The Native Born or, The Rajah's People

he would, he could not hope for completion before the lapse of a considerable time, and this period of waiting did not suit his plans. Already on the day af

s generous in the first place there would never have been any need to have sought for support from a foreign quarter-at whi

y for Beatrice to carry out her own particular campaign. It was therefore, as Mrs. Cary angrily declared, a fresh dispensation of an unfriendly Providence that on the very same day Beatrice fell ill. What malady had her in its clutches was more than her distracted an

Paris, she came to say good-by. "I can't think what's the matter with you, and you won't expla

ess and amusement crept into her expression as her eyes wandered over

y?" she asked. "I can't ex

ot any pains, the

ice l

tution, my dear mother," she said. "The worst illnes

ng!" burst out the elder woman, with a vicious tug at her straining gloves. "Sha

that Mrs. Cary broke off in the

never gone against you in the whole course of my life. What have I done since we have been here bu

interposed Mrs

thing. To suit Mr. Travers, I have fooled, and continue to fool, a man who has never harmed me in his life. I m

" jeered

to me. I happen to know that, little as she likes me, she is about the only one in the Station who keeps her tongue from slande

said conciliatingly. "And therefore he

n in which it would suit you excellently to have a son-in-law. Well,

eaty. He already likes you more than enough, and what with Mr. Travers on the other side-All the same

with her hand with a ges

own way. I can not go to-night-I feel I can not. If I went, it w

r sighed

be as obstinate as a mule when you choose. I on

s are who have hurt and disappointed others their whole lives, and only a glimmer of hope that Beatrice's determination might have softened made her hesitate at the door and glance back. Beatr

ected in his garden she found that all the guests had arrived, including Rajah Nehal Singh himself. He stood facing the entrance, and she felt, wit

ht it worth while to increase by a form of entertainment which, between you and me, dear Mrs. Carmichael, bad taste as it no doubt is, has no attractions for Beatrice. Now, anything outdoor, and nothing will keep her from it! She tu

a mock gravity which conc

lse. Now, are you keeping your promise?" She tapped him playfully on the arm. Stafford bowed, looking what he felt, hot and uncomfor

y so," Stafford said stiffly. "I am

s her wounded conviction that he had once laughed at her and made her ridiculous, and to this injury was added the insult that it came from a man whom, as

as now the turn of the Europeans to follow their usual form of pleasure, yet they looked at one another questioningly. It was the custom of the chief guest of the evening to

common tie of blood, Nehal Singh stood isolated. He did not know it, but it was that loneliness which cast a transitory chill upon his enthusiasm and made him draw himself stiffly upright and face the hundred que

be in the midst of them-the Great People of the world. It was a brilliant scene, for Travers had spared nothing. The sides of the marquee banked with flowers, the music, the brilliant dresses and uniforms, were all calculated to impress a mind as

education, like a child's sandcastle before the onrush of a mighty tide. Caste, religion, hatred of the foreigner, these things had been sown deep into him, had been fostered and trained like precious plants, and now they were dead at the first contact with European ideas.

to him, could not accept it. A parrot that assumes with apparent ease the ways of his master within a fortnight, and thereby retains a striking originality of his own, is not an ordinary parrot, and the conviction was dawning on Travers that Nehal Singh was not an ordinary Hindu. The unusual simplicity of his dress, which nevertheless concealed a costly and refined taste, his firm though unpretentious bearing, the energy with which he had overthrown what Travers g

said, after a few minutes' study of the hand

though he had been waiting fo

not forgot

forget. Doubtless, though, my answer will not appeal to you, for it is the answer of

him as though seeking a way out of the noise and confusion. "Wh

as Travers' mental comment as he led the w

a few busy native servants. An electric globe hung from the ceiling, and immediately beneath its brilliant light Travers came to

to look at that and give me your opinion, R

intently. He held it to the light, and it flashed back at him a hu

ul diamond. Though smaller, it must su

gineer, who was engaged on some government work at the river, had occasion to make excavations about a quarter of a mile from the Bazaar. He happened to come across this stone, and being something of an expert, he recognized it-and

aced the stone s

he say?"

to repay, doubly repay, exploitation. I immediately came to Marut, and found that the Bazaar was entirely your property, Rajah Sahib, and that you were not likely to be influenced by any repres

he case back, and the sigh expres

wealth enough," he said.

as thinking, Rajah Sah

hom,

an, but also, and I venture to assert principally,

o not under

rather than bestir himself to unbury it. Lack of energy, lack of initiative, lack of opportunity, lack also of guides have made your subjects suffering idlers whose very existence is a curse to themselves and an unsolved problem for others. Charity can not help them-that enervating poison has already done enough mischief. You could fling away your whole fortune on your

not immediately respond, Nehal Singh's face had betrayed emotions which a natural dignity was learning to hold

hidden powers of activity in my people, you have made me still more anx

quarter outside Marut, and enforce order and cleanliness. Where the present Bazaar stands, I would open out a mine, and with the help of European experts encourage the native

ound Nehal Singh's mouth, but his

such changes," he said. "You have described them as dr

ould be irresisti

h standard which had been set him. He had wandered aimlessly along a smooth path, cut off from the world, plucking such fruits and flowers as offered themselves within his reach, deaf to the cries of those to whom his highest efforts should have been dedicated. He had dreamed where he should have acted, slept where he should have watched

o you again, and soon, for if things are as you say, then time enough has been wasted. But not

e a gesture indicating that he wished to return to the ba

is full of new thoughts. If you will permit, I will take my leave. My servants are waiting o

returned, "It is we who have to thank yo

e than hospitality," N

d in salute. "In two d

two

ly lighted tent into the darkness. From beginning to end, his plan

wonder if by any chance-!" He broke off with a smothered laug

cond waltz, he hurried back into the crowded r