden. "Come home with me," he said with a smile full of pity; "and +have a real sleep in a real bed. You don't know how different things +will seem to-morrow." + +Dick looked at his hero, thought how splendid he was, and went with +him like a lamb. + +Next morning when the boy with much circumlocution began to tell the +tale of his troubles, Major Marsden felt inclined to swear. Would he +never learn to mistrust his benevolent impulses, but go down to his +grave making a fool of himself? A boy and girl lovers' quarrel,--was +that all? Yet as the story proceeded he became interested in spite of +himself. "Do you mean to tell me," he said incredulously, "that Miss +Stuart is absolutely ignorant of what goes on in that house?" + +Dick laid his head on the table in sheer despair. "Ah Major, Major!" +he cried, "I told her--I--you should have seen her face!" He burst +into incoherent regrets, and praises of Belle's angelic innocence. + +"It appears to me," remarked Major Marsden drily, "to be about the +best thing that could have happened. Fiction is always unsafe. +Belle,--as you call her--must have found it out sooner or later. The +sooner the better, in my opinion." + +"You wouldn't say that if you knew her as I do," explained the other +eagerly; "or if you knew all that I do. There will be a smash some day +soon, and it will kill Belle outright. Ah! if I hadn't been a fool and +a brute, I might have stayed and perhaps kept things from going +utterly wrong." + +"Then why don't you go back?" asked his hearer impatiently. + +"I can't! He won't have me in the office again. You don't know what +mischief is brewing there." + +"Thank you, I'd rather not know; but if you're certain this move of +yours is final,--that is to say if you don't want to kiss and make +friends with your cousin--[Poor Dick writhed inwardly, for he had kept +back the full enormity of his offence]--then I might be able to help +you in getting employment. They are laying a new telegraph-line to the +front, and, as it so happens, a friend wrote to me a few days ago +asking if I knew of any volunteers for the work." + +The lad's face brightened. "Telegraphs! oh, I should like that! I've +been working at them these two years, and I think--but I'm not +sure--that I've invented a new--" + +"All right," interrupted Major Marsden brusquely; "they can try you, +at any rate. You can start tonight; that settles it. Now you had +better go round and get your things ready." + +Dick writhed again in mingled pride and regret. "I can't; I've said +good-bye to them all; besides, I left a bundle of sorts in the bazaar +before I went--there." + +Philip Marsden shrugged his shoulders, remarking that the boy might do +as he liked, and went off to his work; returning about two o'clock, +however, to find Dick asleep, wearied out even by a half-night's +vigil of sorrow. "How soft these young things are," he thought, as +he looked down on the sleeping boy, and noticed a distinctly damp +pocket-handkerchief still in the half-relaxed hand. A certain scorn +was in his heart, yet the very fact that he did notice such details +showed that he was not so hard as he pretended. He went into the +rough, disorderly room where he spent so many solitary evenings, lit a +cigar, and walked about restlessly. Finally, telling himself the while +that he was a fool for his pains, he sat down and wrote to Belle +Stuart in this wise:-- + + +My Dear Miss Stuart,--At the risk of once more being meddlesome, I +venture to tell you that your cousin, Dick Smith, goes off to +Beluchistan to-night as telegraph overseer. It is dangerous work, and +perhaps you might like to see him before he leaves. If so, by riding +through the church garden about six o'clock you will meet him. He +doesn't know I am writing, and would most likely object if he did; but +I know most women believe in the duty of forgiveness. Yours truly, +P. H. Marsden. + +P.S. If you were to send a small selection of warm clothing to meet +him at the bullock train office it, at any rate, could not fail to be +a comfort to him. + + +Belle read this rather brusque production with shining eyes and a +sudden lightening of her heart. Perhaps, as she told herself, this +arose entirely from her relief on Dick's account; perhaps the +conviction that Major Marsden could not judge her very harshly if he +thought it worth while to appeal to her in this fashion, had something +to do with it. The girl however did not question herself closely on +any subject. Even the dreadful doubt which Dick's mad words had raised +the night before had somehow found its appointed niche in the orderly +pageant of her mind where love sat in the place of honour. Was it +true? The answer came in a passionate desire to be ignorant, and yet +to protect and save. Very illogical, no doubt, but very womanly; to a +certain extent very natural also, for her father, forced by the +circumstances detailed in the last chapter to retire early to bed, had +arisen next morning in a most edifying frame of mind, and a somewhat +depressed state of body. He was unusually tender towards Belle, and +spoke with kindly dignity of unhappy Dick's manifest ill-luck. These +dispositions therefore rendered it easy for Belle to make excuses in +her turn. Not that she made them consciously; that would have argued +too great a change of thought. The craving to forget and forgive was +imperative, and the sense of wrong-doing which her innate truthfulness +would not allow to be smothered, found an outlet in self-blame for her +unkindness to dear Dick. As for poor father--: the epithets spoke +volumes. + +"There is your cousin," said Major Marsden to Dick as Belle rode +towards them through the overarching trees in the church garden. +"Don't run away; I asked her to come. You'll find me by the bridge." + +The lad was like Mahomet's coffin, hanging between a hell of remorse +and a heaven of forgiveness, as he watched her approach, and when she +reined up beside him, he looked at her almost fearfully. + +"I'm sorry I was cross to you, Dick," she said simply, holding out her +hand to him. The clouds were gone, and Dick Smith felt as if he would +have liked to stand up and chant her praises, or fight her battles, +before the whole world. They did not allude to the past in any way +until the time for parting came, when Dick, urged thereto by the +rankle of a certain epithet, asked with a furious blush if she would +promise to forget--everything. She looked at him with kindly smiling +eyes. "Good-bye, dear Dick," she said; and then, suddenly, she stooped +and kissed him. + +The young fellow could not speak. He turned aside to caress the horse, +and stood so at her bridle-rein for a moment. "God bless you for that, +Belle," he said huskily and left her. + +Belle, with a lump in her own throat and tearful shining eyes, rode +back past the bridge where Philip Marsden, leaning over the parapet, +watched the oily flow of the canal water in the cut below. He looked +up, thinking how fair and slim and young she was, and raised his hat +expecting her to pass, but she paused. He felt a strange thrill as his +eyes met hers still wet with tears. + +"I have so much to thank you for, Major Marsden," she said with a +little tremor in her voice, "and I do it so badly. You see I don't +always understand--" + +Something in her tone smote Philip Marsden with remorse. "Please not +to say any more about it, Miss Stuart. _I_ understand,--and,--and,-- +I'm glad you do not." Thinking over his words afterwards he came to +the conclusion that both these statements had wandered from the truth; +but how, he asked himself a little wrathfully, could any man tell the +naked, unvarnished, disagreeable truth with a pair of grey eyes soft +with tears looking at him? + +Dick, of course, raved about his cousin for the rest of the evening, +and besought the Major to send him confidential reports on the +progress of events. In his opinion disaster was unavoidable, and he +was proceeding to detail his reasons, when Major Marsden cut him short +by saying: "I would rather not hear anything about it; and I should +like to know, first, if you are engaged to your cousin?" + +Dick confessed he was not; whereupon his companion told him that he +would promise nothing, except, he added hastily, catching sight of +Dick's disappointed face, to help the girl in any way he could. With +this the boy professed to be quite content; perhaps he had grasped the +fact that Philip Marsden was apt to be better than his word. And +indeed a day or two after Dick's departure Marsden took the trouble to +go over and inquire of John Raby what sort of a man Lâlâ Shunker Dâs, +the great contractor, was supposed to be. + +The young civilian laughed. "Like them all, not to be trusted. Why do +you ask?" He broke in on the evasive answer by continuing, "The man is +a goldsmith by caste. I suppose you know that in old days they were +never allowed in Government service. As the proverb says, 'A goldsmith +will do his grandmother out of a pice.' But if the Lâlâ-ji gives you +trouble, bring him to me. I've been kind to him, and he is grateful, +in his way." + +Now the history of John Raby's kindness to Lâlâ Shunker Dâs was +briefly this: he had discovered him in an attempt to cheat the revenue +in the matter of income-tax, and had kept the knowledge in his own +hands. "Purists would say I ought to report it, and smash the man," +argued this astute young casuist; "but the knowledge that his ruin in +the matter of that _Rai Bâhâdur_-ship hangs by a thread will keep the +old thief straighter; besides it is always unwise to give away power." + +That to a great extent was the keynote of John Raby's life. He coveted +power, not so much for its own sake as for the use he could make of +it. For just as some men inherit a passion for drink, he had inherited +greed of gain from a long line of Jewish ancestry. The less said of +his family the better: indeed, so far as his own account went, he +appeared to have been born when he went to read with a celebrated +"coach" at the age of sixteen. Memory never carried him further in +outward speech; but as this is no uncommon occurrence in Indian +society, the world accepted him for what he appeared to be, a +well-educated gentleman, and for what he was, a man with a pension for +himself and his widow. His first collector, a civilian of the old +type, used to shake his head when John Raby's name was mentioned, and +augur that he would either be hanged or become a Chief Court Judge. +"He was in camp with me, sir," this worthy would say, "when a flight +of wild geese came bang over the tent. I got a couple, the last with +the full choke; and I give you my word of honour Raby never lifted his +eyes from the _buniah's_ book he was deciphering in a petty bond +case!" + +In truth the young man's faculty for figures, and his aptitude for +discovering fraud, partook of the nature of genius, and gained him the +reputation of being a perfect _shaitan_ (devil) among the natives. +Philip Marsden, associated with him on a committee for the purchase of +mules, learnt to trust his acumen implicitly, and became greatly +interested in the clear-headed, well-mannered young fellow who knew +such a prodigious amount for his years; pleasant in society too, +singing sentimental songs in a light tenor voice, and having a store +of that easy small-talk which makes society smooth by filling up the +chinks. Being a regular visitor of Colonel Stuart's house John Raby +saw a good deal of Belle, and liked her in a friendly, approving +manner; but, whatever Mrs. Stuart may have thought, he had no more +intention of marrying a penniless girl than of performing a +pilgrimage, or any other pious act savouring of the Middle Ages. + +"By the way, I haven't seen the Miss Van Milders or their mother +lately," remarked Major Marsden one day to him, as they came home from +their committee together and met Belle going out for her afternoon +ride by herself. + +"Oh, they've gone to Mussoorie; Belle's keeping house for her father." + +"Alone?" + +"Yes, alone; queer _ménage_, ain't it? I believe the girl thinks +she'll reform the Colonel; and he _is_ awfully fond of her, but--" The +younger man shook his head with a laugh. It jarred upon Philip Marsden +and he changed the subject quickly. So she had elected to stay with +her father! Well, he admired her courage, and could only hope that she +would not have to pay too dearly for it. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + +Lâlâ Shunker Dâs having discarded all clothing save a scarf of white +muslin tied petticoat-wise round his loins, lay on a wooden bed +perched high on the topmost platform of his tall house. But even there +the burning breezes of May brought no relief from the heat; and he lay +gasping, while his faithful jackal Râm Lâl pounded away with lean +brown knuckles at his master's fat body. The _massage_ seemed to do +little good, for he grunted and groaned dismally. In truth the Lâlâ +ached all over, both in body and soul. A thousand things had conspired +against him: his last and most expensive wife (after spending a +fortune in pilgrimages) had committed the indiscretion of presenting +him with a girl baby; his grandmother having died, he had been forced +much against his will to shave his head; his greatest rival had been +elevated to the Honorary Magistracy and (adding injury to insult) been +associated with him on a _bunch_ (bench), and justice grown in bunches +is not nearly so remunerative to the grower as single specimens. These +were serious ills, but there was one, far more trivial, which +nevertheless smarted worst of all; perhaps because it was the most +recent. + +That very morning Shunker Dâs, as behoved one of his aspirations, had +testified to his loyalty by attending the usual parade in honour of +the Queen's birthday. On previous occasions he had driven thither in +his barouche, but ambition had suggested that an appearance on +horseback would show greater activity, and please the Powers. So he +bought a cast horse from the cavalry regiment just ordered on service, +and having attired himself in glittering raiment, including a +magnificent turban of pink Benares muslin, he took his place by the +flagstaff. People congratulated him warmly on his confidential charger +which, even at the _feu de joie_, seemed lost in philosophic +reflections. Shunker Dâs waxed jubilant over the success of his +scheme, and was just giving himself away in magnificent lies, when the +bugle sounded for "close order" preparatory to a few words from the +General to the departing cavalry regiment. On this the war-horse +pricked up its ears, and starting off at a dignified trot rejoined its +old companions, while the Lâlâ, swearing hideously, tugged vainly at +the reins. Arrived at the line the conscientious creature sidled down +it, trying vainly to slip into a vacant place. Failing of success, the +intelligent beast concluded it must be on orderly duty, and just as +the Lâlâ was congratulating himself on having finished his involuntary +rounds, his horse, turning at right angles, bounded off to rejoin the +General's staff. Away went the Lâlâ's stirrups. He must have gone too, +despite his clutch on the mane, had not the streaming end of his +_pugree_ caught in the high crupper-strap and held fast. So stayed, +fore and aft, he might have reached the goal in safety, had not the +General, annoyed by the suppressed tittering around him, lost +patience, and angrily ordered some one to stop that man. Whereupon a +mischievous aide-de-camp gave the word for the "halt" to be sounded. +Confused out of everything save obedience, the charger stopped dead in +his tracks, and the Lâlâ shot over his head, still in a sitting +posture. On being relieved of his burden, the co-ordination "stables" +apparently came uppermost in the horse's mind, for it walked away +slowly, bearing with it the end of the Lâlâ's turban still fastened in +the crupper. He, feeling a sudden insecurity in his headgear, and +being, even in his confusion, painfully conscious of his baldness, +clung to the lower folds with both hands. At this slight check, the +charger, not to be baulked, set off at a canter, and over rolled the +fat Lâlâ, heels in air. Then, and not till then, one roar of laughter +rent the air. For as he lay there on his back, kicking like a turned +turtle, the _pugree_ began to unwind like a ball of thread, while the +Lâlâ held on like grim death to the lower portion. Not until the last +fold had slipped through his fingers and a quarter of a mile or so of +pink muslin was fluttering across the parade ground, did he realise +the position, and struggling to his seat pass his hand over his bald +head with a deprecating smile. + +"Go out, Raby, and pick him up," gasped the General aching with +laughter. "You're in political charge, aren't you?" + +But Philip Marsden, who happened to be on staff duty that day, was +already pouring in oil and wine to the Lâlâ's hurt dignity when the +young civilian came up with nonchalant courtesy. "_Shâhbâsh, sahib!_" +he said, "you sat him splendidly, and that last prop would have undone +a Centaur." + +The Lâlâ, grinned a ghastly smile, and Philip Marsden turned +impatiently, saying aside: "Get him home, do! He looks so helpless +with his bald head; it seems a shame to laugh." + +John Raby raised his eyebrows. "The General shall lend him his +carriage. That will soothe his wounded vanity." + +So the Lâlâ, with his head tied up in a red pocket-handkerchief, went +home in the big man's barouche, and the spectators of his discomfiture +laughed again at the recollection of it. + +"You ought to be the editor of a native newspaper, Marsden," remarked +John Raby. "You would be grand on the unsympathetic Anglo-Indian. But +if I'd seen the Viceroy himself being unwound like a reel of cotton I +must have chuckled." + +"No doubt," replied the other laughing himself. "Yet I am sure a keen +sense of the ludicrous is unfortunate in a conquering race. We English +always laugh when policy should make us grave; that is why we don't +succeed." + +"Perhaps; for myself I prefer to grin. As some one says, humour is the +religion of to-day. Those who believe in eternity have time for tears. +We others,--why we cry '_Vogue la galère!_'" + +Lâlâ Shunker Dâs, however, without any abiding belief in a future +state, was in no laughing mood as he lay under Râm Lâl's +manipulations, listening captiously to his items of bazaar rumour. + +"And they say, Lâl-ji, that the Sirkar thinks of transferring Colonel +Estuart _sahib_." + +Shunker Dâs sat up suddenly and scowled. "Transfer Estuart +_sahib!_--why?" + +Râm Lâl redoubled his exertions on the new portion of the Lâlâ's frame +thus brought within reach, until the latter, uttering dismal groans, +sank back to his former position. "They say," he continued calmly, +"that the Sirkar is beginning to suspect." + +"Fool! idiot! knave!" growled his master, gasping at the furious +onslaught on his fat stomach. "'Tis all thy bungling. Have I not bid +thee not go so fast? Times have changed since the Commissariat +_sahibs_ sat in their verandahs, and one could walk a file of twenty +camels round and round the house until they counted the proper number. +But remember! 'Tis thou who goest to the wall, not I. That's the +compact. Shunker finds the money, Râmu runs the risk." + +"Have I forgotten it, Lâlâ-ji?" replied the other with some spirit. +"Râmu is ready. And 'tis Shunker's part to look after the wife and +children when I'm in jail; don't forget that! The master would do +better if he were bolder. This one would have made much in that fodder +contract, but your heart was as water; it always is." + +"And if Estuart is transferred; what then?" + +"If the branch be properly limed, the bird sticks. Is it limed? Such +things are the master's work, not mine." + +"Ay! limed right enough for _him_. But the money, Râmu, the money! It +will take months to lay the snare for a new man, and the war will be +over." The Lâlâ positively wept at the idea. + +Râm Lâl looked at him contemptuously. "Get what is to be got from this +_sahib_, at any rate; that's my advice." + +The very next day Lâla Shunker Dâs drove down to the Commissariat +office, intent on striking a grand blow. + +Things had been going on better than could have been expected in the +large, empty house, where Belle, thinner and paler as the days of +intense heat went by, did the honours cheerfully. It was not without a +struggle that she had been allowed to remain with her father. Mrs. +Stuart had prophesied endless evil, beginning with a bad reputation +for herself as stepmother; but prudential reasons had given their +weight in favour of the girl's earnest desire. To make light of the +heat, and avoid flight to the hills, was a great recommendation for a +civilian's wife, and that, Mrs. Stuart had decreed, was to be Belle's +fate. So with many private injunctions to the _khansamah_ not to allow +the Miss _sahib_ to interfere too much in the management, the good +lady had, as usual, taken herself and her family to Mussoorie. Shortly +after they left Fate played a trump for Belle by sending a slight +attack of malarious fever to the Colonel. He was always dreadfully +alarmed about himself, and a hint from the doctor about the +consequences of over-free living, reduced him to toast and water for a +week, and kept him from mess for three. Belle was in a heaven of +delight; and she was just enjoying the sight of her father actually +drinking afternoon tea, when Budlu came in to say the Lâlâ-ji wanted +to see the Colonel. + +"Don't go, father," pleaded Belle. "It's only that horrid fat man; +tell him to come again." + +John Raby, who often strolled across about tea-time, looked at Colonel +Stuart and smiled. He knew most things in the station; among others +how unpleasant a visitor Shunker Dâs might be to his host, and not +being ill-natured, he chimed in with the girl by offering to see the +man himself. + +The Lâlâ, leaning back magnificently in his barouche, felt a sudden +diminution of dignity at the sight of John Raby. "Bruises all right, +Lâlâ?" asked the young man cheerfully, and Shunker's dignity sank +lower still. "They ought to give you that _Rai Bâhâdur_-ship for the +way you stuck to him; by George, they should! We don't often get men +of your stamp, Lâlâ, with estates in every district,--do we? So you +want to see the Colonel; what for?" he added suddenly and sternly. + +"_Huzoor!_" bleated the fat man. "I,--I came to inquire after his +honour's health." + +"Much obliged to you! He is better; and I really think if you were to +come, say this day fortnight, he might be able to see you." + +Shunker Dâs hesitated, fear for his money making him brave. "There +were rumours," he began, "that my good patron was about to be +transferred." + +"Sits the wind in that quarter," thought Raby, amused. "My dear Lâlâ," +he said, "it's absolutely untrue. Your eighty thousand is quite safe, +I assure you." + +"_Huzoor!_" + +"Good-bye, Lâlâ-ji--this day fortnight," and he returned to his cup of +tea in high good-humour. Then he sat and played _écarté_ with the +Colonel for an hour while Belle worked and watched them carelessly. + +"That makes fifteen," remarked the young man as he rose to go, +whereupon Colonel Stuart assented cheerfully, for he had won that +evening; and Belle looked up with a smiling farewell, unconscious and +content. She lived in a fool's paradise, hugging the belief that her +presence was the charm; as though Niagara was to be stemmed by a +straw, or the habit of years by a sentiment. As time wore on, the few +remaining ladies fled before that last awful pause ere the rains +break, when a deadly weariness settles on all living things. Belle, +feeling shy among so many men, ceased to go out except on the rare +occasions when she could persuade her father to accompany her. But, +though he still adhered to his habit of dining at home, he was moody +and out of sorts. He, too, had heard rumours of transfer, and that +meant the possibility of disaster not to be faced with composure. +Restless and irritable, he began to relieve the great craving which +took possession of him by all sorts of stimulant and narcotic drugs. +And one day came an almost illegible note from him, bidding Belle not +wait dinner for him. She felt instinctively that this was the +beginning of trouble; nor was she wrong, for though Colonel Stuart was +full of excuses the next evening, he never even sent a note the day +after that. So Belle ate her solitary dinners as best she might, and +though she often lay awake till the small hours of the morning brought +an altercation between Budlu and her father, she never sat up for him, +or made any effort to meet him on his return. From this time, brutal +though it may seem to say so, poor Belle's presence in the house, so +far from being an advantage, became a distinct drawback. But for it, +Colonel Stuart would have yielded to the mad craze for drink which +generally beset him at this time of the year; and after a shorter or +longer bout, as the case might be, have been pulled up short by +illness. Instead of this, he tried to keep up appearances, and drugged +himself with chloral and laudanum till the remedy grew worse than the +disease so far as he himself was concerned. It served, however, to +hide the real facts from his daughter; for he met her timid protests +by complaints of ill-health, assertions that he knew what was best for +him, and absolute refusal to call in a doctor. + +She grew alarmed. The long, silent days spent in brooding over her +father's altered demeanour were too great a strain on her nerves, and +she began to exaggerate the position. Her thoughts turned again and +again to Dick; if he were there! ah, if he were only there! No one who +has not had in extreme youth to bear anxiety alone, can fully +understand the horror of silence to the young. Belle felt she must +speak, must tell some one of her trouble; it seemed to her as if her +silence was a sort of neglect, and that some one must be able to do +something to set matters straight. But who? She hesitated and shrank, +till one day her father broke down and began to cry piteously in the +middle of his ordinary abuse of the servants at lunch. A stiff glass +of whisky-and-water restored his anger effectually, and he made light +of the incident; but that evening, when Philip Marsden came in late to +dress for dinner he found a note awaiting him from Belle. + +She, having received no answer, had been expecting him all the +afternoon, and as time passed began to wonder at her own temerity in +writing. Dick, it is true, had bidden her look on Major Marsden as one +willing to help if needs be; but what could Dick know? She went out, +after a pretence of dinner, to the little raised platform in the +garden where chairs were set every evening for those who preferred it +to the house. Belle liked it far better; the purple arch of sky, +spangled with stars save where the growing moon outshone them, rested +her tired eyes, and the ceaseless quiver of the cicala prevented her +from thinking by its insistence. Suddenly her half-doze was +interrupted by a voice asking for the Miss _sahib_, and she stood up +trembling and uncertain. Why had she sent for him, and what should she +say now that he had come? + +"I came as soon as I could, Miss Stuart," said Major Marsden, +formally, as their hands met. "But I was out all day, and had a guest +to entertain at mess." He stopped, dismayed at her appearance, and +added in quite a different tone, "I am afraid you are ill." + +She did indeed look ghastly pale in the moonlight, her eyes full of +appeal and her lips quivering; yet her shyness had gone with the first +look at his face, and she felt glad that she had sent for him. "It is +father," she began, then could say no more for fear of breaking down. + +The trivial words brought back the recollection of that first meeting +with her months before, when she had made the same reply to his offer +of help; and as he stood waiting for her to master the fast-rising +sobs, a remorse seized him with the thought that surely some of this +pain might have been prevented somehow, by some one. + +"You must think me very silly," she murmured hastily. + +"I think you are overdone," he replied, "and I don't expect you've had +any dinner. Now have you?" + +A smile struggled to her face. "I don't think I had,--much." + +"Then I will tell the _khansamah_ to bring you something now." + +The full-blown tragedy of life seemed to have departed. She even +wondered at her own tears as she sipped her soup, and told him of her +troubles with a lightening heart. "Budlu says he never saw father like +this before," was the climax, and even that did not seem a hopeless +outlook. + +"Could he not take leave?" suggested Major Marsden at once; leave +being the panacea for all ills in India. + +"That's what I want to know. I begged him to go, but the very idea +excites him. Would it harm him officially? Is there any reason why he +should not?" + +Dick's words of warning recurred to Major Marsden unpleasantly. "None +that I know of," he replied. "I will go round to Seymour's to-morrow, +and get him to bundle you both off to the hills. You want change as +much as your father. In a month's time you will be laughing at all +these fears." + +"I think you are laughing at them now," said Belle wistfully. + +"Am I? Well, I promise not to laugh at you any more, Miss Stuart." He +stood up, tall and straight, to say good-bye. + +"Isn't that rather a rash promise, Major Marsden?" + +"I don't think so. Anyhow I make it, and I'm very glad you sent for +me. Considering how little you knew of me,--and how disagreeable that +little had been--it was kind." + +"I know a great deal of you," she replied, smiling softly. "Dick has +told me a lot,--about the brevet,--and the intelligence-work--and the +Afghan sepoy--" + +"And the men in buckram too, I suppose? I'm afraid Dick is not to be +trusted. Did he tell you how the man escaped next day, and I got a +wigging?" + +"No!" cried Belle indignantly. "Did he?--Did you, I mean?--what a +shame!" + +"On the contrary, it was quite right. I'll tell you about it some day, +if I may. Meanwhile, good-bye, and don't starve; it really doesn't do +any good!" + +She watched him jingle down the steps, thinking how like an overgrown +school-boy he looked in his mess-jacket. So life was not a tragedy +after all, but a serio-comedy in which only the monologues were +depressing and dull. She went in and played the piano till it was time +to go to bed. Yet nothing had really changed, and Fate marched on +relentlessly as before. We make our own feelings, and then sit down to +weep or smile over them. + +The very next afternoon Colonel Stuart was brooding silently over +nothing at all in his private office-room, passing the time, as it +were, out of mischief, till he went to dine with John Raby. For the +latter, with a sort of contemptuous kindness, put the drag of an +occasional game of _écarté_ on to the Colonel's potations. Sitting in +the dusk his face looked wan and haggard, and, despite his profound +stillness, every nerve was wearied and yet awake with excitement; as +might be seen from his unrestrained start when Shunker Dâs came into +the room unannounced; for the office-hours being over the _chuprassie_ +had departed. + +"Well, what is it now?" he cried sharply. "I saw you this morning. +Haven't you got enough for one day? Am I never to have any peace?" + +An angry tone generally reduced his native visitors to submission, but +the Lâlâ was evidently in no mood for silence. He had taken up a small +contract that morning, the earnest-money of which lay for the time in +Colonel Stuart's safe. Since then he had heard casually that a +long-expected source of profit over which he had often talked with the +Colonel, and for which he had even made preparations, had slipped +through his fingers. In other words, that all the mule-transport was +to be bought by a special officer. "I've come, _sahib_," he blurted +out, sitting down unasked, "to know if it is true that Mardsen _sahib_ +has the purchase of mules." + +"And if he has, what the devil is it to you, or to me?" The man's +arrogance was becoming unbearable, and Colonel Stuart was a great +stickler for etiquette. + +"Only this; that if you are not going to deal fairly by me, you +mustn't count on my silence; that's all!" + +"Go and tell the whole bazaar I owe you money, you black scoundrel," +cried his hearer, annoyed beyond endurance by the man's assumption of +equality. "I'll pay you every penny, if I sell my soul for it, curse +you!" + +"Eighty thousand rupees is a tall price, _sahib_," sneered the Lâlâ. +"And how about the contracts, and the commission, and the general +partnership? Am I to tell that also?" + +The Colonel stared at him in blank surprise. God knows in his queer +conglomerate of morality it was hard to tell what elementary rock of +principle might be found; yet to a certain extent honour remained as +it were in pebbles, worn and frayed by contact with the stream of +life. "General partnership! you black devil, what do you mean?" + +"Mean!" echoed the Lâlâ shrilly. "Why, the money I've lent you, _paid_ +you for each contract; the commission I've given your clerks; the +grain your horses have eaten; the--" + +The Colonel's right hand was raised above his head; the first coarse +rage of his face had settled into a stern wrath that turned it white. +"If you stop here another instant, by God I'll kill you!" + +The words came like a steel-thrust, and the Lâlâ without a word turned +and fled before the Berserk rage of the Northman; it is always +terrible to the Oriental, and the Lâlâ was a heaven-sent coward. + +"Stop!" cried the Colonel as the wretched creature reached the door. +He obeyed and came back trembling. "Take your money for the contract +with you; it's cancelled. I won't have it in the house. Take it back +and give me the receipt I gave you; give it me, I say." The Colonel, +fumbling at the lock of the safe, stuttered and shook with excitement. +"Take 'em back," he continued, flourishing a roll of notes. "The +receipt!--quick! out with it!--the receipt for the three thousand five +hundred I gave you this morning!" + +"_Huzoor! Huzoor!_ I am looking for it; be patient one moment!" +The Lâlâ's quivering fingers blundered among the papers in his +pocket-book. + +"Give it me, or, by heaven, I'll break every bone in your body!" His +hand came down with an ominous thud on the table. + +"I will give it, _sahib_,--I have it,--here--no--ah! praise to the +gods!" He shook so that the paper rustled in his hand. Colonel Stuart +seized it, and tearing it to bits, flung the pieces in the waste paper +basket at his feet. "There goes your last contract from me, and +there's the door, and there's your money!" As he flung the notes in +the man's face they went fluttering over the floor, and he laughed +foolishly to see them gathered up in trembling haste. + +"Gad!" he muttered as he sank exhausted into a chair, "there isn't +much fear of Shunker so long as I've a stick in my hand. Hullo! what's +that? Something rustled under the table. Here, Budlu! quick, lights! +It may be a snake! Confound the servants; they're never to be found!" + +He stopped and drew his hand over his forehead two or three times. +Just then Budlu, entering with the lamp, stooped to pick something +from the floor. It was a note for a thousand rupees, crisp and +crackling. + +Colonel Stuart looked at it in a dazed sort of way, then burst into a +roar of laughter and put it in his pocket-book. "My fair perquisite, +by Jove! and it will come in useful to-night at _écarté_. Budlu, give +me the little bottle. I must steady my nerves a bit if I'm to play +with Raby." + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + +People who talk of the still Indian night can scarcely do so from +experience, for, especially during the hot weather, darkness in the +East is vocal with life. The cicala shrills its loudest, the birds are +awake, and the very trees and plants seem to blossom audibly. Go round +an Indian garden at sunset and it is a sepulchre; the roses shrivelled +in their prime, the buds scorched in the birth, the foliage beaten +down by the fierce sun. Visit it again at sunrise and you will find it +bright with blossom, sweet with perfume, refreshed with dew. That is +the work of night; what marvel then if it is instinct with sound and +movement! Never for one hour does silence fall upon the world. The +monotonous beat of some native musician's drum goes on and on; a +village dog barks, and is answered by another until seventy times +seven; a crow takes to cawing irrelatively; the birds sing in +snatches, and the Indian cock, like that of scriptural story, crows +for other reasons besides the dawn. + +The long-legged rooster who habitually retired to sleep on the summit +of Colonel Stuart's cook-room, had, however, legitimate cause for his +vociferations, and dawn was just darkening the rest of the sky when +the sudden flapping of his wings startled the horse of an early +wayfarer who came at a walk down the Mall. + +It was Philip Marsden setting out betimes for a two days' scour of the +district in search of the very mules out of which Shunker Dâs had +hoped to make so much profit. Most men, carrying ten thousand rupees +with them, would have applied for a treasure-chest and a police guard; +but Major Marsden considered himself quite sufficient security for the +roll of currency notes in his breast-pocket. As he quieted the +frightened horse, his close proximity to the Commissariat office +reminded him that he had forgotten to apply for a certain form on +which he had to register his purchases; the omission would entail +delay, so he anathematised his own carelessness and was riding on, +when a light in the office-windows attracted his attention. It was +early for any one to be at work, but knowing how time pressed in all +departments under the strain of war, he thought it not improbable that +some energetic _babu_ was thus seeking the worm of promotion, and +might be able to give him what he required. Dismounting, lest his +horse's tread should disturb the sleepers in the house by which he had +to pass, he hitched the reins to a tree, and made his way towards the +office; not without a kindly thought of the girl, forgetful of care, +who lay sleeping so near to him that, unconsciously, he slackened his +step and trod softly. He had been as good as his word, and that very +day the doctor was to go over and prescribe immediate change. Change! +he smiled at the idea, wondering what change could stem the course of +the inevitable. + +As he drew near he saw that the light came, not from the office, but +from its chief's private room. He hesitated an instant; then a +suspicion that something might be wrong made him go on till he could +see through the open door into the room. Thefts were common enough in +cantonments, and it was as well to make sure. Through the _chick_ he +could distinctly see a well-known figure seated at the writing-table, +leaning forward on its crossed arms. + +"Drunk!" said Philip Marsden to himself with a thrill of bitter +contempt and turned away. The bearer would find the Colonel and put +him decently to bed long before the girl was up. Poor Belle! The +little platform where she had stood but the night before was faintly +visible, bringing a recollection of her pale face and sad appeal. "It +is father,"--the first words she had ever said to him; the very first! +He retraced his steps quickly, set the _chick_ aside, and entered the +room. The lamp on the table was fast dying out, but its feeble flicker +fell full on the Colonel's grey hair, and lit up the shining gold lace +on his mess-jacket. Silver, and gold, and scarlet,--a brilliant show +of colour in the shabby, dim room. A curious smell in the air and a +great stillness made Philip Marsden stop suddenly and call the sleeper +by name. In the silence which followed he heard the ticking of a +chronometer which lay close to him. He called again, not louder, but +quicker, then with swift decision passed his arm round the leaning +figure and raised it from the table. The grey head fell back inertly +on his breast, and the set, half-closed eyes looked up lifelessly into +his. + +"Dead," he heard himself say, "dead!"--dead, not drunk. As he stood +there for an instant with the dead man's head finding a resting-place +so close to his heart, the wan face looking up at him as if in a mute +appeal, a flame of bitter regret for his own harsh judgment seemed to +shrivel up all save pity. The great change had come, to end poor +Belle's anxieties. And she? Ah! poor child, who was to tell her of it? + +He lifted the head from his breast, laying it once more, as he had +found it, on the crossed arms; then looked round the room rapidly. An +empty bottle of chloral on the table accounted for the faint sickly +smell he had noticed. Was it a mistake? If not, why? Perhaps there was +a letter. Something at any rate lay under the nerveless hands, +powerless now to defend their secret. Philip Marsden took the paper +from them gently and turned up the expiring lamp till it flared +smokily. The blotted writing was hard to read, yet easy to understand, +for it told a tale too often written; a tale of debt, dishonour, +remorse, despair. Ten thousand rupees borrowed from the safe, and an +unsigned cheque for the amount, drawn on no one, but payable to the +Government of India, lying beside the dead man in mute witness to the +last desire for restitution in the poor stupefied brain. A pile of +official letters were scattered on the floor as if they had fallen +from the table. All save one were unopened, but that one contained a +notification of Colonel Stuart's transfer. Major Marsden drew a chair +to the table and deliberately sat down to think. + +Something must be done, and that quickly, for already the merciless +light of day was gaining on the darkness. "And there is nothing hid +that shall not be made manifest;" the words somehow recurred to his +memory bringing another pulse of pity for poor Belle. What was to be +done? The answer came to him suddenly in a rush, as if it had all been +settled before. Why had Fate sent him there with more than enough +money to save the girl from shame? Money that was his to use as he +chose, for he could repay it twenty times over ere nightfall. Why had +Fate mixed the girl's life with his, despite his efforts to stand +aloof? Why had she sent for him? Why,--why was he there? The dead +man's keys lay on the table, the sum owed was clearly set down in +black and white, the safe close at hand. What was there, save a +personal loss he could well afford, to prevent silence? And he had +promised help-- + +When the hastily-summoned doctor came in a few minutes later the +bottle of chloral still lay on the table, but the blotted paper and +the cheque were gone. The lamp had flared out, and a little heap of +grey ashes on the hearth drifted apart as the doors and windows were +flung wide open to let in all the light there was. + +"He has been dead about two hours," said the doctor. "Over-dose of +chloral, of course. I forbade it from the hospital, but he got it +elsewhere." + +They had laid the dead man on the floor, and the grey dawn falling on +his face made it seem greyer still. The native servants huddled +trembling at the door; the two Englishmen stood looking down upon the +still figure. + +"There is always the fear of an over-dose," said Philip Marsden +slowly, "or of some rash mistake." + +The doctor met his look comprehensively. "Exactly! who can tell? +Unless there is circumstantial evidence, and I see none as yet. Anyhow +he was not responsible, for he has been on the verge of _delirium +tremens_ for days." + +"Then you give the benefit of the doubt?" + +"Always, if possible." + +Again the wind of dawn fanning the dead man's hair drifted the grey +ashes further apart. + +"He had better stay here," continued the doctor. "Moving him might +rouse the poor girl, and there's no need for that as yet. By the way, +who is to tell her? There isn't a lady or a parson in the place." + +"I suppose I must," returned Philip after a pause. "I think it might +be best, since she confided her trouble to me. But couldn't I get some +sort of a woman from barracks just to stay with her?" + +"Right; you're a thoughtful fellow, Marsden. Take my buggy and go to +the sergeant-major; his wife will know of some one. I'll stay till you +return in case she wakes; and look here, as you pass send a man about +the coffin. The funeral must be this evening, and--" + +Philip Marsden fled from the dreary details of death with a remark +that the doctor could send a messenger. He was no coward, yet he felt +glad to escape into the level beams of the rising sun. As he drove +down along the staring white roads he asked himself more than once why +he had interfered to save a girl he scarcely knew from the knowledge +of her father's dishonour; and if he could find no sufficient reason +for it he could find no regret either. It had been an impulse, and it +was over. He had kept his word to Dick, and done his best to drive +care from those clear eyes,--what beautiful eyes they were! + +"Och then!" cried Mrs. O'Grady, the sergeant-major's wife, who, +hastily roused from her slumbers, came out into the verandah in scanty +attire, "and is the swate young leddy alone? It's meself wud go at +wanst but that I'm a Holy Roman, surr, and shud be talkin' of the +blessed saints in glory. An' that's not the thing wid a Prothestant in +his coffin." + +Despite his anxiety her hearer could not repress a smile. "I don't set +so much store by religious consolation, Mrs. O'Grady. It's more a +kind, motherly person I want." + +"Then, Tim!" cried the good lady, appealing to her spouse who had +appeared in shirt and trousers, "Mrs. Flanigan wud be the woman, but +that she's daily expectin' her tinth--" + +"Isn't there some kindly person who's seen trouble?" hastily +interrupted the Major. + +"Ah, if it's the throuble you're wantin', take little Mrs. Vickary. A +Baptist and a widder,--more by token twice; bore with two dhrunken +bastes, Major, like a blissed angel, and wud be ready to spake up for +anny one." + +Major Marsden, with a recollection of Widow Vickary's sad face as +nurse by a comrade's sick bed, pleaded for a younger and brighter one. +Thereupon the serjeant-major suggested poor Healy's Mary Ann, but his +wife tossed her head. "What the men see in that gurrll, surr, I can't +say; but she'll go, and cheerful, wid her little boy; a swate little +boy, surr, like thim cherubs with a trumpet--for her father she come +to live wid died of the fayver a month gone, and her man is waiting to +be killed by thim Afghans somewhere." + +So Major Marsden, driving back with poor Healy's Mary Ann and the +cherub wielding a piece of sugarcane as trumpet, found Belle still +sleeping. + +Then together, in the fresh early morning, they broke the sad tidings +to the girl. How, it does not much matter, for words mean nothing. We +say, "He is dead," many and many a time, carelessly, indifferently. +Then comes a day when the sentence is fraught with wild despair and +helpless pain. The sun seems blotted out, and the world is dark. Yet +the words are the same, nor can pen and ink write them differently. + +"Let me see that he is dead! Oh, let me see him!" was her cry; so they +took her across to the shabby room where everything stood unchanged +save for the sheeted figure on the string bed. The gardener had strewn +some roses over it and the sun streamed in brightly. The sight brought +no real conviction to Belle. It all seemed more dreamlike than ever. +To fall asleep, as she had done, in the turmoil of life, and to wake +finding the hush of death in possession of all things! She let Philip +Marsden lead her away passively like a child, and all through the long +day she sat idle and tearless, with her hands on her lap, as if she +were waiting for something or some one. Yet it was a busy day in that +quiet, empty house; for in India death comes rudely. Many a time has +the father to superintend the making of the little coffin, while the +mother stitches away to provide a daintier resting-place for the +golden head that is used to frills and lace; until, in the dawn, those +two go forth alone to the desolate graveyard, and he reads the Church +service as best he can, and she says "Amen" between her sobs. There +was none of this strain for Belle, nothing to remind her of the +inevitable; so she wondered what they wanted of her when, as the glare +of sunset reddened the walls of her room, Major Marsden came and +looked at her with pitying eyes. "It is time we were starting, Miss +Stuart," he said gently. + +"Starting! where?" + +"We thought you would like to go to the cemetery, and I have arranged +to drive you down. It will be a military funeral, of course." + +She rose swiftly in passionate entreaty. "Ah no, no! not so soon! he +is not dead! Oh I cannot, I cannot!" Then seeing the tender gravity of +his face, she clasped her hands on his arm and begged to see _him_ +once more,--just to say good-bye. + +He shook his head. "It is too late--it is best not." + +"But I have no dress,--it can't be--" she pleaded vainly. + +"Every one will be in white as you are," he returned with tears he +could not check in his eyes. "Come! it will be better for you by and +by." He laid his hand on her clasped ones. She looked in his eyes +doubtfully, and did as she was bidden. + +"We will drive out a bit first," said Philip, when she had taken her +seat by his side in the tall dog-cart that seemed so out of keeping +with its dismal office. "We have plenty of time for I thought the air +would do your head good,--and,--it was best for you to be away just +now." + +Better, and best! As if anything could make any difference now! "You +are very kind," she said in dull recognition of his care. + +Philip Marsden never forgot that drive; the memory of it remained with +him for years as a kind of nightmare. The girl in her white dress and +sailor hat as he had seen her at many a tennis-party; the great bank +of clouds on the horizon telling of welcome rain; the little squirrels +leaping across the white road; the cattle returning homewards amid +clouds of dust; the stolid stare of the natives as they passed by. It +was almost a relief to stand side by side before an open grave +listening to an even, disciplined tramp audible above the muffled +drums coming nearer and nearer. + +A dingy brick wall bleached to mud-colour shut out all view, but high +up in the sky, above the fringe of grey tamarisk trees, a procession +of flame-edged clouds told that, out in the west, Nature was +celebrating the obsequies of day in glorious apparel. Suddenly _The +Dead March_ struck up, loud and full, bringing to Philip Marsden's +memory many a sword-decked coffin and riderless charger behind which +he had walked, wondering if his turn would come next. The music ceased +with a clash of arms at the gate; and after a low-toned order or two +the procession appeared in narrow file up the central path. The white +uniforms looked ghostly in the deepening shadows; but through a break +in the trees a last sunbeam slanted over the wall, making the spikes +on the officers' helmets glow like stars. + +Belle's clasped yet listless fingers tightened nervously as the +Brigade-Major's voice rose and fell in monotonous cadence about "our +dear brother departed." It seemed to her like a dream; or rather as if +she too were dead and had no tears, no grief, nothing but a great +numbness at her heart. Then some one put a clumsily-made cross of +white flowers into her hands, bidding her lay it on the coffin, bared +now of the protecting flag; and she obeyed, wondering the while why +other people should have thought of these things when she had not, and +thinking how crooked it was, and how much better she could have made +it herself. Perhaps; for the hands that twined it were not used to +such woman's work. It was Philip Marsden's task, also, to throw the +first handful of earth into the grave, and draw Belle's arm within his +own before the salutes rang out. They startled the screaming parrots +from their roost among the trees, and sent them wheeling and flashing +like jewels against the dark purple clouds. + +"Was it never going to end?" she thought wearily as they waited again, +and yet again, for the rattle of the rifles. Yet she stood heedlessly +silent, even when the band struck into quick time and the cheerful +echo of the men's answering footsteps died away into the distance. + +"Take her home," said the doctor, who with John Raby had remained to +see the grave properly filled in. "I'll call round by and by with a +sleeping draught; that will do her more good than anything." + +As they drove back she complained, quite fretfully, of the cold, and +her companion reined in the horse while he wrapped his military coat +round her, fastening it beneath her soft dimpled chin with hands that +trembled a little. She seemed to him inexpressibly pitiful in her +grief, and his heart ached for her. + +"It is going to rain, I think," she said suddenly, with her eyes fixed +on the dull red glow barred by heavy storm clouds in the west; adding +in a lower tone, "Father will get wet!" + +Major Marsden looked at her anxiously and drove faster, frightened at +the dull despair of her tone. He had meant to say good-bye at the +door, but he could not. How could he leave her to that unutterable +loneliness? And yet what good could he do beyond beguiling her to take +a few mouthfuls of food? Poor Healy's Mary Ann proved helpless before +a form of grief to which she was utterly unaccustomed, and as her +presence seemed to do more harm than good Philip Marsden sent her into +the next room, where she nursed her boy and wept profusely. He sat +talking to Belle till long after the mess-hour, and then, when he did +turn to go, the sight of her seated alone, tearless and miserable in +the big, empty room was too much for his soft heart. He came back +hastily, bending over her, then kneeling to look in her downcast face, +and take her cold little hands into his warm ones and say kind words +that came from his very heart. Perhaps they brought conviction, +perhaps the touch of his hand assured her of sympathy, for suddenly +her dull despair gave way; she laid her head on his shoulder and cried +pitifully, as children cry themselves to sleep. + +With the clasp of his fingers on hers and his breath stirring her soft +curly hair, Philip Marsden's heart beat fast and his pulses thrilled. +His own emotion startled and perplexed him; he shrank from it, and yet +he welcomed it. Did he love her? Was this the meaning of it all? + +"How good you are," she whispered, trying to regain her composure. +"What should I have done without you?" Her unconsciousness smote him +with regret and a great tenderness. + +"There are plenty who will be kind to you," he answered unsteadily. +"Life holds everything for you yet, my dear; peace, and happiness, and +love." + +Love! Did it hold his for her? he asked himself again as he walked +homewards in the dark. Love! He was quite a young man still, only two +and thirty, yet he had deliberately set passion and romance from him +years before. Poverty had stood between him and the realisation of a +dream till, with the sight of his ideal profoundly happy as some one +else's wife, had come distrust and contempt for a feeling that +experience showed him did not, could not last. Why, therefore, should +it enter into and disturb his life at all? Friendship? ah, that was +different! Perhaps the future held a time when he would clasp hands +with a life-companion; a woman to be the mistress of his home, the +mother of his children. But Belle! poor little, soft Belle Stuart, +with her beautiful grey eyes! He seemed to feel the touch of her hand +in his, the caress of her hair on his lips; and though he laughed +grimly at himself, he could not master the joy that took possession of +him at the remembrance. Dear little Belle! Amidst the doubt and +surprise which swept over him as he realised his own state of mind, +but one thing gave him infinite satisfaction,--he had saved her from +the far more lasting trouble of her father's disgrace. Friend, or +lover, it had been a good deed to do, and he was glad that he had done +it. Nothing could alter that. And while he slept, dreaming still of +his clasp on the little cold yet willing hand, an official envelope +lay on the table beside him mocking his security. He opened it next +morning, to lay it aside with a curse at his own ill luck, though it +was only a notification that Major P. H. Marsden would carry on the +current duties of the Commissariat office till further orders. He had +half a mind to go over to the Brigade office and get himself excused: +a word or two about his other work would do it; but his pride rose in +arms against any shirking for private reasons. Besides, there might be +nothing wrong in Colonel Stuart's accounts, and even if there was, he +would be the best man to find it out. Yet he walked up and down the +verandah a prey to conflicting desires, bitterly angry with himself +for hesitating an instant. Common sense told him that it might be as +well for one less biassed than he was by previous knowledge to +undertake the scrutiny, that it was scarcely fair for him to go to the +task with a foregone conclusion in his mind; but pride suggested that +he could not trust himself to decide fairly even now. How could he, +when he was bitterly conscious of one overmastering desire to save +Belle? Then came the thought that if she was indeed what in his heart +he believed her to be, if her steadfastness and straightforwardness +were more than a match for his own, then the very idea of his refusing +the task would be an offence to her. After that, nothing could have +prevented him from placing himself with open eyes in a position from +which, in common fairness to himself and others, he ought to have +escaped. