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Show rp rp nnn fP f? P ll LRJ a If 011 ilJii&U BY TALBOT MUN D Y CTAlB0T MUNDYWNU SERV,CE THE STORY THUS FAR Captain Carl Norwood has been sent from his native England to the Kadur River district in India, along with his indispensable manservant, Moses O'Leary, soidier of fortune. Norwood's job Is to survey the district to determine whether a valuable secret diamond mine belongs to the temple priests or to the ruler, the Maharajah of Kadur. Norwood calls on the British Residency to pay his initial respects. On his way he catches a glimpse of two women In a palace carriage, one of whom is young and beautiful. The other woman he knows to be the Maharanee of Kadur. O'Leary later tells him that the young woman is an American girl named Lynn Harding, who with her aunt. Mrs. Deborah Harding, Hard-ing, is a guest at the palace. On a sightseeing tour Mrs. Harding sprains an ankle, and sends to the palace for aid. Prince Rundhia, handsome, spoiled nephew of the rulers, comes to her rescue, and takes her back to the palace where he meets Lynn. At a banquet that night In the palace, attended by Captain Norwood. Nor-wood. Mrs. Harding takes one of the native doctor's pills, and becomes violently ilL She is placed in bed and arrangements are made for Lynn to move out of the quarters with her aunt and stay with the Maharanee. That evening Prince Rundhia attempts to make love to Lynn. She is unwilling to listen to him. and at the crucial moment Norwood appears on the scene, much to Rundhia's disgust. O'Leary has located the secret entrance to the diamond mine which is being worked by the temple priests. He takes Norwood to the mine, where death is narrowly averted when a live cobra is thrown in Norwood's face. Later Norwood visits the Brahmin priests, one of whom slyly slips a packet of diamonds dia-monds in his pocket, unknown to Norwood. They are intended as a bribe. CHAPTER VI Continued The Resident was in his office, reasonably civil, but he frowned when Norwood told him about the palace supper. "You met the Hardings, I suppose? sup-pose? What did you make ol them?" "Tourists. Beautiful niece. Terrible Ter-rible aunt. I gathered, without being be-ing told, that the aunt has money." "Rundhia show up? Did you notice no-tice anything suggestive of the possibility pos-sibility of scandal?" "I thought the niece a damned nice girl, sir. A bit romantic. "Any conversation with the Maharajah?" Ma-harajah?" "Yes. I was alone with him until midnight. He showed me all the documents that he seems to think bear on his claim to own that temple tem-ple property. He seems very anxious anx-ious to avoid a lawsuit, and it isn't difficult to guess why, though I'm not a lawyer. He showed me nothing noth-ing that even half persuaded me he has a case against the priests. Of course, we'll know more when we've run the survey. But as far as I've gone, I should say the priests have a walk-over." "You sound prejudiced." "I haven't a trace of prejudice, sir, one way or the other." "Why not reserve your opinion? Are you off now to call on the Maharajah?" Ma-harajah?" "Yes. I'm a bit early, but I have something to do on the way." "Very well. Keep me posted." CHAPTER VII Norwood left his horse in charge of the sais at the palace front gate. He intended to return and ride up the long drive to the front door for his formal call on the Maharajah. But the footpath to the guesthouse was shorter than the winding carriage-road, so he walked, to leave the iodine for Mrs. Harding. On the way he saw Lynn and Rundhia. Lynn was no longer in riding breeches. She looked delicious in a frock of nile-green print and a wide leghorn hat. Norwood wasn't sure, but he suspected she knew she could be seen from the guesthouse guest-house veranda, and that Rundhia did not know. She and Rundhia were laughing. Suddenly Rundhia snatched her hat off, used it as a shield to hide behind, caught her in his arms and kissed her. It was no fool of a kiss. It was an experience. experi-ence. Lynn did make a show of resistance. re-sistance. She struggled free and recovered her hat. Norwood's view of it, against the background of the leghorn hat, made him set his jaw. But he relaxed it again and smiled, a bit grimly, a bit maliciously. From the opposite direction he had heard what sounded sound-ed like an oath, although it was nothing worse than the well-bred, almost al-most inarticulately gurgled word: "Hussy!" Aunty Deborah Harding had also seen that lingering and only laughingly laugh-ingly resisted kiss. Aunty was on the screened veranda, ve-randa, propped on pillows, on a reed chaise longue, with a table beside her. A native servant was just in the act of removing a tray of breakfast things. "May I approach," asked Norwood, Nor-wood, "or are you purdah?" "Who is it? I can't see you. Oh, yes, Captain Norwood, come in if you can bear the sight of me. I should look presentable. I never had so many women in all my life to push