author:Rudyard Kipling

“ I knew that the very best way of making Robbie cross was to doubt that he had seen fairies; for he was a strange child, and would if at all encouraged tell the quaintest tales of the "dog fairies," a mysterious class of fairy invented, I believe, by him, and the "things that came to see him at night;" for he always thought his dreams were real. Perhaps when a child is not four years old it has still some lingering remembrances of the unknown land. I think so at least, for in no other way could I account for sights that Robbie would tell me of perfectly simply and naturally. ”

“ Life could not be as colourless as I had anticipated with the daily companionship of such a woman as Laura, and with such a haven of repose open to me as this brilliant bower of hers, this dainty shrine in which the goddess, the Madonna—my last waking memory was of mother and child as I had seen them pass into some unknown region through the doorway of which I had drawn away the curtain as they vanished for the night. ”

“ She fell asleep presently with little Norah's name upon her lips; and exhausted by fatigue and emotion, slept through the hottest hours of the day.
A dinner if possible more odious than the breakfast closed the day, and Laura tried in vain to eat the unpalatable food set before her. As I put her into her dooli I was startled to feel that her hand was hot, and trembled in mine with a feverish vibration.
"You are ill," I said; "let us stay here till to-morrow morning, that you may have a chance of being better able to bear the journey." ”

“ At sunrise the body of Laura was laid to rest under the shadowing branches of a large tree, about a hundred yards from the bungalow. A native woman of the lowest caste, with gentle kindly hands, had prepared her for her grave, by swathing the dear form in a thin woollen shawl, going softly about the room with pitiful little ejaculations, and, now and then, pausing to wipe a tear from her brown cheek with the end of her crimson chuddah. ”

“ But other people had sought solitude; and I recognised the Bubbleby tonga. This time Mr. Cheetham sat by the faithless Clara's side and flourished his whip in triumph as they passed; while she smiled lovingly in his face. I bore up as bravely as I could; but a broken nose is as ineffectual a disguise for a wounded spirit as are gold spectacles for a pair of black eyes. ”

“ The hot season came quickly on, and the morning rides which I was now in the habit of taking with Laura had to be shortened. Though we might leave the house at the first faint glimmer of dawn, the sun was scarcely above the horizon when his beams made it necessary for us to return to the cool shelter of the darkened room, and for twelve hours his fury must be endured there as best we might. ”

“ Twitchley Crowdie's kindness had more momentous results. Dining in the Commissioner's camp one evening he beckoned to him a pale, distraught man, whose head was crowned by a disorderly thatch of hay-like hair tinged with grey; and whose dreamy blue eyes had a melancholy expression.
"Bubbleby, let me introduce you to Mr. Mudsworth. You will find him a congenial spirit. Clever, professional men like you ought to be acquainted; and, by the way, here is Miss Clara Bubbleby, looking charming." ”

“ And the Ajaibgaum Exhibition Medal was a thing to be proud of. On the obverse was a profile head of Sir Rupert Boldick in bold relief, crowned with a laurel wreath, like a Cæsar or a victor in the Olympic games. On the reverse there was a picturesque heap of cows, astronomical telescopes, horses, ploughs, painters; palettes, books, sextants and cog-wheels surmounted by a palm-tree, which conveyed to the meanest capacity a general impression of Art, Science, Industry, Agriculture, Literature, and India. ”

“ Don't be afraid, Miss Edith, I have my umbrella and this hog—spear, and I will rescue Mr. Bulthrop.
(Exit Smallweed.)
Edith.—But papa has another gun, Frank; and here are his cartridges.
Wilmot (stooping hastily over gun case, loads gun; his wig and whiskers fall off, and are hurriedly thrown aside) .—Now, where are they? Your learned young friend is prancing along with his umbrella over one shoulder and his spear over the other. He will hurt somebody before he's done, and I don't think it will be the leopard. But where is the brute? ”

