by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER III.
Some seven or eight officers were sitting round the table in themessroom of the 103d Bengal Infantry at Cawnpore. It had been a guestnight, but the strangers had left, the lights had been turned out in thebilliard room overhead, the whist party had broken up, and the playershad rejoined three officers who had remained at table smoking andtalking quietly.
Outside, through the open French windows, the ground looked as ifsprinkled with snow beneath the white light of the full moon. Two orthree of the mess servants were squatting in the veranda, talking in lowvoices. A sentry walked backwards and forwards by the gate leading intothe mess house compound; beyond, the maidan stretched away flat andlevel to the low huts of the native lines on the other side.
"So the Doctor comes back tomorrow, Major," the Adjutant, who had beenone of the whist party, said. "I shall be very glad to have him back.In the first place, he is a capital fellow, and keeps us all alive;secondly, he is a good deal better doctor than the station surgeon whohas been looking after the men since we have been here; and lastly, ifI had got anything the matter with me myself, I would rather be in hishands than those of anyone else I know."
"Yes, I agree with you, Prothero; the Doctor is as good a fellow as everstepped. There is no doubt about his talent in his profession; and thereare a good many of us who owed our lives to him when we were down withcholera, in that bad attack three years ago. He is good all round; heis just as keen a shikari as he was when he joined the regiment,twenty years ago; he is a good billiard player, and one of the beststorytellers I ever came across; but his best point is that he is such athoroughly good fellow--always ready to do a good turn to anyone, and tohelp a lame dog over a stile. I could name a dozen men in India whoowe their commissions to him. I don't know what the regiment would dowithout him."
"He went home on leave just after I joined," one of the subalterns said."Of course, I know, from all I have heard of him, that he is an awfullygood fellow, but from the little I saw of him myself, he seemed alwaysgrowling and snapping."
There was a general laugh from the others.
"Yes, that is his way, Thompson," the Major said; "he believes himselfto be one of the most cynical and morose of men."
"He was married, wasn't he, Major?"
"Yes, it was a sad business. It was only just after I joined. He isthree years senior to me in the regiment. He was appointed to it a monthor two after the Colonel joined. Well, as I say, a month or two after Icame to it, he went away on leave down to Calcutta, where he was to meeta young lady who had been engaged to him before he left home. They weremarried, and he brought her up country. Before she had been with us amonth we had one of those outbreaks of cholera. It wasn't a very severeone. I think we only lost eight or ten men, and no officer; but theDoctor's young wife was attacked, and in three or four hours she wascarried off. It regularly broke him down. However, he got over it, aswe all do, I suppose; and now I think he is married to the regiment. Hecould have had staff appointments a score of times, but he has alwaysrefused them. His time is up next year, and he could go home on fullpay, but I don't suppose he will."
"And your niece arrives with him tomorrow, Major," the Adjutant said.
"Yes, I am going to try petticoat government, Prothero. I don't know howthe experiment will succeed, but I am tired of an empty bungalow, and Ihave been looking forward for some years to her being old enough to comeout and take charge. It is ten years since I was home, and she was alittle chit of eight years old at that time."
"I think a vote of thanks ought to be passed to you, Major. We have onlymarried ladies in the regiment, and it will wake us up and do us good tohave Miss Hannay among us."
"There are the Colonel's daughters," the Major said, with a smile.
"Yes, there are, Major, but they hardly count; they are scarcelyconscious of the existence of poor creatures like us; nothing short of aResident or, at any rate, of a full blown Collector, will find favor intheir eyes."
"Well, I warn you all fairly," the Major said, "that I shall set myface against all sorts of philandering and love making. I am bringing myniece out here as my housekeeper and companion, and not as a prospectivewife for any of you youngsters. I hope she will turn out to be as plainas a pikestaff, and then I may have some hopes of keeping her with mefor a time. The Doctor, in his letter from Calcutta, says nothing as towhat she is like, though he was good enough to remark that she seemed tohave a fair share of common sense, and has given him no more troubleon the voyage than was to be expected under the circumstances. And now,lads, it is nearly two o'clock, and as there is early parade tomorrow,it is high time for you to be all in your beds. What a blessing it wouldbe if the sun would forget to shine for a bit on this portion of theworld, and we could have an Arctic night of seven or eight months with afull moon the whole time!"