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + +A few days after Colonel Stuart's death John Raby was making up his +accounts in a very unenviable frame of mind, though the balance on the +right side was a large one. As a rule this result would have given him +keen pleasure; for though he was as yet too young to enjoy that +delight of dotage, the actual fingering of gold, he inherited the +instinct too strongly not to rejoice at the sight of its equivalent in +figures. There were two reasons for his annoyance. First, the +constantly recurring regret of not being able to invest his savings as +he chose. With endless opportunities for turning over a high +percentage coming under his notice, it was galling to be restricted by +the terms of his covenant with Government from any commercial +enterprise. Not that he would have scrupled to evade the regulation +had the game been worth the candle; but as yet it was not. By and by, +when his capital warranted a plunge, he had every intention of risking +his position, and, if need be, of throwing it up. But for this +justification he must wait years, unless indeed Fate sent him a rich +wife. Heiresses however are scarce in India, and furlough was not yet +due. So John Raby had to content himself with four per cent, which was +all the more annoying when he remembered that Shunker Dâs was making +forty out of the very indigo business on which he had tried to evade +the income-tax. Sooner or later John Raby intended to have his finger +in that pie, unless some more fortunate person plucked the plum out +first. + +The other reason for his annoyance arose from the fact, clearly +demonstrated by his neat system of accounts, that over nine thousand +rupees of his balance were the proceeds of _écarté_ played with a man +who had had the confidence to make him his executor. The young +civilian had no qualms of conscience here either; it had been a fair +fight, the Colonel considering himself quite as good at the game as +his antagonist. But somehow the total looked bad beside that other +one, where intricate columns of figures added themselves into a row of +nothings for the widow and orphans. Not a penny, so far as the +executor could see, after paying current debts. About Madame and the +black-and-tans, as he irreverently styled her family, he did not much +concern himself; but for Belle it was different. He liked the girl, +and had often told himself that the addition of money would have made +her an excellent wife; just the sort one could safely have at home; +and that to a busy man meant much. The thought that Philip Marsden +with his large fortune showed a disposition to annex the prize +lessened his regrets for her poverty, and yet increased them. Why, he +asked himself savagely, did nice girls never have money? The only +gleam of satisfaction, in short, to be yielded by the balance was the +remembrance that his possession of the nine thousand rupees prevented +Lâlâ Shunker Dâs from absorbing it. As a matter of fact his +executorship had proved a wholesome check on the usurer's outcries, +and it gave the young man some consolation to think that no one could +have managed the Lâlâ so well as he did. The smile raised by this +remembrance lingered still when Major Marsden walked, unannounced, +through the window in unceremonious Indian fashion. + +"Hullo," said John Raby, "glad to see you. Miss Stuart is much better +to-day." + +There was no reason why this very pleasant and natural remark should +annoy his hearer, but it did. It reminded him that John Raby had +acquired a sort of authority over the dead man's daughter by virtue of +his executorship. Neither of them had seen her since the day of the +funeral, for she had been hovering on the verge of nervous fever; but +the responsibility of caring for her had fallen on John Raby and not +on Philip Marsden. John Raby, and not he, had had to make all the +necessary arrangements for her comfort and speedy departure to the +hills as soon as possible; for Mrs. Stuart had collapsed under the +shock of her husband's death, and the rapid Indian funeral had made +the presence of the others impossible. So Philip Marsden felt himself +to be out in the cold, and resented it. + +"The nurse told me so when I inquired just now," he replied shortly. + +"I'm to see her this afternoon when she comes back from her drive. +I've sent for Shunker Dâs's carriage." + +Major Marsden frowned. "You might have chosen some one else's, surely. +He ruined her father." + +"Not at all; he lent him money. Some one had to do it." + +"Well, it's a grim world, and her drive can't be more so than the last +she had." The remembrance evidently absorbed him, for he sat silent. + +"You're looking used up, Marsden," said the other kindly. "Anything +the matter?" + +"Yes." + +"Well, if it has to do with the Commissariat business I don't wonder. +The Colonel's private affairs are simply chaos." He pointed to the +piles of papers on and below the table with a contemptuous smile. + +Major Marsden shook his head. "The public ones are in fairly good +order. I'm surprised at the method; but of course he had good clerks; +and then the system of checks--" + +"Make it possible to be inaccurate with the utmost accuracy. What's +wrong?" + +Philip Marsden moved uneasily in his chair and gave an impatient sigh. +"I suppose I've got to tell you, because you're the man's executor; +but I don't want to." + +"Never do anything you don't want, my dear fellow; it's a mistake. You +don't know what will please other people, and you generally have a +rough guess at your own desires." + +"I don't suppose this will please you, the fact is there is a deficit +of four thousand five hundred rupees in the private safe of which +Colonel Stuart kept the key." + +"Is that all?" + +"All! Surely it is enough?" + +"Quite enough; but I'm not exactly surprised." + +"Then I am," returned the Major emphatically. "In fact I don't believe +there really is any deficit at all. Do you think Shunker Dâs is the +sort of man to make a false claim?" + +"Not unless he has fallen upon fair proofs," said the other coolly. +"What claim does he make?" + +"He says he paid in three thousand five hundred the very day of +Colonel Stuart's death and produces a receipt. Another thousand was +paid in by some one else the day before. It seems odd that this should +just make up the deficiency." + +"But you have no proof that these are actually the notes missing?" + +"Curiously enough I have. Contrary to what one would have expected, +Colonel Stuart made a practice of writing the numbers of notes +received in a private ledger, and none of the four entered as having +been given by Shunker are to be found. Now, as you were Stuart's +friend, and are his executor, do you know of any large payment made to +any one within two days of his death? It limits itself, you see, to +that time." + +"Nothing to account for three thousand five hundred," returned John +Raby a little hastily. "Let's stick to Shunker's claim first; it may +be false. You say he holds a receipt?" + +"Yes, and gives the numbers of the notes also." + +"Right?" + +"All but one. The book gives a 3 where he gives a 5; but natives often +confuse figures." + +John Raby nodded, and leant back in his chair thinking. "I believe the +notes were paid," he said at last, "and if they are not to be found, +the inference, I'm afraid, is clear. The Colonel _borrowed_ them." + +"I don't believe it," returned the Major slowly. He had been drawing +diagrams idly on a piece of paper and now threw aside the pen with +decision. "I don't believe it," he repeated, "and I'll tell you why; +I'd rather not tell you, as I said before, but as you're his executor +I must. When I found him dead that morning there was a paper,--it +wasn't a mistake, you understand"--his hearer nodded again--"and +in it he had set down the reasons, or want of reasons, clearly +enough. I haven't got the paper; I burnt it. I suppose I ought to +have kept it, but it seemed a pity at the time. Anyhow the total he +had,--borrowed--was close on ten thousand." + +"Ten! you said there was only--" + +"Just so; you see, as luck would have it, I had money with me at the +time. So I replaced it." + +"Ten thousand?" + +"No; to be strictly accurate nine thousand seven hundred and fifty. +Well,--you needn't stare so, Raby! Why the devil shouldn't I if I +chose?" + +John Raby gave a low whistle. "You must be awfully fond of Belle," he +said after a pause. + +Philip flushed a deep angry red. Ever since the possible necessity for +giving his action to the world had dawned upon him he had known what +comment would be made; but the knowledge did not lessen its sting. +"Don't you think we had better keep Miss Stuart's name out of the +conversation? I merely tell you this to show that I have good reasons +for supposing that there is some chicanery, or confusion--" + +"I beg your pardon! exactly so," assented John Raby with a smile. "I +am as anxious as you can be to keep her out of it; and so, as +executor, I'll undertake to refund the deficiency at once. There may +be some mistake, but it is best to have no inquiry." + +"I hardly see how that is to be prevented, for of course I had to +report the matter." + +John Raby literally bounded from his chair in unrestrained vexation. +"Reported it! my dear Marsden, what the devil!--Oh, I beg your pardon, +but really, to begin with, you cut your own throat." + +"What else could I do?" asked the other quietly. "You forget I am in +charge of the office." + +"Do?" returned his hearer, pausing in his rapid pacing of the room. +"Ah, I don't suppose _you_ could do anything else; but I'm not so +high-flown myself, and I can't see the good of chucking ten thousand +rupees into the gutter for the sake of a sentiment, and then chucking +the sentiment after it. For the girl adored her father, and I warn +you--" + +"If we can't keep off that subject I'll go," interrupted Philip +rising. "I thought you might know something. Colonel Stuart dined with +you that last evening, if you remember." + +The civilian needed no reminder; indeed for the last ten minutes he +had been distractingly conscious of a note for a thousand rupees lying +in his despatch-box which might throw-some light on the mysterious +disappearances. "Yes," he replied, "he did, and,--I see what you are +thinking of, Marsden--he played _écarté_ too; but to tell the truth, +he was so fuddled and excited that I refused to go on, and sent him +home. See what comes of benevolence. If I had let him play and rooked +him, he wouldn't have had the opportunity of brooding over +difficulties and putting an end to them. Again, you see there's +nothing so unsafe as unselfishness." + +Philip, remembering the notice of transfer he had found open by the +dead man's side, wondered if matters might not have turned out +differently had it been viewed by the calm light of day. + +"Well, it can't be helped now," continued the speaker. "I don't +approve of what has been done, but I'll do my best,--in fact I'm bound +as executor--to clear the matter up. Though I'm sure I don't know +where the inquiry may not lead me. It's an infernal nuisance, nothing +less! Well, hand me over the papers and--I suppose you've no objection +to my searching the office?" + +"None; the Colonel's room is as he left it. I was afraid of noise so +near the house." The speaker frowned at his own words, annoyed to find +how thought for Belle crept into all his actions. + +"So far, good. And look here, Marsden, if you value that girl's +opinion go and tell her the downright truth. She will be able to see +you this afternoon." + +A piece of sound advice meant kindly, which had the not unusual effect +of making the recipient hesitate about a course of action on which he +had almost decided. In after years, when he considered the tangled +clew Fate held at this time for his unwinding, he never hesitated to +say, "Here I went wrong;" but at the time it seemed of small +importance whether he saw the girl that day or the next. And once more +the assumption of authority on John Raby's part irritated him into +contradiction. "It will be a pity to disturb Miss Stuart's first day," +he replied stiffly, and rode away. + +The young civilian shrugged his shoulders. Philip Marsden wasn't a bad +fellow on the whole, but a prig of the first water. Imagine any one +gifted with a grain of common sense acting as he had done! Why, if he +wanted the girl's good graces, had he not paid up the rest of the +money and finished the whole affair? It was a long price to pay, of +course, but it was better than giving ten thousand for nothing. Only a +morbid self-esteem could have prevented him. Really, the sense of duty +to be found in some people was almost enough to engender a belief in +original sin. The mere struggle for existence could never have +produced such a congeries of useless sentiment. + +He threw himself into a chair determining to have a quiet cigar before +tasking his brain with further thought about what he had just heard. +But the first glance at the daily paper which had just come in made +him throw it from him in disgust; for it contained a fulsomely +flattering notice extolling Major Marsden at the expense of Colonel +Stuart, and openly hinting at discrepancies in the accounts which the +former officer was determined to bring home to the latter. The style +betrayed the hand of some clerk toadying for promotion; but style or +no style, the matter was clear, and to be read by the million. It all +came from Marsden's infernal sense of duty, and John Raby had half a +mind to spoil his little game by sending the paper over to Belle as +usual. But with all his faults he was not a spiteful man, or one +inclined to play the part of dog-in-the-manger. Consequently when Lâlâ +Shunker Dâs's carriage went over for Belle the _chuprassi_ in charge +only carried a bouquet; the newspaper remained behind, keeping company +with John Raby and magnanimity. + +Belle never noticed the omission, for she was still strangely +forgetful and indifferent; even when she drove along the familiar +road, she hardly remembered anything of her last dismal ride. Only one +or two things showed distinctly in the midst of past pain; such +trivial things as a crooked cross of flowers, and screaming parrots in +a stormy sky. The rest had gone, to come back,--the doctor told John +Raby--ere long; just now the forgetfulness was best, though it showed +how narrowly she had escaped brain-fever. So nobody spoke of the past, +and while Philip was cherishing the remembrance of that first day, and +using it to build up his belief in her trust, she was not even +conscious that he had been the kindest among many kind. + +Meanwhile Philip Marsden had not found himself in a bed of roses. The +impossibility of seeing Belle left him a prey to uncertainty, and if +he was ready fifty times a day to admit that he was in love, there +were quite as many times when he doubted the fact. Yet love or no +love, he was strenuously eager to save her from trouble; so his relief +at finding the office in good order had been great. In regard to +matters which had been in Colonel Stuart's own hands he naturally felt +safe; the discovery of the deficiency therefore had been a most +unpleasant shock, the more so because he saw at once that inquiry +might make it necessary for him to betray his own action. He wearied +himself fruitlessly with endeavours to discover any error, but the +thought of hushing the matter up never occurred to him as possible. To +some men it might have been a temptation; to him it was none, so he +deserved no credit on that score. He told himself again that if Belle +were what he deemed her, she would see the necessity of a report also; +but then he was reckoning on perfection, and poor Belle, as it so +happened, was in such a state of nervous tension that she was utterly +incapable of judging calmly about anything relating to her father. + +She lay on the sofa after she returned from her drive, feeling all the +dreariness of coming back to everyday life, and, in consequence, +exalting the standard of her loss till the tears rolled quietly down +her cheeks. Whereupon poor Healy's Mary Ann, full of the best +intentions, brewed her a cup of tea, and sent over the road for the +newspaper, which she imagined had been forgotten. The master of the +house was out for his evening ride, and thus it came to pass that when +he called on his way home, he found Belle studying the misleading +paragraph with flushed cheeks and tearful eyes. "What does it mean?" +she asked tempestuously. "What is it that he dares to say of father?" + +With her pretty, troubled face looking into his John Raby washed his +hands of further magnanimity. He refused to play the part of +Providence to a man who could not look after his own interests, and +whom, in a vague way, he felt to be a rival. So, considering Belle +only, he told the modified truth, making as light as he could of the +deficiency, and openly expressing his regret that it should ever have +been reported, the more so because Major Marsden himself believed +there was some mistake. This consolation increased her indignation. + +"Do you mean to say," she cried, trembling with anger and weakness, +"that he has dragged father's name in the dirt for a mistake? Why +didn't he come to me, or to you? _We_ would have told him it was +impossible. But he always misjudged father; he hated him; he never +would come here. Ah yes! I see it all now! I understand." + +The "we" sounded sweetly in the young man's ears, but its injustice +was too appalling to be passed over. He felt compelled to defence. For +a moment he thought of telling the whole truth, but he reflected that +Philip had a tongue as well as he, and that no one had a right to make +free with another man's confidence. Consequently his palliation only +referred to the culprit's well-known inflexibility and almost morbid +sense of duty; all of which made Belle more and more angry, as if the +very insistence on such virtues involved some depreciation of their +quality in the dead man. + +"I do not care what happens now," she said vehemently. "I know well +enough that nothing he can say will harm father's good name; but I +will never forgive him, never! It is no use excusing him; all you say +only makes it more unnecessary, and cruel, and,--and stupid. I will +never forgive him; no, never!" + +And all that night she lay awake working herself into a fever, mental +and bodily, by piling up the many evidences in favour of her theory as +to Philip's long-cherished enmity. He had never called, never spoken +to them when all the world beside had been friendly. His very kindness +to Dick was tainted; for had he not sided with the boy against her +father? Once the train of thought started, it was easy to turn the +points so that there seemed no possibility of its following any other +line than the one she laid down for it as she went along. Finally, to +clinch the matter, memory served her a sorry trick by suddenly +recalling to her recollection Philip Marsden's gloomy face when +she had told him who she was on their first meeting at the +railway-station. She sat up in bed with little hot hands stretched +into the darkness. "O father! father! I was the only one who loved +you,--the only one!" A climax at once of sorrow and consolation which +somehow soothed her to sleep. + +Now, while she was employed in blackening his character, Philip +Marsden was crediting her with all the cardinal virtues. He had not +seen the daily paper, for reasons which put many other things out of +his head for the time being. He had no idea when he wilfully went to +play racquets that evening instead of following Raby's advice of +seeing Belle, that he was throwing away his last chance of an +interview; but as he sat outside the court, cooling himself after the +game, an urgent summons came from the orderly-room. Ten minutes after +he was reading a telegram bidding the 101st Sikhs start to the front +immediately. Farewell to leisure; for though the regiment had been +under warning for service and in a great measure prepared for it, the +next forty-eight hours were ones of exceeding bustle. Philip, harassed +on all sides, had barely time to realise what it meant; and, despite a +catch at his heart when he thought of Belle, the blood ran faster in +his veins from the prospect of action. His own certainty, moreover, +was so great, that it seemed almost incredible that one, of whose +sympathy he felt assured, should see the matter with other eyes. +Nevertheless he was determined to tell her all at the first +opportunity; and often, as he went untiringly through the wearisome +details of inspection, his mind was busy over the interview to come; +but the end was always the same, and left him with a smile on his +face. + +John Raby happened to be standing in the verandah when, between pillar +and post, Philip found that vacant five minutes which he had been +chasing all day long. + +"Can't see you, I'm afraid," he returned, cheerfully, to the inquiry +for Miss Stuart. "The fact is she has worried herself into a fever +over that paragraph. I don't wonder; it was infernal!" + +"What paragraph?" asked Philip innocently. + +John Raby looked at him and laughed, not a very pleasant kind of +laugh. "Upon my soul," he said, "you _are_ an unlucky beggar. I begin +to think it's a true case, for you've enough real bad luck to make a +three-volume-course of true love run rough! So you haven't seen it? +Then I'll fetch it out. The paper is just inside." + +Philip, reining in his restive horse viciously, read the offending +lines, punctuating them with admonitory digs of his heels and tugs at +the bridle as the charger fretted at the fluttering paper. He looked +well on horseback, and the civilian, lazily leaning against a pillar, +admired him, dangling sword, jingling spurs, and all. He folded the +paper methodically against his knee and handed it back. "And Miss +Stuart believed all that?" he asked quietly. + +"Women always believe what they see printed. She is in an awful rage, +of course; but I warned you, Marsden, you know I did." + +"You were most kind. Will you tell Miss Stuart, when you see her, that +I called to say good-bye and that I was sorry,--yes! you can say I was +sorry, for the cause of her fever." His tone was bitterness itself. + +"Look here, Marsden," said the other, "don't huff; take my advice this +time and write to her." + +"Do you think the belief of women extends to what they see written? I +didn't know you had such a high opinion of the sex, Raby! Well, +good-bye to you, and thanks." + +"Oh, I shall be down to see the 101st march out. Five A.M., isn't it?" + +Philip nodded as he rode off. All through that last night in +cantonments he was angry with everything and everybody, himself +included. Why had he meddled? What demon had possessed the Brigadier +to put him in charge of the Commissariat office? Why had not this +order for the front come before? Why had it come now? What induced the +_babu_ who penned that paragraph to be born? And why did a Mission +school teach him the misuse of adjectives? He was still too angry to +ask himself why he had not taken John Raby's advice; that touched too +closely on the real mistake to be acknowledged yet awhile. + +The gloom on his face was not out of keeping with the scene, as the +regiment marched down the Mall at early dawn while the band played +_Zakhmi_, that plaintive lament of the Afghan maiden for her wounded +lover. Yet there was no pitiful crowd of weeping women and children, +such as often mars the spectacle of a British regiment going on +service. The farewells had all been said at home, and if the women +wept in the deserted lines, the men marched, eyes front without a +waver, behind the sacred flag borne aloft by the tall drum-major, +whose magnificent stature was enhanced by an enormous high-twined +turban. Close at his heels went two men waving white silver-mounted +whisks over the Holy Grunth, watchful lest aught might settle on the +sacred page which lay open on a yellow satin cushion borne by four +sergeants. There, plainly discernible even by the half-light, was +inscribed in broad red and black lettering the sure guide through +death to life for its faithful followers. Then, separated by a wide +blank from the book in front and the men behind, rode the Colonel. +Finally, shoulder to shoulder, marched as fine a body of men as could +be seen east or west, with dexterously knotted turbans neutralising +the least difference in height, so that the companies came by as if +carved out of one block. + +It was a stirring sight, making the blood thrill, especially when, at +the turn of the road leading to barracks, the bands of the British +regiments formed in front to play their fellow soldiers out of the +station, and the Sikhs broke into their old war cry, "_Jai! Jail +guru-ji ke Jai!_ (Victory, victory, our Teachers' victory)." It +mingled oddly with the--strains of "The Girl I left Behind Me." + +A little group of horsemen waited for the last farewells at the +cantonment boundary, and one of them riding alongside told Philip +Marsden that a clue had been found, and the truth would be made +manifest. The conventional answer of pleasure came reluctantly, but as +the hands of the two men met, the gloomy, troubled face looked almost +wistfully into the clever, contented one. "You are very good to her, +Raby; I know that; good-bye." The workmanlike groans and shrieks of +the fife and drum replaced the retiring bands, and as cheer after +cheer greeted the final departure Philip Marsden felt that John Raby +was left completely master of the situation. + +That evening, twenty miles out among the sandhills, he put his pride +in his pocket, impelled thereto by a persistent gnawing at his heart, +and followed the advice of writing to Belle; an honest, if somewhat +hard letter, telling her, not of his good deeds, but the truth of +those which seemed to her bad. Ten days after at Peshawar, with the +last civilised post he was to see for many weeks, his letter came back +to him unopened and re-addressed in a shaky hand. + +The heart-ache was better by that time. "She might have afforded me +the courtesy of an envelope," he said as he threw the letter into the +camp-fire. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + +The clue spoken of by John Raby lay in the note for a thousand rupees +with which Colonel Stuart had paid a portion of his card debts during +his last deal in the great game. It proved to be not only one of the +missing notes, but, as luck would have it, the very one about the +number of which uncertainty existed. The figures stood as the Colonel +had written them; so the mistake lay with the usurer, if it was really +a mistake. John Raby lit a cigarette and meditated, with the list +before him; but beyond an odd persistency in threes and fives, the +figures presented no peculiarity. So he set the problem aside till he +could tackle it on the spot where it had arisen; for he was a great +believer in scenery as an aid to the senses. + +The day was almost done, however, ere he found leisure for the task; +nevertheless, fatigued as he was, he set to work methodically and was +rewarded by the immediate discovery that uncertainty existed as to the +number of another note, the one which had been paid in by some one +else. The entry had been blotted by the hasty closing of the ledger, +and though it read like 159934, it was quite conceivable that it might +be something else. Again those threes and fives! Idly enough he wrote +the two uncertainties on a sheet of paper, and sat staring at them +till suddenly a suggestion came to him, making him re-write the number +given by Shunker in close imitation of the dead man's bold black +figures, and then deliberately blot it by placing it in the ledger. +The result bore so close a resemblance to the blurred entry that his +quick brain darted off in a wonder how the usurer had got hold of the +number of a note which he had not paid in. No reasonable explanation +suggesting itself, he began a systematic search in the waste paper +basket; the scraps there would at least tell him on what work the +Colonel had been engaged during his last day. He knew that Shunker had +had an interview with him in the morning, but that did not account for +the shreds of a receipt for three thousand five hundred maunds of +grain which he found almost on the top. An old receipt dated some +months back; three thousand five hundred too--an odd coincidence! So +far good; the next thing was to have a sight of Shunker's face before +he had time to hear rumours or make plans. + +The summons to come up for an interview early next morning rather +pleased the Lâlâ, for he received it while at the receipt of custom, +when it added to his importance in the eyes of the wedding guests who +sat watching a nautch girl sidle, like a pouter pigeon, over a strip +of dirty carpet. She was stout to obesity; her oiled hair was +plastered so as to narrow her forehead to a triangle; her voluminous +skirts ended just under the arms in a superfluity of bust. She held +one fat hand to her cheek persistently as if in the agonies of +toothache, while she yelled away as if the dentist had failed to +comfort her. Yet the best native society of Faizapore had sat there +for an hour and a half with the impassive faces of the Asiatic bent on +amusement; a face which surely will make Paradise dull work for the +_houris_. + +"Yea! I will come to Raby if he needs me," assented the rich man, +turning with a spiteful chuckle to his right hand, where old Mahomed +Lateef sat solemn and dignified. "See you, Khân _sahib_, how even the +Sirkar favours money?" + +"When I was young, Oh Shunker!" retorted the other grimly, "the hands +of Nikalsane and Jan Larnce held the sword too tight to leave room for +the rupees." + +"Ay! when you Khâns of Kurtpore brought fifty swords to flash behind +theirs, without payment. Swords are bought nowadays, and those who +lack money must e'en go to the wall." + +The old Mahomedan's eyes flared. "_Mashâllâh_, oh _buniah-ji_, if they +go to the wall in my poor house they will find swords enow! But +yesterday a hut fell--I mean 'twas pulled down for repairs--and we +came on five Persian blades![3] Ready to use, O Lâlâ-ji; no spot or +blemish of rust. Haply they may help back the rupees some day." + +Shunker moved uneasily in his chair, and the guests sank again into +silence, broken only by the occasional tributary hiccup which native +etiquette demands for the memory of dinner. The stars shone overhead, +and a great trail of smoke from the brazier of oil and cotton-seed +seemed to mix itself up with the Milky Way. Little Nuttu, the hero of +the feast, had fallen asleep in his chair, his baby bride being +engaged in cutting her teeth elsewhere. A group of younger men, +squatted in the far corner round a flaring paraffin lamp, talked +vociferously in a mixed jargon of "individual freedom," "political +rights," and "representative government." And no one laughed or cried +at anything; neither at the nautch girl with her unmentionable songs, +nor the spectacle of people discussing freedom while engaged in taking +it away from two harmless infants. + +So the night wore on in dull dissipation, leaving Shunker at a +disadvantage when he came to confront the young civilian's clear-cut, +clean-shaven face in the morning. + +"You have made a mistake, Lâlâ-ji," he began, opening fire at once; "a +serious mistake about the notes you claim to have left with Colonel +Stuart." So much, at least, was certain; John Raby, however, saw more +in the unrestrained start of alarm which the surprise evoked. "It +isn't so very serious," he continued blandly; "nothing for you to be +so frightened about, Lâlâ-ji; we all make mistakes at times. By the +way, did you keep your original memorandum of the numbers in English +or Mâhâjani [accountant's character]?" "In Mâhâjani, _Huzoor_," +bleated Shunker, and John Raby smiled. For this diminished the +possibility of clerical error enormously; indeed it was to settle this +point that he had sent for the usurer. "So much the better for you," +he went on carelessly, "and if you will bring the paper to me this +evening, say about six, I'll see if we can get the error in your claim +altered. You have interchanged a five and a three in one number, and +it is as well to be accurate before the inquiry commences. It will be +a very stringent one. By the by, what time did you last see Colonel +Stuart?" + +But the usurer was prepared this time, and when he finally bowed +himself out, John Raby was as much in the dark as ever in regard to +the details of a plot which he felt sure had been laid. + +All day long in a sort of under-current of thought he was busy +ransacking memory and invention for a theory, coming back again and +again, disheartened, to the half-tipsy laugh with which Colonel Stuart +had given him the note, declaring it was a windfall. A windfall! what +could that mean! Had Shunker given it back? Then there must have been +a second interview; but none of the servants could speak to one. He +went over early to the office and sat in the dead man's chair trying +to piece things together. The shadows were beginning to cling to the +corners ere the usurer was announced, and something in the scared +glance he gave towards the tall figure in the seat of office convinced +John Raby that the man was reminded of another and similar visit to +that room. The quaver in hand and voice with which he produced his +day-book, and said that the _Huzoor's_ number was right after all, +clinched the matter. + +"I suppose," remarked the young man coolly, "you were confused by the +other note." A random shot, but it struck home! + +"_Huzoor!_" faltered the fat man. + +John Raby looked him full in the face, and went one better; poker was +a game of which he was passionately fond. "The other note with the +threes and the fives which you saw,--which you got when,--I mean the +second time you came here--when you brought the receipt for the grain +which he destroyed--By Jove!" He threw his hand up, and a light came +into his face. "Fool not to see it before--the receipt,--the _wrong_ +receipt of course." + +"But he never gave me the money; I swear he didn't!" protested +Shunker, completely off his guard. + +His hearer broke into a fit of cynical laughter. "Thank you, Shunker, +thank you! Of course he gave you the money: I see it all; and as one +of the numbers were different, you improved on your original +memorandum, thinking you had made a mistake. Stay,--number 150034 +wasn't your note. By Jove! he must have given you back the whole roll +of four thousand five hundred by mistake. You're a bigger blackguard +than I thought!" + +"No, no!" cried the usurer, beside himself with fear of this +_shaitan_. "Only three! I swear it! I only picked up three." + +"Thank you again, Lâlâ. You picked up three. Let me see; how was it?" +The young man rose, pacing the room quickly and talking rapidly. +"Stuart must have taken four from the safe. The windfall! by George! +the windfall. The Colonel must have thought Shunker had only taken +two. Well! you're a nice sort of scoundrel," he went on, stopping +opposite the usurer and viewing him with critical eyes. "So you gave +him the wrong receipt on purpose, and now claim a second payment, is +that it?" + +Shunker collapsed to the floor as if every bone had left his body. "I +didn't,--I'll swear by holy Ganges, by my son's head--I didn't mean +it. I thought he would kill me, and I gave him the wrong receipt in my +hurry. Oh, sir, I swear--" + +"Let go my legs, you fool, or I shall! Stand up, and don't let your +teeth chatter. I'm not going to kill you. So you weren't even a good +scoundrel, Shunker, only a pitiful fortune-finder. Having done a +clever trick by mistake, you thought it safe to claim the money again, +as the only witness was dead. And it was safe, but for that chance of +the other note! It was hard luck, Lâlâ-ji, hard luck!" + +There was something almost uncanny in John Raby's jeering smile as he +threw himself into a chair and began to light one of his eternal +cigarettes. The fact being that he was elated beyond measure at his +own success, and unwilling to detract, as it were, from his own skill +by any hint of carelessness on the other side. + +"And now, Shunker," he asked, his chief attention being apparently +given to his tobacco, "what do you intend to do?" Coolly as he spoke, +he was conscious of inward anxiety; for he had rapidly reviewed the +position, and confessed himself impotent should the usurer regain the +courage of denial, since any attempt to prove the facts must bring to +light his own possession of the unlucky note. His best chance +therefore was to work on the Lâlâ's terror without delay. + +"I throw myself on your honour's mercy," quavered the usurer in a dull +despairing tone, knowing by experience that it was but a broken reed +on which to rely. + +"You don't deserve any; still there are reasons which incline me to be +lenient. Your son is young to be deprived of a father's care; besides, +as the Colonel _sahib's_ executor, I do not wish to have a committee +of inquiry in the office. You understand?" + +"_Sahib_, I understand." This eminently sensible view of the matter +was as welcome as it was unexpected. + +"Therefore I shall be content if you withdraw your claim, in some +credible way of course. Equally, of course, you will sign a +confession, which I will burn when--" + +"But, _sahib_, how--?" + +"Not another word. I particularly do not wish to know what you are +going to do; but I haven't lived seven years in India without being +aware how things _can_ be burked." + +"If the _sahib_ would only tell me--" + +"I tell you to burke it! Why, man, if I only had _your conscience_ all +things would be possible; I'd make money even out of this. I'll help +you so far. You have somehow or another to restore certain notes, the +numbers of which are known. I happen to have traced one of these +already, and you happen to have got hold of a wrong one. I will +exchange. If you haven't got it about you,--ah! I see you have; that +is a great saving of trouble." + +A quarter of an hour later John Raby wrote a few lines to Major +Marsden's successor enclosing a thousand-rupee note which he had found +in an unexpected place in Colonel Stuart's office, adding his belief +that the others would doubtless turn up ere long, and suggesting a few +days' grace in order that a thorough search might be made. + +"Never lie if you can help it," he said to himself sardonically. "That +dear old prig Marsden would be shocked at my squaring this business, +though at one stage of the proceedings he tried to do so himself. What +the devil would be the good of an inquiry to any living soul? And as +I've lost a thousand in avoiding one, no one could accuse me of +interested motives. Marsden and I row in the same boat, and if I had +had as much money as he has!-- Well, she is a dear little girl, and +that's a fact." + +He called on the dear little girl after leaving the office, and +comforted her greatly by general expressions of hope. They made her +almost more grateful to him than any certainty would have done, for +they showed a more perfect trust in her father's integrity. So even +the young man's caution told in his favour, and he went home very well +satisfied with himself, to await the final explanation that was to +emanate from the Lâlâ's fertile brain. The notes would be found +somewhere, no doubt; or else in looking over his accounts he would +discover a like sum owing to Government which would cause the +disappearance of the apparent deficiency. + +But amid all his terror, the Lâlâ had noted John Raby's assertion +that, given a certain conscience, he could make money out of the +restitution; and these idle words stood between him and many a +solution of the difficulty. His soul (if he had one) was full of hate, +a sense of defeat, and a desire for revenge. If only he could devise +some plan by which he could retain the plunder, especially that +thousand-rupee note the white-faced _shaitan_ had given him in +exchange! + +Dawn found him still in the upper chamber alone with his faithful +jackal. There was determination in his face and dogged resistance in +Râm Lâl's. + +"Fool!" whispered the usurer. "If I fall, where art thou? And I swear +I will let the whole thing go. I have money,--thou hast none. It is +only a year without opium or tobacco, Râmu, and the wife and children +well cared for meanwhile. Are you going to back out of the agreement, +unfaithful to salt?" + +"A year is ten years without opium, Lâlâ; and there is no need for +this. I am the scapegoat, it is true, but only for safety." + +"Son of owls!" cursed the usurer, still under his breath. "It is for +safety, thy safety as well as mine. For if thou wilt do as I bid thee, +it will tie that _shaitan's_ hands; and if they be not tied, they will +meddle. Besides, the _sahib-logue_ are never satisfied without a +scapegoat, and if some one go not to jail they will inquire; and then, +Râmu, wilt thou fare better? 'Twill be longer in the cells, that is +all. Opium can be smuggled, Râmu! See, I promise five rupees a month +to the warder, and a big caste dinner when thou returnest from the +father-in-law's house [a native euphemism for the jail]. And listen, +Râmu--" + +So the whispered colloquy went on and on through the hot night, and +during the course of the next day John Raby was asked to sign a +search-warrant for the house of one Râmu Lâl, who was suspected by his +master, Shunker Dâs, of having stolen the missing notes from Colonel +Stuart's office-table. For a moment the young man, taken aback by this +unexpected turn of affairs, hesitated; but reflection showed him that, +for all he could prove to the contrary, the crime might have been +committed. At least there would be time enough for interference at a +later stage of the proceedings. So Râmu and his house were searched; a +note for five hundred rupees was found on his person, and two previous +convictions against him promptly produced by the police. + +The discovery of but one, and that the smallest, note gave John Raby +the key to Shunker's plan; for if it could be proved that the money +had been stolen after it had been duly handed over to the Commissariat +officer, the Lâlâ's claim would remain intact. Thus he would be the +gainer by exactly three thousand rupees. Some of this would of course +go towards indemnifying the scapegoat; but Râmu was notoriously the +contractor's jackal, and bound to take such risks. + +What was to be done? It was maddening to be outwitted in this manner, +but after all no one was really the worse for it. Râmu had evidently +been squared: Shunker was bound to escape in any case; and Government +had gained all round. Practically speaking, he and Marsden were the +only sufferers; the latter in having paid up ten thousand rupees which +the authorities must otherwise have lost; he, in having restored one +thousand out of his honest earnings. Besides, he had forced Shunker to +disgorge another five hundred; in fact, but for him and his _écarté_ +the fraud could not have been discovered. Surely that was enough for +any man to do; especially as one disclosure must lead to another, and +in that case Government would have to pay Marsden back his money. All +of which devious but straightforward arguments ended in John Raby +taking care that the case should be tried in another court; which it +was and successfully. Râm Lâl, confronted by a mass of evidence +ingeniously compounded after native fashion from truth and +falsehood,--from the denials of honest people who could not possibly +have seen anything, and the assertions of those who were paid to have +seen everything,--pleaded guilty to having watched his master give the +money to Colonel Stuart, who, being in a hurry, had placed it in an +envelope-box on the writing-table, whence Râmu, returning after dark, +had taken it "in a moment of forgetfulness" [the usual native excuse]. + +Here the Lâlâ interrupted the Court to say in a voice broken by +emotion that Râmu was a faithful servant, a very faithful servant +indeed. + +So the jackal got eighteen months for the theft, and Shunker drove +down next morning to the jail on a visit of inspection and took the +opportunity of presenting one of the warders with five rupees. + +The net result of the whole affair, from a monetary (that is to say +from John Raby's) point of view, being that Shunker gained three +thousand rupees, the Government six thousand and odd, while Philip +Marsden lost over nine, and he himself forfeited one. He did not count +other gains and losses; not even when a day or two after the trial he +stood, with Belle's hand in his, saying good-bye to her ere she +departed to the hills. The _gharri_ waited with its pile of luggage +outside in the sunlight; poor Healy's Mary Ann, who was to accompany +her to Rajpore, was arranging the pillows and fussing over the +position of the ice-box which was to ensure comfort. + +"I can't thank you," said the girl tearfully, her pretty eyes on his. +"I wish I could, but I can't." + +"Perhaps you may,--some day," he replied vaguely, wishing it were +possible. "After all I did nothing; it was clear from the first that +there was a mistake." + +"Some people did not see the clearness," she returned bitterly. "So +your kindness,--and--and confidence--were all the more welcome. I +shall never forget it." + +Once more the young civilian was driven, by sheer keenness of +perception, to the position of an outsider who, seeing the game, sees +the odds also. "If I were you I'd forget all about it," he said, more +earnestly than was his wont. "It has been a bad dream from beginning +to end. When we all come back from the wars with a paucity of limbs +and a plethora of medals we can begin afresh. You look surprised. The +fact is I've just accepted a political berth with one of the forces, +and am off at once. I am glad; Faizapore will be dull when you are +gone." + +"What a nice young gentleman a' be, miss," said poor Healy's Mary Ann +when he had seen them safely stowed away, and with a plunge and a wild +tootle of the coachman's horn they were dashing out of the gate. "So +cheerful like. He must a' suffered a deal 'imself for to keep up 'is +sperrits so in trouble. It's wonderful what one gets used to." + +"He has been very good to me,--and to father," replied Belle softly. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + +A cold wind swept down the Peirâk valley, driving the last leaves from +the birch trees, which, filling the gully, crept some short way up the +steep ascent to the Pass, where the ridges of grey-blue slate seemed +almost a part of the staring blue sky against which they showed like a +serrated line of shadow. Nearer at hand the slopes of withered bent +were broken by sharp fang-like rocks gathering themselves in the +distance into immature peaks and passes. Here and there a patch of +dirty snow, having borne the burden and heat of summer, lay awaiting a +fresh robe of white at the hands of the fast-coming winter. Already +the round black tents of the pasture-seeking tribes were in full +retreat to the plains, and the valley lay still and silent, without +even the sweep of a hawk in its solitary circle, or the bird-like +whistle of a marmot sunning itself on the rocks. Ere long the snow +would wrap all in its soft white mantle, and the bunting, paired with +its own shadow, flicker over the glistening drifts. + +Notwithstanding the lateness of the season the Peirâk was not utterly +deserted. In a sheltered bit behind a cluster of rocks sat two young +men. One, despite the sheepskin coat and turban-wound peaked cap of +the Afghan, showed unmistakable signs of alien blood in the steady +gaze of a pair of brown eyes, and a white line of clean skin where the +fur collar met his neck. It was our old friend Dick Smith, and he was +on the watch for the last British regiment which was to cross the Pass +in order to strengthen the little garrison beyond, before winter set +her silver key upon the mountains. His companion carried his +nationality in his face, for even when Afzul Khân had condescended to +wear the uniform of a Sikh soldier no one could have mistaken the +evidence of his long, straight nose and cruel, crafty expression, in +which, however, lurked little hint of sensuality. + +"You are deeply interested in this particular regiment," remarked Dick +in fair Pushtu. "What's up, Afzul?" + +"Nothing, _Huzoor_. A fool who called himself my relative took service +once with your Sirkar. Mayhap in this regiment--God knows! It does not +matter if it was." + +The studied indifference made his hearer smile. "You are a queer lot, +you Pathans," he said lazily. "Not much family affection; not much +welcome for a long-lost brother, eh, Afzul?" + +"The Presence should remember there are Pathans and Pathans. He has +not seen my people; they are not here." He spread a well-shaped +nervous hand emphatically east, west, and south. + +"Tarred with the same brush north, I expect," muttered the Englishman +to himself. + +Afzul Khân frowned. "These are my enemies," he went on. "But for the +Sirkar,--_chk!_" He gave a curious sound, half click, half gurgle, and +drew an illustrative finger across his throat. It was rather a ghastly +performance. + +"Then why stop?" + +Afzul Khân plucked at the withered bents carelessly. "Because--because +it suits this slave; because the merciful Presence is my master; +because I may as well wait here as anywhere else." + +"What are you waiting for?" + +He showed all his long white teeth in a grin. "Promotion, _Huzoor_. It +should come speedily, since but yesterday the _sahib_ said I was worth +all the rest of the gang." + +"I must be more careful. Where the dickens did you pick up English, +Afzul?" + +"From you, _Huzoor_." A statement so irredeemably fictitious that it +made Dick thoughtful. + +"You're sharp enough, Heaven knows; but I don't understand why you +wanted to learn signalling. Are you going to give up your _jezail_ and +become a _bâbu?_" + +Afzul Khân fingered the matchlock which lay beside him. "I have +changed my mind," he said shortly. "I will leave it to the Presence to +bring down fire from Heaven; _I_ bring it from this flash-in-the-pan." + +"Now what can you know about Prometheus?" + +He shook his head. "The Presence speaks riddles. The fire comes to +some folk, to many of the _sahibs_--to you, perhaps. God knows! The +Pathans are different. Our work is fighting." + +Dick, looking at his companion's sinewy strength, thought it not +unlikely. "While we are waiting, Afzul," he said idly, "tell me the +finest fight you ever were in. Don't be modest; out with it!" + +"Wherefore not? Victory is Fate, and only women hang their heads over +success. The best fight, you say? 'Twas over yonder to the north. +There is a dip; but one way up and down. Twenty of us Barakzais and +they were fifteen; but they were ahead of us in count, for, by Allah! +their wives were so ugly that we didn't care to carry them off." + +"Why should you?" + +"'Twas a feud. Once, God knows when, a Budakshân Nurzai carried off +one of ours and began it. If the women ran out, we killed the men +instead. So it was a moonlight night, and the fifteen were fast +asleep, snoring like hogs. By Allah! my heart beat as we crept behind +the rocks on our bellies, knowing that a rolling stone might waken +them. But God was good, and _chk!_ they bled to death, like the pigs +they were, before their eyes were wide open." + +Dick Smith stared incredulously. "You call that the best fight you +ever were in? I call it--" The epithet remained unspoken as he started +to his feet with a shout. "By George! I see the glitter. Yonder, +Afzul! by the turn. Hurrah! hurrah!" + +He was off at long swinging strides, careless of the fact that the +Pathan never moved. The latter's keen eyes followed the lad with a +certain regret, and then turned to the straggling file of soldiers now +plainly visible. + +"Marsden _sahib_ with the advance guard," he muttered. "Why did I give +in to those cursed hawk's eyes when my bullet was all but in his +heart! _Wah-illah!_ his bravery made me a coward, and now my life is +his. But I will return it, and then we shall cry quits. Yonder's the +_subadâr_. By God! my knife will be in his big belly ere long, and +some of those gibing Punjâbis shall jest no more." + +So he watched them keenly with a fierce joy, while Dick tore down the +hill, to be brought, by an ominous rattle among the rifles below, to a +remembrance of his dress. Then he waited, hands down, in the open, +until the advance guard came within hail of his friendly voice; when +he received the whole regiment with open arms, as if the Peirâk were +his special property. Perhaps he had some right to consider it so, +seeing that he was the only Englishman who had ever attempted to make +those barren heights his head-quarters. But, as he explained to Philip +Marsden, while they climbed the narrow gully hemmed in by +perpendicular rocks which led to the summit, the breaks in +communication from storms and other causes had been so constant, that +he had cut himself adrift from head-quarters at Jumwar in order to be +on the spot, and so avoid the constant worry of small expeditions with +an escort; without which he was not allowed to traverse the unsettled +country on either side. + +"Here I am safe enough," he said with a laugh; "and if I could only +get my assistant, a Bengali _bâbu_, to live at the other hut I have +built on the northern descent, we could defy all difficulties. But he +is in such a blind funk that if I go out he retires to bed and locks +the door. The only time he is happy is when a regiment is on the +road." + +"Then his happiness is doomed for this year,--unless you use +discretion and come on with us to Jumwar. I doubt your being safe here +much longer." + +Dick shrugged his shoulders. "Perhaps not, and of course I shall have +to cut and run before the snow; but I like the life, and it gives me +time. I've been at work on a field-instrument--" here his eyes lit up, +and his tongue ran away with him over insulators and circuits. + +Major Marsden looked at the lad approvingly, thinking how different he +was from the slouching sullen boy of six months back. "I'm afraid I +don't understand, Dick," he said with a half-smile; "but I've no doubt +it will be very useful, if, as you say, it enables you to tap the +wires anywhere with speed and certainty." + +Dick gave a fine blush. "I beg your pardon, but these things get into +my head. It will work though, I'm sure of it. I'd show you if it was +here, but I left it at the other shanty. There's a stretch of low +level line across the Pass where I was testing it." + +The half-aggrieved eagerness in his voice made Philip smile. They were +sitting together under the lee of a rock on the summit while a halt +was called, in order to give time for the long caravan-like file, +encumbered by baggage ponies, to reach the top and so ensure an +unbroken line during the descent. For in these mountain marches the +least breach of continuity is almost certain to bring down on the +detached portion an attack from the robbers who are always on the +watch for such an opportunity. + +"You had best come with us, Dick," said Philip, returning to the point +after a pause. + +"No! The fact is I want to be certain of the communication until you +are safe in Jumwar. Those two marches, between your next camp and the +city, are risky. I have my doubts of the people." + +"Doubts shared by head-quarters apparently, for the chief got a +telegram yesterday to await orders at Jusraoli. I expect they are +going to send to meet us from Jumwar." + +"I wish I'd known in time," replied Dick lightly; "in that case there +is not much reason for staying. Yet I don't know; I'd rather stick on +till I am forced to quit." + +"That won't be long; the snow's due already, and you are coming on +with us so far in any case, aren't you?" + +Dick sat idly chucking stones and watching them leap from point to +point of the cliffs below him. "I don't think I shall, if you are to +be in camp Jusraoli for some days. You see, my _bâbu_ is no use, and +something might turn up. I'll see you across the Pass and come back. I +could join you later on if I made up my mind to cut." He lay back with +his arms under his head and looked up into the brilliant blue +cloudless sky. "Major," he said suddenly, after a pause, "do you know +that you have never asked after Belle?" + +"Haven't I? The fact is I had news of her lately. Raby wrote to me a +few days ago." + +"I wouldn't trust Raby if I were you. Did he tell you that Belle +hadn't a penny and was trying to be independent of charity by +teaching?" + +"I am very sorry to hear it." + +Dick sat up with quite a scared look on his honest face. "I thought +there must be something wrong between you two by her letters," he said +in a low voice; "but I didn't think it was so bad as that. What is +it?" + +"Really, my dear boy, I don't feel called upon to answer that +question." + +"It's beastly impertinent, of course," allowed Dick; "but see here, +Major, you are the best friend I have, and she,--why, I love her more +dearly every day. So you see there must be a mistake." + +The logic was doubtful, but the faith touched Philip's heart. "And so +you love her more than ever?" he asked evasively. + +"Why not? I seem somehow nearer to her now, not so hopelessly beneath +her in every way. And I can help her a little by sending money to Aunt +Lucilla. _She_ wouldn't take a penny, of course. But they tell me that +when my grandfather,--I mean my mother's father--dies I might come in +for a few rupees; so I have made my will leaving anything in your +charge for Belle. You don't mind, do you?" + +Philip Marsden felt distinctly annoyed. Here was fate once again +meddling with his freedom. "I'm afraid I do. To begin with, I may be +lying with a bullet through me before the week's out." + +"So may I. Look on it as my last request, Major. I'd sooner trust you +than any one in the wide world. You would be certain to do what I +would like." + +"Should I? I'm not so sure of myself. Look here, Dick! I didn't mean +to tell you, but perhaps it is best to have it out, and be fair and +square. The fact is we are rivals." He laughed cynically at his +hearer's blank look of surprise. "Yes,--don't be downcast, my dear +fellow; you've a better chance than I have, any day, for she dislikes +me excessively; and upon my word, I believe I'm glad of it. Let's talk +of something more agreeable. Ah, there goes the bugle." + +He started to his feet, leaving Dick a prey to very mixed emotions, +looking out with shining eyes over the dim blue plains which rolled up +into the eastern sky. It must be a mistake, he felt. His hero was too +perfect for anything else; and she? Something seemed to rise in his +throat and choke him. So nothing further was said between them till on +the northern skirts of the hills they stood saying good-bye. Then Dick +with some solemnity put a blue official envelope into his friend's +hand. "It's the will, Major. I think it's all right; I got the _bâbu_ +to witness it. And of course the--the other--doesn't make any +difference. You see I shall write and tell her it is all a mistake." + +The older man as he returned the boyish clasp felt indescribably mean. +"Don't be in a hurry, Dick," he said slowly. "You can think it over +and give it me when you join us, for join us you must. I won't take it +till then, at all events. As for the other, as you call it, the +mistake would be to have it changed. Whatever happens she will never +get anything better than what you give her, Dick--never!--never! +Good-bye; take care of yourself." + +As he watched the young fellow go swinging along the path with his +head up, he told himself that others beside Belle would be the losers +if anything happened to Dick Smith; who, for all the world had cared, +might at that moment have been lying dead-drunk in a disreputable +bazaar. "There is something," he thought sadly, "that most men lose +with the freshness of extreme youth. It has gone from me hopelessly, +and I am so much the worse for it." And Dick, meanwhile, was telling +himself with a pang at his heart that no girl, Belle least of all, +could fail in the end to see the faultlessness of his hero. + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + +The sun had set ere Dick reached the narrowest part of the defile +where, even at midday, the shadows lay dark; and now, with the clouds +which had been creeping up from the eastward all the afternoon +obscuring the moon, it looked grim and threatening. He was standing at +an open turn, surprised at the warmth of the wind that came hurrying +down the gully, when the low whistling cry of the marmot rang through +the valley and died away among the rocks. A second afterwards the +whizz of a bullet, followed by the distant crack of a rifle, made him +drop in his tracks and seek the shelter of a neighbouring boulder. +Once again the marmot's cry arose, this time comparatively close at +hand. To answer it was the result of a second's thought, and the +silence which ensued convinced Dick that he had done the right thing. +But what was the next step? Whistling was easy work, but how if he met +some of these musical sentries face to face? Perhaps it would be wiser +to go back. He had almost made up his mind to this course when the +thought that these robbers, for so he deemed them, might out of pure +mischief have tampered with his beloved wires came to turn the balance +in favour of going on. A disused path leading by a _détour_ to the +southern side branched off about a mile further up; if he could reach +that safely he might manage to get home without much delay. Only a +mile; he would risk it. Creeping from his shelter cautiously he +resumed his way, adopting the easy lounging gait of the hill-people; +rather a difficult task with the inward knowledge that some one may be +taking deliberate aim at you from behind a rock. More than once, as he +went steadily onwards, the cry of a bird or beast rose out of the +twilight, prompting his instant reply. "If they would only crow like a +cock," he thought, with the idle triviality which so often accompanies +grave anxiety, "I could do that first-class." + +Yet he was fain to pause and wipe the sweat from his face when he +found himself safely in the disused track, and knew by the silence +that he was beyond the line of sentries. A rough road lay before him, +but he traversed it rapidly, being anxious to get the worst of it over +before the lingering light deserted the peaks. As he stood on the +summit he was startled at the lurid look of the vast masses of cloud +which, rolling up to his very feet, obscured all view beyond. They +were in for a big storm, he thought, as he hurried down the slopes at +a break-neck pace; with all his haste barely reaching the shanty in +time, for a low growl of thunder greeted his arrival, and as he pulled +the latch a faint gleam of light showed him the empty room. He called +loudly; darkness and silence: again, as he struck a match; light, but +still silence. Quick as thought, Dick was at the signaller, and the +electric bell rang out incongruously. _Tink-a-tink-a-tink_ was echoed +from the eastward. But westward? He waited breathlessly, while not a +sound returned to him. Communication was broken; the wires had +possibly been cut, and Dick stood up with a curiously personal sense +of injury. His wires tampered with out of sheer mischief! Yet stay! +Might it not be something more? Where the devil had the _bâbu_ hidden +himself? After fruitless search an idea struck him, and he signalled +eastward once more. "Repeat your last message, giving time at which +sent." With ears attuned to tragedy Dick awaited the reply. "6 P.M. To +north side. 