The Native Born or, The Rajah's People
rce of his own enthusiasm. "There is something so mystic, so enthralling about it, don't you think? I always feel as though I were wandering throug
y, weather-beaten face, cast an anxious glance at
such a thing in his department, and in mine he is no good at all. As for the princes, we don't see an
g to look upon it as a very ordinary, everyday place. If you only knew what it is to come to it with a virgin heart and mind-thirsting for impressions, as
er answered shortly, and with sligh
to India," Mrs. Carmichael put in. "I understood that your lat
though whether with heat or an
een you and me, Mrs. Carmichael, the people were dreadful. You know, I am not snobbish-indeed I must confess to quite democratic tendencies, which my family always greatly deplores-but
fall on Beatrice Cary's half-averted face. She was surprised to
le are subordinates at some time or other. My husband was a lieutenant once. I don't remember objecting to him. At
ght have gone to Simla-I have influential friends there, you know-but I wanted my girl to see a real bit of genuine India, and Simla is so modern. Really a great pity, I think. I am so passionately fond of color and pict
an end by a fresh arrival. A slight, daintily-clad figure had detached itself from a group of gu
ractically. As you are so fond of genuine India, you must let her show you over the place. S
nd animated features of the new-comer with a critical severity not altogether in accordance with her next remark, uttered,
deserved neither insinuation. Possibly too small in build, she was yet graceful, and there was a lithe, elastic energy in her movements which drew attention to her even among more imposing figures. Possibly, also, she was too dark for the English ideal. Her black hair and large brown eyes, together with the unrelieved pallor of her complexion, gave her appearance something th
el. "Mr. Travers has got some great scheme on hand which he will only disclo
rmichae
vers' breakneck schemes, but they are always amusing to listen to.
shook
lly has as yet seen nothing, and there is a great deal of interest. You know-" tur
Mrs. Cary vaguely
hed, not without a
gine," she observed. "But what there is to see I sh
speaking almost for the first time. "I hav
m always busy, either playing tennis, or riding, or getting u
bserved, in the tone of a person who is making a graceful
ter than any one else,"
o help in the wo
it, then," Beatrice said c
to be willing, good-na
ans
rt of a tall, stoutly built man, who was talking and apparently explaining with great vigor. As Lois entered the circle, he glanced
r something in Madras, and has been on a long business visit no
I sup
The beautiful profile and the tone
id rather abruptly. "H
e has more
te wealth by po
lau
uch things at all. Most people are poor, and if they aren't, they h
eatrice Cary observed. "I always tho
you, Miss Caruthers? If so, I shall arraign you as a disturber of the peace. Wh
th a smile to
d," she said. "It was Miss Cary who
hen, so that I can express my di
with a sudden change of manner. Hitherto cold, indifferent, slightly su
amused face, "and I have so many questions to ask that I am afraid of tur
ia with them; and you will find that, with a few superficial differences, Marut is no more or less than a snug little English suburb. A little more fr
s, who was intent on
e-course this morning,"
u. Why did y
re rather short of servants just now, for reasons-well, that
-five, with a passably good figure, irregular, if honest, features, and an expression usually somewhat grave, he made no pretensions to any exterior advantage. He could apparently be gay, as now, but his gaiety did not
turning suddenly to her. "I can't hear a word, and I'm su
When Travers has a suggestion to make, it u
ral laugh. Trave
sely," he declared. "I have
d. "Since hearing that you have a new scheme, I have been hastily rec
shook
ing protected from the malice of the aborigine by two noble regiments. We count, moreover, at least thirty of the fair sex and forty miscellaneous persons, such as miserable civilians like myself, and children. Hitherto, we ha
ted my mite!" protested
sh re
ed the sum of five hundred rupees. That won't do. We require at
ron, then?" Captain Webb inquired, with an aspect o
ort I should have discovered them a long time ago. No, I
What is the fairy godmother going to do for us?
w, whom I should have entirely ov
r m
h is not, as we thought, an imbecilic youth, but a man o
nt of Marut, I got to hear that his whilom ward was both intelligent and cultured. I believe it was a slip on his part, and, seeing that Rajah
rajahs interest themselves in social matters-why not this one? He is fabulously
Colonel Carmichael, who stood a little apart, pulling his thin grey moustac
my approval. I know very well that, as you say, other native princes have proved themselves useful and valuable acquisitions to English society. In some cases it may be well enough,
Colonel?" Traver
ago the father of the man from whom you are seeking gi
owed. Captain Stafford and Lois excha
people who will agree
rcepted and possibly
far as I know, the present Rajah is all that can be desired, but I protest against a suggestion-and what i
o one caring to express a contrary opinion, t
her side. Her acquaintance with him dated only from an hour back, b
said. "Your chief business is to get the best out of life, and quixotic
features lighted up w
uperior officer, you know! If you want an index to my feelings, study my countenance." He pret
d with a return of
, who are, perhaps, unduly influenced by unfortunate circumstances, I feel that it is o
by this time regained h
e agreed, with
etting Rajah Nehal Sin
the latter with a smile that expressed what it was meant to express-a supercilious
s went up. Captain Webb and his bosom comrade, Captain Saunders, who, for diplomatic reasons had remained neutral, ex
ever surrenders!" quoted t
task of beguilement fall?" Travers went on, glancing
ord answered at once. "I consider
ebb. "When I think of the follies you have tempted me to
acknowledgments
ing on Lois an instant with an expression of woebegone regret. Beatrice Cary was the next in line, and his search went no farther than her flushed, eager face. "Ah!" he exclaimed, "I have found the enchantress herself! Miss--" He hesitated, for an instant unaccountably shaken out of his debonair self-possession. Webb sprang to th
usement, her unusually large and
ravers went on. "Instinct tells
onded, "though I can not i
s are Napoleonic in their depth and magnitude. If you will
their way they passed Mrs. Cary, who, strangely enough, did not respond to the
idential undertone; but her companion, Mrs. Car
reminiscence, had lasted through the swift sunset, and already dusk was beginning to th
breathless but determined. The task was doubtless an ignominious one for an Anglo-Indian lady of position, but Mrs. Carmichael, who acted as a sort of counterbalance to he
ey had not spoken, but, as though obeying a mutual underst
o much. It has put my whole day out of joint, and I want something to put it s
for a few minutes. Somehow I have lost th
," he r
m of expression. At the bottom of the compound they reached a large, low-built building, evidently once a dwelling-place, overgrown with wild plants and half in ruins, whose dim outlines stood out against the darkening b
came to
n, and then abruptly lef
an will ever have it touched. He calls it the Memorial. My father was his greatest frien
ths something of the surrounding shadow. He had never felt so strongly before the peculiarity of her fascination-perhaps because he had never seen her in a setting which seemed so entirely a part of herself. The distant music, the hum of voices, and that strange charm which
thing and everybody, a stranger from another world, irresistible, incomprehensible. I have just understood that you
ious pain. "Hush! Let us go back. W
tle of her muslin skirts over the fallen leav
to Colonel Carmichael's Memorial Webb stopped, and, striking a match against the door, proce
r like this," he remarked, as they resumed the
ning to put on the curb-or h
nto existence," said Webb, blowing conso
ers. Wonder how he means to do the trick. He k
d her up, though. She'll be a scarecrow, like the
D.P.W., I believe. The mother w
n,'" remarked Webb, laughing, as they we
a group of natives peered through the fencing, watching and listening. Their dark faces
watching, they passed