A few minutes later the messroom was empty, the lights turned out, andthe servants wrapped up in their blankets had disposed themselves forsleep in the veranda.
As soon as morning parade was over Major Hannay went back to hisbungalow, looked round to see that his bachelor quarters were as brightand tidy as possible, then got into a light suit and went down to thepost house. A quarter of an hour later a cloud of dust along the roadbetokened the approach of the Dak Gharry, and two or three minutes laterit dashed up at full gallop amid a loud and continuous cracking of thedriver's whip. The wiry little horses were drawn up with a sudden jerk.
The Major opened the door. A little man sprang out and grasped him bythe hand.
"Glad to see you, Major--thoroughly glad to be back again. Here is yourniece; I deliver her safe and sound into your hands." And between themthey helped a girl to alight from the vehicle.
"I am heartily glad to see you, my dear," the Major said, as he kissedher; "though I don't think I should have known you again."
"I should think not, uncle," the girl said. "In the first place, I wasa little girl in short frocks when I saw you last; and in the secondplace, I am so covered with the dust that you can hardly see what Iam like. I think I should have known you; your visit made a greatimpression upon us, though I can remember now how disappointed we werewhen you first arrived that you hadn't a red coat and a sword, as we hadexpected."
"Well, we may as well be off at once, Isobel; it is only five minutes'walk to the bungalow. My man will see to your luggage being brought up.Come along, Doctor. Of course you will put up with me until you can lookround and fix upon quarters. I told Rumzan to bring your things roundwith my niece's. You have had a very pleasant voyage out, I hope,Isobel?" he went on, as they started.
"Very pleasant, uncle, though I got rather tired of it at last."
"That is generally the way--everyone is pleasant and agreeable at first,but before they get to the end they take to quarreling like cats anddogs."
"We were not quite as bad as that," the girl laughed, "but we certainlyweren't as amiable the last month or so as we were during the firstpart of the voyage. Still, it was very pleasant all along, and nobodyquarreled with me."
"Present company are always excepted," the Doctor said. "I stood in locoparentis, Major, and the result has been that I shall feel in futuremore charitable towards mothers of marriageable daughters. Still, I ambound to say that Miss Hannay has given me as little trouble as could beexpected."
"You frighten me, Doctor; if you found her so onerous only for a voyage,what have I to look forward to?"
"Well, you can't say that I didn't warn you, Major; when you wrote homeand asked me to take charge of your niece on the way out, I told youfrankly that my opinion of your good sense was shaken."
"Yes, you did express yourself with some strength," the Major laughed;"but then one is so accustomed to that, that I did not take it to heartas I might otherwise have done."
"That was before you knew me, Dr. Wade, otherwise I should feel veryhurt," the girl put in.
"Yes, it was," the Doctor said dryly.
"Don't mind him, my dear," her uncle said; "we all know the Doctor of
old. This is my bungalow."
"It is pretty, with all these flowers and shrubs round it," she saidadmiringly.
"Yes, we have been doing a good deal of watering the last few weeks, soas to get it to look its best. This is your special attendant; she willtake you up to your room. By the time you have had a bath, your boxeswill be here. I told them to have a cup of tea ready for you upstairs.Breakfast will be on the table by the time you are ready."
"Well, old friend," he said to the Doctor, when the girl had goneupstairs, "no complications, I hope, on the voyage?"
"No, I think not," the Doctor said. "Of course, there were lots of youngpuppies on board, and as she was out and out the best looking girl inthe ship half of them were dancing attendance upon her all the voyage,but I am bound to say that she acted like a sensible young woman;and though she was pleasant with them all, she didn't get into anyflirtation with one more than another. I did my best to look after her,but, of course, that would have been of no good if she had been disposedto go her own way. I fancy about half of them proposed to her--not thatshe ever said as much to me--but whenever I observed one looking sulkyand giving himself airs I could guess pretty well what had happened.These young puppies are all alike, and we are not without experience ofthe species out here.