'Will send cocoa-nut oil and curry stuff by next mail.'" + +The echo of Dick's laughter, as he realised that but an hour or so +before the _bâbu_ had been putting the telegraph to commissariat uses, +was the last human sound the shanty was to hear for many a long day. +For the next moment's thought roused a sudden fear. The _bâbu_ had +doubtless gone over the Pass with the troops for the sake of company; +that was natural enough, but if he was still in the north shanty +awaiting Dick's return, why had he not answered the signal sent +westward? It could not be due to any break in the wire, unless the +damage had been done after dark, for he had been able to telegraph +eastward not so long ago. Was there more afoot than mere mischief? + +It was not a night for a dog to be out in, and as Dick stood at the +door he could see nothing but masses of cloud hurrying past, softly, +silently. Then suddenly a shudder of light zig-zagged hither and +thither, revealing only more cloud pierced by a few pinnacles of rock. + +Not a night for a dog certainly; but for a man, with a man's work +before him? Belle would bid him go, he knew. A minute later he had +closed the door behind him, and faced the Pass again. Ere he reached +the end of the short ascent it was snowing gently; then, with a +furious blast, hailing in slanted torrents that glittered like +dew-drops in the almost ceaseless shiver of the silent lightning. +Everything was so silent, save for the wind which, caught and twisted +in the gullies, moaned as if in pain. Ah! was that the end of all +things? Round him, in him, through him, came a blaze of white flame, +making him stagger against the wall of rock and throw up his hands as +if to ward off the impalpable mist which held such a deadly weapon. +Half-blinded he went on, his mind full of one thought. If that sort of +thing came again, say when he was passing the snow-bridge, could a man +stand it without a start which must mean instant death? The question +left no room for anything save a vague wonder till it was settled in +the affirmative. Then the nickname of "lightning-_wallahs_," given by +the natives to the telegraph-clerks, struck him as being happy, and +Afzul's reference to fire from heaven passed through his mind. More +like fire from hell surely, with that horrible sulphurous smell, and +now and again a ghastly undertoned crackle like the laughter of +fiends. There again! Wider this time, and followed by a rattle as of +musketry. But the snow which was now sweeping along in white swirls +seemed to shroud even the lightning. Horrible! To have so much light +and to be able to see nothing but cloud, and the stones at your feet. +How long would he see them? How long would it be before the snow +obliterated the path, leaving him lost? He stumbled along, tingling to +his very finger-tips, despite the cold which grew with every +explosion. The very hair on his fur coat stood out electrified, and +his brain swam with a wild excitement. On and on recklessly, yet +steadily; his footsteps deadened by the drifting snow, until he stood +at the threshold of shelter and threw open the door of the shanty. + +Great Heaven, what was this! The _bâbu_, green with fear, working the +signaller, while Afzul Khân, surrounded by six or seven armed Pathans, +stood over him with drawn knife. "Go on, you fool!" he was saying, +"your work is nearly finished." + +The full meaning of the scene flashed through Dick Smith's excited +brain quicker than any lightning. Treachery was at work, with a coward +for its agent. His revolver was out in a second, and before the +astonished group had time to grasp the unexpected interruption, the +_bâbu's_ nerveless fingers slipped from the handles, as with a gasping +sob, rising above the report, he sank in a heap on the floor. + +"By God and His Prophet!" cried Afzul, carried away, as men of his +kind are, by the display of daredevil boldness which is their +unattained ideal of bravery. "Yea, by the twelve Imaums, but it was +well done." + +"Liar, traitor, unfaithful to salt!" cried Dick, whose extraordinary +appearance and absolutely reckless behaviour inspired his hearers with +such awe that for the moment they stood transfixed. The revolver was +levelled again, this time at Afzul, when the memory of other things +beside revenge sobered the lad, and a flash of that inspiration which +in time of danger marks the leader of men from his fellows made him +throw aside the weapon and fold his arms. "No!" he said coolly, "I am +faithful. I have eaten the salt of the Barakzais; they are my +friends." + +"Don't hurt the lad," cried Afzul, not a moment too soon, for cold +steel was at Dick's throat. "God smite you to eternal damnation, +Haiyât! Put up that knife, I say. The lad's words are true. He has +eaten of our salt, and we of his. He hath lived among us and done no +harm to man or maid. By Allah! the lightning has got into his brain. +Bind him fast; and mark you, 'twill be worse than death for him to lie +here helpless, knowing that the wires he made such a fuss about have +lured his friends to death. I know his sort. Death?--this will be +seventy hells for him; and we can kill him after, if needs be." + +Dick, as he felt the cords bite into his wrists and ankles, ground his +teeth at the man's jeering cruelty. "Kill me outright, you devils!" he +cried, struggling madly. It was the wisest way to ensure life, for the +sight of his impotent despair amused his captors. + +"Give him a nip of his own brandy, Haiyât, or he will be slipping +through our fingers," said one, as he lay back exhausted. + +"Not I; the bottle's near empty as it is." + +Tales of his boyhood about drunken guards and miraculous escapes +recurred to Dick's memory, and though he felt to the full the +absurdity of mixing them up with the present deadly reality, the +slenderest chance gave at least room for hope. "There is plenty more +in the cupboard," he gasped. "The key is in my pocket." + +"True is it, O Kâreem, that the Feringhi infidel cannot die in peace +without his _sharâb_," remarked Haiyât virtuously. But he did not fail +with the others to taste all the contents of the cupboard, even to a +bottle of Pain-killer which had belonged to the _bâbu_. Meanwhile +Dick, lying helpless and bound, felt a fierce surge of hope and +despair as he remembered that behind those open doors lay something +which could put an end to treachery. Five minutes with his +field-instrument in the open, and, let what would come afterwards, he +would have done his work. The thought gave Dick an idea which, if +anything, increased the hopelessness of his position, for the only +result of his offer to work the wires on condition of his life being +saved, was to drive Afzul, who saw his dread of Dick's getting his +hands on the instrument in danger of being over-ruled, into settling +the question, once and for all, by severing the connection with a +hatchet. + +"I know him better than that," he said; "he would sit and fool us +until he had given warning. Let him lie there; if he has sense, he +will sleep." + +There was something so significant in his tone that Dick felt wisdom +lay in pretending to follow the advice. He strained his ears for every +whispered word of the gang as they crouched round the fire, and +gathered enough to convince him that the sudden change of plan at +head-quarters had endangered some deep-laid scheme of revenge, and +that Afzul Khân, believing Dick had gone on to the camp, had suggested +a false telegram in order to lure the regiment into the open. A +frantic rage and hate for the man who had suggested such a devilish +prostitution of what constituted Dick's joy and pride roused every +fibre of the lad's being. Lecoq, that greatest of examples to +prisoners, declares that given time, pluck, and a cold chisel, the man +who remains a captive is a fool. But how about the cold chisel? Dick's +eyes, craftily searching about under cover of the failing fire-light, +saw many things which might be useful, but all out of reach. + +"I am cold," he said boldly; "bring me a rug or move me out of the +draught." + +They did both, in quick recognition of his spirit, and, with a laugh +and an oath to the effect that the dead man would be a warm +bed-fellow, dragged him beside the wretched _bâbu_ and threw a +sheepskin rug over both. Dick's faint hope of some carpenter's tools +in the far corner fled utterly: but his heart leaped up again as he +remembered that his cowardly subordinate had always gone about armed +with revolvers and bowie-knives. Rifling a dead man's pockets with +your hands tied behind your back is slow work, but the rug covered a +multitude of movements. Half an hour afterwards Dick's feet were free, +and with the knife held fast between his heels he was breaking his +back in obstinate determination of some time and somehow severing the +rope upon his wrists. Some time and somehow--it seemed hours; yet when +he managed at last with bleeding hands to draw the watch from his +pocket he found it was barely two o'clock. Hitherto his one thought +had been freedom; now he turned his mind towards escape. There was +still plenty of time for him to reach the camp ere dawn found the +regiment on the move; but the risks he might have to run on the way +decided him, first of all, to try and secure his field-instrument from +the cupboard. He lay still for a long time wondering what to do next, +furtively watching Afzul Khân as he busied himself over the fire, +while the others dozed preparatory to the work before them. Having +possessed himself also of the dead _bâbu's_ revolver, Dick felt +mightily inclined to risk all by a steady shot at Afzul, and immediate +flight. But the remembrance of those sentries on the downward road +prevented him from relying altogether on his speed of foot. Yet Dick +knew his man too well to build anything on the chance of either wine +or weariness causing Afzul to relax his watch. It had come to be a +stand-up fight between these two, a state of affairs which never fails +to develop all the resources of brain and body. Dick, keenly alive to +every trivial detail, noticed first a longer interval in the +replenishing of the fire, and then the fact that but a few small logs +of wood remained in the pile. Thereafter, whenever Afzul's right hand +withdrew fresh fuel, Dick's left under cover of the noise made free +with more. The sheepskin rug had shelter for other things than a dead +body and a living one. + +"It burns like a fat Hindoo," muttered the Pathan, sulkily, as the +last faggot went to feed the flame. "Lucky there is more in the +outhouse, or those fools would freeze to death in their sleep." + +Dick's heart beat like a sledge-hammer. His chance, the only chance, +had come! Almost before the tall figure of the Pathan, after stooping +over him to make sure that he slept, had ceased to block the doorway, +Dick was at the cupboard. A minute's, surely not more than a minute's +delay, and he was outside, safe and free, with the means of warning +carefully tucked inside his fur coat. + +Too late! Right up the only possible path came Afzul, carrying a great +armful of sticks. To rush on him unprepared, tumble him backwards into +a snowdrift alongside, deal him a crashing blow or two for quietness' +sake and cram his _pugree_ into his mouth, was the work of a minute; +the next he was speeding down the descent with flying feet. The storm +was over, and the moon riding high in the heavens shone on a white +world; but already the darkness of the peaks against the eastern sky +told that the dawn was not far off. + +The first dip of the wires, he decided, was too close for safety, +besides the drifts always lay thickest there. The next, a mile and a +half down the valley, was best in every way; and as he ran, the keen +joy of victory, not only against odds but against one man, came to him +with the thought of Afzul Khân gagged and helpless in the snow. +But he had reckoned without the cold; the chill night air which, +finding its way through the open door, soon roused the sleepers by the +ill-replenished fire. Haiyât, waking first, gave the alarm, and the +discovery of their leader half suffocated in the snowdrift followed +swiftly. Yet it was not until the latter, slowly recovering speech, +gasped out a warning, that the full meaning of their prisoner's escape +was brought home to them. + +"After him! Shoot him down!" cried Afzul, staggering to his feet. "He +can bring fire from heaven! If he touches the wires all is lost. Fool +that I was not to kill him, the tiger's cub, the hero of old! Curse +him, true son of Byramghor, born of the lightning!" So with wild +threats, mingled with wilder words of wonder and admiration, Afzul +Khân, still dazed by the blows Dick had dealt him, stumbled along in +rear of the pursuit. + +The latter's heart knew its first throb of fear when the signal he +sent down the severed wire brought no reply. After all, was the +outcome of long months of labour, the visible embodiment of what was +best in him, about to fail in time of need? Again and again he +signalled, urgently, imperiously, while his whole world seemed to wait +in breathless silence. Failure! No, no, incredible, impossible; not +failure after all! Suddenly, loud and clear, came an answering trill, +bringing with it a joy such as few lives know. A shout from above, a +bullet whistling past him; scarcely fair that, when his hands were +busy, and his mind too, working methodically, despite those yelling +fiends tearing down the slope. "_Major from Dick--treachery_." +Something like a red-hot iron shot through his leg as he knelt on the +cliff, a clear mark against the sky. Lucky, he thought, it was not +through his arm. "_For God's sake_--" He doubled up in sudden agony +but went on "_Stand fast_." + +There was still a glint of life left in him when Afzul Khân, +coming up behind the butchers, claimed the death-blow. Their eyes met. +"Fire--from--heaven!" gasped Dick, and rolled over dead. The Pathan +put up his knife gloomily. "It is true," he said with an oath. "I knew +he was that sort; he has beaten us fairly." + +An hour afterwards, heralded by winged clouds flushed with the +ceaseless race of day, the steady sun climbed the eastern sky and +looked down brightly on the dead body of the lad who had given back +his spark of divine fire to the Unknown. Perhaps, if bureaucracy had +not seen fit to limit genius within statutory bounds, Dick Smith might +have left good gifts behind him for his generation, instead of taking +them back with him to the storehouse of Nature. And the sun shone +brightly also on Belle Stuart's bed; but not even her dreams told her +that her best chance of happiness lay dead in the snow. She would not +have believed it, even if she had been told. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + +It was a walled garden full of blossoming peach-trees, and chequered +with little rills of running water beside which grew fragrant clumps +of golden-eyed narcissus. In the centre was a slender-shafted, +twelve-arched garden-house, with overhanging eaves, and elaborate +fret-work, like wooden lace, between the pillars. On the sides of the +stone daïs on which the building stood trailed creepers bright with +flowers, and in front of the open archway serving as a door lay the +harmonious puzzle of a Persian carpet rich in deep reds and yellows. +Easy-chairs, with a fox-terrier curled up on one of them, and a low +gipsy table ominously ringed with marks of tumblers, showed the +presence of incongruous civilisation. + +From within bursts of merriment and the clatter of plates and dishes, +without which civilisation cannot eat in comfort, bore witness that +dinner was going on. Then, while the birds were beginning to say +good-night to each other, the guests came trooping out in high +spirits, ready for coffee and cigars. All, with one exception, were in +the _khâki_ uniform which repeated washing renders, and always will +render, skewbald, despite the efforts of martial experts towards a +permanent dye. Most of the party were young and deeply engrossed by +the prospect of some sky-races, which, coming off next day, were to +bring their winter sojourn at Jumwar to a brilliant close. One, a +lanky boy with pretensions to both money and brains, was drawing down +on himself merciless chaff by a boastful allusion to former stables he +had owned. + +"Don't believe a syllable he says," cried his dearest friend. "I give +you my word they were all screws. Stable, indeed! Call it your +tool-chest, Samuel, my boy." + +Lieutenant Samuel Johnson, whose real name of Algernon, bestowed on +him by his godfathers and godmothers in his baptism, had been voted +far too magnificent for everyday use, blinked his white eyelashes in +evident enjoyment of his own wit as he retorted: "Well, if they were +screws I turned 'em myself. You buy yours ready made." + +"Well done, Samivel! Well done! You're improving," chorused the others +with a laugh. + +"You might lend me that old jest-book, Sam, now that you've got +a new one," replied his opponent calmly. "I'm running short of +repartees,--and of cigars, too, bad cess to the Post! By Jove! I wish +I had the driving of those runners; I'd hurry them up!" + +"Man does not live by cigars alone. I'm dead broke for boots," +interrupted another, looking disconsolately at the soles and uppers +which not all the shameless patching of an amateur artist could keep +together. + +"I have the best of you there," remarked some one else. "I got these +at Tom Turton's sale. They wouldn't fit any one else." + +"Yes, poor Tom had small feet." + +There was a pause among the light-hearted youngsters as if the grim +Shadow which surrounded that blossoming garden had crept a bit nearer. + +"This is delightful," said John Raby, the only civilian present, as he +lay back in his easy-chair which was placed beyond the noisy circle. +His remark was addressed to Philip Marsden, who leaned against one of +the octagonal turrets which like miniature bastions flanked the +platform. "I shall be quite sorry to leave the place," continued Raby. +"It's a perfect paradise." + +In truth it was very beautiful. The pink and white glory of the peach +blossoms blent softly into the snow-clad peaks, now flushed by the +setting sun; while a level beam of light, streaming in through a +breach in the wall, lit up the undergrowth of the garden, making the +narcissus shine like stars against the dark green shadows. + +"Doubtless," remarked Philip, "--for a Political who comes with the +swallows and summer. You should have seen it in January,--shouldn't +he, boys?" + +"Bah! the usual 'last Toosday' of 'Punch!' The hardships of +campaigning indeed! _Perdrix aux choux_ and cold gooseberry tart for +dinner; an idyllic mess-house in a peach-garden; coffee and iced pegs +to follow." + +"Well, sir," cried a youngster cheerfully, "if you had favoured us in +winter we would have given you stewed Tom in addition. It was an +excellent cat; we all enjoyed it, except Samuel. You see it was his +favourite _miaow_, so he is going to give the stuffed skin to an aged +aunt, from whom he expects money, in order to show that he belongs to +the Anti-Vivisection League." + +"A certain faint regard for the verities is essential to a jest," +began Samuel, affecting the style of his illustrious namesake. + +"I wish some one would remove the mess-dictionary," interrupted the +other. "The child will hurt himself with those long words some day." + +"Bad for you, if they did," grinned a third. "D'ye know he actually +asked me last mail-day if there were two f's in affection. _Whoo +hoop!_" Closely pursued by the avenger he leapt the low balustrade, +and the garden resounded to much boyish laughter, as one by one the +youngsters joined the chase. + +"Remarkably high spirits," yawned John Raby, "but a trifle reminiscent +of a young gentleman's academy. They jar on the _dolce far niente_ of +the surroundings." + +"We were glad enough of the spirits a few months ago," replied Philip +significantly. "The _dolce far niente_ of semi-starvation requires +some stimulant." + +"That was very nearly a _fiasco_, sending you over the Pass so late. +Lucky for you the Politicals put the drag on the Military in time." + +"Lucky, you mean, that poor Dick Smith managed to send that telegram. +I've often wondered how he did it. The story would be worth hearing; +he was one in a thousand." + +"You always had a leaning towards that red-headed boy; now I thought +him most offensive. He--" + +"_De mortuis_," quoted the Major with a frown. + +"Those are the ethics of eternity combined with a sneaking belief in +ghosts. But I mean nothing personal. He was simply a disconcerting +sport, as the biologists say, from the neutral-tinted Eurasian, and I +distrust a man who doesn't look his parentage; he is generally a fraud +or a monstrosity." + +"That theory of yours is rather hard on development, isn't it?" said +Philip with a smile. + +"Only a stand in favour of decency and order. What right has a man to +be above his generation? It is extremely inconvenient to the rest of +us. If he is successful, he disturbs our actions; if he uses us as a +brick wall whereon to dash out his brains, he disturbs our feelings. +To return to Dick Smith; the whole affair was foolhardy and +ridiculous. If I had been Political then I should certainly have +refused to allow that camping-out on the Pass; and so he would +probably have been enjoying all that money, instead of dying miserably +just when life became worth having." + +"What money?" asked Philip Marsden hastily. + +"Didn't you hear? It was in the papers last week,--haven't seen them +yet perhaps? Some distant relation of his father's died in England, +leaving everything to Smith senior or his direct male heirs; failing +them, or their assigns, to charity. So as no one had made a +will,--paupers don't generally--some dozens of wretched children will +be clothed in knee-breeches or poke-bonnets till Time is no more." + +In the pause which ensued Philip Marsden felt, as most of us do at +times, that he would have given all he possessed to put Time's dial +back a space, and to be standing once more on the northern slope of +the Peirâk with Dick's hand in his. "_There's the will, Major; it +doesn't make any difference, you know_." The words came back to him +clearly, and with them the mingled feeling of proud irritation and +resentful self-respect which had made him set the blue envelope aside, +and advise a more worldly caution. Temper, nothing but temper, it +seemed to him now. "There was a will," he said at last, in a low +voice. "Dick spoke to me of one when we came over the Pass together. +You see there was a chance of his getting a few rupees from old +Desouza." + +John Raby threw away the end of his cigarette with an exclamation. "By +George, that's funny! To make a will in hopes of something from a man +who died insolvent, and come in for thirty thousand pounds you knew +nothing about! But where is the will? It was not among his papers, for +strangely enough the people had not looted much when the Pass opened +and we went over to search. Perhaps he sent it somewhere for safe +custody. It would make a difference to Belle Stuart, I expect, for +he--well, he was another victim." + +"I think,--in fact I am almost sure,"--the words came reluctantly as +if the speaker was loth to face the truth,--"that he had the will with +him when he died. He showed it me--and--Raby, was every search made +for the body?" + +His hearer shrugged his shoulders. "As much as could be done in a +place like that. For myself I should have been surprised at success. +Think of the drifts, the vultures and hyenas, the floods in spring. Of +course it may turn up still ere summer is over, but I doubt it. What a +fool the boy was to carry the will about with him! Why didn't he give +it to some one else who was less heroic?" + +"He could easily have done that, for I tell you, Raby, he was worth a +dozen of us who remain," said Philip bitterly, as he stood looking +over the peach-blossom to the lingering snows where Dick had died. +"Well, good-night. I think I shall turn in. After all there is no fool +like an old fool." + +The civilian followed his retreating figure with a good-natured smile. +"He really was fond of that youngster," he said to himself. "The mere +thought of it all has made him throw away half of the best cigar on +this side the Peirâk. By Jove! I won't give him another; it is too +extravagant." + +The next morning Philip Marsden came over to the Political quarters, +and with a remark that last night's conversation had borne in on him +the necessity for leaving one's affairs in strict business order, +asked John Raby to look over the rough draft of a will. + +"Leave it with me," was the reply, given with the usual easy +good-nature. "It appears to me too legal, the common fault of +amateurs. I'll make it unimpeachable as Cæsar's wife, get one of my +_bâbus_ to engross it, and bring it over ready for you to fill up the +names and sign this afternoon. No thanks required; that sort of thing +amuses me." + +He kept his promise, finding Philip writing in the summer-house. "If +you will crown one kindness by another and can wait a moment, I will +ask you to witness it," said the latter. "I shall not be a moment +filling it in." + +"The advantage of not cutting up good money into too many pieces," +replied his friend smiling. + +"The disadvantage perhaps of being somewhat alone in the world. There, +will you sign?" + +"Two witnesses, please; but I saw Carruthers in his quarters as I came +by; he will do." + +John Raby, waiting to perform a kindly act somewhat to the prejudice +of his own leisure, for he was very busy, amused himself during Major +Marsden's temporary absence by watching a pair of doves with pink-grey +plumage among the pink-grey blossom. Everything was still and silent +in the garden, though outside the row of silvery poplar trees swayed +and rustled in the fitful gusts of the wind. Suddenly a kite soaring +above swooped slightly, the startled doves fled scattering the petals, +and the wind, winning a way through the breach in the wall, blew them +about like snowflakes. It caught the paper too that was lying still +wet with ink, and whirled it off the table to John Raby's feet. "I +hope it is not blotted," he thought carelessly, as he stooped to pick +it up and replace it. + +A minute after Major Marsden, coming in alone, found him, as he had +left him, at the door, with rather a contemptuous smile on his face. +"Carruthers is not to be had, and I really have not the conscience to +ask you to wait any longer," said the Major. + +John Raby was conscious of a curious sense of relief. In after years +he felt that the chance which prevented him from signing Philip +Marsden's will as a witness came nearer to a special providence than +any other event in his career. Yet he replied carelessly: "I wish I +could, my dear fellow, but any other person will do as well. I have to +see the Mukdoom at five, and I start at seven to prepare your way +before you in true Political style. Can I do anything else for you?" + +"Put the will into the Political post-bag for safety when I send it +over," laughed Philip as they shook hands. "Good-bye. You will be a +lion at Simla while we are still doing duty as sand-bags on the +scientific frontier; diplomacy wins nowadays." + +"Not a bit of it. In twenty years, when we have invented a gun that +will shoot round a corner, the nation which hasn't forgotten the use +of the bayonet will whip creation, and we shall return to the belief +that the man who will face his fellow, and lick him, is the best +animal." + +"In the meantime, Simla for you and service for us." + +"Not a bit of that, either. Why, the British Lion has been on the +war-trail for a year already. It's time now for repentance and a +transformation-scene; troops recalled, _durbar_ at Peshawar, the Amir +harlequin to Foreign Office columbine, Skobeloff as clown playing +tricks on the British public as pantaloon." + +"And the nameless graves?" + +"Principle, my dear fellow," replied John Raby with a shrug of his +shoulders, "is our modern Moloch. We sacrifice most things to it,--on +principle. By the bye, I have mislaid that original of the will +somehow; possibly my boy packed it up by mistake, but if I come across +it I'll return it." + +"Don't bother,--burn it. 'Tis no good to any one now." + +"Nor harm, either,--so good-bye, warrior!" + +"Good-bye, diplomatist!" + +They parted gaily, as men who are neither friends nor foes do part +even when danger lies ahead. + +That same evening the homeward bound post-runner carried with him over +the Peirâk Major Marsden's will leaving thirty thousand pounds to +Belle Stuart unconditionally. It was addressed to an eminently +respectable London firm of solicitors, who, not having to deal with +the chances of war, would doubtless hold it in safe custody until it +was wanted. The testator, as he rode the first march on the Cabul +road, felt, a little bitterly, that once more he had done his best to +stand between her and care. Yet it must be confessed that this feeling +was but as the vein of gold running through the quartz, for pride and +a resentful determination that no shadow of blame should be his, +whatever happened, were the chief factors in his action. Nor did he in +any way regard it as final. The odds on his life were even, and if he +returned safe from the campaign he meant to leave no stone unturned in +the search for Dick Smith's body. Then, if he failed to find the will, +it would be time enough to confess he had been in the wrong. + +John Raby, as he put the bulky letter in the Political bag according +to promise, felt also a little bitter as he realised that Belle with +thirty thousand pounds would come as near perfection in his eyes as +any woman could. And then he smiled at the queer chance which had put +him in possession of Major Marsden's intention; finally dismissing the +subject with the cynical remark that perhaps a woman who was +sufficiently fascinating to make two people leave her money ere she +was out of her teens might not be a very safe possession. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + +In the tiny drawing-room of a tiny house, wedged in between a huge +retaining wall and the almost perpendicular hill-side, Belle Stuart +sat idly looking out of the window. Not that there was anything to +see. The monsoon fogs swept past the stunted oaks, tipped over the +railings, filled the verandah, crept in through the crevices, and +literally sat down on the hearth-stone; for the room was too small, +the thermometer too high, and humanity too poor, to allow of a fire. +Without, was a soft grey vapour deadening the world; within, was a +still more depressing atmosphere of women, widow's weeds, and +wrangling. + +On her lap lay the newspaper filled, as usual, with items from the +frontier. To many a woman that first sheet meant a daily agony of +relief or despair; to Belle Stuart it was nothing more than a history +of the stirring times in which she lived, for with Dick's sad end, and +John Raby's return to reap rewards at Simla, she told herself that her +personal interest in the war must needs be over. A passing pity, +perhaps, for some one known by name, a kindly joy for some chance +acquaintance, might stir her pulses; but nothing more. Yet as she sat +there she was conscious of having made a mistake. Something there was +in the very paper lying on her lap which had power to give keen pain; +even to bring the tears to her eyes as she read the paragraph over +again listlessly. + + +Severe Fighting in the Terwân Pass. Gallant Charge of the 101st Sikhs. +List Of Officers Killed, Wounded, and Missing.--The telegram which +reached Simla a few days ago reporting a severe skirmish in the Terwân +has now been supplemented by details. It appears that a small force +consisting of some companies of the 101st Sikhs, the 24th Goorkhas, +the 207th British Infantry, and a mule battery, were sent by the old +route over the Terwân Pass in order to report on its practical use. No +opposition was expected, as the tribes in the vicinity had come in and +were believed to be friendly. About the middle of the Pass, which +proved to be far more difficult than was anticipated, a halt had to be +made for the purpose of repairing a bridge which spanned an almost +impassable torrent. The road, which up to this point had followed the +right bank of the river, now crossed by this bridge to the left in +order to avoid some precipitous cliffs. Here it became evident that +the little force had fallen into an ambuscade, for firing immediately +commenced from the numerous points of vantage on either side. The +Goorkhas, charging up the right bank, succeeded in dislodging most of +the enemy and driving them to a safe distance. From the advantage thus +gained they then opened fire on the left bank, managing to disperse +some of the lower pickets. Owing, however, to the rocky and almost +precipitous nature of the ground the upper ones were completely +protected, and continued to pour a relentless fire on our troops, who +were, for the most part, young soldiers. During the trying inaction +necessary until the bridge could be repaired,--which was done with +praiseworthy rapidity despite the heavy fire--Major Philip Marsden, of +the 101st Sikhs, volunteered to attempt the passage of the torrent +with the object of doing for the left bank what the Goorkhas had done +for the right. + +Accordingly the Sikhs, led by this distinguished officer, rushed the +river in grand style, how it is almost impossible to say, save by +sheer pluck and determination, and after an incredibly short interval +succeeded in charging up the hill-side and carrying picket after +picket. A more brilliant affair could scarcely be conceived, and it is +with the very deepest regret that we have to report the loss of its +gallant leader. Major Marsden, who was among the first to find +foothold on the opposite bank, was giving directions to his men when a +bullet struck him in the chest. Staggering back almost to the edge of +the river, he recovered himself against a boulder, and shouting that +he was all right, bade them go on. Lost sight of in the ensuing +skirmish, it is feared that he must have slipped from the place of +comparative safety where they left him and fallen into the river, for +his helmet and sword-belt were found afterwards a few hundred yards +down the stream. None of the bodies, however, of those lost in the +torrent have been recovered. Nor was it likely that they would be, as +the stream here descends in a series of boiling cataracts and swirling +pools. In addition to their leader, whose premature death is greatly +to be deplored, the Sikhs lost two native officers, and thirty-one +rank and file. The Goorkhas-- + + +But here Belle's interest waned and she let the paper fall on her lap +again. One trivial thought became almost pitifully insistent, "I wish, +oh, how I wish I had not sent back that letter unopened!" As if a +foolish girlish discourtesy more or less would have made any +difference in the great tragedy and triumph of the man's death. For it +was a triumph; she could read that between the lines of the bald +conventional report. + +"There's Belle crying, actually crying over Major Marsden," broke in +Maud's cross voice from a rocking-chair. Now a rocking-chair is an +article of furniture which requires a palatial apartment, where its +obtrusive assertion of individual comfort can be softened by distance. +In the midst of a small room, and especially when surrounded by four +women who have not rocking-chairs of their own, it conduces to nervous +irritation on all sides. "You talk about disrespect, mamma," went on +the same injured voice, "just because I didn't see why we shouldn't go +to the Volunteer Ball in colours, when he was only our stepfather; but +I call it really nasty of Belle to sit and whimper over a man who did +his best to take away the only thing except debts that Colonel +Stuart--" + +"Oh, do hold your tongue, Maudie!" cried Mabel. "I'm getting sick of +that old complaint. I don't see myself why we shouldn't wear our pink +tulles. It would be economical to begin with, and, goodness knows, we +have to think of the rupees, annas, and paisas nowadays." + +Here Maud, who was not really an ill-tempered girl, became overwhelmed +by the contemplation of her own wrongs, and began to sob. "I +never--wore--a year-behind-fashion dress before, and--when I suggest +it--just to save the expense--I'm told I'm heartless. As if it was my +fault that mamma's settlement was so much waste paper, and that our +money went to pay--" + +"Really, Maud, you are too bad," flared up her youngest sister. "If it +was any one's fault, it was Uncle Tom's, for not being more careful. +The governor was awfully good to us always. Ah, things were very +different then!" + +This remark turned on the widow's ready tears. "Very different indeed. +Three in the kitchen, and I wouldn't like to say how many in the +stable. And though I don't wish to repine against Providence, yet caps +are so expensive. I can't think why, for they are only muslin; but +Miss Crowe says she can't supply me with one that is really respectful +under five rupees." + +"It is all very well for you to talk, Mabel," insisted Maud from the +rocking-chair; "you have a settlement of your own in prospect." + +"So might you," retorted the other, "if you were wise, instead of +wasting your time over men who mean nothing, like that handsome +Captain Stanley." + +"Yes!" yawned Mildred. "It is the stubby Majors with half-a-dozen +motherless children growing up at home who marry." + +Mabel flushed through her sallow skin and in her turn became tearful; +for in truth her _fiancé_ was but too accurately described in these +unflattering terms. "It is not your part to jeer at me for sacrificing +myself to the interests of you girls. In our unfortunate position it +is our duty to avail ourselves of the chances left us, and not to go +hankering after penniless probationers in the Post-Office." + +Yet one more recruit for pocket-handkerchief drill rushed to the +front, though more in anger than sorrow. "If you are alluding to +Willie Allsop," retorted Mildred fiercely, "I dare say he will be as +well off as your Major some day. At any rate I'm not going to perjure +myself for money, like some people." + +"Oh, girls, girls!" whimpered the widow plaintively, "don't quarrel +and wake Charlie, for the doctor said he was to be kept quiet and not +excited. Really, misfortunes come so fast, and things are so dear,--to +say nothing of Parrish's Chemical Food for Charlie--that I don't know +where to turn. If poor Dick had but lived! It was too bad of those +nasty Afghans to kill the dear boy just as he was getting on, and +being so generous to me. I always stood up for Dick; he had a warm +heart, and people don't make their own tempers, you know." + +Belle, who had been sitting silent at the window, clasping and +unclasping her hands nervously, felt as if she must stifle. "I wish," +she said in a low voice, "you would let me go on teaching as I did in +the winter. Why should we mind, even if there are old friends here +now? I am not ashamed of working." + +Her remark had one good effect. It healed minor differences by the +counter irritation of a general grievance, and the upshot of a +combined and vigorous attack was that there had been quite enough +disgrace in the family already, without Belle adding to it. Of course, +had she been able to give lessons in music or singing, the suggestion +might have been considered, since the flavour of art subdued the +degradation; but the idea of teaching the children of the middle class +to read and write was hopelessly vulgar. It was far more genteel to +become a _zenana_-lady, since there the flavour of religion disguised +the necessity. Belle, trying to possess her soul in patience by +stitching away as if her life depended on it, found the task beyond +her powers. "I think I'll go out," she said in a choked voice. "Oh, +yes! I know it's raining, but the air will do me good; the house is so +stuffy." + +"It's the best we can afford now," retorted Maud. + +"And the position is good," suggested Mrs. Stuart feebly. + +"Belle doesn't care a fig for position, mamma," snapped up her +daughter. "She would have liked one of those barracks by the bazaar +where nobody lives." + +"We might have got up a scratch dance there," remarked Mildred in +tones of regret. "Oh, not _now_, mamma, of course; but by and by when +things got jollier." + +"I don't believe they ever will get jollier," came in gloomy prophecy +from the rocking-chair, as Belle escaped gladly into the mist and +rain. Six weeks, she thought; was it only six weeks since the +maddening, paralysing drip, drip, drip of ceaseless raindrops had been +in her ears? And yet these experienced in hill-weather spoke +cheerfully of another six weeks to come. Would she ever be able to +endure being the fifth woman in that ridiculous little room for all +those days? What irritated her most was the needlessness of half the +petty worries which went to make up the dreary discomfort. The +extravagant clinging to the habits of past opulence, the wastefulness, +resulting in the want of many things which might have made life more +pleasant; the apathy content to grumble and do nothing, while she felt +her spirits rise and her cheeks brighten even from her rapid walk +through the driving mist. The rain had lessened as she paused to lean +over the railings which protected a turn of the road where it was +hollowed out from the hill-side; sheer cliff on one side, sheer +precipice on the other. Up to her very feet surged the vast grey sea +of mist, making her feel as if one more step would set her afloat on +its shoreless waste. Yet below that dim mysterious pall lay, she well +knew, one of the fairest scenes on God's earth, smiling doubtless in a +sunshine in which she had no part. Then suddenly, causelessly, the +words recurred to her--"_The world is before you yet; it holds life, +and happiness, and love_." Who had said them? Even now it cost her an +effort to remember clearly the events following on the shock of her +father's death. The effort was so painful that she avoided it as a +rule; but this time the memory of Philip Marsden's kindness came back +sharply, and the trivial remorse about the letter rose up once more to +take the front place in her regrets until driven thence by one vague, +impotent desire to have the past back again. Looking down into the +impalpable barrier of cloud through which a pale gleam of light +drifted hither and thither, she could almost fancy herself a +disembodied spirit striving after a glimpse of the world whence it had +been driven by death; so far away did she feel herself from those +careless days at Faizapore, from the kindly friends, the-- + +"Miss Stuart! surely it is Miss Stuart!" cried a man's voice behind +her. She turned, to see John Raby, who, throwing the reins of his pony +to the groom, advanced to greet her, his handsome face bright with +pleasure. His left arm was in a sling, for he had been slightly +wounded; to the girl's eyes he had a halo of heroism and happiness +round him. + +"I am so glad!" she said, "so glad!" + +As they stood, hand in hand, a sunbeam struggling through the cloud +parted the mist at their feet. Below them, like a jewelled mosaic, +lay the Doon bathed in a flood of light; each hamlet and tree, each +silver torrent-streak and emerald field, seemingly within touch, so +clear and pellucid was the rain-washed air between. Further away, like +fire-opals with their purple shadows, flashed the peaks of the +Sewaliks, and beyond them shade upon shade, light upon light, the +mother-of-pearl plain losing itself in the golden setting of the sky. + +"I am in for luck all round," cried John Raby in high delight. "That +means a break in the rains, and a fortnight of heaven for me,--if fate +is kind--" + +But Belle heard nothing; one of those rare moments when individuality +seems merged in a vast sympathy with all things visible and invisible +was upon her, filling her, body and soul, with supreme content. + +"Are you not coming in?" she asked, when, after walking slowly along +the Mall, they reached the path which led downward to the little +drawing-room and the four women. + +"I will come to-morrow," he replied, looking at her with undisguised +admiration in his eyes. "Today it is enough to have seen you. After +all, you were always my great friend,--you and your father." + +"Yes, he was very fond of you," she assented softly; and with her +flushed cheeks and the little fluffy curls by her pretty ears all +glistening with mist drops, showed an April face, half smiles, half +tears. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + +Two months later found Belle Raby sitting in the shade of a spreading +deodar-tree, placidly knitting silk socks for her husband, who, +stretched on the turf beside her, read a French novel. + +Pages would not satisfactorily explain how this sequence of events +came about, because pages would not suffice to get at the bottom of +the amazing, unnatural ignorance of first principles which enables a +nice girl to marry a man towards whom she entertains a rudimentary +affection, and afterwards, with the same contented calm, to acquiesce +in the disconcerting realities of life. Belle was not the first girl +who chose a husband as she would have chosen a dress; that is to say, +in the belief that it will prove becoming, and the hope that it will +fit. Nor was she (and this is the oddest or the most tragic part in +the business) the first or the last girl who, after solemnly perjuring +herself before God and man to perform duties of which she knows +nothing, and to have feelings of which she has not even dreamed, is on +the whole perfectly content with herself and her world. In fact Belle, +as she looked affectionately at her lounging spouse, felt no shadow of +doubt as to the wisdom of her choice; so little has the mind or heart +to do with the crude facts of marriage, so absolutely distinct are the +latter from the spiritual or sentimental love with which ethical +culture has overlaid the simplicity of nature to the general confusion +of all concerned. + +"Upon my life, Paul de Kock is infinitely amusing!" remarked John +Raby, throwing the book aside and turning lazily to his young wife. +"Worth twice all your Zolas and Ohnets, who _will_ be serious over +frivolity. Our friend here has an inexhaustible laugh." + +"I'm sure I thought him dreadfully stupid," replied Belle simply. "I +tried to read some last night." + +"I wouldn't struggle to acquire the art of reading Paul de Kock, my +dear," said John Raby with a queer smile. "It's not an accomplishment +necessary to female salvation. The most iniquitous proverb in the +language is that one about sauce for the goose and the gander. Say +what you will, men and women are as different in their fixings as +chalk from cheese. Now I,--though I am domestic enough in all +conscience--would never be contented knitting socks as you are. By the +way, those will be too big for me." + +"Who said they were meant for you?" retorted Belle gaily. "Not I!" + +"Perhaps not with your lips; but a good wife invariably knits socks +for her husband, and you, my dear Belle, were foreordained from the +beginning of time to be a good wife,--the very best of little wives a +man ever had." + +"I hope so," she replied after a pause. "John, it is all very well +here in holiday time to be lazy as I am, but by and by I should like +to be a little more useful; to help you in your work, if I could; at +any rate to understand it, to know what the people we govern think, +and say, and do." + +Her husband sat up, dangling his hands idly between his knees. "I'm +not sure about the wisdom of it. Personally I have no objection; +besides, I hold that no one has a right to interfere with another +person's harmless fancies; yet that sort of thing is invariably +misunderstood in India. First by the natives; they think a woman's +interest means a desire for power. Then by the men of one's own class; +they drag up 'grey mare the better horse,' &c. How I hate proverbs! +You see, women out here divide themselves, as a rule, betwixt balls +and babies, so the men get _cliqué_. I don't defend it, but it's very +natural. Most of us come out just at the age when a contempt for +woman's intellect seems to make our beards grow faster, and we have no +clever mixed society to act as an antidote to our own conceit. Now a +woman with a clear head like yours, Belle, you are much cleverer than +I thought you were, by the way, is sure with unbiassed eyes to see +details that don't strike men who are in the game,--unpleasant, +ridiculous details probably,--and that is always an offence. If you +were stupid, it wouldn't matter; but being as you are, why, discretion +is the better part of valour." + +"But if I have brains, as you say I have, what am I to do with them?" +cried Belle, knitting very fast. + +"There are the balls,--and the babies; as Pendennis said to his wife, +'_Tout vient à ceux qui savent attendre_.' By the way, I wonder where +the dickens the postman has gone to to-day? It's too bad to keep us +waiting like this. I'll report him." + +"_Tout vient--!_" retorted Belle, recovering from a fine blush. "Why +are you always in such a hurry for the letters, John? I never am." + +"No more am I," he cried gaily, rising to his feet and holding out his +hand to help her. "I never was in a hurry, except--" and here he drew +her towards him in easy proprietorship--"to marry you. I was in a +hurry then, I confess." + +"You were indeed," said the girl, who but a year before had felt +outraged by the first passionately pure kiss of a boy, as she +submitted cheerfully to that of a man whose love was of the earth, +earthy. "Why, you hardly left me time to get a wedding-garment! But it +was much wiser for you to spend the rest of your leave here, than to +begin work and the honeymoon together." + +"Much nicer and wiser; but then you are wisdom itself, Belle. Upon my +soul, I never thought women could be so sensible till I married you. +As your poor father said the first time we met, I have the devil's own +luck." + +He thought so with the utmost sincerity as he strolled along the turfy +stretches beyond the deodars, with his arm round his wife's waist. The +devil's own luck, and all through no management of his own. What +finger had he raised to help along the chain of fatality which had +linked him for life to the most charming of women who ere long would +step into a fortune of thirty thousand pounds? On the contrary, had he +not given the best of advice to Philip Marsden? Had he not held his +tongue discreetly, or indiscreetly? Finally, what right would he have +had to come to Belle Stuart and say, "By an accident, I have reason to +suppose that you are somebody's heiress." For all he knew the +sentimental fool might have made another will. And yet when two days +later the dilatory postman brought in the English mail, John Raby's +face paled, not so much with anxiety, as with speculation. + +"Have you been running up bills already?" he asked, lightly, as he +threw an unmistakably business envelope over to her side of the table +along with some others. + +"You wouldn't be responsible, at all events," she replied with a +laugh, "for it is addressed to Miss Belle Stuart." + +"I am not so sure about that," he retorted, still in the same jesting +way. "It is astonishing how far the responsibility of a husband +extends." + +"And his rights," cried Belle, who in a halfhearted way professed +advanced opinions on this subject. + +"My dear girl, we must have some compensation." + +He sat reading, or pretending to read, his own letters with phenomenal +patience, while his wife glanced through a long crossed communication +from her step-sisters; he even gave a perfunctory attention to several +items of uninteresting family news which she retailed to him. He had +foreseen the situation so long, had imagined it so often, that he felt +quite at home and confident of his self-control. + +"John!" came Belle's voice, with a curious catch in it. + +"What is it, dear? Nothing the matter, I hope? You look startled." He +had imagined it so far; but he knew the next minute from her face that +he had under-rated something in her reception of the news. She had +risen to her feet with a scared, frightened look. "I don't +understand," she said, half to herself; "it must be a mistake." Then +remembering, apparently, that she no longer stood alone, she crossed +swiftly to her husband's side, and kneeling beside him thrust the open +letter before his eyes. "What does it mean, John?" she asked +hurriedly. "It is a mistake, isn't it?" + +His hand, passed round her caressingly, could feel her heart bounding, +but his own kept its even rhythm despite the surprise he forced into +his face. "It means," he said, at length,--and the ring of triumph +would not be kept out of his voice--"that Philip Marsden has left you +thirty thousand pounds." + +"Left _me!_--impossible! I tell you it is a mistake!" + +Now that the crisis was over, the cat out of the bag, John Raby knew +how great his anxiety had been, by the sense of relief which found +vent in a meaningless laugh. "Lawyers don't make mistakes," he +replied. "It is as clear as daylight. Philip Marsden has left you +thirty thousand pounds! By Jove, Belle, you are quite an heiress!" + +She stood up slowly, leaning on the table as if to steady herself. +"That does not follow," she said, "for of course I shall refuse to +take it." + +Her husband stared at her incredulously. "Refuse thirty thousand +pounds,--are you mad?" He need not have been afraid of under-doing his +part of surprise, for her attitude took him beyond art into untutored +nature. + +"It is an insult!" she continued in a higher key. "I will write to +these people and say I will not have it." + +"Without consulting me? You seem to forget that you are a married +woman now. Am I to have no voice in the matter?" His tone was instinct +with the aggressive quiet of one determined to keep his temper. +"Supposing I disapproved of your refusal?" he went on, seeing from her +startled look that he had her unprepared. + +"Surely you would not wish--" + +"That is another question. I said, supposing I disapproved of the +refusal. What then?" + +Standing there in bewildered surprise, the loss of her own +individuality made itself felt for the first time, and it roused the +frightened resentment of a newly-caught colt. "I do not know," she +replied, bravely enough. "But you would surely let me do what I +thought right?" + +"Right! My dear girl, do stick to the point. Of course if there were +urgent reasons _against_ your taking this money--" + +"But there are!" interrupted Belle quickly. "To begin with, he had no +right to leave it to me." + +"I beg your pardon. The law gives a man the right to leave his money +to any one he chooses." + +"But he had no right to choose me." + +"I beg your pardon again. It is not uncommon for a man to leave his +money to a woman with whom he is in love." + +"In love!" It was Belle's turn to stare incredulously. "Major Marsden +in love with me! What put that into your head?" + +He shrugged his shoulders impatiently. "My dear child, even if you +didn't know it before,--and upon my soul you are unsophisticated +enough for anything--surely it is patent now. A man doesn't leave +thirty thousand to any woman he happens to know." + +For the first time Belle flinched visibly and her face paled. "All the +more reason for refusing, surely," she replied in a low tone, after a +pause. "You could not like your wife--" + +"Why not? It isn't as if you had cared for him, you know." + +The blood which had left her cheeks came back with an indignant rush. +"Care for him! Can't you see that makes it doubly an insult?" + +"I'm afraid not. It makes it much more sentimental, and +self-sacrificing, and beautiful, on his part; and I thought women +admired that sort of thing. I know that leaving money to the girl who +has jilted you is a stock incident in their novels." + +"I did not jilt Philip Marsden. I refuse to admit the incident into my +life. I don't want to vex you, John, but I must do what I think +right." + +Her husband, who had walked to the window and now stood looking out of +it, paused a moment before replying. "My dear Belle," he said at last, +turning to her kindly, "I hate on principle to make myself +disagreeable to any one, least of all to my wife, but it is best you +should know the truth. The law gives that money to me, as your +husband. You see, you married without settlements. Now, don't look +like a tragedy-queen, dear, for it never does any good. We have to +accept facts, and I had nothing to do with making the law." + +"You mean that I have no power to refuse?" cried Belle with her eyes +full of indignant tears. + +"I'm afraid so. But there is no reason why I should stand on my +rights. I should hate to have to do so, I assure you, and would far +rather come to a mutual understanding. Honestly, I scarcely think the +objections you have urged sufficient. Perhaps you have others; if so, +I am quite willing to consider them." + +The curious mixture of resentment, regret, and remorse which rose up +in the girl's mind with the mere mention of Major Marsden's name, made +her say hurriedly, "Think of the way he treated father! If it was only +for that--" The tears came into her voice and stifled it. + +John Raby looked at her gravely, walked to the window again, and +paused. "I fancied that might be one, perhaps the chief reason. +Supposing you were mistaken; supposing that Marsden was proved to have +done his best for your father, would it make any difference?" + +"How can it be proved?" + +"My dear Belle, I do wish you would stick to the point. I asked you if +your chief objection would be removed by Major Marsden's having acted +throughout with a regard for your father's reputation which few men +would have shown?" + +"I should think more kindly of him and his legacy certainly, if such a +thing were possible." + +"It is possible; and, as I said before, it is best in all things to +have the naked, undisguised truth. I would have told you long ago if +Marsden hadn't given it me in confidence. But now I feel that respect +for his memory demands the removal of false impressions. Indeed, I +never approved of his concealing the real facts. They would have been +painful to you, of course; they must be painful now--worse luck to it; +but if it hadn't been for that idiotic sentimentality of poor +Marsden's you would have forgotten the trouble by this time." + +Belle, with a sudden fear, the sort of immature knowledge of the end +to come which springs up with the first hint of bad tidings, put out +her hand entreatingly. "If there is anything to tell, please tell it +me at once." + +"Don't look so scared, my poor Belle. Come, sit down quietly, and I +will explain it all. For it is best you should not remain under a +wrong impression, especially now, when,--when so much depends on your +being reasonable." + +So, seated on the sofa beside her husband, Belle Stuart listened to +the real story of her father's death and Philip Marsden's generosity. +"Is that all?" she asked, when the measured voice ceased. It was +almost the first sign of life she had given. + +"Yes, dear, that is all. And you must remember that the trouble is +past and over,--that no one but we two need ever suspect the truth--" + +"The truth!" Belle looked at him with eyes in which dread was still +the master. + +"And he was not accountable for his actions, not in any way himself at +the time," he continued. + +With a sudden sharp cry she turned from him to bury her face in the +sofa cushions. "Not himself at the time!" Had he ever been himself? +Never, never! How could a dishonoured, drunken gambler, dying by his +own act, have been, even for a moment, the faultless father of her +girlish dreams! And was that the only mistake she had made; or was the +world nothing but a lie? Was there no truth in it at all, not even in +her own feelings? + +"I am so sorry to have been obliged to give you pain," said her +husband, laying his hand on her shoulder. "But it is always best to +have the truth." + +His words seemed a hideous mockery of her thoughts, and she shrank +impatiently from his touch. + +"You must not be angry with me; it is not my fault," he urged. + +"Oh, I am not angry with you," she cried, with a petulant ring in her +voice as she raised herself hastily, and looked him full in the face. +"Only,--if you don't mind--I would so much rather be left alone. I +want to think it all out by myself,--quite by myself." + +The hunted look in her eyes escaped his want of sympathy, and he gave +a sigh of relief at her reasonableness. "That is a wise little woman," +he replied, bending down to kiss her more than once. "I'll go down the +_khud_ after those pheasants and won't be back till tea. So you will +have the whole day to yourself. But remember, there is no hurry. The +only good point about a weekly post is that it gives plenty of time to +consider an answer." + +That, to him, was the great point at issue; for her the foundations of +the deep had suddenly been let loose, and she had forgotten the +question of the legacy. Almost mechanically she gave him back his +farewell kiss, and sat still as a stone till he had left the room. +Then, impelled by an uncontrollable impulse, she dashed across to the +door and locked it swiftly, pausing, with her hand still on the key, +bewildered, frightened at her own act. What had she done? What did it +mean? Why had her one thought been to get away from John, to prevent +his having part or lot in her sorrow? Slowly she unlocked the door +again, with a half impulse to run after him and call him back. But +instead of this she crept in a dazed sort of way to her own room and +lay down on the bed to think. Of what? Of everything under the sun, it +seemed to her confusion; yet always, when she became conscious of any +clear thought, it had to do, not with her father or Philip Marsden, +but with her own future. Was it possible that she had made other +mistakes? Was it possible that she was not in love with John? Why else +had she that wild desire to get rid of him? The very suggestion of +such a possibility angered her beyond measure. Her life, as she had +proudly claimed, was not a novel; nothing wrong or undignified, +nothing extravagant or unseemly should come into it; and it was surely +all this not to be in love with one's lawful husband! It was bad +enough even to have had such a suspicion after a bare fortnight of +wedded life; it was absurd, ridiculous, impossible. So as the day +passed on, all other considerations were gradually submerged in the +overwhelming necessity of proving to herself that she and John were a +most devoted couple. As tea-time approached she put on a certain +tea-gown which her lord and master was pleased to commend, and +generally prepared to receive the Great Mogul as husbands should be +received. Not because she had come to any conclusion in regard to that +locking of the door, but because, whatever else was uncertain, there +could be no doubt how a husband _should_ be treated. For, as some one +has said, while a man tolerates the marriage-bond for the sake of a +particular woman, the latter tolerates a particular man for the sake +of the bond. + +So Belle poured out the tea and admired the pheasants, to John Raby's +great contentment; though in his innermost heart he felt a little +manly contempt for the feminine want of backbone which rendered such +pliability possible. Only once