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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..4294069 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #66229 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66229) diff --git a/old/66229-0.txt b/old/66229-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9740d9a..0000000 --- a/old/66229-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14012 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Warden of the Marches, 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: The Warden of the Marches - -Author: Sydney C. Grier - -Illustrator: Alfred Pearse - -Release Date: September 6, 2021 [eBook #66229] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Produced by: an anonymous Project Gutenberg volunteer - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WARDEN OF THE MARCHES *** - - - - - [image: images/img_000.jpg - caption: “SINJĀJ KĪLIN SAHIB BAHADAR RIDES TO-NIGHT”] - - - - - The Warden of the Marches - - By - SYDNEY C. GRIER - AUTHOR OF “PEACE WITH HONOUR,” - “LIKE ANOTHER HELEN,” “IN - FURTHEST IND,” Etc. - - - (_Sixth in the Modern East series_) - - - _WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALFRED PEARSE_ - - - BOSTON - L. C. PAGE & COMPANY - _MDCCCCII_ - - - - - COPYRIGHT. - - _Copyright, 1902_ - By L. C. Page & Company - (Incorporated) - - Published June, 1902 - - - - - CONTENTS. - - I. THE COMING OF QUEEN MAB - II. “LIFE IS REAL; LIFE IS EARNEST” - III. “IN HIS SIMPLICITY SUBLIME” - IV. THE OUTSIDER - V. ROSE OF THE WORLD - VI. LA BELLE ALLIANCE - VII. NONE BUT THE BRAVE - VIII. WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION - IX. WOUNDED HERO AND MINISTERING ANGEL - X. GAINING A LOVER AND KEEPING A FRIEND - XI. BEHIND THE CURTAIN - XII. HONOUR AND DUTY - XIII. ONE NIGHT - XIV. TO KEEP THE FLAG FLYING - XV. “THE OLD FIRST HEROIC LESSONS” - XVI. THE DARKEST HOUR - XVII. THE LUCK OF THE BABA SAHIB - XVIII. AN ATTEMPT AT DESERTION - XIX. AN IMPOTENT CONCLUSION - XX. THE FORCES OF NATURE - XXI. THE DEAD THAT LIVED - XXII. THE FIRE ON THE HILL - XXIII. AN ABDICATION - XXIV. WHAT ZEYNAB SAW - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS. - - “SINJĀJ KĪLIN SAHIB BAHADAR RIDES TO-NIGHT” - - “MABEL STEPPED FORWARD, AND MET THE GLANCE OF - THE BOLD EYES UNDER THE GREEN TURBAN” - - “FITZ CAUGHT THE LOOK OF AGONY IN BRENDON’S FACE” - - “LOOK AFTER MY WIFE WHILE I’M AWAY” - - “HE RIDES” - - “STRETCHING OUT HIS HAND FOR THE PISTOL” - - - - - THE WARDEN OF THE MARCHES. - - CHAPTER I. - THE COMING OF QUEEN MAB. - -“Then the mail’s in, Georgie?” - -“Yes, Dick; it came in about half-an-hour after you started. Here are -your letters.” - -Major North threw himself luxuriously into a long cane chair, and held -out his hand for the bundle of envelopes and papers which his wife -gave him. “Anything from Mab?” he asked. - -“Just a little scrap. Dick, I am getting dreadfully worried about -her--her letters have been so strange for such a long time, and now -the writing is so queer. She always seems as if she hadn’t a moment to -spare, and yet she really has nothing particular to do now. Do you -know, I am beginning to be afraid that the strain of your uncle’s -illness, and the shock of his death, have been too much for her. I am -sure she oughtn’t to be living all alone in that big house. I asked -Cecil Egerton to look after her, and I hoped to hear from her to-day, -but there is no letter. Aren’t you getting anxious yourself?” Major -North, deep in his correspondence, grunted assent. “What do you think -we had better do? Dick!--why, Dick!” - -The letters went flying as Dick sprang up from his chair. His wife was -staring incredulously at a young lady in a grey riding-habit who was -cantering up the rough track, called by courtesy a drive, leading to -the house from the gateway of the compound. Catching sight of the two -figures on the verandah the new-comer pulled up her horse suddenly, -flung the bridle to the magnificent elderly servant who ran out from -the hall-door to meet her, and slipping from her saddle, mounted the -steps with a run. - -“Oh, Dick! oh, Georgie! oh, my dear people, it is so good to see you -again! Don’t tear me in pieces between you.” Her brother and his wife, -dumb with astonishment, were both kissing her at once. “It is my real -self, you know, and not my astral body. Now do say you are surprised -to see me on the Khemistan frontier when you imagined I was in London! -Don’t rob me of the gratification I have come so far to enjoy.” - -“Surprise is no word for it. We are utterly amazed, completely -flabbergasted,” said Dick slowly. His sister heaved a satisfied sigh. - -“Thanks, Dick; I’m so glad. I did want to surprise you.” - -“But, Mab, are you really only just off your journey?” cried Georgia. -“You must have a bath and a rest before you talk any more.” - -“I come untold thousands of miles to see my only remaining relatives, -and they don’t think me fit to speak to until I have had a bath and a -rest!” cried Mabel. “No, Georgie, we only did a very short stage -to-day, so that we might arrive clean and comfortable. You don’t think -Mr Burgrave would omit anything that would enable him to make a more -dignified entrance into Alibad?” - -“You don’t mean to say that you came up with the Commissioner?” cried -Dick and Georgia together. - -“Rather!” A glance passed between husband and wife, and Mabel caught -it. “Now, why this thusness? I had a chaperon, I assure you. I’ll tell -you all about it. And the Commissioner has been most kind--and -patronising.” - -“Probably,” said Dick dryly. “And was it Burgrave who escorted you to -the gate here?” - -“Oh no; it was that nice boy who went to Kubbet-ul-Haj with you eight -years ago.” - -“Boy!” cried Georgia. “My dear Mab, Fitz Anstruther is one of the most -rising young civilians in the province.” - -“And he said,” went on Mabel, unheeding, “that he would look in again -after dinner. Well, Georgie, he is three years younger than I am, at -any rate. Now, Dick, don’t be rude and say that that wouldn’t make him -so very young after all. I know I’m in the sere and yellow leaf. The -fact was borne in upon me when I heard an angry woman on the voyage -informing her cabin-mates that I was ‘no chicken.’” - -“What!” cried Dick. “Then the celebrated smile has been doing its -deadly work as usual? How many scalps this time, Mab?” - -Mabel smiled gently. It might be perfectly true, as other women were -never tired of saying, that she had no claim to be called beautiful. -The most that could be said of her was that she was nice-looking, and -the effect of that (it was often added spitefully) was spoilt by the -singular and most unpleasing combination of fair hair with dark brown -eyes. But when the ladies had said their say, Mabel knew that she had -but to smile to bring every man in the neighbourhood to her feet. -There was a peculiar fascination about her smile which made a slave of -the man upon whom it shone. It called forth all that was best in him, -roused all the chivalry of his nature, and compelled him to devote -himself to Mabel’s service. Various irate London cabmen, an elderly -guard on the Caledonian Railway, and the magistrate who found himself -obliged to fine Mabel for allowing her fox-terrier to go about -unmuzzled, were among the victims. The magistrate was currently -reported to have apologised privately for doing his duty, and to have -been abjectly desirous of paying the fine out of his own pocket if -Mabel would have allowed it. It was commonly understood that General -North, Mabel’s late guardian, had found his life a burden to him owing -to the multitude of her suitors, and that he would scarcely allow her -to go out alone lest any unwary stranger, thanked with a smile for -some slight service, should be impelled to propose to her on the spot. - -“Well, Mab,” said Dick again, as his sister did not answer, “the -voyage was the usual triumphal progress, I suppose? Any casualties?” - -“No duels or suicides, Dick. The days of chivalry are gone, you know. -But every one was very nice. I don’t count the officers--it’s their -business to make themselves pleasant--but the captain took me into his -cabin and showed me the pictures of Mrs Captain and the little -Captains, and I was told he didn’t do that for everybody. The ladies -were not quite as friendly as--well, as I should have liked them to -be. They talked me over a good deal, too. Once they asked a rather -nice boy why he and all the rest thought such a lot of me. He couldn’t -think of anything to say but that I was ‘so awfully feminine, don’t -you know?’ When he thought of it afterwards he was rather pleased with -himself, and came and told me. It wasn’t bad, was it?” - -“Oh, Mab!” said Georgia reproachfully. - -“But, Georgie, you wouldn’t have me unfeminine, would you?” - -“Ha, ha!” laughed Dick. “Well, Mab, as you have got here safely, I -suppose your friends were as helpful as your friends generally are?” - -“They were perfectly delightful. When we got to Bombay they helped me -about my luggage, and told me the right hotel, and where to get an -ayah and a servant, and how to go to Bab-us-Sahel. To crown all, they -found me the chaperon I told you about--who turned out to be the -elderly lady who had disapproved of me most frankly of all on the -voyage. Her name is Hardy, and she was coming to join her husband -here. She is devoted to you, Georgie.” - -“Dear old Mrs Hardy? I should think she was. It’s mutual.” - -“Well, tastes differ. She is quite certain that I shall come to a bad -end. We didn’t speak very much on the way to Bab-us-Sahel, and when we -got there I was horrified to find what a journey we had still before -us. I knew the railway hadn’t got to you yet, but I thought it would -only mean perhaps a day in a palanquin, with tigers and interesting -things like that jumping out of the jungle every few minutes, and -brave rescuers turning up in the very nick of time to save one. I -never imagined there would be days and days of riding through a -desert, with no jungle and no tigers at all. Happily we fell in with -Mr Burgrave when we left the railway, and as he was coming here he -invited us to travel with his party in royal state, which we did. Mrs -Hardy quarrelled with him most days on some pretext or other for your -sakes, which I didn’t think nice of her when she was enjoying his -hospitality. She seemed to be convinced that everything he did was -bound to bring the province to destruction.” Again Dick and Georgia -exchanged glances. “Dick, what is wrong between you and Mr Burgrave? I -insist on knowing.” - -“It’s unusual to find two men absolutely agreed on questions of -policy,” said Dick shortly. - -“Well, just at present he has a grudge against you on my account. He -considers you guilty of culpable negligence in leaving such a delicate -and valuable piece of goods to find its way to Alibad unassisted. I -tried to point out that the blame was entirely due to the wicked -wilfulness of the piece of goods in question, but he still thinks you -sadly callous.” - -“We haven’t heard yet what has brought her Majesty Queen Mab to Alibad -at all.” - -“No, that’s another story. (Don’t you admire my local colour?) Here -followeth the confession of Mabel Louisa North. I had a great idea, -Georgie, a splendid idea, when uncle died and I was left alone. I -thought I would become a Medical, so as to come out in time and help -you. I knew you would jeer, Dick, and try to dissuade me, so I decided -not to say a word until I was fairly embarked on my triumphal career. -I was going to take the London Matric. in January, and when I was -entered at the School of Medicine I meant to burst out into sudden -blaze and wire you the astonishing news. But the whole thing missed -fire horribly. You may laugh, Georgie, for I dare say you have kept -your mind supple, like that old man who said he was always learning; -but you don’t know how frightfully difficult it is to bring your -mighty intellect down again to lessons when you haven’t done any for -years and years. Would you believe it?--I broke down under the stress -of the preparation--for the _Matric._, mind--and my eyes gave out. No, -it is nothing really bad”--as Georgia uttered a horrified -exclamation--“Sir William Thornycroft pledged himself that they would -soon be all right again if I gave up work and took to frivolling.” - -“But if there’s nothing the matter with them, I can’t think why he -didn’t tell you to rest for a month or so, and let you go on again -with glasses,” said Georgia. - -Mabel looked a little ashamed. - -“Well, the fact is, I made rather a baby of myself. I couldn’t wear -glasses, Georgie--think what a guy I should look! And you can’t -imagine how disappointed I was. I knew that the loss of a month’s work -would mean that I should fail, and I was feeling very miserable -altogether, after weeks of awful headaches, and my eyes hurt so, -and--and--I wailed a little. Sir William was most sweet, and asked me -all about it; and then he said that he really didn’t think the Medical -was what I was best fitted for, and he advised me to travel for a -little while and forget all about it.” - -“And not give up to medicine what was meant for mankind,” murmured -Dick softly. - -“And she comes out here, where we have an eye-destroying glare all the -year round, and dust-storms two or three times a week, to cure her -eyes!” cried Georgia. - -“My beloved Georgiana, I came here that you might minister to a mind -diseased. When once the thought had flashed upon me, I simply couldn’t -stay in England. I just flew round to the shops and bought whatever -they showed me, and started as soon as I could settle matters at home -and take my passage. I went on writing to you up to the very last -minute. I shouldn’t wonder if the letter I posted on my way to the -docks travelled in the steamer with me. Is that it there? Well, have I -explained matters?” - -“It was an awful risk, Mab,” said Dick in an elder-brotherly tone. “We -might have been both ill, or out in the district, or touring in -Nalapur, or anything.” - -“But you weren’t, you see, so it’s all right. I had an inspiration -that you’d be in your own house for Christmas. What time is dinner? -Lend me a warm tea-gown, Georgie. How cold it gets here when the sun -sets, and yet we were nearly roasted this morning! My belongings were -to follow in a bullock-cart or two, but I haven’t heard them arrive. -Oh, it is sweet to see you two again, and looking so thoroughly happy -and fit, too.” - -She bestowed a kiss on the top of Dick’s head, remarking as she did so -that he was getting disgracefully bald, and rushed away to lavish a -series of hugs on Georgia in the privacy of her own room. Her toilet -did not take long when she was left alone, and she threw over her head -the white shawl Georgia had left with her, and stepped out on the -verandah. There was only a faint gleam of moonlight, and a sense of -the vastness and dreariness of the desert around crept over her as she -tried to distinguish in the blackness the lights of the Alibad -cantonments, through which she had passed in the afternoon. The wind -was chill, and gathering her wrap more closely round her, she turned -to find her way back to the drawing-room. As she did so, the sound of -a horse’s footsteps struck upon her ear. Some one was riding past the -house at no great distance, riding at a smart pace, which caused a -clatter of accoutrements and an occasional sharp metallic ring when -the horse’s hoofs came in contact with a rock. - -“How horrid it must be riding in the dark!” said Mabel to herself. -“Dick,” she cried, meeting her brother in the hall, “are you expecting -any one to dinner? Some one is coming here on horseback.” - -“Oh no, it’s no one for us,” he answered shortly. - -“But where can he be going, then? I thought this was the last English -house on the frontier? It’s a soldier, I’m sure, for I heard his sword -knocking against the stirrup, or whatever it is that makes the -clinkety-clanking noise.” - -“I can’t tell you who it is, for I don’t know, but the natives will -tell you, if you are particularly anxious to hear. They say it’s -General Keeling.” - -“Georgia’s father? But he’s dead!” - -“Exactly.” - -“But do you mean that it’s his ghost?” - -“Don’t talk so loud. I don’t want Georgia worried just now, and she -may not have noticed the sound. The natives say that whenever there is -going to be trouble on the frontier St George Keeling gallops from -point to point to see that things are all right, just as he would have -done in his lifetime.” - -“Oh, but they don’t believe it really?” - -“You shall see. Ismail Bakhsh!” The old _chaprasi_ who had met Mabel -at the door came forward, gorgeous in his scarlet coat and gold badge, -and saluted. “Tell the Miss Sahib who it is she hears, out beyond the -far corner of the compound.” - -The old man drew himself up and saluted again. “Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib -Bahadar rides to-night, Miss Sahib.” - -“Oh, how dreadful!” said Mabel, turning to her brother with a blanched -face. Ismail Bakhsh understood her words. - -“Nay, Miss Sahib, it is well, rather. When the day comes that there is -trouble on the border, and Kīlin Sahib does not ride, then the reign -of the Sarkar will be ended in Khemistan, and it may be in all -Hindustan also.” - -“That will do, Ismail Bakhsh,” said Dick, when he had interpreted the -old man’s words. “Come into the drawing-room, Mab.” - -“But, Dick, it can’t be true? Isn’t some one playing a trick?” - -“We have never been able to bring it home to any one if it is a trick. -Anstruther and I have watched in vain, and most of the fellows from -the cantonments have had a try too. We heard just what you hear, but -we could never see anything.” - -“Dick, I think you are most awfully brave.” Mabel shuddered as she -pictured Dick and his friend approaching the sound, locating it -exactly, perhaps--oh, horror!--hearing it pass between them, while -still there was nothing to be seen. “Does it--he--ever come any -nearer? How fearful if he should ride up to the door!” - -“Why, Mab, you don’t mean to say you believe in it?” Dick looked at -her curiously. “It’s quite true that the sound is heard when there’s -going to be trouble, for I have noticed it time after time; but I have -a very simple theory to account for that. When the tribes living -beyond this stretch of desert intend to make themselves disagreeable, -they send mounted messengers to one another. The desert air carries -sound well, and I’m not prepared to say that these rocks here may not -have some peculiar property which makes them carry sound well too, but -at any rate we hear, as if it was quite close, what is actually -happening miles and miles away.” - -“Oh, do you really think so?” Mabel was much cheered. “But then, why -should Georgia be frightened if she heard it?” - -“Because of the trouble it foreshadows, which is a sad and sober -reality, not on account of the supernatural story the natives have -taken it into their heads to get up.” - -Georgia’s entrance and the announcement of dinner banished the -disquieting topic, and Mabel’s creepy sensations vanished speedily -under the influence of the light and warmth and brightness -encompassing the meal, so eminently Western and ordinary in its -appointments save for the presence of the noiseless Hindu servants. -Old times and scenes were discussed by the three, and family jokes -recalled with infinite zest, in momentary entire forgetfulness of the -turbulent frontier and the haunted desert outside. Shortly after a -move had been made into the drawing-room, however, the flow of -reminiscences was interrupted by the entrance of Dick’s subordinate, -the handsome young civilian who had escorted Mabel to her brother’s -door. He walked in unannounced, as one very much at home. - -“With Dr Tighe’s compliments to the rival practitioner,” he said, -handing a copy of the _Lancet_ to Georgia. “I shall pass the Doctor’s -quarters going home, Mrs North, so I can leave your _British Medical_ -for him if you have done with it.” - -“I will put it out for you,” said Georgia. “You have seen Miss North -already, I think?” - -“Yes, indeed. It was this afternoon that I had the astonishment and -delight of learning that the Kumpsioner Sahib had atoned for all his -sins against this frontier.” - -“What, does Burgrave climb down?” cried Dick. - -“Not a bit of it, Major. He’s on the war-path, and seeing red. But he -has escorted Miss North safely here.” - -“Oh, is Mr Burgrave anxious for war?” asked Mabel. “I suppose that’s -the trouble which is coming on the frontier, then?” She stopped -suddenly, with a guilty glance at Georgia. - -“Never mind, Mab; I heard it,” said her sister-in-law quietly. - -“I should think so!” cried Fitzgerald Anstruther. “The old joker--beg -your pardon, Mrs North--the old ch--General--was riding like mad. No, -Miss North, war is the last thing that our most peaceful-minded -Commissioner desires. He is coming to bring this benighted province up -to date, and assimilate it to the well-governed districts he has known -hitherto.” - -“After all, we can’t be sure of his intentions,” said Georgia. “What -we have heard may be only rumour.” - -“No; he is on the war-path, Mrs North, as I said. Young Timson, of the -Telegraphs, who came up with him, was in with me just now, and says -that he talked quite openly of his plans.” - -“I don’t mind the man’s intentions,” cried Dick hotly, “if they are -founded on an honest opinion. What I do mind is his talking of them to -outsiders as if they were accomplished facts, before he has said a -word to the men on the spot.” - -“Oh, but you forget that the Commissioner’s intentions are as good as -accomplished facts, Major,” said Fitz. “‘Is it not already done, -Sahib?’ as my old villain of a bearer says when I tell him to do -something he has no idea of doing. - - “‘For the Khans must come down and Amirs they must frown - When the Kumpsioner Sahib says “Stop”! - (Poor beggars!--we’re here to say “Stop”!)’ - -aren’t we?” he added dolefully. “Timson says that Burgrave is -particularly strong on cutting loose from Nalapur.” - -“Oh, do explain these technicalities a little!” pleaded Mabel. Her -brother took up the task promptly, seeming to find in it some sort of -relief to his feelings. - -“I suppose you know that Khemistan has always been governed on a plan -of its own? When it was first annexed Georgia’s father was put in -charge of this frontier, which was then the wildest, thievingest, most -lawless place in creation. He raised the Khemistan Horse, and used -them indiscriminately as troops and police. Small parties were -stationed all along the frontier, and they were ready to march in any -direction, day or night, at the news of a raid or a scrimmage. Within -a few years the frontier was quiet, and General Keeling kept it so. He -had his own methods of doing it, and the Government didn’t always -agree with them, wherefore he ragged the Government, and the -Government snubbed him, horribly. However, he held on to his post, and -died at it, and then the bad old days began again. That was just -before I came up here, and I found that the people looked back to -Sinjāj Kīlin’s days as a kind of Golden Age----” - -“Oh, Dick, they do still,” cried Mabel. “It makes poor Mr Burgrave so -vexed. He told me that whenever an old chief comes to pay his -respects, the first thing he asks is always whether the Commissioner -Sahib knew Sinjāj Kīlin. He got so tired of it at last that he said -he would have given worlds to shout, ‘Thank goodness, _no_!’” - -“Don’t doubt it for a moment. Well, they tried to govern Khemistan on -the lines of the province next door, which has always been in the -hands of the opposition school. Result--confusion, and all but civil -war. Most of St George Keeling’s young men gave up in disgust, and the -Amir of Nalapur, just across the frontier, who had been the General’s -firm ally, was goaded into enmity. That was the state of things five -years ago.” - -“And then,” said Georgia, “dear old Sir Magnus Pater, who was -Commissioner for Khemistan in my father’s time, used all his influence -to get Dick appointed Frontier Superintendent. It was the last thing -he did before he retired, and we were thankful to leave Iskandarbagh, -and to get back to our very own country.” - -“And in less than no time,” put in Fitz, “the frontier was quiet, -thanks to a judicious revival of General Keeling’s methods, and the -Amir of Nalapur was assuring Major North that he was his father and -his mother. Mrs North’s fame as a physician of supernatural powers, -and the Major’s military discipline, have worked wonders in crushing -the proud and extorting the respectful admiration of the submissive.” - -“Oh, that reminds me!” cried Mabel. “Georgie, do you write Dick’s -reports for him? Mr Burgrave really believes you do.” - -(“Oh, Miss North, what an injudicious question!” murmured Fitz, _sotto -voce_.) - -“Certainly not,” returned Georgia briskly. “Do you think I would -encourage Dick in such idleness? We write them together.” - -“But,” objected Mabel, “I can’t see why Mr Burgrave should come to -disturb all you have done if you have got on so well.” - -“O wise young judge!” said Dick. “That’s exactly what we can’t see -either.” - -“Because he is tired of hearing General Keeling alluded to as the best -feared, and loved, and hated man in Anglo-Indian history,” said Fitz. -“Because to see your next-door neighbour succeeding where you have -failed, by dint of methods which you regard with holy horror, is -distasteful to the natural man. But let me tell you a little story, -Miss North--an Oriental apologue, full of local colour. The ruler of -many millions was glancing over the map of his dominions one morning, -when his symmetry-loving eye lit upon one province governed -differently from all the rest. To him, imperiously demanding an -explanation, there enters Eustace Burgrave, Esq., of the Secretariat, -C.S.I. and other desirable things, armed with a beautifully written -minute on the subject, and points out that the province is not only a -scandal and an eyesore, but a happy hunting-ground for firebrand -soldier-politicals who know better than viceroys--a class of persons -that obviously ought to be stamped out in the interests of good -government. Any remedies for this atrocious state of things? -Naturally, Mr Burgrave is prepared with measures that will make -Khemistan the garden of India and a lasting memorial of the ruler’s -happy reign. No time is wasted. ‘Take the province, Burgrave,’ says -the Great Great One, with tears of emotion, ‘and my blessing with it,’ -and Burgrave accepts both. Hitherto he has been reforming the course -of nature down by the river, now he comes up here to teach us a lesson -in our turn.” - -“And do you mean to let him do what he likes?” cried Mabel. - -“Nonsense, Mab! He is supreme here,” said Dick. - -“Besides, Miss North,” Fitz went on, “the Commissioner’s imposing -personality puts opposition out of the question. You must have noticed -the condescending loftiness of his manner, springing from the -assurance that his career will be in the future, as in the past, a -succession of triumphs. Failure is not in his vocabulary. He is born -for greatness. Who could see that cold blue eye, that monumental nose, -and doubt it? Nothing short of a general convulsion of nature could -disturb the even tenor of his way.” - -“Well, I am not quite sure of that,” said Mabel musingly. - -“Oh, I’m afraid there’s no hope of him as a lady’s man, if that’s what -you mean, Miss North. It is understood that he’s by no means a -hardened misogynist, but neither is he looking for a wife. He is -simply waiting quite dispassionately to see whether the feminine -counterpart of his perfections will ever present herself. Year after -year at Calcutta and Simla he has surveyed the newest young ladies out -from home and found them wanting, and their mothers go away into -corners and call him names, which is unjust. His fitting mate would -scarcely appear once in a lifetime, perhaps not in an age.” - -“I think Mr Burgrave needs a lesson,” said Mabel. - -“But consider, Miss North. It is no obscure future that the favoured -damsel will be called upon to share. In time she will clothe her -_jampanis_ at Simla in scarlet, and by-and-by, if she does what he -tells her, she will sport the Crown of India on a neat coloured -ribbon.” - -“I think it will be well for me to take him in hand,” Mabel persisted. - -“For goodness’ sake, Mab, don’t make matters worse by importing the -celebrated smile into the affair!” cried Dick. - -“Worse? Dick, you are ungrateful. When Mr Burgrave has found himself -mistaken in one matter of importance, he will be less cocksure in -others.” - -“I don’t know about that,” said Georgia. “And take care, Mab. It’s -dangerous playing with edged tools.” - -“Then I will take the risk. Reverence your heroic sister, Dick, -willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of your career.” - -“And if the worst come to the worst, the prospective glories of the -viceregal throne will gild the pill,” said Fitz. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - “LIFE IS REAL; LIFE IS EARNEST.” - -“Oh, Georgie, I do so want a good long talk.” - -It was the morning after Mabel’s arrival, and she had settled herself -on the verandah with her work, a laudable pretence in which no one had -ever seen her set a stitch. After Dick had ridden away, she yawned a -good deal, and looked out more than once disconsolately over the -desert in search of entertainment, which failed to present itself, and -Georgia had her household duties to perform before she could devote -herself to amusing her sister-in-law. Mabel had several distant -glimpses of her laying down the law to submissive servants, and paying -surprise visits in the compound, but at last she mounted the steps, -threw aside her sun-hat, and bringing out a work-basket, spread a -little pile of delicate cambric upon the table before her. - -“Talk, then,” she said, with a pin in her mouth. - -“But you are sure we shan’t be interrupted? Have you quite done?” - -“I think we are safe. I have visited the cook-house and the dairy, -interviewed the gardener, arranged about the horses’ and cow’s food as -well as our own, and physicked all the invalids in the neighbourhood. -So begin, Mab.” - -“Well, don’t you want to know my real reasons for coming out?” - -“I thought we heard them last night--such as they are.” - -“How nasty you are, Georgie! Didn’t you guess that there were other -reasons behind, reserved for your private ear, and not to be exposed -to Dick’s ribaldry? The truth is, I was hungering and thirsting for -reality, and that’s why I came.” - -“My beloved Mab, is England a world of shadows?” - -“It is exactly that--to women in our class of life, at any rate--and I -am sick of shadows. Our life has become so smooth, and polished, and -refined, that it is not life at all. We are all Tomlinsons more or -less--getting our emotions second-hand from books and plays. Some of -us go into the slums or the hospitals in search of experiences (you’ll -say that was what I tried to do), but even then we only see things, we -don’t feel them. I wanted to get to a place where things still -happened, where there were real people and real passions.” - -“Do you know, Mab”--Georgia fixed a critical eye on her--“if you had -been a little younger, I should have suspected you of a yearning to -enter the Army Nursing Service? I can’t tell you how many girls have -lamented to me at different times the unreality of their lives, and -proposed to set them right by means of that particular act of -self-sacrifice. But as things are, I suppose, to use plain English, -you were bored?” - -“Bored to exasperation, then, you unsympathetic creature! But I am -serious, Georgie. There’s something you quoted in one of your letters -from Kubbet-ul-Haj that has haunted me ever since, and expresses what -I mean. It was something like: ‘When the world grows too refined and -too cultured, God sends great judgments to beat us back to the -beginning of history again, to toils and pain and peril, and the old -first heroic lessons--how to fight and how to endure.’ It would be -absurd for me, in England, to take to living in a slum, making my own -things, and teaching people who are much better than I am, but I -thought out here----” - -“And you find Dick and me dressing for dinner every evening, and -getting the magazines monthly! You had better cross the border into -Ethiopia, Mab. We are just as artificial here as at home.” - -“Georgie! as if I wanted to make a savage of myself, like the youth in -‘Locksley Hall’! Surely life can be simple and primitive without being -squalid?” - -“You haven’t asked my advice, and I don’t know whether you want it, -but it’s dreadfully commonplace. Get married.” - -“You mean that I should know then what reality is? What an indictment -to bring against Dick! What in the world does he do to you, Georgie?” - -Georgia smiled superior. “You don’t expect me to begin to defend Dick -to you?” she asked, then laughed aloud. “No, Mab, you needn’t try to -tease me about him at this hour of the day. But what I mean is, that -you get into the way of looking at things in quite a different light -when you are married. You don’t hold a brief for your own sex any -longer, but for men as well. That makes the difference, I think. You -are in the middle instead of on one side, and that is at any rate a -help towards seeing life whole.” - -“But do you always look at things now through Dick’s spectacles? How -painfully monotonous!” - -“We don’t always agree, of course. But we talk things over together, -and generally one convinces the other. If not, we agree to differ.” - -Mabel shook her head. “Then I’m perfectly certain that you and Dick -have never differed on a really vital matter,” she said. “In that case -I know quite well that neither of you would ever convince the other, -and you could not conscientiously agree to differ, so what is to -happen?” - -Georgia did not seem to hear her. She rose and went into the -drawing-room, and unlocking a little carved cabinet that stood on her -writing-table, took something out of a secret drawer. “Look at this, -Mab,” she said, handing Mabel a piece of paper. It was a photograph, -obviously the work of an amateur, of a little grave surrounded by -lofty trees. - -“Oh, Georgie!” the tears sprang to Mabel’s eyes; “this is baby’s -grave?” - -Georgia nodded. “Dick doesn’t know that I have it,” she said, speaking -quickly. “Mr Anstruther took the photograph for me, and I had one -framed, and it always hung in my room. I used to sit and look at it -when Dick was out. Sometimes I cried a little, of course, but I never -thought he would notice. But he took it into his head that I was -fretting, and when we left Iskandarbagh he gave the servants a hint to -lose the picture in moving. Wasn’t it just like him, dear fellow? But -he never bargained for the servants’ letting out the truth to me. I -had this one as well; but when I saw how Dick felt about it I took -care to keep it hidden away, and he thinks his plan has succeeded, and -that I have forgotten. It makes him so much happier.” - -“I see,” said Mabel, in a low voice. “You wouldn’t have done that -once, Georgie. I see the difference. But surely there is a name on the -stone?” She was examining the photograph closely. “She was baptized, -then? I never heard----” - -“Yes, Dick baptized her; there was no one else. Georgia Mabel, he -would have it so. Oh, Mab, it was awful, that time! We were the only -English people at Iskandarbagh just then, and the tribes were out on -the frontier. Miss Jenkins, the Bab-us-Sahel missionary, was coming to -me. Since I knew her first, she has been home to take the medical -course, and is fully qualified. Well, she could not get to me, and I -couldn’t get to Khemistan, and I had to stay where I was and be doctor -and patient both. Of course I had my dear good Rahah, and Dick was as -gentle as any woman; but oh, it was terrible! But I shouldn’t have -minded afterwards if only baby had lived. She was such a darling, Mab, -with fair hair and dark eyes, like yours. Dick tried to cheer me -up--chaffed me about her being so small and weak--but she died in my -arms a few minutes after she was baptized. Miss Jenkins got through to -us the next day at the risk of her life, but she was only in time for -the--the funeral in the Residency garden.” - -“And you lived through that? Oh, Georgie, it would have killed me.” - -“Oh no; there was Dick, you know. Poor dear Dick! he was disappointed -about baby, of course; but a man doesn’t feel that sort of thing as a -woman does. Besides, he was so glad I didn’t die too, that he really -could not think of anything else.” - -“And you, Georgie?” - -“I can’t talk of it, Mab, even to you--how I longed to die. But he -never knew it. And when I was better, I saw how wicked I had been. I -would have lost anything rather than leave him alone.” - -“Well,” said Mabel, trying to speak lightly, “you have made -acquaintance with realities, Georgie, at any rate; but I don’t know -that I am very keen on following in your footsteps. I believe you have -made me afraid of taking your advice. Marriage seems to involve -experiences out here which one doesn’t get at home.” - -“It does,” agreed Georgia, “and I suppose they would be too much for -some women. But when you love the country and the people as I do--and -love your husband, of course--you would scarcely come out here with -him if you didn’t--I think the life brings you nearer to each other -than anything else could. It is such an absolute _solitude à deux_, -you see, and you are so completely shut up to one another, that you -seem really to become one, not just figuratively. It’s rather a -terrible experiment to make, as you say, but if it succeeds--why, then -it’s the very best thing in the world.” - -“I can’t quite fancy myself thinking of Mr Burgrave like that,” -murmured Mabel reflectively. - -“Mab, I didn’t think----” - -“Oh, I beg your pardon, Georgie. If I didn’t laugh I should cry. And -there’s Dick coming back, and he’ll see we have been crying. Talk -about something else, quick!” - -“I was wondering whether you would like to pay a call or two,” said -Georgia, thrusting a wet handkerchief hastily into her pocket. “I -don’t want to drag you out if you are still tired after your journey, -but it would be nice for you to get to know people before all the -Christmas festivities begin next week.” - -“Of course!” Mabel’s sudden animation was not wholly assumed for -Dick’s benefit as he rode past the verandah. “Who is there to call -upon?” - -“Only your friend Mrs Hardy, whose husband is the missionary here, and -acts as chaplain, and Flora Graham, the Colonel’s daughter, I am -afraid. Nearly all the men are bachelors or grass-widowers at this -station. Two or three ladies will come in from Rahmat-Ullah and the -other outlying stations next week, but we are still scarce enough to -be valuable.” - -“That’s a state of things of which I highly approve,” said Mabel. - -“Never knew a woman that didn’t,” said Dick, entering. “Ask Georgia if -she doesn’t like to see the men round her chair, though she pretends -to think they’re attracted by her professional reputation. But Miss -Graham is coming to call on you, Mab. She’s dying to see you, but -feared you would be too tired to pay visits this week. In gratitude -for this honour, don’t you think you ought to refrain from exercising -your fascinations on her young man?” - -“Really, Dick, I don’t know what you can think of me. Is Miss Graham -engaged?” - -“Rather; to young Haycraft, of the Regiment.” - -“Ah, I fly at higher game,” said Mabel austerely. - -“So I should have guessed.” - -“Oh, Dick, have you seen the Commissioner?” cried Georgia. - -“Been closeted with him nearly all morning.” - -“And was he very horrid?” - -“By no means. He didn’t make any secret of his reforming intentions, -but he gave me no hint as to his plan for carrying them out. He only -tells that sort of thing to casual fellow-travellers, I suppose. But I -think he wished to make himself agreeable, and I attribute that to my -having the honour of being Miss Mabel North’s brother.” - -“Ah!” said Mabel wisely. - -Late that afternoon she and Georgia set forth to visit Mrs Hardy, much -against Mabel’s will. She represented that she had only parted from -the good lady the day before, and had not the slightest desire to -renew the acquaintance, but Georgia was firm. - -“We will only go in for a minute or two, for we must be back early to -meet the Grahams, but I could not bear her to think herself slighted.” - -When they reached the missionary’s bungalow they found it in the -throes of a general turn-out. The verandah was piled with furniture, -and here Mrs Hardy, a worn-looking little woman with a lined face, and -thin grey hair screwed into an unbecoming knob, received them in the -lowest possible spirits. She had always prophesied that the house -would go to rack and ruin during her absence in England, and now she -perceived that it had. Only that morning she had discovered the -fragments of her very best damask table-cloth doing duty as dusters, -and three silver spoons were missing. Moreover, she believed she was -on the verge of further discoveries that would compel her to dismiss -at least half the servants. Georgia’s inquiry after Mr Hardy elicited -the fact that he had contracted the bad habit of having his meals -served in his study and reading while he partook of them, which was -bound to have a prejudicial effect on his digestion in the future, -while Mrs Hardy felt morally certain that he had gone to church in -rags for many Sundays past. Yes, he had spoken very cheerfully of -several interesting inquirers who had come to him of late, but Mrs -Hardy had, and would continue to have, grave doubts as to the -genuineness of their motives. Georgia sighed, and turned the -conversation to the subject of the journey from the coast, but this -only opened the way for a fresh flood of forebodings. The new -Commissioner was bent on mischief, and the natives were perceptibly -uneasy. Where they were not defiant they were sullen, and Mrs Hardy’s -eagle eye foresaw trouble ahead. Perceiving that Georgia was not -entirely at one with her, she descended suddenly to details. - -“Ah, dear Mrs North, I know you think I am a pessimist, but when you -hear what I have to tell you----! Is--is Miss North in your -confidence--politically speaking?” with a meaning glance at Mabel. - -“In our confidence!” cried Georgia, in astonishment. “Of course she -is. Why not?” - -Mrs Hardy bridled. “I am relieved to hear that Miss North is not so -entirely taken up with the Commissioner as to have no thought for her -dear brother’s interests,” she said acidly. “Well, I must tell you -that I hear on good authority that Mr Burgrave intends to allow Bahram -Khan to return to Nalapur. In the course of our journey he gave a -private audience to a Hindu whom I recognised as Narayan Singh, the -brother of the Nalapur Vizier Ram Singh, and I now hear that he has -been closeted with him again to-day. Ram Singh has always been -suspected of intriguing for Bahram Khan’s return, and Narayan Singh -has divided his time between Nalapur and Ethiopia for years.” - -“Oh, but it’s quite impossible!” cried Georgia. “The Commissioner -would never take such a step without consulting my husband, and Dick -would never countenance it. Bahram Khan has sinned beyond -forgiveness.” - -“I wish I could think so!” said Mrs Hardy oracularly. “We shall soon -see, my dear Mrs North. What, must you go? I wonder Major North likes -you to drive that high dog-cart. You will certainly have an accident -some day.” - -“Odious woman!” cried Mabel, as the dog-cart dashed down the road. -“How can you endure her, Georgie? She is the very incarnation of -spite.” - -“No, no--of hopelessness,” said Georgia. “The climate tries her, and -her children are all being educated at home, and she thinks Mr Hardy -is not appreciated here. Dear old man! I wish you could have seen him, -Mab. He is all patience and cheerfulness, and indeed, it is a good -thing that he has Mrs Hardy to keep him within bounds. All our people -and the native Christians love him, and even the mullahs who come to -argue with him can’t succeed in hating him. His learning is really -wasted up here, and I don’t think he has had more than six baptisms of -converts in the five years we have known him. We always say that the -natives who become Christians here must be very much in earnest, for -Mrs Hardy discourages them so conscientiously beforehand.” - -“Horrid old thing, spoiling her husband’s work!” cried Mabel. - -“No, not at all. He has been taken in more than once. And really, Mab, -it is hard for us to urge these people to be baptized. The persecution -is awful.” - -“Here--under English rule?” - -“Not from us, of course, but from their own people. Two men have been -lured across the frontier and murdered, and another had a false charge -trumped up against him, and only just escaped hanging. It seems -scarcely fair on our part unless we can get them away to another part -of India.” - -“Well, Mrs Hardy isn’t exactly a good example of the effects of -Christianity. She is enough to frighten away any number of intending -converts.” - -“And yet she is the staunchest friend possible at a pinch. I had -rather have her with me in an emergency than any other woman I know.” - -“That’s because she likes you. She hates me, and would rejoice to make -my life a burden to me. The idea of hinting that I would betray Dick’s -secrets to Mr Burgrave! Wasn’t it infamous? But who is Bahram Khan?” - -“He is the Amir of Nalapur’s nephew, and was intended to succeed to -the throne, but in order to expedite matters he tried to poison both -his uncle and Dick’s predecessor here, who had been obliged to scold -him for some of his doings. The matter could not be absolutely proved -against him, but he thought it well to take refuge in Ethiopia, and -has stayed there ever since. To guard against his returning, Dick -advised the Amir to adopt another nephew, Bahadar Shah, as his -successor, and he did. Bahram Khan is only about twenty-three now, but -he married an Ethiopian lady of rank four years ago. His poor old -mother, who is one of my Nalapur patients, was very sore at his -arranging it without consulting her. She remained at her brother’s -court when her son escaped, for it was she who saved the lives of the -Amir and Sir Henry Gaunt. She suspected her son’s intentions, and -tasted the food prepared for the banquet he was going to give. It made -her very ill, but she gave the warning, and I was sent for post-haste -from Iskandarbagh in time to save her life. She is a dear, grateful -old thing.” - -“But do you think Mr Burgrave will let Bahram Khan come back?” - -“Oh no, it’s impossible. But I wish,” added Georgia thoughtfully, -“that I hadn’t been so emphatic in denying it to Mrs Hardy. If -anything happens now, she will know that Dick and the Commissioner are -not in accord.” - -“But why shouldn’t she know?” - -“Because out here we learn to stick together. Quarrel in private as -much as you like, but present a united front to the foe,” said Georgia -sententiously, as she pulled up before her own verandah. Two horses, -in charge of native grooms, were waiting at the door. - -“Our visitors have arrived before us,” said Mabel, and they hurried -into the drawing-room, to find an elderly man of soldierly appearance -and a tall yellow-haired girl waiting patiently for them. - -“I’m afraid you will think us very rude for thrusting ourselves upon -you so soon, and at this time of day,” said Miss Graham, addressing -herself to Mabel, after Georgia had apologised for their absence, “but -my father happened to have time to come with me just now, and I was so -very anxious to see you----” - -“How sweet of you!” murmured Mabel softly, as the visitor stopped -abruptly. - -“Because I want to ask you a favour,” finished Miss Graham. Her father -laughed, and Mabel looked politely interested. “I want you to be Queen -of the Tournament next week instead of me.” - -“Oh, Georgie!” cried Mabel; “and you said that life out here was -modern and unromantic! Why, here we are plunged into the Middle Ages -at once.” - -“It’s only my daughter’s poetical way of speaking of our annual -gymkhana,” explained Colonel Graham. “She has officiated so often that -she feels shy. The real fact is,” he turned confidentially to Georgia, -“Haycraft has loafed about here so much that he’s wretchedly stale -this year, and Flora can’t bear to give a prize to any one else.” - -“No, no, papa; what a shame!” cried Miss Graham, blushing. “You see, -Miss North, I have really done it a good many times, and I’m sure -everybody would like to see some one new. Besides, I am engaged, you -know, and--and----” - -“And it would make it more realistic if the opposing heroes felt they -were really struggling for the Queen’s favour?” said her father. -“Well, that’s easily managed. Intimate to Haycraft that unless he wins -he’ll have to resign you to the successful competitor.” - -“But why ask me?” said Mabel. - -“Because there’s no one else,” replied Miss Graham quickly. “No, I -don’t mean that; but my father says I ought to ask the Commissioner to -give the prizes, and I don’t like him well enough. But he couldn’t -possibly be offended if I asked you. It’s so obviously the proper -thing.” - -“Now, why?” asked Mabel again, and the other girl blushed once more. - -“I saw you yesterday when you rode past our house,” she said shyly, -“and I knew at once that you were the right person.” - -Mabel smiled graciously. Such open admiration from one of her own sex -was rare enough to be grateful to her. “I am wondering what I should -wear,” she said. “I have a little muslin frock----” - -“Oh!” said Miss Graham, evidently disappointed. “But perhaps--do you -think I might see it?” - -“If Georgie and Colonel Graham will excuse us for a moment,” said -Mabel rising, and she led the way to her own room, and summoned the -smiling brown-faced ayah whom she had brought from Bombay. - -“Oh!” cried Flora Graham again, when the “little muslin frock” was -displayed to her, but her tone was not now one of disappointment. The -frock might be little, whatever that term might mean as applied to a -gown, but it was not therefore to be despised. It was undoubtedly made -of muslin, but it had a slip of softest primrose silk, and the glories -of frills and lace and primrose ribbon which decked it bewildered her -eyes. “It is lovely!” she said slowly; “and look how your ayah -appreciates it. I wish mine ever had the chance of regarding one of my -gowns with such reverential admiration! And what hat will you wear -with it?” - -“They tried to make me have one swathed in white and primrose -chiffon,” said Mabel indifferently, “but I knew I could never stand -that. I shall wear this one with it.” She indicated a large black -picture hat. - -“That will be perfect,” said Miss Graham. “It’s the finishing touch. -Oh, you will--you must--give the prizes. That gown would be wasted -otherwise. You will do it, won’t you?” - -Yielding sweetly to the eager entreaties showered upon her, Mabel -consented, and in the talk which followed set herself to gain an -acquaintance with all the gaieties that were to be expected during the -following week. When Georgia came to say that Colonel Graham was -obliged to leave, the two girls were discussing ball dresses with the -keenest interest. - - - -“I can’t make Mabel out,” Georgia said to her husband that night. -“Sometimes she seems in such deadly earnest, and yet she is as anxious -as possible to take part in everything that is going on.” - -“But why in the world shouldn’t she be?” - -“It’s not that; but I can’t think why she should care for it.” - -“No, I suppose not. You never felt that you must play the fool for a -bit now and then or die, did you, Georgie? But Mab does--has -periodical fits of it, alternating with the deadly earnest. Let her -alone to have her fling. She’ll settle down some day, and it’s not as -if it did any harm.” - -But Georgia was not convinced. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - “IN HIS SIMPLICITY SUBLIME.” - -“The Major not back from the durbar yet, I suppose, Mrs North? Have -you heard this extraordinary report about Bahram Khan?” - -“No, I didn’t know there was any report going about,” answered -Georgia. She was driving Mabel to the club, and had stopped to speak -to the station surgeon, a cheerful little stout man, riding a frisky -pony which danced merrily about the road, while its master tried in -vain to induce it to stand still. - -“It’s all over the bazaar, and one of the hospital assistants told me. -They say that the Commissioner means to insist on Bahram Khan’s being -restored to his lands and honours, and to advise poor old Ashraf Ali -strongly to accept him again as his heir.” - -“Oh, that gives the whole thing away,” said Georgia, more cheerfully, -“for the Amir’s adoption of Bahadar Shah was recognised by the -Government of India. Was all this to happen to-day, Dr Tighe?” - -“Yes, at this durbar. Quite thrilling, isn’t it? Well, I must be off -on my rounds. When am I to have that game of tennis you promised me, -Miss North?” and the doctor rode away, while Georgia drove on, with -brows drawn into an anxious frown. - -“It’s quite impossible,” she said at last, rousing herself. “He -couldn’t spring such a mine upon us. Look, Mab! this is my father’s -old house.” - -“But why don’t you live in it?” asked Mabel, looking with much -interest at the flat-roofed building with its massive stone walls and -narrow windows. Georgia laughed. - -“Because the accommodation is a little too Spartan for a family,” she -said. “My father prided himself on his powers of roughing it, and all -his young men had to follow his example. Mr Anstruther inhabits the -house at present, in company with the official records, for the office -is large and airy, and Dick uses it still.” - -“I should have thought General Keeling would have lived in the fort,” -said Mabel, as a sharp turn in the road brought them in sight of the -dust-coloured walls and mouldering battlements, crowned with withered -grass, of the old border stronghold. - -“Never!” cried Georgia. “The first thing he did on coming here was to -dismantle it. He would never allow either the Khemistan Horse or his -British officers to hide behind walls. Their safety had to depend on -their own watchfulness.” - -“He had the courage of his convictions, at any rate.” - -“Of course. He never told any one to do what he would not do himself. -He wanted to blow up the fort and destroy it altogether; but the -Government objected in the interests of archæology, so he gave it to -the station for a club-house. There has never been too much money to -spare in Alibad, and people have used it gratefully ever since.” - -“What a delicious old place!” sighed Mabel, as they drove in through -the hospitable gateway, on either side of which the ancient doors, -warped and worm-eaten and paintless, leaned useless against the wall. -The block of buildings which had comprised the chief apartments of the -fort in the wild days before the coming of the British was now -utilised as the club-house, and an inner courtyard had been -ingeniously converted into a tennis-ground. As she passed, Mabel -caught a glimpse through the archway of Flora Graham and her -_fiancé_, young Haycraft, playing vigorously, but she also noticed -something else. - -“Georgie, there’s Mrs Hardy looking out for you.” - -“Oh dear!” cried Georgia in a panic, “I can’t meet her just now, until -I know the truth about Bahram Khan. She is waiting to gloat over me -about this horrible rumour, and I can’t stand it. I am going to take -you up to the ramparts, Mab, to see the view.” - -She gave the reins to the groom, and, avoiding the reading-room, in -the verandah of which could be discerned Mrs Hardy’s depressed-looking -bonnet, hurried Mabel across the wide courtyard and up a flight of -steps which led to the summit of the western wall. From this, at some -risk to life and limb, they were able to reach one of the half-ruined -towers, which commanded a bird’s-eye view of the town. The native -quarter, with its narrow, crooked alleys and carefully guarded flat -roofs, the lines, painfully neat in the mathematical symmetry of their -rows of white huts, the houses in the cantonments, embowered in -pleasant gardens, were all spread before them. Beyond the belt of -green which marked the limits of the irrigated land round the town, -the desert stretched on the east and south as far as the eye could -see. To the west was a range of rugged hills, their nearer spurs -within rifle-shot of the fort, and to the north, at a much greater -distance, the peaks, at this season covered with snow, of a -considerable mass of mountains. - -“That is Nalapur,” said Georgia, pointing to the mountains, “and -beyond it to the eastward is Ethiopia. Our house is the last on -British soil. The corner of the compound exactly touches the frontier -line.” - -“Then that’s why your father rides past just there?” said Mabel -unthinkingly. - -“So the natives say. I rather like to think of him as still guarding -the frontier which he spent his life in defending. It’s a nice idea, I -mean--that’s all. But, Mab, the men are coming back from the durbar. -Look at that dust-cloud, and you will see the light strike on -something shining every now and then. That’s the bravery of their -durbar get-up. We will wait here until they get into the town, and -capture the first that comes this way. I must find out what has -happened.” - -They watched the cavalcade enter the town and separate into its -component parts, and presently saw Fitz Anstruther riding up to the -fort. He caught sight of their parasols and waved his hand, but -Georgia dragged Mabel down the steps, and they met him in the -courtyard. - -“You’ve heard, then?” he cried, as his eyes fell on Georgia’s face. - -“Only a bazar rumour. Is it true that Bahram Khan----?” - -“He is restored to his estates and rank, and recommended by the -Commissioner to the particular favour of his uncle. Burgrave had him -all ready outside the tent, it appears, and after enlarging to the -Amir and the luckless Bahadar Shah on the blessings of family unity, -and the advisability of forgiving and forgetting youthful -peccadilloes, brought him in as a practical embodiment of his words. -It was dramatic--very--but it was playing it awfully low down on us, -especially the Major.” - -“Then he knew nothing of it?” - -“No more than I did.” - -“And Ashraf Ali was willing to take the Commissioner’s advice?” - -“He hadn’t much choice. A glance from Major North would have turned -the scale, but you know what the Major is, Mrs North--he will play -fair by his own side, however badly they may have treated him. He gave -him no encouragement to show fight, and Ashraf Ali took a back seat. -It _is_ rather tough to have to receive again into the bosom of your -family an affectionate nephew who has tried to murder you, isn’t it?” - -“But how does the Commissioner get over that little difficulty?” - -“Airily ignores it. ‘Not guilty, and won’t do it again,’ is his view. -Every prospect of domestic happiness in the Amir’s family circle in -future.” - -“Where is Dick now?” asked Georgia suddenly. - -“I rather think he has gone to have it out with the Kumpsioner Sahib. -He was horribly sick, and who can wonder?” - -“I really think,” said Mabel, quite inconsequently, “that if I -couldn’t pick up my own balls I wouldn’t play tennis.” - -They were sitting in the verandah overlooking the tennis-court, and it -was the sight of the squad of small boys in uniform who were being -kept hard at work by the three men now playing that had called forth -the remark. - -“We get so slack with the climate,” pleaded Fitz. - -“Well, I don’t intend to let those boys pick up my balls when I play.” - -“They won’t have the chance, Miss North. We should simply massacre -them if they attempted it. Oh, here’s the Major--and the -Commissioner!” - -Dick was still in uniform, and the man who emerged with him from under -the archway was quite thrown into the shade by his magnificence, but -the contrast did not appear to afflict Mr Burgrave, even if he noticed -it. He crossed the shadowed court with slow, deliberate steps, -apparently unaware that he was interrupting the game, talking all the -time to Dick, who listened courteously, but without conviction. - -“What a curious face it is!” muttered Georgia involuntarily, as the -Commissioner stepped into the line of light cast by a lamp in one of -the rooms. - -“Yes, doesn’t he look the pig-headed brute he is?” was the joyful -response of Fitz, who had overheard her. - -“No, that’s not it. He looks obstinate enough, but there is something -benevolent about the face--nothing cruel or mean. It’s the face of a -fanatic.” - -“Oh no, Mrs North! There’s bound to be something good about even a -fanatic at bottom, I suppose. Won’t you say a doctrinaire?” - -“If you prefer it. I mean a man who has formed certain opinions, and -allows neither facts nor arguments to prevent his forcing them upon -other people.” - -“Ah, Mrs North!” The Commissioner was bowing before Georgia with the -somewhat exaggerated courtesy which, combined with his paternal -manner, caused impatient young people to brand his demeanour as -patronising. “And are you very much incensed against me for keeping -your husband so busy all day?” - -He sat down beside her as he spoke, taking little notice of Mabel, and -devoted himself to her for ten minutes or more, while Dick went into -the club-house to speak to some one. To Mabel, as to Georgia, it -appeared as if Mr Burgrave’s condescension towards Dick’s wife was -intended to disarm any resentment that might have been aroused in her -mind by his treatment of Dick that day, although it was not easy to -see why he should take so much trouble. It was Fitz on whom the true -comedy of the situation dawned at last, rendering him speechless with -secret delight. The Commissioner was an adept in the mental exercise -known as reading between the lines, and he had formulated his own -explanation of the unconventional manner in which Mabel had made her -appearance upon the stage of Khemistan. Jealous of her sister-in-law’s -good looks, and the attention she attracted, Georgia had refused to -invite her to pay a visit to Alibad, and the poor girl’s only chance -had been to take matters into her own hands. Too considerate to expose -Mabel to the risk of incurring the reproaches of her family circle, Mr -Burgrave would talk to Georgia long enough to put her into a good -temper before he gratified his own inclinations. His reward came when -Georgia rose and remarked that it was time to go home, for guessing -that Dick would be driving his wife, he lost no time in offering Mabel -a seat in his dog-cart. As for Mabel, she accepted the offer joyfully. -Her hasty determination to give Mr Burgrave a lesson had deepened by -this time into the deliberate intention of fascinating him into laying -aside his distrust of Dick. - -“What an interesting day you must have had!” she began guilefully, as -soon as they started. “I wish ladies were admitted to durbars.” - -“They are, sometimes, but I fancy”--the Commissioner smiled down at -her--“that there is not very much business done on those occasions.” - -“Oh, then to-day’s was really a serious affair? Do tell me what you -did.” - -“I am afraid it would hardly interest you.” - -“Indeed it would. I am interested in everything that interests my -friends.” - -Mr Burgrave’s smile became positively grandfatherly. “I thought so!” -he said. “No, Miss North, I won’t allow you to sacrifice yourself by -talking shop to me. To tell you the truth, it doesn’t interest me--out -of office-hours--and therefore I am the last person in the world to -inflict it upon you. I am sure you hear so much of it all day that you -are as tired of the subject as I am of the revered name of General -Keeling.” - -“What, have you been hearing more about him?” - -Mr Burgrave groaned. “Have I not! Michael Angelo was nothing to him. I -always knew that he founded Alibad and dug its wells, planted the -trees and constructed the canals--made Khemistan, in short. But now I -am the unhappy recipient of endless personal anecdotes about him. One -man tells me that he used to go about in the sun without a -head-covering of any kind, trusting to the thickness of his hair--if -it was not rude, I should say of his skull. Then comes one of his old -troopers, and assures me solemnly that after a battle he has seen -Sinjāj Kīlin unbutton his tunic and shake out the bullets which had -passed through it without hurting him. Another remembers that he has -seen him reading a letter from his wife while under fire--rather a -pretty touch that--and another recalls for my admiration the fact that -the General reserved an hour every morning for his private devotions, -and has been known to keep the Commander-in-Chief waiting rather than -allow it to be broken in upon.” - -“But he was a splendid man,” said Mabel, ashamed of herself for -laughing. - -“Who doubts it? Only too splendid;--I understand the feelings of the -gentleman who banished Aristides. But forgive me for lamenting my -private woes to you, Miss North. Let us turn to more interesting -themes. We are to see you in an appropriate rôle on Saturday, Miss -Graham tells me.” - -“I believe I am to give away the prizes at the Gymkhana--unless you -would prefer to do it,” said Mabel, with sudden primness. - -“I should not think of such a thing unless it would be a relief to -you.” - -“To me? I shall enjoy the prize-giving above all things. But why?” - -“I imagined you might feel shy.” Mr Burgrave looked at her as kindly -as ever, but Mabel fancied that he was disappointed in her in some -way. - -“He seems to think I am about sixteen,” she said to herself, and awoke -to the fact that they had reached home, and that her companion had -skilfully prevented her from saying a word about the question of the -moment. - - - -“Dick,” said Georgia to her husband, when she was alone with him that -evening, “did you get any explanation out of Mr Burgrave?” - -“I did--without asking for it. He told me quite calmly that the -reinstatement of Bahram Khan was part of his programme, and that as I -had taken such a strong line with regard to the youth’s banishment, he -considered it better to relieve me of all responsibility about it. It -would be pleasanter for both of us, he thought.” - -“Pleasanter for you and him in your social relations, perhaps; but -your prestige with the natives, Dick! What do they think?” - -“Why, they gloat, most of ’em,” said Dick grimly. - -“But the Amir and Bahadar Shah?” - -“Oh, poor old Ashraf Ali sent his pet mullah to interview me while the -Commissioner was taking an affectionate leave of his _protégé_. The -old man really thought, or pretended to think, that I had a hand in -the matter. Why hadn’t I told him that I desired Bahram Khan’s return -instead of springing it upon him in that way? he wanted to know. Had -he ever refused to take my advice? I had to assure him that I knew no -more about it than he did, for if he once loses confidence in me, it -means that we may as well retire from the frontier. Neither he nor the -Sardars will stand a second spell of snubbing and suspicion.” - -“But what did you advise him to do?” - -“To choose the lesser of two evils. Bahram Khan will plot wherever he -is, and Burgrave has pledged himself to see his father’s fortress of -Dera Gul restored to him, but I advised the Amir strongly to keep him -under his own eye at the capital. In any case we shall have one friend -in the enemy’s camp, for the good old Moti-ul-Nissa sent a message by -the mullah, ‘Tell the doctor lady’s husband that where my son goes I -go from henceforth, and that no harm shall be devised against the -Sarkar if I can prevent it.’” - -“Dear old thing!” cried Georgia. - -“But it’s not so much a rising that I’m afraid of at present. Bahram -Khan will get the smaller obstacles out of his way first. Poor Bahadar -Shah, who is no hero, sent to ask me by the mullah whether I would -advise him to throw up his pretensions and retire into British -territory. Of course I told him to sit tight, but no insurance office -that respected itself would look at his life after to-day. And, -Georgie, I am very much mistaken if Burgrave has not got worse in -store for us.” - -“Dick! what could there be worse?” Georgia’s face was blanched. - -“I have a presentiment--call it a conviction, if you like--that they -mean to withdraw the subsidy, and Ashraf Ali has got hold of the idea -too.” - -“But, Dick, that would be a direct breach of faith! They couldn’t do -it--they couldn’t! The treaty that really cost my father his life, he -had such trouble to get it ratified! Why, it has kept the frontier -safe all these years----” - -“My dear Georgie, that’s not what Burgrave and his school think about. -You know as well as I do that this province is an anomaly, and has got -to be reduced to the level of next-door. When Ashraf Ali received the -subsidy, he accepted our suzerainty over Nalapur, and according to his -lights he has acted up to his obligations. But our present rulers -don’t care to keep the suzerainty, don’t care for a vassal state -outside our boundaries, and do care for economising rupees.” - -“But surely they must know----” - -“That they will throw Ashraf Ali into the arms of Ethiopia, and extend -Scythian influence down to our very borders, thanks to the way in -which Fath-ud-Din has been allowed practically to repudiate Sir Dugald -Haigh’s treaty? Why, Georgie, that’s just the sort of thing these -fellows never see until it comes to pass. Then they lament that the -world is so dreadfully out of joint, and say it all springs from our -ingrained suspiciousness.” - -“But, Dick, you wouldn’t countenance such a breach of faith?” - -“No, I told Ashraf Ali so--told him he would hear of my resignation -first. Funny thing, isn’t it, to take a man who knows the frontier as -I do, and let him give five of the best years of his life to working -for it night and day, and then to send a jack-in-office who has never -seen it to reverse all he’s done? It’s a queer world, Georgie. But -we’ll retire with clean hands, at any rate, you and I, and taste the -modest joys of the pensioned in a suburban flat, with a five-pound -note at Christmas-time from Mab and her Commissioner to help us -along.” - -Georgia could not trust herself to speak. She was holding Dick’s hand -in hers, and smoothing his coat-cuff industriously. - -“Well, never say die!” he went on. “I may get a berth in some Colonial -defence force yet, and from that giddy height we’ll smile superior -upon a jeering world, serenely conscious that we can do without the -five-pound note.” - -At one time Georgia would not have lost a moment in reminding him that -she could in any case return to the active practice of her profession, -but now she would not even suggest to Dick that last humiliation of -living upon his wife’s earnings. Instead, she lifted his hand to her -lips. - -“We shan’t mind poverty, dear. We shall have been true to our people, -and besides, your resignation may save the frontier. It will come out -why you retired, and when once the reason is known, public opinion -will be roused, and the Government will have to return to the old -policy, even though we may not be here to carry it out. But oh, Dick, -how can you speak civilly to Mr Burgrave after this?” - -“Why, Georgie, the difficulty would be to speak uncivilly to him. The -man is so wrapt up in his own greatness that he can’t imagine any -one’s venturing to differ from him. He sweeps on like a glacier, -removing all obstacles by his mere passage. The stones and rocks and -things get carried along too, you know, whether they like it or not, -and when the glacier has done with them it dumps them down in a neat -heap, that’s all. Besides, we have to give Mab her chance.” - -“If Mab marries him, I have done with her,” said Georgia, with -conviction. - - - -During the next fortnight the house was overrun by a horde of -Christmas guests, who came from outlying forts and irrigation and -telegraph stations to taste the joys of civilisation for three or four -days, hurrying back like conscientious Cinderellas at a given moment, -that the other man might have his turn. Mabel was immensely interested -in these lads, who looked up to Dick with frank veneration, and sought -for quiet talks with Georgia that they might tell her all their home -news, and kept the house lively from early morning until their host -reluctantly suggested that it was time for them to repair to their -improvised bedrooms at night. Her interest did not go unrequited, for -she had them all at her feet, regulating her favours so discreetly -that none of them could complain that he was worse treated than his -neighbour, and at the same time no one had undue cause for -self-congratulation. - -“I know you think I shall lose my head, Georgie,” she said, on the -evening of Christmas Day, when she and Georgia had left the men to -their nightly smoke; “and I really believe I should if it lasted. -These boys are all so splendid. Each of them is a hero in the ordinary -course of his day’s work, but he never thinks of it, and no one out -here thinks of it, and at home no one even knows their names. How is -it that all the men out here are so nice? The women, as far as I have -seen, are distinctly inferior.” - -“So sorry,” said Georgia humbly. “Perhaps we were born so.” - -“Goose! I didn’t mean you. I meant the ordinary Anglo-Indian woman. -With so many delightful men about, she ought to be proportionately -better than at home.” - -“Perhaps it’s just possible that the delightful men spoil her, Mab. -What do you think?” - -Mabel laughed consciously, as she reclined in a long chair, with her -arms behind her head. “You mean that I have deteriorated perceptibly -already, I suppose? But that must be the men’s fault. If their -admiration is the right kind, it ought to elevate me, surely? Now -don’t say that I trade on their honest admiration to flatter my -self-love. I’m sick of that sort of thing. Besides, it’s a pleasure to -them to admire me, and I consider that it does them good. I am a -liberal education for them.” - -“How nice it must be to feel that!” - -“Yes, and I really am awfully fond of them, every one. I should like -them all to win to-morrow. I can’t bear the thought that only one or -two of them can get prizes; I shall feel so unfair. Georgie, what are -you going to wear? Oh--” she sat up suddenly, with eyes wide with -horror, “what a wretch I am! Georgie, I never remembered your dresses -when I was so busy getting my own. I haven’t brought you a single -one.” - -“I guessed that some days ago,” said Georgia. - -“Oh, how wicked of me! Take one of mine, Georgie--any of them--even -the muslin. I deserve it.” - -“I should look like a death’s head at a feast, indeed! Nonsense, Mab! -I shall wear my red and white foulard.” - -“The one I sent you out two years ago? Oh, it will be too dreadful! -Sleeves and everything have altered since then. Besides, every one -will know it.” - -“What does that signify? It is quite fresh, and suits me very well. No -one will remember it--not even Dick.” - -But in this Georgia was mistaken. When she appeared the next morning, -her husband looked suspiciously from her to Mabel. - -“Didn’t you wear that dress last year, Georgie? I thought you were -going to get a new one. Why don’t you have something floppy and -frilly, like Mab?” - -“Mab is a perfect dream,” said Georgia. “No amount of trains or fichus -could make me look like her. You are very ungrateful, Dick. Who ever -heard of a man’s quarrelling with his wife before for saving him a -dressmaker’s bill?” - -“I’ve a good mind to telegraph home at once,” grumbled Dick. - -“But what good would that be for to-day? Never mind. I’ll get -something terribly elaborate for next Christmas.” - -“Oh, Georgie, how good of you not to give me away!” murmured Mabel, as -Dick went out, grumbling, to see whether the dog-cart was ready. “But -I can’t help being glad you didn’t take this gown. I don’t think I -could have given it up.” - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - THE OUTSIDER. - -“Have you heard the latest, Miss North?” asked Fitz Anstruther, as -he escorted Mabel to the scene of action. The five men who were -staying in the house had nearly come to blows in deciding who ought to -enjoy this privilege, but Fitz had stepped in and disappointed them -all equally by the calm announcement that it was his by right. -Officially he was Major North’s deputy, and it was only fair that the -pleasures as well as the duties of the post should devolve upon him. -The justice of the contention was grudgingly admitted, and Fitz was -the proudest man in Alibad when he drove to the ground that morning in -his smart new buggy, with Mabel, the glories of her gown hidden by a -tussore dust-cloak, seated beside him. - -“No. What has the Commissioner done now?” she asked. - -“Bahram Khan has entered his name for the Keeling Cup!” - -“And that is equivalent to saying that the sky has fallen?” - -Fitz regarded her pityingly. “You don’t see it as we do,” he said. -“Wait until you have been out a little longer. It seems that in order -to cement the reconciliation he has brought about, the Commissioner -saw fit to invite the Nalapur Princes to honour us with their presence -to-day. The Amir and Bahadar Shah didn’t quite see themselves figuring -in the triumphal procession, and both discovered that they had urgent -business at home. But Bahram Khan duly turned up last night with his -train of attendants, and is condescending enough to join us in our -sports to-day. The Commissioner has a theory that in such mimic -warfare as this the fusion of the English and native races proceeds -apace, and Bahram Khan is doing his best to gratify him by poking -himself into the race for the Keeling Cup--our very tiptop, crack, -_pucca_ event!” - -“But did General Keeling patronise races? I shouldn’t have thought -they were at all in his line.” - -“They were not; but then, this isn’t a race in the ordinary sense of -the word. It was first run just at the time when everything in -Khemistan was named after him, and besides, it recalls one of his own -pet dodges. They say that he used to subject the men that wanted to -serve under him to pretty severe tests, and this was one of them. He -used to rouse them up in the middle of the night, and they had to turn -out without boots, catch a strange horse, and ride him round the town -without a saddle, and with only a halter for a bridle.” - -“It’s to be hoped that the town was smaller in those days than now?” - -“Of course it was, but we don’t exact such a test as that. The ponies -are all turned loose on the course without saddles, and the men, in -slippers, have to catch them and mount. Any man who catches his own is -disqualified. Then they have to get them round the course without -bridle or whip of any kind. I have noticed that the spectators are -always pretty nearly dead with laughing before the end, while the -competitors get black in the face with restrained emotion.” - -“But you don’t mean that General Keeling really treated his officers -in that way?” - -“I do, indeed. He had to weed them out, you see, or he would have been -overrun with volunteers. Oh, you may have full confidence in my -veracity, Miss North, even though I once had a report returned me by a -jealous Secretary with the remark that I should do well to quit the -Civil Service for the path of romantic fiction. The pains I took over -that report! You see, I had an inkling that it would be seen by a very -exalted person, who is great on us juniors’ cultivating a literary -style in our official writings. I can truly say that there has never -been such a literary gem sent in since Macaulay left India. It was -written in the most beautiful English--though I say it--full of tender -touches and delicate conceits, and as to quotations, and Oriental -imagery, and wealth of imaginative detail----! Ah well, it’s better -not to think of it,” and Fitz sighed deeply. - -“Why? Did it bring down upon you a rebuke from the Great Great One?” - -“No, alas! for it never reached him. The Secretary intercepted it, -naturally enough. Who would ever have looked at his minutes again -after it? But at least it furnished him with an ideal to strive after. -I have reason to believe he is in a lunatic asylum at this moment. The -effort was too great, you see.” - -“That was rather close,” said Mabel irrelevantly, as the wheel shaved -the basketwork tray of an itinerant sweetseller by the roadside. - -“He shouldn’t be so intent on his prospective gains. Look how many of -the fellows there are about! That shows we are near the ground. They -flock to this place from all quarters when they know there’s a -_tamasha_ on.” - -They had reached the enclosure by this time, and Mabel found herself -surrounded by an admiring throng. Pale-faced ladies from other -stations glanced at her dress casually, and continued to gaze long and -fixedly, her Alibad admirers brought up friends to be introduced, and -both the old slaves and the new displayed a keen anxiety to post -themselves for the day in the neighbourhood of her chair. With the -exception of the race for the Keeling Cup, the sports were wholly -military in character, and the programme was a lengthy one, but Mabel -did not find the hours pass slowly. Everything was new and -interesting, from the splendid native officers, with fierce eyes -gleaming under enormous turbans, who dashed up on fiery steeds and -bore away triumphantly an unresisting tent-peg, to the latest recruit -who exhibited his coolness by holding out his bare hand, with what -Mabel considered privately an excess of confidence, for his _daffadar_ -to cut a lemon upon it. There was the inner circle of troopers of the -Khemistan Horse, reinforced to-day by such veterans as old Ismail -Bakhsh and his fellow-_chaprasis_, keenly critical, but above all -things solicitous for the honour of the regiment. There were the -notables of the district, grave and bearded men in flowing robes, who -looked as though they might have sat for a gallery of Scriptural -portraits, but who exhibited an anxious deference when Dick glanced -their way, which suggested that their relation with him in the past -had occasionally been that of criminals and judge. At the farther side -of the course was the motley throng of dwellers in the native town, -and hangers-on of the cantonments, with faces of every shade of brown, -and clothes and turbans of every variety of colour. And lastly, close -at hand, there was the little group of English, not taking their -pleasure sadly, for once, but making the most of the rare opportunity -for the exchange of news and opinions. The Commissioner was the centre -of attraction here, naturally enough, or at least, he shared the -general attention with Mabel; but she was quite aware, as she met his -benevolent smile, that he was making her a graceful present of a -portion of the homage due to himself. - -The last event but one upon the programme was the tug-of-war between -six men of the Khemistan Horse and six of the Sikhs who formed the -Commissioner’s escort--a contest which was fought out with the -greatest obstinacy, but in which the visiting team finally secured the -victory, to the unconcealed lamentation and resentment of the local -representatives and their friends. The triumphant Sikhs found no -sympathisers except among the _sahib-log_, and the English applause -was cut short by the necessity of preparing for the last race, in -which it was a point of honour for every man to take part who could -possibly do so. - -“A solemn sacrifice to the memory of the adored General Keeling!” said -Mr Burgrave in a low voice to Mabel, as they watched their late -companions assembling upon the course. - -“Oh, but what is that native doing?” cried Mabel, forgetting what she -had heard only that morning, as a tall lithe man, wearing the green -turban of a descendant of the Prophet, stepped out from the group of -notables and joined the competitors. - -“That,” was the bland answer, “is Bahram Khan, hitherto the bugbear of -the frontier; henceforth, I hope, our friend and ally.” - -“I don’t like to see him there. He spoils the look of it,” she said -impulsively. - -“Bahram Khan offends your eye? Ah, Miss North, you must pardon a poor -statesman the dulness of his perceptions! I am no authority upon -æsthetic questions, I must confess, whereas you--well, you could -scarcely not be one.” - -A smile emphasised the compliment, and Mabel turned away rather -hastily, and addressed a casual remark to Flora Graham. Compliments -were all very well, but she did not approve of the adroit way in which -Mr Burgrave repressed her whenever she touched on political subjects. -Flora had no eyes for any one but Fred Haycraft at the moment, -however, and Mabel was obliged to turn her attention to the course. -The signal for starting was given just then, and there ensued a wild -_mêlée_ of men and horses, the men as eager to mount as the horses -were determined not to be mounted by any one but their own masters. -Presently one or two successful athletes forced their way out of the -scrimmage, and by degrees most of the competitors secured a mount of -some kind, but some were still vainly struggling when the foremost -appeared round the curve of the course. - -“Oh dear, he has no chance!” wailed Flora, referring to her _fiancé_, -who was one of these unfortunates. “That’s Bahram Khan’s pony he has -got, and of course it won’t let a white man mount it. Well, every one -must see that it isn’t his fault. Oh, he’s up at last!” - -But this tardy triumph was of little avail, for just as Fred Haycraft -urged his unwilling steed on its way, Bahram Khan, mounted on the bay -pony which was the especial pride of Fitz Anstruther’s heart, trotted -gently past the winning-post. The absence of hurry, as the luckless -Fitz remarked afterwards, was at once the finest and the most -irritating part of the performance. - -“The nigger’s won!” remarked a grizzled old officer who had served -under General Keeling, in blank amazement, and as the truth of his -words broke upon those around him, they were received with a low -whistle of dismay. The Commissioner, who had himself led the applause -in which the rest were too much stunned to join, glanced round -sharply, and at the same moment Mabel found Dick at her side. - -“Look here, Mab. You’d better ask the Commissioner to give the prizes. -I never thought of this. These fellows are not like us--they don’t -understand things. Get into a back seat quickly, without any fuss.” - -Mabel stared at him blankly. She was to relinquish her part in the -events of the day, the glorious hour to which she had been looking -forward for more than a week, to disappoint all her admirers, and hide -herself and her gown where no one could see them! But Dick’s face was -adamant, and he repeated his order peremptorily, until she rose and -moved reluctantly towards the Commissioner, touching him on the arm. - -“My brother says I had better ask you to distribute the prizes,” she -said, with disappointment in every tone. Mr Burgrave looked at her in -astonishment, then his face took a harder set as his eyes fell on -Georgia, who was endeavouring to console Flora for her lover’s ill -success. Of course it was her doing! A faded woman in a gown that -might have been new two seasons ago--how could she be otherwise than -jealous of the radiant vision at his side? “And no wonder, poor -thing!” said Mr Burgrave to himself, with contemptuous pity, but she -must learn that it would not do to make mischief where her beautiful -young sister-in-law was concerned. - -“My dear Miss North,” the Commissioner’s voice took on its most -fatherly tone, “don’t be afraid. Nothing would induce me to rob you of -your pleasure.” - -The words were loud enough for Dick to hear, and Mabel saw him frown -angrily as she returned to her place, half-proud and half-afraid of -her triumph. He said nothing, however, but took his stand immediately -behind her, the very embodiment of silent displeasure. The sense of -his disapproval served to irritate her further, and she heartily -wished him away. His rigid face would quite spoil the effect of the -picture she had intended to present, and he was taking up the room of -other people whose attendance she would have preferred. But she was -determined not to give in, even when the Commissioner’s encouraging -smile smote her with a feeling of treachery, in that she had appealed -to him against Dick. - -The regimental prize-winners came up in their order, the natives, now -that the momentary excitement was over, wearing a look of stately -boredom, which seemed to declare that sports and prizes alike were a -species of child’s play, in which they took part merely to humour the -unaccountable whims of their officers. With the officers it was -different, for Mabel read in their faces that although sports were -good, and to earn a prize was better, both these faded into -insignificance compared with the joy of receiving that prize from her -hand. This was the very feeling that it most pleased her to inspire, -and she loved the “boys,” as she called them in her thoughts, better -than before, if that were possible. - -But this glow of pleasure was shortlived. A brief pause followed the -appearance of the Sikh head-man to receive the tug-of-war prize, and -Mabel felt, without turning her head, that Dick’s silent disapproval -had infected all the Englishmen around. Once more she hardened her -heart. It was detestable to see this wretched racial snobbishness in -the men she had admired so much. They would have liked to spoil the -whole affair, and deprive her of the one piece of romance which had -come to brighten the humdrum proceedings, rather than allow a native -not belonging to the regiment to carry off a prize. She, at least, was -above such petty considerations, and Bahram Khan should receive as -gracious a smile as any of his fellow-competitors. One other person -was of her mind, she saw, for the Commissioner clapped his hands -lightly, and with infinite condescension, as Bahram Khan swaggered up. -Mabel stepped forward, and met the glance of the bold eyes under the -green turban. As she did so, she understood suddenly the secret of -Dick’s displeasure. The smile faded from her lips, and the hand in -which she held the Keeling Cup trembled. She stopped and faltered, and -her pause of distress was evident to the men behind her. How they -responded to her mute appeal she could not tell, but the look of -insolent admiration disappeared from Bahram Khan’s eyes, into which -she was still gazing spell-bound, and was, as it were, veiled under -his former expression of contemptuous indifference towards his -surroundings. A few words from the Commissioner, and the Nalapur -Prince retired, leaving behind him a general feeling of awkwardness. -If it had been arranged that anything else was to be done at this -point, no one remembered it. People stood about in little groups, and -talked somewhat constrainedly. Something had happened, or rather, -there had been an electrical instant, and something might have -happened, but it was not quite easy to see what it was. The crudest -conception of the facts was voiced by Mrs Hardy, who had torn herself -from her school-work to be present at the prize-giving, and now seized -upon Georgia. - - [image: images/img_042.jpg - caption: “MABEL STEPPED FORWARD, AND MET THE GLANCE OF THE BOLD EYES - UNDER THE GREEN TURBAN”] - -“Oh, dear Mrs North, how unspeakably painful all this must be to you -and your husband! You must feel the charge of Miss North a dreadful -responsibility. I would never have said a word while she flirted -merely with our own officers, or even with Mr Burgrave--though really -the lengths to which she goes--! But to set herself deliberately to -dazzle a native----” - -“Mrs Hardy,” cried Georgia, flushing angrily, “please remember that -you are speaking of my sister. I am certain that Mabel has never -dreamt of such a thing. She may be thoughtless, but that is all.” - -“It is very sweet and good of you to say it, but I am afraid your eyes -will soon be disagreeably opened. No rational being could doubt that -Miss North is setting her cap at the Commissioner, and that would -hardly be a match you could welcome, would it? Look at her dress--so -absurdly unsuitable at her age. Oh, I know to a day how old she is, -Mrs North, and I will say that eight years between you don’t warrant -your dressing as if you were mother and daughter. But I grant that -Miss North is one of the people who always look younger than they are, -while you invariably look older.” - -The expression of Mrs Hardy’s sympathy rarely corresponded with the -good-will which prompted it, but Georgia received the stab in heroic -silence, and cast about for some means of changing the subject. - -“I suppose we may as well go home now,” she said at last in despair, -rising as she spoke. “Where is my husband, I wonder?” - -“Over there, talking to the Commissioner and Bahram Khan,” responded -Mrs Hardy. “Dear me! something must have happened. There is a -messenger who seems to have brought some news. How grave they all -look! What can it be?” - -Watching eagerly, they saw Bahram Khan take his leave of Mr Burgrave -and Dick and rejoin his friends. As the two gentlemen returned to the -rest of the company the Commissioner said, slightly raising his tones -in a way that attracted general attention, “Well, except for the sake -of the poor fellow himself, I can’t pretend to be sorry. The way is -now clear for important developments.” - -Dick’s reply was inaudible, but the Commissioner rejoined sharply, “Of -course you put this down to Bahram Khan’s account?” - -“I make no accusations,” said Dick, unmoved. “You can’t perceive more -clearly than I do that it’s impossible to connect him with it.” - -“You deal in ambiguities, I see.” Mr Burgrave’s temper was evidently -ruffled. - -“There is no ambiguity in my mind,” was the reply, as Dick beckoned to -a servant to fetch up his dog-cart. “Are you coming with me, Georgie, -or shall I take Mabel?” - -“Oh no, Mr Anstruther will drive her home,” said Georgia, aghast at -the thought of an encounter between Dick in his present mood and Mabel -at her prickliest. “Dick,” as the Commissioner turned to speak to Mrs -Hardy, “what has happened?” - -“Hush! speak lower. Bahadar Shah is dead.” - -“What! poisoned?” - -“No, shot. He was out hunting, and one of his most trusted servants -was carrying his spare gun loaded. As he handed it to him it went off, -and Bahadar Shah was shot through the heart.” - -“And what happened to the servant?” - -“The rest fell upon him and clubbed him to death immediately.” - -“But of course it was Bahram Khan’s doing?” - -“’Sh! He has established a satisfactory alibi, at any rate.” Dick -helped Georgia into the cart and took the reins, and they were well on -the road home before he spoke again. “It is the killing of the servant -that’s the most suspicious feature to me. It would be just like Bahram -Khan to bribe him to murder his master on the understanding that his -escape should be secured, and then to make matters safe by bribing the -rest to put him out of the way.” - -“But surely that would only involve admitting more into the secret?” - -“What secret? Bahram Khan is anxious for his cousin’s safety, and -charges the servants to show no mercy to any one that attacks him. The -utmost you could prove against him would be an idea that an attempt on -his life might be made--not even a guilty knowledge, far less -instigation.” - -“How did he receive the news?” - -“In the most orthodox way, deep but restrained grief. He must go to -Nalapur to be present at the funeral and comfort his bereaved uncle, -he told Burgrave, just as if his uncle would not sooner see a -man-eater come to comfort him. How Burgrave received the news, you -heard.” - -“Yes. His manner was indecently callous, I thought.” - -“Oh no. His saying what he did was one of his calculated -indiscretions, like unveiling his policy to Timson coming up. No -papers here, you see, so he must make his revelations by word of -mouth. Ugh! the man turns me sick. Did you notice his bit of by-play -with Mab?” - -“She didn’t realise what you meant, Dick. Things here are so new to -her, you know.” - -“Oh, why should a man be doomed to have a fool for a sister? If I had -said to you what I said to her you would have understood.” - -“Perhaps Mab hasn’t studied you as closely as I have.” - -“No, the Commissioner is her object of study at present. Nice cheerful -prospect, isn’t it--to have that chap for a brother-in-law?” - -“Ye-es,” said Georgia hesitatingly, “but I’m not quite sure it will be -that, Dick. I think there’s some one else.” - -“And the Commissioner is only making the pace for him? No, no, -Georgie; that’s a little too thick. Of course I know there are dozens -of others, but who is there that has a chance against Burgrave?” - -“If I tell you, you’ll only laugh. It is a very little thing, but it’s -the straw to show which way the wind is blowing. You didn’t notice, -when Bahram Khan had had his prize, how Mab was left sitting alone for -a minute. I knew just how she felt, ashamed and miserable and -_wounded_, and I wanted to go to her, but Mrs Hardy had got hold of -me, and I didn’t think she would improve matters. The Commissioner -didn’t see--he never does see what other people are feeling, unless he -happens to be feeling the same himself--but Fitz Anstruther did. He -was by her side in a moment, saying just the kind of things that would -lead her to forget her mortification. If he had seemed to intend to -help her, she would have been angry, but it looked quite accidental, -as if it was simply that he took pleasure in her society, and jumped -at the chance of enjoying it when he found her alone for a minute. She -will be grateful to him ever after, and that may be the beginning of -even better things.” - -“Oh, you match-makers! The idea of coupling Mab and Anstruther, of all -people! And you back him against the Commissioner?” - -“I do; unless Mab is deliberately playing for a high official future.” - - - - - CHAPTER V. - ROSE OF THE WORLD. - -“Awfully sorry, Mab, but I really can’t ride with you this morning. -It’s bad enough when one of our wandering tribes comes in for a -palaver, but to-day there are two of them, at daggers drawn with one -another. They have both sent deputations to inform me that I am their -father and their mother, and will I be good enough to pulverise the -other lot? That means that I have a nice long day’s work cut out for -me.” - -“Oh, what a bother!” grumbled Mabel. “And Georgia has got a lot of -dreadful women in the surgery, and is doctoring them all round. How -can she bear to have them about? Do you like having an M.D. for a -wife, Dick?” - -“Personally,” said Dick solemnly, “I rather do; since Georgia is that -M.D. Politically, it’s the making of me.” - -“No; really?” - -“Rather! Every woman of all these nomadic tribes has a stake in the -country, so to speak--a personal interest in the maintenance of the -system of government which has stuck Georgie and me down here. No -Sarkar, no doctor; that’s the way they look at it.” - -“Well,” said Mabel, somewhat ashamed, “if it wasn’t that I have my -habit on, I would stay and help her. But we were going to try Laili, -Dick, and you promised faithfully to come.” - -“I know; it’s horribly rough on you. But I tell you what I’ll do. I’ll -spare Anstruther to you for the morning, and he must ride out to me -after lunch. Don’t break his neck first, mind.” - -“But will it be safe for you to go alone? Aren’t you afraid?” - -“Shade of my mighty father-in-law! afraid of what?” - -“Oh, I don’t know. It sounds the sort of thing----” - -“That one would naturally be afraid of? No, I would rather face any -number of excited tribesmen than Burgrave at his blandest. I’ll send a -_chit_ down to Anstruther, and he’ll be here in a few minutes.” - -Mabel had not long to wait. She was still standing on the verandah, -flicking her dainty riding-boot with her whip, and feasting her eyes -on the satin skin of the beautiful little black mare which was being -led up and down by the groom, when Fitz came trotting up the drive. - -“Awfully good of the Major to lend me out this morning, Miss North! Is -that the new pony? She ought to be a flier.” - -“Yes, isn’t she a little beauty? I want to test her paces to-day. I -have had enough of riding her about the roads. She’s all right there, -but I should like to try her in a good gallop out in the desert.” - -“Out in the desert?” repeated Fitz, as he gathered up the reins and -handed them to Mabel after mounting her. “Well, I don’t suppose -there’s any reason why we shouldn’t. If you don’t mind stopping a -second at my place I’ll put a revolver in my pocket, and then we shall -be all right.” - -“Why, what could there be to hurt us?” - -“We might happen upon a leopard, or something of the sort. It’s not -likely, but there’s no harm in being prepared. We have a sort of -fashion here of not going much beyond our own bounds unarmed.” - -Mabel made no further objection, and after calling at Fitz’s quarters -they rode out into the desert. Laili’s paces were perfect, and as -often as Mabel raced her against Fitz’s pony she won easily. It was a -clear, cold morning, really cold, as is often the case early on a -winter’s day in Khemistan, and horses and riders alike seemed to be -possessed of tireless energy. The two grooms, to whom the cold was a -highly disagreeable experience, were left behind again and again, and -remembered only when they had become mere dots on the horizon, so that -it involved some waiting before they could come up. - -“Now let us race again!” cried Mabel, when she and Fitz had -reluctantly walked their horses for some distance to allow the men to -approach them. - -“All right. I say, there’s a jerboa! Let’s chase him!” - -“Oh, do. I should so like to have one for a pet,” cried Mabel. - -It seemed, however, that the jerboa preferred freedom to captivity, -even with Mabel as jailer, for it was gone in a moment, getting over -the ground in tremendous leaps, at a pace which taxed the horses -sorely to keep up with it. - -“Oh, it’s getting away!” lamented Mabel. - -“Perhaps I can manage to wing him from here,” said Fitz, bringing out -his revolver. “We could easily patch up a broken leg. Steady, Sheikh, -old boy!” - -The pace was fast and the ground rough, and it was scarcely surprising -that the jerboa escaped unscathed, but Fitz’s shot had an effect that -he had not anticipated. At the sound Mabel’s little mare stopped dead -with a suddenness which jerked the rider’s foot from the stirrup and -nearly threw her out of the saddle, then took the bit in her teeth and -dashed away in a frenzy of terror. Pull as she might, Mabel could not -stop her, nor could she get her foot again into the stirrup. The -horror of that wild rush through the whirling sand-clouds, with the -wind shrieking in her ears, was such as she could never have imagined. -Certain destruction seemed to be before her, for Laili was heading -straight for the rocky ground at the foot of the mountains, where -there was no hope that she would be able to keep her footing. Mabel -was dimly conscious that she ought to come to some decision, or at -least to select a moment at which to throw herself off, but all her -powers seemed to be concentrated in the effort to pull up, or at any -rate to turn the pony’s head towards the open desert. As it was, Laili -made the decision for her. An isolated rock, revealed unexpectedly by -a lull in the wind, which caused the drifting sand to settle for a -moment, stood on the left hand of the course she was taking, and -catching sight of it, she swerved away so violently that Mabel found -herself all at once in a sitting position upon the sand. There she -remained, too much dazed to make any attempt to rise, until Fitz -dashed up, and flung himself recklessly from his horse, which promptly -continued the chase of the runaway on its own account. - -“Oh, thank God you are not killed!” he cried brokenly to Mabel, his -sunburnt face ghastly pale. “But you are frightfully hurt! What is -it--your back? Oh, for Heaven’s sake, Miss North, try to move! Is your -leg broken? Don’t say it’s your back!” - -Mabel repressed a weak desire to laugh. “I--I think I’m sitting here -because you haven’t offered to help me up,” she replied, as well as -her chattering teeth would let her. - -He helped her up in silence, and began mechanically to brush the dust -from her habit with shaking hands. When at last he looked up at her, -Mabel saw that his lips were still trembling, and his eyes full of -horror. - -“Oh, don’t look like that about me!” she cried impulsively. “I’m not -worth it.” - -“Not worth it?” he cried violently, then, controlling himself with an -effort, he made a fair attempt at a laugh. “If anything had happened -to you, I should never have dared to face the Major and Mrs North -again,” he said. “Or rather, I could not have faced my own thoughts.” - -“But why?” asked Mabel, mystified. - -“Because it was all my fault for firing that shot--wretched -thoughtless _beast_ that I am! I would have blown my brains out.” - -“Now that is wicked,” said Mabel with decision, “and foolish too. But -if you are going to talk in this agitating way, I think I should like -to sit down in the shade over there. I feel rather shaky still.” - -“I’m an unfeeling idiot! Lean on me, please.” - -He supported her gently across the intervening space, and found a seat -for her on a fragment of rock, in a nook which furnished a partial -shelter from the sun and the whirling sand. She made room for him -beside her, but he persisted in tramping up and down, his face -twitching painfully. - -“I can’t stay quiet!” he cried, in answer to her remonstrance. “When I -think it’s just a chance--a mercy, Mrs North would say--that you’re -not--not--” he skipped the word--“at this moment, it knocks me over. -And all my fault!” - -Mabel’s renewed protest was cut short by the appearance of the two -grooms, who ran up with scared faces, and inquired dolefully which way -the horses had gone, and whether the Presences would wait where they -were until the missing steeds had been captured and brought back. - -“Why, what else should we do?” asked Fitz, calm enough now in the -presence of the alien race. His own groom hastened to reply that Dera -Gul, the ancestral stronghold of Bahram Khan, was only a bow-shot off, -and that there the Presences might find rest and refreshment. - -“Not if I know it!” was Fitz’s mental comment. “It’s a blessing that -the principal villain himself is away at Nalapur, but we won’t -trespass on the hospitality of his vassals in his absence. We will -wait here,” he added to the servant, who replied sullenly that his -honour’s words were law, and departed with his companion in search of -the horses. - -“What was he saying?” asked Mabel curiously. - -“Oh, only gassing a little about the neighbourhood,” replied Fitz, who -had had time to decide that he would not alarm his charge by telling -her exactly where they were. It did not occur to him that the -uneasiness with which Bahram Khan’s glance had inspired Mabel three -days before had resolved itself into a sense of offended pride at what -she took to be a premeditated insult, and that no idea of any danger -to herself personally had ever entered her mind. He did his best, -therefore, to divert her thoughts from the question of the locality, -and was congratulating himself upon his success when a little -procession appeared round the corner of the cliff in whose shadow they -were sitting. The principal figure was a sleek and shining Hindu, -swathed in voluminous draperies of white muslin, with occasional -glimpses of red brocade, who advanced with profound obeisances, and -entreated the exalted personages before him to honour his master’s -roof by deigning to rest under it until their horses were found. This -time Fitz could not but refer the suggestion to Mabel, and he found to -his surprise that she was inclined to accept it. - -“I shouldn’t care to meet Bahram Khan,” she said; “but he is away, you -say.” - -“When did the Prince start for Nalapur?” asked Fitz of the Hindu. - -“Three days past, sahib--the same evening that he was present at the -_tamasha_ at Alibad.” - -“There!” said Mabel, “you see it’s all right. My hair is full of sand, -and it is so hot here. One never knows what to wear in this climate. I -don’t believe I shall be able to ride all that way back unless I can -rest in a cool place for a little first.” - -“I am pretty sure Major North wouldn’t like it,” said Fitz doubtfully. - -The Hindu caught the purport of the words, and his countenance assumed -an expression of the deepest woe. “It is the sad misfortune of the -illustrious prince that Nāth Sahib has ever looked upon him with -disfavour,” he lamented. - -“Oh dear!” remarked Mabel, when the words were translated to her; “it -will be dreadful if these people get the idea that Dick has a -causeless prejudice against Bahram Khan. We had much better show -confidence in him by going to his house. Who knows? It may be the -beginning of better things.” - -“I shouldn’t like to take the responsibility,” began Fitz, but she cut -him short. - -“Very well; I will take it, then. I am sure Dick will be glad if we -can bring about a better understanding; and I think it’s very -inconsiderate of you to raise so many objections, when I have told you -how hot and tired I am, and how I want a rest. It wasn’t my fault that -we were stranded here, you know.” - -This ungenerous use of the weapon forged by himself conquered Fitz, -and he consented, reluctantly, to accept the invitation brought by the -Hindu. Mabel’s smile of approval ought to have been a sufficient -reward for his complaisance, but it was not, for he felt an -uncomfortable certainty that Dick would object very strongly to the -visit when he came to hear of it. The Hindu led the way with much -bowing, and Fitz and Mabel followed him a short distance to the -gateway of the fortress, which was situated on the farther side of the -projecting cliff that had sheltered them. Two or three wild-looking -men, apparently half asleep, were lounging about, but otherwise the -place seemed to be deserted. The Hindu led them across the courtyard -and up a flight of steps into a large cool hall, furnished solely with -a carpeted divan and many cushions. Saying that sherbet and sweetmeats -should be brought to them immediately, he left them alone, ostensibly -to hasten the appearance of the refreshments. As he crossed the court, -however, Fitz, watching him idly, saw him glance up to the ramparts. -Here, to his astonishment, the young man perceived Bahram Khan himself -beginning to descend the steps which led down into the yard. Mabel had -also caught sight of the apparition, and Fitz’s eyes met hers. - -“The great thing is not to show any sign of fear,” he said hastily. - -“I’m not frightened,” retorted Mabel; “but I’m not going to sit here -to be stared at by that man. You must tell him that I have come to see -the ladies of the house, whoever they may be.” - -“I daren’t let you go into the zenana. Anything might happen there, -and an army couldn’t rescue you.” - -“But what could happen? You would keep Bahram Khan under your eye, of -course. And you forget that his mother is one of Georgia’s patients. -She will be delighted to see me.” - -“Oh, that’s better, naturally. I will take up a strategic position in -this corner of the divan, so that I can cover my host comfortably, -without the risk of being seized from behind. But look here, won’t you -take my revolver? I should hear if you fired a shot.” - -“No, thanks. I did learn to shoot once, but if I fired now I’m afraid -the result would be disastrous to myself alone. Besides, how could you -rescue me without a weapon of any sort? I shall feel much safer with -the revolver in your possession, for I am pretty sure you won’t leave -the place without me.” - -The last words were spoken as Bahram Khan entered the hall, and Fitz -had no opportunity to reply. There was a suppressed excitement in the -Prince’s manner which made him uneasy, and he begged at once that -Mabel might bear the salutations of the doctor lady to the dwellers -behind the curtain. Bahram Khan’s face fell, and although he protested -that the honour shown to his household was overwhelming, it was fairly -clear that no honour could well have been more unwelcome. The ladies -had only just arrived, and had not yet settled down properly in their -new quarters; they had had no opportunity of making fit preparation -for so distinguished a visitor, and it was contrary to all the rules -of etiquette that the doctor lady should despatch a messenger to visit -them before they had sent their respects to her. - -“Oh, very well, I won’t make my call to-day,” said Mabel, rising, when -Fitz had translated the long string of apologies that fell from the -lips of the embarrassed host. “Then we may as well come, Mr -Anstruther.” - -But this was not what Bahram Khan desired, and after vainly -endeavouring to persuade Mabel to sit down on the cushions again, he -summoned a slave-boy, and ordered him to fetch Jehanara. - -“There must be some one to interpret between the Miss Sahib and the -women,” he explained, and Mabel wondered why Fitz looked so stern and -so uncomfortable. Presently the curtain at the end of the room was -shaken a little, and Bahram Khan rose and spoke in a low voice through -it to the person behind. Then he beckoned to Mabel, the curtain was -raised slightly, and she passed through, to find herself in a small -dark antechamber. A stout woman in native dress stood there, with a -great key in her hand, and unlocking a door, motioned her into a dim -passage. It was so gloomy and mysterious that she was conscious of a -moment’s hesitation, but as soon as the door was shut the woman began -to speak in English, as rapidly as if she was reciting a history she -had learnt by heart. She spoke mincingly, and with a peculiar clipping -accent which struck Mabel as disagreeable. - -“Yes, Miss North, and I don’t wonder you’re surprised, I’m sure, to -find me here, and as English as yourself. My poor papa was -riding-master in a European regiment--none of your Black Horse--and my -mamma was pure-blood Portuguese, and yet here I am.” - -Even to the inexperienced eye the woman’s own face, though seen only -in the half-light, gave the lie to her claim of pure European descent, -but Mabel had not yet acquired the Anglo-Indian’s skill in -distinguishing shades of colour, and did not care to dispute the -assertion. Having taken breath, Jehanara went on-- - -“Yes, and I was educated at a real _pucca_ boarding-school in the -hills, Miss North--quite genteel, I assure you; one of the young -ladies was the daughter of the Collector of Krishnaganj. And -everything done so handsome--china-painting and making wax flowers, -and all the extras--no expense spared. I wish I could lay my hands on -some of the rupees that were poured out like water on my education, I -do. I should commence to astonish the people about here, I assure you, -Miss North.” - -“You must have found this life very trying at first,” murmured Mabel. - -“Trying’s no word for it, Miss North; it was just simply slavery. And -I, that thought to be a princess, reduced to be treated like a common -coolie woman, and thankful for that! Oh, I’ve been deceived -shamefully, Miss North, and there is that makes allowances for me, and -there is that doesn’t; but submit to be downtrodden I won’t be, not by -any old black woman that calls herself a begum, nor yet by any fine -gentleman officer that don’t think me good enough to talk to his lady -wife.” - -Some instinct told Mabel that it would not be well to inquire too -minutely into the means by which this waif of “gentility” had been -stranded on such an inhospitable shore; and to cut short the -complaints, which threatened to become incoherent, she asked whether -Jehanara knew her sister-in-law. - -“Yes, Miss North, I do, and a real lady she is--no thanks to her high -and mighty sahib of a husband. Spoke to me polite, she did, the only -time I’ve seen her, and gave me some English books and papers to pass -the time away. Not like Mrs Hardy--there’s a sanctimonious old cat for -you, Miss North, and no mistake, drawing her dress away from me, and -talking at me as if I was the very scum of the earth!” - -Mabel began to feel uncomfortable. Mrs Hardy’s judgments had not much -weight with her, but it was evident that Dick had directed Georgia to -hold no more intercourse with this person than civility required, and -she thought it well to hint that her time was limited. - -“Oh, well, if you’re in such a hurry, Miss North, I’m sure I’m -agreeable. A little talk with any one that’s English like myself is a -treat I don’t often get, but I don’t desire to detain anybody to talk -to me that doesn’t want to. The Begum will be ready to see you, I dare -say.” - -She led the way down the passage and into a low dull room looking into -a small paved courtyard, from which similar rooms opened on the other -three sides. Here were assembled some fifteen or twenty women and -girls, who had evidently made use of the time since Jehanara had been -summoned to the visitor in flinging on their best clothes over their -ordinary garb. Robes of fine cloth, silk, or brocade showed -treacherous glimpses here and there of coarse cotton or woollen -garments underneath, while the hair of the wearers was unplaited, and -their eyelids innocent of colouring. They were not at all embarrassed, -however, and crowded round Mabel with friendly interest; all but one, -who lay huddled up upon a bedstead in the farthest corner, with her -face to the wall, and refused even to look round. The chief person -present was Bahram Khan’s mother, who was known officially, from the -name of her late husband, as the Hasrat Ali Begum, but whose personal -title was the Moti-ul-Nissa, or Pearl of Women. She was an elderly -woman, with a shrewd face showing considerable power, and she greeted -Mabel with the kindness due to one who came from her friend the doctor -lady, but also with a constraint which the visitor could not but -recognise. - -Presently a privileged attendant of the Moti-ul-Nissa’s drew attention -to the dusty state of Mabel’s habit, and in explaining, with the aid -of Jehanara, what had happened to her, she was able to awaken the -sympathies of her audience. Ready hands brushed off the dust, a bowl -of perfumed water was brought that she might bathe her sun-scorched -face, and she was eagerly entreated to take down her hair and shake -the sand out of it. Not quite liking the look of the comb held out to -her, however, she contented herself with coiling her hair afresh, -while an eager girl held a cracked hand-mirror, with a battered wooden -back, at an angle that made it absolutely useless. The women were loud -in their exclamations of wonder and delight at the sight of the soft -fair hair, and presently Mabel became aware that the girl in the -corner had raised herself on her elbow, revealing a face beautiful in -its outline, but now haggard and stained with tears, and was scowling -at her with a look of unmistakable hatred. - -“Is there some one ill in that corner?” she asked of Jehanara. - -“No, Miss North, not ill--angry and sullen, that’s all.” - -“Poor thing! in trouble, do you mean?” asked Mabel, rising and -approaching the bed. The girl had turned away again when she saw that -her glance was observed, and Mabel laid a hand upon her shoulder. “Can -I do anything to help you?” she asked. - -To her astonishment the girl shook off her hand as if it had been a -snake, and springing up from the couch, burst into a torrent of -vituperation. Her lithe young form shook with passion, her delicate -hands were clenched, and her voice rose into a shrill scream. The -other women strove in vain to quiet her, and Mabel’s efforts to disarm -her anger were fruitless, but the storm ceased as suddenly as it had -arisen. Breaking off in the midst of a furious sentence, the girl -threw up her arms in a gesture of utter despair, then dashed herself -down again upon the bed, sobbing as though her heart would break. - -“What is the matter with her?” asked Mabel, astounded and somewhat -offended by this reception of her friendly overtures. “What does she -say?” - -Jehanara looked inquiringly at the Moti-ul-Nissa. A nod gave her -permission to interpret, and she replied glibly-- - -“Why, Miss North, she says she hates you, that you’ve stolen away her -husband with your airs and graces, and then come to gloat over her. -You mustn’t mind what she says. It’s the way with these native women; -they’re so sadly uncontrolled, you see.” - -“But I haven’t stolen away her husband. Tell her so. What can she -mean? Who is she?” - -The other women, breathlessly interested, gathered round while -Jehanara interpreted the answer to the girl, who sat up with streaming -eyes, and poured forth a succession of fierce, abrupt sentences. - -“She says, Miss North, ‘I am Zeynab, called Rose of the World, -daughter of Fath-ud-Din, the King of Ethiopia’s Grand Vizier, and the -fair-haired woman’--that’s you, Miss North--‘has stolen from me the -heart of Bahram Khan, my lord. She has beguiled him to cast me -off--me, Fath-ud-Din’s daughter--that she may have his house to -herself, and now she comes to mock me. But let her beware. The witch -Khadija was not my nurse for nothing, and if poison can disfigure, or -steel kill, or fire burn, she shall pay every _anna_ that she owes -me.’ Don’t you go and take it to heart, Miss North; she’s a poor, -wild, uneducated creature, not brought up like us.” - -“But she must be mad!” cried Mabel. “Tell her she is making some -extraordinary mistake; that I wouldn’t touch her husband with a pair -of tongs--that I hate the very sight of him. Tell her that nothing -would make me marry him if he was free, that my religion would forbid -it; and as he is married already, our law forbids it. Tell her that -even if I wanted to marry him, my brother would see me dead -first--that I would beg him to kill me before I stooped to such -degradation.” - -Even Jehanara cringed before Mabel in her crimson indignation, and -translated her words without comment. The women looked at one another -doubtfully, and the Moti-ul-Nissa frowned. The forsaken wife spoke -again in bitter disdain-- - -“It is a fine thing to talk thus, when the fair-haired woman has -robbed me of my lord’s heart for ever. Since she cares so little for -it, why did she not leave it with Zeynab?” - -“For anything that I have done, it is hers still,” said Mabel -desperately. “Ask my sister, the doctor lady, if it is not so. You -know her, all of you.” - -“Ah, woe is me!” cried Zeynab. “Why did not the doctor lady leave me -to die as a little child, rather than save me by her art that misery -might come upon me through one of her own house?” - -“Peace, girl!” said the Moti-ul-Nissa. “The doctor lady knows not yet -that thou art my son’s wife. It is not through her that this trouble -has come. I will send a message to her, that she may tell us what to -do. If the words of her sister here are true words--” she broke off -and looked keenly at Mabel--“it may be that she is one of those that -ensnare men even without their own will; but such women ought not to -place themselves where men are forced to behold them.” - -Mabel digested the rebuke, translated with startling plainness by -Jehanara, as well as she might. “I am very sorry,” she said in a low -voice. “My brother said just the same to me, but I have only been here -a short time, and I didn’t understand things. Please forgive me,” she -added, looking first at Zeynab and then at her mother-in-law. “I never -dreamed that such a thing could happen, and I will take care that it -never does again.” - -“Never again is too late for me,” said Zeynab bitterly. - -“Peace!” said the old lady again. “Is it nothing to thee that the -doctor lady’s sister has humbled herself before thee? Now it is for -thee to win back thy lord as best thou mayest. And as for thee, Miss -Sahib,” added the Moti-ul-Nissa severely, “choose thee a husband -quickly, since that is the custom of thy people, and see that he is -such a man as will slay any other that casts his eyes upon thee.” - -“The Sahib desires the Miss Sahib to be told that the horses have been -found, and all is ready,” said the little slave-boy, pushing himself -unbidden into the group, and Mabel wasted no time over her farewells. - -“I really think I have never been so uncomfortable before!” she said -to herself, as she got out of the room. - -“Now you see, Miss North, what a trial it is to me to live among such -coarse, ungenteel creatures as these,” said Jehanara. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - LA BELLE ALLIANCE. - -“Poor dear Laili!” sighed Mabel, patting the dust-begrimed neck of -the little mare. There was no fear of Laili’s running away now, -although she had spirit enough left to struggle gamely through the -sand, miles of which still stretched between her and home. - -“I don’t think she’ll be any the worse when she’s had a good rest and -feed,” said Fitz consolingly. - -“Oh no, I hope not! But I know Dick will never let me ride her again.” - -“Of course; it really wouldn’t be safe. The regiment are so often at -carbine practice, you know, and the tribesmen can’t come near the town -without letting off their jezails to show their friends they have -arrived. It’s quite an exception when a day passes without our hearing -shots of some kind.” - -“I know. But she is such a beauty, I can’t bear to give her up.” - -“Look here, Miss North; a bright idea! Will you let me try to break -her of this frivolous habit of hers? I’m generally considered rather -good with horses, and there’s nothing I should like better than to -train her properly for you.” - -“Oh, could you really? Of course I have still got Majnûn, but he is -so uninteresting to ride compared with her. But won’t it give you a -great deal of trouble?” - -“Trouble? Not a bit! I wish it would. Then you might set it down as -some sort of atonement for my carelessness in nearly getting you -killed to-day. But anyhow, I’ll do my best with her, honour bright! If -the Major will give her stable-room to-night, I’ll have a box cleared -out for her at my place. My stables are crammed with ridiculous old -rubbish that has come down to me from General Keeling’s time, and my -horses camp in the middle of it. By-the-bye, do you know I can’t feel -as I did about Sheikh here”--he looked askance at his own handsome -pony--“since Bahram Khan won the Cup on him? It seems as if he must be -an awful traitor to sell his master in that style, you see. I -distinctly saw the fellow whisper in his ear before he mounted him, -and he was like a lamb at once, instead of flinging his heels all over -the shop, as he had been doing the moment before. Now suppose he’s -been hypnotised once and for all, what’s to happen if he chooses to -trot off and attach himself to Bahram Khan any day we may chance to -meet him? I shall look a nice sort of fool.” - -“Have Bahram Khan arrested for horse-stealing, I should think,” said -Mabel, with a rather forced laugh. “But how is it that that dreadful -man is here at all? I hope you had a word or two with the Hindu who -told us he was away?” - -“Ah, but he had us there, unfortunately. Narayan Singh told us that -his master had started for Nalapur, but we didn’t ask whether he had -come back, so he wasn’t obliged to say anything, and he didn’t. Bahram -Khan told me himself how it happens that he’s here. It seems that when -he got to Nalapur his uncle intimated that he could run the funeral -without his assistance, and more than hinted, as I understand, that he -had had too much to do with it already. Hence he thinks it well to -hide his cousinly grief in his ancestral fortress, until he can get -the Commissioner to tackle Ashraf Ali for him again, I suppose.” - -“More trouble!” sighed Mabel. - -“I’m afraid so. The Kumpsioner Sahib is scarcely likely to take such a -slap in the face quietly. His _protégé_ has been snubbed, and I -rather think he will want to know the reason why.” - -Mabel sighed again, and they spoke little after that, except to -encourage the horses as they toiled through the loose sand. Arrived at -the gate of the compound, she asked Fitz to come in and have some -lunch, but he laughed. - -“No lunch for me to-day, Miss North. I must tear home and get a fresh -horse and ride out to the Major. You don’t realise that I have taken a -good bit of the afternoon off as well as the morning that he granted -me, and that the wigging I shall get is thoroughly well earned.” - -“I’ll intercede for you the minute Dick comes in.” - -“Ah, it will have happened before that. But never mind; it’s in a fair -and honest cause--couldn’t be in a fairer,” added Fitz audaciously, as -he rode off. - -“I’m afraid that boy is going to be silly,” said Mabel solemnly to -herself as she mounted the verandah steps; but on catching sight of -Georgia, all thought of Fitz and his foolishness faded from her mind. - -“Oh, Georgie, such a day of adventures! I’ve been thrown, and I’ve -paid a morning call on Bahram Khan and found him at home, and I’ve -penetrated into the recesses of an Eastern harem, and I’ve been talked -to more disagreeably than I ever was in my life.” - -“Mab!” was Georgia’s horrified exclamation, “how could you? How could -Mr Anstruther let you? Was the harem Bahram Khan’s?” - -“Yes, of course, and Mr Anstruther had no voice in the matter. I -preferred to sit with the ladies rather than with their lord and -master, naturally. And oh, Georgie! Bahram Khan’s Ethiopian wife is -your little Zeynab, Fath-ud-Din’s daughter, and she thinks--she -thinks--I don’t know how to say it--she has got it into her head that -I aspire to the honour of being the second Mrs Bahram Khan.” - -“Mab!” cried Georgia again, helplessly. - -“Yes, and there was a fearful yellow woman there who says she’s -English----” - -“I know, that dreadful person Jehanara. Oh, Mab, Dick will be terribly -angry when he knows you have been talking to her! She is Bahram Khan’s -evil genius--inspires all his plots first, and then helps him to carry -them out. She came here once as his ambassadress, but Dick would have -nothing to do with her, and forbade me to let her come into the house. -You see, politicals have to be very jealous of any Europeans or -Eurasians’ gaining influence with native princes. And now she will -make capital out of your having spoken to her.” - -“My dear Georgie, will you kindly tell me how I could help speaking to -her when she was the only possible interpreter between the ladies and -me? Really one might think I had arranged that all these horrid things -should happen, when you know they were pure accidents. And you won’t -sympathise a bit, though I’m almost out of my mind with worry. These -women will believe you; tell them, assure them, swear to them, that I -have no designs on Bahram Khan, for if they go on thinking I have, I -don’t know what I shall do.” - -“I can put that right, at any rate, but Dick will be so vexed----” - -“Dick!” Mabel almost screamed. “Dick is to know nothing of this. -Georgie, I absolutely forbid you to say a word to him about it. Isn’t -it enough for him to be always casting up against me what happened the -other day, without having this to bother me about as well?” - -“You must have a horribly guilty conscience, Mab. I’m sure Dick has -never said a word to you about the other day.” - -“No, but he has looked it, again and again. And I will _not_ have him -told about this absurd fancy of poor jealous Zeynab’s. You couldn’t be -so dishonourable, Georgie, as to tell your husband another person’s -secret against her will.” - -“I can’t tell him if you forbid it, but I wish you would let me. Very -likely it is some plot of Jehanara’s to make the poor little wife -miserable, but it may have some political bearing, and I think he -ought to know. Do let me tell him, Mab.” - -“No, you’re not to. I shall never have the smallest confidence in you -again if you do. It can’t concern Dick or anybody but myself, and the -only reason I told you was that you might use your influence with the -women to make them see how silly the idea was. If you tell any one -else about it, we shan’t be friends any more.” - - - -Some four days later Georgia was returning home from afternoon tea at -the Grahams’. She had left Mabel behind her to comfort Flora, whose -_fiancé_ had returned to his duties at Fort Shah Nawaz, and Dick had -ridden across the frontier to settle a tribal dispute, and would not -be back till late. Georgia felt tired and depressed, and visions of -the couch in her own room, and the latest magazines that had reached -Alibad, floated enticingly before her. As she drove up to the house, -however, she caught a glimpse of a camel kneeling down to its meal, a -heap of fodder piled on a piece of rough cloth, in the stable-yard. -One of the high hooded saddles used by native women of distinction lay -near it, and two or three strange men were gossiping with the -servants. The inference was obvious, and Georgia felt no surprise when -her maid Rahah met her with the announcement that the Eye-of-the-Begum -was waiting to see her. Mysterious as the words sounded, they referred -only to the confidential attendant of the Moti-ul-Nissa, and the old -woman was very soon established on the floor of Georgia’s room. The -curtain over the door, which served as a danger-signal on these -occasions, was drawn, and Rahah stationed outside it to warn Dick not -to intrude when he returned, and the visitor was therefore able to lay -aside her veil and make herself at home. As for Georgia, she had -learnt by experience that however little a native might have to tell, -he or she invariably displayed a misdirected ingenuity in lengthening -out the telling of it, and she resigned herself to the loss of the -quiet time she had anticipated, and made the customary polite -inquiries with every sign of cordial interest. When these had been -answered, and the Eye-of-the-Begum had duly asked after Mabel’s -health, and (in modest periphrases), after that of Dick, and delivered -her mistress’s _salaams_ and good wishes to Georgia, paying a -compliment in passing to her hostess’s coffee and sweets, she prepared -at last to approach the subject of business, but strictly in her own -fashion. - -“Many years ago, O doctor lady,” she began, “a troop of robbers met a -man leading a fine horse richly caparisoned. ‘O brother, who art -thou?’ asked they. ‘I am So-and-so, the servant of Such-an-one, and I -am taking this horse to my master’s son as a gift from his uncle,’ he -replied. Then they seized and carried off the horse, and beat the man, -but let him go. But verily it was his fate to be unfortunate that day, -for he fell in with a second troop of robbers, who also asked him who -he was. ‘Truly,’ said he, ‘I am So-and-so, the servant of Such-an-one, -and I carry to my master’s son as a gift from his father a gold chain -which is concealed in my turban.’ Now before this they had intended to -kill him, but finding the chain, they took it and his clothes, and -bade him make haste to depart. Hiding by day and travelling by night, -he accomplished the rest of his journey, and presented himself before -his master’s son, who, seeing a footsore man wearing only a ragged -loincloth, asked him in astonishment who he was. ‘Verily,’ he said, ‘I -am So-and-so, the servant of Such-an-one, and I bring to my master’s -son the gift that his mother has sent him.’ And thus saying, he took -from his armpit the great pearl which is nowadays called the Mountain -of Milk, which is among the treasures of the Amirs of Nalapur, having -carried it safely through the country of the robbers. Then his -master’s son commanded that a robe of honour should be put upon him, -and gave him a horse and arms.” - -“He thoroughly deserved them,” said Georgia. - -“True, O doctor lady. But thy servant is now as that messenger was. -Here is my horse with the rich trappings,” she held out an empty -liniment bottle. “The pains which were banished by the medicine from -my mistress’s limbs have now returned, and she desires more of it. But -of the gold chain concealed in the turban there is much to say, and -even more of the great pearl hidden in the armpit, wherefore, O doctor -lady, be wary lest there be any that can hear us.” - -Georgia rose obediently, and looked outside the windows, under the -bed, and into the wardrobe. Having made it clear that there were no -eavesdroppers about, she returned to her visitor. - -“First, then, O doctor lady, thy servant will reveal the chain of -gold. My mistress’s son has looked upon the face of the Miss Sahib, -thy lord’s sister, and his heart is hot with love of her. He has said -to his mother, ‘Get her for me to wife, for I cannot sleep by night -nor eat by day for thinking of her.’” - -“I am astonished that the Hasrat Ali Begum should venture to send such -a message to me,” said Georgia coldly, rising as she spoke, but the -old woman caught at her dress. - -“Nay, hear me out, O doctor lady. My mistress strove her utmost to -dissuade her son, for truly it is not well for East to mate with West, -nor Moslem with Christian, neither is it pleasant for her to think of -a daughter-in-law who will desire to change everything in the zenana, -and rule the whole house, because she is English. It is out of love -for thee, O doctor lady, and for thy lord, who is just and fears no -man, that my mistress speaks. For these were the words of Syad Bahram -Khan, my mistress’s son: ‘Tell Nāth Sahib that if he will give me his -sister, I desire no dowry with her, but only his friendship. Let him -speak with my uncle to acknowledge me as his heir, and grant me the -honours and dignities which by right belong to the Amir that is to be, -and I will live in peace with them both, and strengthen them against -all their enemies. Fath-ud-Din’s daughter shall go back to her -father’s house, so that all men may see that I look no longer to -Ethiopia for support, and that Nāth Sahib’s sister shall have no -rival in the zenana. And moreover, have I not found favour in the -sight of Barkaraf Sahib, whose eye is evil against Nāth Sahib? If -Nāth Sahib will make friends with me, I will speak for him to the -Kumpsioner Sahib, so that he shall look favourably upon him also, and -the border will be at peace, and Nāth Sahib’s praise in all men’s -mouths.’” - -“Surely you must see for yourself that the idea is absurd?” said -Georgia, trying to speak gently. “I can’t be too thankful that Bahram -Khan did not send a message direct to my husband. His wrath would have -been----” - -“That was Jehanara’s advice, O doctor lady. She bade his Highness -gather his followers and ride boldly with them to demand the Miss -Sahib from thy lord. But my mistress, knowing that Nāth Sahib’s hand -is always ready, feared for her son, and spoke prudently to him: ‘Nay, -my son, do not so, or Nāth Sahib will think thee ignorant of the -customs of thine own people, and intending an insult to his house. -Rather let thy mother speak for thee, that all things may be done -according to custom, and the maiden’s relations not angered.’” - -“And what about my poor little Zeynab?” asked Georgia. “What does she -think of all these negotiations?” - -“She is a fool,” returned the old woman shortly. “When the Miss Sahib -came into the zenana the other day, she was angry and reviled her, and -the Miss Sahib was angry also, and bade Jehanara tell her that she -would not so much as touch her lord with the staff of a lance. Now at -this the foolish girl was comforted, but her jealousy was only laid to -rest for a moment, and because her lord would not suffer her to come -near him, and drove her away with bitter mockings, she taunted him in -her rage with the Miss Sahib’s words, so that he fell into a terrible -fury, and beat her, and tore off her jewels, hoping that she would -return of her own will to her father’s house.” - -“Brute!” murmured Georgia, with white lips. “But why didn’t he divorce -the poor child?” - -“He would have done so, O doctor lady, had not Jehanara reminded him -that if Nāth Sahib rejected his proffer of friendship, it would not -be prudent for him to make himself enemies in Ethiopia. She desires to -see thy lord humbled, O doctor lady, and she knows that the Vizier -Fath-ud-Din hates him also. But the Lady Zeynab offered no resistance -to her lord’s treatment of her, dreading only lest he should send her -from him.” - -“Upon my word!” cried Georgia. “I wish Bahram Khan had made his -request to my husband in person. He would have deserved whatever he -got.” - -The visitor sighed patiently. “Strange are thy ways, O doctor lady, -after the manner of thy people! Why should it trouble thee that an -Ethiopian woman is beaten by her husband, when thine own lord’s fate -is trembling in the balance? Think rather of him and of thyself than -of this foolish girl. And now to come to the great pearl, even my -message of messages, which is from the mouth of my mistress’s brother, -the Amir Ashraf Ali Khan. It is known to no one but his Highness’s -self and the wise and learned mullah Aziz-ud-Din, whom he sent on an -errand to my mistress’s son, but with this secret message for my -mistress’s own ear. These are the words of the Amir Sahib: ‘Say to my -friend Nāth Sahib, What is to be the end of these things? Since thy -first coming hither I have obeyed thy voice, as I did that of thy -father-in-law, Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib, and all has gone well with me. I -saw at my side my nephew Bahadar Shah, who was to me as a son, my -Sardars brought their tribute at the due seasons, and the Ethiopians -durst not cross my borders, while thy wisdom and justice settled all -boundary disputes to the admiration of my wisest men. Now all this is -changed. Bahadar Shah is gone from me, and Barkaraf Sahib orders me to -receive in his stead the unnatural wretch who sought to slay me, his -benefactor. Even now he rebukes me with great words because I would -not suffer the mockery of his presence at the grave of him he slew. -Speak then, O my friend, and let me know thy mind. Who is Barkaraf -Sahib that he should thrust himself into the affairs of this border of -mine and thine? He cannot speak our tongue nor judge according to our -customs, and he never beheld the face of Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib Bahadar. -Can it be that his presumption and the evil of his doings are known to -the Sarkar? Wilt thou obtain leave for me to make a journey to the -Court of the great Lord Sahib, or of the Empress herself, that there I -may lay the truth before them? Or if the Kumpsioner Sahib stands in -the way of this, then let me present a petition truthfully drawn up.’” - -The ambassadress paused, but Georgia shook her head. “No, it would be -no use,” she said. “The Kumpsioner Sahib has the ear of the Sarkar, -and he is given a free hand here.” - -“Is it so, O doctor lady? Then listen to the remaining words of Ashraf -Ali Khan: ‘Let Nāth Sahib but say the word, and this border shall be -no place for the Kumpsioner Sahib. Already my Sardars are murmuring -against his doings, and the tribesmen’s faces are black towards him -because of his treatment of their friend. At a signal from me they -will rise all along the border, and force the Kumpsioner Sahib to flee -for his life, so that the Empress shall say, “Verily Barkaraf Sahib is -no fit ruler for the men of Khemistan.” But when he is gone, Nāth -Sahib shall quell the rising without drawing a single sword, so that -the Empress will send him a robe of honour and a state elephant, and -name him ruler of Khemistan and the border for ever. Send back but one -word through the mullah Aziz-ud-Din, whom I have despatched to quiet -the complaints of my nephew with empty words and grudging gifts, in -obedience to the Kumpsioner Sahib, and the thing is done.’” - -“Oh no, no!” cried Georgia, “that must never be. A rising now would -only work the ruin of my husband, and the Kumpsioner Sahib would be -stronger than ever before. More than this, O Eye-of-the-Begum, such -are not the ways of the English. Because the Kumpsioner Sahib is set -over my husband, he is to be obeyed, and to conspire against him or -plot for his disgrace would be in our eyes a deadly wrong. The matter -is ended.” - -“So be it, O doctor lady. The hands of Ashraf Ali Khan are clean, and -he has done what he could for his friend and for himself, but it was -written that matters are not to be set right thus. And one word more; -see that thy lord seek a husband quickly for the Miss Sahib. Why does -he not give her to the Dipty Sahib?” This was Fitz Anstruther, in his -capacity of Dick’s assistant or deputy. “He is young and well spoken, -and such a man as women love.” - -“I should like nothing better,” said Georgia, with a sigh, “but I -rather think the Miss Sahib will choose a husband for herself. And -hark! I hear the Major Sahib returning. You will rest this night in -the guest-house in the compound with your attendants?” - -“Even so, O doctor lady, and in the morning I will return to Dera Gul -with the medicine for my mistress, and with such words as the wisdom -of the night may dispose thee and thy lord to send in answer to the -Amir Sahib’s message.” - -Georgia shook her head again sadly as she delivered the old woman into -Rahah’s charge, and having seen her safely out of the way, went to -find Dick. He had just thrown off his heavy boots, and was lounging -luxuriously in a long chair in his den. - -“That you at last, Georgie? Come in, old girl. How has the world gone -with you all day? I’m just comfortably tired, and at peace with all -mankind. What’s up? Some obstinate patient who _will_ die, eh?” - -“No, nothing of that kind. I have been interviewing a messenger from -Dera Gul.” - -“Not that awful East Indian woman, I hope?” Dick raised himself -suddenly. - -“No; the Eye-of-the-Begum, with a very secret message from the Amir. -He wants you to join with him to get rid of the Commissioner.” - -“He does, does he? I thought Burgrave’s last reprimand would wake him -up a bit. He made it pretty clear that Bahram Khan was to be -recognised as heir, and admitted to all the privileges of the post. -It’s funny, isn’t it, that our respected superior doesn’t seem to see -what a creepy sort of thing it is to welcome into your bosom a snake -that’s tried to bite you already? Oh, Georgie, it is calculated to -make a man swear when he sees a fellow like Burgrave, who has far less -knowledge of district work than young Anstruther, and that so long ago -that he’s forgotten all about it, sent to upset a province where he -doesn’t even know the languages, simply because he can write nice -reports and is a favourite at Simla. I can’t make pretty speeches to -exalted personages, but I can keep this frontier quiet, and they won’t -let me do it.” - -“I know; it’s perfectly shameful. But, Dick, I have something else to -tell you that will make you laugh, though you won’t like it. Bahram -Khan is anxious to marry Mab.” - -Dick bounced out of his chair. “The dirty hound! It’s like his -impudence to dare to dream of such a thing. He had better look out for -the next time he comes across me. Why hadn’t he the pluck to bring his -precious message himself?” - -“I think his mother fancied he would be safer at a distance. He is -good enough to offer his friendship as a bait.” - -“Thanks, I’d rather be without it. The whole thing is a plot, -Georgie--a palpable plot to try and get me into trouble with Burgrave. -There was no hint of this atrocious idea when Mab was at Dera Gul the -other day, or we should have heard of it.” Georgia felt uncomfortable, -but her promise to Mabel kept her silent. “It’s a clumsy trick devised -on the spur of the moment. If I pretended to nibble at it, the next -thing would be that Burgrave would be informed I was intriguing -against him, and had offered my sister to Bahram Khan to attract him -to my side. We are on the down-grade, Georgie. I didn’t know they had -got so far as inventing false accusations against me yet. Bah! it -makes a man sick of the whole thing.” - -“I fancy Bahram Khan has had the idea in his mind longer than you -imagine,” Georgia ventured to say. - -“Oh, you’re a match-maker, as I’ve told you before. Please keep your -planning to pleasanter subjects in future. But I say, it’s rather fine -that the Commissioner should have Bahram Khan for a rival! I should -really like to tell him so.” - -“Then you still think Mr Burgrave is in love with Mab?” - -“If he isn’t, why does he stick on here so long without bringing off -his great splash? He says it’s because of the Christmas holidays, but -a trifle like that wouldn’t keep him quiet generally. My idea is that -he means to make sure of her before breaking with me.” - -“But she would have nothing to do with him in any case if he broke -with you.” - -“You think so? Well, we shall see.” - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - NONE BUT THE BRAVE. - -“Really, Mab,” said Dick irritably, “your horses are more bother -than they are worth. Why don’t you set up a motor-car?” - -“How horrid you are, Dick! Any one would think it was my fault that -all these things happen. How could I help one of the other horses’ -kicking Majnûn as they were coming back from watering? I am sure it -was that wretched Bayard of yours--cross old thing! At any rate, the -syce declares it’s impossible for Majnûn to go out to-day, and I can -see it myself. You can go round and look at the state his leg is in.” - -“Oh, all right; I’ll take your word for it. But what are you going to -do?” - -“The syce’s sole idea is to send down to Mr Anstruther’s for Laili, -but I don’t care to ride her again just yet.” - -“No, I certainly won’t have you mount her until Anstruther can give a -better report of her proceedings. Well, you had better take Georgie’s -old Simorgh, as she and I are to do Darby and Joan in the dog-cart.” - -“He’s so horribly and aggressively meek. I don’t want a horse whose -sole title to distinction is that in prehistoric days he carried his -mistress to Kubbet-ul-Haj and back without once running away. I am -going to ride Roy, Dick.” - -“My dear Mabel, pray have some regard for appearances. Will nothing -but a mighty war-horse satisfy your aspiring mind?” - -“That’s just it. He’s so big that it must feel like riding on an -elephant. I should love to ride him, and you know it’s perfectly safe. -A child could manage him--you said so yourself.” - -“No, really, Mab. An appreciative country doesn’t provide me with -chargers merely to furnish a mount for you.” - -“Then I shall borrow a horse from somebody. Mr Burgrave would lend me -anything he possesses in the way of horseflesh--he said so,” declared -Mabel vindictively. - -“I daresay, and rejoice when it came to grief, so that he might nobly -refuse any compensation. Oh, take Roy, and Bayard too, if you like, -and make the whole show into a circus, but don’t put me under an -obligation to Burgrave.” - -Mabel retired triumphant, as she had intended to do. It was the last -day of the Christmas holidays, and the Alibad festivities were to -close, as usual, with a picnic organised by Major and Mrs North. -Georgia had been up long before dawn, superintending the packing of -provisions in the carts, which must set out as soon as it was light, -and she was now resting in her own room. Without troubling to ask -herself why, Mabel felt relieved by her absence. She would not have -cared to employ the argument with which she had vanquished Dick, had -his wife been at hand, but she had no fear of his bearing malice or -alluding to the matter afterwards. Perhaps he thought she was -sufficiently punished already, for when she was perched upon the back -of the great roan charger, she found that her victory was its own sole -reward. Roy was almost as uncomfortable to ride as a camel, and to -Mabel, accustomed to her docile ponies, he seemed to have no mouth at -all. She was thankful to receive a hint or two on managing him from -his forgiving master, and thus forearmed, she would not own herself -defeated. Her mount excited a good deal of surprise among her -fellow-guests, and Mr Hardy asked her benevolently if she would not -have preferred an elephant, while Mr Burgrave reminded her in -reproachful tones of his offer of the loan of any of his horses. To -this she replied promptly that she preferred a military mount as more -trustworthy, an answer which bred great, if somewhat causeless elation -in the minds of several young officers who heard it. - -The scene of the picnic was a spur of the mountains about a dozen -miles to the north-east, where there were curious caves to be seen, -and also the ruins of an ancient fortress, among which fragments, or -even whole specimens, of old glazed tiles, very highly prized by those -learned in such things, were sometimes found. On this occasion -everything was done in the orthodox way. The caves were duly explored -and the ruins examined, with suitable precautions against finding -scorpions instead of tiles, and a few rather disappointing sherds were -discovered, and entrusted to the servants to take home. Mabel and -Flora Graham chose to climb to the highest point of the ruins, -escorted and assisted by all the younger men of the party, but when -there they confessed that, but for being able to say they had achieved -the ascent, they had gained nothing that was not equally obtainable -down below. However, the provisions were excellent, and nothing -material to their consumption had been forgotten, so that the guests -all agreed that it had been a most successful picnic, and Georgia -heaved a sigh of satisfaction as she watched the servants piling the -last of the empty baskets on the carts. - -These carts, with the three or four carriages which had conveyed the -elder members of the party, were obliged to return home by the track -across the plain, but it was possible for the riders to take a short -cut through the hills for the first part of the way. While a -discussion was going on as to the path to be chosen, Flora Graham -moved close to Mabel. - -“Oh, Mab,” she murmured hastily, “do you think you could get Mr -Brendon to ride with you? He persists in sticking to me, and I know -Fred won’t like it when he hears. He’s a little inclined to be -jealous, you know, because once, before we were engaged, he thought I -liked Mr Brendon. Besides, I want to ride with Mr Milton, and talk to -him about Fred.” - -Milton, the youth who was Fred Haycraft’s comrade at Fort Shah Nawaz, -had cheerfully put up with the fag-end of the holidays that his senior -might enjoy as much of Miss Graham’s society as possible. He was -delighted with the proposed arrangement, and Mabel had little -difficulty in attaching Mr Brendon to herself when he found that the -post he coveted was already bespoken. It was obvious, however, to -keen-eyed observers that Mr Burgrave and Fitz Anstruther had both been -promising themselves the pleasure of riding with Mabel, and the sudden -blankness of their faces when they found themselves forestalled by -this outsider was much appreciated. Finally, either moved by a certain -vague fellow-feeling, or each impelled by the determination to see -that the other played fair, they fell in together behind Mabel and her -cavalier, riding rather in advance of the rest. - -As for Mabel, she felt it distinctly hard to be obliged to sacrifice -herself in this way for Flora’s benefit. Mr Brendon, of the Public -Works Department, was a most estimable young man, but he suffered from -a plethora of useful knowledge. To ask him a question was like pulling -the string of a shower-bath, which let loose a flood of information on -the head of the unwary questioner. Mabel had intended to let him prose -as he liked, while she thought about other things, and jerked the -string, so to speak, at the requisite intervals, but he was far too -polite to monopolise the conversation. He paused for her replies or -invited her opinion so often, while clearly ready to supply the needed -answer himself, that she had not a moment for meditation, and found -the ride almost unendurable. She had just succeeded in hiding an -irrepressible yawn when a happy idea came to her as she was -approaching a state of desperation. - -“Oh, here is quite a nice level piece of ground! Let us race, Mr -Brendon.” - -He could not well refuse, and for all too short a time Roy pounded -gallantly through the sand. Brendon’s lighter steed won easily, and -when Mabel reached the end of the course, she found him waiting for -her. At this point their road entered a narrow ravine, leading down to -the open desert, and the high rocks on either side looked black and -threatening against the glowing sunset sky, a glimpse of which at the -farther end of the gorge dazzled the eyes. - -“I think you had better let me pilot you here, Miss North,” said -Brendon. “The ground is strewn with loose boulders, and it is -difficult to distinguish them in this light. You might get a nasty -fall.” - -It was desirable that Brendon should ride anywhere rather than beside -her, and Mabel accepted the position he assigned to her with something -more than resignation. He took the lead as they entered the ravine, -his pony picking its way with infinite caution, and Roy followed -securely enough. - -“What a delightful Dürer engraving we should make!” exclaimed Mabel -suddenly, “creeping along between these dark cliffs under such a -gorgeous red sky. But it’s contrary to all symbolism that you should -be riding first.” - -“The colour of the sky would scarcely tell in an engraving,” answered -Brendon, with a perceptible accent of reproof. “But the idea would -work out well in black and white.” - -“Oh dear, no!” persisted Mabel. “The sky is everything. It gives such -a threatening touch. I feel quite weird myself, don’t----” - -“Don’t you?” she was going to say, but the words were cut short, for a -shot was fired among the rocks on the left, close beside her. Roy, -accustomed to such sounds, merely started slightly and pricked up his -ears, but the pony shied violently, and received a cut from its rider. - -“Abominable carelessness!” shouted Brendon to Mabel, looking round as -the animal dashed forward. “I’m coming back to hunt that fellow out. -He might have shot one of us.” - -The words were scarcely out of his mouth before the pony reared -suddenly and then fell forward, throwing him over its head. At the -same moment Mabel heard the sound of another horse’s feet behind her, -and before she could look round some one dealt Roy a smart blow on the -flank. She felt him rise for a leap, and was conscious that his heels -touched something as he went over. It seemed a miracle that he did not -land upon his head, but as it was, the shock, when his hoofs clattered -down amongst the stones, nearly unseated Mabel, and before she could -collect her scattered senses three mounted men appeared, as if by -magic, from among the rocks on either hand. Before she had time to do -more than realise that they wore turbans, a fourth man pushed up from -behind, and seizing her bridle, forced Roy into a canter. She had a -momentary vision of Brendon, his face streaming with blood, flinging -himself between her horse and her captor’s, and trying to wrest the -bridle from him; she saw the sweep of steel in the red light as one of -the other men turned round; saw Brendon cut down by a murderous blow -from a tulwar. It was all over in a moment, and before she could even -scream, she and her captors were out of the gorge and riding swiftly -to the right, away from Alibad and safety. From the fatal spot they -had left there came faintly to her ears the sound of several shots. - -The sound reached other ears as well as Mabel’s. Mr Burgrave and Fitz, -riding leisurely, as they had been when Mabel and her cavalier left -them behind in their race, started when they heard it, and put spurs -to their horses. Entering the gorge they could see nothing but dark -rocks and lurid sky. No! what was that?--a bright flash, followed by -another report, coming from a spot close to the ground at the farther -end. Riding headlong down the ravine, regardless of the shifting -boulders, they distinguished at last the form of Brendon, his light -clothes dyed with blood. He was dragging himself painfully towards -them, holding his discharged revolver in his left hand. - -“They’ve got Miss North!” he gasped, as they neared him. - -With a sharp exclamation Mr Burgrave dug his spurs deeper and dashed -on, but Fitz, catching the look of agony on Brendon’s face, drew rein -for a moment. - - [image: images/img_078.jpg - caption: “FITZ CAUGHT THE LOOK OF AGONY IN BRENDON’S FACE”] - -“She’s riding--a troop-horse. Yell to him--to ‘Halt!’” came in broken -sentences. “And look out. There’s a--rope.” - -Even as he sank down exhausted from loss of blood, there was a crash -in front. The Commissioner and his horse had gone down in a heap, -marking only too accurately the position of the rope. Fitz galloped -forward, his pony taking the obstacle like a bird. - -“Ride on, for Heaven’s sake! Never mind me!” came in a despairing -shout from the man who lay helpless under the struggling horse, and -Fitz obeyed. He was out of the gorge now, and could see far away to -the right the dark moving mass which represented the object of his -pursuit. Ramming in his spurs, he followed at breakneck speed, his -whole soul absorbed in the savage determination to catch up the -robbers and their prey. Whether he and Sheikh lived or died, they must -reach that goal. Thundering on, his eyes fixed upon his quarry, he -perceived presently, with a fierce joy, that it was becoming clearer -to his view. He was gaining! Now he could distinguish the forms of the -men and their horses, and presently he was able to assure himself that -the wiry little native steeds were undoubtedly handicapped by the -necessity of accommodating their pace to that of the heavier Roy. That -the robbers he was pursuing were four to one did not occur to Fitz, -even in face of the ominous fact that they made no attempt to -interfere with him, too confident in their superior numbers to take -the trouble to separate and cut him off. The moment that he felt sure -of his advantage, his plan was ready, formed complete in his mind, and -without any volition of his own, his revolver was in his hand, cocked, -the moment after. As he diminished the distance between himself and -the robbers, he saw that they were no longer in a compact body. The -three unencumbered riders were leading, and Mabel and the man who held -her bridle came after. Mabel had recovered her presence of mind by -this time. She was striking furiously with her whip at the hand which -gripped her rein, in the hope of forcing the robber to loose his hold, -but in vain. He could not spare a hand to snatch away the whip, but -his grasp upon the bridle never relaxed. Suddenly a voice sounded in -her ears. Standing in his stirrups, Fitz put all the power of his -lungs into the one word, “Halt!” and at the well-known shout Roy -stopped dead, his feet firmly planted together. The shock dragged the -robber from his saddle, and his own horse, terrified, continued its -headlong career. Still grasping Mabel’s bridle with his left hand, he -drew his tulwar and sprang at Fitz. A bullet from the ready revolver -met him as he came, and he fell forward, the tulwar dropping harmless -from his fingers, which gripped for a moment convulsively at the sand -under Sheikh’s hoofs. - -“Quick! Get behind me! Crouch between the horses!” cried Fitz to -Mabel, urging the panting Sheikh in front of Roy. The three men in -front had faced round, and seemed to be meditating a charge, but they -were without firearms, and Fitz, standing behind his pony, had them -covered if they should approach. Left to themselves, they might have -distracted his attention by coming at him from different directions, -and taken him in the rear, but the other members of the party had now -emerged from the gorge, and were riding down on them with shouts. -Prudent counsels prevailed, and they turned their horses’ heads again, -and rode off into the gathering darkness, leaving the victorious Fitz -with two trembling, sweating horses, and Mabel, crouched on the sand, -clutching wildly at his feet. She tried to speak as she looked up at -him, but no words would come, and only a hoarse scream issued from her -lips. The sight of her utter prostration almost unmanned him. - -“Don’t, don’t, Miss North!” he entreated, trying to lift her up. -“You’re safe now, and the others will be here in a minute. Don’t let -them see you like this.” - -She swayed to and fro as he raised her, and staggering to Roy’s side -buried her face in his mane. Fitz turned away. It would be taking an -unfair advantage, he felt, to speak to her in this forlorn state, and -he began to pat Sheikh, and praise his gallant efforts in a low tone. -Many a time afterwards did he curse himself as a fool for this -backwardness of his, but at the moment it was impossible to him to -take her in his arms and comfort her, as his heart urged him to do. -She had been saved from death or worse by his means, and he could not -presume upon the service he had rendered her. - -The moment’s constraint was quickly ended by the eager questions of -the men who came galloping up. Fitz stepped forward to meet them. - -“Look out!” he said hastily, jerking his head in Mabel’s direction, -“Miss North is awfully knocked up. Leave her to herself for a moment. -Is Tighe here?” - -“He stopped at the nullah. It’s a bad job there. Brendon’s gone, poor -old chap! and the Commissioner’s pretty extensively damaged. Jolly -good job the doctor was able to ride out this afternoon.” - -“I say, look here,” said Fitz, “we mustn’t let her know about this. -Can’t we get her straight home?” - -“Must go back to the nullah. The Colonel and one or two more whose -horses were no good stayed with Tighe to help him dig out the -Commissioner. He had managed to shoot his horse, lest it should kick -his brains out, but it was lying right across him. They’ll want help -in getting him home, and poor Brendon too.” - -“Well, say nothing to Miss North, and we’ll try to keep it dark. -There, she’s coming. Can’t you say something ordinary?” - -Milton, to whom the request--or rather command--was addressed, gasped -helplessly. The circumstances seemed to preclude him from saying -anything at all, but as Mabel came towards them, her face still white -and her lips trembling, a happy thought seized two of the other men -simultaneously. - -“We’ve never even looked at the rascal you potted!” they cried to -Fitz. “Here, come along. Who’s got a match?” - -Mabel shuddered, and caught at Fitz’s arm, but a dreadful fascination -seemed to draw her to the place where the dead robber lay. Some one -produced a box of matches, and kneeling down, struck a light close to -the face of the corpse. Fitz knew as well as Mabel what face she -expected to see, and he could hardly keep himself from echoing her cry -of surprise and relief when they realised that a stranger lay before -them. - -“Wait a minute, though,” said one of the officers, pressing forward. -“Lend us another match, old man. Yes, I thought so! It’s Mumtaz -Mohammed, the sowar who deserted five or six weeks ago. See, he has -his carbine on his back.” - -“Then it was only a common or garden raid, and not a planned thing,” -said another. “I know it was said he had got away to those fellows who -broke out of prison at Kharrakpur.” - -“No,” said Mabel suddenly; “it was a plot.” - -“Why, Miss North--how do you know?” they asked, astonished. - -“Because my syce was in it. He told me this morning my pony could not -be ridden, and wanted me to send for Laili, whom Mr Anstruther is -training for me. She bolts at the sound of a shot. It was a shot fired -in the nullah that began this--this----” - -“And you didn’t ride Laili after all?” - -“No, I would ride Roy. I asked for him just to see what Dick would -say, and when he didn’t want me to have him, I persisted, simply to -tease him. And it has saved my life!” she cried hysterically. - -“Not much doubt who stood to benefit by the plot!” muttered one of the -men who had stood behind Mabel at the Gymkhana, but Fitz nudged the -speaker fiercely. - -“I don’t know what we’re all standing here for--in case our deceased -friend’s sorrowing relations like to come back and wipe us out, I -suppose. Let me mount you, Miss North. Are you fellows going to stop -out all night? Had we better bring _that_ along, do you think?” - -This was added in a lower tone, as he pointed to the robber’s corpse. -After some demur it was decided to lay it across the saddle of -Brendon’s pony, which had found its way back to the rest with a pair -of broken knees, and they rode back towards the gorge, the last man -leading the laden pony, so that it might be kept out of Mabel’s sight. -As they approached the entrance to the ravine Dr Tighe came forward -hastily to meet them. - -“Look here,” he said, “I want some one to ride on to Alibad at once. -The Commissioner has broken his knee-cap and a few other things, and -Major North’s is the nearest house, but Mrs North mustn’t be -frightened. Milton, your pony’s a good one, I know, so just take it -out of him. Say nothing about Miss North or Brendon or anything, but -tell Mrs North the Commissioner has had a nasty fall, and I am -bringing him to her house with a fractured patella and a pair of -smashed ribs. She can get things ready, and send on to my house for -anything she doesn’t happen to have.” - -“Surely the ladies had better go back with me, Doctor?” asked Milton, -pausing as he was about to start. - -“No, we don’t want any more kidnapping to-night. We must travel -slowly, all of us, but they’ll be safer than with you. Feel shaky, -Miss North? Drink this,” and he handed her a flask-cup. “Miss Graham -is waiting to weep tears of joy over you. What, aren’t you gone yet, -Milton?” - -“Tell Major North to arrest the syce,” Fitz shouted after the -messenger as he disappeared in the darkness. - -“Off with your coats, you young fellows!” cried Dr Tighe, as the thud -of the pony’s steps upon the sand died away. “The Commissioner has to -be carried home somehow, and there’s not so much as a stick to make a -stretcher of. We must tie the coats together by the sleeves, and -manufacture a litter in that way.” - -No one dared to scoff, although no one could understand what the -doctor meant to do; but working energetically under his directions, -they succeeded in framing a sufficiently practicable litter. Six of -the party were chosen as bearers, and the others were to relieve them, -their duty in the meantime being to lead the riderless horses and keep -watch against a surprise. Mabel and Flora, who had been enjoying the -luxury of shedding a few tears together in private, were placed at the -head of the procession, and the march began. At first the litter -containing the wounded man followed close after the two girls; but -presently Fitz, who was one of the bearers, felt his arm grasped. - -“Let the ladies get ahead of us, please. I--I can’t stand this very -well.” - -Fitz understood. Mr Burgrave was suffering acutely in being carried -over the rough ground, and he feared lest some sound extorted from him -by the pain should acquaint Mabel with the fact. The litter and its -bearers dropped behind, and if now and then a groan was forced from -the Commissioner’s lips, his rival, at any rate, felt no contempt for -the involuntary weakness. Before half of the journey had been -accomplished, a relief party, headed by Dick, met them, and Mr -Burgrave was transferred to a charpoy carried by natives, after Dr -Tighe had made rough and ready use of the splints and strapping -Georgia had sent. A little later a detachment of the Khemistan Horse -passed at a smart trot in the direction of the gorge. It was not now -the rule, as in the early days of General Keeling’s reign, for the -regiment to sleep in its boots, but it was still supposed to be ready -day and night to trace the perpetrators of any outrage and bring them -to justice--rough justice, sometimes, but none the less impressive for -that. The sight gave Mabel a sense of safety and comfort, and she -scouted Flora’s proposal that she should come home with her for the -night. - -“As if I would leave Georgie alone, with all this extra work on her -hands!” she said, as they turned in at the gate. - -“Oh, Mab, is it true about the Commissioner?” cried Georgia, coming -out to meet them on the verandah. - -“Yes; I am afraid he’s dreadfully hurt, poor man!” - -“Was he riding with you when he fell?” - -“He--he was riding after me,” said Mabel cautiously. - -Georgia threw up her hands. “Oh, if you could only have hurt any other -man, or taken him to any house but this!” she cried; and Mabel thought -it both unkind and unfair, considering the circumstances. