CHAPTER XIII
THE COURSE OF TRUE LOVE
As Muriel passed through the door Wargrave started to follow her; butViolet cried peremptorily:
"Frank, stay here. Please realise that I come first now. Sit down."
He obeyed mechanically. She went on petulantly:
"These emotional scenes are rather exhausting. Do you mind calling thehotel 'boy' and ordering a cocktail for me? You ought to have oneyourself. I suppose, like all men, you hate scenes. Then you should begrateful to me for saving you from that spiteful little jungle cat."
Going to the verandah outside the room he called a hotel servant andgave him the order, then returned to his chair and sat down wearily. Hestared at the floor in silence. He had sent the girl that he loved awayutterly humiliated; and he knew that, with her proud spirit, the shameof his rejection of her would cut her to the heart. He cursed himselffor bringing this pain to her. It was all his fault. Not only had he hadno right to speak of love to her while he was bound to another woman,but he ought never to have sought her society as he had done, neverstriven to gain her friendship, for by doing so he had unconsciously wonher love. The harm was done long before he spoke to her of his feelings.What a selfish brute he was to thus cause two women to suffer!
Presently he remembered that his moodiness, his silence, wereuncomplimentary, cruel, to Violet. She was right in saying that she camefirst. Indeed she was the only one to be considered now. The other hadpassed out of his life. It might be that they should meet again some dayin their restricted world, but while he could he must try to avoid her.There was only Violet left.
He looked up to find his companion's eyes fixed on him with anundefinable expression. He roused himself with an effort that was notlost on the woman watching him.
"So you have told your husband," he said. "Well, now we must arrangewhat we are going to do."
"We won't discuss our plans at this moment," replied Violet. "I'm not inthe mood for it." Then after a pause she added bitterly, "I must giveyou time to recover from the shock of the abrupt ending to your littlejungle romance."
Before he could reply the servant appeared with a tray.
"Ah, thank goodness, here are the cocktails. There's only one. Aren'tyou having one, too? It will do you good. No?"
She sipped her cocktail slowly. When she had finished it she got upfrom her chair, saying:
"I'll get ready to go to the Amusement Club. Will you wait for me here?You needn't change--we won't play tennis to-day; for we've got thisdinner and dance on to-night and I don't want to tire myself. I shan'tbe long."
As she passed his chair she tapped his cheek and said:
"Don't look so miserable, my dear boy. You'll soon get over the loss ofyour jungle girl. There, you may kiss my hand as a sign of your returnto your allegiance."
But when she entered her bedroom she did not at once proceed to getready to go out, but unlocked her dressing-case and, taking out of it aletter, sat down to read it for the tenth time since she had received itthat morning. Yet it was short and concise. It was from Rosenthal andaddressed from the Mess of the 2nd (Duke's Own) Hussars in Bangalore;for, as it told her, he had returned to his regiment as his leave hadexpired. It was the first that had come from him since she had leftPoona, although, as he said in it, he had obtained her new address fromthe Goanese clerk in the Munster Hotel office on the day of her flight,thanks to the persuasive powers of a fifty-rupee note.
He told her that although her abrupt departure had puzzled him and hecould not understand why she had tried to conceal her whereabouts fromhim, he wished her to realise that if it were an attempt to escape fromhim it was useless. He could bide his time, for sooner or later he wouldget her.
Violet smiled as she read his confident words, although they caused alittle shiver of fear to run through her. Then she rose, locked theletter away and put on her hat.
Not until after lunch next day was Wargrave able to find time to go tothe Oriental Hotel, not to see Muriel, he sternly told himself, but topay a visit to Mrs. Dermot. When he was shown up to her sitting-room hehad to wait for some time before Noreen entered; and he was struck atonce by the coldness of her greeting. It was evident that she was verydispleased with him. She said no word about Muriel; and Wargrave feltcuriously averse to mentioning her name.
At last he summed up courage to ask her. With as near an approach tofrigidity of manner as she could show to a man to whom she was soindebted Noreen replied:
"Muriel has left Darjeeling."
"Left Darjeeling? Where for? Where has she gone?" he exclaimed insurprise.
"To her father."
"But why? She wasn't to have left for weeks yet," said Wargrave.
