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diff --git a/43595.txt b/43595.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 467134e..0000000 --- a/43595.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4913 +0,0 @@ - ALIVE IN THE JUNGLE - - - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost -no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license. - - - -Title: Alive in the Jungle - A Story for the Young -Author: Eleanor Stredder -Release Date: August 29, 2013 [EBook #43595] -Language: English -Character set encoding: US-ASCII - - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALIVE IN THE JUNGLE *** - - - - -Produced by Al Haines. - - - - -[Illustration: Cover] - - - - -[Illustration: "Here is the child, Mr. Desborough," cried Oliver. _Page_ -160] - - - - - [Illustration: Pre-title page] - - - - ALIVE - IN THE JUNGLE - - A Story for the Young - - - BY - ELEANOR STREDDER - - _Author of "Jack and his Ostrich," - "Archie's Find" - etc._ - - - - "In the night, O the night. - When the wolves are howling." - TENNYSON. - - - - T. NELSON AND SONS - _London, Edinburgh, and New York_ - 1892 - - - - - *Contents* - - I. THE OLD GRAY WOLF - II. IN PURSUIT - III. HOW THE SEARCH ENDED - IV. THE WOLF'S LAIR - V. NOAK-HOLLY - VI. AWAY TO THE HILLS - VII. THE RANA'S SONS - VIII. THE INVITATION - IX. OLIVER AND HIS UNCLE - X. A VISIT TO THE RANA'S CASTLE - XI. THE FOOTPRINT - XII. BEATING THE KOOND - XIII. CAUGHT IN A TRAP - XIV. THE HOMEWARD ROAD - XV. A LITTLE SAVAGE - XVI. THE CONCLUSION - - - - - *ALIVE IN THE JUNGLE.* - - - - *CHAPTER I.* - - _*THE OLD GRAY WOLF.*_ - - -Night was brooding over the wide and swampy Bengal plain. The moon had -sunk low in the west, and was hiding behind a bank of threatening -clouds. Darkness and shadow covered the sleeping world around. But the -stilly quiet which marked "the darkest hour of all the night" was broken -by the fierce growling of a tiger and a buffalo, fighting furiously on -the open highroad, within a dozen yards of Mr. Desborough's indigo -factory. - -The jackal pack were gathering among the distant hills, already scenting -their prey. On they came, rushing down the nearest valley in answer to -their leader's call--shrieking, wailing, howling in their haste to be in -time to pounce upon the tiger's leavings; an ever-increasing wave of -sound that startled the weary factory-workers, sleeping in their -mud-walled huts under the mango trees. The pack sweep round the -straw-thatched sheds belonging to the factory, and gather in front of -Mr. Desborough's house. - -This was a large one-storied building, looking very much like a Swiss -cottage, with its gabled roof and white-painted walls. The broad eaves -projected so far beyond the walls that they covered the veranda, which -ran right round the house. Like the sheds of the factory, it was -thatched. Beautiful climbing plants festooned the columns which -supported the veranda, and flung their long trailing arms across the -pointed gables. A whole colony of wild birds nestle in the reedy -thatch, and find out quiet corners in the cool shadow of that wide -veranda. A pair of owls are wheeling round and round. Kites, hoopoes, -and blue jays find such comfortable homes beneath Mr. Desborough's -eaves, and bring up such numerous families, that the whole place seems -alive with twittering wings and chirping voices. But now the -flying-foxes, which have hung all day head downwards from the trees like -so many black bags, are screaming and chattering at their shrillest. - -The hot May night seems more oppressive than ever. There is neither -peace nor rest. Every door and window in the bungalow is wide open, for -within the heat is intense. - -The youngest child is ill with fever, and cannot sleep. - -Like so many English fathers and mothers living in India, Mr. and Mrs. -Desborough have lost several of their children. Grief for those that -were taken from them makes them watch over the dear ones that are left -with nervous anxiety. Mr. Desborough had put up a tent on the lawn, -hoping the little sufferer might find rest in the fresher air, -surrounded by the cool night-breezes and the sweet scent of the flowers. - -The poor child was dozing on its mother's lap when the yell of the -jackals arose. They were quite safe in their tent; for a mat was tied -across the door, and nothing could get in to hurt them. But how was -their boy to sleep in such a noise? - -The fierce crescendo was reaching its loudest, when Mr. Desborough came -out with his loaded gun in his hand, and fired it into the air, hoping -the sound of a shot would scare the jackals away. He was right: the -pack swept past with a mad rush, helter-skelter on the tiger's track. -He paused on the steps of the veranda, and looked cautiously around him. - -The dark shadows of the trees were thrown across the dewy grass. -Overgrown bushes, swaying in the night-wind, seemed to take to -themselves fantastic shapes. His garden might well be described as one -wild tangle of flowers. Roses of every shade, carnations, mignonnette, -petunias, myrtles, choked each other: tall scarlet lilies and -pomegranate flowers caught the twining honeysuckle, and taught its -trailing branches to kiss the ground. Amidst this luxuriant profusion, -in the glamour of a darkened heaven, it was no wonder Mr. Desborough did -not distinguish the flick of a tawny tail, creeping stealthily behind a -giant rhododendron. At the sound of the shot the old gray wolf skulked -down amidst the folded flowers; and the father, after exchanging a word -with his wife, went back to his bed comforted, for his darling, his -little Horace, was conscious--yes, conscious--and crying for his -twin-brother Carlyon. Racy and Carl, as they were usually called, had -never before been parted. - -Poor little Racy had not known much about it when his mother sent Carl -into another room, and refused to let Kathleen give him one good-night -kiss. Kathleen was their only sister--a soft-eyed, fragile girl, about -nine years old. She had wept with her father and mother over an empty -bassinet; and so, when two little brothers were given to her in one day, -her delight knew no bounds. From the hour of their birth she became -their devoted slave. - -Carl, in the full wilfulness of his second summer, was too little to -understand the reason why he was banished from his mother's lap and -parted from Racy. He strutted about in his indignant anger, looking as -red as a turkey-cock; and no one but Kathleen could do anything with -him. - -She invented some fresh amusement every time the clamour for Racy was -renewed. Her last great success was the manufacture of a bridle of red -ribbon for Sailor, a big black retriever, the favourite playfellow of -the twins. - -Kathleen, too, was wakened by the yelling of the jackals. She heard her -father's step in the veranda, and listened to the sound of his gun as if -it were a waking dream. - -A voracious mosquito, which had crept inside the net curtains which -enveloped her little bed, stung her cheek. Up started Kathleen, and -called to the ayah, or native nurse, who slept on a mat by Carlyon's -cot. Yes, there was something the matter; she was sure of it now. A -small dusky hand put back the thin curtains; a gentle, smiling black -face peeped at her; and cold water was sprinkled over the flushed -forehead and burning pillow, until Kathleen felt refreshed. Her winged -tormentor was caught and killed, and the ayah would have left her; but -no. Kathleen was broad awake now. She was thinking about her father. -Something was the matter. Racy was worse. She begged her ayah to go -and see. - -Carl was safe in his cot on the other side of the room, forgetting his -baby troubles in happy slumber. So the ayah, who fully shared her little -mistress's anxiety, ventured outside the curtained screen, or purdah, as -they called it, which was drawn half across the open doorway. The room -was large and lofty. It was at the corner of the house, with doors -opening into the veranda on two sides. This helped to keep it bearable -in a usual way, with the help of a great white calico fan fixed to the -ceiling. This was called the punkah. Two of the native servants were -kept in the veranda all night to work it by turns. They were the punkah -coolies. One of them was fast asleep on his mat, and the other was -nodding as he lazily pulled the rope which moved the fan. They assured -the ayah all was right. No one was afraid of the jackals. They seldom -hurt any one unless they were interfered with. - -Whilst she was speaking, Kathleen grew impatient, and, persuaded that -Racy was worse, she threw aside the thin sheet, her only covering, and -ran to the other door. She was not tall enough to look over the purdah, -and slipped softly into the bathroom adjoining. All the doors had been -set wide open, so she made no noise to waken her little brother. There -was no glass in the window of the bathroom. It was latticed, but it too -was wide open, and the blind was down. These blinds, or tatties, are -made of grass, and are kept damp to cool the air passing through them. - -The troubled child managed to unfasten it and push it just a little -aside. There was the tent gleaming white beneath the spreading trees. -She could hear her mother singing some soothing lullaby. The two tall -carriage-horses were cropping the tender buds from the hedge of roses -which divided the garden from their paddock. She could see the gleam of -the lilied pool beneath the farthest trees, with the fire-flies dancing -round its banks like an ever-moving illumination. She heard the cries of -the tiger and the deep bellow of the vanquished buffalo, and ran back to -her bed in a fright, leaving the blind awry. - -They were safe from the tiger; for a tiger always turns away from a -fence, and Mr. Desborough's grounds were surrounded by a high bank, with -a low stone wall on the top, shutting in garden, paddock, and -stable-yard, with only one gate for the carriage, and that was locked. -How had the wolf got in--that grim, gaunt creature, which still sat -washing its torn shoulder behind the rhododendron unseen by any one? It -had had a round with the buffalo before the tiger came out for his -midnight stroll, and got that ugly scratch from her antagonist's horn. - -So the wolf left the buffalo to the tiger, and plunged into the stream -which fed the pool. The water was low, and the wolf was wary. The dive -was pleasant. A scramble up the opposite bank landed her in Mr. -Desborough's garden. Kathleen's peep-hole did not escape the wolf's -observation. She saw the child's white face, and thought of her -half-grown cubs. She dashed through the window, under the loosened -blind, leaped clear over the row of tall earthenware water-jars which -stood before it, and followed the child into the sleeping-room. Her -unerring scent guided her to the cot where Carl lay tossing. He had -thrown off the thin covering, and was fighting away the mosquito-net -which enveloped his cot. She seized the child in her teeth, and was -over the purdah with a bound. - -Kathleen's wild shriek of terror called back the ayah. - -The first fault gray of the summer twilight entered with her, and rested -on Kathleen's long fair hair, but the empty bed in the other corner was -still in shadow. - -"Carl! Carl!" gasped Kathleen, and fainted in her nurse's arms. - -The hubbub that arose among the coolies who were sleeping in the -veranda, the frantic cries of "Sahib! sahib!" brought Mr. Desborough to -the scene of dismay. - -He had reloaded his gun, and snatched it up as he came, out of all -patience at the ill-timed noise, when he had enjoined silence on every -one whilst his darling boy was sleeping at last--a sleep which, -undisturbed, meant life. - -Seeing nothing to account for the consternation among his servants, he -was on the point of refusing to listen to their entreaty. - -"Shoot, sahib, shoot! a booraba by the nursery!" - -"A booraba--a wolf!" he repeated, discharging his gun into the air with -the rapidity of lightning, as anger changed to fear. - -"Unloose the dogs!" he cried, preparing to give it chase, as his keen -eye detected a break in the bushes of the garden, and the trampled heads -of the flowers, which marked the track of the wolf. He knew very well -that not one of his Hindu servants would dare to kill it, even if they -had the chance. It was a matter of conscience with them. It was a -thing they would not, dare not do, under any circumstances; but they -flew like the wind to obey his commands. - -The hounds came bounding round him, and were soon on the trail of their -midnight visitor. They scented the wolf to the edge of the pool, and -then paused at fault, poking with their noses among the water-lilies, -and looking round at their master with short, angry barks. - -Evidently the wolf had once more taken to the water, and the scent was -lost. Mr. Desborough saw something moving on the other side of the -pool, among the reeds and grasses. - -He quickly readjusted the barrel of his gun, and was preparing to fire, -when his chuprassie, the Hindu servant who carried messages in the day -and watched the premises at night, caught his arm, exclaiming, "No, no, -sahib! no shoot booraba." - -Mr. Desborough shook him off angrily, and levelled his gun. - -"Shoot booraba, shoot baby!" cried out another of his servants, who had -just overtaken him. The poor fellow was trembling like a leaf.---"Come -to the beebee, Kathleen!" he entreated. "Come quickly!" - -The truth flashed upon the father's mind--the wolf had already entered -his nursery. He rushed to his wife's tent. His servants stopped him. - -"The mem-sahib" (for so they called their mistress)--"the mem-sahib -knows nothing yet. Spare her till we are sure." - -One stride, and Mr. Desborough was over the veranda railing, parting the -chintz curtains of the nursery purdah. The ayah threw herself at his -feet, and began to tear her hair. - -Now Mr. Desborough knew very well that his black servants exaggerated -dreadfully. Their excited imaginations magnified everything. It is the -way in the East, and a bad way it is. Having had two or three false -alarms, he never believed more than half they told him. Could he -believe them now? "Where is Kathleen?" he demanded sternly. - -In another minute Kathleen's face was buried on his shoulder, as she -sobbed out her piteous story. "A dog, papa--a huge, horrid, lean, lank -dog--rushed out of the bathroom, and ran away with Carl." - - - - - *CHAPTER II.* - - _*IN PURSUIT.*_ - - -It was all too true. The punkah coolie was fanning an empty cot--the -child was gone. - -With Kathleen fainting in her lap, even the ayah had not missed poor -Carl in the moment of her return. It was but a moment ere the alarm was -raised, yet the wolf had carried off her prey. - -Charging the servants on no account to let the mother discover that her -boy was missing, until he returned, Mr. Desborough started in pursuit. - -Like most English gentlemen in India, he was a keen sportsman, and loved -to hunt the wild hogs in the bamboo swamps, with a party of his friends, -and plenty of native trackers and beaters to find the game and drive it -out of the thickets. - -But he dare not wait to call his friends to his help. He started forth -alone with his coolies, to find which way the wolf had gone. - -Tall trees were growing on either side of the high-road, upon which his -gate opened. A broad ditch behind them drained the road in the rainy -season, when floods arose so easily. It was many feet deep; and now the -water ran low between its banks, dried up by the great heat. The jackal -pack had retired with the growing daylight; the tiger had slunk away -before the rising sun. Well might Mr. Desborough shudder and turn away -from the remnants of the dead buffalo, as he trembled for the fate of -his child. The country all around him was well cultivated. Rice and -dall (another kind of grain much grown by the Hindu villagers) covered -large fields along the course of the stream. They were interspersed by -clumps of trees and groves of date-palms growing amidst patches of -jungle and tangle. - -But the increasing heat had reduced the watercourse to a succession of -glistening pools, connected by a muddy ditch. - -Already the hounds were busy among the fringe of bushes which overhung -its margin. Mr. Desborough mounted his horse, and galloped after them, -with the broad white hat belonging to the lost child in his hand. - -He soon came up with the dogs, and whistling them to his side, he leaned -down from his saddle, and made them smell the hat and sun-veil (or -puggaree) little Carl had worn the evening before. - -They sniffed it well over, looked up in their master's face with their -keen, intelligent eyes, and started once again in swift pursuit. - -They had passed the closed gates of the indigo factory, but encountered -one or two of the native workers there, who had risen with the sun, and -were watering their fields and gardens before the business of the day -began. The district was studded with wells. The water was drawn by -bullocks into huge skins. - -But they left their skins on the brink of the well, and joined the -servants, who were throwing stones among the bushes, and howling with -all their might, to make the wolf show. - -The noise brought out old Gobur from his little homestead by the -riverside. Mr. Desborough paused by the bamboo paling which surrounded -the little enclosure, which was neither yard nor garden, but partly -both. He knew the aged Hindu had been a chakoo, or look-out, in his -prime. The different hunting-parties in the neighbourhood used to hire -Gobur to go before them into the jungle, to watch which way the wild -beasts were roaming. - -He was the very man to help him. - -Within the bamboo fence was a tangle of wild roses and creepers, twining -about the roots of the luxuriant fruit-trees shading the low mud hut in -which the old man lived; a tiny well sparkled like crystal in the rosy -light. - -The old man was gathering sticks to light his fire in the one clear -space beyond his trees. - -He threw them to a graceful dusky figure just peeping out of the door of -the hut, and came to the sahib's assistance. The shouts of Mr. -Desborough's servants, as they hurled about the biggest stones they -could raise, had told him only too plainly what had happened. - -All the native Bengalese knew well the dangerous propensity of the -wolves in May, and guarded their babies with double vigilance. - -He knew the hat in the father's hand, and with scant words but many -gesticulations tried to make him understand the wolf was probably hiding -in one of the coverts near. If they scared her out, she might drop the -child; for it was that one dreaded month in all the year when the wolves -take home their prey alive to their half-grown cubs. - -There was hope in the old man's words, and the father caught at it. Yet -he dared not fire into the dwarf cypress, where they all fancied the -wolf might be. No; his gun was useless on his shoulder, for he might -shoot his child. He could only follow the example of his coolies, and -join his shouts to theirs, until they wakened the echoes. Jackal, wolf, -and night-hawk had alike disappeared with the rising dawn. Gobur warned -him a tiger might yet be moving, as the morning breeze blew cool and -fresh after the sultry night. - -"Well, Desborough," demanded the cheery voice of an English neighbour, -"up with the sunrise, like myself, to catch a mouthful of fresher air -after frying indoors all night? But what on earth is all this row?" - -The speaker was an English officer who was taking his morning ride -betimes, foreseeing still greater heat as the day advanced. He was -followed by his syce, or native groom. - -"The heat has done it," he exclaimed, as he heard the father's piteous -tale. "The streams are drying up among the hills, and the wild beasts -are driven to the cultured plains to seek for water. I heard a tiger -grunting all night in the river; many may be lingering in the thicket -for their mid-day sleep. Poor fellow! you'll see your baby no more." - -The kind-hearted major turned his head away, he could not look the -distracted father in the face, as he added, "Be a man, Desborough. -Thank God for this fresh breeze; it will save your other child--think of -that." - -But his syce pressed forward, with a low salaam, to the unhappy sahib, -to assure him he heard the cry of a child from the grass by the river, -pointing as he spoke to a waving forest of graceful feathery blades, -full twenty feet high. - -"Cries of monkeys!" interrupted his master angrily, provoked to see his -poor friend tantalized with hopes which seemed to him so utterly -delusive. - -He reined in his horse by his side, and tried to reason with him on the -probable fate of his child. They passed a group of sleepy vultures, -perched upon a boulder stone. If the poor baby had been dropped living -amidst the fields, how could it escape destruction? Even Mr. Desborough -was afraid to place much trust in the syce's words, with the -ever-increasing chattering of monkeys and screaming of birds. He looked -at the wide plains around him, and at the great herds of graceful, -delicate-limbed, smoke-coloured cattle, which were now being slowly -driven out to pasture. For the brief tropical twilight was over, and -day had fairly begun. The air was full of cries. The voices of the -night had but given place to the myriad voices of the day. Was it -possible for any one to distinguish between them? He heard, or seemed -as if he heard, the shriek of his child mingling with every sound, and -he knew it was not real. He heard it amidst the bellow of the fierce, -ungainly-looking buffaloes, who were marching forth in troops from many -a native village, followed by flocks of goats and bleating sheep. - -With a hope which Mr. Desborough said hoarsely "was no hope," he rallied -his men to beat the huge thicket of grass, and drive out any living -thing lurking within it. Afraid of hurling stones at a venture into -such a tangled mass, the coolies armed themselves with long sticks, -which they struck with a sharp, ringing sound on the bark of the nearest -trees. A scampering was heard. The grass swayed hither and thither. -There was a cry. - -"Nothing but the scream of a frightened pig," persisted the major. "It -is the very spot for a wild boar's lair." - -He reined in his horse, and stationed himself where he could command a -good view of the thicket. Mr. Desborough had chosen his post already, on -the opposite side, and was watching as if he were all eye, all ear. Old -Gobur had gone round to the back of the thicket. Nothing could escape -them rushing from it. - -"Not too near," shouted the major to his friend. "Have a care for your -own life! No one knows yet what it is we have dislodged." - -As they watched the heaving grass, another cry arose in the distance, -prolonged and hideous. But the friends knew well what it meant. A -party of travellers were approaching, and their tired bearers were -calling out for a relay of men from the village to come and take their -places. - -"Ho, coolie, coolie, wallah! ho-o-o-o-o!" seemed to ring through the air -from all points, confusing every other sound. Mr. Desborough's eye -never moved from the heaving mass before him. Out rushed a whole family -of wild pigs--a "sounder," as the major called it. They were led by a -grim old boar with giant tusks, the very picture of savage ferocity. He -glared around him, ready to charge the enemy who had dared to disturb -him. He was followed by pigs of every age and size, from a venerable -sow, tottering along from her weight of years, to squealing, squeaking -infants, who could scarcely keep pace with their mothers. Oh, the -screaming and the grunting, the snorting and chasing, as the whole -family of pigs rushed across the opening towards the nearest mango grove -or tope! - -Aware of the danger of facing such a formidable charge, both gentlemen -wheeled round, and prepared to fire if necessary. The major was -inwardly groaning for the boar-spear that was standing idle in the -corner of his bungalow. He looked up, and perceived the party of -travellers coming along one of the narrow paths which divided the -rice-fields, just in front of the bristling array of fiery eyes and -curling tails. He saw a lady's dandy--that is, a kind of canoe-shaped -seat with a canopy--carried on two men's shoulders. There it was in the -line of the angry pigs. The danger to the unwary occupants was -imminent. The little cavalcade had halted in dismay. The major thought -of the naked legs of the bearers, who wore nothing but their white -calico waist-cloths and cotton turbans, and galloped to the rescue, -firing as he rode, to make the old boar change his course. - -The weary bearers shrank back in terror, raising a wild howl for -assistance, when a small lad, who was riding a little pony in the rear, -pressed forward through the standing rice which had hitherto concealed -him, and planted himself in the front of his companions, with no better -defence than a huge bough he had broken from the nearest tree. - -"Well done, my young hero!" cried the major as he rode up to them and -waited; for dandy and bearers had retreated behind the screen which the -green ears afforded, and safety was best secured by silence. The -furious boar came on, foaming and champing his enormous tusks; but the -well-timed shots urged him forward. He crossed the path of the -travellers within a dozen yards of the hole into which the boy had -pushed them, with nothing but the growing rice-straw for a shelter. The -stampede of the pigs passed over. The boy still stood sentinel behind -his bough. - -"Trying the trick of Dunsinane," said the major, with a laugh he -intended to prove reassuring to the unseen occupant of the dandy. - -"Well content if they do take me for a young mango sapling," answered -the little stranger, in the shy, blunt tones of an English school-boy. -His broad sun-hat hid every bit of his face except the firm-set white -lips. The major had seen enough. He dismounted, and assisted in -lifting the dandy out of the rice. The blades were higher than his -head, and the ground was more than muddy, for the field was undergoing -its morning irrigation from the nearest tank. - -"Tie-tara! tie-tara!" cried the black partridges they had -unceremoniously disturbed. The birds, with a tameness which astonished -the young travellers, fluttered about among the rice-stalks, pecking at -the curtains of the dandy. - -"Oliver, Oliver! where are you?" entreated a girlish voice from within. - -"Safe, my dear young lady, quite safe," reiterated the major. "Let me -ask if you were intending to change coolies at Noak-holly," pointing as -he spoke in the direction of the village nearest to the indigo factory. -"You had better join forces with us, as we were the unfortunate cause of -your alarm, having dislodged those pigs whilst searching for a lost -child." - -"A lost child!" re-echoed the voice within. "Oliver, Oliver, can we -help to find it?" - -At that moment a great shout of triumph arose around the grass clump, -and with one accord the little party pressed forward to ascertain its -cause. - -The sharp report of a gun sent the major spurring in advance. Had his -friend forgot his caution? How had he dared to fire? - -Another moment and he saw Mr. Desborough wheel round, raise himself -slightly in his stirrups, and discharge his second barrel at a dusky -speck emerging from the tufted grass. The tall blades swayed and -quivered with the report. There was a smothered shuffling sound, a -heavy thud upon the ground, a rustling in the quivering grasses. The -native grooms ran forward eagerly, and dragged out the body of a -satiated wolf. - -"A cool shot, Desborough," observed the major. - -"It may save another parent such a pang as mine, but it cannot give me -back my child," groaned Mr. Desborough. - - - - - *CHAPTER III.* - - _*HOW THE SEARCH ENDED.