ow, and looked her new life bravely in the
face, strong in her reliance on a Strength beyond her own,--a Strength
on which she could make unlimited demands; which had never failed her
yet, nor ever would to the end of time.

CHAPTER XIX.

IT'S NOT MAJOR WYNDHAM.

"I will endure; I will not strive to peep
Behind the barrier of the days to come."
--OWEN MEREDITH.

For a few hours Honor slept soundly. But so soon as her bodily
exhaustion was repaired, grief and stress of mind dragged her back to
consciousness. She woke long before dawn; woke reluctantly, for the
first time in her life, with a dead weight upon heart and brain; a
longing to turn her face to the wall and shut out the unconcerned
serenity of the new day.

But though hearts be at breaking-point, there is no shutting out the
impertinent details of life. And on this particular morning Honor
found herself plunged neck-deep in prose. Domestic trifles thrust
themselves aggressively to the fore. Parbutti assailed her after
breakfast with a voluble diatribe against the dhobi's wife, whose
eldest son was going to and fro in the compound unashamed, wearing a
shirt made from the Memsahib's newest jharrons. She did not feel
called upon to add that her own under-jacket had begun life upon
Evelyn Desmond's godown shelves. It was not a question of morals. It
was the lack of a decent reserve in appropriating her due share of the
Sahib's possessions which incensed the good lady against the dhobi's
wife. Such unreserve in respect of matters which should be hid might
rouse suspicion in other quarters; therefore it behoved Parbutti to be
zealous in casting the first stone.

Honor listened with weary inattention, promised investigation of the
matter, and passed on to the godown--a closet of broad shelves
stocked with an incongruous assortment of household goods, and
smelling strongly of kerosine oil and bar soap.

Here it was discovered that the oil had been disappearing with
miraculous celerity, and Amar Singh cast aspersions on the _kitmutgar_
and his wife. A jealous feud subsisted between him and them; and as
ruler-in-chief of the Sahib's establishment, the bearer made it a
point of honour to let no one cheat Desmond save himself. He had a
grievous complaint to lodge against a _sais_, who had been flagrantly
tampering with the Desmonds' grain, adding a request that the Miss
Sahib would of her merciful condescension im