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION. - -Hark! what was that? Mabel sprang up in bed, her heart beating -furiously, her hands clammy with fear. There was the sound of horses’ -feet, the rattling of bridles, on every side. A wild impulse seized -her to creep under the dressing-table--to hide herself anywhere, but a -moment later she laughed aloud. The very last thing before going to -bed, Dick had told her for her comfort that not only would the usual -Sikh sentry keep guard over the Commissioner’s slumbers, but the -compound would be patrolled all night by the Khemistan Horse. She -crept to the window and peered out between the slats of the venetians. -Yes; there they were--splendid men with huge turbans, and -accoutrements glittering in the moonlight--pacing slowly to and fro -upon their stout little horses. But how was it that there were two of -them at that far corner of the compound, where she could scarcely -distinguish their figures, and why had they paused as though to listen -for something? Mabel listened too, and presently, above the nearer -noises of trampling hoofs and jingling bits, she heard the approach of -a galloping horse. Was it a scout coming in to give warning of a -threatened attack? But no; the two men at the corner sat motionless on -their horses, and as the sound came nearer and nearer she saw the -flash of their tulwars. They were saluting--whom or what? Mabel -strained her eyes to see, but could distinguish nothing. Then she -remembered. It was General Keeling to whom they were doing honour, as -he rode his periodical rounds, watchful for the safety of his old -province. A cold sweat broke out all over her, and in a panic of which -she was heartily ashamed even at the moment, she scurried back to bed -and gave herself up to more and more violent paroxysms of horror. Of -what use were sentinels against such a visitant as this? Suppose it -was his will to come closer, to come up to the house, to enter? What -could be more likely? She lifted her head for a moment and listened -again. Surely that was a horse’s tread upon the drive, approaching the -door? In reality, the intruder was only one of the patrols, but in the -state of ungovernable terror in which Mabel was plunged this did not -occur to her, and she buried her head under the bed-clothes and -screamed. - -The ayah, roused from her heavy slumbers by her mistress’s shrieks, -came shivering to her side and tried to quiet her, but finding her -entreaties of no avail, ran for help. Presently Georgia glided in, -looking like a reproachful ghost herself, in a white dressing-gown, -and proffered Mabel three tabloids and a glass of water, as sternly as -if she had been Queen Eleanor handing Rosamund the poison. - -“I’ll sit by you till you are asleep,” she whispered; “but you mustn’t -make such a noise. You’ll wake the Commissioner, and he has only just -dropped off to sleep, poor man!” - -“I know I’m a fearful baby,” confessed Mabel, restored to calmness by -the eminently practical nature of Georgia’s benevolence, “but I was so -horribly frightened. Is poor Mr Burgrave very bad?” - -“It was a nasty accident,” replied Georgia, with professional caution. - -“What have you done to him?” - -“Strapped up the broken ribs, and applied ice to the leg and slung it -up.” - -“Ugh, cruel creature! ice this cold night? I suppose it’s because you -hate him so much?” - -“Hate him? What nonsense! How could we hate a man who has got hurt in -trying to save you? He’s so brave about it, too.” - -“And he didn’t mind having you for a doctor?” - -“Of course I was only helping Dr Tighe. But even if Mr Burgrave -disliked my being there, he wouldn’t show it. When Dr Tighe told him -he had better stay in this house until the splint is taken off, and -not run the risk of jarring the limb, he looked at me, and said, ‘If -my presence is not too troublesome to my kind surgeon here.’” - -“And smiled at you like a father. _I_ know,” said Mabel, with sleepy -sarcasm. “Georgie,” she roused herself suddenly, “I want to know--how -is----” - -“Now, I will not answer another question to-night,” said Georgia -resolutely. “I am going to read to you till you fall asleep.” - - - -When Mabel awoke in the morning she felt oppressed by an intolerable -burden. Body and mind seemed to be alike tired out, and it was an -effort even to open her eyes. Georgia and Dr Tighe were in the room -looking at her, and the sight of them reminded her that there was some -question she wanted to ask, but she could not remember what it was. - -“Well, Miss North,” said Dr Tighe, “nerves a bit jumpy this morning, -eh? We’ll allow you a day in bed to settle them a little, but after -that you must get up and help Mrs North to look after her patient.” - -“Oh, I’ll get up to-day,” said Mabel faintly. - -“No, no; don’t be in too great a hurry. Your brother will come in to -ask you a question or two in a few minutes, and afterwards you shall -try what a little more sleep and a little more slumber will do for -you. It’s quite evident that nature never meant you for a -frontierswoman.” - -“Oh, Doctor,” expostulated Georgia, “think what she has gone through -since she came here, and only out from home such a short time! -Besides, nothing so bad as this has ever happened in our neighbourhood -before.” - -“At any rate, it’s the sort of thing you want to take to young if -you’re to shine in it,” said the doctor. “Life in these parts is not -exactly pretty, but it has its exciting moments. Nothing like what it -had once, though. A predecessor of mine under General Keeling used to -head cavalry charges and take forts in the intervals of his medical -duties. I have no pleasant little recreations of that sort for my -leisure hours. Now, Miss North, don’t let me see you dare to smile at -the thought of my heading a cavalry charge. There was some object in -training in those days, but naturally a man puts on weight when -there’s nothing to do but potter about an hospital.” - -“You see you’re not the only person in the world who hankers after -thrilling experiences, Mab,” said Georgia, as she left the room with -the doctor, and the words recalled to Mabel their conversation of -three weeks since. Stretching out her hand, she took a mirror from the -toilet-table and glanced at herself in it, only to drop the glass in -horror. What a hollow-eyed wreck she looked! Was it possible that one -night could work such a change? She had had her wish and tried -experiments in reality, and she recoiled from the result. - -“On the whole, I think I prefer the pleasing fictions of ordinary -English life,” she said to herself. - -“Good-morning, Mab,” said Dick’s voice, following a knock at the door. -“I’m not going to disturb you long, but I want you to tell Tighe and -me what you can remember about last night’s business. It’s necessary -for me to know, or I wouldn’t bother you.” - -With a shudder Mabel let her thoughts return to that homeward ride for -a moment, then looked up suddenly. “Oh, now I remember!” she said. “My -head is so stupid, I couldn’t think of it before. How is Mr Brendon?” - -Both men had expected her to ask after the Commissioner, and Brendon’s -name took them by surprise. “Brendon? Oh, he’s--he’s as well as he can -be,” said Dr Tighe hastily, recovering himself first. - -“But how can he possibly be well? His arm must have been nearly cut -off. He fell down under the horses’ feet. Oh, you don’t mean--he can’t -be----?” - -The silence was a sufficient answer, and she turned her face to the -wall with a moan. Brendon dead--for whom her kindliest feeling the -evening before had been a more or less good-natured contempt--and he -had practically given his life for her! - -“Look here, Mab,” said Dick earnestly; “it won’t do the poor fellow -any good to cry about him just now. What we want is evidence to -convict the villains who did it.” - -“Have you caught them?” came in a muffled voice from the bed. - -“I hope so. Winlock, who went out to track them last night, had his -own ideas on the subject, and posted part of his detachment in hiding -among the rocks round Dera Gul. A little before dawn three men rode -up, coming from Nalapur way--not from our direction--but they and -their horses were all dead-beat. Winlock arrested them, feeling pretty -certain they were the men he wanted, and had made a long round to -avert suspicion before going home. They were Bahram Khan’s servants, -sure enough, but he said they had been to Nalapur for him, and he -offered no objection to their being arrested. When you are better we -must see if you can identify any of them, but now all I want is to -know roughly what happened, on account of the--inquiry, which must -take place to-day.” - -Thus stimulated, Mabel told her tale, helped out by questions from -Dick, but breaking down more than once. He took down what she said, -and the doctor signed it as a witness, and then they left her to -Georgia’s ministrations. Georgia found her patient excited and -tearful, and sent Rahah at once to the surgery to make up a composing -draught. - -“Now, Mab, lie down and try to be quiet,” she said. - -“No, I won’t lie down. I can’t sleep,” cried Mabel. “Isn’t it -dreadful, my having to identify those men? I can’t bear to think of -it. And it brings it all back so vividly--the horrible helplessness--I -could do nothing--_nothing_--to save myself. I think I should have -gone mad in another moment if Mr Anstruther had not come up. And now -to have to go and look at them in cold blood, and say that I recognise -them! Isn’t there any way out of it? Oh, Georgie, can’t Dick make my -syce turn Queen’s evidence?” - -“I’m afraid not,” said Georgia reluctantly. “The fact is, Mab, your -syce didn’t wait to be caught. He went off while we were at the -picnic.” - -“Oh, well,” said Mabel despairingly, “then I must do it, I suppose. It -seems a kind of duty, as poor Mr Brendon was killed in trying to save -me, to have the men who killed him punished. But it’s awful to think -that three men will be hanged just because I saw their faces! They -will be hanged, won’t they?” - -“I don’t know, really. It is very dreadful, Mab, but there is one good -thing about the whole affair. It may put things right on the frontier. -Both Dick and I think Bahram Khan was so confident of Mr Burgrave’s -support that he ventured on this outrage feeling sure that he would -see him through. If these three men are proved to be his agents, it -must open the Commissioner’s eyes. He’s an Englishman and an -honourable man, though dreadfully mistaken, and he can’t go on backing -him up after that. In fact, I’m sure he wouldn’t want to.” - -“No, I don’t think he would. And I suppose there is no question about -it really? What do other people think?” - -“None of the men here have a doubt that it was Bahram Khan’s doing. As -for the regiment, they are so indignant over the insult offered to -Dick in attempting to carry off his sister, that they would like to -raze Dera Gul to the ground forthwith.” - -“Oh, that’s the light in which they look at it? They don’t think of my -feelings in the matter at all?” - -“I’m afraid not. You and I are merely Dick’s chattels in their eyes, -you see.” - -“I may be, but you are not. My ayah Tara tells me all sorts of -wonderful things about you, Georgie, which she picks up from the other -servants. Do you know that when you kiss Dick before he starts in the -morning, they think you are putting a spell upon him to keep him safe -all day, and bring him back to you all right at night?” - -Georgia blushed like a girl. “That is really rather sweet,” she said. -“Rahah despises the people round here too much to tell me anything -they say about us.” - -“Oh, Georgie,” cried Mabel, with sudden envy, “I would give anything -to care for any one as you do for Dick! You look quite different when -you talk about him. If only I wasn’t such a cold-hearted wretch! I -wish I had cared for poor Mr Brendon, even; that would be better than -caring for no one but myself.” - -She broke into a storm of tearless sobs, and Georgia hailed the -appearance of Rahah with the sleeping-draught, which she was obliged -to administer almost by force. It was some time in taking effect, but -at last the sobs died away, and she was able to leave the patient in -charge of her own ayah, while she went about her other duties. Not -until the morning of the next day did Mabel wake again, very much -ashamed of her behaviour, which she was conscious had not been exactly -in accordance with the high aspirations she had formerly confided to -Georgia. Resolved to redeem her character, she sprang out of bed at -once, and when Georgia came into her room on tiptoe, expecting to find -her asleep, she was already dressed. - -“Let me do something to help you,” she said eagerly. “You must have -had a fearful amount of extra work thrown on you yesterday. What can I -do?” - -“Well, if you are so benevolently inclined, you might sit with the -Commissioner a little,” said Georgia. “He was asking for you all day, -and rather suspected us of concealing something dreadful from him.” - -“Very well,” said Mabel readily. The proposal exactly fell in with her -wishes, for she had conceived a magnificent idea while dressing. By -her diplomacy she would induce the Commissioner to reverse his -frontier policy. - -“Miss North!” Mr Burgrave started up from his pillows as Mabel entered -the sickroom, but becoming suddenly conscious of his injuries, he sank -back again stiffly. “Excuse my left hand,” he added. “The other is off -work just now. And how are you? Really not much the worse?” - -“I had no business to be any the worse,” returned Mabel. “Nothing -happened to me, thanks to you and--the others.” - -“Ah, but the shock to the nerves must have been exceedingly severe,” -said Mr Burgrave soothingly. “As I remarked to Tighe yesterday, Mrs -North would have got over anything of the kind in an hour or two, but -you are much more highly strung.” - -Mabel was vaguely aware that the comparison was intended to be in her -own favour, but she could not agree that the advantage was on her -side, and she changed the subject hastily. “I don’t know how to thank -you for what you did. Every time I think of that evening I feel more -and more how grateful I ought to be. And I am, indeed, but I can’t say -what I should like.” - -Mr Burgrave raised his hand. “Please don’t, Miss North, or you will -make me more miserable than I am already. How can I forget that I did -nothing to help you? Mr Anstruther had that happiness, while I was -lying on the ground under my horse.” - -“But you tried--you did all you could--you are so terribly hurt!” -protested Mabel. - -“Yes, and that is my only comfort. I was hurt, and therefore I am -here. No, on second thoughts, I don’t even envy Anstruther. He did the -work, but I have basely annexed the reward. To have rescued you was -happiness enough for him. I, who was unsuccessful, am consoled by -finding myself under the same roof with you for a fortnight. That is -enough for me.” - -“How nice of you to say so!” Mabel rose. “Then I can leave you alone -quite happily, and go and help Georgia?” - -“Miss North, you are not going already? What have I said to drive you -out of the room? Do you want me to pine away in melancholy solitude? -After all, I did try to rescue you, as you were kind enough to say -just now; but it will need your constant society and conversation to -keep me from brooding over my failure.” - -“I’m afraid my society won’t be very cheerful,” said Mabel, resuming -her seat with a sigh. “You see, I can’t help feeling that what -happened was a good deal my fault. If I had only told what I knew----” - -“Well?” asked Mr Burgrave anxiously, as she paused. - -“Ah, but if I had, you would not have believed it,” was the unexpected -response, “any more than you would now.” - -“Do you think I should be so rude as to question your word?” - -“You will when I tell you that I know the men who tried to carry me -off were agents of Bahram Khan’s.” - -“You have evidence to support this very serious charge, I presume? Are -you able to identify the men?” - -“I suppose so; I haven’t tried yet. But, Mr Burgrave, I’m going to -tell you something that only my sister-in-law knows--not even my -brother, for I wouldn’t let her say anything to him. Bahram Khan did -want to--to marry me.” - -“What?” cried the Commissioner, starting up again. “You don’t mean to -say that he has ever ventured to--to suggest such a thing to you?” -Rage and disgust strove for the mastery in his voice. - -“Oh no, he has never said anything to me; but the day I was at Dera -Gul the women talked of nothing else.” - -“Oh, the women!” Mr Burgrave spoke quite calmly again, and with -evident relief. “You must remember that Bahram Khan is a good deal -more advanced in his notions than the other Sardars of the province, -and would like to imitate our ways with regard to ladies--English -ladies, I mean. That is just the sort of thing that native women can’t -understand. Any polite attention he might offer you would be -misconstrued by them into a cause for violent jealousy. Their mistake -made things extremely unpleasant for you at the moment, no doubt; but -you need not torment yourself with thinking that he had any such -preposterous idea in his head.” - -Mr Burgrave did not actually say that a lady accustomed to universal -admiration was liable to perceive it even where it did not exist, but -this was what Mabel understood his slightly repressive tone to imply. -Ignorant of the Eye-of-the-Begum’s secret mission to Georgia, she -could not defend herself against the suggestion, and she grew crimson. - -“Why don’t you say that I imagined the whole thing?” she demanded. -“It’s not an experience I am proud of, I assure you. I told it you -purely in the hope that it might open your eyes a little, but since -you prefer to regard Bahram Khan as an interesting martyr----” - -“Pray don’t mistake me, Miss North. If I believed that Bahram Khan had -really devised this dastardly plot against you, I would hunt him down -like a bloodhound until he was delivered up to justice, though that -would mean the death of all my hopes for this frontier. In one way, of -course, it would simplify matters a good deal. I am not in the habit -of bothering ladies with politics, but there can be no harm in saying -that it gives me great pain to differ from a man I respect as I do -your brother. He has done so much for the frontier that it seems -almost presumption in me, a new-comer, to set my opinion above his. -However, I have formed that opinion after long and careful study of -the Khemistan problem, and only the very strongest proof that I had -been mistaken could induce me to alter it. But if you should be able -to identify Bahram Khan’s servants as your assailants, it would be -conclusive evidence that he is not the man I take him to be.” - -“And then you would see that Dick was right, and leave him to manage -things in his own way?” - -“My dear Miss North, we are now soaring into the domain of -improbabilities. If my opinion were once modified, it is possible that -your brother’s view might prevail, or again, it might not.” - -“I am certain he would not be sorry if Bahram Khan was proved to be -untrustworthy,” was Mabel’s mental comment. “It would show him a way -out of his difficulty. And now I shall be able to do it.” - -Mabel was particularly cheerful all the rest of the day, as indeed she -had a right to be, for was she not about to secure the safety of the -frontier? Warned by her experience of the morning, she made no further -attempt to entrap Mr Burgrave into a political discussion, but -contented herself with showing in numberless little ways her gratitude -for the concession he was prepared to make. She even welcomed his -offer to introduce her to the beauties of Robert Browning, a poet -whose works she had been wont to regard with the mingled alarm and -dislike which, in the case of a modern young lady, can only spring -from ignorance of them. He sent a servant back to the bungalow he had -occupied to fetch the two portly volumes which, as he told her, always -formed a part of his travelling library, and she read aloud to him -without a murmur a considerable portion of “Paracelsus.” Under the -combined influence of his favourite poet and the reader’s voice, the -Commissioner forgot alike his injuries and the difficulties which -beset his policy, and the household fairly basked in his smiles. This, -at least, was what Fitz Anstruther said, but he had happened to -intrude upon the reading as the bearer of an important message from -Dick, and was adversely affected by the peaceful scene. - -The next morning, as Dick was going to his office, Mabel intercepted -him in the verandah. “I am ready to identify those men as soon as you -like, Dick,” she said. - -He looked at her in surprise. “Wouldn’t you rather wait until you have -recovered a little from the shock?” he asked. - -“Oh no, I’m all right now. I should like to get it over, Dick.” - -“Well, you certainly seem to have picked up wonderfully. I suppose -there’s no doubt of your knowing them again?” - -Mabel shuddered. “How could I help recognising them? The red light, -and those awful faces--it seems as if the whole thing was photographed -on my mind. I should know them anywhere.” - -“Oh, all right. It would be far worse, you know, to try to identify -them and fail than to let the thing go altogether.” - -“You needn’t be afraid. Only I should be glad not to have to look -forward to it much longer.” - -“Very well. No doubt it’s better to do it before the impression has a -chance of fading from your mind. It’s a bother about the Commissioner, -though. He insists on being present, and Georgie and Tighe say he -mustn’t on any account be allowed to move until they have wired his -knee. We shall have to carry his bed out on the verandah, I suppose. -Just like him to think the show can’t go on without him. Of course -he’s afraid we shall contrive to bring his precious _protégé_ in -guilty in some underhand way.” - -Mabel smiled as Dick went down the steps, for she knew better. Mr -Burgrave’s anxiety was not so much for Bahram Khan personally as for -his own schemes, and not so much for them as for the continuance of -his friendship with the North family. This knowledge, and the pleasing -conviction that she alone possessed it, sustained her when she was -summoned in the afternoon to identify her three surviving assailants. - -“Come along,” said Dick, entering the drawing-room; “they’re all here, -and Tighe has superintended the removal of the distinguished patient. -They’re in the verandah outside his room. Don’t be frightened, Mab. -Georgia shall come too, and support you.” - -In spite of her resolution, Mabel trembled a little as she entered the -improvised police-court, realising once more what issues hung upon her -words. Fitz was there, and a Hindu clerk, and the Commissioner, -propped up in bed. Before them stood a dozen natives with turbans and -clothes of various degrees of picturesque dirt and raggedness, guarded -by as many dismounted troopers armed to the teeth. - -“Now, Mab, pick ’em out,” murmured Dick, from behind his sister. - -“But there are too many men here. There were only three left,” -objected Mabel, in a hasty whisper. - -“Well, and you have to tell us which they were. You didn’t think we -were going to parade the three prisoners and invite you to swear to -them, did you? Now don’t waste the time of the court.” - -Absolute despair seized upon Mabel as she stood in front of the line -of men, and looked shrinkingly into their faces. How was it possible -that so many natives, differing presumably in origin and -circumstances, could be so much alike? Not one of them blenched under -her timid scrutiny. Some looked stolid and some bored, and one or two -even amused, but this gave her no help. At last, however, it struck -her that there was something familiar in one or two of the faces. She -moved a step or so in order to examine them more carefully, and then -looked round at Dick and the rest. - -“This man,” she said, pointing to one, “and that one, and this.” - -“You are certain?” asked Mr Burgrave. - -“Yes; I know their faces quite well.” - -This time an undisguised smile ran momentarily along the line of -swarthy countenances, only to disappear before Dick’s frown. - -“Take them away,” he said to the troopers, and with a clanking of -chains here and there, the prisoners and their guard departed. - -“What is the matter?” asked Mabel in bewilderment, as she looked from -one to the other of the three chagrined faces before her. “What have I -done?” - -“Oh, only identified as your assailants one of the _chaprasis_ and a -sowar in mufti and the gardener’s son, who were all peacefully going -about their lawful business at the time of the outrage,” said Dick -bitterly. “You have made us the laughing-stock of the frontier.” - -“But--but weren’t the real men there at all?” - -“Of course they were, but you passed them over.” - -“And what will happen to them now?” - -“They’ll be discharged for lack of evidence, that’s all. Bahram Khan -will testify that they had been to Nalapur on an errand for him, and -other witnesses will swear that they saw and spoke to them there, and -we can say nothing.” - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - WOUNDED HERO AND MINISTERING ANGEL. - - “‘Are we not halves of one dissevered world, - Whom this strange chance unites once more? Part? never! - Till thou, the lover, know; and I, the knower, - Love--’” - -read Mabel, and paused, since it was evident that her auditor had some -remark to make. - -“It has always seemed to me,” said Mr Burgrave, “that in this meeting -between Paracelsus and Aprile, whose characteristics are so -essentially feminine, the poet has typified for all time the union of -the masculine and feminine elements in human nature. Woman--the -creature of feeling, man--the creature of reason, neither complete -without the other. Before perfection can be attained, the lover must -learn to know, the knower to love.” - -“All women are not creatures of feeling,” said Mabel. - -“But you would scarcely say that any woman was a creature of reason? -Such a--a person would not be a woman. She would be a monstrosity.” - -“I mean that I don’t think you can divide people by hard and fast -lines in that way. It’s perfectly possible for a man to be a creature -of feeling, and I know women who are quite as reasonable as any man.” - -“Pardon me; you don’t altogether follow my argument. I yield to no one -in my admiration of the conclusions at which women arrive. They are -often--one might say very often--astonishingly correct, but they are -purely the result of a leap in the dark, and not of any process of -reasoning. And since this is so, no wise man can feel safe in acting -upon them, while where the lady--as is not infrequently the case with -her charming sex--is biassed by her personal feelings, they are liable -to be dangerously deceptive.” - -Mabel closed the book with a bang. “I wonder,” she said angrily, “at -your talking in this way, as if I wasn’t horribly humiliated enough -already. It was simply a chance that I didn’t identify the right men, -and I _know_ just the same that it was Bahram Khan who employed them.” - -Mr Burgrave raised his eyebrows slightly. “Indeed, my dear Miss North, -you must pardon my maladroitness. I assure you that I had no intention -whatever of alluding to the--let us say the disagreeable incident of -yesterday. I was dealing purely with generalities.” - -“But you yourself know perfectly well--though you pretend not to think -so--that it was Bahram Khan,” persisted Mabel. - -The Commissioner raised himself on his elbow and looked straight at -her, and Mabel quailed. “And is it possible,” he demanded, “that you -believe I am deliberately sheltering from justice, contrary to the -dictates of my own conscience, a wretch who has dared to raise his -hand against an Englishwoman--against a lady for whom I have the -highest regard? No, Miss North, you must be good enough to withdraw -those words. Even your brother and his wife are sufficiently just to -believe me an honourable man, although we differ on so many points.” - -The stern blue eyes under the lowering brows seemed to pierce Mabel -through and through. She half rose from her chair, then sat down -again, and repressed with difficulty a threatened burst of tears. - -“I--I didn’t mean that,” she faltered. “All I meant was that I didn’t -see how you could think anything else when we are all so sure of it.” - -“Allow me to say that I credit you with the sincerity you refuse to -recognise in me. Your brother has a strong prejudice--there is no -other word for it--against Bahram Khan, which he has transmitted to -you, and you look at the facts in the light of that prejudice. I was -perfectly willing to be convinced of the young man’s guilt by the -merest shred of anything that could be called evidence, but none was -produced. The case against him broke down completely. Would you have -me withdraw my countenance from a man whom I conscientiously believe -to be innocent, and ruin all his prospects, simply on the score of an -unf-- unsupported opinion of yours? No, Miss North, I won’t believe it -of you. You must perceive that I am right.” - -“But you said our intuitions were wonderfully correct, and that your -judgment was incomplete by itself,” urged Mabel. - -“To be of any real value, the feminine intuition must be confirmed by -the masculine judgment. Its use is purely supplementary.” - -“Oh, Mr Burgrave, you can’t really mean that! Why, my brother would -never dream of doing anything without consulting his wife. He thinks -most highly of her judgment.” - -“Surely Major North is the best judge of his own affairs?” suggested -Mr Burgrave dryly. “If he has confidence in his wife’s judgment, it is -only natural he should wish to avail himself of it. Such would not be -my case, I confess, but then, the confidence would be wanting.” - -“But, according to you, I ought to model my opinions on some one’s,” -said Mabel--“Dick’s, I suppose--and that’s just what you have been -scolding me for doing.” - -“Dick’s?” said the Commissioner reflectively. “No, not Dick’s, I -think. That was not at all what I had in my mind, Miss North. And have -I been scolding you, or is that another mistaken intuition? You know -how gladly I would have accepted your view of Bahram Khan’s guilt, if -that had been possible?” - -“I know you said so, and I hoped so much----” Mabel’s eyes were full -of tears. - -“And do you know why that was?” - -“No, indeed, I can’t imagine.” She spoke hastily, scenting danger. The -Commissioner smiled paternally. - -“No? Then will you do me the favour to consider the matter? Ask -yourself why I was willing, even anxious, to be converted from my own -opinion. When you have arrived at the answer, I shall know.” - -He smiled at her again from his pillows, but Mabel muttered something -incoherent and fled. - -“I don’t know what to do!” she cried, in the seclusion of her own -room. “Does he think I am a baby, or a little school-girl? If he wants -to propose, why can’t he do it straight out, and take his refusal like -a man? I know how to manage that sort of thing. But to break the idea -to me gradually in this way, as if I was--oh, I don’t know what--a -sort of fairy that must be handled gently for fear it should vanish -into thin air--it’s insufferable! And the worst of it is, I can’t -quite make out how to stop it. I seem somehow to have got myself into -his power.” - -To see as little of Mr Burgrave as possible, and to confine the -conversation to safe subjects when she did meet him, was the remedy -which naturally suggested itself, and Mabel did her best to apply it; -but, to her dismay, it did not appear to produce any effect. She had -even a distinct feeling that it was just what Mr Burgrave had -expected. Moreover, it was extremely difficult to put in practice. Now -that the operation had been performed on the patient’s knee, and the -leg fixed immovably in a splint, he was allowed to be lifted on a -couch, and thus to spend his days in the society of his hosts. Dick -was out as much as ever, and when Georgia was busy, it was obviously -Mabel’s duty to entertain the invalid. It is sad to relate that when -escape proved impossible, she was reduced to assuming an intense -interest in the study of Browning, toiling through “Sordello” with -astonishing patience. But if any valid excuse offered itself for -leaving Mr Burgrave to his own reflections, she embraced it gladly, -and when the arrival in the neighbourhood of one of the nomadic tribes -brought Georgia a sudden rush of patients, she volunteered at once to -help her in dealing with them. - -The surgery in which Georgia received her visitors was a building -standing by itself in the compound, and approached by a special gate -in the wall, so that the ladies might come to see their doctor without -fear of encountering any rude masculine gaze. As an additional -precaution, when the wives of any of the chief men came to the -surgery, they brought a youth with them as attendant, who mounted -guard over a motley array of slippers at the door, and completed the -security against profane intrusion. Inside, Georgia dealt with the -cases individually in a small room at one end, while in the large room -the visitors sat on the floor in rows, looking at the pictures on the -walls, or listening casually to the Biblewoman, trained by Miss -Jenkins at the Bab-us-Sahel Mission, who sat among them and read or -talked. At the other end was another small room, where a patient and -her friends were occasionally accommodated when Georgia had any -special reason for wishing to keep the case under her own eye, and the -husband was more than usually indulgent. At other times there stood in -this room a spring bedstead, which was never used, but which the women -made up parties to inspect, personally conducted by Rahah. There was a -history attaching to this object of pilgrimage. Two years before a -lady globe-trotter of exalted rank, in the course of an adventurous -flying visit to the frontier, had spent a night at the Norths’, and -been stirred to enthusiasm by Georgia’s quiet but far-reaching work -among the women. Her Grace deplored sympathetically the absence of a -proper hospital, and offered to put her London drawing-room at Mrs -North’s disposal during her next visit home, that she might plead for -funds to establish one. Georgia pointed out, however, that the -smallness of the station, and the uncertain character of the -wanderings of the tribes, would probably result in leaving the -hospital empty for eleven months out of the year, while if Dick should -be transferred to another post, its _raison d’être_ would be gone. -The duchess was disappointed, but not crushed. Would Mrs North allow -her to send a gift, just one, to the surgery as it stood at present? -She could not bear to think of the terrible discomfort the poor sick -women must suffer. - -Georgia consented, and after a time the gift arrived, brought -up-country at a vast expenditure of toil and money. It was a -regulation hospital bed, the very latest patent, which could be made -to roll itself the wrong way like a bucking horse, stand up on end, -kneel down like a camel, dislocate itself in unexpected places, and -perform other acrobatic feats, all by turning a handle. Rahah sat -before it in silent admiration for a whole morning, occasionally -pressing the wires gently down for the pleasure of seeing them rise -again. When she had drunk in this delight sufficiently, she ventured -to put the bedstead through its paces, rushing to summon her mistress -in joyful awe at each new trick she discovered. But so far, her -enjoyment was incomplete. To be perfect, the bed needed a patient to -occupy it, and at last one was brought in by her friends, crippled by -some rheumatic affection. Rahah herself laid her on the bed, only to -behold her leap from it immediately with the strength of perfect -health. There was an evil spirit in the bed, she declared. All other -beds sank when you lay down upon them, this one rose up. And in spite -of the wonderful cure of this first and only case, the bed was never -occupied again. It was talked of all along the frontier, the women -came for miles to see it, and watched in shuddering delight while -Rahah showed them what it could do; but it was only very rarely that a -heroine could be found bold enough even to touch it with a finger. -Meanwhile, the patients continued to sleep on their mats or their -charpoys, insisting that the bed should be turned out of the room -before they would take up their quarters there, lest the evil spirit -should seize upon them during the hours of darkness. - -On this particular morning Rahah was exhibiting the wonders of the bed -to a party of new arrivals, and Mabel was deputed to see that the -patients were admitted into Georgia’s sanctum in proper order, and -only one at a time. Seeing that they were all comfortably seated -facing the Biblewoman, she thought it would be best to begin with -those nearest the door, thus going through the whole assemblage -methodically. The women, on the other hand, considered that the worst -cases ought to be seen first, and each woman was firmly convinced that -her own case was the worst of all. Hence arose an uproar, in which the -sympathising friends accompanying each would-be patient joined with -all the force of their lungs, besieging the unfortunate Mabel, who -could not understand a word, with a tumult of assertions, -contradictions, and maledictions. At last one woman, who carried a -baby, was seized with a bright idea. Flinging away a fold of her veil -from the child’s face, she held it out to Mabel, exhibiting the awful -condition of its eyes, which were almost sightless from neglected -ophthalmia, as an incontestable proof of her right to the first place. -The hint was not lost upon the other women, and in a moment Mabel was -surrounded by sights from which she recoiled in horror. At first she -was too much appalled to move, as each woman displayed triumphantly -the urgency of her own need, and then she turned sick and faint. The -agglomeration of so many miseries was too much for her. Rahah, -returning at the moment, left the outer door open, and this gave her -courage to escape. Pressing her hands over her eyes, she burst through -the astonished crowd, drank in a draught of pure fresh air, and then -fairly ran across the compound and back to the house. Mounting the -steps with difficulty, she staggered and caught at the rail to steady -herself, only avoiding a fall by a wild clutch at one of the pillars -when she reached the top. An exclamation of concern reached her ears, -and she became dimly conscious that Mr Burgrave was making desperate -efforts to rise from his couch. - -“You are ill, Miss North! What is it? You don’t mean to say that -another attempt has been made----?” - -“To carry me off? Oh no, not quite so near home.” Mabel laughed a -little, and as she began to see more clearly, noticed how the -remorseful anxiety in his face gave place to unfeigned relief. “No, -I’m not ill, only silly and faint.” - -“Try a whiff of this, then.” He passed her a bottle of salts. “I was -allowed to revive myself with it when my doctors had been -investigating the inside of my knee a little more closely than was -pleasant.” - -“Oh, don’t!” cried Mabel faintly. “I never want to hear a doctor -mentioned again.” - -“Why, what has happened? Has Mrs North turned vivisectionist?” - -“No, of course not. It was only that I was helping her with her -patients, and they had such awful things the matter with them that -I--well, I ran away.” - -“And very wisely. Do I understand that Mrs North required you to -expose yourself to the sight of these horrors? It is monstrous!” - -“She didn’t ask me to come; I offered to help her.” - -“In the hope of pleasing her, of course. It is all the same. In the -abundant strength of mind and body she possesses, she forgets that -other people are more delicately organised than herself. I am amazed -at her lack of consideration.” - -“I won’t have you say such things about Georgia!” cried Mabel. “She is -the best and dearest woman I know.” - -“I honour your enthusiasm. Pray don’t mistake me. I have the highest -possible esteem myself for Mrs North, but she is a little too -strenuous for my taste.” - -“I wouldn’t have her the least bit different. I wish I was like her, -instead of being so silly and cowardly.” - -“No, Miss North, let me beg of you not to wish that. I would not have -_you_ different. Your sister-in-law’s training and her past -experiences account for many--er--remarkable points in her character, -but, believe me, your true friends would rather see in you this -womanly shrinking from the sight of suffering than a bold -determination to relieve it.” - -“I hope I may consider you one of those true friends?” Mabel tried to -infuse a note of strong sarcasm into her voice. - -“I hope you may. It is difficult, is it not, to feel confidence in one -who differs so totally from Mrs North and her husband? But this is a -question upon which we will not enter--yet.” - -“Could I say that I preferred to enter upon it at once?” Mabel -demanded angrily of herself when she had made her escape. “Somehow he -gets such an advantage over me by putting me down in that lofty way, -and yet I don’t know how to stop it. The idea of his daring to -criticise Georgie to me!” - -But Mr Burgrave was even bolder than Mabel imagined. Returning the -next morning from a ride with Fitz Anstruther, she was greeted by a -laugh from Georgia as she mounted the steps. - -“Oh, Mab, I have been having quite a scolding, and all about you! It’s -clear that I am not worthy to have such a sister-in-law.” - -“Georgie! you don’t mean that Mr Burgrave has been so rude as to----” - -“Now, Mab, you know better than that. It would be impossible to him to -be rude. He simply took me to task, very mildly and calmly, about the -way I neglect you, though I stand to you in the place of a mother----” - -“Nonsense!” exclaimed Mabel, her face scarlet. - -“So he says. It seems I am lacking in the tenderness which should be -lavished upon you. Our rough frontier life ought to be tempered to you -by all sorts of sweetness and light which I have made no attempt to -supply. I have been inconsiderate in bringing you into contact with -the revolting details of my professional work, and a lot more. Do -forgive me, Mab. I really haven’t meant to do all these dreadful -things, but you did want to make acquaintance with realities, you -know.” - -“That man is getting unbearable!” broke from Mabel. “I shall speak to -him--No, I shan’t,” she added wearily; “it’s no good. He gets the -better of me somehow or other. Can’t you put a little cold poison into -his medicine, Georgie? Surely it’s a case in which the end would -justify the means.” - -She went indoors with rather a forced laugh, and Fitz, who had been -looking out over the desert without appearing to notice what was being -said, turned round suddenly to Georgia. - -“Can you honestly expect me to stand all this much longer, Mrs North?” - -“All what?” asked Georgia, in astonishment. - -“The Commissioner’s intolerable assumption. Any one would think he was -Miss North’s guardian, or her father, or even”--with a fierce -laugh--“her husband. What right has he to take it upon himself to -defend her?--as if she needed any defending against you! It’s nothing -but his arrogant impudence.” - -“But still”--Georgia spoke with some hesitation--“how does it affect -you?” - -“Oh, Mrs North, you needn’t pretend not to have noticed. You know as -well as I do that the Commissioner and I are both--er--well, we are -both awfully gone on Miss North, and he isn’t playing fair. You have -seen it, haven’t you?” - -“I have, indeed, but I hoped you hadn’t quite found out what your real -feelings were.” - -“Surely you must have thought me a hopeless idiot? I found out all -about it the day she had that fall from her horse.” - -“So long ago as that? Why, you had scarcely known her a fortnight!” - -“But I met her first years ago, before we went to Kubbet-ul-Haj. -Besides, what does it signify if I had only known her an hour? It is -the kind of feeling one can only have for one woman in one’s life.” - -“But you didn’t say anything?” asked Georgia anxiously. - -Fitz laughed shamefacedly. “No, I have said nothing even yet. The fact -is, it seemed sacrilege even to think of it. She is so lovely, so -sweet, so far above me in every way! Oh, Mrs North, I could rave about -her for hours.” - -“And so you shall,” was the cordial but unexpected response, “as often -as you like, and I will listen patiently, provided that you still say -nothing to her.” - -“No, no; things can’t go on in this way. You see, the Commissioner has -changed all that. He goes in and fights for his own hand in the most -barefaced way, and I must get my innings too. After all, though it -sounds horribly low to say it, I did kill the fellow that was carrying -her off, and bring her back.” - -“Of course you did. If that was all, you certainly deserve to win -her.” - -“Yes; but then the Commissioner scores in having got hurt. He sees her -for ever so long every day, and she is so awfully kind, talking to him -and reading to him, and letting him prose away to her, that no wonder -he thinks he is making splendid running. I only wish I had got hurt -too.” - -“Do you really?” asked Georgia, with meaning in her tone. - -“No, Mrs North, you’re right; I don’t. If we had both been hurt there -would have been no one with the slightest chance of catching up the -rascals. Whether she takes him or me in the end, I did save her, at -any rate.” - -“Good,” said Georgia encouragingly. “I like that spirit.” - -“Well, now you know how things stand. You see what an advantage the -Kumpsioner Sahib is taking of her gratitude and your kindness, and you -can guess how I feel about it. Tell me candidly, do you think I have -the slightest chance? Why did you say that you hoped I had not -understood my own feelings?” - -“Simply because a waiting game is your only chance. Since you ask me, -I will speak plainly. You are younger than Mabel, you know; it is -undeniable, unfortunately”--as Fitz made a gesture of impatience--“and -Dick and I have got into the way of treating you like a son or a -brother--a very much younger brother. We haven’t taken you seriously, -and I am very much afraid Mabel doesn’t either. Mr Burgrave holds a -very high position, and he is a man of great distinction. We on this -frontier cherish an unfortunate prejudice against him, of course, but -elsewhere he is considered most charming and fascinating. How can she -but feel flattered by his homage? And he has undoubtedly acquired a -great influence over her; I can’t help seeing that. And yet I can’t -make out that she cares for him, and I have watched her closely.” - -“Well, that is one grain of comfort, at any rate,” said Fitz -disconsolately. “But he is not going to carry her off without my -having the chance to say a word to her first, I can tell him.” - -Georgia looked up anxiously. “Don’t throw away your only hope,” she -entreated. “What you have to do is to make yourself necessary to her. -You have been managing very well hitherto--always ready to do anything -she wanted. Make yourself so useful to her as a friend that she would -rather keep you as a lover than lose you altogether.” - -“Oh, I say, Mrs North, you don’t flatter a man’s vanity much!” - -“Yes, I do. At least, I am showing that I think you capable of a great -deal of self-effacement for the sake of winning her.” - -“And if the Commissioner carries her off meanwhile?” - -“I don’t think he will, provided you let her alone. But if you worry -her to have you, she may accept him just to be rid of your attentions. -And then there will be nothing to be done but to bear it like a man.” - -“You don’t disguise the taste of your medicines much, Mrs Dr North. -I’ll chew the bitter pill as I ride, and try to look as if I liked it. -I was to meet the Major at the old fort at ten o’clock. It’s awfully -good of you to have listened so patiently to my symptoms, and -prescribed for me so fully.” - -He ran down the steps and rode away, arriving at the fort a little -late, to find that Dick was already discussing with Colonel Graham the -business on which they had come. A series of small thefts, irritating -rather than serious, had occurred on the club premises of late, and -the minds of the members were exercised over the question of their -prevention in future. As Fitz rode up Dick and Colonel Graham were -descending to the courtyard after making the round of the walls, and -the former signed to him to wait where he was. - -“I never remember such a succession of petty robberies before,” said -Colonel Graham. “The natives must be in a very unsettled state.” - -“I’m not sorry these things have happened,” returned Dick. “In fact, -I’m glad of it.” - -Colonel Graham glanced at him. “What have you got in your head?” he -asked. - -“Simply this. I suppose you believe, as I do, that the thief gets in -by climbing over the wall, while the watchman is busy guarding the -gateway and never thinks that there is any other means of entering?” - -“That’s my idea. In a climate like this mud-brick is bound to go -pretty soon if it isn’t looked after, and for years the rain has -washed it down into these rubbish-heaps, till they are as good as so -many flights of steps. What with the grass and bushes growing all -about, it’s as easy as possible to get in. I could do it myself.” - -“Then you agree that it would be as well to make it harder? I propose -that we call a club meeting and invite subscriptions for the purpose -of putting the walls into proper repair. Otherwise we shall soon have -the place down on our heads.” - -“But that sort of thing will take a long time to organise.” - -“It needn’t, since it’s only to keep the natives from thinking there’s -anything up. So far as I can see, there’s no particular reason why you -and I shouldn’t head the subscription list with a thousand rupees -each--so that the most pressing work may be begun at once--or why that -two thousand rupees shouldn’t last out better than such a sum ever did -before.” - -“Good! Are we to take the young fellows into our confidence?” - -“Runcorn may as well know all about it. A sapper will be useful in -deciding what it’s possible to do in the time. Happily he and the -canal people have kept the wall overlooking the water in tolerable -repair. As for the other sides, we must clear away the rubbish from -the foot of the walls, and build up the parapets where the bricks have -weathered away. The bushes must go, naturally, and the ramparts be -made a fairly safe promenade--for the ladies, of course. The tower -stairs are awfully dangerous, and it will be quite natural to have -them seen to, and the floors and loopholes may as well be looked after -while we are about it, though we shall never get a satisfactory -flanking fire without rebuilding the whole thing. I shall take it upon -myself to present the place with a new gate--not obtrusively martial -in appearance, but with a certain reserve strength about it. My wife -will think me a terrible Vandal for spoiling the beautiful ruin her -father left behind him, but it’s obvious that the _chaukidar_ will be -able to look after the place better when there’s a gate to shut.” - -“I should say there won’t be much ruin left when you have done with -it,” said Colonel Graham. “It’s a mere coincidence that our largest -godown turns out to be in the way of the canal extension works, and -has been condemned. There would be no harm in storing the corn and a -few other little trifles in the vaults under the club-house, and it -would give us an excuse for posting a sentry here at night.” - -“Good,” said Dick, in his turn. “What accomplished deceivers we shall -be by the time this is over, if we live to see it!” - -“You think things are in a bad way?” - -“What do you think yourself?” - -“I? I have no opinion. You have been on this frontier much longer than -I have, and you are in political charge. I’ve seen enough to know that -there’s something queer going on, that’s all.” - -“I’ll tell you one thing that’s going on. Five times in the last -fortnight I have received secret information of tribal gatherings -which were to be held without my knowledge. Of course I made a point -of turning up, and behaving just as if I had received an invitation in -due form.” - -“Well, that was all right, so far.” - -“Yes, but think of the _jirgahs_ that I did not hear of. What went on -at them?” - -“I see; it looks bad. What do you propose doing?” - -“What ought to be done is to revive the martial law proclamation, -which has been in abeyance for the last four years. But I am not -supreme here just now.” - -“Surely the Commissioner would not interfere with the exercise of your -authority?” - -“The Commissioner has imbibed so many horrors about the Khemistan -frontier that he is pleased every morning to find himself alive, and -the house not burnt over his head. I believe he regards the -improvement as due to his own presence here, and at the same time -considers it an additional proof that Khemistan may now be governed -like all the other provinces. If I had things my own way, my very -first move would be to deport Burgrave, preferably to Simla, where he -could both be happy himself and a cause of happiness to others, but as -it is, he will probably deport me.” - -“Then you believe he has some trick on hand too?” - -“I’m sure of it. He is in constant communication with Government. -Beardmore and his clerks come to him every day”--Beardmore was the -Commissioner’s private secretary, and a man after his chief’s own -heart, of the type that considers it has successfully surmounted a -crisis when it has drawn up a state-paper on the subject, and has no -inconvenient yearnings after energetic action--“and he is busy with -them for hours, concocting a report on the state of the frontier, I -suppose. When that is finished, we may expect the blow.” - -“What is it that you expect exactly? A friend of mine at headquarters -tells me there’s a persistent rumour----” - -“That they intend to withdraw the subsidy, and cut loose from Nalapur? -Just so. And that means the deluge for us. The blessed word -Non-intervention will bring about the need for intervention, as -usual.” - -“Our people will rise?” - -“Not at first. Bahram Khan will probably remove his uncle quietly, and -in order to still any unpleasant rumours, encourage raids on us, which -will serve the further purpose of awakening the appetite for blood and -loot. The Sardars will be got to believe that we have only drawn back -in order to advance better, and that their one chance is to make the -first move. They will cross the border, and our people will join -them.” - -“And we shall be thankful for the fort? North, in view of all this, -what do you say to sending the ladies down to Bab-us-Sahel for a -while?” - -“I don’t know,” answered Dick hesitatingly. “I thought of suggesting -to my wife that she should go down there and do some shopping.” - -“But you fancied she’d see through it? Probably. She was born and bred -here, and knows the weather-signs as well as you do. What’s the good -of trying to throw dust in her eyes? Put it to her plainly that, as -things are, you would feel much happier if she was away, and she’ll go -like a shot. Your sister and my Flora will go with her, and they’ll be -a pleasant party.” - -“She won’t like going when there’s no sign of danger, and it might -precipitate the crisis, too. Perhaps when Burgrave launches his -thunderbolt----” - -“If you could only get him to escort the ladies down at once, we might -pull through yet.” - -“No fear,” said Dick bitterly, “until he’s done his worst.” - - - - - CHAPTER X. - GAINING A LOVER AND KEEPING A FRIEND. - -“No bathing to-day, Mab!” laughed Georgia, meeting Mabel in her -riding-habit in the hall. - -“You mean that we can’t ride? Why not?” - -“Now you look just like the prehistoric lady in the picture! Because -there’s a dust-storm coming on. I meant to tell you before, but you -rushed away from the breakfast-table so quickly. I have been hurrying -Dick off, that he may get to the office before it begins.” - -“But how do you know there’s going to be a dust-storm at all? I -thought that before they came on the sky was copper-coloured, and the -air got like an oven?” - -“Well, the sky is getting black, as you can see. Dust-storms here are -not confined to the hot weather, they come all the year round. It’s -the merest chance that there hasn’t been one yet since you arrived.” - -“How horrid that it should come just to-day!” said Mabel snappishly. -“I told Mr Anstruther I was tired of riding Simorgh, and he must -really bring Laili back. He said he couldn’t be sure she was cured -yet, and I told him he might use a leading-rein if he liked, but that -I meant to ride her. We weren’t going at all near the frontier, or -anywhere in the direction of Dera Gul.” - -“My beloved Mab, dust-storms don’t respect British territory, and if -you had once been out in one you wouldn’t wish to repeat the -experience, even if you were in a position to do it. Go and take your -habit off, and when Mr Anstruther comes, I will tell him to send the -horses to the stables, and wait here until the storm is over. Then you -will have some one to talk to. See that the servants shut all your -windows.” - -But when Mabel emerged again from her darkened room into the lighted -hall, the disappointment caused by the loss of her ride was mingled -with a certain amount of ill-humour, due to an even more untoward -occurrence. The ayah Tara had chosen this particular morning for -passing in review all her mistress’s best gowns and hats, with an eye -to any little repairs that might be necessary, and having taken the -garments from their respective boxes and spread them out all over the -room, had sat down to contemplate them for a while before setting to -work. She was not accustomed to the peculiarities of the Khemistan -climate, and the gathering darkness appeared to her only as the -precursor of a thunderstorm. Hence, when the first gust of raging wind -whirled a cloud of gritty dust through the open windows, she was as -much astonished as Mabel herself, who was entering the room at the -moment, and was almost knocked down. Both mistress and maid flew at -once to shut the windows, but in the wind and darkness this was by no -means an easy task, and before it could be accomplished the dust lay -thick all over the room and its contents. Such a _contretemps_ was -enough to provoke a saint, Mabel said to herself angrily, when she had -left the weeping Tara to do what she could to repair the mischief, and -it would be idle to deny that she was feeling very cross indeed as she -entered the drawing-room with a bundle of letters in her hand. - -The shutters were closed and the lamps lighted as if it were night, -and the dust pattered like hail on the verandah whenever the howling -of the wind would allow any other sound to be heard. Fitz Anstruther -was sitting near the fireplace, looking through an old magazine, and -Mabel, rejecting his suggestion of a game of chess, seated herself at -the writing-table, saying that she must finish her letters for the -mail. She found it difficult to write, however, for although she would -not look up, she could not help being conscious that her companion’s -eyes were much oftener fixed on her than on the printed page before -him. Accustomed though she was to such homage from men, this time it -made her nervous, and at last she could bear it no longer. - -“Wouldn’t you like something to do?” she demanded suddenly, turning -round and catching him in the act of looking at her, but he was equal -to the occasion. - -“Something to do? Something for you, do you mean? May I really write -your letters for you? I’m sure the Major has given me plenty of -practice in that sort of thing, and your friends would be so surprised -to find you had set up a private secretary.” - -“Thanks, but I don’t seem to be in the mood for letter-writing, and -certainly not for dictating.” - -“Then may I hold a skein of silk for you to wind? That’s the sort of -thing they set a mere man down to in books.” - -“I don’t use silk of that sort. Is there nothing you would like to -do?” - -“Yes, awfully. I should like to talk to you.” - -“I think I shall go and read to the Commissioner,” severely. - -“It would only be wasting sweetness on the desert air. He’s perfectly -happy at this moment, with Beardmore plotting treason in a -confidential report, and about six clerks writing away for him as hard -as they can write, and he wouldn’t appreciate an interruption.” - -“I suppose you are judging Mr Burgrave by yourself when you say he -will be happier if I keep away?” - -“I? Oh no; I was judging him by himself. The Kumpsioner Sahib doesn’t -think ladies and affairs of state go well together, you know.” - -“Indeed?” Mabel was bitterly conscious that she bore a grudge against -the Commissioner for this very reason, but she had no intention of -admitting the fact. - -“Why, do you mean that he vouchsafes to talk shop to you alone, out of -all the world of women? What an important person you are, Miss North! -Think of having the run of the Commissioner’s state secrets! But of -course one can see why he does it. How unfairly people are dealt with -in this world! Why have I no official secrets to confide? Supposing I -spy round and amass some, may I expound them to you for three or four -hours a day?” - -“What nonsense!” said Mabel, with some warmth. “Mr Burgrave is only -teaching me to appreciate Browning.” - -“And you fly to state secrets for relief in the intervals! Miss North, -won’t you teach me to appreciate Browning? I’ll wire to Bombay at once -for the whole twenty-nine volumes, if you will.” - -“I really have no time to waste----” - -“Oh, how unkind! Consider the crushing effect of your words. Do you -truly think me such an idiot that teaching me would be waste of time?” - -Mabel laughed in spite of herself. “You didn’t let me finish my -sentence,” she said. “I was going to say that it would be only a waste -of your time, too, to try to learn anything from me.” - -“Never! Say the word, and I enrol myself your pupil for ever.” - -“You must have a very poor opinion of me as a teacher, I’m afraid, if -you think it would take a lifetime to turn you out a finished -scholar.” - -“How you do twist a man’s words! The fault would be on my side, of -course. I was going to say the misfortune, but it would be good -fortune for me,” Fitz added, in a low voice. - -(“Now, if I don’t keep my head, something will happen!” said Mabel to -herself, conscious that the atmosphere was becoming electric.) Aloud -she remarked lightly, “Ah, you have given yourself away. Do you think -I would have anything to do with a pupil who was determined not to -learn?” - -“Not if he has learnt all you can teach him?” demanded Fitz, rising -and coming towards her. “Please understand that there is nothing more -for me to learn. I want to teach you.” - -“Oh, thanks! but I haven’t offered myself as a pupil,” with a nervous -laugh. - -“No, it’s the other way about. I want to teach you to care for me as -you have made me care for you. Well, not like that, perhaps; I -couldn’t expect it. But you do care for me a little, don’t you?” - -“Mr Anstruther!--I am astonished--” stammered Mabel. - -“Are you really? What a bad teacher I must be! I know all the other -men are wild after you, of course, but I thought it was different, -somehow, between you and me, as if--well, almost as if we were made -for each other, as people say. I have felt something of the sort from -the very first. I love you, Mabel, and I think you do like me rather, -don’t you? You have been so awfully kind in letting me do things for -you, and it has driven all the rest mad with envy. I believe I could -make you love me in time, if you would let me try. There’s nothing in -the whole world I wouldn’t do for you. If only you won’t shut your -heart up against me, I think you’ll have to give in.” - -He was holding her hands tightly as he spoke, and Mabel trembled under -the rush of his words. Was she going to faint, or what was the meaning -of that wild throbbing at her heart? Clearly she must act decisively -and at once, or this tempestuous young man would think he had taken -her by storm. She summoned hastily the remnants of her pride. - -“Please go and sit down over there,” she said, freeing her hands from -his grasp. “How can I think properly when you are towering over me -like that?” Fitz did not offer to move, and by way of redressing the -inequality, she rose also, supporting herself by laying a shaking hand -upon the writing-table. “I am so very sorry and--and surprised about -this. I had no idea----” - -“None?” he asked. - -“I mean I never thought it would go as far as this--that you would be -so persistent--so much in earnest.” - -“A new light on the matter, evidently.” As she grew more agitated, -Fitz had become calmer. - -“Because it’s impossible, you know.” - -“Excuse me, I don’t know anything of the kind.” - -“You are a great deal younger than I am, for one thing.” - -“Barely three years, and it’s a fault that will mend.” - -“No, it won’t. As you get older, I shall get old faster, and if there -is a thing I detest, it is to see a young man with an elderly wife. I -could not endure to feel that I was growing old while you were still -in the prime of life. You would hate it yourself, too, and you would -leave off caring for me, and we should both be miserable.” - -“Try me!” said Fitz, with a light in his eyes that she could not meet. - -“And then there’s another thing,” she went on hurriedly. “I know it -sounds horrid to say it, but--it’s not only that three years--you are -so young for your age. I’m not a reasonable creature like Georgia; I -simply long to be made to obey, whether I like it or not. I feel that -I want a master, but I could make you do what I liked.” - -“Could you? But perhaps I could make you do what I liked. Just look at -me for a moment.” - -But Mabel covered her eyes. “No, I won’t. It sounds as if I had been -inviting you to master me, which wouldn’t be at all what I meant. -Please understand, once for all, that I don’t care for you enough to -marry you.” - -“Very well. But you will one day. If I am young, there’s one good -thing about it--I can wait.” - -“It’s no good whatever your thinking that I shall change.” - -“That is my business, please. I presume my thoughts are my own? and I -feel that I shall teach you to love me yet.” - -“I shouldn’t have thought,” said Mabel indignantly, “that it was like -you to persecute a woman who had refused you.” - -“Don’t be afraid. I shall not persecute you; I shall simply wait.” - -“And try to make me miserable by looking doleful? I call that -persecution, just the same. No, really, if you are going to be so -disagreeable, I shall have to speak to my brother, and ask him to get -you transferred somewhere else, and that would be very bad for your -prospects.” - -Mabel thought that this threat sounded extremely telling, but to Fitz, -who had declined excellent posts in other parts of the province, -rather than quit the frontier which grows to have such a strange -fascination for every Khemistan man, it was less alarming. - -“Don’t trouble to get protection from the Major, Miss North. I assure -you it won’t be necessary.” - -“But am I to be kept in perpetual dread of having to discuss -this--this unpleasant subject? I think it is very unkind of you,” said -Mabel, with tears in her eyes, “for I had come to like you so much as -a friend, and you were always so useful, and now----” - -“And now I intend to be quite as useful, and just as much your friend, -I hope, as before. Let us make a bargain. You may feel quite safe. I -won’t attempt to approach the unpleasant subject without your leave.” - -Mabel looked at him in astonishment. “But I should never give you -leave, you know,” she said. - -“As you please. Then the subject will never be renewed. I am content -to wait.” - -“But what is the good of waiting when I have told you----” - -“Come, I don’t think you can deny me that consolation, can you, when -you have the whole thing in your own hands? Is it a bargain?” - -“It doesn’t seem fair to let you go on hoping----” - -“That’s my own lookout,” he said again. “If your friend is always at -hand when you want him, surely he may be allowed to nurse his foolish -hopes in private--provided that he never exhibits them?” - -“Very well, then,” said Mabel reluctantly. “But I don’t feel----” - -“If I am satisfied, surely you may be?” - -The entrance of a servant to unbar the shutters dispensed with the -need of an answer. Preoccupied as they had been during the last -half-hour, neither Fitz nor Mabel had noticed that the dust had ceased -to patter and the wind to howl. The storm was over, and once again -there was daylight, although rain was descending in torrents. - -“Mab, the Commissioner was asking for you,” said Georgia, pausing as -she passed the door. “He has finished his morning’s work, and wanted -to know if you were ready for some Browning.” - -“Oh yes, I’ll go at once,” said Mabel, anxious only to escape from -Fitz and the memory of their agitating conversation. It had shaken her -a good deal, she felt, and this made her angry with him. What right -had he to disturb her so rudely, and make her feel guilty, when she -had done nothing? It was with distinct relief that she met Mr -Burgrave’s benignant smile, and returned his morning greeting. He did -not appear to notice any perturbation in her manner, and she took up -the book, and turned hastily to the page where they had left off, -while Mr Burgrave, pencil in hand, settled himself comfortably among -his cushions, ready to call attention to any beauties she might miss -in reading the lines. If he was like Fitz, in that his eyes were fixed -on the fair head bent over the pages of “Pippa Passes,” he was unlike -Fitz in that their gaze escaped unnoticed. - -“‘You’ll love me yet!--and I can marry--’” read Mabel, totally -unconscious of the havoc she was making of the poet’s words, but her -auditor almost sprang from his couch. - -“No, no!” he cried. “I beg your pardon, Miss North, but the storm has -shaken your nerves a little, hasn’t it? Allow me,” and he took the -book from her hands, and read the poem aloud in a voice so full of -feeling that it went to Mabel’s heart. - - “‘You’ll love me yet!--and I can tarry - Your love’s protracted growing; - June reared that bunch of flowers you carry - From seeds of April’s sowing. - - ‘I plant a heartful now; some seed - At least is sure to strike--’” - -What malign influence had brought the reading to this point just now? -Fitz might have used those very words. Involuntarily Mabel rose and -stood at the edge of the verandah, looking out into the rain. Her eyes -were filled with tears, but she stood with her back to Mr Burgrave, -and he did not see them. He read on-- - - “‘And yield--what you’ll not pluck indeed, - Not love, but, maybe, like. - - ‘You’ll look at least on love’s remains, - A grave’s one violet; - Your look?--that pays a thousand pains. - What’s death? You’ll love me yet!’” - -Was the seed springing already? A tear splashed into the gritty dust -that lay on the verandah-rail, and Mabel dashed her hand across her -eyes in an agony of shame. Mr Burgrave must have seen; what would he -think? But before she could even reach her handkerchief, the book was -thrown down, and Mr Burgrave had seized his crutch, and was at her -side. - -“Mabel, my dear little girl!” he cried tenderly. - -“Oh no, no; not you!” she gasped, horror-stricken. - -“And why not, dearest? Forgive me for blundering so brutally. How -could I guess that the seed I had dared to plant was blossoming -already? I have watched it growing slowly day by day, so slowly that I -was often afraid it had not struck at all, and now, when it is -actually in full flower, I pass by without seeing it, and bruise it in -this heartless way. Forgive me, dear.” - -“Indeed, indeed you are making a mistake!” cried Mabel, in a panic. -“It really isn’t what you think, Mr Burgrave. I don’t care for you in -that way at all.” - -“My dear girl must allow me to be the judge of that. I can read your -heart better than you can read it for yourself, dearest. Do you think -I haven’t noticed how naturally you turn to me for refuge against -trouble and unkindness? It has touched me inexpressibly. Again and -again you have sought sympathy from me, with the sweetest confidence.” - -“It’s quite true!” groaned Mabel, seeing in a sudden mental vision all -the occasions to which Mr Burgrave alluded. - -“Of course it is, dear. You hadn’t realised how completely you trusted -me, had you? Other people thought--no, I won’t tell you what they -said--but I knew better. I was sure of you, you see.” - -“What did other people say?” asked Mabel, with faint interest. - -“Er--well, it was a lady in the neighbourhood.” Mabel’s thoughts flew -to Mrs Hardy with natural apprehension. “She was good enough to warn -me that you were--no, I will not say the word--that you were amusing -yourself with me. She had noticed, naturally enough, how inevitably we -drew together, but she ascribed your sweet trustfulness to such vile -motives as could never enter your head. I said to her, ‘Madam, to -defend Miss North against your suspicions would be to insult her. In a -short time, when you realise their baselessness, you will suffer as -keenly as you deserve for having entertained them.’ I could trust my -little girl, you see.” - -“Oh, you make me ashamed!” cried Mabel, abashed by the perfect -confidence with which this stern, self-sufficient man regarded her. -“Oh, Mr Burgrave, do please believe I am not good enough for you. It -makes me miserable to think how disappointed you will be.” - -“I should like to hear you call me Eustace,” said Mr Burgrave softly, -unmoved by her protestations. It occurred to Mabel, with a dreadful -sense of helplessness, that he regarded them only as deprecating -properly the honour he proposed doing her. - -“Well--please--Eustace--” But Mr Burgrave kissed her solemnly on the -forehead, and she could stand no more. - -“It’s too much! I’ll come back presently,” she gasped, and succeeded -in escaping. As she fled through the hall she met Georgia. - -“Perhaps you’ll be interested to know that I’m engaged to Mr Burgrave, -Georgie!” she cried hysterically, rushing into her own room and -locking the door. - - - -“That wretched man!” cried Georgia. “After all Dr Tighe and I have -done for his leg!” - -“Didn’t know Tighe had any grievance against him about this,” grumbled -Dick. He was sitting on the edge of the dressing-table, ruefully -contemplating his boots, with his hands dug deep in his pockets. On -ordinary occasions Georgia would have requested him, gently but -firmly, to move, but now she was too much perturbed in mind to think -of the furniture. Delayed in starting by the dust-storm, Dick had only -returned from a hard day’s riding late at night, to find himself -confronted on the threshold, so to speak, by the triumphant -Commissioner, and requested to give him his sister. - -“Oh, but he would be on our side, of course,” said Georgia. “Dick, I -do think it is horrid of Mr Burgrave to have proposed under present -circumstances. It’s as if he wanted to rob us of everything--even of -Mab.” - -“No, he’s doing us an honour. He all but told me so. But he really is -absolutely gone on Mab. His whole face changes when he speaks of her. -Fact is, Georgie, if the man didn’t come rooting about on our very own -frontier, I couldn’t help having a sneaking liking for him. His belief -in his own greatness is perfectly sincere, and he cherishes no -animosity against us for opposing his plans. He told me that he hoped -political differences would make no break in our friendly -intercourse--Hang it! this thing’s giving way. Why in the world don’t -you have stronger tables?” - -“Sit here,” said Georgia, pointing to the wicker sofa. “Well, Dick?” - -“Well? It’s coming, old girl, coming fast, and he’s mercifully trying -to soften the blow to us.” - -Georgia looked round with a shiver. The shabby bungalow with its -makeshift furniture was the outward and visible sign of the life-work -which she and her husband had inherited from her father, and it was to -be taken from them by the action of the man who hoped that his -arbitrary decree would be no obstacle to their continuing to regard -him as a friend. - -“And what I think is,” Dick went on, “that they had better be married -as soon as possible, before Burgrave goes down to the river again, and -the blow falls.” - -“But, Dick,” Georgia almost screamed, “you’re giving her no time to -repent.” - -“Repent? I’m not proposing to kill her. Surely it would be better for -her to be married from this house than from a Bombay hotel? Besides, -we should have no further anxiety about her----” - -“No further anxiety? Dick, if she marries him I shall never know -another happy moment. She doesn’t care a straw for him--it’s a kind of -fascination, that’s all, a sort of deadly terror. I can’t tell you -what it’s been like all day. She couldn’t bear me to leave them alone -a moment, and there was he beaming at her, and not seeing it a bit. He -thinks it’s all right for her to be shy and tongue-tied, and not dare -to meet his eye--the pompous idiot! Mab shy--and with a man! She’s -miserable--in fear of her life.” - -“No, no, Georgie, that’s a little too thick. Mab is not a school-girl, -to let herself be coerced into an engagement, and it won’t do to stir -her up to break it off. You mustn’t go and abuse him to her. Be -satisfied with relieving your feelings to me.” - -“Now, Dick, is it likely? Am I the person to give her an extra reason -for sticking to him? If I abused him she would feel bound to defend -him, and might even end by caring for him. I can’t pretend to -congratulate her on her choice, but she shall have every facility for -seeing as much of him as she can possibly want.” - -“Vengeful creature!” - -“No, that’s not it. I have no patience with her.” - -“Ah, she has proved you a false prophet, hasn’t she? That’s -unpardonable.” - -“She has done worse; I’m perfectly convinced that she refused the -right man before accepting the wrong one. And though she doesn’t -deserve it, I think she ought to have time to get things put right, if -she can.” - -“Very well. Then the deluge will come first, that’s all.” - -“How soon do you expect it?” - -“Well, I gather from what the Commissioner says that his report is -nearly drawn up. As it’s only a pretext for a predetermined move, they -won’t take long to consider it. The decision will be intimated to me, -and I shall submit my resignation in return.” - -“And then we shall fold our tents like the Arabs, and silently steal -away?” - -“Not quite at once. We must stick on until they send up a man to -replace me, and carry out the new policy. The worst of it will be that -Ashraf Ali will know why I am resigning, and unless I can get him to -keep quiet, he will think himself free to break the treaty before our -side does. If Bahram Khan once gets to know what’s on hand, it’s all -up, for nothing will persuade the Sardars that we are not repudiating -the treaty as the first step to an invasion and the annexation of -Nalapur, and he will be there to lead them, if the Amir won’t. I hope -to goodness that Burgrave will have removed the light of his -countenance from us before then, but I suppose that’s sure to be all -right. He would hardly like to look as if he was hounding his intended -brother-in-law out of the province. Unfortunately it’s pretty certain -that rumours of my impending departure will begin to get about in some -mysterious manner as soon as his unfavourable report goes up, for his -plans seem doomed to leak out into the bazaar. I’m inclined to think -he has a spy about him somewhere. By-the-bye, Georgie, who is the -sweetseller you’ve allowed to hang about the place lately?” - -“I, Dick? He told me you had said he might come.” - -“Something fishy there, evidently. But he must have an accomplice -inside.” - -“One of the Commissioner’s Hindu clerks, perhaps.” - -“Possibly. Well, we’ll deal with him to-morrow.” - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - BEHIND THE CURTAIN. - -As soon as Dick awoke in the morning, his talk with Georgia recurred -to his mind, and looking out of his dressing-room window, he called to -Ismail Bakhsh, whom he saw in the compound. From his long connection -with the family, the old soldier was regarded as the head of the -household staff. - -“Has that sweetseller turned up yet, Ismail Bakhsh?” - -“No, sahib, I have not seen him this morning.” - -“Well, when he does, you can detain him. I want to ask him a question -or two.” - -“The thing is done, sahib. If the protector of the poor would listen -to a word from this unworthy one----” - -“Yes; what is it?” - -“It was in my mind yesterday, sahib, to examine all the verandahs, -lest the storm should have shaken the pillars, and in so doing I found -that the work of the rats under the floors has been great and very -evil. Surely there are many places in which the planks are loose and -easy to be moved, but on this side of the house it is the worst. -Before the Kumpsioner Sahib’s rooms a man might even squeeze himself -in and hide under the verandah floor.” - -“We shall never get rid of the rats until we have proper cement -floors--and it’s no good thinking of that now,” added Dick, half to -himself. “But are you sure there’s nothing worse than rats about, -Ismail Bakhsh? I don’t like the idea of that hole.” - -“I also suspected evil, sahib, but having sent two of the servants’ -sons in with lights, I was content when they found nothing.” - -“I hope you nailed the boards firmly into their places?” - -“I put them back, sahib, but why fasten them? There was no man inside, -and in case any should seek to enter, the hole should be blocked up -from within, not from without. Moreover, if the protector of the poor -would invite Winlock Sahib to bring his sporting dog to the house, -with your honour’s own dogs we might succeed in killing all the rats -before mending the floors.” - -“Good idea! Ask the memsahib to give you a _chit_ to Winlock Sahib. -No; it had better be to-morrow. I shall be out all to-day.” - -Ismail Bakhsh salaamed and departed, and Dick returned to his -dressing, neither of them dreaming that they were separated by nothing -but a half-inch plank from a man who had listened to the whole of -their colloquy. The bungalow, which had never been intended for a -permanent dwelling, had been run up in haste. Hence the contrast of -its somewhat ramshackle appearance with that of the substantial stone -houses in the cantonments, and hence also the perpetual worry caused -by the colonies of rats inhabiting the space under the floors, which -should have been filled up with concrete. However, since innumerable -complaints and remonstrances had brought nothing but vague promises -and an occasional snub from those in authority, Dick and Georgia -continued to live on in their unsatisfactory dwelling, and to wage -intermittent warfare against the rats. But the rats could not fairly -be accused of the worst of the damage of which Ismail Bakhsh -complained, for crouched under the boards lay the sweetseller, who had -effected an entrance by sliding out one of the planks from the front -of the verandah and pulling another aside, returning them to their -places when he had crawled in. His dark face paled when Ismail Bakhsh -suggested bringing the dogs, but when he heard Dick postpone the -rat-hunt to the next day, he breathed freely again. - -“To-day is all I want,” he said to himself. “When I have once got the -paper for Jehanara Bibi from that accursed half-blood my work is done, -and Nāth Sahib may set his dogs on my track as much as he likes--and -his sowars too.” - -He remained crouched in his lair all morning, until the Commissioner -had dismissed his clerks and hobbled round to the other side of the -house to look for Mabel. As soon as the sound of his crutch had become -inaudible in the distance, there was a hesitating tap on one of the -loose boards. It was answered by a bolder knock from below, the board -was pushed slightly aside, and a yellow hand, trembling as if with -ague, passed a roll of papers through the crack. The sweetseller -seized it, and pressed the fingers of the transmitter, which were -hurriedly withdrawn. The hidden man secreted the papers carefully in -his clothing, and crawled round to the front of the house, whence he -could watch through a peep-hole all that went on in this part of the -compound. When noon was come, and the servants had all betaken -themselves to their own quarters, he removed the sliding plank and -slipped out, bringing with him his stock in trade, and replaced the -board carefully. Having assured himself that Dick was nowhere to be -seen, he crossed the compound boldly, climbed the wall at a point -where various projecting stones and convenient hollows afforded a -foothold, and walked with dignified haste to the nearest sandhill. On -the farther side of this he buried his tray and his sweets in the -sand, and then, girding up his loins, set out resolutely in the -direction of Dera Gul. - -Dusk had already fallen when he reached the fortress, where he -received a respectful greeting from the ragged guards, who informed -him that the chief was in his zenana. As soon as the news was brought -that Narayan Singh had returned, however, Bahram Khan sent word that -he should be admitted immediately--a high honour which was not seldom -the reward of the indispensable spy. Committing himself to the -guidance of one of the slave-boys, Narayan Singh passed behind the -curtain and into the anteroom, to discover Bahram Khan reclining upon -the divan in the easiest possible undress. The pleasant murmur of the -hubble-bubble, as he approached, prepared the visitor to find the room -full of smoke, and his master seemed at first too much engrossed with -his pipe to notice his entrance. Cross-legged in the corner sat the -Eurasian Jehanara, shrouded in her veil, her glittering eyes -reflecting the faint light which was shed by a brazier of glowing -charcoal. - -“Peace, Narayan Singh!” said the Prince at last, taking the mouthpiece -of the long leathern tube lazily from his lips. “Is all well?” - -“All is well, Highness. I have here a copy of the report of Barkaraf -Sahib to the Sarkar, from the hands of his confidential clerk.” - -Jehanara laughed harshly. “Thou hadst but little difficulty with -Antonio D’Costa?” she said. - -“What knowest thou of the swine?” asked Bahram Khan jealously. - -“I have not seen him for many years, Highness, but he is my cousin, -and I was acquainted with his character as a youth, and heard of his -doings as a man. Knowing thy desire to learn the intentions of the -Kumpsioner Sahib, and hearing that my cousin was in his employ, it -needed only that I should instruct the skilful Narayan Singh to -approach him in the right way.” - -“And I,” said Narayan Singh, “needed but to hold before his eyes the -copies of the bonds I had obtained from certain money-lenders, and -threaten to show them to Barkaraf Sahib, when he fell down on his -knees before me, and was ready to do whatever I might desire, for fear -of the ruin that threatened him.” - -“It is well,” growled Bahram Khan. “But what does the report say?” - -Narayan Singh took out the papers which had been handed to him in his -hiding-place, and laid them on the floor before Jehanara. She took -them up, and leaning forward, scrutinised the contents eagerly by the -dim light of the brazier. - -“In this report,” she said, with deep satisfaction, “which the -Kumpsioner Sahib has just finished drawing up, he recommends the -immediate withdrawal of the subsidy, and the recall of Beltring Sahib -from Nalapur, on the ground that the treaty was merely a temporary -arrangement, the necessity for which has passed away.” Bahram Khan -laughed, and she went on. “The Amir Sahib is to be assured of the -continuous friendship and good-will of the Sarkar, which with the one -hand will take away his rupees, and with the other present him with -the liberty to govern his people without interference or guidance.” - -“Truly the infidels are delivered into our hands!” cried Bahram Khan. -“And when is the change to be announced?” - -“The Kumpsioner Sahib desires an order, which may be carried out by -the political officer on the spot.” - -“Then the fool himself is leaving the border? Let him go. I care not -to take his life. He has been a useful friend to me, and may be -permitted to carry his folly elsewhere. It is Nāth Sahib that I want, -and surely even my uncle will turn against him when he knows that the -Sarkar has determined to break the treaty.” - -“Gently, Highness!” entreated Jehanara. “The Amir Sahib is ever -faithful to his friends, and not easily turned from his allegiance. -Such is his friendship for Nāth Sahib that the only thing that would -make him join in the plot would be the hope of benefiting him.” - -“But,” put in Narayan Singh, who had been wondering uncomfortably -whether it would be better to tell his news at once, or to wait until -he had managed to secure a moment’s private conversation with -Jehanara. “I heard tidings yesterday, Highness, which seem to show -that the Kumpsioner Sahib is not the friend thou didst reckon him. I -could have told them sooner, but I fear they will not be pleasing in -thine ears.” - -“Let us hear them,” cried Bahram Khan, while Jehanara shot an angry -glance at the spy. He ought to have known by this time that it was -generally wiser to soften and sweeten agitating news, and not to -administer it undiluted. - -“It was said among the servant-people that Barkaraf Sahib had asked -Nāth Sahib for his sister, Highness, and that even now he has -betrothed her to him.” - -There was a moment’s incredulous silence, and then Bahram Khan sprang -up from the divan, sending the heavy cut-glass bottle of the -water-pipe flying, and almost overturning the brazier. “And this is -the fruit of your counsel, both of you!” he shouted. “Who was it that -held me back when I would have fallen on the whole company of the -English as they returned from their fool’s dinner in the desert, and -killed them all, except Nāth Sahib’s sister? Who was it again that -bade me suffer my servants to be taken prisoners and held captive, and -be tried for their lives by a boy, and that told me to rejoice when I -received them back unharmed? Thou, O woman! thou, dog of an idolater! -Surely ye were in league with the Kumpsioner Sahib to steal the girl -from me, and he has bribed you to blacken my face in the eyes of all -my people.” - -“Highness,” said Jehanara, with dignity, “thine anger has made thee -unjust to thy faithful servants. Fear not; I know the ways of the -English, and this betrothal need not lead to marriage for many months. -Nāth Sahib’s sister shall yet be thine, and the Kumpsioner Sahib may -wait in vain for his bride.” - -“Wait!” cried Bahram Khan, sinking again upon his cushions, “nay, he -shall wait for nothing but death. He shall die by inches, and before -my eyes, because he has sought to befool me. If he escapes, the lives -of both of you shall pay for it.” - -“As thou wilt, Highness. But was it not thy admiration of her beauty -which first showed the Kumpsioner Sahib that the girl was fair? Suffer -thy servant to consider the matter for a moment, and she will offer -thee her counsel.” - -Leaving Bahram Khan to look at affairs in this new light, Jehanara -established herself again in her corner, gazing fixedly into the hot -coals. Both her life and that of Narayan Singh were at stake, and she -knew it; and she had no desire to die. Six years before she had played -a desperate game with Bahram Khan, conscious that in him she faced an -opponent as cunning and as faithless as herself. The conditions were -unequal, for she staked far more than he did, and he won, possibly -because her sense of the risk she was running had robbed her of the -perfect coolness necessary to ensure success. He had not married her, -even by Mohammedan rites, and nothing short of full legal recognition -could have vindicated in the eyes of her own people the course she had -pursued. Robbed of her anticipated triumph, she made no attempt to -escape the consequences, but set herself by every means in her power -to obtain that ascendency over the Prince’s mind which she had failed -to gain over his heart. Fresh failures and unspeakable mortifications -had awaited her. The women of the household, from the beautiful little -Ethiopian bride to whom was awarded the position Jehanara had intended -for herself, to the humblest hill-girl who had been kidnapped to -become at once a slave and a Muslimeh, saw to it that she ate the -bread of bitterness; but in spite of taunts and revilings she kept the -one end in view until her persistence was crowned with complete -success. Bahram Khan would listen to no advice but hers, having learnt -by experience that his confidence in her was justified. The intrigue -by which first the Commissioner, and then the Viceroy, had been -convinced of his wrongs, was of her devising, and had proved so -successful as to convince her that had it not been for Dick’s -opposition, she would already have seen Bahram Khan established as his -uncle’s heir. It followed that her hatred for Dick, heightened by his -cavalier treatment of herself, was at least as strong as that of the -disappointed claimant. As she sat brooding over the charcoal at this -moment, there was a cruel light in her eyes while she ran hastily over -the points of the scheme which had sprung full-grown into her mind -when Bahram Khan accused her of treachery. - -“Highness,” she said at last, and Bahram Khan propped himself up on -his cushions with a muttered growl, while the trembling Narayan Singh -appeared to take fresh interest in life, “this perfidy of the -Kumpsioner Sahib’s provides thee with what was most needed, a means of -involving the Amir Sahib in our plans. Nay, through this treachery, -with the blessing of Heaven, thy servants will yet behold thee seated -upon his throne, with the sanction of the Sarkar.” - -“Wonderful!” cried the Prince, with gleaming eyes. “Go on.” - -“First of all, then, Highness, the Kumpsioner Sahib must not leave -Alibad before the treaty is broken--but we will consider presently by -what means he may be induced to remain on the border. Next, -instructions must be sent to the Vizier Ram Singh to represent thy -quarrel to his master, the Amir Sahib, in this wise. Thou wilt say -that the Kumpsioner Sahib, with a great show of friendliness, promised -to get thee Nāth Sahib’s sister for a wife, but that he has befooled -thee, and demanded the maiden for himself. Thine uncle may not -altogether believe that Barkaraf Sahib really offered thee his help in -the matter”--the half-caste could not restrain a touch of scorn as she -glanced through her eyelashes at the miserable native who had brought -himself to believe that an Englishman looked favourably on his desire -to marry an Englishwoman. “Still, he has doubtless heard through his -sister, thy mother, of thy love for the girl, and he will soon hear -also that she is betrothed to the Kumpsioner Sahib, so that he cannot -but believe in the enmity between him and thee. Next thou wilt say -that by setting spies on this enemy of thine thou hast learnt that he -has persuaded the Sarkar to withdraw the subsidy. This he does in -order to gain honour for himself by annexing the Nalapur state, and -also that he may overthrow Nāth Sahib, whom thine uncle loves, and -who, as we know through Ram Singh, has sworn to resign his office -rather than forsake his friend. Thus, then, thine uncle will be eager -to champion Nāth Sahib’s cause against Barkaraf Sahib, and thou, -forgetting thine old hatred in the new, will show him the way. -According to the words of this paper of my cousin’s, the Sarkar’s -change of policy will be announced at a durbar to be held by Nāth -Sahib in the Agency at Nalapur, and the Amir Sahib will do well to see -to it that this durbar is not held. If we devise a means for keeping -the Kumpsioner Sahib here, he must needs hold the durbar himself, and -while he and Nāth Sahib, and all the sahibs from Alibad, are -entangled in the mountains on the way to the city, they must be caught -in an ambush of the Amir Sahib’s troops. The Kumpsioner Sahib may well -be killed in the first onset, to save all further trouble, but Nāth -Sahib and the other friends of thine uncle need only be disarmed and -kept prisoners, the writing of the Sarkar being taken from them. Then -the Amir Sahib may send a peaceful message to the Sarkar that, hearing -rumours of evil intended against him, he has seized a number of its -officers and holds them as hostages, until he shall be assured that -his fears are groundless. So then the Sarkar, fearing for the lives of -its sahibs, will send some great person to reassure his Highness, and -explain that it was the evil doings of the dead Barkaraf Sahib alone -that caused the mischief, and Nāth Sahib will be put in his place, -and the subsidy continued, and all be well--save, perhaps, the payment -of a slight fine for the accidental slaying of the Kumpsioner Sahib.” - -“But what is the good of all this to me?” bellowed Bahram Khan. “It -would rid me of the Kumpsioner Sahib, but no more--nay, it makes Nāth -Sahib the head where he is now the tail.” - -“Seest thou not, Highness, that this is the plot as it must appear in -the eyes of thine uncle? Now lift the veil, and behold it as it is in -thine own mind. Who should naturally be chosen to command the force -lying in ambush but the Sardar Abd-ul-Nabi, and is he not a close -friend of the Vizier Ram Singh, and wholly devoted to thy cause? To -him the Amir Sahib will give orders that he is to slay no one but -Barkaraf Sahib, and that the lives of the rest are to be saved, even -at the risk of his own, but from thee he will receive the command to -slay all and spare none, not even the youngest.” - -“Nay, I will ride with them, and smite them myself from behind!” cried -Bahram Khan. - -“That must not be, Highness. Thou wilt be far away at the time.” - -“Then Nāth Sahib and Barkaraf Sahib shall be saved alive and brought -to me that I may see them die.” - -“The risk is too great, Highness. Hast thou forgotten the day when -Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib was attacked in a certain nullah and all his -escort slain, and how he fought his way out alone and rode back to his -camp, and returning, as if upon eagles’ wings, with a fresh body of -troops, fell upon the tribesmen when they were stripping the dead, and -slew them every one? Not a man shall live--be content with that, for -there is other work for thee than watching their blood flow.” - -“And what is that, woman?” - -“Thou wilt be waiting here, Highness, and as soon as a swift messenger -brings thee word that the sahibs have been attacked, thou wilt ride -with all speed to Alibad. Knowing that all the sahibs are away except -the Padri and two or three others who are not warriors, and that there -is no place of refuge for them, thou wilt hasten thither to save them -and the Memsahibs. If they believe in thy professions of friendship, -then all is well--they are delivered into our hands. But it is in my -mind that they will not trust thee, and that is even better, for then -all the evil that follows will spring from their own lack of -confidence. The men of the regiment who are left behind will fortify -themselves in their lines, but there is no need to attack them just -then. The bazaar and the European houses will be fired--by the -_badmashes_ of the place, doubtless--and in the turmoil and confusion -all the sahibs will be killed, but all men will behold thee rushing -hither and thither like one possessed, commanding thy soldiers with -curses to save the white men alive.” - -Bahram Khan chuckled grimly, for the picture appealed to him. - -“And at last,” went on Jehanara, “seeing that thou canst do nothing, -so few are thy men, thou wilt retire sorrowfully, taking with thee -such women and loot as may come in thy way--but only for safe -keeping.” Bahram Khan chuckled again. “The next day, when the Amir -Sahib learns that he has indeed raised his hand against the Sarkar, -and slain so many sahibs, he will be plunged in despair. He will find -it impossible to keep his army in check, and they will come to Alibad -and complete the work begun by thee, before ravaging the rest of the -frontier. All will be the deed of thine uncle, and he it is that will -have to answer to the Sarkar.” - -“True, O woman. Trust me to see that his evil deeds shall blot out -mine. But how if Nāth Sahib’s sister should chance to be slain also?” - -“Her safety is thy care, Highness. Before seeking to save the sahibs, -thou wilt have seized Nāth Sahib’s house, which is on the outskirts -of the town, and sent off his wife and sister here, for their better -protection, under a sufficient guard.” - -“Who will see that Nāth Sahib’s Mem troubles us no more,” laughed -Bahram Khan. - -“Not so, Highness. The doctor lady must find safety with the -Moti-ul-Nissa.” - -“Nay, is she not Nāth Sahib’s wife?” cried Bahram Khan, much injured. - -“There must be sanctuary for the doctor lady with thy mother,” -repeated Jehanara firmly. “What harm can she do thee, Highness?” - -“She is Sinjāj Kīlin’s daughter. That is enough.” - -“True, Highness, and for that very reason she must live. The Begum -must be warned to hide her in the inmost recesses of the zenana, since -the Amir Sahib clamours for her blood, and she herself must clearly -understand that thou art protecting her at the risk of thy life. See -here, Highness, and think not it is any love for thy foes that moves -me. Her testimony is the very crowning-point of our plan. When thou -hast made thyself master in Nalapur, and goest forth to meet the -armies of the Empress with the head of the Amir Sahib as a -peace-offering, there will yet be voices raised against thee. But when -it is known that thou didst save the doctor lady, the wife and -daughter of thine own and thy father’s enemies, and place her in -safety in thine own zenana, who shall judge thee too hardly that thou -couldst not save the town? Thou hast done all in thy power, and the -Memsahib will bear witness to thee. And as for sparing her--why, there -is Nāth Sahib’s sister left for thee still.” - -“Aha!” laughed Bahram Khan, “and she is not of Sinjāj Kīlin’s blood. -She will not fight like the doctor lady.” - -“Nay, but she is of Nāth Sahib’s blood,” said Jehanara, conscious -once more of an inconsistent thrill of perverted pride in her father’s -race, as she remembered what other Englishwomen had done before in -like circumstances; “but all will be well, Highness, whatever happens. -If she is found married to thee, she cannot, as a _pardah_ woman, be -brought into court to testify against thee, and if she is dead by that -time, why, she killed herself in her terror, not waiting to learn thy -merciful intentions towards her. And women pass, but the throne lasts, -Highness. The one is better than the other.” - -“Truly, thou art a veritable Shaitan!” To Bahram Khan’s mind the -epithet conveyed a high compliment. “Set the matter in train, then. -Here is my seal.” He took off his heavy signet and handed it to her. -“Do thou and Narayan Singh see that all is in order, so that not one -of my enemies may escape. But what of Barkaraf Sahib? If he leaves the -border, I lose half my vengeance.” - -“It may be, Highness”--the speaker was Narayan Singh, who had remained -silent in sheer astonishment at the daring and resourcefulness of his -co-plotter--“that the Hasrat Ali Begum might help us in the matter. If -her Highness were to hear that any evil threatened the doctor lady or -her husband, she would doubtless send a messenger to warn her. Might -she not become aware, through some indiscretion” (he looked across at -Jehanara), “that the Kumpsioner Sahib was departing from the border to -seek his own safety, leaving Nāth Sahib to carry out a dangerous and -disagreeable task? Her Highness would send the Eye-of-the-Begum -immediately to inform the doctor lady of what she had heard, and does -there live a woman upon earth who, having received such tidings, would -not at once fling the Kumpsioner Sahib’s cowardice in his teeth, and -taunt him until he was forced for very shame to remain and do his -business for himself?” - -“By that saying,” interrupted Jehanara, vexed at being selected to -perpetrate an indiscretion, “thou betrayest thine ignorance, Narayan -Singh. There is such a woman, and the doctor lady is she. She would -tell the news to her husband, and leave him to reproach the Kumpsioner -Sahib if he thought fit, and there would be no taunts, for the English -are not wont to speak like the bazaar folk. But there is another woman -who would work for us, though ignorantly, and that is the wife of the -Padri Sahib.” - -“The lady of the angry tongue!” cried Bahram Khan. “But how should we -persuade my mother to send a slave to her?” - -“It would not be easy, Highness, and therefore the Begum shall not be -troubled in the matter. I will disguise myself and tell the Padri’s -Mem that her Highness, desiring to warn the doctor lady, was too -closely watched to allow of her sending her usual messenger. I will -say also that I succeeded in slipping away from Dera Gul, and in -crossing the desert with the message, but that I dared not approach -Nāth Sahib’s house, fearing there might be spies among his servants. -Thus, then, I will tell the news, and before very long the Padri’s Mem -will tell it also--in the ears of the Kumpsioner Sahib.” - -“It is well thought of,” said Bahram Khan approvingly. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - HONOUR AND DUTY. - -Three or four days later, Mrs Hardy marched up the steps of the -Norths’ bungalow with a purposeful mien, and requested an interview -with the Commissioner. Mr Burgrave had finished his morning’s work -early, and his couch had been placed in the drawing-room verandah. A -table was close beside him, with a volume of Browning lying upon it, -and there was a chair close at hand ready for Mabel, but she was out -riding with Fitz, to whom Dick, in utter oblivion of the probable -awkwardness of the situation, had hastily turned her over on finding -that he himself was needed elsewhere. The Commissioner groaned -impatiently when Mrs Hardy was announced. A talk with her was not the -pleasure he had in view when he hurried through his work, but he -consoled himself with the thought that she would not stay long. No -doubt the Padri was anxious to get a new harmonium, or to enlarge the -church, and they wanted him to head the subscription-list. - -“Excuse my getting up,” he said, as he shook hands with her. “My -sapient boy has put my crutch just out of reach.” - -If the words were intended to convey a hint, Mrs Hardy did not choose -to take it, for she sat down deliberately between the crutch and its -owner. Then, without any attempt at leading up to the subject, she -said, with great distinctness-- - -“I have come to talk to you about your policy, Mr Burgrave.” - -The Commissioner stared at her in undisguised astonishment. “Pardon -me; but that is a subject I do not discuss with--with outsiders,” he -said. - -“I only want to lay a few facts before you,” pursued Mrs Hardy -unmoved. - -“No, no; excuse me. I cannot consent to discuss affairs of state with -a lady.” - -“I mean you to listen to what I have to say, Mr Burgrave, and I shall -stay here until you do.” - -“I can’t run away,” said Mr Burgrave, with the best smile he could -muster, and a side glance at the crutch; “and when a lady is kind -enough to come and talk to me, it would be rude to stop my ears. -Perhaps you will be so good as to let me know your views at once, -then, that your valuable time may not be wasted?” - -“I should like to ask you, first of all, whether you are aware that -your confidential report to the Government on the frontier question is -common property at Dera Gul? Of course, if you choose to tell your -secrets to Bahram Khan and leave Major North in ignorance of them, I -have nothing more to say.” - -To her great joy, Mrs Hardy perceived that she had made an impression. -The Commissioner looked startled and disturbed. “Impossible!” he said. -“The report has been seen by no one but my secretary, and the clerks -who copied portions of it.” - -“It is for you to find out which is to blame. I can only tell you what -is going on, just as it has been told to me. I was in my garden about -an hour ago, when a woman peeped out from behind the bushes--a -miserable, footsore creature. She told me she was a slave of the -Hasrat Ali Begum’s--Bahram Khan’s mother--who had sent her to warn the -Norths that you intend to withdraw the Nalapur subsidy, and leave -Major North to face the result. I have no idea how Bahram Khan -obtained the information, but he means to take advantage of it. Though -she could not tell me what his plan is exactly, she seemed quite sure -that it would end in a general rising, involving almost certain death -to the Europeans in places like this. It was clear that she regarded -you as a coward, running away from the consequences of your own acts, -and deliberately exposing others to danger. That is not my opinion, I -may say”--Mrs Hardy had seen the Commissioner wince--“but I thought -you could not have looked at things in this light, and as soon as the -poor creature was gone I came to you at once.” - -“Confiding in Mrs North by the way, no doubt?” - -“No, I came straight to you. Now let me ask you, have you realised -what will be the result of your action? You know that Major North will -resign rather than countenance what we all feel would be a gross -breach of faith, and yet you place him in a position in which he must -do one thing or the other. I don’t know what Miss North will think -about it, but I know what I----” - -“We will leave Miss North’s name out of the conversation, if you -please.” - -“Excuse me; we can’t. How do you expect her to feel towards you when -you have set yourself deliberately to ruin her brother? You think -worse of her than I do if you believe she will marry you after such a -piece of cruel, unprovoked oppression.” - -“Mrs Hardy, a lady is privileged----” - -“Yes, I have no doubt you think I am taking an outrageous liberty, but -I can’t and won’t be silent. All your interest in the frontier centres -in a pretty, flighty girl who has no business to be here at all, and -simply for the sake of showing your power you come and ride roughshod -over us, whose lives are bound up in it. I know you’re a proud man, Mr -Burgrave, and I don’t ask you to reverse your policy publicly, which -you would naturally find a hard thing to do. But if this dreadful -business has gone too far to be stopped, make Major North take a -month’s leave, and carry it through yourself. Then the people will see -that he is not responsible for the breach of faith, and he will come -back and be your right hand when you most need him. What good could a -stranger do when the tribes are out? Absolute ignorance of the country -is not always the qualification it was in your case, you know. I know -the frontier better than any other place in the world--we used to -itinerate in the district for years before we were allowed to settle -down--and I am _certain_ there’s trouble coming. I can see it in the -looks of the people, and hear it in the way they talk. And here on the -spot are the Norths, the very people to deal with a crisis, and you -have done your best to undermine their influence already. Can’t you -stop there? What have they done that you should persecute them like -this?” - -“I assure you,” said Mr Burgrave slowly, “that I have the highest -possible respect for both Major and Mrs North personally, but -personality is not policy.” - -“Up here it very often is. But come, Mr Burgrave, if you don’t -absolutely hate the Norths, why not do as I suggest?” - -“I promise you that every suggestion you have made shall receive the -fullest consideration,” replied the Commissioner, in his best -Secretarial manner. “I may rely upon your silence as to the matter?” - -Mrs Hardy thought she detected a relenting in his tone. “Of course you -may, if you are really going to do something. I am glad to find you -open to conviction, if only for Miss North’s sake and your own. You -will have a very pretty wife, and I trust a happy one. Ah, there she -is!” as the sound of horses’ feet was heard, and Mabel, cantering -past, waved her whip gaily to the watchers--“and riding with Mr -Anstruther!” - -“And is there any reason why she should not ride with Mr Anstruther?” - -“His peace of mind, that’s all. But perhaps you think he deserves no -mercy? I may tell you I was glad to hear of your engagement, since it -saved that fine young fellow for a more suitable woman.” - -“A more fortunate woman, doubtless,” corrected Mr Burgrave, with -majestic forbearance. “A better there cannot be.” - - - -Mabel was in the highest spirits as she mounted the steps after Fitz -had ridden away. When he had appeared with the message that Dick was -detained at the office, and had sent him to ride with her, her first -impulse was to refuse to go, but other counsels prevailed. Fitz had -offered no congratulations on her engagement, and the omission rankled -in her mind. She was nourishing a reckless determination to provoke a -scene by asking him what he meant by it, but her courage oozed away -very soon after starting. She would still have given much to know what -he thought of the whole situation, but she durst not venture upon an -inquiry. Fitz, on his part, made no allusion to the important event -which had occurred since their last ride, speaking of the Commissioner -as coolly as if she had no particular interest in him. Before they had -been out long, she was content to accept his ruling, and conscious of -a kind of horror in looking back upon the resolution with which she -had started. She was on good terms with herself once more, and to such -an extent did the gloom cast by Mr Burgrave’s impressive personality -seem to be lightened at this distance, that she returned home feeling -positively friendly towards him. It was unfortunate that Mrs Hardy’s -disapproving glance, when she encountered her on the steps, should -clash with this new mood of cheerfulness, and that another shock -should be awaiting her when she looked into the drawing-room verandah -on her way to take off her habit. - -“Little girl,” said her lover, holding out his hand to draw her nearer -him, “would you mind very much if I said I had rather you didn’t take -these solitary rides with young Anstruther?” - -The angry crimson leaped up into Mabel’s forehead. - -“You have no right whatever to make such insinuations!” she cried -hotly. - -“Now, dearest, you mistake me. I make no insinuations--I should not -dream of such a thing. All I say is--doesn’t it seem more suitable to -you, yourself, that until I am able to ride with you again you should -not go out except with your brother? You will do me the justice to -believe that I am not jealous--I would not insult you by such a -feeling--but other people will talk. Yes, I am jealous--for my little -girl, not of her. No one must have the chance even of passing a remark -upon her.” - -Mabel stood playing with her whip, her face flushed and her lips -pressed closely together. “He would like to make life a prison for me, -with himself as jailer!” she thought, as she bent the lash to meet the -handle, making no attempt to listen to Mr Burgrave, who went on to -speak of the high position his wife would occupy, of the extreme -circumspection necessary in such a station, and of the unfortunate -love of scandal characterising the higher circles of Indian female -officialdom. He did not actually say that the future Mrs Burgrave must -be above suspicion, but this was the general idea underlying his -remarks. - -“Why, you have broken your whip!” The words reached her ears at last. -“Never mind, you shall have the best in Bombay as soon as it can come -up here. You see what I mean, little girl, don’t you?” - -“Oh yes,” said Mabel drearily. “You forbid me ever to ride with any -one but you, or to speak to a man under seventy.” - -“Mabel!” he cried, deeply hurt, “can you really misjudge me so -cruelly?” - -“It’s not that,” she said, kneeling down beside him with a sudden -burst of frankness. “I know how fond you are of me, and I can’t tell -you how grateful and ashamed it makes me. But you don’t understand -things. You want to treat me like a baby, and I have been grown-up a -long, long time. Think what I have gone through since I came here, -even.” - -“I know, I know!” he said hoarsely. “Don’t speak of it, my dearest! -The thought of that evening in the nullah comes upon me sometimes at -night, and turns me into an abject coward. I mean to take you away -where you will be safe, and have no anxieties.” - -“Then have you never any anxieties? Because they will be mine.” - -“No,” he said, with something of sternness, “my anxieties shall never -touch my wife. I want to shake off my worries when I leave the office, -and come home to find you in a perfect house, with everything round -you perfectly in keeping, the very embodiment of rest and peace, -sitting there in a perfect gown, long and soft and flowing, for me to -feast my eyes upon.” - -He lingered lovingly over the contemplation of this ideal picture, to -the details of which Mabel listened with a cold shudder. “My dear -Eustace,” she said brusquely, to hide her dismay, “please tell me how -you think the house and the servants are to be kept perfect, if I do -nothing but trail round and strike attitudes in a tea-gown?” She -caught his wounded look, and went on hastily, “And what did you mean -by that invidious glance you cast at my habit? I won’t have my things -sniffed at.” - -“It’s so horribly plain,” pleaded the culprit. - -“And why not?” demanded Mabel, touched in her tenderest point. “I’m -sure it’s most workmanlike.” - -“That’s just it. Workmanlike--detestable! Why should a woman want to -wear workmanlike clothes? All her things ought to be like that gown -you wore at the Gymkhana, looking as if a touch would spoil them.” - -“I shall remind you of this in future, you absurd man!” laughed Mabel, -regaining her cheerfulness as she thought she saw a way of -establishing her point; “but please remember, once for all, that I -shall choose my clothes myself--and they will be suitable for various -occasions, for business as well as pleasure. Your part will only be to -admire, and to pay.” There was a seriousness in her tone which belied -the jesting words. Surely he would understand, he must understand, -that there was a principle at stake. - -“And that part will be punctually performed,” said Mr Burgrave -indulgently, gazing in admiration into her animated face. “I know that -you will remember my foolish prejudices, and gratify them to the -utmost extent of my desires, if not of my purse. That is all I ask of -you--to be always beautiful.” - -In her bitter disappointment Mabel could have burst into tears. - -“Oh, you won’t understand! you won’t understand!” she cried. “I don’t -want piles of clothes; I don’t want everything softened and shaded -down for me. I want to be a helpmate to my husband, as Georgia is to -Dick.” - -“Dear child, I am sorry you have returned to this subject,” said Mr -Burgrave, taken aback. “I thought we had threshed it out fully long -ago.” - -“Ah, but we can speak more freely now!” she cried. “Don’t you see that -I should hate to be stuck up on a pedestal for you to look at, or to -be a kind of pet, that you might amuse yourself smilingly with my -foolish little interests out of office hours? I want you to tell me -things, and let us talk them over together, as Dick and Georgia do.” - -“I know they do,” said Mr Burgrave, trying to smile. “The walls here -are so thin that I hear them at it every evening. A prolonged growl is -your brother soliloquising, and a brief interlude of higher tones is -Mrs North giving her opinion of affairs. It is a little embarrassing -for me, knowing as I do that my doings are almost certainly the -subject of the conversation.” - -“Well, and if they are?” cried Mabel. “It is only because you and Dick -don’t understand one another that he and Georgia criticise you. Now -think about this very matter of the frontier. If you would only talk -to me, and tell me what you thought was the proper thing to be done, I -could talk to them, and you might find out that your views were not so -much opposed after all. Do try, please; oh, do! I would give anything -to bring you to an agreement.” - -Mr Burgrave’s brow was clouded as he looked into her eager eyes. - -“Am I to understand,” he said, with dreadful distinctness, “that your -brother and Mrs North are trying to make use of you to extract -information from me? No, I will not suspect your brother. No man would -stoop to employ such an expedient--so degrading to my future wife, so -affronting to myself. It is Mrs North’s doing.” - -Mabel, who had listened in horrified silence, sprang to her feet at -this point as if stung. “I think it will be as well for me to return -you this,” she said, laying upon the table the ring of “finest Europe -make,” which the Commissioner had been fain to purchase from the chief -jeweller in the bazaar as a makeshift until the diamond hoop for which -he had sent to Bombay could arrive. “You have grossly insulted both -Georgia and me, and--and I never wish to speak to you again.” - -She meant to sweep impressively from the room, but the angry tears -that filled her eyes made her blunder against the table, and Mr -Burgrave, raising himself with a wild effort, caught her hand. “Mabel, -come here,” he said, and furious with herself for yielding, she -obeyed. “Give me that ring, please.” He restored it solemnly to its -place on her finger. “Now we are on speaking terms again. Dear little -girl, forgive me. I was wrong, unpardonably wrong, but I never thought -your generous little heart would lead you so far in opposing my -expressed wish. I admire the impulse, my darling, but when you come to -know me better you will understand how unlikely it is that I should -yield to it. Come, dear, look sunny again, or must I make a heroic -attempt to go down on my knees with one leg in splints?” - -“Oh, if you would only understand!” sighed Mabel. She was kneeling -beside him again, occupying quite undeservedly, as she felt, the -position of suppliant. “If only I could make you see----” - -“See what?” he asked, taking her face in his hands and kissing it. “I -see that my little girl thinks me an old brute. Won’t she believe me -if I assure her on my honour that I am trying to do the best I can for -her brother, and that I hope I have found a way of putting things -right?” - -“Have you, really?” Her bright smile was a sufficient reward. “Oh, -Eustace, if it’s all settled happily, I shall love you for ever!” - -The assurance did not seem to promise much that was new when the -relative position of those concerned was considered, but the -unsolicited kiss bestowed upon him was very grateful to Mr Burgrave, -and he smiled kindly as he released Mabel and bade her run away and -change her habit. She left the room gaily enough, but once outside, a -sudden wave of recollection swept over her, and she wrung her hands -wildly. - -“I was free--_free_!” she cried to herself. “Just for a moment I was -free, and I let him fetch me back. Oh, what can I do? I believe I -could be quite fond of him if he would let me, but he won’t. And if he -wasn’t so good I should delight to break it off in the most insulting -way possible, but his virtues are the worst thing about him. I hate -them! Is this sort of thing to go on for a whole lifetime--beating -against a stone wall and bruising my hands, and then being kissed and -given a sweet, and told not to cry? Mabel Louisa North, you are a -silly fool, and you deserve just what you have got. I hate and despise -you, and with my latest breath I shall say, Serve you right!” - - - -“Oh, Dick, has it come?” Georgia sprang up to meet her husband, as he -entered the room with a gloomy face. - -“No, but so far as I can see, it’s close at hand. I can’t quite make -things out, but Burgrave seems to have altered his plans -astonishingly. Instead of travelling down to the coast at once, he is -going to stay here another week, and hold a durbar at Nalapur. I have -to send word to Beltring at once to get the big _shamiana_ put up in -the Agency grounds, and to see that all the Sardars have notice. What -does it mean?” - -“He’s going to see the thing through on his own account,” said -Georgia, with conviction. “But it will make no difference to us, will -it, Dick?” - -“Rather not! The breach of faith is the same, whether I announce it at -first, or merely come in afterwards to carry it out. I wish Burgrave -hadn’t such a mania for mysteries. Ismail Bakhsh tells me he has been -sending off official telegrams at a tremendous rate all day, and yet -when I ventured to hint that some idea of the proposed proceedings at -the durbar would be interesting, he turned rusty at once, and said he -had not received his instructions. This system of government by -thunderbolt doesn’t suit me. It’s enough to make a man chuck things up -now, without waiting for the final blow.” - -“Oh, but you will stick on as long as you can? It’s some sort of -security for peace.” - -“A wretchedly shaky one, then,” said Dick, with an angry laugh. -“Here’s the Amir sending his mullah Aziz-ud-Din to say that he learns -on incontestable authority that the subsidy is to be withdrawn, and -imploring me to say whether I have any hand in it. The poor old -fellow’s faith in me is quite touching, but what could I say except -that I knew nothing about it, and repeat the assurance I gave him -before?” - -“But what could Ashraf Ali mean by incontestable authority?” - -“How can I tell? Some spy, I suppose. By the way, though, it didn’t -strike me. That must be what the Commissioner meant!” - -“Why, what did he say?” - -“He doesn’t intend to stay on in this house. Now that he can be got -into a cart, he thinks it better to return to his hired bungalow. I -imagine I looked a bit waxy, for he graciously explained that he had -reason to believe we have spies among the servants here.” - -“Dick! you don’t mean to say that he accused you----?” - -“No, he was so good as to assure me that he had the best possible -means of knowing I had nothing to do with it. But when I reminded him -that all the servants, except those Mab brought with her from Bombay, -have been with us for years, he intimated that he made no accusations, -but official matters had got out, and he didn’t mean to allow that -sort of thing to go on. No doubt it was that sweetseller fellow, as we -thought.” - -“Well, I think that to go is the best thing the Commissioner can do. -It will give Mab a little peace.” - -“Yes, I shouldn’t say she looked exactly festive.” - -“How could she? She feels that she has cut herself off from us, for of -course we can’t discuss things before her as we used to do, and I -don’t think she finds that he makes up for it. I have great hopes.” - -“Now, no coming between them!” said Dick warningly, and Georgia -laughed. - -“I trust it won’t be necessary,” she said. - -A week later she happened to be again sitting alone in the -drawing-room, busy with the fine white work on which she expended so -many hours and such loving care at this time, when Dick came in. To -her astonishment, he was in uniform, and laid his sword upon the table -by the door as he entered. - -“Why, Dick, you are not going to Nalapur with the Commissioner after -all?” she cried. - -“Burgrave can’t go, and I have to hold the durbar instead.” - -“But how--what----?” - -“It seems that he had a fearful blow-up with Tighe this morning, after -taking it for granted all along that he would be allowed to leave off -his splints and go. Tighe absolutely howled at the idea, told him that -in moving from this house to his own he had jarred the knee so badly -as to throw himself back for a week, and that the splints must stay on -for some time yet. Of course he can’t ride in them, and to take him -through the mountains in a doolie would be madness.” - -“I wondered at his being allowed to ride so soon,” said Georgia, “but -I thought Dr Tighe must have found him better than we expected. Of -course I haven’t seen the knee for some time lately. But did he tell -you what the object of the durbar was?” - -“He did. It is just what we thought it would be, Georgie.” - -“Nonsense!” cried Georgia sharply. “As if you would go to Nalapur in -that case! Are you joking, Dick?” - -His set face brought conviction slowly to her mind. - -“You are not joking, and yet you came home, and got ready, just as if -you meant to hold the durbar, and never told me!” she cried. - -“I do mean to hold the durbar,” said Dick. - -She sat stunned, and he went on: “I thought I wouldn’t tell you till -the last moment, because I knew how you would feel about it, and I -didn’t want to worry you more than could be helped.” - -“To worry me!” she repeated. “And yet you come here and try to tease -me with this absurd, impossible story? You are not going.” - -Dick looked her straight in the face. “But I am,” he said. - -“But you said you would resign first.” - -“I must resign afterwards, that’s all. There are some things a man -can’t do, Georgie, and one is to desert in the face of the enemy.” - -“But it’s wrong--dishonourable!” - -“It’s got to be done, and Burgrave has managed to engineer matters so -that I have to do it. I talked about resigning, and he said very -huffily that he wasn’t the person to receive my resignation, which is -quite true. He anticipates danger, I can see, for he tells me he has -had information that Bahram Khan has some sort of plot on hand, and do -you expect me to hang back after that?” - -“I never thought you would care what people said. If it’s right to -resign, do it, and let them say what they like.” - -“If I wasn’t a soldier I would, but I have no choice.” - -“No choice between right and wrong?” - -“Not as a soldier. It isn’t my business to criticise my orders, but to -execute them. Oh, I know all you are thinking. I see it perfectly -well, and from your point of view you are absolutely in the right, and -as an individual I agree with you, but I am not my own master.” - -“And your personal honour?” - -“I’m afraid it has got to look after itself. Don’t think me a brute, -Georgie. I want to be on your side, but I can’t.” - -“Then I suppose it’s no use my saying anything more?” - -“I really think it would be better not. You see, it would only make us -both awfully uncomfortable, and do no good.” - -“Oh, don’t!” burst from Georgia. “I can’t bear to hear you talk like -that. Remember your promise to Ashraf Ali. The poor old man has relied -on that, and pledged himself to all the Sardars that the Government -doesn’t intend to forsake them. The whole honour of England is at -stake. Dick, these people have learnt from you and my father to -believe the word of an Englishman, and are you going to teach them to -distrust it now?” - -“When you have quite finished----” began Dick. - -“I can’t! I can’t! Oh, Dick, our own people, who know us and trust us! -Have you the heart to forsake them? Dick, won’t you listen to me? I -have never urged you to do anything against your will before, but when -it is a matter of right and conscience--! I know you believe you’re -right now, but how will you feel about it afterwards? Think of our -friends betrayed, our name disgraced, through you!” - -“Hang it, Georgie!” cried Dick, losing his temper, “you make a man -feel such a cur. I tell you I have got to go.” - -“I wish I had died when baby died at Iskandarbagh, rather than lived -to hear you say that.” - -Dick turned away without answering, and took up his sword from the -table where he had laid it down. It was always Georgia’s privilege to -buckle the sword-belt for him, and she rose mechanically, rousing -herself with an effort from her stupor of dismay. He took the strap -roughly out of her hands. - -“No,” he said, “you’d better have nothing to do with it. The blame is -all mine at present, and you can keep your own conscience clear.” - -She sank upon a chair again and watched him miserably as he buckled on -the sword and went out. On the threshold he looked back, softening a -little. - -“Graham has changed his mind, and is not coming to the durbar. If -there should be any attempt at a rising, you are to take refuge in the -old fort. Tighe will come and sleep in the house these two nights if -you are nervous.” - -“I’m not nervous,” said Georgia indignantly. - -“Oh, very well. After all, we shall be between you and Nalapur.” - -He crossed the hall to the front door, Georgia’s strained nerves -quivering afresh as his spurs clinked at each step. Suddenly she -realised that he was gone, and without bidding her farewell. - -“Dick!” she cried faintly, “you are not going--like this?” - -There was no answer, and she moved slowly to the window, supporting -herself by the furniture. He was already mounted, and was giving his -final directions to Ismail Bakhsh. The sight gave Georgia fresh -strength, and stepping out on the verandah, she ran round the corner -of the house. There was one place where he always turned and looked -back as he rode out. He could not pass it unheeded even now, that -spot, close to the gate of the compound, where she had so often waited -for his return. As she stood grasping the verandah rail with both -hands, the consciousness that for the first time in their married life -he was leaving her in anger swept over her like a flood. - -“Oh, it will kill me!” she moaned, seizing one of the pillars to -support herself, but almost immediately another thought flashed into -her mind. “No, he is not angry--my dear old Dick! he is only grieved. -He durst not be kind to me, lest I should persuade him any more, and -he should have to give way. God keep you, my darling!” - -In the rush of happy tears that filled her eyes, the landscape was -blotted out, and when she could see distinctly again, Dick had passed -the gate. She could just distinguish the top of his helmet above the -wall as he rode. He had gone by while she was not looking. Would it -have been any comfort to her to know that he had looked back, and not -seeing her, had ridden on faster? - -“I had to behave like a brute, or I should have given in--and she -didn’t see it,” he said to himself remorsefully. “Of course she was -right, bless her! She always is, but I couldn’t do anything else.” - -Her pale reproachful face haunted him, and had there been time he -would have turned back, but he was obliged to hurry on. As he entered -the town, he came upon Dr Tighe. - -“Doctor,” he said, laying a hand on the little man’s shoulder, “look -after my wife while I’m away. She’s awfully cut up at my going like -this.” - - [image: images/img_148.jpg - caption: “LOOK AFTER MY WIFE WHILE I’M AWAY”] - -“All right!” said the doctor cheerfully; “and don’t you be frightened -about her. Mrs North is a sensible woman, and knows better than to go -and make herself ill with fretting.” - - - -“The Memsahib parted from the sahib without kissing him!” said one of -the servants wonderingly to the rest. - -“What foolish talk is this?” asked Mabel’s bearer scornfully. “My last -Memsahib never kissed the Sahib unless he had gained her favour by a -gift of jewels.” - -The tone implied that the subject might be dismissed as beneath -contempt, but the man’s actions did not altogether tally with it, for -after loftily waving aside the assurance of the first speaker that -this Sahib and Memsahib were not as others, he retired precipitately -to his own quarters. Here a lanky youth, who was slumbering peacefully -in the midst of a miscellaneous collection of goods, some of them -Mabel’s, and others the bearer’s own, was suddenly roused by a kick. - -“Hasten to Dera Gul with a message of good omen!” said the bearer, -impelling his messenger firmly in the desired direction. “Nāth Sahib -and the doctor lady have quarrelled, and until they meet again he is -without the protection of her magic.” - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - ONE NIGHT. - -“Awake, Miss Sahib, awake!” - -“Miss North! Miss North!” - -Mabel sat up in bed. Her window was being shaken violently, and -outside on the verandah were those two persistent voices. - -“See what it is, Tara,” she called to her ayah, but the woman was -crouching in a corner, her teeth chattering with terror. Seeing that -she was too frightened to move, Mabel threw on a dressing-gown and -went to the window. Outside stood Fitz Anstruther, his face pale in -the moonlight, and Ismail Bakhsh, who was armed with his old -regimental carbine and tulwar. Thus accoutred, he was wont to mount -guard over the house and its inmates when Dick was absent, patrolling -the verandahs at intervals; but he had never hitherto found it -necessary to alarm his charges at midnight. - -“What is it?” asked Mabel, opening the window. - -“You must get dressed at once, and bring anything that you -particularly value,” said Fitz hurriedly. “We were attacked on the way -to Nalapur, and there was no durbar. I’m come instead of the Major to -fetch you to the old fort, for Bahram Khan and his cut-throats may be -here at any moment. Will you speak to Mrs North, please? I was afraid -of startling her if I knocked at her window or came into the house. -Winlock is outside with twenty sowars, and he and I will see after the -papers in the Major’s study.” - -Mabel dropped the blind and went towards Georgia’s room, twisting up -her hair mechanically as she did so. Rahah was already on the alert, -and met her at the door with gleaming eyes. - -“I know, Miss Sahib. The evil is at hand at last. Awake, O my lady!” -She laid a hand gently on Georgia’s forehead. “The time has come to -take refuge in the fort. The Sahib bade me be prepared.” - -“Dick has sent Mr Anstruther to fetch us, Georgie,” said Mabel, -unconsciously altering Fitz’s words, as Georgia, half awake, looked -sleepily from her to Rahah. “I think he wants us to be quick.” - -“Of course,” said Georgia, rousing herself. “Now, Rahah, you will be -happy at last. We’ll come and help you, Mab, before Tara’s ready. Oh, -but the papers!--I must see that they are safe.” - -“Mr Anstruther is looking after them,” said Mabel. - -“I wonder whether Dick thought of giving him the key of the safe? Very -likely he forgot it in his hurry. He had better have my duplicate. Oh, -thanks, Mab! There’s a tin despatch-box standing by the safe which -will hold all the most important papers.” - -With the key in her hand, Mabel hurried down the passage, her slippers -making no sound on the matting. There was a light in Dick’s den, and -Fitz and Captain Winlock were shovelling armfuls of papers and various -small articles into a huge camel-trunk which stood open in the middle -of the floor. As Mabel reached the door, Winlock held out something to -Fitz. “Not much good taking this, at any rate,” he said, and a cold -hand seemed to grip Mabel’s heart as she saw that it was Dick’s -tobacco-pouch, which Georgia, with what his sister considered a -reprehensible toleration of her husband’s pleasant vices, had worked -for him. - -“No, put it in,” said Fitz gruffly. “It may comfort her to have it.” - -A slight sound at the door, half gasp, half groan, made both men jump, -and looking round they saw Mabel, her eyes wide with terror. - -“Mr Anstruther, what has happened to Dick?” - -The words were barely audible. Fitz stood guiltily silent. - -“Tell me,” she said. - -“He was wounded,” growled Winlock. - -“It’s worse than that, I know. Is he taken prisoner?” - -“No,” was the unwilling reply. - -“Then he’s killed! Oh!----” but before Mabel could utter another word, -Fitz’s hand was upon her mouth. - -“Miss North, you mustn’t scream. For Heaven’s sake, think of his wife! -Remember what those two are--have been--to one another, and -remember--everything. Let us get her safe to the fort, and let Mrs -Hardy break it to her gently. A sudden shock like this might kill -her.” - -Mabel freed herself from the restraining hand, and stood shivering as -if with cold. “Oh, Dick, Dick!” she wailed pitifully, in a tone that -went to the men’s hearts, and then she crept back in silence along the -passage. Once in her own room, she dropped helplessly into a chair and -sat rigid, staring straight before her. Dick dead! Georgia a widow! -that perfect comradeship at an end for ever!--and Georgia did not know -it. Mabel wrung her hands feebly. It was the only movement she had -strength to make. All power of thought and action seemed to have -forsaken her. Dick was dead and Georgia was left. - -“My beloved Mab!” Georgia came hurrying in, equipped for driving. “I -said I should be ready first, but I didn’t expect to find you quite so -far behind. I believe Rahah keeps half my things packed, all ready for -a night alarm of this kind, but of course your ayah is not accustomed -to these little excitements. Are you quite overwhelmed by the amount -that has to be done?” - -“Yes; I don’t know what to pack first,” said Mabel, with a forced -laugh, keeping her face turned away. - -“Well, Rahah and I will see to that while you dress. We may be some -days in the fort, and you don’t want to go about in an amber -dressing-gown the whole time. We’ll begin with your jewel-case. Where -is it?” - -“Oh, I don’t know! What’s the good of taking that sort of thing?” - -“It might be invaluable--to buy food, or bribe the enemy, or ransom a -prisoner--or anything. Where _is_ it, Mab? I thought you kept it in -here?” - -“Yes, I do.” Mabel looked up from the shoe she was tying, as Georgia -ransacked a drawer in vain. “But no doubt Tara has taken it out to the -cart already. She has always been instructed to save it first of all -if the house was on fire.” - -Mabel spoke wearily. The awful irony of Georgia’s fussing over a box -of trinkets while Dick lay dead almost destroyed her self-control. How -was it that she did not guess the truth without being told? - -“But why hasn’t she come back to help you to dress? I hope it’s all -right, Mab, but I doubt if you’ll see that jewel-case again. She has -had time to slip away with it and hide somewhere. Here, Rahah, put all -these things in the box. It’s well to take plenty of clothes, Mab, for -we are not likely to be able to get much washing done.” - -“Don’t!” burst from Mabel. - -“Why not?” asked Georgia, in astonishment. - -“Why, it sounds as if you thought we were going to spend the rest of -our lives in the fort,” said Mabel lamely. - -“I don’t see why. Surely you would like to save as many of your things -as possible, whether we stay there long or not?” - -“Oh yes, of course.” Mabel turned away to fasten her dress at the -glass, conscious that in Georgia’s eyes she must be playing a sorry -part. Georgia thought her dazed with fright, whereas her mind was full -of that dreadful revelation which must be made sooner or later. - -“Are you nearly ready, Mrs North?” asked Fitz’s voice in the passage. - -“Quite,” replied Georgia, stuffing Mabel’s dressing-gown ruthlessly -into a full trunk. “Tell the servants to come and fetch the boxes, -please.” - -“Well, I’m afraid the servants have stampeded to a certain extent. -Ismail Bakhsh and the rest of the _chaprasis_ and one or two others -are left, and that’s all, but of course they’ll make themselves -useful.” - -“You see, Mab!” said Georgia, and Mabel understood that she need not -expect to see her jewel-case again. They followed Fitz out into the -verandah, in front of which were ranged all the vehicles belonging to -the establishment, drawn by everything that could be found even -remotely resembling a horse. - -“I told Ismail Bakhsh to get them out,” said Fitz. “There are the -wives and children to bring, and I knew you wouldn’t mind.” - -“Of course not,” said Georgia. “Wait a moment, please; I have -forgotten something,” and she ran back into the drawing-room. Mabel -knew what it was she had suddenly remembered. - -“I hope she won’t be long,” said Fitz anxiously. “We’ve been here a -quarter of an hour already.” - -Only a quarter of an hour! To Mabel it seemed hours since she had been -awakened by those voices on the verandah. She looked out beyond the -line of troopers sitting motionless on their horses, and noticed, -without perceiving the significance of the fact, that there were two -or three of their number acting as scouts farther off in the -moonlight. - -“I daren’t lose any more time,” Fitz went on, fidgeting up and down -the steps. “I can’t think how it is they have left us so long.” - -Ismail Bakhsh, stowing Mabel’s dressing-bag under the seat of the -dog-cart, looked round. “Sahib, _he_ rides to-night. They will not -cross the border until he has passed.” - -“Then whoever or whatever _he_ may be, he has probably saved all our -lives,” said Fitz, as Georgia came out of the house. While he was -helping her into the dog-cart, Mabel caught once more the sound of the -tramp of the galloping horse, which the old trooper’s quick ear had -perceived some minutes before. The sowars straightened themselves -suddenly in their saddles, and the horses pricked their ears in the -direction of the noise. - -“Old boy seems somewhat agitated to-night,” muttered Winlock to Fitz, -as the invisible rider pulled up abruptly, then galloped on again. - -“There’s enough to make him so,” returned Fitz, who was helping to -hoist the last terrified native woman, with her burden of two children -and several brass pots, into the last cart. “All right now?” he -demanded, looking down the row of vehicles. “We had better be off, -then.” - -Was it fancy, or did Mabel see the sparks struck from the stone on -which the unseen horse stumbled as the sound came nearer? She could -have screamed for sheer terror; but Rahah, who was her companion on -the back seat of the dog-cart, laughed aloud as she wrapped the end of -her _chadar_ round the great white Persian cat she held in her arms. - -“What is there to fear, Miss Sahib? No man has ever stood against -Sinjāj Kīlin, and he is close at hand. The rule of the Sarkar will -continue.” - -“Now do tell me what has happened,” Mabel heard Georgia saying to -Fitz, as he drove out of the gate. “I’m sure I am a model soldier’s -wife, for Dick suddenly sends me a bare message ordering me to abandon -all my household goods and take refuge in the fort, and I do it -without asking why! But I must confess I should like to know the -reason. Did the durbar break up in disorder, or were you attacked on -the way back?” - -“There was no durbar at all. The attack came off on the way there. But -I say, Mrs North,” said Fitz desperately, anticipating Georgia’s -question, “I can’t tell you what happened then, for I wasn’t there. -Won’t it do if I recount my own experiences, and you ask the other -fellows about the rest of it when we get to the fort?” He left her no -time to answer, but went on hurriedly:-- - -“Yesterday we got as far as the entrance to the Akrab Pass, some way -beyond Dera Gul, and camped there for the night. The Major chose the -site of the camp himself, in an awfully good position commanding the -mouth of the pass, and arranged everything just as if it was war-time. -I knew, of course, that he was looking out for treachery of some sort, -and I was awfully sick when he told me this morning that I was to stay -and do camp-guard with Winlock, and not go with him to the durbar. I -yearned horribly to disobey orders, but, you see, he left me certain -things to do if--if anything went wrong.” Fitz cleared his throat, -muttered that he thought he must have got a cold, and hastened on. -“Beltring had come down from Nalapur to meet the Commissioner, as he -thought, and the Sardar Abd-ul-Nabi was waiting just inside the pass -with an escort of the Amir’s troops. We in camp had nothing to do but -kick our heels all day, for the Major left strict orders against going -out of sight of the pass. He meant to get through his work by -daylight, so as to sleep at the camp to-night, and come back here in -the morning, you see. There were no caravans passing, and the place -seemed deserted, which we thought a bad sign. But about eleven this -morning one of our scouts brought in a small boy, who had come tearing -down the pass and asked for the English camp. We had the little chap -up before us, and I recognised him as a slave-boy I saw at Dera Gul -the day Miss North and I were there. He knew me at once, and began to -pour out what he had to say so fast that we could scarcely follow him. -It seems that the Hasrat Ali Begum had managed in some way to get an -inkling of Bahram Khan’s plot, and she despatched one of her -confidential old ladies to warn you and the Major. Unfortunately, the -old lady got caught, and Bahram Khan was so enraged with his mother -that he promptly packed his whole zenana off to Nalapur, to be out of -mischief, I suppose. On the way through the pass this boy, by the -Begum’s orders, managed to hide among the rocks when they broke camp, -and so escaped with her message. He hoped to catch the Major before he -started, but, most unhappily, he durst not ask the only man he met -whether he had passed, and he was behind him instead of in front. So -he came down the pass, missing him entirely, of course, and warned us -instead. The Major’s force was to be attacked in the worst part of the -defile, he told us, and as soon as a messenger could reach Dera Gul to -say that the attack had taken place, Bahram Khan would set out to raid -Alibad. It was an awful dilemma for Winlock and me. It was no use -sending after the Major to warn him, for whatever was to happen must -have happened by that time, and if we tried to warn the town, Bahram -Khan was safe to intercept the messenger and start on his raid at -once, and of course we couldn’t evacuate the camp without orders. We -decided to strike the tents and get everything ready for a start at -any moment, and we posted our best shots on either side of the -entrance to the pass, in case the Major’s party should be pursued. -Then we waited, and at last the--the force turned up. Thanks to the -Major’s suspicions and precautions, the surprise was a good deal of a -fizzle. But as I said, I can’t tell you about that. Well, we had to -get back here. The enemy were supposed not to be far behind, so we -left Beltring and twenty-five men to hold the mouth of the pass at all -hazards, and see that no messenger got through until we were safely -past Dera Gul. After that it was left to them to seize the moment for -retreating on Shah Nawaz, which Haycraft was to evacuate, so that both -detachments might return here by the line of the canal. We put our -wounded and baggage in the middle, and started--” - -“No, wait!” cried Georgia, for hitherto Fitz had spoken so fast that -she had found it impossible to get in a word. “Who were the wounded? -You said nothing about them before. Was any one killed?” - -“I--I really can’t give you any particulars,” returned Fitz, at his -wits’ end. “Please let me finish my tale. I’m getting to the most -exciting part. It was fearfully thrilling when we had to pass under -the very walls of Dera Gul. Of course we were all ready for action at -a moment’s notice, but the men were told to ride at ease, and talk if -they liked, to give the impression that all was well. I know Winlock -and I exchanged the most appalling inanities at the top of our voices, -till the Dera Gul people must have thought we were drunk. As we -expected, pretty soon there came a hail from the walls, asking who we -were, and Ressaldar Badullah Khan, who was nearest, called out that we -were coming back from Nalapur without holding the durbar. ‘But what -has happened?’ asked the voice from the wall. ‘What should happen, -save that the Superintendent Sahib won’t hold the durbar?’ said the -Ressaldar, and we went on. Of course they must have been awfully -puzzled, for they couldn’t see our wounded in the dark, and the only -thing they could do was to send some one off to the pass to find out -what had happened. Beltring was to look out for that, and if possible -to seize the messenger and get his men away at once, before Bahram -Khan could come up and take him in the rear.” - -“And I suppose Dick is helping to prepare the fort for defence?” asked -Georgia. “There must be a dreadful amount to do.” - -“Oh, that reminds me, Miss North,” cried Fitz quickly, turning round -to Mabel. “The Commissioner was most anxious to come and fetch you -himself, but we pointed out to him that he could do no good, and being -so lame, might hinder us a good deal. Excuse me, Mrs North, but I -think I must give all my attention to driving just here. I don’t know -why the whole population should have turned their possessions out into -the street, unless it was to make it awkward for us.” - -They were approaching the fort, and the roadway was almost blocked -with carts, cattle, household goods, and terrified people. Several -vedettes, to whom Winlock gave a countersign, had been passed at -various points, and it was evident that the sudden danger had not -taken the military authorities, at any rate, by surprise. The space in -front of the fort gates was a blaze of light from many torches, and -several officers in uniform were resolutely bringing order out of the -general chaos. Gangs of coolies, bearing sand-bags and loads of -furniture, fuel, provisions, and forage, seemed inextricably mixed up -with shrill-voiced women and crying children, ponies, camels, and -goats; and it needed a good deal of shouting and some diplomacy, with -not a little physical force, to separate the various streams and set -them flowing in the right directions. As the dog-cart stopped, -Woodworth, the adjutant, came up. - -“We want volunteers to help destroy the buildings round the fort,” he -said. “You’ll go, Anstruther? What about your servants, Mrs North?” - -“There are seven who have come with us, nearly all old soldiers,” said -Georgia. “If you will speak to Ismail Bakhsh, who is a host in -himself, I will see that their wives and children are safely lodged -while they set to work.” - -“Awfully sorry to trouble you about this sort of thing just now,” said -Woodworth awkwardly. - -“Trouble? I am delighted they should help, of course. Where shall I -find my husband?” - -“Good heavens! You haven’t heard----?” The adjutant stopped suddenly. - -“You blighted idiot!” muttered Fitz under his breath. “Fact is, Mrs -North, the Major’s hurt--rather badly--” this reluctantly; “but I -didn’t want to frighten you sooner than I could help----” - -“Where is he? Take me to him at once,” was all she said. - -Woodworth stepped forward mechanically to help her out of the cart, -but found himself forestalled. The Commissioner had come hurrying up, -preceded by two huge Sikhs, who cleared a passage for him through the -throng, and now, supporting himself upon his crutch, he held out his -hand to Georgia. - -“Believe me, Mrs North,” he said, “you have the sympathy of every man -here at this terrible time. Surely it must be some consolation to you -that your noble husband fell fighting, as he would have wished, and -that the smallness of our losses is entirely owing to his prudence and -self-sacrifice?” - -Georgia, on the ground now, looked about her like one dazed, finding, -wherever she looked, fresh confirmation of the cruel tidings. In Mr -Burgrave’s sympathising face, in Woodworth’s pitying eyes, in the -sorrowful glances of the stern troopers who had closed up round the -group, she read the truth of what she had just heard. Her hand went -quickly from her heart to her eyes, as though to shut out the sight. -Then it dropped again. - -“Oh, you might have told me at once!” she cried bitterly to Fitz. “I -could have borne it better from you than from the man who has done it -all.” - -“When you are more yourself, Mrs North, I know you will regret this -injustice,” said Mr Burgrave, without anger. “Allow me to take you to -your quarters in the fort.” - -Georgia shook from head to foot as he offered her his arm. She was on -the point of refusing it, of yielding to the sickening sense of -aversion with which his presence inspired her, when the scowling gaze -of the mounted troopers arrested her attention, and awakened her to -the deadly peril in which the Commissioner stood. These men idolised -Dick, and they had heard her accuse Mr Burgrave of causing his death. -A word from her would mean that his last moment had come. Even to turn -her back upon him would be taken to show that she left him to their -vengeance, which might not follow immediately, but would be certain to -fall sooner or later. With a great effort she conquered her -repugnance, and laid her hand upon his arm. - -“At a time like this there are no private quarrels,” she said -hoarsely, addressing the troopers rather than the Commissioner. “We -must all stand together for the honour of England.” - -“Of course, of course!” agreed Mr Burgrave, wondering what on earth -had called forth such a melodramatic remark, for he had missed the -growl of disappointed rage with which the troopers let their ready -blades fall back into the scabbards. “Most admirable spirit, I’m -sure.” - -“Upon my word!” muttered Woodworth to Fitz, “the man would have been -cut to pieces before our eyes in another moment, and he never saw it.” - -“Oh, ignorance is bliss,” returned Fitz shortly. “What’s to happen to -the carts?” - -“Broken up for firewood, I suppose. We can’t make room for -everything.” - -“I fear you will find your quarters somewhat confined,” Mr Burgrave -was saying kindly to Georgia, as with the help of his Sikhs he piloted -her through the gateway, “but we cannot expect palatial accommodation -in our present circumstances. Our good friends Mrs Hardy and Miss -Graham are taking pains to make things comfortable for you, I know, -and you must be kind enough to excuse the deficiencies due to lack of -time and means.” - -Georgia gave a short fierce laugh. The Commissioner’s tone suggested -that if he had been consulted sooner there would have been a perfect -Hôtel Métropole in readiness to receive the fugitives. She broke -away from him, and laid her hand lovingly upon one of the new gates, -for his presentation of which to a presumably ruined fort all the -newspapers of the province had made Dick their butt only the week -before. The echoes of their Homeric laughter were even at this moment -resounding in Bombay on the one hand and Lahore on the other. - -“If your life--any of our lives--are saved, it will all be due to -him!” she cried, and the Commissioner marvelled at the lack of -sequence so characteristic of a woman’s mind. He led Georgia through -the labyrinth of curiously involved passages and courts at the back of -the club-house, in which Government stores and stray pieces of private -property were lying about pell-mell, until they could be separated and -reduced to some sort of order by the overworked officer in charge of -the housing arrangements. Mabel followed with Rahah, and at last they -reached a tiny oblong courtyard not far from the rear wall of the -fort. Here, in the middle of the paved space, was Mrs Hardy, sorting a -confused heap of her possessions with the assistance of an elderly -Christian native, Mr Hardy’s bearer. - -“Oh, my dear! my poor dear!” she cried, running to Georgia, and for a -moment the two women held each other locked in a close embrace. - -“This room,” said Mr Burgrave, who seemed to feel it incumbent upon -him to do the honours of the place, “has been allotted to Miss Graham, -as it communicates by a passage with the Colonel’s quarters in the -next courtyard. The two on the right are Mr and Mrs Hardy’s, the two -on the left are intended for you, Mrs North, and the one opposite is -for you, Mabel. I believe the arrangement was suggested to Colonel -Graham by Major North himself.” - -Mrs Hardy raised her head and gave him a fiery glance. “Miss North, -will you be so kind as to request Mr Burgrave to go away?” she said -viciously. - -“No; wait, please,” said Georgia. “Which of the officers were with my -husband when he--was hurt, Mr Burgrave?” - -“There were several, I believe, but the only one not seriously wounded -was Mr Beltring, and he will not come in until the Shah Nawaz -contingent gets here--if at all.” - -“If--when he comes, I should like to see him, please,” said Georgia, -and the Commissioner departed. - -“Now come in, dear, and lie down,” said Mrs Hardy. “Your rooms are -ready, and I see Rahah, like a thoughtful girl, has even brought the -cat to make it look homelike. Anand Masih will bring you some tea in a -minute, and then I hope you will just go to bed again.” - -“Dear Mrs Hardy, you have given us all your own furniture,” protested -Georgia, recognising a well-worn writing-table; but Mrs Hardy shook -her head vigorously. - -“Nonsense, my dear, nonsense! We had far more brought in than we can -possibly use in this little place, and as soon as I have seen you -settled, Anand Masih and I will look after my two rooms. Mr Hardy is -helping Dr Tighe in the reading-room, which they have turned into a -hospital, or I know he would have come to see if he could do anything -for you.” - -Never silent for a moment, Mrs Hardy administered tea without milk to -Mabel and Georgia, and then tried vainly again to induce them to go to -bed. Just as she was departing in despair, Flora Graham ran in. - -“I am helping to arrange the hospital--I can’t stay,” she panted. “Oh, -Mrs North, Mabel darling, I am so sorry! I can’t tell you how much--” -She stopped, unable to speak. “I know a little what it is like,” she -added, with a sob; “Fred and his men are not in yet.” - -She dashed away, and Georgia and Mabel sat silent, hand in hand, until -the sound of a cheer from the hard-worked garrison heralded the -arrival of the Shah Nawaz detachment. Presently the clink of spurs on -the verandah announced young Beltring, who was Dick’s most trusted -pupil among the military officers desiring political employment, and -as a man after his chief’s own heart, had been allowed to earn -experience, if not fame, as his assistant at Nalapur. He came in -slowly and reluctantly, scarcely daring to look at Georgia, his torn -and bloodstained clothes and bandaged head bearing eloquent testimony -to the fighting he had seen that day. - -“Sit down, Mr Beltring,” said Georgia, holding out her hand to him. -“You got here without further loss, I hope?” - -“Yes, the enemy were on both flanks, but they never came near enough -to do any harm,” he answered, dropping wearily into a chair. - -“Now tell us, please. You were with him--at the end?” - -“I was the nearest, but not with him. He was riding with that -treacherous scoundrel Abd-ul-Nabi, and we had orders to keep a few -paces to the rear. We thought he wanted to speak to Abd-ul-Nabi -privately, but now I believe it was because he foresaw what was -coming. The rest of us were still in that part of the pass where the -walls are too steep for any ambush, while he, on in front with -Abd-ul-Nabi, was rounding the corner where the track goes down -suddenly into a wide rocky nullah. He must have seen something that he -was not meant to see--the glitter of weapons among the rocks -perhaps--for he turned suddenly and shouted, ‘Back! back! an -ambuscade!’ Abd-ul-Nabi spurred his horse across the pathway to -prevent his getting back to us, but the Major came straight at him, -and the ruffian pulled out a pistol and fired at him point-blank. I -cut the wretch down the next moment, but the Major had dropped like a -log, and before we could get him up there was a rush round the corner -in front, while Abd-ul-Nabi’s escort, who had been riding last, -attacked us in the rear. Leyward took command, and the fellows behind -were soon disposed of, but in front we had a pretty hard time. At last -we drove them back far enough to get at the Major’s body. He was lying -under a heap of dead. I got him out, and his head fell back on my -shoulder. No, there could be no mistake, Mrs North. Do you think I -would ever have left him while there was any breath in his body? I -tried to get him on to my horse, and Badullah Khan helped me. Just as -we had got him up, there was another rush, and the wretched beast -broke away. I was thrown off on my head, and when I came to myself the -Ressaldar was holding me in front of him on his horse, and we were in -full retreat down the pass. We had lost eight killed beside the Major, -and Leyward and the two other fellows were all badly wounded, besides -almost every one of the men, and--and they wouldn’t go back.” - -“No, no; it would have been wrong,” murmured Georgia. “Thank you for -telling me this. There could be no message.” - -“No message,” repeated Beltring, answering the unasked question. - -“He could not send me any message,” wailed Georgia, as the young man -went out, “and I parted from him in anger. Oh, Dick, my darling, my -darling--forgive me!” - -“Oh, Georgie, don’t!” sobbed Mabel. - -“Poor Mab! I forgot you were there. Lie down here on my bed. I can’t -sleep.” - -“I’m sure I can’t,” protested Mabel. - -It was not long before she cried herself to sleep, however, but -Georgia sat where she was until the morning. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - TO KEEP THE FLAG FLYING. - -“Mab!” Mabel awoke from her uneasy slumbers to wonder where she was, -and why Georgia was sitting there, her face silhouetted against the -square of grey light that represented a window. “Mab! Dick is not -dead.” - -“Why--oh, Georgie!--have you heard anything?” - -“No; but I know it. We always agreed that if either of us died when -the other was not there, the one that was dead should come back to say -good-bye. And I have waited for him all night, and he has not come.” - -Mabel gazed at her in dismay. “Oh, but you are not building upon that, -Georgie? How can it be any proof that he is alive? He might not be -allowed to come.” - -“He promised. Besides, I know he is alive,” persisted Georgia -obstinately. “If he was dead, I should feel it.” - -“Georgie dear, you mustn’t go on like this. You will make yourself -ill. Come and lie down a little, and try to go to sleep. I will tell -you if he comes.” Mabel ended with a sob. - -“If he does, I shall know,” murmured Georgia, as she lay down. -“Thanks, Mab; I am so tired.” - -Mabel waited only until she was asleep, and then, summoning Rahah to -watch beside her, went in search of Dr Tighe. It so happened that she -met him in the passage which led into the courtyard. - -“Bad business this, Miss North. We can ill spare your brother. How is -his poor wife?” - -“She has borne up wonderfully so far, but--oh, Dr Tighe, I’m afraid -her mind is going. She will persist that Dick is not dead.” - -“Poor thing! can’t realise it yet,” said the doctor compassionately. - -“No; it is quite a delusion. She says he is still alive, or she would -know it. What can we do? I thought perhaps if she could see his -body----” - -“No, no. Better that the delusion should last for ever than she should -see his body after those fiends have had to do with it.” - -“But she must give up hope soon, and it will be such a fearful -disappointment----” - -“If the hope keeps her up through the next few days, so much the -better. Afterwards, please God, she’ll have more effectual comfort -than we could give her.” - -“But I can’t help hoping too, and it will make the reality so much -worse,” confessed Mabel, with an irrepressible sob. - -“Woman alive! who cares about you?” cried the doctor furiously. “What -do your little bits of feelings matter compared with hers? No, no; I -beg your pardon, Miss North,” his tone softening. “I’d get a fine -wigging if the Commissioner heard me, wouldn’t I? But you must -remember how much you have got left, and your sister has nothing. For -God’s sake, let her please herself with thinking that he’s all right -for the present, if that comforts her at all. By-and-by the truth will -come to her gradually, but she will have the child to think of, and -the worst bitterness will be gone. Come, now, you’re brave enough for -that, aren’t you? How is she--asleep just now? I’ll look in again -later on. Now make up your mind to be unselfish about this.” - -“Does he mean that generally I am selfish?” mused Mabel. “It never -struck me before. But nobody seems to care about me. They all think -that I have Eustace left. As if he could ever make up to me for Dick!” -she laughed mirthlessly at the mere idea. “He will be coming in -presently and making appropriate remarks. Oh dear, oh dear! if he had -gone to the durbar and been killed instead of Dick, I believe I should -have been _glad_. How dreadful it is! How can I ever marry him? But I -know I shall never have the courage to tell him I want to give him up. -What can I do?” - -“Mabel, my poor little girl!” Mr Burgrave emerged from the passage, -and limped towards her as she stood listlessly on the verandah. “You -have slept badly, I fear? How is Mrs North?” - -“She won’t believe that he is dead.” And with her eyes full of tears, -Mabel repeated to him Georgia’s words. - -“Very touching, very touching!” remarked the Commissioner, his tone -breathing the deepest sympathy. “Poor thing! it is unspeakably sad to -see so strong a mind overthrown. You must find it very trying, poor -child! I hope you are taking care of yourself?” His glance travelled -over her, and Mabel remembered for the first time that she had slept -in her clothes, and that her hair had not been touched since she had -twisted it up roughly the night before on the first alarm. - -“Oh, I know I’m not fit to be seen!” she cried impatiently. “But what -does that signify?” - -“It signifies very much. You must remember the natives in the fort. -Their endurance--even their loyalty--may hang upon our success in -keeping up appearances during the next few days. And we white men, -also--surely it is a poor compliment to us to make such a sorry -ob--figure--of yourself? Then there is your unfortunate sister. Is it -likely to restore her mental balance to see you in such a dishevelled -condition? Oblige me by changing your dress and doing something to -your hair. It is a public duty at such a time.” - -“I wish you wouldn’t bother!” said Mabel, weeping weakly. “I have no -black things, and I can’t bear to put on colours.” - -“My dear girl, is it for me to advise you as to your clothes?” The -tone, half severe and half humorous, stung Mabel with a recollection -of their conversation of ten days before. “Considering poor Mrs -North’s delusion, might it not be advisable to humour her, in so far -as not to insist upon wearing mourning immediately?” - -“Oh, very well,” was the grudging reply, of which Mabel repented the -next moment, adding contritely, “I’m sorry to have been so cross, -Eustace. I will try to be brave.” - -“That is what I expect of my little girl. She would never bring -discredit upon my choice by showing the white feather. I rely upon her -to set an example of cheerfulness to the whole garrison.” - -He bestowed upon her what Mabel inwardly stigmatised as a lofty kiss -of encouragement before departing, and she obeyed him meekly, going at -once to her room to change her dress. She was so angry with herself -for having deserved his rebuke that she forgot to be angry with him. -After all, it was well for her to have this severe master to please, -if she was in danger of bringing reproach upon her country by her -faint-heartedness. She was taking herself to task in this strain, when -the sound of voices in the outermost of Georgia’s two rooms, which was -next to her own, interrupted her meditations. - -“Oh dear! Georgie hasn’t slept long,” she lamented to herself. “Who is -that talking to her, I wonder? Oh, Mr Anstruther, of course.” - -“I came in to see if there was anything I could do for you,” she heard -Fitz say. “I’m ashamed to have been so long in coming, but the fact -is, I was up all night knocking down houses and setting coolies to -cart away the remains, and when we had got the space all round pretty -clear and came in, I was so dead tired that I just lay down and went -to sleep where I was.” - -“Oh, you should have gone on resting while you had the chance,” said -Georgia. “Everybody is only too kind to me, and there’s nothing I want -done. Then we are really besieged now?” - -“I suppose we might say that we are in a state of siege. At present -all the tribes are holding _jirgahs_ to consider the matter. Our outer -circle of vedettes was driven in soon after we got here last night, -but we held the houses facing the fort against a few spasmodic rushes -until we had got the zone of fire cleared. The enemy are too close for -comfort as it is, but at any rate they have a space to cross before -they can get up to the walls.” - -“Then they are occupying the town?” - -“Decidedly, if that means looting all the houses and firing most of -them.” - -“Is our house burnt?” - -“Almost as soon as you were out of it. I noticed the fire when I -looked round once as we were driving. But I don’t think the enemy can -have been as close behind us as that. I fancy the servants who shirked -coming with us were looting, and some one had knocked over a lamp.” - -“And how are things going with us here?” - -“So-so. But you know, Mrs North, if it hadn’t been for the Major and -Colonel Graham, we might as well have taken refuge in a fowl-house as -in this place. Long ago they got in all the stores they could without -attracting attention, and everything else was ready to be moved at a -moment’s notice. They had their plans all cut and dried, too, and -every man found his post assigned to him. The walls are good against -anything but artillery, and the towers and loopholes and gates have -all been put into some sort of repair.” - -“Yes,” said Georgia, “and that is the best of the situation. Now for -the worst.” - -“Well, you know, it would all have been worst but for the Major, and -every soul inside the walls is blessing him. The worst is that we have -scraped together a preposterous number of non-combatants--some of them -the wives and children of the sowars, of course, but a good many of -them Hindus and bazaar-people of that sort, whom it would have been -sheer murder to leave outside, but who will be no good to us whatever. -All the old soldiers have been re-enlisted, and the boys are to make -themselves useful, but there is a helpless crowd of women and children -and elderly people to dispose of somehow. That’s the secret of your -close quarters here. We can’t have the poor wretches anywhere near the -walls, so they are put away in the central courts, where we can keep -an eye upon them, and overawe them if necessary.” - -“Poor things! I must go and see after them,” murmured Georgia. - -“Of course, with all these extra mouths, we are not provisioned for a -regular siege, unless we eat the horses, which ought to be saved in -case we have to cut our way out at last. But the worst thing is that -we have no artillery, not so much as a field-gun, and very little of -anything else. The regiment have their carbines, of course, but the -Commissioner’s Sikhs are the only men with rifles--except those of us -who go in for big game shooting. However, as a set-off against that, -the enemy have no big guns either. And then, it’s about the best -season of the year for moving troops on this frontier, so that we -ought to be relieved before very long.” - -“But that’s only if the enemy don’t cut the canals.” - -“Yes, I’m afraid they’re too sharp not to do that. It looks as if a -dust-storm was coming on, which would help them if they set to work at -once.” - -“Have they made any pretence of offering terms?” - -“The Amir sent his mullah this morning with a flag of truce. He -couldn’t be allowed inside, so the Commissioner and Colonel Graham -spoke to him from the walls. But there was no accepting what he -offered.” - -“What was it?” - -“Poor old Ashraf Ali was awfully cut up about--what happened -yesterday. He explained through the mullah that he arranged the -ambuscade entirely for the benefit of the Commissioner, whom he really -was anxious to have out of the way. It was a pure accident that the -very last thing he could have wished happened instead. However, in -order that his trouble mightn’t be wasted, he suggested that we should -hand him over the Commissioner now. He will see that he gives no more -trouble on this frontier, and it is open to the rest of us either to -stay here unmolested, or to return to civilisation under a -safe-conduct, just as we like.” - -“You mean that he actually offers to guarantee the safety of every one -else if the Commissioner gives himself up?” - -“Practically that. Doesn’t it strike you as a little quaint?” - -“Was that the Commissioner’s view of it?” - -“I believe so. He remarked what a preposterous demand it was, when he -had the responsibility of the fort and the whole community on his -shoulders. He doesn’t intend to shirk his duty. The Colonel said it -was a tremendous relief to hear how sensibly he took it. Some men -would have insisted on giving themselves up forthwith, but he has too -much to think of.” - -A wan smile showed itself on Georgia’s face. “Well, if he intends to -interpret his duty very strictly, we may wish he had gone,” she said. - -“I don’t believe he is even technically in the right, and certainly I -think the Colonel will have to organise a little mutiny if he insists -upon bossing the show. Couldn’t you turn on Miss North to induce him -to moderate his pretensions a bit?” Mabel, in the next room, shook her -fist unseen at the speaker. - -“After all,” said Georgia, “it’s most unlikely that they would have -kept their promise to protect us, even if he had given himself up.” - -“Very little doubt about that. From what the mullah said, it’s clear -that there are two parties in their camp, and I shouldn’t care to say -which is the stronger. Bahram Khan’s following, besides his own men, -who did all the looting last night, comprises the more troublesome of -the frontier tribes and the chiefs who have grudges against the Amir, -while Ashraf Ali has his loyal Sardars and the tribes which have -always been friendly to us. If only we had the Major here!” - -“You mean that he would play them off against one another?” - -“Yes, and there’s no one else to do it. Beltring and I wanted to try, -because there’s just the chance that the tribes would listen to us, as -we have been with him so much, but the Colonel won’t let us leave the -fort.” - -“No, it would be no good. You would only be risking your lives -uselessly,” said Georgia. “He has more influence over them than any -man I ever knew, except my father.” - -“Ah, but, Mrs North, there’s no time to lose. As soon as we have -killed two or three of the lot, they’ll all be against us, and the -longer we hold out the worse it will be. Even if Bahram Khan doesn’t -succeed in bringing them over to his side at once, he will be -intriguing against his uncle in secret.” - -“I know, but what can we do? I dare not make inquiries about Dick, for -if the Amir is keeping him safe somewhere, it might put him into -Bahram Khan’s power. We can only wait.” - -“Oh, Mrs North, don’t count on that,” pleaded Fitz sorrowfully. “It’s -no good, believe me. Ashraf Ali knows he is dead as well as we do.” - -“But I know that he is not dead,” said Georgia, and Fitz went out -hastily. In the verandah he met Mabel. - -“Oh, Miss North, I wanted to speak to you,” he said, but she beckoned -him imperiously aside. - -“You seem to think it rather a fine thing to abuse a man who isn’t -there to defend himself,” she said. - -“Indeed?” he said, in astonishment. “I wasn’t aware of it.” - -“Perhaps you didn’t know that I could hear you when you were laughing -at Mr Burgrave?” - -“I certainly didn’t know you were listening, but I was not laughing at -him. I merely said that he hadn’t given himself up. Would you wish me -to say that he had?” - -“You hinted that it was wrong and cowardly of him, and that he was -saving himself at the expense of every one else here, when you ought -to know it was only his strong sense of duty that kept him back. Would -you have gone?” - -“Certainly not, if the burden of the defence rested on me, as the -Commissioner fancies it does on him.” - -“You see! And you said yourself it would probably have been no good.” - -“So I say still. Bahram Khan has more on hand than a piece of private -revenge. If we trusted to his safe-conduct, we should be in for -Cawnpore over again.” - -“And after that you still make fun of Mr Burgrave for not going! It’s -a shame! I know he has made mistakes in the past, from our point of -view, but I won’t hear him called a coward. He is the most noble, -lofty-minded man in the world, and I only wish I was more worthy of -him!” - -“You can’t expect me to indorse that, any more than the Commissioner -himself would,” said Fitz. “If anything I have said about him has -pained you, Miss North, I humbly beg your pardon; but please remember -that I should never speak against him intentionally, simply because -you think so highly of him.” - -“I only want you to understand that I am not going to ask him to -moderate his pretensions, as you call it,” went on Mabel, rather -confused. “For one thing, he wouldn’t do it, and for another, now that -Dick is gone, I must be guided by him.” - -“Quite so,” said Fitz, somewhat dryly. Then his tone changed. “I -wanted to ask you what you thought about telling poor Mrs North -something the mullah said this morning. It struck me that perhaps we -ought to keep it dark for a bit, as the doctor thinks it a good thing -she can’t believe that the worst has happened. The poor old Amir wept -as if for his own son when he heard that the Major was dead, and went -himself to look for the body, intending to give it a state funeral. -But when they got to the pass, it was gone. The Hasrat Ali Begum, who -was in camp near, had broken _pardah_ with her women as soon as the -fight was over, and carried off the body and buried it. They were -afraid of what Bahram Khan would do with it, you see, and at present -they won’t tell even the Amir where the grave is, but he sent word -that he meant to build a tomb over it later on. Now, ought Mrs North -to know?” - -“I shouldn’t think so, should you? I have never been much with people -in trouble--I don’t know how to deal with them. But I think it will be -better not to tell her unless she asks.” - -“But she isn’t likely to ask, is she? Oh, Miss North, if she might -only be right! I don’t believe there’s a man in the fort that wouldn’t -gladly die to bring him back.” - - - -The expected dust-storm did not begin until the afternoon, and in the -interval the besieged continued to strengthen their defences, -disturbed only by an intermittent rifle-fire. A party of the enemy had -taken possession of General Keeling’s old house, and lying down behind -the low wall which surrounded the roof, were firing at any one they -saw on the ramparts. Thanks to the efforts of Colonel Graham and Dick, -the ruined parapet here had been repaired, but when there were -messages to be sent from one point to another, the cry was “Heads -down!” So skilfully were the enemy posted that no response to their -annoying attentions was possible until a party of Sikhs, at -considerable risk to life and limb, scaled the turrets flanking the -gateway, the repair of which had not been completed owing to lack of -time, and succeeded in commanding the roof of the old house. They had -scarcely cleared it before the storm came on, and they were ordered -down again, since it was generally believed that an assault would be -attempted under cover of the wind and darkness. Nothing of the kind -took place, however, and the garrison, who were kept under arms, -chafed at their enforced inaction, and tried in vain to pierce the -obscurity which surrounded them, while the wind howled and the dust -rattled on the roofs. When, last of all, the rain poured down in -sheets, and the air cleared sufficiently to allow the buildings beyond -the zone of fire to become dimly visible, it was seen that the enemy -had taken advantage of the storm for a different purpose. On the roof -of General Keeling’s house was now a rough stone breastwork, so -constructed as to shelter its occupants even against the fire from the -towers, and provided with loopholes so arranged as to allow the barrel -of a rifle to be pointed through them in any direction. - -“It looks to me as though we should have to rush the General’s house -and blow it up,” said the Commissioner to Colonel Graham, as they -stood in one of the turrets, peering into the sweeping rain, during -the last few minutes of daylight. “That sangar makes our walls -untenable.” - -“Then we shall have to raise them,” was the laconic reply, as Colonel -Graham passed his field-glass to his companion. “You may not have -noticed that though the General’s old stone house is the only one -strong enough to support a sangar on the roof, the brick houses on -both sides of it have been loop-holed. The place is a regular -death-trap.” - -“Do you mean to say that in this short time they have prepared a -position impregnable to our whole force?” asked Mr Burgrave -incredulously. - -“Quite possibly, but that isn’t the question. Their numbers are -practically unlimited; ours are not. I should be glad if you and I -could come to an understanding at once. We are not here to exhibit -feats of arms, but to keep the flag flying until we can be relieved, -and to protect the unfortunate women and children down below there. -Nothing would please me better than to lead an assault on the house -yonder, but who’s to defend the fort when the butcher’s bill is paid? -If we had only ourselves to consider, I might cut my way out with the -troops, and make a historic march to Rahmat-Ullah, but with the -non-combatants it would be impossible. You see this?