Show EHST EAST P n WEST BY TALBOT MUNDY 0 0 0 0 TALBOT MUNDY SERVICE THE STORY THUS FAR FAB captain carl norwood has been sent from his native england to the kadur river district in india along with his indispensable manservant moses oleary soldier of fortune No 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 Mah arajah of kadur norwood calls on the british residency to pay day his initial respects on his way he catches a glimpse of two women in a palace carriage one of whom la is young and beautiful the other woman he knows to be the of kadur oleary later tells him that the young woman Is 13 an american girl named lynn harding who with her aunt mrs deborah harding Hard lne Is a guest at the palace on a sightsee sightseeing irig tour mrs harding sprains an ankle and sends to the palace tor for aid prince Rund hla hia 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 mrs harding takes one of the native doctors pills and becomes violently ill CHAPTER IV continued 5 lynn laughed a testimonial for me but thank you ill take care of aunty aulty no said the doctor he caught Rund hias eye came to his rescue and made signals to the who wanted nothing better than to have lynn under her own roof dear do as the doc tor tells you please please aunty aulty groaned and protested that it was a shame to inflict lynn on the but she was overruled she was carried out on an improvised litter and rushed to the guesthouse where lynns belongings were collected by the servants and conveyed to the palace CHAPTER V was puzzled and lynn knew it she enjoyed it it was cool and beautiful beneath the moonlit trees in the garden you are the strangest mixture of intelligence and innocence that I 1 have ever met said Rund hia you are in love with all this you are thrilled by the exotic strangeness but its all old stuff to me remember im a babe in the woods too in a certain sense im as lost as you are things and places dont make life worth living its the people in the places and the things they do together if you loved me and I 1 loved you B but ut neither of us does lynn interrupted we are east and west europe delights you because you cant ever really understand it and the east enraptures me for the same reason ap pp so weve that much in common said Bund Rund hia let me tell you something else we have in common we like each other do we yes one would have to be blind deaf demented not to like you whit s wrong with me lynns defensive tactic was a thousand times more shrewd than aunty aulty would dreamon dream of giving her credit for well for instance why do you dislike captain norwood for the same beason reason that he like me said Rund hia cherches Cher chez la femme thank the father and mother who bred him hes only an engineer if he were cavalry I 1 might feel jealous lynn I 1 love you how many women have you said that to hundreds but I 1 lied to all the others 1 I have sometimes had to lie to aunty aulty but im not nearly as practiced a liar as you must be lets be truthful PP 1 I am telling you the truth I 1 have always thought myself a cynic I 1 know I 1 had a heart until i I 1 met you I 1 have found and lost it in the same moment it is yours what will you do with it his arm crept around her he hardly knew how she slipped away from him she waltzed away she ran along the path her arms extended to embrace the moonlit luxury of hue and view and perfumed flowers by the time he overtook her her retort was ready perhaps you dont like men with red hair 1 I am looking he answered at your hair I 1 want to bury my hands in it bathe my face in it breathe the borax I 1 washed it and the waters terrible she escaped him again her black pajamas vanished into shadow she became a beautiful disembodied head in a golden aureole that asked Is captain norwood married I 1 I 1 ask him well why you ask him 1 I care good said Rund hia im going to make you care about something else come along ill behave come this way he led her up steps to the top of the ancient garden wall there was a summerhouse on the wall a sort of kiosk it had been swept and provided with cushions by a servant who crouched in shadow ordered the servant away he went and lurked at the foot of ithe the steps but shouted at him and he fled led lynn into the open sided kiosk you have hav e promised she said to behave 11 do you believe mens promises when in love are you as naive as that yes dont be silly let us look at ait the view look at me his eyes were hardly less fiery than the glowing end of his cigarette they made lynns flesh tingle he threw away the cigarette lynn you romantic girl this scene enchants you because love has stolen on you unaware neither of us until now has ever known what love is do you think you know now she retorted you know I 1 know it you are cruel 1 I wish sit farther away she interrupted why dont you make love to your own en there in all india such a lovely girl as you are how do you know its true it that most of them are kept in seclusion and youre not allowed to see them Is that why you make love to me why not burgle a zenana lynn he said 1 I dont make love I 1 am love and you also we are love itself as a musician becomes music why waste the glorious hours what do you know about music she retorted can you sing indian in ian songs yes love songs I 1 play the guitar you can what fun why not get it there be a more J 1 I 1 44 1 1 hello he remarked perfect place for singing than this th is garden wall in moonlight sensed that he had ha cast his fly too boldly she hooked she needed more subtle persuasion he shouted to the servant to fetch the guitar there was no answer the servant had taken him too strictly at his word he was out of earshot shouted again and again he swore under his breath then he governed his anger and smiled at lynn will you wait here if I 1 go and get it yes but I 1 what you look murderous dont whip the servant antl I 1 his undercover man was waiting tor for him in the usual place by the gate in the wall that separated the maharajahs Mahara jahs palace from Rund hias an unimportant looking but peculiarly hindu who spoke in a low voice without preliminary gestures of respect the priests have learned of captain No arrival they sent me to speak with his eurasian spy oleary JL eary who is a reptile oleary has already detected the opening of the mine thought swiftly and spoke slowly go and tell the priests that captain norwood is here to line his own pocket say he is in debt and seeks an opportunity to pay his debts his secret