“ With cries that reached us even through the throbbing beat of the tom-toms which never stopped, the living cast the dead upon the fire, the fury of which they sought to increase by every means in their power.
A door opened in the verandah, and Laura stood beside me, her child in her arms, and face white as death in the terrible corpse-light. "Charlie," she said, "look at little Norah; she is ill."
Her husband, occupied in giving directions to the overseers, had gone with them to some little distance, and Laura and I were alone. ”

“ There was a little rustle of her night-gown, a scramble of tiny pink feet, and then the saucy eyes were mocking me from the upper berth.
"I shall catch you now," I thought, but even as I stretched cut my arm she slipped over the side, reached the floor safely, rather to my surprise, and went into the saloon. A minute later I drew aside the curtain and looked after her. The saloon was dark, and though I listened for some time I heard no sound of voices or of a door opening to receive the little wanderer.
"There is really something uncanny in the way that child slips about," I thought. ”

“ Before I could speak a word of the admiration I felt, Laura, who was seated on a low chair by a couch, on which lay a sleeping child, imposed silence by a pretty gesture, her finger on her lip. She apologised for the presence of the little creature. "Little Norah was restless," she said; "and I brought her here, thinking she would sleep better." She rose to give us the coffee which stood upon a small table by her side, and as she did so the child stirred upon its pillow.
"You will forgive me," she said, turning to me, "If I say good night and take baby away?" ”

“ One afternoon I had a bad headache; and as Robbie was listening entranced to one of his favourite "stowiz" told by Mab, who was old enough to look after him, I went down to enjoy the luxury of a quiet rest in my cabin. The port was wide open, and on the sill of it in a most dangerous position sat the little white figure with the golden hair. ”

“ Restrain your passion for talk and try to listen a little. Your old fashioned phiz may, with judicious silence, secure you the esteem of the good people at Ajaibgaum, who will have plenty to tell you. So don't try to instruct them, but let them instruct you. You look so precious wise in those gold spectacles out that, if you display a little tact, nobody need find out that you are—well—that you are comparatively inexperienced. ”

“ The pestilence was spreading and the panic had reached the house; not a servant was to be found.
The planter looked old and grey as he told me that the deaths among the coolies were mounting up with awful rapidity; and his voice broke as he said that little Norah was to be buried at sundown.
"And Laura?" I asked.
He answered at once like a man whose mind is made up. "She must be taken away from this. I cannot go. Will you take her? My place is here; but I won't risk her life. Take her to——" He named the nearest hill station. ”

“ I felt that the first thing to be done was to find her food; and after a hurried search in the outhouses connected with the bungalow, I came upon the khansamah, very drunk.
I adopted my treatment to his condition, and bribed him with a bottle of brandy to procure some milk. A goat was tethered close by, and I returned to Laura's side with a glass of milk, into which I had poured some brandy. The exhaustion of fever had been increased by want of nourishment; and a few spoonfuls of this restorative, which with the tenderest care I put to her pale lips, revived her. ”

“ We spoke of the climate, the subject which in India takes the place of the eternal weather in England, of my journey, of books which he had never read, of plays which he had never seen, and it was plain that, as far as was possible, he tried to look at life through his young wife's eyes. "We are alone here," he said; "but not so lonely as you might think. My wife has her books and flowers, her child and her piano; she is fond of riding, and has got the best horse I could find for her. A woman can be contented and make herself happy with all those things, don't you think?" ”

“ I don't think poor little May would ever frighten me. Ah! she was a sweet, pretty child!"
Something very like a tear was in the corner of one of the Stewardess's small yellow eyes—at least, I think so; but my own eyes were so brimming with tears that I could not see clearly.
"How did the child fall out?" I asked; but I felt that I had been an eye-witness of the tragedy, and knew beforehand what the Stewardess was going to say.
"She had been sitting on the sill of the port leaning out of it, and her mother came in and spoke to her suddenly, and she was startled and fell. ”

“ She made me think of a humming bird, so daintily did she alight on any subject, and so airily did she flit round the dull stream of the planter's talk.
"If all the women are like this," I had thought as I took my seat beside, her. "There never was a woman like this!" I said to myself an hour later, as she rose from the table, bidding us come to her room when we cared for coffee.
Conversation languished when Laura was gone, and it was with difficulty that I could fix my attention sufficiently to reply to my host's question as to my taste in cheroots. ”

