3 1822 01050 3530
 
 3 1822 01050 3530
 
 THE COLOSSUS
 
 THE COLOSSUS 
 
 StotB of 
 
 BY MORLEY ROBERTS 
 
 NEW YORK AND LONDON 
 HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 
 
 1899
 
 Copyright, 1899, by HARPER & BROTHERS. 
 All rights rtserved.
 
 THE COLOSSUS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE Great Fetich, the God on awful wheels, 
 the Keeper of the African Sibylline Books, lay 
 back in a big cane chair and looked out across 
 the Nile. 
 
 But he beheld nothing that was visible from 
 the hotel terrace ; he stared across roses and the 
 gray-blue river and the desert to greater deserts, 
 and sweeping further still beyond the flat up- 
 lands of Uganda and Nyassaland, his mind came 
 through the country of the Barotse, and hung 
 poised above the valley of the Zambesi. He be- 
 held Mosi-oa-Tunge, and heard its roar ; the five 
 fingers of spray, rising heavenward as the river 
 plunged into its carved abyss, were his Pillars of 
 Smoke. 
 
 He considered the making of ways. The 
 Pathfinder is the Pioneer of Empire. He pon- 
 dered over railways, and saw the metals gleam till 
 they ran north and south out of sight, and were 
 but one iron finger of direction. And now they
 
 The Colossus 
 
 ended near where Gordon fell, and where he was 
 avenged. What a trackless gap yawned between 
 them and the watershed where locomotives 
 hooted once more! When his thoughts touched 
 Buluwayo he felt as one who has struggled 
 through an uncharted wilderness when he hears 
 the sound of an axe, the scream of a saw, or the 
 long-drawn wail of a steamer on navigable 
 waters. 
 
 "Hoot, hoot, toot! I am the Civiliser! I join 
 loose ends !" So yelled a steamer on the lakes. 
 
 Eustace Loder's opened eyes closed again ; he 
 saw the puppets dance as the strings were pulled ; 
 he heard the drum beaten. When would the 
 drum and fife concert of Intrigue and Interest 
 cease and let the show of work begin ? 
 
 ***** 
 
 There were hours when neither man nor 
 woman dared speak to Loder. He sat solitary, 
 and though he sometimes frowned and some- 
 times smiled, for the most part he was as in- 
 scrutable as any Sphinx; he appeared as one 
 whose soul is not with his body. At such hours 
 he met a first interruption with an inward glacial 
 eye; but persistence brought him back to visible 
 earth with an ugly frown. No one but a fool of 
 perseverance, or a wise man with urgency at his 
 back, persisted further.
 
 The Colossus 
 
 But his watch-dogs usually warned off in- 
 truders. On their vigilance depended precarious 
 peace, their very peace of mind, for his rebu' e 
 was humiliation. They adored him; their pas- 
 sion for him was no common affection it was 
 patriotism. He included England. 
 
 It was now the second hour of the Chief's 
 silent meditation, and at either end of the heavy 
 shaded veranda sat his secretarial dogs. Every 
 few minutes some one tried to pass them. 
 
 "No, you can't see him at least, not to speak 
 to," said Emory Hinton. "If you were to open 
 your mouth to him he would make it so hot for 
 me that I should think I was in in Southern 
 California." 
 
 The American he spoke to chewed a quill tooth- 
 pick with peculiar gusto. 
 
 "Well, sir, I'm not the man to cut into a game 
 where I'm not wanted," he replied, after a mo- 
 ment's consideration, "but I reckon if I could 
 shake hands with Loder before leavin' Cairo, I'd 
 make my stay in the town thirty-six hours in- 
 stead of twenty-four." 
 
 "Yes?" said Hinton. 
 
 "That's so," said the American, with another 
 bite at the chewed quill. "Do you reckon on his 
 bein' engaged in thinking things out till to-mor- 
 row morning?" 
 
 3
 
 The Colossus 
 
 The Secretary shrugged his shoulders as though 
 he were not prepared to state on oath that Mr. 
 Loder might not go on considering for a week. 
 
 "Well, he's just a devil of a thinker," said the 
 stranger rather sadly. "However, I've seen him, 
 and that's somethin'. What do you reckon he's 
 studying on, young man ?" 
 
 The "young man's" eyes gleamed for a mo- 
 ment. 
 
 "I shouldn't like to say," he remarked good- 
 humoredly. 
 
 "I honor you for it," said the American, nod- 
 ding; "but I'd lay my last red it's railroads. 
 'All aboard for the Cape' is LodeVs motto, or 
 I'm a Dutchman. Good-day, young man. Do 
 you feel like a liquor?" 
 
 Emory denied genially that he felt like one, 
 and the stranger took his leave. And as he did, 
 Matthews at the other end of the veranda com- 
 bated one of their own party. 
 
 "My dear Miss Broughton, you really, really 
 ought to know better. Now, just look at him !" 
 
 "Oh, may I do that?" asked Gertrude Brough- 
 ton satirically. "Are you sure he won't go off 
 if I do?" 
 
 "If you were to sit here for hours he would 
 never know you were here," said Wilberforce 
 Matthews earnestly. 
 
 4
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "What I like is tact," said Gertrude vaguely. 
 
 "You must have tact with him," nodded 
 Matthews. 
 
 "Good dog!" cried the woman; and, turning 
 her back upon him, she walked down the terrace 
 till she came out into the hot sunlight. As she 
 leant upon the balustrade of the river steps she 
 pulled a rose to pieces with nervous fingers, and 
 dropped its petals in the waters. 
 
 "Matthews is an intolerable thick-skinned 
 fool," she murmured viciously. "If I hadn't 
 
 made up my mind, I'd " And she shook her 
 
 head impatiently. "I hate a river," she thought ; 
 "it's always, always going one way." 
 
 She beat the devil's tattoo on marble with her 
 foot, and, throwing the gold heart of the rose into 
 the stream, retreated to the shade. A chair in a 
 comfortable spot enticed her; but she could not 
 see Loder from it till she had dragged it into the 
 sun. Then she sat down, and for an hour criti- 
 cised with the bitterest scorn all those who came 
 seeking a word with the man on whom she had 
 set her heart. She smiled to see them repulsed 
 by the tactless Matthews or by Emory Hinton, 
 and called them "poor fools !" It appeared to 
 her that they were attracted by the unessential, 
 by the tinsel glitter of the robe which this emi- 
 nent actor-statesman knew so well how to wear.
 
 The Colossus 
 
 But for herself was the real man underlying the 
 complex phenomena of this personality. 
 
 And yet sometimes, and usually when she woke 
 in early dawn, Gertrude Broughton wondered 
 whether Loder was a man at all. Not infre- 
 quently he appeared in her dreams as the con- 
 centrated essence of England: he was a repre- 
 sentative, and yet not an individual ; his passions, 
 thoughts, plans, and desires had the force and the 
 vagueness characteristic of all Britons, not of 
 one. His being a man was a necessary accident. 
 He could not be touched by human methods; as 
 well might a woman make love to a mass-meet- 
 ing, or woo a Parliament with subtle enticements. 
 A man may not marry his grandmother, but a 
 woman cannot, with any personal satisfaction, 
 espQUse the State. If historic legend was to be 
 credited, Queen Elizabeth tried it, and failed, 
 more than once. 
 
 During this hour's contemplation of Buddha in 
 a cane throne, Gertrude quite forgot her com- 
 plexion until the westering sun slanted and bit 
 like a blister into the very flesh. She rose im- 
 patiently, and dragged a reluctant and screaming 
 chair along the marble, watching Loder as she 
 did so, in the hope that the noise would bring a 
 human scowl into that broad, impassive mask. 
 But though Wilberforce Matthews turned un- 
 6
 
 The Colossus 
 
 easily, Locler never moved : his big chin was sunk 
 in his breast; his hands grasped the arms of his 
 chair ; he looked neither to the right nor the left. 
 Gertrude wanted to scream at this Caryatid of 
 Empire, as young Hinton once named him to his 
 face ; she desired to shake him. 
 
 "I could beat him," she said viciously, "but it 
 would be like beating the Sphinx." 
 
 With a sudden impatient gesture she turned 
 away and marched along the veranda. At this 
 moment she hated Loder as much as she loved 
 him; he seemed as cruel as his enemies said. 
 What did he love, what could he love, but Power ? 
 She could hardly excuse that, for she loved 
 Power herself. To control the destinies of the 
 Controller was her chief desire. Decorated with 
 the rosette of his name, she conceived she might 
 use him without being merged by him in himself, 
 for she knew how childlike he was in all little 
 things. 
 
 When she had walked through a marble colon- 
 nade into a court cooled by a fountain, she threw 
 herself sullenly into a chair, and looked very 
 much like a mutinous child who has been sent out 
 of the room by its father. A moment later she 
 caught the murmur of approaching voices. Two 
 men entered the court and sat down. They were 
 screened from her sight by palms and azaleas. 
 7
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Like the rest of Cairo, they appeared to be talk- 
 ing of Loder. 
 
 "Well, I think him neither more nor less than 
 an entirely unscrupulous ruffian," said one voice. 
 
 "You don't understand him." 
 
 "Do you?" 
 
 The speaker was impatient. 
 
 "No, but I can try to ; and you don't try." 
 
 "I know his record." 
 
 "But you judge it by your own that's .the 
 trouble. I'll admit that Loder's unscrupulous, 
 that he loves power, that he will run you over if 
 you don't get out of the way, that he won't stop 
 to be the Good Samaritan to you if he's in a 
 hurry " 
 
 The elder man grunted. 
 
 "Then you agree with me. I said he was an 
 unscrupulous ruffian." 
 
 The youthful speaker laughed. 
 
 "If he was an ordinary man with only his bad 
 qualities, he would be rather a brute, and perhaps 
 merely a millionaire. But he's not ordinary : he's 
 a microcosm; you ask absurdities when you ask 
 him to be moral with the morality of Brixton. 
 You might as well require geography to be moral, 
 or electricity, or a steam-engine. If the qualities 
 of England were the qualities of a man, would he 
 be a moral man, my dear sir?" 
 8
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "The morality of a country is a different thing, 
 I own. But Loder is a man." 
 
 "That's just where you're wrong. He's not a 
 man; he's a kind of floating island, a movable 
 England, the colonising grabbing instinct made 
 concrete. When England gets mad it will go to 
 war for an idea, won't it ?" 
 
 "If there's some interest at the back of the 
 idea," said the elder man scornfully. 
 
 "I don't see what there is to be so scornful 
 about," was the answer. "It's always a question 
 of interest in the final analysis. Even the re- 
 ligious notion of going to heaven is that. If a 
 man believes he has a mansion in the skies, it's as 
 good as the reversion of a freehold to him. If 
 he has no interests in immortality he won't worry 
 about it. But Loder's religion is having some- 
 thing done, and done now. He represents Eng- 
 land out on business. He's the British Buyer 
 and Bagman if you like. I dare say he would 
 laugh if you said so to his face. He's the big- 
 gest private real estate agent on the earth, and is 
 Trustee for the Empire, which is an unmoral 
 thing, as unmoral and as inevitable as a glacier. 
 You can't predicate morality of such men any 
 more than you can of the tides or of the preces- 
 sion of the equinoxes. Loder is Loder, and you 
 have to accept him as he is." 
 9
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "I reject him." 
 
 "I'd get naturalised in Andorra if I were you," 
 cried the defender of the Great Fetich. "But if 
 Loder were the concealed head of a great na- 
 tional department you would only lament the 
 course of policy. When you see Policy Incar- 
 nate it's a bit of a shock. It's like a study in the 
 International nude. Let us have diplomatic fig- 
 leaves." 
 
 The young man lighted a pipe, and presently 
 both disputing friends departed. 
 
 "That is a very clever young man," said Ger- 
 trude. "But I wonder if Mr. Policy Incarnate 
 is still thinking." 
 
 That problem was soon solved by Loder com- 
 ing round the corner with his two watch-dogs. 
 
 "Ah, how d'ye do, Miss Broughton?" said the 
 Chief. "I 'haven't seen you for a long time." 
 
 Gertrude made a mouth. 
 
 "If you will sit in camp with outposts on all 
 sides, how do you expect to see any one?" she 
 demanded. "I came round to say 'Good-after- 
 noon,' but Mr. Matthews barked so fiercely that I 
 ran away. But I learnt something by coming 
 here : I heard a very clever young man say you 
 were most immoral, and that he was glad of it." 
 This was not accurate reporting, and Gertrude 
 knew it. "And he called you Mr. Policy In-
 
 The Colossus 
 
 carnate, and said you were the biggest Real 
 Estate Agent on Earth." 
 
 "Oh, did he ?" asked Loder absently. 
 
 "And," added Gertrude viciously, "he said you 
 were not a real man, but a ghastly grinding 
 glacier, and the procession of the equinox, or 
 something like that, and he ended by saying you 
 were the International Nude." 
 
 Loder rubbed his close-shaved chin. 
 
 "He seemed to be pretty good at abuse. But 
 have you seen Lady Bontine ?" 
 
 Gertrude shook her head. 
 
 "I haven't seen anybody but an Earth-Bailiff 
 and two gamekeepers for hours," she replied 
 pertly. 
 
 "Yes, h'm, ha!" said Loder. And when they 
 were twenty yards away, he turned to Wilber- 
 force Matthews : "Just you remember that, if you 
 let her catch me alone, I'll wring your infernal 
 neck for vou."
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 GERTRUDE felt as if she could have given one 
 of her ears (pretty as they undoubtedly were) to 
 learn what was the energetic remark made by the 
 Grinding Glacier to Matthews. 
 
 "Something about me, I'll swear," said Ger- 
 trude. "But I don't care." 
 
 Of course she did care, and she knew she 
 cared ; and yet what she said was true. She was 
 defying that portion of herself which said a 
 woman was not to do the courting, or, at any rate, 
 not the pursuit. 
 
 "But the man will be an old bachelor before he 
 knows it," cried she pathetically. "He's so 
 wrapped up in continents and things that he for- 
 gets he won't live as long as Africa." 
 
 And even now Loder had no time to lose un- 
 less he was notoriously immortal. Silver had 
 long ago touched his temples, and if in some 
 lights he looked forty it was probable that he was 
 nearer fifty. She remembered what Emory Hin- 
 ton had said a year ago in Cape Town. 
 
 "If he's ever married it will be by force ; he 
 will be dragged into church by the hair of his
 
 The Colossus 
 
 head. If a woman civilises him, it will be with 
 an imposed civilisation. As a married man he 
 would seem like Lobengula in evening dress." 
 
 "He's a kind of country," said Gertrude. She 
 added to herself, "And I'm the Pioneer who 
 means to stay." 
 
 But it was only in Cairo that Eustace Loder 
 perceived her intentions. If he had been Loben- 
 gula he might have had her throat cut, but as he 
 was Loder, and really scared to death by the 
 younger and more enterprising woman, he only 
 doubled his vigilance, and ordered Wilberforce 
 Matthews to guard him hourly. 
 
 There are some women to whom a particular 
 man is a kind of craze, or even a mental pet, be- 
 fore he becomes a passion. Gertrude began by 
 collecting memories of Loder as she might have 
 collected stamps or photographs. She pleased 
 herself with playing (still in her mind) with this 
 rare and dangerous animal. She was beautiful 
 and had collected lovers, a cabinet of them, but 
 her collection was incomplete till she could insert 
 Loder into his niche. She ended in forgetting 
 everything but the one thing 'wanted. Without 
 the signature of "Gertrude Loder" her collection 
 of autographs was nothing. She ended in want- 
 ing to be collected; Loder was a fixed idea, but 
 she tried to veil her own mind by an affectation 
 13
 
 The Colossus 
 
 of lightness; she was flippant when she really 
 wanted to kneel. 
 
 It is hard for any woman to believe that a man 
 can dread women as a body. For they seem in 
 the abstract so contemptible to her, and, with- 
 out visible proof to the contrary, so extremely 
 undesirable. Gertrude at last considered Loder 
 only really feared herself, and with such a man 
 fear was more akin to love than ever pity could 
 be. Even if he went no further, it was a tri- 
 umph to have alarmed the very Alarmer himself ; 
 she had written something terrible on Belshaz- 
 zar's walls. He clung fearfully to Matthews. 
 
 Her education had been completed on "Castle" 
 and "Union" boats between England and Cape 
 Town. For that matter it had been begun on 
 them too, for her earliest memories smelt of the 
 sea. Yet in spite of twenty-five trips north and 
 south she was not spoilt, and no pretence of af- 
 fectation entirely hid a pleasing primitiveness in 
 her emotions. 
 
 She had a great deal of money, and no relations 
 to speak of. Her friend and chaperon at Cairo 
 was a distant cousin, who had married a wealthy 
 and successful politician at the Cape. Lady 
 Bontine was in Cairo because Gertrude had 
 dragged her there, while Sir George took care of 
 himself and some of Loder's business in London.
 
 The Colossus 
 
 When Loder had disappeared in the distance 
 Gertrude shrugged her shoulders, and went to 
 look for her cousin, for the Chief would be seen 
 no more till dinner-time. Even then it was pos- 
 sible that he might dine in his own rooms. For 
 Romney, the Railway contractor, was expected 
 from Jerusalem, and she knew they had occult 
 and important work on hand. 
 
 "Thank heaven it will be livelier when Sam 
 Romney's here !" said Gertrude. "But I do wish 
 I knew what it is all about." 
 
 She found Lady Bontine in her own balcony. 
 
 "Why, where have you been?" asked her 
 cousin. "You've been roasting your complexion 
 in the sun." 
 
 "So I have," said Gertrude. "I'm extravagant 
 in complexions." 
 
 "And will be bankrupt in them some day," said 
 the elder woman, sighing. "But now we'll have 
 tea." 
 
 "What I want to know is this," cried Gertrude 
 presently : "what are we all here for ?" 
 
 "I'm here because you would come." 
 
 "And I came because " 
 
 "Because Mr. Loder came. I really think, Ger- 
 trude " 
 
 "My dear Tiny, don't think in Cairo. I want 
 to know why the Chief is here. I've a dim shad- 
 15
 
 The Colossus 
 
 owy idea, but I want to know just exactly. Do 
 you know?" 
 
 Tiny shook her head. 
 
 "George has told me a dozen times, if he has 
 told me once, but I get it wrong. For sometimes 
 when he has been talking he will stop and say, 
 'Now, what have I told you?' and I just can't 
 repeat it. And this railway business is as confus- 
 ing as that about going into the garden to cut 
 a cabbage to make an apple pie." 
 
 "I know," laughed Gertrude. " 'And the Job- 
 lillies and the Piccaninnies and the Great Pan- 
 jandrum with the little button on top danced 
 catch-who-catch-can till the gunpowder ran out 
 of their heels." And here we are, Joblillies, Pic- 
 caninnies, and Great Panjandrum too. But 
 what does Eustace Panjandrum want? Come 
 now !" 
 
 Lady Bontine shook her fair and fluffy head. 
 
 "It's something about the railway and the 
 French financiers and the Germans. Mr. Oppen- 
 heimer and Mr. Romney are all in it. And the 
 Egyptians won't, or something; but what it is 
 they won't I don't know. For it's most confus- 
 ing, and worse than chess." 
 
 Gertrude smiled. 
 
 "It does seem confusing. Poor Tiny! I do 
 pity you when George holds up his finger and 
 16
 
 The Colossus 
 
 says, 'Now tell me what I've said.' But I'll ask 
 Romney. I just love Sam." . 
 
 Tiny shook her head. 
 
 "He's the strangest man. And if you think 
 Mr. Romney will open his mouth if he doesn't 
 want to, you don't know him. He can be as close 
 as an oyster." 
 
 "In the close season?" 
 
 Tiny nodded. 
 
 "But what's the good of talking to you ? Have 
 you spoken to Mr. Loder to-day?" 
 
 Gertrude frowned. 
 
 "He spoke to me with Mr. Matthews on one 
 side of him and Mr. Hinton on the other, and 
 I said he was a ghastly grinding glacier." 
 
 "What did you mean?" 
 
 "Him," said Gertrude, "and so he is. But 
 what's he doing here ? I will know, if I have to 
 seduce Mr. Hinton " 
 
 "Gertrude !" remonstrated Tiny. 
 
 "From his duty," went on Gertrude coolly. 
 
 '"What's the use of being a fascinating person if 
 
 I can't find out things? and if Emory Hinton is 
 
 hurt by a ricochet, it's the fault of my target, 
 
 not of my shooting." 
 
 "You are incomprehensible," sighed her cousin, 
 "but I think you should leave Mr. Hinton 
 alone. He's a very nice young fellow, and far 
 2 17
 
 The Colossus 
 
 too much inclined to fall in love with you as 
 it is." 
 
 "You don't say so!" remarked Gertrude ab- 
 sently. "Poor crow!" 
 
 For she was not out after crows in Cairo. 
 
 "And of course it's absurd," went on Tiny. 
 
 "What's absurd? His being too much in- 
 clined?" 
 
 "No. You're encouraging him." 
 
 "I'm not doing it." 
 
 "I only said it would be if you did." 
 
 "It won't be my fault," said Gertrude. 
 
 "No, perhaps not. It's a little too obvious 
 what your intentions are." 
 
 "They are at least strictly honorable," replied 
 Gertrude flippantly, "and you know you've helped 
 me." 
 
 But that was because Tiny Bontine could not 
 help herself when Gertrude pawed the grass. 
 
 "H'm," grunted Gertrude. "Now, supposing 
 you fell in love with a deaf, dumb, and blind man, 
 what would you do?" 
 
 "I would drown myself," said Tiny with sud- 
 den energy. 
 
 "Leaving water on one side," insisted her 
 cousin, "how would you indicate your prefer- 
 ence ? You couldn't do it with a meek and falter- 
 ing voice ; nor by blushes. You couldn't even do 
 18
 
 The Colossus 
 
 it by allowing him to talk. You see, in some 
 cases we are reduced to desperate remedies." 
 
 She paused. 
 
 "But I feel pretty miserable, Tiny." 
 
 "I think we'd better go to Jerusalem. My 
 dear, I don't believe it's any good. And, besides, 
 I really think it's more pique than passion with 
 you." 
 
 Gertrude sat up straight. 
 
 "I never thought you could be so nasty and 
 unsympathetic!" she cried. If I don't marry 
 Eustace Loder I'll never marry any one else." 
 
 "You're young," said Tiny. 
 
 "I'm twenty-six." 
 
 Tiny sighed again. 
 
 "And I am thirty-seven to-day, Gertrude." 
 
 So Gertrude bent and kissed her. 
 
 "We are twins, and I'm the oldest and the 
 wisest. And when George comes I'll get him to 
 tell me what the Big Intrigue is, and I'll teach it 
 you and you can tell it him again." 
 
 She leant over the balcony. 
 
 "That jackal Matthews is loose. That means 
 the Chief is lying down. I just hate Matthews. 
 He's a crawling chameleon, and takes just what- 
 ever color the Panjandrum is. If he and Hinton 
 were to quarrel, and Emory were to punch 
 Matthews' head, I would drop a few crumbs of 
 19
 
 The Colossus 
 
 compassion in his way. I don't want Matthews 
 to see me ; when he says 'My dear Miss Brough- 
 ton* I could slay him." 
 
 She lay back in her chair and stared into the 
 great Nile flood. But between the balcony pillars 
 she could see the wandering Matthews, who 
 looked lost without his master. 
 
 "I wish I knew whether Mr. Loder had spoken 
 to him about me," thought Gertrude. "If he 
 hasn't I could be civil to him." 
 
 The lost dog went out of sight, and presently 
 Emory Hinton came down the alley of palms and, 
 jumping on the balustrade against the river, sat 
 down with his legs dangling. He lighted a cigar- 
 ette and did not look round. 
 
 "But he knows I'm here," said Gertrude; "I 
 can see it in his back." 
 
 She patted Tiny on the head and went away. 
 Five minutes later she emerged from the same 
 lane of palms, and came behind Emory Hinton. 
 
 "Good-afternoon, Mr. Hinton." 
 
 "Oh, good-afternoon, Miss Broughton!" 
 
 He swung his legs round and lighted on the 
 path. 
 
 "I've spoilt your meditation time," said Ger- 
 trude. 
 
 "I'd much rather talk to you," cried Hinton. 
 "My thoughts are not so pleasant."
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Gertrude nodded hastily. 
 
 "No one's always are. But you have such com- 
 plex business to think about. How are things 
 going, Mr. Hinton?" 
 
 "They just move. Or we think so," said the 
 Secretary. But his eyes showed he was not think- 
 ing of railways. 
 
 "I wish you would explain to me again what it 
 is all about !" 
 
 Hinton opened his eyes this time. 
 
 "Did I ever do it? I don't remember." 
 
 "How very rude of you!" said Gertrude. 
 "How dare you contradict me? Why, we had a 
 most interesting conversation in London, when 
 you told me about the French financiers and Mr. 
 Oppenheimer and Sam Romney. But I got 
 mixed. Now I want you to tell me in a few brief 
 but well-chosen words, so to speak, what it is all 
 about." 
 
 Emory smoked his cigarette for a long half- 
 minute. 
 
 "And we'll sit down here while you do it," 
 cried Gertrude. 
 
 So Hinton sat down. 
 
 "Well, after all," he said to himself, "I don't 
 see why not to some extent, anyhow." He 
 threw his cigarette away. "What a beautiful 
 rose you are wearing, Miss Broughton!" 
 
 21
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Isn't it?" said Gertrude. She took it out of 
 her bosom and held it in the hand nearest the 
 Secretary. "Now begin !" 
 
 "It's railways, of course," said Hinton. 
 
 "Naturally. He never thinks about anything 
 but rails. To put down or pull up." 
 
 "And it's Finance." 
 
 "That's the snow at the back of the Grinding 
 Glacier," said Gertrude, who had been in Switzer- 
 land, and there flirted with some scores of men 
 who wore goggles and heavy boots and explained 
 mountains familiarly. 
 
 "And international politics." 
 
 "Which always remind one of a block at the 
 Mansion House," said Gertrude. "And Mr. 
 Loder drives a railway van and yells to the Duke 
 of Enfield in the English lorry to hurry up." 
 
 Hinton laughed. 
 
 "You're very clever." 
 
 "Too clever by half," said the flippant Ger- 
 trude. "I wish I was quite a fool instead of half 
 one. But don't let me interrupt you. Tell me all 
 about it. For you are cleverer than I am because 
 you can pretend not to be. And I just say things 
 and chance their being good. But do go on." 
 
 "Well," said Hinton, "If I don't interrupt you 
 I'll go on. Mr. Loder looks ahead." 
 
 "And doesn't see what's under his nose." 
 
 22
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Hinton shook his head. 
 
 "Don't make any mistake. The Chief doesn't 
 see what he doesn't want to see." And he won- 
 dered why a cloud passed over his companion's 
 face. "And looking ahead he sees a line of rail- 
 way from here to Cape Town. But to make it 
 is to build for the future. And to build for the 
 future is to lock up money, and to lock up money 
 which may be made to breed in other ways, is 
 what the men of Finance don't like, and the 
 scheme must have the big ones. For little ones 
 want interest sooner even than the big ones. So 
 some one has to guarantee interest even after the 
 big capital is collected. You follow that?" 
 
 "Like ABC. You put it so clearly." 
 
 "But England is a visitor in Egypt. If she 
 were to annex it English capital would come in. 
 But she won't, because she doesn't want to at 
 present. The Duke is in the block yet, and hasn't 
 a clear road before him. We can't wait till An- 
 nexation Day, because Loder wants to do it now. 
 So we must get capital where we can. The 
 French Houses represented by that Cazoule will 
 come in on terms. But then their terms would 
 keep the Germans out, and without the Germans 
 we can't proceed at present, anyhow. There's a 
 deadlock just now, a block in Bulak Street, to 
 take your admirable simile. You know the 
 23
 
 The Colossus 
 
 French influence at the Khedivial Court. We 
 can't so far move the Egyptians to be nice and 
 pliant, and unless we annex or protect we can't 
 bend them by force. Protection means having 
 the power to treat them as we choose. It's almost 
 like marriage. I understand a man may beat his 
 wife, but not his hostess. And Madame Egypt 
 is our hostess, who is continually suggesting we 
 should go home. So now do you understand?" 
 
 He lighted another cigarette. 
 
 "Pretty well," said Gertrude rather doubtfully. 
 "But now we've got the Soudan back and sent the 
 French away, I don't see why we can't go ahead 
 and tell them all to lump it." 
 
 "Where's the money?" asked Hinton dryly. 
 "At the rate of so many thousand pounds per 
 mile and so many thousand miles, to say nothing 
 of the leakage, the bill is big, and -we can't pay it. 
 To whom does it belong when it's built? And 
 how are we to get the right-of-way where we 
 have none, if we say we will do it off our own 
 bat? We just have to reconcile the French and 
 German interests in some way." 
 
 "Could you bluff them?" 
 
 Hinton smiled, and almost winked. He looked 
 affectionately in the direction of the Chief's room. 
 
 "What our side doesn't know about bluffing is 
 not to be learnt. But we have to drive the Eng- 
 24
 
 The Colossus 
 
 lish, the Egyptian, the German, and the French- 
 man, and they are a ticklish team. And be- 
 sides " 
 
 He stopped. 
 
 "And besides?" urged Gertrude. 
 
 "And besides oh, nothing," said Hinton. 
 
 Gertrude smelt the flower, and held it to his 
 nose. 
 
 "And besides?" said she once more. 
 
 "And besides, there's Romney." 
 
 ' T Romney! Why, he's one of you." 
 
 Emory Hinton nodded. 
 
 "But he has notions of his own and a backbone, 
 and though he's all right with the Chief, he 
 doesn't absolutely fall flat when Mr. Loder's 
 name is mentioned, any more than Bontine does ; 
 and they are almost the only two who don't on 
 our side. The Chief's got 'em all hypnotised but 
 these two. And a good deal depends on Romney ; 
 he could make things easier, I think." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "I don't quite know how," said Hinton hastily. 
 "When he comes, ask him. You are a great fa- 
 vorite of the big fair devil's, are you not?" 
 
 "I think I am," said Gertrude. 
 
 "But don't mention me. Though there's noth- 
 ing in all this that is not known by everybody in 
 politics here, it's never well to say even what the 
 35
 
 The Colossus 
 
 others know. So it's in confidence." He was 
 rather fond of Gertrude, but not so much a victim 
 as to have lost a certain rather boyish coolness. 
 "My rose, please," he said, as he took it. 
 
 "You are an impudent lad," cried Gertrude, 
 laughing. 
 
 "I'm a deal older than you, Miss Broughton." 
 
 He put the rose in his coat. 
 
 "Yes, I'm very young, Mr. Hinton." 
 
 Hinton looked over her head at some one com- 
 ing their way. 
 
 "By the holy poker, here's Romney !" he cried.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 ROMNEY had come straight from Jerusalem. 
 It is true that his business there was connected 
 with a railway to Damascus, and a possible ex- 
 tension to Tadmor, but it is doubtful whether he 
 would have gone to Syria for business alone. He 
 combined it with pleasure, and pleasure with re- 
 ligion. He was an ardent Christian. He was 
 an ardent Catholic the more fervent that he had 
 not always been one. What added to his fervor 
 at times was the appalling ease with which he 
 lapsed from every grace but faith. But he was a 
 source of humor even to his Confessors, and was 
 never without an element of surprise to the most 
 experienced of them. 
 
 His heavenly passion was the Church ; his men- 
 tal passion the study of the Angelical Doctor in 
 Latin ; his earthly passion the construction of 
 Railways and Bridges, and the making of Con- 
 tracts ahead of present work. 
 
 To see Romney at the table was a revelation : 
 
 he rolled like a buoy in a tideway, and roared for 
 
 the menu. A meal for him was a week's food for 
 
 many. But he gave an appetite to all within eye- 
 
 27
 
 The Colossus 
 
 shot. He was so miraculously well, so childlike, 
 so pleasant, so tremendous. Even a dyspeptic 
 plucked up courage in his company, and ap- 
 peared to eat vicariously. To eat was the whole 
 duty of man. He threw himself into the matter 
 of dining as he did into the fulfilment of Con- 
 tracts. 
 
 And after eating he usually read something 
 anything religious. It was grace after meat. 
 
 His recreations were a frequent source of 
 trouble in hotels. He hankered after music, and 
 was sometimes smitten with the belief that mel- 
 ody could be extracted from any instrument by 
 perseverance alone. He blew a trumpet till his 
 face was like the westering sun in a fog ; he tried 
 the bugle as though at last this hour was the ac- 
 cepted time. He blew at a fresh instrument with 
 the round cheeks of a gigantic cherub. Unlike 
 the cherub, however, "il avait de quoi de s'as- 
 seoir." He was gigantic, rotund, humorous, lov- 
 able. His laugh was a fresh gale of wind; his 
 chuckle most infectious as infectious as his 
 energy. He sometimes wondered why he did not 
 now stay at home in England and really enjoy 
 himself. This lament raised in his casual ac- 
 quaintances fevered speculations as to what form 
 his real enjoyment would take. 
 
 He came swinging down the palm avenue now 
 28
 
 The Colossus 
 
 like a heavy barge in an eight-knot ebb, and 
 roared greetings to Hinton. 
 
 "Well, my boy, how are you ? Glad to see you 
 and you, Miss Broughton. Well, I say, now 
 where's Loder ? I saw his puppy-dog, Matthews, 
 without his string." 
 
 "The Chief is lying down," said Hinton, laugh- 
 ing. "But you can see him at dinner. Are you 
 hungry ?" 
 
 Romney shook hands with them, and sat down 
 on the marble buttress of the balustrade. 
 
 "None of your chaff, Hinton. You know I'm 
 always hungry, and at Jerusalem I caused a fam- 
 ine. I harried Syria." 
 
 "Yea, even unto Damascus," cried Miss 
 Broughton ; "but I hope you feel better for hav- 
 ing been to Jerusalem." 
 
 Romney nodded, but did not follow her lead. 
 He looked on her as a scoffer, and suspected her 
 of atheism, although he liked her. 
 
 "Has Bontine come yet?" he asked. 
 
 "We are not at all sure he will come," replied 
 Hinton. "He seems pretty busy with Berwick 
 in England." 
 
 Romney shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "It seems a waste to have the two Persuaders, 
 as you call 'em, Emory, in the same place. But 
 that's Loder's lookout, not mine." 
 29
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "I'm not sure Berwick of the silver tongue 
 won't come out with Bontine," said Emory. "We 
 may want some one here who is so transparently 
 simple and straightforward." 
 
 Romney rippled all over, and then roared. His 
 chuckle was a rapid, his laugh the Falls of the 
 Zambesi. 
 
 "Oh, Berwick is so, so simple," said he as he 
 wiped his eyes. "But he's a ripping good chap. 
 You might turn him on to this Cazoule, who is 
 another sweetly simple dear." 
 
 Gertrude Broughton tapped her foot on the 
 ground. 
 
 "I do wish I knew what you men were talking 
 about," she cried with pretended pettishness. 
 "But perhaps you'll tell me, Mr. Romney. I 
 can't get anything out of Mr. Hinton. He threw 
 out dark hints, and that's all. Will you enlighten 
 me?" 
 
 "To be sure I will, some day," said Romney 
 with a wink at Emory. "Bless you, it's a simple 
 situation. But why don't you ask Loder?" 
 
 Gertrude's eyes flashed. 
 
 "It's time to dress for dinner," she said, as she 
 rose. "And till then " 
 
 "We are your devoted servants," said Romney. 
 
 "Quite so," cried Gertrude. "At dinner you 
 forget every one." 
 
 30
 
 The Colossus 
 
 When she was out of earshot Romney clapped 
 Hinton on the shoulder. 
 
 "Does she make any headway with him?" 
 
 Emory grunted. 
 
 "No," he said shortly. 
 
 "Well, I like Gertrude Broughton," cried the 
 Contractor, "but if she corralled your dear and 
 precious Chief it would be biting off more than 
 she could chew. And now, how are things go- 
 ing?" He turned quite serious. 
 
 "We're making deuced little headway, and 
 that's the sober truth," said Hinton. 
 
 "Is Cazoule still as obstinate?" 
 
 "Against Oppenheimer ?" 
 
 Romney nodded. 
 
 "Just as obstinate. Isn't it rather a pity that 
 he must stay in ?" 
 
 Romney looked like a thunder-cloud. 
 
 "My good faith is concerned with him, and 
 sooner than go back on him I'd have the Nile 
 turned into the Red Sea. Did Loder put you up 
 to sound me again?" 
 
 "The Chief hasn't mentioned the matter since 
 you had it out with him last time. But even I 
 can see that the whole affair may fall through 
 unless you and Oppenheimer give way a little." 
 
 Romney got up. 
 
 "A little, a little! You know very well that it
 
 The Colossus 
 
 is more than a little! Oppenheimer would have 
 to go out. And he shan't!" 
 
 Emory Hinton laughed. 
 
 "Then that settles it. For heaven's sake don't 
 tell the Chief I said anything to you about it. 
 For he would make my life a burden to me for 
 days. And his preference, as you know, is for 
 Cazoule to have to give way." 
 
 "And how do things go at home? Will the 
 Duke stir at all?" 
 
 "Devil a stir," said Hinton. "And that's the 
 first bell." 
 
 They walked to the hotel together, and the 
 first of the party down to dinner was Romney. 
 And Loder was last. 
 
 "The Grinding Glacier's in a grinding mood," 
 said Gertrude as she sat down next Hinton. On 
 Emory's right was the Chief. Romney occu- 
 pied the opposite end of the table. The Chief 
 and the Contractor shook hands. 
 
 "Glad to see you back," said Loder in a pecu- 
 liarly abstracted way. It was as if he shook 
 hands with an incarnation of contracts rather 
 than with a living man. 
 
 "Glad to be back myself," said Romney, div- 
 ing for soup. "I really wonder I don't stay in 
 England and have a good time." 
 
 "But you must make railways, Mr. Romney," 
 32
 
 The Colossus 
 
 cried Tiny Bontine. "We all know you can't be 
 happy without railways." 
 
 Romney recovered from the slight chill cast 
 over him by Loder's most infernal impassivity. 
 He laughed like a boy. 
 
 "Plenty to make, my dear Lady Bontine. 
 Bless me! we haven't begun yet." 
 
 "That's the truth," said Loder with a grunt; 
 "and the way we are going it will be a long time 
 till we do." 
 
 Romney, as the temporary obstacle, felt rather 
 uncomfortable, and Hinton chipped into the talk. 
 
 "Have you heard from Sir George?" he asked 
 Lady Bontine. 
 
 "Yes, but he can't get away yet, he says." 
 
 "Might just as well stay where he is," sug- 
 gested Loder gloomily. 
 
 "Oh, Mr. Loder, how can you say so?" asked 
 Gertrude. "When his wife wants him his place 
 is here." 
 
 "You very young people do invert things now- 
 adays," said the Chief as he scanned the wine list 
 and picked his favorite Montrachet. 
 
 Gertrude flushed a little. 
 
 "Serves her right," said Wilberforce Mat- 
 thews to himself. "It just serves her right." 
 
 But the Chief did not mean what the dog 
 thought, and did not see for a moment what 
 
 3 33
 
 The Colossus 
 
 he had said. When he did see he laughed a lit- 
 tle nervously. The sound was curiously high- 
 pitched. 
 
 "All things alter nowadays," he added. "Gib- 
 bon took years to write his history. But they 
 turn out great works now before the blood is 
 dry on a battlefield." 
 
 "We live faster, sir," said Hinton cheerfully. 
 "And want to go faster. We have to live up 
 to railways." 
 
 "Loder shouldn't growl at the fast pace," cried 
 Romney. "Didn't he call the music in South 
 Africa? An old Conservative like him to do a 
 hundred years' work in ten! But it's always a 
 Conservative who does the work." 
 
 "I was reading something in Mark Twain 
 to-day," cried Gertrude to show the good re- 
 covery she had made, "and I came across a 
 character who reminded me of you, Mr. Loder." 
 
 The Chief accentuated a certain courtesy 
 which sat on him well when he chose. 
 
 "Please let me hear about it, Miss Brough- 
 ton." 
 
 "He was a perfectly adorable ruffian called 
 Buck Fanshawe. A friend of his said, 'He just 
 loved peace. Why, last election when a row was 
 going to start, Buck lighted into the crowd with 
 a steel spanner in one hand and a brass trumpet 
 34
 
 The Colossus 
 
 in the other, and sent eleven men home on shut- 
 ters in a minute and three-quarters. He broke 
 up that riot before it had time to begin. Oh, 
 he would have peace !' " 
 
 Every one laughed, and the Chief led it. This 
 time he laughed from his head to his heels, a 
 good honest chuckle. 
 
 "Well," said Romney slyly with a shake of his 
 head, "we've known Loder to come into an elec- 
 tion pretty much the same way, with a British 
 trumpet in one hand and a cast-iron Redistribu- 
 tion Bill in the other." 
 
 "For heaven's sake, Miss Broughton, don't 
 get trumpets brought to the front," said Hinton, 
 "or we may find it difficult to sleep to-night. I 
 have awful visions of Mr. Romney playing out- 
 side our doors, while the Manager and twenty 
 waiters try to stop the riot in vain." 
 
 He gave Loder time to recover from Rom- 
 ney's quiet dig. For the time that the Contrac- 
 tor alluded to had not been quite so successful 
 for Loder as it might have been. 
 
 "We can't all be Buck Fanshawes," said the 
 Chief dryly. "But a man isn't always beaten 
 when he looks like it. There are people in the 
 Transvaal who could tell you that. Or in Berlin 
 either." 
 
 He dropped into a sudden fit of abstraction, 
 35
 
 The Colossus 
 
 / 
 
 during which time he drank Montrachet as if it 
 were the commonest Sauterne. 
 
 "The Chief is lost," whispered Hinton to Ger- 
 trude. 
 
 "Gone under in a flood," she nodded. And 
 they talked without him. 
 
 He was deep in the intrigue and could not 
 come out. Not once did he get his head up dur- 
 ing the remainder of dinner. How to get rid 
 of Oppenheimer to whom this impolitic Romney 
 clung with such pathetic faith, or how to ram 
 Oppenheimer down the reluctant throat of Ca- 
 zoule ? How, in fine, to play the Franco-Prussian 
 War over again and get the benefits out of it? 
 It was a tough task. 
 
 "I should like to have a talk with you in my 
 rooms, Romney," he said as he rose from the 
 table. 
 
 "In half an hour," nodded Romney. 
 
 And during that half-hour he read a little in 
 Newman's "Apologia," smoked a cigar and drank 
 a long whiskey-and-soda. 
 
 "Now," he said as he rose, "I know he'll be 
 at me again about Ludwig Oppenheimer. I've 
 just half a mind to send word to him that if 
 that is what he wants I won't come." 
 
 But Romney only had half the mind to do it, 
 and could not find the other half. Though 
 36
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Eustace Loder had not entirely fascinated this 
 railroad bird as he sat on his bough, Romney 
 was partly dominated by the bigger man when 
 they were at close quarters. Always provided, 
 however, that Loder did not assume his chair- 
 man manner at a meeting of directors. That 
 manner was known to be slightly dictatorial. 
 "Do as I say, or I'll wring your infernal necks." 
 He treated them as he treated Wilberforce Mat- 
 thews when things went wrong. 
 
 "Just you remember I'm not one of your di- 
 rectors, Mr. Loder." 
 
 Romney said that once. And Loder did re- 
 member. It did him good to be opposed at 
 times. Report had it that his manner had been 
 vastly improved since his last great political dis- 
 aster. For the man who has never had a thrash- 
 ing is usually an impossible companion. 
 
 Sam Romney found the Chief stretched in a 
 vast cane chair by the open windows looking on 
 the garden. There was another chair drawn up 
 for the builder of railways. 
 
 "So you want to see me," said Romney. 
 
 "What will you drink?" asked the Chief, who 
 was smoking a long black cigar. 
 
 "I'll have some coffee," said Romney. 
 
 "Grumph," said Loder. "And how did you 
 get on at Jerusalem?" 
 
 37
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "I went round again and stirred some of them. 
 I got the Tadmor concession." 
 
 "It's a kind of tramline," said Loder, with a 
 smile. The smile grew, and presently he rum- 
 bled with laughter. 
 
 "Well?" asked Romney. 
 
 "Really, Romney, for you to go round picking 
 up these small things seems out of character. A 
 big man should take big things only." 
 
 Sam Romney slapped his breast pocket. 
 
 "I've got 'em, Loder. But you have to start. 
 Can't I build a Tadmor and Damascus tram to 
 keep my hand in while you are getting ready?" 
 
 The smile died out of Loder's face ; he looked 
 away from Romney and through the windows. 
 He became cold and quiet; his jaw set a little; 
 the muscles in his heavy jowl altered the lines of 
 his under jaw and throat. He locked his ringers. 
 
 "You've got the contracts to do the work," he 
 said presently in rather an abstracted way, "and 
 if there's any man I'd like to put the road 
 through, it's you. You've got guts and go and 
 energy, and, good lord ! the sapless, pithless beg- 
 gars one has to put up with for fools at times. 
 Even the best of 'em hanker to go away and eat 
 lotus. I've made 'em, and yet if some weren't 
 ashamed to leave me, they would be painting 
 Paris red instead of helping me. But though 
 38
 
 The Colossus 
 
 you think you want to go home, you don't want ; 
 you want to build railways, and I want 'em 
 done. Well, there's a block, a block, Samuel 
 Romney, and we'll all be piled up in the sluit if 
 it's not broken." 
 
 Romney said nothing. For he knew what was 
 coming. The Chief glanced at his rubicund 
 companion. 
 
 "If we don't get through this time, you may 
 tear up your contracts, Romney." 
 
 The Contractor smiled. 
 
 "You will get through," he said coolly. 
 
