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 THE WAY OF 
 THE GARDINES
 
 NEW NOVELS 
 
 Atlantis. By Gerhardt Hauptman. 
 
 The Land of the Spirit. By T. Nelson Page. 
 
 Journey's End. By Katharine T>Tian. 
 
 A Monstrous Enemy. By Ranger Gull. 
 
 The Curse. By Fergus Hume. 
 
 Tantalus. By the Author of " The Ad- 
 ventures of John Johns." 
 
 A Night of Memory. By E. B. d'Auvergne. 
 
 The Shadow of Evil. By Carlton Dawe. 
 
 The Furnace of Youth. By J. S. Fletcher. 
 
 South Sea Shipmates. By J. A. Barry. 
 
 An Unfinished Song. By Mrs. Ghosal.
 
 THE WAY OF 
 THE CARDINES 
 
 By 
 
 STANLEY PORTAL 
 HYATT 
 
 Author of 
 
 "Black Sheep," 
 
 •'The Law of the Bolo," 
 
 etc. 
 
 Published at Clifford's Inn, London 
 
 By T. WERNER LAURIE, Ltd.
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 THE LONDON AND NORWICH PRESS, LIMITED 
 
 LONDON AND NORWICH
 
 6015' ^ 
 
 To L., 
 
 WHO, THROUGH HER LOVING SYMPATHY AND 
 
 TENDER CARE, HER INFINITE GOODNESS, 
 
 ALONE MADE THE COMPLETION OF 
 
 THIS BOOK POSSIBLE.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I. The Town of Mati Awakens 
 
 II. The Cardine Tradition 
 
 III. Gerald Raithe is Angry . 
 
 IV. Lady Cardine is Puzzled . 
 V. Gerald Raithe's Decision. 
 
 VI. Margaret Guesses Correctly 
 
 VII. Miss Wrench is Troubled 
 
 VIII. The Mati Club . 
 
 IX. Sir Charles Cardine's Successor 
 
 X. A Prophet Without Honour 
 
 XI. A Lone Hand . 
 
 XII. Colonel Cardine's Widow 
 
 XIII. Sir Gerald Cardine Decides 
 
 XIV. The Sinews of War . 
 XV. Dreams and Realities 
 
 XVI. Margaret Sends a Message 
 
 XVII. The Way of a Chinaman . 
 
 XVIII. The Vanity of Regrets . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 9 
 i8 
 
 35 
 46 
 
 60 
 
 73 
 
 87 
 
 94 
 103 
 
 117 
 125 
 135 
 143 
 152 
 
 159 
 168 
 
 174 
 
 188
 
 8 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 XIX. 
 
 The Mission of the " Zeta " . 
 
 200 
 
 XX. 
 
 Raja Cardine .... 
 
 211 
 
 XXI. 
 
 From the Diary of John Weste 
 
 219 
 
 XXII. 
 
 The Dash on Mati . 
 
 230 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 John Weste's Diary Again . 
 
 235 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 In Mati : The Diary Again . 
 
 248 
 
 XXV. 
 
 Raja Ismail's Coup 
 
 262 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 The Carelessness of Gerald 
 
 
 
 Cardine .... 
 
 274 
 
 XXVII. 
 
 A Soul on Fire 
 
 283 
 
 <:xviiL 
 
 The One Thing Worth Winning 
 
 296 
 
 XXIX 
 
 The Last .... 
 
 306
 
 THE 
 
 WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE TOWN OF MATI AWAKENS 
 
 The town of Mati was still asleep — at least for all 
 practical purposes. True, a few native fishermen 
 were languidly getting ready to launch their 
 canoes, and the never-ending war between lean 
 pig and leaner dog, a war in which the spoils were 
 stray pieces of offal, was being waged in a score of 
 places along the beach ; but, beyond these, 
 and the inevitable water-buffalo wallowing 
 heavily in the mud at the back of the old stone 
 fort, nothing was stirring. 
 
 Possibly, a stranger would have found it hard 
 to beheve that Mati really was the principal 
 seaport of the Island of Katu ; yet, in fairness 
 to the place, it must be admitted that it was 
 abnormally quiet that morning. Though the 
 natives — pure-blooded Malays for the most part — • 
 had a deep-rooted prejudice against work of any 
 kind, the useful members of the community, 
 the Europeans and Chinese, generally made the 
 
 9
 
 10 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 most of the two or three comparatively cool 
 hours which followed the dawn ; but, on this 
 occasion, the previous day had been a festival, 
 and, as the finals of the cock-fights had not been 
 finished, the Raja had ordered a second public 
 holiday. 
 
 The sport in the cock-pits — which are in the 
 open space at the back of the New Palace, where 
 old Raja Seyid's seraglio used to stand before 
 the Chinese pirates burned half Mati, some 
 fifty years ago — would not begin again until 
 noon ; consequently, there was no reason for 
 any native, save such fishermen as had lost all 
 their money by backing the wrong cocks the 
 previous day, to rise early : whilst, in accordance 
 with a recent edict, all places of business belonging 
 to foreigners were closed compulsorily on public 
 holidays, the sole exception being the combined 
 store and hotel owned by Messrs. Gunther and 
 Schultz, who, in addition to holding the Uquor 
 monopoly for the whole island, also acted as 
 bankers to His Highness, the Raja Ismail. 
 
 The first fisherman had just passed the end of 
 the old stone jetty, one of Raja Seyid's unfinished 
 works, when he paused suddenly, his paddle in 
 mid-air ; then his voice cut shrilly through the 
 still atmosphere. 
 
 •' Ohe, my brothers ! There is a strange ship, 
 a ship of war belonging to the EngUsh, coming 
 up the eastern passage." 
 
 Instantly, the town of Mati began to awaken.
 
 THE TOWN OF MATI AWAKENS ii 
 
 A native appeared on the poop of the ancient 
 steam yacht which constituted the Navy of 
 Katu, rubbed his eyes, stared eastwards for a 
 full minute, and then proceeded leisurely to run 
 up the national flag, the double-headed elephant 
 on a blue ground. A few minutes later, a 
 similar flag was flying above the fort. Then, 
 with his cigar, the officer of the guard touched 
 off the priming of the little brass signal cannon, 
 and the whole of the inhabitants of Mati knew 
 that a steamship was about to enter the port. 
 
 The boy had already put the morning tea tray 
 on a little bamboo table, and was pulling aside 
 the mosquito curtains, when the gun boomed 
 out. The white man sat up quickly. His hair 
 was tousled, his eyes a little inflamed, and he 
 was obviously wearing a pyjama jacket belonging 
 to some one much bigger than himself ; j^et, 
 despite these disadvantages, he looked clean, 
 young, cheerful, and essentially British. You 
 realised, instinctively, that he used a tooth- 
 brush every day, and pitied every one who had 
 not been to a Public School. 
 
 " What are they making that row over, 
 Juan ? " he asked. " I suppose they're not 
 shooting their rotten fighting cocks, by any 
 lucky chance ? " 
 
 The boy — ^he was a Filipino half-caste — 
 shrugged his shoulders. " It is a steamer, sefior," 
 he answered, as he put the cigarette box, the 
 decanter, and the soda syphon, on the table
 
 12 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 beside the tea tray. " Always, when a steamer 
 comes to Mati, they fire a gun to let the Raja 
 know." 
 
 Jack Bartram yawned, lighted a cigarette, 
 then poured himself out a cup of tea. 
 
 " I dare say it does need a gun to make His 
 Highness, the Raja Ismail, understand anything 
 this morning," he muttered. " Phew ! It was 
 my first state banquet in Katu, and I don't 
 mind if it's the last — at least whilst Carl Gunther 
 holds the liquor monopoly," he drew his hand 
 across his forehead, and tossed his cigarette 
 through the French window, over the veranda, 
 as though the taste were repulsive to liim. " Have 
 you seen the Senor Raithe yet ? " he went on. 
 
 Juan nodded in the direction of the veranda. 
 " He is there, Senor. He is always up too 
 early," then, suddenly, he became very busy, 
 folding up the guest's dress clothes, as the figure 
 of his employer appeared in the doorway. 
 
 "It is refreshing to know that I have one 
 conventional virtue — early rising. It makes me 
 feel quite Mid- Victorian," Gerald Raithe laughed 
 quietly. His speech was slow, almost drawling, 
 yet, somehow, it suited the man, just as the man 
 himself, white-clad, cool-looking, with a sugges- 
 tion of strength behind his languor, seemed to 
 suit his surroundings. His hair was turning 
 grey, and his moustache appeared to have snapped 
 off from the heat, but, none the less, when he 
 smiled, he did not look more than his thirty-five
 
 THE TOWN OF MATI AWAKENS 13 
 
 years. " How are you this morning, Jack ? " 
 he went on. " Most fellows feel a bit off after 
 one of Ismail's dinners. I'm used to them, you 
 see, having been live years in Katu. . . . 
 You may go, Juan," he turned sharply to the 
 Filipino, who was obviously listening to every 
 word. " One's got to be careful here. Jack, 
 It all goes back to Ismail, who, as you've seen 
 for yourself, is a typical young degenerate, the 
 kind which is bad to start with, and is made far 
 
 worse by being sent to Oxford. Some day " 
 
 he paused, and stared out over the harbour, 
 where a whole fleet of dugout canoes was now 
 hurrying to meet the incoming steamer. 
 
 Bartram, who, having apparently got his mouth 
 right, had helped himself to a fresh cigarette and 
 a whisky and soda, looked up inquiringly. Once, he 
 had been Gerald's Raithe's cabin-mate on a Cape 
 mail-steamer, and, though they had only just 
 met again after a lapse of seven years, he had 
 good reason for remembering how correct some 
 of the other man's prophecies had proved to be. 
 
 " Well, some day ? " he asked. 
 
 Gerald Raithe turned round. " Some day, 
 I shall shoot the bounder," he answered calmly. 
 " That is, if he doesn't have me knifed or poisoned 
 first. He dines with me, and I dine with him, 
 and we pledge one another in the liquors of the 
 Fatherland, though I detest potato spirit, and 
 he is supposed to be an orthodox Mahometan, 
 But it doesn't follow that we love one another.
 
 14 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 . . . That steamer is a long time rounding 
 the Point," he changed the subject abruptly. 
 
 " What steamer is it ? " the guest asked. 
 
 The other shook his head. " Not the faintest 
 idea. Nothing is due here for at least a week. 
 Probably, it's only a tramp, looking in on the 
 
 chance of getting some cargo. Sometimes 
 
 Excuse me." Once more, he broke off suddenly, 
 though this time he jumped lightly from the 
 veranda, and hurried down to the roadway. An 
 English girl had just pulled up her little Chinese 
 pony outside the gate, and was evidently waiting 
 for him. 
 
 She made a pretty picture, as Jack Bartram, 
 who was watching from well inside the room, 
 could not help confessing to himself. Little 
 more than a child in point of years, she was 
 essentially dainty, from her big white topee — 
 Mati is within half a degree of the Equator — 
 down to her brown riding boots. Also, he could 
 see quite plainly how her face flushed with 
 pleasure at the sight of Gerald Raithe. 
 
 Bartram nodded to himself. " No doubt 
 who she is. There's only one English girl on 
 the Island, so it must be Miss Wrench, daughter 
 of that old reprobate of a shipping agent. . . . 
 Jove, what a contrast ! " 
 
 Meanwhile, Miss Wrench was saying in a 
 high, clear voice, " It's a yacht, Jerry, a big 
 white yacht with a yellow funnel. I was up on 
 the rise, and, of course, I could see right over
 
 THE TOWN OF MATI AWAKENS 15 
 
 the mangroves at the Point. Now, I'm going 
 down to find out whose it is. If you get your 
 topee at once, you can come with me. But be 
 quick. It's not often anything exciting happens 
 in Mati." 
 
 Gerald Raithe had his hand on her pony's 
 neck, and, despite her impatience, he did not 
 seem incHned to remove it. "I've got a guest 
 here," he answered. " You know, of course, 
 though you haven't met him — Jack Bartram, 
 who has been sent out by the Pepper Trust. I 
 must wait for him. And, I say, Patsy," he looked 
 up suddenly, " Patsy, you oughtn't to go out 
 alone like that. It's not safe. Ali Hajji and his 
 gang were within five miles of here last week, and 
 they're not the only enemies. There is one at 
 least in Mati itself." He spoke meaningly, 
 and a dangerous glint came into his eyes. 
 
 Miss Patricia Wrench tossed her head. " I 
 can't do without exercise. You're always lec- 
 turing me, Jerry, and I hate it. Please let my 
 pony go." 
 
 Instead of obeying, however, the man dropped 
 his hand from the animal's neck on to the rein. 
 " If I ask it as a favour to me. Patsy, you will 
 not refuse," he answered calmly. 
 
 For a moment, it seemed as if he were wrong, 
 as if she were going to refuse point blank. 
 " You've no right to be rude and horrid," she 
 began furiously. " I simply hate you " — then 
 she happened to glance up at the Palace, which
 
 i6 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 was a bare fifty yards away, and saw a white- 
 clad figure standing perfectly still on the flat roof. 
 Her mood altered suddenly. " Very well, Jerry," 
 she went on, almost meekly, " I'll promise — for 
 the time being. But I simply hate you, all the 
 same," 
 
 Gerald Raithe laughed. " Is that anything 
 new ? I believe you've told me so before. I'll 
 see you down at the quay by and by and 
 introduce Mr. Bartram," 
 
 " If he's your friend and as horrid as you, you 
 needn't trouble," she flashed back, " There was 
 a time when you wouldn't have waited for him, 
 but would have walked down with me." Then, 
 holding her head very high, so that he should not 
 see the tears in her big grey eyes, she rode off 
 towards the quay. 
 
 The man on the roof of the Palace was no longer 
 looking out to sea, but was watching the English 
 girl ; and Gerald Raithe was watching him in 
 turn. 
 
 Jack Bartram was almost dressed when his 
 host strolled back to the house, cool and col- 
 lected as ever. 
 
 " We may as well follow the general example 
 and go down to the quay," Gerald drawled. 
 " Miss Wrench tells me it's a big steam yacht. 
 . . . Sounds quite interesting, doesn't it ? 
 I suppose she's got a pilot by now, and will be 
 in soon. I hope the owner and his friends will 
 appreciate the charms of Mati. At least, they
 
 THE TOWN OF MATI AWAKENS 17 
 
 will be in time for the finals of the cock- 
 fights." 
 
 As they walked down the cobbled road — 
 Gerald Raithe's house was on the main street — 
 Bartram happened to catch sight of the figure 
 on the roof. 
 
 " His Highness, the Raja, is up unusually 
 early," he remarked. 
 
 His companion nodded. " Yes, I expect he's 
 wondering how much he'll be able to squeeze out 
 of the new-comers, Gunther and Schultz are 
 beginning to worry him for money, I hear." 
 
 B
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 THE CARDINE TRADITION 
 
 The Island oi Katii is about the same size as 
 Mauritius, that lonely little outlier of the Empire, 
 which was once the key of the Indian Ocean, and 
 still bears a key on its coat of arms, in memory of 
 past glories. Thirty miles by twenty — roughly, 
 that is the size of Katu, 
 
 Viewing it from the sea, you gather the im- 
 pression of a series of hills covered with dark 
 green jungle, forbidding, mysterious, pregnant 
 with the possibilities of murder and sudden death. 
 Almost insensibly, you realise that civilization is 
 to be found in Mati only, that the interior is the 
 home of lawless little brown men with sharp 
 knives. 
 
 Above everything else towers the peak of 
 Khii-Dah, the great volcano, grim and lowering, 
 overhanging Sudang Bay, that most perfect of 
 natural harbours. 
 
 Somehow, all the jungle of the Malay Archi- 
 pelago seems to repel the white man, to challenge 
 him to enter at the peril of his hfe, and Katu 
 appeared to have all the repellent features in an 
 
 i8
 
 THE CARDINE TRADITION 19 
 
 exaggerated form. It was beautiful, certainly ; 
 but a man-eating tiger is beautiful in his way, 
 beautiful and abominable. . . . 
 
 " So that is Mati, Captain Simpson. It's a 
 perfect Httle bay, and those white Arab-sort of 
 houses with their flat roofs and the hundreds of 
 native huts behind them look tremendously 
 romantic. But why have we come to Mati at 
 all ? " the speaker put the glasses down, and 
 turned to the skipper of the steam yacht " White 
 Lady," with a half -humorous look of enquiry in 
 her wonderful eyes. 
 
 The sailor tugged at his long red moustache 
 and flushed, as was his way when his owner's 
 wife spoke to him directly. 
 
 " I'm sure I don't know, your ladyship," he 
 answered, " It's one of Sir Charles' ideas — ' No 
 one else ever goes to the island,' he said to me, 
 ' So we may as well have a look at it.' He said 
 he had something to do with the Raja while he 
 was at Oxford ; and he'd like to see how the — 
 the nigger had turned out." 
 
 Lady Cardine laughed lightly. " Of course ! " 
 I remember now. How stupid of me to forget ! 
 And have you been here before, Captain Simp- 
 son ? Why does one never, never hear of Katu ? 
 I thought all these places had to be put on maps, 
 for the Board School children to be bothered 
 with. Sir Charles is so fond of Board Schools 
 and teachers. Perhaps he will see that Katu 
 is taught about now ! " Then she moved towards
 
 20 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 the weather end of the bridge, her skirts rusthng 
 gently, and leaned on the rail. 
 
 Captain Simpson grinned. He knew the grim, 
 gouty, old baronet so well that he was able fully 
 to appreciate Lady Cardine's sarcasm. Once, from 
 the Strangers' Gallery, he had heard his owner 
 giving his views on the subject of State Educa- 
 tion; and he had never forgotten the incident. 
 
 Lady Cardine lighted a cigarette, and seemed 
 to forget everything else in watching the little 
 fleet of dugout canoes racing to meet the yacht. 
 The owners of those craft were in a hurry, for 
 once. There was a chance of earning a good deal 
 of money with very little exertion, perhaps of 
 stealing something quite valuable as well, and 
 the Orang-Laut, the sea gipsies of Katu, had, 
 temporarily, awakened out of their chronic state 
 of languor. 
 
 " My Lady's got one of her good fits on to- 
 day," the chief officer nodded towards the tall, 
 perfectly dressed and perfectly proportioned 
 figure on the skipper's own part of the bridge. 
 " Although the doctor tells me that the old 
 gentlemen is a bit off colour again," 
 
 The skipper frowned. He had served Sir 
 Charles with a dog-like fidelity ever since the 
 splendid, two-thousand-ton yacht had first been 
 commissioned, ten years previously, and when, 
 eighteen months ago, the hard-faced old baronet 
 had brought a lady thirty years his junior on 
 board, and had introduced her as his wife, Joseph
 
 THE CARDINE TRADITION 21 
 
 Simpson had found it both easy and natural to be 
 equally loyal and devoted to her. 
 
 Things had been said, on shore, about Lady 
 Cardine which Captain Simpson had not liked, 
 and one man at least — he was a master in a Mis- 
 sion school on the China coast — would carry to 
 the grave an outward and visible sign of the skip- 
 per's disapproval, in the shape of a badi3''-set 
 left arm — he had fallen rather heavily from the 
 first-floor balcony of the hotel on to the pave- 
 ment — but once only had the ship's company 
 heard him comment on his owner's wife. That 
 had been at the Christmas dinner in Calcutta, 
 at which he had presided, Sir Charles and Lady 
 Cardine having gone ashore as guests of the Com- 
 mander-in-Chief. 
 
 " She has given Sir Charles a fresh lease of life, 
 and she's the most beautiful woman in the world. 
 May God bless her, and blight her enemies," he 
 had said, a little huskily, in proposing her health. 
 
 As a consequence of his views, he was not slow 
 to reprimand his first officer, a comparative young- 
 ster, who had only joined at Hong-Kong. 
 
 " Her ladyship is always the same, Mr. March," 
 he said stiffiy. " She's your owner's wife, too. 
 And now, you will kindly get for'ard, and tell 
 those yellow-skinned pirates to keep their filthy 
 dugouts clear of this ship. If they don't, I'll 
 run them down. I know my way into this for- 
 saken port." 
 
 Perhaps Lady Cardine overheard his words,
 
 22 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 or she may only have guessed at them ; anyway, 
 she smiled, tossed her half-smoked cigarette over- 
 board, then went along the gangway from the 
 bridge to the smoking-room, where her husband, 
 stretched at full length on the sofa, his foot 
 swathed in the lightest of white fabrics, was 
 talking to his steward in the language of the really 
 gouty man. 
 
 Sir Charles looked round quickly as he heard a 
 step in the doorway — he was more than ready 
 to resent the presence of anyone who might 
 come within reach of his foot — but the moment 
 he realised who the new-comer was, his grim old 
 face lighted up with a smile which had something 
 almost pathetically sweet in it. He put out a 
 twisted hand, rather helplessly. Lady Cardine 
 took it in both of hers — they were large hands, 
 cool, strong, and beautifully shaped — gave the 
 steward a look which sent him hurrying through 
 the door, then kissed her husband lightly on the 
 forehead. 
 
 " What's the matter, dear ? " she asked. 
 
 The man growled out a curse on the steward. 
 
 " He's no use. Don't let the fool come near 
 me again. . . . Are we getting close to Mati 
 now ? There's a man in the place I wanted to 
 see. . . . You know, Margaret, the man we 
 looked for in Nagasaki." He spoke a httle halt- 
 ingly, as though afraid she might resent his words. 
 
 But, instead, her grip on his hand tightened. 
 " I knew, dear — or, at least, I guessed. You're
 
 THE CARBINE TRADITION 23 
 
 quite right — as things are. I'm so sorry," she 
 gave a queer Httle sob, which meant more with 
 her than a flood of tears would have meant with 
 most women. " I told you, Charles, you should 
 have chosen some one who was certain to give 
 you a son. Then, you wouldn't have had to 
 look for this vagrant cousin, who will be your 
 heir," 
 
 " Heir to the damned title only," he growled. 
 " And I wouldn't have married any other woman. 
 What you've done for me — " he broke off sud- 
 denly, pretending that the gout was to blame for 
 the unsteadiness of his voice ; then he went 
 on in his ordinary, cynical tone. " If he's here, 
 as the Bank people said, we'll see just how big a 
 waster he is ; then we'll go straight home. I 
 should like to die at Cardine Place." 
 
 vShe was too wise a woman to protest at his 
 words. 
 
 A great doctor, a doctor who was not afraid to 
 speak the truth even to one of the richest and 
 most famous men in England, had told him 
 exactly how long he might expect to live. 
 
 Sir Charles' retort had been characteristic. 
 " Can you stop this confounded gout during that 
 time ? I don't mind if you knock off a month or 
 two in doing it. I object to my wife being 
 worried over it." 
 
 Already, a large portion of the allotted term 
 had run out ; and, now, as if to mock him, the 
 gout had returned. He had fought splendidly,
 
 24 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 was still fighting splendidly, to keep his temper 
 under control, and some of those political oppon- 
 ents who had, in the past, foamed at the mouth 
 over the autocratic methods of the former head 
 of the War Ofhce, might have had the grace to 
 be a little ashamed, could they have seen him 
 in the days of his weakness. 
 
 " The Cardine Way " — how many leading 
 articles had been written with those words as 
 their text ! Hundreds of pounds, thousands of 
 pounds had been paid to hysterical scribes for 
 demanding to know why, for the last century 
 and a half, ever since the days of the Great 
 Commoner, there had been at least one Cardine 
 holding high office under the Crown. The 
 obvious answer, that the Cardines were the most 
 able family in England, was, of course, not 
 satisfactory from a party point of view. 
 
 It had always been difficult to grapple with 
 the Cardines, because so few of them had wallowed 
 in the mire of party politics. Walter Cardine 
 the First, Warren Hastings' right-hand man, 
 after practically annexing a territory containing 
 twenty million people — annexing it without 
 the ghost of an authority from anyone — had 
 introduced law and order, hanged or shot all 
 disturbers of the peace, no matter what their 
 rank, and had then come home to stand by his 
 adored chief. He was Cardine of Cardine Place, 
 head of one of the greatest families in the king- 
 dom, but he knew that his support of the most
 
 THE CARDINE TRADITION 25 
 
 maligned Englishman of his time would bring 
 added honour to that family. It was only by 
 actions of that kind that one could add fresh 
 glories to the Cardine record — at least such was 
 the Cardine idea, the Cardine Way. 
 
 Walter Cardine the Second had served with 
 Sir John Moore, had been in the rearguard 
 during the Retreat to Corunna, had proved him- 
 self a true Cardine, had helped at midnight to 
 lower the body of his beloved chief — almost the 
 greatest of English soldiers — into that grave by 
 the seashore, and had, in consequence, been 
 practically debarred from further service. Wel- 
 lington did not forgive easily when his jealousy 
 had been aroused ; he never forgot that the 
 greater glory in Spain belonged to John Moore ; 
 and Moore's men had no chance with him. 
 
 There had been " Charleses " before the Walters 
 — the baronetcy went back to 1640 — and a Charles 
 succeeded Walter the Second, a Charles who 
 supported Catholic Emancipation, opposed the 
 Reform Bill, won the Derby, and found in a 
 common detestation of Germans the basis for 
 a close friendship with Palmerston. " A per- 
 fectly hopeless man," party managers on both 
 sides called him. " It's the Cardine Way, to 
 think themselves bigger than everybody else." 
 But, for once, Palmerston had not laughed. 
 " It's the Cardines, at least the Cardine spirit, 
 we want," he had said. 
 
 But if the Charles Cardine of those days had
 
 26 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 done nothing striking, other Cardines had justified 
 their existence. India had always appealed to 
 them. There was a Cardine at Plassy, two 
 Cardine at Chillianwallah. The son of the 
 Chillianwallah Cardine served as a lieutenant in 
 Hodson's Horse, whilst his cousin was the last 
 Englishman killed before the Relief of Lucknow. 
 
 And then, of course, there was Lord Waterson 
 — Hubert Cardine he had been — the Viceroy 
 of India. A younger son and childless, he had 
 consented to take a peerage, because it was part 
 of the game, but it was an understood thing that 
 the Head of the Family should always remain 
 plain Cardine — the baronetcy, of course, did not 
 count. 
 
 Lord Waterson's short, vivid period of office 
 is a matter of history. His enemies raged at 
 him as a reactionary ; the men who understood 
 India worshipped him. He was the typical 
 Cardine, in his strength, in his failings, in his 
 inability to see that he had not the right to ride 
 rough-shod over every one who opposed him. He 
 died in harness, or, rather, he worked himself 
 to death, greatly to the chagrin of the Opposition 
 at home, who had been looking forward to the 
 delight of yelping round the stricken lion when 
 he returned. 
 
 Of course, there were other Cardines who 
 earned fame in the public service, even if they 
 did not secure it. John Cardine, the Commissioner 
 for M'Lembaland ; Admiral Cardine, who pre-
 
 THE CARDINE TRADITION 27 
 
 vented the Germans from seizing the most 
 valuable island in the Pacific ; Raymond Cardine, 
 who, as ambassador to the Sublime Porte, was 
 the first man to tell the truth concerning the 
 Armenians, and the alleged atrocities practised 
 on those unspeakable people — all these, and a 
 score of lesser ones, deserved well of the nation, 
 and received httle beyond abuse, which, after 
 all was not so surprising, because all of them 
 had the " Cardine Way." As Raymond Cardine 
 put it when he retired from public life, " There 
 never yet was one of the family who could learn 
 to suffer fools gladly," a damaging confession 
 for a ex-ambassador to make. 
 
 But no other Cardine had ever bulked so 
 largely in the public view as had that Sir Charles 
 who was now lying, a hopeless invalid, on board 
 the " White Lady." Perhaps he was not the 
 greatest of the men of his name, but he lived on 
 into the age of cheap newspapers, and he was 
 always " good copy." He had had an advantage 
 which other Cardines had lacked — the possession 
 of an immense fortune, which had come to him 
 through his mother ; but, though he had spent 
 his money royally, he had never tried to buy 
 popularity. True, a certain measure of popu- 
 larity had come to him, especially amongst the 
 older type of working men, to whom a clean- 
 handed sportsman, who is also a great aristocrat, 
 is always a fascinating figure, but he had far 
 more enemies than friends. At Epsom, the
 
 28 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Cardine colours would be certain to evoke a 
 storm of cheers, whilst in Trafalgar Square 
 a scurrilous denunciation of the Cardine family 
 would ensure a full collecting box, and much 
 liquid refreshment for the speaker, provided, 
 of course, that the police did not intervene in 
 
 time. 
 
 It was impossible for a Cardine to be Prime 
 Minister — since the extension of the franchise 
 the ability to " suffer fools gladly " has been the 
 essential condition for that post— but it was 
 equally impossible for a patriotic Cabinet not 
 to contain Sir Charles Cardine. Really, he 
 might have asked for, and secured, any post, 
 short of that of Premier, but the War Office had 
 always satisfied him. He knew where he could 
 do good work, and being, in his own estimation 
 at least, too great a man by birth to need adver- 
 tisement or applause, he was content with what 
 was then one of the minor ministerial posts. 
 
 He was, undoubtedly, the greatest War Min- 
 ister of modern times, and, naturally, he was 
 hated accordingly, both in Pall Mall and in the 
 Service generally. During his regime, fools were 
 not suffered at all ; instead, they were made to 
 suffer. It needs a real aristocrat, a man who is 
 so absolutely sure of his own position that he 
 can raise his hat to a charwoman, to deal with 
 snobs. Sir Charles Cardine had that advantage 
 over most politicians — or statesmen rather, 
 because he was never a mere office-seeker — and
 
 THE CARDINE TRADITION 29 
 
 so there were many ofiicers who did not love 
 him, many who left his presence with monocles 
 swinging unguarded on the ends of their cords, 
 and swear-words, which they had not dared to 
 utter, surging up to their lips. Sir Charles had 
 a most brutal habit of saying that an officer 
 must be a gentleman, and that the fact of being 
 an officer did not make a man into a gentleman, 
 and that no gentleman could draw His Majesty's 
 pay and neglect His Majesty's work. 
 
 " An insulting brute " — scores, hundreds, of 
 women had heard that description of Sir Charles 
 Cardine from the lips of offended warriors, or 
 pseudo-warriors, and, more than once, the words 
 had been repeated to the Secretary for War ; 
 but to Cardine of Cardine Place it mattered 
 nothing at all. He did his duty, in the 
 Cardine Way, according to the code of the 
 Cardines. 
 
 " The supply of Cardines is, fortunately, 
 running short " — an Opposition paper, devoted 
 to various fads, such as the propagation of 
 Small-pox, and the Man-and-Brother theory for 
 Black Men, had used those words, when, the 
 decree nisi having been made absolute, Colonel 
 Cardine had married Mrs. Tankerey, formerly 
 Millie Maners, of the " Orpheum." Then, after 
 the manner of its kind, it had gone on to throw 
 mud at the Secretary for War, because his cousin 
 and heir, who was the son of the " Hodson's 
 Horse " Cardine, had brought disgrace on the
 
 30 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 name, being the first who had ever done so 
 pubHcly. 
 
