THE ELEPHANT GOD

BY GORDON GASSERLY

NEW YORK1921

TO A CERTAIN ROGUE ELEPHANT RESIDENT IN THE TERAI FOREST

THE SLAYER OF DIVERS MEN AND WOMEN

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MUCHINSTRUCTION AND IN THE HOPE THAT SOME DAY IN THE HAPPY HUNTING GROUNDSTHEY MAY MEET AGAIN AND DECIDE THE ISSUE

FOREWORD TO AMERICAN EDITION

Twenty years ago I dedicated my first book, _The Land of the Boxers; orChina Under the Allies_, to the American officers and soldiers of theexpeditionary forces then fighting in the Celestial Empire--as well as totheir British comrades. And when, some years afterwards, I was visitingtheir country, right glad I was that I had thus offered my slight tributeto the valour of the United States Army. For from the Pacific to theAtlantic I met with a hospitality and a kindness that no other land couldexcel and few could equal. And ever since then, I have felt deep in debt toall Americans and have tried in many parts of our Empire to repay to thosewho serve under the Star Spangled Banner a little of what I owe to theirfellow-countrymen. 

Only those who have experienced that sympathetic American kindness canrealise what it is. It is all that gives me courage to face the readingpublic as a writer of fiction and attempt to depict to it the fascinatingworld of an Indian jungle, the weird beasts that people it, and thestranger humans that battle with them in it. The magic pen of a Kiplingalone could do justice to that wonderful realm of mountain and forest thatis called the Terai--that fantastic region of woodland that stretches forhundreds of miles along the foot of the Himalayas, that harbours in its dimrecesses the monsters of the animal kingdom, quaint survivals of a vanishedrace--the rhinoceros, the elephant, the bison, and the hamadryad, thatgreat and terrible snake which can, and does, pursue and overtake a mountedman, and which with a touch of its poisoned fang can slay the most powerfulbrute. The huge Himalayan bear roams under the giant trees, feeding onfruit and honey, yet ready to shatter unprovoked the skull of a poorwoodcutter. Those savage striped and spotted cats, the tiger and thepanther, steal through it on velvet paw and take toll of its harmlessdenizens. 

But, if I cannot describe it as I would, at least I have lived the life ofthe wild in the spacious realm of the Terai. I would that I had the powerto make others feel what I have felt, the thrill that comes when facing theonrush of the bloodthirstiest of all fierce brutes, a rogue elephant, orthe joy of seeing a charging tiger check and crumple up at the arrestingblow of a heavy bullet. 

I have followed day after day from dawn to dark and fought again and againa fierce outlaw tusker elephant that from sheer lust of slaughter hadkilled men, women, and children and carried on for years a career of crimeunbelievable. 

No one that knows the jungle well will refuse to credit the strangest storyof what wild animals will do. Of all the swarming herds of wild elephantsin the Terai, the Mysore, or the Ceylon jungles no man, white or black, hasever seen one that had died a natural death. Yet many have watched themclimbing up the great mountain rampart of the Himalayas towards regionswhere human foot never followed. The Death Place of the Elephants is alegend in which all jungle races firmly believe, but no man has ever foundit. The mammoths live a century and a half--but the time comes when each ofthem must die. Yet no human eye watches its death agony. 

Those who know elephants best will most readily credit the strangest talesof their doings. And there are men--white men--whose power over wild beastsand wilder fellow men outstrips the novelist's imagination, the true taleof whose doings no resident in a civilised land would believe. 

GORDON CASSERLY. 

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

 I. --THE SECRET MISSION 3

 II. --A ROGUE ELEPHANT 20

 III. --A GIRL OF THE TERAI 35

 IV. --THE MADNESS OF BADSHAH 59

 V. --THE DEATH-PLACE 79

 VI. --A DRAMATIC INTRODUCTION 95

 VII. --IN THE RAJAH'S PALACE 117

 VIII. --A BHUTTIA RAID 137

 IX. --THE RESCUE OF NOREEN 155

 X. --A STRANGE HOME-COMING 175

 XI. --THE MAKING OF A GOD 193

 XII. --THE LURE OF THE HILLS 213

 XIII. --THE PLEASURE COLONY 231

 XIV. --THE TANGLED SKEIN OF LOVE 248

 XV. --THE FEAST OF THE GODDESS KALI 267

 XVI. --THE PALACE OF DEATH 286

 XVII. --A TRAP 309

XVIII. --THE CAT AND THE TIGER 330

 XIX. --TEMPEST 351

 XX. --THE GOD OF THE ELEPHANTS 377

THE ELEPHANT GOD

CHAPTER I

THE SECRET MISSION

"The letters, sahib, " said the post orderly, blocking up the doorway of thebungalow. 

Kevin Dermot put down his book as the speaker, a Punjaubi Mohammedan inwhite undress, slipped off his loose native shoes and entered the roombarefoot, as is the custom in India. 

"For this one a receipt is needed, " continued the sepoy, holding out a longofficial envelope registered and insured and addressed, like all theothers, to "The Officer Commanding, Ranga Duar, Eastern Bengal. "

Major Dermot signed the receipt and handed it to the man. As he did so thescream of an elephant in pain came to his ears. 

"What is that?" he asked the post orderly. 

"It is the _mahout_, Chand Khan, beating his _hathi_ (elephant), sahib, "replied the sepoy looking out. 

Dermot threw the unopened letters on the table, and, going out on theverandah of his bungalow, gazed down on the parade ground which lay ahundred feet below. Beyond it at the foot of the small hill on which stoodthe Fort was a group of trees, to two of which a transport elephant wasshackled by a fore and a hind leg in such a way as to render it powerless. Its _mahout_, or driver, keeping out of reach of its trunk, was beating itsavagely on the head with a bamboo. Mad with rage, the man, a grey-beardedold Mohammedan, swung the long stick with both hands and brought it downagain and again with all his force. From the gateway of the Fort above the_havildar_, or native sergeant, of the guard shouted to the _mahout_ todesist. But the angry man ignored him and continued to belabour hisunfortunate animal, which, at the risk of dislocating its leg, struggledwildly to free itself and screamed shrilly each time that the bamboo fell. This surprised Dermont, for an elephant's skull is so thick that a bloweven from the _ankus_ or iron goad used to drive it, is scarcely felt. 

The puzzled officer re-entered the bungalow and brought out a pair offield-glasses, which revealed the reason of the poor tethered brute'sscreams. For they showed that in the end of the bamboo were stuck long, sharp nails which pierced and tore the flesh of its head. 

Major Dermot was not only a keen sportsman and a lover of animals, but hehad an especial liking for elephants, of which he had had much experience. So with a muttered oath he put down the binoculars and, seizing his helmet, ran down the steep slope from his bungalow to the parade ground. As he wenthe shouted to the _mahout_ to stop. But the man was too engrossed in hisbrutality to hear him or the _havildar_, who repeated the Major's order. Itwas not until Dermot actually seized his arm and dragged him back that heperceived his commanding officer. Dropping the bamboo he strove to justifyhis ill-treatment of the elephant by alleging some petty act ofdisobedience on its part. 

His excuses were cut short. 

"_Choop raho!_ (Be silent!) You are not fit to have charge of an animal, "cried the indignant officer, picking up and examining the cruel weapon. Thesharp points of the nails were stained with blood, and morsels of skin andflesh adhered to them. Dermot felt a strong inclination to thrash thebrutal _mahout_ with the unarmed end of the bamboo, but, restraininghimself, he turned to the elephant. With the instinct of its kind it wasscraping a little pile of dust together with its toes, snuffing it up inits trunk and blowing it on the bleeding cuts on its lacerated head. 

"You poor beast! You mustn't do that. We'll find something better for you, "said the Major compassionately. 

He called across the parade ground to his white-clad Mussulman butler, whowas looking down at him from the bungalow. 

"Bring that fruit off my table, " he said in Hindustani. "Also the littlemedicine chest and a bowl of water. "

When the servant had brought them Dermot approached the elephant. 

"_Khubbadar_--(take care)--sahib!" cried a coolie, the _mahout's_assistant. "He is suffering and angry. He may do you harm. "

But, while the rebuked _mahout_ glared malevolently and inwardly hoped thatthe animal might kill him, Dermot walked calmly toward it, holding out hishand with the fruit. The elephant, regarding him nervously and suspiciouslyout of its little eyes, shifted uneasily from foot to foot, and at firstshrank from him. But, as the officer stood quietly in front of it, itstretched out its trunk and smelled the extended hand. Then it touched thearm and felt it up to the shoulder, on which it let the tip of the trunkrest for a few seconds. At last it seemed satisfied that the white man wasa friend and did not intend to hurt it. 

During the ordeal Dermot had never moved; although there was every reasonto fear that the animal, either from sheer nervousness or from resentmentat the ill-treatment that it had just received, might attack him andtrample him to death. Indeed, many tame elephants, being unused toEuropeans, will not allow white men to approach them. So the Hindu cooliestood trembling with fright, while the _havildar_ and the butler werealarmed at their sahib's peril. 

But Dermot coolly peeled a banana and placed it in the elephant's mouth. The gift was tried and approved by the huge beast, which graciouslyaccepted the rest of the fruit. Then the Major said to it in the _mahouts'_tongue:

"_Buth!_ (Lie down!)"

The elephant slowly sank down to the ground and allowed the Major toexamine its head, which was badly lacerated by the spikes. Dermot cleansedthe wounds thoroughly and applied an antiseptic to them. The animal bore itpatiently and seemed to recognise that it had found a friend; for, when itrose to its feet again, it laid its trunk almost caressingly on Dermot'sshoulder. 

The officer stroked it and then turned to the _mahout_, who was standing inthe background. 

"Chand Khan, you are not to come near this elephant again, " he said. "Isuspend you from charge of it and shall report you for dismissal. _Jao!_(Go!)"

The man slunk away scowling. Dermot beckoned to the Hindu, who approachedsalaaming. 

"Are you this animal's coolie?"

(The Government of India very properly recognises the lordliness of theelephant and provides him in captivity with no less than two body-servants, a _mahout_ and a coolie, whose mission in life is to wait on him. )

The Hindu salaamed again. 

"Yes, _Huzoor_ (The Presence), " he replied. 

"How long have you been with it?"

"Five years, _Huzoor_. "

"What is its name?"

"_Badshah_ (The King). And indeed he is a _badshah_ among elephants. No onebut a Mussulman would treat him with disrespect. Your Honour sees that heis a _Gunesh_ and worthy of reverence. "

The animal, which was a large and well-shaped male, possessed only onetusk, the right. The other had never grown. Dermot knew that an elephantthus marked by Nature would be regarded by Hindus as sacred to _Gunesh_, their God of Wisdom, who is represented as having the head of an elephantwith a single tusk, the right. Many natives would consider the animal to bea manifestation of the god himself and worship it as a deity. So the Majormade no comment on the coolie's remark, but said:

"What is your name?"

"Ramnath, _Huzoor_. "

"Very well, Ramnath. You are to have sole charge of Badshah until I can getsomeone to help you. You will be his _mahout_. Take this medicine that Ihave been using and put it on as you have seen me do. Don't let the animalblow dust on the cuts. Keep them clean, and bring him up tomorrow for me tosee. "

He handed the man the antiseptic and swabs. Then he turned to the elephantand patted it. 

"Good-bye, Badshah, old boy, " he said. "I don't think that Ramnath willill-treat you. "

The huge beast seemed to understand him and again touched him with the tipof its trunk. 

"Badshah knows Your Honour, " said the Hindu. "He will regard you always nowas his _ma-bap_ (mother and father). "

Dermot smiled at this very usual vernacular expression. He was accustomedto being called it by his sepoys; but he was amused at being regarded asthe combined parents of so large an offspring. 

"Badshah has never let a white man approach him before today, _Huzoor_, "continued Ramnath. "He has always been afraid of the sahibs. But he seesyou are his friend. _Salaam kuro_, Badshah!"

And the elephant raised his trunk vertically in the air and trumpeted the_Salaamut_ or royal salute that he had been taught to make. Then, atRamnath's signal, he lowered his trunk and crooked it. The man put his barefoot on it, at the same time seizing one of the great ears. Then Badshahlifted him up with the trunk until he could get on to the head intoposition astride the neck. Then the new _mahout_, salaaming again to theofficer, started his huge charge off, and the elephant lumbered away withswaying stride to its _peelkhana_, or stable, two thousand feet below inthe forest at the foot of the hills on which stood the Fort of Ranga Duar. For this outpost, which was garrisoned by Dermot's Double Company of aMilitary Police Battalion, guarded one of the _duars_, or passes, throughthe Himalayas into India from the wild and little-known country of Bhutan. 

Its Commanding Officer watched the elephant disappear down the hill beforereturning to his little stone bungalow, which stood in a small gardenshaded by giant mango and jack-fruit trees and gay with the flaming linesof bougainvillias and poinsettias. 

Dismissing the post orderly, who was still waiting, Dermot threw himselfinto a long chair and took up the letters that he had flung down whenBadshah's screams attracted his attention. They were all routine officialcorrespondence contained in the usual long envelopes marked "On HisMajesty's Service. " The registered one, however, held a smaller envelopeheavily sealed, marked "Secret" and addressed to him by name. In this was aletter in cipher. 

Dermot got up from his chair and, going into his bedroom, opened a trunkand lifted out of it a steel despatch box, which he unlocked. From this heextracted a sealed envelope, which he carried back to the sitting-room. First examining the seals to make sure that they were intact, he opened theenvelope and took from it two papers. One was a cipher code and on theother was the keyword to the official cipher used by the militaryauthorities throughout India. This word is changed once a year. On thereceipt of the new one every officer entitled to be in possession of itmust burn the paper on which is written the old word and send a signeddeclaration to that effect to Army Headquarters. 

Taking a pencil and a blank sheet of paper Dermot proceeded to decipher theletter that he had just received. It was dated from the Adjutant General'sOffice at Simla, and headed "Secret. " It ran:

"Sir:

"In continuation of the instructions already given you orally, I havethe honour to convey to you the further orders of His Excellency theCommander-in-Chief in India. 

"Begins: 'Information received from the Secretary to the ForeignDepartment, Government of India, confirms the intelligence that Chineseemissaries have for some time past been endeavouring to re-establish theformer predominance of their nation over Tibet and Bhutan. In the formercountry they appear to have met with little success; but in Bhutan, takingadvantage of the hereditary jealousies of the _Penlops_, the great feudalchieftains, they appear to have gained many adherents. They aim atinstigating the Bhutanese to attempt an invasion of India through the_duars_ leading into Eastern Bengal, their object being to provoke a war. The danger to this country from an invading force of Bhutanese, even ifarmed, equipped, and led by Chinese, is not great. But its politicalimportance must not be minimised. 

"'For the most serious feature of the movement is that information receivedby the Political Department gives rise to the grave suspicion that, notonly many extremists in Bengal, but even some of the lesser rajahs andnawabs, are in treasonable communication with these outside enemies. 

"'Major Dermot, at present commanding the detachment of the MilitaryBattalion stationed at Ranga Duar, has been specially selected, on accountof his acquaintance with the districts and dialects of the _duars_ and thatpart of the Terai Forest bordering on Bhutan, to carry out a particularmission. You are to direct him to inspect and report on the suitability, for the purposes of defence against an invasion from the north, of:

 (_a_) The line of the mountain passes at an altitude of from 3000 to 6000 feet. 

 (_b_) A line established in the Terai Forest itself. 

"'In addition, if this officer in the course of his investigationsdiscovers any evidence of communication between the disloyal elementsinside our territory and possible enemies across the border, he will atonce inform you direct. ' Ends. 

"Please note His Excellency's orders and proceed to carry them outforthwith. You can pursue your investigations under the pretence of biggame shooting in the hills and jungle. The British officer next inseniority to you will command the detachment in your absences You maycommunicate to him as much of the contents of this letter as you deemadvisable, impressing upon him the necessity for the strictest secrecy. 

"You will in all matters communicate directly and confidentially with thisoffice. 

"I have the honour to be, Sir, "Your most obedient servant. "

Here followed the signature of one of the highest military authorities inIndia. 

Dermot stared at the letter. 

"So that's it!" he thought. "It's a bigger thing than I imagined. "

He had known when he consented to being transferred from a staffappointment in Simla to the command of a small detachment of a MilitaryPolice Battalion garrisoning an unimportant frontier fort on the face ofthe Himalayas that he was being sent there for a special purpose. He hadconsented gladly; for to him the great attraction of his new post was thathe would find himself once more in the great Terai Jungle. To him it wasParadise. Before going to Simla he had been stationed with a Double Companyof the Indian Infantry Regiment to which he belonged in a similar outpostin the mountains not many miles away. This outpost had now been abolished. But while in it he used to spend all his spare time in the marvellousjungle that extended to his very door. 

The great Terai Forest stretches for hundreds of miles along the foot ofthe Himalayas, from Assam through Bengal to Garwhal and up into Nepal. Itis a sportsman's heaven; for it shelters in its recesses wild elephants, rhinoceros, bison, bears, tigers, panthers, and many of the deer tribes. Dermot loved it. He was a mighty hunter, but a discriminating one. He didnot kill for sheer lust of slaughter, and preferred to study the ways ofthe harmless animals rather than shoot them. Only against dangerous beastsdid he wage relentless war. 

Dermot knew that he could very well leave the routine work of the littlepost to his Second in Command. The fort was practically a block offortified stone barracks, easily defensible against attacks of badly armedhillmen and accommodating a couple of hundred sepoys. It was to hold the_duar_ or pass of Ranga through the Himalayas against raiders from Bhutanthat the little post had been built. 

For centuries past the wild dwellers beyond the mountains were used toswooping down from the hills on the less warlike plainsmen in search ofloot, women, and slaves. But the war with Bhutan in 1864-5 brought theborderland under the English flag, and the Pax Britannica settled on it. Yet even now temptation was sometimes too strong for lawless men. Occasionally swift-footed parties of fierce swordsmen swept down throughthe unguarded passes and raided the tea-gardens that are springing up inthe foothills and the forests below them. For hundreds of coolies work onthese big estates, and large consignments of silver coin come to thegardens for their payment. 

But there was bigger game afoot than these badly-armed raiders. The taskset Dermot showed it; and his soldier's heart warmed at the thought ofhelping to stage a fierce little frontier war in which he might come earlyon the scene. 

Carefully sealing up again and locking away the cipher code and keyword, hewent out on the back verandah and shouted for his orderly. The dwellings ofEuropeans upcountry in India are not luxurious--far from it. Away from thebig cities like Bombay, Calcutta, or Karachi, the amenities of civilisationare sadly lacking. The bungalows are lit only by oil-lamps, their floorsare generally of pounded earth covered with poor matting harbouring fleasand other insect pests, their roofs are of thatch or tiles, and suchluxuries as bells, electric or otherwise, are unknown. So the servants, whoreside outside the bungalows in the compounds, or enclosures, are summonedby the simple expedient of shouting "Boy". 

Presently the orderly appeared. 

"Shaikh Ismail, " said the Major, "go to the Mess, give my salaams to ParkerSahib, and ask him to come here. "

The sepoy, a smart young Punjabi Mussulman, clad in the white undressof the Indian Army, saluted and strode off up the hill to the prettymess-bungalow of the British officers of the detachment. In it thesubaltern occupied one room. 

When he received Dermot's message, this officer, a tall, good-looking manof about twenty-eight years of age, accompanied the orderly to his senior'squarters. 

"Come in and have a smoke, Parker, " said the Major cheerily. 

The subaltern entered and helped himself to a cigarette from an open box onthe table before looking for a chair in the scantily-furnished room. 

As he struck a match he said, "Ismail Khan tells me you've just had trouble with that surly beast, ChandKhan". 

Dermot told him what had occurred. 

"What a _soor!_ (swine!)" exclaimed Parker indignantly. "I always knew hewas a cruel devil; but I didn't think he was quite such a brute. And topoor old Badshah too. It's a damned shame". 

"He's a good elephant, isn't he?" asked the senior. 

"A ripper. Splendid to shoot from and absolutely staunch to tiger, " saidthe subaltern enthusiastically. "Major Smith--our Commandant before you, sir--was charged by a tiger he had wounded in a beat near Alipur Duar. Hemissed the beast with his second barrel. The tiger sprang at the howdah, but Badshah caught him cleverly on his one tusk and knocked him silly. TheMajor reloaded and killed the beast before it could recover. "

"Good for Badshah. He seemed to me to be a fine animal, " said Dermot. 

"One of the best. We all like him; though he'll never let any white manhandle him. By the way, Ismail Khan says he permitted you to do it. "

"I doctored up his cuts. Besides, I'm used to elephants. "

"All the same you're the first sahib I've heard Of that Badshah has allowedto touch him. Do you know, the Hindus worship him. He's a _Gunesh_--Isupposed you noticed that. I've seen some of them simply go down on theirfaces in the dust before him and pray to him. There's a curious thing aboutBadshah, too. Have you heard?"

"No. What is it?" asked the Major. 

"Well, it's a rummy thing. He's usually awfully quiet and obedient. Butsometimes he gets very restless, breaks loose, and goes off on his own intothe jungle. After a week or two he comes back by himself, as quiet as alamb. But when the fit's on him nothing will hold him. He bursts thestoutest ropes, breaks iron chains; and I believe he'd pull down the_peelkhana_ if he couldn't get away. "

"Oh, that often happens with domesticated male elephants, " said Dermot. "They have periodic fits of sexual excitement--get _must_, you know--and gomad while these last. "

"Oh, no. It's not that, " replied the subaltern confidently. "Badshahdoesn't go _must_. It's something quite different. The jungle men aroundhere have a quaint belief about it. You see, Badshah was captured by theKheddah Department here years ago--twenty, I think. He's about forty now. He was taken away to other parts of India, Mhow for one----"

"Yes, they used to have an elephant battery there, " broke in the Major. 

"But somehow or other he got here eventually. Rather curious that he shouldhave been sent back to his birthplace. Anyhow, the natives believe thatwhen he breaks away he goes off to family reunions or to meet old pals. "

"I shouldn't be surprised, " remarked Dermot, meditatively. "They're strangebeasts, elephants. No one really knows much about them. I expect the junglecalls to them, as it does to me. "

He lit a cigarette and went on, "But I've sent for you to talk over something important. Read that. "

He handed Parker his transcription of the cipher letter. As the subalternread it his eyes opened wider and wider. When he had finished he exclaimedjoyfully, "By Jove, Major, that's great. Do you think there's anything in it? Howripping it'll be if they try to come in by this pass! Won't we just knockthem! Couldn't we get some machine guns?"

"I'm afraid we couldn't hold the Fort of Ranga Duar against a wholeinvading army, Parker. You know it isn't really defensible against aserious attack. "

"Oh, I say! Do you mean, sir, that we'd give it up to a lot of Chinks andbare-legged Bhuttias without firing a shot?"

The Major smiled at his junior's indignation. 

"You must remember, Parker, that if an invasion comes off it will be on ascale that two hundred men won't stop. The Bhutanese are badly armed; butthey are fanatically brave. They showed that in their war with us in '64and '65. They had only swords, bows, and arrows; but they licked one of ourcolumns hollow and drove our men in headlong flight. But cheer up, Parker, if there is a show it won't be my fault if you and I don't have a good lookin. "

"Thank you, Major, " said the subaltern gratefully. 

He smoked in silence for a while and then said:

"D'you know, sir, I had an idea there was something up when Major Smith wassuddenly ordered away and you, who didn't belong to us, were sent here fromSimla. I'd heard of you before, not only as a great _shikari_--the nativeseverywhere in these jungles talk a lot about you--but also as a keensoldier. A fellow doesn't usually come straight from a staff job at ArmyHeadquarters to a small outpost like this for nothing. "

Dermot laughed. 

"Unless he has got into trouble and is sent off as a punishment, " he said. "But that didn't happen to be my case. However, I was delighted to leaveSimla. Better the jungle a thousand times. "

"Yes; Simla's rather a rotten place, I believe, " remarked the subalternmeditatively. "Too many brass hats and women. They're the curse of India, each of them. And I'm sure the women do the most harm. "

"Well, steer clear of the latter, and don't become one of the former, " saidDermot with a laugh, rising from his chair, "then you'll have a peacefullife--but you won't get on in your profession. "

CHAPTER II

A ROGUE ELEPHANT

The four transport elephants attached to the garrison of Ranga Duar for thepurpose of bringing supplies for the men from the far distant railway werestabled in a _peelkhana_ at the foot of the hills and a couple of thousandfeet below the Fort. This building, a high-walled shed with thatched roofand brick standings for the animals, was erected beside the narrow roadthat zig-zagged down from the mountains into the forest and eventuallyjoined a broader one leading to the narrow-gauge railway that pierced thejungle many miles away. 

One morning, about three weeks after Dermot's first introduction toBadshah, the Major tramped down the rough track to the _peelkhana_, carrying a rifle and cartridge belt and a haversack containing his food forthe day. Nearing the stables he blew a whistle, and a shrill trumpetinganswered him from the building, as Badshah recognised his signal. Ramnath, hurriedly entering the impatient elephant's stall, loosed him from the ironshackles that held his legs. Then the huge beast walked with stately treadout of the building and went straight to where Dermot awaited him. Forduring these weeks the intimacy between man and animal had progressedrapidly. Elephants, though of an affectionate disposition, are notdemonstrative as a rule. But Badshah always showed unmistakable signs offondness for the white man, whom he seemed to regard as his friend andprotector. 

Dermot was in the habit of taking him out into the jungle every day, wherehe went ostensibly to shoot. After the first few occasions he displacedRamnath from the guiding seat on Badshah's neck and acted as _mahout_himself. But, instead of using the _ankus_--the heavy iron implement shapedlike a boat-hook head which natives use to emphasise their orders to theircharges--the Major simply touched the huge head with his open hand. And hismethod proved equally, if not more, effective. He was soon able to dispensealtogether with Ramnath on his expeditions, which was his object. For hedid not want any witness to his secret explorations of the forest and thehills. 

An elephant, when used as a beast of burden or for shooting from in thickjungle, carries on its back only a "pad"--a heavy, straw-stuffed mattressreaching from neck to tail and fastened on by a rope surcingle passinground the body. On this pad, if passengers are to be carried, a wooden seatwith footboards hanging by cords from it and called a _charjama_ is placed. Only for sport in open country or high grass jungle is the cage-like howdahemployed. 

Dermot replaced Badshah's heavy pad by a small, light one, especially made, or else took him out absolutely bare. No shackles were needed to secure theelephant when his white rider dismounted from his neck, for he followedDermot like a dog, came to his whistle, or stood without moving from thespot where he had been ordered to remain. The most perfect understandingexisted between the two; and the superstitious Hindus regarded with awe theextraordinary subjection of their sacred and revered _Gunesh_ to the whiteman. 

Now, after a greeting and a palatable gift to Badshah, Dermot seized thehuge ears, placed his foot on the trunk which was curled to receive it andwas swung up on to the neck by the well-trained animal. Then, answering the_salaams_ of the _mahouts_ and coolies, who invariably gathered to witnessand wonder at his daily meeting with Badshah, he touched the elephant underthe ears with his toe and was borne away into the jungle. 

His object this day was not to explore but to shoot a deer to replenish themess larder. Fresh meat was otherwise unprocurable in Ranga Duar; and anunvaried diet of tinned food was apt to become wearisome, especially as itwas not helped out by bread and fresh vegetables. These were luxuriesunknown to the British officers in this, as in many other, outposts. 

The sea of vegetation closed around Badshah and submerged him, as he turnedoff a footpath and plunged into the dense undergrowth. The trees weremostly straight-stemmed giants of teak, branchless for some distance fromthe ground. Each strove to thrust its head above the others through theleafy canopy overhead, fighting for its share of the life-giving sunlight. In the green gloom below tangled masses of bushes, covered with large, bell-shaped flowers and tall grasses in which lurked countless thornyplants obstructed the view between the tree-trunks. Above and below was abewildering confusion of creepers forming an intricate network, swingingfrom the upper branches and twisting around the boles, biting deep into thebark, strangling the life out of the stoutest trees or holding up thewithered, lifeless trunks of others long dead. They filled the spacebetween the tree-tops and the undergrowth, entangled, crisscrossed, festooned, like a petrified mass of writhing snakes. 

Through this maddening obstacle Badshah forced his way; while Dermot hackedat the impeding _lianas_ with a sharp _kukri_, the heavy-bladed Gurkhaknife. The elephant moved on at an easy pace, shouldering aside the surgingwaves of vegetation and bursting the clinging hold of the creepers. As hewent he swept huge bunches of grass up in his trunk, tore down leafy trailsor broke off small branches, and crammed them all impartially into hismouth. At a touch of Dermot's foot or the guiding pressure of his hand heswerved aside to avoid a tree or a particularly thorny bush. 

There was little life to be seen. But occasionally, with a whirring soundof rushing wings, a bright-plumaged jungle cock with his attendant bevy ofsober-clad hens swept up with startled squawks from under the huge feet andflew to perch high up on neighbouring trees, chattering and cluckingindignantly in their fright. The pretty black and white Giant Squirrel ranalong the upper branches; or a troop of little brown monkeys leapt awayamong the tree tops. 

It was fascinating to be borne along without effort through the enchantedwood in the luminous green gloom that filled it, lulled by the swayingmotion of the elephant's stride. The soothing silence of the woodland wasbroken only by the crowing of a jungle cock. The thick, leafy screenoverhead excluded the glare of the tropic sunlight; and the heat wastempered to a welcome coolness by the dense shade. 

But, despite the soporific motion of his huge charger, Dermot's vigilanteye searched the apparently lifeless jungle as he was borne along. Presently it was caught by a warm patch of colour, the bright chestnut hideof a deer; and he detected among the trees the graceful form of a _sambhur_hind. Accustomed to seeing wild elephants the animal gazed withoutapprehension at Badshah and failed to mark the man on his neck. But femalesof the deer tribe are sacred to the sportsman; and the hunter passed on. Half a mile farther on, in the deepest shadow of the undergrowth, he sawsomething darker still. It was the dull black hide of a _sambhur_ stag, afine beast fourteen hands high, with sharp brow antlers and thick hornsbranching into double points. Knowing the value of motionlessness as aconcealment the animal never moved; and only an eye trained to the junglewould have detected it. Dermot noted it, but let it remain unscathed; forhe knew well the exceeding toughness of its flesh. What he sought was a_kakur_, or barking deer, a much smaller but infinitely more palatablebeast. 

Hours passed; and he and Badshah had wandered for miles without findingwhat he wanted. He looked at his watch; for the sun was invisible. It wasnearly noon. In a space free from undergrowth he halted the elephant and, patting the skull with his open hand, said:

"_Buth!_"

Badshah at the word sank slowly down until he rested on his breast andbelly with fore and hind legs stuck out stiffly along the ground. Dermotslipped off his neck and stretched his cramped limbs; for sitting longupright on an elephant without any support to the back is tiring. Thenhe reclined under a tree with his loaded rifle beside him--for thepeaceful-seeming forest has its dangers. He made a frugal lunch off apacket of sandwiches from his haversack. 

Eating made him thirsty. He had forgotten to bring his water-bottle withhim; and he knew that there was no stream to be met with in the jungle formany miles. But he was aware that the forest could supply his wants. Rising, he drew his _kukri_ and looked around him. Among the tangle ofcreepers festooned between the trees he detected the writhing coils of onewith withered, cork-like bark, four-sided and about two inches in diameter. He walked over to it and, grasping it in his left hand, cut it through witha blow of his heavy knife. Its interior consisted of a white, moist pulp. With another blow he severed a piece a couple of feet long. Taking a metalcup from his haversack he cut the length of creeper into small pieces andheld all their ends together over the little vessel. From them water beganto drip, the drops came faster and finally little streams from the pulpyinterior filled the cup to the brim with a cool, clear, and palatableliquid. The _liana_ was the wonderful _pani-bêl_, or water-creeper. 

Dermot drank until his thirst was quenched, then sat down with his backagainst a tree and lit his pipe. He smoked contentedly and watched Badshahgrazing. The elephant plucked the long grass with a scythe-like sweep ofhis trunk, tore down succulent creepers and broke off small branches fromthe trees, chewing the wood and leaves with equal enjoyment. From time totime he looked towards his master, but, receiving no signal to prepare tomove on, continued his meal. 

At last the Major knocked out the ashes of his pipe, grinding them into theearth with his heel lest a chance spark might start a forest fire, andwhistled to Badshah. The elephant came at once to him. From his haversackDermot took out a couple of bananas and held them up. The snake-like trunkshot out and grasped them, then curving back placed them in the huge mouth. Dermot stood up and, slinging his rifle over his shoulder, seized Badshah'sears and was lifted again to his place astride the neck. 

Once more the jungle closed about them, as the elephant moved off. Therider, unslinging his rifle and laying it across his thighs, glanced fromside to side as they proceeded. The forest grew more open. The undergrowththinned; and occasionally they came to open glades carpeted with tallbracken and looking almost like an English wood. But the great boughs ofthe giant trees were matted thick with the glossy green leaves of orchidplants, from which drooped long trails of delicate mauve and white flowers. 

Just as they were emerging from dense undergrowth on to such a glade, Dermot's eye was caught by something moving ahead of them. He checkedBadshah; and they remained concealed in in the thick vegetation. Thenthrough the trees came a trim little _kakur_ buck, stepping daintily inadvance of his doe which followed a few yards behind. As they moved theirlong ears twitched incessantly, pointing now in this, now in that, direction for any sound that might warn them of danger. But they did notdetect the hidden peril. Dermot noiselessly raised his rifle, aimedhurriedly at the leader's shoulder and fired. The loud report sounded likethunder through the silent forest. The stricken buck sprang convulsivelyinto the air, then fell in a heap; while his startled mate leaped over hisbody and disappeared in bounding flight. 

At the touch of his rider's foot the elephant moved forward into the open;and without waiting for him to sink down Dermot slid to the ground. Oldhunter that he was, the Major could never repress a feeling of pity when helooked on any harmless animal that he had shot; and he had long ago givenup killing such except for food. He propped his rifle against a tree and, taking off his coat and rolling up his sleeves, drew his _kukri_ andproceeded to disembowel and clean the _kakur_. While he was thus employedBadshah strayed away into the jungle to graze, for elephants feedincessantly. 

When Dermot had finished his unpleasant task, it still remained to bind thebuck's legs together and tie him on to Badshah's back. For this he wouldneed cords; but he relied on the inexhaustible jungle to supply him withthese. 

While searching for the udal tree whose inner bark would furnish him withlong, tough strips, he heard a crashing in the undergrowth not far away, but, concluding that it was caused by Badshah, he did not trouble to lookround. Having got the cordage that he needed, he turned to go back to thespot where he had left the _kakur_. As he fought his way impatientlythrough the thorny tangled vegetation, he again heard the breaking of twigsand the trampling down of the undergrowth. He glanced in the direction ofthe sound, expecting to see Badshah appear. 

To his dismay his eyes fell on a strange elephant, a large double-tusker. It had caught sight of him and, contrary to the usual habit of its kind, was advancing towards him instead of retreating. This showed that it wasthe most terrible of all wild animals, a man-killing "rogue" elephant, thanwhich there is no more vicious or deadly brute on the earth. 

Dermot instantly recognised his danger. It was very great. His rifle wassome distance away, and before he could reach it the tusker would probablyovertake him. He stopped and stood still, hoping that the rogue had notcaught sight of him. But he saw at once that there was no doubt of this. The brute had its murderous little eyes fixed on him and was quickening itspace. The undergrowth that almost held the man a prisoner was no obstacleto this powerful beast. 

Dermot realised that it meant to attack him. His heart nearly stopped, forhe knew the terrible death that awaited him. He had seen the crushedbodies, battered to pulp and with the limbs torn away, of men killed byrogue elephants. The only hope of escape, a faint one, lay in flight. 

Madly he strove to tear himself free from the clutching thorns and the gripof the entangling creepers that held him. He flung all his weight into hisefforts to fight his way out clear of the malignant vegetation, that seemeda cruel, living thing striving to drag him to his death. The elephant sawhis desperate struggles. It trumpeted shrilly and, with head held high, trunk curled up, and the lust of murder in its heart, it charged. 

The tangled network of interlaced undergrowth parted like gossamer beforeit. Small trees went down and the tallest bushes were trampled flat; thestoutest creepers broke like pack-thread before its weight. 

Dermot tore himself free from the clutch of the last clinging, curvingthorns that rent his garments and cut deep into his flesh. Gainingcomparatively open ground he ran for his life. But he had lost all sense ofdirection and could not remember where his rifle stood. Escape seemedhopeless. He knew only too well that in the jungle a pursuing elephant willalways overtake a fleeing man. The trees offered no refuge, for the lowestbranches were high above his reach and the trunks too thick and straight toclimb. He fled, knowing that each moment might be his last. A false step, atrip over a root or a creeper and he was lost. He would be gored, batteredto death, stamped out of existence, torn limb from limb by the viciousbrute. 

The rogue was almost upon him. He swerved suddenly and with failing breathand fiercely beating heart ran madly on. But the respite was momentary. Hishead was dizzy, his legs heavy as lead, his strength almost gone. He couldhear the terrible pursuer only a few yards behind him. 

Already the great beast's uncurled trunk was stretched out to seize itsprey. Dermot's last moment had come when, with a fierce, shrill scream, ahuge body burst out of the jungle and hurled itself at his assailant. Badshah had come to the rescue of his man. 

Before the rogue could swing round to meet him the gallant animal hadcharged furiously into it, driving his single tusk with all his immenseweight behind it into the strange elephant's side. The shock staggered themurderous brute and almost knocked it to the ground. Only the fact of itshaving turned slightly at Badshah's cry, so that his tusk inflicted asomewhat slanting blow, had saved it from a mortal wound. Before it couldrecover its footing Badshah gored it again. 

Dermot, plucked at the last moment from the most terrible of deaths, staggered panting to a tree and tried to stand, supporting himself againstthe trunk. But the strain had been too great. He turned faint and sankexhausted to the earth, almost unconscious. But the remembrance ofBadshah's peril from a better-armed antagonist--for the possession of twotusks gave the rogue a great advantage--nerved him. Holding on to the treehe dragged himself up and looked around for his rifle. He could not see it, and he dared not cross the arena in which the two huge combatants werefighting. 

As Badshah drew back to gain impetus for another charge, the rogue regainedits feet and prepared to hurl itself on the unexpected assailant. Dermotwas in despair at being unable to aid his saviour, who he feared mustsuccumb to the superior weapons of his opponent. He gazed fascinated at thetitanic combat. 

The rogue trumpeted a shrill challenge. Then it curled its trunk betweenits tusks out of harm's way and with ears cocked forward and tail erectrushed to the assault. But suddenly it propped on stiffened forelegs andstopped dead. It stared at Badshah, who was about to charge again, andbacked slowly, seemingly panic-stricken. Then as the tame elephant movedforward to the attack the rogue screamed with terror, swung about, and withears and tail dropped, bolted into the undergrowth. 

With a trumpet of triumph Badshah pursued. Dermot, left alone, couldhardly credit the passing of the danger. The whole episode seemed ahideous nightmare from which he had just awaked. He could scarcelybelieve that it had actually taken place, although the trampledvegetation and the crashing sounds of the great animals' progressthrough the undergrowth were evidence of its reality. The need foraction had not passed. The rogue might return, for a fight between wildbull-elephants often lasts a whole day and consists of short anddesperate encounters, retreats, pursuits, and fresh battles. So hehurriedly searched for his rifle, which he eventually found somedistance away. He opened the breach and replaced the soft-nosed bulletswith solid ones, more suitable for such big game. Then, once morefeeling a strong man armed, he waited expectantly. The sounds of thechase had died away. But after a while he heard a heavy body forcing apassage through the undergrowth and held his rifle ready. Then throughthe tangle of bushes and creepers Badshah's head appeared. The elephantcame straight to him and touched him all over with outstretched trunk, just as mother-elephants do their calves, as if to assure himself of hisman's safety. 

Dermot could have kissed the soft, snake-like proboscis, and he patted theanimal affectionately and murmured his thanks to him. Badshah seemed tounderstand him and wrapped his trunk around his friend's shoulders. Then, apparently satisfied, he moved away and began to graze calmly, as ifnothing out of the common had taken place. 

Dermot pulled himself together. Near the foot of the tree at which he hadsunk down he found the cord-like strips of bark which he had cut. Pickingthem up he went to the carcase of the buck and tied its legs together. Awhistle brought the elephant to him, and, hoisting the deer on to the pad, he fastened it to the surcingle. Then, grasping the elephant's ears, he waslifted to his place on the neck. 

Turning Badshah's head towards home he started off; but, as he went, helooked back at the trampled glade and thanked Heaven that his body was notlying there, crushed and lifeless. 

CHAPTER III

A GIRL OF THE TERAI

"How beautiful! How wonderful!" murmured the girl on the verandah, her eyesturned to the long line of the Himalayas filling the horizon to the north. 

Clear against the blue sky the shining, ice-clad peaks of Kinchinjunga, ahundred miles away, towered high in air. Mystic, lovely, they seemed tofloat above the earth, as unsubstantial as the clouds from which they rose. They belonged to another world, a fairy world altogether apart from therugged, tumbled masses, the awe-inspiring precipices and tremendous cliffs, of the nearer mountains. These were majestic, overpowering, but plainly ofthis earth, unlike the pure, white summits that seemed unreal, impossiblein their beauty. 

"Do come and look, Fred, " said the girl aloud. "I've never seen the Snowsso clearly. "

She spoke to the solitary occupant of the dining-room of the bungalow. Theyoung man at the breakfast table answered laughingly:

"I don't want to look at those confounded hills, Sis. I've seen them, nothing but them, all through these long months, until I begin to hate thesight of them. "

"Oh, but do come, dear!" she pleaded. "Kinchinjunga has never seemed sobeautiful as it does this morning. And it looks so near. Who could believethat it was all those miles away?"

With an air of pretended boredom and martyr-like resignation, her brotherput down his coffee-cup and came out on the verandah. 

"Isn't it like Fairyland?" said the girl in an awed voice. 

He put his arm affectionately round her, as he replied:

"Then it's where you belong, kiddie, for you look like a fairy thismorning. "

The hackneyed compliment, unusual from the lips of a brother, was notfar-fetched. If a dainty little figure, an exquisitely pretty dimpledface, a shell-pink complexion, violet eyes with long, thick lashes, andnaturally wavy golden hair be the hallmarks of the fairies, then NoreenDaleham might claim to be one. Her face in repose had a somewhat sadexpression, due to the pathetic droop of the corners of her littlemouth and a wistful look in her eyes that made most men instinctivelydesire to caress and console her. But the sadness and the wistfulnesswere unconscious and untrue, for the girl was of a sunny and happydisposition. And the men that desired to pet her were kept at a distanceby her natural self-respect, which made them respect her, too. 

She was, perhaps, somewhat unusual in her generation in that she did notindulge in flirtations and would have strongly objected to being the objectof promiscuous caresses and light lovemaking. Her innate purity andinnocence kept such things at a distance from her. It never occurred to herthat a girl might indulge in a hundred flirtations without reproach. Without being sentimental she had her own inward, unexpressed feelings ofromance and vague dreams of Love and a Lover--but not of loves and loversin the plural. 

No one so far had shattered her belief in the chivalrous feeling of respectof the other sex for her own. Men as a rule, especially British men--thoughthey are no more virtuous than those of alien nations--treat a woman as sheinwardly wants them to treat her. And, although this girl was over twenty, she had never yet had reason to suspect that men could behave to her withanything but respect. 

Her small and shapely figure looked to advantage in the well-cut ridingcostume of khaki drill that she wore this morning. A cloth habit wouldhave been too warm for even these early days of an Eastern Bengal hotweather. She was ready to accompany her brother in his early ridethrough the tea-garden (of which he was assistant manager) in the Duars, as this district of the Terai below the mountains is called. From theverandah on which they stood they could look over acres of trim and tidybushes planted in orderly rows, a strong contrast to the wild disorderof the big trees and masses of foliage of the forest that lay beyondthem and stretched to and along the foothills of the Himalayas only afew miles away. 

Daleham's father, a retired colonel, has died just as the boy was preparingto go up for the entrance examination for the Royal Military College atSandhurst. To his great grief he was obliged to give up all hope ofbecoming a soldier, and, when he left school, entered an office in thecity. Passionately desirous of an open-air and active life he hadafterwards eagerly snatched at an offer of employment by one of the greattea companies that are dotting the Terai with their plantations andsweeping away glorious spaces of wild, primeval forest to replace the treesby orderly rows of tea-bushes and unsightly iron-roofed factories. 

Left with a small income inherited from her mother, Noreen Daleham, who wastwo years her brother's junior, had gladly given up the dulness of a homewith an aunt in a small country town to accompany her brother and keephouse for him. 

To most girls life on an Indian tea-garden would not seem alluring; forthey would find themselves far from social gaieties and the society oftheir kind. Existence is lonely and lacking in the comforts, as well as theluxuries, of civilisation. Dances, theatres, concerts, even shops, are far, very far away. A woman must have mental resources to enable her to facecontentedly life in a scantily-furnished, comfortless bungalow, dumped downin a monotonous stretch of unlovely tea-bushes. With little to occupy hershe must rely for days at a time on the sole companionship of her man. To ayoung bride very much in love that may seem no hardship. But when theglamour has vanished she may change her mind. 

To Noreen, however, the isolation was infinitely preferable to thenarrow-minded and unfriendly intimacy of society in a country town withits snobbery and cliques. To be mistress of her own home and to be ableto look after and mother her dearly-loved brother was a pleasant changefrom her position as a cipher in the household of a crotchetty, unsympathetic, maiden aunt. And fortunately for her the charm of thesilent forest around them, the romance of the mysterious jungle with itsdangers and its wonders, appealed strongly to her, and she preferredthem to all the pleasures that London could offer. And yet the delightsof town were not unknown to her. Her father's first cousin, who hadloved him but married a rich man, often invited the girl to stay withher in her house in Grosvenor Square. These visits gave her an insightinto life in Mayfair with its attendant pleasures of dances in smarthouses, dinners and suppers in expensive restaurants, the Opera andtheatres, and afternoons at Ranelagh and Hurlingham. She enjoyed themall; she had enough money to dress well; and she was very popular. But London could not hold her. Her relative, who was childless, wasanxious that Noreen should remain always with her, at least until shemarried--and the older woman determined that the girl should make anadvantageous marriage. But the latter knew that her income was verywelcome to her aunt and, with a spirit of self-sacrifice not usual inthe young, gave up a gay, fashionable life for the dull existence ofa paying drudge in the house of an ungrateful, embittered elderlyspinster. Yet her heart rejoiced when she conscientiously felt that herbrother needed her more and had a greater claim upon her; and gladly shewent to keep house for him in India. 

And she was happier than he in their new life. For in this land that isessentially a soldier's country, won by the sword, held by the sword, inspite of all that ignorant demagogues in England may say, Fred Daleham feltall the more keenly the disappointment of his inability to follow thecareer that he would have chosen. However, he was a healthy-minded youngman, not given to brooding and vain regrets. 

"Are you ready to start, dear?" he said to his sister now. "Shall I orderthe ponies?"

"I am ready. But have you finished your coffee?"

"Thanks, yes. We'll go off at once then, for I have a long morning's work, and we had better get our ride over while it's cool. "

He shouted to his "boy" to order the _syces_, or grooms, to bring theponies. 

"Where are we going today, dear?" asked the girl, putting on her pithhelmet. 

"To the nursery first. I want to see if the young plants have suffered muchfrom that hailstorm yesterday. "

"Wasn't it awful? What would people in England say if they got hailstoneslike that on their heads?"

"Chunerbutty and I measured one that I picked up outside the witheringshed, " said the brother. "It was a solid lump of clear ice two inches longand one and a half broad. "

"I couldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen them, " observed the girl. "Iwonder that everyone who is caught out in such a storm is not killed. "

"Animals often are--and men, too, for that matter, " replied Daleham. 

Noreen tapped her smart little riding-boot with her whip. 

"I'm glad we're going out to the nursery, " she said. "It's my favouriteride. "

"I know it is, but I don't like taking you there, Sis, " replied herbrother. "I always funk that short cut through the bit of jungle to it. Inever feel sure that we won't meet a wild elephant in it. "

"Oh; but I don't believe they are dangerous; and I do love the ride throughthat exquisite patch of forest. The trees look so lovely, now that theorchids on them are in flower. "

"My dear girl, get that silly idea that elephants are not dangerous out ofyour head, " said Daleham decidedly. "You ask any of the fellows. "

"Mr. Parry says they're not. "

"Old Parr's never seen any elephant but a tame one, unless it's a pink orspeckled one with a brass tail climbing up the wall of his room when he'sgot D. T's. He never went out shooting in the jungle in his life. But youask Payne or Reynolds or any of the chaps on the other gardens who knowanything of the jungle. "

The girl was unwilling to believe that her beloved forest could proveperilous to her, and she feared lest her excursions into it should beforbidden. 

"Well, perhaps a rogue might be dangerous, " she admitted grudgingly. "But Idon't believe that even a rogue would attack you unprovoked. "

"Wouldn't it? From all I've heard about them I'd be very sorry to give oneof them the chance, " said her brother. "I'd almost like you to meet one, just to teach you not to be such a cocksure young woman. Lord! wouldn't Ilaugh to see you trying to climb a tree--that is, if I were safe up onemyself!"

The arrival of the ponies cut short the discussion. Daleham swung hissister up into the saddle of her smart little countrybred and mounted hisown waler. 

Out along the road through the estate they trotted in the cool northerlybreeze that swept down from the mountains and tempered the sun's heat. Thepanorama of the Himalayas was glorious, although Kinchinjunga had now drawnup his covering of clouds over his face and the Snows had disappeared. Thelong orderly lines of tea-bushes were dotted here and there with splashesof colour from the bright-hued _puggris_, or turbans, of the men and the_saris_ and petticoats of the female coolies, who were busy among theplants, pruning them or tending their wounds after the storm. 

The brother and sister quickened their pace and, racing along the softearthern road, soon reached the patch of forest that intervened between thegarden and the nursery. 

"I say, Noreen, I think we'd better go the long way round, " said Dalehamapprehensively, as he pulled up his waler. 

"Oh, no, Fred. Don't funk it. Do come on, " urged the girl. "If you don't, I'll go on by myself and meet you at the nursery. "

The dispute was a daily occurrence and always ended in the man weaklygiving in. 

"That's a dear boy, " said his sister consolingly, when she had gained herpoint. 

"Yes, that's all very well, " grumbled the brother. "You've got your ownway, as usual. I hope you won't have cause to regret it one day. "

"Don't be silly, dear. Come on!" she replied, touching her pony with thewhip. The animal seemed to dislike entering the forest as much as the mandid. "Oh, do go on, Kitty. Don't be tiresome. "

The pony balked, but finally gave way under protest, and they rode on intothe jungle. A bridle path wound through the undergrowth and between thetrees, and this they followed. 

It was easy to understand the girl's enthusiasm and desire to be in theforest. After the tameness of the tea-garden the wild beauty of the gianttrees, their huge limbs clothed in the green leaves and drooping trails ofblossoms of the orchids, the tangled pattern of the interlaced creepers, the flower-decked bushes and the high ferns, looked all the lovelier intheir untrammelled profusion. 

The nursery was visited and the damage done to the young plants inspected. Then they turned their ponies' heads towards home and went back through thestrip of jungle. They rode over the whole estate, including the untidyramshackle village of bamboo and palm-thatched huts of the garden coolies, where the little, naked, brown babies rushed out to salaam and smile attheir friend Noreen. 

As they came in sight of the ugly buildings of the engine and drying-houseswith their corrugated iron roofs and rusty stove-pipe chimneys, Dalehamsaid:

"Look here, old girl, while I go to the factory, you'd better hurry on andsee to the drinks and things we've got to send to the club. I hope youhaven't forgotten that it's our day to be 'at home' there. "

"Of course I haven't, Fred. Is it likely?" exclaimed the justly-indignanthousewife. "Long before you were awake I helped the cook to pack the coldmeat and sweets and cakes, and they went off before we left the bungalow. "

They were referring to a custom that obtains in the colonies oftea-planters who are scattered in ones, two, and threes onwidely-separated estates. Their one chance of meeting others of theircolour is at the weekly gathering in the so-called club of the district. This is very unlike the institutions known by that name to dwellers incivilised cities. No marble or granite palace is it, but a rough woodenshed with one or two rooms built out in the forest far from humanhabitations, but in a spot as central and equi-distant to all theplanters of the district as possible. A few tennis courts are madebeside it, or perhaps a stretch of jungle is cleared, the more obtrusiveroots grubbed up, and the result is called a polo-ground, and on it thegame is played fast and furiously. 

A certain day in the week is selected as the one which the planters fromthe gardens for ten or twenty miles around will come together to it. Acrossrivers, through forest, jungle, and peril of wild beasts they journey ontheir ponies to meet their fellow men. Some of them may not have seenanother white face since the last weekly gathering. 

Each of them in turn acts as host. By lumbering bullock-cart or on theheads of coolies he sends in charge of his servants to the club-house milesaway from his bungalow food and drink, crockery, cutlery, and glasses, forthe entertainment of all who will foregather there. 

And for a few crowded hours this lonely spot in the jungle is filled withthe sound of human voices, with laughter, friendliness, and goodfellowship. Men who have been isolated for a week rub off the cobwebs, lunch, play tennis, polo, and cards, and swap stories at the bar until thedeclining sun warns them of the necessity for departing before night fallson the forest. After hearty farewells they swing themselves up into thesaddle again and dash off at breakneck speed to escape being trapped by thedarkness. 

Many and strange are the adventures that befall them on the rough roads orin the trackless wilds. Sometimes an elephant, a bear, or a tiger confrontsthem on their way. But the intrepid planter, and his not less courageouswomen-folk, if he has any to accompany him, gallops fearlessly by it or, perhaps, rides unarmed at the astonished beast and scares it by wild cries. Then on again to another week of lonely labour. 

This day it had fallen to the lot of the Dalehams to be the hosts of theircommunity. Noreen had superintended the preparation and despatch of thesupplies for their guests and could ride home now with a clear conscienceto wait for her brother to return for their second breakfast. The earlymorning repast, the _chota hazri_ of an Anglo-Indian household, is a verylight and frugal one, consisting of a cup of coffee or tea, a slice oftoast, and one or two bananas. 

As she pulled up her pony in front of the bungalow a man came down thesteps of the verandah and helped her to dismount. 

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Chunerbutty, " she exclaimed, "and good morning. "

"Good morning, Miss Daleham. Just back from your ride with Fred, Isuppose?"

