at all.

Frontier service begets closer contact between soldier and civilian,
both in work and play, than cantonment life down country; most often to
the uprooting of prejudice on both sides; and Norton was one of the few
men in the station who had achieved comparative intimacy with Lenox.
Those formidable eyes of his had been quick to detect in the taciturn
Gunner, who had done so much, and had so little to say about it, a
coming 'political' of no mean quality, a man of ideas and ambitions,
for whom the great country of his service was something more than a
vast playground, or shooting-box; in effect, a man after his own heart.

Thus, finding Lenox established at the Desmonds, Norton called upon
them soon after Honor's arrival. He was rewarded by a standing
invitation to 'drop in' any afternoon, or evening that he happened to
be free, an invitation which Honor extended to most of the men who came
to bid her welcome; and tea at the Desmonds--with iced coffee or pegs
as alternatives, and smoking a matter of course--soon became a daily
institution; a respite, if only for an hour or two, from the monotony
of mess, parade-ground, and hospital.

"Awfully sporting of Mrs Desmond," was the verdict of grateful
subalterns, who found these tea-drinkings a vast improvement on stale
home papers, and half-hearted gambling at the Club. There was always
music. Honor, besides playing magnificently, could be safely relied
upon for impromptu accompaniments. The Chicken, and an irrepressible
Irishman of the Sikhs, who gloried in the name of O'Flanagan, were
indefatigable on the banjo, and in the construction of topical verses
to vary the programme. Hot-weather audiences are not hypercritical;
and in the red-hot circle of days and nights the mildest innovation is
welcome as a sail on a blank horizon.

Desmond himself was delighted with his wife's spontaneous contribution
to the good spirits of the station; and if the two had little quiet
time together, they had at least a satisfying sense of comradeship in
work; the strongest link that can be added to the strong chain of
marriage.

Frank Olliver, with her big smile, and infectious gaiety, looked in
most days, as a matter of course; till one of the two fever cases she
had managed to lay hands on took a serious turn, and an hour off duty
could only be secured when Honor insisted on relieving guard, and
sending Frank over to play hostess in her stead.

There was also little Mrs P