 It was, of course, bad form as well as bad 
 journalism, but the Secretary for War had 
 ignored the attacks entirely, and when, six months 
 later, the Colonel had died, he had acted as chief 
 mourner, the Colonel's son by a former mar- 
 riage, now the heir presumptive of the Cardine 
 dignities and responsibilities, being abroad, in 
 parts unknown. 
 
 Sir Charles Cardine's marriage is, of course, 
 a matter of history — at any rate, it led to the 
 making of history. When an invitation from 
 High Quarters was sent to him, and his wife 
 was ignored, he resigned his post in the Cabinet, 
 and, as an indirect result, the Ministry went to 
 pieces. In the General Election which ensued, 
 the party was defeated hopelessly, and the other 
 side, who stood for all that the Cardines detested, 
 had been in office ever since. 
 
 Sir Charles Cardine had taken his death sentence 
 well, taken it like the brave man he was. There 
 was no longer any chance of his great hope, that 
 he might have a son by the woman he loved, being 
 fulfilled, and all his desire now was to spare that 
 woman unhappiness of any kind. Margaret 
 Cardine represented to him all that he had missed 
 through the rest of his life. He had grown old 
 as a bachelor, had grown cynical, hard, immoral 
 if you will, so far as women were concerned, but 
 Margaret had altered all that, still, as he often told
 
 THE CARBINE TRADITION 31 
 
 himself bitterly, it had come too late in life. The 
 cup of happiness had been put to his Hps, only to be 
 dashed away immediately. 
 
 Now, through the open door of the yacht's 
 smoking-room, he could see the eastern arm of 
 Mati harbour, a sketch of palm-fringed beach, 
 which ended ingloriously in a mangrove swamp. 
 
 " What's the rest of it like ? " he asked. 
 
 Lady Cardine gave him a sketch of the place 
 in a few phrases — she had a wonderful mastery of 
 words. " Behind the town, the country rises," 
 she added. " Hills first, then mountains, and, 
 crowning it all, a splendid snow-clad volcano." 
 
 " I must take it for granted. It would need 
 more than that to make me move to-day," her 
 husband answered. " I suppose there'll be some 
 sort of a British Consul, who can tell me what I 
 want to know." 
 
 Margaret Cardine nodded, then she smiled. 
 " Captain Simpson believes you have come to see 
 the Raja.' 
 
 The invalid laughed grimly. " Simpson would 
 believe anything I told him. As for His High- 
 ness, I came in contact with him several times 
 officially — or, rather, he came in contact with 
 me. Certain white women in England had been 
 foolish enough to pet him, and I was asked to see 
 him about the matter." 
 
 " Ugh ! " she made a quick gesture of disgust. 
 " A little yellow Malay, who, I suppose, has got a 
 score of wives by now ! . . . Well, dear.
 
 32 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 judging by the kind things Captain Simpson is 
 saying to the native fishermen, we must be near 
 the anchorage." She bent down once more, and 
 kissed his forehead. As she went out, the old 
 man's eyes, the only part of him that was un- 
 changed by illness, followed her with a world of 
 love and longing in them. 
 
 " Stop " — the engine-room telegraph rang out 
 just as Lady Cardine reached the bridge again ; 
 then the cable rattled through the hawse pipe, and 
 the yacht was brought to, halfway between the 
 Raja's navy and an ancient steamer of the type 
 you expect to find in the Malay Archipelago, a 
 venerable marine curiosity with a very tall funnel 
 and rust-streaked sides. A dozen small sailing 
 craft, three or four steam launches, and a rather 
 smart-looking schooner, completed the tale of 
 the shipping in Mati Harbour, 
 
 The dugouts had been warned off in terms 
 which left no doubt as to Captain Simpson's inten- 
 tions, if their owners tried to board the yacht ; 
 but a small motor launch, with one white man and 
 a couple of well-dressed natives in the stern, was 
 allowed alongside. 
 
 A short parley with the skipper, then all three 
 visitors came up the ladder, and were conducted 
 to the bridge by the quartermaster. 
 
 Lady Cardine acknowledged the white stranger's 
 salute coldly — he was a heavy-built person, red- 
 faced, and he spoke with a strong German accent, 
 characteristics which did not appeal to her.
 
 THE CARDINE TRADITION 33 
 
 " I am the British Consul, and these are His 
 Highness' Harbour Master and the Chief Collector 
 of Customs," the white man said. 
 
 The skipper took the card without much en- 
 thusiasm. " Mr. Carl Gunther," he read out. 
 " Ah ! I see. Are there no British on the island 
 then ? " 
 
 " Twelve in all, and four Englishwomen," 
 the other answered, and Margaret Cardine thought 
 she detected a trace of triumphant malice in his 
 voice. 
 
 Captain Simpson opened his cigar case, and, 
 obviously as a matter of duty, offered it to 
 the Consul and his two yellow-skinned com- 
 panions. 
 
 " This is the yacht, ' White Lady,' owned by 
 Sir Charles Cardine, Baronet," the skipper went 
 on. " If you and your friends," he glanced to- 
 wards the two natives " will come to my room, 
 we can do all that is necessary officially. Where 
 is the port doctor ? " 
 
 Carl Gunther shrugged his shoulders. He had 
 been quick to catch the note of polite hostiHty 
 in the Englishman's v^oice, and was more than 
 ready to reciprocate the feeling. " He is of your 
 nation," he answered. " And, as His Highness 
 gave a dinner last night, he is not quite up to his 
 work this morning. Perhaps your own doctor 
 
 " He will show you a clean bill of health," 
 Captain Simpson cut him short, then made a 
 c
 
 34 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 motion in the direction of the gangway leading 
 to his own quarters. 
 
 The German had been eyeing Lady Cardine 
 obhquely. " Are Sir Charles and Lady Cardine 
 aboard ? " he asked. 
 
 " Yes, both of them," the skipper calmly 
 ignored the hint. " This way, please." 
 
 ]Margaret Cardine smiled a little sadly. " If 
 there were a few more men like Joseph Simpson 
 about," she murmured, " Charles and he — Oh, 
 why was I too late ? "
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 GERALD RAITHE IS ANGRY 
 
 Miss Patricia Wrench was standing in the 
 shade of the Customs Shed, her pony's bridle 
 looped over her arm, when Gerald Raithe brought 
 his guest to her, and gravely requested permis- 
 sion to introduce him. 
 
 For a few moments, Bartram felt himself to 
 be the least important person on the earth — a 
 new sensation, so far as he was concerned. The 
 girl's frigid pohteness was almost overwhelming ; 
 then, perhaps because she thought she had pun- 
 ished him enough for having detained his host, 
 her mood changed, and she became perfectly 
 natural. 
 
 " Carl Gunther has gone off to the yacht," she 
 said. " And he's taken his two tame orang- 
 outangs with him. I do wish he would come 
 back and tell us who the visitors are." 
 
 Jack Bartram looked puzzled. " Tame orang- 
 outangs ? " he asked. 
 
 Patsy laughed. Gerald was holding her pony 
 for her now, and she had quite recovered her 
 temper. " Oh, I mean the Harbour Master and 
 
 35
 
 36 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 the Collector of Customs," she exclaimed. " Carl 
 Gimther is the real chief of the port." 
 
 Even now, Bartram was not satisfied. " But why 
 should the Teutonic person be the one to go out ? " 
 
 " He's British Consul, and so enjoys privi- 
 leges denied to us," Gerald Raithe's voice was 
 unusually bitter. " I thought I had told you 
 already." 
 
 It was Miss Wrench who answered the question 
 which rose, naturally enough, to Jack Bartram's 
 lips. " Oh, it was Mr. Lecher who got him that, 
 you know, the M.P. who wrote the book Under 
 Tyrant Britain's Heel. ' Will ' Lecher, don't 
 his friends call him, Jerry ? He used to make 
 gas, or clean sewers, or something like that, 
 before all the other gas-makers, or sewer-people, 
 subscribed for him to go to ParHament. He 
 learnt all about the Further East in a month, and 
 it was Carl Gunther who showed him round. 
 They met on board ship, and soon after Mr. 
 Lecher got home, they stopped poor old Daddy 
 Mallowe being Consul, and gave the post to 
 Gunther, who was already German Consul." 
 
 Jack Bartram glanced inquiringly at his host, 
 who nodded, " Yes, Patsy — I beg your pardon, 
 Miss Wrench — has put it more kindly than I 
 should have done ; but her facts are in order. 
 I suppose Mr. Will Lecher's book must have sold 
 very well, for, in spite of the amount of money 
 spent on his tour, he has recently bought himself 
 a new house."
 
 GERALD RAITHE IS ANGRY 37 
 
 " How do you know ? " The question had come 
 out almost involuntarily. It seemed absurd, 
 almost incredible, that an exile in Katu should 
 find out such things, 
 
 Gerald Raithe laughed. " Oh, Patsy was 
 interested in her sewer-man — really, he's not that 
 at all, but something ' amalgamated ' and quite 
 clean, with soft, white hands — and so I was inter- 
 ested, too. But we don't want to talk about it. 
 Carl Gunther might not be pleased, you see ; " 
 then he changed the subject abruptly. " What's 
 the yacht's name. Patsy ? " he asked. 
 
 The girl, who was looking through her glasses, 
 answered without turning round. " She's just 
 swinging so that I can see it. . . . ' White ' 
 
 . . . ' White Baby ! ' . . . No, ' White 
 Lady ' — that's it." 
 
 Bartram was at the girl's side now, so neither of 
 them happened to see the expression on Gerald 
 Raithe's face. He went very white under his 
 tan, then flushed, and after that took a step for- 
 ward, and, quite calmly to all outward appear- 
 ance, waited his turn to use the glasses. 
 
 " The launch is coming back," the girl an- 
 nounced. " We shall soon know all about it 
 now. I do hope there are some nice people, 
 and that they're going to stay a few days, and 
 give dinners, and so on. But no one interesting 
 ever seems to come to Mati." 
 
 " You are rather unkind to Mr. Bartram, Miss 
 Wrench," the speaker, a thin-faced, haggard
 
 38 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 man, with a small black tie, which, in some subtle 
 way, seemed to clash strangely with his suit of 
 tussore silk, had come up behind them noiselessly. 
 " Have you found him so dull already ? " 
 
 Deliberately, she raised the glasses again, so 
 as not to have to look round. " Mr. Bartram is 
 going to stay here, I understand, Mr. Darkin," she 
 retorted. " If you had tried to overhear the rest 
 of the conversation, you would have found that 
 I was referring to visitors only." 
 
 He smiled gently, as one might do at the speech 
 of a clever child ; then turned to Gerald. 
 
 " Have you any idea who the strangers are, Mr. 
 Raithe ? " he asked. 
 
 The other followed Patsy Wrench's example, 
 and did not trouble to look round, " I don't even 
 know that they are strangers," he replied curtly. 
 
 Mr. Albert Darkin smiled again, meekly sighed, 
 then made his way with careful steps to the pier- 
 head, as if to meet the launch. 
 
 " Pig and humbug ! " Patsy's speech was 
 occasionally most expressive. " He gives me 
 the creepy-crawls, Jerry. I can't be nice to him, 
 even though he is one of the biggest traders in the 
 island ; and if I were a man, I would never trust 
 him in business." 
 
 " I don't," Gerald answered grimly, " any 
 more than I trust Ismail, or Gunther, or several 
 more of them. ... By the way, here comes 
 Ismail himself — and the scallywags." 
 
 The girl gave a queer little exclamation, partly
 
 GERALD RAITHE IS ANGRY 39 
 
 annoyance, and partly — at least, it seemed so to 
 Jack Bartram — partly fear. A minute later, the 
 Raja, a young Malay, who seemed to be trying to 
 counteract his natural weakness of expression by 
 a kind of dissolute swagger, was raising his hat to 
 Miss Wrench — now, he was clad in European 
 costume — whilst the scallywags, half a dozen of 
 his favourite courtiers, were standing a little way 
 off, apparently glowering at Gerald Raithe. 
 
 " Good-morning, Raithe. Good-morning, Mr. 
 Bartram " ; his EngHsh accent was almost per- 
 fect. " I suppose, like the rest of us, Miss Wrench, 
 you're wondering who the visitors can be." 
 
 Patsy was flicking her boot with her riding 
 whip. " You can soon find out," she said, with- 
 out facing him. " Herr Gunther is just returning 
 now." 
 
 There was a momentary flash of anger in the 
 Raja's eyes, then he turned deliberately to Gerald. 
 
 " That gun woke us all too early. Why, it's 
 only a few hours since we broke up. . . . Had 
 a little party. Miss Wrench. Men only, you 
 know. Your father was there, but couldn't ask 
 you, this time " then, with the air of a man who, 
 having been insulting, knows that his insolence 
 will not be punished, he strutted off towards the 
 pier-head. 
 
 Illogically, perhaps. Patsy vented her wrath 
 on Gerald Raithe. " Why do you go ? Why 
 do you dine — with a native ? " she asked pas- 
 sionately. " If you refused, he wouldn't dare
 
 40 THE WAY OF THE CARDlNES 
 
 insult a white woman like that. I can forgive Mr. 
 Bartram because you took him there, but not 
 you, Jerry, not you." 
 
 He laid a hand on her arm, gripping it nervously, 
 and, looking up at him, she saw something very 
 nearly akin to murder in his eyes ; but his voice 
 was quiet and even as before. 
 
 " You know why I go. Patsy," he drawled. 
 " You know perfectly well, though no one else 
 does. . , . It's part of a game I'm playing. 
 Bartram," he turned to the other man, " a 
 game with high stakes, the highest possible 
 stakes." 
 
 Bartram flushed. Hitherto, he had managed 
 to drift through life without touching tragedy ; 
 but now he felt that he was very close to grim 
 realities, and he rose to the occasion, " May I 
 take a hand too ? " he asked, very quietly. " I 
 think it is a game that would interest me a good 
 deal." 
 
 The glance which Patsy Wrench flashed on him 
 seemed, somehow, to alter his whole outlook on 
 life. He was ready now to do anything which 
 would win her approval ; but Gerald shook his 
 head, " No — at least not yet. If I want you, 
 I'U let you know. ... I think the most 
 excellent British Consul has landed at last, with 
 his news." 
 
 Practically the whole of the white community 
 was on the quay now, and the word was quickly 
 passed along.
 
 GERALD RAITHE IS ANGRY 41 
 
 Patsy heard it from Mrs. Blackwood, the wife 
 of her father's partner. 
 
 " It's Sir Charles Cardine's yacht," the little 
 lady — Mrs. Blackwood was as dainty as she was 
 sweet — said excitedly, " You've heard of Sir 
 Charles, Patsy, the great statesman : and Lady 
 Cardine is on board, too. We must ask her up 
 to the house, of course. You will help me, won't 
 you, darHng ? Miss Darkin and Mrs. Earwaker 
 aren't the least bit of good, are they ? " 
 
 Gerald Raithe seemed to have recovered his 
 self-possession now. He stood in the shade of 
 the Customs shed, still holding Patsy Wrench's 
 pony, whilst that young lady and Mrs. Blackwood 
 strolled up towards the town, discussing means of 
 entertaining the distinguished visitor. 
 
 " I know Darkin, and I can imagine a female 
 Darkin — big teeth and tracts ; but who is 
 Mrs. Earwaker ? " it was Jack Bartram who 
 spoke. 
 
 Gerald laughed, none too pleasantly. " Ear- 
 waker is our missionary — you haven't met him, 
 because he has the fever. The Earwakers and 
 the Darkins share that house up there — it was 
 Raja Seyid's seraglio after the Chinos had burnt 
 the old one . . . Mrs. Earwaker ? Oh, she 
 suits her name admirably, but I doubt if she 
 would suit Lady Cardine." 
 
 Once more, the other looked at him in surprise. 
 " You seem to keep deuced well in touch with 
 things, Raithe," he said. " I shouldn't have
 
 42 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 thought you would have heard about it in this 
 forsaken island." 
 
 " About what ? " Gerald demanded. 
 
 Jack Bartram flushed. " The stories about 
 her — Lady Cardine, I mean. No one knew exactly 
 who she was, and all sorts of yarns were going 
 round. You remember he resigned from the 
 Cabinet very suddenly ; well, they say it was over 
 his marriage. Some one Big invited him and not 
 her. Anyway, the Ministry fell to pieces as a 
 result, and the present crowd got in. There's a 
 fellow at the War Office now who, only a year or 
 two ago, used to denounce soldiers as parasites." 
 
 The other man's face had grown very hard. 
 " Yes, it's Tarle, the brother-in-law of Miss 
 Wrench's Mte-noiv, Mr. Lecher. As for Lady 
 Cardine, I have not the honour of knowing either 
 her or her husband personally ; but I have not a 
 shadow of doubt that the stories concerning her 
 are untrue. I shall make it my business to deal 
 with any one who circulates them in Mati," his 
 manner had become stiff, almost arrogant, and 
 there was no doubt about his sincerity. 
 
 Bartram laughed, a little uneasily. He had 
 never seen his host in this mood before, and he 
 hardly knew what to make of it. " I'm sorry," 
 he began. " Really I didn't mean anything " 
 
 But it is doubtful whether Gerald Raithe even 
 knew he was speaking. 
 
 The Raja was coming back along the quay, 
 very slowly, accompanied by Gunther and Dar-
 
 GERALD RAITHE IS ANGRY 43 
 
 kin. The white men were laughing in a way that 
 was not pleasant to hear, and the yellow man was 
 sneering. 
 
 " She's not so bad looking in — what do you 
 call it, Darkin ? — a flash way. She treated me 
 in the high and haughty style." Gerald caught the 
 German's words clearly — perhaps he was meant 
 to catch them. 
 
 Albert Darkin rubbed his white hands together 
 gently. " She wasn't always ' My Lady.' You 
 know what they say " — and he began a scandalous 
 anecdote. 
 
 Gerald Raithe took a step forward, and laid 
 a heavy hand on the man's shoulder, swinging 
 him round so that they were face to face. 
 
 " Mr. Darkin," he said in a voice that the others 
 hardly recognised, by reason of the suppressed 
 passion in it. "I intend to flog anyone who 
 slanders Lady Cardine in my hearing. Anyone," 
 for a moment his eyes rested on the Raja and 
 Gunther, " though you would get it most heavily, 
 because you are insulting a lady of your own race 
 and your own colour. Remember," then he let 
 the other go, and, taking out his handkerchief, 
 wiped the hand which had touched him. 
 
 Darkin had gone very white ; Gunther was 
 crimson, with the perspiration streaming down 
 his face ; w^hilst Ismail was spluttering with rage. 
 The threat was too explicit, and had been made 
 too openly, for there to be any doubt about the 
 Enghshman's meaning.
 
 44 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 " Come along. You've said quite enough," 
 Bartram took hold of Gerald's arm. " You're 
 quite right, old fellow, in principle ; I know that, 
 and I wish I had the pluck to do it myself ; but 
 you're not very wise in your methods. Ismail's 
 ruler here, an independent sovereign ; and if you 
 want protection, you've got to appeal to your 
 bitterest enemy, that German pig. I wish you 
 hadn't done this thing. I'm a new-comer in the 
 island, but it seems to me that you've made your 
 position impossible. If you escape being knifed, 
 you'll be ruined by some new law or other. Al- 
 ready, you say, that young rotter Ismail is doing 
 all he can to help Gunther and Schultz." 
 
 For a minute or so the other did not answer. 
 When a man who is usually calm and cool becomes 
 really moved, he does not regain his self-control 
 without an effort. 
 
 " It's been brewing for a long time," he said at 
 last. "I'm not sorry " 
 
 " Jerry, Jerry dear. It was splendid." Patsy 
 Wrench rushed up, despite the heat, and held 
 out both her hands. " Oh, I am so proud of 
 you," the look in her eyes confirmed her words. 
 " But it was stupid of you, dreadfully stupid. 
 Your life won't be safe here now." 
 
 Gerald Raithe smiled. " Do you know I've 
 still got your pony, Patsy. You ran off with 
 Mrs. Blackwood, and left him with me, so I had 
 to do something to pass the time," he spoke lightly, 
 though his tone failed to deceive his hearers.
 
 GERALD RAITHE IS ANGRY 45 
 
 It was Mrs. Blackwood who brought them 
 back to the level of everyday things. She strolled 
 up, fanning herself a little ostentatiously. 
 
 " My children," she remarked. " You are 
 all standing in the sun, and that is not a very 
 wise thing to do. Moreover, some one must go 
 out to the yacht to pay a call on behalf of the 
 British community, and the obvious person to 
 do that is Gerald Raithe." 
 
 The latter shook his head. "Our Consul has 
 already fulfilled that duty." 
 
 " My dear Gerald, it is far too hot here to 
 answer sensible remarks, much less foolish ones," 
 the little lady began to move towards the nearest 
 patch of shade. "Patsy and I have already 
 decided that you are to go off at once, with the 
 compHments of ourselves, and invite Sir Charles 
 and Lady Cardine to tea with us at our house. 
 Walter, my husband, went out shooting early, 
 and will not be back for some hours." 
 
 For a moment, Bartram thought that the other 
 man was going to refuse ; then, with a shrug of 
 his shoulders, and a laugh w'hich had not much 
 mirth in it, Gerald Raithe consented. 
 
 " Very well. Write your note, Mrs. Black- 
 wood. The sooner I get it over, the better. 
 Probably, though, these people will be going on 
 again in a few hours, as soon as they've got some 
 fruit and vegetables."
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 lady cardine is puzzled 
 
 " Mr. Raithe ? " 
 
 Gerald was conscious of a tall, gracious lady 
 in white coming in through the door of the 
 yacht's music-room, Mrs, Blackwood's note in 
 her hand. 
 
 " It is so kind of you," she said, " and, of 
 course, of Mrs. Blackwood, too. I was longing 
 to go ashore and have a look at the town, but 
 Sir Charles, my husband, is ill, and it would have 
 been so wretched to go alone," 
 
 As a rule, Gerald Raithe was neither shy nor 
 awkward, but he felt himself to be both now. 
 In some subtle way, Margaret Cardine was 
 different from any other woman he had ever 
 met — at least to him. Instinctively he knew 
 that she was extraordinarily brilliant, but he 
 realised, too, that she was far more than that. 
 
 Miss Patricia Wrench was a lady by birth 
 and education ; Mrs. Blackwood was the same ; 
 but Margaret Cardine was a great lady — therein 
 lay the difference. 
 
 She did not sit down herself, nor ask him to 
 
 46
 
 LADY CARDINE IS PUZZLED 47 
 
 sit down, but stood with her hand resting on the 
 table, looking at him with a kind of grave curiosity 
 as though summing him up mentally. 
 
 " Yes, I will come ashore this afternoon," 
 she went on. " That is, if Sir Charles is no 
 worse." 
 
 The man started slightly, as if he had been 
 thinking of something else. " I trust he is not 
 very ill," he said. 
 
 "He is very ill indeed, terribly ill." Her 
 voice sunk almost to a whisper. " But he would 
 hke to see you. There are some questions he 
 wanted to ask, and " a ghost of a smile flickered 
 on her lips, " he did not care about appeahng 
 to the British Consul. He has never been fond 
 of the German race. Will you come this way ? " 
 
 She left him no chance to hesitate, much less 
 to refuse. Her attitude was perfectly plain. 
 Nothing mattered to her, except her husband's 
 wishes. Gerald was useful, valuable even, at 
 at the moment, because he might possibly be of 
 service to her husband, but she regarded him 
 solely from that point of view. And, so far from 
 being hurt by the knowledge, Gerald Raithe, 
 who was usually supposed to rate himself highly, 
 liked her infinitely better for it. 
 
 He was certain now that his championship 
 of her that morning had been justified. 
 
 " This is Mr. Raithe, Charles." Lady Cardine 
 made the introduction in a form which showed 
 plainly that she and her husband had already
 
 48 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 discussed the visitor during the few minutes he 
 had been waiting in the music room. 
 
 The old statesman held out his twisted hand. 
 Margaret Cardine raised her eyebrows sHghtly. 
 For months past, he had never given that hand 
 to anyone but herself. 
 
 " Sit down," he said. " Forgive an old man 
 who can't rise to greet you. My wife," he lin- 
 gered in a curious way over the words, as though 
 he loved them, " My wife tells me of the kind 
 invitation which you have brought. She will 
 be delighted to accept. I cannot, as you see ; 
 but I wonder if you would add to our indebted- 
 ness by giving me some information. First, 
 help yourself to a cigar — I know you will not 
 mind our smoking, dear." 
 
 Gerald glanced across at Lady Cardine, who 
 was standing behind the sofa, received a little 
 nod of permission, then took a cigar from the 
 box, cut it carefully, and hghted it. He was 
 anxious to gain time, to readjust his ideas. The 
 man in front of him seemed so utterly different 
 from the pen-pictures of the gruff, overbearing 
 old aristocrat, who was supposed to have made 
 more personal enemies than any other Minister 
 of his time, 
 
 " If I can help you, I shall only be too delighted,' 
 he said at last. " I have been five years in Katu, 
 so I know the island fairly well." 
 
 Sir Charles nodded. "It's a simple matter, 
 but I didn't want to discuss it with that German.
 
 LADY CARDINE IS PUZZLED 49 
 
 By the way " — the question came sharply, in 
 something of his traditional manner,— "why is 
 that damned alien British Consul ? Why aren't 
 you Consul instead ? 
 
 Gerald smiled. He knew now that he was going 
 to agree with this man on a good many points. 
 
 " When you get home again, Sir Charles, you 
 must ask Mr. Lecher, M.P.," he answered. " You 
 know — the author of Under Tyrant Britain's 
 Heel. Herr Carl Gunther was useful to Mr. 
 Lecher, and ]\Ir. Lecher has influence with our 
 present Ministry. It seems a small matter to 
 have worried about. There are only twelve 
 British subjects in Katu, and our old Consul 
 was perfectly efficient." 
 
 Sir Charles gave him a keen glance. '' Seems ? " 
 he echoed. " I see. Perhaps you will tell me of 
 that later. And now as to my question. Have 
 you ever met a man here called Cardine ? Is 
 there any man called Cardine on the island 
 now ? " 
 
 " I never met a man called Cardine in Katu," 
 Gerald's answer came quickly and decisively. 
 " I am certain there is no one known by that 
 name in the island now. Any other white man 
 here will confirm my words." 
 
 The old man, who had been watching him 
 closely from under his shaggy eyebrows, nodded. 
 " I am glad to know for certain. It relieves me 
 of a good deal of anxiety, Mr. Raithe. Margaret, 
 dear, will you light my cigar for me ? " 
 s
 
 50 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 For a mmiite or t\\'o, he puffed away in silence, 
 whilst Gerald waited with an air which seemed 
 to suggest that he was ready to answer any 
 number of equally simple questions. 
 
 At last, " He is my heir — this fellow Cardine," 
 Sir Charles went on. " Some of the property, 
 too, goes to him, but only a little. The rest I 
 can leave as I like. He's the son of my cousin, 
 and the only other Cardine left now. Fve never 
 met him. I shouldn't want to now, only I'm 
 dying, and I should have liked to taU^ to him; 
 to try and persuade him to uphold the family 
 name. If I had found him, and had hked him, 
 it would have made a difference in my will. 
 My wife would not mind. She will be one of 
 the richest widows in England, anyway." 
 
 " Don't, oh don't, Charles ! " Margaret Car- 
 dine's self-control gave way suddenly. With 
 a splendid disregard of the visitor's presence, 
 she bent down, and, almost humbly, kissed the 
 old man's hands, then hurried out of the smoking- 
 room. 
 
 " I must apologise, Mr. Raithe. It is the 
 penalty for having led a perfectly selfish Ufe 
 that, when you do get unselfish devotion, you 
 are incapable of appreciating it." Sir Charles 
 broke the awkward silence which followed his 
 wife's flight. " I will not detain you now — you 
 will understand. But I will ask you to come 
 off and see me again to-morrow morning. There 
 are some more things I want to know about
 
 LADY CARDINE IS PUZZLED 51 
 
 Katu — not personal matters, and I believe you 
 can give me the information. I can count on 
 seeing you then ? Perhaps you will lunch 
 with us ? " 
 
 For a moment Gerald hesitated, as though he 
 would have Hked to refuse ; then he nodded and 
 took his topee off the table. " Yes. Thanks 
 very much. I will give Lady Cardine's message 
 to Mrs. Blackwood." 
 
 His boat was already half-way to the quay 
 when Margaret Cardine returned to the smoking- 
 room, having regained command of herself. 
 
 " It's the heat," she said with an apologetic 
 little smile. " Has he gone ? Oh, Charles ! 
 I ought to have written a note. Whatever will 
 they think of me ? " 
 
 " I fancy he's a man who will explain satis- 
 factorily, the sort of man to do most things 
 satisfactorily." The old statesman spoke slowly, 
 as though to himself. 
 
 His wife, who was looking out through the 
 door towards the town, answered without turning 
 round, " He must be wasted here, then. There 
 can't be much scope for anyone like that in 
 Mati." 
 
 Sir Charles knocked the ash off his cigar very 
 carefully. "I'm not so sure about that, my dear. 
 Mr. Raithe has, I fancy, grasped certain very 
 important facts connected with Katu. I have 
 asked him to lunch with us to-morrow." 
 
 It seemed as though there was a question
 
 52 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 trembling on Lady Cardine's lips, something 
 which she was anxious to ask, yet did not 
 dare to put into words. In the end, however, 
 she returned to his side, and, very gently, 
 re-arranged his pillows. 
 
 " It's time you had a sleep," she said. " The 
 doctor will be frightfully cross with me if your 
 temperature runs up as a result of having 
 visitors." 
 
 Gerald Raithe was waiting at the landing-stage 
 when the yacht's boat brought Lady Cardine 
 ashore. She was dressed in the simplest of 
 white dresses, with a large topee, yet, some- 
 how, she brought with her an indefinable air 
 of luxurious daintiness. She began with an 
 apology. 
 
 " I ought to have written a note. I can't 
 
 think " 
 
 He stopped her at once. " I told Mrs. Black- 
 wood it was my fault, that I did not wait. She 
 understood. She always says my manners are 
 growing steadily worse." 
 
 She gave him a grateful look. It was not neces- 
 sary for him to tell her that he had said nothing 
 of her agitation that morning. 
 
 Then he changed the subject abruptly. 
 " Mati is not always quite so deserted as this 
 — not a native in sight. As a matter of fact 
 it is a public holiday. They are finishing off 
 yesterday's cock-fights. Otherwise, His Highness 
 -the Raja might have paid you a state visit. Pos-
 
 LADY CARBINE IS PUZZLED 53 
 
 sibly, he will honour you to-morrow, if his health 
 permits it after to-day's — excitement." 
 
 " You dislike him ? " She glanced up quickly. 
 
 Gerald Raithe laughed. " Evidently, I should 
 never make a diplomatist, if you can read my 
 thoughts so quickly. That is the Blackwoods' 
 house. The girl at this end of the veranda is 
 Miss Wrench. We only have four English women 
 in Mati." 
 
 " And the other two, shall I meet them ? " 
 Really, Margaret Cardine hardly knew why she 
 asked the question. 
 
 The man shook his head. " No, we have 
 cliques, even in our tiny community. The other 
 two are not very friendly with us." 
 
 She found herself wondering now what he meant 
 by "us." Was he a relation of the Blackwoods, 
 or was he the fianc(5 of the girl who was introduced 
 to her a moment later ? Certainly, Patsy's 
 manner suggested that they were very good 
 friends. 
 
