oth her hands in his against his coat, until
the high relief of the button was marked upon her skin, even through
her glove.

"You," she said, so softly that the one note sounded like the chime of
a temple bell.

"You!" he said, giving her arms a little savage wrench, then letting
her go as the sound of approaching hoofs heralded the arrival of the
first of the hunt to be in at the averted death.

A score or more of natives in their vivid colours, which seem so atune
with all that has to do with love, mattered not at all; but Leonie
turned and pointed casually to the Devil, enjoying his matutinal bath,
as the boy flung himself from the discredited polo pony on which he had
done his best.

He seized both her hands and held them very tightly, then catching
sight of Cuxson, let them go suddenly.

"Of course!" he said, "of course you would--you lucky beggar!" Then
added triumphantly, "But anyway, _I_ told her so!"

CHAPTER XXIX

"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine!"--_The Bible_.

Guy Dean, the cheery optimistic lad who worshipped openly at Leonie's
beautiful feet, and who was seeing the world at the behest of his
wealthy old father, had been as good as his word.

Bursting with excitement, he hurled himself into his racing-car one
Sunday morning, about a fortnight after Leonie's hasty ride riverwards,
and passed like a whirlwind through the fairly empty streets of
Calcutta and the suburb of Ballygunge to the Jodhpur Club.

She was waiting for breakfast under the trees with some friends,
discussing the four-some they had just finished, and watching the
arrival of various cars which were parked, with some difficulty, with
the others which had arrived earlier.

"Sounds all right," said Cuxson, as he looked with disfavour upon the
club's breakfast _piece de resistance_, namely fatty sausages and
mashed of all things. "I am beginning to feel quite thrilled. Let's
see, it will take us about a day to get to Tiger's Point by launch from
Kulna, and there we find monkeys, adjutant birds, spotted deer, and
tigers all ready."

"Don't rot!" said young Dean. "I've bribed the finest _shikari_ in the
whole of Bengal to stage-manage the whole thing; he did seem rather
contemptuous over the _chotar shikar_, as he called it, I must say,
until I began to juggle with backsheesch, and then he bucked up
considerably and said he would do his very best to provide sport for
the mems. The programme includes a ruin