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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df31e67 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66076 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66076) diff --git a/old/66076-0.txt b/old/66076-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 2f9b004..0000000 --- a/old/66076-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14507 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Peace with Honour, by Sydney C. Grier - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Peace with Honour - -Author: Sydney C. Grier - -Illustrator: Alfred Pearse - -Release Date: August 17, 2021 [eBook #66076] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEACE WITH HONOUR *** - - - - - Peace With Honour - - By - SYDNEY C. GRIER - - AUTHOR OF “A CROWNED QUEEN,” - “THE WARDEN OF THE MARCHES,” - “IN FURTHEST IND,” Etc. - - - _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALFRED PEARSE_ - - (_Fifth in the Modern East series_) - - - BOSTON - L. C. PAGE & COMPANY - _MDCCCCII_ - - - - - COPYRIGHT. - - _Copyright, 1902_ - By L. C. Page & Company - (Incorporated) - - Published June, 1902 - - - - - DEDICATION. - - TO - E. FG. L., - IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT - OF MUCH KIND ADVICE - AND HELP. - - - - - CONTENTS. - - I. “SHOULD AULD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT?” - II. A COMMUNITY OF INTERESTS - III. FELLOW-TRAVELLERS - IV. AGAINST HIS WILL - V. ACROSS THE FRONTIER - VI. AN OFFER OF CO-OPERATION - VII. THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARED - VIII. EAST MEETS WEST - IX. STRAINED RELATIONS - X. CAUGHT AND CAGED - XI. THE RANKS ARE THINNED - XII. THE STANDARD-BEARER FALLS - XIII. A PROFESSIONAL SUMMONS - XIV. AN ULTIMATUM - XV. ONE CROWDED HOUR - XVI. A CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES - XVII. POINTS OF VIEW - XVIII. RETREAT CUT OFF - XIX. THE VALUE OF A REPUTATION - XX. FOR THE HONOUR OF ENGLAND’S SAKE - XXI. FOR A CONSIDERATION - XXII. A SILENCE THAT WAS GOLDEN - XXIII. HARDLY WON - XXIV. VIS MEDICATRIX - EPILOGUE - - - - PEACE WITH HONOUR. - - - CHAPTER I. - “SHOULD AULD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT?” - -“Now, Dick, I want to trot you out this afternoon, so please put on -your smartest clothes, and your best company manners, and your most -winning smile.” - -“Has your majesty any more commands? I was under the impression that I -was excused further duty to-day, on condition of dining out with you -to-night and to-morrow night.” - -“This is not duty, it is pleasure--or ought to be.” - -“That sounds more inviting. Who gets the pleasure?” - -“I do, if you will come, and I will promise you some as well.” - -“Your generosity exceeds my highest expectations, but I should like -particulars before I make any rash promises. I have just settled down -here comfortably for the afternoon.” - -“Dick!”--Mabel North dashed at her brother, robbed him of his cigar, -and, snatching away his newspaper, set her foot upon it--“if you -imagine I allow you to smoke in the conservatory merely in order that -you may shirk coming out with me, you are mistaken. Now, will you -come? Quick, or I shall let this thing go out!” - -“I give in. Allow me to rescue that cigar. Now, perhaps, you will -graciously intimate what it is you want me to do?” - -“I want you to see something of the serious side of my life. What do -you really know about me? You would be sorry some day if you didn’t -come this afternoon. When you heard I was no more, you would shake -your head and say, ‘Ah, poor girl; what a frivolous butterfly she -was!’ I wish to guard against misconceptions of that kind.” - -“Oh, well, I only hope your conscience will prick you when I am gone -again. When you think of me at Kubbet-ul-Haj, sweltering all day and -freezing all night, you will say, ‘Ah, poor fellow! I wish I had -treated him better while he was here. Never a moment’s peace did I -give him; it was nothing but drive and rush from morning to night.’” - -“Don’t pretend to be bored and _blasé_, Dick. You know that you have -come back from the wilderness with a very healthy appetite for -innocent gaiety. If you wanted us to think that seven years on the -Khemistan Frontier had made you a misanthrope, your face would belie -you. I do like to see a young man enjoying himself thoroughly at a -social gathering, and that pleasure I have whenever I take you out.” - -“This is adding insult to injury, Mab. Can’t you let a man alone?” - -“Not when he’s my brother, and I have got him all to myself after not -having seen him for years. Do come with me, Dick, there’s a good boy; -I want you particularly. Besides, you owe a duty to other people. -Society looks favourably upon you, and it is only grateful for you to -bask in its smiles. All the girls I know have said to me, ‘Mornin’. -Brother’s comin’ home, isn’t he? Awf’ly plucky chap! Bring him in on -our “at-home” day. Just adore soldiers.’ Then their mothers come up -purringly, and say, ‘And so your _dear_ brother is coming home, Miss -North? You must be _sure_ and bring him round to see me. I am _so_ -much interested in young men. And _will_ he wear his Victoria Cross? -It is the _dream_ of my life to see one.’” - -“I hope you don’t expect me to take the precious thing with me in my -pocket and exhibit it? There are some things a man can’t bring himself -to do, even for your sake, Queen Mab.” - -“No, dear boy; I won’t try you so far. I am not a despotic monarch. -That means that you are going to be good and come with me, doesn’t it? -Then I will reward you by saying that I don’t want you to go to an -‘at-home’ or anything of that kind this afternoon, but merely to the -hospital.” - -“The hospital?” - -“Yes, the Women’s Hospital, to which I go twice a-week to read and -sing to the patients. It is a great occasion there to-day--the -anniversary of the opening, so that I can take you in, and the poor -things are all longing to see you.” - -“Why, what do they know about me?” - -“What I have told them, of course. Do you know, Dick, I sometimes feel -as though I had no business to be so well and rich and happy among so -many sufferers. It seems as though they must hate me, or, at any rate, -feel that I can’t sympathise with them. And then, when you were shut -up in Fort Rahmat-Ullah, and uncle and I were so fearfully anxious, I -really couldn’t go on just as usual, and I told the women about you, -and they _were_ so nice. Of their own accord they asked the clergyman, -who comes and holds a service in the wards on Sundays, to mention your -name in the prayers, and they watched the papers for every scrap of -news about you. When at last we heard how you had got through the -enemy and brought help, I took the paper to the hospital, but I -couldn’t read a bit. I simply broke down and cried like a great baby, -and the women were in a dreadful state of anxiety. At last I gave the -account to one of them, and she read it aloud in a high, cracked -voice, making the most horrible hash of the names, and the rest all -cried too. They have regarded you as their personal property ever -since, and when they heard of all your honours, they were as much -pleased as I was. ‘Your brother ’ave gort permoted, miss!’ was what -they all called out to me when I came in one day, and I never had such -a piece of work in my life as when I tried to explain to them what -brevet rank was. I’m afraid even now they are under the impression -that you have been very badly treated, and defrauded of the promotion -you ought to have received, and they sympathise with you very deeply. -Several of them have pictures of you, cut out of the illustrated -papers, folded up in their lockers, and bring them out to show people, -and all the new patients are carefully instructed in the history of -the presiding genius. ‘That’s our Miss North’s brother,’ the old ones -tell them, and then all the details follow. Now, Dick, you will come, -won’t you?” - -“If you really want me, old girl,” and Dick threw down his paper -without a murmur. “I feel as if I owed you something for the horrible -scare you got when you heard we were cut off, and so I’ll do violence -to my natural modesty to the extent of coming and exhibiting myself to -your old women.” - -Mabel North was not a little proud of her brother as she conducted him -into the hospital an hour or so later. He looked such a splendid manly -fellow, she thought, with the glamour of his past exploits surrounding -him like an aureole, that she wondered how other women could care to -display their wretched dandified relatives beside him. In the fulness -of her satisfaction, she marched him through various rooms and -corridors, and presented him to a number of resplendent ladies who -appeared to be receiving the guests, before there was any question of -going up-stairs to visit the wards. Then she was seized upon by a -suave person of business-like appearance, who turned out to be the -secretary, for a few minutes’ confidential talk, and Dick, rather -bewildered by his experiences, and wondering why a hospital should -employ a lady as secretary, took refuge in the society of a man he had -met at his club. - -“Isn’t this gathering slightly--er--informal?” he asked. “Don’t the -doctors, or governors, or whatever they call the authorities of the -place, show up at all? All the men here look as though they had been -brought by their lady friends.” - -“Brought?” said the other man, “that’s it exactly. My wife brought me, -your sister brought you, and Mountchesnay and the Archdeacon have been -brought by their female relatives in just the same way. We are here on -sufferance, don’t you know, just to open our minds and enlarge our -views.” - -“Is it a ladies’ day, then?” - -“No, but the ladies boss the show here. Don’t you know that this is -the hospital of the future, manned entirely by women? The tyrant man -is in his rightful sphere here, quite at a discount. They think -nothing of him. Why, there’s not a man on the premises but the porter, -and he is there rather to overawe the relations of the patients than -to help the ladies. But do you mean to say that Miss North brought you -here without explaining the state of things? It wasn’t fair; she might -have given you a shock.” - -“But who are the _burra mems_--the great ladies--in the other room?” - -“The doctors, ladies of European reputation. The one who shook hands -with you first fought the whole battle for the medical women.” - -“I didn’t know that you were mixed up with all this kind of thing, -Mab,” said Dick, as Mabel, having finished her talk with the -secretary, turned to look for him. - -“All what kind of thing?” - -“Why, all this rot about lady doctors, and women’s hospitals, and so -on.” - -“Then you don’t read my letters, Dick. I have told you about it again -and again. But I have another surprise for you presently. Let us come -up-stairs now.” - -In the wards Dick made a very good impression. None of the patients -would be satisfied without a close view of him, and Mabel conducted -him from bed to bed, and introduced him to all her friends. When he -had duly admired the decorations, congratulated the patients on their -healthful looks, promised to send in some illustrated papers, and -inquired whether he could possibly obtain admittance to the hospital -himself if he fell ill, he was in high favour. This inquiry was the -stereotyped jest, which was expected as a matter of course from all -the male visitors to the hospital, and none of them ever failed to -make it, so that its utterance was received with approving laughter. - -“Ah, you gentlemen don’t know what a blessin’ this ’ere ’orspital is -to us, a-makin’ your jokes, and all,” said an old woman, with a high -cracked voice, the patient, as Mabel explained, who had read aloud to -the rest the account of Dick’s solitary expedition for the relief of -Fort Rahmat-Ullah. “Not but what I ain’t been as well treated as I ’ad -reason to expeck. My doctor’s agoin’ out to furrin parts, to the pore -’eathens, she says. ‘You may as well stay and see the last of me, -miss,’ I says to ’er; but she says, ‘You can go to a gentleman doctor -when you are ill, Mrs Wake, but them pore ’eathen women can’t, so I’m -wanted there wuss.’ Oh, there you are, miss! I was a-tellin’ this -gentleman about you.” - -Mabel looked up quickly as a lady in soft flowing robes of wine-red -cashmere glanced in at the begarlanded doorway, and nodded to Mrs -Wake. - -“We shall meet to-morrow evening, Mab,” she said, seeing the visitors. - -“Wait a minute, Dr Georgie,” said Mabel, hastily; “I want to introduce -my brother afresh. I am afraid he is forgetting old friends. Major -North, Miss Georgia Keeling, M.D.” - -“Miss Keeling! Is it possible?” Dick met the gaze of a pair of frank -dark eyes, which were scanning his face with a look of friendly -interest, and his thoughts flew back to the time which had elapsed -between his leaving Sandhurst and obtaining his appointment to the -Indian Staff Corps years ago. He had spent some months at home, to the -great disgust of his uncle, the general, who vowed that this spell of -idleness would ruin him for life, but he did nothing worse than fall -in love with his sister’s greatest friend. Georgia lived only a few -doors off, and she and Mabel always walked to the high school -together, a fact of which Dick was fully aware when he took it into -his head to offer Mabel his escort morning by morning. The offer was -accepted with some hesitation, for both Mabel and Georgia had reached -what might be called the age of pure reason, and objected on principle -to “boys and nonsense,” but Dick was useful in carrying their books, -and they could always snub him if he talked too much. Mabel was not -without pride in the effect produced on the other girls by Dick’s -attendance, but Georgia was absolutely indifferent to the honour -conferred upon her, and Dick left England at last with the rueful -conviction that the lady of his love was still quite heart-whole, and -never regarded him in any other light than that of Mabel’s brother. -Now he saw her again, and her eyes met his as calmly and freely as of -old. - - [image: images/img_01.jpg - caption: “Miss Keeling! Is it possible?”] - -“You have not forgotten the old days, then?” she said, pleasantly. - -“I am afraid you haven’t,” he answered. “I must have bored you -horribly. I know you and Mab always wanted to discuss your lessons, or -the methods of the different masters, and momentous subjects of that -kind, whereas I used to try to intrude my own little frivolous -interests, which were invariably frowned down. It served me right.” - -Poor Dick! He had not spoken so lightly when he bade Georgia farewell, -after a vain attempt to obtain from her a flower, a glove, anything -she had touched, as a keepsake. She had looked him through with her -clear eyes and observed chillingly that she disliked foolishness, and -he broke away from her with a heart full of pain and anger, and on his -lips the Disraelian prophecy, “Some day I will make you listen to me!” -To work for Georgia, to make himself more worthy of Georgia, had been -his ruling impulse during his early years in India, and there was -always before his eyes the faint possibility that when he returned -home great and famous, his stubborn lady’s heart might be touched at -last. And now he had returned, not only famous, but also free from the -trammels of his early and hopeless adoration--and Georgia was not at -all affected by the fact. Years of unremitting work had turned Dick’s -thoughts into a different channel. He was a soldier now, and his -professional instincts were paramount, but still, he would have liked -Georgia to recognise the change. She did not appear to notice -anything, and he had a lurking suspicion that if she had done so, the -realisation would not have troubled her. - -“And so you are going to India, like all the young ladies in these -days?” he said, carelessly, recalling what he had just heard from Mrs -Wake, not without some idea of piquing Miss Keeling by the suggestion -that her latest development had not surprised him in the least. - -“No, not to India,” she answered. “I am going to Kubbet-ul-Haj.” - -“What, with Sir Dugald Haigh’s Ethiopian Mission? So am I.” - -“Yes, Mabel has told me. What a pity she can’t come too!” - -“Oh, Mab hasn’t set up as a free-lance yet.” - -“Have you, then? I had an idea that you were going as one of the -Mission. Even I have a professional status.” - -“I am the military member--aide-de-camp to the Chief, or something of -the kind, I believe. You are the surgeon, I presume?” - -“Not exactly. The King of Ethiopia’s principal wife is nearly blind, -and he has begged that a lady doctor may accompany the Mission to -Kubbet-ul-Haj, and attend the Queen while Sir Dugald Haigh remains -there. Lady Haigh is rather glad to find a companion, and I am -delighted to have such a chance.” - -“The Mission is highly honoured,” said Dick, not quite pleasantly. - -Miss Keeling looked at him in some surprise. - -“It makes it much pleasanter that you are going too,” she said. “My -short Indian experience has taught me how delightful it is to find old -friends in a foreign country.” - -“You are too kind,” said Dick, stiffly. “I’m afraid you overrate my -powers of--er--entertainment; but, of course, I shall be delighted to -do all I can to make the journey less tedious.” - -She looked at him again. Was it possible that the man was such an -arrant coxcomb as to imagine that she was doing her best to lead up to -a resumption of the old state of affairs between them? Could he be -trying to warn her off, or were his infelicitous remarks due only to -ill-temper? But why should he be ill-tempered? In any case, it was -clear that Major North, V.C., was a very different person from the boy -who had gone to India fifteen years before, and the change was not an -improvement. There was the slightest possible touch of _hauteur_ in -Georgia’s manner as she turned away, saying, with a graciousness which -made Dick writhe with something of his old feeling of insignificance -in her presence-- - -“You must not think that I have forgotten to congratulate you on your -splendid exploit, Major North. I had hoped to be able to hear -something about it from yourself, but no doubt Mabel will tell me all -I want to know.” - -She passed slowly down the corridor, and Dick, watching the trailing -folds of her gown out of sight, felt a sudden and unreasoning rush of -anger. He tried to think that he was angry with her, but in his heart -he knew that it was with himself. As for Mabel, who had watched the -scene at first with amusement, but afterwards with growing concern, -she was speechless until she had conducted him hastily through the -remaining wards of the hospital, and hurried him out at the front -entrance. Then she turned upon him and said in a tone of concentrated -disgust-- - -“Well, Dick, I never thought I should have to be absolutely ashamed of -you!” - -As Dick made no reply, but walked on with frowning brows, swinging his -stick viciously, she continued to improve the occasion. - -“Talk of the fury of a woman scorned! it’s nothing to a man’s. If you -can’t forgive Georgia for refusing you fifteen years ago, one would -scarcely expect to find you eager to show her that she never did a -wiser thing in her life.” - -“I believe you imagine that I am in love with her still,” said Dick, -with great calmness. - -“It looks like it, doesn’t it?” retorted Mabel. - -“Then you are mistaken. I don’t care a rap for her. What upset me was -that she ignored everything so completely. It was all foolishness, of -course, but still it did happen, and nothing can blot it out. A man -can’t meet a woman that he has cared for in that way as though he had -never seen her before. Only women can do that kind of thing.” - -“A woman would know better than to behave like a cad, at any rate.” - -“I should never let a man say such a thing as that to me, Mabel.” - -“Then it is a good thing that there is a woman to do it. The fact is, -Dick, you hoped that Georgia would have changed her mind during these -years, and that she would want you when she could not have you. That -is a nice, manly, chivalrous way of trying to get your revenge on her, -isn’t it? And when she is willing to forget all that foolishness, and -to meet you as an old friend, you are angry, instead of being thankful -that she can bring herself to overlook it. You really were fearfully -silly in those days, Dick, and bothered her horribly. Why can’t you -let it drop, if she can? You say you don’t care for her now. Why you -should expect her to care for you, I don’t know.” - -“I don’t expect her to care for me,” said Dick, doggedly. - -“I should hope not, when you are so fickle.” - -“I don’t know why you should call me fickle. A man’s tastes must -change as he grows older.” - -“Exactly. But why should you expect Georgia to change in accordance -with them? She is just what you might have guessed she would be.” - -“I detest that type of woman.” - -“I see. You would have liked Georgia to develop entirely on your -lines. When you find that she has a character and a will of her own, -you don’t like it.” - -“I like a woman to be a woman. These lady doctors are not womanly.” - -“Indeed! Who is the best judge of what is womanly, you or a woman?” - -“Of course,” Dick went on, disregarding the question, “it is their -business, and not mine. But you will find, Mab, that men like a woman -to be gentle and soft and clinging, looking to them for protection.” - -“Men!” said Mabel, contemptuously. “Who cares what men like?” - -“Well, a good many women seem to think rather a lot of it. No one -wants a woman to be brave and self-reliant. Now Miss Keeling’s -manner--it implied that she could look after herself, and had no need -of a protector--and yet she was not putting on side--it was simply a -steady sort of self-dependence. That’s all very well, but it isn’t -what I like in a woman. And she looked me over, just as a man might. -It made me feel quite queer.” - -“Yes, you like a woman’s eyes to drop before yours, as a sort of -unconscious tribute to your greatness and your glory. A man may look -at a woman with the calmest insolence, but she must only steal a -glance at his face when he isn’t looking. I’m afraid India has -corrupted you, Dick.” - -“What in the world has India got to do with it? Your remarks don’t -seem to apply to any part of India with which I am acquainted.” - -“Very well, I withdraw them, then. I will only say that before you -went there you preferred to regard woman as an angel high above you; -now you object to think of her even as an equal.” - -“I knew we were bound to come round to that at last. Every man makes -an idiot of himself some time in his life, but it’s not fair to bring -up his ravings against him when he has returned to his right mind. And -why should you drag in these stale controversies? The women will -always settle the matter to their own satisfaction among themselves, -and the men will laugh over it in the smoking-room and say: ‘It -pleases them to think so, and as long as they do no harm they may as -well be let alone.’” - -“There you are again, Dick, with your nasty cynical philosophy! I am -sure frontier life has not been good for you. You want educating, and -I rather think that Georgia is the person to undertake the task, if -you haven’t disgusted her too deeply. For your own sake, my dear boy, -I should advise you to try and appease her. It is not every man of -whom she is willing to make a friend.” - -“Stuff!” said Dick, ungratefully. “When I want friends I prefer men. -You forget that it’s a case of ‘once bit, twice shy,’ with me.” - -“Oh, very well; don’t blame me if you turn out a horrid old bear, -always saying nasty things about women, because you don’t know a scrap -about them. You will soon see that Georgia has no difficulty in -finding friends. She might have married hundreds of times.” - -“This seems to import a new element into the discussion. Why are these -hundreds of presumably unhappy men introduced? Is it to show the -danger of seeking Miss Keeling’s friendship? I have already had -experience in that direction, you know.” - -“It was merely a piece of historical retrospect--and a warning for -you. Don’t say that I let you go to Kubbet-ul-Haj blindfold. The man -who would suit Georgia must be at the head of some big hospital, so -that she can see plenty of good operations,” and Mabel smiled -gleefully at the disgust depicted on her brother’s face. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - A COMMUNITY OF INTERESTS. - -About noon the next day Dick North left his uncle’s house with the -intention of going to his club. It was a rough windy morning, with -occasional scuds of rain, and when one of these overtook Dick as he -was crossing the street, he found to his disgust that from the force -of habit he had come out without an umbrella. Taking refuge in a -doorway, for the shower proved to be a sharp one, he discovered that -his asylum was already in the possession of a lady, in whom he quickly -recognised Miss Keeling. She was looking very smart in a business-like -ulster and a neat little felt hat, from the brim of which the -rain-drops were falling on her wind-blown hair, for the umbrella she -held in her hand--a mere mass of metal spikes and shreds of -silk--could only be called an umbrella by courtesy, and had evidently -given way before the force of the gale. - -“Any port in a storm!” she said, merrily, as she shook hands with -Dick. - -“I am sorry I can’t offer to lend you an umbrella,” he remarked, “for -I am worse off than yourself.” - -“No, I think you are more sensible,” she replied, “for an umbrella is -sure to be turned inside out in this wind. You see I am prepared for -rain, and I have no fear of getting wet, but I do dislike it when the -rain-drops trickle down my neck.” - -“Pray allow me to run across and get you an umbrella from one of those -shops over there,” he said stiffly, annoyed to find his resentment -against her melting under the influence of her friendly manner. - -“Oh no, thank you, I couldn’t think of it,” she replied, surveying him -carefully, and taking due note of his curly-brimmed hat, his long -coat, the huge carnation in his buttonhole, and the immaculate spats -protecting his equally spotless boots. “You are not quite dressed for -running anywhere, are you?” - -The resentment returned promptly in full force. - -“I am sorry my appearance is displeasing to you,” he said, in a tone -which he tried vainly to make a light and sportive one. - -“Oh, but it isn’t at all. It is most correct--unimpeachably correct.” - -“Then what is the matter with it, if I may ask?” - -“I don’t want to hurt your feelings.” - -“Thank you, I think my feelings are proof against injury.” - -“It is only that I was thinking it was a pity to expose such a -complete get-up to the dangers of a muddy walk. A hansom would have -taken you straight from General North’s door to your destination. I -could imagine you a walking advertisement of the Army and Navy Club, -and why aren’t you gracing one of the windows there, as a sort of -sample, you know, to show the kind of goods within?” - -“Bother the girl! She sees I don’t like her, and she is taking it out -of me,” was his mental comment, as he glanced at her composed face and -caught a twinkle of fun in her eyes. Aloud he said, rather lamely, -“You don’t know what a luxury it is to be able to array oneself in the -garments of civilisation once more, after spending years, as one might -say, in uniform. But I see the rain has stopped. May I call you a cab, -or walk with you?” - -“Oh no, thanks; I am only going to one of those shops.” - -“But you will allow me to see you across the street?” - -This time his escort was not refused, and he left her at the entrance -of the shop to which she was bound, and in which, as he noticed with a -shudder, the wares displayed were chiefly surgical instruments. As he -lifted his hat and turned away, he found his state of mind not at all -in accordance with the serene calm of his destination. Everything Miss -Keeling had said seemed to be rankling in his breast, and he -anathematised her mentally as he walked. What business had the girl to -say such things? Nay, rather, what did it signify if she did say them? -Why in the world should it affect him? And yet, here he was wasting -his time and spoiling his short leave at home by thinking about her. -It was bad enough that they were doomed to be fellow-travellers all -the way to Kubbet-ul-Haj, but at least he would dismiss her from his -mind while he was in England; and by way of making a beginning he -would burn that photograph which he had cherished so long. - -The consciousness of this heroic resolution upheld him during the day, -and when he returned home to dress for dinner his first action was to -take the photograph out of the drawer of his desk in which it had been -wont to repose ever since he had stolen it out of Mabel’s album. He -held it in his hand with mingled feelings, remembering the time when -he had lifted it out and looked at it reverentially every night, -although of late years it had remained altogether undisturbed. Georgia -appeared in it with short hair, which made her look like a very nice -boy. Dick remembered that Mabel had come home from school one day in -tears because, in the ardour of preparing for the London -Matriculation, Georgia had had all her hair cut off. He remembered -also how he had begged, as urgently as he dared, for one of the -severed locks, and how Georgia had refused it with disdain. In those -days he was under the impression that it was rather pleasant than -otherwise to be called “silly boy!” by Miss Keeling’s lips. What a -young idiot he must have been! And what a senseless fool he was now, -to be recalling the absurdities of those past years in this way! After -all, he would not burn the photograph, lest he should forget what an -ass he had once succeeded in making of himself. It should occupy its -old place still, not for Miss Keeling’s sake, but for auld lang syne, -and as a memento and a warning. - -“Are you nearly ready, Dick?” said Mabel’s voice at his door. “The -carriage has come round.” - -Hastily thrusting the photograph back into the desk, Dick made his -toilet at lightning speed and hurried down-stairs. Mabel was waiting -in the drawing-room with an aggressive expression of resignation, and -General North, whose gout kept him at home, was fretting and fuming -over the tardiness of his nephew’s appearance. - -“This is the way in which you young fellows make ducks and drakes of -all your chances!” he remarked, irascibly. “Here you are appointed to -this Mission, which is a piece of luck for which most men would give -their ears, and you are late the first time you have to meet your -chief. In my young days such behaviour would have lost you your post, -but there’s nothing that can be called discipline now.” - -“And how much happier the world is!” said Mabel, flippantly, stooping -to arrange General North’s footstool more comfortably. “Now take care -of yourself, uncle, and don’t think of waiting up for us. Come, Dick, -we must really go.” - -“I say,” said Dick, as he followed her into the carriage, “I wish you -would just cram me up a bit about this affair to-night. I know that we -are to dine with the Egertons, and that the Kubbet-ul-Haj people will -be there, but who the Egertons are, or why they should be mixed up -with the Mission, I haven’t an idea.” - -“Dick, if I had such a bad memory as you, I would--study somebody’s -system of mnemonics, I think. I have mentioned the Egertons in my -letters again and again. Don’t you remember that I pointed out Mrs -Egerton to you at the hospital yesterday--a pretty, rather -worn-looking woman, with a black lace dress and pink roses in her -bonnet?” - -“I apologise humbly for my forgetfulness. Forgive me, and instruct -me.” - -“Well, don’t you remember that just after you first went out, I told -you that Cecil Anstruther, one of our girls at the South Central, had -taken high honours in the London B.A., and we were all so proud of -her? She went out to Baghdad as governess to the Pasha’s little boy, -when Sir Dugald Haigh was Resident there. The Haighs were very kind to -her, and she became engaged to Lady Haigh’s cousin, who was surgeon at -the Residency. He got into trouble in some way with the Turkish -Government, and had to be sent home, and I believe they were separated -for a long time. But they were married at last, and came home and -settled down. Dr Egerton has a large property in Homeshire, and sits -in Parliament for the eastern division.” - -“What, the member for Adullam?” cried Dick. - -“Yes, that’s what they call him, because he is said to be always in a -minority of one. You know how the name was fixed upon him? Of course -he was often called by it in private conversation, but one day Sir -James Morrell, who is rather absent-minded, had to answer one of his -questions in the absence of the Secretary for India, and in his flurry -he alluded to ‘the honourable member for the Adullam division of -Homeshire.’ The next week ‘Punch’ improved it into ‘the member for the -Cave division of Adullamshire,’ and since then it has stuck. What do -you know about Dr Egerton, Dick?” - -“Merely that he is one of the faddists who pose as authorities on -India and the East generally.” - -“Ah, you should hear Sir Dugald Haigh on that point. His sneer is -positively terrific. He can only comfort himself by remembering that -here, as in other cases, the critics of the East are the men who have -failed in the East.” - -“Better that than never to have been there at all,” said Dick. “It has -struck me more than once that there is a good deal of sense in some of -Egerton’s crotchets, but he destroys the effect by his way of forcing -them upon people. The things he says would put any one’s back up.” - -“Yes, poor Cecil’s life is spent in explaining away his blunders and -apologising for them. He could do nothing without her, for she is such -a favourite that she can often manage to put things right when he has -muddled them. Every one wonders that she doesn’t coach him beforehand, -and teach him to avoid these dreadful _faux pas_; but I know that she -does, and that he forgets all her advice as soon as he gets excited in -debate.” - -“But how is it that these people are mixed up with the Kubbet-ul-Haj -affair?” - -“They are great friends of the Haighs, of course, and besides, Cecil’s -brother is going out as the junior member of the Mission. He is a most -absurd boy--always going wild about something or other--and just now -he is deeply in love with Rosaline Hervey, the beautiful girl in the -picture hat who was with Mrs Egerton yesterday. She is to be there -to-night, and her sister, and old Mr and Mrs Anstruther, Mrs Egerton’s -parents, who are anxious to see what Sir Dugald is like before -confiding their boy to his care. Then there is Mr Stratford, a cousin -of Dr Egerton’s and second in command of the Mission.” - -“Yes, I know Stratford. We met in Kashmir one year, when he was taking -his leave in India, and I saw him the other day at the Foreign Office. -He is a good sort of chap.” - -“You come next in rank, I suppose, and then there is the doctor.” - -“Ladies first, please--or what doctor do you mean?” - -“Dr Headlam, of course, the surgeon of the Mission.” - -“Oh, I beg your pardon. I was afraid you meant Miss Keeling.” - -“Oh no,” said Mabel, but her face wore a peculiar smile as she -gathered her cloak around her preparatory to leaving the carriage. The -reason for her unusual taciturnity became evident to Dick a little -later, when he found that he was expected to take Miss Keeling in to -dinner. - -“You are old friends, I think,” said Mrs Egerton, pleasantly, and Dick -perceived by her tone that she imagined she had done him a kindness in -arranging her guests in this way. It was clear that she remembered the -old days, even if Miss Keeling had forgotten them. But no, doubtless -Mabel had given her the hint. - -If Dick had only known it, Georgia was in a much softer mood to-night, -for all day long her conscience had been pricking her for her share in -the conversation of the morning. She was indignant with herself for -the things she had said, and it did not render them more excusable in -her estimation that pique at Dick’s attitude towards her was not by -any means the sole motive that had actuated her in uttering them. What -in the world did it signify to her if the hero of the Khemistan -Frontier chose to make himself look absurd in clothes which the idlest -stay-at-home of a club-lounger could wear with far more pleasure to -the beholder and satisfaction to himself? If the poor man thought that -he looked well in them, why not leave him to enjoy his delusion, -instead of rudely shattering his dream, and letting him know that his -appearance, in the opinion of one person who knew him, verged on the -ridiculous? Miss Keeling felt uncomfortably conscious that, after all, -pique had had something to do with, at any rate, the terms of her -remonstrance. She had even been led into vying with her opponent in -cool rudeness, and for this she could not forgive herself. It was no -excuse for her that she found most men so easy to get on with, when -once they had laid aside the mock deference or the real antipathy with -which they were wont to greet the lady doctor on their first -introduction to her. She could not help knowing, for admiring female -friends kept her informed of the fact, that it was the mingled -graciousness and dignity of her manner which converted these -adversaries and scoffers into firm allies and champions, and yet she -had so far forgotten herself and her sense of what was becoming as to -chaff Major North on his appearance, just as any ordinary fast girl -might have done, and the fact humiliated her. A younger or less -experienced woman, feeling as she did, would have precipitated matters -by an apology, but Georgia was too wise to introduce any further -complication into her difficulties. There could be no advantage in -putting herself into North’s power in such a way, when it was -undeniable that he had invited a snubbing by his perplexing conduct -the day before. No, if he was to be won back to friendliness it must -be by letting bygones be bygones, and accepting the situation as it -presented itself. - -Dinner was considerably delayed, owing to the fact that the Miss -Herveys were late, and Georgia had some time in which to try her skill -upon Dick. Her task was more difficult than she had anticipated, for -he manifested an abiding resentment which irritated her as being quite -out of proportion to the circumstances which had called it forth, and -he answered her only in frigid monosyllables. Georgia talked on -bravely, resolved not to appear to notice his lack of responsiveness, -although she could not but feel slightly aggrieved by her failure to -soften him. When Sir Dugald Haigh crossed the room to speak to Dick, -and, with an apology to Georgia, carried him off to be introduced to -Lady Haigh, she heaved a little sigh. - -“He was such a nice boy!” she said to herself, “and I think he would -be nice now, if he would only let his better side show. I like his -face so much.” She glanced across the room at him, and marked -appreciatively the thin brown face, on which the fair moustache looked -almost white, the firm chin, the keen grey eyes, and the brow set in -the habitual frown produced by the constant watching of distant -objects under a burning sun. “He looks like a ‘man and a leader of -men,’” she went on slowly, “but why should he behave in this way? It -is so small, so petty, to keep up a grudge for so many years, and how -could I have done anything but refuse him? It would have been absurd -to do anything else, even if I had cared for him, and he was such a -boy. He must be at least two years older than I am, but I always felt -then that he was years younger. At any rate, he ought to be grateful -to me, instead of sulking like this.” - -At this moment a diversion was created by the entrance of the -beautiful Miss Hervey, a vision of loveliness in rose-coloured silk; -while behind her came her sister, a smaller, plainer, and, so to speak -more shadowy, edition of herself. Mabel gave Georgia a look which -implied that the young lady was by no means averse to making herself -the observed of all observers in this fashion, but if such was the -case, her triumph was short, for every one resented the delay which -had been caused by her non-appearance. The host marched up Dr Headlam -and presented him to Miss Hervey, to the intense disgust of Fitz -Anstruther, Mrs Egerton’s brother, who found himself put off with the -younger sister instead of the lady he adored, and a move was made into -the dining-room. - -Dick North’s temper seemed to have improved in some measure since his -conversation with Lady Haigh, and Georgia smiled inwardly over the -change, gathering that a few kind things said by his chief’s wife -would go far to soothe the ruffled susceptibilities of even so -sensitive an individual, but she was not long in discovering that he -had by no means forgiven herself. True, he was willing to talk, but -with great persistence and considerable skill he kept the conversation -directed to the ordinary trifles which form the staple subjects at -most London dinner-tables. He might never have been further from Pall -Mall than to Paris in his life, thought Georgia, with increasing -irritation, while he was favouring her with his views on the Eton and -Harrow match, and the iniquity of the vestries in taking up the -principal thoroughfares in the height of the season. To add to her -resentment, she saw, or believed she saw, that he was perfectly well -aware of her eagerness to hear about his life in India and Khemistan, -and that he was rejoicing in her unavailing disgust. Miss Hervey, his -left-hand neighbour, claimed his attention at last, and Georgia found -an attraction of greater power in the talk of Sir Dugald Haigh, a -small, neutral-tinted man, with grey hair, grey eyes, grey moustache, -and a greyish-brown skin, who was telling Mrs Egerton of various -changes which had taken place in Baghdad, whence he had lately -returned, since the days of her residence there. - -“I was not sorry to wash my hands of the place,” he said. “Very likely -I belong to an old, worn-out school, and my ways are too rough and -ready for the kid-glove methods of to-day. Our rule was always to ask -only for what we meant to have, but never to recede from a demand once -made. ‘Hold on like grim death,’ was our motto, and we followed it -out. The method had this advantage, that every one knew we meant what -we said. It’s a great thing not to be afraid of bringing on war if -it’s necessary, but you are too squeamish for that nowadays.” - -“Why, Sir Dugald,” said Mrs Egerton, laughing, “any one hearing you -would think you were a perfect firebrand, and ferociously -bloodthirsty, but I remember that when I was at Baghdad there was -nothing you dreaded so much as the slightest complication. I believe -you would have done anything, short of hauling down the flag, to avert -a disturbance.” - -“Don’t believe her, Miss Keeling,” said Sir Dugald. “Behind my back -she will be telling you that I am a regular Jingo.” - -“And besides,” said Mrs Egerton, “why you should talk as though you -were a failure, I don’t know. You are trying to make Miss Keeling -think that you have been ordered to Kubbet-ul-Haj as a punishment.” - -“Not quite,” said Sir Dugald, his eyebrows twitching a little. - -“No, indeed, when you know that you are looking forward confidently to -a K.C.B. or a peerage when you come home.” - -“No, Mrs Egerton, I must draw the line there. I confidently expect -nothing but to be disowned by the Government and denounced by the -papers. We are told by a high authority that the inhabitants of these -islands are mostly fools, as you know. That is my consolation.” - -“Sir Dugald considers all mankind fools, Georgie,” remarked Mrs -Egerton. “If they don’t agree with him, that stamps them at once, -naturally; and if they do adopt his views, he feels sure that they -must be fools to be so easily taken in.” - -“You would not have ventured to say that in my presence at Baghdad,” -said Sir Dugald, mournfully. “Miss Keeling, let me warn you in time. -Don’t be tempted to presume upon my forbearance by the liberties this -lady takes in her own house. I assure you that at Kubbet-ul-Haj you -will find me a terrible martinet.” - -“Oh, Sir Dugald, you are going to Ethiopia, aren’t you?” asked a new -voice, that of the younger Miss Hervey, who had tired at length of her -vain attempts to propitiate her sister’s sulky and disappointed lover. - -“I believe so,” answered Sir Dugald, looking at his questioner in some -surprise. - -“Oh yes,” with a little gasp. “I thought I had heard Mr Anstruther say -so, but he doesn’t seem to know very much about it. Where is Ethiopia, -please?” - -“Opinions differ on that point,” returned Sir Dugald, not unconscious -of the listeners round the table, who were laughing inwardly at the -temerity of the girl who thought she could get the Chief to talk -“shop” to her. “Herodotus says it is in Africa, but Sir John -Mandeville declares that he heard of it in Asia. We are going to see -which is true.” - -“Oh!” with a blank stare of surprise. “But why don’t you know?” - -“I was not aware that I had said I did not know. The information is -within the reach of any one possessed of an ordinary school atlas.” - -“Oh, Sir Dugald, you say such funny things! But why are you going?” - -“Because I am sent,” returned Sir Dugald, shortly, for he wished to -return to his conversation with his hostess and Georgia. But the snub -failed of its effect. - -“Oh yes, of course. But what are you going to do there?” - -With a sigh Sir Dugald resigned himself to answer the demands of this -persistent young lady, and pushing his plate from him, arranged a plan -with dessert forks and spoons. - -“This space represents Ethiopia,” he said, “and this biscuit will show -you roughly the position of Kubbet-ul-Haj, the capital. The country -has been touched by European commerce only on its borders, but it -contains vast grain-producing districts and enormous mineral wealth, -which only needs being worked. Hence it offers a wide field for the -employment of capital, as well as a practically untouched market for -manufactured goods. For these reasons, and also on account of its -situation, the great European powers all take a friendly interest in -it, more especially Scythia and Neustria. Neustrian influence -approaches it very closely on one side, and the Scythian sphere on -another, but its eastern boundary is conterminous with our Khemistan -Frontier, about which Major North or Miss Keeling could tell you a -good deal more than I can. Unauthorised, or, at any rate, unrecognised -and semi-private expeditions from all three countries have tried to -reach Kubbet-ul-Haj, but have failed, and the King has always refused -to receive a diplomatic mission, the object of which would be, of -course, to conclude a commercial treaty. We have always contended that -we had the best right to open up Ethiopia to European trade, and of -course our being actually on the frontier gives us a start in the -race. But just lately we gained a new advantage, for Rustam Khan, the -King’s eldest son, who had been sent to put down a rising among the -tribes near our frontier, fell in with one of our surveying parties, -and took a great fancy to the officers. The errand on which he had -been sent was a kind of honourable banishment, for it seems that he -and the Grand Vizier are always at daggers drawn, and that the King -sympathises with the Vizier, but when he was summoned back to Court he -must have managed to gain his father’s ear again, for friendly -overtures were made by the King to the Khemistan authorities for the -settlement of some trifling boundary dispute. Unofficial journeys were -made to Kubbet-ul-Haj by two or three of our frontier officers, and -the last brought back word that the King would be willing to receive a -mission and to enter into an alliance. Negotiations have since taken -place, and preliminaries been arranged, and our business now is to -conclude the treaty embodying the various provisions which have -practically been agreed to on both sides--in the rough, of course. And -I really must apologise,” said Sir Dugald in conclusion, “for the way -in which I have been boring every one, but it is Miss Hervey’s -commendable desire for information that is to blame.” - -“I didn’t know that you were acquainted with the Khemistan Frontier,” -said Dick to Georgia, under cover of the buzz of conversation which -succeeded to the enforced silence. - -“Although my father lived and died there?” asked Georgia, with a -little resentment in her tone. - -“What a fool I am! To think that I should have forgotten, even for a -moment, that General Keeling was your father! Why, it was that which -originally drew me to the Warden of the Marches--I mean--er--” Dick -stumbled and hurried on--“well, I have worshipped him ever since I -first went out. He is our patron saint out there in Khemistan, you -know?” - -“I know,” said Georgia. “I found it so when I was there.” - -“But have you been in Khemistan? How is it that we never met?” - -“It was the year you were on leave, when you went round the world with -your uncle and Mabel. I visited Khemistan to see whether there was any -chance of my being able to complete my father’s work.” - -“How was that?” - -“It was his great desire that missionaries should come and settle -among the people, but the Government thought it would be dangerous, -and forbade them to establish themselves permanently on the frontier. -My father and I always hoped that when I went out to keep house for -him, I might be able to do something, just in the way of making a -beginning--but as you know, he died before I left school.” - -“I know that it was while I was still in India,” said Dick. “It was -reading the accounts of his life and work which first led me to make -interest to get myself transferred to the Khemistan Horse, so as to be -stationed on that frontier. But did you succeed in your mission?” - -“No; I travelled with a missionary and his wife who were itinerating -through the country, but though the people were friendly, especially -when they heard who I was, they did not care to listen to us, and the -Government were still so hostile to the establishment of a station, -that the society to which I had offered myself would not take up the -work. Then I came home and studied medicine, hoping that I might -eventually do something in that way. I believe that a Zenana Mission -has just been set on foot in Bab-us-Sahel, on the coast, so that -perhaps I shall be able to join it when we return from Ethiopia. I -only accepted the post that the Government offered me in the -expedition in the hope that some good might result from the journey.” - -“As regards Khemistan?” asked Dick. - -“Yes. It was my father’s country, and it is mine.” - -“And so it is mine!” said Dick, involuntarily. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - FELLOW-TRAVELLERS. - -Dick went home that night in a highly unsettled state of mind. He was -cherishing a vague and unreasonable feeling of resentment against his -own absence from Khemistan during Georgia’s visit to the province. It -would have been very pleasant to come upon that missionary camp during -his own hurried expeditions from point to point in the unquiet -district for which he was responsible; pleasant also to watch Miss -Keeling in her dealings with the people, among whom her father’s name -was a synonym for all that was just and honourable. Perhaps, if he had -met her again at that time, before she had been spoilt by her medical -training, things might have fallen out differently for both of them. -He might even---- - -But this was a forbidden subject. What were such speculations to him? -Long ago Miss Keeling had refused plainly enough to have anything to -do with him, and now he had ceased to wish to have anything to do with -her. He was a fool to be thinking so much about her, he told himself -angrily. Desiring to divert his mind from such an unprofitable theme, -he turned to Mabel, and inquired whether she had noticed his capture -by Mrs Egerton’s stepmother. In the course of the evening, Mrs -Anstruther, a cheerful, sprightly Irish lady, had manœuvred him into -a corner, and then and there seized the opportunity of commending her -boy solemnly to his care, having already intrusted the same precious -charge to Lady Haigh and Georgia, Sir Dugald, Mr Stratford, and the -doctor. Knowing this, Dick had tried to comfort her with the assurance -that if a multiplicity of guardians could keep Fitz out of mischief, -his safety ought to be secured. - -“And that’s not all,” responded Mrs Anstruther, brightly, accepting -the consolation at once, and looking across the room to the opposite -corner, in which Miss Hervey’s fan was obviously shielding two faces, -“for the dear boy is very old for his age. Sure an attachment to a -good girl is one of the best safeguards a young man can have, and Fitz -has that.” - -As in duty bound, Dick applauded this sentiment, while venturing to -suggest a doubt as to the permanency of such early attachments, -especially in cases in which the lady’s age exceeded that of the -gentleman by some five years; but Mrs Anstruther was rendered -indignant by what she chose to consider as an implied aspersion on her -son’s character, and retorted hotly that she hadn’t a doubt Fitz would -come back from Kubbet-ul-Haj as deeply in love as ever, and she was -thankful Lady Haigh and Miss Keeling were going to accompany the -Mission. Women respected deep feelings of this kind, instead of -sneering or joking about them, like men. - -“And, of course you told her that your own experience had convinced -you of the truth of that?” asked Mabel. - -“Certainly not,” returned Dick, with dignity. “I merely said that I -thought it depended a good deal on the woman.” - -Mabel laughed with great enjoyment. “Guess where Georgie and I are -going to-morrow morning?” she said. - -“To your dressmaker’s, or to some sale.” - -“Not a bit of it. We are going to a shooting-gallery, to try a little -revolver-practice. Now, don’t look disgusted, because you know you -would give anything to go with us. If you had behaved sensibly I would -take you, but you have been so horrid to Georgie that I shan’t.” - -“A nice sort of revolver Miss Keeling will get hold of, with no one to -help her choose it!” said Dick, evading the question. - -“She has got a beauty, which Sir Dugald chose for her, and Lady Haigh -has one exactly like it,” said Mabel, triumphantly. - -“But why doesn’t she wait to practise with it until we are at sea? It -gives one something to do on board ship.” - -“Oh, I daresay she will go on practising then, but she means to get -over the first difficulties now. And besides, I want to see whether -it’s really true that you can’t fire without shutting your eyes at the -beginning. But, at any rate, I thought you and Mr Stratford were going -to travel by the overland route, so that you will lose a good bit of -the voyage?” - -“That is something to be thankful for, in any case. I should say that -the members of the Mission will not be exactly a happy family.” - -“Well, if they aren’t, I shall know where to look for the disturbing -element. By the bye, I ought not to have told you yesterday that -Georgie would marry no one but the surgeon of some big hospital. I -heard her say to-day that she respected a man for himself, and not for -his profession, or something of that sort.” - -“Highly interesting, no doubt, and creditable to Miss Keeling’s -breadth of mind, but I don’t quite see what the information has to do -with me.” - -“Nor do I at the present moment. It is merely one of those valuable -bits of knowledge which every one ought to treasure up, because they -are sure to come in useful some day. How do I know that some time or -other you will not thank me with tears in your eyes for just those few -words?” - -This was the last conversation that Mabel held with Dick on the -subject of Miss Keeling before his departure, for she was a discerning -young woman, and felt satisfied to leave to time the further growth -and development of the seeds she had sown. Moreover, there was little -further opportunity for initiating the elaborate preliminaries -necessary to lead up to the discussion of a subject on which Dick was -resolved not to enter; for the larger division of the Kubbet-ul-Haj -party, consisting of Sir Dugald and Lady Haigh, Georgia, Dr Headlam, -and Fitz Anstruther, left England in the course of the next week, -while only three days later Dick and Mr Stratford started on their -journey across Europe to the southern port at which they were to meet -the ship. - -As travelling companions the two suited one another admirably. They -had the wholesome respect for each other’s powers which a month of -successful big game shooting together in rough country is wont to -engender, and they differed sufficiently in character to give their -intercourse a spice of variety. Mr Stratford was a man after Sir -Dugald Haigh’s own heart. He had risen rapidly in the Diplomatic -Service, until, at the time when the idea of a Mission to Ethiopia was -first mooted, he held a responsible position in the British Embassy at -Czarigrad. It showed the importance attached to this Mission by the -Government, that a man of his standing had been appointed to accompany -it, but Sir Dugald, who had made his acquaintance in the East, had -requested that he should be chosen. He was an excellent linguist, with -all his chief’s powers of diplomacy, but with far more talent for -society than Sir Dugald possessed, and with a capacity for -self-effacement which seemed to Dick sometimes to amount almost to a -double personality. His wild, open-air life among a wild people had -not tended to teach Dick to conceal his thoughts, but he had succeeded -well enough among his unruly frontiersmen, who felt greater respect -for the long arm which could deal a distant and unexpected blow than -for a tongue distilling all the wisdom of the ages. - -It was when he was brought into contact with the more sophisticated -townsmen, or with the weaker and craftier races of India, that Dick -felt himself at a loss; and he observed, with vain intentions of -emulating it, the way in which his friend would apparently give -himself up altogether to the trivial business or wearisome pleasure of -the hour without once forgetting the object he had in view. That he -had never lost sight of his aim was proved by his sudden descent, just -at the right moment, upon his opponents, who thought they had thrown -him off his guard, but found that they were altogether mistaken. By -his superiors at the Foreign Office, Mr Stratford was regarded as a -thoroughly dependable man who was always to be trusted to tackle any -particularly nasty piece of business, while by his contemporaries and -subordinates he was abhorred as a fellow who seldom took his leave -unless he saw the chance of employing it in some sort of work likely -to bear upon his official duties, and whose proceedings disposed the -authorities to expect far too much from other people. He was bound to -be ambassador some day, they supposed, but he might allow those who -did not aim so high to have the chance of a quiet life. - -Dick was among the few men who knew the story that lay in the -background of Mr Stratford’s life. On one occasion, when they were -hunting together in Kashmir, Stratford was severely wounded by a bear, -and Dick, while bandaging his friend’s left arm, discovered that under -the signet he wore on his little finger, and almost concealed by it, -was a wedding-ring. He learnt the story which attached to it somewhat -later. Years ago, Mr Stratford had been engaged to the daughter of one -of the foreign representatives at Eusebia, where he held a post in the -British Legation, and all things seemed to combine to promise him -happiness. But only three days before the time appointed for the -wedding, the bride fell ill, and there was terror and panic in the -city when the news crept about that her malady was the plague. She -died on the day on which she was to have been married, and this was -the end of Mr Stratford’s dream of bliss, of which there remained now -only the unused wedding-ring. Dick could still recall the even voice -in which he had told his tale as the two men sat by their camp-fire -with the darkness of the forest around them. He heard only the bare -facts, and he felt that these were merely told him to account for the -presence of the ring. They were related without a sign of emotion, -without a single expression of regret or of self-pity; but the story -unveiled to Dick the tragedy which was hidden behind his friend’s -prosperous life. Neither of them had ever referred again to that -night’s confidences; but Dick felt grateful that the mask had once -been lifted for his benefit. Henceforward, no one could allude to -Stratford in his presence as a fellow without a heart, or hint that he -was a diplomatist rather than a man, without his taking up the cudgels -hotly for the absent one. - -The journey across Europe was performed without delay or other mishap, -and, after a few hours’ waiting at the port Stratford and Dick were -able to board their vessel. The first member of their own party that -they met was the doctor, who gave them a hearty welcome, and proceeded -to pour his own woes into their sympathetic ears. The ship had met -with fearful weather in the Bay, and, if he had known what a time was -before him, he would have gone overland with them. - -“But you must have found it all right since you passed the Rock?” said -Dick. - -“Oh yes, it has been endurable. The Chief and I have been cramming -Ethiopian with the interpreter, Kustendjian--a very clever fellow. We -shall have the start of you there. We shall be swimming along gaily in -the reading-book while you two are floundering through your alphabet. -To hear that Armenian chap deferentially commending Sir Dugald for his -progress is a joke! He’s a thorough courtier, and wouldn’t let your -humble servant get ahead of the Chief on any account.” - -“It shows Sir Dugald’s pluck that he has begun a new language at all -at his age,” said Stratford. “Most men would have left everything to -Kustendjian, and thrown the blame on him if things went wrong.” - -“Oh, we all know that you will back up the Chief on every possible -occasion,” said the doctor, irreverently. “He ought to be thankful -that he has such a faithful trumpeter at hand to act as his understudy -in case of need. But you mark my words, if ever I have to put the -Chief on the sick-list, North and I will give you a jolly time!” - -“Regularly beastly!” agreed Dick. “But you seem to have been badly off -for occupation if you took to studying Ethiopian. Was there absolutely -nothing to do?” - -“Not much, except to watch the love affair.” - -“What love affair?” - -“It’s the greatest joke in the world! You remember that young idiot -Anstruther, how he carried on with Miss Hervey at the Egertons’ -dinner-party? Well, he saw fit to be thrown out of his berth in the -gale that caught us in the Bay--got his wrist sprained and his thumb -crushed, or something of the sort. The surgeon on board here and I -were at our wits’ end with all the ladies who knew they were dying and -insisted on the doctor’s attending them at once, besides the other -knocks and injuries that really needed looking after, so we were -thankful when Miss Keeling volunteered her aid. She wasn’t ill, while -it was as much as I could do to stagger feebly about, holding on to -things, and we thought it would be an excellent thing to hand the -ladies over to her care--just temporarily, of course. But the ladies, -to a woman, refused to have anything to do with her, except Lady -Haigh, who wasn’t ill, and we were actually obliged to give her the -surgical work, for the men who had got knocked about were too anxious -to be looked after to care who did it. You needn’t put on that -face”--catching sight of Dick’s look of disgust--“she did it as well -as I could have done it myself. But we hadn’t bargained for the effect -of her ministrations on the susceptible heart of young Anstruther. He -was winged at the first shot, and the next day’s dressing of his hand -finished him. Since he has been able to crawl on deck, he has done -nothing but follow Miss Keeling about, and when she sits down he sits -down too, and looks at her.” - -“Young fool,” laughed Stratford. “How lively for Miss Keeling! But -what about the other girl?” - -“Miss Hervey? Oh, I taxed him with her one day, and he had his answer -all ready. He compared himself to Romeo, and one or two other old -Johnnies of that sort, and felt that he had quite justified his -conduct.” - -A shout of laughter followed, in which Dick joined, notwithstanding -his disgust. It was not quite clear, even to himself, why he should -object so strongly to young Anstruther’s behaviour, but he recognised -that he resented it very vigorously. Georgia was nothing to him, of -course; but--well, a man who had gone through it all before was sorry -to see another young beggar making an ass of himself. He did not know -whether to be more angry with the youth for his foolishness, or with -Miss Keeling for tolerating it. She did not welcome her youthful -adorer’s attentions--he was obliged to confess this when he saw her -treatment of him; but why should she allow them to continue when a -word to Sir Dugald would have rid her of them? And the boy was really -painfully absurd, whether he was taking immediate possession of any -empty chair within a radius of a dozen yards from Miss Keeling, or -scowling at those who did not give him a chance of getting nearer. -Georgia was a favourite on board--there was no denying it. The younger -men, with the conspicuous exception of Fitz, looked askance at her, -certainly, and avoided her neighbourhood, muttering something about -the New Woman; but the elders declared her unanimously to be the most -sensible girl on board. “A woman who knows any amount, and never -parades it, but is always ready to learn from other people, and -doesn’t want to talk dress or scandal, is refreshing to meet,” they -said, not troubling themselves to remember that they would have fought -their hardest to repress in their own daughters any approach to -Georgia’s particular tastes. - -To his own sore discomfort of mind, Dick surprised the same -inconsistency in himself. It was one of his favourite theories that -women who aped men (the term was a comprehensive one, and covered a -good many things, from studying art to riding a bicycle), lost by such -a course of action any right to help or special courtesy from men. And -yet he found himself watching jealously for any chance of moving Miss -Keeling’s deck-chair for her, or fetching her a book from the library, -without even waiting to be asked. It gave him a curious feeling of -gratification to catch the look of pleased surprise on her face, and -to receive words of thanks from her lips--to know, in short, that he -had made her indebted to him, and that she liked it. Moreover, in -spite of his former unhappy experience, he seized every opportunity of -conversation with her, and engaged her in endless arguments on the -Woman Question--a species of mental activity which Georgia hated at -all times, and which was particularly distasteful to her in this case, -since only the very surface of the subject could of necessity be -touched. - -“It is really too bad of Major North to go on teasing Miss Keeling in -this way,” said Lady Haigh to Mr Stratford one evening; “and if he -only knew it, it is so silly of him, too. Georgia has had plenty of -practice in arguments of this kind, for every man she meets begins his -acquaintance with her by trying to convert her. She has her most -telling pieces of evidence all marshalled ready for use, while Major -North has nothing but a few prejudices to support him. The other men -all give it up, sooner or later, and decide to accept things as they -are, and be thankful, and why doesn’t he?” - -“I’m sure I don’t know,” said Stratford. “Perhaps his obstinacy is -stronger than theirs, or he thinks he has a right to carry matters -further--as a family friend of Miss Keeling’s.” - -“As if that would have any influence over her!” said Lady Haigh, -scornfully. “Now, I ask you, is it likely that after going through her -training as creditably as she has done, she would ever allow herself -to be convinced that it had been impossible or improper for her to -study medicine? And if she was convinced, do you think any woman -worthy of the name would ever allow him to see it?” - -“I should think it extremely improbable. But according to North -himself, his intention is purely philanthropic. He told me yesterday -that he considered it only charity to talk to Miss Keeling as often as -he possibly could, in order to protect her from that terrible -youngster.” - -Lady Haigh went off into a fit of subdued laughter, which would have -astonished and wounded Dick if he had known its cause, for he believed -honestly in the explanation of his conduct which he had offered, quite -unasked, to Stratford. If it did give him a thrill of pleasure when -Miss Keeling’s dark eyes were raised to his face, in inquiry or in -indignant protest, or even in mirthful contradiction, it was merely -because his chivalry was receiving an incidental and wholly -unlooked-for reward. He was only doing his duty in protecting a lady -of his acquaintance against a youth who had shown himself disposed to -take an undue advantage either of her kindness or her thoughtlessness. -It did not strike him that Miss Keeling might be quite able to take -care of herself under the circumstances, much less that she might -prefer to do so; but Fitz Anstruther was made aware of the fact before -the voyage concluded. - -“At last!” he exclaimed, one evening, with a sigh of satisfaction, as -he annexed the chair which Dick had just vacated. “I do believe that -conceited beast North thinks you like to hear him everlastingly -prosing away, Miss Keeling.” - -“People are often blind to one’s real feelings in their presence,” -said Georgia; but the double meaning went unperceived. - -“Yes; but he might have had a little pity for me,” said Fitz, -complacently, for he had an artless habit of exhibiting to the public -gaze any sentiments, such as most people prefer to keep concealed in -their own bosoms, that he considered did him credit. “Every one on -board must know by this time that I am awfully gone on you.” - -“Mr Anstruther!” - -“Oh, I mean, of course, that I have admired you awfully ever since I -first knew you. A fellow expects a little consideration to be shown -him when he is in l--I mean--don’t you know?” - -“How long have you known me, by the bye?” inquired Georgia. - -“Oh, all this voyage. It’s been abominably long, don’t you think? But -I don’t mean that, you know; it’s been jolly.” - -“Yes; it is really a long time,” pursued Georgia, meditatively. “It is -all but a fortnight, isn’t it?” - -“A fortnight is as long as a year sometimes,” said Fitz. “I mean, as -good,” he added, hurriedly. - -“Yes; only a fortnight ago you were saying all this to Miss Hervey,” -was the unexpected response. - -“Oh, I say now, Miss Keeling, that’s a bit hard on a man,” cried Fitz, -much wounded. - -“A _man_?” said Georgia, inquiringly; and the youth writhed. - -“Of course I was awfully gone on Miss Hervey before we started,” he -said, sulkily; “but it was only because she was so pretty, and she -doesn’t care for me a scrap. She told me so lots of times.” - -“Is that intended as an excuse for the way in which you have been -behaving lately?” asked Georgia; “because I don’t quite see the -connection. Allow me to tell you, Mr Anstruther, that you have been -doing your best to make both yourself and me supremely ridiculous. I -can’t interfere with you if your ambition is to make every one laugh -at you, though I may regret it for you own sake; but I object very -strongly to your trying to render me absurd.” - -“Mayn’t a--a fellow change his mind?” Fitz wished to know, in an -injured tone. “If I am in love I’m not ashamed of it.” - -“I hoped that your own good feeling would have led you to see by this -time how foolish you have been,” said Georgia, coldly. “I could have -freed myself in a moment from the annoyance you have caused me by a -word to Sir Dugald”--Fitz’s face fell suddenly--“but I was sorry to -lower his opinion of you at the very beginning of your work with him. -Your sister is a great friend of mine, and I hoped you might be -sufficiently like her not to resent advice which was offered for your -good.” - -“I’m awfully obliged to you for not complaining to Sir Dugald about -me,” returned the culprit, with some reluctance. “I didn’t mean to -behave like a cad to you, Miss Keeling, nor to make you look -ridiculous. I’ll try not to bother you any more, if you really don’t -like it. Only mayn’t I speak to you sometimes? It will be rather dull -if I am not to say a word all the way to Kubbet-ul-Haj.” - -“I am quite serious,” said Georgia, rather sharply. - -“So am I, Miss Keeling, I do assure you--tremendously serious. It is a -serious thing when a fellow finds himself brought up in mid-career in -this way. I only want to have my orders given me. I like to be -definite. We may be friends still, I hope?” - -“I see that I need not have taken so much trouble to spare your -feelings,” said Georgia. “If I had ever imagined, Mr Anstruther, that -your conduct sprang simply from a desire to make me a laughing-stock -on board, I should not have felt inclined to waste any consideration -on you.” - -“Oh, Miss Keeling, you are making a mistake--on my word and honour you -are!” cried the youth, earnestly. “What a beast you must think me! I -know I am bad enough; but it’s not quite that. I do admire you -tremendously, and so I did Miss Hervey. It’s a way I have. I don’t -mean any harm; but I do delight in being rotted about it by other -chaps. They are all so dreadfully afraid of being suspected to be the -least bit in love, that it’s a great temptation to show them how well -one can go through with it.” - -“Then try to conquer the temptation,” said Georgia, promptly, although -she found her fan useful to conceal a smile. “You are far too young to -think of being in love yet. What you call love is merely a momentary -enthusiasm. Why not wax enthusiastic over some cause, for a change, or -even some man--Sir Dugald, for instance?” - -“I did think a lot about him at first, but he snubbed me in such a -horribly cold-blooded way,” was the reply. - -“Take my advice, and think all the more of him for that. You will be -thankful for it yet. And perhaps you may be thankful some day for what -I have said to you to-night. My lecture was not received quite in the -spirit I had anticipated, but I think you must see that the form which -your enthusiasms took was not calculated to do any good to any one, -and might have done harm. Happily Miss Hervey and I are both a good -many years older than you are, but a young girl might have thought you -were sincere, and have suffered terribly when she was undeceived.” - -“It is so hard to be always thinking of what might be the consequences -of everything!” lamented Fitz. - -“It would be harder to have to take the consequences after refusing to -think of them. You will marry some day, I hope, and would you feel you -were acting fairly towards your wife if you had frittered away -beforehand all the affection and devotion which were her right? Keep -yourself for her.” - -“Thanks awfully, Miss Keeling, for saying that. No one ever spoke to -me in this way before. You will let me be friends with you, won’t you? -I should like you to advise me always.” - -“I can promise you more advice than you will ever think is needed. In -a few years,” said Georgia, with some bitterness, “you will hate the -very sight of me, because of what I have said to you to-night.” - -“If I was ever such a beastly cad, I hope I should be punished as I -deserved!” said Fitz, fervently. - -“It is only the way of the world--of men, at any rate,” returned -Georgia, as lightly as she could; but when she was alone a little -later, her mind recurred to the subject, and found no mirth in it. - -“It is Major North’s way too,” she said to herself. “How he would have -sneered if he had heard me to-night! I might be that boy’s -grandmother, from the way he accepts my scoldings.” - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - AGAINST HIS WILL. - -“I beg your pardon for disturbing you, but I think you must belong to -the British Mission to Ethiopia?” - -The speaker was a hot and dusty lady, mounted on a sorry pony, who had -halted in front of the hotel at Bab-us-Sahel, the port of Khemistan, -in which Sir Dugald Haigh’s party were quartered. Dick North, who had -been reclining in a cane chair on the verandah, with a cigar and a -wonderfully printed local paper, jumped up when he heard the voice. - -“I am a member of the Mission,” he answered. “Can I do anything for -you? I am sorry that Sir Dugald Haigh is out, but perhaps you would -prefer to wait for him? Won’t you come in out of the sun?” - -“Thanks,” said the lady, dismounting nimbly before he could reach her, -and giving the bridle to a youthful native groom who had accompanied -her, “but I need not trouble Sir Dugald Haigh. Please tell me whether -it is true that there is a lady doctor in your party?” - -“Yes. Miss Keeling is her name.” - -The lady uttered an exclamation of delight. - -“Oh, that is just splendid! I must see her at once, please. My name is -Guest; she will remember me if you tell her that Nurse Laura is here. -I was a probationer at the Women’s Hospital when she was house-surgeon -there, and we knew each other well. Please ask her to see me at once: -it is a matter of life and death.” - -Drawing forward a chair for the lady, Dick departed on his errand, and -returned presently with Georgia, who had been resting in her room -after a long ride in the morning. Miss Guest jumped up to meet her. - -“Oh, Miss Keeling, it is such a relief to find you here! I want you to -come with me at once, to see a poor woman who is most dangerously ill. -I will tell you about it while you get your things together. There is -not a moment to lose.” - -The two ladies vanished round the corner of the verandah, and returned -in a few minutes, Georgia wearing her riding-habit and carrying a -professional-looking black bag. - -“Would you be so kind as to tell them to put my saddle on a fresh -horse for me, Major North?” she said, briskly. “I am afraid we are -losing time.” - -“What is it you are proposing to do?” asked Dick, after calling one of -the native servants and giving him the order. - -“Miss Keeling is going to ride out with me to our summer station,” -explained Miss Guest, volubly. “Missionaries are not permitted to -reside in Khemistan except in Bab-us-Sahel itself, you know, but the -Government allows us to rent a small house in a village five miles off -for the hot weather. This poor young woman is the wife of one of our -native converts there, the son of the principal landowner.” - -“But do you mean that Miss Keeling is to ride five miles in this heat, -when she is tired already?” demanded Dick. “It is preposterous!” - -“I should not think of asking her to do it if it was not so -important,” said Miss Guest. “You see, I have ridden all the way in, -and I am going out again with her.” - -“You will be down with sunstroke to-morrow,” said Dick to Georgia. -“Wait until it is a little cooler, and I will hunt up some sort of -cart and drive you out.” - -“We can’t afford the time,” said Georgia. - -“No, indeed,” said Miss Guest; “I scarcely dared to come away myself. -Happily, I was able to leave dear Miss Jenkins with the poor woman. -She has such wonderful nerve! I believe she would have attempted the -operation herself if only we had had the proper appliances.” - -“It is a very good thing you had not,” murmured Georgia, grimly. - -Dick glanced at her, hoping that she was giving way. - -“Headlam will be back in another half-hour,” he said. “He has had -plenty of experience, and he will be delighted to go out and see the -woman.” - -“Oh, but you don’t know Khemistan,” said Miss Guest, quickly. “Surely -you must have forgotten that a gentleman would never be admitted into -the women’s apartments.” - -“I thought you said the people were Christians?” said Dick, taken -aback. - -“The husband is, but the wife has not been baptised, and is still in -her father-in-law’s house. They are most bigoted people, and regard -this as a kind of test case. Every one has been dinning into the poor -young man’s ears that his wife’s illness is a judgment upon him for -becoming a Christian, and his faith is beginning to waver. ‘What can -these Christians and their Christ do for you?’ they ask him. He is -terribly tried, and though Miss Jenkins and I have done everything we -could think of for the poor girl, it was no good. Then we heard of the -arrival of the Mission, and it suddenly flashed into my mind that I -had seen something in a paper from home about a lady doctor who was to -accompany it, and I rode over here at once, and found Miss Keeling, of -all people. It was a real answer to prayer,” and Miss Guest’s voice -faltered, and the tears rose in her eyes. - -“Oh, when are they going to bring that horse?” said Georgia, -impatiently. - -“I hear it coming now,” said Dick. “But let me drive you over, Miss -Keeling; it won’t be so fatiguing for you, and I am sure I can borrow -a cart from some one very soon.” - -“I can’t lose another minute,” said Georgia. “No, thank you, Major -North, we must not wait.” - -“But just tell me when you are likely to be ready, that we may send a -carriage to fetch you.” - -“I can’t tell. These cases vary so much. I shall probably be obliged -to remain at the village all night.” - -“But this is absurd! You are throwing away your health. What does this -woman signify to you?” - -“It is my professional duty to attend any one who summons me,” said -Georgia, giving him an indignant glance; “even if there were no -special reasons connected with this case.” - - [image: images/img_02.jpg - caption: - “It is my professional duty to attend any one who summons me,” said - Georgia, giving him an indignant glance.] - - -“Well, if you will do these ridiculous things, I can’t help it!” said -Dick, angrily. “I suppose you will have your own way.” - -“I think it extremely probable that I shall,” retorted Georgia. “No, -thank you, I won’t trouble you--I can mount alone.” - -With an intensity that would have seemed laughable to himself under -any other circumstances, Dick longed that she might find the feat -impracticable; but she beckoned to the groom to bring the horse to the -verandah steps, and, mounting with great agility, rode away with Miss -Guest, who had been staring with round eyes at the “horrid sneering -officer,” as, after this day’s experience, she persisted in -denominating Dick. - -As for Dick himself, he shrugged his shoulders as he looked after the -two ladies, and went away to Stratford’s room to relieve his mind. -Stratford, who was lying on his bed reading, looked up in surprise as -he entered. - -“I thought I had left you comfortably established on the verandah?” he -remarked. - -“I was driven away by an invasion of the Amazons,” said Dick, -gloomily, taking a seat on the table, where he smoked in silence for a -few minutes. “If there is one kind of creature I bar and detest above -all others”--he burst out suddenly--“it’s the New Woman!” - -“Have you met one?” inquired Stratford, with deep interest. “I always -thought it was a case of ‘much oftener prated of than seen?’” - -“There’s no need to go about looking for specimens,” returned Dick. -“We’ve got one with us, worse luck!” - -“You have been getting the worst of it in an argument again, haven’t -you?” asked Stratford, genially. - -“What in the world has that to do with it? I don’t want any of your -chaff. It ought to be made penal for any woman to enter any trade or -profession practised by men.” - -“Good gracious! would you add the attraction of forbidden fruit? -Still, I don’t say that your plan isn’t worth considering. The penalty -would be death, I suppose, and it might redress the inequality of the -sexes a little.” - -“Oh, hang it all, Stratford!” cried Dick, flinging away his cigar, -“I’m serious. It makes me perfectly sick to see these women parading -their independence of men, and glorying in what they know, and ought -never to have learnt. It’s bad enough when they are strangers, and you -don’t care a scrap about them, but when it comes to a girl you’ve -known----” - -“Better not go on, old man,” said Stratford. “You may say more than -you mean, and be sorry for it when you are cooler.” - -“I can’t help it. I know I’m safe with you. Now I put it to you: can a -man be cool when he sees a girl he knew years ago--his sister’s -friend--turning into one of these unsexed women, of whom the less that -is said the better? One would rather see her in her grave!” - -“You are a little out of sorts,” said Stratford, with imperturbable -calmness, “and you are making mountains out of molehills. I won’t -pretend not to know what you are driving at, but I do say that I think -you are using most unwarrantable language---- Hullo! who’s there? Come -in.” - -This was in answer to a knock at the door, which opened immediately, -and admitted Fitz Anstruther. The young fellow’s hands were clenched -and his face flushed, and it was apparent to the two men that he was -hard put to it to restrain an outburst of furious passion. - -“I wasn’t listening,” he said, hastily, “but I couldn’t help hearing -what you were saying. These beastly rooms----” He broke off suddenly, -and his hearers, perceiving that the side walls only reached within -some six feet of the roof, realised that their conversation must have -been audible to any of their neighbours on either side who chanced to -be in their rooms. “But that’s neither here nor there,” he went on. “I -heard you blackguarding Miss Keeling’s name in the most shameful way, -and I am not going to listen to it.” - -“I was not aware that we had mentioned the name of any lady,” said -Stratford. Fitz was taken aback for a moment, but recovered himself -speedily. - -“It wasn’t you, it was Major North,” he said, glaring at Dick. “He -mentioned no names, but if he can assure me he wasn’t speaking of Miss -Keeling, I’ll apologise at once. You see? I knew he could not do it. -Now look here, Major North--you are my superior, and I know you can -ruin me if you like, but I won’t hear Miss Keeling spoken of in that -way.” - -“Your hearing what you did was quite your own affair,” said Dick, -coolly. He had an enormous advantage over Fitz, for the sudden attack -had restored him to his usual calmness, but the boy did not flinch. - -“I know, but I can’t help that. You may be sure I wouldn’t have -listened to it of my own accord, but when you talked as you did, it -naturally forced itself on my hearing, and a nice hearing it was! Miss -Keeling has no one here to look after her, and if you are cad enough -to take advantage of that, I’ll do what I can. If you dare to say that -she isn’t every bit as good and as gentle as your own sister, I tell -you to your face you’re a liar.” - -“Anstruther!” cried Stratford, sitting up suddenly, “do you know what -you are saying? For your own sake and the lady’s be quiet.” - -“I can’t help it,” repeated Fitz. “Miss Keeling has been awfully kind -to me, and I’m not going to hear her insulted. You can do what you -like, Major North. If you want to fight, I’m ready.” - -“Young idiot! who wants to fight you?” growled Dick, lounging to the -door with his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t know you were going to -hold a levée, Stratford. I think I’ll leave you to train the young -idea for a little.” - -“You haven’t answered me,” said Fitz, doggedly, barring his passage; -but Stratford interposed again. - -“Have the goodness to sit down on that chair, young Anstruther. I want -a straight talk with you.” The boy obeyed sullenly, and Stratford went -on. “As you are in my department, I suppose it falls to me to ask you, -now that North is gone, whether you think you have done a very fine -thing?” - -“I don’t think about it at all,” was the uncompromising response, “but -I know I should have been a cad not to have done it.” - -“Let us just consider what it is you have done,” said Stratford. “You -hear North and myself engaged in private conversation, and you thrust -yourself into it uninvited.” - -“If it had been private I shouldn’t have heard it,” retorted Fitz. - -“Well, it was intended to be private, at any rate. Couldn’t you have -gone away, or have let us know that you were listening?” - -“That’s what I would have done, certainly, if it hadn’t been for what -North said. I couldn’t stand that.” - -“No? and you felt bound to come in and tell us so. Now, Anstruther, I -am going to speak to you as a friend. When you are a little older, you -will know that men of the world--gentlemen--are not in the habit of -bringing the names of ladies into a discussion. If they differ in -opinion on some subject of this kind, they contrive to quarrel -ostensibly about something else.” - -“And you would have me let Major North say the vile things he was -doing about Miss Keeling for all the hotel to hear, and yet pretend to -take no notice?” - -“Allow me to remind you that North mentioned no names. Any listener -could only at best have made a guess at the identity of the lady in -question, until you came in and published her name.” - -Fitz’s face was turning a dull red, and he said nothing. Stratford saw -his advantage, and followed it up. - -“You ought to be very thankful that there are so few people about just -at this time. If the place had been full, you might have done terrible -harm. It would have been quite possible to remonstrate with North on -general grounds, if you felt called upon to do it, without mentioning -any names or calling anybody a liar, but to march in and identify a -particular lady as the one of whom these things had been said, was -unpardonable. So was the way in which you did it. Of course, I don’t -know what your ideas as to duty and discipline may be, but it does not -seem to me your business to reprove North at all.” - -“I wouldn’t have done it, except in this case,” said Fitz, eagerly. “I -know he has led a rough life, and I can put up with a good deal from -him, but when it comes to behaving like a cad to a lady, I had to -speak.” - -“And who gave you the right to make excuses for your superiors, or to -bring accusations against them?” demanded Stratford, in a tone which -made the youthful censor shake in his shoes. “I think you have -forgotten the position North holds, and the way in which he gained it. -Any man in Khemistan would laugh at you if you told him that Dick -North had been rude to a lady. He is one of the most chivalrous -fellows that ever breathed. You may not know that when Fort -Rahmat-Ullah was relieved, and the non-combatants conducted back into -safety, North gave up his horse to a Eurasian clerk’s wife who had a -sick child, and walked all the way himself.” - -“I can’t make it out,” said Fitz, hopelessly. - -“You see that it doesn’t do to judge a man merely on the strength of a -momentary impression, then? Well, I will tell you in confidence what -really happened this afternoon. It was this very chivalry of North’s -which got him into trouble. You know that the lady of whom mention has -unfortunately been made is very independent, and I gather that she -persisted in refusing all North’s offers of help in some business or -other. That hurt his feelings, and he came to my room to have his -growl in peace, with the result you know. I don’t say he was right, -but I do say you were wrong.” - -“I’m awfully sorry,” said Fitz. “I will apologise, Mr Stratford, if -you say I ought.” - -“I don’t think it is advisable to make more of the matter. I will -undertake to convey your sentiments to North, if you like.” - -“Thank you; and perhaps I had better apologise to Miss Keeling too?” - -“No!” Stratford almost shouted. “How old do you consider yourself, -Anstruther? Twenty? I shouldn’t have thought it. Your ideas are what -one might expect of a boy fresh from a dame’s school. You must learn -never under any circumstances to trouble a lady about any affair of -the kind. I really did not expect to have to undertake infant tuition -when I started on this journey. If you have made a fool of yourself, -don’t go and make things worse by worrying Miss Keeling.” - -“I’m awfully sorry,” murmured Fitz again. “Thank you for what you have -been telling me, Mr Stratford. I wish I hadn’t said what I did to -Major North, and yet I know I should do it again if I heard him -talking like that, and I feel I ought to do it too.” - -“Your ideas are mixed,” said Stratford. “You had better go away and -think things out a little by yourself,” and Fitz departed obediently. - -Georgia did not return to the hotel again that evening. Dick, appealed -to by Lady Haigh as the member of the party who had last seen her, -said that he believed she had gone out into the country with some lady -missionary or other, and might not be back until the next day. The -news drew from Sir Dugald a mild lamentation to the effect that he -really thought they had done with missionaries when they left Baghdad, -a remark for which he received a reproof from Lady Haigh afterwards in -private. - -“I wish you would not say that kind of thing before these new young -men, Dugald. They don’t know how kind you were to the missionaries at -Baghdad, and they may think you mean it,” a charge to which Sir Dugald -offered no defence. It was by means of rebukes of this kind that Lady -Haigh kept up the fiction dear to her soul that she ruled her husband -with a rod of iron, and guided him gently into the paths it was well -for him to take; whereas those who watched the pair were of opinion -that Sir Dugald’s was emphatically the ruling spirit, and that his -mastery in his own household was so complete that he could afford to -allow his wife to think otherwise without making any protest. - -In spite of Dick’s careless and positive words to Lady Haigh, it might -have been observed that he lingered on the hotel verandah later than -any one else that night, and that he appeared there again at a most -unearthly hour in the morning, wearing the haggard and strained aspect -characteristic of a man who has slept only by fits and starts, owing -to the fear of oversleeping himself. One who did not know the -circumstances of the case might have said he was there watching for -some one, but that would have been manifestly absurd. Whatever might -be the cause of his unusual wakefulness, he was occupying his place of -the day before when the creaking and groaning of wheels, gradually -coming nearer, announced an arrival. A few minutes later, as Georgia, -tired and exhausted, descended from the missionaries’ bullock-cart, -which was wont to convey Miss Jenkins and Miss Guest, in company with -a miniature harmonium, a stock of vernacular gospels, and occasionally -a native Bible-woman, on their itinerating tours among the villages -around, she discovered him waiting to receive her. She was so tired -that she had dozed unconsciously in the bullock-cart, in spite of the -rough music of the wheels and of the appalling jolts; and now, -awakened suddenly by the cessation of both sound and motion, she stood -shivering and blinking in the grey twilight, a sadly unimpressive -figure. Dick mercifully forbore to look at her as he took the bag from -her hand and helped her up the steps, then settled her in his chair -and shouted to the servants to hurry with the doctor lady’s coffee. -Georgia tried to protest feebly, but he was adamant. - -“You must have something to eat before you go to bed, or we shall have -you down with fever this evening. You will allow me to know something -of the climate of Khemistan, I hope, though I am not a ‘professional’ -man.” - -There was an unconscious emphasis on the adjective, which showed -Georgia that coals of fire were being heaped upon her head in return -for her words of the day before. But she did not respond to the -challenge, for she was too much exhausted for a war of words; and, -moreover, the coffee was very acceptable, even though it was Major -North to whom she owed it. When the sleepy and unwilling servants had -made and brought the coffee, however, she paused before tasting it. - -“I can’t argue with you now, Major North, but I just want to say this. -It was worth while going through all the training, and some of it was -bad enough at the time, simply for the sake of this night’s work. If I -never attended another case, I should be glad I was a doctor, if only -to remember the happiness of those poor Christians in that village.” - -“I wasn’t aware that I had attempted to argue,” said Dick, who was -busily cutting what he imagined was thin bread and butter. “There, eat -that, Miss Keeling. The woman didn’t die, then?” - -“No, I hope she will do well. The people, heathen and Christians -alike, took it as a miracle. If it helps Miss Guest and Miss Jenkins -in their work, I shall be so thankful.” - -“Time enough to consider that afterwards,” said Dick, as Georgia put -down her cup and sat gazing into the twilight. “If it helps you to an -attack of fever, you won’t be thankful, nor shall I. By the bye, what -happened to your horse? I hope you didn’t meet with an accident?” - -“Oh no, but I was so dreadfully sleepy that I was afraid to ride, and -the ladies lent me their bullock-cart. They are to send the horse back -later in the day. You mustn’t think that I am generally so much -overcome by sleep after spending a night out of bed as I am now. When -I was in hospital I thought nothing of sitting up. It is simply that I -am out of practice.” - -“Of course,” said Dick, politely, suppressing the retort he would -infallibly have made had things been in their normal condition. It was -so pleasant to be caring for Georgia in this way, without feeling the -slightest desire to quarrel with her, that he began to wish she would -be called out every night by her professional duties. What did his own -broken slumbers signify? At any rate, he had stolen a march on that -young fool Anstruther now. _He_ had not thought of seeing that Miss -Keeling had something to eat when she came in. And Dick caught himself -afterwards recalling with something like tenderness, a feeling which -was obviously out of the question, the pressure of Miss Keeling’s hand -as she shook hands with him before going indoors, and the tones of her -voice as she said-- - -“Thank you so much, Major North. It was most kind of you to take all -this trouble for me. I hope you won’t be very tired after getting up -so early.” - -“Oh, I just happened to be out here. I didn’t sleep very well,” he -explained, airily, and went off well satisfied with his own readiness -of resource, not dreaming that Georgia, in her own room, was saying -bitterly to herself as she took down her hair-- - -“He need not have told me so particularly that he didn’t get up -because of me. I knew he did not, of course, but it wasn’t necessary -for him to say it. Well, I shall not presume upon his kindness, -although he is afraid I may.” - -The natural consequence of this deceitful excess of candour on Dick’s -part was, that when he met her next, he found that he had lost any -ground which his ready services might have gained for him in Miss -Keeling’s estimation. For him the events of the early morning had cast -a glamour over the rest of the day, and when he saw Georgia again -towards evening, he was prepared to meet her with the friendliness -natural between two people who had found the barrier of prejudice -which separated them partially broken down. But she received him with -the easy graciousness she would have shown to the merest acquaintance, -expressing her gratitude for his kindness, indeed, but ignoring -entirely the approach to something like intimacy which he thought had -been established between them. Dick was not accustomed to be repulsed -in this way, and when he overheard Georgia telling Sir Dugald how -fortunate it had been for her that she found Major North up when she -returned, and how kind he had been in getting her some coffee, his -wrath, if not loud, was deep. She was betraying what he liked to think -of as a secret known only to their two selves, and making an ass of -him before the other fellows. This led him to remember that, after -all, circumstances were unchanged. Georgia was still a doctor, and -displayed no symptoms of being convinced, whether against her will or -otherwise, by his arguments against the existence of medical women, or -of discontinuing the practice of her profession. Nay more, Dick was -beginning to see that it was unlikely she would ever be so convinced, -and that if there was to be peace between them it must be on the basis -of acquiescence in facts as they were. Hence, as he was still -determined under no circumstances to extend even the barest toleration -to lady doctors, it is not surprising that Dick felt himself a much -injured man, and that his soul revolted a dozen times a-day against -the conclusions at which he had been forced to arrive. - -As for Georgia, she continued to take pains to show him that she quite -understood his view of the case, which she did not, and devoted -herself largely to itinerating in the country round with Miss Jenkins -and Miss Guest. She was welcomed on account of her medical skill in -many places where they had not been able to gain a footing, and had -the pleasure of knowing that she left these houses open to her friends -for the future. The work proved to be so interesting that she was very -sorry to leave it, and on the eve of departure she confided to Lady -Haigh the resolution she had definitely formed to come back to -Bab-us-Sahel when the Mission returned from Kubbet-ul-Haj, and to -settle down with Miss Guest and Miss Jenkins. - -“Nonsense, Georgie! you mustn’t throw away your talents like that,” -cried Lady Haigh, aghast. - -“But I should only stay here until they would allow me to settle on -the frontier, of course,” said Georgia. - -“I wish General Keeling were alive,” said Lady Haigh, irritably. “He -would very soon put a stop to these absurd schemes. Or I wish you were -married. That would do as well.” - -“But if that is one reason for my not marrying?” asked Georgia. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - ACROSS THE FRONTIER. - -“When we come to the crest of this rise we shall be able to see Fort -Rahmat-Ullah in the distance,” said Stratford to Georgia. He had -quitted his place in the long cavalcade formed by the members of the -Mission and their baggage-animals, as it made its way across the -broken ground, alternately sandy and rocky, which characterises the -districts lying near the frontier of Khemistan, and had joined the two -doctors, who were riding somewhat in advance of the caravan in order -to escape the dust. Dr Headlam turned back to the side of Lady Haigh, -with whom Stratford had been riding, and Georgia looked round at her -new cavalier with eyes of eager interest. - -“It was Fort Rahmat-Ullah that Major North relieved, wasn’t it?” she -asked, although she knew perfectly well what the answer would be. - -“Yes, during our last little war but two or three. It is our farthest -outpost on this frontier, and, when the tribes were up, they naturally -set their hearts on getting hold of it. Of course the garrison has -been strengthened since then, and the _pax Britannica_ is quite -effective in the neighbourhood. We are to spend a few days at the -fort, you know, before we bid farewell to civilisation, and make our -dash into the desert, so that it is a comfort to feel that we need not -expect to find ourselves besieged there. The only drawback is that -North will be away.” - -“Away?” asked Georgia in astonishment. - -“Yes, didn’t you hear that he had got leave from the chief to go and -see a friend away at Alibad, to the west of us? They used to work -together in the old days, but North had the chance of distinction and -got his V.C. and his promotion, and the other man didn’t. I rather -like to see North going off in this way to look him up--shows he -doesn’t forget old friends, and that sort of thing--and perhaps he is -just as glad not to be lionised at the fort. It’s a little hard on us, -though.” - -“Yes, it is a little suggestive of ‘Hamlet’ with Hamlet left out,” -observed Georgia, meditatively, determined that Mr Stratford should -not perceive the unreasoning disappointment with which the news had -infected her. - -“And yet I don’t quite see what he could do for us if he was there, -beyond giving us the gratification of beholding him on his native -heath, so to speak,” pursued Stratford. - -“Oh, well,” said Georgia, carelessly, “I was reckoning on his being -able to ride out with us along the way he went, and show us just where -his different adventures happened. It would make it seem so much more -real, you know.” She was speaking easily and naturally, bent on -accounting to herself as well as to Mr Stratford for that absurd sense -of disappointment, which was so keen that she feared it must before -this have betrayed itself in face or voice. But were Dick’s adventures -not real to her? Had she not scanned the papers day by day at the time -of the siege as eagerly as Mabel herself? And when at last the full -account reached England of the relief of the fort, and of the heroism -of the man through whose enterprise it had been accomplished, had she -not bowed her head upon the page of the ‘Thunderer’ and cried -heartily, out of pure joy in the remembrance that this man had once -loved her? Decidedly there was no need that the events attending the -relief of Fort Rahmat-Ullah should be rendered more vivid for Georgia; -but Stratford seemed struck by the justice of her remark. - -“That is quite true, Miss Keeling. North is treating us all very -shabbily. I hope you will put it to him at lunch. He leaves us after -the mid-day halt, you know.” - -But Miss Keeling did not choose to do anything of the kind, and when -Sir Dugald appealed to her to join in condemning North’s desertion, -she smiled pleasantly as she answered, that no doubt Major North -feared lest the attraction of his presence at Fort Rahmat-Ullah should -distract the attention of the visitors from the less interesting -duties which ought to engross them. The remark was intended to make -Dick uncomfortable; and when Georgia saw that he was raging inwardly -over the construction she had put upon his motives, absurd though it -was, she felt happier, as having in some degree repaid him for the -disappointment he had inflicted upon her, although, when he had ridden -away, still fuming, she was filled with compunction, and spent some -time in solitude and self-reproach, which meant bemoaning her own -touchiness and calling herself names. - -Her sorrow was not allowed to sleep, for at Fort Rahmat-Ullah -everything around seemed calculated to recall Dick to her memory. The -scenes connected with his great exploit were held in universal -reverence, and from the officers of the detachment quartered in the -fort nothing was heard but lamentations over his absence. On the very -first evening the new-comers were swept away by the general wave of -enthusiasm, and allowed themselves to be personally conducted round -the walls, in order to have the different localities rendered -memorable by the siege pointed out to them. But this was merely an -informal inspection, for the next morning an old European sergeant, -who had taken part in the Relief of Lucknow, and was now employed as -some kind of clerk in the fort, made his appearance, and expressed a -readiness to act as cicerone during a second tour of the place. - -“Evidently,” said Stratford, “the thing to do here is to make the -circuit of the walls once a-day, each time with a different guide.” - -“We shall get together a good collection of the different legends -which are beginning to crystallise round North’s exploit,” said Dr -Headlam, who was a student of folk-lore. “I suppose we must go, or we -shall hurt this old chap’s feelings. He regards North as something -like a demigod.” - -“I think once round the walls is enough for me,” said Sir Dugald, “so -I must hope that the tutelary deity of the place will not be very -furious at my neglect when we meet him again. What do the ladies -intend to do?” - -“Oh, we are going, of course,” said Lady Haigh, promptly, unfurling a -huge white umbrella. “I always make a point of seeing and hearing -everything I can about everybody.” - -Sir Dugald sighed almost imperceptibly, and buried himself once more -in his Ethiopian grammar, while the rest started out under the -guidance of the old soldier. Constant practice on every new-comer who -came in his way had made the sergeant perfect in the tale he had to -tell. He knew exactly the points at which his hearers would be -thrilled with horror or touched with sympathy, and he enjoyed keeping -them on the rack of suspense when he reached a crisis in his story. He -had been in the fort himself at the time of the siege, and Georgia -held her breath as he described the wearing terror of the -night-attacks, and the uneasiness of the long days, troubled by fears -of the enemy without and of famine within the walls. Then she saw, as -clearly as if she had been present, the little group of officers -gathered in a shadowy corner of the ramparts one morning before night -had given place to day. Dick was among them, disguised as one of the -fair-skinned hillmen often met with along the Khemistan frontier, and -he was going out alone, taking his life in his hand, in the forlorn -hope of getting through the enemy and bringing help to the fort. So -slight was the prospect of success that none but those who happened to -be on the ramparts when he started knew of his expedition; and the -women in the place, who were not told about it for fear of raising -baseless hopes only to be dashed again, thought that he had been -killed in a night sortie and his body not recovered. One by one his -fellows gripped his hand and bade God keep him in his enterprise; then -he was let down swiftly to the ground outside by means of a rope -suspended in the shadow of the turret, and before the rope could be -drawn up his form had melted into the shadows around. - -Almost immediately on setting out he was met by perhaps the gravest of -the perils he was to encounter. Descending a rugged hill into a dry -watercourse, which he hoped would afford him a measure of cover, the -loose stones rolling under his feet betrayed him to the drowsy -watchman of a party of the enemy, who were sleeping, wrapped in their -mantles, round a smouldering fire. They were between him and the fort, -and there was no hope of retreat; but as the sentry’s bullet came -skipping over the rocks past him, and the sleepers, on the alert at -once, sat up and grasped their weapons, Dick’s resolution was taken. -With a cry of joy he rushed towards the fire and inquired eagerly and -incoherently in Khemistani whether the fort had fallen and he was too -late to take his part in the plundering. The party upon whom he had -chanced were all good Moslems, and their rage was extreme on -discovering by his dress that the intruder was a hillman, and that -they had been awakened because a wretch of an idolater was trying to -get a share of their booty. He was driven from their camp with blows -and curses, and ordered to tell his people that any further attempt to -participate in the expected spoils would be met with force of arms. -The same ruse helped him again and again during the day. On sighting a -part of the enemy, he had only to approach them humbly and detail what -had happened to him, asking for redress, when the same fate would -befall him immediately on his mentioning what his crime had been. -Every chase took him farther from the fort and nearer to civilisation, -and at last he fell in with a small party of hillmen, fleeing from the -hated Moslems into territory which was still British, who allowed him -to join himself to them. - -But this meeting landed him in another danger, for although he could -speak the hill dialect well enough to pass muster with the lowlanders, -he could not deceive those whose native tongue it was. For some time -he parried questions by declaring that he belonged to a different -tribe; but the hillmen grew more and more suspicious, thinking that he -must be a spy from the camp of their hereditary foes. They kept a -close watch on him, and he gathered that they intended to deliver him -up to the first British patrol they came across. This would have -suited his purpose excellently but for the extremely slow rate at -which his new friends travelled, and he seized the first opportunity -that offered itself of eluding their vigilance and striking off across -country to the nearest fort. His late entertainers pursued him; but he -reached the fort first and delivered his message, so that when the -hillmen arrived they were electrified to behold him in uniform -assisting in the preparations for the relief expedition. Thence his -course had been, as Fitz Anstruther remarked irreverently, “a -triumphal procession,” an observation which the old soldier who was -acting as guide took in very good part. - -“Ay,” he said, “and we are all proud of him here. We don’t have many -ladies come to the fort, especially since the rising; but to hear some -of them talk that have been here this last year, you’d think the whole -place wasn’t nothing but a memorial of him, though there! we’re just -about as bad ourselves. When a new subaltern joins--though it ain’t -often we get them raw enough--the officers take him round and show him -everything. When they get to the north face they tell him, ‘This here -was named after Major North. He started on his journey down the -slope.’ There wasn’t more than one of them took it right in; but the -rest are always puzzled, and don’t like to contradict. By the time -they’ve got it worked out in their minds they’re as proud of the Major -as any of us, and had rather follow North of the Khemistan Horse than -the Commander-in-Chief. Ah! he’s a brave chap and a cool one, and we -were downright mad when we knew we were not to have him back here; but -he’ll want all his bravery and all his level-headedness where you’re -going.” - -“Come, sergeant, you mustn’t frighten the ladies,” said Stratford. - -“Frighten the ladies!” repeated the old man, scornfully. “I could a -deal sooner frighten any of you gentlemen, and no offence to you, sir, -neither. I’ve seen a good many frontier ladies in my time, and I can -tell that these two is just as full of spirit as an egg is full of -meat. Looking out for adventures, ma’am, ain’t you?” to Georgia. “I -thought so; and her ladyship there, she’s been through so much that -she ain’t afraid of nothing.” - -“This is reassuring,” said Lady Haigh. “I hope you young men are now -convinced what desirable travelling companions we are?” - -“I don’t so much know about that,” said the old sergeant, -reflectively. “I suppose as you’ll bundle yourselves up in veils, like -the women of the country, when you get to Ethiopia, my lady?” - -“Yes, I hear that we must,” returned Lady Haigh. - -“That’s all right, then, and I’ll make bold to give the young lady a -bit of advice. Don’t you go playing no tricks with your veil, ma’am; -you keep it down when there’s any Ethiopians about. I could tell you -of times when a whole caravan has been cut up for the sake of one -woman, and she made a slave of.” - -“Miss Keeling, you must swallow the warning for the sake of the -compliment contained in it,” said Dr Headlam, while Fitz glared -speechlessly at the sergeant, who went on in a meditative voice-- - -“No, it don’t so much signify what the woman is like, so long as she’s -different to theirs. Not but what I dare be bound as they’d find -they’d caught a Tartar in this young lady. She would be queen instead -of slave before they’d done with her.” - -“This is really too flattering!” said Georgia, her face flushing. -“Have you anything more to show us, sergeant?” - -“I’m afraid as that’s all, ma’am. But don’t you go for to be offended -at my plain speaking. I could tell you was a lady of spirit by your -going to Kubbet-ul-Haj at all. And, bless you, you can do near -everything with these fellows if you talk big a little, and don’t let -’em see as you are shaking in your shoes all the time.” - -The old man’s face as he enunciated this doctrine was so comical that -Georgia accepted the implied apology, and the affair ended in a laugh. - -“It never struck me that we were to wear veils as a protection,” said -Georgia to Lady Haigh as they returned to their quarters. “I thought -it was only for fear of outraging the people’s feelings.” - -“If it had been only that,” returned Lady Haigh, “I should certainly -have refused on principle to wear a veil. You know that I have knocked -about a good deal, my dear. When Sir Dugald asked me to marry him, he -said he felt quite guilty in trying to allure me away from all my -friends and my work, and I seized the opportunity of stipulating for -the very thing I wanted. I said I shouldn’t mind leaving everything in -the slightest if he would only promise to take me with him wherever he -went. He did promise, and I have gone everywhere with him--to some -very strange places indeed. I have often been where no English lady -had ever been seen before; but I have always refused to cover my face. -They used to tell me that the people were not accustomed to see a -woman unveiled. ‘Well, then, they must become accustomed to it,’ I -always said. Then they suggested that it might outrage their religious -sentiments; but, as I pointed out, people must learn not to let their -feelings be hurt so easily. But this time it was different. When it -came to be a case of endangering the safety of the whole Mission, Sir -Dugald told me that the choice lay between his breaking his promise -and leaving me behind and my wearing a veil. I did not see it at all, -because the Kubbet-ul-Haj people ought to accustom themselves to -seeing new things, and I really yielded solely on account of you. -Dugald”--they had reached their own verandah by this time--“didn’t I -tell you that I only consented to wear a veil for Miss Keeling’s -sake?” - -“I believe you have mentioned the fact more than once, now that I come -to think of it,” returned Sir Dugald, looking up from his book. - -“But really, Lady Haigh, I am not afraid,” said Georgia. “If you think -that the old man was only talking nonsense, I will join you in -organising a protest against Ethiopian customs with the greatest -pleasure, for I should much prefer not wearing a veil.” - -“Oh, but it really is necessary for you, my dear. It is different in -my case; I am old, and I never was anything much to look at, and I am -indubitably married. But suppose the King should see you, and take it -into his head to want to make you his fifteenth wife----” - -“As a Mohammedan he is not allowed more than four,” interposed Sir -Dugald, mildly. - -“Oh, I am sure he doesn’t count the ones he has killed or divorced!” -said Lady Haigh. “Well, in any case, Georgie, it would be very -awkward. You might refuse to marry him, but he wouldn’t take a -refusal. He would simply request Sir Dugald to settle the matter. If -he was told that it was the custom in England to allow ladies their -choice, he would say that at Kubbet-ul-Haj you must do as the -Kubbet-ul-Hajis did. Then, if you still refused, he might do as the -old man suggested, and murder us all to get hold of you. So you see -that it is really necessary for you to cover your face, and I do it to -keep you company.” - -“But with the veil, you will, of course, adopt the other dictates of -Eastern etiquette,” said Sir Dugald, “which forbid a lady to speak to -any man not of her immediate family?” - -“That would be dreadfully dull for me,” said Lady Haigh. “What should -I do when you were busy?” - -“Far worse for me,” cried Georgia. “I protest against such treatment, -Sir Dugald! Do you mean to condemn me to perpetual silence? I have no -relations of any kind here.” - -“Ah, Eastern society makes no provision for the New Woman,” observed -Sir Dugald. - -Georgia groaned. - -“I am so dreadfully tired of that name,” she said. “But I believe, Sir -Dugald, that Eastern etiquette would oblige Lady Haigh and me to ride -humbly behind with the servants while you gentlemen were cantering -gaily in front--wouldn’t it? Is that to be the order of our going?” - -“No, I think we must make up our minds to disregard Ethiopian opinion -in that respect,” said Sir Dugald. “Don’t be afraid, Miss Keeling, you -shall lay aside your veils in the tents and when we get to our own -quarters at Kubbet-ul-Haj. It is only in the streets and on the march -that you need wear them.” - -“And really they are not so very bad,” said Lady Haigh, shaking out a -heap of white drapery. “When I knew we must make up our minds to such -garments I determined that they should be as little trouble as -possible, so I got these _burkas_ made. I remembered seeing the women -wearing them in the Panjab long ago. You see, the _burka_ is simply -put on over everything, and covers you from head to foot without an -opening--merely that embroidered lattice-work for the eyes. It gives -you no trouble; whereas the _isar_, which the Baghdadi women wear, and -which poor Cecil Egerton was obliged to adopt when she was governess -at the Palace, is nothing but a sheet pure and simple. You have to -hold it together in front with one hand and over your face with the -other. No matter how bad the weather may be, you can never spare a -hand to hold up your dress or your sheet drops; you must just trail -through the mud. I could not stand that.” - -Georgia acknowledged thankfully the wisdom of Lady Haigh’s remarks, -and when the day arrived on which the actual journey to Kubbet-ul-Haj -was to begin, she put on the _burka_ without a murmur. The start was -an imposing sight, for most of the officers in the fort accompanied -the Mission as far as the Ethiopian frontier, and the rest of the -garrison lined the walls and sped the parting guests with a rousing -cheer. The servants and baggage had started earlier in the day, and -when they had been caught up a halt was made for lunch, after which -the travellers delivered themselves into the hands of the body of -Ethiopian troops who had been sent to meet them on the frontier and -escort them to the capital, and the British officers returned to Fort -Rahmat-Ullah. Dick North came riding up just in time to fall into his -place in the cavalcade, and the long array of riders and -baggage-animals took their way across the frontier. - -The cavalry escort, of which one portion headed the procession, while -the remainder brought up the rear, was not calculated, so far as its -outward aspect was concerned, to allay any apprehensions that might -have been fluttering the breasts of the timid. Its members were wild, -reckless-looking fellows, evidently ready to go anywhere and do -anything, but apparently quite as well qualified to rob their convoy -as to protect it. Uniformity of dress or accoutrements among them -there was none; but they resembled one another in that they were all -fierce of face, all unbridled of speech, all extremely dirty, and all -armed to the teeth with a wonderfully miscellaneous collection of -weapons. It seemed almost madness to take ladies into the heart of a -country which, until very lately, had been actively hostile, under the -guardianship of such men as these, and the younger members of the -Mission felt their hearts sink suddenly with an unwonted feeling of -apprehension as they took their last look at the fort--that isolated -outpost of Britain and civilisation on the borders of barbarism. But -Sir Dugald’s impassive face betrayed no emotion whatever as he halted -beside the track to allow the caravan to file past him, and the -younger men took comfort as they remembered that their leader was one -who, although he had not hitherto had the opportunity of -distinguishing himself in a wide field, was reputed never to have made -a mistake in the many minor but still important duties with which he -had been intrusted. - -Nor had Sir Dugald himself started for Kubbet-ul-Haj with a heart so -light as to induce him to neglect any precaution that lay in his -power. When it had once been ascertained that the passage of an escort -of British, or even of Indian, troops through Ethiopian territory was -out of the question, Sir Dugald agreed at once to intrust the safety -of the Mission to the King’s own soldiers. But he bestowed special -care on the selection of the servants who were to accompany the -expedition, down to the very camel-men, choosing, so far as was -possible, old soldiers, and these from the frontier, where there was -always a hearty feeling of dislike simmering against the Ethiopians. -These men might be relied upon to hold together in the strange -country, and to show a bold front in case of necessity; and they also -despised the Ethiopians far too much to associate with them, which -lessened the likelihood both of quarrels and plots. With the exception -of the wives of a few of these men, there were only two women among -the servants--Lady Haigh’s elderly Syrian attendant Marta, and -Georgia’s maid. This was a Khemistani girl named Rahah, a waif from -the frontier who had found her way in some mysterious manner to -Bab-us-Sahel, and after being handed over to the missionary ladies to -be taken care of, had been trained by Miss Guest--who suffered much in -the process--as a lady’s-maid. Her name was supposed by the learned to -mean “rest,” but her character was not in accordance with it, for -there was no rest for any human being that had anything to do with -Rahah. Her chief recommendations for the post she now held were her -undeniable cleverness with her fingers and some knowledge of the -Ethiopian language, which might prove useful to her mistress in -communicating with female patients, while she had already learnt, -during the past few weeks, to render considerable assistance to -Georgia as anæsthetist and dresser. - -The caravan which was composed of such incongruous elements found its -journey more peaceful than might have been anticipated. The members of -the escort, although somewhat addicted to the snapping up of -unconsidered trifles, were capable of frightening away any other -robbers, and on the march were content to keep at a respectful -distance from their charges. In this foreign country there could be -none of those digressions from the track which had proved so pleasant -in Khemistan, but the members of the Mission were not altogether -without subjects of interest to occupy them. Georgia and Dr Headlam -were making a collection of all the birds, plants, and insects they -met with, for in this respect Ethiopia was new ground. Sir Dugald was -ruthless in his refusal to allow more than one collection to be -carried with the expedition, and the rival collectors were thus -deprived of the stimulus of competition. The only thing to be done was -to allow the first finder of a new species to monopolise the glory of -its possession until a finer specimen was discovered, and in this -finding Dr Headlam complained that Georgia had an unfair advantage, -since Fitz was always at her service and eager to help her. But in -spite of little squabbles of this kind everything went pleasantly, -chiefly owing, Fitz said, to the fact that North was generally so -busily occupied with his duties of noting the configuration of the -country and the windings of the track, with a view to map-making, that -he had no time to ride with the others and enter into conversation. -Since his return to the rest of the party he had scarcely spoken to -Georgia, and she told herself that it was better so. - -This was the state of affairs when the march came to an end; and the -Mission, amid the thunder of very rickety cannon, the shouting of the -populace, and the shrill welcoming cries of the women, entered the -city of Kubbet-ul-Haj. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - AN OFFER OF CO-OPERATION. - -“The King of all Kings, the Upholder of the Universe, places this -hovel at the disposal of his high eminence the Queen of England’s -Envoy, and entreats that he will deign to use it as his own,” said the -sleek official who had been deputed to meet the travellers and bring -them into the town, as he paused opposite the doorway of a large house -and indicated with extended hand that the end of the journey had been -reached. - -“In other words, this imposing building is to be our residence for the -present,” said Sir Dugald, riding into the courtyard and turning -round. “Allow me to welcome you to Kubbet-ul-Haj, ladies.” - -“It is not as good as Baghdad,” said Lady Haigh, looking round -disparagingly on the whitewashed walls; “but I daresay we shall be -very comfortable. After all, it won’t be for long.” - -“Express my thanks to the King,” said Sir Dugald pointedly to the -messenger, “and tell him that the pleasantness of our quarters will -make us anxious to prolong our stay in his city.” - -The official, well-pleased, stayed only to point out the entrance to -the second courtyard of which the house boasted, and to intimate that -if the accommodation provided should prove to be too limited, another -house could easily be secured, and then took his departure; while the -new arrivals passed under an archway into the inner court, to find -facing them the chief rooms of the establishment. These were evidently -intended as Sir Dugald’s quarters, and Lady Haigh surveyed them with -high approval. - -“Come!” she said. “We shall not be so badly off after all. I was -beginning to be afraid we should be as much crowded as you were at -Agra in the Mutiny, Dugald. I think the rooms on that side will do -nicely for you, Georgie.” - -“I don’t know whether you will all be able to find quarters in the -first block of buildings, gentlemen,” said Sir Dugald to his staff -when he had helped his wife and Georgia to dismount, and they had gone -indoors to explore. “I must have Mr Kustendjian there, for he may be -wanted at any moment, and I doubt whether that will leave you rooms -enough.” - -“If any one has to seek quarters outside, I hope I may be the favoured -man,” said Dr Headlam. “Judging by the sights I saw as we came through -the streets, and the cries for medicine which were addressed to me, -there is an enormous amount of disease here, and I shall have my hands -pretty full if I begin to try any outside practice. I think I am -justified in believing that you would approve of such a course, Sir -Dugald? It could only make the Mission more popular.” - -“By all means, if you wish it; but don’t wear yourself out with -doctoring all Kubbet-ul-Haj, and forget that you came here as surgeon -to the Mission. You think you will do better if you are lodged -outside?” - -“Well, I didn’t quite like the idea of bringing all the filth and -rascality of Kubbet-ul-Haj into the Mission headquarters, but that -would remove the objection. I think it would be both safer and more -agreeable for all of us if you would allow me to camp in some other -house.” - -“Then perhaps you could take that collection of yours over to your new -quarters as well as your other belongings? It is not altogether the -most delightful of objects.” - -“Either as to sight or smell,” put in Dick North. “Those beasts you -have preserved in spirits are enough to give a man the horrors, -doctor.” - -“Oh, our much-maligned masterpieces shall share my quarters, by all -means,” said the doctor. “If Miss Keeling breaks her heart over -parting with the collection, don’t blame me.” - -“Miss Keeling will probably bear the loss with equanimity,” said Sir -Dugald. “Natural history collections are not exactly ladies’ toys. At -any rate, if she is uneasy about the state of her pet specimens you -can bring her bulletins respecting them at meal-times. We shall see -you as usual at tiffin and at dinner, I suppose, doctor? And you know -that Lady Haigh is always glad to welcome you at tea.” - -“I shall certainly not decline such an invitation in favour of -solitary meals hastily partaken of amongst the specimens,” said Dr -Headlam. - -“Then we may consider that settled,” said Sir Dugald. “I think we may -regard ourselves as fairly fortunate in our quarters here. What is -your opinion, Stratford?” - -“I think the place is very well adapted for our business, certainly,” -returned Stratford. “The general public will only be admitted to the -outer court, I suppose?” - -“Yes; the large room on the ground-floor of your quarters will serve -as our durbar-hall,” said Sir Dugald, “and the attendants of the -Ethiopian officials can remain on the verandah. This inner court must -be sacred to the ladies, so that they may go about unveiled. No -Ethiopian can be allowed to cross the threshold without an invitation, -and only those must be invited who know something of English usages -and will not be shocked by what they see. The raised verandah before -the house will no doubt serve as a drawing-room. What do you think of -the place, North?” - -“Good position for defence,” said Dick, meditatively. “You hold the -outer court as long as you can, and then fall back upon the first -block of buildings. When that becomes untenable, you blow it up and -retire upon the second block.” - -“Until you have to blow that up too, and yourself with it, I suppose?” -said Sir Dugald. “For the ladies’ sake, I must say I hope we shall not -have to put the defensive capabilities of the house to such a severe -test. Well, gentlemen, we shall meet at dinner. No doubt you will like -to get your things settled a little. Your own servants will be able to -find quarters in your block, but the rest must occupy the buildings -round the outer court.” - -When Sir Dugald had thus declared his will the party separated, the -staff proceeding to their quarters in Bachelors’ Buildings, as the -first block was unanimously named, and allotting the rooms among -themselves on the principle of seniority; while the doctor went -house-hunting with the aid of a minor official who had been left in -the outer court to give any help or information that might be needed. -Under his auspices a much smaller house, only separated from the -headquarters of the Mission by a narrow street, was secured, and -hither Dr Headlam removed with his servants and the famous collection. -When the members of the Mission met at dinner they had shaken down -fairly well in their several abodes, and after a little inevitable -grumbling over accustomed luxuries which were here unattainable, they -displayed a disposition to regard the situation with contentment and -the rest of mankind with charity. Sir Dugald noted down certain points -on which it would be necessary to appeal for assistance to the urbane -gentleman who had instituted the party into their habitation, while -Lady Haigh promised help in matters which could be set right by -feminine intuition and a needle and thread, and peace reigned at -headquarters. - -It was not until dinner was over and the members of the Mission were -partaking of coffee on the terrace, with the lights of the dining-room -behind mingling incongruously with the moonlight around them and -outshining the twinkling lamps visible here and there in the loftier -habitations outside the walls of the house, that an interruption -occurred, and the quiet was broken by the entrance of Chanda Lal, Sir -Dugald’s bearer, with a visiting-card, which he handed to his master -on a tray. - -“What’s this, bearer?” asked Sir Dugald, impatiently. - -“Highness, the sahib bade me bring it to you.” - -“The sahib? Here? In Kubbet-ul-Haj? Who is he? What is he doing here?” -Sir Dugald’s brow was darkening ominously. - -“Highness, I know not. I said that the _burra sahib_ received no -visitors this evening, and the sahib said, ‘Take this to your _burra -sahib_, and tell him that my name is Heekis, and that I wish to see -him.’” - -“‘Elkanah B. Hicks. “Empire City Crier,”’” read Sir Dugald from the -card in his hand in a tone of stupefaction. “In the name of all that -is abominable!” he cried, with lively disgust, “it’s a newspaper -correspondent, and an American at that, and here before us!” - -“I know the name,” said Stratford. “Hicks was the ‘Crier’ -correspondent who made himself so prominent over the Thracian -business. He was arrested and conducted to the frontier while the -second revolution was going on.” - -“The very worst kind of busybody!” said Sir Dugald, wrathfully. “I -only wish that Drakovics had shot him when he had him safe. What does -he mean by poking himself in here?” - -“He is in search of marketable ‘copy,’ without a doubt,” said -Stratford, “and he is taking the most direct way to get it. He has a -fancy for talking and behaving like a sort of semi-civilised Artemus -Ward, which takes in a good many people; but he is considered about -the smartest man on the ‘Crier’ staff, and that is saying a good -deal.” - -“Whatever his fancies may be,” growled Sir Dugald, “I don’t see that -they are any excuse for the man’s thrusting himself upon me out of -business hours without the ghost of an introduction.” - -“Still, dear,” said Lady Haigh, “we had better have him in and be -friendly to him. In a place like this white people are bound to hang -together, and I dare say we shall find him very pleasant.” - -“Bring the sahib in,” said Sir Dugald, shortly, to Chanda Lal, -adopting his wife’s pacific suggestion, but without any lightening of -countenance; and presently the bearer ushered in a lank, sallow man, -rather over middle age, with a straggling lightish beard, and hair -that seemed to stand somewhat in need of the scissors. As Fitz said -afterwards, if he had only worn striped trousers and a starred -waistcoat, Mr Hicks would have represented to the life the Brother -Jonathan of American, not English, caricaturists. Sir Dugald received -his visitor with frigid politeness, and the staff, taking their cue -from him, did the same; but Mr Hicks appeared to feel no -embarrassment, although the tender hearts of Lady Haigh and Georgia -were moved to pity on his account. He was duly supplied with coffee; -and when Georgia had passed him a plate of cakes he stretched his long -limbs comfortably as he reclined in a cane chair and beamed upon the -party. - -“It makes one feel real high-toned,” he said, slowly, “to be waited -upon out here at the back of creation by two lovely and cultured -daughters of Albion.” - -Sir Dugald gave him a stony glance in reply; while the younger men, -uncertain whether the remark was to be considered as due to deliberate -rudeness or to ignorance, wavered between amusement and indignation. -Lady Haigh answered pleasantly but coldly-- - -“We are not accustomed to be treated to quite such elaborate -compliments, Mr Hicks; but no doubt American manners differ from ours. -So I have always understood, at least.” - -“You bet they do, ma’am!” was Mr Hicks’ reply, delivered with almost -startling emphasis. “When your nigger let me in just now, and the -General there stepped forward and said, ‘Mr Hicks, I presume?’ hanged -if I didn’t think I had got into a Belgravian drawing-room, or into -Central Africa with Stanley, instead of finding a party of civilised -white people in the midst of Ethiopia! I guess I’m not cut out for -shows of this kind, any way.” - -“You prefer a European post, perhaps?” suggested Stratford, as Sir -Dugald remained silent. - -“You may consider that proved, sir, some! I can fly around with any -man in a civilised country, and back myself to send home more ‘copy’ -than the paper can use; but I was a fool to cable back ‘Done!’ when -the Editor wired, ‘Can you start for Ethiopia next week, and keep an -eye on this Mission business?’ Set me down in a telegraph bureau, with -a dozen newspaper men there before me and only one wire, and I’ll bet -you my bottom dollar that my despatch will go over that wire before -any of the other fellows’; but when it comes to organising a -dromedary-service to carry my ‘copy’ week by week, it makes me tired -of life.” - -“If you find it so hard to send your letters, how did you surmount the -difficulties of getting up here yourself?” asked Sir Dugald, with a -faint appearance of interest. - -“I must confess to getting along by taking your name in vain, -General,” returned Mr Hicks, easily. “I travelled around for a week or -two in Khemistan, just to throw your frontier people off the scent and -to make friends with some of the natives. They smuggled me across into -Ethiopia in disguise, and I told the people here that I was sent out -to write about the Mission and note how it was received, which was -quite true. Consequently I was taken everywhere for an emissary of -your Government, which has smoothed the way for me considerably. I -guess it will gratify you to know that your name was a passport most -everywhere.” - -“Having heard you were a newspaper correspondent,” said Sir Dugald, “I -might have guessed what your methods would be.” - -“We military people,” said Lady Haigh, again interposing as -peacemaker, “have an odd prejudice against special correspondents, Mr -Hicks. It is awkward, but you must be kind enough to excuse it.” - -“It’s nothing to what I should feel if I was in the General’s place, -ma’am,” said Mr Hicks, affably. “I wouldn’t have one in my camp for -any money. They might pillory me throughout the Press of the Union, -but so long as I kept them off I should smile. Now, General, after -that handsome acknowledgment, I hope we are friends?” - - [image: images/img_03.jpg - caption: - “It’s nothing to what I should feel if I was in the General’s place, - ma’am,” said Mr Hicks, affably.] - -“I hope so,” returned Sir Dugald, still unsoftened. - -“I should like to do a deal with you, General,” continued Mr Hicks. -“If you could spare me a minute or two alone, I think I could convince -you that we have interests in common.” - -“Work is over at this time of night,” said Sir Dugald, icily. “If I -can be of service to you in any little difficulty with the authorities -here, or with regard to the postal arrangements, I shall be happy to -see you in the morning. My office hours begin at six.” - -“Do you wish to name any special time, General?” - -“By no means, Mr Hicks.” Sir Dugald fixed a blank uncomprehending gaze -on the American’s face. “It is my duty to support the interests of the -subjects of friendly powers wherever I can, and I hope you will attend -to state your case at the time most convenient to yourself.” - -“I guess you don’t understand me, General. I can fix my own affairs, -thank you. What I want is to arrange a trade. You give me what I want, -and I give you what you want, do you see? I should prefer to speak to -you in private as to the exact terms.” - -“Any proposal you have to make to me must be uttered in the presence -of these gentlemen, if you please.” - -Mr Hicks laughed uneasily. - -“Well, your way of doing business licks Wall Street,” he said. “What I -have to say is, you give me the information I may need as to the plans -and intentions of your Government, and I will give you some pieces of -news without which you will do nothing here.” - -“You are an accredited agent of the United States Government?” asked -Sir Dugald. - -“Not at all, sir. I represent the ‘Empire City Crier.’” - -“And I represent her Britannic Majesty. I regret that the ‘deal’ to -which you have referred cannot come off.” - -“Then your Mission will be a failure, General.” - -“Pardon me, but that is no concern of yours.” - -“Well, you are the first man I ever knew bring a wife and daughter -into a place like this on such an almighty poor chance. I don’t know -what you think, gentlemen”--Mr Hicks wheeled round in his chair and -glanced at the rest of the party--“but I say--and I know something -about this place--that you have a precious small hope of getting out -of Kubbet-ul-Haj with your lives if your Mission does fail.” - -“You really must excuse my staff from commenting on your interesting -piece of information, Mr Hicks,” said Sir Dugald, smoothly; “but they -are not accustomed to be set up as a court of appeal over me.” - -“May I ask, General, whether you know why Fath-ud-Din, the Grand -Vizier, did not ride out to welcome you to-day?” - -“I believe he was ill,” said Sir Dugald, stifling a yawn. - -“He was so sick that he was riding past my house to the bath at the -moment you were entering the city on the other side.” - -“I don’t quite see,” said Dick, “why a piece of bad manners on -Fath-ud-Din’s part should be such a fearful omen for us.” - -“I guess you think yourself dreadful smart, Colonel,” returned Mr -Hicks; “but you soldier officers are a bit too cute sometimes. Old -Fath-ud-Din is a bad crowd generally, and he means mischief. Leaving -him out of account, what do you think has happened to your friend the -Crown Prince, Rustam Khan? Has he dropped in on you here yet?” - -“Scarcely,” said Dick. “We have not arrived so very long, you know.” - -“That is so.” Mr Hicks disregarded the sarcasm implied in the words. -“But I know something of that young man, and I can tell you he would -have been around here like greased lightning if he had had the chance. -He was afraid of losing his scalp if he attempted it. The fact is, you -gentlemen are behind the times.” - -“Ah, but we’ll be truly grateful if you’ll enlighten us a little,” put -in Fitz, in a most alluring brogue, which he kept for use on special -occasions. - -Mr Hicks glanced sharply at Sir Dugald. The slightest sign of interest -or eagerness would have determined him to impart no information except -at a price, but the look of repressed weariness which was just visible -in the half-light served to pique the American into doing his best to -surprise and startle his bored and scornful host. He leant back in his -chair with his thumbs stuck in his waistcoat pockets. - -“We think we are pretty slick in fixing things out West,” he said, -“but they have by no means a bad notion of history-making out here. -When it was arranged that your Mission should start, General, Rustam -Khan was in high favour with his father, old Fath-ud-Din was biting -his nails in disgrace, and the people were all in love with the -English. But we have had a Palace revolution since then. The King’s -second wife (she is Fath-ud-Din’s sister, and they all hang together) -gave her husband one of her slave-girls, the prettiest she could pick -up anywhere, and that brought her into high favour, and all her -relations with her. She is young Antar Khan’s mother, and he is prime -favourite now, while Rustam Khan and his mother, the King’s first -wife, are nowhere. Curious what little things bring about these big -changes, isn’t it?” - -“The details of these Palace scandals are scarcely edifying,” remarked -Sir Dugald, to whom Mr Hicks had all along been addressing himself. - -“Probably not, General; but they are often important, and there is an -outside circumstance that complicates this one. From your point of -view it was slightly unfortunate that an envoy should turn up a week -or two ago with presents and offers of alliance from Scythia and -Neustria. I guess those two States are hunting in couples. It’s not -the first time they’ve done it, and they generally make a good thing -out of it. Does this alter your way of looking at things at all, -General?” - -“Not at all,” returned Sir Dugald, placidly. - -“Now come, General,” said Mr Hicks, leaning forward and extending a -long forefinger to tap Sir Dugald on the knee, “you and I are both -white men. We understand each other. I can put you up to circumventing -this Scythian cuss if you will only show an accommodating spirit.” - -“Really,” said Sir Dugald, “I am deeply obliged; but until her Majesty -is pleased to appoint me a colleague I have an invincible objection to -sharing my duties with any one. I cannot sufficiently admire your -disinterested and public-spirited offer of co-operation, Mr Hicks, but -this prejudice of mine--foolish and incomprehensible as it must no -doubt appear to you--prevents my accepting it.” - -“Think of your reputation, General,” urged Mr Hicks, sadly. “I give -you my word I had sooner write the story of a successful mission than -an unsuccessful one any day. We newspaper men have a way of finding -out things which you diplomatic gentlemen never hear of, and I can -help you through with your work and cover you with glory as well. -You’ll take it?” - -“No, thank you,” returned Sir Dugald. “It is all prejudice, of course, -but somehow I had rather not.” - -“There are just a few people left in the world who prefer honour to -glory,” cried Georgia her eyes flashing. - -“What an unkind remark, Miss Keeling!” said Sir Dugald. “You will -really wound my feelings if you impute motives to me in that reckless -way. Well, Mr Hicks, I hope we shall see more of you. Lady Haigh is -always at home on Friday afternoons, and if you care to drop in to -tiffin any day we shall be delighted to see you.” - -Mr Hicks had not been intending to depart so early, but at this -intimation he rose reluctantly and took his leave. North and Stratford -escorted him to the door, and when they had returned to the terrace a -sense of constraint seemed to fall upon those present. Sir Dugald’s -impassive face told nothing, and his eyes were fixed on a distant -point of light in the city. He was the only one of the party who -recognised the full importance of the piece of news which had just -been announced, but all perceived more or less distinctly that the -enterprise on which they were bound had received a check. It was -Georgia who broke the silence at last. - -“Sir Dugald,” she said, boldly, “won’t you say something? We couldn’t -help being here and hearing what that man said, and we should like to -know what you really think, just to hear what we have to expect.” - -“I have never pretended to be a prophet,” said Sir Dugald, looking -round with a half-smile, “and I fear I am not much in the habit of -stating publicly what I really think. Still, after what has happened -to-night, I will say that our task is certainly very much complicated -by what our American friend has told us, though I see no reason for -wailing over it as impossible. Palace revolutions are tolerably -frequent in these countries, and Rustam Khan may be in favour again -to-morrow. Of course the news about the Scythian agent is bad, but we -do not hear that any treaty has been concluded, and we are now on the -spot. If the people are reasonably well affected towards us, or are -even keeping an open mind, the advantages we can offer ought to -convince them that it is to their interest to make friends of us. They -appeared friendly enough this morning.” - -“Hicks told us at the door,” said Dick, “that the King and his Amirs -were very much divided in opinion, some of them advocating the -alliance with us, some that with Scythia, and others that the old -position of isolation should be maintained. The worst of them, he -says, is an old fellow called the Amir Jahan Beg, who is Rustam Khan’s -father-in-law. ‘He is the deadest-headed old reactionary I ever saw,’ -Hicks said. ‘All the other fellows turn round in the street to look -after me and show a little interest, but this old cuss rides right on -and takes no notice. The other day I sent my servant to negotiate an -interview, and all the answer I got was that the door was shut.’” - -“Rather good, that, for Jahan Beg,” remarked Stratford. - -“But if he is Rustam Khan’s father-in-law he may persuade him to take -sides against us,” said Dr Headlam. - -“We can do nothing until we see how the land lies,” said Sir Dugald. -“To-morrow, when the King receives us for the first time, we shall get -some idea of his attitude towards us, and we can take steps -accordingly. There is only one thing that I must specially impress -upon you, gentlemen: be careful when you are in company with Hicks. -Even after his failure to-night I haven’t a doubt that we shall see a -good deal of him. I invited him to come here now and then because I -thought we should be acquainted with his movements occasionally, at -any rate, and he accepted the invitation as likely to give him a means -of finding out what we are doing. Of course he will bribe the servants -here and at the Palace to bring him news; but he will certainly not -neglect us. Therefore be careful what you say. I don’t want to -misjudge the man, but he might not be above the temptation of taking -steps to secure the fulfilment of his prophecy as to the failure of -the Mission. In any case he might do a great deal of harm by sending -home exaggerated or distorted reports of what had actually occurred. -General conversation is the safest--no private talks. I would not -answer even for you, Stratford, in the hands of a ‘Crier’ interviewer, -although you are a past-master in the art of mystification. Even if -you said nothing, that is not necessarily a barrier to his crediting -you with a long oration. There is safety in numbers, for he could not -derive much political capital from a conversation held in the presence -of the whole Mission. Our policy is to show a united front.” - -“If only that wretched man had never come to Kubbet-ul-Haj to spoil -everything!” said Lady Haigh, somewhat ungratefully, it must be -confessed, in view of the information imparted by Mr Hicks. - -“Oh, don’t abuse him,” said Sir Dugald. “It is his business.” - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARED. - -The day following had been appointed by the King for the state -reception of the Mission, and Sir Dugald and his staff left -headquarters early for the Palace, each man arrayed in the most -gorgeous garments in his possession. The occasion was a purely formal -one, consisting chiefly of the presentation of the different members -of the Mission to the King by name, followed by a little ceremonial -conversation between his Majesty and Sir Dugald. The King’s questions -concerned chiefly the personal and family history of Queen Victoria, -although he was also interested in the past services of the Envoy -himself. It was not considered correct for Sir Dugald to originate any -remarks, when once the courteous messages with which he had been -charged by his Government were delivered, and conversation did not -flow very freely, although, thanks to the necessity for interpreting -everything that was said, the time was fairly well filled up. The King -was obviously ill at ease, asking every now and then sudden questions -as to the object of the Mission, and the intention of the Government -in sending it, with the evident aim of disconcerting Sir Dugald. But -the shrewd dark eyes scanned the face of the Envoy in vain for any -signs of confusion or surprise, and his tranquil and unhurried manner -seemed gradually to disarm the King’s suspicions. For Sir Dugald to -succeed in maintaining his air of careless calm was no slight triumph -under the circumstances, since he noticed many things which assured -him of the correctness of the information given by Mr Hicks. Rustam -Khan was nowhere to be seen; but the little Antar Khan, a boy of about -eleven, robed in bright blue satin and decked with jewels, occupied a -seat at his father’s side, and was allowed to interpolate remarks of -his own into the conversation in a way that showed him to be high in -favour. Moreover, the King made no allusion to the eager request he -had sent to England for a lady doctor who might examine his wife’s -eyes, and it seemed as though Georgia’s journey to Kubbet-ul-Haj would -be useless, since she could not visit the royal harem without an -invitation. The Amirs who stood round the throne appeared interested -in all that passed, but their faces expressed no conspicuously -friendly feeling; while one of their number, whom the staff identified -at once with the Jahan Beg described by Mr Hicks, showed himself -ostentatiously inattentive to all that went on. Still, when the -members of the Mission left the Palace and returned to their -headquarters to reassure the anxious hearts of Lady Haigh and Georgia, -they were able to suggest some reasons for hopefulness. At any rate, -the Mission had been graciously received, and that at once, and the -King seemed to be in a state of suspended judgment, rather than of -settled hostility, while no parade had been made of the presence of -the Scythian envoy in the city. - -Once more the party at the Mission met on the terrace after dinner to -discuss coffee and things in general, and once again Chanda Lal -interrupted the harmony of the group. Stratford was in the midst of a -description of some political crisis which had occurred at Czarigrad -during his residence there, when the bearer mounted the steps and made -his way noiselessly to Sir Dugald’s side. - -“Highness, in the court there is an old man wrapped in a mantle, who -wishes to see you. He says he is the Amir Jahan Beg.” - -Low as were Chanda Lal’s tones, the rest of the party heard the words, -and a thrill of excitement ran through them. Why should this -notoriously anti-foreign ruler come disguised and under cover of night -to see Sir Dugald? Surely the situation promised fresh developments? -But Sir Dugald was neither flattered nor interested. - -“This is beyond endurance!” he exclaimed, wrathfully. “It was bad -enough to be disturbed in the evening by that American fellow; but for -a native it is a little too much! The door is shut, bearer.” - -“I bring a message to the Queen of England’s Envoy from Rustam Khan,” -said a crisp, penetrating voice in Ethiopian; and the startled hearers -turned to see an elderly man with a grey beard standing on the steps -behind them, his head and shoulders still shrouded in his cloak. “Let -the Envoy bid the servant depart and I will do my errand.” - -“You can go, bearer,” said Sir Dugald. “By the bye, we shall want Mr -Kustendjian,” he added, and rose to call back Chanda Lal, but the -stranger stepped before him, and laid a hand upon his arm. - -“There is no need of an interpreter,” said Jahan Beg in English. -“Haigh--Dugald Haigh--have you forgotten me?” - -“Good heavens!” cried Sir Dugald, stepping back. “Can it be possible? -You are John Bigg--the man who disappeared?” - -“Exactly,” said Jahan Beg. “The man who disappeared, and made a nine -days’ wonder for his friends at Tajpur, every one of whom had a -separate discreditable theory to account for his disappearance.” - -“That was quite unnecessary,” returned Sir Dugald, “for any one who -knew you and knew Beatrice Wynn.” - -“As you did? Well--by the bye, what has become of Beatrice Wynn?” - -“Dead, years ago. Typhoid--in Assam somewhere.” - -“And for years I have been dead in Ethiopia. Young men”--he turned -suddenly to the staff, who had been endeavouring, with indifferent -success, to get up an interest in conversation among themselves--“let -me give you a warning. Never throw up everything for a woman’s sake. -Never spoil your lives because you have been disappointed in love. -There is not a woman on earth that’s worth it.” - -“Present company always excepted, of course,” said Fitz, with a bow to -Lady Haigh and Georgia. Jahan Beg looked at him with a grim smile. - -“No woman will ever spoil your life,” he said, “though I don’t -necessarily think the better of you for that. As for the rest of you, -you are beyond the impressionable age, I think. You begin to see that -there is something else to live for besides love. I was twenty-three -when I threw aside as good prospects under the Public Works Department -as a man need want, and cut myself off from my friends and my country, -and all for the sake of a woman who had never cared a scrap for me. -She was only amusing herself with me for a while--it’s a way they -have. I can see now that she painted and dyed, and that she was years -older than I was--she was a widow--but I didn’t see it then. I thought -her as beautiful as an angel, and as good--heavens! how I did believe -in that woman--and when she married the Commissioner, I chucked -everything and left.” - -“Leaving your friends to get your servants brought into court on -suspicion of having made away with you, and your enemies to look for -discrepancies in your accounts,” said Sir Dugald. - -“It was all a long time ago; but I hope no one was hanged,” said Jahan -Beg. - -“No; there was no possible evidence against any of the servants, and -people began to talk of suicide, and to accuse the fair Beatrice under -their breath of driving you to desperation. In self-defence she let it -become known that your last letter to her had talked much of going to -the dogs and of a ruined life, but had contained no threats. Then -public opinion veered round again to a certain extent; but the -Commissioner accepted another post before very long.” - -“And for that woman’s sake,” said Jahan Beg, fiercely, “I have lost -everything. It is enough to make a man’s blood boil, Haigh. I am an -alien and a renegade all the rest of my days on account of a woman for -whom I have not now even a kindly thought.” - -“We have all made fools of ourselves at one time or another,” said Sir -Dugald, soothingly. “You have paid heavily enough for that madness of -yours, Bigg, and now you can come back with us when we leave this -place and get into the world again.” - -“Not quite. I have given hostages to fortune, you see.” - -“What? Oh, you have married a native?” - -“Yes. My wife is the King’s cousin. She was a widow when I married -her, and very rich--for this part of the world. She showed a slight -disposition to exact a very rigid etiquette at first--expected me not -to sit down in her presence without being invited, and so on, which -might have led to friction if I had not explained my views clearly at -once. We have never quarrelled since, and we never interfere with one -another.” - -“You have no children?” asked Lady Haigh. - -“I have one daughter. She is married to Rustam Khan.” - -“An English girl married to a native?” cried Georgia. - -“She is only half English, at any rate.” - -“But isn’t Rustam Khan a Mohammedan?” - -“Of course; so is she, so is my wife, so am I--in so far as I am -anything. I told you that I was a renegade, and now you know the worst -of me.” - -“But how did you find your way here, Bigg?” asked Sir Dugald, while -Georgia was silent in dismay. - -“You know I was always fond of disguising myself and going about among -the natives. Well, when I left Tajpur I made up my mind to wander -about for a time as a _fakir_, and at last I got into Khemistan. -Things were not so settled there then as they are now; St George -Keeling was hard at work pacifying the country. I fell among -thieves--that is, among the hillmen--who would not believe me when I -said I was an Englishman, but were afraid to kill me lest it should -turn out to be true after all. They compromised matters by making me a -slave, and gave me a wretched time of it. At last the Ethiopians made -a raid upon their villages, and I was so glad to see the tables turned -that I joined the invaders, and helped them to get possession of the -various strongholds. The hillmen were wiped out, and when the fighting -was over the Ethiopians thought of me. They never imagined I was an -Englishman, and I didn’t tell them. Well--I may as well make a clean -breast of it--they offered me lands, and so on, and a command in their -army if I would turn Mohammedan, thinking that I was an idolater, like -the hillmen, and I had had time to recover a little from the knockdown -blow Beatrice gave me, and life seemed worth living again, and I -consented. It’s a sordid affair enough, you see--just a bartering of -one’s conscience against life and wealth--and it was not worth it. I -have tried it, and I have come to the conclusion that one’s wretched -life is a poor exchange for country and religion. Another warning for -you, young men.” - -“Then you rose to power after all?” said Sir Dugald. - -“I did. It doesn’t sound a moral arrangement--to any one who only -looks on the surface. My lands lie near the frontier of the Scythian -sphere of influence, and before my day they were always liable to -incursions from the tribes under Scythian protection. I put a stop to -that, and my fame spread. One Ethiopian chief after another made -alliance with me, until I was at the head of a confederation extending -all along that frontier. Then it was that the King acknowledged my -power. Old Fath-ud-Din, who had taken a dislike to me from the very -first, pointed out to him that the position I had built up for myself -was a menace to the throne. Consequently his advice was that I should -be summoned to Court and quietly put out of the way. Fortunately for -me, however, the King took some one else’s advice that time. He knew -that I was the only man that could hold that frontier, and he -preferred to consolidate my power and attach my interests to his own -by offering me his cousin’s hand. I knew better than to refuse, and -from that time I became generally known as the Amir Jahan Beg, one of -the pillars of the state. At least I can say that I have done my best -for my district. The people are better governed there than anywhere -else in the kingdom, and the chiefs under me have taken to copying -some of my ways. That is something, but I can’t pretend that the game -is worth the candle. I used to feel it more than I do now, especially -when my daughter was a child. There was so much that was English about -her that it nearly broke my heart to think of her growing up and -leading the life of an Ethiopian woman. I used to plan to take her -with me and make a dash for liberty through Scythian territory, but it -seemed mean to go away and leave my wife, and I shouldn’t have known -what to do with her if I had got her to come too. Then Rustam Khan, -who was a delicate boy, and pined in the city, came to live with us, -and I grew as fond of him as if he had been my own son. He is the only -person here who knows that I am an Englishman, but I have taught him a -little English, and we talk it together sometimes. When he grew up, he -wished to marry my daughter, and though I knew it would make -Fath-ud-Din and all his crew my open enemies, instead of merely my -ill-wishers, I could not refuse him, for he promised to take no other -wife if I would give her to him.” - -“Then is that the origin of the rivalry between Rustam Khan and -Fath-ud-Din?” asked Sir Dugald. - -“No, it has merely aggravated it. Rustam Khan is the son of the King’s -first wife, but Antar Khan’s mother, the Vizier’s sister, has royal -blood in her veins through her mother, and no one can decide which of -the two sons has the best right to succeed. Consequently the King -gives them each a turn of favour, and plays them off one against the -other, to prevent either of them from forming a party. Just now, Antar -Khan, which of course means Fath-ud-Din, is uppermost.” - -“And that bears seriously on our position here?” - -“It does; for Rustam Khan is the strongest advocate of the English -alliance, while Fath-ud-Din, out of pure contrariness, has fanned the -hopes of the Scythians. There is a wretched Jew fellow, supposed to -have been intrusted by the Scythian and Neustrian Governments with a -secret mission, in the town now, but he is kept in the background -until the King has made up his mind about you. Whatever Fath-ud-Din -can do against you he will, you may depend upon that, and he is -all-powerful just now. Rustam Khan finds it advisable to remain at -home and pretend to be ill. He would have come to see you before this -if he had only had himself to please, but he knows that his visit -would be at once represented as part of a plot to dethrone his father -and place himself on the throne. Even I have to be careful. Naturally -I have spoken in favour of the English alliance, and joined with -Rustam Khan in doing all I could to further it, but Fath-ud-Din has -begun to smell a rat. He can’t dream that I am an Englishman, but I -believe he thinks I have been in British territory and brought -dangerous ideas into Ethiopia with me, and he would ruin me if he -could. That is why I am bound, while supporting the object of your -Mission here, to appear indifferent or even hostile to yourselves -personally, and why I dare not be seen coming to your house. There is -a horrible Yankee journalist about the place--have you come across him -yet?--who tried to draw me, but I put on the very haughtiest oriental -airs, and sent him away with a flea in his ear. I dare say he means me -no harm personally, but I know he is very thick with Fath-ud-Din, and -that is enough for me. He has not got much change out of Jahan Beg.” - -“Mr Hicks has already presented himself here,” said Sir Dugald. “What -with him, and Fath-ud-Din, and the Neustro-Scythian agent, and your -precarious position in the country, Bigg, it would appear to a Western -mind that our prospects of success were rather cloudy.” - -“I will do what I can to help you,” returned Jahan Beg; “secretly, of -course. In public you must expect to find me slightly troublesome in -weighing your proposals, and rigid in exacting the full pound of flesh -and an ounce or two extra; but such hints as I can give you privately -I will. Don’t tell me what your instructions are; I don’t want to know -them. I only say, don’t insist on the reception of a permanent British -resident with an escort at Kubbet-ul-Haj, for you won’t get it, and -you will be playing into the hands of Scythia. The Jew agent has -assured the King already that you are sure to make that demand, and -that such an arrangement would be the first step towards annexing the -kingdom. If you must be represented here, stand out for a -Consul-General at Iskandarbagh, the big town you passed just after -crossing the frontier, with a native _Vakil_ at the capital. Then -don’t demand any territory. The Scythians have damaged their case -already by hinting at a rectification of frontier. A reciprocal -commercial treaty you are empowered to conclude, I suppose; but you -must agree that no foreigner shall enter Ethiopia without the King’s -passport. There will be difficulties, too, about the legal status of -foreigners----” - -“Excuse me, Bigg, but would you not prefer to discuss these things -with me in the office? They are a little technical to form an evening -entertainment for the ladies. Mr Stratford, perhaps you will kindly -accompany us?” - -“The ladies must excuse me, remembering that it is a long-desired -relief to talk English once more to any one who can understand it -properly. You have not presented me to your wife, Haigh.” - -Sir Dugald performed the ceremony briefly, and then introduced the -guest to Georgia, explaining that she was St George Keeling’s -daughter. - -“And you are the lady doctor?” said Jahan Beg. “I have one thing to -ask of you, Miss Keeling. It is possible that at the Palace you may -see my daughter, Nur Jahan, Rustam Khan’s wife. Have pity upon her, -and don’t make her discontented with her life. She must stay here all -her days, and she is happy with her husband and her baby. You need not -describe to her English life and the Christian position of women, and -all those other luxuries of civilisation of which you are the -culminating product, need you? It could do no possible good, and it -certainly would do a great deal of harm, for things of that kind are -absolutely unattainable here.” - -“I will try not to put new ideas into her head, if they would only -make her unhappy,” said Georgia, rather doubtfully; “but surely you -have told her about England?” - -“I have told her nothing. ‘Where ignorance is bliss’--you know the -rest. Although I have married her to a Mohammedan--and roused your -indignation by doing so--I did what I could to keep her happy as his -wife. She does not know that I am an Englishman, and I have never even -taught her English; although for years I used to hold long -conversations with myself or with imaginary friends when I was alone, -that I might not forget my own language.” - -And Jahan Beg went on his way, leaving Georgia oppressed with a -sense--which was by no means new to her, but had never made itself -felt so clearly as to-night--of the complexity of life. She sat -looking out over the Moslem city, and pondering the various problems -which the Amir’s words had started in her mind, while Lady Haigh and -Fitz settled down to a game of halma, and North carried off Dr Headlam -to show him a new kind of locust, which one of the servants had caught -and brought to him. The doctor welcomed the discovery with rapture, -and conveyed the insect in triumph to his own quarters, while Dick -returned to the terrace. Georgia turned to him impulsively as he -mounted the steps close beside her. - -“What is your opinion of compromises? Can they ever be morally -justifiable?” - -Now it was more than a month since Dick and Georgia had exchanged any -conversation but the merest commonplaces, and Dick was so well -satisfied with this state of affairs as to vow to himself every day -that he would take care their acquaintance remained on this somewhat -restricted footing for the future. Yet although he felt that Georgia -had not intentionally appealed to him in preference to any one else, -and would have attacked Sir Dugald or Stratford on the subject, if -either of them had appeared at the moment, as readily as himself, he -sat down near her, and hastily collected his views on the question of -compromise. - -“It rather depends upon the nature of the compromises, doesn’t it?” he -asked--“whether they refer to essentials or non-essentials, I mean. -For instance, one’s whole existence is a series of compromises.” - -“In the sense in which all social life is a compromise between the -demands of the individual and those of the race?” said Georgia. “Yes, -but those refer to non-essentials, of course.” - -“Non-essentials to the race now; but I dare say they seemed essential -enough to the individual at one time. For instance, in the district in -India in which I served first, the natives thought it essential to -offer human sacrifices every year. Their crops depended upon it, they -said. But we have taught them otherwise, and now they compromise -matters by sacrificing goats.” - -“But that was not really an essential matter; it was only that they -thought it so. What I want to know is, how can one tell, in questions -of right and wrong, where conciliation ends and compromise begins?” - -“That is the office of all great leaders and statesmen, I suppose; to -point out a path which shall conciliate as many people, and compromise -as few principles, as possible. On the whole, the world is on the side -of compromise, I think--when it is called conciliation. The people who -object to both the name and the reality generally become martyrs.” - -“Martyrs!” said Georgia, slowly. “It is easy enough to say the word; -but think what it means!” - -“Ah! I see that it is our friend Jahan Beg’s story which has awakened -your sudden interest in compromises.” - -“Not exactly his story, but what he said to me. It made me wonder -whether I had done right in coming here. Perhaps you don’t know that -when I agreed to come it was expressly stipulated that I was to make -no attempt to introduce Christianity into the King’s household?” - -“That seems a very obvious and necessary precaution,” said Dick, -delighted to find Georgia talking to him so frankly. “You could do no -good, as Jahan Beg said; but you might do a great deal of harm, both -to the poor women and to the Mission.” - -“But it almost seems to me that I was wrong in reasoning in that way. -It is like hiding one’s colours--nearly as bad as doing evil that good -may come.” - -“Not doing evil, surely, Miss Keeling? As a medical missionary, half -your work is concerned with the bodies of your patients. You can do -that half still, and you are not forbidden to answer questions if the -ladies ask them.” - -“But I know they won’t ask me questions of that kind. My Khemistan -experiences have shown me that they will only talk about the merest -trivialities, or else ask me for poisons.” - -“Then it can’t be your fault. At any rate, you will make friends with -the ladies, and perhaps the memory of your visit may prepare the way -for a regular missionary when the country is opened up later on,” -suggested Dick, the fluency of his reasoning astonishing himself. - -“I am afraid I looked upon Kubbet-ul-Haj too much as a stepping-stone -to Khemistan. I thought perhaps the Government might allow me to -settle on the frontier and practise there if I accomplished this -business successfully.” - -“Well, do you know, I think that was rather a good idea, Miss Keeling. -You might even itinerate into Ethiopia if the King was well-disposed -towards you, and there could be no mistake as to your status then. But -you are not thinking of refusing to treat the poor Queen now that you -are here, and leaving her to go on suffering until a lady doctor with -a more elastic conscience can be sent out?” - -“No, of course not; it would be cruel as well as absurd. Besides, it -would be breaking my word. But don’t you ever feel puzzled about your -duty, Major North, or afraid that in some particular case you may have -acted wrongly?” - -“I don’t think so,” returned Dick, meditatively. “Not that I am a very -good judge, for things have always been pretty clear for me. I have -been under orders a good deal, you know, and then my only business was -to obey, and when you are thrown on your own responsibility, you only -try to do your duty, and act on the square. You know your father’s -motto, Miss Keeling? Two or three of his Khemistan men have told me -that he gave it to them when they began to work under him. This was -the way it usually went: ‘You are here for the honour of your country -and the good of the natives,’ he would say when they joined. ‘Never -desert a friend, never disown an agent, never deceive an enemy. You -will go on duty to-morrow, and may God bless you.’ I wish I had known -him. It is a distinction to have served under such a man.” - -“Highness,” said a voice at Dick’s elbow, before Georgia could answer, -and they both turned to see Chanda Lal, who had mounted the steps -noiselessly with his bare feet, standing beside them, “there is -another old man in the court, wrapped up in a mantle, and he says he -is the Grand Vizier, Fath-ud-Din. He asks to see the _burra sahib_, -and he will not be turned away.” - -“Good gracious!” cried Dick. “We shall have all Kubbet-ul-Haj here -before long. It only wants the King and Rustam Khan to make things -lively. But if Fath-ud-Din meets Jahan Beg, there’ll be murder done. -Miss Keeling, while I go and parley with this old wretch, do you mind -warning the Chief to get rid of Jahan Beg? I shouldn’t wonder if we -have to let him down through a window into the street behind, for it -won’t do for him to pass through the courtyard.” - -He ran down the steps, and Georgia hurried to Sir Dugald’s private -office, where she found him in earnest confabulation with Jahan Beg. -The state of affairs was quickly explained, and Stratford hastened the -visitor away to the back of the house. Here, when the new-comer was -safely closeted with Sir Dugald, Dick joined him, and together they -succeeded in letting Jahan Beg down into the lane, where he alighted -softly on a convenient rubbish-heap, and whence he made the best of -his way home. - -It was not until the rest of the party were thinking of going to bed -that Sir Dugald was able to get rid of his visitor and return to the -terrace. He smiled grimly as he glanced at the expectant faces which -awaited him. - -“The worthy Fath-ud-Din has prepared a very pretty little plot,” he -said, “which is meant to remove both Jahan Beg and Rustam Khan from -his path, and we are expected to help.” - -“We shall get into trouble,” remarked Lady Haigh, oracularly, “if all -the conspirators in Kubbet-ul-Haj make this house a rendezvous when -they want to plot against one another.” - -“We shall,” agreed Sir Dugald; “and it is a mystery to me what these -good people see in our faces that leads them to think we shall be -willing to forward their schemes. I suppose it is only natural that -Bigg should wish to utilise us as a means of getting his son-in-law -acknowledged as heir to the throne; but I did not expect Fath-ud-Din. -It seems that he has for a long time suspected Jahan Beg of being an -Englishman, and the suspicion became a certainty yesterday, owing to -his ostentatious lack of interest in our entry. Jahan Beg thought that -his bearing showed how patriotic an Ethiopian he had become; but -Fath-ud-Din argued that such disregard of such a show could only be -due to his having often seen similar sights before.” - -“I hope you taxed Fath-ud-Din with being an Englishman on the same -grounds,” said Lady Haigh. - -“Certainly not,” replied Sir Dugald. “You forget that he was ill. His -illness may have been diplomatic and momentary; but it has to be -accepted as a fact. Well, Hicks supplied the next link in the chain. -It seems that Fath-ud-Din granted him the interview which Jahan Beg -refused, and in the course of conversation asked him casually what he -would think if he heard that a solitary Englishman had lived in -Ethiopia disguised for years. Hicks replied, as most men would -naturally do, that he should conclude he had done something which had -made British territory too hot to hold him, and had run away from fear -of the law. That struck Fath-ud-Din as a bright idea, and he came to -tell me of his suspicions, and to suggest that I should invite the -King to give up Jahan Beg as an escaped criminal. He assured me that -he and his party would give me all possible support, which I could -well believe; and he let out that he anticipated that Rustam Khan -would be involved in his father-in-law’s downfall. That would leave -the way clear for Antar Khan, to whom Fath-ud-Din hopes to marry his -daughter. A suitable _bakhshish_ was also understood, and in return -for these various boons, Fath-ud-Din would be good enough to further -the objects of the Mission, and guarantee its success.” - -“And I hope you kicked him down the steps?” said Lady Haigh. - -“No, Elma; I did not. I should have thought you knew by this time that -my disposition was eminently a peaceful one. I merely told Fath-ud-Din -that I knew of no criminal answering to the description of Jahan Beg, -but that if he could find out what he had done, and it was -sufficiently heinous, I would apply for his extradition with pleasure. -With that he had to be content, which leaves us a breathing-space.” - -“I suppose you will be able to get the treaty concluded while he is -hunting about for proofs of Jahan Beg’s guilt?” said Georgia. - -“That is what we must hope to do. I was most careful to make -everything hinge on his own efforts. It was necessary to avoid like -poison anything that might sound like offering him help in his quest, -or he would have understood it as a definite pledge to assist him by -fair means or foul to ruin Jahan Beg.” - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - EAST MEETS WEST. - -In spite of the very moderate encouragement he had received, hope must -have told a flattering tale to the Vizier Fath-ud-Din when he left the -Residency after his interview with Sir Dugald, for it became evident -very soon that the hindrances which had threatened to obstruct the -path of the Mission had suddenly been removed. Rustam Khan was -restored to a measure of his father’s favour and allowed to appear at -Court, besides being permitted to speak in the council on behalf of -the English alliance, while the Neustro-Scythian agent found his -promises received with unconcealed incredulity, and was tantalised -with evasive answers to his demands. Of these changes the party at the -Mission were kept informed both by Jahan Beg and by the Vizier -himself, the latter losing no opportunity of insisting on the -virulence with which his rival was opposing the English proposals, and -the eagerness with which he advised the extortion of every possible -concession. If it had not been for the explanation given behind the -scenes by Jahan Beg himself, it would have been difficult for Sir -Dugald to resist the conclusion, towards which Fath-ud-Din laboured -continually to urge him, that the Amir’s hatred of his native country -was deep-rooted and had a sinister origin; but the Vizier’s object was -so apparent that it was fairly easy to distinguish the embroidery -which he added to the speeches he professed to report. Jahan Beg’s -opposition was all on points of detail, not of principle; and although -he would haggle for hours over the rate of an import duty, or the -terms on which an imaginary passport was to be granted, Sir Dugald -forgave him the worry he caused in consideration of his services in -bringing his colleagues and the King to look at matters from a -business point of view. It was the Ethiopian idea that the King was -the greatest monarch on earth, and that he could settle any trouble -that might arise by the simple expedient of ordering the heads of the -disturbers of the peace to be brought him, and it was difficult at -first to wean the people, and especially the Amirs who formed the -royal council, from this mediæval way of looking at things. In spite -of Jahan Beg’s invaluable help in this respect, however, Sir Dugald -did his best more than once to induce him to abandon his simulated -policy of obstruction and support the Mission heartily, reminding him -that he could not now deceive Fath-ud-Din, who knew him to be an -Englishman. But Jahan Beg remained obdurate, declaring that if his -proceedings did not blind Fath-ud-Din, at least they continued to -deceive the rest of the Amirs, who would at once suspect him of having -been bribed by the English should he appear to be suddenly converted -to a warm interest in the treaty; while the Vizier himself, having -already concealed for some time the fact which had come to his -knowledge, was bound still to keep it secret, lest he should be -punished for not revealing it before. - -In consequence of Jahan Beg’s educational work, and Fath-ud-Din’s -unexpected complaisance, Sir Dugald and the staff betook themselves -day after day to the Palace, and were conducted at once to the King’s -hall of audience. Here seats of rather an uncomfortable and -nondescript character were arranged for them, for the camp-chairs they -had brought with them were the only chairs in Kubbet-ul-Haj, or -possibly in all Ethiopia, and a laboured conversation took place. When -the King had satisfied a portion of his curiosity respecting men and -things in England and Khemistan, Sir Dugald would contrive to lead the -talk round to the more important matters in hand, and in this way the -various clauses of the proposed treaty were discussed in turn, notes -of the proceedings being taken in Ethiopian by the King’s scribe and -the interpreter Kustendjian, and in English by Fitz Anstruther. When -the Englishmen had taken their departure, the points touched upon -would be discussed afresh by the King and the Amirs, and if no -satisfactory conclusion had been reached, they reappeared the next -morning with great regularity, while if all was well, the discussion -moved on to a fresh stage. - -In this way time passed not unpleasantly, varied with a certain amount -of incident, so far as regarded Sir Dugald and his staff; but for the -ladies it was at first very different. True, they had their own -terrace, where they could go about unveiled, and their own courtyard -in which to take exercise. When Georgia was in a cheerful frame of -mind she called this court her quarter-deck; when she was feeling -depressed she alluded to it as her prison-yard,--and here she paced -along during the cooler hours of each day until Sir Dugald told her -that her feet would wear a path in the stones. Sometimes, when public -business prevented the King from receiving the Mission, its members -would escort the ladies for a ride, but it was necessary to choose -secluded tracks for these excursions, since public opinion in -Kubbet-ul-Haj did not permit women to ride with men, unless simply for -protection on a journey. - -But when the Mission had spent about a month in the city, there came a -change for Georgia. By way of propitiating Sir Dugald, who was -beginning to wax exceedingly wrathful over the King’s ostentatious -forgetfulness of the urgent request he had made for a lady doctor, -Fath-ud-Din ventured to remind his august master of Miss Keeling’s -existence, and her presence at his desire in Kubbet-ul-Haj. The King -happened to be in a good temper at the moment, or perhaps his -conscience had been pricking him for his neglect of Rustam Khan’s -unfortunate mother, and the result of the reminder was the arrival at -the Mission one morning of a covered litter carried by four men, and -accompanied by an escort of cavalry, at the head of which rode a -gorgeous negro, who brought the intimation that the doctor lady was -requested to wait on the Queen. - -That was only the first of many days on which Georgia ensconced -herself in the litter with her maid Rahah, and with the curtains -closely drawn was borne off to the Palace. A very short preliminary -examination convinced her that the Queen was suffering from cataract -in both eyes, and that an operation was absolutely necessary. But the -matter did not appear by any means of so simple a character to the -dwellers in the harem. Even when, with the aid of the Khemistani girl, -Georgia had succeeded in getting things explained, in highly -colloquial Ethiopian, to the Queen and her attendants, she found that -they all shrank with horror from the idea of the operation. It was not -merely that they distrusted herself, as an alien both in race and -religion, but they were strongly of the opinion that whereas the use -of any amount of medicine, the nastier the better, was lawful in cases -of disease, the employment of the knife to give relief was a -blasphemous interference with the designs of Providence. In vain -Georgia told of the wonderful instances of recovery, following on -operations such as she intended to perform, which had come within her -own experience; it was Rahah who at last placed the question before -the Queen in a way that appealed to her. Whatever happened was -incontrovertibly due to the decrees of fate: if it was fated that the -Queen should be blind, blind she would continue to be; but if the -operation proved successful, it would be clear evidence that she was -not fated to be blind. Influenced by Rahah’s logic, the Queen -consented, with great reluctance, to allow the matter to be referred -to her husband; and the next day Georgia, with Rahah as interpreter, -held a colloquy on the subject with the King, through a grating which -effectually precluded either party from gaining a glimpse of the -other. The King was not so easily moved by Rahah’s eloquence as his -wife had been, but eventually a compromise was agreed upon. It was -evident to Georgia that, owing both to fright and to the sorrows of -the past few months, the Queen was in no state for the operation to be -performed at present. Some delay was therefore inevitable, and the -King was at last brought to consent to the trial of the plan, if a -week or two of careful diet and nursing, together with cheerful -society and the blessing of hopefulness, should prove to have a -beneficial effect on the patient’s general health. - -It seemed to Georgia that, in view of the state of things in the -Palace, each portion of the prescription was more unattainable than -the rest; but after two or three days of vain endeavours to instruct -the shiftless harem servants in the arts of nursing and of invalid -cookery, and to restore tone to the mind of the poor Queen, weakened -and saddened as it was by years of sorrow, she found a new ally at her -side. Coming into the Queen’s room one day, she saw seated on the -divan a tall girl with a fresh English face, blue-eyed and -fair-haired, holding a closely-swathed baby in her arms. Although the -stranger wore the Ethiopian dress, Georgia would have greeted her at -once as a fellow-countrywoman, if she had not turned and stared at her -with undisguised interest and pleasure, saying something in Ethiopian -to the Queen. Then a great pang of pity seized Georgia’s heart, for -she knew that the English girl before her must be Nur Jahan, Jahan -Beg’s daughter and Rustam Khan’s wife. - -Remembering her promise to Nur Jahan’s father, however, Georgia -composed her face and took her usual seat beside her patient. The -Queen was so much more cheerful this morning, that it was evident she -enjoyed the presence of her daughter-in-law and grandson; and after a -while, to Georgia’s delight, she brightened visibly at Nur Jahan’s -suggestion that, when the operation had been successfully performed, -she would be able to see the baby. When the medical examination was -over, the young wife felt herself at liberty to talk, and Georgia -learnt that, although she had now come for a few days to the Palace -solely for the purpose of cheering her mother-in-law, she had not -quitted it very long. When Rustam Khan fell into disfavour, he had put -his wife and her week-old baby under his mother’s protection at once, -fearing that neither his house nor that of Jahan Beg would be safe -from the rabble of the city, who were warm partisans of Fath-ud-Din. -With high glee, Nur Jahan narrated how her husband had come to visit -her in secret, always at hours when the King was not likely to enter -the harem, disguised sometimes as a woman and sometimes as a negro, in -order to escape the Vizier’s spies; and how once he had actually met -his father outside the Queen’s door, but stepping aside respectfully, -had passed him without being recognised under the thick veil. To -Georgia, the possibility of such adventures within the sacred walls of -the harem was a new thing, and she enjoyed the gusto with which Nur -Jahan related them. But the Queen thought differently, and began to -moan feebly, as she pulled at the edge of the coverlet. - -“Thou art always thus, Nur Jahan,” she said, querulously; “laughing -and rejoicing when thy lord is in peril of his life. An Ethiopian -woman, seeing her husband in such straits, would have shed an ocean of -tears, and refused to be comforted until times had changed; but I have -seen thee, when Rustam Khan had but just gone from thee, planning -eagerly how he should enter the Palace on the next occasion, without -letting fall a tear.” - -“But it was that which pleased my lord, O my mother,” said Nur Jahan, -eager to defend herself. “What delight had there been in our meetings, -if I had only sat at his feet and bedewed them with tears? There was -so much to tell, and so much to hear; how could I weep when my lord -was with me? And when he was gone, was it not happier for me to -consider how I might see him again, rather than weep because he could -not be with me still?” - -“Go thy ways, Nur Jahan,” said the elder woman, bitterly. “Thou too -wilt one day learn that although the life of all women is sad, that of -a woman who is also a king’s wife is saddest of all. How canst thou -love thy lord as I, his mother, love him? Thine eyes are as bright as -when he married thee, while mine are blind with weeping for him. But -he loves the bright eyes better than the blind ones, and is it to be -wondered at?” and the Queen rocked herself to and fro, and wailed -hopelessly. - -“O my mother, wilt thou break my heart?” sobbed Nur Jahan, throwing -herself down beside her. “Can we not both love my lord? I know well -that thy love for him has lasted longer, but must it needs be greater -than mine? My lord’s love is my life, and yet thou wilt not believe it -because I do not always weep when I am sad. O doctor lady, dost thou -not believe that I love my lord?” - -“What does the doctor lady know of it?” demanded the Queen. “But thou -art my son’s beloved, Nur Jahan, and for that I love thee also. But I -would thou wert as we are. Thou art of the idolaters through thy -father, and thou dost not grow like us. But thy life is like ours, -and, as years pass on, it will be more and more like mine, and if thou -dost not weep then, what wilt thou do? Those who do not weep go mad.” - -It was evident to Georgia that Nur Jahan was comforting herself with -the thought that her husband was very unlike his father, while the -Queen expected that in course of time he would exactly resemble him; -but she saw that the excitement was bad for her patient, and -interposed prosaically, with a suggestion as to the preparation of -beef-tea, which Nur Jahan took up at once, displaying practical powers -which encouraged Georgia to give her a first lesson in home nursing. -But in spite of this cheering fact, Georgia’s heart still ached as she -was carried back to the Mission in her litter, for she could not -forget the contrast between the girlish form of Nur Jahan and the -bowed and broken figure of the old Queen, who seemed so sure that her -daughter-in-law’s life must one day come to resemble her own. But -there was a trait in Nur Jahan’s character which had no part in that -of the Queen, and which would go far to render her lot even -harder--the adventurous spirit which her mother-in-law so bitterly -resented, and which had caused her to find a certain enjoyment in the -shifts and devices to which her husband had been obliged to have -recourse in order to see her. - -“Jahan Beg ought to have escaped from the country and brought her to -England, as he thought of doing,” was Georgia’s mental comment. “It is -his spirit she inherits, and it is cruel of him to rest satisfied with -the life to which he has condemned her. She is ready to welcome any -excitement, even of a disagreeable kind, as a relief to the monotony -of her existence. I can see that she is pining for outside interests, -though she doesn’t know it. In a man of English blood this would seem -quite natural and proper to every one, and why should it be different -for a woman? And what a life it is to which she has to look forward! -Even if Rustam Khan keeps his promise and marries no other wife, she -can only spend her days in doing nothing. Nothing to do for husband or -children, in the house or outside, and to be surrounded by a number of -other women as idle as herself! ‘Better fifty years of Europe than a -cycle of Cathay.’ I had rather have my thirty-two years of life than -the poor Queen’s fifty, queen and wife and mother though she is. Her -only advantage in being Queen is that she must not do the little -pieces of work which would have fallen to her in another position. As -a wife she has to share her husband with an indefinite number of other -women, and as a mother she sees her sons treated like Rustam Khan, and -her daughters condemned to the same kind of life as herself. Perhaps -Nur Jahan’s children may inherit enough of her character to enable -them to break the spell; but I am afraid the change won’t come in her -time. The East moves so slowly.” - -Since Georgia’s thoughts had been so deeply stirred on this subject, -it was not wonderful that she communicated her views to Dick when they -happened to be talking on the terrace that evening. She felt it a -necessity to share her reflections with some one, and to her surprise -he received them with unwonted meekness. - -“Kipling doesn’t agree with you,” was all he said in answer to her -estimate of the probable happiness of the Eastern as compared with -that of the Western woman. - -“Kipling!” said Georgia, in high scorn. - -“I thought you admired him?” - -“So I do. I think he is an excellent authority on men--at least, the -men seem to find it so--but what can he, or any man, know about women? -At best they can only see results and guess at causes. They observe -very carefully all that they can see, and give us the result of their -observations in knowing little remarks, half cynical and half -patronising, and think they have gauged a woman’s nature to its very -depths. Then she does something that throws all their calculations -wrong, and they say that she is shallow and fickle, and, above all, -unwomanly; whereas it is only that either their observations or their -deductions were incorrect.” - -“Still,” said Dick, “I am inclined to agree with a very comforting -doctrine I heard you enunciating to Stratford the other night. You -were speaking of the principle of balance, and you said that when one -side of the truth had been exclusively insisted upon for a time the -pendulum swung back and the other side became prominent until it was -the first one’s turn again. I thought it was a very good idea--for the -people who can keep just in the middle. Those who rush to either -extreme must find themselves rather left when the pendulum swings.” - -“But what has that to do with our present subject?” asked Georgia. - -“It seems to me to apply. You see, the New--I beg your pardon; I know -you dislike the term--the modern female has had rather a long innings -lately. You have often said that you don’t agree with all her -developments, which seems pretty clear proof that she has at any rate -approached the extreme point. Well, Kipling comes to show us the other -side of the matter, exaggerated, perhaps; but that is unavoidable, -owing to the exaggerations on the lady’s part. At least, that is how -it strikes me.” - -“North, where are you?” said Stratford, appearing suddenly on the -terrace. “The Chief wants you for something.” - -Dick rose and disappeared, with an apology to Georgia, who leaned back -in her chair and smiled. - -“He is improving wonderfully,” she said to herself. “Two months ago he -would never have talked as he has to-night. Crushing assertions -without any proof used to be his idea of arguments. He must have taken -a lesson from Mr Stratford. Was he really listening all the time I was -talking to him the other night? He has certainly changed very much, -and I am very glad of it. It would have been most unpleasant if the -only man who could not bring himself to be civil to me was such an old -friend, and Mab’s brother.” - -If Mabel could have heard this soliloquy, it is probable that she -would have smiled darkly to herself, and remarked that her dear -Georgie must have been considerably piqued by Dick’s cavalier -behaviour for her to make such a point of having overcome his -opposition to herself. However, there was no one at hand to point out -to Georgia that she felt more satisfaction in one amicable -conversation with her former lover than in all the attentions of -Stratford and the doctor, who entertained no prejudice against medical -women, and always appreciated the honour of a talk with her. It may be -that it was merely the feeling that she had been victorious in -disarming Dick’s hostility which gave such a zest to her intercourse -with him; but if this was so, an incident which occurred a few days -later ought to have cast some additional light upon the subject. - -Matters had been going very smoothly at the Palace of late, and Sir -Dugald had the satisfaction of knowing that all the clauses of the -projected treaty had been in substance agreed to. It now only remained -to draw it up in formal shape, and to ratify it by the signatures, or -rather seals, of the contracting parties. While the draughtsmen on -both sides were busy reducing the notes taken during Sir Dugald’s -audiences of the King into suitably involved phraseology, the members -of the Mission enjoyed a short holiday. They made several expeditions -into the districts lying around the city, and one day the King invited -the gentlemen of the party to visit a summer-palace which he had -erected on a spur of the hills some fifteen miles away. Mr Hicks, who -had remained doggedly at his post in spite of the rebuff he had -received, and contrived to glean sufficient news from his talks with -Fath-ud-Din and the gossip of the Mission servants to fill the -requisite number of columns per week for his paper when supplemented -by his own lively imagination, was to be of the party, and the younger -men anticipated some amusement in baffling his insatiable curiosity. -They rode off in high spirits, the outward expression of which was -modified in deference to Sir Dugald, to whom the excursion appeared in -a light which was anything but pleasurable; and Lady Haigh and Georgia -resigned themselves to a long, slow, quiet day. It was not one of the -days on which Georgia visited her patient at the Palace, and therefore -Lady Haigh and she wrote up their diaries with great industry, -compiled several lengthy descriptive letters for the benefit of -friends at home, and filled in odd corners of time with reading and -talking. As the afternoon wore on, Lady Haigh went to remind the cook -to make a particular kind of cake, likely to be appreciated after a -long, dusty ride, for tea, and Georgia was left alone on the terrace. - -As she sat there reading, the noise of horses’ feet in the outer court -came to her ears, and she dropped her book, wondering whether the -party had already returned. Presently Fitz Anstruther made his -appearance under the archway which furnished a means of communication -between the two courtyards, and catching sight of Georgia on the -terrace, hurried towards her, followed by Dr Headlam. Fitz had -something in his hand, carefully wrapped up in leaves and tied with -wisps of grass, and as he reached the top of the steps he deposited it -at Georgia’s feet. - -“There, Miss Keeling,” he cried, in high delight, “I’ve got a spotted -viper for you, for the collection! He’s a really fine beast; that -measly old specimen the doctor got hold of hasn’t a look-in compared -with him. See him, now,” and he unrolled the wrappings and displayed, -as he said, a remarkably good specimen of the deadliest snake known to -Kubbet-ul-Haj. It was only about twenty-seven inches long, but the -spots, from which the Mission had given it its hopelessly unscientific -name, were unusually brilliant. - -“You very nearly had the chance of labelling him as a murderer,” Fitz -went on, holding up the snake’s head and examining its fangs with the -air of a connoisseur. “He reared up suddenly, just behind North, and -had his head stretched out to strike. North was leaning on his elbow -on the cushions, and when he saw all the Ethiopians staring at him as -pale as death, he turned round. There was no time to move away, and he -cut at the thing with his knife and missed. We were eating fruit just -then, all smothered in snow from the hills. Stratford had his revolver -out in a moment, and was going to fire, but I yelled out to him to -stop. I didn’t want the skin spoilt, and I knew that a shot at that -distance would smash the head all to smithereens. I had my riding-crop -handy, and I jumped up and managed to catch the beast such a whack -that it broke his spine or something. Anyhow, he was killed, and I -brought him home all the way on purpose for you, Miss Keeling.” - - [image: images/img_04.jpg - caption: - He reared up suddenly, just behind North, and had his head stretched - out to strike.] - -Georgia had turned pale and stepped back a little as Fitz looked up -for her approval. Seeing her hesitation, Dr Headlam interposed. - -“It really was very neatly done, Miss Keeling, though it was a risky -thing, both for Anstruther and North. When I saw the crop come down, I -could hardly believe that in his ardour for science Anstruther had not -sacrificed North. It was a frightfully near business.” - -“Who cares about North?” Fitz wanted to know. “It’s a jolly good -specimen, Miss Keeling, and your beast is better than the doctor’s, at -any rate. Your collection will take the cake now, I know.” - -“Must it be stuffed?” asked Georgia, with unwonted timidity. “I don’t -like it. It--it frightens me.” - -“Oh, Miss Keeling!” cried Fitz, deeply wounded. But Dr Headlam -interposed again. - -“I should be pleased to stuff it for you, Miss Keeling; but don’t you -think that under the circumstances it would be better to take it home -in spirit? It is a new species, so far as we know, and this is quite -the finest specimen we have come across, so that some toxicologist -might be glad to dissect it. I think we must preserve it in the -interests of science.” - -“Oh yes, of course, in the interests of science,” said Georgia, -unsteadily. “It is really very foolish of me to object to it,” she -went on, with a nervous little laugh. “I can stand most creatures, but -snakes are such horrible things. It makes me feel quite queer.” - -“I’m awfully sorry,” said Fitz, moved to compunction. “I never thought -you mightn’t like it, Miss Keeling. I’ll tell my boy to throw the -beast away at once.” - -“Oh no, please don’t,” said Georgia, “if Dr Headlam is kind enough to -preserve it. You will keep it over at your house with the rest of the -things, won’t you, doctor? And you mustn’t think I am not pleased with -it, Mr Anstruther. It was most kind and considerate of you to think of -me at such an exciting moment, and I shall value the snake always as a -memorial of your bravery and coolness,” and Georgia rushed away to her -own room, where she threw herself upon the divan and broke into wild -peals of laughter. That Fitz should think of saving the snake’s skin -whole for her when Dick North’s life was at stake! It was too funny! -Georgia laughed till she cried, and Lady Haigh came in and accused her -of going into hysterics--an accusation which was vehemently -denied--and administered cold water and particularly pungent -smelling-salts. - -But the snake was duly deposited in a huge bottle of spirit, and, in -common with the rest of the collection, became a prominent object in -Dr Headlam’s waiting-room. It inspired both awe and interest in the -patients, especially after Fitz--who sometimes assisted the doctor in -receiving his visitors--had delivered a lecture on the subject. - -“I don’t know when I have laughed so much,” said Dr Headlam, telling -the story after dinner that evening. “I happened to be a little late -in going into the surgery this morning, but when I got near the door I -became aware that Anstruther was improving the shining hour in the -waiting-room. His discourse sounded so interesting that I lay low just -outside and listened. It was delivered in English, helped out with all -the Eastern words he knew, but it was so vividly illustrated by -gestures that it seemed to have no difficulty in penetrating into the -minds of all the patients. ‘These all devils,’ he informed them, -pointing to the bottles of specimens; ‘big devils, little devils, all -shut up safe. See this one?’ he took down the celebrated snake, which -certainly does look rather vicious, coiled up in its bottle. ‘This -snake-devil--ghoul--_jinni_--_shaitan_; you see? This one, eye-devil,’ -pointing to that diseased eye which I removed for a man a fortnight -ago, and took such pains to preserve, ‘finger-devil, tongue-devil,’ -and so on. ‘Now, you like me to open one of these bottles?’ A -delicious shiver of anticipation went through the audience as he took -down the snake again. ‘You know what will happen if I throw it down? -There will be a great crash, and you will smell the vilest smell you -ever smelt in your lives, and you will see--what you will see, and -_the devil will be loose!_ Now, one, two, three and----’ but they were -all on their knees begging and imploring him not to do it, and I -judged it as well to make my appearance at that juncture.” - -“You will have the town-boys raiding your diggings and destroying the -bottles to see what happens when the devil does get loose,” said -Stratford. - -“I don’t think so,” returned the doctor. “They are all so frightened -that it is as much as I can do now to get them into the same room with -the collection. It is as good as a watch-dog to me.” - -“Anstruther will have to be careful,” said Sir Dugald, with an -approach to a frown. “We don’t want our characters blackened by any -suspicion of dealings with infernal powers. I rather wish you had -broken one of the bottles before them, doctor, to convince them that -it was a joke.” - -“Rather it would have convinced them that I was letting out a -pestilence on the country,” said the doctor; “and they would simply -have gone away and died of fright, which would be clear proof that I -was their murderer. I think we are safer with the bottles unbroken.” - -“I never like fooling about with supernatural nonsense in these -countries,” said Sir Dugald. “It gives the people a handle, and they -are not likely to be slow in taking it. As we four are alone together, -I may give you a hint that I expect trouble before long. Things have -been going too smoothly of late, and Kustendjian tells me that Hicks -said to him yesterday, ‘Your old man has squared Fath-ud-Din nicely up -to now; but what will he do when the bill comes in? He ought to know -by this time that the man who calls for the drinks pays.’ I cannot -flatter myself, unfortunately, that I have squared Fath-ud-Din; but if -he considers that I have attempted to do it, it is quite on the cards -that he will send in his bill. We can refuse payment, of course; but I -am afraid that will not better our position very much.” - -The justice of Sir Dugald’s words was recognised a little later, after -another mysterious evening visit from Fath-ud-Din. The Vizier came to -the Mission because he wished to know when his rival was to be -permanently removed from his path. He had done all in his power to -smooth the progress of the negotiations; but Sir Dugald had made no -attempt to accuse Jahan Beg to the King or to demand his extradition. -The answer was simple. Sir Dugald had declared his readiness to demand -the surrender of Jahan Beg if it could be proved that he was in exile -in consequence of any crime committed on British territory; but not a -vestige of evidence that such was the case had been brought forward, -and it was impossible to extradite him merely for the sake of pleasing -the Grand Vizier. On hearing this, Fath-ud-Din flew into a transport -of rage, and, from the words he let fall in his anger, Sir Dugald -gathered that he had been expected to be prepared with a case against -Jahan Beg, and false witnesses to support it, in return for the -Vizier’s help. This was a little too much even for Sir Dugald’s -self-control, and, in the few minutes that followed, Fath-ud-Din -probably heard a larger number of home-truths, delivered in a cold, -judicial voice that was more effective than any amount of shouting, -than he had ever done before in his life. Baffled and disappointed, -the Minister left the Mission, muttering curses between his teeth, and -was observed by Kustendjian to pause outside and shake his fist at the -building, and to spit towards the flagstaff on which the Union-jack -was wont to be hoisted in the outer courtyard. From which signs the -discerning Armenian inferred, as Mr Hicks had done before him, that -there was trouble brewing. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - STRAINED RELATIONS. - -On the following morning there was no change to be observed in the -aspect of the Mission. Only the gentlemen of the party were acquainted -with the fact of the Vizier’s sudden declaration of war, and they -shared Sir Dugald’s opinion that it would be bad policy to allow -Fath-ud-Din to see that his threats had any effect upon their minds. -The great gates were therefore opened as usual to allow the customary -throng of country-people and other sellers of fresh provisions to -enter and hold their market in the outer court, and the flag, hoisted -at sunrise, floated proudly from its staff in front of Bachelors’ -Buildings. - -Fitz Anstruther left the Mission early that morning on an errand of -his own. He had set his heart on getting Miss Keeling a Persian kitten -in the bazaar, and immediately after disposing of his _chota hazri_ he -induced the interpreter to come out with him and assist him in making -his purchase, as, although he had succeeded in making an Ethiopian -audience understand his scientific lecture, he felt a well-grounded -distrust of his own powers of conducting a bargain in the currency of -the country. The absence of the two was soon discovered; but although -Sir Dugald testified some displeasure when he found that Kustendjian -was not at hand to go on with the drafting of the treaty, no anxiety -was felt as to their safety, since none of the staff had hesitated to -walk or ride about the city without an escort after the first week of -their stay there. - -It was considered advisable to take no notice of the Vizier’s visit, -and to exhibit a readiness to continue the negotiations as before, and -therefore Sir Dugald and his staff assembled as usual in what was -called the Durbar-hall, a large airy room on the ground-floor of -Bachelors’ Buildings. Here they awaited the appearance either of -Kustendjian or of an emissary from the Palace, Dr Headlam lingering -for a talk before departing to his expectant patients opposite. He had -just heaved a sigh and taken up his helmet, preparatory to seeking his -own domain, when a distant sound, gradually increasing in volume, -broke upon the ears of those in the room. It might have been rolling -thunder, or the roar of wild beasts, or the rush of a torrent; but -there was no reason why it should be any of these. Sir Dugald raised -his head and listened attentively. - -“I have heard that in the Mutiny,” he said. “The town is up about -something, and they are coming in this direction. Have you all your -revolvers here, gentlemen?” - -Each man produced his weapon promptly, and Sir Dugald led the way out -on the verandah, the whole party holding their breath to listen to the -sound. The servants had noticed it also, and were standing about in -the courtyard with pale faces, listening intently. Some, as the noise -grew nearer, crept back to their own quarters in terror, the rest -gathered in a group and looked to their masters for orders. - -“Turn all those Ethiopians out,” said Sir Dugald, pointing to the -salesmen and women who had been exhibiting their wares in the -courtyard, “and shut the gates.” - -No further command was needed. The servants obeyed the order -zealously, bundling the unhappy country-people out neck and crop, and -throwing their possessions after them. But before they could clear the -courtyard of the bewildered and terrified crowd there was a fresh -commotion at the gateway, and Fitz forced his way in, followed by -Kustendjian, and rushed up to Sir Dugald. - -“There’s a regular howling mob coming this way, sir!” he cried. “We -saw old Fath-ud-Din’s steward, who goes to the Palace with him, and -another man, stirring them up against us in the bazaar, and when we -came away they followed us, and then chased us. They are saying that -we have annexed the country, and that the flag is the sign of it. They -mean to tear it down.” - -“Ah!” said Sir Dugald, quietly, stepping down from the verandah. “Put -your revolvers into your pockets, gentlemen; we won’t use them at -present. Fetch your riding-whips, if you please, or a good strong -lithe cane, if you have one, any of you. We will not shed blood unless -we are driven to it.” - -The young men rushed to their quarters for the required weapons, -returning to find Sir Dugald standing beside the flagstaff with his -revolver in his hand. The confusion at the gate had been increased by -the arrival of the mob outside, for they found their entrance impeded -not only by the servants who were doing their best to close the doors, -but by the mixed multitude of their own people who were in process of -being expelled. But the piles of merchandise thrown down or dropped in -the gateway made it impossible for the doors to be shut, and Sir -Dugald turned to Fitz. - -“Go back to the verandah, Mr Anstruther, and blow your whistle to call -the servants in. Concentrate them in the front rooms on that floor, -and serve out the rifles and ammunition; but, remember, not a shot is -to be fired so long as we are out here. It would be the death of all -of us. If we are driven in we will bring the flag with us; but until -we come, you fire at your peril.” - -As Fitz obeyed, and the sound of his whistle rang out clear and -shrill, penetrating even the hubbub at the gate, and causing the -servants to abandon their futile efforts and turn to run to the house, -Sir Dugald addressed his companions. - -“Stratford, you are the tallest. Keep your revolver out, and stand by -the flagstaff. Shoot down the first man that lays a hand on the -halliards. No; on second thoughts I will take that post myself. It is -possible that I am a little cooler in the head than you, and it is -certain that you are a good deal stronger of arm than I am. Take your -places in front of the flag, gentlemen; that’s it. Your business is to -let no one pass you. This is not an armed mob; it is just -Fath-ud-Din’s _badmashes_, and sticks and whips ought to keep them -back. I needn’t tell you to lay it on well. Never mind how hard you -hit.” - -“Here they come!” said the doctor; and as the last servant broke out -of the crowd by the gate and fled to the house the mob burst in with a -roar. They made straight for the flag, but paused and recoiled at the -sight of the three younger men with their whips, and Sir Dugald, -revolver in hand, leaning idly against the flagstaff. - -“Not much pluck in _them_!” muttered Dick, disgustedly; but as though -they had understood the disparaging words, the mob gathered their -courage together and came on again. In a moment the younger men found -themselves engaged in a furious hand-to-hand encounter, in which fists -and whips were opposed to the force of numbers. Fitz declared -afterwards that he could hear over all the din of the struggle the -sound of the blows as they fell, although the howling of those who -received them ought to have drowned the noise. Once or twice Sir -Dugald raised his revolver and let it drop again, for in the whole -course of the short, sharp fight no one actually got within the ring -of defenders, and presently Fitz, exceeding his orders, seized the -psychological instant for a most opportune diversion. Besides rifles, -he had provided the servants with all the sticks he could muster; and -when he saw the mob begin to give way, he led forth half his force to -clear the courtyard. Fear of the defenders plainly visible at the -windows had hitherto kept the space between the flagstaff and the -house free of intruders, and now the sturdy frontiersmen, covered by -the rifles of their friends behind, advanced against the foe, laying -about them as they came with hearty goodwill. Gradually the mob -yielded their ground. Firing they might perhaps have faced, but this -extremely unheroic method of fighting disgusted them with the sport. -As the defenders closed their ranks and pressed the fugitives harder, -the retreat became a rout, nay, a headlong race--an obstacle race--in -which every man was eager to save his back from blows. The last -remnants of the mob struggled through the gateway at last, and the -courtyard was clear, and the honour of the flag maintained, without -the shedding of a drop of blood. - -“Clear that rubbish away and close the gates,” said Sir Dugald. “We -will keep them shut in future, and the people must bring their things -to sell in the street outside. That market of theirs nearly did for us -to-day.” - -Although the non-arrival of any help from the authorities might have -led to the conclusion that the riot had been inaudible in other parts -of the city, no sooner was it over, and the enemy driven out, than an -official appeared from the King to congratulate the victors--exactly, -said Fitz, as he would have done had the result gone the other way, -save that his congratulations might then have had a little sincerity -in them. But the messenger who came to congratulate went away grave, -for Sir Dugald committed to him a full statement of the morning’s -proceedings, to be laid before the King, with the intimation that -unless apologies were at once offered and the instigators of the -demonstration punished, the negotiations would be broken off forthwith -and the Mission would return to Khemistan. There was no doubt that it -was exceedingly injudicious of Fath-ud-Din to have allowed his -servants to be seen stirring up the mob; and the official, in deep -perplexity, turned over in his mind the relative disadvantages of -offending the Vizier by informing the King of the truth, and on the -other hand, of angering the King if Sir Dugald took his departure, and -the facts which had brought it about became known. - -How the messenger settled matters with his conscience was unknown for -the present to the party at the Mission, for the next person they saw -was Mr Hicks, who flew to the spot on the wings of zeal the moment -that the news of the outbreak reached him. Stratford declared that his -countenance expressed deep disappointment when he realised that the -courtyard was not filled with the dead and dying, and that the flag -hung unscathed; but the doctor maintained that he was prejudiced, and -that Mr Hicks had hurried to offer his help in the defence, heedless -of the danger he might incur in meeting the defeated mob. However this -might be, Mr Hicks warmed with enthusiasm when he was told the story -of the morning, and finally advanced to Sir Dugald and grasped him by -the hand. - -“General,” he said; “shake! You are a white man, you are. You have -licked that poor ordinary crowd of niggers in a way to earn you the -eternal gratitude of every Western stranger that circumstances may -drive to sojourn in this uncared-for state. But I guess that your -troubles are only beginning, sir.” - -“Possibly,” said Sir Dugald, with perfect unconcern. - -“Well, if things look black, you have only to pass me the word, -General, and I will vamoose my ranche yonder and come and give you a -hand. I should be right down proud to fight shoulder to shoulder with -the man that turned back that mob without shedding a drop of blood.” - -“You are very kind,” said Sir Dugald, with a complete lack of -enthusiasm. “I can assure you that things must go very badly with us -before we seek to involve you in our troubles”--a reply delivered with -so much urbanity that Mr Hicks could not at first decide whether his -offer was accepted or refused. - -The next visitor appeared in the course of the afternoon, and was no -other than the Grand Vizier himself. It was evident that the royal -messenger had decided upon telling his master the truth, for -Fath-ud-Din came to offer suitable apologies for the conduct of his -retainers. The steward, he said, was an old family servant, who, owing -to his constant intercourse with his master, had imbibed from him such -exalted ideas of patriotism that on hearing the treaty discussed, and -conceiving it to be unduly advantageous to England, he had felt moved -to stir up the townspeople against it, his religious zeal having also -been inflamed by the memories and hardships incidental to the month of -Ramadan, which had just ended. The other instigator of the outbreak -was a young theological student, a member of a class which was often -unruly and troublesome, and which had great influence with the people. -It was preposterous to imagine that the Vizier could have had any -previous knowledge of the doings of these two fanatics, and he had -come to declare his sorrow that it had been in the power of such -wretches not only to annoy and alarm the Mission, but also to involve -in their disgrace his own spotless name. He had given immediate orders -that they were both to be severely punished, and if Sir Dugald liked, -he would have them brought in and bastinadoed before him, so that he -might assure himself that they had received their deserts. In any case -(as Sir Dugald politely declined the proffered satisfaction for -himself, while intimating that he would send a representative to see -that the punishment was duly carried out), he brought assurances that -the King of all kings felt the deepest regret for the way in which -things had turned out, and entreated that the Envoy would not withdraw -the light of his countenance from Kubbet-ul-Haj, but would overlook -the fright and annoyance which had been caused to the Mission, and -remain in Ethiopia until the treaty had been duly concluded. - -“Fright?” said Sir Dugald--for the Vizier had emphasised the word, and -repeated it more than once in different forms--“I saw no particular -signs of fright about our people. What we felt was more like disgust. -Apart from the violation of courtesy and propriety in the attack made -on the flag, it was disagreeably close work down in the court there -with that crowd pressing all round us.” - -“Ah, my lord the Envoy is a soldier, and knows not fear, and his young -men are brave also,” replied Fath-ud-Din, stroking his beard; “but the -women--my lord’s household--surely their hearts became as water when -they heard the shouts of the people?” - -“This is the first I have heard of it, if they did,” replied Sir -Dugald; “but then, I was not in a position to observe their behaviour. -Mr Anstruther, you were in command at the rear. What were the ladies -doing while the fighting was going on? Was there any fainting or -screaming?” - -“Oh no, sir. The ladies were on our roof here, watching the fun.” - -“But that was extremely injudicious. If we had been obliged to -evacuate Bachelors’ Buildings, their presence would have added -immensely to our difficulties. You should have ordered them down, and -insisted on their returning to their own quarters.” - -“So I did, sir.” There was a gleam of fun in Fitz’s eyes. “I ran up -there myself to insist with greater effect, and they laughed at me. It -was flat mutiny, but I could not spare sufficient men to put them -under arrest.” - -“Ah, the women were driven mad by terror. Their feet were weighed down -so that they could not move,” said Fath-ud-Din pityingly, when this -had been translated to him. - -“And just at the beginning, sir,” Fitz went on to Sir Dugald, “when -there was that crush in the gateway, Miss Keeling sent her maid down -to ask me whether I couldn’t tell the people not to move about quite -so much, because she wanted to sketch them. That was how I first found -out that Lady Haigh and she were up there; but I didn’t think that the -remark showed a proper sense of the seriousness of the situation. I -assure you that it pained me very much, sir.” - -“Just translate that to the Vizier, Mr Kustendjian,” said Sir Dugald, -but again incredulity was written on Fath-ud-Din’s face. - -“Surely my lord knows, as I do,” he said, “that the young man is one -of those who delight to laugh at the beards of their elders, and to -utter the thing that is not true, to the confusion of their own -faces?” - -“I see that we shall have to convince this gentleman by the evidence -of his own senses,” remarked Sir Dugald, addressing no one in -particular. “Mr Anstruther, would you be kind enough to find out what -the ladies are doing now?” - -“They are working on the terrace, sir,” said Fitz, returning, “and the -servants are just bringing in afternoon tea.” - -“Very well. Be so good as to ask Lady Haigh to have coffee brought in -as well, and tell her that Fath-ud-Din is coming to pay her a visit. -She and Miss Keeling had better put on those veils of theirs, by the -bye, for we don’t want any more complications introduced into this -business.” - -Fitz departed on his errand in high glee, and when a decent interval -had been allowed for the transformation to be effected, Sir Dugald, -after a few preliminary remarks tending to impress Fath-ud-Din with a -sense of the greatness of the honour about to be conferred upon him, -led his guest into the inner courtyard, and up the steps to the -terrace. Here, indeed, there was little sign of panic. There were -books and work about, and Georgia’s sketching materials were visible -in a corner. She herself had the Persian kitten, which Fitz had -brought home in his pocket in the morning, asleep on her lap, while -Lady Haigh was pouring out tea with a hand in which the keenest gaze -could not distinguish the slightest tendency to tremble. The Vizier -looked disappointed--this is putting it mildly, for the young men -agreed afterwards that his expression was fiendish--but he appeared to -be reflecting that the veils in which his hostesses were shrouded -might be serving a useful purpose in concealing the traces of fear, -for presently he turned to Sir Dugald. - -“Let not my lord be offended if I entreat him to inquire of his -household whether terror did not seize them this morning,” he said, -meekly enough. - -“By no means,” returned Sir Dugald, genially. “Elma, the Vizier would -like to know whether you were frightened when his people were kicking -up that row in the courtyard?” - -“Frightened?” snapped Lady Haigh. “What was there to be frightened -about, I should like to know?” The measureless scorn in her eyes and -voice evidently reached Fath-ud-Din in spite of the double barrier of -the foreign language and the _burka_, for he swallowed his cupful of -scalding coffee hastily, and it was necessary to recover him from a -choking fit before he could proceed with his inquiry. - -“Then will my lord ask the doctor lady, who has no husband to protect -her with the might of his arm and the power of his name, whether she -was not terrified?” he asked. - -“Frightened?” returned Georgia, when the question had been put to her. -“Oh dear, no! I have a revolver. I think,” she added, carelessly, -after a pause to let the information she had just given sink in, “that -it was only the kitten which was frightened. Poor little thing! It was -in a pitiable state when I rescued it from Mr Anstruther’s -coat-pocket.” - -“By the head of our lord the King,” burst out Fath-ud-Din, rising -hurriedly, “these are no women, but fighting men!” - -“Isn’t it worth your while, then, to strain a point in order to gain -an alliance with a nation that has such women?” asked Sir Dugald, -seizing the opportunity to point a moral. - -“Nay, rather,” said the Vizier, retreating to the steps as he spoke, -“what are we doing to admit within our borders a nation whose very -women are of such a temper as this?” - -“I’m sure that was the sweetest compliment that the New Woman has ever -received,” said Dick to Georgia, as Sir Dugald, followed by Stratford -and Fitz, escorted his discomfited guest across the courtyard. - -“Major North,” said Lady Haigh, briskly, “I consider that you are -distinctly rude to your Chief’s wife. I don’t know whether you mean to -deny me a share in Fath-ud-Din’s pretty speech, or to insinuate that I -am a New Woman; but, in either case, I think that your conduct is -sadly lacking in respect.” - -“I don’t think Major North meant to be rude, Lady Haigh,” said -Georgia, playing with the kitten’s tail. “His tongue ran away with -him. It is a habit it has sometimes.” - -“I apologise humbly, Lady Haigh,” said Dick. “In any case, what I have -just heard would have forced me to believe that the New Woman was very -like the old one. Now if either you or Miss Keeling would do me the -honour of having the last word, my submission would be complete.” - -“The question is,” said Sir Dugald, returning to the tea-table with -Stratford while Lady Haigh and Georgia were still laughing, “what was -it exactly that Fath-ud-Din hoped to gain by this attack on us?” - -“Then you don’t think he was trying to wipe out the Mission at one -blow?” asked Stratford. - -“No, I don’t, unless he hoped that we should be provoked into firing -on the mob, when the whole country would have risen against us. But I -don’t fancy that was his game. I think he must have been trying to -terrify us into withdrawing from Ethiopia at once, or else into -bribing him largely to get the treaty signed immediately.” - -“I think he has received a little enlightenment as to the possibility -of squeezing us,” said Dick, with a grim smile. “My only cause for -misgiving is a doubt whether the ladies could ever again rise to the -superhuman height of heroism they displayed just now. Any weakening in -that attitude in the presence of danger might lead to unfavourable -remarks.” - -“He is trying to punish us for what we said just now, Georgia,” said -Lady Haigh, amiably. “Never mind; when the danger comes he shall see -whether either of us weakens, as Mr Hicks would say.” - -And the matter dropped amidst general laughter, which was perhaps what -Dick wanted, for after tea he asked for an interview with Sir Dugald, -and laid before him various expedients for rendering the Mission more -easily defensible. These measures he was authorised to adopt, but -without alarming the ladies, and he flattered himself that he was -successful in this, and that Lady Haigh and Georgia never perceived -that he drilled the servants each morning in the outer court, or that -he had divided them into watches, each of which took its turn in -remaining under arms. He had the more reason for this belief of his, -in that the ladies had other things to think of, for matters seemed to -have quieted down, and Georgia went to the Palace as usual, while Sir -Dugald’s audiences of the King were resumed, the subject of discussion -at present being the exact wording of the treaty, the provisions of -which had already been agreed upon. - -It was noticed by the members of the Mission that the King’s manner -seemed to have changed since the outbreak, and that he was by no means -so easy to please even as he had been. He cavilled at points which had -already been definitely settled, and did his best to produce the -impression that he considered the treaty extremely disadvantageous to -Ethiopia. This was the more serious in that Jahan Beg reported the -reappearance upon the scene of the Scythian agent, with larger -presents and more abundant promises, and it was calculated to suggest -that the King wished to irritate Sir Dugald into breaking off the -negotiations. But long experience of the East had made Sir Dugald the -most patient of men--in public--and his staff were astonished at the -mildness with which he altered the wording of a clause again and -again, without ever abating one jot of the concessions he had -determined to obtain. His mingled tact and resolution carried the day -at last. The treaty was agreed upon in its entirety, and after being -engrossed on parchment by the King’s scribes, was read through to the -Envoy, behind whom stood the interpreter Kustendjian, ready to mark -the slightest deviation from the prescribed formula. There now -remained only the actual signing of the convention, and it was -arranged that Fath-ud-Din should bring the instrument, bearing the -seals of the King and the Grand Vizier, to the Mission in the morning, -there to receive Sir Dugald’s signature, after which the British -expedition might take its departure peacefully and honourably from -Kubbet-ul-Haj. - -The day on which the treaty was to be signed was an important one also -to Georgia, for she had decided, after much consultation with Dr -Headlam, who could not, of course, see the patient, but who gave all -the advice that his experience of like cases suggested to him, to -undertake at last the operation on the Queen’s eyes. The state of the -patient’s general health was not yet as satisfactory as her doctor -could have desired, but when any day might bring about the departure -of the Mission, Georgia felt that she dared not delay longer. Even as -it was, there was little hope that she would be able to be present -when, after the necessary interval, the bandages could be removed from -the Queen’s eyes, and her professional conscience was troubled at the -possibility of leaving her work only half-done. But Sir Dugald was far -too anxious to get his followers safely out of Ethiopia to be willing -to spend a week or a fortnight longer in the country in order that -Georgia might see the result of her handiwork, and all she could do -was to explain everything very carefully, with Rahah’s help, to Nur -Jahan, and give her full directions in case of the occurrence of -various possible contingencies. The actual operation was performed -without a hitch, and Georgia felt deeply relieved as she fastened the -bandages, impressing on the Queen and all her attendants that they -were on no account to be removed until the specified time had elapsed. -The Mission was not likely, in any case, to take its departure until -three or four days had passed, and she promised to come in again at -least once more in order to note the patient’s state, and oftener if -she were summoned. - -Nur Jahan escorted her to the door of the harem, plying her with -questions as to the treatment the patient ought to receive, and the -means by which Georgia had gained her medical skill. The girl had -already proved herself such an apt pupil that Georgia sighed again -over the thought that a medical career was an impossibility for her, -but she kept her promise loyally to Jahan Beg. The litter was not -ready when they reached the harem courtyard, and while it was being -prepared she stood in the doorway talking to Nur Jahan, but leaving -the questions as to her own hospital experiences unanswered, devoted -the time to reiterating her directions for the Queen’s treatment. -Presently a burst of laughter and loud talking reached her ears from -the rooms on the other side of the courtyard, and she looked across to -a balcony in which the forms of several women could be descried. They -were evidently attendants on the King’s second wife, Antar Khan’s -mother, who was frantically jealous of her rival owing to her monopoly -of the services of the doctor lady, and who had shown this feeling in -various unpleasant ways. She was much too proud to invite a visit from -Georgia, or even to feign illness as an excuse for summoning her, and -therefore she and her faction chose to regard the doctor lady as the -dirt under their feet. They drew aside their clothes when they passed -her, affected to consider the rooms in which she had been received as -unclean, and seized every opportunity of insulting her from a safe -distance. - -The adherents of Rustam Khan’s mother, on the other hand, fully -appreciated the reasons for this state of things, and exulted over -their opponents on every possible occasion. They prided themselves on -their exclusive possession of the doctor lady, and would have rejoiced -in the opportunity of denying her services to the opposite party in a -case of dangerous illness. They had just shouted across the courtyard -the news of the satisfactory performance of the operation, and their -rivals were naturally moved to wrath. Hence they had assembled in -their balcony to point the finger of scorn at Georgia, and to jeer at -her and Nur Jahan, whose own position in the Palace was so uncertain -that she dared not run the risk of getting her husband into disgrace -by appealing to the King. - -“Thou art very proud, O doctor lady,” cried a strong-lunged damsel, -leaning over the rail of the balcony, “but when next we see thee thou -wilt be entreating mercy at our lady’s feet.” - -Rahah translated the prophecy to her mistress at once, and Georgia, in -sudden alarm, turned to Nur Jahan. - -“You are our friend, Nur Jahan? If you knew of any plot against the -Mission, you would warn me?” - -“I would risk my life and all that I have to warn thee in such a case, -O doctor lady,” replied Nur Jahan, earnestly; “but what I fear is a -plot of which I should know nothing.” - -With these ominous words ringing in her ears, Georgia entered the -litter, and returned to the Mission in a somewhat perturbed state of -mind. It seemed, however, that there was nothing going on that need -excite her alarm. The Grand Vizier and his attendants had just brought -the treaty to be ratified, and Georgia caught a glimpse of the -assemblage as she passed through into the inner courtyard with Rahah. -Had she guessed what was about to happen in the Durbar-hall, nothing -would have induced her to leave the outer court. - -On the table before Sir Dugald lay the treaty, written out with the -greatest care and delicacy on a huge sheet of parchment, and -displaying the most wonderful flourishes and other decorations at the -beginning of every clause. At the other side of the table stood -Fath-ud-Din, his attendants crowding behind him and peering eagerly -over his shoulder to watch Sir Dugald. The Envoy had taken the pen -from the hand of Fitz, and was glancing down the parchment for the -exact place at which he was to affix his signature. To all appearance -the treaty was the same that had been read over to him the day before, -and yet some suspicion entered his mind, prompted by his instinctive -caution. He would not trust to his own slight knowledge of the -Ethiopian language, but called Kustendjian forward. - -“Be so good as to summarise that for me,” he said, laying his finger -on the clause which concerned the appointment of a British Resident, -with jurisdiction over British subjects in Ethiopia, who should take -up his abode at Iskandarbagh. - -The Armenian’s eyes grew wide as he advanced and scanned the passage -pointed out by Sir Dugald. “The Resident is to have no power to decide -any cause in dispute between a British subject and an Ethiopian, nor -between two British subjects when the question concerns property or -other interests situated in Ethiopia, your Excellency,” he said, in a -low voice. - -“And that,” said Sir Dugald, indicating the clause by which British -goods, with the exception of munitions of war and ardent spirits, were -to be allowed entrance into Ethiopia upon payment of duties not -exceeding a certain percentage of the value, which were to be imposed -by the King and approved by England. - -“The minimum duty is to be a hundred per cent _ad valorem_, and there -is no proviso as to the approval of her Majesty’s Government, your -Excellency. Every one of the clauses has had additions or omissions -made in it, which render it absolutely useless for all practical -purposes.” - -“Thank you, Mr Kustendjian.” Sir Dugald laid down the pen -deliberately, and took up the treaty. The Ethiopians present had -watched his actions with eager interest, but could read nothing from -his face. Now, however, he seemed to their guilty consciences to rise -and tower above them (under normal circumstances he was under middle -height), as he tore the tough parchment across and across, and flung -the fragments over the table to Fath-ud-Din. - - [image: images/img_05.jpg - caption: He tore the tough parchment across and across...] - -“Take those to your master,” he said; “and be thankful that I don’t -call the servants to drive you out of the courtyard as they drove your -hired ruffians last week. The Mission leaves Kubbet-ul-Haj to-day.” - - - - - CHAPTER X. - CAUGHT AND CAGED. - -When the Grand Vizier and his companions had been conducted to the -door by the servants, and the gates had closed behind them, Sir Dugald -turned from the table at which he had been standing motionless, and -addressed Dick. The work of months had been overthrown, and the -success by which he had hoped to put the crowning touch to his -official career rendered impossible of attainment; but his first -thought was to vindicate the outraged dignity of his country, insulted -in his person. - -“When you made your inspection of the stables this morning, Major -North, were the animals all in?” - -“Yes, sir; this is my weekly inspection, and the camels which had been -out at pasture were brought in by their drivers to be passed. They all -looked very fit; but we have not much forage for them in store.” - -“We must chance that. I should be glad if you would have our -riding-horses, together with a sufficient number of camels to carry -the tents and their furniture, brought round here two hours before -sunset. It would be impossible to travel far to-day, but if we are -outside the city the required moral effect will be produced. I shall -leave you and Anstruther behind to bring on the stores and the heavy -luggage. We will travel by slow stages until you come up with us, and -then we must make forced marches, and get out of the country as fast -as possible, for we shall have no escort this time.” - -For the first time in his life Dick hesitated to obey an order. - -“But the ladies, sir,” he suggested. “Is it safe?” - -“Is it safe for them here? The sooner we have them out of the city, -the safer they will be,” and Dick, silenced, went to do his errand at -the various stables in which the baggage-animals of the Mission were -quartered. - -To say that the sudden order to pack up and be ready to start on the -homeward journey that very afternoon was startling to the ladies would -be to mince matters, for it came upon them like a thunder-clap; but -Lady Haigh was an old traveller, whom no vicissitudes could disturb -for long, and Georgia was a soldier’s daughter, and they were both -resolved that the honour of England should not be dragged in the dust -on their account by the delay of a moment after the appointed hour of -starting. Accordingly, they set to work immediately to take down and -wrap up and stow away all the possessions with which they had made the -house homelike during their tenancy of it, and were in the act of -packing their dresses (which, as every lady will know, always occupy -the topmost place in a box), when Dick made his appearance on the -terrace. Georgia, who was standing at the table pulling out the -sleeves of a favourite silk blouse, which she had just rescued from -the ruthless hands of Rahah, looked at him in surprise, for his face -was grave and set. - -“Please don’t say that you want us to start this moment,” she said, -cheerfully. “Lady Haigh and I are willing to make any sacrifice in -reason for our country, but we had rather not leave our best dresses -behind.” - -“It won’t be necessary,” returned Dick, trying, but with poor success, -to speak in the same tone. “We shall not leave to-day, after all.” - -“Not leave to-day!” cried Lady Haigh, coming out on the terrace, and -folding up a skirt at the same time. “Then when do we start?” - -“Not just yet, I fear. The fact is, the King is trying on a little -joke with us. He has fetched away all our horses and camels, and we -can’t get them back.” - -“But when did he do it? and where are they gone?” asked Lady Haigh, in -hot indignation. - -“He must have done it immediately after I had come away from the -stables after picking out the beasts for your start this evening. -Where they are gone I don’t know; but we can’t hire any others, and we -can’t very well walk, and therefore I suppose we must stay here.” - -“But it is such a bad precedent to let him get the better of us like -this!” cried Lady Haigh. “It is such absolute stealing, too. Are the -servants gone as well as the animals?” - -“Yes, they have all been marched off to fresh quarters somewhere. That -thins our forces sadly.” - -“So it does,” Lady Haigh assented, gravely. “But never mind; if the -King won’t let us leave the city, we will make ourselves happy where -we are.” - -“And perhaps,” suggested Georgia, “it is merely that the King is sorry -for his treachery about the treaty, and wants to prevent Sir Dugald’s -leaving Kubbet-ul-Haj in anger. He may mean to resume the negotiations -to-morrow.” - -“He may,” agreed Dick, but his face was not hopeful as he returned -across the courtyard, while the ladies took the things out of the -boxes they had just packed. Still, the events of the next morning -seemed to confirm Georgia’s cheerful augury, for an embassy came from -the King to Sir Dugald, headed, not by the Grand Vizier (possibly he -felt a slight doubt as to the nature of the reception he was likely to -meet with), but by the official who had superintended the -establishment of the Mission in its present quarters. In the message -which he brought, Sir Dugald was entreated to overlook the incident of -the day before, which had been devised by the King merely as a test of -his shrewdness, and was in no way a serious attempt to induce him to -sign a false treaty. If he would only come to the Palace to-day, the -original treaty should be ready for his signature, and the King would -affix his seal to it in his presence. At first Sir Dugald returned an -absolute refusal to this invitation, but the messenger reappeared with -it twice, adding such solemn and earnest assurances of its genuine -character, that he consented to talk the matter over with his staff. -Lady Haigh and Georgia invited themselves to assist at the discussion, -and the first thing that opened Georgia’s eyes to the gravity of the -situation was the fact that Sir Dugald made no protest against the -irregularity of this proceeding. - -“You won’t go, Dugald?” said Lady Haigh, anxiously. “Probably it is -only a trap. Remember Macnaghten.” - -“Couldn’t you manage to suggest any more cheerful reminiscence?” asked -Sir Dugald. - -“You really mean to go, sir?” asked Dick. - -“I think so. After all, what happened yesterday may have been only a -trick, as this man says, though I don’t think the King would have -hesitated to profit by it if I had signed the false treaty. At any -rate, so long as there is a chance of our coming off victorious, we -ought not to let it slip. This treaty is of immense importance, for it -brings Ethiopia within our sphere of influence, and when once it is -concluded, we can snap our fingers at Scythia and Neustria. You see as -well as I do that if we withdraw now and negotiations are resumed -later, Scythia will have had time to slip in and conclude her treaty. -I grant that we have a very slender chance of success, but if it -depends on me I will not lose it. Still, I don’t wish to take you into -danger against your better judgment, gentlemen. Your lives are at -stake as much as mine, and if you think it advisable not to go to the -Palace, I will dispense with your attendance on this occasion.” - -“We will go wherever you go, Sir Dugald,” said Dick. - -“Wherever you go,” echoed the rest. - -“But I can’t take all of you,” said Sir Dugald. “Two of you must stay -here and look after the ladies. I don’t like dividing our force, but -it would be poor strategy to let them be seized as hostages while we -were away. You see what I mean, Elma? I will leave you North and the -doctor as a garrison, and you and the servants must put yourselves -under their orders and help to defend the place if it is attacked.” - -“No, Dugald,” returned Lady Haigh, resolutely, regardless of the fact -that she was indulging in open mutiny, “unless Major North goes with -you, you shall not go to the Palace at all. Dr Headlam and we can -defend ourselves quite well behind stone walls; but it would be -madness for you to trust yourself outside without a man with you that -knew anything about fighting. Only take Major North, and I am -content.” - -For peace’ sake, Sir Dugald accepted this view of the case, and a -little later the party set out with the ambassador, who had brought -with him several horses from the King’s stables for them to ride--huge -fat animals, most of them a peculiar pinkish-white in colour, with -highly arched necks and flowing manes and tails decorated with ribbons -and sham jewellery. They were provided with high native saddles and -elaborate saddle-cloths, and the ambassador explained that they were -intended as gifts to Sir Dugald and to his staff. Asked what had -become of the animals belonging to the Mission, he confessed -ingenuously that the King had had them removed in order to frustrate -Sir Dugald’s design of leaving the city, but that they would be -returned as soon as ever the treaty was signed, so that the Envoy and -his young men might depart in peace. - -Arrived at the Palace, the members of the Mission were conducted to -the usual hall of audience. It was not without some unpleasant -sensations that they heard the gates of the courtyard close behind -them, and Dick involuntarily loosened his sword in the scabbard, and -noticed that Stratford and Fitz were feeling whether their revolvers -were safe. Sir Dugald alone showed no signs of disturbance, even when -on reaching the hall he was requested to enter the King’s -presence-chamber by himself, the rest remaining in the outer room. -Before he could answer, his staff pressed around him, regardless of -etiquette. - -“Don’t go, sir,” said Dick. “It’s a trap.” - -“They mean mischief, Sir Dugald,” said Stratford. “The King has never -asked to see you alone before.” - -“Let us put a pistol to this fellow’s head, sir, and keep him as a -hostage until we are safely back at the Mission,” suggested Fitz, -looking daggers at the smiling official, who was bowing and spreading -out his hands in token of the welcome which awaited Sir Dugald in the -King’s presence. - -“Nonsense!” said Sir Dugald, irritably, motioning Stratford aside. -“You mean well, gentlemen; but we can’t make fools of ourselves in -this way. Look there. You see that there’s nothing but a curtain -between the two rooms, and you would hear the slightest scuffle or cry -for help. I give you free leave to interfere if you do hear anything -of the kind, but pray keep cool.” - -He went on, following the official, and passed under the heavy curtain -which covered the doorway of the inner room. Some minutes of painful -suspense ensued, while the three Englishmen and Kustendjian strained -their ears to hear what was going on within. Suddenly there came a -sound as of the ringing of metal on a marble floor, and Dick sprang to -the doorway with a bound, followed by the rest, and tore aside the -curtain. He never quite knew what he had expected to see, but it was -certainly not the sight which met his eyes. The King was sitting on -his raised divan, with Fath-ud-Din standing beside him. Before them -there lay on a gorgeous Persian carpet a great pile of bags of money, -one of which had been kicked across the room. It had burst open, and -the clash of the escaping silver was the sound which the listeners had -heard. They had no time to meditate further on the situation, for Sir -Dugald, his face white with anger, was coming towards them, actually -turning his back on the King, and as he reached the doorway he looked -round over his shoulder and spoke. - -“Your Majesty understands that under no circumstances will I consent -to enter the Palace again. Any communication you may wish to make to -me can pass through my secretary.” - -“But which is he?” inquired Fath-ud-Din smoothly in Arabic, the -language in which Sir Dugald had spoken. “Is he the mighty man of -whose deeds the hillmen sing, and with whose name the women of -Khemistan terrify their children?” - -Sir Dugald silently indicated Stratford, and the Vizier looked at him -and grunted softly to himself. But the King sat up suddenly (he had -been leaning forward with his chin on his hand, listening to what -passed), and said-- - -“Ye cannot leave this place without camels, and camels ye shall not -have until the treaty is signed.” - -“No; but we can wait here until a British force comes to escort us -away,” said Sir Dugald, and marched down the hall. His staff followed -him, not without an uneasy feeling that they might be attacked from -behind. Indeed, Kustendjian confessed afterwards that he had never -felt quite so much frightened in his life as when Fitz gave him a poke -in the ribs. - -“What was it that they really did, sir?” asked Dick, when they were -riding back to the Mission. - -“They tried bribery and corruption, North--offered me the heap of -money you saw on the floor if I would sign that precious treaty of -theirs and make no bones about it. I have had experiences of the kind -before, in out-of-the-way places, where the people knew little of -British rule, but this is quite the biggest thing of its sort that has -ever been tried with me. I don’t fancy they will attempt it again.” - -“Was it the treaty you tore up yesterday?” - -“Exactly the same. I knew it this time without Kustendjian’s help. -Well, this is the last occasion on which we shall be tricked into -going to the Palace on such an errand.” - -But it was evident the next morning that the Ethiopian authorities had -not given up hope, for a second deputation appeared, headed by an -official even higher in rank than the preceding one, and entreated Sir -Dugald to return to the Palace once again. This time the King had -tried his loyalty, which had stood the test; and now, finding that he -could neither be deceived nor corrupted, he would send with him an -autograph letter to her Majesty, advising her to promote the Envoy -above all her servants, since neither threats nor bribes nor any -devices could move him. Sir Dugald smiled grimly when he heard the -message, which was brought him by Stratford, who had interviewed the -embassy. - -“Praise from such a quarter is praise indeed,” he remarked; “but you -may tell them, Mr Stratford, that this fish will not bite.” - -Again the deputation sent in earnest entreaties for merely a sight of -Sir Dugald’s face, declaring that they dared not return to the King -without having seen him, and on being dismissed they came back twice -over, each time becoming more urgent in their request. Let Sir Dugald -only come to the Palace once more, and sign the treaty in the King’s -presence, and all would be well. But Sir Dugald was not to be moved. -The utmost concession that he would make in answer to the prayers of -the messengers was to consent to sign the original treaty if it were -brought to him at the Mission already bearing the seals of the King -and Fath-ud-Din, or else to allow Stratford to take to the Palace the -copy made by Kustendjian and obtain the required signatures to it, -after which Sir Dugald would affix his. Further than this he would not -go, and the deputation retired disappointed once more. - -No deputation appeared the next day, but the members of the Mission -were not allowed to imagine themselves forgotten. Before the hour at -which the gate was usually opened in the morning, a strong guard of -soldiers took post before it, and signified that they would permit no -one either to enter or leave the premises. Under these circumstances -Sir Dugald, while intrusting to the officer in command of the troops a -formal protest to be delivered to the King, considered it advisable to -keep the gate shut, although the soldiers showed no disposition to -attempt to force an entrance. The object of their presence, which -appeared at first as a somewhat purposeless insult, was soon -discovered, for when the country-people came as usual with their -baskets of eggs and vegetables for sale, intending to set up their -market in the street, as they had done since the day of the riot, they -were turned back and not allowed to approach the gate. In the same way -the cooks, who made an attempt to get out as far as the town market to -do their catering, were refused leave to pass, and returned -disconsolately into the courtyard. It was evident that an endeavour -was to be made to starve the Mission into surrender, and Sir Dugald -ordered an examination of the stores to be instituted. The result was -not reassuring. It had never been intended that the expedition should -carry all its supplies with it, and therefore, although there was -still a considerable quantity of tinned provisions and other articles -of luxury, there was a great deficiency of corn and flour, and of -course an absolute lack of fresh meat and vegetables. It was obviously -necessary to put the whole party upon fixed rations at once, but this -measure would be of little avail if the blockade outside were strictly -kept up. - -With night, however, a gleam of comfort arrived in the shape of Jahan -Beg, who was discovered by Fitz lurking in the lane behind the house, -and was drawn up to the window by a rope. He had heard of the King’s -last measure of offence, and was anxious to know how it affected his -friends. Sir Dugald’s refusal to go to the Palace he approved -heartily, saying that any yielding now would be accepted as a sign of -fear and weakness, leaving out of sight the extreme probability that -the opportunity would be seized of making an attempt on his life. At -the same time, the Amir confessed that he saw no way out of the -situation which would combine honour and safety. Fath-ud-Din was -paramount in the council, and while he was in power no one else could -get a hearing. Rustam Khan was in fear of his life, and had everything -ready for flight at a moment’s notice should his spies inform him that -it was expedient. The Scythian envoy was once more to the front, -although no definite arrangement had as yet been concluded with him. -It seemed to be Fath-ud-Din’s policy to play off one nation against -the other, doing his best to secure concessions from each, while -giving as little as possible in the way of equivalent to either. - -“If you can get any treaty that in the slightest degree approaches -your demands, sign it and go,” said Jahan Beg. “And if you can’t get -your treaty, go in any case, if you can.” - -“I was thinking of sending a man off to Fort Rahmat-Ullah to describe -our plight, and ask for orders and help,” said Sir Dugald; “but the -difficulty is that they will allow no one to pass. One does not care -to court a rebuff by demanding facilities for the passage of a courier -taking important despatches to Khemistan and finding them refused; and -even if we could smuggle him out behind in any way, there would be a -very slender chance of his passing the city gates, much less of -reaching the frontier.” - -“I will do what I can to help a messenger off if you are obliged to -run the blockade,” said Jahan Beg; “but as you say, there is a very -slight chance of success. Why not send a message by that fellow Hicks, -who has been talking for weeks of returning to Khemistan immediately?” - -“Because he only meant to return when our business was over, and now -that things have become more exciting he is bound to be in at the -death,” said Sir Dugald. “He must wait here and write our obituary -notices, you see.” - -“Well, I advise you to wait a day or two, in case anything occurs to -alter the situation. The Scythian agent may turn rusty if it dawns -upon him that he is being played with, and then your chance will -come.” - -“The worst of it is that our chances are limited by our supplies,” -said Sir Dugald. “We have not got the beasts and the camel-men to -consider now, certainly, but it is no joke providing simply for -ourselves and the servants here. Both Fath-ud-Din and the Scythian -envoy have the whip-hand of us in that respect.” - -“Yes,” put in Georgia, for the conversation was taking place on the -terrace, “it would not do us much good personally even to get the -treaty signed, when we were reduced to a ration of three tinned peas -and a square inch of chocolate each a day.” - -“Don’t be afraid, Miss Keeling,” said Stratford. “I think I can assure -you that we men will each add one pea and an appreciable fraction of -the chocolate to your ration and Lady Haigh’s.” - -“And we shall hand it back to you, remarking gracefully that you need -it more than we do,” said Georgia. - -“By the bye,” said Jahan Beg, “I think I can help you about provisions -a little. I can get a small supply of corn through the lanes at the -back without attracting the notice of the soldiers, and you can draw -up the sacks through the window. I will bring you a donkey-load -to-morrow night, and another the next night, if all is well.” - -In spite of the watch kept on the house, Jahan Beg was as good as his -word, and succeeded in supplying the beleaguered garrison, in the -course of the next three nights, with enough corn to relieve them from -any present fear of starvation. In other respects, however, the -situation showed no improvement. Once more a deputation from the -Palace arrived to propose terms of peace, and departed as before -without seeing Sir Dugald. But this time the official who headed it -declared as he departed that no more messages of conciliation would be -sent by the King. After this, if the British Mission desired to -abandon its attitude of suspicion, and meet the Ethiopian Government -on a footing of mutual confidence, it must make the first move. The -soldiers at the gateway had been ordered to allow Sir Dugald to pass -at any hour of the day or night, either with or without his staff, and -to escort him to the Palace with due honour. But no advantage was -taken of this intimation, and inside the Mission councils were held -daily as to the measures to be adopted in case the state of affairs -should remain unchanged. Sir Dugald had decided to send a messenger to -Fort Rahmat-Ullah asking for instructions, and Jahan Beg had chosen -one of his servants, a man who was devoted to him and who knew the -country well, for the dangerous errand. As soon as arrangements had -been made for a supply of horses along the route to be traversed, this -man was to come to the Mission to receive Sir Dugald’s despatches, -which were to be sewn up in his clothes, and the imprisoned residents -began to regard the state of affairs with somewhat greater equanimity, -since the burden of decision in the dilemma in which they found -themselves would be laid upon other shoulders than their own. - -On the fourth day of the blockade, however, an unexpected change -occurred. Again an embassy appeared, but this time it was a private -one. It consisted of the two sons of Fath-ud-Din, who had brought Mr -Hicks to introduce them and to guarantee their good faith, and a -number of attendants, who bore gifts of fruit and vegetables. The -object of their errand was soon imparted. Fath-ud-Din had been seized -with a mysterious illness, the nature of which was unknown to the -Ethiopian physicians and baffled all their remedies, and he had sent -to entreat Dr Headlam, to whose skill all his patients in the city -bore eloquent testimony, to come and prescribe for him. Sir Dugald and -his staff looked at one another doubtfully when they heard the -message. - -“It looks remarkably like a trap,” said Sir Dugald. - -“Still, Hicks would scarcely lend himself to such a thing,” said the -doctor. - -“Let us have him in,” said Sir Dugald; and Mr Hicks was invited into -the Durbar-hall, leaving his young friends in the verandah. - -“If you ask me, I think the old man is real sick,” he said, in reply -to their questions. “I heard his groans when I called at his house -just now, and they were awful. I guess the old sinner is nailed this -time, any way.” - -“But it is so exactly what one might look for in a plot to secure one -of us as a hostage for the signing of the treaty,” said Dick. - -“Well, two can play at that game,” said the doctor, who was eager to -go. “I suppose I must have young Fath-ud-Din with me to do the honours -of the house, but do you keep the boy here, and don’t let him go until -you have me safely back. That ought to checkmate any intended move of -theirs.” - -“Doctor, there’s something like grit in you!” cried Mr Hicks, warmly. -“What with your professional enthusiasm, and your level-headedness, -you deserve to be immortalised. And your name shall be handed down in -the pages of history, or I will cut my connection with the ‘Crier’ -from that day.” - -“Thanks,” said the doctor. “Now suppose you call in the young -gentlemen and explain the state of affairs. I don’t want to get to the -house and find the poor old villain beyond my skill.” - -The Vizier’s eldest son understood the matter at once, and was -perfectly willing that his young brother should remain at the Mission -as a hostage for Dr Headlam’s safe return. The boy was therefore -delivered over to Sir Dugald and taken into the inner court, and the -doctor left the house with Mr Hicks and young Fath-ud-Din. - -“Make the most of your opportunities, doctor,” Stratford called after -him as he departed. “Have the medicine ready, and refuse to give it -him except as the price of the signing of our treaty.” - -Dr Headlam went off laughing, and the evening passed quietly at the -Mission. About eleven o’clock the doctor returned, escorted by young -Fath-ud-Din, who received his brother back, and departed with profuse -expressions of gratitude. - -“What sort of time have you had with the boy?” asked the doctor of -Stratford and Dick, who were accompanying him across the court on his -way to his own quarters. - -“Oh, not bad, under the circumstances,” returned Dick. “We set -Anstruther down to teach him halma by signs, and Miss Keeling gave us -a little music--that is to say, she did her best to sing to the -strains of Kustendjian’s concertina. I never heard any one play so -vilely as that fellow in all my life, but the boy seemed impressed. -Afterwards we sat in a ring and tried to talk, with Kustendjian to -interpret, and all got most fearfully sleepy. But how did you get on?” - -“Well, I don’t quite know,” replied the doctor, somewhat reluctantly. -“I have an uncomfortable kind of feeling, and yet I can’t be sure that -it is justified. But I will tell you about the events of the evening, -and then you can judge for yourselves whether the matter is of any -importance.” - -“Oh, go on!” said Dick and Stratford together. “Don’t keep us on the -rack.” - -“Well, as soon as I got to the house I was taken to see old -Fath-ud-Din. It’s pretty clear to me that he has a tolerably severe -attack of influenza, but he thought he was dying--or at any rate, he -groaned as if he did. I prescribed the usual remedies, and gave -various directions as to things which I thought might relieve him. He -sent the servants out of the room to get hot flannels and the other -things I had ordered, and then turned to me. I was pouring out the -medicine, which I had fortunately been able to make up from the drugs -I had brought with me, and I went to give it to him. As I held the -glass to his lips, he fixed me with his eye and said in Arabic, ‘A -doctor has many opportunities.’ It was such a truism that I merely -agreed, and he went on, ‘He holds in his hand the life of the man to -whose help he is called.’ I thought he was afraid that I might be -trying to poison him, and I said, ‘If your Excellency doubts me, I -will sip the medicine myself first.’ At that he grinned in what he -seemed to consider as a friendly and ingratiating manner, and said, -‘You mistake me. I trust you. So also does the Queen of England’s -Envoy trust you, and our lord the King trusts his physician.’ I didn’t -quite see the relevance of the remark, so I cut matters short by -requesting him to take his medicine. He sat up and balanced the glass -in his hand, and said, looking at me over the edge of it: ‘Doubtless -you are acquainted with poisons which could be administered in a -little draught like this, and do their work without causing -suspicion?’ I didn’t at all like the turn the conversation was taking, -but I told him shortly that I did know of such poisons, and he said at -once, ‘There are great fortunes to be made by men who possess such -knowledge as that, and who are willing to use it.’ I was partly -flustered and partly angry, for I could not make out whether he was -still harping on the idea of my poisoning him, or hinting at bribing -me to murder Sir Dugald or perhaps the King, and I said very -emphatically, ‘I don’t understand your Excellency, and I must ask you -to remember that I have no wish whatever to do so.’ That was something -of a cram, I’m afraid, but I was too much flurried to pick my phrases, -and I gave him the medicine without another word. Then the servants -came back, and I saw them make him comfortable, and then Hicks and I -had dinner, or supper, or whatever you might call it, with young -Fath-ud-Din. Now, what do you think of it?” - -“It looks fishy,” said Stratford. “If you ask me, I think we must look -after the Chief.” - -“Just so,” said Dr Headlam, “but without frightening the ladies. I -will tell him the whole story to-morrow morning. They couldn’t attempt -anything particular to-night, and it’s very late. Besides, I feel a -bit seedy myself.” - -“I hope they haven’t poisoned _you_,” said Dick, pausing and looking -at him. - -“Nonsense, my dear fellow. Why, Hicks and young Fath-ud-Din and I were -all eating out of the same dish. If you had seen some of the messes of -which politeness forced Hicks and me to partake, you would wonder that -we are alive now. There was one concoction full of chillies, which has -made me most consumedly thirsty.” - -“Come back and have something to drink,” said Dick. “The servants are -gone to roost, but I think we are capable of compounding you a peg -between us.” - -“No, thanks; I am looking forward to a glass of my own effervescent -mixture. My servants always have orders to leave the filter full for -me. Well, we must be thinking of turning in, I suppose.” - -“Stay over here to-night,” said Stratford, moved by a sudden impulse. -“We can manage to put you up in Bachelors’ Buildings, and it will be -more convenient if you are really seedy. Besides, it is undoubtedly -bad policy for one of us to sleep out in an isolated house at a time -like this.” - -“My dear Stratford, I have a rifle and a revolver and a whole armoury -of surgical knives with which to defend my hearth and home. Any -midnight marauder who came to pay me a visit would find that he had -undertaken a tough job. Moreover, my servants are good fellows, and -they are armed after a fashion. And then I have the famous collection, -with the reputation Anstruther has conferred upon it, to protect me. -Good-night: I am really too thirsty to wait talking any longer.” - -They unbarred the gate and let him out, watched him cross the street -and knock at his own door, and saw him admitted. Then, after going the -round of the sentries, they retired to their own quarters, where they -spent some time in conversation. Before turning in, they went out to -the gate once more, impelled by a common anxiety for which they made -no attempt to account to one another, and looked across at the -doctor’s house; but the door was shut, and all was quiet there. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - THE RANKS ARE THINNED. - -“Mr Stratford! Mr Stratford!” - -The words were accompanied by an emphatic knocking at the door, and -Stratford sat up in bed. - -“Come in!” he shouted, recognising the voice, and Fitz Anstruther -entered, shutting the door carefully behind him. - -“I’m afraid there’s something wrong over at the doctor’s,” he said. -“His house-door is ajar, and yet none of his people seem to be -stirring. I wanted to go over and see what was the matter, but old -Ismail Bakhsh wouldn’t let me pass out of the gate, and told me to -call you and Major North. May I go now? I won’t be a minute.” - -“No, call North, and he and I will go over,” said Stratford, beginning -to dress, and Fitz, with a sense of deep disappointment, obeyed. In a -very few minutes Stratford and Dick came down the steps together, and -after posting Fitz at the gate in case a hurried return should be -necessary, passed between the lounging forms of the Ethiopian soldiers -who were occupying the street, and entered the doctor’s house. Its air -of desolation surprised them, for they found the courtyard and -verandah strewn with books and papers, and odds and ends of small -value. - -“Looks as though the place had been looted,” said Dick. - -They crossed the verandah and entered the house, still without meeting -a soul. Here again all was desolation. Everything of value seemed to -be gone, and the furniture was broken and knocked about. The only -things left uninjured were the glass bottles containing the natural -history specimens, which still remained untouched on their shelves. -The door into the next room was ajar, and a kerosene lamp was burning -itself out on the table, filling the air with its pungent odour as the -flame flickered, recovered itself, and sank again. Glancing into the -semi-darkness, the intruders could make out the form of the doctor, -lying half-dressed across his bed, the lamp-light gleaming on the -barrel of a revolver in his hand. - -Somewhat reassured by the sight, they advanced and pushed the door -wide open, then recoiled precipitately. The face which met their view -was that of a dead man--of one who had died in the extremest agony. -The protruding eyeballs, the lips drawn back to the gums, the black -and swollen tongue, all testified to the sufferer’s having endured the -utmost torments of thirst. - -Ashamed of their momentary panic, Stratford and Dick, putting a strong -constraint upon themselves, entered the room and lifted the corpse, -unclasping the rigid hand from the revolver. - -“They did poison him, then!” said Dick, fiercely. “Well, we will have -Fath-ud-Din’s blood for this.” - -“How?” asked Stratford. “When was he poisoned? Was it at dinner last -night, or had his servants poisoned the water in the filter? If young -Fath-ud-Din and Hicks are both unhurt, we can never prove that it -wasn’t that. It has been very smartly managed.” - -“Here is a piece of paper and a pencil,” said Dick, handing them to -him. “He must have been writing as he lay.” - -“Look here,” said Stratford, holding out the paper after glancing -through it, “the poor fellow has put down his symptoms and the -remedies he tried, as a guide to us. He wrote at intervals, evidently. -You see, after recording his symptoms twice, he says, ‘Servants -gathered round the door watching me. Refuse to bring water.’ Then more -symptoms, and then, ‘Servants are looting the house. Afraid to touch -collection.’ Now you see the writing becomes much weaker. ‘Ask Miss -Keeling to keep collection in memory of me. Take my mother back the -Bible she gave me. Good-bye all. Take care of Miss Keeling; they will -strike at her next--the only doctor left. God have mercy----’ It -breaks off there, you notice, with a scrawl right across the page. The -pencil must have dropped from his hand. To think what the poor fellow -must have been enduring all alone in the night, with those fiends -gloating over him!” - -They stood up on either side of the dead man and looked at each other. -Both were men who would not have flinched in the hottest fight, and -yet each now saw reflected in the other’s eyes the unutterable horror -of his own. What chance was there of success against a foe who fought -with such weapons as this? Stratford was the first to speak. - -“I must go over and get the Chief to come,” he said. “Will you stay -here with--him? I won’t be longer than I can help.” - -Dick nodded, and he went off swiftly. For a few moments Dick sat -still, staring fixedly at the distorted face of the man who had been a -true comrade and good friend to him during the last few months. Then -he pushed back the box on which he had been sitting, and began to walk -up and down the room, averting his eyes from the dreadful thing on the -bed. - -“What are we to do?” he cried in despair. “It’s not for myself--God -knows it’s not for myself--but those poor women!” - -Georgia’s face rose up before him--not an uncommon occurrence in these -days--and he ground his teeth as he remembered the dead man’s warning. -He was powerless, and he knew it. What could four Englishmen, with -Kustendjian and the little handful of native servants, do against a -whole nation? How could they defend the helpless women who had come to -Kubbet-ul-Haj trusting in their protection? - -“At any rate,” said Dick, clenching his fist involuntarily, “if they -strike at her they shall strike me first!” - -Presently Stratford came back with Sir Dugald, to whom he had -explained hastily the doctor’s suspicions of the night before. Sir -Dugald’s arrival and his immediate grasp of the situation did -something to lessen the tension in the minds of the two younger men, -an effect which was enhanced by the prompt and decisive orders which -he proceeded to give. - -“I shall send you to the Palace with Kustendjian, Stratford, to tell -the King exactly what has happened, and to insist that it shall be -inquired into immediately. There is no such thing as an inquest here, -of course, but I suppose we had better leave the body for the present -as you found it, in case they send some one to see how things were.” - -“But what about punishing the murderers, sir?” asked Dick, eagerly. - -“Who are the murderers?” responded Sir Dugald. - -“What is your opinion, sir?” - -“My opinion is the same as yours and Stratford’s--that poor Headlam -was poisoned at Fath-ud-Din’s dinner; but you must see for yourself -that it is absolutely impossible for us to prove it. Fath-ud-Din will -say that the servants murdered their master in order to steal his -property. Why otherwise should they have looted the place and -decamped?” - -“Because they were afraid of being suspected,” suggested Dick. - -“Possibly; although in that case it was an insane idea for them to -meddle with the poor fellow’s things. Besides, three of them came with -us from Khemistan, and were not like these Ethiopians here. They were -British subjects, and would have known that we should protect them and -give them a fair trial. No; my opinion is that the servants had been -got at, and were in league with Fath-ud-Din. He was to administer the -poison, and they were to loot the house and disappear, in order that -suspicion might rest upon them. No doubt he guaranteed their escape, -and provided a safe refuge for them. But, if this is the case, you see -we are powerless. Nothing but a direct confession from one of those -immediately concerned could enable us to bring the crime home.” - -“Then you will not even charge Fath-ud-Din with it?” - -“My dear North”--Sir Dugald laid his hand not unkindly on Dick’s -shoulder--“pull yourself together, and consider what our position here -is. Don’t let your eagerness to avenge poor Headlam blind you to the -fact that we are in an enemy’s country, with several women to protect, -and four guns (I don’t count Kustendjian) to do it with. At present -Fath-ud-Din is bound to work against us secretly, but if we brought -such an accusation against him it would be open war. The King could -not give him up for punishment if he would, and it would be far -easier, in any case, to get rid of us than of him. You may put me down -as cold-blooded and calculating--in fact, I know you do--but it is my -duty to try to bring the Mission out of this most unfortunate business -with as little loss of life as possible.” - -“I quite see that, sir; but when I look at the poor chap lying -there----” - -“You must not look at the dead, North, but at the living. If it should -so happen that I were to die as the doctor has died, my last care -would be to give Stratford a solemn charge to get the rest of you -safely out of the country before he hinted at suspicion or said a word -about avenging me. I don’t deny that we ought never to have brought -the ladies here, but, hampered as we are by their presence, we have -given hostages to fortune. Heaven helping me, I mean to have that -treaty signed yet, before we leave Kubbet-ul-Haj; but, if that is not -to be, then I shall turn all my thoughts to getting the ladies across -the frontier in safety. I hope I may feel assured that my staff will -do all in their power to co-operate with me, and to take my place -should I be removed.” - -“You may count on me, Sir Dugald,” said Dick, slowly. “I hope you will -forgive what I said just now. I was so much upset that I did not -consider things properly.” - -Before Sir Dugald could answer, Stratford, who had gone back to the -Mission to prepare for his visit to the Palace, returned with -Kustendjian, and received his orders. He was on no account to enter -the Palace, merely to stand without and demand justice; and he was to -be satisfied with nothing less than a royal proclamation denouncing -the murderers, and ordering an immediate search for the fugitive -servants. Little success as could be hoped for from this measure, such -an edict would at least vindicate the prestige of the Mission. - -“Now,” said Sir Dugald to Dick when Stratford and the interpreter had -taken their departure, “we will get two or three of the servants over -here, and set them to work to knock together a coffin. We must make it -out of some of these packing-cases, I suppose. It will only be a rough -affair. And then we must see about a burial-ground and a grave. It is -sad to leave behind one you have liked and trusted in a country like -this!” - -Sir Dugald’s iron face twitched as he spoke, and he stooped over the -corpse. - -“Can you find a pair of scissors, North? I must cut off a lock of his -hair for Lady Haigh to take to his mother, for I will not allow either -her or Miss Keeling to come over and see him like this. I must break -the news to them presently, but they shall know as little of the truth -as I can manage to tell them.” - -Dick found a pair of scissors in the dead man’s medicine-chest, and -Sir Dugald cut off a lock of hair and placed it carefully in his -pocket-book. Then he went across to the Mission, returning in a short -time with two servants, whom he set to work at their mournful task, -and leaving Dick to superintend them, went back to break the news to -his wife and Georgia. Presently he was summoned again to the doctor’s -house to meet the official who had returned with Stratford from the -Palace, and who bore assurances of the grief and wrath felt by the -King on account of the crime which had been committed. Stratford -brought word that the monarch’s utterances seemed to be really -sincere, and that it was probable that even if the murder was justly -attributed to Fath-ud-Din, his master had no share in it. He had come -to the door of the Palace to meet Stratford, finding that he would not -enter, and to all appearance was struck with surprise and horror at -his news. The thought that the Queen of England might suspect that he -had plotted the murder of her officer seemed to impress him -particularly, and he was ready to order every possible step to be -taken that could lead to the detection of the criminals. At the same -time, he was persistent in fastening the guilt upon the runaway -servants, and refused to listen to the hint thrown out by Stratford -that they might have been instigated to their deed by some one higher -in position; and neither Sir Dugald nor his subordinates could resist -the conclusion, that although it was in all probability true that the -King knew nothing of the crime before it had taken place, yet he had -now no difficulty in assigning it to its true perpetrator, whom he -was, moreover, determined to shield. - -Short of allowing any real inquiry into the manner of the doctor’s -death, however, the King was ready to do all he could in the painful -circumstances. The desired proclamation was already being published in -the different quarters of the town, and a price had been set on the -heads of the servants. With regard to the funeral, as there was no -Christian burial-ground anywhere in Ethiopia, Sir Dugald might choose -a spot in the royal gardens outside the city, and that spot should be -fenced off and held sacred. Deputations from the Ethiopian army and -council should be present at the ceremony, and Rustam Khan should also -attend it as his father’s representative. In the meantime, to show the -King’s deep regret for the misunderstanding which had existed during -the last few days between himself and Sir Dugald, the guard of -soldiers would be removed from the front of the Mission, and the -country-people informed that they might bring their produce to sell as -usual. - -It was Stratford and Fitz to whom fell the task of riding out to the -King’s garden and selecting the site of the first Christian cemetery -in Ethiopia. They chose a spot on the border of the estate, which -could be easily marked off from the rest, and the official who had -accompanied them gave the necessary orders to the workmen. The funeral -was to take place in the late afternoon, and there was need for haste. -Fitz and Stratford had ridden out almost in silence; but as they -mounted their horses for the return journey to Kubbet-ul-Haj, Fitz -looked back at the garden and shuddered. - -“I wonder how many of us will lie there before this business is over!” -he said, only to be annihilated by Stratford’s reply-- - -“Shut up, you young fool, and don’t croak. Your business is to obey -orders, and not to wonder.” - -The boy relapsed into sulky silence at once, and brooded all the way -home over the disgusting state of Stratford’s temper, never guessing -that it was with this very end in view, of detaching his thoughts from -the tragedy of the morning, that the rebuke had been administered to -him. In the courtyard of the Mission they found Dick engaged in -superintending the preparations for the funeral, and Stratford noticed -at once that among the riding-horses, which were those presented by -the King a few days before, there were two hired mules carrying a -curtained litter. - -“Surely the ladies are not going?” he said to Dick. - -“They are, indeed. Lady Haigh declared that she could never face the -doctor’s mother if she was unable to tell her in what kind of place he -was buried, and what the funeral was like, and it struck the Chief -that it was just possible they might be safer with us than left behind -here under Kustendjian’s charge. Our force is none too large now, you -know.” - -And thus it happened that Lady Haigh and Georgia formed part of the -mournful procession that accompanied the doctor’s rude coffin to its -resting-place in the King’s garden. The streets and house-tops were -crowded with people, who gazed eagerly and in silence at the British -flag which covered the remains, and at the little group of Englishmen, -sad-faced and stern, who followed. Many of those in the crowd owed -relief from disease, or even life itself, to Dr Headlam’s skill, yet -no sign of grief was exhibited by any one. But neither was there any -attempt at mockery or sign of unfriendliness; the people seemed to -watch the proceedings with intense and absorbing curiosity, much, -thought Georgia, as the inhabitants of Mexico might have contemplated -a religious ceremony performed by Cortes and his Spaniards. The same -interest was shown at the cemetery, where another crowd had assembled, -that listened expectantly to the unfamiliar accents as Sir Dugald read -the Burial Service, and pressed forward eagerly to see what was -happening when Lady Haigh and Georgia came to the grave-side and threw -their flowers upon the coffin. The party from the Mission remained -beside the grave until it was filled up and a rough wooden tablet -erected, bearing the doctor’s name and the date of his death, and then -returned sadly home, parting from Rustam Khan and his attendants as -soon as they reached the city gate. - -Now that the last honours had been paid to the dead, it was time, as -Sir Dugald had said to Dick, to think of the living, and the four -Englishmen and Kustendjian met on the terrace to discuss the state of -affairs. The latest cause for anxiety arose from the fact that Rustam -Khan had shown a strong disposition to emphasise the truth that he -attended the funeral merely as the representative of his father. He -had declined to ride side by side with Sir Dugald after the coffin, -and had displayed a determination, which under less painful -circumstances would have been almost ludicrous, to avoid direct -communication with any of the party. - -“The moral of which is,” said Sir Dugald, “that we are by no means out -of the wood yet, but rather deeper in it than before, if possible. If -Rustam Khan is afraid to be seen speaking to us, or even to show the -friendly feeling the occasion might seem to demand, it looks to my -mind as though he knew that he had been accused to his father of -plotting with us to deprive him of the throne, and wished to assert -his innocence.” - -“It strikes one that such a very pointed change of manner would be -calculated to awaken suspicion rather than to lull it,” said -Stratford--“though, of course, Rustam Khan must be the best judge of -that. But we are singularly destitute of information to-day. Even -Hicks would be better than no one.” - -“Mr Hicks came here after you had started,” said Kustendjian, who had -been left in charge of the Mission during the funeral. “He would have -wished to attend the ceremony at the grave, but he had only just heard -what had happened, since all the morning he was suffering from a fit -of indigestion, induced by the dishes at the Vizier’s dinner last -night.” - -“Well, it’s evident that he was not poisoned,” said Dick, “for -Fath-ud-Din would have done his work more effectually, for one thing; -and again, I know that I have invariably had the same experience -myself after a big native dinner in India or Khemistan. But he seems -to be no better provided with news than we are. I wonder what has -become of Jahan Beg.” - -“That is just the question that has occurred to me,” said Sir Dugald. -“It is possible that his house is watched, and that he does not dare -to come here. But I hope his silence may mean merely that he has found -a good opportunity for sending off his messenger, and that he did not -wait for despatches or further directions from me, but packed him off -at once.” - -“But supposing you hear, in the course of the next two or three weeks, -that the force you want is awaiting your orders at Fort Rahmat-Ullah, -what action do you propose to take, sir?” asked Dick. - -“Simply to inform the King that I am about to withdraw the Mission. If -he will send troops to escort us to the frontier, as he did when we -came, it will be all right; but, if not, I shall order a sufficient -force to march to our assistance. It would not be a military -expedition, of course--merely a baggage-train with an armed -escort--but the King could not refuse it passage without open war. -That would necessitate his throwing himself into the arms of Scythia, -which he is very shy of doing; and it is my impression that when he -discovers we have the help we need at no great distance, he will -change his mind, sign the treaty, and allow us to take back to -Khemistan peace with honour.” - -“But he would naturally begin a war, if he did decide upon one, by -wiping out the Mission,” suggested Dick, “or he might provide us with -an escort which had instructions to murder us all on the way. It would -come to pretty much the same thing in either case, so far as we were -concerned.” - -“Risks of that kind one must take in the course of business,” said Sir -Dugald. “We can’t very well remain permanently at Kubbet-ul-Haj on our -present footing, but we will do our best to avoid playing the part of -victims in another Kurd-Cabul disaster.” - -“Do you think they will make any further attempts to induce us to -accept their treaty, Sir Dugald?” asked Stratford. - -“I think it is fairly certain that they will, believing that we have -been thrown off our guard by their friendliness to-day. As soon as -Fath-ud-Din is about again, we shall probably have him here, trying -his old tricks once more; but I have a pleasant little surprise in -store for him. I shall make it clear that all negotiations are to be -carried on at this house, and that neither I nor any of you will go to -the Palace on any business whatever connected with the treaty. I am -not going to risk the loss of any more lives by dividing our force, -but I shall not tell him that. It will be a disagreeable shock to him -to find that we only become stiffer in our demands as our position -grows more precarious, and he will think we possess some sort of moral -support behind the scenes of which he is ignorant.” - -“What a fire-eater the Chief is!” said Stratford later to Dick. “He -ought to have commanded one of Nelson’s line-of-battle ships, and -engaged a whole French fleet before he went down with guns -double-shotted and colours flying.” - -“A regular old fighting-cock!” said Dick, affectionately. “If we -hadn’t had the ladies with us, we should have seen him bearding the -King in the Palace itself, and defying Fath-ud-Din and the whole -Ethiopian army to their faces, I’m convinced. As it is--well, our -prospects don’t look particularly brilliant just now, but I feel that -if there is a man on earth who can get us out of this fix, it’s the -Chief.” - -They were superintending the removal of the collection from Dr -Headlam’s desolate house to the Mission, and gathering together such -poor scraps of personal property as the marauders had overlooked or -left behind as worthless, to take home to his mother. When the place -was cleared they locked the door and delivered the key to the -landlord, who received it with a gloomy face, remarking that he never -expected to be able to find another tenant. Dick thought that he was -attempting to gain an increase of the substantial rent (as things go -in Ethiopia), which had already been paid him, but the landlord had -gauged correctly the character of his fellow-citizens. The house stood -empty for a long time, gaining a bad reputation without any tangible -reason; but at last, for an ample remuneration, a man was found bold -enough to sleep there, in order to prove that there was nothing wrong -about the place. But that bold man let himself down over the wall into -the street in the middle of the night by means of his turban, leaving -his mattress behind him; and the next day he told his friends that he -had been awakened by hearing the well-known clink of a medicine-bottle -against the measuring-glass, and, cautiously uncovering his head, had -looked out to see the ghost of the English doctor standing at a -phantom table and mixing immaterial drugs. That was enough, and the -house was left desolate until it ultimately fell into decay. - -But this is anticipating, and we must return to the days when the -presence of a British envoy was an abiding reality in Kubbet-ul-Haj, -and not the shadowy tradition which it has since become. For a day or -two the party at the Mission were left undisturbed, although the -absence of any message from Jahan Beg robbed their tranquillity of -some of its attractiveness. The enforced seclusion within the walls of -the house could not fail to tell on the spirits of most of them; but -it was a point of honour with all to maintain an appearance of -cheerfulness for the sake of the rest, and those who possessed hobbies -found them a great help in this endeavour. Stratford studied -Ethiopian, Dick laboured at the map of the country which he had begun -during the journey from the frontier to the city, and Fitz, who was -the unresisting victim of a camera which accompanied him wherever he -went, photographed everything and everybody. Georgia had an object of -interest peculiarly her own in the perplexing conduct of Dick, who had -changed his place at meals, and contrived always to secure a seat -between Lady Haigh and herself, so that he could appropriate the first -cup of tea or coffee poured out, which it was naturally his duty to -pass on to Miss Keeling. Georgia pondered over this behaviour of his -for some little time without gaining any light upon it, and at last -opened her mind to her usual confidante. - -“Lady Haigh, have you noticed the queer way in which Major North -behaves at meals? He won’t pass things, and I am sure it isn’t through -absence of mind, for he apologises at the time, and looks so -dreadfully confused.” - -“Well, my dear child, I am sure there is nothing in all this for which -to blame him. Certainly you ought to be the very last person to -complain.” - -“I, Lady Haigh?” - -“Is it possible that you don’t guess his reason, Georgie?” - -“Really and truly I haven’t an idea what it can be.” - -“Then I think you ought to be enlightened. You remember that paper -which the poor doctor left, in which he warned us that you would -probably be the next of us to be attacked? Well, Major North doesn’t -mean you to be poisoned if he can prevent it. That’s all, and it -explains his eccentric behaviour fully.” - -“Oh!” Georgia sat silent, a vivid crimson spreading over her face. -“But it isn’t fair that he should be allowed to risk his life in that -way, Lady Haigh,” she said at last. - -“Very well, my dear; tell him so.” - -“But that would sound so ungrateful. Couldn’t you tell him?” - -“I could say that you would prefer to be poisoned rather than to be -helped after him, certainly.” - -“Oh, Lady Haigh, you are unkind; you know it isn’t that! It is that I -can’t bear him to be always running the risk of being poisoned instead -of me.” - -“Well, if you want my opinion, I should say that was a matter for -Major North to decide for himself.” - -“Excuse me--I think it is a thing for me to decide.” - -“My dear Georgie, you are very persistent. I can only repeat--settle -it yourself with Major North.” - -But as Lady Haigh had foreseen, Georgia decided that it was not -advisable to broach the subject to Dick, and the matter was therefore -left untouched. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - THE STANDARD-BEARER FALLS. - -Sir Dugald’s prophecy as to the probable resumption of negotiations on -the part of the Ethiopians proved correct, for within a week after the -doctor’s death Fath-ud-Din, now completely recovered from his illness, -appeared once more at the Mission. As the visit was ostensibly one of -condolence, Sir Dugald granted him an interview; but when the Vizier -had spent the orthodox length of time in bemoaning the loss of Dr -Headlam, and in remarking piously, for the consolation of his host, -that these things were ordered by fate and could not be averted, he -turned suddenly to business. Taking from the hands of his confidential -scribe, who alone of all his attendants had accompanied him into the -Durbar-hall, a roll of parchment which bore a family likeness to the -various abortive treaties already discussed and rejected, he presented -it to Sir Dugald and requested him to read it. Sir Dugald had now -become so much accustomed to mental exercises of the kind that he -could detect an unsound clause by eye or by instinct rather than by -actual perception; but for the sake of appearances he beckoned to -Kustendjian to come and read the document through to him quickly. When -the reading was finished Kustendjian was pale with excitement, and -Stratford and Dick were looking at one another in bewilderment over -Sir Dugald’s head, for, with the exception of one or two minute -alterations affecting the wording rather than the matter, the treaty -was identical with that first agreed to, and ever since rejected by -the King and Fath-ud-Din. That estimable person now sat smiling -benevolently at the astonished faces of his hosts, and, while their -eyes were still fixed upon him, began to make significant passes of -the thumb of his right hand over the forefinger--a gesture which was -immediately understood by all the members of the party except Fitz, -for whom this journey was his first experience of Eastern life. - -“So that’s it!” muttered Sir Dugald. “How much do you want, -Fath-ud-Din?” - -With a pained smile, directed towards the scribe, who was obviously -watching the transaction while pretending to be absorbed in the study -of the tiled floor, the Vizier held up his right hand, with the second -finger turned down. - -“Oh, nonsense!” said Sir Dugald. “You can’t afford to do it for that, -you know. Or is there any other little thing we could do for you -besides? Out with it; we are all friends here.” - -“The life of man is uncertain,” sighed Fath-ud-Din. - -“Quite so--especially in Ethiopia,” responded Sir Dugald. - -“Even kings cannot rule for ever,” went on the Vizier. - -“I quite agree with you;” yet Sir Dugald became portentously stern all -at once. - -“And happy is he to whom a son is given that may sit on his throne -after him.” - -“True. His Majesty is in that fortunate position.” - -“But the son granted to him is young and tender, and there are those -who might dispute his claim. How great, then, would be his felicity if -the mighty Queen whom my lord serves would acknowledge, by the hand of -her servant, the child’s right of succession, and grant him her -countenance and the support of her soldiers!” - -“I see. Fath-ud-Din stands to gain five thousand pounds, gentlemen,” -said Sir Dugald, turning to his staff; “and when the king is removed -from the scene, we are to acknowledge Antar Khan as his successor, and -back him up with moral and physical force. How does that strike you?” - -“It strikes me that the King had better set about making his will,” -said Stratford, grimly, “if you accept the terms.” - -“That is exactly the impression which the proposal has produced on -me,” returned Sir Dugald; “and, as I have no wish to be accessory to a -sudden change of ruler in Ethiopia, I think it will be as well to -inform Fath-ud-Din that we must decline to do business with him on -this footing.” - -He folded up the treaty, rising at the same time to show that the -interview was ended, and handed back the parchment to the Grand -Vizier, who had been observing him in silence. - -“Her Majesty’s Government has an objection to interfering in dynastic -questions,” said Sir Dugald, pointedly; “and, when it does interest -itself in such a matter, it prefers to adopt the cause of the elder -son.” - -“There are other governments of Europe,” said Fath-ud-Din, with equal -meaning, “which are quite willing to take the side of the younger. If -the first purchaser will not pay me the price I ask for my sheep, I -will take them further and find one who will.” - -“I can only admire your Excellency’s keen business qualities,” -returned Sir Dugald, as he escorted his visitor to the door. But no -sooner was the Vizier’s train outside the gate than the scribe came -back in haste, saying that his master had missed a valuable ring, -which he must have dropped somewhere in the house. Half suspecting a -trap, but yet determined to give no ground for an accusation of -lukewarmness, Sir Dugald had the courtyard searched, and the rugs in -the Durbar-hall taken up and shaken. But all was in vain until one of -the servants, who had removed the tray of coffee which had been -brought in out of compliment to the Vizier, came back into the room, -and, with a salaam, produced the ring, which he had found at the -bottom of Sir Dugald’s cup, and which the scribe seized upon -immediately with a cry of triumph. - -“Well, I’m glad that turned out all right,” said Dick, when the man -had gone off rejoicing. “I was afraid it was a trap, and that they -meant to accuse us of stealing the thing. Dim memories began to come -over me of a book I read when I was a small boy, in which a virtuous -family were imprisoned and tortured and given a bad time generally on -account of a false accusation of having stolen a ring, and I must own -that I had unpleasant forebodings as to the probable course of justice -in Ethiopia.” - -“I confess that I began to suspect they had hidden it somewhere,” said -Sir Dugald, “and would try to make out that we had accepted it as a -bribe.” - -“Of course it must have dropped in when he handed you the treaty,” -said Stratford; “but it’s queer that no one noticed it.” - -“One of the ‘things no feller can understand,’” quoted Sir Dugald, -absently. “If you will find your way to the terrace, gentlemen, where -I see Lady Haigh is just pouring out tea, I will follow you as soon as -I have given an order to Ismail Bakhsh.” - -Stratford, Dick, and Kustendjian crossed the court slowly, still -discussing the incident of the ring, and, mounting the steps, -perceived that Fitz had reached the terrace before them, and was -engaged in conducting the education of the Persian kitten. He had an -idea that it was possible, by dint of kindness and perseverance, to -teach any animal to perform an unlimited number of tricks; but so far -his theory did not appear to be justified by facts in the case of -Colleen Bawn. At this moment he was holding a stick a few inches from -the ground, and endeavouring, by means of bribes and encouragement, to -induce his pupil to jump over it. Lady Haigh and Georgia were laughing -at his efforts, and the kitten sat watching him with unconcerned -interest, blinking lazily every now and then with one contemptuous -blue eye and one uncomprehending yellow one. - -“Now, you little beggar, this won’t do! I shall have to take you in -hand seriously. I won’t hurt the little beast, Miss Keeling. You don’t -imagine I would? But I must teach it to obey orders.” - -He seized the white mass of fluff which ignored his blandishments so -calmly, and proceeded to place it in the required position. The result -was a short scuffle, from which the kitten retired in high dudgeon to -seek refuge under Georgia’s chair, leaving Fitz defeated, with a long -scratch on the back of his hand. - -“Oh, Mr Anstruther, you have hurt her!” cried Georgia, reproachfully. - -“I think she has hurt me,” was Fitz’s resentful answer. - -“Poor little thing! I think she is only frightened,” said Lady Haigh. -“We will give her some milk”--and she filled a saucer, and, stooping -down, tried to tempt Colleen Bawn out of her hiding-place. - -It was at this moment that the rest, standing at the edge of the -terrace, saw Sir Dugald coming through the archway from Bachelors’ -Buildings. - -“What in the world is the matter with the Chief?” whispered Stratford, -quickly; for Sir Dugald was walking as though his feet refused to -carry him in a straight line: first a few steps to the right, then a -valiant attempt to reach the steps, then a divergence to the left. The -men on the terrace watched him in amazement and horror. - -“He walks as though he was drunk!” said Kustendjian, in a voice of -bewilderment. - -“I wish to goodness he might be!” was the astonishing aspiration which -broke from Dick as he ran down into the court, while Stratford turned -a look upon the interpreter which made him shake in his shoes. - -“Give me your arm up the steps, North,” said Sir Dugald, looking at -Dick in a puzzled, almost appealing fashion. “I don’t feel very well. -Is Anstruther there?” - -“Yes, sir. Do you want him to write anything?” - -“Yes. It must be done at once.” - -They had reached the top of the steps, and the horrified group on the -terrace saw that Sir Dugald’s face was working strangely, and that his -lips were twitching and refused to be controlled. - -“Dugald,” cried his wife, rushing to him, “you are ill! Come indoors -and lie down;” but he pushed her away from him with a shaking hand. - -“Not yet, not yet,” he said, impatiently. “Sit down, Anstruther, and -write. Quick!” as the boy’s frightened fingers bungled over their -task. “Say this: ‘Fearing the approach of severe illness, I hereby -appoint Egerton Stratford to the command of this Mission until her -Majesty’s pleasure is known, charging him----’” here he became -incapable of speech for a moment, and passed his hand over his lips to -steady them--“‘to secure, if possible, the conclusion of the treaty -originally agreed upon; but in any case to conduct the Mission back to -British territory without provoking, for any cause whatever, a -conflict with the Ethiopian authorities.’ Now let me sign it.” - -He sat down heavily in the chair which Fitz vacated, and groaned aloud -as the pen dropped from his fingers. - -“Let me guide your hand, dearest,” whispered Lady Haigh, restoring him -the pen; but once more he motioned her aside, and, steadying his right -hand with his left, succeeded, with infinite difficulty, in inscribing -his name in large crooked characters. - - [image: images/img_06.jpg - caption: - He succeeded, with infinite difficulty, in inscribing his name in - large crooked characters.] - -“Now witness it. Witness it all of you,” he said, with feverish -anxiety, and they all added their names to the paper as witnesses. -When the last signature was written Sir Dugald’s head sank on his -breast, and Lady Haigh darted to his side with a cry which none of -those who heard it will ever forget. - -“Dugald, not _dead_? and without a word to me!” - -“Dear Lady Haigh,” said Georgia, gaining her voice first, and choking -back her tears, “he is not dead. I think it is some kind of paralytic -seizure. He may recover very soon. If we can get him indoors I shall -be able to see better what it is.” - -“If you will take his left arm, Mr Stratford,” said Lady Haigh, in a -hard, even voice, “we can support him to his room. Please come with -us, Georgie.” - -Dick stepped forward to offer his help, but Lady Haigh refused to -relinquish her position, and she and Stratford half-carried the -unconscious form across the terrace and into the house. It struck -those who were left behind with a fresh pang as they realised that in -the course of the past few weeks Sir Dugald’s iron-grey hair had -turned quite white. - -“What do you think?” asked Dick, when Stratford returned presently and -sat down in silence. - -“Heaven help us!” was the sole answer; and the group on the terrace -waited there in speechless anxiety for more than an hour. The sun, as -it neared its setting, began to cast the long shadows of the walls -across the courtyard; the kitten curled itself into a ball of white -fur in the middle of Georgia’s embroidery without rebuke, and still -the four men waited, struck dumb by this sudden blow. At last Georgia -came out and sat down in Lady Haigh’s place. There were traces of -tears on her face, but she spoke in what Dick called her professional -manner as they all looked at her, hesitating to ask the question whose -answer they feared to hear. - -“It is paralysis,” she said; “but I have never seen a case with quite -the same symptoms.” - -“All this worry has been too much for the Chief,” said Stratford, -indignantly. “The Government had no business to send so old a man on -such an errand so ill-supported. What with all he has gone through, -and the shock of the doctor’s death, it is no wonder that he should -break down.” - -“I don’t know who started the idea of this precious Mission,” growled -Dick, “but if any of us get back to Khemistan, we shall have something -to say about the way they carried it out.” - -“I think that perhaps poor Sir Dugald preferred to come with a small -party, and to be left very much to his own responsibility,” suggested -Georgia. “He has often said how much he hated being trammelled by -directions from people at a distance who knew nothing of the -circumstances.” - -“Still, they should have arranged some safe means by which he might -communicate with them in case of necessity, instead of camel-posts -which stopped running just when they were most wanted,” persisted -Dick. “The responsibility has been too much for any one man.” - -“I have an idea,” said Georgia, with some hesitation, “that the case -is not quite so simple as you think. I have attended a large number of -paralytic cases, but I have never met with symptoms quite like these. -Sir Dugald has now passed into a state more resembling coma--that is -to say, he is apparently asleep, but cannot be awakened. He seems -incapable of originating any movement, and yet I am almost convinced -that he is partially conscious of what is going on around him. He -cannot speak or open his eyes; but his limbs are not rigid, and I -believe he is alive to sensations of physical pain.” - -“But to what conclusions do these observations lead you, Miss -Keeling?” asked Stratford. - -“It is merely a conjecture of mine, but I think I have one or two -other facts to support it. I believe that this attack is the result of -the administration of poison.” - -“Poison!” broke from her hearers in various tones of incredulity; and -Stratford added, “With all deference to you, Miss Keeling, I can’t -help thinking that you are generalising too hastily from the -circumstances of poor Headlam’s death. What opportunity has there been -for poisoning the Chief that would not have affected all of us -equally?” - -“Chanda Lal said something to Lady Haigh about a ring.” - -“Fath-ud-Din’s ring!” The men looked at one another for a moment, then -Stratford spoke again. - -“But we are not in the days of the Borgias now. How could these people -have become acquainted with such a trick as that?” - -“Surely,” said Georgia, “it is more likely that the Borgias owed their -methods to the East than that the East borrowed from them? We have -learnt already, by sad experience, that Fath-ud-Din is a most expert -poisoner, and we can guess that he would consider it to be to his -interest to rid himself of Sir Dugald.” - -“The thing is absolutely impossible,” said Dick, not considering the -rudeness of his language. Georgia looked at him in some surprise. - -“I may tell you that it was from examination of the symptoms that I -first formed my theory, Major North, and that it was only when I was -trying to find out whether there had been any opportunity of -administering poison that I heard of the ring from Chanda Lal.” - -“But are you acquainted with any poison which would produce exactly -these effects?” asked Stratford. The rest waited eagerly for the -reply, and their faces fell when Georgia answered-- - -“No, I am not. There are circumstances connected with the illness -which I cannot explain by attributing it to the action of any specific -poison of which I have ever heard. But you must have noticed in the -papers about ten years ago various references to certain Asiatic -poisons, the nature of which was quite unknown to Western medical men. -It was supposed that a poison of this kind had been administered to a -particular ruler whom it was desired to dethrone, and that it acted in -such a way as to paralyse his will and his powers of mind. I do not -say that this is the same poison--in fact I believe it can’t be, for -that was supposed not to affect the physical powers in any way--but I -think that this belongs to the same class. You saw how poor Sir Dugald -struggled against the effects; only a man of indomitable will could -have held out as he did. But he could not continue to resist, and when -he had attained his great object, and signed that paper, his -will-power collapsed suddenly. It is just possible that if the -emergency had continued to exist, he might have held out, and -succeeded in throwing off the effects of the poison.” - -“And you really think it possible that enough poison to produce such -results as these could be contained in that ring?” asked Stratford. - -“I do; and I want you to help me to persuade Lady Haigh to allow me to -try the effect of different antidotes. She is so thoroughly convinced -that the attack is a simple paralytic seizure, brought on by overwork -and worry, that she refuses to let me make trial of any strong -remedies lest they should retard Sir Dugald’s recovery. But I am very -much afraid that unless we can expel the poison from the system, or at -any rate neutralise it, he will not recover at all.” - -“I wish we had a proper surgeon here!” said Dick, rising and walking -restlessly up and down. - -“We have,” cried Fitz, bristling up at once in defence of Georgia. - -“I meant a medical _man_,” said Dick, casting a stony glance at him. - -“It seems to me, North,” put in Stratford, “that you forget we ought -to be very thankful to have a doctor here at all. You can’t mean to -imply that it makes any difference that--that----” - -“That I have the misfortune to be a woman, as Major North thinks,” -said Georgia, quietly. - -“Well, I know that I would never let a lady doctor touch me if I was -ill,” said Dick, with painful candour. - -“I don’t think there are many that would care to,” snapped Fitz, who -was boiling over with rage. - -“Anstruther, you forget yourself,” said Stratford. “Miss Keeling, I -must ask you to forgive us. We have been so much upset by what has -happened that we really can’t look at things coolly. We know that -North has always been an obstinate heretic on this subject, but I’m -sure I need not tell you that if he was really ill he would be only -too grateful if you would do what you could for him. Still, in the -present case----” - -“Yes?” said Georgia, eagerly, as he paused. - -“It is such a fearful risk. If you could say definitely what poison -you suspected, or even if we had any independent proof that poison had -been administered at all, I would add my voice to yours in trying to -persuade Lady Haigh to adopt your views; but as it is, you must -confess that they are built up of a succession of hypotheses, and if -the hypotheses are false, your treatment might do irremediable harm by -weakening the patient to such an extent that he would have no power to -rally from what may, after all, be what you called just now a simple -paralytic seizure. You are quite convinced of the truth of your -theory, I suppose?” - -“I would stake my professional reputation upon it,” said Georgia; “but -I suppose”--throwing back her head proudly--“that it would be quite -useless to try to convince any one here that my reputation is as much -to me as a professional _man’s_ is to him. But it is not that--it is -to see poor Sir Dugald lying there insensible, and Lady Haigh so -miserable about him, and not to be allowed to try what I believe would -set him right. After all”--her tone changed--“I am the doctor here, -and I am not answerable to any one in authority. Why should I not try -the remedies which commend themselves to me?” - -“Scarcely without the consent of the patient’s friends----” began -Stratford, puzzled by this new development; but Dick interposed -roughly enough. - -“No, Miss Keeling. If your hypothesis proved to be incorrect, and the -result turned out badly, it might become a manslaughter case. It is -quite out of the question that you should be allowed either to run -such a risk yourself, or to expose the Chief to it, and I shall back -Stratford up in preventing you from attempting anything of the kind -you propose.” - -“By force, I presume?” asked Georgia, sarcastically. “You seem to be -losing sight of the fact that, if my theory is correct, it would be -incurring the same guilt not to take the steps I recommend, Major -North.” - -“Allow me to say, Miss Keeling, that there are very few juries that -would not prefer the opinion of four men to that of one lady.” - -“I can quite believe it,” returned Georgia, scornfully, “after what I -have heard to-day. It would make no difference that the woman was an -M.D. of London, and that none of the men knew enough of medicine to -describe the symptoms of arsenical poisoning. They must know best. Oh, -I might have known that when Lady Haigh refused to listen to me there -was no hope of getting four men to look at things in a less biassed -way. She turned against me because anxiety for her husband has blinded -her judgment for the time, but your opposition springs from mere -prejudice. Thank you for the things you have been saying, Major North. -One conversation of this kind teaches one more than months of ordinary -conventional intercourse. If I were not so angry, I could laugh to -think that we are wrangling here while poor Sir Dugald is lying in -this helpless state--and that you should all combine to prevent my -doing what I can for him, simply because I happen to be a woman!” - -“I think you are a little unjust, Miss Keeling,” said Stratford. “My -objection is not that you are a woman, but that you confess you cannot -be certain of the facts of the case.” - -“How could any one be certain under the present circumstances, unless -Fath-ud-Din had confessed openly what he had done, and contributed a -specimen of the poison for analysis? You know that if Dr Headlam had -been alive you would not have thought of questioning what he saw fit -to do. I only ask for fair play. Chivalry I don’t expect--perhaps it -is as well that I don’t under the circumstances--but I have a right to -ask for the justice that would be shown to a man in my position.” - -And Georgia gathered up her work and the kitten, and retired very -deliberately, with the honours of war, leaving the men disinclined for -further conversation. Kustendjian betook himself to his own quarters, -where he was in the habit of donning a semi-oriental costume in which -to take his ease after work was done; and Stratford, accompanied by -Fitz, who had listened with a certain mournful pride to Georgia’s -indictment of North, adjourned to the office, there to compile the -regular account of the proceedings of the day. When the record was -complete, and Fitz had returned to the terrace, Stratford, who had -lingered to arrange the papers in the safe, was surprised by the -entrance of Dick, who lounged in moodily without saying anything, and -propped himself against the wall. - -“Why don’t you tell me that I am a dismal fool and a howling cad?” he -inquired at last. - -“If you know it already, though it’s rather late in the day now, it -can’t be much good my repeating the information,” said Stratford, -drily. - -“Oh, go on! Swear at me, call me names--anything you like! I am -positively yearning for a thorough good slanging--might make me feel a -little better.” - -“Then I should recommend you to apply to Miss Keeling. I don’t fancy -you’ll want to repeat the experience.” - -“Stratford, tell me what I am to do. I can’t think what possessed me -just now. Of course, it stands to reason that we couldn’t allow her to -do what she wanted. If she tried her experiments, and the Chief died, -she would probably let herself in for an inquiry when we got back to -Khemistan. Her name would be bandied about all over the place, and -every wretched native penny-a-liner in India would be cooking up -articles to reflect on medical women.” - -“And, by way of improving matters, you gave her a taste of the sort of -thing beforehand. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to you that Miss -Keeling would probably care comparatively little for having her name -bandied about in the papers if she was convinced that her friends--and -I suppose you would call yourself one--believed in her.” - -Dick stared. “But that’s all rot, you know!” he said. “If a woman -won’t look after herself in those ways, one must do it for her. To -think of her becoming the subject of bazaar _gup_!--why, you know, one -couldn’t allow it. No, I’m not a bit sorry that I took her in hand and -quenched her aspirations; but I am perfectly sick when I think of the -way I did it. If she hadn’t taken it for granted that she was in the -right all the time, I shouldn’t have got so mad; but it makes a man -look such a cub to--to lose his temper when he’s arguing with a lady. -As she said, I have done myself more harm with her to-day than months -would undo. How can I put it right?” - -“I haven’t a notion,” responded Stratford, cheerfully. “Any one would -have thought from your manner that you were bidding successfully for a -final rupture. Of course, the only possible thing to do is to -apologise. As a gentleman, you can’t avoid that, but I doubt whether -it will do you much good. If you will excuse my saying it, North, I -think you have tried this Revolt-of-Man business once too often.” - -“Rub it in!” said Dick, mournfully. “The harder the better.” - -“Oh, get out!” cried Stratford. “This office isn’t a confessional. Eat -your humble pie as soon as you get the chance, and be jolly thankful -if your penitence is accepted. That’s all I have to say. Now clear -out. Why, I have more hope of young Anstruther than of you. The way -that cub has been licked into shape is wonderful. Three months ago he -would have been at your throat for half the things you said to-day. -Slope!” - -Dick departed, but he found no opportunity of following the counsel of -his too candid friend. The men dined alone that night, and neither -Lady Haigh nor Georgia appeared on the terrace afterwards. The next -morning, as there was no change in Sir Dugald’s condition, Lady Haigh -ventured, at Georgia’s earnest request, to leave him to the care of -Chanda Lal while she presided as usual at the late breakfast. Dick -took the place next to her, which he had occupied of late, and secured -for himself the first cup of coffee, as he invariably did. - -“Major North,” said Georgia, shortly, “will you kindly pass me my -coffee?” - -Taken by surprise, Dick did as she asked, and her eyes met his in a -defiant glance as she raised the cup to her lips. He read her meaning -at once. She would have none of his protection; she preferred, indeed, -to run the risk of being poisoned rather than owe immunity from such a -fate to him. The realisation of this fact cut him more deeply than -anything she had said the day before, and he began to regret the -temerity with which he had plunged into the fray, although in talking -to Stratford he had scouted the idea of entertaining such a feeling. - -About an hour later, when Georgia, after careful reconnoitring to make -sure that the coast was clear, had settled herself in a shady corner -of the terrace to study in peace a work on poisons which she had found -among Dr Headlam’s books, she was surprised by the sudden appearance -of the man whom she least desired to see. He had evidently been -engaged in inspecting the stores in the cellars under the terrace, for -the first intimation she had of his vicinity was the sight of him as -he came up the steps. - -“I want to ask you to forgive me for what I said yesterday, Miss -Keeling,” he said, standing before her. - -“Can you forgive yourself?” asked Georgia, quickly. - -“Not for the way in which I spoke--nor indeed for the things I said, -but I think you would look more leniently on them if you realised that -it was anxiety for you that prompted them.” - -“Thank you,” said Georgia, raising her eyebrows, “but I am afraid that -my poor feminine mind is scarcely capable of appreciating an anxiety -which displays itself in such a marked--I might almost say such an -unpleasant way. Perhaps you will kindly understand, after this, that I -had rather be without it.” - -It was undignified, she knew, but she could not resist the temptation -to repay him in his own coin. Last night she had been angry and -indignant when she realised how much his words had hurt her, and it -gave her now a kind of vengeful pleasure to feel that she was hurting -him. - -“You are very cruel,” he said, “but perhaps I deserve it.” - -“Perhaps?” Georgia sat upright, and her eyes flashed. “Major North, -you conceived a prejudice against me the first time you saw me in the -spring, and you spared no pains to make it evident. Thinking that you -might possibly imagine yourself to have a just cause of complaint -against me, on account of what happened long ago, although I should -have thought it wiser and more dignified for both of us to forget the -circumstance, I have done my best, for Mab’s sake, to treat you as I -should wish to be able to treat her brother. I had begun to hope that -you also had recognised the advantage of continuing our acquaintance -on this footing, and I have been in the habit lately of speaking to -you more freely than I should have cared to do to a declared enemy. In -return, you do your utmost to humiliate me in the presence of Mr -Kustendjian and Mr Anstruther. You have taught me a lesson; I confess -that I have taken some time in learning it, but I shall not make -mistakes in future.” - -“Then you won’t even let us be friends?” - -“I think it will be better not, Major North. The honour of your -friendship is rather a trying one for the recipient; a stranger might -even mistake it for enmity. It will relieve you of the unpleasant -necessity of showing your friendship if we remain henceforth on the -footing of mere acquaintances.” - -“Have a little pity for me, Georgie.” - -If Dick had meant to make Georgia look at him, he had succeeded now. -The glance she gave him withered him into silence. - -“You forget yourself, Major North. At least, I have never given you -reason to insult me.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - A PROFESSIONAL SUMMONS. - -The long hours of another day and night dragged slowly away, and Sir -Dugald’s condition remained unchanged. The sight of her husband lying -on his bed with half-closed eyes, speechless and incapable of changing -his position, moved Lady Haigh to a fervent hope that Georgia’s -conjecture as to his partial consciousness of what passed around him -might not be true. To know himself absolutely powerless, to perceive -that things were going wrong but to be unable to rectify them, she -could imagine no keener torment for a man of his stamp. If he -continued in this state, she said to herself remorsefully, as she -administered the liquids which were the only nourishment he could -swallow, she would be inclined to allow Georgia to have her way, in -spite of the misgivings of Stratford and North, for nothing could be -worse than this living death. Even now, “If you could only tell me you -were sure it was poison, Georgie dear,” she said, “I would put him -into your hands unreservedly; but as it is, the risk is too fearful. -He is all I have, you know.” And although Georgia regretted the -decision, it did not affect her as the opposition of the men had done, -for she knew that Lady Haigh would have withstood any male doctor with -exactly the same pertinacity under the circumstances. - -The political duties of the Mission were somewhat in abeyance just -now, for Sir Dugald’s illness rendered it impossible to initiate any -fresh diplomatic action, and this enforced idleness had a bad effect -on the spirits of all. Even Fitz had lost his cheerfulness, and the -kitten escaped its daily lesson in gymnastics. Kustendjian, his -services as interpreter not being required, spent most of his time in -his own quarters, where, as he informed Stratford with appropriate -seriousness of demeanour, he occupied himself in making his will -several times over, and in writing farewell letters to his friends. In -spite, or perhaps in consequence, of the lack of active occupation, -however, the post which Sir Dugald had bequeathed to Stratford -promised to be no sinecure, and more especially as Dick, since his -interview with Georgia, had been in a villainously bad temper, and -snapped at every one in a way that made his friend long to kick him. - -“They all want a desperate emergency to calm them down,” said the -harassed commander to himself. “This monotonous life within four -walls, full of suspense, would get on anybody’s nerves, and they will -take to quarrelling soon. When that happens, it’s all up with us. I -shall have to go and eat humble pie to Miss Keeling if this goes on, -and ask her not to treat North quite so much like an officious -stranger who has spoken to her without an introduction. As the acting -head of affairs, I could put it to her that her method of exercising -discipline has a distinctly bad effect on the _morale_ of the force.” - -The emergency which Stratford desired was closer at hand when he -longed for it than he expected, and as is usually the case with -emergencies, it did not arrive quite in the form which he would have -chosen had his wishes been consulted. Its inception was marked by the -in no way unusual event of the arrival of Fath-ud-Din, desiring to -reopen negotiations, on the morning of the second day after Sir -Dugald’s seizure. All the day before, so the Vizier averred, he had -been expecting to receive a message summoning him back to the Mission, -and announcing that his terms were accepted. Hearing nothing, he might -well have gone straight to the Scythian envoy and entered into an -arrangement with him, but so great was the esteem which he felt for -the English, and especially for the members of the present expedition, -and so high was the King’s appreciation of the power and good fortune -of the British Empire, that he was loath to bring about a definite -rupture of diplomatic relations. He had returned, therefore, to lay -his offer once more before Sir Dugald, and to find out whether it was -impossible to effect a compromise. - -Stratford was by no means anxious to undertake the delicate task of -endeavouring to resist the Vizier’s blandishments without turning him -into an open enemy, and did his best to postpone the evil day by -telling him that Sir Dugald was indisposed, and could not be troubled -with business. But Fath-ud-Din displayed so much anxiety to see the -Envoy, even though only for a moment, and in bed, that Stratford, in -order to avoid the discovery of Sir Dugald’s real condition, no -whisper of which had as yet been allowed to creep out into the town, -was obliged to say that Sir Dugald must not be disturbed, but that the -conduct of affairs had been delegated to himself. - -The Vizier showed great interest in this piece of news, and -immediately asked for a conference with Stratford, a conference so -important that the servants were to be excluded from the room, and the -greatest precautions taken to prevent eavesdropping or interruption. -Stratford was heartily sick of these conferences, each one of which -had hitherto resulted only in the offer of terms more impossible of -acceptance than those last brought forward, and he was also convinced -that the delay in settling matters with the Scythian envoy was due to -no compunction on the part of Fath-ud-Din, but merely to the fact that -he could not get the price he wanted. Still, even in view of the -further possibility that the arrangement with Scythia had after all -been concluded, and that the present visit was simply a blind, the -Vizier’s request could not very well be refused, and a move was made -into the Durbar-hall from the verandah, the servants being placed to -guard the doors. - -On the terrace in the inner court Lady Haigh, who had come outside for -a breath of fresh air, was discussing the position of affairs with -Georgia. They had not yet reached the point at which conversation of -this kind ceases to bring some comfort, or at any rate distraction, -for despair must be very near at hand when no one cares any longer to -inquire “What is to be done?” and when there is no one else to take up -the challenge and suggest some means, however impracticable, for -obtaining relief. To them, as they sat there, came a messenger from -Ismail Bakhsh the gatekeeper, saying that there was a negro at the -door belonging to the Palace harem, and asking whether he was to be -admitted. Lady Haigh had him brought in at once, when he explained -that he bore a message to the doctor lady, entreating her to come to -the Palace immediately. The litter and the escort of horsemen were -waiting outside, for Ismail Bakhsh would not hear of admitting them -into the courtyard without orders from Stratford, and Stratford was -not to be disturbed. - -“Shall you go, Georgie?” asked Lady Haigh. - -“Of course,” returned Georgia, astonished by the question. “I am -afraid something must have gone wrong with the Queen’s eyes. I only -hope they haven’t undone the bandages too soon.” - -“I think that perhaps it might be as well before going to ask the -gentlemen what their opinion is.” - -“I really do not propose to ask leave from Mr Stratford and Major -North before I go to visit my patients,” said Georgia, stiffening -visibly. - -“But they might have some reason for objecting. Of course, they have -said nothing of the kind, and it may be only my fancy, but I don’t -quite like your going, Georgie. It doesn’t seem safe, after the things -that have happened lately.” - -“Why, Lady Haigh, you wouldn’t have me disregard a professional -summons on the plea of danger?” said Georgia, taking the _burka_ which -Rahah had brought her, and arraying herself in it. - -“No, of course not; but I don’t feel certain about this one, somehow. -In any case, Georgie, promise me that you will not take anything to -eat or to drink at the Palace.” - -“Nothing but coffee, at any rate,” said Georgia. “When Nur Jahan pours -it out for me herself, and takes a sip from the cup to show that it is -all right, I can’t hurt her feelings by refusing it.” - -“I wish I could ask Mr Stratford what he thinks,” said Lady Haigh, -reverting to her former strain. “It could do no harm.” - -“But you don’t think that he can see further into a millstone than you -can, do you, Lady Haigh? What difference could it make what he -thought? He doesn’t know anything more than we do, and I am sure he -couldn’t conjure up worse fears than those we have been indulging in -lately.” - -“He might think it better that you should not go,” said Lady Haigh, -without considering the effect of her words. - -“Then we may regard it as just as well that he is not here, since what -he thought would make no difference to me,” said Georgia, with an -ominous tightening of the lips. “Are you ready, Rahah?” - -And the two veiled figures passed under the archway and through the -outer court, entering the litter at the gate without attracting the -attention of any of the diplomatists in the Durbar-hall, about the -doors of which Lady Haigh hovered unhappily for two or three minutes, -feeling undecided how to act, and only returned to her own domain on -being assured over and over again by the servants that the conference -was on no account to be interrupted. She went slowly back to Sir -Dugald’s sick-room, and sat down by the bedside; but she could not be -still. An unwonted restlessness was upon her, impelling her to move -about the room and alter the position of every medicine-bottle and -every piece of furniture in it. Presently she stepped out again on the -terrace, and looked across at Bachelors’ Buildings, feeling half -inclined to force her way into the Durbar-hall and interrupt the -conference; but she scolded herself for her folly, and returned to her -patient. What good could it possibly do to break up the durbar by -calling Mr Stratford out in order to communicate to him the momentous -intelligence that Miss Keeling had gone to visit her patient at the -Palace? It was with this very object in view that she had come to -Kubbet-ul-Haj. - -“I am getting nervous,” said Lady Haigh to herself, “and I have always -been so proud of being absolutely without nerves! I won’t give in to -it. What is there to be frightened about? Georgia has gone to the -Palace over and over again, and I have never minded it a bit.” - -Nevertheless, she wandered desolately from the sick-room to the -terrace and back again several times, and heaved a sigh of relief when -she caught a glimpse through the archway of a bustle in the outer -court, and gathered that the Vizier was taking his leave. Presently -Stratford and Dick came in sight, and she had just time to decide that -she would not trouble them with her ridiculous fancies, before they -mounted the steps. - -“Well, had Fath-ud-Din anything new to propose?” she asked. - -“Oh no,” returned Stratford, with ineffable weariness. “It was the -same old game all through. He wanted to bribe us to sign his treaty, -or he didn’t mind our bribing him to sign ours. He has raised his -terms, though--I think he imagines that we are of a more squeezable -disposition than the Chief. He wants ten thousand pounds for himself, -and a written promise that the Government will support Antar Khan in -case of the King’s death. A little secret treaty all to himself would -just meet his views.” - -“He is really very tiresome,” said Lady Haigh, sympathetically. “One -feels so dreadfully undignified staying on like this, when he is -always making such insulting offers. I don’t want to interfere in your -department, Mr Stratford, but if we hear nothing soon--say to-day or -to-morrow--from Jahan Beg, would it not be advisable to think about -sending a messenger to report our position at Fort Rahmat-Ullah?” - -“I think of it continually,” said Stratford; “but none of us here -could hope to leave the city without being recognised, and if they -mean to cut us off from communication with Khemistan, it would be -certain death to the man who ventured to start, while we should be as -badly off as ever.” - -“Still, we can’t spend the term of our natural lives shut up here,” -began Lady Haigh, emphatically; but Dick interrupted her. - -“I’ll go,” he said, promptly; “it’s just the sort of thing I like. I -have nothing to keep me here, and nothing to do. I am positively -yearning for a job. I’ll start to-night.” - -“Gently,” said Stratford. “We must figure out a plan of campaign -first. But if any one could get through, North, you could, to judge by -your Rahmat-Ullah performance; and Fath-ud-Din’s language to-day was -really so unpleasantly threatening, that I think it is time for us to -make tracks.” - -“Did he go so far as to threaten you?” asked Lady Haigh. - -“There certainly seemed to be a distinct suggestion of menace in his -words, and that not merely the old bugbear of the Scythian envoy. But -of course it may be all bounce. Hullo! I wonder I didn’t murder this -little animal.” He stooped and lifted the white kitten, which had made -a sudden dash at his boot from an ambush near at hand. “Why aren’t you -with your mistress, Colleen Bawn? I thought you always stuck to her.” - -“Oh, Miss Keeling can’t take her to the Palace,” said Lady Haigh, with -a nervous little laugh. “It wouldn’t look professional, you know.” - -“Miss Keeling gone to the Palace!” Stratford’s eye sought Dick’s, but -met no answering glance. “Why should she have gone there just now? I -thought the operation was over.” - -“Oh, the Queen sent a message to beg her to come, and she was afraid -something must have gone wrong, so she hurried off. You don’t think -there is any reason why she should have refused, do you?” - -“I don’t know. It seems absurd, but I feel more at ease when we are -all safe inside these walls. I can’t think how it is that we didn’t -hear Miss Keeling start.” - -“Oh, the escort did not come into the court, because Ismail Bakhsh -would not open the gate, and we could not tell you she was going, for -the servants said you were not to be interrupted.” - -“That was Fath-ud-Din’s doing. It looks very fishy altogether. I hope -it’s not a trap. I suppose there’s no possibility of stopping her now -before she gets to the Palace?” - -“Dear me, no!” said Lady Haigh, with conviction. “She ought to be on -her way back by this time. No; it’s quite clear that we can do -nothing.” - -“Except await events,” said Stratford, drearily; and Lady Haigh -remembered that she had left Sir Dugald alone for a long time, and -returned to his side not much comforted. - -In the meantime, Georgia had reached the Palace without mishap, and, -on sending a message by one of the slaves, was welcomed at the door of -the harem by Nur Jahan. To her dismay, she found the girl in deep -mourning. She wore no jewels, her hair was unbraided, her dress was -coarse and squalid, and her feet bare. - -“What is the matter, Nur Jahan?” asked Georgia, anxiously. “Has -anything gone wrong with the Queen or Rustam Khan, or is it your -baby?” - -“It is my father,” said Nur Jahan, in a hurried whisper, so low that -Rahah was obliged to come quite close in order to translate what she -said. “O doctor lady, hast thou not heard? He was seized eleven days -ago, and thrown into prison, by order of our lord the King.” - -“But he is not dead?” - -“God knows,” said Nur Jahan. “It may even be that, but we have not -heard it. We know not where he is, nor what has befallen him since he -was taken away.” - -Georgia gasped. This news was the death-blow to the hopes which the -party at the Mission had been cherishing. It was evident that Jahan -Beg had been arrested almost immediately after his last colloquy with -Sir Dugald, and before he could take any steps with reference to -sending a messenger to Fort Rahmat-Ullah, so that help was as far off -as ever. Had the King and Fath-ud-Din discovered his visits to the -Mission, or was it merely that the Vizier’s hatred had at last burst -its bounds? She turned to ask Nur Jahan on what charge he had been -arrested, but smiled at her own folly when she remembered that in this -happy land there was neither Habeas Corpus Act nor penalty for false -imprisonment. - -“It is good of thee to come to us, O doctor lady,” said Nur Jahan. -“The Queen has been wearying to hear thy voice. She said that thou -hadst heard of our trouble and forsaken us; but I said that it was not -so, for that where there was sorrow there wouldst thou be to comfort -it.” - -“Then the Queen is no more cheerful than she was?” - -“How should she be, now that this new trial is come upon us? Her -slaves and I have kept from her all that we could; but she guesses -what we do not tell her. Only she has not wept, for she knows that -would injure her eyes, and her heart longs to behold my son before she -dies.” - -“But have you pleaded with the King for your father’s life?” - -“My mother has. She is his own cousin, and yet she went to him as a -suppliant, and entreated mercy for her husband; but he refused to hear -her, and the rabble of the city broke into her house and set it on -fire. Then she took refuge here with her household, and we have waited -in vain for news ever since.” - -“But does your mother live here in the King’s house, and eat his -bread, when he has treated her husband so badly?” - -“What else could she do? Our lord the King is her uncle’s son. Where -could she take refuge but in his house with his wife? He will suffer -no harm to happen to her, for it is only against my father that he is -wroth. But I will take thee to see my mother, O doctor lady, when thou -hast first visited the Queen, for her heart is sad and it may cheer -her to hear thy voice.” - -They went on into the Queen’s room, and Georgia examined the bandages -and found them intact. It was as yet too early to remove them in order -to discover whether the operation had been successful, and she -remarked to Nur Jahan that it would have been as well not to send for -her until two or three days later, when she could have superintended -their removal. - -“But we have not sent for thee, O doctor lady,” said Nur Jahan in -surprise. - -“Not sent for me?” cried Georgia. “But I had a message from the -Queen!” - -Nur Jahan shook her head, and the Queen spoke in a weak, quivering -voice-- - -“It is of my lord’s kindness, then, that we behold thee, O doctor -lady. When he last visited me, I was mourning that we saw thee so -seldom, and now he has brought thee hither.” - -“I should certainly not have come for a day or two if I had known that -there was no change,” said Georgia; “nor should I have obeyed a -message from the King, even though sent in your name.” But the poor -Queen’s evident pleasure in her society moved her to pity, and she -talked cheerfully to her for a while before taking her leave. - -There were a few directions as to various points of treatment to be -given to Nur Jahan, and when these had been duly explained and a fresh -bottle of medicine promised, Georgia rose to go. Nur Jahan led her -down the passage and into another room, which was filled with women in -mourning. They were all sitting on the floor round an elderly lady, -whose grey hair was besprinkled with dust, and they relieved one -another at intervals in uttering a few words of lamentation and then -breaking into a low, prolonged wail. Georgia had no difficulty in -guessing that this was the bereaved household of Jahan Beg, and she -felt some delicacy in interrupting the mournful proceedings; but Nur -Jahan led her in and presented her to her mother, and the wailing -women made room for her in their circle. At first she was afraid that -it might be considered only proper politeness to take down her hair -and cast dust upon it as they were doing; but she was not long in -discovering that the duty of mourning had become a little monotonous -after ten days’ diligent performance of it, and that the ladies were -not indisposed to welcome the slight relief and distraction which -might be afforded by the foreigner’s visit. - -Nur Jahan’s mother raised her head, shook the dust out of her eyes, -and after surveying Georgia from head to foot with great interest, -began the invariable catechism. Was the doctor lady married? How had -she learned her wisdom? Where did she get her clothes? Why did she do -her hair in that way? Had she a father, mother, brothers, sisters? -What had brought her to Kubbet-ul-Haj? Had her family raised no -objections to such an extraordinary proceeding? Was the Kaisar really -a woman? Was it then true that in England the women ruled and the men -obeyed? Why did the doctor lady wear no jewellery? Which member of the -Mission was it that dealt in magical arts--herself, or the Envoy, or -the doctor who was dead? - -The Princess stopped at last for want of breath, and Georgia, having -answered as many of the questions as she could remember, expressed the -sorrow she had felt on account of the misfortune that had fallen upon -Jahan Beg, adding a hope that he would soon be restored to liberty. -From all sides came the answer that whatever happened to him would be -his fate, which could not be averted; but when she asked presently to -what cause his sudden arrest was to be attributed, a storm of passion -swept over the crowd of women. It was all the doing of -Fath-ud-Din--might he die unlamented in the flower of his age! might -his children live but to disgrace him! and might the graves of his -parents and grandparents be dishonoured, yea, those of his ancestors -to the remotest generation! After this outburst they came to definite -charges, the Princess speaking first, and one woman after another -chiming in with corroborative evidence. - -Fath-ud-Din robbed the treasury and deceived the King, ground the -faces of the honest poor, and kept the lawless rabble in his pay. He -meant to place his nephew, Antar Khan, on the throne after his father, -instead of the rightful heir, Rustam Khan, to whom God had granted -such a promising son as showed he was intended to be king. He had a -daughter who was supposed to be the most beautiful child in Ethiopia, -and he was bringing her up in the country in a fortress of his own, -where no one could see her, intending (such was the height of his -presumption) to marry her to Antar Khan when she was old enough. And -for her guardian there he had an old woman--a sorceress, who could -destroy by her magic arts any undesirable stranger that might happen -to approach the fortress, for she was one of the remnant of the -Poisoners, a tribe of vagrants so noted for their evil deeds that the -last King of Ethiopia had swept them almost out of the land. But this -woman still remained, and that she worked at her old trade for -Fath-ud-Din’s benefit there was no doubt, for did not all his enemies -die mysteriously, and no man could tell who had hurt them? To this old -woman had descended the evil secrets of the whole tribe, and she knew -of poisons and antidotes with which no one else in the world was -acquainted. - -The women were so eager in their denunciations of the Grand Vizier -that Georgia’s voice was unheeded when she tried to interrupt them, -for the story of the witch and her poisons had recalled to her mind -the recent events at the Mission, and she was anxious to know where -the old woman was to be found. But the untiring accusers were hurrying -on with a catalogue of other crimes committed by Fath-ud-Din, and they -were only checked by a voice from the doorway. - -“Dost thou not fear, O wife of Jahan Beg, thus with thy women to speak -evil of those in authority? The arm of the Vizier has power to reach -even to the house of the King.” - -“The cat may seize the mouse, O mother of Antar Khan,” replied the -Princess with dignity, “but the mouse may squeak.” - -The intruder laughed contemptuously and waddled into the room between -the rows of women, who had risen at her entrance. She was still a -young woman, and might have been considered beautiful but for her -exceeding stoutness (a quality, however, which is not considered a -defect in Ethiopia), and she was dressed with the utmost magnificence -which Kubbet-ul-Haj could show. Rich satins of varying colours, -Kashmir shawls, and transparent gauzes were heaped upon her person in -a way which declared them to be intended for display rather than for -use; her eyelids were blackened, and her hands and lips reddened, and -she was literally loaded with jewels. Several women followed her, in -one of whom Georgia recognised the girl who had shouted across the -courtyard to her on the last occasion of her visiting the Palace, and -these also had donned all their finest possessions in preparation for -paying this call. It was the direst insult to come dressed in such a -style for a visit which was nominally one of condolence; but Nur -Jahan’s mother dissembled her wrath, and invited the young Queen to -take a seat on the divan, while her attendants grouped themselves -around her. When the visitor was comfortably settled, and had been -accommodated with a pipe, she favoured Georgia with a prolonged stare. - -“Thou art the English doctor-woman?” she asked, so insolently that her -maids giggled at the tone. - -“I am,” returned Georgia, looking her over calmly. - -“Why hast thou never visited me, to eat bread in my chamber?” - -“I have never received an invitation,” said Georgia. - -Antar Khan’s mother turned to her attendants. - -“Hear the doctor lady!” she cried. “She is waiting for an invitation, -instead of sending humbly to ask that she might be allowed to kiss the -Queen’s feet!” - -Not considering that so self-evident a fact called for comment, -Georgia remained silent, which her assailant was unable to do. - -“Think not that I came here to see thee,” she said. - -“Oh, not at all,” said Georgia, pleasantly; and there was a suspicious -tremble in Rahah’s voice as she translated the answer. - -“Because, if I desire it, I shall be able to see thee continually from -henceforth,” pursued the Queen. “But,” she added, with deep meaning, -“I shall not desire it. I would not have thee in my sight.” - -Georgia lifted her eyebrows slightly at this enigmatic and apparently -uncalled-for remark, an action which seemed to irritate her opponent -very much. She leaned forward when she spoke next, and her tone was -full of menace. - -“Thou art here--in the Palace.” - -“I believe so,” returned Georgia, in some surprise. - -“But how wilt thou depart hence--and when?” - -“In a few minutes, and as I came, I suppose.” - -The Queen laughed shrilly, and her women joined their voices with -hers. - -“Thou wilt never leave the Palace, O doctor lady. Before thou canst -return to thy people there is a life to be given for thine, and who is -there that will lay down his life for thee? Thou hast neither husband -nor father nor brother, and what man is there that will give his life -for a woman that is not even of his house?” - -Georgia’s heart was in her mouth as the full import of the words -dawned upon her; but she turned quietly to Nur Jahan’s mother. - -“I never care to prescribe for patients in public,” she said. “Would -it be possible for me to see the Queen in a separate room, with, -perhaps, one of her attendants?” - -A thrill of expectation went round the circle as Rahah translated the -words with much emphasis. Georgia singled out an old woman standing -behind the Queen. - -“Tell me, O my mother,” she said, “whether thou hast long observed -these symptoms in thy mistress? Is she often like this? Speak freely, -for I cannot hope to cure her unless I know the truth.” - -“Is the doctor-woman saying that I am mad?” burst forth the Queen, -glaring round at her attendants, whose faces assumed immediately an -expression of pious horror, although they were unable to answer in the -negative. “I will show thee whether I am mad, thou infidel daughter of -a dog!” she cried. “My lord shall give thee into my hands, and thou -shalt know what I have wit to do.” - -“I think not,” said Georgia with a smile, as her fingers closed on the -butt of the little revolver she carried in a special pocket. Her -feelings were so highly wrought that it was easier for her at the -moment to smile than to speak, but the smile seemed to rouse her -adversary to fury. She burst into a storm of threats and revilings -such as Rahah declined to translate; but Georgia gathered the -impression that any one who was so unfortunate as to fall into the -hands of Antar Khan’s mother would have little mercy to hope for, and -might well welcome death as the chief blessing on earth. She rose and -folded her _burka_ around her, and addressed the Princess. - -“I fear my presence merely excites the patient,” she said, “and -therefore I will go now. Perhaps I shall be able to see her another -day when she is quieter, and there are not so many people present.” - -“Yes, go!” echoed the Queen and her women. “Go, if thou canst!” - -Accompanied by Nur Jahan, and followed by Rahah, Georgia walked down -the passage to the door. As had been the case on the previous -occasion, the litter was not there. Turning to Nur Jahan, Georgia -asked her to send one of the slave-girls to summon it. - -“O doctor lady,” whispered Nur Jahan, fearfully, “it is no use. There -is evil intended against thee. Come back and remain in the chamber of -my lord’s mother. It may be that they would not dare to drag thee from -her presence.” - -“Are you also turning against me, Nur Jahan? Send the woman at once, -if you please. I shall not stay here.” - -Tremblingly Nur Jahan obeyed, while the young Queen and her women, who -had followed them out, laughed and jeered. - -“Never again wilt thou enter the litter, O doctor lady. It is well to -give orders, but it is ill when they are not obeyed.” - -Nevertheless, after a delay of a few minutes, the litter appeared, to -Georgia’s own astonishment, and the utter stupefaction of the -Ethiopian women. Georgia’s spirits rose as she stepped into it, -followed by Rahah, and she allowed herself to think that the Queen’s -mysterious threats and extraordinary conduct had been part of a -spiteful joke. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - AN ULTIMATUM. - -As the morning hours passed on, the feeling of uneasiness at the -Mission grew in intensity. Although Georgia’s visits to the Palace -were rarely less than two hours in duration, and another hour must be -allowed for the journey thither and the return, she had not been gone -an hour and a half before Lady Haigh began to appear from the sick -room at intervals of ten minutes, and inquire whether she had not come -back yet. The men waited on the terrace, too full of anxiety to settle -to any occupation, and the servants watched them furtively as they -went about their duties. Whether the uneasiness was due to the -Vizier’s threat, or to a feeling that the tension which had so long -existed had nearly reached breaking-point, every one seemed to be -conscious that there was danger in the air. - -At length the shouts of running footmen at the outer gates announced -an arrival of importance, and a sigh of relief broke from the watchers -on the terrace. Miss Keeling had returned in safety after all, but -this was the last time that she should leave the Mission -unaccompanied, and confide herself to the tender mercies of the -sovereign of Ethiopia and his Ministers. But the shouts were not -followed by the usual sounds of the creaking open of the ponderous -gates and the rush of feet into the courtyard as the litter was -carried up to the steps; but only by a parleying between Ismail Bakhsh -and some one outside, which was audible in the inner court owing to -the loud tones in which it was conducted, although the actual words -could not be distinguished. Presently a servant approached the group -through the archway. - -“Highness,” he said, addressing Stratford, “there are two lords -outside, belonging to the King’s court, who desire to speak with the -Sahibs, but they will not come inside the gate.” - -“Whence this exceeding caution?” said Stratford, as he descended the -steps. “They have never displayed any reluctance to come in before.” - -No one replied to his observation, and he went towards the gate, the -other men following him, with Lady Haigh, uninvited and unnoticed, -close at their heels. One of the doors was opened as they advanced, -and they found themselves face to face with their old friend, the -official who had met them on their first arrival in the city, and -introduced them to their present quarters. Now he looked uneasy and as -though ashamed of the business on which he had come, while at his side -was a hard-faced, eager man, whom the English recognised as one of -Fath-ud-Din’s chief supporters among the Amirs. - -“Peace be upon you!” said Stratford. - -“And upon thee be peace!” was the stereotyped reply. - -“Will you not enter and eat bread with us?” asked Stratford. - -“My lord’s servants are commanded not to enter his house, nor yet to -break bread with him and his young men,” returned the official, “for -their errand demands haste. Is the gracious lord, the Queen of -England’s Envoy, yet recovered of his sickness?” - -“No, he is still indisposed, and I am here in his place,” said -Stratford, restraining his impatience with an effort. - -“Will my lord command his own servants to withdraw a space?” pursued -the ambassador, evidently embarrassed, “for I have to mention one who -belongs to the great lord’s household.” - -Stratford signed to the servants to withdraw a little, but intimated -that Dick and Fitz were equally interested with himself in the matter -now to be disclosed, while Kustendjian was necessary as interpreter. -This having been made clear, they waited with breathless eagerness, -for the ambassador seemed very much at a loss for words. - -“My lord knows,” he said at last, “that the English doctor lady came -this day to visit the household of our lord the King?” - -“I know that she received an urgent message in the Queen’s name -entreating her to come to the Palace, and that she hastened thither at -once,” said Stratford. The official seemed to find a difficulty in -proceeding, and his colleague took up the tale. - -“However that may be,” he said, “the doctor lady is now in the hands -of our lord the King.” - -“And how is that, pray?” asked Stratford. “Since when has the King of -Ethiopia adopted the plan of getting women into his power by false -messages, and then kidnapping them?” - -“In dealing with enemies and infidels, our lord the King pays more -heed to the end than to the means,” said the Amir. - -“So it seems,” said Stratford, drily; “but does he fight with women?” - -“Nay,” said the official, plucking up courage to speak again; “he -fights with men, and therefore it is that we are here.” - -“The King is evidently in need of money, and requires a ransom,” said -Stratford, turning to the rest, and speaking with an airy confidence -which he was far from feeling. “How much does he want?” he asked of -the messengers. - -“Our lord desires not money, nor does he war with women,” repeated the -Amir. “In exchange for the woman he requires a man.” - -A gasp from Fitz, an exclamation from Dick, and a stifled cry from -Lady Haigh warned Stratford of the effect which the announcement of -the King’s demand had produced on his friends. He himself felt a -certain relief--almost akin to the “stern joy” of the warrior--in the -conviction that the crisis for which he had been looking had at last -arrived, and his voice rang out clearly as he asked, “And who is it -that the King requires?” - -“My lord must see,” said the old official reluctantly, “that our lord -the King desires him who is chief in authority among you to be sent to -him, that he may make the treaty with him which the Queen of England -desired when she sent her servants hither.” - -“But we have no stronger wish than that the King should sign that very -treaty,” objected Stratford. - -“But my lord’s treaty is not the King’s treaty,” was the unanswerable -reply of the ambassador. - -“And if the man you desire should go to the Palace, and yet refuse to -sign the King’s treaty, what then?” asked Stratford. - -“It is not for the health of any man to withstand our lord the King,” -was the evasive answer. - -“But if--if the man was not given up,” broke in the agitated voice of -Fitz from behind, “what would happen to the lady?” - -“Oh, the woman would die--in a little while,” was the instant reply of -the Amir, delighted to perceive his opportunity. “Not by the hands of -the King’s executioners--that would be a man’s death. No; women can -deal with women. There are certain in our lord the King’s household -who bear no love to the doctor lady. I do not say that they would kill -her; but she would not live very long in their hands--a day, perhaps, -or it may be two. And it would not be an easy death.” - -“For God’s sake, Stratford, put a stop to this!” muttered Dick, -hoarsely, his face convulsed with rage. “Tell them I will go.” - -“Unless,” pursued the Amir, apparently heedless of the interruption, -although his greedy eyes had not missed the slightest change in the -expression of any of the faces before him, “the woman should find -favour in the eyes of our lord the King. Then she would live for a -time. Afterwards it would be much the same; but whether----” - -But the alternative which he had been about to state was left -unuttered, for Dick sprang forward and dealt him a blow which -stretched him on the ground. - - [image: images/img_07.jpg - caption: - Dick sprang forward and dealt him a blow which stretched him on the - ground.] - -“Say that again if you dare!” he growled, standing over him with -clenched fists; but the Amir, evidently considering that discretion -was the better part of valour, submitted to be helped up and brushed -by his attendants, after which he retired to the rear, Dick turning -contemptuously on his heel and resuming his post beside Stratford. - -“Let not my lord heed the sayings of that man,” entreated the old -official, “for he has an evil tongue and loves to stir up strife.” - -“Then is what he says not true?” asked Stratford, sternly. And, -divided between a desire to maintain the effect produced and the fear -of Dick’s fist, the ambassador preferred to take refuge in silence. - -“We will consult together upon the matter and let you know our -decision presently,” said Stratford, after waiting in vain for an -answer. “If you will not enter, the servants shall spread carpets at -the gate for you.” - -The official expressed his gratitude for the courtesy, and the little -party of English retired to the inner court in silence, a silence -which was broken by Fitz as soon as they reached the terrace. - -“What do you intend to do?” he demanded of Stratford, glaring at him -with eyes still full of the horror inspired by what he had just heard. - -“Don’t ask me!” said Lady Haigh, taking the question as addressed to -herself; and sitting down at the table, she began to sob heavily. “I -shall become a gibbering idiot if this sort of thing goes on,” she -wailed. - -“I don’t know what you wanted to pretend to discuss things for,” said -Dick, gruffly. “What’s the good of fooling about with consultations -when I told you I was going?” - -“Excuse me,” said Stratford, “you are quite mistaken. I am going.” - -Lady Haigh ceased her sobs and looked at him in astonishment, while -Dick uttered an inarticulate exclamation. Fitz alone retained the -power of speech. - -“Let me go, Mr Stratford,” he entreated. “Not you; you can’t be -spared. My life isn’t of any value; but every one here depends on you -in this fix. I would do anything for Miss Keeling, and be proud to do -it. You will let me go, won’t you? It doesn’t signify what happens to -me.” - -“Stuff and nonsense, Anstruther!” said Stratford, good-humouredly. -“There is plenty for you to do yet. Don’t you see that when the King -has demanded the man in authority, he is scarcely likely to be willing -to accept you instead? You are pretty well known in Kubbet-ul-Haj, -certainly; but although Fath-ud-Din might be glad to welcome you as a -fellow-victim with me, he would hardly regard you with favour as a -substitute.” - -“What are we to do without you, Mr Stratford?” asked Lady Haigh, -piteously. “Sir Dugald left everything in your charge.” - -“We must trust that the King will prove to be less bloodthirsty than -his ministers,” he answered. “I am not without hopes of making him -listen to reason. Still, one must prepare for the worst, of course. -North, if you will come with me to the office a minute, I will give -you the keys and the seal, and just put you in the way of things a -little.” - -Dick followed him in silence; but when they had entered the office he -shut the door and put his back against it. - -“Look here, Stratford,” he said, “you have got to let me go. It is my -right, I tell you. I--I love her.” - -“Of course you do,” returned Stratford. “I have seen that for some -time. That is why I am glad that you will be left to look after her. -You will have your work cut out for you if you are to get back to -Khemistan after this----” - -“Stratford,” said Dick earnestly, “listen to me. This is my business, -and it is very unfriendly of you, though you mean well, to try to take -it from me. I intend to go.” - -“Excuse me,” said Stratford, “but it is my business too. No, I am not -hinting at cutting you out, old man--I couldn’t do it if I would. My -reason for going is totally unconnected with Miss Keeling, except in -so far as her danger has brought things to a climax. I am not going to -sign Fath-ud-Din’s treaty; but neither do I intend to be killed if I -can help it. I shall take our treaty with me, and if I leave the -Palace alive I shall bring that treaty out with me, signed. You will -observe that it is not for Miss Keeling that I am risking my life, but -simply on a matter of business. I stake my life against the treaty, -and if I keep the one I gain the other. Of course, if I fail I lose -both. Now do you see it?” - -“But I could look after the treaty just the same,” urged Dick. - -“No, you couldn’t. You are not a diplomatist, North; you are a -soldier, and tact is not exactly your strong point. I know that you -could die like a hero; but you don’t shine in statecraft, and I am -anxious that no dying shall be necessary, if that is possible. You -understand? It is a matter of personal moment to me to get this treaty -signed, and I ask you, as a favour, to waive your claim to sacrifice -yourself for Miss Keeling.” - -“Oh, hang it all!” burst forth Dick. “When you put it in that way, -Stratford, what can a man do but make a fool of himself, and let you -go? It’s my right, and you take away from me my only chance of showing -her that I would die for her, though I can’t manage to please her. But -we have rubbed through a good deal together, you and I--oh, there, you -can go.” - -“Thanks, old man; I thought I knew your sort. That’s settled, then. By -the bye, if they should put an end to me it is just possible that they -might have some one there capable of imitating my writing. They must -have seen my signature on notes and things of that kind. Well, if I -sign any treaty you will find the words run into one another, so that -the _Egerton_ is joined to the _Stratford_. That is the test of -genuineness, do you see?” - -“All right.” - -“I leave you in charge of everything here, of course. I am very much -afraid that Jahan Beg must have come to grief, so don’t depend upon -him any longer. You won’t be able to leave the Mission yourself now, -of course; but if you can get one of the servants to venture, send him -off to Fort Rahmat-Ullah. The absence of news ought to have put them -on the alert, and if they have any sense they will be preparing a -rescue expedition already; but you can’t count on that. If you see the -faintest chance of getting every one off safely, I charge you most -solemnly to seize it at once, without waiting to see what has become -of me. Such a message as this means war to the knife, and you must -take any opportunity that offers of an escort, for to fight your way -through Ethiopia would be an impossibility, with the women and the -Chief to guard, and no horses. Perhaps Hicks might join forces with -you, if you approached him in a proper spirit, and he would be a real -acquisition, for he has a good number of armed servants, and has seen -something of Indian fighting on the Plains. If he doesn’t see it, you -may have to stand a siege here until relief arrives; but what you are -to do about food I don’t know. I can’t attempt to give you directions. -All I say is, if the worst comes to the worst, leave me and the treaty -alone, and escape as best you can.” - -“All right,” said Dick again. - -“Here are the keys. Young Anstruther will show you how the papers are -arranged. And, by the bye, if I don’t come back, send my things to my -sister, Mrs Rowcroft, Branscombe Vicarage, Homeshire, and tell her how -it was. She is the only near relation I have, and we haven’t met for -nearly twenty years.” - -They left the office together, and returned to the terrace. - -“Mayn’t I go, Mr Stratford?” cried Fitz, starting up to meet them. - -“Certainly not. I told you that before.” - -“Mightn’t I come with you, then? We could fight back to back, you -know.” - -“No, thanks. But I will borrow that large old-fashioned pistol of -yours, if you have no objection. You will probably not see it again in -any case, so don’t lend it me if it is a favourite.” - -Fitz was off immediately, and Stratford turned to Lady Haigh. - -“You will think me an unconscionable borrower,” he said, “but there is -a miniature revolver of Sir Dugald’s for the loan of which I should be -most grateful. It is smaller than any of ours, and easier to hide.” - -“I will tell Chanda Lal to look it out at once,” said Lady Haigh, and -went to find the bearer. - -“Now, Mr Kustendjian, I should like our treaty, please,” said -Stratford. “You have nearly finished the second copy of it, I think?” - -“Nearly,” said the Armenian, whose English seemed almost to have -forsaken him under the influence of horror. “You will have need of me, -Mr Stratford?” - -“No, indeed. I will take no one into danger with me. Thank you, -Anstruther,” as Fitz reappeared with a large brass-mounted pistol. “I -will load it simply with powder, I think. It will be less dangerous if -it should happen to go off in my coat-pocket. There! How does that -look?” - -“It sticks out a good deal,” said Fitz, surveying the coat critically. -“Any one could see that you had a pistol in that pocket.” - -“That is exactly the impression I wish to produce. One thing more you -can do for me, Anstruther. Just rummage among the stores, and see -whether you can find any description of food that has a good deal of -nourishment in very small compass.” - -Fitz departed again, and presently Lady Haigh returned with the little -revolver, which Stratford loaded carefully and slipped up his left -coat-sleeve. Dick and Kustendjian watched him curiously and with -respect. It was evident that he had some plan in his head, but neither -of them could divine what it was. A minute or two later Fitz came up -the steps with a box of meat lozenges in his hand, and presented it to -him. - -“Will these do, Mr Stratford?” he asked. “They were the smallest -things I could find. There were tinned soups, of course, and -chocolate; but I thought these would have more nourishment in them.” - -“Quite right,” said Stratford; “they are the very thing. Is that the -treaty, Mr Kustendjian? I think my preparations are complete, then. -You will say good-bye to the Chief for me when he is better, Lady -Haigh?” - -“Must you go?” whispered Lady Haigh, hoarsely, as she held his hand. - -“I must,” he said. “If I should escape, Sir Dugald’s work will have -been completed. You will like to remember that.” - -“I shall ride to the Palace with you,” said Dick, as they went down -the steps. - -“It will be just as well, for you will be able to escort Miss Keeling -back. It would be a pity for them to keep her in their hands after -all.” - -Another interruption met them as they emerged from the archway into -the outer court. Waiting for them there, with his hand lifted to the -salute, was old Ismail Bakhsh the gatekeeper, a former trooper of the -Khemistan Horse, the celebrated force to which Dick was attached, and -which had been raised in the first instance by Georgia’s father, -General Keeling. - -“Will my lord tell his servant,” he asked Stratford, “whether it is -true what they are saying among the servant-people, that my lord goes -to the Palace to give his life for the doctor lady’s?” - -“It is true,” answered Stratford. - -“Let my lord listen to his servant, for it is not fitting that my lord -should accept death for the sake of one who has no claim on him. I -served for ten years under Sinjāj Kīlin the general, and I will go -in my lord’s place, because I have eaten of Sinjāj Kīlin’s salt, and -it is not right that his daughter should come to shame or harm while -Ismail Bakhsh lives.” - -“Your loyalty to your old general is only what I should have expected -from you, Ismail Bakhsh, but the King demands my presence, and not -another’s.” - -“But would my lord sacrifice himself for a woman--and that woman not -even of his house?” - -“I would do it for a woman, Ismail Bakhsh, and so would any of us, -when we would not do it for a man.” - -“It is the way of the English,” said Ismail Bakhsh, thoughtfully, with -grieved surprise in his tone. “That my lord should give his life for -his lord, the Envoy of the Empress, would be no great matter--but for -a woman!” - -Stratford laughed. - -“Not only I, but all three of us, Ismail Bakhsh, would have given our -lives rather than that a hair of the doctor lady’s head should be -injured.” - -“God forbid!” said Ismail Bakhsh, piously. “Let not my lord speak such -words in the hearing of the scum of the earth out yonder, or there -will be none, either of English men or women, to see Khemistan again.” - -“You observe that, North?” said Stratford. “Any undue display of -chivalrous sentiments here is likely to land you deeper in -difficulties, so keep them to yourself. Chivalry is at a discount in -Kubbet-ul-Haj.” - -They mounted their horses, and accompanied the ambassadors back to the -Palace, half-a-dozen armed servants following them, in case the King -should show a disposition to claim Dick’s life as well as that of -Stratford in exchange for Georgia. When the greater part of the -journey had been accomplished, and the frowning walls of the Palace -courtyard were just in sight, they met the well-known procession of -slaves and soldiers guarding the litter, which had so often come to -the Mission to fetch the doctor lady. - -“Evidently they sent off a swift messenger to tell them that we -accepted the terms, and the King is anxious to show that he confides -in our good faith,” said Stratford. “Funny mixture, isn’t he? Well, -you will turn back here, North, I suppose? There is no particular use -in your coming on further.” - -“Let me go instead of you,” entreated Dick once more. - -“My dear fellow, haven’t I wasted enough breath on you yet? I thought -we had threshed all that out long ago, and that you were quite -convinced. By the bye, now that we are abreast of the litter, it might -be as well for you to make sure that Miss Keeling really is inside. It -would be irritating to be fooled now.” - -Doggedly Dick pushed his way through the guards, and raised the -curtain of the litter, in spite of the loud protests of the slaves. He -was fully prepared for a trick; but the eyes which looked up at him -through the lattice-work of the _burka_ were unmistakably Georgia’s, -and it was undeniably Rahah who flung herself forward to draw the -curtain close again, with a shrill rebuke to the slaves for letting -some drunken wretch approach the litter. - -“Why, Major North, is it you?” asked Georgia, in astonishment. “Is -anything the matter?” - -“Not much--not exactly,” he stammered. “I--he--we fancied it might be -safer if I turned up to escort you home.” - -“It was very kind of you,” said Georgia, gratefully. “We had rather a -fright at the Palace; but I will tell you about it presently.” - -“Yes--very well,” he muttered incoherently, and, drawing the curtain -again, turned to Stratford; but his lips refused to perform their -office. Stratford held out his hand. - -“Good-bye, old man,” he said. “God help you with the job you will have -in hand now.” - -“God bless you, Stratford!” burst from Dick. “I wish with all my soul -that I was in your place at this moment.” - -He wrung Stratford’s hand, and turned silently to follow the litter -with the servants, while the ambassadors and their prisoner rode on -towards the Palace. - -“How shall I ever tell her?” was the question which agitated Dick’s -mind as they neared the Mission. He knew enough of Georgia to feel -sure that, if she been made acquainted with the terms of the King’s -ultimatum, she would promptly have gone back to the Palace, and -refused to allow any one else to be sacrificed for her, and he quailed -under the anticipated necessity of informing her of what had been -done. But he was saved this duty, for as he entered the Mission -courtyard Mr Hicks came hurrying to meet him. - -“Well, Major,” he exclaimed, “the King has been playing it pretty low -down on you, I guess. I’m always glad to look on at a fair fight, and -it don’t so much matter to me which of the chaps gives the other beans -so long as everything is done on the square. But when it comes to -getting hold of a woman, and by threatening to torture her, working on -a man’s highest feelings to make him give himself up instead, you may -bet largely that I don’t stand in with doings of that stamp--no, sir! -The moment I heard a rumour of what was going on I made my darkies fly -around, and in just half no time I had everything fixed up to come -here. You may count on me as a fair shot with a Winchester or a -six-shooter if it comes to fighting, and if old Fath-ud-Din and I -catch sight of each other, one of us is bound to send in his checks, -or I’ll never look a woman in the face again. Your nation and mine are -not always sweet to each other, sir; but if there’s any question of a -woman in danger, you may count upon Jonathan to the last drop of his -blood.” - -“Much obliged,” muttered Dick; but under his breath he grumbled, “I -wish that voice of yours wasn’t quite so loud.” - -Georgia was being helped out of the litter at the moment, and as she -reached the ground she cast a quick, apprehensive glance about her. -Her hand was on Dick’s arm; Fitz was coming through the archway, and -Kustendjian was visible on the verandah of the Durbar-hall. Ismail -Bakhsh and his subordinates stood by the gate, looking at her with -disapproving eyes, silent and grim, and her mind filled up in a moment -the gaps in Mr Hicks’ speech. A sob broke from her as she stood gazing -from one to the other; then her hand dropped from Dick’s arm, and, -gathering her _burka_ around her, she passed on into the inner court. -Dick followed, with a vague notion of saying something to comfort her; -but at the foot of the steps she turned and faced him. - -“You let Mr Stratford go to the Palace in exchange for me--_you_ let -him?” she asked sharply, and waited for his answer with breathless -anxiety. - -“I tried to prevent him--he would go,” stammered Dick. - -“_You_ let him sacrifice himself to save me? If anything happens to -him I will never, never speak to you again as long as I live!” and she -turned her back on him and fled up the steps. He stood looking after -her, stupefied. - -“She cares for him, and I never guessed it,” he muttered to himself. -“I might have saved him for her, and I have let him go and get himself -killed by those fiends yonder!” - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - ONE CROWDED HOUR. - -Throughout that long day, Dick worked with feverish activity at -anything that offered itself as an outlet for his energies, without -cherishing the least hope that his friend’s sanguine anticipations of -a possible change for the better in the attitude of the King and -Fath-ud-Din would be realised. It was his opinion that the worst had -come to the worst, and that as soon as Stratford had met his death at -the Palace, a general attack upon the Mission premises would take -place, with the view of making it appear that all the members of the -expedition had been murdered in a popular tumult. With this cheering -prospect in view, he prepared the building for defence, instructed the -servants afresh as to their respective duties in case of an assault, -and placed the stands of arms where their contents could most readily -be seized on an emergency. Fearing that an attempt might be made to -starve the Mission into a surrender, he bought up all the provisions -which the country-people brought in, and even induced them by liberal -payments to sell him a supply of corn which they had intended to -dispose of in the city market. - -Having thus made preparations for resisting a siege as well as a -sudden assault, he was forced by his very need of occupation to take -somewhat wider views, and to consider the improbable possibility of -evacuating the place safely. Accordingly he summoned Ismail Bakhsh, -and, setting before him the facts of the case, asked whether he would -undertake the dangerous task of conveying a message to Fort -Rahmat-Ullah. He did not attempt to minimise the risks to be incurred; -but the old soldier was faithful to his salt, and consented to attempt -the journey in disguise. His trained eye had enabled him to observe -the features of the route traversed on the journey to more purpose -than his younger companions had done, and he was persuaded that if he -were once safely outside the walls he could make his way to the -frontier without much difficulty--provided, of course, that his -absence was not discovered, and a hue and cry set on foot. A certain -addition to his pension in case of his success, and compensation to -his family if he was killed, were agreed upon, and Ismail Bakhsh -retired, leaving Dick to face the inaction which he had been combating -all day. - -He could not think of anything else to do, beyond going the round of -the walls at absurdly short intervals and seeing that the servants -were keeping a good look-out; and the more personal troubles, which he -had been trying to keep at bay, crowded upon him and would not be put -aside. The day had cost him both his friend and the woman whom he -loved--and who loved that friend. The miserable irony of the situation -seemed to mock him afresh whenever he tried to face it. Georgia loved -Stratford, and Stratford had gone to his death to save her--yet not -because he loved her, but because he saw in the action a chance of -doing a good stroke of business--while he, who would willingly have -died for Georgia’s sake, remained alive, to meet the grief and anger -which she would naturally feel at his having allowed his friend to -sacrifice himself for her. - -Wretched as the outlook appeared to Dick, however, it is a question -whether it was not even more dreary for Georgia, since his conscience -was clear, and hers was not. She could not rid herself of the -conviction that if she had done as Lady Haigh advised, and declined to -go to the Palace without first consulting Stratford, he might even now -be free and in comparative safety, while if he had given her leave to -go, she would not have had herself to reproach for his untoward fate. -It was so unlike her usual practice to act on the impulse of a moment -of irritation, as she had done in this case, that she asked herself -what could have made her refuse so decidedly even to communicate to -the gentlemen her intention of visiting her patient. She had not far -to seek for an answer. It was Dick whose opposition she had feared. -She had been so obstinately determined not to appear in the slightest -degree willing to ask either his opinion or his advice, after the -words he had uttered in the heat of their discussion, that she had -sacrificed his friend and hers to her wounded pride. - -Nor was the realisation of this fact her sole punishment. Whatever -Dick might think, she had no illusions as to the frame of mind in -which Stratford had gone to the Palace. His story she had early heard -from Lady Haigh, with the addition of the significant remark that he -was never likely to marry now, and it had given her a distinct thrill -of pleasure when she found that this faithful lover was willing to be -her friend on the footing she liked best. The greater number of her -medical _confrères_ in London, and of the many men whose friendship -she had gained and kept since her hospital days, had been content to -accept her terms and to meet her on the equal ground of comradeship. -Some there had been, as Mabel had told Dick, who were anxious to go -further, and had been courteously though firmly repulsed; but -Stratford was not one of these. He had made a friend of her as if she -had been a man, she thought, and he had sacrificed himself for her in -exactly the spirit he would have exhibited if Lady Haigh had been in -danger, and not Miss Keeling. She knew well enough that there was no -personal feeling whatever in his case, but it was different with Dick. -Why had he allowed Stratford to go instead of going himself? He did -care for her--at least, she had begun to think so until his plain -speaking of a week ago had created the breach between them. But now -she was on the horns of a dilemma. Either he could not care for her, -since he had left it to another man to give his life to save hers, or -else, if he did care for her, he was a coward who was willing to -shelter himself behind the other man’s self-sacrifice. But Dick’s past -record was sufficient to put the latter supposition beyond the bounds -of possibility, and Georgia was thrown back upon the former. He could -not care for her, and she cared for him. To the woman whose heart had -never been touched before, the thought was almost unendurable in the -shame it brought with it. - -And she had sent Stratford to his death! What would there have been in -the slight humiliation--more fancied than real, after all--involved in -asking his leave as head of the party before quitting the Mission, -compared with the overwhelming remorse and misery which now oppressed -her? She recalled the threats launched against herself by Antar Khan’s -mother, and sobbed and shuddered at the thought that the tortures of -which the mere mention had been considered sufficient to terrify -herself were now being inflicted on another, and by her fault. Lady -Haigh, who came wandering in and out of her room like a restless -ghost, could offer her no comfort, since the best they could hope for -was that Stratford was dead already, cut down by the guard in some -conflict provoked by himself, and that he had thus died without either -torture or indignity. The two women could not endure to talk, could -not even pray; they could only weep in concert and exchange -half-uttered surmisings which were worse than certainties. - -The day wore away, and Mr Hicks, who had spent the greater part of it -busily and happily in passing all the rifles in review, cleaning them -and adjusting the mechanism, came to Dick, as he sat brooding gloomily -over the state of affairs in the office, and represented mildly but -firmly that the whole party would be the better for some dinner. He -had put up with the absence of tiffin under the painful circumstances -of his visit, he said; but he could not see that because one poor -fellow had got wiped out all the rest must necessarily starve. Thus -reminded that he had taken no food since breakfast-time, Dick awoke to -a perception of the duties of hospitality, and apologising to Mr Hicks -for the inconvenience and discomfort to which he had been subjected, -ordered the meal to be served at the usual hour. It was a very small -and lugubrious company that met in the dining-room. Dick had sent a -message to the ladies, asking whether they would appear at table, but -no answer was returned; and Mr Hicks was the only person who possessed -an appetite. He did his best to worry his hosts into eating something, -but he was not very successful; and at last Fitz left the table -suddenly, muttering something about the flag, which he feared had not, -in the general confusion, been hauled down as usual at sunset. As the -noise of his hurrying footsteps on the stones of the terrace died -away, another sound became audible--the blare and din of native music, -the shrill cries of triumph of women, and the approaching tread of a -multitude. - -“It’s coming at last!” cried Dick, springing up from his seat and -buckling on his sword. “You know your post, Hicks?” - -“Wait a minute, Major,” said Mr Hicks. “Doesn’t it strike you that -this is rather a new way of conducting an attack?” - -“Why, what else could it be?” asked Dick. - -The American turned aside, and would not meet his eye as he answered-- - -“Well, if they have put an end to the poor fellow, I would bet my last -red cent that they would carry his remains about in procession to show -the people--to show us, too, for the matter of that--and it won’t be a -pretty sight for the ladies to see, any way.” - -“Good gracious, no!” cried Dick. “Say nothing to them at present, -Hicks. We will just order the servants to their posts without -troubling the ladies, and then watch from the gate and see what -happens.” - -They went down into the outer courtyard, sent the servants to their -appointed places without any noise or confusion, and took their stand -at the window over the gateway, where they were joined by Fitz and -Kustendjian. They stood there, waiting breathlessly, for some minutes, -each man’s hand on his weapon, while behind them the fierce eyes and -gleaming blades of Ismail Bakhsh and his subordinates reflected the -glare of the torches which were now beginning to appear at the end of -the winding street. Nearer and nearer came the crowd, apparently all -mad with joy, leaping, dancing, tearing off clothes and flinging them -on the ground, waving torches, shouting, singing, and yelling. Some -looked up at the window as they passed it, and it seemed to the little -band of white men standing there that their gestures became -intolerably derisive, and that their faces took on a fiendish grin as -they massed themselves in the street beyond the Mission and waited--in -so far as those still pressing upon them from behind would allow them -to wait. Dick felt his heart thumping against his ribs; he was aware -that Kustendjian had sat down in a corner and hidden his face from the -horror he expected to see, that Fitz was leaning against the wall with -white lips and staring eyes, and that Mr Hicks was uttering spasmodic -exhortations at momentary intervals--“Steady, boys! Keep up; don’t let -’em see you wilt. Never give in!”