did she show signs of the unstilled +tempest of thought which lay beneath her calm manner. It was when, +later on in the evening during their nightly game of _écarté_, he +complimented her on some _coup_, remarking that her skill seemed +inherited. Then she started as if the cards she was handling had stung +her, and her face flushed crimson with mingled pain and resentment; +yet in her homeless life she had necessarily learned betimes the give +and take required in most human intercourse. The fact was that already +(though she knew it not) her husband was on his trial, and she could +no longer treat his lightest word or look with the reasonable +allowances she would have accorded to a stranger. A man is seldom +foolish enough to expect perfection in a wife; a woman from her +babyhood is taught to find it in her husband, and brought up to +believe that the deadliest sin a good woman can commit is to see a +spot in her sun. She may be a faithful wife, a kindly companion, a +veritable helpmate; but if the partner of her joys and sorrows is not, +for her, the incarnation of all manly virtues, or at least the man she +would have chosen out of all the world, her marriage must be deemed a +failure. Love, that mysterious young juggler, is not there to change +duty into something which we are told is better than duty, and so the +simple, single-hearted performance of a simple, perfectly natural +contract becomes degradation. + +Belle, confused yet resentful, lay awake long after her husband slept +the sleep of the selfish. Her slow tears wetted her own pillow +quietly, decorously, lest they might disturb the Great Mogul's +slumbers. Yet she could scarcely have told why the tears came at all, +for a curious numbness was at her heart. Even the thought of her dead +father had already lost its power to give keen pain, and she was in a +vague way shocked at the ease with which her new knowledge fitted into +the old. The fact being, that now she dared to look it full in the +face without reservation, the loving compassion, the almost divine +pity which had been with her ever since the day when poor Dick had +first opened her eyes to the feet of clay, seemed no stranger, but a +familiar friend. Then Philip Marsden! Dwell as she might on her own +ingratitude, his kindness seemed too good a gift to weep over; and +again she stretched out her hands into the darkness, as she had done +on the night when her anger had risen hot against the man she +misjudged; but this time it was to call to him with a very passion of +repentance, "_Friend, I will take this gift also. In this at least you +shall have your way_." + +"By George, Belle!" said John Raby next morning, when she told him +that she had made up her mind to take the legacy without demur, "you +are simply a pearl of women for sense. I prophesy we shall be as happy +as the day is long, always." + +And Belle said she hoped so too. But when he fell to talking joyously +of the coming comforts of sweet reasonableness and thirty thousand +pounds, in the life that was just beginning for them, her thoughts +were busy with schemes for spending some at least of the legacy in +building a shrine of good deeds to the memory of her friend,--surely +the best friend a woman ever had. She was bound by her nature to +idealise some one, and the dead man was an easier subject than the +living one. + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + +Murghub Ahmad, with nothing on but a waistcloth, his high narrow +forehead bedewed with the sweat which ran down his hollow cheeks like +teardrops, was fanning the flame of his own virtue with windy words in +the dark outhouse which he designated the editor's room. Four square +yards of court beyond constituted the printing office of the _Jehâd_, +a bi-weekly paper of extreme views on every topic under the sun. For +the proprietors of _The Light of Islâm_ having a wholesome regard to +the expense of libels, had dispensed with the young man's eloquence as +being too fervid for safety. So, Heaven knows by what pinching and +paring, by what starvation-point of self-denial, the boy had saved and +scraped enough to buy a wretched, rotten handpress, and two used up +lithographic stones. With these implements, and a heart and brain full +of the fierce fire of his conquering race, he set to work with the +utmost simplicity to regenerate mankind in general, and the Government +of India in particular, by disseminating the smudged results of his +labours on the poor old press among his fellow-subjects; for the most +part, it is to be feared, free, gratis, and for nothing. Poor old +press! No wonder it creaked and groaned under Murghub Ahmad's thin +straining arms; for it had grown old in the service of Government, and +on the side of law and order. Generation after generation of prisoners +in the district jail had found a certain grim satisfaction and +amusement in producing by its help endless thousands of the forms +necessary for the due capture and punishments of criminals yet to +come. Reams and reams of paper had they turned out as writs of arrest, +warrants for committal, charge-sheets, orders for jail discipline, or, +joyful thought, memos of discharge. And now order and discipline were +unknown quantities in its life. Perhaps the change was too much for +its constitution; certain it is that it became daily more and more +unsatisfactory in regard to the complicated Arabic words with which +its present owner loved to besprinkle his text. Then the damp, +overworked stones refused to dry, even under the boy's hot feverish +hands; and he lost half his precious time in chasing the shifting +sunlight round and round the narrow courtyard in order to set the ink. +Something there was infinitely pathetic about it all; especially on +the days when, with the look of a St. Sebastian in his young face, the +lad could stay his hard labour for a while, and rest himself by +folding the flimsy sheets within the orthodox green wrapper where a +remarkably crooked crescent was depicted as surrounded by the beams of +the rising sun. False astronomy, but excellent sentiment! Then there +was the addressing for the post. Most of the packets bore the +inscription _bearing_; but one, chosen with care, and cunningly +corrected with a deft pen, never failed to carry the requisite stamp +above the quaint address: _To my respectable and respected father, +Khân Mahommed Lateef Khân, in the house of the Khân of Khurtpore, Sudr +Bazaar, Faizapore_. Which is much as though one should address a +Prince of the Blood to Tottenham Court Road. + +Then, with the precious parcels in his arms, and one copy in his +bosom, he would joyfully lock the door above which "Press of the Jehâd +Newspaper" was emblazoned in English, and make his way to some cheap +cook-house, where, in honour of the occasion, he would purchase a +farthing's worth of fried stuff to eat with his dry dough cakes. +Thereafter he would repair to the steps of a mosque, or to one of the +shady wells which still linger in the heart of cities in India, in +order to discuss his own views and writings with a group of young men +of his own age. For in that large town, with its strange undercurrents +of new thoughts and aims underlying the steady stream of humanity +towards the old beliefs, Murghub Ahmad was not without his audience, +nor even his following. He had the sometimes fatal gift, greater than +mere eloquence, of leading the minds of his hearers blindfold by some +strange charm of voice and personality; and when, as often happened, +discussion took the form of harangue, the slow-gathering, stolid crowd +used to wake up into muttered approbation as the familiar watchwords +of their faith were presented to them in new and bewildering forms. + +It was the eve of Mohurrim, the great feast and fast of orthodox and +unorthodox Mahomedans; an occasion which claimed more zeal than usual +from the young reformer. On the morrow the paper shrines of the dead +Hussan and Hussain, which were now being prepared in many a quiet +courtyard, would be borne through the streets in triumph, followed by +excited crowds of the faithful. And, as sometimes happens, it was +Dussarah-tide also, and the Hindus held high festival as well as the +Mahomedans. A simple thing enough to Western minds, accustomed to the +idea of wide thoroughfares and religious toleration; a very different +affair in the tortuous byeways of a native town, and among the ancient +antagonisms. It was critical at the best of times, and this year +doubly, trebly so, for with the newly-granted franchise of municipal +government, the richer Hindus out-numbered the Mahomedans in the +committee which had power to direct the route open to each procession. +So the cry of favouritism went forth, and as the gaudy paper streamers +were being gummed to the frail bamboo frames, many a dark face grew +darker with determination to carry the sacred symbol where he chose; +yea, even into the midst of the cursed idol-worshipping crew, despite +all the municipal committees and fat, bribing usurers in the world. + +The _Jehâd_ was full of sublime wrath and valiant appeals for justice +to high Heaven, because a certain connecting alley between two of the +big bazaars had been closed to the Mahomedans and given to the Hindus. +True, another, and equally convenient, connection, had been allowed +the former; but for many years past the procession of _tâzzias_ had +struggled through that particular alley, and the innovation was +resented as an insult. East and west, mankind is made the same way. It +was astonishing how many imperious demands on the resources of +Providence this trivial change aroused in Murghub Ahmad. He called for +justice, mercy, and religious freedom, for the stars as witness, for +the days of Akbar. On the other hand, a rival print with an +unpronounceable title, clamoured for Bikramâjeet, the hero-king of +old, for Hindu independence and the sword. Either faction, it may be +observed, asked for those things in others of which they had least +themselves, after the way of factions all over the world. + +Thus many a quarterstaff was being diligently whittled that evening, +and down in the butchers' quarter even deadlier weapons were being +talked of openly by its inhabitants, the most truculent of all the +mixed races and trades with which rulers have to deal. John Raby, +doing his judicial work in the big court-house outside the town, felt, +with that sharp, half-cunning perception of concealed things which he +possessed so pre-eminently, that there was mischief brewing, and drove +round by the executive official's house in order to tell him so. The +latter assured him that the newly-elected municipal committee were +fully alive to the necessity for precautions; whereat the young man +shrugged his shoulders and said he was glad to hear it. He mentioned +it casually to Belle with a sneer, which he did not allow himself in +public, at the crass stupidity of needlessly setting race against race +by premature haste to confer the blessings of vestrydom on India. And +Belle agreed, since, even with the limited experience of the past +year, she had learnt a sort of reverence for the old ways, which seem +so irredeemably bad to the unsympathetic philanthropy of the West. + +For a whole year had passed since the fateful letter announcing the +legacy had come to disturb the foundations of her world. It had had +surprisingly little effect on her, chiefly because she was determined +that her life must run in one ordered groove. There must be no mistake +or fiasco, nothing but what she considered decent, orderly, virtuous. +Uninteresting, no doubt; but it is nevertheless true that a very large +number of women are born into the world with an unhesitating +preference for behaving nicely; women who can no more help being +longsuffering, cheerful, and self-forgetful, than they can help being +the children of their parents. Her husband's clear sight had early +seen the expediency of concealing from her the radical difference +between her view of life and his own. He even felt pleased she should +think as she did; it was so much safer, and more ladylike. In his way +he grew to be very fond of her, and there was scarcely any friction +between them, since, moved by a certain gratitude for the change her +money had wrought in his prospects, he gave her free play in +everything that did not interfere with his settled plans. Half the +said money was already invested in Shunker Dâs's indigo concern, and +John Raby was only awaiting its assured success to throw up his +appointment and go openly into trade; but of this Belle knew nothing. +She had money enough and to spare for all her wishes, and that was +sufficient for her; indeed, on the whole, she was happy in the larger +interests of her new life. The tragic, poverty-stricken, yet contented +lives of the poor around her had a strange fascination for the girl, +and the desire to see and understand all that went to make up the +pitiful sum-total of their pleasures, led her often, on her solitary +morning rides (for John was an incurable sluggard) through the alleys +and bazaars of the great city. In the latter, the people knowing in a +dim way that she was the judge _sahib's_ wife, would _salaam_ +artificially, but in the back streets both women and children smile on +her, much to her unreasoning content. + +So the morning after her husband's sarcasm over the mistakes of his +seniors, she determined, in the confidence of ignorance, to see +something of the processions; and with this intention found herself, +about seven o'clock, in the outskirts of the town. Here the deserted +appearance of the streets beguiled her into pushing on and on, until +close to the big mosque a blare of conches, and the throbbing of +ceaseless drums mingled with cries, warned her of an advancing +procession. Wishing to watch it unobserved, she turned her horse into +a side alley and waited. + +As in all countries, a rabble of boys, sprung Heaven knows whence, +formed the advance guard. Behind them came an older, yet more +mischievous crowd of men flourishing quarterstaves and shouting +"Hussan! Hussain!" Next emerged into the square, a swaying, top-heavy +_tazzia_, looking every instant as though it must shake to pieces, and +behind it more quarterstaves and more _tazzias_, more shouts, and more +dark faces streaming on and on to overflow into the square, until the +procession formed a part only of the great crowd. So absorbed was she +in watching the swooping out of each successive _tazzia_, like some +gay-plumaged bird from the intricate windings of the way beyond, that +she failed to notice the current settling towards her until the +vanguard of urchins was almost at her horse's hoofs. Then she +recognised the disconcerting fact that she had taken refuge in the +very path of the procession. Turning to escape by retreat, she saw the +further end of the alley blocked by a similar crowd; only that here +the shouts of "_Dhurm! Dhurm! Durga dei! Gunga_ (the faith, the faith! +the goddess Durga! Ganges!)" told of Hindu fanaticism. + +She was, in fact, in the very alley which both sides claimed as their +own. Bewildered, yet not alarmed, for her ignorance of religious +ecstasy made her presuppose deference, she turned her horse once more, +and rode towards the advancing _tazzias_ at a foot's-pace. The look of +the crowd as she neared it was startling, but the cry of "_Jehâd! +Jehâd!_ Death to the infidel!" seemed too incredible for fear; and ere +the latter came with the conviction that not even for a judge _sahib's +mem_ would the stream slacken, a young man, his gaunt face encircled +by a high green turban, rushed to the front and seized her horse by +the bridle. + +"No words! Dismount yourself from steed and follow your preserver. We +war not with women." The effect of these stilted words uttered in +tones of intense excitement was somehow ludicrous. "Smile not! Be +nimble, I entreat. Unhorse yourself, and follow, follow me." + +The vision of a hideous leering face leading the quarterstaves decided +her on complying. The next instant she felt herself thrust into a dark +entry, and ere the door closed, heard a scream of terrified rage from +her horse, as some one cut it over the flank with his staff. The +outrage made her temper leap up fiercely, and she felt inclined to +confront the offender; but before she could reach the door it was shut +and hasped in her face. + +Then the desire to escape from darkness and see--see something, no +matter what--possessed her, and she groped round for some means of +exit. Ah! a flight of steep steps, black as pitch, narrow, broken; she +climbed up, and up, till a grating in the wall shed a glimmer of light +on the winding stair; up further, till she emerged on a balcony +overlooking the street, whence she could see far into the alley on one +side and into the square on the other. Beneath her feet lay a small +empty space edged by the opposing factions hurrying into collision. + +"Give way! Give way, idolaters! Hussan! Hussain! _Futeh Mahommed_ +(Victory of Mahomed)," yelled the _tazzia_-bearers. + +"_Jai, Jai, Durga Devi, de-jai!_ Give way, killers of kine," shouted +the Hindus. + +For an instant or two Belle's horse, hemmed in by the advancing +crowds, kept the peace by clearing a space between them with head and +heels; then, choosing the least alarming procession, it charged the +Hindus, breaking their ranks as, maddened by terror it plunged and +bit. Only for a moment, however, for the packed mass of humanity +closing in round it, held it harmless as in a vice. + +"The charger of Pertâp!"[4] cried a huge rice-husker with ready wit, +as he leapt to the saddle, and coming rather to grief over the +crutches, raised a roar of derision from the other side. He scowled +dangerously. "Come on, brothers!" he cried, digging his heels +viciously into the trembling, snorting beast. "Down with the cursed +slayers of kine. This is Durga-ji's road,--_Dhurm! Dhurm!_" + +"Hussan,--Hussain!" + +Then the dull thud of heavy blows seemed to dominate the war of words, +and business began in earnest as a Mahomedan, caught behind the ear, +fell in his tracks. It was not much of a fight as yet, for in that +narrow street the vast majority of the crowd could do nothing but +press forward and thus jam activity into still smaller space, until +the useless sticks were thrown aside, and the combatants went at each +other tooth and nail, but unarmed. So they might have fought out the +wild-beast instinct of fighting, but for the fact that the Hindus, +with commendable foresight, had headed their procession by athletes, +the Mahomedans by enthusiast. So, inch by inch, surging and swaying, +yelling, cursing, yet doing comparatively little harm, the combatants +drifted towards the square until the wider outlet allowed a larger +number of the Mahomedans to come into play, and thus reverse the order +of affairs. Once more the _tazzias_, surrounded by their supporters, +carried the lane, and swept back the red-splashed figure of Durga +amidst yells of religious fury. So the battle raged more in words than +blows. Belle, indeed, had begun to feel her bounding pulses steady +with the recognition that, beyond a few black eyes and broken heads, +no harm had been done, when a trivial incident changed the complexion +of affairs in an instant. + +The foremost _tazzia_, which had borne the brunt of conflict and come +up smiling after many a repulse, lost balance, toppled over, and went +to pieces, most likely from the inherent weakness of its architecture. +The result was startling. A sudden wave of passion swept along the +Mahomedan line, and as a young man sprang to the pilaster of the +mosque steps and harangued the crowd, every face settled into a deadly +desire for revenge. + +"Kill! Kill! Kill the idolaters--_Jehâd! Jehâd!_"--the cry of +religious warfare rang in an instant from lip to lip. And now from +behind came a fresh burst of enthusiasm, as a body of men naked to the +waist pushed their way towards the front with ominous glint of +sunlight on steel as they fought fiercely for place. + +"Room! Room for the butchers! Kill! Kill! Let them bleed! let them +bleed!" + +The shout overbore the high ringing voice of the preacher, but Belle, +watching with held breath, saw him wave his hand towards the lane. +Slowly, unwillingly at first, the crowd gave way; then more rapidly +until a roar of assent rose up. "The butchers, the butchers! Kill! +Kill!" + +Belle gasped and held tight to the railing, seeing nothing more but +the tide of strife beneath her very feet. Red knives, gleaming no +longer, straining hands, and every now and again a gurgle and a human +head disappearing to be trodden under foot. Heaven knows how weapons +come in such scenes as these,--from the houses,--passed to the front +by willing hands--snatched from unwilling foes who fall. In a second +it was knife against knife, murder against murder. "_Durga! Durga +devi!_ Destroy! Destroy!" "Hussan! Hussain! Kill! Kill!" Then +suddenly, a rattle of musketry at the far end of the square, where, +cut off from the actual conflict by an impenetrable crowd, a strange +scene had been going on unobserved. Two or three mounted Englishmen +unarmed, but sitting cool and square on their horse sat the head of a +company of Mahomedan and Hindu sepoys who stood cheek by jowl, calm, +apparently indifferent, their carbines still smoking from the recent +discharge. About them was a curious stillness, broken only by the +sound of more disciplined feet coming along at the double. A glint of +red coats appears behind, and then a police-officer, the sunlight +gleaming on his silver buckles, gallops along the edge of the rapidly +clearing space, laying about him with the flat of his sword, while +yellow-trousered constables, emerging Heaven knows from what safe +shelter, dive in among the people, whacking vigorously with the +traditional truncheon of the West. A rapid order to the sepoys, an +instant of marking time as the company forms, then quick march through +an unresisting crowd. As they near the combatants a few brickbats are +thrown: there is one free fight over the preacher: and then the great +mass of mankind falls once more into atoms, each animated by the +instinct of self-preservation. Five minutes more, and the processions +have gone on their appointed ways with the loss of some chosen +spirits, while the ghastly results are being hurried away by +fatigue-parties recruited from the bystanders. + +"Only one round of blank cartridge," remarked John Raby, as the Deputy +Commissioner rode forward ruefully to inspect the damage. "Ten minutes +more, and it wouldn't have been so easy, for the fighting would have +reached the square, and once a man begins--Great God! what's that?" + +He was out of the saddle staring at a horse that was trying to stagger +from the gutter to its feet. Perhaps in all his life he had never felt +such genuine passion as then; certainly Belle herself was never so +near to loving her husband as when she saw the awful fear come into +his face at the sight of the riderless steed. She had been waiting for +him to come nearer before calling for assistance, and now the thought +of her past danger and its meaning almost choked her voice. "I'm not +hurt! Oh, John! I'm not hurt," she cried, stretching her hands towards +him. + +He looked up to see her on the balcony, and his relief, as it often +does, brought a momentary resentment. "Belle! What the devil--I mean, +why are you here?" + +Now that it was all over, she felt disagreeably inclined to cry; but +something in his voice roused her pride and urged her to make light of +what had happened, and so avoid being still more conspicuous. "I'll +come down and explain," she replied with an effort. + +"Wait! I'll be with you in a moment. Which is the door?" As he paused +to kiss her before helping her down the dark stair, Belle passed the +happiest moment of her married life. Physically and morally she felt +crushed by the scenes she had witnessed, and his calm, half-callous +strength seemed a refuge indeed. + +"Not across the square," whispered the police-officer as he was about +to take her the shortest route. "That poor brute must be shot." + +John Raby raised his eyebrows a little, but took the hint. Women were +kittle cattle to deal with; even the best of them like Belle. Who, for +instance, would have thought of any one with a grain of sense getting +into such a position? Underneath all his kindness lay a certain +irritation at the whole business, which he could not conceal. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + +Belle, recovering from the shock healthily, looked for a like +forgetfulness in her husband, but she was disappointed. "There is +nothing to make such a fuss about, John," she said, when a few days +brought no cessation of his regret at her having been mixed up in such +a scene. "It hasn't hurt me, you see; and as for the notoriety, people +will soon forget all about it." + +"At any rate it shows you that I was right in saying that the +philanthropical dodge doesn't do in the wife of an official," he +replied moodily. "A thing like that might do a man a lot of harm." + +"I can't see how; besides, there isn't much philanthropy in watching +men--Oh, John! don't let us talk of it any more. It makes me feel ill; +I want to forget all about it." + +"But you can't. I don't want to be disagreeable, Belle; but have you +ever considered that there must be a trial, and that you, as an +eye-witness, must--" + +She turned pale, and clutched the arm of her chair nervously. + +"No! I see you haven't,--that's always the way with women. They want +all the fun of the fair without the responsibility. The ring-leaders +will be tried for their lives of course; eight of the poor beggars +were killed, and two more are dying, so they must hang some one. You +had a box-seat, so to speak, and are bound to give your evidence." + +"But I could only see the tops of their heads. I couldn't possibly +recognise--" + +"You must have seen and heard that fool of a preacher, my dear child. +That's the worst of it; if you hadn't studied the language it would +have been different. As I said before, it all comes of taking what you +call an interest in the people. I don't see how you are to get out of +being called on for evidence, and I tell you honestly I'd have given +pounds to prevent you putting yourself in such a position. It may mean +more than you think." + +"But I couldn't give evidence against that boy," said Belle in a very +low voice. "I told you, John, I thought it was he who,--who--" + +"It doesn't matter a straw if he did help you. The question is, if he +excited the crowd. Of course he did, and with your predilection for +abstract truth, you would say so, I suppose, even if it was,--well, +unwise." + +"What,--what would the punishment be?" she asked after a pause. + +He looked at her with unfeigned surprise. "Really, Belle! you surely +see that some one must be hanged? The question is, who?" + +"But he used such long words." + +He had been quarrelling with a cigarette during the conversation, and +now threw it away impatiently. "You are certainly a very ingenuous +person, Belle. On the whole, perhaps you _had_ better stick to the +truth. You couldn't manage anything else satisfactorily." + +"Of course I shall stick to the truth, John," she replied hotly. + +"Well, I don't want to be disagreeable, you know; but in your place I +shouldn't, and that's a fact." + +"Why?" she asked, in a startled voice. + +"For many reasons. To begin with, the boy comes of decent folk; +Marsden used to swear by the father. There were three brothers in the +regiment, and one of them saved the Major's life, or something of that +sort. Why, Belle, what's the matter?" + +She had risen, and was now fain to catch at his outstretched hand to +steady herself. Why, she scarcely knew; finding the only explanation +in an assertion, made as much for her own edification as his, that her +nerves must be out of order. + +"Nerves!" he echoed, as he placed her with half contemptuous kindness +in his chair, and brought her a scent-bottle. "I'll tell you what it +is, dear, no woman should have both nerves and conscience. It's too +much for one frail human being. It is no use my advising you to forget +all about this wretched business, or to suppress the disagreeable +parts; and yet, in your place, I should do both." + +"Oh, John!" + +"Yes, I should, from a sense of duty,--to myself first, and then to +society. What will be gained by hanging that blatant windbag of a +boy?" + +Murghub Ahmad, who, in his cell awaiting trial, was meanwhile +comforting himself with the belief that the fate of nations depended +on his life or death, would no doubt have resented this opinion +bitterly. Yet it was all too true. The evil lay much further back than +the utterance of the half-realised words which had poured from his +lips like oil on the flame. He had said things as wild, as subversive +of the law, dozens of times before, and nothing had happened; no one +had taken any notice of it. And now! The boy buried his face in his +hands, and tried to think if he was glad or sorry for martyrdom. + +Mahomed Lateef, stern and indignant, hurried from far Faizapore to see +his Benjamin, and in the sight of the pale half-starved face forgot +his anger, and pledged his last remaining credit to engage an English +lawyer for his son's defence. And then he girt his old sword about +him, counted over the precious parchments of olden days, and the still +more precious scraps of modern note-paper, which were all that was +left to his honour, and thus armed set off to see the big Lord _sahib_ +at Simla. He came back looking years older, to await, as they bade +him, the usual course of law and order. + +So it came to pass that as her husband had foretold, Belle found +herself one day saying in a low voice: "I heard him call on the people +to fight. I saw him wave his hand towards the Hindus." + +"You mean,--pray be careful Mrs. Raby, for it is a point of great +importance--that, as the butchers were coming up, you saw the prisoner +wave them on to the conflict?" + +"I cannot say if that was his intention. I saw him wave his hand." + +"As they were passing?" + +"As they were passing." + +"Should you say,--I mean, did it give you the impression that he was +encouraging them, urging them on?" + +Belle Raby, before she answered, looked across the court at the boy, +then at her husband, who with a slight frown, sat twiddling a pen at +the Government Advocate's table. "It did. I think it would have given +that impression to any one who saw it." And with these words every one +knew the case was virtually at an end so far as Murghub Ahmad was +concerned. + +"Roman matrons are not in it," thought John Raby as he flung the pen +from him impatiently; "and yet she will regret it all her life, and +wonder if she didn't make a mistake, or tell an untruth, to the end of +her days. O Lord, I'm glad I wasn't born a woman! They won't hang him, +if that's any consolation to you, my dear," he said as they drove +home; "though upon my word, it isn't your fault if they don't. I'm +beginning to be a bit afraid of you, Belle. Your conscientiousness +would run me out of that commodity in a week; but I suppose some +people are born that way." + +The fresh wind blew in her face, the sun was shining, the little +squirrels skipping over the road. The memory of that drive to her +father's funeral returned to her, sharply, with a sort of dim +consciousness that something else in her life was dying, and would +have to be buried away decently ere long. "Why didn't you tell me +before that he would not be hanged?" she asked in a dull voice. + +"Why? For many reasons. For one, I thought you might be more merciful, +and,--but there's an end of it! They'll give him fourteen years over +in the Andamans. By George, the boy will learn that the tongue is a +two-edged sword! Pity he wasn't taught it before." + +Perhaps it was. At all events Mahomed Lateef, his father, went back to +his sonless house with a vague sense of injustice not to be lost this +side the grave, and a palsied shake of his head only to be stilled by +death. Not to stay there long, however, for he was ousted even from +that dull refuge by the necessity for selling it in order to redeem +his pledges. So he flitted drearily to his last hold on life. A scrap +of land between the Indus and the sand-hills, where, if the river ran +high, the flooding water raised a crop, and if not the tiller must +starve,--or go elsewhere; if only to the six feet of earth all men may +claim whereon to sow the seed for a glorious resurrection. + +About a month after the trial John Raby came home from office, not +exactly in a bad temper, but in that cynical, contemptuously-patient +frame of mind which Belle began to see meant mischief to the +hero-worship she still insisted on yielding to her husband. + +"I've brought you something to read," he said coolly, laying a +newspaper on the table and taking up the cup of tea she had poured out +for him. "As that unfortunate trial has led to this premature +disclosure, I think it only fair to ask you what you would rather I +did in the matter. Honestly, I don't much care. Of course I would +rather have had a little more time; but as the native papers have got +hold of the business I'm quite ready, if you prefer it, to throw up +my appointment to-morrow. However, read it,--on the second page I +think--and skip the adjectives." + +"Well?" he asked, as after a time she laid down the newspaper, and +stared at him in a bewildered sort of way. "The main facts are true, +if that is what you mean. I was lucky enough to hit on that indigo +business; it will pay cent per cent if properly worked." + +"I thought," she replied in a toneless voice, "that it was +against,--the rules." + +"Exactly so; but you see I haven't the slightest intention of +remaining in the service. I never had, if once I got an opportunity, +and I've got it." + +"But the rules?" + +"Bother the rules! I am not going to buy a pig in a poke to please +propriety. That part of it is done, and I think it is always best to +let by-gones be by-gones. If you like me to send in my papers to-day, +I'll do it; if not I shall hang on for a time, and defy them. Why +should one lose twelve hundred a month for an idea? I do my work quite +as well as I did, and there won't be any necessity for personal +supervision down in Saudaghur till next spring. But as I said before, +if you have scruples,--why, you brought the money, and I'm deeply +grateful, I assure you. Don't look scared, my dear; I'll insure my +life if you are thinking of the pension of a civilian's widow!" + +"Don't laugh, John; I can't stand it. Have any more of the native +papers been writing,--things like that?" And she shivered a little as +she spoke. + +"No, that's the first; but the others will follow suit. They were +desperately indignant about the Mohurrim riot. That is why I wanted--" + +Belle stood up, and stretched her hands out appealingly to her +husband, "Don't say it. Oh, please don't say it! You don't,--you can't +mean it!" + +He came across to her, taking her hands in his. "That's not +consistent, Belle; you're always for having the truth. I do mean it. +What harm would you have done to anybody by toning down what you saw? +For the matter of that, what harm have I done to any one by investing +money in indigo? None, absolutely none! However, it is no use talking +about it; we should never agree; people seldom do on these points. But +you ought to know by this time that I never mean to hurt your feelings +in any way. So which is it to be,--dignity or impudence?" + +And Belle, as he kissed her, felt helpless. It was like being +smothered in a feather bed, all softness and suffocation. + +"Well, I'm waiting. Am I not a model husband? Now don't begin to cry +when it's all over; perhaps it is best as it is, for I shall have to +build you a house, Belle. Think of that; a house of your very own! And +look here! you can go in for doing good to your heart's content when +you are no longer the wife of an official. Cheer up! There's a good +time coming, and you have to decide if it's to come now, or next +spring." + +"How can you ask?" she said, breaking from him hurriedly, to walk up +and down the room, twisting her fingers nervously. "We must go,--go at +once." + +"Very well. It's a little hasty; but remember it's your doing, not +mine; and for goodness' sake, you poor, little, conscience-stricken +soul, don't cry at getting your own way." + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + +John Raby's announcement that he was about to leave the service fell +like a thunderbolt on his old friend Shunker Dâs, for that astute +gentleman had sketched out a very different programme in which the +_shaitan sahib_ was to figure as chief actor. Indeed, when the latter +had first come nibbling round the indigo prize, Shunker had, as it +were, asked him to dine off it, chuckling in his sleeve the while at +the idea of getting his enemy into the toils. But then he knew nothing +of the thirty thousand pounds, which the young civilian rightly +considered a sufficient insurance against any punishment for breaking +the rules of his covenant. So all the Lâlâ's deft hounding of the +native papers on the track of "disgraceful corruption and disregard of +law on the part of Mr. John Raby of the Civil Service" had simply +resulted in bringing a personal supervision, destructive of +account-cooking, into the business. + +He went down to Saudaghur shortly after the Rabys, and nearly had a +fit over the calm decision with which the young Englishman took +possession of the field. New machines were being imported, new vats +built, new contracts made with growers throughout a large stretch of +the district. On all sides Shunker found himself forestalled, +outpaced, left in the cold. He would dearly have liked to break +absolutely with this shrewd, unmerciful partner; yet to indulge this +desire meant loss, for the Lâlâ, despite his hatred of the work, was +not blind to John Raby's supreme capability for making the business +pay. He was torn asunder by rage at having been outwitted, and +admiration for the wit which had effected the task. He came home one +day to the square block of a house he owned on the outskirts of +Saudaghur village, cursing freely, and longing for some covert means +of relieving his spite. The recipient of his curses took them with +stolid indifference. She was a dark-browed, deep-chested lump of a +woman, engaged in cooking the Lâlâ's dinner in a dutiful, +conscientious sort of way, while she kept one eye on a solid +two-year-old boy who was busy over a pumpkin rind. This was Kirpo, the +absent Râm Lâl's wife, who had been sent to occupy this empty house of +the Lâlâ's for several reasons. Chiefly because it was out of the way +of scandal, and it had pleased Shunker to combine pleasure with the +business of supporting her during her husband's imprisonment; +wherefore, is one of those problems of human perversity best left +alone. Kirpo herself had merely adopted the surest way of securing +comfort and a pair of gold bangles, during this unpleasing interlude, +and in her heart was longing to return to her rightful owner; but not +without the bangles. There was, however, considerable divergence of +opinion between her and the Lâlâ on this point, resulting, on the one +side, in her refusal to retire discreetly before the off chance of any +remission of her husband's sentence which might induce a premature +appearance; and, on the other, in Shunker's half alarmed desire to let +her risk her nose by discovery. Neither of them being altogether in +earnest, and each anxiously awaiting symptoms of capitulation in the +other. + +"I don't care for your words, Lâlâ-_ji_," she retorted in answer to +his abuse. "We women have to eat curses, aye! and blows too; but we +get our own way for all that. I mean to have the bangles, so the +sooner you unstomach them the better." Her black brows met in +determination as Shunker consigned her and all her female ancestors to +unspeakable torments. "If you say much more I'll have the evil eye +cast on that sickly Nuttu of yours. Mai-Bishen does it. You take seven +hairs--" + +"Be silent, she-devil!" shouted the Lâlâ turning green. "What ails you +to give the mind freedom on such things? Lo! I have been good to you, +Kirpo, and the boy there,--would mine were like him!" + +Kirpo caught the child in her arms, covering him with kisses as she +held him to her broad brown breast. "Thine! Pooh! thou art a poor body +and a poor spirit, Shunker. Afraid for all thy big belly; afraid of +Raby-_sahib!_ Look you, I will go to him: nay, I will go to his _mem_, +who loves to see the black women, and she will make you give me the +bangles." + +Now Shunker's evil disposition partook of the nature of an am[oe]ba. +That is to say, no sooner did a suggestion of food dawn upon it, than +straightway the undefined mass of spite shot out a new limb in that +direction. Kirpo's words had this effect upon him. After all why +should she not go to see the _mem?_ How angry the _shaitan_ would be +if he knew that his, Shunker's mistress, had had an interview with the +stuck-up English girl. What business, too, had she to bring her +husband money when her father was bankrupt? Rare sport indeed to +chuckle over when Raby put on his airs. "By the holy water of Gunga!" +he cried, "thou shalt go, Kirpo, as my wife. No one will know. Silks +and satins, Kirpo, and sheets held up for thee to scuttle through so +that none may see! Aha! And I have to take off my shoes at the door, +curse him!" He lay back and chuckled at the bare idea of the petty, +concealed insult of which no one but himself would know. + +Kirpo looked at him in contemptuous dislike. "If I was a bad woman +like thy friends in the bazaar I would not go, for they say she is +easy to deceive and kind; but I am not bad. It is you who are bad. +So I will go; but with the bangles, and with the boy too, in a +_khim-khâb_ (cloth of gold) coat. 'Twill be as thy son. Lâlâ-_ji_, +remember, so thou wouldst not have him look a beggar." + +Her shrill laughter rang through the empty house, making an old woman +glance upwards from the lower court. "Kirpo should go home," muttered +the hag, "or she will lose her nose like Dhundei when they let her +husband out of gaol by mistake. A grand mistake for poor Dhunnu! oho! +oho!" + +"Kirpo Devi," returned the Lâlâ, with a grin of concentrated +wickedness. "Thou shalt have the bangles, and then thou shall go see +the _mem_ first, and to damnation after. Mark my words, 'tis a true +saying." For another suggestion of evil had sprung into vision, and he +already had a feeler out to seize it. + +Two days later he sat on the same bed grinning over his own +cleverness, yet for all that disconcerted. Kirpo had fled, with her +boy and her bangles. That he had expected, but he was hardly prepared +to find a clean sweep of all his brass cooking-pots into the bargain. +He cursed a little, but on the whole felt satisfied, since his spite +against Belle Raby had been gratified and Kirpo got rid of, at the +price of a pair of deftly lacquered brass bangles. He grinned still +more wickedly at the thought of the latter's face when she found out +the trick. + +As he sat smoking his pipe a man looked in at the door. A curiously +evasive, downcast figure in garments so rumpled as to suggest having +been tied up in tight bundles for months; as indeed they had been, +duly ticketed and put away in the store-rooms of the gaol. + +"Holy Krishna!" muttered the Lâlâ, while drops of sweat at the thought +of the narrow escape oozed to his forehead, "'tis Râmu himself." + +And Râmu it was, scowling and suspicious. "Where's my house?" he asked +after the curtest of greetings. + +Unfortunately for the truth Shunker Dâs had answered this question in +anticipation many times. So he was quite prepared. "Thy house, oh +Râmu? If she be not at home, God knoweth whither she hath gone. I +sent her here, for safety, seeing that women are uncertain even when +ill-looking; but she hath left this security without my consent." + +His hearer's face darkened still more deeply as he looked about him in +a dissatisfied way. "I went straight to Faizapore; they said she was +here." He did not add that he had purposely refrained from announcing +his remission (for good conduct) in order to see the state of affairs +for himself. + +Shunker meanwhile was mentally offering a cheap but showy oblation to +his pet deity for having suggested the abstraction of the brass pots +to Kirpo. "I say nothing, Râmu," he replied unctuously; "but this I +know, that having placed her here virtuously with an old mother, who +is even now engaged in work below, she hath fled, nor stayed her hand +from taking things that are not hers. See, I am here without food +even, driven to eat it from the bazaar, by reason of her wickedness; +but I will call, and the old mother will fetch some; thou must be +hungry. Hadst thou sent word, Râmu, the faithful servant should have +had a feast from the faithful master." + +Râmu and he looked at each other steadily for a moment, like two dogs +uncertain whether to growl or to be friends. + +"Fret not because of one woman, Râmu," added his master peacefully. +"Hadst thou sent word, she would have been at home doubtless. She is +no worse than others." + +"She shall be worse by a nose," retorted his hearer viciously. Whereat +the Lâlâ laughed. + +He sat talking to his old henchman till late on into the night, during +the course of his conversation following so many trails of that +serpent, his own evil imaginings, that before Râmu, full of fresh +meats and wines, had fallen asleep, Shunker Dâs had almost persuaded +himself, as well as the husband, that Kirpo's disappearance had +something to do with gold bangles and a series of visits to the +_shaitan sahib_ in the rest-house, where, until their own was +finished, the Rabys were living. + +This scandalous suggestion found, to Râmu's mind, a certain +corroboration next day; for on his way to the station in order to +return to Faizapore, he came full tilt on his wife, also hurrying to +catch the train. The gold bangles on her wrists, and the fact of her +having remained in Saudaghur after leaving the Lâlâ's house, pointed +to mischief. He flew at her like a mad dog, too angry even to listen. +Now the station of Saudaghur was a good two miles from the town, and +the road a lonely one; so that the enraged husband had no +interruptions, and finally marched on to his destination, leaving his +wife, half dead, behind a bush; a brutal, but not uncommon occurrence +in a land where animal jealousy is the only cause of women's +importance. That evening John Raby, riding back from a distant village +in the dusk, was nearly thrown at the rest-house gates by a sudden +swerve of his horse. + +"_Dohai! Dohai! Dohai!_" The traditional appeal for justice rose to +high heaven as a female figure started from the shadow, and clutched +his bridle. It was Kirpo, with a bloody veil drawn close about her +face. + +The young man swore, not unnaturally. "Well, what's the matter?" he +cried angrily; past experience teaching him the hopelessness of +escaping without some show of attention. "I'm not a magistrate any +longer, thank God! Go to the police, my good woman. Oh!" he continued, +in contemptuous comprehension, as the woman, clutching fiercely with +both hands, let go her veil, which falling aside, showed a noseless +face; "'tis your own fault, no doubt." + +"The Lâlâ! the Lâlâ!" shrieked Kirpo. "'Tis his doing." + +"Shunker Dâs?" asked John Raby, reining up his horse in sudden +interest. + +"Yes, Shunker Dâs! He gave me the gold bangles for going to see your +_mem_ and pretending to be his wife. He did it. The ill-begotten son +of a hag, the vile offspring of a she-devil!" + +So, with sobs and curses, she poured the whole tale of her wrong into +the young man's ear. He listened to it with wonderful patience. "All +you want, I suppose, is to punish your husband?" he asked, when she +paused for breath. + +"No!" almost yelled the woman. "The Lâlâ! the Lâlâ! I could choke him +on his own flesh." + +John Raby laughed. These half savages had certainly most expressive +methods of speech, a pity their actions were not as forcible. "Wait +here," he said quietly. "I'll send you out a note for the native +magistrate; but mind! no word of your visit to my wife. I'm not going +to have that all over the place." + +Kirpo squatted down at the gate-post, wrapping the bloody veil round +her once more; a habit she would have to grow into with the years. +Not a stone's throw from this ghastly figure, in the large bare +sitting-room of the rest-house, which she had decorated to the best of +her ability with Indian draperies disposed after the fashion of the +West, sat Belle in a low wicker chair. A tea-table bright with silver +and china awaited the master's return, while a pile of music scattered +on the open piano showed her recent occupation. "There you are at +last, John!" she said. "Cold isn't it?--quite Christmas weather; but +your tea is ready." + +"And what has my wife been doing with herself all day?" he asked, with +the complacent affection which invariably sprang up at the sight of +his own home comfort. + +"Oh, I? Working, and reading, and practising as usual. There's a very +interesting article on the morality of the Vedas in the _Nineteenth +Century_. It seems wonderfully pure." + +"A little more sugar, if you please, and one of those cakes with the +chocolate, dear," was the reply, given with a stretching of the limbs +into the curves of a cushioned chair. "Do you know, Belle, India is a +most delightful country. If Blanche Amory had lived here she would not +have had to say, '_Il me faut des emotions_.' They sit at the gate, so +to speak, and the contrasts give such a zest to life. You, with that +white gown and all the accessories (as the studio-slang has it) are +like _pâté de foie_ after the black bread of the Spartans. If you have +done your tea, go to the piano, there's a dear girl, and play me a +valse; _Rêves d'Amour_ for choice; that will put the truffles to the +_pâté_." + +Kirpo squatting at the gate, waiting for vengeance, heard the gay +notes. "What a noise!" she said to herself; "no beginning or end, just +like a jackal's cry. I wish he would send the letter." + +It came at last; and Kirpo, for one, always believed that to it she +owed the fact that Râmu was caught, tried, sentenced, and imprisoned +for a whole year; for as she used to say, in telling the tale to her +cronies, "I hadn't a cowrie or an ornament left, so it would have been +no use complaining to the police." + +The Lâlâ, too, impressed a like belief on the indignant Râmu. "'Tis +true enough," he said, "that it is tyranny to deny a man his right to +teach his wife caution; but there!--she went straight to Raby _sahib_, +and now you are in for a whole year without a friend to stand treat, +my poor Râmu." + +Râm Lâl's teeth chattered at the prospect of desertion. "But you will +stand by me still, master?" he asked piteously. + +"Wherefore, Râmu? Even a _buniah_ leaves old scores alone when there +is a receipt-stamp on the paper," chuckled the usurer. "Pray that thou +hast not the same warder, oh my son! and come back to me, if thou +wilst, when the time is over." He happened to be in high good spirits +that morning owing to a slip on John Raby's part in regard to the +signing of some contract which promised to put rupees into the Lâlâ's +private pocket. So much so, that he went to the rest-house in order to +gloat over the prospect in his unconscious partner's presence. It was +the first time that the latter had seen him since Kirpo's appeal and +confession, for John Raby had purposely avoided an interview until the +trial, with its possibility of unpleasantness, was over. Now he calmly +shut the door, and made the practical joker acquire a thorough and yet +superficial knowledge of the ways of the ruling race, finishing up by +a contemptuous recommendation to vinegar and brown paper. + +"I've been fighting your battles, dear," he said, coming into his +wife's room, and leaning over to kiss her as she lay resting on the +sofa. A pile of dainty lace and muslin things on the table beside her, +told tales for the future. + +"My battles, John? I didn't know I had any enemies here." Or any +friends she might have added, for those three months in the rest-house +had been inexpressibly lonely; her husband away all day, and no white +face within fifty miles. + +"Enemies? No, Belle, I should say not; but I have, and what's mine's +yours, you know." Then, half amused, half irritated, he told her of +Kirpo's visit. + +Her eyes sought his with the puzzled look which life was beginning to +put into them. "I suppose it was intended as an insult," she said; +"but when a man has half a dozen wives, some married one, some another +way, it,--it doesn't seem to matter if they are married or not." + +"My dear!" cried he, aghast. "I do hope you haven't been reading my +French novels." + +She smiled, a trifle bitterly. "No; they bore me. It's the gazeteer of +this district which is to blame. How many kinds of marriage? I forget; +one is called a kicking-strap, I know. It is a mere question of names +all through. What difference can it make?" + +John Raby walked up and down the room in, for him, quite a disturbed +manner. "I'm sorry to hear you speak that way, Belle. It's always a +mistake. If you can't see the insult, you will at least allow that it +confirms what I have always maintained, the undesirability of mixing +yourself up with a social life that doesn't fit in with ours. It has +put me into rather a hole at all events." + +"A hole, John? What do you mean?" + +"Why, even the Lâlâ won't work with me after this, and I must take all +the risk; there isn't much of course; but somehow I've been hustled +all through. First by that foolish trial--" + +"I thought we had agreed to leave that alone, John?" interrupted his +wife with a heightened colour. + +"True, O queen! And you needn't be afraid, Belle. You and the babies +shall be millionaires, billionaires if you like." And a speech like +this, accompanied as it was by the half-careless, half-affectionate +glance she knew so well, would start her self-reproach on the road to +that sanctuary from all her vague puzzles; the fixed belief that she +and John were the most attached of couples. + +It would, nevertheless, be almost impossible to over-colour the +absolute loneliness of the girl's life at this time. Her husband away +from dawn till sundown, her only companions a people whose uncouth +_patois_ she hardly understood, whose broad simplicity of purpose and +passion positively confused her own complexity. It was utter +isolation, combined with the persistent reflection that close by in +the native town, humanity went to and fro full to the brim with the +same emotions of joy and sorrow, hope and fear, though the causes were +different. It made her feel as if she had dropped from another world; +and being, from physical causes, fanciful, she often thought, when +looking over the wide level plain, without one tree to break its +contour, which stretched away from her to the horizon, that, but for +the force of gravity, she could walk over its visible curve into +space. One of her chief amusements was what her husband laughingly +called her _jardin d'acclimatisation_; a dreary row of pots where, in +defiance of a daily efflorescence of Glaubers salt, she coaxed a dozen +or so of disheartened pansies into producing feeble flowers half the +size of a wild heart's-ease. She was extremely patient, was Belle +Raby, and given to watering and tending all things which she fancied +should adorn a woman's house and home; and among them gratitude. +Scarcely a day passed but the thought of Philip Marsden's ill-requited +kindness set this irreclaimable hero-worshipper into metaphorically +besprinkling his grave with her tears, until countless flowers of fact +and fancy grew up to weave a crown for his memory, a frame for his +virtues. The extent to which she idealised him never came home to her, +for the fact of his having passed finally from life prevented her from +having to decide his exact position in her Pantheon. Another thing +which intensified her inclination to over-estimate the benefits she +had received at Philip's hands was her husband's evident desire for +complete silence on this subject. Naturally in one so impulsively +generous as Belle, this seemed to make her remembrance, and her +gratitude, all the more necessary. + +So time passed until, as women have to do, she began to set her house +in order against life or death. To-day, to-morrow, the next day, +everything familiar, commonplace,--and then? How the heart beats in +swift wonder and impatience even though the cradle may be the grave! + +A hint of spring was in the air; that sudden spring which in Northern +India follows close on the first footsteps of the new year. Belle, +with a light heart, sat sorting her husband's wardrobe, and laying +aside in camphor and peppercorns, things not likely to be required; +for who could tell how long it might be ere she could look after +John's clothes again? As she paused to search the pockets of a coat, a +building sparrow hopped across the floor to tug at a loose thread in +the pile of miscellaneous garments among which she was sitting, and a +bright-eyed squirrel, hanging on the open door, cast watchful glances +on a skein of Berlin wool, which appeared utterly desirable for a +nest. The whole world, she thought, seemed preparing for new life, +working for the unknown, and she smiled at the fancy as she began +methodically to fold and smooth. More carefully than usual, for this +was John's political uniform, and the sight of it invariably brought +her a pang of regret for the career that had been given up. Suddenly +her half-caressing fingers distinguished something unusual between the +linings; something that must have slipped from the pocket, for she had +to unrip a rough mend in the latter ere she could remove a sheet of +thin paper folded in two, smooth, uncrushed. + +The writing startled her; it was Philip Marsden's, and she sat there +for a minute staring at it blankly. In after years the smell of +camphor always brought her back to that moment of life; the sunlight +streaming on the floor beside her, the twittering bird, the watchful +squirrel. + +The draft of a will,--surely _the_ will--and yet! How came it in her +husband's pocket, in the coat that he must have worn? Then he had +known--he _must_ have known about the money! Money! Yes, the one +passion she had ever seen on his face; the one love-- + +The sparrow came back again and again robbing one life for another. +The squirrel, emboldened at her silence, made off with its heart's +desire; but still poor Belle lay in a dead faint on the floor. And +there she might have remained, with the accusing paper in her hand to +face her husband, had not pain, sharp compelling pain, roused her. To +what? To a new life, to something beyond, yet of herself, something to +defy fate and carry hope and fear from the present to the future. + +A vague understanding of her own position came to her as she lay +slowly gathering consciousness, until she rose to her feet and looked +round her almost fearfully. "It must not alter anything," she +muttered, as the torn shreds of paper fell from her shaking hand. "It +cannot,--oh, dear God! it shall not. Not now, not now; I could not +bear it; not now, not now!" + +All that night Belle Raby fought a strange, uncertain battle, fought +hard for the old life and the new, for life or death, scarcely knowing +why she did either, and caring little, thinking little, of anything +save the blind instinct of fight. And with the dawn the child which +was hers, but which she was never to see, gave up its feeble desire, +and left nothing but a pitiful waxen image to tell of life that had +been and was gone. + +But Belle, fast clasping her husband's hand, was in the Land of +Dreams; the land to which many things besides the dead child must +belong forever. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Death, we are told, changes our vile bodies and minds. It is at any +rate to be hoped so, if orthodox heaven is to be endurable to some of +us. And when mind and body have gone nigh to death, so nigh that he +has stilled us in his arms for long days and nights, when he has +kissed the sight of all things mortal from our eyes, and charmed away +love and dread till soul could part from flesh without one sigh; does +not that sometimes send us back, as it were, to a new life, and make +us feel strangers even to ourselves? + +Belle Raby felt this as she came back discreetly, decently, according +to her wont in all things, from the Valley of the Shadow. Everything +was changed, and she herself was no longer the girl who had cried +uselessly, "Not now! Ah, dear God, not now!" + +When she first floated up to consciousness through the dim resounding +sea which for days and nights had seemed to lull her to sleep, it had +been to find herself in John's arms, while he fed her with a teaspoon, +and she had drifted down again into the dark, carrying with her a +faint, half-amused wonder why a man who had so deceived his wife +should trouble himself about her beef-tea. Neither was it a fit season +for tragedy when, with hair decently brushed for the first time, and a +bit of pink ribbon disposed somewhere to give colour to the pale face, +she lay propped up on the pillow at last, fingering a bunch of roses +brought her by the traitor. Nor when he had carried her to the sofa +with pleasant smiles at the ease of the task, could she begin the +dreadful accusation, "You knew I was an heiress,--that was why you +married me." Horrible, hateful! The blood would surge over her face, +the tears come into her eyes at the thought of the degradation of such +a mutual understanding. Better, far better, that the offender should +go scot-free. And after all, where was the difference? What had she +lost? Only ignorance; the thing itself had always been the same. And +yet she had not found it out--yet she had been content! That was the +saddest, strangest part of all, and in her first bitterness of spirit +she asked herself, more than once, if she had any right to truth, when +lies satisfied her so easily. He had not chosen her out of all the +world because he loved her, and yet she had not found him out. Was it +not possible that she had not found herself out either? And what then? +Did it make any difference, any difference at all? + +During her tedious convalescence she lay turning these things over and +over in her mind, almost as if the problem referred to the life of +some one else. It was a critical time for the new venture, and long +before she could leave the sofa, her husband had to spend a day here, +two days there, arranging for labour and machinery; above all for the +new house into which he was so anxious for her to settle comfortably +before the hot weather came on. All was very natural and right; +nevertheless it marked the beginning of the epoch which comes about in +most marriages; the time when Adam and Eve leave the garden of Eden, +and face the world; the time when different dispositions naturally +drift apart to different interests. Belle, still weak and unstrung, +found a morbid significance in her husband's growing absorption in the +business; she seemed to see the greed of gold in his handsome face as +he sat descanting, over his cigarette, on the many projects of his +busy brain. Yet she said no word of blame or warning, for she began to +lack the courage of criticism. The fact was, she did not want to know +the extent of the gulf between them; therefore she kept silence on all +points which might serve as a landmark to their relative positions. +Even so she came on the knowledge unawares. + +"I'm glad you don't fret over the baby," he said to her one day; "but +you were always sensible. The poor little thing might have got ill, +you know, and it would have been a bore if you had had to go to the +hills this year, when there is so much to be done." + +After that she would have died sooner than mention a grief that was +always with her, despite her smiling face. Yet, when he was away, she +wept unrestrained tears over a forlorn little spot in the dreary +garden where they told her the lost hope lay hidden away, for ever, +from her eyes. If she had only seen it once, she used to think; if she +could only have shed one tear over the little face of which she used +to dream! If she could only have whispered to it that she was sorry, +that it was not her fault. Such grief, she told herself, was natural +even in the happiest wife; it could not be construed into a complaint, +or counted as a surrender to Fate. She was not going to do that, +whatever happened. Never, never! That was the ruling idea to which +even her own unhappiness gave place; and the cause of this fixed +purpose was a curious one. Nothing more or less than a passionate +desire not to defeat the purpose of Philip Marsden's legacy. He had +meant kindly by her; when, she thought with the glow of ardent +gratitude which his memory invariably aroused, had he not meant kindly +by her and hers! And no one, least of all she herself, should turn +that kindness to unkindness. Poor Belle! She was bound hand and foot +to hero-worship, and life had shown her unmistakably that it was safer +to canonise the dead. She lived, it must be remembered, in a solitude +hard even of explanation to those unacquainted with out-station life +in India. The growing gulf between her and her husband had to be +bridged over a dozen times a day by their mutual dependence on each +other even for bare speech. The saying, "It takes two to make a +quarrel," falls short of truth. It takes three; two to fight, and one +to hold the sponge, and play umpire. After a few days of silence +consequent on his frequent absences, Belle was quite ready to welcome +John back with smiles; and this very readiness gave her comfort. +Things could not be so far wrong after all. And so every time he +went away, she set herself to miss his company with a zest that would +have seemed to the spectators--had there been any--right-minded, +wrong-headed, and purely pitiful. It was so even to herself, +at times, when, for instance, the shadows of day lifted in the +night-time, and she woke to find her pillow wet with tears,--why, she +knew not. Perhaps because those who had loved her best were lying in +unknown graves far away among the everlasting hills. It seemed so +strange that they should have met such similar fates; their very +deaths mysterious, if all too certain. In her mind they seemed +indissolubly mixed up with each other, living and dying, and her +thoughts were often with them. Not in sadness, in anything but +sadness; rather in a deep unreasoning content that they had loved and +trusted her. + +And all the while Fate was arranging a cunning blow against her +hard-contested peace. + +She was expecting her husband one evening when the rapid Indian +twilight had begun to fill the large bare room with shadows, and as, +driven by the waning light from her books, she sat down at the piano, +her fingers found one theme after another on the keys. Quite +carelessly they fell on the _Frühlingslied_, which three years before +had wrought poor Dick's undoing. And then, suddenly, she seemed to +feel the touch of his warm young lips on hers, to see the fire and +worship of his eyes. Was _that_ Love? she wondered, as her fingers +stilled themselves to silence; or was _that_ too nothing but a lie? +Dear, dear old Dick! The shadows gathered into an eager protesting +face, the empty room seemed full of the life that was dead for ever. +Ah, if it could be so really? If those dear dead could only come back +just to know how sorely the living longed for them. + +A sound behind made her rise hastily. "Is that you, John? How late you +are!" she said with face averted, for, dark as it was, the unbidden +tears in her eyes craved concealment. + +"No! it is I, Philip Marsden." + +Her hand fell on the keys with a jarring clang that set the room +ringing. Philip! Nervous, overwrought, unstrung as she was by long +months of silence and repression, it seemed to her that the dead had +heard her wish. How terribly afraid she was! Afraid of Philip? A swift +denial in her heart made her turn slowly and strain her eyes into the +shadow by the door. He was there, tall and still, for darkness dazzles +like day and Philip Marsden's eyes were seeking her in vain by the +sound of her voice until he saw a dim figure meeting him with +outstretched hands. "Philip, oh, Philip! kindest! best! dearest!" + +In the shadows their hands met, warm clinging hands; and at the touch +a cry, half-fear, half-joy, dominated the still echoing discord. The +next instant like a child who, frightened in the dark, sees a familiar +face, she was in his arms sobbing out her relief and wonder. "Ah, +Philip, it is you yourself! You are not dead! You have come back to +me, my dear, my dear!" + +He had entered the room cynically contemptuous over the inevitable +predicament into which Fate and his impulsive actions had led him. +During his long captivity he had so often faced the extreme +probability of her marrying John Raby that the certainty which had met +him on his arrival at Kohât two days before had brought no surprise, +and but little pain. The past, he had said, was over. She had never +liked him; and he? That too was over; had been over for months if, +indeed, it had ever existed. He must go down at once, of course, +explain about Dick's legacy and settle what was to be done in the +meantime--that was all. And now she was in his arms and everything was +swept away in the flood of a great tenderness that never left him +again. + +"Oh, Belle! You are glad, you are glad that I have come back!" + +The wonder and joy of his voice seemed to rouse her to realities; she +drew away from him, and stood with one hand raised to her forehead in +perplexity. "How dark it is!" she cried, petulantly. "I did not see. I +cannot,--Why did you come like a thief in the night? Why did you not +write? Why?--you should not have come, you should not!" + +"I did write," he answered gently, the blame in her tone seeming to +escape his ear. "I wrote from Kohât to tell you. The dog-cart was at +the station and I thought--" + +"It was for John, not for you," she interrupted almost fiercely. "It +was for my husband--" She broke off into silence. + +"Yes; I heard at Kohât you were married." + +He could not see her face, nor she his, and once more her voice was +petulant in complaint. "You startled me. No one could have seen in the +dark." + +"Shall I call for lights now?" + +"If you please." + +When he returned, followed by a servant bringing the lamp, she was +standing where he had left her. Great Heavens, how she had changed! +Was this little Belle Stuart with her beautiful grey eyes? This woman +with the nameless look of motherhood, the nameless dignity of +knowledge in her face; and yet with a terror, such as the tyranny of +truth brings with it, in the tired eyes which used to be so clear of +care. + +"I am sorry," he began; then his thought overflowed conventional +speech, making him exclaim--"Don't look so scared, for pity's sake!" + +"Don't look like that!" she echoed swiftly. "That is what you said the +last time I saw you: 'Don't, Belle, the whole world is before you, +life and happiness and love.' It was not true, and you have only made +it worse by coming back to upset everything, to take away everything." + +"I am not going to take anything. The money--" + +"Money, what money? I was not thinking of money. Ah, I remember now! +Of course it is yours, all yours." + +Then silence fell between them again; but it was a silence eloquent of +explanation. So eloquent that Philip Marsden had to turn aside and +look out on the red bars of the sunset before he could beat down the +mad desire to take instant advantage of her self-betrayal. But he was +a man who above all things claimed the control of his own life, and +the knowledge that he too had been caught unawares helped him. "It is +all my fault, Mrs. Raby," he said, coming back to her, with a great +deference in voice and look. "This has startled you terribly, and you +have been ill, I think." + +"Yes, I have been ill, very ill. The baby died, and then--oh, Philip, +Philip! I thought you were dead; I did indeed." + +That was the end. Every atom of chivalry the man possessed, every +scrap of good in his nature responded to the pitiful appeal. "I do not +wonder," he answered, and though he spoke lightly there was a new tone +in his voice which always remained in it afterwards when he addressed +her. "I thought I was dead myself. Come, let us sit down, and I will +tell you how it all happened. Yes, I thought I was dead; at least so +Afzul Khân declares--" + +"Afzul Khân! That was the name of the sepoy you arrested at +Faizapore." + +Did she remember that? It was so long ago; long before the day he had +seen her last, when he had tried to comfort her, and she had sobbed +out her sorrow as to a brother, in just such another bare shadowy room +as this. Ah, poor Belle, poor Belle! Had it all been a mistake from +beginning to end? The only refuge from bewildering thought seemed +speech, and so he plunged into it, explaining, at far greater length +than he would otherwise have done, how he came to be sitting beside +her, instead of lying with whitening bones in some deep pool in the +mountains. He must, he said, have become unconscious from loss of +blood, and slipped into the river after he was wounded, for Afzul Khân +from his place of concealment on the water's edge had seen him +drifting down and dragged him to safety. They were a queer lot, the +Afghans, and Afzul believed he owed the Major a life. After that it +was a week ere he could be taken to decent shelter, because Afzul was +also wounded; but of all this he himself knew nothing. His +unconsciousness passing into delirium it was six weeks ere he awoke to +find himself in a sort of cave with snow shining like sunlight beyond +the opening, and Afzul cooking marmot-flesh over a smoky fire. Even +after that there was a rough time what with cold and hunger, for it +was an enemy's country, and the people about were at blood-feud with +Afzul's clan. At last it became a toss-up for death one way or the +other, seeing he was too weak to attempt escape. So he had given +himself up to the tribe, trusting that to their avarice an English +prisoner might be worth a ransom, while Afzul had gone east promising +to return with the swallows. + +Then months had passed bringing threats of death more and more +constant as the promised ambassador never returned, until towards +autumn, being stronger, he managed to escape, and after running the +gauntlet of danger and starvation succeeded in reaching Afzul's tribe, +only to find him slowly recovering from rheumatic fever brought on by +exposure and privation. The poor fellow had been at death's door, and +long ere he was strong enough to act as pilot eastwards winter had set +her seal on the passes. So there they had remained, fairly +comfortable, until spring melted the snows. "And," he added with a +smile, for Belle's face had resumed its calm, "I grew quite fat, in +comparison! Yet they all took me for a ghost when I walked in to the +mess-room at Kohât one evening after dinner,--just as I walked in +here." + +But her truthful eyes looked into his and declined the excuse. "No! I +did not take you for a ghost, except for an instant. I knew it was +you, and that you had come back to claim--everything." + +"Then you knew wrong. I have come to claim nothing. Perhaps I have no +right to claim anything; so it need make no difference--" + +"It must make a difference to John," she interrupted coldly. "I was +thinking of him. It is hard on him at all events." + +"Hard! Of course it is hard," he answered with a sudden pain at his +heart. "Yet it is not my fault. I meant no harm." + +"You have done no harm as far as I know," was the still colder reply. +But in her turn she rose and looked out to that low bar of red still +lingering in the horizon. "It is all very unfortunate, but we shall +manage,--somehow." There was a pause, then she added in quite her +ordinary tone, "I don't think John can be coming to-night, so we need +not wait dinner for him. They have taken your things to the end room. +I see a light there." + +"But I have no right--" he began, crossing to where she stood. + +She turned to him with a sudden gracious smile. "Right! you have every +right to everything. You have given me,--what have you not given me?" + +A tall figure crouching in the verandah rose as they passed through +the open French window. + +"Who is that?" she asked, half startled. + +"Afzul Khân. I can't take him back to the regiment, of course, but he +came so far with me. He has business, he says, in Faizapore." + +"Afzul Khân! Call him here, please." + +It was a curious group: those two bound to each other by such a tissue +of misunderstanding and mistake, and the Pathan responsible for part +of those mistakes. He stood by _salaaming_ stolidly; for all that +taking in the scene with a quick eye. + +"You have brought me back the best friend I ever had," said Belle with +a ring in her voice, and all instinctively her hand sought her +companion's and found it. + +"It is God's will, not mine," was the reply. Not an atom of sentiment +in the words, not a scrap of sanctimoniousness; simply a statement of +fact. God's will! And stowed away in the folds of his fur coat lay a +long blue envelope, ominously stained with blood, and addressed in a +free bold hand to Miss Belle Stuart, favoured by Major Marsden of the +101st Sikhs. That was poor Dick's will at any rate. Even in their +ignorance those two looked at each other and wondered. God's will! It +was strange, if true. + +"We dine in the garden now, it is cooler. I shall be ready in ten +minutes," said Belle. + +She was waiting for him under the stars when he came out from his +room, and the slender figure against its setting of barren plain and +over-arching sky seemed all too slight for its surroundings. + +"You must be very lonely here," he said abruptly. + +Her light laugh startled him. "Not to-night at any rate! To-night is +high holiday, and I only hope the _khânsâmah_ will give us a good +dinner. Come! you must be hungry." + +Thinking over it afterwards the rest of the evening seemed like a +dream to Philip Marsden. A halo of light round a table set with +flowers; a man and a woman talking and laughing, the man with a deep +unreasoning content in the present preventing all thought for the +future. How gay she was, how brilliant! How little need there was for +words with those clear sympathetic eyes lighting up into comprehension +at the first hint; and with some people it was necessary to have +Johnson's dictionary on the table ready for reference! Afterwards +again, as he sat in the moonlight smoking his cigar, and the cool +night wind stirred the lace ruffle on the delicate white arm stretched +on the lounge chair, how pleasant silence was; silence with the +consciousness of comprehension. Then when her hand lay in his as they +said good-night how dear her words were once more. "I want you to +understand that I am glad. Why not? You thought I meant the money, but +it was not that. I don't know what I meant, but it was not that. I +used to cry because I couldn't thank you; and now you have come, I do +not want to." + +"Thank me for what?" he asked, with a catch in his voice. + +But there was no answering tremble in hers. "You are not so wise as +your ghost; it knew. Supposing it was better to be dead after all? +That would be a pity, would it not? Good-night. John will be home +to-morrow." + +He stood and stared at the lamp after she had gone, as if its feeble +ray would illuminate the puzzle of a woman's face and words. He did +not know that for the first time in her life Belle had turned on Fate. +"I do not care," she had said, recklessly, as she walked up and down +waiting for him amid the flowering oleanders. "One cannot be always +thinking, thinking. He has come back and I am glad. Surely that is +enough for to-night." + +It was not much to claim, and yet it made the puzzle so much the +harder for Philip Marsden. He sat on the edge of his bed, and swore to +himself that he did not know what it all meant, that he did not even +know his own feelings. To leave a girl with whom you fancied yourself +in love and who apparently hated you; to die, and fall out of love, +only to find when you came back to life, that she who had scorned you +living had taken a fancy to your memory. Nay more, to find that +something in you had survived death. What? Were the elements of a +French novel born out of such materials? He had never thought over +these questions, being one of those men who, from a certain physical +fastidiousness, are not brought into contact with them. So he may have +been said to be, in his way, quite as conventional in his morality as +any woman; and the suggestion of such a situation offended him quite +as much as it would have offended Belle. The pride and combativeness +of the man rose up against the suggestion even while the very thought +of her glad welcome thrilled him through and through. He wished +no harm to her,--God forbid! And yet if one were to believe the +world--bah! what was one to believe? He was too restless to sleep, +and, with the curious instinct which drives most good men to be +tempted of the devil in the wilderness, he put on a pair of thick +boots, turned up his trousers methodically, and set out to seek peace +in a moonlight walk. Bathos, no doubt; but if the sublime borders on +the ridiculous, the commonplaces of life must touch on its tragedy. It +was a broad white road down which he started at a rattling pace. +Before, behind, it merged into a treeless horizon and it led--God +knows where! For all he knew it might be the road leading to +destruction; the ready-made conventional turnpike worn by the feet of +thousands following some bell-wether who had tinkled down to death +when the world was young. The moon shone garishly, eclipsing the +stars. It seemed a pity, seeing they were at least further from this +detestable world than she,--a mere satellite dancing attendance on a +half-congealed cinder, and allowing it to come between her and the +light at every critical moment! A pretty conceit, but not thought; and +Philip was there with the firm intention of thinking out the position. +Yet again and again he found himself basking in the remembrance of +Belle's welcome. How glad, how unfeignedly, innocently glad she had +been, till fear crept in. Fear of what? Of the French novel, of +course. He had felt it himself; he had asked himself the same +question, doubtless, as she had; and what in heaven's name was to be +the answer? Must love always be handfast to something else? Or was it +possible for it to exist, not in the self-denying penance of propriety +and duty, but absolutely free and content in itself? Why not? + +As he tramped along, stunning noises came from a neighbouring village; +thrummings of tom-toms, and blares of inconceivable horns mingling in +a wild, beast-like tumult. That meant a marriage in all its unglozed +simplicity of purpose; a marriage, to use the jargon, unsanctified by +love. But after all what had love to do with marriage? What could the +most unselfish dream of humanity have to do with the most selfish, the +most exacting, the most commonplace of all ties? Love, it is true, +might exist side by side with marriage, but the perfection of the one +was not bound up in the perfection of the other. Had not the attempt +to find an unnecessary fig-leaf by uniting sentiment to passion, only +ended in an apotheosis of animalism not much above that which found +expression in those hideous yells and brayings? Above! nay below! for +it degraded love and passion alike by false shame. + +To escape the wedding party he struck away from the road, and felt +relieved when he had got rid of its hard-and-fast lines, its arrogance +of knowing the way. The clumps of tall tiger-grass shot arrowlike +against the velvet sky, and every now and again a faint rustle at +their roots told of something watching the intruder; a brooding +partridge may be, perhaps a snake with unwinking eyes. And as he +walked, his thoughts seemed to lead him on, till something of the +truth, something naked yet not ashamed as it had been before mankind +ate of the sorrowful tree, came home to him. It could not be true, +that verdict of the world. He would defy it. + +Suddenly he found himself confronted by a strange barrier, blocking +his way. As far as eye could reach on either side rose a wall of +shadow twenty feet high, a wall dense and dark below, filmy as cobwebs +where the tasselled reeds of which it was composed touched the purple +of the sky. The gossamer wings of a day could pass through those +feathery tops; but below, even the buffalo had to seek an oozy track +here and there. He had often heard of this reed wall, which, following +the old river bed, divides village from village as effectually as when +the stream ran fast and deep; but its curious aptness to his thoughts +startled him. Impenetrable save for those who sought the mire, or +those with the wings of a dove. Which was it to be? As he stood +arrested by his own fancy a night-heron flitted past; its broad white +wings whirred softly, and its plumed head, craning forward, with +blood-red eyes searching the shadows, cleft the moonlight. By some +strange jugglery of fancy it reminded him of a picture by Gustave +Doré, and with the remembrance of Francesca da Rimini came that of the +scared look in poor Belle's face. + +He turned aside impatiently beset once more by the desire for escape +and struck across the plain; coming, after a time, on a footpath which +he followed mechanically through the tamarisk bushes, until he emerged +on an open space where a hoar frost of salt crystals glittered on rows +and rows of tiny mounds. So pure, so white, that the eye might have +sworn to a winter's night even while the other senses told of more +than summer's heat; a deception increasing the unreality with which +Philip recognised that his wandering steps had led him to a village +grave-yard. A far cry from the marriage feast! He sat down on the pile +of disordered bricks and stucco which marked the resting-place of the +saint round whose bones the faithful had gathered, and asked himself +what chance there was of standing out against the opinion of the many +in life, if even in death it was always follow my leader? + +A quaint place it was; no enclosure, no token of hope or grief, no +symbol of faith; nothing but the dead, clean forgotten and out of +mind. Ah! but Belle had not forgotten him, and if he had remained dead +she would have gone on giving him the best part of herself without +reproach, without remorse. Was death then the only freedom from the +body? He sat so long immersed in his own thoughts that the slow stars +were wheeling to meet the dawn ere he rose, and threw out his arms +cramped by long stillness. Dead, yet alive,--that was the old panacea. +Was nothing else attainable? Must love be killed? Why? + +A rustle in the tamarisks beyond the open made him turn sharply, and +make his way towards the corner whence it proceeded. As he did so a +group of men defiled from the bushes, set down the burden they +carried, and, without looking round, began to dig a grave. The hour, +the absence of wailing, gave Philip a momentary thought that he might +be assisting at the concealment of some crime, but his knowledge of +the people reassured him. Yet as he approached, all the party--save a +very old man mumbling his beads--scurried into the jungle, and so he +judged it wiser to stop and give the orthodox salutation. The +patriarch rose in feeble haste. "Allah be praised! we thought you were +the ghost already. Come back; come back!" he cried in louder quavering +voice. "'Tis only a Presence, seeking sport, doubtless. Come back, and +get her under earth ere dawn, or 'twill be the worse for all." + +Then, as one by one his companions crept back to their task, he +answered Philip's curious looks with waggling head. "Only a wanton +woman, _Huzoor_. Seven months ago meek as a dove, playing about the +village with maiden-plaited hair. But when the matrons unbound it for +the bridegroom, as in due course of duty, the wickedness came out. It +is so with some women; a fancy that hath not bit nor bridle; a +wantonness of mind when God made them to be mothers. And she would +have been one--ay, a happy one--for all her fancies, had she not wept +herself into a wasting and died with her unborn child. Cursed +creature, bringing evil on the whole village with her whims! Quick, +quick, my sons! Hide her before dawn, with the irons round her thumbs, +and the nails through her feet. Then will I sow the mustard-seed in +her path homewards, so that cock-crow will ever send her back to the +worms ere she hath done gathering. And all for a fancy when God made +women to be mothers! A wanton mind! A wanton mind!" + +The broken, quavering voice went on accusingly as Philip turned away +sick at heart. Here was the other side of the shield; and which was +the truth? + +He went home feeling he had gained very little from the wilderness. + + + + + CHAPTER XIX. + + +The night which had proved so restless to Philip Marsden had been for +Belle, strangely enough, one of profound repose. Never, since as a +child she fell asleep with the fresh cool caress of her pillow, had +she felt less inclination to be wakeful, less desire for thought. The +measureless content which comes so seldom, save in a pleasant dream, +held her, body and soul. To feel it was enough. Yet as she woke to the +sound of her husband's early return, she woke also to a full +consciousness of the change Philip's resurrection from the dead must +bring into their lives. A hasty remorse at her own brief happiness +made her slip on a morning-gown and go into her husband's office-room. +The wonder whether he knew, or whether the post which always went to +him direct while he was in camp in order to save time, had failed to +find him, made her cheek pale. She scarcely knew which would be worst; +to meet him crushed by the news, or to have to kill his easy content +with bitter tidings. + +She found him already engaged with the tea and toast which the servant +had brought in on his arrival, and her heart sank; face to face with +it, anything seemed better than the task of telling. + +"Hullo! Belle, little woman! is that you up so early? But it must +have been deuced startling for you to have Marsden walking in like +Lazarus--" + +"Then you have heard?" she interrupted with quite a sigh of relief. + +"Of course I've heard. One always does hear that sort of thing. But +the fool of a _peon_[5] took the letters to the village I'd just left, +so it was too late to send you word. And then I had to finish some +work. It's a queer go, isn't it? Poor old Marsden! Somehow it makes me +laugh." + +Belle sat down helplessly in the low chair by her husband, feeling +utterly lost. Was she never to be able even to guess at his moods? She +had imagined that this would be the most bitter of blows, and he found +it provocative of laughter. "I'm so glad you take it that way, John," +she began, "I was afraid--" + +"Afraid of what? By the way, he is here, I suppose. You haven't sent +him elsewhere, or done anything foolish, I hope?" + +"Why should I send him away? I don't understand--" + +"Oh, nothing! Only,--you see, when you have got to keep on the right +side of a man it is as well not to be too particular. I suppose you +have been talking about the money. What did he say?" + +A slow colour crept into Belle's face. "Not much,--at least,--I don't +think we talked about it at all. There were so many other things." + +John Raby whistled a tune; then he smiled. "Upon my soul, you are +sometimes quite incomprehensible, Belle; but perhaps it is as well. +You might have put your foot in it somehow; and as it is absolutely +necessary that the legacy should remain in the business, we must be +careful. If we play our cards decently this ridiculous resurrection +won't make much difference. You see, Marsden is a gentleman. He +wouldn't ruin anybody, least of all a woman he-- Hullo! what's the +matter now?" + +Her hand gripped his arm almost painfully. "Don't, John, don't! For +pity's sake, don't!" + +"Phew! you needn't pinch me black and blue, my dear, for hinting at +the truth. You know what Marsden did to save you once. Why shouldn't +he do something to save you now? There is no use mincing matters when +one is in a corner like this. I mean to have the use of that money, +and if we play our cards fairly we shall get it. I mean to have it, +and you're bound to help; for, though I don't wish to reproach you, +Belle, you must see that you are mainly responsible for the position." + +"I!" + +"Yes, you. If it hadn't been for your squeamishness I should still +have been a civilian and able to go back on my tracks. Then again, but +for having to quarrel with Shunker for his impudence, I should only +have been at half-risks; he would have had to sink or swim with me, +and that would have ensured his advancing more capital. The fact is +that luck has been against me all through." + +"What is it you want me to do?" she asked faintly. "How can I help?" + +"Oh, if you ask in that tragedy-tone it's no use answering. I want you +to be sensible, that is all. There really is nothing to make a fuss +about. I'll ensure him a fair interest. And his coming back doesn't +alter our position; we have been living on his money for the last +year." + +"But we thought he was dead--that it was ours. Oh, John, there is a +difference! Don't you see he is tied;--that he has no choice, as it +were?" + +"If you mean that Marsden is a gentleman and sees that the predicament +is none of our making, then I agree." + +She knelt down beside him, looking into his face with passionate +entreaty in hers. "John!" she said, "I can't make you understand, but +if you love me,--ever so little--don't, don't beg of--of this man. +Surely we have taken enough! You have some money of your own,--indeed +I would rather starve! It would kill me if you took advantage of,--of +his kindness." Then, seeing the hopelessness of rousing sympathy in +him, she buried her face against the arm of his chair with a sob of +pain. + +"I'll tell you what I do know, Belle," he answered kindly enough. "It +was a confounded shame of Marsden to upset your nerves by popping up +like a Jack-in-the-box. You're not a bit strong yet. Go and lie down +till breakfast-time, and leave me to settle it. Why, you little goose, +you don't think I'm going down on my knees to beg of any man! I am +only, very wisely, going to take advantage of the natural strength of +the position. It isn't as if you had ever cared a button for him, you +know." + +Something like a flash of lightning shot down from heaven on poor +Belle, shrivelling up all her strength. She crept away to her room, +and there, with flaming cheeks, paced up and down wondering why the +sky didn't fall on the house and kill every one; every one but Philip. +The memory of the night before had come back to fill her with shame +and doubt, and yet with a great certainty. When had she felt so happy, +so content? When had she talked to John, straight out from her very +heart, as she had talked to Philip? What must he have thought? That +she had been seeking to please him; as John called it, trying to play +her cards well? No! he would not think such things; and yet the +alternative was even less honourable to her. What had possessed her? +She, John's wife, who had tried,--who had always tried so hard to be +content! How had this inconceivable thing come about? Preposterous! +Absurd; it had not come about; it could not, should not, must not be. +Yet, after all, what was the use in denying it? Philip stood far above +John in her Pantheon. She had known that for months. But then it was +allowable to canonise the dead. Why had he come back? Above all, why +had he brought his saintship with him? So the circle of passionate +resentment at fate, and still more passionate contempt for herself, +went round and round, bringing no conclusion. She would have liked to +throw herself on her bed and cry her eyes out; but, trivial yet +insuperable barrier to this relief, it was too near breakfast-time for +tears, since no one must guess at her trouble. + +So she appeared at the appointed time, and asked Philip if he had +slept well, and if he would take tea or coffee; and no one knew that +she was wondering half the time why the sky didn't fall down and crush +her for noticing that Philip saw she was pale, that Philip handed her +the butter, and Philip looked to her always for an opinion. What right +had he to do all this when her husband did not? Poor Belle; she had +dreamed dreams only to find herself, as she thought, in the most +despicable position in which a woman can possibly find herself. She +never paused to ask if the verdict of society in its more virtuous +moods was trustworthy, and that a woman who discovers some other man +to be nearer the sun than her husband, must necessarily call her +marriage a failure, and so forfeit some measure of her self-respect. +Her righteous ignorance simply made her feel, as she looked at the +well-laid table, that here were all the elements of a _mariage à +trois_; an idea hateful to her, and from which, according to what she +had been taught, the only escape was flight. Yet how could there be +flight if John would not give up the money? And then the thought that +the table laid for two last night had been ever so much more pleasant, +came to reduce her reasoning powers to pulp. She listened to the +story of poor Dick's will,--that will which had led to the present +puzzle,--feeling that the half-excuse it gave to John's avarice, was +but another rivet in the chain which bound her life to Philip's; for +with his kind face before her eyes, and his kind voice in her ears, it +was useless denying the tie between them. That was the worst of it; +she knew perfectly well that, as he sat there calmly talking to her +husband, silence was no protection to her feelings. He knew them, just +as she knew of a certainty what his were; not by any occult power, not +by any mysterious affinity, but by the clear-eyed reason which affirms +that, given certain conditions and certain ideals, the result is also +certain. And yet, while she acknowledged her confidence in him, +something, she knew not what, rebelled against his sympathy; it was an +interference, an offence. + +"It is a pity you did not take the will," she said coldly. "It would +have saved us all a great deal of annoyance." The patience in his +reply made her still more angry. She positively preferred her +husband's frown, as he suggested with a very different tone in his +voice, that if Major Marsden had finished breakfast he should come and +talk over details in the office. + +"But I should like your wife--" began Philip. + +"John is much better at business than I am," interrupted Belle. "I +don't take much interest in that sort of thing, and,--I would rather +not, thank you." + +So the two men whom fate had always placed in such strange antagonism +to each other sat amicably arranging the business, while Belle +wandered about from one occupation to another, angry with herself for +knowing which of the two had her interest most at heart. + +"It's all settled, Belle!" cried her husband gaily, as they came in to +lunch. "Marsden's a trump! but we knew that before, didn't we? You'll +never regret it though, Philip, for it is twenty per cent, and no +mistake. I say, Belle! we must have a bottle of champagne to drink to +the new firm, Marsden, Raby, and Co." + +He hurried off for the wine, leaving Belle and the Major alone. +Marsden, Raby, and Co.! Horrible, detestable! Nor was the position +bettered by Philip's remark that there was no other way out of it at +present. Dick's will might turn up, if, as was not unlikely, some one +had buried the poor lad; there was no doubt that some one had looked +after his effects in the shanties. At all events her husband had +arranged to pay back the money, by instalments, so soon as possible. +All this only made her reply stiffly, that she was sure John would do +his utmost to lessen the risk. + +"I shall leave it in his hands, at any rate," said Philip, who despite +his pity and sympathy was human. "I shan't trouble you much with +interference. By the way, when does the train leave tonight? I shall +have to be going on my way." + +"What's that?" cried John, returning with the champagne. "Going away? +Nonsense! You must see the new house, your new house for the time +being. And then there is the new dam; you must see that as member of +the firm, mustn't he, Belle?" + +Her silence roused Philip's old temper. "Yes, I suppose I ought to see +it all. Afzul is leaving tonight, as he has business somewhere or +other, but I will stop till to-morrow. We might ride over in the +morning to the house, if you have a horse at my disposal?" + +"They are all at your disposal," said Belle quickly. "Major Marsden +can ride Suleimân, John. I shall not want him." + +They dined in the garden again that evening, but it was a different +affair, and the perception that it was so added to Belle's wild +rebellion at the position in which she found, or fancied she found, +herself. When they stood out under the stars again saying good-night, +Belle's hand lay in Philip's for an instant while John filled himself +a tumbler from the tray in the verandah. Somehow the tragedy of her +face proved too much for the humour of the man, who knew himself +guiltless of all save a great tenderness. "I am not going to bite my +poor Belle!" he said with a smile half of amusement, half of +annoyance. "You needn't call in the aid of the policeman, I assure +you." + +She looked at him angrily, but as she turned away there were tears in +her eyes. + +He sat on the edge of his bed once more, pondering over the events of +the day, but this time there was no doubt in his mind at all. He cared +more for Belle's peace than for anything else in the world. He would +go away for a while; but he would not give her up; he would prove to +her that there was no need for that. + +To his surprise she was waiting in the verandah when he came out of +his room at daybreak next morning. She looked business-like and +self-reliant, as all women do in their riding-habits, and she was +fastening a rose at her collar. + +"John's not quite ready," she remarked easily; "but he said we had +better go on and he would catch us up. I want to see about the garden. +The roses here are mine, and as some of them are quite pretty,--this +one for instance--won't you take it? you can't have seen many roses +lately--I intend moving them. By the bye, I've sent out breakfast, so +as your train doesn't leave till midnight we can have a jolly day." + +Philip, fastening the rose in his buttonhole, wondered if the best +parlour with all the covers off was not worse than calls on the +policeman. Both seemed to him equally unnecessary, but then he had all +the advantage in position. He could show his friendship in an +unmistakable way, while poor Belle had only the far harder task of +receiving benefits. + +"You don't remember Suleimân, my Arab at Faizapore?" she said as they +cantered off. "You are riding him now,--oh, don't apologise, the pony +does well enough for me; John gave me such a delightful surprise in +buying him back after we were married." + +"Got him dirt cheap from a woman who was afraid to ride him," remarked +John coming up behind cheerfully; and Belle was divided between +vexation and pleasure at this depreciation of his own merits. + +"I should think you rode pretty straight as a rule," said Philip, +looking at her full in the face. "Many women make the mistake of +jagging at a beast's mouth perpetually. If you can trust him, it's far +better to leave him alone; don't you think so?" + +"John, race me to the next _kikar_ tree. It's our last chance, for we +shall be among the corn soon. Come!" + +Major Marsden, overtaking them at regulation pace, owned that Belle +did ride very straight indeed. Perhaps she was right after all, and +the position was untenable. He felt a little disheartened and weary, +only his pride remained firm, telling him that he had a perfect right +to settle the point as he chose. Surely he might at least rectify his +own mistakes. The sun climbed up and up, and even in the cooler, +greener river-land beat down fiercely on the stubble where here and +there the oxen circled round on the threshing-floors and clouds of +chaff, glittering like gold in the light, showed the winnower was at +work. John was in his element, pointing out this field promised to +indigo, and that village where a vat was to be built. + +"It is getting a little hot for Mrs. Raby to be out," remarked Philip, +though he was quite aware it would be an offence. + +"By George, it is late! Look, Belle! there's the house beyond those +trees on the promontory. It is three miles round, but if you cut +across, so, by the sand, it's only one and a half. Marsden and I will +go the other way. I have to see a village first, and then we can look +at the new dam." + +"It is over yonder, I suppose?" said Philip pointing to a likely bend +in the river bank. + +"Just so." + +"Then I will see Mrs. Raby across the cut, and join you there." + +"But I can manage quite well by myself," protested Belle. + +"I have no interest in villages, Mrs. Raby; and,--excuse me--before we +start your pony's girths require tightening." He slipped from his +horse and was at her side before she could reply. + +"Then I'm off," cried John with a faint shrug of his shoulders. "I'll +meet you at the corner, Marsden, in twenty minutes." + +"Steady, lad, steady!" murmured the Major with his head under the flap +of the saddle, as Suleimân figeted to join his stable-companion. Belle +standing, tapping her boot with her whip, moved forward. "Give me the +reins. I don't see why you should do everything." + +Philip came up from the girths smiling, and began on the curb. + +"What a fidget you are! I'm glad John isn't like that." + +"Curbs and girths mean more than you suppose. There! now you can go +neck-and-crop at everything, and I won't say you nay. Steady, lad, +steady! One, two, three--are you all right?" + +"Thank you, I think I have the proper number of hands and feet, and so +far as I know my head is on my shoulders," replied Belle tartly. + +They dipped down a bit from the fields to a sluggish stream edging the +higher land, and then scampered across the muddy flats towards the +promontory which lay right at the other side of the bend. + +"Pull up please!" cried Philip. "That strip looks _quick_." + +"Nonsense! John comes this way every week; it's all right." Belle gave +her pony a cut, making it forge ahead; but it was no match for +Suleimân who, unaccustomed to the spur, bounded past her. + +"Pull up, please; don't be foolish, pull up!" Philip shouted, hearing +the ominous cloop of his horse's feet. Another dig of the spur, a +leap, a flounder, and Suleimân was over the creek. Not so Belle's +pony; slower, heavier, it was hopelessly bogged in a second, and +floundering about, sank deeper and deeper. + +"Throw yourself off!" cried Philip; "as far as you can,--arms flat! +So,--quite still, please. There is no danger. I can get at you easily, +and it is not deep." A minute after his hand closed on her wrist as +she lay sinking slowly despite her stillness; for the pony, relieved +of her weight, was plunging like a mad thing and churning up the sand +and water to slush. "I must get a purchase first; these sands hold +like birdlime;" he said after an ineffectual attempt. "Don't be +frightened if I let go for a moment." Then with one hand through +Suleimân's stirrup he knelt once more on the extreme edge of the firm +ground and got a grip of Belle again. "Now then,--all together!" More +all together than he desired, for Suleimân, alarmed at the strain, +backed violently, reared, and finally broke away, leaving Philip prone +on his back in the dirt. "I hope I didn't hurt you," he said, +struggling up, rather blindly, to aid Belle's final flounder to safe +ground. + +"Not much," she replied with a nervous laugh as she shook the +curiously dry sand from her habit. "My wrist will be a bit black and +blue, that's all. Why, Philip, what's the matter? Philip!" + +He had doubled up limply, horribly, as if he had been shot, and lay in +a heap at her feet. + +"Philip! What is it?" + +As she slipped her arm beneath him to raise his head, something warm +and wet trickled over it,--blood! + +"The wound," he murmured. "My handkerchief,--anything,--I am sorry." +Then the pain died out of his face and his head felt heavy on her arm. + +The wound! She sought for it by the aid of that ghastly trickle only +to find, when she tore the coverings away, that it was no trickle, but +an intermittent gushing. That must be stopped somehow,--her +handkerchief, his handkerchief, her own little white hands. It had all +passed so quickly that it seemed but a minute since he had cried "Pull +up," and there she was with his head on her knee, face downwards, and +the warm blood soaking over her. People make long stories afterwards +of such scenes; but as a matter of fact they derive all their horror +from their awful swiftness. + +Belle, bareheaded in the sunlight, was full of one frantic desire to +see the face hidden away in her habit. Was he dead? Was that the +reason why the blood oozed slower and slower? She craned over his +close-cropped hair only to see the outline of his cheek. "Philip, +Philip!" she whispered in his ear; but there was no answer. Was it +five minutes, was it ten, was it an hour since she had sat there with +her hands?--? Ah, ghastly, ghastly! She could not look at them; and +yet for no temptation in the world would she have moved a finger, lest +he was not dead and she,--oh, blessed thought!--was staving death +aside. + +A shout behind, and her husband tearing down at a mad gallop, alarmed +at the return of the riderless horse. "Good God! Belle! what has +happened?" + +"Look, and tell me if he is dead," she said. "Quick! I want to +know,--I want to know!" + +He was not dead, and yet the bleeding had stopped. Then they must get +him home; get him somewhere as best they could. A string bed was +brought from the nearest village, with relays of willing yet placid +bearers; Belle walked beside it, in Philip's helmet, for her own hat +had been lost in the quicksand, keeping her hand on the rough bandages +while John raced ahead to set the doors open. It was dreary crossing +the threshold of the new house, with the jostling, shuffling footsteps +of those who carry something that is death's or will be death's. But +there was a light in Belle's eyes, and even her husband, accustomed as +he was to her even nerves, wondered at her calm decision. Since they +must procure a doctor as quickly as possible, the best plan would be +for John to ride across country to a station where the afternoon mail +stopped. To return to Saudaghur and a mere hospital assistant would be +needless delay. She did not mind, she said, being left alone; and +meanwhile they must send for a supply of necessaries since it was +evident that Philip could not be moved, at any rate for a day or two. +So Belle sat in the big empty room, which by and by was to be hers, +and watched alone by the unconscious man, feeling that it was her turn +now. It was a vigil not to be forgotten. And once as she raised his +head on her arm in order to moisten his lips with the stimulant which +alone seemed to keep life in him, he stirred slightly, his eyes opened +for a second, and a faint murmur reached her ear, "No need for a +policeman." + +A smile, pathetic in its absolute self-surrender, came to her face as +she stooped and kissed him with the passion of protection and +possession which a mother has for her helpless child; and that is a +love which casts out fear. As she crouched once more beside the coarse +pallet where he lay, for the room was destitute of all furniture save +the string woven bed, Belle Raby, for the first time in her life, +faced facts undistorted by her own ideals, and judged things as they +were, not as they ought to be. She loved this man; but what was that +love? Was it a thing to be spoken of with bated breath just because +the object happened to be a person whom, all things consenting, one +might have married? Her nature was healthy and unselfish; her +knowledge of the "devastating passion" which is said to devour +humanity was derived entirely from a pious but unreasoning belief in +what she was told. It is not the fashion nowadays to say so, but that +is really the position in which a vast majority of women find +themselves in regard to many social problems. And so, in that dreary, +shadowy room, with the man she loved dependent on her care for his +sole chance of life, Belle Raby asked herself wherein lay the sin or +shame of such a love as hers, and found no answer. + +And yet, when her husband returned with the doctor, he brought back +with him also the old familiar sense that something, she knew not +what, was wrong. The old resentment, born of the old beliefs, at the +odious position in which she found herself. But now she tried to set +these thoughts aside as unworthy, unworthy of her own self, above all +unworthy of Philip. + + + + + CHAPTER XX. + + +Afzul Khân was sitting in Shunker Dâs's house at Faizapore with a +frown upon his face. He had come all the way in order to consult +Mahomed Lateef, the old Syyed, about a certain blue envelope which was +hidden away in his _posteen_, only to find that the old man had +retreated before his enemies to his last foothold of land, while the +usurer had enlarged his borders at the expense of the ruined old +chief's ruined house. + +Now Mahomed Lateef was Afzul Khân's patron. In this way. The latter +was foster-brother to that dead son who had died gloriously in the +regiment, and who had been born at an outpost on the frontier. Indeed, +but for the old man, Afzul would never have put the yoke of service +round his neck. So his frown was not only on account of his useless +journey; much of it was anger at his old friend's misfortunes, and +those who had taken advantage of them. It angered him to see a blue +monkey painted on the wall in front of which the staunch Mohammedan +used to say his prayers; it angered him still more to see the rows of +cooking-pots where there used to be but one. Yet business was +business, and Shunker might be able to tell him what had become of the +Commissariat-Colonel _sahib's_ daughter; for Afzul had had the address +of the letter spelt out for him by a self-satisfied little schoolboy +at Kohât, and knew enough of poor Dick's family history to suppose +that Belle Stuart must be his cousin. + +"Estuart _sahib's_ daughter," echoed Shunker, a sullen scowl settling +on his face; as it always did at the memory of his wrongs. "Why she +married that _shaitan_ Raby who lives at Saudaghur now, because he was +turned out of the service. _Wah!_ a fine pair, and a fine tale. She +had a lover, Marsden of a Sikh regiment, who paid for her with lakhs +on lakhs. Then, when he was killed, she took the money and married +Raby. Scum! and they talk about our women, bah!" + +This was not all malice and uncharitableness on the usurer's part; for +it must be remembered that, if we know very little of Indian social +life, the natives know still less of ours; the result being, on both +sides, the explanation of strange phenomena by our own familiar +experience; and this is not, as a rule, a safe guide in conditions of +which we know nothing. + +Afzul gave a guttural snort, startling but expressive. "She married +Raby! Truly it is said 'The journeyings of fools are best not made.' +And Marsden _sahib_--long life to him!--was her lover! _Inshallah!_ +she might have found a worse." + +"Before the worms got him," chuckled Shunker; "and then his money was +worth another fine man. That is woman's way, white or black." + +"Raby _sahib's mem_," repeated Afzul meditatively. "There thou +speakest truth, O Shunker. He is with her now." The memory of those +two, standing together hand in hand, came to him and he nodded his +head approvingly, for the thought that Belle's allegiance might return +to its original object commended itself to his mind; his view of the +subject not being occidental. + +"Who is with her now?" asked Shunker with a stare. + +"Marsden _sahib_. Hast not heard he hath come back to life?" + +The usurer's eyes almost started from his head. "Come back!" he +shrieked. "He is not dead! Oh holy Lukshmi! what offerings to thy +shrine! Why, the _shaitan_ will lose the money; he will have to give +up the business; and I--oh Gunesh-_ji!_ I am revenged, I am revenged!" +He lay back on his bed gasping, gurgling, choking with spiteful +laughter and real passionate delight. + +The Pathan scowled. His knowledge of English law was limited, and he +objected to laughter at Marsden _sahib's_ expense. "If he gave it to +the _mem_ for what he got, as thou sayest, Shunker, Marsden _sahib_ +will never ask it back. He will take the woman instead; that is but +fair." + +"Thou dost not understand their crooked ways," gasped Shunker; "and +'tis waste of time to explain. So Marsden _sahib_ is alive again; that +is news indeed! _Hurri Gunga!_ I must go down to Saudaghur and +felicitate the _shaitan_ on his friend's return. He! he! on his +friend's return!" + +Afzul felt the longing of the frontiersman to stick a knife in a fat +Hindu stomach, but he refrained. The blue envelope was going to be a +heavier responsibility than he had thought for, and till that was +settled he must not wander into by-ways. No matter how the pig-faced +idolater had lied in other things, it was true, about the _mem_ and +the Major, he had seen that with his own eyes. Had Dick _sahib_ been +her lover too? And what did both those brave ones see in such a poor, +thin creature? Truly the ways of the _sahib-logue_ were past finding +out. Nevertheless he would seek out the old Khân, and see what he +said. Shunker might be lying, all except that about the _mem-sahib_ +and the Major; that was true. + +It was well on to noon when Afzul, after many hours of varied +travelling by train, by canal, and finally on foot, found himself in +Mahomed Lateef's last few acres of land. Of a surety they were not +ones to be voluntarily chosen as a resting-place; bare of everything +save the sparse stalks of last year's millet crop, showing all too +clearly how scanty that crop had been; bare to the very walls of the +half-ruined tower which stood supported on one side by the mud hovel +occupied by the owner. A significant fact, that bareness, showing the +lack of flocks and herds, the lack of everything that was not wanted +for immediate use. And as he stood at the open door of the yard, it +also showed clean-swept and garnished, dire sign of the poverty which +allows nothing to go to waste. Yet it was not empty of all, for as the +Pathan knocked again, a child, bubbling over with laughter, ran from a +dark door into the sunlight. + +"Nâna, Nâna! [grand-dad] catch, catch!" it cried, and its little legs, +unsteady though they were, kept their advantage on the long ones +behind, long but old; crippled too with rheumatism and want of food to +keep the stern old heart in fighting order; yet bubbling over with +laughter, also, was the stern old face. "Catch thee, gazelle of the +desert! fleetest son of Byramghor! Who could catch thee? Ah, God and +his Prophet! thou hast not hurt thyself, little heart of my heart! +What, no tears? Fâtma, Fâtma! the boy hath fallen and on my life he +hath not shed a tear. _Ai_, the bold heart! _ai_, the brave man!" + +An old woman, bent almost double with age, crept from the door. She +kissed the child's feet as it sat throned in its grandfather's arms. +Her lips could reach no higher, but that was high enough for worship. +"He never cries! None of them cried, and he is like them all," +she crooned. "Dost have a mind, Khân _sahib_, of Futteh Mahomed +falling?--the first, and I so frightened. There was a scratch a finger +long on his knee and--" + +"Peace, Fâtma, and go back! There is a stranger at the door. Go back, +I say!" + +It was a difficult task to draw the veil over those bent shoulders, +but the old woman's wrinkled hands did their best as she scurried away +obediently. + +"_Salaam Alaikoom!_" said the Pathan. "The mother may return. It is I, +Afzul, brother of the breast." + +"Afzul!" The old martinet's face grew dark. "The only Afzul I knew was +a runaway and a deserter. Art thou he?" + +"Ay! Khân _sahib_," replied the man calmly. "I ran away because I had +sold my life to Marsden _sahib_, and I wanted to buy it back again. I +have done it, and I am free." + +"Marsden _sahib!_ 'Tis long since I heard that name. Allah be with the +brave! Pity there was none to stand between him and death as on that +day when my son died." + +"Thou liest, Khân _sahib_. I stood in my brother's place. Marsden +_sahib_ is not dead. I left him three days ago at Saudaghur." + +"Not dead? This is a tale! A prisoner no doubt. _Inshallah!_ my blood +scents something worth words. Here, Fâtma, take the child; or, stay, +it's best he should hear too. Such things sink through the skin and +strengthen the heart. And bring food, woman, what thou hast, and no +excuses. A brave man stomachs all save insult." + +So, with the child on his knee, the old soldier listened to Afzul +Khân's story, while in the dark room beyond the women positively shed +tears of shame over the poor appearance which the plain _bajra_,[6] +cakes, unsweetened, unbuttered, presented on the big brass platter. + +"There is the boy's curdled milk," suggested his sad-faced mother. "He +will not mind for a day." + +"Peace, unnatural!" scolded the grandmother. "The boy's milk, +forsooth! What next? Women nowadays have no heart. A strange man, and +the boy's milk forsooth!" + +Haiyât _bibi_ blushed under her brown skin. Hers was a hard life with +her husband far over the black water, and this stern old man and woman +for gaolers. But the boy was hers; she hugged that knowledge to her +heart and it comforted her. + +The evening drew in, the child dozed off to sleep, but not one jot or +tittle of adventure was to be passed over in silence. "_Inshallah!_ +but thou didst well!" "God send the traitors to hell!" "Ay! Marsden +_sahib_ was ever the bravest of the brave!" These and many another +exclamation testified to the old campaigner's keen interest. But when +Afzul began tentatively to question him about the blue envelope, the +light died from the hollow eyes. Raby _sahib?