 Chapter 4 of the Jungle Girl by Gordon Casserly. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen, Vancouver, B.C. A crocodile intervenes. Major Norton opened his mouth to cry a warning, but Wargrave grasped his arm and said hurriedly, Don't shout, sir. Don't weak her. She'll be too confused to move. He then thrust his fuel-glasses into the adjunct's hand. Watch for the strike of my bullet-ray, he said. He threw himself at full length on the ground and pressed a cartridge into the breach of his rifle. His companion stood over him as he cast a hurried glance forward and adjusted his sight, muttering. Just about four hundred yards. The crocodile was nearly broad-side onto him, and even at that distance he could see the scaly armor covering head, back, and sides that would defy any bullet. The unprotected spot behind the shoulder was hidden from him. The only vulnerable part was the neck. Wargrave laid his cheek to the butt and sighted on this. The crocodile crept on inch by inch, dragging its limbs forward with the slow, stealthy movement of its kind when stalking their prey on land. The horrified watcher saw that the terrible snout with its protruding fangs was barely a yard from Mrs. Norton's feet. Raymond's hands holding the glasses to his eyes trembled violently. The resident shook as with the palsy, and he stared in horror at the crawling death that threatened the sleeping woman. Wargrave fired. As the rifle rang out, the creeping movement ceased. You've hit him, I swear, cried Raymond. I didn't see the bullet strike the ground. Wargrave rapidly worked the bolt of his rifle, jerking out the empty case and pushing a fresh cartridge into the chamber. He fired again. That's got him. That must have gotten, exclaimed Raymond. The crocodile lay still. Frank leapt to his feet, and, rifle in hand, dashed down the incline. At that moment, Mrs. Norton awoke, turned on her side, raised her body a little, and suddenly saw the horrible reptile. She sat up rigid with terror and stared at it. The brute slowly opened his huge mouth and disclosed the cruel, gapped teeth. Then the iron jaws clashed together with a shriek. The woman sprang to her feet, but stood trembling, unable to move away. Run, run, shouted Wargrave, springing down the slope towards her. Behind him raced Raymond, while her husband, who was unable to run fast, followed far behind. Mrs. Norton seemed rooted to the spot, but she turned to Wargrave with outstretched arms and gasped, Save me, Frank, save me. With a bound he reached her, and, as she clung to him convulsively, panted out, It's all right, dear, you're safe now. He pushed her behind him, and, bringing the rifle to his shoulder, faced the crocodile. The brute opened and shut its great jaws, seeming to gas for air. While a strange whistling sound came from its throat, its body appeared to be paralyzed. It can't move. You've broken its spine, cried Raymond, as he reached them. Your first shot, it must have been. Look, your second's torn its throat. He pointed to the neck and went round to the other side. From a jagged, gaping wound where the expanding bullet had torn the throat, the blood spurred and air whistled out with a shrill sound. Wargrave turned to Violet and took the terrified woman, who seemed on the point of fainting in his arms. All right, little girl, it's all right, the brute's done for. She pulled herself together with an effort and looked nervously at the crocodile. Then she released herself from Frank's clast and said, smiling feebly, What a coward I am. I'm ashamed of myself. Where's John? Oh, here he is. Doesn't he look funny? The resident, very red-faced and out of breath, had slowed down into a shambling walk and was puffing and blowing like a grandpa's. As he came up to them, he sputtered. Is it safe? Is it dead? It's harmless now, sir, answered Raymond. It's still living, but it can't move. The spine's broken, I think. The resident turned to his wife. The poor man had been in agony while she was in danger, but now that the peril had paused, he could only express his relief in irritable scolding. How could you be so foolish, Violet? he asked crossly. The idea of going to sleep near the tank, most unwise, you might have been eaten alive. His wife smiled bitterly and glanced at the grumbling man with a contemptuous expression on her face. Yes, John, very inconsiderate of me, I daresay. But how was I to know that there was a mugger crocodile in the tank? Then for the first time she realized the nearness of the water. Good gracious, I thought I was much farther. How did I get so close to it? Did I slip down in my sleep? No, there are the trees, said Raymond. It's extraordinary, the whole tank seems to have shifted. The resident was mopping his bald scalp and lifted his hat to let the gusty wind cool his head. A sudden squaw blew the big, pith-sun helmet out of his hand. Wargrave caught it in the air and returned it to its owner. By Jove, it's a regular gale, he said. I think I know what's happened. This wind so strong that it's blown the water of the tank before it and actually shifted the whole mass thirty or forty yards this way. Yes, I've known that to occur before with shallow ponds, said Raymond. I've heard the passage of the Red Sea by the Israelites and the drowning of Pharaoh's army explained the same way. It's said that the crossing really took place at one extremity of the Bitter Lake, through which the Suez Canal passes. Major Norton was staring at the far end of the tank now, left bare. There may be some interesting insects stranded on the bottom, uncovered by the receding water, he said abstractly, and was moving away to search for them when Wargrave said disgustedly, Don't you think, sir, that as Mrs. Norton has had such a shock, the sooner we get off the better? Yes, yes, very true, but you can order the camels to be saddled while I'm having a look, replied the enthusiastic collector. I really must go and see. There may be some very interesting specimens there. And he hurried away. His wife smiled rather bitterly as he went, then she turned to the two subalterns. But tell me what happened? How did the mugger come here? How was I saved? Raymond rapidly narrated what had taken place. Violet looked at Wargrave with glistening eyes and held out her hands to him. So you saved my life. How can I thank you? She said, gratefully, her lips trembled a little. Frank took her hands in his but answered lightly. Oh, it was nothing. Anyone else would have done the same. I happened to be the only one with a rifle. Raymond turned away quickly and walked over to the crocodile. Neither of them took any notice of him. Violet gazed fondly at Wargrave. I owe you so much, Frank, so very much, she murmured in a low voice. You've made my life worth living, and now you make me live. He was embarrassed, but he pressed the hands he held in his. He then released them and tried to speak lightly. Shall I have the mugger skinned and get a dressing bag made out of his hide for you? He said, smiling, that be a nice souvenir of the brute. She shuddered. I don't want to remember him. She cried, turning to glance at the crocodile. Horde beast, I can't bear the sight of him. The mugger certainly looked a most repulsive brute as it lay stretched on the ground. His jaws occasionally opening, shutting spasmodically, the blood from its wounded throat spreading in a pool on the sun-baked earth. It was evidently an old beast, and skull and back were covered with thick, horny plates and bosses through which no bullet could penetrate. The big teeth studded irregularly in the cruel jaws, were yellow and worn, as were the thick nails tipping the claws at the ends of the powerful limbs. The devil's not dead yet. Shall I put another bullet into him? Said Borgrave. It's only wasting a cartridge, replied his friend. He can't do any more harm. When the men come, we'll have him cut open and see what he's got inside him. Violet shuddered. Oh, do you think he has ever eaten any human being? She asked, gazing with loathing at the huge reptile. Judging from the way he stalked you, I should think he has. Answered Raymond. Hello. Here comes one of the camel drivers with some of the villagers. They'll be able to tell us about him. On the rim of the basin appeared a group of natives moving in their direction. Suddenly they caught sight of the crocodile, stopped and pointed to it and began to talk excitedly. One of the local peasants ran back shouting. The rest hurried down for a closer view of the reptile. A chorus of wonder rose from them as they stood round it. The Mahomodian camel driver exclaimed in Hindustani. Awi Baha'i. Kia Genwar. Puka Sheiktan. A brother, what an animal. A variable devil. As the villagers spoke only the dialect of the state, Raymond used this man as interpreter and questioned them about the crocodile. They asserted that it had inhabited the tank for many years. Hundreds, said one man. It had, to their certain knowledge, killed several women in cautiously bathing or drawing water from the tank, as women are not valued highly by the poor or Hindus. This did not make the mugger very unpopular. But early in that very year, it had committed the awful crime of dragging under water and devouring a Brahami bull, an animal devoted to the gods and held sacrosanct. By this time the crocodile had breathed his last. Raymond measured it roughly and found it to be over twelve feet in length. The peasants turned the great body on its back. Wargrave saw that the skin underneath was too thick to be made into leather. So he bade them cut the