 Almost unconsciously, Margaret Cardine was 
 watching them throughout the whole of her visit, 
 though neither her hostess, nor the other guests, 
 suspected anything of the kind. She was gracious, 
 brilhant, entirely unaffected, and as Gerald 
 Raithe, who watched her in turn, was quick to 
 note, she fascinated the women as greatly as she 
 did the men. But there was a hint of sadness 
 running through it all, a kind of echo of what had 
 been said in the smoking-room of the " WTiite
 
 54 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Lady " that morning. The others might miss 
 this, did miss it in fact, but Gerald under- 
 stood. 
 
 Walter Blackwood, the counterpart of his wife, 
 small, alert, bright-eyed ; Hubert Wrench, stoop- 
 ing, a little apologetic in his manner ; Jack Bar- 
 tram, and a couple of youngsters from Black- 
 wood's office — the visitor talked to all these in 
 turn ; yet, by a kind of common consent, it was 
 left to Gerald Raithe to see her back to her boat, 
 Blackwood having been called away a few 
 minutes before. 
 
 Patsy Wrench, who had been unusually sub- 
 dued all the afternoon, seemed to hesitate, then 
 rose quickly. " I will go too, if I may. Lady 
 Cardine. Gerald won't mind." 
 
 Despite herself, Margaret Cardine smiled. So 
 far, she had regarded Miss Wrench as being entirely 
 grown up, a woman in all essentials, but this 
 speech undeceived her. Patsy was a child, after 
 all. IMoreover, she knew, instinctively, that the 
 child already worshipped her ; and so many 
 women had hated Sir Charles Cardine's wife, for 
 no other cause than the greatest of all causes, 
 envy, that she was ready to repay the worship 
 with love. 
 
 But did Gerald Raithe, too, regard Patsy as a 
 child ? His manner, as a whole, seemed to sug- 
 gest that he did, yet, once or twice, Lady Cardine 
 had noticed a look on the face of one or the other 
 which led her to suspect that they shared certain
 
 LADY CARBINE IS PUZZLED 55 
 
 secrets ; that, when they were alone, they could 
 be serious. 
 
 " She loves him — without knowing it is love 
 of that kind ; and, though he would give his life 
 for her, he does not love her a bit — so far." Such 
 was Margaret's summing up as she walked down 
 towards the quay between them — Mati boasted of 
 neither rickshaws nor sedan chairs. 
 
 She was almost angry with herself for the 
 interest she was taking in these new acquaint- 
 ances. Since Sir Charles Cardine had made her 
 his wife, she had ignored the rest of the world. 
 She owed so much to him, that she had no thought 
 to spare for anyone else. She had troubled to 
 make no friends, and her enemies she had treated 
 with contempt ; but these people in Mati seemed 
 different — Gerald Raithe, at least, must be differ- 
 ent, or her husband would never have invited 
 him to lunch on board the yacht. The former 
 Secretary for War had never been one to entertain 
 bores. As for the girl, she, too, must be of other 
 clay than the women who had so eagerly seized 
 on every rumour concerning Lady Cardine's past. 
 
 Margaret, herself, said little whilst they walked 
 down towards the harbour. Patsy talked very 
 fast, and a little nei-vously ; Gerald Raithe put in 
 a few words here and there ; but the elder woman 
 listened, or pretended to listen, being busy with 
 her own thoughts. 
 
 As they entered the Square, one side of which 
 was formed by the quay, Miss Wrench broke off
 
 56 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 suddenly in the middle of a rather vivid sketch of 
 the native character. 
 
 " Oh ! Why couldn't we have been spared 
 this ? I thought they would still be at their 
 hateful cock-fight. . . . Don't let them speak 
 to us, Jerry, please don't." 
 
 Gerald turned to Lady Cardine. "It is the 
 Raja and his scallywags — his courtiers, I should 
 say. I am not on the best of terms with him. 
 I am more than sorry we should have met them ; 
 but they will not annoy you." He spoke with a 
 kind of stiff anger in his voice. 
 
 A dozen figures had just straggled out of a 
 building on their right. In front were the Raja 
 and a couple of white men, whilst behind these 
 came a tail of natives, chattering noisily amongst 
 themselves. 
 
 Quite unconsciously, it seemed, Margaret Car- 
 dine slipped her arm into that of Patsy Wrench. 
 
 " Who are they, dear ? " she asked, in a queer, 
 strained voice. 
 
 The girl pressed the arm with hers, gently 
 though firmly. " It's only the Raja Ismail, and 
 two of his white hangers-on — that's Jerry's word, 
 but I don't know any other suitable one. The}' 
 are quite harmless — just now," There was a 
 world of scorn in her voice. 
 
 Lady Cardine had pulled herself together, and 
 tried to smile, "It is horrid — white men and a 
 native, arm in arm. Who — who are the white 
 men ? "
 
 LADY CARDINE IS PUZZLED 57 
 
 Patsy answered promptly. " The one on 
 this side, the sober one, is Herr Carl Gunther, our 
 Consul — But, of course, you've seen him. The 
 other is Mr. Albert Darkin, a trader." 
 
 "Darkin! What a hideous Sunday School 
 teacher name ! " Margaret gave a hollow little 
 laugh, and Gerald, who looked round at her 
 quickly, saw that she was deadly pale. 
 
 " You've hit it exactly. Lady Cardine," he 
 drawled. " He comes of some kind of Little 
 Bethel, or Great Ebenezer, stock. One never 
 meets these folk at Home, socially, but you can't 
 help it in a place like this." 
 
 "It's the worst of a place like this," Patsy 
 backed him up loyally. " Still, it's not always 
 so bad. They go to the cock-fights, and bet, and 
 drink." 
 
 They were now but a few yards from the Raja 
 and his friends. Ismail, who had been staring 
 very hard, exchanged a stiff salute with Gerald 
 Raithe, Carl Gunther, too, raised his topee, but 
 Albert Darkin laughed stupidly, then threw his 
 hat on the ground. Margaret Cardine and her 
 companions were past before he had been per- 
 suaded to pick it up again. 
 
 " How hateful ! " Lady Cardine gave a Httle 
 shudder. " Did he, that horrid Httle man with 
 the name, recognise you at all ? " 
 
 Miss Wrench shook her head decisively. " No, 
 I'm sure he didn't, because, you see, he would 
 have been afraid of what I should have said to
 
 58 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 him next time. ... I always tell people 
 when they misbehave themselves." 
 
 " I can quite beheve that." Margaret gave a 
 little laugh which had a half-hysterical note of 
 rehef in it. " It's nice to be able to do it, dear. 
 . . . Well, here we are at the quay, and my 
 boat is waiting. Thank you all, very, very much, 
 for your kindness. If miy husband will stay 
 over to-morrow, I am going to ask you all to come 
 to dinner on board. Thank you again." Then, as if 
 moved by a sudden impulse, she drew the girl 
 towards her, and kissed her very tenderly. 
 
 " She's too sweet and lovely for words, Jerry," 
 Patsy exclaimed as they turned back from the 
 landing-stage. " Every one must love her. 
 You would, wouldn't you, Jerry ? I mean, of 
 course, if she wasn't married." 
 
 Gerald Raithe smiled, " Yes. She's very 
 nice indeed." 
 
 " Nice ! " The girl echoed his words scorn- 
 fully. " How can you use such a silly, sloppy 
 sort of word for her ! It's what Miss Darkin would 
 say when she meant something catty. But I 
 was surprised at her being so upset over the Raja 
 and Mr. Darkin. It didn't seem like her at all." 
 
 As a matter of fact, Gerald himself was puzzled 
 over the same matter ; but all he said was, " We 
 are used to their ways, and have got past being 
 disgusted ; yet it might strike a stranger very 
 differently, you know." 
 
 They walked on a little way in silence, then.
 
 LADY CARDINE IS PUZZLED 59 
 
 " Jerry, are you going to tell him, Sir Charles 
 Cardine, all about it, about Katu ? It's a splen- 
 did chance, because they say he's a very, very 
 great man, and though those wretches are in office 
 now, everybody sensible would hsten to him. 
 Do be sure and speak to him, Jerry." Miss 
 Wrench's voice was very eager. 
 
 Gerald nodded. "I'm going to tell him to- 
 morrow," he said. 
 
 " Tell her too — Lady Cardine, I mean." The 
 girl laid a Httle brown hand on his arm. " She 
 would admire you ever so much for it. And 
 Jerry, Jerry dear, be careful. Ismail means mis- 
 chief. Gunther and Darkin are setting him on. 
 I do wish I could come and guard you whilst 
 you're asleep. I seem to see a horrible little 
 native stealing into your room with a kris in his 
 hand." 
 
 The man flushed suddenly. Words rose to his 
 lips, words which, if spoken, would have made 
 all the difference, not only in their lives, but in 
 the lives of many others, as well. But before he 
 could frame them, Mrs. Blackwood hailed them 
 from the veranda of her house. 
 
 " Of course you are going to stay here for din- 
 ner, children. I have made sure of Mr. Bartram 
 already, and I'm not going to let you two go."
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 GERALD RAITHE'S DECISION 
 
 It was past midnight when Gerald Raithe and 
 Bartram left the Blackwoods' house. Patsy had 
 gone home some time previously, taking her 
 father with her, but the others had remained, sit- 
 ting on the veranda in the moonlight, smoking, 
 and discussing the events of the day. 
 
 " Curious thing Sir Charles Cardine putting 
 in here," Blackwood had remarked. " I wonder 
 what his object is ? " 
 
 He had glanced inquiringly at Gerald, but the 
 latter had volunteered no information of any sort. 
 Sir Charles's quest for the heir to the title was the 
 old man's own affair. 
 
 " She's ripping, Gerald," Bartram said sud- 
 denly. He had changed into pyjamas, and had 
 come into Gerald's room for a last whisky before 
 turning in. 
 
 His host looked up from the soda-water bottle 
 he was opening. " Who's ripping ? Lady Car- 
 dine or Mrs. Blackwood ? " 
 
 " No, Miss Wrench, of course," the other 
 answered. " They're decent, of course, the elder 
 
 60
 
 GERALD RAITHE'S DECISION 6i 
 
 women, but not like her. It's rough having a 
 father of that sort. She only just got him away 
 in time to-night. One more glass — • — " he 
 shrugged his shoulders expressively, lighted a 
 cigarette, then went on — •" Did you know the 
 mother ? " 
 
 Gerald shook his head. " She died when Patty 
 was born, I believe." 
 
 " Is he any good at business ? " Bartram was 
 evidently interested in the matter, for he stuck 
 to it, despite his host's rather short answers. 
 
 " He's been here twenty years, and he knows 
 the natives better than anyone else ; and they 
 know him. Since he joined Blackwood, who has 
 capital and brains, they have done very well ; 
 but Patsy has known what it is to be short of 
 money," the reply came slowly. " I wish for her 
 sake, he wasn't mixed up with Ismail." 
 
 Jack Bartram's surprise showed in his face. 
 " Is he ? I shouldn't have thought that." 
 
 " Perhaps not. But it's as well to warn you," 
 Gerald retorted. " The Palace crowd gets hold 
 of him, and makes a fool of him whenever it can. 
 That is His Highness' idea of being humorous — 
 a drunken white man . . . Well, good-night." 
 
 Bartram went to his own room, which was next 
 door, and turned in under the mosquito curtains ; 
 but he could not sleep. There seemed so much 
 to think about. It was only a week since he 
 had landed in Katu as representative of the 
 Pepper Trust. He had been warned that JIati
 
 62 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 was the dullest, hottest spot in the Malay Archipe- 
 lago, and had been advised to cut his visit as short 
 as possible. Yet, already, he had found it full 
 of interest. Almost the first man he had met 
 on landing had been his old acquaintance, Gerald 
 Raithe, then had come a glimpse of the intrigues 
 carried on at the Palace, the bitter, scarcely- 
 veiled, enmity between the various members of the 
 white community, and now Patsy Wrench had, in 
 a few brief hours, altered his outlook completely. 
 
 He did not attempt to argue with himself, to 
 persuade himself that it was absurd to fall in 
 love at first sight ; instead, he accepted the fact 
 gladly. It was a privilege to worship her. Yet 
 one thing worried him, the same question which 
 had puzzled Lady Cardine that afternoon — what 
 was the relationship between Gerald and Miss 
 WYench ? Were they in love with one another ? 
 Were they even engaged already ? Had he, 
 himself, come on the scene too late to have any 
 chance at all ? So far as society in the island 
 was concerned, Gerald was his only possible rival. 
 
 Phew ! How hot it was ! As a rule, he could 
 sleep anywhere, but now it appeared to be useless 
 even to close his eyes. He had only a thin sheet 
 over him, but this seemed too much. He kicked 
 it aside, and then the mosquito curtains were 
 stifling him. Sitting up, he was just about to 
 lift these, when, through the French window, he 
 caught sight of something on the veranda, some- 
 thing creeping along, past his room, towards
 
 GERALD RAITHE'S DECISION 63 
 
 Gerald's. In an instant, he was on his feet, 
 revolver in hand, but when he reached the 
 veranda the crawHng figure had disappeared. 
 
 " Gerald, look out ! " 
 
 As he shouted, Bartram sprang to the French 
 window. It was too dark to see into the room, 
 but he heard the mosquito curtains torn away, 
 heard Gerald give a cry ; then a small bro\\Ti 
 figure sprang at him, sending him staggering 
 backwards, and knocking the revolver out of his 
 hand. He clutched at it, but his grasp slipped 
 off the oiled skin. 
 
 " Are you hurt ? " It was Gerald asking 
 anxiously. Jack shook his head. " No," he 
 gasped. *' A bit winded. I hope he didn't 
 steal anything ? " 
 
 " He didn't come to steal," the other answered 
 gravely, — " He came to murder me. I owe my 
 life to you. ... No, he didn't touch me. 
 You woke me just in time." 
 
 They went back into Gerald's room, and 
 hghted the lamp. The mosquito curtains were 
 ripped right off the framework— the would-be 
 murderer had not reckoned on them — and, rolled 
 up in them, they found his long dagger. 
 
 Bartram swallowed a stiff whisky and soda at 
 one draught— he was far more shaken than the 
 man who had just had so narrow an escape — then, 
 " Yes, it was murder the httle devil meant," 
 he said slowly. " But why ? Was it Ismail's 
 doing ? "
 
 64 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 Gerald shrugged his shoulders — '' Who can 
 say ? It may have been Gunther, or both. But 
 this wasn't brought on by what I said yesterday. 
 It goes back much further than that. I think, in 
 fact I feel sure, they don't want me to meet Sir 
 Charles Cardine again." 
 
 " What the dickens has he got to do with it 
 all ? " There was very real amazement in Jack 
 Bartram's voice. 
 
 Before he answered, Gerald got up and closed 
 the windows. "It's not likely that there would 
 be anyone listening, but I won't risk it. Have 
 a cheroot, and then, if you're not in a hurry to 
 turn in, I'll tell you. No one knows it — knows 
 my side of it — except Miss Wrench." 
 
 A quarter of an hour later. Jack Bartram held 
 out his hand impulsively — " By Jove," he said, 
 " I never even suspected such a thing. I'm 
 with you, all through. But will you rouse our 
 Government at Home to take it up ? " 
 
 Gerald Raithe yawned. " Probably not. But 
 in that case " he paused, as though still uncer- 
 tain whether he should commit himself. 
 
 " W^ell, in that case ? " the other man's voice 
 was eager. 
 
 " In that case, I shall try and do it myself," 
 for once the speaker did not drawl his words. 
 " And now you had better go and turn in. . . . 
 Oh, by the way, don't mention the little business 
 about that Thug to any one, to any one at all. 
 It might alarm people unnecessarily."
 
 GERALD RAITHE'S DECISION 65 
 
 Long after Bartram had finally gone to sleep, 
 Gerald Raithe was still sitting in his long bamboo 
 chair, smoking. 
 
 " She was nearer the truth than she thought," 
 he muttered. " It would never do to let her know, 
 poor kiddie. . , . Oh, well, I suppose I must 
 exceed my allowance again. It's my only 
 chance of rest, and I want to be fit to-morrow." 
 He sighed, took a tiny pill out of a box, looked at 
 it a moment with obvious disfavour, then swal- 
 lowed it with some soda-water. A few moments 
 later, he was sleeping peacefully, his window 
 open again, as though Mati was the safest and 
 best-policed town in the world. 
 
 In the morning, Mati had resumed its work-a- 
 day aspect. The stores and offices were open, a 
 few natives were lounging about, a few carts were 
 being unloaded down at the quay, and quite a 
 number of the fishermen were out in the bay. 
 
 Gerald went down to his warehouse, a big 
 stone building fronting on the quay, exchanged 
 a few words with his manager, a smiling, be- 
 spectacled Chinese, then strolled across to the 
 office of Messrs. Blackwood and Wrench. Rather 
 to his reHef, only the senior partner was in. 
 Gerald dropped into one of the big chairs, helped 
 himself to a cheroot, then — 
 
 " Will you buy my business, Blackwood?" 
 he asked. 
 
 The Shipping Agent sat up straight in his 
 chair. 
 
 E
 
 66 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 " What the deuce do you mean, Jerry ? " he 
 asked. 
 
 " What I say," Gerald retorted. " I know 
 you want to have a cut at the trading, and, as 
 I'm giving it up, I thought you might like to 
 acquire a going concern. We shouldn't quarrel 
 over terms. You and Wrench know exactly 
 what it's worth." 
 
 Walter Blackwood's eyes sparkled. No pro- 
 position could have suited him better from 
 a business point of view, and yet his dominant 
 feeling was one of regret. 
 
 " Does that mean you're leaving us, old man ? 
 I hope not ! " 
 
 Gerald nodded. "Leaving for a time, at any 
 rate. What's more, the sooner I get away the 
 better I shall be pleased." 
 
 "I'm very sorry, Alice will be too — and one 
 or two others." He gave Gerald a keen glance, 
 " One or two others, . , . Yes. I'll buy 
 your business — to-day, if you like. But how 
 about the ' Zeta ' ? Is she for sale, too ? " 
 mentioning a hundred ton schooner which 
 Gerald used for trading round the island. She 
 had been built for a yacht, and was still a very 
 serviceable craft, her owner having had her 
 fitted quite recently with an auxiliary oil engine. 
 
 Gerald shook his head. " No, I shall keep 
 her — at least, for a bit. Anyway, you wouldn't 
 want her, as you've got the ' Marmion ' already. 
 Well, roughly, I think my lot is worth about
 
 GERALD RAITHE'S DECISION 67 
 
 twenty thousand dollars. You had better come 
 and see the books and stock as soon as 
 possible." 
 
 " This afternoon, will that do ? " Black- 
 wood's voice was a little eager. He had expected 
 the price to be a good deal higher. 
 
 For a moment, Gerald hesitated. " No. I'm 
 lunching on the yacht, and I may not be back. 
 Say to-morrow morning, about seven o'clock. 
 All right then," he rose to go, as though they had 
 been discussing some merely trivial matter, 
 then he paused. " Look here, Blackwood, don't 
 mention this yet, to anyone. I'd sooner tell 
 them. Make Wrench understand that, too." 
 
 Blackwood had risen also. His manner was 
 a little nervous now. " I don't want to be 
 inquisitive, Jerry ; but this is a bit sudden. 
 Is it — is it anything that can be put right, so that 
 we could get you to stay ? We'll all be awfully 
 sorry. I know, of course, you've been butting 
 up against Gunther and Ismail, but they wouldn't 
 scare you off. . . . Alice has got a lot of 
 influence with Patsy ; " he blurted out the last 
 words awkwardly. 
 
 " Thanks very much," Gerald answered 
 quietly. " No, Patsy and I are good friends as 
 we were when she was a kiddie of fourteen. I 
 shall tell her all about it myself to-night." 
 
 WTien the door had closed behind his visitor, 
 Walter Blackwood sat down again with a very 
 puzzled look on his face.
 
 68 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 " What the deuce does it mean ? " he muttered. 
 " What's he going to say to the child to-night ? 
 I suppose AHce will declare I've messed it all 
 up, if it goes wrong." 
 
 It was half-past twelve when Gerald Raithe 
 stepped on to the gangway of the " White Lady." 
 Hitherto he had rather prided himself on the 
 smartness of his boat's crew, and the general 
 appearance of the craft herself, but now these 
 seemed suddenly to have lost their value to 
 him. His discipline was as nothing compared 
 with that of Captain Simpson. In Mati, the 
 Blackwoods and their circle tried to make 
 the best of things, to keep up the traditions — 
 it is only in South Africa that, for some 
 inscrutable reason, the Home-born man 
 sinks to the level of the country-born. They 
 dressed for dinner, they insisted on clean 
 linen, they observed rigidly the customs of their 
 kind, but on the yacht these things seemed to 
 come naturally, without an effort. An Albert 
 Darkin and a Carl Gunther sitting down to 
 dinner in shirt-sleeves, with a native or two as 
 guests, seemed grotesque improbabilities. 
 
 Margaret Cardine met him on the upper deck. 
 " My husband is asleep," she said, as she led the 
 way into one of the most perfectly furnished 
 boudoirs Gerald had ever seen, perfect alike in 
 its simplicity and in the quality of the materials 
 used. Sir Charles Cardine was one of the wealth- 
 iest men in England, and he had never appreci-
 
 GERALD RAITHE'S DECISION 69 
 
 ated the fact so greatly as when he had set to 
 work to refit the yacht for his wife. 
 
 " You may smoke, Mr. Raithe," Lady Cardine 
 put the cigarette box on the table beside her 
 guest, took a cigarette herself, then sank into a 
 deep chair. " Yes, he seems better," she went 
 on, " I think you had a good effect on him. He 
 is quite looking forward to a talk with you after 
 lunch." 
 
 Once more, Gerald was conscious of a sense 
 of shyness in her presence. " Has he been ill 
 long ? " he asked. 
 
 Margaret raised her eyebrows slightly. " I 
 thought perhaps you knew. It's six months 
 
 now, since we were certain ; and, and " she 
 
 looked away ; "we know — he knows too — there 
 isn't any chance of recovery. Everything has 
 been tried." 
 
 He did not attempt to offer her any sympathy 
 of the conventional kind. Instead, he sat quiet 
 until she spoke again, calmly. 
 
 " Your little town is awfully fascinating, Mr. 
 Raithe — at any rate, to a visitor. And you were 
 all so kind, especially Miss Wrench. She is 
 pretty now, but she will make a very beautiful 
 woman, and a very sweet one." 
 
 Gerald looked genuinely pleased, " The kiddie 
 and I are great chums. She's clever, too, cleverer 
 than any of the others, men or women. And you 
 can trust her absolutely, though she is only a 
 child."
 
 70 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 " Only a child ! " Margaret Cardine echoed 
 his words and smiled. " She might be cross if 
 she heard that. . . . And the other man, 
 the curious person who threw his hat down, 
 have you seen him to-day ? " 
 
 It seemed to Gerald that she put the question 
 a little nervously, and he found himself wondering 
 why she should have referred to the incident 
 again, " Mr. Darkin and I are not likely to ask 
 after one another's health," he answered grimly. 
 " I have recently threatened to give him a 
 hiding." 
 
 The woman leaned forward eagerly. " Why 
 was that, Mr. Raithe ? " 
 
 " He said something I didn't like," the reply 
 came rather stiffly. 
 
 Margaret ignored the stiffness. " Do you 
 usually give hidings to people who say things 
 you don't like ? " she asked. 
 
 " When they say them about my friends, and 
 they belong to that class. You can't fight 
 them, you see ; and gentlemen don't do it, or, 
 if they do happen to make a mistake, they 
 apologise." There was almost boyish simplicity 
 and directness in the answer. He was stating 
 what was, to him, a matter of faith, about which 
 there could be no question. 
 
 Margaret rested her chin on her hands and 
 fixed her glorious eyes on his face ; but there was 
 nothing that was not entirely womanly and open 
 in her gaze. " It's nice to find people who
 
 GERALD RAtTHE'S DECISION 71 
 
 believe those things— nowadays," she spoke 
 very slowly. " They don't teach them, except 
 in a few schools . . . and the world laughs 
 at them, because they don't mean money. 
 Women say things to hurt, and men repeat them 
 and laugh ... I know. . . . And who 
 is this Mr. Barking? " The last question came 
 with rather surprising suddenness. 
 
 "Darkin," he corrected her. "He's one of 
 the ' Good Darkins '—you must have heard of 
 them. ' Darkin's starch with a prayer on the 
 wrapper. Send fifty wrappers and you get a 
 hymn book.' Joseph Darkin, the elder brother, 
 is Under-Secretary for something in the present 
 Government. He's a great teetotaler — like this one. 
 Sir Charles must know him, at least by sight." 
 
 Lady Cardine rose abruptly. " Lunch ought 
 to be ready now." She touched a bell, then, 
 " Mr. Raithe, may I beg you not to mention the 
 name of Darkin to my husband ? He is an old 
 man, but he is the greatest Englishman alive." 
 She flung the words out proudly, superbly, and 
 Gerald, who had risen too, bowed in acquiescence. 
 " And it is torture to him even to think of men 
 like that being allowed to disgrace the country. 
 Oh, if there was only another real man, best of 
 all another Cardine, who could carry on his 
 work, it would ease his mind tremendously." 
 
 Gerald was staring out of the door now, towards 
 the town. " And the heir to the title, is he no 
 good ? " he asked very quietly.
 
 72 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 " I have never heard of his doing anything, 
 good or bad ; so he can't be a worthy successor 
 to my husband. . . . Yes, TomUnson ? " 
 She broke off as a grave Enghsh manservant 
 with grey side-whiskers appeared in the door- 
 way. 
 
 " Lunch is ready, my lady," he announced 
 in a voice which, to Gerald's ears, seemed to be 
 charged equally with affection and respect.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 MARGARET GUESSES CORRECTLY 
 
 Sir Charles Cardine was lunching in the 
 smoking-room, consequently, besides Gerald and 
 his hostess, there were only the skipper and the 
 doctor in the saloon. As a rule, Margaret her- 
 self had her meals with Sir Charles, and her 
 unexpected appearance on this occasion served 
 to throw Captain Simpson into an almost pitiable 
 state of nervousness. He would have risked 
 anything for her, have laid down his life for her 
 gladly, have died perfectly happy, feeling he had 
 done his duty. Yet, somehow, her actual pres- 
 ence upset his balance completely. The doctor, 
 on the other hand, was a silent, elderly Scotsman, 
 whom nothing was Hkely to disturb. When 
 Lady Cardine introduced them, he glanced 
 keenly at Gerald from under his heavy eyebrows, 
 held out a firm, strong hand, then seemed to 
 lose all interest in him. 
 
 The meal was perfectly cooked, perfectly served, 
 and Margaret was an ideal hostess, but it was not 
 until Gerald made a chance reference to the 
 
 73
 
 74 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 " Zeta," that they managed to draw Captain 
 Simpson into the conversation. 
 
 At the mention of the schooner, however, the 
 skipper pricked up his ears : 
 
 " Is she yours, Mr. Raithe ? " he asked. " I 
 wondered where she had got to. Sir Charles 
 might remember her," he turned to Lady Car- 
 dine. " She was built for his cousin, Crlonel Car- 
 dine, your ladyship . . . funny thing she 
 should be down here when we turn up." 
 
 Gerald nodded. " Yes, I bought her a year or 
 two ago. She has suited my purpose admirably, 
 especially since I had her altered," then, rather 
 abruptly, he switched the conversation off on to 
 the subject of the sea gipsies of Katu. 
 
 " You don't like our Orang Laut — our local 
 pirates, Captain Simpson ? " he remarked. 
 
 The skipper was in his element now. But for 
 Lady Cardine's presence, he would have said 
 some distinctly forcible things concerning the 
 character of the Sea-Malays ; as it was, he con- 
 tented himself with telling various stories, in 
 which quite unconsciously he figured as the hero. 
 Both Margaret and Gerald were able easily to fill 
 in the gaps he left. 
 
 " I never heard Captain Simpson talk so much," 
 Lady Cardine said, as she led the way to the 
 smoking-room, " there must be some magic 
 about you, Mr. Raithe. I ought to congratulate 
 you, for there is no man for whom I have a higher 
 esteem than Joseph Simpson. I rank him amongst
 
 MARGARET GUESSES CORRECTLY 75 
 
 my friends. The number of those is not 
 large," she added, with something very like 
 a sigh. 
 
 Sir Charles Cardine was propped up with pil- 
 lows. He had the inevitable cigar between his 
 fingers, and there was a grim twisted smile on his 
 face as he welcomed his guest. A stranger, a 
 man not belonging to his class, might have 
 likened him to some ancient bird of prey, too old 
 to fly himself, yet able still to appreciate the 
 flights of others ; but to Gerald Raithe he was 
 the great ex-Minister, the man who might still 
 have been a Minister had he not married the 
 woman who was now Lady Cardine, a greater man 
 than if he had been Premier — greater, because 
 he had won the love of Margaret Cardine. 
 
 "I'm glad you have come, Mr. Raithe," the 
 old man waved him to a chair close beside his own 
 couch. " Yesterday, you answered my questions 
 about the heir to my title, to my complete satis- 
 faction," he paused, and gave Gerald one of 
 his rare smiles. " We've done with that. To-day, 
 I want you to tell me about Katu. I am on the 
 shelf myself, but it is still possible that I could 
 do a last service for our country. My wife" — 
 he put a world of tenderness and respect into those 
 two words — " my wife shares all my secrets, and 
 whether you say things to her or to me, makes 
 no difference. . . . Now, as to the island of 
 Katu, I have the map ready here. You said 
 enough yesterday to lead me to think that you
 
 76 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 have more to say — things which are worth 
 hearing." 
 
 Gerald flushed. He knew that Margaret Car- 
 dine, who was standing, as usual, behind her hus- 
 band's couch, was watching him keenly, and 
 he knew, too, the measure of the old man who 
 was questioning him. 
 
 He pushed the map to one side. " It does not 
 need that, sir," he spoke slowly, though without 
 a trace of his usual drawl. " You know the map 
 as well as I do. Katu is on the main track, the 
 Highway of the East. If a rival power — Ger- 
 many, for instance — seized Katu, our control 
 of the trade route would be threatened. I have 
 knocked about the world enough to know that, 
 in spite of all the rot that's talked about " Britains 
 Over-seas," Singapore and Hong-Kong are of more 
 importance to us than all the self-governing 
 colonies put together." 
 
 Sir Charles smiled grimly. " Isn't that treason 
 — against latter-day ideas ? I'm too old and 
 too weary to keep pace with those ; and too old- 
 fashioned to allow a Colonial politician to dictate 
 to me. . . . I fancy we agree there ; you're 
 a Public School man." It was a statement of 
 fact, not a question. " But Katu would be 
 valuable to Germany only as a naval base," and 
 he nodded in the direction of the town, " Mati 
 would hardly do for that, there is not enough 
 water." 
 
 " But there is Sudang, on the north coast."
 
