VANISHED
Honor Bright paid several visits to the Mission after Elsie Meek's
death, hoping to be of use in cheering the bereaved mother. After the
funeral most of the ladies had called to sympathise, Joyce among them,
tearful and tender; but having nothing in common with Methodists who
held aloof from Station society, her visit of condolence ended the
intercourse, so that, but for Honor, Mrs. Meek would have been much
alone. The girl would cycle down for an hour or so and chat with, or
read to the grief-stricken woman while she worked garments for the
converted heathen, thus affording her the priceless boon of sympathetic
companionship.
During these visits it became apparent to her how much the Padre had
changed. He was hardly the same man. All his dictatorial ways were gone,
his self-sufficiency vanished; he was, instead, bowed down with
depression, he looked older than his years, and spoke with a new and
strange humility.
Very shyly, as though unaccustomed to the role, he was becoming the
attentive husband with an anxious eye for his wife's comfort, and
seeking to show her by unobtrusive services that he understood and
shared her grief and was suffering the pangs of remorse. It was not easy
for Mr. Meek to confess that he now realised he had been a hard husband
and father, but his manner was tantamount to such a confession, and Mrs.
Meek was deeply touched. The passionate love and devotion of nineteen
years ago had long settled into a natural affection for the father of
her child, and now when she was stricken to the earth with sorrow, the
void in her heart craved to be filled, and she could feel he was
striving to fill it.
"You don't know how pathetic it seems to me," she confided in Honor,
"his self-conviction and efforts to atone. He must have been fond of our
child, deep down, though unable to show it, not being of a demonstrative
nature. I think he feels he was narrow and bigoted not to have allowed
her a few innocent pleasures such as girls enjoy among young people in a
Station,--and it is too late now!"
"There is nothing I can imagine so painful as unavailing remorse," said
Honor.
"It makes me sorry for him and though I have found it hard to forgive
him, I have uttered no word of reproach. He is so altered. Although a
good man and truly religious, he was yet growing unconsciously selfish
and domineering--all that has now been swept away, and he is ready for
any self-sacrifice--even to allowing me to visit my family in Scotland."
"Will you go?"
Mrs. Meek's work dropped in her lap while she gave herself up to
thought. "No," she said at length. "I have lost touch with my people.
Though they love me dearly, and I them, I don't feel as if I could leave
my husband alone now that he is so broken and sad. We share the same
bereavement, and need each other now more than ever before. Besides, he
hardly realises how dependent he is upon me. I have done so much for him
all these years that he will be utterly stranded without me. It would be
cruel."
Honor smiled at her affectionately, thinking it was very sweet--this
spirit of love and forgiveness springing to life after years of habitual
submission. A truly feminine quality, upon which the masculine nature
has never failed to draw, and which would continue as long as women
remained womanly for the salvation of men.
While at Sombari, Honor heard news of Captain Dalton's doings in the
District. His fame as a surgeon had spread far and wide with various
results on the ignorant and enlightened. In the case of the former, he
inspired more fear than respect, and Mr. Meek could tell of mischievous
rumours afloat which he had done his best to dispel so far as his
influence went. One of the tales in circulation was that Captain Dalton
was an agent of the Government sent to cripple the youths of the
District and otherwise render them helpless in the event of a
revolution.
"And when is such an event likely to happen?" the Padre had asked.
Who can tell?--Weren't there mutterings and discontent in big
towns?--All who travelled and went to the cities came back with news of
great things to come if all that the people demanded was not granted by
the _Sarcar_.
"What are the people demanding?" Mr. Meek persisted in knowing.
That was best known to the highly educated. What did the poor
agriculturist know of what was good for the country? He was like sheep
led to the pasture by those in authority. But when the _Sarcar_ sent
among the sheep a butcher with no stomach for the suffering of the
helpless ones, it was time to protest and to see to it that he was
recalled or driven away. Some were for even more lawless methods of
ridding the countryside of this monster who disembowelled the sick and
suffering, severed limbs, and robbed people of their rights.