and pull me about. This is my second attempt at a meal this morning. You'll have to run away if I, can't keep it down. What has brought you, pray, at this hour?" lie had forgotten the iodine. "Thought I'd ask how you're coming com-ing along." "Will you bring my niece here? She's beyond those trees, talking to someone. I want her to come here and tall? to me. Will you tell her I said so. and please don't take no for an answer." Norwood strolled across cne lawn, tapping his boots with a riding whip. He coughed a couple of times. By the time he had peered around the trees, Lynn and Rundhia were seated seat-ed opposite each other on wicker-work wicker-work chairs. Lynn seemed unself-conscious. unself-conscious. Rundhia looked venomously venom-ously sly; he offered Norwood no greeting whatever. "I happened to be calling on your aunt," said Norwood, "and she asked me to say that she wants to see you " Lynn looked dubious: "What sort of mood is she in?" "Very polite to me," said Norwood. Nor-wood. "That's a danger signal. She can't be polite to one person at a time. I think I won't go." "You will have to pardon me," said Norwood, "but I agreed to bring you." ' "You always do what you say you will?" "Yes." He looked straight at Rundhia, Run-dhia, who ignored him. "Prince Rundhia," said Lynn, "is going to show me the jewel room." "Is he?" said Norwood. Rundhia winced noticeably: "Perhaps "Per-haps you'd better go," he said to Lynn. "There's lots of time. She'll have her tantrum out, and you can meet me later." Lynn compared them, as clearly as if she had said it aloud. Her "Write a letter, why don't you?" smile was a bit forced when her eyes met Norwood's: "Do you always order people?" she demanded. "Don't you ever say please?" He laughed. "I can't kneel. Breeches too tight." "What will you do if I won't come?" "Scream," he answered. "I dare you." "Tuesday is my day for screaming. scream-ing. Are you game to wait here until Tuesday?" "No. I'm coming with you." She glanced at Rundhia: "You'll excuse us?" "I excuse you," he answered. Norwood looked so comfortless that Lynn noticed it: "What are vou worried about?" "Oh, nothing. I was wondering what your aunt eats." She laughed at him. "Liar! That's the very first time you haven't spoken spo-ken like a polished ramrod." "I told part of the truth. I am worried about you." "You needn't be. I'm all right." She ran forward to speak to her aunt. The tray of breakfast things vas being carried out by a palace servant. Norwood stopped the man, inspected the tray, and selected a piece of toast. He looked for something some-thing to wrap it in. That reminded him. He groped in his left-hand pocket for the iodine, tore off half the paper in which Stoddart had wrapped the bottle, stuffed the untidy un-tidy package back, wrapped the toast in the torn-off paper and put that into his right-hand pocket "I'm expected at the palace, .so I can't stay, Mrs. Harding. I brought you some fresh iodine, in case the doctor's stuff is pretty ancient, an-cient, as sometimes happens." He plunged his hand into his tunic pocket and Lynn came to the screen door to receive the bottle. He looked at her. groping with his left hand, trying to pull out the bottle without the untidy papi'r; but a piece of string, tied with one of Stoddart's knots, prevented. So he pulled out the disgraceful package with a quick smile of apolcay. "Hello," said Lynn, "you've dropped something." He stooped, picked up what lay at his feet but didn't recognize it. It was a quite small black paper envelope. en-velope. "I saw it fall from your pocket," said Lynn. He opened it. It contained a neatly neat-ly folded paper of diamonds. Nine large, clear white brilliants shone in the sun. He scowled at them and stuffed the package back into his pocket, evidently upset. He appeared ap-peared to hope that Lynn hadn't seen the diamonds. He seemed about to mention them, but changed his mind. Lynn thought he seemed suspicious sus-picious of her. Then suddenly: "Excuse me, won't you?" He walked away. Lynn's eyes followed, fol-lowed, wondering. He looked like a man who has been hit hard and is trying not to show it "Lynn," said her aunt's voice. "Yes, Aunty." "Come here!" Lynn faced about: "Aunt Deborah! De-borah! I have seen someone staring at what he dreaded. Or it seemed to me so." "Lynn, please rearrange my pillows." pil-lows." It was not Aunty's cultured, conventional con-ventional voice but the hard, unsympathetic un-sympathetic one in which she almost al-most always commanded attention to her comfort as a prelude to the luxury of an explosion of temper. Two palace women, loaned by the Maharanee, had been fussing with the pillows less than five minutes before. Lynn rearranged them. She waited. Her silence offered the old termagant no opening, so Aunty Harding abandoned her usual gradual gradu-al style of attack. She exploded: "Don't dare to speak to me, you sullied creature, until you have washed your mouth! There is soap and