 MARGARET GUESSES CORRECTLY ^^ 
 
 Gerald's voice was eager now. " Sudang is one 
 of the finest harbours in the world — one of the 
 easiest to fortify. The entrance is narrow, the 
 north head is a cliff — an ideal place for a battery, 
 whilst inland you come at once on the foot hills 
 of Kini Dah, the great volcano. This is a rough 
 plan of the place." He took a paper from his 
 pocket, unfolded it and handed it to his host. 
 
 The former Secretary for War examined it 
 carefully, then put it down on the table in front 
 of him. 
 
 " I could wish, Mr. Raithe," he said slowly, 
 " I could wish that this had come before me when 
 I was in office. The suggested positions for your 
 guns are admirable. It was not always possible 
 to say that of the plans made by my professional 
 advisers." 
 
 Gerald flushed with pleasure, and, happening 
 to look up, he received a frank smile of encour- 
 agement from Margaret Cardine. It was not Sir 
 Charles' custom to praise any man's work without 
 a cause. 
 
 " But what do you propose to do ? Katu is 
 independent, so far. There is not even a Protec- 
 torate over it ? " The question came sharply. 
 
 The younger man had his answer ready. " Katu 
 is bankrupt. The Raja is a drunken young 
 reprobate : the misgovernment is appalling. It 
 would be a perfectly simple matter to find an 
 excuse for intervention. After that, the rest 
 would be easy. But there is no time to waste.
 
 78 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 The Germans are already a move ahead, working 
 in their slow, cautious manner." 
 
 " Ah, I feared so." Sir Charles looked up 
 from the cigar he was cutting, " That German 
 acting as British Consul suggested as much. 
 How far has it gone ? " 
 
 Gerald shrugged his shoulders. " It is difficult 
 to say exactly. Messrs. Gunther and Schultz 
 have lent Ismail more money than the firm ever 
 possessed, far more, and in return they've got 
 several monopolies, liquor and opium, for instance. 
 Whilst our people have been asleep, Ismail has 
 fallen into their hands." 
 
 The ex-Minister drummed on the table with 
 the fingers of his sound hand. " That seems to 
 settle it, doesn't it ? What would you do, Mr. 
 Raithe ? " 
 
 Gerald did not hesitate. " Jump on him with 
 both feet. There are lots of things against him, 
 fair excuses. Half his people are pirates, and he 
 encourages them, though they never touch Ger- 
 man ships. Then there was the case of an Eng- 
 lish girl brought here a few months ago, sent from 
 Hamburg on one of Gunther's steamers." 
 
 Margaret Cardine gave a little cry of horror. 
 " Oh, Mr. Raithe ! Is she there still, on shore ? " 
 
 Gerald had gone white now, and his hand was 
 shaking, with anger at the memory. " No," 
 he answered in a low voice. " She was never 
 landed. Blackwood and — one or two others 
 found out in time. But we're not sure if hers
 
 MARGARET GUESSES CORRECTLY 79 
 
 was the only case. Like so many of his country- 
 men, Gunther is — in that trade." 
 
 " I know about — that trade," It was Sir 
 Charles speaking. " We were going to bring in a 
 Bill to stop it. Our successors have other things 
 to think of, and they hate to offend the foreigner. 
 . . . But was this before the man Gunther was 
 made Consul ? " 
 
 The trader nodded. " Just before. Mr. Le- 
 cher, M.P., was here when it happened." 
 
 Lady Cardine's eyes blazed. " And he knew ? " 
 she cried. 
 
 " He knew," Gerald answered gravely. " He 
 quarrelled with one of the men who interfered 
 over it, and got hurt — with a whip." 
 
 In spite of her anger, Margaret could not help 
 smiling, remembering something which had been 
 said in her boudoir before lunch. "As an Eng- 
 hshwoman, I should like to thank the man with 
 the whip." 
 
 There was, however, no smile on Sir Charles 
 Cardine's face. " If, in spite of that, Gunther 
 was still appointed Consul, what chance will you 
 have of inducing the persons now in office " — 
 the ex-Minister had always been a fierce fighter, 
 with no forgiveness for his political foes — " to 
 establish a protectorate here against the wishes of 
 Germany ? This I will tell you — I had rather 
 an efifiicient Secret Service when I was at the War 
 Office ; and I learnt why there was a big strike, 
 which crippled our coal supply, at the very
 
 8o THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 moment Germany was threatening us with war. 
 Your friend, Mr. Lecher, knows how many marks 
 go to a sovereign ... I would have hanged 
 them all," his eyes blazed fiercely, " yet you're 
 going to break your heart for nothing." 
 
 Gerald set his face doggedly. " At any rate, 
 I shall go Home and try. I have already arranged 
 to sell my business. I fixed it up to-day." 
 
 " You will fail completely." The old man 
 shook his head. " You won't even succeed in 
 getting the opposition Press, our Press, to help 
 you. Remember, you will land at the beginning 
 of the cricket season. I speak from experience. 
 You will fail — and what then ? " 
 
 His guest looked him in the eyes fairly and 
 squarely. " Then I shall come back and annex 
 Katu myself." 
 
 Margaret Cardine drew a quick breath and her 
 wonderful face glowed, but she did not speak. 
 Gerald, who happened to look up, caught her 
 expression and flushed, then, once more, he was 
 watching Sir Charles, waiting for the veteran's 
 answer. It came slowly. 
 
 " I remember Raja Brooke. He did it ; but 
 those days were different. Our temper was 
 different, too, and we hadn't let Germany grow 
 unhealthily big. . . . You'll fail, Gerald 
 Raithe ; but it will be worth trying, and, by God, 
 if I were your age, I would try." His fine, rugged 
 old face was afire now. " By God, I would try, 
 if only as an example for the nation,"
 
 MARGARET GUESSES CORRECTLY 8i 
 
 For a minute, there was silence, perhaps because 
 the air was too heavily charged with excitement, 
 and, during the pause, ^largaret Cardine shpped 
 out of the smoking-room. 
 
 At last, •' You will want money, plenty of it," 
 the old man said gruffly. 
 
 Gerald nodded. " I have a little, and I have 
 the yacht, the ' Zeta.' I may get some rich men 
 to help me." 
 
 " Yes. That is possible, quite possible," Sir 
 Charles answered, " I can, I think, give you 
 letters to men who will do it." He paused and 
 stared out of the door ; then, suddenly, '' You're 
 damnably like your father was, Gerald Raithe," 
 he said. "' But you're like your mother, too." 
 
 Gerald, who had gone white under his tan, 
 nodded. " Is that so ? " he asked in a very low 
 voice. 
 
 " Your father and I quarrelled — over your 
 mother." The old statesman was speaking jerkily. 
 " It was a mistake. I wish they had lived — both 
 — till now." 
 
 Before Gerald could reply, iMargaret Cardine 
 returned. "It is time you rested, dear," she 
 said. •' You've tallved far longer than you have 
 done for months." 
 
 The old man gave a wry smile, yet he submitted 
 with a docility which proved far more plainly 
 than words could have done, how weak he really 
 was. 
 
 " Don't leave the ship, though, Mr. Raithe,"
 
 82 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 he said, as his visitor rose. '^ I want to have 
 another talk with you about that matter. And 
 time may be short. My wife will entertain you." 
 
 Gerald hesitated, and Margaret, who happened 
 to be watching him, saw his hand go to the small 
 pocket in his white jacket. A curious look, a 
 compound of anxiety and disappointment, crossed 
 his face. 
 
 " I can come back later," he began. 
 
 But Sir Charles insisted. " Please remain. 
 I have so little time, and there is a great deal 
 more I want to learn from you. I ask it — as a 
 favour." 
 
 It was five minutes later when Margaret joined 
 him on deck. " We will have tea under the 
 awning abaft the saloon," she said. " It's cooler 
 there, and you can see your prospective king- 
 dom." She smiled, and yet there was no hint 
 of mockery in her words. 
 
 Captain Simpson joined them at tea, by Lady 
 Cardine's request. He sat on the edge of his 
 chair, perspired rather fully, and did not remain 
 very long, alleging that he wanted to stretch his 
 legs ashore. 
 
 When the skipper had gone. " You may 
 smoke, of course, Mr. Raithe," Margaret said, then 
 she herself lighted a cigarette. 
 
 For a time, little was said. A change had come 
 over Gerald. All his animation had departed. 
 He looked worn and ill at ease, whilst, every now 
 and then, his fingers went to his Hps nervously.
 
 MARGARET GUESSES CORRECTLY 83 
 
 It seemed to be an effort for him to answer his 
 hostess, although she tried hard to take the whole 
 burden of conversation on herself. She was 
 watching him very carefully, anxiously even ; and, 
 at last, she seemed to come to some decision. 
 Taking a little silver-mounted bottle from her 
 pocket, she held it out to him. 
 
 " These are quarter-grain pills, Mr. Raithe," 
 she said, in a queer strained voice. " Forgive 
 me ; but I think I am right. You left yours on 
 shore, and you didn't expect to remain here so 
 long." 
 
 Gerald stared at her with a mixture of amaze- 
 ment and shame on his face. " How did you 
 know ? " he whispered hoarsely. " How did I 
 give myself away ? No one else even suspects." 
 But he took the bottle with a trembling hand, 
 extracted one of the tiny pills, and swallowed it. 
 
 Margaret was watching him with infinite com- 
 passion in her eyes. " It will act soon," she mur- 
 mured. " Don't worry. I know the signs, 
 because, like you, I'm always fighting the horrible 
 thing." 
 
 She dropped her cigarette into the ash tray, 
 lighted another, and that, too, was finished before 
 either of them spoke again. Then Gerald faced 
 her — the normal Gerald, cool, collected, master 
 of himself. 
 
 " I began taking morphia two years ago — ■ 
 the doctor prescribed it for a complaint I had, 
 after-effects of influenza — and it has gone on. I
 
 84 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 can't stop." He made his confession quietly, in 
 an even voice. 
 
 Margaret looked away. " It was practically 
 the same with me . . . Sir Charles knows 
 . . . But you're keeping it down, aren't you ? 
 You're not increasing the dose ? " She faced 
 him now, with ahnost pitiful eagerness. 
 
 The man seemed to hesitate. " Fairly well. 
 But it'll beat me. I know it wall. That's why 
 I want to do something useful, at once, before 
 it's too late. . . . Things might have been 
 so different ; but with a curse like that on one — " 
 He broke off abruptly, and began to cut a cigar 
 with unnecessary care. 
 
 She choked back a sob. Surely he must be 
 referring to Patsy Wrench. "It is never too 
 late," she whispered. " I have kept it down, 
 kept the doses down, and I am going to beat it yet. 
 So will you . . . Action, excitement, this 
 splendid scheme of yours — you have the chance 
 there. You won't let it go, will you ? Promise 
 you won't. You will fight it off and be your own 
 master again. It is only the coward who gives 
 way, who says he can't help himself — and so 
 won't help himself. Promise, Mr. Raithe. Prom- 
 ise me." 
 
 She was a beautiful woman always, but at that 
 moment her beauty verged on the Divine. It was 
 the beauty of the mother, absolutely pure. It 
 was the mother-instinct in her crying out, the 
 longing to protect this man, to save him from him-
 
 MARGARET GUESSES CORRECTLY 85 
 
 self, even as though he had been her own child. 
 There was no sense of sex. He needed help, and 
 she knew how to help him. 
 
 She, too, had been through it, and she judged 
 him as only those who have suffered can judge 
 — and who should judge save those who under- 
 stand ? She saw that he had reached the stage 
 when the fear and hatred of the drug, not the drug 
 itself, were beginning to overcome him. What 
 he had to do he felt must be done quickly, whilst 
 his strength and intellect lasted — and after that 
 the deluge. He looked forward to no future 
 beyond the next few months. 
 
 " Promise me." Her voice was low, though 
 insistent. " Promise. I have done it, and you 
 can do it, too. You must do it. So long as you 
 don't increase the doses, you are conquering it," 
 
 He had been staring at the deck, as though 
 unwilhng to meet her eyes. His cigar had gone 
 out unheeded ; his whole attitude seemed to tell 
 of misery, of shame even. But now he looked 
 up, and faced her squarely. 
 
 " I had lost hope. I was going to use the mor- 
 phia to keep me going — for this thing, just for 
 this thing. But I'll promise you. I've never," 
 he hesitated a little, as though at a loss for words. 
 " There's never been anyone I could talk to — 
 about it. Anyone who would understand. 
 You're different." 
 
 Margaret Cardine coloured now — as a woman ; 
 then she held out her hand. " You will keep
 
 86 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 that promise." She spoke calmly and confi- 
 dently. " But you will not give up your scheme ?" 
 
 "No. I shall go on with that. Yesterday 
 morning it was a vague dream ; but much has 
 happened since then. Now, it is a definite pur- 
 pose." 
 
 This time she did not answer him. She under- 
 stood, far better than he did, what had wrought 
 the change ; and from the bottom of her heart 
 she pitied him.
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 MISS WRENCH IS TROUBLED 
 
 In the end, Gerald Raithe left the yacht without 
 seeing his host again. 
 
 The doctor came aft, a worried look on his 
 face. " Sir Charles' temperature has raced up to 
 103°, Lady Cardine," he said, " and I'm afraid 
 he's wandering a bit." 
 
 Margaret rose quickly. " I must go to him at 
 once." 
 
 Her guest, who had risen too, held out his hand. 
 " Good-bye, Lady Cardine. Perhaps to-mor- 
 row " 
 
 " Yes, to-morrow. I know he is anxious to see 
 you again." She finished the sentence for 
 him. " Thank you so much — and remember," 
 then she was gone. 
 
 The doctor looked at Gerald curiously. " I 
 am afraid you have an exciting effect on my 
 patient, Mr. Raithe. I'm not so sure about 
 to-morrow. Don't count on it." 
 
 When Gerald landed, a quarter of an hour later, 
 instead of going to his store, he went straight to 
 
 87
 
 88 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 the Wrenches' bungalow, which was a new one, at 
 the back of the town. 
 
 Patsy, who was sitting on the veranda, read- 
 ing, rose eagerly to meet him. 
 
 " I didn't expect to see you at this time of day," 
 she said. " I was just going to have some tea." 
 
 The man laughed. " You usually are going to 
 have tea." Then he drew a chair up beside hers 
 and relapsed into silence. 
 
 At the end of a couple of minutes the girl began 
 to tap impatiently on the arm of her chair with 
 her fingers. "What's the matter, Jerry? You 
 didn't leave your business to look after itself, 
 and come up here, just for the pleasure of staring 
 at Mati harbour." 
 
 Gerald started. As a matter of fact, he had 
 been staring at the " White Lady " and wonder- 
 ing what was happening aboard her. 
 
 " No, I came to see you," he answered. " I've 
 made up my mind at last, Patsy." 
 
 She leaned forward slightly, unconsciously 
 gripping the arms of her chair. Had he been 
 looking at her, he would have seen in her eyes 
 something he had never seen there before. 
 
 " Yes ? " She wanted him to go on. 
 
 *' I'm going Home. Blackwood has arranged 
 to buy my business." He was still looking 
 towards the harbour. 
 
 Patsy's grip on the arm of the chair loosened ; 
 in fact, all the animation seemed to go out of 
 her suddenly, and she shrank back on to her
 
 MISS WRENCH IS TROUBLED 89 
 
 cushions, very white in the face. All at once, 
 she had become a woman, and yet she was 
 still young enough to be unable to control her 
 expression. 
 
 But the man did not appear to notice any- 
 thing. " Matters have reached a climax. Patsy," 
 he went on. " If I delay, it may be too late. 
 I spoke to Sir Charles Cardine about it." 
 
 She pulled herself together wonderfully. 
 
 " What did he say ? " she asked in an even 
 voice. 
 
 " That I shall fail, that no one will listen to 
 me. I suppose he knows. Still, I'm going on 
 with it, anyhow, as you always said I ought to." 
 He spoke as quietly as she did, apparently with- 
 out enthusiasm. He had expected her to be 
 pleased, to ask a number of eager questions, and 
 her manner had chilled him. Somehow, he could 
 not understand it. This was not the Patsy he 
 knew. 
 
 " Yes, I always said so. I hope I advised you 
 rightly. Of course I'm sorry you're going. 
 . . . We've been such good friends, haven't 
 we, Jerry ? " 
 
 He looked at her with a smile, the old smile 
 she loved so well. " We always shall be friends," 
 he answered. " Besides, I shall be back, in any 
 case. If I manage to move the Government to 
 take over the island, I shall come back to watch ; 
 if they refuse, I shall come back as a filibuster, 
 and force them to move. In that event, I shall
 
 90 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 give you ample warning. It might not be safe 
 for you to remain here. You know all my 
 plans." 
 
 There was a curious constraint in their con- 
 versation, a note which had never been there 
 before. He had meant to tell her so much more, 
 and there were so many questions she wanted 
 to put to him ; yet each seemed to have a diffi- 
 culty in finding words. 
 
 " I shall go as soon as possible. I've told no 
 one else yet, except Blackwood, and he doesn't 
 know the reason, of course. Naturally, I came 
 
 straight to you, because, you see " He broke 
 
 off rather lamely, 
 
 " We've always been good friends." She 
 finished the sentence for him. " But didn't you 
 tell her, Lady Cardine ? " 
 
 Gerald flushed. He had been taking Margaret 
 Cardine as part of his scheme, not as some one 
 outside it. " Oh, I thought you would under- 
 stand she was in it. She was there when we 
 talked it over." 
 
 Miss Wrench's eyes glistened. She herself 
 was not one of his counsellors now, yet forty- 
 eight hours previously, she had been Jerry's 
 only confidante. She stood up wearily. 
 
 " I've got a headache, Jerry, an awful one. 
 Will you excuse me ? You can tell me the rest 
 later, if you've time before you leave. I do hope 
 you'll be successful, because it'll be such a splen- 
 did thing, and — and because I've thought of it so
 
 MISS WRENCH IS TROUBLED 91 
 
 m-jch." She tried hard to keep the sobs out 
 of her voice, then, without another word, she 
 hurried into the bungalow. 
 
 The man turned away slowly. He under- 
 stood now — perhaps at the back of his mind he 
 had understood all along. " I didn't think she 
 cared, at least in that way. It wouldn't have 
 been fair before, and it would be impossible 
 now. . . . I'm sorry." 
 
 He reproached himself bitterly, as he walked 
 down to his own house — the more bitterly, 
 perhaps, because no one else could possibly 
 condemn him. He had been perfectly clean 
 and straight in all his dealings with Patsy, in all 
 his thoughts of her. He had known her first 
 as a mere child ; and, even after she had become 
 his confidante in his scheme for securing the 
 annexation of Katu — a scheme which owed a 
 great deal to her encouragement — he had 
 continued to regard her as a child in all else but 
 that. 
 
 Rsally, it was more her scheme than his, he 
 told himself now. Her indignation over the 
 ways of the itinerant member of ParHament, 
 WiUiam Lecher, had been poured into Gerald's 
 ears, and he, in turn, had told her of the supreme 
 importance of the apparently unimportant 
 island, of his hopes of being able, sooner or later, 
 to move the British Government, of the agencies 
 he already had at work. 
 
 " If they won't listen to you, you must do as
 
 92 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Raja Brooke did in Borneo," she had flashed 
 out. " I will help you with all my might." 
 
 He had not laughed ; instead, he had taken 
 her words seriously, and, since then, they had 
 gone over the plan time after time. On those 
 occasions, he had treated her as a loyal partner, 
 apparently without any thought of sex ; whilst, 
 when others had been present, she had been his 
 Httle chum, who, but a few short years before, 
 had been wont to come to him with all her 
 childish troubles. 
 
 True, though he had been blind concerning 
 any possible danger to her, latterly, it had needed 
 all his strength of mind to keep his thoughts 
 from dwelling on what she would be Hke when 
 she became a woman. He was more fond of 
 her than anyone else in the world, and, at any 
 time during the last six months, his fondness 
 might have changed to love, had it not been 
 for his horror of the drug he was taking, his 
 feeling that it was hopeless ever to think of 
 escaping from it. He had made up his mind, 
 with a grim despair which had something heroic 
 in it, that his career was virtually finished, that 
 his attempt to secure the annexation of Katu 
 would be the last thing he would do ; conse- 
 quently, it was utterly impossible for him to 
 think of marriage with Patsy Wrench. Up till 
 now, he had believed that she did not care for 
 him, except as a friend ; and now his eyes had 
 been opened, with almost tragic suddenness.
 
 MISS WRENCH IS TROUBLED 93 
 
 He threw himself into a long bamboo chair at 
 the corner of the veranda, behind the lattice- 
 work screen, and tried to think it out. What 
 would Margaret Cardine say ? She had told 
 him that there was hope, after all, that he would 
 iight the horror which, through no fault of his 
 own — save, perhaps, the fault of ignorance — 
 had him in its grip, that he could conquer it 
 finally. 
 
 If Lady Cardine was right, that would mean 
 he could still ask Patsy to be his wife — and, 
 now, he did not want to do that. Everything 
 seemed to have changed for hhn since the " White 
 Lady " had steamed into Mati Harbour.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 THE MATI CLUB 
 
 The Mali Club stands at the lower corner of 
 the Square, opposite the Raja's palace. Built 
 originally by an enterprising Arab merchant, 
 who had arrived in the island penniless, and had 
 ended up as Prime Minister to Ismail's great 
 grandfather, it had been designed with a view 
 to defence, a wise precaution, as it turned out, 
 for though the Chinese had sacked it in the days 
 of Raja Seyid, it had withstood two attacks at 
 the hands of Sea-Malays from other islands ; 
 in addition to proving a convenient place of 
 refuge during various local disturbances. 
 
 The Club, then newly formed, took it over 
 after the last owner, a Chinese trader, had been 
 found in bed with his head severed from his 
 body — he had refused a loan to the Regent, 
 Ismail's uncle, and two Chinamen and a Filipino 
 were executed for the crime, being the latest 
 arrivals in the island, and having no known 
 friends ; but, as the Club was international and 
 presumably mutual, it had no need of defensive 
 works ; consequently, a number of new windows 
 
 94
 
 THE MATI CLUB 95 
 
 had been thrown out, and a big veranda made, 
 overlooking the Harbour. 
 
 Though every white man in Katu was ehgible 
 for membership, and practically all took ad- 
 vantage of the fact, paying subscriptions occa- 
 sionally, the Ust of members had never exceeded 
 forty, of whom the British and Germans 
 together contributed more than half. Skippers 
 of vessels visiting the port — white skippers, of 
 course — were invariably made honorary mem- 
 bers, and more than one vessel had been delayed 
 in consequence. The Club was nothing, if not 
 hospitable. 
 
 The .election of Club officials was always a 
 delicate question, owing to international rival- 
 ries, and the fact of Messrs. Gunther and 
 Schultz holding the liquor monopoly for the 
 island had not tended to simphfy matters, Gun- 
 ther having contrived to get himself elected 
 chairman just before the edict was made public. 
 Gerald Raithe, who had been Honorary Secre- 
 tary for the past three years, had immediately 
 resigned, despite the protests of the other British 
 members, and, after a hotly-contested election, 
 young Locock, Blackwood's nephew, had been 
 chosen to fill his place, narrowly defeating Albert 
 Darkin, the nominee of the German party, who 
 knew it was useless to run one of their own 
 nation as candidate. 
 
 Whilst Gerald was sitting alone on his veranda, 
 miserably debating the question of Patsy Wrench,
 
 96 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 the greater part of the male white population was 
 assembled in the Club, partaking of appetisers. 
 As a rule, subjects of conversation were distinctly 
 scarce in Mati — that is, subjects which you could 
 discuss in public without running the risk of 
 offending some of your hearers ; consequently, 
 the arrival of the " White Lady " had seemed to 
 be little short of a god-send. . . . 
 
 " I saw Raithe go off there this morning. He 
 stayed to tifhn ; but when Ismail paid a State 
 visit later, he did not even go aboard." It was 
 Daddy Mallowe, the ex-British Consul, who spoke. 
 
 Albert Darkin put down his iced lemon squash. 
 
 " j\Ir. Raithe seems highly favoured by Lady 
 Cardine " ; he rubbed his hands gently and 
 smiled. "It is something to ha\^e a way with 
 the ladies. But the Raja asked for Sir Charles 
 Cardine and was told that he was too iU to see any 
 one." His voice was clear, almost piercing, and 
 every other man in the smoking-room caught his 
 words. 
 
 Instantly, all heads were turned in the direction 
 of the speaker. There was a quarrel of long- 
 standing between him and Daddy Mallowe, and 
 the speech sounded very like a challenge. 
 
 Mallowe's rugged old face grew dark. " Gerald 
 Raithe is a favourite with all decent people," he 
 began, but John Halton, the American pepper- 
 planter, managed to cut in. He had only just 
 come down from his pepper gardens, and he 
 affected not to know the news.
 
 THE MATI CLUB 97 
 
 " Who is this Sir Charles Cardine, anyway, 
 Walter ? " he turned to Blackwood, who had 
 strolled up to the bar, in the interests of peace. 
 " Seems to me I've heard a saying about the 
 ' Cardine Way.' " 
 
 Blackwood laughed a little nervously. He had 
 just noticed Captain Simpson entering the big 
 room, and the red-headed skipper looked like a 
 man who would easily take offence. " ' The Car- 
 dine Way,' " he echoed — " Oh, the Cardines are 
 one of the oldest English families. They've given 
 us scores of great administrators, but they've 
 always had the name for being a bit uncompro- 
 mising — dogged, you know. Whatever they say 
 or do is right, in their own eyes. That's where the 
 expression comes from." 
 
 " Have a cocktail in their honour, Walter ? 
 I like that damned stiff spirit of your English 
 aristocrats. Gerald Raithe always reminds one 
 of it." The American was one of those who had 
 thrown in his lot with the British element — 
 " And is what the Cardines say always right ? " 
 
 Albert Darkin had seen through the manoeuvre 
 to stop the incipient quarrel between Daddy Mal- 
 lowe and himself. He had plenty of courage of an 
 unpleasant kind — the courage of his convictions, 
 he called it ; he had not forgotten Gerald Raithe's 
 threat of the day before ; and he was determined 
 not to be silenced by Blackwood and Halton. 
 
 " Are the Cardines right ? " he echoed scorn- 
 fully. " Mr. Halton, ask the people of England
 
 98 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 how they've voted on that question. Hubert 
 Cardine, the Viceroy, who tried to prevent the 
 spread of education in India ; John Cardine, 
 who seized half a milHon square miles in Africa ; 
 Raymond Cardine, the Ambassador, who wanted to 
 land us in war with the free people of Germany, in 
 order to help Roman Catholic France — did the 
 British Elector support these when they tried 
 the Cardine Way dodge ? Then this Charles 
 Cardine," Mr. Darkin despised all titles. " When 
 he resigned, and the Government fell, the people 
 put the Right Side in power." 
 
 Every one in the smoking-room was listening. 
 One or two men had risen to their feet, in order 
 to see better, whilst Captain Simpson was now 
 standing close behind Walter Blackwood. 
 
 The latter turned to the sailor. " Don't be 
 offended, captain. He's just a political fanatic. 
 I am sure that every other member will regret 
 the incident. We try to make our honorary mem- 
 bers feel at home amongst us." 
 
 " Lucky thing Raithe isn't here," more than 
 one man muttered to his neighbour. All of them 
 had heard of what had happened on the quay, and, 
 in some subtle way, Gerald had become recog- 
 nised as the champion of the Cardines. " Rotten 
 bad form ! Why's the little brute showing off. 
 . . . That Hyde Park muck." 
 
 " But, Mr, Darkin, you have not yet told us 
 how this Sir Charles chose to go the Cardine Way." 
 It was Carl Gunther who spoke. He had just
 
 THE MATI CLUB 99 
 
 come in from the veranda, and was standing in 
 the doorway, an enormous cigar between his 
 fingers, an enormous topee on his shaven head. 
 
 " Shame ! The Chairman ! " The atmosphere 
 was electric ; but it was the youngest member, 
 Massie, old Daddy Mallowe's clerk, who drew the 
 first discharge. 
 
 " Shame ! " — half a dozen men echoed the 
 word ; but Carl Gunther continued to smile 
 blandly, and Darkin smiled back at him. 
 
 " Tell your countrymen, Mr. Darkin, Some of 
 them it seems do not know," the thick Teutonic 
 voice was gross and aggressive, charged with half- 
 drunken insult. 
 
 Young Massie picked up a heavy stone match- 
 stand, and poised it in his hand ; but there were 
 tears of rage in his eyes which seemed Ukely 
 to spoil his aim. 
 
 " Don't be an ass. We'll kill him, kill all of 
 them, later " — it was Jack Bartram who had 
 seized Massie's wrist. " Gerald Raithe is going 
 to show us how to kill them," really, he had not 
 the least idea of what he was saying. 
 
 Every man in the smoking-room was on his 
 feet now ; there was not one who did not reahse 
 that, in some weird, almost inexpHcable way, a 
 crisis had arisen, that this matter was a test of 
 strength between the British and the Germans of 
 Katu. 
 
 Walter Blackwood was a small man, but he 
 placed himself almost aggressively in front of
 
 100 THE WAY OF THE GARDINES 
 
 Captain Simpson. " You're only an honorary 
 member. Leave it to us," he growled. 
 
 " Oh, about Charles Cardine, Gunther " ; 
 Albert Darkin glanced round the room, meeting 
 the eyes of his fellow-countrymen with a bitter 
 sneer. The one man he really feared was not 
 there. " That's the Cardine Way in another form 
 — more domestic. Lady Cardine " 
 
 A moment later, and there would have been a 
 killing of unnecessary people, and possibly much 
 trouble would have been saved thereby ; but a 
 commotion at the doorway made Albert Darkin 
 pause, then young Locock, the secretary of the 
 Club, huge, ungainly, with a crop of tousled hair, 
 was saying with an infinite gravity, which some- 
 how did not seem incongruous, " Gentlemen, 
 you will regret to hear that one of the greatest 
 of our fellow-countrymen, Sir Charles Cardine, 
 died ten minutes ago. The news has just come 
 from the yacht. The Club will be closed immedi- 
 ately as a mark of respect." 
 
 Joseph Simpson bowed his head on the bar, and 
 sobbed like a child. 
 
 As they walked away together, Massie turned 
 suddenly to Jack Bartram. 
 
 " How he ignored those Squareheads — Lo- 
 cock, I mean. He never asked the Chairman 
 —that German hog — or any of the committee. 
 But it was touch and go whether the Squareheads 
 agreed. There were six of us and Halton and 
 the Virginian, Cary ; but on the other side there
 
 THE MATI CLUB loi 
 
 were seven Germans, the three Dutchmen, and 
 that worm Darkin . . . you're a new hand 
 in Katu, but perhaps you've seen aheady that 
 we're fed up with the Kaiserhcks." 
 
 Bartram gave a queer Uttle laugh. " I've 
 gathered as much from Gerald Raithe." 
 
 "It wouldn't have happened if Jerry had been 
 there " — Massie's eyes flashed — " They're afraid 
 of Jerry — Gunther and that lot. . . . What 
 is there about the man, Bartram ? " He stopped 
 abruptly, and now there were tears in his eyes. 
 " I would — I would go to hell if Jerry told me 
 to — but if it's the other way round, Lord ! how 
 fellows hate him." 
 