 "But you are not helping," said Loder. "I 
 can carry you over the drift, but if you have 
 Oppenheimer on your back we shall get spilt." 
 
 "I can't get rid of Oppenheimer." 
 
 Loder shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "You can, but you won't, Romney." 
 
 "Then I won't," said Romney, "but even if I 
 would, you know I can't take on the job with- 
 out more backing than my own check-book." 
 
 "I can find you backing. And this is a matter 
 of politics. My dear Romney, this can't be 
 made a matter of private liking and religious 
 sympathy and that kind of thing. If you knew 
 nothing of Ludwig Oppenheimer you would 
 throw him over fast enough." 
 
 "But I do know him, and I'll stick to him," 
 39
 
 The Colossus 
 
 said Romney. "We've been partners for years, 
 and he stuck to me when I went broke. Now 
 he shall have a cut in, or I'll know why he 
 doesn't. What's the objection, after all?" 
 
 "I can manage to do without the Germans, 
 but, as it stands, not without the French," said 
 Loder. "And, besides, I think Cazoule has his 
 own reasons for hating Oppenheimer." 
 
 Romney laughed. 
 
 "He may have, but he'll have to swallow him. 
 You will make him do it." 
 
 "You don't know how everything stands," 
 growled Loder, "and you don't know what it is 
 to have an English Foreign Office to drag after 
 you, and you don't even know why we haven't a 
 Protectorate here, and if I were to spend the 
 night explaining it, you would say in the morn- 
 ing what you say now." 
 
 Romney got up and leant against the window- 
 frame. 
 
 "Some of us," he replied, "have greater faith 
 in you, even though we won't do exactly what 
 you want, than you appear to desire us to have. 
 And this political side is your work and Bullen's 
 and Enfield's. My work is to build railways, and 
 do 'em well, and to keep faith with my partner." 
 He got a little excited. "Why, what a scoundrel 
 I'd be if I threw him over! I'd rather use the 
 40
 
 The Colossus 
 
 pick and shovel. Tell me anything else, and I'll 
 do it." 
 
 Loder felt as if he could explode. But he 
 often felt that way, and did not do it. And 
 when he attempted to move Romney he knew 
 it was a forlorn hope. For on this point the 
 big contractor was a simple obstinate child. 
 
 "By God!" said Loder, "I wish you felt tow- 
 ard me as you do toward Oppenheimer." 
 
 And that was the most persuasive thing he 
 said that night. He knew it. 
 
 But he had to carry Oppenheimer through the 
 drift.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 IT was characteristic of Loder that after his 
 failure with Romney of the obstinate principles, 
 for a day or two he was in a peculiar lethargy. 
 Perhaps the annoyance touched up his liver. 
 At any rate, for forty-eight hours he shrank into 
 himself, and sat on the veranda with his head be- 
 tween his shoulders. One day he even missed 
 his morning ride. He looked at Gertrude with 
 such a want of speculation in his eye that her 
 "Good-morning" died upon her lips. She found 
 Hinton, and screwed out of him that Romney 
 and the Chief were not entirely at one upon a 
 certain subject. 
 
 "Is it about Mr. Romney's German partner?" 
 asked Gertrude, spurred by a sudden intuition. 
 
 And Hinton nodded. 
 
 "To some extent." 
 
 She asked searching questions, and Hinton 
 would not answer. 
 
 "Well, I shall find out," she declared, "and I 
 shan't like you any more. If I were to talk with 
 Mr. Matthews " 
 
 "He doesn't like you," cried Emory. "And 
 42
 
 The Colossus 
 
 he's such a conceited little beast. He thinks he's 
 just the Grand-Duke of Mackackiack because he 
 does a little journalism." 
 
 "The Grand-Duke of what?" asked Gertrude, 
 with much interest. 
 
 "It's a sailor's word," answered Hinton; "I 
 picked it up from my cousin. It's their way of 
 saying a man has swelled head. When he talks 
 of Loder he's just as likely as not to say 'We/ " 
 
 "Poor little dear!" cried Gertrude. "I don't 
 mind telling you in confidence that I loathe him." 
 
 And round the corner she found the man she 
 loathed. He was sitting scribbling on a re- 
 porter's pad. 
 
 "My dear Mr. Matthews, you are always writ- 
 ing. But I suppose it has to be done." 
 
 "Yes, it's important," cried Matthews, swell- 
 ing visibly. "We are obliged to give the English 
 papers something to go on with. It stirs them 
 up." 
 
 "And then the people stir up the Grand-Duke 
 of Mackackiack," said Gertrude. 
 
 "Who's he?" asked the important journalist 
 and watch-dog with intense surprise. 
 
 "I mean the Duke of Enfield, of course. 
 Mackackiack is something in a foreign language, 
 and means having swelled head; and there's 
 nothing more detestable." 
 43
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Nothing," affirmed Wilberforce. "Hinton's 
 got it. He's only Loder's secretary, but I believe 
 him capable of saying 'We' when he refers to the 
 Chief." 
 
 Gertrude nodded. 
 
 "Do you really think he would go so far?" 
 
 "I don't doubt it," cried Matthews fervently. 
 
 "It is sad, isn't it? But, Mr. Matthews, what 
 I want specially to know now and as I really 
 daren't ask the Chief, and as I wouldn't think of 
 asking Mr. Hinton, I must ask you is, who it is 
 exactly that is stopping the way in the business 
 you (and Mr. Loder) are now conducting?" 
 
 Matthews opened his mouth and shut it again, 
 and once more opened it. 
 
 "But you don't know what the business is?" 
 he asked suspiciously. 
 
 "Not in the least ; but I do know there's some 
 business, and I know some one is the obstacle. 
 Now, who is the obstacle? Do tell me." 
 
 Wilberforce considered the question for some 
 half-minute. 
 
 "She doesn't know anything about it, so it 
 doesn't matter," he thought. "And I'm glad to 
 see she's not been taken in by that damned insinu- 
 ating Hinton. Well, Miss Broughton, at present 
 the obstacle is Zohrab Bey. But mind you don't 
 repeat this." 
 
 44
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "I won't," said Gertrude ; "but it's interesting. 
 I've seen him twice, and once talked with him. 
 Suppose you send me as your ambassador. You 
 have no idea how I can persuade people." 
 
 And he hadn't. Yet he earnestly advised her 
 to leave Zohrab Bey alone. 
 
 "I don't consider him a man that that you, 
 for instance, should have anything to do with. 
 His character is not, for instance, what one could 
 recommend." 
 
 "Ah, I see," said Gertrude gravely. And hav- 
 ing thanked him, she marched off to Lady Bon- 
 tine's rooms. 
 
 "Loder's as cross as two sticks, as a pair of 
 scissors, and he looked at me with a chilly eye 
 which covered me with mental hoar-frost," de- 
 clared Gertrude, sitting down at the table at 
 which Tiny was mending some lace. 
 
 "What's the matter with him ?" 
 
 Gertrude grunted in a most unladylike manner. 
 
 "It's the fell deed of Gargantua." 
 
 "Who's he? I never heard of him," asked 
 Tiny, holding her lace to the light. "Don't you 
 think this lace, Gertrude " 
 
 "Gargantua was a creation of Rabelais." 
 
 "And who was Rabelais?" murmured Tiny 
 mechanically. 
 
 "He was the man who created Gargantua," 
 
 45
 
 The Colossus 
 
 replied Gertrude, and then added hastily: "And 
 I call Romney Gargantua or Rabelais, because 
 he's huge and funny, and eats herds of steaks 
 and chops, and laughs like a humorous elephant. 
 But now I hate him, because he's worried Eus- 
 tace Loder." 
 
 Tiny dropped her lace. 
 
 "I can't understand your infatuation, Ger- 
 trude," she sighed. "And, besides, you've let 
 every one see it." 
 
 Gertrude flushed a little. 
 
 "Well, it's not like just an ordinary woman 
 wanting to marry an ordinary man. No one 
 can say I want to marry him just for the sake of 
 being married. To marry Loder is an ambition, 
 and it's my ambition." 
 
 "But surely you like him, Gertrude?" 
 
 "I'm not sure I do," said Gertrude, "and some- 
 times I don't I know that. Just now I hated 
 him. And I can't get a word alone with him 
 never a word." 
 
 Tiny looked at her for a minute, and half 
 opened her lips. 
 
 "You needn't tell me," said Gertrude irritably. 
 
 For both knew that the reason she got no 
 chance of talk with Mr. Loder was Loder's or- 
 ders that she was to be given no chance. 
 
 Tiny took up her lace again. 
 46
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Well, my dear, I know you sometimes think 
 I'm just a fool, but Mr. Loder has no notion of 
 being fond of any one. He's fond of animals. If 
 one could imagine the veldt being alive and con- 
 scious, it might feel for a Koodoo as Eustace 
 Loder does. And he uses human beings for his 
 own purposes, and he never gets any further in 
 affection for any of them than a hunter gets for 
 a gun, or a man for a golf-club which suits him 
 and doesn't break. Any one who does anything 
 for him and does it well comes in that way. But 
 though he'll take fancies about men whom he im- 
 agines may turn out useful, he doesn't have 
 fancies like that about women. He's too busy, 
 and, besides, in the things that interest him we 
 are mostly fools." 
 
 "Well," said Gertrude half sullenly, "I shall 
 have to do something for him. For I know you 
 are right. And I never thought you a fool. You 
 just sit and look pathetic and talk lace and frills, 
 but you're really a blue-eyed wise thing, and cut 
 them all up while you crochet." 
 
 "George tells me a lot," said Tiny. "And some- 
 times when he's trying to think out Mr. Loder, 
 he says he feels like a man who is trying to open 
 a safe with a toothpick." 
 
 "And George is clever as they are made," 
 groaned Gertrude. 
 
 47
 
 The Colossus 
 
 George's wife looked up. 
 
 "And he's always kind and gentle, too," she 
 murmured, "and never like " 
 
 "Like a ghastly glacier," said Gertrude, "or 
 like Browning's description of an iceberg 
 
 " 'Swimming full upon the ship it founders, 
 Hungry with huge teeth of splintered crystal ;' 
 
 or if not a ship, the Transvaal, or France, or 
 Egypt." 
 
 "My dear," said Tiny, "he does his work." 
 
 Gertrude kissed her. 
 
 "Darling, don't I know it? And when George 
 comes I want you to ask him how it is that Zoh- 
 rab Bey is the pivot on which the intrigue turns." 
 
 "Zohrab!" mused Tiny. "Well, just remind 
 me, and I will, if George says I can." 
 
 "My darling, 'ditto to George,' how I love you ! 
 But if there were more originality and less 'ditto- 
 ness,' so to speak it, about women, Mr. Loder 
 wouldn't be such an Aconcagua to climb." 
 
 And then having reached a point of mental 
 fatigue which needed relaxation, she talked lace 
 with Tiny till lunch-time. At that meal Mr. 
 Loder absolutely never opened his mouth except 
 to put something in it. Though his liver was all 
 right again, he had an interview on with the alien 
 and superimposed ruler of Egypt, the English 
 48
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Centurion of honorary rank who said to People 
 in the Highest Places, "Do this or that!" And 
 the world remarked with some wonder that "this" 
 or "that" was mostly done in the end if not at 
 once. 
 
 Romney, of whom the Chief was temporarily 
 oblivious, was the only really living thing at the 
 table. He talked and joked and laughed like 
 subterranean thunder, and no one beholding him 
 failed to like him. After lunch Mr. Loder left 
 him entertaining the ladies under the veranda, 
 and drove into Cairo by himself. 
 
 There are two ways of thinking, each charac- 
 teristic of two classes of intellect. One class di- 
 rect their minds ; the other let their minds direct 
 them. Eustace Loder belonged to the latter or- 
 der; he allowed his mind to work out its prob- 
 lems, and in the hours of his closest-looking 
 thinking, if one could have followed his brain 
 working, no man but would have been astounded 
 at the apparent yeasty chaos, which yet led to 
 such prompt speech and action when speech or 
 action was needed. He had learnt to trust him- 
 self, and though this trust leads not infrequently 
 to disaster when it becomes overweening, so far 
 Eustace Loder had not exceeded the mandate of 
 those tendencies which found their outlet in him. 
 That his thought was chaotic and uncrystallised 
 4 49
 
 The Colossus 
 
 made him the half-unconscious representative of 
 a plastic uncrystallised race. If he ever failed 
 greatly, it would be because he had not changed 
 with a changing environment of the time. The 
 big individual is the race in miniature, but the in- 
 dividual's life is proportionately short; old age, 
 which is rigidity, takes him out of the still un- 
 changed youth of the race he essays to lead. In 
 settled fixed societies old men may yet rule ; but 
 when social organisms become fluent young men 
 rise to the top. 
 
 Eustace Loder had considered such problems a 
 thousand times, but had come to no such definite 
 conclusion. That he rarely came to definite con- 
 clusions was his safeguard. The situation in 
 which he now found himself was more than suffi- 
 ciently complex, but, unlike most men, he by no 
 means settled how the solution was to be found. 
 The more tangled the problem, the less wise was 
 it to insist that "here" or "there" lay the proper 
 path in the maze. He was an opportunist, and 
 when he ceased to be one, through pressure ex- 
 erted on him by his more definite thinking allies, 
 he came nearest to failure. But a safe instinct 
 led him to use younger men than himself. 
 
 He found Sir Ellis Bullen at his office. Bnl- 
 len was a keen and polished diplomatist, but could 
 be as brutal as was necessary at times in the curi- 
 50
 
 The Colossus 
 
 ously anomalous position which he occupied. He 
 was a regal Man in Possession. An adequate 
 epitaph for him would have been, "He stood no 
 nonsense," in three languages English, French 
 and Arabic. There were few motives of Loder's 
 with which he was not in sympathy. But his 
 duty sometimes compelled him to refuse open 
 backing. He held an official position, while 
 Loder was the Free Lance of Empire. 
 
 To all conversations there are introductions of 
 varying kinds. After shaking hands, Loder sat 
 down and chewed the end of a yet unlighted 
 cigar. Bullen handed him some matches, and 
 Loder struck one. He allowed it to go out, and 
 grunted something which sounded like "damn." 
 At last he got a light. 
 
 "So I've come back, Bullen." 
 
 There was for an instant a curious childlike- 
 ness about him. It was as though the Cock of 
 the School found himself compelled to bring a 
 problem in Conic Sections to the latest mathe- 
 matical master who was not much older than 
 himself. 
 
 "Then you can't get Oppenheimer out ?" asked 
 Bullen. 
 
 Loder shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "It's that Romney damned pity I let him have 
 the contracts ! He's heavy to handle, and set on
 
 The Colossus 
 
 his partner," he growled. "He's a fanatic, and 
 how to deal with 'em except a fire in Smithfield ? 
 There are times I can envy the old boys, who 
 could at any rate walk straight; and so it's this 
 way can't move Germany, can't move France, 
 and you won't shake Egypt. And what about 
 Zohrab? That's what I want to know." 
 
 He went on raggedly, evidently thinking to 
 himself, while Bnllen stared at him as if he were 
 a Chinese puzzle. Then suddenly Loder looked 
 up with a bright eye. 
 
 "I want Zohrab kicked out," he said keenly 
 and coldly. 
 
 "Why?" asked Bullen. 
 
 "Cazoule has bought him." 
 
 "Do you know it?" 
 
 Bullen looked alert enough as he spoke, but 
 Loder was back again in audible thinking. 
 
 "The Khedive is a reed, but we don't see him 
 wobble here. He's stiffened by some one. I 
 can't buy Zohrab. Then, he's sold already. 
 Can't you see it? Cazoule works through him. 
 No one else." 
 
 "Then, you've no evidence," said Bullen. 
 
 "Evidence would be damnation," said Loder, 
 "and I only want you to kick him out. Resigna- 
 tion will do." 
 
 Bullen picked up a paper-cutter. 
 52
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "I've put out one or two," he said after a 
 moment's thought; "but I'm trying to drive this 
 team without too much friction. And Zohrab be- 
 longs to the Household, which I have no concern 
 with. And the truth is that they have a very 
 good case for refusing to come down. Europe 
 would say it was a proof of our entire selfishness 
 in being here." 
 
 "Let them say," interjected Loder. 
 
 "But our hold on Europe is Egypt's financial 
 soundness. The railroad to Wady Haifa and 
 Khartoum is a good asset ; why should they turn 
 it over to an English company? And then as to 
 the issue of bonds on their guarantee for con- 
 tinuing it down to the lakes. It isn't every one 
 who sees eye to eye with you, Loder, as to the 
 business success of this through road. A guar- 
 antee and a failure might end in a kind of Egyp- 
 tian Panama ; and the very appearance of it would 
 shake the markets. And even Powell, who has 
 considerable financial ability, owned rather re- 
 luctantly to me that, from Egypt's point of view 
 alone, it was a very risky thing." 
 
 "Oh, Powell said that?" asked Loder. 
 
 He dropped into a moment's abstraction, and 
 for the first time picked up this James Powell as 
 a pawn in the game. 
 
 "And, taking a wide view, at present I agree 
 
 53
 
 The Colossus 
 
 with him," said Bullen. "I mean that, as things 
 are at home and in Europe, it's policy not to 
 bring Egypt into actual open fighting politics by 
 our doing any great squeeze. You ought to edu- 
 cate opinion more in England." 
 
 "You mean " 
 
 "I mean the Duke of Enfield." 
 
 Bullen fiddled a bit with his paper-knife, but 
 finally dropped it and wheeled round, facing 
 Loder. 
 
 "I know you are a Conservative," he said 
 thoughtfully "in some things a rather ultra one. 
 That comes from always being on the outside 
 rim of the Empire. There old methods last long- 
 est. The spot where the new problems the new 
 social problems rise is at home. Radicalism is 
 the result of squeeze. But once or twice I've 
 noticed you talk and think as if the Duke were a 
 Conservative. Now, you can't make a greater 
 mistake. There is at this moment no more truly 
 and naturally born democrat than the Duke of 
 Enfield. Members of a social democratic Club 
 are old aristocratic Tories compared with him. 
 He sits sublime, and waits to be pushed ; he will 
 not move till the country moves him. Get the 
 country to sound the gamut of war, and Enfield 
 will again pick up each note like a faithful tun- 
 ing-fork. He lives in and for and by the people, 
 
 54
 
 The Colossus 
 
 and cares little for anything else. And I believe 
 he knows it. That's why I say he is the one 
 true democrat alive. He recognises his Master. 
 And the moral of this is that when England de- 
 clares vigorously for a Protectorate here, we shall 
 have it. When the people demand that their 
 credit shall be placed at your disposal, you will 
 have a blank check given you. But till they 
 say it you may pull and push, but Enfield will 
 stay where they put him last. That's my real 
 opinion for your private use." 
 
 Loder smoked in silence for a minute or two. 
 
 "Well, I suppose there's a good deal in what 
 you say ; but it seems to me a pretty ignominious 
 position, and as this affair of ours has to come off 
 now, we shall have to do it without getting Tra- 
 falgar Square full of Enfield's jumping powder." 
 
 "But I'll back you as far as ever I can move 
 for my own chains," said Bullen. 
 
 "You think, then, that at present there is no 
 chance of getting an English contingent guaran- 
 tee to support the Egyptian contingent guar- 
 antee ?" asked Loder. 
 
 Bullen shook his head. 
 
 "Did you ever know a nation shout for con- 
 tingent contingencies ?" 
 
 Loder smiled grimly, and finally laughed his 
 nervous laugh. 
 
 55
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Then, it's all on me, as usual." 
 
 "Do you know where your strength lies, 
 Loder?" asked Bullen curiously. 
 
 "No ; except that I want what I want." 
 
 "Enfield represents England of to-day, and 
 knows it; you represent England of to-morrow, 
 and don't know it. You are both democrats, but 
 a democrat who is 'previous/ as the Americans 
 say, often mistakes himself, and is mistaken, for 
 an autocrat. But you will get through." 
 
 "I mean to," said Loder.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THOUGH Cairo was flooded with visitors and 
 the hotels were full, the winter season of gayety 
 brought little pleasure to any of Loder's imme- 
 diate circle. He dominated them all, and was a 
 chilly tramontana. They felt like a family when 
 the head of it sulks. Even Romney's roar of 
 laughter was heard less frequently than usual in 
 the marble corridors and under the veranda by 
 the Nile as the days passed and nothing mitigated 
 the aspect of the god he did not wholly worship. 
 
 Gertrude showed signs of nervous worry ; and 
 she worried Tiny, who daily wrote letters to her 
 husband begging him to come out soon and help 
 to settle things, or else to insist on taking her and 
 Gertrude away. "For I can't control Gertrude, 
 and I'm getting nervous about her. She is just 
 in the state to do something foolish." 
 
 Hinton, who was more and more inclined each 
 day to let himself go and fall in love with Ger- 
 trude in spite of her bent toward his Chief, had 
 a pretty bad time as well. Loder had none of 
 those hours now which sometimes made him so 
 pleasant a companion to any intelligent and well- 
 57
 
 The Colossus 
 
 read man. The hours before dinner were de- 
 voted to the grim grind of his schemes and plans. 
 He did not say, as in better times he often did : 
 
 "Now, Livy says so-and-so about What's-his- 
 name. What do you think is the real meaning 
 of that passage, Hinton?" 
 
 Livy and Tacitus were alike of no interest to 
 him; his whole attention was fixed on that part 
 of the engine where the hitch was, or appeared 
 to be. Was Zohrab bought? Or, if not Zohrab, 
 was any one else purchased and paid for? Why 
 would not the Khedivial wheels turn round? 
 Who held the handle of the brake ? 
 
 He was the centre of the little universe. When 
 he shone the world was gay. When he hid him- 
 self color went out of their landscape. At those 
 hours no tourist was bold enough to come near 
 him. But they peered round corners and stood 
 in rows as he went by. They took off their hats 
 sometimes, and if he deigned to notice them they 
 were happy. Cairene Frenchmen brought Pa- 
 risians to see him ; he was the Ogre, the Juggler, 
 the Sword-swallower, the Drinker of the Nile, 
 the Expeller of Marchand. 
 
 "He's the incarnation of the Brutal English," 
 said the Frenchmen. "He is le pieuvre of the 
 political sea." 
 
 And from the French view of the official uni- 
 58
 
 The Colossus 
 
 verse, they wondered how a man with no office 
 or ministry could have so much power. 
 
 "Decidement, mon ami, nous ne comprenons 
 pas encore ces Anglais," they said to each other 
 with a shrug of their shoulders. "II ressemble 
 un peu ce diable de Lowry. Mon Dieu! quel 
 nom ! Mais le dernier mot n'est encore pas 
 dit !" 
 
 And there sat the Devil Fish, as they called 
 him, and ground out theory after theory. In a 
 day he went through a thousand solutions, and 
 considered what was to be done, if, in the end, 
 the Egyptian Government failed him. He went 
 back again and again to England, and at last 
 called to Hinton. 
 
 "Write to Berwick," he said, with a more 
 cheerful voice, "and get him to turn on the tap. 
 Tell the beggars with votes what this all means. 
 If I've got to have public opinion, why, I must 
 have it. Tell him that, Hinton." 
 
 And Hinton knew better than to press for 
 more details. Loder left his subordinates and 
 his co-workers plenty of scope and responsibility, 
 and he never wrote letters. Or, if he did, they 
 were short and non-committal, and merely sug- 
 gestive. 
 
 "British credit for British ends," said Loder 
 casually, as Hinton scribbled out a letter to Ber- 
 59
 
 The Colossus 
 
 wick. "That clinches everything." And he 
 turned his thoughts to Powell. "No, I'll not see 
 him myself," he said. "I'll wait till Bontine 
 comes. Hinton, cable Sir George to come as 
 soon as he can get through at home." And he 
 broke right through the clouds. Wilberforce 
 Matthews, who had been as melancholy as a lap- 
 dog repulsed, cleared up in a minute. "Matthews, 
 go and ask Lady Bontine and Miss Broughton 
 if they would like to drive on the Gizereh," said 
 the Chief ; "and you will, of course, come too." 
 
 For the last few weeks such a sunlit moment 
 in Loder's mind had been of rare occurrence, and 
 his whole world rejoiced with him in fear and 
 trembling. 
 
 He was very friendly with Lady Bontine, and 
 though more reserved with Gertrude, she did not 
 mind the curious shy stiffness with which he 
 sometimes addressed her. Such armor was bet- 
 ter far than indifference. If she shut her eyes, 
 she might have imagined herself in the company 
 of a very diffident admirer. 
 
 "It is glorious here," said Gertrude, "but there 
 are other pyramids than these, Mr. Loder, at our 
 end of Africa." 
 
 "Eh?" said Loder. 
 
 "Don't you remember one mighty pyramid 
 looking on Cape Town when Table Mountain is 
 60
 
 The Colossus 
 
 well covered? The mist often comes down just 
 far enough to hide it all but one great buttress 
 shaped like a pyramid. I've seen it often." 
 
 Loder nodded. 
 
 "Yes, I remember to have noticed it." 
 
 He dropped into reverie, and in thought drove 
 rapidly down the road from Cape Town to Wyn- 
 berg. At this season, the hot summer of the 
 South, the road would seem redolent of the East, 
 of a silent way in Ceylon. The red trunks of 
 trees, and their heavy flat foliage overhead; the 
 one-storied houses like bungalows, and the col- 
 ored folk, made that rich and genial scene half 
 tropical. Side-avenues of pine resembled strange- 
 ly ranked and serried scrub. And far, far above 
 lay the huge ramparts of Table Mountain. How 
 often had he lain and listened to the mighty or- 
 gan of the windy Devil's Peak ! 
 
 "Cape Town is the most beautiful place in the 
 world," said Loder, with a curious blink of the 
 eye, which was almost as near as he ever got to 
 showing any of the softer emotions. "There's no 
 city has such a situation." 
 
 "Or such suburbs," cried Gertrude softly. 
 
 "There's the Kloof Road," said Loder, staring 
 
 out across the Nile, and evidently seeing neither 
 
 river nor any of the throng of carriages which 
 
 fills Cairo's afternoon driving-ground. "And the 
 
 61
 
 The Colossus 
 
 quiet up there, and the woods, and below one the 
 town looking like like " 
 
 "Pompeii," suggested Gertrude. 
 
 And Loder nodded. 
 
 Though he could rarely express himself about 
 such things, his mind was peculiarly susceptible 
 of some orders of beauty. Many a time on the 
 northern Karoo and the great veldt farther in the 
 north, his companions with surprise had seen 
 him draw bridle, and sit like a carven man, star- 
 ing into the western sky at sunset. The red 
 wonder of the heavenly rack sank deeply into him, 
 and, like the very Boer, who was wholly yet un- 
 consciously subdued to the mystery of the veldt, 
 he understood the infinitely cold and moving 
 charm of its vast panorama at the earliest hour 
 of the coming day. 
 
 He was a man with a mental geography; he 
 was yet uncharted; there were unknown seas in 
 him ; he did not even know himself. And to some 
 human beings with ambition he offered the very 
 opportunities of Africa. He was big as a conti- 
 nent ; cruel as a sea ; tender as the olive and ame- 
 thystine bands of color that herald dawn. He 
 was as cunning as the great descendant of the 
 great Msiligazi, and as childlike as the bands of 
 wanderers who went forever north. They 
 moved now, to meet him ! 
 62
 
 The Colossus 
 
 And as he came up now out of the southern 
 hemisphere, he caught Gertrude's eye upon him ; 
 for she understood a little of his underworld. He 
 closed his heart like a night-flower, for above all 
 things he abhorred such intrusion. 
 
 Let the world judge by the outer man. 
 
 "I cabled to your husband, Lady Bontine, to 
 try and hurry him up," said Loder hastily, as he 
 averted his eye from Gertrude. 
 
 ' ; Thank you, Mr. Loder," said Tiny, who felt 
 quite assured that her man would come when he 
 could. 
 
 "There's a lot to do a lot to do," said Loder. 
 And he never opened his mouth again till they 
 came again to the hotel. The next day he was 
 back in himself. But he sent for Romney, and 
 having made up his mind that Oppenheimer must 
 be swallowed, he discussed Zohrab Bey and 
 Powell with the Rabelais of Railways.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 SIR GEORGE BONTINE did not get Loder's 
 cable, nor many of his wife's letters, for the mat- 
 ter of that, till weeks after they were out of date. 
 He was, indeed, within two days of Alexandria 
 when the cable was sent, and he turned up at 
 Cairo on the fourth day after, much to every- 
 one's astonishment, but that of his wife and Eus- 
 tace Loder. His wife knew him and was not 
 surprised. Loder was astonished at nothing. 
 If he sometimes showed surprise, it was at those 
 odd glimpses of common-sense occasionally vis- 
 ible in fools. 
 
 Bontine, who with Romney had never been 
 in Loder's pocket, was nevertheless a favorite of 
 his. They esteemed each other, as men who have 
 fought side by side, and have not infrequently 
 fought a draw with each other. If Loder had the 
 unexpected qualities of the genius who does what 
 he must, Bontine had the gifts of the rare man 
 of talent who can at any time succeed in doing 
 anything well. He made money, until money 
 made itself. He hatched his eggs under an in- 
 .cubator, and then turned the golden geese out to 
 64
 
 The Colossus 
 
 pasture. When he had nothing better to do he 
 made money still ; in an idle political time he 
 could speculate in that almost riskless way 
 known only to millionaires. But his ambition 
 was not making money. He had made it. In 
 his heart he sometimes fancied he had not suc- 
 ceeded. For a passion for science often gnawed 
 at him. Chemistry was even yet his hobby ; be- 
 fore he left England for the Cape, to take up the 
 position which he afterward left for Finance and 
 Politics he had written a lasting and sound text- 
 book on the "Carbon Compounds." He had also 
 made researches in Earth Magnetic Currents, 
 and had published a tractate on the Deviation of 
 the Compass, which was especially suggestive to 
 naval officers, as it contained a very luminous 
 chapter on the alterations in deviation occurring 
 after fire concussion and the grounding of battle- 
 ships. 
 
 But, if Bontine regretted the successes he 
 might have obtained, few people knew. Few, 
 indeed, but his wife, ever saw him touched with 
 melancholy. He seemed to the world jovial and 
 eager, and certainly he was forever kindly. He 
 never made an enemy if he could help it. He 
 took care to make friends even of the inconsid- 
 erable. He was not seldom the only connecting- 
 link between the contrary and contrasted parties 
 
 5 6 5
 
 The Colossus 
 
 in the Cape political warfare. He was equally 
 welcome in all the houses of the warring Capu- 
 lets and Montagues who dwelt under windy 
 Table Mountain. 
 
 Though without any air of positive distinction 
 he possessed the gift of persuasion in an uncom- 
 mon measure. Loder had it, doubtless, in equal 
 degree, but as he could inspire hatred as well, 
 his enemies would not come in to be persuaded. 
 Bontine had his foes, but could use his gifts upon 
 his opponents as well as his friends. There was 
 a convincing good-nature in his tone which ap- 
 pealed to all, even to those who said he was a 
 political weathercock, or that the one seat he 
 found congenial was a dividing fence. Some of 
 his critics said his air of heartiness was false. If 
 it was at any time deliberately indued, by now it 
 was so much a part and parcel of his very nature 
 that he would have been as unhappy without it 
 as a nude Dyak maiden without her paint. 
 
 They said he was unscrupulous. But this was 
 remarked by Cape politicians. 
 
 He was a splendid companion. If he ap- 
 peared, when in town, not to pick his company, 
 he made amends for this in his home at quiet old 
 Dutch Stellenbosch. He had the best library in 
 Africa, and, like Loder, not infrequently read 
 the classics. 
 
 66
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "So you didn't get my letter," said his wife, 
 "my last letter about Gertrude?" 
 
 "No," said George. 
 
 "She's nervous and irritable and flighty. And 
 really, George, she is quite crazy about Mr. 
 Loder." 
 
 "And it's absolutely hopeless?" 
 
 "Who knows that so well as you, George ?" 
 
 "You never know what Loder will do. Hasn't 
 he plunged us all in wonder before now? How- 
 ever, I don't think he'll marry till he's the Em- 
 peror of Africa." 
 
 Tiny nodded. 
 
 "Well, so I want you to hasten things, 
 George, and take us away. She sits now just 
 like Loder himself and thinks over things. I 
 am sure I wish we were back at Stellen- 
 bosch." 
 
 "You haven't heard how things go?" asked 
 her husband. 
 
 "No ; but judging from his face, they seem 
 just at a deadlock : I don't think they can move 
 the Government here." 
 
 "We must push behind," said Bontine cheer- 
 fully. "Shall Caesar's star be clouded? I'll go 
 down and see him." 
 
 He found Loder smoking one black cigar 
 after another under his usual favorite veranda. 
 67
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Still on the stoep ?" asked Bontine cheerfully, 
 as he drew his chair alongside the Chief. 
 
 "We'll get off it by-and-by," grunted Loder. 
 "Don't some of us remember the fine old flower 
 of the Dutch sitting on their stoeps where Ad- 
 derley Street is now? Well, they had to move." 
 
 "What's the trouble?" 
 
 Loder, with great difficulty and many pauses, 
 as if he were chipping out a relief on a marble 
 rock, gave Bontine the outline of the situation, 
 while the newcomer nodded at intervals. 
 
 "So Oppenheimer has to be swallowed, and 
 Zohrab has to be moved, bought or crushed? 
 And you think Powell is advising him ?" 
 
 Loder nodded. 
 
 "You have seen Zohrab ?" 
 
 Loder nodded again. 
 
 "And was he in the market?" 
 
 "I think not," said Loder. "My finger is on 
 Powell." 
 
 "Have you seen him ?" 
 
 "I want you to see him," said Loder. "Buy 
 him, persuade him, bulldoze him. I give you a 
 free hand. But take a day or two to think it out, 
 and let me know if you agree where the hitch is. 
 What a damn silly thing it seems that we can't 
 have a Protectorate and cut the knot !" 
 
 He chewed the cud for a minute. 
 68
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "We do things differently down South," he 
 added. "Did you see Berwick?" 
 
 Bontine laughed. 
 
 "Rather. And do you know I set to work on 
 him to persuade him to take one line with regard 
 to Delagoa Bay, and he opened his batteries on 
 me to change my view. And after an hour's talk 
 the result was " 
 
 "As you were," suggested Loder. 
 
 Bontine burst into laughter. 
 
 "Not a bit of it. I succeeded in changing his 
 opinion. But by that time his arguments had 
 convinced me!" 
 
 And this time Loder exploded. 
 
 "Good old Berwick !" he shouted, and, thrust- 
 ing both hands into his pockets, he lay back in 
 his chair with one ankle locked round the other 
 and shook from head to foot. 
 
 "And what happened then?" he asked, when 
 his merriment had subsided to a mere ripple on 
 his vast surface. 
 
 "I just got up and fled," said Bontine. "I 
 really think that was the reason I left England in 
 such a hurry ; for I didn't know whether to be 
 pleased or hurt about it. And on considering it, 
 it seemed a bad way of doing business." 
 
 "Well, let's hear of your turning Powell inside 
 out," said the Chief. "I'd be glad to get back 
 69
 
 The Colossus 
 
 home. I shall never like this place till I come 
 up to it by rail." 
 
 "No," nodded Bontine. "But, by the way, 
 who will instruct me as to the habits and cus- 
 toms, etc., of this Powell?" 
 
 "Ask Hinton," said the Chief; "he knows 
 everything about everybody." 
 
 And after lunch, at which meal Bontine patted 
 Gertrude affectionately on the shoulder by way 
 of a distant cousinly greeting, he took the omnis- 
 cient Emory Hinton under the palm avenue, and 
 walked him to and fro. 
 
 "Now tell me about Powell," said he ; "just go 
 ahead. The Chief says you know everything." 
 
 The Secretary laughed. 
 
 "I know everything except some things. But 
 as to Powell! He's a Welshman, I think. He 
 was a clerk in the English War Office ; but he 
 had some influence with the Adjutant-General at 
 home, and, besides, he imagined he was touched 
 with consumption, and he came out here as a 
 kind of sub-civil organiser in 1886. And he has 
 an undoubted turn for finance, besides some 
 power of organisation. That was how he came 
 more directly into contact with Zohrab Bey ; for 
 the then Financial Adviser, who was a relative 
 of mine, by the way, and called Hinton, was 
 rather slack, and relied on Powell, and worked 
 70
 
 The Colossus 
 
 through him on Zohrab, who was on very good 
 terms with the late Khedive. So he's been on in- 
 timate terms with Zohrab ever since. And now 
 Zohrab, who is Head of the Household, has 
 more influence on the Khedive than any one. 
 You know how things go in Oriental countries, 
 Sir George; it's all hocus-pocus, and the inside 
 Palace is forever on the boil with intrigue, and 
 the real influence is held by men who on the 
 surface should have none. And we are sure 
 now that Powell influences Zohrab, for Sir Ellis 
 Bullen told the Chief so the other day. Or, 
 if he did'nt say that, he owned that Powell 
 thought our guarantee scheme very risky for 
 Egypt." 
 
 "Did he put it on that ground alone?" asked 
 Bontine. 
 
 Hinton shook his head. 
 
 "No, rather not ; but on the ground of the pos- 
 sible shaking of our credit with Europe if any- 
 thing we urged brought on a financial crisis." 
 
 "Of course," said Sir George ; "and I dare say 
 he's very honest and straightforward, and all 
 that." 
 
 "On the surface," replied Hinton spitefully. 
 
 "But I found out that he used to be very much 
 
 with Cazoule. And soon after we started on this, 
 
 he gave up seeing him. Why ? For Cazoule is a 
 
 71
 
 The Colossus 
 
 man you can't quarrel with. It looks like cau- 
 tion and forestalling of criticism." 
 
 "This is not evidence," said Sir George. "At 
 least, it may be nothing." 
 
 "By the method of elimination we come down 
 to him," cried Hinton earnestly. "We know 
 what the Khedive is, and we are pretty sure 
 Zohrab is honest. We know Cazoule would buy 
 any one. If he couldn't buy Zohrab, he would 
 buy Powell. And up to the time that Powell was 
 outwardly friends with Cazoule, we thought, as 
 you know, that Zohrab would give way. Then 
 suddenly he stiffened. It's only this last four 
 days the Chief and I have put all these things to- 
 gether. But he thinks what I think, and I was 
 advocatus Diaboli. That is, I stood up for 
 Powell." 
 
 They walked to and fro three times before 
 Bontine spoke. 
 
 "H'm," he said at last, "and have you con- 
 sidered what line I should take when I see him? 
 And what is my excuse for seeing him at all? 
 According to your account, he doesn't come in 
 officially." 
 
 "No," said Hinton; "but that's evidence 
 
 against him. I only found out yesterday that 
 
 when he retired on pension he was going home 
 
 and he hasn't gone. Why not? He says (so 
 
 72
 
 The Colossus 
 
 I hear) that his lungs are still delicate. I don't 
 believe there's anything the matter with him." 
 
 "A man may live where he chooses, Hinton." 
 
 "Not when our esteemed friend M. de Cazoule 
 says, 'I've bought you stay here.' He's not in 
 Cairo by choice. I saw him at the Club the other 
 day. He's discontented and nervous." 
 
 "You are a dangerous man, Hinton," said 
 Bontine with a laugh. "I shall see him at the 
 Club, then. Isn't it at the old English Agency ?" 
 
 Hinton nodded. 
 
 "You might just take me down now. There's 
 no use in putting things off. We want the mat- 
 ter settled, and I want to be back in Stellenbosch. 
 This is too noisy, too luxurious. 
 
 " 'Persicos odi, puer, apparatus : 
 Displicent nexse philyra coronas ; 
 Mitte sectari, rosa quo locorum 
 Sera moretur.' " 
 
 "We all admire you in your simple myrtle," 
 said Hinton. "However, we'll go down now if 
 you like. I'll just see if the Chief wants me." 
 
 But Loder was in his room, and wanted no 
 one. For he was smoking over a big atlas and 
 cursing the English representative at the Berlin 
 Congress, who did not take the Belgian's offer 
 of pre-emption rights over the Congo Free State, 
 but allowed the French to cut in. And to have to 
 73
 
 The Colossus 
 
 put up, perhaps, with a mere 'way-leave' for his 
 mighty railway, unless indeed he made better 
 terms with the German Emperor than with that 
 grinding tradesman the Belgian King, was al- 
 ways a bitter thing when Loder considered just 
 that little bit of country which was not British or 
 Egyptian. 
 
 Sir George and Hinton met Romney at the 
 Club in a mightily cheerful state of mind. 
 
 "I shan't ask if you are well," said Bontine, as 
 he shook hands with him. "Why should I waste 
 my breath in absurd inquiries ? I never saw such 
 a man ! How do you manage it ?" 
 
 "It seems to be natural," said Romney. "Now, 
 what will you drink?" 
 
 They sat down in a quiet corner. 
 
 "Where's Oppenheimer?" 
 
 "In Vienna." 
 
 The Contractor dropped his lighter manner. 
 He imagined that Loder might have set Bon- 
 tine to make another effort to part him and the 
 German. 
 
 "Is this Powell in the Club?" asked Bontine, 
 and Romney cleared up again. 
 
 "I saw him just now," said Romney. 
 
 "I'll leave you two alone for a while," said 
 Hinton, with a look at Bontine. "I've a little 
 commission to do." 
 
 74
 
 The Colossus 
 
 He found Powell, whom he knew slightly, sit- 
 ting outside in a sheltered corner, and he spoke 
 to him. 
 
 "Good-afternoon, Mr. Powell." 
 
 "Oh, how d'ye do?" nodded Powell. 
 
 "I believe you're a damned traitor," thought 
 Emory, "and it goes against the grain to speak 
 to you." 
 
 However, he did speak, and, feeling sure that 
 Powell was so subtle that he would scent nothing 
 wrong in blunt methods, went straight to the 
 point. 
 
 "You know Sir George Bontine from the Cape 
 by name, don't you, Mr. Powell ?" 
 
 Powell had heard of Sir George Bontine. 
 
 "Well, he's here," said Hinton, "and I'd like 
 you to know him. He's a born politician, and 
 is interested in Oriental politics. And I told 
 him you knew more about them than any one 
 here. As for us, we are greenhorns." 
 
 Powell smiled darkly. 
 
 "It is the common opinion," he remarked 
 slowly, "that in politics a Cape man has nothing 
 to learn." 
 
 "We're just brutal compared with Eastern 
 methods, I'm sure of that," said Hinton. "And 
 if Bontine is smart, I'm certain ten years here 
 would have made him smarter still." 
 75
 
 The Colossus 
 
 He was ingenuous in speech and ingenuous- 
 looking, and Powell could not see below the 
 surface into as promising a mind for intrigue as 
 existed in or out of diplomacy. 
 
 "Where is Sir George ?" he asked. 
 
 "I'll bring him out." 
 
 "No." 
 
 "Oh, yes," said Hinton, who did not want 
 Powell to see Bontine with Romney; "he said 
 it was too warm inside." 
 
 And Powell sank back in his chair. Five min- 
 utes later the Cape politician sat down by him. 
 
 "Will you take charge of Sir George?" asked 
 Hinton. "He's not a member. For I want to 
 go back to the hotel." 
 
 "Of course," said the presumed traitor, with 
 an excellent manner. 
 
 "Mr. Hinton says you are interested in Orien- 
 tal politics, Sir George." 
 
 "I might say I was disinterested in them," re- 
 plied Bontine, laughing. "My friendly enemies 
 at the Cape always say I am interested (to the 
 tune of any amount per cent.) in them. So, when 
 I think of other than Cape politics I'm eager, but 
 disinterested." 
 
 Powell looked at his companion sideways. 
 
 "I don't think there's any real difference be- 
 tween East and West, or, as we should say here, 
 76
 
 The Colossus 
 
 North and South. I met a Dr. Giissfeldt from 
 Johannesburg " 
 
 "I know him," cried Bontine "a very able 
 man." 
 
 "Undoubtedly; but he said a thing that stuck 
 in my mind ever since. He was greatly inter- 
 ested in Pretoria, and he remarked to me that, 
 having had much experience in Turkey, he found 
 an almost exact replica of the conditions existing 
 there in the Transvaal Capital." 
 
 Bontine nodded and laughed. 
 
 "Did he, now? Well, if Pretoria politics are 
 Oriental, I think I shall not be an inapt pupil," 
 he cried. 
 
 "Giissfeldt said that there you have a Sultan, 
 and a palace, and a tyranny mitigated by conces- 
 sions and deputed to monopolies, which are ob- 
 tained by bribery or service rendered." 
 
 "He told the truth, Mr. Powell; but they are 
 children at Pretoria. You can have no notion 
 how far a little money will go there. I have been 
 most credibly informed of cases where some of 
 them have taken a hundred pounds for a vote 
 which was worth five thousand. And the whole 
 thing is pretty open. But here, under this 
 regime, I suppose there is not much corrup- 
 tion?" 
 
 "Not so much as there was," said Powell 
 77
 
 The Colossus 
 
 dryly. "But, then, we compare the state of 
 things now with that existing under Ismail 
 Pasha." 
 
 Bontine laughed. 
 
 "It was pretty bad then, of course. I've read 
 so much. But isn't the taking of money here 
 looked on as quite legitimate? Now, in Pre- 
 toria the President once affirmed publicly that 
 members of the Volkraad were quite justified in 
 adding to their incomes by taking money from 
 any one but their own countrymen. He said it 
 was spoiling the Egyptians. Is it looked on in 
 that way here, or, generally speaking, among 
 Orientals?" 
 
 "I should think so," said Powell "at least, to 
 some extent. And a clever man, who plays his 
 cards well, often gets paid for supporting the 
 side he would never think of opposing. For in- 
 stance, I once knew an Austrian in this country 
 who, through a piece of play-acting, was induced 
 by a heavy payment not to oppose the granting 
 of a concession in which he was deeply inter- 
 ested." 
 
