Show BY TALBOT MUNDY G 0 0 MUNDY SERVICE CHAPTER XIV continued as by the time oleary reached the tent norwood was in an easy camp chair cutting the pages of a new book and smoking as if there were nothing on an earth to be troubled about that lamp aint fit to read by said oleary ruin your eyes the only kind 0 engineer that can look after himself has a couple 0 fingers missing along 0 having learned what engineering Is I 1 let me turn it out ill fix it later come in sit down oleary blew out the lamp then he sat it was not yet night outside but it was too dark in the tent for them to see each others faces meaning youl you said oleary 1 I could have picked you oil off against that lamplight from a hundred yards away aye and no one know who done it talk said norwood im dry 0 talking ive a throat like a bakers oven you shall have a drink presently said the devil to the that bengali doctors sore at someone hes scared hes rolled res hes up to mischief like all them bengal is hes a mixture of too many different kinds of education hes as full of spite as a scalded cat he has imagination like the toothache what he needs Is an umbrella to keep worry off of with did he talk to you did he time to post the sentries stoddart is doing it now cant y you au hear him yeh but I 1 know stoddart 11 stoddart has his orders I 1 will go the rounds presently what did the bengali doctor tell you come on now out with it the way I 1 managed him was this s r said aid oleary 1 I was looking in agn mrs harding cracking on id come to fix the plumbing on account 0 my hearing her raising bell she was doing a better job ot of that than you or I 1 could I 1 understand ashes a widow I 1 dont blame her husband for taking apking a i chance on the nex world she has her things pretty near packed in about a lorry load 0 trunks 6 on n the veranda she was cussing bussing out the servants until the doctor turned up and then she turn edher guns on him she demanded her bill and he remarked she owe him nothing so I 1 knew right then there was a cockroach in butter I 1 stuck around umbrageous what she said to that bengali Bengall doctor mind you I 1 say to as 0 thief he was trying to persuade her to take some physic for her stomach and the she he said it ud lud make her stomach easy and shed be fit to travel he offered to swallow some of it himself to prove it was harmless but she said he could swallow the bottle for all 0 her he said helas be was trying to speed the parting guest and she said she need no breedin 1 I 1 showed up suitable respectful f U cracking on I 1 heard nothing and I 1 said I 1 was captain No private servant and had the captain left his bis pipe on the veranda when he called this afternoon you should have heard that female talk and what she said about youl you she said she put it past you to have smoked your pipe on an her veranda but it if you had done it shed have kicked the stinking thing into the bushes long and short 0 it she dont re like you she pitched a hundred rupee note at the doctor for his tee fee and he let it lie there I 1 followed the bengali I 1 overtook him where it was quiet and no shrubbery where folks could scratch cratch their noses poking into other peoples business I 1 spoke reproachful ful 1 I asked him doctor sahib did you tell that woman what she said you told her about captain norwood he came back at me with are you genuinely captain nor woods servant tV and I 1 said it im not genuine theres less than sixteen annas to a rupee and when hed hea thought a bit he answered yes I 1 told her I 1 repeated rumor I 1 should not have done it it he acted nervous and after a minute he be pulled out live five rupees and gave em to me I 1 looked noncommittal so he be gave me flee five more then he said to me will you be seeing captain norwood how soon tell him but dont say who told you that his life is in danger tonight warn him that his bis enemies have heard about that bribe and they will try to kill him let him look to himself ile he dont car care a da damn about you but hes scared stiff 0 what might happen it 11 they killed a british officer in kadur I 1 figured out the meaning 0 that quicker than take a snapshot lies hes up to something crafty no knowing what but he figures he be can get away with it all right if nothing happens me like the killing of a british officer that would bring a british investigation on the scene horwood burwood refilled his bis pipe so you think the priests intend to murder me no neither do L I 1 it if they did intend to said oleary that bengali doctor know about tt it well said norwood bod youve done nicely you have a hundred and ten rupees for an hours work not me im proud I 1 gave him back his ten rupees hes nothing but a babu doctor norwood found the whiskey bottle in the dark he poured a stiff drink and locked up the bottle gave the drink to oleary and walked off on his rounds to instruct the sentries oleary waited tor for him outside the tent he looked as nervous as the shadow of a tree that quivers in the evening wind twice he start ed e d to overtake norwood but thought ought th better of it at last when norwood returned he hesitated and if nor I 1 why you tell me sooner wood t faced might no have spoken still here said norwood on your mind theres a man im sear scared ed of oh who is he be iles hes an old acquaintance 0 yours 1 I asked who Is he A man name 0 gulban oh is that devil in kabur kadur why you tell me sooner because I 1 was afraid go after him norwood smiled oleary grinned what I 1 do said norwood aan and what I 1 dont do are none of your business yes they arel gulban ud lud kill you then what he swore to get you on account 0 that poona business when you caught him stealing from the secret flies 11 yes I 1 remember he was angry you have let him off I 1 warned you then you said a good teason reason it was a crazy reason remember your manners 1 I any not when you go chancing getting bumped off by a badnash that ud skin his mother for the price 0 leather you said catch him later doing something important youre not to touch him gul baz is mine aith the rule of the game I 1 need him As soon as this little business in kadur is finished weve a survey to run eight hundred miles from here where theres a dark little game going on and your friend gulban is the bell 11 er hes a pig and a snake and a son of a never mind what he be is it its what he shall do that matters lie he shall decoy his friends moses laughed that swine any friends i he has three bosom friends and a gang of eleven all told he shall decoy them all into one net says you observed moses dont be theatrical you may go and talk to gulban if you want to but youre not