The newcomer was the engineer of the estate. The staff of the tea-garden ofMalpura consisted of three persons, the manager, a hard-drinking oldWelshman called Parry; the assistant manager, Daleham; and this man. As arule the employees of these estates are Europeans. Chunerbutty was anexception. A Bengali Brahmin by birth, the son of a minor official in theservice of a petty rajah of Eastern Bengal, he had chosen engineeringinstead of medicine or law, the two professions that appeal most to hiscompatriots. A certain amount of native money was invested in the companythat owned the Malpura garden; and the directors apparently thought it goodpolicy to employ an Indian on it. 

Like many other young Hindus who have studied in England, Chunerbuttyprofessed to be completely Anglicised. In the presence of Europeans hesneered at the customs, beliefs, and religions of his fellow-countrymen andposed as an agnostic. It galled him that Englishmen in India thought nonethe more of him for foreswearing his native land, and he contrastedbitterly their manner to him with the reception that he had met with in thecircles in which he moved in England. He had been regarded as a hero inLondon boarding-houses. His well-cut features and dark complexion hadplayed havoc with the affections of shop-girls of a certain class and thatdebased type of young Englishwoman whose perverted and unnatural tasteleads her to admire coloured men. 

In one of these boarding-houses he had met Daleham, when the latter was aclerk in the city. It was at Chunerbutty's suggestion and with anintroduction from him that Fred had sought for and obtained employment inthe tea company, and as a result the young Englishman had ever since feltin the Bengali's debt. He inspired his sister with the same belief, and inconsequence Noreen always endeavoured to show her gratitude to Chunerbuttyby frank friendliness. They had all three sailed to India in the same ship, and on the voyage she had resented what seemed to her the illiberalprejudice of other English ladies on board to the Hindu. And all the moresince she had an uncomfortable suspicion that deep down in her heart sheshared their feeling. So she tried to seem the friendlier to Chunerbutty. 

It said much for her own and her brother's popularity with the plantersthat their intimacy with him did not cause them to be disliked. These menas a class are not unjust to natives, but intimate acquaintance with theBengali does not tend to make them love him. For the Dalehams' sake most ofthe men in the district received Chunerbutty with courtesy. But hismanager, a rough Welshman of the bad old school, who openly declared thathe "loathed all niggers, " treated him with invariable rudeness. 

As the Hindu engineer and Noreen ascended the steps of the verandahtogether, the girl said:

"You are coming to the club this afternoon, are you not?"

"Yes, Miss Daleham, that is why I have been waiting at your bungalow to seeyou. I wanted to ask if we'd ride over together. "

"Of course. We must start early, though. I want to see that the servantshave everything ready. "

"I don't think I'd be anxious to go if it were not _your_ 'At Home' day, "said the Bengali, as they seated themselves in the drawing-room that Noreenhad made as pretty as she could with her limited resources. "I don't likethe club as a rule. The fellows are so stand-offish. "

"You mustn't think so, Mr. Chunerbutty. They aren't really. You knowEnglishmen as a rule are not expansive. They often seem unfriendly whenthey don't mean to be. "

"Oh, they mean it right enough here, " replied the Hindu bitterly. "They allthink they're better than I am, just because I am an Indian. It is thathateful prejudice of the English man and woman in this country. It isdifferent in England. You know I was made a lot of in London. You saw howall the men in that boarding-house we stayed at before we sailed were myfriends. "

"Yes; that was so, Mr. Chunerbutty, " replied Noreen, who was secretly tiredof the subject, with which he regaled her every day. 

"And as for the women--Of course I don't want to boast, but all the girlswere keen to have me take them out and were proud to be seen with me. Iknow that if I liked I could have picked up lots of ladies, real ladies, Imean, not shop-girls. You should have seen the way they ogled me in thestreet. I can assure you that little red-haired girl from Manchester in theboarding-house, Lily----"

Noreen broke in quickly. 

"Please don't tell me anything about her, Mr. Chunerbutty. You know that Idon't like to hear you speak disrespectfully of ladies. " Then, to changethe disagreeable subject, she continued: "Fred will be back to breakfastsoon. Will you stay for it? Then we can all ride together to the club. "

"Thank you. I should like to, " replied Chunerbutty. To show his freedomfrom caste prejudices he not only ate with Europeans, but even showed noobjection to beef, much to the horror of all orthodox Hindus. That aBrahmin, of all men, should partake of the sacred flesh of the almostdivine cow was an appalling sacrilege in their eyes. 

Leaving him with a book she attended to the cares of her household, disorganised by the absence of cook and butler, who had gone on ahead tothe club with the supplies. 

When, after an eight miles' ride, the Dalehams and Chunerbutty reached thewooden shanty that was the rendezvous of the day, they found that they werenot the first arrivals. Four or five young men swooped joyously down onNoreen and quarrelled over the right to help her from the saddle. Whilethey were disputing vehemently and pushing each other away the laughinggirl slipped unaided to the ground and ran up the wooden steps of theverandah. She was instantly pursued by the men, who followed her to theback verandah where she had gone to interview her servants. They clamouredto be allowed to help in any capacity, and she had to assume an indignationand a severity she was far from feeling to drive them away. 

"Oh, do go away, please, " she said. "You are only in the way. How can Ilook after _tiffin_ if you interfere with me like this? Now do be good boysand go off. There's Mrs. Rice arriving. Help her out of her trap. "

They went reluctantly to the aid of the only other lady of their littlecommunity, who was apparently unable to climb down from her bamboo cartwithout help. Her husband and Daleham were already proferring theirservices, but they were seemingly insufficient. 

Mrs. Rice belonged to the type of woman altogether unsuited to the life ofa planter's wife. She was a shallow, empty-headed person devoid of mentalresources and incapable of taking interest in her household or herhusband's affairs. In her girlhood she had been pretty in a common style, and she refused to recognise that the days of her youth and good looks hadgone by. On the garden she spent her time lounging in her bungalow in anuntidy dressing-gown, skimming through light novels and the fashion papersand writing interminable letters to her family in Balham. Her elderlyhusband, a weak, easy-going man, tired of her constant reproaches forhaving dragged her away from the gay life of her London suburb to theisolation of a tea-garden, spent as much of his day as possible in thefactory. In the bungalow he drank methodically and steadily until he was ina state of mellow contentment and indifferent to his wife's tongue. 

On club days Mrs. Rice was a different woman. She arrayed herself in thelatest fashions, or the nearest approach to them that could be reached by anative tailor working on her back verandah with the guidance of the fashionplates in ladies' journals. Her face thickly coated with most of thecreams, powders, and complexion beautifiers on the market, she swathed herhead in a thick veil thrown over her sun-hat. Then, prepared for conquest, she climbed into the strong, country-built bamboo cart in which her husbandwas graciously permitted to drive her to the club. Fortunately for her apassable road to it ran from her bungalow, for she could not ride. 

Arrived at the weekly gathering-place she delighted to surround herselfwith all the men that she could cajole from the bar running down theside of the one room of the building. With the extraordinary power ofself-deception of vain women she believed that most of them weresecretly in love with her. 

Noreen's arrival in the district the previous year and her instantpopularity were galling to the older woman. But after a while, finding thather sneers and thinly-veiled bitter speeches against the girl had no effecton the men, she changed her tactics and pretended to make a bosom friend ofher. 

When all the company had assembled at the club, luncheon was served at along, rough wooden table. Beside Noreen sat the man she liked best in thelittle colony, a grey-haired planter named Payne. Many of the younger menhad striven hard to win her favour, and several had wished to marry her;but, liking them all, none had touched her heart. She felt most at easewith Payne, who was a quiet, elderly man and a confirmed bachelor. And hecordially reciprocated her liking. 

During _tiffin_ Fred Daleham called out from the far end of the table:

"I say, Payne, I wish you'd convince that young sister of mine that wildelephants can be dangerous beasts. "

"They can indeed, " replied Payne, turning to Noreen. "Take my advice andkeep out of their way. "

"Oh, but isn't it only rogues that one need be afraid of?" the girl asked. "And aren't they rare?"

"These jungles are full of them, Miss Daleham, " said another planter. "We've had two men on our garden killed already this year. "

"The Forest Officer told me that several guards and wood-cutters have beenattacked lately, " joined in another. "One brute has held up the junglesaround Mendabari for months. "

"Oh, don't tell us any more, Mr. Lane, " cried Mrs. Rice with affectedtimidity. "I shall be afraid to leave the bungalow. "

"I heard that the fellow commanding the Military Police detachment at RangaDuar was nearly killed by a rogue lately, " remarked an engineer namedGoddard. "Our _mahout_ had the story from one of the _mahouts_ of the Fort. He had a cock-and-bull yarn about the sahib being saved by his tameelephant, a single-tusker, which drove off the rogue. But, as the latterwas a double tusker, it's not a very likely tale. "

"They've got a still more wonderful story about that fellow in Ranga Duar, "remarked a planter named Lulworth. "They say he can do anything with wildelephants, goes about the jungle with a herd and they obey him like a packof hounds. "

The men near him laughed. 

"Good old Lulworth!" said one. "That beats Goddard's yarn. Did you make itup on the spot or did it take you long to think it out?"

Lulworth smiled good humouredly. 

"Oh, it's not an original lie, " he replied. "I had it from a half-bredGurkha living in the forest village near my garden. "

"Who is commanding Ranga Duar?" asked Lane. 

"A fellow called Dermot; a Major, " replied Goddard. 

"Dermot? I wonder if by any chance it's a man who used to be in these partsbefore--commanded Buxa Duar when there was a detachment of an Indianregiment there, " said Payne. 

"I believe it's the same, " replied Goddard. "He knows these jungles welland did a lot of shooting in them. He bagged that _budmash_ (rogue)elephant that killed so many people. You heard of it. He chased the brutefor a fortnight. "

"That's the man, " said Payne. "I'm glad he's back. We used to be ratherpals and stay with each other. "

"Oh, do ask him again, Mr. Payne, and bring him to the club, " chimed inMrs. Rice. "It would be such a pleasant change to have some of the officershere. They are so nice, such men of the world. "

A smile went round the table. All were so used to the lady's tactlessremarks that they only amused. They had long lost the power to irritate. 

"I'm afraid Dermot wouldn't suit you, Mrs. Rice, " said Payne laughing. "He's not a lady's man. "

"Indeed? Is he married?" she asked. 

"No, he hasn't that reason to dislike your sex. At least, he wasn't marriedwhen I knew him. I wonder how he's escaped, for he's very well off for aman in the Indian Army and heir to an uncle who is a baronet. Good-lookingchap, too. Clever beggar, well read and a good soldier, I believe. He has awonderful way with animals. I had a pony that was a regular mad beast. Itkilled one _syce_ and savaged another. It nearly did for me. I sent it toDermot, and in a week he had it eating out of his hand. "

"He seems an Admiral what-d'you-call-him--you know, that play they had intown about a wonderful butler, " said Mrs. Rice. 

"Admirable Crichton, wasn't it?"

"Yes, that was the name. Well, your Major seems a wonderful chap, " shesaid. "Do ask him. Perhaps he'll bring some of his officers here. "

"I hope he won't, Mrs. Rice, " remarked Goddard. "If he does, it's evidentthat none of us will have a look in with you. "

She smirked, well pleased, as she caught Noreen's eye and rose from thetable. 

Sets of tennis were arranged and the game was soon in full swing. Some ofthe men walked round to the back of the building to select a spot to becleared to make a polo ground. Others gathered at the bar to chat. 

Noreen had a small court round her, Chunerbutty clinging closely to her allthe afternoon, to her secret annoyance. For whenever he accompanied her tothe club he seemed to make a point of emphasising the friendly terms onwhich they were for the benefit of all beholders. As a matter of fact hedid so purposely, because he knew that it annoyed all the other men of thecommunity to see him apparently on intimate terms with the girl. 

On the afternoon, when at her request he had gone out to the back verandahto tell her servants to prepare tea, he called to her across the club andaddressed her by her Christian name. Noreen took it to be an accidentalslip, but she fancied that it made Mrs. Rice smile unpleasantly and severalof the men regard her curiously. 

The day passed all too quickly for these exiled Britons, whose one brightspot of amusement and companionship it was in the week. The setting sungave the signal for departure. After exchanging good-byes with theirguests, the Malpura party mounted their ponies and cantered home. 

One morning, a week later, Noreen over-slept herself, and, when she cameout of her room for her _chota hazri_, she found that her brother hadalready started off to ride over the garden. Ordering her pony she followedhim. She guessed that he had gone first to the nursery, and when shereached the short cut through the forest she rejoiced at being able toenter it without the usual battle. She urged the reluctant Kitty on, androde into it carelessly. 

Suddenly her pony balked and shied, flinging her to the ground. Then itturned and galloped madly home. 

As Noreen, half stunned by the fall, picked herself up stiffly and stooddazed and shaken, she shrieked in terror. She was in the middle of a herdof wild elephants which surrounded her on every side; and, as she gazedpanic-stricken at them, they advanced slowly upon her. 

CHAPTER IV

THE MADNESS OF BADSHAH

Badshah's rescue of Dermot from the rogue caused him to be more veneratedthan ever by the natives. The Mohammedan sepoys of the detachment, whoshould have had no sympathy with Hindu superstitions, began to regard himwith awe, impressed by the firm belief in his supernatural nature held bytheir co-religionists among the _mahouts_ and elephant coolies. Among thescattered dwellers in the jungle and the Bhuttias on the hills, his fame, already widespread, increased enormously; and these ignorant folk, partlydevil-worshippers, looked on him as half-god, half-demon. 

Dermot's feelings towards the gallant animal deepened into strongaffection, and the perfect understanding between the two made the sympathybetween the best-trained horse and its rider seem a very small thing. Theelephant loved the man; and when the Major was on his neck, Badshah seemedto need neither touch of hand or foot nor spoken word to make himcomprehend his master's wishes. 

Such a state of affairs was very helpful to Dermot in the execution of histask of secret enquiry and exploration. He was thus able to dispense withany attendant for the elephant in his jungle wanderings, which sometimeslasted several days and nights without a return to the Fort. He wanted nowitness to his actions at these times. Badshah needed no attention on theseexcursions. The jungle everywhere supplied him with food, and water wasalways to be found in gullies in the hills. It was unnecessary to shacklehim at night when Dermot slept beside him in the forest. The elephant neverstrayed, but stayed by his man to watch over him through the dangeroushours of darkness. He either stood by the sleeper all night or else gentlylay down near him with the same consummate carefulness that a cow-elephantuses when she lowers her huge body to the ground beside her young calf. When Badshah guarded Dermot no harm from beast of prey could come to him. 

While the forest provided sustenance for the animal, the soldier, accustomed though he was to roughing it, found it advisable to supplementits resources for himself. But with some ship's biscuits and a few tins ofpreserved meat he was ready to face the jungle for days. Limes and bananasgrew freely in the foothills. Besides his rifle he usually carried a shotgun, for jungle fowl abounded in the forest, and _kalej_, the black andwhite speckled pheasant, in the lower hills, and both were excellenteating. 

Dermot carried out a thorough survey of the borderland between Bhutan andIndia, making accurate military sketches and noting the ranges of allpositions suitable for defence, artillery, or observation. Mounted onBadshah's neck he ascended the steep hills--elephants are excellentclimbers--and explored every known _duar_ and defile. 

At the same time he kept a keen look-out for messengers passing betweendisloyal elements inside the Indian frontier and possible enemies beyondit. His knowledge of the language spoken by the Bhuttia settlers withinthe border, mostly refugees from Bhutan who had fled thither to escapethe tyranny and exactions of the officials, enabled him to question thehill-dwellers as to the presence and purpose of any strangers passingthrough. He gradually established a species of intelligence departmentamong these colonists, whose dread and hatred of their former rulershave made them very pro-British. Through them he was able to keep acheck on the comings and goings of trans-frontier Bhutanese, who arepermitted to enter India freely, although an English subject is notallowed by his own Government to penetrate into Bhutan. Despite thisprohibition--so Dermot discovered--many Bengalis had lately passedbackwards and forwards across the frontier, a thing hitherto unheard of. That members of this timorous race should venture to enter such alawless and savage country as Bhutan and that, having entered it, theylived to come back proved that there must be a strong understandingbetween many Bhutanese officials and a certain disloyal element inIndia. 

Dermot was returning through the forest from one of his excursions in thehills, when an opportunity was afforded him of repaying the debt that heowed to Badshah for the saving of his life. They had halted at midday, andthe man, seated on the ground with his back to a tree, was eating hislunch, while the elephant had strayed out of sight among the trees insearch of food. 

Beside Dermot lay his rifle and a double-barrelled shot gun, both loaded. Having eaten he lit a cheroot and was jotting down in his notebook theinformation that he had gathered that morning, when a shrill trumpet fromthe invisible Badshah made him grasp his rifle. Skilled in the knowledge ofthe various sounds that elephants make he knew by the brassy note of thisthat the animal was in deadly fear. He sprang up to go to his assistance, when Badshah burst through the trees and came towards him at his fastestpace, his drooping ears and tail and outstretched trunk showing that he wasterrified. 

Dermot, bringing his rifle to the ready, looked past him for the cause ofhis flight, but could see no pursuer. He wondered what could have soalarmed the usually courageous animal. Suddenly the knowledge came to him. As Badshah rushed towards him with every indication of terror the man sawthat, moving over the ground with an almost incredible speed, a largeserpent came in close pursuit. Even in the open across which Badshah wasfleeing it was actually gaining on the elephant, as with an extraordinaryrapidity it poured the sinuous curves of its body along the earth. It wasevident that, if the chase were continued into the dense undergrowth whichwould hamper the animal more than the snake, the latter would prove thewinner in the desperate race. 

Dermot recognised the pursuer. From its size and the fact that it wasattacking the elephant it could only be that most dreadful and almostlegendary denizen of the forest, the hamadryad, or king-cobra. All otherbig snakes in India are pythons, which are not venomous. But this, thedeadliest, most terrible of all Asiatic serpents, is very poisonous andwill wantonly attack man as well as animals. Badshah had probably disturbedit by accident--it might have been a female guarding its eggs--and in itsvicious rage it had made an onslaught on him. 

The peril of the poisoned tooth is the sole one that a grown elephant needfear in the jungle, and Badshah seemed to know that only his man could savehim. And so in his extremity he fled to Dermot. 

The soldier hurriedly put down his rifle and picked up the fowling-piece. The elephant rushed past him, and then the snake seemed to sense theman--its feeble sight would not permit it to see him. It swerved out ofits course and came towards him. When but a few feet away it suddenlychecked and, swiftly writhing its body into a coil from which its headand about five feet of its length rose straight up and waved menacinglyin the air, it gathered impetus to strike. 

A deadly feeling of nausea and powerlessness possessed Dermot, as from theopen mouth, in which the fatal fangs showed plainly while the protrudingforked tongue darting in and out seemed to feel for him, came a fetideffluvia that had a paralysing effect on him. He was experiencing theextraordinary fascination that a snake exercises over its victims. Hismuscles seemed benumbed, as the huge head swayed from side to side andmesmerised him with its uncanny power. The gun almost dropped from hisnerveless fingers. But with a fierce effort he regained the mastery ofhimself, brought the butt to his shoulder, and pressed both triggers. 

At that short range the shot blew the snake's head off, and Dermot sprangback as the heavy body fell forward and lashed and heaved with convulsivewrithing of the muscles, while the tail beat the ground heavily. 

At the report of the gun Badshah stopped in his hurried retreat and turned. Then, still showing evidences of his alarm, he approached Dermot slowly. 

"It's all right, old boy, " said the Major to him. "The brute is done for. "

The elephant understood and came to him. Dermot patted the quivering trunkoutstretched to smell the dead snake and then went forward and grasped thehamadryad's tail with both hands, striving to hold it still. But it draggedhim from side to side and the writhing coils of the headless body nearlyenfolded him, so he let go and stepped back. As well as he could judge theking-cobra was more than seventeen feet long. 

It took some time to reassure Badshah, for the elephant was badlyfrightened and, when Dermot mounted him, set off from the spot with a hasteunlike his usual deliberate pace. 

 * * * * *

For a week after this occurrence the Major was busy in his bungalow inRanga Duar drawing up reports for the Adjutant General and amplifyingexisting maps of the borderland, as well as completing his large-scalesketches of the passes. When his task was finished he filled his haversackwith provisions one morning and, shouldering his rifle, descended thewinding mountain road to the _peelkhana_. Long before this was visiblethrough the trees of the foothills he was apprised by the trumpeting of theelephants and the loud shouts of men that there was trouble there. When hecame out on the cleared stretch of ground in front of the stables he saw_mahouts_ and coolies fleeing in terror in all directions, while thestoutly built _peelkhana_ itself rocked violently as though shaken by anearthquake. 

Then forth from it, to the accompaniment of terrified squealing andtrumpeting from the female elephants, Badshah stalked, ears cocked and tailup and the light of battle in his eyes, broken iron shackles dangling fromhis legs. 

"_Dewand hoyga_ (he has gone mad), " cried the attendants, fleeing past theMajor in such alarm that they almost failed to notice him. Last of all cameRamnath, who, recognising him, halted and salaamed. 

"_Khubbadar_ (take care), sahib!" he cried in warning. "The fit is on himagain. The jungle calls him. He is mad. "

Dermot paid no attention to him but hastened on to intercept the elephantwhich stalked on with ears thrust forward and tail raised, ready to givebattle to any one that dared stop him. 

The Major whistled. Badshah checked in his stride, then as a well-knownvoice fell on his ear he faltered and looked about him. Dermot spoke hisname and the elephant turned and went straight to him, to the amazement ofthe _peelkhana_ attendants watching from behind trees on the hillside. Yetthey feared lest his intention was to attack the sahib, for when a tametusker is seized with a fit of madness, it often kills even its _mahout_, to whom ordinarily it is much attached. 

Dermot raised his hand. Badshah stopped and sank on his knees, while hismaster cast off the broken shackles and swung himself astride of his neck. Then the elephant rose again and of his own volition rolled swiftly forwardinto the jungle which closed around them and hid animal and man from theastounded watchers. 

One by one the _mahouts_ and coolies stole from the shelter of the treesand gathered together. 

"_Wah! Wah!_ the sahib has gone mad, too, " exclaimed an old Mohammedan. 

"He will never return alive, " said another, shaking his head sorrowfully. "_Afsos hun_ (I am sorry), for he was a good sahib. The _shaitan_ (devil)has borne him away to _Eblis_ (hell). "

Here Ramnath broke in indignantly:

"My elephant is no _shaitan_. He is _Gunesh_, the god _Gunesh_ himself. Hewill let no harm come to the sahib, who is safe under his protection. "

The other Hindus among the elephant attendants nodded agreement. 

"_Such bath_ (true words), " they said. "Who knows what the gods purpose?Which of you has ever before seen any man stop a _dhantwallah_ (tusker)when the madness was upon him? Which of ye has known a white man to have apower that even we have not, we whose fathers, whose forefathers forgenerations, have tended elephants?"

"Ye speak true talk, " said the first speaker. "The Prophet tells us thereare no gods. But _afrits_ there are, _djinns_--beings more than man. Whatknow we of those with whom the sahib communes when he and Badshah go forthalone into the forest?"

"The sahib is not as other sahibs, " broke in an old coolie. "I was with himbefore--in Buxa Duar. There is naught in the jungle that can puzzle him. Heknows its ways, the speech of the men in it--ay, and of its animals, too. He was a great _shikari_ (hunter) in those old days. Many beasts havefallen to his gun. Yet now he goes forth for days and brings back no heads. What does he?"

"For days, say you, Chotu?" queried another _mahout_. "Ay, for more thandays. For nights. What man among us, what man even of these wild men aroundus, would willingly pass a night in the forest?"

"True talk, " agreed the old Mohammedan. "Which of us would care to lie downalone beside his elephant in the jungle all night? Yet the sahib sleepsthere--if he does sleep--without fear. And no harm comes to him. "

Ramnath slowly shook his head. 

"The sahib does not sleep. Nor is there aught in the forest that can do himharm. Or my elephant either. The _budmash_ tried to kill the sahib, andBadshah protected him. When the big snake attacked Badshah, the sahib savedhim. 

"But what do they in the forest?" asked Chotu again. "Tell me that, Ramnath-_ji_. "

Once more Ramnath shook his head. 

"What know we? We are black men. What knowledge have we of what the sahibsdo, of what they can do? They go under the sea in ships, beneath the landin carriages. So say the sepoys who have been to _Vilayet_ (Europe). Theyfly in the air like birds. That have I seen with my own eyes at Delhi----"

"And I at Lahore, " broke in the old Mohammedan. 

"And I at Nucklao (Lucknow), " said a third. 

"But never yet was there a man, black man or sahib, who could hold a_dhantwallah_ when the mad fit was on him, as our sahib has done, "continued Ramnath. "He is under the protection of the gods. "

Even the Mohammedans among his audience nodded assent. Their _mullah_taught them that the gods of the Hindu were devils. But who knew? Mecca wasfar away, and the jungle with its demons was very near them. Among thevarious creeds in India there is a wide tolerance and a readiness tobelieve that there may be something of truth in all the faiths that menprofess. A Hindu will hang a wreath of marigolds on the tomb of aMohammedan _pir_--a Mussulman saint--and recite a _mantra_, if he knowsone, before it as readily as he will before the shrine of Siva. 

While the superstitious elephant attendants talked, Badshah was moving at afast shambling pace along animal paths through the forest farther andfarther away from the _peelkhana_. Wild beasts always follow a trackthrough the jungle, even a man-made road, in preference to forcing a waythrough the undergrowth for themselves. As he was borne swiftly along, hisrider felt that, although the elephant had allowed him to mount to hisaccustomed place, it would resent any attempts at restraint or guidance. But indeed Dermot had no wish to control it. He was filled with an immensedesire to learn the mystery of Badshah's frequent disappearances. The Majorwas convinced that the animal had a definite objective in view, sopurposeful was his manner. For he went rapidly on, never pausing to feed, unlike the usual habit of elephants which, when they can, eat all theirwaking time. But Badshah held straight on rapidly without stopping. He wasproceeding in a direction that took him at an angle away from the line ofthe Himalayas, and the character of the forest altered as he went. 

Near the foot of the hills the graceful plumes of the bamboo and the broaddrooping leaves of the plantain, the wild banana, were interspersed withthe vivid green leaves and fruit of the limes. Then came the big trees, from which the myriad creepers hung in graceful festoons. Here theundergrowth was scanty and the ground covered with tall bracken in the openglades, which gave the jungle the appearance of an English wood. 

Farther on the trees were closer together and the track led through denseundergrowth. Then through a border of high elephant-grass with featherytops it emerged on to a broad, dry river-bed of white sand strewn withrounded boulders rolled down from the hills. The sudden change from thepleasant green gloom of the forest to the harsh glare of the brilliantsunshine was startling. As they crossed the open Dermot looked up at thegiant rampart of the mountains and saw against the dark background of theirsteep slopes the grey wall of Fort and bungalows in the little outpost ofRanga Duar high above the forest. 

Then the jungle closed round them again, as Badshah plunged into the highgrass bordering the far side of the river-bed, its feathery plumes sixteenfeet from the ground. On through low thorny trees and scrub to the hugebulks and thick, leafy canopy of the giant _simal_ and teak once more. Thefurther they went from the hills the denser, more tropical became theundergrowth. The soil was damper and supported a richer, more luxuriantvegetation. Cane brakes through which even elephants and bison would findit hard to push a way, tree ferns of every kind, feathery bushes set thickwith cruel hooked thorns, mingled with the great trees, between which thecreepers rioted in wilder confusion than ever. 

The heat was intense. The air grew moist and steamy, and the sweat trickleddown Dermot's face. The earth underfoot was sodden and slushy. Littlestreams began to trickle, for the water from the mountains ten miles awaythat sinks into the soil at the foot of the hills and flows to the southunderground, here rises to the surface and gives the whole forest itsname--Terai, that is, "wet. "

Slimy pools lurked in the undergrowth. In one the ugly snout of a smallcrocodile protruded from the muddy, noisome water, and the cold, unwinkingeyes stared at elephant and man as they passed. The rank abundant foliageoverhung the track and brushed or broke against Badshah's sides, as heshouldered his way through it. 

Suddenly, without warning, Badshah came out on a stretch of forest clear ofundergrowth between the great tree-trunks, and to his amazement Dermot sawthat it was filled with wild elephants. Everywhere, as far as the eye couldrange between the trees, they were massed, not in tens or scores, but inhundreds. On every side were vistas of multitudes of great heads withgleaming white tusks and restless-moving trunks, of huge bodies supportedon ponderous legs. And with an unwonted fear clutching at his heart Dermotrealised that all their eyes were turned in his direction. 

Did they see him? Were they aware that Badshah carried a man? Dermot knewthat beasts do not quickly realise a man's presence on the neck or back ofa tame elephant. He had seen in a _kheddah_, when the _mahouts_ and noosershad gone on their trained elephants in among the host of terrified or angrycaptured wild ones, that the latter seemed not to observe the humans. 

So he hoped now that if he succeeded in turning his animal round andgetting him away quickly, his presence would remain unnoticed. Grasping hisrifle ready to fire if necessary, he tried with foot and hand to swingBadshah about. But his elephant absolutely ignored his efforts and for thefirst time in their acquaintance disobeyed him. Slowing down to a statelyand deliberate pace the _Gunesh_ advanced to meet the others. 

Then, to Dermot's amazement, from the vast herd that now encompassed themon every side came the low purring that in an elephant denotes pleasure. Almost inaudible from one throat, it sounded from these many hundreds likethe rumble of distant thunder. And in answer to it there came fromBadshah's trunk a low sound, indicative of his pleasure. Then it dawned onDermot that it was to meet this vast gathering of his kind that the animalhad broken loose from captivity. 

And the multitude of huge beasts was waiting for him. All the swayingtrunks were lifted together and pointed towards him to sense him, with aunanimity of motion that made it seem as if they were receiving him with asalute. And, as Badshah moved on into the centre of the vast herd andstopped, again the murmured welcome rumbled from the great throats. 

Dermot slung his rifle on his back. It would not be needed now. He resignedhimself to anything that might happen and was filled with an immensecuriosity. Was there really some truth in the stories about Badshah, somefoundation for the natives' belief in his mysterious powers? This receptionof him by the immense gathering of his kind was beyond credence Dermot knewthat wild elephants do not welcome a strange male into a herd. He has tofight, and fight hard, for admission, which he can only gain by defeatingthe bull that is its leader and tyrant. But that several herds should cometogether--for that there were several was evident, since the greateststrength of a herd rarely exceeds a hundred individuals--to meet an escapeddomesticated elephant, and apparently by appointment, was too fantastic tobe credited by any one acquainted with the habits of these animals. Yethere it was happening before his eyes. The soldier gave up attempting tounderstand it and simply accepted the fact. 

He looked around him. There were elephants of every type, of all ages. Somewere very old, as he could tell from their lean, fleshless skulls, theirsunken temples and hollow eyes, emaciated bodies and straight, thin legs. And the clearest proof of their age was their ears, which lapped over verymuch at the top and were torn and ragged at the lower edges. 

There were bull-elephants in the prime of life, from twenty-five tothirty-five years old, with great heads, short, thick legs bowed outwith masses of muscle, and bodies with straight backs sloping to thelong, well-feathered tails. Most of them were tuskers--and the sightof one magnificent bull near Dermot made the sportsman's trigger-fingeritch, so splendid were its tusks--shapely, spreading outward and upwardin a graceful sweep, and each nearly six feet in length along theoutside curve. 

There was a large proportion of females and calves in the assemblage. Theyoungest ones were about four or five months old. A few had not shed theirfirst woolly coat; and many of the male babies could not boast of even thetiniest tusks. 

Badshah was now completely surrounded, for the elephants had closed in onhim from every side. He raised his trunk. At once the nearest animalsextended theirs towards him. These he touched, and they in their turntouched those of their neighbours beyond his reach. They did the same toothers farther away, and so the action was repeated and carried onthroughout the herd by all except the youngest calves. 

Dermot was wondering whether this meant a greeting or a command fromBadshah, when there was a sudden stir among the animals, and soon the wholemass was in motion. Then he saw that the elephants were moving into singlefile, the formation in which they always march. Badshah alone remainedwhere he was. 

Then the enormous gathering broke up and began to move. The oldestelephants led; and the line commenced to defile by Badshah, who stood as ifpassing them in review. As the first approached it lifted its trunk, and toDermot's astonishment gently touched him on the leg with it. Then it passedon and the next animal took its place and in its turn touched the man. Thesucceeding ones did the same; and thus all the elephants defiled by theirdomesticated companion and touched or smelt Dermot as they went by. 

Throughout the whole proceeding Badshah remained motionless, and his riderbegan to believe that he had ordered his wild kindred to make themselvesacquainted with his human friend. It seemed a ridiculous idea, but thewhole proceeding was so wildly improbable that the soldier felt thatnothing could surprise him further. 

As the elephants passed him he noticed on the legs of a few of them markswhich were evidently old scars of chain or rope-galls. And the forehead ofone or two showed traces of having been daubed with tar, while on the trunkof one very large tusker was an almost obliterated ornamental design inwhite paint, and his tusks were tipped with brass. So it was apparent thatBadshah was not the only animal present that had escaped from captivity. The big tusker had probably belonged to the _peelkhana_ of some rajah, judging by the pattern of the painted design. 

Slowly the seemingly endless line of great animals went by. Hours elapsedbefore the last elephant had passed; and Dermot, cramped by sitting stillon Badshah's neck, was worn out with heat and fatigue long before the slowprocession ended. 

When at last the almost interminable line had gone by, Badshah moved off ata rapid pace and passed the slow-plodding animals until he had overtakenthe leaders. Dermot found that the herd was heading for the mountains andthe oldest beasts were still in front. This surprised him, as it wasaltogether contrary to the custom of wild elephants. For usually on a marchthe cows with calves lead the way. This is logical and reasonable; becauseif an unencumbered tusker headed the line and set the pace, he would go toofast and too far for the little legs of the babies in the rear. They wouldfall behind; and, as their mothers would stay with them, the herd wouldsoon be broken up. 

But as Badshah reached the head of the file and, taking the lead, set avery slow pace, Dermot quickly understood why the old elephants wereallowed to remain in front. For all of them were exceedingly feeble, andsome seemed at death's door from age and disease. He would not have beensurprised at any of them falling down at any moment and expiring on thespot. 

Then he remembered the curious but well-known fact that no man, white orcoloured, has ever yet found the body of a wild elephant that has died inthe jungle from natural causes. Though few corners of Indian or Ceylonforests remain unexplored, no carcases or skeletons of these animals haveever been discovered. And yet, although in a wild state they reach the ageof a hundred and fifty years, elephants must die at last. 

Dermot was meditating on this curious fact of natural history when Badshahcame out on the high bank of an empty river-bed and cautiously climbed downit. Ahead of them rose the long line of mountains clear and distinct in therays of the setting sun. As he reached the far bank Dermot turned round tolook back. Behind them stretched the procession of elephants in singlefile, each one stepping into the huge footprints of those in front of it. When Badshah plunged into the jungle again the tail of the procession hadnot yet come out on the white sand of the river-bed. 

And when the sun went down they were still plodding on towards the hills. 

CHAPTER V

THE DEATH-PLACE

An hour or two after night had fallen on the jungle Badshah stoppedsuddenly and sank down on his knees. Dermot took this as an invitation todismount, and slid to the ground. When Badshah stopped, the long-stretchingline behind him halted, too, and the elephants broke their formation andwandered about feeding. Soon the forest resounded with the noise ofcreepers being torn down, branches broken off, and small trees uprooted sothat the hungry animals could reach the leafy crowns. Dermot realised thatin the darkness he was in danger of being trodden underfoot among thehundreds of huge animals straying about. But Badshah knew it, too, and sohe remained standing over his man, while the latter sat down on the ground, rested his aching back against a tree, and made a meal from the contents ofhis haversack. Badshah contented himself with the grass and leaves that hecould reach without stirring from the spot, and then cautiously loweredhimself to the ground and stretched his huge limbs out. 

Dermot lay down beside him, as he had so often done before in the nightsspent in the jungle. But, exhausted as he was, he could not sleep at first. The strangeness of the adventure kept him awake. To find his presenceaccepted by this vast gathering of wild elephants, animals which areusually extremely shy of human beings, was in itself extraordinary. Much ashe knew of the jungle he had never dreamt of this. In Central Indianvillages he had been told legends of lost children being adopted by wolves. But for elephants to admit a man into their herd was beyond belief. That itwas due to Badshah's affection for him was little less remarkable than thefact itself. For it opened up the question of the animal's extraordinarypower over his kind. And that was an unfathomable mystery. 

Dermot found the riddle too difficult to solve. He ceased to puzzle overit. The noises in the forest gradually died down, and the intense silencethat followed was broken only by the harsh call of the barking-deer or thewailing cry of the giant owl. Fatigue overcame him, and he slept. 

It seemed to him that he had scarcely lost consciousness when he wasawakened by a touch on his face. It was still dark; but, when he sprang uphastily, he could vaguely make out Badshah standing beside him. Theelephant touched him with his trunk and then sank down on his knees. Theinvitation to mount was unmistakable; and Dermot slung his rifle on hisback and climbed on to the elephant's neck. Badshah rose up and moved off, and apparently the other elephants followed him, for the noises that hadfilled the forest and showed them to be awake and feeding, ceased abruptly. Dermot could just faintly distinguish the soft footfall of the animalimmediately behind him. 

When Badshah reached the lowest hills and left the heavy forest behind thesky became visible, filled with the clear and vivid tropic starlight. Ananimal track led up between giant clumps of bamboos, by long-leavedplantain trees and through thick undergrowth of high, tangled bushes thatclothed the foothills. Up this path, as a paling in the east betokened thedawn, the long line of elephants climbed in the same order of march as onthe previous day. Badshah led; and behind him followed the oldestelephants, on which the steep ascent told heavily. 

Two thousand feet above the forest the track led close to a Bhuttiavillage. As the rising sun streaked the sky with rose, the head of the longline neared the scattered bamboo huts perched on piles on the steep slopes. The track was not visible from the village, but a party of wood-cuttersfrom the hamlet had just reached it on their way to descend to their day'swork in the jungle below. They saw the winding file of ascending elephantssome distance beneath them and in great alarm climbed up a big rubber treegrowing close to the path. Hidden among its broad and glossy green leavesthey watched the approaching elephants. 

From their elevated perch they had a good view of the serpentining line. To their amazement they saw that a white man sat astride the neck of thefirst animal and was apparently conducting the enormous herd. One of thewood-cutters recognised Dermot, who had once visited this very villageand interrogated this man among others. Petrified with fright, theBhuttia and his companions watched the long line go by, and for fully anhour after the last elephant had disappeared they did not venture todescend from the tree. 

When at last they did so there was no longer any thought of work. Instead, they fled hotfoot to the village to spread their strange news; and nextday, when they went to their work below and explained to the enraged Gurkhaoverseer the reason of their absence on the previous day, they told him thefull tale. No story is too incredible for the average native of India, andthe overseer and various forest guards who also heard the narrative fullybelieved it and spread it through the jungle villages. It grew as it passedfrom tongue to tongue, until the story finally rivalled the most marvellousof the exploits of Krishna, that wonderful Hindu god. 

Meanwhile Dermot and his mammoth companions were climbing steadily higherand ever higher into the mountains. A panther, disturbed by them in hissleep beside the bones of a goat, rose growling from the ground and slunksullenly away. A pair of brilliantly-plumaged hornbills flew overhead witha loud and measured beat of wings. _Kalej_ pheasants scuttled away amongthe bushes. 

But soon the jungle diminished to low scrub and finally fell away behindthe ascending elephants, and they entered a region of rugged, barrenmountains cloven by giant chasms and seamed by rocky _nullahs_ down whichbrawling streams rushed or tumbled over falls. A herd of _gooral_--thelittle wild goat--rushed away before their coming and sprang in dizzy leapsdown almost sheer precipices. 

As the mountains closed in upon him in a narrow passage between beetlingcliffs thousands of feet high, Dermot's interest quickened. For he knewthat he was nearing the border-line between India and Bhutan; and this wasapparently a pass from one country into the other, unknown and unmarked inthe existing maps, one of which he carried in his haversack. He took it outand examined it. There was no doubt of it; he had made a fresh discovery. 

He turned round on Badshah's neck and looked down on all India spread outbeneath him. East and west along the foot of the mountains the sea offoliage of the Terai swept away out of sight. Here and there lighterpatches of colour showed where tea-gardens dotted the darker forest. Thirtyodd miles to the south of the foothills the jungle ended abruptly, andbeyond its ragged fringe lay the flat and fertile fields of Eastern Bengal. A dark spot seen indistinctly through the hot-weather haze marked where thelittle city of Cooch Behar lay. Sixty miles and more away to the south-eastthe Garo Hills rose beyond the snaky line of the Brahmaputra Riverwandering through the plains of Assam. 

A sharp turn in the narrow defile shut out the view of everything exceptthe sheer walls of rock that seemed almost to meet high overhead and hidethe sky. Even at noon the pass was dark and gloomy. But it came abruptly toan end, and as through a gateway the leading elephants emerged suddenly ona narrow jungle-like valley. The first line of mountains guarding Bhutanhad been traversed. Beyond the valley lay another range, its southern facecovered with trees. 

Badshah halted, and the elephants behind him scattered as they came out ofthe defile. The aged animals among them, as soon as they had drunk from alittle river running midway between the mountain chains and fed by streamsfrom both, lay down to rest, too exhausted to eat. But the others spreadout in the trees to graze. 

Dermot, who had begun to fear that the supply of food in his haversackmight run short, found a plantain tree and gathered a quantity of thefruit. After a frugal meal he wrote up his notes on the pass through whichhe had just come and made rough military sketches of it. Then he strolledamong the elephants grazing near Badshah. They showed no fear or hostilityas he passed, and some of the calves evinced a certain amount of curiosityin him. He even succeeded in making friends with one little animal about ayear old, marked with whitish blotches on its forehead and trunk, whichallowed him to touch it and, after due consideration, accepted the gift ofa peeled banana. Its mother stood by during the proceeding and regarded thefraternising with her calf dubiously. 

Not until dawn on the following day did the herd resume its onwardmovement. Dermot was awake even before Badshah's trunk touched his face toarouse him, and as soon as he was mounted the march began again. The routelay through the new mountain range; and all day, except for a couple ofhours' halt at noon, the long line wound up a confusing jumble of ravinesand passes. When night fell a plateau covered with tall deodar trees hadbeen reached, and here the elephants rested. 

Daybreak on the third morning found Badshah leading the line through astill more bewildering maze of narrow defiles and a forest with such densefoliage that, when the sun was high in the heavens, its rays scarcelylightened the gloom between the tree-trunks. Dermot wondered how Badshahfound his way, for there was no sign of a track, but the elephant moved onsteadily and with an air of assured purpose. 

At one place he plunged into a deep narrow ravine filled with tangledundergrowth that constantly threatened to tear Dermot from his seat. Indeed, only the continual employment of the latter's _kukri_, with whichhe hacked at the throttling creepers and clutching thorny branches, savedhim. 

Darker and gloomier grew the way. The sides of the _nullah_ closed in untilthere was scarcely room for the animals to pass, and then Dermot foundBadshah had entered a natural tunnel in the mountain side. The interior wasas black as midnight, and the soldier had to lie flat on the elephant'sskull to save his own head. 

Suddenly a blinding light made him close his eyes, as Badshah burst out ofthe darkness of the tunnel into the dazzling glare of the sunshine. 

When his rider looked again he found that they were in an almost circularvalley completely ringed in by precipitous walls of rock rising straightand sheer for a couple of thousand feet. Above these cliffs towered giantmountain peaks covered with snow and ice. 

At the end of the valley farthest from them was a small lake. Near themouth of the tunnel the earth was clothed with long grass and floweringbushes and dotted with low trees. But elsewhere the ground was dazzlinglywhite, as though the snow lay deep upon it. Badshah halted among the trees, and the old elephants passed him and went on in the direction of the lake. Dermot noticed that they seemed to have suddenly grown feebler and moredecrepit. 

He looked down at the white ground. To his surprise he found that from hereto the lake the valley was floored with huge skulls, skeletons, scatteredbones, and tusks. It was the elephants' Golgotha. He had penetrated to aspot which perhaps no other human being had ever seen--the death-place ofthe mammoths, the mysterious retreat to which the elephants of the Teraicame to die. 

He looked instinctively towards the aged animals, which alone hadgone forward among the bones. And, as he gazed, one of them stumbled, recovered its footing, staggered on a few paces, then stopped and slowlysank to the ground. It laid its head down and stretched out its limbs. Tremors shook the huge body; then it lay still as though asleep. A second old elephant, and a third, stood for a moment, then slowlysubsided. Another and another did the same; until finally all of themlay stretched out motionless--lifeless, dark spots on the white floorthat was composed of bones of countless generations of their kind. 

There was a strange impressiveness about the solemn passing of these greatbeasts. It affected the human spectator almost painfully. The hush of thisfatal valley, the long line of elephants watching the death of theirkindred, the pathos of the end of the stately animals which in obedience tosome mysterious impulse, had struggled through many difficulties only tolie down here silently, uncomplainingly, and give up their lives, allstirred Dermot strangely. And when the thought of the incalculable wealththat lay in the vast quantity of ivory stored in this great charnel-houseflashed through his mind, he felt that it would be a shameful desecration, inviting the wrath of the gods, to remove even one tusk of it. 

He was not left long to gaze and wonder at the weird scene. To his reliefBadshah suddenly turned and passed through the trees again towards thetunnelled entrance, and the hundreds of other elephants followed him infile. In a few minutes Dermot found himself plunged into darkness oncemore, and the Valley of Death had disappeared. 

When they had passed through the tunnel, the elephants slipped and stumbleddown the rock-encumbered ravines, for elephants are far less sure-footed indescent than when ascending. But they travelled at a much faster pace, being no longer hampered by the presence of the old and decrepit beasts. Itseemed to take only a comparatively short time to reach the valley betweenthe two mountain ranges. And here they stopped to feed and rest. 

When morning came, Dermot found that the big assembly of elephants wasbreaking up into separate herds of which it was composed. The greaternumber of these moved off to the east and north, evidently purposing toremain for a time in Bhutan, where the young grass was springing up in thevalleys as the lower snows melted. Only three herds intended to return toIndia with Badshah, of which the largest, consisting of about a hundredmembers, seemed to be the one to which he particularly belonged. 

During the descent from the mountains into the Terai, Dermot wondered whatwould happen with Badshah when they reached the forest. Would the elephantpersist in remaining with the herd or would it return with him to the_peelkhana_?

Night had fallen before they had got clear of the foothills, so thatwhen they arrived in the jungle once more they halted to rest not farfrom the mountains. When Dermot awoke next morning he found that he andBadshah were alone, all the others having disappeared, and the animalwas standing patiently awaiting orders. He seemed to recognise that hisbrief hour of authority had passed, and had become once more his usualdocile and well-disciplined self. At the word of command he sank tohis knees to allow his master to mount; and then, at the touch of hisrider's foot, turned his head towards home and started off obediently. 

As they approached the _peelkhana_ a cry was raised, and the elephantattendants rushed from their huts to stare in awe-struck silence at animaland man. Ramnath approached with marked reverence, salaaming deeply atevery step. 

When Dermot dismounted it was hard for him to bid farewell to Badshah. Hefelt, too, that he could no longer make the elephant submit to the ignominyof fetters. So he bade Ramnath not shackle nor bind him again. Then hepatted the huge beast affectionately and pointed to the empty stall in the_peelkhana_; and Badshah, seeming to understand and appreciate his beingleft unfettered, touched his white friend caressingly with his trunk andwalked obediently to his brick standing in the stable. The watching_mahouts_ and coolies nodded and whispered to each other at this, butRamnath appeared to regard the relations between his elephant and the sahibas perfectly natural. 

Dermot shouldered his rifle and started off on the long and weary climb toRanga Duar. When he reached the parade ground he found the men of thedetachment falling out after their morning drill. His subaltern, Parker, who was talking to the Indian officers of the Double Company, saw him andcame to meet him. 

"Hullo, Major; I'm glad to see you back again, " he said, saluting. "Ihardly expected to, after the extraordinary stories I've heard from the_mahouts_. "

"Really? What were they?" asked his senior officer, leading the way to hisbungalow. 

"Well, the simplest was that Badshah had gone mad and bolted with you intothe jungle, " replied the subaltern. "Another tale was that he knelt downand worshipped you, and then asked you to go off with him on somemysterious mission. "

Dermot had resolved to say as little as possible about his experiences. Europeans would not credit his story, and he had no desire to be regardedas a phenomenal liar. Natives would believe it, for nothing is toomarvellous for them; but he had no wish that any one should know of theexistence of the Death Place, lest ivory-hunters should seek to penetrateto it. 

"Nonsense. Badshah wasn't mad, " he replied. "It was just as I guessed whenyou first told me of these fits of his--merely the jungle calling him. "

"Yes, sir. But the weirdest tale of all was that you were seen leading anarmy of elephants, just like a Hindu god, to invade Bhutan. "

"Where did you hear that?" asked Dermot in surprise. 

"Oh, the yarn came from the _mahouts_, who heard it from some of the forestguards, who said they'd been told it by Bhuttias from the hills. You knowhow natives spread stories. Wasn't it a silly tale?" And Parker laughed atthe thought of it. 

"Yes, rather absurd, " agreed the Major, forcing a smile. "Yes, natives arereally--Hello! who's done this?"

They had reached the garden of his bungalow. The little wooden gate-postsat the entrance were smeared with red paint and hung with withered wreathsof marigolds. 

When a Hindu gets the idea into his head that a certain stone or tree orplace is the abode of a god or godling or is otherwise holy, his firstimpulse is to procure marigolds and red paint and make a votive offering ofthem by making wreaths of the one and daubing everything in the vicinitywith the other. 

"By Jove, Major, I expect that some of the Hindus in the bazaar have heardthese yarns about you and mean to do _poojah_ (worship) to you, " saidParker with a laugh. "I told you they regard Badshah as a very holy animal. I suppose some of his sacredness has overflowed on to you. "

Dermot realised that there was probably some truth in the suggestion. Hewas annoyed, as he had no desire to be looked on by the natives as thepossessor of supernatural powers. 

"I must see that my boy has the posts cleaned, " he said. "When you get tothe Mess, Parker, please tell them I'll be up to breakfast as soon as I'vehad a tub and a shave. "

Two hours later Dermot showed Parker the position of the defile on the mapand explained his notes and sketches of it; for it was important that hissubordinate should know of it in the event of any mishap occurring tohimself. But before he acquainted Army Headquarters in India with hisdiscovery, he went to the pass again on Badshah to examine and survey itthoroughly. When this was done and he had despatched his sketches andreport to Simla, he felt free to carry out a project that interested him. This was to seek out the herd of wild elephants with which Badshah seemedmost closely associated and try to discover the secret of his connectionwith them. 

Somewhat to his surprise he experienced no difficulty in finding them; as, when he set out from the _peelkhana_ in search of them, Badshah seemed toknow what he wanted and carried him straight to them. For each day theanimal appeared to understand his man's inmost thoughts more and more, andto need no visible expression of them. 

When they reached the herd, the elephants received Badshah without anydemonstration of greeting, unlike the previous occasion. They showed noobjection to Dermot's presence among them. The little animal with theblotched trunk recognised him at once and came to him, and the other calvessoon followed its example and made friends with him. The big elephantsbetrayed no fear, and allowed him to stroll on foot among them freely. 

This excursion was merely the first of many that Dermot made with the herd, with which he often roamed far and wide through the forest. And sometimes, without his knowing it, he was seen by some native passing through thejungle, who hurriedly climbed a tree or hid in the undergrowth to avoidmeeting the elephants. From concealment the awed watcher gazed inastonishment at the white man in their midst, of whom such wonderful taleswere told in the villages. And when he got back safely to his own hamletthat night the native added freely to the legends that were gatheringaround Dermot's name among the jungle and hill-dwellers. 

On one occasion Dermot, seated on Badshah's neck, was following in rear ofthe herd when it was moving slowly through the forest a few miles from thefoot of the hills. A sudden halt in the leisurely progress made him wonderat the cause. Then the elephants in front broke their formation and crowdedforward in a body, and Dermot suddenly heard a human cry. Fearing that theyhad come unexpectantly on a native and might do him harm, he urged Badshahforward through the press of animals, which parted left and right to lethim through. To his surprise he found the leading elephants ringed round agirl, an English girl, who, hatless and with her unpinned hair streaming onher shoulders, stood terrified in their midst. 

CHAPTER VI

A DRAMATIC INTRODUCTION

When Noreen Daleham rose half-stunned from the ground where her pony hadflung her and realised that she was surrounded by wild elephants she wasterrified. The stories of their ferocity told her at the club flashedacross her mind, and she felt that she was in danger of a horrible death. When the huge animals closed in and advanced on her from all sides she gaveherself up for lost. 

At that awful moment a voice fell on her ears and she heard the words:

"Don't be alarmed. You are in no danger. "

In bewilderment she looked up and saw to her astonishment and relief awhite man sitting on the neck of one of the great beasts. 

"Oh, I am so glad!" she exclaimed. "I was terrified. I thought that thesewere wild elephants. "

Dermot smiled. 

"So they are, " he said. "But they won't hurt you. Can I help you? What areyou doing here? Have you lost your way in the jungle?"

By this time Noreen had recovered her presence of mind and began to realisethe situation. It was natural that this man should be astonished to find anEnglishwoman alone and in distress in the forest. Her appearance wascalculated to cause him to wonder--and a feminine instinct made her handsgo up to her untidy hair, as she suddenly thought of her dishevelled state. She picked up her hat and put it on. 

"I've had a fall from my pony, " she explained, trying to reduce her unrulytresses to order. "It shied at the elephants and threw me. Then I supposeit bolted. "

She looked around but could see nothing except elephants, which wereregarding her solemnly. 

"But where have you come from? Are you far from your camp?" persistedDermot. "Shall I take you to it?"

"Oh, we are not in camp, " replied Noreen. "I live on a tea-garden. It isquite near. I can walk back, thank you, if you are sure that the elephantswon't do me any harm. "

But as she spoke she felt her knees give way under her from weakness, andshe was obliged to sit down on the ground. The shock of the fall and thefright had affected her more than she realised. 

Dermot laid his hand on Badshah's head, and the animal knelt down. 

"I'm afraid you are not fit to walk far, " said Dermot. "I must take youback. "

As he spoke he slipped to the ground. From a pocket in the pad he extracteda flask of brandy, with which he filled a small silver cup. 

"Drink this, " he said, holding it to her lips. "It will do you good. "

Noreen obeyed and drank a little of the spirit. Then, before she couldprotest, she was lifted in Dermot's arms and placed on the pad on Badshah'sback. This cool disposal of her took her breath away, but to her surpriseshe felt that she rather liked it. There was something attractive in hernew acquaintance's unconsciously authoritative manner. 