--such as bespoke rather, perhaps, -the turmoil of his own mind than his estimate of the state of feeling -of his companions. - -“Soldiers!” murmured some one, and a squadron of cavalry defiled -slowly past, saluting as they came level with the window--a piece of -mockery for which Dick cursed them in his heart. Then more torches, -more musical instruments, more excited people, banners, dancing-girls, -gliding and posturing to the sounds of the music, with their long -coloured scarfs twirled daintily on the tips of their outspread -fingers; and then two men riding alone, wearing robes of honour. As -they reached the gate they paused and waited; then one of them looked -up, and in tones of extreme calmness addressed the group at the -window. - -“You don’t mean to keep me here all night, North, do you? Mr -Anstruther, I give you my word of honour that I am not a ghost yet.” - -How they got down the stairs and opened the gate none of them ever -knew, but in another minute Stratford was among them, unhurt, and -indulging in a little chaff by way of maintaining his own composure. - -“I wonder you didn’t shoot me when I looked up just now, North. If -ever I saw murder in a man’s eye, I saw it in yours then. Mr Hicks, -you have as keen a scent for a battle as any vulture. The way you turn -up when you think we are likely to be in trouble is positively -pathetic. I have some further use for my arm, Anstruther, if you have -finished wringing my hand off. Peace be with you, Ismail Bakhsh! I -fear you are disappointed that there is to be no fighting to-night?” - -“My lord is pleased to jest,” said Ismail Bakhsh, reprovingly, as he -directed the closing of the gate. The processionists outside had -turned back, and were marching homewards amid a fresh outburst of -minstrelsy, with the man who had accompanied Stratford at their head. -No one thought of asking who he was, nor, indeed, of paying the -slightest attention to affairs outside, as Stratford was assisted, -quite unnecessarily, to dismount, and escorted through the archway -into the inner court. But he was not to arrive altogether unheralded. -Brought to his senses by Stratford’s commonplace greeting, Fitz had -dashed across the court and up to the terrace, the only man who -remembered in the excitement of the moment that the joyful news ought -not to be allowed to burst suddenly upon the ladies. The fresh hope in -his voice--a hope to which they had been strangers for what seemed -interminable hours--roused them from their lethargy of grief, and they -came out into the verandah with tear-stained faces and ruffled hair, -both looking as though they had cried until they could cry no more. - -“Good news, Lady Haigh!” panted Fitz. “Miss Keeling, they haven’t -murdered him after all. He is not a bit hurt. He will be here in a -minute. He’s here now!” - -This method of breaking the news, though strictly gradual, could -scarcely be called gentle, and Lady Haigh and Georgia stood staring at -Fitz without understanding him in the least. Seeing this, he tried a -new plan, the first that recommended itself to his excited mind. - -“Aren’t you going to put on your best things to greet the hero in, -Miss Keeling? He’s dressed up to the eyes himself. You never saw such -a get-up--most awfully swagger. You will never be able to keep him in -countenance.” - -“Oh, you absurd boy!” cried Georgia, and she sat down at the top of -the steps and laughed wildly. - -“Fetch me a jug of water, Mr Anstruther,” said Lady Haigh, sternly. -“You are getting into a way of going into hysterics, Georgia, and I -mean to break you of it. This is the second time I have caught you at -it since we came to Kubbet-ul-Haj, and it’s not professional.” - -“Professional?” echoed Georgia, beginning to laugh again; “it is the -circumstances that are unprofessional, not I. Besides, I am not in the -least hysterical. Thank you--a little water--please--Mr Anstruther.” - -The water, applied internally, and not as Lady Haigh had intended, -proved efficacious, and when Stratford and the rest approached the -terrace, Georgia had recovered her composure. She met Stratford as he -mounted the steps, and held out her hand to him. Dick, seeing the -action, turned his eyes away, and listened in sick terror for what -would follow. After all, Stratford had the right to win her now if he -chose to exercise it. But if he did not choose? Would he humiliate -Georgia by repulsing her before them all? But Dick need not have been -afraid. Even his jealous ear could detect in her tones merely the -amount of feeling natural and unavoidable under the circumstances, -although her eyes were swimming with tears as she said-- - -“I can never thank you enough for what you have done to-day, Mr -Stratford. If I don’t seem as grateful as I ought to be, you must only -think that I can’t blame myself properly for my foolishness and -obstinacy in going to the Palace without leave as I did, since it gave -you the opportunity of doing such a deed of heroism.” - -Every word went to Dick’s heart, as, alas! it was meant to do. He -waited anxiously to hear Stratford say that he had gone to the Palace -merely as a speculation of his own, and that Miss Keeling had had very -little to do with the matter, but the words did not come. Stratford -was not the man to hurt a woman’s feelings gratuitously by an -uncalled-for rebuff, however true its nature, and he answered at -once-- - -“You are too kind, Miss Keeling. I assure you that there was an eager -competition for the honour of helping you out of your little -predicament. Anstruther was bent on going; and as for North, I had to -keep him back almost by main force. He was only restrained at last by -a combination of definite orders, personal entreaties, and solemn -assurances that my going was for the greater good of the Mission.” - -Georgia’s eyes were raised to Dick’s for a moment, and the expression -in them said, “You might have told me!” But his eyes met hers with a -steady hostility, which revived all the bitter feelings which had -tormented her during the day. - -“I am afraid I did you an injustice, then, Major North,” she remarked, -sweetly. “You must take into account the circumstances of the moment, -and kindly forgive my hasty words. I am only a woman, you know.” - -Dick bit his lip, and tried hard to think of something cutting to say. -Was it fair that this woman, who had treated him so unfairly--no, not -unfairly, cruelly--well, not exactly cruelly, slightingly--no, not -that, carelessly, perhaps--should also have the power of making him -writhe in this way? And he loved her! He had even told Stratford so! -How Stratford must be laughing at him in his sleeve at this moment! -All this passed through his mind as he stood staring dumbly at Georgia -until Lady Haigh, who had caught the look in his eyes, pushed her -gently aside, and addressed herself to the hero of the occasion. - -“And you escaped without signing their treaty?” she asked. - -“I did not sign it, certainly,” he replied. - -“And what about our treaty?” asked Fitz, eagerly. - -“There is our treaty--signed,” returned Stratford, with a queer gleam -in his eyes as he laid the parchment on the table. “When the Chief -gets better he will find that his work was not all in vain, Lady -Haigh.” - -Lady Haigh blushed afterwards to remember that she was ready to kiss -Stratford there and then in the first flush of her delight at the -news; but she restrained herself sufficiently to do no more than wring -his hand without a word. The rest were examining the treaty, which -bore Stratford’s signature and another, as well as the King’s seal and -that of the Grand Vizier. - -“But that is not Fath-ud-Din’s signature,” said Kustendjian, who was -looking at the parchment from the other side of the table. - -“No,” said Stratford, drily; “it is Jahan Beg’s.” - -“Jahan Beg’s?” was echoed, in tones of astonishment. - -“Yes; he has succeeded Fath-ud-Din as Grand Vizier. You have a good -deal to hear; but I should like some dinner first, if there is any -going.” - -“Have you had nothing but meat lozenges all day, Mr Stratford?” asked -Fitz, laughing; and every one adjourned to the dining-room, where the -dishes, which had been left untasted half an hour before, were still -on the table. Everything was cold, of course, and the servants were in -despair; but the makeshift meal was the most cheerful that had taken -place during the whole sojourn of the Mission in Kubbet-ul-Haj, and -when it was over, the party returned to the terrace, and demanded -clamorously of Stratford that he should tell his story. - -“It is rather long, and I am afraid you will find it a little -tedious,” he said, throwing away his cigarette; “but I can assure you -that the experience was much more tedious to go through than to talk -about. Well, no attempt was made to molest me when I got to the -Palace, and I started off as usual in the direction of the hall of -audience. Generally, as you know, when we have gone to the Palace, -there have been a lot of chamberlains and fellows to clear a path for -us and bring us to the King, but to-day I had to elbow my way through -the crowd that was hanging about. It was a sign that times were -changed; but that wasn’t all, for, before I had got half-way through -the mob, I felt a pull at my coat-tail, and when I could put my hand -there, I found that I had been eased of my pistol. However, as I had -put the pistol into that pocket for the express purpose of having it -seen and stolen, I didn’t mind much. When I got to the door of the -audience-chamber, the guard made a fuss about letting me in; but I -said that the King had sent for me, and I meant to see him. When they -saw that I would stand no nonsense, they let me pass, and I found the -King and Fath-ud-Din, as I had hoped, in the room in which they had -tried to bribe the Chief to sign their treaty. It is quite small, you -remember, and the walls are solid, without any of the lattice-work -panels you see in the big hall. The windows are high up, and all the -open carving is of stone, and not of wood. It was another score for me -that the King thought fit to treat me as a criminal, and didn’t invite -me to come close to him, so I chose my position, and camped in the -corner in a line with the door, and opposite to the King’s divan. Of -course this was nominally in order that what we said should not be -overheard outside. They brought in coffee; but I refused to taste it, -for I didn’t see any advantage in being poisoned at the very outset, -and there was no object in keeping on the mask of friendliness any -longer.” - -“Wait a minute,” said Dick. “How did you manage everything without an -interpreter?” - -“I got out my best Ethiopian for the occasion, and when that failed we -had recourse to Arabic,” returned Stratford. “The King and Fath-ud-Din -can both talk it pretty well when they like, as you know. Well, when -war had once been declared by my refusing the coffee, we sat for hours -arguing. It was intimated to me pretty clearly at the beginning that -if I didn’t sign their treaty, I should not leave the Palace alive; -but when they saw that that didn’t seem to affect me to any -appreciable extent, they began to add inducements on the other side. -They offered me money and precious stones--quite a comfortable little -fortune, I should think--rising by degrees until either their tempers -or their purses gave way. Then, evidently thinking that my obstinacy -arose from a fear that the rest of you would split upon me, they -offered to put every one else belonging to the Mission out of the way, -and to send me back to Khemistan as a conquering hero, returning with -the best treaty I could manage to obtain. When they found that -wouldn’t do, they offered me Jahan Beg’s office and property if I -would only sign. I was to disappear from the ken of mortals outside -Ethiopia, of course, and they would represent that the Mission had all -been carried off by a pestilence, leaving only the treaty behind them. -Their ideas as to English credulity are distinctly Arcadian. Well, all -this time the servants kept bringing in sweetmeats and sherbet and -fruit; but I would not touch anything, though I was abominably -thirsty, for I remembered what Miss Keeling had said about some poison -that destroyed the will, and I didn’t want to be hocussed into -signing. Then they started on a fresh tack, and had in a crowd of -dancing-girls----” - -“The temptation of St Egerton!” cried Fitz, hugely delighted. “Were -they very fascinating, Mr Stratford?” - -“You might possibly have found them so,” returned Stratford, coolly; -“but my tastes don’t happen to lie in that direction. I endured their -performances for some time, and then they began to get tiresome. It -was rather hard on the poor things, I know, for they were doing their -level best; but I yawned aggressively, and suggested that we should go -back to business. They bundled the girls out, and I found that the -King and Fath-ud-Din had about reached the end of their patience. They -took to threats now, and discoursed movingly for some time on the -subject of tortures, with a strictly personal application. Fath-ud-Din -did most of the talking; but when the King thought that his language -was lacking in vigour, he added a few stronger touches to the picture. -At last I remarked that this was all very interesting, but it wasn’t -business, and that set them off. The King stamped on the floor, and -immediately the curtain over the door was pulled aside, and a gang of -the most villainous-looking negroes I ever saw filed in. ‘Seize that -white devil,’ said Fath-ud-Din, ‘and let our lord the King behold your -skill.’ That was all very well, but there were two sides to the -question. ‘Stop,’ I said to the foremost black fellow as he turned -towards me--‘cross that line in the floor at your peril!’ He laughed. -I believe they thought I meant to take it fighting; but that was not -my game at all. In a rough-and-tumble fight with those niggers I -should have gone under in no time, and I didn’t exactly see being -pulled to pieces with red-hot pincers to make a holiday for the King -and Fath-ud-Din. I had slipped the little revolver down my sleeve and -into my right hand, and I had some extra cartridges in my left, and as -the man set his foot on the line I had pointed at, I shot him straight -off. It was rather a strong thing to do; but it was my only chance. -The other black fellows drew back as the first man fell forward on his -face, his arms almost touching the King, and Fath-ud-Din opened his -mouth to yell out to the guard; but I spoke first, slipping in another -cartridge into the chamber I had fired. ‘I have six shots here without -reloading,’ I said. ‘The next two are for the King and the Grand -Vizier, as soon as either of them moves or speaks; the rest are for -the first four men that cross this line.’” - - [image: images/img_08.jpg - caption: “I have six shots here without reloading,” I said.] - -“Sir,” said Mr Hicks, approvingly, “there was a dreadful smart -newspaper man lost when you were raised for a diplomatist.” - -Stratford smiled in acknowledgment of the compliment, which was -delivered with even more than the amount of drawl which Mr Hicks chose -usually to affect. - -“Well, there was a moment’s pause,” he went on, “which I utilised in -surveying the position. I had the King within easy range, with -Fath-ud-Din standing beside him, and to reach the door they would have -to pass me. I was in the corner, so that even if the guard came in -they could only reach me in front. Of course they could have floored -me easily if the black fellows had come at me in a body; but it would -have been the last fight for two or three of them, and they knew it -and kept quiet. The only danger was that they might fire at me from -the door or from the outside of one of the windows when the guard -found out what had happened, and I saw that if I was to get off we -must come to terms before any one in the great hall suspected -anything. What they made of the sound of my revolver-shot I don’t -know, but it doesn’t seem to have struck them as anything suspicious; -perhaps they thought that the King was amusing himself with practising -shooting at me. No one appeared, at any rate, and I spoke to the King -again. ‘Before we do anything further,’ I said, ‘I should be glad to -know where Jahan Beg is.’ Fath-ud-Din instantly replied with great -gusto that he was expiating his crimes in the King’s deepest dungeon, -which he would never leave alive. I remarked that it was just possible -some one in that room might die sooner than Jahan Beg did, which made -him calm down a little, and then I asked the King what crime Jahan Beg -had committed. He did not fly out as Fath-ud-Din had done, but told me -quite quietly that it was unwise in me to inquire after the traitor -who had done his best to deliver Ethiopia into our hands. I asked what -he meant (of course I kept my eyes about me and the revolver ready all -this time), and he told me a very circumstantial story, the recital of -which was intended to cover me with confusion. It seemed that -Fath-ud-Din, as soon as the Chief had definitely refused to gratify -him by extraditing Jahan Beg on account of some imaginary crime, told -the King that he had strong reason to suspect his rival of intriguing -with us. He was sure he was an Englishman, and he believed that he was -plotting with the English to dethrone the King and put Rustam Khan in -his place. The King was loath to suspect Jahan Beg, and particularly -anxious not to have to find a substitute for him in the frontier work -which he alone could do; but the Vizier was so positive that he -consented to set spies to watch him. Of course they saw him come to us -at night and found out that he was supplying us with corn, so he was -promptly arrested and thrown into prison, and the charge considered -proved.” - -“You must have been pretty well stumped at that,” said Dick. “It was a -mad thing for Jahan Beg to continue to come here as he did when he -knew that Fath-ud-Din suspected him.” - -“Yes,” said Stratford; “my only chance was a sudden attack by means of -a _tu quoque_. ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘Jahan Beg is an Englishman, and he came -to the Mission to visit the Envoy, who was an old friend of his. But -he did not come with any view of interfering in public matters. He has -never sought to engage our help in placing Rustam Khan upon the -throne, nor in making any change in the government of Ethiopia, and we -should not have granted it if he had. In fact, his coming was so -entirely unofficial that we did not even take advantage of his visits -to the Mission to seek his assistance in the negotiations which the -Grand Vizier was carrying on with us at the time. When Fath-ud-Din -used to visit the Envoy by night, and even when he came to try and -arrange the secret agreement about Antar Khan’s succession to the -throne, we did not invite Jahan Beg to be present, because we knew -that the matter was not intended to be made public, and we feared to -produce the impression that our friend was endeavouring to thrust -himself uninvited into the King’s counsels.’ I saw in a moment that -the shot had told. The King turned and glared at Fath-ud-Din, and then -again at me. ‘What!’ he cried. ‘Fath-ud-Din desired to set my son -Antar Khan upon my throne?’ ‘He came merely to attempt to secure the -support of her Majesty’s Government for the Prince in case that should -happen which England and Ethiopia would alike deplore,’ I said, as -soothingly as I could; but the King was not mollified. ‘He sought to -obtain assurance of English support in case of my death?’ he cried. -‘Yes,’ said I; ‘and when we refused to enter into the arrangement, -saying that the matter was one for the King and his Amirs to settle -among themselves, he threatened that he would seek the assistance we -denied him from the Envoy of Scythia, who would not refuse it. Is it -possible that he was not acting on behalf of your Majesty, after all?’ -‘Fath-ud-Din,’ said the King, ‘are the words of the Englishman true?’ -‘O my lord,’ said the old villain, flopping down on his face before -the divan in an awful fright, ‘the Englishman’s tongue is forked. He -seeks to save himself from the fate he merits by casting dirt upon the -name of the meanest of my lord’s servants; but he shall yet eat his -words.’ ‘The matter is in the hands of the King to prove,’ I said; -‘let him send and fetch Jahan Beg straight here from his dungeon, and -let him be questioned as to all that has taken place. It is evident -that he cannot have held communication with any member of the Mission -since his arrest, and if his words agree with mine, mine must be seen -to be true; if not, then let us both pay the penalty.’ The King seemed -to think it rather a good idea, and was inclined to agree; but -Fath-ud-Din interposed all sorts of objections as he lay grovelling on -the floor, and at last I got tired. Some slave or chamberlain might -have come in at any moment and spoilt everything. So I took out my box -of lozenges, and said, ‘In this box I have food for several days, so -that I can remain here without inconvenience. The King and Fath-ud-Din -have no food, and cannot pass me to leave the room; therefore I would -recommend that they follow my advice.’ The King saw the reason of it, -and called one of the black fellows, whom he ordered to fetch Jahan -Beg at once, without saying anything about what had been going on. You -may judge that in spite of this I kept the revolver ready in case of -any attempt to rush me; but none was made. I think the King felt that -it was necessary to get to the bottom of the matter, for he even -invited me to come and sit beside him; but I refused, ‘until my words -were proved true,’ as I said. I don’t know whether Fath-ud-Din or I -felt the more uncomfortable when the messenger was gone, for it struck -me that Jahan Beg might think it advisable not to tell the exact -truth, in which case I should find myself badly left; but I made a -great parade of eating one of the lozenges, and I hope I dissembled my -uneasiness better than the Vizier did. Happily, when poor old Jahan -Beg was brought in--a perfect shadow, wasted and ill, and ragged, and -chained--he gathered the significance of the questions the King asked -him at once, and confirmed exactly what I had said, being able to -corroborate my account of the Vizier’s earlier visits to the Mission. -Of course, he did not know anything of the Antar Khan business, which -did not happen until after his arrest; but I had an inspiration there. -I suggested an examination of Fath-ud-Din’s servants, with the view of -discovering whether he had really held communication with the Scythian -agent and with us. The King jumped at the idea, and improved upon it -by ordering a search of his house as well. I thought that it was not -likely to be much good; but I was mistaken, for his scribe, on being -arrested, displayed such great anxiety to be allowed to take his copy -of the Koran to prison with him that suspicion was excited, and in the -cover of it they found concealed a written promise from the Scythian -agent, pledging his Government to support Antar Khan in case of the -King’s death, and to pay Fath-ud-Din eight thousand pounds in return -for his getting their treaty signed. The greedy old beast must have -had the paper in his possession when he came to us this morning--was -it really only this morning?--and tried to get us to outbid him by two -thousand pounds. It was exactly the evidence we wanted, and its -discovery is only another warning never to commit compromising -agreements to writing.” - -“Yes; and then?” asked Fitz, eagerly, seeing that Stratford appeared -inclined to moralise. - -“Then? Why, a grand transformation scene, of course. Fath-ud-Din’s -signet was taken from him, and he was conducted to the dungeon which -Jahan Beg had just vacated. Jahan Beg was taken to the bath, and -rigged out at the King’s expense, and formally invested with the Grand -Vizier’s signet. He was another man after a little care and attention. -As for me, I was favoured with a seat by the King’s side, publicly -thanked for exposing a traitor and saving the King (evidently he held -the same opinion as to his chances of life under Fath-ud-Din’s -fostering care that we did), and asked whether I had a copy of our -treaty at hand. That was the crowning moment. I produced the treaty -from inside my coat. Jahan Beg signed it--his first act in his new -capacity--I followed, and the King put his seal to it. And that is -all.” - -“And now?” asked Lady Haigh. - -“Now we have only to get back to Khemistan as fast as we can,” said -Stratford. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - A CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES. - -If, after Stratford had told his story, the party at the Mission had -been informed that the most anxious portion of their stay in -Kubbet-ul-Haj was still to come, the idea would have seemed absurd, -and yet the joyful night on which the treaty was signed proved to be -merely the prelude to a fresh period of uneasiness. Far from being -able to pack up and start at once on the return journey to the British -frontier, the members of the Mission found that their departure must -necessarily be delayed for at least a week. The camels and other -baggage-animals which had been taken from them had been sent for -safe-keeping to a town three days’ journey off, the governor of which -was a creature of Fath-ud-Din’s. It was therefore needful to send -after them, and, if the governor would consent to give them up, then -to bring them back, which in itself involved a considerable delay. But -this was not all. Jahan Beg in Fath-ud-Din’s place bore a certain -resemblance to the ass in the lion’s skin. As he said himself, he -laboured under the great disadvantage, as compared with his -predecessor, of being too scrupulous for the post. - -“I should have thought I had learnt by this time to do in Ethiopia as -the Ethiopians do,” he grumbled one day to Stratford and Dick, who -were entertaining him on the verandah of the Durbar-hall with coffee -and conversation; “but I find now that I have some remnants of a -Christian conscience left somewhere about me still, old renegade -though I am. I simply haven’t got it in me to take the measures which -the situation demands. Fath-ud-Din in my place would have had no -difficulty. He would merely have had his predecessor brought before -him, and tortured until things went smoothly. But he knows that I am -not the man to do that, and it gives him a tremendous pull over me -when I want to find out something he knows, or when some of his people -have to be kept quiet. It isn’t dignified for me to be always going to -the mouth of the dungeon and shouting down questions which he refuses -to answer, and I have put it to the King that we must try another -plan.” - -This meant that Fath-ud-Din was to be released from the dungeon and -kept as a kind of state-prisoner in the Palace. The new plan was -successful in so far as he was more disposed to answer questions -relating to his past stewardship; but it worked badly when it -emboldened his adherents to resist the new Vizier on the ground that -he was still afraid of his predecessor, and could not act without his -help. The mob of the city, who had always been Fath-ud-Din’s warmest -friends, resented his downfall keenly, and lost no opportunity of -testifying their hatred to Jahan Beg and the English strangers, to -whose influence that downfall was to be ascribed. Once more the -Mission was guarded on all sides by soldiers, this time in order to -prevent a murderous attack by the mob, whose attitude was extremely -threatening. A further danger arose from the fact that there was -reason to believe that the soldiers themselves were not altogether to -be depended upon, and this added enormously to the anxiety of -Stratford and of Jahan Beg. So long as the soldiers could keep down -the townspeople, and the Grand Vizier could keep down the soldiers, -things were fairly safe; but at any moment a chance spark might fire -the train, and an explosion occur, the first results of which would be -the murder of Jahan Beg and the massacre of the British Mission. No -one left the house during these days of terror, and the gates were -barely opened to admit traders and messengers. Within, every man had -his revolver ready to his hand, and heaps of sand-bags were in -readiness to barricade the entrance to the archway in Bachelors’ -Buildings and the windows of the Durbar-hall. The Mission premises -were in a state of siege. - -During all this anxious time, however, no change was made in the -social life of the little colony. In spite of alarms from without, and -the abiding sorrow of Sir Dugald’s speechless and unconscious -condition, the usual routine of work and meals remained unbroken, and -the gatherings on the terrace after dinner were not abandoned. To -Georgia there seemed at first something heartless, almost wicked, in -keeping up appearances in this way at such a crisis; but it was Lady -Haigh herself who pointed out to her the reasons for the insensibility -which she was inclined to reprobate. - -“There is the effect on the servants to be considered, my dear,” she -said. “If we went about looking dishevelled and woe-begone, and -refused to take our meals at the proper hours, we should have them -deserting right and left. It will help the men, too, more than -anything if they see us cheerful and apparently unconscious of danger. -I believe that Mr Stratford and Major North would be almost -heartbroken if they imagined that we knew as much about the state of -things as we do.” - -“But that is very foolish,” objected Georgia. “Why don’t they take us -into their councils and let us all know authoritatively the worst we -have to fear?” - -“My dear, men are not made that way. They like to think that they have -succeeded in hiding their apprehensions from us, and that we are -pursuing our butterfly existence untroubled by thoughts of danger. And -if it makes them happier to think so, we won’t undeceive them. We will -dress for dinner, and talk cheerfully, and give them a little music in -the evenings, and do our best to help them in whatever way we can.” - -“But I don’t like it, Lady Haigh. They are treating us like babies.” - -“Well, dear child, we know we are not babies. It is hard, I know, when -you feel that you could give them valuable help--or, at any rate, -moral support--if they would pay you the compliment of taking you into -their confidence; but I believe that this is the way in which we can -help them most, and sooner than add a finger’s weight to the burden -those two dear fellows are bearing, I would take to bibs and a rattle -again!” - -And Georgia, while she marvelled, perceived that thirty years of -married life teach some things about the other sex which are not -included in the curriculum of any university or medical school. It was -not without a certain degree of envy that she acknowledged to herself -that she would have been willing to exchange a small portion--perhaps -even an appreciable amount--of her medical knowledge for a share of -that acquaintance with the world and with male human nature which lay -behind Lady Haigh’s shrewd hazel eyes. For Dick was still obdurate and -unapproachable, and after the enlightening which had come to her on -the day of the signing of the treaty, she did not dare to make any of -those overtures by means of which she had occasionally succeeded in -re-establishing peace after their former quarrels. There was always -the risk that he might misunderstand--or was it not rather that he -might too well understand?--her motive. - -“If it was merely an ordinary disagreement,” she said to herself, -hopelessly, “I am not too proud to hold out a hand of friendship, but -now!--I know I said some hard things to him, but he had said worse to -me--though I shouldn’t mind now what he said if only I knew that he -cared. And I thought he did care--that day when he called me -Georgie--what could it have meant but that? It can’t be, oh! it can’t -be, that he has been trying to lead me on, and make me care for him, -in revenge for my refusing him long ago? I won’t believe it of him. It -isn’t like him--he wouldn’t do it. If it was that--if he could be such -a wretch, I would--yes, I could forgive him anything but that!” - -Dick’s feelings during this period were scarcely more to be envied -than Georgia’s. Having assured himself that nothing on earth could -make him more miserable than he was already, he was fiercely eager -that the crown should be given to his misery by Georgia’s engagement -to Stratford, for the announcement of which he looked daily, but which -did not take place. On the contrary, Stratford went about his work as -usual, apparently unconscious that anything of the kind was or could -be expected from him, while Georgia looked “about as wretched--well, -as I feel!” said Dick to himself. He could not reasonably believe that -Stratford cared for her, after his friend’s explicit denial of the -fact; but it became abundantly clear to him that he ought to be made -to do so, if Georgia’s happiness depended upon it. For a day or two he -thought seriously of informing him that he must--under penalties which -Dick did not specify to himself--ask her to marry him, since he had -evidently been trifling with her feelings; but, happily, a vague -impression that a marriage entered upon under such conditions was -scarcely likely to turn out well restrained him. The more immediate -certainty that Miss Keeling would bitterly resent such an interference -in her affairs did not trouble Dick; it maddened him to see her -looking as she looked now, and her happiness must be secured in spite -of herself. In the meantime, he did his best to hate Stratford, both -for his past conduct and his present callousness as to its results, -and found it very difficult. The man was his friend and good comrade, -and absolutely innocent of any wish to quarrel, and Dick would find -himself sitting on the office table and talking familiarly to him as -of old. Then he would call up the haunting remembrance of Miss -Keeling’s pale face and reproachful eyes, and divided between the -desire to avenge her wrongs and the fear of betraying her secret, -become so snappish that any one but Stratford would have taken offence -and demanded an explanation. But Stratford had a large fund of -patience to draw upon, and he was sorry for Dick. He saw that things -were not going well with him, and although he was too prudent to seek -to interfere, he was determined not to make matters worse by taking up -any of the gauntlets which his friend was perpetually flinging down. - -Another person who viewed the state of things with much interest and -uneasiness was Lady Haigh. During her long and philanthropic, if -slightly autocratic, experience of English life in the East, she had -engineered to a satisfactory conclusion a good many love affairs, and -she had welcomed the first signs of this one as affording a fresh -scope for the exercise of her particular talent. But she had now for -some days been driven to the opinion that Dick and Georgia were -playing at cross-purposes, a form of recreation which she regarded -with the utmost horror, and she yearned to do something to set matters -right. - -“Nothing on earth shall induce me to interfere,” she assured herself. -“Interference is a thing I abhor. But if either of them should give me -the chance of saying a word, I shall certainly step in.” - -Fortune favoured Lady Haigh. Coming out on the terrace one evening at -dusk, after a long watch in Sir Dugald’s room, she saw Dick crossing -the court towards her. He had just seen that the sentries were -properly posted, and the flag hauled down for the night, and now he -mounted the steps and found the terrace apparently empty. Lady Haigh -was standing motionless in the shadow of the doorway, and she heard -him sigh, for no obvious reason, as he threw himself into one of the -chairs, and then propound despairingly for his own benefit the -well-worn conundrum, “Is life worth living?” - -“I am sorry to hear you say that, Major North,” said Lady Haigh, in -her brisk tones, as she moved forward out of the darkness, and sat -down opposite to him. “You are very high in the Service for a man of -your age, you have the best possible prospects, a sufficiency of -money, and a record which would make most men’s mouths water. Don’t -you think that you are a slightly unreasonable--not to say -ungrateful--man?” - -“I must beg your pardon for being so trite,” said Dick, on the -defensive at once. “If I had known you were there, I would have tried -to couch my question in more original language.” - -“But you would still have asked it?” - -“I’m afraid so. You think me a discontented beast, don’t you, Lady -Haigh?” - -“That I can’t decide until I know what grounds you have for your -discontent.” - -“It isn’t for my own sake--at least, I come into it too, of course, -but it is chiefly on another person’s account.” - -“Come, this does you great credit, Major North. That the world should -become clouded for you on account of some one else’s troubles--when -everything with which you have to do is going on so well”--she could -not resist this hit at the reticence which Stratford and he had -maintained on the subject of the dangers that threatened the party, -but he did not notice it--“this shows a most unselfish spirit. Are the -misfortunes of this other person absolutely beyond remedy?” - -“They ought not to be, but I can’t for the life of me see how they are -to be set right,” said Dick, moodily. - -“Well, I am very sorry to hear it. If at any time you think I can be -of any help towards setting them right, be sure you let me know. The -chief, I may say the only, pleasure I have just now lies in helping -other people.” - -She rose as though to go indoors, but Dick stopped her. - -“If you can spare me a few minutes, please stay and let me tell you -about it now,” he entreated. “I am awfully puzzled--and -worried--and--and miserable. I want you to look at things quite apart -from me. If I could only see her happy, I might get over it in time, I -suppose, but now----” - -“My dear boy----” Lady Haigh began, then, hoping that he had not -observed the slip, altered it to, “My dear Major North, you must -please explain yourself a little. Who is the lady to whom you -refer--not Miss Keeling?” - -“Yes, it is Miss Keeling,” said Dick, rather guiltily. - -“But is Miss Keeling unhappy?” - -“How you women hang together!” he remarked, with some bitterness. “You -must have seen it, Lady Haigh, and yet you won’t say a word to help me -out. I feel as if I had no business to talk about it, even to you--and -yet you are the only other woman here--and it isn’t as though I was -betraying her confidence, for she never told me. She only let me see -unmistakably----” - -“I am afraid you won’t believe me,” interrupted Lady Haigh, “but I -really don’t understand you. If I can do anything whatever to help -either you or Miss Keeling, you may count upon me, as I said just now; -but please don’t think I want to pry into your private affairs.” - -“I’m a fearful bear,” said Dick, penitently, “and it’s awfully good of -you to be willing to take so much trouble about us, when Sir Dugald is -ill, and you have so much to be anxious about. I’ll make a clean -breast of the whole thing, for I am quite at the end of my tether, and -I can’t see what to do. It doesn’t signify what happens to me, you -know, but----” - -“Do you know that you are frightening me, Major North? What desperate -enterprise has Miss Keeling got on hand that you should talk about her -and yourself in this strain?” - -“It’s nothing of that kind. It is only that I want to see her happy. -Perhaps you don’t know that for some time lately I have been beginning -to hope that one day she might get to care for me?” Lady Haigh -smothered a smile, and nodded assent. “Well, it was on the day that -the treaty was signed that I found out all at once that it was -Stratford she cared for.” - -“Mr Stratford?” cried Lady Haigh, with a start. “Are you quite -certain?” - -“I had no idea of anything of the kind until she turned on me and -asked why I had let him go to the Palace to save her, and said she -would never speak to me again if anything happened to him. I couldn’t -mistake that, could I?” he asked, with a dreary smile. “It was all -clear to me at once, and I can’t tell you what an arrant and -unmitigated and contemptible brute I felt for having let him go. I’m -sure I should never have had the face to go near her again if he had -got killed.” - -“Well, but wasn’t it all right when he came back?” - -“No, indeed; it is all wrong. He doesn’t care for her; he told me so -himself before he went. Now, you know, no one can be astonished at her -caring for him, he is such an out-and-out good fellow; but if he -doesn’t care for her, what is to be done? That is what I am addling my -brains over, and if you can suggest anything, Lady Haigh, I shall -bless you for ever.” - -“What was your own idea as to what ought to be done?” - -“Well, it’s pretty clear to me that if Miss Keeling had a father or a -brother out here, it would be his business to take the matter in hand, -and bring Stratford to book--ask him his intentions, and that sort of -thing. I don’t want to say anything against him, but it’s quite plain -that he isn’t doing the proper thing; and if he has made her care for -him with those high and mighty A.D.C. airs of his”--Dick spoke with -the lively bitterness of a man who has known and suffered far from -gladly the wiseacres of a viceregal _entourage_--“he ought not to be -allowed to cry off like this without even asking her to marry him.” - -“Then the propriety of your assuming the _rôle_ of Miss Keeling’s -brother, and representing the matter to him yourself, has not -suggested itself to you?” Lady Haigh waited with keen anxiety for the -answer, which came with a groan. - -“Hasn’t it indeed? But how is a man to do such a thing without giving -the girl away? Don’t tell me you think I ought to do it, Lady Haigh! -I’ll do it if you say I must; but really, you know, I am absolutely -the worst fellow that ever was born for a delicate job of that kind. -Stratford told me himself on that very day that tact was not my strong -point, which is putting it mildly, and this sort of thing simply cries -aloud for tact.” - -“You are quite right, it does, and I am truly thankful that you have -not felt called upon to attempt it.” Dick heaved a sigh of relief. -“But do tell me, Major North, why you are willing to put aside your -own hopes in this way, and bring Mr Stratford to book?” - -“Because I want to see her happy,” growled Dick. - -“You think she is not happy?” - -“Look at her face. Ever since that day, she has looked quite -different. Perhaps you haven’t noticed it, for she keeps a cheerful -expression for company. But I have come upon her unexpectedly, and -seen her when she thought no one was looking, and her face--well, it -made me want to pulverise Stratford, that’s all. She put on the -cheerful expression again as soon as she caught me looking at her, -just as though I didn’t know all about it, and wouldn’t give my right -hand to help her,” he concluded, resentfully. - -“Major North,” said Lady Haigh, solemnly, “if your insight into -character was only equal to your goodwill, you would be a very clever -man, but as it is----” there was an expressive pause, then Lady Haigh -bent towards him, and spoke very low and distinctly. “You are quite -right not to speak to Mr Stratford, it would only do harm; but I think -you ought to speak to Miss Keeling herself. What you have told me is -news to me, and if I am not mistaken, it will also be news to her. You -would tell her, of course, that you had discovered that she was in -love with Mr Stratford, and was pining for him, because he would not -ask her to marry him. That is the kind of fact about oneself which one -has a right to know. Tell her, by all means. I don’t guarantee that -you will escape with your life, but a storm clears the air sometimes. -On second thoughts, don’t tell her. I really think it would be -scarcely safe. Lay your own story before her--without any names, if -you like--and see what she says. That is my honest and candid advice, -without any kind of joking. If you won’t take it, I fear I can’t help -you.” - -And Lady Haigh rose and went into the house, leaving Dick stupefied. -He felt utterly bewildered, and was conscious only that he must have -made some egregious mistake, which Lady Haigh had perceived, but would -not point out to him for fear of spoiling the game. In spite of her -assurance that she was not joking, he yet hesitated to accept her last -piece of advice. What possible good could it do to tell Miss Keeling -_his_ story, even supposing that he could succeed in finding her -alone, and that she would vouchsafe to listen to him? It looked like -stealing a march on Stratford, too; but, of course, that was absurd. -Stratford was in possession of the field, and if it was no good -attempting a serious attack on his position, how could it serve any -useful purpose to make a feint of an assault upon it? It could only -render Miss Keeling more unhappy still, for Dick felt sure that she -would pity even him when she learnt how the words which had escaped -her lips in her first grief and despair had gone to his heart. There -seemed to be no way out of the dilemma, and Dick decided very quickly -that he would not in any case follow Lady Haigh’s counsel, for fear of -complicating the situation further. At least he could keep his own -feelings in the background, while waiting anxiously for something to -turn up that might relieve him from the necessity of taking any step -at all. As it happened, however, the explanation he dreaded was -precipitated by an event of so much importance that it actually -obscured in his mind for the time the whole question he had discussed -with Lady Haigh. - -Bad news reached the Mission on the following morning. The district -which had hitherto been ruled by Fath-ud-Din was in open revolt. The -governor of the town to which the baggage-animals had been sent -refused to surrender them except to Fath-ud-Din or the King in person, -and this necessitated the despatch of a military expedition to enforce -compliance with the royal order. Jahan Beg could not venture to leave -the capital, and although Rustam Khan was to be sent in command of the -forces, the business was likely to be a long one in the present -unsatisfactory state of the army. This meant a further period of -detention at Kubbet-ul-Haj for the Mission, and Stratford and Dick, -feeling that they could not impose upon the ladies much longer with -any hope of success, broke the news to them with elaborate care. Lady -Haigh, true to her self-effacing creed, received it with suitable -alarm; but Georgia puzzled the two men by exclaiming, “Is _that_ all?” -in a tone which showed that their considerate method of making the -announcement had prepared her to hear things much worse than the -reality. Dick thought that she was failing to realise the gravity of -the news, and anticipated a reaction when she began to perceive fully -what it meant; and when he came upon her on the terrace after dinner -that evening, he thought that the reaction had come. Lady Haigh had -been called away, and Dick, emerging from the lighted dining-room to -make his usual tour of inspection, found Georgia sitting alone and -gazing into the darkness. Something in the desolation of her attitude -went to his heart, and he approached her impulsively and laid his hand -upon her shoulder. - -“For heaven’s sake, Miss Keeling, don’t give in now!” he said, -hoarsely. “You and Lady Haigh have kept our hearts up all this week by -your pluck and cheerfulness.” - -“I don’t think I am afraid,” said Georgia, without looking at him. -“One could always defend oneself, you see, if the mob broke in, and -that would probably ensure death at once, and I have seen too many -deathbeds not to know that death is generally easier than most people -think. No, it is the isolation, the fearful loneliness, the feeling -that there is not one of these people, to whom we have been trying to -do good, that does not hate us heartily.” - -“Oh, I hope it’s not so bad as you think----” began Dick; but his -clumsy attempt at consolation died on his lips. “How long have you -known that things were as bad as they are?” he asked her. - -“As long as you have,” returned Georgia, with some scorn. - -“Not really so long? We were trying to save you from the knowledge. We -hoped----” - -“Yes, I know; but, unfortunately, you had to deal with an old -campaigner and a New Woman, you see. Lady Haigh and I were able to -read the signs of the times as well as you and Mr Stratford; but we -pretended that we knew nothing about things, for the sake of sparing -your feelings. Now, do you think you have treated us properly? I don’t -demand information as a right; I only ask whether it was fair--whether -it was even kind--to try and keep us in ignorance? We have at least as -much at stake as you have.” - -“At least?” he repeated, bitterly. “I can tell you that I would give -my life gladly to know that you were in Khemistan and safe out of -this. Now you can’t say that I haven’t spoken plainly.” - -“But why not have told us the worst before, and let us talk it over, -and get what comfort we could out of that? Facing a danger boldly -makes it seem much less terrible. It is the guessing, and the -wondering, and the putting two and two together, and the anxiety as to -whether there has been any fresh trouble, of which we know nothing, to -make you and Mr Stratford look graver and graver every day, that have -been so dreadful this week.” - -“Have a little pity for me, Georgia,” he said, almost roughly; and she -realised, with a sudden tightening of the heart, that he had used the -same words that other day. “Do you think it’s an easy or a pleasant -thing for a man to tell the woman he loves--as I love you--that such -things are before her as seem to be before us now? No, don’t start and -turn your back on me--you have brought this on yourself. You laughed -at me when I told you I loved you long ago, and again and again since -we first met this year you have shown me pretty plainly that nothing I -could do would ever change your tone. When I begged your pardon after -that fuss about your doctoring the Chief, and you wouldn’t listen to -me, I couldn’t have believed a woman would have spoken in such a way -to the greatest blackguard on earth, let alone a man that had put -himself at her mercy. Your mercy, indeed!--I believe you enjoy -tormenting me. But you can go too far--even with me. Under ordinary -circumstances I should have respected your wishes, and not persecuted -you with my unwelcome attentions; but this is not an ordinary time, -and you have goaded me beyond bearing, and I tell you--and you shall -hear it--that I shall love you till I die--and beyond. You can’t alter -it.” - -He paused, expecting an outburst of anger, but Georgia’s head was -turned away from him, and she made no answer. - -“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he said at last, apprehensively, his -conscience smiting him for his roughness. “I know by what you have -said that you have enough to bear already.” - -“I am not crying!” said Georgia, resenting the accusation indignantly, -and for one moment she turned her eyes upon him. They were shining, -but not with tears. Dick thought that it was with anger, and her words -served to confirm him in his belief. “I have tried to be patient with -you,” she went on quickly, and her voice seemed to him to be throbbing -with wounded pride, “but you are too unfair. You say you love me, but -how do you treat me? Since we met last March--as you said just now; -you see that I can hoard up grudges as well as you--you have done -nothing but parade your contempt for me, and for everything I care -for. What do you know about the New Woman? What do you know about me? -and yet you have persecuted me continually with the name, which you, -at any rate, meant to be one of reproach. I don’t know what your idea -of love may be, but I think that it ought to teach a little -tenderness--a little consideration for the other person’s feelings. -How dare you tell me that you love me? You might, if you could bend me -to your own pattern; but you can’t, and so you have done your best to -show that you dislike me. Not that your dislike signifies to me in the -least, of course,” with superb disdain, “but I don’t see why you -should render yourself generally unpleasant by exhibiting it.” - -“Make a little allowance for me, please. I loved you, and you would -not listen to me. I daresay I have made an awful idiot of myself, -but----” - -“Don’t say that you had excuse. I was always willing to be friends -with you, if you would only----” - -“Friends? I don’t want your friendship. There can be no such thing -between you and me. I must have all or nothing.” - -“And by way of getting all, you did everything you could to make it -impossible for me to give you anything? I am not a Griselda, and if -you will excuse my saying it, I don’t think nature intended you for a -Petruchio. Were you really under the impression that the best way of -winning a woman’s heart was to abuse all her friends and pour contempt -on all her interests? How could I learn to care for you?” - -“I am very sorry, Georgie,” said Dick, humbly enough. - -“It is possible to be sorry too late,” Georgia went on mercilessly; -but he interrupted her with a burst of passion. - -“Don’t I know that? Hasn’t it tormented me day and night since I knew -that you cared for him? Don’t try me too far. I have done my best not -to worry you since that day, and if I could do anything to make you -happy with him, I would; but I can’t stand it if you begin to moralise -on the subject. You expect too much of a man.” - -“I don’t know what you mean,” said Georgia, turning round quickly. Her -face had grown very pale. “Who is the person you are talking about?” - -“Why, Stratford, of course,” said Dick, off his guard. Georgia’s eyes -flamed. - -“Stratford? You thought I was in love with Mr Stratford? After that, I -don’t think there is anything more that need be said, Major North. -Will you kindly let me pass?” - -But he would not. Despair gave him courage, and he put his arm across -the doorway. “Georgie, I’m an idiot and an ass and an utter fool, but -give me another chance. I do love you, and if you will only let me try -again, now that there’s no other fellow in the way, perhaps you might -come to care for me a little in time.” - -Georgia wavered, and was lost. She had caught sight of his face in the -moonlight, and there was an expression in his eyes which completed -what his eager, halting words had begun. “Oh, Dick, don’t look at me -like that,” she entreated, laying her hands on his arm. “You may try -again.” - -“Try again? Georgie, may I really? How much does that mean?” - -“Take the night to think over it,” said Georgia, trying to slip past -him indoors; but he caught her hands and held her prisoner. - -“You said just now ‘how could you learn to care for me?’ I thought you -meant that it was impossible. Did you mean that there might be a -chance? Just the one word, dear.” - -“Yes,” said Georgia, in a voice which was somewhat muffled. “At least, -I mean no. I have cared for you a long time.” - -“What a beast I have been!” was the next coherent remark uttered by -Dick. - -“You were rather a trial,” was the murmured answer. - -“But I am going to reform now, Georgie. You must pull me up if I let -out at anything in which you have the smallest interest. But I could -praise up the New Woman herself to-night.” - -“Considering that I am the embodiment of the New Woman to your mind,” -began Georgia, “that is a very poor----” - -“I say, North, is there anything wrong? Haven’t you finished your -rounds yet?” shouted Stratford, coming to the dining-room window with -a half-smoked cigar in his fingers. - -“No, it’s all right,” answered Dick’s voice, unexpectedly near at -hand. “I’ll do the rounds in a minute.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - POINTS OF VIEW. - -“Well, Georgie?” - -“Well, Dick?” - -Georgia’s eyes danced with merriment, for Dick was lying in wait for -her on the verandah, with a bunch of roses in his hand. Kubbet-ul-Haj -roses are not roses of Damascus, or of Kashmir, or of any other -locality famous for the culture of the plant; but poor as they were, -they were flowers, and of flowers the prisoners at the Mission had -seen but few of late. He held them out to her with quite unusual -timidity. - -“Will you have them?” he asked, somewhat shyly. - -“Of course I will, Dick. Thank you so much.” She took them from his -hand, kissed them, and fastened them in her dress. “Are you satisfied -now?” she asked, smiling. - -“Satisfied!” he said, looking at her admiringly. “I feel now that what -happened last night was a reality.” - -“Why, had you begun to hope it was a dream?” - -“It might have been merely imagination--too good to be true. Stratford -has just been declaring that I was mad last evening. He says that I -wanted to sit up all night and talk, and that he had to turn me out of -his room by main force.” - -“Poor fellow! Were you trying to drown the remembrance of what had -happened?” - -“Drown it, indeed! burn it in, more likely. I can’t imagine how you -ever came to--Georgie, there’s one thing that puzzles me still. Why -were you so angry because Stratford went to the Palace instead of me? -I did all I could to go, of course, because I wanted to do something -for you; but why did you mind so much?” - -“Never mind,” said Georgia, growing rather red; “it was absurd and -unreasonable of me. I know you must have thought that I wanted you to -be killed.” - -“But why was it?” - -“I suppose you will give me no peace until I tell you. It was because -I couldn’t bear to think you cared so little about me as to let him go -instead.” - -“I wish I had gone!” said Dick, enviously. - -“Then you would probably have been killed, and the treaty would not -have been signed, and we should never have known what we know -now--about our caring for each other, I mean. I might have guessed the -truth when I heard that you had gone, but I could never have been -sure; it might only have been a way of taking a noble revenge on me, -you know. And you would have sacrificed yourself and perhaps even -died, believing all the time that I detested you. I know you deserved -it, but still, I should have been sorry. No, things are much better as -they are. It was very silly of me to think and say what I did.” - -“I like you to be silly about me.” - -“And you don’t like me under other circumstances? I hope I am not -always silly.” - -“I don’t care about circumstances, or wisdom, or foolishness, or -anything. I love you because you are yourself.” - -“Dick, you are incorrigible!” There was a slight soreness in Georgia’s -tone. It was undeniable that Dick was lacking in tact. - -“Now I have gone and hurt your feelings again! I wish I wasn’t such a -blundering idiot.” - -“Dick, listen to me. I want you to do me a favour.” - -“If there is any single thing in the whole world I could do for -you----” - -“You would do it, I know, however great it was. But it is a number of -little things, Dick. I know you don’t mean to hurt me, but you often -do. Think a moment. I don’t love you any more because of your Victoria -Cross, but it makes me glad and proud to think that you have it. I -know I can’t expect you to be glad that I am a doctor, and proud of -being one, because you dislike the very idea; but I want you to treat -the subject tenderly, because it is connected with me. I daresay it -seems very strange to you that I should be as sensitive about my -profession as you are about yours, and I know you will never look at -the two things in the same light, but I ask you to regard it as a -concession to my weakness when you let an opportunity pass without a -sneer. We must agree to differ on this question, I suppose, but I want -you to do it gracefully, for my sake.” There were tears in her eyes as -she looked at him, and Dick felt the enormity of his conduct more -keenly than he had ever done in the days when he delighted to provoke -her to arguments and the delivery of lectures. - -“What a brute I must have been, that you should find it necessary to -ask such a thing of me!” he burst out. “It makes me feel thoroughly -ashamed to think what a cad I am. Do you think that it’s safe to have -anything to do with me, Georgie?” - -“I don’t know whether it’s safe or not, but I love you so much that I -couldn’t do without you,” said Georgia, unsteadily. - -“To hear you say that makes me feel that I could do anything you asked -me. Help me to be more worthy of you, Georgie. If I hurt your feelings -after this I deserve to be hung. Pull me up--simply slang me--if I say -anything unkind. I never thought I was such a blackguard. No, only -look at me, as you did just now, and if I don’t wilt, as Hicks puts -it, that instant, then throw me over, for I shan’t be worth troubling -about. I will get over that habit of letting out at the things you -care for. I feel as though I could go anywhere and do anything -to-day.” - -“And I feel so ridiculously safe,” said Georgia, smiling at him with -an April face. - -“And yet nothing is really different from what it was yesterday.” - -“Oh, Dick! everything is different. There is hope to-day, and there -was none then. Think how dreadful it would have been to be killed when -everything was wrong between us.” - -“What a remark!” said Dick, lazily--“it’s almost worthy of young -Anstruther; and how particularly cheerful the subjects of your -thoughts are! Now that I am in a position to keep you from making rash -expeditions to the Palace, I must say that I don’t see any present -danger of your being killed.” - -“The calmness with which you contemplate such a contingency does -infinite credit to your strength of mind, sir. But it is rather -strange that you should have mentioned the Palace, for I am going -there this morning.” - -“Not with my consent.” - -“Then without it, I am afraid. Dick, you are not going to get up a -quarrel over such a little thing, surely? You don’t imagine that I -should think of going now without taking every possible precaution, -and getting Mr Stratford’s leave?” - -“What has Stratford got to do with it? It’s my affair.” - -“Excuse me, I think it’s mine. Now, Dick, you don’t deserve to be -reassured and made to feel comfortable about it, but I am going to be -magnanimous. While you were out in the early morning there came a -messenger from the King. He said that they had not yet taken the -bandage from the Queen’s eyes, because they were afraid to touch it if -I was not there. He was so anxious that I should be present and direct -operations that he offered of his own accord to send Antar Khan here -as a hostage for the whole time I am gone. Now are you satisfied?” - -“Not unless I go with you.” - -“But that’s impossible. Rahah and I make the passage in the litter, -and we couldn’t manage to smuggle you in. Besides, what should we do -with you when we got to the Palace?” - -“That wasn’t what I meant. I will take five or six of the servants and -ride beside you. Then I shall wait in the men’s part of the Palace -while you go to see the Queen, and bring you back again. You won’t -find me leaving the place without you.” - -“I’m afraid you’ll find it rather dull. We shan’t be able to talk, you -know. But of course I should like it much better if you were there. -You will come, then?” - -“Rather. If you will run into danger, you shall not go alone--now.” - -“Your permission is slightly grudging,” said Georgia, laughing, but -she was heartily glad to have his escort. The unpleasant circumstances -of her last visit to the Palace had made her shrink from going there -again, although she had a particular reason for desiring to do so. The -thought that Dick would not be far off was a reassuring one, even -though there was no reason for anticipating any unfriendliness from -the royal household. And in this way it came to pass that when the -Palace litter, closely guarded by soldiers, conveyed Georgia and her -handmaid to visit her patient, Dick rode behind it with six of the -servants of the Mission, who were divided between delight at being -outside the walls of the house once more, and a certain degree of -terror at the prospect of finding themselves inside the Palace. - -Reclining luxuriously on the cushions, with Rahah crouching opposite -to her, Georgia spent the time occupied by the transit in -recapitulating to herself the points of the inquiry which she was -anxious to make, and which had as its primary object the -re-establishment of Sir Dugald’s health. The disagreeable interruption -of her interview with Nur Jahan’s mother, by the entrance of the -King’s younger wife, had prevented her from putting to the women -present the questions which had been suggested to her by their mention -of the witch whose poisons Fath-ud-Din was wont to employ to rid him -of his enemies. The name and dwelling-place of this old woman had -become matters of the deepest interest to Georgia, and she was also -eager for any information that it might be possible to obtain as to -her methods and the poisons she used. On what she could discover this -morning, Sir Dugald’s life, or at any rate, his restoration to health, -might depend, and this in itself was enough to determine Georgia to -leave no stone unturned in the effort to ensure success. But it must -be confessed that she had an additional motive--a sufficiently weighty -one, although completely secondary--and this was the subjugation, or -conviction, or conversion, whichever it might be called, of Dick. She -did not give the process any of these names in her own mind, but she -recognised that in the present state of affairs between them the old -difference of opinion was only lying dormant, and that sooner or later -it must revive. Shrinking with all her heart from the idea of paining, -or even opposing him, she was none the less aware that any surrender -on her part would only bring her grief and remorse later, and she -longed to be able to do something that might justify her in Dick’s -eyes, might bring him to acquiesce of his own free will in her -continuing the practice of her profession, and thus avert the crisis -she foresaw and feared. There was only one thing that could come -between Dick and herself, and that was her work; but she knew that if -she was true to her principles, she must uphold it against Dick. She -had gained a temporary advantage that morning, but she was already -ashamed of the weapons of which she had made use. - -“Mine was a weak impulse,” she said to herself, “for it led me to -appeal merely to Dick’s feelings, instead of to his reason and his -sense of right. I made him ashamed of himself, but it was in an unfair -way--almost as bad as it would have been if I had cried. I can’t think -what led me to do it--I suppose it was simply a reversion to the -tactics of the Old Woman. It was lowering myself, and it lowered -Dick--he would never have stooped to try to coax me, but he yields -when I coax him. Of course he liked it--he naturally would, but that -doesn’t make it any better. I asked him to do as a favour to me what -he ought, as a gentleman, to do as a mere matter of justice, and if he -follows the thing out logically he will feel at liberty to sneer at -any other medical woman he may meet, even though he makes an exception -in my case. I have gone to work in the wrong way--no doubt it is the -most comfortable, but that doesn’t signify if it isn’t right. It’s no -use pretending that Dick is perfect--he isn’t, any more than I am; but -I want to see him getting nearer to perfection the more I have to do -with him, and it wouldn’t be the way to bring that about if I helped -him to grow into a tyrant whose most unreasonable wish was law unless -he could be wheedled out of it. No, I see that he has a great deal to -learn yet: I am only afraid that I may not be the right person to -teach it him. I am so much afraid of hurting his feelings--and I don’t -know how I could ever do without him now.” - -In short, Georgia was in a difficult position, between an exacting -professional conscience and a sufficiently masterful lover, but it is -possible that her very tenderness for Dick’s feelings afforded her a -better guarantee of success than if she had cared for him less. He, on -his part, was quite content to enjoy to the full his unexpected -happiness, without troubling himself about the future, and he knew -nothing of the heavy sigh with which Georgia at last put her own -affairs from her, and dismounted from the litter in the harem -courtyard at the Palace, prepared to throw herself wholly into the -joys and sorrows of its inmates. - -“O doctor lady!” cried Nur Jahan, rushing to meet her with much -clashing of bangles and rustling of stiff satin, “it rejoices my eyes -to behold thee again. We feared that after the evil words of Antar -Khan’s mother thou wouldst never return to us. Truly the world has -changed for us all since thou wert here, and were it not for my lord’s -absence with the army I should have nothing to wish for.” - -She led Georgia into the Queen’s room, where the patient was waiting -in pitiable anxiety. The long delay, which she had been too nervous to -terminate at the proper time, had tasked the poor lady’s patience to -the utmost, and she was feverishly eager that the result of the -operation should be known, and the final verdict uttered. The room was -carefully darkened, and Georgia unfastened the bandages. For a moment -the Queen’s weakened eyes could see nothing, and a low despairing wail -broke from her, but almost as Georgia laid her hand upon her shoulder -and exhorted her to be calm, the moan changed to a cry of joy. - -“I can see!” she cried. “God is great, and great is the power He has -given to the English and to the doctor lady. With these eyes of mine I -shall behold my son’s son before I die.” - -“Here is the child, O my mother,” said Nur Jahan, laying her baby -eagerly in the Queen’s arms. “Bless him now, and bless also the doctor -lady, through whose skill thou beholdest him.” - -“Almost I might believe myself young again, with my son Rustam Khan in -my arms,” said the grandmother, looking fondly at the baby, “and yet -this is Rustam Khan’s son that I hold. O doctor lady, if the blessing -of one who has suffered much, and whom thou hast by thine art brought -back from the gates of despair, can benefit thee, thou hast it now, -and may it follow thee and thy children and thy children’s children -for ever!” - -Georgia’s own eyes were dim with tears as she turned away to put -together the things she had brought with her, and the slaves crowded -round her in grateful reverence, kissing the hem of her dress and -laying her hand on their heads, while Nur Jahan despatched a messenger -to inform the King that the operation had been successful. The slave -returned in a short time, accompanied by the chamberlain who presided -over the treasury, bearing a mass of jewellery tied up in a thick silk -handkerchief as a gift to the doctor lady, together with the King’s -grateful thanks. Georgia knew her duty with respect to presents of -this kind, and having raised the handkerchief to her forehead, she -placed it again on the tray on which it had arrived, and choosing out -of the heap a necklace of curious workmanship, but of comparatively -small intrinsic value, she returned the remainder to the bearer, -desiring him to convey her thanks to the King. Rahah was made happy by -the gift of a massive pair of anklets, in which she clanked about as -though in fetters; and the negro, as he withdrew, intimated that the -King intended to mark the occasion by gifts of jewellery to his wife -and daughter-in-law and their respective attendants. Hence it was a -very merry party which partook presently of coffee and sweetmeats in -the Queen’s room, and Georgia observed with some amusement that now it -was the Queen’s servants who shrieked shrill defiances across the -courtyard at the attendants of Antar Khan’s mother, and that they were -powerless to retaliate. They sat in a scowling and disconsolate row on -the verandah, and, as Mr Hicks would have put it, “squirmed” under the -infliction. - -“Must thou leave us when thy friends depart, O doctor lady?” asked the -Queen. “There are many women blind and sick and lame in Kubbet-ul-Haj, -much more in all Ethiopia. Wilt thou not stay and cure them?” - -“I am afraid I must go back when the Mission does,” said Georgia, -“though I shall be very sorry to have to leave you all, and I wish I -might hope to come back. But I shall not be my own mistress for very -long now.” - -“Has the wife of the Queen of England’s Envoy found a husband for -thee, then, O doctor lady?” asked Nur Jahan with deep commiseration, -forgetting the unfavourable impression of her own married life which -the words would convey; “I thought thou wert free and happy.” - -“Peace, Nur Jahan!” said the Queen, quickly. “Knowest thou not that -the caged birds should entice the wild ones into the trap, and not -warn them away? Hath the lot of all women overtaken thee at last, O -doctor lady? I would have thee give God thanks that it comes so late.” - -“O my ladies,” said Rahah, indignantly, “surely ye know not the ways -of the English. The great lord that is to marry my lady is a mighty -captain, and his name is known throughout all Khemistan. He is rich -also, and his hand is bountiful,” and Rahah surveyed complacently a -new bracelet she had made for herself that very morning by stringing -together certain silver coins, “and to please my lady he would give -all that he has. In his own eyes he is but the dust under her feet.” - -“Art thou so young as to be thus deceived, girl?” asked the Queen, -compassionately. “Surely it is ill with thy mistress if thou art led -away and withheld from warning her by a few pieces of silver. These -that thou hast mentioned are the ways of all men at the first, but -sooner or later the change comes. I warn thee, O doctor lady, when thy -lord brings another wife into the house, however solemnly he may have -assured thee that thou shalt always reign there alone, reproach him -not, but be friendly with her, if she will have it so, for otherwise -she will prevail upon him to cast thee out.” - -To the astonishment of the whole circle, Georgia was laughing so -heartily over the idea thus presented to her that she could scarcely -speak, but Rahah explained with haughty superiority the difference -between English and Ethiopian marriage customs, although her -explanation was received with manifest incredulity. It was not until -Georgia had declared solemnly that if her husband brought a second -wife into the house she would instantly leave it, and that the law of -England and public opinion would support her in doing so, that the -ladies began to perceive that there might be advantages attaching to -matrimony in Europe which were lacking to it in Kubbet-ul-Haj. Nur -Jahan possessed the moral support of Rustam Khan’s promise to her -father that he would not take a second wife; but it was evident that -the Queen and her women regarded this as a temporary concession which -might or might not continue to be observed, and that public opinion -would think no worse of Rustam Khan if he withdrew it. - -“It is right, O doctor lady,” said the Queen, “that thou shouldest -have a prospect of happiness in marriage, for thou hast dealt well -indeed with me and with my house.” - -“Nay, O my mother,” said Nur Jahan, “is it not rather that the doctor -lady has brought us good luck, from her first coming until now? Since -she came, the wicked Fath-ud-Din has been cast down and punished, and -my father is put into his place. Thine adversary has been made to eat -dirt, and the faces of all our enemies are humbled before us. My lord -is restored to his honours and to his command, and my mother has -returned to her house in peace with many gifts, sent her by our lord -the King. And thine eyes are opened also. Is not the doctor lady truly -a bringer of good luck?” - -“And yet our coming to Kubbet-ul-Haj has not brought good fortune to -ourselves,” said Georgia, sadly. “One of our party has been murdered, -and the Envoy himself lies like one dead----” - -“And a husband has been found for thee,” murmured the irrepressible -Nur Jahan. - -“I see you won’t believe me when I tell you that I don’t count that a -misfortune,” said Georgia. “I am not joking, Nur Jahan. I need help -very much, and I think that some of you can give it me, but it is in -quite a different matter.” - -“Speak, O doctor lady,” said the Queen, “and may the blindness thou -hast taken from me rest on any that refuse to help thee.” - -“You were speaking the other day,” said Georgia, “of some old woman -who was supposed to help Fath-ud-Din by poisoning his enemies. Is this -known to be true, or is it merely common talk?” - -“It is quite true,” replied the Queen, “that several of Fath-ud-Din’s -enemies have died in agonising torments which no physician could -alleviate. One expired in torturing thirst, with such pains as those -experience who have lost their way in the desert and can find no -water.” Georgia nodded quickly. “Another died of hunger, which -tormented him with its pangs, while he could swallow nothing to -alleviate them. Yet another went mad, and rushing through the city, -cast himself headlong from the walls; and of one the wives and -children died one after the other, until, broken down by misery, he -died also.” - -“Tell me,” said Georgia, eagerly, “has any one whom Fath-ud-Din hated -ever fallen into a sleep so heavy that he could not be awakened, in -which he remained for weeks and yet lived?” - -The ladies turned and looked at one another. “It is the Father of -sleep!” were the words that passed between them. - -“You know something about it?” cried Georgia. - -“We _know_ nothing, O doctor lady,” said Nur Jahan; “but we have heard -much concerning a certain drug of this wicked woman’s. Others of her -poisons are drawn, men say, from strange plants of distant lands; but -this is taken from a fish which is found upon a certain island of the -southern seas, and whose scales and bones and flesh, so they say, have -been all filled with poison by wicked enchantments, and they call it -the Father of sleep.” - -“Then have you ever known an instance when it was used?” asked -Georgia, filled with eager anticipation. - -“I have, O doctor lady,” said one of the Queen’s confidential slaves, -“and I will tell thee of it if my mistress will suffer me to speak -freely.” - -“Speak,” said the Queen. “Have not I commanded all my household to -assist the doctor lady in every way?” - -“It was many years ago, when our lord the King married the Vizier’s -sister, who is now the mother of Antar Khan,” said the slave, rather -reluctantly, “and our lord the King’s sister, the Lady Fatma, in whose -service I was at that time, was very angry about the match. It was -even said that she had almost succeeded in breaking it off. That -wicked woman, the sorceress, the accursed Khadija, was sent by -Fath-ud-Din to warn the Lady Fatma to withdraw her opposition, if her -life was dear to her; but the Princess mocked at Khadija, and derided -her powers. Then Khadija made an evil sign, and foretold that before -the next morning light the Lady Fatma should know her power; and -surely enough, when her slaves sought to awaken her at dawn, she did -not hear them, but lay as one still asleep. Then, when they had failed -again and again to arouse her, they ran to tell the King of the -matter, and of the words of Khadija. He sent for the woman, and -threatened her with death, but he could in no way wring from her a -promise to remove the spell, except on condition that no punishment -whatever should be inflicted on her. Now the King had an enemy, a -rebel chief, and it seemed to him that he might well be rid of him by -this woman’s means, and he covenanted with her that, as the price of -her life, she should not only remove the spell from the Lady Fatma, -but also bring about the death of Zohrab Khan. And this was done.” - -“And it was well done,” said the Queen, decisively, as the slave -looked towards her with some anxiety. “The man was a traitor, and -false to his salt.” - -“But was it poison that Khadija had administered to the Lady Fatma?” -asked Georgia, too eager for information to turn aside to the moral -question involved in the death of Zohrab Khan. “And how did she -counteract it?” - -“She had put the poison (very little is needed) into the Lady Fatma’s -coffee, and in order to awaken her from the magic sleep she gave her a -potion that she mixed. It was whispered among the slaves that it was -made of the shavings of a porcupine’s teeth, mixed with the juice of a -plant that is brought from the land of the poison-fish; but the secret -of it is known only to Khadija herself, and the antidote is useless -unless it is administered in one particular way, but none of us who -belonged to the Princess’s household were allowed to see what was -done.” - -“This must be the very thing I want to know!” said Georgia. “And now, -where is Khadija to be found?” - -“In Fath-ud-Din’s fortress of Bir-ul-Malikat, where she watches over -his daughter Zeynab,” said Nur Jahan, with lively contempt. “The Rose -of the World, they call the girl, and she is to marry Antar Khan, if -Fath-ud-Din and the witch together can bring it about.” - -“But where is this fortress?” asked Georgia. - -“In the desert, on the way to Khemistan. There are two forts on two -hills, Bir-ul-Malik and Bir-ul-Malikat. Bir-ul-Malik used to belong to -my father, but Khadija dried up the water in the well by her arts, and -the garrison almost died of thirst. My father complained to our lord -the King, and he, thinking that the place was now useless, commanded -Fath-ud-Din to give my father another town in exchange, and this he -did, in another part of the kingdom. But as soon as my father’s men -were gone from Bir-ul-Malik, Fath-ud-Din took possession of the place, -and Khadija brought back the water into the well, and now he holds the -only two forts and wells in all that region.” - -This was all the information that could be gained from the household -at the Palace, and Georgia’s desire not to alarm her friends kept her -from uttering aloud the thought that was in her mind, so that she -allowed the subject to drop. During the remainder of the visit, -however, and while she was being carried home in the litter, the -determination rose strong within her to find Khadija and get hold of -the secret of that antidote, if she had to make an expedition into -Ethiopia all by herself, after the Mission had returned to Khemistan, -for the sake of doing so. - -After the farewell visit to the Palace, there was still another visit -to be paid, and this was to Nur Jahan’s mother, who had returned with -her husband to her own house, which might now be considered a place of -comparative safety. The Princess sent her litter to the Mission, and -Georgia made the transit in the usual seclusion, escorted by Dick and -a number of armed servants. Arrived at the Grand Vizier’s house, Dick -whiled away the time by a chat with Jahan Beg, and Georgia and Rahah -were conducted to the harem, where the Princess received them with -great kindness. There was even a touch of compassion in her manner, -for which Georgia was at a loss to account until she learnt that Nur -Jahan had told her mother of the doctor lady’s intended marriage. - -“Art thou well advised in this that thou art intending, O doctor -lady?” asked the Princess. “If it is true that thou art free to act in -the matter according to thine own will, consider what thou doest -before it is too late. My daughter tells me that thou hast no fear, -since thy betrothed husband is an Englishman; but I know too well that -all husbands are alike, for I also am married to an Englishman, -although I was not aware of the truth until Fath-ud-Din’s servants -shouted it at me as they drove me from my own house a month ago.” - -“Perhaps,” suggested Georgia, diffidently, “the Amir Jahan Beg was not -then acquainted with the customs of Ethiopia, which differ from ours, -and he may have appeared unkind through ignorance.” - -“Not so,” said the Princess, decisively, “for had that been all, my -love would have won him to honour our customs for my sake,” and her -hard eyes softened at the touch of some early memory. “Listen to me, O -doctor lady, and judge between my lord and me. My first husband was -very old, and when he died I mourned for him almost as for a father. -To him I was a child and a plaything--he was not unkind, but I was -nothing to him, and I knew it. Then for some time I dwelt at the -Palace, under the protection of my cousin the Queen. In those days -every one was talking of the valour and wisdom of a new favourite of -our lord the King, a captive from among the hillmen of the south, but -a convert to the faith of Islam. He had repelled the hostile tribes on -our northern border, and extended the kingdom beyond the utmost limits -it had hitherto attained, and he was coming in triumph to -Kubbet-ul-Haj to lay his spoils at the King’s feet. When that day -came, the Queen and I, with our women, were watching the ceremony from -our balcony above the throne. The slave-girls exclaimed at the -vastness of the spoil, but I saw only the victor. Surely, I thought, -he is as an angel of God! While I watched him, the Queen came close to -me and whispered in my ear, ‘That is the bridegroom our lord intends -for thee, my Nafiza. Doth he please thee?’ O doctor lady, I thought -that I should die of joy! On all sides I heard congratulations, but I -congratulated myself most of all. Surely never did woman gain her -heart’s desire more speedily, nor more speedily see it turn to dust -and ashes when gained! My nurse told me afterwards that on our -wedding-night she had seen how things would fall out. I was waiting -for my bridegroom, she with me, that she might remove my veil and -leave him to behold my face. He came in without a salutation to either -of us, and sat down beside me upon the divan. My nurse was angry, and -said sharply, ‘It is not the custom in Ethiopia to sit uninvited in -the presence of the daughter of the King’s uncle.’ ‘O mother,’ he -replied, ‘I stand before no woman in Ethiopia, least of all my own -wife.’ My nurse was much disturbed. ‘Wilt thou still marry him, -Nafiza, my dove?’ she whispered, so that only I could hear; ‘the King -will not suffer thee to be insulted.’ But I, thinking, ‘He must surely -be a great prince in his own country, to speak thus to a king’s -granddaughter!’ motioned to her to lift my veil, saying, ‘It is well, -O my nurse; go on.’ And thus was I married, and evil was my marriage. -For in the night I would hear my lord speaking in his own tongue in -his sleep, and I knew that he spoke of his own land. But more; I -learnt why nothing that I could do could please him, or bring his eyes -to look upon me with favour. He had no love for me, he had married me -at the King’s command, and I could not even hope that in time I might -be able to win his affection, for always in the night he called upon -the name of another woman.” - -“Oh, but how could you tell?” cried Georgia, quickly, appalled by this -revelation of the tragedy which Jahan Beg had brought into the life of -his slighted wife. “You don’t understand English. You may have -mistaken what he said.” The Lady Nafiza smiled. - -“How could I tell, O doctor lady? My heart told me. Though I might not -understand the words, yet I could not mistake the tone. And thus my -dream faded. But when my daughter Nur Jahan was born, my lord left off -crying out to the other woman, but he spoke more and more in his sleep -of his own land. I _knew_ it, O doctor lady, though I could not -understand. And one day, sitting at his feet, with my baby in my arms, -while he held up the hilt of his sword so that the light might flash -upon the jewels and make the child laugh, I plucked up my courage and -said, ‘Does my lord long very sorely for his own land that he cries -out for it every night?’ I would have gone on to tell him that for his -sake I was ready to leave my people and flee with him to his land, but -his brow darkened, and he sprang up and seized me by the shoulder. ‘Am -I not safe in my own house?’ he cried in a dreadful voice. ‘Do they -set my wife to spy upon me? Woman, no one that has betrayed Jahan Beg -lives another hour!’ What could I do but embrace his knees and kiss -his feet, and entreat his mercy for my child’s sake, since he had no -pity for me? And he thrust me from him and went out. Never again did I -speak to him of the words he uttered in sleep. But I loved him still, -and cast about how I might win him to me. At last it seemed to me that -there was indeed a reason for my ill-success, for I had given my lord -no son. Then, after many tears shed in secret, and many struggles with -myself, I said to him, ‘Let my lord choose another wife, who may bear -him sons, and I will welcome her into my house, and she shall be to me -as a sister, for my lord’s sake, and her children as my own.’ This I -did, thinking that he feared to supplant me because I was the King’s -cousin--and indeed, all this house and the slaves were part of my -dowry, and belong to me--but he _laughed_, O doctor lady, he laughed -at me, though I was giving him that which it broke my heart to offer, -and he said, ‘If I desired other wives, I would take them, but one is -enough for me.’ Why should my lord visit upon me the evil deeds of -that other woman, O doctor lady? for I know that she must have -deceived him. But from that day I sought no more to speak to my -husband’s heart. And my daughter grew up; but she was like him and his -people, and not like me, and he loved her for that reason, so that -sometimes I almost hated my own child. But that is long ago, and I -remember it to-day only as a warning to thee.” - -Georgia’s eyes were full of tears as she took her leave. She had -bestowed all her pity hitherto on Nur Jahan, but now she felt more -deeply for her mother, whose love, passionate and unrequited, had been -to her only a source of pain. The wrong which Jahan Beg had done had -been visited not only upon himself, but upon his innocent wife and -daughter, and it could not be redressed. - -“Sweetheart,” said Dick, anxiously, as he helped Georgia out of the -litter on their return, and assisted her to remove the enshrouding -_burka_, “you look awfully fagged. Come and have a turn round the -courtyard with me.” - -“Do you know, Dick,” she said, looking round at him, “that I am being -advised continually not to marry you?” - -“No?” said Dick, highly diverted. “What a joke! Who is the faithful -warner--young Anstruther?” - -“Dick! As if I would ever let him say a word against you to me! No, it -is all my Ethiopian ladies. They are firmly of opinion that marriage -is a failure.” - -“I hope you oppose them with all the ardour of a new convert, then?” - -“I can’t convince them, unfortunately. Their arguments are -unanswerable, they are their own husbands.” - -“And you have no favourable counter-experience to draw upon?” - -“No. I have to defend you on trust, Dick.” - -“Poor little girl! and that’s very hard upon you, isn’t it, when you -know so little of me, and what you do know is so bad?” - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - RETREAT CUT OFF. - -Two or three days after Georgia’s visit to the Lady Nafiza, messengers -from Rustam Khan reached the city, announcing that his expedition had -been entirely successful, and that he was bringing back with him the -servants and baggage-animals of which the travellers had been -deprived. This was good news, and once more preparations for departure -occupied all those in the Mission. But before the triumphant general -had returned to the capital, and while Stratford and Dick were still -superintending the packing of cases which it was necessary to pile up -in the front courtyard until the means of transport arrived, Mr Hicks -looked in to bid farewell to his English friends. His mules and camels -had not been impounded, and he was therefore able to start on the -morrow. Stratford was somewhat surprised that he did not defer his -journey for a few days, and ask permission to attach himself to the -Mission caravan; but Mr Hicks explained that he preferred to travel in -comfort, and not to find all the inns occupied, and the markets -cleared at every stopping-place along the route, by the train of the -British Envoy. He did not add that he was calculating on bringing to -Khemistan the first news respecting the Mission that had arrived since -the interruption of communications, or that he anticipated driving an -excellent bargain for himself and the paper he represented by the sale -of the unique information he possessed; but he had a proposal to make -to Stratford which rather surprised him. - -“I guess you calculate on being able to make tracks in safety now, Mr -Stratford, but I don’t know that I am quite with you there. I allow -that you have had almighty luck, and that you have plucked the flower -success from the nettle danger in a style I admire. A month ago I -would have bet my bottom dollar that you would never leave -Kubbet-ul-Haj without conducting another high-class funeral in that -burial-lot of yours, and reading the Episcopal service over the old -man, any way. But there’s real grit in you, sir, and I don’t mind -making you a present of that acknowledgment before the general public -throughout the universe gets hold of it in the columns of the ‘Crier.’ -Still, I don’t consider that the prospect before you is exactly a -shining one. It would have taxed Moses himself to fix your return trip -satisfactorily. Once you get outside these walls, you will have to -defend the whole outfit by the light of nature, for you have never -been on the Plains, any of you.” - -“Still,” said Stratford, with some coldness, “Major North is an -experienced soldier, and Mr Anstruther----” - -“Is an amusing young cuss. I beg your pardon for taking the words out -of your mouth, Mr Stratford, but I can reckon up those two boys as -well as you can. Major North is a pragmatic piece of wood, that would -stand to be cut to pieces rather than budge an inch----” - -“Excuse me if I interrupt you in my turn, Mr Hicks. Major North is my -friend, and if I hear any more disparaging remarks about him I shall -feel bound to turn you over to Miss Keeling. She would know how to -resent them properly.” - -“You are right, sir, she would. And that brings me to my point. -Thinking over your position here, and the probability of the King’s -turning nasty (for I guess there are few crowned heads that would care -to send away in peace a man that had driven them to change their minds -by the gentle compulsion of a cocked six-shooter), I concluded this -morning to offer to escort the ladies to the frontier. I travel -lightly, and stand to cover the ground much faster than your big -camel-train, and there is no animosity against me. If they are once -safe in Khemistan you can come on behind with the old man and the -baggage, and feel easy in your minds. Now don’t get riled and say -things you’ll be sorry for afterwards, Mr Stratford. I am not -impugning your prudence, nor yet your powers of fighting. We have to -face facts. It gives any one who is inclined to be troublesome a -colossal pull over you that you have the ladies to look after, and if -they were put in safety it would diminish at once your anxiety and -your liability to attack.” - -“What do you think North will say to this?” - -“Who bosses this show, Mr Stratford? If Major North displays an -unbecoming spirit, put him under arrest. You are too sweetly -reasonable with the boys ever to do much good with ’em.” - -“But you don’t imagine that the ladies would go?” - -“That is for them to decide. Give them their choice, any way. I guess -if they won’t go, they won’t; but let ’em have the chance.” - -Stimulated by the equitable spirit displayed by Mr Hicks, Stratford -broached the subject to the ladies during tiffin, and was not -surprised to find that they received it with most ungrateful scorn. -Lady Haigh simply expressed her determination to remain with Sir -Dugald at all hazards (a resolution which Mr Hicks, in a talk with -Stratford afterwards, unfeelingly likened to that of Mrs Micawber), -and Georgia refused with much emphasis to desert her patient. To the -no small amusement of Mr Hicks, he discovered, from a piece of by-play -which attracted his notice, that Dick, once fully assured that she -would not go, was disposed to suggest, with an air of superior wisdom, -that it might be wiser if she did. - -“You know, Georgie,” pathetically, “that I should feel ever so much -happier if I knew you were in safety.” - -“My dear Dick,” solemnly, “nothing would induce me to go, under any -circumstances.” - -“Not if I told you that it was my wish?” tenderly. - -“If you are wise, Dick, you won’t attempt to bring into play in this -case any authority you may imagine that you possess,” warningly; “nor -in any other case in creation, either,” interjected Mr Hicks, _sotto -voce_. - -Thus it happened that Mr Hicks started on his journey alone, and that -the ladies formed part of the procession which filed out of the -Khemistan gate of Kubbet-ul-Haj about a week later. A comfortable -litter, carried by two mules, had been procured for Sir Dugald, but -only the household servants were aware of the nature of his illness, -or knew how completely it incapacitated him for ordinary life, and -Ismail Bakhsh and his subordinates formed a bodyguard round the -litter. It was their business to keep any idea of the truth from -reaching the camel-men and mule-drivers, who were regarded with a -certain amount of suspicion on account of their long separation from -the rest of the party. One or two of the servants who had originally -accompanied the Mission from Khemistan had died during the interval; -several, according to the testimony of their jailers, had succeeded in -making their escape, and the places of these had been filled up by -Ethiopians, so that it was just as well to allow them to imagine that -although the terrible Envoy was so ill as to be unable to mount his -horse, and must be carried in a litter like a woman, yet he still -directed the course of affairs, and gave orders which Stratford merely -carried into effect. Jahan Beg accompanied the travellers for the -first few miles of their journey, and parted from them on the crest of -a rise from which the first view of Kubbet-ul-Haj could be obtained by -those approaching the city. - -“I wish I could have gone with you as far as the frontier,” he had -said to Stratford, “but I daren’t leave the city just now. I believe I -am on the brink of discovering a very neat plot between the Scythian -agent, who ought to be across the border by this time, but is supposed -to be detained by illness at a village only a day’s journey off, and -Fath-ud-Din’s adherents. I think I have tracked nearly all the -participators, and when I am ready I shall give them a surprise. The -plan is, of course, to get rid of me and destroy the English treaty. -By the way, I hope you are careful of your copy. Accidents will -happen, and if that should be stolen or destroyed, it would be a big -score for them. If you should chance to be detained anywhere by -sickness or a difficulty in obtaining provisions, you will do well to -send on some one you can trust, with ten or twelve well-armed men, to -make a dash for Rahmat-Ullah, and put the treaty in safety. Our copy, -of course, is safe as long as I am, but no one can tell how long that -will be. All Fath-ud-Din’s fortresses are refusing to yield except to -force, which is another thing that makes me think they anticipate a -speedy return to the old state of affairs, and I shall be obliged to -send Rustam Khan with the army to reduce each one in turn. You will -have to pass not far from two of them; but if your guides are -trustworthy and know their business, they ought to take you by without -even coming in sight of them. One of the forts ought to be mine, which -makes its resistance all the more irritating. Fath-ud-Din did me out -of it with the help of some devilry practised by the old witch whom he -keeps to get rid of his friends for him. Perhaps I shall get it back -now. Well, good-bye; keep an eye on your guides and a tight hand over -your men and the escort, and when you get the welcome you deserve at -home, don’t quite forget the man who disappeared.” - -He shook hands with the rest of the party, and turned away abruptly to -begin his ride back to the city. As Georgia looked after him, -something of pity rose in her heart. After all, the only tragedies in -Kubbet-ul-Haj were not those of the older women with their woful past, -and Nur Jahan with her comfortless future. There was tragedy also in -the story of the man who for life’s sake had given up all that -ennobled life, and who had gained so much that he found was valueless, -and lost so much that he now knew was invaluable. Alone in the great -cruel faithless city, his only memorial of the visit of his friends -the rough tablet which marked Dr Headlam’s grave, his only trustworthy -companion the wife whose love he had slighted, his daily occupation -the search after any means by which he might succeed in maintaining -his position on the slippery height he had reached--there was little -reason to envy Jahan Beg. - -The march which now began was by no means devoid of incident, but -during the first few days, while the caravan was still in touch with -the city, everything went well. It was when the dried-up pasture-lands -and the scattered villages had all been left behind, and only the -sands of the desert were to be seen on every side, that the troubles -of the Mission began again. Their commencement was marked by a small -but alarming mutiny among the escort of irregular cavalry, who accused -their captain of appropriating to his own use half of the _bakhshish_ -promised them as a reward for their services, which had been handed -over to him at the beginning of the journey for distribution among his -troopers. It had been arranged that each man should receive the -remainder of his share when Fort Rahmat-Ullah was reached, but they -demanded that it should be paid down immediately, if they were to -escort the Mission any further. To yield to this attempt at extortion -was manifestly impossible, since there was nothing to prevent the -men’s demanding extra gifts until the travellers were bereft even of -the necessaries of life; but nothing less than a complete surrender to -their wishes would satisfy the mutineers. The English met informally -in Stratford’s tent to consider the situation (it was early in the -morning, and the preparations for the day’s march were interrupted by -this untoward event), and admitted to their councils the Ethiopian -captain, who had brought the news that the men refused to move until -their demands were conceded. - -“If we don’t stop this at once,” said Dick, “things will get serious. -Stratford, I should be glad if you would leave the matter to me to -deal with.” - -“By all means,” said Stratford; “but what do you intend to do?” - -“Make an example of the chaps that are stirring them up,” said Dick, -grimly, taking out his revolver and making sure that all the chambers -were loaded. - -“But we shall have to get hold of them first,” objected Stratford. - -“Exactly. That’s what I’m going to do.” - -“Stuff! You are not going down among them alone, I can tell you.” - -“We can’t waste more than one man over this business. Look there,” and -he threw a significant glance at the trembling Ethiopian captain, “you -can see what he thinks of it. I’ll take Ismail Bakhsh with me. Lend -him your revolver.” - -“Oh, Dick, what are you going to do?” asked Georgia in astonishment, -as she met Dick outside the tent, revolver in hand, with Ismail Bakhsh -stalking after him with inimitable dignity and determination, his -right hand thrust into his girdle. - -“Never mind. Go back into your tent, and don’t show yourselves, any of -you,” returned Dick, sharply. She obeyed without hesitation; but since -he had not forbidden her to watch him, she took advantage of a hole in -the canvas to gain a view of all that passed. From the sandhill on -which the tents were pitched she could see the soldiers in their camp -below, gathered round an orator who was haranguing them, while no -preparations for starting were visible. She saw Dick march calmly into -the throng, elbowing his way through the men with little ceremony, and -dislodge the orator forcibly from the unsteady rostrum of -biscuit-boxes which he occupied. When she next caught a glimpse of him -he was on the outskirts of the crowd again, holding his prisoner by -the rags which represented his collar, and propelling him vigorously -in the direction of the tents, assisting his progress now and again by -a hearty kick. The rest of the troop appeared to have been stupefied by -the suddenness of the onslaught, but just as Dick was free of the -throng, Georgia saw another man leap up upon a box and call out to his -fellows to rescue their leader. The spell was broken, and there was an -ugly rush, while weapons were hastily caught up. - -“Arrest that man, Ismail Bakhsh,” said Dick, without looking round; -“and if he won’t come quietly, shoot him.” - -Ismail Bakhsh obeyed in perfect silence, and led his captive up the -hill after Dick, the troopers once more making way for him without -attempting to use their weapons. Arrived at the summit, Dick paused -and looked back. - -“Dismiss!” he said, in a sharp, harsh voice such as Georgia had never -heard from him before, and the mutineers, understanding the order by a -species of intuition, dispersed quietly, while Dick and Ismail Bakhsh -passed on to the tent with their prisoners. - -“Georgie, what is the matter?” cried Lady Haigh, as Georgia dropped -the canvas flap with a gasping cry, and staggered back against the -tent pole. - -“Only that I have just watched Dick take his life in his hand,” she -explained, breathlessly. “For the last ten minutes I have been -thinking that I should never see him alive again.” - -In Stratford’s tent a hasty and extremely informal court-martial was -held immediately for the purpose of trying the two prisoners, and here -the management of affairs passed out of Dick’s hands. He was in favour -of shooting both men on the spot, as an encouragement to the rest, but -Stratford shrank from the idea; and the piteous entreaties of the -Ethiopian captain, who pointed out that if such a sentence were -carried into execution his life would not be worth a moment’s purchase -when he started to return home alone with his troops, were allowed to -prevail upon the side of mercy. It was difficult to devise a suitable -punishment under the circumstances; but finally the two men were -deprived of the semblance of uniform they possessed, and driven out -into the desert on foot by the servants, provided with a meagre -allowance of bread and water. They would not starve, unless they -wilfully remained where they were instead of retracing their steps -along the road they had come, but it was probable that they would have -an extremely unpleasant experience before they found their way back to -the habitations of men. - -The lesson proved to be a sufficient one, and the troopers, with -sullen faces, returned to their duty, imbued with an added respect for -Dick and an increased hatred and contempt for their own commander. -They made no parade of either of these sentiments during the day’s -march, but the net result of them was visible the next morning, when -no soldiers could be found. They had ridden away during the night from -their bivouac on the outskirts of the camp, leaving their watch-fires -alight to deceive any observers, and in his tent the body of their -captain, pierced with many wounds. - -“A wound for each man,” said Ismail Bakhsh, contemplating the dead man -with mingled curiosity and disgust; “and see here, the rebels have -left a gift for my lord.” - - [image: images/img_09.jpg - caption: “See here, the rebels have left a gift for my lord.”] - -He lifted from the spot where it had been laid at the side of the -corpse a long curved dagger, the handle and sheath of which were of -silver, curiously chased and encrusted with turquoises. A scrap of -paper partially burnt, which had apparently been picked up after being -used as a pipe-light and thrown aside, was wrapped round the lower -part of the blade, and a few words in Arabic characters were traced -upon it. - -“‘To the General Dīk,’” read Ismail Bakhsh with interest. “It is the -dagger which my lord admired when he saw it worn the other day by one -of those forsworn ones. At least they know a man when they see one, -evil though they are.” - -“You can bring the thing to my tent,” said Dick. “I will keep it as a -curiosity. And now, Ismail Bakhsh, we must see this poor wretch -decently buried before we go on. You and your men had better perform -the proper ceremonies, and we will fire a volley over his grave by way -of giving him a military funeral.” - -Leaving the scene of the tragedy, he communicated to Stratford his -impressions of the state of affairs, and they agreed to minimise as -far as possible the importance of what had occurred when in the -presence of the ladies. Accordingly, they talked cheerfully of the -advantage of being rid of the escort of a mutinous and discontented -body of troops, and said nothing of the unwelcome thought which had -suggested itself to Dick, that the mutineers might have taken it into -their heads to ride on in advance, so as to lie in wait for the -caravan at some awkward corner. The body of the unfortunate Ethiopian -captain was buried with military honours, and the cavalcade, now much -diminished in numbers, took the road again. - -The next difficulty that confronted the leaders of the party was -caused by the action of the guides, who came to Stratford that evening -and begged that he would allow the usual order of the march to be -changed for the next few days, so that the journey should be carried -on at night, and the necessary halt take place during the hours of -daylight. The Mission, they said, was now approaching the region -dominated by Fath-ud-Din’s two fortresses, Bir-ul-Malik and -Bir-ul-Malikat, and it was all-important that its passage should not -be perceived by the watchmen upon the walls. This appeared at first -sight very reasonable, and Stratford and Dick, having heard what the -men had to say, and dismissed them, found themselves somewhat at a -loss as to their answer. - -“If we were sure that we can trust these fellows,” said Stratford, “it -would be all right, but Jahan Beg warned us against them particularly. -Then, again, why didn’t they state when we engaged them that it might -be advisable to make night marches for part of the way, at any rate -while we are in the sphere of influence of the garrisons of these -forts?” - -“Oh, as to that,” said Dick, “no doubt they would say that they didn’t -bargain for the soldiers mutinying and deserting us, and thought that -under their escort we should be safe enough, even in the daytime. But -I don’t like this nocturnal idea for two reasons. We should be quite -unable to identify the features of the country at night, and they -might lead us astray without our discovering it; and moreover, if the -mutineers or Fath-ud-Din’s friends should happen to mean mischief, a -night-attack on the column as it marched would simply smash us up. We -should have more chance in daylight, or even in case of a night-attack -on the camp, for the baggage gives us a certain amount of cover when -it is properly piled and the beasts picketed.” - -“But on the other hand, if the guides are trustworthy, we are doing a -very mad thing in rejecting their advice.” - -“Quite so; we have a choice of evils. But if you remember, Jahan Beg -was of opinion that the fellows ought to be able to take us past the -forts without our even coming in sight of them, so that this -exaggerated carefulness seems unnecessary.” - -“Then you are for going on as we are? It’s an awful risk, North, if -things should go wrong.” - -“I have more at stake than you have, old man, and you may depend upon -it that nothing but the firmest conviction that this course is the -safest would make me advocate it. Of course, you boss this outfit, as -Hicks would say----” - -“Oh, nonsense!” said Stratford. “I am not going to back half an -opinion of my own against all your experience. We will stick to our -morning and afternoon marches, North.” - -The decision thus reached was duly communicated to the guides, and -received by them with sulky acquiescence. The next day’s march was -uneventful; but the aspect of the country was gradually changing, and -becoming more rocky, although it remained as barren and -parched-looking as before. The halt that night was made at the foot of -a steep cliff, which afforded protection in the rear, while a -breastwork of baggage and saddles, arranged in the form of a -semicircle, gave some guarantee against a successful attack in front. -Again the hours of darkness passed without alarm, but the equanimity -of the party was disturbed at breakfast by a domestic misfortune. -Rahah, in floods of tears, came to inform her mistress that the white -cat was lost. On the journey Colleen Bawn was always Rahah’s special -care, travelling on the same mule, and occupying the pannier which -contained Miss Keeling’s toilet requisites, and which was balanced by -the maid in the opposite one. On this particular morning Rahah had -sought her charge in vain. She knew that the kitten was generally to -be found by Georgia’s side at breakfast-time, laying a white paw on -its mistress’s wrist with dignified insistence when it had reason to -imagine itself forgotten; but this morning the tit-bits remained -unclaimed on Georgia’s plate. Rahah had searched the whole camp, she -said, and Ismail Bakhsh’s son Ibrahim had helped her, but they could -not find the white cat; and would the doctor lady request the -gentlemen to stop the loading, and set all the men free to look for -it? They had sworn to find the doctor lady’s pet if it took them all -day to do it, and they knew that the little gentleman (this was the -undignified name by which Fitz was invariably known among the -servants) would help them. - -“I am afraid we can hardly sacrifice a day for such a purpose,” said -Stratford, wavering between politeness and a sense of his -responsibility as leader, as Georgia looked across at him; but Dick -showed no such hesitation. - -“Miss Keeling would never think of your doing such a thing, Stratford. -To hang about here, of all places, while Anstruther and the servants -looked for a lost cat, would be a piece of criminal folly--one might -almost say wickedness. We can’t risk the lives of the whole party for -the sake of a cat. Here, ayah--take another good look about while we -finish breakfast, and if you haven’t found the beast when we’re ready -to start, we must leave it behind.” - -Georgia’s face flushed as she stirred her coffee deliberately. She had -no wish to risk the lives of the whole party by insisting on delay, -but it was not Dick’s place to say so for her. It looked as though he -had no confidence in her, that he should not allow her even the -semblance of a choice, and confidence was what she demanded above all -things. It flashed upon him presently, noticing her silence, that he -had hurt her, and he bent towards her to say in a low voice-- - -“I say, Georgie, you don’t mind much, do you? Are you awfully keen on -the little beast? I’ll buy you dozens when we get to Khemistan. But -you wouldn’t have us waste time now?” - -“You have quite put it out of my power even if I wished it,” returned -Georgia, coldly; and Fitz, at the other side of the makeshift table, -was filled with a sudden and violent hatred against Dick. It was not -the first time that this feeling had entered his mind--in fact, it -merely slumbered intermittently, and awoke whenever Dick and Georgia -had a difference of opinion, no matter which side was in the right. -Fitz had no desire to quarrel with Georgia’s choice, for his loyalty -was too unquestioning to admit a doubt of her wisdom in the matter; -but that the highly-favoured man who was honoured by the love of this -peerless lady should be so blind to the grace bestowed upon him as -actually to contradict and even to bully her (this was Fitz’s -rendering of what he saw) was only an awful illustration of the depths -to which human depravity could descend. At such times as this all the -boy’s faculties were on the alert to render some service, however -great or small, to his lady, which might assure her that even though -Major North possessed no due sense of the overwhelming privileges she -had granted to him, there were others who still counted it an honour -to be able to anticipate her least wish. It is slightly pathetic to be -obliged to record that Georgia accepted his good offices without at -all appreciating the sentiment from which they sprang--indeed, so -ungrateful is human nature that, had she discovered it, she would -probably have rejected them with contumely, and poured out the vials -of her wrath on the head of the luckless youth who dared to criticise -Dick--and that she valued the slightest attention from her lover far -above all that Fitz could offer, in spite of the much greater -disinterestedness of the latter’s endeavours. But this only proved to -Fitz more clearly still her excellence, as exemplified by her absolute -loyalty to the man of her choice, and stimulated him to continue to -render his unselfish services. - -The efforts of Rahah and her fellow-servants to find Colleen Bawn -proving ineffectual, the march began at the usual time, although not -until after Dick had personally conducted Georgia to the top of the -cliff, that she might see whether the kitten had found its way -thither; but the rough scramble to the summit and the difficult -descent were alike undertaken in vain. Doubtless, said Rahah, with an -indignant glance at Dick, the white cat had curled itself up in some -cleft of the rocks and gone to sleep, and it would be easy for the men -to discover it if they searched systematically, although a cursory -look round was useless. But no delay was allowed, and Rahah settled -herself mournfully in her pannier, and snubbed Ibrahim whenever he -came near her--a course of treatment which, while it failed to -irritate him, proved most serviceable in working off her own bad -temper. - -Important though this storm in a tea-cup was to the two or three -persons immediately interested, the leaders of the party had far -weightier matters to consider. The march had lasted some two hours and -a half when Stratford, who had been riding at the head of the caravan -with one of the guides, turned back and joined Dick, whose post, when -he was not on duty, was naturally at Georgia’s side. - -“What do you think of the look of the weather, North?” - -“I don’t like it. See what a dirty sort of colour the sky has turned. -I should say we were in for a storm.” - -“That’s just what these fellows say. A sand-storm is what they -prophesy; but that’s all rot, I suppose.” - -“Oh no. We can get up very tolerable imitations of the real thing in -these desert tracts, but they are not particularly frequent. However, -the guides ought to know; and if they say there’s one coming, we had -better look out for some sort of shelter.” - -“The guides make out that there’s a ridge of rocks somewhere about -which would protect us to a certain extent, but they don’t seem very -sure of their ground. The ridge might be any distance between ten -minutes’ walk and half a day’s journey ahead of us, from all I can -discover.” - -“We’ll send young Anstruther and two men on in front to reconnoitre a -little, while you and I and Kustendjian see what we can get out of -these fellows. Why, where is the child gone? Hi, Ismail Bakhsh, where -is the _chota sahib_?” - -With a face as ingenuous as that of the youthful Washington when he -resisted the historic temptation to mendacity, Ismail Bakhsh replied -that he had last seen the little gentleman at the rear of the column, -not thinking it necessary to add that it was at a considerable -distance to the rear, and that Fitz was riding in the opposite -direction to that in which the column was proceeding. - -“Well, we can’t wait to fetch him up from the rear,” said Dick, -looking back over the long caravan. “I will ride on and do the -scouting, Stratford, while you and Kustendjian cross-examine the -guides. It would be just as well to pass the word along for the men to -step out a little faster, don’t you think?” - -Stratford agreed, and the pace of the caravan was a good deal -accelerated in a spasmodic kind of way. Dick and his followers -returned from their reconnaissance in a little over half an hour, by -which time the gloomy hue of the sky was much intensified, and the air -had become quite hazy. Stinging particles of grit were driven against -the face as the riders moved along, and sudden gusts of wind, coming -short and sharp, now from one point of the compass and now from -another, were chasing the sand hither and thither in little eddying -whirls. - -“We have found the place!” cried Dick, as he rode up. “Pass the word -to hurry, Ismail Bakhsh; it’s not much further on. And bring up one of -the camels with the tents. We must get up some sort of shelter for the -ladies.” - -The ordinary dignified pace of the caravan was now exchanged for a -helter-skelter mode of progression, which was extremely trying to the -mind of Dick, when he saw the confusion which was engendered in the -ranks by the haste he had recommended. It was more like a disorderly -race than peaceful travelling, and the different bodies of servants -were inextricably mixed up. - -“What a gorgeous chance for the enemy if they saw us now!” he said to -himself. “The only thing is that they are probably just as much taken -up with the storm as we are.” - -No long time elapsed before the friendly ridge of rocks was reached, -and the tent erected under its shelter. Sir Dugald was carried inside, -Lady Haigh and Georgia and their maids followed, and the canvas was -fastened down tightly. Stratford and Dick, remaining outside, did -their best to create some sort of order out of the chaos which surged -around them as the servants and baggage-animals came pouring up. There -was no time to unload the mules and camels, but they were brought as -close under the rocks as possible, and the men found shelter among -them. When the last straggler had come in, Stratford turned suddenly -to Dick. - -“Where can Anstruther be?” he said. - -Before Dick could hazard an opinion, the storm burst upon them with a -roar, and they were glad to follow the example of the guides, and hide -their faces from the blast. The wind shrieked among the rocks, and -swept down with tremendous force upon the closely-packed mass of men -and animals, carrying with it quantities of sand and minute pebbles, -which had a blinding effect upon the eyes. Inside the tent the women -waited in hot stifling darkness, with the fine sand making its way in -at every seam and covering everything. During what seemed hours they -heard no sounds but the whistling and howling of the wind without. -Then there arose a chorus of shouts and yells and curses, mingled with -the grunting of camels and the shrill squeals of protesting mules. -Some kind of fierce struggle seemed to be going on outside; but it was -impossible to discover its nature, for the fastenings of the tent -refused to yield to the efforts of the prisoners, and no one answered -their calls or appeals for information. At last, just as Georgia drew -out a pair of surgical scissors and began deliberately to cut a slit -in the tough double canvas, the flap of the tent was thrown back, and -Stratford entered, bare-headed and breathless. - -“The beasts have stampeded,” he explained, “and the guides and -servants are all gone after them. We have been rushing hither and -thither, catching and securing any animal we could get hold of, and -shouting to the men to keep quiet and not to give chase. But we might -as well have spoken to the rocks. Ismail Bakhsh and his men and the -house-servants were the only ones that listened; the rest all rushed -away after their own animals. Of course that only drove them further -off, and they must be scattered over the whole country round by this -time. I fear we must have lost most of the baggage, for what we have -saved is a very small amount, and strikingly miscellaneous in -character. But no doubt the men will manage to find their way back -here by degrees, and then----” - -A sudden exclamation from Dick interrupted him, and he stepped -outside. Lady Haigh and Georgia followed, only to be pushed back into -the tent, and desired angrily to cover their faces with their -_burkas_. Facing the little knot of startled men and frightened -baggage-animals which now represented the great Mission caravan were a -troop of horsemen, who had taken up, under cover of the storm and the -stampede, such a position as to preclude any attempt to escape on the -part of those they were hemming in. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - THE VALUE OF A REPUTATION. - -“Get the men together while I try a parley with these fellows,” said -Stratford to Dick, when he took in the facts of the situation. “They -are not our friends the mutineers, at any rate.” - -“My lord’s _topi_,” said Ismail Bakhsh, stepping up with a salute, and -offering Stratford his helmet, which he had found caught in a crevice -of the rocks. Stratford put it on, and, carrying his riding-whip -carelessly in his hand, advanced to meet the strangers, who had -remained motionless on their horses since Dick had first caught sight -of them. - -“Peace be upon you!” he said as he approached them. - -“And upon thee be peace!” responded an old man, who appeared to be the -leader of the party. “My lord is one of the envoys of the Queen of -England to our lord the King?” - -“I am temporarily in command of the Mission, owing to the illness of -the Envoy,” answered Stratford. “To whom have I the honour of -speaking?” - -“My lord’s servant is Abd-ur-Rahim, Governor of the fortress of -Bir-ul-Malik for our lord the King.” - -“Not for the late Grand Vizier, Fath-ud-Din, then?” - -“How should that be so? My lord knows that another now holds the -King’s signet. Surely his servant only retains his office until he be -confirmed or superseded in it by orders from Kubbet-ul-Haj. But the -only orders he has received as yet have concerned the Mission of the -English Queen, and they have commanded him to do all in his power to -help it, and to facilitate its return journey.” - -“Then the orders have arrived in the nick of time,” said Stratford. “A -little assistance will be of great use to us in our present -circumstances. Our baggage-animals were alarmed by the storm, and are -scattered about, and if your soldiers would help us to get them -together again it would be a great boon. But will you not dismount and -eat and drink with us, Abd-ur-Rahim? We have but little to offer, yet -it is our delight to share it with a friend.” - -“Nay, but my lord and all his company shall eat and drink with me,” -was the hospitable reply. “In Bir-ul-Malik there is room for the whole -number, and they shall rest in the fortress this night in peace, and -refresh their souls before starting again on their journey. I will -send out my young men to seek for the camels of my lord, and in the -morning his caravan shall be as great as when he left Kubbet-ul-Haj a -week ago.” - -“Yet let Abd-ur-Rahim first honour our poor tents by condescending to -eat bread and drink water with us,” urged Stratford. - -Again the old man shook his head. “Not so, my lord. Surely when my -watchmen cried from the towers that there was a great company out on -the plain, fleeing towards the rocks for shelter from the storm, and I -knew that they must be the servants of the English Queen, I vowed a -vow that I would neither eat bread nor drink water until I had brought -the Englishmen into my house, that they might rest themselves and be -refreshed at my table, and afterwards depart in peace.” - -“And how did you know that we were the servants of the English Queen?” -asked Stratford, endeavouring, with considerable success, to exhibit -in his tones no trace of suspicion, but merely a natural desire for -information. - -“The orders I received had warned me of the approach of my lord and -his servants,” replied Abd-ur-Rahim, guilelessly, “and the watchmen -told me that among those whom they saw were men with strange -head-gear, such as our people who have journeyed into Khemistan have -seen the English lords wear. But will not my lord make haste to call -his young men together, and bid them follow him into the fortress? The -feast is being prepared, and the best rooms are ready for my lord and -his servants and his household, and only the guests are wanting.” - -“I must take counsel with my friends before I accept your kind -invitation,” said Stratford. “We are in haste, and it may be that we -cannot venture to lose even the remaining half of this day’s march.” - -“Nay, my lord,” exclaimed Abd-ur-Rahim, in the eagerness of his -hospitality, “far be it from me to compel any to become my guests by -force--and yet, sooner than allow my lord to depart without honouring -by his presence my humble roof, I would command my young men to bring -him and his servants to my dwelling whether they would or no.” - -“One might indeed say that yours was a pressing invitation, -Abd-ur-Rahim,” said Stratford, smiling good-humouredly as he turned to -go back to the rest; but there was no smile upon his face when he -reached them. - -Dick stepped forward to meet him, and they walked a few paces aside, -out of earshot of the little band of servants whom Dick had posted in -such a way as to protect the tent and the remaining baggage-animals. - -“Well?” asked Dick, eagerly. - -“Oh, he’s a deep one! He means to get us up to the fort by hook or by -crook, and the only question is, shall we go peaceably or wait for him -to take us?” - -“He has been looking out for us, then?” - -“Undoubtedly. He says he was warned of our approach by orders from -Kubbet-ul-Haj. Now you know that the King and Jahan Beg never -anticipated that we should halt anywhere near Bir-ul-Malik, so that -the orders can’t have come from them. They must have been sent by -Fath-ud-Din or some of his people, and very likely Abd-ur-Rahim has -had additional information since then from the mutineers. We can’t -hope that he is merely hospitable and friendly. If we go into the -fort, we go with our eyes open.” - -“But hasn’t he showed his hand at all?” - -“Not a bit. He is all blarney and butter, only anxious for the honour -of our presence and so on, but he means business.” - -“But we can be all blarney and butter too, and merely regret our -inability to pay him a visit, and pass on. If he doesn’t try force, -it’s quite evident that he hasn’t any to try. He is doing his best to -allure us to put ourselves into his power, trusting in the simplicity -evidenced by your childlike and bland demeanour, and there is no doubt -that if he once got us inside the fort we should be in something like -a hole. But as it is, we can merely bow and say good-day.” - -“I’m afraid not, North. It is Abd-ur-Rahim who has the cards up his -sleeve this time. When I stood out there on the plain talking to him, -I could see further than you can from here. He is very sweet and -smiling, and he doesn’t want to make a show of force if he can do -things pleasantly; but behind these rocks here he has men enough -stationed to account for us all five or six times over.” - -“Then we are trapped!” said Dick, grimly, drawing his sword half out -of its scabbard and feeling the edge. “Well, better here under the -open sky than between stone walls. We can give a good account of two -or three times our number, posted as we are here, and they won’t get -much change out of us.” - -“North, you bloodthirsty villain! Think of the poor women and the -Chief, and don’t talk of running amuck in that cast-iron way.” - -“Don’t I think of the women? Do you imagine I am made of stone, -Stratford? My first shot is for Georgia, and after that--well, I -suppose I shall run amuck.” - -“Draw in a little, old man. That way madness lies. Keep cool, and -listen to me for a moment. Since I have no one specially to look -after, it may be that I am able to see things more calmly than you -are. At any rate, it strikes me, leaving out of sight that ferocious -idea of yours, that if we were cut to pieces we could do no possible -good to any one--whereas if we accept Abd-ur-Rahim’s overtures in a -friendly spirit, and go with him, keeping possession of our weapons -and holding together, we might spot a chance of escape, and at any -rate we should be no worse off than we are now. If I were you, I -should be thankful to keep clear of murder a little longer.” - -“Don’t talk to me!” said Dick, savagely. “You have not my reasons for -anxiety.” - -“Nor your reasons for prudence, either. Look at things quietly, North. -I am certain this old fellow is not quite on the square, or he -wouldn’t refuse to eat and drink with us; but I don’t think his -intentions are necessarily murderous. If they were, he could easily -have wiped us all out here and now, without taking the trouble to get -us up to the fort. My own impression is that he means to hold us as -hostages for Fath-ud-Din’s safety. If that is the case, we shall -certainly be in no danger. It will only mean a slight delay, for when -our Government find out from Hicks that we ought to reach the frontier -soon after him they will send to inquire after us if we don’t turn -up.” - -“But supposing Abd-ur-Rahim’s intentions are murderous after all?” - -“Then we shall end up with a big fight, I presume, and the result will -be much the same in the fort as it would be here. Come, North, don’t -let us give up hope too soon. If the worst comes to the worst, the -ladies have revolvers and can use them--and I don’t know two women -anywhere who would be more certain to use them if it was necessary. -Just you go to the tent and tell them quietly the state of affairs, -while I inform Abd-ur-Rahim that we accept his offer of a night’s -lodging. Then you and Kustendjian had better come and be presented. We -will do everything in style, and with the most lively imitation -possible of perfect confidence. The great thing is to avoid giving -them the slightest excuse or opportunity of depriving us of our arms.” - -Doggedly and unwillingly Dick took his way to the tent, while -Stratford returned to Abd-ur-Rahim, who had remained stationary, with -his immediate followers, during the colloquy. But he had profited by -the interval to draw closer the cordon of armed men of whom Stratford -had caught sight behind the rocks, and it was evident that, if such a -fight as that contemplated by Dick had taken place, there would have -been no possibility of escape for any member of the English party. - -“I must apologise for keeping you waiting so long, Abd-ur-Rahim,” said -Stratford, as he approached. “My friend is a great soldier, and very -zealous in carrying out the business with which we are charged. He -feared to lose even this half-day’s journey; but I have succeeded in -making him see that it is the act of a wise man to accept rest and -refreshment whenever it is proffered by one worthy of respect.” - -“Truly the wisdom of my lord is great!” responded Abd-ur-Rahim, a -smile of gratification curling his white moustache, while an officer -behind him muttered to a companion some words in Ethiopian which -sounded to Stratford like, “It is not so easy to hoodwink the soldier -as the man of many words,” a remark which was distinctly unjust to the -listener. He made no sign of having heard it, however, but went on -speaking to Abd-ur-Rahim in Arabic. - -“There is only one thing I should like to say before we accept your -hospitality, Abd-ur-Rahim. It is our habit to guard with great -jealousy the women of our party. I believe your own custom in Ethiopia -is much the same, and you will not, therefore, take it amiss if we -surround them closely while on our march with you?” - -“Surely not,” responded Abd-ur-Rahim, somewhat puzzled. “The customs -of my lord’s land are even as our own, and his care for the household -of his master gives the lie to the shameless tales that have been told -me as to the habits of his nation. I have even heard it said that in -Khemistan the women of the English go about unveiled!” - -Stratford was saved from the necessity of either confirming or denying -this tremendous accusation by the approach of Dick and Kustendjian, -whom he presented formally by name to Abd-ur-Rahim, mentioning the -rank held by each in the Mission. The old man looked at them in some -surprise. - -“Are these all the English that are with my lord?” he asked. “I heard -that he had three white men under him.” - -“There is one other,” said Stratford, “a youth; but we have seen -nothing of him since the storm broke upon us, and we fear that he has -missed his way and been lost.” - -“Let not my lord be troubled about the young man,” said Abd-ur-Rahim. -“The storm did not last long enough for him to have come to any harm. -Surely he has but taken shelter in some cave or hollow of the rocks, -and my young men shall go in search of him, and bring him again to my -lord.” - -Having acknowledged this offer in suitable terms, Stratford and the -rest returned to superintend the arrangement of their party under the -new conditions. The tent was taken down and packed on its camel again, -the mules were harnessed afresh to the litter which carried Sir -Dugald; the ladies, mere masses of white linen, were helped to their -saddles; the diminished cavalcade of baggage-animals was ranged in -order, and the column was ready to start. Stratford considered it only -polite and expedient that he should ride beside Abd-ur-Rahim, much to -the annoyance of Dick, who brought up again the memory of the murdered -Macnaghten, and urged _sotto voce_ that if any one’s life was to be -risked, Kustendjian’s was the one that could be best spared. Stratford -laughed at the idea, and retained his place, and the other two rode on -either side of the litter, with the ladies following close behind -them, while Ismail Bakhsh and his men formed a modest bodyguard. The -household servants and the few muleteers and camel-men who had not -been scattered by the stampede followed with the baggage-animals, and -before and behind and all around, when the column had advanced into -the open plain, came Abd-ur-Rahim’s wild soldiery. A few stray mules -and camels were picked up by the way and added to the cavalcade, and -presently the procession wound round a spur of the cliffs, and began -to ascend the winding road which led up to the hill-fortress of -Bir-ul-Malik, the stronghold of Fath-ud-Din. - -The town itself was small in extent, and it was evident that the -garrison formed the larger proportion of its inhabitants, for the -rock-hewn streets were almost deserted when Abd-ur-Rahim passed -through the gate with his guests. The town-walls surrounded a -considerable area on the summit of the cliff, and this in its turn -sloped upwards at its further extremity, on which was erected the -citadel, which thus commanded the town on one side and a sheer -declivity on the other. Towards this fortification the procession made -its way, Dick glancing grimly at the tortuous streets and massive -walls of the town as he rode, and muttering to himself that he and his -party were in a trap which would take a good deal of getting out of. -Passing in at the gate of the citadel, they found themselves in a -large courtyard, above which rose a pile of buildings, constructed on -and in the sloping face of the rock, the roofs of those lower down -forming terraces by which the higher ones could be approached. The -lower range of dwellings appeared to form the quarters of the garrison -and servants, and those next above them the abodes of the officers, -while the highest pile of buildings was evidently intended as the -residence of the governor of the city. It was in this building, -Abd-ur-Rahim intimated, that he had caused a lodging to be prepared -for the illustrious English party; and Stratford, while appreciating -the honour done him, felt that he could readily have dispensed with -it, since escape would be out of the question save by passing all the -lower dwellings and the inner and outer circuit of defences, the only -alternative being the possibility of finding some means of descending -the precipitous cliff on the other side. - -It was necessary to dismount in the courtyard, and to ascend to the -Governor’s palace by a winding path cut in the rock and varied by -several flights of steps. There was considerable difficulty in -conveying Sir Dugald’s litter up this path, and what remained of the -luggage had also to be carried up piece by piece, at a large -expenditure of time and trouble. When the palace was once reached, -however, there was no fault to find with the rooms allotted to the -Mission. It was evident that they had remained uninhabited for some -time, and they were rather dirty, rather dilapidated, and particularly -bare of furniture; but they were large and airy, and, as Stratford and -Dick noticed with great satisfaction, the apartments appropriated to -the ladies, which had formed part of the original harem, could only be -approached by a passage from their own portion of the building. -Behind, they looked out on a terrace formed by the top of the -ramparts, beneath which the cliff fell steep and unbroken to the -desert below. It was an alarming experience to come suddenly to the -brink of this declivity, from which the unwary were protected merely -by a crumbling parapet, and Rahah only consented to contemplate it -when standing at least six yards from the edge, and holding firmly to -her mistress’s clothes. - -Returning from the terrace into the harem, Georgia began to examine -the waifs and strays of luggage which had been cast up with her on -this hill-top. Sir Dugald had been conveyed into one of the inner -rooms, and Lady Haigh, with the assistance of Chanda Lal, was engaged -in making him comfortable. In the large hall, into which the other -rooms opened, lay a confused heap of boxes and cases, just as they had -been left by the porters who had carried them in. - -“Let us see what we have, Rahah,” said Georgia to her handmaid. “You -had my dressing-case and my small medicine-chest on the mule with you, -so they are safe, at any rate, and your own clothes too. That box -there has books in it, I know, and here are our folding-chairs. I -don’t see any of my clothes--any of my own things at all, in fact. I -shall have to borrow some from Lady Haigh, for I see that two of her -tin boxes are there. Those cases are Sir Dugald’s, of course; and now -there are only these two great boxes left, marked with my name. What -can they have in them? Nothing very useful, I’m afraid--no dresses, at -any rate. Just borrow a hammer and chisel from Chanda Lal, Rahah. He -was opening a packing-case a minute ago.” - -Returning quickly with the desired implements, Rahah forced open part -of the lid of one of the boxes. - -“Medical stores!” said Georgia, bringing out a packet of cotton-wool, -and a tin case containing a roll of prepared india-rubber. “I might be -going to start a dispensary up here. Well, we are satisfactorily -provided with medicines and surgical appliances, at any rate. Now the -other box, Rahah. I only wish there was the slightest possibility of -finding some of my clothes in it.” - -But no. Rahah drew back with a scream when she plunged her hand into -the mass of crumpled paper which guarded the contents of the box; and -Georgia, guessing the state of affairs, brought out a huge, -carefully-stoppered bottle, containing a gruesome-looking object -swimming in a muddy yellow fluid. - -“The collection!” she said, disdainfully. “And of course that -particularly detestable snake turns up first of all! Well, Rahah, we -are in a nice plight, with no clothes or fancy-work or sketching -materials, but with a good many of those creatures to amuse us -instead.” - -Rahah’s countenance expressed unutterable disgust, and her mistress -was not proof against a modified feeling of the same character, for it -is the reverse of agreeable, even for a highly qualified lady doctor, -to find oneself reduced to a single dress, and that a riding-habit. -But while this small although sufficiently unpleasant matter was -occupying the minds of Georgia and her maid, Stratford and Dick were -experiencing a very bad quarter of an hour in their part of the -building. When their host left them they had occupied themselves in -sorting the few possessions that remained to them; but while they were -in the midst of this somewhat melancholy process, Abd-ur-Rahim -returned, accompanied by two or three of his officers. - -“Is my lord graciously pleased to be contented with the accommodation -afforded by my poor house?” asked the old man. - -“I am sure we could ask nothing better,” returned Stratford, -pleasantly. - -“That is well, seeing that it will now be my lord’s abode during -certain days,” said Abd-ur-Rahim. - -“How is that?” asked Stratford. “You offered us merely a night’s -lodging, and we accepted it.” - -“True; but a man of my lord’s wisdom will not need to be reminded that -it is only fools who allow the gifts of destiny to slip through their -fingers. My lord and his companions have been brought into my hand, -and here they will remain so long as our lord Fath-ud-Din is kept in -prison at Kubbet-ul-Haj.” - -“Thank you. There’s nothing like knowing what one has to expect. How -many years do you intend to entertain us here?” - -“That depends upon another matter. The liberation of Fath-ud-Din hangs -upon the treaty that my lord holds, for if that is destroyed, our lord -the King is free to do as he will, and the treaty, on account of the -means by which it was gained, he finds disgraceful and irksome to -him.” - -“Show me the King’s mandate demanding the surrender of the treaty,” -said Stratford, quickly. - -Abd-ur-Rahim shook his head. - -“My lord knows that there are certain services that a man may render -to his sovereign for which no orders can be given beforehand, although -they may be richly rewarded when performed,” he said. “Of such a kind -is this matter of the treaty.” - -“Don’t you wish you may get it?” asked Stratford, aware that Dick’s -fingers were gripping his revolver. - -“My lord must know that we shall get it. We have but to compass the -death of my lord and his companions, and the treaty must be found; but -we would fain not shed blood. Let my lord tell his servant where the -treaty is hidden.” - -“I absolutely decline to say,” returned Stratford. - -“Then we must search my lord’s baggage.” - -“You can search where you like, but you cannot make me tell you where -the treaty is. I presume you do not intend to search the baggage of -the ladies?” - -“Nay, my lord! What hiding-place is so safe or so probable as among a -woman’s belongings? But there need be no search if my lord will only -tell what he knows. Did he bring the treaty into the fortress with -him?” - -“I refuse to say. One word, Abd-ur-Rahim. There can be no idea of -searching the ladies’ things. You may ask what questions you like, but -the ladies must have notice beforehand, and it must be in the presence -of one of us, or--well, whoever goes into the harem, you will not be -alive to do it.” - -“My lord need have no fear. He may go now and bid the women prepare -for my coming. I will but question them, and believe what they say, -for the English always tell the truth. I would accept the word of my -lord even now, if he could assure me that he had not the treaty with -him when he entered the fortress.” - -There was some eagerness in the old man’s tone, as though he found his -task distasteful, and would have welcomed this chance of dispensing -with the performance of it; but Stratford shook his head. - -“I can say nothing. Stand at the door, North, while I go in to warn -the ladies. And keep cool. Cheek may possibly bring us through this -fix yet, as it did through the other.” - -With a frowning brow, Dick took up the position indicated, and -Stratford entered the passage and knocked at the door. Georgia looked -up from her doleful examination of her possessions as he came in. - -“We are trying to discover what we have saved from the wreck of our -fortunes,” she said, lightly. “But what is the matter, Mr Stratford? -Does your venerable old friend intend to murder us after all?” - -“Not unless he is obliged,” returned Stratford; “but it may come to -that yet. He means to get hold of the treaty. Fath-ud-Din seems to -think that if he enables the King to destroy it, he will be restored -to power. I don’t think the King is in the plot at present, but far be -it from me to say that he wouldn’t come into it with a good grace if -he got the chance.” - -“And you want me to hide the treaty?” - -“Certainly not. By no manner of means. I merely came to tell you that -Abd-ur-Rahim insists on questioning you and Lady Haigh as to whether -you know anything about it. He will come in here when he has finished -ransacking our place, so put your _burkas_ on again, please.” - -“But, Mr Stratford, where is the treaty?” - -“Here,” said Stratford, exhibiting the front of his coat, “in a pocket -which my bearer and I contrived for it. You see, it goes between the -cloth and the lining, and is sewn in. It is rolled up so tightly that -it does not show at all under ordinary circumstances; but if they -search me, they are bound to find it immediately.” - -“And what then?” - -“I can’t give it up, of course, so that if they attempt to search us, -we must show fight. We must only hope they won’t, for our opposing the -idea would arouse suspicion at once.” - -“If they have any sense whatever, it is the first thing they will do,” -said Georgia, promptly. “No, Mr Stratford, I am not going to allow you -and Dick to run such a risk, and perhaps bring destruction upon us -all. Give me the treaty, and I will hide it.” - -“And transfer the risk to yourself? Now, Miss Keeling, do you really -think me capable of doing such a thing?” - -“There will be no risk whatever. I have an idea. Take off your coat, -Mr Stratford--quick!” with a stamp of the foot--“there is no time to -lose. Give me those scissors, Rahah, and thread a needle with grey -cotton. That’s it; now sew up that slit as neatly as you can.” - -“What are you going to do?” inquired Stratford, standing helplessly by -in his shirt-sleeves, while Georgia was rolling the fateful parchment -into the smallest possible compass, and Rahah stitched up with -marvellous rapidity the yawning hole in his coat. - -“Never mind, for I won’t tell you. You are to know nothing. There is -your coat, Mr Stratford. Keep Abd-ur-Rahim outside for two minutes, -and then let him do his worst.” - -Half-reluctant and wholly perplexed, Stratford allowed himself to be -gently impelled in the direction of the door, and went out, to find -Dick, still on guard, protesting vehemently that he would never allow -himself to be searched, and that the first man that laid a finger on -him with that purpose in view would have little opportunity for -repenting his rashness afterwards. Perceiving at once that his friend -guessed he had the treaty upon him, and was endeavouring to divert -suspicion to himself, Stratford proceeded, not without a little -malicious pleasure in the circumstance, to cut the ground from under -Dick’s feet by remarking calmly-- - -“Keep cool, North; we are prisoners, though we were seized by a mean -trick, and we must submit to the treatment our jailers think fit to -inflict upon us. Abd-ur-Rahim”--he turned with dignity to his too -hospitable host--“we are your prisoners. As to the means by which you -induced us to put ourselves in your power I say nothing. Still, I ask -you as a gentleman, is this insult necessary?” - -“By no means,” returned Abd-ur-Rahim, promptly. “If my lord and his -friends will give their word that they have not the treaty about them, -they shall not be touched.” - -To the utter stupefaction of Dick, Stratford at once gave the required -assurance, which was repeated by his friend and Kustendjian. Some -demur was made as to accepting the word of the latter, on the ground -that he was not an Englishman; but on Stratford’s volunteering the -assurance that he was speaking the truth, his statement also was -considered satisfactory. - -In the meantime, Georgia and her maid were not idle in the inner room. -The moment that the door had closed behind Stratford, Georgia flew to -the box which contained the collection, and drew out the bottle -enshrining the historic snake. The roll of prepared india-rubber from -the case of medical stores was the next requisite, and, unfastening -it, she made Rahah cut off a piece a little longer than the treaty in -its rolled-up form, and wide enough to wrap round it twice. When the -roll had been made as tight and smooth as possible, she tied up the -ends very securely. - -“Now, Rahah, take off the bladder from the top of that bottle as -carefully as you can. Don’t break it, whatever you do. Now get the -cork out. Dig it out with the point of the scissors if it won’t come -easily; we mustn’t use a cork-screw. Turn your head away if you don’t -like the smell. There,--what a good thing that the spirit has sunk a -little!” She dropped the roll containing the treaty into the great -bottle, in the midst of the coils of the snake, replaced the cork, -tied the bladder over it again, and, holding the bottle up, looked at -it critically. The effect was perfect. The dull-brown of the -india-rubber wrapping combined with the bolder tones of the serpent’s -skin and the unpleasant yellow of the spirit so completely, that -scarcely a trace of the intruder was perceptible even to her practised -eye. - - [image: images/img_10.jpg - caption: The effect was perfect.] - -“So far, so good. Now on with our _burkas_, Rahah. That’s right, put -the bottle back into the box. There is a smell of the spirit about. -Knock over that bottle of camphor and break it. Oh, they are coming! -Kneel down, Rahah, and be nailing the cover on the box in a most -tremendous hurry.” - -Rahah entered into her part with keen delight, jerked the -camphor-bottle to the floor with her elbow, and jumped up with a most -artistically guilty start when Dick and Stratford entered with the -four Ethiopians, while Georgia dropped the hammer with a clatter on -the stones. - -“What is in that box which the women are nailing up?” demanded -Abd-ur-Rahim, sharply, while the faces of his followers betrayed much -excitement, not unmixed with triumph. - -“Do they really want to know?” asked Georgia, with something like pity -in her tones, when the question was translated to her. “Well, I will -show them if they are so anxious to see it.” - -Lifting the lid, she drew out with one hand the bottle containing the -snake, and with the other one which enclosed a very evil-looking -deformed frog, and held them out to the inquisitors, who recoiled -precipitately. - -“They are the devils which obeyed the English doctor who was carried -off by Shaitan from his house at Kubbet-ul-Haj!” was the murmur which -went round. - -“There are plenty more in the box,” said Georgia, cheerfully. “You can -unpack them for yourselves if you would like to look at them; only I -would advise you for your own sakes to take care not to break the -bottles.” - -“Is it true that if the bottles were opened the devils would get -loose?” asked one of the Ethiopians, in an awful whisper. - -“It is quite true that if the bottles are opened what is in them will -come out,” responded Georgia, setting down on the box the two she had -been holding; “but you shall see for yourselves what will happen.” - -She lifted the bottle containing the frog, as though to hurl it in the -direction of the visitors, but Abd-ur-Rahim interposed hastily in much -agitation. - -“Let my lord entreat the doctor lady to let the evil things remain -where they are,” he said to Stratford. “Surely he must know that I -have but obeyed the commands I have received, and that I have done my -best to save him and his company from all annoyance. Moreover, though -the doctor lady should destroy these men and myself by her magic, my -soldiers outside would certainly set the palace on fire, and burn her -and all my lord’s company, when they found out what had happened. -Suffer her not, then, to work us evil, and we will but ask her a few -questions and depart.” - -With a face of the utmost gravity, Stratford translated the entreaty, -and the questions which followed it, to Georgia, who was much -impressed by the opinion entertained by Abd-ur-Rahim as to her powers -and her willingness to use them. - -“Has the doctor lady the treaty concealed about her, or has her maid -got it?” - -“Certainly not.” - -“Is it in any of those boxes?” - -“No, it is not in any of them.” - -“Is it hidden anywhere in the floor or the walls?” - -“Nowhere in the floor or the walls.” - -“Does the doctor lady know where it is?” - -“I refuse to say.” - -“Who can trust the words of a woman?” asked one of the officers, -rudely. “The doctor lady has it hidden.” - -“Tell them that I am St George Keeling’s daughter, Mr Stratford,” -cried Georgia, angrily, guessing the drift of the remark from the -tone, “and ask them whether it is likely that I should tell a lie?” - -Stratford translated the words, and the name produced an impression -which showed that the fame of the Warden of the Marches had spread -beyond his own border. - -“In my youth,” said Abd-ur-Rahim, “I have faced Sinjāj Kīlin in -peace and war, and I know well that no son or daughter of his house -could be a liar.” - -Georgia’s wrath calmed down, and Rahah, feeling that she was -responsible for maintaining the honour of the house of Keeling, -suppressed the falsehood which rose to her lips when she was asked -whether she knew where the treaty was, and imitated her mistress in -declining to say. - -“And now we need only question the great lady,” said Abd-ur-Rahim, -when Rahah’s examination was over; and Georgia went in search of Lady -Haigh, and brought her into the hall, worried and protesting, and -determined that no one should approach Sir Dugald’s sick-room. She was -much easier to deal with than the rest. - -“I haven’t an idea where the treaty is, and if I had, I wouldn’t tell -you,” was her answer to Abd-ur-Rahim’s question. “Why do you come -bothering me about treaties? Ask Mr Stratford; he is the proper -person.” - -“But is it not hidden anywhere in the great lady’s apartments?” - -“I should think not, indeed! I have something else to do besides -hiding treaties. Georgie, I want you to come and see Sir Dugald at -once. I am sure he is not so well.” - -“The man of many words must have dropped the treaty into the sand as -he came hither,” said one of the Ethiopians in a low voice to his -chief, as Georgia retired with Lady Haigh. - -“Nay, that he could not have done without my seeing him,” objected -Abd-ur-Rahim. - -“He may have hidden it among the rocks where we first came upon these -English,” suggested another. - -“It is well thought of; I will have the place searched,” said -Abd-ur-Rahim. “But mark me--my opinion is that none of those here know -where it is. It has been given to the youth who is missing, and he is -to escape with it or to hide it. Therefore let the youth be pursued -and taken. The rest are trying to lead us to think that they have it -concealed among them here, that so he may get away in safety.” - -This explanation of their defeat appeared to satisfy the Ethiopians, -and they returned to the outer rooms, accompanied by Dick and -Stratford, who were almost as much mystified as they were. - - - - - CHAPTER XX. - FOR THE HONOUR OF ENGLAND’S SAKE. - -Half an hour later, Georgia stepped out of the great latticed window -on the terrace, and kneeling beside the parapet, rested her arms on -it, and looked away over the desert. There in the distance rose the -walls and towers of Bir-ul-Malikat, Fath-ud-Din’s second fortress, -which crowned the top of a conical hill some four miles from -Bir-ul-Malik. Within those walls old Khadija, the sorceress, bore -rule, and held in her grasp the knowledge which alone could save Sir -Dugald’s life. Lady Haigh’s intuition had been a true one, although -there was no outward change in her husband’s condition. Whether the -sand-storm and the hurried journeyings of the day had brought about a -loss of vitality, or whether they had merely rendered perceptible a -failure which had hitherto been too gradual to be noticed, it was -undeniable that the pulse was less regular, and the action of the -heart more feeble than before. The insidious poison administered by -Fath-ud-Din was sapping Sir Dugald’s life away, and, unless the -mysterious antidote could be obtained, his protracted unconsciousness -would before long pass into death. - -“I must see this Khadija,” said Georgia to herself, as her eyes -wandered over the desert, “and find out whether anything will induce -her to sell her secret. I might introduce myself to her as a sister in -the craft--Abd-ur-Rahim and his men would bear me out--and suggest an -interchange of ideas. There must be quite a number of things I could -tell her, and I could set her up with a few medicines. The effects -would be wonderful to her. But then, she might not care for remedies, -and I am certainly not going to put more poisons into her hands. I -fancy that killing is more in her line than curing. What was it that -Rahah told me she said when a girl asked her for a love-philtre? ‘I -shall make no love-philtre but one, and that will be for my Rose of -the World to give her bridegroom on the marriage-night.’ I’m afraid -she would not care about the opportunity of doing kindnesses. She must -be fond of the girl Zeynab--perhaps it might be possible to work upon -her feelings through her. At any rate, I must see her; but how am I to -manage it? Dick would be very angry if I went without telling him, and -yet I am sure he would prevent my going if he knew of it. But I will -go, even if I have to break with Dick about it. To leave Sir Dugald to -die, and make Lady Haigh a widow, when I knew where the remedy was to -be found, just for fear of vexing Dick, would be shameful. I shall be -obliged to oppose him some day, and it is a good thing to do it for -the first time in such an absolutely righteous cause. There can be no -doubt whatever as to my being in the right this time, but I’m sure he -won’t see it. I do wish people would be a little more reasonable!” - -She was tapping her stethoscope impatiently against the stones as she -spoke, and it slipped suddenly from her fingers and rolled over the -edge of the parapet. Looking after it, she saw that, instead of -dropping or rolling down into the plain, as she had expected, it had -lodged on a projection in the cliff, not more than twenty feet below -the parapet, where a few tufts of withered-looking grass had found -holding-ground. Still, it was quite beyond her power to reach it. - -“How careless of me!” she said, with deep vexation. “My dear old -hospital stethoscope! I wonder whether it could be reached from here? -I think a man with a rope might be able to get it. How much astonished -Dick would be if I asked him to go down for it! I wonder whether he -would go? He would send one of the servants, I should think. It would -be quite easy to let him down and draw him up again. What a convenient -little shelf that is! It would be rather a good place to put the -treaty in, for if they catch Mr Anstruther and find he has not got it, -they may come back and make another search. I wonder whether it would -be safe? I don’t think the cover would show among that grass.” - -Leaning over the parapet, she scanned the face of the cliff, and -raised herself to her former position with some disappointment. - -“It would be very difficult to drop it just in the right place,” she -went on meditatively; “and, if there was a storm, the rain would be -sure to wash it away. Of course, it might lodge somewhere lower -down--or it might not; and, if it did, we might not be able to get at -it. Why, it looks as though there might be a path right up the cliff -to the shelf! It is quite a series of steps and ledges, and projecting -stones, and tufts of grass. It would need a very cool head to climb -it, and a sure foot too, but I believe it could be done. It might be -very dangerous, for any one could get in and attack us without our -knowing. They could hide among those ruined huts at the foot of the -cliff, and choose a time when none of us were out here. Of course, -they couldn’t very well get up as far as this from the shelf, for the -cliff overhangs just at the top, and there are no projections; but -they might have a rope-ladder with a hook at the top to throw up and -catch in something, or some other way of doing it. It doesn’t feel a -bit safe. I know I shall dream that there are men getting up here all -night; but I won’t be silly and frighten the rest. It’s all nonsense! -No one could climb this last piece of the cliff.” - -Notwithstanding the certainty of this assurance, the memory of that -giddy path, probably made in the rainy season by the wild goats, -haunted Georgia, and when bedtime came she stole out again to make -sure that there was no one climbing up it. In the great bare room -behind her, Rahah, sitting cross-legged on the floor, was -contemplating with much satisfaction the arrangements she had devised -for the night. It so happened that among the luggage that had gone -astray was Georgia’s mattress and pillow. This loss Rahah had repaired -by lying in wait for Dick and informing him of it, receiving, as she -had anticipated, an order to carry off his bedding for Miss Keeling’s -benefit. She obeyed promptly, regardless of the wrath of his bearer, -who cursed her audibly whenever he saw her, for the duty of spoiling -the Egyptians was one very congenial to Rahah’s mind. In her view, it -was part of a lady’s-maid’s business to exploit every other human -being with an eye to her mistress’s pleasure or welfare, and if the -Major Sahib was willing to sleep on the floor in order that the doctor -lady should be in comfort, it was not for her to baulk him. Georgia, -of course, knew nothing, and was to know nothing of this little -arrangement; and Rahah sat and yawned, and blinked sleepily at the -lamp, and wished that her mistress would come to bed quickly and not -stay looking down that horrible cliff. - -But Georgia, leaning over the parapet and staring down into the -darkness, saw more than the indeterminate outlines of rocks and -sun-dried bushes. Her heart was in her mouth as she peered down the -cliff, for she felt certain that she had seen something moving below, -and that it, whatever it might be, was climbing the hazardous path she -had noticed by daylight. Too much fascinated and horror-stricken to -move, she remained leaning over the edge until Lady Haigh stepped out -of the carved doorway behind her and startled her by speaking -suddenly. - -“Oughtn’t you to be coming to bed, Georgie? It is very late, and you -have had an anxious day. What are you looking at down there?” - -“Oh, Lady Haigh, there is some one--a man or several men--climbing up -the cliff!” was the gasping answer, as Georgia turned round with a -blanched face. - -Lady Haigh pushed her gently aside and looked over as she had done. - -“There is something there, certainly,” she whispered; “but it is -almost sure to be only a goat.” - -Somewhat reassured, Georgia returned to her post of vantage, and side -by side they watched together the upward progress of the dark body, -until the sound of labouring breath reached them, showing that the -climb must be a severe one. - -“It is a man,” said Lady Haigh. “Can they get quite to the top?” - -“No, about twenty feet down the cliff begins to slope outwards.” - -“Then we won’t alarm the gentlemen just yet. It may be only one of our -own servants trying to discover us, and we don’t want him to fall into -Abd-ur-Rahim’s hands. We shall soon see whether this man’s intentions -are hostile.” - -“He has reached the ledge now,” gasped Georgia. “He is resting.” - -The mysterious visitor seemed inclined to make no further effort for -the present, for he remained motionless during several anxious -moments; but at last a very low, clear whistling became audible, to -which Lady Haigh and Georgia listened in astonishment and trepidation. - -“It must be a signal,” whispered Georgia. “No,” she cried, suddenly, -“I know that tune! It is the ‘Battle of the Boyne,’ and a minute ago -it was ‘Derry Walls.’ Lady Haigh, it’s Mr Anstruther!” - -“Is it you, Mr Anstruther?” asked Lady Haigh, in a low voice. The -answer came back promptly. - -“It is myself, very much at your service, Lady Haigh, if I could only -get near enough to serve you. Are you all right?” - -“Quite safe at present,” returned Georgia; “but we have gone through -some thrilling experiences during the day. How did you find us out?” - -“Lost my way in the sand-storm, and wandered round the wrong side of -the hill. I took shelter among those ruins down below, and my horse is -there still. When I ventured out to scout a little, I saw the Mission -taking a prominent part--and I guessed an unwilling one--in a -procession up the hill and into the fortress, so I returned to my -hiding-place and planned doughty deeds. But could you get me up this -last piece of cliff by any means?--for it’s rather exhausting to carry -on a long conversation in a stage-whisper, craning one’s neck upwards -all the while. Besides, I have some of your property about me, Miss -Keeling, which I should be glad to restore to you. By the bye, did you -lose anything about five o’clock this afternoon, when you stood -looking over the edge for such a long time? It was that which enabled -me to locate you so smartly.” - -“Yes, I dropped my pet stethoscope, and I shall be extremely grateful -if you can find it. It fell on the ledge where you are sitting. But I -will just go and send Rahah to see whether it is safe to call the rest -to pull you up.” - -She returned in a few minutes with her arms full of pieces of rope. - -“We can do nothing at present. Rahah reconnoitred through the key-hole -or in some such way, and she says that the gentlemen have got a -‘party.’ Mr Stratford is playing chess with Abd-ur-Rahim, and the -other two are talking to his officers. She is to bring us word at once -when the party breaks up, and in the meantime I have taken all the -ropes from the boxes, and Lady Haigh and I can fasten them together. -The rope will be fearfully knotty, but perhaps that will make it -safer.” - -“It will be all the better,” said Fitz, decisively, “for we need not -wait for the other fellows to come and pull me up. If you and Lady -Haigh will fasten the rope round something firm, and pull at it both -together with all your strength to test the knots, you can send me the -end, and I will come up hand over hand if you will help to hoist me -over the parapet.” - -The two ladies agreed to this proposition with fear and trembling, and -many hopes that Dick and Stratford would arrive before the -construction of the rope was completed. But they did not come, and the -knots were tied and tested, and the rope fastened with extraordinary -care round the stone pillar which formed the central support of the -carved lattice-work of the window. With many cautions, the other end -was passed down to Fitz, and he came up it in a way which extorted -mingled admiration and terror from the watchers. Helping hands -assisted him over the parapet, and at last he stood safe and sound -upon the terrace. - -“Well,” he said, cheerfully, “I shall have to tell the gymnasium -instructor at Whitcliffe Grammar School how useful his teaching has -been when I get home. Without it I might have remained on that ledge -all night, and serenaded you with Orange ditties at a hopeless -distance, Miss Keeling. But I mustn’t forget to restore you your lost -property. There is your stethoscope, and here is your cat.” - -Untying the handkerchief he presented to her, and which had been -secured in some complicated way to the buttonholes of his coat, -Georgia released Colleen Bawn, very much rumpled and highly indignant, -from her imprisonment, and deposited her on the ground, soothing her -ruffled feelings and fur by a little friendly stroking. - -“I am ashamed to think you should have taken so much trouble about -her, Mr Anstruther. Thank you very, very much, and for finding the -stethoscope too. What do you think of doing now?” - -“I should rather like some grub, if there is any going. I haven’t had -anything since breakfast, for I hadn’t the forethought to take meat -lozenges with me, as Stratford did. Biscuits, or something of that -sort that is at hand, and won’t need preparing, for I don’t intend to -stay here, and I don’t want to be caught.” - -A frugal meal of biscuits, potted meat, and water, in which Colleen -Bawn claimed a share, was quickly set before Fitz, and when his hunger -was partially satisfied he looked up. - -“Lady Haigh, I want you to exert your authority. When I found that you -were all in here, and I was outside, I had some thoughts of making for -the frontier at once and fetching help; but then I hit on another -plan. I want Miss Keeling to come too. My horse has been resting ever -since the storm, and is perfectly fresh, and she could ride him -splendidly if we changed the saddle. I could walk all right, and we -should be a good way towards Fort Rahmat-Ullah in the morning.” - -Lady Haigh sat down upon the parapet and burst into stifled but -irrepressible laughter, which failed, however, to disconcert Fitz. - -“My dear boy,” she gasped, while he looked at her resolutely and -without a smile, “it is quite untrue to say that the age of -chivalry--of the wildest knight-errantry--is gone. Can you really -think it possible that we should allow Miss Keeling to go wandering -off like Una, with you as a protector instead of the lion? Why, it is -fully three days’ journey to the frontier from here, and there are -enemies all the way.” - -“I would take care of her, really. I would die before any harm should -happen to her.” - -“I haven’t a doubt of that, but you forget that when you were once -dead, the situation would be rather serious for Miss Keeling. And how -do you imagine that Major North would receive your proposal?” and Lady -Haigh collapsed again helplessly. - -“But, Lady Haigh,” said Georgia, quickly, afraid that Fitz’s feelings -might be hurt, “Mr Anstruther might take the treaty with him, if he is -going to ride to Fort Rahmat-Ullah. Mr Stratford told us this morning -that Abd-ur-Rahim and the rest think he is already on the way there -with it, and it would be splendid to get it into a place of safety.” - -“Come, that is worth thinking about!” said Lady Haigh. But, after a -moment’s consideration, she shook her head decidedly. “No, Georgie, it -won’t do. Sir Dugald would never have trusted any one so young with -the treaty, and I am sure Mr Stratford won’t.” - -“Oh, really now, Lady Haigh,” said Fitz, much wounded, “I have my -compass, and I can find my way about as well as most people. There’s -my horse as fresh as he can be, and I would simply ride night and day -until I got to the Fort.” - -“Or until your horse dropped dead in the desert, and left you stranded -with the treaty,” said Lady Haigh. “No, Mr Anstruther, you are not at -all the man for such an enterprise. It needs prudence and caution even -more than reckless riding and dare-devil bravery. Georgie,” she turned -to her impatiently, “don’t you see what I mean? There is only one -person here to whom the treaty could be intrusted with any hope of -saving it and us, and that is Major North.” - -“Dick!” gasped Georgia, catching at the lattice to steady herself. “Oh -no, Lady Haigh, you can’t mean that! Why should Dick go?” - -“Because he is the only man who could possibly carry the thing -through; and he is a soldier, and it is his duty,” responded Lady -Haigh, tersely. - -“Don’t be afraid, Miss Keeling,” said Fitz, with an aggressive -indifference to Lady Haigh’s line of argument. “North is not going to -take my job away from me, and ride off upon my gee--not if I know it!” - -“Here are Mr Stratford and Major North,” said Lady Haigh, as, -conducted by Rahah, they emerged from the lattice, and explained that -Abd-ur-Rahim and his subordinates had only just departed, finding -their prisoners oppressed with unconquerable fatigue. The moment they -were left alone, Rahah had delivered her message, and they waited only -to place Kustendjian on guard in case of the return of Abd-ur-Rahim, -and followed her guidance. Georgia watched them helplessly as they -congratulated Fitz on his safety, and examined the rope, and peered -down into the gulf below. She remained leaning against the pillar, -unable to quit its friendly support, even when the murmur of low -voices told her that Lady Haigh was repeating her former suggestion. - -“I call it beastly unfair, the way I am done out of everything!” she -heard Fitz grumble at last. “When you had that jolly row in the -Mission courtyard round the flagstaff, I had to stay in and guard the -house, and that other time when I wanted to go to the Palace you -wouldn’t let me. And now you mean to keep me here, while North uses my -horse and my way out of this place, though I’m the only one of you -that didn’t manage to get shut up here.” - -“And you managed that by desertion and disobedience to orders,” said -Stratford, impatiently, for he had succeeded by this time in -extracting from Ismail Bakhsh the particulars of Fitz’s mysterious -disappearance. “Try not to be more of a fool than you can help, young -Anstruther. We can’t risk the honour of the country and the fate of -the Mission on the hope that you may chance to act sensibly for once.” - -“I say that it is my right to go, Mr Stratford,” returned Fitz, -doggedly; but Dick broke through the group, and came to Georgia. - -“Shall I go, Georgie?” - -“Oh, Dick, must I decide for you?” - -“You have a right to do it, I think. At any rate, right or no right, I -am not going if you ask me not to. I put myself in your hands, -Georgie, and the treaty and everything else may slide if you tell me -to stay here. What good would it all be to me if--if anything happened -to you while I was gone?” - -He spoke hoarsely, his words tumbling over one another, and Georgia -felt that the hands which clasped hers were hot and shaking. She -looked at him in amazement which was almost terror. Was it possible -that in some ways she was stronger than he was--that he was -confessedly looking to her for the strength which should enable him to -tear himself away from her? - -“It is an awfully risky thing, Miss Keeling,” said Stratford, -interposing with an honest determination to let Georgia know the worst -before she made her decision. “He takes his life in his hand if he -goes. I am sure no one could wonder at your keeping him back. In fact, -under the circumstances, I should think it quite probable that no one -would expect him to leave you here and ride off to Rahmat-Ullah to -save the treaty.” - -“If I were not here,” said Georgia, “would you think it right for him -to go?” - -“Well, things would be different then, you see--and really this is -such an important business----” - -“Why?” - -“We are tolerably safe, I suppose, in any case; but to get back -without the treaty would be rather a bad blow for our prestige, of -course. All the old troubles would begin again, and England would -become a laughing-stock----” - -“I see,” said Georgia. “Dick, you must go.” - -“All right,” said Dick, gruffly, restored to composure by the decision -with which she spoke; “but why?” - -“For England’s sake--for honour’s sake,” she replied. Dick looked at -her in some alarm. Had the greatness of the crisis, which for the -moment had unmanned himself, turned her brain, or could she really -find comfort in fine language at such a time? He did not know the -sustaining power which is contained for a woman in a phrase of the -kind. It gives her something to lean upon, as she repeats it to -herself with a determination to be worthy of it. - -“You are sure you don’t mind, Georgie?” he asked in his blundering -way. - -“Oh no; I am not likely to mind, am I?” she said, with a sudden -fierceness in her voice. “Do you want to break my heart, Dick?” - -A sob broke from her lips, but she choked it down as he put his arm -round her, and he only felt her hands fondling his rough coat-sleeve. -“If you do that, I _can’t_ go,” he muttered. - -“Then I won’t,” said Georgia, with an effort; but she held his arm -tightly as he returned to the rest. - -“We may as well get things settled,” he said. “Where is this horse of -yours, Anstruther?” - -Fitz explained the position of the ruined hut in which he had left his -horse tied up, while Stratford tested the rope. - -“I say,” he said, “we must add some more to this. It won’t take you -half-way down, and you will want something to hold on to while you are -feeling for a foothold. You had better have the end fastened round -you, for though the moon isn’t bad, you might easily slip, since you -have not seen the cliff by daylight. I will hunt up Ismail Bakhsh, as -he has charge of the baggage-ropes, and it might be a good thing if he -was to lend you a turban and cloak. They would pass muster at a -distance, but it is hopeless to think of disguising you satisfactorily -if you meet any one at close quarters, for there are no hillmen about -here. You will want food and water, too.” - -He hurried away, returning with Ismail Bakhsh just as Georgia was -fishing the treaty out of its place of concealment. It was none the -worse for its immersion, and she wrapped it in another cover and sewed -it into Dick’s coat. - -“It was an excellent idea, that hiding-place,” said Stratford, as she -and Dick rejoined the rest. “I couldn’t imagine what in the world you -had done with the thing, unless you had tied a string to it and hung -it out of the window. Look here, North, you had better not take your -sword. It will only make a clatter, and won’t do you much good. Take -the dagger the mutineers bequeathed to you instead; it is nearly long -enough for a sword.” - -“Take care of this for me then, Georgie,” said Dick, unbuckling the -sword he had just fastened on, and Georgia received the charge with -gratitude, for she knew that Dick’s sword was his most cherished -possession. The work of lengthening the rope was going on rapidly, the -provisions for the three days’ ride, a little bread and dried fruit, a -little corn for the horse, and a scanty supply of water, were fastened -round Dick’s waist for the descent of the cliff, and the turban and -the mantle were arranged by Ismail Bakhsh. All was ready. Dick shook -hands with the rest, and turned to Georgia as she stood white and -tearless beside the parapet. - -“Georgie, if you tell me not to go, I’ll stay now,” he whispered, as -he saw her face. - -“No, Dick, go--for honour’s sake”--and she repeated mechanically the -words which had been burning themselves into her brain during the last -half-hour-- - - - “‘I could not love thee, dear, so much, - Loved I not honour more.’ - - -Go, dear,” she said again, and took his face between her hands and -kissed him on the forehead. - -“It’s women like you that make men heroes in spite of themselves,” -broke out Dick. “Oh, Georgie, I was a brute to you this morning--about -that cat of yours. Say you forgive me.” - -“Dick!” she almost laughed. “As though I could remember such a thing -as that now! Good-bye, my dearest, and God go with you.” - -“God keep you, my darling!” He held her in his arms for a moment -longer, then released her with a last kiss. “Take care of her,” he -said to the rest, as he stepped up on the parapet, and let himself -down by the rope. They lowered him carefully to the ledge, and from -thence, with the rope still round his waist, he made his way down the -precarious path to the foot of the cliff. Presently the strain on the -rope ceased. Those above drew it up, and listening intently, fancied -they could hear the sound of a horse’s hoofs as it was led cautiously -over the fallen rocks into the open plain, but the shadows were too -confusing to allow them to distinguish anything by the sense of sight. -They listened anxiously for any alarm from the walls which might -indicate that some sentry had been more successful, but none came, and -they returned slowly to their several quarters, Fitz taking possession -of the room which had been assigned to Dick. As for Georgia, she -kissed the sword-hilt on which her lover’s fingers had so often -rested, and allowed her tears to have free course, now that he was no -longer at hand for his heart to be troubled by them. - -Very early the next morning, before any of Abd-ur-Rahim’s dependants -were about, Stratford, Fitz, and Ismail Bakhsh might have been seen -hard at work by the light of a smoky lamp. They were taking the long -rope to pieces, or, in other words, restoring its component parts to -their original form as box cords, and returning them to the places -where they might reasonably be expected to be found under ordinary -circumstances. When Rahah had been intrusted with the fragments out of -which Lady Haigh and Georgia had formed their first rope, and Ismail -Bakhsh had carried away the rest to put them back with the luggage of -which he had charge, the prisoners breathed more freely, and Stratford -took advantage of the momentary pause to arrange plans for the day. - -“Look here, Anstruther--we must keep it dark as long as possible that -North is gone and that you are here in his place. It strikes me that -the fellows who were looking for you yesterday all went too far -afield, and that’s how they missed you. To-day they will argue that -they had better look at home first, and they will set to work to -search the ruins down below, and the rocks near the spot where we -halted, and any caves there may be in the neighbourhood. I don’t know -what sort of trackers they are here, but if they are anything like so -good as the natives in India, they will find out in no time that the -ruins were occupied until last night, and that a man on horseback left -them and took a certain course. They may even be able to discover our -way up and down the cliff by means of your footprints and North’s. -Still, it will all take a certain amount of time, and every hour of -delay is so much gain for North. On the other hand, if they don’t -happen to light upon his trail, and we keep you well out of sight, -they may waste the whole day in an exhaustive search of the desert -just round here, which would be nuts for us. You must pretend to be -seedy, and stay in your room. If you don’t show up, perhaps they won’t -find out the state of affairs for a day or two.” - -“Beastly dull for me!” grumbled Fitz; but he yielded to the -inevitable, and returned to his room, resolved to make up for the -fatigues of the night by a few hours’ additional sleep. Indeed, the -whole party slept late that morning, and when Abd-ur-Rahim came in to -inquire after the health of his prisoners, he found only Stratford -prepared to receive him. This was fortunate, in that it postponed the -danger of discovery, and Stratford gladly accepted the old man’s offer -of a ride round the city in his company, as tending still further to -avert suspicion. By one means or another, the whole of the day was -tided over successfully, and the spirits of the captives began to -rise. The next day, however, a new difficulty confronted them, in the -shape of a deputation from the mutinous cavalry escort, who had found -their way to Bir-ul-Malik, and demanded an interview with their hero -Dick. In vain were they assured that he could not and would not see -them. They expressed their readiness to await his convenience for any -length of time; and Stratford guessed that, fearing they had made -their native land too hot to hold them, they entertained the design of -crossing the frontier under Dick’s leadership, taking their women and -children with them, and transferring their allegiance to Her Most -Gracious Majesty, as a preliminary to enlisting in the Khemistan -Horse. It was a distinct relief to Stratford, when he considered the -spirit in which Dick would probably have received this precious offer -of service, to remember that he was not in the place; but it was a -very embarrassing thing to have these men continually waiting and -watching for an opportunity of seeing him. They were not interfered -with in any way by Abd-ur-Rahim and his men--a fact which confirmed -Stratford’s conviction that it had been arranged with them beforehand -by Fath-ud-Din’s emissaries that they were to mutiny and desert when -they did, and that their indignation respecting the misappropriated -_bakhshish_ was only part of a deep-laid plot. - -For some two or three hours the deputation sat waiting patiently -outside the quarters allotted to the prisoners, while ambassadors went -to them at intervals to represent the uselessness of their remaining, -and to advise them to withdraw. Then fortune favoured them, and they -stole a march on Stratford. He had gone into the inner rooms to speak -to the ladies, while Kustendjian was busy in his own quarters, and the -deputation grasped their opportunity, and, after surprising and -binding the man on guard at the door, walked in. Dick’s bearer was the -only person who saw them enter, and he seized the moment, while they -were admiring Stratford’s toilet arrangements, in the first room they -reached, to rush to his master’s quarters and throw a sheet over Fitz, -who was lying on the bedstead, very hot and discontented, in his shirt -and trousers. There was just time for him to turn his face to the wall -and for the man to arrange the sheet over his head in the manner of -the natives when they sleep, before the deputation entered. A murmur -of delight broke from them when they saw the shrouded figure, and they -sat down in a semicircle on the floor, to wait until their desired -leader should awake, all with their eyes fixed on the sheet, beneath -which Fitz lay writhing in agonies of laughter. In vain did the bearer -attempt to dislodge them by threats of his master’s anger when he -awoke, in vain prophesy that their presence would do him harm; they -simply reiterated their determination to see the General Dīk. At -last, between laughter and the sheet, Fitz could bear no more; and, -almost suffocated with heat, he threw out an arm and pushed the -covering partially aside. A murmur of astonishment showed him at once -that he had done more than he intended. - -“But the General Dīk has light hair, and this man’s is black!” were -the words he heard, and the leader of the party added -authoritatively--“That is not the arm of the General Dīk!” - -“The General Dīk!” exclaimed the bearer, trying to improve -matters--“nay, this is the _chota sahib_. Think ye that the Major -Sahib would have suffered you to enter his quarters, ye sons of -swine?” - -“But the little gentleman was lost!” was the cry, as Fitz threw off -the sheet and sat up. “Where, then, is the General Dīk? Let us even -seek Abd-ur-Rahim and ask him of the matter, for surely they have -murdered our Lord Dīk!” - -In an incredibly short space of time Abd-ur-Rahim had been informed of -the miracle that had occurred, and was on the spot, only to become -more and more mystified in the course of his inquiries. That Dick was -gone and Fitz had taken his place was evident, but when or how the -exchange had been effected was a mystery. None of the prisoners would -offer any explanation. “That is for you to find out,” was their answer -to all questions, and Abd-ur-Rahim and his officers beat their brains -in vain. Means, motive, and opportunity for the change alike appeared -wanting, and the puzzled Ethiopians took refuge at last in the -hypothesis put forward by one of their number-- - -“It is the magic of the doctor lady! She has changed one into the -other to lead us astray and to baffle our search for the youth.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXI. - FOR A CONSIDERATION. - -“I can’t go on wasting time like this,” said Georgia to herself the -next morning as she stood on the terrace, drawn thither by the -fascination of the distant view of Bir-ul-Malikat. “Two whole days -have slipped away already, and I have not got a step nearer to -discovering the antidote, nor even to communicating with Khadija. What -am I to do? When those women and children came to ask for medicine -yesterday, I thought it was a hopeful sign, and I suppose that if I -stayed here long enough my fame might spread even as far as -Bir-ul-Malikat; but what good is that when Abd-ur-Rahim won’t hear of -our setting foot outside the walls? It was bad enough before, when I -knew Dick would be angry if I hinted at going over to pay Khadija a -visit, but I think I might have talked him round. I only wish the dear -boy was here now to be angry, instead of being taken out of the way -just when I had been thinking so unkindly about him. But I don’t see -how Abd-ur-Rahim is to be worked upon, unless any of his own wives or -children should happen to fall ill, and even then I am afraid I -shouldn’t be able to persuade him to let me leave the town, if only -for an hour or two. I wonder whether Rahah and I could concoct a -letter to Khadija, and whether we could get it taken to her if we did? -I should think we ought to be able to pique her curiosity, or perhaps -her covetousness, supposing that she could read the letter when she -got it. Let me see, what could we say?” - -She knelt down with her arms on the parapet, and was revolving in her -mind honied sentences which might cover an even more tempting meaning, -and thus appeal to the witch’s cupidity, when her attention was -attracted by a moving object between her and Bir-ul-Malikat. Now that -the search for Dick had once more quitted the immediate neighbourhood -of the fortress, the solitude of the desert was so seldom disturbed by -any traveller that Georgia watched the approaching speck with -interest. As it came nearer she saw that it was a man mounted on a -donkey, but when it passed out of sight round the slope of the hill -she thought no more about it. Presently, however, Rahah came in hot -haste to seek her mistress. - -“There is a messenger from Bir-ul-Malikat waiting outside the door, O -my lady, and he will not give his message to me. Is he to be allowed -to speak to you?” - -“Oh, of course. Some one must be ill,” said Georgia, and she returned -indoors and donned her _burka_. The man whom she had seen riding -across the desert was standing in the outer hall at a suitable -distance from the doorway of the passage which led into the harem, and -the door was open to allow of conversation. The visitor was -respectably dressed, and had the appearance of a steward or other -responsible servant, but his first words were not calculated to -recommend his mission, at any rate as Rahah translated them. - -“O doctor lady, Khadija, the mother of Yakub, sends thee greetings, -and desires thee to visit her at Bir-ul-Malikat.” - -“Why?” asked Georgia. “Is she ill?” - -“I know not,” answered the man, doggedly. - -“Then why does she send for me?” - -“That is her business. It is not for any man to dispute the will of -Khadija.” - -Georgia pondered the matter for a moment. Her first impulse was to -accept the invitation which had arrived thus opportunely, but its tone -was so unpleasant that she began to suspect a trap. If her presence -was really needed, Khadija could well afford to send her a more -explicit message. It was evident that the matter was not one of life -and death, or more would have been made of it, and Georgia had a -lively recollection of the way in which she had been lured to the -Palace at Kubbet-ul-Haj, to warn her against putting faith in -mysterious messages. In any case, nothing could be lost, and the -respect in which she was held would probably increase, if she declined -to pay any attention to a summons worded as this one had been. - -“I go nowhere unless the messenger tells me plainly why I am wanted,” -she said, sharply. - -“That is not a reply to satisfy Khadija,” returned the messenger. - -“Then she must find satisfaction elsewhere,” said Georgia. - -“Her power is greater than the doctor lady knows.” - -“Thou art a fool,” said Rahah, contemptuously, her wrath aroused by -the veiled threat. “My lady also has medicines. Is she likely to fear -Khadija?” and she dropped the curtain as a sign that the interview was -at an end. - -The messenger departed baffled, but it was not without many misgivings -that Georgia heard his retreating footsteps crossing the tiled floor. -Had she acted foolishly in refusing so peremptorily the witch’s -request? It was possible that the terms in which it was couched had -been adopted merely in order to try her, and that she had lost once -for all the opportunity of gaining an entrance to Bir-ul-Malikat. The -thought troubled her a good deal, in spite of the persistence with -which she assured herself that it was only prudent to act as she had -done, and she wandered in and out of the various rooms, unable to -settle to any occupation, pausing now and then on the terrace to look -across the desert in case the messenger should be returning. Engrossed -in watching for him, she failed to notice the approach of another -traveller, and it was with some surprise that she received the news -which Rahah hurried out to bring her. - -“O my lady, another messenger! He says that he is Yakub, the son of -Khadija, but he will not say why he is come.” - -Once more Georgia assumed her _burka_ and went to interview the -visitor. He was a young man, somewhat foppishly dressed, and evidently -a dandy in his way, his appearance producing in Georgia’s mind the -impression that his mother had spoilt him as a boy, and now lavished -upon him all the money she had to spare. He came forward with a slight -swagger, and salaamed in rather a perfunctory way. - -“O doctor lady, thy handmaid Khadija, my mother, sends thee greetings, -and entreats thee to visit her at Bir-ul-Malikat.” - -“Why?” asked Georgia, with a directness which he seemed to find -embarrassing, for he fidgeted with his girdle as he replied-- - -“Nay, O doctor lady, is it strange that my mother, having heard of thy -fame, should be anxious to see thee?” - -“But why does she not come here? Is she ill?” - -“No; thanks be to God!” was the answer. - -“Then is there any one ill in her house?” - -“That is not for me to tell the doctor lady.” - -“Then neither is it for the doctor lady to go there,” and Georgia was -about to retire into the harem again when he sprang forward. - -“Let not the doctor lady turn away the light of her countenance from -her servant. There is one ill in the house.” - -“But who is ill, and what is the matter with him or her?” - -“I cannot tell. I have given my message.” - -“You must tell me if I am to come.” - -“But it is not in my power, O doctor lady! My mother has told me no -more than that, and I know only that it is one of the women.” - -“In that case, my friend, you had better return to Bir-ul-Malikat at -once, and find out the age of the patient and her symptoms. Then I -will either give you medicine for her, or I will ask leave from -Abd-ur-Rahim to go and see her. It is absurd to come to me in this -way. I should have no idea what to take with me.” - -“But it cannot be, O doctor lady. My mother will tell me no more than -I have told thee.” - -“She must tell me more, if she wishes me to go and see her. You must -make her understand that unless she is perfectly open with me she need -not expect me to come. She can send me a letter if she likes, but I -must have some idea what is the matter.” And Georgia retired into the -interior of the harem, feeling that she was acting with a prudence -such as Stratford himself could not have exceeded. That caution was -necessary in this case she could not doubt. The repetition of the -message, and the persistent mystery in which it was enwrapped, had -raised strong suspicions in her mind that there was no sick person at -all in the case, and that the request was merely a bait to lure her -into the power of the sorceress--a trick which she did not intend -should succeed a second time. Her desire was to be able to dictate -terms to Khadija, not to be obliged to sue for her own release, and -she awaited the further development of the situation with much -interest and some anxiety. To pass away the time, she occupied herself -in putting her medicine-chest in order, setting Rahah to work to -polish her surgical instruments, a task in which the girl took a keen -delight, and even before the business was finished to her -satisfaction, another visitor was announced. As before, Rahah went out -to see who it was, and returned in a high state of excitement. - -“O my lady, it is Khadija the sorceress herself! Surely she has heard -of my lady’s power, and comes to prove it.” - -Georgia’s heart beat a good deal faster than before, as she walked -slowly down the long room, refusing resolutely to quicken her steps, -but she succeeded in keeping her anxiety from betraying itself in her -voice as she gave her visitor the usual greeting. The sorceress, a -small shrunken old woman, with white hair and piercing dark eyes, -looked at her sharply before making her hurried reply. - -“And upon thee be peace, O doctor lady! Will my lady be pleased to -accompany her handmaid back to Bir-ul-Malikat, where one of the -household is grievously sick?” - -“I must hear more about the matter before I come,” said Georgia, -turning and leading the way through the passage back into the harem. -“Sit down and rest, O Khadija, and tell me who is ill,” and as she -spoke she seated herself upon the divan opposite the visitor, while -Rahah took her stand beside her to interpret what was said. - -“Nay,” said Khadija; “surely the doctor lady, who is so wise, needs -not to be told anything? She knows all things by her own wisdom.” - -This was a direct challenge, and Georgia saw that it would be -necessary to administer a lesson to her visitor. She drew herself up -and fixed her eyes sternly on Khadija. - -“You are right, O Khadija. I know many things without hearing of them -from you, and before we talk again of your matters I will ask you -certain questions, and according as you deal truly with me in -answering them or not, so will I decide whether I will grant your -request.” - -Khadija looked up in evident surprise, not unmixed with apprehension, -and Georgia went on, speaking in a low voice, but very slowly and -distinctly-- - -“You are learned in poisons, Khadija. Tell me, then, what was the drug -that Fath-ud-Din used to poison the Queen of England’s Envoy--that -drug which you gave him?” - -“God forbid!” cried Khadija, raising her skinny hands in indignant -protest. “Does the doctor lady think that her handmaid is as one of -the evil women in the corners of the bazaars, who sell poisons to -wives tired of their husbands? Far be it from me to deal with deadly -drugs to such an end!” - -“I have other questions to ask, Khadija, but I shall speak with you no -more unless you answer this one. Also it would be well for you to -answer it truly, for I know the answer.” - -“If the doctor lady knows, why should she ask me?” grumbled the old -woman; but the response was prompt-- - -“That I may see whether you are dealing truly with me or not, O -Khadija.” - -“It might have been the juice of a plant?” was the tentative -suggestion. “Yea, doubtless it was the juice of a plant,” with the air -of one who had just remembered a forgotten fact. - -“It might have been, but it was not.” - -“It might have been some metal, or a deadly fruit, or the venom of a -serpent?” the last with a cunning side-look at Georgia. - -“No, it was none of those; but we are coming to the point. Hasten, O -Khadija; my patience will not last for ever.” - -“Could it have been the essence distilled from the dried body of--some -beast?” - -Georgia rose from her seat and turned away, but the old woman threw -herself before her and clutched her dress. - -“O my lady, was it the poison of a deadly fish?” - -“Ah! now we are getting at the truth,” said Georgia, turning, but -refusing to sit down again. “It was a fish, then; but how was the -poison administered?” - -“Surely the doctor lady knows all things. It would be vain if one -should try to deceive her. There was but one small drop of the -medicine, and it was to be given in a cup of coffee.” - -“And it was carried for safety in the jewel of a ring, which was to be -dropped into the coffee. Is it not so, Khadija? But we will speak of -the Father of sleep again presently. Tell me now who it is that is ill -in your house, and what the sickness is.” - -As they resumed their seats on the divan, Khadija gave a lingering -look into Georgia’s eyes, trying to discover whether she was possessed -of information upon this point also, but finding herself baffled, -leaned forward and spoke in a whisper. - -“O doctor lady, I will not deceive thee. It is my master’s -daughter--my Rose of the World, my child Zeynab.” - -“And what is the matter with her?” - -“O my lady, I will hide nothing from thee. The maiden is light of foot -and venturesome as the wild goats. Some days ago--it may have been -four or five--she was climbing upon the walls of the garden with the -slave-girls, and she declared to them that she could go further than -any of them along the wall where it was broken. Thy handmaid called to -her with many rebukes to come down, but she was headstrong and went -on, and presently a part of the wall fell with her to the ground. Nor -was that all, for a great stone lay upon her foot and crushed it, and -nothing that I have done will cure it.” - -“What have you tried?” asked Georgia--and the old woman gave a list of -various native remedies she had administered, all of them sounding -equally inadequate to a European listener, and the greater number -either painful or disgusting. - -“And now, O my lady, the foot is swollen to the size of twice my head, -and it has turned black, and the maiden sobs and moans day and night.” - -“That sounds as though the bones were crushed,” said Georgia. “I may -have to take off the foot.” - -“Never, O doctor lady! Better that the child should die, though she is -the light of my eyes, and Fath-ud-Din will slay me if any ill befalls -her. Rather than lose her foot she must die, for who will marry a -woman with only one foot?” - -“I will have a look at it, and see what I can do,” said Georgia. “It -may be possible to remove the shattered bones without amputation. But -you must understand that if I come I take the responsibility and the -authority in the case. If it is only possible to save the girl’s life -by amputating her foot, it will have to be done. You must leave me to -settle it with Fath-ud-Din, and I will take the blame.” - -“Nay!” cried Khadija, with still more energy. “Fath-ud-Din must know -nothing of this, whether the maiden recover or not. O doctor lady, she -is all that I have, saving my son Yakub, and when I have seen her -married to the King’s son Antar Khan I can die happy; but Fath-ud-Din -would take her at once from my keeping if he heard what had happened -to her, or knew that I had brought in an English doctor-woman to see -her. Thou wilt not tell him, O doctor lady? I know that the English -speak the truth. Fath-ud-Din hates them; but if they have the skill to -save his daughter, it is well to make use of it without his -knowledge.” - -It is sad to be obliged to confess the humiliating truth, but it was -this speech that decided Georgia to embark upon a course so -unprofessional that, if it had become known in England, it would have -been the duty of her medical _confrères_ to drive her with ignominy -from their midst. She made up her mind deliberately to haggle for her -fee before she visited the patient. - -“Why was it that you gave Fath-ud-Din the poison with which to injure -the Envoy?” she asked, suddenly. Khadija looked astonished at the -unexpected change of subject. - -“Nay, O my lady, is it not the duty of a servant to do her master’s -will?” - -“You are not in the position of an ordinary servant to -Fath-ud-Din--you are more of an adviser and helper. Why did you make -it easy for him to poison a man who had done you no wrong?” - -“I hate the English,” responded the old woman, sullenly. “They came -and burnt my village because our men had raided into Khemistan, and my -husband and my elder son were killed.” - -“And now you are obliged to rely upon an Englishwoman to help you to -avoid the wrath of Fath-ud-Din? Hear me, Khadija--I will come to -Bir-ul-Malikat and do my utmost to cure Zeynab, but only on one -condition.” - -“And that is, O doctor lady----?” - -“That you give me the antidote for the poison you call the Father of -sleep, and tell me how to apply it. If I find you have deceived me, -Fath-ud-Din shall know everything; but if the Envoy recovers, all will -be well.” - -“O my lady, she will poison you as soon as you have cured the girl,” -put in Rahah, in a frightened whisper. - -“I think not,” said Georgia. “Tell her that before I leave this house -I shall write out an account of the circumstances, to be sent -immediately to Fath-ud-Din in case anything should happen to me.” - -Khadija received the information with a grunt. “And what will the -doctor lady do in return for the antidote?” she asked. - -“I will go with her to Bir-ul-Malikat,” replied Georgia, “and do all I -can to save the girl’s foot. Whether I find that amputation is -necessary or not, I will remain in the house until the patient is -fairly on the way to recovery, that she may have the best possible -chance.” - -The old woman nodded her head meditatively. “Thou wilt cure my Zeynab, -and I will give thee the antidote. That is fair. Thou wilt come at -once, O doctor lady?” - -“I must make a few arrangements first. You are prepared to give my -maid and me a room to ourselves, I suppose, as we shall be obliged to -remain over the night? It may be necessary for us to spend four or -five days with you.” - -“Oh yes; the doctor lady shall be lodged in the best part of the -harem, in the rooms of my Zeynab’s mother--may she rest in peace!--and -the women of the household shall see to her comfort.” - -“That is well,” said Georgia, as she left the room and went to seek -Lady Haigh. Rahah followed her. - -“It is not safe, O my lady. She will kill you if she can, and there -will be many opportunities if you are staying in her house.” - -“We must try to take adequate precautions, and baffle her, Rahah. In -any case, the possibility of success is worth the risk.” - -Nevertheless, as Georgia knocked softly at the door of the sick-room, -the thought crossed her mind: “At any rate, I will make sure before I -go that I shall be allowed to try my remedy if I succeed in bringing -it back. It is a risk, undoubtedly, to go, and I shall hear a good -deal about it from Dick if I ever return, so that I won’t enter on it -as a mere speculation.” - -“What is it, Georgie?” asked Lady Haigh, coming out. “Is anything -fresh the matter?” for the repressed excitement in Georgia’s manner -caught her attention at once. - -Instead of answering immediately, Georgia drew her to the window and -threw open the lattice, so that the light fell full on the faces of -both. - -“Have you confidence in me, Lady Haigh?--as a doctor, I mean?” - -“Every confidence, Georgie. I would sooner have you to attend me if I -was ill than any male doctor I know. But why do you ask? Oh, my dear, -don’t--don’t tell me that it is anything about Dugald! He doesn’t seem -quite so strong here, I know; but it is only the change of air. Don’t -say that he is really worse!” - -“No, that is not what I wanted to say, though it has to do with Sir -Dugald. Just before we left Kubbet-ul-Haj, Lady Haigh, I found out the -name of the poison Fath-ud-Din used against him. Now I have the chance -of obtaining the antidote; but that involves my going to -Bir-ul-Malikat, and perhaps remaining there for several days, -attending Fath-ud-Din’s daughter. If I can cure her, I am to have the -remedy given to me. What I want to know is, if I obtain the antidote, -will you let me use it for Sir Dugald?” - -“But you must not go, Georgie! I can’t let you run into danger, and -what you propose would be fearfully dangerous.” - -“That is not the question, Lady Haigh; and the danger is my affair. -You can’t prevent my going, except by assuring me that you won’t let -me try the antidote.” - -“Oh, Georgie, how can you be so unkind?” And Lady Haigh fairly broke -down. “He is getting worse, I know it; and he will slip away without -ever recognising me or speaking to me again. I ought to prevent your -going, I know; but I can’t. Oh, what will Major North say to me? No, -Georgie, don’t go! We have had our share of happiness, Dugald and I; -and how can I dare to risk your future and Major North’s? Oh, why did -you ask me, and make me pronounce my husband’s death-sentence? No, -don’t mind what I say; I am nearly mad with trouble. You are not to -go.” - -“Nevertheless, I am going,” said Georgia, her face very pale. “My only -condition is that you are to use the antidote, if I can get it sent to -you, whatever happens to me. You are quite right--I ought not to have -asked you. It was only that it struck me suddenly that you might -listen to Dick and Mr Stratford again, and it would all be no use. You -promise me that you will try the antidote, if I can get it?” - -“Nothing can be worse than his state now,” sobbed Lady Haigh. “Yes, I -will use it, Georgie. How could I do otherwise, when you are risking -your life to obtain it for him? You believe in it, I can see that.” - -“I do, and I hope that before long you will have good cause to believe -in it too. Now I must tell Mr Stratford of my intended mission. I -shall say nothing about the antidote, but I won’t get into trouble -again by going off without leave.” - -Stratford was busied, with Fitz and Kustendjian, in compiling the -official chronicle of the events of the last few days, and it did not -strike him that there was any special danger in Georgia’s going to -visit a patient who had asked for her attendance. He knew nothing of -the evil fame of Khadija, and thought that if Abd-ur-Rahim could be -brought to give his consent, the ride to Bir-ul-Malikat would be a -pleasant change for Georgia after her imprisonment within the four -walls of the harem. - -“One of us might go over with the escort and fetch you back,” he -suggested, “if you could fix any special time.” - -“I’m afraid I can’t,” said Georgia, with a guilty feeling of -concealment, “for I don’t know how long I shall be. If it is necessary -to perform an operation, I shall probably be detained some time. Could -you spare Mr Anstruther to help me get my things together, and to see -that the horses are properly saddled?” - -Fitz jumped up from the divan with great alacrity, and when Georgia -had him alone she confided her plan to him, explaining the importance -of her going to Bir-ul-Malikat at this juncture, and the probability -that her stay there might extend over several days. His first impulse -was naturally to declare that he would go too, and to reproach her -with unkindness and lack of confidence in him when she refused his -escort somewhat decidedly. But Georgia had her answer ready. - -“I don’t want you at Bir-ul-Malikat, Mr Anstruther, because I think -you would be more useful here. I want to arrange a code of signals -which will show whether all is going well or not. Do you know anything -of heliography? I have a small mirror in my dressing-case, and, if you -have another, we could each signal night and morning how things were -going, for I ought to know if Sir Dugald gets worse. I suppose one -flash would mean ‘All right!’ and two ‘Send help!’” - -“Oh, we can do better than that,” said Fitz, whose face had brightened -perceptibly when he found that he might be of use even though he was -not allowed to act as Georgia’s escort. “I will jot down the Morse -code for you, Miss Keeling, and then we can hold conversations. Long -and short flashes will represent dashes and dots, you see, and none of -the natives will be able to imitate our signals, though they might -easily twig what one flash meant, and signal ‘All right!’ when it was -all wrong. You didn’t know I studied telegraphy a little before I came -out, did you? One never knows when things may prove useful, and I -chummed up with a clerk in the Whitcliffe post-office, and got him to -put me up to the dodges.” - -Leaving Fitz occupied in writing out the code, Georgia next made a -raid on the stores under the care of Ismail Bakhsh. She felt it to be -a matter of the greatest importance that Rahah and she should take -their own provisions with them, since to depend on Khadija’s -liberality would be merely a gratuitous invitation to her to poison -them both, and with this danger in her mind she secured a sufficient -quantity of meat extract and other portable articles of food to last -for three or four days. Ismail Bakhsh demurred persistently to parting -with the stores in his charge, except in obedience to an officially -signed order, yielding only under protest; while, when he discovered, -from some chance words let drop by Rahah, the real object of the -journey, he could scarcely be restrained from going at once to -Stratford and begging him to prevent it. Rahah overwhelmed him with -shrill reproaches, for, little as she approved of the expedition -herself, she was determined not to allow any man living to thwart her -mistress’s wishes; but it was Georgia herself who forced him to give -an unwilling acquiescence to the plan. Her plea that she was going to -secure a medicine that might cure the _Burra Sahib_ he dismissed with -contempt, remarking that the _Burra Sahib’s_ illness did not concern -her--a slight to her profession which aroused all the ire of which -Georgia was capable. Looking straight at him, she spoke sternly-- - -“Am I to ask your leave to go where I will, Ismail Bakhsh--you who -have eaten my father’s salt? I am going to Bir-ul-Malikat, and I -forbid you to interfere. You take too much upon yourself.” - -Ismail Bakhsh saluted in dumb amazement as Rahah translated the words -with much gusto. - -“Truly Sinjāj Kīlin himself speaks in his daughter!” he murmured -submissively, as Georgia increased by another tin the pile which Rahah -was carrying, and left the room without vouchsafing him another -glance. He watched the two women out of sight, and after securing the -door of the store-room, went off to his quarters, revolving many -things in his mind. - -Georgia’s preparations were now almost complete. Rahah had added -several native loaves and a quantity of flour to her stock of -provisions, together with a saucepan and a new water-jar, and Fitz -brought Georgia the paper on which he had written out the Morse code, -and reminded her that it was possible, by means of two mirrors placed -at right angles to each other, to obtain a flash when the sun might -seem to be too low in the heavens for signalling to be attempted with -success. The only thing now left to be done, although it was a very -important one, was to obtain Abd-ur-Rahim’s consent to the expedition. -It occurred to Georgia that in this she might find a powerful ally in -Khadija, and before sending Rahah to ask the old commandant to come -and speak to her, she returned to the room in which she had left the -sorceress. When Abd-ur-Rahim appeared, Rahah was walking meekly behind -him, and passing into the inner room, took her place behind her -mistress without a word; but it struck Georgia presently that she must -have made a suggestion to him on the way. - -“What does the doctor lady require?” asked Abd-ur-Rahim. - -“I wish to go to Bir-ul-Malikat with Khadija, who has one sick in the -house that she desires me to see,” said Georgia. - -“But the doctor lady must remember that it was not even permitted to -her yesterday to visit the sick in the town, outside the citadel. How, -then, could her servant suffer her to cross the desert to -Bir-ul-Malikat?” - -“But surely you will make an exception in favour of Khadija, who is -the servant of your lord Fath-ud-Din?” urged Georgia, aghast at this -new possibility of failure just as success seemed to be in her grasp. - -“I know not,” replied Abd-ur-Rahim, cautiously. “Who is it that is -sick?” - -“Make no inquiry into matters that concern thee not, O Abd-ur-Rahim,” -put in Khadija, with more than the usual touch of sharpness in her -tone. “It is enough for thee that one of thy lord’s household is sick, -and that I desire the doctor lady to come and see her. It will not be -for thy health, nor for that of thine house, for thee to put -difficulties in the way of her coming.” - -Abd-ur-Rahim grew visibly paler under the implied threat. “But what -shall I say to my lord and to the English if any evil befalls the -doctor lady?” he asked, helplessly. - -“What evil should befall her?” snapped Khadija. “Am I a dog, to -ill-treat the one who comes to help me?” - -“Nay,” stammered Abd-ur-Rahim. “Far be it from me to hint evil -concerning thee. But there are dangers in the desert, and perhaps -among the servants at Bir-ul-Malikat there might be---- Nay, I cannot -let the doctor lady go unless I have a surety in her place.” - -“Whom dost thou seek?” demanded Khadija. - -“Thy son, Yakub, that he may remain here until the doctor lady has -returned in peace.” - -“It is well,” returned the old woman, after a scarcely perceptible -pause. “Why should I fear for my son, since I mean well to the doctor -lady? Let him come, and welcome.” - -“Then I will ride with thee to Bir-ul-Malikat, and receive the young -man before the doctor lady arrives there,” said Abd-ur-Rahim, -determined to leave no opening for the evasion of his conditions. - -Khadija gave an angry snort, but to demur would have been to cast a -doubt on the honesty of her own intentions, and she submitted to the -inevitable. Abd-ur-Rahim departed to order the horses to be got ready, -and Georgia went to say good-bye to Lady Haigh, and to give her last -directions respecting the treatment of Sir Dugald. Fitz received a -parting injunction to take care of Colleen Bawn, and was further -honoured by having Dick’s sword committed to his keeping. Georgia -would have liked to take it with her, but it was rather an -unmanageable piece of luggage, and she gave it into his charge with no -little reluctance. - -There was still another parting to be undergone, for as the three -women passed through the front portion of the house and reached the -steep path which led down into the courtyard, Ismail Bakhsh came to -meet them, with his hand on the shoulder of his son Ibrahim. - -“O my lady,” he said to Georgia, “thy servant would entreat thy -forgiveness for his words of an hour ago. It was not for him to order -thy doings, but he would fain serve thee still, for thy father’s sake. -He is old, and cannot now fight as he did once, but let my lady permit -his son to take his place, and guard her in her journey and in her -sojourn in the strange house.” - -“O my lady, let him come,” whispered Rahah, and Georgia assented to -the old man’s request. Ibrahim was not likely to be of much service as -a guard, but he might contrive to escape with the antidote if she and -Rahah were prevented from leaving when they wished. - -“It is well,” said Ismail Bakhsh. “Guard well the doctor lady, O my -son, for thy father ate her father’s bread for many years. Count thine -own life nothing in comparison with the life of Sinjāj Kīlin’s -daughter, and it shall please thy father well, whatever issue it may -please God to send to this matter.” - -“What says the old fool about Sinjāj Kīlin?” demanded Khadija, -catching the name. - -“My lady is Sinjāj Kīlin’s daughter,” said Rahah, with much pride; -but the look on the old woman’s face made her recoil terrified. “O my -lady, she means to kill us,” she whispered fearfully when she could -gain Georgia’s ear. - -“We can’t turn back now, Rahah.” - -“If the doctor lady should run into some danger in spite of me, and -evil should befall her, thou wilt not hold me guilty?” Khadija was -saying to Abd-ur-Rahim. - -“Nay, surely, if it is no fault of thine,” was the response. - -“It is well,” said Khadija. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII. - A SILENCE THAT WAS GOLDEN. - -Although she would not for the world have allowed either Rahah or -Khadija to discover the fact, Georgia was conscious of a distinct -sense of shrinking as she rode under the gateway of Bir-ul-Malikat, -after seeing Abd-ur-Rahim start on his homeward journey with young -Yakub among his followers. The place was less of a fortress, and more -of a country seat, than Bir-ul-Malik; but the high walls which -surrounded the grounds of the great house, and about which a number of -smaller buildings and huts were clustered, were quite capable of -defence, and the assemblage of men visible about the gate and -courtyard showed that a respectable garrison could be collected in -time of need. Still, the fortifications were not of such a character -as to be able to stand a protracted siege, and Georgia guessed what -was indeed the truth, that while they were useful to withstand the -sudden raid of any marauding border tribe, who might be supposed to be -swayed by the hope of plunder more strongly than by superstitious -fear, the real bulwark of the place was Khadija’s reputation as a -sorceress. Here she was supreme, and her fame protected alike her -precious charge and the servants and labourers who formed the little -colony. When she had once for all secured the transference of Jahan -Beg’s rights in Bir-ul-Malik to her master, by diverting the -water-supply, she had removed from her path the only enemy on whom the -universal belief in her supernatural power for ill had no effect, and -who had been able to keep an eye on her doings. Every man and woman in -the place was bound to Khadija’s service both by interest and by fear, -and Georgia felt that it was indeed well that Abd-ur-Rahim had -insisted on receiving her son as a hostage before he would intrust his -prisoners to her tender mercies. - -Dismounting from their steeds in the inner courtyard of the great -house, where a number of slave-girls were gathered to stare at them, -the new arrivals were led by Khadija into the rooms which she had -promised them, and which, as Georgia was delighted to find, looked out -on the desert in the direction of Bir-ul-Malik. After a short interval -to allow them to arrange their possessions and to remove a little of -the sand of travel, the old woman came to fetch them, and led them -through the rambling, half-deserted house to the opposite wing. -Everything in the rooms through which they were conducted spoke of -vanished wealth and a gorgeous past. The divans were covered with rich -silks, now faded, torn, and dirty, and costly ornaments of European -manufacture stood broken and tarnished in corners. It was evident that -Fath-ud-Din’s ambitious plans for his daughter’s future had not -impelled him to keep her present abode even in tolerable repair, while -it was not difficult to discern that Khadija cherished a strong -preference for muddle and dirt over cleanliness and order. The state -of the passages and of the bedrooms opening from them was -extraordinary--they seemed to be filled both with the dust and with -the rags of ages; while in the innermost room of all, and therefore -the one with the smallest allowance of air and light, was to be found -the jewel enshrined in this sorry casket, Fath-ud-Din’s daughter -Zeynab, the destined bride of Antar Khan. - -“This is my Rose of the World, O doctor lady,” said Khadija, when she -had led Georgia into the dark close room, and as she spoke she -indicated a small form crouched among a heap of cushions on a broken -bedstead. It was so dark that there was no possibility of seeing -anything distinctly. - -“Get up on that chest, Rahah, and open the lattice a little way,” said -Georgia; and as the girl, with a vigorous wrench, forced open the -small high window, which moved so stiffly that it was evident it had -not been touched for years, the light disclosed a very white little -Rose indeed, with a face drawn with pain, and grimed and blistered -with crying. The child (she could not have been more than ten) was -lying in an uncomfortable cramped position, with the injured foot -fastened down to one of the legs of the bedstead. This was Khadija’s -latest idea of the way to reduce a swelling. Before saying anything, -Georgia stooped and cut the cord, replacing the foot gently on the -cushions, but the slight movement drew an uneasy little cry from the -patient. - -“Who are these people?” she demanded fretfully of Khadija, trying to -arrange the folds of the dirty wrapper she was wearing into some -semblance of dignity. “I do not want visitors when I cannot put on my -best clothes. Why hast thou brought these women here, O my nurse? Who -are they, I say?” sharply. - -“It is the great doctor lady, who will cure thy foot, my dove,” -replied Khadija, somewhat shamefacedly. - -“The Englishwoman?” exclaimed the child, starting up and glaring at -Georgia with eyes like those of a hunted stag. Then, sinking down -again, she burst into a storm of angry sobs, striking Khadija -passionately when she tried to calm her. It was useless for Georgia to -speak, and equally useless for the old woman to entreat her Rose, her -dove, her eyes, her soul, her Queen Zeynab, to be quiet and let the -doctor lady look at her foot. The sobs continued with unabated -violence, mingled with torrents of vituperation directed at Khadija, -and the child fought like a wild cat when any one attempted to touch -her. - -“Leave her alone,” said Georgia, with an imperative gesture, to -Khadija; “come here, and let her have her cry out. Now tell me what -you have been saying to her to make her afraid of me.” - -“Nothing, O doctor lady--nothing, in the name of God! It is only that -the maiden fears the face of strangers.” - -“That would not account for her terror on finding out who I was. -Speak, Khadija, and tell the truth, or I leave the house at once.” - -Terror-stricken by the threat, the old woman mumbled out an -explanation, which Rahah translated to her mistress. - -“She says, O my lady, that since she heard you were at Bir-ul-Malik -she has frightened the child with your name. When she was going to try -a new medicine, or to hurt her at all, she would say, ‘If you cry or -struggle, I will send for the cruel English doctor lady, who will cut -off your foot in little pieces,’ and the child was quiet at once.” - -“That is quite enough,” said Georgia, observing that Zeynab, guessing -that the rest were talking about her, had hushed her sobs in order to -try to hear what they were saying, and she returned to the side of the -bed. The sobs began again at once, but Georgia laid a firm hand on the -child’s shoulder and signed to Rahah to interpret for her. - -“When you have quite finished crying, Zeynab, you can let me know, and -I will show you something I have got here.” - -The sobs continued for a minute or two with equal violence, but -presently they slackened a little, and Zeynab inquired brokenly, “What -kind of thing is it?” - -“Something you will like to see,” said Georgia; and Rahah added on her -own account as she translated the words: “The doctor lady says so, and -the English always tell the truth.” - -“Do they?” asked Zeynab, with interest. “I thought they were very bad -people.” She had ceased to sob, but was too proud to ask for the sight -she had been promised, and Georgia took something out of her bag, and -waited. More from habit than from any expectation of making use of it, -she had slipped in with her instruments a German toy which she had -found very useful in winning the friendship of children in her old -hospital days, and which had proved a source of great delight to Nur -Jahan and the other women in the Palace at Kubbet-ul-Haj. It was -carved in wood, and represented a cock standing on a barrel. The -barrel contained a yard-measure, and when the tape was drawn out the -bird flapped his wings, faster or slower according to the rapidity of -the movement. - -“What is it?” inquired Zeynab at last, looking curiously at the cock, -her interest stimulated by the doctor’s silence. For answer, Georgia -pulled out the tape, and the child gave a shriek of wild delight. - -“Wonderful, wonderful!” she cried. “Is it alive?” - -Rahah explained that the bird was merely one of the marvels of the -white people, and Zeynab, after a somewhat timid approach, ventured to -pull the tape for herself. Then she was fairly won, and screamed with -pleasure as the cock flapped his wings for her. Not to make the wonder -too cheap, Georgia reclaimed it after a short time; but the ice was -broken. Zeynab lay back on her cushions and looked at her musingly. - -“Art thou really a woman?” she asked at last. - -“Yes. What else could I be?” asked Georgia, smiling. - -“I thought thou wert perhaps a man,” said the child, shyly; and -Georgia felt devoutly thankful that Dick was not there to hear her. -“Shall I tell thee why, O doctor lady?” she went on, then turned -suddenly to Khadija. “O my nurse, I am thirsty. Bring me some -sherbet.” - -“One of the slaves shall prepare it for thee, my soul.” - -“No, there is no one who makes it as thou dost. Fetch it for me, O my -nurse, or I shall scream.” - -With a very bad grace Khadija complied with the imperious command, and -hobbled out of the room. The moment she was gone, Zeynab took a folded -piece of paper from beneath her pillow and laid it in Georgia’s hand. - -“There!” she said, with a radiant smile. Georgia unfolded the paper, -and found it to contain a wretched native print, vile alike in -drawing, colour, and intention, and purporting to represent an English -ball-room. Some resemblance between the open coat and cotton blouse -which Georgia wore with her riding-skirt, and a man’s dress-coat and -shirt-front, had struck the child, and led her to the conclusion that -Georgia was a man. - -“I see what you mean,” said Georgia, whose one glance at the print had -filled her with loathing; “but, Zeynab, this is not a very pretty -picture for you to have. If you will give it to me, I will find you a -book with several pictures in it instead.” - -“Give me the book first,” was the prudent answer, as Zeynab reclaimed -her treasure jealously. “This is all I have. What are thy pictures -like, O doctor lady?” - -“There is one of the Queen of England and many of her family,” said -Georgia, thinking of some odd numbers of illustrated papers which had -thus far survived wonderfully the various vicissitudes of the Mission. -“I might even find you two or three books if you will be good and let -me look at your foot.” - -“Oh, my foot!” Zeynab’s face was pursed up once more in readiness to -cry. “It hurts so dreadfully, and Khadija said thou wouldst cut it -off.” - -“Not if I can possibly help it, I promise you. Will you be a brave -girl, and let me look at it quietly? I don’t mind your crying out if I -hurt you very much; but you must not struggle, and I will be as gentle -as I can.” - -“But why should I be hurt? I am Queen Zeynab.” - -“Because I must hurt you a little now if you are to get well -afterwards. If you are queen here, show it by being braver than any -one else would be. I am treating you like a grown-up person, Zeynab, -not like a baby.” - -“It is well,” said Zeynab, with a frightened little smile. “Thou wilt -not cut my foot off bit by bit?” - -“Certainly not. If I should have to cut it off, I will give you -something to prevent your feeling it at all, so that you won’t even -know that it is being done; but I hope it will not be necessary. Now -let me see it.” - -With great bravery the child allowed her foot to be disencumbered of -the mass of dirty rags in which it was enveloped, and lay still with -compressed lips while Georgia made her examination. The theory which -the doctor had formed on hearing Khadija’s report she saw at once to -be the correct one. The splintered bone was accountable for the -swelling, and would have induced mortification if it had remained much -longer in the wound. The foot was in a frightful state, but there was -still just a possibility of operating with success. The operation must -be undertaken at once, Georgia decided, if the limb was to be saved, -and she turned to Rahah to tell her to get out the necessary -anæsthetic. The movement, slight as it was, gave a jerk to the -rickety bedstead, which communicated itself to the wounded foot, and -forced a moan of pain from the child’s lips. Almost simultaneously -with the sound, Khadija precipitated herself into the room with a -suddenness which suggested that she must have been listening at the -door, and seizing Georgia by the shoulders, thrust her violently away -from the bed and to the other side of the little room. - -“What art thou doing to my child?” she demanded, standing between the -doctor and Zeynab, who was sobbing and wailing with the pain of the -rough jar which the impetuous onslaught had caused to her foot. -“Answer me, O doctor lady! I sent for thee to cure her, and wouldst -thou torment her when I am not by?” - -“It is thou who art hurting me, O my nurse,” moaned Zeynab. “The -doctor lady did but shake me a little, but thou hast killed me. Go -away, and let the doctor lady do what she likes.” - -“What! has the doctor lady bewitched thy heart away from me already?” -cried the old woman, turning upon her. “Ah, wicked girl, what hast -thou there?” and she pounced upon the vile daub which was as good as a -whole art gallery to Zeynab, and tore it to pieces. “Have I not -forbidden thee to see or hear anything of the evil doings of the -wicked white people?” - -“I hate thee!” screamed Zeynab, flinging herself upon her nurse, and -attacking her with all her might. “The white people are good, and thou -hast torn my picture. I love the doctor lady, but thou art a pig!” - -“Hush, Zeynab, you will make your foot worse,” said Georgia, -interposing between Khadija and her charge. “I am going to give you -something that will keep you from feeling pain, and then I hope I -shall be able to do you some good.” - -“Nay,” cried Khadija; “wouldst thou steal away the child’s soul under -pretence of saving her pain? I know thee, O doctor lady, and thou -shalt never shut up my Zeynab’s soul in a bottle with snakes and -devils and unclean animals. I have heard of thy doings, and of the -demons thou hast to serve thee, and how thou dost steal souls that -thou mayest make them work evil at thy will. Thou shalt not charm my -Zeynab’s soul away to imprison it with them.” - -But it only needed this to determine Zeynab immediately in favour of -the anæsthetic. - -“Shut up my soul in a bottle?” she exclaimed, with eager interest. -“But thou wilt not keep it there always, O doctor lady? I should like -it for a little while, but not for long.” - -“I couldn’t put your soul in a bottle if I wanted it there,” said -Georgia, laughing; “but I promise you that I won’t keep you without it -longer than I can help.” - -“I tell thee thou shalt not use thy vile drugs on the maiden,” -declared Khadija stoutly, as Rahah began to get out the necessary -implements. - -“Then how am I to perform the operation?” asked Georgia. - -“I will call two of the slave-women, and they shall hold the child -quiet.” - -“O doctor lady, thou wilt not let her bring them to hold me down?” -entreated Zeynab piteously. “They hurt so dreadfully.” - -“Certainly not. I am in charge of this case, Khadija, and I refuse to -undertake the operation unless the patient is put under chloroform. If -she struggled, frightful harm might be done.” - -“At least I shall be here to wake her if I see that thou art taking -away her soul.” - -“If you do, I shall have to chloroform you too. No, if you stay in the -room, you will not move unless I tell you to do anything. Otherwise I -must send you away.” - -Khadija was vanquished. With a grunt she wrapped her head in her veil, -and sat down on the floor at the head of the bed, while Georgia and -Rahah proceeded with their preparations, the carved chest in which -Zeynab’s best clothes were kept serving as an impromptu -operating-table. The poor little patient grew paler and paler as she -caught sight of one horror after another, for she insisted on raising -herself on her elbow to look at everything, and demanded that Rahah -should show her the instruments one by one. Georgia put a stop to this -at once, but the child’s terror was already so extreme that nothing -but the determination not to allow Khadija to triumph kept her from -entreating the doctor lady to postpone the operation. She looked up -with a pitiful smile when the chloroform was about to be administered, -and seemed almost ready to beg for a respite; but Khadija was leaning -forward and scanning her face keenly, on the alert to take advantage -of the slightest willingness to yield, and she said with a little -gasp-- - -“O doctor lady, I am not frightened. Go on, O girl.” - -But when the chloroform had taken effect, and Rahah moved aside a -little to enable Georgia to reach the patient more easily, Khadija -caught a glimpse of her charge and sprang up. - -“Thou hast killed her, O doctor lady! Alas, my Rose of the World, that -thy Khadija should have given thee into the hands of the infidel!” and -she was about to shake the child violently, in the hope of restoring -her to consciousness; but Georgia’s patience was at an end. - -“Take her out,” she said sharply to Rahah, to the intense delight of -the handmaiden; and before Khadija realised what was happening to her, -she was outside the door, and the door was bolted on the inside, while -Rahah assured her emphatically through the crack that the child was -alive, and would remain so if she would only keep quiet, but that if -she made any noise or disturbance the worst results might confidently -be expected to ensue. Terrified by the realisation of the fact that -her darling was now absolutely in the power of the strangers, Khadija -crouched silently at the door and made no sign, while in the respite -afforded by her exclusion from the room, Georgia, with Rahah’s -assistance, performed her task speedily and successfully. The splinter -was extracted and the broken bone set, after which the wound was -carefully dressed, with the aid of appliances such as had never been -seen in Ethiopia before, and Rahah contemplated the result with pride. - -“Regular hospital treatment!” she said, adopting the words she had -once heard Dr Headlam use to Georgia with reference to a case of his -own, and then turned her attention to making as comfortable a bed as -possible out of the coverlets and cushions scattered about, that the -patient might not return to consciousness on the wretched bedstead she -had occupied hitherto. When everything was finished the door was -opened and Khadija again admitted. She came in suspiciously, and -looked askance at all she saw; but, on finding that Zeynab was -sleeping quietly, sat down beside her without uttering a word. - -The operation once successfully completed, Georgia and Rahah settled -down to an extremely monotonous mode of life for several days. Their -sole interest and excitement was caused by the improvement or relapses -of the patient, and by the necessity of keeping an eye on Khadija. Not -only was it extremely likely that the old woman would try to poison -them, but she also cherished a lively distrust of Georgia’s dressings, -and there was a constant risk that in a frenzy of rage she might tear -them off, and even interfere with the wound itself, in which case poor -Zeynab would have been worse off than before. But as the days passed -on and Zeynab continued to make progress, the old woman began to -believe once more in the possibility of her charge’s regaining perfect -health. The little face which had been so pinched and pain-lined began -to recover its bloom, and Georgia found it possible to believe in the -loveliness the report of which had spread even to Kubbet-ul-Haj, and -which had earned for Zeynab her pet-name of Rose of the World. Warm -water and the gift of a piece of the doctor lady’s soap were powerful -inducements to the child to keep her face clean, and the consequent -improvement in her appearance surprised no one more than Khadija. Her -wild outbreaks of wrath ceased gradually as Zeynab’s eyes grew -brighter and her cheeks less thin, and her manner to Georgia became -markedly gracious. But this did not lead to any slackening of the -precautions observed by the visitors, for they knew that their danger -was considerably increased by the fact that they had performed their -part of the bargain, whereas Khadija had not as yet discharged hers. -Every day Rahah cooked their food over a spirit-lamp and drew from the -well the water they needed, while Ibrahim also was provided for out of -the stores they had brought with them. For the hours of darkness, -moreover, Rahah patented a scheme of defence of which the idea was -entirely her own. Before leaving Bir-ul-Malik, she had begged from -Ismail Bakhsh a box of tin-tacks, and every night she strewed these -upon the floor, with the points upwards. Georgia remarked that if the -house should catch fire, and Rahah and she found it necessary to -escape hurriedly, they themselves would be the first to suffer; but -Rahah was not deterred from adopting her plan by this consideration. -She had also possessed herself of a whistle, with which it was her -intention to summon Ibrahim from his slumbers to the rescue, in case -of an attack in force; and she explained this to him very clearly, -only to discover that the idea of entering the harem, even on an -errand of such urgency, appalled him almost more than the prospect -that murder would be done if he stayed outside. - -“But I have found out something else from Ibrahim, O my lady,” said -Rahah, when describing the result of the interview to her mistress. “I -know why it is that Khadija hates the name of Sinjāj Kīlin, your -father. He it was who attacked her village, and whose soldiers killed -her husband and son, and she has been thirsting for vengeance ever -since. That is why I think we are not safe here for a moment, for in -revenging herself upon you she would obtain her heart’s desire.” - -But Georgia turned a deaf ear to the suggestion that she should leave -her patient before her recovery was assured, although it was repeated -in Fitz’s first heliographic message on the morning after her arrival. -He appeared to be in a conversational mood. - -“Stratford was like a dozen wild cats last night when he found you -were not coming back just yet. He is afraid North will skin him alive -when he turns up again. Lady Haigh is awfully unhappy about you. She -says she is certain you are in great danger, and begs you to come back -at once, and not to mind about the medicine.” - -In answer to this, Georgia flashed back by slow degrees: - -“We are quite well and safe. Operation successfully performed, but I -must stay here a few days to look after patient.” - -To this determination she continued to adhere firmly, notwithstanding -the agonised entreaties to return which Fitz transmitted to her every -day from Lady Haigh. He kept her informed of Sir Dugald’s condition, -and she directed any slight changes of treatment she thought -advisable, but consent to come back without the antidote she would -not, in spite of the alarms of her present position. For the knowledge -of these she was in large measure indebted to Ibrahim, who, for a -professed fatalist, took an extraordinary delight in prophesying evil, -and communicated all his anticipations of danger most faithfully to -Rahah. Consequently, when Rahah came running back in much excitement -one evening, after taking Ibrahim his supper, her mistress was not -affected by her news to the extent she had expected. - -“O my lady, Ibrahim says he is sure some evil is going to happen. -Several messengers have come in during the day, bringing news to -Khadija, and he is certain that one of them was from Kubbet-ul-Haj. -And Khadija has been going round among the men here, stirring them up -against the English, and they have all got out their weapons, and they -are cleaning their muskets and sharpening their swords. Ibrahim knows -that they must be going to kill us to-morrow--at least he says so; but -I bade him tell the men of the vengeance the English would take on -them if any ill befell us, and of the great power and hunger for war -of the Major Sahib, and how he was going to marry you. I said it very -loud, so that Khadija might hear, for she was not far off, but she -only laughed.” - -“She was probably amused by your suspicions of her,” said Georgia, -absently. The fact that she had been able this evening to alter the -dressings on Zeynab’s foot, and allow the wound to close, was much -more interesting to her at the moment than Ibrahim’s suspicions. If -all continued to go on as well as it had done hitherto, she ought to -be able to return in triumph to Bir-ul-Malik in a day or two with the -all-important antidote. - -Rahah shook her head over her mistress’s lack of interest in her great -news, and watched jealously for an opportunity of proving that her own -excitement had been justified. She found one the very next day, and -immediately rushed into Georgia’s room once more with her veil flying -behind her. - -“O my lady, there is really something wrong! Ibrahim is gone--at -least, I cannot find him--and when I asked the men where he was, they -only laughed at me and reviled me. And there are watchmen upon the -towers, making signs to one another, and all the men and boys are -gathered together with their weapons in their hands, and the women and -children are sharpening knives and talking of plunder. What shall we -do?” - -“We can’t do anything, except keep quiet and show no fear,” said -Georgia. “I don’t think they would have needed so much stirring up to -attack two women, Rahah. No doubt they are not thinking of us at all. -Very likely they know that some of the wild tribes intend to attack -the place, and they are preparing to defend it. Perhaps Ibrahim is -helping them down at the gate. Whatever you do, don’t look -frightened.” - -“Frightened!” said Rahah, with high scorn, and sat down in the corner -to polish Georgia’s instruments. A little later Khadija entered, and -asked Rahah to go and sit beside Zeynab and amuse her, since she -seemed restless, and she herself was anxious to take the doctor lady -into the garden and point out to her some of its beauties. Rahah -looked appealingly at her mistress, entreating her mutely not to -accept the invitation, but Georgia was firm in the principles she had -just enunciated. Any show of fear or suspicion would only serve to -irritate Khadija and put her on her guard; and moreover, if her -purposes were evil, she could carry them into execution as well in the -house as out of doors. Her decision seemed to be justified by the old -woman’s behaviour, for she hobbled along beside her, talking as -pleasantly as an ingrained habit of snappishness would permit her, and -appeared anxious to exhibit the different nooks and arbours which -formed the chief attraction of the garden. Georgia could not -understand nearly all she said, but an emphatic word now and then, -eked out by signs, gave her some idea when admiration was expected of -her, and the walk was marred by no difference of opinion. - -Passing through the garden, they came at last to one of the -watch-towers of which Rahah had spoken, perched upon the crest of the -hill, and overlooking the great gateway and the paved court, -containing the famous well and surrounded by stables and other -outbuildings, into which the gate opened. Khadija proposed that they -should ascend the tower and look at the view, and Georgia acquiesced -at once in the suggestion. To her surprise, the summit was occupied by -several men armed to the teeth, in addition to the watchman; but these -made way without a word for the two women, and they stood looking out -on the desert. The view thus obtained was a very wide one, and Georgia -noticed at once a distant cloud of dust, which appeared to be nearing -the place. Khadija’s eyes were also fixed upon this cloud, and Georgia -concluded that it must denote the approach of the invading band -against whom the warlike preparations were being made. - -For some time those on the top of the tower stood watching the -dust-cloud without uttering a word. As it came nearer, there were -occasional glimpses of moving men and animals and the momentary flash -of steel, and Georgia felt that the men behind her were pressing -closer and fairly panting with excitement. - -“O doctor lady,” said Khadija, “thou seest these horsemen. Knowest -thou who they are?” - -“They ride in order. No doubt they are soldiers.” - -“Is that all? Look again, O doctor lady.” - - [image: images/img_11.jpg - caption: “Look again, O doctor lady.”] - -“They wear turbans--some of them, at least. They have lances with -pennons. They seem to be in uniform. It is dark, like the uniform of -the Khemistan Horse. They are the Khemistan Horse!” - -“Look again, O doctor lady!” - -Georgia looked. The cloud of dust had become much less opaque as it -approached, and the forms of the mounted men could be clearly -discerned. There were two or three officers among them, and Georgia’s -gaze was riveted on the foremost. From the moment in which she had -obtained her first glimpse of him through the flying dust, it had -seemed to her that there was something familiar in his appearance; and -now, as she bent over the parapet and shaded her eyes with her hand, -she knew that she had not been mistaken. It was Dick, leaning forward -on his horse, as though from utter weariness, and looking neither to -right nor left as he rode. - -“Thou seest now, O doctor lady?” asked Khadija. - -“Yes, I see; but what of that?” - -“Only this--and this.” Khadija’s bony finger pointed first to a spot -some distance in advance of the little British column, where the track -wound through rocky ground, with sand-cliffs of some height rising on -either side--the dry bed of a winter torrent, probably--then to the -force as it marched. “All the men of Bir-ul-Malikat in ambush there, O -doctor lady, and here the English riding into the ambuscade without -knowing of it.” - -“But why have you brought me here?” asked Georgia. - -Khadija understood the tone of the question, though not its words. - -“To see what happens, O doctor lady. Not to warn thy friends--oh no! -One cry--one sign of warning--and thou diest. Thou seest these men -here. Their daggers are ready, and they fear not to use them.” - -Georgia stood looking over the parapet, with both hands gripping its -rough edge. The situation was quite clear to her without the aid of -Khadija’s words, which she understood only partially, and there was no -doubt in her mind as to the course to be taken. Behind were the -daggers of the fanatics, who were Khadija’s willing tools--in front, -Dick and his comrades, riding unconscious to their doom. Of course she -would warn them. They were almost abreast of the tower now, as she -stood with beating heart making her hurried calculation. The warning -must necessarily be the work of a moment, for there would be no more -time allowed her. One moment to tear off her _burka_ and wave it -wildly as a signal, and to shriek “Dick! ambush!” using her hands as a -speaking-trumpet. She knew the extraordinary distance to which voices -are carried by the dry desert air, and she had no fear as to his -hearing her. - -But as she stood waiting for the critical moment, with her hands -already raised to fling off the _burka_, a sudden disturbing thought -came to her. Why had Khadija brought her to that spot at that moment, -when she must know her well enough by this time to be sure that she -would at least make an attempt to warn the column of its danger? Was -it not possible that for some reason or other she wished her to give -the alarm? It was an awful moment, but Georgia’s whole training had -been such as to inculcate presence of mind and prompt decision in -emergencies. Just as the British force reached the point at which she -had determined that her warning should be given, she turned her back -deliberately on the desert, and, sitting down on the parapet, buried -her face in her hands. - -“Ah, the doctor lady is _prudent_!” said Khadija, in a low snarl of -intense rage. But Georgia scarcely heard her. She was praying as she -had never prayed before, and at the same time listening intently for -any sound of conflict. For, after all, she might have decided wrongly. -At last she could bear the uncertainty no longer, and looked round. -The dreaded _nullah_ had been reached, and the troops were passing -through it without opposition, two or three dismounted men scrambling -along the brink on either side as scouts. There was no ambuscade -there, at all events. Almost before she had had time to realise the -full significance of this, the gleam of a weapon in the courtyard -below her caught her attention, and she became aware that the -outbuildings around it were filled with armed men crouching low, while -the gate was standing partially open. There had been a trap laid here, -that was evident, for a low growl of concentrated anger rose to her -ears, as the liers-in-wait began to perceive that the prey had escaped -them. Then the sound was echoed by the men on the tower, as they drew -their daggers and turned towards Georgia with words and looks which -intimated that in her they had, at any rate, a scapegoat for their -disappointment. With a calmness which surprised herself, she did not -even spring to her feet, but remarked quietly to Khadija-- - -“Zeynab is not yet recovered, and Yakub is still at Bir-ul-Malik.” - -With a muttered curse the old woman pushed her way through the group -and ordered the men back. They obeyed sulkily, and Georgia, struck by -the irony of the situation and the utter discomfiture of her enemies, -began to laugh. She laughed until the tears came into her eyes, and -the men looked at one another and muttered, “She is certainly mad,” -while Khadija, with disappointed hate depicted on her face, motioned -to her to return to the house. Still laughing weakly, Georgia obeyed, -and found her way back to Rahah, to whom she recounted what had -happened during the last half-hour. Deeply interested, the girl -promised to do her best to unravel the mystery, and when evening came -she returned to her mistress overflowing with news. - -“O my lady, I have found it all out. I have seen Ibrahim. He is set -free now, but they had shut him up in a dungeon, that he should not -warn the Major Sahib, because he had discovered their plans, and he -says that all the men are cursing you. The messenger from Fath-ud-Din -yesterday brought orders that on no account were his servants to -attack the English, for that then his life would be forfeited; but -Khadija could not bear to lose her revenge when she had so nearly -obtained it, and she thought it would be all right if she could make -the English attack first. She wanted you to cry out, O my lady, -because she thought that the Major Sahib would know your voice, and -thinking you were a prisoner and in danger, would rush to save you. -The men in the courtyard were told to shut the gate when as many as -possible of the English had come in, and to kill them if they -resisted--as naturally they would. Then she could not be held to blame -if the servants killed the English, who had forced their way into the -place and provoked a fight, or if you were found to have fallen from -the tower in trying to reach the Major Sahib. But you have brought all -her plans to nothing, and the Major Sahib ought to be proud that he -will have such a wife.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII. - HARDLY WON. - -Unfortunately, the Major Sahib, not knowing all the circumstances of -the case, did not look at things quite in the same light as Rahah, and -Georgia was not left long in doubt as to his view of the matter. -Betaking herself to the terrace outside her room at the hour when she -usually carried on her heliographic communications with Fitz, she was -surprised to find that the conversation was opened by a complicated -series of flashes in such rapid succession that she could not read -them off. - -“It can’t be Mr Anstruther,” she said to herself; “he never begins in -that way. Can it be Dick who is doing it? It looks like some kind of -private signal--or it might be ‘Attention!’ flashed very fast. Oh, -here is the message!” - -But the perplexity on her face only became deeper when she had written -down the words, for their tone was not of the pleasantest. - - - “Get your things ready at once. I am coming to fetch you. - - Dick.” - - -Was the victory to be snatched away when it was so nearly within her -grasp? Georgia set her teeth hard as she flashed back-- - - - “Cannot possibly leave to-night. Come for me in the morning. - - Georgia.” - - -The answer arrived quickly. - - - “I am starting immediately, and shall expect to find you ready.” - - -This was a little too much. Georgia’s calmness, which had been -subjected to a considerable strain already by the excitements of the -day, gave way altogether, and it was with a hand that trembled a good -deal that she signalled back-- - -“I must beg of you not to come, as I decline to start to-night.” Then, -repenting of the tone of her message, she added, “I am longing to see -you, but it is absolutely impossible for me to come before to-morrow -morning.” - -This time no answer was returned; but after a while, during which she -stood watching anxiously, and wondering whether Dick was actually on -his way to fetch her, she saw a solitary flash. This was the sign that -Fitz was beginning operations, and she signalled at once-- - -“What is Major North doing?” - -“Gone to his quarters,” came the answer, “in a vile temper. Excuse me, -but this is true. Looks seedy, too; but he brought a surgeon with his -force, so don’t worry about him.” - -“Please tell him from me----” began Georgia, but the flashes came -again-- - -“He won’t let me in. Stratford is calling me. I must go.” - -Georgia left the heliograph with a sigh, for it was growing too late -to catch the sunlight properly, and she had a hard piece of work -before her this evening, the very crown and object, indeed, of her -visit to Bir-ul-Malikat. Returning to Zeynab’s room, she found Khadija -sitting crouched in her usual attitude upon the divan, and addressed -her-- - -“I have performed what I promised, Khadija. Zeynab’s foot is getting -on most satisfactorily, and needs only proper treatment and careful -dressing, so that it is quite safe for me to return to Bir-ul-Malik -to-morrow. I have shown the slave-girl, Bilkis, how to dress the -wound, and I will send her over a good supply of lint and bandages and -the other things I use, so that she may continue the treatment. She -can do the work as well as I can, if she has the right materials. Now -I am come to claim my reward. Give it to me, and let us go in peace.” - -“What was it that I promised thee?” asked Khadija slowly, when Rahah -had translated her mistress’s words. - -“The antidote for the poison which they call the Father of sleep, and -the directions for applying it,” said Georgia, promptly. - -“Ah, the antidote!--it is well; I have it here,” and Khadija drew a -small square box from one corner of her ample veil, which was tied up -in a knot. “Take it, O doctor lady, and may it succeed in thy hands!” - -“Is this all that is necessary?” asked Georgia, opening the box, and -finding in it only a small quantity of flaky white powder. - -“I swear to thee that it is all thou canst need.” - -“And how is it to be applied?” - -“Nay; I made no promise to tell thee that.” Khadija’s sharp little -eyes gleamed cunningly. - -“Very well, Khadija; then I shall remain here, and Yakub at -Bir-ul-Malik, and my friends there will send a message to Fath-ud-Din -at Kubbet-ul-Haj.” - -“Nay; I was but joking, O doctor lady. Thou shalt do as I bid thee,” -and Georgia noted down the details of what sounded like a rude Turkish -bath, repeated three or four times, and varied by the administration -of copious draughts of a decoction made with the powder in the box. - -“And you are sure that you have given me all that is necessary for -effecting a cure?” asked Georgia, suspiciously, for the powder -possessed no healing qualities that were perceptible either to sight, -smell, or taste. - -“O doctor lady, I have given thee all. I swear it to thee by----” and -Khadija ran glibly through a catalogue of sacred persons and objects, -followed by an even more solemn list of divine names. Still Georgia -was not satisfied. She looked helplessly at Rahah, for she could not -hit upon any means of convicting Khadija of her falsehood, if -falsehood there was. But Rahah was equal to the occasion. - -“I will make her tell the truth, O my lady. Lay thy hand on the head -of the child Zeynab, O Khadija, and swear as I shall bid thee.” - -“O doctor lady! O my nurse! let it not be on my head!” expostulated -Zeynab in a terrified voice, as Khadija rose reluctantly from her seat -to comply with the imperious demand. - -“Dear child, it can’t hurt you,” said Georgia. “It is merely a form.” - -“Nay,” said Rahah, “rather is it that if any evil befalls thee, it is -through Khadija’s lies, and by her fault. Go to the other side of the -room, O my lady. Stoop down, O Khadija; lay thy hand here, and say -after me, ‘If I have told lies to the doctor lady, and have not given -her all that I promised, and if the Envoy cannot be cured by the -medicine she holds in her hand, then let a curse light upon this -child. May she wither away in her youth, and not live to see her -marriage night. May the disgrace of her father ever continue and -increase, and his name be blotted out without a son to bear it after -him. May the house that should have mated with princes fall and perish -in dishonour, and may all that remain of it live only to shame it.’” - -“O my nurse, let not the curse light upon me!” sobbed Zeynab. - -“Be quiet, O daughter of iniquity!” said Khadija angrily, and laying -her hand on the child’s head with a menacing pressure, she repeated -the words after Rahah. Zeynab made no further protest, but lay silent, -looking white and frightened, much to the alarm of Georgia. She -regretted deeply that she had allowed Rahah to make so solemn an -attempt to work upon the superstitious fears of the old woman, and -urged her to withdraw the curse, lest the thought of it should do -Zeynab harm, but Rahah refused stoutly. - -“I cannot withdraw it, O my lady. Khadija has invoked it, and if she -was trying to deceive thee, she knew the danger that she was bringing -upon the child. If she has dealt with us honestly, all will yet be -well; but if evil befalls her master’s house, we shall know that it -was her own doing.” - -“You are certainly not so well to-night, Zeynab,” said Georgia, laying -her hand on the child’s forehead as she prepared to leave her at -bedtime. “Is anything the matter? Surely you are not thinking of those -foolish words? I am very sorry that I let Rahah say them, but they -can’t do you any harm.” - -The child made no answer, but looked up with a frightened face, and -Rahah translated Georgia’s first remark for the benefit of Khadija. -The old woman sprang up from the divan instantly, in a towering rage, -and after a hasty glance at Zeynab, turned upon Georgia and Rahah, and -drove them out of the room with a storm of curses, alleging that they -had bewitched the child in order to frighten her. When they reached -their own room, Georgia was inclined to be low-spirited over the issue -of her mission, but her maid displayed no signs of discouragement. - -“Wait!” she said mysteriously, and they waited, taking the opportunity -of gathering their possessions together in view of the return to -Bir-ul-Malik the next day. They had been in their room about an hour, -when the jingling of anklets along the passage, and a hurried knock at -the door, announced a visitor. Rahah opened the door cautiously, and -Khadija entered and walked up to Georgia. - -“Give me the medicine,” she said abruptly, and taking from her bosom a -small phial, half filled with a clear colourless liquid, she emptied -the powder into it from the box, shook up the resultant mixture, and -closing the phial, handed it back to Georgia. - -“Take it, O doctor lady,” she said. “But for the curse, thou shouldst -never have had it. But truly God is great, and He is good to the -accursed English, so that the old spells and the magic of our fathers -cannot stand before theirs. And now come and take away the curse from -my Rose of the World, for I cannot see her fade and die before my -eyes.” - -Followed by Rahah, Georgia returned to Zeynab’s room, where they found -the child tossing restlessly on her bed. - -“O my nurse, take it away!” was her cry. “I feel the curse; I know it -has come upon me. I cannot sleep. There is a weight on my heart and a -fire in my bones, and it is thou that art killing me.” - -“The curse is gone, my dove,” said Khadija. “I have given the rest of -the medicine to the doctor lady.” - -“But how can I believe thee? I feel no better,” moaned Zeynab. - -“O doctor lady, wilt thou still kill my child?” cried the old woman in -a frenzy. “I could give thee no more if she were dying at this moment. -Take away from her thy curse and thy evil enchantments.” - -Sitting down beside the bed, Georgia took the hot little hands into -one of hers, and with the other smoothed back the tangled hair from -the child’s brow. It was more than an hour before all her stories and -her talk could banish the haunting horror from Zeynab’s mind, and -induce her to close her bright eyes, and her doctor was nearly worn -out when she was at last able to leave her. Sheer fatigue made Georgia -sleep soundly, in spite of the excitement of the past day, and she and -Rahah were not disturbed again that night. In the morning Fitz flashed -an inquiry as to the time at which she would like to be fetched from -Bir-ul-Malikat, and about eleven o’clock she saw the cavalcade she was -expecting enter the courtyard. There was a hurried collecting together -of packages, a hasty farewell to Zeynab, who wept copiously, and would -not be comforted even by the promise that she should receive every -picture-paper Georgia could lay her hands on, and then, accompanied by -Khadija, the visitors went down to the courtyard. To Georgia’s -surprise and disappointment, it was Stratford and Fitz who came -eagerly to meet her as she appeared at the door shrouded in her -_burka_. - -“Where is Dick? He is not ill, is he?” she asked anxiously of -Stratford, remembering Fitz’s message of the night before. - -“He is so busy that he was obliged to send his apologies, and allow us -the honour of escorting you instead of coming to fetch you himself,” -said Stratford, in tones which were absolutely devoid of any -suggestion of ulterior meaning. - -“Oh!” said Georgia, blankly. - -“He found himself compelled to hold a full-dress review of his -detachment, or inspect their kits, or do stables, or something -complicated and professional of that kind,” said Fitz, with a dogged -resentment aggressively conspicuous in his manner. - -“Nonsense, Anstruther! You know as well as I do that he would have -allowed nothing but absolute necessity to keep him from coming,” said -Stratford. - -“Oh yes, of course,” said Georgia, in the most natural tone she could -command. She would not let it be seen that she perceived the flimsy -character of the excuse, but she felt deeply mortified as she allowed -Stratford to mount her on her horse, and she resented his evident -determination to smooth things over almost more than Fitz’s -undisguised incredulity. “How _horrid_ of Dick!” was what she said to -herself as she gathered up the reins, and the hot tears rose to her -eyes under the shadow of the _burka_. - -“Stay, Englishman!” cried Khadija from the doorstep, when Stratford, -having seen Rahah and the luggage safely bestowed, was about to mount -his own horse. “Where is Yakub, my son, whom I left at Bir-ul-Malik as -a pledge for the safe return of the doctor lady?” - -“I hope that Yakub will come back to you safe and sound in a few -days,” returned Stratford in Ethiopian, speaking so carefully that it -was evident he had studied his sentences with Kustendjian before -starting. “For the present, however, I think it well to detain him, on -my own responsibility. We don’t want any mistakes made about that -medicine for the Envoy. As soon as he has recovered, you shall have -your son back.” - -For answer, Khadija threw herself upon the ground, wailing and tearing -her hair and beating her breast, and calling upon Heaven and upon -Georgia to witness that she had performed all that was required of -her, and that she had given her all the necessary ingredients for the -medicine. Georgia, remembering the scene in Zeynab’s room the night -before, and indignant at being compelled to bear a part in what was -not far removed from a breach of faith, espoused her cause, and joined -her in demanding that Yakub should be at once released. In spite, -however, of all that she could say, Stratford remained immovable, and -mounting his horse, ordered an immediate start. But before the horses -had gone more than a few steps, Khadija rose from the ground, and -forcing her way through the escort, caught hold of Georgia’s rein. - -“O doctor lady,” she cried, with such reluctance that she seemed -almost to be torn in two by the conflicting passions in her mind, “I -had forgotten one thing. After the first administration of the -medicine, the sick man will sleep for two days and two nights a -natural sleep. If he is awakened in that time he will die, but if he -awakes of himself, all will be well. And now”--her tone changed -suddenly--“now go thy way, O thrice accursed daughter of an accursed -father, and when first thy bridegroom looks upon thy face on thy -wedding-night, may he turn his back on thee and say, ‘O woman, I -divorce thee!’ and so thrust thee out.” - -“Come, that’s enough,” said Stratford peremptorily, loosening her hand -from the rein. “You know now that it depends on yourself whether your -son returns to you in safety or not. Has Anstruther told you, Miss -Keeling, that we had a messenger from Jahan Beg the day before -yesterday?” - -“No, I had not heard of it,” returned Georgia, following his example -in ignoring the baffled Khadija, who stood shaking her fist and -shrieking curses after the party. “What news did he bring?” - -“The best news possible. Jahan Beg has succeeded in unearthing the -conspirators who were troubling him when we left the city, and has -made it impossible for them, at any rate, to do more plotting. Among -other things, he discovered that they meant to stop us and keep us -here in order to get hold of the treaty, and therefore he sent -stringent orders to Abd-ur-Rahim to let us go at once with all our -property, on pain of death. Messengers were also sent to all the towns -and forts on the road and along the frontier, ordering the governors -on no account to oppose the advance of any English relieving force -coming from Khemistan, but to afford it every assistance, as if they -didn’t Fath-ud-Din would suffer. That accounts for North’s getting -back to us so quickly.” - -“How far had he to go?” asked Georgia. - -“Only as far as Rahmat-Ullah, for Hicks had got there before him, and -frightened the Government about us a good deal, so that they had -already ordered up a couple of troops of the Khemistan Horse, in -addition to those usually stationed at the fort, and as soon as they -arrived he started back with them. Of course such a small force would -have been no use if the country had been up, but it was intended -merely as an armed escort, just to make a dash for Bir-ul-Malik and -back to Rahmat-Ullah.” - -“Then they must have travelled very fast,” said Georgia, her mind -reverting to her glimpse of Dick the day before. - -“Yes, they made forced marches all the way. North kept them at it, but -he looks awfully done up now,” said the wily Stratford. - -“It would have done him good to ride out here,” said Georgia, refusing -to commit herself. - -“Yes; but you know how conscientious he is. So long as there is -anything to be done, he will simply work till he drops.” - -“Oh dear, I do hope he isn’t going to be ill!” sighed Georgia, and -Stratford judged that his scheme had succeeded. He guessed rightly, -for all the resentment in Georgia’s mind was swallowed up in anxiety, -and she could not spare a thought for her own insulted dignity when -Dick was suffering, perhaps had even endangered his life, through his -eagerness to rescue her. She said little during the remainder of the -ride, and could scarcely devote a moment even to glancing at the camp -of the Khemistan Horse, which was pitched beside the hill of -Bir-ul-Malik. Arrived at the palace, she bestowed a hasty greeting on -Kustendjian and Ismail Bakhsh, and hurried into the harem in search of -Lady Haigh, who rushed to meet her, and in the intervals of kissing -and crying over her, scolded her soundly for her persistence in -remaining away. - -“But I have got the antidote!” cried Georgia, exhibiting the little -bottle proudly; “and remember, Lady Haigh, you promised that I should -use it.” - -“How could I prevent your trying it, my dear child, when you risked -your life in obtaining it? But it was not even your danger that I was -thinking about so much at the moment. It was Major North, and his view -of the case.” - -“Oh, Dick and I must settle our little differences together,” said -Georgia, as lightly as she could. “Where is he? I haven’t seen him -yet.” - -“I think I hear his step outside,” said Lady Haigh. “He must have -followed you into the house. But, Georgia, I must warn you, he looks -very seedy, and I think he is just a little bit cross. Don’t be harder -on him than you can help, dear, for he has been through a fearfully -anxious time. He has had very little sleep since he left here, and has -been at work day and night, almost without a rest.” - -If Lady Haigh considered it advisable to offer her this warning, -Georgia judged that Dick’s fit of ill-temper must be of an extremely -pronounced character; but her conscience was clear, although her heart -beat a little faster than usual as she left Lady Haigh in the inner -room and went out into the larger one. Dick was leaning against the -framework of the lattice, and raised himself slowly to greet her. - -“Oh, Dick, how ill you look!” she cried. “My dear boy, you ought to be -in bed.” - -As soon as the words had passed her lips, she was struck by their -singularly malapropos character under the circumstances, and Dick -frowned heavily. - -“Well, Georgia?” was all he said. - -“Why, Dick, have you nothing more to say to me than that? Do you know -that you haven’t seen me for over a week?” - -“I was under the impression that you might have seen me yesterday -evening, and preferred not to do so.” - -“But I couldn’t help that. It was not a matter of choice. One can’t -leave a patient before his cure is fairly complete.” - -“You prefer your patient to me, then?” - -“To see you would have been a pleasure; to stay there was a duty.” - -“Even when I had desired you to come back at once?” - -“That couldn’t alter my duty.” - -“Indeed?” Dick lifted his eyebrows. “Then my wishes have no weight -with you whatever?” - -“They have great weight with me, but mine ought to have just as much -with you.” - -“This is rather a new theory,” said Dick, with elaborate politeness. -“Is its application intended to be permanent, or only temporary?” - -“I see no reason to anticipate any change that would render it out of -date.” - -“Thank you. That’s pretty clear, at any rate. Perhaps you will kindly -explain to me your views of the marriage relation? So far as I can -see, they involve two heads of one house.” - -“I don’t want to discuss the question now, especially since we used to -argue it so often in the old days,” said Georgia; “but if you insist -upon it, I will. I know very well that there can be only one head, -practically speaking, to a household--that when two people ride one -horse, one must ride behind--and because I love you and trust you, I -am quite willing to take the second place. But I do expect to be -consulted as to the way the horse is to go. You could never have -imagined that I would allow myself to be carried off anywhere -blindfold. I think that we should discuss everything together and -agree upon our course, and if at any time circumstances should prevent -our discussing some special plan, I expect you to trust me if I find -it necessary to act on my own responsibility, just as I should be -ready to trust you in a like case.” - -“This is the New Woman’s idea of marriage!” sneered Dick. - -“It is my view of it, at any rate. Did you expect to find in me a -slave without any will of her own, Dick? I am not a young girl, but a -woman, who has led a sufficiently lonely and independent life, and you -knew that when you asked me to marry you.” - -“Yes, and I was a fool to do it,” said Dick, roughly. - -Georgia turned away, deeply wounded, and he stood at the lattice, -looking out over the desert with gloomy eyes. She did not know that -more had happened to try his temper than even the hardships and -anxiety of which Lady Haigh had spoken. An ill-advised comrade, who -had heard of his engagement through Mr Hicks, had seen fit to chaff -him that morning on the eagerness with which he had pressed forward to -rescue a lady who neither wanted his help nor desired his presence, -and the words had rankled in his mind. But although Georgia was -ignorant of this fact, she could not consent to leave things in their -present state. To take offence at his hasty speech, and break off her -engagement there and then, would be a course of conduct worthy only of -a mythical lady who always acted the part of an awful warning for -Georgia and her friends, and whom they were in the habit of calling -“The Early Victorian Female.” It is, perhaps, needless to add that -this person was given to gushing over indifferent poetry, fainted with -great regularity at the most inconvenient moments, and when she had a -misunderstanding with her lover, accepted the fact meekly, and pined -away and died. Georgia felt it morally impossible to imitate her. To -what purpose had been her own education and her experience of life if -they did not enable her to stoop to conquer, and to hold her own -without being aggressive? Was all that had passed between herself and -Dick to be blotted out by a few words spoken in a moment of -irritation? She crossed the room to his side and put her hands on his -shoulders. - - [image: images/img_12.jpg - caption: - She crossed the room to his side and put her hands on his shoulders.] - -“Look at me, Dick,” she said. But Dick would not turn round. - -“You goad a man into saying beastly things to you,” he muttered, “and -then you try and get round him when he is feeling ashamed of himself.” - -Such an unpromising reception of her effort to make peace might well -have daunted Georgia, but she could forgive much to Dick, simply -because he was Dick. She turned his moody face towards hers and made -him look at her. - -“Don’t think of it any more, Dick,” she said. “My dear boy, do you -imagine I don’t care for you enough to forgive you that? And let us -leave the question of our married life to right itself. If it hadn’t -been for this, we should have glided into it naturally, and things -would have settled themselves. Surely two people who are neither of -them by nature quarrelsome, and who are anxious to do right, ought to -be able to get on together, if both are willing to give and take? I -can trust you, Dick; won’t you trust me?” - -It added considerably to the discomfort of Dick’s present state of -mind that he was conscious that Georgia was behaving with a -magnanimity to which he could lay no claim, but he had started with -the determination to put his foot down, and to show Georgia before -they were married that he would stand no nonsense, and he stuck to his -point doggedly. “I don’t intend to be made to look a fool before all -the world,” he growled. - -“But who would want to make you look a fool? You must know that your -honour is as dear to me as to yourself. Haven’t I shown that I won’t -keep you back when duty calls you? Can’t you trust me, Dick? If you -can’t, things had better be over between us, indeed. Suppose you were -out, and I was summoned to a dangerous case, and couldn’t possibly let -you know. It would be my duty to go, just as it would be yours to -start if you were ordered somewhere on special service, and couldn’t -even say good-bye to me. Can’t we act on this understanding?” - -“But how can you be sure that you can trust me, may I ask? Many men -make rash promises before marriage, and break them like a shot -afterwards. How do you know that I am not one of them?” - -“Oh, not you, Dick! You are a gentleman; I can trust you fully. Tell -me that you will agree, and let us forget all this worry.” - -“You are trying to get round me,” said Dick again, helplessly. “I -can’t think what I was going to say; everything seems to have gone out -of my head. What is the matter?” looking irritably at her frightened -face. “There’s nothing wrong with me. I think--things had better -be--over between us, Georgie. We should never--agree. What was I -saying last? What’s the matter with the walls? Is it--an earthquake?” - -He was reeling as he stood, and clutching wildly at the frame of the -lattice for support. Georgia caught him by the arm, for he had missed -his hold and was swaying backwards and forwards, and succeeded in -guiding him to the divan. - -“I feel--awfully queer,” he said, and fainted away before Georgia -could seek a restorative. She cried out, and Lady Haigh and Rahah came -rushing in, the latter followed by Dick’s bearer, whose countenance -declared plainly that he considered his master’s illness to be -entirely due to Georgia, and that it was just what he had expected. -With the help of some of the other servants, Dick was carried to his -own room, where for several days he was to lie moaning and tossing -under a bad attack of fever. Georgia had her hands full during this -period, even though the bearer declined respectfully to allow her any -share in the actual nursing, for besides her care for Dick, she was -engaged in testing, with scarcely less anxiety, the effect upon Sir -Dugald’s health of the antidote she had obtained with so much -difficulty. She would have preferred to choose a time when she could -give her whole attention to his case, but he had appeared so much -weaker of late that Lady Haigh was feverishly eager for the remedy to -be tried at once, and in fear and trembling Georgia put into practice -the directions she had received from Khadija. Her courage revived to a -certain extent when she found that the resulting symptoms corresponded -exactly with those described by the old woman, but the two days of -heavy slumber proved to be a period of intense anxiety. Every sound -was hushed in the neighbourhood of Sir Dugald’s sick-room, and the -watchers scarcely dared to move or breathe. At last, just as Georgia -had returned to her other patient after a heart-breaking visit to -Dick, who was calling on her constantly, although he refused to -recognise her when she stood beside him, there was a sudden movement -on the part of Sir Dugald, and Lady Haigh grasped her arm -convulsively. - -“Go to him, and let him see you first when he wakes,” said Georgia, in -a low whisper, and Lady Haigh obeyed. - -“Well, Elma!” It was Sir Dugald’s voice, very weak, but without a hint -of delirium. “Haven’t you got the place rather dark?” - -Georgia threw the lattice partly open, and he looked round. - -“Still at Kubbet-ul-Haj, I see.” They had purposely arranged the bed -and the camp-furniture in the same positions that they had occupied in -his room at the Mission, with the object of avoiding a sudden shock. -“I should have said we must have left it long ago, but I have had the -most extraordinary dreams. Could it have been a touch of fever, do you -think? But is that Miss Keeling? Ah, this explains it. I must have -been ill?” - -“Yes, you have frightened us all very much, Sir Dugald,” said Georgia, -for Lady Haigh was incapable of speech. - -“Ah, it was a bad attack, then, was it? Queer that I don’t remember -feeling it coming on. The treaty is not signed yet, I suppose?” - -“Yes, it is signed. You have been ill for some time--longer than you -think.” - -“I always knew that Stratford was a clever fellow. This is the best -news you could have brought me, Miss Keeling. But we ought to be -thinking of returning to Khemistan if we have secured the treaty. How -long do you give me to get well enough to mount a horse again?” - -“You mustn’t be in too great a hurry. We might carry you in a litter.” - -“No, thank you. It would be too much like my dreams. I have suffered -agonies through imagining that I was in a trance, and about to be -buried alive, because they thought I was dead. It seemed to me that I -could see people moving about all round me, but I could not move, or -speak, or feel. Then I was put in a coffin, and carried off to be -buried. It always ended there, but it came over and over again. It was -the horrible helplessness--my absolute powerlessness to make any sign -to show that I was alive--which was the worst thing about it.” - -“Oh, Dugald!” cried Lady Haigh, in a strangled voice--and kissing him -hastily, she hurried out of the room. - -“Lady Haigh has been very much frightened about you, Sir Dugald,” said -Georgia. “She has watched over you night and day, and I have often -wondered that she did not break down.” - -“Please look after her,” he said, anxiously. “She has wonderful pluck, -but sometimes she is obliged to give way altogether, and I’m afraid -from what you say that she must be quite overdone.” - -Georgia left the room, and found Lady Haigh sobbing on the divan -outside, with her face buried in a cushion that Sir Dugald might not -hear her. Sitting down beside her, Georgia began to cry too, out of -pure sympathy, until Lady Haigh suddenly choked back her sobs, and -throwing her arms round her, cried-- - -“Oh, Georgie, Georgie, you have given me back my husband, and it has -cost you Major North!” - -“You mustn’t think of that. There ought to be a change in Dick’s state -before long.” - -“Georgie, I will nurse him night and day--every moment that I can -spare from Sir Dugald, that is. And if I can’t put things right -between you when he is better, I’ll--I’ll----” - -“But what if he doesn’t want things put right?” asked Georgia, sadly. - - * * * * * * - -When Dick recovered consciousness, after a very long and fatiguing -dream, in which many people and events had played more or less -inappropriate parts, he found himself in bed with a cold bandage on -his forehead, and a feeling all over him that he had lost more -strength than he had ever possessed. There was some one in the room, -and he gathered that it was Lady Haigh. She was speaking to some one -else at the door. - -“I will leave him to you, then, Georgie. He is beautifully asleep -still, and I have just changed the bandage.” - -The door closed softly, and Dick was aware that Lady Haigh had gone -out and that the other person had come in, and was sitting just out of -his sight as he lay in bed. That was not what he wanted, and he tried -painfully to turn his head in her direction. She was at his side in a -moment. - -“Are you tired of lying in that position?” she asked. “Shall I help -you to turn over?” - -“Not if you will sit where I can see you,” he answered, and his voice -sounded to himself weak and far-away. Georgia changed her place as he -wished, but she took up the book she had been reading and went on with -it. - -“Why won’t you speak to me, Georgie?” he asked, querulously. - -“Because you are forbidden to talk until you are a little stronger.” - -“I don’t care! Put down that book and sit nearer me.” - -“No,” said Georgia, with decision. “You are not to excite yourself -with talking. Lie still, and try to go to sleep.” - -“Why do you talk to me like that? I haven’t done anything to make you -angry with me, have I? Why are you so unkind?” - -“I don’t want to be unkind,” returned Georgia, hastily; “but you -really ought not to talk. I will answer any number of questions when -you are better.” - -“But why won’t you call me Dick? We didn’t quarrel, did we? I have a -sort of idea---- But my head was awfully queer, and I daresay I talked -a lot of rot. I can’t apologise properly until I remember more about -it. But if we quarrelled, why are you here looking after me like -this?” - -“Simply and solely as your medical adviser.” There was the slightest -possible suspicion of triumph in Georgia’s tone, the reason for which -Dick did not perceive until afterwards. She returned to her book, and -he lay and looked at her in a puzzled kind of way. - -“I wish you would take my temperature,” he said at last. - -“What, are you feverish again?” she asked anxiously, getting out her -thermometer as she rose and came towards him. - -“I don’t know; but I remember you were doing it once when I was just -about half awake, and I liked it. You put your arm under my head.” - -“If you will talk so much, I shall call Lady Haigh.” - -“But do take my temperature! I thought sick people always had -everything they wanted.” - -“Everything in reason. Patients are expected not to trouble their -doctors unnecessarily. Now try to go to sleep.” And Georgia returned -the thermometer resolutely to its case. - -“Would it be considered a thing in reason if a patient asked his -doctor to give him a kiss? What would the doctor say?” - -“That anything of the kind would be highly unprofessional.” - -“Well, this patient,” said Dick, weakly, “refuses to try to go to -sleep unless his doctor acts in that unprofessional way.” - -And his doctor did. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV. - VIS MEDICATRIX. - -“Georgie,” said Lady Haigh, some two or three days later, “I want to -ask you a question. Are you still engaged to Major North, or not?” - -The shadow of a smile glimmered on Georgia’s lips. - -“It seems a ridiculous thing to say, but really I haven’t the smallest -idea whether I am or not,” she answered. - -“But what does Major North think about it?” - -“I believe he is under the impression that we are still engaged. That -is what makes the matter doubtful, for I should certainly say that we -were not.” - -“But how long is this state of things to go on?”--impatiently. - -“I don’t know. Happily I have never had an engagement-ring, so that no -one can notice any difference.” - -“My dear, this must be put a stop to!” said Lady Haigh, with -conviction. “Now that Major North is so much better, there is no need -for you to pretend that two doctor’s visits a-day are necessary. Once -a-day is quite enough for the present, and then you can drop it -altogether.” - -“Oh, Lady Haigh! But he looks out for me so eagerly, and is so glad to -see me. And I like to see him too.” - -“You mustn’t make yourself too cheap, my dear Georgie. Surely you -would not wish to cling to a man who has told you in so many words -that he is anxious to break off his engagement to you?” - -“Oh, but I don’t think he meant it.” - -“Then he has nothing to do but to say so. You had far better bring -about an explanation, and have it over. It is certainly Major North’s -turn to eat humble pie, and it will do him a world of good, and smooth -your path very much in the future. Take my advice, dear, and let him -see (or at any rate think) that you are prepared to abide by what he -said.” - -It was with great reluctance that Georgia consented to follow her -friend’s counsel; but when she thought it over its wisdom commended -itself to her, and she decided to carry it out rigorously, with -results which seemed very hard to Dick. He only saw his doctor once -a-day, and then she persisted in ignoring sternly all his attempts to -extend the scope of the conversation beyond the business in hand. Then -she discontinued her visits altogether, and the only explanation his -bearer could offer was that the Doctor Miss Sahiba was very busy, and -he supposed that she took no more interest in the protector of the -poor now that he was so much better. It was the same when Stratford -and Fitz came to see him. They agreed that Miss Keeling was very busy, -and seemed rather surprised that he should ask after her. It even -appeared to him that there was a slight constraint in their tones when -they answered his questions. Dick pondered over the mystery without -any satisfactory result for two days, and then announced that he was -going to get up, and demanded his clothes. The bearer had anticipated -this step, and replied promptly that the entire wardrobe of the -protector of the poor was at the moment in the hands of a tailor in -the town, to whom he had intrusted it for needed repairs, and who -preferred to execute them on his own premises. Hari Das invited his -master’s reproofs for his own remissness in postponing the operation -for so long, but to his dismay discovered that Dick declined to be -drawn into a tirade on the vices of bearers in general, illustrated -from his experience of this particular specimen. He was too much in -earnest in his determination to have time to waste in useless -altercations, and, moreover, he knew his man. - -“Ask the _chota sahib_ to come to me,” he said. “I will borrow a suit -of his clothes.” - -The bearer looked blank. - -“But the _chota sahib’s_ clothes will not fit my lord,” he objected. - -“That doesn’t signify,” said Dick. “Fit or no fit, I am going to get -up,” and he only smiled in secret when the bearer returned after a -short absence with one of his own suits, and announced that the tailor -had brought it back unexpectedly soon. He found himself much weaker -than he had anticipated as he dressed, but he disregarded the bearer’s -doleful assurances that he would kill himself, and declined to return -to his couch, although he was glad to accept the support of the -servant’s arm as he crossed the hall and entered the passage leading -into the harem. Lady Haigh, writing her home letters busily at a -camp-table (for letter-writing had been dropped by common, though -unexpressed consent, during those past days, when it seemed unlikely -that either the letters or their writers would ever reach home), -looked up in astonishment when he came in, and made haste to arrange a -comfortable place for him with cushions upon the divan, remarking that -he had better lie still and rest for a little and not talk. But this -was not what Dick had come for. - -“Lady Haigh, where is Georgie?” he asked, the moment after the bearer -had departed. - -“Well, I think she is busy just now,” Lady Haigh replied, with -distinct coldness in her manner. As a matter of fact, at that moment -Georgia was sitting outside on the terrace with Sir Dugald, who had by -this time been promoted to a knowledge of the whereabouts of his -party, and was entertaining him with an account of her visit to -Bir-ul-Malikat and of the charms of Khadija. - -“Every person that I have asked about her for the last three days has -told me exactly that!” said Dick, with a good deal of indignation in -his tone. “I should like to see her, if you please,” he went on, in -the voice of one determined to obtain his just rights. - -“I assure you that I have not got her locked up,” said Lady Haigh, -with some tartness. “I will tell her what you say, if you like, but I -must say that after all that has happened----” - -“What is the object of tormenting me like this, Lady Haigh?” asked -Dick impatiently, raising himself on his elbow. “I know that Georgia -must be ill--I suppose she fell ill through overtiring herself in -nursing me--and you are all doing your best to keep it from me. I -insist on knowing what is the matter with her, and how she is getting -on. I have a right to know.” - -“Indeed?” said Lady Haigh. “I was not aware of that. But you are -mistaken in supposing that Miss Keeling is ill. I am glad to say she -is quite well.” - -“Then what is the matter? Why are you keeping her away from me like -this? What has come between us?” - -“Really, Major North, you are a little inconsistent. Why you should -accuse me of trying to separate Miss Keeling and yourself, I don’t -know. I can only suppose that your illness has caused you to forget -the trifling fact that your engagement is broken off.” - -Dick stared at her in astonishment and dismay. - -“I don’t remember,” he murmured. “Some one said something about a -quarrel, but it was nothing after all. When did she do it? What had I -done?” - -“Pray don’t try to put it upon Miss Keeling. You told her yourself -that things had better be over between you.” - -“I must have been mad,” said Dick despairingly, “or am I dreaming -now?” He pinched his arm to assure himself that he was awake, then -looked round the room in a vain search for explanation, until his gaze -rested again on Lady Haigh, but he found no comfort in her face. “You -wouldn’t humbug me on such a subject, Lady Haigh!” he cried, as he met -her accusing glance. “You helped me once before; tell me what to do -now. She can’t think I really meant it!” - -“So far as I know, you explained your views pretty clearly,” said Lady -Haigh, rejoicing to find Dick delivered into her hands in this -teachable spirit, and hoping devoutly that Georgia would remain -outside and out of hearing. “You mustn’t play fast and loose like -this, Major North. Why did you say what you didn’t mean?” - -“I don’t know--I must have been angry. I have a beastly temper at -times, you know. I suppose Georgia had made me very mad about -something. Oh yes, I remember now, it was about her going to -Bir-ul-Malikat. She would insist that she had a right to go, and stay -too, whether I liked it or not, and she wouldn’t give in. But as for -breaking off our engagement----” - -“But you are convinced that Miss Keeling ought to have given in?” - -“Well, I think that when she saw what a point I made of it----” - -“There was no question of your giving in because she also made a point -of it?” - -“Oh no,” said Dick, innocently. - -“Then I think it is a very good thing indeed that your engagement is -broken off.” Lady Haigh spoke with her usual decision of manner, but -Dick looked so absolutely astonished and appalled that she -condescended to an explanation. “I should like to talk to you a little -on this subject very seriously, Major North, for as a looker-on I can -perhaps see more clearly than you do where you have gone wrong. I -daresay you will regard me as a meddling old woman, but at any rate -you can’t say that I have turned critic because I have failed in -matrimony, for my married life has been as happy as even I could have -wished. Besides, it was in getting the medicine to cure Sir Dugald -that poor Georgie incurred your royal highness’s displeasure, so that -I feel bound to do all I can to put things right between you.” - -“But if you think that it is better for her not to be engaged to me?” -The question was asked a little stiffly, for Dick did not altogether -appreciate the tone of his monitress’s remarks. - -“That is a matter which depends solely on yourself. You possess many -estimable qualities, Major North, but you were born a few centuries -too late. Of course I don’t mean that you were to blame for the -fact--on the contrary, it is distinctly a misfortune, both to yourself -and others. You would have made an ideal husband in the days when it -was considered quite the proper thing for a gentleman to correct his -wife with a stick not thicker than his middle finger.” - -“Really, Lady Haigh, this is beyond a joke!” Dick was angry now--there -was no mistaking the fact. - -“Quite so; but I am not joking. I don’t mean that if you married -Georgia, you would keep her in order with a horsewhip--I don’t for a -moment believe she would let you, for one thing. But I think you would -certainly need some resource of the kind to fall back upon if your -ideal of domestic discipline was to be maintained. In your house, -according to your theory, there would be one law and one will, and -that law would be your law, and that will your will. That is a -beautiful ideal--for you--and it would no doubt produce, in course of -time, a saintly submissiveness of character in your wife. But any -woman who is to be subjected to such a course of training ought to be -warned beforehand, and agree to accept it with her eyes open. And that -Georgia would never do.” - -“I don’t know why she shouldn’t. All women do.” - -“Do they?” asked Lady Haigh, with as little sarcasm in her tone as the -subject admitted--and Dick was silent, recognising that he had, to use -his own phrase, given himself away. His counsellor went on, “I am -going to ask you a personal question, Major North. Why do you want to -marry Miss Keeling?” - -“Because I love her, and I can’t do without her,” very gruffly. - -“But why didn’t you fall in love with that beautiful Miss Hervey, whom -we met at Mrs Egerton’s before we came out here?” - -“Because she is not my sort--an empty-headed doll!” - -“Exactly; but if you want a woman without any mind or reason of her -own, she would just suit you. She would adore you, and defer to all -your wishes when they didn’t clash with any particular fancies of her -own, for six months at least, and you would adore her for the same -length of time--until you each found the other out. After that, you -would know that you had married a fool, and she a tyrant. Georgia is -not a fool. She loves you, but she sees your faults, and she has a -certain amount of self-respect. If you wanted her to do anything that -seemed to her unreasonable, she would talk it over with you, and she -might end by refusing to do it, but she would never cry or sulk until -you gave it up in despair. It is a great thing to recognise fully that -you are both human beings, after all. Georgie doesn’t imagine that the -possession of the Victoria Cross necessarily implies that of all the -domestic virtues, any more than she believes herself to be perfect -because she possesses a London medical degree. She would consider that -she had exactly as much right to be the sole arbiter of the house as -you had, and that is none at all.” - -Dick murmured a feeble protest against this way of looking at things, -to which Lady Haigh refused to listen. - -“The fact is, you would wish to marry a clever woman, only she must be -willing to let herself be treated like a fool. You can’t reconcile two -extremes in that way. Georgia has lived her own life, and that a very -full and useful one, and you cannot expect her to become a puppet all -at once, simply out of love for you. She is used to acting on her own -initiative. Well, I will tell you what I learned from her maid, for -she won’t talk about it herself. Do you know that when she was at -Bir-ul-Malikat, that wicked old woman Khadija tried to get her to lead -you and your men into a trap, on the pretence that by calling to you -and beckoning you she would warn you of an ambuscade. An ordinary -woman would have yielded to the impulse of the moment--I should have -myself--and destroyed you, with the purest desire for your safety; but -Georgie had the strength of mind to reason the matter out, all in an -instant. She refused to call to you, and you were saved. And it is a -woman like that whom you expect to fall down and worship your -slightest whim!” with intense scorn. - -“Not guilty, Lady Haigh. I abjure, I recant--anything! But why didn’t -you tell me this before? What an ungrateful brute she must think me!” - -“I didn’t begin by telling you of it, because I wanted to make you see -reason, instead of working upon your feelings. I’m sure I hope I may -have done both.” - -“I will give you my solemn promise, if that will satisfy you, that -Georgia shall ride roughshod over my most cherished convictions as -often as she likes. She is a heroine. I feel ashamed to lift my eyes -to her. Oh, Lady Haigh, tell me what to do. How can I begin to make -things right?” - -“Put yourself in her place. Would you like it if she expected you to -give up your military career for her sake?” - -“She would never ask or expect such a thing. She knows that I could -not do it, even to please her.” - -“Then return the compliment. She is willing to give up for your sake -any hope of distinguishing herself further in her profession by means -of original research, but she will not relinquish the practice of it. -Allow her the freedom you claim for yourself--in fact you must allow -it, if you mean to marry Georgia Keeling. She will be yours heart and -soul, but a certain portion of her time and interest she will always -give to her work.” - -“But come now, Lady Haigh, doesn’t that strike you as slightly rough -on a man?” - -“It strikes me as merely just,” snapped Lady Haigh. “No portion of -your time and interest will ever be given to your work, of course?” - -“Oh, but that’s different, you know,” said Dick, uncomfortably. “Do -you really think that this sort of thing is meant for women?” - -“My dear Major North, I am not holding a brief for Women’s Rights. I -am merely trying to bring you into line with facts. If you want -arguments, no doubt Georgia will argue with you by the hour.” - -“I wish she was here to do it!” sighed Dick. “Would it be rude to -remind you, Lady Haigh, that I haven’t seen her for three whole days?” - -“I suppose that means that you want me to fetch her for you. Well, I -will just say this. Once you lamented to me that you had no tact. Now -I believe that, until she finds him out, a bad man with tact will make -a woman happier than a good man without it.” Lady Haigh paused -triumphantly, as though to say, “Contradict that atrocious sentiment -if you can!” but Dick made no attempt to do so, and she went on. “I’m -afraid you would find it difficult to cultivate tact now, but if you -will only try to consider things that affect Georgia from her point of -view as well as your own, you will have made a good beginning.” - -She stepped out through the lattice, and presently Georgia entered, -stethoscope in hand. - -“Well, and how do we find ourselves to-day?” she asked cheerfully, -hoping that Dick would not notice the trembling in her voice. - -“How can you expect a patient to get better when his doctor does not -come near him for days?” - -“You have always expressed such a dislike to lady doctors, that it -struck us you might prefer to be without one.” - -“Ah, how did you come to be my doctor, by the bye?” - -“I knew you would have preferred the surgeon who came with you,” said -Georgia, with resignation in her tones. “I will tell you how it was. -He is very young and very new, and knows nothing about fever in -practice, which makes him all the more sure about it in theory. He has -half-a-dozen infallible remedies, and he was rejoicing at the prospect -of being able to test them all on you, when I stepped in and claimed -you as my patient. And now I suppose you will tell me that you would -prefer to be killed by him rather than be cured by me?” - -No suitable repartee occurring to Dick at the moment, he took a mean -advantage of his position as an invalid, and lay back on his cushions -with a slight groan, which melted Georgia’s heart at once. - -“You have a headache, and I have been teasing you!” she said, -remorsefully, changing her position and coming behind him. “Keep your -head like that, my poor boy,” and she began to pass her fingers slowly -across his forehead with such a soothing effect that Dick only kept -himself by a violent effort from falling asleep. Pulling her hands -down, he looked at them critically. - -“Have you been taking lessons in witchcraft from Khadija?” he asked. -“Do you think it’s fair to practice magic arts on me? What chance has -a man when you begin to mesmerise him with those cool, firm fingers of -yours? What nice soft hands you have, Georgie!” emphasising the remark -by lifting the said hands to his lips. - -“One has to keep one’s hands nice for surgical work,” said Georgia, -apologetically, and expecting an outburst. But Dick only gave a rather -ostentatious sigh, and went on meditatively. - -“Your magic is thoroughly successful, at any rate. Lady Haigh will -testify to the change in my demeanour since you came in. Well, -Georgie, you have won. Let’s make it up. I surrender at discretion.” - -“I begin to think that you are delirious again,” said Georgia, in a -puzzled voice, bending forward to look at him. - -“I think not. I am merely anxious not to do things by halves. Come, -impose your conditions on me while I am in this softened state. As an -honourable man, I shall feel bound to carry them out when I return to -my right mind. I will only ask you, as you are strong, to be merciful. -There, could submission go further than that?” - -“You are certainly not fit to be sitting up. I shall call your bearer, -and request him to see you back to bed. You may not be delirious, but -you are undoubtedly queer in the head.” - -“Thank you. You will not call the respectable Hari Das at present--at -any rate until I have had a longer talk with you.” - -“That sounds more like your usual self,” said Georgia. - -“The self which is to vanish from henceforth. Oh, Georgie, I know I’m -talking like a lunatic, but it’s because I should make a fool of -myself if I didn’t. When I think of what Lady Haigh has just been -telling me, of the way in which you saved all our lives the other day, -I feel as though I could simply die of shame. How could you--how could -you--do it?” - -“Pure selfishness,” returned Georgia, with elaborate composure. “I -couldn’t do without you, you see.” - -“I’m not worth it, Georgie. I couldn’t even behave decently to you an -hour after it happened. And I daren’t make any promises for the -future, remembering all those I have broken already. But I do ask you -to believe that I didn’t know what I was saying when--when I talked -about breaking off our engagement the morning you came back. I -couldn’t have believed that even when I was off my head I could be -such an idiot; but, unfortunately, you heard me say it. Take me on -again, dearest. You’ll have a lot to put up with, but----” - -“My dear boy, I have never given you up--of my own free will, at any -rate.” - -“That doesn’t make it any better for me. After you had done a thing -that not one woman in a million--or one man either--could have -done----” - -“Oh yes, they could, if the idea had struck them. It was just that--a -sudden inspiration. But you are getting excited, Dick, and I will not -have it. As your medical attendant, I forbid you to think about -Bir-ul-Malikat any more. I shall break off our re-engagement at once -if you don’t talk about something else.” - -“Yes, there it is. You have such an awful pull over me, Georgie. I -can’t do without you, but you could get on very well without me. -Confess now--couldn’t you?” - -“By going back to England and joining the Forward Club, and impressing -on the world that the grapes were sour?” asked Georgia. “No, I should -have to keep to my old plan, and settle down to missionary work in -Khemistan; then I should get a glimpse of you sometimes.” - -“I don’t know whether you call that a pure motive? Yes, I think I see -myself riding past a Zenana hospital every day, and about once a-week -catching a distant view of you teaching a lot of native girls to roll -up bandages.” - -“And I can imagine myself rushing to the verandah to look after you -when you had passed,” said Georgia. “It would be a modern version of -Roland and his lady.” - -“It would be far worse than never seeing one another at all.” - -“Oh no, Dick--not worse, much better than that.” - -“It would be much worse to me. I should have to look out for an -appointment somewhere at the other end of the Empire.” - -“Dick, how unkind of you to say such a thing!” There were tears very -near to falling in Georgia’s eyes, but with an extraordinary access of -tact Dick pretended not to notice them, and looked up at her with a -friendly smile. - -“Yes, I know I’m a brute. I warn you not to have me, Georgie. I have -had a good fright just now, and I’m properly subdued for the moment, -but I am bound to break out again. It isn’t safe, is it?” - -“I don’t care whether it is safe or not,” and she stooped and kissed -him. - -“Does that mean that there is to be no more doctoring?” - -“Not at all. Did you think you were going to catch me off my guard in -a moment of weakness? It means that you agree to my doing what medical -work I can, and that I won’t let it come between you and me.” - -“That first part is what one might call a cool assumption, but I told -you to make your own conditions, and as I said before, I am prepared -to accept them abjectly. Do you know, Georgie, that when I was at -Rahmat-Ullah it was hinted to me that I might be made assistant -political agent when they establish the agency at Iskandarbagh? How -would you like that?” - -“Dick, it’s too good to be true! It is like a dream. To have you, and -my work, and to be able to reach not only Khemistan but my dear -Ethiopian women!” - -“How do you propose to employ yourself, then?” - -“In doctoring the women and children, and teaching where I am -allowed.” - -“And leaving your house to take care of itself?” - -“Yes, of course, and my husband too. It would set such a good example -to the Ethiopian women, wouldn’t it?” - -“Oh, well, if I am only to be regarded in the light of an -object-lesson----” - -“You will accept the position with resignation, and be thankful. Oh, -Dick, don’t let us tease one another any more! Can’t you understand -that I am glad and proud to have the chance of helping you a little in -your work? It was my father’s work too, you know.” - -“Yes, I know. You might come a little closer, Georgie. You don’t seem -to understand yet that I make my doctor pay for the privilege of -attending me.” - - - -“Come, Mr Stratford, you mustn’t tire Sir Dugald. I am sure he has -done quite enough work this morning.” - -Stratford looked at Lady Haigh rather guiltily, almost as though he -felt that he ought to tell her something, but could not make up his -mind to do it. - -“I didn’t want him to go on so long, Lady Haigh, but he insisted on -looking through the journal. Of course he wanted to be posted up in -everything before we start to-morrow, in view of reaching Rahmat-Ullah -so soon. I’m afraid you will find that--that he has been doing a -little too much.” - -Lady Haigh went into the room with a scolding on her lips, but it died -away when her eyes fell upon Sir Dugald, sitting at the table with his -head leaning on his hand. As she entered, he pushed aside wearily the -papers before him and turned to her. - -“It’s no use, Elma; I am done for--a worn-out, useless wreck. I always -hoped to die in harness, but now I am laid on the shelf. It is all -right until I get to business, but I cannot grasp things. My brain -refuses to work.” - -This confirmation of fears which had already occurred to herself and -Georgia struck a chill to Lady Haigh’s heart, but she dared not hold -out any hope of improvement by way of comfort. She came forward -silently, and standing at her husband’s side, laid her hand rather -timidly on his shoulder. - -“It’s all up, Elma,” he said again. “The very _ad valorem_ duties in -the treaty--over which I spent so much time before I was ill--stump me -now. We lose everything--position, occupation, influence, even -reputation.” - -“You have nothing left but your poor old wife,” she said, stifling a -sob. - -“I don’t count you,” he said, with something of his old manner; “you -are part of myself. We have gone through everything together, Elma.” - -Lady Haigh murmured something about going home to Scotland and ending -their days together, but she left the sentence unfinished. How she -managed to get out of the room without absolutely breaking down she -did not know, but Georgia found her a short time later dissolved in -tears. - -“He never spoke to me like that before,” she sobbed. “We have never -been a sentimental couple--not even when we were first married. He -couldn’t bear that sort of thing; and though I might have liked a -little--just a little--more _expression_, don’t you know? I was not -going to worry him. We were good comrades always, and I think I can -say that I never stood in his way when he was ordered to do anything. -He would come to me in the morning and say, ‘Elma, I am ordered to -such and such a place,’ a thousand miles off, perhaps--and I would -say, ‘Very well, dear; what time must I be ready? or will it do if we -start to-morrow?’ He never said anything, but I knew he liked it, and -he was as proud as I was that I could shift quarters as quickly as any -soldier of them all. And we have always been together, as he says, and -now he must give up work at last!” - -“But you have your place in Scotland, Lady Haigh, and Sir Dugald will -find plenty to do there, and be very happy. It would not surprise me -if he recovered entirely when he had no official work to worry him.” - -“But that very official work has been the mainspring of his life. He -will be lost without it. And how will things go on without him? To -escape so many dangers and recover from that poisoning just for this! -No, Georgie, don’t try to show me the bright side of it yet. Let me -have my cry out now, and, God helping me, I’ll say no more about it, -and he shan’t know. I won’t fail him after all just when he needs me -most.” - -“Dick,” said Georgia that evening when they met before dinner, “who is -the bravest woman you know?” - -“You,” he replied, promptly. - -“Don’t be absurd; I wasn’t fishing for compliments. I should be -satisfied if I were half as brave as Lady Haigh. I think that she and -Sir Dugald are just worthy of one another.” - -“I suppose there’s a concealed snub somewhere in that remark intended -for me, but I can’t quite locate it yet. I have a good mind to ask -Stratford to find it out for me--I always want to apply to him for an -explanation when your reproofs are couched in too learned -language--but he isn’t down yet.” - -“Here he comes,” said Georgia, as Stratford entered somewhat hurriedly -and cast a hasty glance round the room; “but if you ever venture to -ask him to interpret me, Dick, why, beware!” - -“I should never think of doing it in cold blood. It might be too much -for his brain. What’s the matter, Stratford?” he asked, raising his -voice. “You’re not late.” - -“The Chief not down yet?” asked Stratford, looking round again and -making sure that Sir Dugald and Lady Haigh were the only members of -the party who were missing. It was the first time that the two -invalids had been allowed to join the rest at dinner, and the servants -were obviously unhappy at the delay. - -“No,” said Fitz; “the poor old chap is so thin after his illness that -Lady Haigh is making Chanda Lal pad his dress-clothes a bit to keep -him from looking quite so like a scarecrow.” - -“I wish you would have the goodness to confine your jokes to other -people, Anstruther, and not go sharpening your wit on the Chief,” said -Stratford, irritably. “Look here, all of you--there was something I -particularly wanted to say when I got you all together, and this is just -the chance. I beg and entreat you all not to allude after to-day--even -in private letters or in talking to friends--to the way in which I -managed to get the treaty signed.” - -“Why, Stratford, there was nothing to be ashamed of!” cried Dick. “It -was one of the finest things I ever heard of.” - -“You don’t see what I am driving at. At present the Chief has got it -into his head that the sudden change in the King’s attitude was -entirely due to the discovery by independent means of Fath-ud-Din’s -treachery, and the consequent promotion of Jahan Beg. He thinks that -I happened on the spot exactly at the right moment and got the treaty -signed without a bit of trouble, and I want him to go on thinking so.” - -“But do you mean to say you don’t want him to know that it was all -through you that the old fraud was unmasked, and that you went to the -Palace for the sake of rescuing Miss Keeling, and at the risk of your -life? What on earth is your reason?” - -“I should have thought you would have seen it at once. I want the -Chief to get the full credit for this piece of work.” - -“But this is nonsense!” cried Dick. “Why should the Chief get the -credit for what you did? He is the last man in the world to wish to -wear borrowed plumes.” - -“Of course he is, and that’s the reason that I want no one beyond our -immediate selves to know that they are borrowed. Lady Haigh honestly -believes that he did all the work, and that I merely reaped the fruit, -so that she won’t let out. Sir Dugald has never been properly -appreciated at home, and it is hard on him to lose the reputation he -deserves for the way he has managed this affair, which he will do if -it once gets known that it was not he who got the treaty signed after -all. He is an old man, and he will do no more work after this. His -illness has left marks on him. You have noticed it, Miss Keeling, I am -sure?” - -“There is some loss of brain power,” said Georgia, hesitatingly, -“which may be only temporary. But I fear his official career is over.” - -“You see that, then? Let him get his peerage and the credit of having -made the treaty. After all, he did by far the greater part of the -work.” - -“Only you came romping in at the finish,” said Fitz. “But what about -your own prospects, Mr Stratford?” - -“They can look after themselves. I may mention that the Chief let out -this morning that he intended to mention us all very honourably in his -report, so that we shall none of us lose in the long-run.” - -“It is splendid of you to leave Sir Dugald the credit in this way, Mr -Stratford,” said Georgia; “and we shall all think far more highly of -you than if you had claimed the honour for yourself.” - -“But what about your archives--your official journal?” asked Dick, who -was still unconvinced. - -“I wrote that entry myself. Hush, here comes the Chief!” - -And the conspiracy of silence was an accomplished fact, although Dick -continued to argue the matter vainly with both Stratford and Georgia -all the evening, as often as he could get either of them alone. They -succeeded at last in reducing him to a condition of grumbling -acquiescence, and during the journey of the next few days all the -conspirators did their best to accustom themselves to the new view of -what had happened, until they were almost ready to accept it as the -true one. Strangely enough, however, they had left out of account an -important element which ought to have entered into their calculations, -and it was through this oversight that their deep-laid schemes failed -eventually of success. The blow came suddenly on the last day of the -march, when the officers at Fort Rahmat-Ullah, riding out to welcome -the returning travellers, had met them on the frontier. The Mission -was being escorted back to the Fort in triumph, and Sir Dugald, able -now to mount his horse, was talking to the Commandant as they rode -side by side. - -“Your staff seem to have come uncommonly well out of this business,” -remarked the Commandant. “Of course we expected great things from -North, and we were not a bit astonished when he turned up with the -treaty, after a three days’ solitary ride; but that Foreign Office -fellow of yours--Stratford his name is, isn’t it?--appears to have -developed in a wholly unexpected direction.” - -“My staff have all behaved extremely well, and I shall have great -pleasure in representing the fact in the proper quarter.” - -“Oh, come, Haigh, it’s more than that--or do you include absolute -heroism in the bond of your requirements? It is not every civilian -that would take his life in his hand in the way your man did, and have -the nerve to carry through a palace revolution and secure the object -of the Mission all at once. I can tell you that when we heard the -story from Hicks, there wasn’t one of us but was simply yearning to -have had Stratford’s chance, and to have made as good use of it as he -did.” - -“I wish I had scragged Hicks!” muttered Stratford, behind, to Dick; -but Sir Dugald’s face betrayed no astonishment. - -“Then I suppose our friend Hicks is beforehand with us now in the -matter of news, as he was a short time ago in reaching Kubbet-ul-Haj?” - -“You bet he is--as he would say himself. The story of your Mission is -all over the world by this time, and Hicks and the proprietor of the -‘Crier’ are raking in the shekels like so much dust. Upon my word, it -is rather rough on you. But for that illness of yours, you would have -carried the whole thing through yourself, and now you have lost the -biggest advertisement you were ever within an ace of getting. -Stratford is the popular hero from end to end of the Empire, and no -one else will have a look-in beside him.” - -“You would not wish me to rob Mr Stratford of the honour which is due -to him?” inquired Sir Dugald, raising his eyebrows. “If I know him at -all, he will owe Hicks just as much thanks for his advertisement as I -should in his place, and that is--nothing. He is so touchy on the -subject of his visit to the Palace that I have scarcely yet been able -to mention it to him myself. Still, it is a little disappointing to -find that we have been forestalled in the announcement of our great -_coup_. You agree with me, Mr Stratford?” and Sir Dugald turned -partially round in his saddle, and cast a side-glance at the guilty -Stratford, who looked extremely unlike a popular hero at the moment. -He muttered something unintelligible in reply to his leader’s -question, and Sir Dugald smiled and changed the subject as he rode on -with the Commandant. - -In the bustle and confusion of arriving at the Fort, Stratford heard -no more of his attempted deception until late that evening, when he -and Fitz, who had been dining with the officers at mess, walked over -to the verandah in front of the Haighs’ old quarters to say -good-night. Sir Dugald had employed the interval in catechising Lady -Haigh and Georgia, as well as in collecting stray pieces of -information from Dick and Kustendjian, so that he was now well -acquainted with the history of all that had passed on the eventful day -when the treaty had been signed. - -“Sit down, Stratford, and don’t be in such a hurry,” he said, as they -came up the steps, divining Stratford’s evident intention of seeking -safety in flight to his own quarters as soon as the requisite -farewells had been exchanged. “We may not have the chance of being -together again without any strangers present. Do you know that you -have been plotting all this time to play me a very shabby trick--to -make a fool of me, in fact, in the eyes of everybody?” - -“Pray don’t think that I agree with your description of our aims, Sir -Dugald, when I say that I can only wish they had succeeded.” - -“And left me at the mercy of our friend Hicks? Don’t you see that as -soon as he gave his version of your proceedings, I should be suspected -either of concealing the facts or of being ignorant of them? I have no -particular fancy for either alternative.” - -“Unfortunately, we had all left Hicks out of our calculations.” - -“Most fortunately, if you will allow me to correct you, Hicks declines -to be ignored in such an unceremonious fashion. I suppose you imply -that if he had occurred to your memory you would have tried to square -him? You ought to know by this time that there is no one on earth so -incorruptible as the newspaper man who has a big sensation in charge. -The wealth of India would not move him, if the condition of receiving -it was the suppression of his ‘copy.’ And what a fine story he could -have made out of your eager attempts (instigated, without a doubt, by -myself) to bribe him not to publish the true facts of the case! The -issue would have been simple ruin for both of us. Not that that is the -worst of it. Since when, Mr Stratford, have you imagined me capable of -trading upon another man’s reputation?” - -“Honestly, Sir Dugald, our only idea was to preserve for you the -credit which we know you deserve, but which Hicks and the world are -determined to award to the wrong man.” - -“My dear Stratford, I have no doubt as to the entire excellence of -your intentions, although I can’t congratulate you on the steps you -took to carry them out. I cannot be too thankful that your Quixotic -scheme has failed. Leaving out of sight all the other considerations, -I have still a little pride left, and I can’t stand being indebted, -even to my friends, for a reputation which doesn’t belong to me. I -have had my day, and I am quite ready to walk off and leave the stage -to the younger men.” - -“Ah, Sir Dugald,” said Stratford, earnestly, “none of the younger men -can hope to do what you have done.” - -“Stuff!” said Sir Dugald, but he could not help allowing a gleam of -pleasure to be seen. “You have all done your duty under very trying -circumstances, and I am proud of you, gentlemen.” - -“And we of you, Sir Dugald,” said Dick, finding his tongue suddenly. - -“You are bringing home peace with honour, as you said once at -Kubbet-ul-Haj,” said Stratford. - -“The Chief gets the peace, and Stratford the honour,” observed Fitz, -_sotto voce_, to Georgia. “Do you call that a fair division or not, -Miss Keeling?” - - - - - EPILOGUE. - -(Being part of a letter addressed by Mr Fitzgerald Anstruther, about a -year after the return of the English Mission from Kubbet-ul-Haj, to -Mrs North, M.D., British Residency, Iskandarbagh.) - - -“... I have just come back from my visit to Sir Dugald and Lady Haigh -at Inverconglish. The Chief is all right again, and looks quite -bucolic in knickerbockers and a deerstalker--a regular ‘tyrant of his -little fields,’ indeed. I had promised myself the pleasure of seeing -him in a kilt, but he says that his tenants are a serious-minded -people, unaccustomed to laughter, and he is afraid the sight of him so -arrayed might do them severe physical injury. He is a great power in -the neighbourhood, and the people bring their disputes to him to -settle instead of going to law, so that he is quite busy and happy, -though he has not got his peerage. Lady Haigh, who directs the affairs -(particularly the love affairs) of the locality generally, told me -something about Stratford that will amuse you and North. He is -destined, so they say, to get a high appointment before long, and -meanwhile he has devoted his leave to falling in love with a girl just -out of the schoolroom, who is desperately frightened by his -attentions, and won’t have a word to say to him. Lady Haigh says she -is rather like a lady whom Stratford knew long ago, and who died. She -is a hero-worshipper, and has adored him from a distance since Hicks -first made him known to the British public, but she doesn’t want him -to come any closer. However, if old Stratford makes up his mind to -stick to a thing, I fancy he is pretty sure to get it. By the bye, I -met Hicks the other day. He was just off to Thracia again, drawn by -the rumour of these new disturbances. He quite considers himself as -one of us, and says that when we of the old Kubbet-ul-Haj gang meet -next to celebrate the signing of the treaty, he will be there, if he -has to come from the other side of the world in order to be -present....” - - THE END - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES. - -Sydney C. Grier was the pseudonym of Hilda Caroline Gregg. - -This book is part of the author’s “Modern East” series. The full -series, in order, being: - - The Flag of the Adventurer - Two Strong Men - The Advanced-Guard - His Excellency’s English Governess - Peace With Honour - The Warden of the Marches - -Alterations to the text: - -Note: the following alterations have been checked and validated against -an 1897 edition of the story serialized in _The Argosy_ volumes 63 and -64. - -A few punctuation corrections--mostly involving the pairing of -quotation marks and missing periods. - -[Title Page] - -Add a brief note indicating this novel’s position in the series. See -above. Also add illustrator’s credit. See below. - -[Images] - -Add twelve illustrations of Alfred Pearse featured in the -above-mentioned 1897 edition, but not included in the 1902 L. C. Page -& Co. edition. Illustrations were placed nearest the scene they -represent, of course. Some captions have been updated to reflect -revisions in the text. - -[Chapter IV] - -Change “gave up his horse to a _Eurasian’s_ clerk’s wife” to -_Eurasian_. - -[Chapter VI] - -“The official, _well pleased_, stayed” to _well-pleased_. - -[Chapter XI] - -“awaiting your orders at Fort _Rahmut_-Ullah” to _Rahmat_. - -[Chapter XII] - -“the rugs in the _Dunbar_-hall taken up” to _Durbar_. - -“if you _realise_ that it was anxiety for you that” to _realised_. - -[Chapter XIV] - -“between _Ishmail_ Bakhsh and some one outside” to _Ismail_. - -[Chapter XVII] - -“partook presently of coffee and _sweatmeats_” to _sweetmeats_. - -[Chapter XVIII] - -“his right hand _thurst_ into his girdle” to _thrust_. - -“the rest of the troop _appear_ to have been stupefied” to _appeared_. - -[Chapter XXI] - -“rely upon an Englishwoman to _kelp_ you” to _help_. - -“of her going to Bir-ul-_Mulikat_ at” to _Malikat_. - -[Chapter XXIV] - -“...husband too. [_missing text_] such a good example to...” repair -lacuna with _It would set_. - -“wanted to say when I got you _altogether_” to _all together_. - - [End of Text] - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEACE WITH HONOUR *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. 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Grier - </title> - <style type="text/css"> - -/* Headers and Divisions */ - h1, h2, h3 {margin:2em 0em 1em 0em; page-break-before:always; text-align:center;} - - div.tp {text-align:center;} /* title page */ - - .nobreak {page-break-before:avoid;} - - /* center a block of text */ - div.quote_o {font-size:95%; margin:0.5em 2em 0.5em 2em; text-align:center;} - div.quote_i {display:inline-block; text-align:left;} - -/* General */ - - body {margin:0% 5% 0% 5%;} - - p {margin:0em 0em 0em 0em; text-align:justify; text-indent:2em;} - p.center {margin:0em 0em 0em 0em; text-align:center; text-indent:0em;} - p.noindent {text-indent:0em;} - p.sign2 {margin:0em 2em 0em 0em; text-align:right; text-indent:0em;} - p.spacer {margin:0.5em 0em 0.5em 0em; text-align:center; text-indent:0em;} - p.end {margin:1em 0em 0em 0em; text-align:center; text-indent:0em;} - - p.toc_1 {font-variant:small-caps; text-align:left; text-indent:0em;} - - div.letter {margin:1em 0em 1em 3em;} - - span.font80 {font-size:80%;} - - span.sc {font-variant:small-caps;} - - span.chap_sub {font-size:80%;} - -/* play/poetry indented verses */ - p.i0 {margin:0em 0em 0em 2em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i1 {margin:0em 0em 0em 3em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i2 {margin:0em 0em 0em 4em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i3 {margin:0em 0em 0em 5em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i4 {margin:0em 0em 0em 6em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i5 {margin:0em 0em 0em 7em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i6 {margin:0em 0em 0em 8em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i7 {margin:0em 0em 0em 9em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i8 {margin:0em 0em 0em 10em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i9 {margin:0em 0em 0em 11em; text-indent:-2em;} - p.i10 {margin:0em 0em 0em 12em; text-indent:-2em;} - -/* Images and captions */ - - div.fig {margin:auto; padding:1em 1em 1em 1em; text-align:center;} - - div.caption {font-size:80%; padding:0 2em 0 2em; text-align:center;} - - img {height:50%; width:auto;} - - </style> -</head> - -<body> - -<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Peace with Honour, by Sydney C. Grier</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Peace with Honour</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Sydney C. Grier</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Illustrator: Alfred Pearse</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: August 17, 2021 [eBook #66076]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEACE WITH HONOUR ***</div> - -<div class="tp"> - - -<h1> -Peace With Honour -</h1> - -By<br/> -SYDNEY C. GRIER -<br/> -<span class="font80">AUTHOR OF “A CROWNED QUEEN,”<br/> -“THE WARDEN OF THE MARCHES,”<br/> -“IN FURTHEST IND,” Etc.</span> - -<br/><br/> -<i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALFRED PEARSE</i> - - -<br/><br/> -(<i>Fifth in the Modern East series</i>) - -<br/><br/><br/> -BOSTON<br/> -L. C. PAGE & COMPANY<br/> -<span class="font80"><i>MDCCCCII</i></span> -</div> - - -<h2> -COPYRIGHT. -</h2> - -<p class="center"> -<i>Copyright, 1902</i><br/> -By L. C. Page & Company<br/> -(<span class="sc">Incorporated</span>) -</p> - -<p><br/></p> - -<p class="center"> -Published June, 1902 -</p> - - -<h2> -DEDICATION. -</h2> - -<p class="center"> -<span class="font80">TO</span><br/> -E. FG. L.,<br/> -<span class="font80">IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT<br/> -OF MUCH KIND ADVICE<br/> -AND HELP.</span> -</p> - - -<h2> -CONTENTS. -</h2> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch01">I. “SHOULD AULD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT?”</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch02">II. A COMMUNITY OF INTERESTS</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch03">III. FELLOW-TRAVELLERS</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch04">IV. AGAINST HIS WILL</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch05">V. ACROSS THE FRONTIER</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch06">VI. AN OFFER OF CO-OPERATION</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch07">VII. THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARED</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch08">VIII. EAST MEETS WEST</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch09">IX. STRAINED RELATIONS</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch10">X. CAUGHT AND CAGED</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch11">XI. THE RANKS ARE THINNED</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch12">XII. THE STANDARD-BEARER FALLS</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch13">XIII. A PROFESSIONAL SUMMONS</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch14">XIV. AN ULTIMATUM</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch15">XV. ONE CROWDED HOUR</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch16">XVI. A CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch17">XVII. POINTS OF VIEW</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch18">XVIII. RETREAT CUT OFF</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch19">XIX. THE VALUE OF A REPUTATION</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch20">XX. FOR THE HONOUR OF ENGLAND’S SAKE</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch21">XXI. FOR A CONSIDERATION</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch22">XXII. A SILENCE THAT WAS GOLDEN</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch23">XXIII. HARDLY WON</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch24">XXIV. VIS MEDICATRIX</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch25">EPILOGUE</a> -</p> - - - -<h2> -PEACE WITH HONOUR. -</h2> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="ch01"> -CHAPTER I.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">“SHOULD AULD ACQUAINTANCE BE FORGOT?”</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Now</span>, Dick, I want to trot you out this afternoon, so please put on -your smartest clothes, and your best company manners, and your most -winning smile.” -</p> - -<p> -“Has your majesty any more commands? I was under the impression that I -was excused further duty to-day, on condition of dining out with you -to-night and to-morrow night.” -</p> - -<p> -“This is not duty, it is pleasure—or ought to be.” -</p> - -<p> -“That sounds more inviting. Who gets the pleasure?” -</p> - -<p> -“I do, if you will come, and I will promise you some as well.” -</p> - -<p> -“Your generosity exceeds my highest expectations, but I should like -particulars before I make any rash promises. I have just settled down -here comfortably for the afternoon.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick!”—Mabel North dashed at her brother, robbed him of his cigar, -and, snatching away his newspaper, set her foot upon it—“if you -imagine I allow you to smoke in the conservatory merely in order that -you may shirk coming out with me, you are mistaken. Now, will you -come? Quick, or I shall let this thing go out!” -</p> - -<p> -“I give in. Allow me to rescue that cigar. Now, perhaps, you will -graciously intimate what it is you want me to do?” -</p> - -<p> -“I want you to see something of the serious side of my life. What do -you really know about me? You would be sorry some day if you didn’t -come this afternoon. When you heard I was no more, you would shake -your head and say, ‘Ah, poor girl; what a frivolous butterfly she -was!’ I wish to guard against misconceptions of that kind.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, well, I only hope your conscience will prick you when I am gone -again. When you think of me at Kubbet-ul-Haj, sweltering all day and -freezing all night, you will say, ‘Ah, poor fellow! I wish I had -treated him better while he was here. Never a moment’s peace did I -give him; it was nothing but drive and rush from morning to night.’” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t pretend to be bored and <i>blasé</i>, Dick. You know that you have -come back from the wilderness with a very healthy appetite for -innocent gaiety. If you wanted us to think that seven years on the -Khemistan Frontier had made you a misanthrope, your face would belie -you. I do like to see a young man enjoying himself thoroughly at a -social gathering, and that pleasure I have whenever I take you out.” -</p> - -<p> -“This is adding insult to injury, Mab. Can’t you let a man alone?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not when he’s my brother, and I have got him all to myself after not -having seen him for years. Do come with me, Dick, there’s a good boy; -I want you particularly. Besides, you owe a duty to other people. -Society looks favourably upon you, and it is only grateful for you to -bask in its smiles. All the girls I know have said to me, ‘Mornin’. -Brother’s comin’ home, isn’t he? Awf’ly plucky chap! Bring him in on -our “at-home” day. Just adore soldiers.’ Then their mothers come up -purringly, and say, ‘And so your <i>dear</i> brother is coming home, Miss -North? You must be <i>sure</i> and bring him round to see me. I am <i>so</i> -much interested in young men. And <i>will</i> he wear his Victoria Cross? -It is the <i>dream</i> of my life to see one.’” -</p> - -<p> -“I hope you don’t expect me to take the precious thing with me in my -pocket and exhibit it? There are some things a man can’t bring himself -to do, even for your sake, Queen Mab.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, dear boy; I won’t try you so far. I am not a despotic monarch. -That means that you are going to be good and come with me, doesn’t it? -Then I will reward you by saying that I don’t want you to go to an -‘at-home’ or anything of that kind this afternoon, but merely to the -hospital.” -</p> - -<p> -“The hospital?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, the Women’s Hospital, to which I go twice a-week to read and -sing to the patients. It is a great occasion there to-day—the -anniversary of the opening, so that I can take you in, and the poor -things are all longing to see you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what do they know about me?” -</p> - -<p> -“What I have told them, of course. Do you know, Dick, I sometimes feel -as though I had no business to be so well and rich and happy among so -many sufferers. It seems as though they must hate me, or, at any rate, -feel that I can’t sympathise with them. And then, when you were shut -up in Fort Rahmat-Ullah, and uncle and I were so fearfully anxious, I -really couldn’t go on just as usual, and I told the women about you, -and they <i>were</i> so nice. Of their own accord they asked the clergyman, -who comes and holds a service in the wards on Sundays, to mention your -name in the prayers, and they watched the papers for every scrap of -news about you. When at last we heard how you had got through the -enemy and brought help, I took the paper to the hospital, but I -couldn’t read a bit. I simply broke down and cried like a great baby, -and the women were in a dreadful state of anxiety. At last I gave the -account to one of them, and she read it aloud in a high, cracked -voice, making the most horrible hash of the names, and the rest all -cried too. They have regarded you as their personal property ever -since, and when they heard of all your honours, they were as much -pleased as I was. ‘Your brother ’ave gort permoted, miss!’ was what -they all called out to me when I came in one day, and I never had such -a piece of work in my life as when I tried to explain to them what -brevet rank was. I’m afraid even now they are under the impression -that you have been very badly treated, and defrauded of the promotion -you ought to have received, and they sympathise with you very deeply. -Several of them have pictures of you, cut out of the illustrated -papers, folded up in their lockers, and bring them out to show people, -and all the new patients are carefully instructed in the history of -the presiding genius. ‘That’s our Miss North’s brother,’ the old ones -tell them, and then all the details follow. Now, Dick, you will come, -won’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“If you really want me, old girl,” and Dick threw down his paper -without a murmur. “I feel as if I owed you something for the horrible -scare you got when you heard we were cut off, and so I’ll do violence -to my natural modesty to the extent of coming and exhibiting myself to -your old women.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel North was not a little proud of her brother as she conducted him -into the hospital an hour or so later. He looked such a splendid manly -fellow, she thought, with the glamour of his past exploits surrounding -him like an aureole, that she wondered how other women could care to -display their wretched dandified relatives beside him. In the fulness -of her satisfaction, she marched him through various rooms and -corridors, and presented him to a number of resplendent ladies who -appeared to be receiving the guests, before there was any question of -going up-stairs to visit the wards. Then she was seized upon by a -suave person of business-like appearance, who turned out to be the -secretary, for a few minutes’ confidential talk, and Dick, rather -bewildered by his experiences, and wondering why a hospital should -employ a lady as secretary, took refuge in the society of a man he had -met at his club. -</p> - -<p> -“Isn’t this gathering slightly—er—informal?” he asked. “Don’t the -doctors, or governors, or whatever they call the authorities of the -place, show up at all? All the men here look as though they had been -brought by their lady friends.” -</p> - -<p> -“Brought?” said the other man, “that’s it exactly. My wife brought me, -your sister brought you, and Mountchesnay and the Archdeacon have been -brought by their female relatives in just the same way. We are here on -sufferance, don’t you know, just to open our minds and enlarge our -views.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it a ladies’ day, then?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, but the ladies boss the show here. Don’t you know that this is -the hospital of the future, manned entirely by women? The tyrant man -is in his rightful sphere here, quite at a discount. They think -nothing of him. Why, there’s not a man on the premises but the porter, -and he is there rather to overawe the relations of the patients than -to help the ladies. But do you mean to say that Miss North brought you -here without explaining the state of things? It wasn’t fair; she might -have given you a shock.” -</p> - -<p> -“But who are the <i>burra mems</i>—the great ladies—in the other room?” -</p> - -<p> -“The doctors, ladies of European reputation. The one who shook hands -with you first fought the whole battle for the medical women.” -</p> - -<p> -“I didn’t know that you were mixed up with all this kind of thing, -Mab,” said Dick, as Mabel, having finished her talk with the -secretary, turned to look for him. -</p> - -<p> -“All what kind of thing?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, all this rot about lady doctors, and women’s hospitals, and so -on.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you don’t read my letters, Dick. I have told you about it again -and again. But I have another surprise for you presently. Let us come -up-stairs now.” -</p> - -<p> -In the wards Dick made a very good impression. None of the patients -would be satisfied without a close view of him, and Mabel conducted -him from bed to bed, and introduced him to all her friends. When he -had duly admired the decorations, congratulated the patients on their -healthful looks, promised to send in some illustrated papers, and -inquired whether he could possibly obtain admittance to the hospital -himself if he fell ill, he was in high favour. This inquiry was the -stereotyped jest, which was expected as a matter of course from all -the male visitors to the hospital, and none of them ever failed to -make it, so that its utterance was received with approving laughter. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, you gentlemen don’t know what a blessin’ this ’ere ’orspital is -to us, a-makin’ your jokes, and all,” said an old woman, with a high -cracked voice, the patient, as Mabel explained, who had read aloud to -the rest the account of Dick’s solitary expedition for the relief of -Fort Rahmat-Ullah. “Not but what I ain’t been as well treated as I ’ad -reason to expeck. My doctor’s agoin’ out to furrin parts, to the pore -’eathens, she says. ‘You may as well stay and see the last of me, -miss,’ I says to ’er; but she says, ‘You can go to a gentleman doctor -when you are ill, Mrs Wake, but them pore ’eathen women can’t, so I’m -wanted there wuss.’ Oh, there you are, miss! I was a-tellin’ this -gentleman about you.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel looked up quickly as a lady in soft flowing robes of wine-red -cashmere glanced in at the begarlanded doorway, and nodded to Mrs -Wake. -</p> - -<p> -“We shall meet to-morrow evening, Mab,” she said, seeing the visitors. -</p> - -<p> -“Wait a minute, Dr Georgie,” said Mabel, hastily; “I want to introduce -my brother afresh. I am afraid he is forgetting old friends. Major -North, Miss Georgia Keeling, M.D.” -</p> - -<p> -“Miss Keeling! Is it possible?” Dick met the gaze of a pair of frank -dark eyes, which were scanning his face with a look of friendly -interest, and his thoughts flew back to the time which had elapsed -between his leaving Sandhurst and obtaining his appointment to the -Indian Staff Corps years ago. He had spent some months at home, to the -great disgust of his uncle, the general, who vowed that this spell of -idleness would ruin him for life, but he did nothing worse than fall -in love with his sister’s greatest friend. Georgia lived only a few -doors off, and she and Mabel always walked to the high school -together, a fact of which Dick was fully aware when he took it into -his head to offer Mabel his escort morning by morning. The offer was -accepted with some hesitation, for both Mabel and Georgia had reached -what might be called the age of pure reason, and objected on principle -to “boys and nonsense,” but Dick was useful in carrying their books, -and they could always snub him if he talked too much. Mabel was not -without pride in the effect produced on the other girls by Dick’s -attendance, but Georgia was absolutely indifferent to the honour -conferred upon her, and Dick left England at last with the rueful -conviction that the lady of his love was still quite heart-whole, and -never regarded him in any other light than that of Mabel’s brother. -Now he saw her again, and her eyes met his as calmly and freely as of -old. -</p> - -<div class="fig"> -<a href="images/img_01.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_01_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“Miss Keeling! Is it possible?” -</div></div> - -<p> -“You have not forgotten the old days, then?” she said, pleasantly. -</p> - -<p> -“I am afraid you haven’t,” he answered. “I must have bored you -horribly. I know you and Mab always wanted to discuss your lessons, or -the methods of the different masters, and momentous subjects of that -kind, whereas I used to try to intrude my own little frivolous -interests, which were invariably frowned down. It served me right.” -</p> - -<p> -Poor Dick! He had not spoken so lightly when he bade Georgia farewell, -after a vain attempt to obtain from her a flower, a glove, anything -she had touched, as a keepsake. She had looked him through with her -clear eyes and observed chillingly that she disliked foolishness, and -he broke away from her with a heart full of pain and anger, and on his -lips the Disraelian prophecy, “Some day I will make you listen to me!” -To work for Georgia, to make himself more worthy of Georgia, had been -his ruling impulse during his early years in India, and there was -always before his eyes the faint possibility that when he returned -home great and famous, his stubborn lady’s heart might be touched at -last. And now he had returned, not only famous, but also free from the -trammels of his early and hopeless adoration—and Georgia was not at -all affected by the fact. Years of unremitting work had turned Dick’s -thoughts into a different channel. He was a soldier now, and his -professional instincts were paramount, but still, he would have liked -Georgia to recognise the change. She did not appear to notice -anything, and he had a lurking suspicion that if she had done so, the -realisation would not have troubled her. -</p> - -<p> -“And so you are going to India, like all the young ladies in these -days?” he said, carelessly, recalling what he had just heard from Mrs -Wake, not without some idea of piquing Miss Keeling by the suggestion -that her latest development had not surprised him in the least. -</p> - -<p> -“No, not to India,” she answered. “I am going to Kubbet-ul-Haj.” -</p> - -<p> -“What, with Sir Dugald Haigh’s Ethiopian Mission? So am I.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, Mabel has told me. What a pity she can’t come too!” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Mab hasn’t set up as a free-lance yet.” -</p> - -<p> -“Have you, then? I had an idea that you were going as one of the -Mission. Even I have a professional status.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am the military member—aide-de-camp to the Chief, or something of -the kind, I believe. You are the surgeon, I presume?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not exactly. The King of Ethiopia’s principal wife is nearly blind, -and he has begged that a lady doctor may accompany the Mission to -Kubbet-ul-Haj, and attend the Queen while Sir Dugald Haigh remains -there. Lady Haigh is rather glad to find a companion, and I am -delighted to have such a chance.” -</p> - -<p> -“The Mission is highly honoured,” said Dick, not quite pleasantly. -</p> - -<p> -Miss Keeling looked at him in some surprise. -</p> - -<p> -“It makes it much pleasanter that you are going too,” she said. “My -short Indian experience has taught me how delightful it is to find old -friends in a foreign country.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are too kind,” said Dick, stiffly. “I’m afraid you overrate my -powers of—er—entertainment; but, of course, I shall be delighted to -do all I can to make the journey less tedious.” -</p> - -<p> -She looked at him again. Was it possible that the man was such an -arrant coxcomb as to imagine that she was doing her best to lead up to -a resumption of the old state of affairs between them? Could he be -trying to warn her off, or were his infelicitous remarks due only to -ill-temper? But why should he be ill-tempered? In any case, it was -clear that Major North, V.C., was a very different person from the boy -who had gone to India fifteen years before, and the change was not an -improvement. There was the slightest possible touch of <i>hauteur</i> in -Georgia’s manner as she turned away, saying, with a graciousness which -made Dick writhe with something of his old feeling of insignificance -in her presence— -</p> - -<p> -“You must not think that I have forgotten to congratulate you on your -splendid exploit, Major North. I had hoped to be able to hear -something about it from yourself, but no doubt Mabel will tell me all -I want to know.” -</p> - -<p> -She passed slowly down the corridor, and Dick, watching the trailing -folds of her gown out of sight, felt a sudden and unreasoning rush of -anger. He tried to think that he was angry with her, but in his heart -he knew that it was with himself. As for Mabel, who had watched the -scene at first with amusement, but afterwards with growing concern, -she was speechless until she had conducted him hastily through the -remaining wards of the hospital, and hurried him out at the front -entrance. Then she turned upon him and said in a tone of concentrated -disgust— -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Dick, I never thought I should have to be absolutely ashamed of -you!” -</p> - -<p> -As Dick made no reply, but walked on with frowning brows, swinging his -stick viciously, she continued to improve the occasion. -</p> - -<p> -“Talk of the fury of a woman scorned! it’s nothing to a man’s. If you -can’t forgive Georgia for refusing you fifteen years ago, one would -scarcely expect to find you eager to show her that she never did a -wiser thing in her life.” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe you imagine that I am in love with her still,” said Dick, -with great calmness. -</p> - -<p> -“It looks like it, doesn’t it?” retorted Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Then you are mistaken. I don’t care a rap for her. What upset me was -that she ignored everything so completely. It was all foolishness, of -course, but still it did happen, and nothing can blot it out. A man -can’t meet a woman that he has cared for in that way as though he had -never seen her before. Only women can do that kind of thing.” -</p> - -<p> -“A woman would know better than to behave like a cad, at any rate.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should never let a man say such a thing as that to me, Mabel.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then it is a good thing that there is a woman to do it. The fact is, -Dick, you hoped that Georgia would have changed her mind during these -years, and that she would want you when she could not have you. That -is a nice, manly, chivalrous way of trying to get your revenge on her, -isn’t it? And when she is willing to forget all that foolishness, and -to meet you as an old friend, you are angry, instead of being thankful -that she can bring herself to overlook it. You really were fearfully -silly in those days, Dick, and bothered her horribly. Why can’t you -let it drop, if she can? You say you don’t care for her now. Why you -should expect her to care for you, I don’t know.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t expect her to care for me,” said Dick, doggedly. -</p> - -<p> -“I should hope not, when you are so fickle.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know why you should call me fickle. A man’s tastes must -change as he grows older.” -</p> - -<p> -“Exactly. But why should you expect Georgia to change in accordance -with them? She is just what you might have guessed she would be.” -</p> - -<p> -“I detest that type of woman.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see. You would have liked Georgia to develop entirely on your -lines. When you find that she has a character and a will of her own, -you don’t like it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I like a woman to be a woman. These lady doctors are not womanly.” -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed! Who is the best judge of what is womanly, you or a woman?” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course,” Dick went on, disregarding the question, “it is their -business, and not mine. But you will find, Mab, that men like a woman -to be gentle and soft and clinging, looking to them for protection.” -</p> - -<p> -“Men!” said Mabel, contemptuously. “Who cares what men like?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, a good many women seem to think rather a lot of it. No one -wants a woman to be brave and self-reliant. Now Miss Keeling’s -manner—it implied that she could look after herself, and had no need -of a protector—and yet she was not putting on side—it was simply a -steady sort of self-dependence. That’s all very well, but it isn’t -what I like in a woman. And she looked me over, just as a man might. -It made me feel quite queer.