Mr. Meek's inquiries elicited that the doctor had performed certain
surgical operations in some cases of accidental injury, which the
neglect of sanitary precautions had rendered necessary. An operation for
appendicitis had resulted in death through bad nursing and failure to
carry out instructions. The women of a zemindar's household had fed his
son on solids too soon after the removal of his appendix, which act of
ignorance and disobedience had produced inflammation, agony, and death.
The doctor was regarded as his murderer, and evil looks followed him
whenever he passed that way.
"What butchery!" one had afterwards exclaimed at a council of five
called to discuss the enormity of the doctor's conduct and his growing
record of outrages upon humanity. "To extract a portion of the
intestines was madness and murder, for who can exist without intestines
as God made them?--and his effrontery to put the blame upon the women
who in the tenderness of their hearts had fed the youth on _dhal_ and
rice for the restoration of his strength--_ai Khodar_! What harm was
there ever in plain _dhal_ and rice? It was but an excuse, and now there
is Gunesh Prosad without a son to inherit his estate, and all because of
this man who is sent among us to cut up human bodies while they are yet
alive!"
"It is a great danger to us. Someone must teach this _Sarcari_ butcher
of human flesh a lesson, or where might it not end?" another had
remarked in complete sympathy.
"But," put in a third cautiously, fearful of making himself unpopular by
repeating the tale with which he was fit to burst, "didst hear of that
legend concerning the coolie of Panipara _busti_ who went forth as a
beater for the hunt, the time the Collector Sahib and others took long
spears and killed wild boars? He was gored, and lay on the grass
disembowelled, and as one dead. Quickly on hearing of the accident came
the doctor Sahib in his _hawa-ghari_, himself at the wheel, and leaping
out he knelt on the grass, and in a twinkling with strange gloves, and
water in a _gumla_[15], he washed the coolie's intestines and restored
them where they belonged, after which with a needle, even as a _darzi_
sews garments, he stitched up the wound! Those watching turned sick of
stomach, but not so the doctor Sahib. Even the Collector Sahib turned
his back and called for a glass of spirits. _Ai--Ma!_--how he did it
was a miracle, but the man is at the hospital in the Station,
recovering, and these are true words; on the head of my eldest born I
swear I have repeated it just as it was told to me."
[Footnote 15: Earthen receptacle.]
"It is a fable; believe it not. More likely he is dead and his body
already cremated."
"Not so. I was told I could see him, if I willed, with mine own eyes.
Many have journeyed to the Station so that they might with their own
eyes behold him. The doctor Sahib may be unfeeling, even bloodthirsty,
but he is devil-possessed with cunning to work magic."
"Even so, he is a danger and should be removed. Who knows what excuse he
might take to use the knife on thee and me and the little ones of our
households? _Tobah!_ he is a wolf, not a man. And this one the _Sarcar_
has sent among us to mutilate, kill, and rob us of our comforts and
rights. Soon, he will take away the _jhil_ from Panipara _busti_ so that
the people will be put to the labour of dragging water out of deep
wells, and for the washing of their garments, they will have to walk
many _kos_ to the river!"
Mr. Meek had learned a great deal more from his converts of the sayings
of the villagers and their feeling against Captain Dalton, all of which
Mrs. Meek recounted to Honor in order that she might put the doctor on
his guard. The latter, however, gave her no opportunity to speak to him,
so she left it to Joyce to tell him of his growing unpopularity.
This Joyce did on one of their outings in the Rolls-Royce and only
succeeded in bringing a smile of amusement to the doctor's lips. He had
no apprehensions whatever for his safety and the subject, therefore, was
speedily forgotten. Joyce learned how to drive, and one afternoon in
December had the supreme satisfaction of motoring out to camp and back
again in the doctor's car. Her pleasure in his surprise was so childlike
and exuberant that Meredith had not the heart to show his disapproval of
the means by which she had attained this end, and smothered his own
feelings that they should not damp her spirits.