Mrs. Dermot looked at him angrily.
"Why? Need you ask? I should have thought commonsense would have toldyou. I don't think we'll talk about it, please. As I said before, I'vewashed my hands of the whole affair."
Further conversation on the subject was rendered impossible by theirruption of her children, who rushed at Wargrave and reproached him fornot being to see them lately.
During the next few days Violet baffled every attempt that Frank made todiscuss their future course of action. The constant succession ofgaieties, the balls, theatricals, concerts, races, _gymkhanas_, thatfilled every afternoon and evening of the Darjeeling Season, took up allher time. Whenever he tried to talk matters over with her she invariablyreplied that there was no hurry, even when he pointed out that MajorNorton might arrive any day in consequence of her letter. That he hadnot already done so was inexplicable to Wargrave; and the subalterncould only believe her assurance that her husband accepted her loss withequanimity. It never occurred to Frank to doubt that she had written theletter.
But one morning matters came to a crisis. When Violet and Wargravereturned to the hotel from their ride before breakfast a telegram washanded to the latter. He found it to be an official message from ColonelDermot, which ran:
"Please return forthwith to Ranga Duar. I start for Europe on sick leave to-day."
Frank stared at it in surprise. He had heard nothing of his superiorofficer being ill. It must be something very serious to necessitate hisbeing sent to Europe. The news was an unpleasant shock to him; for hegenuinely liked and respected the Political Officer.
Then it occurred to him that this order to return brought everything toa head. Violet saw that he was perturbed.
"What is it, Frank?" she asked.
"I'll tell you upstairs, dear," he said.
In her sitting-room he handed her the telegram.
"I must leave to-day. Will you be ready to come with me?" he asked.
"What? To-day? My dear boy, it's impossible," she replied.
"But I must go. You see, it's imperative. The Colonel's already gone."
"Yes, I see you must. But--well, I simply couldn't be ready," saidViolet calmly. "Besides, I'm singing at the concert to-morrow night; andthere's the dance at Government House the night after. I must follow youlater."
"But that means your travelling alone," he argued. "Wouldn't it be muchpleasanter for you to come with me?"
"Don't worry about me for goodness' sake, Frank. I'm not a helplessperson. I came across India by myself to get here; and surely I'll beable to manage to do a twenty-four hours' journey alone."
"Very well, dear," he replied with an inward, unacknowledged feeling ofrelief that the decisive step had not to be taken yet. "I'll come downfrom Ranga Duar with an elephant to meet you at the railway station whenyou arrive. Now, while you're changing for breakfast, I'll rush round tothe Oriental and see if Mrs. Dermot has more news."
When he reached the hotel he found Noreen busily packing. She was paleand evidently deeply distressed, although outwardly calm and collected.
"You have heard?" she asked, as he entered her sitting-room.
"Only that your husband is starting for England on sick leave and thatI'm to return at once. What's the matter? I hope it's not serious."
"Mr. Ma
cdonald wires that Kevin must go at once to England for anoperation. He says I'm not to worry, as there is no immediate danger.But of course I can't help being alarmed. It's all so sudden. I didn'tknow that Kevin was ill. Mr. Macdonald is travelling with him to thejunction on the main line where the children and I are to meet them.Isn't it kind of him? I'm so glad to know my husband will have someonewith him until I come."
"We'll meet at the railway station after lunch, then," said Wargrave."We'll be together as far as the junction."
Mrs. Dermot hesitated.
"Are you travelling alone?" she asked.
Frank flushed as he replied:
"Yes. She--Violet is to follow later."
Noreen made no comment; and having learned all that he could he returnedto his hotel.
He dreaded the ordeal of the parting with Mrs. Norton, but when the timecame for it he found his fear of a distressing scene quite uncalled for.She said goodbye to him in a pleasantly friendly, though somewhatcasual, manner, and did not offer to accompany him to the station as shehad a previous engagement. And long before the little train hadzig-zagged down the seven thousand feet to the foot of the Himalayas shehad dismissed him from her mind.