 "By Jove," said Sir George, smiting his knee 
 vigorously, "now, that was what the Americans 
 would call smart ! And I don't see how the man 
 could be blamed. Now, I want to go right back to 
 Cape Town, and I don't want to go to London. 
 78
 
 The Colossus 
 
 If any one were to offer me five thousand pounds 
 to go to the Cape, I think I say I think that I 
 should take it." 
 
 He smiled, and then laughed outright. 
 
 "I must remember that. I'll tell that story in 
 the House of Assembly yet. I wish to heaven 
 I was there now, but I've come out to try and 
 hurry Loder up, and it looks as if I should have 
 to go and leave things as they are. Can you give 
 me any notion how the matter stands from your 
 point of view?" 
 
 Powell stared out across the desert. 
 
 "It stands this way," he said, after a pause. 
 "So far as I can see and you must remember 
 I'm out of it all now every one in the Govern- 
 ment here is convinced it would be risky to 
 risk the steadily rising credit of Egypt in a mere 
 speculation. Even the Anglophiles in the Min- 
 istry feel that way. Suppose a crash came : the 
 French would say, 'I told you so/ and it might 
 end in England having to go, or in a disastrous 
 war. And I must own (though I am an English- 
 man) that there is a deal in it. I had a conver- 
 sation some time ago with Sir Ellis Bullen, who 
 was kind enough to consult a retired civilian, and 
 I said so plainly." 
 
 "And you still think so?" 
 
 "I do," said Powell. 
 
 79
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "And what is the feeling among official circles 
 about our energetic friend Loder ?" 
 
 "They ask, Who is this Loder? He has no 
 official position, and to politicians steeped in 
 French methods and traditions that seems curi- 
 ous, to say the least. And it is remembered how 
 credit went to pieces on that occasion in the 
 Transvaal. They say he fights for his own hand ; 
 they are naturally particularist, and think of 
 Egypt first." 
 
 "And do not know how great a part he had in 
 our recovering the Soudan for them." 
 
 "Their motto is, 'Timeo Danaos,' " said Powell 
 dryly, "and even among the English themselves, 
 you must remember, there is a party against 
 Loder." 
 
 "There was a party," said Sir George; "but 
 when last in England I sought for its remains 
 with a microscope." 
 
 "Is that so? Yes, I dare say you are right. 
 But if his countrymen have had their confidence 
 restored, it is not so even in your own Colony. 
 And you must not forget that the French power 
 here is still immeasurably strong. Zohrab Bey, 
 who has great influence at the Court, is Franco- 
 phile to his finger-tips." 
 
 Sir George nodded. 
 
 "I gather that the cause of the delay, or the 
 80
 
 The Colossus 
 
 real difficulty, lay there. Could it be overcome in 
 any Oriental way? Or is Zohrab honorable 
 enough to refuse ?" 
 
 Bontine noted that Powell shut his hands 
 tightly. 
 
 "I've been here many years, and do not quite 
 understand them yet," he said after a moment ; 
 "but I don't believe he could be bought to act 
 against his convictions, and I know him very 
 well." 
 
 "Have you any influence with him?" asked 
 Bontine cheerfully. "Because if you have, come 
 and see Mr. Loder, and let him talk to you about 
 the railway. He can tell you everything." 
 
 "Thanks, but I have no influence to speak of, 
 and my convictions are all the other way." 
 
 Sir George sighed gently, but rubbed his hands 
 with satisfaction. 
 
 "We are going to get through, anyhow," he 
 said heartily. "But I'm glad to learn your opin- 
 ion is so favorable to Zohrab Bey. For if he is 
 honest and can't be bought, it narrows down 
 our suspicions very much. For Mr. Loder said 
 to me only this morning, that if he knew Zoh- 
 rab had not sold himself, he could be sure who 
 had." 
 
 "Whom do you suspect, then?" asked Powell 
 rather hastily. 
 
 6 8l
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Mr. Loder wouldn't tell me," replied the Cape 
 politician, rising. 
 
 "Of course," cried Powell, as he too got out of 
 his chair, "I couldn't take my oath Zohrab is im- 
 peccable. As I said, one never knows among 
 Orientals." 
 
 "Then you are not so sure, after all ?" 
 
 "No o/ said Powell, "no o ; but, still, I hold 
 my opinion." 
 
 "But 7 know Zohrab is honest," said Bontine 
 suddenly. 
 
 And after he had shaken hands with the ex- 
 civilian, he went straight back to the hotel. 
 
 "That's the man," he said. 
 
 For he had great experience.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 BONTINE had told Emory Hinton that certain 
 unverified inferences about Powell were not evi- 
 dence, and yet he went away from his interview 
 with the object of the Secretary's suspicions quite 
 convinced that Powell was sold to the French 
 party in Cairo. 
 
 "Yes, and he's the man," he said to Emory on 
 returning to the hotel. 
 
 "How do you know?" asked Hinton eagerly. 
 
 "I just know," cried Bontine. 
 
 "That's not evidence, Sir George." 
 
 "Of course not, my boy, but I felt he was the 
 man. I noted how he clenched his hands when I 
 asked if Zohrab was an honorable man and above 
 taking bribes ; I saw him wince nervously two or 
 three times when I touched the raw ; and when I 
 shook hands with him at the last, his palms were 
 damp. When you introduced me they were dry. 
 And if I'm wrong I'll cheerfully engage to drink 
 the Nile or Esil, or eat a crocodile !" 
 
 The Secretary, always apt to be a little com- 
 bative with any one but Loder (and even with 
 him when Loder invited argument as he some- 
 83
 
 The Colossus 
 
 times did) took Powell's side for a few minutes. 
 He yielded in the end with the best grace. 
 
 "You know men, Sir George, much better than 
 I. And as I felt pretty certain before, now I'm 
 backed by you I'm quite sure of it." 
 
 Bontine nodded. 
 
 "You haven't tried to buy him yourselves?" 
 
 "We've only just spotted him. Do you think 
 we might try?" 
 
 "It would be risky. He will, of course, think 
 we suspect him. I don't mean because I've talked 
 with him, but if guilty, of course, he thinks he's 
 suspected. And he would look on anything we 
 did as a trap. What would your Chief say ?" 
 
 Hinton looked at Bontine. 
 
 "As if you don't know! He would say, 'Go 
 away, go away! don't come worrying me with 
 details.' " 
 
 And if Hinton had gone to Loder, after that 
 discreet order, with a request for a credit of ten 
 thousand pounds, with a view to removing ob- 
 stacles, or for the purpose of buying a town lot in 
 Cairo, he would probably have got it without 
 demur. 
 
 "To tell the truth," said Bontine, "I would 
 
 rather not buy this man. A chap who could sell 
 
 himself to the French would take the money and 
 
 sell us again. And I don't think he'd bite at 
 
 84
 
 The Colossus 
 
 money from us. But look here: it's getting 
 late, and I promised to take my wife for a 
 drive. She will be raving like a lunatic on the 
 stoep if I don't hurry. You tell Loder what I 
 think." 
 
 He bolted, leaving Emory Hinton smiling at 
 the notion of the fair and very gentle Lady Bon- 
 tine carrying on shamefully upon the marble 
 doorstep of the hotel. 
 
 "He didn't say if Miss Broughton was going," 
 said Emory, and instead of seeking Loder at once, 
 he followed Bontine, and saw him get into the 
 carriage with his wife, while Gertrude stood 
 under the veranda. 
 
 "Why didn't you go, Miss Broughton?" 
 
 She turned on Emory, smiling. 
 
 "Because they are still lovers, you foolish 
 man!" 
 
 "Ah, I don't understand what being 'lovers' 
 may be, but I think I can guess what it feels like 
 in the singular and most solitary sense," cried 
 Emory with an air of melancholy. 
 
 Gertrude shook her head. 
 
 "Not you, Mr. Hinton; you are far too much 
 wrapped up in Railways and Intrigues. Your 
 heart is made of sneezewood, and is quite inde- 
 structible." 
 
 "To hear you talk," said Emory, "one would 
 S 3
 
 The Colossus 
 
 think love was the teredo navalis. And let me tell 
 you my heart is not to be sneezed at." 
 
 "Sneezewood," said the fair South African, 
 "only excites sneezing when it's fresh cut." 
 
 "And my heart is bleeding," cried Emory. 
 
 He almost thought it was, but though Gertrude 
 knew she could make it bleed if she chose, she 
 did not choose. 
 
 "I know better," she replied ; "and how did you 
 and Sir George get on with that Powell ?" 
 
 Emory stared at her. 
 
 "How did you know we were with him?" 
 
 As a matter of fact Sam Romney had seen 
 them at the Club and had told her. 
 
 "A very little bird told me !" 
 
 The picture of the great Romney as a little bird 
 upon a financial bough pleased her, and she 
 laughed merrily. 
 
 "But what does it matter how I know? I 
 know that Powell " 
 
 Emory lifted his hand. 
 
 "For heaven's sake, if you will talk about the 
 things, let's go where we are more alone." 
 
 They walked away together. 
 
 "Well, then, Cross Young Man, I know Mr. 
 P. is no friend of yours or of Mr. Loder's. And 
 when Romney " 
 
 "The little, little bird?" cried Emory. 
 86
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "And when Romney, dear big Sam, says 'that 
 Powell,' and when I hear our subtle and convinc- 
 ing one and only Bontine was confabbing with 
 him for hours, I know there's something in it. 
 Now, what's in it?" 
 
 Emory shrugged his shoulders and drew a veil 
 down over his eyes. If Romney abused Powell, 
 it was for no real reason, as he knew nothing 
 against him yet. 
 
 "How very easy it is to see you have something 
 to conceal," said Gertrude cruelly, and the diplo- 
 matic Secretary winced. "You might just as well 
 tell me, because I know very nearly as much as 
 you. Shall I tell you?" 
 
 "Certainly," said Hinton rather coldly. 
 
 "I know all you told me about the deadlock in 
 this Intrigue with a big 'I.' And I know Zohrab 
 Bey is the pivot on which it all turns or may turn. 
 But I'm not sure about 'that Powell.' Were you 
 and Sir George making love to him because he's 
 a friend of Zohrab's?" 
 
 "Do you know he's Zohrab's friend?" asked 
 Emory, opening his eyes. 
 
 "I didn't, but I do," said Gertrude. "And I 
 want to know whether Powell is the door-knob to 
 Zohrab?" 
 
 "No, not at all," said Hinton. 
 
 Whereupon Gertrude affirmed inwardly that 
 87
 
 The Colossus 
 
 her friend the Secretary was capable of lying with 
 a real air of innocence after all. 
 
 "You are really cleverer than I thought," said 
 Gertrude, "so good-bye. I'm going to interview 
 Sam Romney." 
 
 But she found Romney deep in the original 
 Latin of the Angelical Doctor, and St. Thomas 
 Aquinas was so engaging that she could not draw 
 him away into lighter conversation. 
 
 "Tiny will soon find out," she said as she re- 
 tired to her own balcony and took to considering 
 things all by herself. 
 
 What could she do for this Table Mountain 
 of a Loder? They would not tell her the course 
 of the Intrigue, and she had to piece together a 
 patchwork of fact and intuition. And like a skil- 
 ful dressmaker who wants to imitate some subtle 
 fold in drapery, she tacked together her materials 
 and hung them over many theories. In some 
 measure she was free of the feminine tendency to 
 carry intuition out of a woman's province into 
 that of man's. It is here that the she-diplomatist 
 mostly fails. Gertrude preferred realities to 
 dreams ; and as she managed to get many cross- 
 lights upon the situation, it presently grew more 
 solid, like a picture viewed through a stereoscope. 
 
 "If Powell weren't an Englishman, I should 
 really begin to think that they believe him
 
 The Colossus 
 
 bribed," said Gertrude. "But of course he can't 
 be. And even if he is, Zohrab is still the key to 
 the door. If one could only decently flirt with an 
 Egyptian, I think I'd try. But I've never seen an 
 Egyptian I could have really liked enough to flirt 
 with but Thothmes the Third. And, ugh, doesn't 
 he look horrid !" 
 
 She had seen him in the Museum. 
 
 "However, I would flirt with Zohrab if I could, 
 if I could just get where Mr.Loder would have to 
 acknowledge I was very useful. And necessary." 
 
 But that was the difficulty. When Tiny Bon- 
 tine came back from her drive with a pink flush 
 on her face, she found Gertrude on the adjacent 
 balcony. 
 
 "Have you yet found out for me anything about 
 Zohrab?" asked Gertrude. 
 
 "Zohrab. Oh, what about him?" 
 
 Gertrude screamed lightly, and shook her head 
 at Tiny. 
 
 "I could shake you, you horrible Tiny! you 
 selfish, self-centred Tiny! You don't think of 
 me. Now George is here, you have just gone and 
 left me all alone in the desert. You know I 
 wanted to find out about Zohrab, and you just 
 don't care." 
 
 Tiny stood up against the assault without a 
 quiver. 
 
 89
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Oh, am I selfish? well, suppose I am. 
 How can I think of Zohrabs ? It sounds Arabian 
 Nights, and my brain won't stand it. However, 
 I'll ask George." 
 
 Gertrude mimicked her distrait air. 
 
 "Yes, you'll ask George. You'll say, 'Oh, 
 George dear, Gertrude says she wants to know 
 about oh, about Zohrabs and things, and she's 
 such a trouble, George!' And George will 
 say, 'My sweet poppet' does he ever call you 
 poppet, Tiny? 'what the devil does she want 
 to know about Zohrab?' and you will forget, 
 of course. Now, what is it I want to know, 
 Tiny?" 
 
 She held her finger up. 
 
 "Do I do it like George, darling?" she asked, 
 and then Tiny came out of her dream. 
 
 "You want to know how their success depends 
 upon him, if it does." 
 
 "Marvellous!" cried Gertrude. "Now you're 
 clever again. I do wish you'd stay clever. But 
 having once allowed dear George to make a fool 
 of you, it's all over when he comes near. I can't 
 think what you see in George." 
 
 And of this Tiny took no notice, as she hap- 
 pened to know that Gertrude liked George as 
 well as she liked any man in the world, bar Mr. 
 Loder. 
 
 90
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "But if George says I'm not to tell you any- 
 thing?" she asked absently. 
 
 "If you ask him the way to make him think I 
 really want to know, I shall hate you," said Ger- 
 trude. 
 
 "What will you do about it if you know?" 
 
 Gertrude gave a little irritable squeak. 
 
 "It's curiosity curiosity ! Are you never curi- 
 ous?" 
 
 "I don't think I am," said Tiny. "It's such a 
 trouble." 
 
 Gertrude shook her head. 
 
 "To know you is a liberal education," she cried, 
 "for I was taught that all women are curious." 
 
 "I'm only curious about things I want to 
 know," said Tiny. 
 
 Whereupon Gertrude laughed till she cried, 
 while Tiny Bontine looked on with a faint air of 
 wonderment as to what was really the matter 
 with so healthy-looking a girl as Gertrude. 
 
 "Oh, do stop !" she cried at last ; "you make me 
 quite nervous." 
 
 And after dinner Tiny remembered to ask 
 George about Zohrab. 
 
 "Who is this Zohrab, George?" 
 
 "He's the Head of the Khedive's Household, 
 my dear." 
 
 "And is he on our side ?" 
 91
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "That's just what he isn't." 
 
 "And if he was?" 
 
 "It would be smooth sailing." 
 
 "Then, why don't you get him turned out?" 
 
 George shook his head. 
 
 "I'm afraid we can't. I only wish we could." 
 
 For in his last talk with Loder and Hinton it 
 had been decided that it was both inadvisable and 
 dangerous to attempt to buy Powell. 
 
 "I just wish we could get him disgraced, or 
 promoted, or out of it," said Bontine. 
 
 "Why?" asked Tiny. 
 
 "Because through him the French influence 
 seems to exert itself on the Court." 
 
 He sank into reverie. 
 
 "May I tell Gertrude?" asked Tiny. 
 
 "Eh what?" 
 
 "May I tell Gertrude?" 
 
 "Tell her what you like," said Bontine.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 IN one particular point Bontine and Loder 
 were absolutely alike. They never wasted time 
 when a sensible opportunism dictated retreat. 
 They were alike convinced that Powell was the 
 creature of Cazoule, but both saw how difficult a 
 thing it would be to prove it. Moreover, when 
 it was proved, they had no real hold on Powell, 
 after all. And when all was said and done, 
 Zohrab held the key to the door. It must be 
 waste of money to bribe Powell when they 
 could have no guarantee he would run straight, 
 after all. 
 
 "But Zohrab is notoriously honest and Franco- 
 phile," said Bontine with regret. 
 
 The key was not to be bought. 
 
 Loder grumbled in his chair like a distant 
 thunderstorm. 
 
 "I'd see Cazoule again," he growled, "but I 
 have nothing definite to offer him. They must 
 know we are at a deadlock, or I shouldn't be 
 here." 
 
 "Why not prepare to go away?" said Bontine. 
 "Suppose you just give a dinner to all the big 
 93
 
 The Colossus 
 
 English pots here, and try to look as if you were 
 quite cheerful." 
 
 It seemed desperate if that was all that could 
 be done. 
 
 "Half the population down South look on me 
 as a mere financier," said Loder, taking no notice 
 of Bontine's suggestion. "Now, if I had been, I 
 should have had enough money to guarantee the 
 railway bonds off my own bat. Hinton !" 
 
 "Yes, sir," said the Secretary. 
 
 "Write to Berwick again, and get him to go 
 over to Berlin and try to have Oppenheimer 
 squeezed out from there. He'll know what to 
 do." 
 
 "How can it be done ?" asked Bontine. "Don't 
 you think the German Government back him in- 
 directly ?" 
 
 "Of course," said Loder; "but if we can offer 
 them an equivalent somewhere else?" 
 
 "What?" 
 
 Loder drifted into thought. 
 
 "Pretty well anything north of the Zambesi ; 
 something in China ; perhaps the Samoan Islands. 
 If the Duke won't help us directly, he may do so 
 much. For, if Oppenheimer were induced to 
 withdraw, Romney could not help himself, and 
 with Oppenheimer. out Cazoule will come in, and 
 we get our guarantee. Yes, Hinton, you can 
 94
 
 The Colossus 
 
 write, but let Berwick see the Duke first before he 
 goes." 
 
 Before Hinton had scribbled a draft of his let- 
 ter in shorthand, Loder spoke again : 
 
 "Tell Berwick to try and get something unof- 
 ficial which I could show here something sug- 
 gesting that the Home Government are seriously 
 thinking of supporting an Egyptian guarantee by 
 a contingent guarantee of their own. If it's only 
 a bluff, it will be better than nothing." 
 
 Hinton added to his scribble. 
 
 "No," said the Chief, "cable it in cipher." 
 
 He turned to Bontine again. 
 
 "Do you think we can get our friends the 
 enemy down South to renew our own Ministry's 
 offer to carry all railroad materials free over the 
 Cape Railways?" 
 
 Bontine shook his head. 
 
 "I wouldn't like to say." 
 
 "It would excite public sympathy in England," 
 said Loder, with a certain distaste only explicable 
 to those who understood his old Tory reluctance 
 to ask for public support at all. 
 
 "All the more if it came from a Bond Admin- 
 istration," said Bontine. 
 
 But at the Cape the matter of the Northern 
 through railroad was a sore point with many 
 men. Not a few eminent politicians there con- 
 95
 
 The Colossus 
 
 sidered it might in the end reduce Cape Town to 
 a mere Sleepy Hollow, while others, who were 
 worked on by Dutch Separatist elements, looked 
 on it as a scheme for exercising pressure on the 
 Transvaal. With Egypt in British keeping, and a 
 through railroad in existence, troops could be 
 landed south of the Zambesi in four days. 
 
 "Cable to Le Gros to that effect," said Loder. 
 
 Le Gros was an Englishman, in spite of his 
 name, and acted as Loder's chief Lieutenant at 
 the Cape, where he was at once hated, feared, and 
 respected. He acted as a lightning-conductor for 
 the Chief, and was looked on as Loder's evil 
 genius. But like all other men who acted with 
 Loder, he was faithful to him in an extreme de- 
 gree, and worked like a tiger for ends which were 
 often of small interest to him personally. He 
 cared little for the odium he excited, and was cal- 
 lous to criticism. In a new country of conflicting 
 interests and unscrupulous politics there was no 
 more useful, no stronger man. 
 
 "Will you do what you can in this matter?" 
 asked Loder of Bontine. He was never quite 
 sure that Bontine might not have something of 
 his own to work which might conflict with him. 
 But Bontine nodded, and soon afterward went 
 away. He was by this time really and absolutely 
 on Loder's side. To those who had watched his 
 9 6
 
 The Colossus 
 
 career it was a remarkable indication of the 
 Chief's ultimate success. Bontine on the fence 
 was an object of fear and a man to be courted. 
 His getting off it was usually an act of prophecy. 
 Some called him a weathercock, but his career 
 suggested that his vacillation to-day meant 
 knowledge of what was coming to-morrow. 
 
 When Hinton had translated his cables to Ber- 
 wick and Le Gros into cipher, he came back to 
 Loder, by whom the silent watch-dog Matthews 
 had been sitting while he was away. 
 
 The Chief by this time was in a kind of hyp- 
 nosis, or dream-state, which frequently followed 
 a period of mental activity, when he could not 
 entirely throw the matter in hand into the Limbo 
 of Things Accomplished, or, at least, in train. 
 
 "What makes a man succeed or fail, Hinton ?" 
 said the Chief. 
 
 Hinton had been asked this question in differ- 
 ent forms a hundred times, and as he was in the 
 habit of thinking about what interested Loder, he 
 answered with promptness, if not with entire 
 clearness. 
 
 "That which makes anything else succeed or 
 fail, sir." 
 
 "And what's that?" 
 
 The Chief smoked his cigar, atid let his eye 
 rest vaguely on his Secretary. 
 97
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Isn't it energy to cope with obstacles and 
 adaptability to changing circumstances? You 
 remember how the Australian gum-tree won't 
 grow at Bulawayo just on account of the white 
 ants? And yet there are white ants in Australia 
 which it can resist, or perhaps the ants there 
 don't like it. The gum grows all right at the 
 Cape and in Johannesburg, but its one lack of 
 resistance kills it at Bulawayo." 
 
 "Go on," said Loder, when Hinton stopped. 
 
 "Aren't men like that ? A man is always being 
 attacked by something, and if he stays in one 
 environment too long, he becomes unable to resist 
 the attacks in another. You have often spoken 
 about Napoleon, sir." 
 
 "Yes," said Loder. 
 
 "Didn't he become rigid in his mind, fixed into 
 the mind of his earlier successes? and he ignored 
 the changes in the nation which was his environ- 
 ment, and through which his very successes were 
 brought about. And then he was out of touch 
 with those whom he depended upon." 
 
 "Then you must be in touch?" asked Loder 
 dreamily. "Do you think I am sufficiently in 
 touch with my environment about this railway, 
 for instance?" 
 
 "Of course," said Hinton, but " 
 
 "Go on."
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Hinton continued with some hesitation. 
 
 "But supposing you were to get crystallised 
 into a kind of idea that making railways was the 
 only thing to do, and then endeavored to force 
 that notion on a plastic nation which had turned 
 to something else, I think you might fail, sir." 
 
 "Hum," said Loder. "Go on, and why?" 
 
 "Because you must have some force behind you." 
 
 "Couldn't I have it in me?" 
 
 "You have the idea, sir, but not the strength. 
 Are we not doing our best to get help now?" 
 
 "And where would Caesar have failed if he had 
 lived?" 
 
 "When he became crystallised in his idea of 
 conquest, sir. The nation would have got tired 
 of conquest, and would have asked for rest." 
 
 "I believe you can think," said Loder ; "but all 
 the same a strong leader, to a large extent, can 
 prevent the period of stagnation coming." 
 
 "Certainly," said Hinton, "but 
 
 "Go on," said Loder. 
 
 "When one is out at sea, as one is in great 
 affairs, it is very difficult to know whether one 
 isn't rowing against an ebb. I'm glad we're in 
 a flood-tide now, Mr. Loder, if we do get into 
 eddies sometimes." 
 
 "We're in one now," said the Chief, and, en- 
 tirely forgetting Hinton and his surroundings, 
 99
 
 The Colossus 
 
 he was lost in reverie. After all, was the Great 
 Man only the unconscious representative of a 
 great constituency? It went against Loder's 
 grain to acknowledge it. He caught vague 
 glimpses at times of the truth, that no one was 
 the less great in the mighty parliament of Man, 
 because he needed the mass behind him, if he 
 was articulate where they were dumb. To direct 
 part of the motive forces of a nation was to be 
 big enough, surely. And yet Loder, like most 
 who have been elected, was in danger of consider- 
 ing the natural delegation of forces a warrant for 
 Permanent Dictatorship. Even when the most 
 futile member of Parliament gets an invitation 
 to resign, his indignation and rage at the folly of 
 his constituents are on a parallel with Napoleon's 
 wrath at finding himself no longer followed, even 
 by his generals. Few men of active life anticipate 
 superannuation with equanimity. But, then, no 
 one who suffers from senile dementia is ever 
 aware of the fact. 
 
 Eustace Loder, however, was yet far from crya. 
 tallisation and the rigidity of old age and small 
 minds. If he had ever been in danger of that 
 psychic disease known vulgarly as " swelled 
 head," his Johannesburg disaster had for a long 
 time averted the catastrophe. It was a common 
 remark among his intimates, and even among his
 
 The Colossus 
 
 opponents, that since then he had been easier to 
 deal with and less domineering. But though he 
 had a strong tendency to domineer, it was not 
 that he considered himself so great, so enormous 
 a man. It was owing to a notion, founded on 
 experience, that most other men were even 
 smaller than he was. Though the effect of this 
 might seem the same to the casual thinker, it was 
 certainly not the same with Loder ; he could con- 
 sider himself entitled to despise the ordinary man 
 without worshipping himself. And no one but 
 himself was ever conscious of his hours of weak- 
 ness. Yet from the ashes of those dead hours 
 he rose anew with tremendous courage. 
 "My political life is only now beginning." 
 So spoke the Phcenix of African affairs when he 
 was burnt in tribulation, but re-created out of fire. 
 The man who is visible to his fellows is ever 
 no more than a figurehead for the mixed per- 
 sonalities behind the mask. Only sometimes was 
 Loder aware of the boiling impulses, which he 
 but partly understood, that surged within him. 
 When he did understand (in some early hour of 
 dawn as he galloped through living air), he felt 
 like a conscious automaton ; like one mote of 
 humanity in a moving tide that was yet himself ; 
 like the solitary soul seated, a remote, uplifted 
 Teufelsdrockh, in the pineal gland of the brain. 
 101
 
 The Colossus 
 
 And yet in this isolation and remoteness came 
 very fruitful hours of exaltation which he could 
 have revealed to no living man. 
 
 In such hours, equally rare and terrible, he saw 
 with the eyes of a seer how Destiny moved among 
 the Empires. He saw (in later years with more 
 appreciation) how a new era shone red on the 
 horizon; he perceived the blind intent of races 
 in a wider arena. The simplicity of his own na- 
 ture, simple because he took for granted his own 
 creative desires, rebelled at first against the com- 
 plexity of intrigue, and at last he perceived that 
 such complexity was necessary, and yet only 
 complex because he stood near it. The original 
 impulse of his own people was simple enough, 
 but it tended to lose itself in pools and shallows. 
 That impulse, caught in himself, and refreshed 
 by contact with a single mind, could be translated 
 anew into concentrated action, just as the feeble 
 electric current is reinvigorated after its passage 
 beneath the Atlantic, and speaks its message. 
 The message he spoke anew was the message of 
 the Anglo-Saxon race. Not only Homer returned 
 to the people in flood what they sent up to him in 
 vapor. 
 
 If Eustace Loder had been asked to accept this 
 he would have denied it doubtfully, and then, 
 after struggling with words, which were often 
 
 IO2
 
 The Colossus 
 
 like indefinite symbols to him, would have ad- 
 mitted that there was some truth in it. But as 
 those in contact with a man tend to regard his 
 mere visible husk-case as the man himself, so 
 Eustace Loder in the ordinary business of life 
 fell, as all men fall, into the same error. He took 
 the part of himself which was definite and called 
 it the whole. He said he was Conservative, when 
 the whole essence of his life and his success was 
 that he stood out as a National Delegate. The 
 people who applauded him were taught by a truer 
 instinct than his own. The mass of those races 
 who feared him corroborated, from their differ- 
 ent standpoint, the conclusions reached by those 
 who upheld him. 
 
 But, in any case, behind his nature was the 
 sombre and powerful genius of the English na- 
 tion. It worked as he worked ; it was strong and 
 it was petty ; it was cruel, it was kind ; it knew no 
 scruples, yet sometimes shied at very shadows ; 
 it was as inexorable as death, energetic as the sun 
 itself, as cruel as hate, as childlike as mere folly 
 bland, blatant, inevitable, humorous. 
 
 And perhaps the gods laughed to see their 
 child, this Man, this demi-god, afraid of a mere 
 woman. 
 
 "Stay here, Wilberforce. I see her coming," 
 said Eustace Loder. 
 
 103
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 So peace fell upon the party at Cairo for a little 
 while, and in this period of peace Berwick had no 
 peace, for, like a good lieutenant in a far portion 
 of the extended battle line, he had to sacrifice 
 himself, and spare neither labor nor the persua- 
 sion of his tongue in the doing of the Impossible. 
 To influence the Home Government with its 
 awful inertia, to make it translate a little of its 
 vast potential energy into the realm of kinetics, 
 to stir up Berlin Finance into a reconsideration 
 of settled plans, was what he had to do. But that 
 he was doing it, or demonstrating that it could 
 not be done, gave Gertrude Broughton, out in 
 sunny Cairo, a chance she had often worked and 
 plotted for in vain. 
 
 If Eustace Loder had met her grimly upon 
 some lovely morning, and, without watch-dogs, 
 had made her to understand that he was wedded 
 to Africa forever, she might have reckoned up 
 her resources and given way. But, by shirking 
 such encounters, he encouraged her ambition till 
 it became rash. 
 
 104
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "He's just shy," she said. 
 
 And though the world might have smiled at 
 the notion, it was nevertheless partly true. 
 
 "If he did not like me, would he take such 
 care?" she demanded. "He recognises his weak- 
 ness." 
 
 But then his weakness was partly a natural 
 tenderness for the weak. In his individual con- 
 duct as a man he was tender to a fault ; he could 
 endure no act of cruelty, and was the first to re- 
 buke it if no outside force of bitter circumstance 
 made it necessary. He had no desire to humiliate 
 a woman, even if her ambition led her in the path 
 to receive humiliation. Sometimes he was even 
 conscious of a flattery of the senses in the am- 
 bitious adoration of this piquant courtship. 
 
 And Gertrude began to think that at one blast 
 of her feminine trumpet the walls of Jericho 
 would tumble down. She would see him alone; 
 she was not accustomed to give way. And 
 Chance, rather than her management, gave her 
 the opportunity. 
 
 "Yes, we'll all go out to the Pyramids if you 
 like," said Loder. "Hinton, arrange to have the 
 carriages here early, and I'll ride with you. Will 
 you come, Romney?" 
 
 "If I'm not expected to climb a pyramid, I 
 will," said the big Contractor. 
 105
 
 The Colossus 
 
 He wanted to suggest having a coach and four 
 horses. He could then drive part of the way, and 
 try to blow the horn the rest of the time. When 
 he got a yell out of the coach-horn he was happy. 
 
 But Tiny Bontine preferred a less elevated po- 
 sition than the top of a coach tooled by Sam 
 Romney. 
 
 "I would as soon climb the Pyramids," she 
 declared. 
 
 "If you will climb, Mr. Loder, I'll come up 
 too," said Gertrude boldly. 
 
 What an enormous situation was in her mind ! 
 To woo the very spirit of Africa on the Pyramid 
 of Cheops ; to look down in company with Forty 
 Centuries on the underworld; to play Cleopatra 
 to this wily, aloof Csesar ! 
 
 "Eh, what?" said Caesar. "I climb the Pyra- 
 mids ! Now, do I look like it ?" 
 
 Gertrude shrugged her shoulders. 
 
 "I believe you could jump over them if you 
 liked," she declared. "And as for that, you are 
 always climbing pyramids." 
 
 "Or building them," said Bontine. "The only 
 difference between Loder and Cheops is that 
 Loder believes in productive expenditure. If 
 Cheops had used up his slaves on making a 
 through road to the Cape, Romney could have 
 taken a lower price for laying his rails." 
 106
 
 The Colossus 
 
 So the expedition was arranged. But in the 
 morning Gertrude put on her riding habit. 
 
 "Tiny thinks I'm going with her. But I'm 
 not," she said. 
 
 Loder did not turn up at breakfast, and sent 
 out word that they were to start at once. He 
 would follow in a few minutes. 
 
 When Hinton explained that the Chief had re- 
 ceived some despatches which he did not hand 
 over to him, the delay was accounted for. 
 
 "I'm coming," said Hinton. 
 
 And Wilberforce Matthews came too. 
 
 But Gertrude was discreet. Much as she 
 wished to wait for the Chief and ride with him, 
 she dared not risk it, and she rode ahead of the 
 carriages. 
 
 From the river to the Pyramids by the straight 
 line of the road is but six miles. Even at that 
 distance their enormous bulk cuts the sky. As 
 Gertrude rode, she watched them grow and be- 
 come clearer in the exquisite morning air, in 
 which a touch of freshness, born of the night, 
 still lingered. They were ancient sentinels of 
 civilisation on the verge of the topaz desert, which 
 had beheld them rise. By their apparent immor- 
 tality they were infinitely suggestive of mortal- 
 ity. For a moment, as the woman was alone, she 
 felt with impatience the apparent impotence of 
 107
 
 The Colossus 
 
 human aspiration. What was she or any one? 
 What even was the big Chief? Now Rameses 
 was dust in ragged cere-clothes ; Thothmes stared 
 coldly with dim unspeculative eyes on the walls 
 of a very morgue ; Kings and Queens, lovers and 
 beloved, were alike nothing. "Pharaoh is sold 
 for balsams, and Miriam cures wounds." 
 
 But as the night of contemplation goes, the hot 
 sun and the day return, and man takes up the 
 infinitely small part which cloaks the spirit, even 
 from his own eyes. 
 
 "What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba?" 
 
 And what are the Pyramids ? 
 
 So Gertrude closed her mind again that 
 part of her mind which was not herself and 
 became live dust once more, and the creature of 
 ambition. 
 
 Now after her rode Eustace Loder, she said. 
 In her thoughts she saw him gallop, heard the 
 thunder of his horse's hoofs. It suggested pur- 
 suit, force, and conquest. Her heart beat more 
 quickly as she turned. 
 
 A quarter of a mile from her were the car- 
 riages. Looking beyond them, she saw nothing. 
 No leader of men was urging his headlong course 
 her way. Strain her eyes as she would she saw 
 nothing on the straight and solitary road. Was 
 he coming after all ? 
 
 108
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "It looks as if he wasn't," said Gertrude. And 
 the light died out of the day. She felt mean and 
 cross, and as angry with Eustace Loder as if he 
 had played a boyish trick upon her. And yet 
 who could tell what great necessity kept him in 
 Cairo ? No one knew better than she that by now 
 the Chief might have utterly forgotten that the 
 Pyramids existed, that any of his friends were 
 living and breathing within miles of him. And 
 yet, in her mind, she saw him lift at last an un- 
 speculative eye (not quite so ray less as Thoth- 
 mes') and look for the absent Hinton, who was 
 his right hand. 
 
 She now rode slowly, and the carriages gained 
 on her. 
 
 "Do you see him coming?" asked Tiny. 
 
 "Do you see him, Sister Anne ?" said Romney. 
 
 "I do not see him," said Gertrude with ill-con- 
 cealed sulkiness. 
 
 "I dare say he's deep in his letters," said Tiny, 
 "and he has forgotten us. About lunch-time he 
 will wake up and say, 'Eh, what ?' " 
 
 So might a white mouse mimic a polar bear, 
 but Tiny set them all laughing. Even Hinton 
 and Matthews left off being very polite to each 
 other. But Gertrude's laugh was without hearti- 
 ness. She was in a reverie, and wondering if 
 she dared go back to Cairo. If Loder was com- 
 109
 
 The Colossus 
 
 ing she would meet him. If he was not coming 
 he would be alone at the hotel. There sat his 
 little watch-dog in the carriage, full of himself 
 and his own importance. 
 
 "I'll think about it," said Gertrude. 
 
 Already they were within reach of the mongrel 
 Arab throng guarding the Pyramids. 
 
 "I believe I'll do it," she cried as she paid no 
 attention to the bronzed ruffians who begged to 
 be employed, and looked on her as the agent in 
 advance for the carriages. 
 
 She glared at them, and saw them not. 
 
 "I will do it," said Gertrude, and as the car- 
 riages stayed in the motley gang by the hotel, 
 she rode on ahead, turned to the right, got behind 
 the building, and galloped straight back toward 
 Cairo. 
 
 For all the weeks they had been in Egypt, she 
 had never got a single moment alone with the 
 Chief. At what particular time the poor man 
 grew alarmed she was unable to say, but the 
 fright must have happened since seeing him at 
 Stellenbosch. Perhaps it happened then. She 
 remembered giving him a rose not very long after 
 it had occurred to her what a desirable triumph 
 over every woman in South Africa a marriage 
 with Eustace Loder would be. She knew no 
 woman yet fancy-free who would have refused
 
 The Colossus 
 
 him. She knew some who would have sacrificed 
 their inclinations to their ambitions. A bachelor 
 of any sort, and at any time, excites the feminine 
 mind with natural indignation, and an especially 
 fine specimen provokes the intensest desire to pin 
 him upon cardboard. 
 
 "Men hunt wild animals; we hunt men;" and 
 when man takes to hunting his brother, he is 
 aware how tame all other sport is. 
 
 Truly it had got to this point with Gertrude 
 Broughton. She regarded him as a Western 
 American regards a mythical bear, as the orchid- 
 hunter regards the lost species which may be 
 found once more, as the metaphysician regards a 
 new "method," as a book-lover regards a unique 
 Elzevir or Caxton. There are recorded cases of 
 Bishops "collecting" in another's library. What 
 wonder, then, if a mere woman was hardly 
 ashamed when she desired Eustace Loder? 
 
 And yet she was ashamed. And as she rode 
 she swore that she was not merely going back to 
 see him. She felt unwell. Her heart beat 
 queerly. She was going to have a headache ; the 
 sun was too much for her. She was going home 
 to lie down in a darkened room. Of course if 
 she could see him she might talk to him for a 
 moment, and say how bad her head was, and try 
 to draw out his sympathy as the sun in a warm 
 in
 
 The Colossus 
 
 pool makes an anemone show itself. But to say 
 she was going back entirely on his account was 
 false. 
 
 She knew it was false. She was going back on 
 her own. 
 
 And as she galloped Cairo grew into Minarets 
 and Domes, and the sound of it filled the air at 
 last, and the smell of it filled the nostrils. She 
 crossed the Nile, and came to the hotel, and, 
 leaving her horse, ran inside into heavy shadows. 
 Indeed, indeed, she felt ill. Her heart beat 
 tremendously; her knees were loosened. For 
 one moment she was half inclined to go to her 
 room and lie down, and pretend to be quite as 
 bad as she felt. 
 
 Yet she had some courage, or she had never 
 come to this pass, when she felt her very reputa- 
 tion depended upon success. An open door in- 
 vited her. 
 
 But Loder was not there. 
 
 She passed into the next, and he was not 
 there. 
 
 Perhaps he had gone out just as she came in, 
 and was now riding at his usual headlong gallop 
 across the desert. She ran to the window, and 
 saw nothing. 
 
 If he was not in the next room 
 
 But he was.
 
 The Colossus 
 
 And as Gertrude entered it and came toward 
 him smiling a little pathetically, his glassy eye 
 gleamed and he sprang to his feet. The table in 
 front of him was covered with papers. With 
 one clutch of his big hands he swept them to- 
 gether, and, looking like a startled buck, bounded 
 out of the room. He drove the folding-doors 
 apart with his shoulder, and was gone. 
 
 But Gertrude burst into shrill, high-pitched 
 laughter. It was her only defence ; she made it 
 carry far. And then she stamped on the floor 
 and burst into tears. In five minutes she got her 
 headache right enough, and was then quite sure 
 that she had returned with one. And as for 
 Eustace Loder, he was neither a man nor a 
 human being ! 
 
 For two hours she hated him, and devised tor- 
 tures for him. For an hour she despised him 
 thoroughly. For half an hour she pitied him 
 consumedly. For some fifteen minutes she 
 wondered if she should really like him again. 
 
 And then she did like him again. 
 
 But Eustace Loder was locked inside his bed- 
 room, and there was damning in heaps Gertrude 
 and Hinton, and especially Wilberforce Mat- 
 thews. What the devil did the man mean by not 
 instantly returning when that infernal woman 
 rode back? 
 
 s 113
 
 The Colossus 
 
 And yet and yet she obviously liked him very 
 much. And certainly she was pretty. And if he 
 ever meant marrying any one (which he did not), 
 he did not absolutely and forever reject her as a 
 possible wife. But that he was being pursued 
 worried him. It took his mind away from work, 
 from the Transcontinental Railway, from the big 
 intrigue, from a possible way out. And in hu- 
 miliating herself she humiliated him. She made 
 him show the curiously weak side of his charac- 
 ter. He knew that many a man, say even Bon- 
 tine, could have patted her on the cheek and have 
 said, "There, my dear child, don't be a fool !" 
 But with such a woman he himself was like a 
 schoolboy. She terrified and abashed him. He 
 had no defence, no weapons ; no zareba of thorny 
 speech could protect him ; he was forced to flight 
 at any Omdurman. He shut himself in his room 
 as though he were the Khalifa himself in some 
 vast wilderness of Kordofan. With shaking 
 hands he tried to rearrange the sheaf of papers 
 he had snatched up in his escape. But he could 
 attend to nothing. He would have to speak to 
 Bontine. And yet he did not want to hurt the 
 woman. He could not do that. 
 
 He might have spared himself the trouble of 
 thinking how to avoid it. For Gertrude had her 
 plan of campaign ready. She sent out word that 
 114
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Lady Bontine was to be asked to come to her the 
 moment the party returned from the Pyramids. 
 And when Tiny came she begged her not to 
 speak so loud. 
 
 "Oh, my dear Tiny, I had such an awful, awful 
 headache ! I felt it coming on this morning, but 
 I didn't want to spoil the excursion. That's why 
 I would ride. Oh, my head is bad !" 
 
 "My poor dear!" said Tiny, who had no ob- 
 jection to being deceived. No woman of decency 
 ever desires the truth naked and unashamed, espe- 
 cially at such a juncture. "My poor dear, what 
 a pity you went out in the sun !" 
 
 "Yes," moaned Gertrude, "and I didn't like to 
 tell you I knew you would be so disturbed 
 but I thought that if I went away quietly you 
 would guess what was wrong." 
 
 Tiny put a cool hand on the sufferer's fever- 
 ed brow, which, by the way, was no longer 
 fevered. 
 
 "I did guess, dear," she murmured. 
 
 "And, oh, Tiny, you can't think what hap- 
 pened." 
 
 "Doesn't it hurt you to talk, darling?" 
 
 Gertrude groaned a little. 
 
 "Oh, I must tell you. I went into the little 
 sitting-room, and Mr. Loder was there. And 
 when he saw me, the big fool jumped up and ran
 
 The Colossus 
 
 away without a word. And, ill as I was, Tiny, I 
 shrieked with laughter. I just shrieked." 
 
 "It must have been funny," said Tiny with a 
 sympathetic squeeze of Gertrude's hand. "He is 
 a fool. But now, dear, you must be quiet, and 
 I'll send you some tea soon. Will you be able to 
 come down to dinner ?" 
 
 Gertrude moaned. 
 
 "What, with a head like this ? Tell them how 
 bad I am, and how bad I was this morning, won't 
 you?" 
 
 "I will," said Tiny. And with a kiss she de- 
 parted noiselessly. She shut the door with the 
 utmost caution. 
 
 "She's a dear," cried Gertrude as she got off 
 the bed and drew back the curtains. 
 
 But the interview between Loder and Wilber- 
 force Matthews was of quite a different charac- 
 ter, and there was a certain amount of strong 
 language in it. 
 
 "What I want to know is, how the deuce I was 
 to know?" cried Matthews afterward to Hinton. 
 
 But Emory was very sulky, and told him to 
 go to the devil.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 WITH Tiny Bontine and Gertrude in alliance, 
 Loder was rather sorry for himself next day. 
 For it was taken for granted that the poor Chief 
 had shown extraordinary rudeness and want of 
 sympathy for a woman with a bad headache. 
 
 Hinton, who soon got over his annoyance at 
 what had happened, played his cards skilfully, 
 and made himself extremely pleasant to Ger- 
 trude. 
 
 "Indeed, what a bad headache you had!" he 
 said earnestly. "I could see it in your eyes." 
 
 He invented headaches in his own family, and 
 gave examples how, at a glance, he could detect 
 them in his sisters. 
 
 Hinton, who by now occupied the difficult posi- 
 tion of being on the verge of love with the 
 woman who was, or believed herself to be, in love 
 with Eustace Loder, had quite come to the con- 
 clusion that Gertrude's persistent passion was 
 merely perverse obstinacy. He could not detect 
 any signs of love in her, and, being without much 
 experience of his own, was not aware that a very 
 respectable degree of infatuation may be com- 
 117
 
 The Colossus 
 
 patible with a fair appetite and a good color. But 
 even so, it was a great comfort to him to perceive 
 that the Chief grew more and more afraid of the 
 lady. 
 
 Gertrude, who for some days maintained a 
 vague and haughty demeanor, was all the time 
 concocting, or trying to concoct, that elusive plan 
 for making herself absolutely necessary to the 
 Chief. Tiny had told her what George Bontine 
 had said about Zohrab Bey. 
 