"It was very charming indeed of him to spare so much of his time to
you," he said with reference to the doctor's tutelage. "But why should
he take all that trouble, do you think?"
"Because he likes me, of course," she replied ingenuously. "People don't
usually do things for those for whom they care nothing," she said
perching on his knee and lighting his cigarette for him. Her engaging
impulses of affection were most disarming to Meredith's suspicions.
"But--suppose I object to his liking you to such a remarkable extent?"
he said with admirable self-control.
"But why should you? Aren't you glad?"
"Devil a bit! I am wondering whether or not I should consider it an
impertinence, the way he places his leisure at your disposal."
"But you yourself say I am the Bara Memsahib of the Station. Isn't it
expected of the men to show me plenty of respect and heaps of attention?
You wouldn't like to see me left out in the cold?"
"So long as they remember the 'respect'----"
"Ah, now you're talking!" she said severely. "Have I ever done anything
to make you doubt my right to the respect of everyone here?"
Meredith kissed away the frown, considerably lighter of heart than he
had been for some time. No man looking into the sweet pure eyes could
fail to respect her! A fellow would indeed be a rascal if he tried to
lead such a perfect lamb astray!
So the drives continued even after the lessons were no longer necessary,
Joyce often at the wheel with Captain Dalton beside her keeping strict
watch over their safety and that of the car which he particularly
valued, while listening idly to her prattle. The curve of her cheek and
sweep of her eyelashes delighted his artistic love of beauty, so that
though he had plumbed the shallow depths of her mind at the start, he
was still entertained by such superficialities as artlessness and
loveliness.
"When are you going to show me the ruins?" she asked once, when in full
view of the tall minarets and crumbling dome of the ancient palace. "No
one seems to have sufficient interest in them to show them to me."
"There is nothing much to see beyond jungle and brick-work," he said,
bored at the bare idea of plodding over the ground he had already
visited, which was interesting only to globe-trotters and lovers of
antiquities.
"I am crazy to see some of the old enamel still to be found on the
bricks if you look for it. They say it is a lost art. Are there any
snakes and leopards?"
"Possibly snakes, but no leopards. They were gotten rid of long ago, I
am told."
Joyce shuddered. "The thought of snakes gives me the creeps. Isn't it
possible to see the place and yet avoid snakes?" she asked longingly.
She looked so pretty that he relented.
"If we are careful the snakes won't trouble us. I'll take you there some
day when I have a long afternoon to spare."
At this Joyce was delighted and gave him her sweetest smiles. "If it
were not for you, I don't know how I should exist in Muktiarbad!" she
cooed.
"Your husband would not like to hear you say that!" he remarked studying
her curiously.
"He has to be away so much that I might have died of _ennui_ if you
hadn't taken pity on me!" she pouted.
Dalton was not ready with pretty speeches; it involved too much effort
to make up insincerities, but he acknowledged that the drives had given
him a great deal of pleasure. It was so difficult to rouse him to
enthusiasm, and he was so complacently cynical, that Joyce took a
delight in probing his silences and getting at his thoughts.
"Don't you ever really enjoy yourself?" she roguishly asked, her head on
one side and arch mischief in her eyes.
"I've just said so, haven't I?"
"But you don't mean it. I wish I could understand you and all there is
behind that grudging smile--what you think of people--me, for instance."
"I think if I were an artist I should like to paint a picture of
you--you are so amazingly good to look at," he returned daringly.
Joyce coloured. She had asked for frankness and could not quarrel with
him for having answered her bluntly. On the whole she was rather
pleased, than otherwise, that he should admire her, for where was the
use of being pretty if one's friends did not show that they appreciated
the fact. So she beamed on him wholly unconscious of flirting and
rallied him still further on his reserve.
"I don't want to be your model, but your friend. You treat me too much
as a child and never give me any confidence. Today, after all these
months, what do I know of you?"