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, you like a woman’s eyes to drop before yours, as a sort of -unconscious tribute to your greatness and your glory. A man may look -at a woman with the calmest insolence, but she must only steal a -glance at his face when he isn’t looking. I’m afraid India has -corrupted you, Dick.” -</p> - -<p> -“What in the world has India got to do with it? Your remarks don’t -seem to apply to any part of India with which I am acquainted.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very well, I withdraw them, then. I will only say that before you -went there you preferred to regard woman as an angel high above you; -now you object to think of her even as an equal.” -</p> - -<p> -“I knew we were bound to come round to that at last. Every man makes -an idiot of himself some time in his life, but it’s not fair to bring -up his ravings against him when he has returned to his right mind. And -why should you drag in these stale controversies? The women will -always settle the matter to their own satisfaction among themselves, -and the men will laugh over it in the smoking-room and say: ‘It -pleases them to think so, and as long as they do no harm they may as -well be let alone.’” -</p> - -<p> -“There you are again, Dick, with your nasty cynical philosophy! I am -sure frontier life has not been good for you. You want educating, and -I rather think that Georgia is the person to undertake the task, if -you haven’t disgusted her too deeply. For your own sake, my dear boy, -I should advise you to try and appease her. It is not every man of -whom she is willing to make a friend.” -</p> - -<p> -“Stuff!” said Dick, ungratefully. “When I want friends I prefer men. -You forget that it’s a case of ‘once bit, twice shy,’ with me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, very well; don’t blame me if you turn out a horrid old bear, -always saying nasty things about women, because you don’t know a scrap -about them. You will soon see that Georgia has no difficulty in -finding friends. She might have married hundreds of times.” -</p> - -<p> -“This seems to import a new element into the discussion. Why are these -hundreds of presumably unhappy men introduced? Is it to show the -danger of seeking Miss Keeling’s friendship? I have already had -experience in that direction, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“It was merely a piece of historical retrospect—and a warning for -you. Don’t say that I let you go to Kubbet-ul-Haj blindfold. The man -who would suit Georgia must be at the head of some big hospital, so -that she can see plenty of good operations,” and Mabel smiled -gleefully at the disgust depicted on her brother’s face. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch02"> -CHAPTER II.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">A COMMUNITY OF INTERESTS.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -About noon the next day Dick North left his uncle’s house with the -intention of going to his club. It was a rough windy morning, with -occasional scuds of rain, and when one of these overtook Dick as he -was crossing the street, he found to his disgust that from the force -of habit he had come out without an umbrella. Taking refuge in a -doorway, for the shower proved to be a sharp one, he discovered that -his asylum was already in the possession of a lady, in whom he quickly -recognised Miss Keeling. She was looking very smart in a business-like -ulster and a neat little felt hat, from the brim of which the -rain-drops were falling on her wind-blown hair, for the umbrella she -held in her hand—a mere mass of metal spikes and shreds of -silk—could only be called an umbrella by courtesy, and had evidently -given way before the force of the gale. -</p> - -<p> -“Any port in a storm!” she said, merrily, as she shook hands with -Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“I am sorry I can’t offer to lend you an umbrella,” he remarked, “for -I am worse off than yourself.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I think you are more sensible,” she replied, “for an umbrella is -sure to be turned inside out in this wind. You see I am prepared for -rain, and I have no fear of getting wet, but I do dislike it when the -rain-drops trickle down my neck.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pray allow me to run across and get you an umbrella from one of those -shops over there,” he said stiffly, annoyed to find his resentment -against her melting under the influence of her friendly manner. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, thank you, I couldn’t think of it,” she replied, surveying him -carefully, and taking due note of his curly-brimmed hat, his long -coat, the huge carnation in his buttonhole, and the immaculate spats -protecting his equally spotless boots. “You are not quite dressed for -running anywhere, are you?” -</p> - -<p> -The resentment returned promptly in full force. -</p> - -<p> -“I am sorry my appearance is displeasing to you,” he said, in a tone -which he tried vainly to make a light and sportive one. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but it isn’t at all. It is most correct—unimpeachably correct.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then what is the matter with it, if I may ask?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t want to hurt your feelings.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you, I think my feelings are proof against injury.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is only that I was thinking it was a pity to expose such a -complete get-up to the dangers of a muddy walk. A hansom would have -taken you straight from General North’s door to your destination. I -could imagine you a walking advertisement of the Army and Navy Club, -and why aren’t you gracing one of the windows there, as a sort of -sample, you know, to show the kind of goods within?” -</p> - -<p> -“Bother the girl! She sees I don’t like her, and she is taking it out -of me,” was his mental comment, as he glanced at her composed face and -caught a twinkle of fun in her eyes. Aloud he said, rather lamely, -“You don’t know what a luxury it is to be able to array oneself in the -garments of civilisation once more, after spending years, as one might -say, in uniform. But I see the rain has stopped. May I call you a cab, -or walk with you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, thanks; I am only going to one of those shops.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you will allow me to see you across the street?” -</p> - -<p> -This time his escort was not refused, and he left her at the entrance -of the shop to which she was bound, and in which, as he noticed with a -shudder, the wares displayed were chiefly surgical instruments. As he -lifted his hat and turned away, he found his state of mind not at all -in accordance with the serene calm of his destination. Everything Miss -Keeling had said seemed to be rankling in his breast, and he -anathematised her mentally as he walked. What business had the girl to -say such things? Nay, rather, what did it signify if she did say them? -Why in the world should it affect him? And yet, here he was wasting -his time and spoiling his short leave at home by thinking about her. -It was bad enough that they were doomed to be fellow-travellers all -the way to Kubbet-ul-Haj, but at least he would dismiss her from his -mind while he was in England; and by way of making a beginning he -would burn that photograph which he had cherished so long. -</p> - -<p> -The consciousness of this heroic resolution upheld him during the day, -and when he returned home to dress for dinner his first action was to -take the photograph out of the drawer of his desk in which it had been -wont to repose ever since he had stolen it out of Mabel’s album. He -held it in his hand with mingled feelings, remembering the time when -he had lifted it out and looked at it reverentially every night, -although of late years it had remained altogether undisturbed. Georgia -appeared in it with short hair, which made her look like a very nice -boy. Dick remembered that Mabel had come home from school one day in -tears because, in the ardour of preparing for the London -Matriculation, Georgia had had all her hair cut off. He remembered -also how he had begged, as urgently as he dared, for one of the -severed locks, and how Georgia had refused it with disdain. In those -days he was under the impression that it was rather pleasant than -otherwise to be called “silly boy!” by Miss Keeling’s lips. What a -young idiot he must have been! And what a senseless fool he was now, -to be recalling the absurdities of those past years in this way! After -all, he would not burn the photograph, lest he should forget what an -ass he had once succeeded in making of himself. It should occupy its -old place still, not for Miss Keeling’s sake, but for auld lang syne, -and as a memento and a warning. -</p> - -<p> -“Are you nearly ready, Dick?” said Mabel’s voice at his door. “The -carriage has come round.” -</p> - -<p> -Hastily thrusting the photograph back into the desk, Dick made his -toilet at lightning speed and hurried down-stairs. Mabel was waiting -in the drawing-room with an aggressive expression of resignation, and -General North, whose gout kept him at home, was fretting and fuming -over the tardiness of his nephew’s appearance. -</p> - -<p> -“This is the way in which you young fellows make ducks and drakes of -all your chances!” he remarked, irascibly. “Here you are appointed to -this Mission, which is a piece of luck for which most men would give -their ears, and you are late the first time you have to meet your -chief. In my young days such behaviour would have lost you your post, -but there’s nothing that can be called discipline now.” -</p> - -<p> -“And how much happier the world is!” said Mabel, flippantly, stooping -to arrange General North’s footstool more comfortably. “Now take care -of yourself, uncle, and don’t think of waiting up for us. Come, Dick, -we must really go.” -</p> - -<p> -“I say,” said Dick, as he followed her into the carriage, “I wish you -would just cram me up a bit about this affair to-night. I know that we -are to dine with the Egertons, and that the Kubbet-ul-Haj people will -be there, but who the Egertons are, or why they should be mixed up -with the Mission, I haven’t an idea.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick, if I had such a bad memory as you, I would—study somebody’s -system of mnemonics, I think. I have mentioned the Egertons in my -letters again and again. Don’t you remember that I pointed out Mrs -Egerton to you at the hospital yesterday—a pretty, rather -worn-looking woman, with a black lace dress and pink roses in her -bonnet?” -</p> - -<p> -“I apologise humbly for my forgetfulness. Forgive me, and instruct -me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, don’t you remember that just after you first went out, I told -you that Cecil Anstruther, one of our girls at the South Central, had -taken high honours in the London B.A., and we were all so proud of -her? She went out to Baghdad as governess to the Pasha’s little boy, -when Sir Dugald Haigh was Resident there. The Haighs were very kind to -her, and she became engaged to Lady Haigh’s cousin, who was surgeon at -the Residency. He got into trouble in some way with the Turkish -Government, and had to be sent home, and I believe they were separated -for a long time. But they were married at last, and came home and -settled down. Dr Egerton has a large property in Homeshire, and sits -in Parliament for the eastern division.” -</p> - -<p> -“What, the member for Adullam?” cried Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, that’s what they call him, because he is said to be always in a -minority of one. You know how the name was fixed upon him? Of course -he was often called by it in private conversation, but one day Sir -James Morrell, who is rather absent-minded, had to answer one of his -questions in the absence of the Secretary for India, and in his flurry -he alluded to ‘the honourable member for the Adullam division of -Homeshire.’ The next week ‘Punch’ improved it into ‘the member for the -Cave division of Adullamshire,’ and since then it has stuck. What do -you know about Dr Egerton, Dick?” -</p> - -<p> -“Merely that he is one of the faddists who pose as authorities on -India and the East generally.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, you should hear Sir Dugald Haigh on that point. His sneer is -positively terrific. He can only comfort himself by remembering that -here, as in other cases, the critics of the East are the men who have -failed in the East.” -</p> - -<p> -“Better that than never to have been there at all,” said Dick. “It has -struck me more than once that there is a good deal of sense in some of -Egerton’s crotchets, but he destroys the effect by his way of forcing -them upon people. The things he says would put any one’s back up.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, poor Cecil’s life is spent in explaining away his blunders and -apologising for them. He could do nothing without her, for she is such -a favourite that she can often manage to put things right when he has -muddled them. Every one wonders that she doesn’t coach him beforehand, -and teach him to avoid these dreadful <i>faux pas</i>; but I know that she -does, and that he forgets all her advice as soon as he gets excited in -debate.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how is it that these people are mixed up with the Kubbet-ul-Haj -affair?” -</p> - -<p> -“They are great friends of the Haighs, of course, and besides, Cecil’s -brother is going out as the junior member of the Mission. He is a most -absurd boy—always going wild about something or other—and just now -he is deeply in love with Rosaline Hervey, the beautiful girl in the -picture hat who was with Mrs Egerton yesterday. She is to be there -to-night, and her sister, and old Mr and Mrs Anstruther, Mrs Egerton’s -parents, who are anxious to see what Sir Dugald is like before -confiding their boy to his care. Then there is Mr Stratford, a cousin -of Dr Egerton’s and second in command of the Mission.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I know Stratford. We met in Kashmir one year, when he was taking -his leave in India, and I saw him the other day at the Foreign Office. -He is a good sort of chap.” -</p> - -<p> -“You come next in rank, I suppose, and then there is the doctor.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ladies first, please—or what doctor do you mean?” -</p> - -<p> -“Dr Headlam, of course, the surgeon of the Mission.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I beg your pardon. I was afraid you meant Miss Keeling.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no,” said Mabel, but her face wore a peculiar smile as she -gathered her cloak around her preparatory to leaving the carriage. The -reason for her unusual taciturnity became evident to Dick a little -later, when he found that he was expected to take Miss Keeling in to -dinner. -</p> - -<p> -“You are old friends, I think,” said Mrs Egerton, pleasantly, and Dick -perceived by her tone that she imagined she had done him a kindness in -arranging her guests in this way. It was clear that she remembered the -old days, even if Miss Keeling had forgotten them. But no, doubtless -Mabel had given her the hint. -</p> - -<p> -If Dick had only known it, Georgia was in a much softer mood to-night, -for all day long her conscience had been pricking her for her share in -the conversation of the morning. She was indignant with herself for -the things she had said, and it did not render them more excusable in -her estimation that pique at Dick’s attitude towards her was not by -any means the sole motive that had actuated her in uttering them. What -in the world did it signify to her if the hero of the Khemistan -Frontier chose to make himself look absurd in clothes which the idlest -stay-at-home of a club-lounger could wear with far more pleasure to -the beholder and satisfaction to himself? If the poor man thought that -he looked well in them, why not leave him to enjoy his delusion, -instead of rudely shattering his dream, and letting him know that his -appearance, in the opinion of one person who knew him, verged on the -ridiculous? Miss Keeling felt uncomfortably conscious that, after all, -pique had had something to do with, at any rate, the terms of her -remonstrance. She had even been led into vying with her opponent in -cool rudeness, and for this she could not forgive herself. It was no -excuse for her that she found most men so easy to get on with, when -once they had laid aside the mock deference or the real antipathy with -which they were wont to greet the lady doctor on their first -introduction to her. She could not help knowing, for admiring female -friends kept her informed of the fact, that it was the mingled -graciousness and dignity of her manner which converted these -adversaries and scoffers into firm allies and champions, and yet she -had so far forgotten herself and her sense of what was becoming as to -chaff Major North on his appearance, just as any ordinary fast girl -might have done, and the fact humiliated her. A younger or less -experienced woman, feeling as she did, would have precipitated matters -by an apology, but Georgia was too wise to introduce any further -complication into her difficulties. There could be no advantage in -putting herself into North’s power in such a way, when it was -undeniable that he had invited a snubbing by his perplexing conduct -the day before. No, if he was to be won back to friendliness it must -be by letting bygones be bygones, and accepting the situation as it -presented itself. -</p> - -<p> -Dinner was considerably delayed, owing to the fact that the Miss -Herveys were late, and Georgia had some time in which to try her skill -upon Dick. Her task was more difficult than she had anticipated, for -he manifested an abiding resentment which irritated her as being quite -out of proportion to the circumstances which had called it forth, and -he answered her only in frigid monosyllables. Georgia talked on -bravely, resolved not to appear to notice his lack of responsiveness, -although she could not but feel slightly aggrieved by her failure to -soften him. When Sir Dugald Haigh crossed the room to speak to Dick, -and, with an apology to Georgia, carried him off to be introduced to -Lady Haigh, she heaved a little sigh. -</p> - -<p> -“He was such a nice boy!” she said to herself, “and I think he would -be nice now, if he would only let his better side show. I like his -face so much.” She glanced across the room at him, and marked -appreciatively the thin brown face, on which the fair moustache looked -almost white, the firm chin, the keen grey eyes, and the brow set in -the habitual frown produced by the constant watching of distant -objects under a burning sun. “He looks like a ‘man and a leader of -men,’” she went on slowly, “but why should he behave in this way? It -is so small, so petty, to keep up a grudge for so many years, and how -could I have done anything but refuse him? It would have been absurd -to do anything else, even if I had cared for him, and he was such a -boy. He must be at least two years older than I am, but I always felt -then that he was years younger. At any rate, he ought to be grateful -to me, instead of sulking like this.” -</p> - -<p> -At this moment a diversion was created by the entrance of the -beautiful Miss Hervey, a vision of loveliness in rose-coloured silk; -while behind her came her sister, a smaller, plainer, and, so to speak -more shadowy, edition of herself. Mabel gave Georgia a look which -implied that the young lady was by no means averse to making herself -the observed of all observers in this fashion, but if such was the -case, her triumph was short, for every one resented the delay which -had been caused by her non-appearance. The host marched up Dr Headlam -and presented him to Miss Hervey, to the intense disgust of Fitz -Anstruther, Mrs Egerton’s brother, who found himself put off with the -younger sister instead of the lady he adored, and a move was made into -the dining-room. -</p> - -<p> -Dick North’s temper seemed to have improved in some measure since his -conversation with Lady Haigh, and Georgia smiled inwardly over the -change, gathering that a few kind things said by his chief’s wife -would go far to soothe the ruffled susceptibilities of even so -sensitive an individual, but she was not long in discovering that he -had by no means forgiven herself. True, he was willing to talk, but -with great persistence and considerable skill he kept the conversation -directed to the ordinary trifles which form the staple subjects at -most London dinner-tables. He might never have been further from Pall -Mall than to Paris in his life, thought Georgia, with increasing -irritation, while he was favouring her with his views on the Eton and -Harrow match, and the iniquity of the vestries in taking up the -principal thoroughfares in the height of the season. To add to her -resentment, she saw, or believed she saw, that he was perfectly well -aware of her eagerness to hear about his life in India and Khemistan, -and that he was rejoicing in her unavailing disgust. Miss Hervey, his -left-hand neighbour, claimed his attention at last, and Georgia found -an attraction of greater power in the talk of Sir Dugald Haigh, a -small, neutral-tinted man, with grey hair, grey eyes, grey moustache, -and a greyish-brown skin, who was telling Mrs Egerton of various -changes which had taken place in Baghdad, whence he had lately -returned, since the days of her residence there. -</p> - -<p> -“I was not sorry to wash my hands of the place,” he said. “Very likely -I belong to an old, worn-out school, and my ways are too rough and -ready for the kid-glove methods of to-day. Our rule was always to ask -only for what we meant to have, but never to recede from a demand once -made. ‘Hold on like grim death,’ was our motto, and we followed it -out. The method had this advantage, that every one knew we meant what -we said. It’s a great thing not to be afraid of bringing on war if -it’s necessary, but you are too squeamish for that nowadays.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Sir Dugald,” said Mrs Egerton, laughing, “any one hearing you -would think you were a perfect firebrand, and ferociously -bloodthirsty, but I remember that when I was at Baghdad there was -nothing you dreaded so much as the slightest complication. I believe -you would have done anything, short of hauling down the flag, to avert -a disturbance.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t believe her, Miss Keeling,” said Sir Dugald. “Behind my back -she will be telling you that I am a regular Jingo.” -</p> - -<p> -“And besides,” said Mrs Egerton, “why you should talk as though you -were a failure, I don’t know. You are trying to make Miss Keeling -think that you have been ordered to Kubbet-ul-Haj as a punishment.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not quite,” said Sir Dugald, his eyebrows twitching a little. -</p> - -<p> -“No, indeed, when you know that you are looking forward confidently to -a K.C.B. or a peerage when you come home.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, Mrs Egerton, I must draw the line there. I confidently expect -nothing but to be disowned by the Government and denounced by the -papers. We are told by a high authority that the inhabitants of these -islands are mostly fools, as you know. That is my consolation.” -</p> - -<p> -“Sir Dugald considers all mankind fools, Georgie,” remarked Mrs -Egerton. “If they don’t agree with him, that stamps them at once, -naturally; and if they do adopt his views, he feels sure that they -must be fools to be so easily taken in.” -</p> - -<p> -“You would not have ventured to say that in my presence at Baghdad,” -said Sir Dugald, mournfully. “Miss Keeling, let me warn you in time. -Don’t be tempted to presume upon my forbearance by the liberties this -lady takes in her own house. I assure you that at Kubbet-ul-Haj you -will find me a terrible martinet.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Sir Dugald, you are going to Ethiopia, aren’t you?” asked a new -voice, that of the younger Miss Hervey, who had tired at length of her -vain attempts to propitiate her sister’s sulky and disappointed lover. -</p> - -<p> -“I believe so,” answered Sir Dugald, looking at his questioner in some -surprise. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes,” with a little gasp. “I thought I had heard Mr Anstruther say -so, but he doesn’t seem to know very much about it. Where is Ethiopia, -please?” -</p> - -<p> -“Opinions differ on that point,” returned Sir Dugald, not unconscious -of the listeners round the table, who were laughing inwardly at the -temerity of the girl who thought she could get the Chief to talk -“shop” to her. “Herodotus says it is in Africa, but Sir John -Mandeville declares that he heard of it in Asia. We are going to see -which is true.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh!” with a blank stare of surprise. “But why don’t you know?” -</p> - -<p> -“I was not aware that I had said I did not know. The information is -within the reach of any one possessed of an ordinary school atlas.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Sir Dugald, you say such funny things! But why are you going?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because I am sent,” returned Sir Dugald, shortly, for he wished to -return to his conversation with his hostess and Georgia. But the snub -failed of its effect. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes, of course. But what are you going to do there?” -</p> - -<p> -With a sigh Sir Dugald resigned himself to answer the demands of this -persistent young lady, and pushing his plate from him, arranged a plan -with dessert forks and spoons. -</p> - -<p> -“This space represents Ethiopia,” he said, “and this biscuit will show -you roughly the position of Kubbet-ul-Haj, the capital. The country -has been touched by European commerce only on its borders, but it -contains vast grain-producing districts and enormous mineral wealth, -which only needs being worked. Hence it offers a wide field for the -employment of capital, as well as a practically untouched market for -manufactured goods. For these reasons, and also on account of its -situation, the great European powers all take a friendly interest in -it, more especially Scythia and Neustria. Neustrian influence -approaches it very closely on one side, and the Scythian sphere on -another, but its eastern boundary is conterminous with our Khemistan -Frontier, about which Major North or Miss Keeling could tell you a -good deal more than I can. Unauthorised, or, at any rate, unrecognised -and semi-private expeditions from all three countries have tried to -reach Kubbet-ul-Haj, but have failed, and the King has always refused -to receive a diplomatic mission, the object of which would be, of -course, to conclude a commercial treaty. We have always contended that -we had the best right to open up Ethiopia to European trade, and of -course our being actually on the frontier gives us a start in the -race. But just lately we gained a new advantage, for Rustam Khan, the -King’s eldest son, who had been sent to put down a rising among the -tribes near our frontier, fell in with one of our surveying parties, -and took a great fancy to the officers. The errand on which he had -been sent was a kind of honourable banishment, for it seems that he -and the Grand Vizier are always at daggers drawn, and that the King -sympathises with the Vizier, but when he was summoned back to Court he -must have managed to gain his father’s ear again, for friendly -overtures were made by the King to the Khemistan authorities for the -settlement of some trifling boundary dispute. Unofficial journeys were -made to Kubbet-ul-Haj by two or three of our frontier officers, and -the last brought back word that the King would be willing to receive a -mission and to enter into an alliance. Negotiations have since taken -place, and preliminaries been arranged, and our business now is to -conclude the treaty embodying the various provisions which have -practically been agreed to on both sides—in the rough, of course. And -I really must apologise,” said Sir Dugald in conclusion, “for the way -in which I have been boring every one, but it is Miss Hervey’s -commendable desire for information that is to blame.” -</p> - -<p> -“I didn’t know that you were acquainted with the Khemistan Frontier,” -said Dick to Georgia, under cover of the buzz of conversation which -succeeded to the enforced silence. -</p> - -<p> -“Although my father lived and died there?” asked Georgia, with a -little resentment in her tone. -</p> - -<p> -“What a fool I am! To think that I should have forgotten, even for a -moment, that General Keeling was your father! Why, it was that which -originally drew me to the Warden of the Marches—I mean—er—” Dick -stumbled and hurried on—“well, I have worshipped him ever since I -first went out. He is our patron saint out there in Khemistan, you -know?” -</p> - -<p> -“I know,” said Georgia. “I found it so when I was there.” -</p> - -<p> -“But have you been in Khemistan? How is it that we never met?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was the year you were on leave, when you went round the world with -your uncle and Mabel. I visited Khemistan to see whether there was any -chance of my being able to complete my father’s work.” -</p> - -<p> -“How was that?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was his great desire that missionaries should come and settle -among the people, but the Government thought it would be dangerous, -and forbade them to establish themselves permanently on the frontier. -My father and I always hoped that when I went out to keep house for -him, I might be able to do something, just in the way of making a -beginning—but as you know, he died before I left school.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know that it was while I was still in India,” said Dick. “It was -reading the accounts of his life and work which first led me to make -interest to get myself transferred to the Khemistan Horse, so as to be -stationed on that frontier. But did you succeed in your mission?” -</p> - -<p> -“No; I travelled with a missionary and his wife who were itinerating -through the country, but though the people were friendly, especially -when they heard who I was, they did not care to listen to us, and the -Government were still so hostile to the establishment of a station, -that the society to which I had offered myself would not take up the -work. Then I came home and studied medicine, hoping that I might -eventually do something in that way. I believe that a Zenana Mission -has just been set on foot in Bab-us-Sahel, on the coast, so that -perhaps I shall be able to join it when we return from Ethiopia. I -only accepted the post that the Government offered me in the -expedition in the hope that some good might result from the journey.” -</p> - -<p> -“As regards Khemistan?” asked Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes. It was my father’s country, and it is mine.” -</p> - -<p> -“And so it is mine!” said Dick, involuntarily. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch03"> -CHAPTER III.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">FELLOW-TRAVELLERS.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -Dick went home that night in a highly unsettled state of mind. He was -cherishing a vague and unreasonable feeling of resentment against his -own absence from Khemistan during Georgia’s visit to the province. It -would have been very pleasant to come upon that missionary camp during -his own hurried expeditions from point to point in the unquiet -district for which he was responsible; pleasant also to watch Miss -Keeling in her dealings with the people, among whom her father’s name -was a synonym for all that was just and honourable. Perhaps, if he had -met her again at that time, before she had been spoilt by her medical -training, things might have fallen out differently for both of them. -He might even—— -</p> - -<p> -But this was a forbidden subject. What were such speculations to him? -Long ago Miss Keeling had refused plainly enough to have anything to -do with him, and now he had ceased to wish to have anything to do with -her. He was a fool to be thinking so much about her, he told himself -angrily. Desiring to divert his mind from such an unprofitable theme, -he turned to Mabel, and inquired whether she had noticed his capture -by Mrs Egerton’s stepmother. In the course of the evening, Mrs -Anstruther, a cheerful, sprightly Irish lady, had manœuvred him into -a corner, and then and there seized the opportunity of commending her -boy solemnly to his care, having already intrusted the same precious -charge to Lady Haigh and Georgia, Sir Dugald, Mr Stratford, and the -doctor. Knowing this, Dick had tried to comfort her with the assurance -that if a multiplicity of guardians could keep Fitz out of mischief, -his safety ought to be secured. -</p> - -<p> -“And that’s not all,” responded Mrs Anstruther, brightly, accepting -the consolation at once, and looking across the room to the opposite -corner, in which Miss Hervey’s fan was obviously shielding two faces, -“for the dear boy is very old for his age. Sure an attachment to a -good girl is one of the best safeguards a young man can have, and Fitz -has that.” -</p> - -<p> -As in duty bound, Dick applauded this sentiment, while venturing to -suggest a doubt as to the permanency of such early attachments, -especially in cases in which the lady’s age exceeded that of the -gentleman by some five years; but Mrs Anstruther was rendered -indignant by what she chose to consider as an implied aspersion on her -son’s character, and retorted hotly that she hadn’t a doubt Fitz would -come back from Kubbet-ul-Haj as deeply in love as ever, and she was -thankful Lady Haigh and Miss Keeling were going to accompany the -Mission. Women respected deep feelings of this kind, instead of -sneering or joking about them, like men. -</p> - -<p> -“And, of course you told her that your own experience had convinced -you of the truth of that?” asked Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not,” returned Dick, with dignity. “I merely said that I -thought it depended a good deal on the woman.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel laughed with great enjoyment. “Guess where Georgie and I are -going to-morrow morning?” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“To your dressmaker’s, or to some sale.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not a bit of it. We are going to a shooting-gallery, to try a little -revolver-practice. Now, don’t look disgusted, because you know you -would give anything to go with us. If you had behaved sensibly I would -take you, but you have been so horrid to Georgie that I shan’t.” -</p> - -<p> -“A nice sort of revolver Miss Keeling will get hold of, with no one to -help her choose it!” said Dick, evading the question. -</p> - -<p> -“She has got a beauty, which Sir Dugald chose for her, and Lady Haigh -has one exactly like it,” said Mabel, triumphantly. -</p> - -<p> -“But why doesn’t she wait to practise with it until we are at sea? It -gives one something to do on board ship.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I daresay she will go on practising then, but she means to get -over the first difficulties now. And besides, I want to see whether -it’s really true that you can’t fire without shutting your eyes at the -beginning. But, at any rate, I thought you and Mr Stratford were going -to travel by the overland route, so that you will lose a good bit of -the voyage?” -</p> - -<p> -“That is something to be thankful for, in any case. I should say that -the members of the Mission will not be exactly a happy family.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, if they aren’t, I shall know where to look for the disturbing -element. By the bye, I ought not to have told you yesterday that -Georgie would marry no one but the surgeon of some big hospital. I -heard her say to-day that she respected a man for himself, and not for -his profession, or something of that sort.” -</p> - -<p> -“Highly interesting, no doubt, and creditable to Miss Keeling’s -breadth of mind, but I don’t quite see what the information has to do -with me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nor do I at the present moment. It is merely one of those valuable -bits of knowledge which every one ought to treasure up, because they -are sure to come in useful some day. How do I know that some time or -other you will not thank me with tears in your eyes for just those few -words?” -</p> - -<p> -This was the last conversation that Mabel held with Dick on the -subject of Miss Keeling before his departure, for she was a discerning -young woman, and felt satisfied to leave to time the further growth -and development of the seeds she had sown. Moreover, there was little -further opportunity for initiating the elaborate preliminaries -necessary to lead up to the discussion of a subject on which Dick was -resolved not to enter; for the larger division of the Kubbet-ul-Haj -party, consisting of Sir Dugald and Lady Haigh, Georgia, Dr Headlam, -and Fitz Anstruther, left England in the course of the next week, -while only three days later Dick and Mr Stratford started on their -journey across Europe to the southern port at which they were to meet -the ship. -</p> - -<p> -As travelling companions the two suited one another admirably. They -had the wholesome respect for each other’s powers which a month of -successful big game shooting together in rough country is wont to -engender, and they differed sufficiently in character to give their -intercourse a spice of variety. Mr Stratford was a man after Sir -Dugald Haigh’s own heart. He had risen rapidly in the Diplomatic -Service, until, at the time when the idea of a Mission to Ethiopia was -first mooted, he held a responsible position in the British Embassy at -Czarigrad. It showed the importance attached to this Mission by the -Government, that a man of his standing had been appointed to accompany -it, but Sir Dugald, who had made his acquaintance in the East, had -requested that he should be chosen. He was an excellent linguist, with -all his chief’s powers of diplomacy, but with far more talent for -society than Sir Dugald possessed, and with a capacity for -self-effacement which seemed to Dick sometimes to amount almost to a -double personality. His wild, open-air life among a wild people had -not tended to teach Dick to conceal his thoughts, but he had succeeded -well enough among his unruly frontiersmen, who felt greater respect -for the long arm which could deal a distant and unexpected blow than -for a tongue distilling all the wisdom of the ages. -</p> - -<p> -It was when he was brought into contact with the more sophisticated -townsmen, or with the weaker and craftier races of India, that Dick -felt himself at a loss; and he observed, with vain intentions of -emulating it, the way in which his friend would apparently give -himself up altogether to the trivial business or wearisome pleasure of -the hour without once forgetting the object he had in view. That he -had never lost sight of his aim was proved by his sudden descent, just -at the right moment, upon his opponents, who thought they had thrown -him off his guard, but found that they were altogether mistaken. By -his superiors at the Foreign Office, Mr Stratford was regarded as a -thoroughly dependable man who was always to be trusted to tackle any -particularly nasty piece of business, while by his contemporaries and -subordinates he was abhorred as a fellow who seldom took his leave -unless he saw the chance of employing it in some sort of work likely -to bear upon his official duties, and whose proceedings disposed the -authorities to expect far too much from other people. He was bound to -be ambassador some day, they supposed, but he might allow those who -did not aim so high to have the chance of a quiet life. -</p> - -<p> -Dick was among the few men who knew the story that lay in the -background of Mr Stratford’s life. On one occasion, when they were -hunting together in Kashmir, Stratford was severely wounded by a bear, -and Dick, while bandaging his friend’s left arm, discovered that under -the signet he wore on his little finger, and almost concealed by it, -was a wedding-ring. He learnt the story which attached to it somewhat -later. Years ago, Mr Stratford had been engaged to the daughter of one -of the foreign representatives at Eusebia, where he held a post in the -British Legation, and all things seemed to combine to promise him -happiness. But only three days before the time appointed for the -wedding, the bride fell ill, and there was terror and panic in the -city when the news crept about that her malady was the plague. She -died on the day on which she was to have been married, and this was -the end of Mr Stratford’s dream of bliss, of which there remained now -only the unused wedding-ring. Dick could still recall the even voice -in which he had told his tale as the two men sat by their camp-fire -with the darkness of the forest around them. He heard only the bare -facts, and he felt that these were merely told him to account for the -presence of the ring. They were related without a sign of emotion, -without a single expression of regret or of self-pity; but the story -unveiled to Dick the tragedy which was hidden behind his friend’s -prosperous life. Neither of them had ever referred again to that -night’s confidences; but Dick felt grateful that the mask had once -been lifted for his benefit. Henceforward, no one could allude to -Stratford in his presence as a fellow without a heart, or hint that he -was a diplomatist rather than a man, without his taking up the cudgels -hotly for the absent one. -</p> - -<p> -The journey across Europe was performed without delay or other mishap, -and, after a few hours’ waiting at the port Stratford and Dick were -able to board their vessel. The first member of their own party that -they met was the doctor, who gave them a hearty welcome, and proceeded -to pour his own woes into their sympathetic ears. The ship had met -with fearful weather in the Bay, and, if he had known what a time was -before him, he would have gone overland with them. -</p> - -<p> -“But you must have found it all right since you passed the Rock?” said -Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes, it has been endurable. The Chief and I have been cramming -Ethiopian with the interpreter, Kustendjian—a very clever fellow. We -shall have the start of you there. We shall be swimming along gaily in -the reading-book while you two are floundering through your alphabet. -To hear that Armenian chap deferentially commending Sir Dugald for his -progress is a joke! He’s a thorough courtier, and wouldn’t let your -humble servant get ahead of the Chief on any account.” -</p> - -<p> -“It shows Sir Dugald’s pluck that he has begun a new language at all -at his age,” said Stratford. “Most men would have left everything to -Kustendjian, and thrown the blame on him if things went wrong.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, we all know that you will back up the Chief on every possible -occasion,” said the doctor, irreverently. “He ought to be thankful -that he has such a faithful trumpeter at hand to act as his understudy -in case of need. But you mark my words, if ever I have to put the -Chief on the sick-list, North and I will give you a jolly time!” -</p> - -<p> -“Regularly beastly!” agreed Dick. “But you seem to have been badly off -for occupation if you took to studying Ethiopian. Was there absolutely -nothing to do?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not much, except to watch the love affair.” -</p> - -<p> -“What love affair?” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s the greatest joke in the world! You remember that young idiot -Anstruther, how he carried on with Miss Hervey at the Egertons’ -dinner-party? Well, he saw fit to be thrown out of his berth in the -gale that caught us in the Bay—got his wrist sprained and his thumb -crushed, or something of the sort. The surgeon on board here and I -were at our wits’ end with all the ladies who knew they were dying and -insisted on the doctor’s attending them at once, besides the other -knocks and injuries that really needed looking after, so we were -thankful when Miss Keeling volunteered her aid. She wasn’t ill, while -it was as much as I could do to stagger feebly about, holding on to -things, and we thought it would be an excellent thing to hand the -ladies over to her care—just temporarily, of course. But the ladies, -to a woman, refused to have anything to do with her, except Lady -Haigh, who wasn’t ill, and we were actually obliged to give her the -surgical work, for the men who had got knocked about were too anxious -to be looked after to care who did it. You needn’t put on that -face”—catching sight of Dick’s look of disgust—“she did it as well -as I could have done it myself. But we hadn’t bargained for the effect -of her ministrations on the susceptible heart of young Anstruther. He -was winged at the first shot, and the next day’s dressing of his hand -finished him. Since he has been able to crawl on deck, he has done -nothing but follow Miss Keeling about, and when she sits down he sits -down too, and looks at her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Young fool,” laughed Stratford. “How lively for Miss Keeling! But -what about the other girl?” -</p> - -<p> -“Miss Hervey? Oh, I taxed him with her one day, and he had his answer -all ready. He compared himself to Romeo, and one or two other old -Johnnies of that sort, and felt that he had quite justified his -conduct.” -</p> - -<p> -A shout of laughter followed, in which Dick joined, notwithstanding -his disgust. It was not quite clear, even to himself, why he should -object so strongly to young Anstruther’s behaviour, but he recognised -that he resented it very vigorously. Georgia was nothing to him, of -course; but—well, a man who had gone through it all before was sorry -to see another young beggar making an ass of himself. He did not know -whether to be more angry with the youth for his foolishness, or with -Miss Keeling for tolerating it. She did not welcome her youthful -adorer’s attentions—he was obliged to confess this when he saw her -treatment of him; but why should she allow them to continue when a -word to Sir Dugald would have rid her of them? And the boy was really -painfully absurd, whether he was taking immediate possession of any -empty chair within a radius of a dozen yards from Miss Keeling, or -scowling at those who did not give him a chance of getting nearer. -Georgia was a favourite on board—there was no denying it. The younger -men, with the conspicuous exception of Fitz, looked askance at her, -certainly, and avoided her neighbourhood, muttering something about -the New Woman; but the elders declared her unanimously to be the most -sensible girl on board. “A woman who knows any amount, and never -parades it, but is always ready to learn from other people, and -doesn’t want to talk dress or scandal, is refreshing to meet,” they -said, not troubling themselves to remember that they would have fought -their hardest to repress in their own daughters any approach to -Georgia’s particular tastes. -</p> - -<p> -To his own sore discomfort of mind, Dick surprised the same -inconsistency in himself. It was one of his favourite theories that -women who aped men (the term was a comprehensive one, and covered a -good many things, from studying art to riding a bicycle), lost by such -a course of action any right to help or special courtesy from men. And -yet he found himself watching jealously for any chance of moving Miss -Keeling’s deck-chair for her, or fetching her a book from the library, -without even waiting to be asked. It gave him a curious feeling of -gratification to catch the look of pleased surprise on her face, and -to receive words of thanks from her lips—to know, in short, that he -had made her indebted to him, and that she liked it. Moreover, in -spite of his former unhappy experience, he seized every opportunity of -conversation with her, and engaged her in endless arguments on the -Woman Question—a species of mental activity which Georgia hated at -all times, and which was particularly distasteful to her in this case, -since only the very surface of the subject could of necessity be -touched. -</p> - -<p> -“It is really too bad of Major North to go on teasing Miss Keeling in -this way,” said Lady Haigh to Mr Stratford one evening; “and if he -only knew it, it is so silly of him, too. Georgia has had plenty of -practice in arguments of this kind, for every man she meets begins his -acquaintance with her by trying to convert her. She has her most -telling pieces of evidence all marshalled ready for use, while Major -North has nothing but a few prejudices to support him. The other men -all give it up, sooner or later, and decide to accept things as they -are, and be thankful, and why doesn’t he?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m sure I don’t know,” said Stratford. “Perhaps his obstinacy is -stronger than theirs, or he thinks he has a right to carry matters -further—as a family friend of Miss Keeling’s.” -</p> - -<p> -“As if that would have any influence over her!” said Lady Haigh, -scornfully. “Now, I ask you, is it likely that after going through her -training as creditably as she has done, she would ever allow herself -to be convinced that it had been impossible or improper for her to -study medicine? And if she was convinced, do you think any woman -worthy of the name would ever allow him to see it?” -</p> - -<p> -“I should think it extremely improbable. But according to North -himself, his intention is purely philanthropic. He told me yesterday -that he considered it only charity to talk to Miss Keeling as often as -he possibly could, in order to protect her from that terrible -youngster.” -</p> - -<p> -Lady Haigh went off into a fit of subdued laughter, which would have -astonished and wounded Dick if he had known its cause, for he believed -honestly in the explanation of his conduct which he had offered, quite -unasked, to Stratford. If it did give him a thrill of pleasure when -Miss Keeling’s dark eyes were raised to his face, in inquiry or in -indignant protest, or even in mirthful contradiction, it was merely -because his chivalry was receiving an incidental and wholly -unlooked-for reward. He was only doing his duty in protecting a lady -of his acquaintance against a youth who had shown himself disposed to -take an undue advantage either of her kindness or her thoughtlessness. -It did not strike him that Miss Keeling might be quite able to take -care of herself under the circumstances, much less that she might -prefer to do so; but Fitz Anstruther was made aware of the fact before -the voyage concluded. -</p> - -<p> -“At last!” he exclaimed, one evening, with a sigh of satisfaction, as -he annexed the chair which Dick had just vacated. “I do believe that -conceited beast North thinks you like to hear him everlastingly -prosing away, Miss Keeling.” -</p> - -<p> -“People are often blind to one’s real feelings in their presence,” -said Georgia; but the double meaning went unperceived. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; but he might have had a little pity for me,” said Fitz, -complacently, for he had an artless habit of exhibiting to the public -gaze any sentiments, such as most people prefer to keep concealed in -their own bosoms, that he considered did him credit. “Every one on -board must know by this time that I am awfully gone on you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mr Anstruther!” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I mean, of course, that I have admired you awfully ever since I -first knew you. A fellow expects a little consideration to be shown -him when he is in l—I mean—don’t you know?” -</p> - -<p> -“How long have you known me, by the bye?” inquired Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, all this voyage. It’s been abominably long, don’t you think? But -I don’t mean that, you know; it’s been jolly.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; it is really a long time,” pursued Georgia, meditatively. “It is -all but a fortnight, isn’t it?” -</p> - -<p> -“A fortnight is as long as a year sometimes,” said Fitz. “I mean, as -good,” he added, hurriedly. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; only a fortnight ago you were saying all this to Miss Hervey,” -was the unexpected response. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I say now, Miss Keeling, that’s a bit hard on a man,” cried Fitz, -much wounded. -</p> - -<p> -“A <i>man</i>?” said Georgia, inquiringly; and the youth writhed. -</p> - -<p> -“Of course I was awfully gone on Miss Hervey before we started,” he -said, sulkily; “but it was only because she was so pretty, and she -doesn’t care for me a scrap. She told me so lots of times.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is that intended as an excuse for the way in which you have been -behaving lately?” asked Georgia; “because I don’t quite see the -connection. Allow me to tell you, Mr Anstruther, that you have been -doing your best to make both yourself and me supremely ridiculous. I -can’t interfere with you if your ambition is to make every one laugh -at you, though I may regret it for you own sake; but I object very -strongly to your trying to render me absurd.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mayn’t a—a fellow change his mind?” Fitz wished to know, in an -injured tone. “If I am in love I’m not ashamed of it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I hoped that your own good feeling would have led you to see by this -time how foolish you have been,” said Georgia, coldly. “I could have -freed myself in a moment from the annoyance you have caused me by a -word to Sir Dugald”—Fitz’s face fell suddenly—“but I was sorry to -lower his opinion of you at the very beginning of your work with him. -Your sister is a great friend of mine, and I hoped you might be -sufficiently like her not to resent advice which was offered for your -good.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m awfully obliged to you for not complaining to Sir Dugald about -me,” returned the culprit, with some reluctance. “I didn’t mean to -behave like a cad to you, Miss Keeling, nor to make you look -ridiculous. I’ll try not to bother you any more, if you really don’t -like it. Only mayn’t I speak to you sometimes? It will be rather dull -if I am not to say a word all the way to Kubbet-ul-Haj.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am quite serious,” said Georgia, rather sharply. -</p> - -<p> -“So am I, Miss Keeling, I do assure you—tremendously serious. It is a -serious thing when a fellow finds himself brought up in mid-career in -this way. I only want to have my orders given me. I like to be -definite. We may be friends still, I hope?” -</p> - -<p> -“I see that I need not have taken so much trouble to spare your -feelings,” said Georgia. “If I had ever imagined, Mr Anstruther, that -your conduct sprang simply from a desire to make me a laughing-stock -on board, I should not have felt inclined to waste any consideration -on you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Miss Keeling, you are making a mistake—on my word and honour you -are!” cried the youth, earnestly. “What a beast you must think me! I -know I am bad enough; but it’s not quite that. I do admire you -tremendously, and so I did Miss Hervey. It’s a way I have. I don’t -mean any harm; but I do delight in being rotted about it by other -chaps. They are all so dreadfully afraid of being suspected to be the -least bit in love, that it’s a great temptation to show them how well -one can go through with it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then try to conquer the temptation,” said Georgia, promptly, although -she found her fan useful to conceal a smile. “You are far too young to -think of being in love yet. What you call love is merely a momentary -enthusiasm. Why not wax enthusiastic over some cause, for a change, or -even some man—Sir Dugald, for instance?” -</p> - -<p> -“I did think a lot about him at first, but he snubbed me in such a -horribly cold-blooded way,” was the reply. -</p> - -<p> -“Take my advice, and think all the more of him for that. You will be -thankful for it yet. And perhaps you may be thankful some day for what -I have said to you to-night. My lecture was not received quite in the -spirit I had anticipated, but I think you must see that the form which -your enthusiasms took was not calculated to do any good to any one, -and might have done harm. Happily Miss Hervey and I are both a good -many years older than you are, but a young girl might have thought you -were sincere, and have suffered terribly when she was undeceived.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is so hard to be always thinking of what might be the consequences -of everything!” lamented Fitz. -</p> - -<p> -“It would be harder to have to take the consequences after refusing to -think of them. You will marry some day, I hope, and would you feel you -were acting fairly towards your wife if you had frittered away -beforehand all the affection and devotion which were her right? Keep -yourself for her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks awfully, Miss Keeling, for saying that. No one ever spoke to -me in this way before. You will let me be friends with you, won’t you? -I should like you to advise me always.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can promise you more advice than you will ever think is needed. In -a few years,” said Georgia, with some bitterness, “you will hate the -very sight of me, because of what I have said to you to-night.” -</p> - -<p> -“If I was ever such a beastly cad, I hope I should be punished as I -deserved!” said Fitz, fervently. -</p> - -<p> -“It is only the way of the world—of men, at any rate,” returned -Georgia, as lightly as she could; but when she was alone a little -later, her mind recurred to the subject, and found no mirth in it. -</p> - -<p> -“It is Major North’s way too,” she said to herself. “How he would have -sneered if he had heard me to-night! I might be that boy’s -grandmother, from the way he accepts my scoldings.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch04"> -CHAPTER IV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">AGAINST HIS WILL.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -“I beg your pardon for disturbing you, but I think you must belong to -the British Mission to Ethiopia?” -</p> - -<p> -The speaker was a hot and dusty lady, mounted on a sorry pony, who had -halted in front of the hotel at Bab-us-Sahel, the port of Khemistan, -in which Sir Dugald Haigh’s party were quartered. Dick North, who had -been reclining in a cane chair on the verandah, with a cigar and a -wonderfully printed local paper, jumped up when he heard the voice. -</p> - -<p> -“I am a member of the Mission,” he answered. “Can I do anything for -you? I am sorry that Sir Dugald Haigh is out, but perhaps you would -prefer to wait for him? Won’t you come in out of the sun?” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks,” said the lady, dismounting nimbly before he could reach her, -and giving the bridle to a youthful native groom who had accompanied -her, “but I need not trouble Sir Dugald Haigh. Please tell me whether -it is true that there is a lady doctor in your party?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes. Miss Keeling is her name.” -</p> - -<p> -The lady uttered an exclamation of delight. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that is just splendid! I must see her at once, please. My name is -Guest; she will remember me if you tell her that Nurse Laura is here. -I was a probationer at the Women’s Hospital when she was house-surgeon -there, and we knew each other well. Please ask her to see me at once: -it is a matter of life and death.” -</p> - -<p> -Drawing forward a chair for the lady, Dick departed on his errand, and -returned presently with Georgia, who had been resting in her room -after a long ride in the morning. Miss Guest jumped up to meet her. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Miss Keeling, it is such a relief to find you here! I want you to -come with me at once, to see a poor woman who is most dangerously ill. -I will tell you about it while you get your things together. There is -not a moment to lose.” -</p> - -<p> -The two ladies vanished round the corner of the verandah, and returned -in a few minutes, Georgia wearing her riding-habit and carrying a -professional-looking black bag. -</p> - -<p> -“Would you be so kind as to tell them to put my saddle on a fresh -horse for me, Major North?” she said, briskly. “I am afraid we are -losing time.” -</p> - -<p> -“What is it you are proposing to do?” asked Dick, after calling one of -the native servants and giving him the order. -</p> - -<p> -“Miss Keeling is going to ride out with me to our summer station,” -explained Miss Guest, volubly. “Missionaries are not permitted to -reside in Khemistan except in Bab-us-Sahel itself, you know, but the -Government allows us to rent a small house in a village five miles off -for the hot weather. This poor young woman is the wife of one of our -native converts there, the son of the principal landowner.” -</p> - -<p> -“But do you mean that Miss Keeling is to ride five miles in this heat, -when she is tired already?” demanded Dick. “It is preposterous!” -</p> - -<p> -“I should not think of asking her to do it if it was not so -important,” said Miss Guest. “You see, I have ridden all the way in, -and I am going out again with her.” -</p> - -<p> -“You will be down with sunstroke to-morrow,” said Dick to Georgia. -“Wait until it is a little cooler, and I will hunt up some sort of -cart and drive you out.” -</p> - -<p> -“We can’t afford the time,” said Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“No, indeed,” said Miss Guest; “I scarcely dared to come away myself. -Happily, I was able to leave dear Miss Jenkins with the poor woman. -She has such wonderful nerve! I believe she would have attempted the -operation herself if only we had had the proper appliances.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is a very good thing you had not,” murmured Georgia, grimly. -</p> - -<p> -Dick glanced at her, hoping that she was giving way. -</p> - -<p> -“Headlam will be back in another half-hour,” he said. “He has had -plenty of experience, and he will be delighted to go out and see the -woman.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but you don’t know Khemistan,” said Miss Guest, quickly. “Surely -you must have forgotten that a gentleman would never be admitted into -the women’s apartments.” -</p> - -<p> -“I thought you said the people were Christians?” said Dick, taken -aback. -</p> - -<p> -“The husband is, but the wife has not been baptised, and is still in -her father-in-law’s house. They are most bigoted people, and regard -this as a kind of test case. Every one has been dinning into the poor -young man’s ears that his wife’s illness is a judgment upon him for -becoming a Christian, and his faith is beginning to waver. ‘What can -these Christians and their Christ do for you?’ they ask him. He is -terribly tried, and though Miss Jenkins and I have done everything we -could think of for the poor girl, it was no good. Then we heard of the -arrival of the Mission, and it suddenly flashed into my mind that I -had seen something in a paper from home about a lady doctor who was to -accompany it, and I rode over here at once, and found Miss Keeling, of -all people. It was a real answer to prayer,” and Miss Guest’s voice -faltered, and the tears rose in her eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, when are they going to bring that horse?” said Georgia, -impatiently. -</p> - -<p> -“I hear it coming now,” said Dick. “But let me drive you over, Miss -Keeling; it won’t be so fatiguing for you, and I am sure I can borrow -a cart from some one very soon.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t lose another minute,” said Georgia. “No, thank you, Major -North, we must not wait.” -</p> - -<p> -“But just tell me when you are likely to be ready, that we may send a -carriage to fetch you.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t tell. These cases vary so much. I shall probably be obliged -to remain at the village all night.” -</p> - -<p> -“But this is absurd! You are throwing away your health. What does this -woman signify to you?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is my professional duty to attend any one who summons me,” said -Georgia, giving him an indignant glance; “even if there were no -special reasons connected with this case.” -</p> - -<div class="fig"> -<a href="images/img_02.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_02_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“It is my professional duty to attend any one who summons me,” said -Georgia, giving him an indignant glance. -</div></div> - -<p> -“Well, if you will do these ridiculous things, I can’t help it!” said -Dick, angrily. “I suppose you will have your own way.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think it extremely probable that I shall,” retorted Georgia. “No, -thank you, I won’t trouble you—I can mount alone.” -</p> - -<p> -With an intensity that would have seemed laughable to himself under -any other circumstances, Dick longed that she might find the feat -impracticable; but she beckoned to the groom to bring the horse to the -verandah steps, and, mounting with great agility, rode away with Miss -Guest, who had been staring with round eyes at the “horrid sneering -officer,” as, after this day’s experience, she persisted in -denominating Dick. -</p> - -<p> -As for Dick himself, he shrugged his shoulders as he looked after the -two ladies, and went away to Stratford’s room to relieve his mind. -Stratford, who was lying on his bed reading, looked up in surprise as -he entered. -</p> - -<p> -“I thought I had left you comfortably established on the verandah?” he -remarked. -</p> - -<p> -“I was driven away by an invasion of the Amazons,” said Dick, -gloomily, taking a seat on the table, where he smoked in silence for a -few minutes. “If there is one kind of creature I bar and detest above -all others”—he burst out suddenly—“it’s the New Woman!” -</p> - -<p> -“Have you met one?” inquired Stratford, with deep interest. “I always -thought it was a case of ‘much oftener prated of than seen?’” -</p> - -<p> -“There’s no need to go about looking for specimens,” returned Dick. -“We’ve got one with us, worse luck!” -</p> - -<p> -“You have been getting the worst of it in an argument again, haven’t -you?” asked Stratford, genially. -</p> - -<p> -“What in the world has that to do with it? I don’t want any of your -chaff. It ought to be made penal for any woman to enter any trade or -profession practised by men.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good gracious! would you add the attraction of forbidden fruit? -Still, I don’t say that your plan isn’t worth considering. The penalty -would be death, I suppose, and it might redress the inequality of the -sexes a little.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, hang it all, Stratford!” cried Dick, flinging away his cigar, -“I’m serious. It makes me perfectly sick to see these women parading -their independence of men, and glorying in what they know, and ought -never to have learnt. It’s bad enough when they are strangers, and you -don’t care a scrap about them, but when it comes to a girl you’ve -known——” -</p> - -<p> -“Better not go on, old man,” said Stratford. “You may say more than -you mean, and be sorry for it when you are cooler.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t help it. I know I’m safe with you. Now I put it to you: can a -man be cool when he sees a girl he knew years ago—his sister’s -friend—turning into one of these unsexed women, of whom the less that -is said the better? One would rather see her in her grave!” -</p> - -<p> -“You are a little out of sorts,” said Stratford, with imperturbable -calmness, “and you are making mountains out of molehills. I won’t -pretend not to know what you are driving at, but I do say that I think -you are using most unwarrantable language—— Hullo! who’s there? Come -in.” -</p> - -<p> -This was in answer to a knock at the door, which opened immediately, -and admitted Fitz Anstruther. The young fellow’s hands were clenched -and his face flushed, and it was apparent to the two men that he was -hard put to it to restrain an outburst of furious passion. -</p> - -<p> -“I wasn’t listening,” he said, hastily, “but I couldn’t help hearing -what you were saying. These beastly rooms——” He broke off suddenly, -and his hearers, perceiving that the side walls only reached within -some six feet of the roof, realised that their conversation must have -been audible to any of their neighbours on either side who chanced to -be in their rooms. “But that’s neither here nor there,” he went on. “I -heard you blackguarding Miss Keeling’s name in the most shameful way, -and I am not going to listen to it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I was not aware that we had mentioned the name of any lady,” said -Stratford. Fitz was taken aback for a moment, but recovered himself -speedily. -</p> - -<p> -“It wasn’t you, it was Major North,” he said, glaring at Dick. “He -mentioned no names, but if he can assure me he wasn’t speaking of Miss -Keeling, I’ll apologise at once. You see? I knew he could not do it. -Now look here, Major North—you are my superior, and I know you can -ruin me if you like, but I won’t hear Miss Keeling spoken of in that -way.” -</p> - -<p> -“Your hearing what you did was quite your own affair,” said Dick, -coolly. He had an enormous advantage over Fitz, for the sudden attack -had restored him to his usual calmness, but the boy did not flinch. -</p> - -<p> -“I know, but I can’t help that. You may be sure I wouldn’t have -listened to it of my own accord, but when you talked as you did, it -naturally forced itself on my hearing, and a nice hearing it was! Miss -Keeling has no one here to look after her, and if you are cad enough -to take advantage of that, I’ll do what I can. If you dare to say that -she isn’t every bit as good and as gentle as your own sister, I tell -you to your face you’re a liar.” -</p> - -<p> -“Anstruther!” cried Stratford, sitting up suddenly, “do you know what -you are saying? For your own sake and the lady’s be quiet.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t help it,” repeated Fitz. “Miss Keeling has been awfully kind -to me, and I’m not going to hear her insulted. You can do what you -like, Major North. If you want to fight, I’m ready.” -</p> - -<p> -“Young idiot! who wants to fight you?” growled Dick, lounging to the -door with his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t know you were going to -hold a levée, Stratford. I think I’ll leave you to train the young -idea for a little.” -</p> - -<p> -“You haven’t answered me,” said Fitz, doggedly, barring his passage; -but Stratford interposed again. -</p> - -<p> -“Have the goodness to sit down on that chair, young Anstruther. I want -a straight talk with you.” The boy obeyed sullenly, and Stratford went -on. “As you are in my department, I suppose it falls to me to ask you, -now that North is gone, whether you think you have done a very fine -thing?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think about it at all,” was the uncompromising response, “but -I know I should have been a cad not to have done it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Let us just consider what it is you have done,” said Stratford. “You -hear North and myself engaged in private conversation, and you thrust -yourself into it uninvited.” -</p> - -<p> -“If it had been private I shouldn’t have heard it,” retorted Fitz. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it was intended to be private, at any rate. Couldn’t you have -gone away, or have let us know that you were listening?” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s what I would have done, certainly, if it hadn’t been for what -North said. I couldn’t stand that.” -</p> - -<p> -“No? and you felt bound to come in and tell us so. Now, Anstruther, I -am going to speak to you as a friend. When you are a little older, you -will know that men of the world—gentlemen—are not in the habit of -bringing the names of ladies into a discussion. If they differ in -opinion on some subject of this kind, they contrive to quarrel -ostensibly about something else.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you would have me let Major North say the vile things he was -doing about Miss Keeling for all the hotel to hear, and yet pretend to -take no notice?” -</p> - -<p> -“Allow me to remind you that North mentioned no names. Any listener -could only at best have made a guess at the identity of the lady in -question, until you came in and published her name.” -</p> - -<p> -Fitz’s face was turning a dull red, and he said nothing. Stratford saw -his advantage, and followed it up. -</p> - -<p> -“You ought to be very thankful that there are so few people about just -at this time. If the place had been full, you might have done terrible -harm. It would have been quite possible to remonstrate with North on -general grounds, if you felt called upon to do it, without mentioning -any names or calling anybody a liar, but to march in and identify a -particular lady as the one of whom these things had been said, was -unpardonable. So was the way in which you did it. Of course, I don’t -know what your ideas as to duty and discipline may be, but it does not -seem to me your business to reprove North at all.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wouldn’t have done it, except in this case,” said Fitz, eagerly. “I -know he has led a rough life, and I can put up with a good deal from -him, but when it comes to behaving like a cad to a lady, I had to -speak.” -</p> - -<p> -“And who gave you the right to make excuses for your superiors, or to -bring accusations against them?” demanded Stratford, in a tone which -made the youthful censor shake in his shoes. “I think you have -forgotten the position North holds, and the way in which he gained it. -Any man in Khemistan would laugh at you if you told him that Dick -North had been rude to a lady. He is one of the most chivalrous -fellows that ever breathed. You may not know that when Fort -Rahmat-Ullah was relieved, and the non-combatants conducted back into -safety, North gave up his horse to a Eurasian clerk’s wife who had a -sick child, and walked all the way himself.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t make it out,” said Fitz, hopelessly. -</p> - -<p> -“You see that it doesn’t do to judge a man merely on the strength of a -momentary impression, then? Well, I will tell you in confidence what -really happened this afternoon. It was this very chivalry of North’s -which got him into trouble. You know that the lady of whom mention has -unfortunately been made is very independent, and I gather that she -persisted in refusing all North’s offers of help in some business or -other. That hurt his feelings, and he came to my room to have his -growl in peace, with the result you know. I don’t say he was right, -but I do say you were wrong.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m awfully sorry,” said Fitz. “I will apologise, Mr Stratford, if -you say I ought.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think it is advisable to make more of the matter. I will -undertake to convey your sentiments to North, if you like.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you; and perhaps I had better apologise to Miss Keeling too?” -</p> - -<p> -“No!” Stratford almost shouted. “How old do you consider yourself, -Anstruther? Twenty? I shouldn’t have thought it. Your ideas are what -one might expect of a boy fresh from a dame’s school. You must learn -never under any circumstances to trouble a lady about any affair of -the kind. I really did not expect to have to undertake infant tuition -when I started on this journey. If you have made a fool of yourself, -don’t go and make things worse by worrying Miss Keeling.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m awfully sorry,” murmured Fitz again. “Thank you for what you have -been telling me, Mr Stratford. I wish I hadn’t said what I did to -Major North, and yet I know I should do it again if I heard him -talking like that, and I feel I ought to do it too.” -</p> - -<p> -“Your ideas are mixed,” said Stratford. “You had better go away and -think things out a little by yourself,” and Fitz departed obediently. -</p> - -<p> -Georgia did not return to the hotel again that evening. Dick, appealed -to by Lady Haigh as the member of the party who had last seen her, -said that he believed she had gone out into the country with some lady -missionary or other, and might not be back until the next day. The -news drew from Sir Dugald a mild lamentation to the effect that he -really thought they had done with missionaries when they left Baghdad, -a remark for which he received a reproof from Lady Haigh afterwards in -private. -</p> - -<p> -“I wish you would not say that kind of thing before these new young -men, Dugald. They don’t know how kind you were to the missionaries at -Baghdad, and they may think you mean it,” a charge to which Sir Dugald -offered no defence. It was by means of rebukes of this kind that Lady -Haigh kept up the fiction dear to her soul that she ruled her husband -with a rod of iron, and guided him gently into the paths it was well -for him to take; whereas those who watched the pair were of opinion -that Sir Dugald’s was emphatically the ruling spirit, and that his -mastery in his own household was so complete that he could afford to -allow his wife to think otherwise without making any protest. -</p> - -<p> -In spite of Dick’s careless and positive words to Lady Haigh, it might -have been observed that he lingered on the hotel verandah later than -any one else that night, and that he appeared there again at a most -unearthly hour in the morning, wearing the haggard and strained aspect -characteristic of a man who has slept only by fits and starts, owing -to the fear of oversleeping himself. One who did not know the -circumstances of the case might have said he was there watching for -some one, but that would have been manifestly absurd. Whatever might -be the cause of his unusual wakefulness, he was occupying his place of -the day before when the creaking and groaning of wheels, gradually -coming nearer, announced an arrival. A few minutes later, as Georgia, -tired and exhausted, descended from the missionaries’ bullock-cart, -which was wont to convey Miss Jenkins and Miss Guest, in company with -a miniature harmonium, a stock of vernacular gospels, and occasionally -a native Bible-woman, on their itinerating tours among the villages -around, she discovered him waiting to receive her. She was so tired -that she had dozed unconsciously in the bullock-cart, in spite of the -rough music of the wheels and of the appalling jolts; and now, -awakened suddenly by the cessation of both sound and motion, she stood -shivering and blinking in the grey twilight, a sadly unimpressive -figure. Dick mercifully forbore to look at her as he took the bag from -her hand and helped her up the steps, then settled her in his chair -and shouted to the servants to hurry with the doctor lady’s coffee. -Georgia tried to protest feebly, but he was adamant. -</p> - -<p> -“You must have something to eat before you go to bed, or we shall have -you down with fever this evening. You will allow me to know something -of the climate of Khemistan, I hope, though I am not a ‘professional’ -man.” -</p> - -<p> -There was an unconscious emphasis on the adjective, which showed -Georgia that coals of fire were being heaped upon her head in return -for her words of the day before. But she did not respond to the -challenge, for she was too much exhausted for a war of words; and, -moreover, the coffee was very acceptable, even though it was Major -North to whom she owed it. When the sleepy and unwilling servants had -made and brought the coffee, however, she paused before tasting it. -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t argue with you now, Major North, but I just want to say this. -It was worth while going through all the training, and some of it was -bad enough at the time, simply for the sake of this night’s work. If I -never attended another case, I should be glad I was a doctor, if only -to remember the happiness of those poor Christians in that village.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wasn’t aware that I had attempted to argue,” said Dick, who was -busily cutting what he imagined was thin bread and butter. “There, eat -that, Miss Keeling. The woman didn’t die, then?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I hope she will do well. The people, heathen and Christians -alike, took it as a miracle. If it helps Miss Guest and Miss Jenkins -in their work, I shall be so thankful.” -</p> - -<p> -“Time enough to consider that afterwards,” said Dick, as Georgia put -down her cup and sat gazing into the twilight. “If it helps you to an -attack of fever, you won’t be thankful, nor shall I. By the bye, what -happened to your horse? I hope you didn’t meet with an accident?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, but I was so dreadfully sleepy that I was afraid to ride, and -the ladies lent me their bullock-cart. They are to send the horse back -later in the day. You mustn’t think that I am generally so much -overcome by sleep after spending a night out of bed as I am now. When -I was in hospital I thought nothing of sitting up. It is simply that I -am out of practice.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course,” said Dick, politely, suppressing the retort he would -infallibly have made had things been in their normal condition. It was -so pleasant to be caring for Georgia in this way, without feeling the -slightest desire to quarrel with her, that he began to wish she would -be called out every night by her professional duties. What did his own -broken slumbers signify? At any rate, he had stolen a march on that -young fool Anstruther now. <i>He</i> had not thought of seeing that Miss -Keeling had something to eat when she came in. And Dick caught himself -afterwards recalling with something like tenderness, a feeling which -was obviously out of the question, the pressure of Miss Keeling’s hand -as she shook hands with him before going indoors, and the tones of her -voice as she said— -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you so much, Major North. It was most kind of you to take all -this trouble for me. I hope you won’t be very tired after getting up -so early.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I just happened to be out here. I didn’t sleep very well,” he -explained, airily, and went off well satisfied with his own readiness -of resource, not dreaming that Georgia, in her own room, was saying -bitterly to herself as she took down her hair— -</p> - -<p> -“He need not have told me so particularly that he didn’t get up -because of me. I knew he did not, of course, but it wasn’t necessary -for him to say it. Well, I shall not presume upon his kindness, -although he is afraid I may.” -</p> - -<p> -The natural consequence of this deceitful excess of candour on Dick’s -part was, that when he met her next, he found that he had lost any -ground which his ready services might have gained for him in Miss -Keeling’s estimation. For him the events of the early morning had cast -a glamour over the rest of the day, and when he saw Georgia again -towards evening, he was prepared to meet her with the friendliness -natural between two people who had found the barrier of prejudice -which separated them partially broken down. But she received him with -the easy graciousness she would have shown to the merest acquaintance, -expressing her gratitude for his kindness, indeed, but ignoring -entirely the approach to something like intimacy which he thought had -been established between them. Dick was not accustomed to be repulsed -in this way, and when he overheard Georgia telling Sir Dugald how -fortunate it had been for her that she found Major North up when she -returned, and how kind he had been in getting her some coffee, his -wrath, if not loud, was deep. She was betraying what he liked to think -of as a secret known only to their two selves, and making an ass of -him before the other fellows. This led him to remember that, after -all, circumstances were unchanged. Georgia was still a doctor, and -displayed no symptoms of being convinced, whether against her will or -otherwise, by his arguments against the existence of medical women, or -of discontinuing the practice of her profession. Nay more, Dick was -beginning to see that it was unlikely she would ever be so convinced, -and that if there was to be peace between them it must be on the basis -of acquiescence in facts as they were. Hence, as he was still -determined under no circumstances to extend even the barest toleration -to lady doctors, it is not surprising that Dick felt himself a much -injured man, and that his soul revolted a dozen times a-day against -the conclusions at which he had been forced to arrive. -</p> - -<p> -As for Georgia, she continued to take pains to show him that she quite -understood his view of the case, which she did not, and devoted -herself largely to itinerating in the country round with Miss Jenkins -and Miss Guest. She was welcomed on account of her medical skill in -many places where they had not been able to gain a footing, and had -the pleasure of knowing that she left these houses open to her friends -for the future. The work proved to be so interesting that she was very -sorry to leave it, and on the eve of departure she confided to Lady -Haigh the resolution she had definitely formed to come back to -Bab-us-Sahel when the Mission returned from Kubbet-ul-Haj, and to -settle down with Miss Guest and Miss Jenkins. -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense, Georgie! you mustn’t throw away your talents like that,” -cried Lady Haigh, aghast. -</p> - -<p> -“But I should only stay here until they would allow me to settle on -the frontier, of course,” said Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“I wish General Keeling were alive,” said Lady Haigh, irritably. “He -would very soon put a stop to these absurd schemes. Or I wish you were -married. That would do as well.” -</p> - -<p> -“But if that is one reason for my not marrying?” asked Georgia. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch05"> -CHAPTER V.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">ACROSS THE FRONTIER.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -“When we come to the crest of this rise we shall be able to see Fort -Rahmat-Ullah in the distance,” said Stratford to Georgia. He had -quitted his place in the long cavalcade formed by the members of the -Mission and their baggage-animals, as it made its way across the -broken ground, alternately sandy and rocky, which characterises the -districts lying near the frontier of Khemistan, and had joined the two -doctors, who were riding somewhat in advance of the caravan in order -to escape the dust. Dr Headlam turned back to the side of Lady Haigh, -with whom Stratford had been riding, and Georgia looked round at her -new cavalier with eyes of eager interest. -</p> - -<p> -“It was Fort Rahmat-Ullah that Major North relieved, wasn’t it?” she -asked, although she knew perfectly well what the answer would be. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, during our last little war but two or three. It is our farthest -outpost on this frontier, and, when the tribes were up, they naturally -set their hearts on getting hold of it. Of course the garrison has -been strengthened since then, and the <i>pax Britannica</i> is quite -effective in the neighbourhood. We are to spend a few days at the -fort, you know, before we bid farewell to civilisation, and make our -dash into the desert, so that it is a comfort to feel that we need not -expect to find ourselves besieged there. The only drawback is that -North will be away.” -</p> - -<p> -“Away?” asked Georgia in astonishment. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, didn’t you hear that he had got leave from the chief to go and -see a friend away at Alibad, to the west of us? They used to work -together in the old days, but North had the chance of distinction and -got his V.C. and his promotion, and the other man didn’t. I rather -like to see North going off in this way to look him up—shows he -doesn’t forget old friends, and that sort of thing—and perhaps he is -just as glad not to be lionised at the fort. It’s a little hard on us, -though.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, it is a little suggestive of ‘Hamlet’ with Hamlet left out,” -observed Georgia, meditatively, determined that Mr Stratford should -not perceive the unreasoning disappointment with which the news had -infected her. -</p> - -<p> -“And yet I don’t quite see what he could do for us if he was there, -beyond giving us the gratification of beholding him on his native -heath, so to speak,” pursued Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, well,” said Georgia, carelessly, “I was reckoning on his being -able to ride out with us along the way he went, and show us just where -his different adventures happened. It would make it seem so much more -real, you know.” She was speaking easily and naturally, bent on -accounting to herself as well as to Mr Stratford for that absurd sense -of disappointment, which was so keen that she feared it must before -this have betrayed itself in face or voice. But were Dick’s adventures -not real to her? Had she not scanned the papers day by day at the time -of the siege as eagerly as Mabel herself? And when at last the full -account reached England of the relief of the fort, and of the heroism -of the man through whose enterprise it had been accomplished, had she -not bowed her head upon the page of the ‘Thunderer’ and cried -heartily, out of pure joy in the remembrance that this man had once -loved her? Decidedly there was no need that the events attending the -relief of Fort Rahmat-Ullah should be rendered more vivid for Georgia; -but Stratford seemed struck by the justice of her remark. -</p> - -<p> -“That is quite true, Miss Keeling. North is treating us all very -shabbily. I hope you will put it to him at lunch. He leaves us after -the mid-day halt, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -But Miss Keeling did not choose to do anything of the kind, and when -Sir Dugald appealed to her to join in condemning North’s desertion, -she smiled pleasantly as she answered, that no doubt Major North -feared lest the attraction of his presence at Fort Rahmat-Ullah should -distract the attention of the visitors from the less interesting -duties which ought to engross them. The remark was intended to make -Dick uncomfortable; and when Georgia saw that he was raging inwardly -over the construction she had put upon his motives, absurd though it -was, she felt happier, as having in some degree repaid him for the -disappointment he had inflicted upon her, although, when he had ridden -away, still fuming, she was filled with compunction, and spent some -time in solitude and self-reproach, which meant bemoaning her own -touchiness and calling herself names. -</p> - -<p> -Her sorrow was not allowed to sleep, for at Fort Rahmat-Ullah -everything around seemed calculated to recall Dick to her memory. The -scenes connected with his great exploit were held in universal -reverence, and from the officers of the detachment quartered in the -fort nothing was heard but lamentations over his absence. On the very -first evening the new-comers were swept away by the general wave of -enthusiasm, and allowed themselves to be personally conducted round -the walls, in order to have the different localities rendered -memorable by the siege pointed out to them. But this was merely an -informal inspection, for the next morning an old European sergeant, -who had taken part in the Relief of Lucknow, and was now employed as -some kind of clerk in the fort, made his appearance, and expressed a -readiness to act as cicerone during a second tour of the place. -</p> - -<p> -“Evidently,” said Stratford, “the thing to do here is to make the -circuit of the walls once a-day, each time with a different guide.” -</p> - -<p> -“We shall get together a good collection of the different legends -which are beginning to crystallise round North’s exploit,” said Dr -Headlam, who was a student of folk-lore. “I suppose we must go, or we -shall hurt this old chap’s feelings. He regards North as something -like a demigod.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think once round the walls is enough for me,” said Sir Dugald, “so -I must hope that the tutelary deity of the place will not be very -furious at my neglect when we meet him again. What do the ladies -intend to do?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, we are going, of course,” said Lady Haigh, promptly, unfurling a -huge white umbrella. “I always make a point of seeing and hearing -everything I can about everybody.” -</p> - -<p> -Sir Dugald sighed almost imperceptibly, and buried himself once more -in his Ethiopian grammar, while the rest started out under the -guidance of the old soldier. Constant practice on every new-comer who -came in his way had made the sergeant perfect in the tale he had to -tell. He knew exactly the points at which his hearers would be -thrilled with horror or touched with sympathy, and he enjoyed keeping -them on the rack of suspense when he reached a crisis in his story. He -had been in the fort himself at the time of the siege, and Georgia -held her breath as he described the wearing terror of the -night-attacks, and the uneasiness of the long days, troubled by fears -of the enemy without and of famine within the walls. Then she saw, as -clearly as if she had been present, the little group of officers -gathered in a shadowy corner of the ramparts one morning before night -had given place to day. Dick was among them, disguised as one of the -fair-skinned hillmen often met with along the Khemistan frontier, and -he was going out alone, taking his life in his hand, in the forlorn -hope of getting through the enemy and bringing help to the fort. So -slight was the prospect of success that none but those who happened to -be on the ramparts when he started knew of his expedition; and the -women in the place, who were not told about it for fear of raising -baseless hopes only to be dashed again, thought that he had been -killed in a night sortie and his body not recovered. One by one his -fellows gripped his hand and bade God keep him in his enterprise; then -he was let down swiftly to the ground outside by means of a rope -suspended in the shadow of the turret, and before the rope could be -drawn up his form had melted into the shadows around. -</p> - -<p> -Almost immediately on setting out he was met by perhaps the gravest of -the perils he was to encounter. Descending a rugged hill into a dry -watercourse, which he hoped would afford him a measure of cover, the -loose stones rolling under his feet betrayed him to the drowsy -watchman of a party of the enemy, who were sleeping, wrapped in their -mantles, round a smouldering fire. They were between him and the fort, -and there was no hope of retreat; but as the sentry’s bullet came -skipping over the rocks past him, and the sleepers, on the alert at -once, sat up and grasped their weapons, Dick’s resolution was taken. -With a cry of joy he rushed towards the fire and inquired eagerly and -incoherently in Khemistani whether the fort had fallen and he was too -late to take his part in the plundering. The party upon whom he had -chanced were all good Moslems, and their rage was extreme on -discovering by his dress that the intruder was a hillman, and that -they had been awakened because a wretch of an idolater was trying to -get a share of their booty. He was driven from their camp with blows -and curses, and ordered to tell his people that any further attempt to -participate in the expected spoils would be met with force of arms. -The same ruse helped him again and again during the day. On sighting a -part of the enemy, he had only to approach them humbly and detail what -had happened to him, asking for redress, when the same fate would -befall him immediately on his mentioning what his crime had been. -Every chase took him farther from the fort and nearer to civilisation, -and at last he fell in with a small party of hillmen, fleeing from the -hated Moslems into territory which was still British, who allowed him -to join himself to them. -</p> - -<p> -But this meeting landed him in another danger, for although he could -speak the hill dialect well enough to pass muster with the lowlanders, -he could not deceive those whose native tongue it was. For some time -he parried questions by declaring that he belonged to a different -tribe; but the hillmen grew more and more suspicious, thinking that he -must be a spy from the camp of their hereditary foes. They kept a -close watch on him, and he gathered that they intended to deliver him -up to the first British patrol they came across. This would have -suited his purpose excellently but for the extremely slow rate at -which his new friends travelled, and he seized the first opportunity -that offered itself of eluding their vigilance and striking off across -country to the nearest fort. His late entertainers pursued him; but he -reached the fort first and delivered his message, so that when the -hillmen arrived they were electrified to behold him in uniform -assisting in the preparations for the relief expedition. Thence his -course had been, as Fitz Anstruther remarked irreverently, “a -triumphal procession,” an observation which the old soldier who was -acting as guide took in very good part. -</p> - -<p> -“Ay,” he said, “and we are all proud of him here. We don’t have many -ladies come to the fort, especially since the rising; but to hear some -of them talk that have been here this last year, you’d think the whole -place wasn’t nothing but a memorial of him, though there! we’re just -about as bad ourselves. When a new subaltern joins—though it ain’t -often we get them raw enough—the officers take him round and show him -everything. When they get to the north face they tell him, ‘This here -was named after Major North. He started on his journey down the -slope.’ There wasn’t more than one of them took it right in; but the -rest are always puzzled, and don’t like to contradict. By the time -they’ve got it worked out in their minds they’re as proud of the Major -as any of us, and had rather follow North of the Khemistan Horse than -the Commander-in-Chief. Ah! he’s a brave chap and a cool one, and we -were downright mad when we knew we were not to have him back here; but -he’ll want all his bravery and all his level-headedness where you’re -going.” -</p> - -<p> -“Come, sergeant, you mustn’t frighten the ladies,” said Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“Frighten the ladies!” repeated the old man, scornfully. “I could a -deal sooner frighten any of you gentlemen, and no offence to you, sir, -neither. I’ve seen a good many frontier ladies in my time, and I can -tell that these two is just as full of spirit as an egg is full of -meat. Looking out for adventures, ma’am, ain’t you?” to Georgia. “I -thought so; and her ladyship there, she’s been through so much that -she ain’t afraid of nothing.” -</p> - -<p> -“This is reassuring,” said Lady Haigh. “I hope you young men are now -convinced what desirable travelling companions we are?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t so much know about that,” said the old sergeant, -reflectively. “I suppose as you’ll bundle yourselves up in veils, like -the women of the country, when you get to Ethiopia, my lady?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I hear that we must,” returned Lady Haigh. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s all right, then, and I’ll make bold to give the young lady a -bit of advice. Don’t you go playing no tricks with your veil, ma’am; -you keep it down when there’s any Ethiopians about. I could tell you -of times when a whole caravan has been cut up for the sake of one -woman, and she made a slave of.” -</p> - -<p> -“Miss Keeling, you must swallow the warning for the sake of the -compliment contained in it,” said Dr Headlam, while Fitz glared -speechlessly at the sergeant, who went on in a meditative voice— -</p> - -<p> -“No, it don’t so much signify what the woman is like, so long as she’s -different to theirs. Not but what I dare be bound as they’d find -they’d caught a Tartar in this young lady. She would be queen instead -of slave before they’d done with her.” -</p> - -<p> -“This is really too flattering!” said Georgia, her face flushing. -“Have you anything more to show us, sergeant?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid as that’s all, ma’am. But don’t you go for to be offended -at my plain speaking. I could tell you was a lady of spirit by your -going to Kubbet-ul-Haj at all. And, bless you, you can do near -everything with these fellows if you talk big a little, and don’t let -’em see as you are shaking in your shoes all the time.” -</p> - -<p> -The old man’s face as he enunciated this doctrine was so comical that -Georgia accepted the implied apology, and the affair ended in a laugh. -</p> - -<p> -“It never struck me that we were to wear veils as a protection,” said -Georgia to Lady Haigh as they returned to their quarters. “I thought -it was only for fear of outraging the people’s feelings.” -</p> - -<p> -“If it had been only that,” returned Lady Haigh, “I should certainly -have refused on principle to wear a veil. You know that I have knocked -about a good deal, my dear. When Sir Dugald asked me to marry him, he -said he felt quite guilty in trying to allure me away from all my -friends and my work, and I seized the opportunity of stipulating for -the very thing I wanted. I said I shouldn’t mind leaving everything in -the slightest if he would only promise to take me with him wherever he -went. He did promise, and I have gone everywhere with him—to some -very strange places indeed. I have often been where no English lady -had ever been seen before; but I have always refused to cover my face. -They used to tell me that the people were not accustomed to see a -woman unveiled. ‘Well, then, they must become accustomed to it,’ I -always said. Then they suggested that it might outrage their religious -sentiments; but, as I pointed out, people must learn not to let their -feelings be hurt so easily. But this time it was different. When it -came to be a case of endangering the safety of the whole Mission, Sir -Dugald told me that the choice lay between his breaking his promise -and leaving me behind and my wearing a veil. I did not see it at all, -because the Kubbet-ul-Haj people ought to accustom themselves to -seeing new things, and I really yielded solely on account of you. -Dugald”—they had reached their own verandah by this time—“didn’t I -tell you that I only consented to wear a veil for Miss Keeling’s -sake?” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe you have mentioned the fact more than once, now that I come -to think of it,” returned Sir Dugald, looking up from his book. -</p> - -<p> -“But really, Lady Haigh, I am not afraid,” said Georgia. “If you think -that the old man was only talking nonsense, I will join you in -organising a protest against Ethiopian customs with the greatest -pleasure, for I should much prefer not wearing a veil.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but it really is necessary for you, my dear. It is different in -my case; I am old, and I never was anything much to look at, and I am -indubitably married. But suppose the King should see you, and take it -into his head to want to make you his fifteenth wife——” -</p> - -<p> -“As a Mohammedan he is not allowed more than four,” interposed Sir -Dugald, mildly. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I am sure he doesn’t count the ones he has killed or divorced!” -said Lady Haigh. “Well, in any case, Georgie, it would be very -awkward. You might refuse to marry him, but he wouldn’t take a -refusal. He would simply request Sir Dugald to settle the matter. If -he was told that it was the custom in England to allow ladies their -choice, he would say that at Kubbet-ul-Haj you must do as the -Kubbet-ul-Hajis did. Then, if you still refused, he might do as the -old man suggested, and murder us all to get hold of you. So you see -that it is really necessary for you to cover your face, and I do it to -keep you company.” -</p> - -<p> -“But with the veil, you will, of course, adopt the other dictates of -Eastern etiquette,” said Sir Dugald, “which forbid a lady to speak to -any man not of her immediate family?” -</p> - -<p> -“That would be dreadfully dull for me,” said Lady Haigh. “What should -I do when you were busy?” -</p> - -<p> -“Far worse for me,” cried Georgia. “I protest against such treatment, -Sir Dugald! Do you mean to condemn me to perpetual silence? I have no -relations of any kind here.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, Eastern society makes no provision for the New Woman,” observed -Sir Dugald. -</p> - -<p> -Georgia groaned. -</p> - -<p> -“I am so dreadfully tired of that name,” she said. “But I believe, Sir -Dugald, that Eastern etiquette would oblige Lady Haigh and me to ride -humbly behind with the servants while you gentlemen were cantering -gaily in front—wouldn’t it? Is that to be the order of our going?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I think we must make up our minds to disregard Ethiopian opinion -in that respect,” said Sir Dugald. “Don’t be afraid, Miss Keeling, you -shall lay aside your veils in the tents and when we get to our own -quarters at Kubbet-ul-Haj. It is only in the streets and on the march -that you need wear them.” -</p> - -<p> -“And really they are not so very bad,” said Lady Haigh, shaking out a -heap of white drapery. “When I knew we must make up our minds to such -garments I determined that they should be as little trouble as -possible, so I got these <i>burkas</i> made. I remembered seeing the women -wearing them in the Panjab long ago. You see, the <i>burka</i> is simply -put on over everything, and covers you from head to foot without an -opening—merely that embroidered lattice-work for the eyes. It gives -you no trouble; whereas the <i>isar</i>, which the Baghdadi women wear, and -which poor Cecil Egerton was obliged to adopt when she was governess -at the Palace, is nothing but a sheet pure and simple. You have to -hold it together in front with one hand and over your face with the -other. No matter how bad the weather may be, you can never spare a -hand to hold up your dress or your sheet drops; you must just trail -through the mud. I could not stand that.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia acknowledged thankfully the wisdom of Lady Haigh’s remarks, -and when the day arrived on which the actual journey to Kubbet-ul-Haj -was to begin, she put on the <i>burka</i> without a murmur. The start was -an imposing sight, for most of the officers in the fort accompanied -the Mission as far as the Ethiopian frontier, and the rest of the -garrison lined the walls and sped the parting guests with a rousing -cheer. The servants and baggage had started earlier in the day, and -when they had been caught up a halt was made for lunch, after which -the travellers delivered themselves into the hands of the body of -Ethiopian troops who had been sent to meet them on the frontier and -escort them to the capital, and the British officers returned to Fort -Rahmat-Ullah. Dick North came riding up just in time to fall into his -place in the cavalcade, and the long array of riders and -baggage-animals took their way across the frontier. -</p> - -<p> -The cavalry escort, of which one portion headed the procession, while -the remainder brought up the rear, was not calculated, so far as its -outward aspect was concerned, to allay any apprehensions that might -have been fluttering the breasts of the timid. Its members were wild, -reckless-looking fellows, evidently ready to go anywhere and do -anything, but apparently quite as well qualified to rob their convoy -as to protect it. Uniformity of dress or accoutrements among them -there was none; but they resembled one another in that they were all -fierce of face, all unbridled of speech, all extremely dirty, and all -armed to the teeth with a wonderfully miscellaneous collection of -weapons. It seemed almost madness to take ladies into the heart of a -country which, until very lately, had been actively hostile, under the -guardianship of such men as these, and the younger members of the -Mission felt their hearts sink suddenly with an unwonted feeling of -apprehension as they took their last look at the fort—that isolated -outpost of Britain and civilisation on the borders of barbarism. But -Sir Dugald’s impassive face betrayed no emotion whatever as he halted -beside the track to allow the caravan to file past him, and the -younger men took comfort as they remembered that their leader was one -who, although he had not hitherto had the opportunity of -distinguishing himself in a wide field, was reputed never to have made -a mistake in the many minor but still important duties with which he -had been intrusted. -</p> - -<p> -Nor had Sir Dugald himself started for Kubbet-ul-Haj with a heart so -light as to induce him to neglect any precaution that lay in his -power. When it had once been ascertained that the passage of an escort -of British, or even of Indian, troops through Ethiopian territory was -out of the question, Sir Dugald agreed at once to intrust the safety -of the Mission to the King’s own soldiers. But he bestowed special -care on the selection of the servants who were to accompany the -expedition, down to the very camel-men, choosing, so far as was -possible, old soldiers, and these from the frontier, where there was -always a hearty feeling of dislike simmering against the Ethiopians. -These men might be relied upon to hold together in the strange -country, and to show a bold front in case of necessity; and they also -despised the Ethiopians far too much to associate with them, which -lessened the likelihood both of quarrels and plots. With the exception -of the wives of a few of these men, there were only two women among -the servants—Lady Haigh’s elderly Syrian attendant Marta, and -Georgia’s maid. This was a Khemistani girl named Rahah, a waif from -the frontier who had found her way in some mysterious manner to -Bab-us-Sahel, and after being handed over to the missionary ladies to -be taken care of, had been trained by Miss Guest—who suffered much in -the process—as a lady’s-maid. Her name was supposed by the learned to -mean “rest,” but her character was not in accordance with it, for -there was no rest for any human being that had anything to do with -Rahah. Her chief recommendations for the post she now held were her -undeniable cleverness with her fingers and some knowledge of the -Ethiopian language, which might prove useful to her mistress in -communicating with female patients, while she had already learnt, -during the past few weeks, to render considerable assistance to -Georgia as anæsthetist and dresser. -</p> - -<p> -The caravan which was composed of such incongruous elements found its -journey more peaceful than might have been anticipated. The members of -the escort, although somewhat addicted to the snapping up of -unconsidered trifles, were capable of frightening away any other -robbers, and on the march were content to keep at a respectful -distance from their charges. In this foreign country there could be -none of those digressions from the track which had proved so pleasant -in Khemistan, but the members of the Mission were not altogether -without subjects of interest to occupy them. Georgia and Dr Headlam -were making a collection of all the birds, plants, and insects they -met with, for in this respect Ethiopia was new ground. Sir Dugald was -ruthless in his refusal to allow more than one collection to be -carried with the expedition, and the rival collectors were thus -deprived of the stimulus of competition. The only thing to be done was -to allow the first finder of a new species to monopolise the glory of -its possession until a finer specimen was discovered, and in this -finding Dr Headlam complained that Georgia had an unfair advantage, -since Fitz was always at her service and eager to help her. But in -spite of little squabbles of this kind everything went pleasantly, -chiefly owing, Fitz said, to the fact that North was generally so -busily occupied with his duties of noting the configuration of the -country and the windings of the track, with a view to map-making, that -he had no time to ride with the others and enter into conversation. -Since his return to the rest of the party he had scarcely spoken to -Georgia, and she told herself that it was better so. -</p> - -<p> -This was the state of affairs when the march came to an end; and the -Mission, amid the thunder of very rickety cannon, the shouting of the -populace, and the shrill welcoming cries of the women, entered the -city of Kubbet-ul-Haj. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch06"> -CHAPTER VI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">AN OFFER OF CO-OPERATION.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -“The King of all Kings, the Upholder of the Universe, places this -hovel at the disposal of his high eminence the Queen of England’s -Envoy, and entreats that he will deign to use it as his own,” said the -sleek official who had been deputed to meet the travellers and bring -them into the town, as he paused opposite the doorway of a large house -and indicated with extended hand that the end of the journey had been -reached. -</p> - -<p> -“In other words, this imposing building is to be our residence for the -present,” said Sir Dugald, riding into the courtyard and turning -round. “Allow me to welcome you to Kubbet-ul-Haj, ladies.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is not as good as Baghdad,” said Lady Haigh, looking round -disparagingly on the whitewashed walls; “but I daresay we shall be -very comfortable. After all, it won’t be for long.” -</p> - -<p> -“Express my thanks to the King,” said Sir Dugald pointedly to the -messenger, “and tell him that the pleasantness of our quarters will -make us anxious to prolong our stay in his city.” -</p> - -<p> -The official, well-pleased, stayed only to point out the entrance to -the second courtyard of which the house boasted, and to intimate that -if the accommodation provided should prove to be too limited, another -house could easily be secured, and then took his departure; while the -new arrivals passed under an archway into the inner court, to find -facing them the chief rooms of the establishment. These were evidently -intended as Sir Dugald’s quarters, and Lady Haigh surveyed them with -high approval. -</p> - -<p> -“Come!” she said. “We shall not be so badly off after all. I was -beginning to be afraid we should be as much crowded as you were at -Agra in the Mutiny, Dugald. I think the rooms on that side will do -nicely for you, Georgie.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know whether you will all be able to find quarters in the -first block of buildings, gentlemen,” said Sir Dugald to his staff -when he had helped his wife and Georgia to dismount, and they had gone -indoors to explore. “I must have Mr Kustendjian there, for he may be -wanted at any moment, and I doubt whether that will leave you rooms -enough.” -</p> - -<p> -“If any one has to seek quarters outside, I hope I may be the favoured -man,” said Dr Headlam. “Judging by the sights I saw as we came through -the streets, and the cries for medicine which were addressed to me, -there is an enormous amount of disease here, and I shall have my hands -pretty full if I begin to try any outside practice. I think I am -justified in believing that you would approve of such a course, Sir -Dugald? It could only make the Mission more popular.” -</p> - -<p> -“By all means, if you wish it; but don’t wear yourself out with -doctoring all Kubbet-ul-Haj, and forget that you came here as surgeon -to the Mission. You think you will do better if you are lodged -outside?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I didn’t quite like the idea of bringing all the filth and -rascality of Kubbet-ul-Haj into the Mission headquarters, but that -would remove the objection. I think it would be both safer and more -agreeable for all of us if you would allow me to camp in some other -house.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then perhaps you could take that collection of yours over to your new -quarters as well as your other belongings? It is not altogether the -most delightful of objects.” -</p> - -<p> -“Either as to sight or smell,” put in Dick North. “Those beasts you -have preserved in spirits are enough to give a man the horrors, -doctor.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, our much-maligned masterpieces shall share my quarters, by all -means,” said the doctor. “If Miss Keeling breaks her heart over -parting with the collection, don’t blame me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Miss Keeling will probably bear the loss with equanimity,” said Sir -Dugald. “Natural history collections are not exactly ladies’ toys. At -any rate, if she is uneasy about the state of her pet specimens you -can bring her bulletins respecting them at meal-times. We shall see -you as usual at tiffin and at dinner, I suppose, doctor? And you know -that Lady Haigh is always glad to welcome you at tea.” -</p> - -<p> -“I shall certainly not decline such an invitation in favour of -solitary meals hastily partaken of amongst the specimens,” said Dr -Headlam. -</p> - -<p> -“Then we may consider that settled,” said Sir Dugald. “I think we may -regard ourselves as fairly fortunate in our quarters here. What is -your opinion, Stratford?” -</p> - -<p> -“I think the place is very well adapted for our business, certainly,” -returned Stratford. “The general public will only be admitted to the -outer court, I suppose?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; the large room on the ground-floor of your quarters will serve -as our durbar-hall,” said Sir Dugald, “and the attendants of the -Ethiopian officials can remain on the verandah. This inner court must -be sacred to the ladies, so that they may go about unveiled. No -Ethiopian can be allowed to cross the threshold without an invitation, -and only those must be invited who know something of English usages -and will not be shocked by what they see. The raised verandah before -the house will no doubt serve as a drawing-room. What do you think of -the place, North?” -</p> - -<p> -“Good position for defence,” said Dick, meditatively. “You hold the -outer court as long as you can, and then fall back upon the first -block of buildings. When that becomes untenable, you blow it up and -retire upon the second block.” -</p> - -<p> -“Until you have to blow that up too, and yourself with it, I suppose?” -said Sir Dugald. “For the ladies’ sake, I must say I hope we shall not -have to put the defensive capabilities of the house to such a severe -test. Well, gentlemen, we shall meet at dinner. No doubt you will like -to get your things settled a little. Your own servants will be able to -find quarters in your block, but the rest must occupy the buildings -round the outer court.” -</p> - -<p> -When Sir Dugald had thus declared his will the party separated, the -staff proceeding to their quarters in Bachelors’ Buildings, as the -first block was unanimously named, and allotting the rooms among -themselves on the principle of seniority; while the doctor went -house-hunting with the aid of a minor official who had been left in -the outer court to give any help or information that might be needed. -Under his auspices a much smaller house, only separated from the -headquarters of the Mission by a narrow street, was secured, and -hither Dr Headlam removed with his servants and the famous collection. -When the members of the Mission met at dinner they had shaken down -fairly well in their several abodes, and after a little inevitable -grumbling over accustomed luxuries which were here unattainable, they -displayed a disposition to regard the situation with contentment and -the rest of mankind with charity. Sir Dugald noted down certain points -on which it would be necessary to appeal for assistance to the urbane -gentleman who had instituted the party into their habitation, while -Lady Haigh promised help in matters which could be set right by -feminine intuition and a needle and thread, and peace reigned at -headquarters. -</p> - -<p> -It was not until dinner was over and the members of the Mission were -partaking of coffee on the terrace, with the lights of the dining-room -behind mingling incongruously with the moonlight around them and -outshining the twinkling lamps visible here and there in the loftier -habitations outside the walls of the house, that an interruption -occurred, and the quiet was broken by the entrance of Chanda Lal, Sir -Dugald’s bearer, with a visiting-card, which he handed to his master -on a tray. -</p> - -<p> -“What’s this, bearer?” asked Sir Dugald, impatiently. -</p> - -<p> -“Highness, the sahib bade me bring it to you.” -</p> - -<p> -“The sahib? Here? In Kubbet-ul-Haj? Who is he? What is he doing here?” -Sir Dugald’s brow was darkening ominously. -</p> - -<p> -“Highness, I know not. I said that the <i>burra sahib</i> received no -visitors this evening, and the sahib said, ‘Take this to your <i>burra -sahib</i>, and tell him that my name is Heekis, and that I wish to see -him.’” -</p> - -<p> -“‘Elkanah B. Hicks. “Empire City Crier,”’” read Sir Dugald from the -card in his hand in a tone of stupefaction. “In the name of all that -is abominable!” he cried, with lively disgust, “it’s a newspaper -correspondent, and an American at that, and here before us!” -</p> - -<p> -“I know the name,” said Stratford. “Hicks was the ‘Crier’ -correspondent who made himself so prominent over the Thracian -business. He was arrested and conducted to the frontier while the -second revolution was going on.” -</p> - -<p> -“The very worst kind of busybody!” said Sir Dugald, wrathfully. “I -only wish that Drakovics had shot him when he had him safe. What does -he mean by poking himself in here?” -</p> - -<p> -“He is in search of marketable ‘copy,’ without a doubt,” said -Stratford, “and he is taking the most direct way to get it. He has a -fancy for talking and behaving like a sort of semi-civilised Artemus -Ward, which takes in a good many people; but he is considered about -the smartest man on the ‘Crier’ staff, and that is saying a good -deal.” -</p> - -<p> -“Whatever his fancies may be,” growled Sir Dugald, “I don’t see that -they are any excuse for the man’s thrusting himself upon me out of -business hours without the ghost of an introduction.” -</p> - -<p> -“Still, dear,” said Lady Haigh, “we had better have him in and be -friendly to him. In a place like this white people are bound to hang -together, and I dare say we shall find him very pleasant.” -</p> - -<p> -“Bring the sahib in,” said Sir Dugald, shortly, to Chanda Lal, -adopting his wife’s pacific suggestion, but without any lightening of -countenance; and presently the bearer ushered in a lank, sallow man, -rather over middle age, with a straggling lightish beard, and hair -that seemed to stand somewhat in need of the scissors. As Fitz said -afterwards, if he had only worn striped trousers and a starred -waistcoat, Mr Hicks would have represented to the life the Brother -Jonathan of American, not English, caricaturists. Sir Dugald received -his visitor with frigid politeness, and the staff, taking their cue -from him, did the same; but Mr Hicks appeared to feel no -embarrassment, although the tender hearts of Lady Haigh and Georgia -were moved to pity on his account. He was duly supplied with coffee; -and when Georgia had passed him a plate of cakes he stretched his long -limbs comfortably as he reclined in a cane chair and beamed upon the -party. -</p> - -<p> -“It makes one feel real high-toned,” he said, slowly, “to be waited -upon out here at the back of creation by two lovely and cultured -daughters of Albion.” -</p> - -<p> -Sir Dugald gave him a stony glance in reply; while the younger men, -uncertain whether the remark was to be considered as due to deliberate -rudeness or to ignorance, wavered between amusement and indignation. -Lady Haigh answered pleasantly but coldly— -</p> - -<p> -“We are not accustomed to be treated to quite such elaborate -compliments, Mr Hicks; but no doubt American manners differ from ours. -So I have always understood, at least.” -</p> - -<p> -“You bet they do, ma’am!” was Mr Hicks’ reply, delivered with almost -startling emphasis. “When your nigger let me in just now, and the -General there stepped forward and said, ‘Mr Hicks, I presume?’ hanged -if I didn’t think I had got into a Belgravian drawing-room, or into -Central Africa with Stanley, instead of finding a party of civilised -white people in the midst of Ethiopia! I guess I’m not cut out for -shows of this kind, any way.” -</p> - -<p> -“You prefer a European post, perhaps?” suggested Stratford, as Sir -Dugald remained silent. -</p> - -<p> -“You may consider that proved, sir, some! I can fly around with any -man in a civilised country, and back myself to send home more ‘copy’ -than the paper can use; but I was a fool to cable back ‘Done!’ when -the Editor wired, ‘Can you start for Ethiopia next week, and keep an -eye on this Mission business?’ Set me down in a telegraph bureau, with -a dozen newspaper men there before me and only one wire, and I’ll bet -you my bottom dollar that my despatch will go over that wire before -any of the other fellows’; but when it comes to organising a -dromedary-service to carry my ‘copy’ week by week, it makes me tired -of life.” -</p> - -<p> -“If you find it so hard to send your letters, how did you surmount the -difficulties of getting up here yourself?” asked Sir Dugald, with a -faint appearance of interest. -</p> - -<p> -“I must confess to getting along by taking your name in vain, -General,” returned Mr Hicks, easily. “I travelled around for a week or -two in Khemistan, just to throw your frontier people off the scent and -to make friends with some of the natives. They smuggled me across into -Ethiopia in disguise, and I told the people here that I was sent out -to write about the Mission and note how it was received, which was -quite true. Consequently I was taken everywhere for an emissary of -your Government, which has smoothed the way for me considerably. I -guess it will gratify you to know that your name was a passport most -everywhere.” -</p> - -<p> -“Having heard you were a newspaper correspondent,” said Sir Dugald, “I -might have guessed what your methods would be.” -</p> - -<p> -“We military people,” said Lady Haigh, again interposing as -peacemaker, “have an odd prejudice against special correspondents, Mr -Hicks. It is awkward, but you must be kind enough to excuse it.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s nothing to what I should feel if I was in the General’s place, -ma’am,” said Mr Hicks, affably. “I wouldn’t have one in my camp for -any money. They might pillory me throughout the Press of the Union, -but so long as I kept them off I should smile. Now, General, after -that handsome acknowledgment, I hope we are friends?” -</p> - -<div class="fig"> -<a href="images/img_03.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_03_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“It’s nothing to what I should feel if I was in the General’s place, -ma’am,” said Mr Hicks, affably. -</div></div> - -<p> -“I hope so,” returned Sir Dugald, still unsoftened. -</p> - -<p> -“I should like to do a deal with you, General,” continued Mr Hicks. -“If you could spare me a minute or two alone, I think I could convince -you that we have interests in common.” -</p> - -<p> -“Work is over at this time of night,” said Sir Dugald, icily. “If I -can be of service to you in any little difficulty with the authorities -here, or with regard to the postal arrangements, I shall be happy to -see you in the morning. My office hours begin at six.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you wish to name any special time, General?” -</p> - -<p> -“By no means, Mr Hicks.” Sir Dugald fixed a blank uncomprehending gaze -on the American’s face. “It is my duty to support the interests of the -subjects of friendly powers wherever I can, and I hope you will attend -to state your case at the time most convenient to yourself.” -</p> - -<p> -“I guess you don’t understand me, General. I can fix my own affairs, -thank you. What I want is to arrange a trade. You give me what I want, -and I give you what you want, do you see? I should prefer to speak to -you in private as to the exact terms.” -</p> - -<p> -“Any proposal you have to make to me must be uttered in the presence -of these gentlemen, if you please.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Hicks laughed uneasily. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, your way of doing business licks Wall Street,” he said. “What I -have to say is, you give me the information I may need as to the plans -and intentions of your Government, and I will give you some pieces of -news without which you will do nothing here.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are an accredited agent of the United States Government?” asked -Sir Dugald. -</p> - -<p> -“Not at all, sir. I represent the ‘Empire City Crier.’” -</p> - -<p> -“And I represent her Britannic Majesty. I regret that the ‘deal’ to -which you have referred cannot come off.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then your Mission will be a failure, General.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pardon me, but that is no concern of yours.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, you are the first man I ever knew bring a wife and daughter -into a place like this on such an almighty poor chance. I don’t know -what you think, gentlemen”—Mr Hicks wheeled round in his chair and -glanced at the rest of the party—“but I say—and I know something -about this place—that you have a precious small hope of getting out -of Kubbet-ul-Haj with your lives if your Mission does fail.” -</p> - -<p> -“You really must excuse my staff from commenting on your interesting -piece of information, Mr Hicks,” said Sir Dugald, smoothly; “but they -are not accustomed to be set up as a court of appeal over me.” -</p> - -<p> -“May I ask, General, whether you know why Fath-ud-Din, the Grand -Vizier, did not ride out to welcome you to-day?” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe he was ill,” said Sir Dugald, stifling a yawn. -</p> - -<p> -“He was so sick that he was riding past my house to the bath at the -moment you were entering the city on the other side.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t quite see,” said Dick, “why a piece of bad manners on -Fath-ud-Din’s part should be such a fearful omen for us.” -</p> - -<p> -“I guess you think yourself dreadful smart, Colonel,” returned Mr -Hicks; “but you soldier officers are a bit too cute sometimes. Old -Fath-ud-Din is a bad crowd generally, and he means mischief. Leaving -him out of account, what do you think has happened to your friend the -Crown Prince, Rustam Khan? Has he dropped in on you here yet?” -</p> - -<p> -“Scarcely,” said Dick. “We have not arrived so very long, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is so.” Mr Hicks disregarded the sarcasm implied in the words. -“But I know something of that young man, and I can tell you he would -have been around here like greased lightning if he had had the chance. -He was afraid of losing his scalp if he attempted it. The fact is, you -gentlemen are behind the times.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, but we’ll be truly grateful if you’ll enlighten us a little,” put -in Fitz, in a most alluring brogue, which he kept for use on special -occasions. -</p> - -<p> -Mr Hicks glanced sharply at Sir Dugald. The slightest sign of interest -or eagerness would have determined him to impart no information except -at a price, but the look of repressed weariness which was just visible -in the half-light served to pique the American into doing his best to -surprise and startle his bored and scornful host. He leant back in his -chair with his thumbs stuck in his waistcoat pockets. -</p> - -<p> -“We think we are pretty slick in fixing things out West,” he said, -“but they have by no means a bad notion of history-making out here. -When it was arranged that your Mission should start, General, Rustam -Khan was in high favour with his father, old Fath-ud-Din was biting -his nails in disgrace, and the people were all in love with the -English. But we have had a Palace revolution since then. The King’s -second wife (she is Fath-ud-Din’s sister, and they all hang together) -gave her husband one of her slave-girls, the prettiest she could pick -up anywhere, and that brought her into high favour, and all her -relations with her. She is young Antar Khan’s mother, and he is prime -favourite now, while Rustam Khan and his mother, the King’s first -wife, are nowhere. Curious what little things bring about these big -changes, isn’t it?” -</p> - -<p> -“The details of these Palace scandals are scarcely edifying,” remarked -Sir Dugald, to whom Mr Hicks had all along been addressing himself. -</p> - -<p> -“Probably not, General; but they are often important, and there is an -outside circumstance that complicates this one. From your point of -view it was slightly unfortunate that an envoy should turn up a week -or two ago with presents and offers of alliance from Scythia and -Neustria. I guess those two States are hunting in couples. It’s not -the first time they’ve done it, and they generally make a good thing -out of it. Does this alter your way of looking at things at all, -General?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not at all,” returned Sir Dugald, placidly. -</p> - -<p> -“Now come, General,” said Mr Hicks, leaning forward and extending a -long forefinger to tap Sir Dugald on the knee, “you and I are both -white men. We understand each other. I can put you up to circumventing -this Scythian cuss if you will only show an accommodating spirit.” -</p> - -<p> -“Really,” said Sir Dugald, “I am deeply obliged; but until her Majesty -is pleased to appoint me a colleague I have an invincible objection to -sharing my duties with any one. I cannot sufficiently admire your -disinterested and public-spirited offer of co-operation, Mr Hicks, but -this prejudice of mine—foolish and incomprehensible as it must no -doubt appear to you—prevents my accepting it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Think of your reputation, General,” urged Mr Hicks, sadly. “I give -you my word I had sooner write the story of a successful mission than -an unsuccessful one any day. We newspaper men have a way of finding -out things which you diplomatic gentlemen never hear of, and I can -help you through with your work and cover you with glory as well. -You’ll take it?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, thank you,” returned Sir Dugald. “It is all prejudice, of course, -but somehow I had rather not.” -</p> - -<p> -“There are just a few people left in the world who prefer honour to -glory,” cried Georgia her eyes flashing. -</p> - -<p> -“What an unkind remark, Miss Keeling!” said Sir Dugald. “You will -really wound my feelings if you impute motives to me in that reckless -way. Well, Mr Hicks, I hope we shall see more of you. Lady Haigh is -always at home on Friday afternoons, and if you care to drop in to -tiffin any day we shall be delighted to see you.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Hicks had not been intending to depart so early, but at this -intimation he rose reluctantly and took his leave. North and Stratford -escorted him to the door, and when they had returned to the terrace a -sense of constraint seemed to fall upon those present. Sir Dugald’s -impassive face told nothing, and his eyes were fixed on a distant -point of light in the city. He was the only one of the party who -recognised the full importance of the piece of news which had just -been announced, but all perceived more or less distinctly that the -enterprise on which they were bound had received a check. It was -Georgia who broke the silence at last. -</p> - -<p> -“Sir Dugald,” she said, boldly, “won’t you say something? We couldn’t -help being here and hearing what that man said, and we should like to -know what you really think, just to hear what we have to expect.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have never pretended to be a prophet,” said Sir Dugald, looking -round with a half-smile, “and I fear I am not much in the habit of -stating publicly what I really think. Still, after what has happened -to-night, I will say that our task is certainly very much complicated -by what our American friend has told us, though I see no reason for -wailing over it as impossible. Palace revolutions are tolerably -frequent in these countries, and Rustam Khan may be in favour again -to-morrow. Of course the news about the Scythian agent is bad, but we -do not hear that any treaty has been concluded, and we are now on the -spot. If the people are reasonably well affected towards us, or are -even keeping an open mind, the advantages we can offer ought to -convince them that it is to their interest to make friends of us. They -appeared friendly enough this morning.” -</p> - -<p> -“Hicks told us at the door,” said Dick, “that the King and his Amirs -were very much divided in opinion, some of them advocating the -alliance with us, some that with Scythia, and others that the old -position of isolation should be maintained. The worst of them, he -says, is an old fellow called the Amir Jahan Beg, who is Rustam Khan’s -father-in-law. ‘He is the deadest-headed old reactionary I ever saw,’ -Hicks said. ‘All the other fellows turn round in the street to look -after me and show a little interest, but this old cuss rides right on -and takes no notice. The other day I sent my servant to negotiate an -interview, and all the answer I got was that the door was shut.’” -</p> - -<p> -“Rather good, that, for Jahan Beg,” remarked Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“But if he is Rustam Khan’s father-in-law he may persuade him to take -sides against us,” said Dr Headlam. -</p> - -<p> -“We can do nothing until we see how the land lies,” said Sir Dugald. -“To-morrow, when the King receives us for the first time, we shall get -some idea of his attitude towards us, and we can take steps -accordingly. There is only one thing that I must specially impress -upon you, gentlemen: be careful when you are in company with Hicks. -Even after his failure to-night I haven’t a doubt that we shall see a -good deal of him. I invited him to come here now and then because I -thought we should be acquainted with his movements occasionally, at -any rate, and he accepted the invitation as likely to give him a means -of finding out what we are doing. Of course he will bribe the servants -here and at the Palace to bring him news; but he will certainly not -neglect us. Therefore be careful what you say. I don’t want to -misjudge the man, but he might not be above the temptation of taking -steps to secure the fulfilment of his prophecy as to the failure of -the Mission. In any case he might do a great deal of harm by sending -home exaggerated or distorted reports of what had actually occurred. -General conversation is the safest—no private talks. I would not -answer even for you, Stratford, in the hands of a ‘Crier’ interviewer, -although you are a past-master in the art of mystification. Even if -you said nothing, that is not necessarily a barrier to his crediting -you with a long oration. There is safety in numbers, for he could not -derive much political capital from a conversation held in the presence -of the whole Mission. Our policy is to show a united front.” -</p> - -<p> -“If only that wretched man had never come to Kubbet-ul-Haj to spoil -everything!” said Lady Haigh, somewhat ungratefully, it must be -confessed, in view of the information imparted by Mr Hicks. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, don’t abuse him,” said Sir Dugald. “It is his business.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch07"> -CHAPTER VII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARED.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -The day following had been appointed by the King for the state -reception of the Mission, and Sir Dugald and his staff left -headquarters early for the Palace, each man arrayed in the most -gorgeous garments in his possession. The occasion was a purely formal -one, consisting chiefly of the presentation of the different members -of the Mission to the King by name, followed by a little ceremonial -conversation between his Majesty and Sir Dugald. The King’s questions -concerned chiefly the personal and family history of Queen Victoria, -although he was also interested in the past services of the Envoy -himself. It was not considered correct for Sir Dugald to originate any -remarks, when once the courteous messages with which he had been -charged by his Government were delivered, and conversation did not -flow very freely, although, thanks to the necessity for interpreting -everything that was said, the time was fairly well filled up. The King -was obviously ill at ease, asking every now and then sudden questions -as to the object of the Mission, and the intention of the Government -in sending it, with the evident aim of disconcerting Sir Dugald. But -the shrewd dark eyes scanned the face of the Envoy in vain for any -signs of confusion or surprise, and his tranquil and unhurried manner -seemed gradually to disarm the King’s suspicions. For Sir Dugald to -succeed in maintaining his air of careless calm was no slight triumph -under the circumstances, since he noticed many things which assured -him of the correctness of the information given by Mr Hicks. Rustam -Khan was nowhere to be seen; but the little Antar Khan, a boy of about -eleven, robed in bright blue satin and decked with jewels, occupied a -seat at his father’s side, and was allowed to interpolate remarks of -his own into the conversation in a way that showed him to be high in -favour. Moreover, the King made no allusion to the eager request he -had sent to England for a lady doctor who might examine his wife’s -eyes, and it seemed as though Georgia’s journey to Kubbet-ul-Haj would -be useless, since she could not visit the royal harem without an -invitation. The Amirs who stood round the throne appeared interested -in all that passed, but their faces expressed no conspicuously -friendly feeling; while one of their number, whom the staff identified -at once with the Jahan Beg described by Mr Hicks, showed himself -ostentatiously inattentive to all that went on. Still, when the -members of the Mission left the Palace and returned to their -headquarters to reassure the anxious hearts of Lady Haigh and Georgia, -they were able to suggest some reasons for hopefulness. At any rate, -the Mission had been graciously received, and that at once, and the -King seemed to be in a state of suspended judgment, rather than of -settled hostility, while no parade had been made of the presence of -the Scythian envoy in the city. -</p> - -<p> -Once more the party at the Mission met on the terrace after dinner to -discuss coffee and things in general, and once again Chanda Lal -interrupted the harmony of the group. Stratford was in the midst of a -description of some political crisis which had occurred at Czarigrad -during his residence there, when the bearer mounted the steps and made -his way noiselessly to Sir Dugald’s side. -</p> - -<p> -“Highness, in the court there is an old man wrapped in a mantle, who -wishes to see you. He says he is the Amir Jahan Beg.” -</p> - -<p> -Low as were Chanda Lal’s tones, the rest of the party heard the words, -and a thrill of excitement ran through them. Why should this -notoriously anti-foreign ruler come disguised and under cover of night -to see Sir Dugald? Surely the situation promised fresh developments? -But Sir Dugald was neither flattered nor interested. -</p> - -<p> -“This is beyond endurance!” he exclaimed, wrathfully. “It was bad -enough to be disturbed in the evening by that American fellow; but for -a native it is a little too much! The door is shut, bearer.” -</p> - -<p> -“I bring a message to the Queen of England’s Envoy from Rustam Khan,” -said a crisp, penetrating voice in Ethiopian; and the startled hearers -turned to see an elderly man with a grey beard standing on the steps -behind them, his head and shoulders still shrouded in his cloak. “Let -the Envoy bid the servant depart and I will do my errand.” -</p> - -<p> -“You can go, bearer,” said Sir Dugald. “By the bye, we shall want Mr -Kustendjian,” he added, and rose to call back Chanda Lal, but the -stranger stepped before him, and laid a hand upon his arm. -</p> - -<p> -“There is no need of an interpreter,” said Jahan Beg in English. -“Haigh—Dugald Haigh—have you forgotten me?” -</p> - -<p> -“Good heavens!” cried Sir Dugald, stepping back. “Can it be possible? -You are John Bigg—the man who disappeared?” -</p> - -<p> -“Exactly,” said Jahan Beg. “The man who disappeared, and made a nine -days’ wonder for his friends at Tajpur, every one of whom had a -separate discreditable theory to account for his disappearance.” -</p> - -<p> -“That was quite unnecessary,” returned Sir Dugald, “for any one who -knew you and knew Beatrice Wynn.” -</p> - -<p> -“As you did? Well—by the bye, what has become of Beatrice Wynn?” -</p> - -<p> -“Dead, years ago. Typhoid—in Assam somewhere.” -</p> - -<p> -“And for years I have been dead in Ethiopia. Young men”—he turned -suddenly to the staff, who had been endeavouring, with indifferent -success, to get up an interest in conversation among themselves—“let -me give you a warning. Never throw up everything for a woman’s sake. -Never spoil your lives because you have been disappointed in love. -There is not a woman on earth that’s worth it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Present company always excepted, of course,” said Fitz, with a bow to -Lady Haigh and Georgia. Jahan Beg looked at him with a grim smile. -</p> - -<p> -“No woman will ever spoil your life,” he said, “though I don’t -necessarily think the better of you for that. As for the rest of you, -you are beyond the impressionable age, I think. You begin to see that -there is something else to live for besides love. I was twenty-three -when I threw aside as good prospects under the Public Works Department -as a man need want, and cut myself off from my friends and my country, -and all for the sake of a woman who had never cared a scrap for me. -She was only amusing herself with me for a while—it’s a way they -have. I can see now that she painted and dyed, and that she was years -older than I was—she was a widow—but I didn’t see it then. I thought -her as beautiful as an angel, and as good—heavens! how I did believe -in that woman—and when she married the Commissioner, I chucked -everything and left.” -</p> - -<p> -“Leaving your friends to get your servants brought into court on -suspicion of having made away with you, and your enemies to look for -discrepancies in your accounts,” said Sir Dugald. -</p> - -<p> -“It was all a long time ago; but I hope no one was hanged,” said Jahan -Beg. -</p> - -<p> -“No; there was no possible evidence against any of the servants, and -people began to talk of suicide, and to accuse the fair Beatrice under -their breath of driving you to desperation. In self-defence she let it -become known that your last letter to her had talked much of going to -the dogs and of a ruined life, but had contained no threats. Then -public opinion veered round again to a certain extent; but the -Commissioner accepted another post before very long.” -</p> - -<p> -“And for that woman’s sake,” said Jahan Beg, fiercely, “I have lost -everything. It is enough to make a man’s blood boil, Haigh. I am an -alien and a renegade all the rest of my days on account of a woman for -whom I have not now even a kindly thought.” -</p> - -<p> -“We have all made fools of ourselves at one time or another,” said Sir -Dugald, soothingly. “You have paid heavily enough for that madness of -yours, Bigg, and now you can come back with us when we leave this -place and get into the world again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not quite. I have given hostages to fortune, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“What? Oh, you have married a native?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes. My wife is the King’s cousin. She was a widow when I married -her, and very rich—for this part of the world. She showed a slight -disposition to exact a very rigid etiquette at first—expected me not -to sit down in her presence without being invited, and so on, which -might have led to friction if I had not explained my views clearly at -once. We have never quarrelled since, and we never interfere with one -another.” -</p> - -<p> -“You have no children?” asked Lady Haigh. -</p> - -<p> -“I have one daughter. She is married to Rustam Khan.” -</p> - -<p> -“An English girl married to a native?” cried Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“She is only half English, at any rate.” -</p> - -<p> -“But isn’t Rustam Khan a Mohammedan?” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course; so is she, so is my wife, so am I—in so far as I am -anything. I told you that I was a renegade, and now you know the worst -of me.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how did you find your way here, Bigg?” asked Sir Dugald, while -Georgia was silent in dismay. -</p> - -<p> -“You know I was always fond of disguising myself and going about among -the natives. Well, when I left Tajpur I made up my mind to wander -about for a time as a <i>fakir</i>, and at last I got into Khemistan. -Things were not so settled there then as they are now; St George -Keeling was hard at work pacifying the country. I fell among -thieves—that is, among the hillmen—who would not believe me when I -said I was an Englishman, but were afraid to kill me lest it should -turn out to be true after all. They compromised matters by making me a -slave, and gave me a wretched time of it. At last the Ethiopians made -a raid upon their villages, and I was so glad to see the tables turned -that I joined the invaders, and helped them to get possession of the -various strongholds. The hillmen were wiped out, and when the fighting -was over the Ethiopians thought of me. They never imagined I was an -Englishman, and I didn’t tell them. Well—I may as well make a clean -breast of it—they offered me lands, and so on, and a command in their -army if I would turn Mohammedan, thinking that I was an idolater, like -the hillmen, and I had had time to recover a little from the knockdown -blow Beatrice gave me, and life seemed worth living again, and I -consented. It’s a sordid affair enough, you see—just a bartering of -one’s conscience against life and wealth—and it was not worth it. I -have tried it, and I have come to the conclusion that one’s wretched -life is a poor exchange for country and religion. Another warning for -you, young men.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you rose to power after all?” said Sir Dugald. -</p> - -<p> -“I did. It doesn’t sound a moral arrangement—to any one who only -looks on the surface. My lands lie near the frontier of the Scythian -sphere of influence, and before my day they were always liable to -incursions from the tribes under Scythian protection. I put a stop to -that, and my fame spread. One Ethiopian chief after another made -alliance with me, until I was at the head of a confederation extending -all along that frontier. Then it was that the King acknowledged my -power. Old Fath-ud-Din, who had taken a dislike to me from the very -first, pointed out to him that the position I had built up for myself -was a menace to the throne. Consequently his advice was that I should -be summoned to Court and quietly put out of the way. Fortunately for -me, however, the King took some one else’s advice that time. He knew -that I was the only man that could hold that frontier, and he -preferred to consolidate my power and attach my interests to his own -by offering me his cousin’s hand. I knew better than to refuse, and -from that time I became generally known as the Amir Jahan Beg, one of -the pillars of the state. At least I can say that I have done my best -for my district. The people are better governed there than anywhere -else in the kingdom, and the chiefs under me have taken to copying -some of my ways. That is something, but I can’t pretend that the game -is worth the candle. I used to feel it more than I do now, especially -when my daughter was a child. There was so much that was English about -her that it nearly broke my heart to think of her growing up and -leading the life of an Ethiopian woman. I used to plan to take her -with me and make a dash for liberty through Scythian territory, but it -seemed mean to go away and leave my wife, and I shouldn’t have known -what to do with her if I had got her to come too. Then Rustam Khan, -who was a delicate boy, and pined in the city, came to live with us, -and I grew as fond of him as if he had been my own son. He is the only -person here who knows that I am an Englishman, but I have taught him a -little English, and we talk it together sometimes. When he grew up, he -wished to marry my daughter, and though I knew it would make -Fath-ud-Din and all his crew my open enemies, instead of merely my -ill-wishers, I could not refuse him, for he promised to take no other -wife if I would give her to him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then is that the origin of the rivalry between Rustam Khan and -Fath-ud-Din?” asked Sir Dugald. -</p> - -<p> -“No, it has merely aggravated it. Rustam Khan is the son of the King’s -first wife, but Antar Khan’s mother, the Vizier’s sister, has royal -blood in her veins through her mother, and no one can decide which of -the two sons has the best right to succeed. Consequently the King -gives them each a turn of favour, and plays them off one against the -other, to prevent either of them from forming a party. Just now, Antar -Khan, which of course means Fath-ud-Din, is uppermost.” -</p> - -<p> -“And that bears seriously on our position here?” -</p> - -<p> -“It does; for Rustam Khan is the strongest advocate of the English -alliance, while Fath-ud-Din, out of pure contrariness, has fanned the -hopes of the Scythians. There is a wretched Jew fellow, supposed to -have been intrusted by the Scythian and Neustrian Governments with a -secret mission, in the town now, but he is kept in the background -until the King has made up his mind about you. Whatever Fath-ud-Din -can do against you he will, you may depend upon that, and he is -all-powerful just now. Rustam Khan finds it advisable to remain at -home and pretend to be ill. He would have come to see you before this -if he had only had himself to please, but he knows that his visit -would be at once represented as part of a plot to dethrone his father -and place himself on the throne. Even I have to be careful. Naturally -I have spoken in favour of the English alliance, and joined with -Rustam Khan in doing all I could to further it, but Fath-ud-Din has -begun to smell a rat. He can’t dream that I am an Englishman, but I -believe he thinks I have been in British territory and brought -dangerous ideas into Ethiopia with me, and he would ruin me if he -could. That is why I am bound, while supporting the object of your -Mission here, to appear indifferent or even hostile to yourselves -personally, and why I dare not be seen coming to your house. There is -a horrible Yankee journalist about the place—have you come across him -yet?—who tried to draw me, but I put on the very haughtiest oriental -airs, and sent him away with a flea in his ear. I dare say he means me -no harm personally, but I know he is very thick with Fath-ud-Din, and -that is enough for me. He has not got much change out of Jahan Beg.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mr Hicks has already presented himself here,” said Sir Dugald. “What -with him, and Fath-ud-Din, and the Neustro-Scythian agent, and your -precarious position in the country, Bigg, it would appear to a Western -mind that our prospects of success were rather cloudy.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will do what I can to help you,” returned Jahan Beg; “secretly, of -course. In public you must expect to find me slightly troublesome in -weighing your proposals, and rigid in exacting the full pound of flesh -and an ounce or two extra; but such hints as I can give you privately -I will. Don’t tell me what your instructions are; I don’t want to know -them. I only say, don’t insist on the reception of a permanent British -resident with an escort at Kubbet-ul-Haj, for you won’t get it, and -you will be playing into the hands of Scythia. The Jew agent has -assured the King already that you are sure to make that demand, and -that such an arrangement would be the first step towards annexing the -kingdom. If you must be represented here, stand out for a -Consul-General at Iskandarbagh, the big town you passed just after -crossing the frontier, with a native <i>Vakil</i> at the capital. Then -don’t demand any territory. The Scythians have damaged their case -already by hinting at a rectification of frontier. A reciprocal -commercial treaty you are empowered to conclude, I suppose; but you -must agree that no foreigner shall enter Ethiopia without the King’s -passport. There will be difficulties, too, about the legal status of -foreigners——” -</p> - -<p> -“Excuse me, Bigg, but would you not prefer to discuss these things -with me in the office? They are a little technical to form an evening -entertainment for the ladies. Mr Stratford, perhaps you will kindly -accompany us?” -</p> - -<p> -“The ladies must excuse me, remembering that it is a long-desired -relief to talk English once more to any one who can understand it -properly. You have not presented me to your wife, Haigh.” -</p> - -<p> -Sir Dugald performed the ceremony briefly, and then introduced the -guest to Georgia, explaining that she was St George Keeling’s -daughter. -</p> - -<p> -“And you are the lady doctor?” said Jahan Beg. “I have one thing to -ask of you, Miss Keeling. It is possible that at the Palace you may -see my daughter, Nur Jahan, Rustam Khan’s wife. Have pity upon her, -and don’t make her discontented with her life. She must stay here all -her days, and she is happy with her husband and her baby. You need not -describe to her English life and the Christian position of women, and -all those other luxuries of civilisation of which you are the -culminating product, need you? It could do no possible good, and it -certainly would do a great deal of harm, for things of that kind are -absolutely unattainable here.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will try not to put new ideas into her head, if they would only -make her unhappy,” said Georgia, rather doubtfully; “but surely you -have told her about England?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have told her nothing. ‘Where ignorance is bliss’—you know the -rest. Although I have married her to a Mohammedan—and roused your -indignation by doing so—I did what I could to keep her happy as his -wife. She does not know that I am an Englishman, and I have never even -taught her English; although for years I used to hold long -conversations with myself or with imaginary friends when I was alone, -that I might not forget my own language.” -</p> - -<p> -And Jahan Beg went on his way, leaving Georgia oppressed with a -sense—which was by no means new to her, but had never made itself -felt so clearly as to-night—of the complexity of life. She sat -looking out over the Moslem city, and pondering the various problems -which the Amir’s words had started in her mind, while Lady Haigh and -Fitz settled down to a game of halma, and North carried off Dr Headlam -to show him a new kind of locust, which one of the servants had caught -and brought to him. The doctor welcomed the discovery with rapture, -and conveyed the insect in triumph to his own quarters, while Dick -returned to the terrace. Georgia turned to him impulsively as he -mounted the steps close beside her. -</p> - -<p> -“What is your opinion of compromises? Can they ever be morally -justifiable?” -</p> - -<p> -Now it was more than a month since Dick and Georgia had exchanged any -conversation but the merest commonplaces, and Dick was so well -satisfied with this state of affairs as to vow to himself every day -that he would take care their acquaintance remained on this somewhat -restricted footing for the future. Yet although he felt that Georgia -had not intentionally appealed to him in preference to any one else, -and would have attacked Sir Dugald or Stratford on the subject, if -either of them had appeared at the moment, as readily as himself, he -sat down near her, and hastily collected his views on the question of -compromise. -</p> - -<p> -“It rather depends upon the nature of the compromises, doesn’t it?” he -asked—“whether they refer to essentials or non-essentials, I mean. -For instance, one’s whole existence is a series of compromises.” -</p> - -<p> -“In the sense in which all social life is a compromise between the -demands of the individual and those of the race?” said Georgia. “Yes, -but those refer to non-essentials, of course.” -</p> - -<p> -“Non-essentials to the race now; but I dare say they seemed essential -enough to the individual at one time. For instance, in the district in -India in which I served first, the natives thought it essential to -offer human sacrifices every year. Their crops depended upon it, they -said. But we have taught them otherwise, and now they compromise -matters by sacrificing goats.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that was not really an essential matter; it was only that they -thought it so. What I want to know is, how can one tell, in questions -of right and wrong, where conciliation ends and compromise begins?” -</p> - -<p> -“That is the office of all great leaders and statesmen, I suppose; to -point out a path which shall conciliate as many people, and compromise -as few principles, as possible. On the whole, the world is on the side -of compromise, I think—when it is called conciliation. The people who -object to both the name and the reality generally become martyrs.” -</p> - -<p> -“Martyrs!” said Georgia, slowly. “It is easy enough to say the word; -but think what it means!” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah! I see that it is our friend Jahan Beg’s story which has awakened -your sudden interest in compromises.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not exactly his story, but what he said to me. It made me wonder -whether I had done right in coming here. Perhaps you don’t know that -when I agreed to come it was expressly stipulated that I was to make -no attempt to introduce Christianity into the King’s household?” -</p> - -<p> -“That seems a very obvious and necessary precaution,” said Dick, -delighted to find Georgia talking to him so frankly. “You could do no -good, as Jahan Beg said; but you might do a great deal of harm, both -to the poor women and to the Mission.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it almost seems to me that I was wrong in reasoning in that way. -It is like hiding one’s colours—nearly as bad as doing evil that good -may come.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not doing evil, surely, Miss Keeling? As a medical missionary, half -your work is concerned with the bodies of your patients. You can do -that half still, and you are not forbidden to answer questions if the -ladies ask them.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I know they won’t ask me questions of that kind. My Khemistan -experiences have shown me that they will only talk about the merest -trivialities, or else ask me for poisons.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then it can’t be your fault. At any rate, you will make friends with -the ladies, and perhaps the memory of your visit may prepare the way -for a regular missionary when the country is opened up later on,” -suggested Dick, the fluency of his reasoning astonishing himself. -</p> - -<p> -“I am afraid I looked upon Kubbet-ul-Haj too much as a stepping-stone -to Khemistan. I thought perhaps the Government might allow me to -settle on the frontier and practise there if I accomplished this -business successfully.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, do you know, I think that was rather a good idea, Miss Keeling. -You might even itinerate into Ethiopia if the King was well-disposed -towards you, and there could be no mistake as to your status then. But -you are not thinking of refusing to treat the poor Queen now that you -are here, and leaving her to go on suffering until a lady doctor with -a more elastic conscience can be sent out?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, of course not; it would be cruel as well as absurd. Besides, it -would be breaking my word. But don’t you ever feel puzzled about your -duty, Major North, or afraid that in some particular case you may have -acted wrongly?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think so,” returned Dick, meditatively. “Not that I am a very -good judge, for things have always been pretty clear for me. I have -been under orders a good deal, you know, and then my only business was -to obey, and when you are thrown on your own responsibility, you only -try to do your duty, and act on the square. You know your father’s -motto, Miss Keeling? Two or three of his Khemistan men have told me -that he gave it to them when they began to work under him. This was -the way it usually went: ‘You are here for the honour of your country -and the good of the natives,’ he would say when they joined. ‘Never -desert a friend, never disown an agent, never deceive an enemy. You -will go on duty to-morrow, and may God bless you.’ I wish I had known -him. It is a distinction to have served under such a man.” -</p> - -<p> -“Highness,” said a voice at Dick’s elbow, before Georgia could answer, -and they both turned to see Chanda Lal, who had mounted the steps -noiselessly with his bare feet, standing beside them, “there is -another old man in the court, wrapped up in a mantle, and he says he -is the Grand Vizier, Fath-ud-Din. He asks to see the <i>burra sahib</i>, -and he will not be turned away.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good gracious!” cried Dick. “We shall have all Kubbet-ul-Haj here -before long. It only wants the King and Rustam Khan to make things -lively. But if Fath-ud-Din meets Jahan Beg, there’ll be murder done. -Miss Keeling, while I go and parley with this old wretch, do you mind -warning the Chief to get rid of Jahan Beg? I shouldn’t wonder if we -have to let him down through a window into the street behind, for it -won’t do for him to pass through the courtyard.” -</p> - -<p> -He ran down the steps, and Georgia hurried to Sir Dugald’s private -office, where she found him in earnest confabulation with Jahan Beg. -The state of affairs was quickly explained, and Stratford hastened the -visitor away to the back of the house. Here, when the new-comer was -safely closeted with Sir Dugald, Dick joined him, and together they -succeeded in letting Jahan Beg down into the lane, where he alighted -softly on a convenient rubbish-heap, and whence he made the best of -his way home. -</p> - -<p> -It was not until the rest of the party were thinking of going to bed -that Sir Dugald was able to get rid of his visitor and return to the -terrace. He smiled grimly as he glanced at the expectant faces which -awaited him. -</p> - -<p> -“The worthy Fath-ud-Din has prepared a very pretty little plot,” he -said, “which is meant to remove both Jahan Beg and Rustam Khan from -his path, and we are expected to help.” -</p> - -<p> -“We shall get into trouble,” remarked Lady Haigh, oracularly, “if all -the conspirators in Kubbet-ul-Haj make this house a rendezvous when -they want to plot against one another.” -</p> - -<p> -“We shall,” agreed Sir Dugald; “and it is a mystery to me what these -good people see in our faces that leads them to think we shall be -willing to forward their schemes. I suppose it is only natural that -Bigg should wish to utilise us as a means of getting his son-in-law -acknowledged as heir to the throne; but I did not expect Fath-ud-Din. -It seems that he has for a long time suspected Jahan Beg of being an -Englishman, and the suspicion became a certainty yesterday, owing to -his ostentatious lack of interest in our entry. Jahan Beg thought that -his bearing showed how patriotic an Ethiopian he had become; but -Fath-ud-Din argued that such disregard of such a show could only be -due to his having often seen similar sights before.” -</p> - -<p> -“I hope you taxed Fath-ud-Din with being an Englishman on the same -grounds,” said Lady Haigh. -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not,” replied Sir Dugald. “You forget that he was ill. His -illness may have been diplomatic and momentary; but it has to be -accepted as a fact. Well, Hicks supplied the next link in the chain. -It seems that Fath-ud-Din granted him the interview which Jahan Beg -refused, and in the course of conversation asked him casually what he -would think if he heard that a solitary Englishman had lived in -Ethiopia disguised for years. Hicks replied, as most men would -naturally do, that he should conclude he had done something which had -made British territory too hot to hold him, and had run away from fear -of the law. That struck Fath-ud-Din as a bright idea, and he came to -tell me of his suspicions, and to suggest that I should invite the -King to give up Jahan Beg as an escaped criminal. He assured me that -he and his party would give me all possible support, which I could -well believe; and he let out that he anticipated that Rustam Khan -would be involved in his father-in-law’s downfall. That would leave -the way clear for Antar Khan, to whom Fath-ud-Din hopes to marry his -daughter. A suitable <i>bakhshish</i> was also understood, and in return -for these various boons, Fath-ud-Din would be good enough to further -the objects of the Mission, and guarantee its success.” -</p> - -<p> -“And I hope you kicked him down the steps?” said Lady Haigh. -</p> - -<p> -“No, Elma; I did not. I should have thought you knew by this time that -my disposition was eminently a peaceful one. I merely told Fath-ud-Din -that I knew of no criminal answering to the description of Jahan Beg, -but that if he could find out what he had done, and it was -sufficiently heinous, I would apply for his extradition with pleasure. -With that he had to be content, which leaves us a breathing-space.” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose you will be able to get the treaty concluded while he is -hunting about for proofs of Jahan Beg’s guilt?” said Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“That is what we must hope to do. I was most careful to make -everything hinge on his own efforts. It was necessary to avoid like -poison anything that might sound like offering him help in his quest, -or he would have understood it as a definite pledge to assist him by -fair means or foul to ruin Jahan Beg.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch08"> -CHAPTER VIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">EAST MEETS WEST.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -In spite of the very moderate encouragement he had received, hope must -have told a flattering tale to the Vizier Fath-ud-Din when he left the -Residency after his interview with Sir Dugald, for it became evident -very soon that the hindrances which had threatened to obstruct the -path of the Mission had suddenly been removed. Rustam Khan was -restored to a measure of his father’s favour and allowed to appear at -Court, besides being permitted to speak in the council on behalf of -the English alliance, while the Neustro-Scythian agent found his -promises received with unconcealed incredulity, and was tantalised -with evasive answers to his demands. Of these changes the party at the -Mission were kept informed both by Jahan Beg and by the Vizier -himself, the latter losing no opportunity of insisting on the -virulence with which his rival was opposing the English proposals, and -the eagerness with which he advised the extortion of every possible -concession. If it had not been for the explanation given behind the -scenes by Jahan Beg himself, it would have been difficult for Sir -Dugald to resist the conclusion, towards which Fath-ud-Din laboured -continually to urge him, that the Amir’s hatred of his native country -was deep-rooted and had a sinister origin; but the Vizier’s object was -so apparent that it was fairly easy to distinguish the embroidery -which he added to the speeches he professed to report. Jahan Beg’s -opposition was all on points of detail, not of principle; and although -he would haggle for hours over the rate of an import duty, or the -terms on which an imaginary passport was to be granted, Sir Dugald -forgave him the worry he caused in consideration of his services in -bringing his colleagues and the King to look at matters from a -business point of view. It was the Ethiopian idea that the King was -the greatest monarch on earth, and that he could settle any trouble -that might arise by the simple expedient of ordering the heads of the -disturbers of the peace to be brought him, and it was difficult at -first to wean the people, and especially the Amirs who formed the -royal council, from this mediæval way of looking at things. In spite -of Jahan Beg’s invaluable help in this respect, however, Sir Dugald -did his best more than once to induce him to abandon his simulated -policy of obstruction and support the Mission heartily, reminding him -that he could not now deceive Fath-ud-Din, who knew him to be an -Englishman. But Jahan Beg remained obdurate, declaring that if his -proceedings did not blind Fath-ud-Din, at least they continued to -deceive the rest of the Amirs, who would at once suspect him of having -been bribed by the English should he appear to be suddenly converted -to a warm interest in the treaty; while the Vizier himself, having -already concealed for some time the fact which had come to his -knowledge, was bound still to keep it secret, lest he should be -punished for not revealing it before. -</p> - -<p> -In consequence of Jahan Beg’s educational work, and Fath-ud-Din’s -unexpected complaisance, Sir Dugald and the staff betook themselves -day after day to the Palace, and were conducted at once to the King’s -hall of audience. Here seats of rather an uncomfortable and -nondescript character were arranged for them, for the camp-chairs they -had brought with them were the only chairs in Kubbet-ul-Haj, or -possibly in all Ethiopia, and a laboured conversation took place. When -the King had satisfied a portion of his curiosity respecting men and -things in England and Khemistan, Sir Dugald would contrive to lead the -talk round to the more important matters in hand, and in this way the -various clauses of the proposed treaty were discussed in turn, notes -of the proceedings being taken in Ethiopian by the King’s scribe and -the interpreter Kustendjian, and in English by Fitz Anstruther. When -the Englishmen had taken their departure, the points touched upon -would be discussed afresh by the King and the Amirs, and if no -satisfactory conclusion had been reached, they reappeared the next -morning with great regularity, while if all was well, the discussion -moved on to a fresh stage. -</p> - -<p> -In this way time passed not unpleasantly, varied with a certain amount -of incident, so far as regarded Sir Dugald and his staff; but for the -ladies it was at first very different. True, they had their own -terrace, where they could go about unveiled, and their own courtyard -in which to take exercise. When Georgia was in a cheerful frame of -mind she called this court her quarter-deck; when she was feeling -depressed she alluded to it as her prison-yard,—and here she paced -along during the cooler hours of each day until Sir Dugald told her -that her feet would wear a path in the stones. Sometimes, when public -business prevented the King from receiving the Mission, its members -would escort the ladies for a ride, but it was necessary to choose -secluded tracks for these excursions, since public opinion in -Kubbet-ul-Haj did not permit women to ride with men, unless simply for -protection on a journey. -</p> - -<p> -But when the Mission had spent about a month in the city, there came a -change for Georgia. By way of propitiating Sir Dugald, who was -beginning to wax exceedingly wrathful over the King’s ostentatious -forgetfulness of the urgent request he had made for a lady doctor, -Fath-ud-Din ventured to remind his august master of Miss Keeling’s -existence, and her presence at his desire in Kubbet-ul-Haj. The King -happened to be in a good temper at the moment, or perhaps his -conscience had been pricking him for his neglect of Rustam Khan’s -unfortunate mother, and the result of the reminder was the arrival at -the Mission one morning of a covered litter carried by four men, and -accompanied by an escort of cavalry, at the head of which rode a -gorgeous negro, who brought the intimation that the doctor lady was -requested to wait on the Queen. -</p> - -<p> -That was only the first of many days on which Georgia ensconced -herself in the litter with her maid Rahah, and with the curtains -closely drawn was borne off to the Palace. A very short preliminary -examination convinced her that the Queen was suffering from cataract -in both eyes, and that an operation was absolutely necessary. But the -matter did not appear by any means of so simple a character to the -dwellers in the harem. Even when, with the aid of the Khemistani girl, -Georgia had succeeded in getting things explained, in highly -colloquial Ethiopian, to the Queen and her attendants, she found that -they all shrank with horror from the idea of the operation. It was not -merely that they distrusted herself, as an alien both in race and -religion, but they were strongly of the opinion that whereas the use -of any amount of medicine, the nastier the better, was lawful in cases -of disease, the employment of the knife to give relief was a -blasphemous interference with the designs of Providence. In vain -Georgia told of the wonderful instances of recovery, following on -operations such as she intended to perform, which had come within her -own experience; it was Rahah who at last placed the question before -the Queen in a way that appealed to her. Whatever happened was -incontrovertibly due to the decrees of fate: if it was fated that the -Queen should be blind, blind she would continue to be; but if the -operation proved successful, it would be clear evidence that she was -not fated to be blind. Influenced by Rahah’s logic, the Queen -consented, with great reluctance, to allow the matter to be referred -to her husband; and the next day Georgia, with Rahah as interpreter, -held a colloquy on the subject with the King, through a grating which -effectually precluded either party from gaining a glimpse of the -other. The King was not so easily moved by Rahah’s eloquence as his -wife had been, but eventually a compromise was agreed upon. It was -evident to Georgia that, owing both to fright and to the sorrows of -the past few months, the Queen was in no state for the operation to be -performed at present. Some delay was therefore inevitable, and the -King was at last brought to consent to the trial of the plan, if a -week or two of careful diet and nursing, together with cheerful -society and the blessing of hopefulness, should prove to have a -beneficial effect on the patient’s general health. -</p> - -<p> -It seemed to Georgia that, in view of the state of things in the -Palace, each portion of the prescription was more unattainable than -the rest; but after two or three days of vain endeavours to instruct -the shiftless harem servants in the arts of nursing and of invalid -cookery, and to restore tone to the mind of the poor Queen, weakened -and saddened as it was by years of sorrow, she found a new ally at her -side. Coming into the Queen’s room one day, she saw seated on the -divan a tall girl with a fresh English face, blue-eyed and -fair-haired, holding a closely-swathed baby in her arms. Although the -stranger wore the Ethiopian dress, Georgia would have greeted her at -once as a fellow-countrywoman, if she had not turned and stared at her -with undisguised interest and pleasure, saying something in Ethiopian -to the Queen. Then a great pang of pity seized Georgia’s heart, for -she knew that the English girl before her must be Nur Jahan, Jahan -Beg’s daughter and Rustam Khan’s wife. -</p> - -<p> -Remembering her promise to Nur Jahan’s father, however, Georgia -composed her face and took her usual seat beside her patient. The -Queen was so much more cheerful this morning, that it was evident she -enjoyed the presence of her daughter-in-law and grandson; and after a -while, to Georgia’s delight, she brightened visibly at Nur Jahan’s -suggestion that, when the operation had been successfully performed, -she would be able to see the baby. When the medical examination was -over, the young wife felt herself at liberty to talk, and Georgia -learnt that, although she had now come for a few days to the Palace -solely for the purpose of cheering her mother-in-law, she had not -quitted it very long. When Rustam Khan fell into disfavour, he had put -his wife and her week-old baby under his mother’s protection at once, -fearing that neither his house nor that of Jahan Beg would be safe -from the rabble of the city, who were warm partisans of Fath-ud-Din. -With high glee, Nur Jahan narrated how her husband had come to visit -her in secret, always at hours when the King was not likely to enter -the harem, disguised sometimes as a woman and sometimes as a negro, in -order to escape the Vizier’s spies; and how once he had actually met -his father outside the Queen’s door, but stepping aside respectfully, -had passed him without being recognised under the thick veil. To -Georgia, the possibility of such adventures within the sacred walls of -the harem was a new thing, and she enjoyed the gusto with which Nur -Jahan related them. But the Queen thought differently, and began to -moan feebly, as she pulled at the edge of the coverlet. -</p> - -<p> -“Thou art always thus, Nur Jahan,” she said, querulously; “laughing -and rejoicing when thy lord is in peril of his life. An Ethiopian -woman, seeing her husband in such straits, would have shed an ocean of -tears, and refused to be comforted until times had changed; but I have -seen thee, when Rustam Khan had but just gone from thee, planning -eagerly how he should enter the Palace on the next occasion, without -letting fall a tear.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it was that which pleased my lord, O my mother,” said Nur Jahan, -eager to defend herself. “What delight had there been in our meetings, -if I had only sat at his feet and bedewed them with tears? There was -so much to tell, and so much to hear; how could I weep when my lord -was with me? And when he was gone, was it not happier for me to -consider how I might see him again, rather than weep because he could -not be with me still?” -</p> - -<p> -“Go thy ways, Nur Jahan,” said the elder woman, bitterly. “Thou too -wilt one day learn that although the life of all women is sad, that of -a woman who is also a king’s wife is saddest of all. How canst thou -love thy lord as I, his mother, love him? Thine eyes are as bright as -when he married thee, while mine are blind with weeping for him. But -he loves the bright eyes better than the blind ones, and is it to be -wondered at?” and the Queen rocked herself to and fro, and wailed -hopelessly. -</p> - -<p> -“O my mother, wilt thou break my heart?” sobbed Nur Jahan, throwing -herself down beside her. “Can we not both love my lord? I know well -that thy love for him has lasted longer, but must it needs be greater -than mine? My lord’s love is my life, and yet thou wilt not believe it -because I do not always weep when I am sad. O doctor lady, dost thou -not believe that I love my lord?” -</p> - -<p> -“What does the doctor lady know of it?” demanded the Queen. “But thou -art my son’s beloved, Nur Jahan, and for that I love thee also. But I -would thou wert as we are. Thou art of the idolaters through thy -father, and thou dost not grow like us. But thy life is like ours, -and, as years pass on, it will be more and more like mine, and if thou -dost not weep then, what wilt thou do? Those who do not weep go mad.” -</p> - -<p> -It was evident to Georgia that Nur Jahan was comforting herself with -the thought that her husband was very unlike his father, while the -Queen expected that in course of time he would exactly resemble him; -but she saw that the excitement was bad for her patient, and -interposed prosaically, with a suggestion as to the preparation of -beef-tea, which Nur Jahan took up at once, displaying practical powers -which encouraged Georgia to give her a first lesson in home nursing. -But in spite of this cheering fact, Georgia’s heart still ached as she -was carried back to the Mission in her litter, for she could not -forget the contrast between the girlish form of Nur Jahan and the -bowed and broken figure of the old Queen, who seemed so sure that her -daughter-in-law’s life must one day come to resemble her own. But -there was a trait in Nur Jahan’s character which had no part in that -of the Queen, and which would go far to render her lot even -harder—the adventurous spirit which her mother-in-law so bitterly -resented, and which had caused her to find a certain enjoyment in the -shifts and devices to which her husband had been obliged to have -recourse in order to see her. -</p> - -<p> -“Jahan Beg ought to have escaped from the country and brought her to -England, as he thought of doing,” was Georgia’s mental comment. “It is -his spirit she inherits, and it is cruel of him to rest satisfied with -the life to which he has condemned her. She is ready to welcome any -excitement, even of a disagreeable kind, as a relief to the monotony -of her existence. I can see that she is pining for outside interests, -though she doesn’t know it. In a man of English blood this would seem -quite natural and proper to every one, and why should it be different -for a woman? And what a life it is to which she has to look forward! -Even if Rustam Khan keeps his promise and marries no other wife, she -can only spend her days in doing nothing. Nothing to do for husband or -children, in the house or outside, and to be surrounded by a number of -other women as idle as herself! ‘Better fifty years of Europe than a -cycle of Cathay.’ I had rather have my thirty-two years of life than -the poor Queen’s fifty, queen and wife and mother though she is. Her -only advantage in being Queen is that she must not do the little -pieces of work which would have fallen to her in another position. As -a wife she has to share her husband with an indefinite number of other -women, and as a mother she sees her sons treated like Rustam Khan, and -her daughters condemned to the same kind of life as herself. Perhaps -Nur Jahan’s children may inherit enough of her character to enable -them to break the spell; but I am afraid the change won’t come in her -time. The East moves so slowly.” -</p> - -<p> -Since Georgia’s thoughts had been so deeply stirred on this subject, -it was not wonderful that she communicated her views to Dick when they -happened to be talking on the terrace that evening. She felt it a -necessity to share her reflections with some one, and to her surprise -he received them with unwonted meekness. -</p> - -<p> -“Kipling doesn’t agree with you,” was all he said in answer to her -estimate of the probable happiness of the Eastern as compared with -that of the Western woman. -</p> - -<p> -“Kipling!” said Georgia, in high scorn. -</p> - -<p> -“I thought you admired him?” -</p> - -<p> -“So I do. I think he is an excellent authority on men—at least, the -men seem to find it so—but what can he, or any man, know about women? -At best they can only see results and guess at causes. They observe -very carefully all that they can see, and give us the result of their -observations in knowing little remarks, half cynical and half -patronising, and think they have gauged a woman’s nature to its very -depths. Then she does something that throws all their calculations -wrong, and they say that she is shallow and fickle, and, above all, -unwomanly; whereas it is only that either their observations or their -deductions were incorrect.” -</p> - -<p> -“Still,” said Dick, “I am inclined to agree with a very comforting -doctrine I heard you enunciating to Stratford the other night. You -were speaking of the principle of balance, and you said that when one -side of the truth had been exclusively insisted upon for a time the -pendulum swung back and the other side became prominent until it was -the first one’s turn again. I thought it was a very good idea—for the -people who can keep just in the middle. Those who rush to either -extreme must find themselves rather left when the pendulum swings.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what has that to do with our present subject?” asked Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“It seems to me to apply. You see, the New—I beg your pardon; I know -you dislike the term—the modern female has had rather a long innings -lately. You have often said that you don’t agree with all her -developments, which seems pretty clear proof that she has at any rate -approached the extreme point. Well, Kipling comes to show us the other -side of the matter, exaggerated, perhaps; but that is unavoidable, -owing to the exaggerations on the lady’s part. At least, that is how -it strikes me.” -</p> - -<p> -“North, where are you?” said Stratford, appearing suddenly on the -terrace. “The Chief wants you for something.