--or perhaps you -don’t see it, but I do. Well, are we to work together, or not?” - -“You are asking me to subordinate my judgment to yours?” - -“Politically, you are supreme here. From a military point of view----” - -“You think you ought to be? Considering the office I hold, doesn’t -that strike you as rather a large order?” - -“Would you propose to occupy an independent and superior position from -which to criticise my measures? Surely you must see that is out of the -question? You may be Commissioner for the province, but I am -commandant of this fort, and the troops are under my orders. The -conclusion is pretty obvious, isn’t it? In such a situation as this, a -single head is essential, and there must be no hint of divided -counsels. You and I have both got everything we prize in the world at -stake here. Can we squabble over our relative positions in face of -what lies before us?” - -“The question would come more gracefully from me to you, in the -circumstances,” said Mr Burgrave, “but I see your point. Let it be -understood that the conduct of all military operations is vested in -you, then. I reserve, of course, the right of private criticism, and -of offering advice.” - -“And of putting the blame on me if things go wrong!” thought Colonel -Graham, but he was too wise to give utterance to the remark. “Do you -care to make the round of the defences with me?” he asked. “I should -like to see how the new brickwork stands this deluge.” - -As they emerged from the shelter of the tower into the rainy dusk, -they were met by Fitz, who, like the other civilians in the place, had -enrolled himself as a volunteer. When he first spoke, his voice was -inaudible, owing to a rushing, roaring sound which filled the air. - -“Why, what’s this?” shouted the Colonel. - -“The canal, sir,” answered Fitz, as loudly. “Winlock sent me to ask -you to come and look at it.” - -“Is it in flood? Can the reservoir have burst?” - -“We think the enemy have opened the sluices. The dead body of a white -man was washed down just now. We saw it, though we couldn’t reach it, -and some one said it was Western, who was in charge at the canal -works.” - -The Colonel and Mr Burgrave hurried along the rampart, sheltered from -the enemy’s fire by the gathering darkness, to the rear wall of the -fort, the base of which was washed by the canal. The canal itself was -part of the great system of irrigation-works by means of which, as the -Commissioner had once complained, General Keeling had made Khemistan. -A huge reservoir was constructed in the hills to receive the torrents -of water which rushed down every ravine after a storm, and which, -after carrying ruin and destruction in their path, ran fruitlessly to -waste. By means of sluices the outflow was regulated with the minutest -care, and the precious water husbanded so jealously that even in the -hottest seasons it was possible to supply the canal which, with its -many effluents, had converted the immediate surroundings of Alibad -from a sandy waste into a garden. In view of the possible necessity of -coping with an occasional rush of water, the banks were artificially -raised, and the one opposite the south-west angle of the fort, where -the canal took a sudden bend, had been strengthened to a considerable -height with masonry, to protect the cultivated land beyond it from -inundation. This change in its course largely increased the force of -the current at this point. - -After a storm the placid canal always became a rushing torrent, on -account of the accessions it received after leaving the reservoir, but -none of those in the fort had ever seen it rise to the height it had -reached on the present occasion. Colonel Graham uttered an exclamation -of dismay when he looked out over the turbid stream, which seemed to -be flung back from the opposite bank against the fort wall with even -increased violence. Presently there was a lull in the storm, and by -the aid of a lantern, which was lowered from the rampart, he was able -to see that the current was actually scouring away the lower courses -of the wall. The next moment the lantern was violently swept from the -hand of the man who held the cord, as another rush of water came -swirling round the tower at the angle of the wall, dashing its spray -into the faces of the watchers. Every one of them felt the wall shake -under the blow, and there was a murmur of uneasiness. Colonel Graham -recovered himself first. - -“Turn out all the servants and coolies, Winlock,” he said, “and shore -up the wall with props and sand-bags as far as possible. We will stay -here and watch whether the water rises any higher. It’s clear they -hope that this south curtain will go,” he added to Mr Burgrave, “and -that then they will only have to walk in.” - -“They must have a clever head among them,” said the Commissioner; “for -they are evidently letting the water out a little at a time.” - -“Ah, that’s the native engineer, no doubt. They would keep him alive -to manage the machinery for them when they murdered poor Western. Look -out, here’s another!” - -Again the wall trembled perceptibly, but by this time the courtyard -was full of eager workers, piling up earth and stones and beams and -bags of sand, and anything else that could be found. Presently the -Colonel called out to them to stop, for there was now the danger that -the wall might fall outwards instead of inwards, and they waited in -unwilling idleness, while the two men on the rampart watched the -current anxiously, and measured the distance of its surface from the -parapet. Then came a more violent rush of water than any before, and -to Colonel Graham and Mr Burgrave the wall seemed to rock backwards -and forwards under them. When they looked into each other’s faces once -more, they could scarcely believe that it was still standing. - -“That’s the last, evidently,” said the Colonel, “a final effort. The -water’s getting lower already. We’re safe for to-night, but if they -had only had the patience to wait till this rain was over, we could -never have stood the force of water they could have turned on. And as -it is, a child’s popgun might almost account for this bit of wall -now.” - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - “THE OLD FIRST HEROIC LESSONS.” - -“Why, Mrs North!” Disturbed in his task of supervising the -proceedings of a nervous native assistant, whose mind was less -occupied with his dispensing than with the bullets which flattened -themselves occasionally upon the pavement outside the surgery, Dr -Tighe had turned suddenly to find Georgia at his elbow. “Can I do -anything for you?” he asked kindly, looking with professional -disapproval at her pale face and weary eyes. - -“I want you to let me help you in the hospital.” - -“And I thought you were a sensible woman! Will you tell me if you call -this wise, now?” - -“I think it would help me to have something to do.” - -“But not this. What am I to say to the Major when--if--when I see him -again, if you overtask your strength?” - -“I see you think I am mad,” she said earnestly, “but I _know_ he is -alive. But the suspense is so dreadful, doctor. It’s certain that he -is wounded, and I can scarcely doubt he is a prisoner; and what may be -happening to him at any moment? It is killing me, and I must live--for -both their sakes.” The doctor nodded quickly. “And I thought if I -could do something to help those who were suffering as he is, it -might--oh, I don’t know--it might make me tired enough to sleep -again.” - -“A good idea!” said Dr Tighe, in his most matter-of-fact tones. “You -shall relieve me of half my dressings, by all means, and I’ll turn -over to you the out-patient work among these unfortunate women and -children. You can leave that dispensing, Babu”--the assistant, who had -been listening for the thud of the bullets, started violently--“and go -round the wards with the Memsahib.” - -From his own cases on the opposite side of the improvised wards Dr -Tighe glanced across at Georgia several times, remarking with approval -that her face and figure were losing their look of utter weariness as -she went about her work. She was giving her whole mind to it, that was -evident, and for the time her own anxiety was pushed into the -background. The number of patients to be treated was considerable, for -besides the men who had been wounded at the fight in the Akrab Pass, -there were a good many casualties due to the enemy’s fire since the -siege had begun. The work was therefore heavy, but as soon as the -dressings were finished Dr Tighe bustled up to Georgia and pointed out -a new opening for her energies. - -“The Colonel wants sacks made--millions of ’em--for sand-bags,” he -said. “He was at his wits’ end about it this morning, tried to get the -native women to sew them, and they wouldn’t.” - -“Oh, why didn’t he ask us?” cried Georgia. “We would have worked our -fingers to the bone.” - -“I’m sure you would, and it’s likely he’d ask it of you, isn’t it? But -why all the refugees should have board and lodging given them free, I -don’t know. Why, they wouldn’t even make the sacks for payment! A lot -of them said they couldn’t sew, and the rest seemed to think they were -being persecuted when they were asked to do it. But you know how to -get round them, Mrs North. We can’t very well say that if a woman -doesn’t sew a sack a day out she goes--sounds a bit brutal--but you’ll -manage to set them to work, I’m sure. I’ll tell Colonel Graham you’ve -taken the matter in hand, and he’ll be for ever grateful.” - -Unpromising though the task seemed, Georgia succeeded in finding six -women who consented to sew if the Memsahibs would do so too, and a -working-party was organised in the little courtyard, from which Mr -Hardy and the men-servants were rigorously banished for the time. -Since the need of sand-bags--at any rate in such numbers--had not been -foreseen, the proper material was lacking, but all the tents in the -fort were promptly requisitioned, and their canvas utilised. The -regimental tailors cut out the sacks, delivering them into the charge -of Rahah, and inside the courtyard Mrs Hardy and Georgia superintended -the unskilled workers, while Flora and Mabel took a pride in proving -their willingness to blister their fingers for their country. It was -fortunate that fine needlework was not required, for the native -women’s ideas of sewing were rudimentary in the extreme, but their two -instructresses succeeded at last in convincing them, by precept and -example, that to sew one side only of a seam was unnecessary as a -decoration and not calculated materially to further the usefulness of -a sack. When this lesson had been sufficiently impressed upon the -pupils, Georgia sat down in the doorway of her room to divide the -_pice_ which Colonel Graham had entrusted to her for distribution -among them. The sun was setting over the hill beyond the fort, and the -women, as they sat cross-legged on the floor, seized the fact that the -light was in their eyes as an excuse for turning round to gaze -greedily at the money which Georgia was apportioning on a chair. -Suddenly there was a whizz and a noisy clatter. A bullet had grazed -Georgia’s hand and struck the chair, sending the coins flying, and it -was followed by a burst of firing, which caused the terrified -workwomen to drop their sacks and exclaim with one voice that they -were dead. - -“Down! down!” cried Georgia, setting the example herself, “and crawl -round to the other verandah. They are firing from the hill, but they -won’t be able to see us there.” - -Dragging with her one woman who was paralysed with fright, she induced -the others to follow her, and when they were out of the line of fire, -proceeded to examine the terrific wounds from which one and all -declared themselves to be suffering. Curiously enough, no one was -badly hurt. Two had scratches, and one a nasty bruise from a ricochet -shot, but of severe injuries there were none. Georgia dressed the -wounds and comforted the sufferers with one or two _pice_ extra, and -then sent them back to their own quarters, thus allowing admittance to -Colonel Graham, Mr Hardy, the Commissioner, and Fitz, who had been -informed by the horrified servants that the enemy were firing into the -Memsahibs’ courtyard. Their anxiety raised to the highest pitch by the -shrieks from within, the four gentlemen were held at bay in the -passage by the heroic Rahah, who informed them that they must pass -over her body before they should break the _pardah_ of the women -assembled under her mistress’s protection. Just as they were at last -admitted a cry from behind made them look round, to see an unfortunate -water-carrier who had been passing along the rampart falling into the -courtyard. - -“We must get up a parados on that side,” said Colonel Graham, when the -wounded man had been sent to the hospital. “They command the inside of -the whole east curtain from that hill. Your sand-bags will be made -useful sooner than we expected, Mrs North.” - -“But what is to happen to us?” cried Mabel. “Are we to stay here to be -shot at?” - -“Calm yourself, my dear girl,” said Mr Burgrave, in gently reproving -tones. “You are in no danger at the present moment.” - -“You see, Miss North,” said the Colonel, “I don’t want to have to put -you either in the hospital courtyard or among the native refugees, and -there is nowhere else. After all, this court is so small that the -enemy can’t possibly command more than the east side, and we’ll put -that right by hanging curtains along the verandah.” - -“Why, what good would that be against bullets?” - -“The curtain wouldn’t stop them, certainly, but our friends up there -are very careful of their ammunition, and never waste a shot. Not -being able to see whether any one is in the verandah, they won’t aim -at it. It was the sight of a whole party assembled here that was -irresistible.” - -“But is Georgia to live in darkness?” demanded Georgia’s -self-constituted champion. - -“Nonsense, Mab! There are three other verandahs to sit in. After all, -one expects bullets in a siege,” said Georgia. - -“That’s the right spirit, Mrs North,” said Colonel Graham heartily. -“As soon as it’s dusk we’ll have the matting up from the -club-house--messroom, I mean--floor, and nail it along the roof of -this verandah and across the corner where the passage is. Then you’ll -be safe from anything but chance shots, and those, I’m afraid, we can -none of us guard against.” - -“But are those fellows up there to pot at the ladies without our ever -having a chance to pay them back, sir?” cried Fitz. - -“I was coming to that. Of course the plan is to clear us off the east -rampart so that a force from the town may rush it under cover of the -fire from the hill, and therefore the parados must be our first care. -Still, I think we can spare a few sand-bags for the two western -towers, and if we arrange a little sangar on the top of each when it -is dark, we can show our chivalrous friends the snipers to-morrow what -it feels like to be sniped. Tell Winlock to set all the servants to -work filling bags and baskets, and anything else they can find, with -earth at once.” - -“We seem to hold our own fairly well at present,” said Mr Burgrave, as -Fitz departed, and the Colonel stood looking narrowly at the -threatened verandah and the scattered work-materials with which it was -strewn. - -“We seem to--yes, but it is simply because we have not been tried as -yet. There is far too great a length of wall for us to hold against a -well-planned attack--say from two sides at once. Why they haven’t put -us to the test before I can’t imagine. It’s not like their usual -tactics to let things drag on in this way.” - -“I am of opinion that they dislike crossing the cleared space, and -intend to remain at a discreet distance and starve us out. If only -they stick to that, we ought to be relieved long before matters come -to a crisis.” - -“No, it’s not that!” cried the Colonel irritably. “There’s something -behind that we don’t see. If there was any possibility of their having -guns, I should say they were waiting for them. But where are they to -get them from unless they have surprised Rahmat-Ullah, which we have -no reason to suppose? They have some dodge on hand, though, I’m -certain.” - -“Is there any weak point at which they could be aiming?” - -“Man, this place is nothing but weak points. If those fellows on the -hill knew what they were about, they could enfilade our north and -south ramparts as well as cover the eastern one. The south curtain is -so weak now that an elephant or a battering-ram--let alone a -well-planted shell or two--could knock it over, and the canal on that -side is getting lower every day. The water-carriers have to go down a -dozen steps now, and it’s only the enemy’s fear for their own precious -skins that prevents their picking them off from the opposite bank. We -could pepper them from the rampart, they know that, and they haven’t -the sense to pour in an oblique fire from the hill. I suppose, too, it -hasn’t occurred to you that if they took it into their heads to blow -us up, one or two plucky fellows could get close up to the walls under -cover of a general attack, and lay a train at their leisure. It’s -impossible to fire transversely from the loopholes in the towers -without exposing pretty nearly one’s whole body, and as to depressing -a rifle and firing point-blank down from the parapet, well----” - -Mr Burgrave understood the pause to mean that the consequences would -probably be very uncomfortable for the holder of the rifle, and said -no more. The night passed without further alarm, save that Georgia -found it would be dangerous to have a light in her rooms unless door -and shutters were both closed. The glimmer from the window, even when -only seen through the matting curtain, attracted two or three bullets -immediately, and it was evident that the choice must be made between -air and light. During the hours of darkness the besieged worked hard -at their defences, and succeeded in erecting a more or less effectual -shelter along the inside of the east rampart, and also a sand-bag -parapet at the summit of the two western towers. The gateway turrets -on the north-east, which were now exposed to the fire from the hill in -the rear as well as to that from General Keeling’s house in front, -were strengthened in the same way. Behind these shelters the best -marksmen of the garrison took up their posts, and as soon as the -bullets began to fly from the hill, seized the opportunity of pointing -out to the enemy that the state of things had altered to some extent -in the night. Since it was impossible for a man on either side to fire -without exposing himself slightly, a return shot was the instant -comment on this imprudence, and hence, before the morning was over, -both parties were lying low and glaring at their opponents’ sangars, -ready to shoot but not caring to be shot. Helmets on the one side and -turbans on the other, raised cautiously on rifle-barrels above the -breastwork, drew a few shots, but the nature of the trick was quickly -perceived by both parties, and the sniping continued to languish. - -“Their rifles seem to carry as far as ours,” remarked Mr Burgrave to -Colonel Graham. - -“So they ought,” was the grim reply. “Most of them, if not all, are -ours. They are stolen and smuggled wholesale into Ethiopia, and Bahram -Khan has borrowed them to arm his followers with. That’s how they -manage to give us so much trouble. In the matchlock days, when this -place was built, we could have laughed at their shooting from the -hill.” - -“What is that?” said the Commissioner suddenly, putting up his -eye-glass; “a pile of cannon-balls? It was not there last night.” - -They were standing in one of the gateway turrets, and the heap to -which he pointed was visible upon the cleared space, in front of the -entrance to a lane between two of the houses occupied by the enemy. -Colonel Graham laid down his field-glass with an exclamation of -disgust. - -“Cannon-balls! It’s _heads_--human heads--heads of our men. Those -fiends have surprised one of our posts--Sultanibagh probably, beyond -Shah Nawaz. I telegraphed to the Jemadar in charge to retire upon -Rahmat-Ullah, as there was no chance of their getting here safely, but -the wires must have been cut before they got the message, or else the -men have been ambushed on their way. Well, Bahram Khan has put himself -beyond the pale of mercy this time, even with our Government, I should -imagine.” - -As the light grew stronger the sickening trophy was perceived from -other parts of the fort, and the men of the Khemistan Horse began to -become impatient. It appeared that a deserter had ventured close under -the walls in the night, in order to taunt the garrison with some -unexplained reverse, the nature of which was now made manifest. They -were asked how long Sinjāj Kīlin’s sowars had been content to hide -behind stone walls, instead of coming out to fight on horseback in the -open, and a variety of interesting and savoury information was added -as to the precise nature of the tortures in store for all, whether -officers or men, who fell into Bahram Khan’s hands. To the men who had -so long dominated the frontier, this abuse was intolerably galling, -and the troopers were gathering in corners with sullen faces, and -asking one another why they were kept back from washing out the -disgrace in blood. They had now been in the fort the best part of a -week, no attack in force had been made, and yet there had not been the -slightest attempt to drive off the enemy or inflict any loss upon him. -Ressaldar Badullah Khan voiced this feeling to Colonel Graham a little -later, when the Colonel had passed with a judicious lack of apparent -notice the scowling groups of men who were discussing the state of -affairs. - -“Our faces are black, sahib,” said the native officer, in response to -the question put to him. “Bahram Khan and his _badmashes_ laugh at our -beards, and we are pent up here like women. We are better men than -they--we have proved it in every fight since first Sinjāj Kīlin -Sahib raised the regiment--why then (so say the sowars) is it -forbidden to us to issue forth with our horses, and sweep the baseborn -rabble outside from the face of the earth?” - -“Is the regiment complaining of the course I choose to take, -Ressaldar?” - -“Nay, sahib; the sowars say that it is the will of the Kumpsioner -Sahib which is being done.” - -“They are wrong. It is mine. What could the regiment do on horseback -in the streets of the town, with the enemy firing from roofs and -loopholes? We have not a man too many in the fort now, and yet, -Ressaldar, I anticipate a sortie in force before long, though not in -review order.” - -The Ressaldar’s eyes gleamed. “May the news be told to the regiment, -sahib?” he asked. - -“Could they refrain from shouting it to the next man who taunts them? -No, Ressaldar; tell them to trust me as they have always done -hitherto. There will be work to be done before many days, but I cannot -set mutinous men to do it.” - -Badullah Khan went out, meeting Woodworth on the threshold. - -“Would you mind coming up to the north-western tower, sir?” asked the -adjutant, when he had closed the door. “The enemy seem to be doing -something in that direction which I can’t quite make out.” - -“What sort of thing?” asked Colonel Graham, rising. - -“I would rather not give an opinion until you have seen what there is -to see, sir,” was the reply, so unwontedly cautious that the Colonel -prepared for a heavy blow. Woodworth followed him up the narrow -winding stairs in silence, and pointed to the stretch of desert on the -northern side of the town, across which two long strings of men and -animals were slowly passing in a westerly direction. The Colonel -started, examined the moving objects through his field-glass, and -called to his orderly-- - -“Ask Beltring Sahib to come here at once.” - -Almost before Beltring, breathless, had mounted the staircase, he was -greeted by a question. “Beltring, are there any guns at Nalapur?” - -“No, sir. At least, there are two old field-pieces in front of the -palace, but that’s all.” - -“Are they in working order?” - -“They use them for firing salutes, sir, not for anything else, I -believe.” - -“Still, that shows they are safe to work, and here they are. Where -will they mount them, should you say, Woodworth?” - -“On the hill, sir. The slope on the far side is comparatively easy for -getting them up.” - -“True, and from the brow there they could knock the place about our -ears in a couple of hours. At all costs we must keep them from getting -the range to-day. They will have no range-finders, that’s one good -thing, and if we can secure a night’s respite, it’ll be a pity if we -don’t make good use of it. Tell our marksmen to fire at anything they -see moving up there. Those guns must not be placed in position before -sunset. And then tell all the other officers and volunteers to meet me -on the south rampart immediately.” - -The council of war which assembled on the rampart, sheltered by the -south-western tower, was sufficiently informal to make the hair of any -stickler for military etiquette stand on end, but its proceedings were -absolutely practical. The Colonel, beside whom stood Mr Burgrave, -stated the situation briefly. - -“You have seen the two guns which the enemy intend to mount on the -hill there. Once they get them into position and find our range, we -may as well retire into the vaults and wait until we are smoked out, -for there is no possible shelter above ground. With our small force it -is hopeless to detach a party to sally out and capture the guns in the -open--more especially since the enemy hold the town between us and -them. Still, they have plenty to do in getting the guns across the -canal and dragging them up the hill, and we must make it our business -to prevent them from opening fire to-day, and to-night those guns must -be taken. I propose to leave the Commissioner in charge of the fort, -with ten of his own Sikhs and fifty sowars under Ressaldar Ghulam -Rasul. Every civilian who can hold a weapon must also do duty. I shall -take a hundred and fifty dismounted sowars and thirty Sikhs, with all -the enrolled volunteers, and make a dash for the hill under cover of -darkness. If we succeed, we shall have averted a great danger; if we -fail, the fort will be no worse off than if we had hung about and done -nothing. I am confident that the Commissioner will fight to the end, -and not allow himself to be tempted by any offer of terms.” - -“Know the beggars too well,” said Mr Burgrave laconically. - -“That’s the main scheme; now for details. To reach the hill, the canal -must be crossed in any case. The most obvious plan would undoubtedly -be for the force to rendezvous silently in the shadow of the west -curtain, traverse the irrigated land, and restore the bridge at the -foot of the hill sufficiently to cross by it. But the enemy could -sweep the whole route from their positions both in the town and on the -hill, and they will be very much on the alert to-night. My idea is to -cross the canal here from the water-gate, and march the first part of -the distance along the bank, so as to come upon the enemy from the -side he won’t expect us. He knows we have neither boat nor bridge, and -the water is still deep enough along the wall to be impassable to any -but good swimmers.” - -“Then how do you propose to cross?” asked Mr Burgrave. - -“There I must invite suggestions. We have no time for building boats -or bridges, and the water-gate offers no facilities for it either. A -raft, possibly. What do you think, Runcorn?” - -“A raft supported on inflated skins, sir?” asked the engineer officer. -“That might be practicable, but it would have to be very small, for -the passage to the gate is so narrow that all the materials must be -taken to the water’s edge separately and put together there. There is -no standing-ground of any sort but the wretched shaky steps that the -water-carriers use, so that we can’t well lower things from the wall.” - -“And the time spent in ferrying the force over would be interminable, -not to mention the risk of discovery by the enemy,” said Colonel -Graham. - -His subordinates looked at one another. Various suggestions had been -hazarded and rejected, when a hesitating voice made itself heard. The -speaker was Mr Hardy, who had joined the group a few minutes earlier, -with a message to the Colonel from one of the wounded officers in the -hospital. - -“In my Oxford days,” he said, “I remember a pleasant walk through the -meadows--” His hearers gasped. Why should these peaceful recollections -be obtruded at such a moment? “There was one point at which the path -crossed a considerable stream, and a punt that ran on wires was placed -there. I’m afraid I am not very intelligible,” he smiled nervously. “I -can’t describe the mechanism in technical language, but the punt was -fastened to one wire, and the other was free and moved on pulleys, so -that you could pull yourself across, or draw the punt towards you if -it happened to be at the opposite bank.” - -“Padri,” said Colonel Graham, “it’s clear that you are an unsuspected -mechanical genius. This is the very thing we want, though we must use -rope instead of wire.” - -“But we have even got that, sir,” said Runcorn eagerly. “Timson was -boasting that he had saved all the stores of his department--miles of -telegraph wire amongst them. Now he’ll have to disgorge.” - -“Then will you set about the construction of the ferry, Runcorn? You -can’t begin work on the spot until night, but you can get your -materials ready. Requisition anything you want, of course.” - -“May we make a suggestion, sir?” said Fitz Anstruther, coming forward -with Winlock as the council broke up. Signals of intelligence had been -passing between the two for some time, and they had held a whispered -consultation while the ferry was being discussed. - -“Why, what plot have you on hand?” - -It was Winlock who answered. “We thought that it might make all the -difference to your success, sir, if a diversion could be arranged to -distract the enemy’s attention. We two know every foot of these hills -from _chikor_-shooting, and if we might pick out a dozen or so of the -sowars who have constantly gone with us out hunting as beaters, we -could make a sham attack. We know of a splendid place on the side of a -hill, inaccessible from below, which commands the camp of the hostile -tribes, and we thought if we sent up a signal rocket or two, to be -answered from the fort, and then poured in as many volleys as there -was time for, it might make a good impression. Of course, as soon as -they try to get round us and rush the hill, we must retire, to keep -them from finding out how few we are; but the main force ought to have -settled the guns by that time, and we might rendezvous on the hill and -march back together.” - -“It sounds feasible,” said the Colonel slowly; “but how do you propose -to cross the canal?” - -“We don’t mean to cross it in going, sir. Anstruther says we can -clamber along the base of this wall from the water-gate round the -south-western tower, so as to get on to dry land under the west -curtain.” - -“I know it’s possible, sir,” said Fitz eagerly. “I’ve done it more -than once when the canal was low, and it’ll be easier now that the -bricks are so much washed away. And of course we shall be very careful -in crossing the irrigated land--all of us in khaki, you see, and -taking advantage of every bit of cover--and unless we run right into -one of the enemy’s outposts, I don’t see how they are to spot us. And -think of the benefit it will be to have their attention distracted -from your movement!” - -“You realise that you are taking your lives in your hands? You will -probably have to swim the canal higher up to join us, and, after all, -we may not be able to wait for you. Your men will be volunteers, of -course? They must understand that it’s a desperate business.” - -“Yes, sir; but they’ll come like a shot. They’ve been out with us -after _markhor_, and we’ve been in some tight places in the mountains. -May we have what rockets we want?” - -“By all means. Good luck go with you! I wish I was coming too!” - -“That’s really handsome of the C.O.,” said Fitz, dodging a bullet as -he clattered down the stairs into the courtyard with Winlock. “Grand -firework display to-night! What a pity that the ladies and all the -refugees can’t have front seats on the ramparts to watch the -_tamasha_!” - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - THE DARKEST HOUR. - -“Sahib, there is a man under the wall on the east side.” - -“How did he come there?” demanded Colonel Graham angrily. “What are -the sentries doing?” - -“The night is so dark, sahib, that he crept up unnoticed. He is the -holy mullah Aziz-ud-Din, and desires speech with your honour.” - -“The Amir’s mullah? You are sure of it?” - -“I know his voice, sahib. He is holding his hands on high, to show -that he has no weapons.” - -“I suppose we may as well see what he has to say,” said the Colonel to -Mr Burgrave, with whom he had been making final arrangements, and the -two men climbed the steps to the east rampart. Once there, and looking -over into the darkness, it was some little time before their eyes -could distinguish the dim figure at the foot of the wall. - -“Peace!” said Colonel Graham. - -“It is peace, sahib. I bear the words of the Amir Ashraf Ali Khan. He -says, ‘It is now out of my power to save the lives of the sahibs, and -I will not deceive them, knowing that a warrior’s death amid the ruins -of their fortress will please them better than to fall into the hands -of my thrice-accursed nephew, who has stolen the hearts of my soldiers -from me. But this I can do. The houses next to the canal on this side -of the fort are held by my own bodyguard, faithful men who have eaten -of my salt for many years, and I have there six swift camels hidden. -Let the Memsahibs be entrusted to me, especially those of the -household of my beloved friend Nāth Sahib, and I will send them at -once to Nalapur, where they shall be in sanctuary in my own palace, -and I will swear--I who kept my covenant with the Sarkar until the -Sarkar broke it--that death shall befall me before any harm touches -them.’” - -“Why is this message sent to-night?” asked Colonel Graham. - -“Because Bahram Khan is preparing a great destruction, sahib, and the -heart of Ashraf Ali Khan bleeds to think that the houses of his -friends Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib and Nāth Sahib should both be blotted -out in one day.” - -“Carry my thanks and those of the Commissioner Sahib to Ashraf Ali -Khan, but tell him that the Memsahibs will remain with us. Their -presence would only place him in greater danger, and he would not be -able to protect them. But we can. They will not fall into the hands of -Bahram Khan.” - -“It is well, sahib.” The faint blur which represented the messenger -melted into the surrounding blackness, and Colonel Graham turned to -his companion. - -“It will be your business to see to that, if the enemy break in. -Haycraft comes with me. We must leave Flora in your charge. Don’t let -her fall into their hands, any more than Miss North.” - -“I promise,” said Mr Burgrave, and their hands met in the darkness. - -“Thanks. I think we have settled everything now. We don’t start for an -hour yet, and if you like to explain things to Miss North----” - -“I should prefer to say nothing unless the necessity arises.” - -“I never thought of your going into details, but she must know -something, surely? Flora will learn the state of affairs from -Haycraft; Mrs North will pick it up from the Hardys and her ayah, and -Miss North will probably expect---- But please yourself, of course.” - -“I will go and talk to her for a little while. I have scarcely seen -her all day.” - -Mr Burgrave’s tone was constrained. It seemed to him almost impossible -to meet Mabel at this crisis, and abstain from any allusion to the -terrible duty which had just been laid upon him. He was not an -imaginative man, and no forecast of the scene burned itself into his -brain, as would have been the case with some people, but the -oppression of anticipation was heavy upon him. For him the dull horror -in his mind overshadowed everything, and it was with a shock that he -found Mabel to be in one of her most vivacious and aggressive moods. -She was walking up and down the verandah outside her room as if for a -wager, turning at each end of the course with a swish of draperies -which sounded like an angry breeze, and she hailed his arrival with -something like enthusiasm, simply because he was some one to talk to. - -“Flora is crying on Fred’s--I mean Mr Haycraft’s--shoulder somewhere,” -she said; “and Mrs Hardy and Georgia are having a prayer-meeting with -the native Christians. They wanted me to come too; but I don’t feel as -if I could be quiet, and I shouldn’t understand, either. What is going -to happen, really?” - -“The Colonel proposes to make a sortie and capture the two guns which -the enemy have brought up. There is, I trust, every prospect of his -succeeding.” - -Mabel stamped her foot. “Why can’t you tell me the truth, instead of -trying to sugar things over?” she demanded. “It would be much more -interesting.” - -“You must allow me to decide what is suitable for you to hear,” said -Mr Burgrave, his mind still so full of that final duty of his that he -spoke with a serene indifference which Mabel found most galling. - -“I don’t allow you to do anything of the sort. I wish you wouldn’t -treat me as if I was a baby. It’s like telling me yesterday that all -the fresh milk in the place was to be reserved for us women and the -wounded, as if I wanted to be pilloried as a lazy, selfish creature, -doing nothing and demanding luxuries!” - -“My dear little girl, I am sure there isn’t a man in the garrison who -would consent to your missing any comfort that the place can furnish.” - -“That’s just it. I want to feel the pinch--to share the hardships. But -of course you don’t understand--you never do.” She stopped and looked -at him. “I don’t know how it is, Eustace, but you seem somehow to stir -up everything that is bad in my nature. I could die happy if I had -once shocked you thoroughly.” - -He recoiled from her involuntarily. “Do you think it is a time to joke -about death when it may be close upon you?” he asked, with some -severity. - -“That sounds as if you were a little shocked,” said Mabel -meditatively. “But you know, Eustace, whenever you tell me to do -anything--I mean when you express a wish that I should do anything--I -feel immediately the strongest possible impulse to do exactly the -opposite.” - -“But the impulse has never yet been translated into action?” he asked, -with the indulgent smile which was reserved for Mabel when she talked -extravagantly. - -“I’m ashamed to say it hasn’t.” - -“Then I am quite satisfied. I can scarcely aspire to regulate your -thoughts just at present, can I? But so long as you respect my -wishes----” - -“Oh, what a lot of trouble it would save if we were all comfortably -killed to-night!” cried Mabel, with a sudden change of mood. Mr -Burgrave was shocked, and showed it. “I’m in earnest, Eustace.” - -“My dear child, you can hardly expect me to believe that you would -welcome the horrors which the storming of this place would entail?” - -“Oh no; of course not. You are so horribly literal. Can’t you see that -my nerves are all on edge? I do wish you understood things. If you -won’t talk about what’s going to be done to-night, do go away, and -don’t stay here and be mysterious.” - -“Dear child, do you think I shall judge you hardly for this feminine -weakness? You need not be afraid of hurting or shocking me. Say -anything you like; I shall put it down to the true cause. If your -varying moods have taught me nothing else, at least I have learnt -since our engagement to take your words at their proper valuation.” - -“If you pile many more loads of obligation upon me, I shall expire!” -said Mabel sharply, only to receive a kind smile in return. Anything -more that she might have said, in the amiable design of shocking him -beyond forgiveness, was prevented by the appearance of Mrs Hardy. - -“Is it true that you are going to arm all the civilians in the place, -Mr Burgrave?” she demanded of the Commissioner. - -“It is thought well--merely as a precautionary measure.” - -“Then I do beg and beseech you to give Mr Hardy a rifle that won’t go -off, or we shall all be shot.” - -“We will get the Padri to go round and hand out fresh cartridges, -instead of giving him a gun,” said Mr Burgrave seriously, but Mabel -burst into a peal of hysterical laughter, which was effectual in -putting a stop to further conversation, and he returned to the outer -courtyard, where the men chosen for the forlorn hope were mustering in -readiness for the start. Fitz and Winlock and their small party had -left already, officers and men alike wearing the native grass sandals -instead of boots, as they had been accustomed to do in their hunting -expeditions, and it was known that they had scrambled along the wall -and round the base of the south-western tower in safety. The ferry had -by this time been successfully constructed by Runcorn and his -assistants, one of whom had undertaken the very unpleasant task of -swimming across the ice-cold canal to pass the first wire rope round -one of the posts which registered the height of the water on the -opposite bank. Ball ammunition in extra quantities was served out to -the whole force, for although Colonel Graham hoped to confine himself -entirely to cold steel, for the sake of quietness, he was determined -to be able to reply to the enemy’s fire, should their attention -unfortunately be aroused. The men were marched down in parties to the -water-gate, and ferried over as quickly as the confined space would -allow, and when all had crossed, the raft was drawn back to the -gateway, and the wire disconnected. It had been decided that this was -imperative, lest the enemy should take advantage of the ferry to cross -the canal while the attention of the garrison was occupied by an -attack in front. If the forlorn hope returned victorious, it would be -easy to reconstruct the ferry by throwing a rope to them from the -rampart, while if they were compelled to retreat, the raft was so -small that to employ it under fire would entail a useless sacrifice of -life, and the fugitives would do better to swim. - -Then began a weary waiting-time for those in the fort. The night was -moonless, so that it was impossible to distinguish any movement, -whether on the part of friend or of foe. At last a rocket, rising from -the cliff which overhung the town on the north-west, and which Fitz -and Winlock had indicated as their goal, showed that they, at least, -had so far been successful. The rocket sent up from the fort in reply -was answered by another from the cliff, and this was immediately -followed by the distant sound of brisk firing, which seemed to cause -considerable perturbation in the parts of the town occupied by the -enemy. Lights moved about hurriedly from place to place, horns were -blown, and there was a confused noise of angry shouting. The garrison -did their best, by opening fire from the wall and towers, to increase -the effect of the surprise, but without much hope of hitting anything, -for the moving lights did not afford very satisfactory targets. In -reply, a dropping fire broke out from the houses opposite, which was -maintained for some time, but with little spirit, and slackened -gradually. Scarcely had Mr Burgrave given the order to cease fire, -however, when a heavy fusillade was heard on the west of the fort, -though not from the hill. The sound appeared to come from the point at -which the bridge, now in ruins, had crossed the canal, a point which -it had not hitherto been known that the enemy were occupying, and -which Colonel Graham had not intended to approach. His force should -have been far to the left of it by this time, and already mounting the -hill. The most probable explanation seemed to be that they had missed -their way in the darkness, and following the bank of the canal too -far, had fallen into an ambuscade posted at the ruins of the bridge to -guard against any attempt to cross for the purpose of capturing the -guns. The Commissioner and his garrison waited and listened in the -deepest anxiety, straining their eyes to try and perceive, from the -flashes of the rifles, which way the fight was tending. But the firing -ceased suddenly, as that on the farther side of the enemy’s position -had done some time before. There was nothing to do but wait. - -Suddenly, after a long interval, a piteous wailing arose at the rear -of the fort, from the opposite bank of the canal. A native stood -there, one of the water-carriers who had accompanied the force, -abjectly entreating to be fetched over, since the enemy were at his -heels. To employ the ferry at such a moment was not to be thought of, -but a rope was thrown from the steps of the water-gate, and the -miserable wretch, plunging in, caught it, and was drawn across. He -told a terrible tale as he stood dripping and shivering in the passage -leading to the gate. Colonel Graham’s force had been attacked, shortly -after leaving the canal-bank, by overwhelming numbers of the enemy, -who had first poured in a withering fire, and then rushed forward to -complete the destruction with their knives and tulwars. The _bhisti_ -himself was the only man who had escaped, and the enemy had pursued -him to the very edge of the canal. The sharpest-sighted men in the -fort, sent to the rampart to test the truth of this statement as far -as they could by starlight, were obliged to confirm it. There was -undoubtedly a large body of the enemy on the other side of the canal. -They were lying down behind the high bank, so as to be sheltered from -the fire of the garrison. - -“To cut off fugitives, I suppose,” muttered Mr Burgrave, half to -himself and half to Ressaldar Ghulam Rasul. “That looks as though the -massacre were not quite so complete as--Hark! I thought I heard a -sound from the hill. Can our glorious fellows have made a last dash -for it after all--some few who escaped?” - -The men on the rampart stood like statues to listen, but failed to -distinguish anything that might confirm the Commissioner’s surmise. -The air seemed full of sound--footfalls, a murmur from the town, a -stray shot or two from the same direction, and on the west a kind of -shuffling noise. The enemy were taking up their positions for the -attack. Mr Burgrave sent orders to the guard at the water-gate to let -the air out of the inflated skins which supported the raft, so as to -sink it to the level of the water, and this was at once done. When he -had posted a sentry in the passage and another on the rampart above -it, he was able to leave that side of the fort to defend itself, since -the enemy had no means of crossing to assail it. To occupy the whole -range of wall with the absurdly small force at his disposal was -obviously impossible, and he therefore placed ten men in each of the -larger towers, from which, with the usual amount of trouble and risk, -a flanking fire could be obtained, and twelve in the two gateway -turrets, retaining the Ressaldar and sixteen men as a reserve, ready -to make a dash for any point that might be specially threatened. If -the garrison should be driven from the walls, those who escaped were -to rush for the hospital, where the women and children would take -refuge, and the last stand was to be made. Having ordered his forces -to their stations, the Commissioner went the round of the towers to -encourage the men. His own Sikhs he could deal with well enough, but -he felt that it was the irony of fate which obliged him to urge the -sowars of the Khemistan Horse to show themselves worthy of their first -commander, General Keeling, and it seemed as if the same thought had -occurred to the men, for they scowled at him resentfully when they -heard the mighty name from his lips. - -The bad news brought by the fugitive spread through the fort with -astonishing rapidity. The native women, whom Georgia had succeeded in -soothing into some sort of calmness before the departure of the -forlorn hope, filled the air with their wailings, until Ismail Bakhsh, -who was head of the civilian guard detailed for the defence of the -hospital, threatened to fire a volley among them if they were not -quiet. Flora Graham’s ayah was gossiping with a friend among these -women when the news arrived, and she rushed with it at once to her -mistress’s room. Poor Flora had shut herself up alone to pray for the -safety of her father and lover, and was following in thought every -step of their perilous march. She had just reached with them the -summit of the hill, and rushed upon the guard round the guns, when the -ayah burst in with the news that the worst had happened. The sudden -revulsion of feeling was too much for Flora. Her usual self-control -deserted her, and she ran wildly across the courtyard to Georgia’s -room. Georgia was lying down, talking softly in the dark to Mabel, who -sat beside her, and both sprang up at Flora’s entrance. - -“What is it? Have they come back?” they demanded, with one voice. - -“No, no; they are killed--all killed! Papa and Fred both--oh, Mrs -North, what can I do?” She dropped sobbing on the floor at Georgia’s -feet, and buried her face in her dress. - -“Perhaps it isn’t true,” suggested Georgia faintly. She had sunk down -again on the bed. - -“There’s no hope--one man has come back, the only survivor. Both of -them at once! and I was praying for them, and I felt so sure--and even -while I was praying they were being killed.” - -“Is the whole force cut off?” asked Georgia, almost in a whisper. - -“All but this one man.” Flora checked her sobs for a moment to answer. - -“Fitz Anstruther too?” cried Mabel sharply. - -“All, I tell you! It doesn’t signify to you, Mab; you have your -Eustace left, but I have lost everything. Oh, Mrs North, you know how -it feels. Help me to bear it.” - -“Flora dear,” began Georgia, with difficulty. “I--I can’t breathe,” -she gasped, struggling to stand up. “Please ask Mrs Hardy to come. I -feel so faint. She will understand.” - -Rahah, who had been crouched in the corner as usual, sprang up and ran -out, returning in a moment with Mrs Hardy, who fell upon both girls -immediately, and drove them out with bitter reproaches. - -“You pair of selfish, thoughtless chatterboxes! I should have thought -you had more sense, Flora. Just be off, both of you. You can have my -rooms for the rest of the night; I shall stay here. Even if all our -poor fellows are killed, is that any reason for killing Mrs North -too?” - -“Oh, please don’t, Mrs Hardy! I never thought--Mrs North is always so -kind, and I am so miserable,” sobbed Flora. - -“You shouldn’t be miserable unless you’re quite certain it’s -necessary. You wouldn’t believe a native who told you he was dead, as -they are always doing; so why should you when he says other people are -dead?” demanded Mrs Hardy, with a brilliancy of logic which somehow -failed to satisfy. “I haven’t a doubt that the _bhisti_ took to his -heels in a panic at the sound of the first shot, and if he hadn’t -fortunately been in the rear, the panic might have spread to all the -rest. There, go away, do, and don’t cry so. We’ll hope all will go -well.” - - - -“Why have you left your post, doctor?” asked Mr Burgrave, meeting Dr -Tighe crossing the courtyard. - -“The hospital will have to look after itself a good deal to-night, but -I have left the Padri and my Babu in charge there. Mrs North is taken -ill.” - -“Good heavens! It only needed this to make the horror of the situation -complete.” - -“From our point of view, it may be the best thing that could happen. -It will make the men fight like demons. Here, you girl, where are you -going?” He had caught the shoulder of a veiled woman who ran up and -tried to slip past him into the passage, but she let her _chadar_ fall -aside, and disclosed herself as Rahah. - -“I have been telling the men of the regiment, sahib, and they have all -sworn great oaths that so long as one of them has a spark of life left -Sinjāj Kīlin’s daughter shall not be without a protector in her -need, and that the corpses of foes without and friends within shall be -piled as high as the ramparts before the enemy shall gain a footing on -the wall. I told also those in the hospital”--there was a hint of -malice in Rahah’s voice--“and every wounded man who can sit up in bed -is crying out for a gun. They will serve as hospital guard, they say, -and set Ismail Bakhsh and his men free to fight on the walls.” - -“Good idea, that!” said Dr Tighe, turning to the Commissioner. “You -see how the men take it. Well, I shall keep Mrs North in her own -quarters if I can, but there is a passage through to the hospital -courtyard, and we must carry her over if it’s necessary. But I don’t -think it will be, now.” - -Mr Burgrave nodded, and returned to his station on the west curtain. -Why the enemy did not advance to the attack was a mystery. In the -opinion of Ghulam Rasul and his most experienced subordinates, they -had moved out from their position in the town, and were occupying the -irrigated land on both sides of the canal in large numbers, sheltered -against any volley from the walls by the rows of trees which marked -the lines of the water-courses. They could not be seen, nor could it -precisely be said that they were heard, but as the old soldiers in the -garrison said, it could be felt that they were there. The situation -was eerie in the extreme, and Mr Burgrave was unable to find comfort -in a phenomenon which made his men cheerful in a moment. It was the -Ressaldar who called his attention to it as they stood straining their -ears in the attempt to distinguish some definite sound in the -murmuring silence, and at once he himself heard clearly the faint -tramp of a galloping horse far away to the north-east. - -“He rides!” breathed Ghulam Rasul in an ecstasy, and “He rides!” cried -the sowar nearest him, catching up the words from his lips. “He -rides!” went from man to man, until the defenders of the towers looked -at one another with glistening eyes, and even the unsympathetic Sikhs, -who held themselves loftily aloof from the contemptible local -superstitions of their Khemi comrades, repeated, with something of -enthusiasm, “He rides!” “He rides; all is well,” said Ismail Bakhsh, -puffing out his chest with pride, in his temporary guardroom on the -clubhouse verandah. “Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib is watching over his house -and over his children. The power of the Sarkar stands firm.” - - [image: images/img_198.jpg - caption: “HE RIDES”] - -All unconscious of the moral reinforcement which was doubling the -strength of the garrison, Mabel and Flora sat disconsolately over the -charcoal brazier in Mrs Hardy’s room, listening for the sounds of the -attack, which they expected to hear each moment. Mrs Hardy’s vigorous -rebuke had nerved them both to put a brave face on matters, and for -some time they vied with one another in discovering reasons for -refusing to credit the report of the fugitive, and deciding that all -might yet be well. But as time went on, and there was no sign of the -triumphant return of Colonel Graham and his force, their valiant -efforts at cheerfulness flagged perceptibly. Mrs Hardy, running across -to say that Georgia was doing pretty well, advised them to lie down -and try to sleep, but they scouted the idea with indignation, and -still sat looking gloomily into the glowing embers and listening to -the night wind, which wailed round the crazy old buildings in a -peculiarly mournful manner. - -“Doesn’t it seem absurdly incongruous,” said Mabel at last, in a low -voice, “that you and I--two _fin de siècle_ High School girls, who -have taken up all the modern fads just like other people--should be -sitting here, expecting every moment that a band of savages will break -in and kill us--with swords? It feels so unnatural--so horribly out of -drawing.” - -“How can you talk such nonsense?” snapped Flora, upon whose nerves the -strain of suspense was telling severely. “I never heard that a High -School career protected people against a violent death. Do you think -it felt natural to the women in the Mutiny to be killed--or the French -Revolution, or any time like that?” - -“I don’t know. It really seems as if they must have been more -accustomed to horrors in those days. Just imagine, Flora, the little -paragraph there will be in the _South Central Magazine_: ‘We regret to -record the death of Miss Mabel North, O.S.C., who was murdered in the -late rising on the Indian frontier. Miss Flora Graham, a distinguished -student of St Scipio’s College, St Margarets, N.B., is believed to -have perished on the same sad occasion.’ Your school paper will have -just the same sort of thing in it, and the two editors will send each -other complimentary copies, and acknowledge the courtesy in the next -number. It will all be about you and me--and we shall be dead.” - -“Of course we shall; you said that before. But I don’t see what good -it does to die many times before our deaths.” - -“How horrid of you to call me a coward!” said Mabel pensively. - -“I don’t call you anything of the sort. I think you must be fearfully -brave to look at things in this detached, artistic kind of way, but -what’s the good of it? Death must come when it will come, but -naturally no one could be expected to look forward with pleasure to -the mere fact of dying. Unless, of course”--Flora’s blue eyes shone as -she turned suddenly from the general to the particular--“my dying -would save papa or Fred. Then I should be glad to die.” - -“You really mean that you wouldn’t mind being killed if somehow it -would save either of their lives?” - -“Of course I do, just as you would gladly die to save your Eustace.” - -“But I wouldn’t!” cried Mabel involuntarily, then tried to minimise -the effect of her admission by turning it into a joke. “I think it’s -his privilege to do that for me.” - -“I wish you wouldn’t say that sort of thing!” said Flora -reproachfully. “Happily there’s no one else to hear it, but if I -didn’t know you, I should think you were perfectly horrid.” - -“No, Flora, really,” cried Mabel, in a burst of honesty; “I can’t say -confidently that there is one person in the world I would die for. I -feel as if I could die to save Georgia, but I don’t know whether I -could do it when the time came. I used to think that people--English -people, at any rate--became heroic just as a matter of course when -danger happened, but now I begin to believe that it depends a good -deal on what they have been like before.” - -“You always try to make the worst of yourself.” - -“No, I don’t. I’m trying to look at myself as I really am. I have -never in all my life done a thing I didn’t like if I could help it. -What sort of preparation is that for being heroic? Flora,” with a -sudden change of subject, “suppose the enemy had stormed the fort -before this evening, would you have asked your father or Fred to kill -you?” - -“No,” was the unexpected reply. “It would have been so awfully hard on -them. I keep a revolver in this pocket of my coat. You just put it to -your eye--and it’s done.” - -“Oh, I wish I was like you! I know I should be wondering and worrying -whether it was right, and all that sort of thing, until it was too -late to do it.” - -“I don’t care whether it would be right or not,” said Flora doggedly. -“I should do it. Do you think I would make things worse for papa and -Fred, or let them have the blame of it if it was wrong?” - -“I suppose Eustace would do it for me,” drearily. “He would if he -thought it was the proper thing. He always does the proper thing.” - -“I wish you wouldn’t talk in such a horrid voice. It makes me feel -creepy. And I don’t think it’s fair to say that sort of thing about -the Commissioner. He’s perfectly devoted to you, and you know it would -break his heart to have to--do what we were talking about. I don’t -believe you’re half as fond of him as he is of you.” - -“Have you found that out now for the first time?” - -“Then it’s a shame!” cried Flora. “Why do you let him think you care -for him? He worships you, and you pretend----” - -“I don’t pretend. He took it into his head that I cared for him, and -wouldn’t let me say I didn’t. And he doesn’t worship me. He thinks -that I shall make a nice adoring sort of worshipper for him when he -has got me well in hand.” - -“Well, I think you ought to be ashamed of yourself!” said Flora -crushingly. - -“You needn’t be horrid. I’m sure I have quite enough to bear as it is. -What with thinking every morning when I wake that I shall have to be -pleasant to him whenever he chooses to come and talk to me all day, -when I should like to be at the other end of the world----” - -“What do you mean to do when you are married?” - -Mabel shivered. “I don’t know,” she said. “I rather hope we shall be -killed instead.” - -“You needn’t expect to get out of difficulties in that way. If you -want to be killed, you are quite sure not to be. And to go on living a -lie----” - -“_Don’t!_” entreated Mabel. “Whichever way you look at it, it’s -dreadful. I don’t know what to do. What’s that? I’m sure I heard a -step.” - -It must have been Mr Burgrave’s evil genius which prompted him to -present himself at that particular time. The enemy had made no -movement, and the Commissioner thought he might safely leave the wall -for a moment, in order to obtain a sight of Mabel, and inquire after -Georgia. He entered the room with a creditable assumption of -cheerfulness, which the girls did not even observe. - -“How are we getting on?” asked Mabel hastily. - -“Oh, well, we must hope for the best,” was the unsatisfying answer. In -his own mind Mr Burgrave had no doubt that the enemy were only waiting -for dawn to make their attack, and would advance on the fort at the -same moment that their guns opened fire from the hill. - -“No news yet of the forlorn hope?” asked Flora. - -“No news,” he answered, then hesitated with his hand on the door, and -looked at Mabel. She rose, as if in response to his glance, and went -out on the verandah with him. - -“Poor little girl!” he said, putting his arm round her. “This -waiting-time is very hard upon you, isn’t it? God knows I would give -you comfort if I could, but I dare not raise false hopes.” - -Mabel freed herself from his clasp. In the dim light cast by the -brazier through the small window, he could see that she was very pale, -and that her eyes looked unnaturally large and dark in the whiteness -of her face. “I want you to take this back, please,” she said, holding -out her engagement ring. “I can’t die with a lie upon my soul.” - -“A lie!” he exclaimed, in bewilderment. - -“I don’t love you. Sometimes I think I almost hate you,” she replied, -in a low, monotonous voice. - -His natural impulse was to take her in his arms and crush this latest -attempt at rebellion by sheer weight of mingled authority and -affection, as he had done more than once before; but the words died -upon his lips as he looked into her face, and he stood irresolute. -This was not coquetry, not the wild talk for which he had smiled at -her that very evening, but desperate earnest. - -“Am I to take this as your own unbiassed wish, Mabel?” he asked -slowly, seeing his world fall in ruins around him as he spoke. - -“Absolutely,” she answered. - -He took the ring from her hand. “It is the kind of encouragement that -is calculated to nerve a man for the fight, isn’t it?” he asked. “But -perhaps some bullet will be more merciful than you are.” - -He slipped the ring on his little finger, and taking up his crutch, -left her without another word. When he returned to the rampart it -struck him, preoccupied though he was, that the night was not quite so -dark as before. Dawn was approaching, and there was a perceptible -unrest in the direction of the plane trees behind which the enemy were -posted. As he stood looking round, Ghulam Rasul approached him from -the north curtain. - -“There is a large body of the enemy advancing towards the gate, -sahib,” he said. “They come out of the town, and are marching in -perfect silence.” - -“Then they mean to attack us on two sides at once,” said the -Commissioner. “Tell the men in the turrets to reserve their fire until -they are close up, Ressaldar. We can’t afford to throw away a shot. -Are the reserve all under arms?” - -“All ready, sahib. Your honour can now hear the enemy’s approach.” - -They stood waiting and listening. And in that hour of awful -expectancy, when armed men were advancing on all sides upon the sorely -pressed fort, Georgia’s boy was born. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - THE LUCK OF THE BABA SAHIB. - -“What is it, doctor?” cried the Commissioner impatiently, as Dr -Tighe ran up the steps towards him at a most unwonted pace. - -“It’s a boy--as fine a child as ever I saw in my life--and both likely -to do well,” was the gasping response. - -“What in the world do you mean by coming and telling me such a thing -as that at this moment, sir?” demanded Mr Burgrave, whose habitual -calmness was fast vanishing under the strain of the events of the -night. “Are you aware that the enemy will probably be inside the fort -in a few minutes, and that I am just about to give the order to fire?” -He leaned over the sand-bags again to listen to the tramp of advancing -feet. - -“I tell you, it’ll make all the difference in the world to the men!” -cried the doctor. “For Heaven’s sake, exhibit some interest, even if -you don’t feel it, or they will credit you with ill-wishing the -child.” - -“Ill-wishing? Nonsense! No one need wish the poor little beggar worse -luck than to come into the world at such a peculiarly inopportune -moment.” - -“Inopportune? Why, he brings good luck with him. Doesn’t he, -Ressaldar?” - -“It is the best of luck, sahib,” answered Ghulam Rasul, with a -complacent smile. “Will your honour bear the _salaams_ of the regiment -to the Memsahib, and entreat her to name an hour when it will be -fitting for a deputation representing all ranks to pay their respects -to the Baba Sahib?” - -“The fellow talks as though we had a lifetime before us!” grumbled the -Commissioner morosely. “Surely they are within easy range now, -Ressaldar?” - -Ghulam Rasul advanced to the parapet, and peered narrowly over the -sand-bags which capped it. “I know not how they come on so steadily, -sahib,” he said hesitatingly, when he stood erect again. “Perhaps it -might be well for your honour----” but he was interrupted by a frantic -shout from both gateway turrets at the same moment. - -“Hold your fire! Hold your fire! The Colonel Sahib!” - -“It is the luck of the Baba Sahib,” said Ghulam Rasul calmly, as Mr -Burgrave and the doctor raced one another for the nearest turret. The -doctor, not being hampered with a crutch, reached the goal first, and -saluted the advancing force with the information that they had just -missed being blown into smithereens. - -“All well, I hope?” said Colonel Graham, as the guard of the turrets -descended tumultuously to unbar the gate. - -“All well, Colonel, and the garrison increased by one since you left. -And what about the guns, if I may ask?” - -“The guns? Oh, they’re at the bottom of the canal,” was the answer -that stupefied Dr Tighe, as the forlorn hope began to file through the -gateway. - -“Then you were successful after all,” inquired the incredulous voice -of Mr Burgrave from the steps. - -“Oh, I see it! I see it!” cried Dr Tighe, laughing wildly. “You -settled the guns, Colonel dear, and then you came home another way, -while the enemy are all waiting for you under the hill at this moment! -Oh, pat me on the back, somebody, or I’ll die!” - -“What’s wrong with you, Tighe?” asked Colonel Graham in astonishment, -as the doctor sat down upon a pile of the sand-bags that had been -taken away from the gate, and fairly wept. - -“If you’d been through what I have to-night, going backwards and -forwards between life and death, as I may say, and expecting those -fiends to break in any moment--why, you would be glad to find yourself -and other people still alive,” was the incoherent reply, as Dr Tighe -accepted a sip from the flask which Winlock held out to him. “But I -beg your pardon, Colonel Graham and gentlemen, for this exhibition,” -he added stiffly, as he rose and smoothed down his coat. “It was the -thought that there’s a chance now for Mrs North and the child that -bowled me over.” - -“The child?” cried Fitz. “Is it a boy, doctor? Oh, good luck! Three -cheers for the Luck of Alibad!” - -Colonel Graham waved his helmet, and led the cheering with a will, -until the rousing sounds echoed beyond the circuit of the fort and -revealed to the startled enemy that their prey had escaped them. In -the rage caused by the shock of this discovery they forgot their -customary prudence, and leaving their cover, pressed forward to the -walls. The troops had been marching all night, but every man hurried -to his station without a moment for food or rest, in the conviction -that the crisis of the siege had at last arrived. The attack was only -half-hearted however, although the enemy had provided themselves with -scaling-ladders, in the evident expectation of being able to push -their assault home. The absence of the support upon which they had -counted from their cannon on the hill upset their plans, and although -Bahram Khan could be seen urging his followers forward even with -blows, and setting them the example himself by advancing to the very -foot of the wall, they did not so much as succeed in planting one of -the ladders. When convinced that the attempt was hopeless, the Prince -drew off his forces with considerable skill. A detachment of marksmen -posted behind the plane trees made it impossible for the defenders to -show themselves at the loopholes, and thus the assailants escaped with -but little loss, though it was indubitable that in this, their first -attack in force, they had suffered a defeat. - - - -“Oh, I do feel so perfectly happy!” cried Mabel. “Think of all the -horrid doleful things we were saying last night, Flora. And now -Georgie is getting on all right, and the baby----” - -“And such a baby!” said Flora gravely, contemplating with deep -interest the morsel of humanity which was lying in Mabel’s arms, -wrapped in a shawl. It was with most unflattering reluctance that Mrs -Hardy and Rahah had consented to confide their precious charge to two -amateur nurses, however well meaning; but Mabel took a high view of -her privileges as an aunt, and the baby had been entrusted to her and -Flora for a short time, on condition of their promising faithfully to -bring it back if it cried. - -“And our men are all safely back, and we have won a victory, and -everything is splendid!” Mabel went on. And yet she did not disclose -the chief cause of her abounding satisfaction. She was free once more, -and she felt that a load had been removed from her mind. But if she -told Flora, Flora would think that her plain speaking the night before -had brought about this happy result, and ungratefully enough, Mabel -did not care that she should think so. “I feel as if I should like to -dance,” she broke out. “Do dance, Flora.” - -“And shake the dear baby?” asked Flora reproachfully. - -“Salaam, Miss Sahib!” said a voice from the doorway, and they turned -to see Ismail Bakhsh standing in the semi-darkness of the passage, -shaded by the matting curtain. “Is it permitted to the meanest of his -slaves to kiss the feet of the Baba Sahib?” - -“Oh yes, you can see him,” said Mabel, guessing at the tenor of the -request, and she held up the baby. It was not by any means her -intention that Ismail Bakhsh should take the child from her arms, but -this he did at once. - -“Oh, you’ll make him cry!” protested Flora. - -“Nay, Miss Sahib, he will know me, that I am the servant of his house. -Was I not for ten years Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib’s orderly, going in and -out with him?” - -“All the same, I don’t quite see how that should make you an authority -on babies, my good man,” murmured Flora, and told Mabel Ismail -Bakhsh’s qualifications for the post he had usurped. But the baby lay -quite quietly in his arms, as though it recognised the force of the -ancestral tie. - -“The Baba Sahib has the eyes of Nāth Sahib, not of Kīlin Sahib,” was -the self-constituted nurse’s next remark, delivered in a tone of keen -regret. - -“True, but some children’s eyes change colour, just as kittens’ do. -Perhaps his will,” suggested Flora, gravely and consolingly. - -“Georgia wouldn’t like that,” objected Mabel, when this was translated -to her. - -“I’m afraid poor Mrs North won’t see much of him, if the regiment have -their way,” said Flora. “Do you know what Ismail Bakhsh is saying -now?” - -“I shall carry the Baba Sahib daily into the air, that he may grow -tall and strong,” the old man was announcing. “And as soon as he -learns to walk I shall bring a little pony--a very little pony, Miss -Sahib”--this in answer to the protest he discerned in Flora’s -face--“and I shall teach him to ride without saddle or bridle, that he -may be like his grandfather, and I shall instruct him in the use of -arms, so that when he joins the regiment with the Empress’s commission -he will have no occasion to learn anything. He is to be a soldier from -the day of his birth.” - -“Oh, how his father would have loved to teach him to ride!” murmured -Mabel, with tears in her eyes. - -“The regiment will be his father, Miss Sahib. Is he not the son of -Sinjāj Kīlin?” - -“No, he isn’t!” cried Mabel, “and I don’t know why you should persist -in leaving out his own father. Have you forgotten him already?” - -Flora translated the question, and the old man answered it solemnly. -“The Baba Sahib has no father until he has avenged him, Miss Sahib. We -shall tell him of all Nāth Sahib’s doings, and how he was lured to -his death by guile, but he must not take his name upon his lips until -he can say, ‘Now there is not one left alive that had any part in that -accursed deed, for I his son have tracked them out and slain them -all.’” - -“I don’t think Georgia will quite approve of the principles in which -the regiment proposes to educate her boy,” said Mabel. - -“Oh,” said Flora, “he says--‘The Memsahib is but a woman, though -something more than other women. This is our business. Is not the Baba -Sahib the seal of the General, left behind to rule us?’ You know the -story, don’t you, Mab? When General Keeling died the chiefs heard that -he had expressed a desire to be buried in England--which was not true, -by-the-bye--and they came to say that if his seal was left in -Khemistan, they would obey it as if it was himself, so that his body -might be buried where he wished. But he is buried in the churchyard -here, you know, by his own desire.” - -“May we be allowed to take part in the baby-worshipping?” asked Fred -Haycraft’s voice at the end of the verandah. “We couldn’t find any -servants to announce us, so we were obliged to walk in.” - -“Poor old Anand Masih is seeking a little rest after the exciting -events of the night,” laughed Mabel. “Walk softly, please, and come -quite to this end of the verandah, so as not to disturb Georgia.” - -“We felt shy because we couldn’t send in our cards properly,” said -Fitz, who was Haycraft’s companion, “but when we saw you had a visitor -already, we thought we might venture in. What a nice smart nursemaid -Mrs North has set up!--eh, Ismail Bakhsh?” - -“True, sahib; I am the Baba Sahib’s bearer,” responded the old man, -with simple dignity. “Every night when I am not on guard I shall bring -my mat and lie in the verandah here, to guard his sleep.” - -“That’s a queer idea,” said Haycraft. “Has the Memsahib asked you to -look after him?” - -“Nay, sahib; but many seek to destroy the lion cub, for fear of what -he will do when he is full-grown.” - -“I wonder if there’s anything in that,” said Fitz. “Can it be that -Bahram Khan’s men directed their fire purposely upon this courtyard, -knowing that Mrs North was here?” - -“There are enemies within the walls as well as without, sahib,” was -the answer, as Ismail Bakhsh rocked the baby gently in his arms. - -“I say, I believe I could do that!” said Fitz. “Let me have a try.” - -“No, no,” said Mabel; “you’ll only make the baby cry, and hurt his -nurse’s feelings. We want you and Mr Haycraft to tell us what really -happened last night, and why you left us to endure such agonies of -suspense for hours. I believe it was simply that we might think all -the more of you when you got back.” - -“Then I hope you do,” said Haycraft, “for he deserves it. Go ahead, -Anstruther; you left the fort first. I’ll cut in later on, and spare -your blushes.” - -“What in the world are you driving at?” demanded Fitz. “Story? bless -you, ladies! I’ve none to tell. We got across the irrigated land and -into the hills just as we had intended, settled ourselves in our -_cache_, and then sent up our rockets and opened fire. At first it was -exactly like upsetting a beehive, there was such a rushing about and -shouting in the camp underneath and all over the town. But we hadn’t -allowed for one thing. Bahram Khan is far cleverer than we thought -him. He could tell by the sound of our firing that we were only a -small party, and he guessed at once that our attack was nothing but a -feint, arranged to cover a dash on the guns. So he didn’t waste any -time in trying to rush our position, but simply left us alone, which -was truly mortifying, for we had been looking forward to no end of fun -among the rocks, leading the fellows off on false scents, and -astonishing them with unexpected volleys, and all that sort of thing.” - -“Fun, indeed!” cried Mabel indignantly. “You ought to be thankful they -let you alone.” - -“I’m sorry, Miss North. I didn’t know your heart was so tender towards -the enemy. At any rate, they escaped us that time, you see. Well, as -soon as we made sure that the tide of battle was taking its way -elsewhere, we evacuated our sangar, and started off at the double for -the rendezvous. But there were difficulties in the way of getting -there. While we were slipping and sliding down into the valley, making -for the canal, we heard tremendous firing in the direction of the -bridge, which sent our hearts into our sandals, for we knew that the -Colonel’s column had no business to be anywhere near there.” - -“Yes, I cannot make out how you managed to get so far to the right,” -said Flora, addressing Haycraft, and speaking more in sorrow than in -anger, as beseems the arm-chair critic. - -“We didn’t manage anything of the sort,” answered Haycraft. “As a -matter of fact, we were not there at all. The only explanation we can -suggest for the mysterious fusillade is that the Commissioner and his -command were making a record display of wild firing from the walls -here--simply blazing away in every direction--and that some of their -bullets fell among the enemy posted at the bridge-head, and started -them off too. We were marching by compass on the right road when we -heard them a good way off, repulsing, as they imagined, an attack in -the rear. They can’t make out that their shooting is much better than -ours, at any rate, for some of their bullets went wide too, and fell -into our ranks, which threw the native followers into an awful panic. -One or two men got flesh-wounds, that was all, but the doolie-bearers -and _bhistis_ scattered in a moment, and tried to hide. We had to rout -them out of all sort of places, but at last we did think we had found -them all, though it seems now that one of them succeeded in getting -away. He is being dealt with--suitably--at this moment.” - -“And do you mean to say,” asked Mabel, as Fitz laughed grimly, “that -you all went on as if nothing had happened, and never returned the -fire?” - -“Why, that would have given the whole thing away. Our only chance was -to leave them to blaze away at one another, and go straight for the -hill. But this is still Anstruther’s innings.” - -“Well,” said Fitz, “when we heard the firing we instantly occupied a -fine strategic position in a hollow at the base of our cliff, with the -canal in front of us, and one of the men and I scouted a little way -along the bank. What we found out was very exciting indeed. The men at -the bridge-head had discovered their mistake by this time, and ceased -firing, but we saw why they were in such an agitated state of mind. -The bridge had been repaired, and they were guarding it! More than -that, Bahram Khan was even then--as we crouched there--bringing up his -men to cross the canal, and invest the water side of the fort, so -cutting off our fellows as they came home. I can tell you it was a -pretty tough job to wriggle along like a snake, and take advantage of -cover, when one wanted simply to tear back to the rest and consult -what was to be done. You see, there was just this in our favour. The -enemy didn’t know exactly where our men were, and so long as there was -no noise on the hill, they would remain in doubt, for they weren’t -likely to risk their lives by going up to see. Sure enough, they -waited discreetly, spreading themselves out over the irrigated land -below the hill on both sides of the canal. That gave Winlock and me -our cue, and when I got to the Colonel----” - -“But you haven’t said how you got to him!” cried Mabel and Flora -together. - -“My turn!” said Haycraft blandly, laying an authoritative hand on -Fitz’s shoulder. “Sit and squirm, my boy, while I sing your praises. -He swam the canal, ladies, in the dark and icy cold, and took over -with him the end of a rope made of the men’s turbans. Winlock and the -rest waited to guard the crossing, while this fellow climbed the hill, -and by the best of good luck, found us at the top. We had taken the -guard round the guns absolutely by surprise--they were all asleep, in -fact, without a single sentry--and settled things almost in silence. -Not a shot was fired, and everything was so quiet that Woodworth -started the bright idea of bringing the guns home with us instead of -destroying them. It really seemed quite possible, for the drag-ropes -were there ready, and it would have made all the difference in the -world to us to have a couple of cannon. But when Anstruther turned up, -like a very dripping ghost, and informed us that the way was blocked, -and we couldn’t even get home ourselves, much less take back the guns -in triumph, things began to look a little blue. We might stay where we -were, or we might try to cut our way through, but the prospect wasn’t -very cheerful either way.” - -“No food or water on the hill, and the enemy holding all the plain -below,” summarised Fitz tersely. - -“And therefore,” went on Haycraft, “the Colonel lent a willing ear to -the aspiring civilian before you, who offered to lead him right round -through the hills and bring him in at the main gate of the fort, the -very last place where the enemy would think of expecting him. So the -drag-ropes came in useful, after all, for we pulled the guns to a nice -steep place overlooking the water. We had to be awfully quiet, of -course, though the hill was between us and the enemy, but we spiked -the guns and rolled them over into the canal. Then we marched down, -and got across by the help of the drag-ropes, which Winlock and his -men hauled over with their string of turbans. We got pretty wet about -the legs, but nothing to Anstruther. He led us right round, as he had -promised, and at the end we actually marched right through the town -without meeting a soul. The men were told to break step, lest the -tramp should be heard; but the enemy were all ever so far off, -watching affectionately for our reappearance on the other side of the -canal. They hadn’t the slightest suspicion of our real whereabouts. Of -course, if we had known which way we were coming back, we might have -done a lot of things--taken some dynamite and blown up General -Keeling’s house, perhaps--but it’s no use repining about that now.” - -“Repining? I should think not!” cried Flora. “You’ve had a whole night -of marching and counter-marching, and strategic movements and -capturing guns, and you come home to find a nice little fight waiting -for you before you can lie down to sleep, and yet, when you are in the -very act of playing Othello to two Desdemonas, you pretend you aren’t -satisfied!” - -“Oh, we haven’t made enough of them,” said Mabel briskly. “They think -we ought to have met them at the gate, and cast the flowers out of our -best hats before them as they marched in. I’m sure this morbid thirst -for appreciation oughtn’t to be gratified, for their own sakes. Now I -am going to take the boy back to his mother. His brains will certainly -be addled if Ismail Bakhsh rocks him up and down much longer.” - -“What’s happened to the Commissioner?” asked Haycraft, as Mabel -disappeared with the baby. “We rather thought we should find him -here.” - -“I don’t know,” said Flora. “He hasn’t been in this morning. Oh no,” -as Haycraft lifted his eyebrows, “they haven’t quarrelled. They were -quite friendly last night. I daresay he’s busy.” - -“It is because of the Baba Sahib that the Kumpsioner Sahib has not -come,” remarked Ismail Bakhsh calmly, pausing at the corner of the -verandah, and addressing no one in particular. - -“Our friend understands English too well,” muttered Haycraft to Fitz. -“But what can he mean--that Burgrave dislikes babies, or that he is -jealous because Miss North is so much taken up with it?” - -“The Kumpsioner Sahib will not come here in the daytime,” was the dark -reply. “That is why this unworthy one will keep guard here at night, -sahib.” - -“What maggot has the old fellow got in his brain now?” asked Fitz, -when Ismail Bakhsh had disappeared down the passage. - -“I really think this valued family retainer is getting a little bit -cracked,” said Flora. “Do just imagine the Commissioner creeping in -here in the dark with a dagger to murder the baby!” - -“Or smothering it with pillows!” chuckled Haycraft. - -“Well, I only hope Ismail Bakhsh won’t go and shoot some one by -mistake,” said Fitz. - - - -“There is a deputation from the regiment waiting at the end of the -verandah, anxious to interview your son and heir, Mrs North,” said Dr -Tighe in the afternoon of the same day. - -“How nice of them! I wish I could take him to them myself,” said -Georgia. - -“You must leave that to his proud aunt,” said Mabel. “But surely we -ought to smarten him up a little, Georgie? I wish we had a proper robe -for him. How would that white embroidered shawl of mine do to wrap him -in?” - -“No, tell Rahah to get out the shawl which the native officers gave me -for a wedding present. It is in the regimental colours, and that will -please them more than anything.” - -“Now, don’t excite yourself,” entreated Mabel. “You are getting quite -flushed over the boy’s toilette. Do leave him to us. Surely Mrs Hardy -and Rahah and Flora and I can dress one baby between us?” - -“Well, mind that if they hold out the hilts of their tulwars, you make -him touch them with his hand, and the same if they bring any present.” - -“Oh, Flora will prompt me. Don’t be afraid, Georgie. The boy’s first -public appearance shall do credit to us all, and the regiment too.” - -But when Mabel stepped out into the verandah, carrying the gorgeous -bundle, she was met by Ismail Bakhsh, who held out his arms with an -air of proprietorship which she resented. “No, no!” she said, shaking -her head vigorously; “I am going to hold him.” - -“Nay, Miss Sahib, am I not his bearer? Was I not for ten years orderly -to Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib? Have I not served Nāth Sahib and the -Mem----?” - -“Don’t hurt his feelings, Miss North,” laughed Dr Tighe. - -“Well, he can stand beside me and lift the boy’s hand to touch the -swords and presents and things. People will really have to understand -that he belongs to us as well as the regiment.” - -The honourable post assigned to him served to mollify Ismail Bakhsh, -and he took his stand beside Mabel with immense dignity. The members -of the deputation were all in full uniform, and advanced to pay their -respects strictly in order of rank. All unconsciously, the baby itself -struck the right note at the very outset. When Ressaldar Badullah Khan -came forward and held up the hilt of his sword, there was no need for -Ismail Bakhsh to guide the little hand to it. The glittering metal, -rendered dazzling by a ray of light which came through a bullet-hole -in the curtain, seemed to catch the baby’s eye, and the aimless -movements of both arms which followed were immediately interpreted as -indicating a desire to seize the sword. - -“_Shabash! Shabash!_” came in eager accents from the men behind. “He -is the true son of Sinjāj Kīlin. The sword will never be out of his -hand.” - -Badullah Khan retired, much gratified, and Ghulam Rasul, taking his -place, was careful to hold his sword where the light fell upon it. -Again the baby stretched out its arms to the gleam, and this was -accepted as confirming the omen. The rest of the deputation were -content when Ismail Bakhsh raised the baby’s hand to touch their -sword-hilts, and the same was the case with regard to the two or three -gold coins which were brought forward as a mark of respect. The bearer -of this _nasr_ was just retiring when an untoward incident occurred. -There was a sudden whirr, and a bullet, piercing the matting curtain, -ploughed up the skin of Ismail Bakhsh’s wrist and passed through the -fleshy part of his arm, before burying itself in the wall behind him. -The group in the verandah stood staring at one another. Flora declared -afterwards that Mabel dropped the baby in her fright, and that it was -only rescued by a frantic effort on the part of Dr Tighe, but Mabel -repudiated the accusation with scorn. Certain it is that her nephew -was still in her arms the moment after, when a cry of “A hit! a -palpable hit!” came from the nearest tower, following closely upon the -report of a rifle. - -“Are you trying to pot the baby, Winlock?” shouted the doctor, -recognising the voice, and stooping under the curtain to step out into -the courtyard. - -“No, but I’ve sniped the sniper. There’s no cover on Gun Hill now, and -I saw his head when he raised it to fire. No harm done, I hope?” - -“Well, the Luck of Alibad very nearly came to an abrupt and premature -end. Take the child in, Miss North, and reassure the mother. Master -North has had his baptism of fire pretty early in life.” - -“What can have made them fire in this direction now that we have the -curtain?” asked Flora, as she brought out a pair of scissors to slit -up Ismail Bakhsh’s sleeve. - -“I see how it is,” cried the doctor. “The curtain doesn’t quite reach -the ground, and the sight of such an assemblage of spurs, shining in -the sun, showed the sniper that something was going on in this -neighbourhood. It’s a happy thing that Ismail Bakhsh was standing in -front of the baby.” - -“Ah,” said the old man, with a delighted grin, “the Baba Sahib is -altogether ours now. We have paid our respects at his first durbar, -and we have been under fire with him already. Surely the -Ressaldar-Major Sahib and those who are absent with him will be mad -with envy of us!” - -“And you have shed your blood for him,” said Dr Tighe, as he bandaged -the arm. - -“Nay, sahib, it all belongs to him. He has but taken toll.” - - - -“Isn’t he perfectly sweet, Georgie?” Mabel was demanding at that -moment, by way of diverting Georgia’s mind from the danger to which -the baby had been exposed. Kneeling at the side of the bed, she was -trying, with conspicuous lack of success, to tempt her nephew to play -with her hair. “Don’t you think he’s the most delightful baby that -ever was born?” she asked again. - -“Of course,” said Georgia, smiling. “I am almost as proud of him as Dr -Tighe is, and that’s saying a good deal.” - -“And he’s so good,” resumed Mabel, referring to the baby, not to the -doctor. “He has scarcely cried a bit, and that is such a comfort under -the circumstances. It would have been so discreditable if the Luck of -Alibad had cried whenever a shot was fired, but he’s a regular little -hero.” - -“Well, he has no lack of nurses, if that’s good for the temper,” said -Georgia. “Oh, how I wish his father could see him!” she sighed -suddenly, as the baby moved in her arms and looked straight before it -with solemn grey eyes. - -“Perhaps he can,” suggested Mabel softly. - -“Why, Mab! what do you mean?” cried Georgia, her face flushing. - -“I only meant that many people think they are allowed to know what is -happening on earth,” explained Mabel, with some hesitation. Georgia -laid her head upon the pillow again with a little moan of -disappointment. - -“You will talk as if Dick was dead!” she said. “I thought you had -heard something--that he was here, perhaps.” - -“Oh, Georgie!” cried Mabel, in strong remonstrance. Then, remembering -that exciting topics ought to be avoided, she changed the subject. -“What do you mean to call the boy? Have you decided?” - -“St George Keeling,” was the unhesitating reply. “Dick has always said -that if he had a son he would name him after my father.” - -“Then you won’t call him after Dick? Oh, Georgie!” - -Georgia smiled triumphantly. “Oh yes, I shall insist upon that. If -Dick chooses two names, I’m sure I have a right to choose one. Richard -St George Keeling North--it’s rather long, isn’t it? but Dick won’t -mind.” - -“Then I suppose,” said Mabel, feeling her way timorously, “that you -are not thinking of having him christened just yet? Mr Hardy was -asking me whether you would like it to be soon, as things are so -uncertain.” - -“Before his father comes back? Certainly not,” said Georgia, with so -much decision that Mabel dared make no further protest. She attacked -Dr Tighe, however, upon the subject when she saw him next. - -“You thought that poor Georgia’s delusion would pass away when the -baby was born, but she is as fully convinced as ever that Dick is -alive,” she said, with something of triumph. - -“I know,” acquiesced the doctor, “and I am disappointed. But the -delusion is bound to disappear in course of time--when she sees his -grave, if not before. And I’d have you remember, Miss North, that -she’s likely only hoping against hope now. Her reason may be assuring -her that he’s dead, while her heart fights against the notion. To try -to combat this hope of hers would only make her stick to it all the -more. Let it alone, and it will fade away naturally.” - -Much against her will, Mabel promised to obey. It seemed to her that -it was both wrong and cruel to allow such a state of uncertainty to -continue; but as the days passed on without any further suggestion -that Dick was alive, she began to be satisfied that the delusion was -fading from Georgia’s mind. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - AN ATTEMPT AT DESERTION. - -After their disappointment with regard to the guns, the enemy made -no further effort to take the fort by storm. They seemed quite content -to substitute a blockade for a siege, but this circumstance did not -tend to raise the spirits of the garrison, since it showed that there -was as yet no sign of any movement for their relief. Sniping was -practised indefatigably on both sides whenever opportunity offered, -and a stranger standing on the cleared ground between the fort and -General Keeling’s house might have imagined the one and the other -alike deserted, so skilful had the occupants become in taking -advantage of cover, save when a puff of smoke and the crack of a rifle -on the right met with an immediate response in kind from the left. The -enemy were not now occupying the opposite bank of the canal in force, -but it was a favourite station for their boldest sharp-shooters, who -took up their posts under cover of darkness, and from the shelter of -rough sangars or dikes of earth, fired at the water-carriers as they -clambered up and down to the water-gate with their skins and earthen -pots. The great fall in the level of the water gave much encouragement -to this form of attack, and it was found necessary to erect a screen -of tent-cloth, supported on poles, to protect the steps cut in the -wall below the gate. On the rampart above two or three good marksmen -were always posted, watching for the moment at which the sniper was -forced to betray his presence for an instant, and the post was much -coveted. Any duty that promised a little excitement was eagerly -welcomed, for the closeness of their quarters and the lack of exercise -were telling upon the health and spirits of the garrison. The wounded -did not recover as they ought, and the mortality among the native -refugees was very heavy. Moreover, the stock of provisions accumulated -under difficulties by Colonel Graham and Dick was diminishing with -alarming speed. Rations were served out to all with the strictest -economy, and Mabel and Flora, observing a daily diminution in the -numbers of the horses stabled in the outer court, refrained heroically -from any remark on the shape of the joints set before them. The two -girls were quite accustomed to a state of siege by this time, had -ceased to start at the whirr and ping of a bullet, and took cover as -naturally as the oldest trooper in the regiment when they left the -shelter of their rooms. As Mabel said one day to Colonel Graham, the -strangest thing was the remembrance that they had ever known a time -when the siege was not going on. - -“And that you will know a time when it is over, I hope?” he responded. -“I only wish I saw any chance of our being relieved, or even of being -able to cut our way through, but the next move lies undoubtedly with -the enemy.” - -This move, when it came, was an unexpected one. In the course of a -dark night, a scuffle close under the eastern wall became audible to -the sentries, who fired immediately in the direction of the sound, to -hear in return a scream which was unmistakably a woman’s. The garrison -stood to arms, but no attack was made, and no explanation of the -mysterious occurrence offered itself. In the morning, however, a white -flag appeared in the street next to General Keeling’s house, and when -Colonel Graham replied to it from one of the gateway turrets, two -unarmed men made their appearance, dragging with them a woman, her -clothes and veil torn and blood-stained. Having escorted her into the -middle of the cleared space, they left her there, and ran back to -shelter, while she sank on her knees and raised one hand in an -entreaty for mercy. Despite her agony of fear, however, she kept her -veil wrapped closely round her. - -“Evidently a _pardah_ woman,” said Colonel Graham to Mr Burgrave, “but -what she is doing here I can’t make out.” - -He shouted some words of encouragement, and the woman came a little -nearer, and made signs that she desired to be admitted into the fort. - -“No, no; can’t have that,” cried the Colonel. “You must say what you -have to say from where you are.” - -“Nay, sahib,” came in a quavering voice, “I am not used to speak -before so many men. Thy servant belongs to the household of the Hasrat -Ali Begum, and is sent with a message to the doctor lady.” - -“Tell me your message, by all means, and I will give it her.” - -“Nay, sahib, suffer thy servant to see her, for I have gone through -great perils to bring the message. Last night I crept close up to the -walls, hoping to speak with some who might let me in, but the servants -of my mistress’s son tracked and seized me, and thy sowars shot at me -from the rampart,” and she thrust forth a roughly bandaged foot. “And -this morning Syad Bahram Khan said that since I came to bear my -mistress’s message, I should now bear his, and tell thee, sahib, what -terms he offers thee.” - -“And what may they be?” - -“He says, sahib--‘The siege has now lasted many days, and my followers -are fast becoming discontented and stealing away from me. I have -learnt to honour the valour of the sahibs, and but for the rancour of -my uncle, the Amir Sahib, I would have made terms with them long -before. He has sworn to have the life of every white man in the fort, -and it is only because he is now away at Nalapur that I can offer them -safety. The fort I must have, to save my face in the sight of my -followers; but if it is surrendered to me to-day, before my uncle -returns in his cruelty, thirsting for blood, I will send all the -sahibs and the women and children away to Rahmat-Ullah, and by -nightfall they shall be so far off that there is no pursuing them. The -troopers also may go where they will, but I cannot promise them -safe-conduct, for I have not beasts to mount them all, and they might -chance to be overtaken. These terms I offer out of my honour for the -sahibs, and my hatred for the cruelty of my uncle.’” - -“And does the Hasrat Ali Begum advise us to accept them?” asked -Colonel Graham dryly. - -“She has not heard of them, sahib. I have but spoken as I was -commanded.” - -“Well, I don’t think we need deliberate long over this,” said the -Colonel to Mr Burgrave. “It’s clear that Bahram Khan is trying to -hedge, and throwing the blame of all that has happened upon his uncle. -From that I should judge that the relieving force is in motion at -last. When the inevitable attack was made upon us as soon as we were -outside the fort, the Amir would get the credit of the massacre, and -Bahram Khan would pose as the innocent and peaceable dupe of his -uncle’s treachery. He might even contrive to wipe out the Amir in his -honest wrath, and appear red-handed at Rahmat-Ullah as our -avenger--and also as the natural heir to the throne of Nalapur.” - -“You don’t leave him many shreds of character,” said the Commissioner -stiffly. - -“I forgot he was a friend of yours. No; but seriously, you wouldn’t -dream of trusting him? Of course not. The terms are refused, O servant -of the Begum Sahib. Now, what about that message of yours for the -doctor lady?” - -“It is for her ear alone, sahib.” - -“She is ill, and cannot come to the wall.” - -“Suffer me to see her, sahib, if only for a moment. My mistress bade -me inquire of her health, for she has heard rumours that grieve her -heart.” - -“I’m sorry it’s impossible to admit you. Mrs North is doing well; you -must be satisfied with that.” - -“Nay, but let me see her, sahib. I dare not go back with my mistress’s -commands undone.” - -“It is impossible. Have you any further message?” - -“I must see her. It is urgent--most necessary. Sahib, suffer me to -come in.” - -“Impossible. Get back to your own side as fast as you can.” - -“What could she have had to say?” asked Mr Burgrave curiously, as they -left the turret. - -“Can’t tell. Some native remedy or charm to give her, perhaps--which -might have been poison. We have no proof that the woman comes from the -Begum. She may be in reality a spy of Bahram Khan’s.” - -The news of the woman’s mysterious mission, and her importunity, -spread quickly through the fort, but the occupants of the inner -courtyard had little time to wonder over it, for Georgia’s condition -seemed to have taken a sudden turn for the worse. After a troubled -night she had waked in an agitated, excited state, unable to bear the -slightest noise in the room. She lay listening anxiously, asking the -rest at intervals if they did not hear something, and they tried in -vain to find out what it was she thought they ought to hear. They left -her alone at last, since their presence seemed only to increase the -strain upon her mind, and Mabel remained in the outer room with the -door ajar. Peeping into the inner room after a time, she saw, to her -delight, that her sister-in-law had dropped asleep, but very soon a -cry summoned her back. Georgia was sitting up in bed with flushed -cheeks. - -“He _is_ here, then,” she said. “I knew I heard his voice. Bring him -in, Mab. How can you keep him outside, when you know he is longing to -see me?” - -“There’s no one outside. What do you mean, Georgie?” asked Mabel, -astonished. - -“Why, Dick, of course! I have heard him calling me all day, though it -sounded so far off, but now it’s quite close--in my ear, almost. -There, don’t you hear?” - -Mabel strained her ears, but in vain. “There’s nothing, really,” she -said. - -“Oh, you must be deaf! Go and see, Mab. Don’t keep him waiting. I know -he wants me. Why doesn’t some one tell him where I am?” - -To satisfy her, Mabel went out into the verandah and looked round, -naturally without result. She could scarcely bring herself to return -and assure Georgia that the voice was purely a hallucination, but it -was a relief to find that she did not seem seriously disappointed. A -new idea had come into her mind. - -“What was Dr Tighe or some one saying about the Eye-of-the-Begum? that -she wanted to see me? She was bringing me a message from him.” - -“Oh, Georgie!” sighed Mabel, in hopeless despair. - -“He wants me. I must go to him. Tell Rahah to get my things ready.” - -“But you can’t get up, you know. Besides, the enemy are all round -outside.” - -“I tell you I must go to him. I wish you wouldn’t put absurd obstacles -in the way, Mab. He wants me. He is calling me. Of course I shall go.” - -“Yes, you shall,” said poor harassed Mabel; “only lie quiet just now. -You can’t possibly go to-night, you know. Try to sleep a little.” - -She succeeded in inducing her to lie down, but whenever she crept in -to look at her Georgia was staring into the darkness with wide-open, -brilliant eyes. Not even the baby could divert her thoughts from the -conviction that had taken possession of her mind, and Mabel decided to -sleep in the outer room, in case her help should be needed during the -night. All passed quietly, however, although she had a dream that -Rahah came and looked at her very earnestly, even entreatingly, but -said nothing. In the morning, after glancing at Georgia, and finding -her apparently asleep, she went to her own room to dress. She was just -putting the finishing touches to her hair when she saw Rahah come out -with a large bundle in one hand and a box in the other, and after -looking anxiously around, turn away as if disappointed, and disappear -down the passage. - -“That looked like Georgie’s travelling medicine-chest. What can she be -doing with it?” said Mabel to herself. “And a bundle of clothes-- Oh, -what----” - -A terrible thought had seized her, and she ran along the darkened -verandah. The outer room was in a state of wild confusion, as if Rahah -had been making a hasty selection from among her mistress’s -possessions, and in the inner room Georgia was sitting on the side of -the bed, trying to dress. - -“Georgie! what are you doing?” gasped Mabel. - -“I am going to Dick. He wants me,” answered Georgia, looking at her -with unseeing eyes. - -“But you can’t move. You’re not fit for it. Georgie, do be sensible.” - -“I don’t know what you mean. I’m perfectly well, only so ridiculously -weak. But Dick is calling me, and I am going to him.” - -Mabel gazed at her in despair, then seized the baby, which was wrapped -up in a shawl, ready for travelling. “You won’t go without him, I -suppose, and I’ll take good care that you don’t go with him,” she -said, while Georgia looked at her without a trace of comprehension in -her gaze. “Just sit there until I come back.” - -She ran down the passage with the baby in her arms, and glanced at the -archway in the wall which led to the water-gate. The gate was open, -and Ismail Bakhsh was hard at work inflating one of the skins which -had been used to support the raft. Rahah was standing near him with -her parcels, looking helplessly round, apparently for some one to whom -to appeal. - -“They have waited until Ismail Bakhsh is on guard, and the sentries on -the wall are to look the other way while he ferries them over in -turn,” said Mabel to herself. “Why, it would kill Georgie! Well, they -won’t start while I have the boy. Oh,” she cried, coming suddenly upon -a European, “please tell somebody to go and arrest Ismail Bakhsh. He -has got the water-gate open, and he is going to desert.” - -Long before she had reached the end of her sentence she recognised -that it was Mr Burgrave to whom she was speaking. They had scarcely -met since the dreadful night of anxiety when she had given him back -his ring, and she noticed with a shock how gray and shrunken he -looked. It was the hardships of the siege, she tried to assure -herself, that had made him old before his time. - -“I will certainly give your message to the officer on guard,” he -answered politely. “We can’t allow this sort of thing to begin.” - -He went on his way with a bow, and she stood looking after him. -Hearing a click, she glanced up hastily. The sentry on the rampart -above her was kneeling down and taking deliberate aim with his carbine -at the unconscious Commissioner. She knew the man; he was Ismail -Bakhsh’s son Ibrahim, and she saw that the moment Mr Burgrave quitted -the shelter of the wall in crossing the courtyard he would be at his -mercy. But in her arms was a talisman, and she ran forward and caught -up the Commissioner, who looked round at her in astonishment. - -“Oh, do take him in your arms for a moment!” she cried, stammering in -her eagerness. “You have never held him, and his mother will be so -pleased.” - -Taken completely by surprise, Mr Burgrave allowed the baby to be -placed in his arms, and actually carried it across the court, while -Mabel, at his side, was shaking with apprehension. She knew that he -was safe while he held that precious bundle, but she was by no means -sure that Ibrahim would not resent her interference with his plans to -the extent of shooting her instead. This physical terror kept her from -feeling the awkwardness of the situation, and she did not even realise -it until Mr Burgrave paused at the archway leading into the outer -court, and looked into her face as he gave her back the baby. - -“You will laugh at me for saying that I had a little hope left until -to-day,” he said. “Now I see how foolish I was. In spite of the siege -and all your troubles, you look now as you did when I first knew you, -and it is simply because you are free from me. Don’t be afraid; I -shall not persecute you. All I care for is to see you happy in your -own way.” - -There was little inclination to laughter in Mabel’s mind as she -returned slowly to Georgia’s room. She had scarcely reached it when -Rahah came flying along the passage to tell her mistress that -Woodworth Sahib and ten men had come and taken Ismail Bakhsh prisoner, -and there was therefore no hope of escaping to-day. Georgia hardly -seemed to hear. She was still sitting where Mabel had left her, -sobbing feebly and too weak to move, and they were able to get her -into bed again before Dr Tighe came bustling in. - -“Now, now, what’s this I hear?” he asked severely. “Will you think, -Mrs North, that we’ve always regarded you as a sensible woman, and -that the Major was proud of your judgment? You wouldn’t be in earnest -just now?” - -“Oh, let me go!” implored Georgia. “I can’t hear what you say, doctor. -Dick’s voice comes in between. He wants me so much. Oh, Dick, I would -come, but they won’t let me.” - -“This won’t do,” said Dr Tighe. “Must humour her, poor thing!” he -muttered behind his hand to Mabel. “Now, Mrs North, assuming that the -Major is delirious, and crying out for you----” - -“Torture!” interjected Georgia, in a high, hard voice. - -“No, no! Nonsense, nonsense! Why, it’s biting out his tongue he’d be -before the devils would get a word out of him. But supposing he’s ill, -now--would it be any pleasure to him to know that you had killed -yourself and the child trying to get to him? You know it wouldn’t. -’Twould be a bitter grief to him all his days. And for that reason -you’ll take this, and lie down quietly, and try to get some sleep.” - -“It won’t drown his voice,” said Georgia, accepting the medicine, but -looking up with such misery in her eyes that it almost destroyed the -doctor’s self-control. “I should hear that if I were dead.” - -“Oh, doctor,” murmured Mabel, drawing him into the outer room, “if she -should be right, after all! What can we do?” - -He looked at her in astonishment. “My dear Miss North, you mustn’t let -yourself be led away by that poor soul’s ravings. After such a happy -married life as hers, it would be strange indeed if she could give her -husband up for lost without a struggle. But what possible hope is -there of his being alive? If he was a prisoner, don’t you think Bahram -Khan would have made use of him long ago to torment us? Don’t make it -worse for her by encouraging her to hope.” - -“No, no, of course not,” said Mabel impatiently. “But all the same,” -she muttered to herself as he left her, “something ought to be done, -and I know the man to do it.” - -Half-an-hour later she went out into the verandah to meet Fitz -Anstruther, who had come as usual to inquire after Georgia and the -baby, and beckoned him to a secluded corner, where two packing-cases -served as seats. - -“Do you know,” she said eagerly, without giving him time to speak, “I -am beginning to believe that Dick is really alive. Georgia is so -absolutely convinced he isn’t dead, and I can’t think she is -altogether mistaken. Is there no way of finding out?” - -“You don’t mean by making inquiries, surely? The Amir certainly -believes he is dead, and Bahram Khan chooses us to think that he does -too, so we should get no good out of them.” - -“Yes, I quite see that, but what I have been thinking is that some one -to whom he had been kind may have hidden him away--in a house in the -mountains, or one of the camps of the wandering tribes--and he may be -lying there ill all this time.” - -“I only wish he might, but in that case I’m afraid it would simply be -his death-warrant if we found out where he was. Bahram Khan would -still be between us and him, you see.” - -“Yes, but there’s another chance still. Suppose he is in Bahram Khan’s -hands, after all, but too badly wounded to be moved? Bahram Khan would -know that he could not make use of him without showing him, and that -he would be no good to him dead. So what if he is keeping him prisoner -just with that in view--to produce him when he gets better, and offer -to give him up if we surrender the fort? Yes, the more I think it -over, the more I feel certain that it must be that.” - -“And what then?” asked Fitz, as she paused eagerly. - -“Why then, don’t you see, if we once knew that he was a prisoner, and -where he was kept, a force could go out and rescue him, as they did -the guns. There isn’t a man that would not volunteer, and then he -would be saved.” - -“But how are we to find out whether he is a prisoner?” - -“Oh, surely you must know! Don’t pretend to be so stupid. Some one -must go and see--dress up as a native, and get into the enemy’s camp.” - -He laughed. “Curiously enough, the Colonel was talking of something of -the kind this very morning. He wants to know whether there is really a -rumour among the enemy about a relieving force.” - -“And who is to go?” - -“Who? Oh, I think that old _daffadar_ of Haycraft’s, Sultan Jān, was -the man pitched upon at last. He is the foxiest old beggar alive, and -less known about here than most of our fellows.” - -“Only Sultan Jān?” in deep disappointment. “But you are dark--you -know the language so well--you are such a good scout--you are going?” - -“I, Miss North? Why in the world----” - -“To find Dick, because you and he are such friends--because I ask -you.” - -“I am very much honoured, but surely the Commissioner is the natural -person----” - -“The Commissioner would be too lame to go,” cried Mabel, in confusion, -“and even if he wasn’t, I couldn’t ask him.” Fitz’s look of surprise, -less for the fact than for her mention of it, reminded her that her -words must sound strangely in his ears. “Perhaps I ought to explain,” -she stammered. “I--I am not engaged to Mr Burgrave now.” - -“Oh, indeed!” said Fitz slowly, readjusting his ideas as he spoke. -Only the night before he had heard Haycraft say to Flora that the -Commissioner and Miss North must have quarrelled, for they had not -spoken for days, and she was not wearing his ring. Certain hopes of -Fitz’s own had sprung up anew at that moment, only to be dashed to -earth again by Flora’s confident assurance that the estrangement could -be only a temporary one. She was certain that the engagement was not -broken off, or Mabel would have told her. Now, however, it appeared -that Flora had been mistaken. - -Fitz drew a deep breath. “You want me to go in disguise and make -inquiries about your brother, because you ask me? Not so very long ago -we were discussing a certain subject, and I agreed not to mention it -again without your permission. If I go, will you give me that -permission?” - -Mabel recoiled from him, aghast. “You are trying to drive a bargain -with me for Dick’s life?” she cried, in horror. “I should never have -believed it of you.” - -“Oh, I am only looking at the matter in a business light. If I do your -work, I should like to be sure of my wages.” - -“How can you talk in such a horrid mercenary way? It’s mean, -ungentlemanly of you to try to entrap me like this! I could not have -imagined----” - -“Please let us be business-like. Only, believe me, I had no idea of -setting a trap.” - -“Do you mean to say that if I refuse to let you speak to me again you -won’t go?” - -“That is not the question, allow me to remark. I ask you whether, if I -go, I may enter upon the forbidden subject when I come back?” - -“I believe you are going whether I say Yes or No.” She looked at him -sharply, but he did not change countenance in the least. “Why should -you take it into your head to spoil a thing that ought to be so -splendid, by tacking on an odious condition to it?” - -“I am afraid you won’t find it easy to move me either by hard words or -soft ones. Is it a bargain?” - -“If you mean that I am to promise to marry you if you go----” cried -Mabel, her eyes blazing. - -“I mean nothing of the kind. That is not in the bond. If I have such a -curious fancy for being rejected by you that I am willing to accept -another refusal as the price of my services on this occasion, don’t -you think you are getting off rather cheaply on the whole?” - -Mabel laughed shamefacedly. “I believe you have only been trying to -tease me all along,” she said. “Very well; it is a bargain, then.” - - - -“There’s something rather mysterious about this attempt to desert on -the part of Mrs North’s servant,” said Colonel Graham to the -Commissioner. “The men seem to feel strongly on the subject, but I -can’t get any of them to speak out. I am not sure that it’s a case for -a court-martial, and if you would join me in an informal inquiry into -the affair, it might prevent bad feeling.” - -“With pleasure. But I don’t quite see where the civil power comes in, -in a matter of this kind. Is it that the man’s status is really that -of a civilian?” - -“He is a volunteer, of course”--Colonel Graham ignored the veiled -reference to what Mr Burgrave still considered his usurpation of -authority--“but as an old soldier, they all acknowledge that he is -amenable to military discipline. What I can’t make out is the notion -which seems to prevail that you have something to do with the matter, -and that’s why I should like your assistance in inquiring into it.” - -“You don’t imagine that I incite your volunteers to desert, I hope?” -said the Commissioner dryly, taking his seat beside Colonel Graham, to -await the arrival of the prisoner. - -“If I could think so, the mystery would be cleared up. As it is--” the -Colonel broke off suddenly, on the entrance of the prisoner with his -guards. He signed to the two sowars to retire out of earshot, and -addressed their charge. “I have sent for you privately because I hope -that things are less black than they look against you, Ismail Bakhsh. -That a man with your record should be detected in the act of deserting -to the enemy seems preposterous, and I hope you may be able to show -that your idea was to obtain information of some kind. In that case -your conduct might be passed over for once, as imprudent but not -disgraceful.” - -“I have nothing to say, sahib. I had my orders.” - -“Orders from Bahram Khan? Don’t trifle with me, Ismail Bakhsh. Am I to -give Mrs North the pain of knowing that her father’s orderly has been -shot as a traitor?” - -The old man drew himself up. “Since I shall no longer be present to -protect the Memsahib and her son, I will tell thee the truth, sahib, -that thou mayest watch over them in my stead. My orders were from the -Memsahib herself.” - -“Mrs North told you to desert?” cried the Colonel incredulously. - -“The Memsahib bade me be ready to convey her and her son and her -waiting-woman out of the fort at such an hour, and I obeyed her.” - -“Oh, come, this is too much! Why should Mrs North wish to leave the -fort?” - -Ismail Bakhsh cast a fierce glance at Mr Burgrave, who had taken no -part in the examination. “I can guess the reason, sahib, but it is not -expedient to accuse the great ones of the earth to their faces.” - -“Now what did I tell you?” asked Colonel Graham of the Commissioner. -“I said you were mixed up in it somehow. You would like to have the -matter cleared up, of course?” - -“By all means,” said Mr Burgrave indifferently. The proceedings bored -him, and he did not see why both the Colonel and Ismail Bakhsh should -persist in bringing his name into them. - -“Speak, and fear not,” said the Colonel. - -“Thus then it is, sahib. When the Kumpsioner Sahib came to the border, -he found the name of Sinjāj Kīlin in all men’s mouths, and he hated -it, and sought to throw dirt upon it, even as an upstart king seeks to -defile the monuments of those that were before him. But there were yet -living in the land Sinjāj Kīlin’s daughter and her husband, Nāth -Sahib, to keep his name in remembrance, and therefore the Kumpsioner -Sahib hated them also. His eye was evil against Nāth Sahib, insomuch -that he blackened his face in the presence of the tribes and of the -Amir of Nalapur. Then, because that was not sufficient, he suborned -Bahram Khan to murder him”--the Commissioner, looking bored no longer, -tried to interpose a protest, but Ismail Bakhsh disregarded it -contemptuously--“and he thought all his enemies were removed, since -there was only a woman left of the whole house of Sinjāj Kīlin. But -when the Memsahib’s son was born, the Kumpsioner Sahib, remembering -the evil deed he had done, feared lest the boy should grow up to -avenge his father. The Ressaldar Ghulam Rasul can tell of the wrath -and fear with which he heard of the child’s birth, and I myself have -watched every night in the Memsahib’s verandah with my weapons, so -that no harm should come to the Baba Sahib. And seeing that the -Kumpsioner Sahib could not even dissemble his enmity so far as to come -and take the child in his arms like the other sahibs, and send -messages of good luck to the mother by the Miss Sahibs, I thought at -least that he would fight with steel and not with drugs. But the -Memsahib knew him better than I, and when this morning I received her -order to help her to escape with the child, I knew that she thought it -safer to take refuge with the Amir Sahib than to remain in this place. -And now they will kill me; but the charge of Sinjāj Kīlin’s son is -thine, sahib,” addressing the Colonel, “since the truth has been fully -made known to thee by my mouth. For what says the proverb? ‘When the -base-born mounts the throne, it is ill to be a king’s son.’ Guard well -the Baba Sahib, for the sake of Nāth Sahib, thy friend. And as for -the Kumpsioner Sahib, let him know that the men of the regiment have -sworn by the holy Kaaba and the sacred well, and by the head of the -Prophet of God, that he shall not escape. Once he has succeeded in -slaying the Baba Sahib, no land shall be distant enough to afford him -a refuge. Each man will hand down to his children the duty of slaying -him, and his sons and brothers and nephews, and all his house, even as -he has set himself to destroy the house of Sinjāj Kīlin.” - -“Good heavens!” said the Commissioner, passing his hand feebly over -his damp brow, “do they actually suspect me of plotting to murder a -woman and child--and of putting poor North out of the way?” - -“Suspect is not the word,” replied Colonel Graham, rather cruelly; -“they are absolutely convinced of it.” - -“This is one of the things that have to be lived down, I suppose. -Well, the offence of our friend here seems to be a matter relating to -me personally. Will you kindly release him as a favour to me? I think -also it might be as well to let him do perpetual sentry-go in the -verandah he seems to affect so much--take up his quarters there, in -fact, and protect the baby from my machinations. And tell him that he -is welcome to use his weapons on me if he catches me there under -suspicious circumstances.” - -“Are you inviting him to murder you?” demanded the Colonel. - -“He doesn’t seem to need much invitation. But no amount of -protestations will disabuse him of his theory, and it would be a pity -to deprive Mrs North of such an attached servant. If you point out -that last fact to him, it may give me a few years longer to live.” - -It was with deepening surprise and bewilderment that Ismail Bakhsh -heard his sentence, which was delivered in terms of considerable -pungency by Colonel Graham. Imprisonment or hard labour would have -seemed natural enough, death he had confidently expected; but what did -this release mean? The Colonel’s indignant vindication of Mr Burgrave -affected him not a whit; but that the man he had accused betrayed -neither guilt nor fear did cost him some searchings of heart. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX. - AN IMPOTENT CONCLUSION. - -Mabel was not far wrong in guessing that before she spoke to Fitz it -had been decided he should take part in Daffadar Sultan Jān’s -reconnaissance. Colonel Graham’s choice had fallen upon him less on -account of any merits he possessed than of his personal appearance. It -could not be said that he outshone the other men in coolness or -courage, and in knowledge of the surrounding country Winlock, at any -rate, was his equal, but the determining point in his favour was the -fact which his friends, dancing with rage the while, were forced to -acknowledge, that he made up detestably well as a native. From his -Irish mother he had inherited the Spanish type of colouring often -found in Connaught and Western Munster, large dark eyes, black hair, -and a skin so smooth and sallow that very little assistance from art -was needed to assimilate it to the comparatively light tint prevailing -among the frontier tribes. There were difficulties at first with -Sultan Jān, who had once saved Haycraft’s life in a border skirmish, -and had constituted himself a kind of nursing father to him ever -since. He rejected with scorn the idea of taking any but his own -particular sahib with him on his perilous journey, until it was -pointed out to him that this would almost certainly involve the death -of both. Haycraft’s fair hair, grey eyes, and sun-reddened complexion -made it impossible to disguise him satisfactorily, and the old man -yielded the point, ungraciously enough, when he had seen Fitz in -native dress. - -A noted freebooter in his unregenerate days, Sultan Jān had never -found it easy to submit his own will to that of his military -superiors. Belonging to a powerful tribe across the border, he had -been the terror of the outlying British districts, until one of -General Keeling’s lieutenants induced him first to come in to a -conference, and then to join the regiment. His independent habits -operated to prevent him from rising to any higher rank than that of -daffadar, but he was a power in his troop, which was now largely -composed of his nephews and cousins of many varying degrees. Haycraft -would say sometimes that he was entirely devoid of the moral sense, -and that his regard for the honour of the regiment was not wholly to -be depended upon as a substitute, but as no one knew exactly what this -condemnation implied, Haycraft’s brother-officers generally put it -down to liver. One thing was certain, that Sultan Jān’s faithfulness -to his salt was above suspicion, since he had on occasion assisted in -inflicting punishment upon his own tribe for various raids, and there -were special reasons for anticipating his success in the adventure he -was undertaking. The scheme, indeed, had been entirely modified in -accordance with his views, since Colonel Graham’s first intention had -been that his messenger should turn southwards, and cross the desert -into the settled territory. Sultan Jān recommended a dash for Fort -Rahmat-Ullah instead, pointing out that if he and his companion chose -a dark night for their start, they might swim down the canal for a -considerable distance, supporting themselves on inflated skins. When -beyond the enemy’s farthest outposts, they could strike across the -desert to the north until they reached the mountains, with every pass -and track of which he was familiar. By certain little-known paths they -could then make their way to Rahmat-Ullah, where there would be the -chance of discovering what was going on in the outside world, as well -as of representing the hard plight of the defenders of Alibad. In -returning they might, if opportunity offered, acquaint themselves with -the enemy’s dispositions nearer home. - -The hour, and even the night, appointed for the start, were kept a -profound secret from all but those immediately concerned, lest -information should in any way be conveyed to the enemy, and it was not -until a whole day had passed without a visit from Fitz, that the -dwellers in the Memsahibs’ courtyard made up their minds that he was -actually gone. Mabel, sitting in the safest of the four verandahs, -with the baby in her arms, looked up anxiously when Flora came to tell -her that Fred Haycraft admitted they were right in their surmise. - -“Oh, poor Mr Anstruther!” she said. “I do hope he won’t get hurt. I -should feel so dreadfully guilty if anything happened to him.” - -“You needn’t, then,” said Flora bluntly, as Mabel stopped short, -remembering that she had not intended to make public her compact with -Fitz. “His going has nothing whatever to do with you. He was chosen as -the most suitable man all round, that’s all. Fred said so.” - -This was hardly to be borne. “I didn’t mean to tell you,” said Mabel, -with dignity, “but I asked him to go, that he might make inquiries -about Dick.” - -“Oh!” cried Flora, suddenly enlightened; “then Fred was right after -all, and you have broken off your engagement. I never would have -believed----” - -“I really don’t see why you should jump to a conclusion in that way.” - -“Why, because you couldn’t very well be engaged to two people at -once.” - -“I am not engaged to anybody,” very haughtily. - -“Not to Mr Anstruther?” - -“Certainly not.” - -“And yet you make him run this awful risk for the sake of your -brother? Oh, nonsense! he knows he will get his reward when he comes -back.” - -“You don’t seem to understand,” coldly, “that some men are willing to -do things without hope of reward. Since I have told you so much, I may -as well say that if Mr Anstruther chooses to ask me to marry him when -he comes back, he will do it knowing that I shall refuse him again.” - -“Again?” cried Flora. “Would you like to know what I think of you? Oh, -I’m sure you wouldn’t, but I am going to tell you. If you happened to -be plain--but no, if you were a plain woman, you wouldn’t find men to -do this sort of thing for you--if you were any one but Queen Mab, -people would say you were absolutely _mean_! It’s simply and solely -the celebrated smile that makes you able to do these horrid things, -and you presume upon it.” - -“Oh, don’t, please!” entreated Mabel. “That’s Dick’s word.” - -The tables were turned, and Flora became the criminal instead of the -avenger of justice. She had seized upon one of Mabel’s dearest -memories with which to taunt her, and she was silent for very shame. -It tended to deepen her remorse that Mabel betrayed no anger, only a -gentle forbearance that cut the accuser to the quick. - -“You don’t understand,” she said sadly, “and I don’t know that I -understand it myself. You wouldn’t wish me to marry Fitz Anstruther if -I don’t care for him, would you? and he wouldn’t wish it either. But -could I lose a chance of saving Dick because of that? It’s not as if I -had pretended to give him any hope. I spoke perfectly plainly, and he -quite sees how it is.” - -“But you must care for him a little,” broke out Flora, “when he is -willing to do such a thing for you without any reward. Oh, you do, -don’t you?” - -“No,” said Mabel slowly, “I’m sure I don’t. If I did, I couldn’t have -let him go.” - -“Oh yes,” cried Flora hopefully, “for Mrs North’s sake, and your -brother’s, you could give him up.” - -Mabel shook her head. “I like him very much,” she said, “but I don’t -want to marry him.” - -“Now that’s what I say is being mean!” cried Flora. “You get all you -want out of him, and offer him nothing in return, because he is -generous enough to work without payment. He has made himself too -cheap.” - -“Well, I am very sorry, but I don’t see how I can help it. If I want -things done, and he is willing to do them on my conditions, would you -have me refuse?” - -“Did your Browning studies with the Commissioner ever take you as far -as the story of the lady and the glove?” asked Flora suddenly. “The -knight fetched her glove out of the lions’ den, you know, and then -threw it in her face. Mr Anstruther would never do anything so rude, -but I should really love to advise him to try how you would feel -towards him after a little wholesome neglect.” - -“Mr Anstruther is a gentleman,” said Mabel, growing red. - -“And you trade upon that too! Oh, Mab, you don’t deserve to have a -nice man in love with you. It would serve you right if a William the -Conqueror sort of person came, and urged his suit with a horsewhip.” - -“You are so absurd, Flora. I do wish you wouldn’t bother. I don’t want -to marry any one, if you would only believe it. I’m quite satisfied as -I am,” and Mabel rose with a flushed face, and carried the baby -indoors. - -That day and the next passed without any news of the adventurers, but -on the second night after their departure the sentries on the south -rampart were startled by a hail which seemed to come from the canal. -The moon had long set, and nothing could be distinguished in the misty -darkness, but again the cry came, weak and quavering, as if uttered by -a man all but exhausted. The listening sowars grew pale, and whispered -fearfully that the murdered irrigation officer, Western, whose body -had been thrown by the enemy into the canal at the beginning of the -siege, was claiming the funeral rites of which he had been deprived. -The whisper soon reached the ears of Woodworth, who was on duty, and -rating the men heartily for their superstition, he went down at once -to the water-gate. Here, clinging to the poles which sustained the -canvas screen placed to protect the water-carriers, they found Fitz, -barely able to speak, supporting Sultan Jān’s head on his shoulder. -The old man, who was covered with wounds, and almost insensible, was -partially upheld by the inflated skin to which he was tied, but his -helplessness had obliged Fitz to propel the skin before him as he -swam. It was with the greatest difficulty that the many willing -helpers succeeded in bringing the two men, one almost as powerless as -the other, up the steps and in at the gate, and when they were safely -inside, both were carried at once to the hospital, and delivered over -to the care of Dr Tighe. The news of their return spread through the -fort as soon as it was light, but it was not until the evening, when -Haycraft came into the inner courtyard after a visit to the hospital, -that the ladies learned anything of the adventures they had met with. - -“I haven’t seen much of Anstruther,” he said, in answer to the eager -questions which greeted him. “He was only allowed to talk for a few -minutes, and of course the Colonel had to hear all he could tell, but -I have a message for you, Miss North. He could not discover anything -to justify Mrs North in believing that the Major is still alive. The -few men to whom he ventured to put a question were positive that -neither Bahram Khan nor the Amir have any white prisoners, and he -believes they were speaking the truth.” - -“Oh dear! I was so hoping--” sighed Mabel. “But of course he could not -help it.” - -“Help it? Scarcely. He has done wonders as it is. I have just been -hearing all about it from Sultan Jān, who was frantic lest he should -die before he could tell his story. The doctor said it would do the -old fellow less harm to talk than to lie there fuming, so I listened -to the whole thing, and took notes, just to satisfy him.” - -“Oh, do tell us what they did,” cried Mabel and Flora together. - -“Well, things seem to have panned out all right just at first. They -got past the enemy’s outposts, and swam a good bit farther before they -thought it safe to take to dry land. When they had let the air out of -their skins, they hid them on the opposite bank of the canal, so as to -throw any one who found them off the scent, and swam over. They -managed to get across the desert before it was light, so that they -were not seen, but in the mountains, where they expected to find -everything easy, their troubles began. They were scouting awfully -carefully, and yet they all but dropped into a pleasant little party -of Sultan Jān’s own tribesmen.” - -“But why was that a trouble?” interrupted Flora. “I should have -thought it was the best thing that could happen to them.” - -“Flora is just a little bit apt to jump at conclusions,” said -Haycraft, in a stage aside to Mabel, dodging dexterously the palm-leaf -fan which Flora threw at him. “If she would just consider that Sultan -Jān’s tribe are fighting for Bahram Khan, she would see that family -relations might possibly be a little strained if they met. Well, -nearly the whole day our two fellows dodged about among the hills, -trying to find a path left unguarded, but there wasn’t one. You see, -the tribe know the locality as well as Sultan Jān does, and they have -picketed all the passes for the benefit of any traders who may come -by. So at night our men slipped down into the desert again, and struck -out for Rahmat-Ullah by that route. But the level ground was dangerous -too, owing to a few other bodies of Bahram Khan’s adherents, who don’t -dare dispute the mountain paths with the hillmen, but keep their eyes -open for anything that may come their way. After avoiding two or three -lots of them with difficulty, Sultan Jān suggested taking a short -rest in a cave that he knew of, and going on again when the moon set. -Unfortunately, the cave had also occurred to other people as a nice -place for a night’s lodging, and before they had been asleep very -long, they were waked by the arrival of a whole party of belated -travellers, some of the very fellows they had escaped just before. -Why, Miss North----” - -“No, no, it’s nothing. Please go on,” said Mabel, who had shivered -violently. - -“Old Sultan Jān had all his wits about him, and cried out at once -that he and his son had quarrelled with their tribe, and were coming -to Alibad to take service with Bahram Khan. The other men -cross-questioned them a good deal, but finding nothing suspicious in -their answers, agreed to take them on with them to Alibad in the -morning. Of course it was a blow not being able to go on to -Rahmat-Ullah, but they didn’t mind that so much when they found out -from their new friends that the people there are practically as much -besieged as we are. The tribes have given up attempting to rush the -place, but they hold the passes, and it’s impossible for the fellows -in the fort to force them until there’s a relieving column ready to -co-operate at the other end.” - -“But what about the relieving column?” broke in Flora. “Is it never -coming?” - -“In the course of a few centuries, I suppose. There seems to be the -usual transport difficulty, to judge by the way the tribesmen are -chortling over the loss of time. Of course Anstruther and Sultan Jān -made good use of their ears, and learned all they could without asking -suspicious questions. In the morning they started off with their -fellow-lodgers in this direction, and I must say I don’t envy their -feelings. If they had happened to meet one of Sultan Jān’s tribe, it -would have been all up. However, the rotten discipline of Bahram -Khan’s lot stood them in good stead. It seems that the permanent -investing force here consists only of his personal hangers-on and a -detachment from the Nalapur army, which the Amir has made as small as -he dares, and would like to recall altogether. All the rest--the -tribesmen and robber bands--start off whenever they like to raid along -the frontier, just leaving representatives in the town to see how -things go, so as to make sure of not missing their share in the loot -when this place falls. There’s one good thing--they’ll have -established such a sweet reputation among the country-people that we -shan’t have much trouble in hunting them down when the rising is -over.” - -“Aren’t you counting your chickens a little too soon?” asked Mabel, -with a rather strained smile. “And we are forgetting----” - -“Our two fellows? So we are. I’m an awful chap for wandering away from -the point. Well, they found Bahram Khan established in the -court-house, which was in a horrible state of squalor, overlaid with a -little cheap magnificence. He received them with every appearance of -friendliness, though they were certain he suspected them. They had -nothing to go upon, for he treated them royally, and promised them -both posts in his bodyguard, but they felt sure there was something -wrong. They expected to be denounced every minute, but he was too wily -for that. Before letting them go to their quarters at night, he -informed them confidentially that he had just finished constructing a -mine reaching from General Keeling’s house to our east curtain, and -that it was to be exploded the next day. They should form part of the -storming-party, and have the honour of leading. Of course they -pretended to accept with tremendous delight, but he had got them in an -awful fix. There was just the one hope that the mine did not really -exist at all, but when they asked the rest about it, they were shown -the entrance, though they were not allowed to go down into it, because -of the explosives put ready there, the fellows said. I think myself, -and so does Runcorn, that the soil is much too light for them to be -able to dig such a length of tunnel without its falling in, and that -we must have heard them at work if they had got as near as they make -out, but of course Anstruther dared not trust to the chance. He didn’t -venture to speak to Sultan Jān, but they managed to give each other a -look which meant that they must get away and warn us. Of course that -was just what Bahram Khan had been counting upon, and they found that -their quarters for the night were in the stables belonging to the -court-house, where all their new comrades slept. There were sentries -in the yard in front, which looked as if something was expected to -happen. Anstruther and Sultan Jān had one of the stalls to -themselves, and as soon as ever the rest seemed to be asleep, they set -to work to dig through the wall with their daggers, one working, and -the other lying so as to screen him from the sentry, or any one else -who might look in. Just before they broke through, it struck them to -ask one another what was on the other side. They knew there was a lane -at the back of the stables, but would they come out into the full -moonlight or the shadow, and was there another sentry there? After -listening carefully, they settled that there, wasn’t a sentry, but -they couldn’t decide upon the moonlight, so they had to chance it. -While Sultan Jān dug away the mud bricks, Anstruther was heaping up -the straw they had been lying upon to hide the hole, and arranging -their _poshteens_ [sheepskin-lined coats] to look as if they were -still there. Happily, when they got through, they were on the dark -side of the lane. They crept out, and built up the hole again as well -as they could from the outside. It was awfully nervous work, for a -patrol might come along at any minute, but at last they were able to -be off. They wriggled along in the shadow, and Sultan Jān led the way -towards the east side of the town. Of course it was a fearful round, -but they couldn’t risk passing the enemy’s headquarters again. The -moon bothered them horribly, for they knew that until it set there was -no hope of passing the outpost at the old godowns on the bank, even if -they got to the canal safely. They reached the desert all right -through the by-lanes, and made tracks for the point at which they had -landed two nights before, but to get to it they had to pass the house -of one of the Hindu canal-officials, who seems to have been left in -possession in return for doing some sort of dirty work for Bahram -Khan. There was a dog which made a row, and the Hindu came out and -caught them. Sultan Jān wanted to kill him, but Anstruther wouldn’t -hear of it, so they asked for a night’s lodging in one of the -outbuildings, intending, of course, to slip away as soon as he was -gone to bed again. But he insisted on bringing out food, and sat up -talking to them, while they were agonising to get rid of him. And all -the time he must have sent some one to the town to give the alarm, for -suddenly he changed countenance and got confused as he talked, and -they looked at the door, and there were Bahram Khan’s men. In a moment -they were in the thick of a tremendous rough-and-tumble fight. There -was no room inside the hut to use rifles, but both sides had daggers, -and the enemy tulwars. Anstruther says he fought mostly with his -fists, and the enemy seemed to think that wasn’t fair, for pretty soon -they began to give him a wide berth. Just as he got out of the -scrimmage, Sultan Jān went down, and in falling knocked over the lamp -and put it out. The enemy devoted their attention to one another for -some little time before they saw what had happened, and then they -started to find Anstruther. He was standing up, perfectly quiet, -against the side of the hut, and he says it nearly turned his brain to -hear the fellows feeling for him in the dark, while he knew that his -only hope was not to move. They didn’t find him--actually! but they -found the Hindu instead. He had been hiding in a corner in an awful -fright, and they killed him, and having accounted for two, thought -they had done their business. They didn’t stop to mutilate the bodies, -apparently because there was a false alarm in the town just then. You -know one of our men let off his rifle by mistake last night, and we -noticed that the enemy seemed a good deal disturbed. Well, there was -Anstruther left in the hut, with what he believed to be Sultan Jān’s -dead body. And this is what the old man can’t get over--he wouldn’t -leave him to be cut up by those swine, but dragged him down to the -canal, and when he had fetched over one of the skins and blown it out, -tied him on to it, and started to swim up here. But as soon as the -cold water touched Sultan Jān’s wounds, he revived, and was able to -put one arm round Anstruther’s neck, and so make it a little easier -for him. But it was tremendous--simply tremendous, and if ever any man -deserved the V.C., Anstruther does, though of course he won’t get it, -being merely a poor wretch of a civilian.” - -“Why, Mab!” cried Flora, for Mabel had risen suddenly. Her eyes were -dilated and her cheeks flushed, and she looked more beautiful than the -others had ever seen her. They almost expected her to break out into -an impassioned eulogy of Fitz’s achievement, but the sight of their -astonishment seemed to recall her to herself, and she faltered and -grew crimson. - -“Oh, it’s too splendid!” she stammered. “I--I can’t bear it,” and they -heard a sob as she rushed away. - -“I say!” remarked Haycraft, with meaning in his tone. - -“Fred!” responded Flora, in a voice of such crushing severity that he -hastened to apologise, and to assure her that he had not meant -anything. - -“Of course not. Why should you mean anything?” demanded Flora. - -“Oh no, naturally. There was nothing that should make any one mean -anything,” he said lamely; whereupon, as a reward for his docility, -Flora assured him she had great hopes that everything would come -right, and when it did, he should know all about it, but that if he -went and fancied things and made trouble, she would never speak to him -again. - -“All right! Henceforth I am blind and deaf and dumb,” he declared. - -“That’s right! When you can’t do anything to help, at least you -needn’t spoil things. Oh, but that reminds me, Fred. I am not blind -and deaf, you know. Is it true that Mr Beardmore is dead, as the -servants say?” - -“Yes, poor chap! and it was only last night that we were chaffing him -about being seedy. He was so perfectly happy looking after the stores, -you know, and we said he couldn’t bear to think that he would soon -have to write to the Colonel, ‘Sir, I have the honour to report that -the last ounce of food has been distributed according to instructions. -Please send further orders.’ His occupation would be gone, you see.” - -“Yes,” said Flora absently; “but, Fred--only last night? That’s -fearfully sudden. Was it--is it true that it was--cholera?” - -“Hush!” said Haycraft, looking round apprehensively, “you mustn’t let -it get about. If it’s once suspected that cholera has broken out, we -shall have the natives dying like flies of sheer terror. And there’s -no occasion for panic. It was the poor fellow’s own fault--a case of -the ruling passion, you know. He was mad to make the stores last out -as long as possible, and there were a lot of tins that Tighe condemned -as unfit for food. Beardmore was certain they were all right, and -backed his opinion by trying one--with this result. But you see how it -is. There’s no reason for any one else to be frightened.” - -“I’m glad you told me,” was Flora’s only answer, “for now I can help -to keep it from the rest.” - -“You’re a trump, Flo! I’d share a secret with you as soon as with any -man I know.” And with this unromantic tribute Flora was wholly -satisfied. - -Mabel had rushed away to her own room, and was now lying sobbing upon -her bed, with her face pressed tightly into the pillow, lest any sound -should reach Georgia’s ears through the thin partition. At this moment -even the news of the outbreak of cholera would not have disquieted -her, for she had other things to think of. It seemed to her that a -veil had been suddenly removed from her eyes, with the result that for -the first time she saw Fitz Anstruther as he really was. “That boy,” -as she had been wont to call him, with friendly, half-contemptuous -patronage, was a hero. He had gloried in making himself generally -useful to Dick and Georgia, doing anything that needed doing, and -requiring no thanks for it. Mabel herself had made a slave of him--a -willing slave, undoubtedly, for he had entered into all her whims with -a ready zest, not merely submitting to them, but furthering them. Why -was this? Not because he was fit for nothing better than humouring her -fancies, as she had been inclined to think, but because that was the -way in which he had deliberately chosen to do her homage. It was -because he loved her. Had he chosen, he could have beaten down her -defences long ago, but his love knew itself so strong that it could -afford to wait. It refused to accept defeat, but it responded to her -appeal for mercy. Mabel sprang up from her bed, and began to walk -about the room. She could not be still. - -“Oh, how can he? how can he?” she demanded of herself. “To care for me -so tremendously after the way I have treated him--a man who can do -such splendid things! How can I ever meet him? I daren’t face him. -He’ll guess. I should be too dreadfully ashamed to let him know I have -changed so suddenly. It seemed to come all at once. Oh, why didn’t I -care for him a little before? why did I say those awful things to him -only the other day? why did I let even Flora see what a mean wretch I -was? She said herself that I was mean. And now they’ll all think it’s -just because he deserves the V.C. that I care for him, and it’s not. -It isn’t what he did, but what he is--but no one will believe it. He -has been quite as splendid all the time, and I never saw it; and when -he speaks to me again, he’ll think that I--I am different to him just -because he didn’t leave Sultan Jān to die. As if that signified! -It’s--it’s simply because he cares for me that I care for him.” - -These considerations, though they might seem somewhat inconsistent -with one another, made Mabel sit down in despair to think the matter -out. First of all, how was she to nerve herself to meet Fitz again? -and next, how was he to be brought to perceive the delicate -distinction, that she loved him not because he had done a great thing, -but because the doing of it had revealed his real self to her? - -“I know,” she said to herself at last; “I will meet him just as usual. -I think I have pride and self-respect enough left for that, and when -he speaks to me again I won’t accept him at once. I won’t refuse him -again, of course, or at any rate, not definitely. I will be kinder, -and give him a little hope. Then he will feel at liberty to try -again,” she laughed nervously; “and I can give in by degrees, so that -he will understand how it really is. Oh dear! how glad I am that he -made that condition the other day.” - -For two or three days she waited impatiently, unable to carry out her -plan, for Dr Tighe announced loudly that he was keeping Fitz a -prisoner in hospital, and that he found him a perfect angel of a -patient, not fussing a bit to be out before it was safe to let him go. -Mabel received the statement with secret incredulity, judging of -Fitz’s feelings by her own, but when she did see him next, the meeting -proved grievously disappointing. On the first day of his convalescence -Mrs Hardy invited him to tea in the inner courtyard, with the special -intimation that his mission there was to cheer up the inmates, and he -did his duty nobly. The tea was very weak, and without milk, and Anand -Masih, with shamefaced reluctance, handed round a few broken -biscuits--the last that could be mustered--in his mistress’s shining -silver basket. It wounded his hospitable soul to see guests invited to -a Barmecide feast, and when Mrs Hardy alluded pleasantly to the care -he showed in keeping everything nice, he was covered with confusion. -Fitz, decorated in several places with bandages and sticking-plaster, -was the life of the party. He was particularly amusing on the subject -of the stores, which came naturally to the front, since the rations -had been reduced that day, in consequence of the deficiency caused by -the unsoundness of some of the tinned provisions, of which Haycraft -had spoken to Flora. Mabel sat listening, with an impatience that was -almost disgust, to his funny stories of sieges and the shifts to which -other besieged garrisons had been put--stories so palpably absurd that -they could not shed any additional gloom on the present situation. -Then he turned upon Rahah, who came out of Georgia’s room, followed by -her inseparable companion, the great Persian cat. She had brought the -baby for Fitz to see, with her mistress’s compliments, and was not the -Baba Sahib grown? - -“I’m looking with wolfish eyes at that cat of yours, ayah,” he said, -after duly admiring the baby. “Some morning you will find it gone.” - -“Then the Dipty Sahib will be found shot by Ismail Bakhsh,” said -Rahah, unmoved. - -“Why, you don’t mean to say you would have me killed for trying to get -one good meal? You shouldn’t keep the creature so fat if you don’t -want it stolen, you know. What do you feed it on--rats?” - -“The cat shares with me, sahib.” - -“Well, that’s very noble of you, I’m sure; but it would really be -safer for the poor thing if you let it shift for itself.” - -“No one will eat the cat but my Memsahib,” said Rahah severely. “When -there is no food left, it will preserve her life for two or three -days, and that is why I feed it with my own ration, sahib.” - -She departed with dignity, and the rest did not dare to laugh until -she was out of hearing. Then Fitz took the lead in the conversation -again, and talked away until Dr Tighe appeared suddenly and haled him -back to the hospital. Mabel was disappointed--bitterly disappointed. -She had felt certain that he would perceive a change in her, even -while she scouted the idea of allowing him to divine the cause of it, -but he had not seemed to think of her at all. However, he imagined, no -doubt, that he was consulting her wishes by ignoring their compact -altogether, and she consoled herself with thinking that things would -be different to-morrow. But they were not. Day after day Fitz paid his -afternoon visit to the courtyard, rattled away to Flora or Mrs Hardy -or herself, and seemed to desire nothing more. She was puzzled. Could -it be that he had actually forgotten their agreement, perhaps as a -result of some injury to his brain? But no; it was evident that his -mind was as clear as ever. What was it, then? Had he determined, -during those long hours in the hospital, to crush down and root out -the love which had met with so poor a return? Had her change of -feeling come too late? Or, worst of all, had he seen her character too -clearly in that last interview--had she shown herself in such colours -of hardness and ingratitude that he had now no desire to ask his -question again? Mabel writhed under the thought. Her one consolation -was in the assurance that he had not perceived the change in her. She -would die rather than let him know that her heart had warmed towards -him as his had cooled towards her; and yet--such is the inconsistency -of human nature--she felt it would kill her to go on in this way, and -she did not wish to die just yet. Even when he was alone with her, -there was nothing loverlike in his manner, and she felt bitterly that -the tables were turned. It was she who now listened in vain for any -softening in his voice, who longed to be allowed to do things for him, -and could not, for very shame, offer her services. At first she was -piqued by his behaviour, then hurt, at last made thoroughly miserable; -but she flattered herself that she hid her trouble from the world, at -least as well as Fitz had hitherto contrived to hide his. For this -reason it was a blow to discover one day that Mrs Hardy, who had been -exclusively occupied with Georgia for some time, was now at leisure to -think of other people’s affairs. She opened her attack without the -slightest warning beforehand. - -“I don’t like to see you looking so doleful, Miss North,” she said -briskly, finding Mabel sitting idle, in a somewhat disconsolate -attitude. - -“Why, do you think all our circumstances are so bright that I ought to -be cheerful too?” asked Mabel, roused to defend herself. Mrs Hardy -looked at her critically. - -“It’s not circumstances that are wrong in your case; it’s yourself. -You needn’t try to blind me. Think of poor Mrs North. Do you ever see -her looking doleful, or hear a murmur from her? No; because she -persists in being cheerful for the child’s sake and ours. You have -spirit enough, too, to be bright before other people, but when you are -alone you drop the mask. Can you deny it?” - -“At least I don’t drop the mask until I think I’m alone.” The emphasis -was marked. - -“Now don’t be angry with me for having my eyes open. I only want to -see you happy. Why, child, you needn’t be afraid to confide in me; I -have lived a good deal longer than you, and seen about ten times as -much. You’re not the first person that has done a foolish thing in a -hasty moment, and been sorry for it afterwards.” - -“I--I don’t know what you mean,” stammered Mabel. - -“Why, dear me! what a pity it is to see two people going on at -cross-purposes like this! Can’t you bring yourself to let him know -you’re sorry? He’s a proud man, we all know that, but he won’t be -proud to you. Why, he is suffering as much as you are, and the least -word from you would bring him back.” - -“It never struck me that pride had anything to do with it,” said -Mabel, surprised. - -“That’s where a looker-on can see more than you do. Now, don’t you be -proud either. I suppose he made too much of his authority over you, -and you were angry and insisted on giving him back his ring----” - -“His ring!” gasped Mabel. - -“Well, you are not wearing it, so I presume you gave it back. Now, -just let me hint to him, in the very most delicate way in the world, -of course, that you miss that ring from your finger, and trust me, it -will be back there before another hour is over, and you and he both as -happy as----” - -But, to Mrs Hardy’s astonishment and indignation, Mabel burst into a -wild peal of laughter. “Oh, you mean _that_?” she cried. “Why, that -happened centuries ago. I had forgotten all about it!” - - - - - CHAPTER XX. - THE FORCES OF NATURE. - -The days dragged slowly by in the beleaguered fort. The enemy’s -extraordinary dislike of coming to close quarters, and the consequent -absence of direct attacks, tried the endurance of the garrison sorely. -It showed, no doubt, that the tribes retained a wholesome remembrance -of past hand-to-hand encounters, and were now actuated rather by a -desire for loot than by any fanatical hatred of British rule; but it -showed also that their leaders believed they had abundance of time -before them. Moreover, while Bahram Khan maintained the investment -with a cynical contempt for the relieving force which did not appear, -the numbers of the defenders were dwindling. The death-roll did not -indeed increase by leaps and bounds, as would have been the case after -a series of fierce assaults, but the relentless monotony of its daily -growth was scarcely less terrible. Disease had obtained a firm -foothold in the crowded courtyards and narrow passages, and the supply -of medicines and disinfectants was as limited as that of food had -proved to be. A sowar dropped here, a Sikh there, next two or three of -the wretched Hindu refugees, then one of the wounded in the hospital, -unable to resist the poisoned atmosphere of the place. The tiny patch -of garden--once the despair of the Club committee, because nothing but -weeds would grow in it--which had been used as a cemetery, was soon -over-full, and now silent burying-parties stole down nightly to the -water-gate, and were ferried across the canal to conduct a hasty -funeral on the opposite bank. Mabel and Flora will never forget the -night they stood on the south rampart to see Captain Leyward’s body -carried out. He had been desperately wounded when he took command of -the escort in the Akrab Pass, after Dick was struck down, and although -Dr Tighe was hopeful at first, it was not long before the case took an -unfavourable turn. In order that the enemy should not discover these -sallies of the garrison, the funeral rites were maimed indeed. There -was no question of a band or a firing-party, and as it was not -allowable even to use a lantern, Mr Hardy repeated portions of the -Burial Service from memory. The grave, which had been hastily dug as -soon as darkness came on, was made absolutely level with the -surrounding sand as soon as it had been filled up. Its bearings were -taken by compass in the hope of happier days to come, but no mark was -placed upon it, for to point out that a British officer lay there -would have been to invite the desecration of the spot. The two girls -watched the dark mass of figures melt into the blackness beyond the -embankment, and strained their eyes in vain to catch a glimpse of the -group round the grave. They could see and hear nothing until the -sudden creaking of the ferry-wires announced that the burial-party was -returning, and soon afterwards Colonel Graham came up to the rampart -and ordered them down to bed. - -Mabel wondered very much what Georgia’s thoughts were at this time. -She never alluded to the wild impulse which had led her to try and -leave the fort, but she seemed to shrink into herself, and liked to be -left alone with the baby for hours. When her friends came to speak to -her, she showed an impatience that surprised them, until at last, in a -burst of contrition for the irritation she had shown, she explained -that she was listening for Dick’s voice. She could hear it sometimes -when the baby and she were alone together, but if there were other -people in the room, their voices seemed to drown it. “What did he -say?” Mabel ventured to ask, awed by her sister-in-law’s tone of -absolute conviction, and Georgia confessed, with some disappointment, -that he had not said anything particular. It was as if they were just -talking together as usual about things in general, and the -conversation would break off abruptly, as if she was waking out of a -dream. Mabel was disappointed also. If Dick could really speak to his -wife from the dead, surely he would communicate his wishes about the -boy’s bringing-up, or some subject of similar importance; but this -casual talk--what could it be but a delusion of Georgia’s troubled -brain, which could not distinguish between dreams and realities? - -In the meantime, the reconnaissance which Fitz had made in company -with Sultan Jān was not entirely destitute of results. The news that -a mine was in course of construction had alarmed Colonel Graham more -than he cared to show, although the most careful investigations -possible in the circumstances went to prove that the tunnel had not at -present reached the neighbourhood of the walls. Runcorn, who took the -matter very much to heart, regarding it as a sign that he had not been -sufficiently on the alert, obtained permission to make a solitary -reconnaissance on two successive nights, and managed on the second -occasion to creep across the cleared space, and up to the very walls -of General Keeling’s house. By dint of long and careful listening, -with his ear to the ground, he satisfied himself that work was going -on briskly, but that the tunnel was not yet nearly long enough to -threaten the east curtain. After this, he held much consultation with -Fitz, and the two formulated a desperate scheme. They proposed to -creep into the enemy’s entrenchments, carrying with them a supply of -explosives, and blow up the mine before it was carried any farther, -destroying at the same time General Keeling’s house, in the compound -of which was the entrance shown to Fitz. The Colonel vetoed the plan -promptly, but its inventors were not to be discouraged, and produced a -fresh modification of it every day, until circumstances intervened -with decisive effect to prevent its execution. - -On a certain night Mabel awoke with the impression that she was -passing anew through the most disagreeable experience of her voyage -out--a gale in the Bay of Biscay. She could feel the ship -trembling--it had been rolling just now--the passengers were -screaming, and the wind seemed to be howling on all sides at once. - -“A mast gone!” she said to herself, with a vague recollection of -sea-stories read in youth, as she heard a fearful crash; “but the wind -howls just as if we were on land. I wonder whether I had better try to -get on deck? Why!--but how can we be on land?” - -It was most confusing. She was awake now, and realised that the voyage -had ended long ago, but it seemed impossible not to believe that she -was still on board ship, for the floor was shaking when she stood upon -it, and the little square of grey darkness which marked the position -of the window was wavering about just as a porthole would naturally do -in rough weather. - -“Am I going mad?” Mabel demanded of herself, yielding to a sudden -lurch, and sitting down unsteadily on the side of her bed. “No, I am -actually beginning to feel sea-sick--that must be real, at any rate. -Why, it must be the mine!”--she sprang up, and threw on her -dressing-gown and a cloak over it--“and what about Georgie and the -boy?” - -She tried to open her door, but the handle refused to act, and she was -struggling with it frantically when she heard Mr Hardy’s voice calling -to her from outside. - -“Kick, please!” she cried through the keyhole. “I can’t get it open.” - -A violent blow on the lower part of the door released the handle, at -the same time that it sent Mabel staggering back into the room. In the -semi-darkness she could dimly discern the old clergyman supporting -himself by one of the pillars of the verandah, his white beard blown -hither and thither by the wind. - -“Your sister and the baby!” he cried. “We must get them out. My wife -has sent me to see that they are safe.” - -“What has happened?” gasped Mabel, as they made a dash side by side -for Georgia’s verandah. - -“Our roof has fallen in. My wife is partly buried, but she won’t let -me do anything for her till Mrs North is safe. What’s this?” - -A groan answered him, and the object over which he had stumbled proved -to be Rahah, pinned to the ground by one of the beams from the -verandah, which had struck her down and imprisoned her foot. Mr Hardy -and Mabel succeeded in releasing the foot, not, however, in response -to any appeal on Rahah’s part, for she entreated them incessantly to -go and save the doctor lady and the Baba Sahib. - -“We must carry her out on her bed,” panted Mabel, as they reached -Georgia’s door, which had shut with a bang after Rahah had rushed out -to see what was the matter. Mr Hardy forced it open with an effort of -which Mabel would not have believed him capable, and they found -Georgia sitting up in bed, with the baby clasped in her arms. - -“Lie down again, Mrs North, and hold the child tight,” said Mr Hardy -cheerily, and he and Mabel seized the bedstead, and succeeded in -dragging it to the door. Here, however, it stuck fast, and in the -darkness they could not see what was the matter. To add to the horror -of this detention, the ominous shaking began again, and fragments of -wood and tiles began to clatter down from the part of the verandah -which remained standing. - -“Oh, what shall we do?” cried Mabel in an agony, as she pulled and -pushed, and Mr Hardy tugged and strained, without effect. “We must -leave the bed, and help her to walk.” - -“No, no,” said a voice behind her, and she felt herself moved gently -aside. “Take the boy and carry him into the middle of the yard, and we -will manage this.” - -She obeyed unquestioningly, and saw Fitz strike a match, which shed a -flickering light on the scene. Extinguishing the light carefully, he -called to Mr Hardy to pull the bedstead back and turn it slightly, -thus bringing it through the doorway without difficulty. They carried -it out to the spot where Mabel was standing, and Fitz raced back -immediately into the room, to return with an umbrella and all the rugs -he could lay hands upon. - -“Hold it over her head. We shall have torrents of rain in a minute or -two!” he cried, as he went to the help of Mr Hardy, who was trying to -lift Rahah away from the dangerous spot where she lay. - -“Are there mines all round us?” asked Mabel in bewilderment, as they -returned, just escaping the fall of another portion of the roof. - -“Mines! This is an earthquake!” he called back, starting again to the -relief of Mrs Hardy, of whose uncomfortable position her husband’s -stammering and excited accents had only just made him aware. - -“Where is the Baba Sahib?” cried a frantic voice, and Ismail Bakhsh -crawled up, bruised and dishevelled; “and what of my Memsahib?” - -“Safe, fool!” answered Rahah contemptuously, as she sat nursing her -injured foot, “and no thanks to thee.” - -“Peace, woman! Did not the verandah roof descend upon me as I sat -beneath it, and did I not lie there senseless until I came to myself -and fought my way out to help the Baba Sahib and his mother?” - -“If you are able to move, Ismail Bakhsh, go and help the sahibs to dig -out the Padri’s Mem,” said Georgia faintly, cutting short the -squabble, and Ismail Bakhsh obeyed. Before very long the rescuers came -back triumphant, in company with Anand Masih, who had refused to leave -his mistress, even at her express command, and had succeeded before -help came in removing a good deal of the weight that pressed upon her. - -“Well, my dear, all’s well that ends well,” said Mrs Hardy, hobbling -up and dropping stiffly on a rug beside Georgia. “Hurt? Oh, nonsense!” -in response to the anxious inquiries showered upon her; “bruised and -knocked about a little, but that’s all, and we ought to be very -thankful that it’s no worse. If those roofs hadn’t been jerry-built, -probably none of us would have escaped with our lives, but the beams -were not solid enough, as I have often said. And now the worst is -over, so we had better make ourselves as comfortable as we can here -for the rest of the night.” - -But this consoling view of things proved to be premature, for even as -Mrs Hardy spoke, there came another long-drawn, moaning gust of wind, -and the ground trembled slightly, then rocked. - -“Couldn’t we move to a safer place?” asked Mabel, for whom the sight -of the shaking buildings round the little courtyard had an awful -fascination. They seemed to her to be actually leaning towards her. - -“There is no safer place inside the walls,” said Fitz quickly. - -“Will the wall over the canal stand this?” asked Mr Hardy, in a low -voice, of Fitz, who shook his head and raised his eyebrows, just as a -stentorian voice rang out from the nearest tower. - -“Come down, you fools! Don’t you see that wall will go in a minute?” - -“That’s Woodworth calling down the Sikhs,” explained Fitz, with a -smile that did him credit. “If a volcano opened at their very feet, -they would stay where they were until they received orders to retire. -How will it fall?” he muttered to Mr Hardy. - -“If it falls inwards, that will be the end of us,” was the calm reply -of Mrs Hardy, who had caught the words. - -“Heaven is as near to Khemistan as to England,” said Mr Hardy, laying -his hand gently on Georgia’s shoulder. She had started up wildly. - -“I don’t mind for myself; it’s the boy!” she cried. “Oh, won’t some -one save him? What will Dick do when he comes back and finds no one -left?” - -“I would take him, Mrs North, indeed I would, if I thought there was a -better chance anywhere else,” said Fitz, to whom her agonised eyes -appealed; “but it would be much worse in the passages, or under any -roof. We are safer here than in most places.” - -“May God have mercy upon us all!” said Mr Hardy solemnly, as the -ground began to rock so violently that they found it impossible to -keep their feet. Half-kneeling, half-crouching, they waited. There was -a moment of awful expectation, then a crash louder than any that had -come before. To Mabel’s eyes, the dark line of wall visible above the -roofs was slowly but surely descending upon them, and horror seemed to -freeze her blood. Without knowing it, she seized Fitz’s hand, and -clung to it desperately. It was a support to have any companionship at -that dreadful moment, but she did not trouble to ask herself why she -should suddenly feel safe, almost happy. And still the mass of wall -hung poised above them for a long, long time--at least, so it seemed, -for no appreciable interval can in reality have elapsed; but at the -same moment that it struck Mabel that the line against the sky was -becoming lower instead of higher, some one called out: “It’s falling -the other way!” There was a sound which could only be likened to the -simultaneous discharge of a whole battery of 81-ton guns, a shock -which threw them all down, and immediately the air was thick with dust -and pieces of brick and stone. When it had cleared a little they -rubbed their eyes. The line of wall was gone. - -Before any one could utter a word, down came the rain in torrents, and -the baby relieved the strain of the situation by expressing his -dissatisfaction at the very top of his voice. Every one else became -conscious at once of a sense of guilt, and Ismail Bakhsh and Fitz, -jumping up, set to work to contrive a shelter for his royal highness. -Before very long, he and his mother were packed away underneath the -bed, with all the rugs and umbrellas that could be found arranged -over, under, or around them; and when he had permitted himself to be -comforted, the rest felt easier in their minds. Uncertain whether any -further shocks were likely to occur, they durst not return to their -rooms; but the matting which had been hung along the front of the -verandah was supported on sticks to form a sort of tent, and under -this they sat, wishing for the day. Fitz hurried away when he had -helped to erect the tent, saying that he might be needed elsewhere, -and Mabel was left to wonder whether his arm had really been round her -when the wall fell. He had sheltered her afterwards from the flying -fragments, that she knew, but her mind was not quite clear as to what -had happened first. - - - -Fortunately for the dwellers in the inner court, they did not in the -least realise the full extent of the damage caused by the earthquake, -alarming though their own experiences had been. The whole south front -of the fort now lay open to the enemy, for both lines of defence had -disappeared simultaneously. Not only had the wall given way, tearing -down with it half of the south-western tower, which had been partially -undermined by the flood at the beginning of the siege, but in its fall -it had completely choked the canal as far as the south-eastern angle. -The other walls and towers, the bases of which were sound, had -resisted the shocks with wonderful tenacity, but the temporary -defences built up of stones and sand-bags, as also the shelters -erected as a protection against a cross-fire, were absolutely wrecked. -A portion of the materials used had fallen inside the fort, but the -greater part was scattered about on the cleared space round. This was -the situation at three o’clock in the morning. - -“If only the enemy knew the state we are in!” said Colonel Graham, -when the extent of the disaster had been roughly estimated. - -“I rather hope their own troubles are giving them enough to do, sir,” -said Beltring. “I am certain I heard an explosion in their lines just -before our wall fell, and there were screams enough for anything.” - -“Let us hope they are too busy to attend to us, then. What is it, -Runcorn? I see you have something to propose.” - -“May I suggest, sir, that we should set to work at once to clear out -the canal, even before repairing the walls? If the flow continues to -be stopped, we shall soon have a marsh all round us, and yet there -will be no way of getting water but by digging.” - -The Colonel looked doubtful. “But surely it is impossible to move all -that mass of rubbish with the means we have?” - -“Yes, sir; we can’t hope to restore the whole channel. But I think we -could clear a passage just wide enough to keep the water running, and -perhaps to check the enemy’s rush for a moment, and the current itself -will soon make it wider.” - -“It’s worth thinking of. But while the canal is being cleared out we -must build a breastwork behind it, or there will be no cover against a -fire from the opposite bank; and we must restore our traverses and -sangars on the other walls and the towers. Every man in the fort must -set to work, for we can only count on two hours or so more of -darkness. See that the men are mustered by word of mouth, Woodworth. -We don’t want to force the fact of our wakefulness on the enemy.” - -In a very few minutes the fort and its surroundings presented a scene -of intense activity. In the cleared space men were collecting the -stones and sand-bags dashed from the parapets, and sending them up -again by means of ropes, while beyond them were several scouts, lying -flat on the ground, and trying hard to pierce with their eyes the -darkness and the pouring rain in the direction of the enemy. At the -back of the fort Runcorn, with a number of volunteers and a large -fatigue party, was levering away huge masses of mud-brick, and digging -through heaps of broken rubbish, while behind him Colonel Graham was -superintending the construction of the work which was to replace the -vanished rampart. There was no attempt to build anything at all -answering to the curtain which had been destroyed, for weeks of labour -would be needed to clear the canal-bed of the rubbish that choked it -up; but such stones and bricks as could be found were piled together, -and backed by heaps of earth, and then the work ceased perforce for -want of material. There was no time to burrow into the muddy chaos for -suitable fragments, and the remaining masses of brickwork were too -large to be moved with the means at hand. But the pause was only a -short one. All the empty boxes in the fort were requisitioned, filled -with earth, and built into the wall, but still more were needed. -Officers rushed to their quarters, hurled their possessions on the -floor, and reappeared with portmanteaus and uniform-cases. Fitz -brought the tin boxes that had held the documents of which he was -guardian, and the refugees were forced to resign the gaily painted -wooden chests some of them had succeeded in bringing in with them. -Before very long the excitement penetrated to the Memsahibs’ -courtyard, the inmates of which had now returned to their rooms. - -“Georgie, let us give them our boxes!” cried Mabel. - -“Yes, anything!” returned Georgia, sitting up with flushed cheeks. -“Turn all the things out, Mab. Oh, I wish I could come and help!” - -“Give them that plate-box, Anand Masih,” said Mrs Hardy to the -faithful bearer, who was sitting stolidly upon the piece of property -in question, which was his own particular charge. He obeyed with a -heart-rending sigh, tying up the silver carefully in a blanket before -he surrendered the box. - -“Georgie, they want more!” cried Mabel, flying back into the court. -“They are filling greatcoats with earth and tying them up by the -sleeves. What can we give them?