miles outside the Station, with the village of
the same name lying on its banks. It occupied an area of a square mile
or two of marsh land, was overrun with water-weeds and lotus plants, and
dotted about with islands full of jungle growth and date-palms--a
picturesque but unhealthy spot, dear to lovers of sport.

"The natives haven't the foggiest idea of hygiene," said the doctor
finally. "But they cannot be argued with. They will continue their
filthy habits though twenty to thirty per cent. of them get wiped out by
cholera annually. Drain the _jhil_ and give them wells, and there'll be
little or no sickness afterwards. Incidentally, several hundred _bighas_
of ground will be reclaimed for agricultural purposes, which will be a
benefit to the owner."

"The Government will take its own time to consider the proposition, and
a few years hence, when it has exhausted all the red tape available, it
will be put through," said Honor. "In the meantime, the cholera, like
the poor, will be 'with us always!'"

"I shouldn't be at all surprised," said the doctor meeting her eyes in
swift appreciation of her verdict.

He said no more to her, for others intervened and the conversation
changed.

Captain Dalton looked a trifle more cynical and dissatisfied than usual,
Honor thought. His strong jaw and irregular features hid his thoughts,
but not their reflection which showed a mental unrest. He was clearly
not a happy man, and was plainly a discordant element in light-hearted
company. "A real wet blanket," Tommy whispered in her ear. "If one makes
a joke he either doesn't hear it, or thinks it not worth laughing at.
Something has turned him sour, so he hates to see people happy."

But Honor was not in agreement with him. "I grant he is an embittered
man--he looks it; but he is quite willing that you should enjoy yourself
so long as you don't force your high spirits on him. If one's mind is
not in accord with blithesomeness, one surely might be excused from
taking part in it."

"I do believe you like the blighter?" Tommy cried reproachfully.

"I have every reason to," she answered stoutly.

"Because he cured you of snake-bite? Doctors get a pull over us poor
laymen when it comes to matters of life and death. They do their duty,
and you are grateful for all time," at which Honor laughed heartily, for
Tommy was looking personally injured.

"There's Mrs. Meredith!" he continued. "She talks of him with tears in
her eyes as though