 " I understand." Bartram laid a hand on his 
 arm. " But don't do anything to bring about a 
 crisis — yet. Remember, if there had been a 
 scrap to-day, though Germany would have stuck 
 by her people, our rulers would probably have 
 offered us up as sacrifices to the fetish they call 
 Peace." 
 
 The boy nodded, then he cursed picturesquely. 
 " Makes you wish you had been born a hundred 
 years ago, instead of in these rotten times. 
 There was some hope for a fellow. It was worth 
 while marrying and having children . . 
 
 something for them to look forward to, but now ! " 
 He shrugged his shoulders, then, " Jerry will be 
 mad," he went on. " He had warned Darkin 
 to leave Lady Cardine's name alone . . . 
 Bartram, Jerry 11 kill some one one of these days,
 
 102 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 some blighter like Darkin. He doesn't understand 
 that we've got to put up with them. You're 
 a good pal of his — watch him, won't you ? " His 
 voice was trembling curiously. To him, it seemed 
 almost like blasphemy to suggest that the man 
 he worshipped could do anything unwise or 
 wrong. 
 
 Jack Bartram remembered that stone match- 
 stand poised in the speaker's hand but half an 
 hour previously, and he suppressed a smile with 
 difficulty. 
 
 " I think that Gerald knows what he's about," 
 he answered. " Still, I'll do my best."
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 SIR CHARLES CARDINE'S SUCCESSOR 
 
 Walter Blackwood closed his note-book slowly, 
 put it back in his pocket, then turned to Gerald 
 Raithe. 
 
 " Well, that's the lot, Jerry, I think," he said. 
 " We've got through it quicker than I expected. 
 I'll draw up the necessary documents, then you 
 can have a draft on Singapore. . . . Come 
 across to the Club, and have a bottle of fizz on 
 the deal." 
 
 Gerald nodded. He was in a strangely silent 
 mood that morning. Practically speaking, he had 
 allowed Blackwood to have his own way so far as 
 the valuation of the business assets was concerned, 
 not arguing a single point, with the result that, 
 though the buyer was unusually honourable for a 
 business man, he had contrived to make an 
 extremely good bargain. 
 
 As they walked across the Square to the Club, 
 Gerald glanced upwards at the fiagstaffs. Then 
 a red flush came over his face. The flag on the 
 Club was at half-mast, but on the Palace, on 
 the fort, and worst of all, on the British Consulate, 
 
 103
 
 104 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 the bunting was flaunting out at the mast-head. 
 It was a deliberate insult to the memory of the 
 statesman who had died but twelve hours previ- 
 ously. 
 
 Blackwood saw the look in his companion's 
 eyes. To use his own expression, he " hated 
 shindies," and he had a strong suspicion that 
 Gerald Raithe would not quit the island without 
 having more than one " shindy " — that is, unless 
 he were restrained. 
 
 " That's just a mistake, those flags, Jerry," he 
 hastened to say. " I'll see Gunther about it. 
 Don't leave a lot of enemies behind you." 
 
 Gerald laughed bitterly. " I shall do that 
 in any case. But don't worry, Blackwood. 
 People Uke these could never insult Sir Charles 
 Cardine, dead or Hving. I'm glad I wasn't in 
 the Club last night — oh, I heard all about it— 
 because I might have lost my temper, and things 
 of that kind improve by keeping." 
 
 " What the deuce do you mean ? " the older 
 man gave him a keen glance. " We're in Mati 
 for business, not for the good of our health, and 
 we've all got a lot to forget and forgive." 
 
 The other drew himself up stifily. " I am the 
 judge of what I ought to forgive, Blackwood," 
 he answered, in a tone wliich rendered further 
 discussion of the matter an impertinence. 
 
 They entered the Club in silence, but, a moment 
 later, Gerald began to talk, easily and naturally, 
 of the prospect of the trading season, giving his
 
 SIR CHARLES'S SUCCESSOR 105 
 
 successor in the business a number of valuable 
 hints. 
 
 " It doesn't matter to me. I shall never touch 
 it again, but I would Uke to see you and Wrench 
 do well, for your sake, and for Patsy's. I wish 
 it had been possible to settle some of it on 
 her." 
 
 Blackwood raised his glass, and watched the 
 bubbles rising through the wine. " You could 
 have done so, Jerry, in one way. Alice hoped, 
 I hoped, it was going to be that. . . . You 
 don't mind my speaking plainly ? " 
 
 " I know," Gerald was staring through the 
 French window, across the harbour, staring, quite 
 unconsciously, at the " White Lady." " I should 
 hate you and AHce, and the other decent people 
 here, to think badly of me. Patsy was my 
 chum, as a kiddie — you know that — and I couldn't 
 break it, could I ? But I can't marry, Blackwood. 
 I daren't marry. It would be an absolute crime 
 as things stand with me. You might tell Alice 
 that. Patsy's too young to care yet." 
 
 Walter Blackwood put his glass down, empty. 
 It never entered into his head to doubt the other 
 man's sincerity. " I'm very, very sorry," he 
 answered. " Is it — is it something that can't be 
 cured ? " 
 
 " I think so." Gerald's voice was perfectly 
 steady. " There's a chance, I'm told, a fighting 
 chance. But it's not worth considering . . . 
 Patsy knows I'm going . . . Shall we have
 
 io6 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 another bottle ? No ? . . . You're sure ? 
 . . . Well, I must go off to the yacht." 
 
 The other man shrugged his shoulders. " We 
 sent our cards, and the skipper sent back word 
 that Lady Cardine was too ill to be troubled with 
 anything. Not a very poHte way of putting it. 
 I'm sorry. I wish Alice could have gone to her, 
 but she can't after that. I should send a card 
 and no more, if I were you. Captain Simpson 
 cut up a Uttle rough last night." 
 
 Gerald's eyes blazed suddenly. " Wasn't 
 there enough cause ? Bartram told me. . . . 
 It was a dehberate, studied insult. You're on 
 the committee. Why the devil haven't you 
 called a special meeting to expel Darkin and 
 Gunther, too ? I am going to apologize to Simp- 
 son as a member of the Club, but the Club must 
 apologize as a whole." 
 
 One of those " shindies " which Blackwood 
 had feared seemed uncomfortably close, but he 
 tried his best to avoid it. 
 
 " Be reasonable, Jerry," he urged, " In a Httle 
 community like this, we have to give and take. 
 I may not like Darkin and Gunther — I detest 
 them, as a matter of fact — but I've got to meet 
 every day and do business with them. After all. 
 Sir Charles is dead, and it doesn't hurt him in the 
 least. Besides, how can we expel the chairman, 
 especially when he holds the liquor monopoly ? 
 He'd refuse to serve any of us." 
 
 Gerald laughed bitterly. Walter Blackwood
 
 SIR CHARLES'S SUCCESSOR 107 
 
 was a Public School man, and had started straight, 
 but he had been trained in the City, and the two 
 traditions were always at war within him. 
 " You're right, I suppose, because you've got to 
 stay here. . . . And you've got to think of 
 AHce. But didn't it ever strike you that this 
 island ought to be British, that it's a damned 
 disgrace to us to allow Gunther to control it ? " 
 
 For answer, the shipping agent shrugged his 
 shoulders. " That's one of Patsy's notions. 
 She's converted Ahce too. But it's rot. What 
 does Patsy understand about it all ? And, 
 candidly, I reckon you're to blame as well. 
 You've encouraged the child. You ought to 
 have told her to leave it alone," there was a touch 
 of irritation in his voice. " The youngsters, Lo- 
 cock and those, Hsten to her, and it's bad for 
 business. Gunther is cutting up rough already. 
 . . . We've got to Hve and let Hve. There's 
 no patriotism in business. ... If anyone 
 gets Katu, it will be Germany — in fact, I think 
 she's got the option as it is. By the time she 
 takes it, though, I hope to have made my pile 
 and got clear." 
 
 He was a patriotic man, according to his lights. 
 Had he been a stockbroker, he would have waved 
 a httle Union Jack as vigorously as any one on 
 the news of a British victory which sent the mar- 
 ket up ; but not being affected directly by the 
 price of shares, he had always done according to 
 the traditions of his kind — kept his poHtical
 
 io8 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 opinions for use out of business hours, Gerald's 
 views had worried and annoyed him, more than 
 once. They reminded him too much of what he 
 had been taught at school, of the things which he 
 had had to unlearn in the City. . . . 
 
 Captain Simpson was waiting at the top of the 
 gangway when Gerald stepped aboard the 
 " White Lady." 
 
 " Her ladyship will see you in the boudoir, 
 sir," he said. There was a formal note of respect 
 in his voice which made Gerald raise his eyebrows 
 slightly. Before, they had met as equals, but 
 now there was some subtle difference. Gerald 
 might have been the owner. 
 
 Margaret came into the boudoir almost immed- 
 iately. She was dressed, as usual, in white — 
 the conventional signs of mourning were nothing 
 to her — but her drawn face and the heavy marks 
 under her eyes were far more eloquent than any 
 crepe could have been. 
 
 She held out her hand, and, almost uncon- 
 sciously it seemed, the man bent down and 
 touched it with his lips. 
 
 " I thought you would want some help, and 
 — and it is my place to come to you," he said. 
 
 Lady Cardine smiled faintly. " I expected 
 you — Sir Gerald." 
 
 " So you know already ? " he did not seem 
 surprised. 
 
 She sank into a big chair. " He — Sir Charles 
 — told me last evening. He was conscious for a
 
 SIR CHARLES'S SUCCESSOR 109 
 
 few minutes, just at the end. He had known you, 
 all along, from the moment he heard your voice." 
 
 Gerald nodded. " I saw yesterday that he 
 knew, when he spoke about my parents. I wish 
 now there had been time to tell him more. You 
 see, my governor was always so bitter, that I had 
 a wrong impression. I would have given a great 
 deal not to have been too late." 
 
 " You weren't too late," her voice was very 
 low. " It made all the difference to him. He 
 was proud of you — as the next Cardine. I am so 
 grateful to you for having made him happy. The 
 name was everything to him." 
 
 The man did not answer at once. He knew, 
 perfectly well, that the dead statesman's wife 
 had been even more to him than the family name, 
 but he did not attempt to tell her so. Her hus- 
 band had been httle short of a demi-god to her, 
 and it was best and kindest at the moment to 
 leave things as they were. Instead, he went on 
 to speak of the funeral. As the head of the family 
 it was for him to make the arrangements on her 
 behalf. 
 
 Margaret faced the question quietly. " I 
 have asked the doctor, and he says it is impos- 
 sible to wait. It must be done quickly." 
 
 Gerald nodded. He had expected that. " Shall 
 it be at sea then ? Not on shore here. Lady Car- 
 dine. It is native territory now, and it may 
 never be British. The sea is ours, still — the 
 right grave for one of the greatest Englishmen.
 
 no THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 I think it should be off Sudang Heads, outside 
 the great harbour of which I told him, the place 
 we want to — to seize. It would seem as if his 
 spirit were guarding it," he spoke huskily, almost 
 shyly, as is the way of the Englishman when he 
 says anything of that kind. 
 
 She thanked him with her eyes, and he knew 
 she was at one with him on that point, then, 
 " Will you see Captain Simpson ? He knows who 
 you are," 
 
 " Yes, I will arrange it for this evening." He 
 seemed, somehow, to have grown far older and 
 graver during the past few hours. " One thing 
 only. Lady Cardine, I want to remain Gerald 
 Raithe for the present — at least until I am through 
 with this affair in Katu ... I think you 
 understand. After the scandal," he flushed sud- 
 denly, " I did not want to be known as Colonel 
 Cardine's son, the stepson of that woman, and 
 now, in this affair, my own name would prejudice 
 the Powers-that-Be against me. I think Sir 
 Charles realised that." 
 
 Margaret had risen too. " I understand, and 
 I am so glad, more than glad, that you are going 
 on with your scheme. He wished it, so much ; 
 and I could sec how proud of you he was. As a 
 Cardine, I am proud, too . . . And now, 
 I leave everything to you, absolutely." 
 
 Captain Simpson was evidently expecting his 
 visitor when Gerald knocked at the door of his 
 cabin.
 
 SIR CHARLES'S SUCCESSOR iii 
 
 " I tumbled to who you must be yesterday, 
 Sir Gerald," he said. " It was when I saw the 
 ' Zeta ' — your father's old yacht. Already, you 
 had reminded me a lot of the Colonel, as well as 
 of Sir Charles. I'm very glad it is you. It must 
 have eased the old gentleman's mind. He had 
 been worrying a lot about you, not knowing 
 what you were hke. He honoured me with a 
 good deal of his confidence. Sir Gerald. Since 
 his marriage, there were very few people he would 
 meet. The ' White Lady ' was his home, though 
 he always hoped to die in Cardine Place." 
 
 Gerald nodded, absently. Cardine Place, the 
 great house he had never seen, was his now, so 
 were the family estates ; but that did not make 
 him a rich man. The net income was practically 
 nil, and there would be the death duties to pay. 
 Sir Charles' immense wealth had come to him 
 through his mother, and would not follow the 
 title. He had said, perfectly plainly, that it 
 would go to Margaret, and Gerald was well 
 content that this should be so. She deserved 
 every good thing that life could bring her. 
 
 He cared little about his new dignity. It was 
 good to be the head of the Cardine family, to have 
 the Cardine honour in his keeping, good to think 
 that he was the successor of so many splendid 
 Englishmen ; but the baronetcy, though one of 
 the oldest in England, was nothing. 
 
 Tradesmen and London County Councillors 
 were made baronets. Little Englanders, who
 
 112 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 loathed the very idea of a standing army, were 
 made members of the essentially military order 
 of knighthood, and used the fact to secure higher 
 fees as directors of fraudulent companies. 
 
 He was Cardine of Cardine Place ; but, for the 
 time being, it suited liim better to be Gerald 
 Raithe. His brain, not his name, was going to 
 carry him through his great adventure. 
 
 " I'm going to ask a favour of you. Captain 
 Simpson," he said. " I want to remain Gerald 
 Raithe — for the present. After the funeral 
 you can just put me ashore in the pinnace, and 
 none of your fellows will have a chance to talk. 
 . . . I understand that my cousin wishes to 
 go straight back to England." 
 
 The skipper tugged at his long red moustache. 
 " Aren't you going home, Mr. Raithe ? It's a big 
 thing to inherit ; and Katu's a God-forgotten hole, 
 if ever there was one." 
 
 Gerald smiled. " I inherit the title, little else. 
 Lady Cardine will be one of the richest women in 
 England." 
 
 " And one of the saddest," the skipper added 
 an oath, merely to cover his emotion. " The 
 Almighty alone knows how good she was to him — 
 one of God's angels, Sir Gerald," he drew his hand 
 across his eyes, quite openly. " Now, I suppose 
 some of those hounds who threw mud at her will 
 be after her money." 
 
 The new baronet started. Somehow, he had 
 not thought of the possibihty of Margaret marry-
 
 SIR CHARLES'S SUCCESSOR 113 
 
 ing again, yet, why not ? She was only about 
 thirty-two, very beautiful, enormously rich, 
 perhaps, he, himself, as the head of the family, 
 would have to give her away at the altar ! 
 
 It is strange how the thought of comparatively 
 small side issues occasionally seems almost to 
 overshadow the main question. He could see 
 the gaping crowds, half sentimental, half sensual, 
 could smell the sickly white flowers, could hear 
 the priest — it might be a Bishop even — snuffling 
 through the Service, missing all that is beautiful 
 in it, and emphasising its materiahsm ; then, 
 Margaret would have gone out of his Ufe for 
 ever. 
 
 " We'll have tiffin up here, Mr. Raithe," the 
 skipper's voice recalled him to the present. " At 
 sundown, we will be off Sudang Heads. I will 
 give orders at once." 
 
 There was some little surprise amongst the 
 ship's company when they saw the tall stranger 
 standing beside Lady Cardine, whilst Captain 
 Simpson read the Burial Service, but none of 
 them, save the doctor, knew the reason for that 
 stranger's presence. 
 
 Half an hour later, Margaret sent for Gerald. 
 She knew that the steam pinnace was being 
 hoisted out, and that the moment of parting was 
 near. 
 
 She had broken down completely as the waters 
 had closed over her husband's body, but now she 
 was dry- eyed again. 
 
 H
 
 114 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 " Gerald," she coloured vividly. " Gerald — 
 I suppose I may call you that, as we are cousins, 
 at least by marriage, and your name is mine — 
 I want to thank you for my sake, and, even more, 
 for his. It made such a difference to him at the 
 end. I hope — I hope — " suddenly she was at a loss 
 for words. 
 
 He understood, instantly, " I shall be Home 
 not very long after you — Margaret. This is 
 not, ' Good-bye,' only ' Au-revoir.' If there is 
 anything I can ever do — you did so much for 
 him — " then he, too, seemed unable to continue. 
 
 In silence, Margaret Cardine held out her hand. 
 Once more he kissed it, as a man might kiss the 
 hand of his Queen ; then he turned towards the 
 door. 
 
 " Gerald ! " she had found words now. " Gerald, 
 remember your promise about that hideous drug. 
 You are going to conquer it. He helped me 
 to fight it. You won't forget." 
 
 His eyes were glistening, and it was a matter of 
 sheer impossibility for him to speak, but he 
 renewed the promise with his eyes. 
 
 Darkness had already fallen when the yacht's 
 steam pinnace put Gerald ashore at Mati. He 
 knew it was perfectly useless to try and avoid 
 observation, that, practically speaking, every one 
 in Mati knew where he had been ; consequently, 
 he strolled straight into the Club, and ordered a 
 whisky and soda. 
 
 " Yes, I went out to the funeral. They buried
 
 SIR CHARLES'S SUCCESSOR 115 
 
 him off Sudang Heads," he said, in reply to a 
 question from Daddy Mallowe. 
 
 Albert Darkin, who was standing at the bar 
 with Carl Gunther, raised his eyebrows. 
 
 " I wonder that, considering the position Sir 
 Charles Cardine formerly held. Lady Cardine did 
 not ask the British Consul to attend, as well as a 
 representative of His Highness, the Raja," he 
 murmured, 
 
 Carl Gunther laughed rudely — he had not 
 forgotten the quiet scorn with which Margaret 
 Cardine had treated him, " I am afraid I should 
 have had to send my clerk in that case," he 
 grunted, " I have other things to do, besides 
 helping to bury Enghsh tourists." 
 
 The clerk was a half-caste, and there was not a 
 man in the smoking-room who was not aware of 
 the fact. 
 
 Every eye was turned on Gerald Raithe. The 
 bitterness between him and Gunther was a thing 
 of long-standing, but never before had the Ger- 
 man dared to insult him openly, nay, more, to 
 insult every Briton in the place, 
 
 Gerald had gone very white, and, for a moment, 
 it looked as though he were about to pit his wiry, 
 nervous strength against the gross bulk of the 
 Teuton ; but in the end, he turned once more 
 to Daddy Mallowe, and began to talk about the 
 pepper crop. 
 
 Gunther laughed again, and expectorated 
 noisily on the floor. " Darkin, my friend," he
 
 ii6 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 said, " It's a good thing you didn't take ray bet 
 about your fellow-countrymen. Our friend, Mr. 
 Lecher, was right about the courage of the 
 modern ' English gentleman.' " 
 
 He drank off his cocktail, then swaggered 
 towards the door, followed by Albert Darkin ; 
 but Gerald moved more swiftly, and was in the 
 doorway first. 
 
 Gunther made as though to push by him, then 
 stopped. 
 
 " Let me pass," he growled, though some of 
 his assurance seemed suddenly to have left him. 
 
 " Carl Gunther," Gerald raised his voice so that 
 that all in the room might hear, " The man you 
 sent to my room the other night made a mess of 
 things, and I have got his kris. When your turn 
 comes, I shall not employ some one else ; I 
 shall do it myself, openly, in the daylight. Do 
 you understand, you gross brute ? "
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 A PROPHET WITHOUT HONOUR 
 
 The Under-Secretary drew himself up primly. 
 He objected strongly to people who would not 
 take " No " as an answer, and more strongly still 
 to those who came to him with unconventional 
 propositions. Although he had only been in 
 office four years, he had the perfect bureaucrat's 
 manner, as questioners in the House of Commons 
 knew well. Himself a scion of a great Whig 
 house, at heart he was by no means satisfied 
 with all his ministerial colleagues — one of them 
 preached at Pleasant Sunday Afternoons, and 
 several of them dealt unkindly with the King's 
 English — but only through association with them 
 could he have reached office. For all his prim- 
 ness, he felt sometimes that he had lost caste 
 to a certain extent, and it was most annoying 
 to have a man hke Sir Gerald Cardine, a great 
 aristocrat by birth, driving home that fact. 
 
 " The answer is final," he said. " And the 
 Prime Minister wished me to tell you, further, 
 that the matter must be left alone. The German 
 Government feels very strongly about it." He 
 
 117
 
 ii8 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 had tried to meet his visitor's gaze, but now his 
 eyes fell on the blotting-pad, and he began to 
 draw vague triangles. 
 
 Gerald, who looked very tall and very thin in 
 an iron-grey morning suit, made an impatient 
 gesture, 
 
 " The German Government ! " he retorted. 
 "So we are to give up the chance of acquiring 
 one of the finest ports in the East for fear of 
 offending the Germans ? They have no prior 
 claim. It is a matter of enormous importance, 
 gigantic importance to us. If another Power 
 annexes Katu, half the value of Singapore and 
 Hong-Kong, our two most valuable possessions, 
 will be gone. We shall no longer have absolute 
 control of the greatest trade route in the world." 
 
 The Under-Secretary drew a circle round the 
 largest of his triangles, drew it rather badly, 
 then announced, still without looking up, " I 
 have given you the official decision," he said. 
 " I have nothing more to add — officially. But, 
 Cardine," they had been at school together, 
 " I will advise you, privately, to leave it severely 
 alone. It's no use. Darkin won't have it, and 
 Lecher, the Labour man, is equally opposed to 
 it. Some of us " for a moment he faced the 
 other, " some of us may think as you do, but 
 the rest carry too much weight in the House. 
 And your very name would be like a red rag to a 
 bull to them." 
 
 Gerald flushed haughtily. He was Cardine
 
 A PROPHET WITHOUT HONOUR 119 
 
 of Cardine Place now, and he never forgot the 
 fact, never forgot what the Cardines had done 
 in the past. To be condemned by the men of 
 the new type, the latter-day pohticians, the 
 successful grocers, the street preachers, the 
 loud-voiced gas-workers, condemned because he 
 was a Cardine ! He turned on the Under- 
 Secretary. 
 
 " Thanks, Soane, for your advice," he said. 
 "It is hardly what your father, or your grand- 
 father, would have given. I, myself, prefer to 
 stick to the family traditions." 
 
 He was a very angry man as he walked up 
 Whitehall, but it cannot be said that he was a 
 disappointed one. All along, he had felt that 
 old Sir Charles had been right in declaring that 
 the British Government would not interfere 
 in the matter of Katu. 
 
 It had not been his only disappointment. 
 Everything had seemed to go wrong since he 
 left the Far East. The journey Home had been 
 unutterably dull — nowhere had he managed 
 to get any word of the " White Lady " — and 
 on arrival, the family solicitor had been able to 
 give him only bad news. 
 
 " I am afraid your inheritance will not make 
 you a richer man, Sir Gerald," old John Porter 
 had said. " Sir Charles kept things up splendidly, 
 but that was not out of the entailed estates. 
 Now, there is not enough, nothing hke enough, 
 for you to take up your position at Cardine
 
 120 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Place, especially after the death duties have 
 been paid. I should advise you to let it, at 
 least for the present. I have a tenant in view, 
 who is ready to pay a handsome rent." 
 
 Gerald had shrugged his shoulders. It was 
 no surprise to him. 
 
 " Who is your tenant ? " he had asked. 
 
 The lawyer had shaken his head. " For the 
 moment, I am not allowed to say, but the offer 
 is a generous, a most generous one. If you 
 allow me to accept it, I shall be able to put 
 
 matters on a sound basis. Otherwise " and 
 
 he had paused significantly. 
 
 " Otherwise there will be a smash ? " Gerald 
 had supplied the missing word. 
 
 John Porter had nodded. " Exactly. I am 
 glad you understand the position. I am glad, 
 too, to be able to settle the Cardine Place ques- 
 tion. Your step-mother " Once more he 
 
 paused, this time awkwardly. 
 
 His client's face grew black. The very name 
 of his father's second wife was hateful to him. 
 It was through her that he had left England and 
 become Gerald Raithe. The world might have 
 forgotten the Tankery-Cardine scandal, and it 
 had certainly called him a fool for taking it to 
 heart as he had done ; but to him it was still 
 a living thing. He could still remember his 
 father's cynical face as he sat in court listening 
 to the evidence, still see the thin, beautifully- 
 shaped hand stroking the white moustache, as
 
 A PROPHET WITHOUT HONOUR 121 
 
 though to hide a smile at the judge's scathing 
 rebukes, still recall every word of the quarrel 
 with his father afterwards, when the very last 
 shred of respect which he might have had left 
 for his parent had been torn away. He had never 
 seen him since, had never wanted to see him, 
 had done everything possible to prevent being 
 identified with him in any way ; but there had 
 been one more interview, when the woman had 
 swept into his rooms, and had talked after the 
 manner of her kind. Ten years had elapsed 
 since then, but the very mention of her was still 
 enough to make his eyes flash. Also, it recalled 
 to him vividly the figure of the other woman 
 who bore the name of Cardine. 
 
 " What about my father's wife ? " he had 
 asked, curtly. 
 
 The old solicitor had tried to put it gently. 
 " She — well — she thought you ought to let her 
 Hve at Cardine Place." 
 
 " Never." Gerald had sprung to his feet. That 
 creature at the house which had once been 
 Margaret's home ! " When you see her, tell 
 her I will have nothing to do with her, nothing 
 at all." 
 
 The other had smiled. " I will write, I think. 
 She was a little tempestuous. You see, she 
 assumed you were dead, and already called your 
 half-brother ' Sir Herbert.' In fact, so little 
 does she seem to know about these matters that 
 she sent in her name to me as ' Lady Cardine.'
 
 122 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 She has not been, I am afraid, leading an alto- 
 gether blameless life." 
 
 Gerald had clenched his hands. That she 
 should have dared to take Margaret's name ! 
 It was utterly abominable. Yet what could 
 he do ? The mere fact of his protesting would 
 make her more determined to persist, and he 
 had no control of any kind over her financial 
 affairs. 
 
 It had been on his lips to ask after the real 
 Lady Cardine ; but, somehow, though he longed 
 for news, this had checked it. He could not 
 mention her name after the other. 
 
 Altogether, he had left the solicitor's office in 
 an angry and despondent mood. He had not 
 expected much financial advantage from his 
 inheritance, but it had been a shock to find that, 
 unless he could let Cardine Place, he would 
 actually be out of pocket for the time being. 
 
 But his negotiations with the Government had 
 been even more unsatisfactory. From the out- 
 set, he had seen that old Sir Charles had been 
 right, that in the case of a large number of prom- 
 inent men on the ministerial side there was an 
 actual hatred of anything in the nature of the 
 spirit which had animated the great Empire 
 builders — Chatham, Hastings, John Mackenzie 
 and their kind. It was quite useless to speak 
 to them of the control of trade routes. To 
 them, a tramway line run by the local Council, 
 with secret commissions on all contracts for the
 
 A PROPHET WITHOUT HONOUR 123 
 
 Tramway Committee, was a far more important 
 matter. 
 
 Most men had never heard of Katu, and, con- 
 sequently, were prone to argue that it could be of 
 no importance at all. Anyway, we wanted no 
 more colonies, and Germany did want them. 
 Germans, after all, were men and brothers — did 
 they not prove that by copying us in building a 
 huge fleet ? — and we ought not to interfere with 
 their expansion. Moreover, those who argued in 
 this way were perfectly sincere, perfectly obtuse, 
 and Gerald was quick to see the futihty of trying 
 to convert them. Only a rise in the cost of living, 
 due to our loss of the control of the trade routes, 
 would do that. 
 
 As for the Labour members, he recalled Sir 
 Charles' words and wasted no time on them. 
 Also, he had had opportunities of studying Mr. 
 Lecher, who was now their chairman. True, he 
 had been abroad at the time of that general rail- 
 way strike, which had coincided so strangely, or so 
 obviously, with Germany's bclHcose demonstra- 
 tions, but the lesson had not been lost on him — 
 no Cardine had ever been a fool when high politics 
 were concerned — and he grasped the hopelessness 
 of an appeal for support in that quarter. It would 
 be going to the enemy's camp. 
 
 The decision of the Cabinet, conveyed to him 
 by the Under-Secretary, was final. He reaUsed 
 that. There remained now only one course open 
 to him in England — to rouse the nation itself,
 
 124 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 through the medium of the Opposition Press. 
 He had refrained from doing anything in that way 
 until the Government had given its answer, but 
 now he was free. 
 
 Gloag, the editor of the Daily Comet, was the 
 man to do it. He had met him once, on board 
 ship, and in any case the visiting card of Cardine 
 of Cardine Place would ensure him an interview 
 anywhere. 
 
 Yes, he would go down to Gloag, at once, and 
 tell him the whole story. But first there was 
 something else he must do. Chills were running 
 through him, and, despite all his efforts to prevent 
 it, his hand would go to his lips, fingering them 
 nervously. 
 
 He glanced at the clock in a shop window, then 
 swore under his breath. 
 
 " It's only three hours since I took a pill. My 
 God ! The sands are running out for me pretty 
 rapidly. At this rate, it will be three or four 
 months — no more. . . . My lady, I am not 
 keeping my promise. Still, you understand ! " 
 
 Then he turned into a bar, ordered a brandy and 
 soda, and took two of those fatal little white 
 pills.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 A LONE HAND 
 
 The Gerald Cardine who sent up his card to the 
 editor of the Comet was very different from the 
 man who had ordered the brandy and soda half 
 an hour previously. Then, he had been hmp, 
 dull-eyed, almost nervous ; now he was keen, 
 erect, masterful. 
 
 The porter, seeing the name, hastened to show 
 him into the special waiting-room, hurried a boy 
 upstairs with the card, and bowed obsequiously 
 when, five minutes later, word came down that 
 Mr. Gloag would see Sir Gerald Cardine at once. 
 
 There was nothing essentially editorial about 
 John Gloag's office — in fact, it might have proved 
 almost disappointing to many who have read in 
 fiction of editorial sanctums. A pleasant room, 
 well above the worst of the roar of the traffic, 
 a big table with a moderate number of papers 
 and photographs on it, a smaller table for a 
 secretary, a telephone instrument, and several 
 comfortable, leather-covered chairs — those were 
 all. 
 
 125
 
 126 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 John Gloag himself, immense, stooping, with 
 strong glasses and a big cigar, rose to meet his 
 visitor. 
 
 " Glad to meet you. Sir Gerald," he began form- 
 ally, then his manner changed, " By Jove, you're 
 the fellow who was on the old ' Lady Melbourne ' 
 with me, seven or eight years ago, I've a good 
 memory for faces. Sit down, and have a cigar." 
 He was far too tactful a man, and also remembered 
 far too much about the Tankery-Cardine scandal, 
 to make any reference to the fact that he had 
 known the other as Gerald Raithe, It was easy to 
 understand the change of name ; impossible 
 to imagine that anyone would, willingly, be 
 known as Colonel Cardine's son, at least until the 
 story had died down. Gerald went straight to 
 the point. He had all the facts concerning Katu 
 arranged in his brain, and he could tell the story 
 in what seemed to him to be an absolutely con- 
 vincing manner. Like most men who have 
 obsessions, he could not understand how any 
 sane person could fail to be on his side. 
 