"Seriously, Major, I think you are to be congratulated. I consider thatyou ran a tremendous risk in asking a young woman, of whom you knewnothing, to come out to you; still it has turned out well. If she hadbeen a frivolous, giggling thing, like most of them, I had made up mymind to do you a good turn by helping to get her engaged on the voyage,and should have seen her married offhand at Calcutta, and have come upand told you that you were well out of the scrape. As, contrary to myexpectations, she turned out to be a sensible young woman, I did my bestthe other way. It is likely enough you may have her on your hands somelittle time, for I don't think she is likely to be caught by the firstcomer. Well, I must go and have my bath; the dust has been awful comingup from Allahabad. That is one advantage, and the only one as far asI can see, that they have got in England. They don't know what dust isthere."
When the bell for breakfast rang, and Isobel made her appearance,looking fresh and cool, in a light dress, the Major said, "You musttake the head of the table, my dear, and assume the reins of governmentforthwith."
"Then I should say, uncle, that if any guidance is required, there willbe an upset in a very short time. No, that won't do at all. You must goon just as you were before, and I shall look on and learn. As far as Ican see, everything is perfect just as it is. This is a charming room,and I am sure there is no fault to be found with the arrangement ofthese flowers on the table. As for the cooking, everything looks verynice, and anyhow, if you have not been able to get them to cook to yourtaste, it is of no use my attempting anything in that way. Besides, Isuppose I must learn something of the language before I can attempt todo anything. No, uncle, I will sit in this chair if you like, andmake tea and pour it out, but that is the beginning and the end of myassumption of the head of the establishment at present."
"Well, Isobel, I hardly expected that you were going to run theestablishment just at first; indeed, as far as that goes, one's butler,if he is a good man, has pretty well a free hand. He is generallyresponsible, and is in fact what we should call at home housekeeper--heand the cook between them arrange everything. I say to him, 'Threegentlemen are coming to tiffen.' He nods and says 'Atcha, sahib,' whichmeans 'All right, sir,' and then I know it will be all right. If I havea fancy for any special thing, of course I say so. Otherwise, I leave itto them, and if the result is not satisfactory, I blow up. Nothing canbe more simple."
"But how about bills, uncle?"
"Well, my dear, the butler gives them to me, and I pay them. He has beenwith me a good many years, and will not let the others--that is tosay, the cook and the syce, the washerman, and so on, cheat me beyond areasonable amount. Do you, Rumzan?"
Rumzan, who was standing behind the Major's chair, in a white turban anddress, with a red and white sash round his waist, smiled.
"Rumzan not let anyone rob his master."
"Not to any great extent, you know, Rumzan. One doesn't expect more thanthat."
"It is just the same here, Miss Hannay, as it is everywhere else,"said the Doctor; "only in big establishments in England they rob you ofpounds, while here they rob you of annas, which, as I have explained toyou, are two pence halfpennies. The person who undertakes to put downlittle peculations enters upon a war in which he is sure to get theworst of it. He wastes his time, spoils his temper, makes himself andeveryone around him uncomfortable, and after all he is robbed. Life istoo short for it, especially in a climate like this. Of course, in timeyou get to understand the language; if you see anything in the billsthat strikes you as showing waste you can go into the thing, but as arule you trust entirely to your butler; if you cannot trust him, getanother one. Rumzan has been with your uncle ten years, so you arefortunate. If the Major had gone home instead of me, and if you hadhad an entirely fresh establishment of servants to look after, the casewould have been different; as it is, you will have no trouble that way."
"Then what are my duties to be, uncle?"
"Your chief duties, my dear, are to look pleasant, which will evidentlybe no trouble to you; to amuse me and keep me in a good temper as faras possible; to keep on as good terms as may be with the other ladies ofthe station; and, what will perhaps be the most difficult part of yourwork, to snub and keep in order the young officers of our own and othercorps."