_ Nay, he knew nought, +save that the people said it was the _mem-sahib's_ money he was +spending in this new talk of indigo and what not. He wished them no +ill, but Murghub Ahmad, far away in the Andamans, had saved the _mem_ +from insult,--perhaps worse--and she had given evidence against him in +the trial. He wished no man ill, but if what the people said was true, +and Raby _sahib's_ new dam would prevent the river from doing its +duty, then it would be a different matter. Ay! the new factory was but +ten miles up the river, but no one lived there as yet. + +Now the matter of the blue envelope became more and more oppressive to +Afzul Khân the more he thought of it. Easy enough to send it +anonymously to Raby _sahib's mem_, and so be quit of it once for all; +but what if she had taken the Major's money, as Shunker asserted, in +order to buy a new husband? And what if this paper of Eshmitt +_sahib's_ meant more loot? Afzul was, all unconsciously, jealous of +this white-faced _mem_, and but for a strange sort of loyalty to the +boy he had betrayed would have liked to put the letter in the fire, +shake himself loose of all ties, and return to his people. + +"Nay! thou askest more than I have to give," replied Mahomed Lateef to +his questioning. "I know 'tis on paper they leave their moneys, for, +as I said, the Colonel _sahib_ once asked me--'twas in China, during +the war--to set my name as witness to something." + +"Was it long-shaped, in a blue cover?" asked Afzul, eagerly. + +"There was no cover, but it was long, like the summons from the +courts. Stay! if thy mind be really set on such knowledge there is a +friend of my poor Murghub's--one who pleads in the courts--even now +resting in his father's village but a space from here. He must know +more than thou canst want to hear." + +So in the cool of the next morning Afzul walked through the barren +fields to see the pleader. A keen-faced sallow young man, seemingly +glad to escape for the time from patent-leather boots and such like +products of civilisation. The Pathan found him squatting over against +a _hookah_ and basking in the sunshine like the veriest villager. For +all that he was fulfilled with strange knowledge of law and order as +administered by the alien, and Afzul sat open-eyed while he discoursed +of legacies, and settlements, of the _feme covert_ and the Married +Women's Property Act, with a side glance at divorces and permanent +alimony--strange topics to be gravely discussed at the gateway of an +Indian village through which men were carried to their rest and women +to their bridal beds, with scant appeal to anything but custom. It +utterly confused Afzul, though it sent him away convinced that the +blue envelope must mean the loot of another lover to the _mem-sahib_. + +"I will wait," he said to himself decisively; "yes, I will wait until +she is faithful and goes back to the Major; then, as that pleader +fellow says, he will get the money. But if _he_ leaves her and takes +his money instead, then I will send her the envelope. That is but +fair. God and his Prophet! but their ways are confusing. 'Tis better +to steal and fight as we do; it makes the women faithful." + +That evening he spent half an hour with a needle and thread, borrowed +from old Fâtma, in sewing the blue envelope safely into his skin-coat. +Then he sat once more stirring the old Mohammedan's blood with tales +of fight and adventure till far on into the night. Yet the earliest +blink of dawn found him creeping away from the still sleeping +household, and his right arm bare of a massive gold bracelet he had +worn for years. That he had left lying on the baby's pillow; for was +not the child the son of his brother? Had not his father saved Marsden +_sahib_ also? Ah! that score was not paid off yet. He still seemed to +see the tall figure standing in the sunlight. Fool that he had been +not to fire, instead of giving himself away at a mere word! Even now, +though he knew that but for him Philip Marsden's bones would have been +churning in a dreary dance of death at the bottom of some boiling pool +in the Terwân torrent, he felt the bitterness of defeat. His very +admiration, growing as it did with the other's display of pluck, added +to his resentment. To take an order from a man when you had your +finger on the trigger of your rifle! It was all very well to save a +wounded comrade, to stand by him through thick and thin, but that did +not show him, or convince yourself, that you cared as little for his +menace as he had done for yours. Some day, yes, some day! he would +stand up before Marsden _sahib_ and defy him. Then he could cry quits, +and go home to his own people in peace. + +Nevertheless, the news of his master's accident which met him on his +return to Saudaghur sent him without an instant's pause to the factory +where Philip still lay unconscious. And when he walked, at the dead of +night, into the big bare room where Belle sat watching, his face +softened at the sight of that dark head on the pillow. It softened +still more when something of the past--Heaven knows what--seemed to +come with him, rousing a low, quick voice from the bed. "Afzul, it is +cold; put on more fuel. Do you not feel the cold? Afzul, Afzul!" For +that something had carried Philip Marsden back to the smoky cave among +the snows, although the windows stood wide open to let in the tardy +coolness of the summer night. + +The Pathan drew himself together and stood at attention. "_Huzoor!_" +he answered quietly. "It is done; the fire blazes." + +Belle in the half-shadows thrown by the sheltered lamp stood up +looking kindly at the new-comer. "I'm glad you have come, Afzul," she +whispered; "he has been calling for you so often." + +Behind his military salute the man smiled approvingly. She was of the +right sort, faithful to the old love. Marsden _sahib_ should marry her +and get the money, if that was the way they managed things over the +black water. And this solution of the question grew upon him as he +watched her unfailing devotion when, between them, they helped the +sick man through the dreary trouble which was all too familiar to the +Pathan. "It was so in the cave," he would say, as time dragged on +through days when the sick man lay still and silent, through nights +when the quick hurried words never seemed to leave his lips and it was +all they could do to keep on the bandages. + +"It's the bullet in the shoulder blade that's troublin' him," said the +clever little Irish doctor, who rode forty miles every day between two +trains in order to see his patient and keep an eye on his hospital. +"Put three more days' strength into him, Mrs. Raby, and I'll bring +over another man and we'll have at it somehow. The wound has niver +haled, and niver will till it gets a fair chance." + +Shortly after this Belle found herself pacing up and down the +verandah, scarcely daring to think of what was going on within. Would +he die? Was this really the end? Was it to be peace at last, and no +more struggle? And lo and behold! when the doctors let her into the +room again he was lying with a smile on his face, because the pain, +the ceaseless pain which had annihilated everything else in the world, +was gone. + +"I've given you a lot of trouble," he said; and even as he spoke fell +asleep from sheer, blessed ease. + +After that again came a time when even Afzul stood aside and let the +_mem_ take the lead while he sat watching her curiously--a time when +it positively seemed more to her that Philip should take so many +spoonfuls of nourishment every hour than that he should get better; +when the content of immediate success blotted out the thought of +future failure, and the fear of death was forgotten in the desire of +staving it off. Most people who have nursed a case in which even the +doctors stay their hands and wait on Nature, know that strange +dream-like life wherein the peaks and passes on the temperature chart +seem by contraries to raise or depress the whole world. Belle fought +the fight bravely; and not until she stood one day looking at a +thermometer which registered normal did she feel a sinking at her +heart. They had come down into the low levels of life; they were back +in the work-day world. Yet it was not the one they had left six weeks +before. Even outwardly it had changed. The last green blade of grass +had withered to a brown shadow on the sunbaked soil, and the +dust-storms of May swept over the half-finished house. + +"It looks dreary enough now, but just you wait till next year," said +John Raby, in his cheerful confident way. "The new dam will be +finished, I hope, the water will come in at high level to the garden, +the place will be a paradise of flowers, and we shall be dividing +thirty per cent, profit! There's a prospect! Oh, by the way, did I +ever tell you that beast Shunker Dâs came down just after you did, +Marsden, expecting to find me on my back like a turned turtle? His +face, when he saw I was jolly as a sand-boy, was a caution! By George! +that man does hate me and no mistake." + +Belle moved a step nearer her husband and laid her hand on the back of +his easy-chair. Perhaps it was only his good-nature in leaving her +free to nurse Philip, but somehow she felt they had drifted far apart +during the past six weeks. "I seem to have heard nothing," she began, +wistfully. + +"Better employed on the head of the firm, my dear," he replied with a +laugh. "You do her credit, Marsden. And now I must be off again, for +there is some idiotic fuss at a village a few miles off. Shunker's +work, I expect; but we are too strong for him. Even the native +recognises the almighty dollar, and if they will only have patience, +I'll engage to treble the revenue of this district. Well, good-bye, +Belle. I'll be back to-morrow or next day. Soon as I can 'get,' as the +Americans say. Take care of yourselves." + +When he had gone the punkah went on swinging, Belle's hands knitted +busily, Philip's lay idle in the languor of convalescence; all was as +before, and yet there was a difference--a difference of which each was +conscious, and which brought a certain restraint. + +"Why does Shunker hate him?" asked Major Marsden. + +There was no lack of confidence now between these two, and if he asked +many questions, she was quite ready to answer them faithfully, +according to her lights. In this one, however, she failed to give a +just impression, for the simple reason that she herself had no +conception of the extent of the usurer's malice. In fact, his impotent +rage on discovering that Philip's return had apparently made no +difference to the Rabys would have been incredible to an educated +Englishwoman, had she been aware of it, which she was not. The man, +coming down to Saudaghur expectant of consternation, had found nothing +but a stir of fresh enterprise which his keen business eye told him +meant money. He wandered about from village to village, noting the +golden seed being sown by his adversary, until the thought of the +harvest in which he would have no share positively worried him into +spleen and ague. And as he lay among the simple village folk a fresh +idea for revenge came to console him. It is never hard to change the +stolid opposition of the Indian peasant into stolid obstruction. No +overt injustice is required; nothing but a disregard of custom. And so +Shunker, taking advantage of the short period during which he had been +associated in partnership with John Raby, began cautiously to call in +debts in the name of the firm. Now in an Indian village a debt to the +ancestral usurer is a debt; that is to say no nighty ephemeral +liability which may crop up at any time claiming payment, but a good, +solid inheritance going back sometimes a generation or two; a patent +almost of solvency, a claim certainly for consideration at the hands +of your banker; since a bumper crop might any day give you the +upper-hand, or a bad one make it still more unwise for the creditor to +present his bill. Thus, when Shunker disregarded time-worn prejudices +to the extent of asking one Peru, an old-established customer, to make +a settlement, the latter looked as if the foundations of the round +world had been moved. + +"Pay," he said slowly, his broad nostrils inflated like those of a +horse shying at novelty, "I am always paying, _buniak-ji_, year by +year, one harvest or another. God knows how much, but 'tis the old +way, and old ways are good." + +"They are good," sighed the usurer, piously. "I like them myself, +Peru; but new masters have new ways." + +"New masters do not make new land," retorted the peasant shrewdly +enough. "That remains the same. It must be sown; yet when I ask the +seed-grain, as my fathers have done, the answer is '_Pay!_' Pay! of +course I will pay when the crops ripen. Does not harvest mean payment +to the peasant?" + +"Your crops won't ripen long on those fields, I'm afraid, my poor +Peru! The _sahib_ wants land, here, everywhere, for this new factory +of his. The men who will not pay will see what befalls. A little will +go this year, a little more next. If I were alone 'twould be a +different matter, for I was ever faithful to my friends." + +Shunker's air of virtuous distress was admirable, but Peru laughed; +the rough peasant laugh full of broad toleration. "As vermin to the +Pathan, so are the grain-dealers to the farmer! We warm you, and you +feed on us till you grow troublesome, then--off goes the coat! One +_buniah_ is like another; why then dost change?" + +"I change not, dunderhead!" cried Shunker enraged at a certain slow +superiority in the other. "'Tis Raby _sahib_ claims payment." + +"Then tell Raby _sahib_ I will pay when the river comes. It will come +this year perhaps, if not, next year; if luck be bad, it may tarry +twain, not longer. It comes ever sooner or later; then, let us talk of +payment." + +Shunker leaned forward, his evil face kindling with malice. "But what, +Peru, if the river never returns? What if Raby _sahib's_ new dam is +built to prevent the water coming, so that he may have a grip on the +land? What if the seed-grain thou sowest springs green, to die yellow, +year after year?" + +Pera Ditta's ox-eyes opened helplessly. What if the river never +returned? The idea was too vast for him, and yet it remained with him +long after Shunker had gone to sow the same seed of mischief in other +minds. He did it deftly, taking care not to turn the screw too tightly +at first, lest he should bring down on himself the villagers' final +argument of the stick. The reason given by the Laird of Inverawe for +hanging the Laird of Inverie, "that he just didna like him," has been +given before now as fair cause for doing an unfortunate usurer to +death with quarterstaves. So Shunker did not disturb primeval calm too +rudely. Nevertheless as he paused for a night ere returning to +Faizapore, in the empty house at Saudaghur, where Kirpo had passed the +months of Râmu's captivity, he felt content with his labours. He had +started a stone of unpopularity on its travels, which by and by would +bring down an avalanche on his enemy. + +As he lounged on the string bed, set for coolness on the flat roof, he +told himself, not without a measure of truth, that sooner or later all +his enemies perished. Ah, if it were only as easy to keep those you +loved in life, as it was to drive those you hated down to death! But +it was not; and the thought of frail, sickly Nuttu came, as it often +did, to take the savour even from revenge. The memory of deserted +Kirpo's sons,--those strapping youngsters whom he had often seen +playing on that very roof--made him groan and roll over on his fat +stomach to consider the possibility of marrying yet another wife. He +had married so many only to find disappointment! As his face came +back, disheartened, to the unsympathetic stars which fought against +him, he started as if he had been shot. For there was Kirpo herself +tall and menacing standing beside the bed. The veil wrapped tightly +round her body, left her disfigured death's-head face visible. + +"Don't be more of a coward than need be," she said scornfully, as the +Lâlâ, after shooting up like a Jack-in-the-box, began to sidle away +from her, his dangling legs swinging wildly in his efforts to move his +fat form. "I've not come to beat the breath from thy carcase. 'Twill +die soon enough, never fear; and just now there is a son to perform +the obsequies. There won't be one by and by." + +The indifference of her voice, and the aptness of her words to his own +thoughts, roused the Lâlâ's rage. "What dost want, hag of a noseless +one?" he shrieked, "she-devil! base-born!--" + +"Not bad words, Lâlâ," she interrupted calmly. "I've had enough of +them. I want money. I'm starving; thou knowest it. What else could I +be?" + +"Starving!" The word rolled sweeter than any honey under Shunker's +tongue. "Then starve away. So thou thoughtest to trick me--me! How +didst like the bangles, Kirpo dear? the brave bangles,--he,--he!" + +To his surprise the allusion failed to touch her. Instead of breaking +into abuse she looked at him curiously, drew her veil so as to hide +all but her great dark eyes, and squatted down, as if for a chat, on +the ground opposite to him. + +"Look here, Lâlâ!" she said. "This is no matter for ill words: 'tis +business. What is past, is past. I'm going to give thee a chance for +the future--a last chance! Dost hear? So I've come to say I am +starving. For six months I paid for my food in this very place; paid +for it in thy pleasure. Fair and square so far. But now, because of +that pleasure, Râmu is in jail again and I am noseless. Then Râmu's +people have taken his sons,--_hai! hai!_ his beautiful sons--from me +because of that pleasure. Is not that payment enough, Lâlâ? Shall I +starve also?" + +"Why not?" chuckled Shunker, "I have no need of thee any more." + +Kirpo leaned forward with hand raised in warning, her fierce eyes on +his face. "Have a care, Lâlâ! Have a care! It is the last chance. Thou +dost not want me; good. I asked for naught to be taken; I asked for +something to be given." + +"Not a _paisa_, not a _pai!_" broke in the usurer brutally. "I'm glad +of thy starvation; I'm glad they've taken away thy sons." + +"Stop, Lâlâ!" shrieked Kirpo, her calm gone, her voice ringing with +passion. "I did not say _my_ sons! I said Râmu's! Look, Shunker, look! +I have another,--" as she spoke, she tore her veil aside--"in my arms, +Lâlâ! Is he not fair and strong for a two months' babe? Would you not +like to have him? No, no, hands off, no touching! He is mine, I say, +mine, mine!" She sprang to her feet holding the baby high above his +head exultantly. He sat staring at it, and trembled like a leaf. + +"Kirpo!" he gasped, "give it to me; by all the Gods in Heaven, I will +pay--" + +A peal of mocking laughter greeted the words. "Bah! Now I have roused +thee. 'Tis all a lie, Shunker, all a lie! Only a trick of starving +Kirpo's! And yet, somehow he favours thee as thou mightest have been +before the grease came to spoil beauty. For all that not like Nuttu, +the sickly one. Nuttu will die, this one will live. Wilt thou not, +heart's darling and delight?" She covered the babe with a storm of +passionate kisses. + +"Kirpo! by all the torments of hell--" urged Shunker. + +"What! art there already? Not so fast, Lâlâ! not so fast. Wait till I +bring this babe to curse thy pyre, to spit on thy ashes,--thy son--thy +son!" + +"It is a lie!" burst in the wretched man, beside himself with doubt, +certainty, and desire. "He is not mine." + +"Well said, Shunker, well said!" laughed Kirpo triumphantly, growing +calmer with her evident success. "He is not thine, he is mine." She +folded her veil round the sleeping child with a flourish, as if to +emphasise her words, and stepped backwards. As she stood there sombre, +malignant, the winged thoughts flew through Shunker's brain. There is, +strictly speaking, no possible divorce, no remarriage for the Hindu; +but if Râmu could be got out of the way, he, Shunker Dâs, might pose +as a social reformer. It was a fine idea. Or he might,--a thousand +suggestions found expression in the covetous hands he stretched +towards his victim. "Kirpo, listen!" + +"I will not listen. I gave the chance for the child's sake. Now--" + +"Kirpo! take what thou likest--" + +"I _will_ take what I like, Lâlâ. That is revenge!" Before he could +say another word she had turned her back on him, and ere he could rise +to stop her was down the narrow stair and out into the street with her +precious burden. + +So Lâlâ Shunker Dâs lay down and cried, because not one of the women +his wealth had bought could bear him a son save this Kirpo whom he had +betrayed. Fool that he was not to have seen she must have some deep +move on hand ere she came to beg of him! Revenge! He had dreamt of +that himself; but what was his poor spite to this devilish malice? He +tried to remember that want was a hard master; that Kirpo's own people +came from beyond the fourth[7] river and were therefore useless to her +as a refuge; that it was woman's way to bark more than bite. In his +heart of hearts he knew that she had said truly when she offered him +his last chance. And, as a matter of fact, while he sat trying to +recover confidence on the edge of his bed, Kirpo and the baby, with +many a swing of the full skirts as she strode along, were making their +way direct to the enemy's camp; in other words to John Raby's new +factory. The _sahib_ had interfered on her behalf once, and he hated +Shunker. He could give her coolie's work on the new dam, and in return +she could give him valuable information as to the usurer's little +game. The Lâlâ, had had his chance, partly for the sake of comfort, +partly for the sake of the child. Now she would devote herself to +revenge and gain a living at the same time. + +Of all this, however, Belle was profoundly ignorant; nor did Kirpo say +more to her new master than was necessary to show a sound, conceivable +reason for her professions of attachment to his cause. John Raby +laughed when he heard of his enemy's vows of vengeance; but he was +wise enough to see the prospect of unpopularity with his poorer +neighbours, and the advisability of being prepared for opposition. + +"I hope you don't mind, Marsden," he said a day or two before the +Major left, "but I've been treating with that truculent rascal of +yours, Afzul. He's coming back to India, he says, next cold weather, +on business or something. I've asked him to bring me a gang of navvies +and do overseer himself till next rainy season. Those hill-men work +like Englishmen, and the new dam will require constant care until it +solidifies; besides, I believe in mercenaries; a bandit is always +handy." + +"And Afzul consented?" asked Philip in surprise. + +"Jumped at it. There is no one like the noble savage for turning an +honest penny when he can, and I own to tempting him pretty stiffly. We +may want that sort of fellow by and by to keep things going." + +"I am surprised at Afzul for all that," continued Philip, +thoughtfully. "I wonder what he means?" + +"Devotion to you," laughed the other; "you should have heard him. And +you too, Belle! He laid the butter on thick about your capabilities as +a nurse." + +She looked up quickly. "I suppose it's ungrateful, but I don't like +that man. He always seems to have something in his mind that I can't +get hold of." + +"He is very intelligent," replied her husband with a shrug of his +shoulders; "and took quite an interest in the business, I assure you; +he asked a lot of questions. And, to tell the truth, I think a +thoroughly devoted rascal is the most useful thing in creation; so I +hope he is one." + +Philip laughed. "Shall I leave my interests in his hands, Belle, or in +yours?" + +"Leave them to me, my dear fellow," interrupted John. "Belle doesn't +understand business." + + + + + CHAPTER XXI. + + +Perhaps her husband was right in saying Belle did not understand +business. At any rate she had little to do with it in the uneventful +months which followed. It was a dry, hot year bringing no respite of +rain to the long weary hours. It brought plenty of work, however, to +John Raby, who was up with the dawn, and never seemed to tire or flag +in his unceasing pursuit of success. In good sooth, as Belle confessed +to herself, Philip could have found no better custodian for his money; +and this knowledge was a great consolation,--how great she scarcely +realised until something came to disturb it. + +She was writing to Philip Marsden one day when John entered the room. +She rose hastily, even though she felt vexed with herself for doing +so. Why should she not write? As a matter of fact she spent a +considerable portion of her time over these letters. Sometimes she +would resolutely put pen and paper away, and set to work to sew every +possible button on John's under-garments, or perform some other +virtuous domestic duty, only to find when all was done that leisure +still stared her in the face. For the leisure of a long hot-weather +day in an outstation may be compared to that of a solitary cell. Their +nearest neighbours were twenty miles away, and Belle's experiment of +having her youngest and most good-natured step-sister on a visit had +ended in disastrous failure. The girl had cried for three days +consecutively out of sheer low spirits. It was all very well, she said +plaintively, when one was married and got something by it; but what +was the use of being miserable before there was any necessity for it, +and when one couldn't even scold the servants to amuse one's self? By +and by, when Charlie Allsop got his step, she would no doubt have to +put up with jungle life for a time; but now her dearest Belle must +excuse her. Maud had written _such_ a description of the dress she was +going to wear at the Masonic ball; and really, now that Mabel was +married to her widower, and Charlie's schooling paid for by John, they +got on splendidly in the little house. Why shouldn't Belle go back to +Missouri with her, and take rooms at Scott's Hotel? They would have +such fun! But, though her husband gave her full leave to do as she +liked, Belle shook her head over this tempting offer. She felt that +she could not afford to neglect the tithes of mint and cummin, the +jots and tittles of the law; she must at any rate make offering of +what she had to give. So she stayed at home, and blushed violently +when she rose from her desk. + +"Writing to Marsden?" said John carelessly. "I thought you might be, +and I wanted you just to give him a hint or two about the business. It +would come naturally from you and save surprise. The fact is, there +has been a lot of unforeseen expense; then the firm in Calcutta to +which I sent my first batch of stuff has failed. Altogether I sha'n't +be able to spare any interest on the money this year." + +"No interest?" Belle could only echo his words stupidly, for the very +idea of such a contingency had never entered her head, and the fact +seemed to bring back all the old sickening dislike to the situation. + +"Well!" He looked at her with the expression of distasteful patience +which always came to his face when awaiting a remonstrance. But none +followed. She was so absorbed in the fresh shame, to her, of this +failure, that she could think of nothing else. + +"Of course it is a pity," he went on, somewhat mollified by her +silence, "but Marsden isn't a fool. He knows one has generally to wait +for a return; indeed I consider it lucky we have not to borrow. I wish +you wouldn't look so tragic over it, Belle. We are not ruined; far +from it. Only for the present we have to live on our capital." + +Belle's face brightened. "Could we not pay the interest out of +capital, too, John?" + +Her husband burst out laughing as he threw himself into an easy chair. +"Upon my soul, for utter incapacity to understand even the morals of +business, commend me to a really good woman! Interest out of capital! +We are not a swindling company, Belle!" + +"We might pay it out of your own savings, John," she urged, knowing +how hopeless it would be to argue. + +"Transference from one budget-head to another, and consequent cooking +of accounts! No, my dear; I left that system of book-keeping behind me +when I quitted Government service. Marsden must go without his +interest for the present; he has very good pay, and the loss is quite +temporary. In any circumstances the returns would have been +unfavourable for this year, owing to the drought. Why, even with the +aid of the dam I have scarcely had enough water for a quarter of the +acreage I intend to have next season." + +His voice tailed off into indifference as his attention became +concentrated in a paper he had taken up, and there was an end of the +matter so far as he was concerned. + +Pens, ink and paper had lost their attraction for Belle that day, and +for many days after; indeed, it was not until the knowledge that her +long silence would cause anxiety, that she faced the task of finishing +her letter to Major Marsden. The very certainty that he would care +little for the absence of the promised dividend, and be quite ready to +accept her husband's views on the matter, made it seem all the more +hard for her; and though she determined to leave the proper person to +tell the unwelcome news, she found herself hampered on all sides by +her own knowledge. Even remarks on the dryness of the weather savoured +of an attempt at excuse, and for the first time she felt glad to write +her signature at the bottom of the page. When it was done she leant +her head over her crossed arms in a sudden rush of weariness, and +thought how different it would have been if she could have met Philip +on equal terms; if they could have told each other the truth in all +things. Theoretically it was all very well to say that the money had +nothing to do with the position, but practically she could not get rid +of the conviction that she and John were preying on a man's sense of +honour, or, worse, on his affections. It was no use telling herself +she was despicable in having such thoughts; that, setting love aside, +friendship itself excluded the question of give or take. As a matter +of fact Philip did give her all he had, and he took,--what did he not +take? She cowered before that, the worst question of all. She could +not escape from the haunting sense of wrong which seemed to sap the +strength of her self-respect; and back through all her heart-burnings +came the one foolish fancy that if she could only have met Philip with +the money, or even a decent five per cent, interest on it, in her +hand, she could have looked into his face with clear unshadowed eyes. +And now! How was she to meet him when there was not even a dividend? + +Philip meanwhile was undergoing no qualms; on the contrary, he was +having a very good time. To begin with he was in command of the +regiment and drawing, as John Raby said, excellent pay. Furthermore he +was enjoying, as was inevitable, the return to health and life after +eighteen months of death to all pleasure. Lastly, his conscience was +absolutely at rest in regard to Belle. He would have been more, or +less, than human had he not been aware that he had behaved as well as +a man could, in very trying circumstances. In fact he was a little +complacent over what had been, so far, a very simple and easy solution +of a problem which other people held to be insoluble. He sent Belle +the last new books, and wrote her kind brotherly letters, and thought +of her as the best friend he had, and always with the same underlying +consciousness of pure virtue. He forgot, however, that poor Belle +stood in a very different position; one in which calm peace was +well-nigh impossible. So as her letters became less frequent and less +frank, he began to puzzle somewhat captiously over the cause. Finally +he hinted at an explanation, and receiving nothing but jesting +replies, he took ten days' leave and went down to Saudaghur, +ostensibly to settle the half yearly accounts; for both John and he +found a sort of solemn refuge from the truth in the observance, so far +as was possible, of strict business relations. + +It gave him quite a shock to find how much change his few months' +absence had wrought. The bare deserted house where Belle had nursed +him back to life, and where he and she had spent so many days +forgetful of the work-a-day world, content in a kindly constant +companionship, was now a luxurious house hedged about by +conventionalities. The drawing-room, where his sofa had reigned +supreme, was full of _bric-à-brac_ tables and heaven knows what +obstacles, through which a man had to thread his way like a performing +ape. Belle herself, despite her kind face and soft voice, was no +longer the caretaker full of sympathy. She was his hostess, his +friend, but also another man's wife; a fact of which she took care to +remind him by saying she was glad he had come in time to celebrate the +anniversary of her wedding-day on the morrow. Despite his theories +Philip did not like the change. It vexed him, too, that she should +look pale and worried when he had really done all, all that an honest +man could do, to smooth her path. Had he not even kept away for five +whole months? So he was decidedly out of humour when, coming from a +long spell of business with John in the office, he found her alone for +the first time. She was standing by the fireplace in the drawing-room, +and he made his way towards her intent on words. But she forestalled +him. "Well! he has told you about it, I suppose,--that there is no +dividend?" she said defiantly; and as she spoke she crushed the +withered roses she had been removing from a vase and flung them on to +the smouldering embers. + +He looked at her in surprise. "I scarcely expected one. Oh, Belle!" he +continued hotly, "is it that? Did you think, could you think I would +care?" + +She gave a little hard laugh. "How stupid you are! Of course you don't +mind. Can't you see it is that,--which hurts? Can't you understand it +is that,--your kindness,--which must hurt,--always?" + +The dead leaves had caught fire and flamed up, throwing a glare of +light on both their faces. It seemed to light up their hearts also. +Perhaps she had not meant to say so much; yet now that she had said it +she stood gracefully upright, looking him in the eyes, reckless, ready +for anything. The sight of her brought home to Philip what he had +forgotten before; that in this problem of his he had not to do with +one factor but with two, and one of them a woman. Not a passionate one +it is true, but a woman to whom sentiment and emotion were more than +reason; a woman whose very innocence left her confused and helpless, +uncertain of her own foothold, and unable to draw the hard-and-fast +line between good and evil without which she felt lost in a wilderness +of wrong. The recognition startled him, but at the same time aroused +his combativeness. + +"I confess I don't see why it should," he said rather coldly. "Surely +I have a perfect right to set,--other things before money, and it is +wrong--" + +"Shall I give you a copy-book so that you may write the sentiment down +for future reference, Philip?" she interrupted swiftly. "Copy-book +maxims about right and wrong are so useful when one has lost the way, +aren't they? For myself I am tired of them,--dead tired,--dead tired +of everything." And once again with a gesture of utter weariness she +leant against the mantelpiece, her head upon her crossed arms. + +His hands clenched as if to hold something tighter; something that +seemed slipping from him. "I am sorry," he said huskily. "Is it my +fault?" + +She flamed round upon him. "Yea! it is your fault! All your fault! Why +did you ever leave me that money?" + +The truth, and the unfairness of her words, bit deep. "It was 'Why did +you come back to take it away?' when we first met," he retorted in +rising anger. "I told you then I had a right to live if _I_ chose. I +tell you now I will take the money back if _you_ choose. I will do it +to-day if you like. It is only lent, I can give notice." + +"What difference will it make now?" she went on recklessly. "Will it +undo the mischief? Your legacy did it all. It made John--" She broke +off suddenly, a look of terror came to her eyes, and she turned away. + +"Well! I am waiting to hear. It made John--?" + +"Nothing," she said in a low voice. "What is the good? It is all +past." + +"But I have a right to know; I will know. Belle, what wrong did my +legacy do you? What wrong of which I know nothing? Let me see your +face--I must see it--" He bent over her, almost rough in his +impatience at the fine filmy threads of overwrought feeling which, +seeming so petty to a man, yet have the knack of tying him hand and +foot. What did she mean? Though they had never talked of such things, +the fact that her legacy had decided John's choice could be no +novelty, even to her. A woman who had money must always know it would +enhance her other charms. Then suddenly a hitherto unappreciated fact +recurred to him--if this was her wedding-day, she must have been +married very soon--the memory of a marble summer-house in a peach +garden, with his will on the table and John standing by, flashed upon +him, making the passionate blood leap up in resentment. "Belle!" he +cried imperiously, "did he--did you know? Have you known--?" He +paused, his anger yielding to pain. Had she known this incredible +baseness all these weary months, those months during which he had been +priding himself on his own forbearance? And she had said nothing! Yet +she was right; for if once this thing were made clear between them +what barrier would remain? Why should they guard the honour of a man +who had himself betrayed it? In the silence which ensued it was lucky +for them both that the room was full of memories of her kind touch, +soothing his restless pain; so the desire to give something back in +kind came uppermost. + +"Is there nothing I can do?" he said at last, moving aside and +standing square and steady. "Nothing I can say or do to make it easier +for you?" + +"If you could forget--" + +He shook his head. "I will go away if you like, though I don't see why +I should." + +"Then it would only be giving up one thing more to please me," she +answered with a little sad smile. "Why should you give up anything, +when I can give--nothing! Ah, Philip, Philip! If you had only taken +poor Dick's will and were free to go,--if you chose." + +He frowned moodily. "I should not choose, so it would make no +difference; except that you think there would be one. I cannot see it. +As for the will, I'm afraid it is hopeless; but if you like I can take +leave and try. Afzul might come with me." + +"If I like!" she echoed in despair. "If I like! It always comes back +to that." + +The slow tears overflowing her tired eyes cut him to the quick, though +in sober truth he thought them needless. "It must,--seeing that I love +you. Why should you shrink from the truth, Belle? Great Heavens! what +have you or I done that we should be ashamed of ourselves?" + +"Don't let's speak of it, Philip," she cried in a sort of terror. "It +is all my fault, I know; but I cannot help it. It is no use saying I +am wrong; everything is wrong from beginning to end." + +And though he fretted and fumed, argued and appealed, nothing he could +say sufficed to re-assure her. Rightly or wrongly she could not view +the situation as he viewed it. She was galled and chafed on every +side; nor could he fail to see during the next four days that his +presence only brought her additional misery. She seemed unable to take +anything naturally, and she shrank equally from seeming to avoid being +alone with him, or from being alone. Yet, with true womanly +inconsequence, she shrank most of all when he told her that he had +made up his mind to go, and not to return until she sent for him. They +were walking up and down the new dam, which curved across a bend in +the sandy reach, waiting for her husband who with Afzul and his gang +of bandits was busy seeing to a strengthening of the side nearest the +river. A red sun was setting over the jagged purple shadow of the +Suleiman Hills, and flaring on the still pools of water below the +embankment. + +"I am driving you away," she said despondently. "You cannot even look +after your own business because of me." + +Then his patience gave way. "Damn the business!" he cried heartily, +and walked along beside her kicking the little clods from his path +before turning to her apologetically. "I beg your pardon, Belle, but +it is a little trying. Let us hope the business will be successfully +dammed, and then, according to John, I shall get my money back in two +years. So cheer up; freedom is beneath your feet!" + +Just below them, measuring up earthwork, stood John Raby and Afzul +Khân. As they passed the latter looked up, _salaaming_ with broad +grins. "I wonder if he will take her away soon," was his thought. "I +wish he would; then I could get rid of the paper and be off home by +summer with Raby _sahib's_ rupees in my pocket. What is he waiting +for? She likes him, and Raby _sahib_ would be quite content with the +money." + +John looked up too, and nodded. "Don't wait for me, good people. I +have to go over to the further end. You needn't keep tea for me, +Belle, I prefer a whiskey-peg. Ta, ta!" + +And as they moved off, their figures showing dark against the red sky, +he looked after them, saying to himself that the Major could not +complain. One way and another he got his money's worth. + +"Your husband works too hard, Belle," said Philip. "You should +persuade him to take it easier." + +"He is so anxious to make it a success," she replied quickly. + +"So are we all," retorted Philip cynically. "We ought to manage it +between us, somehow." + +As they passed the coolies' huts a big strapping woman with her face +hidden in her veil came out and _salaamed_. + +"Who is that?" asked Philip at once. The last few days had brought him +a curious dissatisfaction with Belle's surroundings. Despite the +luxurious home she seemed out of keeping with Afzul and his bandits, +the tag-rag and bobtail of squalid coolies swarming about the place, +and the stolid indifference of the peasants beyond the factory. + +"A _protégée_ of John's. He got her out of trouble somewhere. He says +he has the biggest lot of miscreants on the frontier on his works. +They don't look much, I must allow; but this woman seems to like me. +She has such a jolly baby. I had to doctor it last week. How's Nuttu +to-day, Kirpo?" + +The woman, grinning, opened her veil and displayed a sleeping child. + +"Isn't he pretty, Philip?" said Belle softly. "And see, they have +pierced his nose and ears like a girl's." + +"For luck, I suppose. May God spare him to manhood," prefaced Philip +piously, in native fashion before he asked the mother if it were not +so. + +She shook her head. "No, Protector of the poor! All my boys are +healthy. He is called Nuttu, so that as he thrives some one else of +the same name may dwindle and pine. That is why." She hugged the baby +to her with an odd smile. + +"She could not have meant that there was really another child whose +death she desired," said Belle as they went on. + +"I would not answer for it if I were you. They are a queer people. By +Jove! How that woman does hate some one; I'm glad it isn't you, +Belle!" + +And Kirpo looking after them was saying in her turn that they were +very queer people. If he was her lover why did the _mem_ look so +unhappy? The _sahib logue_ did not cut off their wives' noses, or put +them in prison; so what did it matter? + +Truly those two were compassed about by a strange cloud of witnesses +as they strolled homewards. Perhaps the civilised world would have +judged them as harshly. But no tribunal, human or divine, could have +judged Belle more harshly than she did herself; and herein lay all the +trouble. She could not accept facts and make the best of them. + +John Raby coming in later found the two reading solemnly, one on +either side of the fire, and told them they were horribly unsociable. +"I couldn't get away before," he said. "Afzul wanted a day's leave and +I had to measure up before he started." + +"Has he gone already? I'm sorry," remarked Philip. "I wished to see +him before I leave tomorrow." + +"To-morrow!" John Raby looked from one to another. "Have you been +quarrelling?" + +And poor Belle, with the necessity for derisive denial before her, +felt more than ever that she was on the broad path leading to +destruction. + +"I am sorry I have to go," said Philip with perfect truth; "but I +really am of no use here." + + + + + CHAPTER XXII. + + +Could Philip Marsden have seen into Mahomed Lateef's old tower about +the time he was leaving Nilgunj his regrets might have had a still +more truthful ring, and Belle might have been saved from once more +adding to the difficulties of her own lot, and, as it were, making a +stumbling-block of her own good intentions. For in that case, Major +Marsden would have stopped another day in order to see his old friend, +and in the course of conversation would have heard things which might +have changed the current of subsequent events; but Fate decreed +otherwise. + +More than once, seeing the daily increasing poverty of his patron, +Afzul Khân had suggested an appeal to the Major, as one sure to do +something for the father of the man who had stood between him and +death; but the stubborn old malcontent had lumped the whole Western +creation in his category of ingrates. "The past is past," he would say +angrily. "I will not even ask justice from one of them. And, according +to thy tales, Marsden _sahib_ has taken to trade and leagued himself +with Raby, who is no better than a _buniah_,--no better than Shunker +Bahâdur, whom God smite to hell! Hast heard what they are doing down +yonder? Pera Ditta was here last week, saying his land was to be sold +because he could not pay. And how could he pay when water never came? +And how could water come when strangers enter and build dams without +let or hindrance?" + +Afzul frowned. "True, father, and 'tis about that dam I would have you +speak. Not, look you, that it did harm this year. 'Twas God's fault, +not Raby's, that the river failed, though folk will not have it so. +And next year, even, the dam will do good, not harm, if a sluice be +put in it such as they have north in the big canals. Look you, Raby is +no fool. Before Allah! he is wise; and he offered to put one, so that +the water would run every year right away to the south, if the people +would promise him to grow indigo, and dig part of the channel. But +Shunker, or God knows who, hath stuffed their ears, and they will not +listen. So Raby means the pig-headed fools shall learn reason. I blame +him not, but that is no cause why you should starve; and starve you +must if the river does not come. + +"I will starve sooner than beg." + +"And the child?" + +That was an argument which invariably brought the discussion to a +close in vehement objections to interference, and loud-voiced +assertions of independence. Nevertheless, Afzul returned to the charge +again and again, moved to insistence by a personal desire to be free +from the necessity of eking out the expenses of the household. He gave +cheerfully enough to the women, on the sly lest the old martinet +should wring his neck for the impertinence; but for all that he wanted +to be free to go his own ways when summer came. If the sluice were +made and a constant supply of water insured, the old man and the women +would at least escape starvation. John Raby, who had found the Pathan +singularly intelligent and with some knowledge of levelling (learnt +from poor Dick), had so far given him confidence that he knew what +ought to be done; but he was not well enough up in the whole matter to +understand that his master had considerable excuse for refusing to do +it. As a matter of fact the dam had been constructed with great care +so as to avoid cutting off the water supply from the neighbouring +villages, where the floods came with fair regularity. John Raby had +even spent money in improving their chances, on certain conditions +about indigo, which he well knew would eventually be of enormous +benefit to the people themselves. In regard to those further afield he +had made a very fair proposal, which, mainly owing to Shunker's +machinations, they had rejected; briefly, he had offered a constant +supply of water at the price of a little labour and a few reasonable +concessions. When they refused his terms, he smiled and went on +building his dam. Up to a certain flood-point he knew it would be an +obstruction; beyond that, the river would still find its way. He only +enlarged the cycle of floodless years; but on this fact he counted for +eventual submission. As for the owners of the few small holdings +between the dam and the basin of alluvial soil tilled by these +pig-headed Hindus, he was sorry for them; but as it was quite +impossible for him to ensure a water-supply without giving it beyond, +their best plan would be to exert their influence towards a reasonable +solution of the difficulty. In a matter like this he was not a man to +swerve a hair's breadth from his own plan for the sake of anybody. He +conceived that he had a perfect right to do as he chose, and if others +disputed his action they could go to law about it; only, long before +the vexed question of the frequency of flood in past years could be +decided one way or the other, he felt certain that the sight of the +surrounding prosperity would have overcome all opposition. + +Afzul Khân, however, only half in the secret, believed that the +sluice-gate might be made by an appeal to Major Marsden; and, when the +latter came to the factory, took a day's leave on purpose to rouse the +old Khân to action, it being quite hopeless to expect him to ask a +favour of John Raby, of whom he never spoke save with a gibe. Perhaps +the thought of seeing a familiar face influenced the old man, for when +the argument reached its usual climax of, "And the child, Khân +_sahib_, what of the child?" he gave a fierce sigh, and pressing the +boy, who was sitting on his knee, closer to his heart, muttered +impatiently, "What is the pride of a man before the hunger of a child? +I will go; so hold thy devil of a tongue, and let us have peace!" + +Afterwards, however, when Afzul with solemn satisfaction at his +victory was polishing up the old warrior's sword, Mahomed Lateef +became restive again. "I know not that I will go. He owes me somewhat, +'tis true, and in past time I thought him just; but I like not this +talk of trade; 'tis not a soldier's task." + +The Pathan leaning over the shining blade breathed on it to test its +lustre. "_Wah!_ Khân _sahib_, all's fair in love and war. Men do much +for the sake of a woman without tarnishing their honour longer than my +breath lingers on good steel. Marsden _sahib_ did it for love of the +_mem_, look you." + +The old man scowled. "I like not that either. Let him choose the one +or the other, and use his sword to keep his choice." + +Afzul smiled cunningly. "Wait a while, Khân _sahib_, wait a while; the +fowler must have time to lure his bird, and some women have cold +hearts." + +"She hath a heart of ice! Yea! I will go, Afzul, and I will tell him +of Murghub Ahmad and how she bore false witness." + +"Not so! Thou wilt ask for water, and get thy revenge safe in thy +pocket; it lies heavy on an empty stomach." + +So they borrowed a pink-nosed pony from the pleader's father in the +next village, and with his little grandson, arrayed in huge turban and +tarnished tinsel coatee, disposed in front of the high-peaked saddle, +Khân Mahomed Lateef Khân set off to see the Major and plead the +child's cause. A picturesque group they made, as they passed along the +sandy ways and treeless stretches of hard sun-baked soil; Afzul +leading the pony, the boy laughing and clapping his hands at the +novelty, the old soldier's white beard showing whiter than ever +against the child's dark curls, Fâtma and Haiyât standing outside, +recklessly unveiled, to shriek parting blessings and injunctions. And +lo! after all these preparations, after all this screwing up of +courage and letting down of pride, the Major had gone! Afzul could +scarcely believe his ears. Gone! and he had been reckoning on giving +certain hints about Dick's will which might have served to bring +matters to a crisis. He returned to the hut where he had left the Khân +and his grandson while he went to arrange for an interview, and tried +to persuade Mahomed Lateef not to allow his journey to go for nothing, +but to prefer his request to Raby _sahib_ himself. He might even write +a petition, and demand that it should be sent on to the Major, if +pride forbade asking a favour of the former. Afzul might as well have +urged the old man to wear patent-leather shoes or perform any other +such abomination of desolation. "Am I a baboo that I should cringe and +beg?" he answered, wrathfully. "The Major is a soldier and knows what +it means to stave a blow from a comrade's head; 'tis but defending +your own in the future. But this man! He would talk of rupees, and I +have none to give. Let it be, fool! I will stop the night here as was +arranged, since the child seems tired. To-morrow we can return. I am +not so far through that a day's journey will kill me." + +So, from the recesses of the windowless shanty, he watched John Raby +passing back to the house when the day's work was done; then he went +forth in the twilight and prowled about the new factory, noting the +unmistakable signs of masterful energy with a curious mixture of +admiration and contempt. "As thou sayest he is a man, and no mere +money-bag like Shunker," was his final comment. "Come, little one, say +thy evening petition and let me roll thee in thy quilt, for thine eyes +are heavy." + +The child, already half asleep, slid from his grandfather's knee, and +standing, stretched his little hands skywards. "God bring justice to +those who brought my father injustice," he murmured drowsily. + +A savage exultation came to the old face looking down on the curves +and dimples. "_Ameen, ameen!_ Justice! That is all we seek. Come, +light of mine eyes, and God give thee many wakenings." + +Thereafter the two men sat silent, waiting for sleep to come to the +child. And it came, but not for long. Perhaps in less careful hands +the boy had taken chill, perhaps Afzul's more sumptuous fare was the +exciting cause; anyhow, a few hours afterwards Kirpo, roused by the +helpless men from the death-like slumber of the domesticated savage, +found little Hussan Ahmad struggling for breath in his grandfather's +arms, a prey to spasmodic croup. Of course she had not the remotest +idea what was the matter, or what was to be done. She could but take +the child to her capacious bosom and add to the general alarm by +shrill sympathy. It was a fit--the dear one would die--_Hai, +hai!_--some one had bewitched it. Then suddenly an inspiration seized +her. The _mem!_ let them send for the _mem!_ But last week her own boy +had had the gripes until the _mem_ came with a little bottle and cured +him. _Hai, hai!_ the darling was choking! Send for the _mem_, if they +would not have him die before their eyes. + +Afzul looked at the grandfather interrogatively. Pride, fear, +resentment, and love fought hard for the mastery. "She will not come; +she hath a heart of ice," quavered the old voice, seeking for excuse, +and escape from responsibility. + +"Who can count on a woman? but death is sure; and she is wise in such +ways, I know. Say, Khân _sahib_, shall I go?" + +There was an instant's pause, broken by the child's hoarse crow. Then +the faith of a life-time spoke. "Go! It is Kismet. Give her the +chance; it is God's will to give it. She may not come, and then--" + +But ten minutes after Belle Raby in her soft white evening dress had +the struggling child in her arms and reassuring words on her lips. +Afzul Khân, too, held a bottle and a teaspoon, whereat Kirpo's face +broadened to content. "Have no fear, master," she whispered in the old +man's ear; "'tis the same one, I swear it. A charm, a potent charm!" + +Most Englishwomen in India gain some knowledge of doctoring, not only +from necessity, but from the neighbourliness which turns them into +nurses where in England they would be content with kind inquiries; +and, though croup is comparatively rare among the native children, +Belle had seen it treated among English ones. Such knowledge, a +medicine-chest, and common sense seem, and indeed often act, like +magic to the ignorant eyes helplessly watching their loved ones fight +for life. The old Mohammedan stood aside, bolt upright as if on +parade, a prey to dull regrets and keen joy as Belle's kind voice +conjured up endless things beyond the thought or comprehension even of +the child's mother, had she been there. Hot water, a bath fetched from +somewhere in the dark beyond the feeble glimmer of light in which +those bare white arms gleamed about the child's brown body, ice, a +soft white blanket, within the folds of which peace seemed to come to +the struggling limbs till sleep actually claimed the child again. + +"He is all right now," said Belle smiling. "Keep him in your arms, +Kirpo, and give him plenty of air. I will come to-morrow and see him +again. Afzul, have you the lantern?" + +She stood--a strange figure in that mud-floored, mud-roofed +hovel--fastening the silver clasp of her fur cloak with slim fingers +sparkling with jewels; a figure more suitable to some gay gathering on +the other side of the world. Then from the darkness into the ring of +light where she stood stepped another figure. A tall old man, made +taller by the high-twined green turban proclaiming him a past pilgrim +to the great shrine of warriors, a man with his son's medals on a +threadbare velvet coat, and a sharp curved sword held like a sacrament +in his outstretched palms. "_Huzoor!_" he said bowing his proud old +head. All the conflicting emotions of the past hour had concentrated +themselves to this. Words, either of gratitude or blame, were beyond +him. God knows which, given opportunity of calm thought, he might have +offered. But so, taken by surprise, carried beyond his own personal +interests by admiration, he gave, in the true old fighting instinct +which dies hard amongst the Mohammedans, his allegiance to what was +brave and capable. "_Huzoor!_" + +The English girl had learnt enough of native customs to know her part. +Those slim white fingers lingered an instant on the cold steel, and +her bright eyes smiled up into the old man's face. "The gift is not +mine, but yours." Perhaps it was; the faculty of just admiration is a +great possession. + +She found her husband still smoking cigarettes over a French novel. +"By George! Belle," he said, "you look awfully nice. That sort of +thing suits you down to the ground. You were born to be a Lady +Bountiful, and send social problems to sleep with sentiment. By the +way, do you know who the little beggar is? I asked the _khansaman_; he +is the son of that man Murghub Ahmad who was transported! His +grandfather is living on the ancestral estate about ten miles down the +old _nullah_. I'm precious glad Marsden didn't find him out, or he +would have been bothering me to do something for the old fellow. And I +haven't time just now for charity. I leave that to you, my dear; it +suits you--as I remarked just now--down to the ground." + +Belle, who had turned very pale, said nothing, but she seemed to feel +the chill of the cold steel at her finger-tips. She understood better +what that offering had meant, and, sentiment or no sentiment, +something rose in her throat and kept her silent. Next morning, +according to promise, she went over to the huts again. The dew shone +on the flowers as she crossed the garden, an indescribable freshness +was in the air. The child, but newly aroused from a sweet sleep, was +still surrounded by the white blanket in the midst of which he sat +cuddled up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Afzul was smiling at the +door, the grandfather, calmed into stern politeness, standing by the +bed. + +"Rise, O Hussan Ahmad!" he said to the child after a few words of +inquiry and reply. "Rise and say thy thanks to the _mem_ for her +kindness. They are due; they are justly due." + +Still drowsy, and mindful only of an accustomed order, the boy +stretched his chubby little arms skyward. "May God bring justice to +those who brought injustice to my father." + +Khân Mahomed Lateef Khân started as if he had been shot, and his right +hand fell sharply on the child's shoulder, then wandered to his +sword-hilt. "It is Fate," he muttered gloomily. "Out of his own mouth +I am rebuked." + +Belle's heart gave a great throb of anger and pain. She had lain awake +piecing the stray threads of the story together till it had seemed to +her a sad yet beautiful pattern on the web of life, and now-- "Why do +you say that?" she asked gently of the child, as if he were the only +person present. + +He looked at her fearlessly. "I say it morning and evening. Listen! +May God bring justice to those who brought injustice to my father." + +The eyes of those two men watching her were like spurs to her high +spirit. "Listen," she said. "I will say it too. May God bring justice +to those who brought injustice to your father." + +The eyes fell as she passed out without another word. "By the God who +made me," swore the old soldier, "she is a brave one, and she hath my +sword! Remember that, Afzul. If the time should ever come, my sword at +least is for her and hers. For the rest, the child has spoken." + +Afzul smiled grimly. He was beginning to see what those two brave ones +fancied in the pale-faced _mem_. She was too good for Raby _sahib_ +with his rupees, he decided; yet women are always influenced by +wealth. Perhaps the thought of what she would leave behind hindered +her from following the Major. If so, a little reverse in the business +might be beneficial. Anyhow, and come what may, he must get rid of +that cursed blue envelope ere summer opened the passes for homesick +footsteps. Even if he had to leave it behind him unconditionally, he +must do so, since by that time he would have money saved to last for +an idle year or two. