Burning Sands Part 25

"I don't suppose I'll keep it up for long," was the reply.

"No, why should you?" Lord Blair commented, and the younger man thought him very broad-minded.

The conversation was interrupted by the entrance of the General, in search of a quiet corner for a smoke, and Lord Blair, much dispirited, presently made his way back to the ballroom, and thence home to bed. His daughter, however, remained till past three o'clock in the morning, and at last was one of the little group of enthusiasts which kept up the revels to the accompaniment of amateur efforts on the piano, after the weary band had dispersed.

She traversed the short distance back to the Residency under the protection of Lord Barthampton; who had managed by sheer obstinacy to obtain this office for himself; and as she said "good-night," to him upon the doorstep, he held her hand in his somewhat longer than was necessary.

"I shall always remember tonight," he said, "as the first time I have really got to know you."

"Will you?" she replied, feebly, not finding any appropriate comment.

"Yes," he answered. "Good-night, little woman. Think kindly of your lonely friend." He came closer to her. "If ever you hear anything against me from Cousin Daniel, take it with a pinch of salt."

"Oh, I always rely on my own judgment," she answered; and with that she pa.s.sed into the house.

CHAPTER XVI-AT CHRISTMASTIDE

During the ensuing two or three weeks Daniel was absorbed in the organization of his work, and it was not until the festivities of Christmas interrupted his routine, that he was able to look about him and take his bearings. He had found the work extremely interesting, and already he could see some indications that his point of view was being adopted in the general policy of the Residency, while in specific cases Lord Blair accepted his advice with very little hesitation.

In this atmosphere of confidence Daniel thrived and his labours prospered. He was amused by his new insight into the Egyptian mind; and he enjoyed his frequent rambles through those quarters of the city which are unknown to the European visitor. Already he had native friends in all parts of Cairo-from scavengers to Pashas; and in many of the bazaars he was now greeted as a guest by the hospitable merchants. He did not find any great difficulty in avoiding the more tedious of the social functions at the Residency: and the early mornings and the evenings were spent in tranquillity at his camp or in the surrounding desert.

Sometimes, returning from his duties soon after luncheon, he would fill his pockets with biscuits and his water-bottle with cold tea, and, mounting his camel, would ride for two hours or more into the desert, until as the last light of day faded from the sky he would reach some sheltered drift of sand or bed of s.h.i.+ngle amongst the rocks; and here he would refresh himself and take his rest, mental and physical, in the vast solitude, until the blackness of the night enveloped him. Then, under the glistening heavens, he would ride slowly home again, guiding himself by the stars, and dreaming his way through the witchery of the darkness, until the distant lights of his camp, with the promise of supper and bed, brought him down from the dim regions of everlasting quiescence to the pleasant things of the body, so that he would press forward in a final rush through the night, the sharp air of the Egyptian winter beating in his face, the planets swinging above him, and the obscure jackal-track slipping like a trail of vapour beneath the soft pads of his camel.

He slept by night upon the top of the spur of rock above his tents; and here on his camp bed, under the warm blankets, he would lie absorbed in the splendour of the stars until sleep carried him outside the range of astronomy. As the first shafts of the morning sun struck upon him from above the eastern horizon, he would cast the blankets from him, and, full of the joy of vigorous life, would clamber down to his camp, there to bathe and dress himself in the keen air of the morning, and to devour his breakfast in the brilliant suns.h.i.+ne at the door of his tent.

Here in his beloved desert any anxieties which the day might bring were wholly banished from his brain; and each morning he took up his duties with a mind purged and washed clean of the dust of yesterday, enlivened by healthy sleep and vigorous exercise, and, above all, renewed in its unity with the everlasting Wisdom. It was as though his mighty hands were clasped in the mightier hands of that Spirit which dwells in the world's open s.p.a.ces; and, if he strayed during his work into tangled paths of disquietude, he stepped back, as it were, with the descending sun into the grasp of the unfailing Friend.

