Every moment he looked to hear the tramp of an army before
him, and know his errand of no avail. Over the little barrier ridge he
scrambled, and then up the straight gully to the little black rift which
was the gate of an empire. His unquiet mind peopled the wilderness with
voices, but when, breathless and sore, he came into the jaws of the
pass, all was still, silent as the grave, save for an eagle which
croaked from some eyrie in the cliffs.
CHAPTER XXXI
EVENTS SOUTH OF THE BORDER
Thwaite was finishing a solitary dinner and attempting to find interest
in a novel when his butler came with news that the telephone bell was
ringing in the gun-room. Thwaite, being tired and cross, told him to
answer it himself, expecting some frivolous message about supplies. The
man returned in a little with word that he could not understand it.
Then Thwaite arose, blessing him, and went to see. The telegraph office
proper was on the other side of the river, on the edge of the native
town, but a telephone had been established to the garrison.
Thwaite's first impulse was to suspect a gigantic hoax. A scared native
clerk was trying to tell him a most appalling tale. George had not
spared energy in his message, and the Oriental imagination as a medium
had considerably increased it. The telegrams came in a confused order,
hard to piece together, but two facts seemed to stand out from the
confusion.
Pages:
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336