belly open. The stomach contained many shells of freshwater crabs and crayfish. As well as a surprising amount of large pebbles either taken for digestive purposes or swallowed when the fish were being scooped up off the bottom. But further search resulted in the finding of several heavy brass or copper anklets and amlets such as are worn by Indian women. Some have evidently been a long time in the reptile's interior. When the camels had come and the party was preparing to mount and start back home, a crowd of villagers led by their old priest bore down upon them. Learning that Frank was the slayer of the sacrilegious crocodile, the holy man hung a garland of marigolds round his neck, and through the interpreter offered him the thanks of gods and men for his good deed. And to a chorus of blessings and compliments he rode away with his companions. So ended the incident, apparently, but consequences undreamed of by any of the actors in it. Flowed from it. For imperceptibly it brought a change into the relations between Mrs. Norton and Wargrave and eventually altered them completely. At first it merely seemed to strengthen their friendship and increase the feeling of intimacy. To Violet they were Violet and Frank to each other now. The saving of her life constituted a bond that could never be severed. He had preserved her from a horrible death, and she owed Wargrave more than gratitude. Hitherto she had often toyed with the idea of him as a lover, and the thought had been a pleasant one, but it had hardly occurred to her to be in love with him in return. In all her life up to now she had never known what it was to really love. She had married without affection. Her girlhood had been passed without the mildest flirtation, for she had been brought up in a quiet country village where there never seemed to be any bachelors of her own class between the ages of seventeen and fifty. Even the curate was grey-haired and married. She had made up for this deprivation during the voyage out to India and her season in Calcutta, but although she found many men ready to flirt with her, Norton's proposal was the only serious one that she had and she accepted him in desperation. She had never felt any love for him. She did not realize that he had any for her. For although he really entertained a sincere affection of a kind for her, it was so seldom and so badly expressed that she was never aware of its existence. Since her marriage she had had several careless flirtations during her visits to her relatives in Calcutta, but her heart was not seriously affected. She never acknowledged to herself that any gratitude or loyalty was due from her to her husband. On the contrary, she felt that she owed him, as well as fate, a grudge. She was young, warm-blooded, of a passionate temperament, yet she found herself wedded to a man who apparently needed a housekeeper, not a wife. Her husband did not appear to realize that a woman is not essentially different to a man, that she has feelings, desires, passions, just as he has, although by a polite fiction the prudish Anglo-Saxon races seem to agree to regard her as of a more spiritual, more ethereal, and less earthy, a nature. Yet it is only a fiction, after all. Violet was a living woman, a creature of flesh and blood, who was not content to be a chattel, a household ornament, a piece of furniture. It was not to be wondered at that. She longed to enter into woman's kingdom, to exercise the power of her sex to sway the other, and to experience a thrill of the realization of that power. Often in her loneliness, she pined to see eyes. She loved, looked with love into hers. She was not a marble statue. It was but natural that she should long for love, a lover, the clasp of strong arms, the pressure of a man's broad chest, against her bosom, the feel of burning kisses on her lips, the glorious surrender of her whole being to some adored one to whom she was the universe, who lived but for her. Now for the first time in her life her errant dreams took concrete shape. At last she began to feel the companionship of a particular man necessary for her happiness. She had never before realized the pleasure, the joy, to be derived from the presence of one of the opposite sex who was in sympathy in perfect harmony with her nature. In her lonely hours, and they were many, she thought constantly of war grave. His face was ever before her, his voice sounding in her ears. She usually saw her husband, absorbed in his work and studies, only at meals. And as she looked across the table at him, then she could not help contrasting the heavy, unattracted man sitting silent, usually reading a book while he ate with a good-looking, laughter-loving play fellow who had come into her life. She learned today dream of war grave, to watch for his coming and hate his going, to enjoy every moment of his presence. He had brought a new interest into her hitherto purposeless life, the life he had preserved and that consequently seemed to belong to him. New feelings awakened in her. The world was a happier, brighter place than it had been. It pleased her to realize what it all meant, to know that the novel sensations, the fluttering hopes and fears, the strange, delightful thrills, were all symptoms of that longed-for melody that comes sooner or later to all women. She knew at last that she loved war grave and gloried in the knowledge, and she never doubted that he loved her in return. Did he? It was hard to tell. To a man the thought of love in the abstract seldom occurs, and the realization of the concrete fact that he is in love with some particular woman generally comes somewhat as a shock. He is by nature a lover of freedom, and in theory at least resents fetters, even silken ones, and war grave had never thought of analyzing his feelings towards violet. He was not a professional amorist, and, although not a puritan, would never set himself deliberately to make love to a married woman under her husband's roof. He was fond of Mrs. Norton as a sister, he thought. She was a delightful friend, a real pal, so understanding, so companiable. He said to himself frequently, it had not occurred to him that his feelings for her might be love. He had often before been on terms of friendship with women, married and single, but none of them had ever attracted him as much as she did. He had never felt any desire to be married. Domesticity did not appeal to him, but now as he watched violet moving about her drawing room or playing to him, he found himself thinking that it would be pleasant to return to his bungalow from parade and find a pretty little wife waiting to greet him with a smile and a kiss. And the wife of his dreams always had violet's face, wore smart, well-cut frocks like violets, and showed just such shapely, silken clad legs and ankles and such small feet in dainty, silver-buckled, high-heeled shoes. And he thought, with an inward groan, that such a luxury was not for a debt-ridden subaltern like him, that his heavy, mortgaged pay would not run to expensive gowns, silk stockings, and costly footwear. Yet it never occurred to him that violet cared for him, nor did it enter his mind to try to win her love. But he felt that he would do much to make her happy, that saving her life made him, in a way, responsible for it in future. And he knew that she was not a contented woman. His sympathy went out to her for what he guessed. She must suffer from her ill-assorted union. But soon he had no need to surmise it, for before, long violet began to confide all her sorrows to him, and the recital made his heart bleed for one so young and beautiful mated to a selfish wretch who, as blind to her suffering as he was to her charm, the younger man's chivalry was up in arms, and he felt that such a bore did not deserve so bright a jewel. At times Frank was tempted to confront the callous husband and force him to open his dulled eyes to the bravely born misery of his neglected wife, and realize how fortunate he ought to consider himself in being the owner of such a transcendent being. But the next moment the infatuated youth was convinced that Norton was incapable of appreciating so rare, a woman, that only a nature like his own could understand or do full justice to the perfections of hers. Such is a young man's conceit. He rejoiced to know that his poor sympathy could help in a measure to make up to violet for the happiness that she declared that she had missed in life, and so he gladly consented to play the consoler, and she, for the pleasure of being consoled, continued to pour out her griefs to him. But if Frank was unconscious of the danger of his post as sympathizing confidant to another man's young and pretty wife, others were not. Her husband, of course, was as blind as most husbands seemed to be in Anglo-Indian society. For in that land of the household of three, the eternal triangle, it is almost a recognized principle that every married woman who is at all attractive is entitled to have one particular bachelor always in close attendance on her, to be constantly at her back and call, to ride with her, to drive her every afternoon to tennis or golf or watch polo, then on to the club and sit with her there, his duty a pleasant one. No doubt is to cheer up her otherwise solitary dinner in her bungalow on the nights when her neglectful husband is dining out on garceau. No cavalier servile of old Italy ever had so busy a time as the tame cat of the India of today, and the husband allows it, nay seems, as Major Norton did, to hail his presence with relief as it eases the