ied to
herself, "and--well, I also was present. I've saved one or two babies."

She dreamed for the twentieth time of the god in the golden dust,
and woke refreshed to feed loathsome black children, scores of them,
wastrels picked up by the wayside, their bones almost breaking their
skin, terrible and covered with sores.

Scott was not allowed to leave his cart-work, but his letter was duly
forwarded to the Government, and he had the consolation, not rare in
India, of knowing that another man was reaping where he had sown. That
also was discipline profitable to the soul.

"He's much too good to waste on canals," said Jimmy. "Any one can
oversee coolies. You needn't be angry, William; he can--but I need my
pearl among bullock-drivers, and I've transferred him to the Khanda
district, where he'll have it all to do over again. He should be
marching now.

"He's not a coolie," said William, furiously. "He ought to be doing his
regulation work."

"He's the best man in his service, and that's saying a good deal; but if
you must use razors to cut grindstones, why, I prefer the best cutlery."

"Isn't it almost time we saw him again?" said Mrs. Jim. "I'm sure the
poor boy hasn't had a respectable meal for a month. He probably sits on
a cart and eats sardines with his fingers."

"All in good time, dear. Duty before decency--wasn't it Mr. Chucks said
that?"

"No; it was Midshipman Easy," William laughed. "I sometimes wonder how
it will feel to dance or listen to a band again, or sit under a roof. I
can't believe I ever wore a ball-frock in my life."

"One minute," said Mrs. Jim, who was thinking. "If he goes to Khanda, he
passes within five miles of us. Of course he'll ride in."

"Oh, no, he won't," said William.

"How do you know, dear?"

"It will take him off his work. He won't have time."

"He'll make it," said Mrs. Jim, with a twinkle.

"It depends on his own judgment. There's absolutely no reason why he
shouldn't, if he thinks fit," said Jim.

"He won't see fit," William replied, without sorrow or emotion. "It
wouldn't be him if he did."

"One certainly gets to know people rather well in times like these,"
said Jim, drily; but William's face was serene as ever, and even as she
prophesied, Scott did not appear.

The Rains fell at last, late, but heavily; and the dry, gashed earth
was red mud, and servants killed snakes in the camp, where every one was
weather-bound for a fortnight--all except Hawkins, who t