 But how to disgrace Zohrab, how to get a hold 
 on him? And was it an honest thing to try to 
 disgrace an honest man? She admitted that in 
 any other case it would be rather wicked, but as 
 it concerned Eustace Loder and the Cape to 
 Cairo Railway it was a different thing. 
 
 "Why don't you try and get Zohrab turned 
 out?" she asked Hinton. 
 
 "I think you wanted to know that before," said 
 Hinton, "and I believe I told you that we can't. 
 If he was a Minister, Sir Ellis Bullen could shunt 
 him ; but he's in the Khedive's Household." 
 
 Gertrude touched Emory on the sleeve as they 
 sat under the veranda. He turned round and 
 found her eyes fixed on him. 
 
 "Why can't you disgrace him in some way ?" 
 
 "And get him out of favor, you mean ?" 
 
 Gertrude nodded. 
 
 118
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "I don't see how to do it." 
 
 "I think I see," said Gertrude. 
 
 "See what?" 
 
 "How to do it," said Gertrude. 
 
 And Hinton shrugged his shoulders. By that 
 gesture he lost all chance of getting Gertrude's 
 confidence. He piqued her intensely. 
 
 "Then I'll do it by myself," said Gertrude. "I 
 was thinking of asking your help, but I won't." 
 
 She got up and marched away indignantly. 
 
 "He thinks I'm a fool," she cried. "But I'll 
 show him and Eustace Loder that they are the 
 fools. If I were a man, I'd have Zohrab put in a 
 sack and dropped into the Nile. But I'm only a 
 woman." 
 
 But that humility was the humility of pride. 
 
 "If Eustace Loder were never to speak to me 
 again, I'd help him all the same. He thinks he 
 does everything himself; but I'll show him he 
 doesn't." 
 
 And now for some days Loder spoke to few 
 but Hinton and Bontine. Berwick had sent him 
 two cables. 
 
 "He says, sir," said Hinton when he had trans- 
 lated them out of cipher, "that the Duke won't 
 move in the matter of the contingent guarantee, 
 but that when Parliament meets next month there 
 is some chance of exercising pressure on him." 
 119
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Loder frowned. 
 
 "And as to Berlin?" 
 
 "He cables from Berlin in the second cable," 
 said Hinton, "and in two words 'Finance im- 
 movable/ " 
 
 "Damn !" said Loder. "Upon my soul I'm get- 
 ting sick of it. For two pins I'd go back to the 
 Cape and breed lions, and let everything go." 
 
 He thought he meant it, but those who knew 
 him were well aware that when he spoke in that 
 manner it was the prelude to renewed activity. 
 His pride was in succeeding ; and each year it be- 
 came a more intolerable thing to fail. But the 
 most intolerable thing of all was not failure in 
 any given scheme it was failure in the renewal 
 of perseverance. His perseverance was more 
 than individual it was racial, automatic, self- 
 renewing. He did things, not so often by in- 
 spiration, as by blind search for the open way. 
 The line of least resistance is found easiest by the 
 mobile fluid. 
 
 Romney and Oppenheimer could not be moved. 
 Very well, then, he accepted them. Powell could 
 not be bought, because no one could guarantee 
 his acting fairly by those who bought him last. 
 Once and again he had tried Cazoule, but found 
 him inexorable as to his terms. Sir Ellis Bullen 
 would not. use his power to squeeze the Egyptian
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Government. The Duke of Enfield would not 
 insist on that Government being squeezed. The 
 English people were not yet awake to the fact 
 that so much depended on laying down this rail- 
 way. For a railway is the best form of actual 
 occupation. They did not even know how great- 
 ly the recovery of the Soudan, and the avenging 
 of Gordon, were due to him. He felt he wanted 
 to get upon a big platform and say so in a few 
 blunt words : " Well, Gentlemen, and in this com- 
 pany of Africa, unlimited, we're all shareholders, 
 all of us. We are amalgamating the various 
 competing businesses, and by spending money 
 now we shall save money by-and-by. We have 
 practically taken Egypt into partnership, and we 
 have improved that business. And there's the 
 Soudan; and Uganda; and Nyassaland; and 
 Rhodesia. It's for you to say whether it's worth 
 it. Remember, if you ever lose money as share- 
 holders, that England owns the debentures. 
 That's my scheme." 
 
 But he could not speak that way. There were 
 always so many others to consult. The thing 
 must be done quietly. And the English people 
 were in some things so innocent. They seemed 
 to believe in Destiny, but they never thought of 
 the myriad ways of Destiny's working. The 
 mere fact of mining and countermining, of in-
 
 The Colossus 
 
 trigue in intrigue, and intrigue against intrigue, 
 shocked them. They preferred (like himself, by 
 the way) to cry, "Oh, go away, and don't worry 
 me with details !" 
 
 But what was the line of least resistance now? 
 
 He lighted a long black cigar, locked one ankle 
 round the other, and let his mind work like yeast. 
 And, seeing this, Hinton bundled up his papers 
 and Berwick's cables and departed. 
 
 He found Gertrude and Tiny and Sam Rom- 
 ney round the corner. 
 
 "What's the news?" asked big Sam. 
 
 "None," said Hinton dryly. 
 
 "And for once no news is not good news," said 
 Romney, who was himself beginning to get wor- 
 ried as to the final outcome of the affair. Though 
 habit, liking, and many interests bound him to 
 Oppenheimer, he could not help feeling it was 
 possible that he and his partner were ruining 
 Loder's greatest scheme. And if he did ruin it, 
 both he and Oppenheimer made nothing out of 
 it That was "flat." 
 
 "Is Loder to be talked with this morning?" he 
 asked. 
 
 But Hinton shook his head. 
 
 "Dear me!" said Gertrude, "the way we all 
 hang upon Mr. Loder, and Mr. Loder's moods 
 and Mr. Loder's whims, and let Mr. Loder walk 
 
 122
 
 The Colossus 
 
 over us, argues one of two things: either he's 
 very big, or we are very small. And this morn- 
 ing I incline to the last hypothesis. But tell 
 us the truth, Mr. Hinton, Conspirator, have 
 you settled to cut Zohrab's throat or your 
 own?" 
 
 "Don't talk horridly," said Tiny. "Let Mr. 
 Romney go on amusing us. Tell us how you 
 get on with the violoncello, Mr. Romney." 
 
 "You would fiddle while Rome was burning!" 
 cried Gertrude. "But go on, Mr. Romney, tell 
 her all about the 'cello. I'm going." 
 
 She followed Hinton, and when they were 
 round the corner she called to him. 
 
 "Mr. Hinton!" 
 
 "Miss Broughton !" 
 
 "I want to meet Zohrab Bey." 
 
 Hinton looked down on her. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Just out of curiosity." 
 
 "Haven't you seen him?" 
 
 She nodded. "But I've not spoken to him. 
 Does he talk English?" 
 
 "Not well," said Emory. "And what is your 
 French like?" 
 
 Gertrude made a mouth and shrugged her 
 shoulders. 
 
 "Not so good. But I can talk enough to get 
 123
 
 The Colossus 
 
 on with. I want to meet Zohrab again. How is 
 it to be done?" 
 
 Emory grunted. 
 
 "Why do you want to meet him?" he asked 
 suspiciously. 
 
 Gertrude shook her head. 
 
 "Didn't I say out of curiosity?" 
 
 "Yes; and this morning you said you thought 
 you saw how to disgrace him, and that you 
 would do it all by yourself, didn't you?" 
 
 Gertrude laughed. 
 
 "Of course I did; but you don't imagine I 
 mean everything I say, do you? Am I not a 
 woman ?" 
 
 "I don't know," said Emory gloomily. 
 
 "Well, then, a human being?" 
 
 "Perhaps," said Emory ; "but you are not uni- 
 versally humane." 
 
 "Indeed, no!" cried Gertrude. "I cannot go 
 so far as that. But how can I meet Zohrab? If 
 you won't tell me I'll ask Wilberforce Matthews. 
 He'll do anything I ask him." 
 
 "You might go to the big ball given by the 
 French Minister next week," said Emory rather 
 hastily. 
 
 "Why, we are going," said Gertrude ; "but will 
 Zohrab be there?" 
 
 "Of course." 
 
 124
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Oh, thank you so much !" she cried. "Thank 
 you ever so much. And will you go, too?" 
 
 "I don't know. I think not. If you were to 
 ask me " 
 
 "I'm not giving the ball, Mr. Hinton, and I 
 can't ask you." 
 
 "All right," said Emory shortly ; "then I shan't 
 go." 
 
 And after saying so he went right off to a man 
 who knew a French Attache intimately, and 
 screwed out of him (for value received in infor- 
 mation of no value) the promise of a card for this 
 particular function. 
 
 While he was thus engaged, Gertrude was re- 
 considering in the light of these later events the 
 dress she meant to wear at the ball. If it was 
 true that Zohrab was particularly sensible to the 
 charms of feminine beauty, she might very possi- 
 bly make a fool of him. And yet she remem- 
 bered that ass Wilberforce Matthews saying: 
 
 "His character is not, for instance, what one 
 could recommend." 
 
 She was no child, and understood well enough 
 that engaging in any plot against a man of this 
 sort meant some danger. 
 
 "I'll risk it," she cried, and having decided to 
 do so, she felt much happier, and sat down to 
 work out the details of a plan which was rather 
 125
 
 The Colossus 
 
 melodramatic, but appeared to her to have con- 
 siderable merits. "I'll show him that I've not 
 known every detail in intriguing at the Cape for 
 nothing. But men always think us fools till they 
 find out the contrary. And really (when I think 
 of most women) it's a safe rule." 
 
 And, indeed, such a strongly held tradition 
 among men must have some grounds to rest on. 
 It was very doubtful whether Gertrude and her 
 notions would not in the end strengthen this 
 masculine induction. Feeling sure that Bontine 
 would nip any action of hers in the bud, she de- 
 cided to tell nobody. 
 
 "I'll play this hand alone," she cried. 
 
 After lunch she drove out by herself, and had 
 an interview with a voluble Frenchman in Bulak 
 Street, who acted as a general commission and 
 house agent. And on her return toward the 
 hotel she stayed for half an hour with the man- 
 ager of a Bank on which she held a draft when 
 she first came to Cairo with Tiny. 
 
 "Then I will cable to Cape Town at once, 
 madam," said the manager, as he saw her to her 
 carriage. 
 
 "If you will be so good," cried Miss Brough- 
 ton.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 IF they had not all turned toward Eustace 
 Loder, as Mohammedans turn toward the Kib- 
 leh at prayer-time, and if Tiny especially had not 
 been much occupied with her husband, they 
 might have noted during the next week that Ger- 
 trude was in a strange abnormal mood. She was 
 fidgety and abstracted; she eyed them with as 
 unspeculative a glare as ever Loder used when 
 deep in thinking ; she began to speak, and broke 
 off in the most unsatisfactory manner. But she 
 baffled all inquiries, and even snubbed Hinton. 
 
 "Now, what were you beginning to say?" he 
 asked. 
 
 "I was thinking of of of Cape politics," she 
 replied. 
 
 "And of the orientation of the Pyramids," sug- 
 gested Emory scornfully, "or of me." 
 
 "You and the Pyramids ! Dear me, Mr. Hin- 
 ton !" 
 
 "Ego, et Rex meus," said Hinton. "At any 
 rate, I know where I am, and so far I greatly 
 resemble even the Great Pyramid." 
 127
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Well, I was not thinking of the Pyramid and 
 its new partner. As I said, I was thinking of 
 politics." 
 
 "I believe you are scheming about Zohrab," 
 said Emory. "I hope you are not." 
 
 "Zohrab! I'd almost forgotten him," cried 
 Gertrude cheerfully. "I was considering how it 
 was that you all seemed to be in the ditch. Do 
 you know, you remind me of a child's rhyme I 
 heard the other day in England." 
 
 "What was it?" 
 
 "It went like this," said Gertrude : 
 
 " 'The centipede was happy till the toad one day, in fun, 
 Said, "Pray which leg goes after which?" 
 That wrought him up to such a pitch 
 He lay distracted in a ditch, 
 Considering how to run.' " 
 
 "I believe you wrote it," said Hinton. "But, 
 to be hypercritical, centipedes don't run, and as 
 to our centipede, we mean getting there." 
 
 "And so do I," said Gertrude. "But the au- 
 dience is getting tired of waiting for you." 
 
 "What audience?" 
 
 "The British Public. The papers are full of 
 Mr. Loder, and Sir George Bontine, and so on, 
 but " 
 
 "They don't know the truth. They take it all 
 128
 
 The Colossus 
 
 on trust. Here we are, and they know we don't 
 come to Egypt for our health." 
 
 "You are saying 'We' !" 
 
 "I mean you too," cried Hinton. "But am 
 I to come to that ball ?" 
 
 "If you like," said Gertrude. "She looked at 
 him vaguely. "I am not the French Minister's 
 wife." 
 
 "She's a pretty woman." 
 
 "Thanks," said Gertrude. 
 
 "But you are beautiful." 
 
 "It's getting very warm here," said Gertrude, 
 and she rose. She stayed, all the same. 
 
 "Is Zohrab what people call a bad man?" 
 
 "How bad?" asked Emory. 
 
 "Oh, just bad," said Gertrude ; "you know." 
 
 "I don't," cried Emory ; "but " 
 
 "Can you recommend him as a chaperon, so to 
 speak?" 
 
 "Scarcely," said Hinton coldly. "Not in that 
 way." 
 
 "You are sure?" 
 
 "Certain." 
 
 Gertrude nodded. 
 
 "Then/ I must avoid him, of course. How 
 very annoying, just when I was getting inter- 
 ested in his noble character!" 
 
 -129
 
 The Colossus 
 
 She really went then, but she left Emory Hin- 
 ton staring after her curiously. 
 
 "I wish I knew what she is up to," he mur- 
 mured. 
 
 And at last the day of the ball came. Hinton 
 had made arrangements and was asked, but at 
 the last Loder couldn't do without him. Ber- 
 wick's accounts by letter of his attempts to move 
 Finance in Berlin, and the democratic Duke of 
 Enfield in London, came to hand that very even- 
 ing, and Loder, who for some days had been 
 more or less in the open air of life, plunged head- 
 long once more into the mephitic cave of In- 
 trigue. 
 
 "Devilish good man !" said Loder. 
 
 He referred to Berwick, who certainly had en- 
 deavored to move mountains. He had written 
 a letter somewhat according to Loder's own 
 specification concerning the likelihood of an 
 English Protectorate in Egypt. 
 
 He said : 
 
 "I enclose you a letter as to the Protectorate. 
 I think it sounds plausible, and you might pos- 
 sibly be able to use it at any moment when an 
 ounce extra seems wanted. But it is, of course, 
 a pure concoction." 
 
 The enclosed letter read thus : 
 
 130
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Private. 
 
 "DEAR MR. LODER, 
 
 "I have just returned from Berlin. The mat- 
 ter you suggested has been carried through con- 
 tingently. The result will not appear unless you 
 
 wish it to come out. I saw the Duke of , as 
 
 was suggested to me by our Egyptian friend, 
 and though he was, as usual, extremely cautious, 
 you need not be afraid of the result if it is only 
 pushed sufficiently. English opinion in the mat- 
 ter is rapidly growing, but the public expression 
 of it has been guarded, owing to suggestions 
 made by the F. O. to the big Editors. I am in- 
 clined to suggest that, as the Tanganyika guar- 
 antee \vill certainly go through next session, you 
 might with advantage decline to negotiate in 
 Egypt on the old lines. Pressure toward a Pro- 
 tectorate is what they want here, and if it is set 
 about that your scheme has been spoiled by 
 French intrigue, there will be trouble. As to 
 Germany and Turkey, please see enclosed cipher. 
 "Yours very sincerely, 
 
 "Louis BERWICK." 
 
 When Hinton read this out, Loder laughed 
 and smote his thigh. And Emory Hinton 
 chuckled. 
 
 "I can see Berwick's face as he wrote it, sir,"
 
 The Colossus 
 
 said Emory. "His eyes would twinkle, wouldn't 
 they?" 
 
 "It's not bad not at all bad," said Loder. 
 "Berwick's heart is in his work, and it always 
 was, whether he fought for me or against me." 
 
 Hinton read further in the covering letter : 
 
 "In the postscript he says : 'I sent over to 
 Van Beer at Paris to see that it was suggested 
 that Cazoule and his backers were playing into 
 the hands of England. And X has the tip 
 too." 
 
 X was the very important Paris representative 
 of a very important London paper, and was par- 
 tially in the confidence of Loder's party, and of 
 Loder too. But that last was a different thing. 
 It was sometimes said that Loder gave no one 
 his whole confidence. Hinton occasionally per- 
 ceived curious and inexplicable lacunae in Lo- 
 der's theories, but when he pointed them out the 
 Chief was apt to do no more than grunt. If he 
 was pressed further he growled, "That's all 
 right." 
 
 When Hinton had finished Berwick's letter 
 and taken the Chief's instructions with regard to 
 answering certain points, he hoped to get away. 
 But Loder was in a rather talkative mood, and 
 persisted in discussing Cazoule from a personal 
 point of view. If Hinton agreed with him he 
 132
 
 The Colossus 
 
 nodded; if he disagreed he heard his Secretary 
 to the last, and went on to another point. 
 
 "I don't think he will trouble about being a 
 Frenchman," said Hinton in the end. "After 
 all, he's a financier and the mouthpiece of 
 Finance. And, as you say, though the French 
 Government and the French financiers play a 
 give-and-take game, there is little patriotism 
 about money." 
 
 And though Romney came along later, Hin- 
 ton never got to the ball. He stayed up till 
 the rest came back, though, and he found Ger- 
 trude in the most inexplicable and maddening 
 spirits. 
 
 "I've talked with the Head of the Household," 
 she declared, "and found him most fascinating." 
 
 "Yes?" 
 
 "I should think so," cried Gertrude; "I have 
 come to the conclusion that Egyptians and 
 Turks, but especially Turks " 
 
 "Zohrab isn't a Turk." 
 
 "Who said he was? You interrupt, Mr. Hin- 
 ton, and have no tact. I adore Zohrab, and I sat 
 and talked with him for hours. He talks a little 
 English and called me 'Meess'; and then we 
 talked French, and he wanted me to go round 
 the corner to smoke a cigarette." 
 
 "Gertrude !" cried Tiny, "do behave yourself." 
 133
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Gertrude dropped her wraps in a heap and 
 stood up with outstretched arms. 
 
 "Kill me, Tiny, but I can't behave myself. It's 
 quite impossible at times : who knows that better 
 than you?" 
 
 "I don't," said Tiny with much indignation. 
 
 But Gertrude paid no attention. 
 
 "I've fallen in love with Zohrab. I shall at- 
 tach him to my train. I shall drag him at my 
 chariot wheels. I am sure he adores me. Tiny, 
 wasn't it obvious ?" 
 
 "It was very obvious that I shall have to re- 
 move you by force into Europe," said Sir 
 George, laughing. 
 
 Gertrude laughed too. 
 
 "My dear, dear George, I do pity you when 
 you suddenly remember to recollect not to for- 
 get for one minute that you were some years ago 
 my beloved guardian. But, as I was saying, Mr. 
 Hinton, it is now all over with me. The end has 
 come. I shall remove your obstacle by setting 
 him up as my manager at Stellenbosch. He can 
 enter Cape politics, poor fellow ! and I'll allow 
 him to import Egyptian cigarettes." 
 
 She paused breathlessly. But it was only to 
 take breath. 
 
 "And how's the Great Juju ; the Cape Fetich ; 
 the Grinding Glacier ; the Panjandrum ? Has he 
 134
 
 The Colossus 
 
 gone to bed worn out with dancing, till the polit- 
 ical gunpowder runs out of his heels? And 
 where's Sam Romney?" 
 
 Sam entered the room glowing with extreme 
 joy. He held a trombone in his hand. 
 
 "Oh, dear, blow it, blow it, do !" shrieked Ger- 
 trude. 
 
 "I did just now," said Sam with much pride; 
 "I got the most fearful yell out of it. But now 
 it won't. It's a confoundedly obstinate instru- 
 ment." 
 
 He put it to his mouth and turned red and 
 purple like a sunset on the veldt. Gertrude 
 thought so. 
 
 "Oh, you big angel, you are like the setting 
 sun. Let me try." 
 
 Sam let her try. But she handed it back. 
 
 "Take it; it will blow my head off. Please 
 make a noise." 
 
 "Hang it!" said Sir George, "don't, Romney, 
 don't you will make us unpopular." 
 
 "Nonsense !" cried Romney ; "here, you try it. 
 I'm the most popular man here." 
 
 "You can blow your own trumpet, at any 
 rate," said Hinton. "But, as every one is mad, 
 I'm going to bed. Come, Romney." 
 
 "If I can only make it talk properly once more 
 I will," said Sam. 
 
 135
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Then come outside." 
 
 And Gertrude collapsed. 
 
 "Dear me," she said coolly, "I believe I'm tired." 
 
 She kissed Tiny and pulled Bontine's ear. 
 
 "Good-night, you dears," she yawned. "Call 
 me when I get up." 
 
 But when she got to her room she threw the 
 windows wide open, and, looking out across the 
 Nile, sat considering whether she had made any 
 advance in her scheme. She came to the conclu- 
 sion that she had. 
 
 "I'll go through with it," she said. 
 
 She was that rather rare creature, a woman 
 with almost perfect nerves and strong physique. 
 But just now she felt that some day she might 
 be nervous. 
 
 "I wonder I didn't box Zohrab's ears," she 
 said. "Really I was very near it." 
 
 But, then, Zohrab was not a European, and 
 people of different civilisations have to give and 
 take. In spite of Hinton, Zohrab was really 
 more Turk than Egyptian. He was enough of 
 the Turk to be strong ; enough of the Egyptian 
 to be weak ; enough of both to be subtle, but not 
 enough of either to be great. He had all the 
 weaknesses of both races. And, as Gertrude 
 knew, she had infected him with something 
 rather stronger than curiosity. 
 136
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "I don't care," said Gertrude. 
 
 This remark, though murmured to the sea and 
 the Nile, was meant for any social Jury of Dow- 
 agers who might be imagined as holding an in- 
 quest upon a dead reputation. 
 
 "It is one satisfaction," said Gertrude, "that, if 
 I ever should have to box his ears, I am quite 
 strong enough to do it. What does he mean by 
 being an obstacle?" 
 
 She heard some talking below, and presently 
 Romney's laughter filled the air. 
 
 Then suddenly a horrible uproar, ending in 
 a quivering shriek, told that the trombone was 
 in agony. 
 
 "Now I'll go to bed," said Romney. 
 
 "So will I," said Gertrude.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 IF the world-relations of Eustace Loder were 
 complex, his relations with the mass of English- 
 men were almost sweetly simple. He was like a 
 member of Parliament for a county where oppo- 
 sition is useless and not attempted. For a nation 
 in the mass is forever a childlike constituency, 
 and is most happy when it can get a chance of 
 hero-worship combined with simple faith. Loder 
 gave the people, in spite of his mistakes, a feeling 
 of confidence that on the whole he was to be 
 trusted, and that he was doing the right thing. 
 This allowed them to attend to their business in 
 peace. They asked nothing better. 
 
 But it is a tradition among the ruling classes 
 that the People must not know everything. And 
 those who climb among the rulers are soon in- 
 fected with the same theory, which is really a 
 remnant of purely dynastic diplomacy. So what 
 Loder was really doing in Egypt was hidden 
 from the Many. And even the Few were not 
 sure. The newspapers said what they were told. 
 
 They said the Transcontinental Telegraph 
 Line was his main object. 
 138
 
 The Colossus 
 
 They said he was going to make a Soudan 
 Chartered Company, and turn all Nubia into 
 "Gordonia Limited." 
 
 They said he was there out of curiosity, or 
 for his health. 
 
 They said he came home to England purely and 
 simply about the Railway extension to the Lakes. 
 
 But that there was anything like an interna- 
 tional intrigue about the railway from Wady 
 Haifa to Khartoum, and thence South to the 
 Lakes, was for a long time hidden from them. 
 Perhaps it was as well, for there was still much 
 chance of failure in spite of Loder, and in spite 
 of all which stood behind him. 
 
 To tell the truth, he often and often got a 
 little hopeless. Not hopeless in the sense of giv- 
 ing in altogether, but hopeless on the point of 
 Time. And Time was the essence of the Contract 
 he had made with his o\vn soul. To sow seed 
 was not his line. He insisted on crops. His 
 mind was a forcing-house. He yearned for re- 
 sults ; but if he could get ten per cent, out of Fate 
 he would not spoil his work because it did not 
 yield twenty. Ten per cent, now was better than 
 twenty to-morrow. Only there must be results. 
 
 Now, when results were so near, and yet so 
 far, he was tempted to turn aside to something, 
 to anything that he could do. Only his pride 
 139
 
 The Colossus 
 
 of perseverance, strong alike in him and his 
 nation, prevented him doing so. Sometimes 
 those who worked with him had a difficulty in 
 preventing him putting everything on one cast of 
 the dice. He was inclined to say : 
 
 "Let them know in England just what it is I 
 want." 
 
 But the United Wisdoms cried out that failure 
 after saying so would be an awful rebuff to Eng- 
 land. There are always people who will take a 
 kick in private. 
 
 "And you must remember," said a certain Cab- 
 inet Minster, "that having had our turn-up with 
 Germany with some success, we must work with 
 them. To carry this through by a coup de main 
 will infuriate Turkey. And if we put Germany 
 into the position of having to quarrel with us or 
 with the Sultan, whom the Emperor has been 
 so assiduously courting in view of the rotting of 
 the Triple Alliance, we shall be bad world poli- 
 ticians." 
 
 They hinted to him that Africa was not the 
 World. 
 
 "Who the devil said it was?" growled Loder. 
 "But if you had some one in China, for instance, 
 like me in Africa, you would do better." 
 
 It was in such matters that Eustace Loder 
 showed his limitations. He did at times forget 
 140
 
 The Colossus 
 
 that Africa, if not the World, was certainly not 
 even the Empire. Having had such a handful 
 in the Dark Continent sometimes blinded him to 
 world-politics. But he never actively resented it 
 when he was reminded that this was so. It is 
 doubtful if he resented it at all after an hour's 
 quiet contemplation. 
 
 "After all, there's no cash in retaliation," he 
 once said to a man who was meditating a right- 
 eous but uncertain revenge. 
 
 That he should say "cash" in a connection such 
 as this connoted rather a concrete fashion of ex- 
 pressing himself than the inference always drawn 
 by his enemies that he weighed everything against 
 gold. 
 
 And now he began to wonder whether there 
 was any "cash" in his remaining in Egypt. He 
 meditated an Exodus. But, nevertheless, two 
 days after the ball at which Gertrude had flown 
 falcons at the pigeon Zohrab, he determined to 
 see Cazoule. 
 
 "May as well have another shot at him," 
 grumbled Loder. "He thinks so far that we are 
 the under-dog. And so we are in some ways." 
 
 He was half melancholy until he met the man, 
 
 and then, after some minutes' mental fumbling 
 
 for his weapons, he rose to the occasion. If 
 
 skill at the first onset were always necessary 
 
 141
 
 The Colossus 
 
 for victory, Eustace Loder would have rarely 
 scored a point. But he always warmed to the 
 game. 
 
 They met in a room lent to both of them, so to 
 speak, by the Khedive's Financial Adviser. It 
 was neutral ground. 
 
 There could have been no greater contrast than 
 that betwen Loder and Monsieur de Cazoule, 
 Minister Plenipotentiary of certain Parisian 
 Houses of Finance. For Loder was big and 
 heavy, and carelessly dressed, while Cazoule 
 was, though fairly tall, thin and dapper. His 
 eyes, too, were quick and bright, while Loder's 
 were like a sleeping eagle's, with a kind of mental 
 nictitating membrane drawn over them. At 
 most times his eye was cold and gray, and when 
 he was displeased, but not violently angry, it 
 had an easterly atmosphere about it. At any 
 time it was difficult to read his thouughts : a 
 gambler would have suggested that Poker should 
 be his game. 
 
 Cazoule, who was certainly a man of alert in- 
 telligence, had some natural disposition to under- 
 rate his opponent. A Frenchman usually does, 
 and the Parisian estimate of Loder was not very 
 high. Oddly enough, however, many French- 
 men came nearer to some truth about him than 
 the English themselves. They did feel that he 
 142
 
 The Colossus 
 
 represented John Bull, whereas none but a few in 
 England would have acquiesced in seeing him re- 
 place the typical squire as complacent self-carica- 
 ture in the weekly cartoons. 
 
 And then Cazoule had, as he imagined, beaten 
 Loder at his own game of intrigue in a game, 
 too, where all the visible cards favored his op- 
 ponent. He believed that a check was check- 
 mate, and now only anticipated that Loder was 
 actuated by the "win, tie, or wrangle" spirit, 
 which indeed is more characteristic of the Kelt. 
 He felt complacent, and regarded his adversary 
 rather benignly. 
 
 Cazoule spoke English without clan, but with 
 the utmost accuracy. This was as well, as 
 Loder's French was a negligible quality. 
 
 They began with the "Salute," and made their 
 compliments. Cazoule was fluent; Loder's voice 
 went up and down : it was a head voice and then 
 a grumble. Cazoule said he was absolutely de- 
 lighted to see him again. 
 
 Loder said, "Grumph, humph yes !" and so 
 on. It seemed like a man fencing with an over- 
 coat on, while his opponent is stripped to the 
 buff. Nevertheless, this clumsiness often stood 
 him in good stead. 
 
 "The last time I saw you," said Loder, with 
 one elbow on the table, while his gray eye 
 143
 
 The Colossus 
 
 wandered in an embarrassed manner, "we we 
 talked about this Oppenheimer." 
 
 Cazoule bowed from the other side of the table. 
 
 "Yes?" 
 
 "I thought about what you said," the apparent- 
 ly crushed and dispirited Loder remarked husk- 
 ily, "and " 
 
 Cazoule brightened. 
 
 "You have determined to make your apologies 
 to him?" he suggested alertly. 
 
 Loder shrugged his shoulders, and thrust out a 
 gloomy lip. 
 
 "And I have determined that under the circum- 
 stances he must stay in." 
 
 Cazoule lifted an eyebrow. 
 
 "But, on the contrary, Mr. Loder, we have de- 
 cided that Monsieur Oppenheimer and those 
 whom he represents cannot come in where we 
 are." 
 
 Loder nodded, but seemed rather more awake. 
 
 "You think so to-day, but to-morrow you may 
 reverse your opinion. There was a strong ten- 
 dency among the other side to suggest that you 
 should not come in." 
 
 Cazoule smiled complacently. 
 
 "We are in," he murmured. 
 
 "We are in Egypt," said Loder sharply. 
 
 Cazoule looked at him. 
 144
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Will it suit you for us to stay ?" asked Locler. 
 
 "I represent Finance, not Politics," replied 
 Cazoule easily. 
 
 "But you will bring Politics in," said Loder; 
 "you don't seem to see how near a thing it is." 
 
 "An English Protectorate? But we are easy 
 on that point." 
 
 Loder grunted, and put both elbows on the 
 table. 
 
 "Your nation is so official, monsieur, that you 
 never seem to recognise that we are less official. 
 You can't understand, it seems, that there are 
 some, not in official positions, who can do more 
 to bring about a Protectorate here than the men 
 your diplomatists deal with in England. You 
 may force our hands." 
 
 Cazoule shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "You will be glad to come in on any terms yet," 
 said Loder. "I am quite ready to yield to my 
 own side to a certain extent, but sooner than let 
 this scheme be hung up, I will undertake to force 
 the Egyptian Question forward myself. You 
 seem to take short-sighted views." 
 
 "And how ?" asked Cazoule. 
 
 "When your people were so pleased that we 
 had to repay that money lent by the Caisse," said 
 Loder, "it seemed a good business, but what does 
 it look like now, what standing have the nations 
 
 10 I 45
 
 The Colossus 
 
 in the Soudan? Your power, such as it is, stops 
 at Wacly Haifa." 
 
 Cazoule winced, but hid it. 
 
 "It matters nothing," he retorted; "the foun- 
 tain of power is here." 
 
 "Yes, in barracks," said Loder, as sharp as 
 cold steel. 
 
 And this time Cazoule winced openly. 
 
 "You pretend this is not a matter of politics," 
 went on Loder, "but we don't. It is a matter of 
 politics entirely a matter of politics. You op- 
 pose us openly and in secret, though we offer 
 you unexceptionable terms. You say you repre- 
 sent Finance, but you represent more. If you 
 were only here in the interests of Finance, you 
 would close with me instead of waiting till to- 
 morrow. Do you think the Future is on your 
 side?" 
 
 "You can get us in by refusing to admit 
 the Germans," said Cazoule, ignoring the ques- 
 tion. 
 
 "Are you aware," asked Loder, "that only the 
 other day the question was raised of deposing 
 the Khedive?" 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 "In London," said Loder. "And you may be 
 surprised to know that those who are working 
 with me opposed it." 
 
 146
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Cazoule took half a minute to consider whether 
 he should be surprised or not. 
 
 "I am not surprised," he declared presently. 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Because you might have got a worse one," 
 said Cazoule, who that time scored a point. 
 
 "If his weakness served us, it also serves you 
 in this case," retorted Loder, with contracted 
 brows. "And remember that if he goes we can 
 do some selecting. And we might pick some one 
 who did not care for your special friend in the 
 Household." 
 
 This was the first time Loder had shown his 
 knowledge of the tool Cazoule had employed. 
 
 "My special friend?" cried the Frenchman 
 questioningly, "who may he be?" 
 
 "Zohrab Bey." 
 
 Cazoule sneered politely. 
 
 "He did me the honor to quarrel with me last 
 year," he said. 
 
 "In January, if I remember," suggested Loder 
 with his best Oxford manner. 
 
 And then Cazoule did show surprise. 
 
 "How " he stammered. 
 
 "For just then we encountered unexpected ob- 
 stacles," said Loder. "So you will excuse me if 
 I do not regard the quarrel as serious." 
 
 Cazoule, on recovering his equanimity, which
 
 The Colossus 
 
 he did very swiftly, naturally enough regarded 
 this as a guess on Loder's part. He smiled most 
 amiably. 
 
 "If it pleases you, let us regard poor Zohrab 
 Bey as my friend. Indeed, I am ready to be rec- 
 onciled with him at any time," he cried, with an 
 air of benevolence. 
 
 Loder frowned again. 
 
 "Come," he said, "we play with each other. 
 What do you expect to get out of this if you 
 balk me?" 
 
 "We do not hope to balk you," said Cazoule ; 
 "we are convinced you will get through. We 
 only want our terms. In the end we shall get 
 them." 
 
 He was well aware that Loder was a man of 
 action, and that Time was the essence of Loder's 
 contract with himself. He relied more on that 
 than anything else. But as he did not know that 
 by other contracts Loder could not rid himself 
 of Oppenheimer, he was still in the dark. And 
 Loder could not see his way to making him be- 
 lieve it. If Cazoule discovered Loder was bound 
 by contracts in any way, it might be another en- 
 gine in his hands. And Loder wished the French- 
 man to think Time was on the side of the Oppo- 
 sition. 
 
 "In a year or so you will be sorry," said Loder 
 148
 
 The Colossus 
 
 gravely. "We can afford to wait. We can work 
 from either end." 
 
 But to Cazoule it appeared that Loder could 
 not wait. Every moment he expected that Loder 
 would come down. It was the greatest surprise 
 to him when the big Englishman rose. For a 
 moment he thought that Loder would sit down 
 again. 
 
 But the Chief held out his hand. 
 
 "I'm glad to have had the talk," grunted Loder. 
 His eye was again of the vaguest blue-gray. 
 "But if you want to see me I shall be in Cairo for 
 a week or two before I go to Berlin and London. 
 I may go to Constantinople first." 
 
 That made Cazoule think a little. To Con- 
 stantinople and Berlin ! And the German Em- 
 peror had been in Palestine. It was at least pos- 
 sible that a scheme might be come at which would 
 reconcile Turkey to an English Protectorate. 
 
 "Good-bye," said Cazoule; "it is always a 
 pleasure to meet you, Mr. Loder." 
 
 But when he went away, Cazoule, after the 
 manner of his nation, soon fell back into seeing 
 Things as They Ought to Be from a French 
 standpoint. 
 
 Loder, on the other hand, saw Things as They 
 Are, and he saw them in a dry light. And Caz- 
 oule was one of the Things. 
 149
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "I don't think so much of Loder as I did," 
 said Cazoule. 
 
 "I think more of the Frenchman than I did," 
 said Loder. 
 
 And once more he sat down before this San 
 Sebastian.
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 THOUGH Gertrude had certainly gone further 
 in flirtation with Zohrab Bey, whose character 
 "could not be recommended," than she herself 
 approved, it was only after this flirtation that 
 she began to see with some clearness what her 
 real object was and how it could possibly be 
 attained. But she found one thing wanting still. 
 Supposing she were able to discredit Zohrab in 
 the eyes of his Royal Master, by her own simple 
 unsupported word, there seemed, according to 
 her scheme, a great possibility of doing it. Yet 
 was that at all likely ? 
 
 She was one of Loder's party; she was his 
 friend ; they were all there for the same purpose. 
 Who would believe what she said? To be be- 
 lieved, she must have corroboration, and how 
 was such support to be obtained? Her unaided 
 intelligence suggested to her the most reasonable 
 chance of procuring it. If Zohrab was in a posi- 
 tion of confidence and power, it was obvious that 
 he must have enemies. What she had heard of 
 the Orient, what she knew of the Cape, assured 
 her of so much. But if he had enemies, which 
 151
 
 The Colossus 
 
 was the one most likely to supplant him? If there 
 was one standing by the Khedivial throne ready 
 to take his place, such an one was obviously the 
 man most likely to be credited when he carried a 
 tale of treachery to his Master. Who was this 
 
 man 
 
 She ran to Bontine for information, and went 
 to work in her usual airy way, which was apt to 
 lead any one, who did not suspect her motives, to 
 imagine the fluffiest feminine curiosity was be- 
 hind her simple little questions. 
 
 "George, I suppose everybody is everybody's 
 enemy in Cairo and such places, isn't he?" she 
 demanded. 
 
 George considered the matter. His internal 
 eye was on the Cape. 
 
 "In all places. From some points of view," 
 he replied abstractedly. 
 
 "But especially in Courts and Palaces and 
 Yildiz Kiosks and such places?" 
 
 "I suppose so," said Bontine. 
 
 "Then who's Zohrab's enemy?" 
 
 "I didn't know he had one," said George casu- 
 ally. 
 
 "You said he must have." 
 
 "I said I supposed so. Or that was the infer- 
 ence. There's always some one wanting some one 
 else's billet." 
 
 152
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Gertrude yawned, and said that men of all sorts 
 were horrid. 
 
 "A nasty intriguing lot," said Gertrude. "But 
 I'm interested in that sweet little btitercup Zoh- 
 rab. Do you know, he's really rather clever, I 
 should think, George." 
 
 "Hum," said George, who was thinking of go- 
 ing back to the Cape. 
 
 Things did not. progress as they should, and 
 he had no overpowering love for Egypt. 
 
 "Well, you are disagreeable!" cried Gertrude. 
 "Would you like me to talk about lace ?" 
 
 "Talk about what you like, my dear," said 
 George. 
 
 "Then tell me who you think is most likely to 
 be Zohrab's successor." 
 
 As Bontine was really in a mood of abstraction, 
 he heard the question and did not hear it. But, 
 nevertheless, he answered it presently. He re- 
 membered having heard Loder say that if Zoh- 
 rab went his probable successor would be more 
 easy to deal with. 
 
 "I should think it would be Achmet Pasha," 
 said George. 
 
 *'Oh, dear," yawned Gertrude ; and having got 
 what she wanted, she rose and denounced George 
 as the worst companion in the world. 
 
 "And how they can say you are such excellent
 
 The Colossus 
 
 company at the Cape, I don't know. But, then, 
 you men never trouble to be really nice unless 
 you want something. And I've no concessions to 
 grant." 
 
 She patted him on the shoulder, all the same, as 
 she went away to hunt for Hinton. She did not 
 find him, as he was working with Loder in the 
 Chief's private room, so she fussed and fumed till 
 after lunch, when she managed to get the Secre- 
 tary to herself for five minutes. 
 
 "Tell me who Achmet Pasha is?" she asked. 
 
 "He is Achmet Pasha," said Hinton mock- 
 ingly. "And he's a man, of sorts " 
 
 "And is he a friend of Zohrab's ?" 
 
 "A very dear friend," said Emory cheerfully 
 "one of those dear friends who would enjoy cut- 
 ting his throat." 
 
 "I suppose he wants Zohrab's place, then? Why 
 don't you help him? He's Anglophile, isn't he?" 
 
 "They say so," said Hinton ; "but really I don't 
 know anything about him." 
 
 He tried to get away, but Gertrude would not 
 allow it. 
 
 "Just you tell me, now. Would Achmet have 
 Zohrab's place if Zohrab was kicked out ?" 
 
 "Possibly," said Hinton. "And I wish you 
 wouldn't worry yourself and me about such 
 things." 
 
 154
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Gertrude laughed genially. 
 
 "Are you afraid my poor little brain will go? 
 You don't know how interesting you all are ! But 
 you would be much more interesting to me if you 
 were nice !" 
 
 Hinton looked gloomy. 
 
 "And if ever I try to be nice, you get up and 
 go, or say bitter things. It's just as if I tried 
 to kiss your hand and you boxed my ears." 
 
 "Oh, no, I wouldn't." 
 
 So Hinton kissed her hand. 
 
 And boxing his ears, she went away laughing, 
 with her hand over her shoulder. Hinton felt as 
 if he were getting on with her. As indeed he 
 would have done, had it not been for Eustace 
 Loder. And, after all, he knew Loder better than 
 she did. 
 
 "Ho, ho!" said Gertrude, "so Achmet would 
 get his place. Then, certainly Achmet loves him. 
 And most certainly Achmet would help me. If 
 I asked him." 
 
 She walked to and fro on the terrace. 
 
 "I won't ask him." 
 
 She walked again on the terrace. 
 
 "I will ask him." 
 
 She picked a rose, and, plucking its petals out 
 one by one, said, "I will" and "I won't," with 
 each alternate petal.
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Oh, it's coming near," she cried, when the 
 poor rose was very ragged. 
 
 "I will," said one petal. 
 
 "I won't," cried another. 
 
 "I will," said the last but one. 
 
 "I won't/' said the last one. 
 
 "That settles it," cried Gertrude. "I will." 
 
 And during the ensuing week she constantly 
 went out driving by herself. She stayed away 
 for hours, and Tiny, shaking herself together, 
 considered it was her duty to make some inquiries 
 as to how her husband's sometime ward disposed 
 of her time. 
 
 "You go out a good deal," said Tiny. 
 
 Gertrude yawned, and admitted the fact. 
 
 "What do you do?" inquired the gentle dragon. 
 
 "I am studying native life and character," said 
 Gertrude; and she added to herself: "So I am; 
 I like to speak the truth." 
 
 "Where do you do it?" 
 
 "In the Mooskei, the native quarter, you dear !" 
 said Gertrude. 
 
 But Tiny shook her head. 
 
 "You've no confidence in me, and don't tell the 
 truth. Yesterday you were away four hours. 
 Don't teil me you were in the Mooskei all the 
 time." 
 
 "I wasn't," cried the Intriguer. 
 156
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Then where were you ?" 
 
 "In my new native house," said Gertrude. 
 "Didn't you know I had taken a palace in a back- 
 street, where I live and wear native garments, 
 and look most splendidly Oriental ?" 
 
 "No, I didn't know it, and now I do know it, I 
 don't believe it," replied Tiny. "I can't under- 
 stand you, Gertrude. Why do you go out so 
 much ?" 
 
 "Why why? Because since George dear 
 George ! came I can't get you to come. That's 
 why. And I'm not going to go melancholy mad 
 staring at the Nile." 
 
 "Would you like to go away, then ?" 
 
 "Not for worlds," said Gertrude. "I'm too 
 much occupied in learning things." 
 
 "I give you up !" cried Tiny. 
 
 "That's right, dear," said Gertrude. "Don't 
 you have anything more to do with me. I'm 
 really afraid my pristine respectability is getting 
 tarnished. And it's all through Eustace Loder." 
 
 She spoke with an odd viciousness. Certainly 
 the Great Fetich was responsible for the later 
 developments in her character. And there 
 are many developments, natural enough in 
 themselves, which do not wholly please women. 
 They are so apt as girls to consider any given 
 stage as final. Further growth, or even fur- 
 157
 
 The Colossus 
 
 ther self-discoveries, seem to partake of im- 
 morality. 
 
 "I'm going out now," said Gertrude. "Will 
 you come?" 
 
 "George wants me." 
 
 "Didn't I say so!" cried the younger woman. 
 "You are really the prettiest piece of ivy, are you 
 not?" 
 
 Tiny looked at her with some pity. So Ger- 
 trude fled with a hardened heart, and took a 
 carriage and drove into the city of Cairo, which 
 hummed like a hive and smelt to heaven. 
 
 And as she drove through the older quarter 
 of the city, she dreamed, and the newer civilisa- 
 tion seemed for a while to fall away from her. 
 There was something peculiarly and terribly fas- 
 cinating to her in the mingled swarthy crowd 
 that filled the narrow streets. There was a fierce 
 and stately Arab of the desert with his pictu- 
 resque dress ; here a darker Soudanese, and then 
 again a Persian in his sheepskin hat, which 
 marked him to the orthodox Sunni as a cursed 
 Shiah who thought more of AH than the Prophet 
 himself. Then she saw the women, veiled so 
 closely, and knew that they looked on her, with 
 no veil, as something brazen, something almost 
 indecent. She was one of these accursed English. 
 