conscience of the selfish lord and master, who leaves his spouse much alone. But if the resident saw no harm or danger in the young officer constantly seeking the society of his pretty wife, others did. At first Frankswell Wishers tried to hint to him that there was likelihood of his friendship with her being misunderstood, but he laughed at Raymond's badly expressed warning, and rather resented Major Hepburn's kindly advice when on one occasion his company commander spoke plainly, though tactfully, to him on the subject. Then violence enemies took a hand in the game, Mrs. Trevor having failed to decoy him to her bungalow for what she called a quiet tea and a motherly little chat, concerned him one afternoon when he was on his way to the residency, and spoke very openly to him of the risk he ran of being entangled in the coils of such an outrageous coquette as that Mrs. Norton as she termed her. Frank was so indignant at her abuse of his friend that for the first time in his life he was rude to a woman and snubbed Mrs. Trevor so severely that she went in a rage to her husband and insisted on taking immediate steps to arrest the progress of a scandal that she declared would attract the unfavorable attention of the higher military authorities to the regiment. Do you realize, William, that you will be the one to suffer, said the angry woman? If anything happens, if Major Norton complains, if that shameless creature succeeds in making that foolish young man run away with her, you will be blamed. You can't afford it. You know that the general's confidential report on you last year was not too favorable. It wasn't really bad, my dear. It only hinted that I lacked decision. Pleaded the henpecked man, exactly. You are not firm enough, persisted his domestic tyrant. They will say that you should have put your foot down at once and stopped this disgraceful affair. But what can I do? asked the colonel helplessly. Someone ought to speak to Major Norton at once. Oh, my dear Jane, I couldn't. I daren't. For two pins I'd do it myself. Mrs. Baird said the other day that it was our duty as respectable women. No, no, no, Jane. You mustn't think of it, exclaimed the alarmed man. I forbid you. You mustn't mix yourself up in the affair. It would be committing me. Then send that important young man away, said Mrs. Trevor firmly. No general would have accused her of lack of decision. I used to have a high opinion of it once. But after his insolence to me, I believe him to be nearly as bad as the woman. Where can I send him? asked the worried colonel. He has done all the courses and passed all the classes and examinations he can. I know you have only to write confidently to the staff and informed them that young war grace removal to another station is absolutely necessary to prevent a scandal. And they'll send him off somewhere else at once. Her husband nodded his head. He was well aware of the fact that the army in India looks closely after the behavior and morals of its officers that a colonel has only to hint that the transfer of a particular individual under his command is necessary to stop a scandal. And without loss of time, that officer finds himself deported to the other side of the country. One morning, a week after Mrs. Trevor's conversation with her husband, wargrave, super intending the muskratry of his double company on the rifle range, was given an official note from the adjunct informing him that the commanding officer desired to see him at once in the orderly room. As Major Hepburn was not present, Frank handed the men over to the senior Indian company commander and rode off to the regimental office, wondering as he went what could be the reason of the sudden summons. Reaching the building, he found Raymond on the watch for him while ostensibly engaged in criticizing to the battalion dersey, Taylor, the fit of the new uniforms of several recruits. I say, Ray, what's up? asked his friend cheerily as he swung himself out of the saddle. The adjunct nodded warningly towards the orderly room and dropped his voice as he replied, I don't know, old chap. The CO said nothing to me, but he's in there with Hepburn trying to work himself up into a rage so that he can bully rag you properly. You better go in and get it over. Wargrave entered the big, color-washed room. The colonel was seated at his desk, frowning at a paper before him, and did not look up. Major Hepburn was standing behind his chair, and glance commiserately at the subaltern. Frank stood to attention and saluted. Good morning, sir, he said. You wanted to see me? Colonel Trevor did not reply, but turning slightly in his chair said, Major Hepburn, call in the adjunct, please. As the second in command went out on the veranda and summoned Raymond, Wargrave's heart misgave him. He had no idea of what the matter was, but the colonel's manner and presence of the second in command were amious signs. He wondered what crime he was going to be charged with. Shut the doors, Raymond, said the commanding officer, curtly. As the adjunct entered, the latter did so, and sat down at his writing table, glancing anxiously at his friend. Colonel Trevor's lips were twitching nervously, and he seemed to experience a difficulty in finding his voice. At last he took up a paper from his desk and said, Mr. Wargrave, this is a telegram just received from Western Army Headquarters. It says Lieutenant Wargrave is appointed to No. 12 Battalion Frontier Military Police. Direct him to proceed forthwith to report to OC Detachment, Ranga Duar, Eastern Bengal. End of Chapter 4 Chapter No. 5 Of the Jungle Girl by Gordon Casserly This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Recording by Linda Marie Nielsen Vancouver, B.C. Sentence of Exile At the words of the telegram Raymond started and Frank stared in bewilderment at the Colonel, but I never asked for the military police, sir, he exclaimed. I… The Colonel licked his dry lips, and, working himself up into a passion, shouted, No, you didn't, but I did. I applied for you to be sent to it. I asked for you to be transferred from this station. You can ask yourself the reason why. I will not tolerate conduct such as yours, sir. I will not have an officer like you under my command. Frank flushed deeply. I beg your pardon, sir. I don't understand. I really don't know what I have done. I should… But the Colonel burst in furiously. He says he doesn't know what he's done, Major Hepburn. Listen to that. He does not know what he's done. And the speaker pounded on the desk with his clenched fist, working himself up into a rage, as a weak man will do when he has to carry out an unpleasant task. But, sir, surely I have a right, began Wargrave, clenching his hands until the nails were almost driven into his palms, in an effort to keep his temper. I cannot argue the question with you, Wargrave, said the Colonel loftily. You have got your orders. Headquarters approve of my action. I have discussed the matter with my second in command, and he agrees with me. You can go. Raymond, make out the necessary warrants for Mr. Wargrave's journey, and give him an advance of a month's pay. He will leave tomorrow. Tell the quartermaster to make the necessary arrangements. Frank bit his lip. His years of discipline and the respect for authority ingrained in him since his entrance to Sandhurst kept the mutinous words back. He saluted punctuously, and turned about smartly, walked out of the orderly room. In the glaring sunshine he strode out of the compound, and down the white dusty road to his bungalow, his brain in a whirl, blind to everything, seeing neither the sepoys saluting him, nor his scythe hurrying after him and dragging the pony by the bridle. When he reached his house he entered the sitting-room, and dropped into a chair. His boy approached salamaning, and asked if he should go to the mess to order the sahib's breakfast to be got ready. Wargrave waved him away impatiently. He sat staring unseeingly at the wall. He could not think coherently. He felt dazed. His bewildered brain seemed to be revolving endlessly round the thought of the telegram from headquarters and the colonel's words. I will not have an officer like you under my command. What was the meaning of it all? What had he done? A paying shot through him at the sudden remembrance of Colonel Trevor's assertion that Major Hepburn agreed with him. Frank held the second in command in high respect, for he knew him to be an exceptionally good soldier and a gentleman in every sense of the word. Had he so disgraced himself, then, that Hepburn considered the colonel's action justified? But how? He shifted uneasily in his chair, and his eyes fell on Mrs. Norton's portrait. At the sight of it his company commander's advice to him about her and Mrs. Trevor's spiteful remarks flashed across his mind. Could Violet be mixed up in all of this? Was his friendship with her perhaps the cause of the trouble? He dismissed the idea at once. There was nothing to be ashamed of in their relations. A figure darkened the doorway. It was Raymond. Wargraves sprang up and rushed to him. What in Heaven's name is it all about, Ray? He cried. Is the colonel mad? The adjunct took off his helmet and flung it on the table. Well, tell me. What the devil have I done? said his friend impatiently. Raymond tried to speak, but failed. Go on, man. What is it? cried Wargrave, seizing his arm. The adjunct burst out. It's a damn shame, old man. I'm sorry. But what is it? What is it? I say, cried Wargrave, shaking him. The adjunct nodded his head towards the big photograph on the