dly, in a low tone. "I lost
my temper. Not fair play----"

Instantly Roy was on his feet, shoulders squared, the last spark of
antagonism extinct.

"If it comes to that, I lost mine too," he admitted, and Lance smiled.

"You _did_! But--I began it." There was an instant of painful
hesitation, then, "It--it was an accident--the favour----"

"Oh, that's all right," Roy muttered, embarrassed and overcome.

"It's not all right. It put you off." Another pause. "Will you take half
the Purse?"

"Not I." Glory apart, he knew very well how badly Lance needed the
money. "It's yours. And you deserve it."

They both spoke low and rapidly, as if on a matter of business, for
there were still some men at the other end of the tent. But at that, to
Roy's amazement, Lance held out his hand.

"Thanks, old man. Shake hands--here, where the women can see us. You bet
... they twigged.... And they chatter so infernally.... Unfair--on Miss
Arden----"

Roy felt himself reddening. It was Lance all over--that chivalrous
impulse. So they shook hands publicly, to the astonishment of interested
_kitmutgars_, who had been betting freely, and were marvelling afresh at
the strange ways of Sahibs.

"I'll doctor your bruises to-night!" said Lance. "And I accept,
gratefully, _your_ share of the purse. She won't relish--giving it to
the wrong 'un." The last, barely audible, came out in a rush, with a
jerk of the head that Roy knew well. "Come along and see how prettily
she does it."

To Roy's infatuated eyes, she did it inimitably. Standing there, tall
and serene, in her pale-coloured gown and bewitching hat, instinct with
the mysterious authority of beauty, she handed the prize to Desmond with
a little gracious speech of congratulation, adding, "It was a close
fight; but you won it--fairly."

Roy started. Did Lance notice the lightest imaginable stress on the
word?

"Thanks very much," he said; and saluted, looking her straight in the
eyes.

Roy, watching intently, fancied he saw a ghost of a blush stir under the
even pallor of her skin. She had told him once, in joke, that she never
blushed; it was not one of her accomplishments. But for half a second
she came perilously near it; and although it enhanced her beauty
tenfold, it troubled Roy.

Then--as the cheering died down--he saw her turn to the Colonel, who was
supporting her, and heard her clear deliberate tones, that carried with
so little effort: "I think, Colonel Desmond, every