"I WISH YOU SUCCESS."
"Gone at last, my dear!" exclaimed Mrs Bolter. "I'm sure that woman
will drive me mad." Then, turning to the Resident--"I feel now, Mr
Harley, as if I ought to have opposed it much more strenuously. I don't
like his running up and down the country like this, and I'm very much
troubled about it. Of course I don't put any faith in what such a woman
as that Mrs Barlow would say, but she would keep hinting that there is
more in these journeys than we know of. I feel, of course, that I ought
not to stoop to notice such remarks, but when one is left like this they
will make an impression. I don't think the doctor ought to have gone
away and left me alone."
"I sincerely wish that he had not gone," said the Resident; "but Doctor
Bolter's ardent love of natural history and his belief in discovery must
be his excuses for a great deal."
"Yes, yes, I know!" cried the little woman excitedly; and a severe
mental struggle was evidently going on to keep back something upon her
mind. But it was all in vain. The passionate feeling of jealousy that
had been lit by the foolish tongue of the woman who had been constantly
coming in and harping upon the theme, now began to glow, and in spite of
her efforts the anger fanned the flame, till, in a gust of passion that
made her cheeks burn with shame for her question, she turned suddenly
upon the Resident.
"I know it is a shame and a sin to say such a thing, but I can't help it
now. I think it's your hot climate here has changed me, and made me
what I am--but you are going up the river on this expedition Mr
Harley?"
"Yes, of course."
"Will you wait for him?"
"For the doctor? I'm afraid we must not wait much longer."
"Then will you go to that woman's as you pass up the river, and make a
thorough search? I'm ashamed to say it, but I feel perfectly sure that
Doctor Bolter is there."
"Where? At the Inche Maida's?" said the Resident, wonderingly.
"Yes. I am sure he is there."
"And I am certain that he is not!" cried Hilton, so warmly that the
Resident glanced at him.
"But I--I'm greatly afraid he is," panted Mrs Bolter. "Mrs Barlow
said that she felt sure it must be so, and I've made a very, very great
mistake in leaving my quiet little home in England, and letting my
brother accept this chaplaincy."
"Dear Mrs Bolter--pray hush!" whispered Grey, as her cheeks burned with
shame. "It cannot be as you say."
"My dear Mrs Bolter!" cried the Resident.
"He would not of course of his own ideas," sobbed Mrs Bolter, who was
now thoroughly unhinged; "but he must have called there when looking for
gold, or insects, or birds, and been deluded into staying at that
dreadful woman's house."
"I'll swear it is not so," said Hilton, warmly. "There, there, my dear
Mrs Bolter, you may make yourself easy on that score! I'll answer for
our old friend the doctor."
"Bless you, Mr Hilton!" sobbed the little woman, catching at his hands;
"it is very, very good of you to say this. I never liked you one-half
so well before."
"You are upset," said Hilton, warmly, "and no wonder. Your anxiety must
be terrible, and I can understand that you feel ready to snatch at any
explanation of his long absence; but my dear Mrs Bolter, give us men
the credit of being a little too strong to be so easily led away."
He spoke in so frank and manly a tone, as he stood holding Mrs Bolter's
hands, that Grey's eyes lit up, and she darted a look at him full of
pride and thanks. But it was not seen, for Hilton was looking down at
poor, troubled little Mrs Bolter, whose secret, one of which she felt
bitterly ashamed, was now out.
She was burning with jealousy, for she idolised her husband; and the
love that had so long lain latent seemed to be all the stronger for its
long quiescence. She disowned the idea of being jealous to herself, and
was about to burst into a furious speech; but her effort to govern
herself succeeded.
Shame and vexation covered her as with a garment; and hiding her face in
her hands, she sank back in her chair, sobbing as if her heart would
break!
Grey knelt down at her side as Hilton drew back, wrinkling his brow,
half with vexation, half with contempt, as he looked now at the
Resident.
Mr Harley returned the glance, and they both stood looking on, wanting
to leave but hardly liking to stir, as poor little Mrs Bolter sobbed
forth her trouble, with her head buried now in Grey Stuart's breast.
"We cannot wait longer," said the Resident at last; "we must go and risk
it. If we have any casualties, we must trust to our own surgical
knowledge, and do the best we can."
"Yes," said Hilton; "every minute is precious; but I am afraid that we
are going to a war of words, and not to a war of weapons. Let us go.
Perhaps Mrs Bolter will beg of the doctor to come after us in one of
the small boats if we miss him on our way up."