 But then she was a woman : and being a woman 
 158
 
 The Colossus 
 
 made her in one sense of no race at all. Her 
 very patriotism was a matter of chance. For 
 women are nearer of kin than men all the world 
 over. They have diverged less, are more primi- 
 tive, and their later growths are never deeply 
 rooted. In the heat and turmoil of this ancient 
 world of Cairo Gertrude reverted to a more 
 primeval stock. She felt so unlike herself. And 
 yet she knew that what she felt then was nearer 
 the reality than what she seemed with her own 
 people. 
 
 After a long drive she dismissed her carriage. 
 But she promptly took another, and drove back 
 to the verge of the European quarter. She 
 alighted in a quiet street, and bade the driver 
 wait. Opening the door with her own key, she 
 entered a garden through a door in a wall, and 
 was at once out of the world of the West. For 
 round her roses bloomed, and in the centre of the 
 wild and ragged garden sprang a fountain. 
 Upon the window lattices crept flowering jas- 
 mines; underneath them shone glossy orange- 
 trees, with ripe and ripening golden fruit; mi- 
 mosas of the slenderest growth sprang heaven- 
 ward, while over all towered one single stately 
 palm. 
 
 She was received by her own servants, who 
 had been hired for her by the agent through 
 159
 
 The Colossus 
 
 whom she had taken the house. One was an old 
 Italian woman, who spoke French with the worst 
 Italian accent, and answered everything with, 
 "Tres bi-eng, Madame," and the other a Soudan- 
 ese boy, who knew twenty words of French and 
 ten of English. 
 
 "If the gentleman who was here the other day 
 comes to-day, I will see him," said Gertrude in 
 French. 
 
 "Tres bi-eng, Madame," replied the withered 
 old woman. And she inquired when Madame 
 was coming to stay permanently. She assured 
 Madame that the rooms were now "parfaitmeng 
 propres," and went on in a perfect flood to enu- 
 merate everything that had been done. 
 
 "All right, that'll do," said Gertrude in Eng- 
 lish. 
 
 "Ah, sicuro," cried the old woman, falling back 
 in her turn on her old tongue. And Gertrude 
 went in through a latticed window opening on 
 the terrace just above the garden wilderness. 
 She drew her gloves off, and, sitting down, 
 smoked a cigarette. She rarely smoked, but now 
 it appeared a correct thing. It soothed her nerves, 
 and seemed in character. For in the background 
 of her mind she was not sure whether she was 
 acting or being her real, real self. A woman's life 
 is so artificial at any time, that breaking from 
 1 60
 
 The Colossus 
 
 what is made sacred by convention can easily 
 appear the very convention of the drama. 
 
 If the tobacco soothed her a little, she cer- 
 tainly needed it, for though her nerves would 
 have appeared steady enough to most women's, 
 they were not steady to herself. She seemed in 
 a dream, and wondered how she came to be in it. 
 Her vision was a dream of the dawn ; she was at 
 once awake and asleep. What was she doing? 
 Was she doing anything, or was this the merest 
 folly, the most childish piece of acting she had 
 indulged in since her childhood? For as she 
 sat there in the darkened Oriental room, and 
 heard the plashing of the fountain, her own 
 people, Eustace Loder, and even her old self, 
 seemed so far away from her. In her illusion 
 she perceived the illusion of life. What a strange 
 thing it was that people lived at all, that they 
 wanted to live and to fight, that they had ambi- 
 tions, loved and hated ! 
 
 So deep was she in reverie that she woke with 
 a start when she heard old Assunta speak in the 
 garden. 
 
 "Yes, Madame was in," said Assunta, and as 
 Gertrude looked out of the window, she saw the 
 tall figure of Achmet Pasha following the servant. 
 
 This was the second time she had met him. 
 There had been no difficulty about the first meet- 
 ii 161
 
 The Colossus 
 
 ing. The merest hint that a possible powerful 
 enemy of Zohrab's needed Achmet's help had 
 been sufficient to draw him. For if the Pasha 
 had the Oriental gift of waiting in peace, he had 
 learnt sufficient of the western world to neglect 
 no possible chance while trusting to Providence. 
 And after meeting Gertrude Broughton, the 
 pleasure of renewed active intrigue appealed to 
 him. He imagined possible developments which 
 might be of advantage, even if he and his new 
 ally failed in the scheme which they were now 
 elaborating together. It appeared that this Eng- 
 lish woman had money. It was always on the 
 cards that he might get some of it. And she was 
 a very pretty woman as well. It was an interest- 
 ing game. 
 
 "Good-afternoon, Pasha," said Gertrude. "Shall 
 we speak English ?" 
 
 "As an Anglophile, I prefer it, Madame," said 
 the Pasha politely, "so let it be English." 
 
 He approximated to the Arab type rather than 
 to the thick-set sturdy Ottoman, and, like a very 
 orthodox Mussulman, wore both beard and 
 moustache. His Anglophile sympathies did not 
 extend to his beard, for that was trimmed to a 
 point. 
 
 "Have you thought over what we suggested 
 last time?" asked Gertrude, who was back again 
 162
 
 The Colossus 
 
 in Visionland. How came she to be in the Orient 
 talking with this Arab? 
 
 "I have considered it carefully," said Achmet 
 slowly. "And if you will permit me to smoke 
 a cigarette, Madame, I will tell you what I 
 think." 
 
 Without waiting for permission he lighted a 
 cigarette. 
 
 "Can you bring him here?" he asked abruptly. 
 
 "I think so," said Gertrude. 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "That is my affair," she replied coldly. 
 
 And Achmet bowed, but looked at her curi- 
 ously. 
 
 "Then I must be here," he said. 
 
 "Outside?" 
 
 "No, inside," said Achmet. "And I must 
 bring some one else, whom His Royal Highness 
 trusts even more than he trusts me, who will be 
 able to bear witness as to what happens." 
 
 Gertrude nodded. 
 
 "And have you brought the undertaking that, 
 in case you replace him, you will aid and not op- 
 pose us ?" she asked. 
 
 Achmet did not answer for a moment. 
 
 "Surely, Madame, you can trust me. It is 
 known that I am Anglophile at least, to some 
 extent. If I had chosen to sacrifice my opin- 
 163
 
 The Colossus 
 
 ions, I might have occupied a different position 
 now." 
 
 But Gertrude had her own conviction as to the 
 convictions of any Egyptian. 
 
 "If I am to go on with this, I must have your 
 written undertaking," she said. "I am not alone 
 in this matter, or, of course, I could trust you, 
 and those who supply the money will require it 
 of me. We cannot risk a quarter of a million 
 francs, which we may not get back, for noth- 
 ing." 
 
 Achmet nodded, but looked rather gloomy. 
 
 "And what becomes of the paper if we fail?" 
 
 "It shall be returned to you." 
 
 "And what guarantee have I of that ?" 
 
 "You have my word," said Gertrude rather 
 tartly, very naturally forgetting that she had just 
 declined to take his. 
 
 The Pasha smiled and stroked his beard. He 
 was not utterly devoid of humor. 
 
 "Of course," said Gertrude hastily, "I am pre- 
 pared to give you my undertaking that you shall 
 have a hundred thousand francs when Zohrab 
 falls, whether you get his place or not." 
 
 Achmet shrugged his shoulders, and then rec- 
 ognised that such a gesture was not polite. He 
 hastened to speak in the gentlest tones. 
 
 "Would it not be more satisfactory if if those 
 164
 
 The Colossus 
 
 interested in the railway gave me their guaran- 
 tee?" 
 
 "Do you think I cannot command the money?" 
 asked Gertrude. 
 
 "Certainly not," replied Achmet, who assured- 
 ly had his doubts; "but supposing you changed 
 your mind? I should not be in the position of 
 being able to pursue you legally." 
 
 Gertrude considered for a minute. 
 
 "Can you go to the Anglo-German Bank to- 
 morrow morning?" she inquired. 
 
 The Pasha bowed eagerly. 
 
 "Then meet me there at ten o'clock, and I will 
 put a hundred thousand francs in a sealed en- 
 velope, and before you I will give instructions to 
 the manager that the envelope is to be given you 
 when Zohrab is disgraced, if that happens inside 
 a month." 
 
 Achmet's jaw dropped. 
 
 "That would put me in the manager's power, 
 Madame." 
 
 "He is on our side," said Gertrude. "It is 
 either that or trust me." 
 
 The Pasha took his courage in both hands. 
 
 "I will trust you, Madame." 
 
 "I think you do right," said Gertrude sharply. 
 "Have you then decided?" 
 
 "I have decided," cried Achmet. 
 165
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Are there any palace rumors that Zohrab is 
 playing a double game?" asked Gertrude after a 
 pause. 
 
 "Strange to say, there are such rumors," re- 
 plied the Pasha with an enigmatic smile. "Some 
 clever person suggested that he has been bought 
 by the English to oppose everything they suggest, 
 with a view of forcing on an English Protecto- 
 rate." 
 
 His smile said, "I am that clever person," and 
 Gertrude of course understood him. 
 
 "When shall we arrange our coup?" asked 
 the Pasha, who was much pleased with himself. 
 
 "I will let you know," said Gertrude. "It will 
 be this week. May I offer you some coffee?" 
 
 She clapped her hands, and was also much 
 pleased with herself. 
 
 And over the coffee they arranged certain de- 
 tails of their plan. 
 
 But when Achmet Pasha went away he said to 
 himself : 
 
 "She is not strong enough to do it."
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THERE were times when Gertrude Broughton 
 acted with the decision and certainty of a man. 
 But those were occasions when the action re- 
 quired lay only just on the borders of feminine 
 use and wont. For the first time in her life she 
 now found herself right across the frontier, and 
 as she faced each dawn that asked prompt de- 
 cision she felt it was indeed a "cold day." 
 
 It was so easy to go a certain distance; her 
 confidence and courage at the outset marched 
 hand in hand. She had heard so often that what 
 man could do woman could do also, provided she 
 had strength and courage, that she forgot that 
 male and feminine experience differed. But now 
 she saw some of the truth, and but for obstinacy 
 might have let things go. 
 
 For one thing, she began to be afraid of Ach- 
 met. She perceived differences of race which 
 made her distrust him vaguely. For a time she 
 put this distrust down to keenness of perception. 
 She discovered presently that it was nervousness 
 at dealing with the unknown. As a matter of 
 fact, Achmet Pasha was fairly honest and fairly 
 167
 
 The Colossus 
 
 stupid. It had been a matter of consideration 
 with the Chief's entourage whether he should be 
 used or not, and he had been finally put aside as 
 a weapon likely enough to break in the hand. 
 But to Gertrude he represented mystery and the 
 Orient. He was romance, but not the romance 
 she cared for. 
 
 Yet she was obstinate and proud. Having 
 once begun, she would not let go. How should 
 she get help, and help without humiliation? She 
 considered her own circle. 
 
 Bontine she put aside at once. Barring his 
 one regret for unachieved success in a line Fate 
 had not marked out for him, he was the embodi- 
 ment of common-sense, and held decided opinions 
 on women's limitations. From him she could 
 obtain help to retreat ; advice for attack he would 
 give none, but would block the way instead. 
 
 As for Romney, "dear big Sam," though she 
 really loved him and felt for him as a child may 
 for a Newfoundland dog, she thought she knew 
 his simple character too well to expect anything 
 but a wild outburst of laughing expostulation. 
 Probably he would pat her on the back and tell 
 her to be " good" as the price of his silence. And 
 his pledging his word in advance not to reveal 
 anything was out of the question. He showed 
 uncommon caution in such cases. 
 168
 
 The Colossus 
 
 There remained no one but Hinton, though 
 sometimes she wished that Louis Berwick were 
 in Cairo. Berwick had a certain intellectual de- 
 light in intrigue, and, indeed, was to a great ex- 
 tent the only prominently intellectual man in the 
 whole immediate circle of those interested in the 
 railway. But he was in England "chess-playing" 
 in the Lobby, and persuading people in his very 
 dreams. 
 
 She turned to Hinton, and resolved to use him 
 and his liking for her. 
 
 "I want your advice, Mr. Hinton." 
 
 Emory raised his eyebrows. 
 
 "Indeed, Miss Broughton!" 
 
 Gertrude nodded. 
 
 "But I'm talking to you in confidence in the 
 strictest confidence am I not?" 
 
 "If you say so, of course," said Emory. 
 
 Gertrude shook her head. 
 
 "Give me your word of honor that you won't 
 tell any one and when I say any one I mean it 
 anything directly or indirectly about what I say." 
 
 "Humph," said Emory doubtfully. "And is it 
 so serious as all that ?" 
 
 "No," cried Gertrude, "it's not so serious ; but 
 it's all that. Will you promise?" 
 
 Hinton considered the question for a few mo- 
 ments. What was she going to say? Probably 
 169
 
 The Colossus 
 
 it was some silly feminine scheme for getting at 
 Zohrab. If he declined to give his word she 
 might do some harm. That she could possibly 
 do any good never occurred to him. If he al- 
 lowed her to talk openly, he could only do good 
 by knowing what was in her mind. 
 
 "Very well," he said, "I'll give you my word. 
 I give it." 
 
 "And you won't dare to go back on it, even if 
 I tell you something that you want to tell the 
 Chief?" 
 
 "No," said Emory doubtfully, "but I'd rather 
 you didn't tell me anything I can't tell him." 
 
 "Then you haven't given me your word of 
 honor," cried Gertrude crossly. 
 
 "I have," said Emory. "Now fire away." 
 
 "I want you to help me," she began. 
 
 "Well," said Emory encouragingly, "that won't 
 lie heavily on my conscience if I don't tell him." 
 
 Gertrude lifted her hand. 
 
 "It's no joking matter," she said quickly. 
 "Because I've been doing a lot this week " 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "I've been doing a great deal. And it's 
 about " 
 
 "Zohrab?" 
 
 "Yes, about him. And I've discovered how to 
 do it." 
 
 170
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Emory shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "To do what ? Please be plain." 
 
 "To do what is wanted. Isn't that plain 
 enough ?" 
 
 Emory stared at her. 
 
 "You mean to get him out of the way ?" 
 
 "Yes. And, Mr. Hinton, I've taken a house 
 in Cairo." 
 
 "Good Lord! And what for?" cried Emory 
 in astonishment. 
 
 Gertrude nodded. 
 
 "It's all in the plan." 
 
 "Does Lady Bontine know?" 
 
 "Not a word," said Gertrude. "And I know 
 Achmet !" 
 
 Emory stared at her and burst out laughing. 
 
 "Upon my soul, you are a quaint person ! How 
 the deuce did you get to know him ?" 
 
 "I just wrote to him," said Gertrude hastily; 
 and then, to deprecate what she thought was com- 
 ing, she added, "I had to can't you see I had 
 to?" 
 
 Emory shook his head. 
 
 "I can't see you had to do anything; and it's 
 very rash of you to interfere in a thing like 
 this " 
 
 Gertrude interrupted him angrily. 
 
 "Oh, of course, you're a man, and would say
 
 The Colossus 
 
 so. But how are you getting on, all of you? 
 You are doing nothing, nothing ! And I can do 
 something. It's as good as done if you'll help 
 me a little," she cried. "Now, will you help, or 
 shall I tell you no more?" 
 
 Emory looked at her fixedly, and just for a 
 moment saw her without any sexual illusion, as 
 a man sometimes does see even the woman he is 
 fondest of. And that she should interfere in 
 men's business made this easier. He saw that 
 she must have fooled Zohrab in a way not pleas- 
 ing to think of. It was hardly the right thing to 
 do. And yet, if she had done it, he saw in a 
 flash that it might be possible to draw the Egyp- 
 tian into a compromising situation. Emory's 
 momentary coldness toward Gertrude helped him 
 to face the situation, and reckon up the cost. To $ 
 help her was partly to lose his respect for her. 
 He spoke out suddenly. 
 
 "It's not a thing you ought to do." 
 
 And then Gertrude got angry. 
 
 "What is that to you? I do not care in the 
 least what you think. But if you want to have 
 something done, I can help you. If you don't, I 
 can get some one else. I didn't tell you to get 
 your opinion of my conduct. I told you because 
 I am not strong enough to do it by myself. Now, 
 will you help or not?" 
 
 172
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Emory could have shaken her, and he half rose 
 from his chair. 
 
 "Tell me how far you have got, and I'll see," 
 he said very shortly. 
 
 And Gertrude, who was in a very visible huff, 
 told him what she had done, and what she pro- 
 posed doing-. As she talked Emory opened his 
 eyes wider and wider. Certainly he had never 
 suspected her of so much ability or of such vision. 
 He wondered that they had never plotted some- 
 thing like it themselves. It seemed clear and 
 without difficulty, and if it succeeded it was not 
 easy to see how Zohrab could rehabilitate himself 
 with the Khedive, who was notoriously suspicious 
 of all his entourage. 
 
 But there was one difficulty which Gertrude 
 apparently had not considered, and perhaps had 
 not seen. Emory followed her mind with more 
 ease the more he was detached from her. She 
 meant making herself obviously useful to the 
 Chief, and seemed to imagine that Mr. Loder 
 would take easily the fact that any woman was 
 useful to him. To Hinton's mind it was possible 
 that he would be more than ever hostile to, or at 
 least alienated from, her. The notion made Em- 
 ory chuckle coldly. 
 
 Then there was another thing. It was quite 
 conceivable that the mere certainty of Zohrab's 
 173
 
 The Colossus 
 
 disgrace would bring Cazoule down without de- 
 lay. Hinton had a very natural repugnance to 
 ruining an innocent man, and he was almost dis- 
 gusted to note that this never occurred to Ger- 
 trude. For her the simple fact that Zohrab was 
 in the way was enough to make her look on him 
 as almost criminal. She took the shortest femi- 
 nine view, as was natural. 
 
 "I think the mere threat to disgrace him might 
 be enough with Cazoule," he remarked, after a 
 long pause. "That is, if the Frenchman sees that 
 we have evidence which would be sufficient with 
 the Khedive." 
 
 "Achmet and I would be evidence enough," 
 said Gertrude. 
 
 "But would Mr. Loder ask you to give evi- 
 dence?" asked Emory. 
 
 "Of course he would, Mr. Hinton." 
 
 "I'm not so sure of it," said the Secretary. 
 "You don't know him." 
 
 He annoyed Gertrude Broughton very much. 
 
 "He knows what he wants, and if I was neces- 
 sary he would ask me." 
 
 "I hope so," said Emory, "for if he doesn't 
 Zohrab would have to go." 
 
 Gertrude opened her mouth to speak, but re- 
 flected for a moment, and said nothing. She 
 was about to remark that if Mr. Loder did not 
 i74
 
 The Colossus 
 
 ask her, she would do nothing. But that might 
 make Hinton withdraw. 
 
 "What were you going to say ?" he asked. 
 
 "I was going to say that Achmet looks for 
 Zohrab's place as payment." 
 
 "Then let him look," said Emory. "I don't 
 care in the least what he expects." 
 
 And in that Gertrude was quite at one with 
 him. On the whole, it would be much cheaper 
 if Zohrab did not fall. She would save a good 
 deal of money. Fortunately, Achmet, experienced 
 intriguer as he was, had failed to see, through ig- 
 norance of the wheels within wheels, that the rail- 
 way people might get their way without causing 
 the fall of his rival. This thought gave Gertrude 
 much intellectual comfort; she began to despise 
 Achmet as a tool, and in no long space of time 
 imagined she had never meant to pay him. She 
 thought it very clever of her, and a singular proof 
 of her fitness for real intrigue. 
 
 "I must have a day to think about this," said 
 Hinton after a long pause. 
 
 "As long as you like," cried Gertrude. 
 
 "I really think you a very clever woman," said 
 the Secretary, in an aloof and detached way not 
 at all agreeable to his companion. Though she 
 called him a boy in her mind, she saw she had 
 lost as well as gained with him, and there was 
 175
 
 The Colossus 
 
 a straightforward honesty about Hinton which 
 made his opinion of value to most people. 
 
 "Well, I just want to do something," she re- 
 marked inconsequently and with some resent- 
 ment. 
 
 "You'll do it," said Hinton. "I'll let you know 
 to-morrow." 
 
 He left Gertrude without ceremony, and she 
 fell into reverie. She did not notice that Emory 
 turned round and looked at her with eyes that 
 were once more without prejudice in her favor. 
 For she was imagining a scene in which Loder 
 showed himself more than grateful ; she drove 
 with him down the Wynberg Road ; she went 
 with him to public dinners; she heard herself 
 called Mrs. Loder. 
 
 Surely such a man must marry in the end ; he 
 must have so much to say to a wife that could be 
 said to no one else. She saw him as a very, very 
 big man, but as a woman she knew he must have 
 hours when he was not sufficient unto himself. 
 She saw him as a woman so often sees a strong 
 man whom she is interested in, but not familiar 
 with. Surely such a man must need a woman 
 to show his weaknesses to one who would not 
 think of them as weaknesses, but rather as notes 
 of common human nature, which raised into 
 higher relief the fact that as a whole he was in- 
 176
 
 The Colossus 
 
 finitely above those with whom he lived and 
 worked. 
 
 If it was true that Loder had his weak hours 
 (and greater than he have had them), she did 
 not see that a man who lives with Ideas must, 
 like the dyer's hand, be utterly subdued to what 
 he works in. And Loder saw things in masses ; 
 since he was a young man, it is possible he never 
 deliberately considered a woman as an individ- 
 ual; he might have eyed them with the abstract 
 eye of the market; he might have considered 
 them with the general interest of the polygamist. 
 Some women there are who are conscious of sur- 
 prise that any really great man can care for 
 any one particular woman. If they themselves 
 are chosen, they can make excuses for the hero; 
 any other choice is proof that he is no hero at 
 all. To love any one with the absorbing love 
 which a woman considers worth having is to 
 devote a large portion of one's life to common 
 human ends. To such a man as Loder this 
 was nothing but a waste of his uncommon facul- 
 ties. 
 
 Half unconsciously, Gertrude Broughton some- 
 times came near this truth with regard to him. 
 She felt in a vague way that the only means of 
 making him a common human being was to get 
 him to do his work and have done with it. If 
 
 i* 1/7
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Africa were federated, and the big railway put 
 into a process of automatic completion, he might 
 shake off his continental obsessions and play 
 rather with a domestic cat than with Ideas and 
 Lions on the slopes of Table Mountain. After 
 all, it was only upon extinct volcanoes that vines 
 and sugar-cane grew, and human homes arose at 
 last. 
 
 But those who knew Loder best were the 
 least certain of what would arise to take the 
 place of accomplished Ideas. There was at 
 times a certain large suggestiveness about him 
 which precluded his having any definite limita- 
 tions. 
 
 "If the Chief sits on the world-egg, the Lord 
 only knows what bird we shall have," said Hin- 
 ton, with a twinkle of his eye, when this was sug- 
 gested. "At any rate, the notion isn't so ludicrous 
 as Stead's taking Russia under his wing. That 
 reminds me of a hen trying to hatch out Helvel- 
 lyn." 
 
 But Hinton, after considering the matter, con- 
 cluded to help the hen Gertrude to hatch out her 
 little egg. 
 
 "I don't see how it can do harm, and it may 
 do good," he cried. "And as I can't stop her, I 
 may as well supervise her operations. And the 
 notion is clever, I own." 
 178
 
 The Colossus 
 
 He went to her the day after he came to this 
 decision. 
 
 "Very well, I'll help," he said. "But you must 
 tell me everything, and keep nothing up your 
 sleeve."
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 FORTUNATELY for Emory Hinton's comfort of 
 mind, he was not troubled by any sense of dis- 
 loyalty in thus working without Loder's knowl- 
 edge. The Chief gave every one whom he trusted 
 a large discretion, and as he was bound to excite 
 a large amount of the odium politicum, he wisely 
 permitted his subordinates to incur, each for him- 
 self, as much as he could bear. The chief use of 
 deputed responsibility in public life was that the 
 principal might be able to repudiate any one 
 action when it became desirable ; and Loder often 
 felt the necessity of being able to say : 
 
 "I knew nothing of it." 
 
 But though Emory broke no tittle of his word 
 with Gertrude, he did throw out certain hints as 
 to Zohrab with a view of eliciting an opinion 
 from Loder. But to get an opinion from the 
 Chief was not always an easy task, and now, 
 when he was more than ever preoccupied, he 
 viewed the world absently, and was hypnotised 
 by his own ideas. And as he had more or less 
 definitely thrown over any project for influencing 
 the Khedivial Court indirectly and through back- 
 180
 
 The Colossus 
 
 stairs intrigue, he hardly listened to his Secre- 
 tary's renewed suggestions. 
 
 And just lately the opposition to his plans in 
 England had engaged some of his attention. 
 
 The period of Empire-building in "absence of 
 mind" had come to an end, and the public kept 
 its eye on every move in the game. Though the 
 idea of the Transcontinental Railway was mag- 
 nificent, it might not be "war." The critics of 
 the movement, while not daring to denounce 
 Loder as a Confidence man, sometimes suggested 
 he was leading a Balaklava charge only. Ac- 
 cording to his state of mind, which varied with 
 success or success deferred, he was amused 
 or irritated by the buzz of such journalistic 
 flies. 
 
 At one time he had borne criticism and hostility 
 with impatience. Even now, when he had taken 
 a beating and been the better for it, he could 
 scarcely endure to see little men upon the bench 
 of public opinion. He had ardor for domination ; 
 and his career increased this ardor. His greatest 
 opponents and enemies admitted his pre-eminence 
 even when he was defeated. They showed this 
 by their fear in the very moment of victory. That 
 they were even victorious at all caused them in- 
 finite amazement. 
 
 He was certainly most dangerous when 
 181
 
 The Colossus 
 
 worsted. He sometimes recalled with a chuckle 
 the saying of Oliver Wendell Holmes, that it 
 was not perhaps so difficult to knock a man down, 
 but that the trouble was the man might get up 
 and give his assailant a thrashing. It had been 
 so when Loder faced the English National Rep- 
 resentatives who inquired into his conduct with 
 regard to the Transvaal. He sat down in front 
 of this row of men on whom absurd gods had 
 bestowed the power of asking him questions and 
 exacting answers, with a feeling of the most 
 profound astonishment. It was almost dismay. 
 A shepherd suddenly attacked and bowled over 
 by his flock could have been no more surprised 
 and alarmed. It was a most ridiculous inversion, 
 and for once (and for a day) he showed amaze- 
 ment; he stumbled, fumbled, lost grip, and felt 
 the abyss beneath him. 
 
 When those who were roped to him on this 
 great and icy traverse saw him astounded, for a 
 moment they, too, lost confidence. If the Guide 
 among the political higher Alps should fall into 
 the crevasse none would escape. But as each one 
 there was more or less capable of leadership (and 
 in this fact lay the true justification of his being 
 the Chief), they did not lose their heads. In 
 other words, they cried, "This will never do, 
 Loder." He grunted, shook his head, heard them 
 182
 
 The Colossus 
 
 out, and (to desert metaphor) got on his horse 
 and galloped. 
 
 He was a big and heavy man, and had no ele- 
 gant seat upon a horse. But as he hurled himself 
 through the air his confidence returned. If these 
 little people were the Questioners, he was the 
 Answerer in a greater sense : he solved bigger 
 riddles than they knew of, and had a bigger, if 
 less vocal, constituency to back him. He was 
 conscious (and truly conscious) that on that 
 bench of question-askers there was not one who, 
 in Africa, would not have been his subordinate. 
 The terrors they were clothed in were accidental, 
 not the essential attributes of their personalities. 
 As co-directors on a mine he would have riddled 
 them through his sieve. His courage returned, he 
 went back, met them with a cold eye, put them in 
 their places, ruled them, and was dominant. It 
 was magnificent, and it was. War. 
 
 Here, in Egypt, was no such instant necessity ; 
 the game need not be won in any given number 
 of moves. Time was on his side; if he went 
 homeward or to England, without having ob- 
 taind the guarantee, it would be no more than 
 prolonging the campaign. If his pride had not 
 been to some extent involved in immediate suc- 
 cess, he might at this hour have shifted his base 
 of operations. But he knew dimly, and yet each 
 183
 
 The Colossus 
 
 day more clearly, that much depended on striking 
 the imperial imagination of the English people. 
 Unless they were appealed to with the big harp, 
 they were small and they haggled ; they would 
 fob him off with a guarantee on their side of a 
 few hundred miles : the pettifogging element 
 would cry for immediate dividends. They never 
 thought of the national capital of men's lives sunk 
 in the formation of every colony they held ; on a 
 small view they considered money, and money 
 alone. 
 
 But let him come to them and say, "Here's 
 Egypt ready to hand me over the rail to Wady 
 Haifa ; here's Egypt guaranteeing me the interest 
 
 for the road down to Uganda " and they 
 
 would fly out at him with eagerness, while the 
 democratic Duke would say "Ditto" to the people. 
 
 It was worth staying at Cairo for, even when 
 it seemed rather hopeless. If he went away now, 
 he would have to be content with that easy ar- 
 rangement to get his telegraph-poles taken up 
 the Nile, which had been the ostensible reason 
 of his being at Cairo at all. 
 
 "Just fancy the Chief coming here to arrange 
 a matter of barges and so forth !" said Emory to 
 ruddy Sam Romney. 
 
 And Sam went off into a shout of laughter. 
 
 "My boy, when you consider it, most things 
 184
 
 The Colossus 
 
 are funny," he cried, as he clapped the Secretary 
 on the shoulder with a shock which nearly un- 
 shipped that young man's clavicle. "Why am I 
 here instead of enjoying myself in Paris? That's 
 what I said to Le Gros when we were there to- 
 gether. I said, 'Hang it all! Now, this is fun, 
 and yet I shall be back in fever swamps again.' 
 Ah! we were going to Versailles in a four-in- 
 hand. I swear Le Gros wishes you would only 
 get through here." 
 
 Hinton snorted. 
 
 "Then it's a pity he didn't use his influence on 
 you," he said. 
 
 "He hasn't any," retorted Sam. "There aren't 
 many men can blow me as an instrument." 
 
 Hinton laughed. 
 
 " 'S'blood ! we'll play on you like a pipe,' " 
 he quoted. "How do you get on with the haut- 
 boy?" 
 
 "I'll take a band back with me to Beira," said 
 Sam with unction. 
 
 "Start a Shangani band," cried Hinton, "and 
 I'll come up and criticise it and your railway. By 
 the way, why didn't you stagger your rails on the 
 Bulawayo section?" 
 
 And Sam dropped music to go into a technical 
 discussion, which he enjoyed almost as much as 
 theology. They went from rail "staggering" into 
 185
 
 The Colossus 
 
 curves and tangents, and very soon Hinton got 
 lost. 
 
 "Well, that's all right," said the Secretary; 
 "but don't do it again." 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "Oh, it, or anything," cried Hinton, laughing. 
 "Go and calculate the coefficient of friction be- 
 tween you and the Chief, while I get Wilberforce 
 Matthews to write a nice little paragraph about 
 telegraph-posts." 
 
 As he went to find Matthews he passed Lady 
 Bontine and Gertrude sitting in their usual cor- 
 ner. 
 
 "You must have been busy lately, Mr. Hinton," 
 cried Tiny Bontine, "for we have seen nothing of 
 you for three days except at meals." 
 
 As she spoke she glanced at Gertrude, who 
 looked particularly cold. 
 
 "I have been busy, and that's a fact," said Hin- 
 ton ; "but if you have anything for me to do, I'm 
 free this afternoon. Shall I bring you a small 
 pyramid on toast?" 
 
 "I'd much prefer to see a guarantee on paper," 
 said Tiny smartly, "and then we could leave this 
 hateful place. I want to get back to Stellenbosch. 
 And how are you progressing?" 
 
 Hinton smiled. 
 
 "Haven't you asked Sir George?" 
 
 186
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Yes, of course- 
 
 "Then you know all about it, I'm sure," said 
 Hinton. 
 
 But Tiny Bontine shook her head. 
 
 "I thought I was used to intrigues and all that 
 at the Cape," she cried ; "but such an atmosphere 
 as there is here I never was in. You have all an 
 air of being engaged in awful conspiracies. My 
 own husband is getting to look like Guy Fawkes, 
 and I'm sure you have a dark lantern concealed 
 about you. And Mr. Loder in three meals spoke 
 six words." 
 
 "And what were they?" 
 
 "He said, 'Pass the mustard, please,' and that's 
 four, and when I did, trembling, he said, 'Thank 
 you,' and froze me to my seat. And when I got 
 unfrozen, I made a remark, and ten minutes later 
 he said, 'Eh, what ?' to the world in general." 
 
 Even Gertrude relaxed and laughed at her 
 cousin's mimicry of Loder. 
 
 "If it wasn't for Mr. Romney I should become 
 a mummy and go to the Museum and ask to be 
 taken in," lamented Tiny. "Oh, dear! oh, dear! 
 I wish we were at Stellenbosch." 
 
 And, to tell the truth, so did Gertrude. If 
 
 Bontine had come along and masterfully directed 
 
 an immediate packing-up, she would have hailed 
 
 the order with some relief. For she was dis- 
 
 187
 
 The Colossus 
 
 pleased with herself and with Hinton with her- 
 self because she was not so strong as she thought, 
 and with Hinton because he was stronger than 
 she had imagined. Having entered into her plan, 
 he altered and arranged it to suit his own ideas. 
 She consoled herself for falling into the second 
 place by remembering that Loder would have to 
 come off his pedestal and ask for her assistance. 
 She played the scene in her mind with some satis- 
 faction and no little dignity. 
 
 Had the Chief been able to view her mental 
 puppet-show, he would have done some grunting, 
 and might have said something far too pungent 
 for publication. It v/as very difficult for those 
 who knew him to imagine his assumption of any 
 such role as the dramatic Gertrude assigned to 
 him, and if he did enter her theatre, there was 
 likely to be some fluttering of the conventional 
 dovecots. Not a man that knew him but would 
 have paid a heavy price to be in the front row of 
 the stalls on so tremendous an occasion. 
 
 When Hinton had heard Lady Bontine's jere- 
 miad to the end, he tried to console her. 
 
 "There ! there !" he cried. "I see Table Moun- 
 tain within sight, and Stellenbosch right at hand. 
 You never can tell when the end comes in a 
 game like this. But I seem to see the hour when 
 resignation will be the order of the day with our 
 1 88
 
 The Colossus 
 
 gentle opponents. By the way, Miss Broughton, 
 did you do what I asked you ?" 
 
 "Yes," said Gertrude, and, rising, she followed 
 him a little way. 
 
 "Then, it's to be to-morrow afternoon?" he 
 asked when they were out of earshot. 
 
 Gertrude was extremely uncomfortable, and 
 showed it by assuming a defiant hardness. 
 
 "Unless the fly at the last determines that I 
 am a spider," she cried. " 'Will you walk into 
 my parlor?' " 
 
 "Very well," said Hinton, "then I shall be 
 there before three. I've got the key, and can let 
 myself in." 
 
 But as he went off he could not help wonder- 
 ing how it was possible for him to have ever 
 thought Gertrude as pretty as she really was. 
 Being out of love, he was very wise, and consid- 
 ered the love illusion with some acuteness. 
 
 "Yet, if she had been really nicer to me, I 
 should have been swearing she was the most 
 beautiful woman in the world." 
 
 But now he felt so aloof that he would have 
 liked to discuss the subject with Eustace Loder. 
 And then he laughed at the notion, and knew 
 that if Loder were caught in his one hour of 
 mental ease, the subject would turn inside out, 
 and become Bismarck, or Cavour, or Pombal, 
 189
 
 The Colossus 
 
 or Porphyrio Diaz, or Napoleon, or Caesar. He 
 would have quoted Carlyle on some great man 
 with infinite unction. 
 
 "If he was any other sort of man he would be 
 a prig," said his Secretary, who, in spite of his 
 admiration of the Chief, had his moments of 
 clearer vision. 
 
 But then he beheld him walking among the 
 roses with his hands behind his back. In such 
 moments a good bloom of a Marechal Niel was 
 as fine a thing as a diplomatic success ; a Gloire 
 de Dijon competed with a diamond dividend of 
 thirty per cent. ; his hydrangeas were a very Kim- 
 berley. 
 
 It was no wonder that the Chief had such a 
 hold over those who came inside the magic circle 
 of his attractions. To hear him talk in his half- 
 clumsy way about a mine, to note his involved 
 yet simple mind repeat itself again and again, 
 was to believe for a moment that he never 
 thought of anything but mines. At such times 
 it was comprehensible that some narrow intel- 
 lects could believe in the "pure greed" theory of 
 his actions. As he rolled globular amounts off 
 his tongue, he did it with the air of a financial 
 chef who himself loved to dine. And yet he had 
 that appearance only because he gave himself 
 utterly to what he was doing. If he went out on 
 190
 
 The Colossus 
 
 an old-furniture hunt, as he sometimes did, it is 
 tolerably certain that the dealers believed him a 
 man of one idea, and that idea old oak. He had 
 a passion for completeness. In that passion lay 
 the germ of the Kimberley Idea; the germ of 
 Federation; the germ of a United British South 
 Africa, and (given the big chance) Africa all Brit- 
 ish by-and-by. He had an orderly mind ; to see 
 the Transvaal unclassed did not please his regu- 
 lating intellect. As Hinton once said of him, the 
 Universe as a whole was a simple thing for Loder 
 to swallow; only the disorder of its details dis- 
 tressed him. 
 
 And this led again to his leaving details to his 
 lieutenants. For all his interest in railways, it is 
 highly doubtful whether he knew the length or 
 weight of the standard rail in South Africa. The 
 meanest Jew sorter at Kimberley would have de- 
 spised his knowledge of diamonds ; since such a 
 man would not know that when Loder had been 
 directly interested in gems he knew at least as 
 much as most. He possessed the power of for- 
 getting. He could not clear his mind of cant, 
 because there was none in him, but he could 
 clear it of useless knowledge. If he ever did ap- 
 pear to descend to detail, it was a proof that the 
 plan then in his mind was not so large as his 
 usual habits of thought led one to suppose. 
 191
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Now, what the devil are you here for?" was 
 a common enough question when some one not 
 yet familiar with his methods ventured to im- 
 agine that an ordered end might not of necessity 
 imply the means. 
 
 "So, after all, I guess it doesn't matter," said 
 Hinton. "Even if I muck it a bit, he'll rather 
 pardon my upsetting the apple-cart than my re- 
 fusing to pull it at all." 
 
 And when he had conveyed to Wilberforce 
 Matthews the Chief's desire that he should write 
 something for a special English paper about tele- 
 graph-posts, he sat down and ticked off in his 
 mind what was to be done concerning Zohrab. 
 In the middle of his reverie he was interrupted by 
 Gertrude. 
 
 "Of course, Mr. Hinton, you will understand 
 that, when you gave me your word not to men- 
 tion this, I meant either before or after it oc- 
 curred." 
 
 Hinton nodded. 
 
 "I, and I alone, am to tell Mr. Loder whether 
 we succeed or not." 
 
 "I suppose that's fair," said Hinton.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 IF Loder seemed quiescent, as he sat down be- 
 fore his City of Intent, he was quiet only in seem- 
 ing. Those who worked with him at the Cape, 
 and in England, and in France and Berlin, were 
 doing their utmost ; for he inspired them. They 
 were part of him; he was quiet only as com- 
 pressed steam is quiet; he was as invisible as 
 steam. His inclusive intellect neglected nothing ; 
 and among the forces he did not neglect were 
 the Society forces of England. That, as a whole, 
 was no detail to be deputed; when he was in 
 London he filled up with renewed power his 
 social accumulators. He turned even the friv- 
 olous into steam shovels as he planned his new 
 Suez. He was a greater Lesseps ; less excitable, 
 more phlegmatic, equally visionary, but better 
 based; as fascinating, and as childlike, but a 
 Saxon instead of a Kelt. He never bluffed on 
 a pair unless he had stacked the cards; had he 
 played Panama, he would have gone no better 
 than the game demanded. He perceived noth- 
 ing final in catastrophes. This was because he 
 saw ahead. The intelligent anticipation of dis- 
 13 193
 
 The Colossus 
 
 aster is incipient repair. And, opportunist 
 though he was, he rarely bought to-day at the 
 price of to-morrow. 
 
 If he had been opportunist in the commoner 
 sense, he might have lent himself to the view 
 that the removal of the Khedive was the easiest 
 way out of his present embarrassments. 
 
 The heads of all the Departments interested in 
 Egypt held a meeting in London during the very 
 week when Gertrude Broughton intervened at 
 Cairo. They were to decide on the lines of policy 
 for the Soudan, but of necessity discussed the 
 general situation on the Nile. The man there 
 most immediately in touch with Egyptian affairs 
 was Major-General Lowry, and though he held 
 no definite position just then and there, with that 
 partial elasticity which has been the salvation of 
 England from rigid officialdom, there was not a 
 man in the room who did not in a measure defer 
 to him. He was known to be very greatly in 
 the confidence of Loder, and was not altogether 
 unlike the Chief in many aspects of his character. 
 
 "So, then, practically speaking, it is the Khe- 
 dive who bars the way," said Lord Radcliffe. 
 
 "You mean with regard to the railway scheme 
 and the guarantee ?" asked Lowry. 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "That is undoubtedly a fact," said Lowry. 
 194
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Of course we know where the opposition be- 
 gins. But that is where we come against it." 
 
 "Then why don't we depose him?" asked the 
 Marquis of Landore. "Why should we put up 
 with his nonsense?" 
 
 Lowry was essentially a man of few words, 
 and was popularly supposed to be incapable of 
 excitement. But at this he fairly jumped on to 
 his feet. 
 
 "Good heavens!" he cried, "what, depose the 
 Khedive ? Rather let us cherish him, and thank 
 God he's there. He's as weak as water. What 
 we have we know; what we may have is guess- 
 work." 
 
 "Yes, there is something in that," said the 
 Marquis. "And what does Mr. Loder think?" 
 
 "He is not a man to buy an immediate success 
 for his own schemes, by raising worse difficulties 
 for England and himself later," said Lowry. 
 
 "And you think he will get through?" 
 
 "That he thinks so is enough for me," said 
 Lowry, with an odd dark smile. 
 
 And then they turned to the subject more di- 
 rectly in hand, the future Soudan administration. 
 
 But as men worked with him and for him, so 
 did women. 
 
 When he came to England he walked like an 
 ancient Highland Chief with a "tail." And in 
 195
 
 The Colossus 
 
 the tail were many women of high degree. A 
 Duchess was always a person of importance, and 
 Loder was quite well aware of the fact ; though 
 he could no more stoop to court one in the usual 
 social way than Kilima Njaro could bow to the 
 biggest ant-heap in the Transvaal. His attitude 
 of indifference was an attraction and a tonic. He 
 \vould go to the theatre with some of the leaders 
 of Society, and when the play ceased to interest 
 him, would stick his thumbs in his waistcoat 
 armholes, and yawn tremendously over the very 
 head of a Princess. The entire house could per- 
 ceive his detachment, his massive and unadulter- 
 ated boredom. But then the women would put 
 up with Loder's indifference to what interested 
 them, and insisted on having common ends by 
 doing what interested him. 
 
 He had a powerful backing among the most 
 powerful caste in England, and had gained his 
 footing there without once ceasing to be himself. 
 He set motive forces working which continued 
 automatically. He could sometimes afford to 
 sleep by his engine. 
 
 He thus gained (without ever thinking of it in 
 this way) a certain control over all the ferment- 
 ing mass of intrigues forever going on in Lon- 
 don. And he confined his courtesies, to say 
 nothing of discreet opportunities of profit, to no 
 196
 
 The Colossus 
 
 one party. With party government he saw it 
 was necessary to have an entrenched base lying 
 across the dividing river. He made friends, not 
 only with Mammon, but with the rival financial 
 house as well. If he was, on the whole, a per- 
 sona grata as well as an anxiety to the Duke of 
 Enfield, he was also pleasing to Lord Linlith- 
 gow, and made no secret of his gratitude to him 
 for real favors of foresight equal to his own. 
 And this was also foresight. No one knew when 
 Linlithgow, who had some characteristics of a 
 Man of Destiny, might not replace the democratic 
 Duke. 
 
 To that portion of England which held him 
 in some suspicion, Loder threw an occasional 
 sop. He proclaimed a fervent admiration of the 
 late Mr. Ewart, who had played like a political 
 Paganini on one string or every string of the 
 Nonconformist Conscience fiddle. And truly 
 enough he did admire him. A West African 
 negro would have said that so strong and so old 
 a man must have a very terrible and powerful 
 bush ghost, which would need careful propitia- 
 tion after the man's death. And, truly, Ewart's 
 bush ghost was still active in the Radical Swamp- 
 lands. Loder admired his own chief qualities 
 with the childlike delight of the strong man in 
 his muscle. To do, to strive, to achieve, were 
 197
 
 The Colossus 
 
 admirable things. He saw that too long life 
 alone had prevented Ewart from doing enough 
 by making him do too much. Loder's perpetual 
 interest in great men's failures led him to per- 
 ceive dimly that the too great fixity of purpose, 
 the intensity of concentration, the cunning sin- 
 gleness of idea characteristic of Ewart's later 
 period, were in a sense pathological. He had 
 grown too rigid for a changing environment. 
 But nevertheless he was a remarkable man, and 
 one is by no means supposed to tell all the truth, 
 even about Gordon. 
 
 Though Loder had so much judgment (with 
 occasional lapses when he used a phrase like 
 "unctuous rectitude") and so much knowledge 
 of the wider issues of intrigue, yet, like all men 
 who live in the diplomatic web, he knew there 
 must be counter-intrigues of which he heard 
 nothing. That there were intrigues on his own 
 side, of which he was deliberately kept in entire 
 ignorance, he was also well aware. But when 
 the last new one did come out, he was for a mo- 
 ment intensely surprised. And the next he was 
 furiously angry. It affected him as a good chess- 
 player is affected when a better move than his 
 own intended one is suggested aloud by an en- 
 tirely despicable player. But in this case there 
 was a curious and characteristic scene before the 
 198
 
 The Colossus 
 
 suggestion was made. And the players in it were 
 Hinton, Gertrude, Wilberforce Matthews, and 
 the Chief himself. 
 
