l be."

"That is only because you are obliged to pass in the vernacular, Wilson.
So you need not take any credit to yourself on that account."

"Doctor, you are in one of your worst possible tempers this morning,"
Isobel said. "You snap at us all round. You are quite intolerable this
morning."

"I am rather put out by Bathurst running away in this fashion, Miss
Hannay. I had made up my mind that he would stop three or four days
longer, and it is pleasant to have someone who can talk and think about
something besides horses and balls. But I will go away; I don't want to
be the disturbing element; and I have no doubt that Richards is burning
to tell you the odds on some of the horses today."

"Shall we see you on the racecourse, Doctor?" the Major asked, as the
Doctor moved towards the door.

"You will not, Major; one day is enough for me. If they would get up a
donkey race confined strictly to the subalterns of the station, I might
take the trouble to go and look at it."

"The Doctor is in great form today," Wilson said good temperedly, after
the laugh which followed the Doctor's exit had subsided; "and I am sure
we did nothing to provoke him."

"You got into his line of fire, Wilson," the Major said; "he is
explosive this morning, and has been giving it to us all round. However,
nobody minds what the Doctor says; his bark is very bad, but he has
no bite. Wait till you are down with the fever, and you will find him
devote himself to you as if he were your father."

"He is one of the kindest men in the world," Isobel agreed warmly,
thereby effectually silencing Richards, who had just pulled up his shirt
collar preparatory to a sarcastic utterance respecting him.

Isobel, indeed, was in full sympathy with the Doctor, for she, too, was
disappointed at Bathurst's sudden departure. She had looked forward to
learning a good deal from him about the native customs and ways, and
had intended to have a long talk with him. She was perhaps, too, more
interested generally in the man himself than she would have been willing
to admit.

That evening the party went to an entertainment at Bithoor. Isobel and
the girls were delighted with the illuminations of the gardens and with
the palace itself, with its mixture of Eastern splendor and European
luxury. But Isobel did not altogether enjoy the evening.

"I suppose I ought to congratulate you on your success last night,
Isobel," Dr. Wade said, when he dropped in after breakfas