she avoided as the
plague. Elephants and camels and rickshaws were her delight; but here
in Rangoon none of these was available. There were no camels; the
government elephants had steady employment out at MacGregor's
timberyards and could not get leave of absence; while rickshaws were
out of fashion, as only natives and Chinamen rode in them. So Elsa
walked.

She loved to prowl through the strange streets and alleys and stranger
shops; it was a joy to ramble about, minus the irritating importunities
of guide or attendant. It was great fun, but it was not always wise.
There were some situations which only men could successfully handle.
Elsa would never confess that there had been instances when she had
been confronted by such situations. She could, however, truthfully say
that these awkward moments had always been without endings, as, being
an excellent runner, she had, upon these occasions, blithely taken to
her heels.

In her cool white drill, her wide white pith-helmet, she presented a
charming picture. The exercise had given her cheeks a bit of color,
and her eyes sparkled and flashed like raindrops. This morning she had
taken Martha along merely to still her protests.

"It's all right so long as we keep to the main streets," said the
harried Martha; "but I do not like the idea of roaming about in the
native quarters. This is not like Europe. The hotel-manager said we
ought to have a man."

"He is looking out for his commission. Heavens! what is the matter
with everybody? One would think, the way people put themselves out to
warn you, that murder and robbery were daily occurrences in Asia. I've
been here four months, and the only disagreeable moment I have known
was caused by a white man."

"Because we have been lucky so far, it's no sign that we shall continue
so."

"Raven!" laughed the girl.

Martha shut her lips grimly. Her worry was not confined to this
particular phase of Elsa's imperious moods; it was general. There was
that blond man with the parrot. Martha was beginning to see him in her
dreams, which she considered as a presage of evil. There was also the
astonishing lack of interest in the man who was waiting at home. Elsa
rarely spoke of him. Nobody could tell Martha that chance had thrown
the blond stranger into their society. Somewhere it had been written.
(As, indeed, it had!) How to keep Elsa apart from him was now her vital
concern. She would never feel at ease until they