Replacing the flask he said:

"Are you used to riding elephants?"

She shook her head. 

"Then hold on to this rope across the pad, otherwise you may slip off whenBadshah rises to his feet. You had better keep your hand on it as we goalong, though there isn't much danger of your falling. "

As he got astride the elephant's neck he continued: "Now, be ready. Hold ontightly. Uth, Badshah!"

Despite his warning Noreen nearly slipped off the pad at the sudden andjerky upheaval when the elephant rose. 

"Now please show me the direction in which your garden lies, if you can, "said Dermot. 

"Oh, it is quite near, " Noreen answered. "That is the road to it. "

She let the rope go to point out the way, but instantly grasped it again. Dermot turned Badshah's head down the track. 

"Oh, what about all these other elephants?" asked the girl apprehensively, looking at them where they were grouped together, gazing with curiosity atBadshah's passengers. "Will they come too?"

"No, " said Dermot reassuringly, "you needn't be afraid. They won't follow. We'd create rather too much of a sensation if we arrived at your bungalowat the head of a hundred _hathis_. "

"But are they really wild?" she asked. "They look so quiet and inoffensivenow; though when I was on the ground they seemed very dreadful indeed. ButI was told that wild elephants are dangerous. "

"Some of them undoubtedly are, " replied Dermot. "But a herd is fairlyinoffensive, if you don't go too near it. Cow-elephants with young calvescan be very vicious, if they suspect danger to their offspring. "

A turn in the road through the jungle shut out the sight of the hugeanimals behind them, and Noreen breathed more freely. She began to wonderwho her rescuer was and how he had come so opportunely to her relief. Theirdramatic meeting invested him in her eyes with more interest than she wouldhave found in any man whose acquaintance she had made in a more unromanticand conventional manner. And so she bestowed more attention on him andstudied his appearance more closely than she would otherwise have done. Hestruck her at once as being exceedingly good looking in a strong and manlyway. His profile showed clear-cut and regular features, with a mouth andchin bespeaking firmness and determination. His face in repose was grave, almost stern, but she had seen it melt in sudden tenderness as he sprang toher aid when she had felt faint. She noticed that his eyes were veryattractive and unusually dark--due, although she did not know it, to theSpanish strain in him as in so many other Irish of the far west ofConnaught--and with his darker hair, which had a little wave in it, and hissmall black moustache they gave him an almost foreign look. The girl had asudden mental vision of him as a fierce rover of bygone days on the SpanishMain. But when, in a swift transition, little laughter-wrinkles creasedaround his eyes that softened in a merry smile, she wondered how she couldhave thought that he looked fierce or stern. Although, like many of hersex, she was a little prejudiced against handsome men, and he certainly wasone, yet she was strongly attracted by his appearance. Probably the verycontrast in colouring and type between him and her made him appeal to her. He was as dark as she was fair. And when he was standing on the ground shehad seen that he was well above middle height with a lithe and gracefulfigure displayed to advantage by his careless costume of loose khaki shirtand Jodpur breeches. The breadth of his shoulders denoted strength, and hisrolled-up sleeves showed muscular arms burned dark by the sun. 

"How did you manage to come up just at the right moment to rescue me?" sheasked. "I have not thanked you yet for saving me, but I do so now mostheartily. I can't tell you how grateful I feel. I am sure, no matter whatyou say, that those elephants would have killed me if you hadn't come. "

Dermot laughed. 

"I'm afraid I cannot pose as a heroic rescuer. I daresay there might havebeen some danger to you, had I not been with them. For one can never tellwhat elephants will do. Out of sheer nervousness and fright they might haveattacked you. "

"You were with them?" she echoed in surprise. "But you said that these werewild ones. "

"So they are. But this animal we are on is a tame one and was capturedyears ago in the jungle about here. I think he must have belonged to thisparticular herd, for they accept him as one of themselves. "

"Yes; but you?"

"Oh, they have made me a sort of honorary member of the herd for his sake, I think. He and I are great pals, " and Dermot laid his hand affectionatelyon Badshah's head. "He saved my life not long ago when I was attacked by avicious rogue. "

Noreen suddenly remembered the conversation at the club lunch. 

"Oh, are you the officer from the Fort up at Ranga Duar?" she asked. 

"One of them. I am commanding the detachment of Military Police there, " heanswered. "My name is Dermot. "

"Then I've heard of you. I understand now. They said that you could dowonderful things with wild elephants, that you went about the forest with aherd of them. "

"_They_ said?" he exclaimed. "Who are 'they'?"

"The men at the club. We have a planters' club for the district, you know. At our last weekly meeting they spoke of you and said that you had nearlybeen killed by a rogue. Mr. Payne told us that he used to know you. "

"What? Payne of Salchini? I knew him well. Awfully good chap. "

"Yes, isn't he? I like him so much. "

"I saw a lot of him when I was stationed at Buxa Duar with my DoubleCompany. Hullo! here we are at a tea-garden. "

They had suddenly come out of the forest on to the open stretch of furrowedland planted with the orderly rows of tidy bushes. 

"Yes; it is ours. It's called Malpura, " said Noreen. "My brother is theassistant manager. Our name is Daleham. "

"Here comes somebody in a hurry, " remarked Dermot, pointing to where, onthe road ahead of them, a man on a pony was galloping towards them with acloud of dust rising behind him. 

"Yes, it's my brother. Oh, what's happening?" she exclaimed. 

For as he approached his pony scented the elephant and stopped deadsuddenly, nearly throwing its rider over its head. 

"Fred! Fred! Here I am!" she cried. 

But Daleham's animal was unused to elephants and positively refused toapproach Badshah. In vain its rider strove to make it go on. It suddenlyput an end to the dispute between them by swinging round and bolting backthe way that it had come, despite its master's efforts to hold it. 

Noreen looked after the pair anxiously. 

"You needn't be alarmed, Miss Daleham, " said Dermot consolingly. "Yourbrother is quite all right. Once he gets to a safe distance from Badshahthe pony will pull up. Horses are always afraid of elephants until they getused to them. See, he is slowing up already. "

When the girl was satisfied that her brother was in no danger she smiled atthe dramatic abruptness of his departure. 

"Poor Fred! He must have been awfully worried over me, " she said. "Heprobably thought I was killed or at least had met with a bad accident. Andnow the poor boy can't get near me. "

"I daresay he was alarmed if your pony went home riderless. "

"Yes, it must have done so. Naughty Kitty. It must have bolted back to itsstable and frightened my poor brother out of his wits. "

"Well, he'll soon have you back safe and sound, " said Dermot. "Hold ontightly now, and I'll make Badshah step out. _Mul!_"

The elephant increased his pace, and the motion sorely tried Noreen. Asthey passed through the estate the coolies bending over the tea-bushesstopped their work to stare at them. Noreen remarked that they appeareddeeply interested at the sight of the elephant, and gathered together totalk volubly and point at it. 

When they neared the bungalow they saw Daleham standing on the steps of theverandah, waiting for them. He had recognised the futility of strugglingwith his pony and had returned with it. 

As they arrived he ran down the steps to meet them. 

"Good gracious, Noreen, what has happened to you?" he cried, as Badshahstopped in front of the house. "I've been worried to death about you. Whenthe servants came to the factory to say that Kitty had galloped home withbroken reins and without you, I thought you had been killed. "

"Oh, Fred, I've had such an adventure, " she cried gaily. "You'll say itserved me right. Wait until I get down. But how am I to do so, MajorDermot?"

"The elephant will kneel down. Hold on tightly, " he replied. "_Buth_, Badshah. " He unslung his rifle as he dismounted. 

When her brother had lifted her off the pad, the girl kissed him and said:

"I'm so glad to get back to you, dear. I thought I never would. I knowyou'll crow over me and and say, 'I told you so. ' But I must introduce youto Major Dermot. This is my brother, Major. Fred, if it had not been forMajor Dermot, you wouldn't have a sister now. Just listen. "

The men shook hands as she began her story. Her brother interrupted her tosuggest their going on to the verandah to get out of the sun. When theywere all seated he listened with the deepest interest. 

At the end of her narrative he could not help saying:

"I warned you, young woman. What on earth would have happened to you ifMajor Dermot had not been there?" He turned to their visitor and continued:"I must thank you awfully, sir. There's no doubt that Noreen would havebeen killed without your help. "

"Oh, perhaps not. But certainly you were right in advising her not to enterthe forest alone. "

"There, you see, Noreen?"

The girl pouted a little. 

"Is it really so dangerous, Major Dermot?" she asked. 

"Well, one ought never to go into it without a good rifle, " he replied. "You might pass weeks, months, in it without any harm befalling you; but onthe other hand you might be exposed to the greatest danger on your veryfirst day in it. You've just had a sample. "

"You were attacked yourself by a rogue, weren't you?" asked the girl. "Yousaid that your elephant saved you? Was this the one? Do tell us about it. "

Dermot briefly narrated his adventure with the rogue. Brother and sisterpunctuated the tale with exclamations of surprise and admiration, and atthe conclusion of it, turned to look at Badshah, who had taken refuge fromthe sun's rays under a tree and was standing in the shade, shifting hisweight from leg to leg, flapping his ears and driving away the flies byflicking his sides with a small branch which he held in his trunk. Dermothad taken off his pad. 

"You dear thing!" cried the girl to him. "You are a hero. I'm very proud tothink that I have been on your back. "

"It was really wonderful, " said Daleham. "How I should have liked to seethe fight! I say, all our servants have come out to look at him. By Jove!any amount of coolies, too. One would think that they'd never seen anelephant before. "

"I'm sure they've never seen such a splendid one, " said his sisterenthusiastically. "He is well worth looking at. But--oh, what is that mandoing?"

One of the crowd of coolies that had collected had gone down on his kneesbefore Badshah and touched the earth with his forehead. Then another andanother imitated him, until twenty or thirty of them were prostrate in thedust, worshipping him. 

"I must stop this, " exclaimed Daleham. "If old Parr sees them he'll befurious. They ought to be at their work. "

He ran down the steps of the verandah and ordered them away. His servantsdisappeared promptly, but the coolies went slowly and reluctantly. 

"What were they doing, Major Dermot?" asked Noreen. "They looked as if theywere praying to your elephant. Hadn't they ever seen one before?"

He explained the reason of the reverence paid to Badshah. Daleham, returning, renewed his thanks as his sister went into the bungalow to seeabout breakfast. When she returned to tell them that it was ready, Dermothardly recognised in the dainty girl, clad in a cool muslin dress, theterrified and dishevelled damsel whom he had first seen standing in themidst of the elephants. 

During the meal she questioned him eagerly about the jungle and the ways ofthe wild animals that inhabit it, and she and her brother listened withinterest to his vivid descriptions. A chance remark of Daleham's on thedifficulty of obtaining labour for the tea-gardens in the Terai interestedDermot and set him trying to extract information from his host. 

"I suppose you know, sir, that as these districts are so sparsely populatedand the Bhuttias on the hills won't take the work, we have to import thethousands of coolies needed from Chota Nagpur and other places hundreds ofmiles away, " said Daleham. "Lately, however, we have begun to get men fromBengal. "

"What? Bengalis?" asked Dermot. 

"Yes. Very good men. Quite decent class. Some educated men among them. Why, I discovered by chance that one is a B. A. Of Calcutta University. "

"Do you mean for your clerical work, as _babus_ and writers?"

"No. These chaps are content to do the regular coolie work. Of course wemake them heads of gangs. I believe they're what are called Brahmins. "

"Impossible! Brahmins as tea-garden coolies?" exclaimed Dermot in surprise. 

"Yes. I'm told that they are Brahmins, though I don't know much aboutnatives yet, " replied his host. 

Dermot was silent for a while. He could hardly believe that the boy wasright. Brahmins who, being of the priestly caste, claim to be semi-divinerather than mere men, will take up professions or clerical work, but withall his experience of India he had never heard of any of them engaging insuch manual labour. 

"How do you get them?" he asked. 

"Oh, they come here to ask for employment themselves, " replied Daleham. 

"Do they get them on many gardens in the district?" asked Dermot, in whosemind a vague suspicion was arising. 

"There are one or two on most of them. The older planters are surprised. "

"I don't wonder, " commented Dermot grimly. "It's something very unusual. "

"We have got most, though, " added his host. "I daresay it's because ourengineer is a Hindu. His name is Chunerbutty. "

"Sounds as if he were a Bengali Brahmin himself, " said Dermot. 

"He is. His father holds an appointment in the service of the Rajah ofLalpuri, a native State in Eastern Bengal not far from here. The son is anold friend of ours. I met him first in London. "

"In fact, it was through Mr. Chunerbutty that we came here, " said Noreen. "He gave Fred an introduction to this company. "

Dermot reflected. He felt that if these men were really Bengali Brahmins, their coming to the district to labour as coolies demanded investigation. Their race furnishes the extremist and disloyal element in India, and anyof them residing on these gardens would be conveniently placed to act aschannels of communication between enemies without and traitors within. Hefelt that it would be advisable for him to talk the matter over with someof the older planters. 

"Who is your manager here?" he enquired. 

"A Welshman named Parry. "

"Are you far from Salchini?"

"You mean Payne's garden? Yes; a good way. He's a friend of yours, isn'the?"

"Yes; I should like to see him again. I must pay him a visit. "

"Oh, look here, Major, " said Daleham eagerly. I've got an idea. Tomorrow isthe day of our weekly meeting at the club. Will you let me put you up forthe night, and we'll take you tomorrow to the club, where you will meetPayne?"

"Thank you; it's very kind of you; but--" began Dermot dubiously. 

Noreen joined in. 

"Oh, do stay, Major Dermot. We'd be delighted to have you. "

Dermot needed but little pressing, for the plan suited him well. 

"Excellent, " said Daleham. "You'll meet Chunerbutty at dinner then. You'llfind him quite a good fellow. "

"I'd like to meet him, " answered the soldier truthfully. He felt that theBengali engineer might interest him more than his host imagined. 

"I'll tell the boy to get your room ready, " said Noreen. "Oh, what will youdo with your elephant?"

"Badshah will be all right. I'll send him back to the herd. "

"What, will he go by himself?" exclaimed Daleham. "How will you get himagain?"

"I think he'll wait for me, " replied Dermot. 

They had finished breakfast by now and rose from the table. The Major wentto Badshah, touched him and made him turn round to face in the directionwhence they had come. 

"Go now, and wait for me there, " he said pointing to the forest. 

The elephant seemed to understand, and, touching his master with his trunk, started off at once towards the jungle. 

Daleham and his sister watched the animal's departure with surprise. 

"Well, I'm blessed, Major. You certainly have him well trained, " said Fred. "Now, will you excuse me, sir? I must go to the factory. Noreen will lookafter you. "

He rose and took up his sun-hat. 

"Oh, by the way, there is one of the fellows I told you of, " he continued. "He is the B. A. "

He pointed to a man passing some distance away from the bungalow. Dermotlooked at him with curiosity. His head was bare, and his thick black hairshone with oil. He wore a European shirt and a _dhoti_, or cotton clothdraped round his waist like a divided skirt. His legs were bare except forgay-coloured socks and English boots. Gold-rimmed spectacles completed anappearance as unlike that of the ordinary tea-garden coolie as possible. Hewas the typical Indian student as seen around Gower Street or SouthKensington, in the dress that he wears in his native land. There was nodoubt of his being a Bengali Brahmin. 

Daleham called him. 

"Hi! I say! Come here!"

When the man reached the foot of the verandah steps the assistant managersaid to him:

"I have told this sahib that you are a graduate of Calcutta University. "

The Bengali salaamed carelessly and replied:

"Oah, yess, sir. I am B. A. "

"Really? What is your name?" asked Dermot. 

"Narain Dass, sir. "

"I am sorry, Mr. Dass, that a man of your education cannot get betteremployment than this, " remarked Dermot. 

The Bengali smiled superciliously. 

"Oah, yess, I can, of course. This--" He checked himself suddenly, and hismanner became more cringing. "Yess, sir, I can with much facility procureemployment of sedentary nature. But for reasons of health I am stringentlyadvised by medical practitioner to engage in outdoor occupation. So I adoptpolicy of 'Back to the Land. '"

"I see, Mr. Dass. Very wise of you, " remarked Dermot, restraining aninclination to smile. "You are a Brahmin, aren't you?"

"Yess, sir, " replied the Bengali with pride. 

"Well, Mr. Dass, I hope that your health will improve in this bracing air. Good-morning. "

"Good-morning, sir, " replied the Bengali, and continued on his way. 

Dermot watched his departing figure meditatively. He felt that he had gothold of a thread, however slender, of the conspiracy against British rule. 

"You seem very interested in that coolie, Major Dermot, " remarked Noreen. 

"Eh? Oh, I beg your pardon, " he said, turning to her. "Yes. You see, it isvery unusual to find such a man doing this sort of work. "

He did not enter into any further explanation. The suspicion that heentertained must for the present be kept to himself. 

When Daleham left them the girl felt curiously shy. Perfectly at herease with men as a rule, she now, to her surprise, experienced asensation of nervousness, a feeling almost akin to awe of her guest. Yetshe liked him. He impressed her as being a man of strong personality. The fact that--unlike most men that she met--he made no special effortto please her interested her all the more in him. Gradually she grewmore at her ease. She enjoyed his tales of the jungle, told with suchgraphic power of narrative that she could almost see the scenes andincidents that he depicted. 

Dinner-time brought Chunerbutty, who did not conduce to harmony in thelittle party. Dermot regarded him with interest, for he wished to discoverif the engineer played any part in the game of conspiracy and treason. Although the Hindu was ignorant of this, it was evident that he resentedthe soldier's presence, partly from racial motives, but chiefly fromjealousy over Noreen. He was annoyed at her interest in Dermot and objectedto her feeling grateful for her rescue. He tried to make light of theadventure and asserted that she had been in no danger. Gradually he becameso offensive to the Major that Noreen was annoyed, and even her brother, who usually saw no fault in his friend, felt uncomfortable at Chunerbutty'sincivility to their guest. 

Dermot, however, appeared not to notice it. He behaved with perfectcourtesy to the Hindu, and ignored his attempts at impertinence, much toDaleham's relief, winning Noreen's admiration by his self-control. Heskilfully steered the conversation to the subject of the Bengalis employedon the estate. The engineer at first denied that there were Brahmins amongthem, but when told of Narain Dass's claim to be one, he pretendedignorance of the fact. This obvious falsehood confirmed Dermot's suspicionof him. 

The Dalehams were not sorry when Chunerbutty rose to say good-night shortlyafter they had left the dining-room. He was starting at an early hour nextmorning on a long ride to Lalpuri to visit his father, of whose health hesaid he had received disquieting news. 

When Noreen went to bed that night she lay awake for some time thinking oftheir new friend. In addition to her natural feeling of gratitude to himfor saving her from deadly peril, there was the consciousness that he waseminently likable in himself. His strength of character, his manliness, thesuggestion of mystery about him in his power over wild animals and thefearlessness with which he risked the dangers of the forest, all increasedthe attraction that he had for her. Still thinking of him she fell asleep. 

And Dermot? Truth to tell, his thoughts dwelt longer on Chunerbutty andNarain Dass than on Miss Daleham. He liked the girl, admired her nature, her unaffected and frank manner, her kind and sunny disposition. Heconsidered her decidedly pretty; but her good looks did not move him much, for he was neither impressionable nor susceptible, and had known too manybeautiful women the world over to lose his heart readily. Possibly underother circumstances he might not have given the girl a second thought, forwomen had never bulked largely in his life. But the strange beginning oftheir acquaintance had given her, too, a special interest. 

The Dalehams' arrival at the club the next day with their guest causedquite a sensation. At any time a stranger was a refreshing novelty to thisisolated community. But in addition Dermot had the claim of old friendshipwith one of their members, and the other men knew him by repute. So he waswelcomed with the open-hearted hospitality for which planters aredeservedly renowned. 

Mrs. Rice took complete possession of him as soon as he was introduced toher, insisted on his sitting beside her at lunch and monopolised him afterit. Noreen, rather to her own surprise, felt a little indignant at the calmappropriation of her new friend by the older woman, and a faint resentmentagainst Dermot for acquiescing in it. She was a little hurt, too, at hisignoring her. 

But the soldier had not come there to talk to ladies. He soon managed toescape from Mrs. Rice's clutches in order to have a serious talk with hisold friend Payne, which resulted in the latter adroitly gathering the olderand more dependable men together outside the building on the pretext ofinspecting the future polo ground. In reality it was to afford Dermot anopportunity of disclosing to them as much of the impending peril ofinvasion as he judged wise. The planters would be the first to suffer insuch an event. He wanted to put them on their guard and enlist their helpin the detection of a treacherous correspondence between external andinternal foes. This they readily promised, and they undertook to watch theBengalis among their coolies. 

The Dalehams and their guest did not reach Malpura until after sundown, andDermot was persuaded to remain another night under their roof. 

On the following morning the brother and sister rode out with him to thescene of Noreen's adventure. He was on foot and was accompanied by twocoolies carrying his elephant's pad. The girl was not surprised, althoughFred Daleham was, at Badshah's appearance from the forest in response to awhistle from his master. And when, after a friendly farewell, man andanimal disappeared in the jungle, Noreen was conscious of the fact thatthey had left a little ache in her heart. 

CHAPTER VII

IN THE RAJAH'S PALACE

A rambling, many-storied building, a jumbled mass of no particular designor style of architecture, with blue-washed walls and close-latticedwindows, an insanitary rabbit-warren of intricate passages, unexpectedcourtyards, hidden gardens, and crazy tenements kennelling a small army ofservants, retainers, and indefinable hangers-on--such was the palace of theRajah of Lalpuri. Here and there, by carved doors or iron-studded gateshalf off their hinges, lounged purposeless sentries, barefooted, clad inold and dirty red coatees, white cross-belts and ragged blue trousers. Theyleant on rusty, muzzle-loading muskets purchased from "John Company" inpre-Mutiny years, and their uniforms were modelled on those worn by theCompany's native troops before the days of Chillianwallah. 

The outer courtyard swarmed with a mob of beggars, panders, traders, servants, and idlers, through which occasionally a ramshackle carriagedrawn by galled ponies, their broken harness tied with rope, and conveyingsome Palace official, made its way with difficulty. Sometimes the vehiclewas closely shuttered or shrouded with white cotton sheets and containedsome high-caste lady or brazen, jewel-decked wanton of the Court. 

On one side were the tumble-down stables, near which a squealing whitestallion with long, red-dyed tail was tied to a _peepul_ tree. Its rider, ablue-coated _sowar_, or cavalryman, with bare feet thrust into heellessnative slippers, sat on the ground near it smoking a hubble-bubble. Achorus of neighing answered his screaming horse from the filthy stalls, outside which stood foul-smelling manure-heaps, around which mangy pariahdogs nosed. In the blazing sun a couple of hooded hunting-cheetahs laypanting on the bullock-cart to which they were chained. 

The Palace stood in the heart of the city of Lalpuri, a maze of narrow, malodorous streets off which ran still narrower and fouler lanes. Thegaudily-painted houses, many stories high, with wooden balconies andprojecting windows, were interspersed with ruinous palm-thatched bamboohuts and grotesquely decorated temples filled with fat priests and hideous, ochre-daubed gods, and noisy with the incessant blare of conch shells andthe jangling of bells. Lalpuri was a byword throughout India and was knownto its contemptuous neighbours as the City of Harlots and Thieves. Poverty, debauchery, and crime were rife. Justice was a mockery; corruption andabuses flourished everywhere. A just magistrate or an honourable officialwas as hard to find as an honest citizen or a virtuous woman. 

Like people, like rulers. The State had been founded by a Mahrattafree-booter in the days when the Pindaris swept across Hindustan fromPoona almost to Calcutta. His successor at the time of the Mutiny was aclever rascal, who refused to commit himself openly against the Britishwhile secretly protesting his devotion to their enemies. He balancedhimself adroitly on the fence until it was evident which side wouldprove victorious. When Delhi fell and the mutineers were scattered, heoffered a refuge in his palace to certain rebel princes and leaderswho were fleeing with their treasures and loot to Burmah. But thetreacherous scoundrel seized the money and valuables and handed theowners over to the Government of India. 

The present occupant of the _gadi_--which is the Hindustani equivalent of athrone--was far from being an improvement on his predecessors. He exceededthem in viciousness, though much their inferior in ability. As a rule theIndian reigning princes of today--and especially those educated at thesplendid Rajkumar College, or Princes' School--are an honour to their highlineage and the races from which they spring. In peace they devotethemselves to the welfare of their subjects, and in war many of them havefought gallantly for the Empire and all have given their treasures or theirtroops loyally and generously to their King-Emperor. 

The Rajah of Lalpuri was an exception--and a bad one. Although not thirtyyears of age he had plumbed the lowest depths of vice and debauchery. Cruelty and treachery were his most marked characteristics, lust and liquorhis ruling passions. 

Of Mahratta descent he was of course a Hindu. While in drunken momentsprofessing himself an atheist and blaspheming the gods, yet whensuffering from illness caused by his excesses he was a prey tosuperstitious fears and as wax in the hands of his Brahmin priests. Although his territory was small and unimportant, yet the ownership ofa Bengal coalfield and the judicious investment by his father of thetreasure stolen from the rebel princes in profitable Western enterprisesensured him an income greater than that enjoyed by many far moreimportant maharajahs. But his revenue was never sufficient for hisneeds, and he ground down his wretched subjects with oppressive taxesto furnish him with still more money to waste in his vices. All menmarvelled that the Government of India allowed such a debauchee andwastrel to remain on the _gadi_. But it is a long-suffering Governmentand loth to interfere with the rulers of the native states. However, matters were fast reaching a crisis when the Viceroy and his adviserswould be forced to consider whether they should allow this degenerate tocontinue to misgovern his State. This the Rajah realised, and it filledhim with feelings of hostility and disloyalty to the Suzerain Power. 

But the real ruler of Lalpuri State was the _Dewan_ or Prime Minister, aclever, ambitious, and unscrupulous Bengali Brahmin, endowed with all thetalent for intrigue and chicanery of his race and caste as well as withtheir hatred of the British. He had persuaded himself that the Englishdominion in India was coming to an end and was ready to do all in his powerto hasten the event. For he secretly nourished the design of deposing theRajah and making himself the nominal as well as the virtual ruler of theState, and he knew that the British would not permit this. His was thebrain that had conceived the project of uniting the disloyal elements ofBengal with the foreign foes of the Government of India, and he was theleader of the disaffected and the chief of the conspirators. 

When Chunerbutty arrived in Lalpuri he rode with difficulty through thecrowded, narrow streets. His sun-helmet and European dress earned himhostile glances and open insults, and more than one foul gibe was hurled athim as he went along by some who imagined him from his dark face andEnglish clothes to be a half-caste. For the native, however humble, hatesand despises the man of mixed breed. 

When he reached the Palace he made his way through the throng of beggars, touts, and hangers-on in the outer courtyard, and, passing the sentries, all of whom recognised him, entered the building. Through the maze ofpassages and courts he penetrated to the room occupied by his father invirtue of his appointment in the Rajah's service. 

He found the old man sitting cross-legged on a mat in the dirty, almostbare apartment. He was chewing betel-nut and spitting the red juice into apot. He looked up as his son entered. 

Among the other out-of-date customs and silly superstitions that theyounger Chunerbutty boasted of having freed himself from, were therespect and regard due to parents--usually deep-rooted in all races ofIndia, and indeed of the East generally. So without any salutation orgreeting he sat down on the one ricketty chair that the room contained, and said ill-temperedly:

"Here I am, having ridden miles in the heat and endured discomfort forsome absurd whim of thine. Why didst thou send for me? I told thee neverto do so unless the matter were very important. I had to eat abuse fromthat drunken Welshman to get permission to come. I had to swear thatthou wert on the point of death. Then he consented, but only because, ashe said, I might catch thy illness and die too. May jackals dig him fromhis grave and devour his corpse!"

As the father and son sat confronting each other the contrast between themwas significant of the old Bengal and the new. The silly, light-mindedgirls in England who had found the younger man's attractions irresistibleand raved over his dark skin and the fascinating suggestion of the Orientin him, should have seen the pair now. The son, ultra-English in hiscostume, from his sun-hat to his riding-breeches and gaiters, and the oldBengali, ridiculously like him in features, despite his shaven crown withone oiled scalp-lock, his bulbous nose and flabby cheeks, and teeth stainedred by betel-chewing. On his forehead were painted three white horizontalstrokes, the mark of the worshippers of Siva the Destroyer. His onlygarment was a dirty old _dhoti_ tied round his fat, naked paunch. 

He grinned at his son's ill-temper and replied briefly:

"The Rajah wishes to see thee, son. "

"Why? Is there anything new?"

"I do not know. Thou art angry at being torn from the side of the Englishgirl. Art thou to marry her? Why not be satisfied to wed one of thine owncountrywomen?"

The younger man spat contemptuously. 

"I would not be content with a fat Hindu cow after having known Englishgirls. Thou shouldest see those of London, old man. How they love us ofdark skin and believe our tales that we are Indian princes!"

The father leered unpleasantly. 

"Thou hast often told me that these white women are shameless. Is itneedful to pay the price of marriage to possess this one?"

"I want her, if only to anger the white men among whom I live, " replied hisson sullenly. "Like all the English out here they hate to see their womenmarry us black men. "

"There is a white man in the Palace who is not like that. "

"A white man in the Palace?" echoed his son. "Who is he? What does hehere?"

"A Parliamentary-_wallah_, who is visiting India and will go back to tellthe English monkeys in his country what we are not. He comes here withletters from the _Lat Sahib_. "

"From the Viceroy?"

"Yes; thou knowest that any fool from their Parliament holds a whip overthe back of the _Lat Sahib_ and all the white men in this land. This onehath no love for his own country. "

"How knowest thou that?"

"Because the _Dewan Sahib_ loves him. Any foe of England is as welcome tothe _Dewan_ as the monsoon rain to the _ryot_ whose crops are dying ofdrought. Thou wilt see this one, for he is ever with the _Dewan_, who hasordered that thou goest to him before seeing the Rajah. 

"Ordered? I am sick of his orders, " replied the son, petulantly. "Am I hisdog that he should order me? I am not a Lalpuri now. I am a Britishsubject. "

"Thy father eats the Rajah's salt. Thou forgettest that the _Dewan_ foundthe money to send thee across the Black Water to learn thy trade. "

The younger man frowned discontentedly. 

"Well, I see not the colour of his money now. Why should I obey him? I willnot. "

"Softly, softly, son. There be many knives in the bazaars of the city thatwill seek out any man's heart at the _Dewan's_ bidding. Thou art a man ofLalpuri still. "

His son rose discontentedly from his chair. 

"_Kali_ smite him with smallpox. I suppose it were better to see what hewants. I shall go. "

Admitted to the presence of the _Dewan_, Chunerbutty's defiant mannerdropped from him, for he had always held that official in awe. His swaggervanished; he bent low and his hand went up to his head in a salaam. ThePremier of the State, a wrinkled old Brahmin, was seated on the groundpropped up by white bolsters, with a small table, a foot high, crowded withpapers in front of him. He was dressed simply and plainly in white cottongarments, a small coloured _puggri_ covering his shaved head. Althoughreputed the possessor of finer jewels than the Rajah he wore no ornaments. 

Sprawling in an easy chair opposite him was a fat European in a tight whitelinen suit buttoned up to the neck. He evidently felt the heat acutely, andwith a large coloured handkerchief he incessantly wiped his red face, downwhich the sweat rolled in oily drops, and mopped his bald head. 

When Chunerbutty entered the apartment the _Dewan_, without any greetingindicated him, saying:

"This, Mr. Macgregor, is an example of what all we Indians shall be whenrelieved of the tyranny of British officials and allowed to governourselves. "

His English was perfect. 

The bearer of the historic Highland name, whose appearance suggested rathera Hebrew patronymic, removed from his mouth the cigar that he was smokingand asked in a guttural voice:

"Who is the young man?"

The _Dewan_ briefly explained, then, turning to Chunerbutty, he said:

"This is Mr. Donald Macgregor, M. P. , a member of the Labour Party and atrue friend of India. You may speak freely before him. Sit down. "

The engineer looked around in vain for another chair. The _Dewan_ saidsharply in Bengali, using the familiar, and in this case contemptuous, "thou":

"Sit on the floor, as thy fathers before thee have done, as thou didstthyself before thou began to think thyself an Englishman and despise thycountry and its ways. "

Chunerbutty collapsed and sat down hastily on a mat. Then in English the_Dewan_ continued:

"Have you any news?"

"No; I have forwarded as they came all letters and messengers from Bhutan. The troops--" He stopped and looked at the Member of Parliament. 

"Continue. There is no need of secrecy before Mr. Macgregor, " said the_Dewan_. "I have said that he is a friend of India. "

"It's all right, my boy, " added the Hebrew Highlander encouragingly. "I ama Pacifist and a socialist. I don't hold with soldiers or with keepingcoloured races enslaved. 'England for English and India for the Indians' ismy motto. "

"Well, I have already informed you that there is no truth in the reportsthat troops were to be sent again to Buxa Duar, " said Chunerbutty, reassured. "On the frontier there are only the two hundred Military Policeat Ranga Duar. They are Punjaubi Mohammedans. I made the acquaintance ofthe officer commanding them last night. "

"Ah! What is he like?" enquired the _Dewan_, interested. 

"Inquisitive, but a fool--like all these officers, " replied the engineercontemptuously. "He noticed Narain Dass on our garden and saw that he was aBengali. He learned that others of us were employed on our estate and wassurprised that Brahmins should do coolie work. But he suspected nothing. "

"You are sure?" asked the _Dewan_. 

"Quite certain. "

The _Dewan_ shook his head doubtfully. 

"These English officers are not always the fools they seem, " he observed. "We must keep an eye on this inquisitive person. Now, how goes the workamong the garden coolies? Are they ripe for revolt?"

"Not yet on all the estates. They are ignorant cattle, and to them theMotherland means nothing. But on our garden our greatest helper is themanager, a drunken bully. He ill-treats the coolies and nearly kicked oneto death the other day. "

"That's how the Englishman always treats the native, isn't it?" asked theHebrew representative of an English constituency. 

"Always and everywhere, " replied the engineer unhesitatingly, wondering ifMacgregor were really fool enough to believe the libel, which one day'sexperience in India should have shown him to be false. But this foreign Jewturned Scotchman hated the country of his adoption, as only these gentrydo, and was ready to believe any lie against it and eager to do all in hispower to injure it. 

The _Dewan_ said:

"Mr. Macgregor has been sent to tell us that his party pledges itself tohelp us in Parliament. "

"Yes, you need have no fear. We'll see that justice is done you, " began thepolitician in his best tub-thumping manner. "We Socialists and Communistsare determined to put an end to tyranny and oppression, whether of thedowntrodden slaves of Capitalism at home or our coloured brothers abroad. The British working-man wants no colonies, no India. He is determined tochange everything in England and do away with all above him--kings, lords, aristocrats, and the _bourgeoisie_. He demands Revolution, and we'll giveit him. "

"Pardon me, Mr. Macgregor, " remarked the engineer. "I've lived amongBritish working-men, when I was in the shops, but I never found that theywanted revolution. "

The Member of Parliament looked at him steadily for a moment and grinned. 

"You're no fool, Mr. Chunerbutty. You're a lad after my own heart. You knowa thing or two. Perhaps you're right. But the British working-man lets usrepresent him, and we know what's good for him, if he don't. We Socialistsrun the Labour Party, and I promise you we'll back you up in Parliament ifyou rebel and drive the English out of India. "

"We shall do it, Mr. Macgregor, " said the _Dewan_, confidently, "We areco-ordinating all the organisations in the Punjaub, Bombay, and Bengal, and we shall strike simultaneously. Afghan help has been promised, andthe Pathan tribesmen will follow the Amir's regiments into India. As Itold you, the Chinese and Bhutanese invasion is certain, and there areneither troops nor fortifications along this frontier to stop it. "

"That's right. You'll do it, " said Macgregor. "The General Electioncomes off in a few months, and our party is sure of victory. I amauthorised to assure you that our first act will be to give Indiaabsolute independence. So you can do what you like. But don't kill thewhite women and children--at least, not openly. They might not like itin England, though personally I don't care if you massacre every damnedBritisher in the country. From what I've seen of 'em it's only whatthey deserve. The insolence I've met with from those whipper-snapperofficers! And the civil officials would be as bad, if they dared. Then their women--I wouldn't like to say what I think of _them_. "

The _Dewan_ turned to Chunerbutty. 

"Go now; you have my leave. His Highness wishes to see you. I have sent himword that you are here. "

The engineer rose and salaamed respectfully. Then, with a nod to Macgregor, he withdrew full of thought. He had not known before that the conspiracy toexpel the British was so widespread and promising. He had not regarded itvery seriously hitherto. But he had faith in the _Dewan_, and the pledge ofthe great political party in England was reassuring. 

Admitted to the presence of the Rajah, Chunerbutty found him reclininglanguidly on a pile of soft cushions on the floor of a tawdrily-decoratedroom. The walls were crowded with highly-coloured chromos of Hindu gods andbadly-painted indecent pictures. A cut-glass chandelier hung from theceiling, and expensive but ill-assorted European furniture stood about theapartment. French mechanical toys under glass shades crowded the tables. 

The Rajah was a fat and sensual-looking young man, with bloated face andbloodshot that eyes spoke eloquently of his excesses. On his forehead waspainted a small semicircular line above the eyebrows with a round patch inthe middle, which was the sect-mark of the _Sáktas_. His white linengarments were creased and dirty, but round his neck he wore a rope ofenormous pearls. His feet were bare. On a gold tray beside him were twoliqueur bottles, one empty, the other only half full, and two or threeglasses. 

He looked up vacantly as Chunerbutty entered, then, recognising him, saidpetulantly:

"Where have you been? Why did you not come before?"

The engineer salaamed and seated himself on the carpet near him withoutinvitation. He held the Rajah far less in awe than the Prime Minister, forhe had been the former's boon-companion in his debauches too often to havemuch respect for him. 

He answered the prince carelessly. 

"The _Dewan_ sent for me to see him before I came to you, _Maharaj Sahib_. "

"Why? What for? That man thinks that he is the ruler of Lalpuri, not I, "grumbled the Rajah. "I gave orders that you were to be sent to me as soonas you arrived. I want news of the girl. Is she still there?"

"Yes; she is still there. "

"Listen to me, " the Rajah leant forward and tapped him on the knee. "I musthave that girl. Ever since I saw her at the _durbar_ at Jalpaiguri I havewanted her. "

"Your Highness knows that it is difficult to get hold of an Englishwoman inIndia. "

"I know. But I do not care. I must have her. I _will_ have her. " He filleda tumbler with liqueur and sipped it. "I have sent for you to find a way. You are clever. You know the customs of these English. You have often toldme how you did as you wished with the white women in England. "

"That is very different. It is easy there, " and Chunerbutty smiled atpleasant memories. "There the women are shameless, and they prefer us totheir own colour. And the men are not jealous. They are proud that theirdaughters and sisters should know us. "

He helped himself to the liqueur. 

"Why do you not go to England?" he continued. "There every woman wouldthrow herself at your feet. They make much of the Hindu students, the sonsof fat _bunniahs_ and shopkeepers in Calcutta, because they think them allIndian princes. For you who really are one they would do anything. "

The Rajah sat up furious and dashed his glass down on the tray so violentlythat it shivered to atoms. 

"Go to England? Have I not tried to?" he cried. "But every time I ask, theViceroy refuses me permission. I, a rajah, the son of rajahs, must begleave like a servant from a man whose grandfather was a nobody--and berefused. May his womenkind be dishonoured! May his grave be defiled!"

He filled another glass and emptied it before continuing. 

"But, I tell you, I want this girl. I must have her. You must get her forme. Can you not carry her off and bring her here? You can have all themoney you want to bribe any one. You said there are only two white men onthe garden. I will send you a hundred soldiers. "

Chunerbutty looked alarmed. He had no wish to be dragged into such a madproceeding as to attempt to carry off an Englishwoman by force, and in aplace where he was well known. For the girl in question was Noreen Daleham. The Rajah had seen her a few months before at a _durbar_ or reception ofnative notables held by the Lieutenant Governor of Eastern Bengal, and beenfired with an insane and unholy passion for her. 

"Your Highness, it is impossible. Quite impossible. Do you not see that allthe power of the _Sirkar_ (the Government) would be put forth to punish us?You would be deposed, and I--I would be sent to the convict settlement inthe Andaman Islands, if I were not hanged. "

The Rajah abused the hated English, root and branch. But he was forced toadmit that Chunerbutty was right. Open violence would ruin them. 

He sank back on the cushions, exhausted by his fit of anger. Draining hisglass he filled it up again. Then he clapped his hands. A servant enterednoiselessly on bare feet, bringing two full bottles of liqueur and freshtumblers. There was little difficulty in anticipating His Highness'srequirements. The _khitmagar_ removed the empty bottles and the brokenglass and left the apartment. 

The Rajah drank again. The strong liqueur seemed to have no effect on him. Then he said:

"Well, find a plan yourself. But I must get the girl. "

Chunerbutty pretended to think. Then he began to expose tentatively, as ifit were an idea just come to him, a plan that he had conceived weeksbefore. 

"_Maharaj Sahib_, if I could make the girl my wife--"

The Rajah half rose up and spluttered out furiously:

"You dog, wouldst thou dare to rival me, to interfere between me and mydesires?"

The engineer hastened to pacify the angry man. 

"No, no, Your Highness. You misunderstand me. Surely you know that you cantrust me. What I mean is that, if I married her, she would have to obey me, and--" he smiled insinuatingly and significantly--"I am a loyal subject ofYour Highness. "

The fat debauchee stared at him uncomprehendingly for a few moments. Thenunderstanding dawned, and his bloated face creased into a lascivious smile. 

"I see. I see. Then marry her, " he said, sinking back on the cushions. 

"Your Highness forgets that the salary they pay a tea-garden engineer isnot enough to tempt a girl to marry him nor support them if she did. "

"That is true, " replied the Rajah thoughtfully. He was silent for a little, and then he said:

"I will give you an appointment here in the Palace with a salary of a_lakh_ of rupees a year. "

Chunerbutty's eyes glistened. A _lakh_ is a hundred thousand, and at parfifteen rupees went to an English sovereign. 

"Thank you, Your Highness, " he said eagerly. 

The Rajah held up a fat forefinger warningly. 

"But not until you have married her, " he said. 

Chunerbutty smiled confidently. Much as he had seen of Noreen Daleham heyet knew her so little as to believe that the prospect of such an income, joined to the favour in which he believed she held him, would make it aneasy matter to win her consent. 

He imagined himself to be in love with the girl, but it was in theOriental's way--that is, it was merely a matter of sensual desire. Althoughas jealous as Eastern men are in sex questions, the prospect of the moneyquite reconciled him to the idea of sharing his wife with another. Hisfancy flew ahead to the time, which he knew to be inevitable, whenpossession would have killed passion and the money would bring new, and somore welcome, women to his arms. The Rajah would only too readily permit, nay encourage him to go to Europe--alone. And he gloated over the thoughtof being again in London, but this time with much money at his command. What was any one woman compared with fifty, with a hundred, others ready toreplace her?

So he calmly discussed with the Rajah the manner of carrying out theirnefarious scheme; and His Highness, to show his appreciation, invited himto share his orgies that night. And in the smiles and embraces of aKashmiri wanton, Chunerbutty forgot the English girl. 

CHAPTER VIII

A BHUTTIA RAID

Dermot's friendship with the Dalehams made rapid progress, and in theensuing weeks he saw them often. In order to verify his suspicions as tothe Bengalis, he made a point of cultivating the acquaintance of theplanters, paid several visits to Payne and other members of the community, and was a frequent guest at the weekly gatherings at the club. 

On one of his visits to Malpura he found Fred recovering from a sharp boutof malarial fever, and Dermot was glad of an opportunity of requiting theirhospitality by inviting both the Dalehams to Ranga Duar to enable Fred torecuperate in the mountain air. 

The invitation was gladly accepted. Their host came to fetch them himselfwith two elephants; Badshah, carrying a _charjama_, conveying them, whilethe other animal bore their luggage and servants. With jealous rage in hisheart Chunerbutty watched them go. 

Noreen enjoyed the journey through the forest and up the mountains, withDermot sitting beside her to act as her guide, for on this occasionRamnath drove Badshah. As they climbed the steep, winding road among thehills and rose out of the damp heat of the Plains, Fred declared that hefelt better at once in the cool refreshing breezes that swept down fromthe lofty peaks above. The forest fell away behind them. The great teakand _sal_ trees gave place to the lighter growths of bamboo, plantain, and sago-palm. A troop of small brown monkeys, feasting on ripe bananas, sprang away startled on all fours and vanished in all directions. Aslim-bodied, long-tailed mongoose, stealing across the road, stopped inthe middle of it to rise up on his hind legs and stare with tiny pinkeyes at the approaching elephants. Then, dropping to the ground againwith puffed-out, defiant tail, he trotted on into the undergrowth angryand unafraid. 

Arrived at Ranga Duar the brother and sister exclaimed in admiration at thebeauty of the lonely outpost nestling in the bosom of the hills. They gazedwith interest at the stalwart sepoys of the detachment in khaki or whiteundress whom they passed and who drew themselves up and saluted theircommanding sahib smartly. 

Dermot had given up his small bungalow to his guests and gone to occupythe one vacant quarter in the Mess. Noreen was to sleep in his bedroom, and, as the girl looked round the scantily-furnished apartment withits small camp-bed, one canvas chair, a table, and a barrack chest ofdrawers, she tried to realise that she was actually to live for a whilein the very room of the man who was fast becoming her hero. For indeedher feeling for Dermot so far savoured more of hero-worship than oflove. She looked with interest at his scanty possessions, his sword, the line of riding-boots against the wall, the belts and spurs hung onnails, the brass-buttoned greatcoat hanging behind the door. In hissitting-room she read the names of the books on a roughly-made stand totry to judge of his taste in literature. And with feminine curiosity shestudied the photographs on the walls and tables and wondered who werethe originals of the portraits of some beautiful women among them andwhat was their relation to Dermot. 

While her brother, who picked up strength at once in the pure air, delighted in the military sights and sounds around him, the girl revelledin the loveliness of their surroundings, the beauty of the scenery, thesplendour of the hills, and the glorious panorama of forest and plainsspread before her eyes. To Parker, who had awaited their arrival atDermot's gate and hurried forward to help down from Badshah's back thefirst Englishwoman who had ever visited their solitary station, she took aninstant liking, which increased when she found that he openly admired hiscommanding officer as much as she did secretly. 

In the days that followed it seemed quite natural that the task ofentertaining Noreen should fall to the senior officer's lot, while thejunior tactfully paired off with her brother and took him to shoot on therifle range or join in games of hockey with the sepoys on the paradeground, which was the only level spot in the station. 

Propinquity is the most frequent cause of love--for one who falls headlonginto that passion fifty drift into it. In the isolation of that solitaryspot on the face of the giant mountains, Kevin Dermot and Noreen Dalehamdrew nearer to each other in their few days together there than they everwould have done in as many months of London life. As they climbed the hillsor sat side by side on the Mess verandah and looked down on the leagues offorest and plain spread out like a map at their feet, they were apt toforget that they were not alone in the world. 

The more Dermot saw of Noreen, the more he was attracted by her naturalnessand her unconscious charm of manner. He liked her bright and happydisposition, full of the joy of living. On her side Noreen at first hardlyrecognised the quiet-mannered, courteous man that she had first known inthe smart, keen, and intelligent soldier such as she found Dermot to be inhis own surroundings. Yet she was glad to have seen him in his little worldand delighted to watch him with his Indian officers and sepoys, whoseliking and respect for him were so evident. 

When she was alone her thoughts were all of him. As she lay at nighthalf-dreaming on his little camp-bed in his bare room she wondered whathis life had been. And, to a woman, the inevitable question arose in hermind: Had he ever loved or was he now in love with someone? It seemed toher that any woman should be proud to win the love of such a man. Wasthere one? What sort of girl would he admire, she wondered. She hadnoticed that in their talks he had never mentioned any of her sex orgiven her a clue to his likes and dislikes. She knew little of men. Herbrother was the only one of whose inner life and ideas she had anyknowledge, and he was no help to her understanding of Dermot. 

It never occurred to Noreen that there was anything unusual in her interestin this new friend, nor did she suspect that that interest was perilouslyakin to a deeper feeling. All she knew was that she liked him and wascontent to be near him. She had not reached the stage of being miserableout of his presence. The dawn of a woman's love is the happiest time in itsstory. There is no certain realisation of the truth to startle, perhapsaffright, her, no doubts to depress her, no jealous fears to torture herheart--only a vague, delicious feeling of gladness, a pleasant rose-tintedglow to brighten life and warm her heart. The fierce, devouring flames comelater. 

The first love of a young girl is passionless, pure; a fanciful, poeticdevotion to an ideal; the worship of a deified, glorious being who doesnot, never could, exist. Too often the realisation of the truth that theidol has feet of clay is enough to burst the iridescent glowing bubble. Tooseldom the love deepens, develops into the true and lasting devotion of thewoman, clear-sighted enough to see the real man through the mists ofillusion, but fondly wise enough to cherish him in spite of his faults, aye, even because of them, as a mother loves her deformed child for itsvery infirmity. 

So to Noreen love had come--as it should, as it must, to every daughter ofEve, for until it comes no one of them will ever be really content or feelthat her life is complete, although when it does she will probably beunhappy. For it will surely bring to her more grief than joy. Life andNature are harder to the woman than to the man. But in those golden days inthe mountains, Noreen Daleham was happy, happier far than she had everbeen; albeit she did not realise that love was the magician that made herso. She only felt that the world was a very delightful place and that thelonely outpost the most attractive spot in it. 

Even when the day came to quit Ranga Duar she was not depressed. For wasnot her friend--so she named him now in her thoughts--to bring her on hiswonderful elephant through the leagues of enchanted forest to her home? Andhad he not promised to come to it again very soon to visit--not her, ofcourse, but her brother? So what cause was there for sadness?

Long as was the way--for forty miles of jungle paths lay between Malpuraand Ranga Duar--the journey seemed all too short for Noreen. But it cameto an end at last, and they arrived at the garden as the sun set andKinchinjunga's fairy white towers and spires hung high in air for aspace of time tantalisingly brief. Before they reached the bungalow theshort-lived Indian twilight was dying, and the tiny oil-lamps began totwinkle in the palm-thatched huts of the toilers' village on the estate. And forth from it swarmed the coolies, men, women, children, not towelcome them, but to stare at the sacred elephant. Many heads bent low, many hands were lifted to foreheads in awed salutation. Some of thethrong prostrated themselves to the dust, not in greeting to their ownsahib but in reverence to the marvellous animal and the mysterious whiteman bestriding his neck who was becoming identified with him. 

When Dermot rode away on Badshah the next morning the same scenes wererepeated. The coolies left their work among the tea-bushes to flock to theside of the road as he passed. But he paid as little attention to them asBadshah did, and turned just before the Dalehams' bungalow was lost tosight to wave a last farewell to the girl still standing on the verandahsteps. It was a vision that he took away with him in his heart. 

But, as the elephant bore him away through the forest, Noreen faded fromhis mind, for he had graver, sterner thoughts to fill it. Love can never bea fair game between the sexes, for the man and the woman do not play withequal stakes. The latter risks everything, her soul, her mind, her wholebeing. The former wagers only a fragment of his heart, a part of histhoughts. Yet he is not to blame; it is Nature's ordinance. For the world'swork would never go on if men, who chiefly carry it on, were possessed, obsessed, by love as women are. 

So Dermot was only complying with that ordinance when he allowed thethoughts of his task, which indeed was ever present with him, to oustNoreen from his mind. He was on his way to Payne's bungalow to meet themanagers of several gardens in that part of the district, who were toassemble there to report to him the result of their investigations. 

His suspicions were more than confirmed. All had the same tale to tell--astory of strange restlessness, a turbulent spirit, a frequent display ofinsolence and insubordination among the coolies ordinarily so docile andrespectful. But this was only in the gardens that numbered Brahmins intheir population. The influence of these dangerous men was growing daily. This was not surprising to any one who knows the extraordinary power ofthis priestly caste among all Hindus. 

There was evidence of constant communication between the Bengalis on theother estates and Malpura, which pointed to the latter as being theheadquarters of the promoters of disaffection. But few of the planters wereinclined to agree with Dermot in suspecting Chunerbutty as likely to provethe leader, for they were of opinion that his repudiation and disregard ofall the beliefs and customs of the Brahmins would render him obnoxious tothem. 

From Payne's the Major went on to visit some other gardens. Everywhere heheard the same story. All the planters were convinced that the heart andthe brain of the disaffection was to be found in Malpura. So Dermotdetermined to return there and expose the whole matter to Fred Daleham atlast, charging him on his loyalty not to give the faintest inkling toChunerbutty. 

A delay in the advent of the rain, which falls earlier in the district ofthe Himalayan foothills than elsewhere in India, had rendered the junglevery dry. Consequently when Dermot on Badshah's neck emerged from it on tothe garden of Malpura, he was not surprised to see at the far end of theestate a column of smoke which told of a forest fire. The wide, openstretch of the plantation was deserted, probably, so Dermot concluded, because all the coolies had been collected to beat out the flames. But, ashe neared the Daleham's bungalow, he saw a crowd of them in front of it. Before the verandah steps a group surrounded something on the ground, whilethe servants were standing together talking to a man in European clothes, whom Dermot, when he drew nearer, recognised as Chunerbutty. 

The group near the steps scattered as he approached, and Dermot saw thatthe object on the ground was a native lying on his back, covered with bloodand apparently dead. 

Chunerbutty rushed forward. He was evidently greatly agitated. 

"Oh, Major Dermot! Major Dermot! Help! Help!" he cried excitedly. "Aterrible thing has happened. Miss Daleham has been carried off by a partyof Bhuttia raiders. "

"Carried off? By Bhuttias?" exclaimed the soldier. "When?"

He made the elephant kneel and slipped off to the ground. 

"Barely two hours ago, " replied the engineer. "A fire broke out in thejungle at the south edge of the garden--probably started purposely to draweveryone away from the bungalows and factory. The manager, Daleham, and Iwent there to superintend the men fighting the flames. In our absence aparty of ten or twenty Bhuttia swordsmen rushed the house. Miss Daleham hadjust returned from her ride. Poor girl!"

He broke down and began to cry. 

"Pull yourself together man!" exclaimed Dermot in disgust. "Go on. Whathappened?"

"They seized and bound her, " continued the Bengali, mastering his emotion. "These cowards"--with a wave of his hand he indicated the servants--"didnothing to protect her. Only the _syce_ attempted to resist, and theykilled him. "

He pointed to the prostrate man. 