--pillow-cases?--mattresses?” - -“_Skirts_,” said Georgia, with the ardour of a sudden discovery. “They -would make beautiful sacks if they were sewn up at the hem.” - -“Oh, my poor tailor-mades!” groaned Mabel; “but for my country’s -sake--” and she dashed into her own room, and reappeared with two or -three tweed skirts and a supply of needles and thread. - -“Oh, really, Miss North, I haven’t asked for this sacrifice,” said -Colonel Graham, unable to restrain a smile when he found himself -solemnly presented with the results of her handiwork. - -“No, but it’s made now, and Flora will bring you some of hers in a -minute. She hasn’t quite finished sewing them up. Oh, do use them -quickly, please, or I shall repent, and lose the credit of the -self-denial after all.” - -“The shape is a little unusual,” said Colonel Graham, considering the -skirts gravely, “but we can certainly use the--the contribution for -strengthening the breastwork. You ladies deserve well of your country, -I am sure.” - -“The women of Carthage are quite outdone,” said Mr Burgrave, who was -standing by; but at the sound of his voice Mabel fled back into the -court. Her own feelings during the past few days had taught her to -understand something of the pain she had inflicted on him, and she -could not face his eyes. - -“All the scattered material collected and brought in, sir,” reported -Haycraft, who had been in command of the party at work on the cleared -space, “and I have recalled the scouts. It’s a queer thing, but the -enemy have had a mounted man patrolling between their lines and ours -the whole time. It was too dark to see him, but I heard him -distinctly. He was riding round the fort, or rather round three sides -of it, from one point on the canal to the other.” - -“That encourages one to hope that they have suffered as much as we -have,” said the Colonel. “Very likely, if we only knew it, they are in -deadly fear of an attack from us; but I couldn’t venture to leave our -rear exposed while we made a sortie.” - -“The water runs, sir,” said Runcorn, coming up, “and with a few poles -and some canvas I could make a shelter for the water-carriers at a -point where it’s fairly easy to get down to the edge.” - -“Take them, by all means. What about the south-west tower?” - -“I have tested it in every way I can, sir, and I think what’s left of -it will stand all right, but there’s no hope of patching it up at -present.” - -“I foresee that this breastwork will be the burden of our lives,” said -Colonel Graham to the Commissioner, as Runcorn departed. “We shall -have to keep the guard there always under arms, and extra sentries in -the tower ruins, for the enemy could take it with a rush at any -moment, even if it didn’t topple down under their weight.” - -“Yes, it strikes one that there is a certain lack of privacy about the -new arrangement as compared with the old,” said Mr Burgrave. “It is -like finding the public suddenly in possession of one’s back garden.” - -“I should very much like to know what damage the enemy have sustained. -Do you care to come with me to the gateway? It ought soon to be light -enough to see.” - -An exclamation broke from both men as the dawn revealed to them the -outlines of the enemy’s position. Half-way across the cleared space -extended a curious fissure, and when this was traced back, it lost -itself in a heap of ruins to the right of General Keeling’s house. The -house itself still stood, although the stone sangars on its roof were -destroyed, but the loopholed buildings which had faced it were gone. - -“The mine!” was the cry that leaped to the lips of both Colonel Graham -and Mr Burgrave, and the former added, “It must have exploded -prematurely when Beltring heard the noise, but in the crash of our own -wall the rest of us did not notice it.” - -“This explains the enemy’s anxiety to keep us at a distance,” said the -Commissioner. “But why employ a mounted patrol, and only one man?” - -“It was simply to give an impression of watchfulness, I suppose. Can -you suggest any other explanation, Ressaldar?” and the Colonel turned -to Badullah Khan, who stood beside them. - -“That was no enemy, sahib. It was Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib Bahadar.” - -“Nonsense!” cried Mr Burgrave. The native officer drew himself up. - -“We who knew Kīlin Sahib can judge better than the Kumpsioner Sahib -what he would do. When we have heard him riding all night between us -and the enemy, preventing them from attacking us, are we to doubt the -witness of our own ears--nay, our eyes, since certain of the sowars -swear that they beheld him?” - -“I beg your pardon, Ressaldar,” said the Commissioner, with marked -politeness. “I suppose it will now be an article of faith all along -the frontier that General Keeling saved the fort last night?” - -“Without doubt, sahib. Is it not the truth?” - -“I must say I wish my faith was as robust as the regiment’s!” said the -Commissioner with a smile, as they turned to descend the steps. - -“A white flag, sir!” reported Winlock, who was on guard at the -gateway, when they reached the ground. - -“Who is carrying it?” - -“A Hindu with two servants. The sowars say that it is Bahram Khan’s -_diwan_, Narayan Singh.” - -“Let him come within speaking distance--no farther.” - -“Perhaps I ought to say, sir, if you are thinking that he wants to see -what state we are in, that they have found that out already. A scout -on a swift camel rode along the opposite bank of the canal a few -minutes ago. He was near enough to see what we were doing, but he came -and went like the wind, before the men could take up their carbines. -Since he was gone so quickly, I did not call you.” - -“I wish we could have caught him, but we can’t expect to keep them -from discovering our plight. But certainly we won’t have them spying -about under the walls. Let the Sikhs have their rifles ready, in case -of treachery.” - -Before inviting Mr Burgrave to return with him to the turret, Colonel -Graham went the round of the defences, to make sure that the sentries -were all on the alert. He had in his mind more than one occasion on -which the tribes had advanced to the attack under cover of a parley, -and with the rear of the fort in its present condition he could not -neglect any precautions. The heaps of rubbish on the opposite bank of -the narrow channel which Runcorn had cleared for the water were a -cause for constant anxiety, since a small force of resolute men posted -behind them might render the new breastwork untenable, but nothing -could be done to them at present. - -“I would give ten years of my life for a forty-eight hours’ -armistice!” said the Colonel to Mr Burgrave, as they mounted the steps -to the loophole of the turret, below which the Hindu was waiting, his -two attendants having paused at a respectful distance. - -“What message do you bring?” asked Colonel Graham, after the usual -salutations had been exchanged. - -“This unworthy one brings to your lordship the words of Syad Bahram -Khan, Sword-of-the-Faith: ‘Who can stand against the will of Allah? -This night His hand has been heavy upon my army, even as upon that of -the sahibs, and many men are killed, and many also buried while yet -alive under the ruins of their quarters. Let there then be peace -between us for three days. We will continue to hold our lines from the -bridge to the godowns, but we will not cross the canal, nor come out -upon the open space; and I would have the sahibs swear also that they -will keep to their fort and the other bank of the canal, and not cross -it on either side to attack us. Then shall the dead be buried and the -injured cared for, and both sides may also repair their damaged -defences, but it is forbidden to raise any new ones. What is the -answer of the Colonel Sahib?’” - -“Can’t be much doubt, can there?” said Colonel Graham to the -Commissioner. - -“I suppose not. But how coolly they talk of wasting three days! It -seems as if they thought they had a lifetime before them to spend on -this siege.” - -“Well, so much the better for us--on this occasion, at any rate. When -is the armistice to begin?” he asked of Narayan Singh; “now, or -to-morrow morning?” - -“At daybreak to-morrow, sahib,” was the answer, after a moment’s -consideration. - -“So be it,” said Colonel Graham. “Then they _have_ something on hand!” -he added to Mr Burgrave. “If Bahram Khan were all anxiety for his -wounded, as he would like us to think, of course he would want the -armistice to begin at once. But he knows we shan’t fire at his men if -they begin digging out the poor wretches now, and he would like three -clear days for some plot of his own. What can it be?” - -“Perhaps he merely hopes to catch us off our guard to-day,” suggested -the Commissioner. - -“But if that’s his game, no scruples of conscience would have kept him -from making use of the armistice for the purpose. No, he’s up to -something, and I should very much like to know what it is. I shall -post a lookout at the top of the north-west tower with the best -field-glass we have, to keep an eye on all that goes on in their -camp.” - -The Colonel’s prevision was justified early the next morning, when the -lookout announced that a small body of fully armed men, all mounted, -among whom he believed he could distinguish Bahram Khan himself, had -left the town and were proceeding towards the north-east, apparently -in the direction of Nalapur. - -“I am very much afraid that bodes ill to poor old Ashraf Ali,” said -the Colonel. “I only wish we could warn him.” - -“After all, sir,” said Haycraft, to whom he had spoken, “Bahram Khan -may only be off to see how the blockade of Rahmat-Ullah is going on. -It’s evident he thinks we’re stuck pretty fast here, for really, if we -had the proper number of horses, and anywhere to go to, we might take -advantage of the armistice to disappear, they have left so few men in -their lines.” - -“I prefer the shelter of even our tumble-down walls to being -surrounded in the desert,” said the Colonel shortly. “And now to -work!” - - - - - CHAPTER XXI. - THE DEAD THAT LIVED. - -There was some grumbling when it became known that only half the -garrison was to go to work on the defences at a time, the other half -remaining under arms, but Colonel Graham knew the enemy too well to -omit any precaution. He thought it most unlikely that the armistice -would be allowed to expire without an attempt to surprise the -defenders of the fort, and it was highly probable that Bahram Khan’s -departure was intended purely as a blind. Hence the sentries were -posted as usual upon walls and towers, and scouts were thrown out in -both directions along the line of the canal, so that the -working-parties might safely give their full attention to the matter -in hand. As usual, the first work to be done was the digging of -several graves, for the earthquake had found victims both in the -refugees’ quarters and in the hospital, where two of the wounded had -died of sheer terror, but when the funerals were over, the -rubbish-heaps were attacked with a will. Stones and pieces of -brickwork of manageable size were put aside to strengthen the -makeshift rampart on the inner bank, while the dust and loose earth -was carried some little distance, and spread evenly over the ground, -so as to offer no cover whatever. When this had been done, Runcorn -pressed forward the all-important work of the further clearing of the -canal, a dirty and laborious job which it would require months to -accomplish properly. As things were, the whole of the time at the -disposal of the garrison produced very little apparent effect, and it -needed unfailing tact and the constant force of example to keep the -weary labourers at work. Colonel Graham took his turn with the rest, -so that the younger men could not for very shame rebel against the -task, while Mr Burgrave, for whom active labour was out of the -question, stimulated the ardour of the native workmen by offering -rewards for the best record of work done. - -To the inmates of the Memsahibs’ courtyard, the armistice brought -little change. They were allowed to cross the canal, and walk about a -little on the opposite bank, but they were forbidden to venture upon -the irrigated land by themselves, and no one was at liberty to escort -them even as far as the outlying pickets. Mabel and Flora carried the -baby across, that it might breathe the air outside prison walls for -the first time in its life, as Mabel said, and they sat upon a heap of -crumbling rubbish amidst clouds of dust and watched the men at work, -until it dawned upon them that their room was more desired than their -company, whereupon they returned to the fort, and found a seat upon -the ramparts. On ordinary occasions this was forbidden ground, but the -armistice had been faithfully observed so far, and in spite of his -misgivings Colonel Graham gave them leave to enjoy the air and sky -while they might. - -“Oh dear! I feel like the naughty little boy in the spelling-book,” -sighed Mabel. “Everybody is too busy to talk to me. Isn’t it dull, -Flora? I do wish something would happen.” - -“Why, what a martial spirit you are developing!” said Flora. “Do you -yearn for an attack at this moment?” - -“Oh, nonsense! I don’t mean that sort of thing. I mean something -interesting.” - -Her eyes strayed involuntarily to the spot where Fitz was at work down -below, and the thought crossed her mind that she would make him look -up at her. - -“But I won’t,” she decided. “He would know I was thinking of him, and -he doesn’t deserve it.” She had only spoken to him once since the -earthquake, and then it seemed to her that his manner was almost -apologetic, as if he knew he had offended her, but was anxious to show -that she need not fear a repetition of the offence. “So I suppose he -did put his arm round me,” she reflected, “but if I wasn’t angry, why -should he behave as though I had been? If he does care for me still, -why should he be so anxious to pretend he doesn’t? Flora!” she turned -suddenly upon her friend, who was engrossed in trying to read some -meaning into the baby’s inarticulate gurglings, “have you said -anything to Mr Anstruther about our talk the other day? about -wholesome neglect, I mean?” - -“I?” asked Flora, looking up quickly, “to him, about you? Mab! as if I -would ever give away another girl to any man in the world! Of course -not. You ought to know me better than that.” - -“I didn’t really think you had,” said Mabel lamely. “It was only--” -she stopped, for the thought in her mind was that she wished there had -been some such explanation of Fitz’s silence, since in that case she -could at least have felt sure that he had not changed his mind. - - - -It was the evening of the third day of the armistice, and as the sun -began to set, the tired labourers in what was pleasantly called the -“back garden” were able to look with pride upon the result of their -toil. It is true that all were not satisfied with it, for the -inexorable Runcorn, finding the work he had mapped out actually -accomplished, was anxious to make further improvements. Since, -however, the erection of sangars on the roof of Mabel’s room and of -the hospital had rendered it possible to bring a converging fire to -bear on all parts of the temporary breastwork, the Colonel considered -any more tampering with the canal-banks unadvisable, and work was -declared to be at an end. The sowars and other natives had already -been marched back into the fort, but the white men lingered for a few -minutes’ idleness in the fresh air. Runcorn was still urging his point -on the rest, who were lounging in various attitudes of ease on the -bank, when a shot was fired overhead. - -“What’s up?” shouted Woodworth. - -“There’s a fellow on Gun Hill,” answered Winlock’s voice from the -ruined tower. “He seemed to be displaying a good deal of interest in -our arrangements, so I sent a gentle reminder pretty near him.” - -“Don’t you go breaking armistices, or we shall get into trouble,” Fitz -called out, and the subject dropped, but presently a hail from the -farthest scout in the direction of the bridge brought every man to his -feet. - -“He’s stopped some one--only one man--perhaps it’s a messenger!” cried -Beltring. “Take your guns, you idiots! it may be a trap,” as the rest -started off at a run. “Bring him with you, and retire on the next -man,” he shouted to the Sikh, who obeyed, keeping his bayonet pointed -at the stranger’s breast. - -“What is it?” inquired the white men breathlessly, as they ran up, to -find the two stolid Sikhs guarding a feeble figure in native dress. - -“Don’t fire,” said the new-comer in English. “Don’t fire!” - -“No, no, they won’t,” said Woodworth impatiently. “Who are you?” - -“Don’t f--” began the stranger again, then looked round helplessly. “I -can’t--I can’t--” he faltered, then threw off his turban with a hasty -movement of the hand. “Don’t you--any of you----?” he murmured. - -“Are you English?” demanded Woodworth, with considerable misgiving, as -he took in the details of the man’s appearance--the unkempt hair, the -scanty grey beard, the lack-lustre eyes, and the bony face, with the -lips trembling pitifully. - -“Not one of you?” went on the stranger, recovering himself a little. -“Anstruther!” - -“I do! I do!” cried Fitz, with a mighty shout. “You fellows, are you -blind? It’s the Major!” - -“The Major? Impossible!” was the cry, as Fitz wrung the new-comer’s -hand with painful warmth. The idea seemed absurd, but gradually -conviction grew upon the rest, and they stood round in awkward -silence. Dick’s eyes sought their faces one by one. - -“What is it?” he asked, turning anxiously back to Fitz. “Will no one -tell me? Is--is--how is----?” - -“As well as possible,” cried Fitz joyously. “Never given you up for an -hour, Major. And the _baba_ is a boy, the pride of the whole place.” - -“Thank God!” said Dick fervently, and at the words the last remnants -of the distrust with which the rest had regarded him melted away. - -“Forgive us, Major. We’ve thought of you so long as dead that we -couldn’t believe our eyes,” said Woodworth. “Have you been a prisoner -all this time, after all?” - -“North, my dear fellow!” Colonel Graham broke into the group and -seized Dick’s hand. “Thank God you’re alive! This will be new life to -Mrs North. But look here, we mustn’t let her see you like this. The -fright would undo any good she might get.” - -“I suppose I am rather a scarecrow,” said Dick slowly. He spoke with a -curious hesitation, as though the words he wished to use would not -come to his lips. “But I have been at death’s door until very lately, -and now I have had no food for three days.” - -“Woodworth,” said Colonel Graham, “post a sentry before the door of -the ladies’ courtyard, and don’t let any one go in to carry the news. -Happily they are none of them on the walls this evening. Now, North, -for your wife’s sake, to save her an awful shock, you’ll come to my -quarters and have a bath and a shave and something to eat, and get -into some of my clothes. You’ll be a different man then. Can you -walk?” - -“I have walked a good deal yesterday and to-day, but I can do a little -more,” said Dick, accepting gratefully the arm which was offered him. - -“Close round, and let us smuggle him in,” said Colonel Graham to the -rest. “We don’t want the men to hear the news before Mrs North. Let -them think it’s a messenger who has got through in disguise.” - -The other men waited outside the Colonel’s quarters until, after the -lapse of a miraculously short space of time, Dick came out again. They -raised a subdued cheer when they saw him, for once more in uniform, he -looked his old self. The feebleness was gone from his gait, and he -held himself erect again. His hair and moustache, though greyer than -before, had resumed their usual aspect, and the straggling beard was -gone, so that but for the excessive thinness, which made the clothes -hang loosely about him, he seemed little changed. The rest pressed -forward to shake hands with him. - -“We were a set of fools not to know you, Major,” said Beltring, “but -at the moment I hadn’t a doubt you were a spy.” - -“Well,” said Dick, as the others laughed shamefacedly, “that didn’t -matter; but when you all stood and looked at me without speaking, I -made certain something frightful had happened. See you all afterwards; -I can’t wait now.” - -He passed on into the inner courtyard, where Mabel and Flora were -sitting talking in the verandah. Both sprang up as his shadow came -between them and the sunset. - -“Dick!” shrieked Mabel. “Then Georgie was right after all! But don’t -stay here.” She was dragging him in the direction of Georgia’s room. -“I daren’t keep you from her a moment.” - -Forgetful of everything but the unconquerable faith which was -justified at last, she would not detain him even to greet him herself, -but he drew back on the threshold. - -“Oughtn’t you to break it to her? The shock might be too great.” - -“The shock? She’s expecting you, has been for weeks!” cried Mabel -hysterically. “Oh, Dick, I could die of joy!” - -“Mab,” came in Georgia’s tones through the half-closed door, “I hear -Dick’s voice. Bring him in--bring him in.” - -“Oh, go on. She mustn’t get up; it’ll hurt her,” cried Mabel, pushing -the door open. - -“Georgie, if you get up,” cried Dick, charging into the room, -“I’ll--Oh, Georgie, Georgie!” He fell on his knees by the bed, and -there was a long silence, interrupted only by broken words and sobs. -As for Mabel, she banged the door, and rushed away to cry somewhere in -private. - -“My poor dear boy!” said Georgia at last, her voice still trembling, -as she passed her hand over Dick’s forehead, “you have wanted me very -much, haven’t you?” - -“Your boy is a very old boy, I’m afraid--quite grey-haired now, -Georgie. Wanted you? of course I have--words can’t express how much.” - -“I know. And you called to me one whole day and night, didn’t you?” - -“Why, yes, I suppose so. But how did you know?” - -“I heard you. I tried to get to you, Dick, but they wouldn’t let me.” - -“It’s a mercy they didn’t. Oh, Georgie, you blessed woman, what it is -to see you again!” - -“And--?” cried Georgia. “Oh, you’ve forgotten--I’ve forgotten! Look -here, Dick. You have never even thought of him. Take him up, and hold -him in your arms.” - -“Don’t you think it’s happier as it is?” inquired Dick, poking the -baby gingerly with a tentative finger. - -“_It_? It’s your son, Dick. Take him up at once. I want to see you -together. Now, isn’t he splendid?” - -“Little beggar’s not a scrap like you,” grumbled Dick. - -“No,” said Georgia, with entire satisfaction; “every one says he’s the -image of you.” - -“Oh no; not really?” protested Dick in dismay. - -“Why not? He’s a beautiful baby. Look what lovely eyes he has. And see -how good he is; _mens aequa in arduis_ ought to be his motto, I always -say.” - -“Oh, very well; if he feels it a hardship for me to hold him, I quite -agree,” and the baby was returned with elaborate gentleness to the -basket which served as a cradle. - -“Dick, aren’t you pleased? Don’t you really like him?” Georgia’s eyes -were full of tears. - -“_Like_ him? My dear girl, in a day or two I shall be prouder of him -than you are. But you see, it’s you I’ve been thinking of all this -time, and I can’t think of anything else yet. I want to sit by you and -look at you and hold your hand for hours and hours, and think of -nothing but that I’ve got you again.” - -“I won’t accept compliments at my baby’s expense,” laughed Georgia -through her tears. - -“Ah, he’s quite taken my place, I see. Now, old girl, I’m only joking. -There!” Dick lifted the baby again, and laid it carefully in Georgia’s -arms; “you hold him, and let me look at you both.” - - - -Mabel, in the meantime, was sobbing in a corner of the verandah. Her -tears were purely tears of joy, but her attitude, as she sat crouched -on the floor (for the boxes which had once served as seats were now a -portion of the breastwork), was desolate enough to melt the heart of -any sympathetic spectator. So, at least, it seemed to Fitz, who came -hurrying through the passage, and pulled up, in astonishment and -alarm, just in time to avoid stumbling over her. - -“What is it, Miss North? Anything wrong?” he asked anxiously. - -“Oh no; it’s only--that I’m so--happy,” said Mabel, between her sobs. -“I came here to be out of the way,” she added, rising with all the -dignity she could muster, and shaking the dust from her skirts, “but -it seems impossible to find a place where one can be by oneself.” - -“Oh, I beg your pardon. Please don’t let me interrupt you. I only came -to ask when the Major would like to see the men. They are wild to -welcome him back. If you will just ask him, I’ll go away directly.” - -“I won’t disturb him and Georgia now,” said Mabel. “If the men come in -an hour’s time, I’ll tell him before that, and he will be ready to see -them.” - -“Oh, thanks.” He turned to go, then hesitated a moment, and came back. -“I want just to say one thing, Miss North--about that promise you gave -me.” - -“Oh, don’t!” cried Mabel hysterically. “You haven’t treated me fairly -about it. It’s cruel to keep such a thing hanging over me, so that I -am in terror whenever I see you.” - -“Why, what a low brute you must have thought me! But really I didn’t -mean to be such an out-and-out cad as all that. I thought you knew me -better--and I did try to show you what I meant. You couldn’t imagine -that I would hold you to a promise which I practically forced you to -make?” - -“Oh!” said Mabel. An unprejudiced listener would have said that she -had not only expected but desired to be held to her promise. But Fitz -was not unprejudiced, and he went on earnestly. - -“This is how it was. I told you I should go on hoping, you know (and I -do still, for the matter of that). And I had a sort of idea that you -might be changing your mind just a little--of course it was awful -cheek on my part--and I thought I’d put it to the test. So I asked you -for that promise, just to see how you’d take it. But when I saw how -you felt about it, I never thought of going any further. Didn’t you -understand, really? I thought I must have made it clear that I was -quite content to be your friend until you could give me more--of your -own free will. Oh, you must have seen.” - -Mabel’s heart felt like lead, but she made a gallant effort to appear -indifferent. “Of course I saw that you avoided me----” she began. - -“Oh no--it has been you who avoided me,” protested Fitz. - -“Oh, well, it’s very much the same,” wearily. “And I am sorry to say I -misjudged you. I thought you were trying to make me feel that you had -a hold over me. I must apologise for that. Then you give me back my -promise?” she added suddenly. - -“Not at all. I am keeping it for another time.” - -“But that’s a trick. You are just as bad as I thought.” - -“You must really imagine that I have a perfect mania for being -refused. I have told you that I believe you’ll have me yet, and that I -shall go on hoping until you do. Don’t you see that I’m keeping your -promise in store solely out of consideration for you--to save you from -the very unpleasant necessity of letting me know when you do make up -your mind?” - -“I believe--you are laughing at me!” said Mabel, in wounded and -incredulous amazement. - -“Laughing--I? Not a bit of it. Look at me and see. I am serious, if -you are not. Well, you see, I have only got back the freedom of which -I deprived myself at first. Say it was by a trick, if you like--though -I didn’t intend it so--but I don’t think you need be afraid of the way -I shall use it. I shan’t waste the promise, I assure you. Until the -right time comes, I am nothing but your friend, and the promise is -exactly as if it didn’t exist.” - -“But,” protested Mabel, “you seem to expect me to--to----” - -“Haven’t I just said that I want to save you from anything of the -kind? You see, it’s not as if I had any number of opportunities to -waste. I have only the one, and I don’t mean to use it until I can lay -it out to good advantage.” - -“Well,” said Mabel desperately, “I think you are most ungenerous. You -want me to feel myself entirely dependent upon your forbearance--and -you call yourself a gentleman!” - -“Miss North, do you wish me to give you back your promise?” - -“Yes, of course. Why not?” - -“Because, if I do, you will naturally feel bound in honour to give me -a hint when your feelings change. You couldn’t intend us both to go on -in misery because my mouth was shut and you wouldn’t speak?” - -“You seem to put me in the wrong at every turn,” sobbed Mabel. “Oh, I -wish you would go away!” and he went. - -Now, at least, Mabel ought to have been happy. But she was not. After -assuring herself several times over that she hated Fitz, she proceeded -to give the lie promptly to her assurances, while looking the -situation in the face. - -“He _will_ make it depend on me,” she lamented to herself, “and it’s -simple cowardice on his part, because he thinks I should refuse him -again. Well, I know I said I should, but I meant to give him a little -hope. As it is, I don’t like him to be so masterful, and I won’t give -in. He has managed to get a horrible hold over me, but I will not let -him see it. I won’t give in. Oh dear, why can’t he ask me properly? -why can’t something happen to put things right? If he knew how I cared -for him, I wonder whether he would say anything? But I am glad he -doesn’t guess; yes, I--am--glad. If I let him see it, he would think -he could ride roughshod over me ever after. No, he wouldn’t, he’s too -generous, but I should hate his being generous at my expense. I -suppose I don’t care for him enough, or I should be glad to give in. -So it’s better as it is.” - -She dried her eyes with great determination, whereupon another thought -came immediately to fill them again with tears. - -“What shall I do to-morrow morning? Each day I have thought, ‘Perhaps -he will speak to-day!’ and now I know he won’t, unless I let him see -in some way--but I won’t! I won’t! I won’t! What an idiot I am! I feel -like the foolish woman who plucks down her house with her own hands. -Oh, why has Georgie got everything and I nothing? But I have, of -course. I have got Dick back again just as much as she has, and I -suppose I don’t deserve anything more. But I don’t know why this -particularly horrible thing should happen to me. It’s not as if I had -ever led any one on--except poor Eustace. I did really flirt with him -at first, so I suppose this is my punishment. If he knew he would say -it was only just. But the rest--why, Captain Winlock or Mr Beltring or -Captain Woodworth would propose to-morrow if I held up my little -finger. I could have any of them I liked--except the right one. It -would serve him right if I flirted with one of them now, and made him -jealous--” she grew suddenly cheerful, for the idea pleased her. “I -should like to make him miserable a little, after the way he has -treated me, and I could do it so splendidly. But I suppose he was -rather miserable when I was engaged to Eustace, and it would be -distinctly hard on the other man. I never thought I was such a -wretch,” with a repentant sigh, “but it was a temptation for the -moment. And to think that I should be going on in this way when I -ought to remember nothing but that Dick’s alive! I’m a perfect beast, -and I _will_ be glad. I’ll try and think only of Georgie, and perhaps -I shan’t feel quite so miserable then. Oh dear, I wish there was some -way of letting people know you were sorry without giving in!” - -No such paradox offered itself, however, and suddenly remembering her -duty, Mabel went to give Dick the message Fitz had brought from the -men. A short time afterwards they filed into the courtyard, first the -half who were off duty, and then those from the walls, who came as -soon as they were relieved. On all of them Dick impressed his absolute -command that the enemy should not be in any way informed of his -return. The men were disappointed, for they had looked forward to -publishing the tidings in one of those contests of scurrility in which -they engaged at every opportunity, sometimes with the invisible -defenders of General Keeling’s house, and sometimes with the rash -spirits who crept up under the ramparts at night, risking their lives -for the sole delight of taunting the garrison. But Dick’s word was -law, and the Ressaldars assured him that nothing should leak out to -give the enemy an inkling of what had happened. When they had retired, -and the guards had been set for the night, a festal gathering took -place in the inner courtyard. Georgia was carried into the verandah, -and Mr and Mrs Hardy and Mabel and Flora brought out all the seats -they could muster, and placed them round her couch; Colonel Graham, -the doctor, and Fitz came in, and Dick related his adventures. - -“There really is awfully little to tell,” he said, “because, you see, -I was knocked silly at once, and I can only remember one moment in a -whole long time. I suppose it was the evening of the fight in the -Pass. I was being carried along by a lot of native women--at least, -that is how I interpret the thing now, but at the moment I couldn’t -tell what to make of it. It might have been rather weird if I had had -time to think of that, but no sooner had I opened my eyes than the -woman who was holding my feet saw that I was looking at her. She -screamed and let me drop--that she might put on her veil, I -suppose--but that finished me for the moment. I don’t remember -anything more until I found myself in a cave, with an old _fakir_ -sitting a little way off, absorbed in meditation. I was too weak to -talk, and I seem to have had visions of the cave and the old man, off -and on, for hundreds of years. At last, when I had been sensible -rather longer than usual, I managed to get out sufficient voice to ask -him where I was. He told me I was in his cave, which was not much -information, but I couldn’t think of anything else to ask him at the -time. The next day I asked him how I had got there, and he said the -Hasrat Ali Begum had sent and asked him to take care of me, and I had -been let down into the cave by ropes from above. He evidently believed -in letting his patients severely alone, for he pursued his meditations -assiduously except when I worried him with my impertinent questions. I -couldn’t think how I came to be there, and I hammered at him until he -let out the truth. I daresay he was wiser not to tell me before, for -as soon as the whole thing flashed upon me, I was mad to get away. You -see, the old chap was so very holy that he had no disciples and never -went out into the world, and even his food was brought to an appointed -place by his admirers, and left there for him to fetch. He knew about -the fight in the Pass, but he couldn’t say whether any of the escort -had escaped, or whether this place had been taken by surprise and -everybody wiped out. You may imagine the state I was in, and the -threats and prayers and promises I lavished upon the old man, until he -was at his wits’ end to know what to do with me. He preached me a long -sermon one day upon patience and resignation, pointing out, first, -that I must not think he bore me ill-will--quite the contrary, since I -had saved him from being hung for murder in a very hard-sworn case -when I first came here; second, that if he departed from his usual -custom so far as to go out and ask the news, suspicion would -immediately be excited, and I should be done for; third, that it was -not he that was keeping me there, but the wounds I had got, which -prevented me from moving.” - -“I should think so!” cried Dr Tighe, unable to keep silence longer. -“Ladies and gentlemen, the patient before you was as good as dead, -ought by rights to be dead now, yet there he sits and talks. Will you -think of it, Mrs North? This husband of yours has had a bullet -actually through his heart. He’s a living miracle. The difference of -the minutest fraction of an inch of space, the minutest fraction of a -second of time, would have meant that you would be a widow at this -moment. How it is you are not, I cannot explain--I tell you frankly. -Though it may seem to the vulgar mind to reflect upon our common -profession, I imagine that being let absolutely alone may have had -something to do with it, but I can’t tell. Be thankful that you’ve got -him back, and take good care of him in future.” - -“I will; I will, indeed,” said Georgia fervently, squeezing Dick’s -hand. - -“I regard you with an evil eye, Major, I don’t deny it,” went on the -doctor. “You’re a living falsification of every canon of surgery. You -had no business to survive that wound, much less to live through the -absence of treatment you met with. It’s a slap in Mrs North’s face, I -call it, to say nothing of mine. But let us hear some more of your -reprehensible proceedings.” - -“Well,” said Dick, “I remember that sermon very well, because I was -panting the whole time to get away. I thought that some day, when old -Faiz-Ullah was saying his prayers, I might crawl past him, and slip -out. I did manage to crawl to the entrance, though I thought I should -have died in doing it, but when I got there I found only a precipice -in front. At the side was a rope-ladder by which my elderly friend was -accustomed to get to the spot where his food was left, but of course I -could as soon have flown as climbed it. I simply lay there like a log, -until the old fellow happened to miss me, and came to look. I must -have got a touch of fever or sunstroke, for I had awful nightmares -after that--oh, horrors and tortures beyond conception! Faiz-Ullah -must have been frightened, for at last he made me understand that he -had seen the Begum’s servant, and she was going to try and bring my -wife to cure me. That set me off on a new tack. The horrors went on -just the same, but Georgia was always there, on the other side of a -gulf, and I couldn’t get at her. She knows how much I wanted her”--he -stole a glance at Georgia, down whose face the tears were -streaming--“but I don’t think any one else can ever guess how bad it -was. Well, she didn’t come, as you know, but the old woman who had -tried to fetch her sent me a message, which I suppose she took the -trouble to invent, just to satisfy me. If I insisted upon it, Georgia -would come, she said, but to reach me she must run the gantlet of so -many dangers that it was scarcely possible she could get through. Was -she to come? I’m thankful to remember that I had strength of mind -enough to say she wasn’t to think of it. Of course she couldn’t get -the message, but a man doesn’t like to feel----” - -“Oh, Dick, as if I should have thought of the danger!” murmured -Georgia. - -“We know you didn’t, Mrs North,” said Colonel Graham, “and that’s why -I agree with North that it’s a good thing he left off calling you.” - -“I don’t know why,” said Dick, “but after that I was happier, somehow. -I used to have the idea that Georgia was there, and we held long -conversations”--Georgia’s eyes met Mabel’s significantly--“and so I -grew better. Of course I was wild to get away, but there was always -that rope-ladder, and the very thought of it turned me sick. Old -Faiz-Ullah promised faithfully that in a few days he would help me up -it, and escort me through the mountains to this place, so that I might -get in if I could, and three nights ago he went to meet the Begum’s -servant when she brought the food, intending to ask if they could find -me a pony. But that night there was the worst earthquake I have ever -felt”--the rest exchanged glances--“and he never came back. The noise -was fearful, and as shock after shock came, I never for a moment -expected to live through it. But the cave was not damaged, and when I -crawled out in the morning, the rope-ladder was still there. I waited -for the old man, but he did not come, and there was no food left. At -last I decided that something must have happened to him, and I -determined to make the attempt sooner than starve to death. I don’t -know how long I hung between heaven and earth on that awful ladder, -but I got to the top at last, and followed Faiz-Ullah’s track. Before -very long I found him, poor old fellow! crushed under a fallen rock, -quite dead. I hunted about for some stones that I could lift to put -over him, to keep off the leopards, and then I started. If any food -had been brought the night before, it was buried under the rock with -him, so I had no time to lose. I knew roughly where I was, and I set -my course as best I could by the sun. I went from hiding-place to -hiding-place, sometimes crawling, and sometimes able to walk. I dared -not rest long anywhere, for I knew I should starve even if the enemy -didn’t find me. I got across the Akrab Pass almost by a miracle. -Bahram Khan was holding a _jirgah_ with the tribesmen, and they had no -scouts out except in the direction of Nalapur. After taking a good -look at them, I crept round below and got through. And after that I -went on somehow, I don’t remember how, and at last I worked round by -our house, and into the hills where the canal comes from, and got -across on a landslip, where the water was shallow, and here I am.” - -“When you ought to be in bed,” said Dr Tighe. “You don’t deserve it, -after your outrageous behaviour in defying the profession, but I’d -like to overhaul you, and see if nature hasn’t left any little -crevices that art may manage to patch up.” - -“Art must go to work quickly, then,” said Dick. “I want to get hold of -the tribes before Bahram Khan comes back.” - -“That will be to-morrow morning, when the armistice ends,” said -Colonel Graham. “No, we have got you again now, North, and you won’t -start out on any fools’ errands just yet, let me tell you.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXII. - THE FIRE ON THE HILL. - -“Ah!” said Colonel Graham sharply. “So that is the little dodge, is -it?” - -He and Dick were standing in one of the gateway turrets as the day -broke, and it was the sight of a long column of men marching into the -town from the north-east that had called forth the exclamation. - -“Look behind you!” said Dick laconically. A second force was moving -along the south bank of the canal in the direction of the fort. - -“Nice use to make of an armistice!” said the Colonel. - -“Well, you didn’t expect anything else, did you? You see they have got -us between two fires? That means a simultaneous attack on the gateway -and the breastwork, at any rate, if not on all four sides at once. We -have no time to lose.” - -“Have you any suggestions to offer?” The Colonel spoke with the -calmness of despair, and Dick glanced at him in surprise. - -“Of course you know our possibilities better than I do, but I should -certainly occupy Gun Hill, so as both to cover our west face, and -enable us to deliver a flank attack on the fellows on the opposite -bank if they come any nearer.” - -“We have no guns, unfortunately, as you know, and worse than that, we -have not men enough to send out a detachment to the hill and hold the -place at the same time. Look there!” he handed Dick his field-glass. -“The buildings facing us are packed with men ready to advance in -response to any movement on our part.” - -“I see. But at any rate we can line the earthwork and the roofs and -our bank of the canal with sharpshooters, and keep the enemy at a -distance on the south face?” - -“No doubt we could, but for one thing. Do you recollect that we have -now been besieged over a month? What is the natural corollary?” - -“That the ammunition is running out?” - -“Exactly. There is so little left for the rifles that I have forbidden -it to be used except for picking off any specially troublesome -snipers. We are slightly better off as regards the carbines, but a -single day of hard fighting would leave us with nothing but cold -steel.” - -“Good heavens!” said Dick, beginning to pace backwards and forwards in -the narrow limits of the turret; “and with the men they are bringing -up now they can overwhelm us by sheer weight of numbers. You see it’s -the Nalapur army that is marching in? No doubt Bahram Khan was on his -way to fetch it when I saw him in the Pass. Now, either the Amir has -been got rid of, or he has decided to throw in his lot with his -precious nephew. If he’s dead, it’s all up, but if not, there’s just a -chance. You said he seemed to turn reckless when he thought he had -done for me; well, I may be able to sober him down again.” - -“You are not thinking of venturing into their camp?” - -“Scarcely, since Bahram Khan would very soon repair his unfortunate -omission if I did. But if he doesn’t propose a parley, you must, and -insist on the Amir’s taking part in it. Then I will show myself -suddenly, and see whether there’s any hope of working upon the old -man’s feelings.” - -All morning the garrison watched in gloomy helplessness the assembling -of the force which was to crush them. When Bahram Khan’s -reinforcements had taken up their positions, the fort was practically -surrounded. On the north-west, and extending under cover of the trees -to the reconstructed bridge, were the tents of the tribes, now once -more fully occupied, and humming like a hive of bees. Clearly, the -news had gone out that victory was at hand. On the north and east was -the town, now held by a strong contingent of Nalapuris, in addition to -Bahram Khan’s original force, and on the south the main body of the -Nalapur army in a roughly fortified camp. Famine and pestilence had -proved too slow in their work, and the final arbitrament was to be -sharp and short. - -In the course of the afternoon a white flag was hoisted on General -Keeling’s house, and when the garrison had replied to it, Bahram Khan -rode out on the cleared space, surrounded by his own guard and the -Nalapuri officers. Colonel Graham and Mr Burgrave faced him at the -loophole of the turret, Dick lurking in the shadows behind them, and -received what was announced as a final offer of terms. Stripped of the -verbiage in which it was enwrapped, this was simply a demand for -unconditional surrender. Bahram Khan would do his best to save the -lives of the garrison, but the fury of the Amir was so great that he -could not guarantee even that, and every shred of public and personal -property was to be relinquished. Colonel Graham returned a prompt -refusal. To propose a surrender was preposterous, unless the besiegers -were prepared to guarantee the lives of all in the fort. Upon this -Bahram Khan sent a messenger back into his own lines, ostensibly to -consult the wishes of the Amir, and when he returned, announced -joyfully that the stipulation was accepted. The instant and obvious -retort was that the Amir must show himself in person, and swear to -observe the conditions, if the thought of capitulation was to be -entertained; but to this Bahram Khan demurred for a long time, -displaying a singular fertility of excuse. The Amir was ill, he was -resting, he had sworn not to exchange another word with an Englishman -who was not his prisoner, he was in such a frenzied state that to -insist upon his appearance would probably goad him to order a general -massacre forthwith. Colonel Graham pointed out politely that since the -besieged were still under the protection of their own walls and -weapons, there was no immediate fear of such a contingency, and at -last Bahram Khan himself withdrew into the town, in order, as he -explained, to lavish all his entreaties upon his uncle, and persuade -him to appear. - -Presently a state palanquin was seen approaching, borne by sixteen -men, who carried it out upon the cleared space, and set it down. - -“What’s this?” murmured Dick. “Ashraf Ali in a _palki_? I’ve never -seen him in one in my life.” - -Bahram Khan, who had ridden in advance of the palanquin, now -dismounted, and approaching it with extreme deference, raised the -heavy gold-embroidered curtain at the side. Those in the turret -strained their eyes to pierce the dimness within, and made out with -some difficulty the figure of the white-bearded ruler, sitting -motionless, as though absorbed in meditation. - -“He’s stupefied!” came in a fierce whisper from Dick. “They’ve given -him opium or something of the sort.” - -Colonel Graham addressed the Amir politely, but no answer was -vouchsafed. It was Bahram Khan who replied for him, in the silkiest of -tones. - -“The Amir Sahib refuses to look upon the sahibs, or to listen to their -words, until they have surrendered to him.” - -“Oh, does he?” said Dick, and he stepped forward between Colonel -Graham and the Commissioner, and showed himself at the loophole. - -“Amir Sahib, do you know my voice?” he cried. - -An electric shock seemed to pass through the inanimate form in the -palanquin. “Is that the voice of Nāth Sahib?” was asked, in high, -quavering tones. “Then can this most unhappy one die in peace.” - -“Do you guarantee our safety, Amir Sahib?” asked Dick. - -“Trust them not,” came back the answer. “See how they treat me!” and -the old man rose as though to step out of the palanquin. There were -chains on his wrists and ankles. The next moment Bahram Khan and his -followers, recovering from their surprise, had thrown themselves upon -him and forced him back, and the palanquin was immediately carried -away. - -“Well, after this, I think even Bahram Khan must feel that the -capitulation idea has been knocked on the head,” said Dick. “Now -everything depends on whether they attack us at once.” - -“Isn’t that a rather obvious remark?” asked Mr Burgrave dryly. - -“Ah, you don’t see my point,” said Dick, without taking offence. “I -think Colonel Graham will agree with me that since Bahram Khan has -thrown off the mask, and made himself master of Nalapur, it shows he -is determined to crush us at once. Evidently the relieving column is -on its way, or famine might have been left to do the work.” - -“I see what you mean,” said Colonel Graham. “If he attacks at once, it -means that relief is close at hand, but if he gives his men a night’s -rest, the column is still far enough off for him to take things -easily.” - -“That’s it. Well, since he’s so bent on putting the blame on his -uncle, it’s clear that he means to come the injured innocent over our -men when they get up. We here know too much now to be allowed to -escape, but the order for massacring us must be given by the Amir, who -will be murdered by his virtuously indignant nephew as soon as it has -been carried out. We are safe just so long as we can hold out, and the -Amir is safe while we are. That’s the situation. Now if we are left in -peace for to-night, I mean to get through and hurry up the relieving -column.” - -“I thought so,” said the Colonel, “and I mean you to do nothing of the -kind. Why, man, you couldn’t walk a mile in the state you are in. You -ought to be in hospital now. We have no medical comforts left to feed -you up with, but at least we can see that you have a rest.” - -“I shall get on somehow. I don’t mind telling you that I have designs -on the tribes on my way. We have eaten each other’s salt, and they -won’t hurt me.” - -“Possibly not, but they would stop you, and Bahram Khan would soon -find a way of getting you out of their hands. I won’t let you go on -any such fool’s errand.” - -“I think the civil and the political power will have to combine -against the military,” said Dick, turning to the Commissioner, who had -stood by with a “Settle it between yourselves” air. “What do you -think?” - -“As a military man yourself, you are hardly the person to organise -such a revolt,” was the reply, “and I am debarred from it by the -delegation of authority to which I agreed at the beginning of the -siege.” The tone was abrupt, and Dick and Colonel Graham glanced at -one another in surprise, but the Commissioner went on, “If the -decision lay in my hands, I should absolutely forbid your going. Your -wife may at least claim to be spared useless torture, and you can’t -expect to get the V.C. twice over.” - -“I am glad you agree with me,” said the Colonel heartily, ignoring the -stiffness of the tone. “Consider yourself sat upon, North.” - -“I beg your pardon, sir,” said Fitz, coming up the steps and -addressing the Colonel, “but there’s a queer light to the westward, -which doesn’t seem like the sunset. We thought it might possibly be a -signal.” - -Colonel Graham wheeled round sharply. “No, it’s certainly not the -sunset,” he said, looking through the doorway which led on to the -ramparts. “Somewhere behind Gun Hill on the south-west, I should say. -What do you think of looking at it from the broken tower?” to the -Commissioner. “You come too, North.” - - - -“What in the world are Papa and the Major and Mr Burgrave climbing up -there for?” demanded Flora, a few minutes later. She was sitting with -the other inmates of the Memsahibs’ courtyard in Georgia’s -verandah--such part of it as had survived the earthquake--watching the -sunset, and it was natural that the acrobatic feats necessary for -reaching the top of the south-west tower should catch her eye at once. - -“They are gone to look at some sort of fire that there seems to be in -the hills,” said Fitz, who came in just then. - -“A fire? Oh, perhaps----” Flora stopped suddenly, for Mr Hardy had -sprung up from his chair in wild excitement. - -“A fire?” he cried. “Nicodemus!” and rushed out of the courtyard. - -“Is Mr Hardy beginning to swear?” asked Mabel, in an awed voice, of -the rest, but even Mrs Hardy was too much astonished to rebuke her. - -“He’ll kill himself!” she murmured, as she saw her husband mounting -the broken steps that led up to the tower. - -“Why, Padri, what’s the matter?” asked Colonel Graham, turning round -to see the old missionary toiling after him. “Take my hand across -here.” - -“I am so sorry--I can never forgive myself--it quite slipped my -memory,” panted Mr Hardy. “It was a _Malik_ from one of the tribes to -the south-west--he came to me secretly--to ask about Christianity--I -called him Nicodemus to myself. The night the siege began--he came to -warn me--and promised to light a fire in the hills--when relief was at -hand. I was so busy hurrying the Christians into the fort, and helping -them to save their possessions, that I never remembered the matter -again.” - -“Well, it doesn’t signify so much, since you have remembered it now,” -said the Colonel kindly. “Did the man seem to you trustworthy?” - -“He took his life in his hand to warn me that night, and of course -when he came before he risked losing everything. His name was Hasrat -Isa, curiously enough, and he seemed to me to be genuinely in -earnest.” - -“Thanks, Padri. You have brought us the best news we could desire. We -must manage to hold out now.” - -“This settles it,” muttered Dick. “Can I have a word or two with you?” -he asked of the Commissioner, and they moved across to the other side -of the tower, Mr Burgrave’s face wearing an absolutely non-committal -expression. - -“You see how it is?” said Dick. “This gives me just the pull I wanted -over the tribes. Of course the one thing now is to detach them from -Bahram Khan before our men come up, and to save the Amir. They know me -and trust me, and if I assure them that an overwhelming force is close -at hand, I believe they will be ready to lay down their arms. Of -course they will have to give up all their loot and to pay a fine of -rifles, but they know enough of us by this time to prefer that to a -war of extermination. Then about the Amir. He’s safe for the present, -as I said, but I haven’t a doubt his guards have got orders to kill -him when the head of the column appears, if we are still holding out -then. I shall try to get the tribes to rescue him. But now for the -crux of the whole thing. If I am to have the faintest hope of success, -I must be able to tell the tribes that we mean to hold on to Nalapur -when the rising is put down. Otherwise as soon as Bahram Khan has made -terms he will establish himself in his uncle’s place, and wipe out all -who submitted before him. Have I a free hand to do it?” - -“Why consult me?” asked the Commissioner coldly. - -“Because it depends upon you. The announcement of our intended -withdrawal has never been actually made, thanks to the ambush on the -road to the durbar, and it rests with you to withhold it altogether. -Of course I know I’m inviting you to reverse your policy, and all that -sort of thing, but I don’t believe you’re the man to weigh that -against the peace of the frontier.” - -“Are you aware that I came to Khemistan for the express purpose of -carrying out the policy you invite me to reverse?” - -“Yes, and I know it means you will probably have to resign, and will -certainly get the cold shoulder at Simla. But I call upon you to do -it, just as I am staking everything myself--and I have a wife and -child. It will prevent no one knows how much bloodshed, the desolation -of hundreds of miles of country, and years of unrest and bitter -feeling, for the Government can’t press things against the opinion, -not only of the man on the spot, but of their own official converted -by observation of the facts. They will shunt us--that’s only to be -expected--but it will save the frontier.” - -“You are right, and it must be done. You are at liberty to tell the -tribes that I throw all my influence on the side of maintaining the -treaty with Nalapur.” - -“Thanks. If anything happens to me, look after my wife and the boy.” - -The trust was the seal of the newly born friendliness between them, -and Mr Burgrave felt it so. “God knows,” he said, with more emotion -than Dick had seen him display before, “I wish I could risk my life as -you are doing, but at least I’ll do what I can.” - -Without another word, Dick crossed to the spot where Colonel Graham -was standing, still examining the distant glare through his -field-glass. - -“Our friend Nicodemus has gone to work very shrewdly,” he said, as -Dick came up. “I should say that his signal is absolutely invisible to -any one on the plain. We only see it because we are so high up.” - -“So much the better,” said Dick. “I suppose you’ve guessed what our -plotting was about, Colonel? I have my plans all cut and dried by this -time, and with the civil and the political power both against you, -you’ll have to let me go. Assuming that there won’t be any attack till -dawn, I shall take Anstruther with me, and creep out as soon as it’s -really dark. He must go across the hills and hunt for the relief -column, and guide it here when he has found it, and I shall set to -work to palaver the tribes.” - -“They’ll shoot you at sight,” groaned the Colonel. - -“I hope not. At any rate, for argument’s sake, we’ll take it that they -don’t. Of course my dodge will be to get them to delay the attack by -insisting beforehand on an impossible proportion of loot. While their -messengers and Bahram Khan’s are going to and fro, Anstruther, knowing -the ground, ought to be able to bring up the column. When I see his -signal, the tribes will hasten to make graceful concessions, and -Bahram Khan will order the attack. While he is occupied at the front, -a few of the tribesmen and I will make a dash for the Amir, and the -column will get its guns into position. Then, if all goes well, a -grand transformation scene. The guns plump a shell or two into the -advancing ranks, the Sikhs and Goorkhas, and possibly a British -regiment, make their appearance on the heights, the tribesmen turn -their rifles against their own side, and the Amir shows himself and -orders his revolted army to surrender. If they won’t, their blood will -be upon their own heads, as they’ll soon see, but I think only Bahram -Khan and a few irreconcilables will refuse.” - -“And you?” demanded the Colonel. “Your programme doesn’t provide for -your being killed a dozen times over, does it? What will Mrs North say -when she hears what you think of doing?” - -“She will tell me to go. The tribes are as much her people as -mine--more so, indeed. I am going to tell her now.” - -He clambered down the ruined staircase, found Fitz and told him -briefly what he wanted of him, and then went to Georgia’s room, where -he set himself to catch her with guile--a process which, as he ought -to have known, had not the faintest chance of success. - -“Do you remember the last time I went away, Georgie?” he asked, as he -sat down beside her. - -Georgie looked up at him with a thrill of alarm. “Do you think I could -ever forget it, Dick? Not if I lived for hundreds of years.” - -“We almost quarrelled, didn’t we? You were in the right, of course--I -knew it all along, but I had to go. You don’t like me to go out -treaty-breaking, do you?” - -“No.” Her voice was almost inaudible. - -“But it’s all right if I go treaty-making, isn’t it? just to get the -tribes to feel what fools they’ve been, and make them see reason?” - -“Oh, Dick, must you go? so soon? and you have been away so long!” - -“You jump at things so suddenly,” lamented Dick. “I wanted to break it -gently to you.” - -“My dear stupid boy, do you think I don’t know your way of breaking -things gently yet?” - -“Well, anyhow, you’ll let me go, won’t you? without making a fuss, I -mean?” - -“A fuss! Do I ever make a fuss?” - -“Oh, you know what I mean--without making me feel a brute for doing -it?” - -“You know I would never keep you back from what was really your duty.” - -“That’s all right, then,” Dick failed to notice the distinction thus -delicately implied. “And I’m going to try and save all your father’s -work from being ruined, so it must be my duty, mustn’t it?” - -“I suppose so. And I am forbidden to make a fuss?” - -“Oh yes, please, absolutely--unless it would comfort you awfully to do -it.” - -“It wouldn’t comfort you. That’s what I have to think of. When do you -start, Dick?” - -“In an hour or so--as soon as it’s properly dark.” - -“Then there’s plenty of time. I should so like the boy to be baptized -before you go.” - -“Why not? I suppose the Padri won’t kick at the shortness of the -notice? Georgie, will you be very much surprised? I should like to ask -Burgrave to be godfather.” - -“Dick!” Georgia’s tone was full of dismay. “I thought of Colonel -Graham--” Dick nodded approval--“and either Fitz Anstruther or Dr -Tighe----” - -“I’d rather have Burgrave, if you don’t mind. He has come out strong -to-night. I respect him more than any man I know. In his place I don’t -believe I could have made the sacrifice he’s prepared to make.” - -“Then we will have him, of course. But Mabel is the godmother, -naturally. Won’t she feel it awkward? You know they have quarrelled?” - -“That’s putting it mildly. I’m afraid it’s quite off.” - -“Ah, that’s what I was afraid of, too, but Mab always refuses to -discuss the subject with me until I am stronger. I can’t force her -confidence, you know.” - -“I suppose not, but there’s no need to be so awfully careful of her -feelings. She has treated Burgrave shamefully, and so far as I can -see, without the slightest excuse. She insists on engaging herself to -him, and then she goes and breaks it off for no reason whatever. I’m -disgusted with her.” - -“Oh, Dick, don’t be unkind to her! If she didn’t care for him it was -only right to break it off. I told you she was miserable about it.” - -“Then she had no business to begin it. But don’t let us waste time -over her nonsense, Georgie. Shall I go and speak to the Padri?” He -opened the door, and stepped out on the verandah. “Why, Anstruther, -you here? It’s not nearly dark enough to start yet.” - -Fitz smothered an exclamation of impatience. This was the second time -he had been foiled in half-an-hour in an attempt to get a few words -with Mabel. He had succeeded in catching her alone for a moment -immediately after Dick had told him of the adventure in which he was -to take part, and then Flora came and called her away, because the -baby was breathing heavily in its sleep, and she was afraid something -was wrong with it. On this occasion he had got hold of Flora herself, -wasting no time in preliminaries. - -“Oh, I say, Miss Graham, could you manage to get Mabel here without -telling her that I want to see her? I must speak to her before I go. -I’m certain she cares for me a little, but she was so determined I -should not see it that I couldn’t insult her by letting on that I did. -But there’s no time now for any more fooling. I must tell her what I -have to say, and there’s an end of it.” - -“Now, why couldn’t you have said that before?” demanded Flora. “That’s -the right way to take her. I’ll have her here in a moment,” and even -now she was beguiling her out on the verandah when Dick appeared to -announce that the baptism was to take place at once, and Fitz’s hopes -were again disappointed. There would be no chance of speaking to Mabel -now for some time, and he left the courtyard and joined Winlock on the -broken tower, where he was keeping a solitary watch in case the -relieving force should attempt to communicate with the fort by means -of flash-light signals. Their eyes, strained with staring into the -darkness, showed them lights at every possible and impossible point in -the more distant hills, until at last they abandoned the tantalising -prospect, and talked in whispers of the expected relief. - -“To think that by this time to-morrow we may have had a good square -meal!” sighed Winlock. - -“Beef, not horse,” murmured Fitz sympathetically. - -“And tinned things--though I shall always feel a delicacy about tins -in future. They’ve been ‘medical comforts, strictly reserved for the -sick,’ such a long time.” - -“And real bread, instead of this abominable bran mash.” - -“And as much to drink as ever you want--and soap--and baths--” He -stopped suddenly, for Fitz had caught him by the arm. “What is it?” he -whispered. - -“I’m sure I heard a noise down below. Help me to move this sand-bag.” - -The sand-bag on the parapet was pushed aside, and Fitz put his head -through the gap thus left, but only just far enough to see over the -edge, lest he should be visible against the sky. It was clear that the -enemy were keeping high festival in all their camps, for the air was -full of the sound of tomtoms and similar instruments, and snatches of -wild song. To Winlock it seemed impossible to detect any noise less -insistent or nearer at hand, but Fitz looked and listened until his -friend hauled him back. - -“Well, is there anything?” he demanded impatiently. - -“I’m almost certain there is. You take a look.” - -“I’m not a cat,” whispered Winlock in disgust, when he had drawn his -head back in his turn. “Can’t see a thing.” - -“Well, I am, rather, in that way, and I believe there’s a fellow down -there.” - -Again he put his head into the opening, and supporting his face on his -hands, concentrated all his attention on the foot of the wall. After -several minutes, which seemed like hours to Winlock, he faced him -again. - -“There is a man down there, and his clothes are dark, so as not to -show. He has put two bags against the wall, and he has crawled away to -fetch another.” - -“Going to blow down the tower?” - -“Yes, it’s their best chance. Half gone already, you see. Well, will -you clear the men off the near half of the wall, and tell the Colonel, -so as to be ready for developments? I’m going to nip the villain in -the bud.” - -“Nonsense, he’ll knife you! And how will you get down?” - -“Climb down the broken brickwork and drop.” He drew off his boots. “I -shall take him by surprise. Don’t let any one fire, whatever you do. -It would explode the powder at once. Be off.” - -Winlock obeyed, and hurried to alarm the Colonel, after hastily -calling down the sentries, the noise of whose own footsteps -effectually prevented their noticing any suspicious sound. Richard St -George Keeling had just received his name, and was accepting the -congratulations of the representatives of the regiment on the -auspicious event with his usual composure, when Winlock came into the -courtyard and drew Colonel Graham aside. Before he could utter a word, -however, there was an explosion which seemed to shake the very -foundations of the fort, followed by the collapse of various portions -of the newly-repaired defences. - -“I’m afraid the wall’s gone, sir,” gasped Winlock, when he recovered -himself. - -“Not a bit of it,” said the Colonel, pointing to the dark line above -the roofs; but before anything more could be said, the sentry on the -north-west tower gave the alarm. There was no time for anything but a -rush to the walls, which were only reached just as a hurrying mob of -men, some carrying torches, others scaling-ladders, advanced in wild -confusion, shouting and singing, from the shelter of the plane trees. -A couple of volleys sent them flying back in headlong rout, and beyond -a shot or two from General Keeling’s house there was no semblance of -an attack on any other side of the fort. The officers gathered on the -rampart looked at one another in complete mystification. - -“I never remember a worse-planned attack,” said Colonel Graham. “In -fact there was no plan about it. And yet the explosion----” - -“Yes, but how came it to do so little damage?” said Dick. Some -additional masses of brickwork had been torn from the tower, and the -sand-bags were flung about, but the wall was comparatively uninjured. - -“Probably the powder became ignited before it was properly placed in -position,” suggested Mr Burgrave. “If the man in charge intended to -use a slow match, the attack may only have been planned for dawn, so -that the various parties were naturally not prepared. This fiasco here -was a kind of drunken forlorn hope, started simply by the noise of the -explosion.” - -“Yes, but why should the powder get ignited? Why, Winlock!” The young -man had made his appearance with his arms full of rope. - -“I want to go down and look for Anstruther, sir. He must be awfully -hurt, for he was going to try and stop the explosion.” - - - -Half-an-hour later Mabel and Flora, waiting anxiously in the verandah -to learn the result of the attack, heard in the passage the slow tread -of a body of men carrying something. Dick was at their head. - -“We’ll bring him in here, as the hospital is full,” he was saying. “As -I shall be away, there’ll be the room I had last night to spare, and -the ladies will help to look after him.” - -“Who is it? What has happened?” asked the two girls together. - -“Poor old Anstruther has got himself blown up instead of the fort,” -returned Dick. “Take care of that corner, Woodworth.” - -“What is the matter with him? Is he badly hurt?” asked Mabel hoarsely. - -“Can’t say yet. On second thoughts, Colonel, I’ll take Winlock, if you -can spare him. He knows the country round here so much better than -Beltring.” - -“Dick, are you absolutely heartless?” Mabel grasped her brother’s arm, -and shook him. “Is he dying?” - -“How can I tell? He was just alive when we found him.” - -“I must be with him. I will nurse him,” she managed to say. - -“You’ll do nothing of the kind. It’s no sight for you, and we don’t -want fainting and hysterics. For Heaven’s sake, Mabel, don’t make a -scene!” he added, in a whisper of angry disgust. “It’s not as if he -was anything to you.” - -“I have a right----” she began with difficulty. - -“Keep her away, Burgrave,” said Dick curtly, turning his head for a -moment, and the Commissioner drew her hand within his arm, and led her -in silence to the other side of the courtyard. In the tumult of her -anger and mortification, she struggled furiously at first, but he -declined to release her, and presently she found herself deposited in -a chair, with Mr Burgrave standing over her like a jailer. Between her -sobs she could hear him talking, apparently with the charitable -intention of at once comforting her for her exclusion and assuring her -that the cause of her emotion remained unsuspected. - -“Anxious to be of use--highly delicate nervous organisation--might -distract the doctor’s attention at a critical moment--your brother -meant kindly--” were some of the scraps that reached her ears. - -“It’s not that!” she cried wildly. “He’ll die without my seeing him, -and Dick says he’s nothing to me, and--and he’s everything!” and her -sobs died away into low, hopeless weeping, which wrung the heart of -the man before her. She did not think of him until she felt an -unsteady touch on her hair, and looking up at him, saw that not only -his hands but his very lips were trembling. - -“Don’t cry so,” he said hoarsely; “you break my heart. Then you are -engaged to him? I never dreamt of this.” - -“No, I’m not--but it’s my own fault. He asked me long ago--and I told -him it could never be--and I was so horrid that--he never asked me -again. And now they won’t let me go to him--and I wanted--just to tell -him--before he died--that--that----” - -“That he might die happy? No, no, I am in earnest,” as Mabel threw him -a glance of reproach. “I could die happy in his case.” - -“Oh, how wicked--how mean--I am, to say all this to you! And I have -treated you so badly-- What can you think of me?” - -“What should I think but that you are the woman I hoped to shield from -every breath of trouble, and now you are in this sorrow, and I can do -nothing?” - -“Oh, but you can!” cried Mabel impulsively. “It’s no good speaking to -Dick, but Dr Tighe will listen to you, and you can ask him to let me -help to nurse him.” - -“I have no doubt he will be willing to do that--or if it is not -possible, I am sure he will promise to call you if any change for the -worse occurs.” - -“Oh, you won’t believe in me even now! You don’t think I could be -brave even for him. If it was to do him good, I could----” - -“Your seeing him now could do him no possible good, and the sight -would haunt you for ever. I think you don’t quite trust me, do you? -Try to think of me as a friend, as one who would a thousand times -rather see you happy with the man you loved than unhappy with himself. -And perhaps”--he hesitated a little--“you may like to know that you -have lifted a weight from my mind to-night. I confess it seemed to me -a cruel thing when you broke off our engagement without any special -reason, but now I know that you love some one else, I feel it was -quite natural and right.” - -Mabel saw his meaning dimly. The sting of her treatment of him had -lain in the feeling that though there was no one else she preferred, -she valued so lightly the love he offered that she refused even to -tolerate it. Now his self-respect was restored. It was for a tangible -rival, not for freedom in the abstract, that she had cast him off. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII. - AN ABDICATION. - -“Mab, are you awake?” - -“Go away; I hate you!” was the muffled reply. Mabel had thrown -herself, dressed, upon her bed, and her face was buried in the pillow. -She shook off Flora’s hand angrily from her shoulder as she spoke. - -“Why, Mab, I only wanted to tell you---- What have I done?” - -Mabel sat up and pushed back her hair. “They let you go and help with -him,” she said venomously, “and they kept me out. Dick called you--I -heard him myself. And they wouldn’t let me come. Eustace held my -hands. And you went--and helped them.” - -“I didn’t do anything but hold things for them, really. Dr Tighe did -it all, and your brother helped him. I had to go when they called me.” - -“Did he look at you--recognise you? If he did, I’ll never forgive -you.” - -“No, not a bit. But, Mab----” - -“I’m glad of that, at any rate. And you came to say I might go to him -now?” - -“Yes, Mr Burgrave spoke to Dr Tighe. But don’t say you’re glad he -didn’t look at me. It will make you miserable all your life to have -even thought it.” - -“Why, what is the matter?” asked Mabel impatiently, as Flora barred -her way to the door. - -“I can’t let you go into the room without realising it. His--his hair -is all burnt off, Mab, and he’s fearfully scorched. You can’t see -anything but bandages, and he is quite insensible.” - -“It’s only the shock. He must come round soon.” - -“That’s not all. I must tell you. The explosion seems to have -paralysed all his faculties. He is deaf and dumb and blind--for the -time.” - -“Oh, for the time, of course. But he won’t be deaf when I speak to -him. Don’t keep me here, Flora. I want to wake him.” - -Flora drew back reluctantly, and Mabel ran across the courtyard. At -the door of the sick-room, which was a makeshift structure erected -since the earthquake at the corner where two verandahs joined, she met -Dr Tighe. - -“So I hear you want to play at nursing a little, Miss North?” he said, -not unkindly, but by no means as if he regarded her intention as -serious. “Do you think you won’t fall asleep? Can you keep cool, -whatever happens? Not that you could do much harm if you went into -hysterics,” he added, half to himself. “The poor fellow wouldn’t be -disturbed.” - -Even this slighting estimate of her powers did not provoke Mabel to -protest. “What have I to do?” she asked, with determined calmness, and -the doctor looked at her curiously. - -“I want you to sit beside him and watch for any sound or movement. If -there is the least change, send for me at once. I must spend the night -over at the hospital, but I am leaving my boy in the verandah here, -and he will fetch me whenever you want me.” - -“Wait, please. May I speak to him?” - -“Who--the boy? Oh, the patient. Yes, of course, as much as you like, -if it will ease your mind. Didn’t I tell you that he couldn’t hear -you?” He glanced sharply at her, but she turned away from him, and -went into the room without saying anything, leaving him puzzled. “I -feel a bit of a brute,” he said to himself, as he crossed to the -passage leading into the hospital, “but she must keep up. I don’t want -her on my hands in hysterics, in addition to all the rest.” - -Mabel sat down quietly beside the bed. A smoky native lamp shed a -flickering light through the little room, rendering dimly visible the -swathed figure which lay absolutely motionless in its shroud of -bandages. Of the face nothing could be seen, and the bandaged hands -were stretched straight at the sides. A great terror seized Mabel. -Surely he must be dead? She laid her hand timidly on the wrist nearest -her, so lightly as scarcely to touch it, but the contact served to -reassure her. He was still living, and she resigned herself to her -silent and solitary watch. - -At first she was so much absorbed in listening and looking for the -sounds and movements which never came, that she had no thought of her -surroundings, but after a time they forced themselves upon her notice. -The deathlike silence all around, the presence of that shrouded form -upon the bed, the uncertain light--all combined to strain her nerves -to their utmost tension. She would have risen and walked about, in the -hope of breaking the spell, but she discovered that she had no power -to stir. The semi-darkness was full of shadows for which she could not -account, and small mysterious noises sounded in her ears like -thunder-claps. Over and over again she thought she saw her patient -move, only to find that her eyes had deceived her, and the breathless -expectation did but increase the strain upon her. By degrees her -terror grew almost uncontrollable, but she fought against it doggedly. -Never in her life had she placed such constraint upon herself. The -door was so near, two steps would take her to it, and once outside she -would be safe from the shadows and the silence. But she gripped her -chair hard with both hands, and at last the impulse passed away. Next -came the temptation to scream--to shriek, sing, do anything to break -the stillness. She was shaking from head to foot; it seemed utterly -impossible to check her sobs, yet she succeeded in crushing them down. -The struggle was a fearful one, and she felt that her self-command -would not hold out much longer. She looked at her watch, and resolved -to remain quiet for five minutes, whatever happened. When the five -minutes was over, she renewed the resolution for another five minutes, -and so on, and the expedient was successful for a time. Then it became -more and more difficult to maintain, and the periods of five minutes -dwindled to four, three, and finally one. She gazed at the watch -aghast. It was impossible that so much agony and mental stress could -have been crowded into one minute. But the watch had not stopped, and -she gave up the conflict, and burst into tears. - -“Fitz!” she wailed, dropping on her knees beside the bed. “Fitz!” - -Surely he would hear. Georgia had said that Dick’s voice would reach -her if she were dead. But in this case there was no answer. - -“Oh, Fitz, speak to me!” she entreated. “I am so frightened.” - -The piteous voice died away. It must have availed to pierce the -silence which enwrapped him, she thought, and yet he would not speak. -Could it be that he was resolved to punish her for her coldness in the -past, to humble her pride in return for all she had made him suffer? -Or perhaps he did not understand even yet. - -“Fitz,” she murmured softly, “I love you.” - -No sooner had the words escaped her lips than she sprang up aghast. -They seemed to be echoed back by the walls on every side, to be -whispered by mocking sprites, to clang like the strokes of great -bells. “I love you! I love you!” The air was full of them, and she was -overwhelmed with shame. - -“Oh, if you don’t hate me, say just one word!” she sobbed. “I am so -ashamed, but you said you loved me. Oh, Fitz, it’s not like you to be -so unkind! And I thought you would be glad to know.” - -Surely he must answer now?--but she sobbed on, and there came no word -of comfort. - -“Well, Miss North, and what’s all this about?” said Dr Tighe. - -He stood at the door, looking in at her, and Mabel sprang to her feet -and confronted him, shaking with sobs, her face stained with tears. - -“It’s--it’s only--I was speaking to him, and he won’t answer,” she -managed to say. - -“But I told you he wouldn’t. He can’t. Why, he doesn’t even hear you.” - -“I thought I could make him hear.” - -“As well try to wake the dead. No, no; what an idiot I am!” as she -recoiled from him in terror. “Purely a figure of speech, nothing more. -Now I will take a turn of watching, and do you go and get some rest.” - -“Oh no, I won’t leave him. I am not a bit tired.” - -“Go to Mrs North. She can’t sleep either, and she and her ayah have -got some coffee for you. It will soon be daylight, and you had better -rest while you can.” - -“As if I should think of leaving him!” repeated Mabel in scorn. - -“I won’t be defied by my own nurses, Miss North. If you don’t go -peaceably, I’ll have you gently assisted out, and once outside this -room you won’t get in again.” - -“Oh, how can you be so unkind!” sobbed Mabel, breaking down abjectly. - -“I am not unkind. I want you to help me a great deal with the poor -fellow, and that’s why I insist upon your resting now. You shall come -on duty again in four hours or so, and I’ll promise faithfully to call -you if there’s any change in the meantime.” - -Slowly and reluctantly Mabel left the room, and went along the -verandah to Georgia’s door. Georgia was sitting up in a long cane -chair, and welcomed her cheerfully. - -“Come in, Mab. It seems absurdly early to be up, but I knew how cold -and miserable you would feel after being awake all night. This is the -very last of the coffee. Dr Tighe has lavished it upon us recklessly -on the chance of our being relieved to-day, so make the most of it.” - -“I couldn’t touch it, Georgie!” with a gesture of disgust. - -“Oh yes, you can, to please me. After you have drunk it you shall lie -down on my bed, and if you can’t sleep, we will talk. Why, you are -shivering! Put on that shawl, and now drink the coffee,” and Mabel -obeyed. - -“Let me stay here, Georgie,” she said when she had finished, sitting -down on the floor, and laying her head on Georgia’s knee. “I like to -be close to you. You understand things.” Georgia stroked her hair -softly, and she went on, “Other people don’t understand--even Flora, -or Dr Tighe. And Dick was horrid last night. The only person who seems -to know how I feel is poor Eustace--he understands.” - -“Yes, he has suffered himself.” - -“And that is my fault. But I never knew how it hurt till now, Georgie, -or I couldn’t have done it, and now that I do know, it’s too late. I -know now how you feel about Dick, because of what I feel about _him_. -I can’t bear any one else to do a single thing for him, and if he -became conscious again while I was away, I should be ready to kill Dr -Tighe. Isn’t it strange that to-day I would give anything to hear him -say the things that made me so angry a little while ago, and that I -have said things in his ear to-night that would have made him -perfectly happy then, and now he can’t even hear them? Oh, Georgie, if -he should never hear them--if he should die without recovering his -senses!” - -“We can only hope--and pray,” said Georgia gently. - -“I know, but you must pray--I can’t. You have always been kind to him, -at any rate; I haven’t. I don’t deserve that he should get well, I -know--but I do want him so much. When I think that he has been wasting -his love upon me all this time, while I was too proud to take it, I -feel it would serve me right if I never had the chance of telling him -how glad and thankful I am to have it. But I do love him, Georgie, -indeed I do.” - -“I know you do, Mab,” said Georgia, still passing her hand softly over -Mabel’s hair. She would not allow a word of reproach to cross her -lips, but in her heart there was a little tumult of wifely -indignation. Mabel was so much engrossed with Fitz Anstruther as not -even to remember that her brother had taken his life in his hand and -gone straight into the enemy’s camp. “But it is only natural. Perhaps -I should do the same in her place,” thought Georgia, and continued the -pleasant restful movement. Before very long Mabel was asleep, and she -was still crouched upon the floor, leaning against Georgia, when Dr -Tighe came to say that she might take her second turn of watching in -the sick-room. She awoke with a start, while he was talking to Georgia -in an excited whisper. - -“Yes, Mrs North, I’m certain there’s something up. Two or three -distinct _jirgahs_ seem to be going on in the enemy’s lines, and -though they began to make preparations for fighting two hours ago, -they don’t get any forrarder. And we are almost certain that there’s a -movement of some kind in progress at the back of Gun Hill. There may -be artillery there, taking up a position, or possibly the whole relief -column is preparing to occupy the heights. If it’s anything of the -sort, it’s all due to that marvellous husband of yours, whom I’d make -Viceroy this very hour if I had my way.” - -“And he would be excessively unhappy at Government House, and the -cause of extreme misery to every one else,” laughed Georgia; but -Mabel, who had been listening to their talk half asleep, sprang up. - -“Oh, Doctor, is there any change? Is he awake?” - -“No change whatever, I’m sorry to say. Have your breakfast before you -come across, and then I’ll leave you in charge while I go my morning -rounds in the hospital.” - -Very soon Mabel was at her post again, wondering at the horror which -night and silence had lent to the rough-walled, commonplace little -room. The full blaze of sunlight never reached this particular corner -of the courtyard until late in the afternoon, but the hole which had -been left as a window admitted a certain amount of light. Through it -also there came pleasantly distant sounds of life and movement from -the other parts of the fort. As Mabel sat with her eyes fixed upon the -bed, the murmur of different noises lulled her into a state very -nearly resembling sleep, and once again she thought she saw a -movement, only to discover that it was merely fancy. Another period of -intense vigilance passing gradually into semi-consciousness followed, -the mere effort of concentrating her gaze on one object inclining her -to slumber, and then there came a sudden awakening. Was it thunder, or -another earthquake, or what could be the meaning of those tremendous -crashes, each of which was welcomed by cries of delight from the -walls? - -“Guns, I suppose,” said Mabel to herself, still half asleep. “Perhaps -it will wake him.” She bent forward eagerly, but there was still no -movement, and she sat down again disappointed. The crashes and the -shouts of joy overhead still continued, but she made no attempt to -learn what was going on, not so much from reluctance to leave her post -as from sheer lack of interest. Suddenly there came a different sound, -a singing, shrieking noise, deepening into a groan as it came nearer. -She had never heard it before, and yet she knew by instinct what it -meant. - -“A shell!” she cried, springing up involuntarily. However long she may -live, she will never remember that moment without a blush of bitter -humiliation, for she sprang up to run away. But the impulse was only -momentary. Even before she could turn towards the door a rush of -incredulous shame swept over her and made her throw herself on her -knees by the bed. She clasped one of the bandaged hands in hers to -give herself courage. “I will die with him!” she said, and burying her -face in the coverlet, waited. It seemed to her that she waited for -hours, and yet only the minutest fraction of time can have elapsed -between her recognition of the nature of the sound and the concussion -which followed--a deafening, rending noise, which seemed to comprise -within itself all imaginable sounds of terror, and which was -intensified a hundredfold by the echoes it evoked from the walls of -the fort. To Mabel it felt as if the world was coming to an end, and -she was being buried in the ruins, but at this point she lost -consciousness, and knew no more until she found Dr Tighe and Flora -dashing water into her face, rubbing her hands, and using various -other means to revive her. Her first impression was of a blaze of -intense light, and it only dawned upon her gradually that the roof of -the room and the two walls facing the courtyard were gone, their -shattered fragments lying in heaps around. - -“I’ll never forgive myself!” cried Dr Tighe frantically. “What -business had I to be trespassing upon the walls, just to watch the -practice our fellows were making, and leaving my patients to be killed -without me? The moment I saw the Nalapuri horse trying to escape -across the canal, and the gun on the hill turned round to cover them, -I said, ‘We’ll have a shell dumped into us in another minute,’ and -sure enough we had.” - -“What was it, then?” asked Mabel feebly. - -“Thank God you’re alive yet! ’Twas one of our own shells that fell -short, and as nearly as possible wrecked the whole place. I made sure -you were done for when Miss Graham and I got you out.” - -“Oh, but what about him--is he safe?” cried Mabel, starting up and -pushing her way into the corner where the bed stood. Its position had -protected it to a wonderful extent from the falling timbers of the -roof and walls, but it was covered with smaller fragments, and -enveloped in a haze of dust which was only now dispersing. But Mabel -cared nothing for the dust or falling plaster. - -“He’s talking!” she shrieked to Dr Tighe, who followed her, stumbling -over the rubbish on the floor. “Hush, oh, hush! I must hear what he -says.” - -Dr Tighe held his breath, and Flora quickly waved back the curious -servants and others who had been attracted to the spot by the bursting -of the shell, and withdrew with them out of earshot. Mabel, kneeling -beside the bed, was listening hungrily to the words which poured from -the patient’s lips, not spoken with any apparent difficulty, but -rattled off in quick low tones. - -“Awfully good job those Sikh fellows are making such a noise on the -wall. I’m sure I dislodged something then, but I didn’t hear it fall. -Perhaps it fell on our friend down below. Rather a startler for him, -but he’ll be waiting for me. Hope he looks in the wrong place. This is -the best point to drop from, I should think. Hope and trust there are -no sharp bricks and things to come down upon. It’s creepy work. One, -two, three, and away! So far, so good. Now to stalk our friend. If -he’s trying to stalk me at the same moment, our heads will probably -meet with a bang. I’ll have my knife out--revolver would be too risky. -Ah--h--h--h--what’s that? The powder-bag, I’ll swear; but I thought it -was the man. Now if only I knew where you are at this moment, my -friend, I would drag your bags to a safe distance, and give you a nice -little hunt for them. But it would be awkward if you came on me from -behind, so I’ll wait here. Wonder if my eyes shine in the dark like a -cat’s? That would give him rather a turn; he might think it was a -tiger. Hullo! back already, are you, and another lot of powder too? -Now if you’ll only leave it behind you, and retire gracefully for the -moment, we’ll whip it up over the wall in no time, and requisition it -for her Majesty’s service. Oh, that’s it, is it? Well, you are a cool -hand, I must say, to make your bed on a heap of powder-bags! But I -can’t stay watching you until you choose to make a move. I might -sneeze, you know, so I’m afraid I must trouble you. Now then! just -hand over that knife. Oh, that’s your little game, is it? This is not -playing fair. Firearms not allowed on any account. I say!” - -There was a pause, a sigh, and the voice went on again. - -“I never guessed these bricks would be so knobby. It’s rather rough -negotiating them without any boots. Awfully good job those Sikh -fellows are making such a noise on the wall. I’m sure I dislodged -something then----” Mabel lifted an agonised face to the doctor. - -“He’s saying the same things over again. What does it all mean?” - -“He is going over the last two or three minutes before the explosion. -I suppose the thoughts and impressions of that time have fixed -themselves in his mind, which seems to have been set working again by -the shock of the bursting shell. Very likely he will go on like this.” - -“What! Always?” cried Mabel, in horror. - -“We’ll hope not, though I have known cases in which the effect of such -a shock has been permanent. The brain seems unable ever to receive any -other impression afterwards. But he can’t well go on talking at this -rate long, and when he’s exhausted he may sink into a stupor, and -emerge in a more rational state of mind. I wonder whether his hearing -has returned? Anstruther!” - -There was no answer. “You try,” said the doctor. - -“Fitz!” cried Mabel, her tones sharpened by anxiety; but the low -monotonous voice rambled on, and there was no response to be -discerned. - -“We can’t do anything. He must go on until he is tired,” said Dr -Tighe. “And you had better go on the sick-list yourself, Miss North. -You’re a good deal knocked about.” - -To her astonishment, Mabel found that this was the case. Bruises and -flesh-wounds of which she had not been conscious were painfully -evident on her arms and shoulders, and her dress was torn in a dozen -places. But she refused to leave her post until the time Dr Tighe had -appointed her was over; and perceiving that she would not be able to -rest while Fitz was in this state, he consented to do what he could -for her on the spot, and allowed her to remain for the present. It was -almost more heart-rending to listen to the often-repeated story of the -last few minutes of consciousness Fitz had known, than it had been to -see him lying silent, but she remained at her post until the low -hurrying tones became intermittent, and finally ceased altogether. By -this time the servants had contrived, by means of screens and loose -boards, partially to repair, or at least to conceal, the dilapidation -of the room, for Dr Tighe declined to attempt the removal of the -patient, assuring Mabel cheerfully that he was in the safest place in -the fort. Even if the relieving column should chance to drop in a few -more shells, all the probabilities were against their falling in the -same spot. Thus assured, Mabel consented to allow her own hurts to be -looked to, and swallowed with unexpected docility the draught which -the doctor gave her. She did so the more readily that she began to be -conscious she could not keep up much longer. The vigil and terror of -the night, the alarm and anxiety of the day, seemed to have robbed her -of every vestige of strength, and she had no mind to allow herself to -be ousted from the post which was hers by right. If she was to -continue in charge of Fitz, she must contrive to get the doctor on her -side, and not alienate him by opposition to his orders. - -This time she had no difficulty in obtaining rest. Her eyes closed -almost as soon as she threw herself on her bed, and she slept without -waking until the evening. When at length she awoke, she sprang up in -alarm. Why had no one called her? It was actually getting dark, and -the courtyard looked utterly deserted. What had happened? She threw on -her dress, and ran along the verandah to the sick-room. Just as she -reached it, the screen which served as a door was moved aside, and -Dick and Dr Tighe came out, accompanied by a sunburnt elderly man in -khaki campaigning uniform. - -“My sister,” said Dick laconically. “We have been taking Colonel -Slaney to see Anstruther, Mab. Glad to say he thinks he’ll do.” - -“Oh, really, really?” cried Mabel, clasping her hands, and looking at -the surgeon with eyes suddenly overflowing with tears. - -“Well, he’ll never be much of a beauty again,” was the gruff reply. - -“Oh, what does that signify? His mind--will that be all right?” - -“I hope so--if he can be kept from any more shocks. That shell to-day -seems to have been a kill or cure business--I shouldn’t recommend any -more of the same sort. You were there at the time--stuck to him--eh? -Very plucky thing to do. Well, you just let him alone now. Don’t try -to excite his feelings, or make him recognise you. Give the brain time -to recover itself.” - -“But you are sure it will be all right? Oh, I can’t thank you properly -for telling me this--but he will get quite well?” - -“Very ungrateful if he doesn’t, with such a nurse. Don’t go and wear -yourself to a shadow looking after him while he’s insensible. You’ll -need all your cheerfulness and good spirits when he recovers -consciousness.” - -Mabel looked dumbly at Dr Tighe. What did this warning portend? The -little man answered her mute appeal with friendly alacrity. - -“At the best he’ll be rather badly scarred, Miss North, but we hope -and trust there’ll be nothing else the matter. Colonel Slaney doesn’t -mean to imply that you would mind the scars, or that the poor fellow -would care about them for his own sake, but it’s likely he will for -yours.” - -“I see. Thank you for telling me. I shall know what to do now,” said -Mabel, quite calmly, though the screen trembled where her fingers were -gripping it. - -“Buck up, Queen Mab!” said Dick kindly, lingering behind the other two -to give her an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “Never say die!” - -She caught his hand and wrung it, reading in his action an apology for -his hasty speech of the night before, and he smiled at her cheerily as -she disappeared behind the screen. Fitz was still lying in the state -of stupor in which she had left him, and she sat down beside the bed, -and tried to lay her plans for the future. As she recalled what -Colonel Slaney had said, it was natural that the man himself should -recur to her mind. - -“Why, we must be relieved!” she said to herself. “How stupid of me -never to have thought of it. Colonel Slaney belongs to the column, of -course. And Dick has come back safe, too. And I took it all for -granted, and nobody said anything. Where can Georgie be--and Flora?” - -Wondering again at the calm way in which the three men had ignored the -almost incredible fact of the ending of the siege, she tried to recall -her conversation with them, in order to see whether any allusion had -been made to it, and suddenly remembered what had struck her vaguely -at the time, the stranger’s manner. He had not addressed her in the -way in which long experience had prepared her to be addressed; in -fact, she missed the peculiar deference to which she was accustomed -from the other sex. - -“He spoke to me just as if I was any other woman!” she said to -herself, with a _naïveté_ which would have struck her as laughable -in any one else. “He was kind and encouraging--patronising, almost. Do -I look very dreadful, I wonder?” She cast a puzzled glance at her limp -cotton gown. “Still, even then, it’s not usually my clothes that -people think about. How Dick would laugh! He’ll say that the -celebrated smile failed of its effect for once.” - -Presently an unexpected solution of the mystery occurred to her. - -“Perhaps I’m getting old and ugly, and people won’t care to talk to me -any more. How dreadful to have to ask men to do things, instead of -their rushing to do them of their own accord! It will take a long time -to get accustomed to it. Oh, and perhaps Fitz won’t care for me now! -If he leaves off loving me just as I have found out that I love him, -what shall I do? I told Georgie once that I would give anything to -care for any one as she cared for Dick, but I never thought of not -being loved in return. There was some fairy tale about a princess who -had no heart, and could not get one without giving everything she had -in exchange for it, and that’s how I feel. But how dreadful to get the -heart, and then find that it’s not wanted! If he cares for me still, I -don’t mind if I never speak to another man again, but if he -doesn’t----!” - -There was a step outside, and Flora looked cautiously round the corner -of the screen, then advanced, bearing a tray. - -“Oh, Mab, you must have thought we had forgotten you, you poor thing!” -she murmured, in subdued tones. “But you were fast asleep when I -looked into your room, and we thought it would be kinder not to wake -you. We were all in the mess-room verandah to welcome General -Cranstoun and the officers of the column. It was lovely to see them -come in; I did wish you were there. And they are all so kind, you -can’t think! As soon as ever they heard what we were reduced to, they -sent their servants for all sorts of private stores, and gave us -everything they could think of that we should like. Look! here’s a cup -of tea--strong tea--for you, with milk in it, and I have made you some -sandwiches of potted meat. Isn’t it good of them? And they say such -nice things about the way we have stood the siege, and they are so -interested in the boy, and they admire your brother and Mrs North so -much. It’s delightful to hear them.” - -“But what has happened to the enemy?” asked Mabel. - -“Oh, most of them have surrendered, but Bahram Khan and a body of -horse escaped, and got safely to Dera Gul. Major North just succeeded -in saving the Amir, and he’s in the fort now. Part of the column has -gone on to keep an eye on Dera Gul, but the rest will camp here for -to-night. Some of the officers are coming in after dinner--doesn’t it -sound funny to say that again? You will come and talk to them, won’t -you?” - -“I’ll just come and see them--it would seem rude not to go near them -after all they have done for us--but I can’t leave him for long. -Flora!” suddenly, “do you see anything different in me?” - -“You are dreadfully pale and tired, and your dress looks as if you had -put it on in a hurry, and your hair isn’t very nicely done,” said -Flora hesitatingly. “Is that what you mean?” - -“No--not quite. If--if you were a man, should you still think of me as -Queen Mab?” - -Flora hesitated still, then suddenly flew at Mabel, and kissed her -with great vehemence. “What does it signify?” she demanded. “I shall -love you just as well, and so will _he_, and lots of people will love -you a great deal more. You’re just as lovely, really, as ever you -were.” - -“Then there is something,” cried Mabel. “What is it?” - -“I--I don’t know, exactly. It’s something gone. I have noticed it -going, since--I think since Mr Anstruther came back from looking for -your brother. It was a sort of assurance--I can’t think of the proper -word--as if you knew that every one admired you, and you had a right -to their services. Yes, that was it. It took every one captive, you -know, Mab.” - -“And now?” asked Mabel, in a low voice. - -“Now? Oh, it makes me miserable to see you. You look as if you wanted -people to be kind to you, poor darling.” - -“Only one person,” whispered Mabel. “Do you think he will?” - -“As if you doubted him! Fraud! If he isn’t, I’ll give Fred up, and -come and live with you in a hermitage. There!” - -“Then I don’t mind. I have lost my kingdom, and found a heart.” - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV. - WHAT ZEYNAB SAW. - -“Dick, I want to speak to you. I’m sure there’s something wrong.” - -“There’ll be something wrong with you, if you rush up the steps at -that rate, after being out all morning. You haven’t walked back, I -hope?” - -“No, of course not. I had a doolie. But it’s really important, Dick.” - -“I dare say it is, but I won’t listen to a single word until you lie -down in that chair and let me fan you. Now let us hear about it. You -went to the Refugees’ Camp as usual, and doctored all and sundry?” - -It was not in the confined limits of the Memsahibs’ courtyard that -this conversation took place, for since the arrival of the relieving -column the fort had been practically deserted, owing to its insanitary -condition. As the town had also been left by the enemy in an -undesirable state, most of the rightful inhabitants were under canvas -for the present. Quarters had been found, however, in the large Sarai -for a good many of the Europeans, who led a picnic existence in the -bare mud rooms, cheered by such remnants of their household goods as -they had been able to save, until the neighbourhood should quiet down, -so as to allow them to return to their homes. Bahram Khan was holding -out obstinately at Dera Gul, where he appeared to hold in deep -contempt the devastation wrought by the besiegers’ mountain-guns. They -had battered his walls to pieces, but he and his garrison retired to -shelters underground, whence they emerged on more than one occasion to -frustrate, with considerable loss to the attacking party, attempts to -carry the place by assault. Meanwhile, his followers’ wives and -children, who were not admitted into the fortress, had thrown -themselves quite happily on the hands of the besiegers, in the calm -confidence that this course would ensure their being provided with -food, lodging, and medical attendance free of cost. To have despatched -them, in their present unprotected condition, to any distance from the -British lines would merely have led to their being killed or enslaved -by the tribes, and after much discussion they were gathered into a -special camp, under the charge of an officer detailed for the duty, -which he cursed daily. Here they were looked after in company with the -native women and children who had survived the siege, and such of the -townspeople as now began to reappear from mysterious hiding-places or -cities of refuge. The care of their health was entrusted to Georgia, -and every morning she visited the camp and prescribed for any patients -that might be awaiting her. It was from one of these visits that she -had just returned. - -“I was making a surprise inspection of the huts, Dick--it’s necessary -every few days, you know--and I came to one where a number of women -who have no children are quartered together. They were not expecting -me, and they were just sitting or standing about. One of them was -Jehanara.” - -“My word!” Dick sprang to his feet. “Are you certain, Georgie?” - -“Quite. I never forget a face, you know, and hers is a remarkable -one.” - -“And what did you do?” - -“I pretended not to have recognised her, and our eyes did not meet, so -I don’t think she could have seen that I knew her. I finished the -inspection, and then, when I was reporting to Major Atkinson, I asked -him to arrest her at once, as I was sure she was there as a spy.” - -“And had she got away in the meantime?” - -“Oh dear, no! When I had made Major Atkinson understand which woman I -meant, he laughed at me, and said that she was certainly a spy--a spy -of our own; and she had a pass signed by the General to allow her to -leave the camp when she liked.” - -“Somebody is being made a nice fool of.” - -“That’s what I thought. If she has come to the General, and offered to -betray the fortress to him--that door, you know--and it’s all a trap! -He doesn’t know her as we do. I thought of going to him at once, but -then it struck me that he might laugh at me as Major Atkinson did, so -I came back to tell you as fast as I could.” - -“You thought he might be like Burgrave, and dislike ladies’ -interfering in politics? Well, I suppose I must go myself, and fish -for snubs. What I do admire in all these big chaps is their -deep-rooted distrust of the man on the spot. I wonder they don’t order -us all out of the district before they’ll deign to set foot in it.” - -Before very long Dick was received by General Cranstoun in the -seclusion of his tent. To his observant eye, the General’s face wore a -slightly expectant, not to say conscious expression, and he went -straight to the business in hand. - -“I should be glad, sir, if you would authorise the arrest of an East -Indian woman who calls herself Joanna Warren or Jehanara. She is a -secret agent of Bahram Khan’s, and my wife found her secreted in the -Refugees’ Camp this morning.” - -“There is no such person in the camp,” was the terse reply. - -“What! has she got away already?” cried Dick. “Excuse me, but this may -be a serious matter. Did she know that she was recognised?” - -“I believe not. I understand that when she heard it was Mrs North’s -habit to visit the camp, she considered it unwise to remain there -longer.” - -“I wish to goodness I knew whether that was all,” muttered Dick. “Is -there any hope of getting hold of her still?” - -“I do not know. The matter does not appear to me to lie in your -province, Major North, and I am not prepared to offer you any -assistance.” - -“Perhaps you are not aware, sir, that the woman in question is Bahram -Khan’s most trusted counsellor? It is generally understood that all -our recent misfortunes are attributable to her influence, and I know -personally that she has done an immense amount of harm.” - -“Perhaps you are not aware that the unfortunate woman of whom you are -speaking has been for years most cruelly ill-used by Bahram Khan, and -has vowed vengeance upon him in consequence? But I am not at liberty -to say more upon the subject.” - -“No!” cried Dick, with sudden enlightenment, “because she made you -promise to say nothing to me before she would utter a word. She told -you that I was brutally unsympathetic, and had insulted her in her -misfortunes, and that I forbade my wife to receive her?” - -“These are facts of which I should scarcely expect you to be proud, -Major North.” Still, the General looked uncomfortable. - -“I am prouder of them than I should be of being taken in by the most -cunning Jezebel in India. The woman hasn’t a grain of truth in her -composition.” - -“I have been considered a good judge of character,” said General -Cranstoun severely, “and I would stake my life on Miss Warren’s -truthfulness. She has told me something of her history, and her manner -left on my mind the most extraordinary impression of impotent fury -thirsting for revenge. No acting could have produced the effect.” - -“And so you are going to stake your life on her truthfulness? and the -lives of her Majesty’s troops? I see it all!” cried Dick, with growing -excitement. “You are to be at the north-east corner of the Dera Gul -rock with a body of picked men at a certain time, when she will open a -door leading into the subterranean passages. Guided by her, you will -make your way up with your detachment to the gate opening on the -zigzag path, and hold it until the rest of your force comes up. Then -the fortress is in your hands.” - -“Why--how in the world did you know this?” - -“I am acquainted with the lady, you see.” - -“But the door--how did you hear about that?” - -“I have seen it. When the place was empty, before it was restored to -Bahram Khan, I explored it thoroughly.” - -“And you never told me of the existence of the door? I should have -imagined that the interests of the public service would have prevailed -over any slight personal jealousy----” - -“I didn’t mention it,” said Dick, “because the door is a portion of -the solid rock, and can only be opened from within. It is lifted by a -complicated arrangement of weights and pulleys, and a dozen women -couldn’t make it stir. I should say it needed ten men at least.” - -The General’s brow gathered blackness. “Your information would have -been more valuable had it come earlier,” he said. “In the -circumstances, I do not feel justified in abandoning an excellent -opportunity of ending this revolt, merely in view of your suspicions.” - -“They are certainties. Say that you and your picked men are trapped in -the cave--the door works from above. The only way out is up a narrow -staircase, which only one man can climb at a time, but there are holes -high up through which you could be shot down in dozens. Once inside, -Bahram Khan has you safe--to use as a hostage, if he likes.” - -“I should not feel justified in abandoning the attempt,” repeated the -General, “but,” he added, with a degree less of severity, “if you can -suggest any precautions that might render success more certain, I -shall be glad to consider them.” - -“There are to be no lights, I suppose? Then I would let every man -except those in the front rank carry a block of stone. We can get them -out of the ruins not far off, and if they are piled up at the sides of -the doorway--I’ll show the men how to do it--the door can’t come right -down, at any rate. Then, Jehanara has arranged with you that the rest -of the force shall advance up the zigzag path at a signal from the -gate? The enemy’s fire commands every foot of the way, and we can’t -shell them to any purpose at night. But if, instead of climbing up on -that side, our main body was making a determined assault with -scaling-ladders upon the opposite side of the fortress, where the -walls come down to the level, that would distract the attention of the -garrison if you found it necessary to retire from the cave. My idea is -that as soon as you are well inside, the door will go down, and you -will be summoned to surrender. But the door will stick, and you will -be able to retire in good order, and form outside. Then, even if the -attack did not come off quite at the same moment, you would be -prepared to resist the garrison if they charged, and be sheltered -against their fire from above. And the best part of the plan,” added -Dick cunningly, “is that there is no need to break faith with -Jehanara. If she means well by you, everything will go off just as you -arranged, and her feelings will not be hurt by the knowledge of my -base suspicions.” - -“Major North,” said the General, holding out his hand, “I have done -you an injustice. The arrangements you suggest seem to obviate all -risk, and I shall be glad if you will accompany me, in order to direct -the men who will carry the stones. The details of the main attack I -will arrange immediately.” - -“Then when was the attempt to be made, sir?” - -“To-night, of course. _Is_ to be made, if you please.” - -“That was a pretty close shave!” muttered Dick to himself, when he was -safely outside. - - - -And thus it came to pass that there was yet another night in which -Georgia and Flora, unable to sleep, sat together in one of the bleak -rooms of the Sarai, and held each other’s hands in an agony of fear -and anxiety, while Mabel stole in at intervals from her watch beside -Fitz to ask whether there was any news yet. Over and over again the -anxious watchers persuaded themselves that they could hear the sound -of firing echoed across the miles of desert which separated them from -Dera Gul, and on each occasion they assured one another that the idea -was absurd. Mrs Hardy came in several times to scold them for sitting -up, twice spoiling the effect of her rebukes by administering hot -coffee as a corrective, but she knew as well as they did that they -could not bring themselves to face the solitude of their own rooms. At -last, just as day was breaking, a messenger came from the signal -officer at the camp to say that flash-signals of some sort were -visible to the eastward, but the mists of the morning made it -impossible to read them properly. There was still an hour or so more -of weary waiting, and then Dick and Haycraft rode in together, the -latter with his arm in a sling. He had been knocked from one of the -scaling-ladders by a stone hurled at him, and the bone was broken, but -otherwise he was only bruised. And what did even a broken arm signify, -when there was victory at last? - -“It was just as we thought,” Dick told Georgia. “As soon as we were -inside the cave, I saw the door begin to come down--shutting out the -stars, don’t you know? and a voice called out to us to surrender. But -just when the door ought to have descended with a crash, it made a -grating noise instead, and stuck fast, for the stones were piled about -four feet high on each side. The enemy saw the dodge in a moment, and -opened fire through the holes up above, but as we were all in the -dark, it was a pretty wild affair. Two or three were wounded, and from -the back of the cave came an awful scream--a woman’s scream. It was -that wretched Jehanara, who had tried to escape up the staircase, and -was shot down by mistake. So now we shall never know--or rather, the -General won’t--whether she was deceived herself, or deceiving us. -Then, as we got out of the place, we heard the sound of the attack on -the other side, and we raced round to take part in it. Our men were -already in at the breach the shells have made, and by the time we got -up they were fighting hand to hand inside. We pressed the garrison -back from point to point, until we came to the zenana. It seems that -Bahram Khan had talked big about killing all his women before the end -came, but his plucky old mother didn’t quite see it. She and the rest -barricaded themselves in, all except Bahram Khan’s wife Zeynab, and -kept him out. The fellow made a great fuss about breaking down the -barricade, and went off to find a hammer or pickaxe or something to do -it with, but we got there first. The men he had left fought to the -last in front of the barricade, and behind it the old Begum held out -stoutly until I came up, when she surrendered at discretion. Then we -found out from one of our wounded that Bahram Khan and his wife had -got away through the cave, with either two or three of his men, so -that he is still at large, though the place is in our hands. Of course -the regiment is scouring the country for him, and the tribes are all -thirsting for the reward that will be offered, but it is a horrid -bother.” - -“Zeynab will scarcely be the help to him that Jehanara would have -been,” said Georgia. - -“No, but I don’t like his being loose. I shall get them to post a -sentry at the gate here, as well as the Sikh at Burgrave’s door, and -none of you must go outside without an escort. Mab mustn’t try any -more of her adventurous rides.” - -“Why, Dick, there’s no one for her to ride with at present.” - -“No more there is, happily. Well, I shall be thankful if her devotion -to Anstruther lasts long enough to keep her between walls just now. -Bahram Khan driven desperate would be an ugly customer to meet out in -the open.” - -It was a source of considerable relief to Dick to learn that at this -particular time Mabel was less likely than ever to quit her charge. -Two or three days before, she had astonished Dr Tighe by demanding to -be allowed to assist in dressing the patient’s burns. The doctor, who -had contrived, with what he regarded as almost superhuman cunning, -always to accomplish this process at a time when she was not on duty, -was much perplexed by the request. - -“Trust me,” he urged; “I’ll let you help as soon as it’s desirable.” - -Mabel shook her head. “You don’t understand,” she said. “I want to -know the worst while he is still unconscious. I think I can trust -myself not to make any sign, but I am not sure, and if it is very -dreadful--oh, it would break my heart if he thought I shrank from him -because of his scars!” - -“But, my dear young lady, that’s all the more reason for waiting. The -wounds will be far less painful to look at when they are a little more -healed.” - -“That’s just it. If I see them now, at their worst, I can’t be -horrified afterwards. I want to be able to judge of the improvement, -so that I may cheer him if he thinks he is not getting on.” - -Dr Tighe muttered fiercely to himself, but yielded at last, and -allowed Mabel to act as his assistant at the next dressing. She -thought she had schooled herself to bear the worst, but in spite of -all her resolutions she shrank and shivered involuntarily when she -realised the frightful change in the dark handsome face she had always -secretly admired. Dr Tighe, going about his work with swift, practised -fingers, said nothing, and pretended not to notice the drops of water -which splashed upon him from the basin she held. - -“Will he--can he ever look at all as he did?” she asked in a whisper -at last. - -“If things turn out as I hope, he will look no worse than a man who is -badly marked with smallpox. There will be two or three ugly -seams--here, and here”--he indicated the precise spots lightly with a -finger-tip--“but the hair will help to cover them when it grows again, -and if the mouth is much disfigured--why, you must lay your commands -upon the patient to grow a beard.” - -Mabel was crying. “Oh, it is too dreadful, too dreadful!” she sobbed. - -“Then you had better leave the sick-room to me before he recovers -consciousness. There’s no need to make things worse for him by raising -false hopes. Either stick to him, disfigurements and all, or don’t let -him know that he ever had the chance of marrying you.” - -“It’s not for myself; it’s for him!” flashed forth Mabel. “Stick to -him? of course I shall. He himself is not changed. But I can’t be too -thankful that I have seen him like this. At least I know the worst.” - -Again the doctor was puzzled. Was she forcing herself to keep faith, -for shame or pity’s sake, or was she really in love still? He did not -attempt to argue the matter with her, and nothing more was said on the -subject for a day or two. Then the doctor stopped Mabel one morning at -the door of the sick-room. - -“One moment, Miss North. Has the patient ever exhibited any signs of -consciousness in your presence--tried to speak, or anything of the -sort?” - -“Never,” said Mabel, in surprise. “I should have told you if he had.” - -“I didn’t know whether you might be luxuriating in the sentimental -satisfaction of feeling that you were the only person he recognised. -You needn’t be angry; from your point of view it would be very -natural. Well, I can’t make it out, then.” - -“But has he spoken again--are there any signs----?” - -“Not a word. But I can’t help thinking that there may be a kind of -semi-consciousness about him--ability to distinguish light from -darkness, or a loud noise from silence, perhaps--and I am almost -certain that he knows when you are there. There are minute variations -of temperature and pulse which correspond day after day, marking the -difference between your presence and absence. It’s a queer thing.” - -“And you think he will soon be quite conscious? Oh, doctor!” and this -hope it was that kept Mabel so closely within the walls of the Sarai -as to satisfy even Dick. But no further change in the patient’s -condition seemed to reward her eager watchfulness. Dr Tighe said -nothing more, and Mabel was afraid to ask questions. Any good news he -would surely tell her, and she did not want to hear any that was bad. -After another three days, however, he stopped her again outside the -sick-room. - -“Miss North, I’m going to give that poor fellow away. I won’t presume -to inquire into your feelings towards him, but unless you can take -him, scarred as he will be, without a qualm, you had better keep away -from him in future. He is conscious, but he guesses how it is with -him, and he means to tire you out. He has settled in his own mind that -if he shows no gratitude for your nursing, and no interest in your -presence, you will leave him alone, so that he won’t be tempted to -take advantage of your pity for him. So he lies there like a log, and -the self-repression is bad for him. I would be glad to see you end it -one way or another.” - -“Do you mean that he can speak, and see, and hear, but pretends he -can’t?” demanded Mabel. - -“No, no. He can’t see--because of the bandage over his eyes, if for no -other reason--and he can’t speak intelligibly. But he can hear, and he -can answer questions by moving his right hand for yes, and his left -for no. That’s how I found it all out.” - -“And he has pretended not to be able to hear a sound! Why, I might -have said anything to him--anything! Happily I haven’t,” catching the -doctor’s eye, “for Colonel Slaney told me so particularly not to -excite him. But what do you want me to do?” - -“To please yourself. Either make him understand that you mean to stick -to him, or simply stay away. It’ll be better for him.” - -“Which have you told him you expect I shall do?” asked Mabel, turning -upon him. The doctor looked guilty. - -“I’d have had the greatest pleasure in preparing the poor fellow’s -mind, if I’d known,” he confessed; “but for the life of me I couldn’t -decide which you’d be likely to do.” - -“Thanks for your high opinion of me,” said Mabel, entering the room -with a short laugh. “Perhaps you will kindly notice that I am putting -an end to your doubts at this moment.” - -Such was the confused condition of Dr Tighe’s mind that he did not at -first realise the bearing of this sentence. Indeed, it was not until -he was busy in his improvised surgery half-an-hour later that he -perceived its full import, and made the bottles ring again with the -shout of joy which greeted his discovery. As for Mabel, she sat down -in her usual place beside the bed, and bent over the patient. - -“Fitz,” she said very distinctly, “I want to speak to you. You needn’t -pretend you can’t hear, for I know Dr Tighe has been talking to you. -Raise your right hand when you mean yes, and your left when you mean -no.” - -No movement of any kind followed, but Mabel was not to be daunted. - -“I understand,” she went on, “that you don’t like me to be here, and -would rather I left off helping to nurse you?” - -This time the right hand was unmistakably raised an inch or so. - -“I have no right to offer any objection,” resumed Mabel, “but I don’t -think you need have left Dr Tighe to tell me about it. I suppose I -ought to have known that I had treated you too badly for you ever to -care for me again.” - -The left hand was shaken two or three times with pathetic vehemence. - -“Then some one has told you,” indignantly, “how old and wretched I am -beginning to look. Even Flora confesses it--I made her tell me--but -she said she loved me just the same. I said I shouldn’t mind it, if it -didn’t prevent my friends caring for me--and there were one or two to -whom I felt sure it would make no difference. I never thought that -you---- No, you are not to touch that bandage,” intercepting a feeble -movement of one hand towards the eyes. “Do you want to be blind? But -it’s better as it is,” with a heavy sigh--“better that we should part -now. I mean, I couldn’t bear you to think me ugly.” - -Again the left hand was shaken vehemently. - -“Do you mean that it isn’t that? Then there’s only one other thing it -can possibly be. You don’t believe I can be faithful, though you can; -and you haven’t realised that it’s just this accident of yours which -removes my objection to you. You know I said you would look so -dreadfully young compared with me. Well, no one can say that now. You -will look like a battered veteran, and though I have gone off so -dreadfully, I shall look quite youthful beside you. Do you -understand?” - -The right hand was lifted somewhat doubtfully. - -“I’m glad of that. Because, you see, I have told people that we are -engaged, and it would be such a very uncomfortable thing if I had to -contradict it. Now listen. Flora and I have agreed that I am not Queen -Mab any longer, but if you agree it will be very rude.” Up came the -left hand with alacrity. “That’s right; then I am still Queen Mab to -you, and I lay my commands on you that this sort of thing is not to -happen again. I mean to help nurse you, whether you like it or not, -and you will get well much sooner if you make up your mind to like it. -But even if you don’t, I won’t give you up.” - -Both hands were raised, with an imploring gesture, and Mabel took them -in her own, and hid her face in them. - -“Because I love you, Fitz. You couldn’t have the heart to send me away -after that, could you? Don’t try to talk; I understand.” - - - -Returning to her watch that evening, Mabel met the Commissioner, who -stopped to inquire after Fitz. - -“He is conscious; he knows me,” she answered joyfully, adding, after a -moment’s hesitation, “I think perhaps you will like to know that it is -all right between us now.” - -“I am very glad to hear it. I hope from my heart that you may be -absolutely happy. As for Anstruther,” added Mr Burgrave, in his old -courtly way, “there can be no question as to his happiness.” - -“We shall always feel that we owe it very much to you,” faltered -Mabel. - -“It is extremely kind of you to say so. I am leaving early to-morrow, -and that is a pleasant assurance to carry with me. I hoped I should -meet you this evening, as I am dining at your brother’s, but I see you -have other duties.” - -“I am so sorry--I didn’t understand--how stupid of me!” cried Mabel. -“Are you leaving the frontier altogether?” - -“I am returning in the first instance to Bab-us-Sahel, to take up my -regular duties again. My visit to the frontier has extended over a -preposterous length of time, owing first to my accident and then to -the rising, and I fear it has thrown the machinery of government a -good deal out of gear. Personally, however, I cannot bring myself to -regret it. I have enjoyed many important experiences, for which I did -not bargain when I set out.” - -Mabel’s eyes fell before the kindly look in his. “Can you ever forgive -me?” she murmured. - -“I have nothing to forgive. The fault was mine.” He bowed over the -hand she held out to him. “The Queen can do no wrong.” - -They parted, and Mr Burgrave went on to the Norths’ quarters, two -small square rooms without a door, and possessing only one small -window apiece, high up in the back wall. One side was open to the -courtyard of the Sarai, and at night was somewhat inadequately closed -by means of curtains and Venetian blinds. The dinner-table had been -laid with the help of contributions from the Grahams and the Hardys, -and the Commissioner pretended politely not to recognise his own -reading-lamp, the only large lamp belonging to the community that had -escaped the chances of war and earthquake. Flora, whose father was -dining with the General, occupied Mabel’s vacant place, and did her -part in helping to arrange the impromptu drawing-room at the back of -the room. There were screens and a brazier, to mitigate the coldness -of the evening air, and for furniture the camp-chairs which had played -so many parts in the economy of the siege. Dick had received strict -injunctions to offer his guest a cigar, and Georgia and Flora were -prepared to efface themselves so far as to retire into the bedroom -should Mr Burgrave’s principles forbid him to smoke in the presence of -ladies, but their self-sacrifice was not needed. No sooner were the -chairs arranged than the Commissioner, who had been helping to carry -them behind the screen, prepared to take his leave. - -“I will ask you to excuse me early,” he said to Georgia, “for I have a -good deal of writing to do, and Mr Beltring has been good enough to -offer to take poor Beardmore’s place for this evening.” - -He hesitated for a moment, turned to go, and then came back again. - -“I think perhaps I had better explain something that might perplex you -in the future,” he said, speaking to Dick, but including Georgia. “It -has to do with the frontier question.” - -“I thought we had come to an agreement on that subject,” said Dick, -with some apprehension. - -“Pardon me, I agreed to withdraw my report in deference to your -representations, but I still think your principles unsound--radically -unsound.” - -The rest gazed at him in alarm, and he went on. “Your custom of -intervening in trans-frontier disputes, and practically exercising -authority outside our own borders, is diametrically opposed to the -traditional policy of the Government. I am bound to admit that it -seems to succeed in your case, but it needs exceptional men to carry -it out. You, Major, especially with Mrs North to assist you”--he bowed -to Georgia--“are unquestionably a power to be reckoned with all along -this frontier, but what would befall the ordinary civil servant who -might be sent to succeed you?” - -“That’s just it,” said Dick. “You mustn’t send us the common or garden -office-wallah up here. Let me pick the right man--whether he’s a wild -rattlepate like Anstruther, or a steady plodding chap like -Beltring--and give him the right rough-and-tumble sort of training, -till he knows the tribes like a brother, and there’s your exceptional -man ready when you want him. Only he must be the right sort to begin -with, and he must be caught young.” - -“A possible clue to my own lack of success up here!” mused the -Commissioner. “Still, I fear you will scarcely find that any -Government will look with favour upon a system that would practically -make the frontier a close preserve for you and your pupils. But this -is what I wished to say. I can’t conscientiously work with you on your -lines, though I have promised not to oppose you, and therefore I am -recommending the severance of the frontier districts from those of -Khemistan proper, and their erection into a separate agency under an -officer answerable directly to the Viceroy. Don’t think I have tried -to shift the responsibility from my own shoulders. It seemed that -while we could not well work together, we might work side by side. I -have done the best I can.” - -He went out precipitately, one of the servants hastening to light him -to his own quarters, thus restoring the lamp. Those left behind looked -at each other. - -“Poor old chap!” said Dick. “It’s about the worst thing he could have -done for himself, and it’s not very much good to us. The Great Great -One can scarcely be expected to welcome such a slap in the face as -that. His own nominee, sent to carry out his very own policy, -recommending its reversal, not because his views have changed, but -simply because facts are against him!” - -They sat talking round the brazier in the dusk for some time, until -there was a footstep outside, and Beltring pushed aside the screen and -entered. He had a paper in his hand. - -“Why, you are all in the dark, Mrs North!” he said. “Never mind, I can -tell you the great news. The Commissioner has just had a telegram that -the rumour of the Viceroy’s resignation is true. Lord Torvalvin is -coming out instead.” - -“Torvalvin!” cried Dick. “Then the frontier’s safe.” - -“And you will be Warden of the Marches still,” said Flora. - -“That seems to make me out a sort of Vicar of Bray,” grumbled Dick. - -“It’s only Flora’s poetical way of speaking,” said Georgia. “I’m sure -it sounds much better to talk of keeping the marches than of running -the frontier.” - -“Yes,” said Flora. “I was thinking of the inscription in Sir Walter -Scott’s hall at Abbotsford, about the ‘men wha keepit the marchys in -the old tyme for the Kynge. Trewe men war they in their tyme, and in -their defence God them defendyt.’” - -“I like that,” said Georgia softly. - -“Well,” said Dick, “it’s all very well for me, but Torvalvin’s coming -out will be a fearful blow for Burgrave. I suppose he will feel bound -to resign, for I certainly don’t see how they can work together. Did -he seem much cut up, Beltring?” - -“He didn’t show it, sir. Only said he thought you would like to see -the telegram. Why, his lamp has gone out!” Beltring had reached the -threshold on his way back. “Good heavens! what’s that?” - -A wild uproar was arising from the camp, which stretched into the -desert beyond the Sarai, and alternate cries of “Dīn! Dīn!” and -“Ghazis!” were discernible. - -“A Ghazi raid!” cried Dick, springing for his sword. “Georgie, take -the boy and Rahah, and barricade yourself in with Mab and Miss Graham. -You have two revolvers, and I’ll send help as soon as possible. Take -the chairs. They’ll help you to build up a corner.” - -Rahah ran out with the baby, and Dick and Beltring saw the ladies -safely to the door of the sick-room, then rushed to the gateway, where -they stumbled over the dead body of the sentry. The tumult in the camp -still continued, shouts and yells coming from several directions -mingled with the sound of shots, but in each case all was quiet again -before they arrived at the point of interest. Such of the troops as -were new to the frontier looked somewhat ashamed when they realised -that the attack which had thrown the camp into confusion was the work -of only four men, but the more experienced knew that four desperate -fanatics, armed to the teeth, and determined to kill until they -themselves were killed, were by no means foes to be despised. The one -who had fought most obstinately wore a green turban, and Dick nodded -grimly as he caught sight of his face. - -“Bahram Khan! I thought so,” he said. “But I’m afraid there’s been the -devil’s own work done in the Sarai. Bring torches.” - -A number of officers ran back with him to the gateway, where the -sentry was found to have been dexterously strangled from behind. -Entering the courtyard, they turned towards the Commissioner’s -quarters, which were still in darkness. Suddenly Dick’s foot slipped. - -“Another body here!” he said, and some one brought forward a torch. To -their astonishment, it was a woman who lay before them, dressed in -rich native garments, which, with the coarse _chadar_ covering her -face, were soaked with blood. She had been stabbed in the breast, but -was still breathing heavily. Sending a messenger for Dr Tighe, they -went on, in growing dread as to what they might find. Their fears were -justified. On the verandah lay the Sikh sentry, stabbed in the back, -and on the floor of his office was the body of the Commissioner, -hacked and disfigured almost beyond recognition with a hundred wounds. -It did not need the verdict of Dr Tighe to assure the men who stood -round that life was extinct. - -“What can have been the reason? Why the Commissioner and not North?” -were the questions that passed from mouth to mouth, as Dick tore down -a curtain and laid it reverently over the body, with the help of Dr -Tighe. - -“Perhaps the woman can tell us something. She seems conscious now,” -said some one, but when the doctor knelt down beside her she pulled -her veil feebly over her face, moaning out a name the while. - -“She won’t let me touch her. She’s a _pardah nishin_,” he said, -rising. “It’s the doctor lady she’s asking for, Major.” - -Dick went himself to fetch his wife, and the men stood aside a little -as Georgia tried to stanch the gaping wound, which was draining the -poor creature’s life away. The woman herself laughed weakly. - -“It matters not, O doctor lady. I shall follow my lord.” - -“You are little Zeynab?” asked Georgia gently, looking into the drawn -face. - -“I am that luckless one, O doctor lady, and I die thus for the sake of -the kindness thou didst show me many years ago.” - -“Don’t talk now,” said Georgia. “Tell me afterwards.” - - [image: images/img_324.jpg - caption: “STRETCHING OUT HIS HAND FOR THE PISTOL”] - -“Nay, I must speak now, for soon it will be too late. Six days we have -been hiding here and there, O doctor lady, my lord and his three -servants and I, and this evening we were in the shadow of the -oleanders beside the gate. Thence we saw the Kumpsioner Sahib return -to his house with a light carried before him, and presently there came -out a young sahib with a _chit_ in his hand, and crossed the -courtyard. Then my lord said, ‘It is time,’ and two of his followers -slew the guard at the gate, while he and the third flung themselves -like tigers upon the accursed Sikh on the verandah, and killed him -without a cry. I, who had crept after them, saw the Kumpsioner Sahib -sitting at a table with the light in front of him, and a pistol at his -right hand--for truly he feared my lord, even in his own house--and I -saw also that my lord had crept in like a cat, and was stretching out -his hand over his shoulder for the pistol. But as he took away the -pistol, the Kumpsioner Sahib saw his hand, and turned round and sprang -up. Then one of the other men blew at the lamp to put it out, and the -light burned low. And my lord laughed and said in the Persian tongue, -‘We meet at last, O Barkaraf Sahib. Thou didst indeed believe that -victory was thine, but if Nāth Sahib’s sister is not for me, neither -is she for thee. Death is thy bride.’ At first it seemed to me that -the Kumpsioner Sahib was about to speak, but he stood up straight with -his arms folded, and said nothing, until my lord added divers other -taunts, when he said, ‘Take not the name of that lady upon thy lips, O -low-born one. Dost thou fear to strike me, who am here unarmed, that -thou speakest evil of a woman who is absent?’ Then my lord struck him -with his dagger, and the lamp went out, and they all fell upon him, -and stabbed him many times. And coming out, my lord found me, and -said, ‘Go through the midst of the Sarai, and cry out aloud for the -doctor lady, that she may come out and we may slay her and her son, -and it may be the accursed Nāth Sahib himself also.’ But I would not, -O doctor lady, and therefore it was that my lord stabbed me, and that -I die now at his hand.” With a sudden convulsive movement, she tore -away Georgia’s hand from the wound, and struggled to her feet, then -staggered and fell. Georgia caught her in her arms, but the dressing -had been dislodged, and the blood streamed forth again as the dark -head dropped heavily on her shoulder. - - - -They buried the Commissioner in the little cemetery at Alibad, and for -days people went about saying that it was the irony of fate that his -grave should be next to that of General Keeling. It was Georgia who -chose the spot, however, and she thought otherwise. - -“He would have been a man after my father’s own heart, if he had known -him,” said Georgia, “though I don’t say they wouldn’t have wrangled on -theoretical questions from morning to night. But when I think that -with death staring him in the face, he would not say a word that might -turn their thoughts to Fitz, who was only a few feet away, and -absolutely helpless, I feel that he was one of the bravest men I have -ever known.” - -Not all the opinions expressed concerning the dead man were so -favourable, however. On the evening of his funeral two Pathan soldiers -from one of the relieving regiments met Ismail Bakhsh near the -cemetery, and saluted him with marked friendliness. - -“O brother,” they said, “we have heard that the famous general, -Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib Bahadar, is wont to ride abroad upon this border -by night. Is this so?” - -“It is true,” returned the old trooper, “and I myself have heard him, -not once nor twice. And, moreover, what these eyes of mine have -beheld, it is not wise to relate.” - -“Pray, brother, tell us when these things may be seen and heard? We -have a great desire to make proof of them for ourselves.” - -“Nay,” said Ismail Bakhsh, with a lofty smile, “for that ye must wait -awhile. It is only when there is trouble on the border that the -General Sahib rides, and”--with a wave of the hand towards the -new-made grave--“the troubler of the border lies there.” - - 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: - -A few minor punctuation corrections--mostly involving the pairing of -quotation marks. - -Change three instances of “Mrs.” to “Mrs” and one of “Dr.” to “Dr”. -Otherwise, minor spelling and hyphenization inconsistencies have been -left as is. - -[Title Page] - -Add illustrator’s credit and brief note indicating this novel’s -position in the series. See above. - -[Footnotes] - -Place the book’s sole footnote (Chapter XIX) in square brackets inline -with the text. - -[Chapter XI] - -Change “said Bahram _Kham_ approvingly” to _Khan_. - -[Chapter XVII] - -“and Ghulam _Rasal_, taking his place” to _Rasul_. - -[Chapter XIX] - -“broken off your _engagemen_” to _engagement_. - -[Chapter XX] - -“said the _Comissioner_ with a smile” to _Commissioner_. - - [End of Text] - - - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WARDEN OF THE MARCHES *** - -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. 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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;} - p.loi {font-variant:small-caps; margin:0em 0em 0em 2em; text-align:justify; text-indent:-2em;} - - div.letter {padding: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 The Warden of the Marches, 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: The Warden of the Marches</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: September 6, 2021 [eBook #66229]</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 THE WARDEN OF THE MARCHES ***</div> - -<div class="fig" id="img_000"> -<a href="images/img_000.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_000_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“SINJĀJ KĪLIN SAHIB BAHADAR RIDES TO-NIGHT” -</div></div> - -<div class="tp"> -<h1> -The Warden of the Marches -</h1> - -By<br/> -SYDNEY C. GRIER<br/> -<span class="font80">AUTHOR OF “PEACE WITH HONOUR,”<br/> -“LIKE ANOTHER HELEN,” “IN<br/> -FURTHEST IND,” Etc.</span> - -<br/><br/> -(<i>Sixth in the Modern East series</i>)<br/> - -<br/><br/> -<i>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALFRED PEARSE</i> - -<br/><br/><br/> -BOSTON<br/> -L. C. PAGE & COMPANY<br/> -<i>MDCCCCII</i> -</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> -CONTENTS. -</h2> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch01">I. THE COMING OF QUEEN MAB</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch02">II. “LIFE IS REAL; LIFE IS EARNEST”</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch03">III. “IN HIS SIMPLICITY SUBLIME”</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch04">IV. THE OUTSIDER</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch05">V. ROSE OF THE WORLD</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch06">VI. LA BELLE ALLIANCE</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch07">VII. NONE BUT THE BRAVE</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch08">VIII. WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch09">IX. WOUNDED HERO AND MINISTERING ANGEL</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch10">X. GAINING A LOVER AND KEEPING A FRIEND</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch11">XI. BEHIND THE CURTAIN</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch12">XII. HONOUR AND DUTY</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch13">XIII. ONE NIGHT</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch14">XIV. TO KEEP THE FLAG FLYING</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch15">XV. “THE OLD FIRST HEROIC LESSONS”</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch16">XVI. THE DARKEST HOUR</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch17">XVII. THE LUCK OF THE BABA SAHIB</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch18">XVIII. AN ATTEMPT AT DESERTION</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch19">XIX. AN IMPOTENT CONCLUSION</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch20">XX. THE FORCES OF NATURE</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch21">XXI. THE DEAD THAT LIVED</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch22">XXII. THE FIRE ON THE HILL</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch23">XXIII. AN ABDICATION</a> -</p> - -<p class="toc_1"> -<a href="#ch24">XXIV. WHAT ZEYNAB SAW</a> -</p> - - -<h2> -ILLUSTRATIONS. -</h2> - -<p class="loi"> -<a href="#img_000">“SINJĀJ KĪLIN SAHIB BAHADAR RIDES TO-NIGHT”</a> -</p> - -<p class="loi"> -<a href="#img_042">“MABEL STEPPED FORWARD, AND MET THE GLANCE OF -THE BOLD EYES UNDER THE GREEN TURBAN”</a> -</p> - -<p class="loi"> -<a href="#img_078">“FITZ CAUGHT THE LOOK OF AGONY IN BRENDON’S FACE”</a> -</p> - -<p class="loi"> -<a href="#img_148">“LOOK AFTER MY WIFE WHILE I’M AWAY”</a> -</p> - -<p class="loi"> -<a href="#img_198">“HE RIDES”</a> -</p> - -<p class="loi"> -<a href="#img_324">“STRETCHING OUT HIS HAND FOR THE PISTOL”</a> -</p> - - -<h2> -THE WARDEN OF THE MARCHES. -</h2> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="ch01"> -CHAPTER I.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE COMING OF QUEEN MAB.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Then</span> the mail’s in, Georgie?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, Dick; it came in about half-an-hour after you started. Here are -your letters.” -</p> - -<p> -Major North threw himself luxuriously into a long cane chair, and held -out his hand for the bundle of envelopes and papers which his wife -gave him. “Anything from Mab?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Just a little scrap. Dick, I am getting dreadfully worried about -her—her letters have been so strange for such a long time, and now -the writing is so queer. She always seems as if she hadn’t a moment to -spare, and yet she really has nothing particular to do now. Do you -know, I am beginning to be afraid that the strain of your uncle’s -illness, and the shock of his death, have been too much for her. I am -sure she oughtn’t to be living all alone in that big house. I asked -Cecil Egerton to look after her, and I hoped to hear from her to-day, -but there is no letter. Aren’t you getting anxious yourself?” Major -North, deep in his correspondence, grunted assent. “What do you think -we had better do? Dick!—why, Dick!” -</p> - -<p> -The letters went flying as Dick sprang up from his chair. His wife was -staring incredulously at a young lady in a grey riding-habit who was -cantering up the rough track, called by courtesy a drive, leading to -the house from the gateway of the compound. Catching sight of the two -figures on the verandah the new-comer pulled up her horse suddenly, -flung the bridle to the magnificent elderly servant who ran out from -the hall-door to meet her, and slipping from her saddle, mounted the -steps with a run. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Dick! oh, Georgie! oh, my dear people, it is so good to see you -again! Don’t tear me in pieces between you.” Her brother and his wife, -dumb with astonishment, were both kissing her at once. “It is my real -self, you know, and not my astral body. Now do say you are surprised -to see me on the Khemistan frontier when you imagined I was in London! -Don’t rob me of the gratification I have come so far to enjoy.” -</p> - -<p> -“Surprise is no word for it. We are utterly amazed, completely -flabbergasted,” said Dick slowly. His sister heaved a satisfied sigh. -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks, Dick; I’m so glad. I did want to surprise you.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, Mab, are you really only just off your journey?” cried Georgia. -“You must have a bath and a rest before you talk any more.” -</p> - -<p> -“I come untold thousands of miles to see my only remaining relatives, -and they don’t think me fit to speak to until I have had a bath and a -rest!” cried Mabel. “No, Georgie, we only did a very short stage -to-day, so that we might arrive clean and comfortable. You don’t think -Mr Burgrave would omit anything that would enable him to make a more -dignified entrance into Alibad?” -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t mean to say that you came up with the Commissioner?” cried -Dick and Georgia together. -</p> - -<p> -“Rather!” A glance passed between husband and wife, and Mabel caught -it. “Now, why this thusness? I had a chaperon, I assure you. I’ll tell -you all about it. And the Commissioner has been most kind—and -patronising.” -</p> - -<p> -“Probably,” said Dick dryly. “And was it Burgrave who escorted you to -the gate here?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no; it was that nice boy who went to Kubbet-ul-Haj with you eight -years ago.” -</p> - -<p> -“Boy!” cried Georgia. “My dear Mab, Fitz Anstruther is one of the most -rising young civilians in the province.” -</p> - -<p> -“And he said,” went on Mabel, unheeding, “that he would look in again -after dinner. Well, Georgie, he is three years younger than I am, at -any rate. Now, Dick, don’t be rude and say that that wouldn’t make him -so very young after all. I know I’m in the sere and yellow leaf. The -fact was borne in upon me when I heard an angry woman on the voyage -informing her cabin-mates that I was ‘no chicken.’” -</p> - -<p> -“What!” cried Dick. “Then the celebrated smile has been doing its -deadly work as usual? How many scalps this time, Mab?” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel smiled gently. It might be perfectly true, as other women were -never tired of saying, that she had no claim to be called beautiful. -The most that could be said of her was that she was nice-looking, and -the effect of that (it was often added spitefully) was spoilt by the -singular and most unpleasing combination of fair hair with dark brown -eyes. But when the ladies had said their say, Mabel knew that she had -but to smile to bring every man in the neighbourhood to her feet. -There was a peculiar fascination about her smile which made a slave of -the man upon whom it shone. It called forth all that was best in him, -roused all the chivalry of his nature, and compelled him to devote -himself to Mabel’s service. Various irate London cabmen, an elderly -guard on the Caledonian Railway, and the magistrate who found himself -obliged to fine Mabel for allowing her fox-terrier to go about -unmuzzled, were among the victims. The magistrate was currently -reported to have apologised privately for doing his duty, and to have -been abjectly desirous of paying the fine out of his own pocket if -Mabel would have allowed it. It was commonly understood that General -North, Mabel’s late guardian, had found his life a burden to him owing -to the multitude of her suitors, and that he would scarcely allow her -to go out alone lest any unwary stranger, thanked with a smile for -some slight service, should be impelled to propose to her on the spot. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Mab,” said Dick again, as his sister did not answer, “the -voyage was the usual triumphal progress, I suppose? Any casualties?” -</p> - -<p> -“No duels or suicides, Dick. The days of chivalry are gone, you know. -But every one was very nice. I don’t count the officers—it’s their -business to make themselves pleasant—but the captain took me into his -cabin and showed me the pictures of Mrs Captain and the little -Captains, and I was told he didn’t do that for everybody. The ladies -were not quite as friendly as—well, as I should have liked them to -be. They talked me over a good deal, too. Once they asked a rather -nice boy why he and all the rest thought such a lot of me. He couldn’t -think of anything to say but that I was ‘so awfully feminine, don’t -you know?’ When he thought of it afterwards he was rather pleased with -himself, and came and told me. It wasn’t bad, was it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Mab!” said Georgia reproachfully. -</p> - -<p> -“But, Georgie, you wouldn’t have me unfeminine, would you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ha, ha!” laughed Dick. “Well, Mab, as you have got here safely, I -suppose your friends were as helpful as your friends generally are?” -</p> - -<p> -“They were perfectly delightful. When we got to Bombay they helped me -about my luggage, and told me the right hotel, and where to get an -ayah and a servant, and how to go to Bab-us-Sahel. To crown all, they -found me the chaperon I told you about—who turned out to be the -elderly lady who had disapproved of me most frankly of all on the -voyage. Her name is Hardy, and she was coming to join her husband -here. She is devoted to you, Georgie.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dear old Mrs Hardy? I should think she was. It’s mutual.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, tastes differ. She is quite certain that I shall come to a bad -end. We didn’t speak very much on the way to Bab-us-Sahel, and when we -got there I was horrified to find what a journey we had still before -us. I knew the railway hadn’t got to you yet, but I thought it would -only mean perhaps a day in a palanquin, with tigers and interesting -things like that jumping out of the jungle every few minutes, and -brave rescuers turning up in the very nick of time to save one. I -never imagined there would be days and days of riding through a -desert, with no jungle and no tigers at all. Happily we fell in with -Mr Burgrave when we left the railway, and as he was coming here he -invited us to travel with his party in royal state, which we did. Mrs -Hardy quarrelled with him most days on some pretext or other for your -sakes, which I didn’t think nice of her when she was enjoying his -hospitality. She seemed to be convinced that everything he did was -bound to bring the province to destruction.” Again Dick and Georgia -exchanged glances. “Dick, what is wrong between you and Mr Burgrave? I -insist on knowing.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s unusual to find two men absolutely agreed on questions of -policy,” said Dick shortly. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, just at present he has a grudge against you on my account. He -considers you guilty of culpable negligence in leaving such a delicate -and valuable piece of goods to find its way to Alibad unassisted. I -tried to point out that the blame was entirely due to the wicked -wilfulness of the piece of goods in question, but he still thinks you -sadly callous.” -</p> - -<p> -“We haven’t heard yet what has brought her Majesty Queen Mab to Alibad -at all.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, that’s another story. (Don’t you admire my local colour?) Here -followeth the confession of Mabel Louisa North. I had a great idea, -Georgie, a splendid idea, when uncle died and I was left alone. I -thought I would become a Medical, so as to come out in time and help -you. I knew you would jeer, Dick, and try to dissuade me, so I decided -not to say a word until I was fairly embarked on my triumphal career. -I was going to take the London Matric. in January, and when I was -entered at the School of Medicine I meant to burst out into sudden -blaze and wire you the astonishing news. But the whole thing missed -fire horribly. You may laugh, Georgie, for I dare say you have kept -your mind supple, like that old man who said he was always learning; -but you don’t know how frightfully difficult it is to bring your -mighty intellect down again to lessons when you haven’t done any for -years and years. Would you believe it?—I broke down under the stress -of the preparation—for the <i>Matric.</i>, mind—and my eyes gave out. No, -it is nothing really bad”—as Georgia uttered a horrified -exclamation—“Sir William Thornycroft pledged himself that they would -soon be all right again if I gave up work and took to frivolling.” -</p> - -<p> -“But if there’s nothing the matter with them, I can’t think why he -didn’t tell you to rest for a month or so, and let you go on again -with glasses,” said Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -Mabel looked a little ashamed. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, the fact is, I made rather a baby of myself. I couldn’t wear -glasses, Georgie—think what a guy I should look! And you can’t -imagine how disappointed I was. I knew that the loss of a month’s work -would mean that I should fail, and I was feeling very miserable -altogether, after weeks of awful headaches, and my eyes hurt so, -and—and—I wailed a little. Sir William was most sweet, and asked me -all about it; and then he said that he really didn’t think the Medical -was what I was best fitted for, and he advised me to travel for a -little while and forget all about it.” -</p> - -<p> -“And not give up to medicine what was meant for mankind,” murmured -Dick softly. -</p> - -<p> -“And she comes out here, where we have an eye-destroying glare all the -year round, and dust-storms two or three times a week, to cure her -eyes!” cried Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“My beloved Georgiana, I came here that you might minister to a mind -diseased. When once the thought had flashed upon me, I simply couldn’t -stay in England. I just flew round to the shops and bought whatever -they showed me, and started as soon as I could settle matters at home -and take my passage. I went on writing to you up to the very last -minute. I shouldn’t wonder if the letter I posted on my way to the -docks travelled in the steamer with me. Is that it there? Well, have I -explained matters?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was an awful risk, Mab,” said Dick in an elder-brotherly tone. “We -might have been both ill, or out in the district, or touring in -Nalapur, or anything.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you weren’t, you see, so it’s all right. I had an inspiration -that you’d be in your own house for Christmas. What time is dinner? -Lend me a warm tea-gown, Georgie. How cold it gets here when the sun -sets, and yet we were nearly roasted this morning! My belongings were -to follow in a bullock-cart or two, but I haven’t heard them arrive. -Oh, it is sweet to see you two again, and looking so thoroughly happy -and fit, too.” -</p> - -<p> -She bestowed a kiss on the top of Dick’s head, remarking as she did so -that he was getting disgracefully bald, and rushed away to lavish a -series of hugs on Georgia in the privacy of her own room. Her toilet -did not take long when she was left alone, and she threw over her head -the white shawl Georgia had left with her, and stepped out on the -verandah. There was only a faint gleam of moonlight, and a sense of -the vastness and dreariness of the desert around crept over her as she -tried to distinguish in the blackness the lights of the Alibad -cantonments, through which she had passed in the afternoon. The wind -was chill, and gathering her wrap more closely round her, she turned -to find her way back to the drawing-room. As she did so, the sound of -a horse’s footsteps struck upon her ear. Some one was riding past the -house at no great distance, riding at a smart pace, which caused a -clatter of accoutrements and an occasional sharp metallic ring when -the horse’s hoofs came in contact with a rock. -</p> - -<p> -“How horrid it must be riding in the dark!” said Mabel to herself. -“Dick,” she cried, meeting her brother in the hall, “are you expecting -any one to dinner? Some one is coming here on horseback.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, it’s no one for us,” he answered shortly. -</p> - -<p> -“But where can he be going, then? I thought this was the last English -house on the frontier? It’s a soldier, I’m sure, for I heard his sword -knocking against the stirrup, or whatever it is that makes the -clinkety-clanking noise.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t tell you who it is, for I don’t know, but the natives will -tell you, if you are particularly anxious to hear. They say it’s -General Keeling.” -</p> - -<p> -“Georgia’s father? But he’s dead!” -</p> - -<p> -“Exactly.” -</p> - -<p> -“But do you mean that it’s his ghost?” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t talk so loud. I don’t want Georgia worried just now, and she -may not have noticed the sound. The natives say that whenever there is -going to be trouble on the frontier St George Keeling gallops from -point to point to see that things are all right, just as he would have -done in his lifetime.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but they don’t believe it really?” -</p> - -<p> -“You shall see. Ismail Bakhsh!” The old <i>chaprasi</i> who had met Mabel -at the door came forward, gorgeous in his scarlet coat and gold badge, -and saluted. “Tell the Miss Sahib who it is she hears, out beyond the -far corner of the compound.” -</p> - -<p> -The old man drew himself up and saluted again. “Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib -Bahadar rides to-night, Miss Sahib.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, how dreadful!” said Mabel, turning to her brother with a blanched -face. Ismail Bakhsh understood her words. -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, Miss Sahib, it is well, rather. When the day comes that there is -trouble on the border, and Kīlin Sahib does not ride, then the reign -of the Sarkar will be ended in Khemistan, and it may be in all -Hindustan also.” -</p> - -<p> -“That will do, Ismail Bakhsh,” said Dick, when he had interpreted the -old man’s words. “Come into the drawing-room, Mab.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, Dick, it can’t be true? Isn’t some one playing a trick?” -</p> - -<p> -“We have never been able to bring it home to any one if it is a trick. -Anstruther and I have watched in vain, and most of the fellows from -the cantonments have had a try too. We heard just what you hear, but -we could never see anything.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick, I think you are most awfully brave.” Mabel shuddered as she -pictured Dick and his friend approaching the sound, locating it -exactly, perhaps—oh, horror!—hearing it pass between them, while -still there was nothing to be seen. “Does it—he—ever come any -nearer? How fearful if he should ride up to the door!” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Mab, you don’t mean to say you believe in it?” Dick looked at -her curiously. “It’s quite true that the sound is heard when there’s -going to be trouble, for I have noticed it time after time; but I have -a very simple theory to account for that. When the tribes living -beyond this stretch of desert intend to make themselves disagreeable, -they send mounted messengers to one another. The desert air carries -sound well, and I’m not prepared to say that these rocks here may not -have some peculiar property which makes them carry sound well too, but -at any rate we hear, as if it was quite close, what is actually -happening miles and miles away.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, do you really think so?” Mabel was much cheered. “But then, why -should Georgia be frightened if she heard it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because of the trouble it foreshadows, which is a sad and sober -reality, not on account of the supernatural story the natives have -taken it into their heads to get up.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia’s entrance and the announcement of dinner banished the -disquieting topic, and Mabel’s creepy sensations vanished speedily -under the influence of the light and warmth and brightness -encompassing the meal, so eminently Western and ordinary in its -appointments save for the presence of the noiseless Hindu servants. -Old times and scenes were discussed by the three, and family jokes -recalled with infinite zest, in momentary entire forgetfulness of the -turbulent frontier and the haunted desert outside. Shortly after a -move had been made into the drawing-room, however, the flow of -reminiscences was interrupted by the entrance of Dick’s subordinate, -the handsome young civilian who had escorted Mabel to her brother’s -door. He walked in unannounced, as one very much at home. -</p> - -<p> -“With Dr Tighe’s compliments to the rival practitioner,” he said, -handing a copy of the <i>Lancet</i> to Georgia. “I shall pass the Doctor’s -quarters going home, Mrs North, so I can leave your <i>British Medical</i> -for him if you have done with it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will put it out for you,” said Georgia. “You have seen Miss North -already, I think?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, indeed. It was this afternoon that I had the astonishment and -delight of learning that the Kumpsioner Sahib had atoned for all his -sins against this frontier.” -</p> - -<p> -“What, does Burgrave climb down?” cried Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“Not a bit of it, Major. He’s on the war-path, and seeing red. But he -has escorted Miss North safely here.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, is Mr Burgrave anxious for war?” asked Mabel. “I suppose that’s -the trouble which is coming on the frontier, then?” She stopped -suddenly, with a guilty glance at Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“Never mind, Mab; I heard it,” said her sister-in-law quietly. -</p> - -<p> -“I should think so!” cried Fitzgerald Anstruther. “The old joker—beg -your pardon, Mrs North—the old ch—General—was riding like mad. No, -Miss North, war is the last thing that our most peaceful-minded -Commissioner desires. He is coming to bring this benighted province up -to date, and assimilate it to the well-governed districts he has known -hitherto.” -</p> - -<p> -“After all, we can’t be sure of his intentions,” said Georgia. “What -we have heard may be only rumour.” -</p> - -<p> -“No; he is on the war-path, Mrs North, as I said. Young Timson, of the -Telegraphs, who came up with him, was in with me just now, and says -that he talked quite openly of his plans.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t mind the man’s intentions,” cried Dick hotly, “if they are -founded on an honest opinion. What I do mind is his talking of them to -outsiders as if they were accomplished facts, before he has said a -word to the men on the spot.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but you forget that the Commissioner’s intentions are as good as -accomplished facts, Major,” said Fitz. “‘Is it not already done, -Sahib?’ as my old villain of a bearer says when I tell him to do -something he has no idea of doing. -</p> - -<div class="quote_o"><div class="quote_i"> -<p class="i0">“‘For the Khans must come down and Amirs they must frown</p> -<p class="i2">When the Kumpsioner Sahib says “Stop”!</p> -<p class="i4">(Poor beggars!—we’re here to say “Stop”!)’</p> -</div></div> - -<p class="noindent"> -aren’t we?” he added dolefully. “Timson says that Burgrave is -particularly strong on cutting loose from Nalapur.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, do explain these technicalities a little!” pleaded Mabel. Her -brother took up the task promptly, seeming to find in it some sort of -relief to his feelings. -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose you know that Khemistan has always been governed on a plan -of its own? When it was first annexed Georgia’s father was put in -charge of this frontier, which was then the wildest, thievingest, most -lawless place in creation. He raised the Khemistan Horse, and used -them indiscriminately as troops and police. Small parties were -stationed all along the frontier, and they were ready to march in any -direction, day or night, at the news of a raid or a scrimmage. Within -a few years the frontier was quiet, and General Keeling kept it so. He -had his own methods of doing it, and the Government didn’t always -agree with them, wherefore he ragged the Government, and the -Government snubbed him, horribly. However, he held on to his post, and -died at it, and then the bad old days began again. That was just -before I came up here, and I found that the people looked back to -Sinjāj Kīlin’s days as a kind of Golden Age——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Dick, they do still,” cried Mabel. “It makes poor Mr Burgrave so -vexed. He told me that whenever an old chief comes to pay his -respects, the first thing he asks is always whether the Commissioner -Sahib knew Sinjāj Kīlin. He got so tired of it at last that he said -he would have given worlds to shout, ‘Thank goodness, <i>no</i>!’” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t doubt it for a moment. Well, they tried to govern Khemistan on -the lines of the province next door, which has always been in the -hands of the opposition school. Result—confusion, and all but civil -war. Most of St George Keeling’s young men gave up in disgust, and the -Amir of Nalapur, just across the frontier, who had been the General’s -firm ally, was goaded into enmity. That was the state of things five -years ago.” -</p> - -<p> -“And then,” said Georgia, “dear old Sir Magnus Pater, who was -Commissioner for Khemistan in my father’s time, used all his influence -to get Dick appointed Frontier Superintendent. It was the last thing -he did before he retired, and we were thankful to leave Iskandarbagh, -and to get back to our very own country.” -</p> - -<p> -“And in less than no time,” put in Fitz, “the frontier was quiet, -thanks to a judicious revival of General Keeling’s methods, and the -Amir of Nalapur was assuring Major North that he was his father and -his mother. Mrs North’s fame as a physician of supernatural powers, -and the Major’s military discipline, have worked wonders in crushing -the proud and extorting the respectful admiration of the submissive.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that reminds me!” cried Mabel. “Georgie, do you write Dick’s -reports for him? Mr Burgrave really believes you do.” -</p> - -<p> -(“Oh, Miss North, what an injudicious question!” murmured Fitz, <i>sotto -voce</i>.) -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not,” returned Georgia briskly. “Do you think I would -encourage Dick in such idleness? We write them together.” -</p> - -<p> -“But,” objected Mabel, “I can’t see why Mr Burgrave should come to -disturb all you have done if you have got on so well.” -</p> - -<p> -“O wise young judge!” said Dick. “That’s exactly what we can’t see -either.” -</p> - -<p> -“Because he is tired of hearing General Keeling alluded to as the best -feared, and loved, and hated man in Anglo-Indian history,” said Fitz. -“Because to see your next-door neighbour succeeding where you have -failed, by dint of methods which you regard with holy horror, is -distasteful to the natural man. But let me tell you a little story, -Miss North—an Oriental apologue, full of local colour. The ruler of -many millions was glancing over the map of his dominions one morning, -when his symmetry-loving eye lit upon one province governed -differently from all the rest. To him, imperiously demanding an -explanation, there enters Eustace Burgrave, Esq., of the Secretariat, -C.S.I. and other desirable things, armed with a beautifully written -minute on the subject, and points out that the province is not only a -scandal and an eyesore, but a happy hunting-ground for firebrand -soldier-politicals who know better than viceroys—a class of persons -that obviously ought to be stamped out in the interests of good -government. Any remedies for this atrocious state of things? -Naturally, Mr Burgrave is prepared with measures that will make -Khemistan the garden of India and a lasting memorial of the ruler’s -happy reign. No time is wasted. ‘Take the province, Burgrave,’ says -the Great Great One, with tears of emotion, ‘and my blessing with it,’ -and Burgrave accepts both. Hitherto he has been reforming the course -of nature down by the river, now he comes up here to teach us a lesson -in our turn.” -</p> - -<p> -“And do you mean to let him do what he likes?” cried Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense, Mab! He is supreme here,” said Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“Besides, Miss North,” Fitz went on, “the Commissioner’s imposing -personality puts opposition out of the question. You must have noticed -the condescending loftiness of his manner, springing from the -assurance that his career will be in the future, as in the past, a -succession of triumphs. Failure is not in his vocabulary. He is born -for greatness. Who could see that cold blue eye, that monumental nose, -and doubt it? Nothing short of a general convulsion of nature could -disturb the even tenor of his way.