*_ - - -Their work was not yet done. There were many narrow paths leading into -the clump, which the wild beasts had made for their own convenience. -Some of the grass had been cut down by the wild boar's tusks, and some -of it had been trampled under-foot. Mr. Desborough dismounted, -determined to penetrate the tangled mass, to see if any vestige of his -little darling was to be found there. - -The major followed him; old Gobur entered by another path. - -"Let me go with you," entreated Oliver, as the coolies set down his -sister's dandy under a tree, and flung themselves upon the ground to -rest, waiting until some of the men in the nearest village should answer -their summons, and present themselves according to custom, prepared to -take their places. - -Oliver had already picked up enough Indi to make his request -intelligible; but forcing his way into the twisted grass was very -trying. There were sudden drops into holes and unexpected scrambles up -steep banks; whilst the twisted stalks, interlaced with most luxuriant -wild-flowers, presented an impervious wall on either side, diversified -by tufts of wild arrowroot and an occasional bramble. Now and then old -Gobur paused to point out a porcupine's burrow, or to drag his young -companion aside, as a hissing snake wound its green length across the -path; whilst the impudent monkeys chattered and screamed as they swung -themselves high over Oliver's head, rejoicing in the sudden departure of -their more formidable neighbours the great pig family. Bright and -beautiful birds peeped at him out of their nests, unscared, with that -happy boldness common to all the feathered tribes in India; because no -Hindu boy would ever dream of hurting or teasing any living thing. As -for old Gobur, he darted about like a monkey, dragging Oliver along with -him until they reached a sort of grassy tent in the very centre of the -clump. It was the wild-hog's lair, which they love to make in the midst -of "thatching-grass," as Gobur called it. - -The boy went down on his hands and knees and crept inside. - -It was a sort of grassy tent which its hoggish owner had made by cutting -down some of the grass with his teeth. One half he had trampled -under-foot, and the other half he had heaved aloft with his head, as he -walked round and round in a circle, until his grassy cave was complete. - -An aspiring porcupine was just disputing with a giant rat which of the -two had the better right to this deserted mansion, when Oliver poked in -his head. Forthwith the rat, with his twelve-inch length of tail -switching from side to side, made a grab at his hair; and the porcupine, -bristling with spears, rushed at him. Oliver received the charge on his -arm, which he hastily extended to save his face. - -Gobur pulled him backwards; but the resolute boy refused to cry out, -although the blood was streaming from his elbow to his wrist. - -Oliver was wofully crestfallen at this unexpected disaster. There was -nothing for it but to retrace his steps. - -His silken shirt was torn to shreds, and his hat was left in pawn with -the rat. His knees were bruised, with slipping into holes and crawling -out again. - -Old Gobur began to think it wiser to extricate his unknown companion -than to continue a search which he knew to be utterly hopeless. When -they got free of the grass at last, it was some small consolation to -Oliver to find they had penetrated farther into the thicket than any one -else. Mr. Desborough and the major owned themselves baffled, and were -now trusting to the sagacity of the dogs. - -Poor Oliver's appearance attracted Mr. Desborough's attention. - -"Who is that boy?" he asked. - -"A young stranger who joined in the search and got scratched by a -sahee," explained the grooms. - -Such being the case, Anglo-Indian ideas of hospitality compelled Mr. -Desborough to offer him a bath and breakfast if he would return with -them to Noak-holly and have his arm bound up. - -The major turned surgeon, and offered to do the job for him on the spot. -He had taken to the boy, and wanted to know a little more about him. - -One of the syces pinned up a large leaf with thorns, and fetched some -water in it from the nearest well. The major tore his own handkerchief -into strips, and bound up the lacerated arm with a wet bandage. - -Taking the opportunity to satisfy his curiosity at the same time, he -quickly ascertained that Oliver St. Faine and his sister Bona had come -out to join an uncle, a deputy-judge, who was to have sent to meet them. -They had travelled from Calcutta in a big box, with shutters in the -sides, so the boy asserted, with a grimace at the recollection. - -"Oh, of course," remarked the major; "that was what we call a -_dak-gharri_, our Eastern equivalent to a post-chaise. Why did you -leave it?" - -"Because we were to leave at the last government bungalow, and take a -short cut across the country to my uncle's; but it seems to be one of -those short things which grow longer with cutting," answered the boy -dryly. "There has been a muddle and a mistake. The gentleman who took -care of us on our journey could come no farther, and some one was to -have met us. But that some one did not come; so he got the pony for me, -and hired these fellows to carry my sister, and I believe they have lost -their way." - -"Then we will put you in it again. Come on with us to Noak-holly; and -when I have done all I can in this melancholy business to help poor -Desborough, I will take you myself to Judge St. Faine in the cool of the -evening," said the major. - -Kathleen was watching for her father's return. Her sad eyes grew bright -with excitement and hope as she heard the gate open. She was sitting by -the gardener, in the midst of a heap of roses and carnations which he -had just flung down, on the shady side of the veranda; for India is a -very land of flowers. He had brought in his baskets full, as usual, to -adorn the rooms, and was sitting cross-legged in his snowy turban, -weaving them with his dexterous fingers into wreaths and bouquets of -surpassing loveliness. But the sweet perfume and the fresh, cool touch -of the leaves, which Kathleen loved so well, had lost their charm. The -roses fell from her lap, and she trampled recklessly upon the glorious -azaleas with which he had been trying to divert her. - -She sprang into her father's arms. "Horace is better!" she cried. "He -has slept; he will get well, papa. But have you found Carl?" - -Her father pressed her to him and turned his head away as he answered, -"We have been searching everywhere. No, darling; we have not found him -yet. These people must all have breakfast. There! go to that young -lady. In mamma's absence I must leave her to you.--I dare not tell her -the worst," he added in a low aside to the major as he turned towards -the tent, where the hardest task of all awaited him. - -In shy obedience to her father's wishes, Kathleen followed the major to -the gate. As Bona St. Faine was lifted out of her dandy, she too -whispered something about the sincere sympathy of a stranger, and her -exceeding reluctance to intrude at such a time. - -The major thought it a pretty little speech from a stranger; so he -engaged her forthwith to do her best to comfort his little fairy -Kathleen. - -Bona promised readily; and Oliver, who gave no promise, did still more. -They took the little girl between them, and would have led her to the -house; but she hung back, intent upon the coolies, who were bringing -home the dead wolf. She slipped her hand away from Miss St. Faine and -ran to the gate. - -"Fetch her back, Oliver," whispered his sister. "It is dreadful to let -her see that brute. You say it has devoured her brother." - -But he was too late to prevent it. Kathleen was peeping through the -iron-work of the gate. - -"It is the wolf," he said gently. "Your father shot it. It will never -frighten you again. Come and tell us all about it." - -"I can't," persisted Kathleen. "Let me look." She laid her hand on the -iron. It was so hot to the touch in that burning sunshine it almost -blistered her fingers; but she did not heed that. "Did papa shoot the -wolf?" she asked, with a painful catch in her breath between each word. -"Then where is Carl?" - -Oliver dare not tell her, for he had heard what her father had said to -the major; and being of a straightforward turn of mind, who naturally -answered yes or no to every inquiry--"I will tell you" or "I will not -tell you"--he was quite at a loss for a reply, not having the least idea -how to evade a question. - -"Why don't you speak?" she asked desperately. - -Oliver muttered something, and creaked the gate, so that she could not -hear what he said. - -Out she flew panting, Oliver after her. - -"What could he do that for!" exclaimed his sister, considerably -chagrined. "How just like a boy! He always is so stupid. I believe he -wanted to have a look at the wolf himself." - -The syces had laid the dead animal on the bank which ran round Mr. -Desborough's compound, and were standing under the shadow of the garden -trees considering it. They called to the gardener to bring them some -fern leaves and bushes to cover the wolf from the sun, until they knew -whether the sahib wished to preserve its skin. - -It was a savage-looking brute, young, for its prevailing colour was a -tawny fawn, with a little gray on its back and inside its legs. - -"That is not the horrid dog that ran away with Carl!" exclaimed -Kathleen. "It was not a buff dog; it was a gray dog, with a great -scratch on its shoulder. I should know it anywhere. I see it now--I -always see it--stealing out of the bathroom." - -The gardener pressed in between and threw his load of fern leaves over -it, to prevent her seeing any more of the fierce booraba. Her own -favourite syce, who drove her out in her little carriage every evening, -tried to lead her away. Old Gobur stopped him. - -"Let the little beebee [the little lady] look." - -"It will only terrify her; and the sahib will be angry," urged the syce. - -"Stop!" persisted Gobur, speaking in his soft Indi, which Oliver tried -hard to follow; and then the old man explained--"The colour of a wolf -tells its age: they all turn gray as they grow old. If a gray wolf -carried off the child, it has carried it off alive. We must search -again." - -At this moment Bona St. Faine appeared at the gate, and taking little -Kathleen's hand in hers, led her resolutely away, threatening the -servants with their master's displeasure for suffering such a child to -see the dead wolf. - -"How wrong of you, Oliver!" she said, glancing at her brother -reproachfully. - -To avoid her upbraiding, which Oliver felt he deserved, he stepped -behind old Gobur, who was forcing open the wolf's mouth and examining -its teeth. He sprang up excitedly and pointed to the little bits of -matted hair sticking about them. - -"What is that?" he asked triumphantly. "Where did that come from? The -buffalo hide. The wolves as well as the jackals follow the tiger to -feast on what he leaves, as every hunter knows. The little beebee is -right. We must search again." - -How Oliver listened! These dark-skinned men, who were chattering round -him so fast, had lived in the midst of wild beasts all their lives. - -One was telling of a wolf which had stolen a baby from its mother's arm -as she lay sleeping. - -The gardener hurried away to find his master. The coolies who had -carried Bona's dandy joined in the eager discussion; some were -contradicting the old man's assertion, others were asking questions none -of them could answer. Had any one heard the child cry? No, not even -the coolies in the veranda. Why, they kept on fanning the empty cot! -The child had been spirited away in its sleep. Only a clever old wolf -could have done it. - -"That scratch on its shoulder--was the blood dropping from it?" asked -Gobur, almost breathlessly. "Wherever a drop has fallen you will find -the black ants covering it by this time. Run and look." - -Up sprang Mr. Desborough's own syce, followed by half-a-dozen others, -gesticulating and talking all at once at the top of their voices. - -"Stop that row!" exclaimed Mr. Desborough, who was bending over the cot -of his other little boy, trying to prepare its mother for the dread -disclosure. - -Out went the major. "Two wolves indeed! Preposterous!" - -The syce pointed to the patches of tiny black ants which he had found -along the veranda and across the grass, as Gobur expected. - -"Sahib," he asked suggestively, "is it from the wolf or from the child?" - -"From the child," answered the major, examining the rhododendron bushes, -where the crushed flowers and broken stalks were thickly covered by the -busy insects. - -Both believed they had found the fatal spot to which the wolf had -retreated. - -Oliver had gone up to the fountain on the lawn, and was deluging his -bandaged arm. - -"Go indoors, my boy, and rest," said the major, as he passed him, "or -you will suffer for it with that arm." - -Oliver walked slowly on towards the veranda, examining for himself the -little black patches that marked the trail of the wolf. He traced its -course from the rhododendron to the window of the bathroom, then he -discovered a second trail leading from the veranda to the pool. - -He pointed it out to the gardener, who was returning. - -"Wasn't old Gobur right after all?" - -The punkah coolie joined them. He was certain he must have heard the -snap of the wolf's teeth if he were behind that bush. For a wolf, they -both asserted, bites with a snap, and clashes its teeth with as much -noise as a steel trap. No; it had carried off the child alive to its -lair. - -Oliver bounded up the steps of the veranda, and ran into the hall. -Kathleen was flitting restlessly from room to room. - -"Be comforted, dear!" he exclaimed; "your brother is not killed. We may -find him yet, alive in the jungle." - - - - - *CHAPTER IV.* - - _*THE WOLF'S LAIR.*_ - - -Yes, it was all true! That grim gray wolf was not seeking an early -breakfast for herself, but a safe plaything for the five young wolflings -which she loved so dearly. She cared but little for the scratch on her -shoulder when she thought of their delight. - -She snatched up Carl so stealthily, and with so soft a touch, he never -wakened until he felt the cool breeze that arose with the peep of day, -fanning his hot cheeks as the wolf ran swiftly on. It was too dark for -him to see where he was, or he might have been frightened into fits. He -put up his two little chubby hands and felt the wolf's shaggy coat. He -thought it was Sailor, and threw his arm lovingly round the big throat. -He was far too sleepy to take much notice. - -The wolf gave him a gentle swing, as she still ran at her fastest -pace,--aware, by the way in which she looked over her shoulder, that the -pursuers were already on her track. She could hear the baying of the -dogs, and darting down the river-bank, hid herself in a natural hollow -formed by the dripping of a little spring. She laid Carl down where the -cool drops trickled on his head, and he was soon asleep again, sounder -than before. - -The wolf knew well what she was about. In that quiet water-cradle, with -long trailing creepers for fly-curtains, and the softest of mosses for a -bed, the child never roused to utter a sound. - -Many a native mother tries the same plan, and puts her little black baby -to sleep in a shallow watercourse when the heat and the insects become -intolerable, and so secures a few hours' refreshing sleep for it on the -most sultry days. - -The dogs lost the scent when the wolf stepped into the water, and -scoured the plain beyond her retreat. Then the wary creature took up her -prize once more, and doubling cleverly upon her pursuers, made her way -to the hills, where her mate was keeping watch over the precious -wolflings. A run of five miles through the morning air was an -invigorating experience after his fretful, feverish night, and Carl -waked up at last, with a stretch and a laugh, quite unconscious of his -perilous position. - -They had entered one of the basins scooped in the side of the hills, -where the wild beasts made their retreat. The gorge was narrow at the -entrance, and partly filled up by dislodged stones and fallen rocks, now -overgrown with tangle and jungle, and overshadowed by spreading trees. - -These places are called _koonds_ in India; and in the rainy season are -well watered by a mountain torrent, dashing and foaming from the heights -above. Beneath those precipitous rocks, and through the dense foliage -which clothed them, the hottest rays of the midday sun could scarcely -penetrate. Now, at that early hour, it was so dark Carl could -distinguish nothing but a dog-like form. He was still dreaming of his -faithful Sailor, and began to struggle and kick to be set on his feet. -His hands had dabbled in the wolf's blood, and he rubbed his half-open -eyes, wondering more and more why his ayah did not come and make Sailor -leave go of him. - -The rapid exercise had made the wolf's torn shoulder burst out bleeding -again, and as they forced their way through a perfect sea of grass and -fern and flowers, under bush and over brake, he became smeared all over. -This was his safeguard. Wolves live for the night, and trust to their -own keen scent to recognize each other, in the blackness of darkness -which envelopes them, as they penetrate deeper and deeper into the -innermost recesses of the koond. - -It is a well-known fact that when a pack of wolves are out hunting, if -one of their number gets into a fight, and becomes smeared with the -blood of their prey, the rest of the pack mistake it for the object of -their chase, and tear it to pieces instead. - -We think only of the savage ferocity of the wolf when it is seeking its -prey, but it has a warm and loving heart beneath its shaggy coat. The -nobility of the dog is in it; and to each other they are as faithful, -affectionate, and obedient, and even more intelligent. - -The gray wolf stopped at last before a luxuriant korinda bush. The -thick-leaved branches arched over until they touched the ground, forming -a leafy tent so thick and dark and cool no rain could filter through, -and the brightest sunshine could scarcely dart more than a flickering -glimmer upon the snug nest it sheltered. - -Such was the spot the wolves had chosen for their nursery. They had dug -a hole and lined it with the softest moss they could find, and the -wolf-mother had torn off the hair from her own coat to improve her -babies' bed. - -Five little heads popped up to welcome mother, as the gray wolf, with -Carl in her mouth, pushed her way beneath the branches; and the grim, -gaunt wolf-father, who had been guarding them in her absence. got up -with a stretch as she dropped the child into the midst of the pricking -ears and wagging tails. She had brought Carl to her wolflings as a cat -brings a mouse to her kittens, to teach them how to kill and to devour; -but the savage lesson was yet unlearned. They were more ready for play -than for lessons, and found infinite delight in tearing his shirt to -pieces, and freeing him from so strange an encumbrance. - -They rolled over and over together as puppies love to do; and when Carl -cried, not knowing what to make of such strange surroundings, the -wolf-father in much perplexity sniffed all over him. - -Could that smooth-skinned, hairless little creature be one of his cubs? -How he pricked up his ears every time the small lips puckered, half in -fear, and more than half in anger, because nobody came to fetch Carl! -The deepening sobs ended at last in a roar that made the five strong -wolflings howl in concert. - -The shaggy mother stepped into her nest and cuddled her young ones -lovingly in her rough paws. The sixth little head crept closer and -closer until it also found a pillow on that hairy shoulder. Sleeping in -the dark on the dewy moss, Carl dreamed of Sailor in a rougher coat, and -waked to find his dream a reality. But his arms were round his hairy -nurse, and the pouting lips were kissing her rough cheek, as if she -really were his own dear old doggie. - -Could he have seen the savage face, he might have been afraid. - -Those who live in the land where wild beasts dwell, know that a loving -caress will even induce a tiger to withdraw its teeth; but few, very -few, have the courage and presence of mind to try it. It is just -another proof that love, which is stronger than death, is also stronger -than the savage instincts of wolves and tigers; reminding us of that -millennial day when the wolf shall lie down with the lamb, and none -shall hurt or destroy in all God's holy mountain. - -Rare as such instances are, they do really happen, and many a story is -told under the banyan trees of Bengal of children who have been brought -up thus in a wild wolf's nest. - -From that hour the grim and savage creature looked on Carl Desborough as -her own. - -He waked up wide at last, hungry and thirsty. Old Gray Legs, the fierce -wolf-father, cracked a marrow-bone with his formidable teeth as a boy -might crack a nut, and gave it to him to suck. The wild honey trickled -from the rocks above the korinda bush. Ripe mangoes dropped from the -trees around, and lay ready to his baby hand in the drying grass, and -other wild fruits ripened and fell around him as the summer days went -on. It must have worried the wolf-mother that he cared so little for -flesh, which her cubs begin to eat at five weeks. But nothing comes -amiss to a wolf in the shape of food, so she let him help himself to -what he liked best. - -The wild birds sang overhead; the frogs croaked in the grass, and -queer-looking lizards basked in the chinks of the rock; crawling snakes -wound their slimy length about unheeded, as they hissed in anger or -basked in some happy spot into which a straggling sunbeam happened to -penetrate. Carl might shriek with terror when he heard the tigers -grunting in the bed of the stream, as the search for water grew more -difficult every day, or the "Ugh! ugh!" of a grizzly bear in search of -the mangoes in which it so delights; but he was really safe, for the -wolves never leave their young alone. If one parent takes a stroll, the -other remains to watch over them, and at the sound of their cry the -whole pack would rally to their defence. - -Carl was so much weaker and so much more helpless than their other -wolflings, that Old Gray Legs and his mate kept him close beside them -when he ventured outside his mossy hole. - -No human foot had ever penetrated this forest fastness, and if some echo -of a hunter's cry did occasionally waken its solitudes, it was scarcely -heeded. - -It was as if poor little Carl had been transported to another world, -beyond the reach of all who loved him so dearly. As the weeks went on -he forgot his home, or remembered it only in dreams. Like a baby -Robinson Crusoe, - - "He was out of humanity's reach; - Must he finish his journey alone-- - Never hear the sweet music of speech, - And start at the sound of his own!" - - -The young wolflings made him run on all fours; for if they saw him stand -upright, one or other was sure to leap on his back and roll him over. -Besides, it was often much easier to crawl than to walk in that -trackless wild of fallen rocks and marshy swamps, where decaying -tree-trunks barred the path, and unsuspected burrows perforated what -might otherwise have been described as solid ground. - -Like all wild beasts, the wolves retreated to their secret bower for a -midday sleep, and took their stroll in the moonlight. So Carl was -almost always in the dark, and his eyes grew so weak he began to blink -like an owl in the sunshine. For sometimes he waked up when his wolfish -companions were all fast asleep, and at such times he was apt to stray -beyond the dense foliage of the korinda. Now and then the fierce blaze -of the noonday sun shot a swift ray across the drying watercourse, where -a fallen tree made a break in the thick masses of leaves that for the -most part shut out sky and sun altogether. He would scramble over the -rough ground, attracted by its brilliancy, and then, half-blinded by the -unaccustomed light, stumble and fall. Many a sad hurt befell him, and -many a time Old Gray Legs fetched him home; many a fight he had with -chattering monkeys and sprightly-spotted fawns--fights which would have -ended badly for Carl but for the vigilance of his foster-parents. But -the scars and scratches, the bites and stings, taught him at last to -find protection and safety by the gray wolf's side, until he became -afraid to lose sight of her, and answered her slightest call as -dutifully as the five strong cubs, who were now his sole playfellows. - -He became the old wolf's constant care; for the perils which surrounded -him increased when week after week wore away, and the ever-increasing -heat dried up the last and deepest pool, which had remained to mark the -course of the once dashing torrent. The blackening grasses rustled as -the wolves rushed hither and thither, with their tongues hanging out of -their mouths from thirst; and the young things cried for the water they -could not find. - -When the moon rose behind the rocky steeps which shut in the koond with -its precipitous wall, the patriarch of the pack gave tongue, and called -his hairy children to follow him out. The time had come for those five -wolflings to obey the call, and Carl was as unwilling to be left behind -as the gray wolf was to leave him. Out, out he went into the silvery -moonlight, led by the two old wolves into the very midst of the pack, -catching something of the excitement of the hunt as the wolves swept -down the dried-up river-bed with an appalling howl, in pursuit of their -flying prey. To keep up with them was impossible, and when he could -neither run nor crawl, in his terror he scrambled upon his -foster-mother's back and rode. - -When that appalling howl rang through the midnight air, every sleeper in -Noak-holly wakened in trembling fear; and yet a bit of white rag -fluttering at the end of a tall bamboo would have made so good a -"scare-wolf" that it would have kept the whole pack at a respectful -distance. - -After nights like these, Carl grew vigorous and strong, bounding into -the air, and leaping like the young fawn they were pursuing, and running -on all fours with astonishing swiftness. - -Once he was almost left behind, as the whole pack scampered off suddenly -at the unwelcome sound of the hunting-horn of a Rana, or small hill -chieftain. - -The child was left staring wistfully at the Hindu train; for, like the -wolves, the Rana had chosen the midnight to come out with his hog-spear -and beat the jungle for his share of the game with which the hills -abounded. But the sight of the turbaned heads and the dusky faces, the -bare black arms poising the long bamboo-handled spears, and the sound of -their unearthly cries, aroused no thought of home in the heart of the -baby hunter. They only terrified him. The boy was growing wild. With -a leap and a yell he bounded into the air, for the Rana's dogs were upon -him. - -Out from the towering moonje grass rushed the returning wolves, hemming -him round as they would the weakest of the pack, and fighting off the -hounds. - -Carl was down; but Gray Legs stood over him and brought him out of the -fray unhurt, although the Rana's spear stuck in the ground within an -inch of his naked chest. - -"There is a boy in the midst of the pack," said the Rana's jogie or -beater, who had thrown the spear--"a child of the fair people"--for so -the Hindus amongst themselves usually call the Europeans. - - - - - *CHAPTER V.* - - _*NOAK-HOLLY.