that face she saw in the glass every time she did her hair. She kissed
him very softly, praying the while that she might never fail him; that
he might always have reason to trust her.

CHAPTER XI

THE STATE OF PETER

Meanwhile Peter was making discoveries about himself. He went back to
his flat on the evening of the day Jan and the children sailed. Swept
and garnished and exceedingly tidy, it appeared to have grown larger
during his absence and seemed rather empty. There was a sense of
unfilled spaces that caused him to feel lonely.

That very evening he decided he must get a friend to chum with him. The
bungalow was much too big for one person.

This had never struck him before.

In spite of their excessive neatness there remained traces of Jan and
the children in the rooms. The flowers on the dinner-table proclaimed
that they had been arranged by another hand than Lalkhan's. He was
certain of that without Lalkhan's assurance that the Miss-Sahib had done
them herself before she sailed that very morning.

When he went to his desk after dinner--never before or after did Peter
possess such an orderly bureau--he found a letter lying on the
blotting-pad, and on each side of the heavy brass inkstand were placed a
leaden member of a camel-corps and an India-rubber ball with a face
painted upon it, which, when squeezed, expressed every variety of
emotion. These, Lalkhan explained, were parting gifts from the young
sahib and little Fay respectively, and had been so arranged by them just
before they sailed.

The day before Jan had told the children that all this time they had
been living in Peter's house and that she was sure Mummy would want them
to be very grateful (she was careful to talk a great deal about Mummy to
the children lest they should forget her); that he had been very kind to
them all, and she asked if there was anything of their very own they
would like to leave for Peter as a remembrance.

Tony instantly fetched the camel-corps soldier that kept guard on a
chair by his cot every night; that Ayah had not been permitted to pack
because it must accompany him on the voyage. It was, Jan knew, his most
precious possession, and she assured him that Peter would be
particularly gratified by such a gift.

Not to be outdone by her brother, little Fay demanded her beloved ball,
which was already packed for the voyage in Jan's suit-case.

Peter sat at his desk staring at the absurd little toys with very