"They tried to bear her off on her pony, but it took fright and bolted. Then they tied poles to a chair brought from the bungalow and carried heraway in it. "

"Didn't the servants give the alarm?" asked Dermot. 

"No; they remained hiding in their quarters until we came. A coolie woman, who saw the raiders from a distance, ran to us and told us. Fred went mad, of course. He wanted to follow the Bhuttias, but I pointed out that it washopeless. "

"Hopeless? Why?"

"There were only three of us, and they were a large party, " repliedChunerbutty. 

"Yes; but you had rifles and should have been a match for fifty. "

The Bengali shrugged his shoulders. 

"We did not know in which way they had gone, " he said. "We could not trackthem. "

"I suppose not. Well?"

"Fred and Mr. Parry have ridden off in different directions to theneighbouring gardens to summon help. We sent two coolies with a telegram toyou or any officer at Ranga Duar, to be sent from the telegraph office onthe Barwahi estate. Then you came. "

Dermot observed him narrowly. He was always suspicious of the Hindu; but, unless the engineer was a good actor, there was no doubt that he wasgreatly affected by the outrage. His distress seemed absolutely genuine. And certainly there seemed no reason for suspecting his complicity in thecarrying off of Miss Daleham. So the Major turned to the servants and, taking them apart one by one, questioned them closely. Chunerbutty hadgiven their story correctly. But Dermot elicited two new facts which theyhad not mentioned to the engineer. One raider at least was armed with arevolver, which was unusual for a Bhuttia, the difficulty of procuringfirearms and ammunition in Bhutan being so great that even the soldiers ofthe Maharajah are armed only with swords and bows. The Dalehams'_khansamah_, or butler, stated that this man had threatened all theservants with this weapon, bidding them under pain of death remain in theirhouses without raising an alarm. 

"Do you know Bhutanese?" asked Dermot. 

"No, sahib. But he spoke Bengali, " replied the servant. 

"Spoke it well?"

"No, sahib, not well, but sufficiently for us to understand him. "

Another servant, on being questioned, mentioned the curious fact that theman with the revolver conversed with another of the raiders in Bengali. This struck Dermot as being improbable, but others of the servantsconfirmed the fact. Having gathered all the information that they couldgive him he went over to look at the dead man. 

The _syce_, or groom, was lying on his back in a pool of blood. He had beenstruck down by a blow from a sword which seemed to have split the skull. But, on placing his ear to the poor wretch's chest, Dermot thought that hecould detect a faint fluttering of the heart. Holding his polished silvercigarette case to the man's mouth he found its brightness slightly clouded. 

"Why, he is still living, " exclaimed the soldier. "Quick! Bring water. "

He hastily applied his flask to the man's lips. Although he grudged thetime, Dermot felt that the wounded man's attempt to defend Noreen entitledhim to have his wound attended to even before any effort was made to rescueher. So he had the _syce_ carried to his hut, and then, taking out hissurgical case, he cleansed and sewed up the gash. But his thoughts werebusy with Noreen's peril. The occurrence astonished him. Bhuttias from thehills beyond the border occasionally raided villages and tea-gardens inBritish territory in search of loot, but were generally careful to avoidEuropeans. Such an outrage as the carrying off of an Englishwoman had neverbeen heard of on the North-East Frontier. 

There was no time to be lost if the raiders were to be overtaken beforethey crossed the border. Indeed, with the start that they had, pursuitseemed almost hopeless. Nevertheless, Dermot resolved to attempt it, andsingle-handed. For he could not wait for the planters to gather, andsummoning his men from Ranga Duar was out of the question. He did notconsider the odds against him. Had Englishmen stopped to do so in India, the Empire would never have been founded. With his rifle and the prestigeof the white race behind him he would not have hesitated to face a hundredsuch opponents. His blood boiled at the thought of the indignity offered tothe girl; though he was not seriously concerned for her safety, judgingthat she had been carried off for ransom. But he pictured the distress andterror of a delicately nurtured Englishwoman at finding herself in thehands of a band of savage outlaws dragging her away to an unknown and awfulfate. She was his friend, and he felt that it was his right as well as hisduty to rescue her. 

With a grim determination to follow her abductors even to Punaka, thecapital of Bhutan, he swung his leg across Badshah's neck and set out, having bade Chunerbutty inform Daleham and the planters that he had startedin pursuit. 

The raiders had left the garden by a path leading to the north and headedfor the mountains. When Dermot got well clear of the bungalow and reachedthe confines of the estate, he dismounted and examined the ground overwhich they had passed. In the dust he found the blurred prints of a numberof barefooted men and in one place four sharply-defined marks which showedwhere they had set down the chair in which Noreen was being carried, probably to change the bearers. A mile or two further on the track crossedthe dry bed of a small stream. In the sand Dermot noticed to his surprisethe heel-mark of a boot among the footprints of the raiders, it being mostunusual for Bhuttias to be shod. 

As his rider knelt down to examine the tracks, Badshah stretched out histrunk and smelt them as though he understood the object of their mission. And, as soon as Dermot was again on his neck, he moved on at a rapid pace. It was necessary, however, to check constantly to search for the raiders'tracks. The Bhuttias had followed an animal path through the jungle, andDermot seated on his elephant's neck with loaded rifle across his knees, scanned it carefully and watched the undergrowth on either side, notinghere and there broken twigs or freshly-fallen leaves which marked thepassage of the chair conveying Noreen. Such signs were generally to befound at sharp turnings of the path. Wherever the ground was soft enough orsufficient dust lay to show impressions he stopped to examine the spotcarefully for footprints. Occasionally he detected the sharp marks of thechair-legs or of the boot. 

The trial led towards the mountains, as was natural. But after severalhours' progress Badshah turned suddenly to the left and endeavoured tocontinue on towards the west. Dermot was disappointed, for he had persuadedhimself that the elephant quite understood the quest and was following thetrail. He headed Badshah again towards the north, but with difficulty, forthe animal obstinately persisted in trying to go his own way. When Dermotconquered finally they continued towards the mountains. But before long thesoldier found that he had lost all traces of the raiding party. He castaround without success and wasted much time in endeavouring to pick up thetrail again. At last to his annoyance he was forced to turn back andretrace his steps. 

At the spot where the conflict of opinion between him and the elephant hadtaken place he cast about and found the track again. It led in thedirection in which Badshah had tried to take him. The elephant had beenwiser than he. Now, with an apologetic pat on the head, Dermot let himfollow the new path, wondering at the change of route, for it was onlynatural to expect that the Bhuttias would have made for the hills by theshortest way to the nearest pass into Bhutan. As the elephant moved alonghis rider's eye was quick to recognise the traces of the passing of theraiders, where no sign would have been visible to one unskilled intracking. 

All at once Badshah slackened his pace and began to advance with thecaution of a tusker stalking an enemy. Confident in the animal'sextraordinary intelligence Dermot cocked his rifle. The elephant suddenlyturned off the path and moved noiselessly through the undergrowth for a fewminutes. Then he stopped on the edge of an open glade in the forest. 

Scattered about in it, sitting or lying down half-asleep, were a number ofshort, sturdy, brown-faced men with close cropped bare heads. Each was cladin a single garment shaped like a Japanese _kimono_ and kilted up to exposethick-calved, muscular bare legs by a girdle from which hung a _dah_--ashort, straight sword. A little apart from them sat Noreen Daleham in achair in which she was securely fastened and to which long carrying-poleswere tied. She was dressed in riding costume and wore a sun-helmet. 

The girl was pale, weary, and dejected, and looked so frail and unfitted tocope with so terrifying a situation that a feeling of immense tendernessand an instinctive desire to protect her filled Dermot as he watched her. Then passionate anger welled up in him as he turned his eyes again to hercaptors; and he longed to make them pay dearly for the suffering that shehad endured. 

But, despite his rage, he deliberated coolly enough on the best mode ofattack, as he counted the number of the raiders. There were twenty-two. Thesoldier's quick eye instantly detected that one of them, although garbedsimilarly to the rest, was in features unlike a Bhuttia and had not thesturdy frame of a man of that race. He was wearing shoes and socks and wasthe only one of the party not carrying a _dah_. 

Dermot's first idea was to open fire suddenly on the raiders and continuefiring while moving about in cover from place to place on the edge of theglade, so as to give the impression of a numerous force. But he feared thatharm might come to the girl in the fight if any of the Bhuttias carriedfire-arms, for they would probably fire wildly, and a stray bullet mighthit the girl. So he resolved on a bolder policy. While the raiders, who hadput out no sentries, lay about in groups unconscious of the proximity of anenemy, Dermot touched Badshah with his hand, and the elephant brokenoiselessly out of the undergrowth and suddenly appeared in their midst. 

CHAPTER IX

THE RESCUE OF NOREEN

There was a moment's consternation among the Bhuttias. Then they sprang totheir feet and began to draw their _dahs_. But suddenly one cried:

"The demon elephant! The devil man!"

Another and another took up the cry. Then all at once in terror they turnedand plunged panic-stricken into the undergrowth. All but two--the wearer ofshoes and a man with a scarred face beside him. While the rest fled theystood their ground and called vainly to their companions to come back. Whenthey found themselves deserted the wearer of shoes pulled out a revolverand fired at Dermot, while his scarred comrade drew his sword and rantowards Noreen. 

The soldier, ignoring his own danger but fearing for the girl's life, threwhis rifle to his shoulder and sent a bullet crashing through herassailant's skull, then with his second barrel he shot the man with thepistol through the heart. The first raider collapsed instantly and fell ina heap, while the other, dropping his weapon, swayed for a moment, staggered forward a few feet, and fell dead. 

Only then could Dermot look at Noreen. In the dramatic moment of hisappearance the girl had uttered no sound, but sat rigid with her eyes fixedon him. When the swordsman rushed at her she seemed scarcely conscious ofher peril but she started in terror and grew deadly pale when his companionfired at her rescuer. When both fell her tension relaxed. She sank backhalf-fainting in her chair and closed her eyes. 

When she opened them again Badshah was kneeling a few yards away and Dermotstood beside her cutting the cords that bound her. 

She looked up at him and said simply:

"I knew you would come. "

With an affectation of light-heartedness that he was far from feeling hereplied laughing:

"Of course you did. I am bound to turn up like the clown in the pantomime, saying, 'Here we are again. ' Oh, I forgot. I am a bit late. I should haveappeared on the scene when those beggars got to your bungalow. "

He pretended to treat the whole affair lightly and made no further allusionto her adventure, asking no questions about it. He was afraid lest sheshould break down in the sudden relief from the strain and anxiety. Butthere was no cause to fear it. The girl was quietly brave and imitated hisair of unconcern, behaving after the first moment as if they were meetingunder the most ordinary circumstances. She smiled, though somewhat feebly, as she said:

"Oh, not a clown, Major Dermot. Rather the hero of a cinema drama, whoalways appears in time to rescue the persecuted maiden. I am beginning tofeel quite like the unlucky heroine of a film play. "

The cords fastening her had now been cut, so she tried to stand up butfound no strength in her numbed limbs. 

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm--I'm rather stiff, " she said, sinking back into thechair again. She felt angry at her weakness, but she was almost glad of itwhen she saw Dermot's instant look of concern. 

"You are cramped from being tied up, " he said. "Don't hurry. "

The cords had chafed her wrists cruelly. He stooped to examine theabrasions, and the girl thrilled at his gentle touch. A feeling of shynessovercame her, and she turned her eyes away from his face. They fell on thebodies of the dead raiders, and she hastily averted her gaze. 

"Hadn't we better hurry away from here?" she asked, apprehensively. 

"No; I don't think there is any necessity. The men who ran away seemed tooscared to think of returning. But still, we'll start as soon as you feelstrong enough. "

"What was it that they cried out?"

"Oh, merely an uncomplimentary remark about Badshah and me, " he replied. 

The girl made another attempt to rise and succeeded with his assistance. Helifted her on to Badshah's pad and went over to examine the dead men. Afterhis first casual glance at the wearer of shoes he knelt down and lookedclosely into the face of the corpse. Then he pulled open the singlegarment. A thin cord consisting of three strings of spun cotton was roundthe body next the skin, passing over the left shoulder and under the rightarm. This Dermot cut off. From inside the garment he took out some otherarticles, all of which he pocketed. He then searched the corpse of thescarred Bhuttia, taking a small packet tied up in cloth from the breast ofthe garment. Noreen watched him with curiosity and marvelled at his couragein handling the dead bodies. 

He returned to the kneeling elephant and took his place on the neck. 

"Hold on now, Miss Daleham, " he said. "Badshah's going to rise. _Uth_"

Noreen gripped the surcingle rope tightly as the elephant heaved up his bigbody and set off along a track through the jungle at a rapid pace. 

"Now we are safe enough, " said Dermot, turning towards his companion. "Ihave not asked you yet about your adventures. Tell me all that happened toyou, if you don't mind talking about it. "

"Oh, it was awful, " she answered, shuddering at the remembrance. "And itwas all so sudden. There was a fire in the jungle near the garden, and Fredwent with the others to put it out. He wouldn't let me accompany him, buttold me to go for my ride in the opposite direction. I didn't stay awaylong. I had just returned to the bungalow and dismounted and was giving mypony a piece of sugar, when several Bhuttias rushed at me from behind thehouse and seized me. Poor Lalla, my _syce_, tried to keep them off with hisbare hands, but one brute struck him on the head with his sword. The poorboy fell, covered with blood. I'm afraid he was killed. "

"No, he isn't dead, " remarked Dermot. "I saw him, and I think that he'lllive. "

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear it, " exclaimed the girl. "Ever since I saw it I'vehad before my eyes the dreadful sight of the poor lad lying on the groundcovered with blood and apparently lifeless. Well, to go on. I called theother servants, but no one came. The Bhuttias tied my hands and tried tolift me on to my pony's back, but Kitty got frightened and bolted. Thenthey didn't seem to know what to do, and one went to a man who had remainedat a distance from us and spoke to him. He apparently told them to fetch achair from the bungalow and put me into it. I tried to struggle, but I waspowerless in their grasp. I was fastened to the chair, poles were tied toit, and at a sign from the man who stood alone--he seemed to be theleader--I was lifted up and carried off. "

"Did you notice anything about this man--the leader?" asked Dermot. 

"Yes, he was not like the others in face. He didn't seem to me to be aBhuttia at all. He was one of the two that you shot--the man with shoes. Itseems absurd, but do you know, his face appeared rather familiar to mesomehow. But of course I could never have seen him before. "

"Are you sure that you hadn't? Think hard, " said Dermot eagerly. 

The girl shook her head. 

"It's no use. I puzzled over the likeness most of the time that I was intheir hands, but I couldn't place him. "

Dermot looked disappointed. 

The girl continued:

"We went through the forest for hours without stopping, except to changethe bearers of my chair. I noticed that the leader spoke to one man only, the man with the scars on his face whom you shot, too, and he passed on theorders. "

"Could you tell in what language these two spoke to each other?"

"No; they never talked in my hearing. In fact I noticed that the man withshoes always avoided coming near me. Well, we went on and on and neverhalted until we reached the place where you found us. It seemed to be aspot that they had aimed for. I saw the scarred man examining some marks onthe trees in it and pointing them out to the leader, who then gave theorder to stop. "

"How did they behave to you?"

"No one took any notice of me. They simply carried me, lifted me up, anddumped me down as if I were a tea-chest, " replied the girl. "Well, that isall my adventure. But now please tell me how you came so opportunely to myrescue. Was it by chance or did you follow us? Oh, I forgot. You said yousaw Lalla, so you must have been at Malpura. Did Fred send you?"

Dermot briefly related all that had happened. When he told her of hisdispute with Badshah about the route to be followed and how the elephantproved to be in the right she cried enthusiastically:

"Oh, the dear thing! He's just the most wonderful animal in the world. Forgive me for interrupting. Please go on. "

When he had finished his tale there was silence between them for a little. Then Noreen said in a voice shaking with emotion:

"How can I thank you? Again you have saved me. And this time from a fateeven more dreadful than the first. I'd sooner be killed outright by theelephants than endure to be carried off to some awful place by thosewretches. Who were they? Were they brigands, like one reads of in Sicily?Was I to be killed or to be held to ransom?"

"Oh, the latter, I suppose, " replied Dermot. 

But there was a doubtful tone about his words. In fact, he was at a loss tounderstand the affair. It was probably not what he had thought it atfirst--an attempt on the part of enterprising Bhuttia raiders to carry offan Englishwoman for ransom. For when he overtook them they were on a paththat led away from the mountains, so they were not making for Bhutan. Andthe identity of the leader perplexed him. 

There could be no political motive for the outrage. The affair was apuzzle. But he put the matter aside for the time being and began toconsider their position. The sun was declining, for the afternoon was welladvanced. As far as he could judge they were a long way from Malpura, andit seemed to him that Badshah was not heading directly for the garden. Buthe had sufficient confidence in the animal's intelligence to refrain frominterfering with him again. The pangs of hunger reminded him that he hadhad no food since the early morning cup of tea at the planter's bungalowwhere he had passed the night, for he had hoped to breakfast at Malpura. Itoccurred to him that his companion must be in the same plight. 

"Are you hungry, Miss Daleham?" he asked. 

"Hungry? I don't know. I haven't had time to think about food, " shereplied. "But I'm very thirsty. "

"Would you like a cup of tea?"

"Oh, don't tantalise me, Major, " she replied laughing. "I feel I'd giveanything for one now. But unfortunately there aren't any tea-rooms in thiswonderful jungle of yours. "

Dermot smiled. 

"Perhaps it could be managed, " he said. "What I am concerned about is howto get something substantial to eat, for I foolishly came away fromGranger's bungalow, where I stayed last night, without replenishing mystores, which had run low. I intended asking you for enough to carry meback to Ranga Duar. But when I heard what had happened--Hullo! with luckthere's our dinner. "

He broke off suddenly, for a jungle cock had crowed in the forest not faraway. 

"I wish I had a shot gun, " he whispered. "But my rifle will have to do. _Mul_, Badshah. "

He guided the elephant quietly and cautiously in the direction from whichthe sound had come. Presently they came to an open glade and heard the fowlcrow again. Dermot halted Badshah in cover and waited. Presently there wasa patter over the dry leaves lying on the ground, and a jungle cock, a birdsimilar to an English bantam, stalked across the glade twenty yards away. It stopped and began to peck. Dermot quietly raised his rifle and tookcareful aim at its head. He fired, and the body of the cock fell to theearth headless. 

"What a good shot, Major!" exclaimed Noreen, who had been quite excited. 

"It was an easy one, for this rifle's extremely accurate and the range wasvery short. I fired at the head, for if I had hit the body with such a bigbullet there wouldn't have been much dinner left for us. Now I think thatwe shall have to halt for a little time. I know that you must be eager toget back home and relieve your brother's anxiety. But Badshah has beengoing for many hours on end and has not delayed to graze on the way, so itwould be wise to give him a rest and a feed. "

"Yes, indeed, " said the girl. "He thoroughly deserves it. "

She was not unwilling that the time spent in Dermot's company should beprolonged. It was a sweet and wonderful experience to be thus alone withhim in the enchanted jungle. She had forgotten her fears; and theremembrance of her recent unpleasant adventure vanished in her presenthappiness. For she was subtly conscious of a new tenderness in his mannertowards her. 

The elephant sank down, and Dermot dismounted and lifted the girl offcarefully. Noreen felt herself blushing as he held her in his arms, and shewas thankful that he did not look at her, but when he had put her down, busied himself in taking off Badshah's pad and laying it on the ground. Unstrapping his blankets he spread one and rolled the other up as a pillow. 

"Now please lie down on this, Miss Daleham, " he said. "A rest will do yougood, too. I am going to turn cook and show you how we fare in the jungle. "

The girl took off her hat and was only too glad to stretch herself on thepad, which made a comfortable couch, for the emotions of the day had wornher out. She watched Dermot as he moved about absorbed in his task. Fromone pocket of the pad he took out a shallow aluminium dish and a small, round, convex iron plate. From another he drew a linen bag and a tincanister. 

"You said that you would like tea, Miss Daleham, " he remarked. "Well, youshall have some presently. "

"Yes; but how can you make it?" she asked. "There's no water in thejungle. "

"Plenty of it. "

"Are we near a stream, then?"

"No; the water is all round us, waiting for me to draw it off. "

The girl looked about her. 

"What do you mean? I don't see any. Where is the water?"

"Hanging from the trees, " he replied, laughing. "I'll admit you into one ofthe secrets of the jungle. But first I want a fire. "

He gathered dried grass and sticks, cleared a space of earth and builtthree fires, two on the ground with a large lump of hard clay on eitherside of each, the third in a hole that he scraped out. 

"To be consistent I ought to produce fire by rubbing two pieces of driedwood together, as they do in books of adventure, " he said, turning to theinterested girl. "It can be done. I have seen natives do it; but it is alengthy process and I prefer a match. "

He took out a box and lit the fires. 

"Now, " he said, "if you'll see to these for me, I'll go and get the kettleand crockery. "

At the far end of the glade was a clump of bamboos. Dermot selected thebiggest stem and hacked it down with his _kukri_. From the thicker end hecut off a length from immediately below a knot to about a foot above it, trimmed the edges and brought it to Noreen. It made a beautifully clean andpolished pot, pale green outside, white within. 

"There is your kettle and tea-pot, " he said. 

From a thinner part he cut off similarly two smaller vessels to serve ascups. 

"Now then for the water to fill the kettle, " he said, looking around amongthe creepers festooning the trees for the _pani bêl_. When he found theplant he sought, he cut off a length and brought it to the girl, who hadnever heard of it. Asking her to hold the bamboo pot he filled it withwater from the creeper, much to her astonishment. 

"How wonderful!" she cried. "Is it really good to drink?"

"Perfectly. "

"But how are you going to boil it?"

"In that bamboo pot. "

"But surely that will burn?"

"No, the water will boil long before the green wood begins to be charred, "replied Dermot, placing the pot over the first fire on the two lumps ofclay, so that the flames could reach it. 

Then he opened the linen bag, which Noreen found to contain _atta_, ornative flour. Some of this he poured into the round aluminium dish and withwater from the _pani bêl_ he mixed dough, rolled it into balls, and pattedthem into small flat cakes. Over the second fire he placed the iron plate, convex side up, and when it grew hot put the cakes on it. 

"How clever of you! You are making _chupatis_ like the natives do, "exclaimed Noreen. "I love them. I get the cook to give them to us for teaoften. "

She watched him with interest and amusement, as he turned the cakes overwith a dexterous flip when one side browned; then, when they were done, hetook them off and piled them on a large leaf. 

"Who would ever imagine that you could cook?" Noreen said, laughing. "Dolet me help. I feel so lazy. "

"Very well. Look after the _chupatis_ while I get the fowl ready, " hereplied. 

He cleaned the jungle cock, wrapped it up in a coating of wet clay and laidit in the hot ashes of the third fire, covering it over with the redembers. 

Just as he had finished the girl cried: "The water is actually boiling? Whowould have believed it possible?"

"Now we are going to have billy tea as they make it in the bush inAustralia, " said Dermot, opening the canister and dropping tea from it intothe boiling water. 

Noreen gathered up a pile of well-toasted _chupatis_ and turned a smiling, dimpled face to him. 

"This is the jolliest picnic I've ever had, " she cried. "It was worth beingcarried off by those wretches to have all these delightful surprises. Now, tea is ready, sir. Please may I pour it out?"

He wrapped his handkerchief round the pot before handing it to her. 

"I suppose you haven't a dairy in your wonderful jungle?" she asked, laughing. 

"No; I'm sorry to say that you must put up with condensed milk, " hereplied, producing a tin from a pocket of the pad and opening it with hisknife. 

"What a pity! That spoils the illusion, " declared the girl. "I ought torefuse it; but I'll pass it for this occasion, as I don't like my teaunsugared and milkless. No, I refuse to have a spoon. " For he took out acouple and some aluminium plates from the inexhaustible pad. "I'll stir mytea with a splinter of bamboo and eat my _chupatis_ off leaves. It is morein keeping with the situation. "

Like a couple of light-hearted children they sat side by side on the pad, drank their tea from the rude bamboo cups and devoured the hot _chupatis_with enjoyment; while, invisible in the dense undergrowth, Badshah twentyyards away betrayed his presence by tearing down creepers and breaking offbranches. In due time Dermot took from the hot ashes a hardened clay ball, broke it open and served up the jungle fowl, from which the feathers hadbeen stripped off by the process of cooking. Noreen expressed herselfdisappointed when her companion produced knives and forks from the magicpockets of the pad. 

"We ought to be consistent and use our fingers, " she said. 

When they had finished their meal, which the girl declared was the mostenjoyable one that she had ever had, Dermot made her rest again on the padwhile he cleaned and replaced his plates, cutlery, and cooking vessels. Then, leaning his back against a tree, he filled and lit his pipe, whileNoreen watched him stealthily and admiringly. In the perfect peace andsilence of the forest encompassing them she felt reluctant to leave theenchanted spot. 

But suddenly the charm was rudely dispelled. A shot rang out close by, andDermot's hat was knocked from his head as a bullet passed through it andpierced the bark of the tree half an inch above his hair. As though theshot were a signal, fire was opened on the glade from every side, and for amoment the air seemed full of whistling bullets. The soldier sprang toNoreen, picked her up like a child in his arms, and ran with her to anenormously thick _simal_ tree, behind which he placed her. Then he gatheredup the pad and piled it on her exposed side as some slight protection. Atleast it hid her from sight. 

As he did so the firing redoubled in intensity and bullets whistled anddroned through the glade. One grazed his cheek, searing the flesh as with ared-hot iron. Another wounded him slightly in the neck, while a third cutthe skin of his thigh. He seemed to bear a charmed life; and the girlwatching him felt her heart stop, as the blood showed on his face and neck. The flying lead sent leaves fluttering to the ground, cut off twigs, andstruck the tree-trunks with a thud. Flinging himself at full length on theground Dermot reached his rifle, then crawled to shelter behind anothertree. 

He looked eagerly around for his assailants. At first he could see no one. Suddenly through the undergrowth about thirty yards away the muzzle of anold musket was pushed out, and then a dark face peered cautiously behindit. The eyes in it met Dermot's, but that glance was their last. Thesoldier's rifle spoke, and the face disappeared as its owner's body pitchedforward among the bushes and lay still. At the sharp report of the whiteman's weapon the firing all around ceased suddenly. But the intense silencethat followed was broken by a strange sound like the shrill blast of asteam whistle mingled with the crackling of sheets of tin rapidly shakenand doubled. Noreen, crouching submissively in the shelter where Dermot hadplaced her, thrilled and wondered at the uncanny sound. 

The soldier knew well what it was. It was Badshah's appeal for help, and hewondered why the animal had given it then, so late. But far away a wildelephant trumpeted in reply. There was a crashing in the undergrowth asBadshah dashed away and burst through the cordon of enemies encirclingthem. Dermot's heart sank; for, although he rejoiced that his elephant wasout of danger, his sole hope of getting Noreen and himself away had lain inrunning the gauntlet on the animal's back through their invisible foes. 

As he gripped his rifle, keenly alert for a mark to aim at, his thoughtswere busy. He was amazed at this unexpected attack and utterly unable toguess who their assailants could be. They were not the Bhuttias again, forthose had no guns. And the man that he had just shot was not a mountaineer. Although it was evident that the firearms used were mostly old smooth-boremuskets, and the smoke from the powder rose in clouds over the undergrowthand drifted to the tree-tops, he had detected the sharp crack of a modernrifle occasionally among the duller reports of the more ancient weapons. The mysterious attackers were apparently numerous and completely surroundedthem. Dermot cursed himself for his folly in halting for food instead ofpushing on to safety without a stop. But he had calculated on thesuperstitious fears of the Bhuttias who had been scared away by the sightof him and Badshah; and indeed to all appearance he was right in so doing. He could not reckon on new enemies springing up around them. Who could theybe? It was almost inconceivable that in this quiet corner of the IndianEmpire two English people could be thus assailed. The only theory that hecould form was that the attackers were a band of Bengali political_dacoits_. 

The firing started again. Dermot appeared to be so well hidden that none oftheir enemies had discovered him, except the one unlucky wretch whosecourage had proved his ruin. The shots were being fired at random and allwent high. But there seemed no hope of escape; for it was evident from thesounds and the smoke that the girl and he were completely surrounded. Forone wild moment he thought of rising suddenly to his feet and making a dashthrough the cordon, hoping to draw all their enemies after him and give hiscompanion a chance of escape. But the plan was futile; for she would neverfind her way alone through the jungle and would fall at once into the handsof her foes. 

Suddenly a heavy bullet struck the tree a foot above his head, evidentlyfired from behind him. He instantly rolled over on his back and laymotionless with his eyes half-closed, looking in the direction from whichthe shot must have come. The bushes not ten yards away were parted quietly;and a head was thrust out. With a swift motion Dermot swung his rifle rounduntil the muzzle pointed over his toes and, holding the weapon in one handlike a pistol, fired point-blank at the assailant who had crept up quietlybehind him. Shot through the head the man pitched forward on his face, almost touching the soldier's feet. Dermot saw that the corpse was that ofa low-caste Hindu, clad only in a dirty cotton _koorta_ and _dhoti_. ATower musket lay beside him. 

The wild firing died down again. The sun was setting; and the soldierjudged that the attackers were probably waiting for darkness to rush him. Why they did not do so at once, since they were so numerous, surprised him;but he surmised that it was lack of courage. It was maddening to be obligedto await their pleasure. He was far more concerned about the girl than forhimself. A feeling of dread pity filled his heart when he thought of whather fate would be when he was no longer alive to protect her. Should hekill her, he asked himself, and give her a swift and merciful death insteadof the horrors of outrage and torture that would probably be her lot if shefell alive into the hands of these murderous scoundrels? In those momentsof tension and terrible strain he realised that she was very dear to him, that she evoked in his heart a feeling that no other woman had ever arousedin him. 

The sun was going down; and with it Dermot felt that his life was passing. He grudged losing it in an obscure and causeless scuffle, instead of on anhonourable field of battle as a soldier should. He wished that he had ahandful of his splendid sepoys with him. They would have made short work ofa hundred of such ruffians as now threatened him. But it was useless tolong for them. He drew his _kukri_ and laid it on the ground beside him, ready for the last grim struggle. He had resolved to crawl to the girl whendarkness settled on the forest, and, before the rush came, give her thechance of a swift and honourable death, shoot her if she chose it--as hewas confident that she would--then close with his foes until death came. 

The light grew fainter. Dermot nerved himself for the terrible task beforehim and was about to move, when with a light and unfaltering step Noreencame to him. 

CHAPTER X

A STRANGE HOME-COMING

Dermot dragged the girl down to the ground beside him as a shot rang out. 

"I suppose they will kill us, Major Dermot, " she said calmly. "But couldn'tyou manage to get away in the darkness? You know the jungle so well. Pleasedon't hesitate to leave me, for I should only hamper you. Won't you go?"

Emotion choked the soldier for a moment. He gripped her arm and was aboutto speak when suddenly the forest on every side of them resounded to apandemonium of noise: a chorus of wild shrieks, shots, the crashing oftrampled undergrowth, the death-yells of men amid the savage screams andfierce trumpetings of a herd of elephants. 

"Oh, what's that? What terrible thing is happening?" cried the girl. 

Dermot seized her and dragged her close against the trunk of the tree. Inthe gloom they saw men flying madly past them pursued by elephants. Onewretch not ten yards from them was overtaken by a great tusker, whichstruck him to the ground, trampled on him, kicked and knelt upon hislifeless body until it was crushed to a pulp, then placing one forefoot onthe man's chest, wound his trunk round the legs and seized them in hismouth, tore them from the body, and threw them twenty yards away. Allaround similar tragedies were being enacted; for the herd of wild elephantshad charged in among the attackers. 

Dermot gathered the terrified girl in his arms and held her face againsthis breast, so that she should be spared the horror of the sights aboutthem; but he could not shut out the terrible sounds, the agonised shrieks, the despairing yells of the wretches who were meeting with an awful fate. He remained motionless against the tree, hoping to escape the notice of thefierce animals, whom he could see plunging through the jungle in pursuit oftheir prey, for they were hunting the men down. Suddenly one elephant camestraight towards them with trunk uplifted. Dermot put the girl behind himand raised his rifle; but with a low murmur from its throat the animallowered its trunk, and he recognised it. 

"Thank God! we are saved, " he said. "It's Badshah. He has brought his herdto our rescue. "

The girl clung to him convulsively and scarcely heard him; for the tumultin the jungle still continued, though the terrible pursuit seemed to bepassing farther away. The giant avengers were still crashing through thejungle after their prey; and an occasional heartrending shriek told ofanother luckless wretch who had met his doom. 

Dermot gently disengaged the clinging hands and repeated his words. Thegirl, still shuddering, made an effort and rose to her knees. 

Dermot went forward and laid his hand on the elephant's trunk. 

"Thank you, Badshah, " he said. "I am in your debt again. "

The tip of the trunk touched his face in a gentle caress. Then he steppedback and said: "Now we'll go at once, Miss Daleham. We won't stop this timeuntil we reach your bungalow. "

The girl had already recovered her courage and stood beside him. 

"But you are wounded. There's blood on your face and on your neck. Are youbadly hurt?"

Dermot laughed reassuringly. 

"To tell you the truth I had forgotten all about it. They are onlyscratches. The skin is cut, that's all. Come, we mustn't delay any longer. "

At a word from him Badshah knelt. He hurriedly threw the pad on theelephant's back and made him rise so that the surcingle rope could befixed. Then he brought the animal to his knees again and lifted Noreen onto the pad. But before he took his own seat he searched the undergrowtharound the glade and found many corpses of men almost unrecognisable ashuman bodies, so crushed and battered were they. From the number that hecame upon it was evident that most of their assailants had been slain. Butall the elephants except his had disappeared; and the sounds of themassacre were dying away. 

Slinging his rifle he climbed on to the pad; and Badshah rose and wentswiftly along a track that seemed to Dermot to lead towards Malpura. He didnot attempt to guide the elephant, but placed himself so that his bodywould shield the girl from the danger of being struck by overhangingboughs. He held her firmly as they were borne through the darkness that nowfilled the forest; for the swift-coming Indian night had fallen. 

"Keep well down, Miss Daleham, " he said. "You must be on your guard againstbeing swept off the pad by the low branches. "

"Oh, Major Dermot, " cried the girl with a shudder, "have all these terriblethings really happened in the last few hours or has it all been a hideousnightmare?"

"Please try not to think of them, " he answered. "You are safe now. "

"Yes; but you? You have to face these dangers again, since you are so muchin the jungle. Oh, my forest that I thought a fairyland! That such terriblethings can happen in it!"

"I can assure you that they are very unusual, " he replied with a cheerylaugh. "You have been very fortunate; for you have crammed more excitementand adventure into one day than I have seen previously in all my time inthe jungle. "

"It all seems so incredible, " she said. "Did you really mean that Badshahbrought his herd to our rescue? But I know he did. I heard him call them. When he ran off I thought that he was frightened and had abandoned us. ButI did him a great injustice. "

Her companion was silent for a moment. Then he said:

"Look here, Miss Daleham, we had better not tell that tale of Badshah quitein that way. It would seem impossible, and no European would credit it. Natives would, of course, for as it is they seem to look upon him as a godalready. "

"Yes; but you think as I do, don't you?" she exclaimed in surprise. "Surelyyou believe that he did bring the other elephants to save us. "

"Yes, I do. I know that he did, for I--well, between ourselves I have seenhim do even more wonderful things. But others wouldn't believe us, and Idon't want to emphasise the marvellous part of the story. I'd rather peoplethought that the _dacoits_, or whoever those men were who attacked us, accidentally fell foul of a herd of wild elephants. "

"Perhaps you are right. But _we_ know. It will be just our own secret andBadshah's, " she said dreamily. 

Then she relapsed into silence. In spite of the terrible experiencesthrough which she had just passed she felt happy at the pressure ofDermot's arm about her and the sensation of being utterly alone with him ina world of their own, as they were borne on through the darkness. Fatiguemade her drowsy, and the swaying motion of the elephant's pace lulled herto sleep. 

She woke suddenly and for an instant wondered where she was. Thenremembrance came and she felt the warm blood mantle her face as sherealised that she was nestling in Dermot's arms. But, drowsy and content, she did not move. Looking up she saw the stars overhead. They were out ofthe forest. 

"I must have been asleep, " she said. "Where are we?"

"At Malpura. There are the lights of your bungalow, " replied Dermot. Hesaid it almost with regret, for he had found the long miles through theforest almost short, while the girl nestled confidingly, thoughunconsciously, in his arms and he held her against his heart. 

As the elephant neared the house Dermot gave a loud shout. 

Instantly the verandah filled with men who rushed out of the lighted roomsand tried to pierce the darkness. A little distance from the bungalow alarge number of coolies, seated on the ground, rose up and pressed forwardto the road. From behind the house several white-clad servants ran out. 

Dermot shouted again and called out Daleham's name. 

There was a frantic rush down the verandah steps. 

"Hurrah! it's the Major, " cried a planter. 

"And--and--yes, Miss Daleham's with him. Hooray!" yelled another. 

"Good old Dermot!" came in Payne's voice. 

Through the throng of shouting, excited men the girl's brother broke. 

"Noreen! Noreen! My God, are you there? Are you safe?" he criedfrantically. 

Almost before Badshah sank to the ground, the girl, with a little sob, sprang into her brother's arms and clung to him, while Dermot was draggedoff the pad by the eager hands of a dozen men who thumped him on the back, pulled him from one to another, and nearly shook his arm off. The servantshad brought out lamps to light up the scene. 

From the verandah steps Chunerbutty looked jealously on. He had beenrelieved at knowing that the girl had returned, but in his heart he cursedthe man who had saved her. He was roughly thrust aside by Parry, who dashedup the steps, ran into the house, and emerged a minute later holding alarge tumbler in his hand. 

"Where is he, where is he? Look you, I know what he wants. Here's what willdo you good, Major, " he shouted. 

Dermot laughed and, taking the tumbler, drank its contents gratefully, though their strength made him cough, for the bibulous Celt had mixed it tohis own taste. 

"Major, Major, how can we thank you?" said Fred Daleham, coming to him withhis sister clinging to his arm. 

But she had to release him and shake hands over and over again with all theplanters and receive their congratulations and expressions of delight atseeing her safe and sound. Meanwhile her brother was endeavouring in thehubbub to thank her rescuer. But Dermot refused to listen. 

"Oh, there's nothing to make a fuss about I assure you, Daleham, " he said. "It was just that I had the luck to be the first to follow the raiders. Anyone else would have done the same. "

"Oh, nonsense, old man, " broke in Payne, clapping him on the back. "Ofcourse we'd all have liked to do it, but none of us could have tracked thescoundrels like you could. How did you do it?"

"Yes; tell us what happened, Major. "

"How did you find her, Dermot?"

"What occurred, Miss Daleham?"

"Did they put up a fight, sir?"

The eager mob of men poured a torrent of questions on the girl and herrescuer. 

"Easy on, you fellows, " said Dermot, laughing. "Give us time. We can'tanswer you all at once. "

"Yes, give them a chance, boys. Don't crowd, " cried one planter. 

"Here! We can't see them. Let's have some light, " shouted another. 

"Where are those servants? Bring out all the lamps!"

"Lamps be hanged! Let's have a decent blaze. We'll have a bonfire. "

Several of the younger planters ran to the stable and outhouses and broughtpiles of straw, old boxes, anything that would burn. Others despatchedcoolies to the factory near by to fetch wood, broken chests, and otherfuel. Several bonfires were made and the flames lit up the scene with ablaze of light. 

"Why, you're wounded, Dermot!" exclaimed Payne. 

"Oh, no. Just a scratch. "

"Yes, he is wounded, but he pretends it's nothing, " said Noreen. "Do see ifit's anything serious, Mr. Payne. "

"I assure you it's nothing, " protested the soldier, resisting eager andwell-meant attempts to drag him into the house and tend his hurts by force. But attention was diverted when a planter cried:

"Good Heavens! what's this? The elephant's tusk is covered with blood. "

"Tusk! Why, he's blood to the eyes, " exclaimed another. 

For the leaping flames revealed the fact that Badshah's tusk, trunk, andlegs were covered with freshly-dried blood. 

"Good Heavens! he's been wading in it. "

"What's that on his tusk? Why, it's fragments of flesh. Oh, the deuce!"

There were exclamations of surprise and horror from the white men. But themass of coolies, who had been pressing forward to stare, drew back into thedarkness and muttered to each other. 

"The god! The god! Who can withstand the god?" they whispered. 

"_Arhé, bhai_! (Aye, brother!) But which is the god? The elephant or hisrider? Tell me that!" exclaimed a grey-haired coolie. 

Among the Europeans the questions showered on Dermot redoubled. 

"Look here, you fellows. I can't answer you all at once, " he expostulated. "It's a long story. But please remember that Miss Daleham has had a tiringday and must be worn out. "

"Oh, no, I'm not, " exclaimed the girl. "Not now. I was fatigued, but I'mtoo excited to rest yet. "

"Come into the bungalow everyone and we'll have the whole story there, "said her brother. "The servants will get supper ready for us. We mustcelebrate tonight. "

"Indeed, yes. Look you, it shall be very wet tonight in Malpura, whateffer, " cried Parry, who was already half drunk. "Here, boy! Boy! Whereis that damned black beastie of mine? Boy!"

His _khitmagar_ disengaged himself from the group of servants andapproached apprehensively, keeping out of reach of his master's fist. 

"Go to the house, " said Parry to him in Bengali. "Bring liquor here. Allthe liquor I have. Hurry, you dog!"

He aimed a blow at him, which the _khitmagar_ dodged with the ease of longpractice and ran to execute his master's bidding. 

Daleham gave directions to his butler and cook to prepare supper, and ledthe way into the house with his arm round his sister, who, woman-like, escaped to change her dress and make herself presentable, as she put it. She had already forgotten the fatigues of the day in the hearty welcome andthe joy of her safe home-coming. 

But before Dermot entered the bungalow he had water brought and washed fromBadshah's head and legs the evidences of the terrible vengeance that he hadtaken upon their assailants. And from the verandah the planters looked atanimal and master and commented in low tones on the strange tales told ofboth, for the reputation of mysterious power that they enjoyed with nativeshad reached every white man of the district. 

The crowd of coolies drifted away to their village on the tea-garden, andthere throughout the hot night hours the groups sat on the ground outsidethe thatched bamboo huts and talked of the animal and the man. 

"It is not well to cross this sahib who is not as other sahibs, " said acoolie, shaking his head solemnly. 

"Sahib, say you? Is he only a sahib?" asked an old man. "Is he truly of the_gora logue_ (white folk)?"

"Why, what else is he? Is not his skin white?" said a youth, presumptuously thrusting himself into the conclave of the elders. 

"Peace! Since when was it meet for children to prattle in the presence oftheir grandsires?" demanded a grey-haired coolie contemptuously. "Know, boy, that Shri Krishn's skin was of the same colour when he moved among uson earth. "

Krishna, the Second Person of the Hindu Trinity, the best-loved god of alltheir mythological heaven, is represented in the cheap coloured oleographssold in the bazaars in India as being of fair complexion. 

"Is he Krishna himself?" asked a female coolie eagerly, the glass bangleson her arm rattling as she raised her hand to draw her _sari_ over her facewhen she thus addressed men. "Is he Krishna, think you? He is handsomeenough to be the Holy One. "

"Who knows, daughter? It may be. Shri Krishn has many incarnations, " saidthe old man solemnly. 

"Nay, I do not think that he is Krishna, " remarked an elderly coolie. "Itmay be that he is another of the Holy Ones. "

"Perhaps he is _Gunesh_, " ventured a younger man. 

"No; he bestrides _Gunesh_. I think he must be Krishna, " chimed in another. "What lesser god would dare to use Gunesh as his steed?"

"He is _Gunesh_ himself, " asserted a grey-beard. "Does he not range thejungle and the mountains at the head of all the elephants of the Terai? Canhe not call them to his aid as Hanuman did the monkeys?"

"He is certainly a Holy One or else a very powerful demon, " declared theold man. "It is an evil and a dangerous thing to molest those whom heprotects. The Bhuttias, ignorant pagans that they are, carried off themissie _baba_ he favours. What, think ye, has been their fate? With yourown eyes ye have all seen the blood and the flesh of men upon the tusk andlegs of his sacred elephant. "

And so through the night the shuttle of superstitious talk went backwardand forward and wove a still more marvellous garment of fancy to drape thereputation of elephant and man. The godship that the common belief had longendowed Badshah with was being transferred to his master; and a mere IndianArmy Major was transformed into a mysterious Hindu deity. 

Meanwhile in the well-lighted bungalow in which all the sahibs weregathered together the servants were hurriedly preparing a supper such aslonely Malpura had never known. And Noreen's pretty drawing-room wascrowded with men in riding costume or in uniform--for most of the plantersbelonged to a Volunteer Light Horse Corps, and some of them, expecting afight, had put on khaki when they got Daleham's summons. Their rifles, revolvers, and cartridge belts were piled on the verandah. Chunerbutty, feeling that his presence among them would not be welcomed by the white menthat night, had gone off to his own bungalow in jealous rage. And nobodymissed him. Dermot, despite his protests, had been dragged off to have hishurts attended to, and it was then seen that he had been touched by threebullets. 

When all were assembled in the room the planters demanded the tale ofNoreen's adventures; and the girl, looking dainty and fresh in a whitemuslin dress, unlike the heroine of her recent tragic experience, smilinglycomplied and told the story up to the point of Dermot's unexpected anddramatic intervention. 

"Now you must go on, Major, " she said, turning to him. 

"Yes, yes, Dermot. Carry on the tale, " was the universal cry. 

Everyone turned an expectant face towards where the soldier sat, lookingunusually embarrassed. 

"Oh, there's nothing much to tell, " he said. "The raiders--they wereBhuttias--had left a trail easy enough to see, though I confess that Iwould have lost it once but for my elephant. When I came up to them, asMiss Daleham has just told you, they all ran away except two. "

"What did these two do?" asked Granger, his host of the previous night. 

"Not much. They tried to stand their ground, but didn't really give muchtrouble. So I took Miss Daleham up on my elephant and we started back. Butlike a fool I stopped on the way to have grub, and somebody began shootingat us from the jungle, until wild elephants turned up and cleared them off. Then we came on here. That's all. "

These was a moment's silence. Then Granger, in disgusted tones, exclaimed:

"Well, Major, of all the poor story-tellers I've ever heard, you're thevery worst. One would think you'd only been for a stroll in a quiet Englishlane. 'Then we came on here. That's all. '"

"Oh, yes, you can't ask us to believe it was as tame as that, Major, " saidanother planter. "We expected to hear something a little more exciting. "

"You go out after thirty or forty raiders--"

"No, only twenty-two all told, " corrected Dermot. 

"All right, only twenty-two, come back with three hits on you and yourelephant up to his eyes in blood and--and--well, hang it all, Major, let'shave some more details. "

"Come, Miss Daleham, " Payne broke in, "you tell us what happened. I knowDermot, and we won't get any more out of him. "

"Yes; let's hear all about it, Noreen, " said her brother. "I'm sure itwasn't as tame as the Major says. "

"Tame?" echoed the girl, smiling. "I've had enough excitement to last meall my life, dear. I think that Major Dermot has put it rather mildly. I'msure even I could tell the story better. "

She narrated their adventures, giving her rescuer, despite his protests, full credit for his courage and resource, only omitting the details oftheir picnic meal and slurring over their relief by the wild elephants. Theplanters listened eagerly to her tale, breaking into applause at times. When she had finished Parry laid a heavy hand on Dermot's shoulder and saidsolemnly, though thickly:

"Look you, you are a bad liar, Major Dermot. Your story would not deceive achild, whateffer. But I am proud of you. You should have been a Welshman. "

The rest overwhelmed the soldier with compliments and congratulations, muchto his embarrassment, and when Noreen left the room to supervise thearrangement of the supper-table they plied him with questions withoutextracting much more information from him. But when a servant came toannounce that the meal was ready and the planters rose to troop to thedining-room, Dermot reached the door first and held up his hand to stopthem. 

"Gentlemen, one moment, please, " he said. Then he looked out to satisfyhimself that the domestic was out of hearing and continued: "I'd be obligedif during supper you'd make no allusion before the servants to what hashappened today. Afterwards I shall have something to say to you inconfidence that will explain this request of mine. "

The others looked at him in surprise but readily agreed. Before they leftthe room Daleham noticed the Hindu engineer's absence for the first time. 

"By Jove, I'd forgotten Chunerbutty, " he exclaimed. "I wonder where he is?Perhaps he doesn't know we're going to have supper. I'd better send the boyto tell him. "

"Indeed no, he is fery well where he is, " hiccoughed Parry, who, seated bya table on which drinks had been placed, had not been idle. "This is not anight for black men, look you. "

"Yes, Daleham, Parry's right, " said Granger. "Let us keep to our own colourtonight. Things might be said that wouldn't be pleasant for an Indian tohear. "

"Forgive my putting a word in, Daleham, " added Dermot. "But I have a veryparticular reason, which I'll explain afterwards, for asking you to leaveChunerbutty out. "

"Yes, we don't want a damned Bengali among us tonight, Fred, " said a youngplanter bluntly. 

"Oh, very well; if you fellows would rather I didn't ask him I won't, "replied their host. "But I'm afraid his feelings will be hurt at being leftout when we're celebrating my sister's safe return. He's such an oldfriend. "

"Oh, hang his feelings! Think of ours, " cried another of the party. 

"All right. Have it your own way. Let's go in to supper, " said the host. 

The hastily improvised meal was a merry feast, and the loud voices and theroars of laughter rang out into the silent night and reached the ears ofChunerbutty sitting in his bungalow eating his heart out in bitterness andjealousy. Noreen, presiding at one end of the long table, was the queen ofthe festival and certainly had never enjoyed any supper in London as muchas this impromptu meal. General favourite as she always was with every manin the district, this night there was added universal gladness at herescape and the feeling of satisfaction that the outrage on her had been sopromptly avenged. While the girl was pleased with the warmth and sincerityof the congratulations showered upon her, she was secretly delighted to seethe high esteem in which all the other men held Dermot. He was seatedbeside her and shared with her the good wishes of the company. His healthwas drunk with all the honours after hers, and the planters did not sparehis blushes in their loudly-expressed praises of his achievements. Cordiality and good humour prevailed, and, although the fun was fast andfurious, Parry was the only one who drank too much. Before he becameobjectionable, for he was usually quarrelsome in his cups, he wasdexterously cajoled out of the room and safely shepherded to his bungalow. 

CHAPTER XI

THE MAKING OF A GOD

Parry's departure served as a hint to Noreen that it was time for her tosay good-night to her guests and withdraw. As soon as she left the roomthere was an instant hush of expectancy, and all eyes were turned toDermot. The servants had long since gone, but, after asking his host'spermission, he rose from his place and strolled with apparent carelessnessto each doorway in turn and satisfied himself that there were noeavesdroppers. Then he shut the doors and asked members of the party tostation themselves on guard at each of them. The planters watched theseprecautions with surprise. 

Having thus made sure that he would not be overheard Dermot said:

"Gentlemen, a few of you already know something of what I am going to tellyou. I want you to understand that I am now speaking officially and instrict confidence. "

He turned to his host. 

"I must ask you, Mr. Daleham (Fred looked up in surprise at the formalityof the mode of address) to promise to divulge nothing of what I say to yourfriend, Mr. Chunerbutty. "

"Not tell Chunerbutty, sir?" repeated the young planter in astonishment. 

"No; the matter is one which must not be mentioned to any but Europeans. "

"Oh, but I assure you, Major, Chunerbutty's thoroughly loyal and reliable, "said Daleham warmly. 

"I repeat that you are not to give him the least inkling of what I am goingto say, " replied Dermot in a quiet but stern voice. "As I have already toldyou, I am speaking officially. "

The boy was impressed and a little awed by his manner. 

"Oh, certainly, sir. I give you my word that I shan't mention it to him. "

"Very well. The fact is, gentlemen, that we are on the track of a vastconspiracy against British rule in India, and have reason to believe thatthe activity of the disloyalists in Bengal has spread to this district. Wesuspect that the Brahmins who, very much to the surprise of any oneacquainted with the ways of their caste, are working as coolies on yourgardens, are really emissaries of the seditionists. "

"By George, is that really so, Major?" asked a young planter in a doubtingtone. "We have a couple of these Bengalis on our place, and they seem suchquiet, harmless chaps. "

"The Major is quite right. I know it, " said one of the oldest men present. "I confess that it didn't occur to me as strange that Brahmins should takesuch low-caste work until he told me. But I have found since, as others ofus have, that these men are the secret cause of all the trouble and unrestthat we have had lately among our coolies, to whom they preach sedition andrevolution. "

Several other estate managers corroborated his statement. 

"But surely, sir, you don't suspect Chunerbutty of being mixed up in this?"asked Daleham. "He's been a friend of mine for a long time. I lived withhim in London, and I'm certain he is quite loyal and pro-British. "

"I know nothing of him, Daleham, " replied the soldier. "But he is a BengaliBrahmin, one of the race and caste that are responsible for most of thesedition in India, and we must take precautions. "

"I'd stake my life on him, " exclaimed the boy hotly. "He's been a goodfriend to me, and I'll answer for him. "

Dermot did not trouble to argue the matter further with him, but said tothe company generally:

"This outrageous attempt to carry off Miss Daleham--"

"Oh, but you said yourself, sir, that the ruffians were Bhuttias, " broke inthe boy, still nourishing a grievance at the mistrust of his friend. 

Dermot turned to him again. 

"Do Bhuttias talk to each other in Bengali? The leader gave his ordersin that language to one man--who, by the way, was the only one he spoketo--and that man passed them on to the others in Bhutanese. "

This statement caused a sensation in the company. 

"By Jove, is that a fact, Dermot?" cried Payne. 

"Yes. These two were the men I shot. Do Bhuttias, unless they have justlooted a garden successfully--and we know these fellows had not--carry sumslike this?" And Dermot threw on the supper-table a cloth in which coinswere wrapped. "Open that, Payne, and count the money, please. "

All bent forward and watched as the planter opened the knot fastening thecloth and poured out a stream of bright rupees, the silver coin of Indiaroughly equivalent to a florin. There was silence while he counted them. 

"A hundred, " he said. 

Dermot laid on the table a new automatic pistol and several clips ofcartridges. 

"Bhuttias from across the border do not possess weapons like these, as youknow. Nor do they carry English-made pocket-books with contents like thosethis one has. "

He handed a leather case to Granger who opened it and took out a packet ofbank notes and counted them. "Eight hundred and fifty rupees, " he said. 