writing table. It's Mrs. Norton, he said. Mrs. Norton echoed his friend. What the—what she got to do with it? Raymond threw himself into a chair. Someone's been making mischief. The CO's been told that there might be a scandal, so he's got scared lest trouble should come to him. Frank stared blankly at the speaker, then suddenly turned and walked out of the bungalow. The pony was standing huddled into the patch of shade at the side of the house, the cease squatting on the ground at its head and holding the reins. Wargrave sprang into the saddle and galloped out of the compound. Raymond ran to the veranda and saw him thundering down the sandy road that led to the residency. Arriving at the big white building, Frank pulled up his panting pony on its hunches and dismounting through the reins over its head and left it unattended. Walking to the hall door, he cried, Co, hi? A drowsy chupassie at the back of the hall sprang up and hurried to receive him. Ma'am Sahib, hi? Is the mistress in? Hi, Sahib? Yes, sir, said the servant Salamanning. Wargrave was free of the house, and, taking off his hat, went into the cool hall and walked up the great staircase. He entered the drawing room. After the blinding glare outside, the closely shuttered apartment seemed so dark that at first it was difficult for him to see if it were tenanted or not. But it was empty, and he paced the floor impatiently, frowning in chaotic thought. Good morning, Frank! You are early today, and what a bad tamper you seem to be in! exclaimed a laughing voice, and Mrs. Norton, looking radiant and delightfully cool in a thin white madress muslin dress, entered the room. He went to her. They're sending me away, Violet, he said. Sending you away? She repeated in an astonished tone. Sending you where? To hell, I think, he cried. Oh, I beg your pardon. I mean, yes. They're sending me away from Rohar, from you, sending me to the other side of India. The blood slowly left her face as she stared uncomprehendingly at him. Sending you away? Why? she asked. Because—because we're friends, little girl. Because we're friends? she echoed. What do you mean? But you mustn't go. I must. I can't help it. I've got to go. Pale as death, Violet stared at him. Got to go? To leave me? Then, with a choking cry, she threw her arms about his neck and sobbed. You mustn't. You mustn't leave me. I can't live without you. I love you. I love you. I'll die if you go from me. Frank started and tried to hold her at arm's length to look into her face, but the woman clung frenziedly to him, while convulsive sobs shook her body. His arms went round her instinctively and, holding her to his breast, he stared blankly over the beautiful bowed head. It was true then, she loved him. Without meeting it, he had won her heart. Whose earnest wish it had been to save her from pain? To console her, to brighten her lonely life, he had brought this fresh sorrow on her. To the misery of a loveless marriage, he had added a heavier cross, an unhappy, a misplaced affection. No exultant vanity within him rejoiced at the knowledge that, unsought, she had learned to care for him. Only regret, pity for her, stirred in him. He was aware now, as always, that his feeling for her was not love. But she must not realize it. He must save her from the bitter mortification of learning that she was given her heart unasked. His must have been the fault. He it must be to bear the punishment. She should never know the truth. He bent down and reverently, tenderly, kissed this tear-stained face. It was the first time that his lips had touched her. Dearest, we will go together. You must come with me, he said. Violet started, and looked wildly up at him. Go with you? What do you mean? How can I? I mean that you must come away with me to begin a new life, a happier one, together. I cannot leave you here with a man who neglects you, who does not appreciate you, who cannot understand you. Do you mean, run away with you? She asked. Yes, it's the only thing to do. She slowly loosened her clasp of him, and released herself from his arms. But I don't understand at all. Why are you going? And where? He briefly told her what had happened. His face flushed darkly as he repeated the Colonel's words. He wouldn't have an officer like me under his command, he said. He treated me like a criminal. I don't value his opinion much. But Major Hepburn agrees with him. That hurts. I respect him. But where is this place? They're sending you to, she asked. Rangadar? I don't know. Eastern Bengal, I believe. Bengal? What? Anywhere near Calcutta? No, it must be somewhere up on the frontier. Otherwise they wouldn't send military police to garrison it. But what is it like? Is it a big station? She persisted. I can't tell you. But it's sure not to be. No, it must be a small place up in the hills or in the jungle. There's only a detachment there. But what have I got to do with your being sent there? She asked in perplexity. Don't you understand? Someone's been making mischief, he replied. Those two vile-minded women have been talking scandal of us to the Colonel. What? Talking about you and me? Oh! she exclaimed. His words brought home to her the fact that these bitter-tongued women, who she despised, had dared to assail her. Her, the Buramem, the great lady of their little world, had dared to? She could not silence them. And what would they say of her? How their tongues would wag if she ran away from her husband? And they would have a right to talk scandal of her then. The thought made her pause. But how could I go with you to this place in Bengal? Where could I live? she asked. You'd live with me. Oh! in your bungalow? How could I? And how would I get there? she continued. I haven't any money. I don't suppose I've got a ten rupee note. And I couldn't ask my husband. Of course not. I would, he paused. By Jove. I never thought of that. It had not occurred to him that elopements must be carried out on a cash basis. He had forgotten that money was necessary, and he had none. He was heavily in debt. The local scoffs, the native money lenders, would give him no more credit when they knew that he was going away. All that he would have would be the one month's advance of pay. Probably not enough for violent fare and expenses across India. The government provided his, and certainly not enough, to support them for long. He frowned in perplexity. Running away with another man's wife did not seem so easy after all. Violet was the first to recover her normal calm. Sit down and let us talk quietly, she said. One of the servants may come in, or my husband, if people are talking scandal of us. She touched the switch of an overhead electric fan. The government of India housed its political officer in Rohar much more luxuriously than the military ones, and sat down under it. Wargrain began to pace the room impatiently. Come, Frank, stop walking about like a tiger in a cage, and let's discuss things properly. With an effort, he pulled himself together and took a chair near her. The woman was more self-possessed of the two. The shock of suddenly finding herself up against the logical outcome of her desires had sobered her, and faced with the prospect of an immediate flight involving the abdication of her assured social position and the surrender of a home. She was able to visualize the consequences of her actions. The most sobering reflection was the thought that by so doing she would be casting herself to the female wolves of her world, and she knew the extent of their mercy. There were others of her acquaintance, besides Mrs. Trevor, who would howl loud with triumph over her downfall. The thought has saved many a woman from social ruin. Thinking only of what she had so often told him of the misery of living with a man as unsympathetic as her husband, Frank pleaded desperately with a conviction that he was far from feeling. The hard fact of the lack of sufficient money to pay for her traveling expenses, the difficulty of getting off together from this out-of-the-way station were not to be got over. Then the impossibility of knowing whether she could remain with him when he was on frontier duty and of supporting her away from him, the realization of the fact that they would have to face the divorce court with its heavy costs and probably crushing damages all made the situation seem hopeless. In despair he sprang up and resumed his nervous pacing of the room. At last Violet said, All I can see, dearest, is that we must wait. It will be harder for me than for you. You at least will not have to live with anyone uncongenial to you. But I must, yet I can bear it for your sake. He stopped before her and looked at her in admiration of her courageous and self-sacrificing spirit. Then he bent down and kissed her tenderly. Sitting beside her he discussed the situation more calmly than he had hitherto done. It was finally agreed that he was to go alone to his new station, save all that he could to pay off his debts. He would receive a higher salary in the military police, and his expenses would be less. And when he was free and made a home for her, Violet would sacrifice everything for love and come to him. With almost tears in his eyes as he thought of her nobility he strained her to his heart. When the time came for parting the woman broke down completely and wept bitterly as she clung to him. He kissed her passionately, then with an effort put her from him and almost ran from the room, while she flung herself on a lounge and sobbed compulsively. One of the residency's ceases had taken charge of the pony and war