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick rose and disappeared, with an apology to Georgia, who leaned back -in her chair and smiled. -</p> - -<p> -“He is improving wonderfully,” she said to herself. “Two months ago he -would never have talked as he has to-night. Crushing assertions -without any proof used to be his idea of arguments. He must have taken -a lesson from Mr Stratford. Was he really listening all the time I was -talking to him the other night? He has certainly changed very much, -and I am very glad of it. It would have been most unpleasant if the -only man who could not bring himself to be civil to me was such an old -friend, and Mab’s brother.” -</p> - -<p> -If Mabel could have heard this soliloquy, it is probable that she -would have smiled darkly to herself, and remarked that her dear -Georgie must have been considerably piqued by Dick’s cavalier -behaviour for her to make such a point of having overcome his -opposition to herself. However, there was no one at hand to point out -to Georgia that she felt more satisfaction in one amicable -conversation with her former lover than in all the attentions of -Stratford and the doctor, who entertained no prejudice against medical -women, and always appreciated the honour of a talk with her. It may be -that it was merely the feeling that she had been victorious in -disarming Dick’s hostility which gave such a zest to her intercourse -with him; but if this was so, an incident which occurred a few days -later ought to have cast some additional light upon the subject. -</p> - -<p> -Matters had been going very smoothly at the Palace of late, and Sir -Dugald had the satisfaction of knowing that all the clauses of the -projected treaty had been in substance agreed to. It now only remained -to draw it up in formal shape, and to ratify it by the signatures, or -rather seals, of the contracting parties. While the draughtsmen on -both sides were busy reducing the notes taken during Sir Dugald’s -audiences of the King into suitably involved phraseology, the members -of the Mission enjoyed a short holiday. They made several expeditions -into the districts lying around the city, and one day the King invited -the gentlemen of the party to visit a summer-palace which he had -erected on a spur of the hills some fifteen miles away. Mr Hicks, who -had remained doggedly at his post in spite of the rebuff he had -received, and contrived to glean sufficient news from his talks with -Fath-ud-Din and the gossip of the Mission servants to fill the -requisite number of columns per week for his paper when supplemented -by his own lively imagination, was to be of the party, and the younger -men anticipated some amusement in baffling his insatiable curiosity. -They rode off in high spirits, the outward expression of which was -modified in deference to Sir Dugald, to whom the excursion appeared in -a light which was anything but pleasurable; and Lady Haigh and Georgia -resigned themselves to a long, slow, quiet day. It was not one of the -days on which Georgia visited her patient at the Palace, and therefore -Lady Haigh and she wrote up their diaries with great industry, -compiled several lengthy descriptive letters for the benefit of -friends at home, and filled in odd corners of time with reading and -talking. As the afternoon wore on, Lady Haigh went to remind the cook -to make a particular kind of cake, likely to be appreciated after a -long, dusty ride, for tea, and Georgia was left alone on the terrace. -</p> - -<p> -As she sat there reading, the noise of horses’ feet in the outer court -came to her ears, and she dropped her book, wondering whether the -party had already returned. Presently Fitz Anstruther made his -appearance under the archway which furnished a means of communication -between the two courtyards, and catching sight of Georgia on the -terrace, hurried towards her, followed by Dr Headlam. Fitz had -something in his hand, carefully wrapped up in leaves and tied with -wisps of grass, and as he reached the top of the steps he deposited it -at Georgia’s feet. -</p> - -<p> -“There, Miss Keeling,” he cried, in high delight, “I’ve got a spotted -viper for you, for the collection! He’s a really fine beast; that -measly old specimen the doctor got hold of hasn’t a look-in compared -with him. See him, now,” and he unrolled the wrappings and displayed, -as he said, a remarkably good specimen of the deadliest snake known to -Kubbet-ul-Haj. It was only about twenty-seven inches long, but the -spots, from which the Mission had given it its hopelessly unscientific -name, were unusually brilliant. -</p> - -<p> -“You very nearly had the chance of labelling him as a murderer,” Fitz -went on, holding up the snake’s head and examining its fangs with the -air of a connoisseur. “He reared up suddenly, just behind North, and -had his head stretched out to strike. North was leaning on his elbow -on the cushions, and when he saw all the Ethiopians staring at him as -pale as death, he turned round. There was no time to move away, and he -cut at the thing with his knife and missed. We were eating fruit just -then, all smothered in snow from the hills. Stratford had his revolver -out in a moment, and was going to fire, but I yelled out to him to -stop. I didn’t want the skin spoilt, and I knew that a shot at that -distance would smash the head all to smithereens. I had my riding-crop -handy, and I jumped up and managed to catch the beast such a whack -that it broke his spine or something. Anyhow, he was killed, and I -brought him home all the way on purpose for you, Miss Keeling.” -</p> - -<div class="fig"> -<a href="images/img_04.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_04_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -He reared up suddenly, just behind North, and had his head stretched -out to strike. -</div></div> - -<p> -Georgia had turned pale and stepped back a little as Fitz looked up -for her approval. Seeing her hesitation, Dr Headlam interposed. -</p> - -<p> -“It really was very neatly done, Miss Keeling, though it was a risky -thing, both for Anstruther and North. When I saw the crop come down, I -could hardly believe that in his ardour for science Anstruther had not -sacrificed North. It was a frightfully near business.” -</p> - -<p> -“Who cares about North?” Fitz wanted to know. “It’s a jolly good -specimen, Miss Keeling, and your beast is better than the doctor’s, at -any rate. Your collection will take the cake now, I know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Must it be stuffed?” asked Georgia, with unwonted timidity. “I don’t -like it. It—it frightens me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Miss Keeling!” cried Fitz, deeply wounded. But Dr Headlam -interposed again. -</p> - -<p> -“I should be pleased to stuff it for you, Miss Keeling; but don’t you -think that under the circumstances it would be better to take it home -in spirit? It is a new species, so far as we know, and this is quite -the finest specimen we have come across, so that some toxicologist -might be glad to dissect it. I think we must preserve it in the -interests of science.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes, of course, in the interests of science,” said Georgia, -unsteadily. “It is really very foolish of me to object to it,” she -went on, with a nervous little laugh. “I can stand most creatures, but -snakes are such horrible things. It makes me feel quite queer.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m awfully sorry,” said Fitz, moved to compunction. “I never thought -you mightn’t like it, Miss Keeling. I’ll tell my boy to throw the -beast away at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, please don’t,” said Georgia, “if Dr Headlam is kind enough to -preserve it. You will keep it over at your house with the rest of the -things, won’t you, doctor? And you mustn’t think I am not pleased with -it, Mr Anstruther. It was most kind and considerate of you to think of -me at such an exciting moment, and I shall value the snake always as a -memorial of your bravery and coolness,” and Georgia rushed away to her -own room, where she threw herself upon the divan and broke into wild -peals of laughter. That Fitz should think of saving the snake’s skin -whole for her when Dick North’s life was at stake! It was too funny! -Georgia laughed till she cried, and Lady Haigh came in and accused her -of going into hysterics—an accusation which was vehemently -denied—and administered cold water and particularly pungent -smelling-salts. -</p> - -<p> -But the snake was duly deposited in a huge bottle of spirit, and, in -common with the rest of the collection, became a prominent object in -Dr Headlam’s waiting-room. It inspired both awe and interest in the -patients, especially after Fitz—who sometimes assisted the doctor in -receiving his visitors—had delivered a lecture on the subject. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know when I have laughed so much,” said Dr Headlam, telling -the story after dinner that evening. “I happened to be a little late -in going into the surgery this morning, but when I got near the door I -became aware that Anstruther was improving the shining hour in the -waiting-room. His discourse sounded so interesting that I lay low just -outside and listened. It was delivered in English, helped out with all -the Eastern words he knew, but it was so vividly illustrated by -gestures that it seemed to have no difficulty in penetrating into the -minds of all the patients. ‘These all devils,’ he informed them, -pointing to the bottles of specimens; ‘big devils, little devils, all -shut up safe. See this one?’ he took down the celebrated snake, which -certainly does look rather vicious, coiled up in its bottle. ‘This -snake-devil—ghoul—<i>jinni</i>—<i>shaitan</i>; you see? This one, eye-devil,’ -pointing to that diseased eye which I removed for a man a fortnight -ago, and took such pains to preserve, ‘finger-devil, tongue-devil,’ -and so on. ‘Now, you like me to open one of these bottles?’ A -delicious shiver of anticipation went through the audience as he took -down the snake again. ‘You know what will happen if I throw it down? -There will be a great crash, and you will smell the vilest smell you -ever smelt in your lives, and you will see—what you will see, and -<i>the devil will be loose!</i> Now, one, two, three and——’ but they were -all on their knees begging and imploring him not to do it, and I -judged it as well to make my appearance at that juncture.” -</p> - -<p> -“You will have the town-boys raiding your diggings and destroying the -bottles to see what happens when the devil does get loose,” said -Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think so,” returned the doctor. “They are all so frightened -that it is as much as I can do now to get them into the same room with -the collection. It is as good as a watch-dog to me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Anstruther will have to be careful,” said Sir Dugald, with an -approach to a frown. “We don’t want our characters blackened by any -suspicion of dealings with infernal powers. I rather wish you had -broken one of the bottles before them, doctor, to convince them that -it was a joke.” -</p> - -<p> -“Rather it would have convinced them that I was letting out a -pestilence on the country,” said the doctor; “and they would simply -have gone away and died of fright, which would be clear proof that I -was their murderer. I think we are safer with the bottles unbroken.” -</p> - -<p> -“I never like fooling about with supernatural nonsense in these -countries,” said Sir Dugald. “It gives the people a handle, and they -are not likely to be slow in taking it. As we four are alone together, -I may give you a hint that I expect trouble before long. Things have -been going too smoothly of late, and Kustendjian tells me that Hicks -said to him yesterday, ‘Your old man has squared Fath-ud-Din nicely up -to now; but what will he do when the bill comes in? He ought to know -by this time that the man who calls for the drinks pays.’ I cannot -flatter myself, unfortunately, that I have squared Fath-ud-Din; but if -he considers that I have attempted to do it, it is quite on the cards -that he will send in his bill. We can refuse payment, of course; but I -am afraid that will not better our position very much.” -</p> - -<p> -The justice of Sir Dugald’s words was recognised a little later, after -another mysterious evening visit from Fath-ud-Din. The Vizier came to -the Mission because he wished to know when his rival was to be -permanently removed from his path. He had done all in his power to -smooth the progress of the negotiations; but Sir Dugald had made no -attempt to accuse Jahan Beg to the King or to demand his extradition. -The answer was simple. Sir Dugald had declared his readiness to demand -the surrender of Jahan Beg if it could be proved that he was in exile -in consequence of any crime committed on British territory; but not a -vestige of evidence that such was the case had been brought forward, -and it was impossible to extradite him merely for the sake of pleasing -the Grand Vizier. On hearing this, Fath-ud-Din flew into a transport -of rage, and, from the words he let fall in his anger, Sir Dugald -gathered that he had been expected to be prepared with a case against -Jahan Beg, and false witnesses to support it, in return for the -Vizier’s help. This was a little too much even for Sir Dugald’s -self-control, and, in the few minutes that followed, Fath-ud-Din -probably heard a larger number of home-truths, delivered in a cold, -judicial voice that was more effective than any amount of shouting, -than he had ever done before in his life. Baffled and disappointed, -the Minister left the Mission, muttering curses between his teeth, and -was observed by Kustendjian to pause outside and shake his fist at the -building, and to spit towards the flagstaff on which the Union-jack -was wont to be hoisted in the outer courtyard. From which signs the -discerning Armenian inferred, as Mr Hicks had done before him, that -there was trouble brewing. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch09"> -CHAPTER IX.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">STRAINED RELATIONS.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -On the following morning there was no change to be observed in the -aspect of the Mission. Only the gentlemen of the party were acquainted -with the fact of the Vizier’s sudden declaration of war, and they -shared Sir Dugald’s opinion that it would be bad policy to allow -Fath-ud-Din to see that his threats had any effect upon their minds. -The great gates were therefore opened as usual to allow the customary -throng of country-people and other sellers of fresh provisions to -enter and hold their market in the outer court, and the flag, hoisted -at sunrise, floated proudly from its staff in front of Bachelors’ -Buildings. -</p> - -<p> -Fitz Anstruther left the Mission early that morning on an errand of -his own. He had set his heart on getting Miss Keeling a Persian kitten -in the bazaar, and immediately after disposing of his <i>chota hazri</i> he -induced the interpreter to come out with him and assist him in making -his purchase, as, although he had succeeded in making an Ethiopian -audience understand his scientific lecture, he felt a well-grounded -distrust of his own powers of conducting a bargain in the currency of -the country. The absence of the two was soon discovered; but although -Sir Dugald testified some displeasure when he found that Kustendjian -was not at hand to go on with the drafting of the treaty, no anxiety -was felt as to their safety, since none of the staff had hesitated to -walk or ride about the city without an escort after the first week of -their stay there. -</p> - -<p> -It was considered advisable to take no notice of the Vizier’s visit, -and to exhibit a readiness to continue the negotiations as before, and -therefore Sir Dugald and his staff assembled as usual in what was -called the Durbar-hall, a large airy room on the ground-floor of -Bachelors’ Buildings. Here they awaited the appearance either of -Kustendjian or of an emissary from the Palace, Dr Headlam lingering -for a talk before departing to his expectant patients opposite. He had -just heaved a sigh and taken up his helmet, preparatory to seeking his -own domain, when a distant sound, gradually increasing in volume, -broke upon the ears of those in the room. It might have been rolling -thunder, or the roar of wild beasts, or the rush of a torrent; but -there was no reason why it should be any of these. Sir Dugald raised -his head and listened attentively. -</p> - -<p> -“I have heard that in the Mutiny,” he said. “The town is up about -something, and they are coming in this direction. Have you all your -revolvers here, gentlemen?” -</p> - -<p> -Each man produced his weapon promptly, and Sir Dugald led the way out -on the verandah, the whole party holding their breath to listen to the -sound. The servants had noticed it also, and were standing about in -the courtyard with pale faces, listening intently. Some, as the noise -grew nearer, crept back to their own quarters in terror, the rest -gathered in a group and looked to their masters for orders. -</p> - -<p> -“Turn all those Ethiopians out,” said Sir Dugald, pointing to the -salesmen and women who had been exhibiting their wares in the -courtyard, “and shut the gates.” -</p> - -<p> -No further command was needed. The servants obeyed the order -zealously, bundling the unhappy country-people out neck and crop, and -throwing their possessions after them. But before they could clear the -courtyard of the bewildered and terrified crowd there was a fresh -commotion at the gateway, and Fitz forced his way in, followed by -Kustendjian, and rushed up to Sir Dugald. -</p> - -<p> -“There’s a regular howling mob coming this way, sir!” he cried. “We -saw old Fath-ud-Din’s steward, who goes to the Palace with him, and -another man, stirring them up against us in the bazaar, and when we -came away they followed us, and then chased us. They are saying that -we have annexed the country, and that the flag is the sign of it. They -mean to tear it down.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah!” said Sir Dugald, quietly, stepping down from the verandah. “Put -your revolvers into your pockets, gentlemen; we won’t use them at -present. Fetch your riding-whips, if you please, or a good strong -lithe cane, if you have one, any of you. We will not shed blood unless -we are driven to it.” -</p> - -<p> -The young men rushed to their quarters for the required weapons, -returning to find Sir Dugald standing beside the flagstaff with his -revolver in his hand. The confusion at the gate had been increased by -the arrival of the mob outside, for they found their entrance impeded -not only by the servants who were doing their best to close the doors, -but by the mixed multitude of their own people who were in process of -being expelled. But the piles of merchandise thrown down or dropped in -the gateway made it impossible for the doors to be shut, and Sir -Dugald turned to Fitz. -</p> - -<p> -“Go back to the verandah, Mr Anstruther, and blow your whistle to call -the servants in. Concentrate them in the front rooms on that floor, -and serve out the rifles and ammunition; but, remember, not a shot is -to be fired so long as we are out here. It would be the death of all -of us. If we are driven in we will bring the flag with us; but until -we come, you fire at your peril.” -</p> - -<p> -As Fitz obeyed, and the sound of his whistle rang out clear and -shrill, penetrating even the hubbub at the gate, and causing the -servants to abandon their futile efforts and turn to run to the house, -Sir Dugald addressed his companions. -</p> - -<p> -“Stratford, you are the tallest. Keep your revolver out, and stand by -the flagstaff. Shoot down the first man that lays a hand on the -halliards. No; on second thoughts I will take that post myself. It is -possible that I am a little cooler in the head than you, and it is -certain that you are a good deal stronger of arm than I am. Take your -places in front of the flag, gentlemen; that’s it. Your business is to -let no one pass you. This is not an armed mob; it is just -Fath-ud-Din’s <i>badmashes</i>, and sticks and whips ought to keep them -back. I needn’t tell you to lay it on well. Never mind how hard you -hit.” -</p> - -<p> -“Here they come!” said the doctor; and as the last servant broke out -of the crowd by the gate and fled to the house the mob burst in with a -roar. They made straight for the flag, but paused and recoiled at the -sight of the three younger men with their whips, and Sir Dugald, -revolver in hand, leaning idly against the flagstaff. -</p> - -<p> -“Not much pluck in <i>them</i>!” muttered Dick, disgustedly; but as though -they had understood the disparaging words, the mob gathered their -courage together and came on again. In a moment the younger men found -themselves engaged in a furious hand-to-hand encounter, in which fists -and whips were opposed to the force of numbers. Fitz declared -afterwards that he could hear over all the din of the struggle the -sound of the blows as they fell, although the howling of those who -received them ought to have drowned the noise. Once or twice Sir -Dugald raised his revolver and let it drop again, for in the whole -course of the short, sharp fight no one actually got within the ring -of defenders, and presently Fitz, exceeding his orders, seized the -psychological instant for a most opportune diversion. Besides rifles, -he had provided the servants with all the sticks he could muster; and -when he saw the mob begin to give way, he led forth half his force to -clear the courtyard. Fear of the defenders plainly visible at the -windows had hitherto kept the space between the flagstaff and the -house free of intruders, and now the sturdy frontiersmen, covered by -the rifles of their friends behind, advanced against the foe, laying -about them as they came with hearty goodwill. Gradually the mob -yielded their ground. Firing they might perhaps have faced, but this -extremely unheroic method of fighting disgusted them with the sport. -As the defenders closed their ranks and pressed the fugitives harder, -the retreat became a rout, nay, a headlong race—an obstacle race—in -which every man was eager to save his back from blows. The last -remnants of the mob struggled through the gateway at last, and the -courtyard was clear, and the honour of the flag maintained, without -the shedding of a drop of blood. -</p> - -<p> -“Clear that rubbish away and close the gates,” said Sir Dugald. “We -will keep them shut in future, and the people must bring their things -to sell in the street outside. That market of theirs nearly did for us -to-day.” -</p> - -<p> -Although the non-arrival of any help from the authorities might have -led to the conclusion that the riot had been inaudible in other parts -of the city, no sooner was it over, and the enemy driven out, than an -official appeared from the King to congratulate the victors—exactly, -said Fitz, as he would have done had the result gone the other way, -save that his congratulations might then have had a little sincerity -in them. But the messenger who came to congratulate went away grave, -for Sir Dugald committed to him a full statement of the morning’s -proceedings, to be laid before the King, with the intimation that -unless apologies were at once offered and the instigators of the -demonstration punished, the negotiations would be broken off forthwith -and the Mission would return to Khemistan. There was no doubt that it -was exceedingly injudicious of Fath-ud-Din to have allowed his -servants to be seen stirring up the mob; and the official, in deep -perplexity, turned over in his mind the relative disadvantages of -offending the Vizier by informing the King of the truth, and on the -other hand, of angering the King if Sir Dugald took his departure, and -the facts which had brought it about became known. -</p> - -<p> -How the messenger settled matters with his conscience was unknown for -the present to the party at the Mission, for the next person they saw -was Mr Hicks, who flew to the spot on the wings of zeal the moment -that the news of the outbreak reached him. Stratford declared that his -countenance expressed deep disappointment when he realised that the -courtyard was not filled with the dead and dying, and that the flag -hung unscathed; but the doctor maintained that he was prejudiced, and -that Mr Hicks had hurried to offer his help in the defence, heedless -of the danger he might incur in meeting the defeated mob. However this -might be, Mr Hicks warmed with enthusiasm when he was told the story -of the morning, and finally advanced to Sir Dugald and grasped him by -the hand. -</p> - -<p> -“General,” he said; “shake! You are a white man, you are. You have -licked that poor ordinary crowd of niggers in a way to earn you the -eternal gratitude of every Western stranger that circumstances may -drive to sojourn in this uncared-for state. But I guess that your -troubles are only beginning, sir.” -</p> - -<p> -“Possibly,” said Sir Dugald, with perfect unconcern. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, if things look black, you have only to pass me the word, -General, and I will vamoose my ranche yonder and come and give you a -hand. I should be right down proud to fight shoulder to shoulder with -the man that turned back that mob without shedding a drop of blood.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are very kind,” said Sir Dugald, with a complete lack of -enthusiasm. “I can assure you that things must go very badly with us -before we seek to involve you in our troubles”—a reply delivered with -so much urbanity that Mr Hicks could not at first decide whether his -offer was accepted or refused. -</p> - -<p> -The next visitor appeared in the course of the afternoon, and was no -other than the Grand Vizier himself. It was evident that the royal -messenger had decided upon telling his master the truth, for -Fath-ud-Din came to offer suitable apologies for the conduct of his -retainers. The steward, he said, was an old family servant, who, owing -to his constant intercourse with his master, had imbibed from him such -exalted ideas of patriotism that on hearing the treaty discussed, and -conceiving it to be unduly advantageous to England, he had felt moved -to stir up the townspeople against it, his religious zeal having also -been inflamed by the memories and hardships incidental to the month of -Ramadan, which had just ended. The other instigator of the outbreak -was a young theological student, a member of a class which was often -unruly and troublesome, and which had great influence with the people. -It was preposterous to imagine that the Vizier could have had any -previous knowledge of the doings of these two fanatics, and he had -come to declare his sorrow that it had been in the power of such -wretches not only to annoy and alarm the Mission, but also to involve -in their disgrace his own spotless name. He had given immediate orders -that they were both to be severely punished, and if Sir Dugald liked, -he would have them brought in and bastinadoed before him, so that he -might assure himself that they had received their deserts. In any case -(as Sir Dugald politely declined the proffered satisfaction for -himself, while intimating that he would send a representative to see -that the punishment was duly carried out), he brought assurances that -the King of all kings felt the deepest regret for the way in which -things had turned out, and entreated that the Envoy would not withdraw -the light of his countenance from Kubbet-ul-Haj, but would overlook -the fright and annoyance which had been caused to the Mission, and -remain in Ethiopia until the treaty had been duly concluded. -</p> - -<p> -“Fright?” said Sir Dugald—for the Vizier had emphasised the word, and -repeated it more than once in different forms—“I saw no particular -signs of fright about our people. What we felt was more like disgust. -Apart from the violation of courtesy and propriety in the attack made -on the flag, it was disagreeably close work down in the court there -with that crowd pressing all round us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, my lord the Envoy is a soldier, and knows not fear, and his young -men are brave also,” replied Fath-ud-Din, stroking his beard; “but the -women—my lord’s household—surely their hearts became as water when -they heard the shouts of the people?” -</p> - -<p> -“This is the first I have heard of it, if they did,” replied Sir -Dugald; “but then, I was not in a position to observe their behaviour. -Mr Anstruther, you were in command at the rear. What were the ladies -doing while the fighting was going on? Was there any fainting or -screaming?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, sir. The ladies were on our roof here, watching the fun.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that was extremely injudicious. If we had been obliged to -evacuate Bachelors’ Buildings, their presence would have added -immensely to our difficulties. You should have ordered them down, and -insisted on their returning to their own quarters.” -</p> - -<p> -“So I did, sir.” There was a gleam of fun in Fitz’s eyes. “I ran up -there myself to insist with greater effect, and they laughed at me. It -was flat mutiny, but I could not spare sufficient men to put them -under arrest.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, the women were driven mad by terror. Their feet were weighed down -so that they could not move,” said Fath-ud-Din pityingly, when this -had been translated to him. -</p> - -<p> -“And just at the beginning, sir,” Fitz went on to Sir Dugald, “when -there was that crush in the gateway, Miss Keeling sent her maid down -to ask me whether I couldn’t tell the people not to move about quite -so much, because she wanted to sketch them. That was how I first found -out that Lady Haigh and she were up there; but I didn’t think that the -remark showed a proper sense of the seriousness of the situation. I -assure you that it pained me very much, sir.” -</p> - -<p> -“Just translate that to the Vizier, Mr Kustendjian,” said Sir Dugald, -but again incredulity was written on Fath-ud-Din’s face. -</p> - -<p> -“Surely my lord knows, as I do,” he said, “that the young man is one -of those who delight to laugh at the beards of their elders, and to -utter the thing that is not true, to the confusion of their own -faces?” -</p> - -<p> -“I see that we shall have to convince this gentleman by the evidence -of his own senses,” remarked Sir Dugald, addressing no one in -particular. “Mr Anstruther, would you be kind enough to find out what -the ladies are doing now?” -</p> - -<p> -“They are working on the terrace, sir,” said Fitz, returning, “and the -servants are just bringing in afternoon tea.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very well. Be so good as to ask Lady Haigh to have coffee brought in -as well, and tell her that Fath-ud-Din is coming to pay her a visit. -She and Miss Keeling had better put on those veils of theirs, by the -bye, for we don’t want any more complications introduced into this -business.” -</p> - -<p> -Fitz departed on his errand in high glee, and when a decent interval -had been allowed for the transformation to be effected, Sir Dugald, -after a few preliminary remarks tending to impress Fath-ud-Din with a -sense of the greatness of the honour about to be conferred upon him, -led his guest into the inner courtyard, and up the steps to the -terrace. Here, indeed, there was little sign of panic. There were -books and work about, and Georgia’s sketching materials were visible -in a corner. She herself had the Persian kitten, which Fitz had -brought home in his pocket in the morning, asleep on her lap, while -Lady Haigh was pouring out tea with a hand in which the keenest gaze -could not distinguish the slightest tendency to tremble. The Vizier -looked disappointed—this is putting it mildly, for the young men -agreed afterwards that his expression was fiendish—but he appeared to -be reflecting that the veils in which his hostesses were shrouded -might be serving a useful purpose in concealing the traces of fear, -for presently he turned to Sir Dugald. -</p> - -<p> -“Let not my lord be offended if I entreat him to inquire of his -household whether terror did not seize them this morning,” he said, -meekly enough. -</p> - -<p> -“By no means,” returned Sir Dugald, genially. “Elma, the Vizier would -like to know whether you were frightened when his people were kicking -up that row in the courtyard?” -</p> - -<p> -“Frightened?” snapped Lady Haigh. “What was there to be frightened -about, I should like to know?” The measureless scorn in her eyes and -voice evidently reached Fath-ud-Din in spite of the double barrier of -the foreign language and the <i>burka</i>, for he swallowed his cupful of -scalding coffee hastily, and it was necessary to recover him from a -choking fit before he could proceed with his inquiry. -</p> - -<p> -“Then will my lord ask the doctor lady, who has no husband to protect -her with the might of his arm and the power of his name, whether she -was not terrified?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Frightened?” returned Georgia, when the question had been put to her. -“Oh dear, no! I have a revolver. I think,” she added, carelessly, -after a pause to let the information she had just given sink in, “that -it was only the kitten which was frightened. Poor little thing! It was -in a pitiable state when I rescued it from Mr Anstruther’s -coat-pocket.” -</p> - -<p> -“By the head of our lord the King,” burst out Fath-ud-Din, rising -hurriedly, “these are no women, but fighting men!” -</p> - -<p> -“Isn’t it worth your while, then, to strain a point in order to gain -an alliance with a nation that has such women?” asked Sir Dugald, -seizing the opportunity to point a moral. -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, rather,” said the Vizier, retreating to the steps as he spoke, -“what are we doing to admit within our borders a nation whose very -women are of such a temper as this?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m sure that was the sweetest compliment that the New Woman has ever -received,” said Dick to Georgia, as Sir Dugald, followed by Stratford -and Fitz, escorted his discomfited guest across the courtyard. -</p> - -<p> -“Major North,” said Lady Haigh, briskly, “I consider that you are -distinctly rude to your Chief’s wife. I don’t know whether you mean to -deny me a share in Fath-ud-Din’s pretty speech, or to insinuate that I -am a New Woman; but, in either case, I think that your conduct is -sadly lacking in respect.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think Major North meant to be rude, Lady Haigh,” said -Georgia, playing with the kitten’s tail. “His tongue ran away with -him. It is a habit it has sometimes.” -</p> - -<p> -“I apologise humbly, Lady Haigh,” said Dick. “In any case, what I have -just heard would have forced me to believe that the New Woman was very -like the old one. Now if either you or Miss Keeling would do me the -honour of having the last word, my submission would be complete.” -</p> - -<p> -“The question is,” said Sir Dugald, returning to the tea-table with -Stratford while Lady Haigh and Georgia were still laughing, “what was -it exactly that Fath-ud-Din hoped to gain by this attack on us?” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you don’t think he was trying to wipe out the Mission at one -blow?” asked Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“No, I don’t, unless he hoped that we should be provoked into firing -on the mob, when the whole country would have risen against us. But I -don’t fancy that was his game. I think he must have been trying to -terrify us into withdrawing from Ethiopia at once, or else into -bribing him largely to get the treaty signed immediately.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think he has received a little enlightenment as to the possibility -of squeezing us,” said Dick, with a grim smile. “My only cause for -misgiving is a doubt whether the ladies could ever again rise to the -superhuman height of heroism they displayed just now. Any weakening in -that attitude in the presence of danger might lead to unfavourable -remarks.” -</p> - -<p> -“He is trying to punish us for what we said just now, Georgia,” said -Lady Haigh, amiably. “Never mind; when the danger comes he shall see -whether either of us weakens, as Mr Hicks would say.” -</p> - -<p> -And the matter dropped amidst general laughter, which was perhaps what -Dick wanted, for after tea he asked for an interview with Sir Dugald, -and laid before him various expedients for rendering the Mission more -easily defensible. These measures he was authorised to adopt, but -without alarming the ladies, and he flattered himself that he was -successful in this, and that Lady Haigh and Georgia never perceived -that he drilled the servants each morning in the outer court, or that -he had divided them into watches, each of which took its turn in -remaining under arms. He had the more reason for this belief of his, -in that the ladies had other things to think of, for matters seemed to -have quieted down, and Georgia went to the Palace as usual, while Sir -Dugald’s audiences of the King were resumed, the subject of discussion -at present being the exact wording of the treaty, the provisions of -which had already been agreed upon. -</p> - -<p> -It was noticed by the members of the Mission that the King’s manner -seemed to have changed since the outbreak, and that he was by no means -so easy to please even as he had been. He cavilled at points which had -already been definitely settled, and did his best to produce the -impression that he considered the treaty extremely disadvantageous to -Ethiopia. This was the more serious in that Jahan Beg reported the -reappearance upon the scene of the Scythian agent, with larger -presents and more abundant promises, and it was calculated to suggest -that the King wished to irritate Sir Dugald into breaking off the -negotiations. But long experience of the East had made Sir Dugald the -most patient of men—in public—and his staff were astonished at the -mildness with which he altered the wording of a clause again and -again, without ever abating one jot of the concessions he had -determined to obtain. His mingled tact and resolution carried the day -at last. The treaty was agreed upon in its entirety, and after being -engrossed on parchment by the King’s scribes, was read through to the -Envoy, behind whom stood the interpreter Kustendjian, ready to mark -the slightest deviation from the prescribed formula. There now -remained only the actual signing of the convention, and it was -arranged that Fath-ud-Din should bring the instrument, bearing the -seals of the King and the Grand Vizier, to the Mission in the morning, -there to receive Sir Dugald’s signature, after which the British -expedition might take its departure peacefully and honourably from -Kubbet-ul-Haj. -</p> - -<p> -The day on which the treaty was to be signed was an important one also -to Georgia, for she had decided, after much consultation with Dr -Headlam, who could not, of course, see the patient, but who gave all -the advice that his experience of like cases suggested to him, to -undertake at last the operation on the Queen’s eyes. The state of the -patient’s general health was not yet as satisfactory as her doctor -could have desired, but when any day might bring about the departure -of the Mission, Georgia felt that she dared not delay longer. Even as -it was, there was little hope that she would be able to be present -when, after the necessary interval, the bandages could be removed from -the Queen’s eyes, and her professional conscience was troubled at the -possibility of leaving her work only half-done. But Sir Dugald was far -too anxious to get his followers safely out of Ethiopia to be willing -to spend a week or a fortnight longer in the country in order that -Georgia might see the result of her handiwork, and all she could do -was to explain everything very carefully, with Rahah’s help, to Nur -Jahan, and give her full directions in case of the occurrence of -various possible contingencies. The actual operation was performed -without a hitch, and Georgia felt deeply relieved as she fastened the -bandages, impressing on the Queen and all her attendants that they -were on no account to be removed until the specified time had elapsed. -The Mission was not likely, in any case, to take its departure until -three or four days had passed, and she promised to come in again at -least once more in order to note the patient’s state, and oftener if -she were summoned. -</p> - -<p> -Nur Jahan escorted her to the door of the harem, plying her with -questions as to the treatment the patient ought to receive, and the -means by which Georgia had gained her medical skill. The girl had -already proved herself such an apt pupil that Georgia sighed again -over the thought that a medical career was an impossibility for her, -but she kept her promise loyally to Jahan Beg. The litter was not -ready when they reached the harem courtyard, and while it was being -prepared she stood in the doorway talking to Nur Jahan, but leaving -the questions as to her own hospital experiences unanswered, devoted -the time to reiterating her directions for the Queen’s treatment. -Presently a burst of laughter and loud talking reached her ears from -the rooms on the other side of the courtyard, and she looked across to -a balcony in which the forms of several women could be descried. They -were evidently attendants on the King’s second wife, Antar Khan’s -mother, who was frantically jealous of her rival owing to her monopoly -of the services of the doctor lady, and who had shown this feeling in -various unpleasant ways. She was much too proud to invite a visit from -Georgia, or even to feign illness as an excuse for summoning her, and -therefore she and her faction chose to regard the doctor lady as the -dirt under their feet. They drew aside their clothes when they passed -her, affected to consider the rooms in which she had been received as -unclean, and seized every opportunity of insulting her from a safe -distance. -</p> - -<p> -The adherents of Rustam Khan’s mother, on the other hand, fully -appreciated the reasons for this state of things, and exulted over -their opponents on every possible occasion. They prided themselves on -their exclusive possession of the doctor lady, and would have rejoiced -in the opportunity of denying her services to the opposite party in a -case of dangerous illness. They had just shouted across the courtyard -the news of the satisfactory performance of the operation, and their -rivals were naturally moved to wrath. Hence they had assembled in -their balcony to point the finger of scorn at Georgia, and to jeer at -her and Nur Jahan, whose own position in the Palace was so uncertain -that she dared not run the risk of getting her husband into disgrace -by appealing to the King. -</p> - -<p> -“Thou art very proud, O doctor lady,” cried a strong-lunged damsel, -leaning over the rail of the balcony, “but when next we see thee thou -wilt be entreating mercy at our lady’s feet.” -</p> - -<p> -Rahah translated the prophecy to her mistress at once, and Georgia, in -sudden alarm, turned to Nur Jahan. -</p> - -<p> -“You are our friend, Nur Jahan? If you knew of any plot against the -Mission, you would warn me?” -</p> - -<p> -“I would risk my life and all that I have to warn thee in such a case, -O doctor lady,” replied Nur Jahan, earnestly; “but what I fear is a -plot of which I should know nothing.” -</p> - -<p> -With these ominous words ringing in her ears, Georgia entered the -litter, and returned to the Mission in a somewhat perturbed state of -mind. It seemed, however, that there was nothing going on that need -excite her alarm. The Grand Vizier and his attendants had just brought -the treaty to be ratified, and Georgia caught a glimpse of the -assemblage as she passed through into the inner courtyard with Rahah. -Had she guessed what was about to happen in the Durbar-hall, nothing -would have induced her to leave the outer court. -</p> - -<p> -On the table before Sir Dugald lay the treaty, written out with the -greatest care and delicacy on a huge sheet of parchment, and -displaying the most wonderful flourishes and other decorations at the -beginning of every clause. At the other side of the table stood -Fath-ud-Din, his attendants crowding behind him and peering eagerly -over his shoulder to watch Sir Dugald. The Envoy had taken the pen -from the hand of Fitz, and was glancing down the parchment for the -exact place at which he was to affix his signature. To all appearance -the treaty was the same that had been read over to him the day before, -and yet some suspicion entered his mind, prompted by his instinctive -caution. He would not trust to his own slight knowledge of the -Ethiopian language, but called Kustendjian forward. -</p> - -<p> -“Be so good as to summarise that for me,” he said, laying his finger -on the clause which concerned the appointment of a British Resident, -with jurisdiction over British subjects in Ethiopia, who should take -up his abode at Iskandarbagh. -</p> - -<p> -The Armenian’s eyes grew wide as he advanced and scanned the passage -pointed out by Sir Dugald. “The Resident is to have no power to decide -any cause in dispute between a British subject and an Ethiopian, nor -between two British subjects when the question concerns property or -other interests situated in Ethiopia, your Excellency,” he said, in a -low voice. -</p> - -<p> -“And that,” said Sir Dugald, indicating the clause by which British -goods, with the exception of munitions of war and ardent spirits, were -to be allowed entrance into Ethiopia upon payment of duties not -exceeding a certain percentage of the value, which were to be imposed -by the King and approved by England. -</p> - -<p> -“The minimum duty is to be a hundred per cent <i>ad valorem</i>, and there -is no proviso as to the approval of her Majesty’s Government, your -Excellency. Every one of the clauses has had additions or omissions -made in it, which render it absolutely useless for all practical -purposes.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you, Mr Kustendjian.” Sir Dugald laid down the pen -deliberately, and took up the treaty. The Ethiopians present had -watched his actions with eager interest, but could read nothing from -his face. Now, however, he seemed to their guilty consciences to rise -and tower above them (under normal circumstances he was under middle -height), as he tore the tough parchment across and across, and flung -the fragments over the table to Fath-ud-Din. -</p> - -<div class="fig"> -<a href="images/img_05.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_05_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -He tore the tough parchment across and across... -</div></div> - -<p> -“Take those to your master,” he said; “and be thankful that I don’t -call the servants to drive you out of the courtyard as they drove your -hired ruffians last week. The Mission leaves Kubbet-ul-Haj to-day.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch10"> -CHAPTER X.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">CAUGHT AND CAGED.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -When the Grand Vizier and his companions had been conducted to the -door by the servants, and the gates had closed behind them, Sir Dugald -turned from the table at which he had been standing motionless, and -addressed Dick. The work of months had been overthrown, and the -success by which he had hoped to put the crowning touch to his -official career rendered impossible of attainment; but his first -thought was to vindicate the outraged dignity of his country, insulted -in his person. -</p> - -<p> -“When you made your inspection of the stables this morning, Major -North, were the animals all in?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, sir; this is my weekly inspection, and the camels which had been -out at pasture were brought in by their drivers to be passed. They all -looked very fit; but we have not much forage for them in store.” -</p> - -<p> -“We must chance that. I should be glad if you would have our -riding-horses, together with a sufficient number of camels to carry -the tents and their furniture, brought round here two hours before -sunset. It would be impossible to travel far to-day, but if we are -outside the city the required moral effect will be produced. I shall -leave you and Anstruther behind to bring on the stores and the heavy -luggage. We will travel by slow stages until you come up with us, and -then we must make forced marches, and get out of the country as fast -as possible, for we shall have no escort this time.” -</p> - -<p> -For the first time in his life Dick hesitated to obey an order. -</p> - -<p> -“But the ladies, sir,” he suggested. “Is it safe?” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it safe for them here? The sooner we have them out of the city, -the safer they will be,” and Dick, silenced, went to do his errand at -the various stables in which the baggage-animals of the Mission were -quartered. -</p> - -<p> -To say that the sudden order to pack up and be ready to start on the -homeward journey that very afternoon was startling to the ladies would -be to mince matters, for it came upon them like a thunder-clap; but -Lady Haigh was an old traveller, whom no vicissitudes could disturb -for long, and Georgia was a soldier’s daughter, and they were both -resolved that the honour of England should not be dragged in the dust -on their account by the delay of a moment after the appointed hour of -starting. Accordingly, they set to work immediately to take down and -wrap up and stow away all the possessions with which they had made the -house homelike during their tenancy of it, and were in the act of -packing their dresses (which, as every lady will know, always occupy -the topmost place in a box), when Dick made his appearance on the -terrace. Georgia, who was standing at the table pulling out the -sleeves of a favourite silk blouse, which she had just rescued from -the ruthless hands of Rahah, looked at him in surprise, for his face -was grave and set. -</p> - -<p> -“Please don’t say that you want us to start this moment,” she said, -cheerfully. “Lady Haigh and I are willing to make any sacrifice in -reason for our country, but we had rather not leave our best dresses -behind.” -</p> - -<p> -“It won’t be necessary,” returned Dick, trying, but with poor success, -to speak in the same tone. “We shall not leave to-day, after all.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not leave to-day!” cried Lady Haigh, coming out on the terrace, and -folding up a skirt at the same time. “Then when do we start?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not just yet, I fear. The fact is, the King is trying on a little -joke with us. He has fetched away all our horses and camels, and we -can’t get them back.” -</p> - -<p> -“But when did he do it? and where are they gone?” asked Lady Haigh, in -hot indignation. -</p> - -<p> -“He must have done it immediately after I had come away from the -stables after picking out the beasts for your start this evening. -Where they are gone I don’t know; but we can’t hire any others, and we -can’t very well walk, and therefore I suppose we must stay here.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it is such a bad precedent to let him get the better of us like -this!” cried Lady Haigh. “It is such absolute stealing, too. Are the -servants gone as well as the animals?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, they have all been marched off to fresh quarters somewhere. That -thins our forces sadly.” -</p> - -<p> -“So it does,” Lady Haigh assented, gravely. “But never mind; if the -King won’t let us leave the city, we will make ourselves happy where -we are.” -</p> - -<p> -“And perhaps,” suggested Georgia, “it is merely that the King is sorry -for his treachery about the treaty, and wants to prevent Sir Dugald’s -leaving Kubbet-ul-Haj in anger. He may mean to resume the negotiations -to-morrow.” -</p> - -<p> -“He may,” agreed Dick, but his face was not hopeful as he returned -across the courtyard, while the ladies took the things out of the -boxes they had just packed. Still, the events of the next morning -seemed to confirm Georgia’s cheerful augury, for an embassy came from -the King to Sir Dugald, headed, not by the Grand Vizier (possibly he -felt a slight doubt as to the nature of the reception he was likely to -meet with), but by the official who had superintended the -establishment of the Mission in its present quarters. In the message -which he brought, Sir Dugald was entreated to overlook the incident of -the day before, which had been devised by the King merely as a test of -his shrewdness, and was in no way a serious attempt to induce him to -sign a false treaty. If he would only come to the Palace to-day, the -original treaty should be ready for his signature, and the King would -affix his seal to it in his presence. At first Sir Dugald returned an -absolute refusal to this invitation, but the messenger reappeared with -it twice, adding such solemn and earnest assurances of its genuine -character, that he consented to talk the matter over with his staff. -Lady Haigh and Georgia invited themselves to assist at the discussion, -and the first thing that opened Georgia’s eyes to the gravity of the -situation was the fact that Sir Dugald made no protest against the -irregularity of this proceeding. -</p> - -<p> -“You won’t go, Dugald?” said Lady Haigh, anxiously. “Probably it is -only a trap. Remember Macnaghten.” -</p> - -<p> -“Couldn’t you manage to suggest any more cheerful reminiscence?” asked -Sir Dugald. -</p> - -<p> -“You really mean to go, sir?” asked Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“I think so. After all, what happened yesterday may have been only a -trick, as this man says, though I don’t think the King would have -hesitated to profit by it if I had signed the false treaty. At any -rate, so long as there is a chance of our coming off victorious, we -ought not to let it slip. This treaty is of immense importance, for it -brings Ethiopia within our sphere of influence, and when once it is -concluded, we can snap our fingers at Scythia and Neustria. You see as -well as I do that if we withdraw now and negotiations are resumed -later, Scythia will have had time to slip in and conclude her treaty. -I grant that we have a very slender chance of success, but if it -depends on me I will not lose it. Still, I don’t wish to take you into -danger against your better judgment, gentlemen. Your lives are at -stake as much as mine, and if you think it advisable not to go to the -Palace, I will dispense with your attendance on this occasion.” -</p> - -<p> -“We will go wherever you go, Sir Dugald,” said Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“Wherever you go,” echoed the rest. -</p> - -<p> -“But I can’t take all of you,” said Sir Dugald. “Two of you must stay -here and look after the ladies. I don’t like dividing our force, but -it would be poor strategy to let them be seized as hostages while we -were away. You see what I mean, Elma? I will leave you North and the -doctor as a garrison, and you and the servants must put yourselves -under their orders and help to defend the place if it is attacked.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, Dugald,” returned Lady Haigh, resolutely, regardless of the fact -that she was indulging in open mutiny, “unless Major North goes with -you, you shall not go to the Palace at all. Dr Headlam and we can -defend ourselves quite well behind stone walls; but it would be -madness for you to trust yourself outside without a man with you that -knew anything about fighting. Only take Major North, and I am -content.” -</p> - -<p> -For peace’ sake, Sir Dugald accepted this view of the case, and a -little later the party set out with the ambassador, who had brought -with him several horses from the King’s stables for them to ride—huge -fat animals, most of them a peculiar pinkish-white in colour, with -highly arched necks and flowing manes and tails decorated with ribbons -and sham jewellery. They were provided with high native saddles and -elaborate saddle-cloths, and the ambassador explained that they were -intended as gifts to Sir Dugald and to his staff. Asked what had -become of the animals belonging to the Mission, he confessed -ingenuously that the King had had them removed in order to frustrate -Sir Dugald’s design of leaving the city, but that they would be -returned as soon as ever the treaty was signed, so that the Envoy and -his young men might depart in peace. -</p> - -<p> -Arrived at the Palace, the members of the Mission were conducted to -the usual hall of audience. It was not without some unpleasant -sensations that they heard the gates of the courtyard close behind -them, and Dick involuntarily loosened his sword in the scabbard, and -noticed that Stratford and Fitz were feeling whether their revolvers -were safe. Sir Dugald alone showed no signs of disturbance, even when -on reaching the hall he was requested to enter the King’s -presence-chamber by himself, the rest remaining in the outer room. -Before he could answer, his staff pressed around him, regardless of -etiquette. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t go, sir,” said Dick. “It’s a trap.” -</p> - -<p> -“They mean mischief, Sir Dugald,” said Stratford. “The King has never -asked to see you alone before.” -</p> - -<p> -“Let us put a pistol to this fellow’s head, sir, and keep him as a -hostage until we are safely back at the Mission,” suggested Fitz, -looking daggers at the smiling official, who was bowing and spreading -out his hands in token of the welcome which awaited Sir Dugald in the -King’s presence. -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense!” said Sir Dugald, irritably, motioning Stratford aside. -“You mean well, gentlemen; but we can’t make fools of ourselves in -this way. Look there. You see that there’s nothing but a curtain -between the two rooms, and you would hear the slightest scuffle or cry -for help. I give you free leave to interfere if you do hear anything -of the kind, but pray keep cool.” -</p> - -<p> -He went on, following the official, and passed under the heavy curtain -which covered the doorway of the inner room. Some minutes of painful -suspense ensued, while the three Englishmen and Kustendjian strained -their ears to hear what was going on within. Suddenly there came a -sound as of the ringing of metal on a marble floor, and Dick sprang to -the doorway with a bound, followed by the rest, and tore aside the -curtain. He never quite knew what he had expected to see, but it was -certainly not the sight which met his eyes. The King was sitting on -his raised divan, with Fath-ud-Din standing beside him. Before them -there lay on a gorgeous Persian carpet a great pile of bags of money, -one of which had been kicked across the room. It had burst open, and -the clash of the escaping silver was the sound which the listeners had -heard. They had no time to meditate further on the situation, for Sir -Dugald, his face white with anger, was coming towards them, actually -turning his back on the King, and as he reached the doorway he looked -round over his shoulder and spoke. -</p> - -<p> -“Your Majesty understands that under no circumstances will I consent -to enter the Palace again. Any communication you may wish to make to -me can pass through my secretary.” -</p> - -<p> -“But which is he?” inquired Fath-ud-Din smoothly in Arabic, the -language in which Sir Dugald had spoken. “Is he the mighty man of -whose deeds the hillmen sing, and with whose name the women of -Khemistan terrify their children?” -</p> - -<p> -Sir Dugald silently indicated Stratford, and the Vizier looked at him -and grunted softly to himself. But the King sat up suddenly (he had -been leaning forward with his chin on his hand, listening to what -passed), and said— -</p> - -<p> -“Ye cannot leave this place without camels, and camels ye shall not -have until the treaty is signed.” -</p> - -<p> -“No; but we can wait here until a British force comes to escort us -away,” said Sir Dugald, and marched down the hall. His staff followed -him, not without an uneasy feeling that they might be attacked from -behind. Indeed, Kustendjian confessed afterwards that he had never -felt quite so much frightened in his life as when Fitz gave him a poke -in the ribs. -</p> - -<p> -“What was it that they really did, sir?” asked Dick, when they were -riding back to the Mission. -</p> - -<p> -“They tried bribery and corruption, North—offered me the heap of -money you saw on the floor if I would sign that precious treaty of -theirs and make no bones about it. I have had experiences of the kind -before, in out-of-the-way places, where the people knew little of -British rule, but this is quite the biggest thing of its sort that has -ever been tried with me. I don’t fancy they will attempt it again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Was it the treaty you tore up yesterday?” -</p> - -<p> -“Exactly the same. I knew it this time without Kustendjian’s help. -Well, this is the last occasion on which we shall be tricked into -going to the Palace on such an errand.” -</p> - -<p> -But it was evident the next morning that the Ethiopian authorities had -not given up hope, for a second deputation appeared, headed by an -official even higher in rank than the preceding one, and entreated Sir -Dugald to return to the Palace once again. This time the King had -tried his loyalty, which had stood the test; and now, finding that he -could neither be deceived nor corrupted, he would send with him an -autograph letter to her Majesty, advising her to promote the Envoy -above all her servants, since neither threats nor bribes nor any -devices could move him. Sir Dugald smiled grimly when he heard the -message, which was brought him by Stratford, who had interviewed the -embassy. -</p> - -<p> -“Praise from such a quarter is praise indeed,” he remarked; “but you -may tell them, Mr Stratford, that this fish will not bite.” -</p> - -<p> -Again the deputation sent in earnest entreaties for merely a sight of -Sir Dugald’s face, declaring that they dared not return to the King -without having seen him, and on being dismissed they came back twice -over, each time becoming more urgent in their request. Let Sir Dugald -only come to the Palace once more, and sign the treaty in the King’s -presence, and all would be well. But Sir Dugald was not to be moved. -The utmost concession that he would make in answer to the prayers of -the messengers was to consent to sign the original treaty if it were -brought to him at the Mission already bearing the seals of the King -and Fath-ud-Din, or else to allow Stratford to take to the Palace the -copy made by Kustendjian and obtain the required signatures to it, -after which Sir Dugald would affix his. Further than this he would not -go, and the deputation retired disappointed once more. -</p> - -<p> -No deputation appeared the next day, but the members of the Mission -were not allowed to imagine themselves forgotten. Before the hour at -which the gate was usually opened in the morning, a strong guard of -soldiers took post before it, and signified that they would permit no -one either to enter or leave the premises. Under these circumstances -Sir Dugald, while intrusting to the officer in command of the troops a -formal protest to be delivered to the King, considered it advisable to -keep the gate shut, although the soldiers showed no disposition to -attempt to force an entrance. The object of their presence, which -appeared at first as a somewhat purposeless insult, was soon -discovered, for when the country-people came as usual with their -baskets of eggs and vegetables for sale, intending to set up their -market in the street, as they had done since the day of the riot, they -were turned back and not allowed to approach the gate. In the same way -the cooks, who made an attempt to get out as far as the town market to -do their catering, were refused leave to pass, and returned -disconsolately into the courtyard. It was evident that an endeavour -was to be made to starve the Mission into surrender, and Sir Dugald -ordered an examination of the stores to be instituted. The result was -not reassuring. It had never been intended that the expedition should -carry all its supplies with it, and therefore, although there was -still a considerable quantity of tinned provisions and other articles -of luxury, there was a great deficiency of corn and flour, and of -course an absolute lack of fresh meat and vegetables. It was obviously -necessary to put the whole party upon fixed rations at once, but this -measure would be of little avail if the blockade outside were strictly -kept up. -</p> - -<p> -With night, however, a gleam of comfort arrived in the shape of Jahan -Beg, who was discovered by Fitz lurking in the lane behind the house, -and was drawn up to the window by a rope. He had heard of the King’s -last measure of offence, and was anxious to know how it affected his -friends. Sir Dugald’s refusal to go to the Palace he approved -heartily, saying that any yielding now would be accepted as a sign of -fear and weakness, leaving out of sight the extreme probability that -the opportunity would be seized of making an attempt on his life. At -the same time, the Amir confessed that he saw no way out of the -situation which would combine honour and safety. Fath-ud-Din was -paramount in the council, and while he was in power no one else could -get a hearing. Rustam Khan was in fear of his life, and had everything -ready for flight at a moment’s notice should his spies inform him that -it was expedient. The Scythian envoy was once more to the front, -although no definite arrangement had as yet been concluded with him. -It seemed to be Fath-ud-Din’s policy to play off one nation against -the other, doing his best to secure concessions from each, while -giving as little as possible in the way of equivalent to either. -</p> - -<p> -“If you can get any treaty that in the slightest degree approaches -your demands, sign it and go,” said Jahan Beg. “And if you can’t get -your treaty, go in any case, if you can.” -</p> - -<p> -“I was thinking of sending a man off to Fort Rahmat-Ullah to describe -our plight, and ask for orders and help,” said Sir Dugald; “but the -difficulty is that they will allow no one to pass. One does not care -to court a rebuff by demanding facilities for the passage of a courier -taking important despatches to Khemistan and finding them refused; and -even if we could smuggle him out behind in any way, there would be a -very slender chance of his passing the city gates, much less of -reaching the frontier.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will do what I can to help a messenger off if you are obliged to -run the blockade,” said Jahan Beg; “but as you say, there is a very -slight chance of success. Why not send a message by that fellow Hicks, -who has been talking for weeks of returning to Khemistan immediately?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because he only meant to return when our business was over, and now -that things have become more exciting he is bound to be in at the -death,” said Sir Dugald. “He must wait here and write our obituary -notices, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I advise you to wait a day or two, in case anything occurs to -alter the situation. The Scythian agent may turn rusty if it dawns -upon him that he is being played with, and then your chance will -come.” -</p> - -<p> -“The worst of it is that our chances are limited by our supplies,” -said Sir Dugald. “We have not got the beasts and the camel-men to -consider now, certainly, but it is no joke providing simply for -ourselves and the servants here. Both Fath-ud-Din and the Scythian -envoy have the whip-hand of us in that respect.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” put in Georgia, for the conversation was taking place on the -terrace, “it would not do us much good personally even to get the -treaty signed, when we were reduced to a ration of three tinned peas -and a square inch of chocolate each a day.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t be afraid, Miss Keeling,” said Stratford. “I think I can assure -you that we men will each add one pea and an appreciable fraction of -the chocolate to your ration and Lady Haigh’s.” -</p> - -<p> -“And we shall hand it back to you, remarking gracefully that you need -it more than we do,” said Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“By the bye,” said Jahan Beg, “I think I can help you about provisions -a little. I can get a small supply of corn through the lanes at the -back without attracting the notice of the soldiers, and you can draw -up the sacks through the window. I will bring you a donkey-load -to-morrow night, and another the next night, if all is well.” -</p> - -<p> -In spite of the watch kept on the house, Jahan Beg was as good as his -word, and succeeded in supplying the beleaguered garrison, in the -course of the next three nights, with enough corn to relieve them from -any present fear of starvation. In other respects, however, the -situation showed no improvement. Once more a deputation from the -Palace arrived to propose terms of peace, and departed as before -without seeing Sir Dugald. But this time the official who headed it -declared as he departed that no more messages of conciliation would be -sent by the King. After this, if the British Mission desired to -abandon its attitude of suspicion, and meet the Ethiopian Government -on a footing of mutual confidence, it must make the first move. The -soldiers at the gateway had been ordered to allow Sir Dugald to pass -at any hour of the day or night, either with or without his staff, and -to escort him to the Palace with due honour. But no advantage was -taken of this intimation, and inside the Mission councils were held -daily as to the measures to be adopted in case the state of affairs -should remain unchanged. Sir Dugald had decided to send a messenger to -Fort Rahmat-Ullah asking for instructions, and Jahan Beg had chosen -one of his servants, a man who was devoted to him and who knew the -country well, for the dangerous errand. As soon as arrangements had -been made for a supply of horses along the route to be traversed, this -man was to come to the Mission to receive Sir Dugald’s despatches, -which were to be sewn up in his clothes, and the imprisoned residents -began to regard the state of affairs with somewhat greater equanimity, -since the burden of decision in the dilemma in which they found -themselves would be laid upon other shoulders than their own. -</p> - -<p> -On the fourth day of the blockade, however, an unexpected change -occurred. Again an embassy appeared, but this time it was a private -one. It consisted of the two sons of Fath-ud-Din, who had brought Mr -Hicks to introduce them and to guarantee their good faith, and a -number of attendants, who bore gifts of fruit and vegetables. The -object of their errand was soon imparted. Fath-ud-Din had been seized -with a mysterious illness, the nature of which was unknown to the -Ethiopian physicians and baffled all their remedies, and he had sent -to entreat Dr Headlam, to whose skill all his patients in the city -bore eloquent testimony, to come and prescribe for him. Sir Dugald and -his staff looked at one another doubtfully when they heard the -message. -</p> - -<p> -“It looks remarkably like a trap,” said Sir Dugald. -</p> - -<p> -“Still, Hicks would scarcely lend himself to such a thing,” said the -doctor. -</p> - -<p> -“Let us have him in,” said Sir Dugald; and Mr Hicks was invited into -the Durbar-hall, leaving his young friends in the verandah. -</p> - -<p> -“If you ask me, I think the old man is real sick,” he said, in reply -to their questions. “I heard his groans when I called at his house -just now, and they were awful. I guess the old sinner is nailed this -time, any way.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it is so exactly what one might look for in a plot to secure one -of us as a hostage for the signing of the treaty,” said Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, two can play at that game,” said the doctor, who was eager to -go. “I suppose I must have young Fath-ud-Din with me to do the honours -of the house, but do you keep the boy here, and don’t let him go until -you have me safely back. That ought to checkmate any intended move of -theirs.” -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor, there’s something like grit in you!” cried Mr Hicks, warmly. -“What with your professional enthusiasm, and your level-headedness, -you deserve to be immortalised. And your name shall be handed down in -the pages of history, or I will cut my connection with the ‘Crier’ -from that day.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks,” said the doctor. “Now suppose you call in the young -gentlemen and explain the state of affairs. I don’t want to get to the -house and find the poor old villain beyond my skill.” -</p> - -<p> -The Vizier’s eldest son understood the matter at once, and was -perfectly willing that his young brother should remain at the Mission -as a hostage for Dr Headlam’s safe return. The boy was therefore -delivered over to Sir Dugald and taken into the inner court, and the -doctor left the house with Mr Hicks and young Fath-ud-Din. -</p> - -<p> -“Make the most of your opportunities, doctor,” Stratford called after -him as he departed. “Have the medicine ready, and refuse to give it -him except as the price of the signing of our treaty.” -</p> - -<p> -Dr Headlam went off laughing, and the evening passed quietly at the -Mission. About eleven o’clock the doctor returned, escorted by young -Fath-ud-Din, who received his brother back, and departed with profuse -expressions of gratitude. -</p> - -<p> -“What sort of time have you had with the boy?” asked the doctor of -Stratford and Dick, who were accompanying him across the court on his -way to his own quarters. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, not bad, under the circumstances,” returned Dick. “We set -Anstruther down to teach him halma by signs, and Miss Keeling gave us -a little music—that is to say, she did her best to sing to the -strains of Kustendjian’s concertina. I never heard any one play so -vilely as that fellow in all my life, but the boy seemed impressed. -Afterwards we sat in a ring and tried to talk, with Kustendjian to -interpret, and all got most fearfully sleepy. But how did you get on?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I don’t quite know,” replied the doctor, somewhat reluctantly. -“I have an uncomfortable kind of feeling, and yet I can’t be sure that -it is justified. But I will tell you about the events of the evening, -and then you can judge for yourselves whether the matter is of any -importance.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, go on!” said Dick and Stratford together. “Don’t keep us on the -rack.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, as soon as I got to the house I was taken to see old -Fath-ud-Din. It’s pretty clear to me that he has a tolerably severe -attack of influenza, but he thought he was dying—or at any rate, he -groaned as if he did. I prescribed the usual remedies, and gave -various directions as to things which I thought might relieve him. He -sent the servants out of the room to get hot flannels and the other -things I had ordered, and then turned to me. I was pouring out the -medicine, which I had fortunately been able to make up from the drugs -I had brought with me, and I went to give it to him. As I held the -glass to his lips, he fixed me with his eye and said in Arabic, ‘A -doctor has many opportunities.’ It was such a truism that I merely -agreed, and he went on, ‘He holds in his hand the life of the man to -whose help he is called.’ I thought he was afraid that I might be -trying to poison him, and I said, ‘If your Excellency doubts me, I -will sip the medicine myself first.’ At that he grinned in what he -seemed to consider as a friendly and ingratiating manner, and said, -‘You mistake me. I trust you. So also does the Queen of England’s -Envoy trust you, and our lord the King trusts his physician.’ I didn’t -quite see the relevance of the remark, so I cut matters short by -requesting him to take his medicine. He sat up and balanced the glass -in his hand, and said, looking at me over the edge of it: ‘Doubtless -you are acquainted with poisons which could be administered in a -little draught like this, and do their work without causing -suspicion?’ I didn’t at all like the turn the conversation was taking, -but I told him shortly that I did know of such poisons, and he said at -once, ‘There are great fortunes to be made by men who possess such -knowledge as that, and who are willing to use it.’ I was partly -flustered and partly angry, for I could not make out whether he was -still harping on the idea of my poisoning him, or hinting at bribing -me to murder Sir Dugald or perhaps the King, and I said very -emphatically, ‘I don’t understand your Excellency, and I must ask you -to remember that I have no wish whatever to do so.’ That was something -of a cram, I’m afraid, but I was too much flurried to pick my phrases, -and I gave him the medicine without another word. Then the servants -came back, and I saw them make him comfortable, and then Hicks and I -had dinner, or supper, or whatever you might call it, with young -Fath-ud-Din. Now, what do you think of it?” -</p> - -<p> -“It looks fishy,” said Stratford. “If you ask me, I think we must look -after the Chief.” -</p> - -<p> -“Just so,” said Dr Headlam, “but without frightening the ladies. I -will tell him the whole story to-morrow morning. They couldn’t attempt -anything particular to-night, and it’s very late. Besides, I feel a -bit seedy myself.” -</p> - -<p> -“I hope they haven’t poisoned <i>you</i>,” said Dick, pausing and looking -at him. -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense, my dear fellow. Why, Hicks and young Fath-ud-Din and I were -all eating out of the same dish. If you had seen some of the messes of -which politeness forced Hicks and me to partake, you would wonder that -we are alive now. There was one concoction full of chillies, which has -made me most consumedly thirsty.” -</p> - -<p> -“Come back and have something to drink,” said Dick. “The servants are -gone to roost, but I think we are capable of compounding you a peg -between us.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, thanks; I am looking forward to a glass of my own effervescent -mixture. My servants always have orders to leave the filter full for -me. Well, we must be thinking of turning in, I suppose.” -</p> - -<p> -“Stay over here to-night,” said Stratford, moved by a sudden impulse. -“We can manage to put you up in Bachelors’ Buildings, and it will be -more convenient if you are really seedy. Besides, it is undoubtedly -bad policy for one of us to sleep out in an isolated house at a time -like this.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Stratford, I have a rifle and a revolver and a whole armoury -of surgical knives with which to defend my hearth and home. Any -midnight marauder who came to pay me a visit would find that he had -undertaken a tough job. Moreover, my servants are good fellows, and -they are armed after a fashion. And then I have the famous collection, -with the reputation Anstruther has conferred upon it, to protect me. -Good-night: I am really too thirsty to wait talking any longer.” -</p> - -<p> -They unbarred the gate and let him out, watched him cross the street -and knock at his own door, and saw him admitted. Then, after going the -round of the sentries, they retired to their own quarters, where they -spent some time in conversation. Before turning in, they went out to -the gate once more, impelled by a common anxiety for which they made -no attempt to account to one another, and looked across at the -doctor’s house; but the door was shut, and all was quiet there. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch11"> -CHAPTER XI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE RANKS ARE THINNED.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -“Mr Stratford! Mr Stratford!” -</p> - -<p> -The words were accompanied by an emphatic knocking at the door, and -Stratford sat up in bed. -</p> - -<p> -“Come in!” he shouted, recognising the voice, and Fitz Anstruther -entered, shutting the door carefully behind him. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid there’s something wrong over at the doctor’s,” he said. -“His house-door is ajar, and yet none of his people seem to be -stirring. I wanted to go over and see what was the matter, but old -Ismail Bakhsh wouldn’t let me pass out of the gate, and told me to -call you and Major North. May I go now? I won’t be a minute.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, call North, and he and I will go over,” said Stratford, beginning -to dress, and Fitz, with a sense of deep disappointment, obeyed. In a -very few minutes Stratford and Dick came down the steps together, and -after posting Fitz at the gate in case a hurried return should be -necessary, passed between the lounging forms of the Ethiopian soldiers -who were occupying the street, and entered the doctor’s house. Its air -of desolation surprised them, for they found the courtyard and -verandah strewn with books and papers, and odds and ends of small -value. -</p> - -<p> -“Looks as though the place had been looted,” said Dick. -</p> - -<p> -They crossed the verandah and entered the house, still without meeting -a soul. Here again all was desolation. Everything of value seemed to -be gone, and the furniture was broken and knocked about. The only -things left uninjured were the glass bottles containing the natural -history specimens, which still remained untouched on their shelves. -The door into the next room was ajar, and a kerosene lamp was burning -itself out on the table, filling the air with its pungent odour as the -flame flickered, recovered itself, and sank again. Glancing into the -semi-darkness, the intruders could make out the form of the doctor, -lying half-dressed across his bed, the lamp-light gleaming on the -barrel of a revolver in his hand. -</p> - -<p> -Somewhat reassured by the sight, they advanced and pushed the door -wide open, then recoiled precipitately. The face which met their view -was that of a dead man—of one who had died in the extremest agony. -The protruding eyeballs, the lips drawn back to the gums, the black -and swollen tongue, all testified to the sufferer’s having endured the -utmost torments of thirst. -</p> - -<p> -Ashamed of their momentary panic, Stratford and Dick, putting a strong -constraint upon themselves, entered the room and lifted the corpse, -unclasping the rigid hand from the revolver. -</p> - -<p> -“They did poison him, then!” said Dick, fiercely. “Well, we will have -Fath-ud-Din’s blood for this.” -</p> - -<p> -“How?” asked Stratford. “When was he poisoned? Was it at dinner last -night, or had his servants poisoned the water in the filter? If young -Fath-ud-Din and Hicks are both unhurt, we can never prove that it -wasn’t that. It has been very smartly managed.” -</p> - -<p> -“Here is a piece of paper and a pencil,” said Dick, handing them to -him. “He must have been writing as he lay.” -</p> - -<p> -“Look here,” said Stratford, holding out the paper after glancing -through it, “the poor fellow has put down his symptoms and the -remedies he tried, as a guide to us. He wrote at intervals, evidently. -You see, after recording his symptoms twice, he says, ‘Servants -gathered round the door watching me. Refuse to bring water.’ Then more -symptoms, and then, ‘Servants are looting the house. Afraid to touch -collection.’ Now you see the writing becomes much weaker. ‘Ask Miss -Keeling to keep collection in memory of me. Take my mother back the -Bible she gave me. Good-bye all. Take care of Miss Keeling; they will -strike at her next—the only doctor left. God have mercy——’ It -breaks off there, you notice, with a scrawl right across the page. The -pencil must have dropped from his hand. To think what the poor fellow -must have been enduring all alone in the night, with those fiends -gloating over him!” -</p> - -<p> -They stood up on either side of the dead man and looked at each other. -Both were men who would not have flinched in the hottest fight, and -yet each now saw reflected in the other’s eyes the unutterable horror -of his own. What chance was there of success against a foe who fought -with such weapons as this? Stratford was the first to speak. -</p> - -<p> -“I must go over and get the Chief to come,” he said. “Will you stay -here with—him? I won’t be longer than I can help.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick nodded, and he went off swiftly. For a few moments Dick sat -still, staring fixedly at the distorted face of the man who had been a -true comrade and good friend to him during the last few months. Then -he pushed back the box on which he had been sitting, and began to walk -up and down the room, averting his eyes from the dreadful thing on the -bed. -</p> - -<p> -“What are we to do?” he cried in despair. “It’s not for myself—God -knows it’s not for myself—but those poor women!” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia’s face rose up before him—not an uncommon occurrence in these -days—and he ground his teeth as he remembered the dead man’s warning. -He was powerless, and he knew it. What could four Englishmen, with -Kustendjian and the little handful of native servants, do against a -whole nation? How could they defend the helpless women who had come to -Kubbet-ul-Haj trusting in their protection? -</p> - -<p> -“At any rate,” said Dick, clenching his fist involuntarily, “if they -strike at her they shall strike me first!” -</p> - -<p> -Presently Stratford came back with Sir Dugald, to whom he had -explained hastily the doctor’s suspicions of the night before. Sir -Dugald’s arrival and his immediate grasp of the situation did -something to lessen the tension in the minds of the two younger men, -an effect which was enhanced by the prompt and decisive orders which -he proceeded to give. -</p> - -<p> -“I shall send you to the Palace with Kustendjian, Stratford, to tell -the King exactly what has happened, and to insist that it shall be -inquired into immediately. There is no such thing as an inquest here, -of course, but I suppose we had better leave the body for the present -as you found it, in case they send some one to see how things were.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what about punishing the murderers, sir?” asked Dick, eagerly. -</p> - -<p> -“Who are the murderers?” responded Sir Dugald. -</p> - -<p> -“What is your opinion, sir?” -</p> - -<p> -“My opinion is the same as yours and Stratford’s—that poor Headlam -was poisoned at Fath-ud-Din’s dinner; but you must see for yourself -that it is absolutely impossible for us to prove it. Fath-ud-Din will -say that the servants murdered their master in order to steal his -property. Why otherwise should they have looted the place and -decamped?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because they were afraid of being suspected,” suggested Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“Possibly; although in that case it was an insane idea for them to -meddle with the poor fellow’s things. Besides, three of them came with -us from Khemistan, and were not like these Ethiopians here. They were -British subjects, and would have known that we should protect them and -give them a fair trial. No; my opinion is that the servants had been -got at, and were in league with Fath-ud-Din. He was to administer the -poison, and they were to loot the house and disappear, in order that -suspicion might rest upon them. No doubt he guaranteed their escape, -and provided a safe refuge for them. But, if this is the case, you see -we are powerless. Nothing but a direct confession from one of those -immediately concerned could enable us to bring the crime home.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you will not even charge Fath-ud-Din with it?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear North”—Sir Dugald laid his hand not unkindly on Dick’s -shoulder—“pull yourself together, and consider what our position here -is. Don’t let your eagerness to avenge poor Headlam blind you to the -fact that we are in an enemy’s country, with several women to protect, -and four guns (I don’t count Kustendjian) to do it with. At present -Fath-ud-Din is bound to work against us secretly, but if we brought -such an accusation against him it would be open war. The King could -not give him up for punishment if he would, and it would be far -easier, in any case, to get rid of us than of him. You may put me down -as cold-blooded and calculating—in fact, I know you do—but it is my -duty to try to bring the Mission out of this most unfortunate business -with as little loss of life as possible.” -</p> - -<p> -“I quite see that, sir; but when I look at the poor chap lying -there——” -</p> - -<p> -“You must not look at the dead, North, but at the living. If it should -so happen that I were to die as the doctor has died, my last care -would be to give Stratford a solemn charge to get the rest of you -safely out of the country before he hinted at suspicion or said a word -about avenging me. I don’t deny that we ought never to have brought -the ladies here, but, hampered as we are by their presence, we have -given hostages to fortune. Heaven helping me, I mean to have that -treaty signed yet, before we leave Kubbet-ul-Haj; but, if that is not -to be, then I shall turn all my thoughts to getting the ladies across -the frontier in safety. I hope I may feel assured that my staff will -do all in their power to co-operate with me, and to take my place -should I be removed.” -</p> - -<p> -“You may count on me, Sir Dugald,” said Dick, slowly. “I hope you will -forgive what I said just now. I was so much upset that I did not -consider things properly.” -</p> - -<p> -Before Sir Dugald could answer, Stratford, who had gone back to the -Mission to prepare for his visit to the Palace, returned with -Kustendjian, and received his orders. He was on no account to enter -the Palace, merely to stand without and demand justice; and he was to -be satisfied with nothing less than a royal proclamation denouncing -the murderers, and ordering an immediate search for the fugitive -servants. Little success as could be hoped for from this measure, such -an edict would at least vindicate the prestige of the Mission. -</p> - -<p> -“Now,” said Sir Dugald to Dick when Stratford and the interpreter had -taken their departure, “we will get two or three of the servants over -here, and set them to work to knock together a coffin. We must make it -out of some of these packing-cases, I suppose. It will only be a rough -affair. And then we must see about a burial-ground and a grave. It is -sad to leave behind one you have liked and trusted in a country like -this!” -</p> - -<p> -Sir Dugald’s iron face twitched as he spoke, and he stooped over the -corpse. -</p> - -<p> -“Can you find a pair of scissors, North? I must cut off a lock of his -hair for Lady Haigh to take to his mother, for I will not allow either -her or Miss Keeling to come over and see him like this. I must break -the news to them presently, but they shall know as little of the truth -as I can manage to tell them.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick found a pair of scissors in the dead man’s medicine-chest, and -Sir Dugald cut off a lock of hair and placed it carefully in his -pocket-book. Then he went across to the Mission, returning in a short -time with two servants, whom he set to work at their mournful task, -and leaving Dick to superintend them, went back to break the news to -his wife and Georgia. Presently he was summoned again to the doctor’s -house to meet the official who had returned with Stratford from the -Palace, and who bore assurances of the grief and wrath felt by the -King on account of the crime which had been committed. Stratford -brought word that the monarch’s utterances seemed to be really -sincere, and that it was probable that even if the murder was justly -attributed to Fath-ud-Din, his master had no share in it. He had come -to the door of the Palace to meet Stratford, finding that he would not -enter, and to all appearance was struck with surprise and horror at -his news. The thought that the Queen of England might suspect that he -had plotted the murder of her officer seemed to impress him -particularly, and he was ready to order every possible step to be -taken that could lead to the detection of the criminals. At the same -time, he was persistent in fastening the guilt upon the runaway -servants, and refused to listen to the hint thrown out by Stratford -that they might have been instigated to their deed by some one higher -in position; and neither Sir Dugald nor his subordinates could resist -the conclusion, that although it was in all probability true that the -King knew nothing of the crime before it had taken place, yet he had -now no difficulty in assigning it to its true perpetrator, whom he -was, moreover, determined to shield. -</p> - -<p> -Short of allowing any real inquiry into the manner of the doctor’s -death, however, the King was ready to do all he could in the painful -circumstances. The desired proclamation was already being published in -the different quarters of the town, and a price had been set on the -heads of the servants. With regard to the funeral, as there was no -Christian burial-ground anywhere in Ethiopia, Sir Dugald might choose -a spot in the royal gardens outside the city, and that spot should be -fenced off and held sacred. Deputations from the Ethiopian army and -council should be present at the ceremony, and Rustam Khan should also -attend it as his father’s representative. In the meantime, to show the -King’s deep regret for the misunderstanding which had existed during -the last few days between himself and Sir Dugald, the guard of -soldiers would be removed from the front of the Mission, and the -country-people informed that they might bring their produce to sell as -usual. -</p> - -<p> -It was Stratford and Fitz to whom fell the task of riding out to the -King’s garden and selecting the site of the first Christian cemetery -in Ethiopia. They chose a spot on the border of the estate, which -could be easily marked off from the rest, and the official who had -accompanied them gave the necessary orders to the workmen. The funeral -was to take place in the late afternoon, and there was need for haste. -Fitz and Stratford had ridden out almost in silence; but as they -mounted their horses for the return journey to Kubbet-ul-Haj, Fitz -looked back at the garden and shuddered. -</p> - -<p> -“I wonder how many of us will lie there before this business is over!” -he said, only to be annihilated by Stratford’s reply— -</p> - -<p> -“Shut up, you young fool, and don’t croak. Your business is to obey -orders, and not to wonder.” -</p> - -<p> -The boy relapsed into sulky silence at once, and brooded all the way -home over the disgusting state of Stratford’s temper, never guessing -that it was with this very end in view, of detaching his thoughts from -the tragedy of the morning, that the rebuke had been administered to -him. In the courtyard of the Mission they found Dick engaged in -superintending the preparations for the funeral, and Stratford noticed -at once that among the riding-horses, which were those presented by -the King a few days before, there were two hired mules carrying a -curtained litter. -</p> - -<p> -“Surely the ladies are not going?” he said to Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“They are, indeed. Lady Haigh declared that she could never face the -doctor’s mother if she was unable to tell her in what kind of place he -was buried, and what the funeral was like, and it struck the Chief -that it was just possible they might be safer with us than left behind -here under Kustendjian’s charge. Our force is none too large now, you -know.” -</p> - -<p> -And thus it happened that Lady Haigh and Georgia formed part of the -mournful procession that accompanied the doctor’s rude coffin to its -resting-place in the King’s garden. The streets and house-tops were -crowded with people, who gazed eagerly and in silence at the British -flag which covered the remains, and at the little group of Englishmen, -sad-faced and stern, who followed. Many of those in the crowd owed -relief from disease, or even life itself, to Dr Headlam’s skill, yet -no sign of grief was exhibited by any one. But neither was there any -attempt at mockery or sign of unfriendliness; the people seemed to -watch the proceedings with intense and absorbing curiosity, much, -thought Georgia, as the inhabitants of Mexico might have contemplated -a religious ceremony performed by Cortes and his Spaniards. The same -interest was shown at the cemetery, where another crowd had assembled, -that listened expectantly to the unfamiliar accents as Sir Dugald read -the Burial Service, and pressed forward eagerly to see what was -happening when Lady Haigh and Georgia came to the grave-side and threw -their flowers upon the coffin. The party from the Mission remained -beside the grave until it was filled up and a rough wooden tablet -erected, bearing the doctor’s name and the date of his death, and then -returned sadly home, parting from Rustam Khan and his attendants as -soon as they reached the city gate. -</p> - -<p> -Now that the last honours had been paid to the dead, it was time, as -Sir Dugald had said to Dick, to think of the living, and the four -Englishmen and Kustendjian met on the terrace to discuss the state of -affairs. The latest cause for anxiety arose from the fact that Rustam -Khan had shown a strong disposition to emphasise the truth that he -attended the funeral merely as the representative of his father. He -had declined to ride side by side with Sir Dugald after the coffin, -and had displayed a determination, which under less painful -circumstances would have been almost ludicrous, to avoid direct -communication with any of the party. -</p> - -<p> -“The moral of which is,” said Sir Dugald, “that we are by no means out -of the wood yet, but rather deeper in it than before, if possible. If -Rustam Khan is afraid to be seen speaking to us, or even to show the -friendly feeling the occasion might seem to demand, it looks to my -mind as though he knew that he had been accused to his father of -plotting with us to deprive him of the throne, and wished to assert -his innocence.” -</p> - -<p> -“It strikes one that such a very pointed change of manner would be -calculated to awaken suspicion rather than to lull it,” said -Stratford—“though, of course, Rustam Khan must be the best judge of -that. But we are singularly destitute of information to-day. Even -Hicks would be better than no one.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mr Hicks came here after you had started,” said Kustendjian, who had -been left in charge of the Mission during the funeral. “He would have -wished to attend the ceremony at the grave, but he had only just heard -what had happened, since all the morning he was suffering from a fit -of indigestion, induced by the dishes at the Vizier’s dinner last -night.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it’s evident that he was not poisoned,” said Dick, “for -Fath-ud-Din would have done his work more effectually, for one thing; -and again, I know that I have invariably had the same experience -myself after a big native dinner in India or Khemistan. But he seems -to be no better provided with news than we are. I wonder what has -become of Jahan Beg.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is just the question that has occurred to me,” said Sir Dugald. -“It is possible that his house is watched, and that he does not dare -to come here. But I hope his silence may mean merely that he has found -a good opportunity for sending off his messenger, and that he did not -wait for despatches or further directions from me, but packed him off -at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“But supposing you hear, in the course of the next two or three weeks, -that the force you want is awaiting your orders at Fort Rahmat-Ullah, -what action do you propose to take, sir?” asked Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“Simply to inform the King that I am about to withdraw the Mission. If -he will send troops to escort us to the frontier, as he did when we -came, it will be all right; but, if not, I shall order a sufficient -force to march to our assistance. It would not be a military -expedition, of course—merely a baggage-train with an armed -escort—but the King could not refuse it passage without open war. -That would necessitate his throwing himself into the arms of Scythia, -which he is very shy of doing; and it is my impression that when he -discovers we have the help we need at no great distance, he will -change his mind, sign the treaty, and allow us to take back to -Khemistan peace with honour.” -</p> - -<p> -“But he would naturally begin a war, if he did decide upon one, by -wiping out the Mission,” suggested Dick, “or he might provide us with -an escort which had instructions to murder us all on the way. It would -come to pretty much the same thing in either case, so far as we were -concerned.” -</p> - -<p> -“Risks of that kind one must take in the course of business,” said Sir -Dugald. “We can’t very well remain permanently at Kubbet-ul-Haj on our -present footing, but we will do our best to avoid playing the part of -victims in another Kurd-Cabul disaster.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you think they will make any further attempts to induce us to -accept their treaty, Sir Dugald?” asked Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“I think it is fairly certain that they will, believing that we have -been thrown off our guard by their friendliness to-day. As soon as -Fath-ud-Din is about again, we shall probably have him here, trying -his old tricks once more; but I have a pleasant little surprise in -store for him. I shall make it clear that all negotiations are to be -carried on at this house, and that neither I nor any of you will go to -the Palace on any business whatever connected with the treaty. I am -not going to risk the loss of any more lives by dividing our force, -but I shall not tell him that. It will be a disagreeable shock to him -to find that we only become stiffer in our demands as our position -grows more precarious, and he will think we possess some sort of moral -support behind the scenes of which he is ignorant.” -</p> - -<p> -“What a fire-eater the Chief is!” said Stratford later to Dick. “He -ought to have commanded one of Nelson’s line-of-battle ships, and -engaged a whole French fleet before he went down with guns -double-shotted and colours flying.” -</p> - -<p> -“A regular old fighting-cock!” said Dick, affectionately. “If we -hadn’t had the ladies with us, we should have seen him bearding the -King in the Palace itself, and defying Fath-ud-Din and the whole -Ethiopian army to their faces, I’m convinced. As it is—well, our -prospects don’t look particularly brilliant just now, but I feel that -if there is a man on earth who can get us out of this fix, it’s the -Chief.” -</p> - -<p> -They were superintending the removal of the collection from Dr -Headlam’s desolate house to the Mission, and gathering together such -poor scraps of personal property as the marauders had overlooked or -left behind as worthless, to take home to his mother. When the place -was cleared they locked the door and delivered the key to the -landlord, who received it with a gloomy face, remarking that he never -expected to be able to find another tenant. Dick thought that he was -attempting to gain an increase of the substantial rent (as things go -in Ethiopia), which had already been paid him, but the landlord had -gauged correctly the character of his fellow-citizens. The house stood -empty for a long time, gaining a bad reputation without any tangible -reason; but at last, for an ample remuneration, a man was found bold -enough to sleep there, in order to prove that there was nothing wrong -about the place. But that bold man let himself down over the wall into -the street in the middle of the night by means of his turban, leaving -his mattress behind him; and the next day he told his friends that he -had been awakened by hearing the well-known clink of a medicine-bottle -against the measuring-glass, and, cautiously uncovering his head, had -looked out to see the ghost of the English doctor standing at a -phantom table and mixing immaterial drugs. That was enough, and the -house was left desolate until it ultimately fell into decay. -</p> - -<p> -But this is anticipating, and we must return to the days when the -presence of a British envoy was an abiding reality in Kubbet-ul-Haj, -and not the shadowy tradition which it has since become. For a day or -two the party at the Mission were left undisturbed, although the -absence of any message from Jahan Beg robbed their tranquillity of -some of its attractiveness. The enforced seclusion within the walls of -the house could not fail to tell on the spirits of most of them; but -it was a point of honour with all to maintain an appearance of -cheerfulness for the sake of the rest, and those who possessed hobbies -found them a great help in this endeavour. Stratford studied -Ethiopian, Dick laboured at the map of the country which he had begun -during the journey from the frontier to the city, and Fitz, who was -the unresisting victim of a camera which accompanied him wherever he -went, photographed everything and everybody. Georgia had an object of -interest peculiarly her own in the perplexing conduct of Dick, who had -changed his place at meals, and contrived always to secure a seat -between Lady Haigh and herself, so that he could appropriate the first -cup of tea or coffee poured out, which it was naturally his duty to -pass on to Miss Keeling. Georgia pondered over this behaviour of his -for some little time without gaining any light upon it, and at last -opened her mind to her usual confidante. -</p> - -<p> -“Lady Haigh, have you noticed the queer way in which Major North -behaves at meals? He won’t pass things, and I am sure it isn’t through -absence of mind, for he apologises at the time, and looks so -dreadfully confused.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, my dear child, I am sure there is nothing in all this for which -to blame him. Certainly you ought to be the very last person to -complain.” -</p> - -<p> -“I, Lady Haigh?” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it possible that you don’t guess his reason, Georgie?” -</p> - -<p> -“Really and truly I haven’t an idea what it can be.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I think you ought to be enlightened. You remember that paper -which the poor doctor left, in which he warned us that you would -probably be the next of us to be attacked? Well, Major North doesn’t -mean you to be poisoned if he can prevent it. That’s all, and it -explains his eccentric behaviour fully.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh!” Georgia sat silent, a vivid crimson spreading over her face. -“But it isn’t fair that he should be allowed to risk his life in that -way, Lady Haigh,” she said at last. -</p> - -<p> -“Very well, my dear; tell him so.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that would sound so ungrateful. Couldn’t you tell him?” -</p> - -<p> -“I could say that you would prefer to be poisoned rather than to be -helped after him, certainly.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Lady Haigh, you are unkind; you know it isn’t that! It is that I -can’t bear him to be always running the risk of being poisoned instead -of me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, if you want my opinion, I should say that was a matter for -Major North to decide for himself.” -</p> - -<p> -“Excuse me—I think it is a thing for me to decide.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Georgie, you are very persistent. I can only repeat—settle -it yourself with Major North.” -</p> - -<p> -But as Lady Haigh had foreseen, Georgia decided that it was not -advisable to broach the subject to Dick, and the matter was therefore -left untouched. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch12"> -CHAPTER XII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE STANDARD-BEARER FALLS.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -Sir Dugald’s prophecy as to the probable resumption of negotiations on -the part of the Ethiopians proved correct, for within a week after the -doctor’s death Fath-ud-Din, now completely recovered from his illness, -appeared once more at the Mission. As the visit was ostensibly one of -condolence, Sir Dugald granted him an interview; but when the Vizier -had spent the orthodox length of time in bemoaning the loss of Dr -Headlam, and in remarking piously, for the consolation of his host, -that these things were ordered by fate and could not be averted, he -turned suddenly to business. Taking from the hands of his confidential -scribe, who alone of all his attendants had accompanied him into the -Durbar-hall, a roll of parchment which bore a family likeness to the -various abortive treaties already discussed and rejected, he presented -it to Sir Dugald and requested him to read it. Sir Dugald had now -become so much accustomed to mental exercises of the kind that he -could detect an unsound clause by eye or by instinct rather than by -actual perception; but for the sake of appearances he beckoned to -Kustendjian to come and read the document through to him quickly. When -the reading was finished Kustendjian was pale with excitement, and -Stratford and Dick were looking at one another in bewilderment over -Sir Dugald’s head, for, with the exception of one or two minute -alterations affecting the wording rather than the matter, the treaty -was identical with that first agreed to, and ever since rejected by -the King and Fath-ud-Din. That estimable person now sat smiling -benevolently at the astonished faces of his hosts, and, while their -eyes were still fixed upon him, began to make significant passes of -the thumb of his right hand over the forefinger—a gesture which was -immediately understood by all the members of the party except Fitz, -for whom this journey was his first experience of Eastern life. -</p> - -<p> -“So that’s it!” muttered Sir Dugald. “How much do you want, -Fath-ud-Din?” -</p> - -<p> -With a pained smile, directed towards the scribe, who was obviously -watching the transaction while pretending to be absorbed in the study -of the tiled floor, the Vizier held up his right hand, with the second -finger turned down. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, nonsense!” said Sir Dugald. “You can’t afford to do it for that, -you know. Or is there any other little thing we could do for you -besides? Out with it; we are all friends here.” -</p> - -<p> -“The life of man is uncertain,” sighed Fath-ud-Din. -</p> - -<p> -“Quite so—especially in Ethiopia,” responded Sir Dugald. -</p> - -<p> -“Even kings cannot rule for ever,” went on the Vizier. -</p> - -<p> -“I quite agree with you;” yet Sir Dugald became portentously stern all -at once. -</p> - -<p> -“And happy is he to whom a son is given that may sit on his throne -after him.” -</p> - -<p> -“True. His Majesty is in that fortunate position.” -</p> - -<p> -“But the son granted to him is young and tender, and there are those -who might dispute his claim. How great, then, would be his felicity if -the mighty Queen whom my lord serves would acknowledge, by the hand of -her servant, the child’s right of succession, and grant him her -countenance and the support of her soldiers!” -</p> - -<p> -“I see. Fath-ud-Din stands to gain five thousand pounds, gentlemen,” -said Sir Dugald, turning to his staff; “and when the king is removed -from the scene, we are to acknowledge Antar Khan as his successor, and -back him up with moral and physical force. How does that strike you?” -</p> - -<p> -“It strikes me that the King had better set about making his will,” -said Stratford, grimly, “if you accept the terms.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is exactly the impression which the proposal has produced on -me,” returned Sir Dugald; “and, as I have no wish to be accessory to a -sudden change of ruler in Ethiopia, I think it will be as well to -inform Fath-ud-Din that we must decline to do business with him on -this footing.” -</p> - -<p> -He folded up the treaty, rising at the same time to show that the -interview was ended, and handed back the parchment to the Grand -Vizier, who had been observing him in silence. -</p> - -<p> -“Her Majesty’s Government has an objection to interfering in dynastic -questions,” said Sir Dugald, pointedly; “and, when it does interest -itself in such a matter, it prefers to adopt the cause of the elder -son.” -</p> - -<p> -“There are other governments of Europe,” said Fath-ud-Din, with equal -meaning, “which are quite willing to take the side of the younger. If -the first purchaser will not pay me the price I ask for my sheep, I -will take them further and find one who will.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can only admire your Excellency’s keen business qualities,” -returned Sir Dugald, as he escorted his visitor to the door. But no -sooner was the Vizier’s train outside the gate than the scribe came -back in haste, saying that his master had missed a valuable ring, -which he must have dropped somewhere in the house. Half suspecting a -trap, but yet determined to give no ground for an accusation of -lukewarmness, Sir Dugald had the courtyard searched, and the rugs in -the Durbar-hall taken up and shaken. But all was in vain until one of -the servants, who had removed the tray of coffee which had been -brought in out of compliment to the Vizier, came back into the room, -and, with a salaam, produced the ring, which he had found at the -bottom of Sir Dugald’s cup, and which the scribe seized upon -immediately with a cry of triumph. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I’m glad that turned out all right,” said Dick, when the man -had gone off rejoicing. “I was afraid it was a trap, and that they -meant to accuse us of stealing the thing. Dim memories began to come -over me of a book I read when I was a small boy, in which a virtuous -family were imprisoned and tortured and given a bad time generally on -account of a false accusation of having stolen a ring, and I must own -that I had unpleasant forebodings as to the probable course of justice -in Ethiopia.” -</p> - -<p> -“I confess that I began to suspect they had hidden it somewhere,” said -Sir Dugald, “and would try to make out that we had accepted it as a -bribe.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course it must have dropped in when he handed you the treaty,” -said Stratford; “but it’s queer that no one noticed it.” -</p> - -<p> -“One of the ‘things no feller can understand,’” quoted Sir Dugald, -absently. “If you will find your way to the terrace, gentlemen, where -I see Lady Haigh is just pouring out tea, I will follow you as soon as -I have given an order to Ismail Bakhsh.” -</p> - -<p> -Stratford, Dick, and Kustendjian crossed the court slowly, still -discussing the incident of the ring, and, mounting the steps, -perceived that Fitz had reached the terrace before them, and was -engaged in conducting the education of the Persian kitten. He had an -idea that it was possible, by dint of kindness and perseverance, to -teach any animal to perform an unlimited number of tricks; but so far -his theory did not appear to be justified by facts in the case of -Colleen Bawn. At this moment he was holding a stick a few inches from -the ground, and endeavouring, by means of bribes and encouragement, to -induce his pupil to jump over it. Lady Haigh and Georgia were laughing -at his efforts, and the kitten sat watching him with unconcerned -interest, blinking lazily every now and then with one contemptuous -blue eye and one uncomprehending yellow one. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, you little beggar, this won’t do! I shall have to take you in -hand seriously. I won’t hurt the little beast, Miss Keeling. You don’t -imagine I would? But I must teach it to obey orders.” -</p> - -<p> -He seized the white mass of fluff which ignored his blandishments so -calmly, and proceeded to place it in the required position. The result -was a short scuffle, from which the kitten retired in high dudgeon to -seek refuge under Georgia’s chair, leaving Fitz defeated, with a long -scratch on the back of his hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Mr Anstruther, you have hurt her!” cried Georgia, reproachfully. -</p> - -<p> -“I think she has hurt me,” was Fitz’s resentful answer. -</p> - -<p> -“Poor little thing! I think she is only frightened,” said Lady Haigh. -“We will give her some milk”—and she filled a saucer, and, stooping -down, tried to tempt Colleen Bawn out of her hiding-place. -</p> - -<p> -It was at this moment that the rest, standing at the edge of the -terrace, saw Sir Dugald coming through the archway from Bachelors’ -Buildings. -</p> - -<p> -“What in the world is the matter with the Chief?” whispered Stratford, -quickly; for Sir Dugald was walking as though his feet refused to -carry him in a straight line: first a few steps to the right, then a -valiant attempt to reach the steps, then a divergence to the left. The -men on the terrace watched him in amazement and horror. -</p> - -<p> -“He walks as though he was drunk!” said Kustendjian, in a voice of -bewilderment. -</p> - -<p> -“I wish to goodness he might be!” was the astonishing aspiration which -broke from Dick as he ran down into the court, while Stratford turned -a look upon the interpreter which made him shake in his shoes. -</p> - -<p> -“Give me your arm up the steps, North,” said Sir Dugald, looking at -Dick in a puzzled, almost appealing fashion. “I don’t feel very well. -Is Anstruther there?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, sir. Do you want him to write anything?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes. It must be done at once.” -</p> - -<p> -They had reached the top of the steps, and the horrified group on the -terrace saw that Sir Dugald’s face was working strangely, and that his -lips were twitching and refused to be controlled. -</p> - -<p> -“Dugald,” cried his wife, rushing to him, “you are ill! Come indoors -and lie down;” but he pushed her away from him with a shaking hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Not yet, not yet,” he said, impatiently. “Sit down, Anstruther, and -write. Quick!” as the boy’s frightened fingers bungled over their -task. “Say this: ‘Fearing the approach of severe illness, I hereby -appoint Egerton Stratford to the command of this Mission until her -Majesty’s pleasure is known, charging him——’” here he became -incapable of speech for a moment, and passed his hand over his lips to -steady them—“‘to secure, if possible, the conclusion of the treaty -originally agreed upon; but in any case to conduct the Mission back to -British territory without provoking, for any cause whatever, a -conflict with the Ethiopian authorities.’ Now let me sign it.” -</p> - -<p> -He sat down heavily in the chair which Fitz vacated, and groaned aloud -as the pen dropped from his fingers. -</p> - -<p> -“Let me guide your hand, dearest,” whispered Lady Haigh, restoring him -the pen; but once more he motioned her aside, and, steadying his right -hand with his left, succeeded, with infinite difficulty, in inscribing -his name in large crooked characters. -</p> - -<div class="fig"> -<a href="images/img_06.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_06_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -He succeeded, with infinite difficulty, in inscribing his name in -large crooked characters. -</div></div> - -<p> -“Now witness it. Witness it all of you,” he said, with feverish -anxiety, and they all added their names to the paper as witnesses. -When the last signature was written Sir Dugald’s head sank on his -breast, and Lady Haigh darted to his side with a cry which none of -those who heard it will ever forget. -</p> - -<p> -“Dugald, not <i>dead</i>? and without a word to me!” -</p> - -<p> -“Dear Lady Haigh,” said Georgia, gaining her voice first, and choking -back her tears, “he is not dead. I think it is some kind of paralytic -seizure. He may recover very soon. If we can get him indoors I shall -be able to see better what it is.” -</p> - -<p> -“If you will take his left arm, Mr Stratford,” said Lady Haigh, in a -hard, even voice, “we can support him to his room. Please come with -us, Georgie.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick stepped forward to offer his help, but Lady Haigh refused to -relinquish her position, and she and Stratford half-carried the -unconscious form across the terrace and into the house. It struck -those who were left behind with a fresh pang as they realised that in -the course of the past few weeks Sir Dugald’s iron-grey hair had -turned quite white. -</p> - -<p> -“What do you think?” asked Dick, when Stratford returned presently and -sat down in silence. -</p> - -<p> -“Heaven help us!” was the sole answer; and the group on the terrace -waited there in speechless anxiety for more than an hour. The sun, as -it neared its setting, began to cast the long shadows of the walls -across the courtyard; the kitten curled itself into a ball of white -fur in the middle of Georgia’s embroidery without rebuke, and still -the four men waited, struck dumb by this sudden blow. At last Georgia -came out and sat down in Lady Haigh’s place. There were traces of -tears on her face, but she spoke in what Dick called her professional -manner as they all looked at her, hesitating to ask the question whose -answer they feared to hear. -</p> - -<p> -“It is paralysis,” she said; “but I have never seen a case with quite -the same symptoms.” -</p> - -<p> -“All this worry has been too much for the Chief,” said Stratford, -indignantly. “The Government had no business to send so old a man on -such an errand so ill-supported. What with all he has gone through, -and the shock of the doctor’s death, it is no wonder that he should -break down.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know who started the idea of this precious Mission,” growled -Dick, “but if any of us get back to Khemistan, we shall have something -to say about the way they carried it out.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think that perhaps poor Sir Dugald preferred to come with a small -party, and to be left very much to his own responsibility,” suggested -Georgia. “He has often said how much he hated being trammelled by -directions from people at a distance who knew nothing of the -circumstances.” -</p> - -<p> -“Still, they should have arranged some safe means by which he might -communicate with them in case of necessity, instead of camel-posts -which stopped running just when they were most wanted,” persisted -Dick. “The responsibility has been too much for any one man.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have an idea,” said Georgia, with some hesitation, “that the case -is not quite so simple as you think. I have attended a large number of -paralytic cases, but I have never met with symptoms quite like these. -Sir Dugald has now passed into a state more resembling coma—that is -to say, he is apparently asleep, but cannot be awakened. He seems -incapable of originating any movement, and yet I am almost convinced -that he is partially conscious of what is going on around him. He -cannot speak or open his eyes; but his limbs are not rigid, and I -believe he is alive to sensations of physical pain.” -</p> - -<p> -“But to what conclusions do these observations lead you, Miss -Keeling?” asked Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“It is merely a conjecture of mine, but I think I have one or two -other facts to support it. I believe that this attack is the result of -the administration of poison.” -</p> - -<p> -“Poison!” broke from her hearers in various tones of incredulity; and -Stratford added, “With all deference to you, Miss Keeling, I can’t -help thinking that you are generalising too hastily from the -circumstances of poor Headlam’s death. What opportunity has there been -for poisoning the Chief that would not have affected all of us -equally?” -</p> - -<p> -“Chanda Lal said something to Lady Haigh about a ring.” -</p> - -<p> -“Fath-ud-Din’s ring!” The men looked at one another for a moment, then -Stratford spoke again. -</p> - -<p> -“But we are not in the days of the Borgias now. How could these people -have become acquainted with such a trick as that?” -</p> - -<p> -“Surely,” said Georgia, “it is more likely that the Borgias owed their -methods to the East than that the East borrowed from them? We have -learnt already, by sad experience, that Fath-ud-Din is a most expert -poisoner, and we can guess that he would consider it to be to his -interest to rid himself of Sir Dugald.” -</p> - -<p> -“The thing is absolutely impossible,” said Dick, not considering the -rudeness of his language. Georgia looked at him in some surprise. -</p> - -<p> -“I may tell you that it was from examination of the symptoms that I -first formed my theory, Major North, and that it was only when I was -trying to find out whether there had been any opportunity of -administering poison that I heard of the ring from Chanda Lal.” -</p> - -<p> -“But are you acquainted with any poison which would produce exactly -these effects?” asked Stratford. The rest waited eagerly for the -reply, and their faces fell when Georgia answered— -</p> - -<p> -“No, I am not. There are circumstances connected with the illness -which I cannot explain by attributing it to the action of any specific -poison of which I have ever heard. But you must have noticed in the -papers about ten years ago various references to certain Asiatic -poisons, the nature of which was quite unknown to Western medical men. -It was supposed that a poison of this kind had been administered to a -particular ruler whom it was desired to dethrone, and that it acted in -such a way as to paralyse his will and his powers of mind. I do not -say that this is the same poison—in fact I believe it can’t be, for -that was supposed not to affect the physical powers in any way—but I -think that this belongs to the same class. You saw how poor Sir Dugald -struggled against the effects; only a man of indomitable will could -have held out as he did. But he could not continue to resist, and when -he had attained his great object, and signed that paper, his -will-power collapsed suddenly. It is just possible that if the -emergency had continued to exist, he might have held out, and -succeeded in throwing off the effects of the poison.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you really think it possible that enough poison to produce such -results as these could be contained in that ring?” asked Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“I do; and I want you to help me to persuade Lady Haigh to allow me to -try the effect of different antidotes. She is so thoroughly convinced -that the attack is a simple paralytic seizure, brought on by overwork -and worry, that she refuses to let me make trial of any strong -remedies lest they should retard Sir Dugald’s recovery. But I am very -much afraid that unless we can expel the poison from the system, or at -any rate neutralise it, he will not recover at all.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish we had a proper surgeon here!” said Dick, rising and walking -restlessly up and down. -</p> - -<p> -“We have,” cried Fitz, bristling up at once in defence of Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“I meant a medical <i>man</i>,” said Dick, casting a stony glance at him. -</p> - -<p> -“It seems to me, North,” put in Stratford, “that you forget we ought -to be very thankful to have a doctor here at all. You can’t mean to -imply that it makes any difference that—that——” -</p> - -<p> -“That I have the misfortune to be a woman, as Major North thinks,” -said Georgia, quietly. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I know that I would never let a lady doctor touch me if I was -ill,” said Dick, with painful candour. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think there are many that would care to,” snapped Fitz, who -was boiling over with rage. -</p> - -<p> -“Anstruther, you forget yourself,” said Stratford. “Miss Keeling, I -must ask you to forgive us. We have been so much upset by what has -happened that we really can’t look at things coolly. We know that -North has always been an obstinate heretic on this subject, but I’m -sure I need not tell you that if he was really ill he would be only -too grateful if you would do what you could for him. Still, in the -present case——” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes?” said Georgia, eagerly, as he paused. -</p> - -<p> -“It is such a fearful risk. If you could say definitely what poison -you suspected, or even if we had any independent proof that poison had -been administered at all, I would add my voice to yours in trying to -persuade Lady Haigh to adopt your views; but as it is, you must -confess that they are built up of a succession of hypotheses, and if -the hypotheses are false, your treatment might do irremediable harm by -weakening the patient to such an extent that he would have no power to -rally from what may, after all, be what you called just now a simple -paralytic seizure. You are quite convinced of the truth of your -theory, I suppose?” -</p> - -<p> -“I would stake my professional reputation upon it,” said Georgia; “but -I suppose”—throwing back her head proudly—“that it would be quite -useless to try to convince any one here that my reputation is as much -to me as a professional <i>man’s</i> is to him. But it is not that—it is -to see poor Sir Dugald lying there insensible, and Lady Haigh so -miserable about him, and not to be allowed to try what I believe would -set him right. After all”—her tone changed—“I am the doctor here, -and I am not answerable to any one in authority. Why should I not try -the remedies which commend themselves to me?” -</p> - -<p> -“Scarcely without the consent of the patient’s friends——” began -Stratford, puzzled by this new development; but Dick interposed -roughly enough. -</p> - -<p> -“No, Miss Keeling. If your hypothesis proved to be incorrect, and the -result turned out badly, it might become a manslaughter case. It is -quite out of the question that you should be allowed either to run -such a risk yourself, or to expose the Chief to it, and I shall back -Stratford up in preventing you from attempting anything of the kind -you propose.” -</p> - -<p> -“By force, I presume?” asked Georgia, sarcastically. “You seem to be -losing sight of the fact that, if my theory is correct, it would be -incurring the same guilt not to take the steps I recommend, Major -North.” -</p> - -<p> -“Allow me to say, Miss Keeling, that there are very few juries that -would not prefer the opinion of four men to that of one lady.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can quite believe it,” returned Georgia, scornfully, “after what I -have heard to-day. It would make no difference that the woman was an -M.D. of London, and that none of the men knew enough of medicine to -describe the symptoms of arsenical poisoning. They must know best. Oh, -I might have known that when Lady Haigh refused to listen to me there -was no hope of getting four men to look at things in a less biassed -way. She turned against me because anxiety for her husband has blinded -her judgment for the time, but your opposition springs from mere -prejudice. Thank you for the things you have been saying, Major North. -One conversation of this kind teaches one more than months of ordinary -conventional intercourse. If I were not so angry, I could laugh to -think that we are wrangling here while poor Sir Dugald is lying in -this helpless state—and that you should all combine to prevent my -doing what I can for him, simply because I happen to be a woman!” -</p> - -<p> -“I think you are a little unjust, Miss Keeling,” said Stratford. “My -objection is not that you are a woman, but that you confess you cannot -be certain of the facts of the case.” -</p> - -<p> -“How could any one be certain under the present circumstances, unless -Fath-ud-Din had confessed openly what he had done, and contributed a -specimen of the poison for analysis? You know that if Dr Headlam had -been alive you would not have thought of questioning what he saw fit -to do. I only ask for fair play. Chivalry I don’t expect—perhaps it -is as well that I don’t under the circumstances—but I have a right to -ask for the justice that would be shown to a man in my position.” -</p> - -<p> -And Georgia gathered up her work and the kitten, and retired very -deliberately, with the honours of war, leaving the men disinclined for -further conversation. Kustendjian betook himself to his own quarters, -where he was in the habit of donning a semi-oriental costume in which -to take his ease after work was done; and Stratford, accompanied by -Fitz, who had listened with a certain mournful pride to Georgia’s -indictment of North, adjourned to the office, there to compile the -regular account of the proceedings of the day. When the record was -complete, and Fitz had returned to the terrace, Stratford, who had -lingered to arrange the papers in the safe, was surprised by the -entrance of Dick, who lounged in moodily without saying anything, and -propped himself against the wall. -</p> - -<p> -“Why don’t you tell me that I am a dismal fool and a howling cad?” he -inquired at last. -</p> - -<p> -“If you know it already, though it’s rather late in the day now, it -can’t be much good my repeating the information,” said Stratford, -drily. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, go on! Swear at me, call me names—anything you like! I am -positively yearning for a thorough good slanging—might make me feel a -little better.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I should recommend you to apply to Miss Keeling. I don’t fancy -you’ll want to repeat the experience.” -</p> - -<p> -“Stratford, tell me what I am to do. I can’t think what possessed me -just now. Of course, it stands to reason that we couldn’t allow her to -do what she wanted. If she tried her experiments, and the Chief died, -she would probably let herself in for an inquiry when we got back to -Khemistan. Her name would be bandied about all over the place, and -every wretched native penny-a-liner in India would be cooking up -articles to reflect on medical women.” -</p> - -<p> -“And, by way of improving matters, you gave her a taste of the sort of -thing beforehand. It doesn’t seem to have occurred to you that Miss -Keeling would probably care comparatively little for having her name -bandied about in the papers if she was convinced that her friends—and -I suppose you would call yourself one—believed in her.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick stared. “But that’s all rot, you know!” he said. “If a woman -won’t look after herself in those ways, one must do it for her. To -think of her becoming the subject of bazaar <i>gup</i>!—why, you know, one -couldn’t allow it. No, I’m not a bit sorry that I took her in hand and -quenched her aspirations; but I am perfectly sick when I think of the -way I did it. If she hadn’t taken it for granted that she was in the -right all the time, I shouldn’t have got so mad; but it makes a man -look such a cub to—to lose his temper when he’s arguing with a lady. -As she said, I have done myself more harm with her to-day than months -would undo. How can I put it right?” -</p> - -<p> -“I haven’t a notion,” responded Stratford, cheerfully. “Any one would -have thought from your manner that you were bidding successfully for a -final rupture. Of course, the only possible thing to do is to -apologise. As a gentleman, you can’t avoid that, but I doubt whether -it will do you much good. If you will excuse my saying it, North, I -think you have tried this Revolt-of-Man business once too often.” -</p> - -<p> -“Rub it in!” said Dick, mournfully. “The harder the better.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, get out!” cried Stratford. “This office isn’t a confessional. Eat -your humble pie as soon as you get the chance, and be jolly thankful -if your penitence is accepted. That’s all I have to say. Now clear -out. Why, I have more hope of young Anstruther than of you. The way -that cub has been licked into shape is wonderful. Three months ago he -would have been at your throat for half the things you said to-day. -Slope!” -</p> - -<p> -Dick departed, but he found no opportunity of following the counsel of -his too candid friend. The men dined alone that night, and neither -Lady Haigh nor Georgia appeared on the terrace afterwards. The next -morning, as there was no change in Sir Dugald’s condition, Lady Haigh -ventured, at Georgia’s earnest request, to leave him to the care of -Chanda Lal while she presided as usual at the late breakfast. Dick -took the place next to her, which he had occupied of late, and secured -for himself the first cup of coffee, as he invariably did. -</p> - -<p> -“Major North,” said Georgia, shortly, “will you kindly pass me my -coffee?” -</p> - -<p> -Taken by surprise, Dick did as she asked, and her eyes met his in a -defiant glance as she raised the cup to her lips. He read her meaning -at once. She would have none of his protection; she preferred, indeed, -to run the risk of being poisoned rather than owe immunity from such a -fate to him. The realisation of this fact cut him more deeply than -anything she had said the day before, and he began to regret the -temerity with which he had plunged into the fray, although in talking -to Stratford he had scouted the idea of entertaining such a feeling. -</p> - -<p> -About an hour later, when Georgia, after careful reconnoitring to make -sure that the coast was clear, had settled herself in a shady corner -of the terrace to study in peace a work on poisons which she had found -among Dr Headlam’s books, she was surprised by the sudden appearance -of the man whom she least desired to see. He had evidently been -engaged in inspecting the stores in the cellars under the terrace, for -the first intimation she had of his vicinity was the sight of him as -he came up the steps. -</p> - -<p> -“I want to ask you to forgive me for what I said yesterday, Miss -Keeling,” he said, standing before her. -</p> - -<p> -“Can you forgive yourself?” asked Georgia, quickly. -</p> - -<p> -“Not for the way in which I spoke—nor indeed for the things I said, -but I think you would look more leniently on them if you realised that -it was anxiety for you that prompted them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you,” said Georgia, raising her eyebrows, “but I am afraid that -my poor feminine mind is scarcely capable of appreciating an anxiety -which displays itself in such a marked—I might almost say such an -unpleasant way. Perhaps you will kindly understand, after this, that I -had rather be without it.” -</p> - -<p> -It was undignified, she knew, but she could not resist the temptation -to repay him in his own coin. Last night she had been angry and -indignant when she realised how much his words had hurt her, and it -gave her now a kind of vengeful pleasure to feel that she was hurting -him. -</p> - -<p> -“You are very cruel,” he said, “but perhaps I deserve it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps?” Georgia sat upright, and her eyes flashed. “Major North, -you conceived a prejudice against me the first time you saw me in the -spring, and you spared no pains to make it evident. Thinking that you -might possibly imagine yourself to have a just cause of complaint -against me, on account of what happened long ago, although I should -have thought it wiser and more dignified for both of us to forget the -circumstance, I have done my best, for Mab’s sake, to treat you as I -should wish to be able to treat her brother. I had begun to hope that -you also had recognised the advantage of continuing our acquaintance -on this footing, and I have been in the habit lately of speaking to -you more freely than I should have cared to do to a declared enemy. In -return, you do your utmost to humiliate me in the presence of Mr -Kustendjian and Mr Anstruther. You have taught me a lesson; I confess -that I have taken some time in learning it, but I shall not make -mistakes in future.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you won’t even let us be friends?” -</p> - -<p> -“I think it will be better not, Major North. The honour of your -friendship is rather a trying one for the recipient; a stranger might -even mistake it for enmity. It will relieve you of the unpleasant -necessity of showing your friendship if we remain henceforth on the -footing of mere acquaintances.” -</p> - -<p> -“Have a little pity for me, Georgie.” -</p> - -<p> -If Dick had meant to make Georgia look at him, he had succeeded now. -The glance she gave him withered him into silence. -</p> - -<p> -“You forget yourself, Major North. At least, I have never given you -reason to insult me.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch13"> -CHAPTER XIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">A PROFESSIONAL SUMMONS.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -The long hours of another day and night dragged slowly away, and Sir -Dugald’s condition remained unchanged. The sight of her husband lying -on his bed with half-closed eyes, speechless and incapable of changing -his position, moved Lady Haigh to a fervent hope that Georgia’s -conjecture as to his partial consciousness of what passed around him -might not be true. To know himself absolutely powerless, to perceive -that things were going wrong but to be unable to rectify them, she -could imagine no keener torment for a man of his stamp. If he -continued in this state, she said to herself remorsefully, as she -administered the liquids which were the only nourishment he could -swallow, she would be inclined to allow Georgia to have her way, in -spite of the misgivings of Stratford and North, for nothing could be -worse than this living death. Even now, “If you could only tell me you -were sure it was poison, Georgie dear,” she said, “I would put him -into your hands unreservedly; but as it is, the risk is too fearful. -He is all I have, you know.” And although Georgia regretted the -decision, it did not affect her as the opposition of the men had done, -for she knew that Lady Haigh would have withstood any male doctor with -exactly the same pertinacity under the circumstances. -</p> - -<p> -The political duties of the Mission were somewhat in abeyance just -now, for Sir Dugald’s illness rendered it impossible to initiate any -fresh diplomatic action, and this enforced idleness had a bad effect -on the spirits of all. Even Fitz had lost his cheerfulness, and the -kitten escaped its daily lesson in gymnastics. Kustendjian, his -services as interpreter not being required, spent most of his time in -his own quarters, where, as he informed Stratford with appropriate -seriousness of demeanour, he occupied himself in making his will -several times over, and in writing farewell letters to his friends. In -spite, or perhaps in consequence, of the lack of active occupation, -however, the post which Sir Dugald had bequeathed to Stratford -promised to be no sinecure, and more especially as Dick, since his -interview with Georgia, had been in a villainously bad temper, and -snapped at every one in a way that made his friend long to kick him. -</p> - -<p> -“They all want a desperate emergency to calm them down,” said the -harassed commander to himself. “This monotonous life within four -walls, full of suspense, would get on anybody’s nerves, and they will -take to quarrelling soon. When that happens, it’s all up with us. I -shall have to go and eat humble pie to Miss Keeling if this goes on, -and ask her not to treat North quite so much like an officious -stranger who has spoken to her without an introduction. As the acting -head of affairs, I could put it to her that her method of exercising -discipline has a distinctly bad effect on the <i>morale</i> of the force.” -</p> - -<p> -The emergency which Stratford desired was closer at hand when he -longed for it than he expected, and as is usually the case with -emergencies, it did not arrive quite in the form which he would have -chosen had his wishes been consulted. Its inception was marked by the -in no way unusual event of the arrival of Fath-ud-Din, desiring to -reopen negotiations, on the morning of the second day after Sir -Dugald’s seizure. All the day before, so the Vizier averred, he had -been expecting to receive a message summoning him back to the Mission, -and announcing that his terms were accepted. Hearing nothing, he might -well have gone straight to the Scythian envoy and entered into an -arrangement with him, but so great was the esteem which he felt for -the English, and especially for the members of the present expedition, -and so high was the King’s appreciation of the power and good fortune -of the British Empire, that he was loath to bring about a definite -rupture of diplomatic relations. He had returned, therefore, to lay -his offer once more before Sir Dugald, and to find out whether it was -impossible to effect a compromise. -</p> - -<p> -Stratford was by no means anxious to undertake the delicate task of -endeavouring to resist the Vizier’s blandishments without turning him -into an open enemy, and did his best to postpone the evil day by -telling him that Sir Dugald was indisposed, and could not be troubled -with business. But Fath-ud-Din displayed so much anxiety to see the -Envoy, even though only for a moment, and in bed, that Stratford, in -order to avoid the discovery of Sir Dugald’s real condition, no -whisper of which had as yet been allowed to creep out into the town, -was obliged to say that Sir Dugald must not be disturbed, but that the -conduct of affairs had been delegated to himself. -</p> - -<p> -The Vizier showed great interest in this piece of news, and -immediately asked for a conference with Stratford, a conference so -important that the servants were to be excluded from the room, and the -greatest precautions taken to prevent eavesdropping or interruption. -Stratford was heartily sick of these conferences, each one of which -had hitherto resulted only in the offer of terms more impossible of -acceptance than those last brought forward, and he was also convinced -that the delay in settling matters with the Scythian envoy was due to -no compunction on the part of Fath-ud-Din, but merely to the fact that -he could not get the price he wanted. Still, even in view of the -further possibility that the arrangement with Scythia had after all -been concluded, and that the present visit was simply a blind, the -Vizier’s request could not very well be refused, and a move was made -into the Durbar-hall from the verandah, the servants being placed to -guard the doors. -</p> - -<p> -On the terrace in the inner court Lady Haigh, who had come outside for -a breath of fresh air, was discussing the position of affairs with -Georgia. They had not yet reached the point at which conversation of -this kind ceases to bring some comfort, or at any rate distraction, -for despair must be very near at hand when no one cares any longer to -inquire “What is to be done?” and when there is no one else to take up -the challenge and suggest some means, however impracticable, for -obtaining relief. To them, as they sat there, came a messenger from -Ismail Bakhsh the gatekeeper, saying that there was a negro at the -door belonging to the Palace harem, and asking whether he was to be -admitted. Lady Haigh had him brought in at once, when he explained -that he bore a message to the doctor lady, entreating her to come to -the Palace immediately. The litter and the escort of horsemen were -waiting outside, for Ismail Bakhsh would not hear of admitting them -into the courtyard without orders from Stratford, and Stratford was -not to be disturbed. -</p> - -<p> -“Shall you go, Georgie?” asked Lady Haigh. -</p> - -<p> -“Of course,” returned Georgia, astonished by the question. “I am -afraid something must have gone wrong with the Queen’s eyes. I only -hope they haven’t undone the bandages too soon.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think that perhaps it might be as well before going to ask the -gentlemen what their opinion is.” -</p> - -<p> -“I really do not propose to ask leave from Mr Stratford and Major -North before I go to visit my patients,” said Georgia, stiffening -visibly. -</p> - -<p> -“But they might have some reason for objecting. Of course, they have -said nothing of the kind, and it may be only my fancy, but I don’t -quite like your going, Georgie. It doesn’t seem safe, after the things -that have happened lately.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Lady Haigh, you wouldn’t have me disregard a professional -summons on the plea of danger?” said Georgia, taking the <i>burka</i> which -Rahah had brought her, and arraying herself in it. -</p> - -<p> -“No, of course not; but I don’t feel certain about this one, somehow. -In any case, Georgie, promise me that you will not take anything to -eat or to drink at the Palace.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nothing but coffee, at any rate,” said Georgia. “When Nur Jahan pours -it out for me herself, and takes a sip from the cup to show that it is -all right, I can’t hurt her feelings by refusing it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish I could ask Mr Stratford what he thinks,” said Lady Haigh, -reverting to her former strain. “It could do no harm.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you don’t think that he can see further into a millstone than you -can, do you, Lady Haigh? What difference could it make what he -thought? He doesn’t know anything more than we do, and I am sure he -couldn’t conjure up worse fears than those we have been indulging in -lately.” -</p> - -<p> -“He might think it better that you should not go,” said Lady Haigh, -without considering the effect of her words. -</p> - -<p> -“Then we may regard it as just as well that he is not here, since what -he thought would make no difference to me,” said Georgia, with an -ominous tightening of the lips. “Are you ready, Rahah?” -</p> - -<p> -And the two veiled figures passed under the archway and through the -outer court, entering the litter at the gate without attracting the -attention of any of the diplomatists in the Durbar-hall, about the -doors of which Lady Haigh hovered unhappily for two or three minutes, -feeling undecided how to act, and only returned to her own domain on -being assured over and over again by the servants that the conference -was on no account to be interrupted. She went slowly back to Sir -Dugald’s sick-room, and sat down by the bedside; but she could not be -still. An unwonted restlessness was upon her, impelling her to move -about the room and alter the position of every medicine-bottle and -every piece of furniture in it. Presently she stepped out again on the -terrace, and looked across at Bachelors’ Buildings, feeling half -inclined to force her way into the Durbar-hall and interrupt the -conference; but she scolded herself for her folly, and returned to her -patient. What good could it possibly do to break up the durbar by -calling Mr Stratford out in order to communicate to him the momentous -intelligence that Miss Keeling had gone to visit her patient at the -Palace? It was with this very object in view that she had come to -Kubbet-ul-Haj. -</p> - -<p> -“I am getting nervous,” said Lady Haigh to herself, “and I have always -been so proud of being absolutely without nerves! I won’t give in to -it. What is there to be frightened about? Georgia has gone to the -Palace over and over again, and I have never minded it a bit.” -</p> - -<p> -Nevertheless, she wandered desolately from the sick-room to the -terrace and back again several times, and heaved a sigh of relief when -she caught a glimpse through the archway of a bustle in the outer -court, and gathered that the Vizier was taking his leave. Presently -Stratford and Dick came in sight, and she had just time to decide that -she would not trouble them with her ridiculous fancies, before they -mounted the steps. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, had Fath-ud-Din anything new to propose?” she asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no,” returned Stratford, with ineffable weariness. “It was the -same old game all through. He wanted to bribe us to sign his treaty, -or he didn’t mind our bribing him to sign ours. He has raised his -terms, though—I think he imagines that we are of a more squeezable -disposition than the Chief. He wants ten thousand pounds for himself, -and a written promise that the Government will support Antar Khan in -case of the King’s death. A little secret treaty all to himself would -just meet his views.” -</p> - -<p> -“He is really very tiresome,” said Lady Haigh, sympathetically. “One -feels so dreadfully undignified staying on like this, when he is -always making such insulting offers. I don’t want to interfere in your -department, Mr Stratford, but if we hear nothing soon—say to-day or -to-morrow—from Jahan Beg, would it not be advisable to think about -sending a messenger to report our position at Fort Rahmat-Ullah?” -</p> - -<p> -“I think of it continually,” said Stratford; “but none of us here -could hope to leave the city without being recognised, and if they -mean to cut us off from communication with Khemistan, it would be -certain death to the man who ventured to start, while we should be as -badly off as ever.” -</p> - -<p> -“Still, we can’t spend the term of our natural lives shut up here,” -began Lady Haigh, emphatically; but Dick interrupted her. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll go,” he said, promptly; “it’s just the sort of thing I like. I -have nothing to keep me here, and nothing to do. I am positively -yearning for a job. I’ll start to-night.” -</p> - -<p> -“Gently,” said Stratford. “We must figure out a plan of campaign -first. But if any one could get through, North, you could, to judge by -your Rahmat-Ullah performance; and Fath-ud-Din’s language to-day was -really so unpleasantly threatening, that I think it is time for us to -make tracks.” -</p> - -<p> -“Did he go so far as to threaten you?” asked Lady Haigh. -</p> - -<p> -“There certainly seemed to be a distinct suggestion of menace in his -words, and that not merely the old bugbear of the Scythian envoy. But -of course it may be all bounce. Hullo! I wonder I didn’t murder this -little animal.” He stooped and lifted the white kitten, which had made -a sudden dash at his boot from an ambush near at hand. “Why aren’t you -with your mistress, Colleen Bawn? I thought you always stuck to her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Miss Keeling can’t take her to the Palace,” said Lady Haigh, with -a nervous little laugh. “It wouldn’t look professional, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Miss Keeling gone to the Palace!” Stratford’s eye sought Dick’s, but -met no answering glance. “Why should she have gone there just now? I -thought the operation was over.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, the Queen sent a message to beg her to come, and she was afraid -something must have gone wrong, so she hurried off. You don’t think -there is any reason why she should have refused, do you?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know. It seems absurd, but I feel more at ease when we are -all safe inside these walls. I can’t think how it is that we didn’t -hear Miss Keeling start.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, the escort did not come into the court, because Ismail Bakhsh -would not open the gate, and we could not tell you she was going, for -the servants said you were not to be interrupted.” -</p> - -<p> -“That was Fath-ud-Din’s doing. It looks very fishy altogether. I hope -it’s not a trap. I suppose there’s no possibility of stopping her now -before she gets to the Palace?” -</p> - -<p> -“Dear me, no!” said Lady Haigh, with conviction. “She ought to be on -her way back by this time. No; it’s quite clear that we can do -nothing.” -</p> - -<p> -“Except await events,” said Stratford, drearily; and Lady Haigh -remembered that she had left Sir Dugald alone for a long time, and -returned to his side not much comforted. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, Georgia had reached the Palace without mishap, and, -on sending a message by one of the slaves, was welcomed at the door of -the harem by Nur Jahan. To her dismay, she found the girl in deep -mourning. She wore no jewels, her hair was unbraided, her dress was -coarse and squalid, and her feet bare. -</p> - -<p> -“What is the matter, Nur Jahan?” asked Georgia, anxiously. “Has -anything gone wrong with the Queen or Rustam Khan, or is it your -baby?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is my father,” said Nur Jahan, in a hurried whisper, so low that -Rahah was obliged to come quite close in order to translate what she -said. “O doctor lady, hast thou not heard? He was seized eleven days -ago, and thrown into prison, by order of our lord the King.” -</p> - -<p> -“But he is not dead?” -</p> - -<p> -“God knows,” said Nur Jahan. “It may even be that, but we have not -heard it. We know not where he is, nor what has befallen him since he -was taken away.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia gasped. This news was the death-blow to the hopes which the -party at the Mission had been cherishing. It was evident that Jahan -Beg had been arrested almost immediately after his last colloquy with -Sir Dugald, and before he could take any steps with reference to -sending a messenger to Fort Rahmat-Ullah, so that help was as far off -as ever. Had the King and Fath-ud-Din discovered his visits to the -Mission, or was it merely that the Vizier’s hatred had at last burst -its bounds? She turned to ask Nur Jahan on what charge he had been -arrested, but smiled at her own folly when she remembered that in this -happy land there was neither Habeas Corpus Act nor penalty for false -imprisonment. -</p> - -<p> -“It is good of thee to come to us, O doctor lady,” said Nur Jahan. -“The Queen has been wearying to hear thy voice. She said that thou -hadst heard of our trouble and forsaken us; but I said that it was not -so, for that where there was sorrow there wouldst thou be to comfort -it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then the Queen is no more cheerful than she was?” -</p> - -<p> -“How should she be, now that this new trial is come upon us? Her -slaves and I have kept from her all that we could; but she guesses -what we do not tell her. Only she has not wept, for she knows that -would injure her eyes, and her heart longs to behold my son before she -dies.” -</p> - -<p> -“But have you pleaded with the King for your father’s life?” -</p> - -<p> -“My mother has. She is his own cousin, and yet she went to him as a -suppliant, and entreated mercy for her husband; but he refused to hear -her, and the rabble of the city broke into her house and set it on -fire. Then she took refuge here with her household, and we have waited -in vain for news ever since.” -</p> - -<p> -“But does your mother live here in the King’s house, and eat his -bread, when he has treated her husband so badly?” -</p> - -<p> -“What else could she do? Our lord the King is her uncle’s son. Where -could she take refuge but in his house with his wife? He will suffer -no harm to happen to her, for it is only against my father that he is -wroth. But I will take thee to see my mother, O doctor lady, when thou -hast first visited the Queen, for her heart is sad and it may cheer -her to hear thy voice.” -</p> - -<p> -They went on into the Queen’s room, and Georgia examined the bandages -and found them intact. It was as yet too early to remove them in order -to discover whether the operation had been successful, and she -remarked to Nur Jahan that it would have been as well not to send for -her until two or three days later, when she could have superintended -their removal. -</p> - -<p> -“But we have not sent for thee, O doctor lady,” said Nur Jahan in -surprise. -</p> - -<p> -“Not sent for me?” cried Georgia. “But I had a message from the -Queen!” -</p> - -<p> -Nur Jahan shook her head, and the Queen spoke in a weak, quivering -voice— -</p> - -<p> -“It is of my lord’s kindness, then, that we behold thee, O doctor -lady. When he last visited me, I was mourning that we saw thee so -seldom, and now he has brought thee hither.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should certainly not have come for a day or two if I had known that -there was no change,” said Georgia; “nor should I have obeyed a -message from the King, even though sent in your name.” But the poor -Queen’s evident pleasure in her society moved her to pity, and she -talked cheerfully to her for a while before taking her leave. -</p> - -<p> -There were a few directions as to various points of treatment to be -given to Nur Jahan, and when these had been duly explained and a fresh -bottle of medicine promised, Georgia rose to go. Nur Jahan led her -down the passage and into another room, which was filled with women in -mourning. They were all sitting on the floor round an elderly lady, -whose grey hair was besprinkled with dust, and they relieved one -another at intervals in uttering a few words of lamentation and then -breaking into a low, prolonged wail. Georgia had no difficulty in -guessing that this was the bereaved household of Jahan Beg, and she -felt some delicacy in interrupting the mournful proceedings; but Nur -Jahan led her in and presented her to her mother, and the wailing -women made room for her in their circle. At first she was afraid that -it might be considered only proper politeness to take down her hair -and cast dust upon it as they were doing; but she was not long in -discovering that the duty of mourning had become a little monotonous -after ten days’ diligent performance of it, and that the ladies were -not indisposed to welcome the slight relief and distraction which -might be afforded by the foreigner’s visit. -</p> - -<p> -Nur Jahan’s mother raised her head, shook the dust out of her eyes, -and after surveying Georgia from head to foot with great interest, -began the invariable catechism. Was the doctor lady married? How had -she learned her wisdom? Where did she get her clothes? Why did she do -her hair in that way? Had she a father, mother, brothers, sisters? -What had brought her to Kubbet-ul-Haj? Had her family raised no -objections to such an extraordinary proceeding? Was the Kaisar really -a woman? Was it then true that in England the women ruled and the men -obeyed? Why did the doctor lady wear no jewellery? Which member of the -Mission was it that dealt in magical arts—herself, or the Envoy, or -the doctor who was dead? -</p> - -<p> -The Princess stopped at last for want of breath, and Georgia, having -answered as many of the questions as she could remember, expressed the -sorrow she had felt on account of the misfortune that had fallen upon -Jahan Beg, adding a hope that he would soon be restored to liberty. -From all sides came the answer that whatever happened to him would be -his fate, which could not be averted; but when she asked presently to -what cause his sudden arrest was to be attributed, a storm of passion -swept over the crowd of women. It was all the doing of -Fath-ud-Din—might he die unlamented in the flower of his age! might -his children live but to disgrace him! and might the graves of his -parents and grandparents be dishonoured, yea, those of his ancestors -to the remotest generation! After this outburst they came to definite -charges, the Princess speaking first, and one woman after another -chiming in with corroborative evidence. -</p> - -<p> -Fath-ud-Din robbed the treasury and deceived the King, ground the -faces of the honest poor, and kept the lawless rabble in his pay. He -meant to place his nephew, Antar Khan, on the throne after his father, -instead of the rightful heir, Rustam Khan, to whom God had granted -such a promising son as showed he was intended to be king. He had a -daughter who was supposed to be the most beautiful child in Ethiopia, -and he was bringing her up in the country in a fortress of his own, -where no one could see her, intending (such was the height of his -presumption) to marry her to Antar Khan when she was old enough. And -for her guardian there he had an old woman—a sorceress, who could -destroy by her magic arts any undesirable stranger that might happen -to approach the fortress, for she was one of the remnant of the -Poisoners, a tribe of vagrants so noted for their evil deeds that the -last King of Ethiopia had swept them almost out of the land. But this -woman still remained, and that she worked at her old trade for -Fath-ud-Din’s benefit there was no doubt, for did not all his enemies -die mysteriously, and no man could tell who had hurt them? To this old -woman had descended the evil secrets of the whole tribe, and she knew -of poisons and antidotes with which no one else in the world was -acquainted. -</p> - -<p> -The women were so eager in their denunciations of the Grand Vizier -that Georgia’s voice was unheeded when she tried to interrupt them, -for the story of the witch and her poisons had recalled to her mind -the recent events at the Mission, and she was anxious to know where -the old woman was to be found. But the untiring accusers were hurrying -on with a catalogue of other crimes committed by Fath-ud-Din, and they -were only checked by a voice from the doorway. -</p> - -<p> -“Dost thou not fear, O wife of Jahan Beg, thus with thy women to speak -evil of those in authority? The arm of the Vizier has power to reach -even to the house of the King.” -</p> - -<p> -“The cat may seize the mouse, O mother of Antar Khan,” replied the -Princess with dignity, “but the mouse may squeak.” -</p> - -<p> -The intruder laughed contemptuously and waddled into the room between -the rows of women, who had risen at her entrance. She was still a -young woman, and might have been considered beautiful but for her -exceeding stoutness (a quality, however, which is not considered a -defect in Ethiopia), and she was dressed with the utmost magnificence -which Kubbet-ul-Haj could show. Rich satins of varying colours, -Kashmir shawls, and transparent gauzes were heaped upon her person in -a way which declared them to be intended for display rather than for -use; her eyelids were blackened, and her hands and lips reddened, and -she was literally loaded with jewels. Several women followed her, in -one of whom Georgia recognised the girl who had shouted across the -courtyard to her on the last occasion of her visiting the Palace, and -these also had donned all their finest possessions in preparation for -paying this call. It was the direst insult to come dressed in such a -style for a visit which was nominally one of condolence; but Nur -Jahan’s mother dissembled her wrath, and invited the young Queen to -take a seat on the divan, while her attendants grouped themselves -around her. When the visitor was comfortably settled, and had been -accommodated with a pipe, she favoured Georgia with a prolonged stare. -</p> - -<p> -“Thou art the English doctor-woman?” she asked, so insolently that her -maids giggled at the tone. -</p> - -<p> -“I am,” returned Georgia, looking her over calmly. -</p> - -<p> -“Why hast thou never visited me, to eat bread in my chamber?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have never received an invitation,” said Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -Antar Khan’s mother turned to her attendants. -</p> - -<p> -“Hear the doctor lady!” she cried. “She is waiting for an invitation, -instead of sending humbly to ask that she might be allowed to kiss the -Queen’s feet!” -</p> - -<p> -Not considering that so self-evident a fact called for comment, -Georgia remained silent, which her assailant was unable to do. -</p> - -<p> -“Think not that I came here to see thee,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, not at all,” said Georgia, pleasantly; and there was a suspicious -tremble in Rahah’s voice as she translated the answer. -</p> - -<p> -“Because, if I desire it, I shall be able to see thee continually from -henceforth,” pursued the Queen. “But,” she added, with deep meaning, -“I shall not desire it. I would not have thee in my sight.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia lifted her eyebrows slightly at this enigmatic and apparently -uncalled-for remark, an action which seemed to irritate her opponent -very much. She leaned forward when she spoke next, and her tone was -full of menace. -</p> - -<p> -“Thou art here—in the Palace.” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe so,” returned Georgia, in some surprise. -</p> - -<p> -“But how wilt thou depart hence—and when?” -</p> - -<p> -“In a few minutes, and as I came, I suppose.” -</p> - -<p> -The Queen laughed shrilly, and her women joined their voices with -hers. -</p> - -<p> -“Thou wilt never leave the Palace, O doctor lady. Before thou canst -return to thy people there is a life to be given for thine, and who is -there that will lay down his life for thee? Thou hast neither husband -nor father nor brother, and what man is there that will give his life -for a woman that is not even of his house?” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia’s heart was in her mouth as the full import of the words -dawned upon her; but she turned quietly to Nur Jahan’s mother. -</p> - -<p> -“I never care to prescribe for patients in public,” she said. “Would -it be possible for me to see the Queen in a separate room, with, -perhaps, one of her attendants?” -</p> - -<p> -A thrill of expectation went round the circle as Rahah translated the -words with much emphasis. Georgia singled out an old woman standing -behind the Queen. -</p> - -<p> -“Tell me, O my mother,” she said, “whether thou hast long observed -these symptoms in thy mistress? Is she often like this? Speak freely, -for I cannot hope to cure her unless I know the truth.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is the doctor-woman saying that I am mad?” burst forth the Queen, -glaring round at her attendants, whose faces assumed immediately an -expression of pious horror, although they were unable to answer in the -negative. “I will show thee whether I am mad, thou infidel daughter of -a dog!” she cried. “My lord shall give thee into my hands, and thou -shalt know what I have wit to do.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think not,” said Georgia with a smile, as her fingers closed on the -butt of the little revolver she carried in a special pocket. Her -feelings were so highly wrought that it was easier for her at the -moment to smile than to speak, but the smile seemed to rouse her -adversary to fury. She burst into a storm of threats and revilings -such as Rahah declined to translate; but Georgia gathered the -impression that any one who was so unfortunate as to fall into the -hands of Antar Khan’s mother would have little mercy to hope for, and -might well welcome death as the chief blessing on earth. She rose and -folded her <i>burka</i> around her, and addressed the Princess. -</p> - -<p> -“I fear my presence merely excites the patient,” she said, “and -therefore I will go now. Perhaps I shall be able to see her another -day when she is quieter, and there are not so many people present.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, go!” echoed the Queen and her women. “Go, if thou canst!” -</p> - -<p> -Accompanied by Nur Jahan, and followed by Rahah, Georgia walked down -the passage to the door. As had been the case on the previous -occasion, the litter was not there. Turning to Nur Jahan, Georgia -asked her to send one of the slave-girls to summon it. -</p> - -<p> -“O doctor lady,” whispered Nur Jahan, fearfully, “it is no use. There -is evil intended against thee. Come back and remain in the chamber of -my lord’s mother. It may be that they would not dare to drag thee from -her presence.” -</p> - -<p> -“Are you also turning against me, Nur Jahan? Send the woman at once, -if you please. I shall not stay here.” -</p> - -<p> -Tremblingly Nur Jahan obeyed, while the young Queen and her women, who -had followed them out, laughed and jeered. -</p> - -<p> -“Never again wilt thou enter the litter, O doctor lady. It is well to -give orders, but it is ill when they are not obeyed.” -</p> - -<p> -Nevertheless, after a delay of a few minutes, the litter appeared, to -Georgia’s own astonishment, and the utter stupefaction of the -Ethiopian women. Georgia’s spirits rose as she stepped into it, -followed by Rahah, and she allowed herself to think that the Queen’s -mysterious threats and extraordinary conduct had been part of a -spiteful joke. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch14"> -CHAPTER XIV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">AN ULTIMATUM.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -As the morning hours passed on, the feeling of uneasiness at the -Mission grew in intensity. Although Georgia’s visits to the Palace -were rarely less than two hours in duration, and another hour must be -allowed for the journey thither and the return, she had not been gone -an hour and a half before Lady Haigh began to appear from the sick -room at intervals of ten minutes, and inquire whether she had not come -back yet. The men waited on the terrace, too full of anxiety to settle -to any occupation, and the servants watched them furtively as they -went about their duties. Whether the uneasiness was due to the -Vizier’s threat, or to a feeling that the tension which had so long -existed had nearly reached breaking-point, every one seemed to be -conscious that there was danger in the air. -</p> - -<p> -At length the shouts of running footmen at the outer gates announced -an arrival of importance, and a sigh of relief broke from the watchers -on the terrace. Miss Keeling had returned in safety after all, but -this was the last time that she should leave the Mission -unaccompanied, and confide herself to the tender mercies of the -sovereign of Ethiopia and his Ministers. But the shouts were not -followed by the usual sounds of the creaking open of the ponderous -gates and the rush of feet into the courtyard as the litter was -carried up to the steps; but only by a parleying between Ismail Bakhsh -and some one outside, which was audible in the inner court owing to -the loud tones in which it was conducted, although the actual words -could not be distinguished. Presently a servant approached the group -through the archway. -</p> - -<p> -“Highness,” he said, addressing Stratford, “there are two lords -outside, belonging to the King’s court, who desire to speak with the -Sahibs, but they will not come inside the gate.” -</p> - -<p> -“Whence this exceeding caution?” said Stratford, as he descended the -steps. “They have never displayed any reluctance to come in before.” -</p> - -<p> -No one replied to his observation, and he went towards the gate, the -other men following him, with Lady Haigh, uninvited and unnoticed, -close at their heels. One of the doors was opened as they advanced, -and they found themselves face to face with their old friend, the -official who had met them on their first arrival in the city, and -introduced them to their present quarters. Now he looked uneasy and as -though ashamed of the business on which he had come, while at his side -was a hard-faced, eager man, whom the English recognised as one of -Fath-ud-Din’s chief supporters among the Amirs. -</p> - -<p> -“Peace be upon you!” said Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“And upon thee be peace!” was the stereotyped reply. -</p> - -<p> -“Will you not enter and eat bread with us?” asked Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“My lord’s servants are commanded not to enter his house, nor yet to -break bread with him and his young men,” returned the official, “for -their errand demands haste. Is the gracious lord, the Queen of -England’s Envoy, yet recovered of his sickness?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, he is still indisposed, and I am here in his place,” said -Stratford, restraining his impatience with an effort. -</p> - -<p> -“Will my lord command his own servants to withdraw a space?” pursued -the ambassador, evidently embarrassed, “for I have to mention one who -belongs to the great lord’s household.” -</p> - -<p> -Stratford signed to the servants to withdraw a little, but intimated -that Dick and Fitz were equally interested with himself in the matter -now to be disclosed, while Kustendjian was necessary as interpreter. -This having been made clear, they waited with breathless eagerness, -for the ambassador seemed very much at a loss for words. -</p> - -<p> -“My lord knows,” he said at last, “that the English doctor lady came -this day to visit the household of our lord the King?” -</p> - -<p> -“I know that she received an urgent message in the Queen’s name -entreating her to come to the Palace, and that she hastened thither at -once,” said Stratford. The official seemed to find a difficulty in -proceeding, and his colleague took up the tale. -</p> - -<p> -“However that may be,” he said, “the doctor lady is now in the hands -of our lord the King.” -</p> - -<p> -“And how is that, pray?” asked Stratford. “Since when has the King of -Ethiopia adopted the plan of getting women into his power by false -messages, and then kidnapping them?” -</p> - -<p> -“In dealing with enemies and infidels, our lord the King pays more -heed to the end than to the means,” said the Amir. -</p> - -<p> -“So it seems,” said Stratford, drily; “but does he fight with women?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay,” said the official, plucking up courage to speak again; “he -fights with men, and therefore it is that we are here.” -</p> - -<p> -“The King is evidently in need of money, and requires a ransom,” said -Stratford, turning to the rest, and speaking with an airy confidence -which he was far from feeling. “How much does he want?” he asked of -the messengers. -</p> - -<p> -“Our lord desires not money, nor does he war with women,” repeated the -Amir. “In exchange for the woman he requires a man.” -</p> - -<p> -A gasp from Fitz, an exclamation from Dick, and a stifled cry from -Lady Haigh warned Stratford of the effect which the announcement of -the King’s demand had produced on his friends. He himself felt a -certain relief—almost akin to the “stern joy” of the warrior—in the -conviction that the crisis for which he had been looking had at last -arrived, and his voice rang out clearly as he asked, “And who is it -that the King requires?” -</p> - -<p> -“My lord must see,” said the old official reluctantly, “that our lord -the King desires him who is chief in authority among you to be sent to -him, that he may make the treaty with him which the Queen of England -desired when she sent her servants hither.” -</p> - -<p> -“But we have no stronger wish than that the King should sign that very -treaty,” objected Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“But my lord’s treaty is not the King’s treaty,” was the unanswerable -reply of the ambassador. -</p> - -<p> -“And if the man you desire should go to the Palace, and yet refuse to -sign the King’s treaty, what then?” asked Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“It is not for the health of any man to withstand our lord the King,” -was the evasive answer. -</p> - -<p> -“But if—if the man was not given up,” broke in the agitated voice of -Fitz from behind, “what would happen to the lady?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, the woman would die—in a little while,” was the instant reply of -the Amir, delighted to perceive his opportunity. “Not by the hands of -the King’s executioners—that would be a man’s death. No; women can -deal with women. There are certain in our lord the King’s household -who bear no love to the doctor lady. I do not say that they would kill -her; but she would not live very long in their hands—a day, perhaps, -or it may be two. And it would not be an easy death.” -</p> - -<p> -“For God’s sake, Stratford, put a stop to this!” muttered Dick, -hoarsely, his face convulsed with rage. “Tell them I will go.” -</p> - -<p> -“Unless,” pursued the Amir, apparently heedless of the interruption, -although his greedy eyes had not missed the slightest change in the -expression of any of the faces before him, “the woman should find -favour in the eyes of our lord the King. Then she would live for a -time. Afterwards it would be much the same; but whether——” -</p> - -<p> -But the alternative which he had been about to state was left -unuttered, for Dick sprang forward and dealt him a blow which -stretched him on the ground. -</p> - -<div class="fig"> -<a href="images/img_07.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_07_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -Dick sprang forward and dealt him a blow which stretched him on the -ground. -</div></div> - -<p> -“Say that again if you dare!” he growled, standing over him with -clenched fists; but the Amir, evidently considering that discretion -was the better part of valour, submitted to be helped up and brushed -by his attendants, after which he retired to the rear, Dick turning -contemptuously on his heel and resuming his post beside Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“Let not my lord heed the sayings of that man,” entreated the old -official, “for he has an evil tongue and loves to stir up strife.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then is what he says not true?” asked Stratford, sternly. And, -divided between a desire to maintain the effect produced and the fear -of Dick’s fist, the ambassador preferred to take refuge in silence. -</p> - -<p> -“We will consult together upon the matter and let you know our -decision presently,” said Stratford, after waiting in vain for an -answer. “If you will not enter, the servants shall spread carpets at -the gate for you.” -</p> - -<p> -The official expressed his gratitude for the courtesy, and the little -party of English retired to the inner court in silence, a silence -which was broken by Fitz as soon as they reached the terrace. -</p> - -<p> -“What do you intend to do?” he demanded of Stratford, glaring at him -with eyes still full of the horror inspired by what he had just heard. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t ask me!” said Lady Haigh, taking the question as addressed to -herself; and sitting down at the table, she began to sob heavily. “I -shall become a gibbering idiot if this sort of thing goes on,” she -wailed. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know what you wanted to pretend to discuss things for,” said -Dick, gruffly. “What’s the good of fooling about with consultations -when I told you I was going?” -</p> - -<p> -“Excuse me,” said Stratford, “you are quite mistaken. I am going.” -</p> - -<p> -Lady Haigh ceased her sobs and looked at him in astonishment, while -Dick uttered an inarticulate exclamation. Fitz alone retained the -power of speech. -</p> - -<p> -“Let me go, Mr Stratford,” he entreated. “Not you; you can’t be -spared. My life isn’t of any value; but every one here depends on you -in this fix. I would do anything for Miss Keeling, and be proud to do -it. You will let me go, won’t you? It doesn’t signify what happens to -me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Stuff and nonsense, Anstruther!” said Stratford, good-humouredly. -“There is plenty for you to do yet. Don’t you see that when the King -has demanded the man in authority, he is scarcely likely to be willing -to accept you instead? You are pretty well known in Kubbet-ul-Haj, -certainly; but although Fath-ud-Din might be glad to welcome you as a -fellow-victim with me, he would hardly regard you with favour as a -substitute.” -</p> - -<p> -“What are we to do without you, Mr Stratford?” asked Lady Haigh, -piteously. “Sir Dugald left everything in your charge.” -</p> - -<p> -“We must trust that the King will prove to be less bloodthirsty than -his ministers,” he answered. “I am not without hopes of making him -listen to reason. Still, one must prepare for the worst, of course. -North, if you will come with me to the office a minute, I will give -you the keys and the seal, and just put you in the way of things a -little.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick followed him in silence; but when they had entered the office he -shut the door and put his back against it. -</p> - -<p> -“Look here, Stratford,” he said, “you have got to let me go. It is my -right, I tell you. I—I love her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course you do,” returned Stratford. “I have seen that for some -time. That is why I am glad that you will be left to look after her. -You will have your work cut out for you if you are to get back to -Khemistan after this——” -</p> - -<p> -“Stratford,” said Dick earnestly, “listen to me. This is my business, -and it is very unfriendly of you, though you mean well, to try to take -it from me. I intend to go.” -</p> - -<p> -“Excuse me,” said Stratford, “but it is my business too. No, I am not -hinting at cutting you out, old man—I couldn’t do it if I would. My -reason for going is totally unconnected with Miss Keeling, except in -so far as her danger has brought things to a climax. I am not going to -sign Fath-ud-Din’s treaty; but neither do I intend to be killed if I -can help it. I shall take our treaty with me, and if I leave the -Palace alive I shall bring that treaty out with me, signed. You will -observe that it is not for Miss Keeling that I am risking my life, but -simply on a matter of business. I stake my life against the treaty, -and if I keep the one I gain the other. Of course, if I fail I lose -both. Now do you see it?” -</p> - -<p> -“But I could look after the treaty just the same,” urged Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“No, you couldn’t. You are not a diplomatist, North; you are a -soldier, and tact is not exactly your strong point. I know that you -could die like a hero; but you don’t shine in statecraft, and I am -anxious that no dying shall be necessary, if that is possible. You -understand? It is a matter of personal moment to me to get this treaty -signed, and I ask you, as a favour, to waive your claim to sacrifice -yourself for Miss Keeling.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, hang it all!” burst forth Dick. “When you put it in that way, -Stratford, what can a man do but make a fool of himself, and let you -go? It’s my right, and you take away from me my only chance of showing -her that I would die for her, though I can’t manage to please her. But -we have rubbed through a good deal together, you and I—oh, there, you -can go.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks, old man; I thought I knew your sort. That’s settled, then. By -the bye, if they should put an end to me it is just possible that they -might have some one there capable of imitating my writing. They must -have seen my signature on notes and things of that kind. Well, if I -sign any treaty you will find the words run into one another, so that -the <i>Egerton</i> is joined to the <i>Stratford</i>. That is the test of -genuineness, do you see?” -</p> - -<p> -“All right.” -</p> - -<p> -“I leave you in charge of everything here, of course. I am very much -afraid that Jahan Beg must have come to grief, so don’t depend upon -him any longer. You won’t be able to leave the Mission yourself now, -of course; but if you can get one of the servants to venture, send him -off to Fort Rahmat-Ullah. The absence of news ought to have put them -on the alert, and if they have any sense they will be preparing a -rescue expedition already; but you can’t count on that. If you see the -faintest chance of getting every one off safely, I charge you most -solemnly to seize it at once, without waiting to see what has become -of me. Such a message as this means war to the knife, and you must -take any opportunity that offers of an escort, for to fight your way -through Ethiopia would be an impossibility, with the women and the -Chief to guard, and no horses. Perhaps Hicks might join forces with -you, if you approached him in a proper spirit, and he would be a real -acquisition, for he has a good number of armed servants, and has seen -something of Indian fighting on the Plains. If he doesn’t see it, you -may have to stand a siege here until relief arrives; but what you are -to do about food I don’t know. I can’t attempt to give you directions. -All I say is, if the worst comes to the worst, leave me and the treaty -alone, and escape as best you can.” -</p> - -<p> -“All right,” said Dick again. -</p> - -<p> -“Here are the keys. Young Anstruther will show you how the papers are -arranged. And, by the bye, if I don’t come back, send my things to my -sister, Mrs Rowcroft, Branscombe Vicarage, Homeshire, and tell her how -it was. She is the only near relation I have, and we haven’t met for -nearly twenty years.” -</p> - -<p> -They left the office together, and returned to the terrace. -</p> - -<p> -“Mayn’t I go, Mr Stratford?” cried Fitz, starting up to meet them. -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not. I told you that before.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mightn’t I come with you, then? We could fight back to back, you -know.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, thanks. But I will borrow that large old-fashioned pistol of -yours, if you have no objection. You will probably not see it again in -any case, so don’t lend it me if it is a favourite.” -</p> - -<p> -Fitz was off immediately, and Stratford turned to Lady Haigh. -</p> - -<p> -“You will think me an unconscionable borrower,” he said, “but there is -a miniature revolver of Sir Dugald’s for the loan of which I should be -most grateful. It is smaller than any of ours, and easier to hide.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will tell Chanda Lal to look it out at once,” said Lady Haigh, and -went to find the bearer. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Mr Kustendjian, I should like our treaty, please,” said -Stratford. “You have nearly finished the second copy of it, I think?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nearly,” said the Armenian, whose English seemed almost to have -forsaken him under the influence of horror. “You will have need of me, -Mr Stratford?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, indeed. I will take no one into danger with me. Thank you, -Anstruther,” as Fitz reappeared with a large brass-mounted pistol. “I -will load it simply with powder, I think. It will be less dangerous if -it should happen to go off in my coat-pocket. There! How does that -look?” -</p> - -<p> -“It sticks out a good deal,” said Fitz, surveying the coat critically. -“Any one could see that you had a pistol in that pocket.