Isobel laughed. "That doesn't sound a very difficult programme, uncle,except the last item; I have already had a little experience that way,haven't I, Doctor? I hope I shall have the benefit of your assistance inthe future, as I had aboard the ship."
"I will do my best," the Doctor said grimly; "but the British subalternis pretty well impervious to snubs; he belongs to the pachydermatousfamily of animals; his armor of self conceit renders him invulnerableagainst the milder forms of raillery. However, I think you can betrusted to hold your own with him, Miss Hannay, without much assistancefrom the Major or myself. Your real difficulty will lie rather in yourstruggle against the united female forces of the station."
"But why shall I have to struggle with them?" Isobel asked, in surprise,while her uncle broke into a laugh.
"Don't frighten her, Doctor."
"She is not so easily frightened, Major; it is just as well that sheshould be prepared. Well, my dear Miss Hannay, Indian society has thispeculiarity, that the women never grow old. At least," he continued,in reply to the girl's look of surprise, "they are never consciousof growing old. At home a woman's family grows up about her, and areconstant reminders that she is becoming a matron. Here the children aresent away when they get four or five years old, and do not appear on thescene again until they are grown up. Then, too, ladies are greatly inthe minority, and they are accustomed to be made vastly more of thanthey are at home, and the consequence is that the amount of envy,hatred, jealousy, and all uncharitableness is appalling."
"No, no, Doctor, not as bad as that," the Major remonstrated.
"Every bit as bad as that," the Doctor said stoutly. "I am not a womanhater, far from it; but I have felt sometimes that if John Company,in its beneficence, would pass a decree absolutely excluding theimportation of white women into India it would be an unmixed blessing."
"For shame, Doctor," Isobel Hannay said; "and to think that I shouldhave such a high opinion of you up to now."
"I can't help it, my dear; my experience is that for ninety-nine out ofevery hundred unpleasantnesses that take place out here, women are inone way or another responsible. They get up sets and cliques, and breakup what might be otherwise pleasant society into sections. Talk aboutcaste amongst natives; it is nothing to the caste among women outhere. The wife of a civilian of high rank looks down upon the wives ofmilitary men, the general's wife looks down upon a captain's, and soright through from the top to the bottom.
"It is not so among the men, o
r at any rate to a very much smallerextent. Of course, some men are pompous fools, but, as a rule, if twomen meet, and both are gentlemen, they care nothing as to what theirrespective ranks may be. A man may be a lord or a doctor, a millionaireor a struggling barrister, but they meet on equal terms in society; butout here it is certainly not so among the women--they stand upontheir husband's dignity in a way that would be pitiable if it were notexasperating. Of course, there are plenty of good women among them, asthere are everywhere--women whom even India can't spoil; but what withexclusiveness, and with the amount of admiration and adulation they get,and what with the want of occupation for their thoughts and minds, it isvery hard for them to avoid getting spoilt."
"Well, I hope I shan't get spoilt, Doctor; and I hope, if you see that Iam getting spoilt, you will make a point of telling me so at once."
The Doctor grunted. "Theoretically, people are always ready to receivegood advice, Miss Hannay; practically they are always offended byit. However, in your case I will risk it, and I am bound to say thathitherto you have proved yourself more amenable in that way than mostyoung women I have come across."
"And now, if we have done, we will go out on the veranda," the Majorsaid. "I am sure the Doctor must be dying for a cheroot."
"The Doctor has smoked pretty continuously since we left Allahabad,"Isobel said. "He wanted to sit up with the driver, but, of course, Iwould not have that. I had got pretty well accustomed to smoke comingout, and even if I had not been I would much rather have been almostsuffocated than have been in there by myself. I thought a dozen timesthe vehicle was going to upset, and what with the bumping and theshouting and the cracking of the whip--especially when the horseswouldn't start, which was generally the case at first--I should havebeen frightened out of my life had I been alone. It seemed to me thatsomething dreadful was always going to happen."
"You can take it easy this morning, Isobel," the Major said, when theywere comfortably seated in the bamboo lounges in the veranda. "You wanthave any callers today, as it will be known you traveled all night.People will imagine that you want a quiet day before you are on show."