The truth was that the gay and admired Mrs. Norton, caught up in thewhirlwind of social amusement in a lively hill-station, was not thewoman who passed weary days of _ennui_ in the company of a dull andunattractive husband in a small, dead-and-alive station. Nor was thedejected man who so plainly showed that he was pining for someone elsethe good-looking, heart-whole subaltern who had fascinated her in theboredom of existence in Rohar. Was he worth incurring social damnationfor? Would his companionship--for she knew that she had not hislove--make up for a life of loneliness, debt and poverty in a frontieroutpost? If she were resolved on giving up her present assuredposition--and Violet felt that existence with Norton would be more thanever unendurable after the exciting pleasures of Poona andDarjeeling--would it not be wiser to do so for someone who could amplycompensate her for the sacrifice? Love in a cottage--or its Indianequivalent, a subaltern's comfortless bungalow--did not appeal to her.Her statement that she had written to tell her husband that she wasleaving for Wargrave was false. It had served the purpose for which itwas made, and that was the defeat of her rival. So now, content with hervictory, she put all burdensome thought from her and dined, danced andflirted to her heart's content in the gaieties of the Darjeeling Season.
When Wargrave reached Ranga Duar the little outpost seemed strangelyforlorn without the Dermots and their children. Major Hunt and Macdonaldwelcomed him warmly. The latter informed him that he had insisted on theColonel going to England for his operation because the Political Officerhad not been out of India for seven years and needed the change, andbesides he would receive more care and attention in a Londonnursing-home than in an Indian hospital. The trouble was intestinal butthere was no immediate danger to his life.
Another familiar figure was missing. Before departing Dermot hadreleased Badshah and left him to wander in freedom in the jungle,unwilling that his faithful companion of years should be servant toanyone else and confident that the elephant would come back to him whenhe returned to the Terai. Major Hunt placed one of the detachmentelephants at Wargrave's disposal whenever he required it to take him onhis tours along the frontier. And Frank needed it constantly. For, assoon as the news of Colonel Dermot's departure spread, the lawlessspirits that for fear of him had not ventured for five years to disturbthe peace of the Border, began to show signs of restlessness. ThePolitical Officer's strong personality and the reputation of divinitythat he enjoyed had kept them in check. But now that he was gone theythought that they could defy with impunity the young sahib who replacedhim.
So the Assistant had not long to wait for an opportunity to show hismettle. Dermot had not been gone a fortnight before one or two raidswere attempted on British villages by lawless mountaineers from acrossthe Bhutan frontier. Wargrave soon proved that the mantle of ColonelDermot had not fallen on unworthy shoulders. Single-handed heintercepted and faced a party of Bhutanese swordsmen swooping down fromthe hills on a tea-garden in search of loot, shot the leader and two ofhis followers and put the rest to flight. With a handful of sepoys ofthe Military Police he surprised a Bhuttia village in the No Man's Landalong the border-line and captured a notorious outlaw who had plunderedin Indian territory and had sent him a defiant challenge.
Wargrave was glad of the excitement and the occupation, for they kepthim from brooding over his troubles and worrying about the future. Hehad not time to puzzle over Violet's silence. She had not written to himsince their parting. As a matter of fact she seldom thought of him, soengrossed was she in the pursuit of pleasure. Admittedly the prettiestwoman in Darjeeling that season she received enough attention andadmiration to turn any woman's head; and she enjoyed it all to the full.Although she had answered Rosenthal's letter from Bangalore he had notwritten again; but she felt that he was not forgetting her. She thoughtoftener of him than of Wargrave; for the vision of the great riches thatshe might one day share with him fascinated her. It haunted her dreamssleeping and waking. Often she let her fancy stray to the existence thathe had promised would be hers when he was the possessor of his father'sfortune, a life of luxury in the gayest cities of the world with allthat immense wealth could bestow, a life infinitely better worth livingthan her present one. Would she ever be given the chance of it?
The question was speedily and unexpectedly answered. One morning afterbreakfast she received a telegram from Rosenthal. It said:
"My father is dead. I sail from Bombay for South Africa on Friday to settle up his affairs. Will you come?"
