ternoon--which of
course he won't take."

Tommy's face was suddenly scarlet. It was solely the maternal protective
instinct that induced Mrs. Ralston to bend forward and speak.

"Do you mean Captain Monck, Gerald?" she asked.

Major Ralston cast a comprehensive glance around the little group
assembled near him, finishing his survey upon Tommy's burning
countenance. "Yes--Monck," he said. "He's staying with Barnes at
Khanmulla to see this affair through. If I were Mrs. Monck I should be
pretty anxious about him. He says it's insomnia."

"Is he ill?" It was Tommy who spoke, his voice quick and low, all the
sullen embarrassment gone from his demeanour.

The doctor's eyes dwelt upon him for a moment longer before he answered.
"I never saw such a change in any man in such a short time. He'll have a
bad break-down if he doesn't watch out."

"He works too hard," said Mrs. Ralston sympathetically.

Her husband nodded. "If it weren't for that sickly baby of hers, I
should advise his wife to go straight to him and look after him. But
perhaps when this trial is over he will be able to take a rest. I shall
order the whole family to Bhulwana if I get the chance." He got up with
the words, and faced the company with a certain dogged aggressiveness
that compelled attention. "It's hard," he said, "to see a fine chap like
that knocked out. He's about the best man we've got, and we can't afford
to lose him."

He waited for someone to take up the challenge, but no one showed any
inclination to do so. Only after a moment Tommy also sprang up as if
there was something in the situation that chafed him beyond endurance.

Ralston looked at him again, critically, not over-favourably. "Where are
you off to in such a hurry?" he said.

Tommy hunched his shoulders, all defiance in a second. "Going for a
ride," he growled. "Any objection?"

Ralston turned away. "None whatever, my young porcupine. Have mercy on
your nag, that's all--and don't break your own neck!"

Tommy strode wrathfully away to the sound of Mrs. Burton's tittering
laugh. With the exception of Mrs. Ralston, who really did not count, he
hated every one of the party that he left behind on the Club verandah,
and he did not attempt to disguise the fact.

But when an hour later he rolled off his horse in the compound of the
policeman's bungalow at Khanmulla, his mood had undergone a complete
change. There was nothing defiant or even assertive about him as he
applied for a