The Jungle Girl

cry a warning; but Wargrave gra

't wake her! She'd be

field-glasses into

trike of my bull

dge into the breech of his rifle. His companions stood over him as

t four hun

ring head, back and sides, that would defy any bullet. The unprotected spot behind the shoulder was hidden

rified watchers saw that the terrible snout with its protruding fangs was barely a yard from Mrs. Norton's feet. Raymond's hands holding the glasses t

ave f

out the creeping

cried Raymond. "I didn't see

, jerking out the empty case and pushing a fr

t must have got him!

d her body a little and suddenly saw the horrible reptile. She sat up rigid with terror and stared at it. The brute slowly opened its huge mouth and disc

rgrave, springing down

her husband, who was unable to

spot. But she turned to Wargrave

, Frank!

r, and, as she clung to hi

ht, dear. You

odile. The brute opened and shut its great jaws, seeming to gasp for air, while

ymond, as he reached them. "Your first shot it mus

jagged, gaping wound where the expanding bullet had torn the thr

the terrified woman, who seemed on

rl. It's all right. T

ked nervously at the crocodile. Then she released

of myself. Where's John? Oh, he

wed down into a shambling walk and was puffing and blow

afe? Is

ymond. "It's still living but it can'

gony while she was in danger; but now that the peril had pa

crossly. "The idea of going to sleep near the ta

ced at the grumbling man with a c

daresay. But how was I to know that ther

me she realised the n

ch farther-how did I get so close

aymond. "It's extraordinary. The

sty wind cool his head. A sudden squall blew the big pith sun-helmet out

ed. This wind's so strong that it's blown the water of the tank before

Red Sea by the Israelites and the drowning of Pharaoh's Army explained in the same way. It's said that

ng at the far end of t

ncovered by the receding water," he said, abstractedly, and was

rs. Norton has had such a shock,

le I'm having a look," replied the enthusiastic collector. "I really

ed rather bitterly as he went. The

d? How did the mugger com

lace. Violet looked at Wargrave with glis

I thank you?" she said grateful

ands in his but

ould have done the same. I happene

to the crocodile. Neither of them took any n

e murmured in a low voice. "You've made my l

e hands he held in his. Then he rele

ing-bag made out of his hide for you?" he said,

shud

, turning to glance at the crocodile. "Ho

throat spreading in a pool on the sun-baked earth. It was evidently an old beast; and skull and back were covered with thick horny plates and bosses through which no bul

Shall I put another bulle

"He can't do any more harm. When the men come we'll

t shu

any human being?" she asked, gazin

swered Raymond. "Hullo! here comes one of the camel-drivers wit

d and pointed to it and began to talk excitedly. One of the local peasants ran back shouting. The rest hurried down for a closer v

a shaitan! (Ah, brother! What

reds, said one man. It had, to their certain knowledge, killed several women incautiously bathing or drawing water from the tank. As women are not valued highly by the poorer Hindus this did not m

ade into leather, so he bade them cut the belly open. The stomach contained many shells of freshwater crabs and crayfish, as well as a surprising amount of large pebbles, either taken for digestive purposes or swallowed when the fis

them. Learning that Frank was the slayer of the sacrilegious crocodile the holy man hung a garland of marigolds round his neck and through the in

on and Wargrave and eventually altered them completely. At first it merely seemed to strengthen their friendship and increase the feeling of intimacy. To Violet-they were Violet and

where there never seemed to be any bachelors of her own class between the ages of seventeen and fifty. Even the curate was grey-haired and married. She had made up for this deprivation during the voyage out to India and her season in Calcutta; but, although she had found many men ready to flirt with her, Norton's proposal was the only serious one that she had had and she accepted him in desper

although by a polite fiction the prudish Anglo-Saxon races seem to agree to regard her as of a more spiritual, more ethereal and less earthly a nature. Yet it is only a fiction after all. Violet was a living woman, a creature of flesh and blood who was not content to be a chattel, a household ornament, a piece of furniture. It was not to be wondered at that she longed to enter into woman's kingdom, to exercise the power of her sex to sway the other and to

onship of a particular man necessary for her happiness. She had never before realised the pleasure, the joy, to

d-looking, laughter-loving playfellow who had come into her life. She learned to day-dream of Wargrave, to watch for his coming and hate his going, to enjoy every moment of his presence. He had brought a new interest into her hitherto purposeless life, the life that he had preserved and that consequently seemed to belong to him. New feelings awakened in her. The world was a brighte

of Mrs. Norton-as a sister, he thought. She was a delightful friend, a real pal, so understanding, so companionable, he said to himself frequently. It had not occurred to him that his feelings for her might be love. He had often before been on terms of friendship with women, married and single; but none of them had ever attracted him as much as she did. He had never felt any desire to be married; domesticity did not appeal to him. But now, as he watched Violet moving about her drawing-room or playing to him, he found himself thinking that it w

he would do much to make her happy, that saving her life made him in a way responsible for it in future; and he knew that

tempted to confront the callous husband and force him to open his dulled eyes to the bravely-borne misery of his neglected wife and realise how fortunate he ought to consider himself in being the owner of such a transcendent being. But the next moment the infatuated youth was convinced that Norton was incapable of appreciating so rare a woman, that only a nature like his own co

ho is at all attractive is entitled to have one particular bachelor always in close attendance on her, to be constantly at her beck and call, to ride with her, to drive her every afternoon to tennis or golf or watch polo, then on to the Club and sit with her there. His duty, a pleasant one, no doubt, is to cheer up her otherwise solitary dinner in her bu

ainly, though tactfully, to him on the subject. Then Violet's enemies took a hand in the game. Mrs. Trevor, having failed to decoy him to her bungalow for what she called "a quiet tea and a motherly little chat," cornered him one afternoon when he was on his way to the Residency and spoke very openly to him of the risk he ran of being entangled in the coils of such an outrageous coquette as "that Mrs

orton complains, if that shameless creature succeeds in making that foolish young man run away with her, you will be

t only hinted that I lacked decis

tic tyrant. "They will say that you should have put you

do?" asked the C

o speak to Major

ane, I couldn'

. Baird said the other day that it

ed the alarmed man. "I forbid you. You mustn't mix y

ould have accused her of lack of decision. "I used to have a high opinion of him o

lonel. "He has done all the courses and pass

hem that young Wargrave's removal to another station is absolutely necess

orals of its officers, that a colonel has only to hint that the transfer of a particular individual under his command is

ding Officer desired to see him at once in the Orderly Room. As Major Hepburn was not present Frank handed the men over to the senior Indian company commander and rode off to the Regimental Office, wondering as he went what

his friend cheerily, as he sw

towards the Orderly Room and d

n there with Hepburn trying to work himself up into a rage so that

s desk, frowning at a paper before him, and did not look up. Major Hepburn

to attention

r," he said. "You

reply, but turning slig

call in the ad

ve him. He had no idea of what the matter was; but the Colonel's manner and the presence of th

tly, as the adjutant entered. The latter did so and sat do

e seemed to experience a difficulty in finding his vo

s 'Lieutenant Wargrave is appointed to No. 12 Battalion, Frontier Military Police. Dire