She stared at the paper almost uncomprehendingly for a few moments. Thenthe meaning of the message dawned on her. She sat down at herwriting-table and thought hard. She had little time in which to make upher mind; for if she wished to reach Bombay before Rosenthal sailed shewould have to leave Darjeeling that afternoon. What should she do?Should she go? She found a pencil and a telegraph form and addressed thelatter to the Hussar. Then she hesitated. But she was not long in comingto a decision. With a firm hand she wrote the one word "Yes" and signedher name. Then she rose from the table, called a hotel servant,despatched the telegram and went to her bedroom to pack. And the sametrain that took her away from Darjeeling carried a letter from her toWargrave.
But the subaltern did not receive it until more than a week afterwards,when he returned to Ranga Duar with Tashi after chasing back across theBorder a mongrel pack of _dacoits_--brigands--who had been harryingBhuttia villages in British territory. The letter lay on the table inthe room which he still occupied in the Mess, although he was no longeran officer of the detachment, together with a pile of correspondencethat had accumulated during his absence. Recognising Violet's writing onthe envelope he tore it open anxiously. He rapidly scanned the firstpage, stared at it incredulously, read it again carefully and thenfinished the letter. It ran:
"My dear Frank,
"I am going to relieve your mind of a great weight and send you into the seventh heaven of delight by giving you the glad news that you are never likely to see me again. Before the week is ended I shall have left India for ever with someone who can give me all I want and not condemn me to a poverty-stricken existence in a wretched little jungle station, which is all that you had to offer me. I know it was not your fault and you are really a dear boy. I was very fond of you; but you did not love me and we would have been very miserable together. For you would be always pining for your jungle girl and I would have hated you for it. Now we part good friends and she is welcome to you. I ought to tell you that I did not really write to my husband as I said I did.
"I wish you luck--won't you wish me the same?
"Yours affectionately,
"VIOLET."
When he had thoroughly grasped the meaning of this extraordinary letterhe forgave her everything in the joy of knowing that she had set himfree. He did not spec
ulate as to the man with whom she was going; histhoughts flew at once to Muriel. But his delight was tempered by thefear that his liberty had come too late to be of service to him withher. Would she ever forgive him? His heart sank when he remembered herindignation, her bitter words when they parted. Surely no woman who hadbeen so humiliated could pardon the man who had brought such shame uponher. Yet how could he have acted otherwise? It was natural that the girlshould blame him; but how could he have been false to his plighted wordand desert the one who held his promise? If only he could see Muriel andplead with her. Perhaps in time she might bring herself to forgive him.But how was he to meet her? Now that Mrs. Dermot had gone to England,the girl would not come again to Ranga Duar. She was, he knew,accompanying her father in his tour of the forests of the districts inhis charge. How could he go to their camp or lonely bungalow in thejungle and force his presence on her? What was he to do?
Longing for someone to confide in, someone to advise him, he went toMajor Hunt and told him the whole story. The older man rejoiced inlearning of the subaltern's release from his entanglement, but, knowingMiss Benson well, shook his head doubtfully over the chances of herforgiving Wargrave. Nevertheless, unwilling to kill the young man'shope, he affected a confidence that he was far from feeling and bade himtake courage. He advised him to arrange a few days' shooting in theneighbourhood of the Bensons when he could spare the time from hisduties. The father would be sure to offer him hospitality and thedaughter could not well avoid him. In the meantime he might write andplead his cause on paper.
Wargrave sat up half the night composing a letter to Muriel. Sheet aftersheet was torn up in disgust before he was even tolerably satisfied. Butthe laboured result was never sent. Next morning after breakfast as hesat smoking in the Mess with Major Hunt and the doctor his servantentered to tell him that a forest guard wanted to see him. A wild hopeflashed through his mind that perhaps Muriel had sent him a message. Buton going out to the back verandah where the man awaited him he washanded an envelope "On His Majesty's Service," addressed in a strangehandwriting. He opened it and glanced carelessly at the letter, but thefirst lines riveted his attention.
"Forest Officer's Bungalow, Barwana Section.
"From the District Superintendent of Police, Bengal Civil Police.
"To the Assistant Political Officer, Ranga Duar.
