uts like dolls' houses, and place food inside,
that the devils may lodge and eat. It seems that the corpse to-day had
a good time of it. They gave him a month's food, new gong and gun, a
complete set of new clothes, and two or three gourds of Zoo--they are
always drunk with that stuff. It is an awfully strong drink, though
made from rice, which sounds innocent, doesn't it? Rice always reminds
me of my bib-and-tucker days."

"It is rather like English cider, with the strength of whisky. But
what a lot of information you pick up, little woman, while I am out
shooting!"

"It terrifies me when you are away all day," she declares. "Then I
feel lonely--deserted--afraid. Tigers and bears are such alarming
things to picture you chasing, though you are accompanied by a troop of
negroes."

Eleanor leans back in a low chair, gazing wistfully across the wild
country. She can see the course of the Irrawaddy river, with its
numerous rapids and picturesque cascades. It seems only the other day
that she and Carol steamed up it, past Mandalay, Bhanio, and Myitkyina.
She wishes they could travel on overland through the jade, amber, and
ruby mines, but Carol fears for her, and prefers to stay in these more
quasi-civilised regions.

A group of women and girls strikes her eye, carrying loads supported by
a strap encircling their foreheads, after the curious fashion of Dundee
fisherwomen.

The unmarried girls wear square-cut fringes and their hair hanging
loosely at the sides to the shoulders, while the married women have it
done up decorously on the head.

"I am glad I have not to carry loads like those poor creatures," says
Eleanor softly; "yet perhaps an external load is better than an
internal one. Sometimes, Carol, I remember that I once had a
conscience. It just stirs and half wakes when I am quite alone. Often
in the darkness I fancy I see Philip, or feel as if he were near me. I
would sooner die a thousand deaths than meet his eye."

"Do not think of it, dearest; we have cut ourselves adrift from old
associations for that purpose. There is nothing to remind you or
trouble you."

"Nothing," replied Eleanor, "I am content, Carol. We have discovered
an Eden--after the fall."

* * * * *

Eleanor is in a roving mood, and while Carol is engaged in the mild
sport of pheasant shooting for a change, she wanders alone into the
jungle to watch the children playing with large beans like marb