"The door that the Mem Sahib opened she opened by the decree of Fate. It was not for Ramsa Lal to close it. That is a passage----" "Yes?" "--To the tomb of the great one who is buried in the temple!" "Oh! heavens! that white thing----" She raised her hands to her face. "But--the camp----" "The camp is deserted! they all fled from----" Moreen sat up, rigidly. "From what?" "From something that came for what we forgot!" "My husband----" "There was a ring upon his finger. I saw it, and knew where it came from, but forgot to remove it." Moreen stood up, and turned towards the nearer tent. Ramsa Lal gently detained her. "Not that way, Mem Sahib." "But I must see him! I must, I _must_ tell him that he wrongs me, cruelly, wickedly! You heard his words-- Oh, God! can he have----" "It would be useless to tell him, Mem Sahib,--he could not hear you! But that what you would tell him is true I know well; for see--it is the dawn!" "Ramsa Lal!..." "The unjust cannot stay in this valley through a night and live to see the dawn, Mem Sahib!" VII At about that same hour, Deputy-Commissioner Jack Harringay opened his eyes and looked wonderingly at a grey-haired, white-aproned nurse who sat watching him. "Don't speak, Mr. Harringay," she said soothingly. "You have been very ill, but you are on the high road to recovery now." "Nurse!..." "Please don't speak; I know what you would ask. There has been no scandal. The attack upon you was ascribed to robbers. You have been delirious, Mr. Harringay, and have told me--many things. I am old enough, or nearly old enough, to be your mother, so you will not mind my telling you that a love like yours deserves reward. God has spared your life; be sure it was with a purpose----" The Blue Monkey I A tropically hot day had been followed by a stuffy and oppressive evening. In the tiny sitting-room of our tiny cottage, my friend--who, for the purposes of this story, I shall call Mr. East--by the light of a vapour lamp was busily arranging a number of botanical specimens collected that morning. His briar fumed furiously between his teeth, and, his grim, tanned face lowered over his work, he brought to bear upon this self-imposed task all the intense nervous energy which was his. I sat by the open window alternately watching my tireless companion and the wonderful and almost eerie effects of the moonlight on the heather. Then: "We came here for quiet--and rest, East," I said, smiling. "Well!" snapped my friend. "Isn't it quiet enough for you?" "Undeniably. But I don't remember to have seen you rest from the moment that we left London! I exclude your brief hours of slumber--during which, by the way, you toss about and mutter in a manner far from reposeful." "No wonder. My nerves are anything but settled yet, I grant you."