The men around him looked at the notes and at each other. A young engineerwhistled and said: "Whew! It pays to be a brigand. I'll turn robber myself, I think. Poor but honest man that I am I have never gazed on so much wealthbefore. Hullo! What's that bit of string?"

Dermot had taken from his pocket the cord that he had cut from the corpseof the second raider and laid it on the table. 

"Perhaps some of you may not be sufficiently well acquainted with Indiancustoms to know what this is. "

"I'm blessed if I am, Major, " said the engineer. "What is it?"

"It's the _janeo_, or sacred cord worn by the three highest of theoriginal Hindu castes as a symbol of their second or spiritual birth andto mark the distinction between their noble twice-born selves and thelower caste once-born Súdras. You see it is made up of three strings ofspun cotton to symbolise the Hindu _Trimurti_ (Trinity), Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, and also Earth, Air, and Heaven, the three worlds pervaded bytheir essence. "

"Oh, I see. But where did you get it?" asked the engineer. 

"Off the body of the second man that I shot, together with the pistol andpocket-book. Now, Bhuttias do not wear the _janeo_, not being Hindus. Buthigh-caste Hindus do--and a Brahmin would never be without it. "

"Oh, no. So you mean that the man wasn't a Bhuttia?"

"This is the last exhibit, as they say in the Law Courts, " said Dermot, producing a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles. "You don't find Bhuttiaswearing these. "

"By Jove, no, " said Granger, taking them up and trying them. "Damned goodglasses, these, and cost a bit, too. "

Dermot turned towards Daleham. 

"Do you remember showing me on this garden one day a coolie whom you saidwas a B. A. Of Calcutta University?"

"Yes; he was called Narain Dass, " replied Fred. "We spoke to him, yourecollect, Major? He talked excellent English of the _babu_ sort. "

"What has happened to him?"

"I don't know. He disappeared a short time ago. Deserted, I suppose, thoughI don't see why he should. He was getting on well here. "

Dermot smiled grimly and touched the cord and spectacles. 

"The man who wore these, who led the Bhuttias in the raid, was NarainDass. "

These was a moment's amazed silence in the room. Then a hubbub arose, andthere was a chorus of exclamations and questions. 

"Good Heavens, is it possible, Major? He appeared to be such a decent, civil chap, " exclaimed Daleham. 

"His face seemed familiar to me, as he lay dead on the ground, " repliedDermot. "I couldn't place him, though, until I found the spectacles. I putthem on his nose, and then I knew him. His hair was cropped close, he waswearing Bhuttia clothes, but it was Narain Dass, the University graduatewho was working as a coolie for a few _annas_ a day. "

"And he had eight hundred and fifty rupees on him, " added the youngengineer. 

"Yes; and if all the Bhuttias had as much as the one shot that meant overtwo thousand. "

"Where did they get it?"

"Who is behind all this?"

"The seditionists, of course, " said an elderly planter. 

"Yes; but today it isn't a question of an isolated outrage on oneEnglishwoman, nor of a few Bengali lawyers in Calcutta and their dupesamong hot-headed students and ignorant peasants, " said Dermot. "It's thebiggest thing we've ever had to face yet in India. What we want to get atis the head and brains of the conspiracy. "

"What do you make of this attempt on Miss Daleham?" asked Granger. "Whatwas the object of it?"

"Probably just terrorism. They wanted to show that no one is secure underour rule. It may be that Narain Dass, who had worked on this garden andseen Miss Daleham, suggested it. They may have thought that the carryingoff of an Englishwoman would make more impression than the mere bombing ofa police officer or a magistrate--we are too used to that. "

"But why employ Bhuttias?" asked Payne. 

"To throw the pursuers off the track and prevent their being run down. Thesearch would stop if we thought they'd gone across the frontier, so theycould get away easily. When they had got Miss Daleham safely hidden away inthe labyrinths of a native bazaar, perhaps in Calcutta, they'd have leteveryone know who had carried her off. "

"Who was the other fellow with Narain Dass--the chap who talked Bengali?"

"Probably a Bhuttia who knew the language was given the Brahmin as aninterpreter. "

"But I say, Major, " cried a planter, "who the devil were the lot thatattacked you?"

"I'm hanged if I know, " Dermot answered. "I have been inclined to believethem to be a gang of political _dacoits_, probably coming to meet theBhuttias and take Miss Daleham from them, but in that case they would havebeen young Brahmins and better armed. This lot were low-caste men and theirweapons were mostly old muzzle-loading muskets. "

"Perhaps they were just ordinary _dacoits_, " hazarded a planter. 

"Possibly; but they must have been new to the business, " replied the Major. "For there wouldn't be much of an opening for robbers in the middle of theforest. "

"It's a puzzle. I can't make it out, " said Granger, shaking his head. 

The others discussed the subject for some time, but no one could elucidatethe mystery. At length Dermot said to Daleham:

"No answer has come to that telegram you sent to Ranga Duar, I suppose?"

"No, Major; though there's been plenty of time for a reply. "

"It's strange. Parker would have answered at once if he'd got the wire, Iknow, " said Dermot. "But did he? Most of the telegraph clerks in thisProvince are Brahmins--I don't trust them. Anyhow, if Parker did receivethe wire, he'd start a party off at once. It's a long forty miles, andmarching through the jungle is slow work. They couldn't get here beforedawn. And the men would be pretty done up. "

"I bet they would if they had to go through the forest in the dark, " said aplanter. 

"Well, I want to start at daybreak to search the scene of the attack on usand the place where I came on the Bhuttias. Will some of you fellows comewith me?"

"Rather. We'll all go, " was the shout from all at the table. 

"Thanks. We may round up some of the survivors. "

"I say, Major, would you tell us a thing that's puzzled me, and I daresaymore than me?" ventured a young assistant manager, voicing the thoughts ofothers present. "How the deuce did those wild elephants happen to turn upjust in the nick of time for you?"

"They were probably close by and the firing disturbed them, " was thecareless answer. 

"H'm; very curious, wasn't it, Major?" said Granger. "You know the habitsof the _jungli hathi_ better than most other people. Wouldn't they be farmore likely to run away from the firing than right into it?"

"As a rule. But when wild elephants stampede in a panic they'll go throughanything. "

The assistant manager was persistent. 

"But how did your elephant chance to join up with them?" he asked. "Judgingby the look of him he took a very prominent part in clearing your enemiesoff. "

"Oh, Badshah is a fighter. I daresay if there was a scrap anywhere near himhe'd like to be in it, " replied Dermot lightly, and tried to change theconversation. 

But the others insisted on keeping to the subject. They had all beencurious as to the truth of the stories about Dermot's supposed miraculouspower over wild elephants, but no one had ever ventured to question him onthe subject before. 

"I suppose you know, Major, that the natives have some wonderful talesabout Badshah?" said a planter. 

"Yes; and of you, too, sir, " said the young assistant manager. "They thinkyou both some special brand of gods. "

"I'm not surprised, " said the Major with assumed carelessness. "They'reready to deify anything. They will see a god in a stone or a tree. You knowthey looked on the famous John Nicholson during the Mutiny as a god, andmade a cult of him. There are still men who worship him. "

"They're prepared to do that to you, Major, " said Granger frankly. "Barrettis quite right. They call you the Elephant God. "

Dermot laughed and stood up. 

"Oh, natives will believe anything, " he said. "If you'll excuse me now, Daleham, I'll turn in--or rather, turn out. I'd like to get some sleep, forwe've an early start before us. "

"Yes, we'd better all do the same, " said Granger, rising too. "How are yougoing to bed us all down, Daleham? Bit of a job, isn't it?"

"We'll manage all right, " replied the young host. "I told the servants tospread all the mattresses and charpoys that they could raise anywhere outon the verandah and in the spare rooms. I'm short of mosquito curtains, though. Some of you will get badly bitten tonight. "

"I'll go to old Parr's bungalow and steal his, " said Granger. "He's toodrunk to feel any 'skeeter biting him. "

"I pity the mosquito that does, " joined in a young planter laughing. "Thepoor insect would die of alcoholic poisoning. "

"I've given you my room, Major, " said Daleham. "I know the other fellowswon't mind. "

No persuasion, however, could make Dermot accept the offer. Whilethe others slept in the bungalow, he lay under the stars beside hiselephant. The house was wrapped in darkness. In the huts in the compoundthe servants still gossiped about the extraordinary events of the day, but gradually they too lay down and pulled their blankets over theirheads, and all was silence. But a few hundred yards away a lamp stillburned in Chunerbutty's bungalow where the Hindu sat staring at the wallof his room, wondering what had happened that day and what had beensaid in the Dalehams' dining-room that night. For he had prowled abouttheir house in the darkness and seen the company gathered around thesupper-table. And he had watched Dermot shut the door between the roomand the verandah, and guessed that things were to be said that Indianswere not meant to hear. So through the night he sat motionless in hischair with mind and heart full of bitterness, cursing the soldier by allhe held unholy. 

Long before dawn Noreen, refreshed by sleep and quite recovered from thefatigues and alarms of the previous day, was up to superintend the earlymeal that her servants prepared for the departing company. No one but herbrother was returning to Malpura, the others were to scatter to their owngardens when Dermot had finished with them. 

As the girl said good-bye to the planters she warmly thanked each one forhis chivalrous readiness to come to her aid. But to the soldier she foundit hard, impossible, to say all that was in her heart, and to an onlookerher farewell to him would have seemed abrupt, almost cold. But heunderstood her, and long after he had vanished from sight she seemed tofeel the friendly pressure of his hand on hers. When she went to her roomsthe tears filled her eyes, as she kissed the fingers that his had held. 

Out in the forest the Major led the way on Badshah, the ponies of hisfollowers keeping at a respectful distance from the elephant. When nearingthe scene of the fight the tracks of the avenging herd were plain to see, and soon the party came upon ghastly evidences of the tragedy. The buzzingof innumerable flies guided the searchers to spots in the undergrowth wherethe scattered corpses lay. As each was reached a black cloud of blood-drunkwinged insects rose in the air from the loathsome mass of red, crushedpulp, but trains of big ants came and went undisturbed. The dense foliagehad hidden the battered, shapeless bodies from the eyes of the soaringvultures high up in the blue sky, otherwise nothing but scattered boneswould have remained. Now the task of scavenging was left to the insects. 

Over twenty corpses were found. When an angry elephant has wreaked his rageon a man the result is something that is difficult to recognise as theremains of a human being. So out of the twenty, the attackers shot byDermot were the only ones whose bodies were in a fit state to be examined. But they afforded no clue to the identity of the mysterious assailants. Themen appeared to have been low-caste Hindus of the coolie class. Theycarried nothing on their persons except a little food--a few broken_chupatis_, a handful of coarse grain, an onion or two, and a few_cardamoms_ tied up in a bit of cloth. Each had a powder-flask and a smallbag with some spherical bullets in it hung on a string passed over oneshoulder. The weapons found were mostly old Tower muskets, the marks onwhich showed that at one time they had belonged to various native regimentsin the service of the East India Company. But there were two or threefairly modern rifles of French or German make. 

These latter Dermot tied on his elephant, and, as there was nothing furtherto be learned here, he led the way to the other spot which he wished tovisit. But when, after a canter along the narrow, winding track through thedense undergrowth, jumping fallen trees and dodging overhanging branches, the party drew near the open glade in which Dermot had overtaken theraiders, a chorus of loud and angry squawks, the rushing sound of heavywings and the rustling of feathered bodies prepared them fordisappointment. When they entered it there was nothing to be seen but twostruggling groups of vultures jostling and fighting over what had beenhuman bodies. For the glade was open to the sky and the keen eyes of thefoul scavengers had detected the corpses, of which nothing was left now buttorn clothing, mangled flesh, and scattered bones. So there was nopossibility of Daleham's deciding if Dermot had been right in believingthat one of the two raiders that he had killed was the Calcutta Bachelor ofArts. On the whole the search had proved fruitless, for no further clue tothe identity of either body of miscreants was found. 

So the riders turned back. At various points of the homeward journeymembers of the party went off down tracks leading in the direction of theirrespective gardens, and there was but a small remnant left when Dermot saidgood-bye, after hearty thanks from Daleham and cheery farewells from theothers. 

He did not reach the Fort until the following day. There he learned thatParker had never received the telegram asking for help. Subsequentenquiries from the telegraph authorities only elicited the statement thatthe line had been broken between Barwahi and Ranga Duar. As where it passedthrough the forest accidents to it from trees knocked down by elephants orbrought down by natural causes were frequent, it was impossible to discoverthe truth, but the fact that nearly all the telegraph officials wereBengali Brahmins made Dermot doubtful. But he was able to report thehappenings to Simla by cipher messages over the line. 

Parker was furious because the information had failed to reach him. He hadmissed the opportunity of marching a party of his men down to the rescue ofMiss Daleham and his commanding officer, and he was not consoled by thelatter pointing out to him that it would have been impossible for him tohave arrived in time for the fight. 

Two days after Dermot's return to the Fort he was informed that threeBhuttias wanted to see him. On going out on to the verandah of his bungalowhe found an old man whom he recognised as the headman of a mountain villagejust inside the British border, ten miles from Ranga Duar. Beside him stoodtwo sturdy young Bhuttias with a hang-dog expression on their Mongol-likefaces. 

The headman, who was one of those in Dermot's pay, saluted and, draggingforward his two companions, bade them say what they had come there to say. Each of the young men pulled out of the breast of his jacket a littlecloth-wrapped parcel, and, opening it, poured a stream of bright silverrupees at the feet of the astonished Major. Then they threw themselves ontheir knees before him, touched the ground with their foreheads, andimplored his pardon, saying that they had sinned against him in ignoranceand offered in atonement the price of their crime. 

Dermot turned enquiringly to the headman, who explained that the two hadtaken part in the carrying off of the white _mem_, and being now convincedthat they had in so doing offended a very powerful being--god or devil--hadcome to implore his pardon. 

Their story was soon told. They said that they had been approached by acertain Bhuttia who, formerly residing in British territory, had beenforced to flee to Bhutan by reason of his many crimes. Nevertheless, hemade frequent secret visits across the border. For fifty rupees--a princelysum to them--he induced them to agree to join with others in carrying offMiss Daleham. They found subsequently that the real leader of theenterprise was a Hindu masquerading as a Bhuttia. 

When they had succeeded in their object they were directed to go to acertain spot in the jungle where they were to be met by another party towhich they were to hand over the Englishwoman. Having reached the placefirst they were waiting for the others when Dermot appeared. So terriblewere the tales told in their villages about this dread white man and hismysterious elephant that, believing that he had come to punish them fortheir crime, all but the two leaders fled in panic. Several of thefugitives ran into the party of armed Hindus which they were to meet, amember of which spoke a certain amount of Bhutanese. Having learned whathad happened he ordered them to guide the newcomers' pursuit. 

When the attack began the Bhuttias, having no fire-arms, took refuge intrees. So when the herd swept down upon the assailants all the hillmenescaped. But they were witnesses of the terrible vengeance of the powerfuldevil-man and devil-elephant. When at last they had ventured to descendfrom the trees that had proved their salvation and returned to theirvillages these two confided the story to their headman. At his orders theyhad come to surrender the price of their crime and plead for pardon. 

Their story only deepened the mystery, for, when Dermot eagerlyquestioned them as to the identity of the Hindus, he was again broughtup against a blank wall, for they knew nothing of them. He deemed itpolitic to promise to forgive them and allow them to keep the money thatthey had received, after he had thoroughly impressed upon them theenormity of their guilt in daring to lay hands upon a white woman. Heordered them as a penance to visit all the Bhuttia villages on each sideof the border and tell everyone how terrible was the punishment for sucha crime. They were first to seek out their companions in the raid andlay the same task on them. He found afterwards that these latter hadhardly waited to be told, for they had already spread broadcast thetale, which grew as it travelled. Before long every mountain and junglevillage had heard how the Demon-Man had overtaken the raiders on hismarvellous winged elephant, slain some by breathing fire on them andcalled up from the Lower Hell a troop of devils, half dragons, halfelephants, who had torn the other criminals limb from limb or eaten themalive. So, not the fear of the Government, as Dermot intended, but theterror of him and his attendant devil Badshah, lay heavy on theborder-side. 

Chunerbutty, kept at the soldier's request in utter ignorance of morethan the fact that Noreen had been rescued by him from the raiders, hadconcluded at first that the crime was what it appeared on the surface--adescent of trans-frontier Bhuttias to carry off a white woman for ransom. But when these stories reached the tea-garden villages and eventually cameto his ears he was very puzzled. For he knew that, in spite of theirextravagance, there was probably a grain of truth somewhere in them. Theymade him suspect that some other agency had been at work and another reasonthan hope of money had inspired the outrage. 

In the Palace at Lalpuri a tempest raged. The Rajah, mad with fury anddisappointed desire, stormed through his apartments, beating his servantsand threatening all his satellites with torture and death. For no news hadcome to him for days as to the success or failure of a project that he hadconceived in his diseased brain. Distrusting Chunerbutty, as he dideveryone about him, he had sent for Narain Dass, whom he knew as one of the_Dewan's_ agents, and given him the task of executing his original designof carrying off Miss Daleham. To the Bengali's subtle mind had occurred theidea of making the outrage seem the work of Bhuttia raiders. But forDermot's prompt pursuit his plan would have been crowned with success. Thegirl, handed over as arranged to a party of the Rajah's soldiers indisguise, would have been taken to the Palace at Lalpuri, while everyonebelieved her a captive in Bhutan. 

At length a few poor wretches, who had escaped their comrades' terribledoom under the feet of the wild elephants and, mad with terror, hadwandered in the jungle for days, crept back starved and almost mad to thecapital of the State. Only one was rash enough to return to the Palace, while the others, fearing to face their lord when they had only failure toreport, hid in the slums of the bazaar. This one was summoned to theRajah's presence. His tale was heard with unbelief and rage, and he wasordered to be trampled to death by the ruler's trained elephants. Searchwas made through the bazaar for the other men who had returned, and whenthey were caught their punishment was more terrible still. Inconceivabletortures were inflicted on them and they were flung half-dead into a pitfull of live scorpions and cobras. Even in these enlightened days there aredark corners in India, and in some Native States strange and terriblethings still happen. And the tale of them rarely reaches the ear of therepresentatives of the Suzerain Power or the columns of the daily press. 

CHAPTER XII

THE LURE OF THE HILLS

A dark pall enveloped the mountains, and over Ranga Duar raged one ofthe terrifying tropical thunderstorms that signalise the rains of India. Unlike more temperate climes this land has but three Seasons. To her thedivision of the year into Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter meansnothing. She knows only the Hot Weather, the Monsoon or Rains, and theCold Weather. From November to the end of February is the pleasant timeof dry, bright, and cool days, with nights that register from three tosixteen degrees of frost in the plains of Central and Northern India. In the Himalayas the snow lies feet deep. The popular idea thatHindustan is always a land of blazing sun and burning heat is entirelywrong. But from March to the end of June it certainly turns itself intoa hell of torment for the luckless mortals that cannot fly from theparched plains to the cool mountains. Then from the last days of June, when the Monsoon winds bring up the moisture-laden clouds from theoceans on the south-west of the peninsula, to the beginning or middleof October, India is the Kingdom of Rain. From the grey sky it fallsdrearily day and night. Outside, the thirsty soil drinks it up gladly. Green things venture timidly out of the parched earth, then shoot up asrapidly as the beanstalk of the fairy tale. But inside houses dampnessreigns. Green fungus adorns boots and all things of leather, tobaccoreeks with moisture, and the white man scratches himself and curses theplague of prickly heat. 

But while tens of thousands of Europeans and hundreds of millions ofnatives suffer greatly in the tortures of Heat and Wet for eight wearymonths of the year in the Plains of India, up in the magic realm of theHills, in the pleasure colonies like Simla, Mussourie, Naini Tal, Darjeeling, and Ootacamund, existence during those same months is one longspell of gaiety and comfort for the favoured few. These hill-stations makelife in India worth living for the lucky English women and men who can takerefuge in them. And incidentally they are responsible for more domesticunhappiness in Anglo-Indian households than any other cause. It is saidthat while in the lower levels of the land many roads lead to the DivorceCourt, in the Hills _all_ do. 

For wives must needs go alone to the hill-stations, as a rule. India is nota country for idlers. Every white man in it has work to do, otherwise hewould not be in that land at all. Husbands therefore cannot alwaysaccompany their spouses to the mountains, and, when they do, can rarelycontrive to remain there for six months or longer of the Season. Consequently the wives are often very lonely in the big hotels that aboundon the hill-tops, and sometimes drift into dependence on bachelors on leavefor daily companionship, for escort to the many social functions, forregular dancing partners. And so trouble is bred. 

Major Dermot was no lover of these mountain Capuas of Hindustan, and hadgladly escaped from Simla, chiefest of them all. Yet now he sat in hislittle stone bungalow in Ranga Duar, while the terrific thunder crashed androared among the hills, and read with a pleased smile an official letterordering him to proceed forthwith to Darjeeling--as gay a pleasure colonyas any--to meet the General Commanding the Division, who was visiting theplace on inspection duty. For the same post had brought him a letter fromNoreen Daleham which told him that she was then, and had been for sometime, in that hill-station. 

The climate of the Terai, unpleasantly but not unbearably hot in the summermonths, is pestilential and deadly during the rains, when malaria and themore dreaded black-water fever take toll of the strongest. Noreen hadsuffered in health in the hot weather, and her brother was seriouslyconcerned at the thought of her being obliged to remain in Malpurathroughout the Monsoon. He could not take her to the Hills; it wasimpossible for him to absent himself even for a few days from the garden, for the care and management of it was devolving more and more every day onhim, owing to the intemperate habits of Parry. 

Fred Daleham's relief was great when his sister unexpectedly received aletter from a former school-friend who two years before had married a manin the Indian Civil Service. Noreen, who was a good deal her junior, hadcorresponded regularly with her, and she now wrote to say that she wasgoing to Darjeeling for the Season and suggested that Noreen should joinher there. Much as the prospect of seeing a friend whom she had idolised, appealed to the girl (to say nothing of the gaieties of a hill-station andthe pleasure of seeing shops, real shops, again), she was neverthelessunwilling to leave her brother. But Fred insisted on her going. 

From Darjeeling she told Dermot in a long and chatty epistle all hersensations and experiences in this new world. It was her first real letterto him, although she had written him a few short notes from Malpura. It wasinteresting and clever, without any attempt to be so, and Dermot wassurprised at the accuracy of her judgment of men and things and thevividness of her descriptions. He noticed, moreover, that the socialgaieties of Darjeeling did not engross her. She enjoyed dancing, but themany balls, At Homes, and other social functions did not attract her somuch as the riding and tennis, the sight-seeing, the glimpses of thestrange and varied races that fill the Darjeeling bazaar, and, above all, the glories of the superb scenery where the ice-crowned monarch of allmountains, Kinchinjunga, forty miles away--though not seeming five--andtwenty-nine thousand feet high, towers up above the white line of theEternal Snows. 

Dermot was critically pleased with the letter. Few men--and he least ofall--care for an empty-headed doll whose only thoughts are of dress andfashionable entertainments. He liked the girl for her love of sport andaction, for her intelligence, and the interest she took in the variednative life around her. He was almost tempted to think that her letterbetrayed some desire for his companionship in Darjeeling, for in it sheconstantly wondered what he would think of this, what he would say of that. 

But he put the idea from him, though he smiled as he re-read his orders andthought of her surprise when she saw him in Darjeeling. Would she really bepleased to meet her friend of the jungle in the gay atmosphere of apleasure colony? Like most men who are not woman-hunters he set a verymodest value on himself and did not rate highly his power of attraction forthe opposite sex. Therefore, he thought it not unlikely that the girl mightconsider him as a desirable enough acquaintance for the forest but a borein a ballroom. In this he was unjust to her. 

He was surprised to discover that he looked forward with pleasure to seeingher again, for women as a rule did not interest him. Noreen was the firstwhom he had met that gave him the feeling of companionship, of comradeship, that he experienced with most men. She was not more clever, more talented, or better educated than most English girls are, but she had the capacity oftaking interest in many things outside the ordinary range of topics. Aboveall, she inspired him with the pleasant sense of "chum-ship, " than whichthere is no happier, more durable bond of union between a man and a woman. 

The Season brought the work in which Dermot was engaged to a standstill, and, keen lover of sport as he was, he was not tempted to risk thefevers of the jungle. Life in the small station of Ranga Duar was dullindeed. Day and night the rain rattled incessantly on the iron roofsof the bungalows--six or eight inches in twenty-four hours being notunusual. Thunderstorms roared and echoed among the hills for twenty orthirty hours at a stretch. All outdoor work or exercise was impossible. The outpost was nearly always shrouded in dense mist. Insect pestsabounded. Scorpions and snakes invaded the buildings. Outside, fromevery blade of grass, every leaf and twig, a thin and hungry leech wavedits worm-like, yellow-striped body in the air, seeming to scent anyapproaching man or beast on which it could fasten and gorge itself fatwith blood. Certainly a small station on the face of the Himalayas isnot a desirable place of residence during the rains, and to personsof melancholy temperament would be conducive to suicide or murder. Fortunately for themselves the two white men in Ranga Duar took lifecheerily and were excellent friends. 

 * * * * *

By this time Noreen considered herself quite an old resident of Darjeeling. But she had felt the greatest reluctance to go when her brother had helpedher into the dogcart for the long drive to the railway. Fred was unable totake her even as far as the train, for his manager had one of his periodicattacks of what was euphemistically termed his "illness. " But Chunerbuttyvolunteered to escort Noreen to the hills, as he had been summoned again tohis sick father's side, the said parent being supposed to be in attendanceon his Rajah who had taken a house in Darjeeling for the season. As amatter of fact his worthy progenitor had never left Lalpuri. However, Daleham knew nothing of that, and, being empowered to do so when Parry wasincapacitated, gladly gave him permission to go and gratefully accepted hisoffer to look after the girl on the journey. 

Noreen would much have preferred going alone, but her brother refused toentertain the idea. Although she knew nothing of the suspicions of herBengali friend entertained by Dermot, she sensed a certain disapproval onhis part of Fred's and her intimacy with Chunerbutty, and it affected herfar more than did the open objection of the other planters to the Hindu. Besides, she was gradually realising the existence of the "colour bar, "illiberal as she considered it to be. But it will always exist, dormantperhaps but none the less alive in the bosoms of the white peoples. It isNature herself who has planted it there, in order to preserve theseparation of the races that she has ordained. So Noreen, though she hatedherself for it, felt that she would rather go all the way alone than travelwith the Hindu. 

The thirty miles' drive to the station of the narrow-gauge branch railwaywhich would convey them to the main line did not seem long. For severalplanters who resided near her road had laid a _dâk_ for her, that is, hadarranged relays of ponies at various points of the way to enable thejourney to be performed quickly. Noreen's heavy luggage had gone on aheadby bullock cart two days before, so the pair travelled light. 

After her long absence from civilisation the diminutive engine andcarriages of the narrow-gauge railway looked quite imposing, and itseemed to the girl strange to be out of the jungle when the toy trainslid from the forest into open country, through the rice-fields and bythe trim palm-thatched villages nestling among giant clumps of bamboo. 

In the evening the train reached the junction where Noreen and Chunerbuttyhad to transfer to the Calcutta express, which brought them early nextmorning to Siliguri, the terminus of the main line at the foot of thehills, whence the little mountain-railway starts out on its seven thousandfeet climb up the Himalayas. 

Out of the big carriages of the express the passengers tumbled reluctantlyand hurried half asleep to secure their seats in the quaint opencompartments of the tiny train. White-clad servants strapped up theiremployers' bedding--for in India the railway traveller must bring his ownwith him--and collected the luggage, while the masters and mistressescrowded into the refreshment room for _chota hazri_, or early breakfast. Noreen was unpleasantly aware of the curious and semi-hostile looks cast ather and her companion by the other Europeans, particularly the ladies, forthe sight of an English girl travelling with a native is not regarded withfriendly eyes by English folk in India. 

But she forgot this when the toy train started. As they climbed higher thevegetation grew smaller and sparser, until it ceased altogether and theline wound up bare slopes. And as they rose they left the damp heat behindthem, and the air grew fresher and cooler. 

The train twisted among the mountains and crawled up their steep sides on aline that wound about in bewildering fashion, in one place looping the loopcompletely in such a way that the engine was crossing a bridge from underwhich the last carriage was just emerging. Noreen delighted in the journey. She chatted gaily with her companion, asking him questions about anythingthat was new to her, and striving to ignore the looks of curiosity, pity, or disgust cast at her by the other European passengers, among whomspeculation was rife as to the relationship between the pair. 

The leisurely train took plenty of time to recover its breath when itstopped at the little wayside stations, and many of its occupants got outto stretch their legs. Two of them, Englishmen, strolled to the end of theplatform at a halt. One, a tall, fair man, named Charlesworth, a captain ina Rifle battalion quartered in Lebong, the military suburb of Darjeeling, remarked to his companion:

"I wonder who is the pretty, golden-haired girl travelling with thatnative. How the deuce does she come to be with him? She can't be his wife. "

"You never know, " replied the other, an artillery subaltern named Turner. "Many of these Bengali students in London marry their landladies' daughtersor girls they've picked up in the street, persuading the wretched women bytheir lies that they are Indian princes. Then they bring them out here toherd with a black family in a little house in the native quarter. "

"Yes; but that girl is a lady, " answered Charlesworth impatiently. "I heardher speak on the platform at Siliguri. "

"She certainly looks all right, " admitted his friend. "Smart andwell-turned out, too. But one can never tell nowadays. "

"Let's stroll by her carriage and get a nearer view of her, " saidCharlesworth. 

As they passed the compartment in which Noreen was seated, the girl'sattention was attracted by two gaily-dressed Sikkimese men with stripedpetticoats and peacocks' feathers stuck in their flowerpot-shaped hats, whocame on to the platform. 

"Oh, Mr. Chunerbutty, look at those men!" she said eagerly. "What arethey?"

The Hindu had got out and was standing at the door of the compartment. 

"Did you notice that?" said Charlesworth, when he and Turner had got beyondearshot. "She called him Mr. Something-or-other. "

"Yes; deuced glad to hear it, too, " replied the gunner. "I'd hate to see awhite woman, especially an English lady, married to a native. I wonder howthat girl comes to be travelling with the beggar at all. "

"I'd like to meet her, " said Charlesworth, who was returning from ten days'leave in Calcutta. "If I ever do, I'll advise her not to go travellingabout with a black man. I suppose she's just out from England and knows nobetter. "

"She'd probably tell you to mind your own business, " observed his friend. "Hullo! it looks as if the engine-driver is actually going to get a move onthis old hearse. Let's go aboard. "

More spiteful comments were made on Noreen by the Englishwomen on thetrain, and the girl could not help remarking their contemptuous glances ather and her escort. 

When the train ran into the station at Darjeeling she saw her friend, IdaSmith, waiting on the platform for her. As the two embraced and kissed eachother effusively Charlesworth muttered to Turner:

"It's all right, old chap. I'll be introduced to that girl before this timetomorrow, you bet. I know her friend. She's from the Bombay side--wife ofone of the Heaven Born. "

By this lofty title are designated the members of the Indian Civil Serviceby lesser mortals, such as army officers--who in return are contemptuouslytermed "brainless military popinjays" by the exalted caste. 

Their greeting over, Noreen introduced Chunerbutty to Ida, who noddedfrigidly and then turned her back on him. 

"Now, dear, point out your luggage to my servant and he'll look after itand get it up to the hotel. Oh, how do you do, Captain Charlesworth?"

The Rifleman, determined to lose no time in making Noreen's acquaintance, had come up to them. 

"I had quite a shock, Mrs. Smith, when I saw you on the platform, for I wasafraid that you were leaving us and had come to take the down train. "

"Oh, no; I am only here to meet a friend, " she replied. "Have you justarrived by this train? Have you been away?"

Charlesworth laughed and replied:

"What an unkind question, Mrs. Smith! It shows that I haven't been missed. Yes, I've been on ten days' leave to Calcutta. "

"How brave of you at this time of year! It must have been somethingvery important that took you there. Have you been to see your tailor?"Then, without giving him time to reply, she turned to Noreen. "Let meintroduce Captain Charlesworth, my dear. Captain Charlesworth, this isMiss Daleham, an old school-friend, who has come up to keep me company. We poor hill-widows are so lonely. "

The Rifleman held out his hand eagerly to the girl. 

"How d'you do, Miss Daleham? I hope you've come up for the Season. "

"Yes, I think so, " she replied. "It's a very delightful change from downbelow. This is my first visit to a hill-station. "

"Then you'll be sure to enjoy it. Are you going to theLieutenant-Governor's ball on Thursday?"

"I don't suppose so. I don't know anything about it, " she replied. "You see, I've only just arrived. "

"You are, dear, " said Ida. "I told Captain Craigie, one of the A. D. C. 's, that you were coming up, and he sent me your invitation with mine. "

"Oh, how jolly!" exclaimed the girl. "I do hope I'll get some partners. "

"Please accept me as one, " said Charlesworth. Then he tactfully added toIda, "I hope you'll spare me a couple of dances, Mrs. Smith. "

"With pleasure, Captain Charlesworth, " she replied. "But do come and see usbefore then. "

"I shall be delighted to. By the way, are you going to the gymkhana on thepolo-ground tomorrow?"

"Yes, we are. "

Charlesworth turned to Noreen. 

"In that case, Miss Daleham, perhaps you'll be good enough to nominate mefor some of the events. As you have only just got here you won't have beensnapped up yet by other fellows. I know it's hopeless to expect Mrs. Smithnot to be. "

Ida smiled, well pleased at the flattery, although, as a matter of fact, noone had yet asked her to nominate him. 

"I'm afraid I wouldn't know what to do, " answered Noreen. "I've never beento a gymkhana in India. I haven't seen or ridden in any, except atHurlingham and Ranelagh. "

Charlesworth made a mental note of this. If the girl had taken part ingymkhanas at the London Clubs she must be socially all right, he thought. 

"They're just the same, " he said. "In England they've only copied India inthese things. Have you brought your habit with you?"

"Yes; Mrs. Smith told me in her letters that I could get riding up here. "

"Good. I've got a ripping pony for a lady. I'll raise a saddle for yousomewhere, and we'll enter for some of the affinity events. "

The girl's eyes sparkled. 

"Oh, how delightful. Could I do it, Ida?"

"Yes, certainly, dear. "

"I should love to. It's very kind of you, Captain Charlesworth. Thank youever so much. It will be splendid. I hope I shan't disgrace you. "

"I'm sure you won't. I'll call for you and bring you both down to Lebong ifI may, Mrs. Smith. "

"Will you lunch with us then?" asked Ida. "You know where I am staying--theWoodbrook Hotel. Noreen is coming there too. "

"Thank you, I'll be delighted, " replied the Rifleman. 

"Very well. One o'clock sharp. Now we'll say good-bye for the present. "

Charlesworth shook hands with both ladies and strode off in triumph towhere Turner was awaiting him impatiently. 

"Now, dear, we'll go, " said Ida. "I have a couple of _dandies_ waiting forus. "

"_Dandies_?" echoed the girl in surprise. "What do you mean?"

The older woman laughed. 

"Oh, not dandies like Captain Charlesworth. These are chairs in whichcoolies carry you. In Darjeeling you can't drive. You must go in_dandies_, or rickshas, unless you ride. Here, Miguel! Have you got themissie _baba's_ luggage?" This to her Goanese servant. 

"Yes, _mem sahib_. All got, " replied the "boy, " a native Christian with thehigh sounding name of Miguel Gonsalves Da Costa from the Portugese Colonyof Goa on the West Coast of India below Bombay. In his tweed cap and suitof white ducks he did not look as imposing as the Hindu or Mohammedanbutlers of other Europeans on the platform with their long-skirted whitecoats, coloured _kamarbands_, and big _puggris_, or turbans, with theiremployers' crests on silver brooches pinned in the front. But Goaneseservants are excellent and much in demand in Bombay. 

"All right. You bring to hotel _jeldi_ (quickly). Come along, Noreen, " saidMrs. Smith, walking off and utterly ignoring the Hindu engineer who hadstood by unnoticed all this time with rage in his heart. 

Noreen, however, turned to him and said:

"What are you going to do, Mr. Chunerbutty? Where are you staying?"

"I am going to my father at His Highness's house, " he replied. "I shouldnot be very welcome at your hotel or to your friends, Miss Daleham. "

"Oh, of course you would, " replied the girl, feeling sorry for him butuncertain what to say. "Will you come and see me tomorrow?"

"You forget. You are going to the gymkhana with that insolent Englishofficer. "

"Now don't be unjust. I'm sure Captain Charlesworth wasn't at all insolent. But I forgot the gymkhana. You could come in the morning. Yet, perhaps, Imay have to go out calling with Mrs. Smith, " she said doubtfully. "And howselfish of me! You have your own affairs to see to. I do hope that you'llfind your father much better. "

"Thank you. I hope so. "

"Do let me know how he is. Send me a _chit_ (letter) if you have time. I amanxious to hear. Now I must thank you ever so much for your kindness inlooking after me on the journey. I don't know what I'd have done withoutyou. "

"It was nothing. But you had better go. Your haughty friend is looking backfor you, angry that you should stop here talking to a native, " he saidbitterly. 

Ida was beckoning to her; even at that distance they could see that she wasimpatient. So Noreen could only reiterate her thanks to the Hindu and hurryafter her friend, who said petulantly when she came up:

"I do wish you hadn't travelled up with that Indian, Noreen. It isn't nicefor an English girl to be seen with one, and it will make people talk. Thewomen here are such cats. "

Noreen judged it best to make no reply, but followed her irate friend insilence. Their _dandies_ were waiting outside the station, and as the girlgot into hers and was lifted up and carried off by the sturdy coolies onwhose shoulders the poles rested, she thought with a thrill of the lastoccasion on which she had been borne in a chair. 

CHAPTER XIII

THE PLEASURE COLONY

A town on the hill-tops; a town of clubs, churches, and hotels, of luxuryshops, of pretty villas set in lovely gardens bright with English flowersand shaded by great orchid-clad trees; of broad, well-kept roads--such isDarjeeling, seven thousand feet above the sea. 

At first sight there is nothing Oriental about it except the Gurkhapolicemen on point duty or the laughing groups of fair-skinned, rosy-cheeked Lepcha women that go chattering by him. But on one side thesteep hills are crowded with the confused jumble of houses in the nativebazaar, built higgledy-piggledy one on top of the other and lining thenarrow streets and lanes that are thronged all day by a bright-garbedmedley of Eastern races--Sikkimese, Bhuttias, Hindus, Tibetans, Lepchas. Set in a beautiful glen are the lovely Botanical Gardens, which lookdown past slopes trimly planted with rows of tea-bushes into the deepvalleys far below. 

As Noreen was borne along in her _dandy_ she thought that she had neverseen a more delightful spot. Everything and everyone attracted herattention--the scenery, the buildings, the varied folk that passed her onthe road, from well set-up British soldiers in red coats and white helmets, smartly-dressed ladies in rickshas, Englishmen in breeches and gaitersriding sleek-coated ponies, to yellow-gowned lamas and Lepcha girls withmassive silver necklaces and turquoise ornaments. She longed to turn herchair-coolies down the hill and begin at once the exploration of theattractive-looking native bazaar--until she reached the English shops withthe newest fashions of female wear from London and Paris, set out behindtheir plate-glass windows. Here she forgot the bazaar and would willinglyhave lingered to look, but Ida's _dandy_ kept steadily alongside hers andits occupant chattered incessantly of the many forth-coming socialgaieties, until they turned into the courtyard of their hotel and steppedout of their chairs. 

When Ida had shown her friend into the room reserved for her she said:

"Take off your hat, dear, and let me see how you look after all theseyears. Why, you've grown into quite a pretty girl. What a nice colour yourhair is! Do you use anything for it? I don't remember its being as goldenas all that at school. "

The girl laughed and shook the sunlit waves of it down, for it had gotuntidy under her sun-hat. 

"No, Ida darling, of course I don't use anything. The colour is quitenatural, I assure you. Have you forgotten you used sometimes to call meGoldylocks at school?"

"Did I? I don't remember. I say, Noreen, you're a lucky girl to have madesuch a hit straight away with Captain Charlesworth. He's quite the ragewith the women here. "

"Is he? Why?" asked the girl carelessly, pinning up her hair. 

"Why? My dear, he's the smartest man in a very smart regiment. Very welloff; has lots of money and a beautiful place at home, I believe. Comes froman excellent family. And then he's so handsome. Don't you think so?"

"Yes; he's rather good-looking. But he struck me as being somewhatfoppish. "

"Oh, he's always beautifully dressed, if that's what you mean. You sawthat, even when he had just come off a train journey. He's a beautifuldancer. I'm so glad he asked me for a couple of dances at the L. G. 's ball. I'll see he doesn't forget them. I'll keep him up to his word, thoughBertie won't like it. He's fearfully jealous of me, but I don't care. "

"Bertie? Who is--? I thought that your husband's name was William?" saidNoreen wonderingly. 

Ida burst into a peal of laughter. 

"Good gracious, child! I'm not talking of my husband. Bill's hundreds ofmiles away, thank goodness! I wouldn't mind if he were thousands. No; I'mspeaking of Captain Bain, a great friend of mine from the Bombay side. He'sstationed in Poona, which is quite a jolly place in the Season, though ofcourse not a patch on this. But he got leave and came here because I did. "

"Oh, yes, I see, " replied Noreen vaguely, puzzled by Ida's remark about herhusband. She had seen the Civil Servant at the wedding and remembered himas a stolid, middle-aged, and apparently uninteresting individual. But thegirl was still ignorant enough of life not to understand why a woman aftertwo years of marriage should be thankful that her husband was far away fromher and wish him farther. 

"But I'm not going to let Bertie monopolise me up here, " continued Mrs. Smith, taking off her hat and pulling and patting her hair before themirror. "I like a change. I've come here to have a good time. I think I'llgo in and cut you out with Captain Charlesworth. He's awfully attractive. "

"You are quite welcome to him, dear, " said the girl. 

"Oh, wait until you see the fuss the other women make of him. He's a greatcatch; and all the mothers here with marriageable daughters and the spinsthemselves are ready to scratch each other's eyes out over him. "

"Don't be uncharitable, Ida dearest. "

"It's a fact, darling. But I warn you that he's not a marrying man. He hasthe reputation of being a terrible flirt. I don't think you'll hold himlong. He's afraid of girls--afraid they'll try to catch him. He prefersmarried women. He knows we're safe. "

Noreen said nothing, but began to open and unpack her trunks. In India, theland of servants, where a bachelor officer has seven or more, a lady hasusually to do without a maid, for the _ayah_, or native female domestic, isgenerally a failure in that capacity. In the hotels Indian "boys" replacethe chambermaids of Europe. 

Ida rattled on. 

"Of course, Bertie's awfully useful. A tame cat--and he's a well-trainedone--is a handy thing to have about you, especially up here. You needsomeone to take you to races and gymkhanas and to fill up blanks on yourprogramme at dances, as well as getting your ricksha or _dandy_ for youwhen they're over. "

Noreen laughed, amused at the frankness of the statement. 

"And where is the redoubtable Captain Bain, dear?"

"You'll see him soon. I let him off today until it's time for him to callto take us to the Amusement Club. He was anxious to see you. He wanted tocome with me to the station, but I said he'd only be in the way. I knewMiguel would be much more useful in getting your luggage. Bertie's so slow. Still, he's rather a dear. Remember, he's my property. You mustn't poach. "

Noreen laughed again and said:

"If he admires you, dear, I'm sure no one could take him from you. "

"My dear girl, you never can trust any man, " said her friend seriously. Then, glancing at herself in the mirror, she continued modestly:

"I know I'm not bad-looking, and lots of men do admire me. Bertie says I'ma ripper. "

She certainly was decidedly pretty, though of a type of beauty that wouldfade early. Vain and empty-headed, she was, nevertheless, popular with theclass of men who are content with a shallow, silly woman with whom it iseasy to flirt. They described her as "good fun and not a bit strait-laced. "Noreen knew nothing of this side of her friend, for she had not seen hersince her marriage, and honestly thought her beautiful and fascinating. 

Ida picked up her hat and parasol and said:

"Now I'll leave you to get straight, darling child, and come back to youlater on. "

She looked into the glass again and went on:

"It's so nice to have you here. A woman alone is rather out of it, especially if she comes from the other side of India and doesn't knowCalcutta people. Now it'll be all right when there are two of us. The catscan't say horrid things about me and Bertie--though it's only the oldfrumps that can't get a man who do. I _am_ glad you've come. We'll havesuch fun. "

 * * * * *

Captain Bain, a dapper little man, designed by Nature to be the "tame cat"of some married woman, was punctual when the time came to take the twoladies to the Amusement Club. Noreen had very dubiously donned her smartestfrock which, having just been taken out of a trunk after a long journey, seemed very crushed, creased, and dowdy compared with the freshness anddaintiness of Ida's _toilette. _ Men as a rule understand nothing of theagonies endured by a woman who must face the unfriendly stares of otherwomen in a gown that she feels will invite pitiless criticism. 

But for the moment the girl forgot her worries as they turned out of thehotel gate and reached the Chaurasta, the meeting of the "four-ways, "nearly as busy a cross-roads as (and infinitely more beautiful than) Carfaxat Oxford or the Quattro Canti in Palermo. To the east the hill ofJalapahar towered a thousand feet above Darjeeling, crowned with bungalowsand barracks. To the north the ground fell as sharply; and a thousand feetbelow Darjeeling lay Lebong, set out on a flattened hilltop. On three sidesof this military suburb the hill sloped steeply to the valleys below. Butbeyond them, tumbled mass upon mass, rose the great mountains barring theway to Sikkim and Tibet, towering to the clouds that hid the white summitsof the Eternal Snows. 

Bain walked his pony beside Noreen's chair and named the various points ofthe scenery around them. Then, when Noreen had inscribed her name in theVisitors' Book at Government House, they entered the Amusement Club. 

Noreen was overcome with shyness at finding herself, after her monthsof isolation, among scores of white folk, all strangers to her. Idaunconcernedly led the way into the large hall which was used as aroller-skating rink, along one side of which were set out dozens oflittle tables around which sat ladies in smart frocks that made the girlmore painfully conscious of what she considered to be the deficienciesof her own costume. She saw one or two of the women that had travelledup in the train that day stare at her and then lean forward and makesome remark about her to their companions at the table. She wasprofoundly thankful when the ordeal was over and, in Ida's wake, she hadgot out of the rink. Conscious only of the critical glances of her ownsex, she was not aware of the admiring looks cast at her by many men inthe groups around the tables. 

But later on in the evening she found herself seated at one of those sametables that an hour before had seemed to her a bench of stern judges. Sheformed one of a laughing, chattering group of Ida's acquaintances. More atease now, the girl watched the people around her with interest. For a yearshe had seen no larger gathering of her own race than the weekly meetingsat the planters' little club in the jungle, with the one exception of a_durbar_ at Jalpaiguri. 

Yet despite Ida's company she was feeling lonely and a little depressed, astranger in a crowd, when she saw Captain Charlesworth enter the rink, accompanied by another man. Recent as had been their meeting, he seemedquite an old friend among all these unknown people about her, and shealmost hoped that he would come and speak to her. He sauntered through thehall, bowing casually to many ladies, some of whom, the girl noticed, maderather obvious efforts to detain him. But he ignored them and lookedaround, as if in search of some particular person. Suddenly his eyes metNoreen's, and he promptly came straight to her table. He shook hands withMrs. Smith and bowed to the other ladies in the group, introduced hiscompanion, a new arrival to his battalion, and, securing a chair besideNoreen, plunged into a light and animated conversation with her. The girlcould not help feeling a little pleased when she saw the looks of surpriseand annoyance on the faces of some of the women at the other tables. ButCharlesworth was not allowed to have it all his own way with her. Bain andan Indian Army officer named Melville also claimed her attention. Theknowledge that we are appreciated tends to make most of us appear at ourbest, and Noreen soon forgot her shyness and loneliness and became herusual natural, bright self. Ida looked on indulgently and smiled at herpatronisingly, as though Noreen's little personal triumph were due to her. 

Noreen slept soundly that night, and although she had meant to get up earlyand see Kinchinjunga and the snows when the sun rose, it was late when herhostess came to her room. After breakfast Ida took her out shopping. Only awoman can realise what a delight it was to the girl, after being divorcedfor a whole year from the sight of shops and the possibility ofreplenishing her wardrobe, or purchasing the thousand little necessities ofthe female toilet, to enter milliners' and dressmakers' shops where thelatest, or very nearly the latest, _modes_ of the day in hats and gownswere to be seen. 

Charlesworth came to lunch in a smart riding-kit, looking particularlywell-groomed and handsome. The girl was quite excited about the gymkhana, and plied him with innumerable questions as to what she would have to do. She learned that they were to enter for two affinity events. In one ofthese the lady was to tilt with a billiard-cue at three suspended rings, while the man, carrying a spear and a sword, took a tent-peg with theformer, threw the lance away, cut off a Turk's head in wood with the sword, and then took another peg with the same weapon. The other competition wasnamed the Gretna Green Stakes, and in it the pair were to ride hand in handover three hurdles, dismount and sign their names in a book, then mountagain and return hand in hand over the jumps to the winning-post. 

The polo-ground at Lebong that afternoon presented an animated scene, filled with colour by the bright-hued garments of the thousands of nativespectators surrounding it, the uniforms of the British soldiers in thecrowd, and the frocks of the English ladies in the reserved enclosure, where in large white marquees the officers of Charlesworth's regiment actedas hosts to the European visitors. Down the precipitous road to it fromDarjeeling came swarms of mixed Eastern races in picturesque garb, Gurkhasoldiers in uniform, and British gunners from Jalapahar; and through thethrongs Englishmen on ponies, and _dandies_ and rickshas carrying ladies insmart summer frocks, could scarcely make their way. 

When Mrs. Smith's party reached the enclosure and shook hands with the wifeof the Colonel of the Rifles, who was the senior hostess, Noreen was nottroubled by the feeling of shyness that had assailed her at the Club on theprevious evening. She had the comforting knowledge that her habit and bootsfrom the best West End makers were beyond cavil. But she was too excited atthe thought of the approaching contests to think much of her appearance. Charlesworth took her to see the pony that she was to ride, and, as shepassed through the enclosure, she did not hear the admiring remarks of manyof the men and, indeed, of some of the women. For in India even anordinarily pretty girl will be thought beautiful, and Noreen was more thanordinarily pretty. Her mount she found to be a well-shaped, fourteen-twogrey Arab, with the perfect manners of his race; and she instantly lost herheart to him as he rubbed his velvety muzzle against her cheek. 

The gymkhana opened with men's competitions, the first event in whichladies were to take part, the Tilting and Tent-pegging, not occurring untilnearly half-way down the programme. Noreen was awaiting it too anxiously toenjoy, as she otherwise would, the novel scene, the gaiety, the band in theenclosure, the well-dressed throngs of English folk, the gaudy colours ofthe crowds squatting round the polo-ground and wondering at the strangediversions of the sahib-_logue_. Charlesworth did well in the men's event, securing two first prizes and a third, and Noreen could not help admiringhim in the saddle. He was a graceful as well as a good rider. Indeed, hewas No. 2 in the regimental polo team, which was one of the best in Indiaat the time. 

When the moment for their competition came at last and he swung herup into her saddle, Noreen's heart beat violently and her bridle-handshook. But when, after other couples had ridden the course, their nameswere called and a billiard-cue given her, the girl's nerves steadied atonce and she was perfectly cool as she reined back her impatient pony atthe starting-line. The signal was given, and she and her partner dasheddown the course at a gallop. They did well, Charlesworth securing thetwo pegs and cutting the Turk's head, while his affinity carried off tworings and touched the third. No others had been as fortunate, and cheersfrom the soldiers and plaudits from the enclosure greeted their success. Noreen was encouraged, and a becoming colour flushed her face at theapplause. The last couple to ride tied with them, the lady taking allthe rings, her partner getting the Turk's head and one peg and touchingthe second. The tie was run off at once. Noreen, to her delight, foundthe three rings on her cue when she pulled up at the end of the course, although she hardly remembered taking them, while Charlesworth had madeno mistake. Daunted by this result, their rivals lost their heads andmissed everything in their second run. 

Noreen, on her return to the enclosure, was again loudly cheered by themen, the applause of the ladies being noticeably fainter, possibly becausethey resented a new arrival's success. But the girl was too pleasantlysurprised at her good luck to observe this, and responded gratefully to thecongratulations showered on her. She was no longer too excited to noticeher surroundings, and now was able to enjoy the scenery, the music, the gaycrowds, the frocks, as well as her tea when Charlesworth escorted her tothe Mess Tent. 

In the Gretna Green Stakes she and her partner were not so fortunate. Overthe second hurdle in the run home Charlesworth's pony blundered badly andhe was forced to release his hold on the girl's hand. When the event camefor which he had originally requested her to nominate him, she suggestedthat he should ask Mrs. Smith to do so instead. He was skilled enough inthe ways of women not to demur, and he did as he was wanted so tactfullythat Ida believed it to be his own idea. So, when the gymkhana ended andNoreen and her chaperone said good-bye, he felt that he had advanced a gooddeal in the girl's favour. 

During the afternoon Noreen caught sight of Chunerbutty talking to a fatand sensual-looking native in white linen garments with a string ofroughly-cut but very large diamonds round his neck and several obsequioussatellites standing behind him. They were covertly watching her, but when, catching the engineer's eye, she bowed to him, the fat man leant forwardand stared boldly at her. She guessed him to be the Rajah of Lalpuri, whohad been pointed out to her once at the Lieutenant-Governor's _durbar_ atJalpaiguri. 

That evening a note from Chunerbutty, telling her that his father wasbetter though still in a precarious state, was left at her hotel. But theengineer did not call on her. 

The ball on the Thursday night at Government House was all that Noreenanticipated it would be. Among the hundreds of guests there were a fewIndian men of rank and a number of Parsis of both sexes--the women addingbright colours to the scene by the beautiful hues of their _saris_, as thesilk shawls worn over their heads are called. During the evening Noreen sawChunerbutty standing at the door of the ballroom with the fat man, who wasnow adorned with jewels and wearing a magnificent diamond _aigrette_ in his_puggri, _ and gloating with a lustful gaze over the bared necks and bosomsof the English ladies. The native of India, where the females of all racesveil their faces, looks on white women, who lavishly display their charmsto the eyes of all beholders, as immodest and immoral. And he judgesharshly the freedom--the sometimes extreme freedom--of intercourse betweenEnglish wives and men who are not their husbands. 

Later in the evening, when Noreen was sitting in the central lounge withCaptain Bain during an interval, Chunerbutty approached her with the fatman. Coming up to her alone the engineer said:

"Miss Daleham, may I present His Highness the Rajah of Lalpuri to you?"

