d Colombo, and read in the papers handed to us on broad that our
ship contained the famous European professor who was journeying to
Mandalay to become a Buddhist priest, after a touching farewell with
wife and children, Dr Gall expressed both astonishment and incredulity.

"He never said a word about it to me," was his remark. "I know he has
studied the Buddhist religion very deeply, and he is anxious to get
access to some MSS., which he hopes to find in Burmah; but that is not
the same thing as becoming a priest. I expect the papers have
exaggerated the facts."

As a matter of fact, Dr Groene certainly gave a lecture on Buddhism in
Colombo on the day of our arrival, for one of our fellow-passengers had
the curiosity to be present, but he, also, told me nothing had been said
about the lecturer becoming a priest.

The matter did not specially interest me; but on arrival at Rangoon, the
only decent (?) hotel was crowded, and most of us had to put up with a
very inferior class of accommodation.

A few hours of this establishment sufficed for most of the passengers,
who promptly went up country or on the river; but Miss Greenlow and I
were obliged to spend three or four days in Rangoon, and Dr Groene was at
first our only companion.

So, of course, we spoke to each other in self-defence. He talked of his
home life and university work, and casually mentioned the death of his
wife, _five years previously_, and the children who were awaiting him
at home.

This certainly tallied more with Dr Gall's ideas than the sensational
Colombo newspaper account of his wife and children, to whom, like the
great Buddha, he had bidden an eternal farewell! Naturally one did not
touch upon this delicate subject, but I asked him how long he expected
to remain in Rangoon. To my surprise, he said at once that his stay was
quite uncertain--he might even be returning by the _Devonshire_, which
was to sail within a week of her arrival.

It seemed a long and expensive journey to take for so short a stay; but
doubtless he had business reasons, and the matter dropped from my mind.

When we returned, three or four weeks later, he was no longer in Rangoon
apparently, and I did not expect to come upon his tracks again.

The Burmese lady explained the Groene mystery with some bitterness, and
no wonder!

Having come out free, upon the understanding with her, already
mentioned, she had taken a room for him at the hotel, and had busied
herself in