"Sir,
"Three days ago a party of Chinamen attacked and severely injured the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Mr. Benson, in this bungalow, and abducted his daughter. They were ten or twelve in number and well armed, and over-awed the servants and forest employees. They have been tracked towards the Bhutan Frontier and, I fear, have crossed it by this. There was, unfortunately, much delay in the information reaching me while I was touring the district south of the forest; and I have only just arrived here. I hasten to acquaint you with the occurrence as I am powerless if the ruffians have crossed into Bhutan. Please request the Officer Commanding Military Police Detachment to send out parties to try to cut off the raiders from the passes through the mountains, although I fear it is too late. Can you meet me here and confer with me? Please bring the Medical Officer of the detachment with you, as Mr. Benson is in a bad state and no civil surgeon is available for a great distance from here.
"Your obedient servant, Edward Lawrence. D.S.P."
Horror-stricken, Wargrave questioned the forest guard. The man had notbeen at the bungalow at the time of the outrage and could not greatlysupplement the information contained in the letter. The story that hehad learned from the servants was to the effect that a party of Chinamenhad arrived at Mr. Benson's bungalow and asked for employment ascarpenters. There was nothing unusual in this, as Chinese from theSouthern Provinces frequently make their way on foot through Tibet andBhutan over the mountains in search of work on the tea-gardens or inCalcutta. Apparently they had suddenly struck the old man down andsurprised Miss Benson before she could offer any resistance. Producingfire-arms they had terrified the servants. They had a mule hidden in thejungle and on this the girl was placed and led off. Long after they haddisappeared some of the forest guards had timidly followed their trackfor some distance and found that it led towards the Bhutan Frontier.
When Wargrave had extracted from the man all the information that hecould he rushed into the Mess and acquainted the two officers in it withthe terrible news. Like him they were horrified at the outrage. MajorHunt went at once to the Fort to order out parties of the detachment inaccordance with the District Superintendent's request; and Macdonald gotready to proceed to the Forest Officer's bungalow forty miles away.
The Assistant Political Officer despatched a cipher telegram to theForeign Department, Government of India, at Simla, informing them of theoccurrence and of his intention to investigate the affair personally,and, if possible, rescue Miss Benson. He knew that the Heads of theDepartment, although they would not sanction or approve officially ofhis crossing the frontier in pursuit of the raiders, as it would becontrary to the Treaty with the Bhutanese Government, would not enquiretoo closely into his movements. But whether they liked it or not heintended to follow the abductors if necessary into the heart of Bhutan,Treaty or no Treaty.
His first step was to send for Tashi and order him to prepare thedisguise that he intended to use. His rifle he left behind, but armedhimself with a brace of long-barrelled automatic pistols to which theirwooden holsters clipped on to form butts, thus converting them intocarbines accurate up to a range of a hundred and fifty or two hundredyards. He found a third for Tashi in Colonel Dermot's armoury, which wasat his disposal.
Night had fallen long before the detachment elephant that bore Wargrave,Macdonald, Tashi and the forest guard as well as its own _mahout_,reached the bungalow where the District Superintendent of Police awaitedthem. The doctor found Benson suffering from a wound in the head, withconcussion and fever. Frank interrogated the servants carefully andelicited from them one fresh fact about the outrage that shed a flood oflight on its motive and its author. It was that the leader of the partywas pock-marked and blind in the right eye; and this at once confirmedFrank's suspicion that the instigator of Muriel's abduction was theChinese _Amban_, whose parting threat to the girl had thus materialised.
At daybreak Wargrave and Tashi started on foot accompanied by a forestguard to put them on the track of the gang. This led up towards theBhutan Frontier, which runs among the hills at an average elevation ofsix thousand feet above the sea. As the Assistant Political Officeranticipated, the party had headed for the portion of the border underthe control of the _Amban's_ friend, the Penlop of Tuna. Enquiries amongthe inhabitants of the mountain villages resulted in several of themcoming forward with the information that they had seen a small body ofarmed Chinese escorting a cloaked and shrouded figure on a mule andclimbing up towards Bhutan. Two of the Government Secret Service agentsamong these Bhuttias had followed them cautiously to the frontier andseen them received there by a party of the Tuna Penlop's armedretainers. These men reported that the watch on all the passes intoBhutan was stricter than ever, and, as one of them phrased it, not evena rat could creep through unobserved.