"What a horrid expression, uncle!"
"Well, my dear, it represents the truth. The arrival of a fresh ladyfrom England, especially of a 'spin,' which is short for spinster orunmarried woman, is an event of some importance in an Indian station.Not, of course, so much in a place like this, because this is the centerof a large district, but in a small station it is an event of the firstimportance. The men are anxious to see what a newcomer is like forherself; the women, to look at her dresses and see the latest fashionsfrom home, and also to ascertain whether she is likely to turn out aformidable rival. However, today you can enjoy quiet; tomorrow youmust attire yourself in your most becoming costume, and I will trot youround."
"Trot me round, uncle?"
"Yes, my dear. In India the order of procedure is reversed, andnewcomers call in the first place upon residents."
"What a very unpleasant custom, uncle; especially as some of theresidents may not want to know them."
"Well, everyone must know everyone else in a station, my dear, thoughthey may not wish to be intimate. So, about half past one tomorrow wewill start."
"What, in the heat of the day, uncle?"
"Yes, my dear. That is another of the inscrutable freaks of Indianfashion. The hours for calling are from about half past twelve to halfpast two, just in the hottest hours. I don't pretend to account for it."
"How many ladies are there in the regiment?"
"There is the Colonel's wife, Mrs. Cromarty. She has two grown up redheaded girls," replied the Doctor. "She is a distant relation--a secondcousin--of some Scotch lord or other, and, on the strength of that andher husband's colonelcy, gives herself prodigious airs. Three of thecaptains are married. Mrs. Doolan is a merry little Irish woman. Youwill like her. She has two or three children. She is a general favoritein the regiment.
"Mrs. Rintoul--I suppose she is here still, Major, and unchanged? Ah, Ithought so. She is a washed-out woman, without a spark of energy in hercomposition.-' She believes that she is a chronic invalid, and sendsfor me on an average once a week. But there is nothing really the matterwith her, if she would but only believe it. Mrs. Roberts--"
"Don't be ill natured, Doctor," the Major broke in. "Mrs. Roberts, mydear, is a good-looking woman, and a general flirt. I don't think thereis any harm in her whatever. Mrs. Prothero, the Adjutant's wife, hasonly been out here eighteen months, and is a pretty little woman, and inall respects nice.-There is only one other, Mrs. Scarsdale; she came outsix months ago. She is a quiet young woman, with, I should say, plentyof common sense: I should think you will like her. That completes theregimental list."
"Well, that is not so very formidable. Anyhow, it is a. comfort that weshall have no one here today."
"You will have the whole regiment here in a few minutes, Isobel, butthey will be coming to see the Doctor, not you; if it hadn't been thatthey knew you were under his charge everyone would have come down tomeet him when he arrived. But if you feel tired, as I am sure you mustbe after your journey, there is no reason why you shouldn't go and liedown quietly for a few hours."
"I will stop here, uncle; it will be much less embarrassing to see themall for the first time when they come to see Dr. Wade and I am quite asecondary consideration, than if they had to come specially to call onme."
"Well, I agree with you there, my dear. Ah! here come Doolan andProthero."
A light trap drove into the inclosure and drew up in front of theveranda, and two officers jumped down,-whilst the syce, who had beenstanding on a step behind, ran to the horse's head. They hailed theDoctor, as he stepped out from the veranda, with a shout.
"Glad to see you back, Doctor. The regiment has not seemed like itselfwithout you."
"We have been just pining without you, Doctor," Captain Doolan said;"and the ladies would have got up a deputation to meet you on yourarrival, only I told them that it would be too much for your modesty."
"Well, it is a good thing that someone has a little of that quality inthe regiment, Doolan," the Doctor said, as he shook hands heartily withthem both. "It is very little of it that fell to the share of Irelandwhen it was served out."
As they dropped the Doctor's hand the Major said, "Now, gentlemen, letme introduce you to my niece." The introductions were made, and thewhole party took chairs on the veranda.
