"I have a little account of my own to settle with him! I will see
him at once! He, too, may slip away and follow his girl to the
hills," quietly said Ram Lal. "I know his past. He is never to
be trusted--not for a moment--as long as he is alive!" Alan Hawke
stared in wonder at Ram Lal, who humbly salaamed, when he closed:
"See the woman over there--come back, and tell me what I must do
or say. You and I are comrades," the jewel seller leeringly said,
"and we must lie together! All the world are liars-and half of the
world lives by lying." with which sage remark the old curio seller
betook himself to his narghileh.
In a half an hour, Major Alan Hawke was wandering through the garden
of the Silver Bungalow with Alixe Delavigne at his side. Behind
them, at a discreet distance, sauntered Jules Victor, his dark
eyes most intently fixed upon the promenaders. Madame Delavigne
was pleased to be cheerfully buoyant. She had silently listened
to Hawke's recital of the probable causes of General Abercromby's
visit. "I could see that Johnstone evidently wished to occupy us
both at Allahabad. Your conduct was discretion itself! Have you
seen him yet? Or the ladies?" She eyed her listener keenly.
"No, Madame," frankly said Hawke. "There is all manner of official
junketing on here now. I am not, of course, to be officially included,
as I am not on the staff of either the visiting or commanding
general.
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