"You know at least that I am very much at your service. Isn't that so?"
"You are very kind--and all that, but friends talk openly to each other.
I know nothing of you, and I _do_ know everything you could say would be
so interesting," she sighed. "For instance, why are you never really
happy?"
"I have forgotten the way," he said coolly. "Perhaps I have learned too
much of life and have lost interest in it. You don't laugh when you
can't see the joke, do you?"
"No."
"Nor do I. I see no joke in life worth enjoying, so I have forgotten
what pleasure is."
"Can't you tell me all about it?" She pleaded.
"It's an ugly story and not for your ears. But it played the devil with
me for good and all," said he grimly.
"I am so sorry," she cried sincerely shocked and grieved. "I thought you
must have had a bad time to look and act as you do. Poor you!" and one
small hand rested for a moment on his. It was immediately captured and
held close.
"Why should you care?" he asked, his expression curiously hardening.
"Because I like you so much."
"Only _like_?" he asked with a short, unpleasant laugh.
The necessity to avoid a goat tethered by the roadside prevented her
from replying; Joyce recovered her hand for the steering-wheel and they
discussed the narrow escape of the goat. To Joyce it was very
flattering, this unbending to her alone of all in the Station, and the
growth and development of their friendship. Some day she would learn
what had "played the devil" with him for good and all. On the whole he
was really quite a dear.
Meredith chafed during his week-ends at the Bara Koti when it became
apparent how much his wife depended on the doctor for companionship; and
now that Honor was supposed to have taken a dislike to the latter and to
avoid encounters with him on their doorstep, there was little help for
it. The only advantage to himself to be derived from the entertainment
Joyce found in the doctor's society, was her healthier condition of mind
and no further insistence on a passage home for herself and the child in
the spring. He had a firm faith in her virtue and goodness, and applied
himself to his winter programme with feverish haste that he might be at
liberty to return to her the sooner and personally take over the care of
her before her innocent partiality for the Civil Surgeon became common
talk. That it was innocent he would have staked his life.
Honor Bright was less sanguine, though intensely loyal. The increasing
intimacy between Joyce and the doctor weighed heavily on her; and it
made her rage inwardly to hear her friend discussed openly at the Club
by a clique that usually looked on at the tennis. While serving her
smart over-hand strokes, scraps of conversation would float to her,
demoralising her play and rousing in her a fierce inclination to speak
her mind.
"Where is Mrs. Meredith this evening?" a voice was heard to ask on one
occasion.
"Joy-riding as usual with Captain Dalton," from Mrs. Fox venomously. "It
will be interesting to watch the result when Mr. Meredith awakes to
what's going on."
"What's going on?"
"The doctor is a 'dark horse.' You don't suppose he would waste so much
of his valuable time if he did not hope to get some entertainment out of
Mrs. Meredith? She is such a coquette." This from Mrs. Fox, maliciously.
"She's a simple little thing," said the first speaker charitably. "I
shouldn't imagine there was any harm in her."
"'Still waters run deep,'" quoted Mrs. Fox.
"There is another instructive proverb I could quote," cried Honor
striking savagely at a ball.
"And what is that?" from Mrs. Fox.
"About 'glass houses and stones.'"
"If that is meant for me, thanks, awfully! But so many panes have
already been broken, that I am most indifferent to stones," Mrs. Fox
returned languidly as she smiled on the company, who laughed in
embarrassment.
"So it would appear," murmured Mrs. Ironsides to a friend.
"Hateful creature!" Honor snapped in Tommy's ear as he handed her a
ball.
Jack, playing on the other side with Mr. Ironsides for his partner, had
deteriorated so much of late that Tommy and Honor, who had both a
genuine regard for him, were much exercised in mind.
He had lost his frank look and easy good-humour; was rarely to be seen
at the Club without Mrs. Fox, whom he usually drove down in a side car
attached to his motor cycle, a recent purchase,--and was no longer the
same man. A constraint had arisen between him and his chum who poured
out his fears to Honor in the hope of receiving advice and comfort, but
he had succeeded only in alarming her.