"Do you object to smoking, Miss Hannay; perhaps you have not gotaccustomed to it yet? I see the Doctor is-smoking; but then he is aprivileged person, altogether beyond rule."
"I rather like it in the open air," Isobel said. "No doubt I shall getaccustomed to it indoors before long."
In a few minutes four or five more of the officers arrived, and Isobelsat an amused listener to the talk; taking but little part in itherself, but gathering a good deal of information as to the people atthe station from the answers given to the Doctor's inquiries. It wasvery much like the conversation on board ship, except that the topics ofconversation were wider and more numerous, and there was a communityof interest wanting on board a ship. In half an hour, however, theincreasing warmth and her sleepless night began to tell upon her, andher uncle, seeing that she was beginning to look fagged, said, "The bestthing that you can do, Isobel, is to go indoors for a bit, and have agood nap. At five o'clock I will take you round for a drive, and showyou the sights of Cawnpore."
"I do feel sleepy," she said, "though it sounds rude to say so."
"Not at all," the Doctor put in; "if any of these young fellows had madethe journey out from Allahabad in that wretched gharry, they would haveturned into bed as soon as they arrived, and would not have got up tillthe first mess bugle sounded, and very likely would have slept on untilnext morning.
"Now," he went on, when Isobel had disappeared, "we will adjourn withyou to the mess-house. That young lady would have very small chance ofgetting to sleep with all this racket here. Doolan's voice alone wouldbanish sleep anywhere within a dist
ance of a hundred yards."
"I will join you there later, Doctor," the Major said. "I have got acouple of hours' work in the orderly-room. Rumzan, don't let my niece bedisturbed, but if she wakes and rings the bell send up a message by thewoman that I-shall not be back until four."
The Major walked across to the orderly room, while the rest, mountingtheir buggies, drove to the mess-house, which was a quarter of a mileaway.
"I should think Miss Hannay will prove a valuable addition to ourcircle, Doctor," the Adjutant said. "I don't know why, but I gatheredfrom what the Major said that his niece was very young. He spoke of heras if she were quite a child."
"She is a very nice, sensible young woman," the Doctor said; "clever andbright, and, as you can see for your-selves, pretty, and yet no nonsenseabout her. I only hope that she won't get spoilt here; nineteen out oftwenty young women do get spoilt within six months of their arrival inIndia, but I think she will be one of the exceptions."
"I should have liked to have seen the Doctor doing chaperon," CaptainDoolan laughed; "he would have been a brave man who would have attemptedeven the faintest flirtation with anyone under his charge."
"That is your opinion, is it, Doolan?" the Doctor said sharply. "Ishould have thought that even your common sense would have told you thatanyone who has had the misfortune to see as much of womankind as I havewould have been aware that any endeavor to check a flirtation for whichthey are inclined would be of all others the way to induce them to go infor it headlong. You are a married man yourself, and ought to know that.A woman is a good deal like a spirited horse; let her have her head,and, though she may for a time make the pace pretty fast, she will gostraight, and settle down to her collar in time, whereas if you keep atight curb she will fret and fidget, and as likely as not make abolt for it. I can assure you that my duties were of The most nominaldescription. There were the usual number of hollow pated lads on board,who buzzed in their usual feeble way round Miss Hannay, and were oneafter another duly snubbed. Miss Hannay has plenty of spirits, and aconsiderable sense of humor, and I think that she enjoyed the voyagethoroughly. And now let us talk of something else."
After an hour's chat the Doctor started on his round of calls upon theladies; the Major had not come in from the orderly room, and, after theDoctor left, Isobel Hannay was again the topic of conversation.
"She is out and out the prettiest girl in the station," the Adjutantsaid to some of the officers who had not seen her. "She will make quitea sensation; and there are five or six ladies in the station, whosenames I need hardly mention, who will not be very pleased at her coming.She is thoroughly in good form, too; nothing in the slightest degreefast or noisy about her. She is quiet and self-possessed. I fancy shewill be able to hold her own against any of them. Clever? I should say'certainly'; but, of course, that is from her face rather than fromanything she said. I expect half the unmarried men in the station willbe going wild over her. You need not look so interested, Wilson; thematter is of no more personal interest to you than if I were describinga new comet. Nothing less than a big civilian is likely to carry offsuch a prize, so I warn you beforehand you had better not be losing yourheart to her."