*_ - - -Alive in the jungle. These words, which had brought such comfort to -little Kathleen in her childish simplicity, were torture to Mr. -Desborough, as he pictured his boy dropped by the wolf in the midst of -the pathless wilds, the dwelling-places of those ravenous beasts, and -not of them alone. He thought of the birds of prey that lodged unheeded -in those stately trees--the brooding vultures, the screaming kites. He -seemed to see the poisonous hissing snakes, the stinging scorpions, and -creeping things innumerable, that infest the trackless undergrowth of -the hill forests. - -"Tell me anything but that!" he exclaimed, shuddering. The search was -renewed with an added desperation. By the water's edge, among the broad -crinkly-edged lily leaves which starred the stream and formed fairy -rafts for innumerable water-wagtails, he found a fragment of embroidered -muslin, torn off by cruel teeth from Carly's tiny sleeve. He saw it was -blood-stained. He saw no more, for the fierce sun shot its hottest rays -upon his uncovered head. His hat fell as he stooped to secure it, and he -sank unconscious on the slippery bed of the drying stream. - -"Dropped with the heat," said the major, who thought all further search -was vain, and he bade the servants convey their master home. - -The house was now hermetically closed, every door and window shut up to -exclude the heat. The well-moistened tatties cooled the hot air as it -passed through them, and kept the darkened rooms just bearable. - -It is the custom of most families in India to have two breakfasts: one -quite early; the second, which is called _tiffen_, resembles the French -_dejeuner_, and is ready a little before noon. The early breakfast had -been forgotten by every one in Noak-holly that morning. The black -servants were gliding noiselessly about; and when the major inquired for -his little fairy Kathleen, they confidentially informed him that the -little beebee would not eat. - -"Bring her in to tiffen," said the major; and he strolled into the -familiar dining-room, where he found his new acquaintance of the -morning, Miss Bona St. Faine, seated in solitary state. At any other -time, the odd expression of her face would have convulsed him with -laughter. She was new to Indian ways, and was looking very blankly at -an empty table to which she had been solemnly conducted by Mr. -Desborough's butler, Bene Madho. She was feeling very hungry, -understood she was summoned to breakfast, and saw nothing before her but -flowers. Oliver, who had just emerged from the bathroom, appeared at -another door. - -"I wish," she said almost petulantly, "you would not leave me in such -awkward fixes in a stranger's house. You might behave a little more -like a gentleman, Oliver. In such circumstances as these no one likes -to give trouble, but I am really getting ill for want of food." - -"It is coming," said her brother, as the black servants, who had only -been waiting for the major, made their appearance, handing round course -after course of fish and curry and game. - -Down flew a whole troop of impudent young sparrows. Some darted after -the dishes in the servants' hands, and others set to work on the crumbs -by Bona's plate, quite unabashed by the near neighbourhood of her knife -and fork. - -Little Kathleen was brought in by her ayah, a coolie following, anxious -to obey to the uttermost the incoherent charges of their prostrate -master--"Take care of my little Kathleen." - -The stately Bene Madho brought her plate of stewed fowl and rice, the -usual diet of children in India; but it stood untasted before her. The -major patted her feverish cheek, afraid to allude to her lost brother, -for fear of bringing on another passionate outburst of her childish -sorrow. He sent the ayah away, thinking the child would only copy the -lamentations and cries in which she indulged--a display of grief very -distasteful to the English officer. His young companions sat silent and -constrained, watching Kathleen. - -"She will fret herself into a fever before night," said the major. -"Weeping becomes dangerous with the thermometer at 110 deg.. I must -intrust her to you, my dear young lady. Try and comfort her." - -But from all Bona's endeavours Kathleen shrank. She did not want the -strangers; she wanted her own mamma; she longed only to creep into some -quiet corner and cry unseen. This was just what the major was charging -Bona to prevent. The shy child fixed her large pleading eyes on the old -soldier's face, and the white lips moved, but there was no word that any -of them could understand. - -They had fetched her away from her ayah, feeling as if the nurse must be -in some way to blame for the catastrophe of the night, and was no longer -to be trusted. - -"She ought never to have the care of these children again," said Bona -energetically. "Stranger as I am, I will remain with the little girl, -if Mrs. Desborough wishes me. I will, indeed, if they are going to send -the woman away." - -"What a Job's comforter you are!" muttered Oliver, as the spoon fell -from Kathleen's fingers in dismay. - -"It was not my ayah let in the wolf; it was me," Kathleen sobbed. "Let -me go and tell mamma all about it." - -"Tell me," suggested the major, drawing her between his knees. - -"O my dear!" exclaimed Bona, horrified. "Surely you never did. How -could you be so naughty?" - -Oliver got up and stood by the major, that he might not lose a single -word of the faltering confession. - -"I never can be happy until Carly's found--never, never!" murmured -Kathleen, putting both her little hands into the major's, and repeating -earnestly, "You will tell mamma it was all my doing." - -The gravity of the look which stole over the major's face as he listened -choked Kathleen's voice with sobs, for she felt every one would blame -her, and she was shy and sensitive. - -"How could you meddle with the blind?" exclaimed Bona. "Only think, my -dear, of the terrible consequences!" - -"Yes, talk to her, Miss St. Faine," said the major. "She must never do -such a thing again." - -Bona laid her hand on Kathleen's shoulder, but she shook it off, and -darting away into the darkest corner of the hall, hid herself behind her -father's door, dislodging a whole family of toads, who had crept indoors -to find a shelter from the heat. Kathleen's kitten hotly resented this -intrusion, and sprang after them with tail erect and bristling hair. -The toads receiving many sharp pats on their broad backs from her -uplifted paw, were driven across the hall, backwards and forwards, -keeping Bona dancing on one foot as she tried to follow Kathleen. But -at last she fled in disgust, as the whole toad family were sent leaping -into her dress by pussy's officious paw. - -"Oliver! Oliver!" she entreated. - -He came to her help with a laugh, which seemed so out of place in the -mournful house he felt ashamed of himself the next minute. He knelt -down beside Kathleen. "I like you, my little woman," he whispered. -"You took the blame on your own shoulders, like a brick. Oh, what -little shoulders they are! Of course, a boy would have done so. Don't -fret about how the wolf got in too much. They are awful creatures. I -am a sailor boy. Terrible things happen at sea. My father was captain -of a merchant vessel. I have been to Calcutta before with him. He died -at sea. The mate brought the ship into port. Bona is only a -school-girl, fresh from England. She was coming out to uncle, so they -sent me on with her. Never mind her, she is such a fuss-fuss!" - -Awkward as Oliver's attempts at consolation were, Kathleen felt they -were sincere. She looked into his honest brown eyes and repeated her -question--the question every one shrank from answering--"What will the -big wolf do with Carly?" - -"Iffley," called Mr. Desborough from the other side of the chintz -curtain which did duty for a door, "stop those children's tongues, or I -shall go mad." - -The major laid an imperative hand on Oliver's arm and marched him off -into the veranda, where a mat in a shady corner invited him to take the -siesta he so much needed after his night-journey. The ayah carried -Kathleen away in her powerful arms. - -The stifling, burning heat grew more and more intense. The heavy sleep -of sorrow slowly stole over the desolated household, and the weary day -wore on. The coolies, who had been abroad since the dawn, returned one -by one to eat their rice and repeat the same tale--"No trace! no hope!" -There was nothing more to be done. There is no land like India for -sudden calamity. Those of us who pass many years among its rice-fields -and banyan trees learn a resignation and a promptitude in action not -common elsewhere. To do quickly all that ought to be done, before it is -too late, is so imperative that no one was surprised when Mr. Desborough -announced his determination to send Mrs. Desborough and the two children -still left to them to the hills immediately. - -"This very night, if it were possible!" he exclaimed, as he caught up -Racy, only to grieve the more over the loss of poor little Carly. A -terrible fear of another midnight alarm oppressed the whole household. -The syces lighted fires close outside the compound, to scare away any -wild beasts which might be prowling about in the groves and thickets. -Every precaution was taken. - - -The sun was sinking. The brief ten minutes of summer twilight had come -when every one in India hurries into the open air. The long white line -of road winding between the shady rows of trees was alive with traffic. -Bona and Oliver stood ready for departure, watching the novel scene. - -Straggling groups of workers from the indigo factory loitered round the -gates of Mr. Desborough's compound--hideous-looking creatures with -waist-clothes, hands and faces all blue: a whole troop of Bluebeards, -which Bona thought would haunt her very dreams. They meekly drew aside -and salaamed to the ground, as a gilded carriage, drawn by a pair of -white humped oxen, swept by. A long line of carts, creaking under their -loads of indigo pulp, quickly followed. The scantily-clothed villagers -who accompanied them were uttering most unearthly cries to encourage -their weary beasts. A deafening sound of splashing of water and -stamping of feet told of the near neighbourhood of a drove of buffaloes -returning to their homes for the night. - -Oliver looked for them in vain. They were making a pathway through the -pool, and only the tips of their noses were to be seen as they sniffed -the evening air, or snatched a mouthful of lily-leaves with snorts of -rejoicing; while groups of merry children on the opposite bank were -washing all the clothing they had--a broad white calico sash or -waist-cloth. Their washing was a curious performance. They banged one -end of the sash on a smooth stone, just under the water, until it -fluttered before them white as snow, then they turned it and washed the -other end. - -A group of travellers, resting under a tree on the opposite side of the -road, watched the lighting of the fires with evident curiosity, as they -passed a friendly hookah, or pipe, from one to another. They smoked, -and listened to the remarks of the indigo-workers, who were charging the -children to hasten home before the darkness gathered. - -All were talking, all were discussing the disaster of the -morning--rejoicing that the wolf had eaten the bullet of the sahib, and -their children might sleep in peace. - -Major Iffley was bargaining with a party of coolie wallahs, who had come -from the village, to carry Bona's dandy to the judge's bungalow. - -Mrs. Desborough put back the curtain of her tent, and waved a farewell -to the brother and sister on the eve of their departure, and entreated -the major to remain with them that night at least. - -She was pale and calm, but the havoc which that day had made in her -appearance had reduced her to a shadow of her former self. - -"Not me only, but my loaded gun," he answered, as he hastened to assure -her every precaution they could devise was already taken. - -Bona and Oliver drew a few steps nearer, looking the sympathy they knew -not how to express in words. But the curtain fell suddenly, and they -saw no more of the mournful mother behind it. Even the major, old -family friend as he was, would not, could not intrude on the sacredness -of a grief like hers. - -He shook hands with his new young friends, hoped for a happier meeting -before long, and returned to the veranda of Mr. Desborough's bungalow. -He loaded his gun with scrupulous care, and beguiled the weary -night-watch by smoking an unlimited number of pipes, and growling at the -numerous inmates of sun-cracked walls and retired corners, not to -mention the disturbances of the punkah coolies, who cried out in terror -every time a big Langour monkey stole across the lawn or a wild-cat -leaped from the trees, one and all declaring that another wolf had ran -away with the little beebee. - -To have had a real skirmish with a wolf, a panther, or even a tiger, -would have been less distasteful to the English officer than soothing -the midnight fancies of the dismayed household, or escaping from the -unwelcome attentions of Kathleen's pet lizard, which had left its -favourite retreat behind the pictures in the dining-room for a midnight -stroll in the veranda. - - - - - *CHAPTER VI.* - - _*AWAY TO THE HILLS.*_ - - -"Can you ever love me again, mamma?" asked Kathleen when Mrs. Desborough -left the tent on the lawn for the first time, whilst the ayah took her -place by baby Horace, who was slowly but surely recovering. - -For three whole days, whilst Kathleen was left to herself, she had never -ceased crying. The servants found her continually by the window of the -bathroom through which the wolf had entered, leaning her burning head -against one of the huge red pitchers which contained the supply of water -for the day's use. Let no one say cold water, for there was nothing -cold to be found anywhere. The bath towels were as hot to the touch as -if they had been hanging in front of a blazing fire. The air was thick -with tawny dust. The oppression was frightful. The excessive dryness -made every breath feel like the blast of a furnace. Insect wings began -to drop off all over the rooms, and were wafted into drifts by the -waving fans from the ceiling, and their wretched little owners, who had -lost them, were wriggling about the floor. The thousands of poor white -ants had already done so much mischief that no one had any pity left for -their forlorn condition. The bhisti, the coolie who does housemaid's -work, came and swept them away. Wasps, crickets, and enormous horned -spiders abounded, but were worse in the night than the day. Not one of -the numerous families of birds which made their homes in the veranda -would sing a note. - -Sailor lay at his young mistress's feet, and followed her everywhere -with a pertinacity that said very plainly, "She is all that is left to -me." - -The ayah had done her utmost to divert the child. Her dolls and -playthings strewed the veranda. - -Bene Madho brought her cakes and sweetmeats when he returned from the -bazaar, which he visited daily. Four or five in the morning is the hour -for marketing in India, and therefore the busiest time in all the day. -He virtually kept his mistress's purse, and bought everything she -wanted. His purchases that morning were numerous, for the preparations -for the removal to the hills were hurried on by Mr. Desborough. He -wanted to take Kathleen away, for in her great sorrow she would not eat -or speak, and was always slipping off unseen, even from him. Children in -India who are left to the black servants so often grow troublesome. - -"See that she eats; mind and send her to sleep," he charged the ayah. -But the ayah told him in her despair Kathleen would do neither. - -The gentle touch of her mother's hand, and the fond, sad kiss on her -parching lips, at last lifted the lead-like load which to Kathleen -seemed breaking her heart, and she whispered tearfully, "Can you ever -love me again, mamma?" - -"Love you, my darling!" repeated Mrs. Desborough, in surprise at such a -question. "Mamma must love her little daughter more than ever now, for -she may soon have no one else to love." - -"No, no, mamma, you do not know. I let the wolf in," lamented Kathleen -under her breath. - -"The wolf!" exclaimed Mrs. Desborough. "My child, the wolf that killed -dear little Carly!" - -"It did not kill him, mamma!" cried Kathleen vehemently. "The stranger -boy said so. O mamma, could not God, who took care of Daniel in the -lions' den, take care of our Carly in the wolf's mouth?" - -The bhisti, who was coming in with his water-skin to fill up the great -red pitchers against which Kathleen was leaning, ran to his mistress as -she sank on the edge of the bath, overcome with the thoughts which -Kathleen's wild words had suggested. It was the first hint which had -reached her that there was any uncertainty about her poor little child's -fate. - -She could not in her motherly love take away from Kathleen the hope that -Carly was still alive, the poor little sister's distress of mind was so -great. But she saw Mr. Desborough's strong motive for hurrying them off -to the hills. If the wolf which had seized one child was still prowling -about the place, it might seize another in some unguarded moment. - -"Let us take them away to-night," she said to him; and the effort to get -ready, which had appeared so overwhelming when he proposed it, seemed -now as nothing compared to the fear of the wolf's return. Beds were -packed up. But beds in India are a simple affair. A thick quilted -cotton _resais_, as they call it, serves for sheets, blanket, and -mattress all in one. A supply of pillows is all that is necessary; -bolsters are unused in India. They must also take calico for punkahs, -and plenty of palm-leaf matting, which is so cheap it can be used for -anything. Bene Madho had bought abundance of all these things, which -the servants were packing in huge bundles, to be carried on poles -between men's shoulders. - -How they all worked throughout the day, despite the heat, and Mr. -Desborough harder than anybody! An adventurous kite carried off a fork -from the dinner-table, and a monkey sprang down from the roof of the -veranda and snapped up Kathleen's doll, which it carried to the tallest -tamarind tree in the garden. There it sat on one of the topmost -branches, cuddling the doll in its olive-green paws, as if it were a -great treasure. Kathleen did not mind it much. The gardener assured -her he should find it, as he had found the fork, dropped among the -flowers; and then it seemed so easy to Kathleen to think Carly might be -found in the same sort of way. She never lost the hope which Oliver's -words had put into her heart. - -But to hear her say so was an added grief to Mr. Desborough. - -In the evening, when they were dressed for the journey, papa took her on -his knee and told her not to talk about the wolves to mamma any more. -Then he bade her remember no one must believe all the servants were -saying, for they were idolaters. They thought that monkeys were better -than men, and that some of them were sacred, and they really worshipped -them. They did not know any better. No one could be sure whether the -tales they told about the wolves were true or not, so he wished her not -to repeat them; it would frighten Horace. - -Yes, Horace was better--going with them. - -"There he is," said papa, pointing to the ayah, who was carrying him up -and down the veranda, before the windows of the drawing-room where they -were talking. Away flew Kathleen, holding out her arms to take him, and -covering him with kisses. - -"She will soon be herself again, with change of scene, and Horace for a -playfellow," Mr. Desborough continued, turning to his wife. "Thank God, -my dear, if the one child has been taken from us, the other is left." - -By the close of that busy day everything was ready for departure. The -long procession passed through the gates of the compound just as the -glorious sun was sinking in its bed of ebony and gold; for deep black -bars of cloud were crossing the flood of light which covered the western -sky. - -Mr. Desborough's horse was prancing in its impatience, while the coolies -harnessed themselves to the curtained dandies. There was one for Mrs. -Desborough, with Horace on her lap, and another for the ayah and -Kathleen, so that the children could sleep away the greater part of the -journey. Until the heaving of burdens and the buckling of straps were -concluded, the ayah amused Kathleen by pointing to the setting sun, and -gravely assuring her there were twelve suns, brothers, who shone by -turns. This one was going away, and his elder brother, who was so -strong he could kill a man, would come in his place. The ayah was very -glad they would all be safe on the hills before the strongest of all the -twelve took his turn. The younger brothers were much weaker; the -youngest of all was so weak he could hardly melt the snow that fell on -the mountains. - -Kathleen thought that this must be one of the tales papa referred to. - -The syce, who ran by the horse's head with a fly-flapper in his hand, -was shouting to it to be quiet until the sahib was ready to mount. "O -son of a pig!" he was crying, "O faithless, perverse one! have ye never -learned to be still?" - -Away they all went at last, the bearers keeping time with a long, -monotonous, grunting sort of cry, to which the horses were too well -accustomed to be frightened. They soon left the highroad, going at the -rate of four miles an hour, by narrow paths, too narrow for any cart or -carriage. Mounting wave after wave of hill, higher and higher, -sometimes winding by the edge of a precipice, or climbing the steep side -of a giant cliff, then almost tumbling down some mountain valley, on, on -they went, with a slow and even swing, whilst the coolies laughed and -chatted as if they were almost enjoying the heavy burdens which English -arms could never have lifted. Up and up once more, as the moon shone -forth with its silver radiance, bathing the stately forest trees with -its soft, clear light, and making the dark shadows which rested on the -deep ravines all the blacker by contrast. They were passing the -two-storied stone-built castle of a mountain chief, perched like a -gigantic bird's nest on the verge of a tree-crowned height. A bright -and gurgling mountain stream was dashing and foaming by its side as it -leaped from height to height. The travellers were sprinkled with its -flashing spray as they crossed the edge of the torrent, little dreaming -that news of Carl would await them there on their return. But now the -scream of the night-owls, and the flap of the vultures' wings, and the -ever-increasing cries of the jackals, echoed all around. - - "But the darkest hour of all the night, - Is that which brings us day." - - -Oh, if Mr. and Mrs. Desborough could have understood the silent lesson -that midnight journey might have taught them, it would have soothed -their heartache. They could see no ending to their night of sorrow; -they scarcely thought the soothing touch of time would ever dull the -sharpness of their grief. But every night does end. - -The first pale gleam of the coming day showed Kathleen the sloping roof -of a white-walled bungalow, peeping amid a forest of pine trees high up -overhead. Should they ever reach it? The flowers which covered those -steep hillsides began to open their petals and drink in the drop of dew -that was falling for each and all. - -Racy woke up with laughing eyes and outstretched hands, clamouring for -the bright, many-coloured dahlias which grew by thousands in their path. - -The good-natured coolies stopped to gather them by handfuls, to Racy's -infinite delight. The pleasure of pulling them to pieces and pelting -the black shoulders of their bearers with them, found vent in little -squeals of merriment that brought the first faint ghost of a smile to -his mother's lips. - -With the daybreak came many changes. Flocks of sheep and goats met them -in the narrow path, making the crossing doubly dangerous. Some asses -laden with grain were on their way to the Rana's castle, and their -drivers drew aside to make their salaam to the English travellers, and -exchange greetings with the coolie wallahs, and carry the news to the -Rana's castle. - -A most obstreperous cawing from hundreds of cunning-looking crows arose -from the forest, whilst a regular chorus of wild laughter echoed through -the darkest ravines. It was the morning song of the black-faced -thrushes that congregate in unimaginable multitudes in these hidden -solitudes. But sweeter than all was the lengthened flute-like note of -the black-headed oriole. - -Suddenly the path changed. They were going downhill beneath magnificent -trees, yews and oaks rising from an undergrowth of creepers and roses, -checkered with multitudinous flowers that were unknown to Kathleen and -her mother. On they went, swinging to the bottom of the valley, through -whole fields covered with pale-blue foxglove, over which myriads of bees -were flitting. - -Horace began to mimic the cry of the black partridges which abounded. -"Tie-tara! tie-tara!" rang on every side, as the footsteps of the -coolies disturbed them in their lowly nests. One more toilsome hill, -and then the coolies paused on a small plateau on the verge of the dark -pine wood. Before them stood the pleasant bungalow, with its hospitable -doors wide open to receive the travellers. Its white-washed rooms -looked airy and clean. A few native servants who belonged to the place -hurried out to welcome them; and Kathleen, who was leaning eagerly -forward, could see the graceful figure of a Hindu woman making cakes, -which she flattened between her hands with astonishing celerity, and -flung into a brass pan which stood near her over a quaint-looking -brazier. The dandies were set down, and Mr. Desborough came to lift his -wife out. - -"Too much cover for snakes," he said, as he cast a sharp eye at the -thick, tall grass spreading from the steps of the veranda to the very -edge of the precipice. The half-made garden was more indebted to nature -than art; but that only heightened the peculiar charm that overspread -the place. Here and there the great bauhinia creeper wreathed itself -into delightful bowers above the moss-covered stem of a fallen pine. -Its strong tendrils, like furzy brown horns, caught the overarching -boughs of the tallest trees and bound them in leafy fetters. Proud -peacocks strutted about at will. A stately old stork seemed untiring in -its endeavours to find the snake Mr. Desborough dreaded to discover. -But, above all, the fragrant breezes from the vast pine forest seemed an -earnest of returning health. - - - - - *CHAPTER VII.* - - _*THE RANA'S SONS.