"Can't anything be done to save him, Tommy?"
"I can't think of anything, unless Meredith gets him transferred at
once."
"But who's to suggest that?"
"His wife, I should think; otherwise some day there might be an unholy
row. Fox is no fool. I dare say he is biding his time. He was fond of
Bobby Smart and got him out of this while there was time, but he may
prefer to sacrifice Jack."
"How terrible!" Honor was sincerely afraid for Jack. He was too young to
be mixed up in such a bad business, and Mrs. Fox was clever enough to
play him like a fish till he was landed.
Honor walked home at dusk escorted as far as her door by Tommy. It was
her intention to call on Joyce after dinner with a proposition
concerning the transfer of Jack from Muktiarbad. It seemed the only
thing left to do. Incidentally, she would repeat her warnings to her
friend concerning herself, for which she expected no thanks. Still, it
had galled her badly listening to the coarse remarks of Station people
at the Club. She would speak, however disagreeable the task.
At nine o'clock when she reached the Bara Koti she discovered that Joyce
was not in. Usually, she returned from her drive at dusk, but as she had
not done so up to that late hour, the Collector's servants had come to
the conclusion that she was dining at a neighbour's in the
happy-go-lucky way that sahibs took "pot-luck" at one another's houses
without reference to their domestics.
It was odd in Mrs. Meredith's case, for never before had she failed to
return to her baby that she might tuck him into his little cot herself
and see that all was right. The ayah was not a little perturbed, but did
not voice her feelings until speaking to Honor, fearing that they were
foolish and unfounded. What did the Miss-sahib think?
Honor did not know what to say. The more she thought of it the less
likely did it seem that Joyce would dine out without coming home to
change into dinner things and kiss her precious infant good-night. She
decided to return home at once and ask what her parents thought about
it.
This she did without loss of time, and Mr. and Mrs. Bright took a grave
view of circumstance.
"The car has either broken down somewhere, or they have met with an
accident," said Mr. Bright.
Mrs. Bright maintained a stiff reserve.
The thought of an accident caused Honor's knees to give way beneath her
and she collapsed into a chair. "How shall we know? Supposing they don't
return--?" The bare idea was intolerable.
"I have never liked these constant motorings in her husband's absence.
Mrs. Meredith is very foolish to court gossip in the way she is doing.
Presently there will be a scandal," said Mrs. Bright shortly.
"Joyce is not a flirt, Mother."
"She goes far enough to earn the reputation of one, however innocent she
may be."
Honor knew it was the truth and was silent with an indefinable dread.
Was Joyce altogether safe with Captain Dalton?--Should he fall in love
and grow intensely attracted by her beauty and childlike charm, was he
the sort to consider morality and the law? Was he strictly an honourable
man? None knew him; none trusted him; not even Ray Meredith who was
afraid to betray his jealousy and incur his wife's resentment; or why
had he said: "Take care of my wife--she is such a kid?"
"What had best be done?" she asked anxiously.
"We had better beat up the Station and see what has happened," said Mr.
Bright, rising to put his suggestion into effect. "She might be stupid
enough to be dining with the doctor at his bungalow."
"Oh, never!" said Honor indignantly. "She is not so foolish as all
that!" A hot flush surged over her face at the idea. Joyce dining with
the doctor at his bungalow, _alone_! It was too preposterous, yet--was
it? She was "such a kid," and might be foolish enough to dare any folly
so long as she felt sure of herself and the purity of her own
intentions.
But the pain at Honor's heart was out of all proportion to her concern
at Joyce Meredith's indiscretion.
She tortured herself imagining the possible scene in Dalton's
dining-room--Joyce at dinner, _tete-a-tete_ with Captain Dalton!--on
familiar terms with the man who rarely condescended to be agreeable to
others! It was a picture inconceivably hurtful.