"Well, you know, Prothero, subalterns do manage to get wives sometimes."
There was a laugh.
"That is true enough, Wilson; but then, you see, I married at home;besides, I am adjutant, which sounds a lot better than subaltern."
"That may go for a good deal in the regiment," Wilson retorted, "butI doubt if there are many women that know the difference betweenan adjutant and a quartermaster. They know about colonels, majors,captains, and even subalterns; but if you were to say that you were anadjutant they would be simply mystified, though they might understand ifyou said bandmaster. But I fancy sergeant major would sound ever so muchmore imposing."
"Wilson, if you are disrespectful, I shall discover tomorrow, on parade,that No. 3 Company wants a couple of hours' extra drill badly, and thenyou will feel how grievous a mistake it is to cheek an adjutant."
The report of those who had called at the Major's was so favorable thatcuriosity was quite roused as to the new-comer, and when the Major droveround with her the next day everyone was at home, and the verdict onthe part of the ladies was generally favorable, but was by no means sounqualified as that of the gentlemen.
Mrs. Cromarty admitted that she was nice looking; but was critical asto her carriage and manner. She would be admired by young officers, nodoubt, but there was too much life and animation about her, and althoughshe would not exactly say that she stooped, she was likely to do so intime.
"She will be nothing remarkable when her freshness has worn off alittle."
In this opinion the Misses Cromarty thoroughly assented. They had neverbeen accused of stooping, and, indeed, were almost painfully upright,and were certainly not particularly admired by subalterns.
Mrs. Doolan was charmed with her, and told her she hoped that they wouldbe great friends.
"This is a very pleasant life out here, my dear," she said, "if one doesbut take it in the right way. There is a great deal of tittle tattle inthe Indian stations, and some quarreling; but, you know, it takes two tomake a quarrel, and I make it a point never to quarrel with anyone. Itis too hot for it. Then, you see, I have the advantage of being Irish,and, for some reason or other that I don't understand we can say prettynearly what we like. People don't take us seriously, you know; so I keepin with them all."
Mrs. Rintoul received her visitors on the sofa. "It is quite refreshingto see a face straight from England, Miss Hannay. I only hope that youmay keep your bright color and healthy looks. Some people do. Not theircolor, but their health. Unfortunately I am not one of them. I do notknow what it is to have a day's health. The climate completely oppressesme, and I am fit for nothing. You would hardly believe that I was asstrong and healthy as you are when I first came out. You came out withDr. Wade--a clever man--I have a very high opinion of his talent, but mycase is beyond him. It is a sad annoyance to him that it is so, andhe is continually trying to make me believe that there is nothing thematter with me, as if my looks did not speak for themselves."
Mrs. Rintoul afterwards told her husband she could hardly say that sheliked Miss Hannay.
"She is distressingly brisk and healthy, and I should say, my dear, notof a sympathetic nature, which is always a pity in a young woman."
After this somewhat depressing visit, the call upon Mrs. Roberts was arefreshing one. She received her very cordially.
"I like you, Miss Hannay," she said, when, after a quarter of an hour'slively talk, the Major and his niece got up to go. "I always say what Ithink, and it is very good natured of me to say so, for I don't disguisefrom myself that you will put my nose out of joint."
"I don't want to put anyone's nose out of joint," Isobel laughed.
"You will do it, whether you want to or not," Mrs. Roberts said; "myhusband as much as told me so last night, and I was prepared not to likeyou, but I see that I shall not be able to help doing so. Major Hannay,you have dealt me a heavy blow, but I forgive you."
When the round of visits was finished the Major said, "Well, Isobel,what do you think of the ladies of the regiment?"
"I think they are all very nice, uncle. I fancy I shall like Mrs.Doolan and Mrs. Scarsdale best; I won't give any opinion yet about Mrs.Cromarty."
