ound the siren undeniably pretty and seductive, but at the same
time irrepressible and odious. He hated her catlike litheness, her
undulating walk, and the unmistakable invitation of her whole
personality.

"Come, Ma Chit, behave yourself!" said her host sternly. "If you
can't--you don't come here again."

The beauty received this admonition with a scream of laughter, tossed a
flower at Salter, wafted a kiss to his guest, and faded away into the
veranda.

By degrees, thanks to his constant encounters with Ma Chit, Shafto
avoided the Salters' bungalow, and Roscoe made his visits alone; but as
it was not more than three hundred yards from the chummery Shafto had a
painful conviction that, when dusk and darkness had fallen, the
neighbourhood of his compound was haunted--not by the malignant and
resident _nat_, but by the graceful and sinuous figure of a little
Burmese girl! Once a stone, to which was attached a paper, was thrown
into his room. On it was inscribed in a babu's clerkly hand:

"Do come and talk to Ma Chit."

CHAPTER XXIX

MUNG BAW

Returning one evening from a lively dinner at the "Barn," Shafto was
surprised to see a light in his room, and still more surprised to find
the _pongye_ once again seated on his bed.

"Oh, so you've come back!" he exclaimed aghast, and a shadow of
annoyance settled on his face.

"I have so," calmly responded this late visitor; "as I was passing I
thought I'd give you a call in. I came down a couple of weeks back--as
I have some small business here and wanted to show myself to a doctor.
I don't hold with them native medicines and charms, and I'm inclined to
a weakness in me inside."

"Why, you look as strong as a horse!" was Shafto's unsympathetic
rejoinder, as he sank into a chair and pulled out a cigarette. The
_pongye_ contributed a special personal atmosphere, composed of
turmeric, woollen stuff and some fiercely pungent herb.

"Looks is deceitful, and so is many a fine fellow," observed the
_pongye_ in a dreamy voice. After this pronouncement he relapsed into
a reflective silence--a silence which conveyed the subtle suggestion
that the visitor was charged with some weighty mission. At any rate,
it was useless for Shafto to think of undressing and going to bed,
since his couch was already occupied by the holy man, who appeared to
be established for the night.

Interpreting Shafto's envious glance, he said:

"You'll excuse me sitting on the _charpoy