In one particular there was especial need of this refreshment and renewal; for his thoughts were often disturbed in regard to his friends.h.i.+p with Lady Muriel. He was sufficiently frank with himself to realize that as the days pa.s.sed he was growing more interested in her, and at the same time he was well aware that any such interest was likely to lead to discordance and unrest; for her method of life so greatly differed from his own.

Muriel was having what she called "a good time"; and the argument "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die," was ever ready upon her lips.

There was a sort of defiance in her att.i.tude to Daniel, and sometimes as she set out upon some new chase of amus.e.m.e.nt she seemed to be daring him to stop her.

On a certain evening in Christmas-week this challenge had been particularly evident. He had stayed on at the Residency until past seven o'clock, for there had been an attempted a.s.sa.s.sination of one of the native ministers, and Daniel had at once set himself to get to the bottom of the trouble; and when at last he was crossing the hall on his way out, he had come upon Muriel descending the staircase, dressed for a dinner-party and dance which was being given at Mena House that evening.

Her luxurious automobile was standing at the door, and she had, of course, offered to give him a lift.

Sitting by her side under the electric light in the car, he had been more than ever conscious of the dissimilarity of their views of life. It was not that he disapproved of her enjoyments, but rather that he regretted the absence of all attempt on her part to get below the surface of things. She was satisfied by her pursuit of the pleasures of what is called Society; and the trouble was that she had caused him to be dissatisfied with his own more profound search after happiness.

In his rough clothes he had seemed to be so far removed from this exquisite dainty girl beside him, around whose white throat the pearls glistened, and from whose gold-ta.s.seled cloak of blue velvet there came the faint scent of the lotus; and the disturbing fact had been this-that he had been intoxicated by the fragrance of her, and the touch of her arm against his. He had wanted to command her to abandon her friends and to follow him into the desert; and suddenly he had been aware that the expression in her eyes was one of disdain for the hardihood that he loved.

As they had driven up to the gates of the hotel he had called her attention to his camel which awaited him at the roadside, in charge of a silent native, who now raised his hand to his dazzled eyes as the headlights of the car fell upon him.

"Now confess," she had said, "that you would rather be coming with me into the comfort of the hotel than b.u.mping off on that great beast into the cold bleak desert."

"I confess I would rather be with you tonight than alone," he answered, "but not in the hotel. I don't like noise and clatter and stuffiness."

She had looked at him with a smile as the door of the car was opened by a liveried servant. "I wonder," she mused, "why you play at being a hermit. You are not a hermit at heart." She made a gesture with her arms which was full of enticement. "Don't you ever hear the world calling you?" she asked.

"Yes," he answered, gravely, "I hear it calling now; and I am shutting my ears, because I know that it has nothing worth having to offer me."

"If you happen to be here at midnight," she said, "I dare say I shall be wanting a breath of air."

The words had thrilled in his ears, and as she disappeared into the lighted hall of the hotel he had stood for a moment irresolute. If he were to ride down from the desert at midnight, she would stroll with him for a few moments amongst the palms, and who could say what advancement in their relations.h.i.+p would take place? But in so doing would he not be but offering her material for new amus.e.m.e.nt?

He had ridden, then, in silence to his camp; and at his usual hour he had gone to his bed beneath the stars; and though he was awake at midnight he had not stirred from beneath his blankets.

That was three days ago; and now Christmas was pa.s.sed, with its church-service which he had attended together with the whole diplomatic staff, and its heavy luncheon thereafter, at which he had been one of twenty guests. Already, today, he had resumed the routine of his work; but the short interruption had given him time to look about him, and his bearings troubled him with their threat of dangers ahead.

Muriel, on her part, had felt herself snubbed that night when he failed to take advantage of the midnight hour. She had slipped out on to the veranda of the hotel and had waited for him, thereby missing a dance and inconveniencing at least one partner. She had suggested the meeting experimentally, to see what might be his att.i.tude towards her; for she could not decide whether he were fond of her or merely interested in her as a case of needing reformation. And when he failed to turn up at the trysting-hour, her foot tapped angrily upon the tiles of the veranda; and at length she had gone indoors again with her head in the air but her heart in the depths.

