rain or change; and, after doing what little work I had to get over,
it struck me that I might as well attend to what Captain Dyer advised--
give two eyes to Chunder and his friends; so I left Mrs Bantem busy
over her cooking, and went down into the court.

All below was as still as death--sunshine here, shadow there, but,
through one of the windows, open to catch the least breeze that might be
on the way, and taking in instead the hot, sultry air, came now and then
the silvery laughter of the children--that pleasant cheery sound that
makes the most rugged old face grow a trifle smoother.

I looked here, and I looked there, but could only see old _Nabob_
amusing himself with the hay, a sentry on the roof to the east, and
another on the roof to the west, and one in the gateway, broiling
almost, all of them, with the heat.

The ladies and the children were seldom seen now, for they were in
trouble; and Mrs Maine was worn almost to skin and bone with anxiety,
as she sat waiting for tidings of the expedition.

Not knowing what to do with myself I sauntered along by where there was
a slip of shade, and entered the south side of the palace--an old
half-ruinous part; and after going first into one, and then into another
of the bare empty rooms, I picked out what seemed to be the coolest
corner I could find, sat down with my back propped against the wall,
filled and lit my pipe, and then putting things together in my mind,
thoroughly enjoyed a good smoke.

There was something wonderfully soothing in that bit of tobacco, and it
appeared to me cooling, comforting, and to make my bit of a love-affair
seem not so bad as it was. So, on the strength of that, I refilled, and
was about halfway through another pipe, when things began to grow very
dim round about me, and I was wandering about in my dreams, and nodding
that head of mine in the most curious and wild way you can think of.
What I dreamed about most was about getting married to Lizzy Green; and
in what must have been a very short space, that event was coming off at
least half-a-dozen times over, only _Nabob_, the elephant, would come in
at an awkward time and put a stop to it. But at last, in my dreamy
fashion, it seemed to me that matters were smoothed over, and he
consented to put down the child, and, flapping his ears, promised he'd
say yes. But in my stupid, confused muddle, I thought that he'd no
sooner put down the child with his trunk than he wheeled round and