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is exactly the impression I wish to produce. One thing more you -can do for me, Anstruther. Just rummage among the stores, and see -whether you can find any description of food that has a good deal of -nourishment in very small compass.” -</p> - -<p> -Fitz departed again, and presently Lady Haigh returned with the little -revolver, which Stratford loaded carefully and slipped up his left -coat-sleeve. Dick and Kustendjian watched him curiously and with -respect. It was evident that he had some plan in his head, but neither -of them could divine what it was. A minute or two later Fitz came up -the steps with a box of meat lozenges in his hand, and presented it to -him. -</p> - -<p> -“Will these do, Mr Stratford?” he asked. “They were the smallest -things I could find. There were tinned soups, of course, and -chocolate; but I thought these would have more nourishment in them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite right,” said Stratford; “they are the very thing. Is that the -treaty, Mr Kustendjian? I think my preparations are complete, then. -You will say good-bye to the Chief for me when he is better, Lady -Haigh?” -</p> - -<p> -“Must you go?” whispered Lady Haigh, hoarsely, as she held his hand. -</p> - -<p> -“I must,” he said. “If I should escape, Sir Dugald’s work will have -been completed. You will like to remember that.” -</p> - -<p> -“I shall ride to the Palace with you,” said Dick, as they went down -the steps. -</p> - -<p> -“It will be just as well, for you will be able to escort Miss Keeling -back. It would be a pity for them to keep her in their hands after -all.” -</p> - -<p> -Another interruption met them as they emerged from the archway into -the outer court. Waiting for them there, with his hand lifted to the -salute, was old Ismail Bakhsh the gatekeeper, a former trooper of the -Khemistan Horse, the celebrated force to which Dick was attached, and -which had been raised in the first instance by Georgia’s father, -General Keeling. -</p> - -<p> -“Will my lord tell his servant,” he asked Stratford, “whether it is -true what they are saying among the servant-people, that my lord goes -to the Palace to give his life for the doctor lady’s?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is true,” answered Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“Let my lord listen to his servant, for it is not fitting that my lord -should accept death for the sake of one who has no claim on him. I -served for ten years under Sinjāj Kīlin the general, and I will go -in my lord’s place, because I have eaten of Sinjāj Kīlin’s salt, and -it is not right that his daughter should come to shame or harm while -Ismail Bakhsh lives.” -</p> - -<p> -“Your loyalty to your old general is only what I should have expected -from you, Ismail Bakhsh, but the King demands my presence, and not -another’s.” -</p> - -<p> -“But would my lord sacrifice himself for a woman—and that woman not -even of his house?” -</p> - -<p> -“I would do it for a woman, Ismail Bakhsh, and so would any of us, -when we would not do it for a man.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is the way of the English,” said Ismail Bakhsh, thoughtfully, with -grieved surprise in his tone. “That my lord should give his life for -his lord, the Envoy of the Empress, would be no great matter—but for -a woman!” -</p> - -<p> -Stratford laughed. -</p> - -<p> -“Not only I, but all three of us, Ismail Bakhsh, would have given our -lives rather than that a hair of the doctor lady’s head should be -injured.” -</p> - -<p> -“God forbid!” said Ismail Bakhsh, piously. “Let not my lord speak such -words in the hearing of the scum of the earth out yonder, or there -will be none, either of English men or women, to see Khemistan again.” -</p> - -<p> -“You observe that, North?” said Stratford. “Any undue display of -chivalrous sentiments here is likely to land you deeper in -difficulties, so keep them to yourself. Chivalry is at a discount in -Kubbet-ul-Haj.” -</p> - -<p> -They mounted their horses, and accompanied the ambassadors back to the -Palace, half-a-dozen armed servants following them, in case the King -should show a disposition to claim Dick’s life as well as that of -Stratford in exchange for Georgia. When the greater part of the -journey had been accomplished, and the frowning walls of the Palace -courtyard were just in sight, they met the well-known procession of -slaves and soldiers guarding the litter, which had so often come to -the Mission to fetch the doctor lady. -</p> - -<p> -“Evidently they sent off a swift messenger to tell them that we -accepted the terms, and the King is anxious to show that he confides -in our good faith,” said Stratford. “Funny mixture, isn’t he? Well, -you will turn back here, North, I suppose? There is no particular use -in your coming on further.” -</p> - -<p> -“Let me go instead of you,” entreated Dick once more. -</p> - -<p> -“My dear fellow, haven’t I wasted enough breath on you yet? I thought -we had threshed all that out long ago, and that you were quite -convinced. By the bye, now that we are abreast of the litter, it might -be as well for you to make sure that Miss Keeling really is inside. It -would be irritating to be fooled now.” -</p> - -<p> -Doggedly Dick pushed his way through the guards, and raised the -curtain of the litter, in spite of the loud protests of the slaves. He -was fully prepared for a trick; but the eyes which looked up at him -through the lattice-work of the <i>burka</i> were unmistakably Georgia’s, -and it was undeniably Rahah who flung herself forward to draw the -curtain close again, with a shrill rebuke to the slaves for letting -some drunken wretch approach the litter. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Major North, is it you?” asked Georgia, in astonishment. “Is -anything the matter?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not much—not exactly,” he stammered. “I—he—we fancied it might be -safer if I turned up to escort you home.” -</p> - -<p> -“It was very kind of you,” said Georgia, gratefully. “We had rather a -fright at the Palace; but I will tell you about it presently.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes—very well,” he muttered incoherently, and, drawing the curtain -again, turned to Stratford; but his lips refused to perform their -office. Stratford held out his hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Good-bye, old man,” he said. “God help you with the job you will have -in hand now.” -</p> - -<p> -“God bless you, Stratford!” burst from Dick. “I wish with all my soul -that I was in your place at this moment.” -</p> - -<p> -He wrung Stratford’s hand, and turned silently to follow the litter -with the servants, while the ambassadors and their prisoner rode on -towards the Palace. -</p> - -<p> -“How shall I ever tell her?” was the question which agitated Dick’s -mind as they neared the Mission. He knew enough of Georgia to feel -sure that, if she been made acquainted with the terms of the King’s -ultimatum, she would promptly have gone back to the Palace, and -refused to allow any one else to be sacrificed for her, and he quailed -under the anticipated necessity of informing her of what had been -done. But he was saved this duty, for as he entered the Mission -courtyard Mr Hicks came hurrying to meet him. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Major,” he exclaimed, “the King has been playing it pretty low -down on you, I guess. I’m always glad to look on at a fair fight, and -it don’t so much matter to me which of the chaps gives the other beans -so long as everything is done on the square. But when it comes to -getting hold of a woman, and by threatening to torture her, working on -a man’s highest feelings to make him give himself up instead, you may -bet largely that I don’t stand in with doings of that stamp—no, sir! -The moment I heard a rumour of what was going on I made my darkies fly -around, and in just half no time I had everything fixed up to come -here. You may count on me as a fair shot with a Winchester or a -six-shooter if it comes to fighting, and if old Fath-ud-Din and I -catch sight of each other, one of us is bound to send in his checks, -or I’ll never look a woman in the face again. Your nation and mine are -not always sweet to each other, sir; but if there’s any question of a -woman in danger, you may count upon Jonathan to the last drop of his -blood.” -</p> - -<p> -“Much obliged,” muttered Dick; but under his breath he grumbled, “I -wish that voice of yours wasn’t quite so loud.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia was being helped out of the litter at the moment, and as she -reached the ground she cast a quick, apprehensive glance about her. -Her hand was on Dick’s arm; Fitz was coming through the archway, and -Kustendjian was visible on the verandah of the Durbar-hall. Ismail -Bakhsh and his subordinates stood by the gate, looking at her with -disapproving eyes, silent and grim, and her mind filled up in a moment -the gaps in Mr Hicks’ speech. A sob broke from her as she stood gazing -from one to the other; then her hand dropped from Dick’s arm, and, -gathering her <i>burka</i> around her, she passed on into the inner court. -Dick followed, with a vague notion of saying something to comfort her; -but at the foot of the steps she turned and faced him. -</p> - -<p> -“You let Mr Stratford go to the Palace in exchange for me—<i>you</i> let -him?” she asked sharply, and waited for his answer with breathless -anxiety. -</p> - -<p> -“I tried to prevent him—he would go,” stammered Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“<i>You</i> let him sacrifice himself to save me? If anything happens to -him I will never, never speak to you again as long as I live!” and she -turned her back on him and fled up the steps. He stood looking after -her, stupefied. -</p> - -<p> -“She cares for him, and I never guessed it,” he muttered to himself. -“I might have saved him for her, and I have let him go and get himself -killed by those fiends yonder!” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch15"> -CHAPTER XV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">ONE CROWDED HOUR.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -Throughout that long day, Dick worked with feverish activity at -anything that offered itself as an outlet for his energies, without -cherishing the least hope that his friend’s sanguine anticipations of -a possible change for the better in the attitude of the King and -Fath-ud-Din would be realised. It was his opinion that the worst had -come to the worst, and that as soon as Stratford had met his death at -the Palace, a general attack upon the Mission premises would take -place, with the view of making it appear that all the members of the -expedition had been murdered in a popular tumult. With this cheering -prospect in view, he prepared the building for defence, instructed the -servants afresh as to their respective duties in case of an assault, -and placed the stands of arms where their contents could most readily -be seized on an emergency. Fearing that an attempt might be made to -starve the Mission into a surrender, he bought up all the provisions -which the country-people brought in, and even induced them by liberal -payments to sell him a supply of corn which they had intended to -dispose of in the city market. -</p> - -<p> -Having thus made preparations for resisting a siege as well as a -sudden assault, he was forced by his very need of occupation to take -somewhat wider views, and to consider the improbable possibility of -evacuating the place safely. Accordingly he summoned Ismail Bakhsh, -and, setting before him the facts of the case, asked whether he would -undertake the dangerous task of conveying a message to Fort -Rahmat-Ullah. He did not attempt to minimise the risks to be incurred; -but the old soldier was faithful to his salt, and consented to attempt -the journey in disguise. His trained eye had enabled him to observe -the features of the route traversed on the journey to more purpose -than his younger companions had done, and he was persuaded that if he -were once safely outside the walls he could make his way to the -frontier without much difficulty—provided, of course, that his -absence was not discovered, and a hue and cry set on foot. A certain -addition to his pension in case of his success, and compensation to -his family if he was killed, were agreed upon, and Ismail Bakhsh -retired, leaving Dick to face the inaction which he had been combating -all day. -</p> - -<p> -He could not think of anything else to do, beyond going the round of -the walls at absurdly short intervals and seeing that the servants -were keeping a good look-out; and the more personal troubles, which he -had been trying to keep at bay, crowded upon him and would not be put -aside. The day had cost him both his friend and the woman whom he -loved—and who loved that friend. The miserable irony of the situation -seemed to mock him afresh whenever he tried to face it. Georgia loved -Stratford, and Stratford had gone to his death to save her—yet not -because he loved her, but because he saw in the action a chance of -doing a good stroke of business—while he, who would willingly have -died for Georgia’s sake, remained alive, to meet the grief and anger -which she would naturally feel at his having allowed his friend to -sacrifice himself for her. -</p> - -<p> -Wretched as the outlook appeared to Dick, however, it is a question -whether it was not even more dreary for Georgia, since his conscience -was clear, and hers was not. She could not rid herself of the -conviction that if she had done as Lady Haigh advised, and declined to -go to the Palace without first consulting Stratford, he might even now -be free and in comparative safety, while if he had given her leave to -go, she would not have had herself to reproach for his untoward fate. -It was so unlike her usual practice to act on the impulse of a moment -of irritation, as she had done in this case, that she asked herself -what could have made her refuse so decidedly even to communicate to -the gentlemen her intention of visiting her patient. She had not far -to seek for an answer. It was Dick whose opposition she had feared. -She had been so obstinately determined not to appear in the slightest -degree willing to ask either his opinion or his advice, after the -words he had uttered in the heat of their discussion, that she had -sacrificed his friend and hers to her wounded pride. -</p> - -<p> -Nor was the realisation of this fact her sole punishment. Whatever -Dick might think, she had no illusions as to the frame of mind in -which Stratford had gone to the Palace. His story she had early heard -from Lady Haigh, with the addition of the significant remark that he -was never likely to marry now, and it had given her a distinct thrill -of pleasure when she found that this faithful lover was willing to be -her friend on the footing she liked best. The greater number of her -medical <i>confrères</i> in London, and of the many men whose friendship -she had gained and kept since her hospital days, had been content to -accept her terms and to meet her on the equal ground of comradeship. -Some there had been, as Mabel had told Dick, who were anxious to go -further, and had been courteously though firmly repulsed; but -Stratford was not one of these. He had made a friend of her as if she -had been a man, she thought, and he had sacrificed himself for her in -exactly the spirit he would have exhibited if Lady Haigh had been in -danger, and not Miss Keeling. She knew well enough that there was no -personal feeling whatever in his case, but it was different with Dick. -Why had he allowed Stratford to go instead of going himself? He did -care for her—at least, she had begun to think so until his plain -speaking of a week ago had created the breach between them. But now -she was on the horns of a dilemma. Either he could not care for her, -since he had left it to another man to give his life to save hers, or -else, if he did care for her, he was a coward who was willing to -shelter himself behind the other man’s self-sacrifice. But Dick’s past -record was sufficient to put the latter supposition beyond the bounds -of possibility, and Georgia was thrown back upon the former. He could -not care for her, and she cared for him. To the woman whose heart had -never been touched before, the thought was almost unendurable in the -shame it brought with it. -</p> - -<p> -And she had sent Stratford to his death! What would there have been in -the slight humiliation—more fancied than real, after all—involved in -asking his leave as head of the party before quitting the Mission, -compared with the overwhelming remorse and misery which now oppressed -her? She recalled the threats launched against herself by Antar Khan’s -mother, and sobbed and shuddered at the thought that the tortures of -which the mere mention had been considered sufficient to terrify -herself were now being inflicted on another, and by her fault. Lady -Haigh, who came wandering in and out of her room like a restless -ghost, could offer her no comfort, since the best they could hope for -was that Stratford was dead already, cut down by the guard in some -conflict provoked by himself, and that he had thus died without either -torture or indignity. The two women could not endure to talk, could -not even pray; they could only weep in concert and exchange -half-uttered surmisings which were worse than certainties. -</p> - -<p> -The day wore away, and Mr Hicks, who had spent the greater part of it -busily and happily in passing all the rifles in review, cleaning them -and adjusting the mechanism, came to Dick, as he sat brooding gloomily -over the state of affairs in the office, and represented mildly but -firmly that the whole party would be the better for some dinner. He -had put up with the absence of tiffin under the painful circumstances -of his visit, he said; but he could not see that because one poor -fellow had got wiped out all the rest must necessarily starve. Thus -reminded that he had taken no food since breakfast-time, Dick awoke to -a perception of the duties of hospitality, and apologising to Mr Hicks -for the inconvenience and discomfort to which he had been subjected, -ordered the meal to be served at the usual hour. It was a very small -and lugubrious company that met in the dining-room. Dick had sent a -message to the ladies, asking whether they would appear at table, but -no answer was returned; and Mr Hicks was the only person who possessed -an appetite. He did his best to worry his hosts into eating something, -but he was not very successful; and at last Fitz left the table -suddenly, muttering something about the flag, which he feared had not, -in the general confusion, been hauled down as usual at sunset. As the -noise of his hurrying footsteps on the stones of the terrace died -away, another sound became audible—the blare and din of native music, -the shrill cries of triumph of women, and the approaching tread of a -multitude. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s coming at last!” cried Dick, springing up from his seat and -buckling on his sword. “You know your post, Hicks?” -</p> - -<p> -“Wait a minute, Major,” said Mr Hicks. “Doesn’t it strike you that -this is rather a new way of conducting an attack?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what else could it be?” asked Dick. -</p> - -<p> -The American turned aside, and would not meet his eye as he answered— -</p> - -<p> -“Well, if they have put an end to the poor fellow, I would bet my last -red cent that they would carry his remains about in procession to show -the people—to show us, too, for the matter of that—and it won’t be a -pretty sight for the ladies to see, any way.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good gracious, no!” cried Dick. “Say nothing to them at present, -Hicks. We will just order the servants to their posts without -troubling the ladies, and then watch from the gate and see what -happens.” -</p> - -<p> -They went down into the outer courtyard, sent the servants to their -appointed places without any noise or confusion, and took their stand -at the window over the gateway, where they were joined by Fitz and -Kustendjian. They stood there, waiting breathlessly, for some minutes, -each man’s hand on his weapon, while behind them the fierce eyes and -gleaming blades of Ismail Bakhsh and his subordinates reflected the -glare of the torches which were now beginning to appear at the end of -the winding street. Nearer and nearer came the crowd, apparently all -mad with joy, leaping, dancing, tearing off clothes and flinging them -on the ground, waving torches, shouting, singing, and yelling. Some -looked up at the window as they passed it, and it seemed to the little -band of white men standing there that their gestures became -intolerably derisive, and that their faces took on a fiendish grin as -they massed themselves in the street beyond the Mission and waited—in -so far as those still pressing upon them from behind would allow them -to wait. Dick felt his heart thumping against his ribs; he was aware -that Kustendjian had sat down in a corner and hidden his face from the -horror he expected to see, that Fitz was leaning against the wall with -white lips and staring eyes, and that Mr Hicks was uttering spasmodic -exhortations at momentary intervals—“Steady, boys! Keep up; don’t let -’em see you wilt. Never give in!”—such as bespoke rather, perhaps, -the turmoil of his own mind than his estimate of the state of feeling -of his companions. -</p> - -<p> -“Soldiers!” murmured some one, and a squadron of cavalry defiled -slowly past, saluting as they came level with the window—a piece of -mockery for which Dick cursed them in his heart. Then more torches, -more musical instruments, more excited people, banners, dancing-girls, -gliding and posturing to the sounds of the music, with their long -coloured scarfs twirled daintily on the tips of their outspread -fingers; and then two men riding alone, wearing robes of honour. As -they reached the gate they paused and waited; then one of them looked -up, and in tones of extreme calmness addressed the group at the -window. -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t mean to keep me here all night, North, do you? Mr -Anstruther, I give you my word of honour that I am not a ghost yet.” -</p> - -<p> -How they got down the stairs and opened the gate none of them ever -knew, but in another minute Stratford was among them, unhurt, and -indulging in a little chaff by way of maintaining his own composure. -</p> - -<p> -“I wonder you didn’t shoot me when I looked up just now, North. If -ever I saw murder in a man’s eye, I saw it in yours then. Mr Hicks, -you have as keen a scent for a battle as any vulture. The way you turn -up when you think we are likely to be in trouble is positively -pathetic. I have some further use for my arm, Anstruther, if you have -finished wringing my hand off. Peace be with you, Ismail Bakhsh! I -fear you are disappointed that there is to be no fighting to-night?” -</p> - -<p> -“My lord is pleased to jest,” said Ismail Bakhsh, reprovingly, as he -directed the closing of the gate. The processionists outside had -turned back, and were marching homewards amid a fresh outburst of -minstrelsy, with the man who had accompanied Stratford at their head. -No one thought of asking who he was, nor, indeed, of paying the -slightest attention to affairs outside, as Stratford was assisted, -quite unnecessarily, to dismount, and escorted through the archway -into the inner court. But he was not to arrive altogether unheralded. -Brought to his senses by Stratford’s commonplace greeting, Fitz had -dashed across the court and up to the terrace, the only man who -remembered in the excitement of the moment that the joyful news ought -not to be allowed to burst suddenly upon the ladies. The fresh hope in -his voice—a hope to which they had been strangers for what seemed -interminable hours—roused them from their lethargy of grief, and they -came out into the verandah with tear-stained faces and ruffled hair, -both looking as though they had cried until they could cry no more. -</p> - -<p> -“Good news, Lady Haigh!” panted Fitz. “Miss Keeling, they haven’t -murdered him after all. He is not a bit hurt. He will be here in a -minute. He’s here now!” -</p> - -<p> -This method of breaking the news, though strictly gradual, could -scarcely be called gentle, and Lady Haigh and Georgia stood staring at -Fitz without understanding him in the least. Seeing this, he tried a -new plan, the first that recommended itself to his excited mind. -</p> - -<p> -“Aren’t you going to put on your best things to greet the hero in, -Miss Keeling? He’s dressed up to the eyes himself. You never saw such -a get-up—most awfully swagger. You will never be able to keep him in -countenance.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you absurd boy!” cried Georgia, and she sat down at the top of -the steps and laughed wildly. -</p> - -<p> -“Fetch me a jug of water, Mr Anstruther,” said Lady Haigh, sternly. -“You are getting into a way of going into hysterics, Georgia, and I -mean to break you of it. This is the second time I have caught you at -it since we came to Kubbet-ul-Haj, and it’s not professional.” -</p> - -<p> -“Professional?” echoed Georgia, beginning to laugh again; “it is the -circumstances that are unprofessional, not I. Besides, I am not in the -least hysterical. Thank you—a little water—please—Mr Anstruther.” -</p> - -<p> -The water, applied internally, and not as Lady Haigh had intended, -proved efficacious, and when Stratford and the rest approached the -terrace, Georgia had recovered her composure. She met Stratford as he -mounted the steps, and held out her hand to him. Dick, seeing the -action, turned his eyes away, and listened in sick terror for what -would follow. After all, Stratford had the right to win her now if he -chose to exercise it. But if he did not choose? Would he humiliate -Georgia by repulsing her before them all? But Dick need not have been -afraid. Even his jealous ear could detect in her tones merely the -amount of feeling natural and unavoidable under the circumstances, -although her eyes were swimming with tears as she said— -</p> - -<p> -“I can never thank you enough for what you have done to-day, Mr -Stratford. If I don’t seem as grateful as I ought to be, you must only -think that I can’t blame myself properly for my foolishness and -obstinacy in going to the Palace without leave as I did, since it gave -you the opportunity of doing such a deed of heroism.” -</p> - -<p> -Every word went to Dick’s heart, as, alas! it was meant to do. He -waited anxiously to hear Stratford say that he had gone to the Palace -merely as a speculation of his own, and that Miss Keeling had had very -little to do with the matter, but the words did not come. Stratford -was not the man to hurt a woman’s feelings gratuitously by an -uncalled-for rebuff, however true its nature, and he answered at -once— -</p> - -<p> -“You are too kind, Miss Keeling. I assure you that there was an eager -competition for the honour of helping you out of your little -predicament. Anstruther was bent on going; and as for North, I had to -keep him back almost by main force. He was only restrained at last by -a combination of definite orders, personal entreaties, and solemn -assurances that my going was for the greater good of the Mission.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia’s eyes were raised to Dick’s for a moment, and the expression -in them said, “You might have told me!” But his eyes met hers with a -steady hostility, which revived all the bitter feelings which had -tormented her during the day. -</p> - -<p> -“I am afraid I did you an injustice, then, Major North,” she remarked, -sweetly. “You must take into account the circumstances of the moment, -and kindly forgive my hasty words. I am only a woman, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick bit his lip, and tried hard to think of something cutting to say. -Was it fair that this woman, who had treated him so unfairly—no, not -unfairly, cruelly—well, not exactly cruelly, slightingly—no, not -that, carelessly, perhaps—should also have the power of making him -writhe in this way? And he loved her! He had even told Stratford so! -How Stratford must be laughing at him in his sleeve at this moment! -All this passed through his mind as he stood staring dumbly at Georgia -until Lady Haigh, who had caught the look in his eyes, pushed her -gently aside, and addressed herself to the hero of the occasion. -</p> - -<p> -“And you escaped without signing their treaty?” she asked. -</p> - -<p> -“I did not sign it, certainly,” he replied. -</p> - -<p> -“And what about our treaty?” asked Fitz, eagerly. -</p> - -<p> -“There is our treaty—signed,” returned Stratford, with a queer gleam -in his eyes as he laid the parchment on the table. “When the Chief -gets better he will find that his work was not all in vain, Lady -Haigh.” -</p> - -<p> -Lady Haigh blushed afterwards to remember that she was ready to kiss -Stratford there and then in the first flush of her delight at the -news; but she restrained herself sufficiently to do no more than wring -his hand without a word. The rest were examining the treaty, which -bore Stratford’s signature and another, as well as the King’s seal and -that of the Grand Vizier. -</p> - -<p> -“But that is not Fath-ud-Din’s signature,” said Kustendjian, who was -looking at the parchment from the other side of the table. -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Stratford, drily; “it is Jahan Beg’s.” -</p> - -<p> -“Jahan Beg’s?” was echoed, in tones of astonishment. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; he has succeeded Fath-ud-Din as Grand Vizier. You have a good -deal to hear; but I should like some dinner first, if there is any -going.” -</p> - -<p> -“Have you had nothing but meat lozenges all day, Mr Stratford?” asked -Fitz, laughing; and every one adjourned to the dining-room, where the -dishes, which had been left untasted half an hour before, were still -on the table. Everything was cold, of course, and the servants were in -despair; but the makeshift meal was the most cheerful that had taken -place during the whole sojourn of the Mission in Kubbet-ul-Haj, and -when it was over, the party returned to the terrace, and demanded -clamorously of Stratford that he should tell his story. -</p> - -<p> -“It is rather long, and I am afraid you will find it a little -tedious,” he said, throwing away his cigarette; “but I can assure you -that the experience was much more tedious to go through than to talk -about. Well, no attempt was made to molest me when I got to the -Palace, and I started off as usual in the direction of the hall of -audience. Generally, as you know, when we have gone to the Palace, -there have been a lot of chamberlains and fellows to clear a path for -us and bring us to the King, but to-day I had to elbow my way through -the crowd that was hanging about. It was a sign that times were -changed; but that wasn’t all, for, before I had got half-way through -the mob, I felt a pull at my coat-tail, and when I could put my hand -there, I found that I had been eased of my pistol. However, as I had -put the pistol into that pocket for the express purpose of having it -seen and stolen, I didn’t mind much. When I got to the door of the -audience-chamber, the guard made a fuss about letting me in; but I -said that the King had sent for me, and I meant to see him. When they -saw that I would stand no nonsense, they let me pass, and I found the -King and Fath-ud-Din, as I had hoped, in the room in which they had -tried to bribe the Chief to sign their treaty. It is quite small, you -remember, and the walls are solid, without any of the lattice-work -panels you see in the big hall. The windows are high up, and all the -open carving is of stone, and not of wood. It was another score for me -that the King thought fit to treat me as a criminal, and didn’t invite -me to come close to him, so I chose my position, and camped in the -corner in a line with the door, and opposite to the King’s divan. Of -course this was nominally in order that what we said should not be -overheard outside. They brought in coffee; but I refused to taste it, -for I didn’t see any advantage in being poisoned at the very outset, -and there was no object in keeping on the mask of friendliness any -longer.” -</p> - -<p> -“Wait a minute,” said Dick. “How did you manage everything without an -interpreter?” -</p> - -<p> -“I got out my best Ethiopian for the occasion, and when that failed we -had recourse to Arabic,” returned Stratford. “The King and Fath-ud-Din -can both talk it pretty well when they like, as you know. Well, when -war had once been declared by my refusing the coffee, we sat for hours -arguing. It was intimated to me pretty clearly at the beginning that -if I didn’t sign their treaty, I should not leave the Palace alive; -but when they saw that that didn’t seem to affect me to any -appreciable extent, they began to add inducements on the other side. -They offered me money and precious stones—quite a comfortable little -fortune, I should think—rising by degrees until either their tempers -or their purses gave way. Then, evidently thinking that my obstinacy -arose from a fear that the rest of you would split upon me, they -offered to put every one else belonging to the Mission out of the way, -and to send me back to Khemistan as a conquering hero, returning with -the best treaty I could manage to obtain. When they found that -wouldn’t do, they offered me Jahan Beg’s office and property if I -would only sign. I was to disappear from the ken of mortals outside -Ethiopia, of course, and they would represent that the Mission had all -been carried off by a pestilence, leaving only the treaty behind them. -Their ideas as to English credulity are distinctly Arcadian. Well, all -this time the servants kept bringing in sweetmeats and sherbet and -fruit; but I would not touch anything, though I was abominably -thirsty, for I remembered what Miss Keeling had said about some poison -that destroyed the will, and I didn’t want to be hocussed into -signing. Then they started on a fresh tack, and had in a crowd of -dancing-girls——” -</p> - -<p> -“The temptation of St Egerton!” cried Fitz, hugely delighted. “Were -they very fascinating, Mr Stratford?” -</p> - -<p> -“You might possibly have found them so,” returned Stratford, coolly; -“but my tastes don’t happen to lie in that direction. I endured their -performances for some time, and then they began to get tiresome. It -was rather hard on the poor things, I know, for they were doing their -level best; but I yawned aggressively, and suggested that we should go -back to business. They bundled the girls out, and I found that the -King and Fath-ud-Din had about reached the end of their patience. They -took to threats now, and discoursed movingly for some time on the -subject of tortures, with a strictly personal application. Fath-ud-Din -did most of the talking; but when the King thought that his language -was lacking in vigour, he added a few stronger touches to the picture. -At last I remarked that this was all very interesting, but it wasn’t -business, and that set them off. The King stamped on the floor, and -immediately the curtain over the door was pulled aside, and a gang of -the most villainous-looking negroes I ever saw filed in. ‘Seize that -white devil,’ said Fath-ud-Din, ‘and let our lord the King behold your -skill.’ That was all very well, but there were two sides to the -question. ‘Stop,’ I said to the foremost black fellow as he turned -towards me—‘cross that line in the floor at your peril!’ He laughed. -I believe they thought I meant to take it fighting; but that was not -my game at all. In a rough-and-tumble fight with those niggers I -should have gone under in no time, and I didn’t exactly see being -pulled to pieces with red-hot pincers to make a holiday for the King -and Fath-ud-Din. I had slipped the little revolver down my sleeve and -into my right hand, and I had some extra cartridges in my left, and as -the man set his foot on the line I had pointed at, I shot him straight -off. It was rather a strong thing to do; but it was my only chance. -The other black fellows drew back as the first man fell forward on his -face, his arms almost touching the King, and Fath-ud-Din opened his -mouth to yell out to the guard; but I spoke first, slipping in another -cartridge into the chamber I had fired. ‘I have six shots here without -reloading,’ I said. ‘The next two are for the King and the Grand -Vizier, as soon as either of them moves or speaks; the rest are for -the first four men that cross this line.’” -</p> - -<div class="fig"> -<a href="images/img_08.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_08_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“I have six shots here without reloading,” I said. -</div></div> - -<p> -“Sir,” said Mr Hicks, approvingly, “there was a dreadful smart -newspaper man lost when you were raised for a diplomatist.” -</p> - -<p> -Stratford smiled in acknowledgment of the compliment, which was -delivered with even more than the amount of drawl which Mr Hicks chose -usually to affect. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, there was a moment’s pause,” he went on, “which I utilised in -surveying the position. I had the King within easy range, with -Fath-ud-Din standing beside him, and to reach the door they would have -to pass me. I was in the corner, so that even if the guard came in -they could only reach me in front. Of course they could have floored -me easily if the black fellows had come at me in a body; but it would -have been the last fight for two or three of them, and they knew it -and kept quiet. The only danger was that they might fire at me from -the door or from the outside of one of the windows when the guard -found out what had happened, and I saw that if I was to get off we -must come to terms before any one in the great hall suspected -anything. What they made of the sound of my revolver-shot I don’t -know, but it doesn’t seem to have struck them as anything suspicious; -perhaps they thought that the King was amusing himself with practising -shooting at me. No one appeared, at any rate, and I spoke to the King -again. ‘Before we do anything further,’ I said, ‘I should be glad to -know where Jahan Beg is.’ Fath-ud-Din instantly replied with great -gusto that he was expiating his crimes in the King’s deepest dungeon, -which he would never leave alive. I remarked that it was just possible -some one in that room might die sooner than Jahan Beg did, which made -him calm down a little, and then I asked the King what crime Jahan Beg -had committed. He did not fly out as Fath-ud-Din had done, but told me -quite quietly that it was unwise in me to inquire after the traitor -who had done his best to deliver Ethiopia into our hands. I asked what -he meant (of course I kept my eyes about me and the revolver ready all -this time), and he told me a very circumstantial story, the recital of -which was intended to cover me with confusion. It seemed that -Fath-ud-Din, as soon as the Chief had definitely refused to gratify -him by extraditing Jahan Beg on account of some imaginary crime, told -the King that he had strong reason to suspect his rival of intriguing -with us. He was sure he was an Englishman, and he believed that he was -plotting with the English to dethrone the King and put Rustam Khan in -his place. The King was loath to suspect Jahan Beg, and particularly -anxious not to have to find a substitute for him in the frontier work -which he alone could do; but the Vizier was so positive that he -consented to set spies to watch him. Of course they saw him come to us -at night and found out that he was supplying us with corn, so he was -promptly arrested and thrown into prison, and the charge considered -proved.” -</p> - -<p> -“You must have been pretty well stumped at that,” said Dick. “It was a -mad thing for Jahan Beg to continue to come here as he did when he -knew that Fath-ud-Din suspected him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” said Stratford; “my only chance was a sudden attack by means of -a <i>tu quoque</i>. ‘Yes,’ I said, ‘Jahan Beg is an Englishman, and he came -to the Mission to visit the Envoy, who was an old friend of his. But -he did not come with any view of interfering in public matters. He has -never sought to engage our help in placing Rustam Khan upon the -throne, nor in making any change in the government of Ethiopia, and we -should not have granted it if he had. In fact, his coming was so -entirely unofficial that we did not even take advantage of his visits -to the Mission to seek his assistance in the negotiations which the -Grand Vizier was carrying on with us at the time. When Fath-ud-Din -used to visit the Envoy by night, and even when he came to try and -arrange the secret agreement about Antar Khan’s succession to the -throne, we did not invite Jahan Beg to be present, because we knew -that the matter was not intended to be made public, and we feared to -produce the impression that our friend was endeavouring to thrust -himself uninvited into the King’s counsels.’ I saw in a moment that -the shot had told. The King turned and glared at Fath-ud-Din, and then -again at me. ‘What!’ he cried. ‘Fath-ud-Din desired to set my son -Antar Khan upon my throne?’ ‘He came merely to attempt to secure the -support of her Majesty’s Government for the Prince in case that should -happen which England and Ethiopia would alike deplore,’ I said, as -soothingly as I could; but the King was not mollified. ‘He sought to -obtain assurance of English support in case of my death?’ he cried. -‘Yes,’ said I; ‘and when we refused to enter into the arrangement, -saying that the matter was one for the King and his Amirs to settle -among themselves, he threatened that he would seek the assistance we -denied him from the Envoy of Scythia, who would not refuse it. Is it -possible that he was not acting on behalf of your Majesty, after all?’ -‘Fath-ud-Din,’ said the King, ‘are the words of the Englishman true?’ -‘O my lord,’ said the old villain, flopping down on his face before -the divan in an awful fright, ‘the Englishman’s tongue is forked. He -seeks to save himself from the fate he merits by casting dirt upon the -name of the meanest of my lord’s servants; but he shall yet eat his -words.’ ‘The matter is in the hands of the King to prove,’ I said; -‘let him send and fetch Jahan Beg straight here from his dungeon, and -let him be questioned as to all that has taken place. It is evident -that he cannot have held communication with any member of the Mission -since his arrest, and if his words agree with mine, mine must be seen -to be true; if not, then let us both pay the penalty.’ The King seemed -to think it rather a good idea, and was inclined to agree; but -Fath-ud-Din interposed all sorts of objections as he lay grovelling on -the floor, and at last I got tired. Some slave or chamberlain might -have come in at any moment and spoilt everything. So I took out my box -of lozenges, and said, ‘In this box I have food for several days, so -that I can remain here without inconvenience. The King and Fath-ud-Din -have no food, and cannot pass me to leave the room; therefore I would -recommend that they follow my advice.’ The King saw the reason of it, -and called one of the black fellows, whom he ordered to fetch Jahan -Beg at once, without saying anything about what had been going on. You -may judge that in spite of this I kept the revolver ready in case of -any attempt to rush me; but none was made. I think the King felt that -it was necessary to get to the bottom of the matter, for he even -invited me to come and sit beside him; but I refused, ‘until my words -were proved true,’ as I said. I don’t know whether Fath-ud-Din or I -felt the more uncomfortable when the messenger was gone, for it struck -me that Jahan Beg might think it advisable not to tell the exact -truth, in which case I should find myself badly left; but I made a -great parade of eating one of the lozenges, and I hope I dissembled my -uneasiness better than the Vizier did. Happily, when poor old Jahan -Beg was brought in—a perfect shadow, wasted and ill, and ragged, and -chained—he gathered the significance of the questions the King asked -him at once, and confirmed exactly what I had said, being able to -corroborate my account of the Vizier’s earlier visits to the Mission. -Of course, he did not know anything of the Antar Khan business, which -did not happen until after his arrest; but I had an inspiration there. -I suggested an examination of Fath-ud-Din’s servants, with the view of -discovering whether he had really held communication with the Scythian -agent and with us. The King jumped at the idea, and improved upon it -by ordering a search of his house as well. I thought that it was not -likely to be much good; but I was mistaken, for his scribe, on being -arrested, displayed such great anxiety to be allowed to take his copy -of the Koran to prison with him that suspicion was excited, and in the -cover of it they found concealed a written promise from the Scythian -agent, pledging his Government to support Antar Khan in case of the -King’s death, and to pay Fath-ud-Din eight thousand pounds in return -for his getting their treaty signed. The greedy old beast must have -had the paper in his possession when he came to us this morning—was -it really only this morning?—and tried to get us to outbid him by two -thousand pounds. It was exactly the evidence we wanted, and its -discovery is only another warning never to commit compromising -agreements to writing.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; and then?” asked Fitz, eagerly, seeing that Stratford appeared -inclined to moralise. -</p> - -<p> -“Then? Why, a grand transformation scene, of course. Fath-ud-Din’s -signet was taken from him, and he was conducted to the dungeon which -Jahan Beg had just vacated. Jahan Beg was taken to the bath, and -rigged out at the King’s expense, and formally invested with the Grand -Vizier’s signet. He was another man after a little care and attention. -As for me, I was favoured with a seat by the King’s side, publicly -thanked for exposing a traitor and saving the King (evidently he held -the same opinion as to his chances of life under Fath-ud-Din’s -fostering care that we did), and asked whether I had a copy of our -treaty at hand. That was the crowning moment. I produced the treaty -from inside my coat. Jahan Beg signed it—his first act in his new -capacity—I followed, and the King put his seal to it. And that is -all.” -</p> - -<p> -“And now?” asked Lady Haigh. -</p> - -<p> -“Now we have only to get back to Khemistan as fast as we can,” said -Stratford. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch16"> -CHAPTER XVI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">A CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -If, after Stratford had told his story, the party at the Mission had -been informed that the most anxious portion of their stay in -Kubbet-ul-Haj was still to come, the idea would have seemed absurd, -and yet the joyful night on which the treaty was signed proved to be -merely the prelude to a fresh period of uneasiness. Far from being -able to pack up and start at once on the return journey to the British -frontier, the members of the Mission found that their departure must -necessarily be delayed for at least a week. The camels and other -baggage-animals which had been taken from them had been sent for -safe-keeping to a town three days’ journey off, the governor of which -was a creature of Fath-ud-Din’s. It was therefore needful to send -after them, and, if the governor would consent to give them up, then -to bring them back, which in itself involved a considerable delay. But -this was not all. Jahan Beg in Fath-ud-Din’s place bore a certain -resemblance to the ass in the lion’s skin. As he said himself, he -laboured under the great disadvantage, as compared with his -predecessor, of being too scrupulous for the post. -</p> - -<p> -“I should have thought I had learnt by this time to do in Ethiopia as -the Ethiopians do,” he grumbled one day to Stratford and Dick, who -were entertaining him on the verandah of the Durbar-hall with coffee -and conversation; “but I find now that I have some remnants of a -Christian conscience left somewhere about me still, old renegade -though I am. I simply haven’t got it in me to take the measures which -the situation demands. Fath-ud-Din in my place would have had no -difficulty. He would merely have had his predecessor brought before -him, and tortured until things went smoothly. But he knows that I am -not the man to do that, and it gives him a tremendous pull over me -when I want to find out something he knows, or when some of his people -have to be kept quiet. It isn’t dignified for me to be always going to -the mouth of the dungeon and shouting down questions which he refuses -to answer, and I have put it to the King that we must try another -plan.” -</p> - -<p> -This meant that Fath-ud-Din was to be released from the dungeon and -kept as a kind of state-prisoner in the Palace. The new plan was -successful in so far as he was more disposed to answer questions -relating to his past stewardship; but it worked badly when it -emboldened his adherents to resist the new Vizier on the ground that -he was still afraid of his predecessor, and could not act without his -help. The mob of the city, who had always been Fath-ud-Din’s warmest -friends, resented his downfall keenly, and lost no opportunity of -testifying their hatred to Jahan Beg and the English strangers, to -whose influence that downfall was to be ascribed. Once more the -Mission was guarded on all sides by soldiers, this time in order to -prevent a murderous attack by the mob, whose attitude was extremely -threatening. A further danger arose from the fact that there was -reason to believe that the soldiers themselves were not altogether to -be depended upon, and this added enormously to the anxiety of -Stratford and of Jahan Beg. So long as the soldiers could keep down -the townspeople, and the Grand Vizier could keep down the soldiers, -things were fairly safe; but at any moment a chance spark might fire -the train, and an explosion occur, the first results of which would be -the murder of Jahan Beg and the massacre of the British Mission. No -one left the house during these days of terror, and the gates were -barely opened to admit traders and messengers. Within, every man had -his revolver ready to his hand, and heaps of sand-bags were in -readiness to barricade the entrance to the archway in Bachelors’ -Buildings and the windows of the Durbar-hall. The Mission premises -were in a state of siege. -</p> - -<p> -During all this anxious time, however, no change was made in the -social life of the little colony. In spite of alarms from without, and -the abiding sorrow of Sir Dugald’s speechless and unconscious -condition, the usual routine of work and meals remained unbroken, and -the gatherings on the terrace after dinner were not abandoned. To -Georgia there seemed at first something heartless, almost wicked, in -keeping up appearances in this way at such a crisis; but it was Lady -Haigh herself who pointed out to her the reasons for the insensibility -which she was inclined to reprobate. -</p> - -<p> -“There is the effect on the servants to be considered, my dear,” she -said. “If we went about looking dishevelled and woe-begone, and -refused to take our meals at the proper hours, we should have them -deserting right and left. It will help the men, too, more than -anything if they see us cheerful and apparently unconscious of danger. -I believe that Mr Stratford and Major North would be almost -heartbroken if they imagined that we knew as much about the state of -things as we do.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that is very foolish,” objected Georgia. “Why don’t they take us -into their councils and let us all know authoritatively the worst we -have to fear?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear, men are not made that way. They like to think that they have -succeeded in hiding their apprehensions from us, and that we are -pursuing our butterfly existence untroubled by thoughts of danger. And -if it makes them happier to think so, we won’t undeceive them. We will -dress for dinner, and talk cheerfully, and give them a little music in -the evenings, and do our best to help them in whatever way we can.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I don’t like it, Lady Haigh. They are treating us like babies.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, dear child, we know we are not babies. It is hard, I know, when -you feel that you could give them valuable help—or, at any rate, -moral support—if they would pay you the compliment of taking you into -their confidence; but I believe that this is the way in which we can -help them most, and sooner than add a finger’s weight to the burden -those two dear fellows are bearing, I would take to bibs and a rattle -again!” -</p> - -<p> -And Georgia, while she marvelled, perceived that thirty years of -married life teach some things about the other sex which are not -included in the curriculum of any university or medical school. It was -not without a certain degree of envy that she acknowledged to herself -that she would have been willing to exchange a small portion—perhaps -even an appreciable amount—of her medical knowledge for a share of -that acquaintance with the world and with male human nature which lay -behind Lady Haigh’s shrewd hazel eyes. For Dick was still obdurate and -unapproachable, and after the enlightening which had come to her on -the day of the signing of the treaty, she did not dare to make any of -those overtures by means of which she had occasionally succeeded in -re-establishing peace after their former quarrels. There was always -the risk that he might misunderstand—or was it not rather that he -might too well understand?—her motive. -</p> - -<p> -“If it was merely an ordinary disagreement,” she said to herself, -hopelessly, “I am not too proud to hold out a hand of friendship, but -now!—I know I said some hard things to him, but he had said worse to -me—though I shouldn’t mind now what he said if only I knew that he -cared. And I thought he did care—that day when he called me -Georgie—what could it have meant but that? It can’t be, oh! it can’t -be, that he has been trying to lead me on, and make me care for him, -in revenge for my refusing him long ago? I won’t believe it of him. It -isn’t like him—he wouldn’t do it. If it was that—if he could be such -a wretch, I would—yes, I could forgive him anything but that!” -</p> - -<p> -Dick’s feelings during this period were scarcely more to be envied -than Georgia’s. Having assured himself that nothing on earth could -make him more miserable than he was already, he was fiercely eager -that the crown should be given to his misery by Georgia’s engagement -to Stratford, for the announcement of which he looked daily, but which -did not take place. On the contrary, Stratford went about his work as -usual, apparently unconscious that anything of the kind was or could -be expected from him, while Georgia looked “about as wretched—well, -as I feel!” said Dick to himself. He could not reasonably believe that -Stratford cared for her, after his friend’s explicit denial of the -fact; but it became abundantly clear to him that he ought to be made -to do so, if Georgia’s happiness depended upon it. For a day or two he -thought seriously of informing him that he must—under penalties which -Dick did not specify to himself—ask her to marry him, since he had -evidently been trifling with her feelings; but, happily, a vague -impression that a marriage entered upon under such conditions was -scarcely likely to turn out well restrained him. The more immediate -certainty that Miss Keeling would bitterly resent such an interference -in her affairs did not trouble Dick; it maddened him to see her -looking as she looked now, and her happiness must be secured in spite -of herself. In the meantime, he did his best to hate Stratford, both -for his past conduct and his present callousness as to its results, -and found it very difficult. The man was his friend and good comrade, -and absolutely innocent of any wish to quarrel, and Dick would find -himself sitting on the office table and talking familiarly to him as -of old. Then he would call up the haunting remembrance of Miss -Keeling’s pale face and reproachful eyes, and divided between the -desire to avenge her wrongs and the fear of betraying her secret, -become so snappish that any one but Stratford would have taken offence -and demanded an explanation. But Stratford had a large fund of -patience to draw upon, and he was sorry for Dick. He saw that things -were not going well with him, and although he was too prudent to seek -to interfere, he was determined not to make matters worse by taking up -any of the gauntlets which his friend was perpetually flinging down. -</p> - -<p> -Another person who viewed the state of things with much interest and -uneasiness was Lady Haigh. During her long and philanthropic, if -slightly autocratic, experience of English life in the East, she had -engineered to a satisfactory conclusion a good many love affairs, and -she had welcomed the first signs of this one as affording a fresh -scope for the exercise of her particular talent. But she had now for -some days been driven to the opinion that Dick and Georgia were -playing at cross-purposes, a form of recreation which she regarded -with the utmost horror, and she yearned to do something to set matters -right. -</p> - -<p> -“Nothing on earth shall induce me to interfere,” she assured herself. -“Interference is a thing I abhor. But if either of them should give me -the chance of saying a word, I shall certainly step in.” -</p> - -<p> -Fortune favoured Lady Haigh. Coming out on the terrace one evening at -dusk, after a long watch in Sir Dugald’s room, she saw Dick crossing -the court towards her. He had just seen that the sentries were -properly posted, and the flag hauled down for the night, and now he -mounted the steps and found the terrace apparently empty. Lady Haigh -was standing motionless in the shadow of the doorway, and she heard -him sigh, for no obvious reason, as he threw himself into one of the -chairs, and then propound despairingly for his own benefit the -well-worn conundrum, “Is life worth living?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am sorry to hear you say that, Major North,” said Lady Haigh, in -her brisk tones, as she moved forward out of the darkness, and sat -down opposite to him. “You are very high in the Service for a man of -your age, you have the best possible prospects, a sufficiency of -money, and a record which would make most men’s mouths water. Don’t -you think that you are a slightly unreasonable—not to say -ungrateful—man?” -</p> - -<p> -“I must beg your pardon for being so trite,” said Dick, on the -defensive at once. “If I had known you were there, I would have tried -to couch my question in more original language.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you would still have asked it?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid so. You think me a discontented beast, don’t you, Lady -Haigh?” -</p> - -<p> -“That I can’t decide until I know what grounds you have for your -discontent.” -</p> - -<p> -“It isn’t for my own sake—at least, I come into it too, of course, -but it is chiefly on another person’s account.” -</p> - -<p> -“Come, this does you great credit, Major North. That the world should -become clouded for you on account of some one else’s troubles—when -everything with which you have to do is going on so well”—she could -not resist this hit at the reticence which Stratford and he had -maintained on the subject of the dangers that threatened the party, -but he did not notice it—“this shows a most unselfish spirit. Are the -misfortunes of this other person absolutely beyond remedy?” -</p> - -<p> -“They ought not to be, but I can’t for the life of me see how they are -to be set right,” said Dick, moodily. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I am very sorry to hear it. If at any time you think I can be -of any help towards setting them right, be sure you let me know. The -chief, I may say the only, pleasure I have just now lies in helping -other people.” -</p> - -<p> -She rose as though to go indoors, but Dick stopped her. -</p> - -<p> -“If you can spare me a few minutes, please stay and let me tell you -about it now,” he entreated. “I am awfully puzzled—and -worried—and—and miserable. I want you to look at things quite apart -from me. If I could only see her happy, I might get over it in time, I -suppose, but now——” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear boy——” Lady Haigh began, then, hoping that he had not -observed the slip, altered it to, “My dear Major North, you must -please explain yourself a little. Who is the lady to whom you -refer—not Miss Keeling?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, it is Miss Keeling,” said Dick, rather guiltily. -</p> - -<p> -“But is Miss Keeling unhappy?” -</p> - -<p> -“How you women hang together!” he remarked, with some bitterness. “You -must have seen it, Lady Haigh, and yet you won’t say a word to help me -out. I feel as if I had no business to talk about it, even to you—and -yet you are the only other woman here—and it isn’t as though I was -betraying her confidence, for she never told me. She only let me see -unmistakably——” -</p> - -<p> -“I am afraid you won’t believe me,” interrupted Lady Haigh, “but I -really don’t understand you. If I can do anything whatever to help -either you or Miss Keeling, you may count upon me, as I said just now; -but please don’t think I want to pry into your private affairs.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m a fearful bear,” said Dick, penitently, “and it’s awfully good of -you to be willing to take so much trouble about us, when Sir Dugald is -ill, and you have so much to be anxious about. I’ll make a clean -breast of the whole thing, for I am quite at the end of my tether, and -I can’t see what to do. It doesn’t signify what happens to me, you -know, but——” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you know that you are frightening me, Major North? What desperate -enterprise has Miss Keeling got on hand that you should talk about her -and yourself in this strain?” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s nothing of that kind. It is only that I want to see her happy. -Perhaps you don’t know that for some time lately I have been beginning -to hope that one day she might get to care for me?” Lady Haigh -smothered a smile, and nodded assent. “Well, it was on the day that -the treaty was signed that I found out all at once that it was -Stratford she cared for.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mr Stratford?” cried Lady Haigh, with a start. “Are you quite -certain?” -</p> - -<p> -“I had no idea of anything of the kind until she turned on me and -asked why I had let him go to the Palace to save her, and said she -would never speak to me again if anything happened to him. I couldn’t -mistake that, could I?” he asked, with a dreary smile. “It was all -clear to me at once, and I can’t tell you what an arrant and -unmitigated and contemptible brute I felt for having let him go. I’m -sure I should never have had the face to go near her again if he had -got killed.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, but wasn’t it all right when he came back?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, indeed; it is all wrong. He doesn’t care for her; he told me so -himself before he went. Now, you know, no one can be astonished at her -caring for him, he is such an out-and-out good fellow; but if he -doesn’t care for her, what is to be done? That is what I am addling my -brains over, and if you can suggest anything, Lady Haigh, I shall -bless you for ever.” -</p> - -<p> -“What was your own idea as to what ought to be done?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it’s pretty clear to me that if Miss Keeling had a father or a -brother out here, it would be his business to take the matter in hand, -and bring Stratford to book—ask him his intentions, and that sort of -thing. I don’t want to say anything against him, but it’s quite plain -that he isn’t doing the proper thing; and if he has made her care for -him with those high and mighty A.D.C. airs of his”—Dick spoke with -the lively bitterness of a man who has known and suffered far from -gladly the wiseacres of a viceregal <i>entourage</i>—“he ought not to be -allowed to cry off like this without even asking her to marry him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then the propriety of your assuming the <i>rôle</i> of Miss Keeling’s -brother, and representing the matter to him yourself, has not -suggested itself to you?” Lady Haigh waited with keen anxiety for the -answer, which came with a groan. -</p> - -<p> -“Hasn’t it indeed? But how is a man to do such a thing without giving -the girl away? Don’t tell me you think I ought to do it, Lady Haigh! -I’ll do it if you say I must; but really, you know, I am absolutely -the worst fellow that ever was born for a delicate job of that kind. -Stratford told me himself on that very day that tact was not my strong -point, which is putting it mildly, and this sort of thing simply cries -aloud for tact.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are quite right, it does, and I am truly thankful that you have -not felt called upon to attempt it.” Dick heaved a sigh of relief. -“But do tell me, Major North, why you are willing to put aside your -own hopes in this way, and bring Mr Stratford to book?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because I want to see her happy,” growled Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“You think she is not happy?” -</p> - -<p> -“Look at her face. Ever since that day, she has looked quite -different. Perhaps you haven’t noticed it, for she keeps a cheerful -expression for company. But I have come upon her unexpectedly, and -seen her when she thought no one was looking, and her face—well, it -made me want to pulverise Stratford, that’s all. She put on the -cheerful expression again as soon as she caught me looking at her, -just as though I didn’t know all about it, and wouldn’t give my right -hand to help her,” he concluded, resentfully. -</p> - -<p> -“Major North,” said Lady Haigh, solemnly, “if your insight into -character was only equal to your goodwill, you would be a very clever -man, but as it is——” there was an expressive pause, then Lady Haigh -bent towards him, and spoke very low and distinctly. “You are quite -right not to speak to Mr Stratford, it would only do harm; but I think -you ought to speak to Miss Keeling herself. What you have told me is -news to me, and if I am not mistaken, it will also be news to her. You -would tell her, of course, that you had discovered that she was in -love with Mr Stratford, and was pining for him, because he would not -ask her to marry him. That is the kind of fact about oneself which one -has a right to know. Tell her, by all means. I don’t guarantee that -you will escape with your life, but a storm clears the air sometimes. -On second thoughts, don’t tell her. I really think it would be -scarcely safe. Lay your own story before her—without any names, if -you like—and see what she says. That is my honest and candid advice, -without any kind of joking. If you won’t take it, I fear I can’t help -you.” -</p> - -<p> -And Lady Haigh rose and went into the house, leaving Dick stupefied. -He felt utterly bewildered, and was conscious only that he must have -made some egregious mistake, which Lady Haigh had perceived, but would -not point out to him for fear of spoiling the game. In spite of her -assurance that she was not joking, he yet hesitated to accept her last -piece of advice. What possible good could it do to tell Miss Keeling -<i>his</i> story, even supposing that he could succeed in finding her -alone, and that she would vouchsafe to listen to him? It looked like -stealing a march on Stratford, too; but, of course, that was absurd. -Stratford was in possession of the field, and if it was no good -attempting a serious attack on his position, how could it serve any -useful purpose to make a feint of an assault upon it? It could only -render Miss Keeling more unhappy still, for Dick felt sure that she -would pity even him when she learnt how the words which had escaped -her lips in her first grief and despair had gone to his heart. There -seemed to be no way out of the dilemma, and Dick decided very quickly -that he would not in any case follow Lady Haigh’s counsel, for fear of -complicating the situation further. At least he could keep his own -feelings in the background, while waiting anxiously for something to -turn up that might relieve him from the necessity of taking any step -at all. As it happened, however, the explanation he dreaded was -precipitated by an event of so much importance that it actually -obscured in his mind for the time the whole question he had discussed -with Lady Haigh. -</p> - -<p> -Bad news reached the Mission on the following morning. The district -which had hitherto been ruled by Fath-ud-Din was in open revolt. The -governor of the town to which the baggage-animals had been sent -refused to surrender them except to Fath-ud-Din or the King in person, -and this necessitated the despatch of a military expedition to enforce -compliance with the royal order. Jahan Beg could not venture to leave -the capital, and although Rustam Khan was to be sent in command of the -forces, the business was likely to be a long one in the present -unsatisfactory state of the army. This meant a further period of -detention at Kubbet-ul-Haj for the Mission, and Stratford and Dick, -feeling that they could not impose upon the ladies much longer with -any hope of success, broke the news to them with elaborate care. Lady -Haigh, true to her self-effacing creed, received it with suitable -alarm; but Georgia puzzled the two men by exclaiming, “Is <i>that</i> all?” -in a tone which showed that their considerate method of making the -announcement had prepared her to hear things much worse than the -reality. Dick thought that she was failing to realise the gravity of -the news, and anticipated a reaction when she began to perceive fully -what it meant; and when he came upon her on the terrace after dinner -that evening, he thought that the reaction had come. Lady Haigh had -been called away, and Dick, emerging from the lighted dining-room to -make his usual tour of inspection, found Georgia sitting alone and -gazing into the darkness. Something in the desolation of her attitude -went to his heart, and he approached her impulsively and laid his hand -upon her shoulder. -</p> - -<p> -“For heaven’s sake, Miss Keeling, don’t give in now!” he said, -hoarsely. “You and Lady Haigh have kept our hearts up all this week by -your pluck and cheerfulness.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think I am afraid,” said Georgia, without looking at him. -“One could always defend oneself, you see, if the mob broke in, and -that would probably ensure death at once, and I have seen too many -deathbeds not to know that death is generally easier than most people -think. No, it is the isolation, the fearful loneliness, the feeling -that there is not one of these people, to whom we have been trying to -do good, that does not hate us heartily.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I hope it’s not so bad as you think——” began Dick; but his -clumsy attempt at consolation died on his lips. “How long have you -known that things were as bad as they are?” he asked her. -</p> - -<p> -“As long as you have,” returned Georgia, with some scorn. -</p> - -<p> -“Not really so long? We were trying to save you from the knowledge. We -hoped——” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I know; but, unfortunately, you had to deal with an old -campaigner and a New Woman, you see. Lady Haigh and I were able to -read the signs of the times as well as you and Mr Stratford; but we -pretended that we knew nothing about things, for the sake of sparing -your feelings. Now, do you think you have treated us properly? I don’t -demand information as a right; I only ask whether it was fair—whether -it was even kind—to try and keep us in ignorance? We have at least as -much at stake as you have.” -</p> - -<p> -“At least?” he repeated, bitterly. “I can tell you that I would give -my life gladly to know that you were in Khemistan and safe out of -this. Now you can’t say that I haven’t spoken plainly.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why not have told us the worst before, and let us talk it over, -and get what comfort we could out of that? Facing a danger boldly -makes it seem much less terrible. It is the guessing, and the -wondering, and the putting two and two together, and the anxiety as to -whether there has been any fresh trouble, of which we know nothing, to -make you and Mr Stratford look graver and graver every day, that have -been so dreadful this week.” -</p> - -<p> -“Have a little pity for me, Georgia,” he said, almost roughly; and she -realised, with a sudden tightening of the heart, that he had used the -same words that other day. “Do you think it’s an easy or a pleasant -thing for a man to tell the woman he loves—as I love you—that such -things are before her as seem to be before us now? No, don’t start and -turn your back on me—you have brought this on yourself. You laughed -at me when I told you I loved you long ago, and again and again since -we first met this year you have shown me pretty plainly that nothing I -could do would ever change your tone. When I begged your pardon after -that fuss about your doctoring the Chief, and you wouldn’t listen to -me, I couldn’t have believed a woman would have spoken in such a way -to the greatest blackguard on earth, let alone a man that had put -himself at her mercy. Your mercy, indeed!—I believe you enjoy -tormenting me. But you can go too far—even with me. Under ordinary -circumstances I should have respected your wishes, and not persecuted -you with my unwelcome attentions; but this is not an ordinary time, -and you have goaded me beyond bearing, and I tell you—and you shall -hear it—that I shall love you till I die—and beyond. You can’t alter -it.” -</p> - -<p> -He paused, expecting an outburst of anger, but Georgia’s head was -turned away from him, and she made no answer. -</p> - -<p> -“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he said at last, apprehensively, his -conscience smiting him for his roughness. “I know by what you have -said that you have enough to bear already.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am not crying!” said Georgia, resenting the accusation indignantly, -and for one moment she turned her eyes upon him. They were shining, -but not with tears. Dick thought that it was with anger, and her words -served to confirm him in his belief. “I have tried to be patient with -you,” she went on quickly, and her voice seemed to him to be throbbing -with wounded pride, “but you are too unfair. You say you love me, but -how do you treat me? Since we met last March—as you said just now; -you see that I can hoard up grudges as well as you—you have done -nothing but parade your contempt for me, and for everything I care -for. What do you know about the New Woman? What do you know about me? -and yet you have persecuted me continually with the name, which you, -at any rate, meant to be one of reproach. I don’t know what your idea -of love may be, but I think that it ought to teach a little -tenderness—a little consideration for the other person’s feelings. -How dare you tell me that you love me? You might, if you could bend me -to your own pattern; but you can’t, and so you have done your best to -show that you dislike me. Not that your dislike signifies to me in the -least, of course,” with superb disdain, “but I don’t see why you -should render yourself generally unpleasant by exhibiting it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Make a little allowance for me, please. I loved you, and you would -not listen to me. I daresay I have made an awful idiot of myself, -but——” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t say that you had excuse. I was always willing to be friends -with you, if you would only——” -</p> - -<p> -“Friends? I don’t want your friendship. There can be no such thing -between you and me. I must have all or nothing.” -</p> - -<p> -“And by way of getting all, you did everything you could to make it -impossible for me to give you anything? I am not a Griselda, and if -you will excuse my saying it, I don’t think nature intended you for a -Petruchio. Were you really under the impression that the best way of -winning a woman’s heart was to abuse all her friends and pour contempt -on all her interests? How could I learn to care for you?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am very sorry, Georgie,” said Dick, humbly enough. -</p> - -<p> -“It is possible to be sorry too late,” Georgia went on mercilessly; -but he interrupted her with a burst of passion. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t I know that? Hasn’t it tormented me day and night since I knew -that you cared for him? Don’t try me too far. I have done my best not -to worry you since that day, and if I could do anything to make you -happy with him, I would; but I can’t stand it if you begin to moralise -on the subject. You expect too much of a man.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know what you mean,” said Georgia, turning round quickly. Her -face had grown very pale. “Who is the person you are talking about?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Stratford, of course,” said Dick, off his guard. Georgia’s eyes -flamed. -</p> - -<p> -“Stratford? You thought I was in love with Mr Stratford? After that, I -don’t think there is anything more that need be said, Major North. -Will you kindly let me pass?” -</p> - -<p> -But he would not. Despair gave him courage, and he put his arm across -the doorway. “Georgie, I’m an idiot and an ass and an utter fool, but -give me another chance. I do love you, and if you will only let me try -again, now that there’s no other fellow in the way, perhaps you might -come to care for me a little in time.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia wavered, and was lost. She had caught sight of his face in the -moonlight, and there was an expression in his eyes which completed -what his eager, halting words had begun. “Oh, Dick, don’t look at me -like that,” she entreated, laying her hands on his arm. “You may try -again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Try again? Georgie, may I really? How much does that mean?” -</p> - -<p> -“Take the night to think over it,” said Georgia, trying to slip past -him indoors; but he caught her hands and held her prisoner. -</p> - -<p> -“You said just now ‘how could you learn to care for me?’ I thought you -meant that it was impossible. Did you mean that there might be a -chance? Just the one word, dear.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” said Georgia, in a voice which was somewhat muffled. “At least, -I mean no. I have cared for you a long time.” -</p> - -<p> -“What a beast I have been!” was the next coherent remark uttered by -Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“You were rather a trial,” was the murmured answer. -</p> - -<p> -“But I am going to reform now, Georgie. You must pull me up if I let -out at anything in which you have the smallest interest. But I could -praise up the New Woman herself to-night.” -</p> - -<p> -“Considering that I am the embodiment of the New Woman to your mind,” -began Georgia, “that is a very poor——” -</p> - -<p> -“I say, North, is there anything wrong? Haven’t you finished your -rounds yet?” shouted Stratford, coming to the dining-room window with -a half-smoked cigar in his fingers. -</p> - -<p> -“No, it’s all right,” answered Dick’s voice, unexpectedly near at -hand. “I’ll do the rounds in a minute.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch17"> -CHAPTER XVII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">POINTS OF VIEW.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -“Well, Georgie?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Dick?” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia’s eyes danced with merriment, for Dick was lying in wait for -her on the verandah, with a bunch of roses in his hand. Kubbet-ul-Haj -roses are not roses of Damascus, or of Kashmir, or of any other -locality famous for the culture of the plant; but poor as they were, -they were flowers, and of flowers the prisoners at the Mission had -seen but few of late. He held them out to her with quite unusual -timidity. -</p> - -<p> -“Will you have them?” he asked, somewhat shyly. -</p> - -<p> -“Of course I will, Dick. Thank you so much.” She took them from his -hand, kissed them, and fastened them in her dress. “Are you satisfied -now?” she asked, smiling. -</p> - -<p> -“Satisfied!” he said, looking at her admiringly. “I feel now that what -happened last night was a reality.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, had you begun to hope it was a dream?” -</p> - -<p> -“It might have been merely imagination—too good to be true. Stratford -has just been declaring that I was mad last evening. He says that I -wanted to sit up all night and talk, and that he had to turn me out of -his room by main force.” -</p> - -<p> -“Poor fellow! Were you trying to drown the remembrance of what had -happened?” -</p> - -<p> -“Drown it, indeed! burn it in, more likely. I can’t imagine how you -ever came to—Georgie, there’s one thing that puzzles me still. Why -were you so angry because Stratford went to the Palace instead of me? -I did all I could to go, of course, because I wanted to do something -for you; but why did you mind so much?” -</p> - -<p> -“Never mind,” said Georgia, growing rather red; “it was absurd and -unreasonable of me. I know you must have thought that I wanted you to -be killed.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why was it?” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose you will give me no peace until I tell you. It was because -I couldn’t bear to think you cared so little about me as to let him go -instead.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish I had gone!” said Dick, enviously. -</p> - -<p> -“Then you would probably have been killed, and the treaty would not -have been signed, and we should never have known what we know -now—about our caring for each other, I mean. I might have guessed the -truth when I heard that you had gone, but I could never have been -sure; it might only have been a way of taking a noble revenge on me, -you know. And you would have sacrificed yourself and perhaps even -died, believing all the time that I detested you. I know you deserved -it, but still, I should have been sorry. No, things are much better as -they are. It was very silly of me to think and say what I did.” -</p> - -<p> -“I like you to be silly about me.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you don’t like me under other circumstances? I hope I am not -always silly.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t care about circumstances, or wisdom, or foolishness, or -anything. I love you because you are yourself.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick, you are incorrigible!” There was a slight soreness in Georgia’s -tone. It was undeniable that Dick was lacking in tact. -</p> - -<p> -“Now I have gone and hurt your feelings again! I wish I wasn’t such a -blundering idiot.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick, listen to me. I want you to do me a favour.” -</p> - -<p> -“If there is any single thing in the whole world I could do for -you——” -</p> - -<p> -“You would do it, I know, however great it was. But it is a number of -little things, Dick. I know you don’t mean to hurt me, but you often -do. Think a moment. I don’t love you any more because of your Victoria -Cross, but it makes me glad and proud to think that you have it. I -know I can’t expect you to be glad that I am a doctor, and proud of -being one, because you dislike the very idea; but I want you to treat -the subject tenderly, because it is connected with me. I daresay it -seems very strange to you that I should be as sensitive about my -profession as you are about yours, and I know you will never look at -the two things in the same light, but I ask you to regard it as a -concession to my weakness when you let an opportunity pass without a -sneer. We must agree to differ on this question, I suppose, but I want -you to do it gracefully, for my sake.” There were tears in her eyes as -she looked at him, and Dick felt the enormity of his conduct more -keenly than he had ever done in the days when he delighted to provoke -her to arguments and the delivery of lectures. -</p> - -<p> -“What a brute I must have been, that you should find it necessary to -ask such a thing of me!” he burst out. “It makes me feel thoroughly -ashamed to think what a cad I am. Do you think that it’s safe to have -anything to do with me, Georgie?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know whether it’s safe or not, but I love you so much that I -couldn’t do without you,” said Georgia, unsteadily. -</p> - -<p> -“To hear you say that makes me feel that I could do anything you asked -me. Help me to be more worthy of you, Georgie. If I hurt your feelings -after this I deserve to be hung. Pull me up—simply slang me—if I say -anything unkind. I never thought I was such a blackguard. No, only -look at me, as you did just now, and if I don’t wilt, as Hicks puts -it, that instant, then throw me over, for I shan’t be worth troubling -about. I will get over that habit of letting out at the things you -care for. I feel as though I could go anywhere and do anything -to-day.” -</p> - -<p> -“And I feel so ridiculously safe,” said Georgia, smiling at him with -an April face. -</p> - -<p> -“And yet nothing is really different from what it was yesterday.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Dick! everything is different. There is hope to-day, and there -was none then. Think how dreadful it would have been to be killed when -everything was wrong between us.” -</p> - -<p> -“What a remark!” said Dick, lazily—“it’s almost worthy of young -Anstruther; and how particularly cheerful the subjects of your -thoughts are! Now that I am in a position to keep you from making rash -expeditions to the Palace, I must say that I don’t see any present -danger of your being killed.” -</p> - -<p> -“The calmness with which you contemplate such a contingency does -infinite credit to your strength of mind, sir. But it is rather -strange that you should have mentioned the Palace, for I am going -there this morning.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not with my consent.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then without it, I am afraid. Dick, you are not going to get up a -quarrel over such a little thing, surely? You don’t imagine that I -should think of going now without taking every possible precaution, -and getting Mr Stratford’s leave?” -</p> - -<p> -“What has Stratford got to do with it? It’s my affair.” -</p> - -<p> -“Excuse me, I think it’s mine. Now, Dick, you don’t deserve to be -reassured and made to feel comfortable about it, but I am going to be -magnanimous. While you were out in the early morning there came a -messenger from the King. He said that they had not yet taken the -bandage from the Queen’s eyes, because they were afraid to touch it if -I was not there. He was so anxious that I should be present and direct -operations that he offered of his own accord to send Antar Khan here -as a hostage for the whole time I am gone. Now are you satisfied?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not unless I go with you.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that’s impossible. Rahah and I make the passage in the litter, -and we couldn’t manage to smuggle you in. Besides, what should we do -with you when we got to the Palace?” -</p> - -<p> -“That wasn’t what I meant. I will take five or six of the servants and -ride beside you. Then I shall wait in the men’s part of the Palace -while you go to see the Queen, and bring you back again. You won’t -find me leaving the place without you.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid you’ll find it rather dull. We shan’t be able to talk, you -know. But of course I should like it much better if you were there. -You will come, then?” -</p> - -<p> -“Rather. If you will run into danger, you shall not go alone—now.” -</p> - -<p> -“Your permission is slightly grudging,” said Georgia, laughing, but -she was heartily glad to have his escort. The unpleasant circumstances -of her last visit to the Palace had made her shrink from going there -again, although she had a particular reason for desiring to do so. The -thought that Dick would not be far off was a reassuring one, even -though there was no reason for anticipating any unfriendliness from -the royal household. And in this way it came to pass that when the -Palace litter, closely guarded by soldiers, conveyed Georgia and her -handmaid to visit her patient, Dick rode behind it with six of the -servants of the Mission, who were divided between delight at being -outside the walls of the house once more, and a certain degree of -terror at the prospect of finding themselves inside the Palace. -</p> - -<p> -Reclining luxuriously on the cushions, with Rahah crouching opposite -to her, Georgia spent the time occupied by the transit in -recapitulating to herself the points of the inquiry which she was -anxious to make, and which had as its primary object the -re-establishment of Sir Dugald’s health. The disagreeable interruption -of her interview with Nur Jahan’s mother, by the entrance of the -King’s younger wife, had prevented her from putting to the women -present the questions which had been suggested to her by their mention -of the witch whose poisons Fath-ud-Din was wont to employ to rid him -of his enemies. The name and dwelling-place of this old woman had -become matters of the deepest interest to Georgia, and she was also -eager for any information that it might be possible to obtain as to -her methods and the poisons she used. On what she could discover this -morning, Sir Dugald’s life, or at any rate, his restoration to health, -might depend, and this in itself was enough to determine Georgia to -leave no stone unturned in the effort to ensure success. But it must -be confessed that she had an additional motive—a sufficiently weighty -one, although completely secondary—and this was the subjugation, or -conviction, or conversion, whichever it might be called, of Dick. She -did not give the process any of these names in her own mind, but she -recognised that in the present state of affairs between them the old -difference of opinion was only lying dormant, and that sooner or later -it must revive. Shrinking with all her heart from the idea of paining, -or even opposing him, she was none the less aware that any surrender -on her part would only bring her grief and remorse later, and she -longed to be able to do something that might justify her in Dick’s -eyes, might bring him to acquiesce of his own free will in her -continuing the practice of her profession, and thus avert the crisis -she foresaw and feared. There was only one thing that could come -between Dick and herself, and that was her work; but she knew that if -she was true to her principles, she must uphold it against Dick. She -had gained a temporary advantage that morning, but she was already -ashamed of the weapons of which she had made use. -</p> - -<p> -“Mine was a weak impulse,” she said to herself, “for it led me to -appeal merely to Dick’s feelings, instead of to his reason and his -sense of right. I made him ashamed of himself, but it was in an unfair -way—almost as bad as it would have been if I had cried. I can’t think -what led me to do it—I suppose it was simply a reversion to the -tactics of the Old Woman. It was lowering myself, and it lowered -Dick—he would never have stooped to try to coax me, but he yields -when I coax him. Of course he liked it—he naturally would, but that -doesn’t make it any better. I asked him to do as a favour to me what -he ought, as a gentleman, to do as a mere matter of justice, and if he -follows the thing out logically he will feel at liberty to sneer at -any other medical woman he may meet, even though he makes an exception -in my case. I have gone to work in the wrong way—no doubt it is the -most comfortable, but that doesn’t signify if it isn’t right. It’s no -use pretending that Dick is perfect—he isn’t, any more than I am; but -I want to see him getting nearer to perfection the more I have to do -with him, and it wouldn’t be the way to bring that about if I helped -him to grow into a tyrant whose most unreasonable wish was law unless -he could be wheedled out of it. No, I see that he has a great deal to -learn yet: I am only afraid that I may not be the right person to -teach it him. I am so much afraid of hurting his feelings—and I don’t -know how I could ever do without him now.” -</p> - -<p> -In short, Georgia was in a difficult position, between an exacting -professional conscience and a sufficiently masterful lover, but it is -possible that her very tenderness for Dick’s feelings afforded her a -better guarantee of success than if she had cared for him less. He, on -his part, was quite content to enjoy to the full his unexpected -happiness, without troubling himself about the future, and he knew -nothing of the heavy sigh with which Georgia at last put her own -affairs from her, and dismounted from the litter in the harem -courtyard at the Palace, prepared to throw herself wholly into the -joys and sorrows of its inmates. -</p> - -<p> -“O doctor lady!” cried Nur Jahan, rushing to meet her with much -clashing of bangles and rustling of stiff satin, “it rejoices my eyes -to behold thee again. We feared that after the evil words of Antar -Khan’s mother thou wouldst never return to us. Truly the world has -changed for us all since thou wert here, and were it not for my lord’s -absence with the army I should have nothing to wish for.” -</p> - -<p> -She led Georgia into the Queen’s room, where the patient was waiting -in pitiable anxiety. The long delay, which she had been too nervous to -terminate at the proper time, had tasked the poor lady’s patience to -the utmost, and she was feverishly eager that the result of the -operation should be known, and the final verdict uttered. The room was -carefully darkened, and Georgia unfastened the bandages. For a moment -the Queen’s weakened eyes could see nothing, and a low despairing wail -broke from her, but almost as Georgia laid her hand upon her shoulder -and exhorted her to be calm, the moan changed to a cry of joy. -</p> - -<p> -“I can see!” she cried. “God is great, and great is the power He has -given to the English and to the doctor lady. With these eyes of mine I -shall behold my son’s son before I die.” -</p> - -<p> -“Here is the child, O my mother,” said Nur Jahan, laying her baby -eagerly in the Queen’s arms. “Bless him now, and bless also the doctor -lady, through whose skill thou beholdest him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Almost I might believe myself young again, with my son Rustam Khan in -my arms,” said the grandmother, looking fondly at the baby, “and yet -this is Rustam Khan’s son that I hold. O doctor lady, if the blessing -of one who has suffered much, and whom thou hast by thine art brought -back from the gates of despair, can benefit thee, thou hast it now, -and may it follow thee and thy children and thy children’s children -for ever!” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia’s own eyes were dim with tears as she turned away to put -together the things she had brought with her, and the slaves crowded -round her in grateful reverence, kissing the hem of her dress and -laying her hand on their heads, while Nur Jahan despatched a messenger -to inform the King that the operation had been successful. The slave -returned in a short time, accompanied by the chamberlain who presided -over the treasury, bearing a mass of jewellery tied up in a thick silk -handkerchief as a gift to the doctor lady, together with the King’s -grateful thanks. Georgia knew her duty with respect to presents of -this kind, and having raised the handkerchief to her forehead, she -placed it again on the tray on which it had arrived, and choosing out -of the heap a necklace of curious workmanship, but of comparatively -small intrinsic value, she returned the remainder to the bearer, -desiring him to convey her thanks to the King. Rahah was made happy by -the gift of a massive pair of anklets, in which she clanked about as -though in fetters; and the negro, as he withdrew, intimated that the -King intended to mark the occasion by gifts of jewellery to his wife -and daughter-in-law and their respective attendants. Hence it was a -very merry party which partook presently of coffee and sweetmeats in -the Queen’s room, and Georgia observed with some amusement that now it -was the Queen’s servants who shrieked shrill defiances across the -courtyard at the attendants of Antar Khan’s mother, and that they were -powerless to retaliate. They sat in a scowling and disconsolate row on -the verandah, and, as Mr Hicks would have put it, “squirmed” under the -infliction. -</p> - -<p> -“Must thou leave us when thy friends depart, O doctor lady?” asked the -Queen. “There are many women blind and sick and lame in Kubbet-ul-Haj, -much more in all Ethiopia. Wilt thou not stay and cure them?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am afraid I must go back when the Mission does,” said Georgia, -“though I shall be very sorry to have to leave you all, and I wish I -might hope to come back. But I shall not be my own mistress for very -long now.” -</p> - -<p> -“Has the wife of the Queen of England’s Envoy found a husband for -thee, then, O doctor lady?” asked Nur Jahan with deep commiseration, -forgetting the unfavourable impression of her own married life which -the words would convey; “I thought thou wert free and happy.” -</p> - -<p> -“Peace, Nur Jahan!” said the Queen, quickly. “Knowest thou not that -the caged birds should entice the wild ones into the trap, and not -warn them away? Hath the lot of all women overtaken thee at last, O -doctor lady? I would have thee give God thanks that it comes so late.” -</p> - -<p> -“O my ladies,” said Rahah, indignantly, “surely ye know not the ways -of the English. The great lord that is to marry my lady is a mighty -captain, and his name is known throughout all Khemistan. He is rich -also, and his hand is bountiful,” and Rahah surveyed complacently a -new bracelet she had made for herself that very morning by stringing -together certain silver coins, “and to please my lady he would give -all that he has. In his own eyes he is but the dust under her feet.” -</p> - -<p> -“Art thou so young as to be thus deceived, girl?” asked the Queen, -compassionately. “Surely it is ill with thy mistress if thou art led -away and withheld from warning her by a few pieces of silver. These -that thou hast mentioned are the ways of all men at the first, but -sooner or later the change comes. I warn thee, O doctor lady, when thy -lord brings another wife into the house, however solemnly he may have -assured thee that thou shalt always reign there alone, reproach him -not, but be friendly with her, if she will have it so, for otherwise -she will prevail upon him to cast thee out.” -</p> - -<p> -To the astonishment of the whole circle, Georgia was laughing so -heartily over the idea thus presented to her that she could scarcely -speak, but Rahah explained with haughty superiority the difference -between English and Ethiopian marriage customs, although her -explanation was received with manifest incredulity. It was not until -Georgia had declared solemnly that if her husband brought a second -wife into the house she would instantly leave it, and that the law of -England and public opinion would support her in doing so, that the -ladies began to perceive that there might be advantages attaching to -matrimony in Europe which were lacking to it in Kubbet-ul-Haj. Nur -Jahan possessed the moral support of Rustam Khan’s promise to her -father that he would not take a second wife; but it was evident that -the Queen and her women regarded this as a temporary concession which -might or might not continue to be observed, and that public opinion -would think no worse of Rustam Khan if he withdrew it. -</p> - -<p> -“It is right, O doctor lady,” said the Queen, “that thou shouldest -have a prospect of happiness in marriage, for thou hast dealt well -indeed with me and with my house.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, O my mother,” said Nur Jahan, “is it not rather that the doctor -lady has brought us good luck, from her first coming until now? Since -she came, the wicked Fath-ud-Din has been cast down and punished, and -my father is put into his place. Thine adversary has been made to eat -dirt, and the faces of all our enemies are humbled before us. My lord -is restored to his honours and to his command, and my mother has -returned to her house in peace with many gifts, sent her by our lord -the King. And thine eyes are opened also. Is not the doctor lady truly -a bringer of good luck?” -</p> - -<p> -“And yet our coming to Kubbet-ul-Haj has not brought good fortune to -ourselves,” said Georgia, sadly. “One of our party has been murdered, -and the Envoy himself lies like one dead——” -</p> - -<p> -“And a husband has been found for thee,” murmured the irrepressible -Nur Jahan. -</p> - -<p> -“I see you won’t believe me when I tell you that I don’t count that a -misfortune,” said Georgia. “I am not joking, Nur Jahan. I need help -very much, and I think that some of you can give it me, but it is in -quite a different matter.” -</p> - -<p> -“Speak, O doctor lady,” said the Queen, “and may the blindness thou -hast taken from me rest on any that refuse to help thee.” -</p> - -<p> -“You were speaking the other day,” said Georgia, “of some old woman -who was supposed to help Fath-ud-Din by poisoning his enemies. Is this -known to be true, or is it merely common talk?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is quite true,” replied the Queen, “that several of Fath-ud-Din’s -enemies have died in agonising torments which no physician could -alleviate. One expired in torturing thirst, with such pains as those -experience who have lost their way in the desert and can find no -water.” Georgia nodded quickly. “Another died of hunger, which -tormented him with its pangs, while he could swallow nothing to -alleviate them. Yet another went mad, and rushing through the city, -cast himself headlong from the walls; and of one the wives and -children died one after the other, until, broken down by misery, he -died also.” -</p> - -<p> -“Tell me,” said Georgia, eagerly, “has any one whom Fath-ud-Din hated -ever fallen into a sleep so heavy that he could not be awakened, in -which he remained for weeks and yet lived?” -</p> - -<p> -The ladies turned and looked at one another. “It is the Father of -sleep!” were the words that passed between them. -</p> - -<p> -“You know something about it?” cried Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“We <i>know</i> nothing, O doctor lady,” said Nur Jahan; “but we have heard -much concerning a certain drug of this wicked woman’s. Others of her -poisons are drawn, men say, from strange plants of distant lands; but -this is taken from a fish which is found upon a certain island of the -southern seas, and whose scales and bones and flesh, so they say, have -been all filled with poison by wicked enchantments, and they call it -the Father of sleep.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then have you ever known an instance when it was used?” asked -Georgia, filled with eager anticipation. -</p> - -<p> -“I have, O doctor lady,” said one of the Queen’s confidential slaves, -“and I will tell thee of it if my mistress will suffer me to speak -freely.” -</p> - -<p> -“Speak,” said the Queen. “Have not I commanded all my household to -assist the doctor lady in every way?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was many years ago, when our lord the King married the Vizier’s -sister, who is now the mother of Antar Khan,” said the slave, rather -reluctantly, “and our lord the King’s sister, the Lady Fatma, in whose -service I was at that time, was very angry about the match. It was -even said that she had almost succeeded in breaking it off. That -wicked woman, the sorceress, the accursed Khadija, was sent by -Fath-ud-Din to warn the Lady Fatma to withdraw her opposition, if her -life was dear to her; but the Princess mocked at Khadija, and derided -her powers. Then Khadija made an evil sign, and foretold that before -the next morning light the Lady Fatma should know her power; and -surely enough, when her slaves sought to awaken her at dawn, she did -not hear them, but lay as one still asleep. Then, when they had failed -again and again to arouse her, they ran to tell the King of the -matter, and of the words of Khadija. He sent for the woman, and -threatened her with death, but he could in no way wring from her a -promise to remove the spell, except on condition that no punishment -whatever should be inflicted on her. Now the King had an enemy, a -rebel chief, and it seemed to him that he might well be rid of him by -this woman’s means, and he covenanted with her that, as the price of -her life, she should not only remove the spell from the Lady Fatma, -but also bring about the death of Zohrab Khan. And this was done.” -</p> - -<p> -“And it was well done,” said the Queen, decisively, as the slave -looked towards her with some anxiety. “The man was a traitor, and -false to his salt.” -</p> - -<p> -“But was it poison that Khadija had administered to the Lady Fatma?” -asked Georgia, too eager for information to turn aside to the moral -question involved in the death of Zohrab Khan. “And how did she -counteract it?” -</p> - -<p> -“She had put the poison (very little is needed) into the Lady Fatma’s -coffee, and in order to awaken her from the magic sleep she gave her a -potion that she mixed. It was whispered among the slaves that it was -made of the shavings of a porcupine’s teeth, mixed with the juice of a -plant that is brought from the land of the poison-fish; but the secret -of it is known only to Khadija herself, and the antidote is useless -unless it is administered in one particular way, but none of us who -belonged to the Princess’s household were allowed to see what was -done.” -</p> - -<p> -“This must be the very thing I want to know!” said Georgia. “And now, -where is Khadija to be found?” -</p> - -<p> -“In Fath-ud-Din’s fortress of Bir-ul-Malikat, where she watches over -his daughter Zeynab,” said Nur Jahan, with lively contempt. “The Rose -of the World, they call the girl, and she is to marry Antar Khan, if -Fath-ud-Din and the witch together can bring it about.” -</p> - -<p> -“But where is this fortress?” asked Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“In the desert, on the way to Khemistan. There are two forts on two -hills, Bir-ul-Malik and Bir-ul-Malikat. Bir-ul-Malik used to belong to -my father, but Khadija dried up the water in the well by her arts, and -the garrison almost died of thirst. My father complained to our lord -the King, and he, thinking that the place was now useless, commanded -Fath-ud-Din to give my father another town in exchange, and this he -did, in another part of the kingdom. But as soon as my father’s men -were gone from Bir-ul-Malik, Fath-ud-Din took possession of the place, -and Khadija brought back the water into the well, and now he holds the -only two forts and wells in all that region.” -</p> - -<p> -This was all the information that could be gained from the household -at the Palace, and Georgia’s desire not to alarm her friends kept her -from uttering aloud the thought that was in her mind, so that she -allowed the subject to drop. During the remainder of the visit, -however, and while she was being carried home in the litter, the -determination rose strong within her to find Khadija and get hold of -the secret of that antidote, if she had to make an expedition into -Ethiopia all by herself, after the Mission had returned to Khemistan, -for the sake of doing so. -</p> - -<p> -After the farewell visit to the Palace, there was still another visit -to be paid, and this was to Nur Jahan’s mother, who had returned with -her husband to her own house, which might now be considered a place of -comparative safety. The Princess sent her litter to the Mission, and -Georgia made the transit in the usual seclusion, escorted by Dick and -a number of armed servants. Arrived at the Grand Vizier’s house, Dick -whiled away the time by a chat with Jahan Beg, and Georgia and Rahah -were conducted to the harem, where the Princess received them with -great kindness. There was even a touch of compassion in her manner, -for which Georgia was at a loss to account until she learnt that Nur -Jahan had told her mother of the doctor lady’s intended marriage. -</p> - -<p> -“Art thou well advised in this that thou art intending, O doctor -lady?” asked the Princess. “If it is true that thou art free to act in -the matter according to thine own will, consider what thou doest -before it is too late. My daughter tells me that thou hast no fear, -since thy betrothed husband is an Englishman; but I know too well that -all husbands are alike, for I also am married to an Englishman, -although I was not aware of the truth until Fath-ud-Din’s servants -shouted it at me as they drove me from my own house a month ago.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps,” suggested Georgia, diffidently, “the Amir Jahan Beg was not -then acquainted with the customs of Ethiopia, which differ from ours, -and he may have appeared unkind through ignorance.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not so,” said the Princess, decisively, “for had that been all, my -love would have won him to honour our customs for my sake,” and her -hard eyes softened at the touch of some early memory. “Listen to me, O -doctor lady, and judge between my lord and me. My first husband was -very old, and when he died I mourned for him almost as for a father. -To him I was a child and a plaything—he was not unkind, but I was -nothing to him, and I knew it. Then for some time I dwelt at the -Palace, under the protection of my cousin the Queen. In those days -every one was talking of the valour and wisdom of a new favourite of -our lord the King, a captive from among the hillmen of the south, but -a convert to the faith of Islam. He had repelled the hostile tribes on -our northern border, and extended the kingdom beyond the utmost limits -it had hitherto attained, and he was coming in triumph to -Kubbet-ul-Haj to lay his spoils at the King’s feet. When that day -came, the Queen and I, with our women, were watching the ceremony from -our balcony above the throne. The slave-girls exclaimed at the -vastness of the spoil, but I saw only the victor. Surely, I thought, -he is as an angel of God! While I watched him, the Queen came close to -me and whispered in my ear, ‘That is the bridegroom our lord intends -for thee, my Nafiza. Doth he please thee?’ O doctor lady, I thought -that I should die of joy! On all sides I heard congratulations, but I -congratulated myself most of all. Surely never did woman gain her -heart’s desire more speedily, nor more speedily see it turn to dust -and ashes when gained! My nurse told me afterwards that on our -wedding-night she had seen how things would fall out. I was waiting -for my bridegroom, she with me, that she might remove my veil and -leave him to behold my face. He came in without a salutation to either -of us, and sat down beside me upon the divan. My nurse was angry, and -said sharply, ‘It is not the custom in Ethiopia to sit uninvited in -the presence of the daughter of the King’s uncle.’ ‘O mother,’ he -replied, ‘I stand before no woman in Ethiopia, least of all my own -wife.’ My nurse was much disturbed. ‘Wilt thou still marry him, -Nafiza, my dove?’ she whispered, so that only I could hear; ‘the King -will not suffer thee to be insulted.’ But I, thinking, ‘He must surely -be a great prince in his own country, to speak thus to a king’s -granddaughter!’ motioned to her to lift my veil, saying, ‘It is well, -O my nurse; go on.’ And thus was I married, and evil was my marriage. -For in the night I would hear my lord speaking in his own tongue in -his sleep, and I knew that he spoke of his own land. But more; I -learnt why nothing that I could do could please him, or bring his eyes -to look upon me with favour. He had no love for me, he had married me -at the King’s command, and I could not even hope that in time I might -be able to win his affection, for always in the night he called upon -the name of another woman.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but how could you tell?” cried Georgia, quickly, appalled by this -revelation of the tragedy which Jahan Beg had brought into the life of -his slighted wife. “You don’t understand English. You may have -mistaken what he said.” The Lady Nafiza smiled. -</p> - -<p> -“How could I tell, O doctor lady? My heart told me. Though I might not -understand the words, yet I could not mistake the tone. And thus my -dream faded. But when my daughter Nur Jahan was born, my lord left off -crying out to the other woman, but he spoke more and more in his sleep -of his own land. I <i>knew</i> it, O doctor lady, though I could not -understand. And one day, sitting at his feet, with my baby in my arms, -while he held up the hilt of his sword so that the light might flash -upon the jewels and make the child laugh, I plucked up my courage and -said, ‘Does my lord long very sorely for his own land that he cries -out for it every night?’ I would have gone on to tell him that for his -sake I was ready to leave my people and flee with him to his land, but -his brow darkened, and he sprang up and seized me by the shoulder. ‘Am -I not safe in my own house?’ he cried in a dreadful voice. ‘Do they -set my wife to spy upon me? Woman, no one that has betrayed Jahan Beg -lives another hour!’ What could I do but embrace his knees and kiss -his feet, and entreat his mercy for my child’s sake, since he had no -pity for me? And he thrust me from him and went out. Never again did I -speak to him of the words he uttered in sleep. But I loved him still, -and cast about how I might win him to me. At last it seemed to me that -there was indeed a reason for my ill-success, for I had given my lord -no son. Then, after many tears shed in secret, and many struggles with -myself, I said to him, ‘Let my lord choose another wife, who may bear -him sons, and I will welcome her into my house, and she shall be to me -as a sister, for my lord’s sake, and her children as my own.’ This I -did, thinking that he feared to supplant me because I was the King’s -cousin—and indeed, all this house and the slaves were part of my -dowry, and belong to me—but he <i>laughed</i>, O doctor lady, he laughed -at me, though I was giving him that which it broke my heart to offer, -and he said, ‘If I desired other wives, I would take them, but one is -enough for me.’ Why should my lord visit upon me the evil deeds of -that other woman, O doctor lady? for I know that she must have -deceived him. But from that day I sought no more to speak to my -husband’s heart. And my daughter grew up; but she was like him and his -people, and not like me, and he loved her for that reason, so that -sometimes I almost hated my own child. But that is long ago, and I -remember it to-day only as a warning to thee.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia’s eyes were full of tears as she took her leave. She had -bestowed all her pity hitherto on Nur Jahan, but now she felt more -deeply for her mother, whose love, passionate and unrequited, had been -to her only a source of pain. The wrong which Jahan Beg had done had -been visited not only upon himself, but upon his innocent wife and -daughter, and it could not be redressed. -</p> - -<p> -“Sweetheart,” said Dick, anxiously, as he helped Georgia out of the -litter on their return, and assisted her to remove the enshrouding -<i>burka</i>, “you look awfully fagged. Come and have a turn round the -courtyard with me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you know, Dick,” she said, looking round at him, “that I am being -advised continually not to marry you?” -</p> - -<p> -“No?” said Dick, highly diverted. “What a joke! Who is the faithful -warner—young Anstruther?” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick! As if I would ever let him say a word against you to me! No, it -is all my Ethiopian ladies. They are firmly of opinion that marriage -is a failure.” -</p> - -<p> -“I hope you oppose them with all the ardour of a new convert, then?” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t convince them, unfortunately. Their arguments are -unanswerable, they are their own husbands.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you have no favourable counter-experience to draw upon?” -</p> - -<p> -“No. I have to defend you on trust, Dick.” -</p> - -<p> -“Poor little girl! and that’s very hard upon you, isn’t it, when you -know so little of me, and what you do know is so bad?” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch18"> -CHAPTER XVIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">RETREAT CUT OFF.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -Two or three days after Georgia’s visit to the Lady Nafiza, messengers -from Rustam Khan reached the city, announcing that his expedition had -been entirely successful, and that he was bringing back with him the -servants and baggage-animals of which the travellers had been -deprived. This was good news, and once more preparations for departure -occupied all those in the Mission. But before the triumphant general -had returned to the capital, and while Stratford and Dick were still -superintending the packing of cases which it was necessary to pile up -in the front courtyard until the means of transport arrived, Mr Hicks -looked in to bid farewell to his English friends. His mules and camels -had not been impounded, and he was therefore able to start on the -morrow. Stratford was somewhat surprised that he did not defer his -journey for a few days, and ask permission to attach himself to the -Mission caravan; but Mr Hicks explained that he preferred to travel in -comfort, and not to find all the inns occupied, and the markets -cleared at every stopping-place along the route, by the train of the -British Envoy. He did not add that he was calculating on bringing to -Khemistan the first news respecting the Mission that had arrived since -the interruption of communications, or that he anticipated driving an -excellent bargain for himself and the paper he represented by the sale -of the unique information he possessed; but he had a proposal to make -to Stratford which rather surprised him. -</p> - -<p> -“I guess you calculate on being able to make tracks in safety now, Mr -Stratford, but I don’t know that I am quite with you there. I allow -that you have had almighty luck, and that you have plucked the flower -success from the nettle danger in a style I admire. A month ago I -would have bet my bottom dollar that you would never leave -Kubbet-ul-Haj without conducting another high-class funeral in that -burial-lot of yours, and reading the Episcopal service over the old -man, any way. But there’s real grit in you, sir, and I don’t mind -making you a present of that acknowledgment before the general public -throughout the universe gets hold of it in the columns of the ‘Crier.’ -Still, I don’t consider that the prospect before you is exactly a -shining one. It would have taxed Moses himself to fix your return trip -satisfactorily. Once you get outside these walls, you will have to -defend the whole outfit by the light of nature, for you have never -been on the Plains, any of you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Still,” said Stratford, with some coldness, “Major North is an -experienced soldier, and Mr Anstruther——” -</p> - -<p> -“Is an amusing young cuss. I beg your pardon for taking the words out -of your mouth, Mr Stratford, but I can reckon up those two boys as -well as you can. Major North is a pragmatic piece of wood, that would -stand to be cut to pieces rather than budge an inch——” -</p> - -<p> -“Excuse me if I interrupt you in my turn, Mr Hicks. Major North is my -friend, and if I hear any more disparaging remarks about him I shall -feel bound to turn you over to Miss Keeling. She would know how to -resent them properly.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are right, sir, she would. And that brings me to my point. -Thinking over your position here, and the probability of the King’s -turning nasty (for I guess there are few crowned heads that would care -to send away in peace a man that had driven them to change their minds -by the gentle compulsion of a cocked six-shooter), I concluded this -morning to offer to escort the ladies to the frontier. I travel -lightly, and stand to cover the ground much faster than your big -camel-train, and there is no animosity against me. If they are once -safe in Khemistan you can come on behind with the old man and the -baggage, and feel easy in your minds. Now don’t get riled and say -things you’ll be sorry for afterwards, Mr Stratford. I am not -impugning your prudence, nor yet your powers of fighting. We have to -face facts. It gives any one who is inclined to be troublesome a -colossal pull over you that you have the ladies to look after, and if -they were put in safety it would diminish at once your anxiety and -your liability to attack.” -</p> - -<p> -“What do you think North will say to this?” -</p> - -<p> -“Who bosses this show, Mr Stratford? If Major North displays an -unbecoming spirit, put him under arrest. You are too sweetly -reasonable with the boys ever to do much good with ’em.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you don’t imagine that the ladies would go?” -</p> - -<p> -“That is for them to decide. Give them their choice, any way. I guess -if they won’t go, they won’t; but let ’em have the chance.” -</p> - -<p> -Stimulated by the equitable spirit displayed by Mr Hicks, Stratford -broached the subject to the ladies during tiffin, and was not -surprised to find that they received it with most ungrateful scorn. -Lady Haigh simply expressed her determination to remain with Sir -Dugald at all hazards (a resolution which Mr Hicks, in a talk with -Stratford afterwards, unfeelingly likened to that of Mrs Micawber), -and Georgia refused with much emphasis to desert her patient. To the -no small amusement of Mr Hicks, he discovered, from a piece of by-play -which attracted his notice, that Dick, once fully assured that she -would not go, was disposed to suggest, with an air of superior wisdom, -that it might be wiser if she did. -</p> - -<p> -“You know, Georgie,” pathetically, “that I should feel ever so much -happier if I knew you were in safety.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Dick,” solemnly, “nothing would induce me to go, under any -circumstances.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not if I told you that it was my wish?” tenderly. -</p> - -<p> -“If you are wise, Dick, you won’t attempt to bring into play in this -case any authority you may imagine that you possess,” warningly; “nor -in any other case in creation, either,” interjected Mr Hicks, <i>sotto -voce</i>. -</p> - -<p> -Thus it happened that Mr Hicks started on his journey alone, and that -the ladies formed part of the procession which filed out of the -Khemistan gate of Kubbet-ul-Haj about a week later. A comfortable -litter, carried by two mules, had been procured for Sir Dugald, but -only the household servants were aware of the nature of his illness, -or knew how completely it incapacitated him for ordinary life, and -Ismail Bakhsh and his subordinates formed a bodyguard round the -litter. It was their business to keep any idea of the truth from -reaching the camel-men and mule-drivers, who were regarded with a -certain amount of suspicion on account of their long separation from -the rest of the party. One or two of the servants who had originally -accompanied the Mission from Khemistan had died during the interval; -several, according to the testimony of their jailers, had succeeded in -making their escape, and the places of these had been filled up by -Ethiopians, so that it was just as well to allow them to imagine that -although the terrible Envoy was so ill as to be unable to mount his -horse, and must be carried in a litter like a woman, yet he still -directed the course of affairs, and gave orders which Stratford merely -carried into effect. Jahan Beg accompanied the travellers for the -first few miles of their journey, and parted from them on the crest of -a rise from which the first view of Kubbet-ul-Haj could be obtained by -those approaching the city. -</p> - -<p> -“I wish I could have gone with you as far as the frontier,” he had -said to Stratford, “but I daren’t leave the city just now. I believe I -am on the brink of discovering a very neat plot between the Scythian -agent, who ought to be across the border by this time, but is supposed -to be detained by illness at a village only a day’s journey off, and -Fath-ud-Din’s adherents. I think I have tracked nearly all the -participators, and when I am ready I shall give them a surprise. The -plan is, of course, to get rid of me and destroy the English treaty. -By the way, I hope you are careful of your copy. Accidents will -happen, and if that should be stolen or destroyed, it would be a big -score for them. If you should chance to be detained anywhere by -sickness or a difficulty in obtaining provisions, you will do well to -send on some one you can trust, with ten or twelve well-armed men, to -make a dash for Rahmat-Ullah, and put the treaty in safety. Our copy, -of course, is safe as long as I am, but no one can tell how long that -will be. All Fath-ud-Din’s fortresses are refusing to yield except to -force, which is another thing that makes me think they anticipate a -speedy return to the old state of affairs, and I shall be obliged to -send Rustam Khan with the army to reduce each one in turn. You will -have to pass not far from two of them; but if your guides are -trustworthy and know their business, they ought to take you by without -even coming in sight of them. One of the forts ought to be mine, which -makes its resistance all the more irritating. Fath-ud-Din did me out -of it with the help of some devilry practised by the old witch whom he -keeps to get rid of his friends for him. Perhaps I shall get it back -now. Well, good-bye; keep an eye on your guides and a tight hand over -your men and the escort, and when you get the welcome you deserve at -home, don’t quite forget the man who disappeared.” -</p> - -<p> -He shook hands with the rest of the party, and turned away abruptly to -begin his ride back to the city. As Georgia looked after him, -something of pity rose in her heart. After all, the only tragedies in -Kubbet-ul-Haj were not those of the older women with their woful past, -and Nur Jahan with her comfortless future. There was tragedy also in -the story of the man who for life’s sake had given up all that -ennobled life, and who had gained so much that he found was valueless, -and lost so much that he now knew was invaluable. Alone in the great -cruel faithless city, his only memorial of the visit of his friends -the rough tablet which marked Dr Headlam’s grave, his only trustworthy -companion the wife whose love he had slighted, his daily occupation -the search after any means by which he might succeed in maintaining -his position on the slippery height he had reached—there was little -reason to envy Jahan Beg. -</p> - -<p> -The march which now began was by no means devoid of incident, but -during the first few days, while the caravan was still in touch with -the city, everything went well. It was when the dried-up pasture-lands -and the scattered villages had all been left behind, and only the -sands of the desert were to be seen on every side, that the troubles -of the Mission began again. Their commencement was marked by a small -but alarming mutiny among the escort of irregular cavalry, who accused -their captain of appropriating to his own use half of the <i>bakhshish</i> -promised them as a reward for their services, which had been handed -over to him at the beginning of the journey for distribution among his -troopers. It had been arranged that each man should receive the -remainder of his share when Fort Rahmat-Ullah was reached, but they -demanded that it should be paid down immediately, if they were to -escort the Mission any further. To yield to this attempt at extortion -was manifestly impossible, since there was nothing to prevent the -men’s demanding extra gifts until the travellers were bereft even of -the necessaries of life; but nothing less than a complete surrender to -their wishes would satisfy the mutineers. The English met informally -in Stratford’s tent to consider the situation (it was early in the -morning, and the preparations for the day’s march were interrupted by -this untoward event), and admitted to their councils the Ethiopian -captain, who had brought the news that the men refused to move until -their demands were conceded. -</p> - -<p> -“If we don’t stop this at once,” said Dick, “things will get serious. -Stratford, I should be glad if you would leave the matter to me to -deal with.” -</p> - -<p> -“By all means,” said Stratford; “but what do you intend to do?” -</p> - -<p> -“Make an example of the chaps that are stirring them up,” said Dick, -grimly, taking out his revolver and making sure that all the chambers -were loaded. -</p> - -<p> -“But we shall have to get hold of them first,” objected Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“Exactly. That’s what I’m going to do.” -</p> - -<p> -“Stuff! You are not going down among them alone, I can tell you.” -</p> - -<p> -“We can’t waste more than one man over this business. Look there,” and -he threw a significant glance at the trembling Ethiopian captain, “you -can see what he thinks of it. I’ll take Ismail Bakhsh with me. Lend -him your revolver.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Dick, what are you going to do?” asked Georgia in astonishment, -as she met Dick outside the tent, revolver in hand, with Ismail Bakhsh -stalking after him with inimitable dignity and determination, his -right hand thrust into his girdle. -</p> - -<p> -“Never mind. Go back into your tent, and don’t show yourselves, any of -you,” returned Dick, sharply. She obeyed without hesitation; but since -he had not forbidden her to watch him, she took advantage of a hole in -the canvas to gain a view of all that passed. From the sandhill on -which the tents were pitched she could see the soldiers in their camp -below, gathered round an orator who was haranguing them, while no -preparations for starting were visible. She saw Dick march calmly into -the throng, elbowing his way through the men with little ceremony, and -dislodge the orator forcibly from the unsteady rostrum of -biscuit-boxes which he occupied. When she next caught a glimpse of him -he was on the outskirts of the crowd again, holding his prisoner by -the rags which represented his collar, and propelling him vigorously -in the direction of the tents, assisting his progress now and again by -a hearty kick. The rest of the troop appeared to have been stupefied by -the suddenness of the onslaught, but just as Dick was free of the -throng, Georgia saw another man leap up upon a box and call out to his -fellows to rescue their leader. The spell was broken, and there was an -ugly rush, while weapons were hastily caught up. -</p> - -<p> -“Arrest that man, Ismail Bakhsh,” said Dick, without looking round; -“and if he won’t come quietly, shoot him.” -</p> - -<p> -Ismail Bakhsh obeyed in perfect silence, and led his captive up the -hill after Dick, the troopers once more making way for him without -attempting to use their weapons. Arrived at the summit, Dick paused -and looked back. -</p> - -<p> -“Dismiss!” he said, in a sharp, harsh voice such as Georgia had never -heard from him before, and the mutineers, understanding the order by a -species of intuition, dispersed quietly, while Dick and Ismail Bakhsh -passed on to the tent with their prisoners. -</p> - -<p> -“Georgie, what is the matter?” cried Lady Haigh, as Georgia dropped -the canvas flap with a gasping cry, and staggered back against the -tent pole. -</p> - -<p> -“Only that I have just watched Dick take his life in his hand,” she -explained, breathlessly. “For the last ten minutes I have been -thinking that I should never see him alive again.” -</p> - -<p> -In Stratford’s tent a hasty and extremely informal court-martial was -held immediately for the purpose of trying the two prisoners, and here -the management of affairs passed out of Dick’s hands. He was in favour -of shooting both men on the spot, as an encouragement to the rest, but -Stratford shrank from the idea; and the piteous entreaties of the -Ethiopian captain, who pointed out that if such a sentence were -carried into execution his life would not be worth a moment’s purchase -when he started to return home alone with his troops, were allowed to -prevail upon the side of mercy. It was difficult to devise a suitable -punishment under the circumstances; but finally the two men were -deprived of the semblance of uniform they possessed, and driven out -into the desert on foot by the servants, provided with a meagre -allowance of bread and water. They would not starve, unless they -wilfully remained where they were instead of retracing their steps -along the road they had come, but it was probable that they would have -an extremely unpleasant experience before they found their way back to -the habitations of men. -</p> - -<p> -The lesson proved to be a sufficient one, and the troopers, with -sullen faces, returned to their duty, imbued with an added respect for -Dick and an increased hatred and contempt for their own commander. -They made no parade of either of these sentiments during the day’s -march, but the net result of them was visible the next morning, when -no soldiers could be found. They had ridden away during the night from -their bivouac on the outskirts of the camp, leaving their watch-fires -alight to deceive any observers, and in his tent the body of their -captain, pierced with many wounds. -</p> - -<p> -“A wound for each man,” said Ismail Bakhsh, contemplating the dead man -with mingled curiosity and disgust; “and see here, the rebels have -left a gift for my lord.” -</p> - -<div class="fig"> -<a href="images/img_09.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_09_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“See here, the rebels have left a gift for my lord.” -</div></div> - -<p> -He lifted from the spot where it had been laid at the side of the -corpse a long curved dagger, the handle and sheath of which were of -silver, curiously chased and encrusted with turquoises. A scrap of -paper partially burnt, which had apparently been picked up after being -used as a pipe-light and thrown aside, was wrapped round the lower -part of the blade, and a few words in Arabic characters were traced -upon it. -</p> - -<p> -“‘To the General Dīk,’” read Ismail Bakhsh with interest. “It is the -dagger which my lord admired when he saw it worn the other day by one -of those forsworn ones. At least they know a man when they see one, -evil though they are.” -</p> - -<p> -“You can bring the thing to my tent,” said Dick. “I will keep it as a -curiosity. And now, Ismail Bakhsh, we must see this poor wretch -decently buried before we go on. You and your men had better perform -the proper ceremonies, and we will fire a volley over his grave by way -of giving him a military funeral.” -</p> - -<p> -Leaving the scene of the tragedy, he communicated to Stratford his -impressions of the state of affairs, and they agreed to minimise as -far as possible the importance of what had occurred when in the -presence of the ladies. Accordingly, they talked cheerfully of the -advantage of being rid of the escort of a mutinous and discontented -body of troops, and said nothing of the unwelcome thought which had -suggested itself to Dick, that the mutineers might have taken it into -their heads to ride on in advance, so as to lie in wait for the -caravan at some awkward corner. The body of the unfortunate Ethiopian -captain was buried with military honours, and the cavalcade, now much -diminished in numbers, took the road again. -</p> - -<p> -The next difficulty that confronted the leaders of the party was -caused by the action of the guides, who came to Stratford that evening -and begged that he would allow the usual order of the march to be -changed for the next few days, so that the journey should be carried -on at night, and the necessary halt take place during the hours of -daylight. The Mission, they said, was now approaching the region -dominated by Fath-ud-Din’s two fortresses, Bir-ul-Malik and -Bir-ul-Malikat, and it was all-important that its passage should not -be perceived by the watchmen upon the walls. This appeared at first -sight very reasonable, and Stratford and Dick, having heard what the -men had to say, and dismissed them, found themselves somewhat at a -loss as to their answer. -</p> - -<p> -“If we were sure that we can trust these fellows,” said Stratford, “it -would be all right, but Jahan Beg warned us against them particularly. -Then, again, why didn’t they state when we engaged them that it might -be advisable to make night marches for part of the way, at any rate -while we are in the sphere of influence of the garrisons of these -forts?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, as to that,” said Dick, “no doubt they would say that they didn’t -bargain for the soldiers mutinying and deserting us, and thought that -under their escort we should be safe enough, even in the daytime. But -I don’t like this nocturnal idea for two reasons. We should be quite -unable to identify the features of the country at night, and they -might lead us astray without our discovering it; and moreover, if the -mutineers or Fath-ud-Din’s friends should happen to mean mischief, a -night-attack on the column as it marched would simply smash us up. We -should have more chance in daylight, or even in case of a night-attack -on the camp, for the baggage gives us a certain amount of cover when -it is properly piled and the beasts picketed.” -</p> - -<p> -“But on the other hand, if the guides are trustworthy, we are doing a -very mad thing in rejecting their advice.” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite so; we have a choice of evils. But if you remember, Jahan Beg -was of opinion that the fellows ought to be able to take us past the -forts without our even coming in sight of them, so that this -exaggerated carefulness seems unnecessary.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you are for going on as we are? It’s an awful risk, North, if -things should go wrong.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have more at stake than you have, old man, and you may depend upon -it that nothing but the firmest conviction that this course is the -safest would make me advocate it. Of course, you boss this outfit, as -Hicks would say——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, nonsense!” said Stratford. “I am not going to back half an -opinion of my own against all your experience. We will stick to our -morning and afternoon marches, North.” -</p> - -<p> -The decision thus reached was duly communicated to the guides, and -received by them with sulky acquiescence. The next day’s march was -uneventful; but the aspect of the country was gradually changing, and -becoming more rocky, although it remained as barren and -parched-looking as before. The halt that night was made at the foot of -a steep cliff, which afforded protection in the rear, while a -breastwork of baggage and saddles, arranged in the form of a -semicircle, gave some guarantee against a successful attack in front. -Again the hours of darkness passed without alarm, but the equanimity -of the party was disturbed at breakfast by a domestic misfortune. -Rahah, in floods of tears, came to inform her mistress that the white -cat was lost. On the journey Colleen Bawn was always Rahah’s special -care, travelling on the same mule, and occupying the pannier which -contained Miss Keeling’s toilet requisites, and which was balanced by -the maid in the opposite one. On this particular morning Rahah had -sought her charge in vain. She knew that the kitten was generally to -be found by Georgia’s side at breakfast-time, laying a white paw on -its mistress’s wrist with dignified insistence when it had reason to -imagine itself forgotten; but this morning the tit-bits remained -unclaimed on Georgia’s plate. Rahah had searched the whole camp, she -said, and Ismail Bakhsh’s son Ibrahim had helped her, but they could -not find the white cat; and would the doctor lady request the -gentlemen to stop the loading, and set all the men free to look for -it? They had sworn to find the doctor lady’s pet if it took them all -day to do it, and they knew that the little gentleman (this was the -undignified name by which Fitz was invariably known among the -servants) would help them. -</p> - -<p> -“I am afraid we can hardly sacrifice a day for such a purpose,” said -Stratford, wavering between politeness and a sense of his -responsibility as leader, as Georgia looked across at him; but Dick -showed no such hesitation. -</p> - -<p> -“Miss Keeling would never think of your doing such a thing, Stratford. -To hang about here, of all places, while Anstruther and the servants -looked for a lost cat, would be a piece of criminal folly—one might -almost say wickedness. We can’t risk the lives of the whole party for -the sake of a cat. Here, ayah—take another good look about while we -finish breakfast, and if you haven’t found the beast when we’re ready -to start, we must leave it behind.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia’s face flushed as she stirred her coffee deliberately. She had -no wish to risk the lives of the whole party by insisting on delay, -but it was not Dick’s place to say so for her. It looked as though he -had no confidence in her, that he should not allow her even the -semblance of a choice, and confidence was what she demanded above all -things. It flashed upon him presently, noticing her silence, that he -had hurt her, and he bent towards her to say in a low voice— -</p> - -<p> -“I say, Georgie, you don’t mind much, do you? Are you awfully keen on -the little beast? I’ll buy you dozens when we get to Khemistan. But -you wouldn’t have us waste time now?” -</p> - -<p> -“You have quite put it out of my power even if I wished it,” returned -Georgia, coldly; and Fitz, at the other side of the makeshift table, -was filled with a sudden and violent hatred against Dick. It was not -the first time that this feeling had entered his mind—in fact, it -merely slumbered intermittently, and awoke whenever Dick and Georgia -had a difference of opinion, no matter which side was in the right. -Fitz had no desire to quarrel with Georgia’s choice, for his loyalty -was too unquestioning to admit a doubt of her wisdom in the matter; -but that the highly-favoured man who was honoured by the love of this -peerless lady should be so blind to the grace bestowed upon him as -actually to contradict and even to bully her (this was Fitz’s -rendering of what he saw) was only an awful illustration of the depths -to which human depravity could descend. At such times as this all the -boy’s faculties were on the alert to render some service, however -great or small, to his lady, which might assure her that even though -Major North possessed no due sense of the overwhelming privileges she -had granted to him, there were others who still counted it an honour -to be able to anticipate her least wish. It is slightly pathetic to be -obliged to record that Georgia accepted his good offices without at -all appreciating the sentiment from which they sprang—indeed, so -ungrateful is human nature that, had she discovered it, she would -probably have rejected them with contumely, and poured out the vials -of her wrath on the head of the luckless youth who dared to criticise -Dick—and that she valued the slightest attention from her lover far -above all that Fitz could offer, in spite of the much greater -disinterestedness of the latter’s endeavours. But this only proved to -Fitz more clearly still her excellence, as exemplified by her absolute -loyalty to the man of her choice, and stimulated him to continue to -render his unselfish services. -</p> - -<p> -The efforts of Rahah and her fellow-servants to find Colleen Bawn -proving ineffectual, the march began at the usual time, although not -until after Dick had personally conducted Georgia to the top of the -cliff, that she might see whether the kitten had found its way -thither; but the rough scramble to the summit and the difficult -descent were alike undertaken in vain. Doubtless, said Rahah, with an -indignant glance at Dick, the white cat had curled itself up in some -cleft of the rocks and gone to sleep, and it would be easy for the men -to discover it if they searched systematically, although a cursory -look round was useless. But no delay was allowed, and Rahah settled -herself mournfully in her pannier, and snubbed Ibrahim whenever he -came near her—a course of treatment which, while it failed to -irritate him, proved most serviceable in working off her own bad -temper. -</p> - -<p> -Important though this storm in a tea-cup was to the two or three -persons immediately interested, the leaders of the party had far -weightier matters to consider. The march had lasted some two hours and -a half when Stratford, who had been riding at the head of the caravan -with one of the guides, turned back and joined Dick, whose post, when -he was not on duty, was naturally at Georgia’s side. -</p> - -<p> -“What do you think of the look of the weather, North?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t like it. See what a dirty sort of colour the sky has turned. -I should say we were in for a storm.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s just what these fellows say. A sand-storm is what they -prophesy; but that’s all rot, I suppose.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no. We can get up very tolerable imitations of the real thing in -these desert tracts, but they are not particularly frequent. However, -the guides ought to know; and if they say there’s one coming, we had -better look out for some sort of shelter.” -</p> - -<p> -“The guides make out that there’s a ridge of rocks somewhere about -which would protect us to a certain extent, but they don’t seem very -sure of their ground. The ridge might be any distance between ten -minutes’ walk and half a day’s journey ahead of us, from all I can -discover.” -</p> - -<p> -“We’ll send young Anstruther and two men on in front to reconnoitre a -little, while you and I and Kustendjian see what we can get out of -these fellows. Why, where is the child gone? Hi, Ismail Bakhsh, where -is the <i>chota sahib</i>?” -</p> - -<p> -With a face as ingenuous as that of the youthful Washington when he -resisted the historic temptation to mendacity, Ismail Bakhsh replied -that he had last seen the little gentleman at the rear of the column, -not thinking it necessary to add that it was at a considerable -distance to the rear, and that Fitz was riding in the opposite -direction to that in which the column was proceeding. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, we can’t wait to fetch him up from the rear,” said Dick, -looking back over the long caravan. “I will ride on and do the -scouting, Stratford, while you and Kustendjian cross-examine the -guides. It would be just as well to pass the word along for the men to -step out a little faster, don’t you think?” -</p> - -<p> -Stratford agreed, and the pace of the caravan was a good deal -accelerated in a spasmodic kind of way. Dick and his followers -returned from their reconnaissance in a little over half an hour, by -which time the gloomy hue of the sky was much intensified, and the air -had become quite hazy. Stinging particles of grit were driven against -the face as the riders moved along, and sudden gusts of wind, coming -short and sharp, now from one point of the compass and now from -another, were chasing the sand hither and thither in little eddying -whirls. -</p> - -<p> -“We have found the place!” cried Dick, as he rode up. “Pass the word -to hurry, Ismail Bakhsh; it’s not much further on. And bring up one of -the camels with the tents. We must get up some sort of shelter for the -ladies.” -</p> - -<p> -The ordinary dignified pace of the caravan was now exchanged for a -helter-skelter mode of progression, which was extremely trying to the -mind of Dick, when he saw the confusion which was engendered in the -ranks by the haste he had recommended. It was more like a disorderly -race than peaceful travelling, and the different bodies of servants -were inextricably mixed up. -</p> - -<p> -“What a gorgeous chance for the enemy if they saw us now!” he said to -himself. “The only thing is that they are probably just as much taken -up with the storm as we are.” -</p> - -<p> -No long time elapsed before the friendly ridge of rocks was reached, -and the tent erected under its shelter. Sir Dugald was carried inside, -Lady Haigh and Georgia and their maids followed, and the canvas was -fastened down tightly. Stratford and Dick, remaining outside, did -their best to create some sort of order out of the chaos which surged -around them as the servants and baggage-animals came pouring up. There -was no time to unload the mules and camels, but they were brought as -close under the rocks as possible, and the men found shelter among -them. When the last straggler had come in, Stratford turned suddenly -to Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“Where can Anstruther be?” he said. -</p> - -<p> -Before Dick could hazard an opinion, the storm burst upon them with a -roar, and they were glad to follow the example of the guides, and hide -their faces from the blast. The wind shrieked among the rocks, and -swept down with tremendous force upon the closely-packed mass of men -and animals, carrying with it quantities of sand and minute pebbles, -which had a blinding effect upon the eyes. Inside the tent the women -waited in hot stifling darkness, with the fine sand making its way in -at every seam and covering everything. During what seemed hours they -heard no sounds but the whistling and howling of the wind without. -Then there arose a chorus of shouts and yells and curses, mingled with -the grunting of camels and the shrill squeals of protesting mules. -Some kind of fierce struggle seemed to be going on outside; but it was -impossible to discover its nature, for the fastenings of the tent -refused to yield to the efforts of the prisoners, and no one answered -their calls or appeals for information. At last, just as Georgia drew -out a pair of surgical scissors and began deliberately to cut a slit -in the tough double canvas, the flap of the tent was thrown back, and -Stratford entered, bare-headed and breathless. -</p> - -<p> -“The beasts have stampeded,” he explained, “and the guides and -servants are all gone after them. We have been rushing hither and -thither, catching and securing any animal we could get hold of, and -shouting to the men to keep quiet and not to give chase. But we might -as well have spoken to the rocks. Ismail Bakhsh and his men and the -house-servants were the only ones that listened; the rest all rushed -away after their own animals. Of course that only drove them further -off, and they must be scattered over the whole country round by this -time. I fear we must have lost most of the baggage, for what we have -saved is a very small amount, and strikingly miscellaneous in -character. But no doubt the men will manage to find their way back -here by degrees, and then——” -</p> - -<p> -A sudden exclamation from Dick interrupted him, and he stepped -outside. Lady Haigh and Georgia followed, only to be pushed back into -the tent, and desired angrily to cover their faces with their -<i>burkas</i>. Facing the little knot of startled men and frightened -baggage-animals which now represented the great Mission caravan were a -troop of horsemen, who had taken up, under cover of the storm and the -stampede, such a position as to preclude any attempt to escape on the -part of those they were hemming in. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch19"> -CHAPTER XIX.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE VALUE OF A REPUTATION.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -“Get the men together while I try a parley with these fellows,” said -Stratford to Dick, when he took in the facts of the situation. “They -are not our friends the mutineers, at any rate.” -</p> - -<p> -“My lord’s <i>topi</i>,” said Ismail Bakhsh, stepping up with a salute, and -offering Stratford his helmet, which he had found caught in a crevice -of the rocks. Stratford put it on, and, carrying his riding-whip -carelessly in his hand, advanced to meet the strangers, who had -remained motionless on their horses since Dick had first caught sight -of them. -</p> - -<p> -“Peace be upon you!” he said as he approached them. -</p> - -<p> -“And upon thee be peace!” responded an old man, who appeared to be the -leader of the party. “My lord is one of the envoys of the Queen of -England to our lord the King?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am temporarily in command of the Mission, owing to the illness of -the Envoy,” answered Stratford. “To whom have I the honour of -speaking?” -</p> - -<p> -“My lord’s servant is Abd-ur-Rahim, Governor of the fortress of -Bir-ul-Malik for our lord the King.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not for the late Grand Vizier, Fath-ud-Din, then?” -</p> - -<p> -“How should that be so? My lord knows that another now holds the -King’s signet. Surely his servant only retains his office until he be -confirmed or superseded in it by orders from Kubbet-ul-Haj. But the -only orders he has received as yet have concerned the Mission of the -English Queen, and they have commanded him to do all in his power to -help it, and to facilitate its return journey.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then the orders have arrived in the nick of time,” said Stratford. “A -little assistance will be of great use to us in our present -circumstances. Our baggage-animals were alarmed by the storm, and are -scattered about, and if your soldiers would help us to get them -together again it would be a great boon. But will you not dismount and -eat and drink with us, Abd-ur-Rahim? We have but little to offer, yet -it is our delight to share it with a friend.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, but my lord and all his company shall eat and drink with me,” -was the hospitable reply. “In Bir-ul-Malik there is room for the whole -number, and they shall rest in the fortress this night in peace, and -refresh their souls before starting again on their journey. I will -send out my young men to seek for the camels of my lord, and in the -morning his caravan shall be as great as when he left Kubbet-ul-Haj a -week ago.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yet let Abd-ur-Rahim first honour our poor tents by condescending to -eat bread and drink water with us,” urged Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -Again the old man shook his head. “Not so, my lord. Surely when my -watchmen cried from the towers that there was a great company out on -the plain, fleeing towards the rocks for shelter from the storm, and I -knew that they must be the servants of the English Queen, I vowed a -vow that I would neither eat bread nor drink water until I had brought -the Englishmen into my house, that they might rest themselves and be -refreshed at my table, and afterwards depart in peace.” -</p> - -<p> -“And how did you know that we were the servants of the English Queen?” -asked Stratford, endeavouring, with considerable success, to exhibit -in his tones no trace of suspicion, but merely a natural desire for -information. -</p> - -<p> -“The orders I received had warned me of the approach of my lord and -his servants,” replied Abd-ur-Rahim, guilelessly, “and the watchmen -told me that among those whom they saw were men with strange -head-gear, such as our people who have journeyed into Khemistan have -seen the English lords wear. But will not my lord make haste to call -his young men together, and bid them follow him into the fortress? The -feast is being prepared, and the best rooms are ready for my lord and -his servants and his household, and only the guests are wanting.” -</p> - -<p> -“I must take counsel with my friends before I accept your kind -invitation,” said Stratford. “We are in haste, and it may be that we -cannot venture to lose even the remaining half of this day’s march.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, my lord,” exclaimed Abd-ur-Rahim, in the eagerness of his -hospitality, “far be it from me to compel any to become my guests by -force—and yet, sooner than allow my lord to depart without honouring -by his presence my humble roof, I would command my young men to bring -him and his servants to my dwelling whether they would or no.” -</p> - -<p> -“One might indeed say that yours was a pressing invitation, -Abd-ur-Rahim,” said Stratford, smiling good-humouredly as he turned to -go back to the rest; but there was no smile upon his face when he -reached them. -</p> - -<p> -Dick stepped forward to meet him, and they walked a few paces aside, -out of earshot of the little band of servants whom Dick had posted in -such a way as to protect the tent and the remaining baggage-animals. -</p> - -<p> -“Well?” asked Dick, eagerly. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, he’s a deep one! He means to get us up to the fort by hook or by -crook, and the only question is, shall we go peaceably or wait for him -to take us?” -</p> - -<p> -“He has been looking out for us, then?” -</p> - -<p> -“Undoubtedly. He says he was warned of our approach by orders from -Kubbet-ul-Haj. Now you know that the King and Jahan Beg never -anticipated that we should halt anywhere near Bir-ul-Malik, so that -the orders can’t have come from them. They must have been sent by -Fath-ud-Din or some of his people, and very likely Abd-ur-Rahim has -had additional information since then from the mutineers. We can’t -hope that he is merely hospitable and friendly. If we go into the -fort, we go with our eyes open.” -</p> - -<p> -“But hasn’t he showed his hand at all?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not a bit. He is all blarney and butter, only anxious for the honour -of our presence and so on, but he means business.” -</p> - -<p> -“But we can be all blarney and butter too, and merely regret our -inability to pay him a visit, and pass on. If he doesn’t try force, -it’s quite evident that he hasn’t any to try. He is doing his best to -allure us to put ourselves into his power, trusting in the simplicity -evidenced by your childlike and bland demeanour, and there is no doubt -that if he once got us inside the fort we should be in something like -a hole. But as it is, we can merely bow and say good-day.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid not, North. It is Abd-ur-Rahim who has the cards up his -sleeve this time. When I stood out there on the plain talking to him, -I could see further than you can from here. He is very sweet and -smiling, and he doesn’t want to make a show of force if he can do -things pleasantly; but behind these rocks here he has men enough -stationed to account for us all five or six times over.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then we are trapped!” said Dick, grimly, drawing his sword half out -of its scabbard and feeling the edge. “Well, better here under the -open sky than between stone walls. We can give a good account of two -or three times our number, posted as we are here, and they won’t get -much change out of us.” -</p> - -<p> -“North, you bloodthirsty villain! Think of the poor women and the -Chief, and don’t talk of running amuck in that cast-iron way.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t I think of the women? Do you imagine I am made of stone, -Stratford? My first shot is for Georgia, and after that—well, I -suppose I shall run amuck.” -</p> - -<p> -“Draw in a little, old man. That way madness lies. Keep cool, and -listen to me for a moment. Since I have no one specially to look -after, it may be that I am able to see things more calmly than you -are. At any rate, it strikes me, leaving out of sight that ferocious -idea of yours, that if we were cut to pieces we could do no possible -good to any one—whereas if we accept Abd-ur-Rahim’s overtures in a -friendly spirit, and go with him, keeping possession of our weapons -and holding together, we might spot a chance of escape, and at any -rate we should be no worse off than we are now. If I were you, I -should be thankful to keep clear of murder a little longer.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t talk to me!” said Dick, savagely. “You have not my reasons for -anxiety.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nor your reasons for prudence, either. Look at things quietly, North. -I am certain this old fellow is not quite on the square, or he -wouldn’t refuse to eat and drink with us; but I don’t think his -intentions are necessarily murderous. If they were, he could easily -have wiped us all out here and now, without taking the trouble to get -us up to the fort. My own impression is that he means to hold us as -hostages for Fath-ud-Din’s safety. If that is the case, we shall -certainly be in no danger. It will only mean a slight delay, for when -our Government find out from Hicks that we ought to reach the frontier -soon after him they will send to inquire after us if we don’t turn -up.” -</p> - -<p> -“But supposing Abd-ur-Rahim’s intentions are murderous after all?” -</p> - -<p> -“Then we shall end up with a big fight, I presume, and the result will -be much the same in the fort as it would be here. Come, North, don’t -let us give up hope too soon. If the worst comes to the worst, the -ladies have revolvers and can use them—and I don’t know two women -anywhere who would be more certain to use them if it was necessary. -Just you go to the tent and tell them quietly the state of affairs, -while I inform Abd-ur-Rahim that we accept his offer of a night’s -lodging. Then you and Kustendjian had better come and be presented. We -will do everything in style, and with the most lively imitation -possible of perfect confidence. The great thing is to avoid giving -them the slightest excuse or opportunity of depriving us of our arms.” -</p> - -<p> -Doggedly and unwillingly Dick took his way to the tent, while -Stratford returned to Abd-ur-Rahim, who had remained stationary, with -his immediate followers, during the colloquy. But he had profited by -the interval to draw closer the cordon of armed men of whom Stratford -had caught sight behind the rocks, and it was evident that, if such a -fight as that contemplated by Dick had taken place, there would have -been no possibility of escape for any member of the English party. -</p> - -<p> -“I must apologise for keeping you waiting so long, Abd-ur-Rahim,” said -Stratford, as he approached. “My friend is a great soldier, and very -zealous in carrying out the business with which we are charged. He -feared to lose even this half-day’s journey; but I have succeeded in -making him see that it is the act of a wise man to accept rest and -refreshment whenever it is proffered by one worthy of respect.” -</p> - -<p> -“Truly the wisdom of my lord is great!” responded Abd-ur-Rahim, a -smile of gratification curling his white moustache, while an officer -behind him muttered to a companion some words in Ethiopian which -sounded to Stratford like, “It is not so easy to hoodwink the soldier -as the man of many words,” a remark which was distinctly unjust to the -listener. He made no sign of having heard it, however, but went on -speaking to Abd-ur-Rahim in Arabic. -</p> - -<p> -“There is only one thing I should like to say before we accept your -hospitality, Abd-ur-Rahim. It is our habit to guard with great -jealousy the women of our party. I believe your own custom in Ethiopia -is much the same, and you will not, therefore, take it amiss if we -surround them closely while on our march with you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Surely not,” responded Abd-ur-Rahim, somewhat puzzled. “The customs -of my lord’s land are even as our own, and his care for the household -of his master gives the lie to the shameless tales that have been told -me as to the habits of his nation. I have even heard it said that in -Khemistan the women of the English go about unveiled!” -</p> - -<p> -Stratford was saved from the necessity of either confirming or denying -this tremendous accusation by the approach of Dick and Kustendjian, -whom he presented formally by name to Abd-ur-Rahim, mentioning the -rank held by each in the Mission. The old man looked at them in some -surprise. -</p> - -<p> -“Are these all the English that are with my lord?” he asked. “I heard -that he had three white men under him.” -</p> - -<p> -“There is one other,” said Stratford, “a youth; but we have seen -nothing of him since the storm broke upon us, and we fear that he has -missed his way and been lost.” -</p> - -<p> -“Let not my lord be troubled about the young man,” said Abd-ur-Rahim. -“The storm did not last long enough for him to have come to any harm. -Surely he has but taken shelter in some cave or hollow of the rocks, -and my young men shall go in search of him, and bring him again to my -lord.” -</p> - -<p> -Having acknowledged this offer in suitable terms, Stratford and the -rest returned to superintend the arrangement of their party under the -new conditions. The tent was taken down and packed on its camel again, -the mules were harnessed afresh to the litter which carried Sir -Dugald; the ladies, mere masses of white linen, were helped to their -saddles; the diminished cavalcade of baggage-animals was ranged in -order, and the column was ready to start. Stratford considered it only -polite and expedient that he should ride beside Abd-ur-Rahim, much to -the annoyance of Dick, who brought up again the memory of the murdered -Macnaghten, and urged <i>sotto voce</i> that if any one’s life was to be -risked, Kustendjian’s was the one that could be best spared. Stratford -laughed at the idea, and retained his place, and the other two rode on -either side of the litter, with the ladies following close behind -them, while Ismail Bakhsh and his men formed a modest bodyguard. The -household servants and the few muleteers and camel-men who had not -been scattered by the stampede followed with the baggage-animals, and -before and behind and all around, when the column had advanced into -the open plain, came Abd-ur-Rahim’s wild soldiery. A few stray mules -and camels were picked up by the way and added to the cavalcade, and -presently the procession wound round a spur of the cliffs, and began -to ascend the winding road which led up to the hill-fortress of -Bir-ul-Malik, the stronghold of Fath-ud-Din. -</p> - -<p> -The town itself was small in extent, and it was evident that the -garrison formed the larger proportion of its inhabitants, for the -rock-hewn streets were almost deserted when Abd-ur-Rahim passed -through the gate with his guests. The town-walls surrounded a -considerable area on the summit of the cliff, and this in its turn -sloped upwards at its further extremity, on which was erected the -citadel, which thus commanded the town on one side and a sheer -declivity on the other. Towards this fortification the procession made -its way, Dick glancing grimly at the tortuous streets and massive -walls of the town as he rode, and muttering to himself that he and his -party were in a trap which would take a good deal of getting out of. -Passing in at the gate of the citadel, they found themselves in a -large courtyard, above which rose a pile of buildings, constructed on -and in the sloping face of the rock, the roofs of those lower down -forming terraces by which the higher ones could be approached. The -lower range of dwellings appeared to form the quarters of the garrison -and servants, and those next above them the abodes of the officers, -while the highest pile of buildings was evidently intended as the -residence of the governor of the city. It was in this building, -Abd-ur-Rahim intimated, that he had caused a lodging to be prepared -for the illustrious English party; and Stratford, while appreciating -the honour done him, felt that he could readily have dispensed with -it, since escape would be out of the question save by passing all the -lower dwellings and the inner and outer circuit of defences, the only -alternative being the possibility of finding some means of descending -the precipitous cliff on the other side. -</p> - -<p> -It was necessary to dismount in the courtyard, and to ascend to the -Governor’s palace by a winding path cut in the rock and varied by -several flights of steps. There was considerable difficulty in -conveying Sir Dugald’s litter up this path, and what remained of the -luggage had also to be carried up piece by piece, at a large -expenditure of time and trouble. When the palace was once reached, -however, there was no fault to find with the rooms allotted to the -Mission. It was evident that they had remained uninhabited for some -time, and they were rather dirty, rather dilapidated, and particularly -bare of furniture; but they were large and airy, and, as Stratford and -Dick noticed with great satisfaction, the apartments appropriated to -the ladies, which had formed part of the original harem, could only be -approached by a passage from their own portion of the building. -Behind, they looked out on a terrace formed by the top of the -ramparts, beneath which the cliff fell steep and unbroken to the -desert below. It was an alarming experience to come suddenly to the -brink of this declivity, from which the unwary were protected merely -by a crumbling parapet, and Rahah only consented to contemplate it -when standing at least six yards from the edge, and holding firmly to -her mistress’s clothes. -</p> - -<p> -Returning from the terrace into the harem, Georgia began to examine -the waifs and strays of luggage which had been cast up with her on -this hill-top. Sir Dugald had been conveyed into one of the inner -rooms, and Lady Haigh, with the assistance of Chanda Lal, was engaged -in making him comfortable. In the large hall, into which the other -rooms opened, lay a confused heap of boxes and cases, just as they had -been left by the porters who had carried them in. -</p> - -<p> -“Let us see what we have, Rahah,” said Georgia to her handmaid. “You -had my dressing-case and my small medicine-chest on the mule with you, -so they are safe, at any rate, and your own clothes too. That box -there has books in it, I know, and here are our folding-chairs. I -don’t see any of my clothes—any of my own things at all, in fact. I -shall have to borrow some from Lady Haigh, for I see that two of her -tin boxes are there. Those cases are Sir Dugald’s, of course; and now -there are only these two great boxes left, marked with my name. What -can they have in them? Nothing very useful, I’m afraid—no dresses, at -any rate. Just borrow a hammer and chisel from Chanda Lal, Rahah. He -was opening a packing-case a minute ago.” -</p> - -<p> -Returning quickly with the desired implements, Rahah forced open part -of the lid of one of the boxes. -</p> - -<p> -“Medical stores!” said Georgia, bringing out a packet of cotton-wool, -and a tin case containing a roll of prepared india-rubber. “I might be -going to start a dispensary up here. Well, we are satisfactorily -provided with medicines and surgical appliances, at any rate. Now the -other box, Rahah. I only wish there was the slightest possibility of -finding some of my clothes in it.” -</p> - -<p> -But no. Rahah drew back with a scream when she plunged her hand into -the mass of crumpled paper which guarded the contents of the box; and -Georgia, guessing the state of affairs, brought out a huge, -carefully-stoppered bottle, containing a gruesome-looking object -swimming in a muddy yellow fluid. -</p> - -<p> -“The collection!” she said, disdainfully. “And of course that -particularly detestable snake turns up first of all! Well, Rahah, we -are in a nice plight, with no clothes or fancy-work or sketching -materials, but with a good many of those creatures to amuse us -instead.” -</p> - -<p> -Rahah’s countenance expressed unutterable disgust, and her mistress -was not proof against a modified feeling of the same character, for it -is the reverse of agreeable, even for a highly qualified lady doctor, -to find oneself reduced to a single dress, and that a riding-habit. -But while this small although sufficiently unpleasant matter was -occupying the minds of Georgia and her maid, Stratford and Dick were -experiencing a very bad quarter of an hour in their part of the -building. When their host left them they had occupied themselves in -sorting the few possessions that remained to them; but while they were -in the midst of this somewhat melancholy process, Abd-ur-Rahim -returned, accompanied by two or three of his officers. -</p> - -<p> -“Is my lord graciously pleased to be contented with the accommodation -afforded by my poor house?” asked the old man. -</p> - -<p> -“I am sure we could ask nothing better,” returned Stratford, -pleasantly. -</p> - -<p> -“That is well, seeing that it will now be my lord’s abode during -certain days,” said Abd-ur-Rahim. -</p> - -<p> -“How is that?” asked Stratford. “You offered us merely a night’s -lodging, and we accepted it.” -</p> - -<p> -“True; but a man of my lord’s wisdom will not need to be reminded that -it is only fools who allow the gifts of destiny to slip through their -fingers. My lord and his companions have been brought into my hand, -and here they will remain so long as our lord Fath-ud-Din is kept in -prison at Kubbet-ul-Haj.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you. There’s nothing like knowing what one has to expect. How -many years do you intend to entertain us here?” -</p> - -<p> -“That depends upon another matter. The liberation of Fath-ud-Din hangs -upon the treaty that my lord holds, for if that is destroyed, our lord -the King is free to do as he will, and the treaty, on account of the -means by which it was gained, he finds disgraceful and irksome to -him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Show me the King’s mandate demanding the surrender of the treaty,” -said Stratford, quickly. -</p> - -<p> -Abd-ur-Rahim shook his head. -</p> - -<p> -“My lord knows that there are certain services that a man may render -to his sovereign for which no orders can be given beforehand, although -they may be richly rewarded when performed,” he said. “Of such a kind -is this matter of the treaty.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t you wish you may get it?” asked Stratford, aware that Dick’s -fingers were gripping his revolver. -</p> - -<p> -“My lord must know that we shall get it. We have but to compass the -death of my lord and his companions, and the treaty must be found; but -we would fain not shed blood. Let my lord tell his servant where the -treaty is hidden.” -</p> - -<p> -“I absolutely decline to say,” returned Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“Then we must search my lord’s baggage.” -</p> - -<p> -“You can search where you like, but you cannot make me tell you where -the treaty is. I presume you do not intend to search the baggage of -the ladies?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, my lord! What hiding-place is so safe or so probable as among a -woman’s belongings? But there need be no search if my lord will only -tell what he knows. Did he bring the treaty into the fortress with -him?” -</p> - -<p> -“I refuse to say. One word, Abd-ur-Rahim. There can be no idea of -searching the ladies’ things. You may ask what questions you like, but -the ladies must have notice beforehand, and it must be in the presence -of one of us, or—well, whoever goes into the harem, you will not be -alive to do it.” -</p> - -<p> -“My lord need have no fear. He may go now and bid the women prepare -for my coming. I will but question them, and believe what they say, -for the English always tell the truth. I would accept the word of my -lord even now, if he could assure me that he had not the treaty with -him when he entered the fortress.” -</p> - -<p> -There was some eagerness in the old man’s tone, as though he found his -task distasteful, and would have welcomed this chance of dispensing -with the performance of it; but Stratford shook his head. -</p> - -<p> -“I can say nothing. Stand at the door, North, while I go in to warn -the ladies. And keep cool. Cheek may possibly bring us through this -fix yet, as it did through the other.” -</p> - -<p> -With a frowning brow, Dick took up the position indicated, and -Stratford entered the passage and knocked at the door. Georgia looked -up from her doleful examination of her possessions as he came in. -</p> - -<p> -“We are trying to discover what we have saved from the wreck of our -fortunes,” she said, lightly. “But what is the matter, Mr Stratford? -Does your venerable old friend intend to murder us after all?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not unless he is obliged,” returned Stratford; “but it may come to -that yet. He means to get hold of the treaty. Fath-ud-Din seems to -think that if he enables the King to destroy it, he will be restored -to power. I don’t think the King is in the plot at present, but far be -it from me to say that he wouldn’t come into it with a good grace if -he got the chance.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you want me to hide the treaty?” -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not. By no manner of means. I merely came to tell you that -Abd-ur-Rahim insists on questioning you and Lady Haigh as to whether -you know anything about it. He will come in here when he has finished -ransacking our place, so put your <i>burkas</i> on again, please.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, Mr Stratford, where is the treaty?” -</p> - -<p> -“Here,” said Stratford, exhibiting the front of his coat, “in a pocket -which my bearer and I contrived for it. You see, it goes between the -cloth and the lining, and is sewn in. It is rolled up so tightly that -it does not show at all under ordinary circumstances; but if they -search me, they are bound to find it immediately.” -</p> - -<p> -“And what then?” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t give it up, of course, so that if they attempt to search us, -we must show fight. We must only hope they won’t, for our opposing the -idea would arouse suspicion at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“If they have any sense whatever, it is the first thing they will do,” -said Georgia, promptly. “No, Mr Stratford, I am not going to allow you -and Dick to run such a risk, and perhaps bring destruction upon us -all. Give me the treaty, and I will hide it.” -</p> - -<p> -“And transfer the risk to yourself? Now, Miss Keeling, do you really -think me capable of doing such a thing?” -</p> - -<p> -“There will be no risk whatever. I have an idea. Take off your coat, -Mr Stratford—quick!” with a stamp of the foot—“there is no time to -lose. Give me those scissors, Rahah, and thread a needle with grey -cotton. That’s it; now sew up that slit as neatly as you can.” -</p> - -<p> -“What are you going to do?” inquired Stratford, standing helplessly by -in his shirt-sleeves, while Georgia was rolling the fateful parchment -into the smallest possible compass, and Rahah stitched up with -marvellous rapidity the yawning hole in his coat. -</p> - -<p> -“Never mind, for I won’t tell you. You are to know nothing. There is -your coat, Mr Stratford. Keep Abd-ur-Rahim outside for two minutes, -and then let him do his worst.” -</p> - -<p> -Half-reluctant and wholly perplexed, Stratford allowed himself to be -gently impelled in the direction of the door, and went out, to find -Dick, still on guard, protesting vehemently that he would never allow -himself to be searched, and that the first man that laid a finger on -him with that purpose in view would have little opportunity for -repenting his rashness afterwards. Perceiving at once that his friend -guessed he had the treaty upon him, and was endeavouring to divert -suspicion to himself, Stratford proceeded, not without a little -malicious pleasure in the circumstance, to cut the ground from under -Dick’s feet by remarking calmly— -</p> - -<p> -“Keep cool, North; we are prisoners, though we were seized by a mean -trick, and we must submit to the treatment our jailers think fit to -inflict upon us. Abd-ur-Rahim”—he turned with dignity to his too -hospitable host—“we are your prisoners. As to the means by which you -induced us to put ourselves in your power I say nothing. Still, I ask -you as a gentleman, is this insult necessary?” -</p> - -<p> -“By no means,” returned Abd-ur-Rahim, promptly. “If my lord and his -friends will give their word that they have not the treaty about them, -they shall not be touched.” -</p> - -<p> -To the utter stupefaction of Dick, Stratford at once gave the required -assurance, which was repeated by his friend and Kustendjian. Some -demur was made as to accepting the word of the latter, on the ground -that he was not an Englishman; but on Stratford’s volunteering the -assurance that he was speaking the truth, his statement also was -considered satisfactory. -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, Georgia and her maid were not idle in the inner room. -The moment that the door had closed behind Stratford, Georgia flew to -the box which contained the collection, and drew out the bottle -enshrining the historic snake. The roll of prepared india-rubber from -the case of medical stores was the next requisite, and, unfastening -it, she made Rahah cut off a piece a little longer than the treaty in -its rolled-up form, and wide enough to wrap round it twice. When the -roll had been made as tight and smooth as possible, she tied up the -ends very securely. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Rahah, take off the bladder from the top of that bottle as -carefully as you can. Don’t break it, whatever you do. Now get the -cork out. Dig it out with the point of the scissors if it won’t come -easily; we mustn’t use a cork-screw. Turn your head away if you don’t -like the smell. There,—what a good thing that the spirit has sunk a -little!” She dropped the roll containing the treaty into the great -bottle, in the midst of the coils of the snake, replaced the cork, -tied the bladder over it again, and, holding the bottle up, looked at -it critically. The effect was perfect. The dull-brown of the -india-rubber wrapping combined with the bolder tones of the serpent’s -skin and the unpleasant yellow of the spirit so completely, that -scarcely a trace of the intruder was perceptible even to her practised -eye. -</p> - -<div class="fig"> -<a href="images/img_10.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_10_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -The effect was perfect. -</div></div> - -<p> -“So far, so good. Now on with our <i>burkas</i>, Rahah. That’s right, put -the bottle back into the box. There is a smell of the spirit about. -Knock over that bottle of camphor and break it. Oh, they are coming! -Kneel down, Rahah, and be nailing the cover on the box in a most -tremendous hurry.” -</p> - -<p> -Rahah entered into her part with keen delight, jerked the -camphor-bottle to the floor with her elbow, and jumped up with a most -artistically guilty start when Dick and Stratford entered with the -four Ethiopians, while Georgia dropped the hammer with a clatter on -the stones. -</p> - -<p> -“What is in that box which the women are nailing up?” demanded -Abd-ur-Rahim, sharply, while the faces of his followers betrayed much -excitement, not unmixed with triumph. -</p> - -<p> -“Do they really want to know?” asked Georgia, with something like pity -in her tones, when the question was translated to her. “Well, I will -show them if they are so anxious to see it.” -</p> - -<p> -Lifting the lid, she drew out with one hand the bottle containing the -snake, and with the other one which enclosed a very evil-looking -deformed frog, and held them out to the inquisitors, who recoiled -precipitately. -</p> - -<p> -“They are the devils which obeyed the English doctor who was carried -off by Shaitan from his house at Kubbet-ul-Haj!” was the murmur which -went round. -</p> - -<p> -“There are plenty more in the box,” said Georgia, cheerfully. “You can -unpack them for yourselves if you would like to look at them; only I -would advise you for your own sakes to take care not to break the -bottles.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it true that if the bottles were opened the devils would get -loose?” asked one of the Ethiopians, in an awful whisper. -</p> - -<p> -“It is quite true that if the bottles are opened what is in them will -come out,” responded Georgia, setting down on the box the two she had -been holding; “but you shall see for yourselves what will happen.” -</p> - -<p> -She lifted the bottle containing the frog, as though to hurl it in the -direction of the visitors, but Abd-ur-Rahim interposed hastily in much -agitation. -</p> - -<p> -“Let my lord entreat the doctor lady to let the evil things remain -where they are,” he said to Stratford. “Surely he must know that I -have but obeyed the commands I have received, and that I have done my -best to save him and his company from all annoyance. Moreover, though -the doctor lady should destroy these men and myself by her magic, my -soldiers outside would certainly set the palace on fire, and burn her -and all my lord’s company, when they found out what had happened. -Suffer her not, then, to work us evil, and we will but ask her a few -questions and depart.” -</p> - -<p> -With a face of the utmost gravity, Stratford translated the entreaty, -and the questions which followed it, to Georgia, who was much -impressed by the opinion entertained by Abd-ur-Rahim as to her powers -and her willingness to use them. -</p> - -<p> -“Has the doctor lady the treaty concealed about her, or has her maid -got it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it in any of those boxes?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, it is not in any of them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it hidden anywhere in the floor or the walls?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nowhere in the floor or the walls.” -</p> - -<p> -“Does the doctor lady know where it is?” -</p> - -<p> -“I refuse to say.” -</p> - -<p> -“Who can trust the words of a woman?” asked one of the officers, -rudely. “The doctor lady has it hidden.” -</p> - -<p> -“Tell them that I am St George Keeling’s daughter, Mr Stratford,” -cried Georgia, angrily, guessing the drift of the remark from the -tone, “and ask them whether it is likely that I should tell a lie?” -</p> - -<p> -Stratford translated the words, and the name produced an impression -which showed that the fame of the Warden of the Marches had spread -beyond his own border. -</p> - -<p> -“In my youth,” said Abd-ur-Rahim, “I have faced Sinjāj Kīlin in -peace and war, and I know well that no son or daughter of his house -could be a liar.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia’s wrath calmed down, and Rahah, feeling that she was -responsible for maintaining the honour of the house of Keeling, -suppressed the falsehood which rose to her lips when she was asked -whether she knew where the treaty was, and imitated her mistress in -declining to say. -</p> - -<p> -“And now we need only question the great lady,” said Abd-ur-Rahim, -when Rahah’s examination was over; and Georgia went in search of Lady -Haigh, and brought her into the hall, worried and protesting, and -determined that no one should approach Sir Dugald’s sick-room. She was -much easier to deal with than the rest. -</p> - -<p> -“I haven’t an idea where the treaty is, and if I had, I wouldn’t tell -you,” was her answer to Abd-ur-Rahim’s question. “Why do you come -bothering me about treaties? Ask Mr Stratford; he is the proper -person.” -</p> - -<p> -“But is it not hidden anywhere in the great lady’s apartments?” -</p> - -<p> -“I should think not, indeed! I have something else to do besides -hiding treaties. Georgie, I want you to come and see Sir Dugald at -once. I am sure he is not so well.” -</p> - -<p> -“The man of many words must have dropped the treaty into the sand as -he came hither,” said one of the Ethiopians in a low voice to his -chief, as Georgia retired with Lady Haigh. -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, that he could not have done without my seeing him,” objected -Abd-ur-Rahim. -</p> - -<p> -“He may have hidden it among the rocks where we first came upon these -English,” suggested another. -</p> - -<p> -“It is well thought of; I will have the place searched,” said -Abd-ur-Rahim. “But mark me—my opinion is that none of those here know -where it is. It has been given to the youth who is missing, and he is -to escape with it or to hide it. Therefore let the youth be pursued -and taken. The rest are trying to lead us to think that they have it -concealed among them here, that so he may get away in safety.” -</p> - -<p> -This explanation of their defeat appeared to satisfy the Ethiopians, -and they returned to the outer rooms, accompanied by Dick and -Stratford, who were almost as much mystified as they were. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch20"> -CHAPTER XX.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">FOR THE HONOUR OF ENGLAND’S SAKE.