hat night the wrath of the gods had descended,
and against it, even his grim fortitude was powerless to make a stand.
He was beaten before he could begin to defend himself, beaten and flung
aside as contemptible. Only one thing remained to be fought for, and
that one thing he swore to guard with the last ounce of his strength,
even at the cost of life itself.

All through that night of bitter turmoil he came back again and again to
that, the only solid foothold left him in the shifting desert-sand. So
long as his heart should beat he would defend that one precious
possession that yet remained,--the honour of the woman who loved him and
whom he loved as only the few know how to love.

PART IV

CHAPTER I

DEVILS' DICE

"It's a pity," said Sir Reginald.

"It's a damnable pity, sir," Colonel Mansfield spoke with blunt
emphasis. "I have trusted the fellow almost as I would have trusted
myself. And he has let me down."

The two were old friends. The tie of India bound them both. Though their
ways lay apart and they met but seldom, the same spirit was in them and
they were as comrades. They sat together in the Colonel's office that
looked over the streaming parade-ground. A gleam of morning sunshine had
pierced the clouds, and the smoke of the Plains went up like a furnace.

"I shouldn't be too sure of that," said Sir Reginald, after a thoughtful
moment. "Things are not always what they seem. One is apt to repent of a
hasty judgment."

"I know." The Colonel spoke with his eyes upon the rising cloud of steam
outside. "But this fellow has always had my confidence, and I can't get
over what he himself admits to have been a piece of double-dealing. I
suppose it was a sudden temptation, but he had always been so straight
with me; at least I had always imagined him so. He has rendered some
invaluable services too."

"That is partly why I say, don't be too hasty," said Sir Reginald. "We
can't afford--India can't afford--to scrap a single really useful man."

"Neither can she afford to make use of rotters," rejoined the Colonel.

Sir Reginald smiled a little. "I am not so sure of that, Mansfield. Even
the rotters have their uses. But I am quite convinced in my own mind
that this man is very far from being one. I feel inclined to go slow for
a time and give him a chance to retrieve himself. Perhaps it may sound
soft to you, but I have never floored a man at his first slip. And this
man has a clean record behind h