QUICKSANDS Quicksands By B. M. CROKER Author of “The Cat’s Paw,” etc. [Illustration] CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1. THE BRIDGE OF DREAMS 1 2. BEKE 13 3. A MEETING ON THE MARSHES 24 4. A DANCE AT “THE PLOUGH” 31 5. THE GREAT INVASION 45 6. IN AUNT MINA’S SHOES 61 7. THE FAMILY SKELETON 79 8. “AN OPEN DOOR” 85 9. OUT OF THE FRYING-PAN 100 10. THE “ASPHODEL” 107 11. A HILL STATION 119 12. THE NOTORIOUS MRS. DE LACY 137 13. A FRESH START 148 14. THE CLUB 157 15. A RENEWED FRIENDSHIP 170 16. AN UNWELCOME VISITOR 185 17. A COMPROMISE 195 18. THE RESIDENCY BALL 203 19. “YES--OR NO?” 221 20. CLOUDS 229 21. RONNIE’S CONFESSION 242 22. PUNISHMENT 253 23. A HAVEN 266 24. THE FLIGHT 279 25. AT BANGALORE 288 26. WITHIN THE PRECINCTS 296 27. DARK DAYS 310 28. HYDER ALI’S GARDEN 326 29. THE ORDER OF RELEASE 335 QUICKSANDS CHAPTER I THE BRIDGE OF DREAMS One sultry September afternoon, some years ago, my brother Ronald and I, being tired and dusty, found a temporary resting-place on the parapet of a little old bridge that spanned a sleepy stream. Through a thin silk blouse a comforting sun beat upon my back, and I was serenely conscious of an unusual sense of happiness and well-being--though I owed little to my surroundings. In all England it would have been difficult to find a more featureless and monotonous outlook than the prospect that lay stretched before us. A series of flat, marshy fields, exhibiting here a space of willowy green, and there a patch of black soil, enclosed by ragged hedges or deep, dark dykes. Occasionally a few lonely and distorted trees, or a humped-up cluster of red roofs, varied the scene, which gradually faded until sky and horizon seemed to melt away into one pale blur. “What a region!” exclaimed Ronnie, as he tossed away the stump of a cigarette. “The back of beyond, the Land of Never Never! Never again, so far as I am concerned! Who discovered it?” “It was discovered by the Danes, I believe,” I answered; “they say it was once under the sea.” “A pity it did not stay there!”