*_ - - -The first thing which attracted Kathleen's attention, when her father -lifted her out of her swinging carriage, was the sight of a Thibetan -woman milking the cows. She was dressed in dirty rags, with a torn -blanket thrown over her head. But round her neck she wore three strings -of beads, so quaint and curious Kathleen could do nothing but look at -them. The beads were as big as hazel-nuts. One row was of coral and -turkois; in another the beads were of a greenish hue, spotted all over -like thrushes' eggs; the third was coral, with silver tags between. So -the ayah took her to beg a cup of milk, whilst the breakfast was -preparing. They made her a cup with a leaf and a thorn; and as the -queer-looking milkmaid twisted it into proper shape round her slender -fingers, she noticed the child's red eyes and colourless cheeks and -heard the story of the lost brother. "O children of pigs!" she -exclaimed. "To think a wolf in May would eat him up! No, no. There has -been many a child brought up by the wolves, as I've heard tell. Perhaps -it was its grandfather; who knows? It would not hurt it if it were." - -She caught up Kathleen in her arms, and carried her to the edge of the -cliff, pointing downwards to the tops of the mighty trees growing in the -dark ravines between the hills they had been crossing--hills below -hills, stretching away beneath their feet, so grand and vast and wild. -The gray mud walls of the little Hindu village looked like an ant-hill -in their midst. Kathleen felt dimly how the timid, gentle, imaginative -Hindu men and women, who have lived all their lives within reach of the -formidable beasts that range at will through those forest-glades, grow -so afraid that their fear almost changes to reverence. They say they -are all God's creatures, mightier and stronger than themselves. They -dare not hurt them for the world; and they think when they die they -shall be changed into them. They mix their fancies with all they see -and hear, as her father had told her; but yet she could not help -listening when the weird-looking milkmaid entreated her not to cry any -more, but to see the glorious places where the wild wolves slept in the -sunlight, and to think her little brother was there among them. Oh no; -she did not believe he would want to come back. He would grow into a -wolf, and be happy. - -Kathleen felt frightened, for she saw that the ayah believed her. Then -the Thibetan unloosed the wonderful beads from her neck and let Kathleen -examine them. They were heirlooms which had been handed down for many -generations. The coral and turkois had been worn by her -great-grandmother; the coral with the silver tags came from her father's -people. She always wore them; they were safer round her neck than -anywhere. The ayah agreed with her. - -Kathleen carried her leafy cup indoors, to show to her mother. A hasty -breakfast was preparing--fowl and eggs, but no bread anywhere, only -chupatties, the thin round cakes which the woman outside was making when -they arrived. They very much resembled a dry crisp pancake. The fresh -hill air gave the children an appetite, and they ate heartily. - -"Papa," whispered Kathleen, "may I talk about the wolves to you?" - -"Better not, darling," was the quick reply; "father is too busy to talk -now." - -Away went Mr. Desborough, ordering and arranging everything to insure -the comfort of his wife and children; for he knew that he must soon -leave them to enjoy their three months' gipsying among the hills. He -trusted that picking flowers and chasing butterflies would soon occupy -all his little fairy's thoughts, if he could but keep her from dwelling -on the terrible remembrance. - -Horace was soon fast asleep on his mother's lap, and Kathleen's eyes -were blinking. - -There were chairs and tables and charpoys in the bungalow, kept ready -for the use of visitors. So as soon as breakfast was over, the ayah put -Kathleen and Horace to bed. - -The rooms were all on one floor, and as every door stood wide open, they -were not out of Mrs. Desborough's sight a single moment. - -The charpoy, or Indian bedstead, is only a wooden frame with cross-bars -of webbing, and on this a mat or a resais is laid. The ayah fetched the -pillows Bene Madho was unpacking, and all was ready. Going to bed is -such a simple affair in India, for nobody undresses as we do in England. -Dressing and undressing belong to the bath. The ayah covered the -children with a large mosquito-net, and then flung herself on the -matting beside them. - -A few hours' refreshing sleep made them feel like different beings. But -they were still very tired, and were quite content to sit together on -the steps of the veranda, watching the mowers cutting the grass. It was -happiness to Kathleen to have her little brother once again, and she -devoted herself to the delightful task of making Racy laugh. There was -a bird a little bigger than an English starling, with shining wings of -copper colour, violet and blue, which hopped about their feet, and then -flew off to perch on the cow's back, and good-naturedly catch the -insects which were teasing it. - -Presently they saw a curious procession coming up the hill--two Hindu -boys riding on donkeys, with syces running beside them carrying scarlet -umbrellas over their heads, ornamented with deep gold-fringes. Behind -them rode their tutor, and after him four native Hindus, carrying trays -on their heads, tastefully piled with fruit and vegetables and flowers. - -"Early visitors," exclaimed Mr. Desborough, who was walking about -directing the mowers. - -The boys proved to be the two young sons of the Rana of Nataban, or "the -brook of the forest," whose castle they had passed by the way. - -"Look! look!" cried Racy, clapping his little hands, and making such a -noise that all the strangers turned their heads and regarded him. The -two young chieftains alighted, and advanced to Mr. Desborough, who held -out his hand to the eldest, English fashion. The boy took it between -both his own and dropped into it something which felt very like a little -ball of cobwebs, but was in reality a tiny bag of musk. He then -directed his servants to place their trays on the ground at Mr. -Desborough's feet. They were a present from his father, the Rana. They -were bright-eyed, intelligent boys, but as delicate and graceful as -girls. Their tutor was a clever young Brahmin, who had been educated in -the government schools, and longed, above all things, to visit London. -He could speak English, and was teaching it to his pupils. - -This was quite a relief; and when the formal greetings were well -through, and the boys were seated one on each side of Mr. Desborough, he -sent Kathleen to fetch the jar of English sweets which Bene Madho had -bought for her consolation. It was just unpacked, and stood on the -table near the window by which they were seated, and he perceived the -large, dreamy eyes of his youngest visitor rested upon it very -curiously. - -Whilst she was gone for it, Horace came and stood between his father's -knees. He certainly mistook the two young ranas for big dolls, as they -sat as stately and grave as they could in their saffron-coloured -dresses, embroidered belts, and heavy silver bracelets. Horace, with his -curly flaxen hair and blue eyes, was equally interesting to them, and -the drum with which he was playing still more so. - -The old trouble had returned to Kathleen's eyes as she ran in for her -jar of peppermint lozenges. She was thinking of the Thibetan woman and -all she had said. "Oh, if Carl were alive in the jungle, could not they -find him and bring him home?" Her little heart was full. She longed to -pour it out to her mother, but her father's words restrained her. Mrs. -Desborough looked so ill, so sadly worn, and kissed her so fondly, -Kathleen could only venture to entreat her to come and look at the -strange milkmaid, with her wonderful necklaces. She was hoping the -Thibetan would repeat to her the strange things she had said about Carl. - -Mrs. Desborough promised at once; she had not the heart to refuse her -darlings anything, for fear they, too, should be stolen from her. She -followed her little daughter into the veranda, putting on her gloves. -They were black. The youngest boy, Aglar, had never seen a lady's glove -before. He watched her intently, as if he thought her hands had -suddenly changed colour. He spoke to his tutor in his soft, musical -Indi; who gravely informed her the young Rana had such a longing to feel -the lady's hand, might he be permitted to touch it? - -Mrs. Desborough smiled, and held hers out to him. - -Aglar rose, made his salaam, and softly felt her fingers all over. It -seemed to afford him infinite delight. So, to amuse him, Mrs. -Desborough took off her gloves and put them on again. The long row of -buttons pleased him exceedingly. - -"Give them to him," suggested Mr. Desborough, who was wondering how he -could return the Rana's present, having nothing with him but just the -necessary things his family required. - -The transfer was made; the mystery of the buttons made easy, too, by the -addition of a tiny button-hook. The little fellow was in ecstasies. Not -so Horace, who set up a clamour to have his mother's gloves back, which -amused them all. - -Mr. Desborough was talking to the elder, whose name was Rattam, about -his lessons. He was fond of reading, had made some way in English and -Persian, and was much gratified with the gift of an English book on -botany, which Mr. Desborough had brought with him, hoping to interest -his wife in the lovely plants and flowers she was sure to find among the -hills. It was very doubtful whether the new owner could possibly -understand it, but he liked to examine the plates. - -Mr. Desborough thought they were getting on, when Horace renewed his -clamour, pointing at Aglar, and declaring, "He is nobody but a native. -He shan't have my mamma's gloves. He shan't!" - -Mrs. Desborough grew pink with annoyance, for she knew their young -visitors would be highly offended, if they really understood English -well enough to know what the child was saying. In vain his father -frowned. He would not be quieted. Kathleen slipped round and filled -his mouth with her peppermint, to stop his tongue. - -"We are all spoiling him as fast as we can," muttered her father, with a -bitter sigh, as he sent her across to Rattam, who regarded Horace with -pure amazement. No Hindu child is ever permitted to be rough or rude. -Kathleen shyly offered Rattam her jar, trying to make up for Racy's -naughtiness by behaving as prettily as she could. Rattam examined her -peppermints curiously, and then drew back, afraid to touch one, for it -might be degrading to himself. - -He dare not taste one, he said, for fear of losing caste by eating -anything which might be improper for a Brahmin. - -This horror of losing caste--that is, of forfeiting his position as a -Brahmin, one of the highest class of Hindus, to whom all the others look -up with reverence--is the bugbear of a Hindu gentleman's life, and -Rattam was fully impressed with its importance. - -Yet he was gratified; and although no persuasion could induce him to -touch the peppermint, he expressed his thanks with the air of a prince, -adding, "You must permit me to send you a bird of my own training, to be -my vakeel" ("Ambassador," interpreted the tutor), "and remind you of -me," Rattam went on; "and, I assure you, he is a very amusing fellow." - -He spoke so carefully and so correctly, it made Kathleen think he had -learned his English sentences ready before he came. She wished she -could ask her ayah how she ought to answer him in Indi; but that was out -of the question. If he understood not her reply, he knew by her shy -little smile she was pleased. - -"It is a hill-mina from Nepaul, with a remarkably good, rich voice--" -He looked to his tutor, perplexed for the next word. It was not -forthcoming. - -"Does the little beebee understand Persian?" he asked. - -Mr. Desborough shook his head, relieved to find his guest's English was -not yet perfect. - -"Persian is our French," said the tutor, making a sign to Aglar, who had -not yet finished his examination of Mrs. Desborough's hands; but when he -caught his tutor's eye, he dropped down on the ground by her side, -sitting cross-legged, as still and stately as a little statue. He never -raised his eyes or uttered a single word until a second sign gave him -permission. - -When the ayah appeared with the children's box of playthings, the two -young visitors forgot themselves and their grand manners in the wonders -of Kathleen's magic top, and behaved with an easy grace which was -natural to them, and much more prepossessing. - -"Let Aglar take it away with him, Kathy," whispered Mr. Desborough; "I -will buy you another." - -Mamma had slipped out during the exhibition of the playthings to consult -with Bene Madho about the tiffen. She thought he might know better than -she did what such fastidious young princes would condescend to eat. - -He told her they never touched anything but butter, sweetmeats, and -vegetables or fruit. Butter Mrs. Desborough could procure in plenty, -but the sweetmeats ran wofully short. Salad and syllabub, with some of -their own beautiful fruit, had to suffice. - -The amount of butter the little princes consumed was something -astonishing. No wonder Rattam was so fat. Aglar's hoarse cough -distressed Mrs. Desborough. She always carried a well-filled -medicine-chest about with her, for the sake of her own delicate -children. So she found him some cough-drops, and a porous plaster for -the chest, to lay on the empty trays her husband was trying to refill. - -Kathleen relinquished a great many of her toys to please their dusky -visitors. Rattam liked everything in pairs. He was highly delighted -with her doll's tea-cups, as he said "there were three pairs." But he -returned her the teapot. One of a sort looked mean in his eyes. - -When tiffen was over, their interesting neighbours rose to depart, with -the demure gravity of old men. - - - - - *CHAPTER VIII.* - - _*THE INVITATION.*_ - - -The night before Mr. Desborough's return to Noak-holly, he called -Kathleen to him as he sat dreamily watching the glorious landscape as if -he saw it not. - -"Can my darling sing to me?" he said, softly humming the first notes of -a tune she had heard him sing in the old times, when Kathleen was "her -daddy's ae bairn," and the cot stood empty. - -He put his arm round her waist, and taught her as he used to do, beating -time with his other hand. - - "Go bury thy sorrow, the world has its share, - Go bury it deeply, go hide it with care." - - -She turned and looked in his face. - -"Go on," he said, in the quiet, decided tone Kathleen always obeyed. - - "Go think of it calmly, when curtained by night; - Go tell it to Jesus, and all will be right." - - -She sang it after him, drawing a little closer, for her father was not -often like this, until they came to the last verse-- - - "Hearts growing a-weary with heavier woe, - Now droop 'mid the darkness--go, comfort them, go! - Go bury thy sorrows, let others be blest: - Go give them the sunshine, tell Jesus the rest." - - -"Is my little girl too young to understand what that means?" he asked, -stroking her hair. - -"Yes, I do understand, papa," she answered thoughtfully. - -"Your mother's sorrow is heavier than ours," he went on, "just because -she was Carly's mother; and Racy is pining for his twin-brother, just -because he was his twin. It is that which makes him so techy and -troublesome. Will my Kathleen try to comfort them when I am gone?" - -Instead of the promise he expected there came a rush of tears, so hot -and bitter he was taken aback. - -"What is the matter, my love?" he asked. - -"The dreadful misery to think I let the wolf in!" she sobbed. - -"We will bury all that," he answered. "It will not bring sunshine to -mamma to see you crying. Think! what ought you to be to poor mamma?" - -"Carly and Kathleen, too," she murmured. "But I can't undo it." - -His arm went round her very closely; it answered her better than words. -No fear of Kathleen talking to poor mamma about the wolves after that -night. A new object was before her--how to give others the sunshine. - -Her father had scarcely left them when Rattam's messenger arrived with -the promised bird, and an invitation to the Sahib Desborough to visit -the Rana at his castle. Aglar's mother, the Ranee, added her entreaties -that the beebee, who had given her youngest son the little breastplate -against the weather (which was endued with such a wonderful charm it had -hushed the noise in his breast and given him the vivacity of a panther) -would let a grateful mother look upon her face and beg a similar charm -for her other son. "The women of your people, sahib," said the letter, -which was evidently written by the tutor, "can come and go. It would -demean ours to descend the stair of their own home; but they are dying -to see more of the wonderful magic the beebee Desborough possesses." - -The Rana's peon or foot-soldier, who had brought the letter, stood -watching Mrs. Desborough as if she were some superior being. He had -shuffled off his shoes as a mark of respect before he approached her, -and now stood before her salaaming at every interval when she happened -to raise her eyes. - -Of course there were a few crows strutting about the veranda, and little -fretful Racy was afraid of their sharp beaks. Kathleen was trying to -tempt them away by scattering crumbs. They were so tame they soon ran -after her to get them. - -"More magic," thought the peon, bowing himself to the ground, as she -came near to him to look at the wonderful bird Rattam had sent her. - -It was jet black, with a coat as glossy as satin, and a lovely dark eye, -full of fun and intelligence. Its beak and claws were deep orange. It -was looking about very curiously, pricking its ear to every sound. -Kathleen drew her finger across the gilded wire of its cage, and it -called out in a rich, sweet voice--a wonderfully rich voice, and yet an -odd one--"Ram, Ram, baher!" just as he had heard Rattam and Aglar call -to one another. The ayah told her it meant "God, God, brother!" which -is the Hindu way of speaking, just as English boys would say, -"Good-morning, brother!" - -With her nurse and her bird talking Indi, Kathleen thought she should -soon learn enough to understand Rattam if he came again. - -Mrs. Desborough wrote her reply, and promised to visit the Ranee when -her husband returned. - -Little mischievous Horace was fitting on the peon's slippers, and quite -ready to dispute possession with the "man in petticoats," as he called -the peon. Kathleen and the ayah pursued him half round the veranda. They -would not have got the slippers away then without a roar, if Kathleen's -wonderful bird had not begun to make a creaking sound, like a rusty -hinge, which it imitated exactly, and then as suddenly changed its note -to the cheerful crowing of a cock. This diverted Horace amazingly. The -peon recovered his slippers, put up his umbrella, and departed with the -English beebee's answer. - -But there was many a long day to wait before the visit could be paid. -Mrs. Desborough was glad, for she had no heart for visits, although she -thought it only right to go, as no one but a lady is scarcely ever -permitted to enter the homes of the higher classes of Hindus. In the -meanwhile the invigorating air of the hills was restoring the children -to health and spirits. Mrs. Desborough hoped Horace would forget some -of his provoking sayings, which he had caught up on the journey. - -The Thibetan milkmaid had gone away to her own people before Kathleen -could persuade her mother to go and talk to her. - -But Kathleen would describe the dark-skinned woman, with her dirty rags -and glittering beads, so earnestly and so frequently, that her mother -began to suspect there was something more she had not told her. "Well?" -she would say questioningly; and then Kathleen would stop short, -remembering her father's words. - -Mrs. Desborough asked the ayah what the Thibetan had said. - -"Nothing, nothing," was the quick reply. "We only tried to comfort the -little beebee, and stop her tears, that fell like evening rain." - -The ayah was frightened, for her mistress turned pale and faint at the -most distant allusion to her dreadful loss. So she led the children -away, and filled their pinafores with rice to feed the fishes. - -Whilst Horace was throwing it by handfuls into the basin of the -fountain, which was soon a moving mass of heads and tails, the ayah drew -Kathleen away. - -"Look at the mem-sahib," she whispered, so that Horace should not hear. -"It is the cry for the lost one shut in her heart that hurts. Don't -wake it." - -Kathleen hung her head; for the first time in her life it seemed wrong -to speak out all her thoughts to her mother. But the hope still lived -on--Carl would some day be found. It helped her to fulfil her father's -parting charge, and try to give the sunshine to Horace and her mother. -The dry heat of May gave place at last to the sultry, oppressive damp of -the rainy season; and Mrs. Desborough began to long for home. - - - - - *CHAPTER IX.* - - _*OLIVER AND HIS UNCLE.*_ - - -When Mr. Desborough returned to fetch his wife and children, he found -his little fairy half a head taller and twice as strong as at the -never-to-be-forgotten singing-lesson the night before he left. - -"Well! and what have you been doing?" he asked, when he found himself -seated once more, with a child on each knee. "Setting traps to catch -the sunbeams to give away, eh, my precious?" he continued. - -"But I think Racy got them all," Kathleen answered. - -"_Via_ Racy is one of the best of roads to reach mamma," smiled her -father, as he stroked her hair fondly, and turned to his boy, who was -clamorously demanding all his attention. - -A game at horses round the white-washed sitting-room assured Mr. -Desborough that Kathleen's traps had not been set in vain. Horace was -riding triumphant on his father's shoulder, shouting at him after the -fashion of the native drivers, in high glee, when the card of an English -gentleman was brought in by Bene Madho. - -Who should it be but the deputy-judge, who was going on circuit, and had -just arrived to hold a "bed of justice," as the natives say, in the -neighbourhood of Nataban. - -"Well set to work, Desborough!" he exclaimed. "Have I followed my bit of -pasteboard too quickly?" - -"No, no," retorted Mr. Desborough warmly. "We are going away to-morrow. -There are rooms enough here to accommodate all for a night." - -"My fellows can sleep anywhere," continued the deputy, chucking Kathleen -under her chin, and pointing to his train of servants, who were -chattering without. "I and my nephew will do our best not to interfere -with the ladies' comfort. Only say the word, and we will make quick -work here, and hurry forward to our next station." - -"Oliver!" - -Mr. Desborough scrambled to his feet, and with Horace still tugging at -his watch-chain, held out his hand to the boy without recognizing him; -but Kathleen knew him again in a moment. - -"Mr. Desborough has forgotten you, my boy," whispered the deputy. "Do -not refresh his memory; it will only revive a painful recollection." - -Oliver nodded; and they all went in together to congratulate Mrs. -Desborough on the improvement in her children. - -When old neighbours meet there is no lack of conversation. The -gentlemen sat long over the dinner, discussing the recent rains, the -present attitude of Russia, and the success of the government schools -for Hindu boys, in which the deputy was greatly interested. Kathleen sat -beside her father, forgetting to eat. At the first movement she glided -round to her mother's chair with a breathless request. - -"May I show my bird to Oliver? and may we go for a walk--a long walk?" -she asked. - -"Certainly, my love, if he wishes," answered Mrs. Desborough. - -Kathleen tripped on. A gentle pull at Oliver's sleeve made him look -round. He was too good-natured to decline the shy invitation. - -Life was very free and easy at the little hill-station. The whitewashed -bungalow was neither inn nor lodging-house, but something between. When -one party went away, there was usually another waiting to take their -place, so that the servants who were stationary there were not -disconcerted by the deputy's arrival. They were laughing and singing as -they hurried about, contriving to make an unusual hubbub, as a sort of -tribute to the dignity of the Stunt Sahib, as they called the deputy. - -Some of the newly-arrived were seated in groups, cross-legged, on the -grass, smoking a friendly pipe with their old acquaintances of a -previous year. Oliver would willingly have lingered to watch them, so he -divided his attentions between them and Kathleen's wonderful bird. - -It was crying so like a child as they drew near its cage, Oliver was -looking about for some squalling baby among the dusky smokers. Then it -changed its note, and imitated the soft musical tinkle of the temple -bell, where Rattam and Aglar went to see the sacrifices to their -idol-gods. Oliver was enchanted. "It beats the parrots hollow!" he -exclaimed. "It is something like a bird." - -"I have not much left to give away," said Kathleen, thinking a little -regretfully of all the toys she had bestowed upon the young princes; -"but I'll give you my beauty mina, if you will take me for a walk, a -very long walk." - -"You!" he repeated in astonishment. "Which way do you want to go?" - -She tripped down the veranda steps, and pointing to the wilder part of -the ground, ran eagerly forward, looking back every now and then to see -if Oliver would follow. - -The ground around the house was partially gardened, but the further they -went the wilder it grew. All path was lost. Arrowroot and ginger plants -sprang up spontaneously. By one of their tall green sheaths, with its -droop of snow-white bells like a magnified Solomon's seal, Kathleen -paused panting until her companion overtook her. - -Off she started again. - -"Is it a jolly game at hare-and-hounds or follow-my-leader that you are -starting?" asked Oliver. "You are not quite right for either. We boys -never played just so. In the first place, you should start fair." - -"It is not play at all," answered Kathleen, slipping her hand into his -and looking up beseechingly. "You do not mind, do you?" - -"Not a bit," he retorted, holding back a mimosa bush to let her pass. -She had led him on to a dangerous spot, where the ground sloped steeply -down to the bottom of a ravine. - -Dark shadows of bushes and plants unknown to him obscured its depths. A -sound of gurgling water met his ear, but the gloom was so profound he -could distinguish nothing. - -"Is not that a place where the wild beasts sleep? Now will you take me -as far down as you can?" asked Kathleen. - -"No," answered Oliver bluntly--"no, indeed; you must be crazy!" - -She drew her hand away, and leaning over the edge of the precipice, -called, "Carl, Carl, are you there?" - -Oliver caught hold of her dress and pulled her back. "You absurd little -creature, you'll slip and fall if you do so!" - -"Oh, never mind that. If I could make him hear me--if I could but make -him hear!" she wailed. "But I am not to talk about the wolves--I'm not -to talk." - -"Yes, you may to me; you may say anything you like to me," interposed -Oliver, resolutely turning her round and walking back towards the house. - -"Do you speak the truth?" asked Kathleen. - -"I tell you what, young lady: I don't admire your ways one bit. If you -had only been a boy, I'd have bowled you over for that in less than a -minute. What do you mean by asking me such a question?" he retorted in -hot indignation. - -"Then I may believe what you tell me, and you said he was alive in the -jungle!" she exclaimed. - -Oliver gave a long-drawn "Oh!" adding slowly, in a considerate tone, -"Yes, I did. I said so because I thought so." - -"And the milkmaid thought so!" she cried. Then for the fiftieth time -she pictured the dusky face, with its rags and beads, and repeated the -soft Indian words until the white walls of the bungalow were once again -in sight. - -"Now we must not talk any more," she exclaimed, "for fear mamma should -hear us. There she is!" - -Oliver looked up, and saw Mrs. Desborough seated on one of the fallen -trees, talking to his uncle. The ayah was taking Horace for his evening -walk. Being new to Indian life, Oliver stared in astonishment at the -strange way in which she carried the child. Instead of taking him in her -arms, as an English nurse would do, she had a nice little soft saddle -strapped round her waist, on which he was riding. Her arm was round -him, to keep him from falling, whilst his own clasped her neck, and his -little feet were kicking her back and front. For Horace was as restless -and fidgety as a young elephant, which every mahout (elephant-driver) -knows never is at peace a single moment. It is always shaking its -flapping ears, or switching its tail, twisting and untwisting its trunk, -or stamping with one or other of its big feet. But the ayah was -patience itself in her untiring devotion to her white baby. - -"Look at that nephew of mine," laughed the deputy. "I shall have to -start him off again to England, for a couple of years at the East India -College, before I put him into harness. But Iffley has taken to him -wonderfully. Now his sister--" - -But Bona's perfections were cut short by a squall from Horace. The -Rana's peon was approaching with renewed invitations to the whole party. - -"We must go," said the deputy, who was bent upon cultivating friendly -intercourse between himself and his dusky neighbours. - -He had won their respect by his uprightness--perhaps even their esteem; -"but to get a step beyond that beats me," he declared. "You must know -as well as I do, Desborough, how these Orientals hedge in their private -life with their ceremonies and formalities, and keep us all at a -distance. Here I have been coaxing them out of their shyness and -reserve for years. What way have I made? One-half the pains I've taken -would have brought these monkeys from the woods around me as tame and -affectionate as the kitten in your veranda at home. Now you ladies have -a chance. The door of the zenana opens to you. That is why I want my -niece. I want her to take her share in the Englishwoman's mission to -her dusky sisters. You will go with us, Mrs. Desborough?" - -"Yes," she replied. "I had intended to do so; but," she added, turning -to Mr. Desborough, "we must take the children with us." The fact was, -she dare not leave them behind. - -"No objection to that, as far as I can see," returned the deputy; and so -it was settled. - -As Oliver was falling asleep that night, he seemed to hear nothing but -the little sister's passionate cry, "Carl, Carl, come back!" How she -had clung to the lingering hope his words had implanted! He almost -wished he had never said them. Did he and Bona love each other like -that? He saw nothing but the fluttering of Kathleen's sash and the -flapping of her broad sun-hat as she rushed before him to the very edge -of the precipice. How she must have longed to get there! and it was -such a dangerous place. Oh the innocence of the thought! The brave, -faithful heart! Yes, that was it. Oliver hated himself for having -spoken those misleading words. "But then I believed it after what old -Gobur had said." - -He tossed and slept, and dreamed of Romulus and Remus, and the old Roman -fable of the she-wolf. When he waked at last, the day was well begun, -and everybody around him was busy preparing for the visit to the Rana's -castle. He wished his schoolbooks had not all been left behind him in -another hemisphere. There was no Roman history to be found in the hill -bungalow, or he would have refreshed his memory about that old-world -tale of the founders of Rome. His uncle thought him unusually moody as -he mounted his little pony and rode after him. It was a glorious -morning. Mrs. Desborough's bearers were chanting gaily. Mr. -Desborough, who rode behind her, turned his head to make some remark -upon the indigo crops to the deputy, who was still descanting about -"that fog-bank which always rises between us and the people of the land, -do what we will." - -Oliver yawned, feeling quite sure beforehand he should detest a fat boy -who ate nothing but butter and sugar, and wouldn't and couldn't run a -race if it were to save his life, whatever his colour might be. He was -thinking of Major Iffley's impatient interruptions, when his uncle -started his favourite topic before him. - -"Let the natives alone, St. Faine. They are the most exclusive set on -earth. It is all labour in vain, I tell you." - -The road by which they reached the Rana's castle was very picturesque, -shaded here and there by grand old forest trees and great clumps of -waving bamboos. The village houses were very low, and their peaked -thatched roofs covered with a climbing plant with melon-like leaves. -Clusters of tamarind trees secured the necessary shade. Two men were -ploughing in a field, and three more were idly watching their work. -Several women were scouring their brass pans; at their feet lay their -babies, cooing or fretting. Some graceful girls were drawing water at -the village well. There was a native musician with his sitar, and a -group of listeners round him, some smoking, and others playing a native -game with little bits of wood. - -They lifted up their eyes and saw the English party approaching. The -women snatched up their infants and ducked under the mats, which serve -for doors to their huts, as if to be seen were to be killed. The girls -by the trickling water under the tamarind trees muffled up their faces -and waddled away as fast as they could. To walk like a goose is a Hindu -girl's desire. The very children, intent upon the manufacture of -dust-pies, jumped up and hid themselves; whilst the men started, gave a -pull at their clothes, pushed the sitar out of sight, threw away their -pipes, and stood in a row, bowing like so many machines, humble, shy, -and mute. - -The deputy's benevolent face wore nothing but smiles; but the poor -creatures had received little but cruelty from the hands of foreigners -for so many generations, they could hardly believe in a stranger's -kindness. The headman of the village had bustled off to put on his -company clothes, which he kept very carefully for state occasions. - -He looked as if he had wrapped himself in a clean sheet; all his dignity -lay in his belt, which had served his grandfather before him. However, -he had found his tongue, as the children say, and came to meet the -deputy with a string of compliments as extravagant as they were -meaningless. Just then the long-drawn, quavering notes of some huge -horns, drawing nearer and nearer, announced the approach of the Rana, -who was coming to meet his visitors. Presently they saw him sweeping -down the castle hill in his bullock-chariot, all brightness and gilding. -Four of his men were holding over his head a huge scarlet umbrella with -long glittering fringes; several more were running by his side. A small -band of horsemen preceded this stately chariot, sounding their big brass -trumpets from time to time; and behind it came a motley procession of -his chief followers and relations. In the midst of them Oliver detected -that fat boy he was so certain he must dislike. - - - - - *CHAPTER X.