IV. THE PHANTOM 305 V. THE EVERLASTING CHAIN 317 VI. CHRISTMAS MORNING 327 VII. THE WILDERNESS OF NASTY POSSIBILITIES 340 VIII. THE SOUL OF A HERO 350 IX. THE MAN WITH THE GUN 357 X. A TALK IN THE OPEN 367 XI. THE FAITHFUL WOUND OF A FRIEND 376 XII. A LETTER FROM AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE 390 XIII. A WOMAN'S PREJUDICE 403 XIV. SMOKE FROM THE FIRE 414 XV. THE SPREADING OF THE FLAME 426 XVI. THE GAP 437 XVII. THE EASIEST COURSE 452 XVIII. ONE MAN'S LOSS 462 XIX. A FIGHT WITHOUT A FINISH 472 XX. THE POWER OF THE ENEMY 487 XXI. THE GATHERING STORM 503 XXII. THE REPRIEVE 510 XXIII. THE GIFT OF THE RAJAH 518 XXIV. THE BIG, BIG GAME OF LIFE 528 XXV. MEMORIES THAT HURT 537 XXVI. A FOOL'S ERRAND 548 XXVII. LOVE MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE 556 XXVIII. A SOLDIER AND A GENTLEMAN 570 XXIX. THE MAN'S POINT OF VIEW 578 XXX. THE LINE OF RETREAT 588 PART I CHAPTER I THE LESSON "Then he's such a prig!" said Olga. "You should never use a word you can't define," observed Nick, from the depths of the hammock in which his meagre person reposed at length. She made a face at him, and gave the hammock a vicious twitch which caused him to rock with some violence for several seconds. As he was wont pathetically to remark, everyone bullied him because he was small and possessed only one arm, having shed the other by inadvertence somewhere on the borders of the Indian Empire. Certainly Olga--his half-brother's eldest child--treated him with scant respect, though she never allowed anyone else to be other than polite to him in her hearing. But then she and Nick had been pals from the beginning of things, and this surely entitled her to a certain licence in her dealings with him. Nick, too, was such a darling; he never minded anything. Having duly punished him for snubbing her, she returned with serenity to the work upon her lap. "You see," she remarked thoughtfully, "the worst of it is he really is a bit of a genius. And one can't sit on genius--with comfort. It sort of flames out where you least expect it." "Highly unpleasant, I should think," agreed Nick. "Yes; and he has such a disgusting fashion of behaving as if--as if one were miles beneath his notice," proceeded Olga. "And I'm not a chicken, you know, Nick, I'm twenty." "A vast age!" said Nick.