 For two days had elapsed since Gertrude had 
 played her first match with Zohrab, and now her 
 courage had returned to her. 
 
 "Come, when are you going to speak to the 
 Chief?" asked Hinton. He could not help show- 
 ing a sarcastic earnestness to see her at hand- 
 grips with Loder. Well as he knew the man, he 
 could not foretell with any certainty how he 
 would take a woman's interference. 
 
 "I shall choose my own time," answered Ger- 
 trude, with acerbity. "I did this." 
 
 Emory shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "So you did, but you brought me into it, 
 and I think I have some claim to ask you to 
 lose no time. I believe you are afraid of the 
 Chief." 
 
 He spoke rather tauntingly, and Gertrude 
 flushed a dusky red, which made her look like an 
 angry gipsy. 
 
 "I'm not afraid of him." 
 
 "You are," cried Hinton with a laugh which 
 had no merriment in it. He was trying delib- 
 erately to anger her. "It will be most amusing 
 and interesting, won't it?" 
 
 She looked at him contemptuously. 
 199
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "I thought you were a gentleman, Mr. Hin- 
 ton." 
 
 As he was a young man, this hurt him. But he 
 recovered and countered. 
 
 "I find it difficult to live up to your standard of 
 correctness, Miss Broughton." 
 
 She turned round and walked away from him. 
 
 Yes, what, for instance, was Zohrab's opinion 
 of her now ? What was Emory's ? What would 
 be the Chief's? He, at any rate, would pass no 
 scrupulous judgments, but would estimate every- 
 thing by results. What did he admire most of 
 all? The overcoming of obstacles. It mattered 
 nothing what the obstacles were ; they might be 
 internal, external, natural, or created. She re- 
 membered the story of the London editor who 
 wanted to see him. 
 
 For once when Loder was in town a pushing 
 young proprietor and editor made up his mind 
 to know the Chief. He went to his hotel, found 
 Mr. Loder's private staircase blocked by a foot- 
 man, and was stopped as he attempted to go up. 
 
 "Take my card." 
 
 "Sir," said the man, "it is absolutely against 
 my orders." 
 
 "You see who I am ?" 
 
 "It makes no difference, sir." 
 
 "What is Mr. Loder doing?"
 
 The Colossus 
 
 The Obstacle smiled. 
 
 "Well, sir, as a matter of fact, Mr. Loder is in 
 his bath," he replied. 
 
 The editor put his hand in his pocket and 
 pulled out a five-pound note. 
 
 "Now look here," he said, "I don't want you 
 to let me up. But take this and just turn your 
 eyes away." 
 
 The bribe was too much. The footman turned 
 his head, and the editor stepped upstairs. On 
 the landing he heard the splash of water, and 
 opened the bath-room door. 
 
 At a pinch the Chief could use astounding 
 and picturesque language, not to be surpassed 
 by any Kimberley digger of Kimberley's palmy 
 individualistic days. He used it now, and ended 
 with : 
 
 "Who the devil are you?" 
 
 The editor declared who he was. 
 
 "And, what's more, I meant to see you," he 
 said firmly. "It cost me five pounds. If it had 
 cost fifty it would have been the same." 
 
 The ruling passion of a man makes a consid- 
 erable difference to his judgment of breaches of 
 etiquette. Some men would have hurled the 
 soap-dish at the insolent intruder. Some would 
 have controlled themselves for a minute, and, 
 having partially dressed themselves, would have
 
 The Colossus 
 
 thrown him downstairs. Loder did neither; he 
 gave a squeak of laughter, and said : 
 
 "All right ! stay to breakfast." 
 
 This man had overcome all his precautions 
 had brushed through obstacles which would 
 have stopped any one of delicacy. He had suc- 
 ceeded at any cost. Though it was a small thing, 
 it suggested power. If a man knew what he 
 wanted it was more than half the battle with the 
 Chief. 
 
 "And I know what I want," declared Ger- 
 trude. Half an hour after her skirmish with 
 Emory she went to the Chief's private sitting- 
 room, opened the door, and marched in. But 
 she looked older than she was, and -her face was 
 pale. 
 
 Loder and Hinton were seated on opposite 
 sides of the big table, and Wilberforce Matthews 
 was at a desk in the corner. The mail from Cape 
 Town via London and Marseilles had just come 
 in, and with it Le Gros' letter concerning the at- 
 titude of the Bond Ministry as to the carriage of 
 materials for the Bulawayo-Zambesi section of 
 the Railway north. It looked, from what Le Gros 
 said, as if the Dutch Afrikander element could 
 neither be wheedled, threatened, nor bribed into 
 assisting, and, as a natural result, Loder had 
 rather an edge to his temper. 
 202
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Eh, what well?" he said shortly when Ger- 
 trude appeared. 
 
 Hinton did not turn round, but little fat Wil- 
 berforce opened his eyes till he looked like an 
 owl. 
 
 "I want to see you, Mr. Loder," said Gertrude, 
 with a nervous catch in her voice. 
 
 "I'm busy," growled Loder, turning rather 
 red, as he sometimes did. 
 
 "I can't help that," cried Gertrude. "I've got 
 something to say which is of importance to you. 
 If you like I'll sit and wait, but I mean to say it, 
 if I wait all day." 
 
 Loder looked at her, and looked away, and 
 then looked at her again. This was something 
 quite new. He had never been spoken to like 
 that by any woman. 
 
 "Well, what is it?" he grunted with a frown. 
 
 "I want to see you alone." 
 
 And Hinton dropped his pen. This was de- 
 cidedly getting interesting. 
 
 "You can't," said Loder hurriedly. 
 
 "But I will," cried Gertrude. "Mr. Hinton, 
 please be kind enough to go, and you too, Mr. 
 Matthews." 
 
 Emory half turned in his chair. There was a 
 ring of determination in this woman's voice that 
 suggested she meant scoring the first point in the 
 203
 
 The Colossus 
 
 game, and he knew, but for her previous pursuit 
 of the Chief, that she would have found Loder 
 yielding. 
 
 He looked at him with interrogation in his 
 eyes. 
 
 When Loder was confronted with something 
 entirely new in his experience, he was apt, for a 
 moment, to appear as if he were not the creature 
 of mental bone and muscle that he really was. 
 Given warning and adequate preparation, he 
 could not be rushed. But anything absolutely 
 sudden found him a little unready. When a 
 human tool broke in his hand, he would stare at 
 the catastrophe with an absent inward eye. That 
 he could have picked this man to use shook his 
 judgment of himself. And now his rule of 
 thumb measurement of woman found a limita- 
 tion. Gertrude Broughton was in his own private 
 sitting-room without invitation. She faced him 
 palely, but without a tremor. She was actually 
 demanding a private interview. More than that : 
 she was ordering his Secretary and his watch- 
 dog out of the roomtj It was very odd; it was 
 paralysing. 
 
 He sat with his big plump hands on the table 
 as if about to rise. His jaw dropped slightly; 
 the heavy lines in his face accentuated them- 
 selves ; his head sank between his shoulders, and 
 204
 
 The Colossus 
 
 his eyes narrowed to a line. And the pinky flush 
 faded from his cheeks. He looked at Gertrude, 
 and she met his eyes with a frown. There was 
 not a touch of feminine appeal about her ; she was 
 as hard as steel. She knew what she wanted. 
 
 "All right, you can go, Hinton," said the Chief. 
 
 But Matthews did not move. Gertrude pointed 
 to him. 
 
 "And you," said the Chief reluctantly. "Stay 
 outside." 
 
 If this woman tried a feminine trick, he would 
 call them back. 
 
 "Now, what is it?" asked Loder nervously 
 when the door closed on the two ejected ones. 
 "I've got no time to waste." 
 
 There was no excess of politeness in his voice, 
 no suggestion of cordiality. 
 
 "I don't want to waste your time," said Ger- 
 trude half angrily. "I want to stop you wasting 
 yours." 
 
 For the moment she almost hated him. Clear 
 as her vision had been of him, she had never seen 
 him as he was now. He was facing her as if she 
 were a man and an adversary. 
 
 "Yes?" said Loder. "Goon." 
 
 "You've not been so extremely polite to me," 
 said Gertrude with a momentary catch in her 
 voice which made the Chief glance apprehen- 
 205
 
 The Colossus 
 
 sively toward the door, "that I should go out of 
 my way to serve you. But I've made it my busi- 
 ness to know what you are in Egypt for. And I 
 don't swallow telegraph-posts, like the Public, if 
 I am a fool and a woman. Have you yet been 
 able to break down Cazoule's opposition?" 
 
 "What have you to do with Cazoule ?" growled 
 the Chief, suddenly awake and rigid. 
 
 "I've a lot to do with him," said Gertrude. 
 "And I can help you to crush him. Do you care 
 to know how ? Will you condescend to treat me 
 so far like a responsible human being as to ask 
 me how I can do it?" 
 
 Every word of hers cut like a whip, for her 
 resentment read like contempt to Eustace Loder. 
 He half rose. 
 
 "Look here, Miss Broughton; if you've any- 
 thing to say, say it. I've no time to argue." 
 
 His voice broke in the middle. 
 
 "Come now," he said. It was an order. 
 
 "Very well," cried Gertrude. "Then I'll tell 
 you." 
 
 To be ordered was almost better than being 
 asked. 
 
 "Would you like to be able to turn out Zohrab 
 Bey?" she demanded. 
 
 He answered with reluctance : 
 
 "Perhaps." 
 
 206
 
 The Colossus 
 
 He knew that it would solve the main diffi- 
 culty. 
 
 "Then I can help you to do it." 
 
 He stared at her with a massive incredulity. 
 
 "I can," said Gertrude. "I hold him in my 
 hand. I saw you were at a deadlock, and I swore 
 I would do something. I suppose you despise 
 us women, but I've done something for you that 
 all your men couldn't do. Yes, I've done it." 
 
 She had been sitting down, and now she rose 
 excitedly. 
 
 "As I said, you've been horrid, beastly almost, 
 to me, but I wanted to do something for you, so 
 that you couldn't say I was a useless fool like 
 other women, and I've done it " 
 
 Loder interjected a half-grunt, but she waved 
 him down. 
 
 "I'll tell you." 
 
 She sat again, right opposite him, and in Hin- 
 ton's chair. 
 
 "I'll try and be clear, Mr. Loder. I found out 
 that M. de Cazoule used his influence over Zoh- 
 rab Bey to prevent the Khedive granting you 
 what you wanted. And I heard from several 
 people, I won't tell you who that if Zohrab were 
 disgraced, or in danger of it, Cazoule would have 
 to withdraw his opposition. So I said, 'Then 
 isn't it possible to disgrace Zohrab?' And I met 
 207
 
 The Colossus 
 
 him, and he seemed to like me. And I saw I 
 could fool him." 
 
 She turned away her eyes, and over her face the 
 scarlet ran; and she clenched her teeth. For a 
 moment she ceased, and then, with a nervous 
 shake of the head, went on again, while Loder 
 fixed his eyes on her : 
 
 "And I did fool him. I got him to meet me 
 in Cairo, and it was to be a private meeting." 
 She was white now. "But I had witnesses there. 
 And I said I was glad he had come, and he said 
 he hadn't come for sweet words. And I said, 
 No, I knew that, and I gave him an envelope. 
 He thought it was a photograph, but it wasn't. 
 Then the men I had there came up and caught 
 hold of him " 
 
 "Yes," said Loder. "Go on, go on !" 
 
 "And they said he was a traitor. I went away. 
 But they took the envelope, and in it was money." 
 
 "How much?" asked the Chief. 
 
 "Two hundred thousand francs." 
 
 "Where did you get it?" 
 
 "It was mine," said Gertrude ; "I got it through 
 my Bank here." 
 
 "By God !" muttered Loder. "And who were 
 the witnesses?" 
 
 Gertrude had them on the tip of her tongue. 
 But she did not speak. 
 
 208
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Who?" asked Loder. 
 
 "I can't mention them till they are absolutely 
 needed," she said, looking down. 
 
 She was not going to give up everything to 
 Loder. First let her see what effect this had on 
 him. Achmet's word unsupported was nothing; 
 hers or Hinton's was necessary to bring proofs. 
 And as for Hinton, she knew she had him in the 
 cleft stick of his word. The more he quarrelled 
 with her, the more she could trust him. And she 
 herself held the envelope with the money in it. It 
 was now sealed, and bore in it a statement as to 
 how it came to be taken from Zohrab, signed by 
 Achmet Pacha and the creature he had brought. 
 And Achmet looked to her for money. She held 
 every thread in her hand. 
 
 "This is a devilish queer story," said the Chief 
 at last. "How am I to credit it without corrobo- 
 ration ?" 
 
 Then Gertrude burst out in an unsubdued fury. 
 
 "Do you think I'd tell you a lie ? Can't you see 
 I'm telling the truth? I don't care a damn 
 whether you credit it or not !" 
 
 And then truly there was silence for a space. 
 The word she had used seemed to fill the room 
 till the atmosphere grew oppressive and heavy. 
 Loder had never yet heard anything from her 
 not sanctioned by the best traditions of the im- 
 14 209
 
 The Colossus 
 
 maculate middle classes. It did not shock, but it 
 convinced him. 
 
 It might have been rude (perhaps inexcusably 
 brutal) of him to ask for corroboration, and, by 
 asking it, to suggest the whole thing was incredi- 
 ble. But though he had listened for a moment 
 without belief, he really did believe before she 
 had finished; and having quite waked up to all 
 possibilities contained in the situation, he was 
 asking how it could be used. And for it to be 
 used, it must have credible and likely support. 
 
 He got up from the table and walked to the 
 window. He shook himself as if he was half 
 awake, and began retracing his mental steps back 
 to the point where he had branched away from 
 the path in the intrigue which had led directly to 
 the Khedivial palace. He felt shaken and put out. 
 He had to recast well-considered plans. Unless 
 warmed up to a thing he was rather slow. His 
 mental machinery was heavy ; he could not "re- 
 verse" very suddenly without confusing vibra- 
 tions. He walked to and fro endeavoring to re- 
 adjust his mental focus. He was not swift in 
 accommodation. 
 
 As he walked, Gertrude, with a very pardon- 
 able self-delusion, began to imagine he must be 
 thinking of her. What else could he be thinking 
 of? Was he blaming her for the incorrectness 
 
 2IO
 
 The Colossus 
 
 of her conduct? Perhaps she had ruined any 
 faint chance she had ever had with him. If so, 
 she congratulated herself that she had been strong 
 enough to keep control of the issues in her own 
 hands. If he showed himself ungrateful she 
 would yet proclaim her power. And yet if he 
 had come over to her and put his heavy hand 
 upon her shoulder, and said, "Now, my dear, 
 who were the witnesses?" she would have been 
 wax before fire. 
 
 But what he was thinking of was the saving 
 of time. For Zohrab to fall would mean a vic- 
 tory for England at the court which would con- 
 vulse certain French ganglia in their inmost cen- 
 tres. It would mark another decline of French 
 influence, which was already an ebbing tide. It 
 might signify such an ebb that the English would 
 be encouraged to abolish the Capitulations. It 
 was a definite step to a Protectorate. If Loder's 
 big idea was a Confederation linked by the steel 
 bond of a railway, few, even among his intimates, 
 knew that he wanted Egypt in the Federation, 
 which was to have two vice-regal capitals, Cape 
 Town and Cairo itself. This was his greatest 
 Idea, after all. 
 
 Then he did think of Gertrude. Why had she 
 done it? Very obviously her reason must have 
 been to influence him in her favor, to really draw
 
 The Colossus 
 
 his attention toward her. He became uncom- 
 fortable, and glanced at her with some disfavor. 
 It was infernal and most disconcerting imperti- 
 nence. And yet such impertinence, being really 
 colossal, would have appealed to and conquered 
 him had she not been a woman. He had laughed 
 when a man was equally impudent merely to gain 
 an end of his own. But then Loder, who ob- 
 jected at any time to being under an obligation, 
 found special dislike within him to being obliged 
 to any of the opposite sex. It dislocated his set- 
 tled opinions of them ; for as regards them he had 
 not the plasticity of the ordinary successful man 
 of affairs. They were women. 
 
 But it was not his nature to think consecu- 
 tively, or with that connection which can be fol- 
 lowed logically. She was not a Fact, after all. 
 The Fact was that Cazoule should be seen with- 
 out delay. Any waste of time might be fatal. 
 He turned to Gertrude and hesitated. He turned 
 away again, and walked up and down the room. 
 
 "The witnesses !" he said presently. "Are they 
 such as would be credited?" 
 
 "Yes," said Gertrude, with a frown that the 
 Chief did not notice. 
 
 For a moment after her outburst she had been 
 ashamed of herself; but, as Eustace Loder went 
 off into his own thoughts and did not even look
 
 The Colossus 
 
 at her, she began to get angry once more. There 
 was often something utterly indefinable in the 
 Chief's manner, which vain people resented bit- 
 terly. Without any intention of offending them, 
 he put them in their proper place by taking noth- 
 ing but the vaguest interest in their presence. 
 Unless angered he was never impolite; but he 
 was unable to reach the high courtliness of man- 
 ner which implies that the one person present is 
 the one person of interest. Gertrude felt ig- 
 nored; she became small in her own eyes; her 
 cheeks burnt ; she was being humiliated by the 
 silent part allotted her. And the Chief com- 
 pleted her humiliation. 
 
 ''Very well, Miss Broughton," he said casually, 
 "I'll think this over, and let you know this even- 
 ing what can be done." 
 
 She rose suddenly and opened her mouth to 
 speak. But she did not speak. Loder's eye 
 passed over her, as though it was focussed on the 
 farthest fixed star, and turning, she left the room.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 HINTON and Wilberforce Matthews had been 
 keeping guard outside. The Chief had ordered 
 them to stay there in case his spirit quailed before 
 the Woman. 
 
 "Shall we have to rush in and save him ?" asked 
 little Matthews. "Now, dash it! what does she 
 want? By Jove, she has a cheek!" 
 
 And Emory grunted. 
 
 "Have you any notion what she's after?" 
 
 "No," growled Emory, who was upon tenter- 
 hooks. What was going to be the upshot of this 
 forced interview? He felt tolerably certain that 
 the Chief would not come out of it in any degree 
 the worse. When a woman attacked on her own 
 ground he showed the white feather, but on his 
 own a woman was no more than a man. 
 
 He lighted a cigarette, and walked to and fro 
 considering the matter. Was he at liberty now 
 to tell the Chief what he knew? It seemed to 
 him that his promise of secrecy only extended to 
 the time when Gertrude spoke to the Chief. But 
 he was suspicious of her ideas on the subject. If 
 214
 
 The Colossus 
 
 she declined to allow him to be open with Mr. 
 Loder now, what should he do? 
 
 He had not long to wait before he discovered 
 her inmost mind. His second cigarette was only 
 smoked half-way through when the door opened 
 and Gertrude Broughton came out. She looked 
 as black as a thunder-cloud, and was for passing 
 Emory without a word. But he stopped her 
 when Wilberforce was back in the Chief's room. 
 
 "I suppose I can speak to the Chief about this 
 now?" he said hastily. 
 
 She stopped dead, and stared him up and 
 down. 
 
 "You can do nothing of the sort, Mr. Hinton. 
 I think you pledged me your word not to say 
 anything till I gave you permission." 
 
 "Indeed," said Emory, "but I think it was 
 worded differently. Didn't you say I was not to 
 speak before you did?" 
 
 Gertrude stamped on the floor. 
 
 "Nothing of the sort. You have to wait till I 
 tell you. I take it for granted that you will keep 
 your word, just as I take it for granted that you 
 are a gentleman," she cried. 
 
 "You hinted that I wasn't this morning," said 
 Hinton angrily. "And I beg you to consider 
 that you are putting me into a most awkward 
 position." 
 
 215
 
 The Colossus 
 
 They glared at each other, and then Gertrude 
 laughed bitterly. 
 
 "I choose rather to think of myself," she said 
 with half a sneer; "I am not obliged to think of 
 you. And I didn't mean you were not a gentle- 
 man. I know you are, if we are not such friends 
 as we were, so I can trust you." 
 
 She turned away; but Hinton would not let 
 her go. 
 
 "Am I to keep silence forever?" 
 
 "No ; till I give you leave," cried Gertrude. 
 
 "It's not fair," said Emory; "you are taking 
 an unfair advantage. If you don't give me per- 
 mission within a week, I shall ignore my promise, 
 if I did promise what you say." 
 
 "Then I shall both think and say you are a cad, 
 Mr. Hinton," she replied furiously. "But you 
 won't do anything of the sort." 
 
 She began walking away, but Emory followed 
 her, with a pale face and blazing eyes. 
 
 "You don't know what you are doing," he 
 stammered. "And, if it comes to that, I don't 
 care in the least what you think of me." 
 
 "Leave me alone," she said ; "go away !" 
 
 Emory shook his head. 
 
 "No; let's understand each other. If you 
 don't give me leave inside of a week, I will tell 
 the Chief to send for Achmet Pasha. I never 
 216
 
 The Colossus 
 
 promised not to do that. You are not treating 
 me fairly, and, by God! I'll treat you just as I 
 would a man in an affair like this." 
 
 "You will?" 
 
 "Yes," said Emory. "If you come into this 
 arena you can't bring all your privileges with 
 you." 
 
 She looked at him steadily, and for one mo- 
 ment contemplated boxing his ears in no playful 
 manner; but she controlled herself. 
 
 "Very well; I hold you to your week," she 
 said. "And don't ever speak to me again." 
 
 And as Emory went back he met Matthews 
 coming out. 
 
 "Have you seen Bontine? The Chief wants 
 him." 
 
 "Then, go and find him," said Emory shortly. 
 "I don't keep Bontine in my pocket." 
 
 The only way to prevent Matthews from hav- 
 ing "swelled head" to a more than normal extent 
 was to be very rude to him. His contact with 
 the Chief had probably ruined a passable jour- 
 nalist, but Emory Hinton did his best to keep 
 him fairly sane. He blinked at Emory in some 
 astonishment, but did as he was told. 
 
 And when Bontine had been with the Chief 
 for some ten minutes, the result was not over 
 and above pleasant for his late ward. 
 217
 
 The Colossus 
 
 He could not deny that her scheme was clever, 
 that it had within it some of the elements of suc- 
 cess; but while he would have pardoned such an 
 escapade in another woman, he felt that Gertrude 
 by such action rather compromised him. And if 
 anything went wrong, if the final outcome of the 
 intrigue was not success, he knew that Loder 
 would in a sense hold him responsible for Ger- 
 trude. That might be unjust, but it was natural ; 
 and when Bontine came upon her his face was 
 flushed, and he was obviously angry. 
 
 "What's this you've been doing?" he de- 
 manded, without any of his usual suavity." 
 
 "What?" asked Gertrude, with an air of inso- 
 lence. 
 
 "Mixing yourself up in our business! You 
 know what I mean. How dare you do it?" 
 
 She had never seen him so angry, and though 
 she was in no way related to him, and was prac- 
 tically no blood relation of Tiny's, she felt for a 
 moment or two the same fear she had known 
 when he was first made her guardian. She 
 flushed and stammered, and then in defence lost 
 her temper. 
 
 "I did it yes, I did it, because I wanted to," 
 she cried. 
 
 "You had no business to want to. It's dis- 
 graceful, and you know it!" said Bontine. 
 218
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "I don't know it. And I'm a free agent." 
 
 She got out of her seat. 
 
 "Not while you are with us," said Bontine; 
 "you've no right to compromise me and my wife 
 in a thing like this. And let me tell you plainly 
 that you are making a fool of yourself." 
 
 "How?" 
 
 "How, indeed?" asked Bontine contemptu- 
 ously. "You know how." 
 
 And she did. But that made it no more agree- 
 able to be told of it. She turned away. 
 
 "Stop !" said Bontine. "It can't end here. As 
 you have gone so far, you must go further. Mr. 
 Loder has told me what you said. Be so good as 
 to let me know all you have done." 
 
 And then Gertrude looked at him with some 
 curiosity. 
 
 "Why should I tell you ?" she asked ; and there 
 was so much apparent surprise in her voice that 
 Bontine saw he had gone too far, if he meant get- 
 ting anything out of her. 
 
 "The infernal idiot is quite capable of spoil- 
 ing what she has done," he told himself as he 
 remembered that he had a character to keep up 
 for being persuasive. He turned about and 
 walked up and down the sheltered terrace. 
 When he came back to her his face was much 
 calmer. 
 
 219
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Upon my word, Gertrude, I didn't think you 
 would have treated us so!" he cried with forced 
 pathos. 
 
 His altered manner touched her a little, for his 
 kindness to her had always been great. 
 
 "Why, how have I treated you, George?" she 
 asked. "I haven't done you any harm." 
 
 But Bontine shook his head. 
 
 "That's more than you or I can say, my dear. 
 If things go wrong, Loder will think it my fault ; 
 and you ought to know very well that, though I 
 never quarrel with any one, I have more reasons 
 not to quarrel with Loder than with the rest of 
 the world." 
 
 Gertrude shrugged her shoulders. 
 
 "But I am not you, and you can disown me." 
 
 Bontine managed a very natural laugh. 
 
 "Men can't disown their feminine relatives, my 
 dear, and you know it. Now tell me all about 
 this?" 
 
 But Gertrude shook her head. 
 
 "I can't. I told Mr. Loder I couldn't tell him 
 more than I did till it is absolutely wanted." 
 
 "How do you know it is not absolutely wanted 
 now?" 
 
 She stared at him. 
 
 "Are you and Mr. Loder going to see Cazoule 
 at once?" 
 
 220
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "I can't quite say." 
 
 "Then to-morrow?" 
 
 "Perhaps." 
 
 "But you think that with what I have done 
 you can make him agree to what you want ?" 
 
 But Bontine was not so very young. 
 
 "I believe we are in the way to do that, any- 
 how." 
 
 Gertrude looked at him and looked away. 
 
 "Then you don't want me, of course." 
 
 "I don't say that, for what you have done 
 may be very useful. It will be an additional 
 weapon." 
 
 Gertrude sat down again in her chair, and 
 spoke without looking at Bontine. 
 
 "You said just now I was making a fool of 
 myself," she remarked rather casually. 
 
 "Oh, did I ?" asked Sir George ; "then I apol- 
 ogise." 
 
 She glanced at him for a moment. 
 
 "Then, you really think I am not making a 
 fool of myself?" 
 
 "Humph," said Bontine. 
 
 "Well, I don't care if I am," said Ger- 
 trude; "but when Mr. Loder wants me he 
 has got to come and ask me. I went to him 
 to-day, but next time he'll have to come to 
 me." 
 
 221
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "He won't," cried Bontine, "and you know it." 
 
 "He shall, and I know it," said Gertrude with 
 a frown. 
 
 "You don't know him." 
 
 "But I mean to," said she. "And I do know 
 
 that if this guarantee isn't arranged now it will 
 
 be put off for a year. You say you are in the 
 
 way to persuade that Frenchman, anyhow. Now 
 
 , I know that isn't so." 
 
 And after that Bontine had no more to say. 
 He got up and marched off. 
 
 "He shall come to me, whether I marry him 
 or not," said Gertrude ; "and until now I never 
 quite knew what cackling geese men are. As for 
 George, he's just like the rest, and hates to 
 be under any obligation to a woman and I've 
 just as much brains as any of them. I hate 
 Emory Hinton. But I've beaten them all 
 all!" 
 
 She went to her own room with a feeling of 
 bitter triumph. If she could only so far pull 
 Loder off his pedestal as to make him come and 
 ask her assistance, she would be fairly well satis- 
 fied for the time. And, whatever happened, she 
 had done something. She was not so useless as 
 most women as Tiny, for instance. 
 
 Not being herself married, she did not know 
 to what extent even the weakest woman can at- 
 
 222
 
 The Colossus 
 
 tain certain ends by concentrating her energies 
 on one point instead of wasting them on many. 
 And had Gertrude thought of things in this light 
 she would not have acquitted herself of wasting 
 her strength on a very court of men, even on the 
 hateful Emory Hinton, to say nothing of such a 
 little creature as Matthews, when better game 
 was not on hand. 
 
 After an hour's self-glorification, mingled with 
 dread of what Loder would say or do when he 
 heard her intentions, she marched into Tiny's 
 room, and found that little woman on a couch 
 reading a novel. 
 
 "I suppose you disapprove of me," said Ger- 
 trude, with her arms akimbo. 
 
 "Don't be the Washerwoman in the play, 
 please!" shrieked Tiny. "Oh, yes, I do disap- 
 prove of you, and I really always did. You are 
 potted, clotted, congealed obstinacy, and are just 
 scandalous." 
 
 "I don't care !" said Gertrude defiantly. 
 
 But she took her hands off her hips. 
 
 "I never imagined you did." 
 
 "But you know what I've done?" 
 
 Tiny nodded. 
 
 "George told me " 
 
 "In a great hurry and with a red face," said 
 Gertrude. 
 
 223
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "You are horrid !" cried Tiny ; "and if I wasn't 
 your very, very distant cousin, I should hate you. 
 As it is, you are a curiosity, and should be in a 
 cage." 
 
 "Where?" 
 
 "Not on Table Mountain," said Tiny, "so 
 there! But what made you do such dreadful 
 dangerous things ? Do tell me all about it !" 
 
 "Oh, yes, I dare say," said Gertrude. 
 
 "Please do !" cried Tiny. "Was it very excit- 
 ing, and was he rude ?" 
 
 As Gertrude's mind was deeply branded with 
 certain remarks poor Zohrab had made about 
 female decoy ducks, she felt rather sore on the 
 point of his rudeness. 
 
 "To be sure, he was rude enough," she said. 
 
 "But who was there? You were not alone 
 not altogether alone? Oh, say you were!- That 
 would be most exciting !" said Tiny, with a won- 
 derful air of naive innocence. 
 
 "You pig!" said Gertrude. 
 
 And Tiny opened indignant eyes on her as- 
 sailant. 
 
 "What do you mean by that?" 
 
 "I just mean it, in my heart and all inside me," 
 
 said Gertrude, "and I won't withdraw it, or, if 
 
 I do, I'll substitute that you are Tiny Bontine. 
 
 And when George dear George! comes and 
 
 224
 
 The Colossus 
 
 asks whether you got it out of me, you can say I 
 think he is a pig, too. But I'm glad you disap- 
 prove of me. Disapprobation from Lady Hubert 
 Bontine is praise indeed." 
 
 "My name is not Hubert," cried Tiny. 
 
 "Now, did I ever say it was ?" asked Gertrude.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THINGS were made rather worse that night 
 than they might have been had Gertrude stayed 
 away from dinner ; for as it happened, Sam Rom- 
 ney came in to that meal, after returning from 
 Alexandria, and was for some reason or another 
 in his wildest spirits. He clapped Hinton on the 
 back, and Emory snarled. He did the same to 
 Matthews, and that young man collapsed into a 
 chair. 
 
 "How are you all?" said Sam, as he squared 
 up to his dinner. "I'm glad to see you so fresh 
 and lively. How do things go ? Bless my soul ! 
 I'm hungry." 
 
 He was never anything else, and Gertrude, far 
 from hiding her light under a bushel as she 
 should have done, said so in a flippant way, which 
 set every one's nerves tingling. There was a 
 challenge in her very voice. 
 
 "A nice lot ! I don't care for your disappro- 
 bation," was what her tone said, and only Rom- 
 ney did not notice it. He was busy dining, and 
 was doing it thoroughly. But every time he 
 226
 
 The Colossus 
 
 opened his mouth he dropped shells into the en- 
 campment. 
 
 "Well, Miss Broughton, have you been schem- 
 ing anything lately ?" he demanded after soup. 
 
 "Yes," said Gertrude ; "I've been plotting to 
 get you to take me as a partner." 
 
 "Then time hangs heavy on your hands, eh?" 
 asked the Contractor. "I thought you and Mr. 
 Hinton quarrelled so nicely in the intervals that 
 you never felt dull." 
 
 There was a chill silence for a few seconds. 
 
 "How did you get on at Alexandria?" asked 
 Tiny hastily. 
 
 "I didn't get on at all," said Romney, "and 
 I'm glad to come back among you to cheer you 
 up." 
 
 "Everything you say delights us," cried Ger- 
 trude. "And when you come back into the 
 scrimmage, something will have to give way." 
 
 And Loder, who was solid and vast and va- 
 cant-looking, gave a grunt. 
 
 "Go on talking, Mr. Romney," she cried; 
 "never mind us if we are a little dull. There's 
 never any excitement when you are away." 
 
 Then Bontine moved on his chair uneasily, and 
 in a low tone damned Gertrude to his wife. 
 
 "And how do the telegraph-posts come along, 
 Loder ?" asked Romney, with a twinkle in his eye. 
 227
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "They come in barges," interrupted Hinton, 
 who knew Loder was rather volcanic that night. 
 
 "That's the way Romney should travel," cried 
 Bontine, at last taking a hand in the talk ; "I can 
 see him on the Nile like Cleopatra, a real Orien- 
 tal beauty." 
 
 Romney grunted then, and burst into laughter. 
 
 "And which way am I to go, north or south ?" 
 
 "Oh, south of course," said Tiny. 
 
 "Yes," cried Gertrude, "we talk South, but go 
 North." 
 
 "No," said Bontine, "some of us stay and talk 
 nonsense, and get no further." 
 
 "You can't mean that for her," said Romney ; 
 "I'll defy Miss Broughton to get no further. 
 She's always going too far." 
 
 He thought it an excellent joke, and so it was. 
 Wilberforce Matthews burst into a giggle, which 
 he suppressed very suddenly. For Loder ceased 
 looking into immeasurable space, and stared at 
 him with withering surprise. Gertrude smiled 
 benignantly. 
 
 "If you were a box of bricks, Mr. Matthews, 
 how would you like being looked at by a Pyra- 
 mid?" she asked. 
 
 Under ordinary circumstances, Emory would 
 have gone to poor Matthews' assistance, but just 
 now he was in a temper to see any one on a grill. 
 228
 
 The Colossus 
 
 So he laughed and brought a few coals to the fire. 
 
 "Why don't you answer, Matthews? It's an 
 interesting question, if rather academic." 
 
 "Academic discussions are out of place at din- 
 ner," said Bontine. 
 
 "So let us return to our former kindly humor," 
 cried Gertrude. 
 
 And all this time Loder had said no word. He 
 never shone in any conversation where quick- 
 ness was wanted, unless it was a political fight 
 or one of those talks, such as he proposed having 
 with Cazoule on the morrow. But then he went 
 on definite lines, and had the thing thrashed out 
 to the last ear of wheat before the fight began. 
 His mind was essentially slow: he moved like a 
 fly-wheel. 
 
 "I should like, if you have no objection, to 
 take time to consider my answer to that ques- 
 tion," was a common answer of his when he sat 
 face to face with quicker and smaller men. 
 
 Perhaps this slowness and his loose grasp of 
 detail were the two points on which he least re- 
 sembled the great men of action. Certainly such 
 wants in his character gave opportunities to those 
 who wanted to depreciate him. Yet that very 
 slowness had been in his favor when he worked 
 in political harness with the Cape Dutch. It is at 
 least possible to imagine that his long partner- 
 229
 
 The Colossus 
 
 ship with them had to some extent slackened his 
 mental pace. Certainly he had never met with 
 disaster until he had allowed himself to be hur- 
 ried by lieutenants of a quicker-minded type than 
 the solid Afrikanders. 
 
 So as he sat at the table he appeared like a 
 browsing buffalo with flies about him. Even 
 Romney was more skilled in badinage ; he danced 
 ponderously with the alert and agile Gertrude, 
 who was like a cat among the most delicate 
 china. 
 
 "What an infernal woman!" said Loder to 
 himself. 
 
 He had not the slightest feeling of gratitude to 
 her for shortening his path. To divest himself of 
 the notion that the inferior creature woman 
 should attend to socks and buttons was impos- 
 sible to him. He felt toward her as the actors in 
 some tremendous domestic tragedy might feel 
 toward a sharp and dangerous child who had sur- 
 prised their secret, and, with malicious glee, pro- 
 posed to blackmail them. That Gertrude 
 Broughton was useful, or might be useful, 
 counted for nothing, when weighed against her 
 impertinence and the dread she inspired in him 
 merely as a woman with decided, if strictly hon- 
 orable, intentions. 
 
 So all through the dinner, without knowing 
 230
 
 The Colossus 
 
 it, he wrought Gertrude up to a reckless humor. 
 When she spoke to the others she still kept her 
 eye upon him, and tried his armor at every point. 
 That, after what she had done, he could even now 
 show her no real civility annoyed her to a state 
 of controlled frenzy. If he had to talk to casual 
 women he could do it nicely enough, but to one 
 who had struggled to help him he could cast 
 no word. 
 
 "He'll just send for me and say, 'Now 
 humph now, Miss Broughton, please be good 
 enough to let me have all the details,' " said 
 Gertrude savagely, "and I'll say nothing noth- 
 ing!" 
 
 She was sorry she had ever mixed herself up 
 with him or with his affairs, and yet one kind 
 glance from Loder, even a semi-humorous 
 glance, would have made her reasonable once 
 more, and the thunder-clouds overhead would 
 have been dissipated. But Jupiter sat on cloudy 
 Olympus, and his would-be Juno sulked afar, and 
 called the callous deity names. 
 
 But her sulking was only in a part of her mind ; 
 in her talk she was active ; she balanced herself 
 on the extreme edge of abysses, and shot mali- 
 cious darts at every one. 
 
 "Did you do as I told you, Tiny?" she de- 
 manded with her pretty head on one side, and 
 231
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Tiny looked at her with wide-eyed and alert 
 warning. 
 
 "I mean, did you tell George that he too was 
 a pig?" 
 
 Bontine shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "Gertrude!" cried her cousin. 
 
 "But did you?" 
 
 "I did not," said Tiny firmly. 
 
 "Why am I a pig, Gertrude?" asked Bontine, 
 who was not overpleased. 
 
 "Good heavens, how do I know?" she said. 
 "Why is Tiny herself a fluffy dear, but plastic 
 and a subtle traitor? Why is Africa divided 
 into three parts, of which one part is President 
 Kruger, and another Mr. Loder, and the third 
 those who sit upon fences? Ask me no riddles, 
 or, if you do, I'll ask you some." 
 
 "I think you are one," said Bontine dryly. 
 
 "Can you find me out?" 
 
 Bontine let her have it. 
 
 "Yes, because you give yourself away," he an- 
 swered with apparent geniality, and there was 
 so much possible bitterness in what he said that 
 Gertrude was in a silent fury. She held her 
 tongue for five minutes, and Tiny chattered like 
 a bird to cover her disaster. Not a soul but was 
 glad when dinner was over. 
 
 "Dear Sam Romney," said Gertrude as they 
 232
 
 The Colossus 
 
 rose, "my dear big Sam, have you arranged for 
 that concert?'' 
 
 She had never called him Sam before, and that 
 she did so pleased the big blue-eyed giant. 
 
 "What concert?" 
 
 "You know you promised to do here what you 
 do everywhere," she cried, laughing. 
 
 "Would you really like it?" asked Sam with 
 twinkling eyes. "Bless you! I could do it to- 
 night if you liked." 
 
 Gertrude clapped her hands. 
 
 "Oh, what fun ! Yes, let's !" 
 
 She marched away with him. 
 
 "Damn, she's getting clean out of hand," said 
 Bontine to his wife. "As soon as we get this 
 thing through we'll go !" 
 
 "She's in a most dangerous temper," cried 
 Tiny. "I can't manage her a bit." 
 
 And then Bontine followed Loder. 
 
 "Very well," said the Chief, "I'll get Cazoule 
 to come here to-morrow, and we'll pull it 
 through." 
 
 "I hope so," said Bontine a little doubtfully. 
 
 "You believe this story of hers ?" asked Loder. 
 
 "To be sure," said Bontine; "but but 
 couldn't you manage to smooth her down a bit? 
 If you could just speak to her nicely at break- 
 fast, for instance." 
 
 233
 
 The Colossus 
 
 And the clouds rolled once more upon Olym- 
 pus. 
 
 "Why the deuce should I ?" demanded Jupiter 
 gruffly. 
 
 And Bontine shrugged his shoulders. If the 
 Chief could not see that it was touch and go with 
 her now, he might find it out to-morrow. They 
 sat together and planned how to explode their 
 doubtful bomb under the recalcitrant French- 
 man. 
 
 "He is sure to be a little nervous," said Bon- 
 tine, "for there are flying rumors of Zohrab's 
 impending disgrace. And when I saw Powell to- 
 day, he was like a cat on hot bricks." 
 
 "Ah," said Loder, that's the man I'd like to 
 pull down. If we could only disgrace him 
 openly, I'd give a hundred thousand pounds. 
 But that's the worst of things here. Hello, what's 
 that?" 
 
 He might well ask the question, for from Sam 
 Romney's balcony there was a sudden burst of 
 music. 
 
 "It's that mad devil, Romney, with a band 
 again," sighed Bontine. "He's fetched in his 
 private orchestra, as he calls it." 
 
 For, as one has seen, Romney had a wild and 
 barbaric passion for noise. It came from his 
 exuberance of vitality ; from his childlike nature : 
 234
 
 The Colossus 
 
 he marched like a savage to the sounds of war. 
 It was not that he knew anything of music in 
 itself; though he at times instructed his hired 
 men to play something of Wagner's, what ap- 
 pealed to him in some of that composer's works 
 was its apparent vast disorder : its savage human 
 cries, its revolt against the usual. There was an 
 enormous element in Romney of revolt; he ran 
 amuck with prodigious energy when he could not 
 throw himself into work. And his perpetual 
 health made him immortally young ; his disregard 
 of regulation and ordinance was infantine. 
 
 "How I wish it was cold," said Gertrude, "and 
 then I could warm my hands at you!" 
 
 But now she inspired him with preposterous 
 notions; they played like children she in her 
 balcony and he in his, where he had his illegal 
 band. 
 
 "The Hotel people will be coming to remon- 
 strate," laughed Gertrude, and Sam shook with 
 mighty glee. 
 
 "I've got my doors locked; the manager is 
 banging on the panels now!" he cried. His 
 laughter was an instrument in the orchestra; it 
 turned a devilish tarantella into something kindly 
 and human. 
 
 "Play up, my boys !" he shouted. "Give it lip! 
 go it!" 
 
 235
 
 The Colossus 
 
 He marched to and fro like a drum-major; he 
 was as proud as a piper on parade; he marked 
 time with magnificent irregularity, using a thick 
 oak-plant as a baton. The band sweated; they 
 laughed as they played; their extraordinary pa- 
 tron cheered then to the assault. 
 
 "Oh, this is fine !" he shouted through the din, 
 and in the corridor the manager wailed like a 
 flute, and waiters ran to and fro, as agitated ants 
 run, appeasing in many languages indignant win- 
 tering dowagers. The manager drummed on the 
 door ; he calculated bills of damages and squeaked 
 vast sums of francs that should be the war in- 
 demnity when at last Victory perched upon his 
 banners. But Romney neither heard nor heeded. 
 
 He seized a clarionet from one exhausted 
 player, and by a marvellous chance blew a blast 
 that was like a big paint-mark on a page of 
 music. 
 
 "I did it that time," said Sam proudly. "By 
 Jove! I get on, don't I?" 
 
 "You do indeed, you dear!" cried Gertrude. 
 
 "Oh, I wish I had a concertina," he shouted ; 
 "the worst of these instruments is that one can't 
 always make 'em sound, but you can punish a 
 concertina every time : it just has to sing out !" 
 
 "So it has," laughed Gertrude, with a catch in 
 her side. "Oh, dear, I shall die !" 
 236
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Then Tiny came out on the balcony and re- 
 monstrated. 
 
 "Gertrude, Gertrude, this isn't right! Come 
 in, I beg." 
 
 But Gertrude was not to be put down. 
 
 "I can't and won't and shan't come in. Go 
 to bed, Tiny, and leave me alone. I won't be 
 worried. Did I tell you my doctor said I was not 
 to be worried ? Then, if I didn't, please imagine 
 I did." 
 
 "Bless you, Lady Bontine! it's all right," said 
 Romney ; "now I don't find Cairo dull." 
 
 "Oh," said Tiny, "don't you?" 
 
 Then he played the conductor with the clari- 
 onet, and the musicians fell to pieces; the men 
 with the wind instruments were like punctured 
 tires; they whistled feebly with half-controlled 
 laughter, and through the failing strains rose the 
 scream of the manager : 
 
 "Monsieur, monsieur, c'est absolument de- 
 fendu ! J'entamerai un proces dommages-interets 
 sacrogneugneu !" 
 
 "What's he saying?" asked Romney. 
 
 "He says he doesn't mind if they play the 
 Walkiirenritt," said Gertrude. 
 
 "Right you are, old boy!" yelled Romney. 
 "Here, sonny, take the clarionet and blow." 
 
 Then there was silence for a moment, and the 
 237
 
 The Colossus 
 
 manager hoped. But presently the Horses gal- 
 loped upon murky air, and again he erected a 
 proces-verbal in mixed languages against this 
 mad Destroyer of Peace. 
 
 "What's he at now?" asked Romney. 
 
 "It's applause," said Gertrude; "he says he 
 likes trombones !" 
 
 "Wait till this rot is over, then," cried Sam, 
 "and Til give him a solo ! If it costs me the con- 
 tract price of a mile of railway in a Fashoda 
 swamp, I'll enjoy myself to-night!" 
 