* - - _*A VISIT TO THE RANA'S CASTLE.*_ - - -The deputy being the chief of the English party, was pressed to take a -seat in the chariot by the Rana's side. Then the runners and the riders -turned their faces, and the long procession wound its way up the castle -hill. All the dogs in the village collected to bark at the heels of the -departing horsemen, and bright little eyes peeped round the corners to -see them go. Then the girls returned to their pitchers, and the men to -their music and play. - -The strong and time-worn castle was all of stone, with rich, deep -balconies and oriel windows. The carving of the stone screens which -protected them was as delicate as point lace. Behind those splendid -screens the ladies of the family were peeping as furtively and shyly as -the village children, and quite as anxious to see without being seen. -All Kathleen's attention was taken up by the dear little gray monkeys, -who were playing at hide-and-seek with each other through the beautiful -tracery. Some noise within sent them off with a scamper. Their leader -called them round him; and Kathleen soon saw them busy as ever in the -court below, turning over stones, and hunting out beetles and scorpions, -which they caught by the tail. The biggest of them was about the size -of a bull-terrier; and their babies were the dearest little sweets in -the world. - -It was slow work defiling one by one across the bridge which spanned the -stream in front of the castle. Mrs. Desborough and the children had -entered the large, untidy court some minutes before Mr. Desborough and -Oliver arrived; so they waited, looking round them at the novel scene. -In the centre of the court there was a large group of horses picketed, -who seemed very much annoyed by the descent of the small gray plagues -from the balcony, who showed no respect for stamping hoofs or kicking -heels. All round the court there were rows of straw-thatched huts and -sheds, where the servants lived, next door to the animals in their -charge. There were lynxes, kept for hunting hares; and splendid spotted -leopards, tamed, and tied to strong posts, each with a leather hood over -its eyes, to keep it from springing unawares. More than a hundred dogs -of different kinds were kennelled in their midst. The yelling and the -barking which arose on all sides so terrified Mrs. Desborough, that she -positively refused to get out of her dandy or suffer Horace to be taken -from her arms, although he roared in concert with all his might; so her -bearers rested in front of the flight of white steps leading to the -porch of the castle. - -A group of servants had gathered round them--looking very haughty in -their clean white dresses and turbans--who were announcing the arrival -of the guests with eager cries. - -When Mr. Desborough's puggaree appeared beneath the gateway arch, one of -the peons stepped forward with his mace in his hand to meet him; and -behind the peon, on the topmost step, stood the guest-receivers of the -Rana--two fat little old men, dressed all in white--bowing low, and -inviting him to enter. - -But no; Mr. Desborough must first of all reassure his terrified wife and -pacify his screaming boy. Oliver thought it only manly to follow his -example, and stepped up to the other dandy, expecting to find Kathleen -in a similar state. The ayah was leaning forward, with her finger on -her lips to enjoin silence, and Kathleen was gazing breathlessly in her -face. - -"Hush!" she whispered, pointing to one of the Rana's men, who stood -staring at Horace, as Mr. Desborough lifted him up, with a scared, -startled look, as if he had seen some marvellous prodigy. - -What was the fellow saying? The ayah knew, and Kathleen more than -guessed. She had been learning Indi from her ayah ever since Rattam's -visit. She understood it better than Oliver; a great deal better than -her mother. She was trying to get out of the dandy in her impatience. - -"Let me go! let me go!" she entreated. "I must go to papa." - -Mr. Desborough was looking round to see if she were all right. He -relinquished Horace to the ayah, and gave his arm to his wife. - -"I'll take care of Kathleen," said Oliver, with the air of a -grandfather. But she tried to escape from him. - -"I must tell papa," she persisted. - -"Nonsense!" he urged; "you can't." - -He led her up the steps resolutely. - -"Which are the Ranee's apartments?" asked Mr. Desborough of the -servants. - -"They are in that direction looking east; but we cannot point them out," -was the deferential reply, with a horrified look, as if to be guilty of -such rudeness as pointing out the window of a lady's room would indeed -have been unparalleled. - -But then they all entertained a private opinion that these English -sahibs were utterly incomprehensible, and on some points downright -lunatics. - -Kathleen turned round, and pointing to the jogie, who still stood -staring after them, she whispered to Oliver, "That is the man. He was -looking at Horace, and he said, 'I saw that child last night come down -the koond on a booraba'--that is a wolf, you know." - -"Is it?" said Oliver, who did not happen to know that booraba was Indi -for "wolf." "Well," he continued, "it is certain he did not see your -brother there." - -"No, not Horace," she cried, clasping her hands passionately; "but could -it--could it be Carl?" - -She was forced to be silent now. They were entering the Rana's hall of -audience, a huge room, thirty feet high, with a gallery at one end, and -at the other a much smaller, narrower room, with carved marble arches -and glittering walls. - -Here they saw the Rana himself, seated upon a large, low sofa, with the -deputy by his side; and Aglar, as still and motionless as a lizard, was -sitting cross-legged at his feet. A few stout old gentlemen, swathed in -costly shawls, looked as if they were propped up against the wall, on -English chairs. They had come to see the sahibs, and the Rana thought -it only complimentary to provide English seats when English visitors -were expected; but his uncles and brothers seemed to find them -singularly uncomfortable. They balanced themselves on the edge of the -chairs, and threw their heads back with great solemnity. But what to do -with their arms seemed the difficulty. One old gentleman stuck his -against his sides, and spread out all his fingers; another was vainly -trying to rest his hands on his knees without leaning forward. - -Horace began to point at them and laugh, and Oliver was nearly as bad, -in spite of his uncle's frown. - -Beneath the marble arches there were long flights of steps leading down -to the gardens, which were overlooked by the back of the zenana, or -ladies' rooms. The carefully-screened balconies looked like one -splendid mass of stone lace. In the centre of the gardens there was an -artificial lake, fed by the mountain stream, where golden fish were -leaping in the sunlight, and stately swans were gliding. Around its -banks, and almost built out into the water, at equal distances, there -were white marble kiosks, or arbours; and high above the stately trees -and luxurious wealth of flowers the jagged red cliffs were frowning. -Mrs. Desborough was lost in admiration as she was pompously conducted -down the snowy steps, across the velvet grass, to a low door leading to -the Ranee's apartments, the ayah following with Horace, riding on his -little saddle, and Kathleen shyly tripping by her side. - -The low door was unfastened, and they entered a dark passage, with an -earthen floor, leading to a long staircase, which was very dirty. The -contrast to the hall of audience was so great, Mrs. Desborough thought -there was some mistake, when out they stepped upon the cool and shadowy -balcony. Little dark heads, with snowy whiskers, came poking through -the interstices of the stone-work, to watch the English children, and -absurd-looking monkey mothers tossed up their babies and jabbered -unceasingly. The folding-doors of the Ranee's sitting-room stood wide -open. Its Eastern loveliness was spoiled by some smart-looking English -tables and looking-glasses, of which the Ranee was very proud. She was -seated upon a velvet cushion, with her little girls by her side, and her -servants standing round her. The Hindu lady looked so stately and calm -and stern, as she surveyed her visitors with a fixed, cold stare, -Kathleen was almost afraid of her. Her long black hair was twisted into -a sort of coronet, fastened by a silver buckle, and set with large -silver bosses. Her fixed and haughty eyes were dark with excessive -brightness. Her proud, curving lips and set white teeth seemed as if -they could scarcely permit the word of welcome to pass between them. A -little girl, as beautiful as her mother, was leaning against her, and on -the other side an elder sister sat with her arm round her mother's -waist, embowered in shawls and her own long, dark, waving curls. They -were still more fascinating children than their brothers. All the force -and fire of the family seemed to have centred in its females. But the -youngest girl hid her face in her mother's lap, and the other only -ventured on a sidelong glance at the strangers--evidently terrified at -Horace, who was manfully kicking at his ayah's waist. The sight of a -splendid doll Mrs. Desborough was unpacking drew the shy little -Orientals from their mother's side. The ayah was interpreter. Whilst -the ladies were admiring each other's children, Kathleen took the doll -on her lap, and showed the little sisters how to dress and undress it. -Then they sent for their own dolls, and displayed the mystery of their -tinselled robes and gossamer veils. Here at least was common ground. -And perhaps those little Hindus loved their dolls even more than -Kathleen did, for they had scarcely any other pleasure in their dull -life; for while their brothers were made so much of by every one, nobody -wanted them. - -The gentlemen remained in the hall of audience, where the cup-filler and -the hookah-filler were in attendance. Oliver had the best of it; for -although he could do nothing but laugh at Rattam, in his -saffron-coloured satin dress, and flowered silk trousers, and his turban -hung round with tigers' teeth set in gold, not to mention his bracelets -and chains, he found him a cleverer boy than himself. They went -together into the Rana's armoury; and whilst Rattam was showing him -swords of fabulous value, from the jewels in their hilts, and helmets of -the strangest shapes imaginable, Oliver decided he was not half a duffer -after all. - -They were entering the room where the Rana kept his clocks; for he had a -perfect passion for clocks, and had accumulated some dozens--French, -Dutch, English, and American, all ticking. Oliver thought this a bit of -a bore. "Couldn't we have a stroll out of doors?" he asked. Rattam -agreed. - -Oliver gave a tug at his own hair. It was a habit of his when he felt -uncertain what to do. But the momentary hesitation passed over. He -turned to Rattam and said, "Do you know that Mr. Desborough lost a child -a month or two ago? it was carried off by a wolf." - -"Ah!" interrupted Rattam. - -"One of your fellows was saying something about a child in the jungle as -we rode into your court. I want to ask him what it was," continued -Oliver. "I'll tell you all about the loss of the poor little thing as -we go along." - -"Leave that to me," replied Rattam, waving his hand with the air of a -prince. "You would scarcely understand the jogie's tale if you heard -it. Our people are very imaginative. It may be nothing but moonshine -and shadow. Leave it to me. Before you quit the castle, all he has to -tell shall be known." - -The boys had broken the ice of ceremony in which their elders were -freezing, and agreeing that it would be cruelty to raise false hopes by -speaking a word too soon to either Mr. or Mrs. Desborough, they parted. -Oliver returned to the hall, to sit in irksome silence, while Rattam -speedily vanished. The old gentlemen by the wall looked as if they were -longing to slip off their chairs on to the floor, and take a rest after -their own fashion. The appearance of the attendants with trays of -sweetmeats was a welcome diversion. - -The five shawl bundles munched contentedly, mumbling a word or two now -and then, when another servant appeared carrying a vase of most -overpowering scent. He made a dart at Mr. Desborough's handkerchief and -deluged it. Oliver's not being quite so handy, he received a dab on the -sleeve of his jacket, where it remained to torment him for many a long -day, by its overpowering perfume, which nothing could get rid of. The -deputy's handkerchief was forthcoming in a moment. Like a prudent man -who knew what he had to expect, he had provided himself with a second; -and when he received it again well saturated, he quietly dropped it on -the floor. Aglar was at play with his ball in the gardens, tossing it -up to the balcony through which his little sisters and Kathleen were -peeping, when Rattam reappeared. - -He was anxious to show the young sahibs the wild beasts in the gardens; -not only Oliver, but Horace also. That unmanageable young gentleman was -clamouring for the ball, which bounded high over Aglar's head; so that -Rattam's proposition was thankfully acceded to by all parties. The boys -visited the dark dens, with their paved floors, well sluiced with water -from the lake, which were built at intervals in the midst of myrtle -bowers and clustering roses, and watched the fierce striped tigers, -growling behind the strong iron bars which enclosed the front of the -dens. - -Rattam drew Oliver aside. "It is a tale of magic," he whispered, "in -which all our people believe, but yours do not. Yet the beebee -Desborough must possess some powerful charms. Think of the breastplate -she gave my brother! A bit of sticky paper, but possessing such -virtue." - -"Bosh!" muttered Oliver. "It was a plaster, wasn't it?" and he laughed -heartily. - -"These charms that I wear," continued Rattam, touching the loops of -tigers' teeth in his turban and the silver chains round his neck, "will -keep me from all evil, unless I destroy their power by some act of my -own." - -"Then," retorted Oliver, "I should call them reminders to do right and -fear no evil." - -"Ah, you English have such different ideas to ours!" said Rattam. "But -I have sent for an old man from the village--a hunter who has roamed the -forests all his life. He knows the footprint of every animal that lives -in them. I will send him into the jungle to see if there is a wild -child about; such things do occasionally happen, as our people know." - -Rattam had been working hard at his English since he brought the fruit -and flowers to Mrs. Desborough, and he was an apt scholar; but he -learned it all from books. As they were speaking, a remarkable old man -entered the gardens, and approached Rattam, bowing to the ground. - - - - - *CHAPTER XI.* - - _*THE FOOTPRINT.*_ - - -"There he is!" said Rattam, waving his hand grandly. "Look at him well. -Did you ever see such eyes? He is Tara Ghur, the oldest shikaree, or -hunter, among the hills, and he does what few beside himself would dare -to do. He goes alone into the forest for days, marking the tracks of -the game, that he may know which way to lead the hunting-parties. He -was ready to start when I sent for him." - -Oliver looked curiously at the wiry figure before him, so unlike the -rest of the Rana's servants. His eyes were light blue, with a piercing -glance and a flash like burnished steel. His cap and waistcloth were a -dull greeny brown, that yet approached to yellow in the sunlight. In -fact, it was so exactly the same hue as the parched and dying leaves in -the drought of summer, that when he was creeping among the bushes he -could scarcely be distinguished from them. He carried a light bamboo -over his shoulder, with a small water-pot slung at one end, and a skin -of atta, or meal, at the other. This was all the food he took with him. -His hunting-knife was in his hand, as if he had been trying its edge, -but he stuck it in his belt and lowered his rusty matchlock to do honour -to the son of his chief. - -"He has the true Tartar eye," continued Rattam, "gifted with a power of -sight that can detect the smallest speck in the distance and recognize -it at once, no matter how far off it is or how queer it looks. He is -never deceived, and we have never known him make a mistake. Now tell -him what you like." - -Oliver did not trust much to his own scant stock of Indi. He caught up -the ball and sent it bounding before him. This, as he expected, set off -Horace running after it, whilst Aglar called out to his bearer to pick -up his "golee." - -Down tumbled Horace. Oliver pulled him up, and taking off his hat, -showed him to the shikaree. The old man surveyed him curiously. - -"Child like this carried off by booraba. Search for any trace of it. -Reward sure," said Oliver, asking Rattam to repeat his words for fear -old Tara should not understand. - -He did so, adding, "Search in the koonds by the ruined temple." - -The old man's keen eye glittered as he salaamed to the very ground. - -Oliver turned round to the fat boy in his silks and satins, and shook -him warmly by the hand until he made the twining, serpent-shaped -bracelets jingle. "We are going to be chums after this," he said. - -"Chums!" repeated Rattam; "what are they?" - -"Friends, if you like it better," retorted Oliver. - -"Friends! ah, that I understand. That is good," replied the young -chieftain, taking Oliver's hand between his own in his Eastern fashion. -Happily for Oliver, no little bag of musk was near to drop into it. He -was perfumed past all endurance already by "that beggar with the -scent-bottle." - -"Now," cried Oliver, "I should like to be off with the old man. I'm -good for a ten-mile walk any day. What say you? Could we be back again -before my uncle starts?" - -Rattam drew himself up with dignity. "It would hardly become me to -walk," he said with emphasis. - -Oliver's impatient shrug was cut short by a summons to the hall of -audience. The deputy was going. It was Rattam's turn to sigh, for he -was as weary of perching on a chaukee, or chair, as Oliver was of the -scent-bottle. He managed to draw up one leg unseen by his tutor. - -Mrs. Desborough was amused to discover the fabulous powers attributed to -her, and soothed the Ranee's disappointment by sketching the three -little girls as they stood together in the flickering light and shade -cast from the fretwork of the balcony. - -But now the word passed round that the sahib was going. A breath of -life entered into the five shawl bundles. Rattam's other foot found its -way to the floor. In walked the two stout gentlemen in white with a tray -of wreaths. Oliver espied the scent-bottle in the back-ground, and -thought about flight. The Rana took up a splendid wreath of weeping -jessamine, with its pure white blossoms trailing loosely over his -outspread arm, and dropped it solemnly over the deputy's head. He, poor -man, was doing his utmost to preserve his gravity, and half succeeded. -But Mr. Desborough's utterly failed when a superb circlet of white and -orange _immortelles_ found its way to his neck. He took refuge in a fit -of coughing, which approached strangulation when he caught sight of -Horace's face. The little fellow was just brought in from the gardens, -and stared with wide-open eyes, literally struck dumb by his father's -absurd appearance. For the five by the wall gravely left their chairs -and followed the Rana's example, until Mr. Desborough's shirt front was -lost to sight beneath the multitude of garlands. - -The band was gathering in the porch, and the pompous peons were waiting. - -"Good-night, gentlemen," said the deputy, shaking hands all round. - -"By your honour's condescension, may your slaves be reserved in health," -replied the five, salaaming to the ground, and they followed him to the -top of the steps, where the Rana was standing. - -The tomtoms and trumpets struck up with a sudden blare as the horses -were led forward. - -Oliver squeezed Rattam's hand as he whispered his last question, "When -will the shikaree get back?" - -"I shall send him to you," answered Rattam; and they parted. - -Mrs. Desborough and the children were already in their dandies, crossing -the bridge, as the horses cantered out of the castle gate sniffing the -cool hill breezes. - -"In pity, free me from this rubbish, boy," sighed the deputy, turning to -his nephew; when he beheld ten coolies running behind them, carrying -between them jars of sweetmeats slung upon bamboos--a parting gift from -the Rana. - -"Uncle," said Oliver in a low voice, "I have something to tell you." - -Whilst Mr. Desborough shunted wreath after wreath into his wife's lap, -shaking himself after each surrender like a dog emerging from the water, -Oliver was explaining to his uncle about Rattam and the shikaree. - -Horace was fast asleep, and Kathleen's eyes were blinking, when they -reached the bungalow. - -"Cheer up, little woman!" whispered Oliver, as he bade her good-night; -"Master Gravity, in his saffron satin, is going to find out what his -fellows have really seen." - -"You shall have my bird!" she exclaimed in her rush of gratitude. - -"Nonsense, you silly little goose! You must not give away a keepsake. -Do you think I am like those dusky beggars on the hill? My hands are -empty enough, ready for work, and I mean to keep them so," retorted -Oliver, stretching them out with intense satisfaction to prove the truth -of his words. - -He did not see her again, for by daybreak the Desboroughs were all _en -route_ for home, sweet home. - -How happy the children were to see the many-gabled roof once more, -embowered as usual in an ever-increasing mass of foliage and flowers, -and replete with joyous life in every corner! The owl still sat in the -entrance of his hole, blinking benevolently at Kathleen and Horace as -they took their first run round the wide, cool veranda hand in hand, -just to see if all the old pets were safe. Kites and hoopoes and blue -jays were screaming and croaking to their hearts' content. - -The ayah called Kathleen to look at her billee, as she called the -kitten, which had grown immensely in their absence. Then she lifted up -Horace to watch the gitchree, or squirrel, leaping from bough to bough -among the garden trees, and to listen to the cooing of the jangalee, or -wood-pigeon. - -The dark faces of the gardener and the bhisti appeared at unexpected -corners, with new treasures they had been saving for the little beebee. - -One had tamed a moongus, a cat-like creature as big as a greyhound, and -excellent for rats and mice, and equally good for cockroaches and many -another insect pest which life in India knows only too much about. - -Its soft gray coat and arching back, and all its amusing ways, won a -smile from mamma as it ran about the house, sniffing at every new thing, -and examining every hole and corner with the greatest curiosity. -Finally, it set to work with teeth and claw, and dug itself a -subterranean retreat by the door-step, where it could munch its dinner -undisturbed by the liberties of its many neighbours. It was so clean, -mamma had not a word to say against it. So with that and Kathleen's -mina, who was trusted to leave his cage whenever he liked, the children -had plenty of amusement, and the first few days at home sped rapidly -away. - -One evening, when they were returning from their walk, Kathleen with -Sailor by her side, and a coolie holding an umbrella over them both, -they were hailed by Oliver, who was driving in his uncle's boondee (a -hooded gig drawn by two oxen) to the gates of the indigo factory. A -long train of native carts, creaking under their load of indigo pulp, -were waiting to enter. One ghareewan, or carter, had brought a rumour -that a fair child had been seen by some hunters in the jungle. The tale -had passed from lip to lip, until it had reached Mr. Desborough, who was -pacing his office floor in unwonted agitation. - -Oliver sprang out of the chaise and made his way through the press with -most unusual energy for India. He entered the labyrinth of -straw-thatched sheds, passed the great crushing-mill, which a party of -half-dressed men were treading, and got splashed by the dark-blue stream -issuing from it. Never mind; on he pressed, inquiring for the sahib. -He was almost deafened by the hissing and sputtering of the steam from -the huge boiling vat, when he became aware that on all sides the men -were rushing from their work, and pointing to a dark reddish cloud that -had suddenly