This discouraging intelligence was a further proof of _Amban's_ guilt.But Frank realised that it would not be sufficient to justify theGovernment of India claiming redress from the Republic of China; and,indeed, diplomatic procedure was much too slow to be of any use in therescue of the girl. An appeal to the Maharajah of Bhutan would beequally fruitless; for his powerful vassal the Tuna Penlop waspractically in rebellion against him and defied his authority. The solehope of saving Muriel lay in Wargrave's prompt action.
Yet try as the subaltern would, he and Tashi were unable at any point topierce the cordon of guards along the frontier. Generally they got awayunseen; but on one occasion they were discovered and had to flee backinto British territory under a shower of arrows. Fortunately fire-armsare scarce in Bhutan; and the Tuna Penlop's soldiers possessed
onlybows.
It was imperative that Wargrave and his follower should be circumspectin their movements, and by day they hid in caves or in the jungleclothing the slopes of the higher hills, to escape observation byBhutanese spies. When they had exhausted the food that they had broughtwith them and failed to procure any more from their Secret Serviceagents in the villages, Tashi gathered bananas, dug up edible tuberslike the _charpattia_ or _charlong_, and snared jungle-fowl and Monalpheasants. Having obtained a bow and a sheaf of arrows from a village hesometimes succeeded in killing a _gooral_, the active little wild goatfound in the lower hills, the flesh of which is excellent.
As day after day went by and found them no nearer success in crossingthe frontier Wargrave began to lose heart. He was harassed by anxietyover Muriel's fate and feared that he would never be able to rescue her.At times he grew desperate and but for his companion's remonstranceswould have tried to fight his way through the border guards, although inhis saner moments he knew that it would be sheer madness.
Besides danger from human enemies the two men were menaced by peril fromwild beasts as well. Panthers prowled among the hills, great Himalayanbears, a blow from the paw of one of which would crack a man's skull,wandered on the jungle-clad slopes and, though not carnivorous, werealways ready to attack human beings. Herds of wild elephants, which hadscaled the mountains into Bhutan at the beginning of the Monsoon toreach the northern face of the Himalayas and escape the heavy rains thatdeluge the southern slopes and also to avoid the insects that plaguethem in the jungle at that season, were commencing to return to theTerai. Often Wargrave and Tashi had to climb trees to let a herd go by;and each time as he watched them the subaltern thought longingly ofColonel Dermot and Badshah. If he had them to help him how easily hecould burst the barrier between him and the land that held the girl whomhe loved and who needed him so!
Late one afternoon, as the two men were making their way through bamboojungle at the foot of high cliffs close to a pass into Ghutan which theyhad not yet attempted, they blundered into the middle of a herd ofelephants feeding. There was no tree in which they could take refuge,and before they were able to make their escape they found themselvessurrounded on every side. A number of cow-elephants, which, having youngcalves with them, were very savage, pressed threateningly towards themen, who tried to force their way into the dense growths of the bamboosand so put a frail barrier between themselves and the menacing beasts.They knew that their pistols would be useless, and they had alreadygiven themselves up for lost when the huge animals which were apparentlyabout to charge them, suddenly stopped and drew aside to allow amonstrous bull-elephant to pass through. It was a single-tusker, and itadvanced steadily towards the men. Frank stared at it incredulously.Could it be----? Yes, it was. He was sure of it. It was Badshah.
And the elephant knew him and came towards him. In the sudden revulsionof feeling and his relief at knowing that they were safe Frank almostlost his head. A mad hope surged through him. He stretched out his armsimploringly to the great beast and cried impulsively:
"Oh, Badshah! _Hum-ko madad do_! (Help us!)"
To his amazement the animal seemed to understand. It sank slowly to itsknees as though inviting him to mount it.
"Sahib! Sahib! He offers us his aid," cried Tashi excitedly, and hescrambled up after Wargrave who had climbed on to the broad shoulders.
The subaltern leaned forward and, touching the huge forehead, pointed inthe direction of Bhutan. Badshah turned and moved off towards the passthrough the mountains, while the herd followed; and Frank thrilled withthe hope that at last he was about to break through the barrier of foesbetween him and the girl he loved.
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