to touch him if you get yourself killed ill pay that priest of yours to say no masses for you you shall stay in hell bell forever I 1 have lust just one crack at him I 1 could make him a hospital lob job where know where he is and 1 I have given you a definite order that youre not to touch him 11 yes but suppose he takes a crack at me in that case youre youdore to run away stoddart cant run hes too tat fat id like to borrow stoddart 11 what for ill need him 1 I said what for for a witness if I 1 dont have a witness therell be nothing gul baz wont do or wont swear to 4 how long do you expect to be gone about twenty minutes minute maybe less it dont take long to get gul baz goat 1 I cant afford to lose stoddart ill bring that big baby back as safe as if 11 he rode a very well I 1 will tell stoddart to go with you CHAPTER XV it had been an army lorry once but it had fallen on ivil evil days and was now a contractors truck so it looked suitably unofficial the indian driver had bad been commandeered by moses and for one rupee eight annas in lawful money had agreed to go anywhere lawful or not inside beneath the rotting and ragged canvas rover cover moses sat on the floor facing sergeant stoddart 1 I thought this was all about a diamond mine said stoddart you keep your fat head out 0 mischief and lot let problems alone said moses To nights no problem its easy excel the consequences were going to lose a good officer one way or the other and the question is which you half breeds are all alike said stoddart you barent say what you unk think he stuck his thumb in the bowl of his pipe and struck another match his eyes were inquisitive you dont mean 1 I mean youre a fathead plain talk it now its your turn you tell mo me what youre thinking about plain words and no this that and the other come clean everyone in camp mp has heard it said stoddart first I 1 heard of it was from a coolie caoile down by the river heard what So been bribed and you believe it long ago said stoddart 1 I gave up believing anything in india except payday pay day and where theres smoke theres fire ae ive known of officers burning th their air fingers if the officer were thinking about took a bribe hell be brokenfor bro broke kefor for it as sure as you and I 1 sit in this truck one waybe way we can lose him the other he dicht take no bribe 11 said moses me ar or you you might take one you special but not him 11 an they y may have framed him said stoddart frame your picture in a museum one 0 these days as the champion fathead that ever came even from england to look popeyed at a puzzle theres three men in india who cant be framed successful to say unless they frame each other ones me An others captain high cockalorum norwood and the third is gulban want to frame you asked stoddart youre not worth I 1 it t the other way we can lose the captain woman hes no womanizer said stoddart you ought to be a reporter for the papers you get oil all your facts right I 1 said woman aa k woman you fathead f one woman hall half 0 two women can you figure that one well then what woman are you talking about naming no names abes at the palace you mean miss lynn harding its all over the camp that prince has her number you seen her asked moses I 1 yes said stoddart 1 I saw her on horseback riding with the prince ashes a good looker how close did you look oh ob a couple of hundred yards freyou Ar are eyou you blind ive better sight than you you drunkard and you tell from two hundred yards away that that girls a good un you want to bet ayou want to bet your months pay against mine that norwood made up his mind that he wants her stoddart refilled his pipe with almost supernatural patience what are we up to tonight ho he demanded why are we here in this bloody truck where are we going he tell you no he told me to look after you what I 1 told him to tell you AU ali right general moses where are we going to the promised land were going hunting a bribe who from gulban Gul baz how much you may keep all you get how much do you reckon well get twice halt half 0 what ho he thinks its worth we split allt it fifty fifty on account 0 your puritan nature and your good looks and your gift for not letting your head know what your brains are doing what are we going to be bribed tor for I 1 for our virtue what else could he buy mine aint for sale but yours Is lie he wants it for the travel ling waxworks wax works 0 curiosities hes taking along to tour india all right then put it this way why are we worth bribing we aint said moses speak tor for yourself whose money is he chucking away you may bet your boots it his money considering the kind 0 badnash crook he is that has to pay out money by the bucketful to keep his skin on his bis back and his line 0 retreat open gulban Is close hes so mean that a scotch ilea flea get a living off him moses raised the cover of the truck and took a quick glance at the narrow street then he lowered the cover and spokes spoke well be ba there in a minute 1 I want you to get this stoddart try to understand it its important gulban has hag it in tor for captain norwood how big a sucker he is hes crafty but he sense enough to know that theres two men in india can beat him ones me the other others js cockalorum norwood catch em afave o norwood one 0 these days gulban is ii going to sit in No net alive and nasty but not yet why not none 0 your business youre only a fathead sergeant you know nothing 0 the inside workings 0 things but gulban here to in kadur for his health or for yours and mine either hes here to get captain norwood and make a profit at the same time iles hes got a game on and hes got it all timed to a minute why youre here 11 i ther then you go again said stol dart blo bloed jed tf if I 1 understand you speak plain 4 ril ill say it slow said moses words 0 ono one syllable if I 1 was alone and if gulban was ready hold hed stick a knue knife into me but seeing that youre along and you a soldier that has cost the taxpayer a heap 0 money for upholding the blooming dignity of his Maje majesty stythe the king hell think twice about it it if I 1 was stuck inthe in tha back it ud lud be a loss to the human race and a bulls eye for or gulban but the they y even write it up in the paper not in the society column asked stoddart but if it happened to you halt half the sweating countryside ud lud have to turn out for your funeral marching slow arms reversed dead march in saul and after that be an investigation two courts of enquiry military and civil plus a headache for the maharajah Mah arajah and at least a column to in the bombay times embellishing the record of a faithful tommy atkins TO BE CONTINUED |