grave, mounting it, galloped madly back to his bungalow, his heart torn with anguish for the unhappiness of the brokenhearted woman that he was leaving behind. When he arrived home he found that Raymond and his own boy, and sword orderly, his native soldier-servant, had begun his packing for him, for his heavy baggage had to be dispatched that afternoon. The bungalow was crowded with his brother officers waiting to see him. He had intended to avoid them, for he felt disgraced by the colonel's censure, which it was evident the commanding officer had not kept secret, though the whole matter should have been treated as confidential. But they made light of the scruples and showed him that he had their sympathy. He had meant to dine alone in his room that night, but his comrades insisted on his coming to the mess, where they were to give him an informal farewell dinner. They would take no refusal. Daily, who was the acting quartermaster of the battalion, told him that the arrangements for his journey had been made. He was to leave at dawn and drive sixty miles in a tonga, a two-wheeled native conveyance drawn by a pair of ponies, to a village called Bas-D on the shores of a narrow gulf, or deep inlet, of the sea, which formed the eastern boundary of the state of Man-Ha. Here he would have to spend the night in a dac bungalow, or rest-house, and cross the water in a steam-launch the next morning. After that, five days more of travel by various routes and means awaited him. Before dinner that night, a few minutes apart with Hepburn made Frank happier than he had been all day. For his company commander told him that he had only agreed with the Colonel's action because he believed that it would be for the sub-alterns on good, not because he considered that the latter had done anything to disgrace him. Hepburn added that if he was given command of the Regiment in two years' time, as should happen in the ordinary course of events, he would be glad to have Wargrave back again in the battalion then. Frank, with a guilty feeling when he remembered his compact with Violet, thanked him gratefully, and with a lightened heart, went to the very festive meal that was to be his last for some long time, at least with his old courts. The Colonel had refused to agree to his being invited formally to be the guest of the Regiment, and neither he nor the other married man, the doctor, were present. If they slept that night, they were the only two officers in the cataminent that did. For none of the others, not even senior major Hepburn, left the mess until it was time to escort their departing comrade to his bungalow to change for the journey. And as the Tonga ponies rattled down the road and bore him away, Frank's last sight of his old comrades was the group of white-clad figures in the dawn, waving frantically and cheering vociferously from the gateway of his bungalow. The memory of it rejoiced him throughout the terrible hours of the long journey in the baking heat and blinding glare of the hot weather day. The worst moments were the stops every ten miles to change ponies, where he had to wait in the blazing sunshine. His boy, who sat on the front seat of the vehicle beside the driver, produced from a basket packed with wet straw cooled bottles of soda water, without which Wargrave felt that he would have died of sunstroke. Then, on after each halt and the endless strip of white road again unrolled before him, while the never-ceasing clank of the iron-shod bar coupling the ponies maddened his aching head with its monotonous rhythm. As the weary miles slid past him, his thoughts were with violet, so beautiful, so patient and brave in her self-denying endurance. And he cursed himself for having added to her pain and inwardly vowed that some day he would atone to her for it. At last the Tonga rattled into the bare compound of the Basidi-Dak bungalow, standing on a high-stone plinth. The untidy Kansama, the custodian of the rest-home, hurried on to the veranda to greet the unexpected visitor and show his boy where to put the Sahib's bedding and baggage in a bleak room with a cane-bottom wooden bed hung with torn mosquito-curtains. From a glass case in the sitting room, containing a scanty store of canned provisions, the Kansama provided a meal with such ill-assorted ingredients as somebody's desiccated soup, lukewarm, a tin of sardines and sweet biscuits to eat with them, and a bottle of beer to wash it down with. Wargrave was too choked with thus, too sickened with the heat and glare, to have any appetite. After a smoke he dragged his weary body to bed, and in spite of the mosquitoes that flocked joyously through the holes in the gauze-curtains to feast on him, slept the profound sleep of utter exhaustion. He was up at daybreak, for the tide served in the early morning and only at its height could the launch approach the shore, which, at low water, was boarded with the filthy slime of mangrove swamps. Landed at the other side of the gulf, he had even a worse experience of travel before him than on the previous day. For the next stage of the journey was forty miles across a salt desert in a tram drawn by a camel. The car was open on all sides and covered by a cardboard roof, and its wooden seats were uncomfortably hard for long hours of sitting. The heat was appalling. It struck up from the baked ground and seemed to scorch the body through the clothes. The glare from the white sand and even whiter patches of salt was blinding and penetrated through the closed eyelids. A hot wind blew over the hazy shimmering desert, setting the whirling dust devils dancing and striking the face like the touch of a heated iron. Wargrave small store of ice and mineral water was exhausted, and he felt that he was likely to die a thirst. For in the villages where they changed camels, Korea was raging, and he dared not drink the water from their wells. The trams led easily along the shining rails that stretched away out of sight over the monotonous plain. The camel loping lazily along its soft, sprawling feet falling noiselessly on the sand. The last ten miles of the way lay through less sterile country, and the tram passed herds of black buck. The pretty spiral-horned antelope used to his daily passage the graceful animals which were protected by the game laws of the native state through which the line ran barely troubled to move out of its way. They stood about in hundreds, staring lazily at it. Some not ten yards off, the bucks turning their heads away to scratch their sides with the points of their horns or rubbing their noses with dainty hooves. That night Wargrave slept at a dach bungalow near the terminus in a little native town with a small branch railway connecting it with a main line. Then for four days he traveled across the scorching plains of India, shut up in stuffy carriages with violet-hued glass windows and Venetian wooden shutters meant to exclude the heat and glare over bare plains broken by sudden flat topped rocky hills through closely cultivated fields and stretches of scrubbed jungle by mud walled villages he journeyed day and night. The train crossed countless wide river beds in which the streams had shrunk to mean rivulets but when it clattered over the Ganges at Allahabad the sacred flood rolled a broad and sluggish current under the bridge on its way to the far distant bay of Bengal. On the fourth night Wargrave slept on a bench in the waiting room of a small junction near Alda from which a narrow gauge railway branched off to the north from the main line through eastern Bengal. At an early hour next morning he took his seat in the one first class carriage of the toy train was journeyed through typical Bengal scenery by mud banked rice fields groves of tall feathery bamboos and hamlets of pretty palm-fatched huts there are roofs hidden by the broad green leaves of sprawling creepers soon across the sky to the north a dark blurred line rows stretching out of sight east and west it grew clearer as the train sped on more distinct it was the great northern rampart of India the Himalayas then seeming to float in air high above the highest of the dark mountain peaks and utterly detached from them the white crests of the eternal snows shone fairy like against the blue sky as wargrave gaze enraptured suddenly hills and plains were shut out from his sight as the train plunged from the dazzling sunlight into the deep shadows of a tropical forest and the subaltern recognized with a thrill of delight that he was entering the wonderful tarai jungle the marvelous belt of woodland that stretches for hundreds of miles along the foot of the Himalayas through Assam and Bengal to the far seawallic range clothes their lower slopes or scaling their steep sides into Nepal and Bhutan deep in its recesses the rhinoceros bison and buffalo hide herds of wild elephants roam tigers prey on the countless deer and the great mountain bears descend to prowl in it for food frank had learned the on the way that Ranga do our was practically situated in it and the knowledge almost consoled him for his exile in the promise of sport that kings might envy at a small wayside station in a clearing in the forest his railway journey ended beside the one small stone building two elephants were standing incessantly swinging their trunks flapping their ears and shifting their weight restlessly from leg to leg frank on getting out of his carriage learned with pleasure from their salamaning mahouts drivers that these animals were to be his next means of transport a novel one that harmonized with the surroundings