ld not have liked to go without bread,
since in such establishments up country bread was never found. As
if--under the circumstances--X. would have cared whether he ate bread or
rice, provided the rose-nymph had handed it to him; and so alas! they
rode away beyond the fragrance of the roses and through the neglected
grounds, carrying with them a new memory of home life which it will be
hard to forget. The shabby, neglected house--the sacks of coffee and
flowers run riot--the deaf, courteous ex-official, perhaps proud of his
descent from some great Makassar chief--the kindly lady, embodiment of
perfect health, who long ago had left her home in Europe for life in a
distant land with the husband of her choice--and last but not least of
all these impressions of that day--their child--reared in a glorious
country unspoilt by contact with civilization--simple, unaffected, a
picture from the past.

CHAPTER XIV.

GARVET.

After leaving the cottage on the estate X. started for Garvet. The view
from the train, as it reached its destination, was certainly one of the
most beautiful that could be imagined. Long reaches of padi fields,
backed by hills in a high state of cultivation, and the whole watered by
little gushing torrents that looked cool and refreshing in the
all-surrounding sun.

It is impossible to describe the scenery as it appeared to the
traveller, or in any way to do it justice. It is altogether new and
unlike anything seen in other countries, with the exception, perhaps, of
Ceylon or Japan, and it is worth a journey from Europe to see.

The hotel at Garvet proved to be a combination of little buildings,
scattered about in the gardens surrounding the main buildings, or across
the road in enclosures of their own. X. obtained one of these cottages,
and felt that he would be fairly comfortable, till an inspection of the
bathing arrangements made him shudder.

When dinner time arrived, _table d'hote_ also served to dispel
illusions. There was the same absence of punkah, the same glaring light,
and succession of half-cooked clammy dishes. There were only a few
diners, apparently mostly residents of the place who boarded at the
hotel. These gentlemen had put on black coats, and made a kind of toilet
for the evening meal. But the penance they thus endured was brief, as,
after hastily disposing of sufficient of the viands to satisfy their
individual wants, they retired to their verandahs, where X. soon saw
the