She was undoubtedly attracted to him, but she was also very decidedly afraid of him. Sometimes it was as though he were suggesting to her that she should abandon the luxuries and the little frivolities which she so much enjoyed, and should trail after him into the desert, the Lord knows where, and cook his food for him, and dress in a sheepskin, and sleep on the hard sand with a rock for a pillow.

One of the most serious aspects of the matter was that her father was very obviously attempting to throw her and Daniel Lane together. At first she had supposed that Lord Blair desired her to come under his influence for its philosophical value; but during the last few days certain things that had been said led her to the amazing conclusion that her father regarded him in the light of a possible son-in-law.

She utterly failed to picture this man in the role of husband: she could imagine him as a companion or even as a lover, but as a husband never!

Husbands were people in top-hats, black coats, and stripey trousers, with whom one went to St. Margaret's, Westminster, and then to somebody's villa on the Riviera, "kindly lent," etc.; they had a lot of old family servants who sniffed at you and said that such-and-such wasn't his lords.h.i.+p's custom; they wanted sons and heirs, and, if you failed to provide them, they cynically made you try again; they developed money troubles sooner or later, and cut down your expenses at the moment when you wanted to rebuild the ballroom; as the years pa.s.sed they became coldly courteous or hotly ill-tempered; and finally you were either divorced or else laid by their crumbling side in the family vault, in the sure and certain hope-thank G.o.d-that there were no marriages in heaven.

But Daniel Lane was not of this autocratic cla.s.s; nor could she picture him living in England. If he succeeded to the Barthampton earldom he would make an appalling mess of it; if he had to wear London clothes he would look a sight; and if he shared the conjugal bed, it would probably be on the roof or in the shrubbery, with gnats and things biting your nose or an icy wind blowing around your legs.

She noticed her father's strategic dispositions one morning just after Christmas, when Charles Barthampton called to take her to a military review. She went into the study to tell him of her proposed absence; but Lord Blair put his foot down, saying to her that if she attended this particular function she ought to do so in the company of a civilian, so as to avoid inter-regimental jealousies: a palpable excuse which did not bear scrutiny. He suggested that Daniel Lane should go with her; and before Lord Barthampton could escape, his cousin was sent for, and Muriel went off into the garden in annoyance, leaving the three men together in the hall. Lord Blair thereupon tripped back to his study, bidding Daniel offer his cousin refreshment in the library.

Lord Barthampton, however, was scowling with anger, and would have taken his departure immediately. But Daniel took him by the arm in a grip which, though friendly, was one of iron, and, forcing him into a chair, handed him a cigar.

"Have a whisky-and-soda?" he then suggested.

"No," his cousin grunted. "I'm a teetotaller, d.a.m.n you."

Daniel chuckled. "Good for you," he laughed. "Have some barley water?"

At this Lord Barthampton scrambled to his feet, but Daniel gently pushed him back into the chair.

"I want to have a talk with you," he said. "I want to tell you how glad I am to see that you are pulling yourself together. You look a different man already."

His cousin glared at him warily from under his heavy brows. "Yes," he replied, "I'm not going to give you any excuse for turning me out. When you do so, you'll have to do it against my father's wishes and intentions; and I hope he'll come back from the grave and haunt you."

He spoke with dramatic gloom, and Daniel could not help being sorry for him.

"Oh, don't worry yourself," he a.s.sured him. "As long as you behave yourself decently, you're quite safe."

"I doubt it," the other muttered, despondently.

"I heard the other day," said Daniel, "from one of your brother officers that you'd sworn off cards too."

Charles Barthampton puffed viciously at his cigar. "I suppose you'll rob me of all my fun before I'm through with you. Hadn't you better ask me whether I've joined the Y.M.C.A., and regularly say my prayers?"