on the back of each great beast was a massive straw filled pad secured by a rope passing sir single wise around his body each mahout carried a gun one a heavy rifle the other a double barreled fouling piece which they offered to war grave has or the presence a polite mode of address in hindu stanny said one man the bura sahib the political sahib sends salams and lends you these as you might see something to shoot on the way oh the political officer very kind of him i'm sure remark the subaltern what is his name duro mutt sahib what a curious name thought frank for in the vernacular duro mutt means do not be afraid he concluded that it was a nickname why is he called that he asked in hindu stanny because the sahib is a very brave sahib replied the man where he is there no one need fear the other mahout nodded ascent then said the commanding sahib has sent your honor from the mess a basket with food and drink i have put it on the table in the babu's clerks office in the station frank blessed his new co for his thoughtfulness and made a welcome meal while he watched his baggage being loaded on to one of the elephants booth lie down cried the mahout and the obedient animal slowly sank to its knees and stretched out its legs before and behind frank's boy mounted timorously when the luggage had been strapped on to the pad when the subaltern was ready the second elephant was ordered to kneel down for him and he clambered up awkwardly and clung on tightly when the mahout getting a stride of the great neck made it rise along a broad road cut through the forest the huge beast lumbered with a plunging swaying stride that was very tiring to a novice holding both guns frank glanced continually ahead aside and behind him with a delicious feeling of excited hope that at any moment some dangerous wild beast might appear on either hand the dense undergrowth of great flower covered bushes and curving fan shaped palms restricted the view to a few yards from its dense tangled rows the giant trunks of huge trees their leafy crowns striving to push through the think the thick canopy of vegetation overhead into the life-giving air and sunshine but no wild animal appeared to cheer war grave on the long way and as hour after hour went by his whole body ached with the strain of sitting upright without a support to his back and being jolted violently at every step of the elephant at last they reached a clearing in the forest where stood the mahout's huts and a tall wooden building the peal kahana or elephant stables it lay at the foot of the mountains and from here the road wound upwards among the lower hills under steep cliffs by the brink of precipices and beside deep ravines down which brawling streams tumbled as the party mounted higher and even higher the big trees fell away behind them until frank could look down on a sea of foliage stretching away out of sight east and west but bounded on the south by the plains of india seen vaguely through the shimmering heat haze up up they climbed until far above him he caught glimpses of buildings dotted about among jungle-clad knolls and spurs jutting out from the dark face of the mountains and at last as evening shadows began to lengthen they reached a lovely recess in the hills a deep horse shoe and in it an artificially leveled parade ground a rifle range running up a gully a few bungalows dotted about among the trees and lines of single storied barracks enclosed by a loophole stone wall told war grave that he had come to his journey's end this was his place of exile this was ranga du war end of chapter five chapter six of the jungle girl by gordon castor lee this leber vox recording is in the public domain recording by linda mary nielsen vancouver bc a border outpost what a beautiful spot thought frank as he gaze entrenched at the scenery i've never seen anything like it it looks like heaven after the ugliness of rohar and how delightfully cool it is to up in the mountains well with this climate and good shooting in the forest below life won't be as dreadful as i thought i wish poor violet were here out of the heat and glare how she'd love all this beauty these trees these gardens the glorious mountains he sighed as he thought of the woman who was so far away his or that is the mess broke in the voice of his mahout as he pointed to a long red tiled building half hidden among the trees a few hundred feet above them to reach it they had to pass a large well-built stone bungalow two storied unlike all the others and standing in a lovely garden glowing with the vivid hues of the flowers the flaming red of huge bushes of bugan villa and poinsettia frank glancing towards it was a boat to ask the mahout who lived in it when he started in horror and cried to the man stop stop you animal look there and he snatched at his rifle for on the farther side of the house a huge tusker elephant in the garden stood over a little european boy about four years old who was sprawling almost under the huge feet and high above its head the brute held in its curved trunk a younger child a girl with long golden curls as if about to dash it to the ground as frank grasped the rifle the mahout who had turned at his cry sees the barrel and said with a smile durah mutt sahib do not fear sir those are durah mutt sahib's babies and the elephant is their playmate and as he spoke war grave saw the elder child spring up from the ground and beat the great animal's legs with his tiny hands crying mooch co be bad shah mooch co be earth earth me too badge me too take me up and the baby held aloft was crowing in glee and kicking its fat little legs frantically the elephant lord it tenderly to the ground and picked up the boy in its steed and lifted him into the air while he laughed and clapped his hands the two mahout raised their palms respectively to their foreheads and cried to their animals salam karo salute and the two trunks were lifted together in the salam mutt the royal salute given to kings and viceroy's frank's mahout explained garib parwar protector of the poor the pagan ignorant hindus around here say that the elephant is a god a and that his master durah mutt sahib is one too that's like enough well ala alone knows the truth of everything but those two are more than mere man an animal that is certain mulmoti go on pearl and he kicked his elephant under the ears with his bare feet to quicken her pace but frank bade him stop despite the man's optimism he could not believe it wise to allow tiny tots like that to play with such a huge clumsy animal he was sure that their mother would be horrified if she knew it he loved children and felt that it was madness to allow these babies to continue their dangerous pastime have they a mother he asked the mahout yes who's or the men sahib lady is doubtless within the house i want to dismount said frank as he grasped the sir angle rope as the elephant sank jirkely to its knees then sliding down from the pad he entered the gate and passed through the garden towards the bungalow as he did so a dainty little figure in white a charmingly pretty girl with golden hair and blue eyes came out on the veranda seeing him she walked down the steps to meet him and held out her hand saying in a pleasant musical voice you are mr wargrave of course welcome to rang a door frank uncomfortably curious of his disheveled appearance and travel stained attire almost blushed as he took off his hat and quickened his steps to meet her wondering who this delightful young girl she looked about nineteen could be possibly an elder sister of the children outside but as they shook hands she said i am the wife of the political officer here my husband colonel dermont has just gone up to the mess to see your co major hunt frank was astonished the pretty young girl scarcely more than a child herself the mother of the two chubby babies touched by her kind manner he shook her hand warmly and said thank you very much for your welcome mrs dermont it's awfully good of you and i i assure you i appreciate it a lot just now i was coming to tell you i wonder do you know that your babies i suppose they are yours are playing what seems to me rather a dangerous game with an elephant at the side of the house mrs dermont smiled and the dimples that came with the smile carried his mind back for an instant to violet yes they are my chicks she said i left them in bansha's charge frank was not altogether reassured the young mother evidently did not know what was happening but pardon me is it quite safe i was a bit scared when i saw them the animal was tossing them up in the air you needn't be alarmed mr wargrave though it's very good of you to be concerned and come tell me she replied but bad shah that's the elephant's name is a most careful nurse and i know that my babies are quite safe when they are in his care he has looked after them since they were able to crawl come and be introduced to him i must tell you that he is a very exceptional animal indeed we almost forgot that he is an animal he has saved our lives my husbands and mine on more than one occasion next to the children and me i think that kevin loves him better than anyone or anything else in the world and after my chicks and kevin and my brother i believe i do too as for the babies i'm not sure that he doesn't come first with them she led the way around the house in spite of her assurances wargrave felt a little nervous when they came in sight of the strange nurse and his charges the tiny girl was seated on the ground tightly clasping one huge foreleg while the boy was beating the other with his