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -Half an hour later, Georgia stepped out of the great latticed window -on the terrace, and kneeling beside the parapet, rested her arms on -it, and looked away over the desert. There in the distance rose the -walls and towers of Bir-ul-Malikat, Fath-ud-Din’s second fortress, -which crowned the top of a conical hill some four miles from -Bir-ul-Malik. Within those walls old Khadija, the sorceress, bore -rule, and held in her grasp the knowledge which alone could save Sir -Dugald’s life. Lady Haigh’s intuition had been a true one, although -there was no outward change in her husband’s condition. Whether the -sand-storm and the hurried journeyings of the day had brought about a -loss of vitality, or whether they had merely rendered perceptible a -failure which had hitherto been too gradual to be noticed, it was -undeniable that the pulse was less regular, and the action of the -heart more feeble than before. The insidious poison administered by -Fath-ud-Din was sapping Sir Dugald’s life away, and, unless the -mysterious antidote could be obtained, his protracted unconsciousness -would before long pass into death. -</p> - -<p> -“I must see this Khadija,” said Georgia to herself, as her eyes -wandered over the desert, “and find out whether anything will induce -her to sell her secret. I might introduce myself to her as a sister in -the craft—Abd-ur-Rahim and his men would bear me out—and suggest an -interchange of ideas. There must be quite a number of things I could -tell her, and I could set her up with a few medicines. The effects -would be wonderful to her. But then, she might not care for remedies, -and I am certainly not going to put more poisons into her hands. I -fancy that killing is more in her line than curing. What was it that -Rahah told me she said when a girl asked her for a love-philtre? ‘I -shall make no love-philtre but one, and that will be for my Rose of -the World to give her bridegroom on the marriage-night.’ I’m afraid -she would not care about the opportunity of doing kindnesses. She must -be fond of the girl Zeynab—perhaps it might be possible to work upon -her feelings through her. At any rate, I must see her; but how am I to -manage it? Dick would be very angry if I went without telling him, and -yet I am sure he would prevent my going if he knew of it. But I will -go, even if I have to break with Dick about it. To leave Sir Dugald to -die, and make Lady Haigh a widow, when I knew where the remedy was to -be found, just for fear of vexing Dick, would be shameful. I shall be -obliged to oppose him some day, and it is a good thing to do it for -the first time in such an absolutely righteous cause. There can be no -doubt whatever as to my being in the right this time, but I’m sure he -won’t see it. I do wish people would be a little more reasonable!” -</p> - -<p> -She was tapping her stethoscope impatiently against the stones as she -spoke, and it slipped suddenly from her fingers and rolled over the -edge of the parapet. Looking after it, she saw that, instead of -dropping or rolling down into the plain, as she had expected, it had -lodged on a projection in the cliff, not more than twenty feet below -the parapet, where a few tufts of withered-looking grass had found -holding-ground. Still, it was quite beyond her power to reach it. -</p> - -<p> -“How careless of me!” she said, with deep vexation. “My dear old -hospital stethoscope! I wonder whether it could be reached from here? -I think a man with a rope might be able to get it. How much astonished -Dick would be if I asked him to go down for it! I wonder whether he -would go? He would send one of the servants, I should think. It would -be quite easy to let him down and draw him up again. What a convenient -little shelf that is! It would be rather a good place to put the -treaty in, for if they catch Mr Anstruther and find he has not got it, -they may come back and make another search. I wonder whether it would -be safe? I don’t think the cover would show among that grass.” -</p> - -<p> -Leaning over the parapet, she scanned the face of the cliff, and -raised herself to her former position with some disappointment. -</p> - -<p> -“It would be very difficult to drop it just in the right place,” she -went on meditatively; “and, if there was a storm, the rain would be -sure to wash it away. Of course, it might lodge somewhere lower -down—or it might not; and, if it did, we might not be able to get at -it. Why, it looks as though there might be a path right up the cliff -to the shelf! It is quite a series of steps and ledges, and projecting -stones, and tufts of grass. It would need a very cool head to climb -it, and a sure foot too, but I believe it could be done. It might be -very dangerous, for any one could get in and attack us without our -knowing. They could hide among those ruined huts at the foot of the -cliff, and choose a time when none of us were out here. Of course, -they couldn’t very well get up as far as this from the shelf, for the -cliff overhangs just at the top, and there are no projections; but -they might have a rope-ladder with a hook at the top to throw up and -catch in something, or some other way of doing it. It doesn’t feel a -bit safe. I know I shall dream that there are men getting up here all -night; but I won’t be silly and frighten the rest. It’s all nonsense! -No one could climb this last piece of the cliff.” -</p> - -<p> -Notwithstanding the certainty of this assurance, the memory of that -giddy path, probably made in the rainy season by the wild goats, -haunted Georgia, and when bedtime came she stole out again to make -sure that there was no one climbing up it. In the great bare room -behind her, Rahah, sitting cross-legged on the floor, was -contemplating with much satisfaction the arrangements she had devised -for the night. It so happened that among the luggage that had gone -astray was Georgia’s mattress and pillow. This loss Rahah had repaired -by lying in wait for Dick and informing him of it, receiving, as she -had anticipated, an order to carry off his bedding for Miss Keeling’s -benefit. She obeyed promptly, regardless of the wrath of his bearer, -who cursed her audibly whenever he saw her, for the duty of spoiling -the Egyptians was one very congenial to Rahah’s mind. In her view, it -was part of a lady’s-maid’s business to exploit every other human -being with an eye to her mistress’s pleasure or welfare, and if the -Major Sahib was willing to sleep on the floor in order that the doctor -lady should be in comfort, it was not for her to baulk him. Georgia, -of course, knew nothing, and was to know nothing of this little -arrangement; and Rahah sat and yawned, and blinked sleepily at the -lamp, and wished that her mistress would come to bed quickly and not -stay looking down that horrible cliff. -</p> - -<p> -But Georgia, leaning over the parapet and staring down into the -darkness, saw more than the indeterminate outlines of rocks and -sun-dried bushes. Her heart was in her mouth as she peered down the -cliff, for she felt certain that she had seen something moving below, -and that it, whatever it might be, was climbing the hazardous path she -had noticed by daylight. Too much fascinated and horror-stricken to -move, she remained leaning over the edge until Lady Haigh stepped out -of the carved doorway behind her and startled her by speaking -suddenly. -</p> - -<p> -“Oughtn’t you to be coming to bed, Georgie? It is very late, and you -have had an anxious day. What are you looking at down there?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Lady Haigh, there is some one—a man or several men—climbing up -the cliff!” was the gasping answer, as Georgia turned round with a -blanched face. -</p> - -<p> -Lady Haigh pushed her gently aside and looked over as she had done. -</p> - -<p> -“There is something there, certainly,” she whispered; “but it is -almost sure to be only a goat.” -</p> - -<p> -Somewhat reassured, Georgia returned to her post of vantage, and side -by side they watched together the upward progress of the dark body, -until the sound of labouring breath reached them, showing that the -climb must be a severe one. -</p> - -<p> -“It is a man,” said Lady Haigh. “Can they get quite to the top?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, about twenty feet down the cliff begins to slope outwards.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then we won’t alarm the gentlemen just yet. It may be only one of our -own servants trying to discover us, and we don’t want him to fall into -Abd-ur-Rahim’s hands. We shall soon see whether this man’s intentions -are hostile.” -</p> - -<p> -“He has reached the ledge now,” gasped Georgia. “He is resting.” -</p> - -<p> -The mysterious visitor seemed inclined to make no further effort for -the present, for he remained motionless during several anxious -moments; but at last a very low, clear whistling became audible, to -which Lady Haigh and Georgia listened in astonishment and trepidation. -</p> - -<p> -“It must be a signal,” whispered Georgia. “No,” she cried, suddenly, -“I know that tune! It is the ‘Battle of the Boyne,’ and a minute ago -it was ‘Derry Walls.’ Lady Haigh, it’s Mr Anstruther!” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it you, Mr Anstruther?” asked Lady Haigh, in a low voice. The -answer came back promptly. -</p> - -<p> -“It is myself, very much at your service, Lady Haigh, if I could only -get near enough to serve you. Are you all right?” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite safe at present,” returned Georgia; “but we have gone through -some thrilling experiences during the day. How did you find us out?” -</p> - -<p> -“Lost my way in the sand-storm, and wandered round the wrong side of -the hill. I took shelter among those ruins down below, and my horse is -there still. When I ventured out to scout a little, I saw the Mission -taking a prominent part—and I guessed an unwilling one—in a -procession up the hill and into the fortress, so I returned to my -hiding-place and planned doughty deeds. But could you get me up this -last piece of cliff by any means?—for it’s rather exhausting to carry -on a long conversation in a stage-whisper, craning one’s neck upwards -all the while. Besides, I have some of your property about me, Miss -Keeling, which I should be glad to restore to you. By the bye, did you -lose anything about five o’clock this afternoon, when you stood -looking over the edge for such a long time? It was that which enabled -me to locate you so smartly.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I dropped my pet stethoscope, and I shall be extremely grateful -if you can find it. It fell on the ledge where you are sitting. But I -will just go and send Rahah to see whether it is safe to call the rest -to pull you up.” -</p> - -<p> -She returned in a few minutes with her arms full of pieces of rope. -</p> - -<p> -“We can do nothing at present. Rahah reconnoitred through the key-hole -or in some such way, and she says that the gentlemen have got a -‘party.’ Mr Stratford is playing chess with Abd-ur-Rahim, and the -other two are talking to his officers. She is to bring us word at once -when the party breaks up, and in the meantime I have taken all the -ropes from the boxes, and Lady Haigh and I can fasten them together. -The rope will be fearfully knotty, but perhaps that will make it -safer.” -</p> - -<p> -“It will be all the better,” said Fitz, decisively, “for we need not -wait for the other fellows to come and pull me up. If you and Lady -Haigh will fasten the rope round something firm, and pull at it both -together with all your strength to test the knots, you can send me the -end, and I will come up hand over hand if you will help to hoist me -over the parapet.” -</p> - -<p> -The two ladies agreed to this proposition with fear and trembling, and -many hopes that Dick and Stratford would arrive before the -construction of the rope was completed. But they did not come, and the -knots were tied and tested, and the rope fastened with extraordinary -care round the stone pillar which formed the central support of the -carved lattice-work of the window. With many cautions, the other end -was passed down to Fitz, and he came up it in a way which extorted -mingled admiration and terror from the watchers. Helping hands -assisted him over the parapet, and at last he stood safe and sound -upon the terrace. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” he said, cheerfully, “I shall have to tell the gymnasium -instructor at Whitcliffe Grammar School how useful his teaching has -been when I get home. Without it I might have remained on that ledge -all night, and serenaded you with Orange ditties at a hopeless -distance, Miss Keeling. But I mustn’t forget to restore you your lost -property. There is your stethoscope, and here is your cat.” -</p> - -<p> -Untying the handkerchief he presented to her, and which had been -secured in some complicated way to the buttonholes of his coat, -Georgia released Colleen Bawn, very much rumpled and highly indignant, -from her imprisonment, and deposited her on the ground, soothing her -ruffled feelings and fur by a little friendly stroking. -</p> - -<p> -“I am ashamed to think you should have taken so much trouble about -her, Mr Anstruther. Thank you very, very much, and for finding the -stethoscope too. What do you think of doing now?” -</p> - -<p> -“I should rather like some grub, if there is any going. I haven’t had -anything since breakfast, for I hadn’t the forethought to take meat -lozenges with me, as Stratford did. Biscuits, or something of that -sort that is at hand, and won’t need preparing, for I don’t intend to -stay here, and I don’t want to be caught.” -</p> - -<p> -A frugal meal of biscuits, potted meat, and water, in which Colleen -Bawn claimed a share, was quickly set before Fitz, and when his hunger -was partially satisfied he looked up. -</p> - -<p> -“Lady Haigh, I want you to exert your authority. When I found that you -were all in here, and I was outside, I had some thoughts of making for -the frontier at once and fetching help; but then I hit on another -plan. I want Miss Keeling to come too. My horse has been resting ever -since the storm, and is perfectly fresh, and she could ride him -splendidly if we changed the saddle. I could walk all right, and we -should be a good way towards Fort Rahmat-Ullah in the morning.” -</p> - -<p> -Lady Haigh sat down upon the parapet and burst into stifled but -irrepressible laughter, which failed, however, to disconcert Fitz. -</p> - -<p> -“My dear boy,” she gasped, while he looked at her resolutely and -without a smile, “it is quite untrue to say that the age of -chivalry—of the wildest knight-errantry—is gone. Can you really -think it possible that we should allow Miss Keeling to go wandering -off like Una, with you as a protector instead of the lion? Why, it is -fully three days’ journey to the frontier from here, and there are -enemies all the way.” -</p> - -<p> -“I would take care of her, really. I would die before any harm should -happen to her.” -</p> - -<p> -“I haven’t a doubt of that, but you forget that when you were once -dead, the situation would be rather serious for Miss Keeling. And how -do you imagine that Major North would receive your proposal?” and Lady -Haigh collapsed again helplessly. -</p> - -<p> -“But, Lady Haigh,” said Georgia, quickly, afraid that Fitz’s feelings -might be hurt, “Mr Anstruther might take the treaty with him, if he is -going to ride to Fort Rahmat-Ullah. Mr Stratford told us this morning -that Abd-ur-Rahim and the rest think he is already on the way there -with it, and it would be splendid to get it into a place of safety.” -</p> - -<p> -“Come, that is worth thinking about!” said Lady Haigh. But, after a -moment’s consideration, she shook her head decidedly. “No, Georgie, it -won’t do. Sir Dugald would never have trusted any one so young with -the treaty, and I am sure Mr Stratford won’t.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, really now, Lady Haigh,” said Fitz, much wounded, “I have my -compass, and I can find my way about as well as most people. There’s -my horse as fresh as he can be, and I would simply ride night and day -until I got to the Fort.” -</p> - -<p> -“Or until your horse dropped dead in the desert, and left you stranded -with the treaty,” said Lady Haigh. “No, Mr Anstruther, you are not at -all the man for such an enterprise. It needs prudence and caution even -more than reckless riding and dare-devil bravery. Georgie,” she turned -to her impatiently, “don’t you see what I mean? There is only one -person here to whom the treaty could be intrusted with any hope of -saving it and us, and that is Major North.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick!” gasped Georgia, catching at the lattice to steady herself. “Oh -no, Lady Haigh, you can’t mean that! Why should Dick go?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because he is the only man who could possibly carry the thing -through; and he is a soldier, and it is his duty,” responded Lady -Haigh, tersely. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t be afraid, Miss Keeling,” said Fitz, with an aggressive -indifference to Lady Haigh’s line of argument. “North is not going to -take my job away from me, and ride off upon my gee—not if I know it!” -</p> - -<p> -“Here are Mr Stratford and Major North,” said Lady Haigh, as, -conducted by Rahah, they emerged from the lattice, and explained that -Abd-ur-Rahim and his subordinates had only just departed, finding -their prisoners oppressed with unconquerable fatigue. The moment they -were left alone, Rahah had delivered her message, and they waited only -to place Kustendjian on guard in case of the return of Abd-ur-Rahim, -and followed her guidance. Georgia watched them helplessly as they -congratulated Fitz on his safety, and examined the rope, and peered -down into the gulf below. She remained leaning against the pillar, -unable to quit its friendly support, even when the murmur of low -voices told her that Lady Haigh was repeating her former suggestion. -</p> - -<p> -“I call it beastly unfair, the way I am done out of everything!” she -heard Fitz grumble at last. “When you had that jolly row in the -Mission courtyard round the flagstaff, I had to stay in and guard the -house, and that other time when I wanted to go to the Palace you -wouldn’t let me. And now you mean to keep me here, while North uses my -horse and my way out of this place, though I’m the only one of you -that didn’t manage to get shut up here.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you managed that by desertion and disobedience to orders,” said -Stratford, impatiently, for he had succeeded by this time in -extracting from Ismail Bakhsh the particulars of Fitz’s mysterious -disappearance. “Try not to be more of a fool than you can help, young -Anstruther. We can’t risk the honour of the country and the fate of -the Mission on the hope that you may chance to act sensibly for once.” -</p> - -<p> -“I say that it is my right to go, Mr Stratford,” returned Fitz, -doggedly; but Dick broke through the group, and came to Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“Shall I go, Georgie?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Dick, must I decide for you?” -</p> - -<p> -“You have a right to do it, I think. At any rate, right or no right, I -am not going if you ask me not to. I put myself in your hands, -Georgie, and the treaty and everything else may slide if you tell me -to stay here. What good would it all be to me if—if anything happened -to you while I was gone?” -</p> - -<p> -He spoke hoarsely, his words tumbling over one another, and Georgia -felt that the hands which clasped hers were hot and shaking. She -looked at him in amazement which was almost terror. Was it possible -that in some ways she was stronger than he was—that he was -confessedly looking to her for the strength which should enable him to -tear himself away from her? -</p> - -<p> -“It is an awfully risky thing, Miss Keeling,” said Stratford, -interposing with an honest determination to let Georgia know the worst -before she made her decision. “He takes his life in his hand if he -goes. I am sure no one could wonder at your keeping him back. In fact, -under the circumstances, I should think it quite probable that no one -would expect him to leave you here and ride off to Rahmat-Ullah to -save the treaty.” -</p> - -<p> -“If I were not here,” said Georgia, “would you think it right for him -to go?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, things would be different then, you see—and really this is -such an important business——” -</p> - -<p> -“Why?” -</p> - -<p> -“We are tolerably safe, I suppose, in any case; but to get back -without the treaty would be rather a bad blow for our prestige, of -course. All the old troubles would begin again, and England would -become a laughing-stock——” -</p> - -<p> -“I see,” said Georgia. “Dick, you must go.” -</p> - -<p> -“All right,” said Dick, gruffly, restored to composure by the decision -with which she spoke; “but why?” -</p> - -<p> -“For England’s sake—for honour’s sake,” she replied. Dick looked at -her in some alarm. Had the greatness of the crisis, which for the -moment had unmanned himself, turned her brain, or could she really -find comfort in fine language at such a time? He did not know the -sustaining power which is contained for a woman in a phrase of the -kind. It gives her something to lean upon, as she repeats it to -herself with a determination to be worthy of it. -</p> - -<p> -“You are sure you don’t mind, Georgie?” he asked in his blundering -way. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no; I am not likely to mind, am I?” she said, with a sudden -fierceness in her voice. “Do you want to break my heart, Dick?” -</p> - -<p> -A sob broke from her lips, but she choked it down as he put his arm -round her, and he only felt her hands fondling his rough coat-sleeve. -“If you do that, I <i>can’t</i> go,” he muttered. -</p> - -<p> -“Then I won’t,” said Georgia, with an effort; but she held his arm -tightly as he returned to the rest. -</p> - -<p> -“We may as well get things settled,” he said. “Where is this horse of -yours, Anstruther?” -</p> - -<p> -Fitz explained the position of the ruined hut in which he had left his -horse tied up, while Stratford tested the rope. -</p> - -<p> -“I say,” he said, “we must add some more to this. It won’t take you -half-way down, and you will want something to hold on to while you are -feeling for a foothold. You had better have the end fastened round -you, for though the moon isn’t bad, you might easily slip, since you -have not seen the cliff by daylight. I will hunt up Ismail Bakhsh, as -he has charge of the baggage-ropes, and it might be a good thing if he -was to lend you a turban and cloak. They would pass muster at a -distance, but it is hopeless to think of disguising you satisfactorily -if you meet any one at close quarters, for there are no hillmen about -here. You will want food and water, too.” -</p> - -<p> -He hurried away, returning with Ismail Bakhsh just as Georgia was -fishing the treaty out of its place of concealment. It was none the -worse for its immersion, and she wrapped it in another cover and sewed -it into Dick’s coat. -</p> - -<p> -“It was an excellent idea, that hiding-place,” said Stratford, as she -and Dick rejoined the rest. “I couldn’t imagine what in the world you -had done with the thing, unless you had tied a string to it and hung -it out of the window. Look here, North, you had better not take your -sword. It will only make a clatter, and won’t do you much good. Take -the dagger the mutineers bequeathed to you instead; it is nearly long -enough for a sword.” -</p> - -<p> -“Take care of this for me then, Georgie,” said Dick, unbuckling the -sword he had just fastened on, and Georgia received the charge with -gratitude, for she knew that Dick’s sword was his most cherished -possession. The work of lengthening the rope was going on rapidly, the -provisions for the three days’ ride, a little bread and dried fruit, a -little corn for the horse, and a scanty supply of water, were fastened -round Dick’s waist for the descent of the cliff, and the turban and -the mantle were arranged by Ismail Bakhsh. All was ready. Dick shook -hands with the rest, and turned to Georgia as she stood white and -tearless beside the parapet. -</p> - -<p> -“Georgie, if you tell me not to go, I’ll stay now,” he whispered, as -he saw her face. -</p> - -<p> -“No, Dick, go—for honour’s sake”—and she repeated mechanically the -words which had been burning themselves into her brain during the last -half-hour— -</p> - -<div class="quote_o"><div class="quote_i"> -<p class="i0">“‘I could not love thee, dear, so much,</p> -<p class="i0">Loved I not honour more.’</p> -</div></div> - -<p class="noindent"> -Go, dear,” she said again, and took his face between her hands and -kissed him on the forehead. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s women like you that make men heroes in spite of themselves,” -broke out Dick. “Oh, Georgie, I was a brute to you this morning—about -that cat of yours. Say you forgive me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick!” she almost laughed. “As though I could remember such a thing -as that now! Good-bye, my dearest, and God go with you.” -</p> - -<p> -“God keep you, my darling!” He held her in his arms for a moment -longer, then released her with a last kiss. “Take care of her,” he -said to the rest, as he stepped up on the parapet, and let himself -down by the rope. They lowered him carefully to the ledge, and from -thence, with the rope still round his waist, he made his way down the -precarious path to the foot of the cliff. Presently the strain on the -rope ceased. Those above drew it up, and listening intently, fancied -they could hear the sound of a horse’s hoofs as it was led cautiously -over the fallen rocks into the open plain, but the shadows were too -confusing to allow them to distinguish anything by the sense of sight. -They listened anxiously for any alarm from the walls which might -indicate that some sentry had been more successful, but none came, and -they returned slowly to their several quarters, Fitz taking possession -of the room which had been assigned to Dick. As for Georgia, she -kissed the sword-hilt on which her lover’s fingers had so often -rested, and allowed her tears to have free course, now that he was no -longer at hand for his heart to be troubled by them. -</p> - -<p> -Very early the next morning, before any of Abd-ur-Rahim’s dependants -were about, Stratford, Fitz, and Ismail Bakhsh might have been seen -hard at work by the light of a smoky lamp. They were taking the long -rope to pieces, or, in other words, restoring its component parts to -their original form as box cords, and returning them to the places -where they might reasonably be expected to be found under ordinary -circumstances. When Rahah had been intrusted with the fragments out of -which Lady Haigh and Georgia had formed their first rope, and Ismail -Bakhsh had carried away the rest to put them back with the luggage of -which he had charge, the prisoners breathed more freely, and Stratford -took advantage of the momentary pause to arrange plans for the day. -</p> - -<p> -“Look here, Anstruther—we must keep it dark as long as possible that -North is gone and that you are here in his place. It strikes me that -the fellows who were looking for you yesterday all went too far -afield, and that’s how they missed you. To-day they will argue that -they had better look at home first, and they will set to work to -search the ruins down below, and the rocks near the spot where we -halted, and any caves there may be in the neighbourhood. I don’t know -what sort of trackers they are here, but if they are anything like so -good as the natives in India, they will find out in no time that the -ruins were occupied until last night, and that a man on horseback left -them and took a certain course. They may even be able to discover our -way up and down the cliff by means of your footprints and North’s. -Still, it will all take a certain amount of time, and every hour of -delay is so much gain for North. On the other hand, if they don’t -happen to light upon his trail, and we keep you well out of sight, -they may waste the whole day in an exhaustive search of the desert -just round here, which would be nuts for us. You must pretend to be -seedy, and stay in your room. If you don’t show up, perhaps they won’t -find out the state of affairs for a day or two.” -</p> - -<p> -“Beastly dull for me!” grumbled Fitz; but he yielded to the -inevitable, and returned to his room, resolved to make up for the -fatigues of the night by a few hours’ additional sleep. Indeed, the -whole party slept late that morning, and when Abd-ur-Rahim came in to -inquire after the health of his prisoners, he found only Stratford -prepared to receive him. This was fortunate, in that it postponed the -danger of discovery, and Stratford gladly accepted the old man’s offer -of a ride round the city in his company, as tending still further to -avert suspicion. By one means or another, the whole of the day was -tided over successfully, and the spirits of the captives began to -rise. The next day, however, a new difficulty confronted them, in the -shape of a deputation from the mutinous cavalry escort, who had found -their way to Bir-ul-Malik, and demanded an interview with their hero -Dick. In vain were they assured that he could not and would not see -them. They expressed their readiness to await his convenience for any -length of time; and Stratford guessed that, fearing they had made -their native land too hot to hold them, they entertained the design of -crossing the frontier under Dick’s leadership, taking their women and -children with them, and transferring their allegiance to Her Most -Gracious Majesty, as a preliminary to enlisting in the Khemistan -Horse. It was a distinct relief to Stratford, when he considered the -spirit in which Dick would probably have received this precious offer -of service, to remember that he was not in the place; but it was a -very embarrassing thing to have these men continually waiting and -watching for an opportunity of seeing him. They were not interfered -with in any way by Abd-ur-Rahim and his men—a fact which confirmed -Stratford’s conviction that it had been arranged with them beforehand -by Fath-ud-Din’s emissaries that they were to mutiny and desert when -they did, and that their indignation respecting the misappropriated -<i>bakhshish</i> was only part of a deep-laid plot. -</p> - -<p> -For some two or three hours the deputation sat waiting patiently -outside the quarters allotted to the prisoners, while ambassadors went -to them at intervals to represent the uselessness of their remaining, -and to advise them to withdraw. Then fortune favoured them, and they -stole a march on Stratford. He had gone into the inner rooms to speak -to the ladies, while Kustendjian was busy in his own quarters, and the -deputation grasped their opportunity, and, after surprising and -binding the man on guard at the door, walked in. Dick’s bearer was the -only person who saw them enter, and he seized the moment, while they -were admiring Stratford’s toilet arrangements, in the first room they -reached, to rush to his master’s quarters and throw a sheet over Fitz, -who was lying on the bedstead, very hot and discontented, in his shirt -and trousers. There was just time for him to turn his face to the wall -and for the man to arrange the sheet over his head in the manner of -the natives when they sleep, before the deputation entered. A murmur -of delight broke from them when they saw the shrouded figure, and they -sat down in a semicircle on the floor, to wait until their desired -leader should awake, all with their eyes fixed on the sheet, beneath -which Fitz lay writhing in agonies of laughter. In vain did the bearer -attempt to dislodge them by threats of his master’s anger when he -awoke, in vain prophesy that their presence would do him harm; they -simply reiterated their determination to see the General Dīk. At -last, between laughter and the sheet, Fitz could bear no more; and, -almost suffocated with heat, he threw out an arm and pushed the -covering partially aside. A murmur of astonishment showed him at once -that he had done more than he intended. -</p> - -<p> -“But the General Dīk has light hair, and this man’s is black!” were -the words he heard, and the leader of the party added -authoritatively—“That is not the arm of the General Dīk!” -</p> - -<p> -“The General Dīk!” exclaimed the bearer, trying to improve -matters—“nay, this is the <i>chota sahib</i>. Think ye that the Major -Sahib would have suffered you to enter his quarters, ye sons of -swine?” -</p> - -<p> -“But the little gentleman was lost!” was the cry, as Fitz threw off -the sheet and sat up. “Where, then, is the General Dīk? Let us even -seek Abd-ur-Rahim and ask him of the matter, for surely they have -murdered our Lord Dīk!” -</p> - -<p> -In an incredibly short space of time Abd-ur-Rahim had been informed of -the miracle that had occurred, and was on the spot, only to become -more and more mystified in the course of his inquiries. That Dick was -gone and Fitz had taken his place was evident, but when or how the -exchange had been effected was a mystery. None of the prisoners would -offer any explanation. “That is for you to find out,” was their answer -to all questions, and Abd-ur-Rahim and his officers beat their brains -in vain. Means, motive, and opportunity for the change alike appeared -wanting, and the puzzled Ethiopians took refuge at last in the -hypothesis put forward by one of their number— -</p> - -<p> -“It is the magic of the doctor lady! She has changed one into the -other to lead us astray and to baffle our search for the youth.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch21"> -CHAPTER XXI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">FOR A CONSIDERATION.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -“I can’t go on wasting time like this,” said Georgia to herself the -next morning as she stood on the terrace, drawn thither by the -fascination of the distant view of Bir-ul-Malikat. “Two whole days -have slipped away already, and I have not got a step nearer to -discovering the antidote, nor even to communicating with Khadija. What -am I to do? When those women and children came to ask for medicine -yesterday, I thought it was a hopeful sign, and I suppose that if I -stayed here long enough my fame might spread even as far as -Bir-ul-Malikat; but what good is that when Abd-ur-Rahim won’t hear of -our setting foot outside the walls? It was bad enough before, when I -knew Dick would be angry if I hinted at going over to pay Khadija a -visit, but I think I might have talked him round. I only wish the dear -boy was here now to be angry, instead of being taken out of the way -just when I had been thinking so unkindly about him. But I don’t see -how Abd-ur-Rahim is to be worked upon, unless any of his own wives or -children should happen to fall ill, and even then I am afraid I -shouldn’t be able to persuade him to let me leave the town, if only -for an hour or two. I wonder whether Rahah and I could concoct a -letter to Khadija, and whether we could get it taken to her if we did? -I should think we ought to be able to pique her curiosity, or perhaps -her covetousness, supposing that she could read the letter when she -got it. Let me see, what could we say?” -</p> - -<p> -She knelt down with her arms on the parapet, and was revolving in her -mind honied sentences which might cover an even more tempting meaning, -and thus appeal to the witch’s cupidity, when her attention was -attracted by a moving object between her and Bir-ul-Malikat. Now that -the search for Dick had once more quitted the immediate neighbourhood -of the fortress, the solitude of the desert was so seldom disturbed by -any traveller that Georgia watched the approaching speck with -interest. As it came nearer she saw that it was a man mounted on a -donkey, but when it passed out of sight round the slope of the hill -she thought no more about it. Presently, however, Rahah came in hot -haste to seek her mistress. -</p> - -<p> -“There is a messenger from Bir-ul-Malikat waiting outside the door, O -my lady, and he will not give his message to me. Is he to be allowed -to speak to you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, of course. Some one must be ill,” said Georgia, and she returned -indoors and donned her <i>burka</i>. The man whom she had seen riding -across the desert was standing in the outer hall at a suitable -distance from the doorway of the passage which led into the harem, and -the door was open to allow of conversation. The visitor was -respectably dressed, and had the appearance of a steward or other -responsible servant, but his first words were not calculated to -recommend his mission, at any rate as Rahah translated them. -</p> - -<p> -“O doctor lady, Khadija, the mother of Yakub, sends thee greetings, -and desires thee to visit her at Bir-ul-Malikat.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why?” asked Georgia. “Is she ill?” -</p> - -<p> -“I know not,” answered the man, doggedly. -</p> - -<p> -“Then why does she send for me?” -</p> - -<p> -“That is her business. It is not for any man to dispute the will of -Khadija.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia pondered the matter for a moment. Her first impulse was to -accept the invitation which had arrived thus opportunely, but its tone -was so unpleasant that she began to suspect a trap. If her presence -was really needed, Khadija could well afford to send her a more -explicit message. It was evident that the matter was not one of life -and death, or more would have been made of it, and Georgia had a -lively recollection of the way in which she had been lured to the -Palace at Kubbet-ul-Haj, to warn her against putting faith in -mysterious messages. In any case, nothing could be lost, and the -respect in which she was held would probably increase, if she declined -to pay any attention to a summons worded as this one had been. -</p> - -<p> -“I go nowhere unless the messenger tells me plainly why I am wanted,” -she said, sharply. -</p> - -<p> -“That is not a reply to satisfy Khadija,” returned the messenger. -</p> - -<p> -“Then she must find satisfaction elsewhere,” said Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“Her power is greater than the doctor lady knows.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thou art a fool,” said Rahah, contemptuously, her wrath aroused by -the veiled threat. “My lady also has medicines. Is she likely to fear -Khadija?” and she dropped the curtain as a sign that the interview was -at an end. -</p> - -<p> -The messenger departed baffled, but it was not without many misgivings -that Georgia heard his retreating footsteps crossing the tiled floor. -Had she acted foolishly in refusing so peremptorily the witch’s -request? It was possible that the terms in which it was couched had -been adopted merely in order to try her, and that she had lost once -for all the opportunity of gaining an entrance to Bir-ul-Malikat. The -thought troubled her a good deal, in spite of the persistence with -which she assured herself that it was only prudent to act as she had -done, and she wandered in and out of the various rooms, unable to -settle to any occupation, pausing now and then on the terrace to look -across the desert in case the messenger should be returning. Engrossed -in watching for him, she failed to notice the approach of another -traveller, and it was with some surprise that she received the news -which Rahah hurried out to bring her. -</p> - -<p> -“O my lady, another messenger! He says that he is Yakub, the son of -Khadija, but he will not say why he is come.” -</p> - -<p> -Once more Georgia assumed her <i>burka</i> and went to interview the -visitor. He was a young man, somewhat foppishly dressed, and evidently -a dandy in his way, his appearance producing in Georgia’s mind the -impression that his mother had spoilt him as a boy, and now lavished -upon him all the money she had to spare. He came forward with a slight -swagger, and salaamed in rather a perfunctory way. -</p> - -<p> -“O doctor lady, thy handmaid Khadija, my mother, sends thee greetings, -and entreats thee to visit her at Bir-ul-Malikat.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why?” asked Georgia, with a directness which he seemed to find -embarrassing, for he fidgeted with his girdle as he replied— -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, O doctor lady, is it strange that my mother, having heard of thy -fame, should be anxious to see thee?” -</p> - -<p> -“But why does she not come here? Is she ill?” -</p> - -<p> -“No; thanks be to God!” was the answer. -</p> - -<p> -“Then is there any one ill in her house?” -</p> - -<p> -“That is not for me to tell the doctor lady.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then neither is it for the doctor lady to go there,” and Georgia was -about to retire into the harem again when he sprang forward. -</p> - -<p> -“Let not the doctor lady turn away the light of her countenance from -her servant. There is one ill in the house.” -</p> - -<p> -“But who is ill, and what is the matter with him or her?” -</p> - -<p> -“I cannot tell. I have given my message.” -</p> - -<p> -“You must tell me if I am to come.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it is not in my power, O doctor lady! My mother has told me no -more than that, and I know only that it is one of the women.” -</p> - -<p> -“In that case, my friend, you had better return to Bir-ul-Malikat at -once, and find out the age of the patient and her symptoms. Then I -will either give you medicine for her, or I will ask leave from -Abd-ur-Rahim to go and see her. It is absurd to come to me in this -way. I should have no idea what to take with me.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it cannot be, O doctor lady. My mother will tell me no more than -I have told thee.” -</p> - -<p> -“She must tell me more, if she wishes me to go and see her. You must -make her understand that unless she is perfectly open with me she need -not expect me to come. She can send me a letter if she likes, but I -must have some idea what is the matter.” And Georgia retired into the -interior of the harem, feeling that she was acting with a prudence -such as Stratford himself could not have exceeded. That caution was -necessary in this case she could not doubt. The repetition of the -message, and the persistent mystery in which it was enwrapped, had -raised strong suspicions in her mind that there was no sick person at -all in the case, and that the request was merely a bait to lure her -into the power of the sorceress—a trick which she did not intend -should succeed a second time. Her desire was to be able to dictate -terms to Khadija, not to be obliged to sue for her own release, and -she awaited the further development of the situation with much -interest and some anxiety. To pass away the time, she occupied herself -in putting her medicine-chest in order, setting Rahah to work to -polish her surgical instruments, a task in which the girl took a keen -delight, and even before the business was finished to her -satisfaction, another visitor was announced. As before, Rahah went out -to see who it was, and returned in a high state of excitement. -</p> - -<p> -“O my lady, it is Khadija the sorceress herself! Surely she has heard -of my lady’s power, and comes to prove it.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia’s heart beat a good deal faster than before, as she walked -slowly down the long room, refusing resolutely to quicken her steps, -but she succeeded in keeping her anxiety from betraying itself in her -voice as she gave her visitor the usual greeting. The sorceress, a -small shrunken old woman, with white hair and piercing dark eyes, -looked at her sharply before making her hurried reply. -</p> - -<p> -“And upon thee be peace, O doctor lady! Will my lady be pleased to -accompany her handmaid back to Bir-ul-Malikat, where one of the -household is grievously sick?” -</p> - -<p> -“I must hear more about the matter before I come,” said Georgia, -turning and leading the way through the passage back into the harem. -“Sit down and rest, O Khadija, and tell me who is ill,” and as she -spoke she seated herself upon the divan opposite the visitor, while -Rahah took her stand beside her to interpret what was said. -</p> - -<p> -“Nay,” said Khadija; “surely the doctor lady, who is so wise, needs -not to be told anything? She knows all things by her own wisdom.” -</p> - -<p> -This was a direct challenge, and Georgia saw that it would be -necessary to administer a lesson to her visitor. She drew herself up -and fixed her eyes sternly on Khadija. -</p> - -<p> -“You are right, O Khadija. I know many things without hearing of them -from you, and before we talk again of your matters I will ask you -certain questions, and according as you deal truly with me in -answering them or not, so will I decide whether I will grant your -request.” -</p> - -<p> -Khadija looked up in evident surprise, not unmixed with apprehension, -and Georgia went on, speaking in a low voice, but very slowly and -distinctly— -</p> - -<p> -“You are learned in poisons, Khadija. Tell me, then, what was the drug -that Fath-ud-Din used to poison the Queen of England’s Envoy—that -drug which you gave him?” -</p> - -<p> -“God forbid!” cried Khadija, raising her skinny hands in indignant -protest. “Does the doctor lady think that her handmaid is as one of -the evil women in the corners of the bazaars, who sell poisons to -wives tired of their husbands? Far be it from me to deal with deadly -drugs to such an end!” -</p> - -<p> -“I have other questions to ask, Khadija, but I shall speak with you no -more unless you answer this one. Also it would be well for you to -answer it truly, for I know the answer.” -</p> - -<p> -“If the doctor lady knows, why should she ask me?” grumbled the old -woman; but the response was prompt— -</p> - -<p> -“That I may see whether you are dealing truly with me or not, O -Khadija.” -</p> - -<p> -“It might have been the juice of a plant?” was the tentative -suggestion. “Yea, doubtless it was the juice of a plant,” with the air -of one who had just remembered a forgotten fact. -</p> - -<p> -“It might have been, but it was not.” -</p> - -<p> -“It might have been some metal, or a deadly fruit, or the venom of a -serpent?” the last with a cunning side-look at Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“No, it was none of those; but we are coming to the point. Hasten, O -Khadija; my patience will not last for ever.” -</p> - -<p> -“Could it have been the essence distilled from the dried body of—some -beast?” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia rose from her seat and turned away, but the old woman threw -herself before her and clutched her dress. -</p> - -<p> -“O my lady, was it the poison of a deadly fish?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah! now we are getting at the truth,” said Georgia, turning, but -refusing to sit down again. “It was a fish, then; but how was the -poison administered?” -</p> - -<p> -“Surely the doctor lady knows all things. It would be vain if one -should try to deceive her. There was but one small drop of the -medicine, and it was to be given in a cup of coffee.” -</p> - -<p> -“And it was carried for safety in the jewel of a ring, which was to be -dropped into the coffee. Is it not so, Khadija? But we will speak of -the Father of sleep again presently. Tell me now who it is that is ill -in your house, and what the sickness is.” -</p> - -<p> -As they resumed their seats on the divan, Khadija gave a lingering -look into Georgia’s eyes, trying to discover whether she was possessed -of information upon this point also, but finding herself baffled, -leaned forward and spoke in a whisper. -</p> - -<p> -“O doctor lady, I will not deceive thee. It is my master’s -daughter—my Rose of the World, my child Zeynab.” -</p> - -<p> -“And what is the matter with her?” -</p> - -<p> -“O my lady, I will hide nothing from thee. The maiden is light of foot -and venturesome as the wild goats. Some days ago—it may have been -four or five—she was climbing upon the walls of the garden with the -slave-girls, and she declared to them that she could go further than -any of them along the wall where it was broken. Thy handmaid called to -her with many rebukes to come down, but she was headstrong and went -on, and presently a part of the wall fell with her to the ground. Nor -was that all, for a great stone lay upon her foot and crushed it, and -nothing that I have done will cure it.” -</p> - -<p> -“What have you tried?” asked Georgia—and the old woman gave a list of -various native remedies she had administered, all of them sounding -equally inadequate to a European listener, and the greater number -either painful or disgusting. -</p> - -<p> -“And now, O my lady, the foot is swollen to the size of twice my head, -and it has turned black, and the maiden sobs and moans day and night.” -</p> - -<p> -“That sounds as though the bones were crushed,” said Georgia. “I may -have to take off the foot.” -</p> - -<p> -“Never, O doctor lady! Better that the child should die, though she is -the light of my eyes, and Fath-ud-Din will slay me if any ill befalls -her. Rather than lose her foot she must die, for who will marry a -woman with only one foot?” -</p> - -<p> -“I will have a look at it, and see what I can do,” said Georgia. “It -may be possible to remove the shattered bones without amputation. But -you must understand that if I come I take the responsibility and the -authority in the case. If it is only possible to save the girl’s life -by amputating her foot, it will have to be done. You must leave me to -settle it with Fath-ud-Din, and I will take the blame.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay!” cried Khadija, with still more energy. “Fath-ud-Din must know -nothing of this, whether the maiden recover or not. O doctor lady, she -is all that I have, saving my son Yakub, and when I have seen her -married to the King’s son Antar Khan I can die happy; but Fath-ud-Din -would take her at once from my keeping if he heard what had happened -to her, or knew that I had brought in an English doctor-woman to see -her. Thou wilt not tell him, O doctor lady? I know that the English -speak the truth. Fath-ud-Din hates them; but if they have the skill to -save his daughter, it is well to make use of it without his -knowledge.” -</p> - -<p> -It is sad to be obliged to confess the humiliating truth, but it was -this speech that decided Georgia to embark upon a course so -unprofessional that, if it had become known in England, it would have -been the duty of her medical <i>confrères</i> to drive her with ignominy -from their midst. She made up her mind deliberately to haggle for her -fee before she visited the patient. -</p> - -<p> -“Why was it that you gave Fath-ud-Din the poison with which to injure -the Envoy?” she asked, suddenly. Khadija looked astonished at the -unexpected change of subject. -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, O my lady, is it not the duty of a servant to do her master’s -will?” -</p> - -<p> -“You are not in the position of an ordinary servant to -Fath-ud-Din—you are more of an adviser and helper. Why did you make -it easy for him to poison a man who had done you no wrong?” -</p> - -<p> -“I hate the English,” responded the old woman, sullenly. “They came -and burnt my village because our men had raided into Khemistan, and my -husband and my elder son were killed.” -</p> - -<p> -“And now you are obliged to rely upon an Englishwoman to help you to -avoid the wrath of Fath-ud-Din? Hear me, Khadija—I will come to -Bir-ul-Malikat and do my utmost to cure Zeynab, but only on one -condition.” -</p> - -<p> -“And that is, O doctor lady——?” -</p> - -<p> -“That you give me the antidote for the poison you call the Father of -sleep, and tell me how to apply it. If I find you have deceived me, -Fath-ud-Din shall know everything; but if the Envoy recovers, all will -be well.” -</p> - -<p> -“O my lady, she will poison you as soon as you have cured the girl,” -put in Rahah, in a frightened whisper. -</p> - -<p> -“I think not,” said Georgia. “Tell her that before I leave this house -I shall write out an account of the circumstances, to be sent -immediately to Fath-ud-Din in case anything should happen to me.” -</p> - -<p> -Khadija received the information with a grunt. “And what will the -doctor lady do in return for the antidote?” she asked. -</p> - -<p> -“I will go with her to Bir-ul-Malikat,” replied Georgia, “and do all I -can to save the girl’s foot. Whether I find that amputation is -necessary or not, I will remain in the house until the patient is -fairly on the way to recovery, that she may have the best possible -chance.” -</p> - -<p> -The old woman nodded her head meditatively. “Thou wilt cure my Zeynab, -and I will give thee the antidote. That is fair. Thou wilt come at -once, O doctor lady?” -</p> - -<p> -“I must make a few arrangements first. You are prepared to give my -maid and me a room to ourselves, I suppose, as we shall be obliged to -remain over the night? It may be necessary for us to spend four or -five days with you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes; the doctor lady shall be lodged in the best part of the -harem, in the rooms of my Zeynab’s mother—may she rest in peace!—and -the women of the household shall see to her comfort.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is well,” said Georgia, as she left the room and went to seek -Lady Haigh. Rahah followed her. -</p> - -<p> -“It is not safe, O my lady. She will kill you if she can, and there -will be many opportunities if you are staying in her house.” -</p> - -<p> -“We must try to take adequate precautions, and baffle her, Rahah. In -any case, the possibility of success is worth the risk.” -</p> - -<p> -Nevertheless, as Georgia knocked softly at the door of the sick-room, -the thought crossed her mind: “At any rate, I will make sure before I -go that I shall be allowed to try my remedy if I succeed in bringing -it back. It is a risk, undoubtedly, to go, and I shall hear a good -deal about it from Dick if I ever return, so that I won’t enter on it -as a mere speculation.” -</p> - -<p> -“What is it, Georgie?” asked Lady Haigh, coming out. “Is anything -fresh the matter?” for the repressed excitement in Georgia’s manner -caught her attention at once. -</p> - -<p> -Instead of answering immediately, Georgia drew her to the window and -threw open the lattice, so that the light fell full on the faces of -both. -</p> - -<p> -“Have you confidence in me, Lady Haigh?—as a doctor, I mean?” -</p> - -<p> -“Every confidence, Georgie. I would sooner have you to attend me if I -was ill than any male doctor I know. But why do you ask? Oh, my dear, -don’t—don’t tell me that it is anything about Dugald! He doesn’t seem -quite so strong here, I know; but it is only the change of air. Don’t -say that he is really worse!” -</p> - -<p> -“No, that is not what I wanted to say, though it has to do with Sir -Dugald. Just before we left Kubbet-ul-Haj, Lady Haigh, I found out the -name of the poison Fath-ud-Din used against him. Now I have the chance -of obtaining the antidote; but that involves my going to -Bir-ul-Malikat, and perhaps remaining there for several days, -attending Fath-ud-Din’s daughter. If I can cure her, I am to have the -remedy given to me. What I want to know is, if I obtain the antidote, -will you let me use it for Sir Dugald?” -</p> - -<p> -“But you must not go, Georgie! I can’t let you run into danger, and -what you propose would be fearfully dangerous.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is not the question, Lady Haigh; and the danger is my affair. -You can’t prevent my going, except by assuring me that you won’t let -me try the antidote.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Georgie, how can you be so unkind?” And Lady Haigh fairly broke -down. “He is getting worse, I know it; and he will slip away without -ever recognising me or speaking to me again. I ought to prevent your -going, I know; but I can’t. Oh, what will Major North say to me? No, -Georgie, don’t go! We have had our share of happiness, Dugald and I; -and how can I dare to risk your future and Major North’s? Oh, why did -you ask me, and make me pronounce my husband’s death-sentence? No, -don’t mind what I say; I am nearly mad with trouble. You are not to -go.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nevertheless, I am going,” said Georgia, her face very pale. “My only -condition is that you are to use the antidote, if I can get it sent to -you, whatever happens to me. You are quite right—I ought not to have -asked you. It was only that it struck me suddenly that you might -listen to Dick and Mr Stratford again, and it would all be no use. You -promise me that you will try the antidote, if I can get it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nothing can be worse than his state now,” sobbed Lady Haigh. “Yes, I -will use it, Georgie. How could I do otherwise, when you are risking -your life to obtain it for him? You believe in it, I can see that.” -</p> - -<p> -“I do, and I hope that before long you will have good cause to believe -in it too. Now I must tell Mr Stratford of my intended mission. I -shall say nothing about the antidote, but I won’t get into trouble -again by going off without leave.” -</p> - -<p> -Stratford was busied, with Fitz and Kustendjian, in compiling the -official chronicle of the events of the last few days, and it did not -strike him that there was any special danger in Georgia’s going to -visit a patient who had asked for her attendance. He knew nothing of -the evil fame of Khadija, and thought that if Abd-ur-Rahim could be -brought to give his consent, the ride to Bir-ul-Malikat would be a -pleasant change for Georgia after her imprisonment within the four -walls of the harem. -</p> - -<p> -“One of us might go over with the escort and fetch you back,” he -suggested, “if you could fix any special time.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid I can’t,” said Georgia, with a guilty feeling of -concealment, “for I don’t know how long I shall be. If it is necessary -to perform an operation, I shall probably be detained some time. Could -you spare Mr Anstruther to help me get my things together, and to see -that the horses are properly saddled?” -</p> - -<p> -Fitz jumped up from the divan with great alacrity, and when Georgia -had him alone she confided her plan to him, explaining the importance -of her going to Bir-ul-Malikat at this juncture, and the probability -that her stay there might extend over several days. His first impulse -was naturally to declare that he would go too, and to reproach her -with unkindness and lack of confidence in him when she refused his -escort somewhat decidedly. But Georgia had her answer ready. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t want you at Bir-ul-Malikat, Mr Anstruther, because I think -you would be more useful here. I want to arrange a code of signals -which will show whether all is going well or not. Do you know anything -of heliography? I have a small mirror in my dressing-case, and, if you -have another, we could each signal night and morning how things were -going, for I ought to know if Sir Dugald gets worse. I suppose one -flash would mean ‘All right!’ and two ‘Send help!’” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, we can do better than that,” said Fitz, whose face had brightened -perceptibly when he found that he might be of use even though he was -not allowed to act as Georgia’s escort. “I will jot down the Morse -code for you, Miss Keeling, and then we can hold conversations. Long -and short flashes will represent dashes and dots, you see, and none of -the natives will be able to imitate our signals, though they might -easily twig what one flash meant, and signal ‘All right!’ when it was -all wrong. You didn’t know I studied telegraphy a little before I came -out, did you? One never knows when things may prove useful, and I -chummed up with a clerk in the Whitcliffe post-office, and got him to -put me up to the dodges.” -</p> - -<p> -Leaving Fitz occupied in writing out the code, Georgia next made a -raid on the stores under the care of Ismail Bakhsh. She felt it to be -a matter of the greatest importance that Rahah and she should take -their own provisions with them, since to depend on Khadija’s -liberality would be merely a gratuitous invitation to her to poison -them both, and with this danger in her mind she secured a sufficient -quantity of meat extract and other portable articles of food to last -for three or four days. Ismail Bakhsh demurred persistently to parting -with the stores in his charge, except in obedience to an officially -signed order, yielding only under protest; while, when he discovered, -from some chance words let drop by Rahah, the real object of the -journey, he could scarcely be restrained from going at once to -Stratford and begging him to prevent it. Rahah overwhelmed him with -shrill reproaches, for, little as she approved of the expedition -herself, she was determined not to allow any man living to thwart her -mistress’s wishes; but it was Georgia herself who forced him to give -an unwilling acquiescence to the plan. Her plea that she was going to -secure a medicine that might cure the <i>Burra Sahib</i> he dismissed with -contempt, remarking that the <i>Burra Sahib’s</i> illness did not concern -her—a slight to her profession which aroused all the ire of which -Georgia was capable. Looking straight at him, she spoke sternly— -</p> - -<p> -“Am I to ask your leave to go where I will, Ismail Bakhsh—you who -have eaten my father’s salt? I am going to Bir-ul-Malikat, and I -forbid you to interfere. You take too much upon yourself.” -</p> - -<p> -Ismail Bakhsh saluted in dumb amazement as Rahah translated the words -with much gusto. -</p> - -<p> -“Truly Sinjāj Kīlin himself speaks in his daughter!” he murmured -submissively, as Georgia increased by another tin the pile which Rahah -was carrying, and left the room without vouchsafing him another -glance. He watched the two women out of sight, and after securing the -door of the store-room, went off to his quarters, revolving many -things in his mind. -</p> - -<p> -Georgia’s preparations were now almost complete. Rahah had added -several native loaves and a quantity of flour to her stock of -provisions, together with a saucepan and a new water-jar, and Fitz -brought Georgia the paper on which he had written out the Morse code, -and reminded her that it was possible, by means of two mirrors placed -at right angles to each other, to obtain a flash when the sun might -seem to be too low in the heavens for signalling to be attempted with -success. The only thing now left to be done, although it was a very -important one, was to obtain Abd-ur-Rahim’s consent to the expedition. -It occurred to Georgia that in this she might find a powerful ally in -Khadija, and before sending Rahah to ask the old commandant to come -and speak to her, she returned to the room in which she had left the -sorceress. When Abd-ur-Rahim appeared, Rahah was walking meekly behind -him, and passing into the inner room, took her place behind her -mistress without a word; but it struck Georgia presently that she must -have made a suggestion to him on the way. -</p> - -<p> -“What does the doctor lady require?” asked Abd-ur-Rahim. -</p> - -<p> -“I wish to go to Bir-ul-Malikat with Khadija, who has one sick in the -house that she desires me to see,” said Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“But the doctor lady must remember that it was not even permitted to -her yesterday to visit the sick in the town, outside the citadel. How, -then, could her servant suffer her to cross the desert to -Bir-ul-Malikat?” -</p> - -<p> -“But surely you will make an exception in favour of Khadija, who is -the servant of your lord Fath-ud-Din?” urged Georgia, aghast at this -new possibility of failure just as success seemed to be in her grasp. -</p> - -<p> -“I know not,” replied Abd-ur-Rahim, cautiously. “Who is it that is -sick?” -</p> - -<p> -“Make no inquiry into matters that concern thee not, O Abd-ur-Rahim,” -put in Khadija, with more than the usual touch of sharpness in her -tone. “It is enough for thee that one of thy lord’s household is sick, -and that I desire the doctor lady to come and see her. It will not be -for thy health, nor for that of thine house, for thee to put -difficulties in the way of her coming.” -</p> - -<p> -Abd-ur-Rahim grew visibly paler under the implied threat. “But what -shall I say to my lord and to the English if any evil befalls the -doctor lady?” he asked, helplessly. -</p> - -<p> -“What evil should befall her?” snapped Khadija. “Am I a dog, to -ill-treat the one who comes to help me?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay,” stammered Abd-ur-Rahim. “Far be it from me to hint evil -concerning thee. But there are dangers in the desert, and perhaps -among the servants at Bir-ul-Malikat there might be—— Nay, I cannot -let the doctor lady go unless I have a surety in her place.” -</p> - -<p> -“Whom dost thou seek?” demanded Khadija. -</p> - -<p> -“Thy son, Yakub, that he may remain here until the doctor lady has -returned in peace.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is well,” returned the old woman, after a scarcely perceptible -pause. “Why should I fear for my son, since I mean well to the doctor -lady? Let him come, and welcome.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I will ride with thee to Bir-ul-Malikat, and receive the young -man before the doctor lady arrives there,” said Abd-ur-Rahim, -determined to leave no opening for the evasion of his conditions. -</p> - -<p> -Khadija gave an angry snort, but to demur would have been to cast a -doubt on the honesty of her own intentions, and she submitted to the -inevitable. Abd-ur-Rahim departed to order the horses to be got ready, -and Georgia went to say good-bye to Lady Haigh, and to give her last -directions respecting the treatment of Sir Dugald. Fitz received a -parting injunction to take care of Colleen Bawn, and was further -honoured by having Dick’s sword committed to his keeping. Georgia -would have liked to take it with her, but it was rather an -unmanageable piece of luggage, and she gave it into his charge with no -little reluctance. -</p> - -<p> -There was still another parting to be undergone, for as the three -women passed through the front portion of the house and reached the -steep path which led down into the courtyard, Ismail Bakhsh came to -meet them, with his hand on the shoulder of his son Ibrahim. -</p> - -<p> -“O my lady,” he said to Georgia, “thy servant would entreat thy -forgiveness for his words of an hour ago. It was not for him to order -thy doings, but he would fain serve thee still, for thy father’s sake. -He is old, and cannot now fight as he did once, but let my lady permit -his son to take his place, and guard her in her journey and in her -sojourn in the strange house.” -</p> - -<p> -“O my lady, let him come,” whispered Rahah, and Georgia assented to -the old man’s request. Ibrahim was not likely to be of much service as -a guard, but he might contrive to escape with the antidote if she and -Rahah were prevented from leaving when they wished. -</p> - -<p> -“It is well,” said Ismail Bakhsh. “Guard well the doctor lady, O my -son, for thy father ate her father’s bread for many years. Count thine -own life nothing in comparison with the life of Sinjāj Kīlin’s -daughter, and it shall please thy father well, whatever issue it may -please God to send to this matter.” -</p> - -<p> -“What says the old fool about Sinjāj Kīlin?” demanded Khadija, -catching the name. -</p> - -<p> -“My lady is Sinjāj Kīlin’s daughter,” said Rahah, with much pride; -but the look on the old woman’s face made her recoil terrified. “O my -lady, she means to kill us,” she whispered fearfully when she could -gain Georgia’s ear. -</p> - -<p> -“We can’t turn back now, Rahah.” -</p> - -<p> -“If the doctor lady should run into some danger in spite of me, and -evil should befall her, thou wilt not hold me guilty?” Khadija was -saying to Abd-ur-Rahim. -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, surely, if it is no fault of thine,” was the response. -</p> - -<p> -“It is well,” said Khadija. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch22"> -CHAPTER XXII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">A SILENCE THAT WAS GOLDEN.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -Although she would not for the world have allowed either Rahah or -Khadija to discover the fact, Georgia was conscious of a distinct -sense of shrinking as she rode under the gateway of Bir-ul-Malikat, -after seeing Abd-ur-Rahim start on his homeward journey with young -Yakub among his followers. The place was less of a fortress, and more -of a country seat, than Bir-ul-Malik; but the high walls which -surrounded the grounds of the great house, and about which a number of -smaller buildings and huts were clustered, were quite capable of -defence, and the assemblage of men visible about the gate and -courtyard showed that a respectable garrison could be collected in -time of need. Still, the fortifications were not of such a character -as to be able to stand a protracted siege, and Georgia guessed what -was indeed the truth, that while they were useful to withstand the -sudden raid of any marauding border tribe, who might be supposed to be -swayed by the hope of plunder more strongly than by superstitious -fear, the real bulwark of the place was Khadija’s reputation as a -sorceress. Here she was supreme, and her fame protected alike her -precious charge and the servants and labourers who formed the little -colony. When she had once for all secured the transference of Jahan -Beg’s rights in Bir-ul-Malik to her master, by diverting the -water-supply, she had removed from her path the only enemy on whom the -universal belief in her supernatural power for ill had no effect, and -who had been able to keep an eye on her doings. Every man and woman in -the place was bound to Khadija’s service both by interest and by fear, -and Georgia felt that it was indeed well that Abd-ur-Rahim had -insisted on receiving her son as a hostage before he would intrust his -prisoners to her tender mercies. -</p> - -<p> -Dismounting from their steeds in the inner courtyard of the great -house, where a number of slave-girls were gathered to stare at them, -the new arrivals were led by Khadija into the rooms which she had -promised them, and which, as Georgia was delighted to find, looked out -on the desert in the direction of Bir-ul-Malik. After a short interval -to allow them to arrange their possessions and to remove a little of -the sand of travel, the old woman came to fetch them, and led them -through the rambling, half-deserted house to the opposite wing. -Everything in the rooms through which they were conducted spoke of -vanished wealth and a gorgeous past. The divans were covered with rich -silks, now faded, torn, and dirty, and costly ornaments of European -manufacture stood broken and tarnished in corners. It was evident that -Fath-ud-Din’s ambitious plans for his daughter’s future had not -impelled him to keep her present abode even in tolerable repair, while -it was not difficult to discern that Khadija cherished a strong -preference for muddle and dirt over cleanliness and order. The state -of the passages and of the bedrooms opening from them was -extraordinary—they seemed to be filled both with the dust and with -the rags of ages; while in the innermost room of all, and therefore -the one with the smallest allowance of air and light, was to be found -the jewel enshrined in this sorry casket, Fath-ud-Din’s daughter -Zeynab, the destined bride of Antar Khan. -</p> - -<p> -“This is my Rose of the World, O doctor lady,” said Khadija, when she -had led Georgia into the dark close room, and as she spoke she -indicated a small form crouched among a heap of cushions on a broken -bedstead. It was so dark that there was no possibility of seeing -anything distinctly. -</p> - -<p> -“Get up on that chest, Rahah, and open the lattice a little way,” said -Georgia; and as the girl, with a vigorous wrench, forced open the -small high window, which moved so stiffly that it was evident it had -not been touched for years, the light disclosed a very white little -Rose indeed, with a face drawn with pain, and grimed and blistered -with crying. The child (she could not have been more than ten) was -lying in an uncomfortable cramped position, with the injured foot -fastened down to one of the legs of the bedstead. This was Khadija’s -latest idea of the way to reduce a swelling. Before saying anything, -Georgia stooped and cut the cord, replacing the foot gently on the -cushions, but the slight movement drew an uneasy little cry from the -patient. -</p> - -<p> -“Who are these people?” she demanded fretfully of Khadija, trying to -arrange the folds of the dirty wrapper she was wearing into some -semblance of dignity. “I do not want visitors when I cannot put on my -best clothes. Why hast thou brought these women here, O my nurse? Who -are they, I say?” sharply. -</p> - -<p> -“It is the great doctor lady, who will cure thy foot, my dove,” -replied Khadija, somewhat shamefacedly. -</p> - -<p> -“The Englishwoman?” exclaimed the child, starting up and glaring at -Georgia with eyes like those of a hunted stag. Then, sinking down -again, she burst into a storm of angry sobs, striking Khadija -passionately when she tried to calm her. It was useless for Georgia to -speak, and equally useless for the old woman to entreat her Rose, her -dove, her eyes, her soul, her Queen Zeynab, to be quiet and let the -doctor lady look at her foot. The sobs continued with unabated -violence, mingled with torrents of vituperation directed at Khadija, -and the child fought like a wild cat when any one attempted to touch -her. -</p> - -<p> -“Leave her alone,” said Georgia, with an imperative gesture, to -Khadija; “come here, and let her have her cry out. Now tell me what -you have been saying to her to make her afraid of me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nothing, O doctor lady—nothing, in the name of God! It is only that -the maiden fears the face of strangers.” -</p> - -<p> -“That would not account for her terror on finding out who I was. -Speak, Khadija, and tell the truth, or I leave the house at once.” -</p> - -<p> -Terror-stricken by the threat, the old woman mumbled out an -explanation, which Rahah translated to her mistress. -</p> - -<p> -“She says, O my lady, that since she heard you were at Bir-ul-Malik -she has frightened the child with your name. When she was going to try -a new medicine, or to hurt her at all, she would say, ‘If you cry or -struggle, I will send for the cruel English doctor lady, who will cut -off your foot in little pieces,’ and the child was quiet at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is quite enough,” said Georgia, observing that Zeynab, guessing -that the rest were talking about her, had hushed her sobs in order to -try to hear what they were saying, and she returned to the side of the -bed. The sobs began again at once, but Georgia laid a firm hand on the -child’s shoulder and signed to Rahah to interpret for her. -</p> - -<p> -“When you have quite finished crying, Zeynab, you can let me know, and -I will show you something I have got here.” -</p> - -<p> -The sobs continued for a minute or two with equal violence, but -presently they slackened a little, and Zeynab inquired brokenly, “What -kind of thing is it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Something you will like to see,” said Georgia; and Rahah added on her -own account as she translated the words: “The doctor lady says so, and -the English always tell the truth.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do they?” asked Zeynab, with interest. “I thought they were very bad -people.” She had ceased to sob, but was too proud to ask for the sight -she had been promised, and Georgia took something out of her bag, and -waited. More from habit than from any expectation of making use of it, -she had slipped in with her instruments a German toy which she had -found very useful in winning the friendship of children in her old -hospital days, and which had proved a source of great delight to Nur -Jahan and the other women in the Palace at Kubbet-ul-Haj. It was -carved in wood, and represented a cock standing on a barrel. The -barrel contained a yard-measure, and when the tape was drawn out the -bird flapped his wings, faster or slower according to the rapidity of -the movement. -</p> - -<p> -“What is it?” inquired Zeynab at last, looking curiously at the cock, -her interest stimulated by the doctor’s silence. For answer, Georgia -pulled out the tape, and the child gave a shriek of wild delight. -</p> - -<p> -“Wonderful, wonderful!” she cried. “Is it alive?” -</p> - -<p> -Rahah explained that the bird was merely one of the marvels of the -white people, and Zeynab, after a somewhat timid approach, ventured to -pull the tape for herself. Then she was fairly won, and screamed with -pleasure as the cock flapped his wings for her. Not to make the wonder -too cheap, Georgia reclaimed it after a short time; but the ice was -broken. Zeynab lay back on her cushions and looked at her musingly. -</p> - -<p> -“Art thou really a woman?” she asked at last. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes. What else could I be?” asked Georgia, smiling. -</p> - -<p> -“I thought thou wert perhaps a man,” said the child, shyly; and -Georgia felt devoutly thankful that Dick was not there to hear her. -“Shall I tell thee why, O doctor lady?” she went on, then turned -suddenly to Khadija. “O my nurse, I am thirsty. Bring me some -sherbet.” -</p> - -<p> -“One of the slaves shall prepare it for thee, my soul.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, there is no one who makes it as thou dost. Fetch it for me, O my -nurse, or I shall scream.” -</p> - -<p> -With a very bad grace Khadija complied with the imperious command, and -hobbled out of the room. The moment she was gone, Zeynab took a folded -piece of paper from beneath her pillow and laid it in Georgia’s hand. -</p> - -<p> -“There!” she said, with a radiant smile. Georgia unfolded the paper, -and found it to contain a wretched native print, vile alike in -drawing, colour, and intention, and purporting to represent an English -ball-room. Some resemblance between the open coat and cotton blouse -which Georgia wore with her riding-skirt, and a man’s dress-coat and -shirt-front, had struck the child, and led her to the conclusion that -Georgia was a man. -</p> - -<p> -“I see what you mean,” said Georgia, whose one glance at the print had -filled her with loathing; “but, Zeynab, this is not a very pretty -picture for you to have. If you will give it to me, I will find you a -book with several pictures in it instead.” -</p> - -<p> -“Give me the book first,” was the prudent answer, as Zeynab reclaimed -her treasure jealously. “This is all I have. What are thy pictures -like, O doctor lady?” -</p> - -<p> -“There is one of the Queen of England and many of her family,” said -Georgia, thinking of some odd numbers of illustrated papers which had -thus far survived wonderfully the various vicissitudes of the Mission. -“I might even find you two or three books if you will be good and let -me look at your foot.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, my foot!” Zeynab’s face was pursed up once more in readiness to -cry. “It hurts so dreadfully, and Khadija said thou wouldst cut it -off.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not if I can possibly help it, I promise you. Will you be a brave -girl, and let me look at it quietly? I don’t mind your crying out if I -hurt you very much; but you must not struggle, and I will be as gentle -as I can.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why should I be hurt? I am Queen Zeynab.” -</p> - -<p> -“Because I must hurt you a little now if you are to get well -afterwards. If you are queen here, show it by being braver than any -one else would be. I am treating you like a grown-up person, Zeynab, -not like a baby.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is well,” said Zeynab, with a frightened little smile. “Thou wilt -not cut my foot off bit by bit?” -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not. If I should have to cut it off, I will give you -something to prevent your feeling it at all, so that you won’t even -know that it is being done; but I hope it will not be necessary. Now -let me see it.” -</p> - -<p> -With great bravery the child allowed her foot to be disencumbered of -the mass of dirty rags in which it was enveloped, and lay still with -compressed lips while Georgia made her examination. The theory which -the doctor had formed on hearing Khadija’s report she saw at once to -be the correct one. The splintered bone was accountable for the -swelling, and would have induced mortification if it had remained much -longer in the wound. The foot was in a frightful state, but there was -still just a possibility of operating with success. The operation must -be undertaken at once, Georgia decided, if the limb was to be saved, -and she turned to Rahah to tell her to get out the necessary -anæsthetic. The movement, slight as it was, gave a jerk to the -rickety bedstead, which communicated itself to the wounded foot, and -forced a moan of pain from the child’s lips. Almost simultaneously -with the sound, Khadija precipitated herself into the room with a -suddenness which suggested that she must have been listening at the -door, and seizing Georgia by the shoulders, thrust her violently away -from the bed and to the other side of the little room. -</p> - -<p> -“What art thou doing to my child?” she demanded, standing between the -doctor and Zeynab, who was sobbing and wailing with the pain of the -rough jar which the impetuous onslaught had caused to her foot. -“Answer me, O doctor lady! I sent for thee to cure her, and wouldst -thou torment her when I am not by?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is thou who art hurting me, O my nurse,” moaned Zeynab. “The -doctor lady did but shake me a little, but thou hast killed me. Go -away, and let the doctor lady do what she likes.” -</p> - -<p> -“What! has the doctor lady bewitched thy heart away from me already?” -cried the old woman, turning upon her. “Ah, wicked girl, what hast -thou there?” and she pounced upon the vile daub which was as good as a -whole art gallery to Zeynab, and tore it to pieces. “Have I not -forbidden thee to see or hear anything of the evil doings of the -wicked white people?” -</p> - -<p> -“I hate thee!” screamed Zeynab, flinging herself upon her nurse, and -attacking her with all her might. “The white people are good, and thou -hast torn my picture. I love the doctor lady, but thou art a pig!” -</p> - -<p> -“Hush, Zeynab, you will make your foot worse,” said Georgia, -interposing between Khadija and her charge. “I am going to give you -something that will keep you from feeling pain, and then I hope I -shall be able to do you some good.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay,” cried Khadija; “wouldst thou steal away the child’s soul under -pretence of saving her pain? I know thee, O doctor lady, and thou -shalt never shut up my Zeynab’s soul in a bottle with snakes and -devils and unclean animals. I have heard of thy doings, and of the -demons thou hast to serve thee, and how thou dost steal souls that -thou mayest make them work evil at thy will. Thou shalt not charm my -Zeynab’s soul away to imprison it with them.” -</p> - -<p> -But it only needed this to determine Zeynab immediately in favour of -the anæsthetic. -</p> - -<p> -“Shut up my soul in a bottle?” she exclaimed, with eager interest. -“But thou wilt not keep it there always, O doctor lady? I should like -it for a little while, but not for long.” -</p> - -<p> -“I couldn’t put your soul in a bottle if I wanted it there,” said -Georgia, laughing; “but I promise you that I won’t keep you without it -longer than I can help.” -</p> - -<p> -“I tell thee thou shalt not use thy vile drugs on the maiden,” -declared Khadija stoutly, as Rahah began to get out the necessary -implements. -</p> - -<p> -“Then how am I to perform the operation?” asked Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“I will call two of the slave-women, and they shall hold the child -quiet.” -</p> - -<p> -“O doctor lady, thou wilt not let her bring them to hold me down?” -entreated Zeynab piteously. “They hurt so dreadfully.” -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not. I am in charge of this case, Khadija, and I refuse to -undertake the operation unless the patient is put under chloroform. If -she struggled, frightful harm might be done.” -</p> - -<p> -“At least I shall be here to wake her if I see that thou art taking -away her soul.” -</p> - -<p> -“If you do, I shall have to chloroform you too. No, if you stay in the -room, you will not move unless I tell you to do anything. Otherwise I -must send you away.” -</p> - -<p> -Khadija was vanquished. With a grunt she wrapped her head in her veil, -and sat down on the floor at the head of the bed, while Georgia and -Rahah proceeded with their preparations, the carved chest in which -Zeynab’s best clothes were kept serving as an impromptu -operating-table. The poor little patient grew paler and paler as she -caught sight of one horror after another, for she insisted on raising -herself on her elbow to look at everything, and demanded that Rahah -should show her the instruments one by one. Georgia put a stop to this -at once, but the child’s terror was already so extreme that nothing -but the determination not to allow Khadija to triumph kept her from -entreating the doctor lady to postpone the operation. She looked up -with a pitiful smile when the chloroform was about to be administered, -and seemed almost ready to beg for a respite; but Khadija was leaning -forward and scanning her face keenly, on the alert to take advantage -of the slightest willingness to yield, and she said with a little -gasp— -</p> - -<p> -“O doctor lady, I am not frightened. Go on, O girl.” -</p> - -<p> -But when the chloroform had taken effect, and Rahah moved aside a -little to enable Georgia to reach the patient more easily, Khadija -caught a glimpse of her charge and sprang up. -</p> - -<p> -“Thou hast killed her, O doctor lady! Alas, my Rose of the World, that -thy Khadija should have given thee into the hands of the infidel!” and -she was about to shake the child violently, in the hope of restoring -her to consciousness; but Georgia’s patience was at an end. -</p> - -<p> -“Take her out,” she said sharply to Rahah, to the intense delight of -the handmaiden; and before Khadija realised what was happening to her, -she was outside the door, and the door was bolted on the inside, while -Rahah assured her emphatically through the crack that the child was -alive, and would remain so if she would only keep quiet, but that if -she made any noise or disturbance the worst results might confidently -be expected to ensue. Terrified by the realisation of the fact that -her darling was now absolutely in the power of the strangers, Khadija -crouched silently at the door and made no sign, while in the respite -afforded by her exclusion from the room, Georgia, with Rahah’s -assistance, performed her task speedily and successfully. The splinter -was extracted and the broken bone set, after which the wound was -carefully dressed, with the aid of appliances such as had never been -seen in Ethiopia before, and Rahah contemplated the result with pride. -</p> - -<p> -“Regular hospital treatment!” she said, adopting the words she had -once heard Dr Headlam use to Georgia with reference to a case of his -own, and then turned her attention to making as comfortable a bed as -possible out of the coverlets and cushions scattered about, that the -patient might not return to consciousness on the wretched bedstead she -had occupied hitherto. When everything was finished the door was -opened and Khadija again admitted. She came in suspiciously, and -looked askance at all she saw; but, on finding that Zeynab was -sleeping quietly, sat down beside her without uttering a word. -</p> - -<p> -The operation once successfully completed, Georgia and Rahah settled -down to an extremely monotonous mode of life for several days. Their -sole interest and excitement was caused by the improvement or relapses -of the patient, and by the necessity of keeping an eye on Khadija. Not -only was it extremely likely that the old woman would try to poison -them, but she also cherished a lively distrust of Georgia’s dressings, -and there was a constant risk that in a frenzy of rage she might tear -them off, and even interfere with the wound itself, in which case poor -Zeynab would have been worse off than before. But as the days passed -on and Zeynab continued to make progress, the old woman began to -believe once more in the possibility of her charge’s regaining perfect -health. The little face which had been so pinched and pain-lined began -to recover its bloom, and Georgia found it possible to believe in the -loveliness the report of which had spread even to Kubbet-ul-Haj, and -which had earned for Zeynab her pet-name of Rose of the World. Warm -water and the gift of a piece of the doctor lady’s soap were powerful -inducements to the child to keep her face clean, and the consequent -improvement in her appearance surprised no one more than Khadija. Her -wild outbreaks of wrath ceased gradually as Zeynab’s eyes grew -brighter and her cheeks less thin, and her manner to Georgia became -markedly gracious. But this did not lead to any slackening of the -precautions observed by the visitors, for they knew that their danger -was considerably increased by the fact that they had performed their -part of the bargain, whereas Khadija had not as yet discharged hers. -Every day Rahah cooked their food over a spirit-lamp and drew from the -well the water they needed, while Ibrahim also was provided for out of -the stores they had brought with them. For the hours of darkness, -moreover, Rahah patented a scheme of defence of which the idea was -entirely her own. Before leaving Bir-ul-Malik, she had begged from -Ismail Bakhsh a box of tin-tacks, and every night she strewed these -upon the floor, with the points upwards. Georgia remarked that if the -house should catch fire, and Rahah and she found it necessary to -escape hurriedly, they themselves would be the first to suffer; but -Rahah was not deterred from adopting her plan by this consideration. -She had also possessed herself of a whistle, with which it was her -intention to summon Ibrahim from his slumbers to the rescue, in case -of an attack in force; and she explained this to him very clearly, -only to discover that the idea of entering the harem, even on an -errand of such urgency, appalled him almost more than the prospect -that murder would be done if he stayed outside. -</p> - -<p> -“But I have found out something else from Ibrahim, O my lady,” said -Rahah, when describing the result of the interview to her mistress. “I -know why it is that Khadija hates the name of Sinjāj Kīlin, your -father. He it was who attacked her village, and whose soldiers killed -her husband and son, and she has been thirsting for vengeance ever -since. That is why I think we are not safe here for a moment, for in -revenging herself upon you she would obtain her heart’s desire.” -</p> - -<p> -But Georgia turned a deaf ear to the suggestion that she should leave -her patient before her recovery was assured, although it was repeated -in Fitz’s first heliographic message on the morning after her arrival. -He appeared to be in a conversational mood. -</p> - -<p> -“Stratford was like a dozen wild cats last night when he found you -were not coming back just yet. He is afraid North will skin him alive -when he turns up again. Lady Haigh is awfully unhappy about you. She -says she is certain you are in great danger, and begs you to come back -at once, and not to mind about the medicine.” -</p> - -<p> -In answer to this, Georgia flashed back by slow degrees: -</p> - -<p> -“We are quite well and safe. Operation successfully performed, but I -must stay here a few days to look after patient.” -</p> - -<p> -To this determination she continued to adhere firmly, notwithstanding -the agonised entreaties to return which Fitz transmitted to her every -day from Lady Haigh. He kept her informed of Sir Dugald’s condition, -and she directed any slight changes of treatment she thought -advisable, but consent to come back without the antidote she would -not, in spite of the alarms of her present position. For the knowledge -of these she was in large measure indebted to Ibrahim, who, for a -professed fatalist, took an extraordinary delight in prophesying evil, -and communicated all his anticipations of danger most faithfully to -Rahah. Consequently, when Rahah came running back in much excitement -one evening, after taking Ibrahim his supper, her mistress was not -affected by her news to the extent she had expected. -</p> - -<p> -“O my lady, Ibrahim says he is sure some evil is going to happen. -Several messengers have come in during the day, bringing news to -Khadija, and he is certain that one of them was from Kubbet-ul-Haj. -And Khadija has been going round among the men here, stirring them up -against the English, and they have all got out their weapons, and they -are cleaning their muskets and sharpening their swords. Ibrahim knows -that they must be going to kill us to-morrow—at least he says so; but -I bade him tell the men of the vengeance the English would take on -them if any ill befell us, and of the great power and hunger for war -of the Major Sahib, and how he was going to marry you. I said it very -loud, so that Khadija might hear, for she was not far off, but she -only laughed.” -</p> - -<p> -“She was probably amused by your suspicions of her,” said Georgia, -absently. The fact that she had been able this evening to alter the -dressings on Zeynab’s foot, and allow the wound to close, was much -more interesting to her at the moment than Ibrahim’s suspicions. If -all continued to go on as well as it had done hitherto, she ought to -be able to return in triumph to Bir-ul-Malik in a day or two with the -all-important antidote. -</p> - -<p> -Rahah shook her head over her mistress’s lack of interest in her great -news, and watched jealously for an opportunity of proving that her own -excitement had been justified. She found one the very next day, and -immediately rushed into Georgia’s room once more with her veil flying -behind her. -</p> - -<p> -“O my lady, there is really something wrong! Ibrahim is gone—at -least, I cannot find him—and when I asked the men where he was, they -only laughed at me and reviled me. And there are watchmen upon the -towers, making signs to one another, and all the men and boys are -gathered together with their weapons in their hands, and the women and -children are sharpening knives and talking of plunder. What shall we -do?” -</p> - -<p> -“We can’t do anything, except keep quiet and show no fear,” said -Georgia. “I don’t think they would have needed so much stirring up to -attack two women, Rahah. No doubt they are not thinking of us at all. -Very likely they know that some of the wild tribes intend to attack -the place, and they are preparing to defend it. Perhaps Ibrahim is -helping them down at the gate. Whatever you do, don’t look -frightened.” -</p> - -<p> -“Frightened!” said Rahah, with high scorn, and sat down in the corner -to polish Georgia’s instruments. A little later Khadija entered, and -asked Rahah to go and sit beside Zeynab and amuse her, since she -seemed restless, and she herself was anxious to take the doctor lady -into the garden and point out to her some of its beauties. Rahah -looked appealingly at her mistress, entreating her mutely not to -accept the invitation, but Georgia was firm in the principles she had -just enunciated. Any show of fear or suspicion would only serve to -irritate Khadija and put her on her guard; and moreover, if her -purposes were evil, she could carry them into execution as well in the -house as out of doors. Her decision seemed to be justified by the old -woman’s behaviour, for she hobbled along beside her, talking as -pleasantly as an ingrained habit of snappishness would permit her, and -appeared anxious to exhibit the different nooks and arbours which -formed the chief attraction of the garden. Georgia could not -understand nearly all she said, but an emphatic word now and then, -eked out by signs, gave her some idea when admiration was expected of -her, and the walk was marred by no difference of opinion. -</p> - -<p> -Passing through the garden, they came at last to one of the -watch-towers of which Rahah had spoken, perched upon the crest of the -hill, and overlooking the great gateway and the paved court, -containing the famous well and surrounded by stables and other -outbuildings, into which the gate opened. Khadija proposed that they -should ascend the tower and look at the view, and Georgia acquiesced -at once in the suggestion. To her surprise, the summit was occupied by -several men armed to the teeth, in addition to the watchman; but these -made way without a word for the two women, and they stood looking out -on the desert. The view thus obtained was a very wide one, and Georgia -noticed at once a distant cloud of dust, which appeared to be nearing -the place. Khadija’s eyes were also fixed upon this cloud, and Georgia -concluded that it must denote the approach of the invading band -against whom the warlike preparations were being made. -</p> - -<p> -For some time those on the top of the tower stood watching the -dust-cloud without uttering a word. As it came nearer, there were -occasional glimpses of moving men and animals and the momentary flash -of steel, and Georgia felt that the men behind her were pressing -closer and fairly panting with excitement. -</p> - -<p> -“O doctor lady,” said Khadija, “thou seest these horsemen. Knowest -thou who they are?” -</p> - -<p> -“They ride in order. No doubt they are soldiers.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is that all? Look again, O doctor lady.” -</p> - -<div class="fig"> -<a href="images/img_11.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_11_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“Look again, O doctor lady.” -</div></div> - -<p> -“They wear turbans—some of them, at least. They have lances with -pennons. They seem to be in uniform. It is dark, like the uniform of -the Khemistan Horse. They are the Khemistan Horse!” -</p> - -<p> -“Look again, O doctor lady!” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia looked. The cloud of dust had become much less opaque as it -approached, and the forms of the mounted men could be clearly -discerned. There were two or three officers among them, and Georgia’s -gaze was riveted on the foremost. From the moment in which she had -obtained her first glimpse of him through the flying dust, it had -seemed to her that there was something familiar in his appearance; and -now, as she bent over the parapet and shaded her eyes with her hand, -she knew that she had not been mistaken. It was Dick, leaning forward -on his horse, as though from utter weariness, and looking neither to -right nor left as he rode. -</p> - -<p> -“Thou seest now, O doctor lady?” asked Khadija. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I see; but what of that?” -</p> - -<p> -“Only this—and this.” Khadija’s bony finger pointed first to a spot -some distance in advance of the little British column, where the track -wound through rocky ground, with sand-cliffs of some height rising on -either side—the dry bed of a winter torrent, probably—then to the -force as it marched. “All the men of Bir-ul-Malikat in ambush there, O -doctor lady, and here the English riding into the ambuscade without -knowing of it.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why have you brought me here?” asked Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -Khadija understood the tone of the question, though not its words. -</p> - -<p> -“To see what happens, O doctor lady. Not to warn thy friends—oh no! -One cry—one sign of warning—and thou diest. Thou seest these men -here. Their daggers are ready, and they fear not to use them.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia stood looking over the parapet, with both hands gripping its -rough edge. The situation was quite clear to her without the aid of -Khadija’s words, which she understood only partially, and there was no -doubt in her mind as to the course to be taken. Behind were the -daggers of the fanatics, who were Khadija’s willing tools—in front, -Dick and his comrades, riding unconscious to their doom. Of course she -would warn them. They were almost abreast of the tower now, as she -stood with beating heart making her hurried calculation. The warning -must necessarily be the work of a moment, for there would be no more -time allowed her. One moment to tear off her <i>burka</i> and wave it -wildly as a signal, and to shriek “Dick! ambush!” using her hands as a -speaking-trumpet. She knew the extraordinary distance to which voices -are carried by the dry desert air, and she had no fear as to his -hearing her. -</p> - -<p> -But as she stood waiting for the critical moment, with her hands -already raised to fling off the <i>burka</i>, a sudden disturbing thought -came to her. Why had Khadija brought her to that spot at that moment, -when she must know her well enough by this time to be sure that she -would at least make an attempt to warn the column of its danger? Was -it not possible that for some reason or other she wished her to give -the alarm? It was an awful moment, but Georgia’s whole training had -been such as to inculcate presence of mind and prompt decision in -emergencies. Just as the British force reached the point at which she -had determined that her warning should be given, she turned her back -deliberately on the desert, and, sitting down on the parapet, buried -her face in her hands. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, the doctor lady is <i>prudent</i>!” said Khadija, in a low snarl of -intense rage. But Georgia scarcely heard her. She was praying as she -had never prayed before, and at the same time listening intently for -any sound of conflict. For, after all, she might have decided wrongly. -At last she could bear the uncertainty no longer, and looked round. -The dreaded <i>nullah</i> had been reached, and the troops were passing -through it without opposition, two or three dismounted men scrambling -along the brink on either side as scouts. There was no ambuscade -there, at all events. Almost before she had had time to realise the -full significance of this, the gleam of a weapon in the courtyard -below her caught her attention, and she became aware that the -outbuildings around it were filled with armed men crouching low, while -the gate was standing partially open. There had been a trap laid here, -that was evident, for a low growl of concentrated anger rose to her -ears, as the liers-in-wait began to perceive that the prey had escaped -them. Then the sound was echoed by the men on the tower, as they drew -their daggers and turned towards Georgia with words and looks which -intimated that in her they had, at any rate, a scapegoat for their -disappointment. With a calmness which surprised herself, she did not -even spring to her feet, but remarked quietly to Khadija— -</p> - -<p> -“Zeynab is not yet recovered, and Yakub is still at Bir-ul-Malik.” -</p> - -<p> -With a muttered curse the old woman pushed her way through the group -and ordered the men back. They obeyed sulkily, and Georgia, struck by -the irony of the situation and the utter discomfiture of her enemies, -began to laugh. She laughed until the tears came into her eyes, and -the men looked at one another and muttered, “She is certainly mad,” -while Khadija, with disappointed hate depicted on her face, motioned -to her to return to the house. Still laughing weakly, Georgia obeyed, -and found her way back to Rahah, to whom she recounted what had -happened during the last half-hour. Deeply interested, the girl -promised to do her best to unravel the mystery, and when evening came -she returned to her mistress overflowing with news. -</p> - -<p> -“O my lady, I have found it all out. I have seen Ibrahim. He is set -free now, but they had shut him up in a dungeon, that he should not -warn the Major Sahib, because he had discovered their plans, and he -says that all the men are cursing you. The messenger from Fath-ud-Din -yesterday brought orders that on no account were his servants to -attack the English, for that then his life would be forfeited; but -Khadija could not bear to lose her revenge when she had so nearly -obtained it, and she thought it would be all right if she could make -the English attack first. She wanted you to cry out, O my lady, -because she thought that the Major Sahib would know your voice, and -thinking you were a prisoner and in danger, would rush to save you. -The men in the courtyard were told to shut the gate when as many as -possible of the English had come in, and to kill them if they -resisted—as naturally they would. Then she could not be held to blame -if the servants killed the English, who had forced their way into the -place and provoked a fight, or if you were found to have fallen from -the tower in trying to reach the Major Sahib. But you have brought all -her plans to nothing, and the Major Sahib ought to be proud that he -will have such a wife.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch23"> -CHAPTER XXIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">HARDLY WON.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -Unfortunately, the Major Sahib, not knowing all the circumstances of -the case, did not look at things quite in the same light as Rahah, and -Georgia was not left long in doubt as to his view of the matter. -Betaking herself to the terrace outside her room at the hour when she -usually carried on her heliographic communications with Fitz, she was -surprised to find that the conversation was opened by a complicated -series of flashes in such rapid succession that she could not read -them off. -</p> - -<p> -“It can’t be Mr Anstruther,” she said to herself; “he never begins in -that way. Can it be Dick who is doing it? It looks like some kind of -private signal—or it might be ‘Attention!’ flashed very fast. Oh, -here is the message!” -</p> - -<p> -But the perplexity on her face only became deeper when she had written -down the words, for their tone was not of the pleasantest. -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -“Get your things ready at once. I am coming to fetch you. -</p> - -<p class="sign2"> -<span class="sc">Dick</span>.” -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -Was the victory to be snatched away when it was so nearly within her -grasp? Georgia set her teeth hard as she flashed back— -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -“Cannot possibly leave to-night. Come for me in the morning. -</p> - -<p class="sign2"> -<span class="sc">Georgia</span>.” -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -The answer arrived quickly. -</p> - -<div class="letter"> - -<p> -“I am starting immediately, and shall expect to find you ready.” -</p> - -</div> - -<p> -This was a little too much. Georgia’s calmness, which had been -subjected to a considerable strain already by the excitements of the -day, gave way altogether, and it was with a hand that trembled a good -deal that she signalled back— -</p> - -<p> -“I must beg of you not to come, as I decline to start to-night.” Then, -repenting of the tone of her message, she added, “I am longing to see -you, but it is absolutely impossible for me to come before to-morrow -morning.” -</p> - -<p> -This time no answer was returned; but after a while, during which she -stood watching anxiously, and wondering whether Dick was actually on -his way to fetch her, she saw a solitary flash. This was the sign that -Fitz was beginning operations, and she signalled at once— -</p> - -<p> -“What is Major North doing?” -</p> - -<p> -“Gone to his quarters,” came the answer, “in a vile temper. Excuse me, -but this is true. Looks seedy, too; but he brought a surgeon with his -force, so don’t worry about him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Please tell him from me——” began Georgia, but the flashes came -again— -</p> - -<p> -“He won’t let me in. Stratford is calling me. I must go.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia left the heliograph with a sigh, for it was growing too late -to catch the sunlight properly, and she had a hard piece of work -before her this evening, the very crown and object, indeed, of her -visit to Bir-ul-Malikat. Returning to Zeynab’s room, she found Khadija -sitting crouched in her usual attitude upon the divan, and addressed -her— -</p> - -<p> -“I have performed what I promised, Khadija. Zeynab’s foot is getting -on most satisfactorily, and needs only proper treatment and careful -dressing, so that it is quite safe for me to return to Bir-ul-Malik -to-morrow. I have shown the slave-girl, Bilkis, how to dress the -wound, and I will send her over a good supply of lint and bandages and -the other things I use, so that she may continue the treatment. She -can do the work as well as I can, if she has the right materials. Now -I am come to claim my reward. Give it to me, and let us go in peace.” -</p> - -<p> -“What was it that I promised thee?” asked Khadija slowly, when Rahah -had translated her mistress’s words. -</p> - -<p> -“The antidote for the poison which they call the Father of sleep, and -the directions for applying it,” said Georgia, promptly. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, the antidote!—it is well; I have it here,” and Khadija drew a -small square box from one corner of her ample veil, which was tied up -in a knot. “Take it, O doctor lady, and may it succeed in thy hands!” -</p> - -<p> -“Is this all that is necessary?” asked Georgia, opening the box, and -finding in it only a small quantity of flaky white powder. -</p> - -<p> -“I swear to thee that it is all thou canst need.” -</p> - -<p> -“And how is it to be applied?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay; I made no promise to tell thee that.” Khadija’s sharp little -eyes gleamed cunningly. -</p> - -<p> -“Very well, Khadija; then I shall remain here, and Yakub at -Bir-ul-Malik, and my friends there will send a message to Fath-ud-Din -at Kubbet-ul-Haj.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay; I was but joking, O doctor lady. Thou shalt do as I bid thee,” -and Georgia noted down the details of what sounded like a rude Turkish -bath, repeated three or four times, and varied by the administration -of copious draughts of a decoction made with the powder in the box. -</p> - -<p> -“And you are sure that you have given me all that is necessary for -effecting a cure?” asked Georgia, suspiciously, for the powder -possessed no healing qualities that were perceptible either to sight, -smell, or taste. -</p> - -<p> -“O doctor lady, I have given thee all. I swear it to thee by——” and -Khadija ran glibly through a catalogue of sacred persons and objects, -followed by an even more solemn list of divine names. Still Georgia -was not satisfied. She looked helplessly at Rahah, for she could not -hit upon any means of convicting Khadija of her falsehood, if -falsehood there was. But Rahah was equal to the occasion. -</p> - -<p> -“I will make her tell the truth, O my lady. Lay thy hand on the head -of the child Zeynab, O Khadija, and swear as I shall bid thee.” -</p> - -<p> -“O doctor lady! O my nurse! let it not be on my head!” expostulated -Zeynab in a terrified voice, as Khadija rose reluctantly from her seat -to comply with the imperious demand. -</p> - -<p> -“Dear child, it can’t hurt you,” said Georgia. “It is merely a form.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay,” said Rahah, “rather is it that if any evil befalls thee, it is -through Khadija’s lies, and by her fault. Go to the other side of the -room, O my lady. Stoop down, O Khadija; lay thy hand here, and say -after me, ‘If I have told lies to the doctor lady, and have not given -her all that I promised, and if the Envoy cannot be cured by the -medicine she holds in her hand, then let a curse light upon this -child. May she wither away in her youth, and not live to see her -marriage night. May the disgrace of her father ever continue and -increase, and his name be blotted out without a son to bear it after -him. May the house that should have mated with princes fall and perish -in dishonour, and may all that remain of it live only to shame it.’” -</p> - -<p> -“O my nurse, let not the curse light upon me!” sobbed Zeynab. -</p> - -<p> -“Be quiet, O daughter of iniquity!” said Khadija angrily, and laying -her hand on the child’s head with a menacing pressure, she repeated -the words after Rahah. Zeynab made no further protest, but lay silent, -looking white and frightened, much to the alarm of Georgia. She -regretted deeply that she had allowed Rahah to make so solemn an -attempt to work upon the superstitious fears of the old woman, and -urged her to withdraw the curse, lest the thought of it should do -Zeynab harm, but Rahah refused stoutly. -</p> - -<p> -“I cannot withdraw it, O my lady. Khadija has invoked it, and if she -was trying to deceive thee, she knew the danger that she was bringing -upon the child. If she has dealt with us honestly, all will yet be -well; but if evil befalls her master’s house, we shall know that it -was her own doing.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are certainly not so well to-night, Zeynab,” said Georgia, laying -her hand on the child’s forehead as she prepared to leave her at -bedtime. “Is anything the matter? Surely you are not thinking of those -foolish words? I am very sorry that I let Rahah say them, but they -can’t do you any harm.” -</p> - -<p> -The child made no answer, but looked up with a frightened face, and -Rahah translated Georgia’s first remark for the benefit of Khadija. -The old woman sprang up from the divan instantly, in a towering rage, -and after a hasty glance at Zeynab, turned upon Georgia and Rahah, and -drove them out of the room with a storm of curses, alleging that they -had bewitched the child in order to frighten her. When they reached -their own room, Georgia was inclined to be low-spirited over the issue -of her mission, but her maid displayed no signs of discouragement. -</p> - -<p> -“Wait!” she said mysteriously, and they waited, taking the opportunity -of gathering their possessions together in view of the return to -Bir-ul-Malik the next day. They had been in their room about an hour, -when the jingling of anklets along the passage, and a hurried knock at -the door, announced a visitor. Rahah opened the door cautiously, and -Khadija entered and walked up to Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“Give me the medicine,” she said abruptly, and taking from her bosom a -small phial, half filled with a clear colourless liquid, she emptied -the powder into it from the box, shook up the resultant mixture, and -closing the phial, handed it back to Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“Take it, O doctor lady,” she said. “But for the curse, thou shouldst -never have had it. But truly God is great, and He is good to the -accursed English, so that the old spells and the magic of our fathers -cannot stand before theirs. And now come and take away the curse from -my Rose of the World, for I cannot see her fade and die before my -eyes.” -</p> - -<p> -Followed by Rahah, Georgia returned to Zeynab’s room, where they found -the child tossing restlessly on her bed. -</p> - -<p> -“O my nurse, take it away!” was her cry. “I feel the curse; I know it -has come upon me. I cannot sleep. There is a weight on my heart and a -fire in my bones, and it is thou that art killing me.” -</p> - -<p> -“The curse is gone, my dove,” said Khadija. “I have given the rest of -the medicine to the doctor lady.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how can I believe thee? I feel no better,” moaned Zeynab. -</p> - -<p> -“O doctor lady, wilt thou still kill my child?” cried the old woman in -a frenzy. “I could give thee no more if she were dying at this moment. -Take away from her thy curse and thy evil enchantments.” -</p> - -<p> -Sitting down beside the bed, Georgia took the hot little hands into -one of hers, and with the other smoothed back the tangled hair from -the child’s brow. It was more than an hour before all her stories and -her talk could banish the haunting horror from Zeynab’s mind, and -induce her to close her bright eyes, and her doctor was nearly worn -out when she was at last able to leave her. Sheer fatigue made Georgia -sleep soundly, in spite of the excitement of the past day, and she and -Rahah were not disturbed again that night. In the morning Fitz flashed -an inquiry as to the time at which she would like to be fetched from -Bir-ul-Malikat, and about eleven o’clock she saw the cavalcade she was -expecting enter the courtyard. There was a hurried collecting together -of packages, a hasty farewell to Zeynab, who wept copiously, and would -not be comforted even by the promise that she should receive every -picture-paper Georgia could lay her hands on, and then, accompanied by -Khadija, the visitors went down to the courtyard. To Georgia’s -surprise and disappointment, it was Stratford and Fitz who came -eagerly to meet her as she appeared at the door shrouded in her -<i>burka</i>. -</p> - -<p> -“Where is Dick? He is not ill, is he?” she asked anxiously of -Stratford, remembering Fitz’s message of the night before. -</p> - -<p> -“He is so busy that he was obliged to send his apologies, and allow us -the honour of escorting you instead of coming to fetch you himself,” -said Stratford, in tones which were absolutely devoid of any -suggestion of ulterior meaning. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh!” said Georgia, blankly. -</p> - -<p> -“He found himself compelled to hold a full-dress review of his -detachment, or inspect their kits, or do stables, or something -complicated and professional of that kind,” said Fitz, with a dogged -resentment aggressively conspicuous in his manner. -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense, Anstruther! You know as well as I do that he would have -allowed nothing but absolute necessity to keep him from coming,” said -Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes, of course,” said Georgia, in the most natural tone she could -command. She would not let it be seen that she perceived the flimsy -character of the excuse, but she felt deeply mortified as she allowed -Stratford to mount her on her horse, and she resented his evident -determination to smooth things over almost more than Fitz’s -undisguised incredulity. “How <i>horrid</i> of Dick!” was what she said to -herself as she gathered up the reins, and the hot tears rose to her -eyes under the shadow of the <i>burka</i>. -</p> - -<p> -“Stay, Englishman!” cried Khadija from the doorstep, when Stratford, -having seen Rahah and the luggage safely bestowed, was about to mount -his own horse. “Where is Yakub, my son, whom I left at Bir-ul-Malik as -a pledge for the safe return of the doctor lady?” -</p> - -<p> -“I hope that Yakub will come back to you safe and sound in a few -days,” returned Stratford in Ethiopian, speaking so carefully that it -was evident he had studied his sentences with Kustendjian before -starting. “For the present, however, I think it well to detain him, on -my own responsibility. We don’t want any mistakes made about that -medicine for the Envoy. As soon as he has recovered, you shall have -your son back.” -</p> - -<p> -For answer, Khadija threw herself upon the ground, wailing and tearing -her hair and beating her breast, and calling upon Heaven and upon -Georgia to witness that she had performed all that was required of -her, and that she had given her all the necessary ingredients for the -medicine. Georgia, remembering the scene in Zeynab’s room the night -before, and indignant at being compelled to bear a part in what was -not far removed from a breach of faith, espoused her cause, and joined -her in demanding that Yakub should be at once released. In spite, -however, of all that she could say, Stratford remained immovable, and -mounting his horse, ordered an immediate start. But before the horses -had gone more than a few steps, Khadija rose from the ground, and -forcing her way through the escort, caught hold of Georgia’s rein. -</p> - -<p> -“O doctor lady,” she cried, with such reluctance that she seemed -almost to be torn in two by the conflicting passions in her mind, “I -had forgotten one thing. After the first administration of the -medicine, the sick man will sleep for two days and two nights a -natural sleep. If he is awakened in that time he will die, but if he -awakes of himself, all will be well. And now”—her tone changed -suddenly—“now go thy way, O thrice accursed daughter of an accursed -father, and when first thy bridegroom looks upon thy face on thy -wedding-night, may he turn his back on thee and say, ‘O woman, I -divorce thee!’ and so thrust thee out.” -</p> - -<p> -“Come, that’s enough,” said Stratford peremptorily, loosening her hand -from the rein. “You know now that it depends on yourself whether your -son returns to you in safety or not. Has Anstruther told you, Miss -Keeling, that we had a messenger from Jahan Beg the day before -yesterday?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I had not heard of it,” returned Georgia, following his example -in ignoring the baffled Khadija, who stood shaking her fist and -shrieking curses after the party. “What news did he bring?” -</p> - -<p> -“The best news possible. Jahan Beg has succeeded in unearthing the -conspirators who were troubling him when we left the city, and has -made it impossible for them, at any rate, to do more plotting. Among -other things, he discovered that they meant to stop us and keep us -here in order to get hold of the treaty, and therefore he sent -stringent orders to Abd-ur-Rahim to let us go at once with all our -property, on pain of death. Messengers were also sent to all the towns -and forts on the road and along the frontier, ordering the governors -on no account to oppose the advance of any English relieving force -coming from Khemistan, but to afford it every assistance, as if they -didn’t Fath-ud-Din would suffer. That accounts for North’s getting -back to us so quickly.” -</p> - -<p> -“How far had he to go?” asked Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“Only as far as Rahmat-Ullah, for Hicks had got there before him, and -frightened the Government about us a good deal, so that they had -already ordered up a couple of troops of the Khemistan Horse, in -addition to those usually stationed at the fort, and as soon as they -arrived he started back with them. Of course such a small force would -have been no use if the country had been up, but it was intended -merely as an armed escort, just to make a dash for Bir-ul-Malik and -back to Rahmat-Ullah.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then they must have travelled very fast,” said Georgia, her mind -reverting to her glimpse of Dick the day before. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, they made forced marches all the way. North kept them at it, but -he looks awfully done up now,” said the wily Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“It would have done him good to ride out here,” said Georgia, refusing -to commit herself. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; but you know how conscientious he is. So long as there is -anything to be done, he will simply work till he drops.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh dear, I do hope he isn’t going to be ill!” sighed Georgia, and -Stratford judged that his scheme had succeeded. He guessed rightly, -for all the resentment in Georgia’s mind was swallowed up in anxiety, -and she could not spare a thought for her own insulted dignity when -Dick was suffering, perhaps had even endangered his life, through his -eagerness to rescue her. She said little during the remainder of the -ride, and could scarcely devote a moment even to glancing at the camp -of the Khemistan Horse, which was pitched beside the hill of -Bir-ul-Malik. Arrived at the palace, she bestowed a hasty greeting on -Kustendjian and Ismail Bakhsh, and hurried into the harem in search of -Lady Haigh, who rushed to meet her, and in the intervals of kissing -and crying over her, scolded her soundly for her persistence in -remaining away. -</p> - -<p> -“But I have got the antidote!” cried Georgia, exhibiting the little -bottle proudly; “and remember, Lady Haigh, you promised that I should -use it.” -</p> - -<p> -“How could I prevent your trying it, my dear child, when you risked -your life in obtaining it? But it was not even your danger that I was -thinking about so much at the moment. It was Major North, and his view -of the case.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Dick and I must settle our little differences together,” said -Georgia, as lightly as she could. “Where is he? I haven’t seen him -yet.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think I hear his step outside,” said Lady Haigh. “He must have -followed you into the house. But, Georgia, I must warn you, he looks -very seedy, and I think he is just a little bit cross. Don’t be harder -on him than you can help, dear, for he has been through a fearfully -anxious time. He has had very little sleep since he left here, and has -been at work day and night, almost without a rest.” -</p> - -<p> -If Lady Haigh considered it advisable to offer her this warning, -Georgia judged that Dick’s fit of ill-temper must be of an extremely -pronounced character; but her conscience was clear, although her heart -beat a little faster than usual as she left Lady Haigh in the inner -room and went out into the larger one. Dick was leaning against the -framework of the lattice, and raised himself slowly to greet her. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Dick, how ill you look!” she cried. “My dear boy, you ought to be -in bed.” -</p> - -<p> -As soon as the words had passed her lips, she was struck by their -singularly malapropos character under the circumstances, and Dick -frowned heavily. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Georgia?” was all he said. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Dick, have you nothing more to say to me than that? Do you know -that you haven’t seen me for over a week?” -</p> - -<p> -“I was under the impression that you might have seen me yesterday -evening, and preferred not to do so.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I couldn’t help that. It was not a matter of choice. One can’t -leave a patient before his cure is fairly complete.” -</p> - -<p> -“You prefer your patient to me, then?” -</p> - -<p> -“To see you would have been a pleasure; to stay there was a duty.” -</p> - -<p> -“Even when I had desired you to come back at once?” -</p> - -<p> -“That couldn’t alter my duty.” -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed?” Dick lifted his eyebrows. “Then my wishes have no weight -with you whatever?” -</p> - -<p> -“They have great weight with me, but mine ought to have just as much -with you.” -</p> - -<p> -“This is rather a new theory,” said Dick, with elaborate politeness. -“Is its application intended to be permanent, or only temporary?” -</p> - -<p> -“I see no reason to anticipate any change that would render it out of -date.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you. That’s pretty clear, at any rate. Perhaps you will kindly -explain to me your views of the marriage relation? So far as I can -see, they involve two heads of one house.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t want to discuss the question now, especially since we used to -argue it so often in the old days,” said Georgia; “but if you insist -upon it, I will. I know very well that there can be only one head, -practically speaking, to a household—that when two people ride one -horse, one must ride behind—and because I love you and trust you, I -am quite willing to take the second place. But I do expect to be -consulted as to the way the horse is to go. You could never have -imagined that I would allow myself to be carried off anywhere -blindfold. I think that we should discuss everything together and -agree upon our course, and if at any time circumstances should prevent -our discussing some special plan, I expect you to trust me if I find -it necessary to act on my own responsibility, just as I should be -ready to trust you in a like case.” -</p> - -<p> -“This is the New Woman’s idea of marriage!” sneered Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“It is my view of it, at any rate. Did you expect to find in me a -slave without any will of her own, Dick? I am not a young girl, but a -woman, who has led a sufficiently lonely and independent life, and you -knew that when you asked me to marry you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, and I was a fool to do it,” said Dick, roughly. -</p> - -<p> -Georgia turned away, deeply wounded, and he stood at the lattice, -looking out over the desert with gloomy eyes. She did not know that -more had happened to try his temper than even the hardships and -anxiety of which Lady Haigh had spoken. An ill-advised comrade, who -had heard of his engagement through Mr Hicks, had seen fit to chaff -him that morning on the eagerness with which he had pressed forward to -rescue a lady who neither wanted his help nor desired his presence, -and the words had rankled in his mind. But although Georgia was -ignorant of this fact, she could not consent to leave things in their -present state. To take offence at his hasty speech, and break off her -engagement there and then, would be a course of conduct worthy only of -a mythical lady who always acted the part of an awful warning for -Georgia and her friends, and whom they were in the habit of calling -“The Early Victorian Female.” It is, perhaps, needless to add that -this person was given to gushing over indifferent poetry, fainted with -great regularity at the most inconvenient moments, and when she had a -misunderstanding with her lover, accepted the fact meekly, and pined -away and died. Georgia felt it morally impossible to imitate her. To -what purpose had been her own education and her experience of life if -they did not enable her to stoop to conquer, and to hold her own -without being aggressive? Was all that had passed between herself and -Dick to be blotted out by a few words spoken in a moment of -irritation? She crossed the room to his side and put her hands on his -shoulders. -</p> - -<div class="fig"> -<a href="images/img_12.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_12_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -She crossed the room to his side and put her hands on his shoulders. -</div></div> - -<p> -“Look at me, Dick,” she said. But Dick would not turn round. -</p> - -<p> -“You goad a man into saying beastly things to you,” he muttered, “and -then you try and get round him when he is feeling ashamed of himself.” -</p> - -<p> -Such an unpromising reception of her effort to make peace might well -have daunted Georgia, but she could forgive much to Dick, simply -because he was Dick. She turned his moody face towards hers and made -him look at her. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t think of it any more, Dick,” she said. “My dear boy, do you -imagine I don’t care for you enough to forgive you that? And let us -leave the question of our married life to right itself. If it hadn’t -been for this, we should have glided into it naturally, and things -would have settled themselves. Surely two people who are neither of -them by nature quarrelsome, and who are anxious to do right, ought to -be able to get on together, if both are willing to give and take? I -can trust you, Dick; won’t you trust me?” -</p> - -<p> -It added considerably to the discomfort of Dick’s present state of -mind that he was conscious that Georgia was behaving with a -magnanimity to which he could lay no claim, but he had started with -the determination to put his foot down, and to show Georgia before -they were married that he would stand no nonsense, and he stuck to his -point doggedly. “I don’t intend to be made to look a fool before all -the world,” he growled. -</p> - -<p> -“But who would want to make you look a fool? You must know that your -honour is as dear to me as to yourself. Haven’t I shown that I won’t -keep you back when duty calls you? Can’t you trust me, Dick? If you -can’t, things had better be over between us, indeed. Suppose you were -out, and I was summoned to a dangerous case, and couldn’t possibly let -you know. It would be my duty to go, just as it would be yours to -start if you were ordered somewhere on special service, and couldn’t -even say good-bye to me. Can’t we act on this understanding?” -</p> - -<p> -“But how can you be sure that you can trust me, may I ask? Many men -make rash promises before marriage, and break them like a shot -afterwards. How do you know that I am not one of them?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, not you, Dick! You are a gentleman; I can trust you fully. Tell -me that you will agree, and let us forget all this worry.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are trying to get round me,” said Dick again, helplessly. “I -can’t think what I was going to say; everything seems to have gone out -of my head. What is the matter?” looking irritably at her frightened -face. “There’s nothing wrong with me. I think—things had better -be—over between us, Georgie. We should never—agree. What was I -saying last? What’s the matter with the walls? Is it—an earthquake?” -</p> - -<p> -He was reeling as he stood, and clutching wildly at the frame of the -lattice for support. Georgia caught him by the arm, for he had missed -his hold and was swaying backwards and forwards, and succeeded in -guiding him to the divan. -</p> - -<p> -“I feel—awfully queer,” he said, and fainted away before Georgia -could seek a restorative. She cried out, and Lady Haigh and Rahah came -rushing in, the latter followed by Dick’s bearer, whose countenance -declared plainly that he considered his master’s illness to be -entirely due to Georgia, and that it was just what he had expected. -With the help of some of the other servants, Dick was carried to his -own room, where for several days he was to lie moaning and tossing -under a bad attack of fever. Georgia had her hands full during this -period, even though the bearer declined respectfully to allow her any -share in the actual nursing, for besides her care for Dick, she was -engaged in testing, with scarcely less anxiety, the effect upon Sir -Dugald’s health of the antidote she had obtained with so much -difficulty. She would have preferred to choose a time when she could -give her whole attention to his case, but he had appeared so much -weaker of late that Lady Haigh was feverishly eager for the remedy to -be tried at once, and in fear and trembling Georgia put into practice -the directions she had received from Khadija. Her courage revived to a -certain extent when she found that the resulting symptoms corresponded -exactly with those described by the old woman, but the two days of -heavy slumber proved to be a period of intense anxiety. Every sound -was hushed in the neighbourhood of Sir Dugald’s sick-room, and the -watchers scarcely dared to move or breathe. At last, just as Georgia -had returned to her other patient after a heart-breaking visit to -Dick, who was calling on her constantly, although he refused to -recognise her when she stood beside him, there was a sudden movement -on the part of Sir Dugald, and Lady Haigh grasped her arm -convulsively. -</p> - -<p> -“Go to him, and let him see you first when he wakes,” said Georgia, in -a low whisper, and Lady Haigh obeyed. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Elma!” It was Sir Dugald’s voice, very weak, but without a hint -of delirium. “Haven’t you got the place rather dark?” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia threw the lattice partly open, and he looked round. -</p> - -<p> -“Still at Kubbet-ul-Haj, I see.” They had purposely arranged the bed -and the camp-furniture in the same positions that they had occupied in -his room at the Mission, with the object of avoiding a sudden shock. -“I should have said we must have left it long ago, but I have had the -most extraordinary dreams. Could it have been a touch of fever, do you -think? But is that Miss Keeling? Ah, this explains it. I must have -been ill?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, you have frightened us all very much, Sir Dugald,” said Georgia, -for Lady Haigh was incapable of speech. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, it was a bad attack, then, was it? Queer that I don’t remember -feeling it coming on. The treaty is not signed yet, I suppose?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, it is signed. You have been ill for some time—longer than you -think.” -</p> - -<p> -“I always knew that Stratford was a clever fellow. This is the best -news you could have brought me, Miss Keeling. But we ought to be -thinking of returning to Khemistan if we have secured the treaty. How -long do you give me to get well enough to mount a horse again?” -</p> - -<p> -“You mustn’t be in too great a hurry. We might carry you in a litter.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, thank you. It would be too much like my dreams. I have suffered -agonies through imagining that I was in a trance, and about to be -buried alive, because they thought I was dead. It seemed to me that I -could see people moving about all round me, but I could not move, or -speak, or feel. Then I was put in a coffin, and carried off to be -buried. It always ended there, but it came over and over again. It was -the horrible helplessness—my absolute powerlessness to make any sign -to show that I was alive—which was the worst thing about it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Dugald!” cried Lady Haigh, in a strangled voice—and kissing him -hastily, she hurried out of the room. -</p> - -<p> -“Lady Haigh has been very much frightened about you, Sir Dugald,” said -Georgia. “She has watched over you night and day, and I have often -wondered that she did not break down.” -</p> - -<p> -“Please look after her,” he said, anxiously. “She has wonderful pluck, -but sometimes she is obliged to give way altogether, and I’m afraid -from what you say that she must be quite overdone.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia left the room, and found Lady Haigh sobbing on the divan -outside, with her face buried in a cushion that Sir Dugald might not -hear her. Sitting down beside her, Georgia began to cry too, out of -pure sympathy, until Lady Haigh suddenly choked back her sobs, and -throwing her arms round her, cried— -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Georgie, Georgie, you have given me back my husband, and it has -cost you Major North!” -</p> - -<p> -“You mustn’t think of that. There ought to be a change in Dick’s state -before long.” -</p> - -<p> -“Georgie, I will nurse him night and day—every moment that I can -spare from Sir Dugald, that is. And if I can’t put things right -between you when he is better, I’ll—I’ll——” -</p> - -<p> -“But what if he doesn’t want things put right?” asked Georgia, sadly. -</p> - -<p class="spacer"> -* * * * * * -</p> - -<p> -When Dick recovered consciousness, after a very long and fatiguing -dream, in which many people and events had played more or less -inappropriate parts, he found himself in bed with a cold bandage on -his forehead, and a feeling all over him that he had lost more -strength than he had ever possessed. There was some one in the room, -and he gathered that it was Lady Haigh. She was speaking to some one -else at the door. -</p> - -<p> -“I will leave him to you, then, Georgie. He is beautifully asleep -still, and I have just changed the bandage.” -</p> - -<p> -The door closed softly, and Dick was aware that Lady Haigh had gone -out and that the other person had come in, and was sitting just out of -his sight as he lay in bed. That was not what he wanted, and he tried -painfully to turn his head in her direction. She was at his side in a -moment. -</p> - -<p> -“Are you tired of lying in that position?” she asked. “Shall I help -you to turn over?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not if you will sit where I can see you,” he answered, and his voice -sounded to himself weak and far-away. Georgia changed her place as he -wished, but she took up the book she had been reading and went on with -it. -</p> - -<p> -“Why won’t you speak to me, Georgie?” he asked, querulously. -</p> - -<p> -“Because you are forbidden to talk until you are a little stronger.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t care! Put down that book and sit nearer me.” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Georgia, with decision. “You are not to excite yourself -with talking. Lie still, and try to go to sleep.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why do you talk to me like that? I haven’t done anything to make you -angry with me, have I? Why are you so unkind?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t want to be unkind,” returned Georgia, hastily; “but you -really ought not to talk. I will answer any number of questions when -you are better.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why won’t you call me Dick? We didn’t quarrel, did we? I have a -sort of idea—— But my head was awfully queer, and I daresay I talked -a lot of rot. I can’t apologise properly until I remember more about -it. But if we quarrelled, why are you here looking after me like -this?” -</p> - -<p> -“Simply and solely as your medical adviser.” There was the slightest -possible suspicion of triumph in Georgia’s tone, the reason for which -Dick did not perceive until afterwards. She returned to her book, and -he lay and looked at her in a puzzled kind of way. -</p> - -<p> -“I wish you would take my temperature,” he said at last. -</p> - -<p> -“What, are you feverish again?” she asked anxiously, getting out her -thermometer as she rose and came towards him. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know; but I remember you were doing it once when I was just -about half awake, and I liked it. You put your arm under my head.” -</p> - -<p> -“If you will talk so much, I shall call Lady Haigh.” -</p> - -<p> -“But do take my temperature! I thought sick people always had -everything they wanted.” -</p> - -<p> -“Everything in reason. Patients are expected not to trouble their -doctors unnecessarily. Now try to go to sleep.” And Georgia returned -the thermometer resolutely to its case. -</p> - -<p> -“Would it be considered a thing in reason if a patient asked his -doctor to give him a kiss? What would the doctor say?” -</p> - -<p> -“That anything of the kind would be highly unprofessional.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, this patient,” said Dick, weakly, “refuses to try to go to -sleep unless his doctor acts in that unprofessional way.” -</p> - -<p> -And his doctor did. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch24"> -CHAPTER XXIV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">VIS MEDICATRIX.</span> -</h3> - -<p> -“Georgie,” said Lady Haigh, some two or three days later, “I want to -ask you a question. Are you still engaged to Major North, or not?” -</p> - -<p> -The shadow of a smile glimmered on Georgia’s lips. -</p> - -<p> -“It seems a ridiculous thing to say, but really I haven’t the smallest -idea whether I am or not,” she answered. -</p> - -<p> -“But what does Major North think about it?” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe he is under the impression that we are still engaged. That -is what makes the matter doubtful, for I should certainly say that we -were not.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how long is this state of things to go on?”—impatiently. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know. Happily I have never had an engagement-ring, so that no -one can notice any difference.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear, this must be put a stop to!” said Lady Haigh, with -conviction. “Now that Major North is so much better, there is no need -for you to pretend that two doctor’s visits a-day are necessary. Once -a-day is quite enough for the present, and then you can drop it -altogether.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Lady Haigh! But he looks out for me so eagerly, and is so glad to -see me. And I like to see him too.” -</p> - -<p> -“You mustn’t make yourself too cheap, my dear Georgie. Surely you -would not wish to cling to a man who has told you in so many words -that he is anxious to break off his engagement to you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but I don’t think he meant it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then he has nothing to do but to say so. You had far better bring -about an explanation, and have it over. It is certainly Major North’s -turn to eat humble pie, and it will do him a world of good, and smooth -your path very much in the future. Take my advice, dear, and let him -see (or at any rate think) that you are prepared to abide by what he -said.” -</p> - -<p> -It was with great reluctance that Georgia consented to follow her -friend’s counsel; but when she thought it over its wisdom commended -itself to her, and she decided to carry it out rigorously, with -results which seemed very hard to Dick. He only saw his doctor once -a-day, and then she persisted in ignoring sternly all his attempts to -extend the scope of the conversation beyond the business in hand. Then -she discontinued her visits altogether, and the only explanation his -bearer could offer was that the Doctor Miss Sahiba was very busy, and -he supposed that she took no more interest in the protector of the -poor now that he was so much better. It was the same when Stratford -and Fitz came to see him. They agreed that Miss Keeling was very busy, -and seemed rather surprised that he should ask after her. It even -appeared to him that there was a slight constraint in their tones when -they answered his questions. Dick pondered over the mystery without -any satisfactory result for two days, and then announced that he was -going to get up, and demanded his clothes. The bearer had anticipated -this step, and replied promptly that the entire wardrobe of the -protector of the poor was at the moment in the hands of a tailor in -the town, to whom he had intrusted it for needed repairs, and who -preferred to execute them on his own premises. Hari Das invited his -master’s reproofs for his own remissness in postponing the operation -for so long, but to his dismay discovered that Dick declined to be -drawn into a tirade on the vices of bearers in general, illustrated -from his experience of this particular specimen. He was too much in -earnest in his determination to have time to waste in useless -altercations, and, moreover, he knew his man. -</p> - -<p> -“Ask the <i>chota sahib</i> to come to me,” he said. “I will borrow a suit -of his clothes.” -</p> - -<p> -The bearer looked blank. -</p> - -<p> -“But the <i>chota sahib’s</i> clothes will not fit my lord,” he objected. -</p> - -<p> -“That doesn’t signify,” said Dick. “Fit or no fit, I am going to get -up,” and he only smiled in secret when the bearer returned after a -short absence with one of his own suits, and announced that the tailor -had brought it back unexpectedly soon. He found himself much weaker -than he had anticipated as he dressed, but he disregarded the bearer’s -doleful assurances that he would kill himself, and declined to return -to his couch, although he was glad to accept the support of the -servant’s arm as he crossed the hall and entered the passage leading -into the harem. Lady Haigh, writing her home letters busily at a -camp-table (for letter-writing had been dropped by common, though -unexpressed consent, during those past days, when it seemed unlikely -that either the letters or their writers would ever reach home), -looked up in astonishment when he came in, and made haste to arrange a -comfortable place for him with cushions upon the divan, remarking that -he had better lie still and rest for a little and not talk. But this -was not what Dick had come for. -</p> - -<p> -“Lady Haigh, where is Georgie?” he asked, the moment after the bearer -had departed. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I think she is busy just now,” Lady Haigh replied, with -distinct coldness in her manner. As a matter of fact, at that moment -Georgia was sitting outside on the terrace with Sir Dugald, who had by -this time been promoted to a knowledge of the whereabouts of his -party, and was entertaining him with an account of her visit to -Bir-ul-Malikat and of the charms of Khadija. -</p> - -<p> -“Every person that I have asked about her for the last three days has -told me exactly that!” said Dick, with a good deal of indignation in -his tone. “I should like to see her, if you please,” he went on, in -the voice of one determined to obtain his just rights. -</p> - -<p> -“I assure you that I have not got her locked up,” said Lady Haigh, -with some tartness. “I will tell her what you say, if you like, but I -must say that after all that has happened——” -</p> - -<p> -“What is the object of tormenting me like this, Lady Haigh?” asked -Dick impatiently, raising himself on his elbow. “I know that Georgia -must be ill—I suppose she fell ill through overtiring herself in -nursing me—and you are all doing your best to keep it from me. I -insist on knowing what is the matter with her, and how she is getting -on. I have a right to know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed?” said Lady Haigh. “I was not aware of that. But you are -mistaken in supposing that Miss Keeling is ill. I am glad to say she -is quite well.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then what is the matter? Why are you keeping her away from me like -this? What has come between us?” -</p> - -<p> -“Really, Major North, you are a little inconsistent. Why you should -accuse me of trying to separate Miss Keeling and yourself, I don’t -know. I can only suppose that your illness has caused you to forget -the trifling fact that your engagement is broken off.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick stared at her in astonishment and dismay. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t remember,” he murmured. “Some one said something about a -quarrel, but it was nothing after all. When did she do it? What had I -done?” -</p> - -<p> -“Pray don’t try to put it upon Miss Keeling. You told her yourself -that things had better be over between you.” -</p> - -<p> -“I must have been mad,” said Dick despairingly, “or am I dreaming -now?” He pinched his arm to assure himself that he was awake, then -looked round the room in a vain search for explanation, until his gaze -rested again on Lady Haigh, but he found no comfort in her face. “You -wouldn’t humbug me on such a subject, Lady Haigh!” he cried, as he met -her accusing glance. “You helped me once before; tell me what to do -now. She can’t think I really meant it!” -</p> - -<p> -“So far as I know, you explained your views pretty clearly,” said Lady -Haigh, rejoicing to find Dick delivered into her hands in this -teachable spirit, and hoping devoutly that Georgia would remain -outside and out of hearing. “You mustn’t play fast and loose like -this, Major North. Why did you say what you didn’t mean?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know—I must have been angry. I have a beastly temper at -times, you know. I suppose Georgia had made me very mad about -something. Oh yes, I remember now, it was about her going to -Bir-ul-Malikat. She would insist that she had a right to go, and stay -too, whether I liked it or not, and she wouldn’t give in. But as for -breaking off our engagement——” -</p> - -<p> -“But you are convinced that Miss Keeling ought to have given in?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I think that when she saw what a point I made of it——” -</p> - -<p> -“There was no question of your giving in because she also made a point -of it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no,” said Dick, innocently. -</p> - -<p> -“Then I think it is a very good thing indeed that your engagement is -broken off.” Lady Haigh spoke with her usual decision of manner, but -Dick looked so absolutely astonished and appalled that she -condescended to an explanation. “I should like to talk to you a little -on this subject very seriously, Major North, for as a looker-on I can -perhaps see more clearly than you do where you have gone wrong. I -daresay you will regard me as a meddling old woman, but at any rate -you can’t say that I have turned critic because I have failed in -matrimony, for my married life has been as happy as even I could have -wished. Besides, it was in getting the medicine to cure Sir Dugald -that poor Georgie incurred your royal highness’s displeasure, so that -I feel bound to do all I can to put things right between you.” -</p> - -<p> -“But if you think that it is better for her not to be engaged to me?” -The question was asked a little stiffly, for Dick did not altogether -appreciate the tone of his monitress’s remarks. -</p> - -<p> -“That is a matter which depends solely on yourself. You possess many -estimable qualities, Major North, but you were born a few centuries -too late. Of course I don’t mean that you were to blame for the -fact—on the contrary, it is distinctly a misfortune, both to yourself -and others. You would have made an ideal husband in the days when it -was considered quite the proper thing for a gentleman to correct his -wife with a stick not thicker than his middle finger.” -</p> - -<p> -“Really, Lady Haigh, this is beyond a joke!” Dick was angry now—there -was no mistaking the fact. -</p> - -<p> -“Quite so; but I am not joking. I don’t mean that if you married -Georgia, you would keep her in order with a horsewhip—I don’t for a -moment believe she would let you, for one thing. But I think you would -certainly need some resource of the kind to fall back upon if your -ideal of domestic discipline was to be maintained. In your house, -according to your theory, there would be one law and one will, and -that law would be your law, and that will your will. That is a -beautiful ideal—for you—and it would no doubt produce, in course of -time, a saintly submissiveness of character in your wife. But any -woman who is to be subjected to such a course of training ought to be -warned beforehand, and agree to accept it with her eyes open. And that -Georgia would never do.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know why she shouldn’t. All women do.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do they?” asked Lady Haigh, with as little sarcasm in her tone as the -subject admitted—and Dick was silent, recognising that he had, to use -his own phrase, given himself away. His counsellor went on, “I am -going to ask you a personal question, Major North. Why do you want to -marry Miss Keeling?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because I love her, and I can’t do without her,” very gruffly. -</p> - -<p> -“But why didn’t you fall in love with that beautiful Miss Hervey, whom -we met at Mrs Egerton’s before we came out here?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because she is not my sort—an empty-headed doll!” -</p> - -<p> -“Exactly; but if you want a woman without any mind or reason of her -own, she would just suit you. She would adore you, and defer to all -your wishes when they didn’t clash with any particular fancies of her -own, for six months at least, and you would adore her for the same -length of time—until you each found the other out. After that, you -would know that you had married a fool, and she a tyrant. Georgia is -not a fool. She loves you, but she sees your faults, and she has a -certain amount of self-respect. If you wanted her to do anything that -seemed to her unreasonable, she would talk it over with you, and she -might end by refusing to do it, but she would never cry or sulk until -you gave it up in despair. It is a great thing to recognise fully that -you are both human beings, after all. Georgie doesn’t imagine that the -possession of the Victoria Cross necessarily implies that of all the -domestic virtues, any more than she believes herself to be perfect -because she possesses a London medical degree. She would consider that -she had exactly as much right to be the sole arbiter of the house as -you had, and that is none at all.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick murmured a feeble protest against this way of looking at things, -to which Lady Haigh refused to listen. -</p> - -<p> -“The fact is, you would wish to marry a clever woman, only she must be -willing to let herself be treated like a fool. You can’t reconcile two -extremes in that way. Georgia has lived her own life, and that a very -full and useful one, and you cannot expect her to become a puppet all -at once, simply out of love for you. She is used to acting on her own -initiative. Well, I will tell you what I learned from her maid, for -she won’t talk about it herself. Do you know that when she was at -Bir-ul-Malikat, that wicked old woman Khadija tried to get her to lead -you and your men into a trap, on the pretence that by calling to you -and beckoning you she would warn you of an ambuscade. An ordinary -woman would have yielded to the impulse of the moment—I should have -myself—and destroyed you, with the purest desire for your safety; but -Georgie had the strength of mind to reason the matter out, all in an -instant. She refused to call to you, and you were saved. And it is a -woman like that whom you expect to fall down and worship your -slightest whim!” with intense scorn. -</p> - -<p> -“Not guilty, Lady Haigh. I abjure, I recant—anything! But why didn’t -you tell me this before? What an ungrateful brute she must think me!” -</p> - -<p> -“I didn’t begin by telling you of it, because I wanted to make you see -reason, instead of working upon your feelings. I’m sure I hope I may -have done both.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will give you my solemn promise, if that will satisfy you, that -Georgia shall ride roughshod over my most cherished convictions as -often as she likes. She is a heroine. I feel ashamed to lift my eyes -to her. Oh, Lady Haigh, tell me what to do. How can I begin to make -things right?” -</p> - -<p> -“Put yourself in her place. Would you like it if she expected you to -give up your military career for her sake?” -</p> - -<p> -“She would never ask or expect such a thing. She knows that I could -not do it, even to please her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then return the compliment. She is willing to give up for your sake -any hope of distinguishing herself further in her profession by means -of original research, but she will not relinquish the practice of it. -Allow her the freedom you claim for yourself—in fact you must allow -it, if you mean to marry Georgia Keeling. She will be yours heart and -soul, but a certain portion of her time and interest she will always -give to her work.” -</p> - -<p> -“But come now, Lady Haigh, doesn’t that strike you as slightly rough -on a man?” -</p> - -<p> -“It strikes me as merely just,” snapped Lady Haigh. “No portion of -your time and interest will ever be given to your work, of course?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but that’s different, you know,” said Dick, uncomfortably. “Do -you really think that this sort of thing is meant for women?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Major North, I am not holding a brief for Women’s Rights. I -am merely trying to bring you into line with facts. If you want -arguments, no doubt Georgia will argue with you by the hour.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish she was here to do it!” sighed Dick. “Would it be rude to -remind you, Lady Haigh, that I haven’t seen her for three whole days?” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose that means that you want me to fetch her for you. Well, I -will just say this. Once you lamented to me that you had no tact. Now -I believe that, until she finds him out, a bad man with tact will make -a woman happier than a good man without it.” Lady Haigh paused -triumphantly, as though to say, “Contradict that atrocious sentiment -if you can!” but Dick made no attempt to do so, and she went on. “I’m -afraid you would find it difficult to cultivate tact now, but if you -will only try to consider things that affect Georgia from her point of -view as well as your own, you will have made a good beginning.” -</p> - -<p> -She stepped out through the lattice, and presently Georgia entered, -stethoscope in hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, and how do we find ourselves to-day?” she asked cheerfully, -hoping that Dick would not notice the trembling in her voice. -</p> - -<p> -“How can you expect a patient to get better when his doctor does not -come near him for days?” -</p> - -<p> -“You have always expressed such a dislike to lady doctors, that it -struck us you might prefer to be without one.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, how did you come to be my doctor, by the bye?” -</p> - -<p> -“I knew you would have preferred the surgeon who came with you,” said -Georgia, with resignation in her tones. “I will tell you how it was. -He is very young and very new, and knows nothing about fever in -practice, which makes him all the more sure about it in theory. He has -half-a-dozen infallible remedies, and he was rejoicing at the prospect -of being able to test them all on you, when I stepped in and claimed -you as my patient. And now I suppose you will tell me that you would -prefer to be killed by him rather than be cured by me?” -</p> - -<p> -No suitable repartee occurring to Dick at the moment, he took a mean -advantage of his position as an invalid, and lay back on his cushions -with a slight groan, which melted Georgia’s heart at once. -</p> - -<p> -“You have a headache, and I have been teasing you!” she said, -remorsefully, changing her position and coming behind him. “Keep your -head like that, my poor boy,” and she began to pass her fingers slowly -across his forehead with such a soothing effect that Dick only kept -himself by a violent effort from falling asleep. Pulling her hands -down, he looked at them critically. -</p> - -<p> -“Have you been taking lessons in witchcraft from Khadija?” he asked. -“Do you think it’s fair to practice magic arts on me? What chance has -a man when you begin to mesmerise him with those cool, firm fingers of -yours? What nice soft hands you have, Georgie!” emphasising the remark -by lifting the said hands to his lips. -</p> - -<p> -“One has to keep one’s hands nice for surgical work,” said Georgia, -apologetically, and expecting an outburst. But Dick only gave a rather -ostentatious sigh, and went on meditatively. -</p> - -<p> -“Your magic is thoroughly successful, at any rate. Lady Haigh will -testify to the change in my demeanour since you came in. Well, -Georgie, you have won. Let’s make it up. I surrender at discretion.” -</p> - -<p> -“I begin to think that you are delirious again,” said Georgia, in a -puzzled voice, bending forward to look at him. -</p> - -<p> -“I think not. I am merely anxious not to do things by halves. Come, -impose your conditions on me while I am in this softened state. As an -honourable man, I shall feel bound to carry them out when I return to -my right mind. I will only ask you, as you are strong, to be merciful. -There, could submission go further than that?” -</p> - -<p> -“You are certainly not fit to be sitting up. I shall call your bearer, -and request him to see you back to bed. You may not be delirious, but -you are undoubtedly queer in the head.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank you. You will not call the respectable Hari Das at present—at -any rate until I have had a longer talk with you.” -</p> - -<p> -“That sounds more like your usual self,” said Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“The self which is to vanish from henceforth. Oh, Georgie, I know I’m -talking like a lunatic, but it’s because I should make a fool of -myself if I didn’t. When I think of what Lady Haigh has just been -telling me, of the way in which you saved all our lives the other day, -I feel as though I could simply die of shame. How could you—how could -you—do it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Pure selfishness,” returned Georgia, with elaborate composure. “I -couldn’t do without you, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m not worth it, Georgie. I couldn’t even behave decently to you an -hour after it happened. And I daren’t make any promises for the -future, remembering all those I have broken already. But I do ask you -to believe that I didn’t know what I was saying when—when I talked -about breaking off our engagement the morning you came back. I -couldn’t have believed that even when I was off my head I could be -such an idiot; but, unfortunately, you heard me say it. Take me on -again, dearest. You’ll have a lot to put up with, but——” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear boy, I have never given you up—of my own free will, at any -rate.” -</p> - -<p> -“That doesn’t make it any better for me. After you had done a thing -that not one woman in a million—or one man either—could have -done——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes, they could, if the idea had struck them. It was just that—a -sudden inspiration. But you are getting excited, Dick, and I will not -have it. As your medical attendant, I forbid you to think about -Bir-ul-Malikat any more. I shall break off our re-engagement at once -if you don’t talk about something else.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, there it is. You have such an awful pull over me, Georgie. I -can’t do without you, but you could get on very well without me. -Confess now—couldn’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“By going back to England and joining the Forward Club, and impressing -on the world that the grapes were sour?” asked Georgia. “No, I should -have to keep to my old plan, and settle down to missionary work in -Khemistan; then I should get a glimpse of you sometimes.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know whether you call that a pure motive? Yes, I think I see -myself riding past a Zenana hospital every day, and about once a-week -catching a distant view of you teaching a lot of native girls to roll -up bandages.” -</p> - -<p> -“And I can imagine myself rushing to the verandah to look after you -when you had passed,” said Georgia. “It would be a modern version of -Roland and his lady.” -</p> - -<p> -“It would be far worse than never seeing one another at all.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, Dick—not worse, much better than that.” -</p> - -<p> -“It would be much worse to me. I should have to look out for an -appointment somewhere at the other end of the Empire.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick, how unkind of you to say such a thing!” There were tears very -near to falling in Georgia’s eyes, but with an extraordinary access of -tact Dick pretended not to notice them, and looked up at her with a -friendly smile. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I know I’m a brute. I warn you not to have me, Georgie. I have -had a good fright just now, and I’m properly subdued for the moment, -but I am bound to break out again. It isn’t safe, is it?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t care whether it is safe or not,” and she stooped and kissed -him. -</p> - -<p> -“Does that mean that there is to be no more doctoring?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not at all. Did you think you were going to catch me off my guard in -a moment of weakness? It means that you agree to my doing what medical -work I can, and that I won’t let it come between you and me.” -</p> - -<p> -“That first part is what one might call a cool assumption, but I told -you to make your own conditions, and as I said before, I am prepared -to accept them abjectly. Do you know, Georgie, that when I was at -Rahmat-Ullah it was hinted to me that I might be made assistant -political agent when they establish the agency at Iskandarbagh? How -would you like that?” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick, it’s too good to be true! It is like a dream. To have you, and -my work, and to be able to reach not only Khemistan but my dear -Ethiopian women!” -</p> - -<p> -“How do you propose to employ yourself, then?” -</p> - -<p> -“In doctoring the women and children, and teaching where I am -allowed.” -</p> - -<p> -“And leaving your house to take care of itself?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, of course, and my husband too. It would set such a good example -to the Ethiopian women, wouldn’t it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, well, if I am only to be regarded in the light of an -object-lesson——” -</p> - -<p> -“You will accept the position with resignation, and be thankful. Oh, -Dick, don’t let us tease one another any more! Can’t you understand -that I am glad and proud to have the chance of helping you a little in -your work? It was my father’s work too, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I know. You might come a little closer, Georgie. You don’t seem -to understand yet that I make my doctor pay for the privilege of -attending me.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“Come, Mr Stratford, you mustn’t tire Sir Dugald. I am sure he has -done quite enough work this morning.” -</p> - -<p> -Stratford looked at Lady Haigh rather guiltily, almost as though he -felt that he ought to tell her something, but could not make up his -mind to do it. -</p> - -<p> -“I didn’t want him to go on so long, Lady Haigh, but he insisted on -looking through the journal. Of course he wanted to be posted up in -everything before we start to-morrow, in view of reaching Rahmat-Ullah -so soon. I’m afraid you will find that—that he has been doing a -little too much.” -</p> - -<p> -Lady Haigh went into the room with a scolding on her lips, but it died -away when her eyes fell upon Sir Dugald, sitting at the table with his -head leaning on his hand. As she entered, he pushed aside wearily the -papers before him and turned to her. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s no use, Elma; I am done for—a worn-out, useless wreck. I always -hoped to die in harness, but now I am laid on the shelf. It is all -right until I get to business, but I cannot grasp things. My brain -refuses to work.” -</p> - -<p> -This confirmation of fears which had already occurred to herself and -Georgia struck a chill to Lady Haigh’s heart, but she dared not hold -out any hope of improvement by way of comfort. She came forward -silently, and standing at her husband’s side, laid her hand rather -timidly on his shoulder. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s all up, Elma,” he said again. “The very <i>ad valorem</i> duties in -the treaty—over which I spent so much time before I was ill—stump me -now. We lose everything—position, occupation, influence, even -reputation.” -</p> - -<p> -“You have nothing left but your poor old wife,” she said, stifling a -sob. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t count you,” he said, with something of his old manner; “you -are part of myself. We have gone through everything together, Elma.” -</p> - -<p> -Lady Haigh murmured something about going home to Scotland and ending -their days together, but she left the sentence unfinished. How she -managed to get out of the room without absolutely breaking down she -did not know, but Georgia found her a short time later dissolved in -tears. -</p> - -<p> -“He never spoke to me like that before,” she sobbed. “We have never -been a sentimental couple—not even when we were first married. He -couldn’t bear that sort of thing; and though I might have liked a -little—just a little—more <i>expression</i>, don’t you know? I was not -going to worry him. We were good comrades always, and I think I can -say that I never stood in his way when he was ordered to do anything. -He would come to me in the morning and say, ‘Elma, I am ordered to -such and such a place,’ a thousand miles off, perhaps—and I would -say, ‘Very well, dear; what time must I be ready? or will it do if we -start to-morrow?’ He never said anything, but I knew he liked it, and -he was as proud as I was that I could shift quarters as quickly as any -soldier of them all. And we have always been together, as he says, and -now he must give up work at last!” -</p> - -<p> -“But you have your place in Scotland, Lady Haigh, and Sir Dugald will -find plenty to do there, and be very happy. It would not surprise me -if he recovered entirely when he had no official work to worry him.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that very official work has been the mainspring of his life. He -will be lost without it. And how will things go on without him? To -escape so many dangers and recover from that poisoning just for this! -No, Georgie, don’t try to show me the bright side of it yet. Let me -have my cry out now, and, God helping me, I’ll say no more about it, -and he shan’t know. I won’t fail him after all just when he needs me -most.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick,” said Georgia that evening when they met before dinner, “who is -the bravest woman you know?” -</p> - -<p> -“You,” he replied, promptly. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t be absurd; I wasn’t fishing for compliments. I should be -satisfied if I were half as brave as Lady Haigh. I think that she and -Sir Dugald are just worthy of one another.” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose there’s a concealed snub somewhere in that remark intended -for me, but I can’t quite locate it yet. I have a good mind to ask -Stratford to find it out for me—I always want to apply to him for an -explanation when your reproofs are couched in too learned -language—but he isn’t down yet.” -</p> - -<p> -“Here he comes,” said Georgia, as Stratford entered somewhat hurriedly -and cast a hasty glance round the room; “but if you ever venture to -ask him to interpret me, Dick, why, beware!” -</p> - -<p> -“I should never think of doing it in cold blood. It might be too much -for his brain. What’s the matter, Stratford?” he asked, raising his -voice. “You’re not late.” -</p> - -<p> -“The Chief not down yet?” asked Stratford, looking round again and -making sure that Sir Dugald and Lady Haigh were the only members of -the party who were missing. It was the first time that the two -invalids had been allowed to join the rest at dinner, and the servants -were obviously unhappy at the delay. -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Fitz; “the poor old chap is so thin after his illness that -Lady Haigh is making Chanda Lal pad his dress-clothes a bit to keep -him from looking quite so like a scarecrow.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish you would have the goodness to confine your jokes to other -people, Anstruther, and not go sharpening your wit on the Chief,” said -Stratford, irritably. “Look here, all of you—there was something I -particularly wanted to say when I got you all together, and this is just -the chance. I beg and entreat you all not to allude after to-day—even -in private letters or in talking to friends—to the way in which I -managed to get the treaty signed.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Stratford, there was nothing to be ashamed of!” cried Dick. “It -was one of the finest things I ever heard of.” -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t see what I am driving at. At present the Chief has got it -into his head that the sudden change in the King’s attitude was -entirely due to the discovery by independent means of Fath-ud-Din’s -treachery, and the consequent promotion of Jahan Beg. He thinks that -I happened on the spot exactly at the right moment and got the treaty -signed without a bit of trouble, and I want him to go on thinking so.” -</p> - -<p> -“But do you mean to say you don’t want him to know that it was all -through you that the old fraud was unmasked, and that you went to the -Palace for the sake of rescuing Miss Keeling, and at the risk of your -life? What on earth is your reason?” -</p> - -<p> -“I should have thought you would have seen it at once. I want the -Chief to get the full credit for this piece of work.” -</p> - -<p> -“But this is nonsense!” cried Dick. “Why should the Chief get the -credit for what you did? He is the last man in the world to wish to -wear borrowed plumes.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course he is, and that’s the reason that I want no one beyond our -immediate selves to know that they are borrowed. Lady Haigh honestly -believes that he did all the work, and that I merely reaped the fruit, -so that she won’t let out. Sir Dugald has never been properly -appreciated at home, and it is hard on him to lose the reputation he -deserves for the way he has managed this affair, which he will do if -it once gets known that it was not he who got the treaty signed after -all. He is an old man, and he will do no more work after this. His -illness has left marks on him. You have noticed it, Miss Keeling, I am -sure?” -</p> - -<p> -“There is some loss of brain power,” said Georgia, hesitatingly, -“which may be only temporary. But I fear his official career is over.” -</p> - -<p> -“You see that, then? Let him get his peerage and the credit of having -made the treaty. After all, he did by far the greater part of the -work.” -</p> - -<p> -“Only you came romping in at the finish,” said Fitz. “But what about -your own prospects, Mr Stratford?” -</p> - -<p> -“They can look after themselves. I may mention that the Chief let out -this morning that he intended to mention us all very honourably in his -report, so that we shall none of us lose in the long-run.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is splendid of you to leave Sir Dugald the credit in this way, Mr -Stratford,” said Georgia; “and we shall all think far more highly of -you than if you had claimed the honour for yourself.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what about your archives—your official journal?” asked Dick, who -was still unconvinced. -</p> - -<p> -“I wrote that entry myself. Hush, here comes the Chief!” -</p> - -<p> -And the conspiracy of silence was an accomplished fact, although Dick -continued to argue the matter vainly with both Stratford and Georgia -all the evening, as often as he could get either of them alone. They -succeeded at last in reducing him to a condition of grumbling -acquiescence, and during the journey of the next few days all the -conspirators did their best to accustom themselves to the new view of -what had happened, until they were almost ready to accept it as the -true one. Strangely enough, however, they had left out of account an -important element which ought to have entered into their calculations, -and it was through this oversight that their deep-laid schemes failed -eventually of success. The blow came suddenly on the last day of the -march, when the officers at Fort Rahmat-Ullah, riding out to welcome -the returning travellers, had met them on the frontier. The Mission -was being escorted back to the Fort in triumph, and Sir Dugald, able -now to mount his horse, was talking to the Commandant as they rode -side by side. -</p> - -<p> -“Your staff seem to have come uncommonly well out of this business,” -remarked the Commandant. “Of course we expected great things from -North, and we were not a bit astonished when he turned up with the -treaty, after a three days’ solitary ride; but that Foreign Office -fellow of yours—Stratford his name is, isn’t it?—appears to have -developed in a wholly unexpected direction.” -</p> - -<p> -“My staff have all behaved extremely well, and I shall have great -pleasure in representing the fact in the proper quarter.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, come, Haigh, it’s more than that—or do you include absolute -heroism in the bond of your requirements? It is not every civilian -that would take his life in his hand in the way your man did, and have -the nerve to carry through a palace revolution and secure the object -of the Mission all at once. I can tell you that when we heard the -story from Hicks, there wasn’t one of us but was simply yearning to -have had Stratford’s chance, and to have made as good use of it as he -did.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish I had scragged Hicks!” muttered Stratford, behind, to Dick; -but Sir Dugald’s face betrayed no astonishment. -</p> - -<p> -“Then I suppose our friend Hicks is beforehand with us now in the -matter of news, as he was a short time ago in reaching Kubbet-ul-Haj?” -</p> - -<p> -“You bet he is—as he would say himself. The story of your Mission is -all over the world by this time, and Hicks and the proprietor of the -‘Crier’ are raking in the shekels like so much dust. Upon my word, it -is rather rough on you. But for that illness of yours, you would have -carried the whole thing through yourself, and now you have lost the -biggest advertisement you were ever within an ace of getting. -Stratford is the popular hero from end to end of the Empire, and no -one else will have a look-in beside him.” -</p> - -<p> -“You would not wish me to rob Mr Stratford of the honour which is due -to him?” inquired Sir Dugald, raising his eyebrows. “If I know him at -all, he will owe Hicks just as much thanks for his advertisement as I -should in his place, and that is—nothing. He is so touchy on the -subject of his visit to the Palace that I have scarcely yet been able -to mention it to him myself. Still, it is a little disappointing to -find that we have been forestalled in the announcement of our great -<i>coup</i>. You agree with me, Mr Stratford?” and Sir Dugald turned -partially round in his saddle, and cast a side-glance at the guilty -Stratford, who looked extremely unlike a popular hero at the moment. -He muttered something unintelligible in reply to his leader’s -question, and Sir Dugald smiled and changed the subject as he rode on -with the Commandant. -</p> - -<p> -In the bustle and confusion of arriving at the Fort, Stratford heard -no more of his attempted deception until late that evening, when he -and Fitz, who had been dining with the officers at mess, walked over -to the verandah in front of the Haighs’ old quarters to say -good-night. Sir Dugald had employed the interval in catechising Lady -Haigh and Georgia, as well as in collecting stray pieces of -information from Dick and Kustendjian, so that he was now well -acquainted with the history of all that had passed on the eventful day -when the treaty had been signed. -</p> - -<p> -“Sit down, Stratford, and don’t be in such a hurry,” he said, as they -came up the steps, divining Stratford’s evident intention of seeking -safety in flight to his own quarters as soon as the requisite -farewells had been exchanged. “We may not have the chance of being -together again without any strangers present. Do you know that you -have been plotting all this time to play me a very shabby trick—to -make a fool of me, in fact, in the eyes of everybody?” -</p> - -<p> -“Pray don’t think that I agree with your description of our aims, Sir -Dugald, when I say that I can only wish they had succeeded.” -</p> - -<p> -“And left me at the mercy of our friend Hicks? Don’t you see that as -soon as he gave his version of your proceedings, I should be suspected -either of concealing the facts or of being ignorant of them? I have no -particular fancy for either alternative.” -</p> - -<p> -“Unfortunately, we had all left Hicks out of our calculations.” -</p> - -<p> -“Most fortunately, if you will allow me to correct you, Hicks declines -to be ignored in such an unceremonious fashion. I suppose you imply -that if he had occurred to your memory you would have tried to square -him? You ought to know by this time that there is no one on earth so -incorruptible as the newspaper man who has a big sensation in charge. -The wealth of India would not move him, if the condition of receiving -it was the suppression of his ‘copy.’ And what a fine story he could -have made out of your eager attempts (instigated, without a doubt, by -myself) to bribe him not to publish the true facts of the case! The -issue would have been simple ruin for both of us. Not that that is the -worst of it. Since when, Mr Stratford, have you imagined me capable of -trading upon another man’s reputation?” -</p> - -<p> -“Honestly, Sir Dugald, our only idea was to preserve for you the -credit which we know you deserve, but which Hicks and the world are -determined to award to the wrong man.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Stratford, I have no doubt as to the entire excellence of -your intentions, although I can’t congratulate you on the steps you -took to carry them out. I cannot be too thankful that your Quixotic -scheme has failed. Leaving out of sight all the other considerations, -I have still a little pride left, and I can’t stand being indebted, -even to my friends, for a reputation which doesn’t belong to me. I -have had my day, and I am quite ready to walk off and leave the stage -to the younger men.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, Sir Dugald,” said Stratford, earnestly, “none of the younger men -can hope to do what you have done.” -</p> - -<p> -“Stuff!” said Sir Dugald, but he could not help allowing a gleam of -pleasure to be seen. “You have all done your duty under very trying -circumstances, and I am proud of you, gentlemen.” -</p> - -<p> -“And we of you, Sir Dugald,” said Dick, finding his tongue suddenly. -</p> - -<p> -“You are bringing home peace with honour, as you said once at -Kubbet-ul-Haj,” said Stratford. -</p> - -<p> -“The Chief gets the peace, and Stratford the honour,” observed Fitz, -<i>sotto voce</i>, to Georgia. “Do you call that a fair division or not, -Miss Keeling?” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch25"> -EPILOGUE. -</h3> - -<p> -(Being part of a letter addressed by Mr Fitzgerald Anstruther, about a -year after the return of the English Mission from Kubbet-ul-Haj, to -Mrs North, M.D., British Residency, Iskandarbagh.) -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“... I have just come back from my visit to Sir Dugald and Lady Haigh -at Inverconglish. The Chief is all right again, and looks quite -bucolic in knickerbockers and a deerstalker—a regular ‘tyrant of his -little fields,’ indeed. I had promised myself the pleasure of seeing -him in a kilt, but he says that his tenants are a serious-minded -people, unaccustomed to laughter, and he is afraid the sight of him so -arrayed might do them severe physical injury. He is a great power in -the neighbourhood, and the people bring their disputes to him to -settle instead of going to law, so that he is quite busy and happy, -though he has not got his peerage. Lady Haigh, who directs the affairs -(particularly the love affairs) of the locality generally, told me -something about Stratford that will amuse you and North. He is -destined, so they say, to get a high appointment before long, and -meanwhile he has devoted his leave to falling in love with a girl just -out of the schoolroom, who is desperately frightened by his -attentions, and won’t have a word to say to him. Lady Haigh says she -is rather like a lady whom Stratford knew long ago, and who died. She -is a hero-worshipper, and has adored him from a distance since Hicks -first made him known to the British public, but she doesn’t want him -to come any closer. However, if old Stratford makes up his mind to -stick to a thing, I fancy he is pretty sure to get it. By the bye, I -met Hicks the other day. He was just off to Thracia again, drawn by -the rumour of these new disturbances. He quite considers himself as -one of us, and says that when we of the old Kubbet-ul-Haj gang meet -next to celebrate the signing of the treaty, he will be there, if he -has to come from the other side of the world in order to be -present....” -</p> - -<p class="end"> -THE END -</p> - - -<h2> -TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES. -</h2> - -<p> -Sydney C. Grier was the pseudonym of Hilda Caroline Gregg. -</p> - -<p> -This book is part of the author’s “Modern East” series. The full -series, in order, being: -</p> - -<div class="quote_o"><div class="quote_i"> -The Flag of the Adventurer<br/> -Two Strong Men<br/> -The Advanced-Guard<br/> -His Excellency’s English Governess<br/> -Peace With Honour<br/> -The Warden of the Marches -</div></div> - -<p class="noindent"> -<b>Alterations to the text</b>: -</p> - -<p> -Note: the following alterations have been checked and validated against -an 1897 edition of the story serialized in <i>The Argosy</i> volumes 63 and -64. -</p> - -<p> -A few punctuation corrections—mostly involving the pairing of -quotation marks and missing periods. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Title Page] -</p> - -<p> -Add a brief note indicating this novel’s position in the series. See -above. Also add illustrator’s credit. See below. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Images] -</p> - -<p> -Add twelve illustrations of Alfred Pearse featured in the -above-mentioned 1897 edition, but not included in the 1902 L. C. Page -& Co. edition. Illustrations were placed nearest the scene they -represent, of course. Some captions have been updated to reflect -revisions in the text. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter IV] -</p> - -<p> -Change “gave up his horse to a <i>Eurasian’s</i> clerk’s wife” to -<i>Eurasian</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter VI] -</p> - -<p> -“The official, <i>well pleased</i>, stayed” to <i>well-pleased</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter XI] -</p> - -<p> -“awaiting your orders at Fort <i>Rahmut</i>-Ullah” to <i>Rahmat</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter XII] -</p> - -<p> -“the rugs in the <i>Dunbar</i>-hall taken up” to <i>Durbar</i>. -</p> - -<p> -“if you <i>realise</i> that it was anxiety for you that” to <i>realised</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter XIV] -</p> - -<p> -“between <i>Ishmail</i> Bakhsh and some one outside” to <i>Ismail</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter XVII] -</p> - -<p> -“partook presently of coffee and <i>sweatmeats</i>” to <i>sweetmeats</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter XVIII] -</p> - -<p> -“his right hand <i>thurst</i> into his girdle” to <i>thrust</i>. -</p> - -<p> -“the rest of the troop <i>appear</i> to have been stupefied” to <i>appeared</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter XXI] -</p> - -<p> -“rely upon an Englishwoman to <i>kelp</i> you” to <i>help</i>. -</p> - -<p> -“of her going to Bir-ul-<i>Mulikat</i> at” to <i>Malikat</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter XXIV] -</p> - -<p> -“...husband too. [<i>missing text</i>] such a good example to...” repair -lacuna with <i>It would set</i>. -</p> - -<p> -“wanted to say when I got you <i>altogether</i>” to <i>all together</i>. -</p> - -<p class="end"> -[End of Text] -</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PEACE WITH HONOUR ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. 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