Noreen felt Captain Bain stiffen, but she replied courteously:

"Certainly, Mr. Chunerbutty. "

The Rajah stepped forward, and on being introduced held out a fat andflabby hand to her, speaking in stiff and stilted English, for he did notuse it with ease. He spoke only a few conventional sentences, but all thewhile Noreen felt an inward shiver of disgust. For his bloodshot eyesseemed to burn her bared flesh, as he devoured her naked shoulders andbreast with a hot and lascivious stare. After replying politely but brieflyto him she turned to the engineer and enquired after his father's health. The music beginning in the ball-room for the next dance gave her a welcomeexcuse for cutting the interview short, as Bain sprang up quickly andoffered her his arm. Bowing she moved away with relief. 

"I suppose that fellow in evening dress was the man from your garden, MissDaleham?" asked Bain, as they entered the ballroom. 

"Yes; that was Mr. Chunerbutty, who escorted me to Darjeeling, " sheanswered. 

"Well, if he's a friend of your brother, he ought to know better than tointroduce that fat brute of a rajah to you. "

"Oh, he is staying at the Rajah's house here, as his father, who is ill, isin His Highness's service. "

"I don't care. That beast Lalpuri is a disreputable scoundrel. There areawful tales of his behaviour up here. It's a wonder that the L. G. Doesn'torder him out of the place. "

"Really?"

"Yes; he's a disgraceful blackguard. None of the other Rajahs of thePresidency will have anything to do with him, I believe; and the two orthree of them up here now who are really splendid fellows, refuse toacknowledge him. Everybody wonders why the Government of India allows himto remain on the _gadi_. "

The Rajah had watched Noreen with a hungry stare as she walked towards theballroom. When she was lost to sight in the crowd of dancers he turned toChunerbutty and seized his arm with a grip that made the engineer wince. 

"She is more beautiful than I thought, " he muttered. "O you fools! Youfools, who have failed me! But I shall get her yet. "

He licked his dry lips and went on:

"Let us go! Let us go from here! I am parched. I want liquor. I wantwomen. "

And they returned to a night of revolting debauchery in the house that washonoured by being the temporary residence of His Highness the Rajah ofLalpuri, wearer of an order bestowed upon him by the Viceroy and ruler ofthe fate of millions of people by the grace and under the benign auspicesof the Government of India. 

CHAPTER XIV

THE TANGLED SKEIN OF LOVE

The Lieutenant-Governor's ball was for Noreen but the beginning of a longseries of social entertainments, of afternoon and evening dances, receptions, dinner and supper parties, concerts, and amateur theatricalperformances that filled every date on the calendar of the DarjeelingSeason. Only in winter sport resorts like St. Moritz and Mürren had sheever seen its like. But in Switzerland the visitors come from many landsand are generally strangers to each other, whereas in the Hills in Indiathe summer residents of the villas and the guests at the big hotels are ofthe same race and class, come from the same stations in the Plains or knowof each other by repute. For, with the exception of the comparatively fewlawyers, planters, merchants, or railway folk, the names of all are setforth in the two Golden Books of the land, the Army List and the CivilService List; and hostesses fly with relief to the blessed "Table ofPrecedence" contained in them, which tells whether the wife of Colonel Thisshould go in to dinner before or after the spouse of Mr. That. The greatgod Snob is the supreme deity of Anglo-India. 

Many hill-stations are the Hot Weather headquarters of some importantGovernment official, such as the Governor of the Presidency or theLieutenant-Governor or Chief Commissioner of the Province. These are greatpersonages indeed in India. They have military guards before their doors. The Union Jack waves by command above their august heads. They have IndianCavalry soldiers to trot before their wives' carriages when these goodladies drive down to bargain in the native bazaar. But to the hill visitorstheir chief reason for existing is that their position demands the givingof official entertainments to which all of the proper class (who dulyinscribe their names in the red-bound, gold-lettered book in the hall ofGovernment House) have a prescriptive right to be invited. 

Noreen revelled in the gaieties. Her frank-hearted enjoyment was like achild's, and made every man who knew her anxious to add to it. She couldnot possibly ride all the ponies offered to her nor accept half theinvitations that she got. Even among the women she was popular, for nonebut a match-making mother or a jealous spinster could resist her. 

Proposals of marriage were not showered on her, as persons ignorant ofAnglo-Indian life fondly believe to be the lot of every English girl there. While a dowerless maiden still has a much better chance of securing ahusband in a land where maidens are few and bachelors are many, yet the dayhas long gone by when every spinster who had drawn a blank in England couldbe shipped off to India with the certainty of finding a spouse there. Frequent leave and fast steamers have altered that. When a man can go homein a fortnight every year or second year he is not as anxious to snatch atthe first maiden who appears in his station as his predecessor who lived inIndia in the days when a voyage to England took six months. And men in theEast are as a rule not anxious to marry. A wife out there is a handicap atevery turn. She adds enormously to his expenses, and her society too oftenlends more brightness to the existence of his fellows than his own. Children are ruinous luxuries. Bachelor life in Mess or club is toopleasant, sport that a single man can enjoy more readily than a married onetoo attractive, rupees too few for what Kipling terms "the wild ass of thedesert" to be willing to put his head into the halter readily. 

Yet men do marry in India--one wonders why!--and a girl there has so manyopportunities of meeting the opposite sex every day, and so little rivalry, that her chances in the matrimonial market are infinitely better than athome. In stations in the Plains there are usually four or five men to everywoman in its limited society, and the proportion of bachelors to spinstersis far greater. Sometimes in a military cantonment with five or sixbatteries and regiments in it, which, with departmental officers, mayfurnish a total of eighty to a hundred unmarried men from subalterns tocolonels, there may be only one or two unwedded girls. The lower ranks areworse off for English spinster society; for the private soldier there isnone. 

Noreen's two most constant attendants were Charlesworth and Melville. TheIndian Army officer's devotion and earnestness were patent to the world, but the Rifleman's intentions were a problem and a source of dispute amongthe women, who in Indian stations not less than other places watch theprogress of every love-affair with the eyes of hawks. It was doubtful ifCharlesworth himself knew what he wanted. He was a man who loved hisliberty and his right to make love to each and every woman who caught hisfancy. Noreen's casual liking for him but her frank indifference to him inany other capacity than that of a pleasant companion with whom to ride, dance, or play tennis, piqued him, but not sufficiently to make him risklosing his cherished freedom. 

Chunerbutty left Darjeeling after a week's stay. Parry, having becomesufficiently sober to enquire after him and learn of his absence, demanded his instant return in a telegram so profanely worded that itshocked even the Barwahi post-office _babu. _ The engineer called onNoreen to say good-bye, and offered to be the bearer of a message to herbrother. He kept up to the end the fable of his sick father. 

He could not tell her the real reason of his coming to Darjeeling. Thetruth was that he had learned that the Rajah had inspired the attempt bythe Bhuttias to carry off Noreen and wanted to see and upbraid him for hisdeceit and treachery to their agreement. There had been a furious quarrelwhen the two accomplices met. The Rajah taunted the other with his lack ofsuccess with Noreen and the failure of his plan to persuade her to marryhim. Chunerbutty retorted that he had not been allowed sufficient time towin the favour of an English girl, who, unlike Indian maidens, was free tochoose her own husband. And he threatened to inform the Government if anyfurther attempt against her were made without his knowledge and approval. But the quarrel did not last long. Each scoundrel needed the help of theother. Still, Chunerbutty judged it safer to remove himself from theRajah's house and find a lodging elsewhere, lest any deplorable accidentmight occur to him under his patron's roof. 

After the engineer's departure Noreen seldom saw the Rajah, and then onlyat official entertainments, to which his position gained him invitations. He spoke to her once or twice at these receptions, but as a rule shecontrived to elude him. 

So far she had got on very well with Mrs. Smith. Their wills had neverclashed, for the girl unselfishly gave in to her friend whenever the latterdemanded it, which was often enough. Ida's ways were certainly notNoreen's, and the latter sometimes felt tempted to disapprove of herexcessive familiarity with Captain Bain and one or two others. But the nextmoment she took herself severely to task for being censorious of the elderwoman, who must surely know better how to behave towards men than a youngunmarried girl who had been buried so long in the jungle. And Ida did notguess why sometimes her repentant little friend's caresses were so ferventand her desire to please her so manifest, and ascribed it all to her ownsweetness of nature. 

The coming of the Rains did not check the gaiety of the dwellers on themountain-tops, though torrential downpours had to be faced on black nightsin shrouded rickshas and dripping _dandies_, though incessant lightning litup the road to the club or theatre, and the thunder made it difficult tohear the music of the band in the ballroom. Noreen missed nothing of therevels. But in all the whirl of gaiety and pleasure in which her days werepassed her thoughts turned more and more to the great forest lyingthousands of feet below her, and the man who passed his lonely daystherein. 

Little news of him came to her. He never wrote, and her brother seldommentioned him in his letters; for during Parker's absence on two months'privilege leave from Ranga Duar Dermot did not quit it often and veryrarely visited the planters' club or the bungalows of any of its members. And Noreen wanted news of him. Much as she saw of other men now--many ofthem attractive and some of whom she frankly liked--none had effacedDermot's image or displaced him from the shrine that she had built for himin her inmost heart. Mingled with her love was hero-worship. She darednot hope that he could ever be interested in or care for any one asshallow-minded as she. She could not picture him descending from thepedestal on which she had placed him to raise so ordinary a girl to hisheart. She could not fancy him in the light, frothy life of Darjeeling. She judged him too serious to care for frivolities, and it inspired herwith a little awe of him and a fear that he would despise her as afeather-brained, silly woman if he saw how she enjoyed the amusementsof the hill-station. But she felt that she would gladly exchange thegaieties and cool climate of Darjeeling for the torments of the Teraiagain, if only it would bring him to her side. For sometimes the longingto see him grew almost unbearable. 

As the days went by the power of the gay life of the Hills to satisfy hergrew less, while the ache in her heart for her absent friend increased. Ifonly she could hear from him she thought she could bear the separationbetter. From her brother she learned by chance that he was alone in RangaDuar, the only news that she had had of him for a long time. The Rains hadburst, and she pictured the loneliness of the one European in the solitaryoutpost, cut off from his kind, with no one of his race to speak to, deprived of the most ordinary requirements, necessities, of civilisation, without a doctor within hundreds of miles. 

At that thought her heart seemed to stop beating. Without a doctor! Hemight be ill, dying, for all she knew, with no one of his colour to tendhim, no loving hand to hold a cup to his fevered lips. Even in the shorttime that she had been in India she had heard of many tragedies ofisolation, of sick and lonely Englishmen with none but ignorant, carelessnative servants to look after them in their illness, no doctor to alleviatetheir sufferings, until pain and delirium drove them to look for relief andoblivion down the barrel of a too-ready pistol. 

Thus the girl tortured herself, as a loving woman will do, by imagining allthe most terrible things happening to the man of her heart. She feared nolonger the perils of the forest for him. She felt that he was master of manor beast in it. But fever lays low the strongest. It might be that whileshe was dancing he was lying ill, dying, perhaps dead. And she would notknow. The dreadful idea occurred to her after her return from a ball atwhich she had been universally admired and much sought after. But, as shesat wrapped in her blue silk dressing-gown, her feet thrust into satinslippers of the same colour, her pretty hair about her shoulders, insteadof recalling the triumphs of the evening, the compliments of her partners, and the unspoken envy of other girls, her thoughts flew to one solitary manin a little bungalow, cloud-enfolded and comfortless, in a lonely outpost. The sudden dread of his being ill chilled her blood and so terrified herthat, if the hour had not made it impossible, she would have gone out atonce and telegraphed to him to ask if all were well. 

Yet the next instant her face grew scarlet at the thought. She sat for along time motionless, thinking hard. Then the idea occurred to her ofwriting to him, writing a chatty, almost impersonal letter, such as onefriend could send to another without fear of her motives beingmisunderstood. She had too high an opinion of Dermot to think that he woulddeem her forward, yet it cost her much to be the first to write. But heranxiety conquered pride. And she wrote the letter that Dermot read in hisbungalow in Ranga Duar while the storm shook the hills. 

The girl counted the days, the hours, until she could hope for an answer. Would he reply at once, she wondered. She knew that, even shut up in hislittle station, he had much work to occupy him. He could not spare time, perhaps, for a letter to a silly girl. And the thought of all that she hadput in hers to him made her face burn, for it seemed so vapid and frivolousthat he was sure to despise her. 

On the fourth day after she had written to Dermot she was engaged to ridein the afternoon with Captain Charlesworth. But in the morning a note cameto her from him regretting his inability to keep the appointment, as theDivisional General had arrived in Darjeeling and intended to inspect theRifles after lunch. Noreen was not sorry, for she was going to a dance thatevening and did not wish to tire herself before it. 

Distracted and little in the mood for gaiety as she felt that night, yetwhen she entered the large ballroom of the Amusement Club she could nothelp laughing at the quaint and original decorations for the occasion. Forthe entertainment was one of the great features of the Season, theBachelors' Ball, and the walls were blazoned with the insignia of the Tribeof the Wild Ass. Everywhere was painted its coat-of-arms--a bottle, slippers, and a pipe crossed with a latch-key, all in proper heraldicguise. Captain Melville, who was a leading member of the ball committee andwho was her particular host that night, spirited her away from the crowd ofpartner-seeking men at the doorway and took her on a tour of the room tosee and admire the scheme of decoration. She was laughing at one originalornamentation when a well-known voice behind her said:

"May I hope for a dance tonight, Miss Daleham?"

The girl started and turned round incredulously, feeling that her ears haddeceived her. To her astonishment Dermot stood before her. For a fewseconds she could not trust herself to reply. She felt that she had grownpale. At last she said, and her voice sounded strange in her own ears:

"Major Dermot! Is it possible? I--I thought you--"

She could not finish the sentence. But neither man observed her emotion, for Melville had suddenly seized Dermot's hand and was shaking it warmly. They had been on service together once and had not met since. The nextmoment, a committee man being urgently wanted, Melville was called away andleft Dermot and the girl together. 

"I suppose you thought me shut up in my mountain home, " the man said, "andprobably wondered why I had not answered your very interesting letter. Itwas so kind of you in all your gaiety here to think of me in myloneliness. "

Noreen had quite recovered from her surprise and smiled brightly at him. 

"Yes, I believed you to be in Ranga Duar, " she said. "How is it you arehere?"

"An unexpected summons reached me at the same time as your letter. Fourdays ago I had no idea that I should be coming here. "

"How could you bear to leave your beloved jungle and that dear Badshah? Iknow you dislike hill-stations, " said the girl, laughing and tremulouslyhappy. The world seemed a much brighter place than it did five minutesbefore. 

"My beloved jungle has no charm for me at this season, " he said. "ButBadshah--ah, that was another matter. I have seldom felt parting with ahuman friend as much as I did leaving him. The dear old fellow seemed toknow that I was going away from him. But I was very pleased to come here tosee how you were enjoying yourself in this gay spot. I was glad to knowthat you were out of the Terai during the Rains. "

So he had wanted to see her again. Noreen blushed, but Dermot did notobserve her heightened colour, for he had taken her programme out of herhand in his usual quiet, masterful manner and was scrutinising it. 

"You haven't said yet if I may have a dance, " he continued. "But I knowthat on an occasion like this I must lose no time if I want one. "

"Oh, do you dance?" she asked in surprise. Somehow she had never associatedhim with ballrooms and social frivolities. 

Dermot laughed. 

"You forget that I was on the Staff in Simla. I shouldn't have been keptthere a day if I hadn't been able to dance. What may I have?"

Noreen felt tempted to bid him take all her programme. 

"Well, I'm engaged for several. They are all written down. Take any of theothers you like, " she said demurely, but her heart was beating fast at thethought of dancing with him. 

"H'm; I see that all the first ones are booked. May I--oh, I see you havethe supper dances free. May I take you in to supper?"

"Yes, do, please. We haven't met for so long, and I have heaps to tellyou, " the girl said. "We can talk ever so much better at the supper-tablethan in an interval. "

"Thank you. I'll take the supper dances then. "

"Wouldn't you care for any others?" she asked timidly. What would he thinkof her? Yet she didn't care. He was with her again, and she wanted to seeall she could of him. 

"I should indeed. May I have this--and this?"

"With pleasure. Is that enough?"

"I'll be greedy. After all, the men up here have had dances from you allthe Season, and I have never danced with you yet. I'll take these, too, ifyou can spare them. "

She looked at him earnestly. 

"I owe you more than a few dances can pay, " she said simply. 

"Thank you, little friend, " he said, and a happy feeling thrilled her athis words. He had not forgotten her, then. He used to call her thatsometimes in Ranga Duar. She was still his little friend. What a delightfulplace the world was after all!

As he pencilled his initials on her programme a horde of dance-hungry menswooped down on Noreen and almost pushed him aside. He bowed and strolledaway to watch the dancing. He had no desire to obtain other partners andwas content to watch his little friend of the forest, who seemed to havesuddenly become a very lovely woman. She seemed very gay and happy, hethought. He noticed that she danced oftenest with Melville and a tall, fairman whom he did not know. 

Never had the early part of a ball seemed to Noreen to drag so much as thisone did. She felt that her partners must find her very stupid indeed, forshe paid no attention to what they said and answered at random. 

At last almost in a trance of happiness she found herself gliding round theroom with Dermot's arm about her. The band was playing a dreamy waltz, andher partner danced perfectly. Neither of them spoke. Noreen could not; shefelt that all she wanted was to float, on air it seemed, held close toDermot's breast. She gave a sigh when the dance ended. In the interval shedid not want to talk; it was enough to look at his face, to hear his voice. She hated her next partner when he came to claim her. 

But she had two more dances with Dermot before the band struck up "TheRoast Beef of Old England, " and the ballroom emptied. At supper hecontrived to secure a small table at which they were alone; so they wereable to talk without constraint. She began to wonder how she had everthought him grave and stern or felt in awe of him. For in the gayatmosphere his Irish nature was uppermost; he was as light-hearted as aboy, and his conversation was almost frivolous. 

During supper Noreen saw Ida watching her across the room, and later on, when the dancing began again, her friend cornered her. 

"I say, darling, who is the new man you've been dancing with such a lottonight? You had supper with him, too. I've never seen him before. He'sawfully good-looking. "

"Oh, that is--I suppose you mean Major Dermot, " replied the girl, feelingsuddenly shy. 

"Major Dermot? Who's he? What is--Oh, is it the wonderful hero from theTerai, the man you told me so much about when you came up?"

"Yes; he is the same. "

"Really? How interesting! He's so distinguished-looking. When did he comeup? Why didn't you tell me he was coming?"

"I didn't know it myself. "

"I should love to meet him. Introduce him to me. Now, at once. "

With a hurried apology to her own partner and Noreen's she dragged the girloff in search of the fresh man who had taken her fancy, and did not give upthe chase until, with Melville's aid, Dermot was run to earth in thecardroom and introduced to her. Ida did not wait for him to ask her todance but calmly ran her pencil through three names on the programme andbestowed the vacancies thus created on him in such a way that he could notrefuse them. Dermot, however, did not grumble. She was Noreen's friend; ifnot the rose, she was near the rose. 

Ida was not the only one who noticed how frequently the girl had dancedwith him. Charlesworth, disappointed at finding vacancies on her programme, for which he had hoped, already filled, commented on it and asked who thestranger was in a supercilious tone that made her furious and gained forhim a well-merited snubbing. 

Indifferent to criticism, kind or otherwise, Noreen gave herself up for theevening to the happiness of Dermot's presence, trying to trick herself intothe belief that he was still only a dear friend to whom she owed an immensedebt of gratitude for saving her life and her honour. Never had a ballseemed so enjoyable--not even her first. Never had she had a partner whosuited her so well. Certainly he danced to perfection, but she knew that ifhe had been the worst dancer in the room she still would have preferred himto all others. And never had she hated the ending of an entertainment somuch. But Dermot walked beside her _dandy_ to the gate of her hotel, calmlydisplacing Charlesworth, much to the fury of the Rifleman, who had begun toconsider this his prerogative. 

Ida and she sat up for hours in her room discussing the ball and all itshappenings, but the older woman's most constant topic was Dermot. It was asubject of which Noreen felt that she could never weary; and she drew herfriend on to talk of him, if the conversation threatened to stray toanything less interesting. The girl was used to Ida's sudden fancies formen, for the married woman was both susceptible and fickle, and Noreenjudged that this sudden predilection for Dermot would die as quickly as ahundred others before it. But this time she was wrong. 

The Major was not to remain many days in Darjeeling, but Noreen hoped thathe would give her much of his spare time while there. She was disappointed, however, to find that although he was frequently in her and Ida's companyat the Amusement Club or elsewhere, he made no effort to compete withCharlesworth or Melville or any other man who sought to monopolise her, butdrew back and allowed him to have a clear field while he himself seemedcontent to talk to Mrs. Smith. At first she was hurt. He was her friend, not Ida's. But he never sought to be alone with her, never asked her toride with him, or do anything that would take her away from the others. 

Then she grew piqued. If he did not value her society he should see thatothers did, and she suddenly grew more gracious to Charlesworth, who seemedto sense in Dermot a more dangerous rival than was Melville or any of theothers and began to be more openly devoted and to put more meaning into hisintentions. 

One hateful night when she had been with Charlesworth to a private dance towhich Ida had refused to go, dining instead with Dermot, who had noinvitation to the affair, the blow fell. After her return to the hotel hertreacherous friend had crept into her room, weeping and imploring hersympathy. Too late, she sobbed on Noreen's shoulder, she had found hersoul-mate, the man destined for her through the past æons, the one man whocould make her happy and whose existence she alone could complete. Why hadshe met Dermot too late? Why was she tied to a clod, mated to a clown? Whywere two lives to be wrecked?

As Noreen listened amazed an icy hand seemed to clutch her shrinking heart. Was this true? Did Dermot really care for Ida? Could the man whom she hadrevered as a white-souled knight be base enough to make love to anotherman's wife?

Then the demon of jealousy poisoned her soul. She got the weeping Ida backto her bed, and sat in her own dark room until the dawn came, her brain ina whirl, her heart filled with a fierce hatred of Dermot. And when nextday, his business finished, he had to leave Darjeeling, she made a point ofabsenting herself with Charlesworth from the hotel at the time when Dermothad arranged to come to say good-bye. 

But long before the train in which he travelled down to the Plains washalf-way to Siliguri, the girl lay on her bed, her face buried in herpillow, her body shaken with silent but convulsive sobs. 

And Dermot stared out into the thick mist that shrouded the mountains andenfolded his downward-slipping train and wondered if his one-time littlefriend of the forest would be happy in the new life that, according to herbosom-friend and confidant, Mrs. Smith, would open to her as Charlesworth'swife as soon as she spoke the word that was trembling on her lips. 

And he sighed unconsciously. Then he frowned as the distasteful memoryrecurred to him of the previous night, when a wanton woman, misled byvanity and his courteous manner, had shamelessly offered him what shetermed her love and forced him to play the Joseph to a modern Mrs. Potiphar. 

CHAPTER XV

THE FEAST OF THE GODDESS KALI

The Rains were nearing their end, and with them the Darjeeling Season wasdrawing to a close. To Noreen Daleham it had lost its savour since Dermot'sdeparture. Her feelings towards Ida had undergone a radical change; heradmiration of and affection for her old schoolfellow had vanished. Her eyeswere opened, and she now saw plainly the true character of the woman whomonce she was proud to call her friend. The girl wondered that she couldhave ever been deceived, for she now understood the many innuendoes thathad been made in her hearing against Mrs. Smith, as well as many things inthat lady's own behaviour that had perplexed her at the time. 

But towards the man her feelings were frankly anger and contempt. He hadrudely awakened her from a beautiful dream; for that she could neverforgive him. Her idol was shattered, never again to be made whole, so shevowed in the bitterness of her desolate soul. It was not friendship thatshe had felt for him--she realised that now. It was love. She had given himher whole heart in a girl's first, pure, ideal love. And he had despisedthe gift and trampled it in the mire of unholy passion. She knew that itwas the love of her life. Never could any man be to her what he had been. 

But what did it matter to Dermot? she thought bitterly. She had passed outof his life. She had never been anything in it. He had been amused for anidle moment by her simplicity, tool that she was. What he had done, hadrisked for her, he would have done and risked for any other woman. Why didhe not write to her after his departure as he might have done? She almosthoped that he would, so that she could answer him and pour out on him, ifonly on paper, the scorn and disgust that filled her. But no; she would notdo that. The more dignified course would be to ignore his letteraltogether. If only she could hurt him she felt that she would accept anyother man's offer of marriage. But even then he wouldn't care. He hadalways stood aside in Darjeeling and let others strive for her favour. Andshe was put to the test, for first Charlesworth and then Melville hadproposed to her. 

Though Noreen's heart was frozen towards her quondam friend, Ida neverperceived the fact. For the elder woman was so thoroughly satisfied withherself that it never occurred to her that any one whom she honoured withher liking could do aught but be devoted to her in return. And against thegranite of her self-sufficiency the iron of the girl's proud anger brokeuntil at length, baffled by the other's conceit, Noreen drifted back intothe semblance of her former friendliness. And Ida never remarked anydifference. 

A hundred miles away Dermot roamed the hills and forest again. Theinterdict of the Rains was lifted, and the game was afoot once more. 

The portents of the coming storm were intensified. Much that the DivisionalCommander, General Heyland, had revealed to him in their confidentialinterviews at Darjeeling was being corroborated by happenings in otherparts of the Peninsula, in Afghanistan, in China, and elsewhere. Signs werenot wanting on the border that Dermot had to guard. Messengers crossing andre-crossing the Bhutan frontier were increasing in numbers and frequency;and he had at length succeeded in tracking some of them to a destinationthat first gave him a clue to the seat and identity of the organisers ofthe conspiracy in Bengal. 

For one or two Bhutanese had been traced to the capital of the Native Stateof Lalpuri, and others, having got into Indian territory, had been met byHindus who were subsequently followed to the same ill-famed town. But onceinside the maze of its bazaars their trail was hopelessly lost. It wasuseless to appeal to the authorities of the State. Their reputation and thecharacter of their ruler were so bad that it was highly probable that theRajah and all his counsellors were implicated in the plot. But how to bringit home to them Dermot did not know. By his secret instructions several ofthe messengers to and from Bhutan were the victims of apparent highwayrobbery in the hills. But no search of them revealed anything compromising, no treasonable correspondence between enemies within and without. The menwould not speak, and he could not sanction the proposals made to him bywhich they should be induced so to do. 

The planters began to report to him a marked increase in the mutinousspirit exhibited by their coolies; arms were found in the possession ofthese men, and there was reason to fear a combined rising of the labourerson all the estates of the Duars. Dermot advised Rice to send his wife toEngland, but the lady showed no desire to return to her loudly-regrettedLondon suburb. 

Every time that the Major met Daleham he expected to be told of Noreen'sengagement, perhaps even her wedding. But he heard nothing. When hefound that Fred was beginning to arrange for her return to Malpura andthat--instigated by Chunerbutty--he refused to consider the advisabilityof her remaining away until conditions were better in the Terai, Dermotpersuaded him to replace his untrustworthy Bengali house-servants byreliable Mussulman domestics, warlike Punjaubis, whom the soldierprocured. They were men not unused to firearms, and capable of defendingthe bungalow if necessary. 

He and Badshah, who was happy to have his man with him again, keptindefatigable watch and ward along the frontier. Sometimes Dermot assembledthe herd, which had learned to obey him almost like a pack of hounds, and, concealed among them, penetrated across the border into Bhutan and exploredhidden spots where hostile troops might be concentrated. Only rarely awandering Bhuttia chanced to see him, and then the terrified man would veilhis eyes, fearing to behold the doings of the terrible Elephant God. 

The constant work and preoccupation kept Dermot from dwelling much onNoreen. Nevertheless, he thought often of the girl and hoped that she wouldbe happy when she married the man she was said to have chosen. He felt nojealousy of Charlesworth; on the contrary, he admired him as a goodsportsman and a manly fellow, as well as he could judge from the littlethat he had seen of him. The very fact that the girl who was his friend hadchosen the Rifleman as her husband, according to Mrs. Smith, made him readyto like the man. He was not in love with the girl and had no desire tomarry, for he was wedded to his profession and had always held that asoldier married was a soldier marred. 

Thus while Dermot thought far seldomer of Noreen, whom he acknowledged tohimself he liked more than any other woman he had ever met, she, whoassured herself every day that she hated and despised him, could not keephim out of her mind. And all the more so as she began to have doubts of thetruth of Ida's story. For the girl, who could not resist watching herfriend's post every day, much as she despised herself for doing it, observed that no letter ever came to Mrs. Smith in Dermot's handwriting. And, although Ida had talked much and sentimentally of him for days afterhis departure, she appeared to forget him soon, and before long wasengrossed in a good-looking young civilian from Calcutta. Bain had longsince left Darjeeling. 

Could it all have been a figment of the woman's imagination andvanity?--for Noreen now realised how colossally vain she was. Had shemisunderstood or, worse still, misrepresented him? But that thought wasalmost more painful to the girl than the certainty of his guilt. For ifit were true, how cruelly, how vilely unjust she had been to the man whohad saved her at the peril of his life, the man who had called her hisfriend, who had trusted in her loyalty! No, no; better that he wereproved worthless, dishonourable. That thought were easier to bear. 

Sometimes the girl almost wished that she could see him again so that shemight ask him the truth. She could learn nothing now from Ida, who calmlyignored all attempts to extract information from her. Yet how could shequestion him, Noreen asked herself. She could not even hint to him that shehad any knowledge of the affair, for her friend had divulged it to her inconfidence. If only she were back at Malpura! He might come to her againthere and perhaps of his own free will tell her what to believe of him. Butwhen in a letter she broached the subject of her return to her brother, Fred bade her wait, for he hoped that he might be able to join her inDarjeeling for a few days during the Puja holidays. 

During the great festival of Durgá-Puja, or the Dússera, as it is variouslycalled, no Hindu works if he can help it, especially in Bengal. As allGovernment and private offices in Calcutta are closed for it, everyEuropean there, who can, escapes to Darjeeling, twenty-four hours away byrail, and the Season in that hill-station dies in a final blaze ofsplendour and gaiety in the mad rush of revelry of the Puja holidays. AndFred hoped that he might he there to see its ending, if Parry would keepsober long enough to let his assistant get away for a few days. When hereturned, Daleham wrote, he would bring Noreen back with him. 

Dermot's activities on the frontier were not passing unmarked by the chiefconspirators in Lalpuri. His measures against their messengers focussedattention on him. The _Dewan_, a far better judge of men and things thanChunerbutty, did not make the mistake of despising him merely because hewas a soldier. The old man realised that it was not wise to count Britishofficers fools. He knew too well how efficient the Indian MilitaryIntelligence Department had proved itself. So he began to collectinformation about this white man who might seriously inconvenience them orderange their plans. And he came to the conclusion that the inquisitivesoldier must be put out of the way. 

Assassination can be raised to a fine art in a Native State--where a man'slife is worth far less than a cow's if the State be a Hindu one--providedthat the prying eyes of British Political Officers are not turned that way. True, Dermot was in British territory, but in such an uncivilised part ofit that his removal ought not to be difficult considering his habit ofwandering alone about the hills and jungle. 

So thought the _Dewan_. But the old man found to his surprise that itwas very difficult to put his hand on any one willing to attemptDermot's life. No sum however large could tempt any Bhuttia on eitherside of the border-line, or any Hindu in the Duars. Even the Brahminextremists acting as missionaries on the tea-gardens fought shy of him. Superstition was his sure shield. 

Then the _Dewan_ fell back on the bazaar of Lalpuri City. But in that denof criminals there was not one cut-throat that did not know of the terribleElephant God-Man and the appalling vengeance that he had wreaked on theRajah's soldiers in the forest. The _Dewan_ might cajole or threaten, butthere was not one ruffian in the bazaar who did not prefer to risk hisanger to the certainty of the hideous fate awaiting the rash mortal thatcrossed the path of this dread being who fed his magic elephants on theliving flesh of his foes. 

The _Dewan_ was not baffled. If the local villains failed him an assassinmust be imported from elsewhere. So the extremist leaders in Calcutta, being appealed to, sent more than one fanatical young Brahmin from thatcity to Lalpuri, where they were put in the way to remove Dermot. But whenin bazaar or Palace his reputation reached their ears they drew back. Onewas sent direct from Calcutta to the Terai, so that he would not be scaredby the foolish tales of the men of Lalpuri. But his first enquiries amongthe countryfolk as to where to find Dermot brought him such illuminatinginformation that, not daring to return unsuccessful to those who had senthim, he turned against his own breast the weapon that he had meant for theBritish officer. 

Then the _Dewan_ sent for Chunerbutty and took counsel with him, as beingmore conversant with European ways. And the result was a cunning andelaborate plot, such as from its very tortuousness and complexity wouldappeal to the heart of an Oriental. 

The Rajah of Lalpuri, being of Mahratta descent, tried to copy in manythings the great Mahratta chiefs in other parts of India, such as theGaekwar of Baroda and the Maharajah Holkar of Indore. He had long beenanxious to imitate Holkar's method of celebrating the Dússera or DurgáFestival, particularly that part of it where a bull is sacrificed in publicby the Maharajah on the fourth day of the feast. The _Dewan_ had alwaysopposed it, but now he suddenly veered round and suggested that it shouldbe done. In Indore all the Europeans of the cantonment and many of theladies and officers from the neighbouring military station of Mhow werealways invited to be present on the fourth day. The old plotter proposedthat, similarly, some of the English community of the Duars, the CivilServants and planters, should receive invitations to Lalpuri. It would seemonly natural to include the Officer Commanding Ranga Duar. And to temptDermot into the trap Chunerbutty suggested Noreen as a bait, undertaking topersuade her brother to bring her. 

The Rajah was delighted at the thought of her presence in the Palace. The_Dewan_ smiled and quoted two Hindu proverbs:

"Where the honey is spread there will the flies gather, " said he. "Any lureis good that brings the bird to the net. "

The consequence of the plotting was that Noreen Daleham, fretting inDarjeeling at having to wait for her brother to come there for the Pujaholidays, received a letter from him saying that he had changed his mindand had accepted an invitation from the Rajah of Lalpuri for her andhimself to be present at the celebrations of the great Hindu festival atthe Palace. She was to pack up and leave at once by rail to Jalpaiguri, where he would meet her with a motor-car lent him for the purpose by theLalpuri Durbar, or State Council. If Mrs. Smith cared to accompany her aninvitation for her would be at once forthcoming. Fred added that he wasmaking up a party from their district which included Payne, Granger, andthe Rices. From Lalpuri Noreen would return with him to Malpura. 

The girl was delighted at the thought of leaving Darjeeling sooner than shehad expected. To her surprise Ida announced her intention of accompanyingher to Lalpuri. But the fact that her Calcutta friend was returning to thecity on the Hoogly and that by going with Noreen she could travel with himas far as Jalpaiguri explained it. 

Chunerbutty, deputed by the Rajah to act as host to his European guests, met Daleham's party when they arrived at the gates of Lalpuri andconducted them to the Palace. They passed through the teeming city withits thronged bazaar, its narrow, winding streets hemmed in by theoverhanging houses with their painted walls and closely-latticed windowsthrough which thousands of female eyes peered inquisitively at the whitewomen, the brightly dressed crowds flattening themselves against thewalls to get out of the way of the two cavalry soldiers of the Rajah'sBodyguard who galloped recklessly ahead of the car. Soon they reachedthe _Nila Mahal_, or Blue Palace, as His Highness's residence wascalled, with its iron-studded gates, carved doors, and countless woodenbalconies. A swarm of retainers in magnificent, if soiled, gold-lacedliveries filled the courtyards, and bare-footed sepoys in red coats, generally burst at the seams and lacking buttons, and old shakoes withwhite cotton flaps hanging down behind, guarded the entrance. 

A wing of the Palace had been cleared out and hastily furnished in anattempt to suit European tastes. The guests were accommodated in roomsfloored with marble, generally badly stained or broken. Two large chamberstiled and wainscoted with wonderfully carved blackwood panels wereapportioned as dining-hall and sitting-room for the English visitors. Allthe windows of the wing, many of them closely screened, looked on an innercourtyard which was bounded on two sides by other buildings of the Palace. The fourth side was divided off from another courtyard by a high blank wallpierced by a large gateway, the leaves of the gate hanging broken anduseless from the posts. 

Ida and Noreen were given rooms beside each other and were amused at theheterogeneous collection of odd pieces of furniture in them. The oldfour-posted beds with funereal canopies and moth-eaten curtains hadprobably been brought from England a hundred years before. In smallchambers off their rooms, with marble walls and floors, and windowsfilled with thin slabs of alabaster carved in the most exquisite traceryas delicate as lace, galvanised iron tubs to be used as baths lookedsadly out of place. 

When they had freshened themselves up after their long motor drive theywent down to the dining-hall, where lunch was to be served. And when sheentered the room the first person that Noreen saw was Dermot, seated at asmall table with Payne and Granger. 

On his return from a secret excursion across the Bhutan border the Majorhad found awaiting him at Ranga Duar the official invitation of the LalpuriDurbar. He was very much surprised at it; for he knew that the State hadnever encouraged visits from Europeans, and had, when possible, invariablyrefused admission to all except important British officials, who could notbe denied. Such a thing as actually entertaining Englishmen of its ownaccord was unknown in its annals. So he stared at the large card printed ingold and embossed with the coat-of-arms of Lalpuri in colours, and wonderedwhat motive lay behind the invitation. That it betokened a fresh move inthe conspiracy he was certain; but be the motive what it might he was gladof the unexpected opportunity of visiting Lalpuri and meeting those whom hebelieved to be playing a leading part in the plot. So he promptly wrote anacceptance. 

He reached the Palace only half an hour before Daleham's party arrived fromanother direction, and had just met his two planter friends when Noreenentered the room. He had not known that she was to be at Lalpuri. The threemen rose and bowed to her, and Dermot looked to see if Charlesworth werewith her. But only the two women and Daleham followed Chunerbutty as he ledthe way to a table at the far end of the room. 

There were about twenty English guests altogether, eight or nine of whomwere from the district in which Malpura was situated, the Rices among them. The rest were planters from other parts of the Duars, a few members of theIndian Civil Service or Public Works Departments, and a young DeputySuperintendent of Police from Jalpaiguri. 

At Chunerbutty's table the party consisted of the Rices, one of the CivilServants, the Dalehams, and Noreen's friend. The planter's wife neglectedthe man beside her to stare at Mrs. Smith, taking in every detail of herdress, while Ida chattered gaily to Fred, whose good looks had attractedher the moment that she first saw him on the platform of Jalpaiguristation. She was already apparently quite consoled for the loss of herCalcutta admirer. 

Noreen sat pale and abstracted beside Chunerbutty, answering his remarks inmonosyllables, eating nothing, and alleging a headache as an explanation ofher mood. The unexpected sight of Dermot had shaken her, and she dreadedthe moment when she must greet him. Yet she was anxious to witness hismeeting with Ida, hoping that she might glean from it some idea of howmatters really stood between them. 

After _tiffin_ a move was made into the long chamber arranged as theguests' lounge. Here introductions between those who had not previouslyknown each other and meetings between old acquaintances took place; andwith an inward shrinking Noreen saw Dermot approaching. She was astonishedto observe that Ida's careless and indifferent greeting was responded to byhim in a coldly courteous manner almost indicative of strong dislike. Thegirl wondered if they were both consummate actors. Dermot turned to her. Hespoke in his usual pleasant and friendly manner; but she seemed to detect atrace of reserve that he had never showed before. She was almost tooconfused to reply to him and turned with relief to shake hands with Payneand Granger, who had come up with him. 

Chunerbutty played the host well, introduced those who were strangers toeach other, and saw that the Palace servants, who were unused to Europeanhabits, brought the coffee, liqueurs, and smokes to all the guests, wherethey gathered under the long punkah that swung lazily from the paintedceiling and barely stirred the heated air. 

As soon as it was cool enough to drive out in the State carriages andmotor-cars that waited in the outer courtyard, the afternoon was devoted tosight-seeing. Chunerbutty, in the leading car with Noreen and the DistrictSuperintendent of Police, acted as guide and showed them about the city. Dermot noted the lowering looks of many of the natives in the narrowstreets, and overhead more than one muttered insult to the English racefrom men huddling against the houses to escape the carriages. 

The visitors were invited by Chunerbutty to enter an ornate temple ofKali, in which a number of Hindu women squatted on the ground before agigantic idol representing the goddess in whose honour the Puja festivalis held. The image was that of a fierce-looking woman with ten arms, each hand holding a weapon, her right leg resting on a lion, her left ona buffalo-demon. 

"I say, Chunerbutty, who's the lady?" asked Granger. "I can't say I likeher looks. "

"No, she certainly isn't a beauty, " said the Brahmin with a contemptuouslaugh. "Yet these superstitious fools believe in her, ignorant people thatthey are. "

He indicated the female worshippers, who had been staring with malevolentcuriosity at the English ladies, the first that most of them had ever seen. So these were the _mem-logue_, they whispered to each other, theseshameless white women who went about openly with men and met all the worldbrazenly with unveiled countenances. And the whisperers modestly drew their_saris_ before their own faces. 

"She is the goddess Kali or Durgá, the wife of Shiva, one of the HinduTrinity. She is supposed to be the patron of smallpox and lots of otherunpleasant things, so no wonder she is ugly, " continued Chunerbutty. 

"Oh, you have goddesses then in the Hindu religion, " observed Idacarelessly. 

"Yes, Mrs. Smith; but these are the sort we have in India, " he answeredwith an unpleasant leer. "The English people are more fortunate, for theyhave you ladies. "

The remark was one that would have gained him smiles and approbation fromhis female acquaintances in the Bayswater boarding-house, but Ida glaredhaughtily at him and most of the men longed to kick him. 

Dreading a cutting and sarcastic speech from her friend, Noreen hurriedlyinterposed. 

"Isn't the Puja festival in her honour, Mr. Chunerbutty?"

"Yes, Miss Daleham, it is. It is another of these silly superstitions ofthe Hindus that make one really ashamed of being an Indian. The festival ismeant to commemorate the old lady's victory over a buffalo-headed demon. Hence the weird-looking beast under her left leg. "

"And do these people really believe in that sort of rot?" asked Mrs. Rice. 

"Oh, yes, lots of the ignorant, uneducated lower class do, " replied theatheistical Brahmin. "Durgá is the favourite deity. Her husband and Krishnaand old Brahma are back numbers. The fact is that the common people areafraid of Kali. They think she can do them such a lot of harm. "

"What does the festival consist of, old chap?" asked Daleham. "What do theHindus do?"

"Well, the image is worshipped for nine days and then chucked into thewater, " replied the engineer. "Tomorrow, the fourth day, is the one onwhich the sacrifices are made--sheep, buck goats, and buffaloes are used. Their heads are cut off before this idol and their heads and blood areoffered to it. Tomorrow you'll see the Rajah kill the bull that is to bethe sacrifice. At least, he'll start the killing of it. Now, we'll go alongback to the Palace. "

The visitors' dinner that night was quite a magnificent affair. Thecatering for the time of their stay had been confided to an Italian firmin Calcutta. The cooking was excellent, but the waiting by the awkwardPalace retainers was very bad. The food was eaten off the Rajah's Statesilver service, made in London for his father for the entertainment of aViceroy. The wine was very good. So the guests enjoyed their meal, andmost of them were quite prepared to think the Rajah a most excellentfellow when, at the conclusion of the meal, he entered the dining-roomand came to the long table to propose and drink the health of theKing-Emperor. He left the room immediately afterwards. This is the usualprocedure on the part of Hindu rulers in India, since they are precludedby their religion and caste-customs from eating with Europeans. 

After dinner the guests went to the lounge, where coffee was served. Theybroke up into groups or pairs and sat or stood about the room chatting. Mrs. Rice, who had been much impressed by Ida's appearance and expensivegowns, secured a chair beside her and endeavoured to monopolise her, despite many obvious snubs. At last Ida calmly turned her back on her andcalled Daleham to talk to her. Then the planter's wife espied Dermotsitting alone and pounced on him. He had tried to speak to Noreen afterdinner, but it was so apparent that she wished to avoid him that he gave upthe attempt. He endured Mrs. Rice's company with admirable resignation, butwas thankful when the time for "good-night" came at last. 

The men stayed up an hour or two later, and then after a final "peg" wentoff to bed. Dermot walked upstairs with Barclay, the young police officer, who was his nearest neighbour, although the Major's room was at the end ofthe building and separated from his by a long, narrow passage and severalempty chambers. 

CHAPTER XVI

THE PALACE OF DEATH

When they reached the door of the police officer's apartment Dermot wishedhim good-night and proceeded down the passage, which was lit only by afeeble lamp placed in a niche high up in the wall. He had to grope his waythrough the outer chambers by the aid of matches, and when he reached hisroom, was surprised to find it in darkness, for he had left a light burningin it. He struck more matches, and was annoyed to discover that his lamphad been taken away. Being very tired he felt inclined to undress and go tobed in the dark, but, suddenly remembering the small light in the passage, determined to fetch it. Making his way back to the passage he tried to takethe little lamp down. But it was too high up, and the noise that he made inhis efforts to reach it brought Barclay to his door. 

When he heard of Dermot's difficulty he said:

"I'm not sleepy yet, Major, so I'll bring my lamp along to your room andsmoke a cheroot while you undress. Then I'll go off with it as soon asyou've turned in. "

Dermot thanked him, and the young policeman went with him, carrying thelamp, which had a double wick and gave a good light. Putting it down on thedressing-table he lit a cheroot and proceeded to seat himself in a chairbeside the bed. Like the room itself and the rest of the furniture, it wascovered with dust. 

"By George, what dirty quarters they've given you, sir, " he exclaimed. "Just look at the floor. I'll bet it's never been swept since the Palacewas built. The dust is an inch deep near the bed. " He polished the seat ofthe chair carefully before he sat down. 

The heat in the room was stifling, and the police officer, even in hiswhite mess uniform, felt it acutely. 

"By Jove, it's steamy tonight, " he remarked, wiping his face. 

"Yes, I hate October, " replied Dermot. "It's the worst month in the year, Ithink. Its damp heat, when the rain is drying up out of the ground, is moretrying than the worst scorching we get in May and June. "

"Well, you don't seem to find it too hot, Major, " said the other laughing. "It looks as if you'd got a hot-water bottle in the foot of your bed. "

"Hot-water bottle? What do you mean?" asked Dermot in surprise, throwingthe collar that he had just taken off on to the dressing-table and turninground. 

"Why, don't you see? Under the clothes at the foot, " said his companion, pointing with the Major's cane to a bulge in the thin blanket and sheetcovering the bed. He got up and strode across to it. "What on earth haveyou got there? It does look--Oh, good heavens, keep back!" he criedsuddenly. 

Dermot was already bending over the bed, but the police officer pushed himforcibly back and snatched up the cane which he had laid down. Then, cautiously seizing the top of the blanket and sheet near the pillow, hewhisked them off with a sudden vigorous jerk. At the spot where the bulgehad betrayed it a black cobra, one of the deadliest snakes in India, liftedits head and a foot of its length from its shining coils. The forked tonguedarted and quivered incessantly, and the unwinking eyes glistened as with aloud hiss it raised itself higher and poised its head to strike. 

Barclay struck it sharply with the cane, and it fell writhing on the bed, its spine broken. The coils wound and unwound vigorously, the tailconvulsively lashing the sheet. He raised the stick to strike it again, but, paused with arm uplifted, for the snake could not move away or raiseits head. 

Seeing that it was powerless the young Superintendent swung round toDermot. 

"Have you a pistol, Major?" he whispered. 

Without a word the soldier unlocked his despatch-box and took out a smallautomatic. 

"Loaded?"

The soldier nodded. 

"Give it to me. "

Taking the weapon he tiptoed to the door, listened awhile, then opened itsharply. But there was no one there. 

"Bring the lamp, " he whispered. 

Dermot complied, and together they searched the ante-rooms and passages. They were empty. Then they looked into the small room in which the zincbath-tub stood. There was no one there. 

The Deputy Superintendent closed the door again, and, as it had neitherlock nor bolt, placed a heavy chair against it. Taking the lamp in his handhe bent down and carefully examined the dusty floor under and around thebed. Then he put down the lamp and drew Dermot into the centre of the room. 

"Has your servant any reason to dislike you?" he asked in a low voice. 

Dermot answered him in the same tone:

"I have not brought one with me. "

The D. S. P. Whistled faintly, then looked apprehensively round the room andwhispered:

"Have you any enemies in the Palace or in Lalpuri?"

Dermot smiled. 

"Very probably, " he replied. Then in a low voice he continued: "Look here, Barclay, do you know anything of the state of affairs in this province? Imean, politically. "

The police officer nodded. 

"I do. I'm here in Lalpuri to try to find out things. The root of thetrouble in Bengal is here. "

"Then I can tell you that I have been sent on a special mission to theborder and have come to this city to try to follow up a clue. "

The D. S. P. Drew a deep breath. 

"That accounts for it. Look here, Major, I've seen this trick with thesnake before. Not long ago I tried to hang the servant of a rich _bunniah_for murdering his master by means of it, but the Sessions Judge wouldn'tconvict him. If you look you'll see that that brute"--he pointed to thecobra writhing in agony on the bed and sinking its fangs into its ownflesh--"never got up there by itself. It was put there. Otherwise it wouldhave left a clear trail in the thick dust on the floor, but there isn't asign. "

"Yes, I spotted that, " said Dermot, lighting a cigarette over the lampchimney. "I see the game. My lamp--which was here, for I dressed for dinnerby its light--was taken away, so that I'd have to go to bed in the dark;and, by Jove, I very nearly did! Then I'd have kicked against the cobra asI got in, and been bitten. The lamp would have been put back in the morningbefore I was 'found. ' Look here, Barclay, I owe you a lot. Without you I'dbe dead in two hours. "

"Or less. Sometimes the bite is fatal in forty minutes. Yes, there's nodoubt of it, you'd have been done for. Lucky thing I hadn't gone to bed andheard you. Now, what'll we do with the brute?"

He looked at the writhing snake. 

"Wait a minute. Where are the matches?"

He picked up a box from the dressing-table, moved the chair from the doorand left the room. In a minute or two he returned, carrying an oldporcelain vase, and shut the door. 

"I found this stuck away with a lot of rubbish in the outer room, " he said. "I don't suppose any one will miss it. "

Dermot watched him with curiosity as he placed the vase on the floor nearthe bed and picked up the cane. Putting its point under the cobra he liftedthe wriggling body on the stick and with some difficulty dropped the snakeinto the vase, where they heard its head striking the sides with furiousblows. 

"I hope it won't break the damned thing just when I'm carrying it, " hesaid, regarding the vase anxiously. 

"What are you doing that for?" asked Dermot. 

The police officer lowered his voice. 

"Well, Major, we don't want these would-be murderers to know how theirtrick failed. That's the reason I didn't pound the brute to a jelly on thebed, for it would have made such a mess on the sheet. Now there isn't aspeck on it. I'll take the vase with me into my room and finish the cobraoff. In the morning I'll get rid of its body somehow. When these devilsfind tomorrow that you're not dead, they'll be very puzzled. Now, thequestion is, what are you going to do?"

"Going to bed, " answered Dermot, continuing to undress. "There's nothingelse to be done at this hour, is there?"

The police officer looked at him with admiration. 

"By George, sir, you've got pluck. If it were I, I'd want to sit up allnight with a pistol. "

"Not you. Otherwise you wouldn't be in the place at all. Besides you arequalifying for delicate little attentions like this. " And Dermot flickedthe ash of his cigarette into the vase in which the cobra still writhed andtwisted. 

"Oh, well, they haven't tumbled to me yet, " said the young police officer, making light of his own courage. "I suppose you won't make any fuss aboutthis?"

"Of course not. We've got no proof against any one. "

"But do you think it wise for you to stay on here, sir? They'll only tryagain. "

Dermot lit a fresh cigarette. 

"Well, it can't be helped. It's all in the day's work. I'm due to stay heretwo days more, and I'm damned if I'm going to move before then. As youknow, it doesn't do to show these people the white feather. Besides, I'mrather interested to see what they'll try next. "

"You're a cool hand, Major. Well, since you look at it that way, there'snothing more to be said. I see you're ready for bed, so I'll take my lampand bit of pottery, and trek. "

"Oh, just one moment, Barclay. " Dermot sank his voice. "Did you notice theRajah's catch-'em-alive-ohs on sentry?"

"You mean his soldiers? No, I can't say I did. "

"Well, just have a look at them tomorrow. I want to have a talk with youabout them. "

"I'd like to strip these bed-clothes off. I don't fancy them after thesnake. Luckily it's so hot that one doesn't want even a sheet tonight. Letme see if there's another cobra under the pillow. It's said that theygenerally go about in pairs. " He turned over the pillow. "No; that's allright. "

"Hold on a minute, " whispered Barclay, raising the lamp above his head withhis left hand. "Let's see if there's any concealed entrance to the room. Idaresay these old palaces are full of secret passages and masked doors. "

He sounded the walls and floors and examined them carefully. 

"Seems all right. I'll be off now. Good-night, Major. I hope you'll not bedisturbed. If there's any trouble fire a shot and I'll be here in twoshakes. I've got a pistol, and by Jingo I'll have it handy tonight. Keepyours ready, too. "

"I shall. Now a thousand thanks for your help, Barclay, " said the soldier, shaking his friend's hand. 

Then he closed the door behind the police officer and by the light of amatch piled chairs against it. Then he lay down on the bed, put the pistolunder the edge of the mattress and ready to his hand, and fell asleep atonce. 

Early in the morning he was aroused by a vigorous knocking and heardBarclay's voice outside the door. 

"Are you all right, Major?" it said. 

"Yes, thanks. Good-morning, " replied the soldier. "Come in. No, wait aminute. "

He jumped out of bed and removed the barricade. Barclay entered in hispyjamas. Lowering his voice he said:

"Anything happen during the night?"

"I don't think so. I slept soundly and heard nothing. You're up early, "replied the soldier, picking up the blankets and sheets from the floor andspreading them carelessly on the bed to make it look as if he had usedthem. 

"Yes; those infernal birds make such a confounded row. It's like being inan aviary, " said Barclay. 

Dermot threw open the wooden shutters. Outside the window was a smallbalcony. On the roofs and verandahs of the Palace scores of grey-hoodedcrows were perched, filling the air with discordant sounds. Up in the paleblue sky the wheeling hawks whistled shrilly. Down in the courtyard belowyellow-beaked _mynas_ chattered volubly. 

"Don't they make a beastly row? How is a fellow to sleep?" grumbledBarclay. "Look at that cheeky beggar. "

A hooded crow perched on the railing of the balcony and, apparentlyresenting his remarks, cawed defiantly at him. The Deputy Superintendentpicked up one of Dermot's slippers and was about to hurl it at the bird, when a voice from the doorway startled him. 