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I am not quite sure of that,” said Mabel musingly. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I’m afraid there’s no hope of him as a lady’s man, if that’s what -you mean, Miss North. It is understood that he’s by no means a -hardened misogynist, but neither is he looking for a wife. He is -simply waiting quite dispassionately to see whether the feminine -counterpart of his perfections will ever present herself. Year after -year at Calcutta and Simla he has surveyed the newest young ladies out -from home and found them wanting, and their mothers go away into -corners and call him names, which is unjust. His fitting mate would -scarcely appear once in a lifetime, perhaps not in an age.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think Mr Burgrave needs a lesson,” said Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“But consider, Miss North. It is no obscure future that the favoured -damsel will be called upon to share. In time she will clothe her -<i>jampanis</i> at Simla in scarlet, and by-and-by, if she does what he -tells her, she will sport the Crown of India on a neat coloured -ribbon.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think it will be well for me to take him in hand,” Mabel persisted. -</p> - -<p> -“For goodness’ sake, Mab, don’t make matters worse by importing the -celebrated smile into the affair!” cried Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“Worse? Dick, you are ungrateful. When Mr Burgrave has found himself -mistaken in one matter of importance, he will be less cocksure in -others.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know about that,” said Georgia. “And take care, Mab. It’s -dangerous playing with edged tools.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I will take the risk. Reverence your heroic sister, Dick, -willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of your career.” -</p> - -<p> -“And if the worst come to the worst, the prospective glories of the -viceregal throne will gild the pill,” said Fitz. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch02"> -CHAPTER II.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">“LIFE IS REAL; LIFE IS EARNEST.”</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Oh</span>, Georgie, I do so want a good long talk.” -</p> - -<p> -It was the morning after Mabel’s arrival, and she had settled herself -on the verandah with her work, a laudable pretence in which no one had -ever seen her set a stitch. After Dick had ridden away, she yawned a -good deal, and looked out more than once disconsolately over the -desert in search of entertainment, which failed to present itself, and -Georgia had her household duties to perform before she could devote -herself to amusing her sister-in-law. Mabel had several distant -glimpses of her laying down the law to submissive servants, and paying -surprise visits in the compound, but at last she mounted the steps, -threw aside her sun-hat, and bringing out a work-basket, spread a -little pile of delicate cambric upon the table before her. -</p> - -<p> -“Talk, then,” she said, with a pin in her mouth. -</p> - -<p> -“But you are sure we shan’t be interrupted? Have you quite done?” -</p> - -<p> -“I think we are safe. I have visited the cook-house and the dairy, -interviewed the gardener, arranged about the horses’ and cow’s food as -well as our own, and physicked all the invalids in the neighbourhood. -So begin, Mab.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, don’t you want to know my real reasons for coming out?” -</p> - -<p> -“I thought we heard them last night—such as they are.” -</p> - -<p> -“How nasty you are, Georgie! Didn’t you guess that there were other -reasons behind, reserved for your private ear, and not to be exposed -to Dick’s ribaldry? The truth is, I was hungering and thirsting for -reality, and that’s why I came.” -</p> - -<p> -“My beloved Mab, is England a world of shadows?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is exactly that—to women in our class of life, at any rate—and I -am sick of shadows. Our life has become so smooth, and polished, and -refined, that it is not life at all. We are all Tomlinsons more or -less—getting our emotions second-hand from books and plays. Some of -us go into the slums or the hospitals in search of experiences (you’ll -say that was what I tried to do), but even then we only see things, we -don’t feel them. I wanted to get to a place where things still -happened, where there were real people and real passions.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you know, Mab”—Georgia fixed a critical eye on her—“if you had -been a little younger, I should have suspected you of a yearning to -enter the Army Nursing Service? I can’t tell you how many girls have -lamented to me at different times the unreality of their lives, and -proposed to set them right by means of that particular act of -self-sacrifice. But as things are, I suppose, to use plain English, -you were bored?” -</p> - -<p> -“Bored to exasperation, then, you unsympathetic creature! But I am -serious, Georgie. There’s something you quoted in one of your letters -from Kubbet-ul-Haj that has haunted me ever since, and expresses what -I mean. It was something like: ‘When the world grows too refined and -too cultured, God sends great judgments to beat us back to the -beginning of history again, to toils and pain and peril, and the old -first heroic lessons—how to fight and how to endure.’ It would be -absurd for me, in England, to take to living in a slum, making my own -things, and teaching people who are much better than I am, but I -thought out here——” -</p> - -<p> -“And you find Dick and me dressing for dinner every evening, and -getting the magazines monthly! You had better cross the border into -Ethiopia, Mab. We are just as artificial here as at home.” -</p> - -<p> -“Georgie! as if I wanted to make a savage of myself, like the youth in -‘Locksley Hall’! Surely life can be simple and primitive without being -squalid?” -</p> - -<p> -“You haven’t asked my advice, and I don’t know whether you want it, -but it’s dreadfully commonplace. Get married.” -</p> - -<p> -“You mean that I should know then what reality is? What an indictment -to bring against Dick! What in the world does he do to you, Georgie?” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia smiled superior. “You don’t expect me to begin to defend Dick -to you?” she asked, then laughed aloud. “No, Mab, you needn’t try to -tease me about him at this hour of the day. But what I mean is, that -you get into the way of looking at things in quite a different light -when you are married. You don’t hold a brief for your own sex any -longer, but for men as well. That makes the difference, I think. You -are in the middle instead of on one side, and that is at any rate a -help towards seeing life whole.” -</p> - -<p> -“But do you always look at things now through Dick’s spectacles? How -painfully monotonous!” -</p> - -<p> -“We don’t always agree, of course. But we talk things over together, -and generally one convinces the other. If not, we agree to differ.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel shook her head. “Then I’m perfectly certain that you and Dick -have never differed on a really vital matter,” she said. “In that case -I know quite well that neither of you would ever convince the other, -and you could not conscientiously agree to differ, so what is to -happen?” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia did not seem to hear her. She rose and went into the -drawing-room, and unlocking a little carved cabinet that stood on her -writing-table, took something out of a secret drawer. “Look at this, -Mab,” she said, handing Mabel a piece of paper. It was a photograph, -obviously the work of an amateur, of a little grave surrounded by -lofty trees. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Georgie!” the tears sprang to Mabel’s eyes; “this is baby’s -grave?” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia nodded. “Dick doesn’t know that I have it,” she said, speaking -quickly. “Mr Anstruther took the photograph for me, and I had one -framed, and it always hung in my room. I used to sit and look at it -when Dick was out. Sometimes I cried a little, of course, but I never -thought he would notice. But he took it into his head that I was -fretting, and when we left Iskandarbagh he gave the servants a hint to -lose the picture in moving. Wasn’t it just like him, dear fellow? But -he never bargained for the servants’ letting out the truth to me. I -had this one as well; but when I saw how Dick felt about it I took -care to keep it hidden away, and he thinks his plan has succeeded, and -that I have forgotten. It makes him so much happier.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see,” said Mabel, in a low voice. “You wouldn’t have done that -once, Georgie. I see the difference. But surely there is a name on the -stone?” She was examining the photograph closely. “She was baptized, -then? I never heard——” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, Dick baptized her; there was no one else. Georgia Mabel, he -would have it so. Oh, Mab, it was awful, that time! We were the only -English people at Iskandarbagh just then, and the tribes were out on -the frontier. Miss Jenkins, the Bab-us-Sahel missionary, was coming to -me. Since I knew her first, she has been home to take the medical -course, and is fully qualified. Well, she could not get to me, and I -couldn’t get to Khemistan, and I had to stay where I was and be doctor -and patient both. Of course I had my dear good Rahah, and Dick was as -gentle as any woman; but oh, it was terrible! But I shouldn’t have -minded afterwards if only baby had lived. She was such a darling, Mab, -with fair hair and dark eyes, like yours. Dick tried to cheer me -up—chaffed me about her being so small and weak—but she died in my -arms a few minutes after she was baptized. Miss Jenkins got through to -us the next day at the risk of her life, but she was only in time for -the—the funeral in the Residency garden.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you lived through that? Oh, Georgie, it would have killed me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no; there was Dick, you know. Poor dear Dick! he was disappointed -about baby, of course; but a man doesn’t feel that sort of thing as a -woman does. Besides, he was so glad I didn’t die too, that he really -could not think of anything else.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you, Georgie?” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t talk of it, Mab, even to you—how I longed to die. But he -never knew it. And when I was better, I saw how wicked I had been. I -would have lost anything rather than leave him alone.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said Mabel, trying to speak lightly, “you have made -acquaintance with realities, Georgie, at any rate; but I don’t know -that I am very keen on following in your footsteps. I believe you have -made me afraid of taking your advice. Marriage seems to involve -experiences out here which one doesn’t get at home.” -</p> - -<p> -“It does,” agreed Georgia, “and I suppose they would be too much for -some women. But when you love the country and the people as I do—and -love your husband, of course—you would scarcely come out here with -him if you didn’t—I think the life brings you nearer to each other -than anything else could. It is such an absolute <i>solitude à deux</i>, -you see, and you are so completely shut up to one another, that you -seem really to become one, not just figuratively. It’s rather a -terrible experiment to make, as you say, but if it succeeds—why, then -it’s the very best thing in the world.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t quite fancy myself thinking of Mr Burgrave like that,” -murmured Mabel reflectively. -</p> - -<p> -“Mab, I didn’t think——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I beg your pardon, Georgie. If I didn’t laugh I should cry. And -there’s Dick coming back, and he’ll see we have been crying. Talk -about something else, quick!” -</p> - -<p> -“I was wondering whether you would like to pay a call or two,” said -Georgia, thrusting a wet handkerchief hastily into her pocket. “I -don’t want to drag you out if you are still tired after your journey, -but it would be nice for you to get to know people before all the -Christmas festivities begin next week.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course!” Mabel’s sudden animation was not wholly assumed for -Dick’s benefit as he rode past the verandah. “Who is there to call -upon?” -</p> - -<p> -“Only your friend Mrs Hardy, whose husband is the missionary here, and -acts as chaplain, and Flora Graham, the Colonel’s daughter, I am -afraid. Nearly all the men are bachelors or grass-widowers at this -station. Two or three ladies will come in from Rahmat-Ullah and the -other outlying stations next week, but we are still scarce enough to -be valuable.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s a state of things of which I highly approve,” said Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Never knew a woman that didn’t,” said Dick, entering. “Ask Georgia if -she doesn’t like to see the men round her chair, though she pretends -to think they’re attracted by her professional reputation. But Miss -Graham is coming to call on you, Mab. She’s dying to see you, but -feared you would be too tired to pay visits this week. In gratitude -for this honour, don’t you think you ought to refrain from exercising -your fascinations on her young man?” -</p> - -<p> -“Really, Dick, I don’t know what you can think of me. Is Miss Graham -engaged?” -</p> - -<p> -“Rather; to young Haycraft, of the Regiment.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, I fly at higher game,” said Mabel austerely. -</p> - -<p> -“So I should have guessed.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Dick, have you seen the Commissioner?” cried Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“Been closeted with him nearly all morning.” -</p> - -<p> -“And was he very horrid?” -</p> - -<p> -“By no means. He didn’t make any secret of his reforming intentions, -but he gave me no hint as to his plan for carrying them out. He only -tells that sort of thing to casual fellow-travellers, I suppose. But I -think he wished to make himself agreeable, and I attribute that to my -having the honour of being Miss Mabel North’s brother.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah!” said Mabel wisely. -</p> - -<p> -Late that afternoon she and Georgia set forth to visit Mrs Hardy, much -against Mabel’s will. She represented that she had only parted from -the good lady the day before, and had not the slightest desire to -renew the acquaintance, but Georgia was firm. -</p> - -<p> -“We will only go in for a minute or two, for we must be back early to -meet the Grahams, but I could not bear her to think herself slighted.” -</p> - -<p> -When they reached the missionary’s bungalow they found it in the -throes of a general turn-out. The verandah was piled with furniture, -and here Mrs Hardy, a worn-looking little woman with a lined face, and -thin grey hair screwed into an unbecoming knob, received them in the -lowest possible spirits. She had always prophesied that the house -would go to rack and ruin during her absence in England, and now she -perceived that it had. Only that morning she had discovered the -fragments of her very best damask table-cloth doing duty as dusters, -and three silver spoons were missing. Moreover, she believed she was -on the verge of further discoveries that would compel her to dismiss -at least half the servants. Georgia’s inquiry after Mr Hardy elicited -the fact that he had contracted the bad habit of having his meals -served in his study and reading while he partook of them, which was -bound to have a prejudicial effect on his digestion in the future, -while Mrs Hardy felt morally certain that he had gone to church in -rags for many Sundays past. Yes, he had spoken very cheerfully of -several interesting inquirers who had come to him of late, but Mrs -Hardy had, and would continue to have, grave doubts as to the -genuineness of their motives. Georgia sighed, and turned the -conversation to the subject of the journey from the coast, but this -only opened the way for a fresh flood of forebodings. The new -Commissioner was bent on mischief, and the natives were perceptibly -uneasy. Where they were not defiant they were sullen, and Mrs Hardy’s -eagle eye foresaw trouble ahead. Perceiving that Georgia was not -entirely at one with her, she descended suddenly to details. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, dear Mrs North, I know you think I am a pessimist, but when you -hear what I have to tell you——! Is—is Miss North in your -confidence—politically speaking?” with a meaning glance at Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“In our confidence!” cried Georgia, in astonishment. “Of course she -is. Why not?” -</p> - -<p> -Mrs Hardy bridled. “I am relieved to hear that Miss North is not so -entirely taken up with the Commissioner as to have no thought for her -dear brother’s interests,” she said acidly. “Well, I must tell you -that I hear on good authority that Mr Burgrave intends to allow Bahram -Khan to return to Nalapur. In the course of our journey he gave a -private audience to a Hindu whom I recognised as Narayan Singh, the -brother of the Nalapur Vizier Ram Singh, and I now hear that he has -been closeted with him again to-day. Ram Singh has always been -suspected of intriguing for Bahram Khan’s return, and Narayan Singh -has divided his time between Nalapur and Ethiopia for years.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but it’s quite impossible!” cried Georgia. “The Commissioner -would never take such a step without consulting my husband, and Dick -would never countenance it. Bahram Khan has sinned beyond -forgiveness.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish I could think so!” said Mrs Hardy oracularly. “We shall soon -see, my dear Mrs North. What, must you go? I wonder Major North likes -you to drive that high dog-cart. You will certainly have an accident -some day.” -</p> - -<p> -“Odious woman!” cried Mabel, as the dog-cart dashed down the road. -“How can you endure her, Georgie? She is the very incarnation of -spite.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no—of hopelessness,” said Georgia. “The climate tries her, and -her children are all being educated at home, and she thinks Mr Hardy -is not appreciated here. Dear old man! I wish you could have seen him, -Mab. He is all patience and cheerfulness, and indeed, it is a good -thing that he has Mrs Hardy to keep him within bounds. All our people -and the native Christians love him, and even the mullahs who come to -argue with him can’t succeed in hating him. His learning is really -wasted up here, and I don’t think he has had more than six baptisms of -converts in the five years we have known him. We always say that the -natives who become Christians here must be very much in earnest, for -Mrs Hardy discourages them so conscientiously beforehand.” -</p> - -<p> -“Horrid old thing, spoiling her husband’s work!” cried Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“No, not at all. He has been taken in more than once. And really, Mab, -it is hard for us to urge these people to be baptized. The persecution -is awful.” -</p> - -<p> -“Here—under English rule?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not from us, of course, but from their own people. Two men have been -lured across the frontier and murdered, and another had a false charge -trumped up against him, and only just escaped hanging. It seems -scarcely fair on our part unless we can get them away to another part -of India.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Mrs Hardy isn’t exactly a good example of the effects of -Christianity. She is enough to frighten away any number of intending -converts.” -</p> - -<p> -“And yet she is the staunchest friend possible at a pinch. I had -rather have her with me in an emergency than any other woman I know.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s because she likes you. She hates me, and would rejoice to make -my life a burden to me. The idea of hinting that I would betray Dick’s -secrets to Mr Burgrave! Wasn’t it infamous? But who is Bahram Khan?” -</p> - -<p> -“He is the Amir of Nalapur’s nephew, and was intended to succeed to -the throne, but in order to expedite matters he tried to poison both -his uncle and Dick’s predecessor here, who had been obliged to scold -him for some of his doings. The matter could not be absolutely proved -against him, but he thought it well to take refuge in Ethiopia, and -has stayed there ever since. To guard against his returning, Dick -advised the Amir to adopt another nephew, Bahadar Shah, as his -successor, and he did. Bahram Khan is only about twenty-three now, but -he married an Ethiopian lady of rank four years ago. His poor old -mother, who is one of my Nalapur patients, was very sore at his -arranging it without consulting her. She remained at her brother’s -court when her son escaped, for it was she who saved the lives of the -Amir and Sir Henry Gaunt. She suspected her son’s intentions, and -tasted the food prepared for the banquet he was going to give. It made -her very ill, but she gave the warning, and I was sent for post-haste -from Iskandarbagh in time to save her life. She is a dear, grateful -old thing.” -</p> - -<p> -“But do you think Mr Burgrave will let Bahram Khan come back?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, it’s impossible. But I wish,” added Georgia thoughtfully, -“that I hadn’t been so emphatic in denying it to Mrs Hardy. If -anything happens now, she will know that Dick and the Commissioner are -not in accord.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why shouldn’t she know?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because out here we learn to stick together. Quarrel in private as -much as you like, but present a united front to the foe,” said Georgia -sententiously, as she pulled up before her own verandah. Two horses, -in charge of native grooms, were waiting at the door. -</p> - -<p> -“Our visitors have arrived before us,” said Mabel, and they hurried -into the drawing-room, to find an elderly man of soldierly appearance -and a tall yellow-haired girl waiting patiently for them. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid you will think us very rude for thrusting ourselves upon -you so soon, and at this time of day,” said Miss Graham, addressing -herself to Mabel, after Georgia had apologised for their absence, “but -my father happened to have time to come with me just now, and I was so -very anxious to see you——” -</p> - -<p> -“How sweet of you!” murmured Mabel softly, as the visitor stopped -abruptly. -</p> - -<p> -“Because I want to ask you a favour,” finished Miss Graham. Her father -laughed, and Mabel looked politely interested. “I want you to be Queen -of the Tournament next week instead of me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Georgie!” cried Mabel; “and you said that life out here was -modern and unromantic! Why, here we are plunged into the Middle Ages -at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s only my daughter’s poetical way of speaking of our annual -gymkhana,” explained Colonel Graham. “She has officiated so often that -she feels shy. The real fact is,” he turned confidentially to Georgia, -“Haycraft has loafed about here so much that he’s wretchedly stale -this year, and Flora can’t bear to give a prize to any one else.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no, papa; what a shame!” cried Miss Graham, blushing. “You see, -Miss North, I have really done it a good many times, and I’m sure -everybody would like to see some one new. Besides, I am engaged, you -know, and—and——” -</p> - -<p> -“And it would make it more realistic if the opposing heroes felt they -were really struggling for the Queen’s favour?” said her father. -“Well, that’s easily managed. Intimate to Haycraft that unless he wins -he’ll have to resign you to the successful competitor.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why ask me?” said Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Because there’s no one else,” replied Miss Graham quickly. “No, I -don’t mean that; but my father says I ought to ask the Commissioner to -give the prizes, and I don’t like him well enough. But he couldn’t -possibly be offended if I asked you. It’s so obviously the proper -thing.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now, why?” asked Mabel again, and the other girl blushed once more. -</p> - -<p> -“I saw you yesterday when you rode past our house,” she said shyly, -“and I knew at once that you were the right person.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel smiled graciously. Such open admiration from one of her own sex -was rare enough to be grateful to her. “I am wondering what I should -wear,” she said. “I have a little muslin frock——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh!” said Miss Graham, evidently disappointed. “But perhaps—do you -think I might see it?” -</p> - -<p> -“If Georgie and Colonel Graham will excuse us for a moment,” said -Mabel rising, and she led the way to her own room, and summoned the -smiling brown-faced ayah whom she had brought from Bombay. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh!” cried Flora Graham again, when the “little muslin frock” was -displayed to her, but her tone was not now one of disappointment. The -frock might be little, whatever that term might mean as applied to a -gown, but it was not therefore to be despised. It was undoubtedly made -of muslin, but it had a slip of softest primrose silk, and the glories -of frills and lace and primrose ribbon which decked it bewildered her -eyes. “It is lovely!” she said slowly; “and look how your ayah -appreciates it. I wish mine ever had the chance of regarding one of my -gowns with such reverential admiration! And what hat will you wear -with it?” -</p> - -<p> -“They tried to make me have one swathed in white and primrose -chiffon,” said Mabel indifferently, “but I knew I could never stand -that. I shall wear this one with it.” She indicated a large black -picture hat. -</p> - -<p> -“That will be perfect,” said Miss Graham. “It’s the finishing touch. -Oh, you will—you must—give the prizes. That gown would be wasted -otherwise. You will do it, won’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -Yielding sweetly to the eager entreaties showered upon her, Mabel -consented, and in the talk which followed set herself to gain an -acquaintance with all the gaieties that were to be expected during the -following week. When Georgia came to say that Colonel Graham was -obliged to leave, the two girls were discussing ball dresses with the -keenest interest. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t make Mabel out,” Georgia said to her husband that night. -“Sometimes she seems in such deadly earnest, and yet she is as anxious -as possible to take part in everything that is going on.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why in the world shouldn’t she be?” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s not that; but I can’t think why she should care for it.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I suppose not. You never felt that you must play the fool for a -bit now and then or die, did you, Georgie? But Mab does—has -periodical fits of it, alternating with the deadly earnest. Let her -alone to have her fling. She’ll settle down some day, and it’s not as -if it did any harm.” -</p> - -<p> -But Georgia was not convinced. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch03"> -CHAPTER III.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">“IN HIS SIMPLICITY SUBLIME.”</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">The</span> Major not back from the durbar yet, I suppose, Mrs North? Have -you heard this extraordinary report about Bahram Khan?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I didn’t know there was any report going about,” answered -Georgia. She was driving Mabel to the club, and had stopped to speak -to the station surgeon, a cheerful little stout man, riding a frisky -pony which danced merrily about the road, while its master tried in -vain to induce it to stand still. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s all over the bazaar, and one of the hospital assistants told me. -They say that the Commissioner means to insist on Bahram Khan’s being -restored to his lands and honours, and to advise poor old Ashraf Ali -strongly to accept him again as his heir.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that gives the whole thing away,” said Georgia, more cheerfully, -“for the Amir’s adoption of Bahadar Shah was recognised by the -Government of India. Was all this to happen to-day, Dr Tighe?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, at this durbar. Quite thrilling, isn’t it? Well, I must be off -on my rounds. When am I to have that game of tennis you promised me, -Miss North?” and the doctor rode away, while Georgia drove on, with -brows drawn into an anxious frown. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s quite impossible,” she said at last, rousing herself. “He -couldn’t spring such a mine upon us. Look, Mab! this is my father’s -old house.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why don’t you live in it?” asked Mabel, looking with much -interest at the flat-roofed building with its massive stone walls and -narrow windows. Georgia laughed. -</p> - -<p> -“Because the accommodation is a little too Spartan for a family,” she -said. “My father prided himself on his powers of roughing it, and all -his young men had to follow his example. Mr Anstruther inhabits the -house at present, in company with the official records, for the office -is large and airy, and Dick uses it still.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should have thought General Keeling would have lived in the fort,” -said Mabel, as a sharp turn in the road brought them in sight of the -dust-coloured walls and mouldering battlements, crowned with withered -grass, of the old border stronghold. -</p> - -<p> -“Never!” cried Georgia. “The first thing he did on coming here was to -dismantle it. He would never allow either the Khemistan Horse or his -British officers to hide behind walls. Their safety had to depend on -their own watchfulness.” -</p> - -<p> -“He had the courage of his convictions, at any rate.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course. He never told any one to do what he would not do himself. -He wanted to blow up the fort and destroy it altogether; but the -Government objected in the interests of archæology, so he gave it to -the station for a club-house. There has never been too much money to -spare in Alibad, and people have used it gratefully ever since.” -</p> - -<p> -“What a delicious old place!” sighed Mabel, as they drove in through -the hospitable gateway, on either side of which the ancient doors, -warped and worm-eaten and paintless, leaned useless against the wall. -The block of buildings which had comprised the chief apartments of the -fort in the wild days before the coming of the British was now -utilised as the club-house, and an inner courtyard had been -ingeniously converted into a tennis-ground. As she passed, Mabel -caught a glimpse through the archway of Flora Graham and her -<i>fiancé</i>, young Haycraft, playing vigorously, but she also noticed -something else. -</p> - -<p> -“Georgie, there’s Mrs Hardy looking out for you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh dear!” cried Georgia in a panic, “I can’t meet her just now, until -I know the truth about Bahram Khan. She is waiting to gloat over me -about this horrible rumour, and I can’t stand it. I am going to take -you up to the ramparts, Mab, to see the view.” -</p> - -<p> -She gave the reins to the groom, and, avoiding the reading-room, in -the verandah of which could be discerned Mrs Hardy’s depressed-looking -bonnet, hurried Mabel across the wide courtyard and up a flight of -steps which led to the summit of the western wall. From this, at some -risk to life and limb, they were able to reach one of the half-ruined -towers, which commanded a bird’s-eye view of the town. The native -quarter, with its narrow, crooked alleys and carefully guarded flat -roofs, the lines, painfully neat in the mathematical symmetry of their -rows of white huts, the houses in the cantonments, embowered in -pleasant gardens, were all spread before them. Beyond the belt of -green which marked the limits of the irrigated land round the town, -the desert stretched on the east and south as far as the eye could -see. To the west was a range of rugged hills, their nearer spurs -within rifle-shot of the fort, and to the north, at a much greater -distance, the peaks, at this season covered with snow, of a -considerable mass of mountains. -</p> - -<p> -“That is Nalapur,” said Georgia, pointing to the mountains, “and -beyond it to the eastward is Ethiopia. Our house is the last on -British soil. The corner of the compound exactly touches the frontier -line.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then that’s why your father rides past just there?” said Mabel -unthinkingly. -</p> - -<p> -“So the natives say. I rather like to think of him as still guarding -the frontier which he spent his life in defending. It’s a nice idea, I -mean—that’s all. But, Mab, the men are coming back from the durbar. -Look at that dust-cloud, and you will see the light strike on -something shining every now and then. That’s the bravery of their -durbar get-up. We will wait here until they get into the town, and -capture the first that comes this way. I must find out what has -happened.” -</p> - -<p> -They watched the cavalcade enter the town and separate into its -component parts, and presently saw Fitz Anstruther riding up to the -fort. He caught sight of their parasols and waved his hand, but -Georgia dragged Mabel down the steps, and they met him in the -courtyard. -</p> - -<p> -“You’ve heard, then?” he cried, as his eyes fell on Georgia’s face. -</p> - -<p> -“Only a bazar rumour. Is it true that Bahram Khan——?” -</p> - -<p> -“He is restored to his estates and rank, and recommended by the -Commissioner to the particular favour of his uncle. Burgrave had him -all ready outside the tent, it appears, and after enlarging to the -Amir and the luckless Bahadar Shah on the blessings of family unity, -and the advisability of forgiving and forgetting youthful -peccadilloes, brought him in as a practical embodiment of his words. -It was dramatic—very—but it was playing it awfully low down on us, -especially the Major.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then he knew nothing of it?” -</p> - -<p> -“No more than I did.” -</p> - -<p> -“And Ashraf Ali was willing to take the Commissioner’s advice?” -</p> - -<p> -“He hadn’t much choice. A glance from Major North would have turned -the scale, but you know what the Major is, Mrs North—he will play -fair by his own side, however badly they may have treated him. He gave -him no encouragement to show fight, and Ashraf Ali took a back seat. -It <i>is</i> rather tough to have to receive again into the bosom of your -family an affectionate nephew who has tried to murder you, isn’t it?” -</p> - -<p> -“But how does the Commissioner get over that little difficulty?” -</p> - -<p> -“Airily ignores it. ‘Not guilty, and won’t do it again,’ is his view. -Every prospect of domestic happiness in the Amir’s family circle in -future.” -</p> - -<p> -“Where is Dick now?” asked Georgia suddenly. -</p> - -<p> -“I rather think he has gone to have it out with the Kumpsioner Sahib. -He was horribly sick, and who can wonder?” -</p> - -<p> -“I really think,” said Mabel, quite inconsequently, “that if I -couldn’t pick up my own balls I wouldn’t play tennis.” -</p> - -<p> -They were sitting in the verandah overlooking the tennis-court, and it -was the sight of the squad of small boys in uniform who were being -kept hard at work by the three men now playing that had called forth -the remark. -</p> - -<p> -“We get so slack with the climate,” pleaded Fitz. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I don’t intend to let those boys pick up my balls when I play.” -</p> - -<p> -“They won’t have the chance, Miss North. We should simply massacre -them if they attempted it. Oh, here’s the Major—and the -Commissioner!” -</p> - -<p> -Dick was still in uniform, and the man who emerged with him from under -the archway was quite thrown into the shade by his magnificence, but -the contrast did not appear to afflict Mr Burgrave, even if he noticed -it. He crossed the shadowed court with slow, deliberate steps, -apparently unaware that he was interrupting the game, talking all the -time to Dick, who listened courteously, but without conviction. -</p> - -<p> -“What a curious face it is!” muttered Georgia involuntarily, as the -Commissioner stepped into the line of light cast by a lamp in one of -the rooms. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, doesn’t he look the pig-headed brute he is?” was the joyful -response of Fitz, who had overheard her. -</p> - -<p> -“No, that’s not it. He looks obstinate enough, but there is something -benevolent about the face—nothing cruel or mean. It’s the face of a -fanatic.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, Mrs North! There’s bound to be something good about even a -fanatic at bottom, I suppose. Won’t you say a doctrinaire?” -</p> - -<p> -“If you prefer it. I mean a man who has formed certain opinions, and -allows neither facts nor arguments to prevent his forcing them upon -other people.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, Mrs North!” The Commissioner was bowing before Georgia with the -somewhat exaggerated courtesy which, combined with his paternal -manner, caused impatient young people to brand his demeanour as -patronising. “And are you very much incensed against me for keeping -your husband so busy all day?” -</p> - -<p> -He sat down beside her as he spoke, taking little notice of Mabel, and -devoted himself to her for ten minutes or more, while Dick went into -the club-house to speak to some one. To Mabel, as to Georgia, it -appeared as if Mr Burgrave’s condescension towards Dick’s wife was -intended to disarm any resentment that might have been aroused in her -mind by his treatment of Dick that day, although it was not easy to -see why he should take so much trouble. It was Fitz on whom the true -comedy of the situation dawned at last, rendering him speechless with -secret delight. The Commissioner was an adept in the mental exercise -known as reading between the lines, and he had formulated his own -explanation of the unconventional manner in which Mabel had made her -appearance upon the stage of Khemistan. Jealous of her sister-in-law’s -good looks, and the attention she attracted, Georgia had refused to -invite her to pay a visit to Alibad, and the poor girl’s only chance -had been to take matters into her own hands. Too considerate to expose -Mabel to the risk of incurring the reproaches of her family circle, Mr -Burgrave would talk to Georgia long enough to put her into a good -temper before he gratified his own inclinations. His reward came when -Georgia rose and remarked that it was time to go home, for guessing -that Dick would be driving his wife, he lost no time in offering Mabel -a seat in his dog-cart. As for Mabel, she accepted the offer joyfully. -Her hasty determination to give Mr Burgrave a lesson had deepened by -this time into the deliberate intention of fascinating him into laying -aside his distrust of Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“What an interesting day you must have had!” she began guilefully, as -soon as they started. “I wish ladies were admitted to durbars.” -</p> - -<p> -“They are, sometimes, but I fancy”—the Commissioner smiled down at -her—“that there is not very much business done on those occasions.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, then to-day’s was really a serious affair? Do tell me what you -did.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am afraid it would hardly interest you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed it would. I am interested in everything that interests my -friends.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Burgrave’s smile became positively grandfatherly. “I thought so!” -he said. “No, Miss North, I won’t allow you to sacrifice yourself by -talking shop to me. To tell you the truth, it doesn’t interest me—out -of office-hours—and therefore I am the last person in the world to -inflict it upon you. I am sure you hear so much of it all day that you -are as tired of the subject as I am of the revered name of General -Keeling.” -</p> - -<p> -“What, have you been hearing more about him?” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Burgrave groaned. “Have I not! Michael Angelo was nothing to him. I -always knew that he founded Alibad and dug its wells, planted the -trees and constructed the canals—made Khemistan, in short. But now I -am the unhappy recipient of endless personal anecdotes about him. One -man tells me that he used to go about in the sun without a -head-covering of any kind, trusting to the thickness of his hair—if -it was not rude, I should say of his skull. Then comes one of his old -troopers, and assures me solemnly that after a battle he has seen -Sinjāj Kīlin unbutton his tunic and shake out the bullets which had -passed through it without hurting him. Another remembers that he has -seen him reading a letter from his wife while under fire—rather a -pretty touch that—and another recalls for my admiration the fact that -the General reserved an hour every morning for his private devotions, -and has been known to keep the Commander-in-Chief waiting rather than -allow it to be broken in upon.” -</p> - -<p> -“But he was a splendid man,” said Mabel, ashamed of herself for -laughing. -</p> - -<p> -“Who doubts it? Only too splendid;—I understand the feelings of the -gentleman who banished Aristides. But forgive me for lamenting my -private woes to you, Miss North. Let us turn to more interesting -themes. We are to see you in an appropriate rôle on Saturday, Miss -Graham tells me.” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe I am to give away the prizes at the Gymkhana—unless you -would prefer to do it,” said Mabel, with sudden primness. -</p> - -<p> -“I should not think of such a thing unless it would be a relief to -you.” -</p> - -<p> -“To me? I shall enjoy the prize-giving above all things. But why?” -</p> - -<p> -“I imagined you might feel shy.” Mr Burgrave looked at her as kindly -as ever, but Mabel fancied that he was disappointed in her in some -way. -</p> - -<p> -“He seems to think I am about sixteen,” she said to herself, and awoke -to the fact that they had reached home, and that her companion had -skilfully prevented her from saying a word about the question of the -moment. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“Dick,” said Georgia to her husband, when she was alone with him that -evening, “did you get any explanation out of Mr Burgrave?” -</p> - -<p> -“I did—without asking for it. He told me quite calmly that the -reinstatement of Bahram Khan was part of his programme, and that as I -had taken such a strong line with regard to the youth’s banishment, he -considered it better to relieve me of all responsibility about it. It -would be pleasanter for both of us, he thought.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pleasanter for you and him in your social relations, perhaps; but -your prestige with the natives, Dick! What do they think?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, they gloat, most of ’em,” said Dick grimly. -</p> - -<p> -“But the Amir and Bahadar Shah?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, poor old Ashraf Ali sent his pet mullah to interview me while the -Commissioner was taking an affectionate leave of his <i>protégé</i>. The -old man really thought, or pretended to think, that I had a hand in -the matter. Why hadn’t I told him that I desired Bahram Khan’s return -instead of springing it upon him in that way? he wanted to know. Had -he ever refused to take my advice? I had to assure him that I knew no -more about it than he did, for if he once loses confidence in me, it -means that we may as well retire from the frontier. Neither he nor the -Sardars will stand a second spell of snubbing and suspicion.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what did you advise him to do?” -</p> - -<p> -“To choose the lesser of two evils. Bahram Khan will plot wherever he -is, and Burgrave has pledged himself to see his father’s fortress of -Dera Gul restored to him, but I advised the Amir strongly to keep him -under his own eye at the capital. In any case we shall have one friend -in the enemy’s camp, for the good old Moti-ul-Nissa sent a message by -the mullah, ‘Tell the doctor lady’s husband that where my son goes I -go from henceforth, and that no harm shall be devised against the -Sarkar if I can prevent it.’” -</p> - -<p> -“Dear old thing!” cried Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“But it’s not so much a rising that I’m afraid of at present. Bahram -Khan will get the smaller obstacles out of his way first. Poor Bahadar -Shah, who is no hero, sent to ask me by the mullah whether I would -advise him to throw up his pretensions and retire into British -territory. Of course I told him to sit tight, but no insurance office -that respected itself would look at his life after to-day. And, -Georgie, I am very much mistaken if Burgrave has not got worse in -store for us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick! what could there be worse?” Georgia’s face was blanched. -</p> - -<p> -“I have a presentiment—call it a conviction, if you like—that they -mean to withdraw the subsidy, and Ashraf Ali has got hold of the idea -too.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, Dick, that would be a direct breach of faith! They couldn’t do -it—they couldn’t! The treaty that really cost my father his life, he -had such trouble to get it ratified! Why, it has kept the frontier -safe all these years——” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Georgie, that’s not what Burgrave and his school think about. -You know as well as I do that this province is an anomaly, and has got -to be reduced to the level of next-door. When Ashraf Ali received the -subsidy, he accepted our suzerainty over Nalapur, and according to his -lights he has acted up to his obligations. But our present rulers -don’t care to keep the suzerainty, don’t care for a vassal state -outside our boundaries, and do care for economising rupees.” -</p> - -<p> -“But surely they must know——” -</p> - -<p> -“That they will throw Ashraf Ali into the arms of Ethiopia, and extend -Scythian influence down to our very borders, thanks to the way in -which Fath-ud-Din has been allowed practically to repudiate Sir Dugald -Haigh’s treaty? Why, Georgie, that’s just the sort of thing these -fellows never see until it comes to pass. Then they lament that the -world is so dreadfully out of joint, and say it all springs from our -ingrained suspiciousness.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, Dick, you wouldn’t countenance such a breach of faith?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I told Ashraf Ali so—told him he would hear of my resignation -first. Funny thing, isn’t it, to take a man who knows the frontier as -I do, and let him give five of the best years of his life to working -for it night and day, and then to send a jack-in-office who has never -seen it to reverse all he’s done? It’s a queer world, Georgie. But -we’ll retire with clean hands, at any rate, you and I, and taste the -modest joys of the pensioned in a suburban flat, with a five-pound -note at Christmas-time from Mab and her Commissioner to help us -along.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia could not trust herself to speak. She was holding Dick’s hand -in hers, and smoothing his coat-cuff industriously. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, never say die!” he went on. “I may get a berth in some Colonial -defence force yet, and from that giddy height we’ll smile superior -upon a jeering world, serenely conscious that we can do without the -five-pound note.” -</p> - -<p> -At one time Georgia would not have lost a moment in reminding him that -she could in any case return to the active practice of her profession, -but now she would not even suggest to Dick that last humiliation of -living upon his wife’s earnings. Instead, she lifted his hand to her -lips. -</p> - -<p> -“We shan’t mind poverty, dear. We shall have been true to our people, -and besides, your resignation may save the frontier. It will come out -why you retired, and when once the reason is known, public opinion -will be roused, and the Government will have to return to the old -policy, even though we may not be here to carry it out. But oh, Dick, -how can you speak civilly to Mr Burgrave after this?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Georgie, the difficulty would be to speak uncivilly to him. The -man is so wrapt up in his own greatness that he can’t imagine any -one’s venturing to differ from him. He sweeps on like a glacier, -removing all obstacles by his mere passage. The stones and rocks and -things get carried along too, you know, whether they like it or not, -and when the glacier has done with them it dumps them down in a neat -heap, that’s all. Besides, we have to give Mab her chance.” -</p> - -<p> -“If Mab marries him, I have done with her,” said Georgia, with -conviction. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -During the next fortnight the house was overrun by a horde of -Christmas guests, who came from outlying forts and irrigation and -telegraph stations to taste the joys of civilisation for three or four -days, hurrying back like conscientious Cinderellas at a given moment, -that the other man might have his turn. Mabel was immensely interested -in these lads, who looked up to Dick with frank veneration, and sought -for quiet talks with Georgia that they might tell her all their home -news, and kept the house lively from early morning until their host -reluctantly suggested that it was time for them to repair to their -improvised bedrooms at night. Her interest did not go unrequited, for -she had them all at her feet, regulating her favours so discreetly -that none of them could complain that he was worse treated than his -neighbour, and at the same time no one had undue cause for -self-congratulation. -</p> - -<p> -“I know you think I shall lose my head, Georgie,” she said, on the -evening of Christmas Day, when she and Georgia had left the men to -their nightly smoke; “and I really believe I should if it lasted. -These boys are all so splendid. Each of them is a hero in the ordinary -course of his day’s work, but he never thinks of it, and no one out -here thinks of it, and at home no one even knows their names. How is -it that all the men out here are so nice? The women, as far as I have -seen, are distinctly inferior.” -</p> - -<p> -“So sorry,” said Georgia humbly. “Perhaps we were born so.” -</p> - -<p> -“Goose! I didn’t mean you. I meant the ordinary Anglo-Indian woman. -With so many delightful men about, she ought to be proportionately -better than at home.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps it’s just possible that the delightful men spoil her, Mab. -What do you think?” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel laughed consciously, as she reclined in a long chair, with her -arms behind her head. “You mean that I have deteriorated perceptibly -already, I suppose? But that must be the men’s fault. If their -admiration is the right kind, it ought to elevate me, surely? Now -don’t say that I trade on their honest admiration to flatter my -self-love. I’m sick of that sort of thing. Besides, it’s a pleasure to -them to admire me, and I consider that it does them good. I am a -liberal education for them.” -</p> - -<p> -“How nice it must be to feel that!” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, and I really am awfully fond of them, every one. I should like -them all to win to-morrow. I can’t bear the thought that only one or -two of them can get prizes; I shall feel so unfair. Georgie, what are -you going to wear? Oh—” she sat up suddenly, with eyes wide with -horror, “what a wretch I am! Georgie, I never remembered your dresses -when I was so busy getting my own. I haven’t brought you a single -one.” -</p> - -<p> -“I guessed that some days ago,” said Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, how wicked of me! Take one of mine, Georgie—any of them—even -the muslin. I deserve it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should look like a death’s head at a feast, indeed! Nonsense, Mab! -I shall wear my red and white foulard.” -</p> - -<p> -“The one I sent you out two years ago? Oh, it will be too dreadful! -Sleeves and everything have altered since then. Besides, every one -will know it.” -</p> - -<p> -“What does that signify? It is quite fresh, and suits me very well. No -one will remember it—not even Dick.” -</p> - -<p> -But in this Georgia was mistaken. When she appeared the next morning, -her husband looked suspiciously from her to Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Didn’t you wear that dress last year, Georgie? I thought you were -going to get a new one. Why don’t you have something floppy and -frilly, like Mab?” -</p> - -<p> -“Mab is a perfect dream,” said Georgia. “No amount of trains or fichus -could make me look like her. You are very ungrateful, Dick. Who ever -heard of a man’s quarrelling with his wife before for saving him a -dressmaker’s bill?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ve a good mind to telegraph home at once,” grumbled Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“But what good would that be for to-day? Never mind. I’ll get -something terribly elaborate for next Christmas.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Georgie, how good of you not to give me away!” murmured Mabel, as -Dick went out, grumbling, to see whether the dog-cart was ready. “But -I can’t help being glad you didn’t take this gown. I don’t think I -could have given it up.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch04"> -CHAPTER IV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE OUTSIDER.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Have</span> you heard the latest, Miss North?” asked Fitz Anstruther, as -he escorted Mabel to the scene of action. The five men who were -staying in the house had nearly come to blows in deciding who ought to -enjoy this privilege, but Fitz had stepped in and disappointed them -all equally by the calm announcement that it was his by right. -Officially he was Major North’s deputy, and it was only fair that the -pleasures as well as the duties of the post should devolve upon him. -The justice of the contention was grudgingly admitted, and Fitz was -the proudest man in Alibad when he drove to the ground that morning in -his smart new buggy, with Mabel, the glories of her gown hidden by a -tussore dust-cloak, seated beside him. -</p> - -<p> -“No. What has the Commissioner done now?” she asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Bahram Khan has entered his name for the Keeling Cup!” -</p> - -<p> -“And that is equivalent to saying that the sky has fallen?” -</p> - -<p> -Fitz regarded her pityingly. “You don’t see it as we do,” he said. -“Wait until you have been out a little longer. It seems that in order -to cement the reconciliation he has brought about, the Commissioner -saw fit to invite the Nalapur Princes to honour us with their presence -to-day. The Amir and Bahadar Shah didn’t quite see themselves figuring -in the triumphal procession, and both discovered that they had urgent -business at home. But Bahram Khan duly turned up last night with his -train of attendants, and is condescending enough to join us in our -sports to-day. The Commissioner has a theory that in such mimic -warfare as this the fusion of the English and native races proceeds -apace, and Bahram Khan is doing his best to gratify him by poking -himself into the race for the Keeling Cup—our very tiptop, crack, -<i>pucca</i> event!” -</p> - -<p> -“But did General Keeling patronise races? I shouldn’t have thought -they were at all in his line.” -</p> - -<p> -“They were not; but then, this isn’t a race in the ordinary sense of -the word. It was first run just at the time when everything in -Khemistan was named after him, and besides, it recalls one of his own -pet dodges. They say that he used to subject the men that wanted to -serve under him to pretty severe tests, and this was one of them. He -used to rouse them up in the middle of the night, and they had to turn -out without boots, catch a strange horse, and ride him round the town -without a saddle, and with only a halter for a bridle.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s to be hoped that the town was smaller in those days than now?” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course it was, but we don’t exact such a test as that. The ponies -are all turned loose on the course without saddles, and the men, in -slippers, have to catch them and mount. Any man who catches his own is -disqualified. Then they have to get them round the course without -bridle or whip of any kind. I have noticed that the spectators are -always pretty nearly dead with laughing before the end, while the -competitors get black in the face with restrained emotion.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you don’t mean that General Keeling really treated his officers -in that way?” -</p> - -<p> -“I do, indeed. He had to weed them out, you see, or he would have been -overrun with volunteers. Oh, you may have full confidence in my -veracity, Miss North, even though I once had a report returned me by a -jealous Secretary with the remark that I should do well to quit the -Civil Service for the path of romantic fiction. The pains I took over -that report! You see, I had an inkling that it would be seen by a very -exalted person, who is great on us juniors’ cultivating a literary -style in our official writings. I can truly say that there has never -been such a literary gem sent in since Macaulay left India. It was -written in the most beautiful English—though I say it—full of tender -touches and delicate conceits, and as to quotations, and Oriental -imagery, and wealth of imaginative detail——! Ah well, it’s better -not to think of it,” and Fitz sighed deeply. -</p> - -<p> -“Why? Did it bring down upon you a rebuke from the Great Great One?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, alas! for it never reached him. The Secretary intercepted it, -naturally enough. Who would ever have looked at his minutes again -after it? But at least it furnished him with an ideal to strive after. -I have reason to believe he is in a lunatic asylum at this moment. The -effort was too great, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“That was rather close,” said Mabel irrelevantly, as the wheel shaved -the basketwork tray of an itinerant sweetseller by the roadside. -</p> - -<p> -“He shouldn’t be so intent on his prospective gains. Look how many of -the fellows there are about! That shows we are near the ground. They -flock to this place from all quarters when they know there’s a -<i>tamasha</i> on.” -</p> - -<p> -They had reached the enclosure by this time, and Mabel found herself -surrounded by an admiring throng. Pale-faced ladies from other -stations glanced at her dress casually, and continued to gaze long and -fixedly, her Alibad admirers brought up friends to be introduced, and -both the old slaves and the new displayed a keen anxiety to post -themselves for the day in the neighbourhood of her chair. With the -exception of the race for the Keeling Cup, the sports were wholly -military in character, and the programme was a lengthy one, but Mabel -did not find the hours pass slowly. Everything was new and -interesting, from the splendid native officers, with fierce eyes -gleaming under enormous turbans, who dashed up on fiery steeds and -bore away triumphantly an unresisting tent-peg, to the latest recruit -who exhibited his coolness by holding out his bare hand, with what -Mabel considered privately an excess of confidence, for his <i>daffadar</i> -to cut a lemon upon it. There was the inner circle of troopers of the -Khemistan Horse, reinforced to-day by such veterans as old Ismail -Bakhsh and his fellow-<i>chaprasis</i>, keenly critical, but above all -things solicitous for the honour of the regiment. There were the -notables of the district, grave and bearded men in flowing robes, who -looked as though they might have sat for a gallery of Scriptural -portraits, but who exhibited an anxious deference when Dick glanced -their way, which suggested that their relation with him in the past -had occasionally been that of criminals and judge. At the farther side -of the course was the motley throng of dwellers in the native town, -and hangers-on of the cantonments, with faces of every shade of brown, -and clothes and turbans of every variety of colour. And lastly, close -at hand, there was the little group of English, not taking their -pleasure sadly, for once, but making the most of the rare opportunity -for the exchange of news and opinions. The Commissioner was the centre -of attraction here, naturally enough, or at least, he shared the -general attention with Mabel; but she was quite aware, as she met his -benevolent smile, that he was making her a graceful present of a -portion of the homage due to himself. -</p> - -<p> -The last event but one upon the programme was the tug-of-war between -six men of the Khemistan Horse and six of the Sikhs who formed the -Commissioner’s escort—a contest which was fought out with the -greatest obstinacy, but in which the visiting team finally secured the -victory, to the unconcealed lamentation and resentment of the local -representatives and their friends. The triumphant Sikhs found no -sympathisers except among the <i>sahib-log</i>, and the English applause -was cut short by the necessity of preparing for the last race, in -which it was a point of honour for every man to take part who could -possibly do so. -</p> - -<p> -“A solemn sacrifice to the memory of the adored General Keeling!” said -Mr Burgrave in a low voice to Mabel, as they watched their late -companions assembling upon the course. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but what is that native doing?” cried Mabel, forgetting what she -had heard only that morning, as a tall lithe man, wearing the green -turban of a descendant of the Prophet, stepped out from the group of -notables and joined the competitors. -</p> - -<p> -“That,” was the bland answer, “is Bahram Khan, hitherto the bugbear of -the frontier; henceforth, I hope, our friend and ally.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t like to see him there. He spoils the look of it,” she said -impulsively. -</p> - -<p> -“Bahram Khan offends your eye? Ah, Miss North, you must pardon a poor -statesman the dulness of his perceptions! I am no authority upon -æsthetic questions, I must confess, whereas you—well, you could -scarcely not be one.” -</p> - -<p> -A smile emphasised the compliment, and Mabel turned away rather -hastily, and addressed a casual remark to Flora Graham. Compliments -were all very well, but she did not approve of the adroit way in which -Mr Burgrave repressed her whenever she touched on political subjects. -Flora had no eyes for any one but Fred Haycraft at the moment, -however, and Mabel was obliged to turn her attention to the course. -The signal for starting was given just then, and there ensued a wild -<i>mêlée</i> of men and horses, the men as eager to mount as the horses -were determined not to be mounted by any one but their own masters. -Presently one or two successful athletes forced their way out of the -scrimmage, and by degrees most of the competitors secured a mount of -some kind, but some were still vainly struggling when the foremost -appeared round the curve of the course. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh dear, he has no chance!” wailed Flora, referring to her <i>fiancé</i>, -who was one of these unfortunates. “That’s Bahram Khan’s pony he has -got, and of course it won’t let a white man mount it. Well, every one -must see that it isn’t his fault. Oh, he’s up at last!” -</p> - -<p> -But this tardy triumph was of little avail, for just as Fred Haycraft -urged his unwilling steed on its way, Bahram Khan, mounted on the bay -pony which was the especial pride of Fitz Anstruther’s heart, trotted -gently past the winning-post. The absence of hurry, as the luckless -Fitz remarked afterwards, was at once the finest and the most -irritating part of the performance. -</p> - -<p> -“The nigger’s won!” remarked a grizzled old officer who had served -under General Keeling, in blank amazement, and as the truth of his -words broke upon those around him, they were received with a low -whistle of dismay. The Commissioner, who had himself led the applause -in which the rest were too much stunned to join, glanced round -sharply, and at the same moment Mabel found Dick at her side. -</p> - -<p> -“Look here, Mab. You’d better ask the Commissioner to give the prizes. -I never thought of this. These fellows are not like us—they don’t -understand things. Get into a back seat quickly, without any fuss.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel stared at him blankly. She was to relinquish her part in the -events of the day, the glorious hour to which she had been looking -forward for more than a week, to disappoint all her admirers, and hide -herself and her gown where no one could see them! But Dick’s face was -adamant, and he repeated his order peremptorily, until she rose and -moved reluctantly towards the Commissioner, touching him on the arm. -</p> - -<p> -“My brother says I had better ask you to distribute the prizes,” she -said, with disappointment in every tone. Mr Burgrave looked at her in -astonishment, then his face took a harder set as his eyes fell on -Georgia, who was endeavouring to console Flora for her lover’s ill -success. Of course it was her doing! A faded woman in a gown that -might have been new two seasons ago—how could she be otherwise than -jealous of the radiant vision at his side? “And no wonder, poor -thing!” said Mr Burgrave to himself, with contemptuous pity, but she -must learn that it would not do to make mischief where her beautiful -young sister-in-law was concerned. -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Miss North,” the Commissioner’s voice took on its most -fatherly tone, “don’t be afraid. Nothing would induce me to rob you of -your pleasure.” -</p> - -<p> -The words were loud enough for Dick to hear, and Mabel saw him frown -angrily as she returned to her place, half-proud and half-afraid of -her triumph. He said nothing, however, but took his stand immediately -behind her, the very embodiment of silent displeasure. The sense of -his disapproval served to irritate her further, and she heartily -wished him away. His rigid face would quite spoil the effect of the -picture she had intended to present, and he was taking up the room of -other people whose attendance she would have preferred. But she was -determined not to give in, even when the Commissioner’s encouraging -smile smote her with a feeling of treachery, in that she had appealed -to him against Dick. -</p> - -<p> -The regimental prize-winners came up in their order, the natives, now -that the momentary excitement was over, wearing a look of stately -boredom, which seemed to declare that sports and prizes alike were a -species of child’s play, in which they took part merely to humour the -unaccountable whims of their officers. With the officers it was -different, for Mabel read in their faces that although sports were -good, and to earn a prize was better, both these faded into -insignificance compared with the joy of receiving that prize from her -hand. This was the very feeling that it most pleased her to inspire, -and she loved the “boys,” as she called them in her thoughts, better -than before, if that were possible. -</p> - -<p> -But this glow of pleasure was shortlived. A brief pause followed the -appearance of the Sikh head-man to receive the tug-of-war prize, and -Mabel felt, without turning her head, that Dick’s silent disapproval -had infected all the Englishmen around. Once more she hardened her -heart. It was detestable to see this wretched racial snobbishness in -the men she had admired so much. They would have liked to spoil the -whole affair, and deprive her of the one piece of romance which had -come to brighten the humdrum proceedings, rather than allow a native -not belonging to the regiment to carry off a prize. She, at least, was -above such petty considerations, and Bahram Khan should receive as -gracious a smile as any of his fellow-competitors. One other person -was of her mind, she saw, for the Commissioner clapped his hands -lightly, and with infinite condescension, as Bahram Khan swaggered up. -Mabel stepped forward, and met the glance of the bold eyes under the -green turban. As she did so, she understood suddenly the secret of -Dick’s displeasure. The smile faded from her lips, and the hand in -which she held the Keeling Cup trembled. She stopped and faltered, and -her pause of distress was evident to the men behind her. How they -responded to her mute appeal she could not tell, but the look of -insolent admiration disappeared from Bahram Khan’s eyes, into which -she was still gazing spell-bound, and was, as it were, veiled under -his former expression of contemptuous indifference towards his -surroundings. A few words from the Commissioner, and the Nalapur -Prince retired, leaving behind him a general feeling of awkwardness. -If it had been arranged that anything else was to be done at this -point, no one remembered it. People stood about in little groups, and -talked somewhat constrainedly. Something had happened, or rather, -there had been an electrical instant, and something might have -happened, but it was not quite easy to see what it was. The crudest -conception of the facts was voiced by Mrs Hardy, who had torn herself -from her school-work to be present at the prize-giving, and now seized -upon Georgia. -</p> - -<div class="fig" id="img_042"> -<a href="images/img_042.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_042_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“MABEL STEPPED FORWARD, AND MET THE GLANCE OF THE BOLD EYES UNDER THE -GREEN TURBAN” -</div></div> - -<p> -“Oh, dear Mrs North, how unspeakably painful all this must be to you -and your husband! You must feel the charge of Miss North a dreadful -responsibility. I would never have said a word while she flirted -merely with our own officers, or even with Mr Burgrave—though really -the lengths to which she goes—! But to set herself deliberately to -dazzle a native——” -</p> - -<p> -“Mrs Hardy,” cried Georgia, flushing angrily, “please remember that -you are speaking of my sister. I am certain that Mabel has never -dreamt of such a thing. She may be thoughtless, but that is all.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is very sweet and good of you to say it, but I am afraid your eyes -will soon be disagreeably opened. No rational being could doubt that -Miss North is setting her cap at the Commissioner, and that would -hardly be a match you could welcome, would it? Look at her dress—so -absurdly unsuitable at her age. Oh, I know to a day how old she is, -Mrs North, and I will say that eight years between you don’t warrant -your dressing as if you were mother and daughter. But I grant that -Miss North is one of the people who always look younger than they are, -while you invariably look older.” -</p> - -<p> -The expression of Mrs Hardy’s sympathy rarely corresponded with the -good-will which prompted it, but Georgia received the stab in heroic -silence, and cast about for some means of changing the subject. -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose we may as well go home now,” she said at last in despair, -rising as she spoke. “Where is my husband, I wonder?” -</p> - -<p> -“Over there, talking to the Commissioner and Bahram Khan,” responded -Mrs Hardy. “Dear me! something must have happened. There is a -messenger who seems to have brought some news. How grave they all -look! What can it be?” -</p> - -<p> -Watching eagerly, they saw Bahram Khan take his leave of Mr Burgrave -and Dick and rejoin his friends. As the two gentlemen returned to the -rest of the company the Commissioner said, slightly raising his tones -in a way that attracted general attention, “Well, except for the sake -of the poor fellow himself, I can’t pretend to be sorry. The way is -now clear for important developments.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick’s reply was inaudible, but the Commissioner rejoined sharply, “Of -course you put this down to Bahram Khan’s account?” -</p> - -<p> -“I make no accusations,” said Dick, unmoved. “You can’t perceive more -clearly than I do that it’s impossible to connect him with it.” -</p> - -<p> -“You deal in ambiguities, I see.” Mr Burgrave’s temper was evidently -ruffled. -</p> - -<p> -“There is no ambiguity in my mind,” was the reply, as Dick beckoned to -a servant to fetch up his dog-cart. “Are you coming with me, Georgie, -or shall I take Mabel?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, Mr Anstruther will drive her home,” said Georgia, aghast at -the thought of an encounter between Dick in his present mood and Mabel -at her prickliest. “Dick,” as the Commissioner turned to speak to Mrs -Hardy, “what has happened?” -</p> - -<p> -“Hush! speak lower. Bahadar Shah is dead.” -</p> - -<p> -“What! poisoned?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, shot. He was out hunting, and one of his most trusted servants -was carrying his spare gun loaded. As he handed it to him it went off, -and Bahadar Shah was shot through the heart.” -</p> - -<p> -“And what happened to the servant?” -</p> - -<p> -“The rest fell upon him and clubbed him to death immediately.” -</p> - -<p> -“But of course it was Bahram Khan’s doing?” -</p> - -<p> -“’Sh! He has established a satisfactory alibi, at any rate.” Dick -helped Georgia into the cart and took the reins, and they were well on -the road home before he spoke again. “It is the killing of the servant -that’s the most suspicious feature to me. It would be just like Bahram -Khan to bribe him to murder his master on the understanding that his -escape should be secured, and then to make matters safe by bribing the -rest to put him out of the way.” -</p> - -<p> -“But surely that would only involve admitting more into the secret?” -</p> - -<p> -“What secret? Bahram Khan is anxious for his cousin’s safety, and -charges the servants to show no mercy to any one that attacks him. The -utmost you could prove against him would be an idea that an attempt on -his life might be made—not even a guilty knowledge, far less -instigation.” -</p> - -<p> -“How did he receive the news?” -</p> - -<p> -“In the most orthodox way, deep but restrained grief. He must go to -Nalapur to be present at the funeral and comfort his bereaved uncle, -he told Burgrave, just as if his uncle would not sooner see a -man-eater come to comfort him. How Burgrave received the news, you -heard.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes. His manner was indecently callous, I thought.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no. His saying what he did was one of his calculated -indiscretions, like unveiling his policy to Timson coming up. No -papers here, you see, so he must make his revelations by word of -mouth. Ugh! the man turns me sick. Did you notice his bit of by-play -with Mab?” -</p> - -<p> -“She didn’t realise what you meant, Dick. Things here are so new to -her, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, why should a man be doomed to have a fool for a sister? If I had -said to you what I said to her you would have understood.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps Mab hasn’t studied you as closely as I have.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, the Commissioner is her object of study at present. Nice cheerful -prospect, isn’t it—to have that chap for a brother-in-law?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ye-es,” said Georgia hesitatingly, “but I’m not quite sure it will be -that, Dick. I think there’s some one else.” -</p> - -<p> -“And the Commissioner is only making the pace for him? No, no, -Georgie; that’s a little too thick. Of course I know there are dozens -of others, but who is there that has a chance against Burgrave?” -</p> - -<p> -“If I tell you, you’ll only laugh. It is a very little thing, but it’s -the straw to show which way the wind is blowing. You didn’t notice, -when Bahram Khan had had his prize, how Mab was left sitting alone for -a minute. I knew just how she felt, ashamed and miserable and -<i>wounded</i>, and I wanted to go to her, but Mrs Hardy had got hold of -me, and I didn’t think she would improve matters. The Commissioner -didn’t see—he never does see what other people are feeling, unless he -happens to be feeling the same himself—but Fitz Anstruther did. He -was by her side in a moment, saying just the kind of things that would -lead her to forget her mortification. If he had seemed to intend to -help her, she would have been angry, but it looked quite accidental, -as if it was simply that he took pleasure in her society, and jumped -at the chance of enjoying it when he found her alone for a minute. She -will be grateful to him ever after, and that may be the beginning of -even better things.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you match-makers! The idea of coupling Mab and Anstruther, of all -people! And you back him against the Commissioner?” -</p> - -<p> -“I do; unless Mab is deliberately playing for a high official future.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch05"> -CHAPTER V.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">ROSE OF THE WORLD.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Awfully</span> sorry, Mab, but I really can’t ride with you this morning. -It’s bad enough when one of our wandering tribes comes in for a -palaver, but to-day there are two of them, at daggers drawn with one -another. They have both sent deputations to inform me that I am their -father and their mother, and will I be good enough to pulverise the -other lot? That means that I have a nice long day’s work cut out for -me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, what a bother!” grumbled Mabel. “And Georgia has got a lot of -dreadful women in the surgery, and is doctoring them all round. How -can she bear to have them about? Do you like having an M.D. for a -wife, Dick?” -</p> - -<p> -“Personally,” said Dick solemnly, “I rather do; since Georgia is that -M.D. Politically, it’s the making of me.” -</p> - -<p> -“No; really?” -</p> - -<p> -“Rather! Every woman of all these nomadic tribes has a stake in the -country, so to speak—a personal interest in the maintenance of the -system of government which has stuck Georgie and me down here. No -Sarkar, no doctor; that’s the way they look at it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said Mabel, somewhat ashamed, “if it wasn’t that I have my -habit on, I would stay and help her. But we were going to try Laili, -Dick, and you promised faithfully to come.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know; it’s horribly rough on you. But I tell you what I’ll do. I’ll -spare Anstruther to you for the morning, and he must ride out to me -after lunch. Don’t break his neck first, mind.” -</p> - -<p> -“But will it be safe for you to go alone? Aren’t you afraid?” -</p> - -<p> -“Shade of my mighty father-in-law! afraid of what?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I don’t know. It sounds the sort of thing——” -</p> - -<p> -“That one would naturally be afraid of? No, I would rather face any -number of excited tribesmen than Burgrave at his blandest. I’ll send a -<i>chit</i> down to Anstruther, and he’ll be here in a few minutes.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel had not long to wait. She was still standing on the verandah, -flicking her dainty riding-boot with her whip, and feasting her eyes -on the satin skin of the beautiful little black mare which was being -led up and down by the groom, when Fitz came trotting up the drive. -</p> - -<p> -“Awfully good of the Major to lend me out this morning, Miss North! Is -that the new pony? She ought to be a flier.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, isn’t she a little beauty? I want to test her paces to-day. I -have had enough of riding her about the roads. She’s all right there, -but I should like to try her in a good gallop out in the desert.” -</p> - -<p> -“Out in the desert?” repeated Fitz, as he gathered up the reins and -handed them to Mabel after mounting her. “Well, I don’t suppose -there’s any reason why we shouldn’t. If you don’t mind stopping a -second at my place I’ll put a revolver in my pocket, and then we shall -be all right.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what could there be to hurt us?” -</p> - -<p> -“We might happen upon a leopard, or something of the sort. It’s not -likely, but there’s no harm in being prepared. We have a sort of -fashion here of not going much beyond our own bounds unarmed.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel made no further objection, and after calling at Fitz’s quarters -they rode out into the desert. Laili’s paces were perfect, and as -often as Mabel raced her against Fitz’s pony she won easily. It was a -clear, cold morning, really cold, as is often the case early on a -winter’s day in Khemistan, and horses and riders alike seemed to be -possessed of tireless energy. The two grooms, to whom the cold was a -highly disagreeable experience, were left behind again and again, and -remembered only when they had become mere dots on the horizon, so that -it involved some waiting before they could come up. -</p> - -<p> -“Now let us race again!” cried Mabel, when she and Fitz had -reluctantly walked their horses for some distance to allow the men to -approach them. -</p> - -<p> -“All right. I say, there’s a jerboa! Let’s chase him!” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, do. I should so like to have one for a pet,” cried Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -It seemed, however, that the jerboa preferred freedom to captivity, -even with Mabel as jailer, for it was gone in a moment, getting over -the ground in tremendous leaps, at a pace which taxed the horses -sorely to keep up with it. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, it’s getting away!” lamented Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps I can manage to wing him from here,” said Fitz, bringing out -his revolver. “We could easily patch up a broken leg. Steady, Sheikh, -old boy!” -</p> - -<p> -The pace was fast and the ground rough, and it was scarcely surprising -that the jerboa escaped unscathed, but Fitz’s shot had an effect that -he had not anticipated. At the sound Mabel’s little mare stopped dead -with a suddenness which jerked the rider’s foot from the stirrup and -nearly threw her out of the saddle, then took the bit in her teeth and -dashed away in a frenzy of terror. Pull as she might, Mabel could not -stop her, nor could she get her foot again into the stirrup. The -horror of that wild rush through the whirling sand-clouds, with the -wind shrieking in her ears, was such as she could never have imagined. -Certain destruction seemed to be before her, for Laili was heading -straight for the rocky ground at the foot of the mountains, where -there was no hope that she would be able to keep her footing. Mabel -was dimly conscious that she ought to come to some decision, or at -least to select a moment at which to throw herself off, but all her -powers seemed to be concentrated in the effort to pull up, or at any -rate to turn the pony’s head towards the open desert. As it was, Laili -made the decision for her. An isolated rock, revealed unexpectedly by -a lull in the wind, which caused the drifting sand to settle for a -moment, stood on the left hand of the course she was taking, and -catching sight of it, she swerved away so violently that Mabel found -herself all at once in a sitting position upon the sand. There she -remained, too much dazed to make any attempt to rise, until Fitz -dashed up, and flung himself recklessly from his horse, which promptly -continued the chase of the runaway on its own account. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, thank God you are not killed!” he cried brokenly to Mabel, his -sunburnt face ghastly pale. “But you are frightfully hurt! What is -it—your back? Oh, for Heaven’s sake, Miss North, try to move! Is your -leg broken? Don’t say it’s your back!” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel repressed a weak desire to laugh. “I—I think I’m sitting here -because you haven’t offered to help me up,” she replied, as well as -her chattering teeth would let her. -</p> - -<p> -He helped her up in silence, and began mechanically to brush the dust -from her habit with shaking hands. When at last he looked up at her, -Mabel saw that his lips were still trembling, and his eyes full of -horror. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, don’t look like that about me!” she cried impulsively. “I’m not -worth it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not worth it?” he cried violently, then, controlling himself with an -effort, he made a fair attempt at a laugh. “If anything had happened -to you, I should never have dared to face the Major and Mrs North -again,” he said. “Or rather, I could not have faced my own thoughts.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why?” asked Mabel, mystified. -</p> - -<p> -“Because it was all my fault for firing that shot—wretched -thoughtless <i>beast</i> that I am! I would have blown my brains out.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now that is wicked,” said Mabel with decision, “and foolish too. But -if you are going to talk in this agitating way, I think I should like -to sit down in the shade over there. I feel rather shaky still.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m an unfeeling idiot! Lean on me, please.” -</p> - -<p> -He supported her gently across the intervening space, and found a seat -for her on a fragment of rock, in a nook which furnished a partial -shelter from the sun and the whirling sand. She made room for him -beside her, but he persisted in tramping up and down, his face -twitching painfully. -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t stay quiet!” he cried, in answer to her remonstrance. “When I -think it’s just a chance—a mercy, Mrs North would say—that you’re -not—not—” he skipped the word—“at this moment, it knocks me over. -And all my fault!” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel’s renewed protest was cut short by the appearance of the two -grooms, who ran up with scared faces, and inquired dolefully which way -the horses had gone, and whether the Presences would wait where they -were until the missing steeds had been captured and brought back. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what else should we do?” asked Fitz, calm enough now in the -presence of the alien race. His own groom hastened to reply that Dera -Gul, the ancestral stronghold of Bahram Khan, was only a bow-shot off, -and that there the Presences might find rest and refreshment. -</p> - -<p> -“Not if I know it!” was Fitz’s mental comment. “It’s a blessing that -the principal villain himself is away at Nalapur, but we won’t -trespass on the hospitality of his vassals in his absence. We will -wait here,” he added to the servant, who replied sullenly that his -honour’s words were law, and departed with his companion in search of -the horses. -</p> - -<p> -“What was he saying?” asked Mabel curiously. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, only gassing a little about the neighbourhood,” replied Fitz, who -had had time to decide that he would not alarm his charge by telling -her exactly where they were. It did not occur to him that the -uneasiness with which Bahram Khan’s glance had inspired Mabel three -days before had resolved itself into a sense of offended pride at what -she took to be a premeditated insult, and that no idea of any danger -to herself personally had ever entered her mind. He did his best, -therefore, to divert her thoughts from the question of the locality, -and was congratulating himself upon his success when a little -procession appeared round the corner of the cliff in whose shadow they -were sitting. The principal figure was a sleek and shining Hindu, -swathed in voluminous draperies of white muslin, with occasional -glimpses of red brocade, who advanced with profound obeisances, and -entreated the exalted personages before him to honour his master’s -roof by deigning to rest under it until their horses were found. This -time Fitz could not but refer the suggestion to Mabel, and he found to -his surprise that she was inclined to accept it. -</p> - -<p> -“I shouldn’t care to meet Bahram Khan,” she said; “but he is away, you -say.” -</p> - -<p> -“When did the Prince start for Nalapur?” asked Fitz of the Hindu. -</p> - -<p> -“Three days past, sahib—the same evening that he was present at the -<i>tamasha</i> at Alibad.” -</p> - -<p> -“There!” said Mabel, “you see it’s all right. My hair is full of sand, -and it is so hot here. One never knows what to wear in this climate. I -don’t believe I shall be able to ride all that way back unless I can -rest in a cool place for a little first.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am pretty sure Major North wouldn’t like it,” said Fitz doubtfully. -</p> - -<p> -The Hindu caught the purport of the words, and his countenance assumed -an expression of the deepest woe. “It is the sad misfortune of the -illustrious prince that Nāth Sahib has ever looked upon him with -disfavour,” he lamented. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh dear!” remarked Mabel, when the words were translated to her; “it -will be dreadful if these people get the idea that Dick has a -causeless prejudice against Bahram Khan. We had much better show -confidence in him by going to his house. Who knows? It may be the -beginning of better things.” -</p> - -<p> -“I shouldn’t like to take the responsibility,” began Fitz, but she cut -him short. -</p> - -<p> -“Very well; I will take it, then. I am sure Dick will be glad if we -can bring about a better understanding; and I think it’s very -inconsiderate of you to raise so many objections, when I have told you -how hot and tired I am, and how I want a rest. It wasn’t my fault that -we were stranded here, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -This ungenerous use of the weapon forged by himself conquered Fitz, -and he consented, reluctantly, to accept the invitation brought by the -Hindu. Mabel’s smile of approval ought to have been a sufficient -reward for his complaisance, but it was not, for he felt an -uncomfortable certainty that Dick would object very strongly to the -visit when he came to hear of it. The Hindu led the way with much -bowing, and Fitz and Mabel followed him a short distance to the -gateway of the fortress, which was situated on the farther side of the -projecting cliff that had sheltered them. Two or three wild-looking -men, apparently half asleep, were lounging about, but otherwise the -place seemed to be deserted. The Hindu led them across the courtyard -and up a flight of steps into a large cool hall, furnished solely with -a carpeted divan and many cushions. Saying that sherbet and sweetmeats -should be brought to them immediately, he left them alone, ostensibly -to hasten the appearance of the refreshments. As he crossed the court, -however, Fitz, watching him idly, saw him glance up to the ramparts. -Here, to his astonishment, the young man perceived Bahram Khan himself -beginning to descend the steps which led down into the yard. Mabel had -also caught sight of the apparition, and Fitz’s eyes met hers. -</p> - -<p> -“The great thing is not to show any sign of fear,” he said hastily. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m not frightened,” retorted Mabel; “but I’m not going to sit here -to be stared at by that man. You must tell him that I have come to see -the ladies of the house, whoever they may be.” -</p> - -<p> -“I daren’t let you go into the zenana. Anything might happen there, -and an army couldn’t rescue you.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what could happen? You would keep Bahram Khan under your eye, of -course. And you forget that his mother is one of Georgia’s patients. -She will be delighted to see me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that’s better, naturally. I will take up a strategic position in -this corner of the divan, so that I can cover my host comfortably, -without the risk of being seized from behind. But look here, won’t you -take my revolver? I should hear if you fired a shot.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, thanks. I did learn to shoot once, but if I fired now I’m afraid -the result would be disastrous to myself alone. Besides, how could you -rescue me without a weapon of any sort? I shall feel much safer with -the revolver in your possession, for I am pretty sure you won’t leave -the place without me.” -</p> - -<p> -The last words were spoken as Bahram Khan entered the hall, and Fitz -had no opportunity to reply. There was a suppressed excitement in the -Prince’s manner which made him uneasy, and he begged at once that -Mabel might bear the salutations of the doctor lady to the dwellers -behind the curtain. Bahram Khan’s face fell, and although he protested -that the honour shown to his household was overwhelming, it was fairly -clear that no honour could well have been more unwelcome. The ladies -had only just arrived, and had not yet settled down properly in their -new quarters; they had had no opportunity of making fit preparation -for so distinguished a visitor, and it was contrary to all the rules -of etiquette that the doctor lady should despatch a messenger to visit -them before they had sent their respects to her. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, very well, I won’t make my call to-day,” said Mabel, rising, when -Fitz had translated the long string of apologies that fell from the -lips of the embarrassed host. “Then we may as well come, Mr -Anstruther.” -</p> - -<p> -But this was not what Bahram Khan desired, and after vainly -endeavouring to persuade Mabel to sit down on the cushions again, he -summoned a slave-boy, and ordered him to fetch Jehanara. -</p> - -<p> -“There must be some one to interpret between the Miss Sahib and the -women,” he explained, and Mabel wondered why Fitz looked so stern and -so uncomfortable. Presently the curtain at the end of the room was -shaken a little, and Bahram Khan rose and spoke in a low voice through -it to the person behind. Then he beckoned to Mabel, the curtain was -raised slightly, and she passed through, to find herself in a small -dark antechamber. A stout woman in native dress stood there, with a -great key in her hand, and unlocking a door, motioned her into a dim -passage. It was so gloomy and mysterious that she was conscious of a -moment’s hesitation, but as soon as the door was shut the woman began -to speak in English, as rapidly as if she was reciting a history she -had learnt by heart. She spoke mincingly, and with a peculiar clipping -accent which struck Mabel as disagreeable. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, Miss North, and I don’t wonder you’re surprised, I’m sure, to -find me here, and as English as yourself. My poor papa was -riding-master in a European regiment—none of your Black Horse—and my -mamma was pure-blood Portuguese, and yet here I am.” -</p> - -<p> -Even to the inexperienced eye the woman’s own face, though seen only -in the half-light, gave the lie to her claim of pure European descent, -but Mabel had not yet acquired the Anglo-Indian’s skill in -distinguishing shades of colour, and did not care to dispute the -assertion. Having taken breath, Jehanara went on— -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, and I was educated at a real <i>pucca</i> boarding-school in the -hills, Miss North—quite genteel, I assure you; one of the young -ladies was the daughter of the Collector of Krishnaganj. And -everything done so handsome—china-painting and making wax flowers, -and all the extras—no expense spared. I wish I could lay my hands on -some of the rupees that were poured out like water on my education, I -do. I should commence to astonish the people about here, I assure you, -Miss North.” -</p> - -<p> -“You must have found this life very trying at first,” murmured Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Trying’s no word for it, Miss North; it was just simply slavery. And -I, that thought to be a princess, reduced to be treated like a common -coolie woman, and thankful for that! Oh, I’ve been deceived -shamefully, Miss North, and there is that makes allowances for me, and -there is that doesn’t; but submit to be downtrodden I won’t be, not by -any old black woman that calls herself a begum, nor yet by any fine -gentleman officer that don’t think me good enough to talk to his lady -wife.” -</p> - -<p> -Some instinct told Mabel that it would not be well to inquire too -minutely into the means by which this waif of “gentility” had been -stranded on such an inhospitable shore; and to cut short the -complaints, which threatened to become incoherent, she asked whether -Jehanara knew her sister-in-law. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, Miss North, I do, and a real lady she is—no thanks to her high -and mighty sahib of a husband. Spoke to me polite, she did, the only -time I’ve seen her, and gave me some English books and papers to pass -the time away. Not like Mrs Hardy—there’s a sanctimonious old cat for -you, Miss North, and no mistake, drawing her dress away from me, and -talking at me as if I was the very scum of the earth!” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel began to feel uncomfortable. Mrs Hardy’s judgments had not much -weight with her, but it was evident that Dick had directed Georgia to -hold no more intercourse with this person than civility required, and -she thought it well to hint that her time was limited. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, well, if you’re in such a hurry, Miss North, I’m sure I’m -agreeable. A little talk with any one that’s English like myself is a -treat I don’t often get, but I don’t desire to detain anybody to talk -to me that doesn’t want to. The Begum will be ready to see you, I dare -say.” -</p> - -<p> -She led the way down the passage and into a low dull room looking into -a small paved courtyard, from which similar rooms opened on the other -three sides. Here were assembled some fifteen or twenty women and -girls, who had evidently made use of the time since Jehanara had been -summoned to the visitor in flinging on their best clothes over their -ordinary garb. Robes of fine cloth, silk, or brocade showed -treacherous glimpses here and there of coarse cotton or woollen -garments underneath, while the hair of the wearers was unplaited, and -their eyelids innocent of colouring. They were not at all embarrassed, -however, and crowded round Mabel with friendly interest; all but one, -who lay huddled up upon a bedstead in the farthest corner, with her -face to the wall, and refused even to look round. The chief person -present was Bahram Khan’s mother, who was known officially, from the -name of her late husband, as the Hasrat Ali Begum, but whose personal -title was the Moti-ul-Nissa, or Pearl of Women. She was an elderly -woman, with a shrewd face showing considerable power, and she greeted -Mabel with the kindness due to one who came from her friend the doctor -lady, but also with a constraint which the visitor could not but -recognise. -</p> - -<p> -Presently a privileged attendant of the Moti-ul-Nissa’s drew attention -to the dusty state of Mabel’s habit, and in explaining, with the aid -of Jehanara, what had happened to her, she was able to awaken the -sympathies of her audience. Ready hands brushed off the dust, a bowl -of perfumed water was brought that she might bathe her sun-scorched -face, and she was eagerly entreated to take down her hair and shake -the sand out of it. Not quite liking the look of the comb held out to -her, however, she contented herself with coiling her hair afresh, -while an eager girl held a cracked hand-mirror, with a battered wooden -back, at an angle that made it absolutely useless. The women were loud -in their exclamations of wonder and delight at the sight of the soft -fair hair, and presently Mabel became aware that the girl in the -corner had raised herself on her elbow, revealing a face beautiful in -its outline, but now haggard and stained with tears, and was scowling -at her with a look of unmistakable hatred. -</p> - -<p> -“Is there some one ill in that corner?” she asked of Jehanara. -</p> - -<p> -“No, Miss North, not ill—angry and sullen, that’s all.” -</p> - -<p> -“Poor thing! in trouble, do you mean?” asked Mabel, rising and -approaching the bed. The girl had turned away again when she saw that -her glance was observed, and Mabel laid a hand upon her shoulder. “Can -I do anything to help you?” she asked. -</p> - -<p> -To her astonishment the girl shook off her hand as if it had been a -snake, and springing up from the couch, burst into a torrent of -vituperation. Her lithe young form shook with passion, her delicate -hands were clenched, and her voice rose into a shrill scream. The -other women strove in vain to quiet her, and Mabel’s efforts to disarm -her anger were fruitless, but the storm ceased as suddenly as it had -arisen. Breaking off in the midst of a furious sentence, the girl -threw up her arms in a gesture of utter despair, then dashed herself -down again upon the bed, sobbing as though her heart would break. -</p> - -<p> -“What is the matter with her?” asked Mabel, astounded and somewhat -offended by this reception of her friendly overtures. “What does she -say?” -</p> - -<p> -Jehanara looked inquiringly at the Moti-ul-Nissa. A nod gave her -permission to interpret, and she replied glibly— -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Miss North, she says she hates you, that you’ve stolen away her -husband with your airs and graces, and then come to gloat over her. -You mustn’t mind what she says. It’s the way with these native women; -they’re so sadly uncontrolled, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I haven’t stolen away her husband. Tell her so. What can she -mean? Who is she?” -</p> - -<p> -The other women, breathlessly interested, gathered round while -Jehanara interpreted the answer to the girl, who sat up with streaming -eyes, and poured forth a succession of fierce, abrupt sentences. -</p> - -<p> -“She says, Miss North, ‘I am Zeynab, called Rose of the World, -daughter of Fath-ud-Din, the King of Ethiopia’s Grand Vizier, and the -fair-haired woman’—that’s you, Miss North—‘has stolen from me the -heart of Bahram Khan, my lord. She has beguiled him to cast me -off—me, Fath-ud-Din’s daughter—that she may have his house to -herself, and now she comes to mock me. But let her beware. The witch -Khadija was not my nurse for nothing, and if poison can disfigure, or -steel kill, or fire burn, she shall pay every <i>anna</i> that she owes -me.’ Don’t you go and take it to heart, Miss North; she’s a poor, -wild, uneducated creature, not brought up like us.” -</p> - -<p> -“But she must be mad!” cried Mabel. “Tell her she is making some -extraordinary mistake; that I wouldn’t touch her husband with a pair -of tongs—that I hate the very sight of him. Tell her that nothing -would make me marry him if he was free, that my religion would forbid -it; and as he is married already, our law forbids it. Tell her that -even if I wanted to marry him, my brother would see me dead -first—that I would beg him to kill me before I stooped to such -degradation.” -</p> - -<p> -Even Jehanara cringed before Mabel in her crimson indignation, and -translated her words without comment. The women looked at one another -doubtfully, and the Moti-ul-Nissa frowned. The forsaken wife spoke -again in bitter disdain— -</p> - -<p> -“It is a fine thing to talk thus, when the fair-haired woman has -robbed me of my lord’s heart for ever. Since she cares so little for -it, why did she not leave it with Zeynab?” -</p> - -<p> -“For anything that I have done, it is hers still,” said Mabel -desperately. “Ask my sister, the doctor lady, if it is not so. You -know her, all of you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, woe is me!” cried Zeynab. “Why did not the doctor lady leave me -to die as a little child, rather than save me by her art that misery -might come upon me through one of her own house?” -</p> - -<p> -“Peace, girl!” said the Moti-ul-Nissa. “The doctor lady knows not yet -that thou art my son’s wife. It is not through her that this trouble -has come. I will send a message to her, that she may tell us what to -do. If the words of her sister here are true words—” she broke off -and looked keenly at Mabel—“it may be that she is one of those that -ensnare men even without their own will; but such women ought not to -place themselves where men are forced to behold them.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel digested the rebuke, translated with startling plainness by -Jehanara, as well as she might. “I am very sorry,” she said in a low -voice. “My brother said just the same to me, but I have only been here -a short time, and I didn’t understand things. Please forgive me,” she -added, looking first at Zeynab and then at her mother-in-law. “I never -dreamed that such a thing could happen, and I will take care that it -never does again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Never again is too late for me,” said Zeynab bitterly. -</p> - -<p> -“Peace!” said the old lady again. “Is it nothing to thee that the -doctor lady’s sister has humbled herself before thee? Now it is for -thee to win back thy lord as best thou mayest. And as for thee, Miss -Sahib,” added the Moti-ul-Nissa severely, “choose thee a husband -quickly, since that is the custom of thy people, and see that he is -such a man as will slay any other that casts his eyes upon thee.” -</p> - -<p> -“The Sahib desires the Miss Sahib to be told that the horses have been -found, and all is ready,” said the little slave-boy, pushing himself -unbidden into the group, and Mabel wasted no time over her farewells. -</p> - -<p> -“I really think I have never been so uncomfortable before!” she said -to herself, as she got out of the room. -</p> - -<p> -“Now you see, Miss North, what a trial it is to me to live among such -coarse, ungenteel creatures as these,” said Jehanara. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch06"> -CHAPTER VI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">LA BELLE ALLIANCE.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Poor</span> dear Laili!” sighed Mabel, patting the dust-begrimed neck of -the little mare. There was no fear of Laili’s running away now, -although she had spirit enough left to struggle gamely through the -sand, miles of which still stretched between her and home. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think she’ll be any the worse when she’s had a good rest and -feed,” said Fitz consolingly. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, I hope not! But I know Dick will never let me ride her again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course; it really wouldn’t be safe. The regiment are so often at -carbine practice, you know, and the tribesmen can’t come near the town -without letting off their jezails to show their friends they have -arrived. It’s quite an exception when a day passes without our hearing -shots of some kind.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know. But she is such a beauty, I can’t bear to give her up.” -</p> - -<p> -“Look here, Miss North; a bright idea! Will you let me try to break -her of this frivolous habit of hers? I’m generally considered rather -good with horses, and there’s nothing I should like better than to -train her properly for you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, could you really? Of course I have still got Majnûn, but he is -so uninteresting to ride compared with her. But won’t it give you a -great deal of trouble?” -</p> - -<p> -“Trouble? Not a bit! I wish it would. Then you might set it down as -some sort of atonement for my carelessness in nearly getting you -killed to-day. But anyhow, I’ll do my best with her, honour bright! If -the Major will give her stable-room to-night, I’ll have a box cleared -out for her at my place. My stables are crammed with ridiculous old -rubbish that has come down to me from General Keeling’s time, and my -horses camp in the middle of it. By-the-bye, do you know I can’t feel -as I did about Sheikh here”—he looked askance at his own handsome -pony—“since Bahram Khan won the Cup on him? It seems as if he must be -an awful traitor to sell his master in that style, you see. I -distinctly saw the fellow whisper in his ear before he mounted him, -and he was like a lamb at once, instead of flinging his heels all over -the shop, as he had been doing the moment before. Now suppose he’s -been hypnotised once and for all, what’s to happen if he chooses to -trot off and attach himself to Bahram Khan any day we may chance to -meet him? I shall look a nice sort of fool.” -</p> - -<p> -“Have Bahram Khan arrested for horse-stealing, I should think,” said -Mabel, with a rather forced laugh. “But how is it that that dreadful -man is here at all? I hope you had a word or two with the Hindu who -told us he was away?” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, but he had us there, unfortunately. Narayan Singh told us that -his master had started for Nalapur, but we didn’t ask whether he had -come back, so he wasn’t obliged to say anything, and he didn’t. Bahram -Khan told me himself how it happens that he’s here. It seems that when -he got to Nalapur his uncle intimated that he could run the funeral -without his assistance, and more than hinted, as I understand, that he -had had too much to do with it already. Hence he thinks it well to -hide his cousinly grief in his ancestral fortress, until he can get -the Commissioner to tackle Ashraf Ali for him again, I suppose.” -</p> - -<p> -“More trouble!” sighed Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid so. The Kumpsioner Sahib is scarcely likely to take such a -slap in the face quietly. His <i>protégé</i> has been snubbed, and I -rather think he will want to know the reason why.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel sighed again, and they spoke little after that, except to -encourage the horses as they toiled through the loose sand. Arrived at -the gate of the compound, she asked Fitz to come in and have some -lunch, but he laughed. -</p> - -<p> -“No lunch for me to-day, Miss North. I must tear home and get a fresh -horse and ride out to the Major. You don’t realise that I have taken a -good bit of the afternoon off as well as the morning that he granted -me, and that the wigging I shall get is thoroughly well earned.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll intercede for you the minute Dick comes in.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, it will have happened before that. But never mind; it’s in a fair -and honest cause—couldn’t be in a fairer,” added Fitz audaciously, as -he rode off. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid that boy is going to be silly,” said Mabel solemnly to -herself as she mounted the verandah steps; but on catching sight of -Georgia, all thought of Fitz and his foolishness faded from her mind. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Georgie, such a day of adventures! I’ve been thrown, and I’ve -paid a morning call on Bahram Khan and found him at home, and I’ve -penetrated into the recesses of an Eastern harem, and I’ve been talked -to more disagreeably than I ever was in my life.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mab!” was Georgia’s horrified exclamation, “how could you? How could -Mr Anstruther let you? Was the harem Bahram Khan’s?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, of course, and Mr Anstruther had no voice in the matter. I -preferred to sit with the ladies rather than with their lord and -master, naturally. And oh, Georgie! Bahram Khan’s Ethiopian wife is -your little Zeynab, Fath-ud-Din’s daughter, and she thinks—she -thinks—I don’t know how to say it—she has got it into her head that -I aspire to the honour of being the second Mrs Bahram Khan.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mab!” cried Georgia again, helplessly. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, and there was a fearful yellow woman there who says she’s -English——” -</p> - -<p> -“I know, that dreadful person Jehanara. Oh, Mab, Dick will be terribly -angry when he knows you have been talking to her! She is Bahram Khan’s -evil genius—inspires all his plots first, and then helps him to carry -them out. She came here once as his ambassadress, but Dick would have -nothing to do with her, and forbade me to let her come into the house. -You see, politicals have to be very jealous of any Europeans or -Eurasians’ gaining influence with native princes. And now she will -make capital out of your having spoken to her.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Georgie, will you kindly tell me how I could help speaking to -her when she was the only possible interpreter between the ladies and -me? Really one might think I had arranged that all these horrid things -should happen, when you know they were pure accidents. And you won’t -sympathise a bit, though I’m almost out of my mind with worry. These -women will believe you; tell them, assure them, swear to them, that I -have no designs on Bahram Khan, for if they go on thinking I have, I -don’t know what I shall do.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can put that right, at any rate, but Dick will be so vexed——” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick!” Mabel almost screamed. “Dick is to know nothing of this. -Georgie, I absolutely forbid you to say a word to him about it. Isn’t -it enough for him to be always casting up against me what happened the -other day, without having this to bother me about as well?” -</p> - -<p> -“You must have a horribly guilty conscience, Mab. I’m sure Dick has -never said a word to you about the other day.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, but he has looked it, again and again. And I will <i>not</i> have him -told about this absurd fancy of poor jealous Zeynab’s. You couldn’t be -so dishonourable, Georgie, as to tell your husband another person’s -secret against her will.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t tell him if you forbid it, but I wish you would let me. Very -likely it is some plot of Jehanara’s to make the poor little wife -miserable, but it may have some political bearing, and I think he -ought to know. Do let me tell him, Mab.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, you’re not to. I shall never have the smallest confidence in you -again if you do. It can’t concern Dick or anybody but myself, and the -only reason I told you was that you might use your influence with the -women to make them see how silly the idea was. If you tell any one -else about it, we shan’t be friends any more.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -Some four days later Georgia was returning home from afternoon tea at -the Grahams’. She had left Mabel behind her to comfort Flora, whose -<i>fiancé</i> had returned to his duties at Fort Shah Nawaz, and Dick had -ridden across the frontier to settle a tribal dispute, and would not -be back till late. Georgia felt tired and depressed, and visions of -the couch in her own room, and the latest magazines that had reached -Alibad, floated enticingly before her. As she drove up to the house, -however, she caught a glimpse of a camel kneeling down to its meal, a -heap of fodder piled on a piece of rough cloth, in the stable-yard. -One of the high hooded saddles used by native women of distinction lay -near it, and two or three strange men were gossiping with the -servants. The inference was obvious, and Georgia felt no surprise when -her maid Rahah met her with the announcement that the Eye-of-the-Begum -was waiting to see her. Mysterious as the words sounded, they referred -only to the confidential attendant of the Moti-ul-Nissa, and the old -woman was very soon established on the floor of Georgia’s room. The -curtain over the door, which served as a danger-signal on these -occasions, was drawn, and Rahah stationed outside it to warn Dick not -to intrude when he returned, and the visitor was therefore able to lay -aside her veil and make herself at home. As for Georgia, she had -learnt by experience that however little a native might have to tell, -he or she invariably displayed a misdirected ingenuity in lengthening -out the telling of it, and she resigned herself to the loss of the -quiet time she had anticipated, and made the customary polite -inquiries with every sign of cordial interest. When these had been -answered, and the Eye-of-the-Begum had duly asked after Mabel’s -health, and (in modest periphrases), after that of Dick, and delivered -her mistress’s <i>salaams</i> and good wishes to Georgia, paying a -compliment in passing to her hostess’s coffee and sweets, she prepared -at last to approach the subject of business, but strictly in her own -fashion. -</p> - -<p> -“Many years ago, O doctor lady,” she began, “a troop of robbers met a -man leading a fine horse richly caparisoned. ‘O brother, who art -thou?’ asked they. ‘I am So-and-so, the servant of Such-an-one, and I -am taking this horse to my master’s son as a gift from his uncle,’ he -replied. Then they seized and carried off the horse, and beat the man, -but let him go. But verily it was his fate to be unfortunate that day, -for he fell in with a second troop of robbers, who also asked him who -he was. ‘Truly,’ said he, ‘I am So-and-so, the servant of Such-an-one, -and I carry to my master’s son as a gift from his father a gold chain -which is concealed in my turban.’ Now before this they had intended to -kill him, but finding the chain, they took it and his clothes, and -bade him make haste to depart. Hiding by day and travelling by night, -he accomplished the rest of his journey, and presented himself before -his master’s son, who, seeing a footsore man wearing only a ragged -loincloth, asked him in astonishment who he was. ‘Verily,’ he said, ‘I -am So-and-so, the servant of Such-an-one, and I bring to my master’s -son the gift that his mother has sent him.’ And thus saying, he took -from his armpit the great pearl which is nowadays called the Mountain -of Milk, which is among the treasures of the Amirs of Nalapur, having -carried it safely through the country of the robbers. Then his -master’s son commanded that a robe of honour should be put upon him, -and gave him a horse and arms.” -</p> - -<p> -“He thoroughly deserved them,” said Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“True, O doctor lady. But thy servant is now as that messenger was. -Here is my horse with the rich trappings,” she held out an empty -liniment bottle. “The pains which were banished by the medicine from -my mistress’s limbs have now returned, and she desires more of it. But -of the gold chain concealed in the turban there is much to say, and -even more of the great pearl hidden in the armpit, wherefore, O doctor -lady, be wary lest there be any that can hear us.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia rose obediently, and looked outside the windows, under the -bed, and into the wardrobe. Having made it clear that there were no -eavesdroppers about, she returned to her visitor. -</p> - -<p> -“First, then, O doctor lady, thy servant will reveal the chain of -gold. My mistress’s son has looked upon the face of the Miss Sahib, -thy lord’s sister, and his heart is hot with love of her. He has said -to his mother, ‘Get her for me to wife, for I cannot sleep by night -nor eat by day for thinking of her.’” -</p> - -<p> -“I am astonished that the Hasrat Ali Begum should venture to send such -a message to me,” said Georgia coldly, rising as she spoke, but the -old woman caught at her dress. -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, hear me out, O doctor lady. My mistress strove her utmost to -dissuade her son, for truly it is not well for East to mate with West, -nor Moslem with Christian, neither is it pleasant for her to think of -a daughter-in-law who will desire to change everything in the zenana, -and rule the whole house, because she is English. It is out of love -for thee, O doctor lady, and for thy lord, who is just and fears no -man, that my mistress speaks. For these were the words of Syad Bahram -Khan, my mistress’s son: ‘Tell Nāth Sahib that if he will give me his -sister, I desire no dowry with her, but only his friendship. Let him -speak with my uncle to acknowledge me as his heir, and grant me the -honours and dignities which by right belong to the Amir that is to be, -and I will live in peace with them both, and strengthen them against -all their enemies. Fath-ud-Din’s daughter shall go back to her -father’s house, so that all men may see that I look no longer to -Ethiopia for support, and that Nāth Sahib’s sister shall have no -rival in the zenana. And moreover, have I not found favour in the -sight of Barkaraf Sahib, whose eye is evil against Nāth Sahib? If -Nāth Sahib will make friends with me, I will speak for him to the -Kumpsioner Sahib, so that he shall look favourably upon him also, and -the border will be at peace, and Nāth Sahib’s praise in all men’s -mouths.’” -</p> - -<p> -“Surely you must see for yourself that the idea is absurd?” said -Georgia, trying to speak gently. “I can’t be too thankful that Bahram -Khan did not send a message direct to my husband. His wrath would have -been——” -</p> - -<p> -“That was Jehanara’s advice, O doctor lady. She bade his Highness -gather his followers and ride boldly with them to demand the Miss -Sahib from thy lord. But my mistress, knowing that Nāth Sahib’s hand -is always ready, feared for her son, and spoke prudently to him: ‘Nay, -my son, do not so, or Nāth Sahib will think thee ignorant of the -customs of thine own people, and intending an insult to his house. -Rather let thy mother speak for thee, that all things may be done -according to custom, and the maiden’s relations not angered.’” -</p> - -<p> -“And what about my poor little Zeynab?” asked Georgia. “What does she -think of all these negotiations?” -</p> - -<p> -“She is a fool,” returned the old woman shortly. “When the Miss Sahib -came into the zenana the other day, she was angry and reviled her, and -the Miss Sahib was angry also, and bade Jehanara tell her that she -would not so much as touch her lord with the staff of a lance. Now at -this the foolish girl was comforted, but her jealousy was only laid to -rest for a moment, and because her lord would not suffer her to come -near him, and drove her away with bitter mockings, she taunted him in -her rage with the Miss Sahib’s words, so that he fell into a terrible -fury, and beat her, and tore off her jewels, hoping that she would -return of her own will to her father’s house.” -</p> - -<p> -“Brute!” murmured Georgia, with white lips. “But why didn’t he divorce -the poor child?” -</p> - -<p> -“He would have done so, O doctor lady, had not Jehanara reminded him -that if Nāth Sahib rejected his proffer of friendship, it would not -be prudent for him to make himself enemies in Ethiopia. She desires to -see thy lord humbled, O doctor lady, and she knows that the Vizier -Fath-ud-Din hates him also. But the Lady Zeynab offered no resistance -to her lord’s treatment of her, dreading only lest he should send her -from him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Upon my word!” cried Georgia. “I wish Bahram Khan had made his -request to my husband in person. He would have deserved whatever he -got.” -</p> - -<p> -The visitor sighed patiently. “Strange are thy ways, O doctor lady, -after the manner of thy people! Why should it trouble thee that an -Ethiopian woman is beaten by her husband, when thine own lord’s fate -is trembling in the balance? Think rather of him and of thyself than -of this foolish girl. And now to come to the great pearl, even my -message of messages, which is from the mouth of my mistress’s brother, -the Amir Ashraf Ali Khan. It is known to no one but his Highness’s -self and the wise and learned mullah Aziz-ud-Din, whom he sent on an -errand to my mistress’s son, but with this secret message for my -mistress’s own ear. These are the words of the Amir Sahib: ‘Say to my -friend Nāth Sahib, What is to be the end of these things? Since thy -first coming hither I have obeyed thy voice, as I did that of thy -father-in-law, Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib, and all has gone well with me. I -saw at my side my nephew Bahadar Shah, who was to me as a son, my -Sardars brought their tribute at the due seasons, and the Ethiopians -durst not cross my borders, while thy wisdom and justice settled all -boundary disputes to the admiration of my wisest men. Now all this is -changed. Bahadar Shah is gone from me, and Barkaraf Sahib orders me to -receive in his stead the unnatural wretch who sought to slay me, his -benefactor. Even now he rebukes me with great words because I would -not suffer the mockery of his presence at the grave of him he slew. -Speak then, O my friend, and let me know thy mind. Who is Barkaraf -Sahib that he should thrust himself into the affairs of this border of -mine and thine? He cannot speak our tongue nor judge according to our -customs, and he never beheld the face of Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib Bahadar. -Can it be that his presumption and the evil of his doings are known to -the Sarkar? Wilt thou obtain leave for me to make a journey to the -Court of the great Lord Sahib, or of the Empress herself, that there I -may lay the truth before them? Or if the Kumpsioner Sahib stands in -the way of this, then let me present a petition truthfully drawn up.’” -</p> - -<p> -The ambassadress paused, but Georgia shook her head. “No, it would be -no use,” she said. “The Kumpsioner Sahib has the ear of the Sarkar, -and he is given a free hand here.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it so, O doctor lady? Then listen to the remaining words of Ashraf -Ali Khan: ‘Let Nāth Sahib but say the word, and this border shall be -no place for the Kumpsioner Sahib. Already my Sardars are murmuring -against his doings, and the tribesmen’s faces are black towards him -because of his treatment of their friend. At a signal from me they -will rise all along the border, and force the Kumpsioner Sahib to flee -for his life, so that the Empress shall say, “Verily Barkaraf Sahib is -no fit ruler for the men of Khemistan.” But when he is gone, Nāth -Sahib shall quell the rising without drawing a single sword, so that -the Empress will send him a robe of honour and a state elephant, and -name him ruler of Khemistan and the border for ever. Send back but one -word through the mullah Aziz-ud-Din, whom I have despatched to quiet -the complaints of my nephew with empty words and grudging gifts, in -obedience to the Kumpsioner Sahib, and the thing is done.’” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, no!” cried Georgia, “that must never be. A rising now would -only work the ruin of my husband, and the Kumpsioner Sahib would be -stronger than ever before. More than this, O Eye-of-the-Begum, such -are not the ways of the English. Because the Kumpsioner Sahib is set -over my husband, he is to be obeyed, and to conspire against him or -plot for his disgrace would be in our eyes a deadly wrong. The matter -is ended.” -</p> - -<p> -“So be it, O doctor lady. The hands of Ashraf Ali Khan are clean, and -he has done what he could for his friend and for himself, but it was -written that matters are not to be set right thus. And one word more; -see that thy lord seek a husband quickly for the Miss Sahib. Why does -he not give her to the Dipty Sahib?” This was Fitz Anstruther, in his -capacity of Dick’s assistant or deputy. “He is young and well spoken, -and such a man as women love.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should like nothing better,” said Georgia, with a sigh, “but I -rather think the Miss Sahib will choose a husband for herself. And -hark! I hear the Major Sahib returning. You will rest this night in -the guest-house in the compound with your attendants?” -</p> - -<p> -“Even so, O doctor lady, and in the morning I will return to Dera Gul -with the medicine for my mistress, and with such words as the wisdom -of the night may dispose thee and thy lord to send in answer to the -Amir Sahib’s message.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia shook her head again sadly as she delivered the old woman into -Rahah’s charge, and having seen her safely out of the way, went to -find Dick. He had just thrown off his heavy boots, and was lounging -luxuriously in a long chair in his den. -</p> - -<p> -“That you at last, Georgie? Come in, old girl. How has the world gone -with you all day? I’m just comfortably tired, and at peace with all -mankind. What’s up? Some obstinate patient who <i>will</i> die, eh?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, nothing of that kind. I have been interviewing a messenger from -Dera Gul.” -</p> - -<p> -“Not that awful East Indian woman, I hope?” Dick raised himself -suddenly. -</p> - -<p> -“No; the Eye-of-the-Begum, with a very secret message from the Amir. -He wants you to join with him to get rid of the Commissioner.” -</p> - -<p> -“He does, does he? I thought Burgrave’s last reprimand would wake him -up a bit. He made it pretty clear that Bahram Khan was to be -recognised as heir, and admitted to all the privileges of the post. -It’s funny, isn’t it, that our respected superior doesn’t seem to see -what a creepy sort of thing it is to welcome into your bosom a snake -that’s tried to bite you already? Oh, Georgie, it is calculated to -make a man swear when he sees a fellow like Burgrave, who has far less -knowledge of district work than young Anstruther, and that so long ago -that he’s forgotten all about it, sent to upset a province where he -doesn’t even know the languages, simply because he can write nice -reports and is a favourite at Simla. I can’t make pretty speeches to -exalted personages, but I can keep this frontier quiet, and they won’t -let me do it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know; it’s perfectly shameful. But, Dick, I have something else to -tell you that will make you laugh, though you won’t like it. Bahram -Khan is anxious to marry Mab.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick bounced out of his chair. “The dirty hound! It’s like his -impudence to dare to dream of such a thing. He had better look out for -the next time he comes across me. Why hadn’t he the pluck to bring his -precious message himself?” -</p> - -<p> -“I think his mother fancied he would be safer at a distance. He is -good enough to offer his friendship as a bait.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks, I’d rather be without it. The whole thing is a plot, -Georgie—a palpable plot to try and get me into trouble with Burgrave. -There was no hint of this atrocious idea when Mab was at Dera Gul the -other day, or we should have heard of it.” Georgia felt uncomfortable, -but her promise to Mabel kept her silent. “It’s a clumsy trick devised -on the spur of the moment. If I pretended to nibble at it, the next -thing would be that Burgrave would be informed I was intriguing -against him, and had offered my sister to Bahram Khan to attract him -to my side. We are on the down-grade, Georgie. I didn’t know they had -got so far as inventing false accusations against me yet. Bah! it -makes a man sick of the whole thing.” -</p> - -<p> -“I fancy Bahram Khan has had the idea in his mind longer than you -imagine,” Georgia ventured to say. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you’re a match-maker, as I’ve told you before. Please keep your -planning to pleasanter subjects in future. But I say, it’s rather fine -that the Commissioner should have Bahram Khan for a rival! I should -really like to tell him so.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you still think Mr Burgrave is in love with Mab?” -</p> - -<p> -“If he isn’t, why does he stick on here so long without bringing off -his great splash? He says it’s because of the Christmas holidays, but -a trifle like that wouldn’t keep him quiet generally. My idea is that -he means to make sure of her before breaking with me.” -</p> - -<p> -“But she would have nothing to do with him in any case if he broke -with you.” -</p> - -<p> -“You think so? Well, we shall see.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch07"> -CHAPTER VII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">NONE BUT THE BRAVE.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Really</span>, Mab,” said Dick irritably, “your horses are more bother -than they are worth. Why don’t you set up a motor-car?” -</p> - -<p> -“How horrid you are, Dick! Any one would think it was my fault that -all these things happen. How could I help one of the other horses’ -kicking Majnûn as they were coming back from watering? I am sure it -was that wretched Bayard of yours—cross old thing! At any rate, the -syce declares it’s impossible for Majnûn to go out to-day, and I can -see it myself. You can go round and look at the state his leg is in.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, all right; I’ll take your word for it. But what are you going to -do?” -</p> - -<p> -“The syce’s sole idea is to send down to Mr Anstruther’s for Laili, -but I don’t care to ride her again just yet.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I certainly won’t have you mount her until Anstruther can give a -better report of her proceedings. Well, you had better take Georgie’s -old Simorgh, as she and I are to do Darby and Joan in the dog-cart.” -</p> - -<p> -“He’s so horribly and aggressively meek. I don’t want a horse whose -sole title to distinction is that in prehistoric days he carried his -mistress to Kubbet-ul-Haj and back without once running away. I am -going to ride Roy, Dick.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Mabel, pray have some regard for appearances. Will nothing -but a mighty war-horse satisfy your aspiring mind?” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s just it. He’s so big that it must feel like riding on an -elephant. I should love to ride him, and you know it’s perfectly safe. -A child could manage him—you said so yourself.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, really, Mab. An appreciative country doesn’t provide me with -chargers merely to furnish a mount for you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I shall borrow a horse from somebody. Mr Burgrave would lend me -anything he possesses in the way of horseflesh—he said so,” declared -Mabel vindictively. -</p> - -<p> -“I daresay, and rejoice when it came to grief, so that he might nobly -refuse any compensation. Oh, take Roy, and Bayard too, if you like, -and make the whole show into a circus, but don’t put me under an -obligation to Burgrave.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel retired triumphant, as she had intended to do. It was the last -day of the Christmas holidays, and the Alibad festivities were to -close, as usual, with a picnic organised by Major and Mrs North. -Georgia had been up long before dawn, superintending the packing of -provisions in the carts, which must set out as soon as it was light, -and she was now resting in her own room. Without troubling to ask -herself why, Mabel felt relieved by her absence. She would not have -cared to employ the argument with which she had vanquished Dick, had -his wife been at hand, but she had no fear of his bearing malice or -alluding to the matter afterwards. Perhaps he thought she was -sufficiently punished already, for when she was perched upon the back -of the great roan charger, she found that her victory was its own sole -reward. Roy was almost as uncomfortable to ride as a camel, and to -Mabel, accustomed to her docile ponies, he seemed to have no mouth at -all. She was thankful to receive a hint or two on managing him from -his forgiving master, and thus forearmed, she would not own herself -defeated. Her mount excited a good deal of surprise among her -fellow-guests, and Mr Hardy asked her benevolently if she would not -have preferred an elephant, while Mr Burgrave reminded her in -reproachful tones of his offer of the loan of any of his horses. To -this she replied promptly that she preferred a military mount as more -trustworthy, an answer which bred great, if somewhat causeless elation -in the minds of several young officers who heard it. -</p> - -<p> -The scene of the picnic was a spur of the mountains about a dozen -miles to the north-east, where there were curious caves to be seen, -and also the ruins of an ancient fortress, among which fragments, or -even whole specimens, of old glazed tiles, very highly prized by those -learned in such things, were sometimes found. On this occasion -everything was done in the orthodox way. The caves were duly explored -and the ruins examined, with suitable precautions against finding -scorpions instead of tiles, and a few rather disappointing sherds were -discovered, and entrusted to the servants to take home. Mabel and -Flora Graham chose to climb to the highest point of the ruins, -escorted and assisted by all the younger men of the party, but when -there they confessed that, but for being able to say they had achieved -the ascent, they had gained nothing that was not equally obtainable -down below. However, the provisions were excellent, and nothing -material to their consumption had been forgotten, so that the guests -all agreed that it had been a most successful picnic, and Georgia -heaved a sigh of satisfaction as she watched the servants piling the -last of the empty baskets on the carts. -</p> - -<p> -These carts, with the three or four carriages which had conveyed the -elder members of the party, were obliged to return home by the track -across the plain, but it was possible for the riders to take a short -cut through the hills for the first part of the way. While a -discussion was going on as to the path to be chosen, Flora Graham -moved close to Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Mab,” she murmured hastily, “do you think you could get Mr -Brendon to ride with you? He persists in sticking to me, and I know -Fred won’t like it when he hears. He’s a little inclined to be -jealous, you know, because once, before we were engaged, he thought I -liked Mr Brendon. Besides, I want to ride with Mr Milton, and talk to -him about Fred.” -</p> - -<p> -Milton, the youth who was Fred Haycraft’s comrade at Fort Shah Nawaz, -had cheerfully put up with the fag-end of the holidays that his senior -might enjoy as much of Miss Graham’s society as possible. He was -delighted with the proposed arrangement, and Mabel had little -difficulty in attaching Mr Brendon to herself when he found that the -post he coveted was already bespoken. It was obvious, however, to -keen-eyed observers that Mr Burgrave and Fitz Anstruther had both been -promising themselves the pleasure of riding with Mabel, and the sudden -blankness of their faces when they found themselves forestalled by -this outsider was much appreciated. Finally, either moved by a certain -vague fellow-feeling, or each impelled by the determination to see -that the other played fair, they fell in together behind Mabel and her -cavalier, riding rather in advance of the rest. -</p> - -<p> -As for Mabel, she felt it distinctly hard to be obliged to sacrifice -herself in this way for Flora’s benefit. Mr Brendon, of the Public -Works Department, was a most estimable young man, but he suffered from -a plethora of useful knowledge. To ask him a question was like pulling -the string of a shower-bath, which let loose a flood of information on -the head of the unwary questioner. Mabel had intended to let him prose -as he liked, while she thought about other things, and jerked the -string, so to speak, at the requisite intervals, but he was far too -polite to monopolise the conversation. He paused for her replies or -invited her opinion so often, while clearly ready to supply the needed -answer himself, that she had not a moment for meditation, and found -the ride almost unendurable. She had just succeeded in hiding an -irrepressible yawn when a happy idea came to her as she was -approaching a state of desperation. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, here is quite a nice level piece of ground! Let us race, Mr -Brendon.” -</p> - -<p> -He could not well refuse, and for all too short a time Roy pounded -gallantly through the sand. Brendon’s lighter steed won easily, and -when Mabel reached the end of the course, she found him waiting for -her. At this point their road entered a narrow ravine, leading down to -the open desert, and the high rocks on either side looked black and -threatening against the glowing sunset sky, a glimpse of which at the -farther end of the gorge dazzled the eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“I think you had better let me pilot you here, Miss North,” said -Brendon. “The ground is strewn with loose boulders, and it is -difficult to distinguish them in this light. You might get a nasty -fall.” -</p> - -<p> -It was desirable that Brendon should ride anywhere rather than beside -her, and Mabel accepted the position he assigned to her with something -more than resignation. He took the lead as they entered the ravine, -his pony picking its way with infinite caution, and Roy followed -securely enough. -</p> - -<p> -“What a delightful Dürer engraving we should make!” exclaimed Mabel -suddenly, “creeping along between these dark cliffs under such a -gorgeous red sky. But it’s contrary to all symbolism that you should -be riding first.” -</p> - -<p> -“The colour of the sky would scarcely tell in an engraving,” answered -Brendon, with a perceptible accent of reproof. “But the idea would -work out well in black and white.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh dear, no!” persisted Mabel. “The sky is everything. It gives such -a threatening touch. I feel quite weird myself, don’t——” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t you?” she was going to say, but the words were cut short, for a -shot was fired among the rocks on the left, close beside her. Roy, -accustomed to such sounds, merely started slightly and pricked up his -ears, but the pony shied violently, and received a cut from its rider. -</p> - -<p> -“Abominable carelessness!” shouted Brendon to Mabel, looking round as -the animal dashed forward. “I’m coming back to hunt that fellow out. -He might have shot one of us.” -</p> - -<p> -The words were scarcely out of his mouth before the pony reared -suddenly and then fell forward, throwing him over its head. At the -same moment Mabel heard the sound of another horse’s feet behind her, -and before she could look round some one dealt Roy a smart blow on the -flank. She felt him rise for a leap, and was conscious that his heels -touched something as he went over. It seemed a miracle that he did not -land upon his head, but as it was, the shock, when his hoofs clattered -down amongst the stones, nearly unseated Mabel, and before she could -collect her scattered senses three mounted men appeared, as if by -magic, from among the rocks on either hand. Before she had time to do -more than realise that they wore turbans, a fourth man pushed up from -behind, and seizing her bridle, forced Roy into a canter. She had a -momentary vision of Brendon, his face streaming with blood, flinging -himself between her horse and her captor’s, and trying to wrest the -bridle from him; she saw the sweep of steel in the red light as one of -the other men turned round; saw Brendon cut down by a murderous blow -from a tulwar. It was all over in a moment, and before she could even -scream, she and her captors were out of the gorge and riding swiftly -to the right, away from Alibad and safety. From the fatal spot they -had left there came faintly to her ears the sound of several shots. -</p> - -<p> -The sound reached other ears as well as Mabel’s. Mr Burgrave and Fitz, -riding leisurely, as they had been when Mabel and her cavalier left -them behind in their race, started when they heard it, and put spurs -to their horses. Entering the gorge they could see nothing but dark -rocks and lurid sky. No! what was that?—a bright flash, followed by -another report, coming from a spot close to the ground at the farther -end. Riding headlong down the ravine, regardless of the shifting -boulders, they distinguished at last the form of Brendon, his light -clothes dyed with blood. He was dragging himself painfully towards -them, holding his discharged revolver in his left hand. -</p> - -<p> -“They’ve got Miss North!” he gasped, as they neared him. -</p> - -<p> -With a sharp exclamation Mr Burgrave dug his spurs deeper and dashed -on, but Fitz, catching the look of agony on Brendon’s face, drew rein -for a moment. -</p> - -<div class="fig" id="img_078"> -<a href="images/img_078.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_078_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“FITZ CAUGHT THE LOOK OF AGONY IN BRENDON’S FACE” -</div></div> - -<p> -“She’s riding—a troop-horse. Yell to him—to ‘Halt!’” came in broken -sentences. “And look out. There’s a—rope.” -</p> - -<p> -Even as he sank down exhausted from loss of blood, there was a crash -in front. The Commissioner and his horse had gone down in a heap, -marking only too accurately the position of the rope. Fitz galloped -forward, his pony taking the obstacle like a bird. -</p> - -<p> -“Ride on, for Heaven’s sake! Never mind me!” came in a despairing -shout from the man who lay helpless under the struggling horse, and -Fitz obeyed. He was out of the gorge now, and could see far away to -the right the dark moving mass which represented the object of his -pursuit. Ramming in his spurs, he followed at breakneck speed, his -whole soul absorbed in the savage determination to catch up the -robbers and their prey. Whether he and Sheikh lived or died, they must -reach that goal. Thundering on, his eyes fixed upon his quarry, he -perceived presently, with a fierce joy, that it was becoming clearer -to his view. He was gaining! Now he could distinguish the forms of the -men and their horses, and presently he was able to assure himself that -the wiry little native steeds were undoubtedly handicapped by the -necessity of accommodating their pace to that of the heavier Roy. That -the robbers he was pursuing were four to one did not occur to Fitz, -even in face of the ominous fact that they made no attempt to -interfere with him, too confident in their superior numbers to take -the trouble to separate and cut him off. The moment that he felt sure -of his advantage, his plan was ready, formed complete in his mind, and -without any volition of his own, his revolver was in his hand, cocked, -the moment after. As he diminished the distance between himself and -the robbers, he saw that they were no longer in a compact body. The -three unencumbered riders were leading, and Mabel and the man who held -her bridle came after. Mabel had recovered her presence of mind by -this time. She was striking furiously with her whip at the hand which -gripped her rein, in the hope of forcing the robber to loose his hold, -but in vain. He could not spare a hand to snatch away the whip, but -his grasp upon the bridle never relaxed. Suddenly a voice sounded in -her ears. Standing in his stirrups, Fitz put all the power of his -lungs into the one word, “Halt!” and at the well-known shout Roy -stopped dead, his feet firmly planted together. The shock dragged the -robber from his saddle, and his own horse, terrified, continued its -headlong career. Still grasping Mabel’s bridle with his left hand, he -drew his tulwar and sprang at Fitz. A bullet from the ready revolver -met him as he came, and he fell forward, the tulwar dropping harmless -from his fingers, which gripped for a moment convulsively at the sand -under Sheikh’s hoofs. -</p> - -<p> -“Quick! Get behind me! Crouch between the horses!” cried Fitz to -Mabel, urging the panting Sheikh in front of Roy. The three men in -front had faced round, and seemed to be meditating a charge, but they -were without firearms, and Fitz, standing behind his pony, had them -covered if they should approach. Left to themselves, they might have -distracted his attention by coming at him from different directions, -and taken him in the rear, but the other members of the party had now -emerged from the gorge, and were riding down on them with shouts. -Prudent counsels prevailed, and they turned their horses’ heads again, -and rode off into the gathering darkness, leaving the victorious Fitz -with two trembling, sweating horses, and Mabel, crouched on the sand, -clutching wildly at his feet. She tried to speak as she looked up at -him, but no words would come, and only a hoarse scream issued from her -lips. The sight of her utter prostration almost unmanned him. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t, don’t, Miss North!” he entreated, trying to lift her up. -“You’re safe now, and the others will be here in a minute. Don’t let -them see you like this.” -</p> - -<p> -She swayed to and fro as he raised her, and staggering to Roy’s side -buried her face in his mane. Fitz turned away. It would be taking an -unfair advantage, he felt, to speak to her in this forlorn state, and -he began to pat Sheikh, and praise his gallant efforts in a low tone. -Many a time afterwards did he curse himself as a fool for this -backwardness of his, but at the moment it was impossible to him to -take her in his arms and comfort her, as his heart urged him to do. -She had been saved from death or worse by his means, and he could not -presume upon the service he had rendered her. -</p> - -<p> -The moment’s constraint was quickly ended by the eager questions of -the men who came galloping up. Fitz stepped forward to meet them. -</p> - -<p> -“Look out!” he said hastily, jerking his head in Mabel’s direction, -“Miss North is awfully knocked up. Leave her to herself for a moment. -Is Tighe here?” -</p> - -<p> -“He stopped at the nullah. It’s a bad job there. Brendon’s gone, poor -old chap! and the Commissioner’s pretty extensively damaged. Jolly -good job the doctor was able to ride out this afternoon.” -</p> - -<p> -“I say, look here,” said Fitz, “we mustn’t let her know about this. -Can’t we get her straight home?” -</p> - -<p> -“Must go back to the nullah. The Colonel and one or two more whose -horses were no good stayed with Tighe to help him dig out the -Commissioner. He had managed to shoot his horse, lest it should kick -his brains out, but it was lying right across him. They’ll want help -in getting him home, and poor Brendon too.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, say nothing to Miss North, and we’ll try to keep it dark. -There, she’s coming. Can’t you say something ordinary?” -</p> - -<p> -Milton, to whom the request—or rather command—was addressed, gasped -helplessly. The circumstances seemed to preclude him from saying -anything at all, but as Mabel came towards them, her face still white -and her lips trembling, a happy thought seized two of the other men -simultaneously. -</p> - -<p> -“We’ve never even looked at the rascal you potted!” they cried to -Fitz. “Here, come along. Who’s got a match?” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel shuddered, and caught at Fitz’s arm, but a dreadful fascination -seemed to draw her to the place where the dead robber lay. Some one -produced a box of matches, and kneeling down, struck a light close to -the face of the corpse. Fitz knew as well as Mabel what face she -expected to see, and he could hardly keep himself from echoing her cry -of surprise and relief when they realised that a stranger lay before -them. -</p> - -<p> -“Wait a minute, though,” said one of the officers, pressing forward. -“Lend us another match, old man. Yes, I thought so! It’s Mumtaz -Mohammed, the sowar who deserted five or six weeks ago. See, he has -his carbine on his back.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then it was only a common or garden raid, and not a planned thing,” -said another. “I know it was said he had got away to those fellows who -broke out of prison at Kharrakpur.” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Mabel suddenly; “it was a plot.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Miss North—how do you know?” they asked, astonished. -</p> - -<p> -“Because my syce was in it. He told me this morning my pony could not -be ridden, and wanted me to send for Laili, whom Mr Anstruther is -training for me. She bolts at the sound of a shot. It was a shot fired -in the nullah that began this—this——” -</p> - -<p> -“And you didn’t ride Laili after all?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I would ride Roy. I asked for him just to see what Dick would -say, and when he didn’t want me to have him, I persisted, simply to -tease him. And it has saved my life!” she cried hysterically. -</p> - -<p> -“Not much doubt who stood to benefit by the plot!” muttered one of the -men who had stood behind Mabel at the Gymkhana, but Fitz nudged the -speaker fiercely. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know what we’re all standing here for—in case our deceased -friend’s sorrowing relations like to come back and wipe us out, I -suppose. Let me mount you, Miss North. Are you fellows going to stop -out all night? Had we better bring <i>that</i> along, do you think?” -</p> - -<p> -This was added in a lower tone, as he pointed to the robber’s corpse. -After some demur it was decided to lay it across the saddle of -Brendon’s pony, which had found its way back to the rest with a pair -of broken knees, and they rode back towards the gorge, the last man -leading the laden pony, so that it might be kept out of Mabel’s sight. -As they approached the entrance to the ravine Dr Tighe came forward -hastily to meet them. -</p> - -<p> -“Look here,” he said, “I want some one to ride on to Alibad at once. -The Commissioner has broken his knee-cap and a few other things, and -Major North’s is the nearest house, but Mrs North mustn’t be -frightened. Milton, your pony’s a good one, I know, so just take it -out of him. Say nothing about Miss North or Brendon or anything, but -tell Mrs North the Commissioner has had a nasty fall, and I am -bringing him to her house with a fractured patella and a pair of -smashed ribs. She can get things ready, and send on to my house for -anything she doesn’t happen to have.” -</p> - -<p> -“Surely the ladies had better go back with me, Doctor?” asked Milton, -pausing as he was about to start. -</p> - -<p> -“No, we don’t want any more kidnapping to-night. We must travel -slowly, all of us, but they’ll be safer than with you. Feel shaky, -Miss North? Drink this,” and he handed her a flask-cup. “Miss Graham -is waiting to weep tears of joy over you. What, aren’t you gone yet, -Milton?” -</p> - -<p> -“Tell Major North to arrest the syce,” Fitz shouted after the -messenger as he disappeared in the darkness. -</p> - -<p> -“Off with your coats, you young fellows!” cried Dr Tighe, as the thud -of the pony’s steps upon the sand died away. “The Commissioner has to -be carried home somehow, and there’s not so much as a stick to make a -stretcher of. We must tie the coats together by the sleeves, and -manufacture a litter in that way.” -</p> - -<p> -No one dared to scoff, although no one could understand what the -doctor meant to do; but working energetically under his directions, -they succeeded in framing a sufficiently practicable litter. Six of -the party were chosen as bearers, and the others were to relieve them, -their duty in the meantime being to lead the riderless horses and keep -watch against a surprise. Mabel and Flora, who had been enjoying the -luxury of shedding a few tears together in private, were placed at the -head of the procession, and the march began. At first the litter -containing the wounded man followed close after the two girls; but -presently Fitz, who was one of the bearers, felt his arm grasped. -</p> - -<p> -“Let the ladies get ahead of us, please. I—I can’t stand this very -well.” -</p> - -<p> -Fitz understood. Mr Burgrave was suffering acutely in being carried -over the rough ground, and he feared lest some sound extorted from him -by the pain should acquaint Mabel with the fact. The litter and its -bearers dropped behind, and if now and then a groan was forced from -the Commissioner’s lips, his rival, at any rate, felt no contempt for -the involuntary weakness. Before half of the journey had been -accomplished, a relief party, headed by Dick, met them, and Mr -Burgrave was transferred to a charpoy carried by natives, after Dr -Tighe had made rough and ready use of the splints and strapping -Georgia had sent. A little later a detachment of the Khemistan Horse -passed at a smart trot in the direction of the gorge. It was not now -the rule, as in the early days of General Keeling’s reign, for the -regiment to sleep in its boots, but it was still supposed to be ready -day and night to trace the perpetrators of any outrage and bring them -to justice—rough justice, sometimes, but none the less impressive for -that. The sight gave Mabel a sense of safety and comfort, and she -scouted Flora’s proposal that she should come home with her for the -night. -</p> - -<p> -“As if I would leave Georgie alone, with all this extra work on her -hands!” she said, as they turned in at the gate. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Mab, is it true about the Commissioner?” cried Georgia, coming -out to meet them on the verandah. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; I am afraid he’s dreadfully hurt, poor man!” -</p> - -<p> -“Was he riding with you when he fell?” -</p> - -<p> -“He—he was riding after me,” said Mabel cautiously. -</p> - -<p> -Georgia threw up her hands. “Oh, if you could only have hurt any other -man, or taken him to any house but this!” she cried; and Mabel thought -it both unkind and unfair, considering the circumstances. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch08"> -CHAPTER VIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">Hark</span>! what was that? Mabel sprang up in bed, her heart beating -furiously, her hands clammy with fear. There was the sound of horses’ -feet, the rattling of bridles, on every side. A wild impulse seized -her to creep under the dressing-table—to hide herself anywhere, but a -moment later she laughed aloud. The very last thing before going to -bed, Dick had told her for her comfort that not only would the usual -Sikh sentry keep guard over the Commissioner’s slumbers, but the -compound would be patrolled all night by the Khemistan Horse. She -crept to the window and peered out between the slats of the venetians. -Yes; there they were—splendid men with huge turbans, and -accoutrements glittering in the moonlight—pacing slowly to and fro -upon their stout little horses. But how was it that there were two of -them at that far corner of the compound, where she could scarcely -distinguish their figures, and why had they paused as though to listen -for something? Mabel listened too, and presently, above the nearer -noises of trampling hoofs and jingling bits, she heard the approach of -a galloping horse. Was it a scout coming in to give warning of a -threatened attack? But no; the two men at the corner sat motionless on -their horses, and as the sound came nearer and nearer she saw the -flash of their tulwars. They were saluting—whom or what? Mabel -strained her eyes to see, but could distinguish nothing. Then she -remembered. It was General Keeling to whom they were doing honour, as -he rode his periodical rounds, watchful for the safety of his old -province. A cold sweat broke out all over her, and in a panic of which -she was heartily ashamed even at the moment, she scurried back to bed -and gave herself up to more and more violent paroxysms of horror. Of -what use were sentinels against such a visitant as this? Suppose it -was his will to come closer, to come up to the house, to enter? What -could be more likely? She lifted her head for a moment and listened -again. Surely that was a horse’s tread upon the drive, approaching the -door? In reality, the intruder was only one of the patrols, but in the -state of ungovernable terror in which Mabel was plunged this did not -occur to her, and she buried her head under the bed-clothes and -screamed. -</p> - -<p> -The ayah, roused from her heavy slumbers by her mistress’s shrieks, -came shivering to her side and tried to quiet her, but finding her -entreaties of no avail, ran for help. Presently Georgia glided in, -looking like a reproachful ghost herself, in a white dressing-gown, -and proffered Mabel three tabloids and a glass of water, as sternly as -if she had been Queen Eleanor handing Rosamund the poison. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll sit by you till you are asleep,” she whispered; “but you mustn’t -make such a noise. You’ll wake the Commissioner, and he has only just -dropped off to sleep, poor man!” -</p> - -<p> -“I know I’m a fearful baby,” confessed Mabel, restored to calmness by -the eminently practical nature of Georgia’s benevolence, “but I was so -horribly frightened. Is poor Mr Burgrave very bad?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was a nasty accident,” replied Georgia, with professional caution. -</p> - -<p> -“What have you done to him?” -</p> - -<p> -“Strapped up the broken ribs, and applied ice to the leg and slung it -up.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ugh, cruel creature! ice this cold night? I suppose it’s because you -hate him so much?” -</p> - -<p> -“Hate him? What nonsense! How could we hate a man who has got hurt in -trying to save you? He’s so brave about it, too.” -</p> - -<p> -“And he didn’t mind having you for a doctor?” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course I was only helping Dr Tighe. But even if Mr Burgrave -disliked my being there, he wouldn’t show it. When Dr Tighe told him -he had better stay in this house until the splint is taken off, and -not run the risk of jarring the limb, he looked at me, and said, ‘If -my presence is not too troublesome to my kind surgeon here.’” -</p> - -<p> -“And smiled at you like a father. <i>I</i> know,” said Mabel, with sleepy -sarcasm. “Georgie,” she roused herself suddenly, “I want to know—how -is——” -</p> - -<p> -“Now, I will not answer another question to-night,” said Georgia -resolutely. “I am going to read to you till you fall asleep.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -When Mabel awoke in the morning she felt oppressed by an intolerable -burden. Body and mind seemed to be alike tired out, and it was an -effort even to open her eyes. Georgia and Dr Tighe were in the room -looking at her, and the sight of them reminded her that there was some -question she wanted to ask, but she could not remember what it was. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Miss North,” said Dr Tighe, “nerves a bit jumpy this morning, -eh? We’ll allow you a day in bed to settle them a little, but after -that you must get up and help Mrs North to look after her patient.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I’ll get up to-day,” said Mabel faintly. -</p> - -<p> -“No, no; don’t be in too great a hurry. Your brother will come in to -ask you a question or two in a few minutes, and afterwards you shall -try what a little more sleep and a little more slumber will do for -you. It’s quite evident that nature never meant you for a -frontierswoman.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Doctor,” expostulated Georgia, “think what she has gone through -since she came here, and only out from home such a short time! -Besides, nothing so bad as this has ever happened in our neighbourhood -before.” -</p> - -<p> -“At any rate, it’s the sort of thing you want to take to young if -you’re to shine in it,” said the doctor. “Life in these parts is not -exactly pretty, but it has its exciting moments. Nothing like what it -had once, though. A predecessor of mine under General Keeling used to -head cavalry charges and take forts in the intervals of his medical -duties. I have no pleasant little recreations of that sort for my -leisure hours. Now, Miss North, don’t let me see you dare to smile at -the thought of my heading a cavalry charge. There was some object in -training in those days, but naturally a man puts on weight when -there’s nothing to do but potter about an hospital.” -</p> - -<p> -“You see you’re not the only person in the world who hankers after -thrilling experiences, Mab,” said Georgia, as she left the room with -the doctor, and the words recalled to Mabel their conversation of -three weeks since. Stretching out her hand, she took a mirror from the -toilet-table and glanced at herself in it, only to drop the glass in -horror. What a hollow-eyed wreck she looked! Was it possible that one -night could work such a change? She had had her wish and tried -experiments in reality, and she recoiled from the result. -</p> - -<p> -“On the whole, I think I prefer the pleasing fictions of ordinary -English life,” she said to herself. -</p> - -<p> -“Good-morning, Mab,” said Dick’s voice, following a knock at the door. -“I’m not going to disturb you long, but I want you to tell Tighe and -me what you can remember about last night’s business. It’s necessary -for me to know, or I wouldn’t bother you.” -</p> - -<p> -With a shudder Mabel let her thoughts return to that homeward ride for -a moment, then looked up suddenly. “Oh, now I remember!” she said. “My -head is so stupid, I couldn’t think of it before. How is Mr Brendon?” -</p> - -<p> -Both men had expected her to ask after the Commissioner, and Brendon’s -name took them by surprise. “Brendon? Oh, he’s—he’s as well as he can -be,” said Dr Tighe hastily, recovering himself first. -</p> - -<p> -“But how can he possibly be well? His arm must have been nearly cut -off. He fell down under the horses’ feet. Oh, you don’t mean—he can’t -be——?” -</p> - -<p> -The silence was a sufficient answer, and she turned her face to the -wall with a moan. Brendon dead—for whom her kindliest feeling the -evening before had been a more or less good-natured contempt—and he -had practically given his life for her! -</p> - -<p> -“Look here, Mab,” said Dick earnestly; “it won’t do the poor fellow -any good to cry about him just now. What we want is evidence to -convict the villains who did it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Have you caught them?” came in a muffled voice from the bed. -</p> - -<p> -“I hope so. Winlock, who went out to track them last night, had his -own ideas on the subject, and posted part of his detachment in hiding -among the rocks round Dera Gul. A little before dawn three men rode -up, coming from Nalapur way—not from our direction—but they and -their horses were all dead-beat. Winlock arrested them, feeling pretty -certain they were the men he wanted, and had made a long round to -avert suspicion before going home. They were Bahram Khan’s servants, -sure enough, but he said they had been to Nalapur for him, and he -offered no objection to their being arrested. When you are better we -must see if you can identify any of them, but now all I want is to -know roughly what happened, on account of the—inquiry, which must -take place to-day.” -</p> - -<p> -Thus stimulated, Mabel told her tale, helped out by questions from -Dick, but breaking down more than once. He took down what she said, -and the doctor signed it as a witness, and then they left her to -Georgia’s ministrations. Georgia found her patient excited and -tearful, and sent Rahah at once to the surgery to make up a composing -draught. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Mab, lie down and try to be quiet,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“No, I won’t lie down. I can’t sleep,” cried Mabel. “Isn’t it -dreadful, my having to identify those men? I can’t bear to think of -it. And it brings it all back so vividly—the horrible helplessness—I -could do nothing—<i>nothing</i>—to save myself. I think I should have -gone mad in another moment if Mr Anstruther had not come up. And now -to have to go and look at them in cold blood, and say that I recognise -them! Isn’t there any way out of it? Oh, Georgie, can’t Dick make my -syce turn Queen’s evidence?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid not,” said Georgia reluctantly. “The fact is, Mab, your -syce didn’t wait to be caught. He went off while we were at the -picnic.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, well,” said Mabel despairingly, “then I must do it, I suppose. It -seems a kind of duty, as poor Mr Brendon was killed in trying to save -me, to have the men who killed him punished. But it’s awful to think -that three men will be hanged just because I saw their faces! They -will be hanged, won’t they?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know, really. It is very dreadful, Mab, but there is one good -thing about the whole affair. It may put things right on the frontier. -Both Dick and I think Bahram Khan was so confident of Mr Burgrave’s -support that he ventured on this outrage feeling sure that he would -see him through. If these three men are proved to be his agents, it -must open the Commissioner’s eyes. He’s an Englishman and an -honourable man, though dreadfully mistaken, and he can’t go on backing -him up after that. In fact, I’m sure he wouldn’t want to.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I don’t think he would. And I suppose there is no question about -it really? What do other people think?” -</p> - -<p> -“None of the men here have a doubt that it was Bahram Khan’s doing. As -for the regiment, they are so indignant over the insult offered to -Dick in attempting to carry off his sister, that they would like to -raze Dera Gul to the ground forthwith.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that’s the light in which they look at it? They don’t think of my -feelings in the matter at all?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid not. You and I are merely Dick’s chattels in their eyes, -you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“I may be, but you are not. My ayah Tara tells me all sorts of -wonderful things about you, Georgie, which she picks up from the other -servants. Do you know that when you kiss Dick before he starts in the -morning, they think you are putting a spell upon him to keep him safe -all day, and bring him back to you all right at night?” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia blushed like a girl. “That is really rather sweet,” she said. -“Rahah despises the people round here too much to tell me anything -they say about us.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Georgie,” cried Mabel, with sudden envy, “I would give anything -to care for any one as you do for Dick! You look quite different when -you talk about him. If only I wasn’t such a cold-hearted wretch! I -wish I had cared for poor Mr Brendon, even; that would be better than -caring for no one but myself.” -</p> - -<p> -She broke into a storm of tearless sobs, and Georgia hailed the -appearance of Rahah with the sleeping-draught, which she was obliged -to administer almost by force. It was some time in taking effect, but -at last the sobs died away, and she was able to leave the patient in -charge of her own ayah, while she went about her other duties. Not -until the morning of the next day did Mabel wake again, very much -ashamed of her behaviour, which she was conscious had not been exactly -in accordance with the high aspirations she had formerly confided to -Georgia. Resolved to redeem her character, she sprang out of bed at -once, and when Georgia came into her room on tiptoe, expecting to find -her asleep, she was already dressed. -</p> - -<p> -“Let me do something to help you,” she said eagerly. “You must have -had a fearful amount of extra work thrown on you yesterday. What can I -do?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, if you are so benevolently inclined, you might sit with the -Commissioner a little,” said Georgia. “He was asking for you all day, -and rather suspected us of concealing something dreadful from him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very well,” said Mabel readily. The proposal exactly fell in with her -wishes, for she had conceived a magnificent idea while dressing. By -her diplomacy she would induce the Commissioner to reverse his -frontier policy. -</p> - -<p> -“Miss North!” Mr Burgrave started up from his pillows as Mabel entered -the sickroom, but becoming suddenly conscious of his injuries, he sank -back again stiffly. “Excuse my left hand,” he added. “The other is off -work just now. And how are you? Really not much the worse?” -</p> - -<p> -“I had no business to be any the worse,” returned Mabel. “Nothing -happened to me, thanks to you and—the others.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, but the shock to the nerves must have been exceedingly severe,” -said Mr Burgrave soothingly. “As I remarked to Tighe yesterday, Mrs -North would have got over anything of the kind in an hour or two, but -you are much more highly strung.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel was vaguely aware that the comparison was intended to be in her -own favour, but she could not agree that the advantage was on her -side, and she changed the subject hastily. “I don’t know how to thank -you for what you did. Every time I think of that evening I feel more -and more how grateful I ought to be. And I am, indeed, but I can’t say -what I should like.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Burgrave raised his hand. “Please don’t, Miss North, or you will -make me more miserable than I am already. How can I forget that I did -nothing to help you? Mr Anstruther had that happiness, while I was -lying on the ground under my horse.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you tried—you did all you could—you are so terribly hurt!” -protested Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, and that is my only comfort. I was hurt, and therefore I am -here. No, on second thoughts, I don’t even envy Anstruther. He did the -work, but I have basely annexed the reward. To have rescued you was -happiness enough for him. I, who was unsuccessful, am consoled by -finding myself under the same roof with you for a fortnight. That is -enough for me.” -</p> - -<p> -“How nice of you to say so!” Mabel rose. “Then I can leave you alone -quite happily, and go and help Georgia?” -</p> - -<p> -“Miss North, you are not going already? What have I said to drive you -out of the room? Do you want me to pine away in melancholy solitude? -After all, I did try to rescue you, as you were kind enough to say -just now; but it will need your constant society and conversation to -keep me from brooding over my failure.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid my society won’t be very cheerful,” said Mabel, resuming -her seat with a sigh. “You see, I can’t help feeling that what -happened was a good deal my fault. If I had only told what I knew——” -</p> - -<p> -“Well?” asked Mr Burgrave anxiously, as she paused. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, but if I had, you would not have believed it,” was the unexpected -response, “any more than you would now.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you think I should be so rude as to question your word?” -</p> - -<p> -“You will when I tell you that I know the men who tried to carry me -off were agents of Bahram Khan’s.” -</p> - -<p> -“You have evidence to support this very serious charge, I presume? Are -you able to identify the men?” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose so; I haven’t tried yet. But, Mr Burgrave, I’m going to -tell you something that only my sister-in-law knows—not even my -brother, for I wouldn’t let her say anything to him. Bahram Khan did -want to—to marry me.” -</p> - -<p> -“What?” cried the Commissioner, starting up again. “You don’t mean to -say that he has ever ventured to—to suggest such a thing to you?” -Rage and disgust strove for the mastery in his voice. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, he has never said anything to me; but the day I was at Dera -Gul the women talked of nothing else.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, the women!” Mr Burgrave spoke quite calmly again, and with -evident relief. “You must remember that Bahram Khan is a good deal -more advanced in his notions than the other Sardars of the province, -and would like to imitate our ways with regard to ladies—English -ladies, I mean. That is just the sort of thing that native women can’t -understand. Any polite attention he might offer you would be -misconstrued by them into a cause for violent jealousy. Their mistake -made things extremely unpleasant for you at the moment, no doubt; but -you need not torment yourself with thinking that he had any such -preposterous idea in his head.