"From Tommy?" questioned Mrs. Ralston.

"No. From Captain Monck. Tommy is ill--very ill. Malaria again. He
thinks I had better go to him."

"Oh, my dear!" Mrs. Ralston's exclamation held dismay.

Stella met it by holding out to her the message. "Tommy down with
malaria," it said. "Condition serious. Come if you are able. Monck."

Mrs. Ralston rose. She seemed to be more agitated than Stella. "I shall
go too," she said.

"No, dear, no!" Stella stopped her. "There is no need for that. I shall
be all right. I am perfectly strong now, stronger than you are. And they
say malaria never attacks newcomers so badly. No. I will go alone. I
won't be answerable to your husband for you. Really, dear, really, I am
in earnest."

Her insistence prevailed, albeit Mrs. Ralston yielded very unwillingly.
She was not very strong, and she knew well that her husband would be
greatly averse to her taking such a step. But the thought of Stella
going alone was even harder to face till her look suddenly fell upon
Peter the Great standing motionless behind her chair.

"Ah well, you will have Peter," she said with relief.

And Stella, who was bending already over her reply telegram, replied
instantly with one of her rare smiles. "Of course I shall have Peter!"

Peter's responding smile was good to see. "I will take care of my
_mem-sahib_," he said.

Stella's reply was absolutely simple. "Starting at once," she wrote; and
within half an hour her preparations were complete.

She knew Monck well enough to be certain that he would not have
telegraphed that urgent message had not the need been great. He had
nursed Tommy once before, and she knew that in Tommy's estimation at
least he had been the means of saving his life. He was a man of steady
nerve and level judgment. He would not have sent for her if his faith in
his own powers had not begun to weaken. It meant that Tommy was very
ill, that he might be dying. All that was great in Stella rose up
impulsively at the call. Tommy had never really wanted her before.

To Mrs. Ralston who at the last stood over her with a glass of wine she
was as a different woman. There was nothing headlong about her, but the
quiet energy of her made her realize that she had been fashioned for
better things than the social gaieties with which so many were content.
Stella would go to the deep heart of life.

She yearned to accompany her upon her journey to the plains, but
Stella's solemn promise to send for