"_Char, Huzoor!_ (Tea, Your Excellency!)"

He looked round. One of the Palace servants stood at the door holding atray containing tea and buttered toast. 

Dermot directed the man to put the tray on the dressing-table, and when theservant had salaamed and left the room, he walked over to it and looked atthe food. 

"Now, is it safe to eat that?" he said. "I've no fear of the grub theyserve in the dining-hall, for they wouldn't dare to poison us all. Butsomehow I have my doubts about any nice little meal prepared exclusivelyfor me. "

"I think you're right there, Major, " said Barclay, who was sitting on theedge of the bed. 

"We'll see. There isn't the usually handy pi-dog to try it on. But we'llmake use of our noisy friend here. He won't be much loss to the world if itpoisons him, " and Dermot broke off a piece of the toast and threw it on thefloor of the balcony. The crow stopped his cawing, cocked his head on oneside, and eyed the tempting morsel. Buttered toast did not often come hisway. He dropped down on to the balcony floor, hopped over to the toast, pecked at it, picked it up in his strong beak, and flew with it to the roofof the building opposite. In silence the two men watched him devour it. 

"That seems all right, Major, " said the police officer. "You've made himyour friend for life. He's coming back for more. "

The crow perched on the rail again and cawed loudly. 

"Oh, shut up, you greedy bird. Here's another bit for you. That's allyou'll have. I want the rest myself, " said Dermot, laughing. He broke offanother piece and threw it out on to the balcony. 

The crow looked at it, ruffled its feathers, shook itself--and then fellheavily to the floor of the balcony and lay still. 

"Good heavens! What an escape!" ejaculated Barclay, suddenly pale. 

The two men stared at each other and the dead bird in silence. Then Dermotmurmured:

"This is getting monotonous. Hang it! They _are_ in a hurry. Why, theycouldn't even know whether I was alive or not. If the snake trick had comeoff, I'd be a corpse now and this nice little meal would have been wasted. Really, they are rather crowding things on me. "

"They're taking no chances, the devils, " said the younger man, who was moreupset by the occurrence than his companion. 

"Well, I'll have to do without my _chota hazri_; and I do like a cup of teain the morning, " said the soldier; and he began to shave. Glancing out ofthe window he continued: "They've got a fine day for the show anyway. "

Barclay sprang up from the chair on which he had suddenly sat down. Hisnerve was shaken by the two attempts on his companion's life. 

"Damn them and their shows, the infernal murderers, " he muttered savagely, and rushed out of the room. 

"Amen!" said Dermot, as he lathered his face. Death had been near him toooften before for him to be disturbed now. So he went on shaving. 

Before he left the room he poured tea into the cup on the tray and got ridof the rest of the toast, to make it appear that he had freely partaken ofthe meal. He wrapped up the dead crow in paper and locked it in hisdespatch-case, until he could dispose of it that evening after dark. 

Noreen had slept little during the night. All through the weary hours ofdarkness she had tossed restlessly on her bed, tortured by thoughts thatrevolved in monotonous circles around Dermot. What was she to believe ofhim? What were the relations between him and her friend? He had seemed verycold to Ida when they met and had avoided her all day. And she did notappear to mind. What had happened between them? Had they quarrelled? It didnot disturb Ida's rest, for the girl could hear her regular breathing allnight long, the door between their rooms being open. Was it possible thatshe and Dermot were acting indifference to deceive the people around them?

Only towards morning did Noreen fall into a troubled, broken sleep, and shedreamt that the man she loved was in great danger. She woke up in a fright, then dozed again. She was hollow-eyed and unrefreshed when a bare-footednative "boy" knocked at her door and left a tray with her _chota hazri_ atit. She could not eat, but she drank the tea thirstily. 

Pleading fatigue she remained in her room all the morning and refused to godown to _tiffin_. When the other guests were at lunch in the dining-hall amessage was brought her that Chunerbutty begged to see her urgently. Shewent down to the lounge, where he was waiting. Struck by her want ofcolour, he enquired somewhat tenderly what ailed her. She repliedimpatiently that she was only fatigued by the previous day's journey, andasked rather crossly why he wanted to see her. 

"I have something nice for you, " he said smiling. "Something I was to giveyou. "

Glancing around to make sure that they were unobserved, he opened asandalwood box that he held in his hand and took out a large, ovalleather case, which he offered to her. 

"What is this?" she asked in surprise. 

"Open it and see, " he replied. 

The girl did so unsuspectingly. It was lined with blue velvet, and restingin it was a necklace of diamonds in quaint and massive gold setting, evidently the work of a native jeweller. The stones, though badly cut, werevery large and flashed and sparkled with coloured fires. The ornament wasevidently extremely valuable. Noreen stared at it and then at Chunerbuttyin surprise. 

"What does this mean?" she demanded, an ominous ring in her voice. 

"Just a little present to you from a friend, " replied the Hindu, evidentlythinking that the girl was pleased with the magnificent gift. 

"For me? Are these stones real?" she asked quietly. 

"Rather. Why, that necklace must be worth thousands of pounds. The fact isthat it's a little present from the Rajah, who admires you awfully. He----"

Noreen's eyes blazed, and she was on the point of bursting into angrywords; but, controlling herself with an effort, she thrust the case backinto his hands and said coldly:

"You know little of English women, Mr. Chunerbutty, if you think that theyaccept presents like that from strangers. This may be the Rajah'signorance, but it looks more like insolence. "

She turned to go; but, stopping her, he said:

"Oh, but you don't understand. He's a great friend of mine and he knowsthat I'm awfully fond of you, little girl. So he's ready to do anything forus and give me a----"

She walked past him, her eyes blazing with anger, with so resolute an airthat he drew back and watched her go. She went straight to her room andremained there until Ida came to tell her that it was time to dress for thecelebration of the Puja festival. 

 * * * * *

In the outer courtyard of the Palace six of the Rajah's State elephants, their tusks gilded and foreheads gaudily painted, caparisoned with richvelvet housings covered with heavy gold embroidery trailing almost to theground, bearing on their backs gold or silver howdahs fashioned in theshape of temples, awaited the European guests. Chunerbutty, when allottingpositions as Master of Ceremonies, took advantage of his position tocontrive that Noreen should accompany him on the elephant on which he wasto lead the line. The girl discovered too late that they were to be aloneon it, except for the _mahout_ on its neck. Dermot and Barclay managed tobe together on another animal. 

When all were in position in the howdahs, to which they climbed by ladders, the gates were thrown open, and through a mob of salaaming retainers theelephants emerged with stately tread on the great square in front of thePalace and proceeded through the city. The houses were gaily decorated. Flags and strips of coloured cloth fluttered from every building; gaudycarpets and embroideries hung from the innumerable balconies and windows. The elephants could scarcely force a passage through the narrow streets, socrowded were they with swarms of men, women, and children in holidayattire, all going in one direction. Their destination was the park of the_Moti Mahal_ or Pearl Palace, the Rajah's summer residence outside thewalls of the city. 

There the enormous crowd was kept back by red-robed retainers armed with_tulwars_--native curved swords--leaving clear a wide stretch of openground, in the centre of which on a gigantic altar was the image of theGoddess Kali. Before it a magnificent bull was firmly secured by chains andropes to stout posts sunk deep in the earth. The animal's head drooped andit could hardly stand up, for it had been heavily drugged for the day'sceremony and was scarcely conscious. 

The Rajah's army was drawn up in line fronting the altar, but some distanceaway from it. Two old muzzle-loading nine-pounder guns, their teams ofpowerful bullocks lying contentedly behind on the grass, formed the rightof the line. Then came the cavalry, consisting of twenty _sowars_ onsquealing white stallions with long tails dyed red. Left of them was theinfantry, two hundred sepoys in shakoes, red coatees, white trousers, andbare feet, leaning on long percussion-capped muskets with triangularbayonets. 

Shortly after the Europeans had arrived and their elephants taken up theirposition on one side of the ground, cheering announced the coming of theRajah. The cannons were discharged by slow matches and the infantrymen, raising their muskets, fired a ragged volley into the air. Then towards thealtar of Kali the Rajah was seen approaching in a long gilded car shaded bya canopy of cloth-of-gold and drawn by an enormous elephant, richlycaparisoned. Two gold-laced, scarlet-clad servants were perched on the backof the car, waving large peacock-feather fans over their monarch. A line ofcarriages followed, conveying the _Dewan_, the Durbar officials, theMinisters of the State and the leading nobles of Lalpuri. After the firstvolley, which scattered the horses of the cavalry, the artillery andinfantry loaded and fired independently as fast as their antiquated weaponspermitted, until the air was filled with smoke and the acrid smell ofgunpowder. 

The Rajah, hemmed in by spearmen with levelled points and followed by allhis suite with drawn swords, timidly approached the bull, _tulwar_ in hand. The animal was too dazed to lift its head. The Rajah raised his gleamingblade and struck at the nape of its neck, and at the same moment twoswordsmen hamstrung it. Immediately the _Dewan_, Ministers, and noblescrowded in and hacked at the wretched beast as it lurched and fell heavilyto the ground. The warm blood spurted out in jets and covered the officialsand nobles as they cut savagely at the feebly struggling carcase, and thered liquid splashed the Rajah as he stood gloating over the gaping woundsand the sufferings of the poor sacrifice, his heavy face lit up by aghastly grin of delight. 

The horrible spectacle shocked and disgusted the European spectators. Idanearly fainted, and Mrs. Rice turned green. Noreen shuddered atChunerbutty's fiendish and bestial expression, as he leaned forward in thehowdah, his face working convulsively, his eyes straining to lose no detailof the repulsive sight. He was enjoying it, like the excited, enthralledmobs of Indians of all ages around, who pressed forward, gradually pushingback the line of retainers struggling to keep the ground. 

Suddenly the swarming thousands broke loose. They surged madly forward, engulfing and sweeping the soldiers along with them, and rushed on thedying bull. They fought savagely to reach it. Those who succeeded threwthemselves on the quivering carcase and with knives or bare hands torepieces of still living flesh from it and thrust them into their mouths. Then, blooded to the eyes, they raised their reddened arms aloft, whilefrom thousands of throats rang out the fanatical cry:

"_Kali Ma ki jai!_ (Victory to Mother Kali!)"

They surged around the altar. The Rajah was knocked down and nearlytrampled on by the maddened, hysterical crowd. _Dewan_, Ministers, officials, guards were hustled and swept aside. The cavalry commander sawhis ruler's danger and collecting a dozen of his _sowars_ charged thereligious-mad mob and rescued the Rajah from his dangerous position, ridingdown and sabring men, women, and children, the fierce stallions savagingeveryone within reach with their bared teeth. 

Chunerbutty, in whom old racial instincts were rekindled, had scarcely beenable to restrain himself from climbing down and joining in the frenziedrush on the bull. But the turn of events sobered him and induced him tolisten at last to Noreen's entreaties and angry demands from the Englishmenwho bade him order the _mahouts_ to take the visitors away from thehorrible spectacle. As they left they saw the Rajah's golden chariot andthe carriages of the officials being driven helter-skelter across the grasswith their blood-stained and terrified occupants. And the madly fanaticalcrowds surged wildly around the altar, while their cries to Kali rent theair. 

The elephants lumbered swiftly in file through the deserted city, for itwas now emptied of its inhabitants. Merchants, traders, shopkeepers, workers, harlots, and criminals, all had flocked to the _Moti Mahal_ towitness the sacrifice. 

As they entered the Palace gates the _mahout_ of the animal carryingBarclay, Dermot, and two planters called to a native standing idly in thecourtyard:

"Why wert thou not out with thy elephant, Ebrahim?"

The man addressed, a grey-bearded Mussulman, replied:

"Shiva-_ji_ is bad today. I fear him greatly. "

"Is it the madness of the _dhantwallah_?"

"It is the madness. "

And the speaker cracked his finger-joints to avert evil luck. 

Dinner was not a very jovial meal among the English guests that night. Muchto their relief the Rajah did not come in to them. The ladies retired earlyto their rooms, and the men were not long in following their example. 

Barclay and Dermot, who were the only occupants of the floor on which theirrooms were situated--it was the top one of the wing--went upstairstogether. At the Deputy Superintendent's door a man squatted and, as theyapproached, rose, and saluted them in military fashion. It was Barclay'spolice orderly. 

"Hast got it?" asked his master in the vernacular. 

"I have got it, Sahib. It is here, " and the man placed a small coveredbasket in his hands. 

"_Bahut atcha. Ruksat hai_" (very good. You have leave to go), said hisofficer, using the ordinary Indian formula for dismissing a subordinate. 

"Salaam, Sahib. "

The orderly saluted and went away down the passage. 

"Wait a moment, Major; I'm going with you to your room, " said the DeputySuperintendent, opening his door. "Do you mind bringing my light along, asyours may be gone again. My hands are full with this basket. "

When they reached Dermot's apartment they found a lamp burning feebly init, smoking, and giving little light. 

"Looks as if there's a fresh game on tonight, " said Dermot in a low voice. "This is not the lamp I had before dinner. That was a large and brilliantone. I'm glad we brought yours along. "

"Barricade the door, Major, " whispered Barclay. "Are the shutters closed?Yes; that's all right. "

"What have you got in that mysterious basket?" his companion asked. 

"You'll see presently. "

He set it down on the floor and raised the lid. A small, sharp-muzzled headwith fierce pink eyes popped up and looked about suspiciously. Then itsowner climbed cautiously out on to the floor. It was a slim, long-bodiedlittle animal like a ferret, with a long, furry tail. 

"Hullo! A mongoose? You think they'll try the same trick again?" askedDermot. 

He glanced at the bed and picked up his cane. 

"Just stand still, Major, and watch. If there's anything in the snake lineabout our young friend here will attend to it. "

The mongoose trotted forward for a few steps, then sat down and scratcheditself. It rose, yawned, stretched its legs, and looked up at the two men, betraying no fear of them. Then it lifted its sharp nose into the air, sniffed, and pattered about the room, stopping to smell the legs of thedressing-table and a cap of Dermot's lying on the floor. It investigatedseveral rat-holes at the bottom of the walls and approached the bed. Underit a pair of the soldier's slippers were lying. The mongoose, passing bythem, turned to smell them. Suddenly it sprang back, leaping a couple offeet into the air. When it touched the floor it crouched with bared teeth, the hair on its back bristling and its tail fluffed out until it was biggerthan the body of the fierce little animal. 

"By Jove, it has found something!" exclaimed Barclay. 

The two men leant forward and watched intently. The mongoose approached theslippers again in a series of bounds, jumped around them, crouched, andthen sprang into the air again. 

Suddenly there was a rush and a scurry. The mongoose had pounced on oneslipper and was shaking it savagely, beating it on the floor, rolling overand over and leaping into the air with it. Its movements were so rapid thatfor a few moments the watchers could distinguish nothing in the miniaturecyclone of slipper and ball of fluffy hair inextricably mingled. Then therewas a pause. The mongoose stood still, then backed away with stiffenedlegs, its sharp teeth fixed in the neck of a small snake about ten incheslong, which it was trying to drag out of the slipper. 

"Good heavens! This is worse than last night, " cried Barclay. "It's a_karait_. "

This reptile is almost more poisonous than a cobra, and, as it is thin andrarely exceeds twelve inches in length, it can hide anywhere and is an evendeadlier menace in a house. 

The mongoose backed across the room, dragging the snake and with it theslipper. 

"Why the deuce doesn't it pull the _karait_ out?" said Dermot, bending downto look more closely, as the mongoose paused. "By George! Look at this, Barclay. The snake's fastened to the inside of the slipper by a loop and abit of thin wire. "

"What a devilish trick!" cried Barclay. 

"Well, I hope that concludes the entertainment for tonight, " said Dermot. "Enough is as good as a feast. "

When next morning the servant brought in his tray, Dermot was smoking acigarette in an easy chair, and he fancied that there was a scaredexpression in the man's eyes, as the fellow looked covertly at the slipperson the Major's feet. 

CHAPTER XVII

A TRAP

In the forenoon of the fifth day of the Durgá-Puja Festival the _Dewan_ andChunerbutty sat on the thick carpet of the Rajah's apartment, which was inthat part of the Palace facing the wing given up to the visitors. It formedone of the sides of the square surrounding the paved courtyard below, whichwas rarely entered. Only one door led into it from the buildings whichlined it on three sides, a door under the Rajah's suite of apartments. 

That potentate was sprawling on a pile of soft cushions, glaringmalevolently at his Chief Minister, whom he hated and feared. 

"Curses on thee, _Dewan-ji_!" he muttered, turning uneasily and groaningwith the pain of movement. For he was badly bruised, sore, and shaken, fromhis treatment by the crowd on the previous day. 

"Why on me, O Maharaj?" asked the _Dewan_, looking at him steadily and withhardly-veiled contempt. 

"Because thine was the idea of this foolish celebration yesterday. MotherDurgá was angry with me for introducing this foreign way of worship, "answered the superstitious atheist, conveniently forgetting that the ideawas his own. "It will cost me large sums to these greedy priests, if she isnot to punish me further. "

"Not for that reason, but for another, is the Holy Mother enraged, OMaharaj, " replied his Minister. "For the lack of a sweeter sacrifice thanwe offered her yesterday. "

"What is that?" demanded the Rajah suspiciously. He distrusted his _Dewan_more than any one else in his service. 

"Canst thou ask? Thou who bearest on thy forehead the badge of the Sáktas?"

"Thou meanest a human sacrifice?"

"I do. "

"I have given Durgá many, " grumbled the Rajah. "But if she be greedy, lether have more. There are girls in my _zenana_ that I would gladly be ridof. "

"The Holy Mother demands a worthier offering than some wanton that thouhast wearied of. "

Chunerbutty spoke for the first time. 

"She wants the blood of one of the accursed race; of a _Feringhi_; of thissoldier and spy. "

The Rajah shifted uneasily on his cushions. He hated but he feared thewhite men, and he had not implicit faith in the _Dewan's_ talk of theirspeedy overthrow. 

"Mother Durgá has rejected him, " he said. "Have ye not all tried to slayhim and failed?"

The _Dewan_ nodded his head slowly and stared at the carpet. 

"There is some strange and evil influence that sets my plans at naught. "

"The gods, if there be gods as you Brahmins say, protect him. I think evilwill come to us if we harm him. And can we? Did he not lie down with thehooded death itself, a cobra, young, active, full of venom, and riseunhurt?"

"True. But perhaps the snake had escaped from the bed before the_Feringhi_ entered it, " said the _Dewan_ meditatively. 

"To guard against that, did they not fasten the _karait_ in his shoe?"

"He may have discovered it in time, " said the engineer. "Englishmen fearsnakes greatly and always look out for them. "

"Ha! and did he not eat and drink the poisoned meal prepared for him by ourskilfullest physician?"

There was no answer to this. The mystery of Dermot's escape from death wasbeyond their understanding. 

"There is certainly something strange about him, " said Chunerbutty. "Atleast, so it is reported in our district, though to me he seems a fool. Butthere all races and castes fear him. Curious tales are told of him. Somesay that _Gunesh_, the Elephant-headed One, protects him. Others hold thathe is _Gunesh_ himself. Can it be so?"

The _Dewan_ smiled. 

"Since when hast thou believed in the gods again?" he asked. 

"Well, it is hard to know what is true or false. If there be no gods, perhaps there are devils. My Christian friends are more impressed by thelatter. "

The Rajah shook his head doubtfully. 

"Perhaps he is a devil. Who knows? They told me that he summoned a host ofdevils in the form of elephants to slay my soldiers. Pah! it is allnonsense. There are no such things. "

With startling distinctness the shrill trumpeting of an elephant rangthrough the room. 

"Mother Kali preserve me!" shrieked the superstitious Rajah, flinginghimself in terror on his face. "That was no mortal elephant. Was it_Gunesh_ that spoke?" He lifted his head timidly. "It is a warning. Sparethe _Feringhi_. Let him go. "

"Spare him? Knowest thou, O Maharaj, that the girl thou dost desire loveshim? But an hour ago I heard her tell him that she wished to speak with himalone, " said Chunerbutty. 

"Alone with him? The shameless one! Curses on him! Let him die, " cried thejealous Rajah, his fright forgotten. 

The _Dewan_ smiled. 

"There was no need to fear the cry of that elephant, " he said. "It was yourfavourite, Shiva-_ji_. He is seized with the male-madness. They have pennedhim in the stone-walled enclosure yonder. He killed his _mahout_ thismorning. "

"Killed Ebrahim? Curse him! If he had not cost me twenty thousand rupees Iwould have him shot, " growled the Rajah savagely. "Killed Ebrahim, my best_mahout_? Why could he not have slain this accursed _Feringhi_ if he hadthe blood-lust on him?"

"In the name of Siva the Great One!" exclaimed the _Dewan_ piously. "It isa good thought. Listen to me, Maharaj! Listen, thou renegade" (this toChunerbutty, who dared not resent the old man's insults). 

The three heads came together. 

 * * * * *

After lunch that day Dermot sat smoking in his room. Although it had nopunkah and the heat was great, he had escaped to it from the crowded loungeto be able to think quietly. But his thoughts were not of the attempts onhis life and the probability that they would be repeated. His mind wasfilled with Noreen to the temporary exclusion of all other subjects. Shepuzzled him. He had supposed her engaged, or practically engaged, toCharlesworth. Yet she had come away from Darjeeling at its gayest time andhere seemed to be engrossed with Chunerbutty. She was always with him or hewith her. He never left her side. She sat by him at every meal. She hadgone alone with him in his howdah to the _Moti Mahal_, when every otherelephant had carried more than two persons. He knew that she had alwaysregarded the Hindu as a friend, but he had not thought that she was soattracted to him. Certainly now she did not appear content away from him. What would Charlesworth, who hated natives, think of it?

As for himself, their former friendship seemed dead. He had naturally beenhurt when she had not waited in the hotel at Darjeeling, though she knewthat he was coming to say good-bye to her. But perhaps Charlesworth hadkept her out, so he could not blame her. But why had she deliberatelyavoided him here in the Palace? What was the reason of her unfriendliness?Yet that morning in the lounge after breakfast he had chanced to pass herwhere she stood beside Chunerbutty, who was speaking to a servant. She haddetained him for a moment to tell him that she wished to see him alone sometime, for she wanted his advice. She seemed rather mysterious about it, andhe remembered that she had spoken in a low tone, as if she did not desireany one else to hear what she was saying. 

What did it all mean? Well, if he could help her with advice or anythingelse he would. He had not realised how fond he was of her until thisestrangement between them had arisen. 

As he sat puzzling over the problem the servant who waited on him enteredthe room and salaamed. 

"_Ghurrib Parwar!_ (Protector of the Poor. ) I bring a message for YourHonour. The English missie _baba_ sends salaams and wishes to speak withyou. "

Dermot sprang up hastily. 

"Where is she, Rama? In the lounge?"

"No, _Huzoor_. The missie _baba_ is in the Red Garden. "

"Where is that?"

"It is the Rajah's own private garden, through there. " The servant pointeddown to the gateway in the high wall of the courtyard below. He had openedthe shutter of the window by which they were standing. "I will guide YourHonour. We must go through that door over there under His Highness'sapartments. "

"_Bahut atcha_, Rama. I will come with you. Give me my _topi_, " criedDermot, feeling light-hearted all at once. Perhaps the misunderstandingbetween Noreen and him would be cleared up now. He took his sun-hat fromthe man and followed him out of the room. 

 * * * * *

Noreen was greatly perplexed about the insult, as she considered it, of theRajah's offer of the necklace. She feared to tell her brother, who might beangry with her for suspecting his friend of condoning an impertinence toher. Equally she felt that she could not confide in Ida or any one else, lest she should be misjudged and thought to have encouraged the engineerand his patron. To whom could she turn, sure of not being misunderstood? Ifonly Dermot had remained her friend!

She was torn with longings to know the truth about his relations with Ida. The uncertainty was unbearable. That morning in her room she had boldlyattacked Ida and asked her frankly. The other woman made light of the wholeaffair, pretended that Noreen had misunderstood her on that night inDarjeeling, and laughed at the idea of any one imagining that she had everbeen in love with Dermot. 

The girl was more puzzled than ever. Her heart ached for an hour or twoalone with her one-time friend of the forest. O to be out with him onBadshah in the silent jungle, no matter what dangers encircled them!Perhaps there the cloud between them would vanish. But could she not speakto him here in the Palace? He seemed to be no longer fascinated with Ida, if indeed he ever had been. She could tell him of the Rajah's insult. Hewould advise her what to do, for she was sure that he would not misjudgeher. And perhaps--who knew?--her confiding in him might break down the wallthat separated them. She forgot that it had been built by her ownresentment and anger, and that she had eluded his attempts to approach her. Even now she felt that she could not speak to him before others. 

Growing desperate, she had that morning snatched at the opportunity to askhim for an interview. Chunerbutty, who seemed always to cling to her nowwith the persistence of a leech, had as usual been with her, but hisattention had been distracted from her for a moment. She hoped that theHindu had not overheard her. Yet what did it matter if he had? Dermot hadunderstood and nodded, as he passed on with the old, friendly look in hiseyes. Perhaps all would come right. 

She had seen him leave the lounge after lunch, but she remained thereconfident that he would return. She felt she could not talk to the othersso she withdrew to a table near one of the shuttered windows and pretendedto read the newspapers on it. 

Payne was there, deep in the perusal of an article in an English journal onthe disturbed state of India. Mrs. Rice, impervious to snubs, was trying toimpress the openly bored Ida with accounts of the gay and fashionable lifeof Balham. The men were scattered about the room in groups, some discussingin low tones the occurrences of the day before at the _Moti Mahal_, otherstalking of the illuminations and fireworks which were to wind up theirentertainment in Lalpuri on this the last night of their stay. For all wereleaving on the morrow. 

Suddenly there was a wild outcry outside. Loud cries, the shouts of men, the terrifying trumpeting of an elephant, resounded through the courtyardbelow and echoed weirdly from the walls of the buildings. A piercing shriekof agony rang high above the tumult of sound and chilled the blood of thelisteners in the lounge. 

Payne tore fiercely at the stiff wooden shutters of the window near him, which led out to the long balcony. Suddenly they burst open and he sprangout. 

"Good God!" he cried in horror. "Look! Look! Dermot's done for!"

 * * * * *

The soldier had followed Rama, who led him through an unfamiliar part ofthe Palace along low passages, down narrow winding staircases, throughpainted rooms, in some of which female garments flung carelessly on thecushions seemed to indicate that they were passing through a portion of the_zenana_. Finally they reached a marble-paved hall on the ground-floor, where two attendants, the first persons whom they had seen on their way, lounged near a small door. They were evidently the porters and appeared toexpect them, for they opened the door at Rama's approach. Through it Dermotfollowed his guide out into the courtyard on which he had often looked fromthe balcony of his room. He looked up at the lounge, two stories above hishead, its long casements shuttered against the heat. Then he noticed thatin none of the buildings surrounding the court were there any windows lowerthan the second story, and the only entrance into it from the Palace wasthe small door through which he had just passed. Almost at the moment hestepped into the courtyard a familiar sound greeted his ears. It was thetrumpeting of an elephant. But there was a strange note of rage andexcitement in it, and he thought of the remarks of the _mahouts_ theprevious day on the return from the _Moti Mahal_. Probably the _must_elephant of which they spoke was chained somewhere close by. 

As he crossed the courtyard he chanced to glance up at the shutteredwindows of the apartments which he had been told were occupied by theRajah. At that moment one of them was opened and a white cloth waved fromit by an unseen hand. He wondered was it a signal. He stooped to fasten abootlace, and Rama, who was making for the gateway in the high wall formingthe fourth side of the courtyard, called impatiently to him to hasten. Theservant's tone was impertinent, and Dermot looked up in surprise. 

Then suddenly Hell broke loose. From the direction in which they wereproceeding came fierce shouts of men, yells of terror, and the angrytrumpeting of an elephant mingled with the groaning of iron dragged overstone and the crashing of splintered wood. Rama, who was a few yards ahead, turned and ran past the white man, his face livid. Dermot looked after himin surprise. The man had dashed back to the little door and was beating onit madly with his fists. It was opened to admit him and then hastilyclosed. The soldier heard the rusty bolts grinding home in their sockets. 

Scenting danger and fearing a trap he stood still in the middle of thecourtyard. 

The uproar continued and drew nearer. Suddenly it was dominated by ablood-curdling shriek of agony. Through the wide gateway he saw five orsix men fleeing across the farther courtyard, which was surrounded by ahigh wall. Behind them rushed a huge tusker elephant, ears and tailcocked, eyes aflame with rage. He overtook one man, struck him down withhis trunk, trod him to pulp, and then pursued the others. Some of them, crazed with terror, tried to climb the walls. The savage brute struckthem down one after another, gored them or trampled them to death. 

Three terrified wretches fled through the gateway into the courtyard inwhich Dermot was standing. One stumbled and the elephant caught him up. Thedemented man turned on it and tried to beat it off with his bare hands. With a scream of fury the maddened beast drove his blood-stained tusk intothe wretch's body, pitched him aloft, then hurled him to the ground andgored him again and again. The dying shriek that burst from the labouringlungs turned Dermot's blood cold. The body was kicked, trampled on, andthen torn limb from limb. 

The two other men had dashed wildly across the courtyard. One reached thesmall door and was beating madly on it with bleeding knuckles, but itremained implacably closed. The other, driven mad by fear, was runninground and round the courtyard like a caged animal, stopping occasionally toraise imploring hands and eyes to the windows of the Palace, which were nowfilled with spectators. Even the roofs were crowded with natives lookingdown on the tragedy being enacted below. 

Dermot realised that he had been trapped. There was no escape. He looked upat the Rajah's windows. One had been pushed open, and he thought that hecould see the _Dewan_ and his master watching him. He determined that hewould not afford them the gratification of seeing him run round and roundthe walls of the courtyard like a rat in a trap until death overtook him. So, when the elephant at last drew off from its victim and stood irresolutefor a moment, he turned to face it. 

It seemed to him that he heard his voice called, faintly and from far away, but all his faculties were intent on watching the death that approached himin such hideous guise. Dermot's thoughts flew to Badshah for a moment, butswung back to centre on the coming annihilation. With flaming eyes, trunkcurled, and head thrown up, the elephant charged. 

For one brief instant the man felt an insane desire to flee but, masteringit, he faced the on-rushing brute. A minute more, and all would be over. The soldier was unconscious of the shouts that rent the air, of thespectators crowding the balconies and windows. He felt perfectly cool nowand had but one regret--that he had not been able to see Noreen again, asshe had wished, before he died. 

He drew a deep breath, his last perhaps before Death reached him, and tooka step forward to meet his doom. 

But at his movement a miracle happened. Not five yards from him thecharging elephant suddenly tried to check its rush, flung all its weightback and, unable to halt, slid forward with stiffened fore-legs over thepaving-stones. When at last it stopped one tusk was actually touching theman. Tail, ears, and trunk drooped, and it backed with every evidence ofterror. Some instinct had warned it at the last moment that this man wassacred to the mammoth tribe. 

Like a flash enlightenment came to Dermot. Once again a mysterious powerhad saved him. The elephant knew and feared him. Yet he seemed as one in adream. He looked up at the native portion of the Palace and became aware ofthe spectators on the roofs, the staring faces at the windows, the eyes ofthe women peering at him through the latticed casements of the _zenana_. The Rajah and the _Dewan_, all caution forgotten in their excitement, hadthrown open the shutters from behind which they had hoped to witness hisdeath, and were leaning out in full view. 

Dermot laughed grimly, and the thought came to him to impress thesetreacherous foes more forcibly. He walked towards the shrinking elephant, raised his hand, and commanded it to kneel. The animal obeyed submissively. The soldier swung himself on to its neck, and the animal rose to its feetagain. 

He guided it across the courtyard until it stood under the window fromwhich the Rajah and the _Dewan_ stared down at him in amazement andsuperstitious dread. Then he said to the animal:

"_Salaam kuro!_ (Salute!)"

It raised its trunk and trumpeted in the royal salutation. With a mockingsmile, Dermot lifted his hat to the shrinking pair of murderers and turnedthe elephant away. 

Then for the first time he became aware that the balcony of the lounge wascrowded with his fellow-countrymen. Ida and Mrs. Rice were sobbinghysterically on each other's shoulders. Noreen, clinging to her brother, whose arm was about her, was staring down at him with a set, white face. And as he looked up and saw them the men went mad. They burst into a roarof cheering, of greeting, and applause that drove the Rajah and hisMinister into hiding again, for the shouts had something of menace in them. 

Dermot took off his hat in acknowledgment of the cheers and, seeing theHindu engineer shrinking behind the others with an expression of amazedterror on his face, called to him:

"Would you kindly send one of your friends to open the door, Mr. Chunerbutty? It seems to have got shut by some unfortunate accident. "

He brought the elephant to its knees and dismounted. Then as it rose hepointed to the gateway and said in the _mahout's_ tongue:

"Return to your stall. "

The animal walked away submissively. The two surviving natives shrankagainst the buildings in deadly fear, but the animal disappeared quietly. 

Dermot went to the door and waited. Soon he heard the key turned in thelock and the rusty bolts drawn back. The door was then flung open by one ofthe porters, while the others huddled against the wall, for Barclay stoodin front of them with a pistol raised. He sprang forward and seizedDermot's hand. 

"Heaven and earth! How are you alive?" he cried. "I thought the devils hadgot you this time. I was tempted to shoot these swine here for being solong in opening the door. "

There was a clatter of boots on the marble floor, as Payne and Granger, followed by the rest of the Englishmen, ran up the hall, cheering. Theycrowded round Dermot, nearly shook his arm off, thumped him on the back, and overwhelmed him with congratulations. 

As Dermot thanked them he said:

"I didn't know that you fellows were looking on, otherwise I wouldn't havedone that little bit of gallery-play. But I had a reason for it. " "Yes; weknow, " said Payne significantly. "Barclay told us. "

Then they dragged him protesting upstairs to the lounge, that the womenmight congratulate him too; which they did each in her own fashion. Ida waseffusive and sentimental, Mrs. Rice fatuous, and Noreen timid and almoststiff. The girl, who had endured an agony worse than many deaths, could notvoice her feelings, and her congratulations seemed curt and cold to othersbesides Dermot. 

She had no opportunity of speaking to him apart, even for a minute, for themen surrounded him and insisted on toasting him and questioning him untilit was time to dress for dinner. And even then they formed a guard ofhonour and escorted him to his room. 

Noreen, utterly worn out by her sleepless nights and the storm of emotionsthat had shaken her, was unable to come down to dinner, and at herbrother's wish went to bed instead. And so she did not learn that Dermotwas leaving the Palace at the early hour of four o'clock in the morning. 

That night as Dermot and Barclay went upstairs together the police officersaid:

"I wonder if they'll dare to try anything against you tonight, Major. Ishould say they'd give you a miss in baulk, for they must believe youinvulnerable. Still, I'm going with you to your room to see. "

When they reached it and threw open the door a figure half rose from thefloor. Barclay's hand went out to it with levelled pistol, but the wordsarrested him. 

"_Khodawund!_ (Lord of the World!) Forgive me! I did not know. I did notknow. "

It was the treacherous Rama who had tried to lead Dermot to his death. Helay face to the ground. 

"Damned liar!" growled Barclay in English. 

"Did not know that thou wert leading me under the feet of the _must_elephant?" demanded Dermot incredulously. 

"Aye, that I knew of course, _Huzoor_. How can I deceive thee? But thee Iknew not; though the elephant Shiva-_ji_ did, even in his madness. It isnot my fault. I am not of this country. I am a man of the Punjaub. I knownaught of the gods of Bengal. "

Barclay had heard from the planters the belief in Dermot's divinity whichwas universal in their district, and perceived that the legend had reachedthis man. He was quick to see the advantages that they could reap from hissuperstitious fears. He signed to Dermot to be silent and said in solemntones:

"Rama, thou hast grievously offended the gods. Thou knowest the truth atlast?"

"I do, Sahib. The talk through the Palace, aye, throughout the city, is allof the God of the Elephants, of the Terrible One who feeds his herd ofdemons on the flesh of men. The temple of _Gunesh_ will be full indeedtonight. But alas! I am an ignorant man. I knew not that the holy one tookform among the _gora-logue_ (white folk). "

"The gods know no country. The truth, Rama, the truth, " said Barclayimpressively. "Else thou art lost. Shiva-_ji_, mayhap, is hungry and needshis meal of flesh. "

"Ai! sahib, say not so, " wailed the terror-stricken man. "He has feastedwell today. With my own eyes I saw him feed on Man Singh the Rajput. "

Natives believe that an elephant, when it seizes in its mouth the limbsof a man that it has killed and is about to tear in pieces, eats hisflesh. In dread of a like doom, of the terrible vengeance of thismysterious Being, god, man, or demon, perhaps all three, from whomdeath shrank aside, whom neither poison of food nor venom of snake couldharm, who used mad, man-slaying elephants as steeds, Rama unburdened hissoul. He told how the _Dewan's_ confidential man had bade him carry outthe attempts on Dermot's life. He showed them that the Major'ssuspicions when he saw the Rajah's soldiery were correct, and that fromLalpuri came the inspiration of the carrying-off of Noreen. He told themof a party of these same soldiers that had gone on a secret mission intothe Great Jungle, from which but a few came back after awful sufferings, and the strange tales whispered in the bazaar as to the fate of theircomrades. 

He disclosed more. He spoke of mysterious travellers from many lands thatcame to the Palace to confer with the _Dewan_--Chinese, Afghans, Bhutanese, Indians of many castes and races, white men not of the sahib-_logue_. Hesaid enough to convince his hearers that many threads of the world-wideconspiracy against the British Raj led to Lalpuri. There was not proofenough yet for the Government of India to take action against its rulers, perhaps, but sufficient to show where the arch-conspirators of Bengal wereto be sought for. 

Rama left the room, not pardoned indeed, but with the promise of punishmentsuspended as long as he was true to the oath he had sworn by the BlessedWater of the Ganges, to be true slave and bearer of news when Dermot neededhim. 

Long after he left, the two sat and talked of the strange happenings of thelast few days, and disclosed to each other what they knew of the treasonthat stalked the land, for each was servant of the Crown and his knowledgemight help the other. And when the hoot of Payne's motor-horn in the outercourtyard told them that it was time for Dermot to go, they said good-byein the outwardly careless fashion of the Briton who has looked intoanother's eyes and found him true man and friend. 

Then through the darkness into the dawn Dermot sped away with hiscompanions from the City of Shame and the Palace of Death. 

And Noreen woke later to learn that the man she loved had left her againwithout farewell, that the fog of misunderstanding between them was not yetlifted. 

CHAPTER XVIII

THE CAT AND THE TIGER

Several weeks had passed since the Durgá Puja Festival. Over the IndianEmpire the dark clouds were gathering fast. The Pathan tribes along theNorth-west Frontier were straining at the leash; Afridis, Yusufzais, Mohmands, all the _Pukhtana_, were restless and excited. The _mullahs_ werepreaching a holy war; and the _maliks_, or tribal elders, could notrestrain their young men. Raids into British Indian territory werefrequent. 

There was worse menace behind. The Afghan troops, organised, trained, andequipped as they had never been before in their history, were massing nearthe Khyber Pass. Some of the Penlops, the great feudal chieftains oflittle-known Bhutan, were rumoured to have broken out into rebellionagainst the Maharajah because, loyal to his treaties with the Government ofIndia, he had refused a Chinese army free passage through the country. Allthe masterless Bhuttia rogues on both sides of the border were sharpeningtheir _dahs_ and looking down greedily on the fertile plains below. 

All India itself seemed trembling on the verge of revolt. The Punjaub washoneycombed with sedition. Men said that the warlike castes and races thathad helped Britain to hold the land in the Black Year of the Mutiny wouldbe the first to tear it from her now. In the Bengals outrages and opendisloyalty were the order of the day. The curs that had fattened underEngland's protection were the first to snap at her heels. The Day of Doomseemed very near. Only the great feudatories of the King-Emperor, the noblePrinces of India, faithful to their oaths, were loyal. 

Through the borderland of Bhutan Dermot and Badshah still ranged, watchingthe many gates through the walls of mountains better than battalions ofspies. The man rarely slept in a bed. His nights were passed beside hisfaithful friend high up in the Himalayan passes, where the snow was alreadyfalling, or down in the jungles still reeking of fever and sweltering intropic heat. By his instructions Parker and his two hundred sepoys toiledto improve the defences of Ranga Duar; and the subaltern was happy in thepossession of several machine guns wrung from the Ordnance Department withdifficulty. 

Often, as Dermot sat high perched on the mountain side, searching thenarrow valleys and deep ravines of Bhutan with powerful glasses, histhoughts flew to Noreen safe beyond the giant hills at his back. It cheeredhim to know that he was watching over her safety as well as guarding thepeace of hundreds of millions in the same land. He had seldom seen hersince their return from Lalpuri, and on the rare occasions of their meetingshe seemed to avoid him more than ever. Chunerbutty was always by her side. Could there be truth, then, in this fresh story that Ida Smith had told himon their last night at the Palace, when she said that she had discoveredthat she was mistaken in believing in Noreen's approaching betrothal toCharlesworth, of which she had assured him in Darjeeling? For at Lalpurishe said she had extracted from the girl the confession that she hadrefused the Rifleman and others for love of someone in the Plains below. And Ida, judging from Chunerbutty's constant attendance on, andproprietorial manner with Noreen, confided to Dermot her firm belief thatthe Bengali was the man. 

The thought was unbearable to the soldier. As he sat in his lonely eyrie heknew now that he loved the girl, that it would be unbearable for him to seeher another's wife. Those few days at Lalpuri, when first he felt theestrangement between them, had revealed the truth to him. When in thecourtyard of the Palace he saw Death rushing on him he had given her whathe believed would be his last thought. 

He recalled her charm, her delightful comradeship, her brightness, and herbeauty. It was hateful to think that she would dower this renegade Hinduwith them all. Dermot had no unjust prejudice against the natives of theland in which so much of his life was passed. Like every officer in theIndian Army he loved his sepoys and regarded them as his children. Theirtroubles, their welfare, were his. He respected the men of those gallantwarrior races that once had faced the British valiantly in battle andfought as loyally beside them since. But for the effeminate and cowardlypeoples of India, that ever crawled to kiss the feet of each conqueror ofthe peninsula in turn and then stabbed him in the back if they could, hehad the contempt that every member of the martial races of the land, everySikh, Rajput, Gurkha, Punjaubi had. 

The girl would scarcely have refused so good a match as Charlesworth orcome away heart-whole from Darjeeling, where so many had striven for herfavour, if she had gone there without a prior attachment. That she caredfor no man in England he was sure, for she had often told him that she hadno desire to return to that country. He had seen her among the planters ofthe district and was certain that she loved none of them. Only Chunerbuttywas left; it must indeed be he. 

He shut up his binoculars and climbed down the rocky pinnacle on which hehad been perched, and went to eat a cheerless meal where Badshah grazed athousand feet below. 

In Malpura Noreen was suffering bitterly for her foolish pride and jealousreadiness to believe evil of the man she loved. She knew that she wasentirely to blame for her estrangement from him. He never came to theirgarden now; and to her dismay her brother ignored all hints to invite him. For the boy was divided between loyalty to Chunerbutty (whom he had tothank for his chance in life) and the man who had twice saved his sister. Chunerbutty had reproached him with forgetting what he, the now despisedHindu, had done for him in the past, and complained sadly that Miss Dalehamlooked down on him for the colour of his skin. So Fred felt that he mustchoose between two friends and that honour demanded his clinging to theolder one. Therefore he begged Noreen for his sake not to hurt theengineer's feelings and to treat him kindly. She could not refuse, andChunerbutty took every advantage of her sisterly obedience. Whenever theywent to the club he tried to monopolise her, and delighted in exhibitingthe terms of friendship on which they appeared to be. The girl felt thateven her old friends were beginning at last to look askance at her;consequently she tried to avoid going to the weekly gatherings. 

It happened that on the occasion when Dermot, having arrived at Salchini ona visit to Payne, again made his appearance at the club, Daleham hadinsisted on his sister accompanying him there, much against her will. Chunerbutty was unable to go with them, being confined to his bungalow witha slight touch of fever. 

That afternoon Noreen was more than ever conscious of a strained feelingand an unmistakable coldness to her on the part of the men whom she knewbest. And worse, it seemed to her that some young fellows who had onlyrecently come to the district and with whom she was little acquainted, wereinclined to treat her with less respect than usual. She had seen Dermotarrive with his host; but, although Payne came to sit down beside her andchat, his guest merely greeted her courteously and passed on at once. 

All that afternoon it seemed to the girl that something in the atmospherewas miserably wrong, but what it was she could not tell. She was bitterlydisappointed that Dermot kept away from her. It was not the smart of a hurtpride, but the bewildered pain of a child that finds that the one it valuesmost does not need it. Indeed her best friends, all except Payne, seemed tohave agreed to ignore her. 

Mrs. Rice, however, was even sweeter in her manner than usual when shespoke to the girl. 

"Where is Mr. Chunerbutty today, dear?" she asked after lunch from whereshe sat on the verandah beside Dermot. Noreen was standing further along itwith Payne, watching the play on the tennis-court in front of the clubhouse. 

"He isn't very well, " replied the girl. "He's suffering from fever. "

"Oh, really? I am so sorry to hear that, " exclaimed the older woman. "Sosad for you, dear. However did you force yourself to leave him?"

Noreen looked at her in surprise. 

"Why not? We could do nothing for him, " she said. "We sent him soup andjelly made by our cook, and Fred went to see him before we started. But hedidn't want to be disturbed. "

Mrs. Rice's manner grew even more sweetly sympathetic. 

"I _am_ so sorry, " she said. "How worried you must be!"

The girl stared at her in astonishment. She had never expected to find Mrs. Rice seriously concerned about any one, and least of all the Hindu, who wasno favourite of hers. 

"Oh, there's really nothing to worry about, " she exclaimed impatiently. "Fred said he hadn't much of a temperature. "

"Yes, I daresay. But you can't help being anxious, I know. I wonder thatyou were able to bring yourself to come here at all, dear, " said the olderwoman in honeyed tones. 

"But why shouldn't I?"

Noreen's eyebrows were raised in bewilderment. She felt instinctively thatthere was some hidden unfriendliness at the back of Mrs. Rice's sympatheticwords. She felt that Dermot was watching her. 

"Oh, forgive me, dear. I am afraid I'm being indiscreet. I forgot, " saidthe other woman. She rose from her chair and turned to the man beside her. 

"Major, do take me out to see how the coolies are getting on with the pologround. I hope when it's finished you'll come here to play regularly. Theseboys want someone to show them the game. You military men are the only oneswho know how it should be played. "

She put up her green-lined white sun-umbrella and led the way down theverandah steps. With a puckered brow Noreen watched her and her companionuntil they were out of sight round the corner of the little woodenbuilding. 

"What does Mrs. Rice mean?" she demanded. "I'm sure there's somethingbehind her words. She never pretended to like Mr. Chunerbutty. Why shouldshe be concerned about him now? Why does she seem to expect me to staybehind to nurse him? Of course I would, if he were dangerously ill. Buthe's not. "

Payne glanced around. Some of the men, who were sitting near, had heard theconversation with Mrs. Rice, and Noreen felt that there was somethinghostile in the way in which they looked at her. 

Payne answered in a careless tone:

"Let's sit down. There are a couple of chairs. We'll bag them. "

He pointed to two at the far end of the verandah and led the way to them. 

When they were seated he said:

"Haven't you any idea of what she means, Miss Daleham?"

The girl stared at him anxiously. 

"Then she does mean something, and you know it. Mr. Payne, you have alwaysbeen good to me. Won't you help me? Everyone seems to have grown suddenlyvery unfriendly. "

The grey-haired man looked pityingly at her. 

"Will you be honest with me, child?" he asked. "Are you engaged toChunerbutty?"

"Engaged? What--to marry him? Good gracious, no!" exclaimed the astonishedgirl, half rising from her chair. 

"Will you tell me frankly--have you any intention of marrying him?" hepersisted. 

Noreen stared at him, her cheeks flaming. 

"Marry Mr. Chunerbutty? Of course not. How could you think so! Why, he'snot even a white man. "

"Thank God!" Payne exclaimed fervently. "I'm delighted to hear it. Icouldn't believe it--yet one never knows. "

"But what on earth put such a preposterous idea into your head, Mr. Payne?"asked Noreen. "And what has this got to do with Mrs. Rice?"

"Because Mrs. Rice said that you were engaged to Chunerbutty. "

For a moment Noreen could find no words. Then she leaned forward, her eyesflashing. 

"Oh, how could she--how could she think so?"

"Perhaps she didn't. But she wanted us to. She said that you had told heryou were engaged to him, but wanted it kept secret for the present. Sonaturally she told everyone. "

"Told everyone that I was going to marry a native? Oh, how cruel of her!How could she be so wicked!" exclaimed the girl, much distressed. Then sheadded: "Did _you_ believe it?"

Payne shook his head. 

"Candidly, child, I didn't know what to think. I hoped it wasn't true. Butof late that damned Bengali seemed so intimate with you. He apparentlywanted everyone to see on what very friendly terms you and he were. "

"Did Major Dermot believe it too?"

"I don't know, " said Payne doubtfully. "Dermot's not the fellow to talkabout women. He's never mentioned you. "

"But how do you know that Mrs. Rice said such a thing? Did she tell you?"

"No; she knows that I am your friend, and I daresay she was afraid to tellme such a lie. But she told others. "

He turned in his chair and called to a young fellow standing near the barof the club. 

"I say, Travers, do you mind coming here a moment? Pull up a chair and sitdown. "

Travers was a straight, clean-minded boy, one of those of their communitywhom Noreen liked best, and she had felt hurt at his marked avoidance ofher all the afternoon. 

"Look here, youngster, " said Payne in a low voice, "did Mrs. Rice tell youthat Miss Daleham was engaged to Chunerbutty?"

Travers looked at him in surprise. 

"Yes. I told you so the other day. She said that Miss Daleham had confidedto her that they were engaged, but wanted it kept secret for a time untilhe could get another job. "

"Then, my boy, you'll be pleased to hear it's a damned lie, " said Payneimpressively. "Miss Daleham would never marry a black man. "

The boy's face lit up. 

"I am glad!" he cried impulsively. "I'm very, very sorry, Miss Daleham, forhelping to spread the lie. But I only told Payne. I knew he was a friend ofyours, and I hoped he'd be able to contradict the yarn. For I felt verysick about it. "

"Thank you, Mr. Travers, " the girl said gratefully. "But I'm glad that youdid tell him. Otherwise I might not have heard it, at least not from afriend. "

Just then the four men on the tennis-court finished their game and came into the bar. Fred Daleham and another took their places and began a single. Mrs. Rice, with Dermot and several other men, came up the steps of theverandah, and, sitting down, ordered tea for the party. 

Noreen looked at her with angry eyes, and, rising, walked along theverandah to where she was sitting surrounded by the group of men. 

Her enemy looked up as she approached. 

"Are you coming to have tea, dear?" she said sweetly. "I haven't orderedany for you, but I daresay they'll find you a cup. "

Dermot rose to offer the girl his chair; but, ignoring him, she confrontedthe other woman. 

"Mrs. Rice, will you please tell me if it is true that you said I wasengaged to Mr. Chunerbutty?" she demanded in a firm tone. 

It was as if a bomb had exploded in the club. Noreen's voice carriedclearly through the building, so that everyone inside it heard her wordsdistinctly. The only two members of their little community who missed themwere her brother and his opponent on the tennis-court. 

Mrs. Rice gasped and stared at the indignant girl, while the men about hersat up suddenly in their chairs. 

"I said so? What an idea!" ejaculated the planter's wife. Then in aninsinuating voice she added: "You know I never betray secrets. "

"There is no secret. Please answer me. Did you say to any one that I hadtold you I was engaged to him?" persisted the girl. 

The older woman tried to crush her by a haughty assumption of superiority. 

"You absurd child, you must be careful what accusations you bring. Youshouldn't say such things. "

"Kindly answer my question, " demanded the angry girl. 

Mrs. Rice lay back in her chair with affected carelessness. 

"Well, aren't you engaged to him? Won't even he--?" she broke off andsniggered impertinently. 

"I am not. Most certainly not, " said Noreen hotly. "I insist on youranswering me. Did you say that I had told you we were and asked you to keepit a secret?"

"No, I did not. Who did I tell?" snapped the other woman. 

"Me for one, " broke in a voice; and Dermot took a step forward. "Youtold me very clearly and precisely, Mrs. Rice, that Miss Daleham hadconfided to you under the pledge of secrecy--which, by the way, you werebreaking--that she was engaged to this man. "

There was an uncomfortable pause. Noreen glanced gratefully at herchampion. The other men shifted uneasily, and Mrs. Rice's husband, who wasstanding at the bar, hastily hid his face in a whiskey and soda. 

Noreen turned again to her traducer. 

"Will you kindly contradict your false statement?" she asked. 

The other woman looked down sullenly and made no reply. 

"Then I shall, " continued the girl. She faced the group of men before her, Payne and Travers by her side. 

"I ask you to believe, gentlemen, that there never was nor could be anyquestion of an engagement between Mr. Chunerbutty and me, " she said firmly. "And I give you my word of honour that I never said such a thing to Mrs. Rice. "

She waited for a moment, then turned and walked away down the verandah, followed by Payne and Travers, leaving a pained silence behind her. Mrs. Rice tried to regain her self-confidence. 

"The idea of that chit talking to me like that!" she exclaimed. "It wasonly meant for a joke, if I did say it. Who'd have ever thought she'd havetaken it that way?"

"Any decent man--or woman, Mrs. Rice, " said Dermot severely. Then, afterlooking at Rice to see if he wished to take up the cudgels on his wife'sbehalf, and failing to catch that gentleman's carefully-averted eye, thesoldier turned and walked deliberately to where Noreen was sitting, nowsuffering from the reaction from her anger and frightened at the memory ofher boldness. 

The other men got up one by one and went to the bar, from which the henpecked Rice was peremptorily called by his angry wife and ordered to driveher home. 

After the Dalehams had returned to their bungalow the girl told her brotherof what had happened at the club. He was exceedingly angry and agreed thatit would be wiser for her to keep Chunerbutty at a distance in future. Andlater on he had no objection to her inviting Dermot to pay them a flyingvisit when he was again in their neighbourhood. For the incident at theclub had brought about a resumption of the old friendly relations betweenNoreen and Dermot, who occasionally invited her to accompany him on Badshahfor a short excursion into the forest, much to her delight. She confided tohim the offer of the necklace and learned in return his belief that theRajah was the instigator of the attempt to carry her off. When her brotherheard of this and of Chunerbutty's action in the matter of the jewels hewas so enraged that he quarrelled for the first time with his Hindu friend. 