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Burgrave did not actually say that a lady accustomed to universal -admiration was liable to perceive it even where it did not exist, but -this was what Mabel understood his slightly repressive tone to imply. -Ignorant of the Eye-of-the-Begum’s secret mission to Georgia, she -could not defend herself against the suggestion, and she grew crimson. -</p> - -<p> -“Why don’t you say that I imagined the whole thing?” she demanded. -“It’s not an experience I am proud of, I assure you. I told it you -purely in the hope that it might open your eyes a little, but since -you prefer to regard Bahram Khan as an interesting martyr——” -</p> - -<p> -“Pray don’t mistake me, Miss North. If I believed that Bahram Khan had -really devised this dastardly plot against you, I would hunt him down -like a bloodhound until he was delivered up to justice, though that -would mean the death of all my hopes for this frontier. In one way, of -course, it would simplify matters a good deal. I am not in the habit -of bothering ladies with politics, but there can be no harm in saying -that it gives me great pain to differ from a man I respect as I do -your brother. He has done so much for the frontier that it seems -almost presumption in me, a new-comer, to set my opinion above his. -However, I have formed that opinion after long and careful study of -the Khemistan problem, and only the very strongest proof that I had -been mistaken could induce me to alter it. But if you should be able -to identify Bahram Khan’s servants as your assailants, it would be -conclusive evidence that he is not the man I take him to be.” -</p> - -<p> -“And then you would see that Dick was right, and leave him to manage -things in his own way?” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear Miss North, we are now soaring into the domain of -improbabilities. If my opinion were once modified, it is possible that -your brother’s view might prevail, or again, it might not.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am certain he would not be sorry if Bahram Khan was proved to be -untrustworthy,” was Mabel’s mental comment. “It would show him a way -out of his difficulty. And now I shall be able to do it.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel was particularly cheerful all the rest of the day, as indeed she -had a right to be, for was she not about to secure the safety of the -frontier? Warned by her experience of the morning, she made no further -attempt to entrap Mr Burgrave into a political discussion, but -contented herself with showing in numberless little ways her gratitude -for the concession he was prepared to make. She even welcomed his -offer to introduce her to the beauties of Robert Browning, a poet -whose works she had been wont to regard with the mingled alarm and -dislike which, in the case of a modern young lady, can only spring -from ignorance of them. He sent a servant back to the bungalow he had -occupied to fetch the two portly volumes which, as he told her, always -formed a part of his travelling library, and she read aloud to him -without a murmur a considerable portion of “Paracelsus.” Under the -combined influence of his favourite poet and the reader’s voice, the -Commissioner forgot alike his injuries and the difficulties which -beset his policy, and the household fairly basked in his smiles. This, -at least, was what Fitz Anstruther said, but he had happened to -intrude upon the reading as the bearer of an important message from -Dick, and was adversely affected by the peaceful scene. -</p> - -<p> -The next morning, as Dick was going to his office, Mabel intercepted -him in the verandah. “I am ready to identify those men as soon as you -like, Dick,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -He looked at her in surprise. “Wouldn’t you rather wait until you have -recovered a little from the shock?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, I’m all right now. I should like to get it over, Dick.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, you certainly seem to have picked up wonderfully. I suppose -there’s no doubt of your knowing them again?” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel shuddered. “How could I help recognising them? The red light, -and those awful faces—it seems as if the whole thing was photographed -on my mind. I should know them anywhere.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, all right. It would be far worse, you know, to try to identify -them and fail than to let the thing go altogether.” -</p> - -<p> -“You needn’t be afraid. Only I should be glad not to have to look -forward to it much longer.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very well. No doubt it’s better to do it before the impression has a -chance of fading from your mind. It’s a bother about the Commissioner, -though. He insists on being present, and Georgie and Tighe say he -mustn’t on any account be allowed to move until they have wired his -knee. We shall have to carry his bed out on the verandah, I suppose. -Just like him to think the show can’t go on without him. Of course -he’s afraid we shall contrive to bring his precious <i>protégé</i> in -guilty in some underhand way.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel smiled as Dick went down the steps, for she knew better. Mr -Burgrave’s anxiety was not so much for Bahram Khan personally as for -his own schemes, and not so much for them as for the continuance of -his friendship with the North family. This knowledge, and the pleasing -conviction that she alone possessed it, sustained her when she was -summoned in the afternoon to identify her three surviving assailants. -</p> - -<p> -“Come along,” said Dick, entering the drawing-room; “they’re all here, -and Tighe has superintended the removal of the distinguished patient. -They’re in the verandah outside his room. Don’t be frightened, Mab. -Georgia shall come too, and support you.” -</p> - -<p> -In spite of her resolution, Mabel trembled a little as she entered the -improvised police-court, realising once more what issues hung upon her -words. Fitz was there, and a Hindu clerk, and the Commissioner, -propped up in bed. Before them stood a dozen natives with turbans and -clothes of various degrees of picturesque dirt and raggedness, guarded -by as many dismounted troopers armed to the teeth. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Mab, pick ’em out,” murmured Dick, from behind his sister. -</p> - -<p> -“But there are too many men here. There were only three left,” -objected Mabel, in a hasty whisper. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, and you have to tell us which they were. You didn’t think we -were going to parade the three prisoners and invite you to swear to -them, did you? Now don’t waste the time of the court.” -</p> - -<p> -Absolute despair seized upon Mabel as she stood in front of the line -of men, and looked shrinkingly into their faces. How was it possible -that so many natives, differing presumably in origin and -circumstances, could be so much alike? Not one of them blenched under -her timid scrutiny. Some looked stolid and some bored, and one or two -even amused, but this gave her no help. At last, however, it struck -her that there was something familiar in one or two of the faces. She -moved a step or so in order to examine them more carefully, and then -looked round at Dick and the rest. -</p> - -<p> -“This man,” she said, pointing to one, “and that one, and this.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are certain?” asked Mr Burgrave. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; I know their faces quite well.” -</p> - -<p> -This time an undisguised smile ran momentarily along the line of -swarthy countenances, only to disappear before Dick’s frown. -</p> - -<p> -“Take them away,” he said to the troopers, and with a clanking of -chains here and there, the prisoners and their guard departed. -</p> - -<p> -“What is the matter?” asked Mabel in bewilderment, as she looked from -one to the other of the three chagrined faces before her. “What have I -done?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, only identified as your assailants one of the <i>chaprasis</i> and a -sowar in mufti and the gardener’s son, who were all peacefully going -about their lawful business at the time of the outrage,” said Dick -bitterly. “You have made us the laughing-stock of the frontier.” -</p> - -<p> -“But—but weren’t the real men there at all?” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course they were, but you passed them over.” -</p> - -<p> -“And what will happen to them now?” -</p> - -<p> -“They’ll be discharged for lack of evidence, that’s all. Bahram Khan -will testify that they had been to Nalapur on an errand for him, and -other witnesses will swear that they saw and spoke to them there, and -we can say nothing.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch09"> -CHAPTER IX.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">WOUNDED HERO AND MINISTERING ANGEL.</span> -</h3> - -<div class="quote_o"><div class="quote_i"> -<p class="i0">“‘<span class="sc">Are</span> we not halves of one dissevered world,</p> -<p class="i0">Whom this strange chance unites once more? Part? never!</p> -<p class="i0">Till thou, the lover, know; and I, the knower,</p> -<p class="i0">Love—’”</p> -</div></div> - -<p class="noindent"> -read Mabel, and paused, since it was evident that her auditor had some -remark to make. -</p> - -<p> -“It has always seemed to me,” said Mr Burgrave, “that in this meeting -between Paracelsus and Aprile, whose characteristics are so -essentially feminine, the poet has typified for all time the union of -the masculine and feminine elements in human nature. Woman—the -creature of feeling, man—the creature of reason, neither complete -without the other. Before perfection can be attained, the lover must -learn to know, the knower to love.” -</p> - -<p> -“All women are not creatures of feeling,” said Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“But you would scarcely say that any woman was a creature of reason? -Such a—a person would not be a woman. She would be a monstrosity.” -</p> - -<p> -“I mean that I don’t think you can divide people by hard and fast -lines in that way. It’s perfectly possible for a man to be a creature -of feeling, and I know women who are quite as reasonable as any man.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pardon me; you don’t altogether follow my argument. I yield to no one -in my admiration of the conclusions at which women arrive. They are -often—one might say very often—astonishingly correct, but they are -purely the result of a leap in the dark, and not of any process of -reasoning. And since this is so, no wise man can feel safe in acting -upon them, while where the lady—as is not infrequently the case with -her charming sex—is biassed by her personal feelings, they are liable -to be dangerously deceptive.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel closed the book with a bang. “I wonder,” she said angrily, “at -your talking in this way, as if I wasn’t horribly humiliated enough -already. It was simply a chance that I didn’t identify the right men, -and I <i>know</i> just the same that it was Bahram Khan who employed them.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Burgrave raised his eyebrows slightly. “Indeed, my dear Miss North, -you must pardon my maladroitness. I assure you that I had no intention -whatever of alluding to the—let us say the disagreeable incident of -yesterday. I was dealing purely with generalities.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you yourself know perfectly well—though you pretend not to think -so—that it was Bahram Khan,” persisted Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -The Commissioner raised himself on his elbow and looked straight at -her, and Mabel quailed. “And is it possible,” he demanded, “that you -believe I am deliberately sheltering from justice, contrary to the -dictates of my own conscience, a wretch who has dared to raise his -hand against an Englishwoman—against a lady for whom I have the -highest regard? No, Miss North, you must be good enough to withdraw -those words. Even your brother and his wife are sufficiently just to -believe me an honourable man, although we differ on so many points.” -</p> - -<p> -The stern blue eyes under the lowering brows seemed to pierce Mabel -through and through. She half rose from her chair, then sat down -again, and repressed with difficulty a threatened burst of tears. -</p> - -<p> -“I—I didn’t mean that,” she faltered. “All I meant was that I didn’t -see how you could think anything else when we are all so sure of it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Allow me to say that I credit you with the sincerity you refuse to -recognise in me. Your brother has a strong prejudice—there is no -other word for it—against Bahram Khan, which he has transmitted to -you, and you look at the facts in the light of that prejudice. I was -perfectly willing to be convinced of the young man’s guilt by the -merest shred of anything that could be called evidence, but none was -produced. The case against him broke down completely. Would you have -me withdraw my countenance from a man whom I conscientiously believe -to be innocent, and ruin all his prospects, simply on the score of an -unf— unsupported opinion of yours? No, Miss North, I won’t believe it -of you. You must perceive that I am right.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you said our intuitions were wonderfully correct, and that your -judgment was incomplete by itself,” urged Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“To be of any real value, the feminine intuition must be confirmed by -the masculine judgment. Its use is purely supplementary.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Mr Burgrave, you can’t really mean that! Why, my brother would -never dream of doing anything without consulting his wife. He thinks -most highly of her judgment.” -</p> - -<p> -“Surely Major North is the best judge of his own affairs?” suggested -Mr Burgrave dryly. “If he has confidence in his wife’s judgment, it is -only natural he should wish to avail himself of it. Such would not be -my case, I confess, but then, the confidence would be wanting.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, according to you, I ought to model my opinions on some one’s,” -said Mabel—“Dick’s, I suppose—and that’s just what you have been -scolding me for doing.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick’s?” said the Commissioner reflectively. “No, not Dick’s, I -think. That was not at all what I had in my mind, Miss North. And have -I been scolding you, or is that another mistaken intuition? You know -how gladly I would have accepted your view of Bahram Khan’s guilt, if -that had been possible?” -</p> - -<p> -“I know you said so, and I hoped so much——” Mabel’s eyes were full -of tears. -</p> - -<p> -“And do you know why that was?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, indeed, I can’t imagine.” She spoke hastily, scenting danger. The -Commissioner smiled paternally. -</p> - -<p> -“No? Then will you do me the favour to consider the matter? Ask -yourself why I was willing, even anxious, to be converted from my own -opinion. When you have arrived at the answer, I shall know.” -</p> - -<p> -He smiled at her again from his pillows, but Mabel muttered something -incoherent and fled. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know what to do!” she cried, in the seclusion of her own -room. “Does he think I am a baby, or a little school-girl? If he wants -to propose, why can’t he do it straight out, and take his refusal like -a man? I know how to manage that sort of thing. But to break the idea -to me gradually in this way, as if I was—oh, I don’t know what—a -sort of fairy that must be handled gently for fear it should vanish -into thin air—it’s insufferable! And the worst of it is, I can’t -quite make out how to stop it. I seem somehow to have got myself into -his power.” -</p> - -<p> -To see as little of Mr Burgrave as possible, and to confine the -conversation to safe subjects when she did meet him, was the remedy -which naturally suggested itself, and Mabel did her best to apply it; -but, to her dismay, it did not appear to produce any effect. She had -even a distinct feeling that it was just what Mr Burgrave had -expected. Moreover, it was extremely difficult to put in practice. Now -that the operation had been performed on the patient’s knee, and the -leg fixed immovably in a splint, he was allowed to be lifted on a -couch, and thus to spend his days in the society of his hosts. Dick -was out as much as ever, and when Georgia was busy, it was obviously -Mabel’s duty to entertain the invalid. It is sad to relate that when -escape proved impossible, she was reduced to assuming an intense -interest in the study of Browning, toiling through “Sordello” with -astonishing patience. But if any valid excuse offered itself for -leaving Mr Burgrave to his own reflections, she embraced it gladly, -and when the arrival in the neighbourhood of one of the nomadic tribes -brought Georgia a sudden rush of patients, she volunteered at once to -help her in dealing with them. -</p> - -<p> -The surgery in which Georgia received her visitors was a building -standing by itself in the compound, and approached by a special gate -in the wall, so that the ladies might come to see their doctor without -fear of encountering any rude masculine gaze. As an additional -precaution, when the wives of any of the chief men came to the -surgery, they brought a youth with them as attendant, who mounted -guard over a motley array of slippers at the door, and completed the -security against profane intrusion. Inside, Georgia dealt with the -cases individually in a small room at one end, while in the large room -the visitors sat on the floor in rows, looking at the pictures on the -walls, or listening casually to the Biblewoman, trained by Miss -Jenkins at the Bab-us-Sahel Mission, who sat among them and read or -talked. At the other end was another small room, where a patient and -her friends were occasionally accommodated when Georgia had any -special reason for wishing to keep the case under her own eye, and the -husband was more than usually indulgent. At other times there stood in -this room a spring bedstead, which was never used, but which the women -made up parties to inspect, personally conducted by Rahah. There was a -history attaching to this object of pilgrimage. Two years before a -lady globe-trotter of exalted rank, in the course of an adventurous -flying visit to the frontier, had spent a night at the Norths’, and -been stirred to enthusiasm by Georgia’s quiet but far-reaching work -among the women. Her Grace deplored sympathetically the absence of a -proper hospital, and offered to put her London drawing-room at Mrs -North’s disposal during her next visit home, that she might plead for -funds to establish one. Georgia pointed out, however, that the -smallness of the station, and the uncertain character of the -wanderings of the tribes, would probably result in leaving the -hospital empty for eleven months out of the year, while if Dick should -be transferred to another post, its <i>raison d’être</i> would be gone. -The duchess was disappointed, but not crushed. Would Mrs North allow -her to send a gift, just one, to the surgery as it stood at present? -She could not bear to think of the terrible discomfort the poor sick -women must suffer. -</p> - -<p> -Georgia consented, and after a time the gift arrived, brought -up-country at a vast expenditure of toil and money. It was a -regulation hospital bed, the very latest patent, which could be made -to roll itself the wrong way like a bucking horse, stand up on end, -kneel down like a camel, dislocate itself in unexpected places, and -perform other acrobatic feats, all by turning a handle. Rahah sat -before it in silent admiration for a whole morning, occasionally -pressing the wires gently down for the pleasure of seeing them rise -again. When she had drunk in this delight sufficiently, she ventured -to put the bedstead through its paces, rushing to summon her mistress -in joyful awe at each new trick she discovered. But so far, her -enjoyment was incomplete. To be perfect, the bed needed a patient to -occupy it, and at last one was brought in by her friends, crippled by -some rheumatic affection. Rahah herself laid her on the bed, only to -behold her leap from it immediately with the strength of perfect -health. There was an evil spirit in the bed, she declared. All other -beds sank when you lay down upon them, this one rose up. And in spite -of the wonderful cure of this first and only case, the bed was never -occupied again. It was talked of all along the frontier, the women -came for miles to see it, and watched in shuddering delight while -Rahah showed them what it could do; but it was only very rarely that a -heroine could be found bold enough even to touch it with a finger. -Meanwhile, the patients continued to sleep on their mats or their -charpoys, insisting that the bed should be turned out of the room -before they would take up their quarters there, lest the evil spirit -should seize upon them during the hours of darkness. -</p> - -<p> -On this particular morning Rahah was exhibiting the wonders of the bed -to a party of new arrivals, and Mabel was deputed to see that the -patients were admitted into Georgia’s sanctum in proper order, and -only one at a time. Seeing that they were all comfortably seated -facing the Biblewoman, she thought it would be best to begin with -those nearest the door, thus going through the whole assemblage -methodically. The women, on the other hand, considered that the worst -cases ought to be seen first, and each woman was firmly convinced that -her own case was the worst of all. Hence arose an uproar, in which the -sympathising friends accompanying each would-be patient joined with -all the force of their lungs, besieging the unfortunate Mabel, who -could not understand a word, with a tumult of assertions, -contradictions, and maledictions. At last one woman, who carried a -baby, was seized with a bright idea. Flinging away a fold of her veil -from the child’s face, she held it out to Mabel, exhibiting the awful -condition of its eyes, which were almost sightless from neglected -ophthalmia, as an incontestable proof of her right to the first place. -The hint was not lost upon the other women, and in a moment Mabel was -surrounded by sights from which she recoiled in horror. At first she -was too much appalled to move, as each woman displayed triumphantly -the urgency of her own need, and then she turned sick and faint. The -agglomeration of so many miseries was too much for her. Rahah, -returning at the moment, left the outer door open, and this gave her -courage to escape. Pressing her hands over her eyes, she burst through -the astonished crowd, drank in a draught of pure fresh air, and then -fairly ran across the compound and back to the house. Mounting the -steps with difficulty, she staggered and caught at the rail to steady -herself, only avoiding a fall by a wild clutch at one of the pillars -when she reached the top. An exclamation of concern reached her ears, -and she became dimly conscious that Mr Burgrave was making desperate -efforts to rise from his couch. -</p> - -<p> -“You are ill, Miss North! What is it? You don’t mean to say that -another attempt has been made——?” -</p> - -<p> -“To carry me off? Oh no, not quite so near home.” Mabel laughed a -little, and as she began to see more clearly, noticed how the -remorseful anxiety in his face gave place to unfeigned relief. “No, -I’m not ill, only silly and faint.” -</p> - -<p> -“Try a whiff of this, then.” He passed her a bottle of salts. “I was -allowed to revive myself with it when my doctors had been -investigating the inside of my knee a little more closely than was -pleasant.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, don’t!” cried Mabel faintly. “I never want to hear a doctor -mentioned again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what has happened? Has Mrs North turned vivisectionist?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, of course not. It was only that I was helping her with her -patients, and they had such awful things the matter with them that -I—well, I ran away.” -</p> - -<p> -“And very wisely. Do I understand that Mrs North required you to -expose yourself to the sight of these horrors? It is monstrous!” -</p> - -<p> -“She didn’t ask me to come; I offered to help her.” -</p> - -<p> -“In the hope of pleasing her, of course. It is all the same. In the -abundant strength of mind and body she possesses, she forgets that -other people are more delicately organised than herself. I am amazed -at her lack of consideration.” -</p> - -<p> -“I won’t have you say such things about Georgia!” cried Mabel. “She is -the best and dearest woman I know.” -</p> - -<p> -“I honour your enthusiasm. Pray don’t mistake me. I have the highest -possible esteem myself for Mrs North, but she is a little too -strenuous for my taste.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wouldn’t have her the least bit different. I wish I was like her, -instead of being so silly and cowardly.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, Miss North, let me beg of you not to wish that. I would not have -<i>you</i> different. Your sister-in-law’s training and her past -experiences account for many—er—remarkable points in her character, -but, believe me, your true friends would rather see in you this -womanly shrinking from the sight of suffering than a bold -determination to relieve it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I hope I may consider you one of those true friends?” Mabel tried to -infuse a note of strong sarcasm into her voice. -</p> - -<p> -“I hope you may. It is difficult, is it not, to feel confidence in one -who differs so totally from Mrs North and her husband? But this is a -question upon which we will not enter—yet.” -</p> - -<p> -“Could I say that I preferred to enter upon it at once?” Mabel -demanded angrily of herself when she had made her escape. “Somehow he -gets such an advantage over me by putting me down in that lofty way, -and yet I don’t know how to stop it. The idea of his daring to -criticise Georgie to me!” -</p> - -<p> -But Mr Burgrave was even bolder than Mabel imagined. Returning the -next morning from a ride with Fitz Anstruther, she was greeted by a -laugh from Georgia as she mounted the steps. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Mab, I have been having quite a scolding, and all about you! It’s -clear that I am not worthy to have such a sister-in-law.” -</p> - -<p> -“Georgie! you don’t mean that Mr Burgrave has been so rude as to——” -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Mab, you know better than that. It would be impossible to him to -be rude. He simply took me to task, very mildly and calmly, about the -way I neglect you, though I stand to you in the place of a mother——” -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense!” exclaimed Mabel, her face scarlet. -</p> - -<p> -“So he says. It seems I am lacking in the tenderness which should be -lavished upon you. Our rough frontier life ought to be tempered to you -by all sorts of sweetness and light which I have made no attempt to -supply. I have been inconsiderate in bringing you into contact with -the revolting details of my professional work, and a lot more. Do -forgive me, Mab. I really haven’t meant to do all these dreadful -things, but you did want to make acquaintance with realities, you -know.” -</p> - -<p> -“That man is getting unbearable!” broke from Mabel. “I shall speak to -him—No, I shan’t,” she added wearily; “it’s no good. He gets the -better of me somehow or other. Can’t you put a little cold poison into -his medicine, Georgie? Surely it’s a case in which the end would -justify the means.” -</p> - -<p> -She went indoors with rather a forced laugh, and Fitz, who had been -looking out over the desert without appearing to notice what was being -said, turned round suddenly to Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“Can you honestly expect me to stand all this much longer, Mrs North?” -</p> - -<p> -“All what?” asked Georgia, in astonishment. -</p> - -<p> -“The Commissioner’s intolerable assumption. Any one would think he was -Miss North’s guardian, or her father, or even”—with a fierce -laugh—“her husband. What right has he to take it upon himself to -defend her?—as if she needed any defending against you! It’s nothing -but his arrogant impudence.” -</p> - -<p> -“But still”—Georgia spoke with some hesitation—“how does it affect -you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Mrs North, you needn’t pretend not to have noticed. You know as -well as I do that the Commissioner and I are both—er—well, we are -both awfully gone on Miss North, and he isn’t playing fair. You have -seen it, haven’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have, indeed, but I hoped you hadn’t quite found out what your real -feelings were.” -</p> - -<p> -“Surely you must have thought me a hopeless idiot? I found out all -about it the day she had that fall from her horse.” -</p> - -<p> -“So long ago as that? Why, you had scarcely known her a fortnight!” -</p> - -<p> -“But I met her first years ago, before we went to Kubbet-ul-Haj. -Besides, what does it signify if I had only known her an hour? It is -the kind of feeling one can only have for one woman in one’s life.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you didn’t say anything?” asked Georgia anxiously. -</p> - -<p> -Fitz laughed shamefacedly. “No, I have said nothing even yet. The fact -is, it seemed sacrilege even to think of it. She is so lovely, so -sweet, so far above me in every way! Oh, Mrs North, I could rave about -her for hours.” -</p> - -<p> -“And so you shall,” was the cordial but unexpected response, “as often -as you like, and I will listen patiently, provided that you still say -nothing to her.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no; things can’t go on in this way. You see, the Commissioner has -changed all that. He goes in and fights for his own hand in the most -barefaced way, and I must get my innings too. After all, though it -sounds horribly low to say it, I did kill the fellow that was carrying -her off, and bring her back.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course you did. If that was all, you certainly deserve to win -her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; but then the Commissioner scores in having got hurt. He sees her -for ever so long every day, and she is so awfully kind, talking to him -and reading to him, and letting him prose away to her, that no wonder -he thinks he is making splendid running. I only wish I had got hurt -too.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you really?” asked Georgia, with meaning in her tone. -</p> - -<p> -“No, Mrs North, you’re right; I don’t. If we had both been hurt there -would have been no one with the slightest chance of catching up the -rascals. Whether she takes him or me in the end, I did save her, at -any rate.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good,” said Georgia encouragingly. “I like that spirit.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, now you know how things stand. You see what an advantage the -Kumpsioner Sahib is taking of her gratitude and your kindness, and you -can guess how I feel about it. Tell me candidly, do you think I have -the slightest chance? Why did you say that you hoped I had not -understood my own feelings?” -</p> - -<p> -“Simply because a waiting game is your only chance. Since you ask me, -I will speak plainly. You are younger than Mabel, you know; it is -undeniable, unfortunately”—as Fitz made a gesture of impatience—“and -Dick and I have got into the way of treating you like a son or a -brother—a very much younger brother. We haven’t taken you seriously, -and I am very much afraid Mabel doesn’t either. Mr Burgrave holds a -very high position, and he is a man of great distinction. We on this -frontier cherish an unfortunate prejudice against him, of course, but -elsewhere he is considered most charming and fascinating. How can she -but feel flattered by his homage? And he has undoubtedly acquired a -great influence over her; I can’t help seeing that. And yet I can’t -make out that she cares for him, and I have watched her closely.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, that is one grain of comfort, at any rate,” said Fitz -disconsolately. “But he is not going to carry her off without my -having the chance to say a word to her first, I can tell him.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia looked up anxiously. “Don’t throw away your only hope,” she -entreated. “What you have to do is to make yourself necessary to her. -You have been managing very well hitherto—always ready to do anything -she wanted. Make yourself so useful to her as a friend that she would -rather keep you as a lover than lose you altogether.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I say, Mrs North, you don’t flatter a man’s vanity much!” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I do. At least, I am showing that I think you capable of a great -deal of self-effacement for the sake of winning her.” -</p> - -<p> -“And if the Commissioner carries her off meanwhile?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think he will, provided you let her alone. But if you worry -her to have you, she may accept him just to be rid of your attentions. -And then there will be nothing to be done but to bear it like a man.” -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t disguise the taste of your medicines much, Mrs Dr North. -I’ll chew the bitter pill as I ride, and try to look as if I liked it. -I was to meet the Major at the old fort at ten o’clock. It’s awfully -good of you to have listened so patiently to my symptoms, and -prescribed for me so fully.” -</p> - -<p> -He ran down the steps and rode away, arriving at the fort a little -late, to find that Dick was already discussing with Colonel Graham the -business on which they had come. A series of small thefts, irritating -rather than serious, had occurred on the club premises of late, and -the minds of the members were exercised over the question of their -prevention in future. As Fitz rode up Dick and Colonel Graham were -descending to the courtyard after making the round of the walls, and -the former signed to him to wait where he was. -</p> - -<p> -“I never remember such a succession of petty robberies before,” said -Colonel Graham. “The natives must be in a very unsettled state.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m not sorry these things have happened,” returned Dick. “In fact, -I’m glad of it.” -</p> - -<p> -Colonel Graham glanced at him. “What have you got in your head?” he -asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Simply this. I suppose you believe, as I do, that the thief gets in -by climbing over the wall, while the watchman is busy guarding the -gateway and never thinks that there is any other means of entering?” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s my idea. In a climate like this mud-brick is bound to go -pretty soon if it isn’t looked after, and for years the rain has -washed it down into these rubbish-heaps, till they are as good as so -many flights of steps. What with the grass and bushes growing all -about, it’s as easy as possible to get in. I could do it myself.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you agree that it would be as well to make it harder? I propose -that we call a club meeting and invite subscriptions for the purpose -of putting the walls into proper repair. Otherwise we shall soon have -the place down on our heads.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that sort of thing will take a long time to organise.” -</p> - -<p> -“It needn’t, since it’s only to keep the natives from thinking there’s -anything up. So far as I can see, there’s no particular reason why you -and I shouldn’t head the subscription list with a thousand rupees -each—so that the most pressing work may be begun at once—or why that -two thousand rupees shouldn’t last out better than such a sum ever did -before.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good! Are we to take the young fellows into our confidence?” -</p> - -<p> -“Runcorn may as well know all about it. A sapper will be useful in -deciding what it’s possible to do in the time. Happily he and the -canal people have kept the wall overlooking the water in tolerable -repair. As for the other sides, we must clear away the rubbish from -the foot of the walls, and build up the parapets where the bricks have -weathered away. The bushes must go, naturally, and the ramparts be -made a fairly safe promenade—for the ladies, of course. The tower -stairs are awfully dangerous, and it will be quite natural to have -them seen to, and the floors and loopholes may as well be looked after -while we are about it, though we shall never get a satisfactory -flanking fire without rebuilding the whole thing. I shall take it upon -myself to present the place with a new gate—not obtrusively martial -in appearance, but with a certain reserve strength about it. My wife -will think me a terrible Vandal for spoiling the beautiful ruin her -father left behind him, but it’s obvious that the <i>chaukidar</i> will be -able to look after the place better when there’s a gate to shut.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should say there won’t be much ruin left when you have done with -it,” said Colonel Graham. “It’s a mere coincidence that our largest -godown turns out to be in the way of the canal extension works, and -has been condemned. There would be no harm in storing the corn and a -few other little trifles in the vaults under the club-house, and it -would give us an excuse for posting a sentry here at night.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good,” said Dick, in his turn. “What accomplished deceivers we shall -be by the time this is over, if we live to see it!” -</p> - -<p> -“You think things are in a bad way?” -</p> - -<p> -“What do you think yourself?” -</p> - -<p> -“I? I have no opinion. You have been on this frontier much longer than -I have, and you are in political charge. I’ve seen enough to know that -there’s something queer going on, that’s all.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll tell you one thing that’s going on. Five times in the last -fortnight I have received secret information of tribal gatherings -which were to be held without my knowledge. Of course I made a point -of turning up, and behaving just as if I had received an invitation in -due form.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, that was all right, so far.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, but think of the <i>jirgahs</i> that I did not hear of. What went on -at them?” -</p> - -<p> -“I see; it looks bad. What do you propose doing?” -</p> - -<p> -“What ought to be done is to revive the martial law proclamation, -which has been in abeyance for the last four years. But I am not -supreme here just now.” -</p> - -<p> -“Surely the Commissioner would not interfere with the exercise of your -authority?” -</p> - -<p> -“The Commissioner has imbibed so many horrors about the Khemistan -frontier that he is pleased every morning to find himself alive, and -the house not burnt over his head. I believe he regards the -improvement as due to his own presence here, and at the same time -considers it an additional proof that Khemistan may now be governed -like all the other provinces. If I had things my own way, my very -first move would be to deport Burgrave, preferably to Simla, where he -could both be happy himself and a cause of happiness to others, but as -it is, he will probably deport me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you believe he has some trick on hand too?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m sure of it. He is in constant communication with Government. -Beardmore and his clerks come to him every day”—Beardmore was the -Commissioner’s private secretary, and a man after his chief’s own -heart, of the type that considers it has successfully surmounted a -crisis when it has drawn up a state-paper on the subject, and has no -inconvenient yearnings after energetic action—“and he is busy with -them for hours, concocting a report on the state of the frontier, I -suppose. When that is finished, we may expect the blow.” -</p> - -<p> -“What is it that you expect exactly? A friend of mine at headquarters -tells me there’s a persistent rumour——” -</p> - -<p> -“That they intend to withdraw the subsidy, and cut loose from Nalapur? -Just so. And that means the deluge for us. The blessed word -Non-intervention will bring about the need for intervention, as -usual.” -</p> - -<p> -“Our people will rise?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not at first. Bahram Khan will probably remove his uncle quietly, and -in order to still any unpleasant rumours, encourage raids on us, which -will serve the further purpose of awakening the appetite for blood and -loot. The Sardars will be got to believe that we have only drawn back -in order to advance better, and that their one chance is to make the -first move. They will cross the border, and our people will join -them.” -</p> - -<p> -“And we shall be thankful for the fort? North, in view of all this, -what do you say to sending the ladies down to Bab-us-Sahel for a -while?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know,” answered Dick hesitatingly. “I thought of suggesting -to my wife that she should go down there and do some shopping.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you fancied she’d see through it? Probably. She was born and bred -here, and knows the weather-signs as well as you do. What’s the good -of trying to throw dust in her eyes? Put it to her plainly that, as -things are, you would feel much happier if she was away, and she’ll go -like a shot. Your sister and my Flora will go with her, and they’ll be -a pleasant party.” -</p> - -<p> -“She won’t like going when there’s no sign of danger, and it might -precipitate the crisis, too. Perhaps when Burgrave launches his -thunderbolt——” -</p> - -<p> -“If you could only get him to escort the ladies down at once, we might -pull through yet.” -</p> - -<p> -“No fear,” said Dick bitterly, “until he’s done his worst.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch10"> -CHAPTER X.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">GAINING A LOVER AND KEEPING A FRIEND.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">No</span> bathing to-day, Mab!” laughed Georgia, meeting Mabel in her -riding-habit in the hall. -</p> - -<p> -“You mean that we can’t ride? Why not?” -</p> - -<p> -“Now you look just like the prehistoric lady in the picture! Because -there’s a dust-storm coming on. I meant to tell you before, but you -rushed away from the breakfast-table so quickly. I have been hurrying -Dick off, that he may get to the office before it begins.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how do you know there’s going to be a dust-storm at all? I -thought that before they came on the sky was copper-coloured, and the -air got like an oven?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, the sky is getting black, as you can see. Dust-storms here are -not confined to the hot weather, they come all the year round. It’s -the merest chance that there hasn’t been one yet since you arrived.” -</p> - -<p> -“How horrid that it should come just to-day!” said Mabel snappishly. -“I told Mr Anstruther I was tired of riding Simorgh, and he must -really bring Laili back. He said he couldn’t be sure she was cured -yet, and I told him he might use a leading-rein if he liked, but that -I meant to ride her. We weren’t going at all near the frontier, or -anywhere in the direction of Dera Gul.” -</p> - -<p> -“My beloved Mab, dust-storms don’t respect British territory, and if -you had once been out in one you wouldn’t wish to repeat the -experience, even if you were in a position to do it. Go and take your -habit off, and when Mr Anstruther comes, I will tell him to send the -horses to the stables, and wait here until the storm is over. Then you -will have some one to talk to. See that the servants shut all your -windows.” -</p> - -<p> -But when Mabel emerged again from her darkened room into the lighted -hall, the disappointment caused by the loss of her ride was mingled -with a certain amount of ill-humour, due to an even more untoward -occurrence. The ayah Tara had chosen this particular morning for -passing in review all her mistress’s best gowns and hats, with an eye -to any little repairs that might be necessary, and having taken the -garments from their respective boxes and spread them out all over the -room, had sat down to contemplate them for a while before setting to -work. She was not accustomed to the peculiarities of the Khemistan -climate, and the gathering darkness appeared to her only as the -precursor of a thunderstorm. Hence, when the first gust of raging wind -whirled a cloud of gritty dust through the open windows, she was as -much astonished as Mabel herself, who was entering the room at the -moment, and was almost knocked down. Both mistress and maid flew at -once to shut the windows, but in the wind and darkness this was by no -means an easy task, and before it could be accomplished the dust lay -thick all over the room and its contents. Such a <i>contretemps</i> was -enough to provoke a saint, Mabel said to herself angrily, when she had -left the weeping Tara to do what she could to repair the mischief, and -it would be idle to deny that she was feeling very cross indeed as she -entered the drawing-room with a bundle of letters in her hand. -</p> - -<p> -The shutters were closed and the lamps lighted as if it were night, -and the dust pattered like hail on the verandah whenever the howling -of the wind would allow any other sound to be heard. Fitz Anstruther -was sitting near the fireplace, looking through an old magazine, and -Mabel, rejecting his suggestion of a game of chess, seated herself at -the writing-table, saying that she must finish her letters for the -mail. She found it difficult to write, however, for although she would -not look up, she could not help being conscious that her companion’s -eyes were much oftener fixed on her than on the printed page before -him. Accustomed though she was to such homage from men, this time it -made her nervous, and at last she could bear it no longer. -</p> - -<p> -“Wouldn’t you like something to do?” she demanded suddenly, turning -round and catching him in the act of looking at her, but he was equal -to the occasion. -</p> - -<p> -“Something to do? Something for you, do you mean? May I really write -your letters for you? I’m sure the Major has given me plenty of -practice in that sort of thing, and your friends would be so surprised -to find you had set up a private secretary.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks, but I don’t seem to be in the mood for letter-writing, and -certainly not for dictating.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then may I hold a skein of silk for you to wind? That’s the sort of -thing they set a mere man down to in books.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t use silk of that sort. Is there nothing you would like to -do?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, awfully. I should like to talk to you.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think I shall go and read to the Commissioner,” severely. -</p> - -<p> -“It would only be wasting sweetness on the desert air. He’s perfectly -happy at this moment, with Beardmore plotting treason in a -confidential report, and about six clerks writing away for him as hard -as they can write, and he wouldn’t appreciate an interruption.” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose you are judging Mr Burgrave by yourself when you say he -will be happier if I keep away?” -</p> - -<p> -“I? Oh no; I was judging him by himself. The Kumpsioner Sahib doesn’t -think ladies and affairs of state go well together, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed?” Mabel was bitterly conscious that she bore a grudge against -the Commissioner for this very reason, but she had no intention of -admitting the fact. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, do you mean that he vouchsafes to talk shop to you alone, out of -all the world of women? What an important person you are, Miss North! -Think of having the run of the Commissioner’s state secrets! But of -course one can see why he does it. How unfairly people are dealt with -in this world! Why have I no official secrets to confide? Supposing I -spy round and amass some, may I expound them to you for three or four -hours a day?” -</p> - -<p> -“What nonsense!” said Mabel, with some warmth. “Mr Burgrave is only -teaching me to appreciate Browning.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you fly to state secrets for relief in the intervals! Miss North, -won’t you teach me to appreciate Browning? I’ll wire to Bombay at once -for the whole twenty-nine volumes, if you will.” -</p> - -<p> -“I really have no time to waste——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, how unkind! Consider the crushing effect of your words. Do you -truly think me such an idiot that teaching me would be waste of time?” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel laughed in spite of herself. “You didn’t let me finish my -sentence,” she said. “I was going to say that it would be only a waste -of your time, too, to try to learn anything from me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Never! Say the word, and I enrol myself your pupil for ever.” -</p> - -<p> -“You must have a very poor opinion of me as a teacher, I’m afraid, if -you think it would take a lifetime to turn you out a finished -scholar.” -</p> - -<p> -“How you do twist a man’s words! The fault would be on my side, of -course. I was going to say the misfortune, but it would be good -fortune for me,” Fitz added, in a low voice. -</p> - -<p> -(“Now, if I don’t keep my head, something will happen!” said Mabel to -herself, conscious that the atmosphere was becoming electric.) Aloud -she remarked lightly, “Ah, you have given yourself away. Do you think -I would have anything to do with a pupil who was determined not to -learn?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not if he has learnt all you can teach him?” demanded Fitz, rising -and coming towards her. “Please understand that there is nothing more -for me to learn. I want to teach you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, thanks! but I haven’t offered myself as a pupil,” with a nervous -laugh. -</p> - -<p> -“No, it’s the other way about. I want to teach you to care for me as -you have made me care for you. Well, not like that, perhaps; I -couldn’t expect it. But you do care for me a little, don’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Mr Anstruther!—I am astonished—” stammered Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Are you really? What a bad teacher I must be! I know all the other -men are wild after you, of course, but I thought it was different, -somehow, between you and me, as if—well, almost as if we were made -for each other, as people say. I have felt something of the sort from -the very first. I love you, Mabel, and I think you do like me rather, -don’t you? You have been so awfully kind in letting me do things for -you, and it has driven all the rest mad with envy. I believe I could -make you love me in time, if you would let me try. There’s nothing in -the whole world I wouldn’t do for you. If only you won’t shut your -heart up against me, I think you’ll have to give in.” -</p> - -<p> -He was holding her hands tightly as he spoke, and Mabel trembled under -the rush of his words. Was she going to faint, or what was the meaning -of that wild throbbing at her heart? Clearly she must act decisively -and at once, or this tempestuous young man would think he had taken -her by storm. She summoned hastily the remnants of her pride. -</p> - -<p> -“Please go and sit down over there,” she said, freeing her hands from -his grasp. “How can I think properly when you are towering over me -like that?” Fitz did not offer to move, and by way of redressing the -inequality, she rose also, supporting herself by laying a shaking hand -upon the writing-table. “I am so very sorry and—and surprised about -this. I had no idea——” -</p> - -<p> -“None?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“I mean I never thought it would go as far as this—that you would be -so persistent—so much in earnest.” -</p> - -<p> -“A new light on the matter, evidently.” As she grew more agitated, -Fitz had become calmer. -</p> - -<p> -“Because it’s impossible, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“Excuse me, I don’t know anything of the kind.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are a great deal younger than I am, for one thing.” -</p> - -<p> -“Barely three years, and it’s a fault that will mend.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, it won’t. As you get older, I shall get old faster, and if there -is a thing I detest, it is to see a young man with an elderly wife. I -could not endure to feel that I was growing old while you were still -in the prime of life. You would hate it yourself, too, and you would -leave off caring for me, and we should both be miserable.” -</p> - -<p> -“Try me!” said Fitz, with a light in his eyes that she could not meet. -</p> - -<p> -“And then there’s another thing,” she went on hurriedly. “I know it -sounds horrid to say it, but—it’s not only that three years—you are -so young for your age. I’m not a reasonable creature like Georgia; I -simply long to be made to obey, whether I like it or not. I feel that -I want a master, but I could make you do what I liked.” -</p> - -<p> -“Could you? But perhaps I could make you do what I liked. Just look at -me for a moment.” -</p> - -<p> -But Mabel covered her eyes. “No, I won’t. It sounds as if I had been -inviting you to master me, which wouldn’t be at all what I meant. -Please understand, once for all, that I don’t care for you enough to -marry you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very well. But you will one day. If I am young, there’s one good -thing about it—I can wait.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s no good whatever your thinking that I shall change.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is my business, please. I presume my thoughts are my own? and I -feel that I shall teach you to love me yet.” -</p> - -<p> -“I shouldn’t have thought,” said Mabel indignantly, “that it was like -you to persecute a woman who had refused you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t be afraid. I shall not persecute you; I shall simply wait.” -</p> - -<p> -“And try to make me miserable by looking doleful? I call that -persecution, just the same. No, really, if you are going to be so -disagreeable, I shall have to speak to my brother, and ask him to get -you transferred somewhere else, and that would be very bad for your -prospects.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel thought that this threat sounded extremely telling, but to Fitz, -who had declined excellent posts in other parts of the province, -rather than quit the frontier which grows to have such a strange -fascination for every Khemistan man, it was less alarming. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t trouble to get protection from the Major, Miss North. I assure -you it won’t be necessary.” -</p> - -<p> -“But am I to be kept in perpetual dread of having to discuss -this—this unpleasant subject? I think it is very unkind of you,” said -Mabel, with tears in her eyes, “for I had come to like you so much as -a friend, and you were always so useful, and now——” -</p> - -<p> -“And now I intend to be quite as useful, and just as much your friend, -I hope, as before. Let us make a bargain. You may feel quite safe. I -won’t attempt to approach the unpleasant subject without your leave.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel looked at him in astonishment. “But I should never give you -leave, you know,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“As you please. Then the subject will never be renewed. I am content -to wait.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what is the good of waiting when I have told you——” -</p> - -<p> -“Come, I don’t think you can deny me that consolation, can you, when -you have the whole thing in your own hands? Is it a bargain?” -</p> - -<p> -“It doesn’t seem fair to let you go on hoping——” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s my own lookout,” he said again. “If your friend is always at -hand when you want him, surely he may be allowed to nurse his foolish -hopes in private—provided that he never exhibits them?” -</p> - -<p> -“Very well, then,” said Mabel reluctantly. “But I don’t feel——” -</p> - -<p> -“If I am satisfied, surely you may be?” -</p> - -<p> -The entrance of a servant to unbar the shutters dispensed with the -need of an answer. Preoccupied as they had been during the last -half-hour, neither Fitz nor Mabel had noticed that the dust had ceased -to patter and the wind to howl. The storm was over, and once again -there was daylight, although rain was descending in torrents. -</p> - -<p> -“Mab, the Commissioner was asking for you,” said Georgia, pausing as -she passed the door. “He has finished his morning’s work, and wanted -to know if you were ready for some Browning.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes, I’ll go at once,” said Mabel, anxious only to escape from -Fitz and the memory of their agitating conversation. It had shaken her -a good deal, she felt, and this made her angry with him. What right -had he to disturb her so rudely, and make her feel guilty, when she -had done nothing? It was with distinct relief that she met Mr -Burgrave’s benignant smile, and returned his morning greeting. He did -not appear to notice any perturbation in her manner, and she took up -the book, and turned hastily to the page where they had left off, -while Mr Burgrave, pencil in hand, settled himself comfortably among -his cushions, ready to call attention to any beauties she might miss -in reading the lines. If he was like Fitz, in that his eyes were fixed -on the fair head bent over the pages of “Pippa Passes,” he was unlike -Fitz in that their gaze escaped unnoticed. -</p> - -<p> -“‘You’ll love me yet!—and I can marry—’” read Mabel, totally -unconscious of the havoc she was making of the poet’s words, but her -auditor almost sprang from his couch. -</p> - -<p> -“No, no!” he cried. “I beg your pardon, Miss North, but the storm has -shaken your nerves a little, hasn’t it? Allow me,” and he took the -book from her hands, and read the poem aloud in a voice so full of -feeling that it went to Mabel’s heart. -</p> - -<div class="quote_o"><div class="quote_i"> -<p class="i0">“‘You’ll love me yet!—and I can tarry</p> -<p class="i1">Your love’s protracted growing;</p> -<p class="i0">June reared that bunch of flowers you carry</p> -<p class="i1">From seeds of April’s sowing.</p> - -<br/> - -<p class="i0">‘I plant a heartful now; some seed</p> -<p class="i1">At least is sure to strike—’”</p> -</div></div> - -<p> -What malign influence had brought the reading to this point just now? -Fitz might have used those very words. Involuntarily Mabel rose and -stood at the edge of the verandah, looking out into the rain. Her eyes -were filled with tears, but she stood with her back to Mr Burgrave, -and he did not see them. He read on— -</p> - -<div class="quote_o"><div class="quote_i"> -<p class="i0">“‘And yield—what you’ll not pluck indeed,</p> -<p class="i1">Not love, but, maybe, like.</p> - -<br/> - -<p class="i0">‘You’ll look at least on love’s remains,</p> -<p class="i1">A grave’s one violet;</p> -<p class="i0">Your look?—that pays a thousand pains.</p> -<p class="i1">What’s death? You’ll love me yet!’”</p> -</div></div> - -<p> -Was the seed springing already? A tear splashed into the gritty dust -that lay on the verandah-rail, and Mabel dashed her hand across her -eyes in an agony of shame. Mr Burgrave must have seen; what would he -think? But before she could even reach her handkerchief, the book was -thrown down, and Mr Burgrave had seized his crutch, and was at her -side. -</p> - -<p> -“Mabel, my dear little girl!” he cried tenderly. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, no; not you!” she gasped, horror-stricken. -</p> - -<p> -“And why not, dearest? Forgive me for blundering so brutally. How -could I guess that the seed I had dared to plant was blossoming -already? I have watched it growing slowly day by day, so slowly that I -was often afraid it had not struck at all, and now, when it is -actually in full flower, I pass by without seeing it, and bruise it in -this heartless way. Forgive me, dear.” -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed, indeed you are making a mistake!” cried Mabel, in a panic. -“It really isn’t what you think, Mr Burgrave. I don’t care for you in -that way at all.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear girl must allow me to be the judge of that. I can read your -heart better than you can read it for yourself, dearest. Do you think -I haven’t noticed how naturally you turn to me for refuge against -trouble and unkindness? It has touched me inexpressibly. Again and -again you have sought sympathy from me, with the sweetest confidence.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s quite true!” groaned Mabel, seeing in a sudden mental vision all -the occasions to which Mr Burgrave alluded. -</p> - -<p> -“Of course it is, dear. You hadn’t realised how completely you trusted -me, had you? Other people thought—no, I won’t tell you what they -said—but I knew better. I was sure of you, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“What did other people say?” asked Mabel, with faint interest. -</p> - -<p> -“Er—well, it was a lady in the neighbourhood.” Mabel’s thoughts flew -to Mrs Hardy with natural apprehension. “She was good enough to warn -me that you were—no, I will not say the word—that you were amusing -yourself with me. She had noticed, naturally enough, how inevitably we -drew together, but she ascribed your sweet trustfulness to such vile -motives as could never enter your head. I said to her, ‘Madam, to -defend Miss North against your suspicions would be to insult her. In a -short time, when you realise their baselessness, you will suffer as -keenly as you deserve for having entertained them.’ I could trust my -little girl, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you make me ashamed!” cried Mabel, abashed by the perfect -confidence with which this stern, self-sufficient man regarded her. -“Oh, Mr Burgrave, do please believe I am not good enough for you. It -makes me miserable to think how disappointed you will be.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should like to hear you call me Eustace,” said Mr Burgrave softly, -unmoved by her protestations. It occurred to Mabel, with a dreadful -sense of helplessness, that he regarded them only as deprecating -properly the honour he proposed doing her. -</p> - -<p> -“Well—please—Eustace—” But Mr Burgrave kissed her solemnly on the -forehead, and she could stand no more. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s too much! I’ll come back presently,” she gasped, and succeeded -in escaping. As she fled through the hall she met Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps you’ll be interested to know that I’m engaged to Mr Burgrave, -Georgie!” she cried hysterically, rushing into her own room and -locking the door. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“That wretched man!” cried Georgia. “After all Dr Tighe and I have -done for his leg!” -</p> - -<p> -“Didn’t know Tighe had any grievance against him about this,” grumbled -Dick. He was sitting on the edge of the dressing-table, ruefully -contemplating his boots, with his hands dug deep in his pockets. On -ordinary occasions Georgia would have requested him, gently but -firmly, to move, but now she was too much perturbed in mind to think -of the furniture. Delayed in starting by the dust-storm, Dick had only -returned from a hard day’s riding late at night, to find himself -confronted on the threshold, so to speak, by the triumphant -Commissioner, and requested to give him his sister. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but he would be on our side, of course,” said Georgia. “Dick, I -do think it is horrid of Mr Burgrave to have proposed under present -circumstances. It’s as if he wanted to rob us of everything—even of -Mab.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, he’s doing us an honour. He all but told me so. But he really is -absolutely gone on Mab. His whole face changes when he speaks of her. -Fact is, Georgie, if the man didn’t come rooting about on our very own -frontier, I couldn’t help having a sneaking liking for him. His belief -in his own greatness is perfectly sincere, and he cherishes no -animosity against us for opposing his plans. He told me that he hoped -political differences would make no break in our friendly -intercourse—Hang it! this thing’s giving way. Why in the world don’t -you have stronger tables?” -</p> - -<p> -“Sit here,” said Georgia, pointing to the wicker sofa. “Well, Dick?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well? It’s coming, old girl, coming fast, and he’s mercifully trying -to soften the blow to us.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia looked round with a shiver. The shabby bungalow with its -makeshift furniture was the outward and visible sign of the life-work -which she and her husband had inherited from her father, and it was to -be taken from them by the action of the man who hoped that his -arbitrary decree would be no obstacle to their continuing to regard -him as a friend. -</p> - -<p> -“And what I think is,” Dick went on, “that they had better be married -as soon as possible, before Burgrave goes down to the river again, and -the blow falls.” -</p> - -<p> -“But, Dick,” Georgia almost screamed, “you’re giving her no time to -repent.” -</p> - -<p> -“Repent? I’m not proposing to kill her. Surely it would be better for -her to be married from this house than from a Bombay hotel? Besides, -we should have no further anxiety about her——” -</p> - -<p> -“No further anxiety? Dick, if she marries him I shall never know -another happy moment. She doesn’t care a straw for him—it’s a kind of -fascination, that’s all, a sort of deadly terror. I can’t tell you -what it’s been like all day. She couldn’t bear me to leave them alone -a moment, and there was he beaming at her, and not seeing it a bit. He -thinks it’s all right for her to be shy and tongue-tied, and not dare -to meet his eye—the pompous idiot! Mab shy—and with a man! She’s -miserable—in fear of her life.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no, Georgie, that’s a little too thick. Mab is not a school-girl, -to let herself be coerced into an engagement, and it won’t do to stir -her up to break it off. You mustn’t go and abuse him to her. Be -satisfied with relieving your feelings to me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now, Dick, is it likely? Am I the person to give her an extra reason -for sticking to him? If I abused him she would feel bound to defend -him, and might even end by caring for him. I can’t pretend to -congratulate her on her choice, but she shall have every facility for -seeing as much of him as she can possibly want.” -</p> - -<p> -“Vengeful creature!” -</p> - -<p> -“No, that’s not it. I have no patience with her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, she has proved you a false prophet, hasn’t she? That’s -unpardonable.” -</p> - -<p> -“She has done worse; I’m perfectly convinced that she refused the -right man before accepting the wrong one. And though she doesn’t -deserve it, I think she ought to have time to get things put right, if -she can.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very well. Then the deluge will come first, that’s all.” -</p> - -<p> -“How soon do you expect it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I gather from what the Commissioner says that his report is -nearly drawn up. As it’s only a pretext for a predetermined move, they -won’t take long to consider it. The decision will be intimated to me, -and I shall submit my resignation in return.” -</p> - -<p> -“And then we shall fold our tents like the Arabs, and silently steal -away?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not quite at once. We must stick on until they send up a man to -replace me, and carry out the new policy. The worst of it will be that -Ashraf Ali will know why I am resigning, and unless I can get him to -keep quiet, he will think himself free to break the treaty before our -side does. If Bahram Khan once gets to know what’s on hand, it’s all -up, for nothing will persuade the Sardars that we are not repudiating -the treaty as the first step to an invasion and the annexation of -Nalapur, and he will be there to lead them, if the Amir won’t. I hope -to goodness that Burgrave will have removed the light of his -countenance from us before then, but I suppose that’s sure to be all -right. He would hardly like to look as if he was hounding his intended -brother-in-law out of the province. Unfortunately it’s pretty certain -that rumours of my impending departure will begin to get about in some -mysterious manner as soon as his unfavourable report goes up, for his -plans seem doomed to leak out into the bazaar. I’m inclined to think -he has a spy about him somewhere. By-the-bye, Georgie, who is the -sweetseller you’ve allowed to hang about the place lately?” -</p> - -<p> -“I, Dick? He told me you had said he might come.” -</p> - -<p> -“Something fishy there, evidently. But he must have an accomplice -inside.” -</p> - -<p> -“One of the Commissioner’s Hindu clerks, perhaps.” -</p> - -<p> -“Possibly. Well, we’ll deal with him to-morrow.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch11"> -CHAPTER XI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">BEHIND THE CURTAIN.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">As</span> soon as Dick awoke in the morning, his talk with Georgia recurred -to his mind, and looking out of his dressing-room window, he called to -Ismail Bakhsh, whom he saw in the compound. From his long connection -with the family, the old soldier was regarded as the head of the -household staff. -</p> - -<p> -“Has that sweetseller turned up yet, Ismail Bakhsh?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, sahib, I have not seen him this morning.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, when he does, you can detain him. I want to ask him a question -or two.” -</p> - -<p> -“The thing is done, sahib. If the protector of the poor would listen -to a word from this unworthy one——” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; what is it?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was in my mind yesterday, sahib, to examine all the verandahs, -lest the storm should have shaken the pillars, and in so doing I found -that the work of the rats under the floors has been great and very -evil. Surely there are many places in which the planks are loose and -easy to be moved, but on this side of the house it is the worst. -Before the Kumpsioner Sahib’s rooms a man might even squeeze himself -in and hide under the verandah floor.” -</p> - -<p> -“We shall never get rid of the rats until we have proper cement -floors—and it’s no good thinking of that now,” added Dick, half to -himself. “But are you sure there’s nothing worse than rats about, -Ismail Bakhsh? I don’t like the idea of that hole.” -</p> - -<p> -“I also suspected evil, sahib, but having sent two of the servants’ -sons in with lights, I was content when they found nothing.” -</p> - -<p> -“I hope you nailed the boards firmly into their places?” -</p> - -<p> -“I put them back, sahib, but why fasten them? There was no man inside, -and in case any should seek to enter, the hole should be blocked up -from within, not from without. Moreover, if the protector of the poor -would invite Winlock Sahib to bring his sporting dog to the house, -with your honour’s own dogs we might succeed in killing all the rats -before mending the floors.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good idea! Ask the memsahib to give you a <i>chit</i> to Winlock Sahib. -No; it had better be to-morrow. I shall be out all to-day.” -</p> - -<p> -Ismail Bakhsh salaamed and departed, and Dick returned to his -dressing, neither of them dreaming that they were separated by nothing -but a half-inch plank from a man who had listened to the whole of -their colloquy. The bungalow, which had never been intended for a -permanent dwelling, had been run up in haste. Hence the contrast of -its somewhat ramshackle appearance with that of the substantial stone -houses in the cantonments, and hence also the perpetual worry caused -by the colonies of rats inhabiting the space under the floors, which -should have been filled up with concrete. However, since innumerable -complaints and remonstrances had brought nothing but vague promises -and an occasional snub from those in authority, Dick and Georgia -continued to live on in their unsatisfactory dwelling, and to wage -intermittent warfare against the rats. But the rats could not fairly -be accused of the worst of the damage of which Ismail Bakhsh -complained, for crouched under the boards lay the sweetseller, who had -effected an entrance by sliding out one of the planks from the front -of the verandah and pulling another aside, returning them to their -places when he had crawled in. His dark face paled when Ismail Bakhsh -suggested bringing the dogs, but when he heard Dick postpone the -rat-hunt to the next day, he breathed freely again. -</p> - -<p> -“To-day is all I want,” he said to himself. “When I have once got the -paper for Jehanara Bibi from that accursed half-blood my work is done, -and Nāth Sahib may set his dogs on my track as much as he likes—and -his sowars too.” -</p> - -<p> -He remained crouched in his lair all morning, until the Commissioner -had dismissed his clerks and hobbled round to the other side of the -house to look for Mabel. As soon as the sound of his crutch had become -inaudible in the distance, there was a hesitating tap on one of the -loose boards. It was answered by a bolder knock from below, the board -was pushed slightly aside, and a yellow hand, trembling as if with -ague, passed a roll of papers through the crack. The sweetseller -seized it, and pressed the fingers of the transmitter, which were -hurriedly withdrawn. The hidden man secreted the papers carefully in -his clothing, and crawled round to the front of the house, whence he -could watch through a peep-hole all that went on in this part of the -compound. When noon was come, and the servants had all betaken -themselves to their own quarters, he removed the sliding plank and -slipped out, bringing with him his stock in trade, and replaced the -board carefully. Having assured himself that Dick was nowhere to be -seen, he crossed the compound boldly, climbed the wall at a point -where various projecting stones and convenient hollows afforded a -foothold, and walked with dignified haste to the nearest sandhill. On -the farther side of this he buried his tray and his sweets in the -sand, and then, girding up his loins, set out resolutely in the -direction of Dera Gul. -</p> - -<p> -Dusk had already fallen when he reached the fortress, where he -received a respectful greeting from the ragged guards, who informed -him that the chief was in his zenana. As soon as the news was brought -that Narayan Singh had returned, however, Bahram Khan sent word that -he should be admitted immediately—a high honour which was not seldom -the reward of the indispensable spy. Committing himself to the -guidance of one of the slave-boys, Narayan Singh passed behind the -curtain and into the anteroom, to discover Bahram Khan reclining upon -the divan in the easiest possible undress. The pleasant murmur of the -hubble-bubble, as he approached, prepared the visitor to find the room -full of smoke, and his master seemed at first too much engrossed with -his pipe to notice his entrance. Cross-legged in the corner sat the -Eurasian Jehanara, shrouded in her veil, her glittering eyes -reflecting the faint light which was shed by a brazier of glowing -charcoal. -</p> - -<p> -“Peace, Narayan Singh!” said the Prince at last, taking the mouthpiece -of the long leathern tube lazily from his lips. “Is all well?” -</p> - -<p> -“All is well, Highness. I have here a copy of the report of Barkaraf -Sahib to the Sarkar, from the hands of his confidential clerk.” -</p> - -<p> -Jehanara laughed harshly. “Thou hadst but little difficulty with -Antonio D’Costa?” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“What knowest thou of the swine?” asked Bahram Khan jealously. -</p> - -<p> -“I have not seen him for many years, Highness, but he is my cousin, -and I was acquainted with his character as a youth, and heard of his -doings as a man. Knowing thy desire to learn the intentions of the -Kumpsioner Sahib, and hearing that my cousin was in his employ, it -needed only that I should instruct the skilful Narayan Singh to -approach him in the right way.” -</p> - -<p> -“And I,” said Narayan Singh, “needed but to hold before his eyes the -copies of the bonds I had obtained from certain money-lenders, and -threaten to show them to Barkaraf Sahib, when he fell down on his -knees before me, and was ready to do whatever I might desire, for fear -of the ruin that threatened him.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is well,” growled Bahram Khan. “But what does the report say?” -</p> - -<p> -Narayan Singh took out the papers which had been handed to him in his -hiding-place, and laid them on the floor before Jehanara. She took -them up, and leaning forward, scrutinised the contents eagerly by the -dim light of the brazier. -</p> - -<p> -“In this report,” she said, with deep satisfaction, “which the -Kumpsioner Sahib has just finished drawing up, he recommends the -immediate withdrawal of the subsidy, and the recall of Beltring Sahib -from Nalapur, on the ground that the treaty was merely a temporary -arrangement, the necessity for which has passed away.” Bahram Khan -laughed, and she went on. “The Amir Sahib is to be assured of the -continuous friendship and good-will of the Sarkar, which with the one -hand will take away his rupees, and with the other present him with -the liberty to govern his people without interference or guidance.” -</p> - -<p> -“Truly the infidels are delivered into our hands!” cried Bahram Khan. -“And when is the change to be announced?” -</p> - -<p> -“The Kumpsioner Sahib desires an order, which may be carried out by -the political officer on the spot.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then the fool himself is leaving the border? Let him go. I care not -to take his life. He has been a useful friend to me, and may be -permitted to carry his folly elsewhere. It is Nāth Sahib that I want, -and surely even my uncle will turn against him when he knows that the -Sarkar has determined to break the treaty.” -</p> - -<p> -“Gently, Highness!” entreated Jehanara. “The Amir Sahib is ever -faithful to his friends, and not easily turned from his allegiance. -Such is his friendship for Nāth Sahib that the only thing that would -make him join in the plot would be the hope of benefiting him.” -</p> - -<p> -“But,” put in Narayan Singh, who had been wondering uncomfortably -whether it would be better to tell his news at once, or to wait until -he had managed to secure a moment’s private conversation with -Jehanara. “I heard tidings yesterday, Highness, which seem to show -that the Kumpsioner Sahib is not the friend thou didst reckon him. I -could have told them sooner, but I fear they will not be pleasing in -thine ears.” -</p> - -<p> -“Let us hear them,” cried Bahram Khan, while Jehanara shot an angry -glance at the spy. He ought to have known by this time that it was -generally wiser to soften and sweeten agitating news, and not to -administer it undiluted. -</p> - -<p> -“It was said among the servant-people that Barkaraf Sahib had asked -Nāth Sahib for his sister, Highness, and that even now he has -betrothed her to him.” -</p> - -<p> -There was a moment’s incredulous silence, and then Bahram Khan sprang -up from the divan, sending the heavy cut-glass bottle of the -water-pipe flying, and almost overturning the brazier. “And this is -the fruit of your counsel, both of you!” he shouted. “Who was it that -held me back when I would have fallen on the whole company of the -English as they returned from their fool’s dinner in the desert, and -killed them all, except Nāth Sahib’s sister? Who was it again that -bade me suffer my servants to be taken prisoners and held captive, and -be tried for their lives by a boy, and that told me to rejoice when I -received them back unharmed? Thou, O woman! thou, dog of an idolater! -Surely ye were in league with the Kumpsioner Sahib to steal the girl -from me, and he has bribed you to blacken my face in the eyes of all -my people.” -</p> - -<p> -“Highness,” said Jehanara, with dignity, “thine anger has made thee -unjust to thy faithful servants. Fear not; I know the ways of the -English, and this betrothal need not lead to marriage for many months. -Nāth Sahib’s sister shall yet be thine, and the Kumpsioner Sahib may -wait in vain for his bride.” -</p> - -<p> -“Wait!” cried Bahram Khan, sinking again upon his cushions, “nay, he -shall wait for nothing but death. He shall die by inches, and before -my eyes, because he has sought to befool me. If he escapes, the lives -of both of you shall pay for it.” -</p> - -<p> -“As thou wilt, Highness. But was it not thy admiration of her beauty -which first showed the Kumpsioner Sahib that the girl was fair? Suffer -thy servant to consider the matter for a moment, and she will offer -thee her counsel.” -</p> - -<p> -Leaving Bahram Khan to look at affairs in this new light, Jehanara -established herself again in her corner, gazing fixedly into the hot -coals. Both her life and that of Narayan Singh were at stake, and she -knew it; and she had no desire to die. Six years before she had played -a desperate game with Bahram Khan, conscious that in him she faced an -opponent as cunning and as faithless as herself. The conditions were -unequal, for she staked far more than he did, and he won, possibly -because her sense of the risk she was running had robbed her of the -perfect coolness necessary to ensure success. He had not married her, -even by Mohammedan rites, and nothing short of full legal recognition -could have vindicated in the eyes of her own people the course she had -pursued. Robbed of her anticipated triumph, she made no attempt to -escape the consequences, but set herself by every means in her power -to obtain that ascendency over the Prince’s mind which she had failed -to gain over his heart. Fresh failures and unspeakable mortifications -had awaited her. The women of the household, from the beautiful little -Ethiopian bride to whom was awarded the position Jehanara had intended -for herself, to the humblest hill-girl who had been kidnapped to -become at once a slave and a Muslimeh, saw to it that she ate the -bread of bitterness; but in spite of taunts and revilings she kept the -one end in view until her persistence was crowned with complete -success. Bahram Khan would listen to no advice but hers, having learnt -by experience that his confidence in her was justified. The intrigue -by which first the Commissioner, and then the Viceroy, had been -convinced of his wrongs, was of her devising, and had proved so -successful as to convince her that had it not been for Dick’s -opposition, she would already have seen Bahram Khan established as his -uncle’s heir. It followed that her hatred for Dick, heightened by his -cavalier treatment of herself, was at least as strong as that of the -disappointed claimant. As she sat brooding over the charcoal at this -moment, there was a cruel light in her eyes while she ran hastily over -the points of the scheme which had sprung full-grown into her mind -when Bahram Khan accused her of treachery. -</p> - -<p> -“Highness,” she said at last, and Bahram Khan propped himself up on -his cushions with a muttered growl, while the trembling Narayan Singh -appeared to take fresh interest in life, “this perfidy of the -Kumpsioner Sahib’s provides thee with what was most needed, a means of -involving the Amir Sahib in our plans. Nay, through this treachery, -with the blessing of Heaven, thy servants will yet behold thee seated -upon his throne, with the sanction of the Sarkar.” -</p> - -<p> -“Wonderful!” cried the Prince, with gleaming eyes. “Go on.” -</p> - -<p> -“First of all, then, Highness, the Kumpsioner Sahib must not leave -Alibad before the treaty is broken—but we will consider presently by -what means he may be induced to remain on the border. Next, -instructions must be sent to the Vizier Ram Singh to represent thy -quarrel to his master, the Amir Sahib, in this wise. Thou wilt say -that the Kumpsioner Sahib, with a great show of friendliness, promised -to get thee Nāth Sahib’s sister for a wife, but that he has befooled -thee, and demanded the maiden for himself. Thine uncle may not -altogether believe that Barkaraf Sahib really offered thee his help in -the matter”—the half-caste could not restrain a touch of scorn as she -glanced through her eyelashes at the miserable native who had brought -himself to believe that an Englishman looked favourably on his desire -to marry an Englishwoman. “Still, he has doubtless heard through his -sister, thy mother, of thy love for the girl, and he will soon hear -also that she is betrothed to the Kumpsioner Sahib, so that he cannot -but believe in the enmity between him and thee. Next thou wilt say -that by setting spies on this enemy of thine thou hast learnt that he -has persuaded the Sarkar to withdraw the subsidy. This he does in -order to gain honour for himself by annexing the Nalapur state, and -also that he may overthrow Nāth Sahib, whom thine uncle loves, and -who, as we know through Ram Singh, has sworn to resign his office -rather than forsake his friend. Thus, then, thine uncle will be eager -to champion Nāth Sahib’s cause against Barkaraf Sahib, and thou, -forgetting thine old hatred in the new, will show him the way. -According to the words of this paper of my cousin’s, the Sarkar’s -change of policy will be announced at a durbar to be held by Nāth -Sahib in the Agency at Nalapur, and the Amir Sahib will do well to see -to it that this durbar is not held. If we devise a means for keeping -the Kumpsioner Sahib here, he must needs hold the durbar himself, and -while he and Nāth Sahib, and all the sahibs from Alibad, are -entangled in the mountains on the way to the city, they must be caught -in an ambush of the Amir Sahib’s troops. The Kumpsioner Sahib may well -be killed in the first onset, to save all further trouble, but Nāth -Sahib and the other friends of thine uncle need only be disarmed and -kept prisoners, the writing of the Sarkar being taken from them. Then -the Amir Sahib may send a peaceful message to the Sarkar that, hearing -rumours of evil intended against him, he has seized a number of its -officers and holds them as hostages, until he shall be assured that -his fears are groundless. So then the Sarkar, fearing for the lives of -its sahibs, will send some great person to reassure his Highness, and -explain that it was the evil doings of the dead Barkaraf Sahib alone -that caused the mischief, and Nāth Sahib will be put in his place, -and the subsidy continued, and all be well—save, perhaps, the payment -of a slight fine for the accidental slaying of the Kumpsioner Sahib.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what is the good of all this to me?” bellowed Bahram Khan. “It -would rid me of the Kumpsioner Sahib, but no more—nay, it makes Nāth -Sahib the head where he is now the tail.” -</p> - -<p> -“Seest thou not, Highness, that this is the plot as it must appear in -the eyes of thine uncle? Now lift the veil, and behold it as it is in -thine own mind. Who should naturally be chosen to command the force -lying in ambush but the Sardar Abd-ul-Nabi, and is he not a close -friend of the Vizier Ram Singh, and wholly devoted to thy cause? To -him the Amir Sahib will give orders that he is to slay no one but -Barkaraf Sahib, and that the lives of the rest are to be saved, even -at the risk of his own, but from thee he will receive the command to -slay all and spare none, not even the youngest.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, I will ride with them, and smite them myself from behind!” cried -Bahram Khan. -</p> - -<p> -“That must not be, Highness. Thou wilt be far away at the time.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then Nāth Sahib and Barkaraf Sahib shall be saved alive and brought -to me that I may see them die.” -</p> - -<p> -“The risk is too great, Highness. Hast thou forgotten the day when -Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib was attacked in a certain nullah and all his -escort slain, and how he fought his way out alone and rode back to his -camp, and returning, as if upon eagles’ wings, with a fresh body of -troops, fell upon the tribesmen when they were stripping the dead, and -slew them every one? Not a man shall live—be content with that, for -there is other work for thee than watching their blood flow.” -</p> - -<p> -“And what is that, woman?” -</p> - -<p> -“Thou wilt be waiting here, Highness, and as soon as a swift messenger -brings thee word that the sahibs have been attacked, thou wilt ride -with all speed to Alibad. Knowing that all the sahibs are away except -the Padri and two or three others who are not warriors, and that there -is no place of refuge for them, thou wilt hasten thither to save them -and the Memsahibs. If they believe in thy professions of friendship, -then all is well—they are delivered into our hands. But it is in my -mind that they will not trust thee, and that is even better, for then -all the evil that follows will spring from their own lack of -confidence. The men of the regiment who are left behind will fortify -themselves in their lines, but there is no need to attack them just -then. The bazaar and the European houses will be fired—by the -<i>badmashes</i> of the place, doubtless—and in the turmoil and confusion -all the sahibs will be killed, but all men will behold thee rushing -hither and thither like one possessed, commanding thy soldiers with -curses to save the white men alive.” -</p> - -<p> -Bahram Khan chuckled grimly, for the picture appealed to him. -</p> - -<p> -“And at last,” went on Jehanara, “seeing that thou canst do nothing, -so few are thy men, thou wilt retire sorrowfully, taking with thee -such women and loot as may come in thy way—but only for safe -keeping.” Bahram Khan chuckled again. “The next day, when the Amir -Sahib learns that he has indeed raised his hand against the Sarkar, -and slain so many sahibs, he will be plunged in despair. He will find -it impossible to keep his army in check, and they will come to Alibad -and complete the work begun by thee, before ravaging the rest of the -frontier. All will be the deed of thine uncle, and he it is that will -have to answer to the Sarkar.” -</p> - -<p> -“True, O woman. Trust me to see that his evil deeds shall blot out -mine. But how if Nāth Sahib’s sister should chance to be slain also?” -</p> - -<p> -“Her safety is thy care, Highness. Before seeking to save the sahibs, -thou wilt have seized Nāth Sahib’s house, which is on the outskirts -of the town, and sent off his wife and sister here, for their better -protection, under a sufficient guard.” -</p> - -<p> -“Who will see that Nāth Sahib’s Mem troubles us no more,” laughed -Bahram Khan. -</p> - -<p> -“Not so, Highness. The doctor lady must find safety with the -Moti-ul-Nissa.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, is she not Nāth Sahib’s wife?” cried Bahram Khan, much injured. -</p> - -<p> -“There must be sanctuary for the doctor lady with thy mother,” -repeated Jehanara firmly. “What harm can she do thee, Highness?” -</p> - -<p> -“She is Sinjāj Kīlin’s daughter. That is enough.” -</p> - -<p> -“True, Highness, and for that very reason she must live. The Begum -must be warned to hide her in the inmost recesses of the zenana, since -the Amir Sahib clamours for her blood, and she herself must clearly -understand that thou art protecting her at the risk of thy life. See -here, Highness, and think not it is any love for thy foes that moves -me. Her testimony is the very crowning-point of our plan. When thou -hast made thyself master in Nalapur, and goest forth to meet the -armies of the Empress with the head of the Amir Sahib as a -peace-offering, there will yet be voices raised against thee. But when -it is known that thou didst save the doctor lady, the wife and -daughter of thine own and thy father’s enemies, and place her in -safety in thine own zenana, who shall judge thee too hardly that thou -couldst not save the town? Thou hast done all in thy power, and the -Memsahib will bear witness to thee. And as for sparing her—why, there -is Nāth Sahib’s sister left for thee still.” -</p> - -<p> -“Aha!” laughed Bahram Khan, “and she is not of Sinjāj Kīlin’s blood. -She will not fight like the doctor lady.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, but she is of Nāth Sahib’s blood,” said Jehanara, conscious -once more of an inconsistent thrill of perverted pride in her father’s -race, as she remembered what other Englishwomen had done before in -like circumstances; “but all will be well, Highness, whatever happens. -If she is found married to thee, she cannot, as a <i>pardah</i> woman, be -brought into court to testify against thee, and if she is dead by that -time, why, she killed herself in her terror, not waiting to learn thy -merciful intentions towards her. And women pass, but the throne lasts, -Highness. The one is better than the other.” -</p> - -<p> -“Truly, thou art a veritable Shaitan!” To Bahram Khan’s mind the -epithet conveyed a high compliment. “Set the matter in train, then. -Here is my seal.” He took off his heavy signet and handed it to her. -“Do thou and Narayan Singh see that all is in order, so that not one -of my enemies may escape. But what of Barkaraf Sahib? If he leaves the -border, I lose half my vengeance.” -</p> - -<p> -“It may be, Highness”—the speaker was Narayan Singh, who had remained -silent in sheer astonishment at the daring and resourcefulness of his -co-plotter—“that the Hasrat Ali Begum might help us in the matter. If -her Highness were to hear that any evil threatened the doctor lady or -her husband, she would doubtless send a messenger to warn her. Might -she not become aware, through some indiscretion” (he looked across at -Jehanara), “that the Kumpsioner Sahib was departing from the border to -seek his own safety, leaving Nāth Sahib to carry out a dangerous and -disagreeable task? Her Highness would send the Eye-of-the-Begum -immediately to inform the doctor lady of what she had heard, and does -there live a woman upon earth who, having received such tidings, would -not at once fling the Kumpsioner Sahib’s cowardice in his teeth, and -taunt him until he was forced for very shame to remain and do his -business for himself?” -</p> - -<p> -“By that saying,” interrupted Jehanara, vexed at being selected to -perpetrate an indiscretion, “thou betrayest thine ignorance, Narayan -Singh. There is such a woman, and the doctor lady is she. She would -tell the news to her husband, and leave him to reproach the Kumpsioner -Sahib if he thought fit, and there would be no taunts, for the English -are not wont to speak like the bazaar folk. But there is another woman -who would work for us, though ignorantly, and that is the wife of the -Padri Sahib.” -</p> - -<p> -“The lady of the angry tongue!” cried Bahram Khan. “But how should we -persuade my mother to send a slave to her?” -</p> - -<p> -“It would not be easy, Highness, and therefore the Begum shall not be -troubled in the matter. I will disguise myself and tell the Padri’s -Mem that her Highness, desiring to warn the doctor lady, was too -closely watched to allow of her sending her usual messenger. I will -say also that I succeeded in slipping away from Dera Gul, and in -crossing the desert with the message, but that I dared not approach -Nāth Sahib’s house, fearing there might be spies among his servants. -Thus, then, I will tell the news, and before very long the Padri’s Mem -will tell it also—in the ears of the Kumpsioner Sahib.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is well thought of,” said Bahram Khan approvingly. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch12"> -CHAPTER XII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">HONOUR AND DUTY.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">Three</span> or four days later, Mrs Hardy marched up the steps of the -Norths’ bungalow with a purposeful mien, and requested an interview -with the Commissioner. Mr Burgrave had finished his morning’s work -early, and his couch had been placed in the drawing-room verandah. A -table was close beside him, with a volume of Browning lying upon it, -and there was a chair close at hand ready for Mabel, but she was out -riding with Fitz, to whom Dick, in utter oblivion of the probable -awkwardness of the situation, had hastily turned her over on finding -that he himself was needed elsewhere. The Commissioner groaned -impatiently when Mrs Hardy was announced. A talk with her was not the -pleasure he had in view when he hurried through his work, but he -consoled himself with the thought that she would not stay long. No -doubt the Padri was anxious to get a new harmonium, or to enlarge the -church, and they wanted him to head the subscription-list. -</p> - -<p> -“Excuse my getting up,” he said, as he shook hands with her. “My -sapient boy has put my crutch just out of reach.” -</p> - -<p> -If the words were intended to convey a hint, Mrs Hardy did not choose -to take it, for she sat down deliberately between the crutch and its -owner. Then, without any attempt at leading up to the subject, she -said, with great distinctness— -</p> - -<p> -“I have come to talk to you about your policy, Mr Burgrave.” -</p> - -<p> -The Commissioner stared at her in undisguised astonishment. “Pardon -me; but that is a subject I do not discuss with—with outsiders,” he -said. -</p> - -<p> -“I only want to lay a few facts before you,” pursued Mrs Hardy -unmoved. -</p> - -<p> -“No, no; excuse me. I cannot consent to discuss affairs of state with -a lady.” -</p> - -<p> -“I mean you to listen to what I have to say, Mr Burgrave, and I shall -stay here until you do.” -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t run away,” said Mr Burgrave, with the best smile he could -muster, and a side glance at the crutch; “and when a lady is kind -enough to come and talk to me, it would be rude to stop my ears. -Perhaps you will be so good as to let me know your views at once, -then, that your valuable time may not be wasted?” -</p> - -<p> -“I should like to ask you, first of all, whether you are aware that -your confidential report to the Government on the frontier question is -common property at Dera Gul? Of course, if you choose to tell your -secrets to Bahram Khan and leave Major North in ignorance of them, I -have nothing more to say.” -</p> - -<p> -To her great joy, Mrs Hardy perceived that she had made an impression. -The Commissioner looked startled and disturbed. “Impossible!” he said. -“The report has been seen by no one but my secretary, and the clerks -who copied portions of it.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is for you to find out which is to blame. I can only tell you what -is going on, just as it has been told to me. I was in my garden about -an hour ago, when a woman peeped out from behind the bushes—a -miserable, footsore creature. She told me she was a slave of the -Hasrat Ali Begum’s—Bahram Khan’s mother—who had sent her to warn the -Norths that you intend to withdraw the Nalapur subsidy, and leave -Major North to face the result. I have no idea how Bahram Khan -obtained the information, but he means to take advantage of it. Though -she could not tell me what his plan is exactly, she seemed quite sure -that it would end in a general rising, involving almost certain death -to the Europeans in places like this. It was clear that she regarded -you as a coward, running away from the consequences of your own acts, -and deliberately exposing others to danger. That is not my opinion, I -may say”—Mrs Hardy had seen the Commissioner wince—“but I thought -you could not have looked at things in this light, and as soon as the -poor creature was gone I came to you at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“Confiding in Mrs North by the way, no doubt?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I came straight to you. Now let me ask you, have you realised -what will be the result of your action? You know that Major North will -resign rather than countenance what we all feel would be a gross -breach of faith, and yet you place him in a position in which he must -do one thing or the other. I don’t know what Miss North will think -about it, but I know what I——” -</p> - -<p> -“We will leave Miss North’s name out of the conversation, if you -please.” -</p> - -<p> -“Excuse me; we can’t. How do you expect her to feel towards you when -you have set yourself deliberately to ruin her brother? You think -worse of her than I do if you believe she will marry you after such a -piece of cruel, unprovoked oppression.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mrs Hardy, a lady is privileged——” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I have no doubt you think I am taking an outrageous liberty, but -I can’t and won’t be silent. All your interest in the frontier centres -in a pretty, flighty girl who has no business to be here at all, and -simply for the sake of showing your power you come and ride roughshod -over us, whose lives are bound up in it. I know you’re a proud man, Mr -Burgrave, and I don’t ask you to reverse your policy publicly, which -you would naturally find a hard thing to do. But if this dreadful -business has gone too far to be stopped, make Major North take a -month’s leave, and carry it through yourself. Then the people will see -that he is not responsible for the breach of faith, and he will come -back and be your right hand when you most need him. What good could a -stranger do when the tribes are out? Absolute ignorance of the country -is not always the qualification it was in your case, you know. I know -the frontier better than any other place in the world—we used to -itinerate in the district for years before we were allowed to settle -down—and I am <i>certain</i> there’s trouble coming. I can see it in the -looks of the people, and hear it in the way they talk. And here on the -spot are the Norths, the very people to deal with a crisis, and you -have done your best to undermine their influence already. Can’t you -stop there? What have they done that you should persecute them like -this?” -</p> - -<p> -“I assure you,” said Mr Burgrave slowly, “that I have the highest -possible respect for both Major and Mrs North personally, but -personality is not policy.” -</p> - -<p> -“Up here it very often is. But come, Mr Burgrave, if you don’t -absolutely hate the Norths, why not do as I suggest?” -</p> - -<p> -“I promise you that every suggestion you have made shall receive the -fullest consideration,” replied the Commissioner, in his best -Secretarial manner. “I may rely upon your silence as to the matter?” -</p> - -<p> -Mrs Hardy thought she detected a relenting in his tone. “Of course you -may, if you are really going to do something. I am glad to find you -open to conviction, if only for Miss North’s sake and your own. You -will have a very pretty wife, and I trust a happy one. Ah, there she -is!” as the sound of horses’ feet was heard, and Mabel, cantering -past, waved her whip gaily to the watchers—“and riding with Mr -Anstruther!” -</p> - -<p> -“And is there any reason why she should not ride with Mr Anstruther?” -</p> - -<p> -“His peace of mind, that’s all. But perhaps you think he deserves no -mercy? I may tell you I was glad to hear of your engagement, since it -saved that fine young fellow for a more suitable woman.” -</p> - -<p> -“A more fortunate woman, doubtless,” corrected Mr Burgrave, with -majestic forbearance. “A better there cannot be.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -Mabel was in the highest spirits as she mounted the steps after Fitz -had ridden away. When he had appeared with the message that Dick was -detained at the office, and had sent him to ride with her, her first -impulse was to refuse to go, but other counsels prevailed. Fitz had -offered no congratulations on her engagement, and the omission rankled -in her mind. She was nourishing a reckless determination to provoke a -scene by asking him what he meant by it, but her courage oozed away -very soon after starting. She would still have given much to know what -he thought of the whole situation, but she durst not venture upon an -inquiry. Fitz, on his part, made no allusion to the important event -which had occurred since their last ride, speaking of the Commissioner -as coolly as if she had no particular interest in him. Before they had -been out long, she was content to accept his ruling, and conscious of -a kind of horror in looking back upon the resolution with which she -had started. She was on good terms with herself once more, and to such -an extent did the gloom cast by Mr Burgrave’s impressive personality -seem to be lightened at this distance, that she returned home feeling -positively friendly towards him. It was unfortunate that Mrs Hardy’s -disapproving glance, when she encountered her on the steps, should -clash with this new mood of cheerfulness, and that another shock -should be awaiting her when she looked into the drawing-room verandah -on her way to take off her habit. -</p> - -<p> -“Little girl,” said her lover, holding out his hand to draw her nearer -him, “would you mind very much if I said I had rather you didn’t take -these solitary rides with young Anstruther?” -</p> - -<p> -The angry crimson leaped up into Mabel’s forehead. -</p> - -<p> -“You have no right whatever to make such insinuations!” she cried -hotly. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, dearest, you mistake me. I make no insinuations—I should not -dream of such a thing. All I say is—doesn’t it seem more suitable to -you, yourself, that until I am able to ride with you again you should -not go out except with your brother? You will do me the justice to -believe that I am not jealous—I would not insult you by such a -feeling—but other people will talk. Yes, I am jealous—for my little -girl, not of her. No one must have the chance even of passing a remark -upon her.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel stood playing with her whip, her face flushed and her lips -pressed closely together. “He would like to make life a prison for me, -with himself as jailer!” she thought, as she bent the lash to meet the -handle, making no attempt to listen to Mr Burgrave, who went on to -speak of the high position his wife would occupy, of the extreme -circumspection necessary in such a station, and of the unfortunate -love of scandal characterising the higher circles of Indian female -officialdom. He did not actually say that the future Mrs Burgrave must -be above suspicion, but this was the general idea underlying his -remarks. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, you have broken your whip!” The words reached her ears at last. -“Never mind, you shall have the best in Bombay as soon as it can come -up here. You see what I mean, little girl, don’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes,” said Mabel drearily. “You forbid me ever to ride with any -one but you, or to speak to a man under seventy.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mabel!” he cried, deeply hurt, “can you really misjudge me so -cruelly?” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s not that,” she said, kneeling down beside him with a sudden -burst of frankness. “I know how fond you are of me, and I can’t tell -you how grateful and ashamed it makes me. But you don’t understand -things. You want to treat me like a baby, and I have been grown-up a -long, long time. Think what I have gone through since I came here, -even.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know, I know!” he said hoarsely. “Don’t speak of it, my dearest! -The thought of that evening in the nullah comes upon me sometimes at -night, and turns me into an abject coward. I mean to take you away -where you will be safe, and have no anxieties.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then have you never any anxieties? Because they will be mine.” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” he said, with something of sternness, “my anxieties shall never -touch my wife. I want to shake off my worries when I leave the office, -and come home to find you in a perfect house, with everything round -you perfectly in keeping, the very embodiment of rest and peace, -sitting there in a perfect gown, long and soft and flowing, for me to -feast my eyes upon.” -</p> - -<p> -He lingered lovingly over the contemplation of this ideal picture, to -the details of which Mabel listened with a cold shudder. “My dear -Eustace,” she said brusquely, to hide her dismay, “please tell me how -you think the house and the servants are to be kept perfect, if I do -nothing but trail round and strike attitudes in a tea-gown?” She -caught his wounded look, and went on hastily, “And what did you mean -by that invidious glance you cast at my habit? I won’t have my things -sniffed at.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s so horribly plain,” pleaded the culprit. -</p> - -<p> -“And why not?” demanded Mabel, touched in her tenderest point. “I’m -sure it’s most workmanlike.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s just it. Workmanlike—detestable! Why should a woman want to -wear workmanlike clothes? All her things ought to be like that gown -you wore at the Gymkhana, looking as if a touch would spoil them.” -</p> - -<p> -“I shall remind you of this in future, you absurd man!” laughed Mabel, -regaining her cheerfulness as she thought she saw a way of -establishing her point; “but please remember, once for all, that I -shall choose my clothes myself—and they will be suitable for various -occasions, for business as well as pleasure. Your part will only be to -admire, and to pay.” There was a seriousness in her tone which belied -the jesting words. Surely he would understand, he must understand, -that there was a principle at stake. -</p> - -<p> -“And that part will be punctually performed,” said Mr Burgrave -indulgently, gazing in admiration into her animated face. “I know that -you will remember my foolish prejudices, and gratify them to the -utmost extent of my desires, if not of my purse. That is all I ask of -you—to be always beautiful.” -</p> - -<p> -In her bitter disappointment Mabel could have burst into tears. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you won’t understand! you won’t understand!” she cried. “I don’t -want piles of clothes; I don’t want everything softened and shaded -down for me. I want to be a helpmate to my husband, as Georgia is to -Dick.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dear child, I am sorry you have returned to this subject,” said Mr -Burgrave, taken aback. “I thought we had threshed it out fully long -ago.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, but we can speak more freely now!” she cried. “Don’t you see that -I should hate to be stuck up on a pedestal for you to look at, or to -be a kind of pet, that you might amuse yourself smilingly with my -foolish little interests out of office hours? I want you to tell me -things, and let us talk them over together, as Dick and Georgia do.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know they do,” said Mr Burgrave, trying to smile. “The walls here -are so thin that I hear them at it every evening. A prolonged growl is -your brother soliloquising, and a brief interlude of higher tones is -Mrs North giving her opinion of affairs. It is a little embarrassing -for me, knowing as I do that my doings are almost certainly the -subject of the conversation.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, and if they are?” cried Mabel. “It is only because you and Dick -don’t understand one another that he and Georgia criticise you. Now -think about this very matter of the frontier. If you would only talk -to me, and tell me what you thought was the proper thing to be done, I -could talk to them, and you might find out that your views were not so -much opposed after all. Do try, please; oh, do! I would give anything -to bring you to an agreement.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Burgrave’s brow was clouded as he looked into her eager eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“Am I to understand,” he said, with dreadful distinctness, “that your -brother and Mrs North are trying to make use of you to extract -information from me? No, I will not suspect your brother. No man would -stoop to employ such an expedient—so degrading to my future wife, so -affronting to myself. It is Mrs North’s doing.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel, who had listened in horrified silence, sprang to her feet at -this point as if stung. “I think it will be as well for me to return -you this,” she said, laying upon the table the ring of “finest Europe -make,” which the Commissioner had been fain to purchase from the chief -jeweller in the bazaar as a makeshift until the diamond hoop for which -he had sent to Bombay could arrive. “You have grossly insulted both -Georgia and me, and—and I never wish to speak to you again.” -</p> - -<p> -She meant to sweep impressively from the room, but the angry tears -that filled her eyes made her blunder against the table, and Mr -Burgrave, raising himself with a wild effort, caught her hand. “Mabel, -come here,” he said, and furious with herself for yielding, she -obeyed. “Give me that ring, please.” He restored it solemnly to its -place on her finger. “Now we are on speaking terms again. Dear little -girl, forgive me. I was wrong, unpardonably wrong, but I never thought -your generous little heart would lead you so far in opposing my -expressed wish. I admire the impulse, my darling, but when you come to -know me better you will understand how unlikely it is that I should -yield to it. Come, dear, look sunny again, or must I make a heroic -attempt to go down on my knees with one leg in splints?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, if you would only understand!” sighed Mabel. She was kneeling -beside him again, occupying quite undeservedly, as she felt, the -position of suppliant. “If only I could make you see——” -</p> - -<p> -“See what?” he asked, taking her face in his hands and kissing it. “I -see that my little girl thinks me an old brute. Won’t she believe me -if I assure her on my honour that I am trying to do the best I can for -her brother, and that I hope I have found a way of putting things -right?” -</p> - -<p> -“Have you, really?” Her bright smile was a sufficient reward. “Oh, -Eustace, if it’s all settled happily, I shall love you for ever!” -</p> - -<p> -The assurance did not seem to promise much that was new when the -relative position of those concerned was considered, but the -unsolicited kiss bestowed upon him was very grateful to Mr Burgrave, -and he smiled kindly as he released Mabel and bade her run away and -change her habit. She left the room gaily enough, but once outside, a -sudden wave of recollection swept over her, and she wrung her hands -wildly. -</p> - -<p> -“I was free—<i>free</i>!” she cried to herself. “Just for a moment I was -free, and I let him fetch me back. Oh, what can I do? I believe I -could be quite fond of him if he would let me, but he won’t. And if he -wasn’t so good I should delight to break it off in the most insulting -way possible, but his virtues are the worst thing about him. I hate -them! Is this sort of thing to go on for a whole lifetime—beating -against a stone wall and bruising my hands, and then being kissed and -given a sweet, and told not to cry? Mabel Louisa North, you are a -silly fool, and you deserve just what you have got. I hate and despise -you, and with my latest breath I shall say, Serve you right!” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Dick, has it come?” Georgia sprang up to meet her husband, as he -entered the room with a gloomy face. -</p> - -<p> -“No, but so far as I can see, it’s close at hand. I can’t quite make -things out, but Burgrave seems to have altered his plans -astonishingly. Instead of travelling down to the coast at once, he is -going to stay here another week, and hold a durbar at Nalapur. I have -to send word to Beltring at once to get the big <i>shamiana</i> put up in -the Agency grounds, and to see that all the Sardars have notice. What -does it mean?” -</p> - -<p> -“He’s going to see the thing through on his own account,” said -Georgia, with conviction. “But it will make no difference to us, will -it, Dick?” -</p> - -<p> -“Rather not! The breach of faith is the same, whether I announce it at -first, or merely come in afterwards to carry it out. I wish Burgrave -hadn’t such a mania for mysteries. Ismail Bakhsh tells me he has been -sending off official telegrams at a tremendous rate all day, and yet -when I ventured to hint that some idea of the proposed proceedings at -the durbar would be interesting, he turned rusty at once, and said he -had not received his instructions. This system of government by -thunderbolt doesn’t suit me. It’s enough to make a man chuck things up -now, without waiting for the final blow.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but you will stick on as long as you can? It’s some sort of -security for peace.” -</p> - -<p> -“A wretchedly shaky one, then,” said Dick, with an angry laugh. -“Here’s the Amir sending his mullah Aziz-ud-Din to say that he learns -on incontestable authority that the subsidy is to be withdrawn, and -imploring me to say whether I have any hand in it. The poor old -fellow’s faith in me is quite touching, but what could I say except -that I knew nothing about it, and repeat the assurance I gave him -before?” -</p> - -<p> -“But what could Ashraf Ali mean by incontestable authority?” -</p> - -<p> -“How can I tell? Some spy, I suppose. By the way, though, it didn’t -strike me. That must be what the Commissioner meant!” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what did he say?” -</p> - -<p> -“He doesn’t intend to stay on in this house. Now that he can be got -into a cart, he thinks it better to return to his hired bungalow. I -imagine I looked a bit waxy, for he graciously explained that he had -reason to believe we have spies among the servants here.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick! you don’t mean to say that he accused you——?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, he was so good as to assure me that he had the best possible -means of knowing I had nothing to do with it. But when I reminded him -that all the servants, except those Mab brought with her from Bombay, -have been with us for years, he intimated that he made no accusations, -but official matters had got out, and he didn’t mean to allow that -sort of thing to go on. No doubt it was that sweetseller fellow, as we -thought.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I think that to go is the best thing the Commissioner can do. -It will give Mab a little peace.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I shouldn’t say she looked exactly festive.” -</p> - -<p> -“How could she? She feels that she has cut herself off from us, for of -course we can’t discuss things before her as we used to do, and I -don’t think she finds that he makes up for it. I have great hopes.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now, no coming between them!” said Dick warningly, and Georgia -laughed. -</p> - -<p> -“I trust it won’t be necessary,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -A week later she happened to be again sitting alone in the -drawing-room, busy with the fine white work on which she expended so -many hours and such loving care at this time, when Dick came in. To -her astonishment, he was in uniform, and laid his sword upon the table -by the door as he entered. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Dick, you are not going to Nalapur with the Commissioner after -all?” she cried. -</p> - -<p> -“Burgrave can’t go, and I have to hold the durbar instead.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how—what——?” -</p> - -<p> -“It seems that he had a fearful blow-up with Tighe this morning, after -taking it for granted all along that he would be allowed to leave off -his splints and go. Tighe absolutely howled at the idea, told him that -in moving from this house to his own he had jarred the knee so badly -as to throw himself back for a week, and that the splints must stay on -for some time yet. Of course he can’t ride in them, and to take him -through the mountains in a doolie would be madness.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wondered at his being allowed to ride so soon,” said Georgia, “but -I thought Dr Tighe must have found him better than we expected. Of -course I haven’t seen the knee for some time lately. But did he tell -you what the object of the durbar was?” -</p> - -<p> -“He did. It is just what we thought it would be, Georgie.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense!” cried Georgia sharply. “As if you would go to Nalapur in -that case! Are you joking, Dick?” -</p> - -<p> -His set face brought conviction slowly to her mind. -</p> - -<p> -“You are not joking, and yet you came home, and got ready, just as if -you meant to hold the durbar, and never told me!” she cried. -</p> - -<p> -“I do mean to hold the durbar,” said Dick. -</p> - -<p> -She sat stunned, and he went on: “I thought I wouldn’t tell you till -the last moment, because I knew how you would feel about it, and I -didn’t want to worry you more than could be helped.” -</p> - -<p> -“To worry me!” she repeated. “And yet you come here and try to tease -me with this absurd, impossible story? You are not going.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick looked her straight in the face. “But I am,” he said. -</p> - -<p> -“But you said you would resign first.” -</p> - -<p> -“I must resign afterwards, that’s all. There are some things a man -can’t do, Georgie, and one is to desert in the face of the enemy.” -</p> - -<p> -“But it’s wrong—dishonourable!” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s got to be done, and Burgrave has managed to engineer matters so -that I have to do it. I talked about resigning, and he said very -huffily that he wasn’t the person to receive my resignation, which is -quite true. He anticipates danger, I can see, for he tells me he has -had information that Bahram Khan has some sort of plot on hand, and do -you expect me to hang back after that?” -</p> - -<p> -“I never thought you would care what people said. If it’s right to -resign, do it, and let them say what they like.” -</p> - -<p> -“If I wasn’t a soldier I would, but I have no choice.” -</p> - -<p> -“No choice between right and wrong?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not as a soldier. It isn’t my business to criticise my orders, but to -execute them. Oh, I know all you are thinking. I see it perfectly -well, and from your point of view you are absolutely in the right, and -as an individual I agree with you, but I am not my own master.” -</p> - -<p> -“And your personal honour?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid it has got to look after itself. Don’t think me a brute, -Georgie. I want to be on your side, but I can’t.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I suppose it’s no use my saying anything more?” -</p> - -<p> -“I really think it would be better not. You see, it would only make us -both awfully uncomfortable, and do no good.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, don’t!” burst from Georgia. “I can’t bear to hear you talk like -that. Remember your promise to Ashraf Ali. The poor old man has relied -on that, and pledged himself to all the Sardars that the Government -doesn’t intend to forsake them. The whole honour of England is at -stake. Dick, these people have learnt from you and my father to -believe the word of an Englishman, and are you going to teach them to -distrust it now?” -</p> - -<p> -“When you have quite finished——” began Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t! I can’t! Oh, Dick, our own people, who know us and trust us! -Have you the heart to forsake them? Dick, won’t you listen to me? I -have never urged you to do anything against your will before, but when -it is a matter of right and conscience—! I know you believe you’re -right now, but how will you feel about it afterwards? Think of our -friends betrayed, our name disgraced, through you!” -</p> - -<p> -“Hang it, Georgie!” cried Dick, losing his temper, “you make a man -feel such a cur. I tell you I have got to go.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish I had died when baby died at Iskandarbagh, rather than lived -to hear you say that.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick turned away without answering, and took up his sword from the -table where he had laid it down. It was always Georgia’s privilege to -buckle the sword-belt for him, and she rose mechanically, rousing -herself with an effort from her stupor of dismay. He took the strap -roughly out of her hands. -</p> - -<p> -“No,” he said, “you’d better have nothing to do with it. The blame is -all mine at present, and you can keep your own conscience clear.” -</p> - -<p> -She sank upon a chair again and watched him miserably as he buckled on -the sword and went out. On the threshold he looked back, softening a -little. -</p> - -<p> -“Graham has changed his mind, and is not coming to the durbar. If -there should be any attempt at a rising, you are to take refuge in the -old fort. Tighe will come and sleep in the house these two nights if -you are nervous.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m not nervous,” said Georgia indignantly. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, very well. After all, we shall be between you and Nalapur.” -</p> - -<p> -He crossed the hall to the front door, Georgia’s strained nerves -quivering afresh as his spurs clinked at each step. Suddenly she -realised that he was gone, and without bidding her farewell. -</p> - -<p> -“Dick!” she cried faintly, “you are not going—like this?” -</p> - -<p> -There was no answer, and she moved slowly to the window, supporting -herself by the furniture. He was already mounted, and was giving his -final directions to Ismail Bakhsh. The sight gave Georgia fresh -strength, and stepping out on the verandah, she ran round the corner -of the house. There was one place where he always turned and looked -back as he rode out. He could not pass it unheeded even now, that -spot, close to the gate of the compound, where she had so often waited -for his return. As she stood grasping the verandah rail with both -hands, the consciousness that for the first time in their married life -he was leaving her in anger swept over her like a flood. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, it will kill me!” she moaned, seizing one of the pillars to -support herself, but almost immediately another thought flashed into -her mind. “No, he is not angry—my dear old Dick! he is only grieved. -He durst not be kind to me, lest I should persuade him any more, and -he should have to give way. God keep you, my darling!” -</p> - -<p> -In the rush of happy tears that filled her eyes, the landscape was -blotted out, and when she could see distinctly again, Dick had passed -the gate. She could just distinguish the top of his helmet above the -wall as he rode. He had gone by while she was not looking. Would it -have been any comfort to her to know that he had looked back, and not -seeing her, had ridden on faster? -</p> - -<p> -“I had to behave like a brute, or I should have given in—and she -didn’t see it,” he said to himself remorsefully. “Of course she was -right, bless her! She always is, but I couldn’t do anything else.” -</p> - -<p> -Her pale reproachful face haunted him, and had there been time he -would have turned back, but he was obliged to hurry on. As he entered -the town, he came upon Dr Tighe. -</p> - -<p> -“Doctor,” he said, laying a hand on the little man’s shoulder, “look -after my wife while I’m away. She’s awfully cut up at my going like -this.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" id="img_148"> -<a href="images/img_148.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_148_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“LOOK AFTER MY WIFE WHILE I’M AWAY” -</div></div> - -<p> -“All right!” said the doctor cheerfully; “and don’t you be frightened -about her. Mrs North is a sensible woman, and knows better than to go -and make herself ill with fretting.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“The Memsahib parted from the sahib without kissing him!” said one of -the servants wonderingly to the rest. -</p> - -<p> -“What foolish talk is this?” asked Mabel’s bearer scornfully. “My last -Memsahib never kissed the Sahib unless he had gained her favour by a -gift of jewels.” -</p> - -<p> -The tone implied that the subject might be dismissed as beneath -contempt, but the man’s actions did not altogether tally with it, for -after loftily waving aside the assurance of the first speaker that -this Sahib and Memsahib were not as others, he retired precipitately -to his own quarters. Here a lanky youth, who was slumbering peacefully -in the midst of a miscellaneous collection of goods, some of them -Mabel’s, and others the bearer’s own, was suddenly roused by a kick. -</p> - -<p> -“Hasten to Dera Gul with a message of good omen!” said the bearer, -impelling his messenger firmly in the desired direction. “Nāth Sahib -and the doctor lady have quarrelled, and until they meet again he is -without the protection of her magic.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch13"> -CHAPTER XIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">ONE NIGHT.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Awake</span>, Miss Sahib, awake!” -</p> - -<p> -“Miss North! Miss North!” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel sat up in bed. Her window was being shaken violently, and -outside on the verandah were those two persistent voices. -</p> - -<p> -“See what it is, Tara,” she called to her ayah, but the woman was -crouching in a corner, her teeth chattering with terror. Seeing that -she was too frightened to move, Mabel threw on a dressing-gown and -went to the window. Outside stood Fitz Anstruther, his face pale in -the moonlight, and Ismail Bakhsh, who was armed with his old -regimental carbine and tulwar. Thus accoutred, he was wont to mount -guard over the house and its inmates when Dick was absent, patrolling -the verandahs at intervals; but he had never hitherto found it -necessary to alarm his charges at midnight. -</p> - -<p> -“What is it?” asked Mabel, opening the window. -</p> - -<p> -“You must get dressed at once, and bring anything that you -particularly value,” said Fitz hurriedly. “We were attacked on the way -to Nalapur, and there was no durbar. I’m come instead of the Major to -fetch you to the old fort, for Bahram Khan and his cut-throats may be -here at any moment. Will you speak to Mrs North, please? I was afraid -of startling her if I knocked at her window or came into the house. -Winlock is outside with twenty sowars, and he and I will see after the -papers in the Major’s study.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel dropped the blind and went towards Georgia’s room, twisting up -her hair mechanically as she did so. Rahah was already on the alert, -and met her at the door with gleaming eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“I know, Miss Sahib. The evil is at hand at last. Awake, O my lady!” -She laid a hand gently on Georgia’s forehead. “The time has come to -take refuge in the fort. The Sahib bade me be prepared.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick has sent Mr Anstruther to fetch us, Georgie,” said Mabel, -unconsciously altering Fitz’s words, as Georgia, half awake, looked -sleepily from her to Rahah. “I think he wants us to be quick.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course,” said Georgia, rousing herself. “Now, Rahah, you will be -happy at last. We’ll come and help you, Mab, before Tara’s ready. Oh, -but the papers!—I must see that they are safe.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mr Anstruther is looking after them,” said Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“I wonder whether Dick thought of giving him the key of the safe? Very -likely he forgot it in his hurry. He had better have my duplicate. Oh, -thanks, Mab! There’s a tin despatch-box standing by the safe which -will hold all the most important papers.” -</p> - -<p> -With the key in her hand, Mabel hurried down the passage, her slippers -making no sound on the matting. There was a light in Dick’s den, and -Fitz and Captain Winlock were shovelling armfuls of papers and various -small articles into a huge camel-trunk which stood open in the middle -of the floor. As Mabel reached the door, Winlock held out something to -Fitz. “Not much good taking this, at any rate,” he said, and a cold -hand seemed to grip Mabel’s heart as she saw that it was Dick’s -tobacco-pouch, which Georgia, with what his sister considered a -reprehensible toleration of her husband’s pleasant vices, had worked -for him. -</p> - -<p> -“No, put it in,” said Fitz gruffly. “It may comfort her to have it.” -</p> - -<p> -A slight sound at the door, half gasp, half groan, made both men jump, -and looking round they saw Mabel, her eyes wide with terror. -</p> - -<p> -“Mr Anstruther, what has happened to Dick?” -</p> - -<p> -The words were barely audible. Fitz stood guiltily silent. -</p> - -<p> -“Tell me,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“He was wounded,” growled Winlock. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s worse than that, I know. Is he taken prisoner?” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” was the unwilling reply. -</p> - -<p> -“Then he’s killed! Oh!——” but before Mabel could utter another word, -Fitz’s hand was upon her mouth. -</p> - -<p> -“Miss North, you mustn’t scream. For Heaven’s sake, think of his wife! -Remember what those two are—have been—to one another, and -remember—everything. Let us get her safe to the fort, and let Mrs -Hardy break it to her gently. A sudden shock like this might kill -her.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel freed herself from the restraining hand, and stood shivering as -if with cold. “Oh, Dick, Dick!” she wailed pitifully, in a tone that -went to the men’s hearts, and then she crept back in silence along the -passage. Once in her own room, she dropped helplessly into a chair and -sat rigid, staring straight before her. Dick dead! Georgia a widow! -that perfect comradeship at an end for ever!—and Georgia did not know -it. Mabel wrung her hands feebly. It was the only movement she had -strength to make. All power of thought and action seemed to have -forsaken her. Dick was dead and Georgia was left. -</p> - -<p> -“My beloved Mab!” Georgia came hurrying in, equipped for driving. “I -said I should be ready first, but I didn’t expect to find you quite so -far behind. I believe Rahah keeps half my things packed, all ready for -a night alarm of this kind, but of course your ayah is not accustomed -to these little excitements. Are you quite overwhelmed by the amount -that has to be done?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes; I don’t know what to pack first,” said Mabel, with a forced -laugh, keeping her face turned away. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Rahah and I will see to that while you dress. We may be some -days in the fort, and you don’t want to go about in an amber -dressing-gown the whole time. We’ll begin with your jewel-case. Where -is it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I don’t know! What’s the good of taking that sort of thing?” -</p> - -<p> -“It might be invaluable—to buy food, or bribe the enemy, or ransom a -prisoner—or anything. Where <i>is</i> it, Mab? I thought you kept it in -here?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I do.” Mabel looked up from the shoe she was tying, as Georgia -ransacked a drawer in vain. “But no doubt Tara has taken it out to the -cart already. She has always been instructed to save it first of all -if the house was on fire.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel spoke wearily. The awful irony of Georgia’s fussing over a box -of trinkets while Dick lay dead almost destroyed her self-control. How -was it that she did not guess the truth without being told? -</p> - -<p> -“But why hasn’t she come back to help you to dress? I hope it’s all -right, Mab, but I doubt if you’ll see that jewel-case again. She has -had time to slip away with it and hide somewhere. Here, Rahah, put all -these things in the box. It’s well to take plenty of clothes, Mab, for -we are not likely to be able to get much washing done.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t!” burst from Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Why not?” asked Georgia, in astonishment. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, it sounds as if you thought we were going to spend the rest of -our lives in the fort,” said Mabel lamely. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t see why. Surely you would like to save as many of your things -as possible, whether we stay there long or not?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes, of course.” Mabel turned away to fasten her dress at the -glass, conscious that in Georgia’s eyes she must be playing a sorry -part. Georgia thought her dazed with fright, whereas her mind was full -of that dreadful revelation which must be made sooner or later. -</p> - -<p> -“Are you nearly ready, Mrs North?” asked Fitz’s voice in the passage. -</p> - -<p> -“Quite,” replied Georgia, stuffing Mabel’s dressing-gown ruthlessly -into a full trunk. “Tell the servants to come and fetch the boxes, -please.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I’m afraid the servants have stampeded to a certain extent. -Ismail Bakhsh and the rest of the <i>chaprasis</i> and one or two others -are left, and that’s all, but of course they’ll make themselves -useful.” -</p> - -<p> -“You see, Mab!” said Georgia, and Mabel understood that she need not -expect to see her jewel-case again. They followed Fitz out into the -verandah, in front of which were ranged all the vehicles belonging to -the establishment, drawn by everything that could be found even -remotely resembling a horse. -</p> - -<p> -“I told Ismail Bakhsh to get them out,” said Fitz. “There are the -wives and children to bring, and I knew you wouldn’t mind.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course not,” said Georgia. “Wait a moment, please; I have -forgotten something,” and she ran back into the drawing-room. Mabel -knew what it was she had suddenly remembered. -</p> - -<p> -“I hope she won’t be long,” said Fitz anxiously. “We’ve been here a -quarter of an hour already.” -</p> - -<p> -Only a quarter of an hour! To Mabel it seemed hours since she had been -awakened by those voices on the verandah. She looked out beyond the -line of troopers sitting motionless on their horses, and noticed, -without perceiving the significance of the fact, that there were two -or three of their number acting as scouts farther off in the -moonlight. -</p> - -<p> -“I daren’t lose any more time,” Fitz went on, fidgeting up and down -the steps. “I can’t think how it is they have left us so long.” -</p> - -<p> -Ismail Bakhsh, stowing Mabel’s dressing-bag under the seat of the -dog-cart, looked round. “Sahib, <i>he</i> rides to-night. They will not -cross the border until he has passed.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then whoever or whatever <i>he</i> may be, he has probably saved all our -lives,” said Fitz, as Georgia came out of the house. While he was -helping her into the dog-cart, Mabel caught once more the sound of the -tramp of the galloping horse, which the old trooper’s quick ear had -perceived some minutes before. The sowars straightened themselves -suddenly in their saddles, and the horses pricked their ears in the -direction of the noise. -</p> - -<p> -“Old boy seems somewhat agitated to-night,” muttered Winlock to Fitz, -as the invisible rider pulled up abruptly, then galloped on again. -</p> - -<p> -“There’s enough to make him so,” returned Fitz, who was helping to -hoist the last terrified native woman, with her burden of two children -and several brass pots, into the last cart. “All right now?” he -demanded, looking down the row of vehicles. “We had better be off, -then.” -</p> - -<p> -Was it fancy, or did Mabel see the sparks struck from the stone on -which the unseen horse stumbled as the sound came nearer? She could -have screamed for sheer terror; but Rahah, who was her companion on -the back seat of the dog-cart, laughed aloud as she wrapped the end of -her <i>chadar</i> round the great white Persian cat she held in her arms. -</p> - -<p> -“What is there to fear, Miss Sahib? No man has ever stood against -Sinjāj Kīlin, and he is close at hand. The rule of the Sarkar will -continue.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now do tell me what has happened,” Mabel heard Georgia saying to -Fitz, as he drove out of the gate. “I’m sure I am a model soldier’s -wife, for Dick suddenly sends me a bare message ordering me to abandon -all my household goods and take refuge in the fort, and I do it -without asking why! But I must confess I should like to know the -reason. Did the durbar break up in disorder, or were you attacked on -the way back?” -</p> - -<p> -“There was no durbar at all. The attack came off on the way there. But -I say, Mrs North,” said Fitz desperately, anticipating Georgia’s -question, “I can’t tell you what happened then, for I wasn’t there. -Won’t it do if I recount my own experiences, and you ask the other -fellows about the rest of it when we get to the fort?” He left her no -time to answer, but went on hurriedly:— -</p> - -<p> -“Yesterday we got as far as the entrance to the Akrab Pass, some way -beyond Dera Gul, and camped there for the night. The Major chose the -site of the camp himself, in an awfully good position commanding the -mouth of the pass, and arranged everything just as if it was war-time. -I knew, of course, that he was looking out for treachery of some sort, -and I was awfully sick when he told me this morning that I was to stay -and do camp-guard with Winlock, and not go with him to the durbar. I -yearned horribly to disobey orders, but, you see, he left me certain -things to do if—if anything went wrong.” Fitz cleared his throat, -muttered that he thought he must have got a cold, and hastened on. -“Beltring had come down from Nalapur to meet the Commissioner, as he -thought, and the Sardar Abd-ul-Nabi was waiting just inside the pass -with an escort of the Amir’s troops. We in camp had nothing to do but -kick our heels all day, for the Major left strict orders against going -out of sight of the pass. He meant to get through his work by -daylight, so as to sleep at the camp to-night, and come back here in -the morning, you see. There were no caravans passing, and the place -seemed deserted, which we thought a bad sign. But about eleven this -morning one of our scouts brought in a small boy, who had come tearing -down the pass and asked for the English camp. We had the little chap -up before us, and I recognised him as a slave-boy I saw at Dera Gul -the day Miss North and I were there. He knew me at once, and began to -pour out what he had to say so fast that we could scarcely follow him. -It seems that the Hasrat Ali Begum had managed in some way to get an -inkling of Bahram Khan’s plot, and she despatched one of her -confidential old ladies to warn you and the Major. Unfortunately, the -old lady got caught, and Bahram Khan was so enraged with his mother -that he promptly packed his whole zenana off to Nalapur, to be out of -mischief, I suppose. On the way through the pass this boy, by the -Begum’s orders, managed to hide among the rocks when they broke camp, -and so escaped with her message. He hoped to catch the Major before he -started, but, most unhappily, he durst not ask the only man he met -whether he had passed, and he was behind him instead of in front. So -he came down the pass, missing him entirely, of course, and warned us -instead. The Major’s force was to be attacked in the worst part of the -defile, he told us, and as soon as a messenger could reach Dera Gul to -say that the attack had taken place, Bahram Khan would set out to raid -Alibad. It was an awful dilemma for Winlock and me. It was no use -sending after the Major to warn him, for whatever was to happen must -have happened by that time, and if we tried to warn the town, Bahram -Khan was safe to intercept the messenger and start on his raid at -once, and of course we couldn’t evacuate the camp without orders. We -decided to strike the tents and get everything ready for a start at -any moment, and we posted our best shots on either side of the -entrance to the pass, in case the Major’s party should be pursued. -Then we waited, and at last the—the force turned up. Thanks to the -Major’s suspicions and precautions, the surprise was a good deal of a -fizzle. But as I said, I can’t tell you about that. Well, we had to -get back here. The enemy were supposed not to be far behind, so we -left Beltring and twenty-five men to hold the mouth of the pass at all -hazards, and see that no messenger got through until we were safely -past Dera Gul. After that it was left to them to seize the moment for -retreating on Shah Nawaz, which Haycraft was to evacuate, so that both -detachments might return here by the line of the canal. We put our -wounded and baggage in the middle, and started—” -</p> - -<p> -“No, wait!” cried Georgia, for hitherto Fitz had spoken so fast that -she had found it impossible to get in a word. “Who were the wounded? -You said nothing about them before. Was any one killed?” -</p> - -<p> -“I—I really can’t give you any particulars,” returned Fitz, at his -wits’ end. “Please let me finish my tale. I’m getting to the most -exciting part. It was fearfully thrilling when we had to pass under -the very walls of Dera Gul. Of course we were all ready for action at -a moment’s notice, but the men were told to ride at ease, and talk if -they liked, to give the impression that all was well. I know Winlock -and I exchanged the most appalling inanities at the top of our voices, -till the Dera Gul people must have thought we were drunk. As we -expected, pretty soon there came a hail from the walls, asking who we -were, and Ressaldar Badullah Khan, who was nearest, called out that we -were coming back from Nalapur without holding the durbar. ‘But what -has happened?’ asked the voice from the wall. ‘What should happen, -save that the Superintendent Sahib won’t hold the durbar?’ said the -Ressaldar, and we went on. Of course they must have been awfully -puzzled, for they couldn’t see our wounded in the dark, and the only -thing they could do was to send some one off to the pass to find out -what had happened. Beltring was to look out for that, and if possible -to seize the messenger and get his men away at once, before Bahram -Khan could come up and take him in the rear.” -</p> - -<p> -“And I suppose Dick is helping to prepare the fort for defence?” asked -Georgia. “There must be a dreadful amount to do.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, that reminds me, Miss North,” cried Fitz quickly, turning round -to Mabel. “The Commissioner was most anxious to come and fetch you -himself, but we pointed out to him that he could do no good, and being -so lame, might hinder us a good deal. Excuse me, Mrs North, but I -think I must give all my attention to driving just here. I don’t know -why the whole population should have turned their possessions out into -the street, unless it was to make it awkward for us.” -</p> - -<p> -They were approaching the fort, and the roadway was almost blocked -with carts, cattle, household goods, and terrified people. Several -vedettes, to whom Winlock gave a countersign, had been passed at -various points, and it was evident that the sudden danger had not -taken the military authorities, at any rate, by surprise. The space in -front of the fort gates was a blaze of light from many torches, and -several officers in uniform were resolutely bringing order out of the -general chaos. Gangs of coolies, bearing sand-bags and loads of -furniture, fuel, provisions, and forage, seemed inextricably mixed up -with shrill-voiced women and crying children, ponies, camels, and -goats; and it needed a good deal of shouting and some diplomacy, with -not a little physical force, to separate the various streams and set -them flowing in the right directions. As the dog-cart stopped, -Woodworth, the adjutant, came up. -</p> - -<p> -“We want volunteers to help destroy the buildings round the fort,” he -said. “You’ll go, Anstruther? What about your servants, Mrs North?” -</p> - -<p> -“There are seven who have come with us, nearly all old soldiers,” said -Georgia. “If you will speak to Ismail Bakhsh, who is a host in -himself, I will see that their wives and children are safely lodged -while they set to work.” -</p> - -<p> -“Awfully sorry to trouble you about this sort of thing just now,” said -Woodworth awkwardly. -</p> - -<p> -“Trouble? I am delighted they should help, of course. Where shall I -find my husband?” -</p> - -<p> -“Good heavens! You haven’t heard——?” The adjutant stopped suddenly. -</p> - -<p> -“You blighted idiot!” muttered Fitz under his breath. “Fact is, Mrs -North, the Major’s hurt—rather badly—” this reluctantly; “but I -didn’t want to frighten you sooner than I could help——” -</p> - -<p> -“Where is he? Take me to him at once,” was all she said. -</p> - -<p> -Woodworth stepped forward mechanically to help her out of the cart, -but found himself forestalled. The Commissioner had come hurrying up, -preceded by two huge Sikhs, who cleared a passage for him through the -throng, and now, supporting himself upon his crutch, he held out his -hand to Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“Believe me, Mrs North,” he said, “you have the sympathy of every man -here at this terrible time. Surely it must be some consolation to you -that your noble husband fell fighting, as he would have wished, and -that the smallness of our losses is entirely owing to his prudence and -self-sacrifice?” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia, on the ground now, looked about her like one dazed, finding, -wherever she looked, fresh confirmation of the cruel tidings. In Mr -Burgrave’s sympathising face, in Woodworth’s pitying eyes, in the -sorrowful glances of the stern troopers who had closed up round the -group, she read the truth of what she had just heard. Her hand went -quickly from her heart to her eyes, as though to shut out the sight. -Then it dropped again. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you might have told me at once!” she cried bitterly to Fitz. “I -could have borne it better from you than from the man who has done it -all.” -</p> - -<p> -“When you are more yourself, Mrs North, I know you will regret this -injustice,” said Mr Burgrave, without anger. “Allow me to take you to -your quarters in the fort.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia shook from head to foot as he offered her his arm. She was on -the point of refusing it, of yielding to the sickening sense of -aversion with which his presence inspired her, when the scowling gaze -of the mounted troopers arrested her attention, and awakened her to -the deadly peril in which the Commissioner stood. These men idolised -Dick, and they had heard her accuse Mr Burgrave of causing his death. -A word from her would mean that his last moment had come. Even to turn -her back upon him would be taken to show that she left him to their -vengeance, which might not follow immediately, but would be certain to -fall sooner or later. With a great effort she conquered her -repugnance, and laid her hand upon his arm. -</p> - -<p> -“At a time like this there are no private quarrels,” she said -hoarsely, addressing the troopers rather than the Commissioner. “We -must all stand together for the honour of England.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course, of course!” agreed Mr Burgrave, wondering what on earth -had called forth such a melodramatic remark, for he had missed the -growl of disappointed rage with which the troopers let their ready -blades fall back into the scabbards. “Most admirable spirit, I’m -sure.” -</p> - -<p> -“Upon my word!” muttered Woodworth to Fitz, “the man would have been -cut to pieces before our eyes in another moment, and he never saw it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, ignorance is bliss,” returned Fitz shortly. “What’s to happen to -the carts?” -</p> - -<p> -“Broken up for firewood, I suppose. We can’t make room for -everything.” -</p> - -<p> -“I fear you will find your quarters somewhat confined,” Mr Burgrave -was saying kindly to Georgia, as with the help of his Sikhs he piloted -her through the gateway, “but we cannot expect palatial accommodation -in our present circumstances. Our good friends Mrs Hardy and Miss -Graham are taking pains to make things comfortable for you, I know, -and you must be kind enough to excuse the deficiencies due to lack of -time and means.” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia gave a short fierce laugh. The Commissioner’s tone suggested -that if he had been consulted sooner there would have been a perfect -Hôtel Métropole in readiness to receive the fugitives. She broke -away from him, and laid her hand lovingly upon one of the new gates, -for his presentation of which to a presumably ruined fort all the -newspapers of the province had made Dick their butt only the week -before. The echoes of their Homeric laughter were even at this moment -resounding in Bombay on the one hand and Lahore on the other. -</p> - -<p> -“If your life—any of our lives—are saved, it will all be due to -him!” she cried, and the Commissioner marvelled at the lack of -sequence so characteristic of a woman’s mind. He led Georgia through -the labyrinth of curiously involved passages and courts at the back of -the club-house, in which Government stores and stray pieces of private -property were lying about pell-mell, until they could be separated and -reduced to some sort of order by the overworked officer in charge of -the housing arrangements. Mabel followed with Rahah, and at last they -reached a tiny oblong courtyard not far from the rear wall of the -fort. Here, in the middle of the paved space, was Mrs Hardy, sorting a -confused heap of her possessions with the assistance of an elderly -Christian native, Mr Hardy’s bearer. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, my dear! my poor dear!” she cried, running to Georgia, and for a -moment the two women held each other locked in a close embrace. -</p> - -<p> -“This room,” said Mr Burgrave, who seemed to feel it incumbent upon -him to do the honours of the place, “has been allotted to Miss Graham, -as it communicates by a passage with the Colonel’s quarters in the -next courtyard. The two on the right are Mr and Mrs Hardy’s, the two -on the left are intended for you, Mrs North, and the one opposite is -for you, Mabel. I believe the arrangement was suggested to Colonel -Graham by Major North himself.” -</p> - -<p> -Mrs Hardy raised her head and gave him a fiery glance. “Miss North, -will you be so kind as to request Mr Burgrave to go away?” she said -viciously. -</p> - -<p> -“No; wait, please,” said Georgia. “Which of the officers were with my -husband when he—was hurt, Mr Burgrave?” -</p> - -<p> -“There were several, I believe, but the only one not seriously wounded -was Mr Beltring, and he will not come in until the Shah Nawaz -contingent gets here—if at all.” -</p> - -<p> -“If—when he comes, I should like to see him, please,” said Georgia, -and the Commissioner departed. -</p> - -<p> -“Now come in, dear, and lie down,” said Mrs Hardy. “Your rooms are -ready, and I see Rahah, like a thoughtful girl, has even brought the -cat to make it look homelike. Anand Masih will bring you some tea in a -minute, and then I hope you will just go to bed again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dear Mrs Hardy, you have given us all your own furniture,” protested -Georgia, recognising a well-worn writing-table; but Mrs Hardy shook -her head vigorously. -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense, my dear, nonsense! We had far more brought in than we can -possibly use in this little place, and as soon as I have seen you -settled, Anand Masih and I will look after my two rooms. Mr Hardy is -helping Dr Tighe in the reading-room, which they have turned into a -hospital, or I know he would have come to see if he could do anything -for you.” -</p> - -<p> -Never silent for a moment, Mrs Hardy administered tea without milk to -Mabel and Georgia, and then tried vainly again to induce them to go to -bed. Just as she was departing in despair, Flora Graham ran in. -</p> - -<p> -“I am helping to arrange the hospital—I can’t stay,” she panted. “Oh, -Mrs North, Mabel darling, I am so sorry! I can’t tell you how much—” -She stopped, unable to speak. “I know a little what it is like,” she -added, with a sob; “Fred and his men are not in yet.” -</p> - -<p> -She dashed away, and Georgia and Mabel sat silent, hand in hand, until -the sound of a cheer from the hard-worked garrison heralded the -arrival of the Shah Nawaz detachment. Presently the clink of spurs on -the verandah announced young Beltring, who was Dick’s most trusted -pupil among the military officers desiring political employment, and -as a man after his chief’s own heart, had been allowed to earn -experience, if not fame, as his assistant at Nalapur. He came in -slowly and reluctantly, scarcely daring to look at Georgia, his torn -and bloodstained clothes and bandaged head bearing eloquent testimony -to the fighting he had seen that day. -</p> - -<p> -“Sit down, Mr Beltring,” said Georgia, holding out her hand to him. -“You got here without further loss, I hope?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, the enemy were on both flanks, but they never came near enough -to do any harm,” he answered, dropping wearily into a chair. -</p> - -<p> -“Now tell us, please. You were with him—at the end?” -</p> - -<p> -“I was the nearest, but not with him. He was riding with that -treacherous scoundrel Abd-ul-Nabi, and we had orders to keep a few -paces to the rear. We thought he wanted to speak to Abd-ul-Nabi -privately, but now I believe it was because he foresaw what was -coming. The rest of us were still in that part of the pass where the -walls are too steep for any ambush, while he, on in front with -Abd-ul-Nabi, was rounding the corner where the track goes down -suddenly into a wide rocky nullah. He must have seen something that he -was not meant to see—the glitter of weapons among the rocks -perhaps—for he turned suddenly and shouted, ‘Back! back! an -ambuscade!’ Abd-ul-Nabi spurred his horse across the pathway to -prevent his getting back to us, but the Major came straight at him, -and the ruffian pulled out a pistol and fired at him point-blank. I -cut the wretch down the next moment, but the Major had dropped like a -log, and before we could get him up there was a rush round the corner -in front, while Abd-ul-Nabi’s escort, who had been riding last, -attacked us in the rear. Leyward took command, and the fellows behind -were soon disposed of, but in front we had a pretty hard time. At last -we drove them back far enough to get at the Major’s body. He was lying -under a heap of dead. I got him out, and his head fell back on my -shoulder. No, there could be no mistake, Mrs North. Do you think I -would ever have left him while there was any breath in his body? I -tried to get him on to my horse, and Badullah Khan helped me. Just as -we had got him up, there was another rush, and the wretched beast -broke away. I was thrown off on my head, and when I came to myself the -Ressaldar was holding me in front of him on his horse, and we were in -full retreat down the pass. We had lost eight killed beside the Major, -and Leyward and the two other fellows were all badly wounded, besides -almost every one of the men, and—and they wouldn’t go back.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no; it would have been wrong,” murmured Georgia. “Thank you for -telling me this. There could be no message.” -</p> - -<p> -“No message,” repeated Beltring, answering the unasked question. -</p> - -<p> -“He could not send me any message,” wailed Georgia, as the young man -went out, “and I parted from him in anger. Oh, Dick, my darling, my -darling—forgive me!” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Georgie, don’t!” sobbed Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Poor Mab! I forgot you were there. Lie down here on my bed. I can’t -sleep.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m sure I can’t,” protested Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -It was not long before she cried herself to sleep, however, but -Georgia sat where she was until the morning. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch14"> -CHAPTER XIV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">TO KEEP THE FLAG FLYING.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Mab</span>!” Mabel awoke from her uneasy slumbers to wonder where she was, -and why Georgia was sitting there, her face silhouetted against the -square of grey light that represented a window. “Mab! Dick is not -dead.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why—oh, Georgie!—have you heard anything?” -</p> - -<p> -“No; but I know it. We always agreed that if either of us died when -the other was not there, the one that was dead should come back to say -good-bye. And I have waited for him all night, and he has not come.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel gazed at her in dismay. “Oh, but you are not building upon that, -Georgie? How can it be any proof that he is alive? He might not be -allowed to come.” -</p> - -<p> -“He promised. Besides, I know he is alive,” persisted Georgia -obstinately. “If he was dead, I should feel it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Georgie dear, you mustn’t go on like this. You will make yourself -ill. Come and lie down a little, and try to go to sleep. I will tell -you if he comes.” Mabel ended with a sob. -</p> - -<p> -“If he does, I shall know,” murmured Georgia, as she lay down. -“Thanks, Mab; I am so tired.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel waited only until she was asleep, and then, summoning Rahah to -watch beside her, went in search of Dr Tighe. It so happened that she -met him in the passage which led into the courtyard. -</p> - -<p> -“Bad business this, Miss North. We can ill spare your brother. How is -his poor wife?” -</p> - -<p> -“She has borne up wonderfully so far, but—oh, Dr Tighe, I’m afraid -her mind is going. She will persist that Dick is not dead.” -</p> - -<p> -“Poor thing! can’t realise it yet,” said the doctor compassionately. -</p> - -<p> -“No; it is quite a delusion. She says he is still alive, or she would -know it. What can we do? I thought perhaps if she could see his -body——” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no. Better that the delusion should last for ever than she should -see his body after those fiends have had to do with it.” -</p> - -<p> -“But she must give up hope soon, and it will be such a fearful -disappointment——” -</p> - -<p> -“If the hope keeps her up through the next few days, so much the -better. Afterwards, please God, she’ll have more effectual comfort -than we could give her.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I can’t help hoping too, and it will make the reality so much -worse,” confessed Mabel, with an irrepressible sob. -</p> - -<p> -“Woman alive! who cares about you?” cried the doctor furiously. “What -do your little bits of feelings matter compared with hers? No, no; I -beg your pardon, Miss North,” his tone softening. “I’d get a fine -wigging if the Commissioner heard me, wouldn’t I? But you must -remember how much you have got left, and your sister has nothing. For -God’s sake, let her please herself with thinking that he’s all right -for the present, if that comforts her at all. By-and-by the truth will -come to her gradually, but she will have the child to think of, and -the worst bitterness will be gone. Come, now, you’re brave enough for -that, aren’t you? How is she—asleep just now? I’ll look in again -later on. Now make up your mind to be unselfish about this.” -</p> - -<p> -“Does he mean that generally I am selfish?” mused Mabel. “It never -struck me before. But nobody seems to care about me. They all think -that I have Eustace left. As if he could ever make up to me for Dick!” -she laughed mirthlessly at the mere idea. “He will be coming in -presently and making appropriate remarks. Oh dear, oh dear! if he had -gone to the durbar and been killed instead of Dick, I believe I should -have been <i>glad</i>. How dreadful it is! How can I ever marry him? But I -know I shall never have the courage to tell him I want to give him up. -What can I do?” -</p> - -<p> -“Mabel, my poor little girl!” Mr Burgrave emerged from the passage, -and limped towards her as she stood listlessly on the verandah. “You -have slept badly, I fear? How is Mrs North?” -</p> - -<p> -“She won’t believe that he is dead.” And with her eyes full of tears, -Mabel repeated to him Georgia’s words. -</p> - -<p> -“Very touching, very touching!” remarked the Commissioner, his tone -breathing the deepest sympathy. “Poor thing! it is unspeakably sad to -see so strong a mind overthrown. You must find it very trying, poor -child! I hope you are taking care of yourself?” His glance travelled -over her, and Mabel remembered for the first time that she had slept -in her clothes, and that her hair had not been touched since she had -twisted it up roughly the night before on the first alarm. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I know I’m not fit to be seen!” she cried impatiently. “But what -does that signify?” -</p> - -<p> -“It signifies very much. You must remember the natives in the fort. -Their endurance—even their loyalty—may hang upon our success in -keeping up appearances during the next few days. And we white men, -also—surely it is a poor compliment to us to make such a sorry -ob—figure—of yourself? Then there is your unfortunate sister. Is it -likely to restore her mental balance to see you in such a dishevelled -condition? Oblige me by changing your dress and doing something to -your hair. It is a public duty at such a time.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish you wouldn’t bother!” said Mabel, weeping weakly. “I have no -black things, and I can’t bear to put on colours.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear girl, is it for me to advise you as to your clothes?” The -tone, half severe and half humorous, stung Mabel with a recollection -of their conversation of ten days before. “Considering poor Mrs -North’s delusion, might it not be advisable to humour her, in so far -as not to insist upon wearing mourning immediately?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, very well,” was the grudging reply, of which Mabel repented the -next moment, adding contritely, “I’m sorry to have been so cross, -Eustace. I will try to be brave.” -</p> - -<p> -“That is what I expect of my little girl. She would never bring -discredit upon my choice by showing the white feather. I rely upon her -to set an example of cheerfulness to the whole garrison.” -</p> - -<p> -He bestowed upon her what Mabel inwardly stigmatised as a lofty kiss -of encouragement before departing, and she obeyed him meekly, going at -once to her room to change her dress. She was so angry with herself -for having deserved his rebuke that she forgot to be angry with him. -After all, it was well for her to have this severe master to please, -if she was in danger of bringing reproach upon her country by her -faint-heartedness. She was taking herself to task in this strain, when -the sound of voices in the outermost of Georgia’s two rooms, which was -next to her own, interrupted her meditations. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh dear! Georgie hasn’t slept long,” she lamented to herself. “Who is -that talking to her, I wonder? Oh, Mr Anstruther, of course.” -</p> - -<p> -“I came in to see if there was anything I could do for you,” she heard -Fitz say. “I’m ashamed to have been so long in coming, but the fact -is, I was up all night knocking down houses and setting coolies to -cart away the remains, and when we had got the space all round pretty -clear and came in, I was so dead tired that I just lay down and went -to sleep where I was.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you should have gone on resting while you had the chance,” said -Georgia. “Everybody is only too kind to me, and there’s nothing I want -done. Then we are really besieged now?” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose we might say that we are in a state of siege. At present -all the tribes are holding <i>jirgahs</i> to consider the matter. Our outer -circle of vedettes was driven in soon after we got here last night, -but we held the houses facing the fort against a few spasmodic rushes -until we had got the zone of fire cleared. The enemy are too close for -comfort as it is, but at any rate they have a space to cross before -they can get up to the walls.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then they are occupying the town?” -</p> - -<p> -“Decidedly, if that means looting all the houses and firing most of -them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is our house burnt?” -</p> - -<p> -“Almost as soon as you were out of it. I noticed the fire when I -looked round once as we were driving. But I don’t think the enemy can -have been as close behind us as that. I fancy the servants who shirked -coming with us were looting, and some one had knocked over a lamp.” -</p> - -<p> -“And how are things going with us here?” -</p> - -<p> -“So-so. But you know, Mrs North, if it hadn’t been for the Major and -Colonel Graham, we might as well have taken refuge in a fowl-house as -in this place. Long ago they got in all the stores they could without -attracting attention, and everything else was ready to be moved at a -moment’s notice. They had their plans all cut and dried, too, and -every man found his post assigned to him. The walls are good against -anything but artillery, and the towers and loopholes and gates have -all been put into some sort of repair.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” said Georgia, “and that is the best of the situation. Now for -the worst.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, you know, it would all have been worst but for the Major, and -every soul inside the walls is blessing him. The worst is that we have -scraped together a preposterous number of non-combatants—some of them -the wives and children of the sowars, of course, but a good many of -them Hindus and bazaar-people of that sort, whom it would have been -sheer murder to leave outside, but who will be no good to us whatever. -All the old soldiers have been re-enlisted, and the boys are to make -themselves useful, but there is a helpless crowd of women and children -and elderly people to dispose of somehow. That’s the secret of your -close quarters here. We can’t have the poor wretches anywhere near the -walls, so they are put away in the central courts, where we can keep -an eye upon them, and overawe them if necessary.” -</p> - -<p> -“Poor things! I must go and see after them,” murmured Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“Of course, with all these extra mouths, we are not provisioned for a -regular siege, unless we eat the horses, which ought to be saved in -case we have to cut our way out at last. But the worst thing is that -we have no artillery, not so much as a field-gun, and very little of -anything else. The regiment have their carbines, of course, but the -Commissioner’s Sikhs are the only men with rifles—except those of us -who go in for big game shooting. However, as a set-off against that, -the enemy have no big guns either. And then, it’s about the best -season of the year for moving troops on this frontier, so that we -ought to be relieved before very long.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that’s only if the enemy don’t cut the canals.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I’m afraid they’re too sharp not to do that. It looks as if a -dust-storm was coming on, which would help them if they set to work at -once.” -</p> - -<p> -“Have they made any pretence of offering terms?” -</p> - -<p> -“The Amir sent his mullah this morning with a flag of truce. He -couldn’t be allowed inside, so the Commissioner and Colonel Graham -spoke to him from the walls. But there was no accepting what he -offered.” -</p> - -<p> -“What was it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Poor old Ashraf Ali was awfully cut up about—what happened -yesterday. He explained through the mullah that he arranged the -ambuscade entirely for the benefit of the Commissioner, whom he really -was anxious to have out of the way. It was a pure accident that the -very last thing he could have wished happened instead. However, in -order that his trouble mightn’t be wasted, he suggested that we should -hand him over the Commissioner now. He will see that he gives no more -trouble on this frontier, and it is open to the rest of us either to -stay here unmolested, or to return to civilisation under a -safe-conduct, just as we like.” -</p> - -<p> -“You mean that he actually offers to guarantee the safety of every one -else if the Commissioner gives himself up?” -</p> - -<p> -“Practically that. Doesn’t it strike you as a little quaint?” -</p> - -<p> -“Was that the Commissioner’s view of it?” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe so. He remarked what a preposterous demand it was, when he -had the responsibility of the fort and the whole community on his -shoulders. He doesn’t intend to shirk his duty. The Colonel said it -was a tremendous relief to hear how sensibly he took it. Some men -would have insisted on giving themselves up forthwith, but he has too -much to think of.” -</p> - -<p> -A wan smile showed itself on Georgia’s face. “Well, if he intends to -interpret his duty very strictly, we may wish he had gone,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t believe he is even technically in the right, and certainly I -think the Colonel will have to organise a little mutiny if he insists -upon bossing the show. Couldn’t you turn on Miss North to induce him -to moderate his pretensions a bit?” Mabel, in the next room, shook her -fist unseen at the speaker. -</p> - -<p> -“After all,” said Georgia, “it’s most unlikely that they would have -kept their promise to protect us, even if he had given himself up.” -</p> - -<p> -“Very little doubt about that. From what the mullah said, it’s clear -that there are two parties in their camp, and I shouldn’t care to say -which is the stronger. Bahram Khan’s following, besides his own men, -who did all the looting last night, comprises the more troublesome of -the frontier tribes and the chiefs who have grudges against the Amir, -while Ashraf Ali has his loyal Sardars and the tribes which have -always been friendly to us. If only we had the Major here!” -</p> - -<p> -“You mean that he would play them off against one another?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, and there’s no one else to do it. Beltring and I wanted to try, -because there’s just the chance that the tribes would listen to us, as -we have been with him so much, but the Colonel won’t let us leave the -fort.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, it would be no good. You would only be risking your lives -uselessly,” said Georgia. “He has more influence over them than any -man I ever knew, except my father.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, but, Mrs North, there’s no time to lose. As soon as we have -killed two or three of the lot, they’ll all be against us, and the -longer we hold out the worse it will be. Even if Bahram Khan doesn’t -succeed in bringing them over to his side at once, he will be -intriguing against his uncle in secret.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know, but what can we do? I dare not make inquiries about Dick, for -if the Amir is keeping him safe somewhere, it might put him into -Bahram Khan’s power. We can only wait.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Mrs North, don’t count on that,” pleaded Fitz sorrowfully. “It’s -no good, believe me. Ashraf Ali knows he is dead as well as we do.