spot, remote from the world though it was.  And his new comrades would appeal to her, Dermot, strong, capable, one who would always stand out from his fellows; Hunt grave, kindly, well-read; Burke witty, clever and good-hearted.  And, little though Violet cared for her own sex, as a rule, surely in Mrs. Dermot she would find a friend.  This happy wife, this loving mother, was so sweet and sympathetic that she would win the older woman’s liking, while the two delightful children would take her heart by storm.  Poor, lonely Violet, so beautiful, so ill-fated!  Frank sighed as he took up her portrait and kissed it.

When he extinguished the lamp and lay down in bed it was pleasant, after the heat in Rohar, to find it so cool that he was obliged to pull a blanket over him.  Only those who have endured the torment of hot nights in the tropics can appreciate his thankfulness as in the silence broken only by the monotonous cry of the nightjars he drowsed contentedly to sleep.  Already he was reconciled to Ranga Duar.

CHAPTER VII

IN THE TERAI JUNGLE

In the pleasant light of the morning the little outpost looked as charming to Wargrave as it had done on the previous evening.  Above Ranga Duar the mountains towered to the pale blue sky, while below it the foot-hills fell in steps to the broad sea of foliage of the great forest stretching away to the distant plains seen vaguely through the haze.  The horse-shoe hollow in which the tiny station was set was bowered in vegetation.  The gardens glowed with the varied hues of flowers, and were bounded by hedges of wild roses.  The road and paths were bordered by the tall, graceful plumes of the bamboo and shaded by giant mango and banyan trees, their boughs clothed with orchids.

Frank had noticed the previous day that the Fort, barracks and bungalows were all newly built, and he learned that during the great war which had raged along the frontiers of India five years before, the post had been fiercely attacked by an army of Chinese and Bhutanese and the little station practically wiped out of existence, although victory had finally rested with the few survivors of the garrison.

From the first the subaltern took a great liking to the tall Punjaubi Mahommedan and hook-nosed, fair-skinned Pathan native officers and sepoys of the detachment.  The work was light and scarcely required two British officers; and Frank soon found that Major Hunt, who seemed driven by a demon of quiet energy, preferred to do most of it himself.  Frank got the impression that to the elder man occupation was an anodyne for some secret sorrow.  Although the subaltern had no wish to shirk his duty he could not but be glad that his superior officer seemed always ready to dispense with his aid, for thus he would find it easier to get permission to go shooting.

His first excursion into the jungle was arranged at dinner at the Dermots’ house on his second evening in Ranga Duar.  The Colonel proposed to take him out on the following Monday, for on the next day the Deb Zimpun would arrive.