 * * * * *

Dermot was kept informed of whatever happened in Lalpuri by the repentantRama through the medium of Barclay. For the Deputy Superintendent had beenappointed to a special and important post in the Secret Police and told offto watch the conspiracy in Bengal. This he owed to a strong recommendationfrom Dermot to the Head of the Department in Simla. Rama proved invaluable. Through him they learned of the despatch of an important Brahmin messengerand intermediary from the Palace to Bhutan, by way of Malpura, where he wasto visit some of his caste-fellows on Parry's garden. The informationreached Dermot too late to enable him to seize the man on the tea-estate. So he hurried to the border to intercept the messenger before he crossedit. But here, too, he was unsuccessful. Certain that the Brahmin had notslipped through the meshes of the net formed by his secret service ofsubsidised Bhuttias, Dermot returned to the jungle to make search for himalong the way. But all to no avail, much to his chagrin; for he had reasonto hope that he would find on the emissary proof enough of the treason ofthe rulers of Lalpuri to hang them. He went back to Malpura to prosecuteenquiries. 

To console himself for his disappointment Dermot determined to have a day'sshooting in the jungle, a treat he rarely had leisure for now. He invitedthe Dalehams to accompany him. Noreen accepted eagerly, but her brother wasobliged to decline, much to his regret. For Parry was now always in a statebordering on lunacy, and his brutal treatment of the coolies, when hisassistant was not there to restrain him, several times nearly drove theminto open revolt. So Dermot and his companion set off alone. 

As they went along they chanced to pass near a little village buried in theheart of the jungle. A man working on the small patch of cleared soil inwhich he and his fellows grew their scanty crops saw them, recognisedBadshah and his male rider, and ran away shouting to the hamlet. Then outof it swarmed men, women, and children, the last naked, while onlymiserable rags clothed the skinny frames of their elders. All prostratedthemselves in the dust in Badshah's path. The elephant stopped. Then awizened old man with scanty white beard raised his hands imploringly toDermot. 

"Lord! Holy One! Have mercy on us!"

The rest chorused: "Have mercy!"

"Spare thy slaves, O Lord!" went on the old man. "Spare us ere all perish. We worship at thy shrine. We grudge not thy elephants our miserable crops. Are they not thy servants? But let not the Striped Death slay all of us. "

Dermot questioned him and then explained to Noreen that a man-eating tigerhad taken up its residence near the village and was rapidly killing off itsinhabitants. 

"Oh, do help them, " she said. "Can't you shoot it?"

He reflected for a few moments. 

"Yes, I think I know how to get it. Will you wait for me in the village?"

"What? Mayn't I go with you to see you kill it? Please let me. I promiseI'll not scream or be stupid. "

He looked at her admiringly. 

"Bravo!" he said. "I'm sure you'll be all right. Very well. I promise youyou shall see a sight that not many other women have seen. "

He borrowed a _puggri_--a strip of cotton cloth several yards long--from avillager, and bade them show him where the tiger lay up during the heat ofthe day. When they had done so from a safe distance, he turned Badshah, and, to Noreen's surprise, sped off swiftly in the opposite direction. 

Suddenly the girl touched his arm quietly. 

"Look! I see a wild elephant. There's another! And another!" she whispered. 

"Yes; I've come in search of them, " he replied in his ordinary tone. "It'sBadshah's herd. "

"Is it really? How wonderful! How did you know where to find them?" shecried, thrilled by the sight of the great beasts all round them andexclaiming with delight at the solemn little woolly babies, many newlyborn. For this was the calving season. 

Dermot uttered a peculiar cry that sent the cow-elephants huddlingtogether, their young hiding under their bodies, while from everyquarter the great tuskers broke out through the undergrowth and came tohim in a mass. Then, as Badshah turned and set off at a rapid pace, thebull-elephants followed. 

When he arrived near the spot in which the man-eater was said to have hislair, Dermot stopped them all. Despite her protests he tied Noreen firmlywith the _puggri_ to the rope crossing Badshah's pad. Then he drove hisanimal into the herd of tuskers, which had crowded together, and dividedthem into two bodies. The tiger was reported to lie up in a narrow _nullah_filled and fringed with low bushes. From the near bank to where Badshahstood the forest was free from undergrowth, which came to within a score ofyards of the far bank. 

Badshah smelled the ground, and the other elephants followed his exampleand, when they scented the tiger's trail, began to be restless and excited. A sharp cry from Dermot and the two bodies of tuskers separated and movedaway, branching off half right and left, and disappeared in theundergrowth. 

Dermot cocked his double-barrelled rifle. There was a long pause. A strangefeeling of awe crept over Noreen at the realisation of her companion'sstrange power over these great animals. No wonder the superstitious nativesbelieved him to be a god. 

Presently there was a loud crashing in the undergrowth beyond the _nullah_, and Noreen saw the saplings in it agitated, as if by the passage of theelephants. The tiger gave no sign of life. The girl's heart beat fast, andher breath came quickly. But her companion never moved. 

Suddenly Noreen gasped, for through the screen of thin bushes that fringedthe edge of the _nullah_ a hideous painted mask was thrust out. It was atiger's face, the ears flattened to the skull, the eyes flaming, the lipsdrawn back to bare the teeth in a ghastly snarl. The brute saw Badshah anddrew quietly back. A pause. Then it sprang into full view and poised for asingle instant on the far bank. But at that very moment the line of tuskersburst out of the tangled undergrowth and the tiger jumped down into the_nullah_ again. 

Then like a flash it leaped into sight over the near bank, bounding in afurious charge straight at Badshah. Noreen held her breath as it crouchedto spring. Dermot's rifle was at his shoulder, and he pressed the trigger. There was a click--the cartridge had missed fire. And the tiger sprang fullat the man. 

But as it did so Badshah swung swiftly round--well for Noreen that she wassecurely fastened--for he had been standing a little sideways. And with anupward sweep of his head he caught the leaping tiger in mid-air on thepoint of his tusk, hurling it back a dozen yards. 

As the baffled brute struck the ground with a heavy thud it lay still for asecond and then sprang up, but at that moment Dermot's second barrel rangout, and, shot through the brain, the tiger collapsed, its head resting onits paws. A tremor shook the powerful frame, the tail twitched feebly, thenall was still. 

The long line of elephants halted on the far bank of the _nullah_, swunginto file, and moved swiftly out of sight. Their work was done. 

Dermot reloaded and urged Badshah forward, covering the tiger with hisrifle. There was no need. It was dead. 

Noreen leant forward and looked down at the striped body. 

"What a splendid beast!" she exclaimed. 

Dermot turned to her. 

"You kept your word well, Miss Daleham, " he said. "I congratulate you onyour pluck. The highest compliment I can pay you is to say that I forgotyou were there. Not many men would have sat as quiet as you did when thecartridge missed fire and the brute sprang. "

The girl's eyes sparkled and she blushed. His praise was very dear to her. 

In a lighter tone he continued:

"As a reward and a souvenir you shall have the skin. I'll get thevillagers to take it off. Now stay on Badshah, please, while I slip downand have a look at the tiger's little nest. "

With rifle at the ready, lest the dead animal should have had a mate, he climbed down into the _nullah_. He had not gone ten yards before hisfoot struck against something hard. In the pressed-down weeds was thehalf-gnawed skull of a man. The skin and flesh of the face were fairlyintact. He took the head up in his hands. On the forehead were paintedthree white horizontal strokes. The tiger's last prey had been aBrahmin. A thought flashed across Dermot's mind. He searched about. A few bones, parts of the hands and feet, some rags of clothing--anda long flat narrow leather case. He tore this open and hastily tookout the papers it contained; and as he skimmed through them his eyesglistened with delight. 

He sprang up out of the _nullah_ and ran towards Badshah. When theelephant's trunk had swung him up on to the massive head he said:

"We must go back at once. I 'll tell the villagers as we pass to flay thetiger. I must borrow your brother's pony and ride as fast as I can toSalchini to get Payne's motor to take me to the railway. "

"The railway?" exclaimed the girl. "Why, what is the matter? Where are yougoing?"

"To Simla. I've found the lost messenger. Aye, and perhaps information thatmay save India and proofs that will hang our friends in the Palace ofLalpuri. _Mul_, Badshah!"

CHAPTER XIX

TEMPEST

The storm had burst on India. In the Khyber Pass there was fiercer fightingthan even that blood-stained defile had ever seen. The flames kindled byfanaticism and lust of plunder blazed up along the North-west Frontier andburned fiercest around Peshawar, where the Pathan tribes gathered thickest. No news came from the interior of Bhutan. 

So far, however, the interior of the land was comparatively tranquil. Sporadic outbreaks in the Bombay Presidency and the Punjaub had beencrushed promptly. The great plan of a wide-spread concerted risingthroughout the peninsula had come to naught, thanks to the papers thatDermot had found in the man-eater's den. He had carried them straight toSimla himself, for closer examination had confirmed his first impressionand shown him that they were far too important to be confided to any oneelse. 

The information in them proved to be of the utmost value, for theydisclosed the complete plans of the conspirators and told the very datesarranged for the advance of the Afghan army and the attacks of the Pathans, which were to take place simultaneously with the general rising in India. This latter the military authorities were enabled to deal with soeffectively that it came to nothing. 

Incidentally the papers conclusively proved the treason of the Rajah andthe _Dewan_ of Lalpuri, and that the Palace was one of the most importantcentres of the conspiracy. To Dermot's amazement no action was takenagainst the two arch-plotters, owing to the incredible timidity of thechief civil authorities in India and their susceptibility to politicalinfluences in England. For Lalpuri and its rulers had been taken under thevery particular protection of the Socialist Party; and the Government ofIndia feared to touch the traitors. The excuse given for this leniency wasthat any attempt to punish them might be the signal for the long delayedrising in Lalpuri and Eastern Bengal generally. 

A few days after Dermot's return from Simla orders came to him from theAdjutant General to hand over the command of the detachment to Parker, ashe himself had been appointed extra departmental Political Officer of theBhutan Border, with headquarters at Ranga Duar. This released him from theresponsibilities of his military duties and left him free to devote himselfto watching the frontier. He was able to keep in communication with Parkerby means of signal stations established on high peaks near the Fort, visible from many points in the mountains and the forest; for he carried asignalling outfit always with him. 

Thanks to this precaution the garrison of the outpost was not taken bysurprise when one morning the hills around Ranga Duar were seen to becovered with masses of armed men, and long lines of troops wound down themountain paths. For from the peaks above the pass through which he had oncegone to the Death Place of the elephants, Dermot had looked down upon aninvading force of Chinese regulars supported by levies of Bhutanese fromthe interior and a wild mob of masterless Bhuttias from both sides of theborder. He had flashed a warning to Parker in ample time, returned to the_peelkhana_ and bidden Ramnath hide with Badshah in a concealed spot in thefoothills where he could easily find them, sent the other _mahouts_ andelephants out of reach of the invaders, and climbed up to the Fort to watchwith his late subaltern the arrival of the enemy. 

"Well, Major, it's come our way at last, " said Parker as they greeted eachother. "Thanks to your warning we're ready for them. But we are not theonly people who've been expecting them. The wires are cut, the roadblocked, and we are isolated. "

"Yes, I know. Many messengers have got through from the enemy; for mycordon of faithful Bhuttias has disappeared. The members of it have joinedthe invaders in the hope of loot. " Parker looked up at the hills, blackwith descending forms. 

"There's a mighty lot of the beggars, " he said simply. "Do you remember ourdiscussing this very happening once and your saying that we weren't equalto stopping a whole army? What's your advice now?"

"See it out. We're bound to go under in the end, but we'll be able, I hope, to keep them off for a few days. And every hour we hold them up will beworth a lot to those below. We shan't be relieved, for there aren't any mento spare in India. But we'll have done our part. "

"I say, Major, wasn't it lucky we got those machine guns in time? I'veplenty of ammunition, so we ought to be able to put up a good fight. What'll they do first?"

"Try to rush the defences at once. They have a lot of irregulars whom theChinese General won't be able to keep in hand. He won't mind their beingwiped out either. I see you've made a good job of clearing the foreground. You haven't left them much cover. So you blew up our poor old Mess and thebungalows?"

"Yes. The rubble came in handy for filling in that _nullah_. Hullo!"Parker's glasses went to his eyes. "You're right, by Jingo! They'regathering for an assault. Gad! what a beautiful mark for shrapnel. I wishwe'd a gun or two. "

A storm of shells from the mountain batteries, the only artillery that theenemy had been able to bring with them through the Himalayas, fell on theFort and its defences. Then masses of men rushed down the hills to theattack. Not a shot was fired at them. Encouraged by the garrison's silenceand carried away by the prospect of an easy victory, they lost allformation and crowded together in dense swarms. 

The two British officers watched them from the central redoubt. Parker heldhis binoculars to his eyes with his right hand, while his left forefingerrested on a polished button in a little machine on the table beside him. The assailants, favoured by the fall of the ground, soon reached the limitsof the cantonments, bare now of buildings and trees. There were trainedChinese troops, some tall, light-complexioned Northerners of Manchu blood, others stocky, yellow men from Canton and the Southern Provinces. Mobs ofBhutanese with heads, chests, legs, and feet bare, fierce but undisciplinedfighters, armed with varied weapons, led the van. Uttering weird yells andbrandishing their _dahs_, spears, muskets, and rifles, they rushed towardsthe fort, from which no shot was fired. Accustomed to the lofty _jongs_, orcastles, of their own land they deemed the breastworks and trenchesunworthy of notice. And the stone barracks and walls in the Fort wererapidly melting away under the rain of shells. 

Flushed with victory the swarming masses came on. But suddenly the worldupheaved behind the leaders. Rocks, earth, and rubble went up in cloudsinto the air, and with them scores of the Chinese regular troops, underwhose very feet mines of the new explosive had been fired by Parker. Andthe howling mobs in front were held up by barbed wire, while from thedespised trenches and breastworks a storm of lead swept the crowded massesof the attackers away. At that close range every bullet from the machineguns and rifles of the defenders drove through two or three assailants, every bomb and grenade slew a group. Only in one spot by sheer weight ofnumbers did they break through. 

But like a thunderbolt fell the counter-attack. Stalwart PunjaubiMohammedans, led by Dermot, swept down upon them, and with bomb and bayonetdrove them out. The survivors turned and staggered up the hills again, withering away under the steady fire of the sepoys, who adjusted theirsights with the utmost coolness as the range increased. 

Again and again the assaults were repeated and repulsed, until theundisciplined and demoralised Bhutanese refused to advance, and the Chineseregulars attacked alone. But fresh mines exploded under them; the deadlyfire of the defenders' machine guns blasted them; and the Pekin generallooked anxious as his best troops melted away. He would not go far intoIndia if every small body of its soldiers took equally heavy toll of hisforce. So he ordered a cessation of the assaults. 

But there was no respite for the little garrison. Day and night thepitiless bombardment by the mountain batteries and long-range fire ofrifles and machine guns never ceased. And death was busy among thedefenders. 

On the third night of the siege Dermot and the subaltern knelt side by sidein what was now the last line of the defence. 

"I ought not to ask you to go, Major, " whispered Parker. "It's not possibleto get through, I'm afraid. I can't forget the awful sight of the fiendishtortures they inflicted on poor Hikmat Khan and Shaikh Ismail today in fullview of us all. They tried to slip through last night with their nakedbodies covered with oil. It's a terrible death for you if they catch you. It would be much easier to die fighting. Yet someone ought to go. "

"Yes, they must be told at Headquarters, " replied his companion in anequally low tone. "We can't hold them two days longer. "

"Not that, if they try to rush us again. Our ammunition is giving out, "said Parker. "I'd go myself if I weren't commanding here. But I'd have nochance of getting through. You are our only hope. Oh, I don't mean ofrelief. There's no possibility of that. "

"No; if I do manage to get into touch with Headquarters, it would be toolate, even if they could spare any troops. "

"Yes, it's all over now, bar the shouting. Well, we've had some jolly timestogether, sir, you and I, in this little place, haven't we? Do you rememberwhen the Dalehams were up here? What a nice girl she was. I hope she'ssafe. "

"I hope to Heaven she is, " muttered Dermot. "Well, Parker, I must saygood-bye. We've been good friends, you and I; and I'm sorry it's theend. "

In the darkness their hands met in a firm grip. 

"One word, sir, " whispered the subaltern. "If you do pull through, you'vegot my mother's address. You'll let her know? She thinks a lot of me, poorold lady. "

Dermot answered him only by a pressure of the hand. The next moment he wasgone. Parker, straining eyes and ears, saw nothing, heard nothing. 

Half an hour later a picquet of slant-eyed men lying on the steep slopes ofthe hill below the Fort saw above them a man's figure dark against thepaling stars. They challenged and sprang towards it with levelled bayonets. The next instant they were hurled apart, dashed to the ground, trampled todeath. One as he expired had a shadowy vision of some awful bulk toweringblack against the coming dawn. 

The sun was low in the heavens when Dermot awoke in a bracken-carpetedglade of the forest thirty miles away from Ranga Duar. Over him Badshahstood watchfully. The man yawned, rubbed his eyes and sat up. He looked athis watch. 

"Good Heavens! I've slept for hours!" he cried. 

Overcome by fatigue, for he had not even lain down once since the siegebegan, and finding that he was in danger of falling off the elephant, hehad dismounted for a few minutes' rest. But exhausted Nature had conqueredhim, and he had fallen into a deep sleep. Haggard, hollow-eyed, and wornout, despite the rest, he staggered to his feet and was swung up toBadshah's neck by the crooked trunk and started again. 

He was hastening towards Salchini, where he hoped to secure Payne's car, ifthe owner had not fled, and try to get into touch with Army Headquarters. But what to do if his friend had gone he hardly knew. The heavy firing atRanga Duar, echoed by the mountains, must have been heard in the district;and all the planters had probably taken the warning and gone away. He wasracked with anxiety as to Noreen's fate and could only hope that at thefirst alarm her brother had hurried her off. But there was no militarystation nearer than Calcutta or Darjeeling, and by this time it wasprobable that the whole of Eastern Bengal was in revolt. God help theEnglishwoman that fell into its people's hands! The temptation to turnaside to Malpura was great. But Dermot overcame it. His duty came first. 

Darkness had fallen on the jungle now. Except to lessen his speed it madelittle difference to the elephant; but for the man it was harder to findhis way. On the twisting jungle tracks his luminous compass was of littleuse. He was forced to trust mainly to the animal. 

But soon a suspicion arose in his mind that Badshah had swerved away fromthe direction in which Salchini lay and was heading for Malpura. It becamecertainty when they reached a deep _nullah_ in the forest which Dermot knewwas on the route to that garden. He tried to turn the elephant. Badshahpaid no heed to him and held on his way with an invincible determinationthat made the man suspect there was a grave reason for his obstinacy. Heknew too well the animal's strange and mysterious intelligence. He gave upcontending uselessly and was borne along through the dark forestunresisting. Over the tree-tops floated the long, wailing cry of a GiantOwl circling against the stars. Close to their path the warning bark of a_khakur_ deer was answered by the harsh braying roar of a tiger. Far awaythe metallic trumpeting of a wild elephant rang out into the night. 

Presently Dermot saw a red glow through the trees ahead. Badshah neverchecked his pace but swept on until the glow became a ruddy glare stainingthe tree-trunks. Suddenly the stars shone overhead. They were clear of thejungle; and as they emerged on the open clearing of the tea-garden a columnof fire blazed up ahead of them. 

A chill fear smote Dermot. He would have urged Badshah on, but the elephantdid not need it. Rapidly they sped along the soft road towards the leapingflames, which the soldier soon realised rose from the burning factory andwithering sheds. And black against the light danced hundreds of figures, while yells and wild cries rent the air. And, well to one side, a freshburst of flame and sparks leapt up into the night. It was one of thebungalows afire. Round it more figures moved fantastically. A groan camefrom the man's lips. Was it Daleham's bungalow that burned?

All at once Badshah stopped of his own accord and sank down on his knees. Mechanically his rider slipped to the ground and stood staring at thestrange scene. He hardly noticed that the elephant rose, touched himcaressingly with its trunk, swung round and sped away towards the forest. Half-dazed and heedless of danger Dermot hurried forward. Again the flamesshot up, and by their light he saw to his relief that the Dalehams'bungalow was still standing. Parry's house was burning furiously. Pistol inhand he ran forward, scarcely cognizant of the crowds of shifting figuresaround the blazing buildings, deaf to their triumphant yells. Groups ofnatives crossed his path, shouting and leaping into the air excitedly, butthey paid no attention to him. But, as he ran, he hit up against one manwho turned and, seeing his white face, yelled and sprang away. 

As Dermot neared the Dalehams' bungalow he saw that it was surrounded by acordon of coolies armed with rifles and strung out many yards apart. Heraced swiftly for a gap between two of them; but a man rose from the groundand snatched at him. The soldier struck savagely at him with the hand inwhich the pistol was firmly clenched, putting all his weight into the blow. The native crumpled and fell in a heap. 

Dashing on Dermot shouted Daleham's name. From behind a barricade of boxeson the verandah a stern voice which he recognised as belonging to one ofthe Punjaubi servants whom he had provided, called out:

"_Kohn hai? Kohn atha?_ (Who is there? Who comes?)"

"Sher Afzul! It is I. Dermot Sahib, " he replied, as he sprang up theverandah steps. 

The muzzle of a rifle was pointed at him over the barricade, and a beardedface peered at him. 

"It is the Major Sahib!" said the Mohammedan. "In the name of Allah, Sahib, have you brought your sepoys?"

"No; I am alone. Where are the Sahib and the missie _baba?_"

"In the bungalow. Enter, Sahib. "

Dermot climbed over the barricade and pushed open the door of thedining-room, which was in darkness. But the heavy curtain dividing itfrom the drawing-room was dragged aside and Daleham appeared in thedoorway, outlined against the faint light of a turned-down lamp. Behindhim Noreen was rising from a chair. 

"Who's there?" cried the boy, raising a revolver. 

"It's all right, Daleham. It's I, Dermot. I'm alone, I'm sorry to say. "

A stifled cry burst from the girl. 

"Oh, you are safe, thank God!" she cried, her hand at her heart. 

"What has happened here?" asked Dermot, entering the room. 

Fred let fall the curtain as he answered:

"Hell's broke loose on the garden, sir. The coolies have mutinied. Parry'sdead, murdered; and we're alive only by the kind mercies of that bruteChunerbutty, damn him! You were right about him, Major; and I was afool. . . . Is it true you've been attacked up in Ranga Duar?" he continued. 

"Are you wounded, Major Dermot?" broke in the girl anxiously. 

"No, Miss Daleham. I'm quite safe and sound. "

Then he told them briefly what had happened. When he had finished he askedthem when the trouble began at Malpura. 

"Three days ago, " replied Fred. "The wind was blowing from the north, andwe heard firing up in the mountains. I thought you were having an extra goof musketry there. But the coolies suddenly stopped work and gatheredoutside their village, where those infernal Brahmins harangued them. I wentto order them back to their jobs----". 

"Where was Parry?"

"Lying dead drunk in his bungalow. Well, some of the coolies attacked mewith _lathis_, others tried to protect me. The Brahmins told me that theend of the British _Raj_ (dominion) had come and that you were beingattacked in Ranga Duar by a big army from China and would be wiped out. Then I was hustled back to the bungalow where those Mohammedan servantsthat you got for us--lucky you did!--turned out with rifles, which theysaid afterwards you'd given them, and wanted to fire on the mob. But Istopped them. "

"Where was Chunerbutty?"

"Oh, he hadn't thrown off the mask yet. He came to me and said he was aprisoner and would not be allowed to leave the estate. But he advised me toride over to Granger or some of the other fellows and get their help. But Iwouldn't leave Noreen; and Sher Afzul told me that it was as bad on theother gardens. But only today the real trouble began. "

"What happened?"

"Some news apparently reached the coolies that drove them mad with delight. They murdered the Parsi storekeeper, looted his place, and got drunk on his_dáru_. Then they started killing the few Mohammedans we had on the estate. Some of the women and children got to us and we took them in. But the rest, even the little babies, were murdered by the brutes. 

"I went over to Parry, but he was still too drunk to understand me. I wastrying to rouse him when I heard shouts and ran out on the verandah. Allthe coolies, men, women, and children, were streaming towards thebungalows, mad with excitement, screaming and yelling. The men and evenmost of the boys carried weapons. The Brahmins were leading them. They madefor Chunerbutty's house first. I was going to run to his assistance, whenhe came out and they cheered him like anything. He was in native dress andhad marks painted on his forehead like the other Brahmins. "

"Yes; go on. What happened then?"

"The engineer seemed as excited and mad as the rest. He ran down his steps, put himself at the head of the mob, shouted out something, and pointed toParry's bungalow. They all rushed over to it, yelling like mad. Poor oldParr heard them and, dazed and drunk, staggered out on the verandah in hispyjamas and bare feet. Chunerbutty and the Brahmins came up the steps, driving back the crowd, which tried to follow them, howling like demons. "

Fred passed his hand across his eyes. Dermot bent forward and staredeagerly at him, while Noreen looked only at the soldier. 

"I called out to the engineer and asked him what it all meant, " went on theboy, "but he took no notice of me. Parry tottered towards him, abusing him. Chunerbutty let him come to within a yard or two, then pulled out a pistoland fired three shots straight at the old man's heart. Poor old Parr felldead. "

Daleham paused for a moment. 

"Poor old chap! He had his faults; but he had his good points, too. Well, I rushed towards him, but the Bengalis fell on me, knocked me down, andoverpowered me. The mob outside yelled for my blood; but Chunerbutty shutthem up. I was allowed to get on my feet again; and Chunerbutty held apistol to my head, and cursed me and ordered me to go back to my bungalowand wait. He said that somebody would come here tomorrow to settle what wasto be my fate and to take Noreen. "

The girl sprang up. 

"You never told me that, " she cried. 

"No; it wasn't any use distressing you, " replied her brother. "But I had totell the Major. "

She turned impetuously to Dermot and stretched out her arms to him. 

"You won't let them take me, will you? Oh, say you won't!" she said with alittle sob. 

He took both her hands in his. 

"No, little girl, I won't. Not while I live. "

"You'll kill me first? Promise me. "

"On my honour. "

She gave a sigh of relief and, strangely content, sank back into her chair. But she still held one of his hands clasped tightly in both of hers. 

"Well, that's pretty well all there is to tell, Major, " her brother wenton. "I came back here, and the servants and I tried to put the house into astate of defence. No one's come near us so far. "

"So Chunerbutty was at the head of affairs here. I thought so, I supposethe someone is that scoundrelly Rajah. He'll make his conditions known and, if you don't surrender, they'll attack us. Now, let's see what we've got asgarrison. We two and the servants--seven. How are you off for weapons? Ileft my rifle behind. "

"The servants have got their rifles and plenty of ammunition. I have adouble-barrelled . 400 cordite rifle and a shot-gun. If it comes to a scrapI'll take that and leave you the rifle. You're a much better shot; and Ican't miss at close quarters with a scatter-gun. "

"Do you think there's any hope for us?" asked the girl quietly. 

"Frankly, I don't. I'd not put it so bluntly, only I've seen you in a tightcorner before, Miss Daleham, and you weren't afraid. "

"I am not now, " she replied calmly. 

"I believe we'd hold off these coolies, aye, and the Rajah's soldiers too, if they came. But we may have the Chinese troops on us at any minute; andthat's a different matter. "

"But why should you stay with us, Major Dermot?" said the girl anxiously. "As you got in through these men, surely you could escape the same way. "

"I'll be candid with you, Miss Daleham, and tell you that if I could Iwould. For it's my duty to go on and report. But I'm stranded without myelephant, and even if I had him it wouldn't be much good unless I hadPayne's car. And what has happened here must have happened on the othergardens. Without the motor I'd be too late with my news. So I'll stay hereand take my chance. "

Then he laughed and added:

"But cheer up; we're not dead yet. If only I'd Badshah I'd take you both upon him and we'd break through the whole Chinese Army. "

The girl shook her head. 

"We couldn't go. We couldn't leave those poor women and children and theservants. "

"I forgot them. No; you're right. Well, I haven't lost all hope. I havegreat faith in old Badshah. I shouldn't be surprised if he got us out ofthis scrape, as he did before. "

"Oh, I forgot him. I believe he'll help us still, " cried the girl. "Wheredid you leave him?"

"He left me. He's quite able to take care of himself, " replied Dermotgrimly. "Now, Daleham, please take me round the house and show me thedefences; and we'll arrange about the roster of sentry-duty with theservants. Please excuse me, Miss Daleham. "

Through the weary night the two men, when not taking their turn on guard, sat and talked with Noreen in the drawing-room. For the girl refused to goto bed and, only to content them, lay back on a settee. 

When she and Dermot were left alone she sighed and said:

"Ah, my beautiful forest! I must say good-bye to it. How I have enjoyed thehappy days in it. "

"Some of them were too exciting to be pleasant, " he replied smiling. 

"But the others made up for them. I like to think of you in the forestbest, " she said dreamily. "We were real friends there. "

"And elsewhere, I hope. "

"No. In Darjeeling you didn't like me. "

"I did. Tonight I can be frank and tell you that I was glad to go to itbecause you were there. "

She looked at him wonderingly. 

"But you wouldn't take any notice of me there, " she said. 

"No. I was told that you were engaged, or practically engaged, toCharlesworth, and disliked any one else taking up your time. "

She sat up indignantly. 

"To Captain Charlesworth? How absurd! I suppose I've Ida to thank for that. I wouldn't have married him for anything. "

"Is that so? What a game of cross-purposes life is! But that's why I didn'ttry to speak to you much. "

"Did you want to? I thought you disliked me. And it hurt me so much. Do youknow, I used to cry about it sometimes. I wanted you to be my friend. "

He walked over to her settee. 

"Noreen, dear, I wanted to be your friend and you to be mine, " he said, looking down at her. "I liked you so much. At least, I thought I likedyou. "

"And--and don't you?" she asked, looking up at him. 

He knelt beside her. 

"No, little friend, I don't like you. Because I--" He paused. 

"What?" she whispered faintly. 

"I love you, dear. Do you think it absurd?"

She was silent for a moment. Then she looked slowly up at him; and in hereyes he read her answer. 

"Sweetheart! Little sweetheart!" he whispered, and held out his arms toher. 

With a little cry she crept into them; and he pressed her to his heart. Atthat moment enemies, danger, death, were forgotten. For Noreen her wholeworld lay within the circle of his arms. 

"Do you really, really love me?" she asked wonderingly. 

He held her very close to his heart and looked fondly, tenderly down intothe lovely upturned face. 

"Love you, my dearest? I love you with all my heart, my soul, my being, " hewhispered. "How could I help loving you?"

And bending down he kissed her fondly. 

"It's all so wonderful, " she murmured. "I didn't think that you cared forme, that you could ever care. You seemed so far away, too occupied withimportant things to spare a thought for me. So serious a person, andsometimes so stern, that I was afraid of you. "

He laughed amusedly. 

"The wonder is that you ever came to care for me. You do care, don't you, beloved?"

She looked up at him earnestly. 

"Dear, do I seem forward, bold? But our time together is too short forpretence. Yes, I do care. I love you? I seem to have always loved you. Orat least to have waited always to love you. I don't think I knew what lovewas until now. Until now. Now I do know. "

She paused and stared across the room, seeing the vision of her childhood, her girlhood. From outside came intermittent shouts and an occasionalrandom shot. But she did not hear them. 

"As a child, as a schoolgirl, even afterwards, I used to day-dream. I usedto wonder if any one would ever love me, ever teach me what love is. Idreamt of a Fairy Prince who would come to me one day, of a strong, brave, tender man who would care for me, who would want me to care for him. Ioften laughed at myself for it afterwards. For in London men all seemed sovery unlike my dream-hero. "

She turned her face to him and looked tenderly at him. 

"But when I met you, " she continued, "I think I knew that you were He. ButI never dared hope that you would learn to care for me. "

"Dearest heart, " he replied, "I think I must have fallen in love with youthe first moment I saw you. I can see you now as you stood surrounded bythe elephants, a delightful but most unexpected vision in the jungle. "

"Did you--oh, did you really like me that very first day?" she askedeagerly. At the moment the answer seemed to her the most important thing inthe world. 

As a lover will do Dermot deceived himself and imagined that his love hadbeen born at the first sight of her. He told her so; and the girl forgotthe imminent, deadly peril about them in the glow of happiness that warmsthe heart of a loving woman who hears that she has been beloved from thebeginning. 

"But I looked so absurd, " she said dreamily; "so untidy, when you first sawme. Why, my hair was all down. "

He laughed again; but the laughter died from his lips as the remembrance oftheir situation returned to him. Death was ordinarily little to him; thoughnow life could be so sweet since she loved him. It seemed a terrible thingthat this young girl must die so soon--and probably by his own hand to saveher from a worse fate. 

She guessed his thoughts. 

"Is this really the end, dear?" she asked, unwilling but unafraid to meetdeath. "Is there no hope for us?"

"I fear not, beloved. "

"I--I don't want to die so soon. Before you came tonight I wouldn't haveminded very much; for I was not happy. But now it's a little hard, just asthis wonderful thing has happened to me. "

She sighed. He held out his arms again, and she crept into them and nestledinto his embrace. 

"Well, if it must be so, I'll try to be worthy of my soldier and notdisgrace you, dear, " she said fondly, bravely. "Let's try to forget it fora while and not let it spoil our last hours together. Let's 'make-believe, 'as the children say. Let's pretend that this is all a hideous nightmare, that our lives and our love are before us. "

So through the long, dread night with the hideous menace never out of theirminds they talked bravely of what they would like to do, to be--if onlythey were not to die so soon. Several times Noreen left him and went tocomfort, to console the poor Mohammedan women and children to whom she hadgiven shelter. Her brother refused to allow Dermot to relieve him on watch, saying that he could not sleep or rest, and begging him instead to remainwith the girl to cheer her, to hearten her in the awful hours of waitingfor the end. 

So Dermot was with her when a sudden uproar outside caused him to dash outon to the verandah. From behind the barricade on the front verandah Dalehamwas watching. 

"What is it? Are they attacking?" cried the soldier. 

"No. It's not an attack. They're cheering somebody, I think, and firinginto the air. "

Dermot stared out. Men ran forward to the smouldering ruins of the factoryand threw on them tins of kerosene oil, looted from the murdered Parsi'sshop, until the flames blazed up again and lit up the scene. The hundredsof coolies were cheering and crowding round a body of men in red coats. 

"I believe it's the Rajah's infantry, " said Dermot. "Are they going toattack? Sher Afzul, wake up the others and tell them to be on their guard. Give me that rifle, Daleham. "

So Noreen did not see her lover again until the sun rose on a scene ofdesolation and ruin. Smoke and sparks still came from the blackened heapsof the destroyed buildings. The cordon of sentries had apparently beenwithdrawn; but when Daleham climbed up on the barricade to get a betterview a shot was fired from somewhere and a bullet tore up the ground beforethe bungalow. 

A couple of hours dragged slowly by; and then a servant doing sentry on thefront verandah reported a cloud of dust on the road from the forest leadingto the village. Dermot went out on the front verandah which looked towardsthe coolie lines and put up the glasses. 

"Some men on horses. Yes, and a motor-car coming slowly behind them, " hesaid to Daleham and his sister, who had followed him out. "It's the Rajahand his escort, I suppose. Things will begin to move now. "

When the newcomers reached the village a storm of shouting arose. Volleyafter volley of shots were fired, conch-shells blown, tom-toms beaten. 

"Yes, there's no doubt of it. It must be that fat brute, " said Daleham. 

Half an hour went by. The sun was high in the heavens. The landscape wasbare of life. Not a man was visible. But presently from the village came alittle figure, a naked little coolie boy. He moved slowly towards thebungalow, stopping every few minutes to look back to the huts, thenadvancing again with evident reluctance. 

Dermot watched him through the glass. The whole garrison was on theverandah. 

"He's a messenger. I see a letter in his hand, " said the soldier. "Poorlittle devil, he's in an awful funk. None of the cowards dared do itthemselves, so they beat this child and made him come. "

At last the frightened infant reached the bungalow, and Sher Afzul met himand took the letter from him. Fred tore it open. It was written byChunerbutty and couched in the most offensive terms. If within half an hourMiss Daleham came willingly to the Rajah, her brother's life would bespared and he would be given a safe conduct to Calcutta. But everyone elsein the bungalow would be put to death, including the white man reported tohave entered it during the night. If the girl did not surrender, herbrother would be killed with the rest and she herself taken by force. 

Dermot acquainted the Mohammedan servants with the contents, to show themthat there was no hope for them, so that they would fight to the death. Thelittle boy was told that there was no answer, and Daleham gave him a fewcopper coins; but the scared child dropped them as though they were red hotand scampered back to the village as fast as his little legs would carryhim. 

CHAPTER XX

THE GOD OF THE ELEPHANTS

At the end of the half hour a tempest of noise arose from the village;tom-toms were beaten, conch-shells blown and vigorous cheering washeard. Then from the huts long lines of coolies carrying weapons ofevery sort, rifles, old muskets, spears, and swords streamed out andencircled the bungalow at a distance. A little later the Rajah's twentyhorsemen rode out of the village on their raw-boned stallions, followedby a hundred infantry soldiers who, Dermot observed, were now armed withrifles in place of their former muskets. 

The dismounted troops formed up before the bungalow but half a mile away, in two lines in open order. But the cavalry kept together in a body; andthe officer, turning in his saddle to speak to his men, pointed to thehouse with his sword. 

"I believe they're going to charge us, " said Dermot. 

He had divided up the garrison to the four sides of the bungalow; but now, leaving one man with the shot gun to keep a watch on the back, he collectedthe rest on the front verandah. Noreen was inside, feeding the hungrychildren and consoling the mothers. 

"Now, Daleham, don't fire until they are close, and then aim at thehorses, " said the Major, repeating the instruction to the servants in Urdu. 

The Punjaubis grinned and patted their rifles. 

The cavalry advanced. The _sowars_ ambled forward, brandishing their curvedsabres and uttering fierce yells. Dermot, knowing Sher Afzul and anotherman to be good shots, ordered them to open fire when the horsemen wereabout four hundred yards away. He himself took a steady aim at thecommander and pressed the trigger. The officer, shot through the body, threw up his arms and fell forward on his horse's head. The startled animalshied and bolted across the furrows; and the corpse, dropping from thesaddle, was dragged along the ground, one foot being caught in a stirrup. The cavalry checked for an instant; and Dermot fired again. A _sowar_ fell. The rest cantered forward, yelling and waving their _tulwars_. SherAfzul and the other servants opened fire. A second horseman dropped fromhis saddle, a stallion stumbled and fell, throwing its rider heavily. The firing grew faster. Two or three more horses were wounded andgalloped wildly off. The rest of the cavalry came on, but, losing theirnerve, checked their pace instead of charging home. 

Dermot, loading and firing rapidly, bringing a _sowar_ down with each shot, suddenly found Noreen crouching beside him behind the barricade. She washolding a revolver. 

"For Heaven's sake, get into the house, darling!" he cried. 

"No; I have Fred's pistol and know how to use it, " she answered, calmly. "Ihave often practised with it. "

He could not stop to argue with her, for the troopers still came on. Butthey bunched together, knee to knee, in a frontal attack, instead ofassaulting from all four sides at once. They made a splendid target andsuffered heavily. But some brought their horses' heads almost against theverandah railing. All the garrison rose from behind the barricade and firedpoint-blank at them. The girl, steadying her hand on a box, shot one_sowar_ through the body. The few survivors turned and galloped madly away, leaving most of their number on the ground. To cover their retreat a raggedvolley broke from the infantry; and a storm of bullets flew over and aroundthe bungalow, ricocheted from the ground or struck the walls. But one youngMohammedan servant, who had incautiously exposed himself, dropped back shotthrough the lungs. 

Then from every side fire was opened, the coolies blazing wildly; but asnone of them had ever had a rifle in his hands before, the firing was forthe most part innocuous. Yet it served to encourage them, and they drewnearer. The garrison, with only one or two defenders to each side of thehouse, could not keep them at a distance. The infantry began to crawlforward. The circle of foes closed in on the bungalow and its doomedinhabitants. Shrieks and cries rose from the women and children inside. 

But although every bullet from the garrison found its billet, the issue wasonly a matter of time. Ill-directed as was the assailants' fire, theshowers of bullets were too thick not to have some effect. Another servantwas killed, a third wounded. Daleham was struck on the shoulder by aricochet but only scratched. A rifle bullet, piercing the barricade, passedthrough Noreen's hair, as she crouched beside her lover, whom sheresolutely refused to leave. The ring of enemies constricted. 

Suddenly a bugle sounded from the village; and after a little the firingfrom the attackers ceased. Dermot, who with Noreen and Sher Afzul, wasdefending the front verandah, looked cautiously over the barricade. A whiteflag appeared in the village. The Major shouted to the others in the houseto hold their fire but be on their guard. 

After a pause the flag advanced, borne by a coolie. It was followed by agroup of men; and Dermot through the glasses recognised the Rajah andChunerbutty accompanied by several Brahmins. They advanced timidly towardsthe bungalow and stopped a hundred yards away. After some urgingChunerbutty stepped to the front and called for Daleham to appear. 

Fred came through the house from the back verandah, where his place wastaken by Sher Afzul. He looked over the barricade. Chunerbutty came nearerand shouted:

"Daleham, the Rajah gives you one more chance to surrender. You see yourcase is hopeless. You can have a quarter of an hour to think things over. If at the end of that time you and your sister don't come out, we'll rushthe bungalow and finish you all. "

Standing under the white flag he drew out his watch. 

"Thank you, " said Daleham; "and our reply is that if in a quarter of anhour you're still there, you'll get a bullet through you, white flag or nowhite flag. "

He turned to Dermot whose arm was around Noreen as she crouched beside him. 

"Well, Major, it's fifteen more minutes of life, that's all. "

"Yes, it's nearly the end now. I've only two cartridges left. "

"We're all in the same box. Getting near time we said good-bye. It wasjolly good of you to stick by us, when you might have got away last night. "

Dermot gripped the outstretched hand. 

"If I go under first, you'll not let Noreen fall alive into the hands ofthose brutes, will you, sir?"

The girl raised her revolver. 

"I'll keep the last cartridge for myself, dear, " she said. 

She looked lovingly at Dermot whose arm was still about her. Her brotherbetrayed no surprise. 

"I'm not afraid to die, dear one, " she whispered to her lover. "I couldn'tlive without you now. And I'm happy at this moment, happier than I've everbeen, I think. But I wish you had saved yourself. "

He mastered his emotion with difficulty. 

"Darling, life without you wouldn't be possible for me either. "

He could not take his eyes from her; and the minutes were flying all tooswiftly. At last he looked at his watch and held out his hand to the boy. 

"Good-bye, Daleham, you've got your wish. You're dying like a soldier forEngland, " he said. "We've done our share for her. Now, we've three minutesmore. If the Rajah and Chunerbutty come into view again I'll have them withmy last two shots. "

He turned to the girl and took her in his arms for a last embrace. 

"Good-bye, sweetheart. Dear love of my heart. Pray that we may be togetherin the next world. "

He paused and listened. 

"Are they coming?"

But he did not put her from him. One second now was worth an eternity. 

Then suddenly a distant murmur swelled through the strange silence. Dalehamlooked out over the barricade. 

"They're--No. What is it? What are they doing?"

All round the circle of besiegers there was an eerie hush. No voice washeard. All--the Rajah, the flag-bearer, Brahmins, soldiers, coolies--hadturned their faces away from the bungalow and were staring into thedistance. And as the few survivors of the garrison looked up over thebarricade an incredible sight met their eyes. 

From the far-off forest, bursting out at every point of the long-stretchingwall of dark undergrowth that hemmed in the wide estate, wild elephantsappeared. Over the furrowed acres they streamed in endless lines, tramplingdown the ordered stretch of green bushes. In scores, in hundreds, theycame, silently, slowly; the great heads nodding to the rhythm of theirgait, the trunks swinging, the ragged ears flapping, as they advanced. Converging as they came, they drew together in a solid mass that blottedout the ground, a mass sombre-hued, dark, relieved only by flashes ofgleaming white. For on either side of every massive skull jutted out thesharp-pointed, curving ivory. Of all save one. 

For the mammoth that led them, the splendid beast that captained theoncoming array of Titans under the ponderous strokes of whose feet theground trembled, had one tusk, one only. And as though the white flag werea magnet to him, he moved unerringly towards it, the immense, earth-shakingphalanx following him. 

The awestruck crowds of armed men, so lately flushed with fanatical lust ofslaughter, stood as though turned to stone, their faces set towards theterrifying onset. Their pain unheeded, their groans silenced, the woundedstaggered to their feet to look. Even the dying strove to raise themselveson their arms from the reddened soil to gaze, and, gazing, fell back dead. Slowly, mechanically, silently, the living gave way, the weapons droppingfrom their nerveless grip. Step by step they drew back as if compelled bysome strange mesmeric power. 

And on the verandah the few survivors of the little band stood together, silent, amazed, scarce believing their eyes as they stared at theincredible vision. All but Dermot. His gaze was fixed on the leader of thatterrible army; and he smiled, tenderly yet proudly. His arm drew the girlbeside him still closer to him, as he murmured:

"He comes to save us for each other, beloved!"

Nothing was heard, save the dull thunder of the giant feet. Then from thevillage the high-pitched shriek of a woman pierced the air and shatteredthe eerie silence of the terror-stricken crowds. Murmurs, groans, swelledinto shouts, wild yells, the appalling uproar of panic; and strong andweak, hale men and those from whose wounds the life-blood dripped, turnedand fled. Fled past their dead brothers, past the little group of leaderswhose power to sway them had vanished before this awful menace. 

Petrified, rooted to the ground as though their quaking limbs wereincapable of movement, the Rajah and his satellites stood motionless beforethe oncoming elephants. But when the leader almost towered above him, Chunerbutty was galvanised to life again. In mad panic he raised a pistolin his trembling hand and fired at the great beast. The next instant thehuge tusk caught him. He was struck to the earth, gored, and lifted high inair. An appalling shriek burst from his bloodless lips. He was hurled tothe ground with terrific force and trodden under foot. The Rajah screamedshrilly and turned to flee. Too late! The earth shook as the great phalanxmoved on faster and passed without checking over the white-clad group, blotting them out of all semblance to humanity. 

The dying yell of the renegade Hindu, arresting in its note of agony, caused the fleeing crowds to pause and turn to look. And as they witnessedthe annihilation of their leaders they saw a yet more wondrous sight. Forthe dark array of monsters halted as the leader reached the house; and withthe sea of twisted trunks upraised to salute him and a terrifying peal oftrumpeting, they welcomed the white man who walked out from the shot-tornbuilding towards the leader of the vast herd. Then in a solemn hush he wasraised high in air and held aloft for all to see, beasts and men. And inthe silence a single voice in the awestruck crowds cried shrilly:

"_Hathi ka Deo ki jai!_ (Victory to the God of the Elephants!)"

In wonder, in dread, in superstitious reverence, hundreds of voices took upthe refrain: _"Hathi ka Deo! Hathi ka Deo ki jai!"_

And leaving his thousand companions behind, the sacred elephant that allrecognised now advanced towards the shrinking crowds, bearing the dreadwhite god upon its neck. Had he not come invisibly among them again? Hadthey not witnessed the fate of those that opposed him? Had he not summonedfrom all Hindustan his man-devouring monsters to punish, to annihilate hisenemies. Forgetful of their hate, their bloodthirst, their lust of battle, conscious only of their guilt, the terror-stricken crowds surged forwardand flung themselves down in supplication on the earth. They wept, theywailed, they bared their heads and poured dust upon them, in all theextravagant demonstration of Oriental sorrow. Out from the village streamedthe women and children to add their shrill cries to the lamentations. 

With uplifted hand, Dermot silenced them. An awful hush succeeded thetumult. He swept his eyes slowly over them all, and every head went down tothe dust again. Then he spoke, solemnly, clearly; and his voice reachedeveryone in the prostrate mob. 

"My wrath is upon you and upon your children. Flee where you will, it shallovertake you. You have sinned and must atone. On those most guiltypunishment has already fallen. Where are they that misled you? Go look forthem under the feet of my elephants. Yet from you, ye poor deluded fools, for the moment I withhold my hand. But touch a single hair of those in yourmidst whom I protect, and you perish. "

Not a sound was heard. 

Then he said:

"Men of Lalpuri, who have come among these fools in thirst for blood. Youhave heard of me. You have seen my power. You see me. Go back to your city. Tell them there that I, who fed my elephants on the flesh of your comradesin the forest, shall come to them riding on my steed sacred to _Gunesh_. Ifthey spare the evil counselors among them, then them I will not spare. Oftheir city no stone shall remain. Go back to them and bear this message toall within and without the walls, 'The British _Raj_ shall endure. It is mywill. ' Tell them to engrave it on their hearts, on their children'shearts. "

He paused. Then he spoke again:

"Rise, all ye people. Ye have my leave to go. "

Noiselessly they obeyed. He watched them move away in terrified silence. Not a whisper was heard. 

Then he smiled as he said to himself:

"That should keep them quiet. "

He turned Badshah towards the bungalow. 

Forty miles away, when darkness fell on the mountains that night, the armyof the invaders slept soundly in their bivouacs around the doomed post ofRanga Duar. On the morrow the last feeble resistance of its garrison mustcease, and happy those of the defenders who died. Luckless they that lived. For the worst tortures that even China knew would be theirs. 

But when the morrow came there was no longer an investing army. Panic-stricken, the scattered remnants of the once formidable hoststaggered blindly up the inhospitable mountains only to perish in thesnows of the passes. For in the dark hours annihilation had come uponthe rest. Countless monsters, worse, far worse, than the legendarydragons of their native land, had come from the skies, sprung from theearth. And under their huge feet the army had perished. 

When the sun rose Dermot knelt beside the mattress on which Parker layamong the heaps of rubble that had once been the Fort. An Indian officer, the only one left, and a few haggard sepoys stood by. The rest of the fewsurvivors of the gallant band had thrown themselves down to sleep haphazardamong the ruins that covered the bodies of their comrades. 

"Is it all true, Major? Are they really gone?" whispered the subalternfeebly. 

"Yes, Parker, it's quite true. They've gone. You've helped to save India. You held them off--God knows how you did it. Your wound's a nasty one; butyou'll get over it. "

He rose and held out his hands to the others. _"Shabash!_ (Well done!)_Subhedar Sahib_, Mohammed Khan, Gulab Khan, Shaikh Bakar, well done. "

And the men of the alien race pressed round him and clasped his handsgratefully. 

The defeat of the invaders in this little-known corner of the Indian Empirewas but the forerunner of the disasters that befell the other enemies ofthe British dominion, though many months passed before peace settled on theland again. But Lalpuri had not so long to wait for Dermot to redeem hispromise to visit it. When he did he rode on Badshah at the head of aBritish force. The gates were flung open wide; and he passed throughsubmissive crowds to see the blackened ruins of the Palace that, stormed, looted, and burnt by its rebel soldiery, hid the ashes of the _Dewan_. 

A year had gone by. In the villages perched on the steep sides of themountains the Bhuttia women rejoiced to know that the peace of theBorderland would never be broken again while the dread hand of a god lay onit. And in their bamboo huts they tried to hush their little children withthe mention of his name. But the sturdy, naked babies had no fear of him. For they all knew him; and he was kind and far less terrible than the godsand demons that the old lama showed them in the painted Wheel of Life senthim from Tibet. Moreover, the white god's wife was kinder even than he. Butthat was because she was not a goddess. Only a girl. 

On the high hills, up above the villages, a couple stood. No god andgoddess: just a man and a woman. And the woman looked down past the huts, down to the great Terai Forest lying like a vast billowy sea of foliage farbelow them. Then, as her husband's arm stole round her, she turned her eyesfrom it and gazed into his and whispered:

"I love it more than even you do. For it gave you to me. "

A crashing in the clump of hill bamboos at their feet attracted theirattention; and with a smile he pointed down to the great elephant with thesingle tusk who was dragging down the feathery plumes with his curvingtrunk. 

But Noreen looked up at Dermot again and said:

"I love you more than even Badshah does. "

And their lips met. 

THE END

_A Selection from the Catalogue of_

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Complete Catalogues sent on application

Rosa Mundi

By

Ethel M. Dell

Author of

"The Top of the World, " "The Lamp in the Desert, " "The Way of an Eagle, "etc. 

Some of the finest stories ever written by Miss Ethel M. Dell are gatheredtogether in this volume. They are arresting, thrilling, tense withthrobbing life, and of absorbing interest; they tell of romantic andpassionate episodes in many lands--in the hill districts of India, in theburning heart of Africa, and in the colonial bush country. The author'svivid and vigorous style, skillfully developed plots, her intenselysympathetic treatment of emotional scenes, and the strongly delineatedcharacter sketches, are typical of Ethel M. Dell's best work, and thisvolume will be found to contain some of the most remarkable of her shorterromances. 

G. P. Putnam's Sons

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Prairie Flowers

By

James B. Hendryx

Author of "The Texan"

When Tex Benton said he'd do a thing, he _did_ it, as readers of "TheTexan" will affirm. So when, after a year of drought, he announced hispurpose of going to town to get thoroughly "lickered up, " unsuspectingTimber City was elected as the stage for a most thorough and sensationalorgy. 

But neither Tex nor Timber City could foresee the turbulent chain ofevents which were to result from his high, if indecorous, resolve, hereset down--the wild tale of an untamed West. 

A well-known writer, who has served his apprenticeship in the cow country, said the other day, "I like Hendryx's stories--they're real. His boys arethe boys I used to work with and know. His West is the West I learned tolove. "

G. P. Putnam's Sons

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The Ivory Fan

By

Adrian Heard

When Lily Kellaway makes the observation, "It is better to be a slave to aman, which is natural, than to a woman, which is intolerable, " she recitesthe text upon which the author of _The Ivory Fan_ has built up a novelthat is at once humorous in its cynicism and cynical in its humor. At thesame time he gives us a pastel of certain phases of life comprehensive inits coloring and bitterly uncompromising of line. 

This is an unconventional book, full of incident and plenty of cleverdialogue. 

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Too Old for Dolls

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Anthony M. Ludovici

The story of a "flapper" too old for dolls, scarcely old enough foranything else, but capable of enraging her older sister and even her motherby the ease with which she secures the admiration of their male friends. 

"From a Mohawk, from a sexless savage with tangled hair and blotchyfeatures, she had, by a stroke of the wand, become metamorphosed into aremarkably attractive young woman. " And with the change came adisconcerting knowledge of power. 

A very real, very tense, and very modern novel. 

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