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I know that he is not dead,” said Georgia, and Fitz went out -hastily. In the verandah he met Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Miss North, I wanted to speak to you,” he said, but she beckoned -him imperiously aside. -</p> - -<p> -“You seem to think it rather a fine thing to abuse a man who isn’t -there to defend himself,” she said. -</p> - -<p> -“Indeed?” he said, in astonishment. “I wasn’t aware of it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps you didn’t know that I could hear you when you were laughing -at Mr Burgrave?” -</p> - -<p> -“I certainly didn’t know you were listening, but I was not laughing at -him. I merely said that he hadn’t given himself up. Would you wish me -to say that he had?” -</p> - -<p> -“You hinted that it was wrong and cowardly of him, and that he was -saving himself at the expense of every one else here, when you ought -to know it was only his strong sense of duty that kept him back. Would -you have gone?” -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not, if the burden of the defence rested on me, as the -Commissioner fancies it does on him.” -</p> - -<p> -“You see! And you said yourself it would probably have been no good.” -</p> - -<p> -“So I say still. Bahram Khan has more on hand than a piece of private -revenge. If we trusted to his safe-conduct, we should be in for -Cawnpore over again.” -</p> - -<p> -“And after that you still make fun of Mr Burgrave for not going! It’s -a shame! I know he has made mistakes in the past, from our point of -view, but I won’t hear him called a coward. He is the most noble, -lofty-minded man in the world, and I only wish I was more worthy of -him!” -</p> - -<p> -“You can’t expect me to indorse that, any more than the Commissioner -himself would,” said Fitz. “If anything I have said about him has -pained you, Miss North, I humbly beg your pardon; but please remember -that I should never speak against him intentionally, simply because -you think so highly of him.” -</p> - -<p> -“I only want you to understand that I am not going to ask him to -moderate his pretensions, as you call it,” went on Mabel, rather -confused. “For one thing, he wouldn’t do it, and for another, now that -Dick is gone, I must be guided by him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite so,” said Fitz, somewhat dryly. Then his tone changed. “I -wanted to ask you what you thought about telling poor Mrs North -something the mullah said this morning. It struck me that perhaps we -ought to keep it dark for a bit, as the doctor thinks it a good thing -she can’t believe that the worst has happened. The poor old Amir wept -as if for his own son when he heard that the Major was dead, and went -himself to look for the body, intending to give it a state funeral. -But when they got to the pass, it was gone. The Hasrat Ali Begum, who -was in camp near, had broken <i>pardah</i> with her women as soon as the -fight was over, and carried off the body and buried it. They were -afraid of what Bahram Khan would do with it, you see, and at present -they won’t tell even the Amir where the grave is, but he sent word -that he meant to build a tomb over it later on. Now, ought Mrs North -to know?” -</p> - -<p> -“I shouldn’t think so, should you? I have never been much with people -in trouble—I don’t know how to deal with them. But I think it will be -better not to tell her unless she asks.” -</p> - -<p> -“But she isn’t likely to ask, is she? Oh, Miss North, if she might -only be right! I don’t believe there’s a man in the fort that wouldn’t -gladly die to bring him back.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -The expected dust-storm did not begin until the afternoon, and in the -interval the besieged continued to strengthen their defences, -disturbed only by an intermittent rifle-fire. A party of the enemy had -taken possession of General Keeling’s old house, and lying down behind -the low wall which surrounded the roof, were firing at any one they -saw on the ramparts. Thanks to the efforts of Colonel Graham and Dick, -the ruined parapet here had been repaired, but when there were -messages to be sent from one point to another, the cry was “Heads -down!” So skilfully were the enemy posted that no response to their -annoying attentions was possible until a party of Sikhs, at -considerable risk to life and limb, scaled the turrets flanking the -gateway, the repair of which had not been completed owing to lack of -time, and succeeded in commanding the roof of the old house. They had -scarcely cleared it before the storm came on, and they were ordered -down again, since it was generally believed that an assault would be -attempted under cover of the wind and darkness. Nothing of the kind -took place, however, and the garrison, who were kept under arms, -chafed at their enforced inaction, and tried in vain to pierce the -obscurity which surrounded them, while the wind howled and the dust -rattled on the roofs. When, last of all, the rain poured down in -sheets, and the air cleared sufficiently to allow the buildings beyond -the zone of fire to become dimly visible, it was seen that the enemy -had taken advantage of the storm for a different purpose. On the roof -of General Keeling’s house was now a rough stone breastwork, so -constructed as to shelter its occupants even against the fire from the -towers, and provided with loopholes so arranged as to allow the barrel -of a rifle to be pointed through them in any direction. -</p> - -<p> -“It looks to me as though we should have to rush the General’s house -and blow it up,” said the Commissioner to Colonel Graham, as they -stood in one of the turrets, peering into the sweeping rain, during -the last few minutes of daylight. “That sangar makes our walls -untenable.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then we shall have to raise them,” was the laconic reply, as Colonel -Graham passed his field-glass to his companion. “You may not have -noticed that though the General’s old stone house is the only one -strong enough to support a sangar on the roof, the brick houses on -both sides of it have been loop-holed. The place is a regular -death-trap.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you mean to say that in this short time they have prepared a -position impregnable to our whole force?” asked Mr Burgrave -incredulously. -</p> - -<p> -“Quite possibly, but that isn’t the question. Their numbers are -practically unlimited; ours are not. I should be glad if you and I -could come to an understanding at once. We are not here to exhibit -feats of arms, but to keep the flag flying until we can be relieved, -and to protect the unfortunate women and children down below there. -Nothing would please me better than to lead an assault on the house -yonder, but who’s to defend the fort when the butcher’s bill is paid? -If we had only ourselves to consider, I might cut my way out with the -troops, and make a historic march to Rahmat-Ullah, but with the -non-combatants it would be impossible. You see this?—or perhaps you -don’t see it, but I do. Well, are we to work together, or not?” -</p> - -<p> -“You are asking me to subordinate my judgment to yours?” -</p> - -<p> -“Politically, you are supreme here. From a military point of view——” -</p> - -<p> -“You think you ought to be? Considering the office I hold, doesn’t -that strike you as rather a large order?” -</p> - -<p> -“Would you propose to occupy an independent and superior position from -which to criticise my measures? Surely you must see that is out of the -question? You may be Commissioner for the province, but I am -commandant of this fort, and the troops are under my orders. The -conclusion is pretty obvious, isn’t it? In such a situation as this, a -single head is essential, and there must be no hint of divided -counsels. You and I have both got everything we prize in the world at -stake here. Can we squabble over our relative positions in face of -what lies before us?” -</p> - -<p> -“The question would come more gracefully from me to you, in the -circumstances,” said Mr Burgrave, “but I see your point. Let it be -understood that the conduct of all military operations is vested in -you, then. I reserve, of course, the right of private criticism, and -of offering advice.” -</p> - -<p> -“And of putting the blame on me if things go wrong!” thought Colonel -Graham, but he was too wise to give utterance to the remark. “Do you -care to make the round of the defences with me?” he asked. “I should -like to see how the new brickwork stands this deluge.” -</p> - -<p> -As they emerged from the shelter of the tower into the rainy dusk, -they were met by Fitz, who, like the other civilians in the place, had -enrolled himself as a volunteer. When he first spoke, his voice was -inaudible, owing to a rushing, roaring sound which filled the air. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what’s this?” shouted the Colonel. -</p> - -<p> -“The canal, sir,” answered Fitz, as loudly. “Winlock sent me to ask -you to come and look at it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is it in flood? Can the reservoir have burst?” -</p> - -<p> -“We think the enemy have opened the sluices. The dead body of a white -man was washed down just now. We saw it, though we couldn’t reach it, -and some one said it was Western, who was in charge at the canal -works.” -</p> - -<p> -The Colonel and Mr Burgrave hurried along the rampart, sheltered from -the enemy’s fire by the gathering darkness, to the rear wall of the -fort, the base of which was washed by the canal. The canal itself was -part of the great system of irrigation-works by means of which, as the -Commissioner had once complained, General Keeling had made Khemistan. -A huge reservoir was constructed in the hills to receive the torrents -of water which rushed down every ravine after a storm, and which, -after carrying ruin and destruction in their path, ran fruitlessly to -waste. By means of sluices the outflow was regulated with the minutest -care, and the precious water husbanded so jealously that even in the -hottest seasons it was possible to supply the canal which, with its -many effluents, had converted the immediate surroundings of Alibad -from a sandy waste into a garden. In view of the possible necessity of -coping with an occasional rush of water, the banks were artificially -raised, and the one opposite the south-west angle of the fort, where -the canal took a sudden bend, had been strengthened to a considerable -height with masonry, to protect the cultivated land beyond it from -inundation. This change in its course largely increased the force of -the current at this point. -</p> - -<p> -After a storm the placid canal always became a rushing torrent, on -account of the accessions it received after leaving the reservoir, but -none of those in the fort had ever seen it rise to the height it had -reached on the present occasion. Colonel Graham uttered an exclamation -of dismay when he looked out over the turbid stream, which seemed to -be flung back from the opposite bank against the fort wall with even -increased violence. Presently there was a lull in the storm, and by -the aid of a lantern, which was lowered from the rampart, he was able -to see that the current was actually scouring away the lower courses -of the wall. The next moment the lantern was violently swept from the -hand of the man who held the cord, as another rush of water came -swirling round the tower at the angle of the wall, dashing its spray -into the faces of the watchers. Every one of them felt the wall shake -under the blow, and there was a murmur of uneasiness. Colonel Graham -recovered himself first. -</p> - -<p> -“Turn out all the servants and coolies, Winlock,” he said, “and shore -up the wall with props and sand-bags as far as possible. We will stay -here and watch whether the water rises any higher. It’s clear they -hope that this south curtain will go,” he added to Mr Burgrave, “and -that then they will only have to walk in.” -</p> - -<p> -“They must have a clever head among them,” said the Commissioner; “for -they are evidently letting the water out a little at a time.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, that’s the native engineer, no doubt. They would keep him alive -to manage the machinery for them when they murdered poor Western. Look -out, here’s another!” -</p> - -<p> -Again the wall trembled perceptibly, but by this time the courtyard -was full of eager workers, piling up earth and stones and beams and -bags of sand, and anything else that could be found. Presently the -Colonel called out to them to stop, for there was now the danger that -the wall might fall outwards instead of inwards, and they waited in -unwilling idleness, while the two men on the rampart watched the -current anxiously, and measured the distance of its surface from the -parapet. Then came a more violent rush of water than any before, and -to Colonel Graham and Mr Burgrave the wall seemed to rock backwards -and forwards under them. When they looked into each other’s faces once -more, they could scarcely believe that it was still standing. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s the last, evidently,” said the Colonel, “a final effort. The -water’s getting lower already. We’re safe for to-night, but if they -had only had the patience to wait till this rain was over, we could -never have stood the force of water they could have turned on. And as -it is, a child’s popgun might almost account for this bit of wall -now.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch15"> -CHAPTER XV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">“THE OLD FIRST HEROIC LESSONS.”</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Why</span>, Mrs North!” Disturbed in his task of supervising the -proceedings of a nervous native assistant, whose mind was less -occupied with his dispensing than with the bullets which flattened -themselves occasionally upon the pavement outside the surgery, Dr -Tighe had turned suddenly to find Georgia at his elbow. “Can I do -anything for you?” he asked kindly, looking with professional -disapproval at her pale face and weary eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“I want you to let me help you in the hospital.” -</p> - -<p> -“And I thought you were a sensible woman! Will you tell me if you call -this wise, now?” -</p> - -<p> -“I think it would help me to have something to do.” -</p> - -<p> -“But not this. What am I to say to the Major when—if—when I see him -again, if you overtask your strength?” -</p> - -<p> -“I see you think I am mad,” she said earnestly, “but I <i>know</i> he is -alive. But the suspense is so dreadful, doctor. It’s certain that he -is wounded, and I can scarcely doubt he is a prisoner; and what may be -happening to him at any moment? It is killing me, and I must live—for -both their sakes.” The doctor nodded quickly. “And I thought if I -could do something to help those who were suffering as he is, it -might—oh, I don’t know—it might make me tired enough to sleep -again.” -</p> - -<p> -“A good idea!” said Dr Tighe, in his most matter-of-fact tones. “You -shall relieve me of half my dressings, by all means, and I’ll turn -over to you the out-patient work among these unfortunate women and -children. You can leave that dispensing, Babu”—the assistant, who had -been listening for the thud of the bullets, started violently—“and go -round the wards with the Memsahib.” -</p> - -<p> -From his own cases on the opposite side of the improvised wards Dr -Tighe glanced across at Georgia several times, remarking with approval -that her face and figure were losing their look of utter weariness as -she went about her work. She was giving her whole mind to it, that was -evident, and for the time her own anxiety was pushed into the -background. The number of patients to be treated was considerable, for -besides the men who had been wounded at the fight in the Akrab Pass, -there were a good many casualties due to the enemy’s fire since the -siege had begun. The work was therefore heavy, but as soon as the -dressings were finished Dr Tighe bustled up to Georgia and pointed out -a new opening for her energies. -</p> - -<p> -“The Colonel wants sacks made—millions of ’em—for sand-bags,” he -said. “He was at his wits’ end about it this morning, tried to get the -native women to sew them, and they wouldn’t.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, why didn’t he ask us?” cried Georgia. “We would have worked our -fingers to the bone.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m sure you would, and it’s likely he’d ask it of you, isn’t it? But -why all the refugees should have board and lodging given them free, I -don’t know. Why, they wouldn’t even make the sacks for payment! A lot -of them said they couldn’t sew, and the rest seemed to think they were -being persecuted when they were asked to do it. But you know how to -get round them, Mrs North. We can’t very well say that if a woman -doesn’t sew a sack a day out she goes—sounds a bit brutal—but you’ll -manage to set them to work, I’m sure. I’ll tell Colonel Graham you’ve -taken the matter in hand, and he’ll be for ever grateful.” -</p> - -<p> -Unpromising though the task seemed, Georgia succeeded in finding six -women who consented to sew if the Memsahibs would do so too, and a -working-party was organised in the little courtyard, from which Mr -Hardy and the men-servants were rigorously banished for the time. -Since the need of sand-bags—at any rate in such numbers—had not been -foreseen, the proper material was lacking, but all the tents in the -fort were promptly requisitioned, and their canvas utilised. The -regimental tailors cut out the sacks, delivering them into the charge -of Rahah, and inside the courtyard Mrs Hardy and Georgia superintended -the unskilled workers, while Flora and Mabel took a pride in proving -their willingness to blister their fingers for their country. It was -fortunate that fine needlework was not required, for the native -women’s ideas of sewing were rudimentary in the extreme, but their two -instructresses succeeded at last in convincing them, by precept and -example, that to sew one side only of a seam was unnecessary as a -decoration and not calculated materially to further the usefulness of -a sack. When this lesson had been sufficiently impressed upon the -pupils, Georgia sat down in the doorway of her room to divide the -<i>pice</i> which Colonel Graham had entrusted to her for distribution -among them. The sun was setting over the hill beyond the fort, and the -women, as they sat cross-legged on the floor, seized the fact that the -light was in their eyes as an excuse for turning round to gaze -greedily at the money which Georgia was apportioning on a chair. -Suddenly there was a whizz and a noisy clatter. A bullet had grazed -Georgia’s hand and struck the chair, sending the coins flying, and it -was followed by a burst of firing, which caused the terrified -workwomen to drop their sacks and exclaim with one voice that they -were dead. -</p> - -<p> -“Down! down!” cried Georgia, setting the example herself, “and crawl -round to the other verandah. They are firing from the hill, but they -won’t be able to see us there.” -</p> - -<p> -Dragging with her one woman who was paralysed with fright, she induced -the others to follow her, and when they were out of the line of fire, -proceeded to examine the terrific wounds from which one and all -declared themselves to be suffering. Curiously enough, no one was -badly hurt. Two had scratches, and one a nasty bruise from a ricochet -shot, but of severe injuries there were none. Georgia dressed the -wounds and comforted the sufferers with one or two <i>pice</i> extra, and -then sent them back to their own quarters, thus allowing admittance to -Colonel Graham, Mr Hardy, the Commissioner, and Fitz, who had been -informed by the horrified servants that the enemy were firing into the -Memsahibs’ courtyard. Their anxiety raised to the highest pitch by the -shrieks from within, the four gentlemen were held at bay in the -passage by the heroic Rahah, who informed them that they must pass -over her body before they should break the <i>pardah</i> of the women -assembled under her mistress’s protection. Just as they were at last -admitted a cry from behind made them look round, to see an unfortunate -water-carrier who had been passing along the rampart falling into the -courtyard. -</p> - -<p> -“We must get up a parados on that side,” said Colonel Graham, when the -wounded man had been sent to the hospital. “They command the inside of -the whole east curtain from that hill. Your sand-bags will be made -useful sooner than we expected, Mrs North.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what is to happen to us?” cried Mabel. “Are we to stay here to be -shot at?” -</p> - -<p> -“Calm yourself, my dear girl,” said Mr Burgrave, in gently reproving -tones. “You are in no danger at the present moment.” -</p> - -<p> -“You see, Miss North,” said the Colonel, “I don’t want to have to put -you either in the hospital courtyard or among the native refugees, and -there is nowhere else. After all, this court is so small that the -enemy can’t possibly command more than the east side, and we’ll put -that right by hanging curtains along the verandah.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what good would that be against bullets?” -</p> - -<p> -“The curtain wouldn’t stop them, certainly, but our friends up there -are very careful of their ammunition, and never waste a shot. Not -being able to see whether any one is in the verandah, they won’t aim -at it. It was the sight of a whole party assembled here that was -irresistible.” -</p> - -<p> -“But is Georgia to live in darkness?” demanded Georgia’s -self-constituted champion. -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense, Mab! There are three other verandahs to sit in. After all, -one expects bullets in a siege,” said Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s the right spirit, Mrs North,” said Colonel Graham heartily. -“As soon as it’s dusk we’ll have the matting up from the -club-house—messroom, I mean—floor, and nail it along the roof of -this verandah and across the corner where the passage is. Then you’ll -be safe from anything but chance shots, and those, I’m afraid, we can -none of us guard against.” -</p> - -<p> -“But are those fellows up there to pot at the ladies without our ever -having a chance to pay them back, sir?” cried Fitz. -</p> - -<p> -“I was coming to that. Of course the plan is to clear us off the east -rampart so that a force from the town may rush it under cover of the -fire from the hill, and therefore the parados must be our first care. -Still, I think we can spare a few sand-bags for the two western -towers, and if we arrange a little sangar on the top of each when it -is dark, we can show our chivalrous friends the snipers to-morrow what -it feels like to be sniped. Tell Winlock to set all the servants to -work filling bags and baskets, and anything else they can find, with -earth at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“We seem to hold our own fairly well at present,” said Mr Burgrave, as -Fitz departed, and the Colonel stood looking narrowly at the -threatened verandah and the scattered work-materials with which it was -strewn. -</p> - -<p> -“We seem to—yes, but it is simply because we have not been tried as -yet. There is far too great a length of wall for us to hold against a -well-planned attack—say from two sides at once. Why they haven’t put -us to the test before I can’t imagine. It’s not like their usual -tactics to let things drag on in this way.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am of opinion that they dislike crossing the cleared space, and -intend to remain at a discreet distance and starve us out. If only -they stick to that, we ought to be relieved long before matters come -to a crisis.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, it’s not that!” cried the Colonel irritably. “There’s something -behind that we don’t see. If there was any possibility of their having -guns, I should say they were waiting for them. But where are they to -get them from unless they have surprised Rahmat-Ullah, which we have -no reason to suppose? They have some dodge on hand, though, I’m -certain.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is there any weak point at which they could be aiming?” -</p> - -<p> -“Man, this place is nothing but weak points. If those fellows on the -hill knew what they were about, they could enfilade our north and -south ramparts as well as cover the eastern one. The south curtain is -so weak now that an elephant or a battering-ram—let alone a -well-planted shell or two—could knock it over, and the canal on that -side is getting lower every day. The water-carriers have to go down a -dozen steps now, and it’s only the enemy’s fear for their own precious -skins that prevents their picking them off from the opposite bank. We -could pepper them from the rampart, they know that, and they haven’t -the sense to pour in an oblique fire from the hill. I suppose, too, it -hasn’t occurred to you that if they took it into their heads to blow -us up, one or two plucky fellows could get close up to the walls under -cover of a general attack, and lay a train at their leisure. It’s -impossible to fire transversely from the loopholes in the towers -without exposing pretty nearly one’s whole body, and as to depressing -a rifle and firing point-blank down from the parapet, well——” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Burgrave understood the pause to mean that the consequences would -probably be very uncomfortable for the holder of the rifle, and said -no more. The night passed without further alarm, save that Georgia -found it would be dangerous to have a light in her rooms unless door -and shutters were both closed. The glimmer from the window, even when -only seen through the matting curtain, attracted two or three bullets -immediately, and it was evident that the choice must be made between -air and light. During the hours of darkness the besieged worked hard -at their defences, and succeeded in erecting a more or less effectual -shelter along the inside of the east rampart, and also a sand-bag -parapet at the summit of the two western towers. The gateway turrets -on the north-east, which were now exposed to the fire from the hill in -the rear as well as to that from General Keeling’s house in front, -were strengthened in the same way. Behind these shelters the best -marksmen of the garrison took up their posts, and as soon as the -bullets began to fly from the hill, seized the opportunity of pointing -out to the enemy that the state of things had altered to some extent -in the night. Since it was impossible for a man on either side to fire -without exposing himself slightly, a return shot was the instant -comment on this imprudence, and hence, before the morning was over, -both parties were lying low and glaring at their opponents’ sangars, -ready to shoot but not caring to be shot. Helmets on the one side and -turbans on the other, raised cautiously on rifle-barrels above the -breastwork, drew a few shots, but the nature of the trick was quickly -perceived by both parties, and the sniping continued to languish. -</p> - -<p> -“Their rifles seem to carry as far as ours,” remarked Mr Burgrave to -Colonel Graham. -</p> - -<p> -“So they ought,” was the grim reply. “Most of them, if not all, are -ours. They are stolen and smuggled wholesale into Ethiopia, and Bahram -Khan has borrowed them to arm his followers with. That’s how they -manage to give us so much trouble. In the matchlock days, when this -place was built, we could have laughed at their shooting from the -hill.” -</p> - -<p> -“What is that?” said the Commissioner suddenly, putting up his -eye-glass; “a pile of cannon-balls? It was not there last night.” -</p> - -<p> -They were standing in one of the gateway turrets, and the heap to -which he pointed was visible upon the cleared space, in front of the -entrance to a lane between two of the houses occupied by the enemy. -Colonel Graham laid down his field-glass with an exclamation of -disgust. -</p> - -<p> -“Cannon-balls! It’s <i>heads</i>—human heads—heads of our men. Those -fiends have surprised one of our posts—Sultanibagh probably, beyond -Shah Nawaz. I telegraphed to the Jemadar in charge to retire upon -Rahmat-Ullah, as there was no chance of their getting here safely, but -the wires must have been cut before they got the message, or else the -men have been ambushed on their way. Well, Bahram Khan has put himself -beyond the pale of mercy this time, even with our Government, I should -imagine.” -</p> - -<p> -As the light grew stronger the sickening trophy was perceived from -other parts of the fort, and the men of the Khemistan Horse began to -become impatient. It appeared that a deserter had ventured close under -the walls in the night, in order to taunt the garrison with some -unexplained reverse, the nature of which was now made manifest. They -were asked how long Sinjāj Kīlin’s sowars had been content to hide -behind stone walls, instead of coming out to fight on horseback in the -open, and a variety of interesting and savoury information was added -as to the precise nature of the tortures in store for all, whether -officers or men, who fell into Bahram Khan’s hands. To the men who had -so long dominated the frontier, this abuse was intolerably galling, -and the troopers were gathering in corners with sullen faces, and -asking one another why they were kept back from washing out the -disgrace in blood. They had now been in the fort the best part of a -week, no attack in force had been made, and yet there had not been the -slightest attempt to drive off the enemy or inflict any loss upon him. -Ressaldar Badullah Khan voiced this feeling to Colonel Graham a little -later, when the Colonel had passed with a judicious lack of apparent -notice the scowling groups of men who were discussing the state of -affairs. -</p> - -<p> -“Our faces are black, sahib,” said the native officer, in response to -the question put to him. “Bahram Khan and his <i>badmashes</i> laugh at our -beards, and we are pent up here like women. We are better men than -they—we have proved it in every fight since first Sinjāj Kīlin -Sahib raised the regiment—why then (so say the sowars) is it -forbidden to us to issue forth with our horses, and sweep the baseborn -rabble outside from the face of the earth?” -</p> - -<p> -“Is the regiment complaining of the course I choose to take, -Ressaldar?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, sahib; the sowars say that it is the will of the Kumpsioner -Sahib which is being done.” -</p> - -<p> -“They are wrong. It is mine. What could the regiment do on horseback -in the streets of the town, with the enemy firing from roofs and -loopholes? We have not a man too many in the fort now, and yet, -Ressaldar, I anticipate a sortie in force before long, though not in -review order.” -</p> - -<p> -The Ressaldar’s eyes gleamed. “May the news be told to the regiment, -sahib?” he asked. -</p> - -<p> -“Could they refrain from shouting it to the next man who taunts them? -No, Ressaldar; tell them to trust me as they have always done -hitherto. There will be work to be done before many days, but I cannot -set mutinous men to do it.” -</p> - -<p> -Badullah Khan went out, meeting Woodworth on the threshold. -</p> - -<p> -“Would you mind coming up to the north-western tower, sir?” asked the -adjutant, when he had closed the door. “The enemy seem to be doing -something in that direction which I can’t quite make out.” -</p> - -<p> -“What sort of thing?” asked Colonel Graham, rising. -</p> - -<p> -“I would rather not give an opinion until you have seen what there is -to see, sir,” was the reply, so unwontedly cautious that the Colonel -prepared for a heavy blow. Woodworth followed him up the narrow -winding stairs in silence, and pointed to the stretch of desert on the -northern side of the town, across which two long strings of men and -animals were slowly passing in a westerly direction. The Colonel -started, examined the moving objects through his field-glass, and -called to his orderly— -</p> - -<p> -“Ask Beltring Sahib to come here at once.” -</p> - -<p> -Almost before Beltring, breathless, had mounted the staircase, he was -greeted by a question. “Beltring, are there any guns at Nalapur?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, sir. At least, there are two old field-pieces in front of the -palace, but that’s all.” -</p> - -<p> -“Are they in working order?” -</p> - -<p> -“They use them for firing salutes, sir, not for anything else, I -believe.” -</p> - -<p> -“Still, that shows they are safe to work, and here they are. Where -will they mount them, should you say, Woodworth?” -</p> - -<p> -“On the hill, sir. The slope on the far side is comparatively easy for -getting them up.” -</p> - -<p> -“True, and from the brow there they could knock the place about our -ears in a couple of hours. At all costs we must keep them from getting -the range to-day. They will have no range-finders, that’s one good -thing, and if we can secure a night’s respite, it’ll be a pity if we -don’t make good use of it. Tell our marksmen to fire at anything they -see moving up there. Those guns must not be placed in position before -sunset. And then tell all the other officers and volunteers to meet me -on the south rampart immediately.” -</p> - -<p> -The council of war which assembled on the rampart, sheltered by the -south-western tower, was sufficiently informal to make the hair of any -stickler for military etiquette stand on end, but its proceedings were -absolutely practical. The Colonel, beside whom stood Mr Burgrave, -stated the situation briefly. -</p> - -<p> -“You have seen the two guns which the enemy intend to mount on the -hill there. Once they get them into position and find our range, we -may as well retire into the vaults and wait until we are smoked out, -for there is no possible shelter above ground. With our small force it -is hopeless to detach a party to sally out and capture the guns in the -open—more especially since the enemy hold the town between us and -them. Still, they have plenty to do in getting the guns across the -canal and dragging them up the hill, and we must make it our business -to prevent them from opening fire to-day, and to-night those guns must -be taken. I propose to leave the Commissioner in charge of the fort, -with ten of his own Sikhs and fifty sowars under Ressaldar Ghulam -Rasul. Every civilian who can hold a weapon must also do duty. I shall -take a hundred and fifty dismounted sowars and thirty Sikhs, with all -the enrolled volunteers, and make a dash for the hill under cover of -darkness. If we succeed, we shall have averted a great danger; if we -fail, the fort will be no worse off than if we had hung about and done -nothing. I am confident that the Commissioner will fight to the end, -and not allow himself to be tempted by any offer of terms.” -</p> - -<p> -“Know the beggars too well,” said Mr Burgrave laconically. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s the main scheme; now for details. To reach the hill, the canal -must be crossed in any case. The most obvious plan would undoubtedly -be for the force to rendezvous silently in the shadow of the west -curtain, traverse the irrigated land, and restore the bridge at the -foot of the hill sufficiently to cross by it. But the enemy could -sweep the whole route from their positions both in the town and on the -hill, and they will be very much on the alert to-night. My idea is to -cross the canal here from the water-gate, and march the first part of -the distance along the bank, so as to come upon the enemy from the -side he won’t expect us. He knows we have neither boat nor bridge, and -the water is still deep enough along the wall to be impassable to any -but good swimmers.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then how do you propose to cross?” asked Mr Burgrave. -</p> - -<p> -“There I must invite suggestions. We have no time for building boats -or bridges, and the water-gate offers no facilities for it either. A -raft, possibly. What do you think, Runcorn?” -</p> - -<p> -“A raft supported on inflated skins, sir?” asked the engineer officer. -“That might be practicable, but it would have to be very small, for -the passage to the gate is so narrow that all the materials must be -taken to the water’s edge separately and put together there. There is -no standing-ground of any sort but the wretched shaky steps that the -water-carriers use, so that we can’t well lower things from the wall.” -</p> - -<p> -“And the time spent in ferrying the force over would be interminable, -not to mention the risk of discovery by the enemy,” said Colonel -Graham. -</p> - -<p> -His subordinates looked at one another. Various suggestions had been -hazarded and rejected, when a hesitating voice made itself heard. The -speaker was Mr Hardy, who had joined the group a few minutes earlier, -with a message to the Colonel from one of the wounded officers in the -hospital. -</p> - -<p> -“In my Oxford days,” he said, “I remember a pleasant walk through the -meadows—” His hearers gasped. Why should these peaceful recollections -be obtruded at such a moment? “There was one point at which the path -crossed a considerable stream, and a punt that ran on wires was placed -there. I’m afraid I am not very intelligible,” he smiled nervously. “I -can’t describe the mechanism in technical language, but the punt was -fastened to one wire, and the other was free and moved on pulleys, so -that you could pull yourself across, or draw the punt towards you if -it happened to be at the opposite bank.” -</p> - -<p> -“Padri,” said Colonel Graham, “it’s clear that you are an unsuspected -mechanical genius. This is the very thing we want, though we must use -rope instead of wire.” -</p> - -<p> -“But we have even got that, sir,” said Runcorn eagerly. “Timson was -boasting that he had saved all the stores of his department—miles of -telegraph wire amongst them. Now he’ll have to disgorge.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then will you set about the construction of the ferry, Runcorn? You -can’t begin work on the spot until night, but you can get your -materials ready. Requisition anything you want, of course.” -</p> - -<p> -“May we make a suggestion, sir?” said Fitz Anstruther, coming forward -with Winlock as the council broke up. Signals of intelligence had been -passing between the two for some time, and they had held a whispered -consultation while the ferry was being discussed. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what plot have you on hand?” -</p> - -<p> -It was Winlock who answered. “We thought that it might make all the -difference to your success, sir, if a diversion could be arranged to -distract the enemy’s attention. We two know every foot of these hills -from <i>chikor</i>-shooting, and if we might pick out a dozen or so of the -sowars who have constantly gone with us out hunting as beaters, we -could make a sham attack. We know of a splendid place on the side of a -hill, inaccessible from below, which commands the camp of the hostile -tribes, and we thought if we sent up a signal rocket or two, to be -answered from the fort, and then poured in as many volleys as there -was time for, it might make a good impression. Of course, as soon as -they try to get round us and rush the hill, we must retire, to keep -them from finding out how few we are; but the main force ought to have -settled the guns by that time, and we might rendezvous on the hill and -march back together.” -</p> - -<p> -“It sounds feasible,” said the Colonel slowly; “but how do you propose -to cross the canal?” -</p> - -<p> -“We don’t mean to cross it in going, sir. Anstruther says we can -clamber along the base of this wall from the water-gate round the -south-western tower, so as to get on to dry land under the west -curtain.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know it’s possible, sir,” said Fitz eagerly. “I’ve done it more -than once when the canal was low, and it’ll be easier now that the -bricks are so much washed away. And of course we shall be very careful -in crossing the irrigated land—all of us in khaki, you see, and -taking advantage of every bit of cover—and unless we run right into -one of the enemy’s outposts, I don’t see how they are to spot us. And -think of the benefit it will be to have their attention distracted -from your movement!” -</p> - -<p> -“You realise that you are taking your lives in your hands? You will -probably have to swim the canal higher up to join us, and, after all, -we may not be able to wait for you. Your men will be volunteers, of -course? They must understand that it’s a desperate business.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, sir; but they’ll come like a shot. They’ve been out with us -after <i>markhor</i>, and we’ve been in some tight places in the mountains. -May we have what rockets we want?” -</p> - -<p> -“By all means. Good luck go with you! I wish I was coming too!” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s really handsome of the C.O.,” said Fitz, dodging a bullet as -he clattered down the stairs into the courtyard with Winlock. “Grand -firework display to-night! What a pity that the ladies and all the -refugees can’t have front seats on the ramparts to watch the -<i>tamasha</i>!” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch16"> -CHAPTER XVI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE DARKEST HOUR.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Sahib</span>, there is a man under the wall on the east side.” -</p> - -<p> -“How did he come there?” demanded Colonel Graham angrily. “What are -the sentries doing?” -</p> - -<p> -“The night is so dark, sahib, that he crept up unnoticed. He is the -holy mullah Aziz-ud-Din, and desires speech with your honour.” -</p> - -<p> -“The Amir’s mullah? You are sure of it?” -</p> - -<p> -“I know his voice, sahib. He is holding his hands on high, to show -that he has no weapons.” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose we may as well see what he has to say,” said the Colonel to -Mr Burgrave, with whom he had been making final arrangements, and the -two men climbed the steps to the east rampart. Once there, and looking -over into the darkness, it was some little time before their eyes -could distinguish the dim figure at the foot of the wall. -</p> - -<p> -“Peace!” said Colonel Graham. -</p> - -<p> -“It is peace, sahib. I bear the words of the Amir Ashraf Ali Khan. He -says, ‘It is now out of my power to save the lives of the sahibs, and -I will not deceive them, knowing that a warrior’s death amid the ruins -of their fortress will please them better than to fall into the hands -of my thrice-accursed nephew, who has stolen the hearts of my soldiers -from me. But this I can do. The houses next to the canal on this side -of the fort are held by my own bodyguard, faithful men who have eaten -of my salt for many years, and I have there six swift camels hidden. -Let the Memsahibs be entrusted to me, especially those of the -household of my beloved friend Nāth Sahib, and I will send them at -once to Nalapur, where they shall be in sanctuary in my own palace, -and I will swear—I who kept my covenant with the Sarkar until the -Sarkar broke it—that death shall befall me before any harm touches -them.’” -</p> - -<p> -“Why is this message sent to-night?” asked Colonel Graham. -</p> - -<p> -“Because Bahram Khan is preparing a great destruction, sahib, and the -heart of Ashraf Ali Khan bleeds to think that the houses of his -friends Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib and Nāth Sahib should both be blotted -out in one day.” -</p> - -<p> -“Carry my thanks and those of the Commissioner Sahib to Ashraf Ali -Khan, but tell him that the Memsahibs will remain with us. Their -presence would only place him in greater danger, and he would not be -able to protect them. But we can. They will not fall into the hands of -Bahram Khan.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is well, sahib.” The faint blur which represented the messenger -melted into the surrounding blackness, and Colonel Graham turned to -his companion. -</p> - -<p> -“It will be your business to see to that, if the enemy break in. -Haycraft comes with me. We must leave Flora in your charge. Don’t let -her fall into their hands, any more than Miss North.” -</p> - -<p> -“I promise,” said Mr Burgrave, and their hands met in the darkness. -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks. I think we have settled everything now. We don’t start for an -hour yet, and if you like to explain things to Miss North——” -</p> - -<p> -“I should prefer to say nothing unless the necessity arises.” -</p> - -<p> -“I never thought of your going into details, but she must know -something, surely? Flora will learn the state of affairs from -Haycraft; Mrs North will pick it up from the Hardys and her ayah, and -Miss North will probably expect—— But please yourself, of course.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will go and talk to her for a little while. I have scarcely seen -her all day.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Burgrave’s tone was constrained. It seemed to him almost impossible -to meet Mabel at this crisis, and abstain from any allusion to the -terrible duty which had just been laid upon him. He was not an -imaginative man, and no forecast of the scene burned itself into his -brain, as would have been the case with some people, but the -oppression of anticipation was heavy upon him. For him the dull horror -in his mind overshadowed everything, and it was with a shock that he -found Mabel to be in one of her most vivacious and aggressive moods. -She was walking up and down the verandah outside her room as if for a -wager, turning at each end of the course with a swish of draperies -which sounded like an angry breeze, and she hailed his arrival with -something like enthusiasm, simply because he was some one to talk to. -</p> - -<p> -“Flora is crying on Fred’s—I mean Mr Haycraft’s—shoulder somewhere,” -she said; “and Mrs Hardy and Georgia are having a prayer-meeting with -the native Christians. They wanted me to come too; but I don’t feel as -if I could be quiet, and I shouldn’t understand, either. What is going -to happen, really?” -</p> - -<p> -“The Colonel proposes to make a sortie and capture the two guns which -the enemy have brought up. There is, I trust, every prospect of his -succeeding.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel stamped her foot. “Why can’t you tell me the truth, instead of -trying to sugar things over?” she demanded. “It would be much more -interesting.” -</p> - -<p> -“You must allow me to decide what is suitable for you to hear,” said -Mr Burgrave, his mind still so full of that final duty of his that he -spoke with a serene indifference which Mabel found most galling. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t allow you to do anything of the sort. I wish you wouldn’t -treat me as if I was a baby. It’s like telling me yesterday that all -the fresh milk in the place was to be reserved for us women and the -wounded, as if I wanted to be pilloried as a lazy, selfish creature, -doing nothing and demanding luxuries!” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear little girl, I am sure there isn’t a man in the garrison who -would consent to your missing any comfort that the place can furnish.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s just it. I want to feel the pinch—to share the hardships. But -of course you don’t understand—you never do.” She stopped and looked -at him. “I don’t know how it is, Eustace, but you seem somehow to stir -up everything that is bad in my nature. I could die happy if I had -once shocked you thoroughly.” -</p> - -<p> -He recoiled from her involuntarily. “Do you think it is a time to joke -about death when it may be close upon you?” he asked, with some -severity. -</p> - -<p> -“That sounds as if you were a little shocked,” said Mabel -meditatively. “But you know, Eustace, whenever you tell me to do -anything—I mean when you express a wish that I should do anything—I -feel immediately the strongest possible impulse to do exactly the -opposite.” -</p> - -<p> -“But the impulse has never yet been translated into action?” he asked, -with the indulgent smile which was reserved for Mabel when she talked -extravagantly. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m ashamed to say it hasn’t.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I am quite satisfied. I can scarcely aspire to regulate your -thoughts just at present, can I? But so long as you respect my -wishes——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, what a lot of trouble it would save if we were all comfortably -killed to-night!” cried Mabel, with a sudden change of mood. Mr -Burgrave was shocked, and showed it. “I’m in earnest, Eustace.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear child, you can hardly expect me to believe that you would -welcome the horrors which the storming of this place would entail?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no; of course not. You are so horribly literal. Can’t you see that -my nerves are all on edge? I do wish you understood things. If you -won’t talk about what’s going to be done to-night, do go away, and -don’t stay here and be mysterious.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dear child, do you think I shall judge you hardly for this feminine -weakness? You need not be afraid of hurting or shocking me. Say -anything you like; I shall put it down to the true cause. If your -varying moods have taught me nothing else, at least I have learnt -since our engagement to take your words at their proper valuation.” -</p> - -<p> -“If you pile many more loads of obligation upon me, I shall expire!” -said Mabel sharply, only to receive a kind smile in return. Anything -more that she might have said, in the amiable design of shocking him -beyond forgiveness, was prevented by the appearance of Mrs Hardy. -</p> - -<p> -“Is it true that you are going to arm all the civilians in the place, -Mr Burgrave?” she demanded of the Commissioner. -</p> - -<p> -“It is thought well—merely as a precautionary measure.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I do beg and beseech you to give Mr Hardy a rifle that won’t go -off, or we shall all be shot.” -</p> - -<p> -“We will get the Padri to go round and hand out fresh cartridges, -instead of giving him a gun,” said Mr Burgrave seriously, but Mabel -burst into a peal of hysterical laughter, which was effectual in -putting a stop to further conversation, and he returned to the outer -courtyard, where the men chosen for the forlorn hope were mustering in -readiness for the start. Fitz and Winlock and their small party had -left already, officers and men alike wearing the native grass sandals -instead of boots, as they had been accustomed to do in their hunting -expeditions, and it was known that they had scrambled along the wall -and round the base of the south-western tower in safety. The ferry had -by this time been successfully constructed by Runcorn and his -assistants, one of whom had undertaken the very unpleasant task of -swimming across the ice-cold canal to pass the first wire rope round -one of the posts which registered the height of the water on the -opposite bank. Ball ammunition in extra quantities was served out to -the whole force, for although Colonel Graham hoped to confine himself -entirely to cold steel, for the sake of quietness, he was determined -to be able to reply to the enemy’s fire, should their attention -unfortunately be aroused. The men were marched down in parties to the -water-gate, and ferried over as quickly as the confined space would -allow, and when all had crossed, the raft was drawn back to the -gateway, and the wire disconnected. It had been decided that this was -imperative, lest the enemy should take advantage of the ferry to cross -the canal while the attention of the garrison was occupied by an -attack in front. If the forlorn hope returned victorious, it would be -easy to reconstruct the ferry by throwing a rope to them from the -rampart, while if they were compelled to retreat, the raft was so -small that to employ it under fire would entail a useless sacrifice of -life, and the fugitives would do better to swim. -</p> - -<p> -Then began a weary waiting-time for those in the fort. The night was -moonless, so that it was impossible to distinguish any movement, -whether on the part of friend or of foe. At last a rocket, rising from -the cliff which overhung the town on the north-west, and which Fitz -and Winlock had indicated as their goal, showed that they, at least, -had so far been successful. The rocket sent up from the fort in reply -was answered by another from the cliff, and this was immediately -followed by the distant sound of brisk firing, which seemed to cause -considerable perturbation in the parts of the town occupied by the -enemy. Lights moved about hurriedly from place to place, horns were -blown, and there was a confused noise of angry shouting. The garrison -did their best, by opening fire from the wall and towers, to increase -the effect of the surprise, but without much hope of hitting anything, -for the moving lights did not afford very satisfactory targets. In -reply, a dropping fire broke out from the houses opposite, which was -maintained for some time, but with little spirit, and slackened -gradually. Scarcely had Mr Burgrave given the order to cease fire, -however, when a heavy fusillade was heard on the west of the fort, -though not from the hill. The sound appeared to come from the point at -which the bridge, now in ruins, had crossed the canal, a point which -it had not hitherto been known that the enemy were occupying, and -which Colonel Graham had not intended to approach. His force should -have been far to the left of it by this time, and already mounting the -hill. The most probable explanation seemed to be that they had missed -their way in the darkness, and following the bank of the canal too -far, had fallen into an ambuscade posted at the ruins of the bridge to -guard against any attempt to cross for the purpose of capturing the -guns. The Commissioner and his garrison waited and listened in the -deepest anxiety, straining their eyes to try and perceive, from the -flashes of the rifles, which way the fight was tending. But the firing -ceased suddenly, as that on the farther side of the enemy’s position -had done some time before. There was nothing to do but wait. -</p> - -<p> -Suddenly, after a long interval, a piteous wailing arose at the rear -of the fort, from the opposite bank of the canal. A native stood -there, one of the water-carriers who had accompanied the force, -abjectly entreating to be fetched over, since the enemy were at his -heels. To employ the ferry at such a moment was not to be thought of, -but a rope was thrown from the steps of the water-gate, and the -miserable wretch, plunging in, caught it, and was drawn across. He -told a terrible tale as he stood dripping and shivering in the passage -leading to the gate. Colonel Graham’s force had been attacked, shortly -after leaving the canal-bank, by overwhelming numbers of the enemy, -who had first poured in a withering fire, and then rushed forward to -complete the destruction with their knives and tulwars. The <i>bhisti</i> -himself was the only man who had escaped, and the enemy had pursued -him to the very edge of the canal. The sharpest-sighted men in the -fort, sent to the rampart to test the truth of this statement as far -as they could by starlight, were obliged to confirm it. There was -undoubtedly a large body of the enemy on the other side of the canal. -They were lying down behind the high bank, so as to be sheltered from -the fire of the garrison. -</p> - -<p> -“To cut off fugitives, I suppose,” muttered Mr Burgrave, half to -himself and half to Ressaldar Ghulam Rasul. “That looks as though the -massacre were not quite so complete as—Hark! I thought I heard a -sound from the hill. Can our glorious fellows have made a last dash -for it after all—some few who escaped?” -</p> - -<p> -The men on the rampart stood like statues to listen, but failed to -distinguish anything that might confirm the Commissioner’s surmise. -The air seemed full of sound—footfalls, a murmur from the town, a -stray shot or two from the same direction, and on the west a kind of -shuffling noise. The enemy were taking up their positions for the -attack. Mr Burgrave sent orders to the guard at the water-gate to let -the air out of the inflated skins which supported the raft, so as to -sink it to the level of the water, and this was at once done. When he -had posted a sentry in the passage and another on the rampart above -it, he was able to leave that side of the fort to defend itself, since -the enemy had no means of crossing to assail it. To occupy the whole -range of wall with the absurdly small force at his disposal was -obviously impossible, and he therefore placed ten men in each of the -larger towers, from which, with the usual amount of trouble and risk, -a flanking fire could be obtained, and twelve in the two gateway -turrets, retaining the Ressaldar and sixteen men as a reserve, ready -to make a dash for any point that might be specially threatened. If -the garrison should be driven from the walls, those who escaped were -to rush for the hospital, where the women and children would take -refuge, and the last stand was to be made. Having ordered his forces -to their stations, the Commissioner went the round of the towers to -encourage the men. His own Sikhs he could deal with well enough, but -he felt that it was the irony of fate which obliged him to urge the -sowars of the Khemistan Horse to show themselves worthy of their first -commander, General Keeling, and it seemed as if the same thought had -occurred to the men, for they scowled at him resentfully when they -heard the mighty name from his lips. -</p> - -<p> -The bad news brought by the fugitive spread through the fort with -astonishing rapidity. The native women, whom Georgia had succeeded in -soothing into some sort of calmness before the departure of the -forlorn hope, filled the air with their wailings, until Ismail Bakhsh, -who was head of the civilian guard detailed for the defence of the -hospital, threatened to fire a volley among them if they were not -quiet. Flora Graham’s ayah was gossiping with a friend among these -women when the news arrived, and she rushed with it at once to her -mistress’s room. Poor Flora had shut herself up alone to pray for the -safety of her father and lover, and was following in thought every -step of their perilous march. She had just reached with them the -summit of the hill, and rushed upon the guard round the guns, when the -ayah burst in with the news that the worst had happened. The sudden -revulsion of feeling was too much for Flora. Her usual self-control -deserted her, and she ran wildly across the courtyard to Georgia’s -room. Georgia was lying down, talking softly in the dark to Mabel, who -sat beside her, and both sprang up at Flora’s entrance. -</p> - -<p> -“What is it? Have they come back?” they demanded, with one voice. -</p> - -<p> -“No, no; they are killed—all killed! Papa and Fred both—oh, Mrs -North, what can I do?” She dropped sobbing on the floor at Georgia’s -feet, and buried her face in her dress. -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps it isn’t true,” suggested Georgia faintly. She had sunk down -again on the bed. -</p> - -<p> -“There’s no hope—one man has come back, the only survivor. Both of -them at once! and I was praying for them, and I felt so sure—and even -while I was praying they were being killed.” -</p> - -<p> -“Is the whole force cut off?” asked Georgia, almost in a whisper. -</p> - -<p> -“All but this one man.” Flora checked her sobs for a moment to answer. -</p> - -<p> -“Fitz Anstruther too?” cried Mabel sharply. -</p> - -<p> -“All, I tell you! It doesn’t signify to you, Mab; you have your -Eustace left, but I have lost everything. Oh, Mrs North, you know how -it feels. Help me to bear it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Flora dear,” began Georgia, with difficulty. “I—I can’t breathe,” -she gasped, struggling to stand up. “Please ask Mrs Hardy to come. I -feel so faint. She will understand.” -</p> - -<p> -Rahah, who had been crouched in the corner as usual, sprang up and ran -out, returning in a moment with Mrs Hardy, who fell upon both girls -immediately, and drove them out with bitter reproaches. -</p> - -<p> -“You pair of selfish, thoughtless chatterboxes! I should have thought -you had more sense, Flora. Just be off, both of you. You can have my -rooms for the rest of the night; I shall stay here. Even if all our -poor fellows are killed, is that any reason for killing Mrs North -too?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, please don’t, Mrs Hardy! I never thought—Mrs North is always so -kind, and I am so miserable,” sobbed Flora. -</p> - -<p> -“You shouldn’t be miserable unless you’re quite certain it’s -necessary. You wouldn’t believe a native who told you he was dead, as -they are always doing; so why should you when he says other people are -dead?” demanded Mrs Hardy, with a brilliancy of logic which somehow -failed to satisfy. “I haven’t a doubt that the <i>bhisti</i> took to his -heels in a panic at the sound of the first shot, and if he hadn’t -fortunately been in the rear, the panic might have spread to all the -rest. There, go away, do, and don’t cry so. We’ll hope all will go -well.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“Why have you left your post, doctor?” asked Mr Burgrave, meeting Dr -Tighe crossing the courtyard. -</p> - -<p> -“The hospital will have to look after itself a good deal to-night, but -I have left the Padri and my Babu in charge there. Mrs North is taken -ill.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good heavens! It only needed this to make the horror of the situation -complete.” -</p> - -<p> -“From our point of view, it may be the best thing that could happen. -It will make the men fight like demons. Here, you girl, where are you -going?” He had caught the shoulder of a veiled woman who ran up and -tried to slip past him into the passage, but she let her <i>chadar</i> fall -aside, and disclosed herself as Rahah. -</p> - -<p> -“I have been telling the men of the regiment, sahib, and they have all -sworn great oaths that so long as one of them has a spark of life left -Sinjāj Kīlin’s daughter shall not be without a protector in her -need, and that the corpses of foes without and friends within shall be -piled as high as the ramparts before the enemy shall gain a footing on -the wall. I told also those in the hospital”—there was a hint of -malice in Rahah’s voice—“and every wounded man who can sit up in bed -is crying out for a gun. They will serve as hospital guard, they say, -and set Ismail Bakhsh and his men free to fight on the walls.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good idea, that!” said Dr Tighe, turning to the Commissioner. “You -see how the men take it. Well, I shall keep Mrs North in her own -quarters if I can, but there is a passage through to the hospital -courtyard, and we must carry her over if it’s necessary. But I don’t -think it will be, now.” -</p> - -<p> -Mr Burgrave nodded, and returned to his station on the west curtain. -Why the enemy did not advance to the attack was a mystery. In the -opinion of Ghulam Rasul and his most experienced subordinates, they -had moved out from their position in the town, and were occupying the -irrigated land on both sides of the canal in large numbers, sheltered -against any volley from the walls by the rows of trees which marked -the lines of the water-courses. They could not be seen, nor could it -precisely be said that they were heard, but as the old soldiers in the -garrison said, it could be felt that they were there. The situation -was eerie in the extreme, and Mr Burgrave was unable to find comfort -in a phenomenon which made his men cheerful in a moment. It was the -Ressaldar who called his attention to it as they stood straining their -ears in the attempt to distinguish some definite sound in the -murmuring silence, and at once he himself heard clearly the faint -tramp of a galloping horse far away to the north-east. -</p> - -<p> -“He rides!” breathed Ghulam Rasul in an ecstasy, and “He rides!” cried -the sowar nearest him, catching up the words from his lips. “He -rides!” went from man to man, until the defenders of the towers looked -at one another with glistening eyes, and even the unsympathetic Sikhs, -who held themselves loftily aloof from the contemptible local -superstitions of their Khemi comrades, repeated, with something of -enthusiasm, “He rides!” “He rides; all is well,” said Ismail Bakhsh, -puffing out his chest with pride, in his temporary guardroom on the -clubhouse verandah. “Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib is watching over his house -and over his children. The power of the Sarkar stands firm.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" id="img_198"> -<a href="images/img_198.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_198_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“HE RIDES” -</div></div> - -<p> -All unconscious of the moral reinforcement which was doubling the -strength of the garrison, Mabel and Flora sat disconsolately over the -charcoal brazier in Mrs Hardy’s room, listening for the sounds of the -attack, which they expected to hear each moment. Mrs Hardy’s vigorous -rebuke had nerved them both to put a brave face on matters, and for -some time they vied with one another in discovering reasons for -refusing to credit the report of the fugitive, and deciding that all -might yet be well. But as time went on, and there was no sign of the -triumphant return of Colonel Graham and his force, their valiant -efforts at cheerfulness flagged perceptibly. Mrs Hardy, running across -to say that Georgia was doing pretty well, advised them to lie down -and try to sleep, but they scouted the idea with indignation, and -still sat looking gloomily into the glowing embers and listening to -the night wind, which wailed round the crazy old buildings in a -peculiarly mournful manner. -</p> - -<p> -“Doesn’t it seem absurdly incongruous,” said Mabel at last, in a low -voice, “that you and I—two <i>fin de siècle</i> High School girls, who -have taken up all the modern fads just like other people—should be -sitting here, expecting every moment that a band of savages will break -in and kill us—with swords? It feels so unnatural—so horribly out of -drawing.” -</p> - -<p> -“How can you talk such nonsense?” snapped Flora, upon whose nerves the -strain of suspense was telling severely. “I never heard that a High -School career protected people against a violent death. Do you think -it felt natural to the women in the Mutiny to be killed—or the French -Revolution, or any time like that?” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know. It really seems as if they must have been more -accustomed to horrors in those days. Just imagine, Flora, the little -paragraph there will be in the <i>South Central Magazine</i>: ‘We regret to -record the death of Miss Mabel North, O.S.C., who was murdered in the -late rising on the Indian frontier. Miss Flora Graham, a distinguished -student of St Scipio’s College, St Margarets, N.B., is believed to -have perished on the same sad occasion.’ Your school paper will have -just the same sort of thing in it, and the two editors will send each -other complimentary copies, and acknowledge the courtesy in the next -number. It will all be about you and me—and we shall be dead.” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course we shall; you said that before. But I don’t see what good -it does to die many times before our deaths.” -</p> - -<p> -“How horrid of you to call me a coward!” said Mabel pensively. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t call you anything of the sort. I think you must be fearfully -brave to look at things in this detached, artistic kind of way, but -what’s the good of it? Death must come when it will come, but -naturally no one could be expected to look forward with pleasure to -the mere fact of dying. Unless, of course”—Flora’s blue eyes shone as -she turned suddenly from the general to the particular—“my dying -would save papa or Fred. Then I should be glad to die.” -</p> - -<p> -“You really mean that you wouldn’t mind being killed if somehow it -would save either of their lives?” -</p> - -<p> -“Of course I do, just as you would gladly die to save your Eustace.” -</p> - -<p> -“But I wouldn’t!” cried Mabel involuntarily, then tried to minimise -the effect of her admission by turning it into a joke. “I think it’s -his privilege to do that for me.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish you wouldn’t say that sort of thing!” said Flora -reproachfully. “Happily there’s no one else to hear it, but if I -didn’t know you, I should think you were perfectly horrid.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, Flora, really,” cried Mabel, in a burst of honesty; “I can’t say -confidently that there is one person in the world I would die for. I -feel as if I could die to save Georgia, but I don’t know whether I -could do it when the time came. I used to think that people—English -people, at any rate—became heroic just as a matter of course when -danger happened, but now I begin to believe that it depends a good -deal on what they have been like before.” -</p> - -<p> -“You always try to make the worst of yourself.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I don’t. I’m trying to look at myself as I really am. I have -never in all my life done a thing I didn’t like if I could help it. -What sort of preparation is that for being heroic? Flora,” with a -sudden change of subject, “suppose the enemy had stormed the fort -before this evening, would you have asked your father or Fred to kill -you?” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” was the unexpected reply. “It would have been so awfully hard on -them. I keep a revolver in this pocket of my coat. You just put it to -your eye—and it’s done.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I wish I was like you! I know I should be wondering and worrying -whether it was right, and all that sort of thing, until it was too -late to do it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t care whether it would be right or not,” said Flora doggedly. -“I should do it. Do you think I would make things worse for papa and -Fred, or let them have the blame of it if it was wrong?” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose Eustace would do it for me,” drearily. “He would if he -thought it was the proper thing. He always does the proper thing.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish you wouldn’t talk in such a horrid voice. It makes me feel -creepy. And I don’t think it’s fair to say that sort of thing about -the Commissioner. He’s perfectly devoted to you, and you know it would -break his heart to have to—do what we were talking about. I don’t -believe you’re half as fond of him as he is of you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Have you found that out now for the first time?” -</p> - -<p> -“Then it’s a shame!” cried Flora. “Why do you let him think you care -for him? He worships you, and you pretend——” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t pretend. He took it into his head that I cared for him, and -wouldn’t let me say I didn’t. And he doesn’t worship me. He thinks -that I shall make a nice adoring sort of worshipper for him when he -has got me well in hand.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I think you ought to be ashamed of yourself!” said Flora -crushingly. -</p> - -<p> -“You needn’t be horrid. I’m sure I have quite enough to bear as it is. -What with thinking every morning when I wake that I shall have to be -pleasant to him whenever he chooses to come and talk to me all day, -when I should like to be at the other end of the world——” -</p> - -<p> -“What do you mean to do when you are married?” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel shivered. “I don’t know,” she said. “I rather hope we shall be -killed instead.” -</p> - -<p> -“You needn’t expect to get out of difficulties in that way. If you -want to be killed, you are quite sure not to be. And to go on living a -lie——” -</p> - -<p> -“<i>Don’t!</i>” entreated Mabel. “Whichever way you look at it, it’s -dreadful. I don’t know what to do. What’s that? I’m sure I heard a -step.” -</p> - -<p> -It must have been Mr Burgrave’s evil genius which prompted him to -present himself at that particular time. The enemy had made no -movement, and the Commissioner thought he might safely leave the wall -for a moment, in order to obtain a sight of Mabel, and inquire after -Georgia. He entered the room with a creditable assumption of -cheerfulness, which the girls did not even observe. -</p> - -<p> -“How are we getting on?” asked Mabel hastily. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, well, we must hope for the best,” was the unsatisfying answer. In -his own mind Mr Burgrave had no doubt that the enemy were only waiting -for dawn to make their attack, and would advance on the fort at the -same moment that their guns opened fire from the hill. -</p> - -<p> -“No news yet of the forlorn hope?” asked Flora. -</p> - -<p> -“No news,” he answered, then hesitated with his hand on the door, and -looked at Mabel. She rose, as if in response to his glance, and went -out on the verandah with him. -</p> - -<p> -“Poor little girl!” he said, putting his arm round her. “This -waiting-time is very hard upon you, isn’t it? God knows I would give -you comfort if I could, but I dare not raise false hopes.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel freed herself from his clasp. In the dim light cast by the -brazier through the small window, he could see that she was very pale, -and that her eyes looked unnaturally large and dark in the whiteness -of her face. “I want you to take this back, please,” she said, holding -out her engagement ring. “I can’t die with a lie upon my soul.” -</p> - -<p> -“A lie!” he exclaimed, in bewilderment. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t love you. Sometimes I think I almost hate you,” she replied, -in a low, monotonous voice. -</p> - -<p> -His natural impulse was to take her in his arms and crush this latest -attempt at rebellion by sheer weight of mingled authority and -affection, as he had done more than once before; but the words died -upon his lips as he looked into her face, and he stood irresolute. -This was not coquetry, not the wild talk for which he had smiled at -her that very evening, but desperate earnest. -</p> - -<p> -“Am I to take this as your own unbiassed wish, Mabel?” he asked -slowly, seeing his world fall in ruins around him as he spoke. -</p> - -<p> -“Absolutely,” she answered. -</p> - -<p> -He took the ring from her hand. “It is the kind of encouragement that -is calculated to nerve a man for the fight, isn’t it?” he asked. “But -perhaps some bullet will be more merciful than you are.” -</p> - -<p> -He slipped the ring on his little finger, and taking up his crutch, -left her without another word. When he returned to the rampart it -struck him, preoccupied though he was, that the night was not quite so -dark as before. Dawn was approaching, and there was a perceptible -unrest in the direction of the plane trees behind which the enemy were -posted. As he stood looking round, Ghulam Rasul approached him from -the north curtain. -</p> - -<p> -“There is a large body of the enemy advancing towards the gate, -sahib,” he said. “They come out of the town, and are marching in -perfect silence.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then they mean to attack us on two sides at once,” said the -Commissioner. “Tell the men in the turrets to reserve their fire until -they are close up, Ressaldar. We can’t afford to throw away a shot. -Are the reserve all under arms?” -</p> - -<p> -“All ready, sahib. Your honour can now hear the enemy’s approach.” -</p> - -<p> -They stood waiting and listening. And in that hour of awful -expectancy, when armed men were advancing on all sides upon the sorely -pressed fort, Georgia’s boy was born. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch17"> -CHAPTER XVII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE LUCK OF THE BABA SAHIB.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">What</span> is it, doctor?” cried the Commissioner impatiently, as Dr -Tighe ran up the steps towards him at a most unwonted pace. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s a boy—as fine a child as ever I saw in my life—and both likely -to do well,” was the gasping response. -</p> - -<p> -“What in the world do you mean by coming and telling me such a thing -as that at this moment, sir?” demanded Mr Burgrave, whose habitual -calmness was fast vanishing under the strain of the events of the -night. “Are you aware that the enemy will probably be inside the fort -in a few minutes, and that I am just about to give the order to fire?” -He leaned over the sand-bags again to listen to the tramp of advancing -feet. -</p> - -<p> -“I tell you, it’ll make all the difference in the world to the men!” -cried the doctor. “For Heaven’s sake, exhibit some interest, even if -you don’t feel it, or they will credit you with ill-wishing the -child.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ill-wishing? Nonsense! No one need wish the poor little beggar worse -luck than to come into the world at such a peculiarly inopportune -moment.” -</p> - -<p> -“Inopportune? Why, he brings good luck with him. Doesn’t he, -Ressaldar?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is the best of luck, sahib,” answered Ghulam Rasul, with a -complacent smile. “Will your honour bear the <i>salaams</i> of the regiment -to the Memsahib, and entreat her to name an hour when it will be -fitting for a deputation representing all ranks to pay their respects -to the Baba Sahib?” -</p> - -<p> -“The fellow talks as though we had a lifetime before us!” grumbled the -Commissioner morosely. “Surely they are within easy range now, -Ressaldar?” -</p> - -<p> -Ghulam Rasul advanced to the parapet, and peered narrowly over the -sand-bags which capped it. “I know not how they come on so steadily, -sahib,” he said hesitatingly, when he stood erect again. “Perhaps it -might be well for your honour——” but he was interrupted by a frantic -shout from both gateway turrets at the same moment. -</p> - -<p> -“Hold your fire! Hold your fire! The Colonel Sahib!” -</p> - -<p> -“It is the luck of the Baba Sahib,” said Ghulam Rasul calmly, as Mr -Burgrave and the doctor raced one another for the nearest turret. The -doctor, not being hampered with a crutch, reached the goal first, and -saluted the advancing force with the information that they had just -missed being blown into smithereens. -</p> - -<p> -“All well, I hope?” said Colonel Graham, as the guard of the turrets -descended tumultuously to unbar the gate. -</p> - -<p> -“All well, Colonel, and the garrison increased by one since you left. -And what about the guns, if I may ask?” -</p> - -<p> -“The guns? Oh, they’re at the bottom of the canal,” was the answer -that stupefied Dr Tighe, as the forlorn hope began to file through the -gateway. -</p> - -<p> -“Then you were successful after all,” inquired the incredulous voice -of Mr Burgrave from the steps. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I see it! I see it!” cried Dr Tighe, laughing wildly. “You -settled the guns, Colonel dear, and then you came home another way, -while the enemy are all waiting for you under the hill at this moment! -Oh, pat me on the back, somebody, or I’ll die!” -</p> - -<p> -“What’s wrong with you, Tighe?” asked Colonel Graham in astonishment, -as the doctor sat down upon a pile of the sand-bags that had been -taken away from the gate, and fairly wept. -</p> - -<p> -“If you’d been through what I have to-night, going backwards and -forwards between life and death, as I may say, and expecting those -fiends to break in any moment—why, you would be glad to find yourself -and other people still alive,” was the incoherent reply, as Dr Tighe -accepted a sip from the flask which Winlock held out to him. “But I -beg your pardon, Colonel Graham and gentlemen, for this exhibition,” -he added stiffly, as he rose and smoothed down his coat. “It was the -thought that there’s a chance now for Mrs North and the child that -bowled me over.” -</p> - -<p> -“The child?” cried Fitz. “Is it a boy, doctor? Oh, good luck! Three -cheers for the Luck of Alibad!” -</p> - -<p> -Colonel Graham waved his helmet, and led the cheering with a will, -until the rousing sounds echoed beyond the circuit of the fort and -revealed to the startled enemy that their prey had escaped them. In -the rage caused by the shock of this discovery they forgot their -customary prudence, and leaving their cover, pressed forward to the -walls. The troops had been marching all night, but every man hurried -to his station without a moment for food or rest, in the conviction -that the crisis of the siege had at last arrived. The attack was only -half-hearted however, although the enemy had provided themselves with -scaling-ladders, in the evident expectation of being able to push -their assault home. The absence of the support upon which they had -counted from their cannon on the hill upset their plans, and although -Bahram Khan could be seen urging his followers forward even with -blows, and setting them the example himself by advancing to the very -foot of the wall, they did not so much as succeed in planting one of -the ladders. When convinced that the attempt was hopeless, the Prince -drew off his forces with considerable skill. A detachment of marksmen -posted behind the plane trees made it impossible for the defenders to -show themselves at the loopholes, and thus the assailants escaped with -but little loss, though it was indubitable that in this, their first -attack in force, they had suffered a defeat. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I do feel so perfectly happy!” cried Mabel. “Think of all the -horrid doleful things we were saying last night, Flora. And now -Georgie is getting on all right, and the baby——” -</p> - -<p> -“And such a baby!” said Flora gravely, contemplating with deep -interest the morsel of humanity which was lying in Mabel’s arms, -wrapped in a shawl. It was with most unflattering reluctance that Mrs -Hardy and Rahah had consented to confide their precious charge to two -amateur nurses, however well meaning; but Mabel took a high view of -her privileges as an aunt, and the baby had been entrusted to her and -Flora for a short time, on condition of their promising faithfully to -bring it back if it cried. -</p> - -<p> -“And our men are all safely back, and we have won a victory, and -everything is splendid!” Mabel went on. And yet she did not disclose -the chief cause of her abounding satisfaction. She was free once more, -and she felt that a load had been removed from her mind. But if she -told Flora, Flora would think that her plain speaking the night before -had brought about this happy result, and ungratefully enough, Mabel -did not care that she should think so. “I feel as if I should like to -dance,” she broke out. “Do dance, Flora.” -</p> - -<p> -“And shake the dear baby?” asked Flora reproachfully. -</p> - -<p> -“Salaam, Miss Sahib!” said a voice from the doorway, and they turned -to see Ismail Bakhsh standing in the semi-darkness of the passage, -shaded by the matting curtain. “Is it permitted to the meanest of his -slaves to kiss the feet of the Baba Sahib?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes, you can see him,” said Mabel, guessing at the tenor of the -request, and she held up the baby. It was not by any means her -intention that Ismail Bakhsh should take the child from her arms, but -this he did at once. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you’ll make him cry!” protested Flora. -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, Miss Sahib, he will know me, that I am the servant of his house. -Was I not for ten years Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib’s orderly, going in and -out with him?” -</p> - -<p> -“All the same, I don’t quite see how that should make you an authority -on babies, my good man,” murmured Flora, and told Mabel Ismail -Bakhsh’s qualifications for the post he had usurped. But the baby lay -quite quietly in his arms, as though it recognised the force of the -ancestral tie. -</p> - -<p> -“The Baba Sahib has the eyes of Nāth Sahib, not of Kīlin Sahib,” was -the self-constituted nurse’s next remark, delivered in a tone of keen -regret. -</p> - -<p> -“True, but some children’s eyes change colour, just as kittens’ do. -Perhaps his will,” suggested Flora, gravely and consolingly. -</p> - -<p> -“Georgia wouldn’t like that,” objected Mabel, when this was translated -to her. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid poor Mrs North won’t see much of him, if the regiment have -their way,” said Flora. “Do you know what Ismail Bakhsh is saying -now?” -</p> - -<p> -“I shall carry the Baba Sahib daily into the air, that he may grow -tall and strong,” the old man was announcing. “And as soon as he -learns to walk I shall bring a little pony—a very little pony, Miss -Sahib”—this in answer to the protest he discerned in Flora’s -face—“and I shall teach him to ride without saddle or bridle, that he -may be like his grandfather, and I shall instruct him in the use of -arms, so that when he joins the regiment with the Empress’s commission -he will have no occasion to learn anything. He is to be a soldier from -the day of his birth.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, how his father would have loved to teach him to ride!” murmured -Mabel, with tears in her eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“The regiment will be his father, Miss Sahib. Is he not the son of -Sinjāj Kīlin?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, he isn’t!” cried Mabel, “and I don’t know why you should persist -in leaving out his own father. Have you forgotten him already?” -</p> - -<p> -Flora translated the question, and the old man answered it solemnly. -“The Baba Sahib has no father until he has avenged him, Miss Sahib. We -shall tell him of all Nāth Sahib’s doings, and how he was lured to -his death by guile, but he must not take his name upon his lips until -he can say, ‘Now there is not one left alive that had any part in that -accursed deed, for I his son have tracked them out and slain them -all.’” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t think Georgia will quite approve of the principles in which -the regiment proposes to educate her boy,” said Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh,” said Flora, “he says—‘The Memsahib is but a woman, though -something more than other women. This is our business. Is not the Baba -Sahib the seal of the General, left behind to rule us?’ You know the -story, don’t you, Mab? When General Keeling died the chiefs heard that -he had expressed a desire to be buried in England—which was not true, -by-the-bye—and they came to say that if his seal was left in -Khemistan, they would obey it as if it was himself, so that his body -might be buried where he wished. But he is buried in the churchyard -here, you know, by his own desire.” -</p> - -<p> -“May we be allowed to take part in the baby-worshipping?” asked Fred -Haycraft’s voice at the end of the verandah. “We couldn’t find any -servants to announce us, so we were obliged to walk in.” -</p> - -<p> -“Poor old Anand Masih is seeking a little rest after the exciting -events of the night,” laughed Mabel. “Walk softly, please, and come -quite to this end of the verandah, so as not to disturb Georgia.” -</p> - -<p> -“We felt shy because we couldn’t send in our cards properly,” said -Fitz, who was Haycraft’s companion, “but when we saw you had a visitor -already, we thought we might venture in. What a nice smart nursemaid -Mrs North has set up!—eh, Ismail Bakhsh?” -</p> - -<p> -“True, sahib; I am the Baba Sahib’s bearer,” responded the old man, -with simple dignity. “Every night when I am not on guard I shall bring -my mat and lie in the verandah here, to guard his sleep.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s a queer idea,” said Haycraft. “Has the Memsahib asked you to -look after him?” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, sahib; but many seek to destroy the lion cub, for fear of what -he will do when he is full-grown.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wonder if there’s anything in that,” said Fitz. “Can it be that -Bahram Khan’s men directed their fire purposely upon this courtyard, -knowing that Mrs North was here?” -</p> - -<p> -“There are enemies within the walls as well as without, sahib,” was -the answer, as Ismail Bakhsh rocked the baby gently in his arms. -</p> - -<p> -“I say, I believe I could do that!” said Fitz. “Let me have a try.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no,” said Mabel; “you’ll only make the baby cry, and hurt his -nurse’s feelings. We want you and Mr Haycraft to tell us what really -happened last night, and why you left us to endure such agonies of -suspense for hours. I believe it was simply that we might think all -the more of you when you got back.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I hope you do,” said Haycraft, “for he deserves it. Go ahead, -Anstruther; you left the fort first. I’ll cut in later on, and spare -your blushes.” -</p> - -<p> -“What in the world are you driving at?” demanded Fitz. “Story? bless -you, ladies! I’ve none to tell. We got across the irrigated land and -into the hills just as we had intended, settled ourselves in our -<i>cache</i>, and then sent up our rockets and opened fire. At first it was -exactly like upsetting a beehive, there was such a rushing about and -shouting in the camp underneath and all over the town. But we hadn’t -allowed for one thing. Bahram Khan is far cleverer than we thought -him. He could tell by the sound of our firing that we were only a -small party, and he guessed at once that our attack was nothing but a -feint, arranged to cover a dash on the guns. So he didn’t waste any -time in trying to rush our position, but simply left us alone, which -was truly mortifying, for we had been looking forward to no end of fun -among the rocks, leading the fellows off on false scents, and -astonishing them with unexpected volleys, and all that sort of thing.” -</p> - -<p> -“Fun, indeed!” cried Mabel indignantly. “You ought to be thankful they -let you alone.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m sorry, Miss North. I didn’t know your heart was so tender towards -the enemy. At any rate, they escaped us that time, you see. Well, as -soon as we made sure that the tide of battle was taking its way -elsewhere, we evacuated our sangar, and started off at the double for -the rendezvous. But there were difficulties in the way of getting -there. While we were slipping and sliding down into the valley, making -for the canal, we heard tremendous firing in the direction of the -bridge, which sent our hearts into our sandals, for we knew that the -Colonel’s column had no business to be anywhere near there.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I cannot make out how you managed to get so far to the right,” -said Flora, addressing Haycraft, and speaking more in sorrow than in -anger, as beseems the arm-chair critic. -</p> - -<p> -“We didn’t manage anything of the sort,” answered Haycraft. “As a -matter of fact, we were not there at all. The only explanation we can -suggest for the mysterious fusillade is that the Commissioner and his -command were making a record display of wild firing from the walls -here—simply blazing away in every direction—and that some of their -bullets fell among the enemy posted at the bridge-head, and started -them off too. We were marching by compass on the right road when we -heard them a good way off, repulsing, as they imagined, an attack in -the rear. They can’t make out that their shooting is much better than -ours, at any rate, for some of their bullets went wide too, and fell -into our ranks, which threw the native followers into an awful panic. -One or two men got flesh-wounds, that was all, but the doolie-bearers -and <i>bhistis</i> scattered in a moment, and tried to hide. We had to rout -them out of all sort of places, but at last we did think we had found -them all, though it seems now that one of them succeeded in getting -away. He is being dealt with—suitably—at this moment.” -</p> - -<p> -“And do you mean to say,” asked Mabel, as Fitz laughed grimly, “that -you all went on as if nothing had happened, and never returned the -fire?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, that would have given the whole thing away. Our only chance was -to leave them to blaze away at one another, and go straight for the -hill. But this is still Anstruther’s innings.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said Fitz, “when we heard the firing we instantly occupied a -fine strategic position in a hollow at the base of our cliff, with the -canal in front of us, and one of the men and I scouted a little way -along the bank. What we found out was very exciting indeed. The men at -the bridge-head had discovered their mistake by this time, and ceased -firing, but we saw why they were in such an agitated state of mind. -The bridge had been repaired, and they were guarding it! More than -that, Bahram Khan was even then—as we crouched there—bringing up his -men to cross the canal, and invest the water side of the fort, so -cutting off our fellows as they came home. I can tell you it was a -pretty tough job to wriggle along like a snake, and take advantage of -cover, when one wanted simply to tear back to the rest and consult -what was to be done. You see, there was just this in our favour. The -enemy didn’t know exactly where our men were, and so long as there was -no noise on the hill, they would remain in doubt, for they weren’t -likely to risk their lives by going up to see. Sure enough, they -waited discreetly, spreading themselves out over the irrigated land -below the hill on both sides of the canal. That gave Winlock and me -our cue, and when I got to the Colonel——” -</p> - -<p> -“But you haven’t said how you got to him!” cried Mabel and Flora -together. -</p> - -<p> -“My turn!” said Haycraft blandly, laying an authoritative hand on -Fitz’s shoulder. “Sit and squirm, my boy, while I sing your praises. -He swam the canal, ladies, in the dark and icy cold, and took over -with him the end of a rope made of the men’s turbans. Winlock and the -rest waited to guard the crossing, while this fellow climbed the hill, -and by the best of good luck, found us at the top. We had taken the -guard round the guns absolutely by surprise—they were all asleep, in -fact, without a single sentry—and settled things almost in silence. -Not a shot was fired, and everything was so quiet that Woodworth -started the bright idea of bringing the guns home with us instead of -destroying them. It really seemed quite possible, for the drag-ropes -were there ready, and it would have made all the difference in the -world to us to have a couple of cannon. But when Anstruther turned up, -like a very dripping ghost, and informed us that the way was blocked, -and we couldn’t even get home ourselves, much less take back the guns -in triumph, things began to look a little blue. We might stay where we -were, or we might try to cut our way through, but the prospect wasn’t -very cheerful either way.” -</p> - -<p> -“No food or water on the hill, and the enemy holding all the plain -below,” summarised Fitz tersely. -</p> - -<p> -“And therefore,” went on Haycraft, “the Colonel lent a willing ear to -the aspiring civilian before you, who offered to lead him right round -through the hills and bring him in at the main gate of the fort, the -very last place where the enemy would think of expecting him. So the -drag-ropes came in useful, after all, for we pulled the guns to a nice -steep place overlooking the water. We had to be awfully quiet, of -course, though the hill was between us and the enemy, but we spiked -the guns and rolled them over into the canal. Then we marched down, -and got across by the help of the drag-ropes, which Winlock and his -men hauled over with their string of turbans. We got pretty wet about -the legs, but nothing to Anstruther. He led us right round, as he had -promised, and at the end we actually marched right through the town -without meeting a soul. The men were told to break step, lest the -tramp should be heard; but the enemy were all ever so far off, -watching affectionately for our reappearance on the other side of the -canal. They hadn’t the slightest suspicion of our real whereabouts. Of -course, if we had known which way we were coming back, we might have -done a lot of things—taken some dynamite and blown up General -Keeling’s house, perhaps—but it’s no use repining about that now.” -</p> - -<p> -“Repining? I should think not!” cried Flora. “You’ve had a whole night -of marching and counter-marching, and strategic movements and -capturing guns, and you come home to find a nice little fight waiting -for you before you can lie down to sleep, and yet, when you are in the -very act of playing Othello to two Desdemonas, you pretend you aren’t -satisfied!” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, we haven’t made enough of them,” said Mabel briskly. “They think -we ought to have met them at the gate, and cast the flowers out of our -best hats before them as they marched in. I’m sure this morbid thirst -for appreciation oughtn’t to be gratified, for their own sakes. Now I -am going to take the boy back to his mother. His brains will certainly -be addled if Ismail Bakhsh rocks him up and down much longer.” -</p> - -<p> -“What’s happened to the Commissioner?” asked Haycraft, as Mabel -disappeared with the baby. “We rather thought we should find him -here.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know,” said Flora. “He hasn’t been in this morning. Oh no,” -as Haycraft lifted his eyebrows, “they haven’t quarrelled. They were -quite friendly last night. I daresay he’s busy.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is because of the Baba Sahib that the Kumpsioner Sahib has not -come,” remarked Ismail Bakhsh calmly, pausing at the corner of the -verandah, and addressing no one in particular. -</p> - -<p> -“Our friend understands English too well,” muttered Haycraft to Fitz. -“But what can he mean—that Burgrave dislikes babies, or that he is -jealous because Miss North is so much taken up with it?” -</p> - -<p> -“The Kumpsioner Sahib will not come here in the daytime,” was the dark -reply. “That is why this unworthy one will keep guard here at night, -sahib.” -</p> - -<p> -“What maggot has the old fellow got in his brain now?” asked Fitz, -when Ismail Bakhsh had disappeared down the passage. -</p> - -<p> -“I really think this valued family retainer is getting a little bit -cracked,” said Flora. “Do just imagine the Commissioner creeping in -here in the dark with a dagger to murder the baby!” -</p> - -<p> -“Or smothering it with pillows!” chuckled Haycraft. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I only hope Ismail Bakhsh won’t go and shoot some one by -mistake,” said Fitz. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“There is a deputation from the regiment waiting at the end of the -verandah, anxious to interview your son and heir, Mrs North,” said Dr -Tighe in the afternoon of the same day. -</p> - -<p> -“How nice of them! I wish I could take him to them myself,” said -Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“You must leave that to his proud aunt,” said Mabel. “But surely we -ought to smarten him up a little, Georgie? I wish we had a proper robe -for him. How would that white embroidered shawl of mine do to wrap him -in?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, tell Rahah to get out the shawl which the native officers gave me -for a wedding present. It is in the regimental colours, and that will -please them more than anything.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now, don’t excite yourself,” entreated Mabel. “You are getting quite -flushed over the boy’s toilette. Do leave him to us. Surely Mrs Hardy -and Rahah and Flora and I can dress one baby between us?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, mind that if they hold out the hilts of their tulwars, you make -him touch them with his hand, and the same if they bring any present.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Flora will prompt me. Don’t be afraid, Georgie. The boy’s first -public appearance shall do credit to us all, and the regiment too.” -</p> - -<p> -But when Mabel stepped out into the verandah, carrying the gorgeous -bundle, she was met by Ismail Bakhsh, who held out his arms with an -air of proprietorship which she resented. “No, no!” she said, shaking -her head vigorously; “I am going to hold him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, Miss Sahib, am I not his bearer? Was I not for ten years orderly -to Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib? Have I not served Nāth Sahib and the -Mem——?” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t hurt his feelings, Miss North,” laughed Dr Tighe. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, he can stand beside me and lift the boy’s hand to touch the -swords and presents and things. People will really have to understand -that he belongs to us as well as the regiment.” -</p> - -<p> -The honourable post assigned to him served to mollify Ismail Bakhsh, -and he took his stand beside Mabel with immense dignity. The members -of the deputation were all in full uniform, and advanced to pay their -respects strictly in order of rank. All unconsciously, the baby itself -struck the right note at the very outset. When Ressaldar Badullah Khan -came forward and held up the hilt of his sword, there was no need for -Ismail Bakhsh to guide the little hand to it. The glittering metal, -rendered dazzling by a ray of light which came through a bullet-hole -in the curtain, seemed to catch the baby’s eye, and the aimless -movements of both arms which followed were immediately interpreted as -indicating a desire to seize the sword. -</p> - -<p> -“<i>Shabash! Shabash!</i>” came in eager accents from the men behind. “He -is the true son of Sinjāj Kīlin. The sword will never be out of his -hand.” -</p> - -<p> -Badullah Khan retired, much gratified, and Ghulam Rasul, taking his -place, was careful to hold his sword where the light fell upon it. -Again the baby stretched out its arms to the gleam, and this was -accepted as confirming the omen. The rest of the deputation were -content when Ismail Bakhsh raised the baby’s hand to touch their -sword-hilts, and the same was the case with regard to the two or three -gold coins which were brought forward as a mark of respect. The bearer -of this <i>nasr</i> was just retiring when an untoward incident occurred. -There was a sudden whirr, and a bullet, piercing the matting curtain, -ploughed up the skin of Ismail Bakhsh’s wrist and passed through the -fleshy part of his arm, before burying itself in the wall behind him. -The group in the verandah stood staring at one another. Flora declared -afterwards that Mabel dropped the baby in her fright, and that it was -only rescued by a frantic effort on the part of Dr Tighe, but Mabel -repudiated the accusation with scorn. Certain it is that her nephew -was still in her arms the moment after, when a cry of “A hit! a -palpable hit!” came from the nearest tower, following closely upon the -report of a rifle. -</p> - -<p> -“Are you trying to pot the baby, Winlock?” shouted the doctor, -recognising the voice, and stooping under the curtain to step out into -the courtyard. -</p> - -<p> -“No, but I’ve sniped the sniper. There’s no cover on Gun Hill now, and -I saw his head when he raised it to fire. No harm done, I hope?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, the Luck of Alibad very nearly came to an abrupt and premature -end. Take the child in, Miss North, and reassure the mother. Master -North has had his baptism of fire pretty early in life.” -</p> - -<p> -“What can have made them fire in this direction now that we have the -curtain?” asked Flora, as she brought out a pair of scissors to slit -up Ismail Bakhsh’s sleeve. -</p> - -<p> -“I see how it is,” cried the doctor. “The curtain doesn’t quite reach -the ground, and the sight of such an assemblage of spurs, shining in -the sun, showed the sniper that something was going on in this -neighbourhood. It’s a happy thing that Ismail Bakhsh was standing in -front of the baby.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah,” said the old man, with a delighted grin, “the Baba Sahib is -altogether ours now. We have paid our respects at his first durbar, -and we have been under fire with him already. Surely the -Ressaldar-Major Sahib and those who are absent with him will be mad -with envy of us!” -</p> - -<p> -“And you have shed your blood for him,” said Dr Tighe, as he bandaged -the arm. -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, sahib, it all belongs to him. He has but taken toll.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“Isn’t he perfectly sweet, Georgie?” Mabel was demanding at that -moment, by way of diverting Georgia’s mind from the danger to which -the baby had been exposed. Kneeling at the side of the bed, she was -trying, with conspicuous lack of success, to tempt her nephew to play -with her hair. “Don’t you think he’s the most delightful baby that -ever was born?” she asked again. -</p> - -<p> -“Of course,” said Georgia, smiling. “I am almost as proud of him as Dr -Tighe is, and that’s saying a good deal.” -</p> - -<p> -“And he’s so good,” resumed Mabel, referring to the baby, not to the -doctor. “He has scarcely cried a bit, and that is such a comfort under -the circumstances. It would have been so discreditable if the Luck of -Alibad had cried whenever a shot was fired, but he’s a regular little -hero.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, he has no lack of nurses, if that’s good for the temper,” said -Georgia. “Oh, how I wish his father could see him!” she sighed -suddenly, as the baby moved in her arms and looked straight before it -with solemn grey eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps he can,” suggested Mabel softly. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Mab! what do you mean?” cried Georgia, her face flushing. -</p> - -<p> -“I only meant that many people think they are allowed to know what is -happening on earth,” explained Mabel, with some hesitation. Georgia -laid her head upon the pillow again with a little moan of -disappointment. -</p> - -<p> -“You will talk as if Dick was dead!” she said. “I thought you had -heard something—that he was here, perhaps.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Georgie!” cried Mabel, in strong remonstrance. Then, remembering -that exciting topics ought to be avoided, she changed the subject. -“What do you mean to call the boy? Have you decided?” -</p> - -<p> -“St George Keeling,” was the unhesitating reply. “Dick has always said -that if he had a son he would name him after my father.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then you won’t call him after Dick? Oh, Georgie!” -</p> - -<p> -Georgia smiled triumphantly. “Oh yes, I shall insist upon that. If -Dick chooses two names, I’m sure I have a right to choose one. Richard -St George Keeling North—it’s rather long, isn’t it? but Dick won’t -mind.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I suppose,” said Mabel, feeling her way timorously, “that you -are not thinking of having him christened just yet? Mr Hardy was -asking me whether you would like it to be soon, as things are so -uncertain.” -</p> - -<p> -“Before his father comes back? Certainly not,” said Georgia, with so -much decision that Mabel dared make no further protest. She attacked -Dr Tighe, however, upon the subject when she saw him next. -</p> - -<p> -“You thought that poor Georgia’s delusion would pass away when the -baby was born, but she is as fully convinced as ever that Dick is -alive,” she said, with something of triumph. -</p> - -<p> -“I know,” acquiesced the doctor, “and I am disappointed. But the -delusion is bound to disappear in course of time—when she sees his -grave, if not before. And I’d have you remember, Miss North, that -she’s likely only hoping against hope now. Her reason may be assuring -her that he’s dead, while her heart fights against the notion. To try -to combat this hope of hers would only make her stick to it all the -more. Let it alone, and it will fade away naturally.” -</p> - -<p> -Much against her will, Mabel promised to obey. It seemed to her that -it was both wrong and cruel to allow such a state of uncertainty to -continue; but as the days passed on without any further suggestion -that Dick was alive, she began to be satisfied that the delusion was -fading from Georgia’s mind. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch18"> -CHAPTER XVIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">AN ATTEMPT AT DESERTION.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">After</span> their disappointment with regard to the guns, the enemy made -no further effort to take the fort by storm. They seemed quite content -to substitute a blockade for a siege, but this circumstance did not -tend to raise the spirits of the garrison, since it showed that there -was as yet no sign of any movement for their relief. Sniping was -practised indefatigably on both sides whenever opportunity offered, -and a stranger standing on the cleared ground between the fort and -General Keeling’s house might have imagined the one and the other -alike deserted, so skilful had the occupants become in taking -advantage of cover, save when a puff of smoke and the crack of a rifle -on the right met with an immediate response in kind from the left. The -enemy were not now occupying the opposite bank of the canal in force, -but it was a favourite station for their boldest sharp-shooters, who -took up their posts under cover of darkness, and from the shelter of -rough sangars or dikes of earth, fired at the water-carriers as they -clambered up and down to the water-gate with their skins and earthen -pots. The great fall in the level of the water gave much encouragement -to this form of attack, and it was found necessary to erect a screen -of tent-cloth, supported on poles, to protect the steps cut in the -wall below the gate. On the rampart above two or three good marksmen -were always posted, watching for the moment at which the sniper was -forced to betray his presence for an instant, and the post was much -coveted. Any duty that promised a little excitement was eagerly -welcomed, for the closeness of their quarters and the lack of exercise -were telling upon the health and spirits of the garrison. The wounded -did not recover as they ought, and the mortality among the native -refugees was very heavy. Moreover, the stock of provisions accumulated -under difficulties by Colonel Graham and Dick was diminishing with -alarming speed. Rations were served out to all with the strictest -economy, and Mabel and Flora, observing a daily diminution in the -numbers of the horses stabled in the outer court, refrained heroically -from any remark on the shape of the joints set before them. The two -girls were quite accustomed to a state of siege by this time, had -ceased to start at the whirr and ping of a bullet, and took cover as -naturally as the oldest trooper in the regiment when they left the -shelter of their rooms. As Mabel said one day to Colonel Graham, the -strangest thing was the remembrance that they had ever known a time -when the siege was not going on. -</p> - -<p> -“And that you will know a time when it is over, I hope?” he responded. -“I only wish I saw any chance of our being relieved, or even of being -able to cut our way through, but the next move lies undoubtedly with -the enemy.” -</p> - -<p> -This move, when it came, was an unexpected one. In the course of a -dark night, a scuffle close under the eastern wall became audible to -the sentries, who fired immediately in the direction of the sound, to -hear in return a scream which was unmistakably a woman’s. The garrison -stood to arms, but no attack was made, and no explanation of the -mysterious occurrence offered itself. In the morning, however, a white -flag appeared in the street next to General Keeling’s house, and when -Colonel Graham replied to it from one of the gateway turrets, two -unarmed men made their appearance, dragging with them a woman, her -clothes and veil torn and blood-stained. Having escorted her into the -middle of the cleared space, they left her there, and ran back to -shelter, while she sank on her knees and raised one hand in an -entreaty for mercy. Despite her agony of fear, however, she kept her -veil wrapped closely round her. -</p> - -<p> -“Evidently a <i>pardah</i> woman,” said Colonel Graham to Mr Burgrave, “but -what she is doing here I can’t make out.” -</p> - -<p> -He shouted some words of encouragement, and the woman came a little -nearer, and made signs that she desired to be admitted into the fort. -</p> - -<p> -“No, no; can’t have that,” cried the Colonel. “You must say what you -have to say from where you are.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, sahib,” came in a quavering voice, “I am not used to speak -before so many men. Thy servant belongs to the household of the Hasrat -Ali Begum, and is sent with a message to the doctor lady.” -</p> - -<p> -“Tell me your message, by all means, and I will give it her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, sahib, suffer thy servant to see her, for I have gone through -great perils to bring the message. Last night I crept close up to the -walls, hoping to speak with some who might let me in, but the servants -of my mistress’s son tracked and seized me, and thy sowars shot at me -from the rampart,” and she thrust forth a roughly bandaged foot. “And -this morning Syad Bahram Khan said that since I came to bear my -mistress’s message, I should now bear his, and tell thee, sahib, what -terms he offers thee.” -</p> - -<p> -“And what may they be?” -</p> - -<p> -“He says, sahib—‘The siege has now lasted many days, and my followers -are fast becoming discontented and stealing away from me. I have -learnt to honour the valour of the sahibs, and but for the rancour of -my uncle, the Amir Sahib, I would have made terms with them long -before. He has sworn to have the life of every white man in the fort, -and it is only because he is now away at Nalapur that I can offer them -safety. The fort I must have, to save my face in the sight of my -followers; but if it is surrendered to me to-day, before my uncle -returns in his cruelty, thirsting for blood, I will send all the -sahibs and the women and children away to Rahmat-Ullah, and by -nightfall they shall be so far off that there is no pursuing them. The -troopers also may go where they will, but I cannot promise them -safe-conduct, for I have not beasts to mount them all, and they might -chance to be overtaken. These terms I offer out of my honour for the -sahibs, and my hatred for the cruelty of my uncle.’” -</p> - -<p> -“And does the Hasrat Ali Begum advise us to accept them?” asked -Colonel Graham dryly. -</p> - -<p> -“She has not heard of them, sahib. I have but spoken as I was -commanded.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I don’t think we need deliberate long over this,” said the -Colonel to Mr Burgrave. “It’s clear that Bahram Khan is trying to -hedge, and throwing the blame of all that has happened upon his uncle. -From that I should judge that the relieving force is in motion at -last. When the inevitable attack was made upon us as soon as we were -outside the fort, the Amir would get the credit of the massacre, and -Bahram Khan would pose as the innocent and peaceable dupe of his -uncle’s treachery. He might even contrive to wipe out the Amir in his -honest wrath, and appear red-handed at Rahmat-Ullah as our -avenger—and also as the natural heir to the throne of Nalapur.” -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t leave him many shreds of character,” said the Commissioner -stiffly. -</p> - -<p> -“I forgot he was a friend of yours. No; but seriously, you wouldn’t -dream of trusting him? Of course not. The terms are refused, O servant -of the Begum Sahib. Now, what about that message of yours for the -doctor lady?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is for her ear alone, sahib.” -</p> - -<p> -“She is ill, and cannot come to the wall.” -</p> - -<p> -“Suffer me to see her, sahib, if only for a moment. My mistress bade -me inquire of her health, for she has heard rumours that grieve her -heart.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m sorry it’s impossible to admit you. Mrs North is doing well; you -must be satisfied with that.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay, but let me see her, sahib. I dare not go back with my mistress’s -commands undone.” -</p> - -<p> -“It is impossible. Have you any further message?” -</p> - -<p> -“I must see her. It is urgent—most necessary. Sahib, suffer me to -come in.” -</p> - -<p> -“Impossible. Get back to your own side as fast as you can.” -</p> - -<p> -“What could she have had to say?” asked Mr Burgrave curiously, as they -left the turret. -</p> - -<p> -“Can’t tell. Some native remedy or charm to give her, perhaps—which -might have been poison. We have no proof that the woman comes from the -Begum. She may be in reality a spy of Bahram Khan’s.” -</p> - -<p> -The news of the woman’s mysterious mission, and her importunity, -spread quickly through the fort, but the occupants of the inner -courtyard had little time to wonder over it, for Georgia’s condition -seemed to have taken a sudden turn for the worse. After a troubled -night she had waked in an agitated, excited state, unable to bear the -slightest noise in the room. She lay listening anxiously, asking the -rest at intervals if they did not hear something, and they tried in -vain to find out what it was she thought they ought to hear. They left -her alone at last, since their presence seemed only to increase the -strain upon her mind, and Mabel remained in the outer room with the -door ajar. Peeping into the inner room after a time, she saw, to her -delight, that her sister-in-law had dropped asleep, but very soon a -cry summoned her back. Georgia was sitting up in bed with flushed -cheeks. -</p> - -<p> -“He <i>is</i> here, then,” she said. “I knew I heard his voice. Bring him -in, Mab. How can you keep him outside, when you know he is longing to -see me?” -</p> - -<p> -“There’s no one outside. What do you mean, Georgie?” asked Mabel, -astonished. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Dick, of course! I have heard him calling me all day, though it -sounded so far off, but now it’s quite close—in my ear, almost. -There, don’t you hear?” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel strained her ears, but in vain. “There’s nothing, really,” she -said. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you must be deaf! Go and see, Mab. Don’t keep him waiting. I know -he wants me. Why doesn’t some one tell him where I am?” -</p> - -<p> -To satisfy her, Mabel went out into the verandah and looked round, -naturally without result. She could scarcely bring herself to return -and assure Georgia that the voice was purely a hallucination, but it -was a relief to find that she did not seem seriously disappointed. A -new idea had come into her mind. -</p> - -<p> -“What was Dr Tighe or some one saying about the Eye-of-the-Begum? that -she wanted to see me? She was bringing me a message from him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Georgie!” sighed Mabel, in hopeless despair. -</p> - -<p> -“He wants me. I must go to him. Tell Rahah to get my things ready.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you can’t get up, you know. Besides, the enemy are all round -outside.” -</p> - -<p> -“I tell you I must go to him. I wish you wouldn’t put absurd obstacles -in the way, Mab. He wants me. He is calling me. Of course I shall go.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, you shall,” said poor harassed Mabel; “only lie quiet just now. -You can’t possibly go to-night, you know. Try to sleep a little.” -</p> - -<p> -She succeeded in inducing her to lie down, but whenever she crept in -to look at her Georgia was staring into the darkness with wide-open, -brilliant eyes. Not even the baby could divert her thoughts from the -conviction that had taken possession of her mind, and Mabel decided to -sleep in the outer room, in case her help should be needed during the -night. All passed quietly, however, although she had a dream that -Rahah came and looked at her very earnestly, even entreatingly, but -said nothing. In the morning, after glancing at Georgia, and finding -her apparently asleep, she went to her own room to dress. She was just -putting the finishing touches to her hair when she saw Rahah come out -with a large bundle in one hand and a box in the other, and after -looking anxiously around, turn away as if disappointed, and disappear -down the passage. -</p> - -<p> -“That looked like Georgie’s travelling medicine-chest. What can she be -doing with it?” said Mabel to herself. “And a bundle of clothes— Oh, -what——” -</p> - -<p> -A terrible thought had seized her, and she ran along the darkened -verandah. The outer room was in a state of wild confusion, as if Rahah -had been making a hasty selection from among her mistress’s -possessions, and in the inner room Georgia was sitting on the side of -the bed, trying to dress. -</p> - -<p> -“Georgie! what are you doing?” gasped Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“I am going to Dick. He wants me,” answered Georgia, looking at her -with unseeing eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“But you can’t move. You’re not fit for it. Georgie, do be sensible.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know what you mean. I’m perfectly well, only so ridiculously -weak. But Dick is calling me, and I am going to him.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel gazed at her in despair, then seized the baby, which was wrapped -up in a shawl, ready for travelling. “You won’t go without him, I -suppose, and I’ll take good care that you don’t go with him,” she -said, while Georgia looked at her without a trace of comprehension in -her gaze. “Just sit there until I come back.” -</p> - -<p> -She ran down the passage with the baby in her arms, and glanced at the -archway in the wall which led to the water-gate. The gate was open, -and Ismail Bakhsh was hard at work inflating one of the skins which -had been used to support the raft. Rahah was standing near him with -her parcels, looking helplessly round, apparently for some one to whom -to appeal. -</p> - -<p> -“They have waited until Ismail Bakhsh is on guard, and the sentries on -the wall are to look the other way while he ferries them over in -turn,” said Mabel to herself. “Why, it would kill Georgie! Well, they -won’t start while I have the boy. Oh,” she cried, coming suddenly upon -a European, “please tell somebody to go and arrest Ismail Bakhsh. He -has got the water-gate open, and he is going to desert.” -</p> - -<p> -Long before she had reached the end of her sentence she recognised -that it was Mr Burgrave to whom she was speaking. They had scarcely -met since the dreadful night of anxiety when she had given him back -his ring, and she noticed with a shock how gray and shrunken he -looked. It was the hardships of the siege, she tried to assure -herself, that had made him old before his time. -</p> - -<p> -“I will certainly give your message to the officer on guard,” he -answered politely. “We can’t allow this sort of thing to begin.” -</p> - -<p> -He went on his way with a bow, and she stood looking after him. -Hearing a click, she glanced up hastily. The sentry on the rampart -above her was kneeling down and taking deliberate aim with his carbine -at the unconscious Commissioner. She knew the man; he was Ismail -Bakhsh’s son Ibrahim, and she saw that the moment Mr Burgrave quitted -the shelter of the wall in crossing the courtyard he would be at his -mercy. But in her arms was a talisman, and she ran forward and caught -up the Commissioner, who looked round at her in astonishment. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, do take him in your arms for a moment!” she cried, stammering in -her eagerness. “You have never held him, and his mother will be so -pleased.” -</p> - -<p> -Taken completely by surprise, Mr Burgrave allowed the baby to be -placed in his arms, and actually carried it across the court, while -Mabel, at his side, was shaking with apprehension. She knew that he -was safe while he held that precious bundle, but she was by no means -sure that Ibrahim would not resent her interference with his plans to -the extent of shooting her instead. This physical terror kept her from -feeling the awkwardness of the situation, and she did not even realise -it until Mr Burgrave paused at the archway leading into the outer -court, and looked into her face as he gave her back the baby. -</p> - -<p> -“You will laugh at me for saying that I had a little hope left until -to-day,” he said. “Now I see how foolish I was. In spite of the siege -and all your troubles, you look now as you did when I first knew you, -and it is simply because you are free from me. Don’t be afraid; I -shall not persecute you. All I care for is to see you happy in your -own way.” -</p> - -<p> -There was little inclination to laughter in Mabel’s mind as she -returned slowly to Georgia’s room. She had scarcely reached it when -Rahah came flying along the passage to tell her mistress that -Woodworth Sahib and ten men had come and taken Ismail Bakhsh prisoner, -and there was therefore no hope of escaping to-day. Georgia hardly -seemed to hear. She was still sitting where Mabel had left her, -sobbing feebly and too weak to move, and they were able to get her -into bed again before Dr Tighe came bustling in. -</p> - -<p> -“Now, now, what’s this I hear?” he asked severely. “Will you think, -Mrs North, that we’ve always regarded you as a sensible woman, and -that the Major was proud of your judgment? You wouldn’t be in earnest -just now?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, let me go!” implored Georgia. “I can’t hear what you say, doctor. -Dick’s voice comes in between. He wants me so much. Oh, Dick, I would -come, but they won’t let me.” -</p> - -<p> -“This won’t do,” said Dr Tighe. “Must humour her, poor thing!” he -muttered behind his hand to Mabel. “Now, Mrs North, assuming that the -Major is delirious, and crying out for you——” -</p> - -<p> -“Torture!” interjected Georgia, in a high, hard voice. -</p> - -<p> -“No, no! Nonsense, nonsense! Why, it’s biting out his tongue he’d be -before the devils would get a word out of him. But supposing he’s ill, -now—would it be any pleasure to him to know that you had killed -yourself and the child trying to get to him? You know it wouldn’t. -’Twould be a bitter grief to him all his days. And for that reason -you’ll take this, and lie down quietly, and try to get some sleep.” -</p> - -<p> -“It won’t drown his voice,” said Georgia, accepting the medicine, but -looking up with such misery in her eyes that it almost destroyed the -doctor’s self-control. “I should hear that if I were dead.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, doctor,” murmured Mabel, drawing him into the outer room, “if she -should be right, after all! What can we do?” -</p> - -<p> -He looked at her in astonishment. “My dear Miss North, you mustn’t let -yourself be led away by that poor soul’s ravings. After such a happy -married life as hers, it would be strange indeed if she could give her -husband up for lost without a struggle. But what possible hope is -there of his being alive? If he was a prisoner, don’t you think Bahram -Khan would have made use of him long ago to torment us? Don’t make it -worse for her by encouraging her to hope.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no, of course not,” said Mabel impatiently. “But all the same,” -she muttered to herself as he left her, “something ought to be done, -and I know the man to do it.” -</p> - -<p> -Half-an-hour later she went out into the verandah to meet Fitz -Anstruther, who had come as usual to inquire after Georgia and the -baby, and beckoned him to a secluded corner, where two packing-cases -served as seats. -</p> - -<p> -“Do you know,” she said eagerly, without giving him time to speak, “I -am beginning to believe that Dick is really alive. Georgia is so -absolutely convinced he isn’t dead, and I can’t think she is -altogether mistaken. Is there no way of finding out?” -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t mean by making inquiries, surely? The Amir certainly -believes he is dead, and Bahram Khan chooses us to think that he does -too, so we should get no good out of them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, I quite see that, but what I have been thinking is that some one -to whom he had been kind may have hidden him away—in a house in the -mountains, or one of the camps of the wandering tribes—and he may be -lying there ill all this time.” -</p> - -<p> -“I only wish he might, but in that case I’m afraid it would simply be -his death-warrant if we found out where he was. Bahram Khan would -still be between us and him, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, but there’s another chance still. Suppose he is in Bahram Khan’s -hands, after all, but too badly wounded to be moved? Bahram Khan would -know that he could not make use of him without showing him, and that -he would be no good to him dead. So what if he is keeping him prisoner -just with that in view—to produce him when he gets better, and offer -to give him up if we surrender the fort? Yes, the more I think it -over, the more I feel certain that it must be that.” -</p> - -<p> -“And what then?” asked Fitz, as she paused eagerly. -</p> - -<p> -“Why then, don’t you see, if we once knew that he was a prisoner, and -where he was kept, a force could go out and rescue him, as they did -the guns. There isn’t a man that would not volunteer, and then he -would be saved.” -</p> - -<p> -“But how are we to find out whether he is a prisoner?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, surely you must know! Don’t pretend to be so stupid. Some one -must go and see—dress up as a native, and get into the enemy’s camp.” -</p> - -<p> -He laughed. “Curiously enough, the Colonel was talking of something of -the kind this very morning. He wants to know whether there is really a -rumour among the enemy about a relieving force.” -</p> - -<p> -“And who is to go?” -</p> - -<p> -“Who? Oh, I think that old <i>daffadar</i> of Haycraft’s, Sultan Jān, was -the man pitched upon at last. He is the foxiest old beggar alive, and -less known about here than most of our fellows.” -</p> - -<p> -“Only Sultan Jān?” in deep disappointment. “But you are dark—you -know the language so well—you are such a good scout—you are going?” -</p> - -<p> -“I, Miss North? Why in the world——” -</p> - -<p> -“To find Dick, because you and he are such friends—because I ask -you.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am very much honoured, but surely the Commissioner is the natural -person——” -</p> - -<p> -“The Commissioner would be too lame to go,” cried Mabel, in confusion, -“and even if he wasn’t, I couldn’t ask him.” Fitz’s look of surprise, -less for the fact than for her mention of it, reminded her that her -words must sound strangely in his ears. “Perhaps I ought to explain,” -she stammered. “I—I am not engaged to Mr Burgrave now.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, indeed!” said Fitz slowly, readjusting his ideas as he spoke. -Only the night before he had heard Haycraft say to Flora that the -Commissioner and Miss North must have quarrelled, for they had not -spoken for days, and she was not wearing his ring. Certain hopes of -Fitz’s own had sprung up anew at that moment, only to be dashed to -earth again by Flora’s confident assurance that the estrangement could -be only a temporary one. She was certain that the engagement was not -broken off, or Mabel would have told her. Now, however, it appeared -that Flora had been mistaken. -</p> - -<p> -Fitz drew a deep breath. “You want me to go in disguise and make -inquiries about your brother, because you ask me? Not so very long ago -we were discussing a certain subject, and I agreed not to mention it -again without your permission. If I go, will you give me that -permission?” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel recoiled from him, aghast. “You are trying to drive a bargain -with me for Dick’s life?” she cried, in horror. “I should never have -believed it of you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I am only looking at the matter in a business light. If I do your -work, I should like to be sure of my wages.” -</p> - -<p> -“How can you talk in such a horrid mercenary way? It’s mean, -ungentlemanly of you to try to entrap me like this! I could not have -imagined——” -</p> - -<p> -“Please let us be business-like. Only, believe me, I had no idea of -setting a trap.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you mean to say that if I refuse to let you speak to me again you -won’t go?” -</p> - -<p> -“That is not the question, allow me to remark. I ask you whether, if I -go, I may enter upon the forbidden subject when I come back?” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe you are going whether I say Yes or No.” She looked at him -sharply, but he did not change countenance in the least. “Why should -you take it into your head to spoil a thing that ought to be so -splendid, by tacking on an odious condition to it?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am afraid you won’t find it easy to move me either by hard words or -soft ones. Is it a bargain?” -</p> - -<p> -“If you mean that I am to promise to marry you if you go——” cried -Mabel, her eyes blazing. -</p> - -<p> -“I mean nothing of the kind. That is not in the bond. If I have such a -curious fancy for being rejected by you that I am willing to accept -another refusal as the price of my services on this occasion, don’t -you think you are getting off rather cheaply on the whole?” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel laughed shamefacedly. “I believe you have only been trying to -tease me all along,” she said. “Very well; it is a bargain, then.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“There’s something rather mysterious about this attempt to desert on -the part of Mrs North’s servant,” said Colonel Graham to the -Commissioner. “The men seem to feel strongly on the subject, but I -can’t get any of them to speak out. I am not sure that it’s a case for -a court-martial, and if you would join me in an informal inquiry into -the affair, it might prevent bad feeling.” -</p> - -<p> -“With pleasure. But I don’t quite see where the civil power comes in, -in a matter of this kind. Is it that the man’s status is really that -of a civilian?” -</p> - -<p> -“He is a volunteer, of course”—Colonel Graham ignored the veiled -reference to what Mr Burgrave still considered his usurpation of -authority—“but as an old soldier, they all acknowledge that he is -amenable to military discipline. What I can’t make out is the notion -which seems to prevail that you have something to do with the matter, -and that’s why I should like your assistance in inquiring into it.” -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t imagine that I incite your volunteers to desert, I hope?” -said the Commissioner dryly, taking his seat beside Colonel Graham, to -await the arrival of the prisoner. -</p> - -<p> -“If I could think so, the mystery would be cleared up. As it is—” the -Colonel broke off suddenly, on the entrance of the prisoner with his -guards. He signed to the two sowars to retire out of earshot, and -addressed their charge. “I have sent for you privately because I hope -that things are less black than they look against you, Ismail Bakhsh. -That a man with your record should be detected in the act of deserting -to the enemy seems preposterous, and I hope you may be able to show -that your idea was to obtain information of some kind. In that case -your conduct might be passed over for once, as imprudent but not -disgraceful.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have nothing to say, sahib. I had my orders.” -</p> - -<p> -“Orders from Bahram Khan? Don’t trifle with me, Ismail Bakhsh. Am I to -give Mrs North the pain of knowing that her father’s orderly has been -shot as a traitor?” -</p> - -<p> -The old man drew himself up. “Since I shall no longer be present to -protect the Memsahib and her son, I will tell thee the truth, sahib, -that thou mayest watch over them in my stead. My orders were from the -Memsahib herself.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mrs North told you to desert?” cried the Colonel incredulously. -</p> - -<p> -“The Memsahib bade me be ready to convey her and her son and her -waiting-woman out of the fort at such an hour, and I obeyed her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, come, this is too much! Why should Mrs North wish to leave the -fort?” -</p> - -<p> -Ismail Bakhsh cast a fierce glance at Mr Burgrave, who had taken no -part in the examination. “I can guess the reason, sahib, but it is not -expedient to accuse the great ones of the earth to their faces.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now what did I tell you?” asked Colonel Graham of the Commissioner. -“I said you were mixed up in it somehow. You would like to have the -matter cleared up, of course?” -</p> - -<p> -“By all means,” said Mr Burgrave indifferently. The proceedings bored -him, and he did not see why both the Colonel and Ismail Bakhsh should -persist in bringing his name into them. -</p> - -<p> -“Speak, and fear not,” said the Colonel. -</p> - -<p> -“Thus then it is, sahib. When the Kumpsioner Sahib came to the border, -he found the name of Sinjāj Kīlin in all men’s mouths, and he hated -it, and sought to throw dirt upon it, even as an upstart king seeks to -defile the monuments of those that were before him. But there were yet -living in the land Sinjāj Kīlin’s daughter and her husband, Nāth -Sahib, to keep his name in remembrance, and therefore the Kumpsioner -Sahib hated them also. His eye was evil against Nāth Sahib, insomuch -that he blackened his face in the presence of the tribes and of the -Amir of Nalapur. Then, because that was not sufficient, he suborned -Bahram Khan to murder him”—the Commissioner, looking bored no longer, -tried to interpose a protest, but Ismail Bakhsh disregarded it -contemptuously—“and he thought all his enemies were removed, since -there was only a woman left of the whole house of Sinjāj Kīlin. But -when the Memsahib’s son was born, the Kumpsioner Sahib, remembering -the evil deed he had done, feared lest the boy should grow up to -avenge his father. The Ressaldar Ghulam Rasul can tell of the wrath -and fear with which he heard of the child’s birth, and I myself have -watched every night in the Memsahib’s verandah with my weapons, so -that no harm should come to the Baba Sahib. And seeing that the -Kumpsioner Sahib could not even dissemble his enmity so far as to come -and take the child in his arms like the other sahibs, and send -messages of good luck to the mother by the Miss Sahibs, I thought at -least that he would fight with steel and not with drugs. But the -Memsahib knew him better than I, and when this morning I received her -order to help her to escape with the child, I knew that she thought it -safer to take refuge with the Amir Sahib than to remain in this place. -And now they will kill me; but the charge of Sinjāj Kīlin’s son is -thine, sahib,” addressing the Colonel, “since the truth has been fully -made known to thee by my mouth. For what says the proverb? ‘When the -base-born mounts the throne, it is ill to be a king’s son.’ Guard well -the Baba Sahib, for the sake of Nāth Sahib, thy friend. And as for -the Kumpsioner Sahib, let him know that the men of the regiment have -sworn by the holy Kaaba and the sacred well, and by the head of the -Prophet of God, that he shall not escape. Once he has succeeded in -slaying the Baba Sahib, no land shall be distant enough to afford him -a refuge. Each man will hand down to his children the duty of slaying -him, and his sons and brothers and nephews, and all his house, even as -he has set himself to destroy the house of Sinjāj Kīlin.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good heavens!” said the Commissioner, passing his hand feebly over -his damp brow, “do they actually suspect me of plotting to murder a -woman and child—and of putting poor North out of the way?” -</p> - -<p> -“Suspect is not the word,” replied Colonel Graham, rather cruelly; -“they are absolutely convinced of it.” -</p> - -<p> -“This is one of the things that have to be lived down, I suppose. -Well, the offence of our friend here seems to be a matter relating to -me personally. Will you kindly release him as a favour to me? I think -also it might be as well to let him do perpetual sentry-go in the -verandah he seems to affect so much—take up his quarters there, in -fact, and protect the baby from my machinations. And tell him that he -is welcome to use his weapons on me if he catches me there under -suspicious circumstances.” -</p> - -<p> -“Are you inviting him to murder you?” demanded the Colonel. -</p> - -<p> -“He doesn’t seem to need much invitation. But no amount of -protestations will disabuse him of his theory, and it would be a pity -to deprive Mrs North of such an attached servant. If you point out -that last fact to him, it may give me a few years longer to live.” -</p> - -<p> -It was with deepening surprise and bewilderment that Ismail Bakhsh -heard his sentence, which was delivered in terms of considerable -pungency by Colonel Graham. Imprisonment or hard labour would have -seemed natural enough, death he had confidently expected; but what did -this release mean? The Colonel’s indignant vindication of Mr Burgrave -affected him not a whit; but that the man he had accused betrayed -neither guilt nor fear did cost him some searchings of heart. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch19"> -CHAPTER XIX.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">AN IMPOTENT CONCLUSION.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">Mabel</span> was not far wrong in guessing that before she spoke to Fitz it -had been decided he should take part in Daffadar Sultan Jān’s -reconnaissance. Colonel Graham’s choice had fallen upon him less on -account of any merits he possessed than of his personal appearance. It -could not be said that he outshone the other men in coolness or -courage, and in knowledge of the surrounding country Winlock, at any -rate, was his equal, but the determining point in his favour was the -fact which his friends, dancing with rage the while, were forced to -acknowledge, that he made up detestably well as a native. From his -Irish mother he had inherited the Spanish type of colouring often -found in Connaught and Western Munster, large dark eyes, black hair, -and a skin so smooth and sallow that very little assistance from art -was needed to assimilate it to the comparatively light tint prevailing -among the frontier tribes. There were difficulties at first with -Sultan Jān, who had once saved Haycraft’s life in a border skirmish, -and had constituted himself a kind of nursing father to him ever -since. He rejected with scorn the idea of taking any but his own -particular sahib with him on his perilous journey, until it was -pointed out to him that this would almost certainly involve the death -of both. Haycraft’s fair hair, grey eyes, and sun-reddened complexion -made it impossible to disguise him satisfactorily, and the old man -yielded the point, ungraciously enough, when he had seen Fitz in -native dress. -</p> - -<p> -A noted freebooter in his unregenerate days, Sultan Jān had never -found it easy to submit his own will to that of his military -superiors. Belonging to a powerful tribe across the border, he had -been the terror of the outlying British districts, until one of -General Keeling’s lieutenants induced him first to come in to a -conference, and then to join the regiment. His independent habits -operated to prevent him from rising to any higher rank than that of -daffadar, but he was a power in his troop, which was now largely -composed of his nephews and cousins of many varying degrees. Haycraft -would say sometimes that he was entirely devoid of the moral sense, -and that his regard for the honour of the regiment was not wholly to -be depended upon as a substitute, but as no one knew exactly what this -condemnation implied, Haycraft’s brother-officers generally put it -down to liver. One thing was certain, that Sultan Jān’s faithfulness -to his salt was above suspicion, since he had on occasion assisted in -inflicting punishment upon his own tribe for various raids, and there -were special reasons for anticipating his success in the adventure he -was undertaking. The scheme, indeed, had been entirely modified in -accordance with his views, since Colonel Graham’s first intention had -been that his messenger should turn southwards, and cross the desert -into the settled territory. Sultan Jān recommended a dash for Fort -Rahmat-Ullah instead, pointing out that if he and his companion chose -a dark night for their start, they might swim down the canal for a -considerable distance, supporting themselves on inflated skins. When -beyond the enemy’s farthest outposts, they could strike across the -desert to the north until they reached the mountains, with every pass -and track of which he was familiar. By certain little-known paths they -could then make their way to Rahmat-Ullah, where there would be the -chance of discovering what was going on in the outside world, as well -as of representing the hard plight of the defenders of Alibad. In -returning they might, if opportunity offered, acquaint themselves with -the enemy’s dispositions nearer home. -</p> - -<p> -The hour, and even the night, appointed for the start, were kept a -profound secret from all but those immediately concerned, lest -information should in any way be conveyed to the enemy, and it was not -until a whole day had passed without a visit from Fitz, that the -dwellers in the Memsahibs’ courtyard made up their minds that he was -actually gone. Mabel, sitting in the safest of the four verandahs, -with the baby in her arms, looked up anxiously when Flora came to tell -her that Fred Haycraft admitted they were right in their surmise. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, poor Mr Anstruther!” she said. “I do hope he won’t get hurt. I -should feel so dreadfully guilty if anything happened to him.” -</p> - -<p> -“You needn’t, then,” said Flora bluntly, as Mabel stopped short, -remembering that she had not intended to make public her compact with -Fitz. “His going has nothing whatever to do with you. He was chosen as -the most suitable man all round, that’s all. Fred said so.” -</p> - -<p> -This was hardly to be borne. “I didn’t mean to tell you,” said Mabel, -with dignity, “but I asked him to go, that he might make inquiries -about Dick.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh!” cried Flora, suddenly enlightened; “then Fred was right after -all, and you have broken off your engagement. I never would have -believed——” -</p> - -<p> -“I really don’t see why you should jump to a conclusion in that way.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, because you couldn’t very well be engaged to two people at -once.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am not engaged to anybody,” very haughtily. -</p> - -<p> -“Not to Mr Anstruther?” -</p> - -<p> -“Certainly not.” -</p> - -<p> -“And yet you make him run this awful risk for the sake of your -brother? Oh, nonsense! he knows he will get his reward when he comes -back.” -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t seem to understand,” coldly, “that some men are willing to -do things without hope of reward. Since I have told you so much, I may -as well say that if Mr Anstruther chooses to ask me to marry him when -he comes back, he will do it knowing that I shall refuse him again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Again?” cried Flora. “Would you like to know what I think of you? Oh, -I’m sure you wouldn’t, but I am going to tell you. If you happened to -be plain—but no, if you were a plain woman, you wouldn’t find men to -do this sort of thing for you—if you were any one but Queen Mab, -people would say you were absolutely <i>mean</i>! It’s simply and solely -the celebrated smile that makes you able to do these horrid things, -and you presume upon it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, don’t, please!” entreated Mabel. “That’s Dick’s word.” -</p> - -<p> -The tables were turned, and Flora became the criminal instead of the -avenger of justice. She had seized upon one of Mabel’s dearest -memories with which to taunt her, and she was silent for very shame. -It tended to deepen her remorse that Mabel betrayed no anger, only a -gentle forbearance that cut the accuser to the quick. -</p> - -<p> -“You don’t understand,” she said sadly, “and I don’t know that I -understand it myself. You wouldn’t wish me to marry Fitz Anstruther if -I don’t care for him, would you? and he wouldn’t wish it either. But -could I lose a chance of saving Dick because of that? It’s not as if I -had pretended to give him any hope. I spoke perfectly plainly, and he -quite sees how it is.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you must care for him a little,” broke out Flora, “when he is -willing to do such a thing for you without any reward. Oh, you do, -don’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Mabel slowly, “I’m sure I don’t. If I did, I couldn’t have -let him go.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes,” cried Flora hopefully, “for Mrs North’s sake, and your -brother’s, you could give him up.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel shook her head. “I like him very much,” she said, “but I don’t -want to marry him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now that’s what I say is being mean!” cried Flora. “You get all you -want out of him, and offer him nothing in return, because he is -generous enough to work without payment. He has made himself too -cheap.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I am very sorry, but I don’t see how I can help it. If I want -things done, and he is willing to do them on my conditions, would you -have me refuse?” -</p> - -<p> -“Did your Browning studies with the Commissioner ever take you as far -as the story of the lady and the glove?” asked Flora suddenly. “The -knight fetched her glove out of the lions’ den, you know, and then -threw it in her face. Mr Anstruther would never do anything so rude, -but I should really love to advise him to try how you would feel -towards him after a little wholesome neglect.” -</p> - -<p> -“Mr Anstruther is a gentleman,” said Mabel, growing red. -</p> - -<p> -“And you trade upon that too! Oh, Mab, you don’t deserve to have a -nice man in love with you. It would serve you right if a William the -Conqueror sort of person came, and urged his suit with a horsewhip.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are so absurd, Flora. I do wish you wouldn’t bother. I don’t want -to marry any one, if you would only believe it. I’m quite satisfied as -I am,” and Mabel rose with a flushed face, and carried the baby -indoors. -</p> - -<p> -That day and the next passed without any news of the adventurers, but -on the second night after their departure the sentries on the south -rampart were startled by a hail which seemed to come from the canal. -The moon had long set, and nothing could be distinguished in the misty -darkness, but again the cry came, weak and quavering, as if uttered by -a man all but exhausted. The listening sowars grew pale, and whispered -fearfully that the murdered irrigation officer, Western, whose body -had been thrown by the enemy into the canal at the beginning of the -siege, was claiming the funeral rites of which he had been deprived. -The whisper soon reached the ears of Woodworth, who was on duty, and -rating the men heartily for their superstition, he went down at once -to the water-gate. Here, clinging to the poles which sustained the -canvas screen placed to protect the water-carriers, they found Fitz, -barely able to speak, supporting Sultan Jān’s head on his shoulder. -The old man, who was covered with wounds, and almost insensible, was -partially upheld by the inflated skin to which he was tied, but his -helplessness had obliged Fitz to propel the skin before him as he -swam. It was with the greatest difficulty that the many willing -helpers succeeded in bringing the two men, one almost as powerless as -the other, up the steps and in at the gate, and when they were safely -inside, both were carried at once to the hospital, and delivered over -to the care of Dr Tighe. The news of their return spread through the -fort as soon as it was light, but it was not until the evening, when -Haycraft came into the inner courtyard after a visit to the hospital, -that the ladies learned anything of the adventures they had met with. -</p> - -<p> -“I haven’t seen much of Anstruther,” he said, in answer to the eager -questions which greeted him. “He was only allowed to talk for a few -minutes, and of course the Colonel had to hear all he could tell, but -I have a message for you, Miss North. He could not discover anything -to justify Mrs North in believing that the Major is still alive. The -few men to whom he ventured to put a question were positive that -neither Bahram Khan nor the Amir have any white prisoners, and he -believes they were speaking the truth.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh dear! I was so hoping—” sighed Mabel. “But of course he could not -help it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Help it? Scarcely. He has done wonders as it is. I have just been -hearing all about it from Sultan Jān, who was frantic lest he should -die before he could tell his story. The doctor said it would do the -old fellow less harm to talk than to lie there fuming, so I listened -to the whole thing, and took notes, just to satisfy him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, do tell us what they did,” cried Mabel and Flora together. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, things seem to have panned out all right just at first. They -got past the enemy’s outposts, and swam a good bit farther before they -thought it safe to take to dry land. When they had let the air out of -their skins, they hid them on the opposite bank of the canal, so as to -throw any one who found them off the scent, and swam over. They -managed to get across the desert before it was light, so that they -were not seen, but in the mountains, where they expected to find -everything easy, their troubles began. They were scouting awfully -carefully, and yet they all but dropped into a pleasant little party -of Sultan Jān’s own tribesmen.” -</p> - -<p> -“But why was that a trouble?” interrupted Flora. “I should have -thought it was the best thing that could happen to them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Flora is just a little bit apt to jump at conclusions,” said -Haycraft, in a stage aside to Mabel, dodging dexterously the palm-leaf -fan which Flora threw at him. “If she would just consider that Sultan -Jān’s tribe are fighting for Bahram Khan, she would see that family -relations might possibly be a little strained if they met. Well, -nearly the whole day our two fellows dodged about among the hills, -trying to find a path left unguarded, but there wasn’t one. You see, -the tribe know the locality as well as Sultan Jān does, and they have -picketed all the passes for the benefit of any traders who may come -by. So at night our men slipped down into the desert again, and struck -out for Rahmat-Ullah by that route. But the level ground was dangerous -too, owing to a few other bodies of Bahram Khan’s adherents, who don’t -dare dispute the mountain paths with the hillmen, but keep their eyes -open for anything that may come their way. After avoiding two or three -lots of them with difficulty, Sultan Jān suggested taking a short -rest in a cave that he knew of, and going on again when the moon set. -Unfortunately, the cave had also occurred to other people as a nice -place for a night’s lodging, and before they had been asleep very -long, they were waked by the arrival of a whole party of belated -travellers, some of the very fellows they had escaped just before. -Why, Miss North——” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no, it’s nothing. Please go on,” said Mabel, who had shivered -violently. -</p> - -<p> -“Old Sultan Jān had all his wits about him, and cried out at once -that he and his son had quarrelled with their tribe, and were coming -to Alibad to take service with Bahram Khan. The other men -cross-questioned them a good deal, but finding nothing suspicious in -their answers, agreed to take them on with them to Alibad in the -morning. Of course it was a blow not being able to go on to -Rahmat-Ullah, but they didn’t mind that so much when they found out -from their new friends that the people there are practically as much -besieged as we are. The tribes have given up attempting to rush the -place, but they hold the passes, and it’s impossible for the fellows -in the fort to force them until there’s a relieving column ready to -co-operate at the other end.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what about the relieving column?” broke in Flora. “Is it never -coming?” -</p> - -<p> -“In the course of a few centuries, I suppose. There seems to be the -usual transport difficulty, to judge by the way the tribesmen are -chortling over the loss of time. Of course Anstruther and Sultan Jān -made good use of their ears, and learned all they could without asking -suspicious questions. In the morning they started off with their -fellow-lodgers in this direction, and I must say I don’t envy their -feelings. If they had happened to meet one of Sultan Jān’s tribe, it -would have been all up. However, the rotten discipline of Bahram -Khan’s lot stood them in good stead. It seems that the permanent -investing force here consists only of his personal hangers-on and a -detachment from the Nalapur army, which the Amir has made as small as -he dares, and would like to recall altogether. All the rest—the -tribesmen and robber bands—start off whenever they like to raid along -the frontier, just leaving representatives in the town to see how -things go, so as to make sure of not missing their share in the loot -when this place falls. There’s one good thing—they’ll have -established such a sweet reputation among the country-people that we -shan’t have much trouble in hunting them down when the rising is -over.” -</p> - -<p> -“Aren’t you counting your chickens a little too soon?” asked Mabel, -with a rather strained smile. “And we are forgetting——” -</p> - -<p> -“Our two fellows? So we are. I’m an awful chap for wandering away from -the point. Well, they found Bahram Khan established in the -court-house, which was in a horrible state of squalor, overlaid with a -little cheap magnificence. He received them with every appearance of -friendliness, though they were certain he suspected them. They had -nothing to go upon, for he treated them royally, and promised them -both posts in his bodyguard, but they felt sure there was something -wrong. They expected to be denounced every minute, but he was too wily -for that. Before letting them go to their quarters at night, he -informed them confidentially that he had just finished constructing a -mine reaching from General Keeling’s house to our east curtain, and -that it was to be exploded the next day. They should form part of the -storming-party, and have the honour of leading. Of course they -pretended to accept with tremendous delight, but he had got them in an -awful fix. There was just the one hope that the mine did not really -exist at all, but when they asked the rest about it, they were shown -the entrance, though they were not allowed to go down into it, because -of the explosives put ready there, the fellows said. I think myself, -and so does Runcorn, that the soil is much too light for them to be -able to dig such a length of tunnel without its falling in, and that -we must have heard them at work if they had got as near as they make -out, but of course Anstruther dared not trust to the chance. He didn’t -venture to speak to Sultan Jān, but they managed to give each other a -look which meant that they must get away and warn us. Of course that -was just what Bahram Khan had been counting upon, and they found that -their quarters for the night were in the stables belonging to the -court-house, where all their new comrades slept. There were sentries -in the yard in front, which looked as if something was expected to -happen. Anstruther and Sultan Jān had one of the stalls to -themselves, and as soon as ever the rest seemed to be asleep, they set -to work to dig through the wall with their daggers, one working, and -the other lying so as to screen him from the sentry, or any one else -who might look in. Just before they broke through, it struck them to -ask one another what was on the other side. They knew there was a lane -at the back of the stables, but would they come out into the full -moonlight or the shadow, and was there another sentry there? After -listening carefully, they settled that there, wasn’t a sentry, but -they couldn’t decide upon the moonlight, so they had to chance it. -While Sultan Jān dug away the mud bricks, Anstruther was heaping up -the straw they had been lying upon to hide the hole, and arranging -their <i>poshteens</i> [sheepskin-lined coats] to look as if they were -still there. Happily, when they got through, they were on the dark -side of the lane. They crept out, and built up the hole again as well -as they could from the outside. It was awfully nervous work, for a -patrol might come along at any minute, but at last they were able to -be off. They wriggled along in the shadow, and Sultan Jān led the way -towards the east side of the town. Of course it was a fearful round, -but they couldn’t risk passing the enemy’s headquarters again. The -moon bothered them horribly, for they knew that until it set there was -no hope of passing the outpost at the old godowns on the bank, even if -they got to the canal safely. They reached the desert all right -through the by-lanes, and made tracks for the point at which they had -landed two nights before, but to get to it they had to pass the house -of one of the Hindu canal-officials, who seems to have been left in -possession in return for doing some sort of dirty work for Bahram -Khan. There was a dog which made a row, and the Hindu came out and -caught them. Sultan Jān wanted to kill him, but Anstruther wouldn’t -hear of it, so they asked for a night’s lodging in one of the -outbuildings, intending, of course, to slip away as soon as he was -gone to bed again. But he insisted on bringing out food, and sat up -talking to them, while they were agonising to get rid of him. And all -the time he must have sent some one to the town to give the alarm, for -suddenly he changed countenance and got confused as he talked, and -they looked at the door, and there were Bahram Khan’s men. In a moment -they were in the thick of a tremendous rough-and-tumble fight. There -was no room inside the hut to use rifles, but both sides had daggers, -and the enemy tulwars. Anstruther says he fought mostly with his -fists, and the enemy seemed to think that wasn’t fair, for pretty soon -they began to give him a wide berth. Just as he got out of the -scrimmage, Sultan Jān went down, and in falling knocked over the lamp -and put it out. The enemy devoted their attention to one another for -some little time before they saw what had happened, and then they -started to find Anstruther. He was standing up, perfectly quiet, -against the side of the hut, and he says it nearly turned his brain to -hear the fellows feeling for him in the dark, while he knew that his -only hope was not to move. They didn’t find him—actually! but they -found the Hindu instead. He had been hiding in a corner in an awful -fright, and they killed him, and having accounted for two, thought -they had done their business. They didn’t stop to mutilate the bodies, -apparently because there was a false alarm in the town just then. You -know one of our men let off his rifle by mistake last night, and we -noticed that the enemy seemed a good deal disturbed. Well, there was -Anstruther left in the hut, with what he believed to be Sultan Jān’s -dead body. And this is what the old man can’t get over—he wouldn’t -leave him to be cut up by those swine, but dragged him down to the -canal, and when he had fetched over one of the skins and blown it out, -tied him on to it, and started to swim up here. But as soon as the -cold water touched Sultan Jān’s wounds, he revived, and was able to -put one arm round Anstruther’s neck, and so make it a little easier -for him. But it was tremendous—simply tremendous, and if ever any man -deserved the V.C., Anstruther does, though of course he won’t get it, -being merely a poor wretch of a civilian.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Mab!” cried Flora, for Mabel had risen suddenly. Her eyes were -dilated and her cheeks flushed, and she looked more beautiful than the -others had ever seen her. They almost expected her to break out into -an impassioned eulogy of Fitz’s achievement, but the sight of their -astonishment seemed to recall her to herself, and she faltered and -grew crimson. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, it’s too splendid!” she stammered. “I—I can’t bear it,” and they -heard a sob as she rushed away. -</p> - -<p> -“I say!” remarked Haycraft, with meaning in his tone. -</p> - -<p> -“Fred!” responded Flora, in a voice of such crushing severity that he -hastened to apologise, and to assure her that he had not meant -anything. -</p> - -<p> -“Of course not. Why should you mean anything?” demanded Flora. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, naturally. There was nothing that should make any one mean -anything,” he said lamely; whereupon, as a reward for his docility, -Flora assured him she had great hopes that everything would come -right, and when it did, he should know all about it, but that if he -went and fancied things and made trouble, she would never speak to him -again. -</p> - -<p> -“All right! Henceforth I am blind and deaf and dumb,” he declared. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s right! When you can’t do anything to help, at least you -needn’t spoil things. Oh, but that reminds me, Fred. I am not blind -and deaf, you know. Is it true that Mr Beardmore is dead, as the -servants say?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, poor chap! and it was only last night that we were chaffing him -about being seedy. He was so perfectly happy looking after the stores, -you know, and we said he couldn’t bear to think that he would soon -have to write to the Colonel, ‘Sir, I have the honour to report that -the last ounce of food has been distributed according to instructions. -Please send further orders.’ His occupation would be gone, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” said Flora absently; “but, Fred—only last night? That’s -fearfully sudden. Was it—is it true that it was—cholera?” -</p> - -<p> -“Hush!” said Haycraft, looking round apprehensively, “you mustn’t let -it get about. If it’s once suspected that cholera has broken out, we -shall have the natives dying like flies of sheer terror. And there’s -no occasion for panic. It was the poor fellow’s own fault—a case of -the ruling passion, you know. He was mad to make the stores last out -as long as possible, and there were a lot of tins that Tighe condemned -as unfit for food. Beardmore was certain they were all right, and -backed his opinion by trying one—with this result. But you see how it -is. There’s no reason for any one else to be frightened.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m glad you told me,” was Flora’s only answer, “for now I can help -to keep it from the rest.” -</p> - -<p> -“You’re a trump, Flo! I’d share a secret with you as soon as with any -man I know.” And with this unromantic tribute Flora was wholly -satisfied. -</p> - -<p> -Mabel had rushed away to her own room, and was now lying sobbing upon -her bed, with her face pressed tightly into the pillow, lest any sound -should reach Georgia’s ears through the thin partition. At this moment -even the news of the outbreak of cholera would not have disquieted -her, for she had other things to think of. It seemed to her that a -veil had been suddenly removed from her eyes, with the result that for -the first time she saw Fitz Anstruther as he really was. “That boy,” -as she had been wont to call him, with friendly, half-contemptuous -patronage, was a hero. He had gloried in making himself generally -useful to Dick and Georgia, doing anything that needed doing, and -requiring no thanks for it. Mabel herself had made a slave of him—a -willing slave, undoubtedly, for he had entered into all her whims with -a ready zest, not merely submitting to them, but furthering them. Why -was this? Not because he was fit for nothing better than humouring her -fancies, as she had been inclined to think, but because that was the -way in which he had deliberately chosen to do her homage. It was -because he loved her. Had he chosen, he could have beaten down her -defences long ago, but his love knew itself so strong that it could -afford to wait. It refused to accept defeat, but it responded to her -appeal for mercy. Mabel sprang up from her bed, and began to walk -about the room. She could not be still. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, how can he? how can he?” she demanded of herself. “To care for me -so tremendously after the way I have treated him—a man who can do -such splendid things! How can I ever meet him? I daren’t face him. -He’ll guess. I should be too dreadfully ashamed to let him know I have -changed so suddenly. It seemed to come all at once. Oh, why didn’t I -care for him a little before? why did I say those awful things to him -only the other day? why did I let even Flora see what a mean wretch I -was? She said herself that I was mean. And now they’ll all think it’s -just because he deserves the V.C. that I care for him, and it’s not. -It isn’t what he did, but what he is—but no one will believe it. He -has been quite as splendid all the time, and I never saw it; and when -he speaks to me again, he’ll think that I—I am different to him just -because he didn’t leave Sultan Jān to die. As if that signified! -It’s—it’s simply because he cares for me that I care for him.” -</p> - -<p> -These considerations, though they might seem somewhat inconsistent -with one another, made Mabel sit down in despair to think the matter -out. First of all, how was she to nerve herself to meet Fitz again? -and next, how was he to be brought to perceive the delicate -distinction, that she loved him not because he had done a great thing, -but because the doing of it had revealed his real self to her? -</p> - -<p> -“I know,” she said to herself at last; “I will meet him just as usual. -I think I have pride and self-respect enough left for that, and when -he speaks to me again I won’t accept him at once. I won’t refuse him -again, of course, or at any rate, not definitely. I will be kinder, -and give him a little hope. Then he will feel at liberty to try -again,” she laughed nervously; “and I can give in by degrees, so that -he will understand how it really is. Oh dear! how glad I am that he -made that condition the other day.” -</p> - -<p> -For two or three days she waited impatiently, unable to carry out her -plan, for Dr Tighe announced loudly that he was keeping Fitz a -prisoner in hospital, and that he found him a perfect angel of a -patient, not fussing a bit to be out before it was safe to let him go. -Mabel received the statement with secret incredulity, judging of -Fitz’s feelings by her own, but when she did see him next, the meeting -proved grievously disappointing. On the first day of his convalescence -Mrs Hardy invited him to tea in the inner courtyard, with the special -intimation that his mission there was to cheer up the inmates, and he -did his duty nobly. The tea was very weak, and without milk, and Anand -Masih, with shamefaced reluctance, handed round a few broken -biscuits—the last that could be mustered—in his mistress’s shining -silver basket. It wounded his hospitable soul to see guests invited to -a Barmecide feast, and when Mrs Hardy alluded pleasantly to the care -he showed in keeping everything nice, he was covered with confusion. -Fitz, decorated in several places with bandages and sticking-plaster, -was the life of the party. He was particularly amusing on the subject -of the stores, which came naturally to the front, since the rations -had been reduced that day, in consequence of the deficiency caused by -the unsoundness of some of the tinned provisions, of which Haycraft -had spoken to Flora. Mabel sat listening, with an impatience that was -almost disgust, to his funny stories of sieges and the shifts to which -other besieged garrisons had been put—stories so palpably absurd that -they could not shed any additional gloom on the present situation. -Then he turned upon Rahah, who came out of Georgia’s room, followed by -her inseparable companion, the great Persian cat. She had brought the -baby for Fitz to see, with her mistress’s compliments, and was not the -Baba Sahib grown? -</p> - -<p> -“I’m looking with wolfish eyes at that cat of yours, ayah,” he said, -after duly admiring the baby. “Some morning you will find it gone.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then the Dipty Sahib will be found shot by Ismail Bakhsh,” said -Rahah, unmoved. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, you don’t mean to say you would have me killed for trying to get -one good meal? You shouldn’t keep the creature so fat if you don’t -want it stolen, you know. What do you feed it on—rats?” -</p> - -<p> -“The cat shares with me, sahib.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, that’s very noble of you, I’m sure; but it would really be -safer for the poor thing if you let it shift for itself.” -</p> - -<p> -“No one will eat the cat but my Memsahib,” said Rahah severely. “When -there is no food left, it will preserve her life for two or three -days, and that is why I feed it with my own ration, sahib.” -</p> - -<p> -She departed with dignity, and the rest did not dare to laugh until -she was out of hearing. Then Fitz took the lead in the conversation -again, and talked away until Dr Tighe appeared suddenly and haled him -back to the hospital. Mabel was disappointed—bitterly disappointed. -She had felt certain that he would perceive a change in her, even -while she scouted the idea of allowing him to divine the cause of it, -but he had not seemed to think of her at all. However, he imagined, no -doubt, that he was consulting her wishes by ignoring their compact -altogether, and she consoled herself with thinking that things would -be different to-morrow. But they were not. Day after day Fitz paid his -afternoon visit to the courtyard, rattled away to Flora or Mrs Hardy -or herself, and seemed to desire nothing more. She was puzzled. Could -it be that he had actually forgotten their agreement, perhaps as a -result of some injury to his brain? But no; it was evident that his -mind was as clear as ever. What was it, then? Had he determined, -during those long hours in the hospital, to crush down and root out -the love which had met with so poor a return? Had her change of -feeling come too late? Or, worst of all, had he seen her character too -clearly in that last interview—had she shown herself in such colours -of hardness and ingratitude that he had now no desire to ask his -question again? Mabel writhed under the thought. Her one consolation -was in the assurance that he had not perceived the change in her. She -would die rather than let him know that her heart had warmed towards -him as his had cooled towards her; and yet—such is the inconsistency -of human nature—she felt it would kill her to go on in this way, and -she did not wish to die just yet. Even when he was alone with her, -there was nothing loverlike in his manner, and she felt bitterly that -the tables were turned. It was she who now listened in vain for any -softening in his voice, who longed to be allowed to do things for him, -and could not, for very shame, offer her services. At first she was -piqued by his behaviour, then hurt, at last made thoroughly miserable; -but she flattered herself that she hid her trouble from the world, at -least as well as Fitz had hitherto contrived to hide his. For this -reason it was a blow to discover one day that Mrs Hardy, who had been -exclusively occupied with Georgia for some time, was now at leisure to -think of other people’s affairs. She opened her attack without the -slightest warning beforehand. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t like to see you looking so doleful, Miss North,” she said -briskly, finding Mabel sitting idle, in a somewhat disconsolate -attitude. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, do you think all our circumstances are so bright that I ought to -be cheerful too?” asked Mabel, roused to defend herself. Mrs Hardy -looked at her critically. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s not circumstances that are wrong in your case; it’s yourself. -You needn’t try to blind me. Think of poor Mrs North. Do you ever see -her looking doleful, or hear a murmur from her? No; because she -persists in being cheerful for the child’s sake and ours. You have -spirit enough, too, to be bright before other people, but when you are -alone you drop the mask. Can you deny it?” -</p> - -<p> -“At least I don’t drop the mask until I think I’m alone.” The emphasis -was marked. -</p> - -<p> -“Now don’t be angry with me for having my eyes open. I only want to -see you happy. Why, child, you needn’t be afraid to confide in me; I -have lived a good deal longer than you, and seen about ten times as -much. You’re not the first person that has done a foolish thing in a -hasty moment, and been sorry for it afterwards.” -</p> - -<p> -“I—I don’t know what you mean,” stammered Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, dear me! what a pity it is to see two people going on at -cross-purposes like this! Can’t you bring yourself to let him know -you’re sorry? He’s a proud man, we all know that, but he won’t be -proud to you. Why, he is suffering as much as you are, and the least -word from you would bring him back.” -</p> - -<p> -“It never struck me that pride had anything to do with it,” said -Mabel, surprised. -</p> - -<p> -“That’s where a looker-on can see more than you do. Now, don’t you be -proud either. I suppose he made too much of his authority over you, -and you were angry and insisted on giving him back his ring——” -</p> - -<p> -“His ring!” gasped Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, you are not wearing it, so I presume you gave it back. Now, -just let me hint to him, in the very most delicate way in the world, -of course, that you miss that ring from your finger, and trust me, it -will be back there before another hour is over, and you and he both as -happy as——” -</p> - -<p> -But, to Mrs Hardy’s astonishment and indignation, Mabel burst into a -wild peal of laughter. “Oh, you mean <i>that</i>?” she cried. “Why, that -happened centuries ago. I had forgotten all about it!” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch20"> -CHAPTER XX.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE FORCES OF NATURE.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">The</span> days dragged slowly by in the beleaguered fort. The enemy’s -extraordinary dislike of coming to close quarters, and the consequent -absence of direct attacks, tried the endurance of the garrison sorely. -It showed, no doubt, that the tribes retained a wholesome remembrance -of past hand-to-hand encounters, and were now actuated rather by a -desire for loot than by any fanatical hatred of British rule; but it -showed also that their leaders believed they had abundance of time -before them. Moreover, while Bahram Khan maintained the investment -with a cynical contempt for the relieving force which did not appear, -the numbers of the defenders were dwindling. The death-roll did not -indeed increase by leaps and bounds, as would have been the case after -a series of fierce assaults, but the relentless monotony of its daily -growth was scarcely less terrible. Disease had obtained a firm -foothold in the crowded courtyards and narrow passages, and the supply -of medicines and disinfectants was as limited as that of food had -proved to be. A sowar dropped here, a Sikh there, next two or three of -the wretched Hindu refugees, then one of the wounded in the hospital, -unable to resist the poisoned atmosphere of the place. The tiny patch -of garden—once the despair of the Club committee, because nothing but -weeds would grow in it—which had been used as a cemetery, was soon -over-full, and now silent burying-parties stole down nightly to the -water-gate, and were ferried across the canal to conduct a hasty -funeral on the opposite bank. Mabel and Flora will never forget the -night they stood on the south rampart to see Captain Leyward’s body -carried out. He had been desperately wounded when he took command of -the escort in the Akrab Pass, after Dick was struck down, and although -Dr Tighe was hopeful at first, it was not long before the case took an -unfavourable turn. In order that the enemy should not discover these -sallies of the garrison, the funeral rites were maimed indeed. There -was no question of a band or a firing-party, and as it was not -allowable even to use a lantern, Mr Hardy repeated portions of the -Burial Service from memory. The grave, which had been hastily dug as -soon as darkness came on, was made absolutely level with the -surrounding sand as soon as it had been filled up. Its bearings were -taken by compass in the hope of happier days to come, but no mark was -placed upon it, for to point out that a British officer lay there -would have been to invite the desecration of the spot. The two girls -watched the dark mass of figures melt into the blackness beyond the -embankment, and strained their eyes in vain to catch a glimpse of the -group round the grave. They could see and hear nothing until the -sudden creaking of the ferry-wires announced that the burial-party was -returning, and soon afterwards Colonel Graham came up to the rampart -and ordered them down to bed. -</p> - -<p> -Mabel wondered very much what Georgia’s thoughts were at this time. -She never alluded to the wild impulse which had led her to try and -leave the fort, but she seemed to shrink into herself, and liked to be -left alone with the baby for hours. When her friends came to speak to -her, she showed an impatience that surprised them, until at last, in a -burst of contrition for the irritation she had shown, she explained -that she was listening for Dick’s voice. She could hear it sometimes -when the baby and she were alone together, but if there were other -people in the room, their voices seemed to drown it. “What did he -say?” Mabel ventured to ask, awed by her sister-in-law’s tone of -absolute conviction, and Georgia confessed, with some disappointment, -that he had not said anything particular. It was as if they were just -talking together as usual about things in general, and the -conversation would break off abruptly, as if she was waking out of a -dream. Mabel was disappointed also. If Dick could really speak to his -wife from the dead, surely he would communicate his wishes about the -boy’s bringing-up, or some subject of similar importance; but this -casual talk—what could it be but a delusion of Georgia’s troubled -brain, which could not distinguish between dreams and realities? -</p> - -<p> -In the meantime, the reconnaissance which Fitz had made in company -with Sultan Jān was not entirely destitute of results. The news that -a mine was in course of construction had alarmed Colonel Graham more -than he cared to show, although the most careful investigations -possible in the circumstances went to prove that the tunnel had not at -present reached the neighbourhood of the walls. Runcorn, who took the -matter very much to heart, regarding it as a sign that he had not been -sufficiently on the alert, obtained permission to make a solitary -reconnaissance on two successive nights, and managed on the second -occasion to creep across the cleared space, and up to the very walls -of General Keeling’s house. By dint of long and careful listening, -with his ear to the ground, he satisfied himself that work was going -on briskly, but that the tunnel was not yet nearly long enough to -threaten the east curtain. After this, he held much consultation with -Fitz, and the two formulated a desperate scheme. They proposed to -creep into the enemy’s entrenchments, carrying with them a supply of -explosives, and blow up the mine before it was carried any farther, -destroying at the same time General Keeling’s house, in the compound -of which was the entrance shown to Fitz. The Colonel vetoed the plan -promptly, but its inventors were not to be discouraged, and produced a -fresh modification of it every day, until circumstances intervened -with decisive effect to prevent its execution. -</p> - -<p> -On a certain night Mabel awoke with the impression that she was -passing anew through the most disagreeable experience of her voyage -out—a gale in the Bay of Biscay. She could feel the ship -trembling—it had been rolling just now—the passengers were -screaming, and the wind seemed to be howling on all sides at once. -</p> - -<p> -“A mast gone!” she said to herself, with a vague recollection of -sea-stories read in youth, as she heard a fearful crash; “but the wind -howls just as if we were on land. I wonder whether I had better try to -get on deck? Why!—but how can we be on land?” -</p> - -<p> -It was most confusing. She was awake now, and realised that the voyage -had ended long ago, but it seemed impossible not to believe that she -was still on board ship, for the floor was shaking when she stood upon -it, and the little square of grey darkness which marked the position -of the window was wavering about just as a porthole would naturally do -in rough weather. -</p> - -<p> -“Am I going mad?” Mabel demanded of herself, yielding to a sudden -lurch, and sitting down unsteadily on the side of her bed. “No, I am -actually beginning to feel sea-sick—that must be real, at any rate. -Why, it must be the mine!”—she sprang up, and threw on her -dressing-gown and a cloak over it—“and what about Georgie and the -boy?” -</p> - -<p> -She tried to open her door, but the handle refused to act, and she was -struggling with it frantically when she heard Mr Hardy’s voice calling -to her from outside. -</p> - -<p> -“Kick, please!” she cried through the keyhole. “I can’t get it open.” -</p> - -<p> -A violent blow on the lower part of the door released the handle, at -the same time that it sent Mabel staggering back into the room. In the -semi-darkness she could dimly discern the old clergyman supporting -himself by one of the pillars of the verandah, his white beard blown -hither and thither by the wind. -</p> - -<p> -“Your sister and the baby!” he cried. “We must get them out. My wife -has sent me to see that they are safe.” -</p> - -<p> -“What has happened?” gasped Mabel, as they made a dash side by side -for Georgia’s verandah. -</p> - -<p> -“Our roof has fallen in. My wife is partly buried, but she won’t let -me do anything for her till Mrs North is safe. What’s this?” -</p> - -<p> -A groan answered him, and the object over which he had stumbled proved -to be Rahah, pinned to the ground by one of the beams from the -verandah, which had struck her down and imprisoned her foot. Mr Hardy -and Mabel succeeded in releasing the foot, not, however, in response -to any appeal on Rahah’s part, for she entreated them incessantly to -go and save the doctor lady and the Baba Sahib. -</p> - -<p> -“We must carry her out on her bed,” panted Mabel, as they reached -Georgia’s door, which had shut with a bang after Rahah had rushed out -to see what was the matter. Mr Hardy forced it open with an effort of -which Mabel would not have believed him capable, and they found -Georgia sitting up in bed, with the baby clasped in her arms. -</p> - -<p> -“Lie down again, Mrs North, and hold the child tight,” said Mr Hardy -cheerily, and he and Mabel seized the bedstead, and succeeded in -dragging it to the door. Here, however, it stuck fast, and in the -darkness they could not see what was the matter. To add to the horror -of this detention, the ominous shaking began again, and fragments of -wood and tiles began to clatter down from the part of the verandah -which remained standing. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, what shall we do?” cried Mabel in an agony, as she pulled and -pushed, and Mr Hardy tugged and strained, without effect. “We must -leave the bed, and help her to walk.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no,” said a voice behind her, and she felt herself moved gently -aside. “Take the boy and carry him into the middle of the yard, and we -will manage this.” -</p> - -<p> -She obeyed unquestioningly, and saw Fitz strike a match, which shed a -flickering light on the scene. Extinguishing the light carefully, he -called to Mr Hardy to pull the bedstead back and turn it slightly, -thus bringing it through the doorway without difficulty. They carried -it out to the spot where Mabel was standing, and Fitz raced back -immediately into the room, to return with an umbrella and all the rugs -he could lay hands upon. -</p> - -<p> -“Hold it over her head. We shall have torrents of rain in a minute or -two!” he cried, as he went to the help of Mr Hardy, who was trying to -lift Rahah away from the dangerous spot where she lay. -</p> - -<p> -“Are there mines all round us?” asked Mabel in bewilderment, as they -returned, just escaping the fall of another portion of the roof. -</p> - -<p> -“Mines! This is an earthquake!” he called back, starting again to the -relief of Mrs Hardy, of whose uncomfortable position her husband’s -stammering and excited accents had only just made him aware. -</p> - -<p> -“Where is the Baba Sahib?” cried a frantic voice, and Ismail Bakhsh -crawled up, bruised and dishevelled; “and what of my Memsahib?” -</p> - -<p> -“Safe, fool!” answered Rahah contemptuously, as she sat nursing her -injured foot, “and no thanks to thee.” -</p> - -<p> -“Peace, woman! Did not the verandah roof descend upon me as I sat -beneath it, and did I not lie there senseless until I came to myself -and fought my way out to help the Baba Sahib and his mother?” -</p> - -<p> -“If you are able to move, Ismail Bakhsh, go and help the sahibs to dig -out the Padri’s Mem,” said Georgia faintly, cutting short the -squabble, and Ismail Bakhsh obeyed. Before very long the rescuers came -back triumphant, in company with Anand Masih, who had refused to leave -his mistress, even at her express command, and had succeeded before -help came in removing a good deal of the weight that pressed upon her. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, my dear, all’s well that ends well,” said Mrs Hardy, hobbling -up and dropping stiffly on a rug beside Georgia. “Hurt? Oh, nonsense!” -in response to the anxious inquiries showered upon her; “bruised and -knocked about a little, but that’s all, and we ought to be very -thankful that it’s no worse. If those roofs hadn’t been jerry-built, -probably none of us would have escaped with our lives, but the beams -were not solid enough, as I have often said. And now the worst is -over, so we had better make ourselves as comfortable as we can here -for the rest of the night.” -</p> - -<p> -But this consoling view of things proved to be premature, for even as -Mrs Hardy spoke, there came another long-drawn, moaning gust of wind, -and the ground trembled slightly, then rocked. -</p> - -<p> -“Couldn’t we move to a safer place?” asked Mabel, for whom the sight -of the shaking buildings round the little courtyard had an awful -fascination. They seemed to her to be actually leaning towards her. -</p> - -<p> -“There is no safer place inside the walls,” said Fitz quickly. -</p> - -<p> -“Will the wall over the canal stand this?” asked Mr Hardy, in a low -voice, of Fitz, who shook his head and raised his eyebrows, just as a -stentorian voice rang out from the nearest tower. -</p> - -<p> -“Come down, you fools! Don’t you see that wall will go in a minute?” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s Woodworth calling down the Sikhs,” explained Fitz, with a -smile that did him credit. “If a volcano opened at their very feet, -they would stay where they were until they received orders to retire. -How will it fall?” he muttered to Mr Hardy. -</p> - -<p> -“If it falls inwards, that will be the end of us,” was the calm reply -of Mrs Hardy, who had caught the words. -</p> - -<p> -“Heaven is as near to Khemistan as to England,” said Mr Hardy, laying -his hand gently on Georgia’s shoulder. She had started up wildly. -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t mind for myself; it’s the boy!” she cried. “Oh, won’t some -one save him? What will Dick do when he comes back and finds no one -left?” -</p> - -<p> -“I would take him, Mrs North, indeed I would, if I thought there was a -better chance anywhere else,” said Fitz, to whom her agonised eyes -appealed; “but it would be much worse in the passages, or under any -roof. We are safer here than in most places.” -</p> - -<p> -“May God have mercy upon us all!” said Mr Hardy solemnly, as the -ground began to rock so violently that they found it impossible to -keep their feet. Half-kneeling, half-crouching, they waited. There was -a moment of awful expectation, then a crash louder than any that had -come before. To Mabel’s eyes, the dark line of wall visible above the -roofs was slowly but surely descending upon them, and horror seemed to -freeze her blood. Without knowing it, she seized Fitz’s hand, and -clung to it desperately. It was a support to have any companionship at -that dreadful moment, but she did not trouble to ask herself why she -should suddenly feel safe, almost happy. And still the mass of wall -hung poised above them for a long, long time—at least, so it seemed, -for no appreciable interval can in reality have elapsed; but at the -same moment that it struck Mabel that the line against the sky was -becoming lower instead of higher, some one called out: “It’s falling -the other way!” There was a sound which could only be likened to the -simultaneous discharge of a whole battery of 81-ton guns, a shock -which threw them all down, and immediately the air was thick with dust -and pieces of brick and stone. When it had cleared a little they -rubbed their eyes. The line of wall was gone. -</p> - -<p> -Before any one could utter a word, down came the rain in torrents, and -the baby relieved the strain of the situation by expressing his -dissatisfaction at the very top of his voice. Every one else became -conscious at once of a sense of guilt, and Ismail Bakhsh and Fitz, -jumping up, set to work to contrive a shelter for his royal highness. -Before very long, he and his mother were packed away underneath the -bed, with all the rugs and umbrellas that could be found arranged -over, under, or around them; and when he had permitted himself to be -comforted, the rest felt easier in their minds. Uncertain whether any -further shocks were likely to occur, they durst not return to their -rooms; but the matting which had been hung along the front of the -verandah was supported on sticks to form a sort of tent, and under -this they sat, wishing for the day. Fitz hurried away when he had -helped to erect the tent, saying that he might be needed elsewhere, -and Mabel was left to wonder whether his arm had really been round her -when the wall fell. He had sheltered her afterwards from the flying -fragments, that she knew, but her mind was not quite clear as to what -had happened first. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -Fortunately for the dwellers in the inner court, they did not in the -least realise the full extent of the damage caused by the earthquake, -alarming though their own experiences had been. The whole south front -of the fort now lay open to the enemy, for both lines of defence had -disappeared simultaneously. Not only had the wall given way, tearing -down with it half of the south-western tower, which had been partially -undermined by the flood at the beginning of the siege, but in its fall -it had completely choked the canal as far as the south-eastern angle. -The other walls and towers, the bases of which were sound, had -resisted the shocks with wonderful tenacity, but the temporary -defences built up of stones and sand-bags, as also the shelters -erected as a protection against a cross-fire, were absolutely wrecked. -A portion of the materials used had fallen inside the fort, but the -greater part was scattered about on the cleared space round. This was -the situation at three o’clock in the morning. -</p> - -<p> -“If only the enemy knew the state we are in!” said Colonel Graham, -when the extent of the disaster had been roughly estimated. -</p> - -<p> -“I rather hope their own troubles are giving them enough to do, sir,” -said Beltring. “I am certain I heard an explosion in their lines just -before our wall fell, and there were screams enough for anything.” -</p> - -<p> -“Let us hope they are too busy to attend to us, then. What is it, -Runcorn? I see you have something to propose.” -</p> - -<p> -“May I suggest, sir, that we should set to work at once to clear out -the canal, even before repairing the walls? If the flow continues to -be stopped, we shall soon have a marsh all round us, and yet there -will be no way of getting water but by digging.” -</p> - -<p> -The Colonel looked doubtful. “But surely it is impossible to move all -that mass of rubbish with the means we have?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, sir; we can’t hope to restore the whole channel. But I think we -could clear a passage just wide enough to keep the water running, and -perhaps to check the enemy’s rush for a moment, and the current itself -will soon make it wider.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s worth thinking of. But while the canal is being cleared out we -must build a breastwork behind it, or there will be no cover against a -fire from the opposite bank; and we must restore our traverses and -sangars on the other walls and the towers. Every man in the fort must -set to work, for we can only count on two hours or so more of -darkness. See that the men are mustered by word of mouth, Woodworth. -We don’t want to force the fact of our wakefulness on the enemy.” -</p> - -<p> -In a very few minutes the fort and its surroundings presented a scene -of intense activity. In the cleared space men were collecting the -stones and sand-bags dashed from the parapets, and sending them up -again by means of ropes, while beyond them were several scouts, lying -flat on the ground, and trying hard to pierce with their eyes the -darkness and the pouring rain in the direction of the enemy. At the -back of the fort Runcorn, with a number of volunteers and a large -fatigue party, was levering away huge masses of mud-brick, and digging -through heaps of broken rubbish, while behind him Colonel Graham was -superintending the construction of the work which was to replace the -vanished rampart. There was no attempt to build anything at all -answering to the curtain which had been destroyed, for weeks of labour -would be needed to clear the canal-bed of the rubbish that choked it -up; but such stones and bricks as could be found were piled together, -and backed by heaps of earth, and then the work ceased perforce for -want of material. There was no time to burrow into the muddy chaos for -suitable fragments, and the remaining masses of brickwork were too -large to be moved with the means at hand. But the pause was only a -short one. All the empty boxes in the fort were requisitioned, filled -with earth, and built into the wall, but still more were needed. -Officers rushed to their quarters, hurled their possessions on the -floor, and reappeared with portmanteaus and uniform-cases. Fitz -brought the tin boxes that had held the documents of which he was -guardian, and the refugees were forced to resign the gaily painted -wooden chests some of them had succeeded in bringing in with them. -Before very long the excitement penetrated to the Memsahibs’ -courtyard, the inmates of which had now returned to their rooms. -</p> - -<p> -“Georgie, let us give them our boxes!” cried Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, anything!” returned Georgia, sitting up with flushed cheeks. -“Turn all the things out, Mab. Oh, I wish I could come and help!” -</p> - -<p> -“Give them that plate-box, Anand Masih,” said Mrs Hardy to the -faithful bearer, who was sitting stolidly upon the piece of property -in question, which was his own particular charge. He obeyed with a -heart-rending sigh, tying up the silver carefully in a blanket before -he surrendered the box. -</p> - -<p> -“Georgie, they want more!” cried Mabel, flying back into the court. -“They are filling greatcoats with earth and tying them up by the -sleeves. What can we give them?—pillow-cases?—mattresses?” -</p> - -<p> -“<i>Skirts</i>,” said Georgia, with the ardour of a sudden discovery. “They -would make beautiful sacks if they were sewn up at the hem.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, my poor tailor-mades!” groaned Mabel; “but for my country’s -sake—” and she dashed into her own room, and reappeared with two or -three tweed skirts and a supply of needles and thread. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, really, Miss North, I haven’t asked for this sacrifice,” said -Colonel Graham, unable to restrain a smile when he found himself -solemnly presented with the results of her handiwork. -</p> - -<p> -“No, but it’s made now, and Flora will bring you some of hers in a -minute. She hasn’t quite finished sewing them up. Oh, do use them -quickly, please, or I shall repent, and lose the credit of the -self-denial after all.” -</p> - -<p> -“The shape is a little unusual,” said Colonel Graham, considering the -skirts gravely, “but we can certainly use the—the contribution for -strengthening the breastwork. You ladies deserve well of your country, -I am sure.” -</p> - -<p> -“The women of Carthage are quite outdone,” said Mr Burgrave, who was -standing by; but at the sound of his voice Mabel fled back into the -court. Her own feelings during the past few days had taught her to -understand something of the pain she had inflicted on him, and she -could not face his eyes. -</p> - -<p> -“All the scattered material collected and brought in, sir,” reported -Haycraft, who had been in command of the party at work on the cleared -space, “and I have recalled the scouts. It’s a queer thing, but the -enemy have had a mounted man patrolling between their lines and ours -the whole time. It was too dark to see him, but I heard him -distinctly. He was riding round the fort, or rather round three sides -of it, from one point on the canal to the other.” -</p> - -<p> -“That encourages one to hope that they have suffered as much as we -have,” said the Colonel. “Very likely, if we only knew it, they are in -deadly fear of an attack from us; but I couldn’t venture to leave our -rear exposed while we made a sortie.” -</p> - -<p> -“The water runs, sir,” said Runcorn, coming up, “and with a few poles -and some canvas I could make a shelter for the water-carriers at a -point where it’s fairly easy to get down to the edge.” -</p> - -<p> -“Take them, by all means. What about the south-west tower?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have tested it in every way I can, sir, and I think what’s left of -it will stand all right, but there’s no hope of patching it up at -present.” -</p> - -<p> -“I foresee that this breastwork will be the burden of our lives,” said -Colonel Graham to the Commissioner, as Runcorn departed. “We shall -have to keep the guard there always under arms, and extra sentries in -the tower ruins, for the enemy could take it with a rush at any -moment, even if it didn’t topple down under their weight.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, it strikes one that there is a certain lack of privacy about the -new arrangement as compared with the old,” said Mr Burgrave. “It is -like finding the public suddenly in possession of one’s back garden.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should very much like to know what damage the enemy have sustained. -Do you care to come with me to the gateway? It ought soon to be light -enough to see.” -</p> - -<p> -An exclamation broke from both men as the dawn revealed to them the -outlines of the enemy’s position. Half-way across the cleared space -extended a curious fissure, and when this was traced back, it lost -itself in a heap of ruins to the right of General Keeling’s house. The -house itself still stood, although the stone sangars on its roof were -destroyed, but the loopholed buildings which had faced it were gone. -</p> - -<p> -“The mine!” was the cry that leaped to the lips of both Colonel Graham -and Mr Burgrave, and the former added, “It must have exploded -prematurely when Beltring heard the noise, but in the crash of our own -wall the rest of us did not notice it.” -</p> - -<p> -“This explains the enemy’s anxiety to keep us at a distance,” said the -Commissioner. “But why employ a mounted patrol, and only one man?” -</p> - -<p> -“It was simply to give an impression of watchfulness, I suppose. Can -you suggest any other explanation, Ressaldar?” and the Colonel turned -to Badullah Khan, who stood beside them. -</p> - -<p> -“That was no enemy, sahib. It was Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib Bahadar.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense!” cried Mr Burgrave. The native officer drew himself up. -</p> - -<p> -“We who knew Kīlin Sahib can judge better than the Kumpsioner Sahib -what he would do. When we have heard him riding all night between us -and the enemy, preventing them from attacking us, are we to doubt the -witness of our own ears—nay, our eyes, since certain of the sowars -swear that they beheld him?” -</p> - -<p> -“I beg your pardon, Ressaldar,” said the Commissioner, with marked -politeness. “I suppose it will now be an article of faith all along -the frontier that General Keeling saved the fort last night?” -</p> - -<p> -“Without doubt, sahib. Is it not the truth?” -</p> - -<p> -“I must say I wish my faith was as robust as the regiment’s!” said the -Commissioner with a smile, as they turned to descend the steps. -</p> - -<p> -“A white flag, sir!” reported Winlock, who was on guard at the -gateway, when they reached the ground. -</p> - -<p> -“Who is carrying it?” -</p> - -<p> -“A Hindu with two servants. The sowars say that it is Bahram Khan’s -<i>diwan</i>, Narayan Singh.” -</p> - -<p> -“Let him come within speaking distance—no farther.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps I ought to say, sir, if you are thinking that he wants to see -what state we are in, that they have found that out already. A scout -on a swift camel rode along the opposite bank of the canal a few -minutes ago. He was near enough to see what we were doing, but he came -and went like the wind, before the men could take up their carbines. -Since he was gone so quickly, I did not call you.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish we could have caught him, but we can’t expect to keep them -from discovering our plight. But certainly we won’t have them spying -about under the walls. Let the Sikhs have their rifles ready, in case -of treachery.” -</p> - -<p> -Before inviting Mr Burgrave to return with him to the turret, Colonel -Graham went the round of the defences, to make sure that the sentries -were all on the alert. He had in his mind more than one occasion on -which the tribes had advanced to the attack under cover of a parley, -and with the rear of the fort in its present condition he could not -neglect any precautions. The heaps of rubbish on the opposite bank of -the narrow channel which Runcorn had cleared for the water were a -cause for constant anxiety, since a small force of resolute men posted -behind them might render the new breastwork untenable, but nothing -could be done to them at present. -</p> - -<p> -“I would give ten years of my life for a forty-eight hours’ -armistice!” said the Colonel to Mr Burgrave, as they mounted the steps -to the loophole of the turret, below which the Hindu was waiting, his -two attendants having paused at a respectful distance. -</p> - -<p> -“What message do you bring?” asked Colonel Graham, after the usual -salutations had been exchanged. -</p> - -<p> -“This unworthy one brings to your lordship the words of Syad Bahram -Khan, Sword-of-the-Faith: ‘Who can stand against the will of Allah? -This night His hand has been heavy upon my army, even as upon that of -the sahibs, and many men are killed, and many also buried while yet -alive under the ruins of their quarters. Let there then be peace -between us for three days. We will continue to hold our lines from the -bridge to the godowns, but we will not cross the canal, nor come out -upon the open space; and I would have the sahibs swear also that they -will keep to their fort and the other bank of the canal, and not cross -it on either side to attack us. Then shall the dead be buried and the -injured cared for, and both sides may also repair their damaged -defences, but it is forbidden to raise any new ones. What is the -answer of the Colonel Sahib?’” -</p> - -<p> -“Can’t be much doubt, can there?” said Colonel Graham to the -Commissioner. -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose not. But how coolly they talk of wasting three days! It -seems as if they thought they had a lifetime before them to spend on -this siege.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, so much the better for us—on this occasion, at any rate. When -is the armistice to begin?” he asked of Narayan Singh; “now, or -to-morrow morning?” -</p> - -<p> -“At daybreak to-morrow, sahib,” was the answer, after a moment’s -consideration. -</p> - -<p> -“So be it,” said Colonel Graham. “Then they <i>have</i> something on hand!” -he added to Mr Burgrave. “If Bahram Khan were all anxiety for his -wounded, as he would like us to think, of course he would want the -armistice to begin at once. But he knows we shan’t fire at his men if -they begin digging out the poor wretches now, and he would like three -clear days for some plot of his own. What can it be?” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps he merely hopes to catch us off our guard to-day,” suggested -the Commissioner. -</p> - -<p> -“But if that’s his game, no scruples of conscience would have kept him -from making use of the armistice for the purpose. No, he’s up to -something, and I should very much like to know what it is. I shall -post a lookout at the top of the north-west tower with the best -field-glass we have, to keep an eye on all that goes on in their -camp.” -</p> - -<p> -The Colonel’s prevision was justified early the next morning, when the -lookout announced that a small body of fully armed men, all mounted, -among whom he believed he could distinguish Bahram Khan himself, had -left the town and were proceeding towards the north-east, apparently -in the direction of Nalapur. -</p> - -<p> -“I am very much afraid that bodes ill to poor old Ashraf Ali,” said -the Colonel. “I only wish we could warn him.” -</p> - -<p> -“After all, sir,” said Haycraft, to whom he had spoken, “Bahram Khan -may only be off to see how the blockade of Rahmat-Ullah is going on. -It’s evident he thinks we’re stuck pretty fast here, for really, if we -had the proper number of horses, and anywhere to go to, we might take -advantage of the armistice to disappear, they have left so few men in -their lines.” -</p> - -<p> -“I prefer the shelter of even our tumble-down walls to being -surrounded in the desert,” said the Colonel shortly. “And now to -work!” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch21"> -CHAPTER XXI.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE DEAD THAT LIVED.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -<span class="sc">There</span> was some grumbling when it became known that only half the -garrison was to go to work on the defences at a time, the other half -remaining under arms, but Colonel Graham knew the enemy too well to -omit any precaution. He thought it most unlikely that the armistice -would be allowed to expire without an attempt to surprise the -defenders of the fort, and it was highly probable that Bahram Khan’s -departure was intended purely as a blind. Hence the sentries were -posted as usual upon walls and towers, and scouts were thrown out in -both directions along the line of the canal, so that the -working-parties might safely give their full attention to the matter -in hand. As usual, the first work to be done was the digging of -several graves, for the earthquake had found victims both in the -refugees’ quarters and in the hospital, where two of the wounded had -died of sheer terror, but when the funerals were over, the -rubbish-heaps were attacked with a will. Stones and pieces of -brickwork of manageable size were put aside to strengthen the -makeshift rampart on the inner bank, while the dust and loose earth -was carried some little distance, and spread evenly over the ground, -so as to offer no cover whatever. When this had been done, Runcorn -pressed forward the all-important work of the further clearing of the -canal, a dirty and laborious job which it would require months to -accomplish properly. As things were, the whole of the time at the -disposal of the garrison produced very little apparent effect, and it -needed unfailing tact and the constant force of example to keep the -weary labourers at work. Colonel Graham took his turn with the rest, -so that the younger men could not for very shame rebel against the -task, while Mr Burgrave, for whom active labour was out of the -question, stimulated the ardour of the native workmen by offering -rewards for the best record of work done. -</p> - -<p> -To the inmates of the Memsahibs’ courtyard, the armistice brought -little change. They were allowed to cross the canal, and walk about a -little on the opposite bank, but they were forbidden to venture upon -the irrigated land by themselves, and no one was at liberty to escort -them even as far as the outlying pickets. Mabel and Flora carried the -baby across, that it might breathe the air outside prison walls for -the first time in its life, as Mabel said, and they sat upon a heap of -crumbling rubbish amidst clouds of dust and watched the men at work, -until it dawned upon them that their room was more desired than their -company, whereupon they returned to the fort, and found a seat upon -the ramparts. On ordinary occasions this was forbidden ground, but the -armistice had been faithfully observed so far, and in spite of his -misgivings Colonel Graham gave them leave to enjoy the air and sky -while they might. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh dear! I feel like the naughty little boy in the spelling-book,” -sighed Mabel. “Everybody is too busy to talk to me. Isn’t it dull, -Flora? I do wish something would happen.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what a martial spirit you are developing!” said Flora. “Do you -yearn for an attack at this moment?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, nonsense! I don’t mean that sort of thing. I mean something -interesting.” -</p> - -<p> -Her eyes strayed involuntarily to the spot where Fitz was at work down -below, and the thought crossed her mind that she would make him look -up at her. -</p> - -<p> -“But I won’t,” she decided. “He would know I was thinking of him, and -he doesn’t deserve it.” She had only spoken to him once since the -earthquake, and then it seemed to her that his manner was almost -apologetic, as if he knew he had offended her, but was anxious to show -that she need not fear a repetition of the offence. “So I suppose he -did put his arm round me,” she reflected, “but if I wasn’t angry, why -should he behave as though I had been? If he does care for me still, -why should he be so anxious to pretend he doesn’t? Flora!” she turned -suddenly upon her friend, who was engrossed in trying to read some -meaning into the baby’s inarticulate gurglings, “have you said -anything to Mr Anstruther about our talk the other day? about -wholesome neglect, I mean?” -</p> - -<p> -“I?” asked Flora, looking up quickly, “to him, about you? Mab! as if I -would ever give away another girl to any man in the world! Of course -not. You ought to know me better than that.” -</p> - -<p> -“I didn’t really think you had,” said Mabel lamely. “It was only—” -she stopped, for the thought in her mind was that she wished there had -been some such explanation of Fitz’s silence, since in that case she -could at least have felt sure that he had not changed his mind. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -It was the evening of the third day of the armistice, and as the sun -began to set, the tired labourers in what was pleasantly called the -“back garden” were able to look with pride upon the result of their -toil. It is true that all were not satisfied with it, for the -inexorable Runcorn, finding the work he had mapped out actually -accomplished, was anxious to make further improvements. Since, -however, the erection of sangars on the roof of Mabel’s room and of -the hospital had rendered it possible to bring a converging fire to -bear on all parts of the temporary breastwork, the Colonel considered -any more tampering with the canal-banks unadvisable, and work was -declared to be at an end. The sowars and other natives had already -been marched back into the fort, but the white men lingered for a few -minutes’ idleness in the fresh air. Runcorn was still urging his point -on the rest, who were lounging in various attitudes of ease on the -bank, when a shot was fired overhead. -</p> - -<p> -“What’s up?” shouted Woodworth. -</p> - -<p> -“There’s a fellow on Gun Hill,” answered Winlock’s voice from the -ruined tower. “He seemed to be displaying a good deal of interest in -our arrangements, so I sent a gentle reminder pretty near him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t you go breaking armistices, or we shall get into trouble,” Fitz -called out, and the subject dropped, but presently a hail from the -farthest scout in the direction of the bridge brought every man to his -feet. -</p> - -<p> -“He’s stopped some one—only one man—perhaps it’s a messenger!” cried -Beltring. “Take your guns, you idiots! it may be a trap,” as the rest -started off at a run. “Bring him with you, and retire on the next -man,” he shouted to the Sikh, who obeyed, keeping his bayonet pointed -at the stranger’s breast. -</p> - -<p> -“What is it?” inquired the white men breathlessly, as they ran up, to -find the two stolid Sikhs guarding a feeble figure in native dress. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t fire,” said the new-comer in English. “Don’t fire!” -</p> - -<p> -“No, no, they won’t,” said Woodworth impatiently. “Who are you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t f—” began the stranger again, then looked round helplessly. “I -can’t—I can’t—” he faltered, then threw off his turban with a hasty -movement of the hand. “Don’t you—any of you——?” he murmured. -</p> - -<p> -“Are you English?” demanded Woodworth, with considerable misgiving, as -he took in the details of the man’s appearance—the unkempt hair, the -scanty grey beard, the lack-lustre eyes, and the bony face, with the -lips trembling pitifully. -</p> - -<p> -“Not one of you?” went on the stranger, recovering himself a little. -“Anstruther!” -</p> - -<p> -“I do! I do!” cried Fitz, with a mighty shout. “You fellows, are you -blind? It’s the Major!” -</p> - -<p> -“The Major? Impossible!” was the cry, as Fitz wrung the new-comer’s -hand with painful warmth. The idea seemed absurd, but gradually -conviction grew upon the rest, and they stood round in awkward -silence. Dick’s eyes sought their faces one by one. -</p> - -<p> -“What is it?” he asked, turning anxiously back to Fitz. “Will no one -tell me? Is—is—how is——?” -</p> - -<p> -“As well as possible,” cried Fitz joyously. “Never given you up for an -hour, Major. And the <i>baba</i> is a boy, the pride of the whole place.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thank God!” said Dick fervently, and at the words the last remnants -of the distrust with which the rest had regarded him melted away. -</p> - -<p> -“Forgive us, Major. We’ve thought of you so long as dead that we -couldn’t believe our eyes,” said Woodworth. “Have you been a prisoner -all this time, after all?” -</p> - -<p> -“North, my dear fellow!” Colonel Graham broke into the group and -seized Dick’s hand. “Thank God you’re alive! This will be new life to -Mrs North. But look here, we mustn’t let her see you like this. The -fright would undo any good she might get.” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose I am rather a scarecrow,” said Dick slowly. He spoke with a -curious hesitation, as though the words he wished to use would not -come to his lips. “But I have been at death’s door until very lately, -and now I have had no food for three days.” -</p> - -<p> -“Woodworth,” said Colonel Graham, “post a sentry before the door of -the ladies’ courtyard, and don’t let any one go in to carry the news. -Happily they are none of them on the walls this evening. Now, North, -for your wife’s sake, to save her an awful shock, you’ll come to my -quarters and have a bath and a shave and something to eat, and get -into some of my clothes. You’ll be a different man then. Can you -walk?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have walked a good deal yesterday and to-day, but I can do a little -more,” said Dick, accepting gratefully the arm which was offered him. -</p> - -<p> -“Close round, and let us smuggle him in,” said Colonel Graham to the -rest. “We don’t want the men to hear the news before Mrs North. Let -them think it’s a messenger who has got through in disguise.” -</p> - -<p> -The other men waited outside the Colonel’s quarters until, after the -lapse of a miraculously short space of time, Dick came out again. They -raised a subdued cheer when they saw him, for once more in uniform, he -looked his old self. The feebleness was gone from his gait, and he -held himself erect again. His hair and moustache, though greyer than -before, had resumed their usual aspect, and the straggling beard was -gone, so that but for the excessive thinness, which made the clothes -hang loosely about him, he seemed little changed. The rest pressed -forward to shake hands with him. -</p> - -<p> -“We were a set of fools not to know you, Major,” said Beltring, “but -at the moment I hadn’t a doubt you were a spy.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said Dick, as the others laughed shamefacedly, “that didn’t -matter; but when you all stood and looked at me without speaking, I -made certain something frightful had happened. See you all afterwards; -I can’t wait now.” -</p> - -<p> -He passed on into the inner courtyard, where Mabel and Flora were -sitting talking in the verandah. Both sprang up as his shadow came -between them and the sunset. -</p> - -<p> -“Dick!” shrieked Mabel. “Then Georgie was right after all! But don’t -stay here.” She was dragging him in the direction of Georgia’s room. -“I daren’t keep you from her a moment.” -</p> - -<p> -Forgetful of everything but the unconquerable faith which was -justified at last, she would not detain him even to greet him herself, -but he drew back on the threshold. -</p> - -<p> -“Oughtn’t you to break it to her? The shock might be too great.” -</p> - -<p> -“The shock? She’s expecting you, has been for weeks!” cried Mabel -hysterically. “Oh, Dick, I could die of joy!” -</p> - -<p> -“Mab,” came in Georgia’s tones through the half-closed door, “I hear -Dick’s voice. Bring him in—bring him in.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, go on. She mustn’t get up; it’ll hurt her,” cried Mabel, pushing -the door open. -</p> - -<p> -“Georgie, if you get up,” cried Dick, charging into the room, -“I’ll—Oh, Georgie, Georgie!” He fell on his knees by the bed, and -there was a long silence, interrupted only by broken words and sobs. -As for Mabel, she banged the door, and rushed away to cry somewhere in -private. -</p> - -<p> -“My poor dear boy!” said Georgia at last, her voice still trembling, -as she passed her hand over Dick’s forehead, “you have wanted me very -much, haven’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Your boy is a very old boy, I’m afraid—quite grey-haired now, -Georgie. Wanted you? of course I have—words can’t express how much.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know. And you called to me one whole day and night, didn’t you?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, yes, I suppose so. But how did you know?” -</p> - -<p> -“I heard you. I tried to get to you, Dick, but they wouldn’t let me.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s a mercy they didn’t. Oh, Georgie, you blessed woman, what it is -to see you again!” -</p> - -<p> -“And—?” cried Georgia. “Oh, you’ve forgotten—I’ve forgotten! Look -here, Dick. You have never even thought of him. Take him up, and hold -him in your arms.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t you think it’s happier as it is?” inquired Dick, poking the -baby gingerly with a tentative finger. -</p> - -<p> -“<i>It</i>? It’s your son, Dick. Take him up at once. I want to see you -together. Now, isn’t he splendid?” -</p> - -<p> -“Little beggar’s not a scrap like you,” grumbled Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“No,” said Georgia, with entire satisfaction; “every one says he’s the -image of you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no; not really?” protested Dick in dismay. -</p> - -<p> -“Why not? He’s a beautiful baby. Look what lovely eyes he has. And see -how good he is; <i>mens aequa in arduis</i> ought to be his motto, I always -say.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, very well; if he feels it a hardship for me to hold him, I quite -agree,” and the baby was returned with elaborate gentleness to the -basket which served as a cradle. -</p> - -<p> -“Dick, aren’t you pleased? Don’t you really like him?” Georgia’s eyes -were full of tears. -</p> - -<p> -“<i>Like</i> him? My dear girl, in a day or two I shall be prouder of him -than you are. But you see, it’s you I’ve been thinking of all this -time, and I can’t think of anything else yet. I want to sit by you and -look at you and hold your hand for hours and hours, and think of -nothing but that I’ve got you again.” -</p> - -<p> -“I won’t accept compliments at my baby’s expense,” laughed Georgia -through her tears. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, he’s quite taken my place, I see. Now, old girl, I’m only joking. -There!” Dick lifted the baby again, and laid it carefully in Georgia’s -arms; “you hold him, and let me look at you both.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -Mabel, in the meantime, was sobbing in a corner of the verandah. Her -tears were purely tears of joy, but her attitude, as she sat crouched -on the floor (for the boxes which had once served as seats were now a -portion of the breastwork), was desolate enough to melt the heart of -any sympathetic spectator. So, at least, it seemed to Fitz, who came -hurrying through the passage, and pulled up, in astonishment and -alarm, just in time to avoid stumbling over her. -</p> - -<p> -“What is it, Miss North? Anything wrong?” he asked anxiously. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no; it’s only—that I’m so—happy,” said Mabel, between her sobs. -“I came here to be out of the way,” she added, rising with all the -dignity she could muster, and shaking the dust from her skirts, “but -it seems impossible to find a place where one can be by oneself.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I beg your pardon. Please don’t let me interrupt you. I only came -to ask when the Major would like to see the men. They are wild to -welcome him back. If you will just ask him, I’ll go away directly.” -</p> - -<p> -“I won’t disturb him and Georgia now,” said Mabel. “If the men come in -an hour’s time, I’ll tell him before that, and he will be ready to see -them.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, thanks.” He turned to go, then hesitated a moment, and came back. -“I want just to say one thing, Miss North—about that promise you gave -me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, don’t!” cried Mabel hysterically. “You haven’t treated me fairly -about it. It’s cruel to keep such a thing hanging over me, so that I -am in terror whenever I see you.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what a low brute you must have thought me! But really I didn’t -mean to be such an out-and-out cad as all that. I thought you knew me -better—and I did try to show you what I meant. You couldn’t imagine -that I would hold you to a promise which I practically forced you to -make?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh!” said Mabel. An unprejudiced listener would have said that she -had not only expected but desired to be held to her promise. But Fitz -was not unprejudiced, and he went on earnestly. -</p> - -<p> -“This is how it was. I told you I should go on hoping, you know (and I -do still, for the matter of that). And I had a sort of idea that you -might be changing your mind just a little—of course it was awful -cheek on my part—and I thought I’d put it to the test. So I asked you -for that promise, just to see how you’d take it. But when I saw how -you felt about it, I never thought of going any further. Didn’t you -understand, really? I thought I must have made it clear that I was -quite content to be your friend until you could give me more—of your -own free will. Oh, you must have seen.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel’s heart felt like lead, but she made a gallant effort to appear -indifferent. “Of course I saw that you avoided me——” she began. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no—it has been you who avoided me,” protested Fitz. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, well, it’s very much the same,” wearily. “And I am sorry to say I -misjudged you. I thought you were trying to make me feel that you had -a hold over me. I must apologise for that. Then you give me back my -promise?” she added suddenly. -</p> - -<p> -“Not at all. I am keeping it for another time.” -</p> - -<p> -“But that’s a trick. You are just as bad as I thought.” -</p> - -<p> -“You must really imagine that I have a perfect mania for being -refused. I have told you that I believe you’ll have me yet, and that I -shall go on hoping until you do. Don’t you see that I’m keeping your -promise in store solely out of consideration for you—to save you from -the very unpleasant necessity of letting me know when you do make up -your mind?” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe—you are laughing at me!” said Mabel, in wounded and -incredulous amazement. -</p> - -<p> -“Laughing—I? Not a bit of it. Look at me and see. I am serious, if -you are not. Well, you see, I have only got back the freedom of which -I deprived myself at first. Say it was by a trick, if you like—though -I didn’t intend it so—but I don’t think you need be afraid of the way -I shall use it. I shan’t waste the promise, I assure you. Until the -right time comes, I am nothing but your friend, and the promise is -exactly as if it didn’t exist.” -</p> - -<p> -“But,” protested Mabel, “you seem to expect me to—to——” -</p> - -<p> -“Haven’t I just said that I want to save you from anything of the -kind? You see, it’s not as if I had any number of opportunities to -waste. I have only the one, and I don’t mean to use it until I can lay -it out to good advantage.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said Mabel desperately, “I think you are most ungenerous. You -want me to feel myself entirely dependent upon your forbearance—and -you call yourself a gentleman!” -</p> - -<p> -“Miss North, do you wish me to give you back your promise?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, of course. Why not?” -</p> - -<p> -“Because, if I do, you will naturally feel bound in honour to give me -a hint when your feelings change. You couldn’t intend us both to go on -in misery because my mouth was shut and you wouldn’t speak?” -</p> - -<p> -“You seem to put me in the wrong at every turn,” sobbed Mabel. “Oh, I -wish you would go away!” and he went. -</p> - -<p> -Now, at least, Mabel ought to have been happy. But she was not. After -assuring herself several times over that she hated Fitz, she proceeded -to give the lie promptly to her assurances, while looking the -situation in the face. -</p> - -<p> -“He <i>will</i> make it depend on me,” she lamented to herself, “and it’s -simple cowardice on his part, because he thinks I should refuse him -again. Well, I know I said I should, but I meant to give him a little -hope. As it is, I don’t like him to be so masterful, and I won’t give -in. He has managed to get a horrible hold over me, but I will not let -him see it. I won’t give in. Oh dear, why can’t he ask me properly? -why can’t something happen to put things right? If he knew how I cared -for him, I wonder whether he would say anything? But I am glad he -doesn’t guess; yes, I—am—glad. If I let him see it, he would think -he could ride roughshod over me ever after. No, he wouldn’t, he’s too -generous, but I should hate his being generous at my expense. I -suppose I don’t care for him enough, or I should be glad to give in. -So it’s better as it is.” -</p> - -<p> -She dried her eyes with great determination, whereupon another thought -came immediately to fill them again with tears. -</p> - -<p> -“What shall I do to-morrow morning? Each day I have thought, ‘Perhaps -he will speak to-day!’ and now I know he won’t, unless I let him see -in some way—but I won’t! I won’t! I won’t! What an idiot I am! I feel -like the foolish woman who plucks down her house with her own hands. -Oh, why has Georgie got everything and I nothing? But I have, of -course. I have got Dick back again just as much as she has, and I -suppose I don’t deserve anything more. But I don’t know why this -particularly horrible thing should happen to me. It’s not as if I had -ever led any one on—except poor Eustace. I did really flirt with him -at first, so I suppose this is my punishment. If he knew he would say -it was only just. But the rest—why, Captain Winlock or Mr Beltring or -Captain Woodworth would propose to-morrow if I held up my little -finger. I could have any of them I liked—except the right one. It -would serve him right if I flirted with one of them now, and made him -jealous—” she grew suddenly cheerful, for the idea pleased her. “I -should like to make him miserable a little, after the way he has -treated me, and I could do it so splendidly. But I suppose he was -rather miserable when I was engaged to Eustace, and it would be -distinctly hard on the other man. I never thought I was such a -wretch,” with a repentant sigh, “but it was a temptation for the -moment. And to think that I should be going on in this way when I -ought to remember nothing but that Dick’s alive! I’m a perfect beast, -and I <i>will</i> be glad. I’ll try and think only of Georgie, and perhaps -I shan’t feel quite so miserable then. Oh dear, I wish there was some -way of letting people know you were sorry without giving in!” -</p> - -<p> -No such paradox offered itself, however, and suddenly remembering her -duty, Mabel went to give Dick the message Fitz had brought from the -men. A short time afterwards they filed into the courtyard, first the -half who were off duty, and then those from the walls, who came as -soon as they were relieved. On all of them Dick impressed his absolute -command that the enemy should not be in any way informed of his -return. The men were disappointed, for they had looked forward to -publishing the tidings in one of those contests of scurrility in which -they engaged at every opportunity, sometimes with the invisible -defenders of General Keeling’s house, and sometimes with the rash -spirits who crept up under the ramparts at night, risking their lives -for the sole delight of taunting the garrison. But Dick’s word was -law, and the Ressaldars assured him that nothing should leak out to -give the enemy an inkling of what had happened. When they had retired, -and the guards had been set for the night, a festal gathering took -place in the inner courtyard. Georgia was carried into the verandah, -and Mr and Mrs Hardy and Mabel and Flora brought out all the seats -they could muster, and placed them round her couch; Colonel Graham, -the doctor, and Fitz came in, and Dick related his adventures. -</p> - -<p> -“There really is awfully little to tell,” he said, “because, you see, -I was knocked silly at once, and I can only remember one moment in a -whole long time. I suppose it was the evening of the fight in the -Pass. I was being carried along by a lot of native women—at least, -that is how I interpret the thing now, but at the moment I couldn’t -tell what to make of it. It might have been rather weird if I had had -time to think of that, but no sooner had I opened my eyes than the -woman who was holding my feet saw that I was looking at her. She -screamed and let me drop—that she might put on her veil, I -suppose—but that finished me for the moment. I don’t remember -anything more until I found myself in a cave, with an old <i>fakir</i> -sitting a little way off, absorbed in meditation. I was too weak to -talk, and I seem to have had visions of the cave and the old man, off -and on, for hundreds of years. At last, when I had been sensible -rather longer than usual, I managed to get out sufficient voice to ask -him where I was. He told me I was in his cave, which was not much -information, but I couldn’t think of anything else to ask him at the -time. The next day I asked him how I had got there, and he said the -Hasrat Ali Begum had sent and asked him to take care of me, and I had -been let down into the cave by ropes from above. He evidently believed -in letting his patients severely alone, for he pursued his meditations -assiduously except when I worried him with my impertinent questions. I -couldn’t think how I came to be there, and I hammered at him until he -let out the truth. I daresay he was wiser not to tell me before, for -as soon as the whole thing flashed upon me, I was mad to get away. You -see, the old chap was so very holy that he had no disciples and never -went out into the world, and even his food was brought to an appointed -place by his admirers, and left there for him to fetch. He knew about -the fight in the Pass, but he couldn’t say whether any of the escort -had escaped, or whether this place had been taken by surprise and -everybody wiped out. You may imagine the state I was in, and the -threats and prayers and promises I lavished upon the old man, until he -was at his wits’ end to know what to do with me. He preached me a long -sermon one day upon patience and resignation, pointing out, first, -that I must not think he bore me ill-will—quite the contrary, since I -had saved him from being hung for murder in a very hard-sworn case -when I first came here; second, that if he departed from his usual -custom so far as to go out and ask the news, suspicion would -immediately be excited, and I should be done for; third, that it was -not he that was keeping me there, but the wounds I had got, which -prevented me from moving.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should think so!” cried Dr Tighe, unable to keep silence longer. -“Ladies and gentlemen, the patient before you was as good as dead, -ought by rights to be dead now, yet there he sits and talks. Will you -think of it, Mrs North? This husband of yours has had a bullet -actually through his heart. He’s a living miracle. The difference of -the minutest fraction of an inch of space, the minutest fraction of a -second of time, would have meant that you would be a widow at this -moment. How it is you are not, I cannot explain—I tell you frankly. -Though it may seem to the vulgar mind to reflect upon our common -profession, I imagine that being let absolutely alone may have had -something to do with it, but I can’t tell. Be thankful that you’ve got -him back, and take good care of him in future.” -</p> - -<p> -“I will; I will, indeed,” said Georgia fervently, squeezing Dick’s -hand. -</p> - -<p> -“I regard you with an evil eye, Major, I don’t deny it,” went on the -doctor. “You’re a living falsification of every canon of surgery. You -had no business to survive that wound, much less to live through the -absence of treatment you met with. It’s a slap in Mrs North’s face, I -call it, to say nothing of mine. But let us hear some more of your -reprehensible proceedings.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said Dick, “I remember that sermon very well, because I was -panting the whole time to get away. I thought that some day, when old -Faiz-Ullah was saying his prayers, I might crawl past him, and slip -out. I did manage to crawl to the entrance, though I thought I should -have died in doing it, but when I got there I found only a precipice -in front. At the side was a rope-ladder by which my elderly friend was -accustomed to get to the spot where his food was left, but of course I -could as soon have flown as climbed it. I simply lay there like a log, -until the old fellow happened to miss me, and came to look. I must -have got a touch of fever or sunstroke, for I had awful nightmares -after that—oh, horrors and tortures beyond conception! Faiz-Ullah -must have been frightened, for at last he made me understand that he -had seen the Begum’s servant, and she was going to try and bring my -wife to cure me. That set me off on a new tack. The horrors went on -just the same, but Georgia was always there, on the other side of a -gulf, and I couldn’t get at her. She knows how much I wanted her”—he -stole a glance at Georgia, down whose face the tears were -streaming—“but I don’t think any one else can ever guess how bad it -was. Well, she didn’t come, as you know, but the old woman who had -tried to fetch her sent me a message, which I suppose she took the -trouble to invent, just to satisfy me. If I insisted upon it, Georgia -would come, she said, but to reach me she must run the gantlet of so -many dangers that it was scarcely possible she could get through. Was -she to come? I’m thankful to remember that I had strength of mind -enough to say she wasn’t to think of it. Of course she couldn’t get -the message, but a man doesn’t like to feel——” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Dick, as if I should have thought of the danger!” murmured -Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“We know you didn’t, Mrs North,” said Colonel Graham, “and that’s why -I agree with North that it’s a good thing he left off calling you.” -</p> - -<p> -“I don’t know why,” said Dick, “but after that I was happier, somehow. -I used to have the idea that Georgia was there, and we held long -conversations”—Georgia’s eyes met Mabel’s significantly—“and so I -grew better. Of course I was wild to get away, but there was always -that rope-ladder, and the very thought of it turned me sick. Old -Faiz-Ullah promised faithfully that in a few days he would help me up -it, and escort me through the mountains to this place, so that I might -get in if I could, and three nights ago he went to meet the Begum’s -servant when she brought the food, intending to ask if they could find -me a pony. But that night there was the worst earthquake I have ever -felt”—the rest exchanged glances—“and he never came back. The noise -was fearful, and as shock after shock came, I never for a moment -expected to live through it. But the cave was not damaged, and when I -crawled out in the morning, the rope-ladder was still there. I waited -for the old man, but he did not come, and there was no food left. At -last I decided that something must have happened to him, and I -determined to make the attempt sooner than starve to death. I don’t -know how long I hung between heaven and earth on that awful ladder, -but I got to the top at last, and followed Faiz-Ullah’s track. Before -very long I found him, poor old fellow! crushed under a fallen rock, -quite dead. I hunted about for some stones that I could lift to put -over him, to keep off the leopards, and then I started. If any food -had been brought the night before, it was buried under the rock with -him, so I had no time to lose. I knew roughly where I was, and I set -my course as best I could by the sun. I went from hiding-place to -hiding-place, sometimes crawling, and sometimes able to walk. I dared -not rest long anywhere, for I knew I should starve even if the enemy -didn’t find me. I got across the Akrab Pass almost by a miracle. -Bahram Khan was holding a <i>jirgah</i> with the tribesmen, and they had no -scouts out except in the direction of Nalapur. After taking a good -look at them, I crept round below and got through. And after that I -went on somehow, I don’t remember how, and at last I worked round by -our house, and into the hills where the canal comes from, and got -across on a landslip, where the water was shallow, and here I am.” -</p> - -<p> -“When you ought to be in bed,” said Dr Tighe. “You don’t deserve it, -after your outrageous behaviour in defying the profession, but I’d -like to overhaul you, and see if nature hasn’t left any little -crevices that art may manage to patch up.” -</p> - -<p> -“Art must go to work quickly, then,” said Dick. “I want to get hold of -the tribes before Bahram Khan comes back.” -</p> - -<p> -“That will be to-morrow morning, when the armistice ends,” said -Colonel Graham. “No, we have got you again now, North, and you won’t -start out on any fools’ errands just yet, let me tell you.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch22"> -CHAPTER XXII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">THE FIRE ON THE HILL.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Ah</span>!” said Colonel Graham sharply. “So that is the little dodge, is -it?” -</p> - -<p> -He and Dick were standing in one of the gateway turrets as the day -broke, and it was the sight of a long column of men marching into the -town from the north-east that had called forth the exclamation. -</p> - -<p> -“Look behind you!” said Dick laconically. A second force was moving -along the south bank of the canal in the direction of the fort. -</p> - -<p> -“Nice use to make of an armistice!” said the Colonel. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, you didn’t expect anything else, did you? You see they have got -us between two fires? That means a simultaneous attack on the gateway -and the breastwork, at any rate, if not on all four sides at once. We -have no time to lose.” -</p> - -<p> -“Have you any suggestions to offer?” The Colonel spoke with the -calmness of despair, and Dick glanced at him in surprise. -</p> - -<p> -“Of course you know our possibilities better than I do, but I should -certainly occupy Gun Hill, so as both to cover our west face, and -enable us to deliver a flank attack on the fellows on the opposite -bank if they come any nearer.” -</p> - -<p> -“We have no guns, unfortunately, as you know, and worse than that, we -have not men enough to send out a detachment to the hill and hold the -place at the same time. Look there!” he handed Dick his field-glass. -“The buildings facing us are packed with men ready to advance in -response to any movement on our part.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see. But at any rate we can line the earthwork and the roofs and -our bank of the canal with sharpshooters, and keep the enemy at a -distance on the south face?” -</p> - -<p> -“No doubt we could, but for one thing. Do you recollect that we have -now been besieged over a month? What is the natural corollary?” -</p> - -<p> -“That the ammunition is running out?” -</p> - -<p> -“Exactly. There is so little left for the rifles that I have forbidden -it to be used except for picking off any specially troublesome -snipers. We are slightly better off as regards the carbines, but a -single day of hard fighting would leave us with nothing but cold -steel.” -</p> - -<p> -“Good heavens!” said Dick, beginning to pace backwards and forwards in -the narrow limits of the turret; “and with the men they are bringing -up now they can overwhelm us by sheer weight of numbers. You see it’s -the Nalapur army that is marching in? No doubt Bahram Khan was on his -way to fetch it when I saw him in the Pass. Now, either the Amir has -been got rid of, or he has decided to throw in his lot with his -precious nephew. If he’s dead, it’s all up, but if not, there’s just a -chance. You said he seemed to turn reckless when he thought he had -done for me; well, I may be able to sober him down again.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are not thinking of venturing into their camp?” -</p> - -<p> -“Scarcely, since Bahram Khan would very soon repair his unfortunate -omission if I did. But if he doesn’t propose a parley, you must, and -insist on the Amir’s taking part in it. Then I will show myself -suddenly, and see whether there’s any hope of working upon the old -man’s feelings.” -</p> - -<p> -All morning the garrison watched in gloomy helplessness the assembling -of the force which was to crush them. When Bahram Khan’s -reinforcements had taken up their positions, the fort was practically -surrounded. On the north-west, and extending under cover of the trees -to the reconstructed bridge, were the tents of the tribes, now once -more fully occupied, and humming like a hive of bees. Clearly, the -news had gone out that victory was at hand. On the north and east was -the town, now held by a strong contingent of Nalapuris, in addition to -Bahram Khan’s original force, and on the south the main body of the -Nalapur army in a roughly fortified camp. Famine and pestilence had -proved too slow in their work, and the final arbitrament was to be -sharp and short. -</p> - -<p> -In the course of the afternoon a white flag was hoisted on General -Keeling’s house, and when the garrison had replied to it, Bahram Khan -rode out on the cleared space, surrounded by his own guard and the -Nalapuri officers. Colonel Graham and Mr Burgrave faced him at the -loophole of the turret, Dick lurking in the shadows behind them, and -received what was announced as a final offer of terms. Stripped of the -verbiage in which it was enwrapped, this was simply a demand for -unconditional surrender. Bahram Khan would do his best to save the -lives of the garrison, but the fury of the Amir was so great that he -could not guarantee even that, and every shred of public and personal -property was to be relinquished. Colonel Graham returned a prompt -refusal. To propose a surrender was preposterous, unless the besiegers -were prepared to guarantee the lives of all in the fort. Upon this -Bahram Khan sent a messenger back into his own lines, ostensibly to -consult the wishes of the Amir, and when he returned, announced -joyfully that the stipulation was accepted. The instant and obvious -retort was that the Amir must show himself in person, and swear to -observe the conditions, if the thought of capitulation was to be -entertained; but to this Bahram Khan demurred for a long time, -displaying a singular fertility of excuse. The Amir was ill, he was -resting, he had sworn not to exchange another word with an Englishman -who was not his prisoner, he was in such a frenzied state that to -insist upon his appearance would probably goad him to order a general -massacre forthwith. Colonel Graham pointed out politely that since the -besieged were still under the protection of their own walls and -weapons, there was no immediate fear of such a contingency, and at -last Bahram Khan himself withdrew into the town, in order, as he -explained, to lavish all his entreaties upon his uncle, and persuade -him to appear. -</p> - -<p> -Presently a state palanquin was seen approaching, borne by sixteen -men, who carried it out upon the cleared space, and set it down. -</p> - -<p> -“What’s this?” murmured Dick. “Ashraf Ali in a <i>palki</i>? I’ve never -seen him in one in my life.” -</p> - -<p> -Bahram Khan, who had ridden in advance of the palanquin, now -dismounted, and approaching it with extreme deference, raised the -heavy gold-embroidered curtain at the side. Those in the turret -strained their eyes to pierce the dimness within, and made out with -some difficulty the figure of the white-bearded ruler, sitting -motionless, as though absorbed in meditation. -</p> - -<p> -“He’s stupefied!” came in a fierce whisper from Dick. “They’ve given -him opium or something of the sort.” -</p> - -<p> -Colonel Graham addressed the Amir politely, but no answer was -vouchsafed. It was Bahram Khan who replied for him, in the silkiest of -tones. -</p> - -<p> -“The Amir Sahib refuses to look upon the sahibs, or to listen to their -words, until they have surrendered to him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, does he?” said Dick, and he stepped forward between Colonel -Graham and the Commissioner, and showed himself at the loophole. -</p> - -<p> -“Amir Sahib, do you know my voice?” he cried. -</p> - -<p> -An electric shock seemed to pass through the inanimate form in the -palanquin. “Is that the voice of Nāth Sahib?” was asked, in high, -quavering tones. “Then can this most unhappy one die in peace.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you guarantee our safety, Amir Sahib?” asked Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“Trust them not,” came back the answer. “See how they treat me!” and -the old man rose as though to step out of the palanquin. There were -chains on his wrists and ankles. The next moment Bahram Khan and his -followers, recovering from their surprise, had thrown themselves upon -him and forced him back, and the palanquin was immediately carried -away. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, after this, I think even Bahram Khan must feel that the -capitulation idea has been knocked on the head,” said Dick. “Now -everything depends on whether they attack us at once.” -</p> - -<p> -“Isn’t that a rather obvious remark?” asked Mr Burgrave dryly. -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, you don’t see my point,” said Dick, without taking offence. “I -think Colonel Graham will agree with me that since Bahram Khan has -thrown off the mask, and made himself master of Nalapur, it shows he -is determined to crush us at once. Evidently the relieving column is -on its way, or famine might have been left to do the work.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see what you mean,” said Colonel Graham. “If he attacks at once, it -means that relief is close at hand, but if he gives his men a night’s -rest, the column is still far enough off for him to take things -easily.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s it. Well, since he’s so bent on putting the blame on his -uncle, it’s clear that he means to come the injured innocent over our -men when they get up. We here know too much now to be allowed to -escape, but the order for massacring us must be given by the Amir, who -will be murdered by his virtuously indignant nephew as soon as it has -been carried out. We are safe just so long as we can hold out, and the -Amir is safe while we are. That’s the situation. Now if we are left in -peace for to-night, I mean to get through and hurry up the relieving -column.” -</p> - -<p> -“I thought so,” said the Colonel, “and I mean you to do nothing of the -kind. Why, man, you couldn’t walk a mile in the state you are in. You -ought to be in hospital now. We have no medical comforts left to feed -you up with, but at least we can see that you have a rest.” -</p> - -<p> -“I shall get on somehow. I don’t mind telling you that I have designs -on the tribes on my way. We have eaten each other’s salt, and they -won’t hurt me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Possibly not, but they would stop you, and Bahram Khan would soon -find a way of getting you out of their hands. I won’t let you go on -any such fool’s errand.” -</p> - -<p> -“I think the civil and the political power will have to combine -against the military,” said Dick, turning to the Commissioner, who had -stood by with a “Settle it between yourselves” air. “What do you -think?” -</p> - -<p> -“As a military man yourself, you are hardly the person to organise -such a revolt,” was the reply, “and I am debarred from it by the -delegation of authority to which I agreed at the beginning of the -siege.” The tone was abrupt, and Dick and Colonel Graham glanced at -one another in surprise, but the Commissioner went on, “If the -decision lay in my hands, I should absolutely forbid your going. Your -wife may at least claim to be spared useless torture, and you can’t -expect to get the V.C. twice over.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am glad you agree with me,” said the Colonel heartily, ignoring the -stiffness of the tone. “Consider yourself sat upon, North.” -</p> - -<p> -“I beg your pardon, sir,” said Fitz, coming up the steps and -addressing the Colonel, “but there’s a queer light to the westward, -which doesn’t seem like the sunset. We thought it might possibly be a -signal.” -</p> - -<p> -Colonel Graham wheeled round sharply. “No, it’s certainly not the -sunset,” he said, looking through the doorway which led on to the -ramparts. “Somewhere behind Gun Hill on the south-west, I should say. -What do you think of looking at it from the broken tower?” to the -Commissioner. “You come too, North.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -“What in the world are Papa and the Major and Mr Burgrave climbing up -there for?” demanded Flora, a few minutes later. She was sitting with -the other inmates of the Memsahibs’ courtyard in Georgia’s -verandah—such part of it as had survived the earthquake—watching the -sunset, and it was natural that the acrobatic feats necessary for -reaching the top of the south-west tower should catch her eye at once. -</p> - -<p> -“They are gone to look at some sort of fire that there seems to be in -the hills,” said Fitz, who came in just then. -</p> - -<p> -“A fire? Oh, perhaps——” Flora stopped suddenly, for Mr Hardy had -sprung up from his chair in wild excitement. -</p> - -<p> -“A fire?” he cried. “Nicodemus!” and rushed out of the courtyard. -</p> - -<p> -“Is Mr Hardy beginning to swear?” asked Mabel, in an awed voice, of -the rest, but even Mrs Hardy was too much astonished to rebuke her. -</p> - -<p> -“He’ll kill himself!” she murmured, as she saw her husband mounting -the broken steps that led up to the tower. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Padri, what’s the matter?” asked Colonel Graham, turning round -to see the old missionary toiling after him. “Take my hand across -here.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am so sorry—I can never forgive myself—it quite slipped my -memory,” panted Mr Hardy. “It was a <i>Malik</i> from one of the tribes to -the south-west—he came to me secretly—to ask about Christianity—I -called him Nicodemus to myself. The night the siege began—he came to -warn me—and promised to light a fire in the hills—when relief was at -hand. I was so busy hurrying the Christians into the fort, and helping -them to save their possessions, that I never remembered the matter -again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, it doesn’t signify so much, since you have remembered it now,” -said the Colonel kindly. “Did the man seem to you trustworthy?” -</p> - -<p> -“He took his life in his hand to warn me that night, and of course -when he came before he risked losing everything. His name was Hasrat -Isa, curiously enough, and he seemed to me to be genuinely in -earnest.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks, Padri. You have brought us the best news we could desire. We -must manage to hold out now.” -</p> - -<p> -“This settles it,” muttered Dick. “Can I have a word or two with you?” -he asked of the Commissioner, and they moved across to the other side -of the tower, Mr Burgrave’s face wearing an absolutely non-committal -expression. -</p> - -<p> -“You see how it is?” said Dick. “This gives me just the pull I wanted -over the tribes. Of course the one thing now is to detach them from -Bahram Khan before our men come up, and to save the Amir. They know me -and trust me, and if I assure them that an overwhelming force is close -at hand, I believe they will be ready to lay down their arms. Of -course they will have to give up all their loot and to pay a fine of -rifles, but they know enough of us by this time to prefer that to a -war of extermination. Then about the Amir. He’s safe for the present, -as I said, but I haven’t a doubt his guards have got orders to kill -him when the head of the column appears, if we are still holding out -then. I shall try to get the tribes to rescue him. But now for the -crux of the whole thing. If I am to have the faintest hope of success, -I must be able to tell the tribes that we mean to hold on to Nalapur -when the rising is put down. Otherwise as soon as Bahram Khan has made -terms he will establish himself in his uncle’s place, and wipe out all -who submitted before him. Have I a free hand to do it?” -</p> - -<p> -“Why consult me?” asked the Commissioner coldly. -</p> - -<p> -“Because it depends upon you. The announcement of our intended -withdrawal has never been actually made, thanks to the ambush on the -road to the durbar, and it rests with you to withhold it altogether. -Of course I know I’m inviting you to reverse your policy, and all that -sort of thing, but I don’t believe you’re the man to weigh that -against the peace of the frontier.” -</p> - -<p> -“Are you aware that I came to Khemistan for the express purpose of -carrying out the policy you invite me to reverse?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, and I know it means you will probably have to resign, and will -certainly get the cold shoulder at Simla. But I call upon you to do -it, just as I am staking everything myself—and I have a wife and -child. It will prevent no one knows how much bloodshed, the desolation -of hundreds of miles of country, and years of unrest and bitter -feeling, for the Government can’t press things against the opinion, -not only of the man on the spot, but of their own official converted -by observation of the facts. They will shunt us—that’s only to be -expected—but it will save the frontier.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are right, and it must be done. You are at liberty to tell the -tribes that I throw all my influence on the side of maintaining the -treaty with Nalapur.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks. If anything happens to me, look after my wife and the boy.” -</p> - -<p> -The trust was the seal of the newly born friendliness between them, -and Mr Burgrave felt it so. “God knows,” he said, with more emotion -than Dick had seen him display before, “I wish I could risk my life as -you are doing, but at least I’ll do what I can.” -</p> - -<p> -Without another word, Dick crossed to the spot where Colonel Graham -was standing, still examining the distant glare through his -field-glass. -</p> - -<p> -“Our friend Nicodemus has gone to work very shrewdly,” he said, as -Dick came up. “I should say that his signal is absolutely invisible to -any one on the plain. We only see it because we are so high up.” -</p> - -<p> -“So much the better,” said Dick. “I suppose you’ve guessed what our -plotting was about, Colonel? I have my plans all cut and dried by this -time, and with the civil and the political power both against you, -you’ll have to let me go. Assuming that there won’t be any attack till -dawn, I shall take Anstruther with me, and creep out as soon as it’s -really dark. He must go across the hills and hunt for the relief -column, and guide it here when he has found it, and I shall set to -work to palaver the tribes.” -</p> - -<p> -“They’ll shoot you at sight,” groaned the Colonel. -</p> - -<p> -“I hope not. At any rate, for argument’s sake, we’ll take it that they -don’t. Of course my dodge will be to get them to delay the attack by -insisting beforehand on an impossible proportion of loot. While their -messengers and Bahram Khan’s are going to and fro, Anstruther, knowing -the ground, ought to be able to bring up the column. When I see his -signal, the tribes will hasten to make graceful concessions, and -Bahram Khan will order the attack. While he is occupied at the front, -a few of the tribesmen and I will make a dash for the Amir, and the -column will get its guns into position. Then, if all goes well, a -grand transformation scene. The guns plump a shell or two into the -advancing ranks, the Sikhs and Goorkhas, and possibly a British -regiment, make their appearance on the heights, the tribesmen turn -their rifles against their own side, and the Amir shows himself and -orders his revolted army to surrender. If they won’t, their blood will -be upon their own heads, as they’ll soon see, but I think only Bahram -Khan and a few irreconcilables will refuse.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you?” demanded the Colonel. “Your programme doesn’t provide for -your being killed a dozen times over, does it? What will Mrs North say -when she hears what you think of doing?” -</p> - -<p> -“She will tell me to go. The tribes are as much her people as -mine—more so, indeed. I am going to tell her now.” -</p> - -<p> -He clambered down the ruined staircase, found Fitz and told him -briefly what he wanted of him, and then went to Georgia’s room, where -he set himself to catch her with guile—a process which, as he ought -to have known, had not the faintest chance of success. -</p> - -<p> -“Do you remember the last time I went away, Georgie?” he asked, as he -sat down beside her. -</p> - -<p> -Georgie looked up at him with a thrill of alarm. “Do you think I could -ever forget it, Dick? Not if I lived for hundreds of years.” -</p> - -<p> -“We almost quarrelled, didn’t we? You were in the right, of course—I -knew it all along, but I had to go. You don’t like me to go out -treaty-breaking, do you?” -</p> - -<p> -“No.” Her voice was almost inaudible. -</p> - -<p> -“But it’s all right if I go treaty-making, isn’t it? just to get the -tribes to feel what fools they’ve been, and make them see reason?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Dick, must you go? so soon? and you have been away so long!” -</p> - -<p> -“You jump at things so suddenly,” lamented Dick. “I wanted to break it -gently to you.” -</p> - -<p> -“My dear stupid boy, do you think I don’t know your way of breaking -things gently yet?” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, anyhow, you’ll let me go, won’t you? without making a fuss, I -mean?” -</p> - -<p> -“A fuss! Do I ever make a fuss?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you know what I mean—without making me feel a brute for doing -it?” -</p> - -<p> -“You know I would never keep you back from what was really your duty.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s all right, then,” Dick failed to notice the distinction thus -delicately implied. “And I’m going to try and save all your father’s -work from being ruined, so it must be my duty, mustn’t it?” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose so. And I am forbidden to make a fuss?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes, please, absolutely—unless it would comfort you awfully to do -it.” -</p> - -<p> -“It wouldn’t comfort you. That’s what I have to think of. When do you -start, Dick?” -</p> - -<p> -“In an hour or so—as soon as it’s properly dark.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then there’s plenty of time. I should so like the boy to be baptized -before you go.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why not? I suppose the Padri won’t kick at the shortness of the -notice? Georgie, will you be very much surprised? I should like to ask -Burgrave to be godfather.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick!” Georgia’s tone was full of dismay. “I thought of Colonel -Graham—” Dick nodded approval—“and either Fitz Anstruther or Dr -Tighe——” -</p> - -<p> -“I’d rather have Burgrave, if you don’t mind. He has come out strong -to-night. I respect him more than any man I know. In his place I don’t -believe I could have made the sacrifice he’s prepared to make.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then we will have him, of course. But Mabel is the godmother, -naturally. Won’t she feel it awkward? You know they have quarrelled?” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s putting it mildly. I’m afraid it’s quite off.” -</p> - -<p> -“Ah, that’s what I was afraid of, too, but Mab always refuses to -discuss the subject with me until I am stronger. I can’t force her -confidence, you know.” -</p> - -<p> -“I suppose not, but there’s no need to be so awfully careful of her -feelings. She has treated Burgrave shamefully, and so far as I can -see, without the slightest excuse. She insists on engaging herself to -him, and then she goes and breaks it off for no reason whatever. I’m -disgusted with her.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Dick, don’t be unkind to her! If she didn’t care for him it was -only right to break it off. I told you she was miserable about it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then she had no business to begin it. But don’t let us waste time -over her nonsense, Georgie. Shall I go and speak to the Padri?” He -opened the door, and stepped out on the verandah. “Why, Anstruther, -you here? It’s not nearly dark enough to start yet.” -</p> - -<p> -Fitz smothered an exclamation of impatience. This was the second time -he had been foiled in half-an-hour in an attempt to get a few words -with Mabel. He had succeeded in catching her alone for a moment -immediately after Dick had told him of the adventure in which he was -to take part, and then Flora came and called her away, because the -baby was breathing heavily in its sleep, and she was afraid something -was wrong with it. On this occasion he had got hold of Flora herself, -wasting no time in preliminaries. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, I say, Miss Graham, could you manage to get Mabel here without -telling her that I want to see her? I must speak to her before I go. -I’m certain she cares for me a little, but she was so determined I -should not see it that I couldn’t insult her by letting on that I did. -But there’s no time now for any more fooling. I must tell her what I -have to say, and there’s an end of it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Now, why couldn’t you have said that before?” demanded Flora. “That’s -the right way to take her. I’ll have her here in a moment,” and even -now she was beguiling her out on the verandah when Dick appeared to -announce that the baptism was to take place at once, and Fitz’s hopes -were again disappointed. There would be no chance of speaking to Mabel -now for some time, and he left the courtyard and joined Winlock on the -broken tower, where he was keeping a solitary watch in case the -relieving force should attempt to communicate with the fort by means -of flash-light signals. Their eyes, strained with staring into the -darkness, showed them lights at every possible and impossible point in -the more distant hills, until at last they abandoned the tantalising -prospect, and talked in whispers of the expected relief. -</p> - -<p> -“To think that by this time to-morrow we may have had a good square -meal!” sighed Winlock. -</p> - -<p> -“Beef, not horse,” murmured Fitz sympathetically. -</p> - -<p> -“And tinned things—though I shall always feel a delicacy about tins -in future. They’ve been ‘medical comforts, strictly reserved for the -sick,’ such a long time.” -</p> - -<p> -“And real bread, instead of this abominable bran mash.” -</p> - -<p> -“And as much to drink as ever you want—and soap—and baths—” He -stopped suddenly, for Fitz had caught him by the arm. “What is it?” he -whispered. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m sure I heard a noise down below. Help me to move this sand-bag.” -</p> - -<p> -The sand-bag on the parapet was pushed aside, and Fitz put his head -through the gap thus left, but only just far enough to see over the -edge, lest he should be visible against the sky. It was clear that the -enemy were keeping high festival in all their camps, for the air was -full of the sound of tomtoms and similar instruments, and snatches of -wild song. To Winlock it seemed impossible to detect any noise less -insistent or nearer at hand, but Fitz looked and listened until his -friend hauled him back. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, is there anything?” he demanded impatiently. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m almost certain there is. You take a look.” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m not a cat,” whispered Winlock in disgust, when he had drawn his -head back in his turn. “Can’t see a thing.” -</p> - -<p> -“Well, I am, rather, in that way, and I believe there’s a fellow down -there.” -</p> - -<p> -Again he put his head into the opening, and supporting his face on his -hands, concentrated all his attention on the foot of the wall. After -several minutes, which seemed like hours to Winlock, he faced him -again. -</p> - -<p> -“There is a man down there, and his clothes are dark, so as not to -show. He has put two bags against the wall, and he has crawled away to -fetch another.” -</p> - -<p> -“Going to blow down the tower?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, it’s their best chance. Half gone already, you see. Well, will -you clear the men off the near half of the wall, and tell the Colonel, -so as to be ready for developments? I’m going to nip the villain in -the bud.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nonsense, he’ll knife you! And how will you get down?” -</p> - -<p> -“Climb down the broken brickwork and drop.” He drew off his boots. “I -shall take him by surprise. Don’t let any one fire, whatever you do. -It would explode the powder at once. Be off.” -</p> - -<p> -Winlock obeyed, and hurried to alarm the Colonel, after hastily -calling down the sentries, the noise of whose own footsteps -effectually prevented their noticing any suspicious sound. Richard St -George Keeling had just received his name, and was accepting the -congratulations of the representatives of the regiment on the -auspicious event with his usual composure, when Winlock came into the -courtyard and drew Colonel Graham aside. Before he could utter a word, -however, there was an explosion which seemed to shake the very -foundations of the fort, followed by the collapse of various portions -of the newly-repaired defences. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m afraid the wall’s gone, sir,” gasped Winlock, when he recovered -himself. -</p> - -<p> -“Not a bit of it,” said the Colonel, pointing to the dark line above -the roofs; but before anything more could be said, the sentry on the -north-west tower gave the alarm. There was no time for anything but a -rush to the walls, which were only reached just as a hurrying mob of -men, some carrying torches, others scaling-ladders, advanced in wild -confusion, shouting and singing, from the shelter of the plane trees. -A couple of volleys sent them flying back in headlong rout, and beyond -a shot or two from General Keeling’s house there was no semblance of -an attack on any other side of the fort. The officers gathered on the -rampart looked at one another in complete mystification. -</p> - -<p> -“I never remember a worse-planned attack,” said Colonel Graham. “In -fact there was no plan about it. And yet the explosion——” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, but how came it to do so little damage?” said Dick. Some -additional masses of brickwork had been torn from the tower, and the -sand-bags were flung about, but the wall was comparatively uninjured. -</p> - -<p> -“Probably the powder became ignited before it was properly placed in -position,” suggested Mr Burgrave. “If the man in charge intended to -use a slow match, the attack may only have been planned for dawn, so -that the various parties were naturally not prepared. This fiasco here -was a kind of drunken forlorn hope, started simply by the noise of the -explosion.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, but why should the powder get ignited? Why, Winlock!” The young -man had made his appearance with his arms full of rope. -</p> - -<p> -“I want to go down and look for Anstruther, sir. He must be awfully -hurt, for he was going to try and stop the explosion.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -Half-an-hour later Mabel and Flora, waiting anxiously in the verandah -to learn the result of the attack, heard in the passage the slow tread -of a body of men carrying something. Dick was at their head. -</p> - -<p> -“We’ll bring him in here, as the hospital is full,” he was saying. “As -I shall be away, there’ll be the room I had last night to spare, and -the ladies will help to look after him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Who is it? What has happened?” asked the two girls together. -</p> - -<p> -“Poor old Anstruther has got himself blown up instead of the fort,” -returned Dick. “Take care of that corner, Woodworth.” -</p> - -<p> -“What is the matter with him? Is he badly hurt?” asked Mabel hoarsely. -</p> - -<p> -“Can’t say yet. On second thoughts, Colonel, I’ll take Winlock, if you -can spare him. He knows the country round here so much better than -Beltring.” -</p> - -<p> -“Dick, are you absolutely heartless?” Mabel grasped her brother’s arm, -and shook him. “Is he dying?” -</p> - -<p> -“How can I tell? He was just alive when we found him.” -</p> - -<p> -“I must be with him. I will nurse him,” she managed to say. -</p> - -<p> -“You’ll do nothing of the kind. It’s no sight for you, and we don’t -want fainting and hysterics. For Heaven’s sake, Mabel, don’t make a -scene!” he added, in a whisper of angry disgust. “It’s not as if he -was anything to you.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have a right——” she began with difficulty. -</p> - -<p> -“Keep her away, Burgrave,” said Dick curtly, turning his head for a -moment, and the Commissioner drew her hand within his arm, and led her -in silence to the other side of the courtyard. In the tumult of her -anger and mortification, she struggled furiously at first, but he -declined to release her, and presently she found herself deposited in -a chair, with Mr Burgrave standing over her like a jailer. Between her -sobs she could hear him talking, apparently with the charitable -intention of at once comforting her for her exclusion and assuring her -that the cause of her emotion remained unsuspected. -</p> - -<p> -“Anxious to be of use—highly delicate nervous organisation—might -distract the doctor’s attention at a critical moment—your brother -meant kindly—” were some of the scraps that reached her ears. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s not that!” she cried wildly. “He’ll die without my seeing him, -and Dick says he’s nothing to me, and—and he’s everything!” and her -sobs died away into low, hopeless weeping, which wrung the heart of -the man before her. She did not think of him until she felt an -unsteady touch on her hair, and looking up at him, saw that not only -his hands but his very lips were trembling. -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t cry so,” he said hoarsely; “you break my heart. Then you are -engaged to him? I never dreamt of this.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, I’m not—but it’s my own fault. He asked me long ago—and I told -him it could never be—and I was so horrid that—he never asked me -again. And now they won’t let me go to him—and I wanted—just to tell -him—before he died—that—that——” -</p> - -<p> -“That he might die happy? No, no, I am in earnest,” as Mabel threw him -a glance of reproach. “I could die happy in his case.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, how wicked—how mean—I am, to say all this to you! And I have -treated you so badly— What can you think of me?” -</p> - -<p> -“What should I think but that you are the woman I hoped to shield from -every breath of trouble, and now you are in this sorrow, and I can do -nothing?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but you can!” cried Mabel impulsively. “It’s no good speaking to -Dick, but Dr Tighe will listen to you, and you can ask him to let me -help to nurse him.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have no doubt he will be willing to do that—or if it is not -possible, I am sure he will promise to call you if any change for the -worse occurs.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, you won’t believe in me even now! You don’t think I could be -brave even for him. If it was to do him good, I could——” -</p> - -<p> -“Your seeing him now could do him no possible good, and the sight -would haunt you for ever. I think you don’t quite trust me, do you? -Try to think of me as a friend, as one who would a thousand times -rather see you happy with the man you loved than unhappy with himself. -And perhaps”—he hesitated a little—“you may like to know that you -have lifted a weight from my mind to-night. I confess it seemed to me -a cruel thing when you broke off our engagement without any special -reason, but now I know that you love some one else, I feel it was -quite natural and right.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel saw his meaning dimly. The sting of her treatment of him had -lain in the feeling that though there was no one else she preferred, -she valued so lightly the love he offered that she refused even to -tolerate it. Now his self-respect was restored. It was for a tangible -rival, not for freedom in the abstract, that she had cast him off. -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch23"> -CHAPTER XXIII.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">AN ABDICATION.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Mab</span>, are you awake?” -</p> - -<p> -“Go away; I hate you!” was the muffled reply. Mabel had thrown -herself, dressed, upon her bed, and her face was buried in the pillow. -She shook off Flora’s hand angrily from her shoulder as she spoke. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Mab, I only wanted to tell you—— What have I done?” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel sat up and pushed back her hair. “They let you go and help with -him,” she said venomously, “and they kept me out. Dick called you—I -heard him myself. And they wouldn’t let me come. Eustace held my -hands. And you went—and helped them.” -</p> - -<p> -“I didn’t do anything but hold things for them, really. Dr Tighe did -it all, and your brother helped him. I had to go when they called me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Did he look at you—recognise you? If he did, I’ll never forgive -you.” -</p> - -<p> -“No, not a bit. But, Mab——” -</p> - -<p> -“I’m glad of that, at any rate. And you came to say I might go to him -now?” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, Mr Burgrave spoke to Dr Tighe. But don’t say you’re glad he -didn’t look at me. It will make you miserable all your life to have -even thought it.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, what is the matter?” asked Mabel impatiently, as Flora barred -her way to the door. -</p> - -<p> -“I can’t let you go into the room without realising it. His—his hair -is all burnt off, Mab, and he’s fearfully scorched. You can’t see -anything but bandages, and he is quite insensible.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s only the shock. He must come round soon.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s not all. I must tell you. The explosion seems to have -paralysed all his faculties. He is deaf and dumb and blind—for the -time.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, for the time, of course. But he won’t be deaf when I speak to -him. Don’t keep me here, Flora. I want to wake him.” -</p> - -<p> -Flora drew back reluctantly, and Mabel ran across the courtyard. At -the door of the sick-room, which was a makeshift structure erected -since the earthquake at the corner where two verandahs joined, she met -Dr Tighe. -</p> - -<p> -“So I hear you want to play at nursing a little, Miss North?” he said, -not unkindly, but by no means as if he regarded her intention as -serious. “Do you think you won’t fall asleep? Can you keep cool, -whatever happens? Not that you could do much harm if you went into -hysterics,” he added, half to himself. “The poor fellow wouldn’t be -disturbed.” -</p> - -<p> -Even this slighting estimate of her powers did not provoke Mabel to -protest. “What have I to do?” she asked, with determined calmness, and -the doctor looked at her curiously. -</p> - -<p> -“I want you to sit beside him and watch for any sound or movement. If -there is the least change, send for me at once. I must spend the night -over at the hospital, but I am leaving my boy in the verandah here, -and he will fetch me whenever you want me.” -</p> - -<p> -“Wait, please. May I speak to him?” -</p> - -<p> -“Who—the boy? Oh, the patient. Yes, of course, as much as you like, -if it will ease your mind. Didn’t I tell you that he couldn’t hear -you?” He glanced sharply at her, but she turned away from him, and -went into the room without saying anything, leaving him puzzled. “I -feel a bit of a brute,” he said to himself, as he crossed to the -passage leading into the hospital, “but she must keep up. I don’t want -her on my hands in hysterics, in addition to all the rest.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel sat down quietly beside the bed. A smoky native lamp shed a -flickering light through the little room, rendering dimly visible the -swathed figure which lay absolutely motionless in its shroud of -bandages. Of the face nothing could be seen, and the bandaged hands -were stretched straight at the sides. A great terror seized Mabel. -Surely he must be dead? She laid her hand timidly on the wrist nearest -her, so lightly as scarcely to touch it, but the contact served to -reassure her. He was still living, and she resigned herself to her -silent and solitary watch. -</p> - -<p> -At first she was so much absorbed in listening and looking for the -sounds and movements which never came, that she had no thought of her -surroundings, but after a time they forced themselves upon her notice. -The deathlike silence all around, the presence of that shrouded form -upon the bed, the uncertain light—all combined to strain her nerves -to their utmost tension. She would have risen and walked about, in the -hope of breaking the spell, but she discovered that she had no power -to stir. The semi-darkness was full of shadows for which she could not -account, and small mysterious noises sounded in her ears like -thunder-claps. Over and over again she thought she saw her patient -move, only to find that her eyes had deceived her, and the breathless -expectation did but increase the strain upon her. By degrees her -terror grew almost uncontrollable, but she fought against it doggedly. -Never in her life had she placed such constraint upon herself. The -door was so near, two steps would take her to it, and once outside she -would be safe from the shadows and the silence. But she gripped her -chair hard with both hands, and at last the impulse passed away. Next -came the temptation to scream—to shriek, sing, do anything to break -the stillness. She was shaking from head to foot; it seemed utterly -impossible to check her sobs, yet she succeeded in crushing them down. -The struggle was a fearful one, and she felt that her self-command -would not hold out much longer. She looked at her watch, and resolved -to remain quiet for five minutes, whatever happened. When the five -minutes was over, she renewed the resolution for another five minutes, -and so on, and the expedient was successful for a time. Then it became -more and more difficult to maintain, and the periods of five minutes -dwindled to four, three, and finally one. She gazed at the watch -aghast. It was impossible that so much agony and mental stress could -have been crowded into one minute. But the watch had not stopped, and -she gave up the conflict, and burst into tears. -</p> - -<p> -“Fitz!” she wailed, dropping on her knees beside the bed. “Fitz!” -</p> - -<p> -Surely he would hear. Georgia had said that Dick’s voice would reach -her if she were dead. But in this case there was no answer. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Fitz, speak to me!” she entreated. “I am so frightened.” -</p> - -<p> -The piteous voice died away. It must have availed to pierce the -silence which enwrapped him, she thought, and yet he would not speak. -Could it be that he was resolved to punish her for her coldness in the -past, to humble her pride in return for all she had made him suffer? -Or perhaps he did not understand even yet. -</p> - -<p> -“Fitz,” she murmured softly, “I love you.” -</p> - -<p> -No sooner had the words escaped her lips than she sprang up aghast. -They seemed to be echoed back by the walls on every side, to be -whispered by mocking sprites, to clang like the strokes of great -bells. “I love you! I love you!” The air was full of them, and she was -overwhelmed with shame. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, if you don’t hate me, say just one word!” she sobbed. “I am so -ashamed, but you said you loved me. Oh, Fitz, it’s not like you to be -so unkind! And I thought you would be glad to know.” -</p> - -<p> -Surely he must answer now?—but she sobbed on, and there came no word -of comfort. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, Miss North, and what’s all this about?” said Dr Tighe. -</p> - -<p> -He stood at the door, looking in at her, and Mabel sprang to her feet -and confronted him, shaking with sobs, her face stained with tears. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s—it’s only—I was speaking to him, and he won’t answer,” she -managed to say. -</p> - -<p> -“But I told you he wouldn’t. He can’t. Why, he doesn’t even hear you.” -</p> - -<p> -“I thought I could make him hear.” -</p> - -<p> -“As well try to wake the dead. No, no; what an idiot I am!” as she -recoiled from him in terror. “Purely a figure of speech, nothing more. -Now I will take a turn of watching, and do you go and get some rest.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh no, I won’t leave him. I am not a bit tired.” -</p> - -<p> -“Go to Mrs North. She can’t sleep either, and she and her ayah have -got some coffee for you. It will soon be daylight, and you had better -rest while you can.” -</p> - -<p> -“As if I should think of leaving him!” repeated Mabel in scorn. -</p> - -<p> -“I won’t be defied by my own nurses, Miss North. If you don’t go -peaceably, I’ll have you gently assisted out, and once outside this -room you won’t get in again.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, how can you be so unkind!” sobbed Mabel, breaking down abjectly. -</p> - -<p> -“I am not unkind. I want you to help me a great deal with the poor -fellow, and that’s why I insist upon your resting now. You shall come -on duty again in four hours or so, and I’ll promise faithfully to call -you if there’s any change in the meantime.” -</p> - -<p> -Slowly and reluctantly Mabel left the room, and went along the -verandah to Georgia’s door. Georgia was sitting up in a long cane -chair, and welcomed her cheerfully. -</p> - -<p> -“Come in, Mab. It seems absurdly early to be up, but I knew how cold -and miserable you would feel after being awake all night. This is the -very last of the coffee. Dr Tighe has lavished it upon us recklessly -on the chance of our being relieved to-day, so make the most of it.” -</p> - -<p> -“I couldn’t touch it, Georgie!” with a gesture of disgust. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh yes, you can, to please me. After you have drunk it you shall lie -down on my bed, and if you can’t sleep, we will talk. Why, you are -shivering! Put on that shawl, and now drink the coffee,” and Mabel -obeyed. -</p> - -<p> -“Let me stay here, Georgie,” she said when she had finished, sitting -down on the floor, and laying her head on Georgia’s knee. “I like to -be close to you. You understand things.” Georgia stroked her hair -softly, and she went on, “Other people don’t understand—even Flora, -or Dr Tighe. And Dick was horrid last night. The only person who seems -to know how I feel is poor Eustace—he understands.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, he has suffered himself.” -</p> - -<p> -“And that is my fault. But I never knew how it hurt till now, Georgie, -or I couldn’t have done it, and now that I do know, it’s too late. I -know now how you feel about Dick, because of what I feel about <i>him</i>. -I can’t bear any one else to do a single thing for him, and if he -became conscious again while I was away, I should be ready to kill Dr -Tighe. Isn’t it strange that to-day I would give anything to hear him -say the things that made me so angry a little while ago, and that I -have said things in his ear to-night that would have made him -perfectly happy then, and now he can’t even hear them? Oh, Georgie, if -he should never hear them—if he should die without recovering his -senses!” -</p> - -<p> -“We can only hope—and pray,” said Georgia gently. -</p> - -<p> -“I know, but you must pray—I can’t. You have always been kind to him, -at any rate; I haven’t. I don’t deserve that he should get well, I -know—but I do want him so much. When I think that he has been wasting -his love upon me all this time, while I was too proud to take it, I -feel it would serve me right if I never had the chance of telling him -how glad and thankful I am to have it. But I do love him, Georgie, -indeed I do.” -</p> - -<p> -“I know you do, Mab,” said Georgia, still passing her hand softly over -Mabel’s hair. She would not allow a word of reproach to cross her -lips, but in her heart there was a little tumult of wifely -indignation. Mabel was so much engrossed with Fitz Anstruther as not -even to remember that her brother had taken his life in his hand and -gone straight into the enemy’s camp. “But it is only natural. Perhaps -I should do the same in her place,” thought Georgia, and continued the -pleasant restful movement. Before very long Mabel was asleep, and she -was still crouched upon the floor, leaning against Georgia, when Dr -Tighe came to say that she might take her second turn of watching in -the sick-room. She awoke with a start, while he was talking to Georgia -in an excited whisper. -</p> - -<p> -“Yes, Mrs North, I’m certain there’s something up. Two or three -distinct <i>jirgahs</i> seem to be going on in the enemy’s lines, and -though they began to make preparations for fighting two hours ago, -they don’t get any forrarder. And we are almost certain that there’s a -movement of some kind in progress at the back of Gun Hill. There may -be artillery there, taking up a position, or possibly the whole relief -column is preparing to occupy the heights. If it’s anything of the -sort, it’s all due to that marvellous husband of yours, whom I’d make -Viceroy this very hour if I had my way.” -</p> - -<p> -“And he would be excessively unhappy at Government House, and the -cause of extreme misery to every one else,” laughed Georgia; but -Mabel, who had been listening to their talk half asleep, sprang up. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Doctor, is there any change? Is he awake?” -</p> - -<p> -“No change whatever, I’m sorry to say. Have your breakfast before you -come across, and then I’ll leave you in charge while I go my morning -rounds in the hospital.” -</p> - -<p> -Very soon Mabel was at her post again, wondering at the horror which -night and silence had lent to the rough-walled, commonplace little -room. The full blaze of sunlight never reached this particular corner -of the courtyard until late in the afternoon, but the hole which had -been left as a window admitted a certain amount of light. Through it -also there came pleasantly distant sounds of life and movement from -the other parts of the fort. As Mabel sat with her eyes fixed upon the -bed, the murmur of different noises lulled her into a state very -nearly resembling sleep, and once again she thought she saw a -movement, only to discover that it was merely fancy. Another period of -intense vigilance passing gradually into semi-consciousness followed, -the mere effort of concentrating her gaze on one object inclining her -to slumber, and then there came a sudden awakening. Was it thunder, or -another earthquake, or what could be the meaning of those tremendous -crashes, each of which was welcomed by cries of delight from the -walls? -</p> - -<p> -“Guns, I suppose,” said Mabel to herself, still half asleep. “Perhaps -it will wake him.” She bent forward eagerly, but there was still no -movement, and she sat down again disappointed. The crashes and the -shouts of joy overhead still continued, but she made no attempt to -learn what was going on, not so much from reluctance to leave her post -as from sheer lack of interest. Suddenly there came a different sound, -a singing, shrieking noise, deepening into a groan as it came nearer. -She had never heard it before, and yet she knew by instinct what it -meant. -</p> - -<p> -“A shell!” she cried, springing up involuntarily. However long she may -live, she will never remember that moment without a blush of bitter -humiliation, for she sprang up to run away. But the impulse was only -momentary. Even before she could turn towards the door a rush of -incredulous shame swept over her and made her throw herself on her -knees by the bed. She clasped one of the bandaged hands in hers to -give herself courage. “I will die with him!” she said, and burying her -face in the coverlet, waited. It seemed to her that she waited for -hours, and yet only the minutest fraction of time can have elapsed -between her recognition of the nature of the sound and the concussion -which followed—a deafening, rending noise, which seemed to comprise -within itself all imaginable sounds of terror, and which was -intensified a hundredfold by the echoes it evoked from the walls of -the fort. To Mabel it felt as if the world was coming to an end, and -she was being buried in the ruins, but at this point she lost -consciousness, and knew no more until she found Dr Tighe and Flora -dashing water into her face, rubbing her hands, and using various -other means to revive her. Her first impression was of a blaze of -intense light, and it only dawned upon her gradually that the roof of -the room and the two walls facing the courtyard were gone, their -shattered fragments lying in heaps around. -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll never forgive myself!” cried Dr Tighe frantically. “What -business had I to be trespassing upon the walls, just to watch the -practice our fellows were making, and leaving my patients to be killed -without me? The moment I saw the Nalapuri horse trying to escape -across the canal, and the gun on the hill turned round to cover them, -I said, ‘We’ll have a shell dumped into us in another minute,’ and -sure enough we had.” -</p> - -<p> -“What was it, then?” asked Mabel feebly. -</p> - -<p> -“Thank God you’re alive yet! ’Twas one of our own shells that fell -short, and as nearly as possible wrecked the whole place. I made sure -you were done for when Miss Graham and I got you out.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, but what about him—is he safe?” cried Mabel, starting up and -pushing her way into the corner where the bed stood. Its position had -protected it to a wonderful extent from the falling timbers of the -roof and walls, but it was covered with smaller fragments, and -enveloped in a haze of dust which was only now dispersing. But Mabel -cared nothing for the dust or falling plaster. -</p> - -<p> -“He’s talking!” she shrieked to Dr Tighe, who followed her, stumbling -over the rubbish on the floor. “Hush, oh, hush! I must hear what he -says.” -</p> - -<p> -Dr Tighe held his breath, and Flora quickly waved back the curious -servants and others who had been attracted to the spot by the bursting -of the shell, and withdrew with them out of earshot. Mabel, kneeling -beside the bed, was listening hungrily to the words which poured from -the patient’s lips, not spoken with any apparent difficulty, but -rattled off in quick low tones. -</p> - -<p> -“Awfully good job those Sikh fellows are making such a noise on the -wall. I’m sure I dislodged something then, but I didn’t hear it fall. -Perhaps it fell on our friend down below. Rather a startler for him, -but he’ll be waiting for me. Hope he looks in the wrong place. This is -the best point to drop from, I should think. Hope and trust there are -no sharp bricks and things to come down upon. It’s creepy work. One, -two, three, and away! So far, so good. Now to stalk our friend. If -he’s trying to stalk me at the same moment, our heads will probably -meet with a bang. I’ll have my knife out—revolver would be too risky. -Ah—h—h—h—what’s that? The powder-bag, I’ll swear; but I thought it -was the man. Now if only I knew where you are at this moment, my -friend, I would drag your bags to a safe distance, and give you a nice -little hunt for them. But it would be awkward if you came on me from -behind, so I’ll wait here. Wonder if my eyes shine in the dark like a -cat’s? That would give him rather a turn; he might think it was a -tiger. Hullo! back already, are you, and another lot of powder too? -Now if you’ll only leave it behind you, and retire gracefully for the -moment, we’ll whip it up over the wall in no time, and requisition it -for her Majesty’s service. Oh, that’s it, is it? Well, you are a cool -hand, I must say, to make your bed on a heap of powder-bags! But I -can’t stay watching you until you choose to make a move. I might -sneeze, you know, so I’m afraid I must trouble you. Now then! just -hand over that knife. Oh, that’s your little game, is it? This is not -playing fair. Firearms not allowed on any account. I say!” -</p> - -<p> -There was a pause, a sigh, and the voice went on again. -</p> - -<p> -“I never guessed these bricks would be so knobby. It’s rather rough -negotiating them without any boots. Awfully good job those Sikh -fellows are making such a noise on the wall. I’m sure I dislodged -something then——” Mabel lifted an agonised face to the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -“He’s saying the same things over again. What does it all mean?” -</p> - -<p> -“He is going over the last two or three minutes before the explosion. -I suppose the thoughts and impressions of that time have fixed -themselves in his mind, which seems to have been set working again by -the shock of the bursting shell. Very likely he will go on like this.” -</p> - -<p> -“What! Always?” cried Mabel, in horror. -</p> - -<p> -“We’ll hope not, though I have known cases in which the effect of such -a shock has been permanent. The brain seems unable ever to receive any -other impression afterwards. But he can’t well go on talking at this -rate long, and when he’s exhausted he may sink into a stupor, and -emerge in a more rational state of mind. I wonder whether his hearing -has returned? Anstruther!” -</p> - -<p> -There was no answer. “You try,” said the doctor. -</p> - -<p> -“Fitz!” cried Mabel, her tones sharpened by anxiety; but the low -monotonous voice rambled on, and there was no response to be -discerned. -</p> - -<p> -“We can’t do anything. He must go on until he is tired,” said Dr -Tighe. “And you had better go on the sick-list yourself, Miss North. -You’re a good deal knocked about.” -</p> - -<p> -To her astonishment, Mabel found that this was the case. Bruises and -flesh-wounds of which she had not been conscious were painfully -evident on her arms and shoulders, and her dress was torn in a dozen -places. But she refused to leave her post until the time Dr Tighe had -appointed her was over; and perceiving that she would not be able to -rest while Fitz was in this state, he consented to do what he could -for her on the spot, and allowed her to remain for the present. It was -almost more heart-rending to listen to the often-repeated story of the -last few minutes of consciousness Fitz had known, than it had been to -see him lying silent, but she remained at her post until the low -hurrying tones became intermittent, and finally ceased altogether. By -this time the servants had contrived, by means of screens and loose -boards, partially to repair, or at least to conceal, the dilapidation -of the room, for Dr Tighe declined to attempt the removal of the -patient, assuring Mabel cheerfully that he was in the safest place in -the fort. Even if the relieving column should chance to drop in a few -more shells, all the probabilities were against their falling in the -same spot. Thus assured, Mabel consented to allow her own hurts to be -looked to, and swallowed with unexpected docility the draught which -the doctor gave her. She did so the more readily that she began to be -conscious she could not keep up much longer. The vigil and terror of -the night, the alarm and anxiety of the day, seemed to have robbed her -of every vestige of strength, and she had no mind to allow herself to -be ousted from the post which was hers by right. If she was to -continue in charge of Fitz, she must contrive to get the doctor on her -side, and not alienate him by opposition to his orders. -</p> - -<p> -This time she had no difficulty in obtaining rest. Her eyes closed -almost as soon as she threw herself on her bed, and she slept without -waking until the evening. When at length she awoke, she sprang up in -alarm. Why had no one called her? It was actually getting dark, and -the courtyard looked utterly deserted. What had happened? She threw on -her dress, and ran along the verandah to the sick-room. Just as she -reached it, the screen which served as a door was moved aside, and -Dick and Dr Tighe came out, accompanied by a sunburnt elderly man in -khaki campaigning uniform. -</p> - -<p> -“My sister,” said Dick laconically. “We have been taking Colonel -Slaney to see Anstruther, Mab. Glad to say he thinks he’ll do.” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, really, really?” cried Mabel, clasping her hands, and looking at -the surgeon with eyes suddenly overflowing with tears. -</p> - -<p> -“Well, he’ll never be much of a beauty again,” was the gruff reply. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, what does that signify? His mind—will that be all right?” -</p> - -<p> -“I hope so—if he can be kept from any more shocks. That shell to-day -seems to have been a kill or cure business—I shouldn’t recommend any -more of the same sort. You were there at the time—stuck to him—eh? -Very plucky thing to do. Well, you just let him alone now. Don’t try -to excite his feelings, or make him recognise you. Give the brain time -to recover itself.” -</p> - -<p> -“But you are sure it will be all right? Oh, I can’t thank you properly -for telling me this—but he will get quite well?” -</p> - -<p> -“Very ungrateful if he doesn’t, with such a nurse. Don’t go and wear -yourself to a shadow looking after him while he’s insensible. You’ll -need all your cheerfulness and good spirits when he recovers -consciousness.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel looked dumbly at Dr Tighe. What did this warning portend? The -little man answered her mute appeal with friendly alacrity. -</p> - -<p> -“At the best he’ll be rather badly scarred, Miss North, but we hope -and trust there’ll be nothing else the matter. Colonel Slaney doesn’t -mean to imply that you would mind the scars, or that the poor fellow -would care about them for his own sake, but it’s likely he will for -yours.” -</p> - -<p> -“I see. Thank you for telling me. I shall know what to do now,” said -Mabel, quite calmly, though the screen trembled where her fingers were -gripping it. -</p> - -<p> -“Buck up, Queen Mab!” said Dick kindly, lingering behind the other two -to give her an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “Never say die!” -</p> - -<p> -She caught his hand and wrung it, reading in his action an apology for -his hasty speech of the night before, and he smiled at her cheerily as -she disappeared behind the screen. Fitz was still lying in the state -of stupor in which she had left him, and she sat down beside the bed, -and tried to lay her plans for the future. As she recalled what -Colonel Slaney had said, it was natural that the man himself should -recur to her mind. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, we must be relieved!” she said to herself. “How stupid of me -never to have thought of it. Colonel Slaney belongs to the column, of -course. And Dick has come back safe, too. And I took it all for -granted, and nobody said anything. Where can Georgie be—and Flora?” -</p> - -<p> -Wondering again at the calm way in which the three men had ignored the -almost incredible fact of the ending of the siege, she tried to recall -her conversation with them, in order to see whether any allusion had -been made to it, and suddenly remembered what had struck her vaguely -at the time, the stranger’s manner. He had not addressed her in the -way in which long experience had prepared her to be addressed; in -fact, she missed the peculiar deference to which she was accustomed -from the other sex. -</p> - -<p> -“He spoke to me just as if I was any other woman!” she said to -herself, with a <i>naïveté</i> which would have struck her as laughable -in any one else. “He was kind and encouraging—patronising, almost. Do -I look very dreadful, I wonder?” She cast a puzzled glance at her limp -cotton gown. “Still, even then, it’s not usually my clothes that -people think about. How Dick would laugh! He’ll say that the -celebrated smile failed of its effect for once.” -</p> - -<p> -Presently an unexpected solution of the mystery occurred to her. -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps I’m getting old and ugly, and people won’t care to talk to me -any more. How dreadful to have to ask men to do things, instead of -their rushing to do them of their own accord! It will take a long time -to get accustomed to it. Oh, and perhaps Fitz won’t care for me now! -If he leaves off loving me just as I have found out that I love him, -what shall I do? I told Georgie once that I would give anything to -care for any one as she cared for Dick, but I never thought of not -being loved in return. There was some fairy tale about a princess who -had no heart, and could not get one without giving everything she had -in exchange for it, and that’s how I feel. But how dreadful to get the -heart, and then find that it’s not wanted! If he cares for me still, I -don’t mind if I never speak to another man again, but if he -doesn’t——!” -</p> - -<p> -There was a step outside, and Flora looked cautiously round the corner -of the screen, then advanced, bearing a tray. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, Mab, you must have thought we had forgotten you, you poor thing!” -she murmured, in subdued tones. “But you were fast asleep when I -looked into your room, and we thought it would be kinder not to wake -you. We were all in the mess-room verandah to welcome General -Cranstoun and the officers of the column. It was lovely to see them -come in; I did wish you were there. And they are all so kind, you -can’t think! As soon as ever they heard what we were reduced to, they -sent their servants for all sorts of private stores, and gave us -everything they could think of that we should like. Look! here’s a cup -of tea—strong tea—for you, with milk in it, and I have made you some -sandwiches of potted meat. Isn’t it good of them? And they say such -nice things about the way we have stood the siege, and they are so -interested in the boy, and they admire your brother and Mrs North so -much. It’s delightful to hear them.” -</p> - -<p> -“But what has happened to the enemy?” asked Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“Oh, most of them have surrendered, but Bahram Khan and a body of -horse escaped, and got safely to Dera Gul. Major North just succeeded -in saving the Amir, and he’s in the fort now. Part of the column has -gone on to keep an eye on Dera Gul, but the rest will camp here for -to-night. Some of the officers are coming in after dinner—doesn’t it -sound funny to say that again? You will come and talk to them, won’t -you?” -</p> - -<p> -“I’ll just come and see them—it would seem rude not to go near them -after all they have done for us—but I can’t leave him for long. -Flora!” suddenly, “do you see anything different in me?” -</p> - -<p> -“You are dreadfully pale and tired, and your dress looks as if you had -put it on in a hurry, and your hair isn’t very nicely done,” said -Flora hesitatingly. “Is that what you mean?” -</p> - -<p> -“No—not quite. If—if you were a man, should you still think of me as -Queen Mab?” -</p> - -<p> -Flora hesitated still, then suddenly flew at Mabel, and kissed her -with great vehemence. “What does it signify?” she demanded. “I shall -love you just as well, and so will <i>he</i>, and lots of people will love -you a great deal more. You’re just as lovely, really, as ever you -were.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then there is something,” cried Mabel. “What is it?” -</p> - -<p> -“I—I don’t know, exactly. It’s something gone. I have noticed it -going, since—I think since Mr Anstruther came back from looking for -your brother. It was a sort of assurance—I can’t think of the proper -word—as if you knew that every one admired you, and you had a right -to their services. Yes, that was it. It took every one captive, you -know, Mab.” -</p> - -<p> -“And now?” asked Mabel, in a low voice. -</p> - -<p> -“Now? Oh, it makes me miserable to see you. You look as if you wanted -people to be kind to you, poor darling.” -</p> - -<p> -“Only one person,” whispered Mabel. “Do you think he will?” -</p> - -<p> -“As if you doubted him! Fraud! If he isn’t, I’ll give Fred up, and -come and live with you in a hermitage. There!” -</p> - -<p> -“Then I don’t mind. I have lost my kingdom, and found a heart.” -</p> - - -<h3 id="ch24"> -CHAPTER XXIV.<br/> -<span class="chap_sub">WHAT ZEYNAB SAW.</span> -</h3> - -<p class="noindent"> -“<span class="sc">Dick</span>, I want to speak to you. I’m sure there’s something wrong.” -</p> - -<p> -“There’ll be something wrong with you, if you rush up the steps at -that rate, after being out all morning. You haven’t walked back, I -hope?” -</p> - -<p> -“No, of course not. I had a doolie. But it’s really important, Dick.” -</p> - -<p> -“I dare say it is, but I won’t listen to a single word until you lie -down in that chair and let me fan you. Now let us hear about it. You -went to the Refugees’ Camp as usual, and doctored all and sundry?” -</p> - -<p> -It was not in the confined limits of the Memsahibs’ courtyard that -this conversation took place, for since the arrival of the relieving -column the fort had been practically deserted, owing to its insanitary -condition. As the town had also been left by the enemy in an -undesirable state, most of the rightful inhabitants were under canvas -for the present. Quarters had been found, however, in the large Sarai -for a good many of the Europeans, who led a picnic existence in the -bare mud rooms, cheered by such remnants of their household goods as -they had been able to save, until the neighbourhood should quiet down, -so as to allow them to return to their homes. Bahram Khan was holding -out obstinately at Dera Gul, where he appeared to hold in deep -contempt the devastation wrought by the besiegers’ mountain-guns. They -had battered his walls to pieces, but he and his garrison retired to -shelters underground, whence they emerged on more than one occasion to -frustrate, with considerable loss to the attacking party, attempts to -carry the place by assault. Meanwhile, his followers’ wives and -children, who were not admitted into the fortress, had thrown -themselves quite happily on the hands of the besiegers, in the calm -confidence that this course would ensure their being provided with -food, lodging, and medical attendance free of cost. To have despatched -them, in their present unprotected condition, to any distance from the -British lines would merely have led to their being killed or enslaved -by the tribes, and after much discussion they were gathered into a -special camp, under the charge of an officer detailed for the duty, -which he cursed daily. Here they were looked after in company with the -native women and children who had survived the siege, and such of the -townspeople as now began to reappear from mysterious hiding-places or -cities of refuge. The care of their health was entrusted to Georgia, -and every morning she visited the camp and prescribed for any patients -that might be awaiting her. It was from one of these visits that she -had just returned. -</p> - -<p> -“I was making a surprise inspection of the huts, Dick—it’s necessary -every few days, you know—and I came to one where a number of women -who have no children are quartered together. They were not expecting -me, and they were just sitting or standing about. One of them was -Jehanara.” -</p> - -<p> -“My word!” Dick sprang to his feet. “Are you certain, Georgie?” -</p> - -<p> -“Quite. I never forget a face, you know, and hers is a remarkable -one.” -</p> - -<p> -“And what did you do?” -</p> - -<p> -“I pretended not to have recognised her, and our eyes did not meet, so -I don’t think she could have seen that I knew her. I finished the -inspection, and then, when I was reporting to Major Atkinson, I asked -him to arrest her at once, as I was sure she was there as a spy.” -</p> - -<p> -“And had she got away in the meantime?” -</p> - -<p> -“Oh dear, no! When I had made Major Atkinson understand which woman I -meant, he laughed at me, and said that she was certainly a spy—a spy -of our own; and she had a pass signed by the General to allow her to -leave the camp when she liked.” -</p> - -<p> -“Somebody is being made a nice fool of.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s what I thought. If she has come to the General, and offered to -betray the fortress to him—that door, you know—and it’s all a trap! -He doesn’t know her as we do. I thought of going to him at once, but -then it struck me that he might laugh at me as Major Atkinson did, so -I came back to tell you as fast as I could.” -</p> - -<p> -“You thought he might be like Burgrave, and dislike ladies’ -interfering in politics? Well, I suppose I must go myself, and fish -for snubs. What I do admire in all these big chaps is their -deep-rooted distrust of the man on the spot. I wonder they don’t order -us all out of the district before they’ll deign to set foot in it.” -</p> - -<p> -Before very long Dick was received by General Cranstoun in the -seclusion of his tent. To his observant eye, the General’s face wore a -slightly expectant, not to say conscious expression, and he went -straight to the business in hand. -</p> - -<p> -“I should be glad, sir, if you would authorise the arrest of an East -Indian woman who calls herself Joanna Warren or Jehanara. She is a -secret agent of Bahram Khan’s, and my wife found her secreted in the -Refugees’ Camp this morning.” -</p> - -<p> -“There is no such person in the camp,” was the terse reply. -</p> - -<p> -“What! has she got away already?” cried Dick. “Excuse me, but this may -be a serious matter. Did she know that she was recognised?” -</p> - -<p> -“I believe not. I understand that when she heard it was Mrs North’s -habit to visit the camp, she considered it unwise to remain there -longer.” -</p> - -<p> -“I wish to goodness I knew whether that was all,” muttered Dick. “Is -there any hope of getting hold of her still?” -</p> - -<p> -“I do not know. The matter does not appear to me to lie in your -province, Major North, and I am not prepared to offer you any -assistance.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps you are not aware, sir, that the woman in question is Bahram -Khan’s most trusted counsellor? It is generally understood that all -our recent misfortunes are attributable to her influence, and I know -personally that she has done an immense amount of harm.” -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps you are not aware that the unfortunate woman of whom you are -speaking has been for years most cruelly ill-used by Bahram Khan, and -has vowed vengeance upon him in consequence? But I am not at liberty -to say more upon the subject.” -</p> - -<p> -“No!” cried Dick, with sudden enlightenment, “because she made you -promise to say nothing to me before she would utter a word. She told -you that I was brutally unsympathetic, and had insulted her in her -misfortunes, and that I forbade my wife to receive her?” -</p> - -<p> -“These are facts of which I should scarcely expect you to be proud, -Major North.” Still, the General looked uncomfortable. -</p> - -<p> -“I am prouder of them than I should be of being taken in by the most -cunning Jezebel in India. The woman hasn’t a grain of truth in her -composition.” -</p> - -<p> -“I have been considered a good judge of character,” said General -Cranstoun severely, “and I would stake my life on Miss Warren’s -truthfulness. She has told me something of her history, and her manner -left on my mind the most extraordinary impression of impotent fury -thirsting for revenge. No acting could have produced the effect.” -</p> - -<p> -“And so you are going to stake your life on her truthfulness? and the -lives of her Majesty’s troops? I see it all!” cried Dick, with growing -excitement. “You are to be at the north-east corner of the Dera Gul -rock with a body of picked men at a certain time, when she will open a -door leading into the subterranean passages. Guided by her, you will -make your way up with your detachment to the gate opening on the -zigzag path, and hold it until the rest of your force comes up. Then -the fortress is in your hands.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why—how in the world did you know this?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am acquainted with the lady, you see.” -</p> - -<p> -“But the door—how did you hear about that?” -</p> - -<p> -“I have seen it. When the place was empty, before it was restored to -Bahram Khan, I explored it thoroughly.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you never told me of the existence of the door? I should have -imagined that the interests of the public service would have prevailed -over any slight personal jealousy——” -</p> - -<p> -“I didn’t mention it,” said Dick, “because the door is a portion of -the solid rock, and can only be opened from within. It is lifted by a -complicated arrangement of weights and pulleys, and a dozen women -couldn’t make it stir. I should say it needed ten men at least.” -</p> - -<p> -The General’s brow gathered blackness. “Your information would have -been more valuable had it come earlier,” he said. “In the -circumstances, I do not feel justified in abandoning an excellent -opportunity of ending this revolt, merely in view of your suspicions.” -</p> - -<p> -“They are certainties. Say that you and your picked men are trapped in -the cave—the door works from above. The only way out is up a narrow -staircase, which only one man can climb at a time, but there are holes -high up through which you could be shot down in dozens. Once inside, -Bahram Khan has you safe—to use as a hostage, if he likes.” -</p> - -<p> -“I should not feel justified in abandoning the attempt,” repeated the -General, “but,” he added, with a degree less of severity, “if you can -suggest any precautions that might render success more certain, I -shall be glad to consider them.” -</p> - -<p> -“There are to be no lights, I suppose? Then I would let every man -except those in the front rank carry a block of stone. We can get them -out of the ruins not far off, and if they are piled up at the sides of -the doorway—I’ll show the men how to do it—the door can’t come right -down, at any rate. Then, Jehanara has arranged with you that the rest -of the force shall advance up the zigzag path at a signal from the -gate? The enemy’s fire commands every foot of the way, and we can’t -shell them to any purpose at night. But if, instead of climbing up on -that side, our main body was making a determined assault with -scaling-ladders upon the opposite side of the fortress, where the -walls come down to the level, that would distract the attention of the -garrison if you found it necessary to retire from the cave. My idea is -that as soon as you are well inside, the door will go down, and you -will be summoned to surrender. But the door will stick, and you will -be able to retire in good order, and form outside. Then, even if the -attack did not come off quite at the same moment, you would be -prepared to resist the garrison if they charged, and be sheltered -against their fire from above. And the best part of the plan,” added -Dick cunningly, “is that there is no need to break faith with -Jehanara. If she means well by you, everything will go off just as you -arranged, and her feelings will not be hurt by the knowledge of my -base suspicions.” -</p> - -<p> -“Major North,” said the General, holding out his hand, “I have done -you an injustice. The arrangements you suggest seem to obviate all -risk, and I shall be glad if you will accompany me, in order to direct -the men who will carry the stones. The details of the main attack I -will arrange immediately.” -</p> - -<p> -“Then when was the attempt to be made, sir?” -</p> - -<p> -“To-night, of course. <i>Is</i> to be made, if you please.” -</p> - -<p> -“That was a pretty close shave!” muttered Dick to himself, when he was -safely outside. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -And thus it came to pass that there was yet another night in which -Georgia and Flora, unable to sleep, sat together in one of the bleak -rooms of the Sarai, and held each other’s hands in an agony of fear -and anxiety, while Mabel stole in at intervals from her watch beside -Fitz to ask whether there was any news yet. Over and over again the -anxious watchers persuaded themselves that they could hear the sound -of firing echoed across the miles of desert which separated them from -Dera Gul, and on each occasion they assured one another that the idea -was absurd. Mrs Hardy came in several times to scold them for sitting -up, twice spoiling the effect of her rebukes by administering hot -coffee as a corrective, but she knew as well as they did that they -could not bring themselves to face the solitude of their own rooms. At -last, just as day was breaking, a messenger came from the signal -officer at the camp to say that flash-signals of some sort were -visible to the eastward, but the mists of the morning made it -impossible to read them properly. There was still an hour or so more -of weary waiting, and then Dick and Haycraft rode in together, the -latter with his arm in a sling. He had been knocked from one of the -scaling-ladders by a stone hurled at him, and the bone was broken, but -otherwise he was only bruised. And what did even a broken arm signify, -when there was victory at last? -</p> - -<p> -“It was just as we thought,” Dick told Georgia. “As soon as we were -inside the cave, I saw the door begin to come down—shutting out the -stars, don’t you know? and a voice called out to us to surrender. But -just when the door ought to have descended with a crash, it made a -grating noise instead, and stuck fast, for the stones were piled about -four feet high on each side. The enemy saw the dodge in a moment, and -opened fire through the holes up above, but as we were all in the -dark, it was a pretty wild affair. Two or three were wounded, and from -the back of the cave came an awful scream—a woman’s scream. It was -that wretched Jehanara, who had tried to escape up the staircase, and -was shot down by mistake. So now we shall never know—or rather, the -General won’t—whether she was deceived herself, or deceiving us. -Then, as we got out of the place, we heard the sound of the attack on -the other side, and we raced round to take part in it. Our men were -already in at the breach the shells have made, and by the time we got -up they were fighting hand to hand inside. We pressed the garrison -back from point to point, until we came to the zenana. It seems that -Bahram Khan had talked big about killing all his women before the end -came, but his plucky old mother didn’t quite see it. She and the rest -barricaded themselves in, all except Bahram Khan’s wife Zeynab, and -kept him out. The fellow made a great fuss about breaking down the -barricade, and went off to find a hammer or pickaxe or something to do -it with, but we got there first. The men he had left fought to the -last in front of the barricade, and behind it the old Begum held out -stoutly until I came up, when she surrendered at discretion. Then we -found out from one of our wounded that Bahram Khan and his wife had -got away through the cave, with either two or three of his men, so -that he is still at large, though the place is in our hands. Of course -the regiment is scouring the country for him, and the tribes are all -thirsting for the reward that will be offered, but it is a horrid -bother.” -</p> - -<p> -“Zeynab will scarcely be the help to him that Jehanara would have -been,” said Georgia. -</p> - -<p> -“No, but I don’t like his being loose. I shall get them to post a -sentry at the gate here, as well as the Sikh at Burgrave’s door, and -none of you must go outside without an escort. Mab mustn’t try any -more of her adventurous rides.” -</p> - -<p> -“Why, Dick, there’s no one for her to ride with at present.” -</p> - -<p> -“No more there is, happily. Well, I shall be thankful if her devotion -to Anstruther lasts long enough to keep her between walls just now. -Bahram Khan driven desperate would be an ugly customer to meet out in -the open.” -</p> - -<p> -It was a source of considerable relief to Dick to learn that at this -particular time Mabel was less likely than ever to quit her charge. -Two or three days before, she had astonished Dr Tighe by demanding to -be allowed to assist in dressing the patient’s burns. The doctor, who -had contrived, with what he regarded as almost superhuman cunning, -always to accomplish this process at a time when she was not on duty, -was much perplexed by the request. -</p> - -<p> -“Trust me,” he urged; “I’ll let you help as soon as it’s desirable.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel shook her head. “You don’t understand,” she said. “I want to -know the worst while he is still unconscious. I think I can trust -myself not to make any sign, but I am not sure, and if it is very -dreadful—oh, it would break my heart if he thought I shrank from him -because of his scars!” -</p> - -<p> -“But, my dear young lady, that’s all the more reason for waiting. The -wounds will be far less painful to look at when they are a little more -healed.” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s just it. If I see them now, at their worst, I can’t be -horrified afterwards. I want to be able to judge of the improvement, -so that I may cheer him if he thinks he is not getting on.” -</p> - -<p> -Dr Tighe muttered fiercely to himself, but yielded at last, and -allowed Mabel to act as his assistant at the next dressing. She -thought she had schooled herself to bear the worst, but in spite of -all her resolutions she shrank and shivered involuntarily when she -realised the frightful change in the dark handsome face she had always -secretly admired. Dr Tighe, going about his work with swift, practised -fingers, said nothing, and pretended not to notice the drops of water -which splashed upon him from the basin she held. -</p> - -<p> -“Will he—can he ever look at all as he did?” she asked in a whisper -at last. -</p> - -<p> -“If things turn out as I hope, he will look no worse than a man who is -badly marked with smallpox. There will be two or three ugly -seams—here, and here”—he indicated the precise spots lightly with a -finger-tip—“but the hair will help to cover them when it grows again, -and if the mouth is much disfigured—why, you must lay your commands -upon the patient to grow a beard.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel was crying. “Oh, it is too dreadful, too dreadful!” she sobbed. -</p> - -<p> -“Then you had better leave the sick-room to me before he recovers -consciousness. There’s no need to make things worse for him by raising -false hopes. Either stick to him, disfigurements and all, or don’t let -him know that he ever had the chance of marrying you.” -</p> - -<p> -“It’s not for myself; it’s for him!” flashed forth Mabel. “Stick to -him? of course I shall. He himself is not changed. But I can’t be too -thankful that I have seen him like this. At least I know the worst.” -</p> - -<p> -Again the doctor was puzzled. Was she forcing herself to keep faith, -for shame or pity’s sake, or was she really in love still? He did not -attempt to argue the matter with her, and nothing more was said on the -subject for a day or two. Then the doctor stopped Mabel one morning at -the door of the sick-room. -</p> - -<p> -“One moment, Miss North. Has the patient ever exhibited any signs of -consciousness in your presence—tried to speak, or anything of the -sort?” -</p> - -<p> -“Never,” said Mabel, in surprise. “I should have told you if he had.” -</p> - -<p> -“I didn’t know whether you might be luxuriating in the sentimental -satisfaction of feeling that you were the only person he recognised. -You needn’t be angry; from your point of view it would be very -natural. Well, I can’t make it out, then.” -</p> - -<p> -“But has he spoken again—are there any signs——?” -</p> - -<p> -“Not a word. But I can’t help thinking that there may be a kind of -semi-consciousness about him—ability to distinguish light from -darkness, or a loud noise from silence, perhaps—and I am almost -certain that he knows when you are there. There are minute variations -of temperature and pulse which correspond day after day, marking the -difference between your presence and absence. It’s a queer thing.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you think he will soon be quite conscious? Oh, doctor!” and this -hope it was that kept Mabel so closely within the walls of the Sarai -as to satisfy even Dick. But no further change in the patient’s -condition seemed to reward her eager watchfulness. Dr Tighe said -nothing more, and Mabel was afraid to ask questions. Any good news he -would surely tell her, and she did not want to hear any that was bad. -After another three days, however, he stopped her again outside the -sick-room. -</p> - -<p> -“Miss North, I’m going to give that poor fellow away. I won’t presume -to inquire into your feelings towards him, but unless you can take -him, scarred as he will be, without a qualm, you had better keep away -from him in future. He is conscious, but he guesses how it is with -him, and he means to tire you out. He has settled in his own mind that -if he shows no gratitude for your nursing, and no interest in your -presence, you will leave him alone, so that he won’t be tempted to -take advantage of your pity for him. So he lies there like a log, and -the self-repression is bad for him. I would be glad to see you end it -one way or another.” -</p> - -<p> -“Do you mean that he can speak, and see, and hear, but pretends he -can’t?” demanded Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“No, no. He can’t see—because of the bandage over his eyes, if for no -other reason—and he can’t speak intelligibly. But he can hear, and he -can answer questions by moving his right hand for yes, and his left -for no. That’s how I found it all out.” -</p> - -<p> -“And he has pretended not to be able to hear a sound! Why, I might -have said anything to him—anything! Happily I haven’t,” catching the -doctor’s eye, “for Colonel Slaney told me so particularly not to -excite him. But what do you want me to do?” -</p> - -<p> -“To please yourself. Either make him understand that you mean to stick -to him, or simply stay away. It’ll be better for him.” -</p> - -<p> -“Which have you told him you expect I shall do?” asked Mabel, turning -upon him. The doctor looked guilty. -</p> - -<p> -“I’d have had the greatest pleasure in preparing the poor fellow’s -mind, if I’d known,” he confessed; “but for the life of me I couldn’t -decide which you’d be likely to do.” -</p> - -<p> -“Thanks for your high opinion of me,” said Mabel, entering the room -with a short laugh. “Perhaps you will kindly notice that I am putting -an end to your doubts at this moment.” -</p> - -<p> -Such was the confused condition of Dr Tighe’s mind that he did not at -first realise the bearing of this sentence. Indeed, it was not until -he was busy in his improvised surgery half-an-hour later that he -perceived its full import, and made the bottles ring again with the -shout of joy which greeted his discovery. As for Mabel, she sat down -in her usual place beside the bed, and bent over the patient. -</p> - -<p> -“Fitz,” she said very distinctly, “I want to speak to you. You needn’t -pretend you can’t hear, for I know Dr Tighe has been talking to you. -Raise your right hand when you mean yes, and your left when you mean -no.” -</p> - -<p> -No movement of any kind followed, but Mabel was not to be daunted. -</p> - -<p> -“I understand,” she went on, “that you don’t like me to be here, and -would rather I left off helping to nurse you?” -</p> - -<p> -This time the right hand was unmistakably raised an inch or so. -</p> - -<p> -“I have no right to offer any objection,” resumed Mabel, “but I don’t -think you need have left Dr Tighe to tell me about it. I suppose I -ought to have known that I had treated you too badly for you ever to -care for me again.” -</p> - -<p> -The left hand was shaken two or three times with pathetic vehemence. -</p> - -<p> -“Then some one has told you,” indignantly, “how old and wretched I am -beginning to look. Even Flora confesses it—I made her tell me—but -she said she loved me just the same. I said I shouldn’t mind it, if it -didn’t prevent my friends caring for me—and there were one or two to -whom I felt sure it would make no difference. I never thought that -you—— No, you are not to touch that bandage,” intercepting a feeble -movement of one hand towards the eyes. “Do you want to be blind? But -it’s better as it is,” with a heavy sigh—“better that we should part -now. I mean, I couldn’t bear you to think me ugly.” -</p> - -<p> -Again the left hand was shaken vehemently. -</p> - -<p> -“Do you mean that it isn’t that? Then there’s only one other thing it -can possibly be. You don’t believe I can be faithful, though you can; -and you haven’t realised that it’s just this accident of yours which -removes my objection to you. You know I said you would look so -dreadfully young compared with me. Well, no one can say that now. You -will look like a battered veteran, and though I have gone off so -dreadfully, I shall look quite youthful beside you. Do you -understand?” -</p> - -<p> -The right hand was lifted somewhat doubtfully. -</p> - -<p> -“I’m glad of that. Because, you see, I have told people that we are -engaged, and it would be such a very uncomfortable thing if I had to -contradict it. Now listen. Flora and I have agreed that I am not Queen -Mab any longer, but if you agree it will be very rude.” Up came the -left hand with alacrity. “That’s right; then I am still Queen Mab to -you, and I lay my commands on you that this sort of thing is not to -happen again. I mean to help nurse you, whether you like it or not, -and you will get well much sooner if you make up your mind to like it. -But even if you don’t, I won’t give you up.” -</p> - -<p> -Both hands were raised, with an imploring gesture, and Mabel took them -in her own, and hid her face in them. -</p> - -<p> -“Because I love you, Fitz. You couldn’t have the heart to send me away -after that, could you? Don’t try to talk; I understand.” -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -Returning to her watch that evening, Mabel met the Commissioner, who -stopped to inquire after Fitz. -</p> - -<p> -“He is conscious; he knows me,” she answered joyfully, adding, after a -moment’s hesitation, “I think perhaps you will like to know that it is -all right between us now.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am very glad to hear it. I hope from my heart that you may be -absolutely happy. As for Anstruther,” added Mr Burgrave, in his old -courtly way, “there can be no question as to his happiness.” -</p> - -<p> -“We shall always feel that we owe it very much to you,” faltered -Mabel. -</p> - -<p> -“It is extremely kind of you to say so. I am leaving early to-morrow, -and that is a pleasant assurance to carry with me. I hoped I should -meet you this evening, as I am dining at your brother’s, but I see you -have other duties.” -</p> - -<p> -“I am so sorry—I didn’t understand—how stupid of me!” cried Mabel. -“Are you leaving the frontier altogether?” -</p> - -<p> -“I am returning in the first instance to Bab-us-Sahel, to take up my -regular duties again. My visit to the frontier has extended over a -preposterous length of time, owing first to my accident and then to -the rising, and I fear it has thrown the machinery of government a -good deal out of gear. Personally, however, I cannot bring myself to -regret it. I have enjoyed many important experiences, for which I did -not bargain when I set out.” -</p> - -<p> -Mabel’s eyes fell before the kindly look in his. “Can you ever forgive -me?” she murmured. -</p> - -<p> -“I have nothing to forgive. The fault was mine.” He bowed over the -hand she held out to him. “The Queen can do no wrong.” -</p> - -<p> -They parted, and Mr Burgrave went on to the Norths’ quarters, two -small square rooms without a door, and possessing only one small -window apiece, high up in the back wall. One side was open to the -courtyard of the Sarai, and at night was somewhat inadequately closed -by means of curtains and Venetian blinds. The dinner-table had been -laid with the help of contributions from the Grahams and the Hardys, -and the Commissioner pretended politely not to recognise his own -reading-lamp, the only large lamp belonging to the community that had -escaped the chances of war and earthquake. Flora, whose father was -dining with the General, occupied Mabel’s vacant place, and did her -part in helping to arrange the impromptu drawing-room at the back of -the room. There were screens and a brazier, to mitigate the coldness -of the evening air, and for furniture the camp-chairs which had played -so many parts in the economy of the siege. Dick had received strict -injunctions to offer his guest a cigar, and Georgia and Flora were -prepared to efface themselves so far as to retire into the bedroom -should Mr Burgrave’s principles forbid him to smoke in the presence of -ladies, but their self-sacrifice was not needed. No sooner were the -chairs arranged than the Commissioner, who had been helping to carry -them behind the screen, prepared to take his leave. -</p> - -<p> -“I will ask you to excuse me early,” he said to Georgia, “for I have a -good deal of writing to do, and Mr Beltring has been good enough to -offer to take poor Beardmore’s place for this evening.” -</p> - -<p> -He hesitated for a moment, turned to go, and then came back again. -</p> - -<p> -“I think perhaps I had better explain something that might perplex you -in the future,” he said, speaking to Dick, but including Georgia. “It -has to do with the frontier question.” -</p> - -<p> -“I thought we had come to an agreement on that subject,” said Dick, -with some apprehension. -</p> - -<p> -“Pardon me, I agreed to withdraw my report in deference to your -representations, but I still think your principles unsound—radically -unsound.” -</p> - -<p> -The rest gazed at him in alarm, and he went on. “Your custom of -intervening in trans-frontier disputes, and practically exercising -authority outside our own borders, is diametrically opposed to the -traditional policy of the Government. I am bound to admit that it -seems to succeed in your case, but it needs exceptional men to carry -it out. You, Major, especially with Mrs North to assist you”—he bowed -to Georgia—“are unquestionably a power to be reckoned with all along -this frontier, but what would befall the ordinary civil servant who -might be sent to succeed you?” -</p> - -<p> -“That’s just it,” said Dick. “You mustn’t send us the common or garden -office-wallah up here. Let me pick the right man—whether he’s a wild -rattlepate like Anstruther, or a steady plodding chap like -Beltring—and give him the right rough-and-tumble sort of training, -till he knows the tribes like a brother, and there’s your exceptional -man ready when you want him. Only he must be the right sort to begin -with, and he must be caught young.” -</p> - -<p> -“A possible clue to my own lack of success up here!” mused the -Commissioner. “Still, I fear you will scarcely find that any -Government will look with favour upon a system that would practically -make the frontier a close preserve for you and your pupils. But this -is what I wished to say. I can’t conscientiously work with you on your -lines, though I have promised not to oppose you, and therefore I am -recommending the severance of the frontier districts from those of -Khemistan proper, and their erection into a separate agency under an -officer answerable directly to the Viceroy. Don’t think I have tried -to shift the responsibility from my own shoulders. It seemed that -while we could not well work together, we might work side by side. I -have done the best I can.” -</p> - -<p> -He went out precipitately, one of the servants hastening to light him -to his own quarters, thus restoring the lamp. Those left behind looked -at each other. -</p> - -<p> -“Poor old chap!” said Dick. “It’s about the worst thing he could have -done for himself, and it’s not very much good to us. The Great Great -One can scarcely be expected to welcome such a slap in the face as -that. His own nominee, sent to carry out his very own policy, -recommending its reversal, not because his views have changed, but -simply because facts are against him!” -</p> - -<p> -They sat talking round the brazier in the dusk for some time, until -there was a footstep outside, and Beltring pushed aside the screen and -entered. He had a paper in his hand. -</p> - -<p> -“Why, you are all in the dark, Mrs North!” he said. “Never mind, I can -tell you the great news. The Commissioner has just had a telegram that -the rumour of the Viceroy’s resignation is true. Lord Torvalvin is -coming out instead.” -</p> - -<p> -“Torvalvin!” cried Dick. “Then the frontier’s safe.” -</p> - -<p> -“And you will be Warden of the Marches still,” said Flora. -</p> - -<p> -“That seems to make me out a sort of Vicar of Bray,” grumbled Dick. -</p> - -<p> -“It’s only Flora’s poetical way of speaking,” said Georgia. “I’m sure -it sounds much better to talk of keeping the marches than of running -the frontier.” -</p> - -<p> -“Yes,” said Flora. “I was thinking of the inscription in Sir Walter -Scott’s hall at Abbotsford, about the ‘men wha keepit the marchys in -the old tyme for the Kynge. Trewe men war they in their tyme, and in -their defence God them defendyt.’” -</p> - -<p> -“I like that,” said Georgia softly. -</p> - -<p> -“Well,” said Dick, “it’s all very well for me, but Torvalvin’s coming -out will be a fearful blow for Burgrave. I suppose he will feel bound -to resign, for I certainly don’t see how they can work together. Did -he seem much cut up, Beltring?” -</p> - -<p> -“He didn’t show it, sir. Only said he thought you would like to see -the telegram. Why, his lamp has gone out!” Beltring had reached the -threshold on his way back. “Good heavens! what’s that?” -</p> - -<p> -A wild uproar was arising from the camp, which stretched into the -desert beyond the Sarai, and alternate cries of “Dīn! Dīn!” and -“Ghazis!” were discernible. -</p> - -<p> -“A Ghazi raid!” cried Dick, springing for his sword. “Georgie, take -the boy and Rahah, and barricade yourself in with Mab and Miss Graham. -You have two revolvers, and I’ll send help as soon as possible. Take -the chairs. They’ll help you to build up a corner.” -</p> - -<p> -Rahah ran out with the baby, and Dick and Beltring saw the ladies -safely to the door of the sick-room, then rushed to the gateway, where -they stumbled over the dead body of the sentry. The tumult in the camp -still continued, shouts and yells coming from several directions -mingled with the sound of shots, but in each case all was quiet again -before they arrived at the point of interest. Such of the troops as -were new to the frontier looked somewhat ashamed when they realised -that the attack which had thrown the camp into confusion was the work -of only four men, but the more experienced knew that four desperate -fanatics, armed to the teeth, and determined to kill until they -themselves were killed, were by no means foes to be despised. The one -who had fought most obstinately wore a green turban, and Dick nodded -grimly as he caught sight of his face. -</p> - -<p> -“Bahram Khan! I thought so,” he said. “But I’m afraid there’s been the -devil’s own work done in the Sarai. Bring torches.” -</p> - -<p> -A number of officers ran back with him to the gateway, where the -sentry was found to have been dexterously strangled from behind. -Entering the courtyard, they turned towards the Commissioner’s -quarters, which were still in darkness. Suddenly Dick’s foot slipped. -</p> - -<p> -“Another body here!” he said, and some one brought forward a torch. To -their astonishment, it was a woman who lay before them, dressed in -rich native garments, which, with the coarse <i>chadar</i> covering her -face, were soaked with blood. She had been stabbed in the breast, but -was still breathing heavily. Sending a messenger for Dr Tighe, they -went on, in growing dread as to what they might find. Their fears were -justified. On the verandah lay the Sikh sentry, stabbed in the back, -and on the floor of his office was the body of the Commissioner, -hacked and disfigured almost beyond recognition with a hundred wounds. -It did not need the verdict of Dr Tighe to assure the men who stood -round that life was extinct. -</p> - -<p> -“What can have been the reason? Why the Commissioner and not North?” -were the questions that passed from mouth to mouth, as Dick tore down -a curtain and laid it reverently over the body, with the help of Dr -Tighe. -</p> - -<p> -“Perhaps the woman can tell us something. She seems conscious now,” -said some one, but when the doctor knelt down beside her she pulled -her veil feebly over her face, moaning out a name the while. -</p> - -<p> -“She won’t let me touch her. She’s a <i>pardah nishin</i>,” he said, -rising. “It’s the doctor lady she’s asking for, Major.” -</p> - -<p> -Dick went himself to fetch his wife, and the men stood aside a little -as Georgia tried to stanch the gaping wound, which was draining the -poor creature’s life away. The woman herself laughed weakly. -</p> - -<p> -“It matters not, O doctor lady. I shall follow my lord.” -</p> - -<p> -“You are little Zeynab?” asked Georgia gently, looking into the drawn -face. -</p> - -<p> -“I am that luckless one, O doctor lady, and I die thus for the sake of -the kindness thou didst show me many years ago.” -</p> - -<p> -“Don’t talk now,” said Georgia. “Tell me afterwards.” -</p> - -<div class="fig" id="img_324"> -<a href="images/img_324.jpg"> -<img alt="" src="images/img_324_th.jpg" /> -</a> -<div class="caption"> -“STRETCHING OUT HIS HAND FOR THE PISTOL” -</div></div> - -<p> -“Nay, I must speak now, for soon it will be too late. Six days we have -been hiding here and there, O doctor lady, my lord and his three -servants and I, and this evening we were in the shadow of the -oleanders beside the gate. Thence we saw the Kumpsioner Sahib return -to his house with a light carried before him, and presently there came -out a young sahib with a <i>chit</i> in his hand, and crossed the -courtyard. Then my lord said, ‘It is time,’ and two of his followers -slew the guard at the gate, while he and the third flung themselves -like tigers upon the accursed Sikh on the verandah, and killed him -without a cry. I, who had crept after them, saw the Kumpsioner Sahib -sitting at a table with the light in front of him, and a pistol at his -right hand—for truly he feared my lord, even in his own house—and I -saw also that my lord had crept in like a cat, and was stretching out -his hand over his shoulder for the pistol. But as he took away the -pistol, the Kumpsioner Sahib saw his hand, and turned round and sprang -up. Then one of the other men blew at the lamp to put it out, and the -light burned low. And my lord laughed and said in the Persian tongue, -‘We meet at last, O Barkaraf Sahib. Thou didst indeed believe that -victory was thine, but if Nāth Sahib’s sister is not for me, neither -is she for thee. Death is thy bride.’ At first it seemed to me that -the Kumpsioner Sahib was about to speak, but he stood up straight with -his arms folded, and said nothing, until my lord added divers other -taunts, when he said, ‘Take not the name of that lady upon thy lips, O -low-born one. Dost thou fear to strike me, who am here unarmed, that -thou speakest evil of a woman who is absent?’ Then my lord struck him -with his dagger, and the lamp went out, and they all fell upon him, -and stabbed him many times. And coming out, my lord found me, and -said, ‘Go through the midst of the Sarai, and cry out aloud for the -doctor lady, that she may come out and we may slay her and her son, -and it may be the accursed Nāth Sahib himself also.’ But I would not, -O doctor lady, and therefore it was that my lord stabbed me, and that -I die now at his hand.” With a sudden convulsive movement, she tore -away Georgia’s hand from the wound, and struggled to her feet, then -staggered and fell. Georgia caught her in her arms, but the dressing -had been dislodged, and the blood streamed forth again as the dark -head dropped heavily on her shoulder. -</p> - -<p> -<br/> -</p> - -<p> -They buried the Commissioner in the little cemetery at Alibad, and for -days people went about saying that it was the irony of fate that his -grave should be next to that of General Keeling. It was Georgia who -chose the spot, however, and she thought otherwise. -</p> - -<p> -“He would have been a man after my father’s own heart, if he had known -him,” said Georgia, “though I don’t say they wouldn’t have wrangled on -theoretical questions from morning to night. But when I think that -with death staring him in the face, he would not say a word that might -turn their thoughts to Fitz, who was only a few feet away, and -absolutely helpless, I feel that he was one of the bravest men I have -ever known.” -</p> - -<p> -Not all the opinions expressed concerning the dead man were so -favourable, however. On the evening of his funeral two Pathan soldiers -from one of the relieving regiments met Ismail Bakhsh near the -cemetery, and saluted him with marked friendliness. -</p> - -<p> -“O brother,” they said, “we have heard that the famous general, -Sinjāj Kīlin Sahib Bahadar, is wont to ride abroad upon this border -by night. Is this so?” -</p> - -<p> -“It is true,” returned the old trooper, “and I myself have heard him, -not once nor twice. And, moreover, what these eyes of mine have -beheld, it is not wise to relate.” -</p> - -<p> -“Pray, brother, tell us when these things may be seen and heard? We -have a great desire to make proof of them for ourselves.” -</p> - -<p> -“Nay,” said Ismail Bakhsh, with a lofty smile, “for that ye must wait -awhile. It is only when there is trouble on the border that the -General Sahib rides, and”—with a wave of the hand towards the -new-made grave—“the troubler of the border lies there.” -</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> -A few minor punctuation corrections—mostly involving the pairing of -quotation marks. -</p> - -<p> -Change three instances of “Mrs.” to “Mrs” and one of “Dr.” to “Dr”. -Otherwise, minor spelling and hyphenization inconsistencies have been left -as is. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Title Page] -</p> - -<p> -Add illustrator’s credit and brief note indicating this novel’s -position in the series. See above. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Footnotes] -</p> - -<p> -Place the book’s sole footnote (Chapter XIX) in square brackets inline -with the text. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter XI] -</p> - -<p> -Change “said Bahram <i>Kham</i> approvingly” to <i>Khan</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter XVII] -</p> - -<p> -“and Ghulam <i>Rasal</i>, taking his place” to <i>Rasul</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter XIX] -</p> - -<p> -“broken off your <i>engagemen</i>” to <i>engagement</i>. -</p> - -<p class="noindent"> -[Chapter XX] -</p> - -<p> -“said the <i>Comissioner</i> with a smile” to <i>Commissioner</i>. -</p> - -<p class="end"> -[End of Text] -</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WARDEN OF THE MARCHES ***</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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