water in the bedroom." "Aunty !" "Wash your' mouth this minute! I saw you permitting yourself to be kissed by Prince Rundhia!" "Aunty, I'm no longer five! Aren't you forgetting " "To my humiliation I remember too mucn: xou are oia enougn at least to try to keep up an appearance appear-ance of decency." "Aunty, there's no harm in a kiss after breakfast! It's kisses after midnight that " "Don't you dare to try to justify your grossness! Even your graceless grace-less father had enough sense of his social position to keep his indecencies indecen-cies out of sight " "Aunty!" "Don't 'aunty' me! You inherit your father's wantonness." "I never knew him," Lynn answered. an-swered. "I only know what you and other people have told me. Others seem to have admired him. Wasn't he merry and brave and generous? Would he have endured your injustice? injus-tice? I have had to. For seventeen years. Aunty, I am very near the end of endurance. I knew you were looking. That is why I let Rundhia kiss me." Lynn repeated: "I kissed Prince Rundhia, in a spirit of fun and partly part-ly to defy you." "Fun indeed! Vulgar, suggestive impropriety, with an Indian prince whose immorality is notorious! Whether or not I disinherit you will depend " Lynn's rebellion flared to its inevitable inev-itable climax. She interrupted: "Disinherit me now, if you please! Do it now, Aunty. I have made my last submission to your cruel money! You have educated me so that I haven't one chance in a thousand thou-sand to earn a living. God knows what I can do. But I will find something. some-thing. I accept the odds. I will make a go of it somehow." Aunty's stare was skeptical, scornful. scorn-ful. Lynn turned away. "Where are you off to now?" "To the palace. The Maharanee is human. Perhaps she and I can find something to laugh at" "Very well, Lynn. All your clothes were removed to the palace last night, against my wishes. Go and pack them. If it kills me, we are taking the first boat home, and you may say so to the Maharanee. You may tell her why. If you don't, I will." "And if you don't," Lynn answered, an-swered, "the palace women will! They have been listening through the bedroom window. So if you want to get the first malicious word in, you had better be quick! Write a letter, why don't you? I assure you I won't discuss it." She picked up her tennis racket and unscrewed the frame. It was a hardly conscious gesture: it was much too hot for tennis. She walked out through the screen door, carrying carry-ing the racket. As she approached the palace front door, she saw Norwood's horse near the portico. She recognized Norwood's sais, squatting down under un-der the horse's nose, half asleep, instead of flicking flies off the horse as he should. Then she saw Rundhia. He had been watching for her. One could tell that by his manner. He looked astonishingly handsome in a gray suit of some thin material and a gray silk turban. "Tennis?" he asked. "In this heat?" "No. Tantrum! I'm so angry I could kill." "Don't kill me, Lynn. I'm important. impor-tant. Tell me instead." Lynn used the racket as if she were returning one of Rundhia's serves. "Would you tell me the truth?" He grinned. "Well, almost. Who can be in love and tell the whole truth? I will lie to you, of course, about my character. But I will tell the truth about yours! You're a lovely, inspiriting, challenging fact, Lynn Harding. You're an event." "I feel like a skeleton In my own dark closet," she retorted, and Run- "Come and I'll show you the treasures. treas-ures. Drive away the very memory mem-ory of Aunty!" All the way up the palace stairs and along the ancient corridor, Rundhia Run-dhia chattered gaily. Lynn answered in monosyllables, perfectly aware that Rundhia was talking to divert attention from his motive. "Beauty and the beast!" said Rundhia. "Bromide! Rundhia, you look like secrets in a suave disguise." "My very inmost heart," he answered, an-swered, "is an open book. Can't you read it?" "I don't want to." He kept his distance. That sinuous sinu-ous right arm of his behaved itself. He walked ahead of her through the narrow anteroom, where two tur-baned tur-baned guards salaamed respectfully. respectful-ly. Rundhia spoke to one of the guards, who switched on the electric light in the treasure room. The masonry wall was ten feet thick; the door a foot thick. The guard closed the door behind them and opened an eyehole. Lynn could see the guard's eyes. There was a long teak table between be-tween her and Rundhia, loaded with golden and jewelled ornaments: embossed em-bossed golden shields, scimitars in gold sheaths, scores of objects such as are carried in procession by the servants of an oriental throne. Electric Elec-tric light shone within lanterns, suspended sus-pended on chains from the ancient beams. At the far end of the room, on the right, was a huge glass case, in which the famous Kadur diamonds dia-monds sparkled, stealing color from the jewelled lanterns. (TO BE CONTINUED) |