 But, at the end of it, John Gloag got up and 
 began to pace the room, chewing fiercely at the 
 end of an unhghted cigar, 
 
 " I believe every word you say, Sir Gerald," 
 he said at last, " every word. In fact, we have 
 already been told of certain Englishmen being 
 employed on the other side over this matter. 
 But I can't help you in the very least degree, and, 
 personally, I think that, in worrying yourself
 
 A LONE HAND 127 
 
 about the affair, you are merely wasting your 
 time." 
 
 The angry flush returned to Gerald's face., 
 " Why can't you help ? " he demanded. " You 
 profess to uphold the Imperial idea," 
 
 John Gloag shrugged his shoulders. " Per- 
 sonally, I am with you, heart and soul. But I 
 have to give the public what it wants, not what 
 it ought to have. Just now, cricket and golf 
 swamp everything else in interest. The Empire 
 is rather a stale subject, and, in any case, we, 
 and the party generally, are committed to the 
 idea of big red splashes on the map — Britains 
 Overseas, and all that kind of unutterable rubbish. 
 We know — you and I know — that Hong-Kong and 
 Singapore are worth more to us than all the self- 
 governing colonies put together ; but if the 
 Comet tried to tell the pubhc that, we should be 
 looked on as mad. . . . No, I am very, very 
 sorry to have to say it, but, huge though our 
 circulation is, we could not raise a shadow of 
 interest over the question of Katu." 
 
 " Gladstone did it over the Straits of Malacca, 
 did a similar thing," Gerald retorted. 
 
 The editor smiled. " I am not Gladstone, and, 
 moreover, Gladstone could not have done it 
 to-day. Everything has changed. This is the 
 age of Council Schools and Parish Pumps. We 
 have infinitely greater means of obtaining news 
 from abroad, yet we are infinitely more insular, 
 or, rather, more petty-minded. ... It's
 
 128 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 no use. I won't touch the matter. And, you 
 know," he hesitated for a moment, then went on, 
 " you know that your own name, mentioned in 
 connection with the matter, would suffice to stir 
 up opposition. I hke the Cardine Way myself, 
 but we're ruled to-day by the Board School 
 teacher and the Labour man, and they don't 
 understand the code of your family." 
 
 Sir Gerald Cardine stared out of the window. 
 He was vaguely aware that there were pigeons 
 on the roof opposite, descendants probably of 
 pigeons who had been there in the days of Chat- 
 ham, and he wondered if they, too, had deteri- 
 orated. It was absurd, of course, the whole thing 
 was absurd. He, himself, was absurd, out of 
 touch with the modern spirit. The roar of the 
 traffic in Fleet Street came faintly to his ears, and, 
 cutting shrilly through it, the voices of newsboys 
 shouting " lunch time scores " in cricket matches. 
 
 Nothing else mattered, save the " Bread and 
 Circuses " of to-day. 
 
 Yet he was going on with his absurdity. Had 
 he not promised Margaret Cardine, and, doomed 
 as he was, in the grip of that loathsome drug, 
 was it not the obvious thing to do, to make a 
 last fight, and to go under fighting ? 
 
 " Very well, then," his voice was low and quiet. 
 " Very well. As no one else will do it, I shall do 
 it myself. I don't suppose the nation will refuse 
 the gift of the island." The editor of the Comet 
 stared at him for the space of ten seconds or
 
 A LONE HAND 129 
 
 more, then, impulsively, thrust out a huge 
 hand. 
 
 " You are a damned fool," he said, huskily. 
 " You must be, or you would bow to the inevit- 
 able. . . . You mean to try the Raja Brooke 
 game ? It won't do — these are the days of wire- 
 less. But it's worth while, by God, it's worth 
 while ... I wish I were free, to go with 
 you." 
 
 Gerald gripped his hand, then looked away. 
 These were almost the same words Sir Charles Car- 
 dine had used. It was a great thing, a splendid 
 thing, to know that men whose good opinion was 
 worth having agreed with him. And Margaret 
 Cardine had approved too. 
 
 " Yes, the Raja Brooke game, if you Hke to 
 put it that way," he answered slowly. " It's a 
 toss-up — I am far from being a rich man — but 
 I have worked pretty hard at the scheme, and 
 some of the hill-men are with me. We've got it 
 all planned out. We went into it thoroughly." 
 
 The editor gave him a keen look. " We ? " 
 he echoed the word. " Who else is in it ? " 
 
 Once more Gerald flushed. In Mati it had 
 seemed natural enough to have Patsy Wrench as 
 his heutenant and adviser, but here, with the noise 
 of Fleet Street floating up to his ears, matters 
 appeared very different. Moreover, he realised 
 suddenly, with a sense of something very nearly 
 akin to shame, that he had given very little 
 thought to Patsy since leaving Katu.
 
 130 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 " Oh, I've talked it over, with people I could 
 trust," he answered — and the sense of shame 
 seemed to grow on him, for Patsy, and Patsy 
 alone, knew any details, and, beyond her, there 
 was only Margaret Cardine who knew of the plan 
 itself, though Bartram had been given a hint. 
 " I think it can be done, if I land the arms . . . 
 Ismail is a rotter of the first class ; and I am 
 popular amongst the hill-men." 
 
 John Gloag shook his head. " It's a mad 
 scheme. The Government would disown you at 
 once." 
 
 " It's nothing to do with them," Gerald re- 
 torted. " I am going to make myself Raja of the 
 independent state of Katu. If I ask for a pro- 
 tectorate afterwards, that will be different." 
 
 The editor flung his cigar end into the grate, 
 rather viciously, " You're going to get killed, 
 Cardine ; you're going to lose your life for nothing 
 — and we can't afford men Hke you being chucked 
 away. Your kind is scarce. . . . What 
 money have you ? " the question came sharply, 
 almost brutally, yet there was no hint of impertin- 
 ence in it. 
 
 Sir Gerald Cardine was not an easy man to cross- 
 examine, but, on this occasion, he understood 
 the intention of his cross-examiner. " I have 
 my schooner, the ' Zeta,' which I'm going to arm 
 with a couple of guns — she is auxiliary screw — 
 and I've got, or can put my hand on, about ten 
 thousand pounds beyond."
 
 A LONE HAND 131 
 
 " You're going to sink everything in it — the 
 very last cent. ? " Gloag had sat down again 
 now, and was speaking quietly. 
 
 The younger man nodded. " If I could sell 
 Cardine Place, and the Cardine estates, for that 
 purpose, I would do so. I can't, of course, be- 
 cause of the entail, but the wish is there. Practi- 
 cally speaking, I am a dying man — at any rate, 
 I'm a doomed man — and I want to do something 
 before the end comes." 
 
 " I see." Gloag was watching him keenly from 
 under his heavy eyebrows, trying to diagnose his 
 complaint. Perhaps he succeeded. At any rate, 
 he asked no more questions on that point, but 
 went on to try and extract details of his scheme 
 for dispossessing the Raja of Katu. 
 
 Gerald talked freely now — he knew when he 
 could trust a man — but as he finished, the editor 
 of the Comet shook his head. 
 
 "I see disaster," he said. " You need ten 
 times that amount of money. These chiefs, the 
 hill-men, how can you really trust them ? When 
 you have given them rifles and ammunition, they 
 will probably turn on you at once. You must 
 be able to bribe them to remain true to you. 
 And as for white men, you can only have a couple 
 or so. The idea is great, splendid ; but it won't 
 work out on that amount of capital. Everything, 
 nowadays, comes down to a question of money. 
 I suppose there's no one to whom you can go ? " 
 
 The younger man shook his head. " I know
 
 132 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 no one, and the commercial possibilities of Katu 
 are not enough to tempt speculators. Moreover, 
 actual business would remain the same then, 
 whether we had the island or the Germans had 
 it." 
 
 " Did you get none of Sir Charles Cardine's 
 money then ? " the editor demanded. " No ? 
 It all went to Lady Cardine, I suppose. Do you 
 know her at all ? " 
 
 Gerald nodded. " I've met her once or twice." 
 
 " Humph ! " Gloag glanced at the clock. 
 He was immensely interested, but there were 
 scores of other matters clamouring for his atten- 
 tion, and, as yet, this was not a newspaper story. 
 " I hke her. We're great friends, in fact ; still 
 I wish he had left you some of it. Perhaps, now 
 she's so rich, the old slanders will die down. I 
 imagine you've no thought of challenging the will, 
 as the next of kin. That way, you might get all 
 the money you want." 
 
 If he said the words to test his visitor, he cer- 
 tainly succeeded. There was no mistaking the 
 sincerity of Gerald's wrath. 
 
 " D'you think I'd rob the sweetest and best 
 woman on God's earth ? " he began. " The only 
 woman — " he broke off abruptly, and took 
 another line. " What the blazes do you mean ? 
 How could the will be upset ? " 
 
 The journalist cut a fresh cigar very carefully. 
 " You were abroad at the time of the marriage. 
 There were stories, many of them, that started
 
 A LONE HAND 133 
 
 either in the Lobby itself, or in one of the big 
 political clubs. She was married already, some 
 of them said. Others merely declared that she 
 had been — well, indiscreet. The name of one 
 of Sir Charles' most bitter opponents was men- 
 tioned, a man who is probably your opponent 
 now. They all came from that side." 
 
 Gerald got up and was pacing the room angrily. 
 It was not altogether news to him ; but it came 
 home as it had never done before. He knew now 
 what Margaret Cardine represented in his life — 
 his ideal. True, the morphia rendered that ideal 
 unattainable — always, at the back of his mind 
 was the knowledge that he was a doomed man — 
 but, none the less, she was absolutely sacred in 
 his eyes. 
 
 " Who was the man they mentioned ? " he 
 asked hoarsely. 
 
 John Gloag did not hesitate. He was a keen 
 student of humanity, and he could see that, for 
 some reason or other, this fierce-eyed, prematurely 
 grey young aristocrat was a reckless, almost a 
 desperate, man ; and he could see, too, that if he 
 would throw his life away for Katu, he would be 
 even more ready to do so for the sake of Margaret 
 Cardine. To tell him more would be, perhaps, 
 to provoke murder. In many ways, Gerald was a 
 reversion to the type of those ancestors of his 
 who, holding a then impregnable castle, were a 
 law unto themselves, until Edward the Fourth 
 managed to bribe the garrison to surrender, and
 
 134 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 so was able to hang most of the male Cardines. 
 Gloag did not know that story, but he recognised 
 the possibility of something of the kind He had 
 met several other men who seemed to belong 
 partly to the middle ages, partly to the twentieth 
 century. 
 
 " It's no good repeating names," he said, rather 
 curtly. " If you don't bring the subject up, no 
 one else will. Still, I am glad to have your assur- 
 ance about it. And now. Sir Gerald," he glanced 
 at the clock, " it is time for the daily conference. 
 I am sorry I can do so little for you. But I can 
 propose this to the firm — that, if you do decide to 
 make a raid on Katu, we send one of our special 
 men with you, so that we get the exclusive story. 
 In return, I think the proprietors would make — 
 secretly, of course — a substantial addition to your 
 funds." 
 
 Gerald held out his hand. " Thanks," he 
 said briefly, " Let me know as early as possible. 
 I shall try no more for outside help. Except for 
 you, it will be a ' lone hand played lone.' " 
 
 Down to Gehenna or up to the Throne,' " 
 the journahst quoted as the door closed behind 
 the other. " It'll be Gehenna this time, I think," 
 then he sighed, " What a damned waste of a fme 
 man I"
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 COLONEL carbine's WIDOW 
 
 The lady fanned herself languidly, keeping off 
 the acrid smoke of the Turkish cigarette, while 
 that same cigarette, smouldering on the table, was 
 destroying a fine, drawn-thread tablecloth. 
 
 John Weste, watching out of half-closed eyes, 
 decided that the whole thing was typical of her 
 — innate vulgarity, coupled with futile waste. 
 He decided, too, that, if ever he could summon up 
 the energy to write a novel, Ettie Cardine, widow 
 of Colonel Cardine, and stepmother of the new 
 baronet, should figure in it. 
 
 "So my stepson is really going to make an 
 utter fool of himself ? I cannot say that I feel 
 any deep regrets, especially as there is a chance of 
 his rather useless career coming to a sudden end 
 in that island." Mrs. Cardine helped herself to 
 a fresh cigarette, and nodded to the Httle man in 
 the big chair beside her. " Give me a Hght, 
 Reggie," she commanded. 
 
 Mr. Reginald Burnham hastened to obey. He 
 had an unusually long yellow moustache, quite 
 
 135
 
 136 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 out of proportion to his size, rounded shoulders, 
 and very short arms, but his eyes were fine, even 
 if they were not good, and there was a kind of 
 impish fascination about him, which had brought 
 sorrow into the Hfe of more than one woman. 
 Men — clean-minded, clean-living men — treated 
 him coldly. He had knocked about in the front- 
 iers of civiHzation, and he could talk for hours 
 of liis great exploits in Africa, as a hunter of big 
 game, exploits which no one else had witnessed. 
 So far as those were concerned, he was merely 
 a bore, who wore a shocking bad hat, and, though 
 Home-born, posed as the returned Colonial ; but 
 there was another, and less pleasant, side to his 
 character — he was perfectly ready to betray any- 
 body, if only for the sake of making conversation. 
 Recently, he had made his own brothier's most 
 private affairs public, despite the fact that, for 
 years past, that brother had financed him ; now, 
 he was engaged in bruiting abroad things he had 
 learned, accidentally and in confidence, concern- 
 ing Gerald Cardine and his plans. 
 
 " Yes, Sir Gerald is going to try," Reggie Burn- 
 ham answered eagerly. He was the man with the 
 news, and he was going to take full advantage of 
 his position. " A fellow I know shghtly came 
 to me, and asked me if I would join in — they want 
 reliable men," he twirled his long, yellow mous- 
 tache. " But I wasn't taking any. It's a fool's 
 game." 
 
 John Weste leaned forward slightly. He was a
 
 COLONEL CARBINE'S WIDOW 137 
 
 tall, thin, hatchet-faced man, and, at times, his 
 manner was aggressive. It seemed to be so now. 
 " Were you approached in confidence ? " he asked. 
 
 " Oh, well — of course, we're all friends here, 
 and Mrs. Cardine, Lady Cardine, I mean, is his 
 stepmother. So, it doesn't matter mentioning it," 
 the little man stammered slightly, and began 
 to fill his big pipe. 
 
 Weste laughed, unkindly. " I am afraid you 
 would never keep a job in Fleet Street, Mr. Burn- 
 ham. On the Comet we are not allowed to betray 
 confidences, even to friends," then he got up 
 abruptly, and crossed over to his hostess, " I 
 must be going, Mrs. Cardine," he said, " there's 
 a very important appointment I must keep. It's 
 with your stepson." 
 
 The lady's face grew red, even under the 
 rouge, and a very ugly word rose to her lips — 
 even in her stage days she had been notorious 
 for her temper ; but John Weste merely shook 
 hands, nodded to the two other men, and was 
 gone. 
 
 Reggie Burnham ran his hands through his 
 hair. " I say — the rotten beggar," he exclaimed, 
 " to let me go on like that. If he tells Car- 
 dine " 
 
 " Exactly," the man, the third man of the 
 party, who had been listening in silence so far, 
 spoke at last. "It might be awkward for you, 
 but Weste won't do it. And, anyway, Gerald 
 Cardine will have other things to think of."
 
 138 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Mrs. Cardine raised her eyebrows, knowing 
 that the speaker did not talk Ughtly. 
 
 " In what way, Joe ? " she demanded. 
 
 The Right Honourable Joseph Darkin frowned 
 slightly. When there were others present, even 
 men like Reggie Burnham, he liked to have the 
 proprieties observed rigidly, remembering his 
 South London constituents, and how important 
 family life was in their eyes. The fact that his 
 wife and his five children went twice every 
 Sunday to chapel with him had won him a con- 
 siderable number of votes. 
 
 No, it was most annoying when Ettie Cardine 
 threw all caution to the winds in this way. If 
 Burnham gave away one confidence, he would 
 give away another. 
 
 " My dear Mrs. Cardine," he began, " you 
 must not ask me to betray official secrets, Cabinet 
 secrets perhaps. As you know " 
 
 She cut him short. " I know I want a drink. 
 Go and fetch the decanter and syphon out of the 
 dining-room, Reggie." Then, when the Uttle 
 man had departed, " What is it ? What are 
 you going to do ? " she asked. 
 
 For a moment he hesitated. " I — well I 
 wasn't sure, until that httle cad told us that Sir 
 Gerald Cardine " — despite his democracy, the 
 reverence for a title remained — " that he really 
 intended to try and capture the island." 
 
 " And now ? " she tapped her foot impatiently 
 on the floor, whilst her black eyes flashed at
 
 COLONEL CARBINE'S WIDOW 139 
 
 him. It struck him, not for the first time, that, 
 though she might have a voluptuous figure, and 
 understand various subtle methods of fascina- 
 tion, she was, none the less, a very dangerous 
 woman. On these occasions, he wished he had 
 never met her. That name of Cardine ! 
 
 " And now ? " she repeated the question, 
 imperiously. Reggie Burnham would certainly 
 help himself to an extra, surreptitious drink 
 before returning, but he could not be many 
 seconds more. 
 
 He answered awkwardly, " Well, of course, 
 we must stop it all. We must tell our friends 
 over the water." 
 
 " Your friends, the Germans ? " there was an 
 ugly sneer on her face. 
 
 Mr. Darkin flushed. " You know I mean 
 them," his tone was sullen now. " Lecher 
 promised, and we must back him up. What does 
 this country want with Katu ? With our splen- 
 did programme of Social Reform waiting, to 
 spend money on " 
 
 Mrs. Cardine leaned forward suddenly. " Stop 
 that, Joe," she said. " it doesn't go down — with 
 me. I want a cheque out of the business, at 
 once. You and Will Lecher are not going to 
 collar the lot. I'll let you off with a hundred 
 to-day. That'll settle the rent here, and a few 
 oddments." 
 
 " A hundred ! " he growled angrily now, 
 being touched on his weakest spot. " D'you
 
 140 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 think I'm made of money, Ettie ? All my 
 expenses " 
 
 Once more, she cut him short. " I saw you 
 had given fifty for the building fund of your 
 mouldy old chapel. If the cheque for a hundred 
 isn't ready by the time I've finished my first 
 whisky and soda, it'll be a case of two hundred. 
 See ? " 
 
 " Ratty, is he ? " Reggie Burnham asked as 
 he returned with the tray, nodding his head in 
 the direction of the dining-room, whither a 
 very surly Cabinet Minister had retired, to 
 write. 
 
 Mrs. Cardine nodded. " A bit," she answered. 
 " Why did you let out before Weste ? " 
 
 " Why do you have the confounded scribbler 
 here ? " he retorted. 
 
 She shrugged her shoulders. " He's amusing 
 sometimes, and he can tell one things. . . . 
 Oh, thanks so much, Mr. Darkin," she looked up 
 with a brilliant smile, as he came back and 
 handed her an envelope. " Is that the letter of 
 introduction ? You are so kind. And now, I 
 suppose, you must go down to the House, and 
 answer rude questions ? " 
 
 Mr. Darkin nodded, none too amiably. 
 " Yes," he answered, then looked pointedly at 
 the other man, " Shall I give you a hft, Mr. 
 Burnham ? " 
 
 It was the lady who answered. " Oh, no 
 He's not in a hurry. He's going to stay a Uttle
 
 COLONEL CARBINE'S WIDOW 141 
 
 longer, to keep me from having the blues, aren't 
 you, Reggie ? " 
 
 The front door banged savagely behind the 
 Minister, but he was not thinking of the cheque 
 which had been extorted from him. Only 
 jealousy can bring the look he had into a man's 
 eyes. It was as though he was imagining what, 
 as a matter of fact, had just happened — Reggie 
 Burnham moving on to the sofa beside Mrs. 
 Car dine. 
 
 Mrs. Cardine released herself with a sudden 
 movement, and thrusting aside the man's arm, 
 
 " Reggie," she said hoarsely, " Reggie, you'll 
 have to go out yourself, go to Katu. You'll 
 have to be there when it happens, to make 
 sure." 
 
 He stood up, his face very white. " You 
 mean — you mean " he stuttered. 
 
 The woman laughed shrilly, hysterically. 
 
 " You know what I mean, you fool. I mean 
 that Gerald Cardine stands between my son and 
 the title, between my son and Cardine Place. 
 And you've got to make sure that those niggers, 
 or whatever else they are, don't allow Gerald 
 Cardine to leave the island alive." 
 
 " And if I do ? And if I do it for you ? " 
 The httle man's eyes were blazing now. " Then 
 you will marry me ? " A man who was less in 
 earnest might have been warned by her tone. 
 
 " Of course I will," she answered impatiently. 
 " I want to be sure that he's dead, that's all.
 
 142 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 It will be no loss. He's never been anything 
 but a nuisance to every one," 
 
 Mr, Reginald Burnham's face suddenly became 
 grave, " A hard case, a deuced hard case, Sir 
 Gerald Cardine is, I believe," he said, 
 
 " Not so hard as you are, though, dear," her 
 tone was caressing now, " You're the better man, 
 and you'll see it through — for my sake," 
 
 He was as wax in her hands. Passion and 
 vanity combined to render him incapable of 
 thinking calmly. Almost before he knew what 
 he had done, he had promised to go out to 
 Katu, to be there before Gerald Cardine, to make 
 sure that Gerald Cardine failed — and paid for his 
 patriotism with his life
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 SIR GERALD CARBINE DECIDES 
 
 Gerald Cardine was pacing the room nervously, 
 a black frown on his face. 
 
 " You say that this beggar — what's his name ? 
 Burnham ? — knows about my plans ? " he de- 
 manded, 
 
 John Weste, who was in the big armchair 
 by the hotel window, nodded. " Yes. It's a 
 clean give-away. And that woman hates you, 
 pretty thoroughly." 
 
 " The feehng is reciprocal," Gerald snapped 
 out. " Who told him ? Was it you, Parke ? " 
 and he turned sharply to the third man, who 
 was lounging against the mantelpiece. The 
 other flushed. He was quite young, a fine type 
 of manhood physically, but still boyish in manner. 
 
 " Yes, I'm afraid I did," he answered. " I'm 
 most awfully sorry I was such a fool, but I had 
 had one or two whiskies, and I thought Burnham 
 would be a good man to take along with us." 
 
 Gerald flung his cigarette end into the grate, 
 savagely. " It's too late to be sorry now. 
 
 M3
 
 144 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 They'll have time to prepare, and, of course, the 
 Germans will be put up to it at once. Who else 
 knows ? " he turned to Weste. 
 
 For a moment, the journalist hesitated, then 
 he seemed to take a sudden resolution, " Darkin 
 was there, too," he answered. 
 
 "Ah, was he ? " — Gerald had become quite 
 cool again. " Was he ? And what does that 
 pillar of respectability do at my father's widow's 
 fiat ? " 
 
 Weste looked at him fairly and squarely. 
 " He's there a great deal," he replied, " and he 
 seems to resent other men going, to think he has 
 a right to resent them going, I'm sorry, but 
 the lady herself " 
 
 " I know," Gerald saved him from having to 
 finish the sentence, " She has dragged the 
 name in the gutter " a fierce look came into his 
 eyes, though his voice remained calm, " I hear 
 she calls herself ' Lady Cardine,' Is that so ? " 
 
 The journalist shrugged his shoulders, " She 
 tried it. That's how I met her first. They sent 
 me down from the office to see her, thinking she 
 was the real Lady Cardine ; and — well — she 
 amused me, so I've been several times since. 
 What a contrast, though, between the two 
 women ! " 
 
 Sir Gerald stared out of the window, " Did 
 you meet Lady Cardine then ? Is she home ? " 
 he asked in a tone which he strove hard to keep 
 natural.
 
 SIR GERALD CARDINE DECIDES 145 
 
 Weste looked at him in surprise. " Yes. 
 She's in Town now, I beUeve. At any rate, 
 she was yesterday, because I saw her at the 
 office, coming out of the chief's room." He said 
 no more, but remained watching the other out 
 of half-closed eyes, wondering. He had only 
 seen the ex-trader of Mati once before, but he 
 had already come to the conclusion that he was 
 well worth studying. " Something wrong some- 
 where," was his mental comment; 
 
 It was young Parke who broke the silence. 
 He had been fidgetting nervously with his cigar- 
 ette case, and now he seemed to have made up his 
 mind to take some definite step. " I say, Sir 
 Gerald," he began, " I'm awfully sorry I made that 
 bloomer, telling that httle rotter about your 
 scheme. If you'll let me try " 
 
 Gerald turned quickly, and put a kindly hand 
 on his arm. " Never mind, old man. It's a 
 lost cause, anyway. Perhaps it's as well you did, 
 because now I shall hurry out, and get it finished. 
 . . But I've been thinking it over, very 
 seriously ; and I shan't take either of you 
 with me. I'm not going to have the re- 
 sponsibihty of leading you into a death- 
 trap." 
 
 It seemed as though Parke's boyishness dropped 
 from him, suddenly. His jaw set, and his eyes 
 flashed. 
 
 " Don't be a damned fool, Cardine," he growled. 
 " You're my chief now, and I follow you, right 
 
 K
 
 146 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 through. Especially as my own idiocy — or 
 vice — has made it fifty times as hard for you. 
 I'd sooner be cut up in the mountains of Katu, 
 than kill myself with whisky here. . . . And 
 it's one or the other." 
 
 Then Weste spoke, very quietly. " And I shall 
 go, because it's the best chance any man on the 
 staff of the Comet was ever given — and because I 
 believe in my leader," 
 
 The hard lines had gone out of Gerald's face 
 now. " Thanks," he muttered, a Httle brokenly. 
 " Even if I — if we all — go down, the story will 
 get Home, and it may rouse the public, in time. 
 It's everything to me, to get this thing through. 
 I — I haven't any particular reason for hanging 
 on to life, beyond that." 
 
 Once more, John Weste narrowed his eyes, and 
 watched the other, as though trying to solve 
 some problem. Suddenly, " You know Lady 
 Cardine ? " he asked. 
 
 " I've met her," Gerald answered, rather 
 curtly ; then, hurriedly, went on to talk of his 
 plans. 
 
 The guns had already been shipped to Singa- 
 pore on a tramp steamer. It had been an easier 
 matter than Gerald had anticipated. Cardine of 
 Cardine Place could do some things, or have some 
 things done for him, which would have been 
 difficult, or almost impossible, for an unknown 
 man. He had gone to a manufacturer, who 
 happened also to be an English gentleman, and
 
 SIR GERALD CARDINE DECIDES 147 
 
 had, therefore, taken the word of one of his own 
 caste, without asking indiscreet questions. 
 
 " I had hoped to get several more white men, 
 as I told you, Parke," Gerald said frankly, " And 
 I had hoped, too, to raise some more money. 
 Practically all mine has gone now, and we shall 
 need it, horribly, to p3.y our men, and bribe the 
 chiefs. What I got from your paper, too, is 
 spent, Weste. I can't very well beg, you see " 
 — it was the head of the Cardines speaking now — 
 " and, even if I could, men don't give very readily 
 to secret funds. There's no advertisement at- 
 tached to doing so." 
 
 Raja Ismail was unpopular, bitterly unpopular, 
 outside Mati itself, Gerald explained. He had 
 told both of his hearers the whole facts before, but 
 now, when he grew excited, or tired, he had a trick 
 of reiteration, as Weste was quick to notice. 
 The mountain people — and Katu consists mainly 
 of mountains — hated their ruler, and hated, even 
 more, the German firm which was bleeding him, 
 and them, dry. They were quite ready to revolt 
 — or, rather, ready to take part in an insurrection, 
 which would give them an opportunity of raiding 
 their neighbours — and, if they had a leader who 
 could provide them with arms and ammunition, 
 the rank and file, at least, would be ready to begin 
 at any moment. 
 
 On the other hand, the chiefs had more caution, 
 or more common-sense. They wanted to be sure 
 of some profit beforehand, and it would be diffi-
 
 148 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 cult to rouse their enthusiasm, save by means of a 
 cash payment. 
 
 " Abdulla, who is the biggest of the lot, and, 
 incidentally, the biggest scoundrel, will do nothing 
 \^dthout money in advance," Gerald said. " Still, 
 I shall get some of his men, whilst there's another 
 blackguard, called Ali Hajji — a ladrone, really — 
 who will join us, if he thinks we are going to loot 
 Mati. I shall have to let them do that, I expect." 
 
 The other two men exchanged glances, then 
 young Parke laughed. 
 
 " By Jove, Sir Gerald, you're the limit ! 
 Haven't you any kind of scruples or conscience 
 at all ? What is going to happen to the people 
 of Mati, the good people ? " 
 
 Gerald did not laugh. " I've no scruples in this 
 matter," he retorted. " It's an Imperial ques- 
 tion, not my private concern. . . . And the 
 Empire has got to go on . . . a few natives' 
 lives, even a few white men's lives — what do 
 those count, when you reckon up the millions, the 
 tens of millions ? If Germany gets Katu, and we 
 lose control of the world's Highway, as we might 
 easily do — ! " He broke off suddenly, and, 
 crossing to the table, began to sort out some 
 papers. 
 
 After a while, he looked up. " They can leave 
 in time, the decent people of Mati. I shall send a 
 warning to some one there. As for the rest " 
 
 " Yes, as for the rest ? " John Waste asked 
 quietly.
 
 SIR GERALD CARDINE DECIDES 149 
 
 " There are one or two whom I am going to kill 
 myself," Gerald retorted. " At least, I hope to 
 kill them. This is going to be a fight to the finish. 
 I mean to go down fighting," his eyes sparkled 
 for a moment. " The more I think of it, 
 the smaller our chances seem to be. And 
 yet " 
 
 The journalist suppHed the missing words : 
 
 " And yet, if I get my story into the Comet, 
 it will all have been worth while. But, God, sir, 
 it'll rouse men — Enghshmen — as nothing else 
 has ever done, ever may do, perhaps." 
 
 Young Parke was rolHng a cigarette. " But 
 it seems to me as if we shan't have much 
 chance of seeing the end of the show," he 
 drawled. 
 
 Weste turned on him fiercely — there was 
 no question now of the Fleet Street man's 
 enthusiasm. 
 
 " What the blazes does that matter — will that 
 matter — so long as we have the starting of it all ? " 
 he demanded. 
 
 Parke thrust out his hand. " Good man ! " 
 he grunted, " I'm glad you think as I do. One 
 meets so many rotters now-a-days, especially in 
 the Service. That's why I chucked it — trades- 
 men's sons, you know, swanking on what their 
 fathers had collected in the County Courts. 
 This sort of show wouldn't suit 'em. Not much ! ' ' 
 
 A waiter knocked at the door, then thrust in 
 his head. " Wanted on the 'phone, sir," he
 
 150 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 said to Gerald. " Party of the name of Gloag, 
 from the Daily Comet." 
 