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII. + + +Some ten days after this John Raby came from the office into the +drawing-room with a letter in his hand and vexation on his face. "Upon +my word, Belle," he began, "you have a most unfortunate turn for +philanthropy, as I always told you. I've no doubt your doctoring that +little croupy imp suggested the idea that we were made up of +benevolence. Sentiment, my dear child, is the devil in business." + +"What is it now, John?" she asked, with an effort at lightness. For +all that, her tone made him raise his eyebrows impatiently. There is +no accounting for the jar which comes at times between two natures, +especially when circumstances are emphasising their respective +individualities. This was the case between Belle and her husband; her +conscientiousness being hyper-sensitised by constant self-blame, and +his being dulled by the keen desire to triumph over all opposition. + +"Only that bankrupt old warrior appealing through Marsden to the firm +for an annual supply of water from my dam. A cool request, isn't it? +And Marsden, of course, being sentimental as you are, hopes it will be +done. All I can say is, that it is lucky he and you have me to look +after your interests." + +"But if it could be done--" + +"My dear child, don't you think I'd have done it had the thing been +possible without detriment to us? I don't suppose Marsden thought of +it in that light, but he ought to have done so. I have my faults no +doubt, but I'm not an ogre." + +"I wish it had been possible!" + +"So do I; but it isn't. Therefore, if you don't mind, I hope you will +refrain from arousing Philip's benevolence more than you can help. I +mean by allusions to the old man and the child. They are a most +picturesque couple, of course, but if sentiment is to come in, I may +as well throw up the whole business. For mind you, Belle, it is just +as well you should know that the factory is bound to be unpopular at +first." + +"Unpopular! Why?" asked Belle in surprise. "I thought you said it +would improve the condition of the people immensely." + +"After a time. However it is no use discussing it; I shall write to +Marsden and say,--well, I shall say, chiefly, that I also am filled +with pious and benevolent intentions, but that I desire a free hand. +Meanwhile, as I see from Philip's letter that Afzul has been priming +you with pity which you have been handing on, I wish you wouldn't. +Give the old man as much money as you like, of course; but don't egg +my partner on to socialism, there's a good girl." He looked very +bright and handsome as he bent over and kissed her. "Do you know, +Belle," he said, laughingly, "you are the most transparent fraud in +creation. I believe you set the old man on to Marsden; now didn't +you?" + +She flushed scarlet. "I only told Afzul when he was speaking of it +that the best way was to write a petition. And Philip was an old +friend." + +"Just so; but we don't want old friends, or new ones either, to +interfere. I'm manager of this factory, and I intend to manage it my +own way." + +"Do you mean without consulting Philip's wishes?" + +He turned round on her sharply as he was leaving the room. "That is +about it. He knows nothing of business, and should be glad to have +some one to act for him who does." + +There was, as usual, so much sound common sense in her husband's words +that Belle tried to crush down the dissatisfaction she could not help +feeling at the idea of Philip being made responsible for actions of +which he might know nothing. After all, had it really come to this, +that she did not trust her husband to behave uprightly? The thought +was poison to all peace, and she thrust it aside in horror at its very +appearance. Yet a new element of trouble had entered into life and she +found herself, quite unconsciously, keeping ears and eyes open for +things which she had previously ignored. This did not escape her +husband's keen sight, and in his light, half-serious way he rallied +her on this newly-developed interest in the business. The fact was +they were beginning to understand each other too well; and now and +again a tone came into John's voice which sent the blood to her heart +in a throb of fear and made her grovel, positively grovel, before her +ideal of wifely duty. Then her husband would recover his careless +good-nature, and the household run so smoothly that even Belle's +high-strung nerves scarcely felt a jolt. + +So the spring came, bringing to the garden a rush of blossom well-nigh +impossible of description to those accustomed to slow northern lands. +Belle could have picked clothes-baskets full of Maréchal Niel roses +from the bushes and yet have left them burdened with great yellow +cups. The pomegranates glowed with a scarlet positively dazzling to +the eyes; the gardenias were all too strongly scented; the bees and +butterflies drugged themselves with honey from the wild tangle of +overgrown, overblown annuals which, forgetting their trim English +habit, usurped the very paths by thickets of mignonette, sweet pea, +dianthus, and a host of other familiar flowers. Belle, walking round +her domain in the early morning when the nightly gift of dew still lay +on the leaves, used to wonder how serpents could creep into such a +paradise. The very isolation of the life had an irresistible charm. +What was the use of worrying about ideas? Where was the good of +fretting over the mischances of that world which lay beyond this calm +retreat? + +Suddenly, however, that world asserted its existence. She had still +kept up her habit of morning rides, and though her husband was now up +with the dawn, he was far too much absorbed in his work to accompany +her save when business sent him beyond his own boundaries. Even +then she began to notice his excuses for escaping her companionship, +and when in her drowsy content she went so far as to express a +half-jesting remonstrance, he would reply in the same tone, that he +had no intention of slaving forever; and that this was his working +day. By and by, when he had turned Marsden adrift, and could have the +whole thing to himself,--why, he meant to have it and enjoy it. +Meanwhile it was much pleasanter for her to ride along the river bank +and through the inundation lands, than in the dust southwards where +his business took him so often. But this level expanse of bare +fruitless soil had an attraction for Belle; and one day, losing her +way on it, she made for the landmark of a village on the horizon, and +thus found herself considerably beyond her usual distance from home. +It was a village with poverty and sloth written on the blistered, +rain-marked, mud walls, and in the absence of fuel-heaps and +thorn-enclosures. A sorry forsaken spot it was, despite the swarm of +low-bred-looking brats who came out to stare at her as she rode at a +foot's pace through the widest lane. A woman stood slouching at the +entrance to a courtyard, and Belle, pausing, asked her the way to +Nilgunj. The scowl on the face raised to hers startled her, so did the +words. "Are you Raby's _mem?_" + +Her answering assent met a rude reception in the curt recommendation +to find the way herself, accompanied by a sudden closing of the door. +Then came a shrill clamour of voices from within, and one by one, over +the alley walls, dark disapproving faces full of angry curiosity. The +display of hostility might have gone no further if her horse, restive +at being checked and, no doubt, disliking the crowd of children +following close on its heels, had not sidled and backed, putting the +young imps to hustling flight. This was naturally the signal for +shrieks and abuse from the mothers, and though a touch of the whip +recalled her beast to duty, humanity was not so reasonable. A little +ragamuffin took up a piece of dirt and threw it after her; the others +approved, and though fear of her horse's heels kept the little arms at +a comparatively safe distance, Belle Raby had nevertheless to submit +to the indignity of riding through the village pursued by pelting +urchins, and by no means pleasant abuse from over the walls. Her +indignation was greater than her fear or even than her surprise, and +the scornful glance with which she met the angry eyes on a level with +her own silenced more than one of the tongues. But for a sense that it +would have been undignified, she would dearly have loved to dismount, +seize one of the ringleaders, and administer summary justice. The +possible meaning of this unusual reception did not strike her until, +emerging from the village still pursued by her tormentors, she came +straight upon her husband. His look, as he recognised the position, +filled her with alarm; and there was something in it of such +absolutely uncontrolled passion and hatred, that it flashed upon her +that he, at least, must have good reason to understand the scene. +"John! don't do anything, please don't!" she cried as he threw himself +from his horse. "They are only children." + +"I'm not going to run after those little demons, if you mean that," he +replied, giving her the reins of his mount to hold; "but they have +parents, I suppose. I'll be back in a moment. Don't be afraid, Belle; +they are curs, every one of them. But they shall pay for this, in more +ways than one." + +He came out five minutes afterwards, followed by a protesting and most +venerable looking pantaloon, representative of that past age in which +a white face was, verily, a sign of kingship. He took no notice of the +lavish appeals and apologies, but, putting his note-book in his +pocket, remounted. "I'm sorry you came this way," he said as they rode +off; "but, as I often say, you have a faculty for getting into +mischief which is surprising in such an eminently virtuous person as +you are, Belle. However, you mustn't do it again. In fact I should +prefer your keeping to my land for the next two or three months." + +Belle, given time to think, had lost much of her courage in dismay at +this most unexpected insight into the world beyond her gates. Could +such a state of affairs be necessary? "Why,--" she began. + +"My dear child, don't ask _me_ why! I can't supply reason to these +pig-headed brutes. And don't, for goodness' sake, make a fuss over it, +and bring Marsden's soft-heartedness down on me just when I need to +have a free hand. I told you I should be unpopular, and I am; that is +the long and short of it; more unpopular than need be, for somehow the +people have got an idea that I could help if I chose. Why didn't +Marsden put their appeals in the waste paper basket, as I do, instead +of raising hopes by referring to me?" + +"Has he been referring to you?" + +Her husband looked at her and laughed. "I'm not going to give myself +away in confidence. As I said before, I'm awfully sorry you came out +this way and chanced on that village. It is the worst about here. For +all that, there is no need for any anxiety, I assure you. Afzul and +his bandits are worth a hundred of these curs; and once the people see +I am a man of my word, they will come in sharp enough." + +"But if Philip--" + +"Bother Philip! He is a trump of course, but I think he has mixed +himself up a little too much in this business. I shall be glad when he +is out of it." + +"Surely if you were to explain--" + +"My dear Belle, explanation is nothing to demonstration. In six weeks' +time, when the first flood comes, I shall prove myself right, and +waltz in, hands down, an easy winner. That is to say if nobody fouls +me now out of goodness, and righteousness, and all charitableness." + +It was one thing to be told this, another to find comfort in it, and +as the days passed Belle grew more and more uneasy. She felt sure all +could not be fair and square; that there must be some antagonistic +element at work to make the unpopularity so intense. Perhaps because +she watched for it so keenly, it seemed to her that discontent showed +itself more and more freely on the faces of the people she did meet in +her now limited walks. One evening she had a bad five minutes +listening to a row in the coolies' quarters with her husband's clear +voice dominating the clamour. She was still pale when he came +whistling through the garden as if nothing had happened. It was only, +he said, a war of words between Kirpo and Afzul. There had always been +a jealousy between them; the latter declaring that such a hideous +female was not worthy to touch any man's bread, for the former had +risen by favour from mere cooliedom, to act as cook for a gang of +Hindu workers; the woman retorting that the hillmen were no better +than pirates, ready, despite their professions of horror at meats +prepared by idolaters, to steal her supplies if her back was turned. +Afzul had of late been growing idle and uppish; so John had sided with +Kirpo in this particular dispute. + +"I think Kirpo is rather uppish too," replied Belle. "I heard her +ordering some of the men about as if she was their mistress." + +Her husband laughed easily. "Just like a native! The fact being that +Kirpo is useful to me at present, by giving me information I can rely +upon; and she presumes on the fact. When the floods have come I shall +be able to dispense with her,--with a variety of things, in fact. I +shall not be sorry; I hate being beholden to people." + +Belle bent her head over her work and sewed faster. "I don't like +Afzul, I don't like Kirpo, and I like the unpopularity least of all. +Oh, John, could you not give way a little? I am sure Philip--" + +"Now look here, Belle, I said just now that I hated being beholden to +any one, and you yourself made enough to-do when I borrowed this money +from Marsden. And you've fussed and worried about it ever since, +because you think he consented for your sake. Perhaps he did; and so I +mean to show him he should have consented for his own. I call that a +laudable ambition which should satisfy your pride. Now in my opinion +the only road to success lies my way. That, I think, should settle the +matter once and for all. Of course I am not infallible; but, unless +something very unexpected turns up, you will be laughing at your own +fears this time two months. Now, as I told Kirpo to come up to the +office as soon as it was dark, let me get some peace and quiet first. +I think Haydn would suit me to-day; there is no forced sentiment in +him, jolly old chap!" + +So Belle played Haydn, and John dozed in his chair till the darkness +settled deep enough to hide Kirpo as she stole through bye-paths to +the office verandah. There, behind a creeper-hung pillar, she waited +till John's tall figure showed itself at the writing-table. Then she +went forward, and raising the bamboo _chick_ said softly: "I am here, +_Huzoor!_" + +"All right! Come in and shut the door." + +Some one hiding in the oleander bushes in full view of this incident +muttered a curse, and settled himself down in a new position. So what +Shunker had said was true, and, disfigured as she was, Kirpo still +kept her hold on the _shaitan sahib_. But for a promise he had made to +the usurer not to anticipate the great revenge brewing for John Raby's +discomfiture, Râmu (for it was he, once more out of prison) would have +asked nothing better than to have waited patiently till Kirpo appeared +again, and then in the darkness to have fallen on her and killed her +outright. As it was he sat with eyes fixed on the door, controlling +his passion by the thought of future and less hazardous revenge upon +them both. He had a long knife tucked away in his waistcloth, but it +seemed to him as if he could feel its sharp edge and see its gleaming +curve plunging into flesh. Truly a venomous, dangerous animal to be +lurking among the white oleanders in Belle's paradise, as she sat +playing Haydn, and John, with a contemptuous smile on his face, was +listening to Kirpo's tales. She knew a good deal did Kirpo, but not +all. She did not know, for instance, that her husband lay among the +oleanders, else she might have hesitated in playing the part of spy; +though she was no coward, and her revengeful desires were keen. + +By and by she came out, and a crouching, shadowy figure followed her +through the garden, and then struck across the barren plain to the +village which John Raby had described as the worst of the lot; the +village of which Belle used persistently to dream; the village where +even the children looked at her with eyes of hate. Her husband did not +dream of anything. He used to sleep the sleep of the just, and wake +fresh as a lark to the pursuit of the one reality in his life,--money. +And even in its pursuit he was content, because it occupied him so +thoroughly that he had no time to notice minor details. Sometimes +Belle irritated him, but the instant after he would smile; it was a +way women, especially good women, had,--they could not help it. +Sometimes he fell foul in spirit of his senior partner, but not for +long. What were such trivialities in comparison with the main fact of +general success? Belle was a good wife, Marsden a good friend; above +all, the concern was a good concern, a rattling good business; and he, +John Raby, had plucked the plum out of Shunker's very hands. That last +thought was always provocative of a smile. + +Meanwhile the Lâlâ was smiling too. The reappearance of Râmu,--who +seemed to keep all his virtue for the purpose of procuring a +ticket-of-leave,--had considerably strengthened the usurer's hands by +providing him with one absolutely reckless tool. When the time came +for setting fire to the carefully laid train he would not have to seek +for a match; and that, when one had to deal with these slow-brained +peasants, was a great gain. With such a leader he looked forward +confidently to mischief sooner or later. Kirpo might tell tales, but +there were some tales Shunker meant to keep secret, till the right +moment came for turning passive opposition into active interference. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV. + + +Belle's paradise did not last long. In less than three weeks the hot +winds came to shrivel the bursting buds and turn even the promise of +blossom into a sign of death. The sunshine took a deeper yellow glow, +the blue faded from the sky, an impalpable dust began to settle on all +things. Down in the sand stretches below the house the net-work of the +river grew finer day by day, and the mudbanks left by shrinking +streams assumed airs of perpetuity by clothing themselves with green +herbs, as if the time of floods were not nigh to swallow them up once +more. All else, far and near, seemed fainting in a great thirst, +longing for the crisis which was to bring them life. + +But Belle, though the floods had not yet come, felt one calm still +morning as if the waters had gone over her head, and she had no power +to resist the current which swept her from her feet. It was a trivial +thing which roused the feeling; only a word or two in one of Philip's +letters which she held in her hand as she stood beside her husband's +writing-table. + +"I quite admit it, my dear girl," he was saying calmly. "Marsden has +written to me on that subject several times, and I have replied as I +thought fit. It is quite possible I may have given him the impression +I was willing, or even that I was going, to do more than has really +been done. What then?" + +"Only this," she replied hotly; "that you have degraded him in the +eyes of these people. He promised inquiry and--" + +"He had no business to promise anything. He referred it to me, and he +has no right to complain of my decision." + +"He does not complain! When has he ever complained?" she interrupted, +trying hard to keep the passion from her voice. "You can read what he +says, if you like. He thinks,--I do not ask how--that you have done +your best." + +"Exactly! I _have_ done my best for the business." + +"He did not mean that. Oh, John, the shame of it will kill me! To take +everything from a man, even his honour and good name--" + +"You don't appear to be so much concerned about mine. But I promised +to pay Philip back his money in two years, and I mean to do it. Be +reasonable, my dear child. Some one must take the responsibility; some +one must take the odium which is unfortunately inseparable from +success. Why should you complain because I take it cheerfully?" + +Belle crushed the letter closer in vexed despair. "I can never make +you understand! Do you not see it is a question of right and wrong? +You have taken his money and are using it as he would hate to have it +used. You have,--I do not say deceived him--but kept the truth from +him; and even if you succeed, what will you be doing but giving him +money gained as he would have scorned to gain it?" + +Her husband laughed a very ugly laugh, and for the first time his face +showed some emotion. "I always knew you thought Marsden perfect, but I +wasn't aware of your estimate of my comparative virtue. I cannot say +I'm flattered by it." + +"I can't help it," she said, almost with a sob. "I can't see things in +the light you see them." + +"That is a mutual disability, so for heaven's sake let us agree to +differ. The thing is done. Even if I wished to do so, the sluice could +not be built now. The river is due in three weeks, or sooner, and any +interference with the dam at present must mean disaster to all +concerned. I tell you this because I want you to understand that now, +at any rate, my hands are tied." + +"Perhaps,--I mean, no doubt; but he must be told, and--and given his +choice. It is not right--" + +"Tell him, my dear, if' it pleases you to do so; though I think it is +a pity, for in two months' time, if all this fuss doesn't play the +devil with my plans, the difficulties will be over. By the way, what +do you propose to tell him? That I have behaved like a scoundrel?" + +"You have no right to say such things, John!" she cried indignantly. + +He shrugged his shoulders. "Well! That I have behaved as he would have +scorned to behave? &c., &c. It seems to me about the same thing in +different words." + +The flush which rose to her face told how hard she was hit. That was +the mischief of it all!--that fatal comparison between these two men, +against which she had struggled in vain. Why should she have compared +them? Why, even now, should she not let things be and trust to John's +superior wisdom? For he was wise in such matters, and, heaven knows! +gave himself up wholly to insure success. How could she tell Philip? +What was she to tell him? Yet he must know; even for John's sake he +ought to know what was being done in his name. "I will ask him to come +here," she said with an effort, "then he can see for himself." + +John Raby looked up quickly. "Very well, do so. Only remember this: I +disclaim all responsibility for what may happen, and I tell you fairly +I mean to have my own way. You know perfectly well that I consider +quarrelling mere waste of time; but if the position becomes awkward, +that will be your doing, not mine." + +"I will tell him to come," repeated Belle slowly. + +"Then that's settled. Perhaps it may be best, after all," he added, +his face losing its last trace of vexation. "Indeed I thought of +asking him before; but the fact is the last time he was here you +showed your uneasiness so distinctly that I hesitated." + +Once more the colour rose to his wife's face as she turned away. Was +everything from beginning to end her fault, she wondered, as she sent +off a telegram asking Philip to come, if he could get leave. She chose +a telegram more because it relieved her from the necessity of giving +her reasons than from any desire to save time, and so accelerate the +explanations she dreaded. Yet when, late in the evening of the next +day, John, coming from the factory, told her with a certain elation in +his voice, that the river was on the rise, she clasped her hands +nervously and wished Philip had wings. + +All the next day she found herself going to the verandah whence she +could see the sandy flats, and wondering if those distant streaks of +water were indeed creeping nearer. + +"The barometer's falling fast, so I'm afraid your philanthropy comes a +little too late, Belle," said John when he came in to lunch; "but +personally I'm glad the floods will be early. I don't mind confessing +to a little anxiety as to whether the dam will work, and it will be a +relief to see you looking less worried. I think every one is too much +on the strain just now, even Afzul. He was only saved from throwing up +his place this morning by the news that Philip was coming to-morrow; +so you see your plan has done some good already." + +The night closed dark and hazy, and Belle's last look from the +verandah showed her nothing but dim distances stretching away to a +lighter horizon. She could not sleep, yet she would not make any stir, +so she lay awake wondering what forces were at work among the shadows, +and what the dawn would bring forth. + +"John, John!" she cried, touching his shoulder to rouse him when the +first glimmer of light came to reveal the labour of the night. "The +floods are out right up to the high bank!" + +He was on his feet in an instant. "By George! I _am_ in luck!" he +cried. "It will take them all by surprise. Tell them to bring tea, +Belle; I must be off to the dam at once. And don't expect me back till +lunch; Marsden will excuse me, and besides," he gave a little light +laugh, "it will give you leisure to get over your confession. It's +awfully nice to have some one to be penitent in your place. It saves a +lot of bother. Don't you remember Florac's reply to Pendennis about +his mother's tears. 'You must have made her weep a good deal,' says +Pen 'Mais enormément, mon cher!'" + +A few minutes later he had left her with a kindly good-bye, and a +recommendation to take things easy as he did. As she walked up and +down the verandah waiting for Philip's arrival, she asked herself more +than once whether it would not be wiser to follow John's advice. Now +that the last chance of remedy was over for the present, why should +she give herself the pain of acknowledging that she condemned her +husband's action? Drifting this way and that in the current of +thought, as many another thing swept from its moorings was drifting in +the floods beneath her eyes, she had reached no certain conclusion +when the even tread of the horse, which they had sent to meet Philip, +brought her back to action with a strange dread of herself. He was +beside her in an instant and though she had worded her telegram so as +to avoid anxiety, it was clearly evident in his face. + +"Well, what is it?" he said, still holding her outstretched hand of +welcome, and looking into her face curiously. + +"Nothing," she answered hurriedly; "nothing in the least important. +Only--I wanted to see you. Come in; you must be tired, that beast has +such rough paces; I would have sent Suleimân, but he is lame. Come in, +tea is ready." + +So she ran on, and Philip, who, to say sooth, had been on tenter-hooks +ever since the receipt of her summons, had to fall into her mood, not +without a certain sense of injury. But the pleasure of being within +touch of her hand and sight of her face was irresistible, so that the +following hours seemed to take him back to the most perfect memory of +his whole life, to that evening at Saudaghur which he and she had +spent together in thoughtless, unreasoning content. Perhaps this +memory cast its glamour over Belle likewise; certain it is that +something beat down and overwhelmed all thought and care. John, coming +in almost late for lunch, found them laughing over the last week's +"Punch" which Philip had brought with him; and taking his cue quickly, +if with some contemptuous surprise, dropped his serious air and became +the genial host. Never was there a gayer or more light-hearted trio; +but outside the house the clear promise of the morning had dulled to a +yellow haze, and every now and again a swirl of dust swept past, +making the yellow deeper. + +"In for the first _andi_[8] of the season," said John Raby standing by +the window. "The natives say it is a sign of a healthy year to have a +dust-storm early. More good luck, you see, Belle! There is nothing +like keeping a calm sough, and trusting to Providence. Doesn't it make +you feel 'heavenly calm,' Marsden, to be here in this jolly room and +know that outside, in all that dust and pother, the elements are +working together for your good?" + +Philip laughed. "I feel very well content, thank you. The comfort of +contrast always appeals to my selfish nature." + +"Hark to that, Belle! I'll never believe in Philip's saintship again," +cried her husband triumphantly. "Well, I must be off; there was the +tiniest crumble in the dam, and I must get my bandits to work on it +before dark. By the way, Marsden, Afzul said he was coming to see you +this afternoon. If so, sit on him. The beggar has been half mutinous +of late. Faugh! what an atmosphere; but I dare say it will be better +outside." + +"How well he is looking," said Philip, as he watched the figure +disappearing through the haze. "I wish I could see you do more credit +to the 'heavenly calm.'" He made the remark lightly enough, thinking +only of his first glance at her when he arrived; a glance which had +prompted his swift inquiry as to what was the matter. But he was +startled out of all save surprise by the look on her face as she +turned towards him from the window. + +"Heavenly calm!" she echoed almost wildly. "Yes, for you and for me, +and for him; but for the others? You asked me, and I said nothing was +the matter. It was a lie, everything is the matter! Outside there, in +the dust,--" as she spoke the hand she had laid on his arm in her +vehemence tightened to a clutch, her eyes fixed themselves on +something. "John!" she cried. "He is coming back, running! Oh, what is +it? what is it?" + +Almost before he could grasp her meaning the door burst open, and John +Raby was back in the room, calm for all his excitement. "Quick, +Marsden, quick! get your revolver,--the fools are at the dam! There's +treachery, and not a moment to lose! Quick, man, quick!" + +"Treachery! What? How? I don't understand--Belle, what is the matter?" + +For she had thrown herself between him and her husband, and stood with +one hand on his breast as if to push him back. "He shall not go; he +does not understand!" she cried passionately. "I tell you he shall not +go until I have told him all. He does not know, he does not +understand; it is not fair--Philip!--" + +"--Don't heed her, Marsden; it's all fancy, and there is no time for +words. I tell you they are at the dam,--the fools!" cried John, his +self-control seeming to give way at the very thought of danger to the +work of his hands. "Belle, let him go! I command you,--I entreat--" + +But she stood firm, every fibre of her nature tense in this final +conflict, a conflict not so much between the two men, as between her +instincts and her beliefs. And yet, the sense of personal injury so +long repressed made her words reckless. "You have taken everything +from him--everything that makes life worth living--even his love. And +because of that he has given up everything without a word; and now you +ask his honour, his life, in a bad cause; but you shall not have it! +Philip! if you love me,--if you love your own good name,--stay where +you are. It is I who command it!" + +With an oath John Raby dashed past her to the office, but ere Philip +had time to do more than unclasp, as gently as he could, the arms she +had flung about his neck, her husband was back again, revolver in +hand, his clear face blurred by anger; sheer, animal anger. + +"Belle!" he cried, beside himself with uncontrolled passion, "don't +add this folly to your other foolishness. Think! I am your husband; so +choose between us. Choose between us I say, or by God--" + +She interrupted him in tones so bitter that no escape remained from +their finality. "Choose? Yes! I have chosen at last--at last! Philip +shall not suffer." + +His answer came swiftly! "Then stay with your lover; I might have +known I was a fool to trust a woman." + +Ere the echo of his voice died away he was out in the storm again, +leaving those two in a silence worse than the words just spoken. He +had disengaged her arms, but her hands had tightened themselves on +his, and so they stood face to face, looking into each other's eyes. +But in his lay a pity and tenderness before which hers failed and +fell. + +"You must not go," she whispered, low and fast. "I have not told you, +and I ought to have told you. He had no right to use your name, to be +so hard; and they may kill you. I have a right to tell you,--surely I +have a right to so much?" + +Her warm clasp held him unresisting, yet in his heart of hearts he was +not thinking of her, only of some expedient which should avoid the +last resource of brute force; for with all his tenderness his pride +was in arms. "Have I not given you enough, Belle?" he said hoarsely. +"Will you not even leave me my courage?" + +With a sob she flung his hands from her as if they bit and stung. +"Go!" she cried. "You are unjust, ungenerous; but go!" + +He did not wait. Torn as he was by love and compassion for the woman +he was leaving so forsaken and abased, he could not pause in the +mad hurry which seized him, even for a word of comfort; time, if he +was to retrieve his self-respect and hers, was too precious. Another +instant and he was searching frantically for his revolver among his +half-unpacked things, and feeling a certain fierce joy in anticipation +of the struggle to come. A quick snatch, a breathless relief, and he +looked up to find Afzul Khân standing by the only door of exit from +the room. "Afzul!" he cried, "why are you here? Why are you not at +your post when there is danger afoot? Follow me at once!" + +But the Pathan's answer was to close the door and stand with his arm +thrown across it, bolt-wise. Then he looked at the Major boldly, yet +respectfully. "I'm here, _Huzoor_, because I have grown tired of +helping a tyrant. The _sahib_ should be tired of it too and take his +reward. That is what I came to make known to the Presence." + +"Let me pass, fool!" shouted Philip, struggling to get at the door. +But Afzul was his match in strength, and, even as he resisted, found +time for words. "Listen, _Huzoor!_ If it is the money, let it go. I +have here in my pocket something that will put more money into the +_mem's_ hand. So you can have her and the money too." + +"Are you mad? Let me pass, I say, or it will be the worse for you!" + +"For you, _Huzoor_. There is danger; the men mean fight, but if Raby +_sahib_ has none to back him, he will choose prudence. He wrought the +evil--I will not stir, _sahib_, till you have listened--he wrought the +evil, let him bear the loss. You--" + +Philip gave one glance round for other means of escape; then +the breathless hurry of the last few moments left his voice and +manner. "Stand back, Afzul," he said quietly, "or I'll fire. +One,--two,--three!--" + +An instant's pause, and the hand on the trigger wavered. Something, +the memory of those days and nights in the smoky cave, perhaps, came +between Philip and the wrist he aimed at, for the ball struck the door +below it, splintering the wood. But that waver, slight though it was, +caught the Pathan's quick eye. He threw up his arm with a laugh of +malicious triumph. "We are quits, _Huzoor!_ We have both been fools +before the other's bravery; that is the end, the end at last!" + +The meaning of his words, even the words themselves, were lost on +Philip, who was already down the verandah steps, his head, as he ran, +bent low to save himself from being blinded by the swirl of dust which +now swept past continuously. Afzul scowled after the retreating +figure. "Fool!" he muttered between his teeth. "But I have done with +him now--done with everything save this accursed letter. I wish I had +sent it to the _mem_ at first. It belongs to her, and she is the best +of the bunch." + +So muttering he made his way to the verandah, and raising the bamboo +screen looked into the drawing-room. Belle, crushed to a dull +endurance by the consciousness of her own impotence to aid; nay more, +with the very desire to help killed by the awful knowledge that both +those men had flung her aside as something beneath their manhood, had +thrown herself face downward on the sofa, where she lay with clenched +hands, striving to regain some power of thought or action; yet in the +very effort driving herself to greater helplessness by her wild +insistence that time was passing, that she must decide, must do +something. + +"_Huzoor!_" + +She started to her feet, and found Afzul beside her with outstretched +hand. The sight, by rousing a physical fear, brought back the courage +which never failed her at such times. "Well?" she asked boldly. + +"I am not come to hurt you, _Huzoor_, but to give you this. It belongs +to you." + +She put out her hand mechanically, and took a small package done up, +native fashion, in a bit of old brocade. + +"Mine! what is it?" she asked in a dull tone. + +"It is Dick _sahib's_ will. He died fighting like the brave one he +was; but they were all brave, those three,--Dick _sahib_, and Marsden +_sahib_, and Raby _sahib_. They die fighting,--curse them!" + +They die fighting? With the first cry she had given, Belle broke from +him, and, still clutching the packet, followed in the footsteps of +those two; and as she ran, beaten back by the wind, and half-blinded +by the sand, she scarcely thought of their safety, only that she might +get there in time. Only in time, dear God! only in time to show them +that she was brave also. + +The lurid yellow of the dust-storm had darkened or lightened +everything to the same dull tint; the sand beneath her feet, the sky +above, the swaying trees between, each and all seemed like shadows +thrown upon a screen, and her own flying figure the only reality in an +empty world of dreams. Not a sound save the broad rush of the wind, +not a sight save the dim dust hazed paths bordered by shrivelled +flowers. Then, beyond the garden, the long curve of the dam, the +deeper sinking into dun-coloured soil of those frantic feet; and, +running with her as she ran, the swirls and dimples of the yellow +river angry for all its silence. + +If only she might be in time! There, in the centre of the curve, like +a swarm of bees, shifting, crowding, pressing,--was that John's fair +head in the centre? If the wind were only the other way, she might +have heard; but now, even if they were crying for help, she would not +hear!-- + +Suddenly her stumbling flight ceased in a stumbling pause. Was that +the wind? She threw up her hands without a cry, and stood as if turned +to stone. It seemed to her as if the seconds beat themselves in on her +brain--one--two--three--four--five--not more than that; then a low +dull roar ending in silence; silence and peace, for she lay huddled up +in a heap upon the ground as if struck by lightning. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV. + + +When John Raby, waking at Belle's touch to find the floods had come, +remarked that the people would be taken by surprise, he said truly. +The corollary he drew from this premise--that he was to be +congratulated on good luck--was not so sure. For there are times when +the unforeseen acts as a spur to those who, when prepared, often lack +the courage of action. And this was the case with a large body of the +malcontents whom Shunker Dâs, aided of late by his lieutenant Râm Lâl, +had been diligently instructing in the necessity for resistance at the +proper time. But a vague formula of this sort is a very different +thing in the eyes of the stolid law-abiding peasant, from the +resolution that to-day, this hour, this minute, they had to set aside +their inherited endurance, their ancestral calm, and fight. So, had +the floods come in due course and after due warning, it is more than +probable that even Râm Lâl's reckless desire for revenge would have +failed to excite the people to the organised attack on the new dam +towards which all Shunker's machinations had tended, and in which he +saw at least temporary ruin to his enemy's plans. Fate, however, +provided the element of surprise, and, to these slow-brained rebels, +seemed to leave no choice beyond instant revolt or instant submission. + +Aided by Râm Lâl's envoys the news that the river was rising travelled +fast; down the depression of cultivated land along which--given a high +flood-mark--the water might be expected: nor was the assertion wanting +that such a flood-mark had already been reached during the past two +days, and its benefits neutralised by Raby _sahib's_ unholy +contrivance. By dawn bands of the restless had begun to drift about +from village to village, eager to discuss the position, and by degrees +gaining a certain coherence of intention. Even those who hung back +from the idea of active interference joining the crowd out of +curiosity and so increasing the quantity of human tinder ready for +ignition by the smallest spark. Before noon Khân Mahomed Lateef Khân, +looking out from his ruined tower, saw a cloud of dust beyond his bare +brown fields and ere long was in parley with a recruiting band. + +"Not I," swore the old man fiercely; "these are not days for honest +blows. My son--God smite those who smote him!--could tell you so much; +and his son must learn his father's wisdom. Ye are fools! Let every +one of you give one rupee after the manner of a wedding, and go +purchase the slithering lies of a pleader. Then may ye have justice in +the _sahibs'_ courts; not otherwise. Besides, look ye, Shunker is in +this, and his jackal Râmu; and by the twelve Imaums I hate them worse +than Raby _sahib!_" + +"Râm Lâl hath cause," retorted a villainous-looking goldsmith, hailing +from the village where Belle had been pelted by the children. "We +Hindus, Khân _sahib_, are peace-lovers till they touch our women." + +The old Mussulman burst into a scornful laugh. "Best not chatter thus +to me, Gurdit! _Inshallah_; there have been times when honest blows +with a good sword have brought the faithful many a Hindu _peri!_ But I +quarrel not, so go your way, fools, like sheep to slaughter if so your +wisdom teaches. I bide at home." + +"Nay but, Khân _sahib_," expostulated that very Peru with whom Shunker +had begun his work, "we go not to, or for slaughter. We mean to +petition first to Marsden _sahib_, who comes to-day; so the Pathan +hath given out." + +"What!" interrupted the Khân with a frown. "He hath returned! Then go +ye doubly to slaughter, for there is one who dallies not with words. +He knows how to smite, and if it comes to blows I know which side good +swords--But there! I bide at home." + +Nor, despite their urgent importunities, would he consent even to join +those who favoured a petition. No doubt the racial disinclination to +be mixed up with idolaters had something to do with the refusal; +beyond this there was a stronger desire to give no help to Shunker; +and stronger than all was that liking for sheer pluck which makes a +native regiment, recruited from the martial races and led by +Englishmen it trusts, well nigh the perfection of a warlike weapon. +Many records bear witness to this fact, none more so than the story of +Ahmad Kheyl, when, but for an Englishman's voice and the steady +response of Indian soldiers, the tale might have been writ "disaster" +instead of "victory." Perhaps some of the three thousand Ghazies who +on that day dashed like an avalanche down the hill-side on to the thin +brown line guarding a mistaken retreat of red-coats may have expected +colour to side with colour. If so they paid dearly for their error. It +is pluck with pluck; and the words "_Retreat be damned--stand fast, +men!_" attributed rightly or wrongly to an Englishman not mentioned in +despatches, were sufficient to weld two nationalities into a wall +which broke the force of one of the most desperate charges ever made. +At least so runs the story,--out of despatches. + +Khân Mahomed Lateef Khân, then, retreated growling to his tumbledown +roof, and betook himself inconsequently to polishing up his sword. +Half an hour afterwards, however, he suddenly bade old Fâtma bring him +his company raiment with the medals and clasps of his dead sons sewn +on it. Then he said a brief farewell to the child, left the women +without a word, and went over to borrow the pink-nosed pony of the +pleader's father, who, being the Government accountant, was of course +discreetly at home. + +"Why didst not make thy son take up the case without payment?" asked +the old man wrathfully, as his neighbour held the stirrup for him to +mount. "Then should I not have had to go in mine old age and strive +for peace,--mark you, for peace!" + +But as he rode off, the old sword clattered merrily about his old +legs, and he smiled, thinking of the gift given when the light of his +eyes lay sick in the _mem's_ arms. + +"The sword is for her and hers, according to my oath," he said to +himself. "God knows it may be peace; I will do naught to hinder it; +but with Marsden _sahib_--_Allah Akbar!_ at least they do not worship +stocks and stones like these pigs." + +So behind the gathering cloud of witnesses, half hidden in the +gathering dust, came the pink-nosed pony ready for peace or war. The +odds, either for one or the other, flickered up and down a dozen times +as village after village sent or held back its contingent. Finally it +flared up conclusively with the advent of Râmu at the head of his +particular villains, armed not only with sticks and stones, but with +picks and shovels. Like a spark among tinder the suggestion flamed +through the mass,--why waste time in words when, without a blow, +except at solid earth, they could bring the floods into their own +channel, since Afzul and his gang had declared in favour of the +people? So said Râmu, and the peasants were only too ready to believe +him, seeing that picks and shovels were more to their minds than +blows. Thus, while the trio of aliens to whom that low curve of +earthwork meant so much, were talking and laughing over their lunch, +the dam was being assailed by a swarm of men eager for its +destruction. Almost at the same time the Khân _sahib_, spurring the +pink-nosed pony to the overseer's hut, found Afzul asleep, or +pretending to sleep. Perhaps the hint of bribery was true; perhaps the +Pathan thought a crisis was needed; at all events he was too crafty to +show his hand to his stern old patron, and set off ostensibly to give +the alarm at the house and summon his gang, who by a curious +coincidence happened to be employed half a mile or so further up the +river. Not till he saw his messenger reach the verandah did the Khân +seek the scene of action. Picks and shovels indeed! Well! these +ploughmen had a right to use such weapons, and he would stand by and +see fair play. + +How Afzul fulfilled his mission has already been told; also the result +of John Raby's appeal for help to Philip Marsden. To say that the +former could not believe his eyes, when, on first turning out of the +garden, he caught sight of the crowd gathered on the dam, is but a +feeble description of the absolutely incredulous wrath which +overpowered him. He had been prepared for opposition, perhaps even for +attack, when such attack was reasonable. But that these fools, these +madmen, should propose to cut a channel with the full weight of a +flood on the dam was inconceivable. As he ran back for his revolver, a +savage joy at the danger to the workers themselves merged itself with +rage at the possible ruin of his labour, and a fierce determination by +words, warnings, and threats to avert the worst. They could not be +such fools, such insensate idiots! As he passed the workmen's huts on +his return, he shouted to Afzul, and getting no reply ran on with a +curse at all traitors. He was alone against them all, but despite them +all he would prevail. As he neared the crowd, bare-headed, revolver in +hand, he felt a wild desire to fire without a word and kill some one, +no matter whom. The suspicion, however, that this attack could not +proceed from anything but revenge had grown upon him, and became +conviction as he saw that the largest portion of his enemies were of +the ruck; men who never did a hand's turn, and who even now stood by, +applauding, while others plied spade and mattock. In the latter, in +their stolid wisdom and experience, lay his best chance, and he +slipped the revolver to his pocket instantly. "Stop, you fools!" he +shouted, "stop! Peru! Gunga; where are your wits? The flood,--the +flood is too strong." Then, recognising the old Khân, he appealed +instinctively to him for support. "Stop them, Khân _sahib!_ you are +old and wise; tell them it is madness!" + +As he spoke, reaching the growing gap, he leapt down into it and +wrested a spade from the man nearest to him. It was yielded almost +without resistance, but a murmur ran through the bystanders, and the +workers dug faster. + +"Jodha! Boota! Dhurma!" rose John's voice again, singling out the men +he knew to be cultivators. "This is folly! tell them it is folly, Khân +_sahib!_" + +"I know not," answered the other moodily; "'tis shovel, not +sword-work, and they have a right to the water--before God, _sahib_, +they have a right to so much!" + +"Before God, they will have more than they want," interrupted that +eager tone; and something in its intelligent decision arrested one or +two of the older workers. They looked round at the swirling waste of +the river and hesitated. + +"Tis but his craft," cried Râmu excitedly, showing himself for the +first time; "I know Raby well. On! On, my brothers! He has wiles for +men as well as for women!" + +The revolver came out of John Raby's pocket again swiftly, but an +ominous surge together of the crowd showed him that it must be a last +resource when all else had failed; and now there were steps behind him +coming down the embankment hard and fast. The next instant Philip's +voice with the ring of accustomed command in it came sharp. "Listen! +The first of you who puts spade to ground, God save his soul from +damnation!" + +The native is essentially dramatic. The very turn of his speech, where +the imperative remains intact even when it has filtered through other +lips, shows him to be so; and Philip Marsden, with the intimate +knowledge of years, counted not unwisely on this characteristic for +effect. The surprise, the appearance of one who in a vague way they +considered of the right sort, the certainty that the voice they heard +meant what it said, produced a general pause among the diggers; a +pause during which Mahomed Lateef drew his sword gently from the +scabbard. + +"Listen again!" cried Philip. "Put down those spades and you shall +have justice. I promise it." + +But even as he spoke John Raby gave a quick excited cry. "Back! +Marsden, back! the dam is cracking! Back, for God's sake! It is too +late! Let the fools be!" + +He sprang up the gap, and as he did so a man sprang after him. It was +Râmu, ready for the deed he had come to do, fearful lest by this +unexpected flight his prey might escape him. The glance of a knife, a +cry, more of surprise than pain, and John Raby, twisting round in a +last desire to get at his assassin, overbalanced and fell headlong +down into the ditch. The next instant, before Philip's revolver could +single out the criminal, the old Khân's sword swirled above the high +turban. + +"_Allah-i-Hukk! Allah-i-Akbar!_" (God is Right and Might.) The fervour +of youth rang in the familiar war-shout, and the memory of youth must +have nerved the hand, for Râmu's head heeled over on his shoulder in +ghastly fashion as he doubled up beneath the force of the blow. But +ere he fell the ground beneath him split as if for a grave, and with a +hiss of water pouring through the cracks the loosened soil gave way on +all sides. Philip, bounding down to reach his fallen friend, felt a +sudden dizziness as the solid earth swirled round, split up, broke +into islands. Then, with an awful swiftness, while the crowd fought +frantically for a crumbling foothold, the dam, like a child's +sand-castle before an incoming wave, broadened, sank, melted, +disappeared, leaving nothing but a sheet of water racing madly to find +its old haunts. + +Then it was, when the scene in which all her life seemed bound up +disappeared bodily from before her eyes, that Belle Raby threw up her +hands and forgot the whole world for a time. + +Philip, strong swimmer as he was, struggled hard with the underdraw +ere he rose to the surface, shook the mud and water from his +eyes, and looked about him. Many a wretch swept past him shrieking +for aid, but he searched for something which, even amid his own +danger, he could not think of without a curse. Once, twice, thrice, he +dived after a hint, a hope; then, coming on Mahomed Lateef, drifting +half-unconsciously down stream, he gave up the useless search and, +buoying the old man's head against his shoulder, struck out for the +back eddy. He was so spent when he reached the shore, that he could +with difficulty drag his burden to the dry warm sand and sink down +beside it. The whole incident had passed so rapidly that it seemed but +an instant since he had been running down the embankment, eager to be +in time. And he had been in time for what? Suddenly he remembered +Belle and staggered to his feet. The storm was darker than ever and +aided by the afternoon shadows wrapped everything in a dim twilight +which hid all save the immediate foreground. Still he could see from +the ebb of the flood in front of him that the great mass of upheld +water must have surged first in a forward direction, and then recoiled +to find the lower levels which lay at right angles. Thus it seemed +probable that many of those swept away in the great rush might have +been left high and dry a quarter of a mile or so lower down; and in +this case nothing was more likely than a further attack on the house, +for once blood has been shed,--and that some of those engaged must +have lost their lives seemed certain--even the proverbially placid +peasantry of India loses its head. Belle, therefore, must be found, +not merely to tell her of the calamity, but to secure her safety; the +instant after this thought flashed upon him, Philip Marsden was making +his way to the house, stumbling as he ran through heavy sand and in +the teeth of a choking dust-storm. Men, even strong men, have in such +a storm lost their way and been smothered to death as they sought +shelter in some hollow, but Philip was too set on his purpose to think +of pausing. + +"Belle! Belle!" he cried as he ran up the verandah-steps and burst +into the drawing-room. She was not there. "Belle! Belle! I want you." +But there was no reply. The absence of servants, the deserted +verandah, did not surprise him; news flies fast among the people. But +Belle? was it possible she too had ventured out, perhaps along the dam +itself? The very thought turned him sick with fear, and he dashed into +her room calling on her again and again. The thousand and one delicate +tokens of her presence hit him hard by contrast with the idea of her +out there alone, perhaps swirling down that awful stream with which it +seemed to him he was still struggling. + +"Belle! Belle!" He was out of the house once more, through the garden, +down by the huts. Was it a year, or a minute ago, that he had passed +that way, running, as now, to be in time? Or were past and present +nothing but a bad dream? One of those endless nights from some unknown +horror which survive a thousand checks, and go on and on despite +perpetual escape? No, it was not a dream! The last time there had been +a low curve of earth before him where now nothing showed save a dim +yellow flood sliding so smoothly that it seemed to have been sliding +there since time began. Each step bringing him nearer to it brought +him nearer also to despair. Then, just as he had given up hope, on the +very brink, so close that one clenched hand hung over the water, he +found her lying as she had fallen; found her none too soon, for even +as he stooped to raise her, another few inches of loosened soil +undermined by the current fell with a dull splash, and he realised +that ere long the river would have turned her forgetfulness to death. + +Lifting her as best he could in his arms, he paused an instant to +consider what had best be done. One thing was certain, neither house +nor hut was safe until time showed the temper of the survivors. Yet +help and remedies of some sort he must have, and shelter too from +storm and night. He thought of Kirpo, but decided not to trust her. A +lucky decision, since to seek her would have been but waste of time, +as, recognising her husband among the rioters, she had fled into the +jungle with her child. The servants might be found if fear had not +dispersed them, but where in the meantime was he to leave Belle? At +last his thoughts returned to the old Khân. He was faithful, and if he +had recovered might at least keep watch while Philip sought other +help. Besides, not far from where he had left the old man, Philip had +noticed a reed shanty built against the abutment of the dam, and so +hidden from the sight of all save those coming from that side. He +determined therefore to carry Belle thither, and if he could find +Mahomed Lateef to leave her in his charge. This was no easy task, for +Belle, unconscious as she was, proved an awkward burden over such a +rough road, and it was a great relief to be able to lay her down at +last in comparative shelter and assure himself that she was still +alive; for, as he had struggled on, the dead weight in his arms had +filled him with apprehension. The next thing was to find the Khân. +Here fate proved kind, and within a few yards of the shanty Philip +came upon him, battling against the wind yet finding breath for a +running fire of curses on all idolaters. To cut short his gratitude +and explain what was wanted took but a moment; the next saw Philip +hurrying towards the house again, since, if the rioters returned, time +might run short. It did, despite his hurry, so that after vainly +searching for the servants, he was still rummaging for more ammunition +and (most potent weapon of all) for money, when the sound of advancing +voices warned him to be off. Thanks to the almost blinding dust there +was little fear of being seen in his retreat; yet when, on reaching +the shanty, he found Belle still quite unconscious, he recognised that +the most difficult part of his task had yet to come. He had brought +back a few comforts snatched up hastily as he made his escape, and now +set to work to force a few drops of brandy down her throat, wrap her +in warmer garments, and chafe her cold hands and feet. To do so he had +to unclasp the fingers of her right hand by force and withdraw +something she held in it. This, without giving it a glance, he slipped +into the breast-pocket of his coat and so continued his efforts. After +a time her colour became less deathlike: she moaned once or twice, +turning her head aside as if to escape from some distasteful sight; +but beyond this there was no change, and the hope of her recovering +the shock sufficiently to aid in her own escape seemed very slender. +Nor did Philip wonder at her collapse when he thought of what it must +have been for her to stand by helpless, and see those who had left her +in anger swept away into the unforgiveness of death. + +"_Huzoor_" whispered the old Khân, who in deference to inviolable +custom had been sitting with averted face in the doorway, where, +shivering from the chill of the wind through his wet clothes he had +been considering the position carefully, "We must get out of this. To +sit here will have us crippled with ague by dawn. There is my pony; I +will go fetch it from the huts. Perchance they may not see me; +perchance they would not touch me if they did, for Râmu--the man I +killed, _Huzoor_--hath no blood-kin in these parts, and death cools +friendship. Besides, their wrath will be only against white faces. +When I am gone ten minutes, lift the _mem_, and make for the dip in +the south road by the _nullah_. If all goes well, you will hear hoofs +ere long. But if these fools are set on blood, make your way as best +you can due south. Eight miles, more or less, keeping the left bank +till you see a square-towered house. Give this to the women; they will +obey it." + +He took the talisman signet from his thumb, and slipping it into +Philip's hand left the hut. The next ten minutes seemed interminable; +and the relief of action when it came was great. This time Belle +proved an easier burden, when wrapped closely in a shawl and lifted +leisurely. Once amongst the tall tiger-grass in the _nullah_ he rested +his knee against a high tussock and still holding her in his arms +waited anxiously, for he was now on the direct route to the house and +liable to come across a straggling rioter at any moment. The risk, +however, had to be run, as the only available bridge over a cut from +the river lay a few yards further on. Sheltered by the high grass, +Philip's eyes were practically useless to him, and the pony's hoofs +being deadened by the sand, it needed a low whistle from the Khân to +bring him out on to the road beside the pink-nosed pony. + +"Give me her here, across the pummel, _Huzoor_," said the old man +briefly. "Your legs are younger than mine, and time is precious. +So, gently! _Mashallah!_ I have seen women carried thus before +this!--women who gave the rider more trouble than she is like to do. +Now, if you are ready, _Huzoor_; for though 'tis dark enough there +will be a blaze ere long. Those low-caste, pig-leather-working dogs +had got to the _sahib's_ brandy-bottles, and you know what that +means." + +"Did they try to stop you?" asked Philip, when after crossing the +bridge in silent anxiety they struck into the comparative safety of +the jungle. + +The old man grunted softly, his anger tempered by the necessity for +caution. "By the twelve Imaums they said I was afraid!