"You had better lose no time, Dad. If you find her--anywhere--tell her
that her servants are alarmed--the ayah particularly. I shall see her in
the morning," she said, resolutely shutting out the vision conjured up
by imagination.
If Joyce were not dining somewhere, there must have been an accident, in
which case they would have to send out search parties.
She watched her father leave in the dogcart and wondered what the upshot
would be, her mind restless with forebodings.
It was fully an hour later that Mr. Bright returned home to report that
Captain Dalton and Mrs. Meredith were nowhere to be found. Dalton's
servants were waiting to serve him with dinner, and were growing anxious
as his habits were usually automatic and punctual. He so far considered
them that they were always informed of his plans. If he intended to dine
out they were given liberty to spend the evening with their friends in
the bazaar. As it was clear that something unusual had happened, Mr.
Bright had called round on Tommy and a search was already in progress.
Jack had taken the Sombari road on his motor cycle and Tommy had taken
the main road in an opposite direction. It was more than possible that
the car had broken down somewhere, in which case the stranded ones would
probably find a bullock-cart to bring them ingloriously home.
Honor hung about on the verandah for news till midnight, and was almost
speechless with alarm when both boys appeared, one after the other to
report the failure of their quest. The car was nowhere to be seen.
To add to the difficulty, clouds which had gathered in the evening had
discharged smart showers of rain at intervals, as is familiar to Bengal
about Christmas time, and not a trace of wheel-marks could be discovered
on the road.
By morning the excitement had spread all over the Station. Inquiries
poured in on the Brights. The subject of Mrs. Meredith's disappearance
with the doctor was discussed at every _chota hazri_ table with and
without sympathy, and even in the bazaar it was passed along from one to
another. The Collector's memsahib had gone off with the doctor, leaving
her little child to the tender mercies of an ayah! Alack! even to the
homes of the mighty came shame and dishonour through a woman! And all
through the European custom of giving women so much liberty! On the
whole, the "black man" knew best how to protect his honour and his home!
Meanwhile, a mounted messenger had gone at great speed to inform the
Collector, who arrived by midday looking dazed and ill from the shock.
It was pitiful to see how helpless he had become in the face of such an
appalling tragedy as the complete disappearance of his wife. Telegrams
to various stations on the line had brought no information; mounted
policemen had returned without having discovered a clue. The car had
vanished with its occupants, though all who knew Joyce intimately, knew
that she would cheerfully have given her life rather than have abandoned
her child.
"One can scarcely believe that she has eloped," Mrs. Bright said to
Honor. "She is so wrapped up in the child."
"Someone would have seen the car," said her husband. "It is an
unaccountable thing."
Joyce eloped!--it was unthinkable.
Honor, who from anxiety, had not slept all night, mounted her bicycle
and rode out into the fresh and brilliant sunlight on a forlorn hope. An
idea had come to her as an inspiration which, though unlikely, was not
an impossibility. In the search for the missing ones, every road in the
District was being scoured without success. Since the rain had
obliterated all tracks there had been nothing to guide any one in the
quest, and nothing had been gleaned from villagers. No one had seen the
familiar two-seater after it had passed the boundaries of the Mission,
which was a circumstance as mysterious as it was unaccountable, for it
must have gone somewhere.
Why not off the road? Not a soul had conceived it likely that Captain
Dalton would have risked his fine machine over the bumpy side-tracks
that formed short-cuts in various directions, notably one to the ruins
which Joyce had often expressed a wish to see. They were not difficult
of access by motor-car, although the road to them was almost covered by
weeds and undergrowth. Supposing that the doctor had yielded to
persuasion and taken Joyce to see the old Mogul Palace, and supposing
that they had subsequently met with an accident, their plight might be
truly pitiable. Very few natives found it necessary to travel by the
jungle path so long disused, for the Government having constructed
metalled highways in all directions, travellers had ceased to travel
uncomfortably even if the old path was a short-cut between villages.