report will be in favor of the highest bidder but dont say you heard it from me say oleary was drunk and you heard it from him make it perfectly clear to the priests that any other officer than norwood would be scrupulously fair so let them think about it then fount 0 servant in in the garden of his own pa palace ace and sent him running 0 o fetch the guitar the palace front gate clanged behind norwood cl the sullen sentry stood at ease then easy and resumed his snooze norwood turned his horse along the road by the pal ace wall riding slowly because the sais was following on foot he had ridden about fifty yards to a curve in the road when oleary stepped forth from a shadow he look like oleary he was wearing a turban and dressed like a dripping wet dirty hindu of no caste or ostensible occupation norwood drew rein and listened watching the road for pedestrians 1 I stable the mare in the city ashes back in camp ill need her later what for As soon as im dressed decent again ill go back to the bazaar I 1 told a yam about coming back to camp for more money im going to need it what happened plenty I 1 was right about noor dahlam ditched him so I 1 did too he was only ground bait he talked too much then tried to have me knifed to stop me talking a trap set for me and I 1 walked straight into it A woman ill tell you about her later shed fill a dictionary never mind about the woman what happened nothing happened there it I 1 left your mare tied up to the veranda railing military saddle and all andybur and your initials on the bridle so they take chances and I 1 could and I 1 did enough about you what happened kindergarten stuff confidence game the womans comans bully flattered me I 1 knew the womans comans sister in lahore and he said the woman comans s erd given me a rep for being smarter than most and a man 0 my word then he introduced me to the woman ashes all honey and poison sister my eye two words and I 1 knew she was lying about that never mind her lies or whose sister she is how much truth did she tell you not much barring that im the most exciting man shed ever seen she was true enough excited so I 1 knew the bully was listening in and he her proper bully neither he was someone been rung in on her and she seared scared 0 him and not used to his ways she said be a thousand rupees for me if id act discreet whose thousand rupees asked norwood trust your moses oleary I 1 asked her that quick she said it was prince Rund hias thousand rupees so I 1 knew it what does she want you to do she told me a mess 0 lies about prince having quarrelled quarrel led with the temple brahmins Brah mins and him wanting to get back at em to spite I 1 em she told me and I 1 acted surprised that theres a diamond mine in the temple area theres a thousand sa nd rupees for me if I 1 persuade you to run your survey line slap through the temple area so that the mine will belong to the mahara jah instead of the temple priests what did you tell her 1 I said youre your e easy but youre honest I 1 said I 1 ill 11 have to find some way of artfully deceiving you if youre to do needed I 1 said id have to look into it and I 1 made her tell me where the mine is and how to get a look at it she came clean how did she know shed been told and she was out of her depth already she wanted word with the bully and she tried to get me to stay where I 1 was but I 1 thought of the bay mare standing outside in the alley and she Jid fidgety gety and you fond 0 the mare and liable to find fault with me if she should come to harm and I 1 guessed it ud be wise to look into the womans comans story first better leave that woman and her bully guessing and show me the mine where is it oleary pointed two hours from now when the moons about there I 1 can guide you to a place where you can see along under the apron of water very well oleary which way did you come short cut dont you try it horse horsa might break a leg all right ill follow the road meet me in camp oleary vanished norwood had ridden another fifty yards when he heard angry shouting several times repeated he sure but he thought he also heard a girls voice he rode forward slowly and then a bit alarmed by the ensuing silence stirred his horse to a canter he drew rein looking upward at lynn not much more than two or three minutes after had left her she was sitting in full moonlight on top of the wall on a cushion with one foot hanging over the wall and her back against the kiosk hello he remarked did run adhia leave you all alone here he said hed come back well heu hell keep that promise how wen well do you know himi him 1 I met him for the first time this evening like him I 1 at your age there is danger in exotic likes and dislikes im twenty two you dont look it I 1 had guessed you as eighteen however no doubt you know how to take care of yourself among men of your own race im taking it for granted that youre a nice girl with a sense of humor but a bit rebellious against certain sorts of restraint all this is new and youre enjoying it you like the indian setting and the novelty and the moonlight and all that stuff dont you yes and I 1 like you I 1 would not ue like to hear of you making a mess of your life for the sake of a spot of excitement you dont understand der stand india you dont understand Rund hia A shadow moved someone chuckled she loomed on the wall with a guitar in his hand he smiled down at norwood the moonlight shone on his teeth we were reaching a beautiful understanding der said Rund hia are you on your way to camp well its a grand night for a ride sorry youre tired and sleepy norwood eased his horse a little ne nearer aber to the wall he gave the reins reins to the sais in another moment he was standing upright on the saddle with his head within six inches of the top of the wall 1 I am not so sleepy as perhaps I 1 look he answered give me a hand up Rund hia lynn watched this was s something altogether new in her experience hesitated Moon moonlight ligh t betrayed him felt tempted to refuse but he the iron he could have scared the horse and made norwood look ridiculous but he the nerve lynn felt sorry for him with a shrug he handed the guitar to her in order to use both hands to help norwood scramble up the wall you invited said run adhia norwood stared no I 1 noticed it can you strum on that thing lynn spoke with all the malice she coteil cocoi put into her voice you like music captain norwood I 1 supposed your line was engineering gi and ordering people about TO BE CONTINUED |