"Stop a minute," said Mrs Bolter, recovering herself by an effort, and
standing up, red of eye and cheek. "He will not come back here while
you are gone, and I will hesitate no longer. I shall go with you!"
"Go with us?" cried the Resident and Hilton in a breath.
"Yes," said the little woman, decidedly. "I shall go!"
"But it is impossible!" cried the Resident. "There may be fighting!"
"Then you would want help. I do know a little surgery, and more
nursing; so I could be of great service."
"But, my dear Mrs Bolter!" cried Hilton.
"Now, it is of no use for you to talk!" cried the little lady. "I feel
it is a duty that I am called upon to fulfil. There is my brother
somewhere up in those dreadful jungles, as thoughtless and as helpless
as a child. He is all strength in goodness and spiritual matters; but
as to taking care of himself, he is like a baby. I know he is lost!"
"It is very good of you," said the Resident, warmly; "but, my dear Mrs
Bolter, pray trust to us to find all our missing people. You know what
Doctor Bolter is."
"Yes--no--yes--no!" she cried, passionately. "I don't quite know him
yet; but I know my duty as his--his--wife. I shall go: for if he has,
through his weakness, been led into any entanglement with that wretched,
wicked black creature, I know and I feel, that at any suffering to
myself, I ought to go and fetch him back--and I will!"
As she said this in a fierce determined way, the two officers gazed
again in each other's faces, amused, vexed, troubled, puzzled; for what,
they silently asked each other, were they to do?
"Mrs Bolter--dear Mrs Bolter!" said Grey Stuart, solving the problem
for them, as, in a tender, womanly way, she passed her arm round the
determined little lady, and drew her to her breast, "you are angry and
upset by your trouble; but you will--no--you cannot do this thing! You
love dear Doctor Bolter too well to misjudge him. Pray, pray think of
the pain it would give him, did he know that you had thought and spoken
like this!"
"And--and as I never did before--before--he came and--and disturbed my
quiet life at home!" cried the little woman. "You--you are right, my
darling! I--I couldn't do such a thing; and I wouldn't have said it
only--only--I am half mad! Don't--don't recollect all this, Harley--
Captain Hilton! It is of course impossible! Go at once--and--bring him
back to me, for this suspense is more than I can bear!"
"We'll do our best," said the Resident. "There, cheer up. We'll forget
all this, and so will you when our dear old friend is back. Tell him we
wanted his help and counsel badly, but we could not wait. Tell him,
too, that I share his suspicions."
"Suspicions?" cried little Mrs Bolter, firing up once more.
"Yes, on the subject we discussed," said the Resident, gravely, as he
shook hands. "There, good-bye. Wish us success."
"Yes, wish us success," said Hilton, taking her hand. "I pledge you my
word that you are right in what you now think about the doctor, who is
as true a little gentleman as ever breathed!"
Poor little Mrs Bolter uttered a sob, and raised Hilton's hand to her
lips and kissed it for the words he had uttered, for she dared not trust
herself to speak!
"Good-bye," said the Resident again. "All this is as good as dead, and
quite forgotten!"
"Yes, yes," said little Mrs Bolter. "You will keep a sharp look-out
for dear Arthur. I feel sure he is wandering about somewhere,
half-starved, but loaded with specimens that he has found."
"Good-bye, Miss Stuart," said Hilton, in a low, grave voice, for he felt
deeply moved, and his heart had seemed to swell within his breast as he
looked on while she had seemed to lead and control her excited,
passion-swayed friend. "Wish me success, for I shall try, while I have
life, to restore to you your unfortunate friend."
"Yes," she said, softly; and the sad tears stood in her eyes. "I wish
you success."
"Helen Perowne will need all your love and sympathy when we bring her
back."
"As I pray Heaven you will," she said, quietly. "You will have our
constant prayers for your safety. Good-bye."
"Good-bye."
Their hands touched for a moment, and a thrill of misery flew to each
heart.
"How he must love her!" thought Grey. "Oh! Helen, how can you trifle
with him as you do?"
"I remember," thought Hilton, as he turned away, feeling as wretched as
he had ever felt in his life, "that I used to read a little fable, when
I was a child, about a dog and his shadow. I've been running after the
shadow all this time, and I have lost the substance. Unlucky dog!"
"What are you thinking about, Hilton?" said the Resident, as they
stepped out of the cool, shady veranda into the blazing sunshine, and
began walking towards the landing-place to embark for the Residency
island.
"Thinking?" said Hilton. "Oh! I don't know; only that it would not be
of much consequence if a fellow got a Malay spear through his lungs."