Caravans By Night Part 20

Thus she of the bronze hair stepped from Trent's world-scroll into a sphere of more intimate a.s.sociation.

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The girl was the first to speak.

"Really, I don't know what to say. I hope you don't think--"

"I think as you do," he interposed, "that you've been very foolish."

She laughed tremulously. A voice as soft as a gentle monsoon rain--a voice that slurred over its words. Wisps of hair were burnished by pa.s.sing lights; her throat shone palely. Only the eyes were in the shadow--dark eyes, deep with mystery and a promise of revelations....

Old ivory and bronze. A picture of soft tones and colors.

"My brother would--well, I hardly know what he _would_ do if he knew about this!"

"Your brother's in the city?"--conscious of a lingering strain.

She shook her head. "I'm alone, or I wouldn't have done what I did to-night--or what I'm doing now. It was brazen of me to come up to you as I did, but I was frightened--terribly!" Then, with that nervous little laugh, she added, "But it wasn't as though I were approaching a totally strange person, for--for I believe you were at the hotel in Benares."

Trent remembered his uniform and that now he was Tavernake--remembered divers things. He decided quickly.

"You must be mistaken about having seen me at Benares; but I've a brother there--in the Army. Perhaps you saw him. He pa.s.sed through the city to-day."

"Oh! Perhaps so!"--this rather frigidly. "What a striking likeness!" He felt her eyes upon him--those dark eyes. A moment pa.s.sed before she said: "I must explain why I'm here, at this hour. Of course it will seem foolish to you, but I'm a tourist, and I wanted to see Calcutta's Chinese colony at night--oh, it had to be night, because I knew everything would be tawdry and ugly in daylight!"

It didn't seem at all foolish to him, only indiscreet.

"I hired a registered guide. He was to show me the temple of--of Kwan-te, I believe. Anyhow, he a.s.sured me it would be perfectly safe--and, knowing that it wasn't, but rather enjoying the idea, I went.

But I didn't see the temple. There was a street fight between some Chinese and Brahmins--Chinese and Brahmins _do_ fight, don't they? In the confusion my guide disappeared. Perhaps he joined in or ran--I suspect the latter. I was so frightened when I found myself alone--and I--well, I walked a short distance--and then--then I saw you."

He realized he ought to say something to fill in the gap that followed, but he was not a man given to much conversation and for the time nothing suggested itself. Finally:

"I hope you've learned a lesson"--grimly.

She laughed, and the nervous note had gone from her voice. Again he thought of cool monsoon showers.

"I'm afraid I'm incorrigible! Now that I'm safe, I think I really enjoyed it. Being a man, you'll disapprove."

"Thoroughly," he responded.

Conversation lagged for a brief spell. The girl took it up.

"You see, Mr.--"

She stopped and he supplied:

"Tavernake--Robert Tavernake."

"I forgot we hadn't been introduced. My name is Dana Charteris. I was going to say that this is like a fairy tale to me--some 'Arabian Nights' story. Since I was a child I've wanted to travel--to see Aladdin's palace and Sinbad's islands--and now I'm doing it. I lived in a town called Bayou Latouche, in Louisiana, U. S. A., and, you know, Bayou Latouche scarcely prepares one for this!"--with a gesture. "It reminds me of carnival in New Orleans."

"You've not been disillusioned?"

"In India? No."

"Of course you have visited Agra."

"No, I haven't seen the Taj. It's a frightful confession to make, isn't it?"

He reflected upon the question and decided:

"It's rather jolly to find some one who's traveled in India without seeing the Taj. Sort of different. But I forgot to ask where you wanted to go. For some reason I took it for granted that you're staying at the Grand."

"That's almost clairvoyant; I am stopping there."

When he had instructed the _gharry-wallah_, she asked:

"You don't live in Calcutta?"

Making conversation, he thought.

"My home is the world." Then, specifically, "I live in London. I represent a diamond firm."

Before she spoke he knew quite well what she was going to say.

"Jewels always fascinate me. Isn't it frightful about the gems that were stolen?"

"Rather," was the close-mouthed reply.

"Just fancy losing all those jewels!" she went on. "My brother said they are worth millions or _lakhs_ and _lakhs_ of rupees, to be proper.

I suppose it's the work of this Chavigny who's reported to be at large.

You've heard of him, haven't you?"

He answered in the affirmative and, inwardly, expressed relief that they were nearing the end of the ride.

"I can't ever thank you enough," she told him as they left the gharry and entered the hotel.

In the better light he saw her eyes for the first time and explored a new dimension of strength and dignity. He felt as though he looked into the rich glow of autumn forests, s.p.a.ces of warmth and color and spirit--an initiation into the sense of discovery and lofty exhilaration that Balboa must have known when he gazed upon the shining expanse of an unknown sea. It was a glimpse into some high arcanum--to him new, but to the world as ancient as the tale of Cana of Galilee.

"I hope I'll see you before I leave," she said in a way that would have made it impossible for him to misunderstand, had he been inclined to do so. "Good night."

He watched her go.... And when he reached his room and examined the silk-wrapped papers Li Kwai Kung had given him, she persisted in cleaving through his thoughts, in appearing from the pages before him and distracting him; and after a few minutes he re-wrapped the packet and placed it in his trunk.

Long after he plunged the room into darkness he lay thinking--thinking of Kerth in Bombay, of his Excellency Li Kwai Kung sitting in his shadowy room, like a yellow-bellied spider, and of the Order of the Falcon. The _Manchester_ was to sail Sat.u.r.day; it was Thursday now. Two days, an interlude; then the Bay, Rangoon and--

But would he see _her_ before he left?

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