| Show I 1 MEN 1 B S BY TALBOT MUNDY 0 0 MUNDY SERVICE THE STORY TITUS THUS VAR FAB captain carl norwood has been sent lent from his native england to the kadur niver niver district in india along with his indispensable manservant moses oleary sold er ole of fortune No job la is to survey the district to determine whether a valuable secret diamond mine belongs to the temple tom e priests priest or to the ruler the th e mahar maharajah Mah arajah a ah of 0 kadur norwood calls on the B british artl residency v to pay his initial re respects spec t on his way he catches a glimpse of 0 two women in a palace carriage one of whom Is young and beautiful the other woman he knows to be the of kadur oleary later tells him that the young woman is an american girl named lynn harding who with her aunt mrs deborah harding Is a guest at the palace on a sightseeing tout tour mrs harding sprains an ankle and sends lends to the palace for or aid prince Rund hla hia handsome spoiled nephew of the rulers comes to her rescue and takis her back to the pa palace ace where he be meets lynn CHAPTER ill III continued 4 we love you and we will all do our best to make you happy said the but the astrologer says this Is a time of great crisis for us I 1 believe you are a sending as we call it there are many sen dings just now and they are arc badly mixed they are contradictory and in opposition to one another his highness my husband Is so anxious to make a good impression on captain norwood it is so important will you help us to make a good impression on him but I 1 might do the wrong I 1 might say the wrong word I 1 might commit some indiscretion am I 1 in on an intrigue asked lynn yes dear a very serious intrigue 11 oh what fun Is it dangerous the astrologer says that it might become dangerous dear this sounds wonderfully wonder tull full Is it a real dark oriental intrigue the laughed amiably after a seconds hesitation and with noticeable effort yes dear it Is certainly dark it is secret and it hasto has to do with a 8 diamond mine but I 1 hope you wont mention that to anyone im glad you warned me ot of course I 1 wont mention it k CHAPTER IV captain carl No tent faced the kadur river about a mile away it resembled a moonlit ir regular ribbon of silver streaming from the enormous temple and the temple tempi was a citadel of mystery that loomed against indian night Ther ewas a stillness that seemed seemed like the womb of music into which the clatter and voices from the camp kitchen fell natura naturally lly and the hoot hoof beats of a cantering bantering cant ering horse thudded on dusty earth like calculated drum beats A shadow that was a horse was reined in with unnecessary vigor A palace messenger dismo dismounted dismounts d Nory No servant careful for his maste masters gs dignity accepted a silver tube with the air of conferring a favor norwood opened the tube after he had made sure that the servant had bad withdrawn to a sufficient distance then he went to the table and wrote inserted his own letter into the tube and returned it to the messenger who cantered away tell moses I 1 want him moses ole oleary ary came and stood in the door of the tent ive been to the palace for supper 1 I 1 had time yet sir to find out much about doing at the thel palace has anyone from the palace been enquiring about me yes sir prince Rund hlas servant came asking if need to borrow a horse he knew you because we were standing right under our horses noses when he asked the question besides I 1 the right person to ask but bui he slipped me a box 0 the princes cigars and asked a lot about you what did you tell him me ibold I 1 told him youre the mildest man on earth and how nothing interests you so much as running surveys what wha did you find out same as I 1 told you not much he had bad his bis orders and he had bad time to forget lem cm and hes scared 0 the prince I 1 got a une line on the prince all right his brains are made 0 curry powder and red pepper hes about as safe to tackle as a she cobra that has just laid her eggs iles hes what they call a steamer what do you mean nothing for or nothing lavish at cent per cent hed give you any blodys money if he knew what he was getting tor for it it if I 1 should hear of your taking his money find yourself in serious trouble me yes you im incorruptible what Wha Velse else did you find out nothing ex excel ep what ive already told you theres a mrs harding and a miss harding at the guesthouse mrs harding has a 3 hurt foot and has been attended by prince Bund Rund hlas hias doctor miss harding has already met Rund hia and talked what about the doctor he hes s no good no good