appeared in the north. - -He could not tell in the least what all this uproar could mean, so he -tried to edge his way through the crowd of hideous blue figures who were -gesticulating and screaming at their loudest. Then they began to snatch -up the stones around them, which they poised in their hands as if -prepared to hurl them at the skies. Oliver thought of a riot, and was -thankful to perceive Mr. Desborough himself step out from one of the -numerous sheds and glance hurriedly around. Just then a stick struck -Oliver on the head. He looked round; a second was thrown at him. The -men had not sent it, for it came from an opposite direction. He glanced -upwards; another was hurled at his back. He did not like that at all. -In spite of the agitation visible in Mr. Desborough's manner, he began -to laugh as Oliver tried to run from his unseen persecutors, and pointed -to the roof of a great shed out of which the busy workers were rushing -pell-mell. Oliver looked up, and saw a troop of black-faced monkeys, -big fellows three or four feet high, clambering over it. They caught -his eye at last, and then the shower was renewed in earnest. He saw -their switching tails and grinning teeth. And oh, the chattering and -jabbering from five-and-twenty monkeys in a passion was something very -tremendous indeed! Oliver gathered up a handful of the sticks which -were showered around him, and shied them back again. - -"Stop, stop, my lad!" shouted Mr. Desborough. "Throwing at monkeys will -not do. Come in here." - -Oliver darted into the counting-house, fully believing the riot he had -been anticipating among the men was already in full swing among the -monkeys. - -"They are hunimans, my boy, the most sacred of all the monkey tribe. -Had you hurt one of them you might have paid for it with your life. -Timid and peaceable as my men appear, they would have mobbed you in a -moment," exclaimed Mr. Desborough. - -"Peaceable!" repeated Oliver; "why, they are yelling like furies." - -"Oh, they are watching the locusts. Can't you see them coming?" replied -Mr. Desborough, pointing to the rapidly-moving cloud, which seemed -extending itself in every direction, darkening the air as it came. - -"Strange," said the boy; "but I have something here for you that is -stranger still." - -As he was speaking Oliver unpacked a lump of clayey earth, and showed it -to him with an elation he could scarcely conceal. - -"Look at that, Mr. Desborough. Do you see those marks? What are they?" -he demanded breathlessly. "The print of a child's foot," he added, after -a momentary pause. "The most sagacious hunter among the hills dug it up -two nights ago at the entrance of the koond by the ruined temple. It is -proof positive that a wild child is wandering in the jungle. Can it be -your lost little one?" - -The father's hand trembled as he held up the lump of earth to the -fast-decreasing light. - -"Send for Iffley!" he exclaimed. - -"He is waiting for you, Mr. Desborough--waiting at my uncle's with the -wonderful old man who dug up the footprint. We have gathered the most -experienced beaters and trackers from the villages round. By the time we -reach my uncle's bungalow he will have everything ready to beat the -koond." - -Mr. Desborough waited to hear no more. He was already striding across -the open space between the sheds towards his home. Oliver hurried after -him. The sky above them was darkened by a fluttering host of beating -wings. Look which way they would, the air was thick with locusts, -appearing like dark-red spots in the increasing gloom, but white as -snowflakes where the sunlight still lingered. - -The fearful hullaballoo the factory-workers were making to prevent the -locusts settling down was caught up and redoubled by every ghareewan at -the factory gate. The living cloud that now completely overhung the -place was slowly and surely descending. - -Up went the shower of stones, forcing it to rise some feet into the air -and flutter further. - -The men knew well if the locusts were once permitted to settle, not a -green leaf would be left in the village, and the sahib's garden would -become a barren waste before sunrise. - -The exceeding singularity of the sight, which held Mrs. Desborough -spell-bound on her veranda, was altogether lost upon her husband, who -saw nothing but his children slowly returning from their evening stroll, -like all the rest of the world, gazing upwards. Oliver alone cast a -wary eye at the monkeys, who, having given the young stranger notice to -quit in their most peremptory fashion, were making off again to rob the -nearest fruit-shop whilst its owner stood gazing at the wondrous insect -army hovering in mid-air. - -Mr. Desborough snatched his boy from under the ayah's arm, pulled off -his shoes and socks, and bade him stamp his feet with all his might on -the garden bed. - -Mrs. Desborough called out in horror, for she thought some one of the -myriad insects in earth or air would be sure to dart a fiery sting into -the pretty "pink, five-beaded sole." - -Determined to spare her the burning suspense which Mr. Desborough was -telling himself was sure to end in the bitterest disappointment, he -would not let Oliver enter the compound. - -"Iffley has sent for me," was all the explanation he volunteered as he -seized the gardener's spade, and dug up the clod upon which Horace had -been stamping. He dared not tell her more, for he saw too plainly her -grief for the missing little one was sapping her life. Any sudden shock -and a spasm at the heart might snatch her from him in a moment. - - - - - *CHAPTER XII.* - - _*BEATING THE KOOND.*_ - - -As the boondee, with its two Mysore oxen, came in sight, Major Iffley, -who had been watching for it at the gate of the deputy's compound, rode -out to meet it. - -"Come, old boy," he said to Mr. Desborough; "we are only waiting for -you. Marching orders have been out an hour or more. Come in and change -your coat. No use going on an errand like ours in any colour but -dead-leaf brown. St. Faine has got one waiting for you. Only be quick, -for the brutes have not yet left their lair, and we have a four-mile -ride to reach it." - -Out sprung Mr. Desborough. Dare he put so much faith in a few faint -marks on a crumbling clod? Yet he was the first in the saddle as the -hunting-train set forth from Runnangore. A most singular sight awaited -them. As they looked down into the valleys they saw them filled with -fluttering wings, and every mountain height encircled by its reddish -cloud. All locusts, and nothing but locusts. Vultures and kites flew -about in great disorder. A cold breeze from the hills told of the -probability of a coming storm. In sheltered places the oppression in -the air was awful. The locusts called off the attention of the men, but -they also concealed them from the keen, bright eyes that were waking up -with thoughts of evening prey. - -As they drew nearer the hills, the ground became so rough and broken the -horses began to stumble. There was nothing for it but to dismount, leave -the horses with the grooms, and proceed on foot. Tara Ghur, the old -hunter with the wonderful Tartar eye, took the lead. On, on they crept -in perfect silence, until they perceived the sheen of a pool of water -sparkling at their feet. It lay at the base of a projecting spur of -rock, and was overlooked by the picturesque ruins of a native temple. -It was small, and overgrown with tall tropical weeds. The flight of -steps to the temple court was half buried in mud. The white pillars of -the colonnade which surrounded it were still unbroken, but the dome -above the shrine had fallen in. Yew and cypress flourished on the spot -where Hindu suppliants were used to bring their offerings to Mata Devee, -the dreaded goddess of destruction. - -How strange Oliver felt it to be living in a land where idols abound! -One by one they climbed the broken stair, and gathering round the -prostrate figure of the fallen idol, arranged their plan. From this -ascent they looked down upon the sombre depths of the rugged koond. -Round the shoulder of the hill, on the other side, was the entrance to a -similar gorge. Tara Ghur led them towards the one in which he had dug up -the footprint. He sent the jogies forward one after the other, like a -living ladder, until they reached the topmost height of the precipice at -the back of the koond. - -Another division, who were to act as scouts, climbed the trees, some of -them warily venturing further and further into the leafy abyss, leaping -like monkeys from bough to bough. - -Mr. Desborough, the deputy, and the major took up their position where -the opening was the narrowest, so that no living thing hiding within the -darkest recesses could rush out unseen. Mr. Desborough and the deputy -were on one side; the major, Oliver, and the old shikaree on the other. -The space between them was scarcely more than fifty yards across. Old -Tara had marked the trees commanding the surest outlook. Mr. Desborough -was the first to mount to his post of observation. The hunter handed -him up his loaded gun. - -"No, no," said the father; "no firing." - -"No firing!" repeated the major. "Then how do you expect to recover the -child from a pack of raging wolves? Face the truth like a man, -Desborough. If your boy is alive in this jungle, some wolf has adopted -him, and it will guard that child with all the affectionate fidelity of -a noble-hearted dog." - -"Ah! but you need the true, clear eye and unerring hand of a William -Tell. Not one of us possesses them. No, no; I dare not suffer a single -shot to be fired," answered the father desperately. - -"Well," interposed the deputy soothingly, "nothing of the sort may be -necessary. We are not yet sure this child, if child there be, is yours. -Trust us, we have come to save it, not to hurt it. Still, I say, we -must rescue it at all risks." - -"Time, sahib, time presses," urged the shikaree. - -They climbed into their appointed places. The deputy and Mr. Desborough -on their side commanded the better view. Then the jogies began their -work at the back of the koond, hurling down fragments of rock and -stones, striking and crashing among the trees, beating tomtoms and -howling with all their might. The terrific row they made was repeated -by the hollow echoes from the opposite side of the winding gorge, and -was enough to scare even bears and tigers from their sleep. - -The shouts redoubled. A tiny white flag, waving on the top of a long -bamboo, fluttered above the tree-tops. It was the signal from the -jogies on the heights. Something had been viewed. All the father's life -seemed centring in his eye and ear. The cry of the jackals was -beginning. The scream of the owls was echoed back from the temple -ruins, where the bats were wheeling in endless circles. Then up rose -the moon, flooding the temple hill with its silvery radiance, and giving -an exaggerated profundity to the depths of the ravine. The pool, or -jheel, below the overhanging rock shone like a burnished shield. In the -open ground between, which the beasts must cross as they were driven out -of the koond, any object could be clearly seen. Then the scouts who -were posted in the trees by the sides, each with his matchlock, blazed -away with powder only, to prevent any of the beasts rushing up the -steep, and turn them back towards the watchers by the entrance. There -was a crashing and heaving in the thick underwood. A tiger showed and -hid again in the jow. - -Oliver's heart gave a great bound. Oh no, it was not fear! But he felt -the presence of danger, and his cheek grew pale with excitement. Not a -shot was fired; not a sound escaped them. There must be nothing to -intimidate the other inmates of the koond which might be following. The -dead silence was broken only by the tiger's grunting. Did it scent its -foes in the trees around? It did what nothing but a tiger could ever -do--sent its innocent young cub before it into the danger. What a -contrast between the tiger and the wolf! But for once the unsuspecting -young one did not fall a sacrifice to its mother's selfishness. It ran -towards the water, crouching in the moonje grass which tigers love so -well. Another furious onslaught from the jogies, and the mother flashed -past like lightning, rearing up and roaring as it plunged into the -jheel. The scouts came down from the trees and began to talk. They -were half afraid the tiger was the only game that would show that night. -Should they move on to the second koond to seek for the wolves? Then -Tara Ghur bade all be still. His ear detected a movement in the -distance--a tremor among the leaves, which no one else would have -perceived. The scouts changed their places, flying back to the trees, -and blazed away as before. - -They were near to that korinda bush, but they did not know it. The -tiger had started, and the patriarch of the wolves gave tongue from the -other koond. - -Mr. Desborough turned away from the darkness of the koond to watch the -gaunt, lean, savage forms that were gathering on the moonlit ground to -follow the track of the tiger. A movement in the tangle around escaped -him. But Tara Ghur was aware of it. Oliver saw him bend forward, and -his eye was quick to follow the hunter's. Tara knew that something was -coming along the track where he dug up the footprint. - -That footprint! The father was thinking of it. The trace was so slight, -yet it was exactly like Horace's. His heart was sickening with -suspense. Were they on a wrong scent, after all? thought the major, when -out leaped the family from the korinda, with answering cries to the -leader of the pack, who was rushing down the slope. The appalling howls -of his following, as they gathered from brake and bush, might have -chilled the stoutest heart. No child was there. The tall grass bent -and swayed about the tree; then a small white form bounded from the -midst of it like a kangaroo, but the old gray wolf was beside it. - -Shouts from opposite sides of the ravine gave warning that something had -been sighted. The small white thing dropped in the towering grass. A -gun was fired. It was Major Iffley's. The wolf had pounced upon her -nursling. The gun was loaded with small shot for the purpose. The -major fired along the ground. The wolf received the charge in her -shoulder. They could see her clawing the earth as she felt the pain, -and then dropped down as if she were dead in the tufted grass. They -could hear the screams of the terrified child. - -"Carl! Carl!" Mr. Desborough called in coaxing tones of fatherly -endearment, which rose to command as he met with no reply. The scouts -were darting from point to point, as far as ground and jungle permitted. -The three friends sprang down from the trees, only charging Oliver to -stay were he was. They loaded their guns with ball, and advanced -cautiously to within a yard or so of the giant grass tuft. They -stationed themselves at even distances, that whichever way the wolf -leaped out they might be ready to shoot him sideways through the head, -so that the ball should not enter the tuft of grass. Their first object -was to rouse the wolf and make it show. They trusted that terror would -prevent the child leaving the shelter in which it lay concealed. - -Tara Ghur had broken off a tall branch from the tree in which he had -remained, and creeping along one of its mighty arms, peered down into -the grass, but could see nothing. He stirred it up with the broken -branch, but roused nothing except a screaming pea-hen. - -He leaped to the ground. "The wolf is gone!" - -"But the child--the child!" gasped Mr. Desborough, laying down his gun -and forcing his way into the tangled mass. No child was there. The -wolf had doubled upon them so swiftly and so stealthily, it seemed as if -the ground had opened to swallow it up. The scouts jumped down from -their trees, and all separated, taking different paths, to try and find -which way the wolf had gone,--all but the old shikaree and Oliver, who -was still aloft. Mr. Desborough was foremost; he no longer waited for -the hunter's guidance. Yes, he had seen his child. He believed now it -was his fair-haired boy. He had seen him and lost him again. The -thought was madness. The major, gun in hand, kept close beside him. - -Tara Ghur, who seemed, like the owl, to possess the power of seeing in -the dark, was tracing the way the wolf had come, not the path by which -it had fled from them. - -Oliver, beginning to be afraid of being left behind in so wild a spot, -climbed down again and followed the hunter, who was the last to leave -it. The sailor-boy had climbed so high into his tree, thinking to gain -a more commanding view, that he had not seen all that was taking place -at its foot. Having first met Oliver in the company of the Rana's son, -old Tara Ghur regarded him with something of the devotion and respect he -felt for his native chief. He knew the boy was safest by his side, and -invited him by gesture to follow. So the two crept on through the -pathless wild no foot but theirs had ever penetrated. - -If Oliver had found it hard work forcing his way with Gobur through the -grass clump by the river, it was nothing to the task before him now. -There were sudden drops into unseen nullahs, or watercourses, and a -dangerous climb in the darkness up the steep bank, facing rolling stones -from the jagged heights above. Now and again their only course was to -climb the trees, and swing themselves from bough to bough. But through -it all the hunter traced out the path of the wolf with an unerring -dexterity that was perfectly marvellous to Oliver, tracking its course -to the sweeping boughs of the deserted korinda bush. - -The bones about the gray wolf's home were gnawed and dry. It was -evident the hungry mother had suppered her young family on snails and -field-mice; and she must have gone far afield for these, for the -hunting-grounds about the hairy nest had been clearing fast of late. -Old Tara tried to explain his purpose, but Oliver did not half -understand. He could only watch what the hunter was doing, and second -his efforts whenever he could. - -"Child been here, sahib!" exclaimed Tara Ghur suddenly, after carefully -groping round and round the well-made lair. - -But their object was to capture, not to kill, and Oliver began to wonder -more and more how this could ever be effected. - -The shikaree paused in perplexity. He had passed his life among the -wildest fastnesses of the district. He had watched the ways of the -living creatures who lorded it there. He had studied the tastes, -habits, and disposition of every creature in the forest. He was well -aware the wolves would draw to their lair with the return of day, and -prepared to watch the night out by the korinda bush. Then a sudden -thought seemed to strike him. He sprang up and began anew to examine -the ground around the path the wolf had chosen. A deep hole, the burrow -of some wild animal, gave him intense satisfaction. He heaved aside the -decaying arm of a tree which had fallen across it. Oliver came to his -help, and adding his strength to that of the wiry hunter, they dislodged -it altogether, and laid the burrow open. - -Oliver saw that it was a dangerous pitfall, and wondered what was to be -done with it. - -Tara leaped down and began to enlarge it with the hunting-knife he -carried in his belt. Then he tore off a huge piece of bark from a -neighbouring tree, and pulled up a shrub by the roots. With this -impromptu shovel and broom he set himself to clear out the loose earth -and stones which had collected in the bottom of the hole. - -Oliver meanwhile was keeping guard over the shikaree's skin of meal and -the earthen pot, which on this particular occasion did not contain -water. What it did contain he could not imagine, for the edge was -sticky in the extreme. Before the moon began to wane the burrow was -enlarged to a good-sized pit. The shikaree grew exultant. He beckoned -to Oliver to follow him, and the two wandered about among the trees -until they found some giant leaves of a bauhinia creeper. - -They stripped the stem as far as they could reach, and returned with -their load of leaves to the edge of the pit. - -The shikaree spread them on the ground before it. Then he smeared them -over with the contents of his jar. - -"What is it?" thought Oliver--"bird lime?" - -Then he saw what the clever old man was about--making a wolf-trap. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIII.* - - _*CAUGHT IN A TRAP.*_ - - -Whilst Oliver and the old shikaree were working hard in the moonlight, -Mr. Desborough and his friends were in hot pursuit of the flying wolves. - -The major, who was the keenest sportsman of the three, gave it as his -opinion that their wisest course was to keep the pack in sight. The -wolf with the child was rushing from its covert in answer to the -patriarch's call, and would be sure to join the others sooner or later. - -Up came some of the jogies, breathless and panting, to declare they had -heard the cry of the child far up the hill, toward the temple ruins. If -so, the wolf must have been retreating to the second koond, on the other -side of the hill. The deputy, who was anxious to pick up his nephew, -turned back to beat it with another party of the jogies, who were -examining the tracks about the jheel. - -"Mind you beat up stream," shouted the major, as he sprang into his -saddle, prepared to give chase to the wolves. - -They came up with the pack at the head of a valley, where they were -picking the bones of a spotted deer some tiger had brought down. But no -child was among them. In a country so full of cover it was impossible -to say where the little fugitive might be hiding. So they posted -chakoos, or lookouts, all about, to give instantaneous notice if -anything showed. - -In the gray of the dawn, disheartened and weary, the friends drew -together once again. Hunting-flasks were taken out, and counsel held in -the weed-grown court of the temple. - -"Our hour is coming," said the major cheerily. "Wait until the day is -well up, and we shall find the child asleep under one of these bushes. -Now for some lure to make it show. We must beat them all." - -"And frighten him into idiocy, if his dawning sense has not been scared -away already! He knew me no longer," exclaimed Mr. Desborough. - -"Surely he would recognize his mother's voice," put in the deputy. - -"I dare not risk the torture of suspense like this for her; but we might -have Kathleen. If he remembers anything, it would be Kathleen," -answered Mr. Desborough. - -"Send for her at once without alarming Mrs. Desborough," said the -deputy, taking out his pocket-book; and scribbling a note to his niece, -he despatched his syce with it to Runnangore. - -At a very early hour, Bona's dandy appeared once more at the gate of the -compound at Noak-holly. - -"I have come in the cool of the morning," she said, "to fetch your -little girl to spend the day at Runnangore. You must not refuse her to -me, dear Mrs. Desborough, for Mr. Desborough wishes her to accept my -invitation." - -But Kathleen did not much like Bona, and did not want to go, until Bona -whispered, "Hush! not a word; but come you must. They are searching for -Carl in the jungle." - -Oh how tedious it seemed to wait until the little beebee was bathed and -dressed! - -In the meanwhile Oliver was nodding in his tree, waiting for the -shikaree's signal. The old man was listening for the faintest sound. -Not a quiver in the bush below escaped him; not the beat of a weary wing -as the night-birds drew to their haunts; not a tremble in the grass at -his feet, where the children of the day were awaking. - -The wind changed with the daybreak, and the wary hunter changed his -position with it. He swung himself from tree to tree, leaving no -footprint on the ground that the keen scent of the wolf might detect. -Avoiding the trees where the branches grew low to the ground, he -stationed the boy at a far greater distance than before. Again they -watched and waited. A few sharp, trotting steps went by, and a dhole -sprang from the thicket. - -"Bear," murmured Tara, as the creature turned aggressive, and dashing -out with a rush upon the wild dog, charged him fiercely. - -In the noise of their scuffle other sounds were lost. But the flap of -the vulture's wing, the scream of the kite, and the hoarse gobble-gobble -of the still more numerous turkey-buzzards grew more and more distinct -as the red light of morning painted the eastern sky. - -The sun arose, and the furry tyrants of the midnight fled before it. -The tiger was slumbering in the moonje grass he loves so well; the -spotted leopard chose out his favourite tree, uprising from the thickest -underwood, and coiled himself up for his mid-day rest; the bear trotted -off to his den behind the fallen rock; the spotted deer roamed freely; -and the peacocks, with which the jungle abounded, spread their glorious -tails in the sunlight. - -Then Tara Ghur descended his tree, and signing to Oliver to follow, -stealthily approached the pit. - -The large leaves of the bauhinia creeper and the pranes tree, a kind of -sycamore, with which he had carpeted the path of the wolf, had been -trampled down and displaced. Some had altogether vanished. The old -man's eyes were flashing with their steeliest blue as he felt success -was sure. - -Avoiding the remnants of the bird-lime leaves, which were strewn about -in all directions, he led his young companion to the other edge of the -pit. Something had been caught. The sombre gloom around, the perpetual -twilight which reigned all day in those deep recesses, prevented him -from telling what it was. It seemed like blanket, not hair, that was -covering a dark heap in the corner, besmeared with many a leaf. There -was more than one denizen of the pit. How he smiled as he was bending -over it! Oliver was watching a foolish hare, which came with a light -bound across the treacherous pathway. As its feet touched a -well-smeared pranes leaf, they were set fast, and not all its frantic -endeavours could free itself. It rolled over and over, lifting the leaf -high into the air, as far as its paws could reach. It bit it -frantically; lips and paw were glued together. It struggled harder -still to regain its liberty, until it became a rolling ball of dirt and -leaves, every movement bringing it nearer and nearer to the sloping edge -of the pit, into which it must have fallen if Oliver had not caught it -in his arms and set it free. - -The hunter recalled his attention. A faint sound was audible, like the -feeble fret of a weary child. Oliver's cap went high into the air. Tara -reminded him of the necessity for silence by laying his finger on his -lips. Then he took the hunting-knife from his belt and felt its edge. - -Oliver's eyes were growing more accustomed to the all-pervading gloom, -and he began to see more clearly. He leaned over the edge of the pit. -There was the wolf crouching in one corner, and a shapeless bundle in -the other. Many a treacherous leaf was sticking fast about the shaggy -coat, and one hind leg was evidently broken by its fall. Was that a -bundle of leaves it was cuddling between its fore paws, and washing so -lovingly despite its pain? - -"Child found--found!" whispered the old man triumphantly, as he returned -his knife to his belt and began to descend. - -Swift as lightning the young sailor-boy slid down before him. He -guessed the hunter's purpose. He saw the gleam of the sharpened blade, -and seized the old man's arm. - -"No, no; don't kill the wolf!" he entreated. - -"Maro! maro!" shrieked a voice behind them, and a woman's face peeped -out of the dirty blanket. The jewels round her neck shone like stars in -the darkness. "Maro!" she reiterated. - -"Maro." Oliver knew that word--"Kill it." The old shikaree was -muttering the same. But Oliver only grasped his arm the tighter. -"Should we be harder-hearted than a wolf?" he urged. "What are we, if -we reward the generosity that spared the victim in her very teeth, with -the knife?" - -Tara Ghur looked at him in astonishment. "But the mighty lords that are -coming will make it eat their bullets," he answered under his breath. - -Oliver knew he was arguing with a man who bent the knee to hideous idols -without number. Yet he was a man, and deep down in his heart the law of -God was written, "Do as you would be done by"--a law that is never quite -obliterated in any human breast, however persistently disobeyed. -Although of another race, Tara had learned something of the