“ Edith (laughing) .-A modern ruler! Do you know I never looked upon you in that light before? and you really are imposing. But if you are a modern ruler, I'm a home ruler, and my decree is that you go now and rule your millions in cutcherry with papa, while I send the prisoner his breakfast. Good morning, Mr. Smallweed!
Smallweed (aside on exit) .—If, even when she chaffs me, she would only call me Percy.
(Exit Smallweed.)
EDlTH.—A ruler indeed! Ah well! I suppose papa is right, and Mr. Smallweed is one of the most admirable and excellent of competition-wallahs. But—heigho! ”

“ I arrived at Ajaibgaum in time for the opening of the Exhibition, which was an imposing ceremony. There was a grand procession of Rajas and Chiefs, with elephants, camels, horses and retainers. Brave English women had come in from many a weary mile round, and were as brilliantly arrayed as for a South Kensington horticultural fête. Committees and sub-Committees, decorated with rosettes, filed past and arranged themselves right and left of a daïs surmounted by a canopy; the native chiefs were marshalled in due order, and last of all came the great Sir Rupert Boldick. ”

“ God do so to you and more also, if you fail in your care of her." Before I could reply he had turned from me, seeking to hide the emotion by which he was shaken.
I mounted my horse in silence, and set forth upon this most fateful journey walking slowly by the swinging dooli, the door of which was closed on the side nearest to me. Besides ourselves there were only the necessary coolies and bearers; Laura's servants like my own had excused themselves from accompanying us on various pretexts. They were completely demoralised by panic. ”

“ At all events, give him some breakfast. I shall see you in half an hour, Smallweed, eh?
(Exit Bulthrop.)
Smallweed.—Your father, Miss Edith, is much too kind and gentle to everybody. You are not going to give that villain paté de foie gras, surely?
Edith.—Commissioner Sahib ka hookum! But I will send him a tract too, and I daresay you will let him know what you think of his conduct. So we may, perhaps, reform him among us.
Smallweed.—Ah! Miss Edith! Why won't you look at things seriously. The English loafer is one of the cankers at the root of our administrative tree. ”

“ The planter and a couple of Eurasian overseers were standing under the porch, from which position the distracted coolies could be plainly seen. Dismay was written on their faces, and not without cause; for in the silent night the cholera had fallen like a thunderbolt upon the village; a dozen coolies were dead since midnight, a score more were dying, and the remainder, panic-stricken and helpless, were flying in all directions. ”

“ Next day I happened to be walking on deck with a young girl, when the child flitted across just in front of us.
"Look at that child," I said quickly. "Who is she?"
"Which child? Where?"
"By the funnel; with a blue sash on."
"I can't see a child there at all."
"No; she has just run away. Do come this direction. I want you to see her."
She good-naturedly came. The child was standing looking at the cow, but as soon as I spoke she passed behind the sheep-pen.
"I believe you are making fun of me," said my companion. "I don't think there is a child at all." ”

“ I lost my temper, and he revenged himself for all the lovely Clara had made him suffer. I am ignorant of the manly art of self-defence; while the brutal Cheetham was a scientific expert. One well-directed blow made all the stars in the firmament flash in my eyes; and a second, which flattened my nose on my face, felled me to the ground. ”

“ By a fortunate chance the house of one of the overseers was nearer than the planter's, and thither Laura went for assistance; returning in a short time with all the help necessary. I was carried home, and the overseer, who boasted some rude skill in bone-setting, brought me by a rough road of torture to a land of dreamy ease. Fever was the natural result of what I had undergone, and for some days after my accident I did not see Laura. ”

“ It was natural that he should turn from uncongenial people who could not sympathise with his pursuits to a representative of Literature. His confidences did me honour, but I confess I was somewhat embarrassed by them; and I found when left alone before the patent brake and the rest of the puzzling models, that I remembered very little of what the enthusiastic inventor had said, and when I turned to my note-book my observations were so merely interjectional as to be useless. But Clara Bubbleby's eyes I recalled with photographic accuracy ”