little fists crying moot kakao earth peer peer lift me up again and again when he saw his mother he ran to her and said mommy bad naughty bansha won't lift me up he suddenly caught sight of the stranger and paused shyly brian darling this is a new friend and his mother bending down to him won't you shake hands with him the child conquered his shyness with an effort and walked over to frank holding out his little hand how do you do he said politely the subaltern gravely shook the proffered hand the little girl scrambled to her fat little legs and finger in mouth surveyed him solemnly then satisfied with her inspection she toddled forward to him and said tis me frank laughed joyously with all my heart you darling he cried this delightful welcome in the dreadful place of exile was inexpressively cheering he swung the date he might up in his arms and kissed her she put her arms around his neck and hugged him me like ooh she said you little flirt eileen exclaimed her mother laughing now it's bad shah's turn she walked to the elephant a splendid specimen of its race though it had only one task the right she held out her hand to it the long trunk shot out brushed her fingers and then her cheek with a light touch that was almost a caress she stroked the trunk affectionately now bad shah this is a new sahib frank with the baby girl seated on his shoulders stepped forward and extended his hand the animal smelt it and then laid its trunk for a moment on his free shoulder bad shah accepts you mr war grave said mrs durmot seriously and there are few whom he takes to readily eileen with one arm around frank's neck stretched out the other to the elephant me love bad shah she said the snake like trunk lingered perishingly on her golden head the baby caught it and kissed it now then cheeky's time for bed said their mother say good night to bad shah the little boy ran to the great animal and hugged its leg tightly while the sneaky trunk touched the child's face affectionately come along brian let him go now and at his mother's bidding the boy released his clasp and ran to her good night bad shah salam said mrs durmot waving her hand to the mammoth while her little daughter on war grave shoulder imitated her the big animal raised its trunk in salute and turning walked with swaying stride out of sight behind the bungalow by jove what a splendid beast exclaimed frank and how wonderfully well trained he is i'm not surprised now that you let the kiddies play with him mrs durmot smiled you would be even less so if you knew his story she said he is my husband's private property now the government of india presented him to kevin now come back to the house and have tea oh no after your long ride you'll prefer a whiskey and soda i really rather have the tea i think mrs durmot i don't feel thirsty up in this deliciously cool air it's awful down in the plains now but what about my elephants and baggage tell the mahoutz to go to the mess you are to have a room there frank did so and the two animals lumbered away up the hill after the mahoutz had brought the colonel's guns into the bungalow mrs durmot led the way into the house the little boy had possessed himself of war graze free hand the other one being engaged in holding eileen who was perched on the subaltern shoulder mrs durmot found it difficult to separate the children from their new friend when at last she bore them off to bed left to himself frank examined with deep interest and admiring envy the splendid display of colonel durmot's trophies of big game shooting that filled the bungalow from the walls many heads of bison and buffalo of sam blur and bara sing those fine indian stags looked mildly at him with their glass eyes while tigers bears and panthers snarled at him from the ground long elephant tusks leaned in corners smoking and the cure tables made up from the mammoth legs and feet stood about and crossed from ceiling to floor on the walls where the skins of enormous snakes such as frank had never seen or imagined he had thought a six foot cobra or an eight foot python lung here were reptile 16 or 18 feet in length and he hoped that he would never meet their equals alive in the jungle while he was gazing with admiration at the fine collection of trophies mrs durmot returned what a magnificent lot of heads and skins you've got here he exclaimed all your husbands i suppose she laughed as she glanced around the room while pouring out the tea that her butler had brought i'm afraid they make the house rather like a museum of natural history she answered yes they are all kevins or nearly all there are a few of mine among them he looked at her in open admiration oh you shoot how splendid he said have you ever got a tiger a couple she replied smiling i envy you awfully he said i never even seen one out of a cage well if you are keen on shooting mr wargrave you ought to have little difficulty in begging a tiger or two before long she said i'd love to have the chance of going after big game i'm hoping for it here shall i i've never had any although i've shot a panther or two and a few black buck and chinkera you will have every opportunity of good sport here neither of the other two europeans your commanding officer and the doctor of your detachment go in for it the latter because his sight is very bad major hunt because he doesn't care for it i'm sure my husband will be glad to take you out with him and nobody in the whole terai knows more about big game than he by jove how ripping exclaimed frank eagerly would he i'm sure he would he'll be only too delighted to have someone for company i used to go with him always until my babies came now kevin has no one but bad shah bad shah oh yes that ripping elephant i don't know much about those animals but isn't it unusual for him to have only a single tusk yes bad shah is what the natives call a ganesh you know that ganesh is the hindu god of wisdom and is represented as having an elephant's head with only the right tusk consequently any of these animals born with the single tusk and that the right is considered and looked upon as a god one of the mahoutz said that the hindus here regard your husband as one too said frank and he seemed inclined to believe it himself i like the name they've given colonel dermot derma sahib fear not sahib a look of pride came in the young wife's eyes as she repeated the name softly to herself fear not sahib yes it suits him then allowed she continued i think you'll like my husband mr wargrave all men do he's a man's man they heal and jungle people worship him he understands them ah here he is i think her face brightened and frank saw the light of love shine in her eyes as she turned expectantly to the door he sprang up as a tall man with handsome clear cut figures dark complexion and eyes and close crop black hair touched at the temples with gray entered the room with a pleasant smile the newcomer walked towards the suburton with outstretched hand saying in a friendly voice glad to welcome you to rang a duar wargrave thank you very much sir replied frank ripping his hand and greatly taken at once by the political officer's appearance and friendly manner it was very kind of you to send those guns for me but i had no luck we saw nothing on the way after greeting him colonel dermot bent over his wife and kissed her fondly it was obvious to the subaltern that after their five years of married life they were lovers still frank looked at them a little enviously he wondered would it be so with violet and him after the same lapse of time for the sight of their happiness sent his thoughts flying to the woman who loved him are you keen on shooting wargrave said the colonel oh yes he is kevin broke in his wife i told him that i was sure you'd be glad to take him with you into the jungle sometimes i'd be happy to do so if you care to come with me wargrave said the colonel i'd love to sir it would be awfully good of you replied the subaltern eagerly but i've only a man leaker rifle ah you'll need a bigger bore than that but i can lend you a 470 high velocity cordite weapon you want something with great hitting power for dangerous game said dermot he went on to speak of the jungle and its densens and his conversation was so interesting that wargrave forgot the flight of time until his hostess reminded him that he had to report his arrival to his commanding officer and find his new quarters her husband volunteered to show him the way to the mess and introduce him to major hunt as wargrave shook hands with mrs. dermot she said i wanted to ask you to dinner this evening but kevin thought you might prefer to spend your first night with your brother officers but we shall expect you tomorrow when they are coming too on their way up the steep road from his bungalow the political officer spoke of the great forest below them and the sport to be found in it then he said it's lucky you like shooting wargrave for rangat dwar is very isolated and life is it dull to a person who has no resources still it has its advantages and chief among them is the climate it's delightful in the cold weather and pleasant in the hot by jove it is indeed sir it's like heaven after the heat in the planes below i don't know how i live through it coming across india the rainy season is the hardest to bear we have five months of it and over 300 inches of rain during them one never sees a strange face then not that we ever do have many visitors here at any time still you'd like your c o and berk the doctor is a capital fellow here we are he turned in through a narrow gate leading to a