night that I once passed in the jungle. But the impression was so
fleeting as to be indefinable, and soon I was busy getting everyone
settled in the car.

So far, except that he possessed an exceptionally charming voice, I had
no chance of forming an opinion of my cousin's _fiance_. It was
half-past seven when we got back to the house, so we all went straight
up to our rooms to dress for dinner.

Everyone was assembled in the drawing-room when Sir Alister Moeran came
in, and I shall never forget the effect his appearance made.
Conversation ceased entirely for an instant. There was a kind of
breathless pause, which was almost audible as my uncle rose to greet
him. In all my life I had never seen a handsomer man, and I don't
suppose anyone else there had either. It was the most startling,
arresting style of beauty one could possibly imagine, and yet, even as I
stared at him in admiration, the word "Black!" flashed into my mind.

Black! I pulled myself up sharply. We English, who have lived out in the
East, are far too prone to stigmatise thus anyone who shows the smallest
trace of being a "half breed"; but in Sir Alister's case there was not
even a suspicion of this. He was no darker than scores of men of my own
nationality, and besides, he belonged, I knew, to a very old Scottish
family. Yet, try as I would to strangle the idea, all through the
evening the same horrible, unaccountable notion clung to me.

That he was the personality of the gathering there was not the slightest
doubt. Men and women alike seemed attracted by him, for his
individuality was on a par with his looks.

Several times during dinner I glanced at Ethne, but it was easy to see
that all her attention was taken up by her lover. Yet, oddly enough, I
was not jealous in the ordinary way. I saw the folly of imagining that I
could stand a chance against a man like Moeran, and, moreover, he
interested me too deeply. His knowledge of the East was extraordinary,
and later, when the ladies had retired, he related many curious
experiences.

"Might I ask," said my uncle's friend, Major Faucett, suddenly, "whether
you were in the Service, or had you a Government appointment out there?"

Sir Alister smiled, and under his moustache I caught the gleam of
strong, white teeth.

"As a matter of fact, neither. I am almost ashamed to say I have no
profession, unless I may call myself an explorer."

"And why not?" put in Uncle Bob. "Provided your explorations