--_I_, Mahomed +Lateef Syyed!--that I was sneaking away! And I,--I never even called +them pigs." + +Despite his anxiety Philip could not resist a smile, partly of +confidence, for no better proof of the Khân's resolution to bring +Belle safely out of trouble could have been found than this +unparalleled meekness. So they went on swiftly. Philip at the +bridle-rein, the old Khân supporting Belle partly on his arm, partly +by a dexterous arrangement of his scabbard, over which the old man +chuckled as if in contented reminiscence of bygone days. "'Tis as I +said, _Huzoor_," he remarked pointing to a red flush rising behind +them. "That is the bungalow roof. 'Tis well she is out of it so far." +Philip thinking of all the horrors of the past few hours, and +contrasting them with his memories of Belle in her pretty home, +clenched his hands, wishing _he_ were nearer. Perhaps the Khân's +sympathy saw to his thought, for the old man went on in aggrieved +tones, "And we get no good from it. Not even an honest set-to when the +women are safe; for to-morrow the _tâhseeldar_[9] and the police will +spoil sport. Besides, these shovel-diggers will be afraid of their own +actions by dawn! Even now we are safe; safe as if we are driving down +the watered road of a cantonment, our only care to convey this poor +soul to woman's hands. _Inshallah!_ The women have the best of it in +your reign, _Huzoor!_" + +"Well! some one will have to answer for the day's work," replied +Philip grimly. + +"Some _one_. Ay, that is to-day's law, and even of that I know not," +grumbled the Khân. "For look you, Râmu and none else killed the +_sahib_, and I killed Râmu, so that is done. The rest were peaceable +enough, God knows, and you hang not for the bursting of _bunds_ (dams) +and burning of bungalows. There is no justice nowadays!" + +It was past midnight ere the pony pulled up of its own accord at a +ruinous door, and the owner with mighty shouts and much impatient +rattling of his sword-hilt on the panels roused the inmates. +"Come forth, Fâtma," he cried to the white-sheeted form muttering +faint excuses which appeared at length. "Heed not the stranger +to-night,--Haiyât also. He is my brother, and this, look you, is my +sister. We will carry her within to the women's room, and ye must see +to her as women should, and bring us word of her state speedily. 'Tis +best so, _Huzoor_; Fâtma is learned in woman's lore and hath simples. +She will tell us if there be hurts or danger. For to-night the _mem_ +had best stay here, since there is nought to be done save rest." + +"Not so, Khân _sahib_; I must return and see after--" + +The old Mussulman raised his right hand solemnly. "Let the dead rest +in peace also for tonight, _Huzoor_. I saw Raby _sahib_ fall, and I +know how dead clay toucheth the earth to which it returns. The knife +struck home, _Huzoor_; right through the heart! Lo, it was Kismet! +Raby _sahib_ is dead, but his slayer is dead also, so we, his +comrades, may rest awhile till dawn comes." + +"I will wait till dawn," said Philip, "and hear what the women say." + +So the Khân disposed himself to sleep with the calm of an old +campaigner, and Philip sat out in the warm night air waiting for the +dawn. The storm had ended in weak-minded thunder and a few spots of +dry rain, which had nevertheless left a freshness behind them. Here +and there through the parting drifts of cloud and dust the stars +twinkled brightly, making Philip's thoughts turn to a future more +peaceful than past or present. He drove the erring fancies back to +realities with a certain scorn of himself, but they broke from control +again and again with the insistence which truth brings to bear on +conventionalities. It was true that by and by time would heal the +present trouble; it was true that by and by regrets would soften. +There was no hurry, no thought but pity and sorrow for what was, and +yet he started from a vision of peace to find old Fâtma by his side. +The Khân had long since been snoring placidly, so the old matron's +eyes could look into Philip's with straightforward confidence. + +"The _mem_ will do for now, _Huzoor_. There is no danger, none at all. +But by and by, in the months to come, may God save from harm the child +that will be born!" + +He rose to his feet white to the very lips. Just Heaven! Was this poor +Belle's last legacy! + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI. + + +The old Khân's forecast proved correct in every particular. By noon on +the day after the outbreak the ringleaders were safe in the lock-up +awaiting trial, and, save for the smouldering house and the yellow +flood of water sliding down the old channel, there was nothing to tell +of the past night's work. For the dead bodies had been carried to +their homes, and the women wailed over them discreetly behind mud +walls, as if they had died in their beds. All save John Raby's, and +that was making a dismal procession towards the nearest railway +station, preceded at a little distance by poor Belle, crushed and but +half-conscious of the truth. Philip, riding by the side of the litter, +felt there was something exasperating in the absolute insignificance +of the whole affair. It almost seemed as if some one must be to blame, +as if something could surely have been done to avert so terrible an +ending to what was, after all, but a storm in a tea-cup. But then +neither he, nor the authorities who had to inquire into the matter, +were in possession of that master-key to the whole position which was +to be found in Shunker Dâs's desire for revenge. For he had worked +carefully, leaving scarcely a trace behind him; and though Kirpo came +forward boldly to declare his responsibility, her palpable motive for +spite discredited her statements. Besides, at the very outset of the +inquiry, it became clear that John Raby's murder by Râmu had nothing +whatever to do with his action in regard to the water; and however +absurd the man's jealousy might seem, it was certainly sufficient to +explain the rancour with which Kirpo's husband had set himself to +conspire against the Englishman. It was evident therefore that the +latter had met his death, not from his harshness towards the people, +but from the good-nature with which he had originally espoused the +woman's cause. Both Philip Marsden and the Khân could only witness to +the freedom from all attempt at personal violence on the part of the +crowd, even when John Raby had thrown himself among the workers and +taken a spade from them by force; while the subsequent burning and +looting of the factory was evidently an after impulse caused by the +rage of the survivors at the loss of their companions. The whole +affair, in short, being one of those perfectly maddening mistakes and +misapprehensions which serve sometimes to emphasise the peculiar +conditions of life in our Indian Empire. + +All this, or most of it, was in due time dinned into the widow's ears +by kindly but strange voices; for there was one familiar voice which +she dreaded to hear because the owner knew of something which the +others did not know: something she could not remember without despair. +So day after day she lay in the spare room of the head official's +house,--that spare room which shelters such an odd variety of guests, +the travelling Member of Parliament, the widow, the homeward and +outward bound, the dying, sometimes the dead--and when Philip's name +was mentioned she would turn her head away and beg to be left alone a +little longer, just a little longer. Hurt as he could not fail to be +at her avoidance of him, he understood the reason of it all too well, +and waited patiently. Then the last day of his leave came, and he sent +to say he _must_ see her before he left; so Belle, white as her +widow's cap, nerved herself for the interview with the man whom she +had preferred before her dead husband. That is how, in her abject +remorse, she put it to herself. She had chosen her lover. The natural +indignation at deceit, the generous instinct, the sense of injustice +which had forced her to the decision were all forgotten before the +memory of those minutes of delay. How could she meet Philip?--Philip, +round whose neck she had thrown her arms while defying the husband +whom she had sent alone to seek death! That Philip had refused to play +the part she gave him, that he had forced her to play a better one +herself, brought her no comfort. She was too much absorbed in the +scene as it affected her and the dead man to care what Philip had said +or done. The very fact of his entering into it at all was an offence. +She would not consider him in the least, except to tell herself that +she was also responsible to _him_ for the loss of his money. To this +additional self-reproach she clung firmly, as if to a protection, and +when she saw him pausing for half a second at the first glimpse of her +in her widow's weeds, she thrust it forward hastily, like a shield +against his sympathy. + +"I am so sorry," she began coldly, "it was not his fault. He did his +best about the money, and now you have lost it all." + +A sort of irritated amazement came over him. What did he care for the +money? Why should she be fretting over it when his thoughts were full +of her,--of her only? He looked into her grief-darkened eyes with a +certain impatience--the old impatience at seeing her unhappy--the old +eagerness to rouse her into hope. "Oh Belle! what does all that +matter? Don't look so miserable over it, for pity's sake!" + +She drew her hand from his, slowly, with her eyes full on his face. +"You are fond of saying that. But how can I look anything else when I +killed my husband?" + +"Belle!" The horrified surprise in his tone scarcely expressed his +bewilderment, for he had little experience of women or the morbid +exaggerations in which, at times, they find a positive relief. "Belle, +what do you mean? How can you say such things?" + +"What is the use of hiding the truth from ourselves?" she answered +almost with satisfaction at her own self-torture. She had not meant, +at least she thought she had not meant, to broach the subject at all; +but now that it was begun she threw herself into it with out reserve. +"You know as well as possible that it was I who really killed him; I +who prevented your being in time to save him." + +There was more pity than amazement in his voice now. "Have you been +tormenting yourself with that thought all these long days? Poor child! +No wonder you have been miserable. Belle, my dear, it isn't true. You +know yourself,--surely you must know it isn't true." + +"I know nothing of the sort," she interrupted quickly, with a dull +hard voice. "I kept you, and you were too late. Nothing can alter +that. It is the truth." + +"It is not the truth," he answered quietly. "If you had but let me see +you at first I might have spared you this unnecessary pain. Perhaps I +ought to have insisted on seeing you, but--" He went on after a slight +pause, "but I respected your wishes, because--" + +"Because you knew I had reason to dread seeing you!" she broke in +passionately. "Because you knew it was I who killed him! Because you +were afraid! Don't deny it, Philip; you knew,--yes! you knew why." + +He stood before her, manly and strong, pitiful yet full of vexation. +"I will not have you say such things--of me at any rate, Belle. I will +not even have you think them of me; or of yourself either. In your +heart of hearts you know they are not true. True!--they are lies, +Belle, wicked lies. You have been working yourself up in your +loneliness to believe something impossible, preposterous, and it is my +fault for letting you be lonely. I was not too late. No power on earth +could have saved John. I was there armed, ready; the Khân was there +also with drawn sword; yet we could not save him. No one could have +saved him. _That_ is the truth." + +"If you had gone sooner," she murmured, pressing her hands tightly +together till the rings on them cut and hurt, as if she were glad of +pain, of something to appease her own self-condemnation; "if you had +not been delayed, you might have persuaded him to be more cautious." + +Philip almost smiled, a smile of vexed surprise at her perversity. "My +dear Belle! Am I a man to preach caution when I am opposed? Was John a +man to listen to such caution when the time for action had come? +Nonsense! I don't wish to be hard, dear; I don't say, mind you, that +the remembrance of his anger is not very bitter--God only knows how +bitter--for you to bear. But, Belle, if he knows anything now, he +knows that he was wrong." + +"He was not wrong; he was right. I chose you and forsook him." + +Philip gave a little impatient shake of his head, then walked away to +the window feeling how hopeless it was to argue with a woman in +Belle's position. A man was absolutely helpless before such weakness +and such strength. Yet, after a pause, he returned to the attack by a +side route. "Besides," he said, coming back to where she was seated, +and standing beside her resting one hand on the back of her chair, "it +was not really you who delayed me. It was something else of which you +know nothing. If I had seen you I would have told you, but there was +no use mentioning it to others because the man had gone and there was +nothing to be done. It was Afzul kept me. He came to my room when I +went to fetch my revolver, and barred the door. He wanted me to listen +as you did. I think he was mad, but I had to fire ere he would let me +pass. You see it was he who delayed me, not you. One reason why I did +not mention it was this: the man was a deserter, but he had saved my +life and,--I think--I think he must have been mad." + +But Belle made no answer. With her head resting on her hand she was +frowning slightly in pursuit of a fugitive memory. "Afzul!" she echoed +at last in puzzled tones. "I had quite forgotten; but surely he came +to me in the drawing-room. He gave me something and he said something; +surely about Dick! Could it have been about Dick?" + +Her eyes sought Philip's for the first time with appeal, and he was +sorry to chill the interest in them with a negative. Yet what could +Afzul possibly have to say about poor Dick Smith? "Hardly, I should +think; I doubt if they ever met even at Faizapore. But this reminds +me,--you had something tight clasped in your hand when I found you +close to the river;--so close,--did they tell you how close it was to +death, my dear, when I came upon you lying--Oh, Belle, so close!" + +"Something in my hand," echoed Belle coldly. "What did you do with +it?" + +"Like you I had forgotten," said Philip, recovering from the break in +his voice. "I put it in the pocket of my coat when I was trying to +bring you back to consciousness in the hut. I dare say it is there +still. Shall I go and see?" + +Her affirmative sent him away relieved at the more human interest in +her face. A minute afterwards he returned with a little brocaded +packet looking as if it had lain in damp lodgings. "I hope it isn't +hurt," he said lightly; "but having no servant here, my clothes have +dried as best they could, and it feels rather pulpy. Open it and see +what parting gift that inexplicable compound of fidelity and treachery +left behind him. He had a great admiration for you, Belle." + +"It is not for me after all. It is for you," she replied after a +pause, as she smoothed out the long blue envelope which had been +rolled round a smaller packet. "At least I think so. The writing above +is smudged, but 'Marsden, 101st Sikhs' is quite clear. Look at it, +while I open the other." + +He took the letter from her calmly, without a misgiving. His first +glance at it, however, roused a sudden doubt, a sudden memory; but ere +he had grasped the meaning of his own thoughts, Belle's hand was on +his arm, and her voice appealing to him in a new, glad tone of hope. +"Oh Philip, it is Dick's ring! I have seen him wear it,--so often; I +can't be mistaken. It is Dick's ring,--can he be alive,--is he,--do +you think he can be alive still?" + +For an instant they stood so, she like a resurrection of her girlhood, +he stupidly staring at a curious dark stain blotting out part of the +address. Then the truth began to dawn upon him, and his hand clenched +in a growing passion. "No!" he said fiercely, and his voice was almost +a whisper at first. "No! This is his will,--the will I would not +take,--Afzul! My God! Afzul had it all the time! He must have been in +the Pass,--Ah! I remember,--the _subadar_,--those others, all _his_ +enemies,--He must have killed the boy,--He must have killed the boy!" + +His horror, his anger, burst bounds. He forgot everything else in the +wild hatred which rose up in him against the murderer, as he strode up +and down the room, silent for the most part, but every now and again +breaking out into a passionate regret. Why had he been so blind? To +think that all the time this man had nursed him, all the time he had +taken so many benefits from that hand, it had been red with poor, +brave Dick's blood. Why had he not shot the scoundrel when he had the +chance? + +But Belle stood as he had left her, the fingers of her right hand +still caressing the ring which, half unconsciously, she had slipped to +the third finger of her left, where, over-large for the slender +resting-place, it almost hid the golden circlet of her wedding ring. +Her eyes, soft with a great tenderness, seemed to see nothing but a +young face eager in its plea for toleration. Dick, poor Dick! Had +anything better than his love ever come into her life? The sight of +her as she stood almost with a smile on her face brought a new element +into Philip's thoughts. All that time, while Belle had been beating +her wings against the cage, Afzul had been walking about with release +in his pocket. "It is God's will!" The scene in the verandah at +Saudaghur on the first night of their return from death recurred to +Philip's mind, as such forgotten incidents do when time has shown +their true significance, making him realise more clearly than he had +ever done before in all his life what mere shuttlecocks in the game of +Fate the strongest-willed may be at times. A certain defiant revolt +made him cross to where Belle stood and put his arm around her as if +to claim her. "The Fates have been against us, my darling," he +whispered passionately, "against us all along!" + +She scarcely seemed to hear him, scarcely seemed to notice his touch. +In truth she had forgotten him, forgotten even her troubles. "Philip," +she said, and there was a strange thrill in her voice, "if we had only +known, he could have told us what Dick did. It was something very +brave, I know; but if we could only be sure what it was." + +Before the eyes full of a great tenderness which were raised to his, +he felt as far beneath her in his selfishness as she had seemed to him +but just now in her morbid weakness. How could he be angry with her? +How could he even blame her? + +And yet when he left her room at length, he looked so dispirited that +the little Irish doctor coming in on his daily visit to Mrs. Raby, +felt impelled to clap him on the back and remark somewhat +inconsequently that "women, God bless 'em!" were only occasionally +responsible for their words; certainly not so when their nerves were +jangled and out of tune. Whereat Philip's pride rose at the very idea +that the bystanders understood, or thought they understood, the +position. Perhaps they were even now speculating how soon those two +would give up mourning and be married. The only drop of comfort came +from Mildred Van Milder, who had come to be with Belle, and take her +back to the little house at Missouri when she was fit to travel. And +her consolation consisted in a tearful remark that Belle had far +better have married Dick Smith. He was very young, of course, and had +no money, but Charlie Allsop hadn't any either, and yet she wouldn't +change him for all the legacies in the world. The news of the +discovery of Dick's will was a nine days' wonder, and even found its +way into the daily papers, much to Philip's annoyance. Otherwise the +fact itself was a distinct relief, since it gave Belle independence +and removed the fear of her choosing poverty in preference to his +help; a choice which in her present frame of mind seemed a foregone +conclusion. At the same time it was likely to raise a new crop of +difficulties, for three years had passed by since the money had fallen +in to the charity, and a long time must elapse before it could be +recovered; if indeed it could be recovered at all. Luckily the proving +of the will was not difficult, despite the peculiarities of its +custody. To begin with it was in Dick's own writing, and the old Khân +was able to speak with certainty as to having seen both envelope and +ring in the Pathan's possession, and bear out the fact that Philip had +taken the brocaded packet from Belle's hand in the hut. The question +as to how Afzul had come by it was, in Philip's opinion, all too +clear; especially when inquiry proved that the Pathan had at any rate +been on the Peiwar Pass about the time of the murder. So far good; the +remainder, however, was more puzzling, and Philip felt that Belle made +a wise decision in refusing to disturb any existing arrangements +until, as she put it, time should show what she ought to do. The +doctors strongly advised her going home to England as soon as the +advent of the rains should make the long railway journey to Bombay +possible. The complete change would give her the best chance of +recovering the shock, and she could then see with her own eyes how the +money had been spent, and what portion of it, if any, she would care +to leave in its present employment. + +"I shall meet you in Delhi," he wrote in reply to the letter in which +she gave him her final decision, "and see you safe to Bombay. To begin +with, there are one or two little business formalities which require +my presence as executor, and then I must see you once more. There is +to be a punitive expedition over the frontier in spring; so leave will +be impossible until the cold weather after next, and that is a long +time. I may never see you again." + +She read these words as she sate on the window-seat of the little +drawing-room where she had read the news of his death three years +before. Three years! Was it only three years, since, with her eyes +still wet with the tears she did not understand, she had gone out into +the mist and the rain to find that vision of a sunlit world at her +feet with John Raby standing at her side? And now he was dead, dead in +anger, while tears, far more bitter than those she had shed at the +thought of Philip's death, came to her eyes with the thought of seeing +him again. Yet the world seemed to have stood still otherwise; the +little room, the slanting pines, the drifts of cloud over the hills, +even Maud in the rocking-chair, and Mrs. Stuart still aggressive in +her tears and widow's caps--for the good lady had ordered a new one in +anticipation of Belle's visit, moved thereto by an ill-defined but +very kindly impulse of sympathy. But Belle did not know this; she only +saw that sameness which is almost irritating when we ourselves have +changed so much. She used to sit in the little room where she had +slept the night before her wedding, and wonder what she had done to +bring herself into this position; herein, for once, agreeing with +Philip, who far away with his regiment asked himself many and many a +time what either of them had done of which they needed to be ashamed. + +Meanwhile the little household went on its monotonous way contentedly. +Charlie was at school, much improved, and glad of Belle's presence; +partly because he was fond of her, partly because she occupied his +room and thus prevented that weekly return home from Saturday to +Monday at which he was beginning to grow restive, since it was almost +as derogatory to dignity as being a home-boarder. Mrs. Stuart employed +herself in weeping placidly over Belle's misfortunes, and paying +visits to her friends, during which she darkly hinted that she had +always been against the match; for Mr. Raby had played _écarté_, +and though of course he had not lost his money that way, it was not +_comme il faut_ in a young civilian. Maud was growing older in the +rocking-chair, and inclined, as ever, to resent other people's tears. + +"I don't think Belle is so much to be pitied after all," she cried +captiously. "Other people are not always having legacies left them, +and £30,000 means more to a widow than to a married woman. Besides, +she needn't remain a widow unless she likes; Philip Marsden has been +in love with her all the time." Whereat Mildred, signing her daily +letter to Charlie Allsop with a flourish which would have done credit +to the heiress of millions, interrupted her sister hotly. "I think +it's a beastly shame to say so all the same, Maudie. I dare say it's +true; but I'm sure if any one said such things of me when I was a +widow, I'd never marry the man. No, not if I liked him ever so much! +I'll tell you what it is: Belle has had a hard time of it; and if poor +Dick were only here, as well as his money, I believe she would marry +him and be happy." + +"My dear girls!" expostulated their mother feebly, "her husband is not +six weeks dead till next Tuesday. If any one had suggested marriage to +me when poor Colonel Stuart--" + +"Oh, that is different, mamma," retorted Mildred impatiently. "Belle +only married John by mistake. Lots of girls do the same thing. Mabel +has, with her Major; but then she will never find it out, so it +doesn't matter. Charlie says--" + +"Oh, if Charlie says anything, that settles the matter," broke in Maud +peevishly. "I wish you two would get married, and then you would soon +cease to think each other perfection. For my part, I consider Belle is +not to be pitied. She has plenty of money, and by and by she will have +a baby to amuse her when she's tired of other things. What more can +any woman want? I'm very sorry for her now, but grief doesn't last +forever, and after all she never was in love with John. That's one +comfort." + +Perhaps if Belle had been asked she might have denied the last +statement. If she had loved him, the past would certainly have been +less of a regret, the future less of a fear. What was to be the end of +it all? That question clamoured for answer as the big ship began to +slide from its moorings. Leaning over the taffrail, her eyes heavy +with unshed tears, she could see nothing but Philip standing +bareheaded in the boat which slipped landwards so fast. A minute +before his hands had been in hers, his kind voice faltering good-bye +in her ears. And now? Suddenly her clasped fingers opened in a gesture +of entreaty. "Philip!" she whispered. "Comeback, come back!" + +But the swirl of the screw had caught the boat and Major Marsden was +in his place at the tiller-ropes, his face set landwards. The rowers +bent to their oars and so, inch by inch, yard by yard, the rippling +sunlit water grew between those two. Was that to be the end? + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII. + + +Seven years! Time enough, so physiologists tell us, for the whole +structure of the body to be worn out and renewed again. And for the +mind? Is it to be allowed no chance of change, no throwing aside of +effete matter, no relief from the monotony of a fixed body of +opinions, thoughts, and emotions? That would be hard indeed. Yet Belle +Raby--for she was Belle Raby still--had altered little either +outwardly or inwardly in the seven years which had passed since she +stood leaning over the taffrail watching a boat slip landwards, and +asking herself if that was to be the end of it all. Perhaps this lack +of change was the less remarkable because, as she leant over the +wicket-gate looking into the lane beyond, she was still watching and +waiting, and asking herself what the end was to be. Not, however, as +she had done then; for then she had been in a state of nervous +collapse and unable to judge fairly of anything or any one, of herself +least of all. To do her justice this state of mind had not lasted +long; indeed Belle had found herself facing the white cliffs of +England, and the uncertain future awaiting her there with more +equanimity than she would have deemed possible or even proper a month +before. The long journey home,--that slow passaging day after day +towards a set haven regardless of storm or calm,--the imperturbable +decision of the big ship which seems to have absorbed your weakness in +its strength--the knowledge that day and night, night and day, while +you forget, the engines like a great heart are throbbing on +purposefully across the pathless sea,--all this has worked many a +miracle of healing in mind and body exhausted by the struggle for +existence. It wrought one for Belle, luckily, since the future held +many a difficulty. Despite them all, as seven years afterwards, she +stood bareheaded in the cool English sunshine she looked wonderfully +young and happy; even though those seven years had been the fateful +ones which find a woman in the twenties and leaves her in the +thirties. True it is that wisdom, either of this world or the next, +brings a sadness to most eyes, but in this case a sweetness had come +with it which more than counterbalanced the loss of gaiety. In fact +Belle Raby had never looked more attractive than she did as she stood +in a white dress with a Jacqueminot rose tucked away in the lace at +her throat leaning over the wicket-gate waiting,--waiting for what? + +For Philip, of course. Ten o'clock had just chimed from a church-tower +close by, and the time between that and the half-hour had belonged for +years to her best friend. Sometimes during those short thirty minutes +of a busy day she wrote to him; sometimes, as now, she stood watching +for him with tolerable certainty that, if steamers and trains were +punctual, he would step with bodily presence into her life for a few +weeks; but most often she was setting time, and space, and absence, +and all the trivialities which clip the wings of poor humanity at +defiance. In other words she was allowing her imagination to get the +better of her common sense. That is one way of putting it. Another is +possible to those who, like Belle, have learnt to recognise the fact +that the outside world exists for each one of us, not in itself, but +in the effect which it produces on our consciousness. Two women are +grinding at the mill; the one weeps over the task, the other smiles; +just as they choose to weep or smile. The secret of the emotion lies +not in the cosmic touch itself, but in the way the consciousness +receives it, and in the picture which the imagination draws of our own +condition; the abstract truth, the actual reality affects us not at +all. So Belle Raby, as she looked out to the wild roses in the +hedgerow and the yellow butterflies fluttering over the grey bloom of +the flowering grasses, saw nothing of the placid English landscape +spread before her eyes. She was standing on a faraway Indian platform +where the crows sat on the railings cawing irrelatively, and a tall +man in undress uniform was listening to those first words,--"it is +father." That had been the beginning of it all; the keynote both of +the discords and harmony of the whole. Then suddenly, as irrelatively +perhaps as the cawing of the crows, the scene changed. The flood of +sunshine faded to mirk and fog; such mirk and fog as humanity and its +ways creates in London on a dull November day. An atmosphere of +civilisation and culture, say some. Perhaps; but if so, civilisation +with all its advantages is apt to smell nasty. She saw a man and a +woman standing opposite each other in a London lodging, in a London +fog. But five minutes before Philip had come into it buoyantly, +decisively, bringing with him a memory of sunshine and purer air. Now +he stood with his back to the grey square of the window, his hands +stretched out to her in something between command and entreaty. +"Belle! put down the child and let me speak to you." And then for the +first time, she had gone over to him, with the child still in her +arms, and kissed him. "Jack will not trouble me, dear," she said; "he +is such a quiet wee mite. Come, let us sit down and talk it over." + +Now when lovers fall to talking hand in hand it is proper, even in a +novel, to avert one's head and smile, saying that the conversation can +have no possible interest to outsiders. Or, if a sentence or two be +suggested, it is necessary to insist that love, divine love, can only +find its first expression in mere foolishness. Belle and Philip +therefore could evidently not have been lovers, for they talked +serious and sound good sense while the year-old Jack with his wide, +wistful eyes lay in his mother's arms and listened to it all. What was +it to him if more than once a reluctant tear fell on his tiny wrinkled +hands, and more than once Philip's voice trembled and then stopped a +while? What were such emotions to a life which had come into the world +barred from them forever? For Belle's child would never be as other +children are; so much was certain; whether he would ever need her care +more than another's was yet to be seen. But it was strange, was it +not? she seemed to hear herself saying in a calm voice, the steadiness +of which surprised her even at the time, that poor Dick's legacy had +gone to a hospital for just such poor little God-stricken children. + +"Don't, Belle,--don't, for pity's sake,--I can't bear it." That had +been the man's cry, bringing home to her the fact that she and Philip +had changed places. In the old days a duty had lain between them; a +duty lay between them now. Why had she seen evil and shame in this +man's love then, and yet find none in it now? Then he had been calm, +and she had fretted. Now with another man's child in her arms, and +just the same love in her heart, she had the decision, and he the +restless pain. In those days no thought of such love as deals in +marriage had ever arisen between them; but now Philip had come all the +way from India full of a man's determination to end the story in what +the world said was the only possible, natural, or moral ending to any +love-story. And on such stories as theirs the worldly verdict runs +thus: they had loved each other when they could not marry, which was +very wrong; but a kindly Providence having removed the unnecessary +husband, they could marry, which set everything right. + +The mirk and fog settled very closely round them as they sate by the +fire; closer on Philip than on Belle, for it was his turn to be scared +by the phantom of foregone conclusions. What he had strenuously denied +when the position ran counter to his pride, seemed true enough now +that it joined issue with it. He loved Belle, so of course he must +want to marry her. The two things were synonymous; when, of course, +there was a possibility of getting married. Yet Belle, even with tears +in her eyes, could smile as she told him that her first thought in +life lay in her arms; that she could not even give him hope in the +future, or bid him wait, since the waiting might be forever. + +That had been more than five years ago, and there was still a smile on +Belle Raby's face as she roused herself from her day-dreams, looked at +her watch, and turned back into the garden. Perhaps he had missed his +train. Even if he had he would still come by and by to see how +magnificently the roses were blooming that year. There were roses +everywhere; wild in the hedgerows, many-coloured in the borders, white +in the trailing sprays that climbed round about the verandahs of the +low cottage which formed one wing of a plainer yet more important +building beyond. It was evidently the later addition of a different +taste, for the gardens surrounding them showed a like dissimilarity. +In the distance, open stretches of well-kept lawns and wide gravelled +paths; civilised, commonplace. Round the cottage a strip almost wild +in its profusion of annuals, its unpruned roses, and the encircling +shade of tall forest trees which must have stood there long before +either the cottage or the pretentious building beyond had been thought +of; a strip of garden suggestive, even to a casual observer, of a less +conventional fashion of life than is usual in the old country. To +Belle, as she stooped to push a tangle of larkspur within reasonable +bounds, it served as a reminiscence of days which, with all their +sadness, she never ceased to regret. She envied Philip often; Philip +in command of his regiment, away on this expedition or that, able to +come back always to the sociable yet solitary existence so strangely +free from the hurry and strain inseparable from life in the West. +Philip, whose name was known all along the frontier as the boldest +soldier on it. A perfect content for and in him glowed at her heart as +with her hands clasped behind her she strolled back to the gate. And +there he was, his head uncovered, his pace quickening as he saw her. +Her pulse quickened too, but she composed herself to calm. For they +had a little game to play, this middle-aged man and woman; a game +which they had played with the utmost gravity on the rare occasions +when Fate brought them into each other's presence. + +"Your train is a little late to-day, Phil, isn't it?" she asked as she +held the gate open for him. + +"Rather. Have you been waiting long?" + +His voice trembled a little in the effort to take it all as a matter +of course, though hers did not; but then the novelty of environment +was greater for him than for her. + +"How long is it this time, Phil? I forget, and after all what does it +matter? Come and see the roses, dear; there are such a lot out this +morning." + +He stopped her for an instant by drawing the hand he held towards him, +and clasping it in both of his. "More roses than there were yesterday, +Belle?" he asked with a sort of eager certainty in his tone. + +She looked at him fondly. "Yes, more than yesterday "--then suddenly +she laughed and laid her other hand on his. "I will say it, dear, +since it pleases you. There are more roses to-day because you have +come, and this is holiday-time." + +Their welcome was over; they had stepped for a time into each other's +lives. A ridiculous pretence, of course; a mere attempt to make +imagination play the part assigned since all eternity to facts. But if +it pleased these two, or if it pleases any number of persons who find +facts are stubborn things, why should the world quarrel with it? Belle +had once on a time made herself unnecessarily miserable by imagining +that she and Philip were in love with each other, and that, since love +was inextricably bound up with marriage or the desire for it, she must +be posing as the heroine of the third-rate French novel. Her +consequent loss of self-respect had very nearly spoiled her life, and +even Philip had never ventured to think what might have happened had +John lived to force them into action. The unreality of her past fears +had come home to Belle, however, during the long months when she had +waited for her last legacy. And with the first sight of the baby-face +whereon Fate had set its mark of failure all too clearly, had come a +resolution that in the future nothing but her own beliefs should rule +her conduct. Her life and Philip's should not be spoiled by other +people's ideas; her imagination should be her slave, not her master. +So much, and more, she had said to Philip on that mirky day when in +his first disappointment he had declared that he could not bear it. +But that had been five years ago, and life seemed more than bearable +as he walked round the garden with her hand drawn through his arm and +held there caressingly. A man who is in command of a regiment in which +he has served since he was a boy, whose heart is in his profession, +whose career has been successful, has other interests in life besides +marriage; if he has not, the less he figures as a hero, even in a +novel, the better. + +"It is like Nilgunj, isn't it?" said Belle pointing to the tangles of +flowers. + +"With a difference. You can't grow Maréchal Niel roses in England. +They were,--well,--overpowering as I came through. Mildred has the +garden very nice; you would hardly recognise the place. The trees you +planted are taller than the house; but everything grows fast in +India,--their eldest girl is up to my elbow. Oh! and Maud was there on +a visit, wearing out her old clothes. She hasn't forgiven you yet, +Belle, for what she calls throwing away your money and becoming a +hospital nurse. I spent some time in trying to explain that you were +simply spending your money in the way which pleased you best; but it +was no use. She only said that caps were no doubt very becoming. Why +don't you wear them, Belle? You always tell _me_ to take what pleasure +I can out of life, and I obey orders." + +There was a pause ere he went on. "And Charlie is quite a dandy. More +like you, Belle, than I should have thought possible from my +recollection of him as a youngster at Faizapore. Allsop gives a +first-rate account of him, says he is working splendidly. And Allsop +himself! what a rare good fellow he is, with just that touch of +determination his race generally lack. He is making the business pay +now; not as John would have done, of course, but it supports them and +leaves something over for the bloated capitalist. Besides it is so +much better for Charlie than loafing about at home like the others." + +"You needn't tell me that, Phil," said Belle softly. "Don't you think +I see and understand all the good you have forced from what promised +to be evil?" + +"That is rather strong, isn't it? It would most likely have done as +well without my interference; things generally come right in the end, +especially if you trust other people. At least that is my experience +in the regiment. By the way, I went over to see the old Khân when I +was at Nilgunj. He is a bit broken, though he won't allow it, by his +wife's death. Obstinate old hero! He declares, too, that it is no +satisfaction having his son back from the Andamans because he is only +out on ticket-of-leave. He stickles for a full apology; as if life +would be endurable without a grievance of some kind or another. +If he only knew how I had backstaired and earwigged every official +on the list over that business! I wasted a whole month's leave at +Simla,--which I might have saved up and spent on board a P. and O. +steamer, my dear. It was during the rains, and I seemed to live in a +waterproof on my way to some _burra sahib_ or another. But my pride is +all broken and gone to bits, Belle; I shall be asking the authorities +for a C.I.E.-ship some day if I don't take care. Well! the old man +sent you his _salaam_ as usual, said the women ruled the roost +nowadays, and in the same breath fell foul of them collectively +because his daughter-in-law had not prepared some peculiar sherbet +which old Fâtma always produced on state occasions. Not that Haiyât-bi +minds his abuse, now she has a husband to bully in her turn. That, +says the Khân, is women's way; since the beginning of time deceitful +and instinct with guile. And then, Belle--yes, then he brought out the +old sword, and here it is, dear, his and mine in the old way, if only +in the spirit." + +He stood beside her, stretching out his hands in the well-remembered +fashion, as if something sacred lay in them and before the tenderness +in his face, the calmness of hers wavered for an instant. "Did we +really go through all that together, Phil?" she asked with a tremble +in her voice. "Oh my dear, my dear, how much you have all given me! +And I give,--so little. But my pride is, like yours, all broken and +gone to bits, and I take everything I can get. You should see how I +beg for the hospital." + +She turned to the big white building beyond the cottage as if to +escape into another subject; and Philip turned also. + +"Is it,--is it getting along nicely?" he asked dutifully. + +"Yes, dear," she replied, looking at him again with a smile; "but we +shall have time to talk of that by and by. You haven't given me half +the budget of news. And do you know, Phil, I begin to suspect that in +writing you tell all the pleasant things and keep back the +disagreeables. Now that isn't fair; as children say, it spoils the +game." + +"Does it? Well, I won't do it again. Let me see what is the most +unpleasant story I have heard for the last few months. Ah--yes! that +is about the worst." He paused with a frown. + +"Well?" + +"Only Shunker Dâs is dead. That isn't very distressful; but you +remember Kirpo?" + +"Why, Philip, it was her husband who--" + +"Yes, of course, of course; but I was not thinking of that; only of +the day when she came out of the coolies' hut with a child in her +arms, and told us why he was called Nuttu. Well, it is a horrid story, +Belle, but that pitiless old fatalist the Khân, who was my informant, +saw the hand of high heaven in it. Shunker got the telegram informing +him that he was to be made a _Rai Bahâdur_, and another announcing his +son's death by the same messenger. Ghastly, wasn't it? He had a fit, +and though he lived for some weeks they never could understand a word +he said, though he talked incessantly. One can imagine what he wanted +from the sequel. Well, at his funeral-pyre, up turns Kirpo with a +strapping boy of about eight years old, and there was an awful scene. +She swore it was Shunker's son, and made the child defile the ashes. +Do you remember her face that day, and how I said she hated somebody? +Great Heavens! there is something perfectly devilish in the idea of +such a revenge." + +"And yet we talk calmly enough of the sins of the fathers being +visited on the children." She paused as the church clock struck +eleven. "It is time I went to see my bairns, Phil. Will you come too? +They will be at their best; the out-ones just in from the garden, the +in-ones ready for their midday rest. They look so comfortable all +tucked up in their cots." + +The bravest man winces sometimes, and Philip, despite the five years, +had never forgotten that day of mirk and fog when he had first seen +John Raby's child, and Belle had bidden him go away if he could not be +satisfied with what she had to give him. To be satisfied, or go away! +Both, it had seemed to him then, equally impossible; yet he had done +both. Still the memory was painful. "You are going to build the new +wing next year, I suppose?" he said as indifferently as he could when, +leaving the shady wilderness, they made their way along the gravel +walks which were seamed in every direction by the wheel-marks of +invalid carriages. + +"It depends," she replied quickly, answering the effort in his tone by +a grateful look. "I may not have to build it. I may not be here. I am +to go where I am most wanted; that was settled long ago, Phil." + +He was silent; what was there to say? + +Side by side they climbed the terrace steps to reach the front of the +hospital which looked right across a stretch of wind-swept down to the +open sea. A row of perambulators and wheeled couches stood under a +glazed verandah, and above the level lines of square windows the words +"SMITH'S HOME FOR INCURABLE CHILDREN" showed in big gold letters as a +balustrade to the semi-Grecian façade. + +Belle glanced up at it before passing through the noiseless swinging +doors. "I always wish I had been in time to stop that awful +inscription," she said; "but it was scarcely worth while pulling it +all down. You see none of them can read. We take them young, and those +who stop don't live to be old; that is one thing to be thankful for. +You don't like my speaking of it, Phil, but I often wonder what would +have become of this empty shell of a house if my Jack had been born as +most children are born,--as I wished him to be born. Some one would +have carried on the work, I suppose, if I hadn't, and yet,--these +bairns might have been God knows where, instead of in the sunlight." + +She opened an inner door, and signed to him to pass before her. There +was sunlight there, and no lack of it, though it shone on sights which +to Philip Marsden's unaccustomed eyes seemed to dim the brightness. +Rows of little crutches along the walls, weary unchildlike faces +resting on the low divans in the windows; in the centre a more +cheerful picture of little ones gathered round a table set with bread +and milk. + +"This is my show room and these are my show babies," said Belle with a +smile. "We all get about more or less and play by ourselves; don't we, +nurse? And some of us, like Georgie here, are going home again because +we are too strong for the place. We don't keep noisy, romping, rioting +ragamuffins, do we, children?" + +The face she turned up to hers as she passed grinned doubtfully, but +all the other little white faces dimpled and wrinkled with mirth at +the very idea of Georgie's exile. They went up stairs now, into more +sunshine streaming on rows of beds where childhood wore away with no +pleasure beyond a languid joy at a new picture-book or a bunch of +flowers. Here they trod softly, for some of the little ones were +already asleep. + +"Where is Freddy?" asked Belle in a whisper of the nurse busy +smoothing an empty cot. + +"He seemed so restless this morning, ma'am, that Dr. Simmonds thought +we had better put him in the White Ward; he was afraid--" + +Belle passed on, her face a shade graver, and as Philip followed her +up another wide staircase she paused before a closed door and asked +him to wait for her; she would not be long. + +He caught a glimpse of a smaller, more home-like room, white and +still, with the light shaded from the open windows. Then he stood +leaning against the bannisters, watching the dancing motes in a +sunbeam slanting down from the skylight overhead; a skylight looking +as if it were glazed with sapphire. + +"That was the White Ward," said Belle, coming out and passing upward +through the beam of light. She spoke almost cheerfully, but Philip, +who had faced death, and worse horrors than death, many a time without +a qualm, felt himself shiver. Once again they paused before a closed +door and she gave Philip a hurried half-appealing glance, before she +said nervously, "I have Jack in this ward now. Dr. Simmonds thinks it +good for him to be with the other children, and he seems to like it +better." + +It was the sunniest room of all, for the windows were set wide open, +and the blinds drawn up. The scent of the roses from Belle's garden +drifted in with the cool fresh wind. The children had evidently all +been out, for a pile of hats and cloaks lay on the table, but they +were now seated on their cots awaiting their turn for lunch. Philip's +eyes, travelling down the row of beds, rested on a crop of golden +curls, and he gave a little exclamation, half groan, half sigh. That +was a face he could not mistake, strange and wistful as it was; not an +unintelligent face either, and great heavens! how like the father's as +it fell stricken to death. + +"Listen!" said Belle, touching his arm. A nurse passing with a tray +paused in pleased expectancy. + +"Jack!" her voice echoed softly through the silence. + +The golden head turned, the veriest ghost of a smile came to the +pinched face, and the thin little hands stretched themselves aimlessly +into space with a sudden plaintive cry which sent a lump to Philip's +throat. + +"Lor!" protested the nurse full of pride; "didn't he say it beautiful +clear that time? Mother? Yes, it is mother, my pretty; and you knows +her voice, don't you, dearie? just as well as any on us." + +Belle sate down on the cot, gathering the child in her arms, and the +yellow curls nestled down contentedly on her shoulder. A mite of a boy +with great wide blue eyes fixed on the only face he ever recognises. +"Do you think him grown at all?" she asked; then seeing Philip's look +bent over the child and kissed the blue veins on the large forehead. +There was a passion of protection in her kisses. "If he were the only +one, Phil, I should break my heart about it; but there are so +many,--and,--and it is so causeless." Her eyes seemed to pass beyond +the child and she went on more cheerfully, "Then he is such a +contented little fellow when he is with me,--aren't you, Jack?" + +Again came the ghost of a smile, and the same plaintive cry. Philip +walked to the window and looked out on the roses. It was a very slight +thing, that cry, to have come between a man and a woman,--if it had +come between them. He turned to look at Belle instinctively, and found +her looking at him. No! nothing had come between them. Before the +insoluble problem of what Belle held in her arms love seemed to him +forever divorced from marriage. The veriest pariah, born of God knows +what, or of whom, the outcome of the basest passion, might enter the +world fair and strong and capable, while their child, if they married, +bringing each to each a pure devotion, might be as these children +here. + +He crossed the room again and sate down on the bed beside her. "How +many have you in the hospital now?" he asked in a low voice, for Jack, +contented and comfortable, was evidently falling asleep. + +"Fifty; but Dr. Simmonds says he could fill a hundred beds to-morrow. +It is the best place, he declares, of its kind." + +"Would you undertake so much?" + +She shook her head. "I never know,--no one knows from day to day. They +are all so frail. Freddy, for instance, was no worse yesterday, and +to-day! There are plenty to fill my place here when,--when the time +comes." + +"It may never come. Besides," he added, "I may be incurable myself ere +long. Don't you remember promising me the gatekeeper's place if ever I +was pensioned off minus a leg or an arm?" + +"Did I?" she answered in the same light tone, as she rose to lay +little Jack on his pillow and draw the blanket over him. "Then I must +warn the present old cripple that his place isn't a permanent one. +Isn't he like his father, Phil?" she added, laying her hand on the +child's pretty soft curls. + +"Very." + +They passed along the sunny corridors again and so out into the open +air. Philip drew his hand over his forehead as if to brush away +puzzling thoughts, and gave a sigh of relief. "Come down to the cliffs +with me, Belle," he said. "There is plenty of time before lunch, and I +feel as if I wanted a blow. It's rather an irrelevant remark, but I +wonder what will become of the babies if women become men?" + +They crossed the downs keeping step together, and walking rapidly as +if to leave something behind, finally seating themselves in a niche +between two great white pillars of chalk, whence they could see the +waves ebbing and flowing among the rocks at their feet. The horizon +and the sky were blent into one pale blue, so that the fishing boats +with their red-brown sails seemed hovering between earth and heaven. + +"How long is it this time?" she asked after a pause. "The usual three +months?" + +"Yes! the usual three months from the frontier. That leaves me six +weeks with you; six whole weeks." + +There was another pause. "Philip!" she said suddenly, "I'll marry you +to-morrow if you like,--if,--if it would make you happier." + +He was sitting with his hands between his knees, looking out absently +over the waves below. He did not stir, but she could see a smile +struggling with his gravity. + +"My dear Belle! The banns haven't been called." + +"Perhaps we could afford a special license on the easy-purchase system +by monthly instalments," she suggested quite as gravely. "But really, +Philip, when I see you--" + +"Growing so old; don't be afraid of the truth, Belle. Am I very bald?" + +"Bald! No, but you are grizzling fast, Phil; and when the fact is +brought home to me by seeing it afresh, I ask myself why you shouldn't +have a wife and children." + +"I could, of course; there are plenty of young ladies now on the +frontier. Oh, Belle! I thought we had settled this long ago. You can't +leave Jack; you wouldn't with a clear conscience, if you could. I +can't leave the regiment; I shouldn't like to, if I could. Is not that +an end of marriage from our point of view? Besides," he turned to her +now with a smile full of infinite tenderness, "I am not at all sure +that I do want to marry you. When perfection comes into a man's life, +can you not understand his being a little afraid--" + +"Philip!" + +"Not of you, dear; but this love of ours seems better than we are +ourselves,--than _I_ am, certainly. Then marriage, as I take it, is +for young people, and what they call Love is the bribe held out by +Nature to induce her thoughtless children to undertake a difficult +duty. The sweet isn't unwholesome in itself, but that is no reason why +we should call it manna from heaven and say it is better than plain, +wholesome bread and butter." + +"You are growing detestably didactic in your old age, Phil. When you +come to the gatekeeper's house I shall have to amend your ways." + +"You forget I shall be incurable then; but you are right. I am fast +becoming a real old crusted military fogy, and of all fogies that is +the worst. You can't think what a nuisance I am to the boys at mess; +they depute a fresh one to prose to the Colonel every night." + +"I know better. When young Cameron came home sick he had a very +different story." + +"Young Cameron isn't to be trusted. To begin with he had had a +sunstroke, and then he proposed marrying on subaltern's pay." + +"Well, you can't expect the world to give up falling in love because +you don't approve." + +"Let it fall by all means; only let us call things by their proper +names. You and I, Belle, know the trouble which follows on the present +confusion. And if we, eminently respectable people, suffered much, +many must suffer more. Many! Why the question, 'Is Marriage a +Failure?' fills up the interstices of conversation left between the +Rights of Labour and Home Rule. How can it be anything but a failure +when people are taught to expect impossibilities? when they are told +that love is better than duty? Thank heaven, we never were in love +with one another!" + +"Never?" + +"No,--at least,--yes! perhaps I was one day. Do you remember when you +kissed your cousin Dick in the church garden at Faizapore? I was +decidedly jealous as I stood by the canal bridge. If he had lived, +Belle, I think you would have married him." + +She did not answer, but sate softly smiling to herself. "So long ago +as that," she said at last in a contented tone of voice. + +Philip started to his feet with a half-embarrassed laugh. Even now, +after all these years, her woman's nature, in its utter inconsequence, +was a puzzle to him,--perhaps to herself. + +"Come," he said prosaically, "I'm sure it must be time for lunch." + +"Are you so very hungry?" she asked, dusting from her dress, with +something of regret in the action, the sweet-smelling herbs which she +had idly gathered from the crannies of the cliff and crumbled to +pieces for the sake of their perfume. + +"I ought to be, seeing I had no breakfast." + +She started up in her turn. "Philip! How could you? and never to tell +me!" + +"You see we were late all through; something went wrong somewhere, and +then I had to catch the ten o'clock train. Don't look horrified; I got +a stale bun at Swindon." + +"Stale buns are most unwholesome." + +"That is what materialists like you always say of any diet which does +not suit them. Personally I like stale buns." + +"You mean that you can put up with them when you have a solid lunch in +prospect." + +He had taken her hand to help her to the level and now suddenly he +paused, and stooping kissed it passionately. "Oh, Belle, my darling, +why should we talk or think of the future? To-day is holiday-time and +I am happy." + +So, hand in hand, like a couple of children, they went homewards +across the down; while the great gilt letters of the legend above the +hospital glowed and shone like a message of fire against the blue sky. + + +Was that the end of the story, so far as Belle and Philip were +concerned? Or on some other sunshiny day in a future June or December +did those two pass through the churchyard where the tiny flower-set +graves grew more numerous year by year, and, beneath the tower whose +chime had so often called Belle to her bairns, take each other for +better, for worse? Most likely they did, but it is a trivial detail +which has nothing to do with the record of Miss Stuart's Legacy. That +began with her father, and ended with her child. She paid it +cheerfully to the uttermost farthing, and was none the worse for it. +Such payments, indeed, leave us no poorer unless we choose to have it +so. The only intolerable tax being that which follows on the attempt +to inherit opinions; for, when we have paid it, we have nothing in +exchange save something that is neither real estate nor personal +property. + + + + FOOTNOTES + + +[Footnote 1: A lineal descendant of the Prophet.] + +[Footnote 2: The three divisions recognised in Mahometan polemics. (1) +The place of Islam; (2) the place of the enemy; (3) the place of +protection. The sign of the latter is the liberty of giving the call +to prayers.] + +[Footnote 3: A common occurrence in old Pathan houses.] + +[Footnote 4: A celebrated white charger of a Rajpoot prince; an +eastern Bucephalus.] + +[Footnote 5: Literally, a footman.] + +[Footnote 6: Small millet; the food of the poorest.] + +[Footnote 7: The extreme south-east.] + +[Footnote 8: Electrical dust-storm.] + +[Footnote 9: Deputy-Collector, _i.e_., chief native official.] + + + + + THE END. + + + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Miss Stuart's Legacy, by Flora Annie Steel + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40142 *** |