 He leant over the balcony into the garden. 
 Electric lights gleamed under palms and among 
 oleanders; the people strolled to and fro, though 
 most were gathered near the unofficial band. 
 
 "Is that you, Hinton?" asked the Bandmaster. 
 
 "It is," said Hinton. 
 
 "Then come up and sing a duet with Miss 
 Broughton, and I'll conduct." 
 
 "I have no voice to-night," said Emory. "But 
 go on conducting ; or won't you play the 'cello ?" 
 
 "I'll not play any more to-night, my boy. I'm 
 the conductor. Now, then, boys, play up! Miss 
 Broughton !" 
 
 But there was no answer. He turned and 
 found Gertrude had gone. And though he called 
 she returned no more, but sat in her dark room 
 with sullen anger in her heart. 
 238
 
 LODER'S rooms were far enough from Romney s 
 centre of noise to be undisturbed. He only 
 smiled when he heard that the big Contractor was 
 bent on having one of his occasional musical 
 nights. The sound of the distant band floated 
 round the corner and was not unpleasing to him ; 
 even the interpolated squeal of the clarionet was 
 softened and seemed accidental. 
 
 "We shouldn't be long now," said Loder, and 
 in his mind he beheld Cairo's minarets disappear 
 in golden haze. 
 
 "May I never come here again till I come 
 up from the South !" 
 
 He saw Table Mountain then and the great 
 curve of beach that edged the Flats with silver. 
 Round behind Devil's Peak lay his home. There, 
 too, was the hard-headed and obstinately faithful 
 Le Gros, his lightning-conductor, his odium- 
 bearer. What a pity the Bond Ministry wouldn't 
 be persuaded to do what they should have done. 
 Ah, what a pity it all was ! 
 
 But he knew (as he always had known) that 
 the hour for his parting with the Afrikander 
 239
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Bond had only been a question of time. True it 
 was that the divorce had been abrupt and unex- 
 pected, but it had to come. 
 
 As he lay back in his chair by the windows 
 a thousand shadows flitted through his formless 
 and chaotic reverie. His old colleagues rose like 
 ghosts; he heard Meyer's soft voice, he saw the 
 bitter-sweet smile of thin John Merrian. Though 
 Bontine was close at hand, he met him now walk- 
 ing briskly in Adderley Street ; he saw Berwick 
 smile benignantly and wipe imaginary dust from 
 his clean spectacles. Twenty years ago the ox 
 wagons sank to their axles in that street. His 
 mind was a kaleidoscope. How long ago had he 
 thought out the northern extension ? He recalled 
 with subdued massive exultation the day when 
 in his own mind he first thought of Cairo as the 
 northern capital of United British Africa. To cut 
 the word "South" out of that title was in its way 
 a stroke of genius. 
 
 As he mused he heard Linlithgow speak when 
 he warned that aloof politician of the danger that 
 the French might come in from the Upper Niger. 
 He owed a good deal to Linlithgow. And after 
 all, Ewart had swallowed the key to South Africa 
 in time. 
 
 He went south to Bechuanaland and saw the 
 vast Kalahari stretch out to German South 
 240
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Africa. Well, the time would come, perhaps, 
 when the German would pack out of Damara- 
 land. Loder's passion for completions would not 
 be satisfied while any alien race lorded it south of 
 the Zambesi. 
 
 As he sat thinking vaguely, he looked out 
 upon the violet sky. Under it stretched the 
 formless desert as vast as the illimitable nature 
 of man, as vast as his own uncharted concep- 
 tions. 
 
 They said of him that he could think of only 
 one subject at a time, and in a way those who 
 said it were right. Only with infinite difficulty 
 and a certain shamefaced inarticulateness could 
 he have showed the varied workings of his mind, 
 which were like mixed and mingling penumbras 
 about the darker cone of shadow that was his 
 more obvious preoccupation. That he thought 
 now of the morrow's final outcome of long-pre- 
 pared schemes, brought suddenly to a head by 
 what appeared an accident, did not stop his 
 dreaming. Across the stage of his thoughts passed 
 many dim processions, lighted here and there by 
 the quick flash of stronger remembrance. In 
 such an hour the process of thought at the back 
 of thought is fantastic and surprising. 
 
 He recalled with photographic precision the 
 face of one of the "boys" at Bulawayo. 
 16 241
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "We are going to Belingwe, Mr. Loder. There 
 are five of us." 
 
 "And you are making a little syndicate, I sup- 
 pose? Well, now, and would you let me come 
 in?" 
 
 So he paid his hundred pounds or so, and 
 promptly forgot it. But in the minds of the men, 
 who went gold-hunting to the place of the 
 Slaughter of Leopards, was a deeper loyalty to 
 the Chief. He did take a real interest in them, 
 and looked on them as his family. 
 
 He saw "Johann" Brander come riding down 
 the road. A good man, and a good Dutch Afri- 
 kander; never a better type betwixt Cape Town 
 and Nylstrom, between Durban and Walfisch 
 Bay. A hard man and a keen, a Viking weapon, 
 forged from good steel. To hear him laugh was 
 a tonic. With a subdued chuckle Loder recalled 
 Hinton's story of Johann's inviting a stray Eng- 
 lishman, wrecked temporarily by malaria, to go a 
 drive with him for the sake of his health, and his 
 taking the man out in a tandem with unbroken 
 horses, one of them a racer. For "Johann" had 
 no nerves, and was as cool in the Matoppos 
 among the insurgent Matabele as under his own 
 veranda. 
 
 Then Loder saw old Lobengula with his hard, 
 strong face, a strange type among the Zulus and 
 242
 
 The Colossus 
 
 the children of Msiligazi. Oh, but that was a 
 terrible time ! Well, there had been brutal hours 
 in the making of India. Clive and Hastings had 
 their reverses ; they, too, had faced an opposition. 
 
 Sometimes, in these rare introspective hours, 
 he wondered where History would place him, 
 when he at last was dust. He knew that fame 
 worked mostly with a big meshed sieve ; he knew, 
 too, that a final calamity outweighed a noble cat- 
 alogue of arduous deeds. But still he might stand 
 well among the throng of those who made Em- 
 pires. If Caesar and his like were above him, he 
 was not unconfident of his own claims to rest 
 among the third order of great men, in the Val- 
 halla of daring Clive, of cunning Hastings, of 
 iron-fisted Bismarck. At any rate, he was pre- 
 pared to take responsibility. 
 
 Yet such men as these in many ways had 
 easier tasks. Nowadays not a step was taken 
 without rousing moral cavillers, who forgot, or 
 never knew, that to be moral in dealing in big 
 things was to ignore the fine and small morality 
 between man and man. The world's air was full 
 of moral mosquitoes. And then, in an Empire 
 like the British Empire, the problem of squaring 
 "The least we Want" with "The most we can 
 Get" was unceasing and each day harder. 
 
 To justify himself before God or Man was not 
 243
 
 The Colossus 
 
 a thing that often occurred to Eustace Loder. 
 But he was sometimes dimly conscious that he 
 needed a justification, an apologia. He knew the 
 ordinary attempts to justify such a man as him- 
 self on current morality led to special pleading of 
 a hypocritical kind. Perhaps it was necessary to 
 prate about carrying religion and the blessings 
 of civilisation, but it was pretty sickening. The 
 true justification was, "That it can't be helped." 
 To control a growing Empire is as impossible as 
 to control a growing town. How many times 
 had French Kings set vain bounds to Paris ? 
 
 He came back again to Egypt, and felt himself 
 strong. There he was well in touch with the 
 English Army, that understood him by instinct 
 and by its traditions. If it were possible for Bul- 
 len and Lowry to make a Council of Three and 
 carry England with them! But then, what of 
 India, and Persia, and China, and the Continent 
 of Europe? Poor Enfield really must have a 
 devil of a time making the Impossible possible 
 and the Crooked straight. He could give no 
 more help in Africa than he was obliged to give. 
 No wonder, after all, that the Prime Minister had 
 little initiative. It was a good thing that it was 
 not necessary to push desperately for an Eng- 
 lish Protectorate on the Nile. 
 
 Certainly the French would not face with calm- 
 244
 
 The Colossus 
 
 ness the prospect of Zohrab's fall. As a matter 
 of fact, they never faced anything with calmness, 
 but if the Head of the Household went they 
 would feel the Egyptian world crumbling about 
 their ears. He had been a very present help to 
 them in trouble ; there was no doubt of that, the 
 more so because even his enemies believed him 
 not only honest, but stupid. Cazoule had shown 
 absolute confidence in Zohrab's holding his posi- 
 tion. But now he must be less sure. Would he 
 come when he was sent for, or would it be best 
 to go and see him ? If he came at once and with- 
 out demur, it would be a sign that he felt shaken. 
 If he refused, then the shock of the threatened 
 exposure might come the more suddenly on him. 
 He would in any case have to climb down, and 
 either throw over the French Government, which 
 meant losing an extra government two and a half 
 per cent., or lose that two and a half per cent, 
 with the rest. The financial houses backing him 
 wanted to come at any price. 
 
 So Romney and Oppenheimer would win, after 
 all. It is a question whether Loder was utterly 
 pleased with that, for Romney had been a trifle 
 unaccommodating, and unaccommodating for 
 reasons with which Loder had little sympathy. 
 Private predilections ought not to influence 
 national business : he felt sure of that. 
 245
 
 The Colossus 
 
 It would be a big thing, though, to be able to 
 announce that the much-talked-of Railway was 
 not a thing to be talked of, but a thing to be done. 
 It would be a slap in the face for France. They 
 would have the air left to join their Soudan to 
 Djiboutil. It would take a very strong trick in 
 the game with the Bond down South. It would 
 make the Transvaal clique as sick as the Anglo- 
 German agreement about Delagoa Bay when it 
 came out. The game was going well, after all. 
 He had not bragged on nothing when he told the 
 crowd at Kimberley that his political career was 
 only just beginning. It was only just beginning, 
 after all ; and when the awakened English public 
 saw it, they would insist on Enfield backing the 
 right horse this time, even when the Sultan of 
 Turkey remonstrated against the absorption of 
 Egypt into United British Africa. 
 
 So once more he came back Caesar-like to his 
 Capital Cairo, and its domes and minarets 
 sparkled even more graciously than they had done 
 when he left it. He saw a Federated Parliament 
 of Africa in the very Khedivial palace, and 
 chuckled for a brief moment as the member for 
 Stellenbosch, who was also Minister for African 
 Railways, rose to defend his policy against the 
 members for Blantyre and Assouan and Cairo, 
 and to bring in a Bill to complete the lacking sec- 
 246
 
 The Colossus 
 
 tions between the Euphrates Valley line to India 
 and Jerusalem, thus joining Cape Town and Cal- 
 cutta. Well, after all, stranger things had hap- 
 pened in this round world of changing changeful 
 things, though it might be that the strength of 
 Loder, the persuasion of Bontine, and the laugh- 
 ter of Gargantuan Romney were less then than 
 the legends of Thothmes himself. 
 
 Thus the race marched onward, and for a lit- 
 tle while a man controlled, or seemed to control, 
 its destinies. But behind it was Destiny itself, 
 and all the centuries that prophetic insight could 
 view were no more than one To-morrow in the 
 infinite Calendar of Time. 
 
 So Eustace Loder shook himself after reverie 
 like a big dog upon the banks of the Nile, and 
 smoked a long black cigar upon the balcony as he 
 watched the fire-fly lights of the town. He hardly 
 knew he had been thinking, and if some intruder 
 had said, "Well, Loder, what was in your mind 
 just now?" he would have replied, "I think I must 
 have been asleep." 
 
 For he had no love of telling his visions, even 
 in the Land where the Great King had dreamed 
 of the Lean and Fat Kine.
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 THERE was an air of subdued excitement and 
 tension about every one in the party, except Rom- 
 ney, on the day following. For big Sam, not be- 
 ing yet in the secret, was just the same as ever 
 jovial, genial, humorous. To Gertrude, who did 
 not really know him well, it seemed that he must 
 sit at his desk and sublet contracts with the air of 
 a Master of the Revels. He used his very exu- 
 berance of health as a stalking-horse, and under 
 cover of it shot like Teucer. 
 
 Hinton, who was debarred from any confidant 
 by the terms of his agreement with Gertrude, 
 never had a more unpleasant time in his life than 
 he was experiencing now. His duty to the Chief, 
 his affection and his loyalty together, reproached 
 his silence and his trapped honor. For Loder 
 could inspire both affection and loyalty, and 
 though many were loyal who did not love him, 
 their loyalty had that kinship with patriotism 
 which carries with it a quality of passion. And 
 Hinton really regarded him with devotion. If it 
 were only possible to postpone action for six days 
 more ! But he dared not suggest it. He had no 
 248
 
 The Colossus 
 
 reason to offer, and an unsupported suggestion 
 of this kind would bring an artillery fire of ques- 
 tions upon him. He hated Gertrude now with 
 bitter hatred, and was astounded to remember he 
 had ever come near asking her to marry him. 
 They did not speak at breakfast. For the matter 
 of that, there was little time. Gertrude drank a 
 cup of coffee, and went away when she saw 
 Loder returning from his morning gallop to the 
 Pyramids. 
 
 But though she avoided Hinton because she 
 dreaded in her nervous, excited state any combat 
 but that she thought she was prepared for, she 
 did not decline to talk with her cousin. If Tiny 
 had in a way played the traitor, Gertrude knew 
 she was so much under the influence of Bontine, 
 who was Influence personified with all who be- 
 lieved they knew him, that she forgave her. And 
 Tiny, having been discovered, was more than 
 usually nice. For she had the very sweetest na- 
 ture possible, and was quite accustomed to be 
 worsted in petty half-satiric conflicts with the 
 feline Gertrude. And that leopardess, if still 
 cross and liable to tail-lashing when Loder came 
 under her tree, was, by reason of apparent 
 Pyrrhic victory, open to sympathetic treatment. 
 
 "I wouldn't really have told, Gertrude," said 
 Tiny after breakfast was over. 
 249
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "You wouldn't?" 
 
 "Not if you had asked me not to." 
 
 "But it was true George set you on?" asked 
 Gertrude. 
 
 "Well, I wouldn't have told," said Tiny. "But 
 it must have been brave of you. Perhaps you'll 
 tell me all about it some day." 
 
 Gertrude nodded. 
 
 "You think I'm a fool, Tiny?" 
 
 Tiny gave an almost imperceptible shrug of 
 her shoulders. 
 
 "My dear, dear girl, I see more and more 
 every day that all women are fools where men 
 are concerned. It's just the same the other way 
 about. Men are fools too. But the worst of it 
 is we are silly fools." 
 
 She spoke with a birdlike air of gravity. 
 Jenny Wren philosophised. 
 
 "It's because oh, it's just because we can't 
 help it. But Mr. Loder isn't a human being. 
 Didn't I tell you before that he's just like the 
 veldt?" 
 
 "And you compared me with a koodoo," said 
 Gertrude. "But I don't care, Tiny; I've done 
 what will help him. I said I would. I don't care 
 a bit about his beastly old railway, and I hate 
 Cairo ; but if he wanted the Pyramids to eat, I'd 
 try to butter them for him, just out of spite." 
 250
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Tiny smiled. 
 
 "But he wouldn't have indigestion, my dear. 
 If he ever swallows Egypt and I'm sure he 
 wants to he'll be like a big snake for a few 
 weeks, and then he'll crawl into Palestine " 
 
 "And take Jerusalem on toast," said Gertrude 
 with something halfway between a laugh and a 
 sob. For that was what she liked about him. To 
 see him eat up Africa almost set her weeping 
 with admiring, exultant astonishment. 
 
 "And, after all, I do care about the railway," 
 she admitted presently. 
 
 "Well, you will have done something for it." 
 said Tiny softly, as she laid her hand on Ger- 
 trude's. 
 
 "You're a dear!" cried Gertrude. "And I 
 forgive you. And you're not a pig. He's the 
 
 pig!" 
 
 "Who?" asked Tiny rather tartly. 
 
 "Not George, but Mr. Loder." 
 
 "I'm glad you feel that way " 
 
 "I don't," cried Gertrude; "but I'm just glad 
 that he'll have to come to me and be civil, and ask 
 me to help." 
 
 Tiny looked at her. 
 
 "Do you really think he will?" 
 
 "He shall." 
 
 But Tiny shook her head. 
 251
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "He shall," repeated Gertrude. "I don't sup- 
 pose now that I shall ever marry him, and per- 
 haps I don't want to, but he shall come and ask 
 me to help, or I won't." 
 
 Tiny pursed up her lips. 
 
 "If he sent for you, wouldn't you go?" 
 
 "I wouldn't," said Gertrude. 
 
 "Then I believe he'd come and shake you," 
 said Tiny. 
 
 Gertrude opened her mouth, and caught her 
 breath. 
 
 "If he did that, I'd do it," she cried. 
 
 "Do what?" 
 
 "What he wanted, of course," snapped Ger- 
 trude; "what would you do?" 
 
 "If Mr. Loder came and shook me?" 
 
 "Yes, what would you do?" 
 
 "Oh, dear," said Tiny, "I don't think he'd ever 
 dare; but if he did I should feel as if Table 
 Mountain fell on me, and my wits would go. So 
 how can I tell what I should do?" 
 
 She looked as if she resented having disturb- 
 ing questions asked. 
 
 "I hope he will shake me," said Gertrude, with 
 half-humorous shamefacedness. 
 
 Tiny pressed her hand. 
 
 "I I hope he will, dear," she murmured. 
 
 Gertrude rose in sudden agitation. 
 252
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "But he won't," she cried, and went away with- 
 out another word. 
 
 "No o, I'm afraid he won't," said Tiny. 
 "Well, we are fools!" 
 
 And in the meantime Bontine and Loder were 
 considering how to deal with Cazoule. 
 
 "It's possible, with the rumors going about, 
 that he will crawl down without much trouble," 
 said Loder, as he chewed a pen. 
 
 "You think him a strong man?" asked Bon- 
 tine. 
 
 ''Cazoule qua Cazoule isn't so much," said 
 Loder, "but qua representative he's all right." 
 
 "The distinction doesn't serve us." 
 
 "Perhaps not," grunted Loder. 
 
 He was not easy in his mind. 
 
 "What's your notion?" asked Bontine, who 
 knew what the trouble was. 
 
 "I'd rather get him down without using any 
 one outside," said Loder, looking out of the win- 
 dow. 
 
 "So would I. But if we can't?" 
 
 For once in a way there was irresolution upon 
 Loder's face. He rarely showed it, for when he 
 came out into the arena, though it was the small- 
 est, he had usually made up his mind. 
 
 "We'll see," he said hastily. "But what shall 
 we do about bringing him here ?" 
 253
 
 The Colossus 
 
 The woman in the business was the grit in the 
 piece of machinery. He could scarcely away with 
 it. His native dislike of their interference had 
 been illogically strengthened by the fact that a 
 woman had played an important part in the one 
 great political tragedy of his life. Since then he 
 had distrusted them more and more. 
 
 "Then you have made up your mind to have 
 him here?" 
 
 "I suppose so," said Loder with reluctance ; 
 and Bontine could hardly recognise him. 
 
 Was it possible that a woman made all this 
 difference ? 
 
 But if a woman merely as feminine made a 
 difference, what was the alteration likely to be 
 when the predatory She, whose fell intent was 
 honorable marriage, came into the matter ? 
 
 "I suppose so," repeated Loder. 
 
 For, if Cazoule did not crawl down, this she- 
 falcon must be loosed on him. Or what evidence 
 she held must be at hand. 
 
 "Can't you get her to tell you all about it now?" 
 asked Loder in a hurry. "Say we want the evi- 
 dence for this afternoon." 
 
 Bontine glanced at him and chewed a pencil. 
 
 "I'll try," he said, but he was without enthusi- 
 asm. 
 
 He knew Gertrude fairly well. She was flighty, 
 254
 
 The Colossus 
 
 but obstinate at any time. Of late her obstinacy 
 had grown like a gourd. 
 
 "I'll try." 
 
 And Loder felt relieved. If Bontine tried, he 
 would succeed. If not but it was no use to 
 think about it. 
 
 So George walked out into the garden, and 
 found Tiny alone. 
 
 " Where's Gertrude?" 
 
 "She's just gone," said his wife. 
 
 "What kind of mood is she in?" 
 
 Tiny shook her head. 
 
 "She's very difficult, I think, George." 
 
 "I want her to tell me the whole thing now," 
 said George ; "we need it this afternoon." 
 
 Tiny lifted her eyes. 
 
 "Who will ask her?" 
 
 "I will," said George. 
 
 "It won't be any good. She wants Mr. Loder 
 to ask her." 
 
 Bontine whistled. 
 
 "Does she really think he will ?" 
 
 "I don't know whether she thinks he will or 
 not, but I think he ought to." 
 
 Bontine shook his head irritably. 
 
 "What is the use of talking that way? Loder 
 is Loder, and you know he won't. Where is 
 she?" 
 
 255
 
 The Colossus 
 
 And Tiny sent for her. Ten minutes later Ger- 
 trude appeared, and on seeing Bontine put on 
 armor. He was as suave as May sunlight, and 
 appeared confidently cheerful. 
 
 "Well, my dear, we're getting on swimmingly. 
 The Obstacle is coming this afternoon, and he'll 
 be full of confidence, no doubt. But with your 
 help we'll drop him in the Nile." 
 
 Gertrude laughed without mirth. 
 
 "I'm glad to hear it." 
 
 "So now, as we expect him after lunch, will 
 you let me hear all the particulars ?" 
 
 She knew his air of confident anticipation was 
 mere acting. An infinitely slight shade of anxiety 
 clouded his May-morning manner. 
 
 "Did Mr. Loder send you, George?" 
 
 It was a difficult question to answer, and he 
 knew it. To say "Yes" invited one retort, to say 
 "No" called for another. 
 
 "My dear, he's frightfully busy, and I'm under- 
 taking just now to relieve him of all I can." 
 
 "Of course," said Gertrude, seating herself by 
 Tiny, who for once was not wholly on her hus- 
 band's side. If blood is thicker than water, at 
 times femininity is stronger than marriage. "But 
 did he send you?" 
 
 This was not the game in which Bontine really 
 shone. To reconcile opposing interests, to pour 
 256
 
 The Colossus 
 
 oil on breaking waves, to be a new Janus of 
 Peace, who persuaded both parties that he looked 
 on each with undivided admiration, were the 
 duties to which this subtle and more successful 
 H^jfax of South Africa was elected by his very 
 birth. But here he was seduced by accident into 
 attempting the impossible. The man who always 
 succeeds is an artist in selection. If Bontine 
 cleared a political ditch in public, it is probable 
 that he had tried it in private. 
 
 "Did he send me? Now, my dear girl, how 
 could we imagine anything but that when the 
 time came you would be ready to help? So I just 
 came along." 
 
 "Yes," said Gertrude, "but for once, though I 
 am a woman, you will perhaps allow me to stick 
 to the point. Did he send you, or ask you to 
 come ?" 
 
 "I suggested it, and he assented." 
 
 Gertrude nodded and lay back in her chair as 
 if the matter was settled. 
 
 "Well !" said Bontine. 
 
 "I'll tell nobody but Mr. Loder, George." 
 
 George wanted to beat her, but restrained the 
 slightest gesture of annoyance. 
 
 "Then come along and tell him." 
 
 "When he asks me, George," said Gertrude, 
 and then she snapped at him with sudden irrita- 
 17 257
 
 The Colossus 
 
 tion. "I tell you, I won't open my mouth till he 
 does it, so there 1" 
 
 Bontine reddened perceptibly, and ' 
 he was angry. 
 
 "Isn't this mere obstinacy?" he asked, 
 Gertrude shrugged her shoulders. 
 
 "Did you never see mere obstinacy before? 
 suits me to be obstinate. I feel like being obsti- 
 nate, and I am obstinate, if you like." 
 
 Bontine walked to and fro for a couple 
 minutes. He knew that in a matter of this de 
 scription Loder was himself capable of obstinacy. 
 But he had not quite fathomed the depth of his 
 real and solid reluctance to ask help of a woman. 
 Here this fool of a girl was set on something 
 that Loder would scarcely do. And yet one of 
 them must give way. That Gertrude would yield 
 he did not now believe. That Loder would yie 
 without being in a corner he did not imagine. 
 Then what was to be done? Obviously Lod 
 must be put in the corner. 
 
 "We'll have Cazoule here and Loder will 
 threaten him with his trump card, and will 
 send for Gertrude. She won't come, and hav- 
 ing made the threat, Loder will have to asl 
 
 her." 
 
 The plan was simple and appeared sot- 
 Nevertheless he had now to go back to Loder. 
 
 258
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Was it necessary to confess failure? If he did, 
 Loder might, with his curious notions, refuse to 
 see Cazoule at once. He must be persuaded that 
 it was all right. Certainly Loder had not definitely 
 refused to apply to Gertrude. 
 
 "Then, though you won't tell me, Gertrude," 
 said Bontine cheerfully, "you promise to do 
 everything that is necessary this afternoon when 
 Loder asks you?" 
 
 "Of course," said Gertrude. 
 
 So Bontine went back to Loder with an air 
 of satisfaction that covered much anxiety. 
 
 "She won't tell me now, Loder, but it will be 
 all right at the moment I'm sure of that." 
 
 Loder looked up doubtfully from his desk. 
 
 "You ought to know her. Is there any chance 
 of this story of hers not being true ?" 
 
 Bontine was positive enough that it was true. 
 
 "Your knowledge of humanity ought to as- 
 sure you of that," he said. 
 
 "I'd rather trust your knowledge of this par- 
 ticular piece of humanity," mumbled Loder. 
 
 He did not like to argue from the general to 
 this particular. 
 
 "You know what she wants ?" asked Bontine, 
 
 "Humph," said the Beloved uneasily. 
 
 "Do you think a clever woman and she is 
 clever would be likely, under the circumstances, 
 259
 
 The Colossus 
 
 to do what would make you furiously and justi- 
 fiably angry ?" asked Bontine again. 
 
 "No o, perhaps not," said Loder. 
 
 But he did not like the idea of her establish- 
 ing a claim of this kind on him. And when he 
 granted that she was likely to be useful, because 
 she was fond of him, it seemed like stamping this 
 undesirable agreement. He put the thing aside 
 and buried himself in the consideration of the 
 coming conversation with the Frenchman. 
 
 And all the time Emory Hinton sat there curs- 
 ing Gertrude under his breath. If he could only 
 speak openly! A thousand times he argued the 
 question as to whether his duty was not to break 
 his promise. But his strength did not lie in play- 
 ing the casuist with himself. He only used his 
 knowledge to strengthen by discreet suggestions 
 the belief that Gertrude's story had real founda- 
 tions. 
 
 "I'll go into Cairo now," said Bontine, "and 
 I'll lunch at the Club and bring Cazoule back 
 with me if I can. If he won't come, I'll send in 
 word." 
 
 He was a little nervous for a man of his tem- 
 perament, or he would not have talked like this. 
 For what did it matter to Loder, who was clear- 
 ing for action like a ponderous battle-ship, where 
 he lunched? He signalled as much with his 
 260
 
 The Colossus 
 
 shoulders, and Bontine went off to find the 
 Frenchman. He was really not a little uneasy 
 as to how Loder would take it, when he found 
 that Gertrude sat as tight as the Pyramids. Yet, 
 after all, seeing how much depended on it, no one 
 but a fool would refuse to sacrifice feelings which 
 to Bontine were certainly absurd.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 BONTINE did not find it very easy to induce 
 Cazoule to come out to the Hotel. The financier 
 felt at first that it was safer to stay in his en- 
 trenchments, and he saw that Eustace Loder 
 might interpret his leaving them as a sign of the 
 anxiety which he undoubtedly felt. For there 
 had been odd rumors in official circles about Zoh- 
 rab, and Zohrab was now the very symbol of the 
 conflict as well as an important personage. So in 
 Paris Dreyfus was Dreyfus, and, infinitely more, 
 a discreet method of fighting bitterly without say- 
 ing what the struggle was really about. But in 
 dealing with Cazoule, Bontine was far more in 
 his element than in getting to hand-grips with a 
 woman like Gertrude Broughton. 
 
 "If I can only make him think that he is doing 
 Loder a favor by coming, and that Loder wants 
 a golden bridge of retreat built, he'll come," said 
 the wily Sir George. "And if he imagines that 
 by coming he is softening our sense of defeat, the 
 shock of finding E. L. a bit harder than usual 
 will knock his confidence." 
 262
 
 The Colossus 
 
 So Bontine, who was something of an actor, 
 like all politicians of eminence, put on a worried 
 and anxious expression to greet the Frenchman 
 with, and half covered it up with the glaze of a 
 confident smile. 
 
 Cazoule was much gratified to meet "Sir Bon- 
 tine," and then corrected "Sir Bontine" into "Sir 
 George." He was inclined to pique himself on 
 his English. 
 
 "I am glad to see you once more, Sir B Sir 
 George," said Cazoule; "and how is our charm- 
 ing friend, Monsieur Loder? Does he find him- 
 self well in Cairo this hot time ?" 
 
 "He is not so very well," said "Sir Bontine" 
 regretfully, "and that he is not so well is really 
 the reason I have called." 
 
 "Ah !" cried Cazoule, "it is a sad reason for so 
 pleasant a surprise. I think our friend Loder 
 unexpressibly charming. He has altogether an 
 air of honesty, and so much of what we call 'bon- 
 homie.' " 
 
 Bontine had not noticed this particular quality 
 in Loder, but he agreed with the Frenchman. 
 
 "He regrets that he could not come into 
 Cairo to-day, but he has made me his ambassador, 
 and would take it as a favor if your business 
 permitted you to come and see him this after- 
 noon." 
 
 263
 
 The Colossus 
 
 He allowed an expression to cross his face 
 which was almost sulky. 
 
 "Ah!" said Cazoule, "I am afraid I cannot. 
 Let me think." 
 
 He turned over some papers and thought. 
 
 "Mr. Loder cannot stay in Cairo much longer," 
 said Bontine, as if he were imparting a secret. 
 
 "No?" said Cazoule. 
 
 "And for my part I am in favor of a compro- 
 mise." 
 
 "He looks as if he were prepared to swallow 
 the Inevitable and Us," thought Cazoule. 
 
 He knew how much Bontine was mixed up in 
 Loder's business. 
 
 "I might be able to come, but I cannot say for 
 an hour," said Cazoule cautiously. 
 
 "If you want to do business, come !" cried Bon- 
 tine with sudden apparent spontaneity. 
 
 Cazoule struck in, and forgot his hard-learnt 
 English titles. 
 
 "Come, Sir Bontine, be frank with me." 
 
 "I will be frank." 
 
 He slapped his hand on the desk. 
 
 "Is there now a question of Sir Loder's dis- 
 carding the Oppenheimer?" 
 
 Bontine shook his head. 
 
 "I cannot go so far as that ; I am not at liberty 
 to speak. But speaking as frankly as I can, I 
 264
 
 The Colossus 
 
 tell you I am very anxious to get away, and so is 
 Mr. Loder. We are both wanted at the Cape. 
 Come this afternoon." 
 
 Cazoule looked at him steadily. 
 
 "Do me the favor," said Bontine. "If you 
 don't I must go to-morrow. And I think you 
 know my influence with Mr. Loder is a moderat- 
 ing one." 
 
 His tone was more than the words. 
 
 "They will swallow Us," said Cazoule, and the 
 very thought Bontine had been striving to sug- 
 gest rose in his mind. "It will be less hard for 
 him to give way if I go to him !" 
 
 He was willing to be merciful to the falling. 
 
 "Very well, Sir George, I will come," he said. 
 "I will come at three o'clock." 
 
 And Bontine sighed a diplomatic sigh. It 
 said : "Well, we've fought a good fight, but are 
 beaten." 
 
 "So there is nothing in the rumors about Zoh- 
 rab, after all," said Cazoule as he drove out to 
 the Hotel in the afternoon. "Nothing after all !" 
 
 He found Bontine and the ladies under the 
 veranda. 
 
 "You know my wife and Miss Broughton," 
 said the Cape politician. 
 
 "I have the pleasure," cried Cazoule. He 
 bowed and shook hands. 
 265
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "My dear," cried Bontine, "entertain Monsieur 
 de Cazoule while I go and tell Mr. Loder that he 
 has come." 
 
 Before the Frenchman's arrival he had given 
 them instructions. 
 
 "Be very careful to keep him in a good tem- 
 per," said Bontine. "Say you are packing up to 
 go. Tell him you hate Cairo, if you like. It 
 will incline him to think he is going to have 
 things his own way, and when he finds he has not 
 got us down it will shake his nerve." 
 
 And Tiny did her little best, and did it cleverly, 
 though she did drop the "de" out of his name. 
 
 "We're going, Monsieur Cazoule," she cried, 
 "and I am glad of it. It's so worrying here ; 
 and at the other end, our end of Africa, we 
 women can keep out of the worry and live in our 
 gardens." 
 
 "How delightful !" said Cazoule ; "and is your 
 end of Africa beautiful ?" 
 
 "You should see Stellenbosch !" cried Tiny. 
 
 "Ah, when the railway is done, I hope to come 
 and pay you my compliments." 
 
 "I don't believe it ever will be done," said Tiny, 
 with studied indiscreetness. "I hate railways!" 
 
 "Oh, Tiny," said Gertrude, "how can you! 
 And of course the railway will be built; Mon- 
 sieur de Cazoule is going to do it with us." 
 266
 
 The Colossus 
 
 The proper "de" and the naive acknowledg- 
 ment of his victory cheered Cazoule mightily. 
 
 "It's as I thought," he said ; "I'm glad I came." 
 
 And in the meantime Bontine, who had not 
 seen Loder since the morning, was filling the 
 Chief up with what he had done. 
 
 "He's here. I didn't think he'd come, but I 
 .made him think you were going away. He's full 
 of the notion." 
 
 "Why did you do that ?" asked Loder. 
 
 "Because he wouldn't have come if I hadn't," 
 replied Bontine; "and when he finds you harder 
 than ever it will shake him a lot." 
 
 Loder grunted two or three times as if he were 
 going to speak, but finally nodded. 
 
 "Fetch him in." 
 
 While Loder was waiting, Hinton was like a 
 cat upon hot bricks. He could not restrain him- 
 self at last. 
 
 "Mr. Loder!" 
 
 "Yes," said the contemplative Chief. 
 
 "I think I suggested the other day, when I un- 
 derstood your reluctance to bring Miss Brough- 
 ton into this matter, that a little waiting might 
 enable you to do without her." 
 
 "How?" asked Loder. 
 
 Hinton stood first on one foot and then on 
 another. 
 
 267
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "How can a thing like that be kept in long? 
 Give me a week, sir, and I'll undertake to find 
 out who acted with her." 
 
 Loder was screwed up for this day, and a week 
 was a century. 
 
 "A week ! Why don't you suggest a year ? 
 And if you find it out, so will the others, and 
 whatever there is in it would be neutralised. No, 
 I'll not wait. Besides, here comes Cazoule." 
 
 Loder was so far put out of temper by the 
 whole course of the proceedings that his polite- 
 ness was not so very polite as to suggest to the 
 French Financier that he was at his ease. The very 
 roughness and want of refined courtesy in Loder 
 at that moment suggested the man had got the 
 worst of the long conflict. And yet Loder was 
 not uncourteous ; he only appeared so in contrast 
 with the silky manner of Cazoule, who, like all 
 his countrymen, was at his best in the moment 
 of victory. Loder had his big schoolboy man- 
 ner on him ; he was the sixth-form boy again, 
 dining with the head-master when he wanted to 
 play football. The delicate part of diplomatic 
 conflict never appealed to him. He wanted to be 
 obviously on the peak. To be seen climbing dis- 
 turbed him. He liked to thrust finished results 
 under the nose of his adversaries. 
 
 And yet he was good enough at the fight 
 268
 
 The Colossus 
 
 when he warmed to it. If he preferred using 
 an axe, and not a knife, he could, like a Nor- 
 wegian carver, finish a spoon with the bigger 
 tool. 
 
 And now he used the axe. 
 
 "I'm glad you've come," said Loder gruffly, 
 and, as Cazoule had started by being deceived, 
 every sign of disturbance accentuated his convic- 
 tions. 
 
 "I was very happy to be free this afternoon," 
 said Cazoule lightly. 
 
 "So was I," interjected the Chief. He put his 
 hands deep in his pockets. "Because, Monsieur 
 Cazoule, this is possibly our last interview as 
 friends." 
 
 His words were a staggering blow for the 
 Frenchman. 
 
 "Comment ! How ?" he demanded with a gasp. 
 What did it all mean ? 
 
 "How?" said Loder, getting on his feet and 
 standing opposite the Frenchman. "How? I'll 
 tell you how. We've got you defeated right now 
 I say we have you defeated ! Shall we make it 
 a rout ?" 
 
 His vast figure, his cold yet excited personal- 
 ity, his savage certainty, for a moment appalled 
 his opponent. But he recovered quickly. 
 
 "I have heard all this before," he remarked 
 269
 
 The Colossus 
 
 coolly ; "but words are only words, and we have 
 had enough of them." 
 
 Then Loder laughed. It was not his humor- 
 ous rumble, but his high-pitched note that 
 sounded feminine. 
 
 "Who is so tired of words as our side ?" he de- 
 manded. "But we will come to deeds. Have 
 you seen Zohrab lately?" 
 
 "Did I not tell you that we were not on the best 
 of terms ?" 
 
 "To be sure," said Loder ; "but I might be ex- 
 cused for not remembering that, when a common 
 danger must have brought you together." 
 
 "I am not aware of a common danger." 
 
 "Then you don't mind his being disgraced ?" 
 
 "I have no reason to wish it." 
 
 Loder smiled. 
 
 "That is the common opinion. You know and 
 I know that if he falls your chief instrument will 
 be wrenched out of your hands. You will be de- 
 feated, the French influence will be at a discount, 
 we shall come in, get our guarantee and do with- 
 out you." 
 
 Every feature of Cazoule told that he knew 
 this was truth. 
 
 His clenched hands confirmed their story. 
 
 "I grant you he is Francophile, but personally 
 we do not agree. Yet you cannot turn him out." 
 270
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "I think we can," said Loder confidently. "You 
 have surely heard some rumors about him?" 
 
 Cazoule had heard many, and knew well how 
 they arose. He saw now what Zohrab had told 
 him was not merely a trick of Achmet's ; Loder 
 himself must have been in it. But Zohrab had 
 not told him all, nor did Zohrab himself know 
 whom Achmet had brought as a witness. 
 
 "Some rumors have been spread, we suppose 
 by Achmet Pasha," said Cazoule. "But he has 
 no real credit with the Khedive." 
 
 "You know better," cried Loder. "We might 
 help him." 
 
 "If any one can, doubtless you can," said Ca- 
 zoule angrily. 
 
 "Ha!" said Loder, "we can. We have not 
 chosen to ruin your other tool, Powell " 
 
 "He is not my tool," said Cazoule. 
 
 "He is," repeated Loder, "but when Zohrab 
 falls he will be useless." 
 
 "But Zohrab shall not fall." 
 
 Loder laughed then with his more humorous 
 laugh. 
 
 "You are anxious to keep this enemy of yours 
 in power and place." 
 
 "I never said he was my enemy. Personally, 
 we do not agree." 
 
 "Except when he visits you at your house," 
 271
 
 The Colossus 
 
 said Loder. "We are quite accustomed to that 
 kind of enmity at the Cape. But don't let us 
 bandy words. For the sake of argument, are you 
 prepared to see Zohrab go ?" 
 
 "No, but not because you can cause his fall." 
 
 "Then why not?" 
 
 "Because he is on our side." 
 
 "But granting we can put him out, what is your 
 position?" 
 
 "I do not grant it." 
 
 It was a very awkward question. 
 
 "I ask you to grant it as a matter of discus- 
 sion. No ! Then I will take it for granted. You 
 know that when Zohrab goes the Khedive will be 
 thrown loose, his confidence will be destroyed ; it 
 will be taken by Europe as a sign that French in- 
 fluence, even at Cairo, has at last been utterly 
 broken. Your own position and credit at Paris 
 stand and fall with Zohrab here. I am well in- 
 formed." 
 
 "So it appears," said Cazoule. 
 
 "And it means more. It means that our people 
 will be ready to consider an English guarantee 
 may be granted. For a success here will encour- 
 age a strong party in England to demand that the 
 Duke of Enfield shall act. You appear to me to 
 be working for an English Protectorate." 
 
 "No," said Cazoule. "Those who back Op- 
 272
 
 The Colossus 
 
 penheimer won't back you so far as that. The 
 Germans will never embroil themselves with the 
 Sultan." 
 
 "No ?" cried Loder. "What a pity I can't show 
 you the Anglo-German agreement in black and 
 white. I really don't believe your people know 
 what they want. Has your cunning policy been 
 one of pin-pricks to force us to a Protectorate 
 with a view of embroiling us with Turkey and 
 Germany ?" 
 
 "We are not so clever," sneered Cazoule. 
 
 "Ah ! but you are a financier," said Loder. 
 "You know what money can do. Perhaps you 
 will see the Sultan and the German Emperor on 
 the Board of the Transcontinental Railway yet. 
 But this is fooling. I can throw out Zohrab; I 
 can by God I can ! Now you've a ticklish situa- 
 tion to face." 
 
 "How?" asked Cazoule uneasily. 
 
 "How, indeed !" said Loder, sitting down oppo- 
 site the other man. "It is either in or out with 
 you; you must come in or must stay out. You 
 can't have the best you want, but no more can I. 
 To be perfectly frank, I'd rather not have you in 
 at all " 
 
 "Naturally; but we are here." 
 
 "You won't play the Alexandria game again?" 
 
 "No," said Cazoule sharply ; "but you are tak- 
 18 273
 
 The Colossus 
 
 ing for granted what I refused to grant. Zohrab 
 has not fallen, and you cannot get your Duke of 
 Enfield to push us out " 
 
 Loder knew that better than the Frenchman, 
 but, though he could not have formulated a cut- 
 and-dried explanation right off, he was well 
 aware that the vice of the Foreign Office execu- 
 tive was more or less due to the over-energy dis- 
 played by the pushing, unofficial English on the 
 rim of the Empire. The Foreign Office was the 
 drag, not, as in France, a motive power. 
 
 "You don't know, Monsieur," broke in Loder, 
 "that there are those here without any official 
 position who have more power than a regiment 
 of French officials. I myself am nobody here. 
 I am a visitor, a tourist if you like. But the Eng- 
 lish Foreign Office doesn't do things ; it watches 
 us do them. You should know that ; you should 
 be able to see it." 
 
 "We believe we see how far the Duke will let 
 you go," said Cazoule ; "and if you have no more 
 to say, it will be a waste of time for me to re- 
 main." 
 
 Loder reluctantly returned to the real point. 
 
 "Then we will pull your Zohrab out of his 
 niche." 
 
 "It is a mere threat." 
 
 "No, it is the truth. Do you want proof ?" 
 274
 
 The Colossus 
 
 He rose from his chair, and went toward the 
 bell. 
 
 "Stop," said Cazoule, "and answer a question." 
 
 "If I can." 
 
 "Is this an empty threat, or can you show me 
 proofs of Zohrab's treachery ?" 
 
 "I can show r them." 
 
 Cazoule jumped up in excitement. 
 
 "But if he is a traitor to us, why have you not 
 used him?" 
 
 Loder laughed a high-pitched chuckle. 
 
 "Shall we show you every card in the game ?" 
 
 "No, no !" cried Cazoule ; "but if there appears 
 
 to be anything in this I believe it is a trick, 
 
 after all." 
 
 "Because you have trusted him? But, trick 
 or none, we can pull him down." 
 
 He struck the table a resounding smack. 
 
 "You don't want him out, and you know it. 
 Come down now, and he shall stay. That's a 
 practical proposition." 
 
 "Why don't you complete your work, and get 
 him out?" 
 
 "Ah," said Loder, "I expected that question. 
 I want you to withdraw your opposition and use 
 your influence on our side through him. I want 
 to leave Cairo that's the truth. Now I give you 
 your choice." 
 
 275
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "If I agree, is there anything else?" 
 
 "I want proofs that Powell has been a traitor 
 to us." 
 
 "I can't help you." 
 
 "Oh, yes, you can," cried Loder, "and when 
 I prove that he tried to sell himself and you 
 to Oppenheimer, you will give me the proofs. 
 Once you and I agree, he will be useless to 
 you." 
 
 Cazoule was very nearly at the end of his 
 tether, and the suggestion that Powell had tried 
 to sell him to Oppenheimer and the German gang 
 finished the struggle. He snapped his fingers. 
 
 "Prove first what you say about Zohrab is true, 
 and you shall have your Powell, and I will agree 
 to what you want." 
 
 "Then you own Powell sold us?" said Loder. 
 "Ah ! you own it." 
 
 "Prove what you say," insisted Cazoule. 
 
 "Is there any need for proof in your mind?" 
 asked Loder with sudden gloom that Cazoule 
 did not understand. "What has Zohrab told 
 you ?" 
 
 "Let me have your proof," said the French- 
 man. 
 
 And Loder clouded over. Had he, after all, 
 to apply to a woman for help? Had he to send 
 for her proofs? It seemed intolerable to him. 
 276
 
 The Colossus 
 
 He talked again, half to himself, and half to 
 Cazoule. 
 
 "My idea is this : I want you to work with us. 
 Let us have peace: there's no money in fighting. 
 You know well enough that Zohrab is in my 
 hands you must know it. And I'll tell you the 
 truth." 
 
 Cazoule was lighting a cigarette, but he let the 
 match go out. 
 
 "What is this truth?" 
 
 He knew Loder was dangerous, but he had 
 heard him called the Biggest Liar in Africa, and 
 he recognised that he was a fighting diplomatist. 
 
 Loder slapped his hand on the desk. 
 