 Five minutes later, Gerald Cardine returned : 
 
 " Gloag wants me urgently," he said. " I 
 must go down to Fleet Street. I don't think 
 there's much else to fix up with you fellows. 
 You'll be ready to sail on Thursday ? That's 
 right." 
 
 Parke came forward. " I say, old man, it 
 was a rotten thing for me to do — telling that 
 bounder, Burnham. I'll find him, and punch his 
 head before we go." 
 
 " You'll do nothing of the sort," Gerald Cardine 
 was the commander-in-chief now. " Leave him 
 alone. He'll come to some bad end — especially 
 if he's mixed up with my father's widow," he 
 would never say the word " stepmother " — 
 " Perhaps I'm not sorry you gave the show away. 
 It has stirred me up ! " 
 
 Still, though he might claim to have been stirred, 
 when the others had gone he sank back into an 
 armchair, limp and haggard, fingering his lips 
 unsteadily. 
 
 " My God," he muttered, " It's growing, grow- 
 ing, all the time. It's seven pills a day, now, a 
 grain and three-quarters of morphia. In another 
 fortnight, it'll be eight a day ... I prom- 
 ised you, I promised you, Margaret ! But why 
 didn't you keep me to it ? You know what it 
 means. And I'm alone, so utterly alone." 
 
 For a few moments he seemed to be sobbing ;
 
 SIR GERALD CARBINE DECIDES 151 
 
 then he sat up, took one of the fatal httle white 
 pills out of the box, and swallowed it. 
 
 Ten minutes later, when he entered the taxi-cab, 
 he was smart and erect, so much so that the Press 
 photographer, who was in waiting, secured a 
 most excellent picture.
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE SINEWS OF WAR 
 
 Gloag of the Comet rose heavily to greet his visi- 
 tor. He did most things heavily ; it was his way ; 
 yet, on this occasion there was cordiality in his 
 glance, as well as in his handshake. 
 
 " Glad you came at once, Sir Gerald," he said. 
 " Sit down. . . . Seen Weste ? Fixed up 
 with him ? . . . Good. He'll suit you — 
 a hard case. . . . And now I've got some 
 good news and some bad news for you." 
 
 Gerald smiled ; for the moment, the morphia 
 had pulled him together entirely. 
 
 " Let me have the bad news first," he answered. 
 
 The editor nodded. " Well, it's this — your 
 scheme has been given away. I've got the whole 
 story on offer, now." 
 
 If he expected his visitor to be surprised, he 
 was mistaken. Gerald merely smiled again. 
 
 " From whom ? " he asked. 
 
 Gloag understood that the news was stale. 
 " From a man called Burnham," he answered. 
 " I'm not going to use it, of course, though I in- 
 tended to hold it up as long as possible ; but now 
 
 152
 
 THE SINEWS OF WAR 153 
 
 I've heard, through a side wind, that the Planet, 
 the Government paper, has just got it too." 
 
 " From Burnham also ? " Gerald's question 
 came sharply. 
 
 The other shook his head, " No, from Joseph 
 Darkin." As he pronounced the name, he 
 watched his visitor as John Weste had watched 
 him an hour or two before, out of narrowed eyes. 
 
 But Gerald Cardine seemed quite unconscious 
 of the scrutiny. He was staring out of the win- 
 dow, his face hard and set. At last : 
 
 " I knew that Darkin knew," he said slowly. 
 " He heard it to-day at — at Mrs. Cardine's flat. 
 It — it rather tends to spoil the show." 
 
 Gloag smiled grimly. " I should think it had 
 spoiled it, altogether. Even if you deny it all, 
 Germany will be on the alert ; and even if — as is 
 most likely — the Planet does not publish it, 
 Lecher will hear it from Darkin, and send word to 
 his friends in Berlin. I don't see that you've got 
 a chance left." 
 
 " Still, I shall go on with it," Gerald retorted. 
 " And now for your good news." 
 
 The editor's eyes had narrowed even more. 
 It was a favourite trick of his when he wished to 
 make sure of his man, though, so far, this par- 
 ticular man's character seemed to puzzle him. 
 He could not get a grip of its essential points, much 
 less of its details. Now, he was going to try 
 another method of surprising his visitor into self- 
 revelation. He spoke stiffly, formally.
 
 154 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 " I have been commissioned to tell you, Sir 
 Gerald, that, within the next twenty-four hours, 
 a sum of money will be placed to your credit, at 
 your bankers, to the purpose of your — your 
 venture." 
 
 A shght frown flitted across Gerald's face. It 
 was rather a curious way of making the announce- 
 ment. Then, 
 
 " How large a sum ? " he asked. 
 
 This time, Gloag's eyes searched his face, almost 
 hungrily. 
 
 " Half a million pounds sterling," he answered. 
 
 " Ah ! " Gerald gripped the arms of his chair, 
 gripped them very hard, and his face went a little 
 white. " Ah ! That will be useful ! " but he 
 asked no questions. 
 
 What was the good of asking, when he knew ? 
 There were not many people who could have done 
 this for him, and only one who would have done 
 it — Margaret Cardine. And he did not fall into 
 the error of thinking that it had been done for the 
 nation, or the Empire. It was because he was a 
 Cardine, and because of her intense gratitude to a 
 man of that name. Then, for a moment, wholly 
 unreasonably, he was savagely jealous, jealous 
 of the old man whom they had buried off Sudang 
 Heads. Sir Charles was, and always must be, 
 uppermost in her mind. 
 
 The mood passed quickly, or, at any rate, he 
 came back to practical things. Now, he could 
 buy all the chiefs, even buy the Raja himself.
 
 THE SINEWS OF WAR i55 
 
 Ismail would probably jump at the idea of a 
 lump sum, which would free him from Carl Gun- 
 ther's clutches. 
 
 " I can use it, use it all," he said slowly. " It 
 will just make the difference." 
 
 Gloag's eyes had never left his visitor's face. 
 Now, he was beginning to understand part of the 
 story. " And I was to tell you that, if necessary, 
 there would be another half a million pounds. 
 Only, I was to tell you that there was one condi- 
 tion." 
 
 Gerald flushed. He guessed what was coming. 
 " Yes ? " he asked. " What is it ? " 
 
 " That you kept a certain promise," the other 
 answered. " I was not told the nature of that 
 promise." 
 
 Suddenly, Gerald got up. That promise — 
 he had not kept it. " Promise not to increase the 
 doses," she had said ; and yet he had increased 
 them. Knowing himself to be doomed, seeing 
 no possibility of escape from the drug, he had let 
 it have its way, using it merely as a stimulant 
 to keep him up to his purpose. Without it, he 
 felt he could do nothing, that all his resolution 
 would collapse. 
 
 That promise ! He had remembered it often, 
 constantly. Really, during his waking moments, 
 Margaret had never been out of his mind ; and 
 there had ever been a lurking sense of shame at 
 his non-fulfilment of that promise ; but he had 
 tried to salve his conscience with the idea that
 
 156 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 she had forgotten, that she did not care, that he 
 was nothing to her — save as the man who had 
 ousted her from Cardine Place. 
 
 She had taken no notice of him, had never sent 
 him a word of any kind. Even now, there was 
 not a hne. There was only this magnificent gift, 
 given in memory of her husband. 
 
 " Well, you accept the gift — and the condi- 
 tion ? " Gloag's voice recalled him, abruptly, 
 to the present. 
 
 Gerald nodded. Somehow, he would do it ; 
 somehow he would contrive to manage on the 
 amount he was taking now. He could not pos- 
 sibly refuse the money. It might mean so much 
 — to the Empire. It might make all the difference 
 between success and failure. He himself was 
 doomed — he had no doubt or hope on that point 
 — but he would secure Katu, secure control of 
 the Trade Route of the World, secure it for the 
 Empire. 
 
 Not for one moment did he think of the money 
 as being given to himself personally. It was for 
 the scheme, his scheme. Like Sir Charles, Mar- 
 garet had understood. She might almost have 
 been a Cardine by birth. Almost ! What a fool 
 he was ! Almost ! Why, even the greatest of 
 the Cardines had done no more than she was 
 doing. 
 
 Of course, it was all being done for the Empire. 
 She had never troubled about him, personally ; 
 otherwise, there would not have been this long
 
 THE SINEWS OF WAR 157 
 
 silence. She was insisting on his keeping to his 
 promise, because she feared he would break down 
 before he was through with his task — and no 
 Cardine had ever yet failed in that sort of way. 
 
 Half a miUion sterling, and the promise of 
 another half million, if he needed it ! It was 
 splendid, glorious ! He ought to have been the 
 happiest, or, at any rate, the most elated, man 
 in London at that moment. Yet the fact re- 
 mained that he was unhappy, terribly so. 
 
 He was going away, going away within a few 
 days, to his death. Not only would he never see 
 this most glorious of women again, but, though 
 she was ready to pour out her money for the cause, 
 she would not even vouchsafe him a line, nothing 
 beyond that reminder to keep himself efficient — 
 for the sake of the cause, not for her sake. 
 
 He was going to his death. Already, he had 
 reached that stage when the morphia-taker has 
 no hope left, when he sees himself, sees the con- 
 ditions, with horrible clarity, yet sees no way out, 
 save in death. He was rotting away, body and 
 soul. To-day, morphia was Hfe to him, just as it 
 would be death to-morrow. 
 
 In a sense, he had ceased to resent it all. It 
 was Fate. There had been a time when he had 
 burned with savage anger against the young fool 
 of a doctor who had given him the poison in the 
 first case ; now, that seemed a vague memory. 
 It didn't matter. Nothing mattered — except, 
 to keep up his stock of those tiny white pills
 
 158 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 and to seize Katu for the Empire before those pills 
 killed him. 
 
 Nothing else mattered — at least, nothing would 
 have mattered, had the " White Lady " never 
 come to Mati Harbour. He tried to tell himself 
 now that that was really nothing, after all, except 
 in so far as it had secured him the money for his 
 campaign. 
 
 Katu was everything to him, everything — 
 he repeated that to himself, fiercely. He lived 
 for it, kept himself alive for it, only for it — at 
 least, he told himself so. 
 
 Yet he would have relinquished all his schemes, 
 all his hopes, all his pride of patriotism, all his 
 Cardine traditions, to be able to go to Margaret 
 Cardine and tell her that he had not touched 
 morphia for twenty-four hours, to tell her that 
 he was once more master of his own body and his 
 own soul. 
 
 He clenched his hands, as he thought of the 
 look which would come into those glorious eyes.
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 DREAMS AND REALITIES 
 
 " The promise will be kept." Gerald spoke slowly, 
 deliberately. " I will fulfil the condition. You 
 may tell my — my unknown helper that, on the 
 word of Gerald Car dine." 
 
 Gloag nodded. It seemed as if the assurance 
 was quite sufficient. The breaking of promises 
 was not part of the way of the Cardines. 
 
 He began to re-arrange the papers on his desk 
 with rather exaggerated care. It was not a 
 pleasant task having to say, " Good-bye " to a 
 man for whom you had conceived an immense 
 respect, saying, " Good-bye " for ever — at least 
 " for ever " in all human probabihty. 
 
 " There is nothing more, I suppose," he held 
 out one of those huge hands of his. " Weste will 
 do his part. Good luck. Sir Gerald — and ati 
 revoir." 
 
 There was more than a hint of sadness in the 
 younger man's eyes as he gripped that hand. 
 
 " Make it ' good-bye ' instead," he answered 
 huskily, " that's safer. . . . I'll try and make 
 sure that Weste gets through, gets back. And 
 
 159
 
 i6o THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 the other fellow — but as to myself — " he shrugged 
 his shoulders, then his eyes grew suspiciously 
 bright. " Tell my — my unknown friend that 
 the money will not be wasted." 
 
 Instead of going straight back to his hotel, 
 Gerald turned down towards the Embankment, 
 along which he walked, very slowly, deep in 
 thought . A normal man, having received a wholly 
 unexpected gift of half a million, wherewith to 
 carry on the scheme on which he was staking 
 everything, and feeling certain, too, that it came 
 from the woman he loved, would have been tread- 
 ing on air, excited, jubilant almost. But Gerald 
 Cardine was not normal. Always, the thought 
 of the morphia seemed to overshadow everything 
 else. Now, he was thinking far more of the con- 
 dition attached than of what use he could make 
 of the gift. 
 
 He must play the game, keep his promise. At 
 all costs, he must do that. Her faith in him 
 should not be misplaced. He had fought very 
 hard of late — really, he had been fighting for the 
 past two years, ever since he had found the effect 
 the drug was having — but he could not truthfully 
 declare that he had kept that first promise, or 
 half-promise, made on the deck of the " White 
 Lady." He had increased the daily amount of 
 morphia, and, of late, he had decided to cease 
 fighting any more against it. Margaret Cardine 
 had seemed to have passed out of his life again, 
 to have forgotten him, and except for the coming
 
 DREAMS AND REALITIES i6i 
 
 struggle in Katu, a struggle which must, of neces- 
 sity, be short, there was nothing left. 
 
 He stood against the low stone wall, staring 
 across the river at the shot tower, staring with 
 unseeing eyes. Why, oh why, had it come too 
 late, this love of his hfe, this glimpse of Heaven 
 given to a soul in Hell ? 
 
 That was it — a soul in Hell. He repeated the 
 words to himself, again and again. A soul in 
 Hell ! In the Hell of its own making. The 
 excuse, the common one of all morphia-takers, 
 that he had not understood the danger, was, after 
 all, a futile one. Who can have sympathy with 
 a fool ? 
 
 Yet she had sympathised. For a moment, he 
 felt a thrill of joy as he remembered her words. 
 She had understood, having been down into that 
 same Hell herself ; but she had conquered evil, 
 and had come back again, to sanity and the joy of 
 life. 
 
 She had sympathised, because she understood, 
 and also because she was Margaret Cardine, most 
 perfect of women — at least in his eyes. But sym- 
 pathy was not love ; and, having conquered the 
 demon herself, she was the less likely to forgive his 
 failure to conquer it. 
 
 Ordinarily an unemotional man, he suddenly 
 flung out his hands towards the river, as if in 
 protest against Fate. 
 
 Why should he have learnt the secret of life, 
 learnt it when it was too late, learnt that there is 
 
 L
 
 i62 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 only one thing that matters — the love of woman ? 
 It was a brutal jest on the part of Fate. Before 
 he met Margaret Cardine, he had been more or 
 less resigned. He was doomed, but he was going 
 to put up a good fight for the possession of Katu, 
 and he had schooled himself into thinking that 
 that would be a compensation for all he was losing ; 
 but now he knew, now he understood. 
 
 Nothing, not even the welfare of the Empire, 
 not even the upholding of the Cardine Tradi- 
 tion, could compensate him for the fact that he 
 would be leaving the world which held Margaret 
 Cardine. 
 
 Too late ! Too late ! The words re-echoed 
 through his brain. Morphia alone kept him alive, 
 and morphia would kill him, or drive him to his 
 death. 
 
 Suddenly, he wanted to live. For a moment, 
 at least, the grim morbidity bred of the drug 
 seemed to clear away from his brain. After all, 
 it was a fair and beautiful world, if only because 
 it was the world which held Margaret Cardine. 
 To live, to be a free man again, master of his own 
 destiny, of his own body, free to woo the most 
 perfect of women — once more the soul in Hell 
 had a ghmpse of Heaven. 
 
 To be the husband of Margaret Cardine, to 
 worship her, to have the right to worship her, 
 with his mind as well as with his body, to have 
 her beside him always, — night and day, to have 
 her tender care, her loving sympathy, to have her
 
 DREAMS AND REALITIES 163 
 
 nestling down beside him. . . . There would 
 be some wonderful, indescribable fragrance about 
 her, some thrill in the touch of her flesh, her hair 
 would sweep his face. . . . 
 
 She was no longer the woman who had given 
 him half a million — that fact seemed so hopelessly 
 unimportant, save as showing that she remem- 
 bered ; she was the woman he loved, the woman 
 for the sake of whose love he would have sacrificed 
 everything, anything. 
 
 The fragrance there must be, the glory of holding 
 her in his arms, her dear body — then, suddenly, 
 he came back to earth, to the earth he was 
 doomed to leave. 
 
 A passer-by looked round sharply as he heard 
 Gerald Cardine's laugh, then hurried on. 
 
 " Like a fiend from the Pit," he muttered. 
 
 Once more, it was a hideously drab world, a 
 world which no really sensible man would regret 
 leaving. Of course, Margaret had done it, made 
 him that wonderful gift, for the sake of her hus- 
 band's memory. Sir Charles had left her a huge 
 sum, and she could afford to give generously to 
 the very last object in which he had been inter- 
 ested. 
 
 "I'm an utter fool," Gerald told himself bit- 
 terly, as he turned away from the river. " What 
 should I have to offer her, anyway ? She has the 
 money, and the title, already. . . . She 
 loved him, that grim old man, and it is because 
 of him that she's done this. . . . Never a
 
 i64 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 word for me, though she knows I shall probably 
 not come back." 
 
 Then, unconsciously at first, his fingers went 
 up to his mouth — the old, dreaded sign. A few 
 minutes later, those same fingers began to feel 
 terribly swollen, though they were not so in 
 reality. By the time he reached his hotel, his 
 feet were dragging slightly, his eyes were dull, 
 whilst every nerve in his body seemed to be crying 
 out for the drug. 
 
 He dropped into a seat in the lounge, ordered 
 a brandy and soda, and, with unsteady hand, 
 extracted one of those fatal pills from their little 
 tube. 
 
 " An extra one, quite an extra one," he mut- 
 tered. " It's been a heavy day, so I won't count 
 this one. . . . Bad thing though. I seem 
 to have got into the way of not counting extra 
 ones lately. Bad thing though," he swallowed it 
 down, finished his brandy and soda at one gulp, 
 then lay back, with eyes closed, apparently asleep. 
 When he opened those eyes again, much of their 
 glazed expression had vanished ; also, the hand 
 v/hich he put out to ring for another drink was 
 quite steady. He was beginning to feel the stimu- 
 lating effects of the drug — the brandy, of course, 
 was as nothing to him. He laughed quietly, with 
 a kind of savage, concentrated bitterness. " An 
 extra one, already ! And I have promised ! 
 Still, she understands how the filthy stuff makes 
 us into a Brotherhood of Liars. . . . And I
 
 DREAMS AND REALITIES 165 
 
 shall spend her money as she meant it to be spent, 
 even if I can't observe her condition. She under- 
 stands." 
 
 Five minutes later, a new mood was on him. 
 The drug had acted fully. He was alert, sharp, 
 apparently a normal man, making pencil notes of 
 future expenditure on the backs of some old 
 letters. 
 
 Half-a-milHon, five hundred thousand pounds 
 sterling ! At last, he realised all that it must 
 mean. For that sum he could buy all the chiefs 
 of Katu, including the Raja himself. He clenched 
 his hands suddenly. No ! Ismail should not 
 have one cent of the money, of Margaret's money, 
 of a white woman's money. Long ago, he had 
 promised himself the joy of killing Ismail, and he 
 was not going to forgo it. 
 
 He could buy Albert Darkin, the trader, buy 
 his brother, Joseph Darkin, the Cabinet Minister, 
 as well, buy Lecher, the Labour Member too, 
 and enough of the lesser fry in Parliament 
 to ensure a majority for his scheme, but he was 
 not going to do it. His money should never go 
 in bribes to that scum. He would fight them 
 openly, fairly, would bring the issue into the open, 
 as other Cardines before him had done, in similar 
 cases. To buy an Oriental chieftain was one thing 
 — the Asiatic must always be paid in that way ; 
 but for Cardine of Cardine Place to buy his political 
 adversaries was unthinkable. Such had never 
 been the way of the Cardines. And both she,
 
 i66 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 and the great English gentleman who lay slung 
 between the fire-bars, off Sudang Heads, would 
 have hated him to do it. 
 
 He rolled a cigarette and lighted it reflectively. 
 For the time being, the extra morphia had ren- 
 dered his mind perfectly clear, and he was able 
 to arrive at some decision. 
 
 Yes, he would cable at once to Wang Tu Fu, 
 in Singapore, and Wang Tu Fu would lose no 
 time in getting into touch with the chiefs in 
 Katu. The Chinese banker knew his business 
 thoroughly. 
 
 And then, from the next table, where sat three 
 Englishmen of the wholesome type, lean and 
 short-haired, with the Pubhc School stamp on 
 them, with unostentatious clothes, wholly devoid 
 of padding, came words which made Gerald Car- 
 dine prick up his ears, words which absolutely 
 wiped away a possibility of his giving up the Katu 
 venture. 
 
 " Yes," one of the men drawled. " The First 
 Lord of the Admiralty understands, just as old 
 Charhe Cardine did. . . . The crisis with 
 Germany and the railway strike coming simul- 
 taneously. . . . The First Lord's speech in 
 the House to-day, about the huge oil reservoirs 
 they've put up so quietly, and the number of 
 warships able to use oil fuel — it was fine. . . . 
 To see some of those fellows exchanging glances ! 
 They had thought they could use him, and earn 
 the Kaiserhck's money, easily. . . . Lecher
 
 DREAMS AND REALITIES 167 
 
 rushed out of the House, more sea-green than 
 usual." 
 
 The other men laughed, a Httle harshly. " The 
 Poor Incorruptible ! " the one in the morning 
 suit remarked. 
 
 The first speaker grunted, " Robespierre died 
 poor ; Lecher won't do so. . . . And if Ger- 
 many got a post in the East, a really good naval 
 base ..." 
 
 Gerald could catch no more, although he strained 
 his ears. They finished their drinks, then, as 
 they passed him on their way out, a few words, a 
 fragment of a sentence, drifted to him. 
 
 " Ettie Cardine's latest — did you hear the yarn ? 
 They say " 
 
 The man who was sitting alone ground his teeth. 
 It was time he left England.
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 MARGARET SENDS A MESSAGE 
 
 The Bank manager was suave, almost deferen- 
 tial. During the last few hours, his views on the 
 subject of Sir Gerald Cardine had changed entirely. 
 Hitherto, he had regarded him — privately, of 
 course — as a " beggarly baronet," who was rap- 
 idly depleting his account ; now, with half a mil- 
 lion paid in, in a lump sum, he remembered that 
 Cardine of Cardine Place must always be a great 
 personage, greater than the majority of the mem- 
 bers of the peerage. 
 
 Gerald gave no outward signs of elation, when 
 he found that the money had actually been 
 placed to his credit. The night had been a bad 
 one for him, and his hand was still unsteady 
 when he sat down to draw the largest cheque he 
 had ever signed. He had been trying to observe 
 the condition attached to the gift, and had gone 
 without one pill because he had taken an extra one 
 during the day. 
 
 He had succeeded — but at a fearful cost. 
 That last hour, when he had watched the hands of 
 the clock creeping round with deadly slowness ! 
 An hour only ! It had seemed a lifetime, an 
 
 1 68
 
 MARGARET SENDS A MESSAGE 169 
 
 age ! First the lips, then the seemingly-swollen 
 hands, then that appalling tingling throughout the 
 whole system, and always the horror and loathing 
 of the drug, combined with the knowledge that 
 the drug could give him relief ! A soul in Hell ! 
 A soul in Hell, which had had a ghmpse of 
 Heaven ! 
 
 Yet, shaken though he was, he knew that she 
 would have applauded him. Perhaps, she would 
 even have laid her cool, steady hand on his, and, 
 looking into his face with those glorious eyes of 
 hers, have said something, a word or two, which 
 would have repaid him for the ghastly terrors of 
 the^night. 
 
 She knew. She, herself, had been through it, 
 and she must have conquered it, or she could not 
 have spoken of it as she had done, could not have 
 possessed that wonderful complexion, that sweet 
 and gentle calmness, coupled with quiet strength. 
 His own face was becoming puffy, almost bloated. 
 Every day he had grown more certain of that, and, 
 in his heart of hearts, more afraid of a chance meet- 
 ing with her. She would know, and would grieve, 
 and her grief would be the hardest thing he had 
 yet had to bear. 
 
 A soul in Hell ! How, that phrase seemed to 
 haunt him ! Yes, but with the knowledge of 
 that one pill untaken, that pitiful, quarter-grain 
 fragment saved. Heaven seemed still to be open, 
 still to be a fact, even if it could never be a pos- 
 sibility for him.
 
 170 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 He was trying to keep his promise. For a few 
 short hours, since he had recovered from the shocks 
 of the previous day, he had kept it, and, weak and 
 inert though he was, there was a new sense of self- 
 respect in him. 
 
 But it was too late, always too late. He had 
 gone too far ; he could see no future which did not 
 include the taking of morphia — and morphia 
 means death. For the man who takes morphia 
 there can be no thought of marriage, no thought of 
 happiness. He may love — probably he will love, 
 wildly, savagely, hopelessly — but it will just be one 
 more agony, the greatest of all agonies, for him to 
 bear. 
 
 He is beyond the Pale. . . . 
 
 " I was instructed to give you this. Sir Gerald." 
 It was the bank manager's prim voice. He had 
 been a most estimable person all his life, that same 
 manager. He belonged to a suburban family of 
 good repute. People of Position ; he had never 
 been out of a billet, and could not understand how 
 any one whom he and his family could possibly 
 know could ever be placed so unfortunately. He 
 had never been served with a County Court sum- 
 mons, had never missed going to church on Sun- 
 day, or sending one of his family in his place. 
 When he died, he would be most annoyed with 
 St. Peter, if that Personage could not tell him of 
 any change in the bank rate. Even though the 
 Apostle had started life as a fisherman, he had had 
 time to learn the code of the Victorian Age, the
 
 MARGARET SENDS A MESSAGE 171 
 
 worship of the Supremely Bad in Art and the 
 Supremely Smug in Morals. 
 
 Baronets are bad, of course — at least, they are 
 in Victorian Hterature — yet the suburbs are 
 beginning to forgive them, and this particular 
 baronet had just had' five hundred thousand 
 pounds placed to his credit. 
 
 " My friend, Sir Gerald Cardine — you know, of 
 Cardine Place, the heir of Sir Charles " — the mana- 
 ger fully intended using those words in the train 
 to Sydenham that night, even though, at heart, 
 he had doubts concerning the real respectability 
 of this prematurely-grey young man. He would 
 not look in place carrying the bag in church. 
 
 Sir Gerald Cardine took the note with an 
 unsteady hand — the manager noted the unsteadi- 
 ness, and was duly grieved. 
 
 " Thanks," he said. " If there's anything more, 
 I'll let you know. Anyway, I shall sail the day 
 after to-morrow. I can send an answer to this 
 through you, if necessary," but he made no 
 attempt to open the note until he was outside ; 
 then he read, 
 
 " Those who love you wish you good luck, and 
 pray for your safe return." 
 
 That was all. There was not even an initial, 
 not even a date ; but he knew, instinctively, from 
 whom it came. 
 
 Very carefully he folded it up again. That 
 scrap of paper, the first he had ever received from 
 Margaret Cardine, would be his talisman. If any-
 
 172 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 thing could save him, that should do so. Then, 
 with a start, he remembered the time. He had 
 gained an hour on the morphia, and yet he was 
 not really shaky. He might possibly make that 
 hour into two hours. 
 
 Was her influence guiding and guarding him, 
 after all ? 
 
 There was a new flush on his face, an unwonted 
 elasticity in his stride. In the end, he held out 
 for two and a half hours longer than usual. 
 
 After he had taken the pill, he drew the note 
 from his pocket, and very reverently kissed it. 
 
 Anything that her dear hand had touched ! 
 
 He was a sane, cool man of business when, 
 half an hour later, he settled down to make the 
 final arrangements before leaving England. Young 
 Parke, who had been busy with farewells, steadied 
 himself quickly when he received instructions to 
 go out and buy certain things. 
 
 " But I thought money was so short," he ven- 
 tured to remonstrate. " And these run up to " 
 he glanced up the list " one-fifty — two — three — 
 oh, a full five hundred pounds." 
 
 Gerald handed him some notes. " There's 
 six hundred then," he answered curtly. " Be as 
 quick as you can." 
 
 The other seemed to hesitate, then, suddenly, 
 his eyes were wet. " I wonder you trust me," 
 he said, brokenly, " after the rotten thing I did, 
 giving the show away to that cad Bumham. But 
 I shan't play the fool again."
 
 MARGARET SENDS A MESSAGE 173 
 
 " I know you won't, or I shouldn't be taking 
 you," Gerald retorted. Still, though the words 
 might sound harsh, the look in his eyes was kindly. 
 
 Then, very carefully, he set to work coding a 
 long cable to Singapore. Whilst he was busy with 
 that task, the waiter brought in some letters. 
 One, as he noticed immediately, was from Patsy 
 Wrench, but he pushed it aside with the others. 
 He could see about her later on. But several 
 times he put his hand on the pocket where Mar- 
 garet Cardine's note lay.
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE WAY OF A CHINAMAN 
 
 Wang Tu Fu, that astute and reliable Chinese 
 banker in Singapore, took off his glasses, and 
 wiped them carefully. As a matter of fact, he 
 had no need to wear them at all, but they seemed, 
 somehow, to add to his dignity, to harmonise 
 with his perfectly cut white duck suits, of which 
 he always wore at least two a day. 
 
 He had not been surprised at the contents of 
 the cable which he had just de-coded, but he had 
 been pleased, foreseeing much profit to himself, 
 and. Oriental though he was, he had been flattered 
 at the Englishman's recognition of his honesty 
 and ability. In all probabihty, there was not 
 an Englishman, or a European of any sort, in 
 Singapore to whom that commission would have 
 been entrusted without any sort of safeguards. 
 
 He was a rich man himself — too rich a man 
 ever to return to China, and be robbed by the 
 local Viceroy — but this was by far the largest 
 sum of money he had ever handled. For a 
 moment he wondered when and how this Gerald 
 Cardine, whom he had known before as Gerald 
 
 174
 
 THE WAY OF A CHINAMAN 175 
 
 Raithe, had secured it ; then he put that question 
 on one side, as being no concern of his, and set 
 to work to carry out his commission. 
 
 Wang Tu Fu's chief clerk was as efficient as 
 he was discreet and rapid in his methods. Whilst 
 his employer was interviewing other great Chinese 
 merchants, and arranging that, in the event of 
 his own death, Gerald Car dine should be at no 
 loss — for such is the way of the Heathen Chinee, 
 whom we insult through the medium of our 
 missionary boxes — the chief clerk was buying a 
 small steamer, on which Wang Tu Fu could travel 
 to Katu, buying, too, the services, and the silence, 
 of a skipper who knew the coast of Katu, who 
 had quarrelled with Carl Gunther, and had been 
 fined by order of Raja Ismail, a black-bearded 
 giant named James Hume. 
 
 It was barely sundown when the Httle steamer 
 — she had been known under various names, but 
 was now called the " San Jos6 " — sHpped out 
 of Singapore Harbour. So far as bulk was con- 
 cerned, the cargo which the new owner had 
 brought aboard had been a ridiculously small 
 one ; but the cases had been heavy. 
 
 " Silver dollars ? " Captain Hume had turned 
 sharply to his smiling owner. 
 
 The Celestial had nodded ; whereupon the 
 skipper had thrust a revolver into his own pocket, 
 and had offered another to Wang Tu Fu. 
 
