" The
host then stiffly rose, and formally said, "Let us go in!"
"You are good for a score of years yet," jovially remarked Major
Hawke, as he gazed at the well-preserved outer man of his uneasy
entertainer. "The harpoon is deeply fixed in the old whale," mused
Hawke, as he followed Hugh Johnstone. "He begins to flounder now."
Conscious of the mental alarm which Hugh Johnstone could not altogether
conceal, Major Hawke had simply bowed, in his grand manner, when
the host presented his guest to Mademoiselle Delande. "I will let
the old beggar lead out," mused Hawke. "This royal spread is an
excuse for any amount of silence." And the Anglo-Indian renegade
gazed admiringly at the thousand and one adjuncts of a blended
English comfort and Indian luxury.
"Ever been in Geneva?" suddenly demanded Hugh Johnstone, with a
glance at his two companions.
"He's an uneasy old devil. He is trying to trap me now," thought
Hawke, who innocently replied: "Long years ago, when I was a mere
lad. I'm told the town has been vastly improved by the Duke of
Brunswick's legacy. I've not seen it in later years."
"Miss Delande is a Genevese," remarked the host.
"I congratulate you, Mademoiselle," politely said the Major. "It
is a famous city to date from."
It was evident that the spinster was held in reverent awe of her
employer, for she guarded a judicious silence, as with a formal
bow she at last left the table at the graciously permitting nod
of Hugh Johnstone.
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