Hindu -tenderness for animal life, and he listened when Oliver still went on: -"You have caught the wolf so cleverly, Tara. If there is not another -hunter in all the hills that could do it, I am sure that you can get the -child away without killing the wolf, if you will only try. I want it -for Rattam," he added. The last argument was all-prevailing. The knife -went back into the old man's belt. They looked around. Their first -endeavour was to reassure the unfortunate woman. - -She was crossing to Nataban, and had lost her way in the jungle, where -she had been wandering about all night. Her feet slipped on the -bird-lime, and she fell, as the wolf had fallen, into the hunter's trap, -where she was forced to remain huddled up in her blanket, expecting -every moment the brute would turn and devour her. But deliverance had -come with the morning. Her gratitude knew no bounds. Oliver scrambled -out of the pit, and gave her a hand from above, while Tara lifted her up -on his shoulder; and so between them they dragged her back to the -daylight, if daylight it might be called. - -The dirty blanket was dropped in the pit, and the Thibetan woman stood -before them in her necklaces and rags. Oliver had not forgotten little -Kathleen and the mountain milkmaid. Could those three strings of beads -belong to any one else? But he dared not stay to question. He left her -seated and trembling on the root of a tree, and leaped down into the pit -again. The wolf was blinded by the birdlime, but she had heard their -voices. Like all wolves when caught in a pit, she was completely cowed. -Instead of offering the least resistance, she stretched herself at the -bottom of the pit, as if she were dead, with her fore paws over her -nursling, hiding him all she could. - -The hunter, who knew what wolves will do under such circumstances, -guessed it was only pretence. She could not get out of the pit herself; -and he had known wolves artful enough to let him drag them out, without -showing the slightest sign of life, and when he had left them lying on -the ground, believing they were dead, they would suddenly start up and -run away. - -Tara Ghur explained this to Oliver as well as he could, assuring him in -this state she would submit to be handled. It was clear she had not -attempted to touch the woman. Under any other circumstances she would -have torn her to pieces. - -The boy's heart gave a great leap of joy. He saw a baby's foot -twitching between the outstretched paws. Old Tara saw it too. He took -from the bosom of his loose brown vest, which is the Hindu's pocket, a -coil of rope, and was tying a slip noose at one end, when Oliver guessed -his purpose. In another moment the noose would have been round the gray -wolf's throat. Oliver knew the old man was only doing his duty to those -who had employed him to find the child and destroy the wolf, but he -could not bear to see him kill the noble-hearted creature with the child -in her paws--the child she had spared and cherished and guarded from -unimaginable perils all those months! "We must, we ought to spare her in -our turn," he cried, pushing back the noose as far as her jaw. "We will -muzzle her; that's enough." - -But the collar to fix the muzzle was wanting. Oliver was wearing -knickerbockers and a loose brown blouse, belted round his waist. He -tore off his belt and slipped the buckle down: there was the collar they -wanted. Whilst Tara still held the ends of the rope, securing the -wolf's mouth, Oliver slipped his belt under her chin, and buckled it -firmly at the back of her neck. Then they drew the two ends of the rope -over her forehead and knotted them to the belt, and the wolf was -securely muzzled. With the end of the rope which he still held Tara -pulled her backwards, and Oliver snatched up the child, all sticky with -the bird-lime, and covered with the dust and dirt in which it had been -rolled; but its limbs were warm and strong, for it resisted his attempts -to hold it. He was by far the stronger of the two, but the struggle -might rouse the wolf to animation. Oliver slipped two fingers into his -pocket, which he was in the habit of filling from the Rana's jars, and -pushed a bit of the beautiful sweetmeats with which they were filled -into the tiny mouth. The little creature, so long a stranger to the -taste of sugar, sucked its lips with pleasure. It must have been -hungry. He fed it with all he had, until Tara came and took it from him -to carry it out of the pit. Oliver watched him scramble to the top with -the child in his arms, but he did not follow when he saw them safely on -the bank. There was something else he wanted to do. He was not going -to leave the wolf down there, with a broken leg, to perish slowly from -hunger and thirst: that would be cruelty indeed. He stood a while -considering the broken limb. - -"Sahib! sahib!" called the hunter. Oliver's plan was made; so he -grasped the dusky hand which was stretched out to him, and clambered up. - -The ragged woman had taken the child in her arms, and was trying to rub -off some of the dirt which covered it with the corner of her chuddar, -the loose garment the Hindu women wear. Her own had once been pink, but -had now lost all trace of its original colour. - -What child had they found? Was it black or white? Who could answer the -question in its state of dirt in that dim twilight? Had it been so long -with the wolves that it had learned their ways, or had it become dumb -with terror? No sound came from its lips but a low fret. - -Old Tara drew his fingers over its shock of matted hair and parted its -toes; but its shape was enough for him--it was no Hindu. Not one white -spot was to be seen about it. No matter; the old man was confident he -had found the lost one. - -They were now at the very head of the koond, far away from the rest of -their party, who were vainly beating the bushes about the sloping ground -below the temple. The long night-watch had made them hungry. Tara -looked about for a breakfast for his companions. The chasm which -divided the koond had changed to a rushing torrent during the rains, and -he searched along its banks for the nest of the black goose. - -Date-trees, which abound in every part of Bengal, were not far to seek. -He quickly wove himself a basket of leaves, and brought back his spoil -in triumph. He found Oliver cutting up a strip of bark with his -penknife, talking to the woman as best he could. - -He had discovered that her name was Kopatree. She had been tending cows -among the hills. A buffalo had attacked them; she fled for her life, -and lost her way. If they could only guide her back to the road or to -the village by the Rana's castle, she could find her way. - -"Have you been working at the sanitarium high up on the hills?" asked -Oliver. - -"Yes; before the rains began." She remembered the weeping beebee, and -her distress for the lost one. - -All agreed it would not be safe to take the long walk through the jungle -towards the ruined temple, as the child might set up screaming any -moment, and bring the wolf's mate upon them, with the whole pack at his -heels. No; they must steal away while the wolves were well settled in -their mid-day sleep. Better climb the rocks under which they were -resting, and seek hospitality at the Rana's castle. - -When this decision was reached, Oliver slid down into the pit, with his -strips of bark in his pocket. He had no scruple about appropriating the -dirty blanket, resolving to buy its luckless owner a better in -Noak-holly bazaar. - -His father's sailors had so often brought back some strange pet from -foreign parts, to amuse them on their homeward voyage, that he was not -so afraid of touching the wolf as many boys would have been. Once they -had had a lion cub, and twice a bear, so that he had had a little -training as a menagerie-keeper. He tore off a strip of the blanket, and -knelt down, with his little bundle of splints by his side, and set the -poor broken leg as well as he was able, keeping the splints in place -with his blanket-bandages. This done, he clambered out of the pit with -the end of the rope in his hand, and tethered the wolf to the nearest -tree, for the rope uncoiled to a considerable length. - -Tara Ghur was impatient to be gone, for he knew that a storm was -impending, was stealing over them, with the growing heat of the day. -Suddenly in a moment the mighty trees of the forest swayed hither and -thither, bowing their giant heads as a furious gust of wind swept -through their leafy arcades; and he knew it was time to be gone. - -Making prize of the remainder of the dirty blanket, he slung the child -to his back. The bag of atta and the pot of bird-lime were left behind -under a heap of stones. The old man led them by a path the wild goats -had made. As they began to climb the steep ascent, he grasped Oliver by -one hand, Kopatree seized the other, and so between them they almost -carried him along, until the topmost height was reached. - - - - - *CHAPTER XIV.* - - _*THE HOMEWARD ROAD.*_ - - -The old hunter's forethought was apparent now; for the child at his back -began to howl most dismally as poor little Carl became aware that he was -being carried away from his forest home. Oliver's sweetmeats were -exhausted, and words, entreaties, and caresses were lavished on him in -vain. - -Through his wonderful power of observation, and the experiences of his -adventurous life, old Tara knew as accurately as any scientific -professor how surely sound descends. Ah, what if the wolves should -awaken! - -He knew the whole pack were sleeping in the dark shadows of the gorge -where he had found the child, and he knew also that nothing makes a wild -beast so angry as being wakened from its mid-day sleep. Carly's wild -howl grew louder and louder--it might bring death upon them all--and -nothing would still it. - -But for the sudden breeze which had tempered the air, Oliver would have -dropped with the noonday heat. As it was, he found it almost impossible -to keep up with his companions. His thirst was becoming unbearable, -when Tara espied in the distance one of the water-sheds which are built -all over the sides of the hills where there is water. The little party -made their way towards it, grateful for the refreshing shade its roof -afforded. In the shed there was a range of stone troughs, filled from -the running stream by which it was built; and round these troughs were a -row of pipes, some made of reeds and some from hollow trees. It was a -curious sight to see them spouting out water with a gentle, trickling -fall. A native hill-man had brought up his oxen to drink, and whilst -they slaked their thirst, he was smoking his pipe in the cool, damp -shelter. Two women were filling their pitchers, and after the fashion -of hill-mothers, they had laid their babies to sleep under the -water-spouts. The Thibetan caught sight of the little black faces -sleeping so peacefully, and ran to place their howling burden beside -them. She laid little Carl down, with his head within a few inches of a -spouting reed. The effect was instantaneous. The eyes and mouth closed -slowly, and the child fell into a profound, sweet sleep, which she knew -would last as long as they left him under the spout. - -Tara Ghur was talking to the herdsman, who lent him his pipe. Oliver -begged a draught of water from one of the women's pitchers, and washed -his face and hands at one of the many rills that were flowing so -prettily around him. He was thinking that Bona would consider herself a -queen in the plainest of the necklaces worn by the ragged and dirty -creature before him. He was wondering whether it would be safe to leave -her with the sleeping child whilst he went on with the shikaree to the -Rana's castle. - -But no; he decided Mr. and Mrs. Desborough would never forgive him if he -lost sight of their scarcely recovered treasure. No; he must wait until -Carl was so soundly asleep that they could take him up and carry him -away without waking him. - -"Rest, sahib," urged the hunter, pointing to the trickling reeds. - -Hungry as he was, Oliver laid himself down, intending to watch, not to -sleep. But the heat and the drowsy influences of the gentle shower-bath -overcame the boy, and he was soon as fast asleep as the child. After his -night's adventures in the forest, the sensation was most delightful. -Care and fear seemed to vanish, and his dreams transported him to the -beauties of fairy-land. The horned heads of the oxen came alarmingly -near, but they did not disturb the blissful tranquillity in which he -lay, as if he were spell-bound. - -Tara's hand upon his shoulder roused him at last. He heard the faint, -low musical tinkle of a distant bell from the idol-temple, where the -Rana worshipped his monkey-headed divinity; where he took his young sons -to be sprinkled with consecrated water, and have their limbs touched -with all imaginable substances, until Rattam was thoroughly cross. He -was crosser than usual this morning, being bored out with the tedious -childish ceremonies which he had had to sit through in stately silence. - -It was delightful to receive a message from a native woman, as he came -out of the temple, to tell him the hunter had returned, and was waiting -with the young sahib at the water-shed. - -When the shikaree touched Oliver on the shoulder, the milk-white ass, -the gold-fringed umbrella, and the crowd of dusky attendants were -advancing with Rattam across the intervening plateau. - -"What does my brother in so mean a place," he asked, "when tiffin waits -him in our castle-hall?" - -Oliver stretched himself and rubbed his eyes, not at once remembering -all that had happened. Then recollection came back, and he sprang to -his feet, pointing to the sleeping child, and gave Rattam's hand a -hearty Yorkshire grip. - -The girlish young Oriental smiled, although he felt as if his fingers -would all be out of joint: and pointing to a led ass behind him, signed -to Oliver to mount. - -The Thibetan had hid herself in the shed. But Rattam would not come -near poor Carl. "He will bite," he said warningly, and his attendants -shared in his belief. Not one of them dared touch Carl. - -"Give him to me," shouted Oliver; for it was easy to see the Thibetan -was growing fearful by contagion. - -Oliver tumbled into the saddle. The hunter gently lifted up the child -and laid it across his knees. A running syce led the ass, and another -carried an umbrella over it, shading Oliver and his novel burden from -the dazzling sun. Rattam rode beside him. - -Tara Ghur came up, bending to the very ground before them. He was -anxious to be the first to carry the good news to the search-party below -the koond. He was thinking of his well-earned reward, and he did not -want another messenger to share it. So they bade him go. - -Rattam called to his attendants to halt under the leafy arches of a -banyan tree, that they might watch Tara leaping down into the koond, -springing from bough to bough, as if food and sleep were luxuries, to be -enjoyed in leisure hours alone. Then Oliver blamed his sleepy head that -he had not spoken again about the wolf. - -"O Rattam," he urged, "you have one empty den in the corner of your -lovely gardens; will you have it there? Think of the love that could -transform a wolf! You should have seen its face as I did, when we first -looked down into the pit. It made me feel there is nothing in the world -so beautiful as love--nothing so strong. And when we had got the child -away, I could not bear to let Tara hurt the wolf. The same God who made -us made it. God is love. Does not he care for the whole world around, -for everything he has made? How will he look on the cruelty of leaving -the noble brute to perish in the pit?--and I've done that." - -"Forget it," said Rattam; "remember only you have rescued the child." - -Oliver hugged the sleeping bundle of life in his arms. "Oh, don't -mistake me!" he said passionately. "But now we have got him away, it is -such cruelty to leave the wolf tied as I have tied it. Surely you must -see it is. And I have let the hunter go." - -Perhaps Rattam did not see just what Oliver desired he should; but the -young idolater was struck by his companion's earnestness. With all a -Hindu's reluctance to take the life of the animals around him, he had no -care for the cruelty of leaving the wolf to perish; yet, like a flash in -the darkness, a sense of the difference between him and the English boy -was stirring in his heart. - -"It is too much like striking a fallen foe," urged Oliver, as they -resumed their journey. - -"Nay," returned Rattam; "I accept the gift: the wolf is mine. There is -my father." - -The Rana in his everyday dress of ordinary white cotton could only be -distinguished from the headman of his village by the silver ring on his -finger and the fineness of the shawl about his waist. He was driving -back from the village when he encountered his son. - -Meanwhile the old shikaree had raised the signal of success agreed upon. -He had sent up a tall column of smoke whilst Oliver slept, by setting -fire to a patch of grass. The nearest scout had seen and repeated it. -The tiny flags on the long bamboos which his companions carried had -waved the good news from the jagged cliffs across the temple ruins, from -point to point along the broken ground, until it reached the father's -ears. - -The boys glanced round, and saw the wearied jogies swarming up the steep -ascent above the koond, towards the slip of table-land on the verge of -the forest behind the Rana's castle. - -Foremost of all came Mr. Desborough up the precipitous path, until the -footing for the well-trained mule he rode became too precarious. Then -he sprang to the ground, flung the bridle to his syce, and hurried along -on foot. The two friends following copied his example. - -Rattam and Oliver turned back to meet them; then they perceived the old -shikaree running before them as their guide. His tattered garments were -so exactly the colour of the waving grass and scattered bushes through -which he was leading them, that he looked more like some huge -grasshopper than a living man. - -They saw him pointing to the castle wall and gesticulating frantically -in all the pride of his hardly-earned success, counting on the moment -when he should lay the rescued little one in its father's arms. Then far -down behind the lingerers of the scattered party they heard the echo of -the dandy-wallahs' song. Despite the stubborn temper of the thing he -was riding, Oliver did manage to press forward, and lifting up the -sleepy child, he held it conspicuously before him. Of course he waked -up Carl, and the howling wail again began. - -Was ever any sound so grateful to Mr. Desborough's straining ears? - -"There, there; listen!" he exclaimed, as he cleared the ground between -them and came up panting. - -"Here is the child, Mr. Desborough!" cried Oliver. "Now tell us, is he -yours?" - -"Turned nurse, my boy?" laughed the major. - -Oliver answered with a shrug and a grimace, growing ridiculous, as he -felt their task was accomplished. - -Mr. Desborough sat down with the child on a lichen-covered stone. Where -were the clear blue eyes? Gummed up.--Where was the soft fair hair? A -shock of dirt. - -The child snapped savagely at the hand that was fondling him, and -renewed his wail. - -"Take care," said Rattam. "I warned you it would be dangerous," backing -his ass as he spoke. - -"Quiet!" The single word fell from the major's lips in the stern tones -of military command. The howl ceased, and the child lay passive in Mr. -Desborough's arms. They soon found out how well it had learned the -all-important lesson of obedience in the wild wolf's nest. - -"A good scrub would be an improvement, I am thinking," remarked the -deputy, with more drollery in the corner of his eye than Oliver had -imagined him to possess. - -The whole party were gathering now. They drew together under the banyan -tree. In its grateful shadow there was room for all; for its arching -branches had struck root as they touched the ground, forming a -succession of leafy cloisters, until a grove had grown from a single -tree. The overwhelming thankfulness in Mr. Desborough's heart lay far -too deep for words as he looked the child well over, and felt it was his -own--his Carl. - -There were laughter and rejoicing all around him; but his brow was grave -with the depth of his gratitude when the dandy-wallahs came up. As -Kathleen peeped from her swinging carriage, she saw but one face, and -that was her father's. - -What did it mean? - -He looked up and smiled at her. His eye was off the child just for one -moment. Carl sprang into the air with a bound, leaping off like a frog -to the tufted grass. Everybody ran--even Rattam. But Kathleen and her -bearers faced him. They set the dandy on the ground, and ran round and -round, scaring the queer little creature back, but not daring to touch -him. Kathleen, peeping through the curtains of her dandy, saw it all. -The great love that was throbbing in her childish heart shut out every -thought of fear. The strange wild thing gave another leap. She tumbled -out of the dandy, and as it touched the grass, with hands outspread, she -caught it in her arms. The thing seemed nothing better than a human -frog, with half-blind eyes and champing teeth. Save where the leaves -clung to it, as if they had been glued, the little figure was completely -naked and covered with slimy dirt. What did it matter? she loved him -the more. - -"You will have hard work to get the child home in safety yet," said -Major Iffley; "you will have to secure it somehow. Borrow a cummer-band -and swathe it round and round like a mummy." - -"No bad thought," added the deputy; "something must be done." - -Mr. Desborough was kneeling by his children. Before the major had -finished speaking, an elderly bearer in Rattam's train, who looked as if -he had huddled himself into a clean sheet to attend his young chieftain -at the temple service, threw off this additional covering at a sign from -his master and laid it at the sahib's feet. - -"Put it round us both, papa," said Kathleen, "and then Carl won't mind -it." Mr. Desborough thought the sunbeam she had been trying to entrap -had made its home in the happy eyes uplifted so pleadingly to his. "He -will be good with me, papa; he always was," she added. - -The deputy was searching in his niece's dandy. Yes; Bona had understood -all his hasty directions. At the back of the cushions there was the -store of cakes, sufficiently English-looking to delight a child. "Here, -Oliver," he said; "feed it." - -"It." The word jarred on Kathleen's ears. "It is not it," she -persisted indignantly; "it is my pretty Carl." - -Mr. Desborough took the cake from Oliver's hand and fed Carl himself. - -The cake was devoured; and whilst he filled the hungry mouth, the major -passed the long length of calico quickly round Carl's neck, enveloping -arms and feet, until the wild little harlequin was reduced to a great -white ball, at least in appearance. How fast the cakes were vanishing! - -"O Bona!" muttered Oliver, too proud to take the share he was longing -for, "she might have sent us more." - -No one but Rattam heard the low-voiced grumble. - -"Sahib," he said, "my father awaits you," waving his hand in the -direction of the castle wall. - -But home was the word. "Yes, home," repeated Mr. Desborough--"home to -his mother." - -"Try a tub first," suggested the major. - -Rattam was speaking to his shikaree. - -"You have done my bidding, and you have done it well," he said like a -prince. "Now bring me home the wolf you have caught. Bring it home -alive to the vacant den in the castle gardens." - -Tara Ghur salaamed before his chieftain till the dust rose up in a cloud -between them. Oliver grasped the hand of his dusky friend once more. -How was it he was always feeling Rattam more of a man than himself, or -far too much of a girl? - -Now that poor little Carl was made safe, so that he could not hurt any -one, Rattam alighted, and drew nearer to the group on the grass. - -"Talk to Carly again, Kathleen," Mr. Desborough was saying; "I believe -he knows you. But you must not kiss him until I tell you it is safe," -he added quickly, as she threw her arms around her long-lost brother. - -Kathleen paused, and looked up in her father's face, bewildered for a -moment. - -"Then I will not do it, papa. I'll never forget again to mind what you -say." - -The hand which had snatched her back patted her fondly on the cheek, and -the bitter pain which Kathleen had felt so long vanished altogether as -her father answered,-- - -"Yes: I can trust you now, and I am going to trust you to take Carl -home, my darling." - -He put them both into the dandy, and drew the curtains closely round, so -that nothing could be seen by the children. Bona's great bag of cakes -was on Kathleen's lap, and her father showed her how to give Carl a bite -without letting her fingers go near enough to his teeth to be in danger -of an angry snap. - -Mr. Desborough had left himself a peep-hole, so that his eye was never -off his children for a moment as he walked by the side of the dandy. -Had ever father such a journey before? - -"Now, Kathy," he said cheerily, "you can do what no one else can do: you -can make Carly listen. See how his eyes follow yours! Try and waken up -his old love; you were with him to the last. Think of all that he was -fond of in his nursery days; no one knows but you." - -"Sahib! sahib!" entreated the coolies round, "no trust it with the -little beebee--no trust it; grow angry, tear and bite." - -Even the major and the deputy looked on doubtfully. They had known -Kathleen only as a little wilful, heedless thing; but now they saw the -better, higher nature in the child, expanding through the sorrow and the -joy she had felt so deeply,--just as young plants grow and blossom when -sunshine follows rain. - -"I should think myself a happy man, Desborough, if I had such another -fairy to call me father," observed the major, as they listened to -Kathleen's cooing voice as she chattered on. - -"O Carly, don't you know your own, own sissy? Now eat this, you dear, -and Kath will give you plenty more, all so nice. There, there!" - -"That sahib would blow the conch shell for a daughter," remarked Rattam -thoughtfully. "I remember how our people blew it loudly for joy when -Aglar was born; but when my little sister Deodee came, they all began to -sigh and lament. I really think it would be well for us if that were -changed." - -"Then change it all you can," retorted Oliver. "Some day you and I will -be men. But you need not wait for that; you are a brother now." - -Rattam went home with a shadow on his brow, and a hunger in his heart -for better things. We know of the promise that such hunger shall be -satisfied at last; but Rattam knew only the favourite Hindu saying, "As -it has always been, so it always will be," which fell like a wet blanket -on his new-born wish to try. Yet that one day had not been lived in -vain. - - - - - *CHAPTER XV.* - - _*A LITTLE SAVAGE.