in ji what way no self respect scared belets he lets the prince browbeat brow beat him takes a tongue lashing without answering back lets himself be treated treat ed me like a dog no dignity excel when the prince looking nothing new about noor man mah lam no I 1 reckon call him off he was just a tryout try out all he was sort 0 skirmisher to feel out the lay jay of the land find out all you can about prince Rund hia that ought to be easy ill go to the bazaar tonight nothing was ever quite like it in kadura history plumbing electric light modern furniture and even the will to do it cant make an indian palace dusty with tradition lend itself to what the kept insisting was a picnic she wanted to be so modern and unconventional vent ional that even would approve sullenly defied by the outraged head steward whose turban almost rose from his hair with horror she dismissed him and took charge the eventual compromise was wai something between a bean feast am and a banquet in the glass roofed patio amid a forest of potted palms and am canaries in silver cages there were wen chinese lanterns and an utter drunk enness of flowers the long table was loaded with silver and gold norwood found himself between the and aunty aulty but there were paper napkins those were lynns suggestion the summoned the keeper of the jewels selected a cluster of the most famous camou s diamonds from the kadur collection and aad pinned it artfully on lynns lynna black silk lynn looked stunning in embroidered broi dered black ck silk it showed off her eyes and her golden hair excitement cit ement made her parted lips so kissable that the had qualms of conscience darling my nephew is a bad boyl be carefully care full lynn laughed the prospect of annoying aunty aulty was delicious aunty aulty would be scandalized by high jinks in a palace aulty aunty one of those people who think that palace life should be like one endless corona tion ceremony in westminster abbey she could count on aunty aulty to keep within bounds the first arrival was Rund hia in dinner jacket and turban of cloth of silver critical of the cocktails he be introduced ingredients learned in europe he watched lynn ile he made apparently random remarks to discover her system in case cas eshe she had one miss harding you look innocent galand gay and very beautiful buti but I 1 mistrust you your emotions seem to me to be too honest you ww go home and laugham laugh at us all going home soon lynn answered aulty aunty laugh when she said that she meant it Is that what amuses you no id rather stay here move ilove it 1 I wonder what you mean by love it it do you love us 1 I love the and I 1 love these pussyfooted pussy footed eastern nights im wild about it all I 1 cant bear the thought of going home yet smiled the sheep faced maharajah Mah arajah entered toadied by attendants who arranged the cushions forham for him in a chromium plated armchair at the end of the long room too polite to speak any other language than english in lynns presence he frowned sullenly at and refused a cocktail your bengali bring my tonic sorry said Rund hla hia he was attending to mrs harding he forgotten it then came norwood hot night though it was he was in full mess uniform not whites shorter than Rund hia hla but five feet eleven inches is after all plenty it if its built right and properly carried Rund hias six feet one and almost perfect features somehow so EO noticeable after norwood came into the room norwood had red hair and one of those bits of moustaches mou staches that draw attention to the line fine of his lips his red shell jacket gloved a vigorous torso there was nothing meek about him nothing arrogant he was a british gentleman in uniform as unselfconscious as a visitor at the zoo he recognized lynn instantly his expression changed to let her know he recognized her but he was imperturbable nothing surprised him the palace chamberlain presented him to the maharajah Mah arajah and the ha ranee he was gracious to them the introduced him to lynn he studied her he smiled ile he said how do you do we have met I 1 believe I 1 am very curious dont tell me it might spoil the tun fun of finding out am I 1 to sit next to you at dinner I 1 was always lucky then he walked up and shook hands with Rund hia hla please ld yes nice to meet you it suggested the well oiled motion of machine guns getting ready they were enemies at sight as charmed to meet each other as match and powder barrel lynn knew it instantly st antly then aunty aulty arrived alter after that there was nothing to do but to listen to aunts distant she was wonderful even admired her spunk dressed in a formal