 "It's the real, exact truth, and you will see its 
 possibility. I don't want to produce my evidence 
 against Zohrab unless you force me." 
 
 At first Cazoule did see the possibility of this. 
 The move seemed too childish, if it was mere 
 bluff. And yet 
 
 "Do you expect me to take your unsupported 
 word, Monsieur?" 
 
 "No," said Loder. "Take Zohrab's when you 
 last saw him. I tell you, for reasons I do not 
 care to state, I don't want to bring my witnesses 
 to prove what I am sure you know." 
 
 But now Cazoule thought he saw a little deeper 
 into the intrigue. Not being able to understand 
 277
 
 The Colossus 
 
 Loder's real reluctance, he imagined very natu- 
 rally that the Englishman was averse to showing 
 through whom he' had worked. 
 
 "And why should I not know that?" Cazoule 
 asked himself. 
 
 He lighted his cigarette now. 
 
 "I think I must ask for the evidence," he said. 
 
 And Loder knew that he could persevere no 
 further on that line. He walked into the next 
 room and found Bontine. 
 
 "Tell her to give you the details. I want them 
 now," said Loder. 
 
 Then he went back to Cazoule.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 "THIS is a nice business," said Bontine to Hin- 
 ton. "What is the betting that she won't come?" 
 
 Emory shook his head. 
 
 "A thousand to one." 
 
 "I've got to try," said Bontine. "But if she 
 won't we shall have to make Loder go to her." 
 
 He spoke interrogatively, for he recognised 
 that Emory knew the Chief in some ways far bet- 
 ter than he did. 
 
 "The devil !" said Hinton ; and that was his 
 answer. 
 
 "He'll have to !" cried Bontine angrily. 
 
 And the Secretary shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 "Shall I go to her for you ?" 
 
 "No," said Bontine, and he left the room with 
 an ugly look on his face that he allowed few to 
 see. 
 
 "This is being between two fools," said the 
 Grand Perpetual Master of the Olive Branch 
 savagely. 
 
 He, too, felt now what a pleasure it would be 
 to resort to primitive methods of persuasion. And 
 yet, when he saw Gertrude, no one would have 
 279
 
 The Colossus 
 
 known that he was regretting the days of the 
 rack and thumb-screw. 
 
 "Well, Gertrude," he said pleasantly, "how are 
 things going? I want you to come along with 
 me, and tell us all about it. Your amiable 
 Cazoule is tottering, and we want you to shove 
 him over." 
 
 Gertrude made no sign. 
 
 "Come," said Bontine. 
 
 "Did I not tell you ?" said Gertrude, lifting her 
 eyebrows. 
 
 "What?" 
 
 "You know what." 
 
 "Stuff!" cried George; "you don't mean to 
 say you really intend taking up such a childish 
 attitude?" 
 
 She made an obstinate mouth, and picked a 
 novel from the floor with trembling hands. 
 
 "Go to the Chief and tell him what I say. He's 
 the child, it seems to me. It's no good trying 
 to persuade me, George. Go and persuade 
 him." 
 
 She did not speak again, and would not answer. 
 So Bontine turned away and ran against his wife. 
 He drew her into the corner. 
 
 "This fool won't say anything. Can you per- 
 suade her?" 
 
 "My dear George," said Tiny hopelessly, "if 
 280
 
 The Colossus 
 
 you can't persuade her, how can I? Why don't 
 you get Mr. Loder to come?" 
 
 Bontine almost gnashed his teeth. 
 
 "Good Lord ! don't you know him ? Why was 
 a man made like him ? that's the question. Try 
 your hand on her." 
 
 Tiny looked as if she was ordered to climb 
 the side of a house. 
 
 "Very well," she said : "I'll try if you want 
 me to; but go away. I'll call you when I've 
 failed." 
 
 For once she was not the tender-hearted little 
 fool that she pretended to be. She marched over 
 to Gertrude, and snatched the book out of her 
 hand. 
 
 "You horrid, selfish girl, you !" she cried, with 
 real fury. "For two pins I could scratch you! 
 Go and get us all out of this mess, and let us go 
 away, and don't sit there like a schoolgirl in the 
 sulks. Go and show you are not a fool. If you 
 make Mr. Loder come to you, all your pains will 
 be for nothing. Do you think he'll forgive you 
 for that?" 
 
 Gertrude was aghast for a moment, and almost 
 quailed. 
 
 "Oh, what do you mean, Tiny? How dare 
 you?" she said. "Give me back that book." 
 
 "I won't," said Tiny. 
 
 281
 
 The Colossus 
 
 And Gertrude took it. 
 
 "I don't care what Mr. Loder does or thinks. 
 All I know is that he shall behave like a real 
 man, and not like an idol in a niche. I hate 
 him he's a beast! But he shall come, so 
 there !" 
 
 "Then you're unkind and a fool !" said Tiny, in 
 sudden collapse; "but I should do the same, I 
 believe. He is horrid sometimes, isn't he ?" 
 
 But Gertrude would not speak. 
 
 "It's no good, George," said Tiny; "you will 
 have to make him come." 
 
 "Damn !" said George, as he marched down 
 the corridor. "Well, he must come." 
 
 He told Hinton what had happened, and the 
 Secretary jumped to his feet. 
 
 "I'll try." 
 
 "It won't be any good." 
 
 "I can try, anyhow," said Hinton grimly ; and 
 away he marched to a combat which was not 
 destined to come off. For the sulky Amazon saw 
 him coming. She got up and beat a very wise re- 
 treat. 
 
 "Tell that Emory Hinton I won't see him," 
 she remarked to Tiny as she vanished from the 
 veranda. "I know a thing worth two of that," 
 she cried to herself. "For if I talk with him he 
 will get furious, and I shall be furious, and per- 
 282
 
 The Colossus 
 
 haps he will end in breaking his word. But if 
 I don't see him he can't. And it will annoy him 
 worse than anything." 
 
 In that she was right; for when Emory saw 
 her go without staying to look round, he wanted, 
 as Tiny had wanted, to slap her. 
 
 "So she won't see me, Lady Bontine?" he 
 cried. 
 
 "I'm afraid not, Mr. Hinton," said Tiny sadly. 
 
 "I suppose you've tried your best ?" 
 
 She shook her head. 
 
 "But what's the use? Oh, my dear Mr. Hin- 
 ton, what shall we do? What does Mr. Loder 
 say?" 
 
 "He doesn't know yet." 
 
 "Oh, dear!" said Tiny, collapsing. She had 
 a notion that the Chief would act like Samson, 
 and, by pulling a few pillars down, whelm the 
 world of that hotel in awful ruin. "And when he 
 does know, what will he do?" 
 
 "Nobody knows," growled Hinton. He was 
 thinking of what would happen when the Chief 
 knew the part he had played in this tragi-comedy. 
 Once Loder had used the rough side of his tongue 
 upon his Secretary, and Hinton winced at the 
 very memory of it. For no one in South Africa 
 could be more biting. And when Loder did put 
 pen to paper to give any one a vague idea of what 
 283
 
 The Colossus 
 
 he thought of him, that rare letter was like a 
 blister, and. took the skin off. 
 
 "Has any one got any influence with her?" 
 wailed Tiny. 
 
 "You ought to know better than I," said the 
 Secretary, turning to go. 
 
 "Stay a moment," cried Tiny. "She has been 
 very friendly with Mr. Romney lately " 
 
 "So she has," said Hinton ; "but wouldn't he 
 be like a bull in a china shop?" 
 
 Tiny's lips curled. 
 
 "She's no china shop, Mr. Hinton; she's 
 oh, she's a hardware store, that's what she is. I 
 really think, if I were you, I would ask Mr. 
 Romney to speak to her before you give it up." 
 
 "But why Romney?" asked Hinton. 
 
 Tiny shrugged her shoulders. 
 
 "She's been very friendly with him lately, and 
 she thinks him a kind of gigantic baby, so if he 
 went to her seriously " 
 
 "I see," said Emory. 
 
 "And besides, Mr. Hinton, she knows he's al- 
 most the only man in South Africa who just 
 doesn't care a bit about Mr. Loder. He's not like 
 most of us fairly frightened to death of him." 
 
 Hinton knew that. Friends and enemies alike 
 held the Colossus in peculiar awe. Romney alone 
 regarded him in a curious dry light of reason. 
 284
 
 The Colossus 
 
 To him the Chief was just a big man with power 
 and that was all. That was no reason for dread- 
 ing a mere man. His religious attitude (and he 
 was at the bottom keenly and essentially re- 
 ligious) helped the Contractor's natural inde- 
 pendence of the Big Fetich, to whom so many 
 made impious offerings. 
 
 "I'll try him," said Emory; and he went off 
 hunting for Romney in a hurry. 
 
 He found him stretched in a long chair, with 
 a long drink handy. While all the world beside 
 seemed desperately agitated, he alone perspired 
 peacefully over a book of meditations. 
 
 "We want you/' said Hinton. 
 
 "Eh?" asked Romney. "Eh what? You 
 seem in a hurry. Sit down and have something 
 to drink." 
 
 "No," said Emory ; and he told Sam in as few 
 words as possible what they wanted him for. 
 
 "So she holds the key now?" 
 
 "That's it," said Hinton. 
 
 "And Loder won't ask her?" 
 
 He spoke with infinite contempt. 
 
 "No, but why should he?" said Emory. "We 
 want her not to cause trouble, but just to do what 
 she should. Come and try her." 
 
 "All right," said the Contractor, getting out 
 of his chair, and ramming his book into his 
 285
 
 The Colossus 
 
 pocket with an air of having done with medita- 
 tions for a very long time. "But do you say she 
 wants him to ask her?" 
 
 "That's it." 
 
 "Then he shall ask her, if she won't," cried 
 Romney elliptically ; and as he said it he by no 
 means looked like the genial blue-eyed child of 
 mere fun that Gertrude imagined him. 
 
 Emory made no remark, but as he hurried 
 along he could not help wondering what would 
 happen when Romney went in to Loder, and fired 
 off a big "You shall" at the Chief. 
 
 "He's the only man in the crowd who is capable 
 of it ! May I be there to see !" thoughjt Hinton. 
 
 "Where is Gertrude Broughton?" shouted 
 Romney, as he bore down on Tiny. 
 
 "Here is Gertrude Broughton," said Gertrude 
 herself, as she came out on the veranda. 
 
 "Then, come here; I want to talk with you," 
 cried the Contractor. 
 
 He put his hand inside her arm, and with the 
 pressure of a bear gripped her, and bore her off 
 round the corner. 
 
 "What are you doing?" she asked in astonish- 
 ment. 
 
 "What have you been doing?" 
 
 She looked at him, and suddenly twisted her- 
 self free. 
 
 286
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Oh, you know, do you?" 
 
 "I know," said Sam. "Now, you are a pretty 
 young woman, are you not ?" 
 
 "Am I?" asked Gertrude mockingly. "Well, 
 yes, I dare say I am, but that is nothing to 
 you." 
 
 "Don't talk nonsense," said Romney. "Now 
 you are going to come along with me, and make 
 a clean breast of all this, and then the thing will 
 be finished. Damn, you're a plucky woman ! If 
 I weren't married, I'd marry you for this." 
 
 "As revenge, I suppose," said the flippant Ger- 
 trude. 
 
 "Come !" cried Romney. 
 
 He made a motion to take hold of her again. 
 If he had succeeded, she might have given in and 
 gone with him. He did not look now like a 
 cherub with a trumpet ; he was a keen man who 
 meant having his way. He was strong, too, and 
 a woman like Gertrude was born to be dominated, 
 and to live in revolt. 
 
 "No, no," she said in anger at the sudden sug- 
 gestion of feminine weakness in her. "Go away ; 
 I don't want you to interfere." 
 
 Romney snorted. 
 
 "I shall interfere with you or any one else 
 just as much or as little as I like, so you mind 
 me. For two pins I'd carry you there." 
 287
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "But you couldn't make me speak," said Ger- 
 trude. 
 
 "I could," cried Romney ; "I'd wring your neck 
 if you didn't. Are you coming?" 
 
 Gertrude stood aloof, ready to fly. He looked 
 bent on seizing her. 
 
 "How tenderly you woo!" she laughed. And 
 suddenly she became serious. "Do you want 
 things done? Yes, of course you do. Then go 
 and make Mr. Loder come to me. Ah, you come 
 and bully me ! Why don't you go and bully him ? 
 You daren't ; you're afraid of him !" 
 
 "Oh, I'm afraid of him, am I?" said Romney. 
 "That's like a woman, isn't it? I'm sorry I let 
 go of you ; I'd shake you for that." 
 
 He turned away and marched off. 
 
 "Oh, Sam Romney," piped Gertrude rather 
 feebly. 
 
 "Yes," said Sam. 
 
 "You're not angry, are you? Really, I'd rather 
 do it for you than any one." 
 
 Romney snorted again, and then laughed. 
 
 "Angry with you? No, my dear; you're all 
 right. But you'll never be quite right till some 
 one boxes your ears and kisses you all at once, my 
 leopardess !" 
 
 "Indeed !" cried Gertrude, who wondered how 
 he knew it. 
 
 288
 
 The Colossus 
 
 But before she could bring something bitter 
 to bear on him he was off to find Loder. 
 
 "Damme," said Romney indignantly, "I'll show 
 this lot that Loder's Loder, and that Sam Rom- 
 ney is just as ready to fire a shot into him as into 
 any beggar of his own at Beira !"
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 WHEN Romney came to Loder's suite of rooms 
 he found Hinton and Matthews outside in the 
 corridor. 
 
 "Well, boys, what are you doing here?" asked 
 the Contractor. 
 
 "The fact is that the Frenchman is in one 
 room," said Hinton, "and Bontine and Loder are 
 in the other; so we just stepped out." 
 
 "And what's Bontine at ?" 
 
 "He's trying to persuade the Chief to put his 
 pride in his pocket and go to her." 
 
 Romney shrugged his huge shoulders. 
 
 "He has big pockets, but to get his pride into 
 them is beyond Bontine, or I'm an Afrikander 
 Dutchman of the slowest sort," he declared. ''I 
 know him. He'll try to persuade Loder." 
 
 "Well," said Hinton in some astonishment, 
 "and what the devil do you propose doing?" 
 
 Romney laughed and tried to slap Hinton on 
 the back. His joviality returned at the prospect 
 of a fight. 
 
 "I'll not persuade him with soft words," he 
 290
 
 The Colossus 
 
 said with emphasis, "but, by God! I'll have him 
 and Gertrude Broughton in one room before half 
 an hour, if I have to carry one or the other. 
 That's what I mean to do." 
 
 The picture of Loder being carried by the Con- 
 tractor was too much for Hinton, even in his 
 present state of nervous tension. He laughed 
 till he almost cried. But in his heart he knew 
 what Romney said was right. Bontine of the 
 silver tongue was not at all likely to persuade the 
 Chief out of his natural attitude to women, and 
 the more he talked the more obstinate Loder 
 would be. There were times when the Chief was 
 politic to his finger-tips. 
 
 As he was himself persuasive in the highest de- 
 gree, he loved persuasion. But that was only 
 when he could persuade, and when there was 
 no apparent or imagined humiliation in attempt- 
 ing it, with an equal or some possibly formidable 
 opponent. To give in to Gertrude Broughton's 
 bounce was like yielding to a subordinate. And 
 to Loder it would seem that she was a rebel of his 
 own household, and being subordinate thus was 
 doubly so by being a woman. 
 
 "I should like to hear you and the Chief," said 
 Hinton. 
 
 "Then you won't !" cried Romney. "I'll deal 
 with him." 
 
 291
 
 The Colossus 
 
 And then Bontine came out, with failure writ- 
 ten on his face. 
 
 "Any luck ?'' asked Romney. 
 
 "No, he's quite impossible," said Bontine 
 sharply. "He won't listen to reason." 
 
 "He shall listen to me," said the Contractor; 
 and he marched in. "These chaps are frightened 
 of him, because they don't know him." 
 
 They might have urged that Romney was not 
 frightened of him because he didn't know him. 
 But, then, he knew him well enough for his own 
 purposes, and he never wanted to go further. 
 Like Loder, he trusted to his own instincts, and 
 had no policy. 
 
 "Well, what is it?" asked the Chief gruffly, 
 when he saw who it was. He was in a very pretty 
 temper, and was just considering how he could 
 carry off matters with Cazoule, then getting im- 
 patient in the next room. 
 
 "What is it?" asked Romney fierily; "well, 
 what the devil do you suppose it is?" 
 
 Now, even if Loder was not courteous, it was 
 surprising to him to find others were not. So 
 Romney's attitude struck him at once and made 
 him pause. 
 
 "I hear they've all been at you to make you 
 give way," went on Romney, with his hands in 
 his pockets, "and I suppose the entire corridor 
 292
 
 The Colossus 
 
 is packed with failures. On my word, Loder, I 
 never thought you were the man to cut off your 
 nose to spite your face." 
 
 Loder turned on him. 
 
 "Look here, Romney," he said with a frown: 
 "that will do you, I didn't send for you " 
 
 "No," said Romney, "so I came without being 
 sent for. I want things done. And I hear there's 
 a chance of them being done, if you act like a 
 sensible man." 
 
 "Eh !" said Loder. He knew Romney feared 
 neither man nor devil, but it had never occurred 
 to him that the Contractor was quite so infernally 
 audacious. 
 
 "Yes, like a sensible man," repeated Romney 
 with his legs apart. "Now, I want you to come 
 and have a talk with this young woman." 
 
 "I won't," said Loder. 
 
 "Yes, you will !" cried Romney. "What's your 
 objection?" 
 
 Loder cleared his throat, and was evidently 
 rather at a loss. For one thing, he was not pre- 
 pared to discuss his objections with this intruder, 
 and for another, he could not, for the life of him, 
 help liking the man who was so utterly regardless 
 of the informal protocol which regulated all in- 
 tercourse with him. 
 
 "What's your objection?" repeated Romney. 
 293
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Now, look here, Loder: is it true she has a 
 secret that's of use ?" 
 
 "We believe so," said Loder. 
 
 "And with it you can squeeze Cazoule?" 
 
 "I suppose so," said the Chief. 
 
 "And the trouble is that she won't volunteer the 
 information ?" 
 
 Loder nodded. 
 
 "Why, what a damn fool she must be!" cried 
 Romney with an odd grin. "To think she could 
 do us all such a service by opening her mouth !" 
 
 Loder looked at him inquiringly. 
 
 "Supposing she wanted me to ask her, and I 
 wouldn't, what would you say?" 
 
 And Loder grunted uneasily. 
 
 "You would want to have me choked," said 
 Romney, "and you'd be right. You would be 
 right. It's I that would be the fool." 
 
 This was calling the Chief a fool to his face, 
 and Loder knew it. There wasn't a man between 
 Cape Town and Cairo who could have done it 
 with impunity, and yet Loder listened and said 
 nothing. He had the air of being half paralysed. 
 But as he listened his mind worked, and at the 
 back of his mind was this queer insuperable ob- 
 stacle of his not being able to give in on such a 
 point. It was impossible, impossible. 
 
 Then by an intuition, or accident, or call it 
 294
 
 The Colossus 
 
 instinct, Romney fell on Loder at this very 
 spot. 
 
 "Damme if I understand you !" he almost 
 shouted. "What's wrong with you? You are 
 letting your pride hang up the greatest thing you 
 ever schemed. If I had any such pride, I'd eat 
 it, and be sick afterward." 
 
 And, as he spoke, Loder, the man who had 
 overcome obstacles from the time he landed in 
 Africa, who had conquered them and sought for 
 more, who had been the new political Alexander 
 not yet without more worlds to subdue was 
 struggling with himself. He heard Romney 
 shouting in the far, far distance, like a prophet on 
 a mountain over the arena like that very part 
 of himself he wished to overcome. 
 
 "They don't understand," he said to himself 
 with peculiar forlornness. "They don't under- 
 stand." 
 
 Nor did he himself understand why he could 
 not give way and thus conquer himself. 
 
 For this reluctance of his was something a 
 little deeper than he knew it rested upon the 
 very rock which based his being. That he was 
 abnormal in any way was perhaps untrue. He 
 never looked upon himself as bigger than the 
 world. Other men were small, or so it seemed ; 
 they fought for smaller personal ends, and if 
 295
 
 The Colossus 
 
 they helped on great issues to the point of final 
 resolution, it was the great issues that bore them 
 onward like a flood. He fought for the big 
 things knowingly, and asked no opportunity for 
 ease ; he loved to fight things out, and could take 
 the responsibility of failure or the greater re- 
 sponsibility of success with a bearing which was 
 never ignoble. But here he faced something in 
 himself, and was astonished to hear a strong man 
 and a simple chide him with a voice like the voice 
 of Conscience. Why could he not give way ? He 
 was like a boy who could not ask pardon for some 
 offence which he did not think one. To yield was 
 to condone the absurdest folly; it was to yield 
 to prejudice; it was to initial with approval a 
 document on account of force. Ah, there was the 
 rub! He could not endure to be beaten. And, 
 again, that was nothing. Something was still 
 left. What was it? what was it? He stared at 
 Romney with bent brows and an inward specu- 
 lative eye. 
 
 "Come, now," said Romney in another tone. 
 ''Come and get it over. Remember she's a 
 woman." 
 
 Yes, she was a woman ! 
 
 "Remember she's a woman !" 
 
 What a foolish legend this was! A woman 
 was to be treated with especial consideration; 
 296
 
 The Colossus 
 
 and why? Unless cause to the contrary existed, 
 he was not aware that he treated any one with- 
 out due consideration, and here was Romney 
 crying together with the World, which in no 
 way acted on its cry that this one was to be 
 bowed down to and treated with extraordinary 
 grace. 
 
 "Why, it's damn foolishness !" said Loder with 
 astonishment. 
 
 He was unnatural in that this convention did 
 not touch him. But he was very natural in that 
 he behaved as the natural man did. What did 
 unadulterated nature tell him to do ; what would 
 the uncivilised man do? It bade him shake her 
 till she spoke, and certainly if Loder had put his 
 heavy hands upon her she would have looked 
 upon that shaking as the sexual defeat which is 
 victory to woman. But he couldn't do that. It 
 was not possible, because oh, because he had 
 something of the boy in him yet. He was just 
 a little afraid of them all. It made him treat them 
 as if he was utterly cold. He heard Romney 
 talk as if his voice came through a wall. And so 
 it did. There was a wall between them. 
 
 "She's a woman," said Romney with his legs 
 
 very far apart, and his hands in his pockets ; "and 
 
 she's a good plucked one, with a spice of the 
 
 devil in her, or she wouldn't have done this 
 
 297
 
 The Colossus 
 
 how she did it the Lord knows, I don't and it's 
 a damn small price to pay for what she knows. 
 And, moreover, she's been fool enough as we 
 all know, Loder to take it into her head to run 
 in double-harness with you. And as we know 
 that cock won't fight, why, pay her the little com- 
 pliment of being a bit gentle with her ! For she 
 will be pretty sick of herself by-and-bye. Any 
 woman must be when the man she wants gives 
 her the cold shoulder, as you have done. Soften 
 it for her, man soften it for her." 
 
 The gardens at Loder's place at Cape Town 
 were almost public property, and many a time 
 the Chief had gone out of his way to avoid dis- 
 turbing by his presence a party of poor sight- 
 seers. It was true he was full of consideration 
 for every one, unless there was reason to the con- 
 trary. What reason was there to the contrary 
 here? This woman had come into his political 
 garden unasked. That was true; but that was 
 nothing. In a fashion she had made love to him. 
 It was disturbing, but he owed her no malice on 
 that account. It came to this, then, that inside 
 him, deep in his nature, far down in his soul, 
 there was something which would not let him 
 give way, even when giving way was dictated by 
 self-interest, by courtesy, and by common human 
 kindness. 
 
 298
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Soften it for her, man soften it for her. But 
 perhaps you can't !" 
 
 Pretty infernal impudence of Romney, was it 
 not? And yet this blue-eyed rioter, this mad 
 mixture of a man, touched the right chord by 
 instinct. Loder wondered if he touched it know- 
 ingly, and had a motion of resentment in his 
 mind. Bontine, the natural-born diplomatist, 
 the Political Faith-Healer, the serpent of wis- 
 dom and the dove of peace in one, had failed ; 
 and he had failed because he spoke as wise men 
 speak, and had won barren victories of dialectics. 
 He made it his business to rouse no resentment 
 in Loder, but what would have succeeded with a 
 thousand men failed with the next. Out of the 
 mouths of babes and sucklings came true wis- 
 dom, for Romney was to Bontine in the art of 
 persuasion no more than a child. The con- 
 tractor, speaking through the wall betwixt them, 
 made Loder aware that he had no reason but 
 himself. 
 
 Here indeed was an obstacle to overcome, and 
 when the Chief knew it he walked to the door 
 and opened it. 
 
 "All right, Romney ; leave me alone for a min- 
 ute or two," he said. 
 
 And Romney, again doing the right thing by 
 instinct, went without a word. 
 299
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Have you succeeded?" asked Hinton. 
 
 "In five minutes I'll know whether this Chief 
 of yours is a great man or not," said Romney. 
 
 Though Loder had often felt forlornly remote 
 from the possibility of communicating with his 
 species, and could only endeavor to write him- 
 self down in the half-intelligible runes of great 
 work attempted and great work done, he never 
 felt so solitary as in that hour. He was unintel- 
 ligible to himself, and as his brain worked like a 
 tide in a narrow strait, he wondered vaguely 
 what all this meant. He had done many things 
 he wished undone, but that was nothing. There 
 were many things to do, but now they were noth- 
 ing. What he had to do was to beat himself 
 down, and for minutes that were years and sec- 
 onds that were long hours he fought a new, 
 a strange, an absurd but equal adversary. A 
 new adversary, but himself; a strange adver- 
 sary, but again himself; an absurd adversary, 
 but once more himself, and an equal. To 
 others this would be nothing; few would under- 
 stand it, many would smile, and fools might 
 laugh. But still it was a fight, and to win 
 was to make a sacrifice that would appear less 
 than nothing to those who could not compre- 
 hend. 
 
 As he stood in the middle of the room, think- 
 300
 
 The Colossus 
 
 ing, thinking, he saw things through a veil. He 
 formulated nothing, and did not use words. His 
 greatest hours had no words ; words were, after 
 all, only the most inadequate symbols for the 
 realities in the brain. But he came out of the 
 realm of things into the realm of morality. So 
 grows spiritual duty in a race. This was a 
 thing that had to be done. But (and worst of 
 all) it ought to be done. This "ought" outraged 
 him. He was so free of hypocrisy, that to do 
 a thing because he ought to do it was against his 
 nature. He leant too far over from hypocrisy. 
 He wanted to do what he must do; to do only 
 that which was the plain dictate of his whole 
 consciousness, and that which underlies con- 
 sciousness. 
 
 Here, then, was the fierce point of battle. He 
 was like a nation which is at the hour when an 
 old code of morality and a new one come into 
 conflict. The occasion might indeed be small, 
 but it was a test case it was much in little. 
 What was one's duty to the strong, what to the 
 weak? He had worked all his life on the big 
 code of natural Law which fitted his mind and 
 his nature, but this was a new sphere of action 
 where it failed him. 
 
 "I ought to do it," said Loder. He lifted his 
 eyes and looked out upon the Nile. It seemed 
 301
 
 The Colossus 
 
 as if he might as well ask the river to flow to the 
 South. 
 
 "No, I can't do it," said Loder. And then 
 he clenched his hands. "So, by God, I will!" 
 he said. 
 
 He stared round the room in a shamefaced 
 way, as if the World was there to see, and walked 
 to the door. He threw it open, and found Hinton 
 and Romney standing by the window which 
 looked upon the great inner court of the hotel. 
 
 "Where's Bontine?" asked Loder. 
 
 "He's in with the Frenchman, sir," said Hin- 
 ton. 
 
 "Humph, that's right that's right," grunted 
 Loder. He stared at Romney for a moment, and 
 Sam thought he was going to speak, but the 
 Chief turned again to Hinton. 
 
 "Where shall I find Miss Broughton, Hin- 
 ton?" 
 
 "Where was she, Romney?" asked the Sec- 
 retary. 
 
 "With Lady Bontine." 
 
 "Ah, that will do," said the Chief, and he 
 marched down the corridor. 
 
 When he turned the corner Romney dropped 
 his hand on Hinton's shoulder. 
 
 "I did it." 
 
 "So it seems," said Emory dryly ; "and have 
 302
 
 The Colossus 
 
 you found out yet whether he's a great man or 
 a fraud ?" 
 
 Romney shook his head. 
 
 "I never thought him a fraud, but he's a bigger 
 man than I thought. Only it has never occurred 
 to me yet to get down on my knees to any human 
 being." 
 
 "We might be on our knees to worse men, 
 anyhow," cried Hinton; "and if you knew him 
 as well as I do you would forgive his faults of 
 manner, and forget your own private griev- 
 ances." 
 
 Romney shook his head. 
 
 "I have no private grievances against him 
 now. And, as to my knowing him, why, you 
 all failed, and I succeeded." 
 
 "What did you say to him ?" 
 
 Romney looked at him with a smile. 
 
 "I witch-doctored him." 
 
 After Romney left her, Gertrude sat at the 
 table alone with her head upon her hands. Out- 
 side Tiny lay in her chair, and was silent. There 
 was an abyss between the two women, for Tiny, 
 who thought the world of Loder, believed Ger- 
 trude had behaved shamefully, and was yet un- 
 ashamed. For Gertrude could not tell her that, 
 for all her obstinacy, she was deeply ashamed. 
 303
 
 The Colossus 
 
 What claim had she on the man, and why should 
 she have acted as she did ? She had been wrong 
 from the very beginning, and now by humiliating 
 him she humiliated herself. She wanted him 
 not to come, and was inclined to think him jus- 
 tified in not yielding. She went further. It 
 would show he was what some said: if he did 
 give way, he was a man who would sacrifice 
 anything for an end. If he refused definitely 
 she would be prouder of him. For then she saw 
 that she herself must give way, and go to him 
 humbly. 
 
 She knew that he did not in any way care for 
 her; and yet she had desired a barren victory. 
 What was this obstinacy in her? She reasoned 
 with herself, and tried to get up to go to him. 
 But she could not. Perhaps he would come. 
 She wanted him to come in order to justify her- 
 self. If he came she meant to feel sure that he 
 was purely selfish ; that he could sacrifice a legit- 
 imate pride to immediate profit. And how would 
 he speak if he did come ? What chord of wrath 
 would he touch in her? How would she take 
 what he said ? She got painfully curious to know 
 herself. Would he command her to speak? 
 Would he lay a hand on her? Would he be 
 polite and haughtily apologetic? Would he get 
 what he wanted, and then show his rough side? 
 304
 
 The Colossus 
 
 She listened to passing footsteps in the outside 
 corridor with intense and painful anticipation. 
 Her heart beat till she seemed to hear it. What 
 a fool a woman was ! 
 
 She knew they must all be at him to make 
 him give way. She heard silver-tongued George 
 appeal to him; she saw Romney going for him 
 like a ram in fighting order. And she guessed 
 dimly the confusion of mind into which they 
 would throw Loder if they shook him at all from 
 his first most natural determination not to see 
 her unless she came to him. They would all 
 argue how foolish it was of him. "Material in- 
 terests material interests !" would be their war- 
 cry. And when was the Chief ever known to go 
 against material interests? She accepted that 
 common view just then, but in her heart was 
 aware that Loder's chief interests could not be 
 called material. 
 
 But if he came ! 
 
 If he came and was reasonably diplomatic she 
 would die of it. She hoped he would be at his 
 worst, then she could use her tongue, and fling 
 him his precious evidence with contempt. 
 
 "Take it, and ask your precious Secretary for 
 the rest !" she heard herself say. 
 
 The bitterness she imagined made her wish 
 to hurt Loder and to hurt Hinton too. 
 
 10 305
 
 The Colossus 
 
 And then she fancied she heard Loder's foot- 
 step in the passage. She put her hand to her 
 heart in sudden agitation, and half rose from her 
 chair. 
 
 Yes, that was the Chief's step sure enough ! 
 
 She sank back again and waited. He was 
 coming, after all. 
 
 "Material interests !" 
 
 "The essence of the contract is Time !" 
 
 She knew those phrases, and she was Time to 
 that gang of railway and Empire makers ! Ah, 
 what was Empire to her? 
 
 The Chief came slowly, and passed the door. 
 She heard him stop and turn. 
 
 And then he came in. She rose up and stood 
 before him with her head down. Was this, then, 
 triumph? She looked at him for a moment and 
 was ashamed. 
 
 What a great big man he was ! and yet he 
 stood there hesitating, and was of curiously sim- 
 ple mind. His mind was in his face and his 
 eyes, and it said: "I've come because I ought 
 to come, and I don't like it; and it's a devil- 
 ish new departure, and I feel at sea quite at 
 sea." 
 
 She had expected a hard gray eye, and a ready 
 biting tongue with an order on its tip, and now 
 before her was the biggest man of the Empire, 
 306
 
 The Colossus 
 
 looking like an embarrassed schoolboy, whose 
 natural humor was suppressed by the great con- 
 ditions of a full drawing-room. 
 
 She tried to speak, and the reason she tried 
 was that she wanted, as any gracious woman 
 would want, with such a schoolboy, to put 
 him at his ease. But if she had spoken she 
 would have cried just then, and she knew 
 what tears would do. And he was trying to 
 speak, and was coming toward her, with both 
 hands out. 
 
 "Miss Broughton, let us let us be friends," 
 said Loder. And he was ashamed of himself, 
 for he wondered if she thought he had come just 
 because it was advantageous for him to. do so, 
 and if she had said so, he would not have denied 
 it by a word. But he had no such thought. Her 
 lip trembled, and she bit it hard. 
 
 "Oh, Mr. Loder," she said, "I'm sorry " 
 
 He knew what she meant. 
 
 "Oh, no, no ! It doesn't matter," grunted the 
 Chief, taking his eye off her. "And are we 
 friends?" 
 
 He offered her his hand again, and if she had 
 followed her inclination she would have kissed 
 it. She took it, and the Chief gave her a grip 
 that was not out of place. It hurt her so that 
 her lip stopped trembling. Was he going to be 
 37
 
 The Colossus 
 
 her friend? He had few friends as the word is 
 used among mortals, but if he wanted her very 
 blood he could have it. She understood now 
 how Hinton regarded him. A thousand things 
 his lieutenants had said were plain to her. 
 
 "Oh, yes, we are friends," she murmured. 
 "But you are busy with business, are you not, 
 Mr. Loder?" 
 
 The Chief said vaguely that it didn't matter. 
 He was trying to think what further he ought to 
 say, for he was not aware he had said everything 
 that could be said, and had expressed it all with- 
 out words. 
 
 But Gertrude was in a fever of repentance. 
 
 "Yes, it does matter. I'll come with you. I 
 want to speak to Mr. Hinton before you." 
 
 "With Hinton?" said Loder. 
 
 She nodded and went to the door, and there 
 she stood a moment with her head down. 
 
 "I am a fool!" she cried to herself after that 
 unused pause; and she threw the door open 
 with a half-laugh of bitterness. 
 
 "Come." 
 
 She led the way, and Loder followed her. He 
 was glad he had done it. 
 
 "Mr. Hinton," said Gertrude. 
 
 "Yes, Miss Broughton." 
 
 "Please come here," she said. She stood with 
 308
 
 The Colossus 
 
 him and Loder, apart with Romney. "Here's the 
 letter, and Mr. Hinton will tell you all the rest," 
 ehe cried. 
 
 "Eh, what?" growled Loder. "He 
 
 "Yes, he knows," said Gertrude, "but I bound 
 him not to speak, so you mustn't be angry with 
 him." 
 
 The Chief stared at Hinton. 
 
 "Yes, I knew, sir," said the Secretary. "Shall 
 I tell you ?" 
 
 Loder took in the situation slowly, and shook 
 his head. 
 
 "Afterward afterward. Thank you, Miss 
 Broughton, for " 
 
 But when he turned Gertrude had gone, and 
 the Chief sighed heavily. 
 
 "Now, then," he said abruptly, "let us hear it." 
 
 And ten minutes later he went in to Cazoule, 
 and Bontine came out. 
 
 "By Jove ! I thought he was never going to 
 come, and that accursed Cazoule was getting 
 more like red pepper every minute." 
 
 Hinton, who was still nervous as to what 
 would happen when Loder got a full view of the 
 fact that his own Secretary had kept him in the 
 dark, gave a hard laugh. 
 
 "Oh, the Chief will pepper him now." 
 
 "Are you sure ?" asked Bontine. 
 309
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "I know," said Hinton, "and I've known all 
 along." 
 
 He told Sir George and Romney what had 
 happened to Zohrab Bey. 
 
 "By the powers, you'll be out of a job," said 
 Romney ; "and if you are, I'll put you where you 
 want to be, if you'll come to me." 
 
 Hinton nodded nervously. 
 
 "You'll be all right," said Bontine ; "but, to tell 
 the truth, Hinton, it is I that ought to be angry 
 with you. You shouldn't have let her do it." 
 
 "Hear him !" cried Romney. "As if any one 
 could have stopped her !" 
 
 And then Loder opened the door and called 
 Emory in. 
 
 "All's well that ends well," said Sir George, 
 "but it has been touch and go with us." 
 
 "I'll go and wire 'Hurrah' to Oppenheimer," 
 cried Romney. 
 
 "Confound your Oppenheimer, Romney ! It's 
 he that stopped the way first;" and Romney 
 grinned. 
 
 "Man alive, my dear Sir George Bontine, my 
 Commissioner of Rails, and so forth ! I've won 
 a victory myself, and to-night I'll have another 
 concert." 
 
 "Good heavens !" said Bontine, "can't you wait 
 till we leave?" 
 
 310
 
 The Colossus 
 
 And ten minutes later Hinton came out. 
 
 "He's come down," he whispered. 
 
 "Definitely?" asked the others in excitement. 
 
 "We'll have our guarantee if they can help 
 us to it." 
 
 "And Zohrab?" 
 
 "Stays in to let them down easy." 
 
 "Then I'll wire now," said Romney. "Hurrah 
 for the through road! By the Lord! I wish it 
 had failed, and then I would have stayed in 
 Europe and really enjoyed myself." 
 
 He went down the corridor with a swing like 
 a loose buoy on an ebb, and sang as he went. 
 
 "And how does the Chief take your keeping 
 him in the dark ?" asked Bontine. 
 
 "He said, 'We'll say no more about it,' " an- 
 swered Hinton. "And Cazoule has gone ; he 
 went by way of the veranda; and we're to have 
 that Powell given over to us." 
 
 Bontine rubbed his hands. 
 "That's good that's good, the damned traitor !" 
 he said warmly ; "and nowl'llgo and tell my wife." 
 
 He came behind Tiny and kissed her. 
 
 "You can pack whenever you like, my dear," 
 he said cheerfully. 
 
 She jumped out of her chair. 
 
 "Do you mean it, George?" she cried "do 
 you really mean it ?" 
 
 311
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Fluffy, do I ever tell you anything I don't 
 mean?" 
 
 "You persuade me that you don't," said his 
 wife. "But Gertrude says we are all fools." 
 
 "My dear," said George, "that is no new dis- 
 covery. And where is the dea ex machinaf" 
 
 "You mean her? Yes, well, she came past, 
 and stopped to kiss me, much to my surprise, be- 
 cause we had quarrelled, and, George, the poor 
 thing left a tear on my nose." 
 
 Bontine sighed a little hypocritical sigh, and 
 patted Tiny's cheek. 
 
 "It can't be helped. Where is she now?" 
 
 "She went out riding," replied Tiny. "I called 
 to her, but she wouldn't answer, and just waved 
 her hand. I thought it best not to worry her." 
 
 Bontine nodded. 
 
 "I dare say she wants to be alone," he said. 
 "Poor girl! I never thought she had so much 
 in her. It's odd she went riding. That's what 
 Loder will do." 
 
 And ten minutes later the Chief rode by 
 them on his big gray. He did not see them. 
 
 "Which road will he take?" asked Tiny anx- 
 iously. 
 
 "The Pyramids," said her husband. 
 
 And that was where Gertrude had gone.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 WHEN Gertrude left Loder in the corridor 
 she was in danger of swift tears, and as she fled 
 they fell at last. She was full of strange and 
 inexplicable desolation, and at that moment came 
 nearer to a true passion for this inscrutable 
 enigma of a man than she had ever been. Yet in 
 her grief and shame there was a touch of re- 
 fined and rare exaltation. She had worked for 
 him selfishly, and had gained a reward other than 
 that which she had striven for a reward which 
 was real, though as subtle and elusive as the 
 charm of the desert. 
 
 Of a certainty she had pierced the veil which 
 hid Eustace Loder from the world, and had be- 
 held him for one moment as he really was. Up to 
 this time she had seen him wholly as the roughly 
 appreciative world saw him ; he had been strong, 
 brutal, unscrupulous, powerful. Let it pass that 
 he was all that and more; for she knew he was 
 something better, which few could even guess in 
 such clouds as he hid himself. 
 
 No, he had not come to her just because of 
 material interests ; there was something else be- 
 313
 
 The Colossus 
 
 hind it. He was sorry; he was pleased; he was 
 a little touched. But that was not all, nor was it 
 that which appealed to her now. She knew there 
 was in the depths of the man, in spite of all his 
 cunning, a rare and peculiar simplicity. She had 
 read that in a flash when he came toward her. It 
 was a revelation which made her feel humble. 
 What was she to him, who flowed like the Nile 
 toward some mysterious sea of fated purpose? 
 He did not understand himself because he em- 
 bodied a destiny, and was, beneath his outward 
 covering, a child of the race. 
 
 As she rode for solitude toward the Pyramids, 
 on whose uplifted summits the sun was already 
 declining, she recalled the day on which she had 
 returned to seek him. It seemed a long century 
 ago, and now he was not what she had then imag- 
 ined. What were these Pyramids? Who knew 
 them and what they meant ? If they were tombs, 
 even yet the work of Kings endured; though 
 Rameses was dust, there was more left of him 
 than his sacred scarabseus; Thothmes stared 
 through his Museum wall upon works that he had 
 wrought. So this Enigma might endure when 
 some other race, yet unborn, came out of dark- 
 ness into Egypt, and wooed the old serpent Nile. 
 
 She sighed with heavy oppression, and gal- 
 loped. But now she looked not behind. She did 
 314
 
 The Colossus 
 
 not say that the Lover rode after her in pursuit ; 
 she heard no thunder of his horse's hoofs. 
 
 The sun still sank, and was hot upon her face, 
 and then it touched the Great Pyramid, and like 
 a fiery dragon bit into its summit. A moment 
 more, and the shadows galloped toward her, and 
 she rode on shadowed sand. But the Pyramids 
 grew as she rode ; she swerved and saw the sun 
 again, and followed the line of shade till she 
 came near their vast bulk, and was in full day- 
 light once more. She reined in her horse, and, 
 turning, saw Cairo glitter with warm fire. Away 
 in the east was the white fire of the low round 
 moon. And far, far down the road she beheld 
 a rider a rider who rode furiously, as one who 
 carries news to a King, as one who holds in his 
 heart a message for the Pharaohs. 
 
 And as the rider grew by his rapid oncoming, 
 she felt in her heart that this was the Man who 
 was his own messenger, and her soul was afraid, 
 and her bones were as water, and she turned and 
 went onward past the lesser Pyramid. And there 
 she stayed. 
 
 What message did he bring? A message of 
 to-day's Ephemeris to the dead Ephemeris of a 
 dead yesterday, or something more lasting, some- 
 thing of significance in Time, if not Eternity? 
 She could not answer that, nor could he who car- 
 315
 
 The Colossus 
 
 ried the message have answered. Only he knew 
 as he came in thunder across the Desert that 
 something in him desired unheard speech with 
 the Past and with the Future. For this was evi- 
 dent in him : that what he had to say was incom- 
 municable in the words of men. 
 
 As the sun bit into the gold edge of the far 
 horizon, he stayed at the base of the Great Pyra- 
 mid, and, after looking up toward the summit 
 for a moment, turned and faced the South. 
 
 South, and far South! Down yonder lay 
 bloodstained Uganda and the wild Nyassa up- 
 lands, still unchartered. And far beyond them 
 other lands spread in mist, through which his 
 set mind peered. And again he came out above 
 the hot valley of the Zambesi, and once more 
 beheld Mosi-oa-Tunge raising heavenward its 
 Five Fingers of Spray. He heard the infinite 
 thunder of its plunge as it fell into its ancient 
 carved abysses and sent up in awful clouds his 
 Pillars of Smoke. 
 
 And in the night lions roared. He saw his 
 Pioneers and the Pioneers of the White Races 
 move like ants across the veldt. And that what 
 was that? The wail of a Steamer? 
 
 "Hoot! hoot! toot! I am the Civiliser!" 
 
 And that was the strange familiar whistle of 
 the Railway. 
 
 316
 
 The Colossus 
 
 "Bulawayo ! Bulawayo !" 
 
 Beyond, far down the sloping veldt, across the 
 lonely Karoo with its mighty terraces, lay Cape 
 Town, a very jewel in a wondrous setting. The 
 wind boomed in the organ-pipes of Devil's Peak ; 
 he saw the mighty hyperbola of beach with its 
 silver sand and silver surge. And beyond it was 
 still Britannia's realm of ocean that washed either 
 Pole! 
 
 He sat like a carven man on a bronze horse, 
 and did not move. The sun sank, and the low 
 large moon flooded the desert with lucid mist till 
 the rolling sand was most like unto snow. And 
 Cairo glittered as a starry crown. 
 
 He heard nothing and saw nothing, and did 
 not turn as the Woman rode homeward. 
 
 But she turned often and saw him through a 
 mist, in which he seemed gigantic, and as un- 
 earthly as an adamantine figure in some magic 
 tale of Araby. 
 
 THE END.
 
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