*_ - - -As the search-party were descending the hills, the Thibetan peeped out -from the water-shed. The sheen of her resplendent jewels caught Oliver's -eye, so he sent his uncle's syce to persuade her to go with them to the -Beebee Desborough, who knew her. She was mourning over her lost cows, -which she feared some of the wandering robber tribes would drive away if -they found them straying. They all wore necklets of red cloth, she -said, which she had sewn with cowries in patterns. - -Oliver was counting up his money, to see if he could buy her a cow, when -one of the jogies declared he had seen them rush out from the jungle -when they were beating the second koond. He was certain she would find -them roaming amidst the bushes below the ruins. So on she went, for the -vultures and kites were sweeping round and round in great disorder--a -sure presage of the approach of the storm Tara Ghur had predicted. A -gust of cold wind swept down from the highest peaks, driving before it a -dark and whirling cloud, which covered the travellers with a thick pall -of dust. - -They groped their way, afraid to linger in the dangerous neighbourhood -of the koonds, and still more afraid of losing each other. - -Major Iffley rode about, looking up the stragglers; and making the men -close round the dandy, they marched on. A brooding silence filled the -air, only broken at intervals by the vulture's scream or the beat of -retreating wings. Mr. Desborough parted the curtains of the dandy and -felt about, to assure himself both children were safe. Carl waked with -the darkness, and began to howl--the same wild howl which had frightened -the old shikaree in the morning. He was not there now to point out its -danger. But the Thibetan put her hand to her ear again and again as she -listened. Was there an answer from the distant koond? - -"Do you hear anything?" asked Oliver, as the first returning gleam of -light showed them the gate of Mr. Desborough's compound. They had -reached his home, and might have passed it unawares, so great was the -darkness of the coming storm. The trees in his garden bent their proud -heads, and swayed from side to side like jungle grass as the rain came -down at last in a mighty torrent. There was just light enough to -distinguish the white columns of the veranda through the open gate. -There was a general rush to shelter, for in those brief moments the -carriage drive had become a rushing river. The gleam of the lighted -lamps in Mr. Desborough's hall cast a glow of welcome on the sodden -curtains of the dandy. Mr. Desborough made his men carry it right -through the folding doors, and set it down on the middle of the floor, -whilst he carefully closed them behind it. Major Iffley had divined his -intention, and was already shutting every other door which opened into -the hall. Oliver and his uncle were both shut out, and groped their way -to the dining-room window, where Bona was standing watching the storm. - -"You here!" they both exclaimed in surprise, as she opened it to let -them in. - -"Why, yes," she hesitated. "I grew so impatient I came across to see if -you had got home. Have you found anything?" - -"Yes, yes!" they reiterated, as Mrs. Desborough herself appeared behind -her. - -"Where is Kathleen?" she asked, looking beyond the deputy--whom she -failed to recognize in the gloom of the storm--to the dripping coolies. -The men were crowding in the veranda, rubbing their wet feet and -wringing the water from their calico garments. - -In the hubble-bubble of the many tongues she failed to understand -anything. - -"Kathleen is all right," said Bona quickly. "I told you she was with -her father." - -"Calm your anxiety, my dear Mrs. Desborough," began the deputy, with a -seriousness which he intended should prepare the way; but it only -startled her. - -"What does all this mean?" she asked, looking from one to the other. - -"It means--well, it means--" and the deputy coughed to gain time.--"Just -see, Oliver," he added aside. - -"Bother it!" muttered the boy; "I can't open this door." - -Bona hastened to his help; but they pushed against it in vain. - -Mrs. Desborough, always apprehensive since Carl was lost, was growing -desperate. "Where is Kathleen?" she reiterated. - -"Call her," suggested the coughing deputy to his nephew. - -"Kathleen!" shouted Oliver. "Do come to your mother." - -"Are the doors all shut?" demanded Mr. Desborough in return. - -"Yes, yes!" echoed a chorus of voices as Mr. Desborough walked in, -carrying what seemed to his wife to be nothing but a big bundle of -calico. - -Kathleen flew to her side. Mrs. Desborough caught hold of her by both -hands. - -"Do not look at me, mamma; look at what we've found," said Kathleen -excitedly. - -"A child," continued Mr. Desborough, speaking as quietly as he could. -"Come and look, my dear." - -A flash of lightning lit up the darkened room for one brief moment, and -left it blacker than before. - -"Bring lights," said Mr. Desborough. - -"Yes; and order in the roast-joint, for this poor lad has scarcely -tasted food all day," put in Major Iffley, laying his hand on Oliver's -shoulder. "Besides," he added in a low aside, "nothing will be so -attractive to that young animal as the savoury smell of the roast. I -speak advisedly." - -"Let us have our dinner, my dear," said Mr. Desborough, turning to Mrs. -Desborough as she bent over the bundle in his arms. - -The lights quickly appeared, followed by the ayah with sponge, soap, and -towel. - -He took the sponge from her hand, and gently washed the queer little -face that was hiding itself from the light under his arm. He turned -Carl slowly round towards Mrs. Desborough. But no amount of dirt, no -scars, no scratches, could hide the truth from his mother. She clasped -him to her, exclaiming, "It is ours--our own--our Carl!" - -"Can it be possible?" cried Bona. - -"With God all things are possible," said the deputy reverently. How -Kathleen listened! The servants were hurrying in with the steaming -dishes of roast-meat, game and fowl. The cloth had been laid an hour -ago, awaiting the return of the gentlemen. There was little to do, but -they made that little long in their eagerness to catch sight of the lost -and found. At last they were all dismissed, and the doors made fast. - -"Now, Iffley," said Mr. Desborough; and they began to unwind the length -of calico with which poor Carly had been fettered. Between them they -got him at last into a clean pinafore of Horace's which the ayah had -brought. - -Then his mother took him on her lap; but how to hold him was the -difficulty. He wriggled and twisted himself into all sorts of -contortions. He had struck with shoes and socks, and would have none of -them, and began his fearful howl once more. - -"Quiet!" said Mr. Desborough, in a quick, decisive tone; and the noise -was hushed in a moment. But the light was obviously painful to Carl. -He put up his hands, flickering his fingers before his eyes. - -"He will howl again," said the major, "if we all stand looking at him." - -"Give him a bone," suggested Oliver, who was going in for a good feed, a -little quicker and faster than etiquette allowed; but a day's starvation -is no joke, and everybody told him to help himself, and he was just -doing it. - -Carl slid down from his mother's lap and sat under the table sucking his -bone contentedly. Presently he gave a rough, hoarse cry that sounded -very much like "More." It was his first attempt to speak. The wing of -chicken on Kathleen's plate was in his other hand in a moment. - -"We are getting on," said the major, looking down at the two small heads -beneath the table, whilst the deputy was explaining to Mrs. Desborough -where and how they had found her child. It was a never-to-be-forgotten -hour: the storm was raging without, thankfulness and wonder reigned -within. - -Oliver grew eloquent as he described the amazing sagacity of Rattam's -old hunter. It was happiness now to look back and see how slender was -the thread on which the poor child's fate had depended, and how -singularly it had been preserved in the midst of unheard-of perils. -Mrs. Desborough's eyes were welling over as she thought of her long-lost -darling, in the midst of the wild beasts in a trackless koond, yet fed -and cherished! How? - -By the mercy of our heavenly Father, as she truly said, in the fervour -of her mother's love. But she did not see the way in which the -wonderful escape had been brought about. She knew nothing of the double -nature in the wolf; and they told her it was safe in Rattam's cage. -That there was any danger yet for her child, from the very love of the -wolves, never crossed her mind; how could it? - -She had enough to think about. Her child was at her feet, but it had -forgotten its home. She saw it, estranged and wild. - -"Call him by his name," said Mr. Desborough. "Call him Carl every time -you give him anything to eat, and he will remember his name; if not, he -will soon learn it afresh. We must 'gentle' him, as the grooms say, my -dear. Never fear; we shall bring him round." - -Carl had taken the wing of the chicken Kathleen had brought him, and -laid his other bone on the floor. Kathleen still sat on the carpet by -his side, with a patience she had never shown to any one before. He had -even rubbed his head against her shoulder, when the moongus, which had -been asleep in one corner of the room, aroused, and seeing an inviting -bone, stole up to it for a taste. Carl flew at it in savage fury, -tearing and raging. The scuffle which ensued before the two were parted -filled Mrs. Desborough with many fears for Horace, who was happily in -bed and asleep before his brother was brought home. But to the surprise -of every one present, when Mr. Desborough made his voice heard above the -din of the combatants, Carl was silent in a moment, and dropped back on -the floor in instantaneous obedience. After a little while he came -creeping to his father's feet. Oh, it was piteous to see him so, and -yet it was hopeful. - -Kathleen, who was trembling all over, put her moongus out of the room, -and ran back with her lap full of playthings. She had brought Carl's -own old drum that he used to be so fond of, and his horse and cart, and -a new steam-engine he had never seen. "Perhaps," she thought, "he may -remember these. They were his favourites; and Racy always loves my -engine." She set it running on the floor before Carl's feet. The major -lifted up his corner of the tablecloth, that he might watch the -proceedings. Carl gave one of his frog-like leaps, pounced on the -swiftly-moving toy, and snapped it in two with a cry of delight. - -"Never mind, dear," said Mrs. Desborough, turning to Kathleen. - -"Mind, mamma!" repeated Kathleen desperately; "can I ever mind anything -he does, when I know that all this happened because I meddled with the -blind? You told me never to touch it, and all my crying would not undo -the mischief. Carl is better than I am, mamma, for he has minded every -word papa has spoken." - -"This comforts me, Kathleen, more than anything else," answered her -mother fondly. "Always to obey is the one great lesson for every child -to learn, and it cannot be learned too early. It is the -foundation-stone of all that is good in after life--a young child's -safeguard and its shield. If you both are careful to obey, we shall -soon bring Carly round, and all be happy again." - -Kathleen hung her head in her self-reproachful shame. She did not see -the joy in her mother's eyes; for there is no joy so dear to a mother's -heart as the joy of seeing her children try to overcome their faults, -and turn to all that is right and good. - -No one else understood the whispered conversation; they were all intent -on Carl. Oliver took up the drum and beat a jolly tune. - -Suddenly Carl sprang up and listened. Yes, there was a tiny creeping -sound. It was only the lizard from behind the picture-frame that hung -over the sideboard coming out for its crumbs, which Kathleen gathered -for it every day after dinner. It was a pretty rose-pink creature, with -a sharply-pointed tail and bead-like eyes. It had grown so tame it ran -between the plates, helping itself as it liked. - -"Tic-tickee!" cried Carl, calling it by the Hindu name his ayah had -taught him, and grabbing at it with both his hands. - -Strange that he should remember the lizard, when everything else was -forgotten! Had he played with the lizards in the forest? Oh, horror! -he was going to eat it. Bona nearly screamed. In her heart she was -almost as afraid of him as the Hindu servants, and was thankful when the -deputy talked of going, for the storm was over. - -"If you want us, Desborough," said Major Iffley, "we are not so very far -away. But you will tame your young savage all the better when you are -alone." - -They were careful even in the moment of departure not to leave a door -ajar, for fear little Carl should try to rush out. - -"Come and look at him to-morrow," replied Mr. Desborough, "when a warm -bath and his mother's scissors have had their turn." - -"Leave the shoes and socks for a day or two--that is my advice," laughed -the deputy as he rode away, splashing through the flood that still -surrounded the compound. - -The horse which had been found for Oliver was tired with its day's hard -work, and would not keep pace with his uncle's and Bona's. As he lagged -behind he heard a cow lowing in the moonlight. He thought of the -Thibetan when he saw the horned head drinking at the stream which -drained the road. He rode up to it, looking for the scarlet necklet she -had described. - -There it was, embroidered all over with tiny shells in a most fanciful -pattern. Laughing heartily to think of so much ingenuity being wasted -on a cow, he drove it before him into the gates of Runnangore, glad to -have recovered one of the scattered herd for their luckless owner. He -was sure that Mr. Desborough would look after her; but he meant to take -her a new blanket all the same. - - - - - *CHAPTER XVI.* - - _*THE CONCLUSION.*_ - - -The sunrise found Old Gray Legs roaming through the koond in search of -his missing mate, whilst the half-grown wolflings sat howling by the -korinda bush until the sun was high. The time for sleep had come. They -laid themselves down, but not to rest. The most adventurous of them all -had his ear on the ground listening. It heard Old Gray Legs give tongue -as he found himself at last on the track of his mate. Out they all -rushed, scattering themselves over bush and boulder to join him. They -were scenting the ground as they ran, and one of them alighted on the -path which Carl had taken with his furry protector. Once on the scent of -his lost playfellow, the keen young wolf pursued him through all its -windings to the pit, which it had just light enough to avoid, then up to -the heights, and back to the very gate of Mr. Desborough's compound, -where it lay crouching among the ferns. - -The native servants were at their usual work. Bene Madho was returning -from the bazaar, with one or two of the coolies carrying home his -purchases. The dandy-bearers, who went into the patches of jungle to cut -grass for the horses every day, were coming back with their bundles on -their heads. The Thibetan was with them. She had gone out hoping to -see something of her straying cattle. Oliver, too, had risen early. He -wanted to tell her to come over to Runnangore and claim her cow. In -spite of her rags and her losses she was a rich woman. She had only to -sell a few of her beads to buy a new herd. Bona would gladly become -their purchaser, so he made this a reason for presenting himself at the -gate of Noak-holly by five o'clock in the morning. He did not expect to -see either Mr. or Mrs. Desborough at such an hour, but he thought he -might inquire of the servants how the night had gone. - -In truth, it had gone queerly enough behind the nursery purdah, where -both father and mother had been working at their precious little savage -with sponge, soap, and towel. The cutting of his hair was terrible, -and, worse than all, the cutting of his nails, which had grown into -veritable claws. The poor wee child, so long a stranger to bath or -hair-brush, hated both. If his father had not been there to hold him, -it would not have been possible to wash him clean from Tara's bird-lime. -Painful as the tedious process must have been, he was singularly -obedient. He seemed to like nothing so well as coiling himself round on -his mother's lap. But to get him to sleep was an impossibility. Oh how -his father longed for the lulling influences of the water-shed on the -hills! Carl was continually racing after the toads and spiders, making -all sorts of strange noises, feeling his way about the darkened room, -and howling at each unfamiliar sound. But morning dawned, and he began -to yawn and blink in the growing light. Suddenly he gave one of his -frog-like leaps, parting the chintz curtains of the purdah with his -head, and peeping into the veranda. Mr. Desborough was nodding; but -mamma was close beside her boy, wondering what he would do next. The -servants were all astir, and the gate was locked, so she let him take -his first look round by daylight. - -Another bound and he was over the veranda railing into the garden, where -he coiled himself round in the middle of a bed of mignonnette, and -settled for sleep at last. - -"Better not disturb him," thought Mrs. Desborough. "After so many months -in the woods he could not sleep indoors." - -So she opened a large white sunshade over his head, and sat down under -an acacia tree to watch his slumbers. - -Mr. Desborough was sleeping too, having had no rest for two whole -nights. She could not bear to wake him, so she called up Kathleen. It -was early; but the early morning in India is delightful. The ayah -brought her, and returned to Horace, who had not yet seen his brother. - -Swarms of young frogs had appeared in the veranda after last night's -storm. The bhisti was gathering them up, sweeping them into a pail to -carry away and put them somewhere outside the compound. Kathleen amused -herself with watching the round, red insects which covered the grass, -looking as if, instead of a hailstorm, there had been a shower of red -velvet buttons, the rain had brought them out in such numbers. The -gardener was hoeing within call. - -"Yes," thought Mrs. Desborough; "all safe at home. All danger over -now." Yet she could not take her eyes off the little sleeper in the -mignonnette. - -"When he awakens," she said to Kathleen, "we will let him see Horace at -play in the veranda. I fear they have forgotten each other; but they -are twins, and the old love will revive. It will be safer to have the -veranda railing between them at first. Racy is so trying, and if Carl -grew cross he might fly at his brother as he did at your moongus. We -will put the old red reins on Carl, so that he cannot leap away -unawares. Being with Racy will bring Carl round sooner than anything -else, if it is but safe to let them be together." - -Whilst Mrs. Desborough was speaking the men came in with their bundles -of grass. As the gate opened, in rushed the wolf with a cry. Up flew -Carl with a bound of delight to meet it. They tumbled on the grass -together in a tumult of ecstasy. Mrs. Desborough's first thought was to -lift up Kathleen into the acacia under which they were sitting, while -she shrieked for help. At the sound of her voice and of the running -feet hurrying towards her from every direction, the wolf stopped in its -gambols, seized Carl in its mouth, and was dragging him away. They were -nearly at the gate. - -"Come back, Carl! Carl, come back!" cried Kathleen from the acacia -boughs. - -Mr. Desborough ran out with his gun. He was levelling it to take deadly -aim, when he perceived the close embrace with which Carl was clinging to -the wolf, and lowered it in despair. - -"Shut the gate!" he shouted. - -Oliver and the Thibetan rushed into the garden. - -Mrs. Desborough saw Carl turn his head at the sound of his sister's -voice, and she repeated the call in her desperation. His name rang loud -and clear above the clamour the servants were raising in their usual -fashion. Carl came as a well-trained dog obeys his master, and, O -horror! the young wolf with him. She showered the cakes she had brought -with her across the grass towards him. Oliver snatched a pitchfork from -one of the grass-cutters and ran; but the Thibetan, who was the nearest, -seized the wolf by the hind legs and held it fast. Oliver put the -arching tines of the pitchfork over its neck like a collar, and drove -the points into the ground until its head was fixed but not hurt, and he -leaned on the handle with all his strength to keep it there. Oh for -Tara Ghur! but the old shikaree was far away, rejoicing in his -well-deserved and ample reward. Was there nobody to help? - -"Hold hard!" shouted Mr. Desborough, as he rushed up white and resolute -to pull the child away. But Carl clung passionately to his furry -playfellow. The wolf had ceased to struggle, but it held his pinafore in -a grip of iron. - -Mr. Desborough tore the thin muslin in two, and forced the child -backwards. Mrs. Desborough was close beside him. She pushed the -sweetest cake she had into Carl's mouth to try to divert his attention. -He threw it to the wolf as he struggled to free himself from his -father's arm. - -"Booraba no hurt child," said the Thibetan, who had watched the wolf and -the child all night in the shikaree's pit. "Young booraba like its -bahee [brother]. Hurt it, and child hate you all its life. Cage it, -child stop, feed booraba; no run away from each other." - -There was so much sense in what she urged so earnestly, Mr. Desborough -was afraid to disregard it. He looked around him, not knowing what to do -for the best. Then he shouted to the grass-cutters to fetch the iron -hurdles which divided the paddock behind the garden. They ran across, -pulled them up, and flung them over the hedge of roses. - -Meanwhile Bene Madho had fetched old Gobur to the sahib's assistance. -Mrs. Desborough had taken off Kathleen's sash and knotted it round -Carl's waist, so that she could hold him whilst Mr. Desborough fixed the -hurdles firmly in the grass. - -Gobur came up with another pitchfork and put it over the wolf's hind -legs, fixing them to the ground, as Oliver had fixed its head, to -release the courageous Thibetan. It was a trying moment for Oliver when -Mr. Desborough put down the fourth hurdle and shut him in with the wolf -and Gobur. It was a tremendous effort to hold the wolf down, and he was -getting exhausted. - -Mr. Desborough saw this, and leaving his men to make a threefold fence -round the wolf, he leaned over the hurdle and took the handle of the -pitchfork from him. The boldest of the syces followed his example, and -released Gobur. It was a moment of intense relief to Mrs. Desborough -when she saw them both safely outside. The Thibetan was helping her to -control Carl, who was struggling to get free. Five or six men were -driving in the hurdles as fast as they could, and in the noise of their -hammering Mrs. Desborough could no longer make herself heard. - -By Mr. Desborough's orders every hurdle on the place was brought, until -a perfect pyramid of iron was piled over the prostrate wolf. After the -three-fold fence a row of hurdles were set endways between the lines, -slanting inwards, and over these another tier was laid to form a roof, -and another and another, crossing each other in every direction. Before -the last corners were shut in the pitchforks were slowly withdrawn, and -young Fawnie was left unhurt to examine the iron house which had been -built over him. - -One hurdle at the top was so placed that it could be withdrawn a little -way, like a window-shutter. Gobur climbed up and let down a pail of -water. - -All the while the men were at work, Carl and the wolfling were crying to -each other. - -The wolfling was not yet six months old, and had not learned to be so -wary as its mother. Yet it was strangely quieted when it found itself a -prisoner. Not so Carl: he stamped, and sobbed, and kicked in an agony of -distress, because he was shut out. - -"Give him his liberty," said Mr. Desborough. "Let him run up to it if -he likes." - -Carl flew to the hurdles and tried to push between their rails, whilst -Fawnie, as Oliver called the wolfling, worked at them from the inside. -But the iron walls of his prison were too firmly built to be shaken. A -frog leaped out of the grass. Fawnie snapped it up, and brought it to -give to Carl through his prison bars. - -Then Mrs. Desborough realized how her darling had been fed and kept -alive in the trackless jungle. - -Oliver was telling her of the old gray wolf now in Rattam's cage, and -the Thibetan repeated her story. - -The mother's feelings can be better imagined than described when she saw -thus clearly that the love of the wild wolves had saved her child. -Could she doubt it? - -"Ought we to think it impossible?" urged Oliver. "In spite of all its -savagery, the dog's nature is in the wolf. It is the strong family -feeling amongst them which makes the pack. You see, I have heard a -great deal about them from Tara Ghur; and I shall never forget that old -wolf's face as she turned to Carl in the pit." - -Gobur and the gardener were cutting off some long branches from the -nearest trees, to thatch poor Fawnie's pyramid and shelter him from the -sun. - -Oliver ran to help them, until Fawnie's den looked like a gigantic heap -of boughs. Then Oliver fetched the gardener's syringe and drenched it. - -When Fawnie found it growing dark and cool as the nest beneath the -korinda bush, he laid himself down and fell into the sound mid-day sleep -of the wild beast. - -But nothing short of force could drag Carl away, and that was not to be -thought of. Mr. Desborough saw it would only embitter the child, and -rouse and exasperate the wolfling. He was hoping that if Carl were left -to himself he too would fall asleep. But no; all sleep was gone. Carl -kept on raging round and round the pyramid, tugging with all his might -at the boughs which hid his furry friend. - -Mr. Desborough lifted Kathleen down from the acacia. Her presence had -helped him so much in getting Carl safely through his journey home. But -her brave little heart was failing her; she had been terribly frightened -at the sight of Fawnie, and she clung to her mother, trembling. - -"Fetch Racy," said Mr. Desborough in despair. "The sight of his -twin-brother may draw the child away. We must try something." - -Mrs. Desborough went herself, not daring to trust any one else with the -rebellious Racy in such circumstances. - -She soon reappeared, driving him before her on his pretty bicycle-horse; -while the ayah crept beside her, her black face puckered with anxiety -and fear as she looked at the group on the lawn, and above all at the -portentous pyramid. - -Horace, who could not understand what had happened, flourished his whip -and shouted to his heart's content. He was highly delighted at having -got mamma to be his syce. She slowly drove him round the lawn. Of -course, he wanted to gallop off at once to his father and Kathleen; but -Mrs. Desborough turned him back, so that Carl might see him. The twins -perceived each other at last, and drew together, staring. - -"Look, Racy, who is that sitting on the grass? Can it be Carl--Racy's -own lost Carl--come home at last?" - -Carl's eyes followed every movement of the pretty brown horse with a -strange bewilderment. - -Kathleen, with her father's arm round her, felt her courage revive. She -glanced up at him inquiringly. He nodded. Away she ran to meet the -young equestrian, calling Carl to follow. Again he obeyed. - -"O Racy!" she exclaimed, "we've found poor Carl. Let us put him on your -horse, and you and I will drive him home, for fear we should lose him. -You push, and I will hold him on. Quick, dear, quick!" - -"God bless her," said Mr. Desborough; "she has done it again." - -Racy tumbled out of his saddle. Mrs. Desborough and the ayah lifted -Carl into his place. He made no resistance, but laid his face down and -began to bite the horse's ears. Kathleen seized the bridle. Racy -pushed manfully behind. Mrs. Desborough held one arm and the ayah the -other. Up ran the bhisti, who stretched over Horace's head and lifted -the horse and its rider right up the veranda steps. As usual, the hall -door stood wide; in rode Carl, and Mrs. Desborough locked it behind him. - -"What is up now?" exclaimed Major Iffley, as he stopped at the familiar -gate. "You have found out something wrong about the place?" - -"Yes, an imperative necessity to leave it. I want to make over the -indigo factory to you for at least a twelvemonth, whilst I take holiday -with my wife and children. We should never have rescued Carl if he had -not learned to obey, and now distance is our best defence," said Mr. -Desborough gravely. - -"Done!" answered the major gaily. - -"If you go," put in Oliver earnestly, "give Fawnie over to me. He is -young enough to tame and train, and I should be proud to own him. With -a stout chain and collar he will prove a noble dog." - - - - - THE END. - - - - - - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALIVE IN THE JUNGLE *** - - - - -A Word from Project Gutenberg - - -We will update this book if we find any errors. - -This book can be found under: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/43595 - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without permission -and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth in the -General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to copying and -distributing Project Gutenberg(tm) electronic works to protect the -Project Gutenberg(tm) concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a -registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, -unless you receive specific permission. 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