evening gown on purpose to make inake lynn feel ashamed of hert here self taped and strapped by the doctor until sho she could hardly move in torture from the twisted ankle she proposed to dominate that company she did until norwood subdued her she used to being snubbed by mere captains what do engineer officers do she demanded nothing he said except answer questions why I 1 might lend you a man who can do things the maharajah Mah arajah was interrupted by the arrival of the bengali doctor followed by a servant with a big blue goblet on a tray the mahara lah jah swallowed the contents of the goblet in on one elong long draught and norwood noticed that he became immediately more at ease but norwood was also watching Rund hia hla who left olt off dancing with lynn lyan and accompanied compa nied the bengali to the door talking to him low voiced norwood promptly command commandeered dered lynn it if I 1 were you he said id stick to champagne the cocktails taste phoney lynn sure she liked him on the other hand band she sure she why were you rude to aunty aulty she was rude to me he answered she had bad an accident today so she herself who Is you tor for instance princess cinderella on her night out or rebel you know what happens to rebels dont you unless ess their friends are reliable A great gong boomed it was as ancient as the palace it was the bronze voice of memory Picnic ill exclaimed the mahara nee no formality lynn lym dear lead the way we will all follow so the maharajah Mah arajah came last to the servants horror and it was lynn who contrived the s seating eating No luck suffered a flat tire he found himself between the and aunty aulty and lynn sat opposite the maharajah Mah arajah at one end of the tha table the at the other the maharajah Mah arajah only pretended to eat in theory he had abandoned caste restrictions but in practice he lacked the Mahar anees anil courage a e he wilted under aunty aulty hardings barrage of remarks her vigor depressed him aw aulty aunty rity had no patience pat lenca with weaklings wea klings youre a hypochondriac she told him the Mahai ajah sighed 1 I am a victim of public duty affairs of state impose a sedentary life that has ruined my health but I 1 have hava found that Rund hlas physician understands der stands my ailment the physician reappeared in the doorway nervous uns unselt elf assertive he came behind aunts chair and whispered to her norwood hear what he ha said but he saw him lay two pellets on a plate at aunts right hand X drugs no thank houi you what are they asked the ma hara sarajah ha rajah JaIL exactly the same that your highness his has been taking tor for your nerves said the physician 1 I have iron nerves said aunty aulty the physician smiled ile he separated the two pellets with a fork and held the plate toward the ma sarajah ha rajah set her the example he suggested my monotonous life consists of nothing else than setting good examples said the maharajah Mah arajah if it wont hurt me it wont hurt you tie he reached for a pellet norwood noticed that the doctor moved the plate so that the maha rajahs rajahn fingers fengers closed on the one that had been nearer aulty aunty if it pa evaa a trick it was smooth was paying rather witty attention to lynn lanni he was making her laugh As a compliment but against again 8 t m my Y better judgment said aunty aulty she swallowed the other pellet thank you said the bengali thank you madam that relieves my anxiety you should not be here you should be in bed there is no knowing what peoples nerves may do to them when they have suffered a bodily shock such as you received this afternoon he bowed himself out aunty aulty used her napkin suddenly norwood watched her he was just in time to prevent her falling from the chair everyone including the maharajah Mah arajah jumped up lynn ran to her the servants formed a scrimmage around lynn and aunty aulty the maharajah Mah arajah scolded the sotto voce sent a servant running for the doctor the other servants picked up aunty aulty end and carried her into the next room where she groaned on a couch and nearly faint ed from humiliation met the doctor at the door norwood watching them pretended not to certain whether they spoke the doctor nodded put on his most judicial professional air felt aunts pul seand seland shrugged his lifs shoulders she has a temperature temper it Is impossible to say but I 1 think she Is only suffering from nervous exhaustion haust ha lon and perhaps too from mental disturbance he turned again to the Lad vise that miss lynn harding should be moved into the palace so that mrs harding may ke be quiet TO BE CONTINUED |