Occasionally woodmen in search of timber prowled around the ancient pile
and jackals gathered in packs to howl their grievances to the moon;
otherwise, a stray tourist on a visit to the Station or a winter picnic
party were the only visitors to the gaping halls and crumbling arches.
Just where the unused and overgrown track left the Sombari Road, Honor
stepped off her bicycle and searched the ground again for a clue without
success. None was to be found in the slush and puddles of the uneven
way.
Nothing daunted, she led her bicycle over the ruts towards the jungle in
which the palace lay buried, its dome and minarets visible through the
tangled tree-tops. It was not easy going on foot, much less could it
have been for a motor-car; moreover, Honor was not at all sure she liked
venturing on her visit of exploration alone, but all who were capable of
continuing the search were already occupied in its prosecution in
different parts of the District, and there was no one she could have
asked to keep her company.
It was when Honor came to shadowed glades where the undergrowth almost
hid the track and obstructed her progress, that she found the first
clue--snapped twigs and branches bent backward. These suggested the
passage of a cumbrous body on wheels, for sodden leaves were pressed
into the wet earth and creepers which had barred the way had been torn
and flung on the path.
If it had been Captain Dalton's car, why had it not returned? Honor's
heart grew sick with fear.
She pressed on. Presently, she came upon the car itself, beneath
overhanging boughs and a dense entanglement of bamboos. It had been
saturated by the rain, the hood lay back, and an empty luncheon basket
lay open on the seat.
Evidently, they had left the car with the full intention of returning to
it immediately, and were prevented by some unforeseen calamity. Honor
quivered with alarm and misgiving. Where were they if not in the
palace--killed, or injured and unable to help themselves?
Her mind flew to wild animals.
Though it had been a long accepted legend that tigers and leopards had
been driven out of the neighbourhood, and had not been seen for years
within a radius of twenty to thirty miles, it was still possible that a
stray leopard or tiger had lately found a refuge in the neglected
precincts of the ruins.
Honor was unarmed and terribly afraid. The fate that had overtaken her
friends might easily be hers a few steps further. Prudence and
self-preservation dictated immediate flight and a call for a
search-party. At the same time, having come so far it seemed her duty to
continue till she was convinced that she could do no more. There was the
possibility that Captain Dalton had met with an accident and Joyce,
unable to leave him, was in dire need of help. Honor felt she would
cease to respect herself forever if she deserted her friends at the
moment of their greatest need.
She hesitated no further, but stumbled forward over the uneven ground,
desperately anxious and frightened, yet nerved to face any danger.
Another bend of the track brought the palace into view--a dark
conglomerate pile of crumbling masonry which looked frowningly down upon
her, its walls weather-beaten and scarred by time, and with rank
vegetation sprouting from every crack. A pipal tree flourished aloft
above its dome, its roots buried in the concrete and clinging to the
walls; while festoons of wild convolvulus hung in profusion from the
lower branches.
Moisture still dripped from the leaves, and the earth was sodden
underfoot. Lofty arches yawned in the sunlight and a silence as of the
grave reigned, broken only by an occasional caw from an inquisitive
crow, or the intermittent chattering of apes.
Again Honor came upon signs of forcible penetration--wild creepers torn
aside to make a path, and jungle hacked out of the way; no easy task.
Her friends had evidently been determined not to accept defeat in their
effort to reach the interior of the ruin.
It was a year since Honor had visited the spot and it seemed to her that
the shape of the building had changed. One wing had partially collapsed;
whether recently, or some months ago, she could not tell, but it did not
look quite the same. Here and there, boulders of freshly fallen masonry
strewed the path. There was no doubt that the edifice was slowly falling
to pieces.
Raising her hands to her lips, she gave a loud, Australian "_coo-ee!_"
and listened while its echo called back to her....
Was it an echo?
Honor held her breath to listen, and heard it again--a man's voice
calling--"Hulloa!--_coo-ee!_"