pretty though neglected garden in which stood the mess a long single storied building raised on piles on the broad wooden veranda to which a flight of steps led from the ground two men were reclining in long chairs reading old newspapers on seeing dermit and his companion they rose and the colonel introduced frank they shook hands with him and gave him a hearty welcome which coming on the top of the dermits cheered the subaltern exceedingly and for the first time made him forget the circumstances of his coming it's mighty glad i am to see you hear war grave said berk the doctor in a mellow brogue and have it's only to have someone living in the mess with me the major there lives in solitary state in his little bungalow and i'm all alone here at night with shatans devils and wild beasts walking on the veranda what has that panther been prowling around the mess again as the political officer faith and he has that sure i heard him sniffing at mid-door last night i wish to the powers you'd shoot him sir i can't get him i've tried often enough trough and it's waking up one fine morning i'll be to find he's made a meal of me keep your door shut at night war grave merrick who lived in the room you'll have forgot to do it once and the devil nearly had him is that really a fact asked frank delighted at the thought of having come to a place with such possibilities of sport yes we're plagued by a brute of a panther that prowls about the station at night jumps the wall of the fort and carries off the seapoy's dogs and has actually entered rooms here in the mess he has killed several buh tia children on the hills around here nobody can ever get a shot at him he's too cunning will you have a drink colonel said hunt the political officer thanked him but declined and reminding them all of his wife's invitation for the morrow bade them good night that's one of the finest men in india exclaimed burt as they watched derma's figure receding down the road the doctor had a pleasant ugly face and wore spectacles he is indeed he keeps the whole butan border in order said the commandant major hunt a slight gray haired man with a quiet and reserved manner the buhattias are more afraid of a cross look from him than of all our rifles and machine guns have a drink war grave yes and you burk hey boy a girka servant with the ugly cheery face of his race appeared and was ordered to bring three whiskies and sodas wrangles not a bad place if you can stand the lowliness continued the major are you fond of shooting yes sir awfully hooray that's good cried burk now we'll have someone to go down to the jungle and shoot for the mess we want a change from tin army rations and the tough old tins that these benighted haythons call chickens yes you'll be a godsend to us if you're a good shot war grave added the commandant we never get meet here unless someone shoots a stag or a buck in the jungle and for that we generally have to rely on dermont but he is away such a lot wandering along the frontier keeping an eye on the peace of the border now we'll be able to look to you we have three transport elephants with the detachment all steady to shoot from frank was delighted i'd love to go into the jungle if you'll let me sir yes i'll be glad if you do there's not much work for you here and this is a dull place for a youngster unless he's keen on sport i'm not myself burks as blind as a bat but you can always have an elephant when they aren't wanted to bring up supplies from the railway the settler can thank him gratefully and inwardly decided that his new commanding officer was a great improvement on colonel trevor now burk i'm off to my bungalow so war grave his quarters said the major rising see you at dinner burk showed the subaltern his room one of the four into which the mess was divided like the doctor's quarters it was at one end of the building the center apartment being the officer's anti room and dining room frank found that his boy with the ready deafness of indian servants had unpacked his trunks hung up his clothes and stowed his various belongings about the scantily furnished room he had stood violets photo on the one rickety table and laid out his master's white mess uniform on the small iron cot major hunt war grave learn lived in a bungalow a few hundred yards away but being unmarried took his meals in the mess the indian officers and sepoys of the detachment were quartered in barracks in the fort frank dressed and entered the anti room or officers sitting room from which a door led into the mess room both apartments were poorly furnished but the walls were adorned with the skulls and skins of many beasts of the jungle presented by colonel dermont as frank learned shells filled with books ran across one end of the anti room as the interior of the mess was rather hot at that time of year though to war grave it seemed very cool after rohar the dinner table was laid on the veranda and while the officers sat at their meal the pleasant mountain breeze played about them frank thought with gratitude of the escape from the burning heat which at that moment was tormenting the hundreds of millions in the furnace of the planes of india stretching away from the foot of the cool hills the meal was not luxurious for it consisted almost exclusively of tin provisions fresh meat being un procurable in rangadar except fowls of exceeding toughness and vegetables and bread being rare dainties during dinner war grave learned how completely isolated his new station was their only european neighbors were the planters on tea gardens scattered about in the great forest below the nearest 30 miles off the few visitors that rangadar saw in the year were the general on his annual inspection an occasional officer of the indian civil service the public works or the forest department or some planter friend of the dermats the reason of the existence of the outpost and his garrison was the guarding of the dwarves or passes through the himalayas against raiders from butan that little known independent state lying between tebet and bangel border its frontier was only two miles from and a few thousand feet above rangadar you are just in time for our one yearly burst of ghiati war grave said the commandant the visit of the deb zimpoon what on earth is that sir asks the subaltern sounds like a new disease doesn't it said burt laughing but it isn't the deb zimpoon is a gentleman of high degree the hereditary cup bearer to the deb rajah to the what demanded the bewildered frank major hunt smiled butan is supposed to be ruled by a temporal monarch called the deb rajah and also by a spiritual one known in india as the derma rajah in reality it is under the sway of the most powerful of the several great feudal lords of the land the tongs a penop or chief of tongska whom we regard as the marajah of butan he has placed himself as far only as the foreign relations of the country go under the serenity of the government of india and in return we grant him a subsidy of a lacca of rupees in a year it used to be fifty thousand but the sum was doubled years ago to get the money one of the state council comes every year he is an official called the dem zimpoon faith he's a rum old beggar war grave broke in berk looks like the pope of rome in his triple crown for he wears a high gold edge cap and a flowing red robe of chinese silk out of which sticks a pair of harry bare legs the political officer receives him in dubar and we furnish a guard of honor the colonel gives a dinner to him and us and we have another spread in the mess that reminds me i suppose derma will be going into the jungle soon to shoot for the pot as the derber is next week you'd better get him to take you you can have one of our elephants and provide for our larder thanks very much major said the delighted subaltern the colonel promised to let me accompany him and then me a rifle when he went to his room that night the subaltern turned up the oil lamp that lighted it and before he undressed sat down before violence photograph as he looked at it he thought affectionately and a little sadly of the lonely woman so far away from him now he pitied her for the isolation in which she lived an isolation far completer than his own for she had few friends no intimates and a husband worse than a stranger in his lack of understanding of her surely it would be only right to take her from such a man right to give her a fresh chance of finding the happiness that she had missed for the warm hearted intelligent and artistic natured woman would be far happier with him in this beautiful spot remote from the world though it was and his new comrades would appeal to her dermot strong capable one who would always stand out from his fellows hunt grave kindly while red Burke witty clever and good hearted and little though violent cared for her own sex as a rule surely in mrs. Dermot she would find a friend this happy wife this loving mother was so sweet and sympathetic that she would win the older woman's liking while the two delightful children would take her heart by storm poor lonely violet so beautiful so ill fated frank side as he took up her portrait and kissed it when he extinguished the lamp and laid down in bed it was pleasant after the heat in rohar to find it so cool that he was obliged to pull a blanket over him only those who have endured the torment of hot nights in the tropics can appreciate his thankfulness as in the silence broken only by the monotonous cry of the night jars he drows contentedly to sleep already he was reconciled to wrang a door end of chapter five