 " One ships hard cases in a port hke this," he 
 had explained.
 
 176 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Wang Tu Fu had accepted the pistol, at the 
 same time patting his hip pocket. 
 
 " One there already, but two better than one," 
 he remarked. 
 
 As they went out, the " San Jose " passed close 
 to that trim-looking schooner, the " Zeta." The 
 Chinaman, who was on the bridge beside the 
 skipper, nodded towards the other vesssl. 
 
 " She may want a captain, when we get back, 
 if this trip is a success," his Enghsh was perfect. 
 
 Captain Hume chewed off the end of his 
 Manila cigar. " Gerald Raithe coming back ? " 
 he asked. " But what about this craft ? " 
 
 Wang Tu Fu shrugged his shoulders. " I 
 shall sell her again. There was a hurry, you 
 see ; and it was quicker to buy than to charter." 
 
 The skipper lighted his cigar very carefully, 
 cursed the man at the wheel in the language 
 used East of Suez, then, " Plenty of money ? " 
 he asked. 
 
 " Yes, plenty of money," the other nodded, 
 knowing his man. Captain Hume might have 
 served six months in Capetown for kicking an 
 insolent half-caste — a relative of a Cabinet 
 Minister of the new Union variety — off his 
 bridge, and some owners might have looked 
 askance at him ; but Wang Tu Fu had once lent 
 him money, without security, being a student of 
 human nature ; and had got that money back, 
 with interest, which was why he had told his 
 chief clerk to engage the man on his own terms.
 
 THE WAY OF A CHINAMAN 177 
 
 It is not every day that a Chinese merchant finds 
 his own standard of honesty amongst members 
 of that nation which spends so much time in trying 
 to convert him. The standard of those who 
 receive, and spend, the money of the subscribers 
 is the one he usually encounters. 
 
 For a full minute, Captain Hume puffed re- 
 flectively at his cigar. He was beginning to 
 remember certain vague rumours, and to under- 
 stand ; moreover, though he held very strong 
 views on the colour question — everything that 
 had black blood at all was black to him — he took 
 the sane view that you meet a Chinaman on 
 neutral ground, that he is different from all 
 other coloured peoples, and for this particular 
 Chinaman, with the bland smile and the gold- 
 rimmed glasses, he had a very sincere affection 
 and respect. 
 
 " So this is Gerald Raithe's game," he said at 
 last. The Chinaman nodded. It was safe to 
 give his confidence, and it would make matters 
 easier. 
 
 " He is Sir Gerald Cardine, really," he answered. 
 
 It was not often that the black-bearded sailor 
 dropped his cigar, but he did so on this occasion. 
 
 " Cardine of Cardine Place ! " he exclaimed. 
 " I was born there. What a fool I was not to 
 have spotted it — the Cardine manner and 
 the Cardine face. . . . Gerald Cardine, eh ? 
 Sir Gerald Cardine, Baronet. Good luck to him. 
 We must drink his health." He hailed the Goanese 
 
 M
 
 178 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 steward, ordering drinks to be brought at once. 
 " So he's Cardine, and he's coming back ! Why ? 
 Why ? " he turned almost fiercely to the Celestial. 
 " Raithe — Cardine, I mean — understood about 
 Katu. Is that the game ? " 
 
 Once more, Wang Tu Fu proved that, even 
 though the Western nations might not under- 
 stand him, he understood them. It would have 
 been futile to lie to an honourable man whom 
 you intend to use. 
 
 " Yes, it's Katu," he answered quietly. " The 
 guns will be in my warehouse next week ; Sir 
 Gerald sails to-morrow. Now, we go to give 
 presents to certain chiefs." 
 
 Captain Hume drew a deep breath. "I'm 
 on the stage in this piece, all through. But Carl 
 Gunther's mine. He called me a certain name. 
 Young Cardine — Sir Gerald, I should say — is 
 not going to save him." 
 
 Wang Tu Fu stared at the horizon. " I am 
 not sure that Sir Gerald Cardine would try very 
 hard to save Herr Gunther, or the Raja Ismail, 
 or Mr. Albert Darkin. Before he left, he told 
 me many things. . . . Yet now there is 
 money enough to buy all those three." 
 
 Somehow, his words seemed to jar. " Damn 
 the money," the skipper retorted, roughly. " It's 
 not a question of that. The Squareheads shan't 
 collar Katu ; and I've accounts of my own to 
 settle there." Then, perhaps because he wanted 
 an outlet for his feelings, he began to express
 
 THE WAY OF A CHINAMAN 179 
 
 his opinions concerning the female ancestors of 
 the steward. 
 
 The story of that cruise of the " San Jose " 
 would be difficult to write ; also, the writing of 
 it might be indiscreet. It might offend Germany, 
 which would mean that Mr. Lecher and those 
 who sit with him in ParHament would be cross. 
 True, they would not be cross enough to refuse 
 to draw their four hundred pounds per annum 
 from the nation, even though some of them might 
 be drawing far more from other nations, but it 
 would hurt their feehngs to read of plucky things 
 done in the service of the Empire, to learn that 
 there are still men ready to give their hves in 
 the service of the Empire, to learn, too, that 
 the heathen in his bhndness, of whom they hear 
 in their conventicles, just before the missionary 
 bag goes round, can be, and often is, infinitely 
 more honourable than themselves. He could 
 not well be less honourable. 
 
 Briefly, the " San Jose " avoided Mati alto- 
 gether — in fact, Mati knew nothing of her coming 
 to Katu ; but, on the other hand, she felt her 
 way into half a dozen small bays, with a coral 
 reef almost closing the entrance, a white beach, 
 with cocoanut pahns almost concealing the 
 nipa-shacks behind, and mangrove swamps at 
 the ends of the points. 
 
 Wang Tu Fu seemed to know his business, 
 and the natives seemed to know him. In each 
 case, he went ashore at once, and remained there,
 
 i8o THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 alone, unarmed, until some one came down from 
 the hills to see him. Then, after an interval, 
 one of those boxes of silver dollars would be 
 landed, and the Chinaman would return, cool, 
 collected, inscrutable as ever. 
 
 Once — it was when they were leaving Kilini — 
 a couple of magazine rifles began to yap out at 
 them from the mangrove swamp, rendering it 
 advisable for Hume and himself to take shelter 
 in the charthouse, but Wang Tu Fu merely wiped 
 his glasses reflectively and cut a fresh cigar. 
 
 " Mausers or Mannlichers — at any rate, Square- 
 head rifles," the skipper grunted. 
 
 The Celestial nodded. " Hertz and Co. have 
 a store here," then relapsed into silence. 
 
 Captain Hume, M^ho had picked up a cordite 
 Express rifle, peered through the porthole. 
 
 " The worst of mangroves is that they afford 
 such splendid cover," he sighed, then he let rip 
 at what looked like a scrap of a white jacket. 
 He never knew whether or no he hit, but there 
 was some satisfaction in the feeling that he 
 might have done so. 
 
 They went out of the bay in style, tootling their 
 syren as if in defiance. A final bullet from the 
 mangrove swamp ripped through the funnel, 
 coming out with a tear two inches across. The 
 skipper shook his head. 
 
 " I can't complain of you, ofificially," he growled, 
 " but I'll get square with you yet, one of these 
 days. You won't forget me," a prophecy which
 
 THE WAY OF A CHINAMAN i8i 
 
 was likely to come true, considering that, even 
 then, young Rudolf Hertz was wondering vaguely 
 why a cordite Express bullet through the hand 
 could hurt so horribly. Yet the skipper had fired 
 only once. 
 
 That evening, as they entered Sudang Heads, 
 James Hume had the ensign dipped, standing 
 himself with bared head on the bridge. 
 
 " I'm glad the sun wasn't down," he said to 
 the Chinaman, who had also raised his topee. 
 " This is one of the finest harbours in the world, 
 and it's going to be ours. So I must salute. 
 It makes you feel kind of religious. Here, you 
 son of an immoral female dog," to the Goanese 
 steward, " Bring whisky and soda here, plenty 
 quick, savee ? " 
 
 The Chinaman smiled. The religious cere- 
 monies of the Western nations always struck 
 him as being amusing. Still, he drank to the 
 success of Gerald Cardine's venture with perfect 
 sincerity. It would be to the benefit of every 
 Chinese merchant for Great Britain to hold Katu, 
 whilst it would be a disaster for it to fall into the 
 hands of those foolish Germans, with their hosts 
 of officials and their lack of capital. The chief 
 of his guild in Singapore had given him very 
 definite instructions. Even had Gerald Cardine 
 not been able to pay well, the whole weight of 
 the Chinese influence would have been behind 
 him. And, in those waters, the Chinese influence 
 is no small thing. The Chinaman of fact and the
 
 i82 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Chinaman for whose benefit we collect the 
 children's pennies are two very different persons. 
 The former actually exists ; the latter is usually 
 represented by a smug Englishman, with a round 
 collar, a black frock coat, and a host of hungry 
 friends and relatives, anxious to share in the 
 spoils, by being sent abroad at large salaries. 
 
 " Half the battleships of the world could lie 
 here, and still leave room for the fifty biggest 
 liners," Captain Hume remarked, as he handed 
 his empty glass to the Goanese steward. " What 
 a harbour ! I would snap my fingers at a 
 typhoon once I was inside. And no use made of 
 it — yet ! Just that collection of native shacks 
 and a few dug-outs ! What a people ! " 
 
 Wang Tu Fu readjusted his spectacles. " There 
 are also some saihng boats — and a large steam 
 launch," he remarked. 
 
 The skipper sniffed. " Saihng boats ! They look 
 as if the late George Washington had made them 
 with his little axe ; and as for the launch," he had 
 a careful look through the glasses, " she's the one 
 that used to belong to Cain and Digbly in Deli ; 
 they sold her to a man called Blackwood in Mati." 
 
 " I sold her for them," the Celestial murmured. 
 
 The " San Jose " anchored a bare hundred 
 yards from the launch, and, within a very few 
 minutes, the boat from the latter was alongside, 
 a European lady in the stern. 
 
 " Hullo ! So it's you back. Captain Hume," 
 Patsy Wrench hailed the skipper joyfully. " I
 
 THE WAY OF A CHINAMAN 183 
 
 didn't expect to see you again, in these waters," 
 but an anxious look came into her face when she 
 saw the bland countenance of Wang Tu Fu. 
 " I'll come aboard," she said, rather hurriedly. 
 
 Once they were in the charthouse, whither the 
 skipper conducted her, she went straight to the 
 point. 
 
 " This is Jerry's business — Sir Gerald Cardine's 
 business, I mean ? I know now that his real 
 name is Cardine." Her tone was quick, insistent. 
 
 The Chinaman nodded. Gerald had spoken 
 much of Miss Wrench and her knowledge of his 
 scheme, and that long cable message had also 
 mentioned her. 
 
 " Yes," he answered slowly. " It is that busi- 
 ness. I have a message for you. It is that you 
 are to leave Mati." 
 
 A sudden flush spread over the piquant little 
 face. 
 
 To leave Mati — and meet Jerry somewhere, to 
 share the dangers with him ? 
 
 " Is that all ? " she asked, breathlessly. 
 
 Wang Tu Fu nodded again. " There is a 
 sudden hurry. He is on his way out now," then, 
 Oriental though he was, he seemed to get som^e 
 inkling of her feelings. " He could not cable to 
 you direct, and there was no time to write." 
 
 She sat down, resting her chin on her hand. 
 The words had soothed her, if they had not 
 satisfied her. 
 
 " You are giving the chiefs their money. Oh,
 
 i84 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 I know all the plans ? There is plenty of 
 money ? ' ' 
 
 The Chinaman became non-committal. " I 
 am here on Sir Gerald Cardine's business. I 
 have given you his message. Perhaps you could 
 tell me how things are in Mati. He will be glad 
 to know." The tone and words were formal, but 
 the eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses were 
 kind. 
 
 Patsy laughed suddenly. " You're the still 
 dear old Wang, who used to bring me sweets, years 
 ago, when I was in short frocks. Don't be so 
 stiff. I'd — I'd sooner die, than injure Jerry." 
 The laugh changed into something very nearly 
 akin to a sob — at any rate, she seemed to choke 
 slightly. 
 
 " I want to see Abdulla. Have you heard of 
 him lately ? " the question came sharply. The 
 Chinaman was going to trust her. 
 
 Her face cleared at once. " I know where he 
 is," she pointed towards Mount Kini-Dah, the 
 great extinct volcano, whose slopes came down 
 almost to Sudang Bay itself. " He's there, with 
 his band. He and Ismail have quarrelled again, 
 and he won't pay tribute. Gunther is furious, 
 and wants Ismail to attack him. Hajji Ah is 
 with him." 
 
 " Good ! " The banker took off his glasses, and 
 wiped them carefully on one of the most perfect 
 pieces of silk that ever came out of the Flowery 
 Land. " Good. I will go up and see them."
 
 THE WAY OF A CHINAMAN 185 
 
 The girl stared at him, wide-eyed with amaze- 
 ment. " But you can't ! You know what Hajji 
 Ah is. He'll hold you for ransom, and torture 
 you. Jerry — Sir Gerald, I mean — would never 
 expect you to take that risk." 
 
 " There is no risk," Wang Tu Fu smiled. 
 " They know, these brigands of Katu, they know 
 the vengeance of my people." For a moment his 
 eyes flashed ominously. " That is where Ismail 
 has made a mistake. Who is with you, on the 
 launch?" 
 
 Patsy flushed, then looked away. " My father. 
 We came round to arrange about some hemp ; 
 but he's — he's ill. I'm doing the business," 
 
 There was rehef in the Chinaman's eyes, rehef 
 mingled with sympathy. He did not want Dennis 
 Wrench to know of his doings, and so was glad 
 to hear of his condition ; but, from the depths of 
 his heart, he pitied this brave little girl, who was 
 wrestling with a drunken father. 
 
 Dennis Wrench was bad enough in Mati, even 
 under Blackwood's eye ; but he was impossible 
 once he got away from the town, and could obtain 
 liquor, usually native liquor. 
 
 " And in Mati ? How are things in Mati ? " 
 Wang Tu Fu went back to his original question. 
 
 The girl was all eagerness, at once. " They 
 know already, I'm sure they know Jerry is coming 
 back. You can see it in the faces of Gunther and 
 Darkin — the way they scowl at me. And Walter 
 Blackwood knows. He's furious with Jerry,
 
 i86 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 says he himself is a business man, and wants no 
 politics, yet, for all his business, he can't forget 
 that he's an Englishman. And the younger men, 
 like Jack Barham and Locock, they're always 
 discussing together, how to help Jerry, I sup- 
 pose." 
 
 " And the Raja ? " Wang Tu Fu asked. 
 
 Patsy gave a little shudder. " Oh, how I hate 
 him — and fear him. He watches me, always. 
 I long for Jerry to come, and let us be safe. You 
 don't hear anything when Jerry is about." She 
 seemed to be speaking almost unconsciously, and 
 quite as a child. " Ismail is always with Gunther 
 and Darkin, and a German officer who has come 
 out. They're putting up a new battery, to com- 
 mand the harbour mouth." 
 
 " German guns ? " the Chinaman was treating 
 her as an intellectual equal now. 
 
 " I think so. Jack — Mr. Bartram, said so. 
 And they've got down some hillmen, deserters 
 from Abdulla and Ali Hajji. It's — it's not too 
 safe in Mati at present," 
 
 The banker rubbed his smooth chin reflectively. 
 He had heard all he wanted to know. He was 
 certain it was true, and he was quite able to fill 
 in the blanks. Now, he became formal again. 
 
 " My principal, Sir Gerald Cardine, instructed 
 me to tell you that there may be a crisis in Mati, 
 shortly, and that all white women should leave 
 at once. I was told to place this at your dis- 
 posal," he handed her a bulky envelope. " If
 
 THE WAY OF A CHINAMAN 187 
 
 you \vi\\ check the contents, you will find they 
 consist of notes for ten thousand dollars." 
 
 Now, she coloured furiously. " I can't take 
 it. I can't take it from him — such a large sum. 
 And I shall stay, to see it through." 
 
 But he pressed it on her. " Other white women 
 may want help. And, if you stay, you will tie 
 his hands completely." 
 
 In the end, she gave way. The same boat 
 which carried her back to the launch took Wang 
 Tu Fu ashore, unarmed, immaculately clad, 
 bound for the camp of the two worst scoundrels 
 in Katu. 
 
 When he returned, twenty-four hours later, 
 his clothes were certainly soiled with mud, but 
 his smile was bland as ever. Whilst the brigands 
 who had accompanied him were counting the 
 silver dollars, he had a bath and changed, and 
 was out again in time to take their receipts. 
 
 " There will be five times that amount — when 
 Sir Gerald Cardine is Raja of Katu," he remarked 
 to the leader of the party, who had spent two 
 years at Oxford, and three j^ears in Singapore 
 Gaol.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE VANITY OF REGRETS 
 
 Five men sat on the veranda of Wang Tu Fu's 
 beautiful bungalow, and, with perfect calmness, 
 discussed the details of a plan which was almost 
 certain to result in the deaths of some, or all, of 
 them, a plan which, moreover, would lead to the 
 breaking of a large number of laws, both local and 
 international. 
 
 Many more people, natives, were, of course, 
 going to lose their lives over the adventure, but, 
 as young Parke remarked incidentally, the supply 
 of Malays always exceeded the demand ; conse- 
 quently, they could put that aspect of the ques- 
 tion aside. 
 
 The five men were Sir Gerald Cardine, Wang Tu 
 Fu, John Weste, Hubert Parke, and a black- 
 bearded giant who had once commanded the 
 " San Jose." After that disreputable httle craft 
 had completed its commission, and had been sold 
 at a profit — Wang Tu Fu was a careful man always 
 — James Hume, master-mariner, had been 
 given the command of the auxiliary schooner 
 " Zeta," and had forthwith made things hum. 
 
 i88
 
 THE VANITY OF REGRETS 189 
 
 He had a wide experience of crews, white and 
 coloured, and a heavy fist ; moreover, the mate, 
 whom he got, with some difficulty, out of a gam- 
 bhng shop, a small and energetic person named 
 Prout, with one eye and two men's command of 
 language, also knew his work. They had shipped 
 a white crew, an all-British crew, greatly to the 
 amazement of the waterside population, and, 
 after redeeming the clothes and other belongings 
 of that crew from the Teutonic and Chinese 
 boarding house masters, and rendering that 
 crew sober, by heterodox, though effective, 
 methods, they had drilled and bulHed it into 
 shape in the space of forty-eight hours, their task 
 being rendered easier by the fact that nearly half 
 their men had received a most expensive training 
 in the Royal Navy, and had been allowed to 
 leave the Service just as they had reached real 
 efficiency. 
 
 They sat close together, those five men, having 
 secret matters to discuss. Gerald was the principal 
 speaker. He was thinner than ever, though his 
 face had a shghtly swollen look, like the face of a 
 man who had been drinking heavily, and, from 
 time to time, he made unwonted nervous gestures 
 with his hands. But his brain seemed quite clear, 
 his determination as strong as ever, his judgment 
 as sane. 
 
 Even the Chinaman, who had read the signs 
 instantly, and knew that the other man was 
 doomed, having the sense of opiates bred in him,
 
 igo THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 had no misgivings regarding the immediate 
 future. Gerald Cardine had braced himself up 
 to go through with his venture. 
 
 Now, also, he had the ways of a leader. The 
 blood of the Cardines seemed to be running riot 
 in his veins. All their genius, all their powers 
 of organisation, all their grim courage, all their 
 disregard of every consideration save the achiev- 
 ing of their end, seemed to be concentrated in him. 
 It was as though he wished the family, of which 
 he was virtually the last — there remained but 
 the feeble, half-witted son of an immoral woman, 
 his half-brother — he wished, intended, that family 
 to end as it had lived, splendidly, patriotically, 
 to go out in a blaze of glory. 
 
 The Darkins and the Lechers, and all the other 
 " poor httle street bred people," would call that 
 glory " crime," but there were still enough Eng- 
 lishmen left to understand, and be better and 
 prouder men because of what one of their own 
 class had done. 
 
 " I shall make my base camp on the slope of 
 Kini-Dah," Gerald spoke slowly. " Long ago, 
 I picked on the place. It is an ideal natural 
 fort. Even if they scaled the mountain, they 
 could not attack us from above, and, in front, 
 our Maxims alone would protect us. Then, when 
 I have got Abdulla's men and the rest armed 
 properly, I am going to march on Mati, coming 
 down from the hills behind, whilst you, Captain 
 Hume, will land another party on the North Point."
 
 THE VANITY OF REGRETS 191 
 
 The sailor nodded. " They've got a new bat- 
 tery in now." 
 
 " I know." Gerald's reply came sharply. 
 " And they've got some Germans to serve the 
 guns. Your business will be not to give them a 
 chance to sink you." 
 
 John Weste rubbed his chin reflectively. 
 " Wouldn't it have been possible to start directly 
 on Mati ? " 
 
 The leader faced round. " How ? It would 
 have needed a small fleet of transports to land 
 our men, perhaps under a heavy fire. The Palace 
 and the Club alone would be sufficient as forts. 
 . . . No, my plan is the only one possible — 
 to use the hillmen to help me to seize the island, 
 and then to keep them in hand, until the 
 British Government comes along and takes it 
 over." 
 
 " And if your Government does not ' come 
 along ? ' " the Chinaman asked. 
 
 Gerald Cardine's eyes flashed. " Then I shall 
 hang on as long as possible, to the end." 
 
 So far, Captain Hume had been Httle more 
 than a listener ; now he asked a question, rather 
 anxiously it seemed. " And Ismail, and his 
 hangers-on — are they to be made prisoners-of- 
 war ? 
 
 The answer seemed to satisfy him. " Ismail 
 has white women in his seraglio ; Carl Gunther 
 and Darkin know how he procured them. Any 
 one who brings me unnecessary prisoners will
 
 192 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 have to provide for their keep out of his own 
 pocket." 
 
 Wang Tu Fu rubbed his hands together gently. 
 Yes, this was a man who understood the East 
 and its ways. Young Parke, never having seen a 
 massacre in the East, a wholesale killing of men, 
 laughed, finding something humorous in his chief's 
 words ; but John Weste frowned. He was keen 
 as ever on the adventure, but such wholly 
 Elizabethan methods did not make good copy ; 
 you dare not publish the story of them. More- 
 over, he had been bred up in the traditions of 
 Law and Order, and, during the last twenty-four 
 hours, the wealth and dignity of Singapore had 
 served to bring home to him, vividly, that, even 
 in those waters, you were still in the grip of the 
 Law. He was beginning to be a little uneasy. 
 Until now, he had not reahzed fully the fifteenth 
 century strain in this twentieth century Cardine. 
 
 " Wouldn't that be going a little far ? " he 
 protested. 
 
 Gerald turned on him sharply. " I have 
 made my plans," he answered, in a manner which 
 seemed to render further argument useless. 
 Weste, remembering the methods of old Sir 
 Charles, merely shrugged his shoulders slightly. 
 It was quite useless to try and convince a Cardine 
 that he was wrong. 
 
 " He fined me, that bounder Ismail did ; and 
 it was Gunther who put him up to it." Captain 
 Hume breathed heavily. '' I don't like niggers
 
 THE VANITY OF REGRETS 193 
 
 of any sort. No. I don't like them," he sighed 
 again. " A nigger — at least, he was a half-breed 
 called ' Smuts,' landed me in trouble in Capetown. 
 . . . I quite agree with you. Sir Gerald. I, 
 for one, am not going to pay for the keep of 
 Ismail or Gunther. But I've nothing against 
 Darkin." 
 
 Always, when that name was mentioned, an 
 ugly look came into Gerald's eyes. He had never 
 forgotten those words concerning Margaret's 
 past. Now, however, all he said was, 
 
 " Mr. Albert Darkin can safely be left to me." 
 
 Once more John Weste shrugged his shoulders. 
 He had met some strange people in the course of 
 his career, but never before had he come across 
 any one who calmly proposed to put to death the 
 brother of a British Cabinet Minister. Yet, 
 " One of the Good Darkins Hanged ! " What a 
 splendid headline that would make ! And if he 
 could get photographs as well ! After a while, 
 in thinking of the " scoop," he became almost 
 reconciled to the other aspects of the case. 
 
 Then, suddenly, he sat up. That old story, 
 the scandal which had been the indirect cause of 
 the fall of the Ministry in which Sir Charles had 
 served 1 Darkin and Lady Cardine ! Gloag had 
 warned him never to refer to it. Gloag had 
 declared that the new baronet did not know, but 
 — this looked as though Gloag had been wrong. 
 
 Darkin and Lady Cardine— Joseph Darkin, not 
 Albert ! If Gerald hanged Albert, the whole 
 
 N
 
 194 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 world would howl at what would inevitably 
 seem to be brutal, vicarious revenge. He had 
 already grown to worship his leader, and, at all 
 costs, this thing must be stopped. Still, there 
 would be time enough for that. He shrank from 
 doing anything now. 
 
 " Miss Wrench said they would leave in time, 
 at the first alarm. I suggested they should go 
 now, but she said it would look suspicious." It 
 was the Chinaman speaking. " She is very brave. 
 I have known her since a child. Very brave 
 indeed. It will be all right," and he beamed 
 behind his glasses, apparently at the thought of 
 Patsy. 
 
 But Gerald was not so entirely satisfied. 
 " They ought to have left — Patsy and Alice Black- 
 wood. As for the Darkin woman, she and Mrs. 
 Earwaker can herd with their kind. But I told 
 Jack Bartram what to do, the fool," and he flung 
 his cigar end viciously into the bushes. 
 
 Wang Tu Fu laughed. " Miss Wrench is not 
 — not too easy to persuade." 
 
 " I know that," Gerald answered curtly. He 
 was thinking now of the letter he had received 
 from Patsy just before he left London. Since 
 leaving Mati, he had merely sent her a couple of 
 short notes, more or less perfunctory in character, 
 quite different from those he had been wont to 
 write to her in the old days, when she had still 
 seemed a child to him. 
 
 It was not that he cared for her less, but that
 
 THE VANITY OF REGRETS 195 
 
 he cared for Margaret so infinitely more. He knew, 
 now, that, even had there not been the curse of 
 the morphia, and had the one woman not appeared 
 on the scene, he could never have loved Patsy 
 really, as a wife. He would have fought his 
 hardest to make her happy, but there must have 
 been lacking the essential, or one of the essentials, 
 of married life — Passion. 
 
 We may revel in cant on this question of mar- 
 riage — we usually do, at least most of us do, and 
 earn glory in suburban circles thereby, even if we 
 fail to acquire merit in the eyes of the Gods. We 
 may take the Victorian view, that marriage is a 
 contract, a business contract slavered over with 
 sentiment, that one marries discreetly, to better 
 one's position, that Love is very nearly indecent, 
 and that Sex is wholly so, that the dear Vicar of 
 our grotesquely hideous modern church, with its 
 sprawHng texts and its ghastly stained glass, its 
 large brass vulture with an unnecessarily huge 
 Bible on its back, and its shoddy German brass 
 candlesticks, that the dear Vicar is right, when 
 he hints, delicately, of course, that the Almighty 
 should be reprimanded for having introduced 
 sexual relations into polite society. To put the 
 question on the lowest ground, the idea is upset- 
 ting to young curates. Those nameless old schol- 
 ars, who wrote the perfect English of the Mar- 
 riage Service, and put the whole matter so clearly, 
 would never have been admitted to the drawing- 
 room of the Vicarage.
 
 196 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Or we may take the soulful view, and prate of 
 love in the Abstract, of Affinities, of Beauty of 
 Soul, of any other phrase which suggests physical 
 flabbiness combined with mental unhealthiness, 
 an inability to realise Physical Beauty, a negation 
 of all that is perfect in nature by being satisfied 
 with Nature's imperfect products. 
 
 But Real Love — the Love that lasts — consists 
 of the two desires — the desire to make the loved 
 one happy, to serve her, to lay the whole world 
 at her feet, and the desire for the body, to own it, 
 to guard it, to treasure it as one's most sacred pos- 
 session, and yet to be sure, always, that no one 
 else knows how great a treasure it is. 
 
 The first desire remains, or should remain, 
 unaltered through the years, and it should be so 
 with the second ; for, though the years must bring 
 physical changes, the mental part, the sense of 
 possession, remains. The memories of past joys 
 are always there, and the deep contentment which 
 those memories bring. 
 
 Gerald Cardine knew now that, as regarded 
 Patsy Wrench, there had never been the second 
 desire. She had been his chum, his dear little 
 comrade, but never once had he looked on her 
 with the light of sex in his eyes. He might have 
 made her happy ; he would have striven his very 
 hardest to do so, being an English gentleman ; 
 but, at the back of his mind, would always have 
 been, and must always have been, the feeling that 
 he, himself, had missed the Great Joy of Life.
 
 THE VANITY OF REGRETS 197 
 
 The world had altered for him when he met 
 Margaret. So few hours had elapsed between the 
 moment when he first met her, and when he stood 
 by her side, as chief mourner, at her husband's 
 funeral, that he had not really suffered the fiercest 
 agony of renunciation, the knowledge that, 
 because you love a woman, and because she is 
 your friend's wife, you must go away, finally, 
 altogether. 
 
 He had known of the other agony before — the 
 realisation of his own doom. In her divine pity, 
 she had tried to give him hope — for himself ; 
 but that hope had died quickly. He belonged to 
 the Demon of the Poppy Heads, and he had no 
 right to love any woman, or to try to win any 
 woman's love. 
 
 Her very sympathy, the unintentional revela- 
 tion of her capacity for love, had made it infinitely 
 harder. She was Sir Charles Cardine's wife ; 
 but whatever might have been, she had been wife 
 in name only for some time. 
 
 She was made for love. Her cleft chin, the 
 redness of her lips, the strange, elusive shadow in 
 her grey eyes, the curves of her body — all these 
 told him that. And, somehow, although he 
 had so little to give her, something told him that 
 she could have loved him. 
 
 Night after night, since that day off Sudang 
 Heads, he had lain awake, thinking, longing, 
 cursing his fate. 
 
 Her dear body ! There would be a perfume
 
 198 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 all her own, a whiteness such as none other had, 
 a thrill in the very touching of her. She would be 
 dainty in all things — lace, and the finest of linen. 
 . . . And only the firelight in the room. 
 
 Yet he had to go to his death. Whatever else 
 happened, whether he won or lost in his attempt 
 to seize Katu, he did not mean to leave the island 
 alive. Anyway, the Demon of the Poppy Heads 
 would allow him very little time, and he had no 
 intention of going through the period of lunacy, 
 which, in most cases like his, precedes death. 
 
 He was going to die for the Empire, die glo- 
 riously, hke a Cardine ! He could have laughed 
 aloud at the notion, and the bitterness in his 
 laugh would have made his companions start to 
 their feet in horror. 
 
 For the Empire ! That had once been his idea. 
 Now, he had come down to earth, had become a 
 normal man, not a Cardine, had become one of 
 the crowd, and he knew that he was really going 
 to his death because life without Margaret had 
 become insupportable. 
 
 For the Empire 1 The Empire was merely an 
 afterthought now, part of the game. At last, he 
 saw that clearly. The woman, the one woman, 
 in whose company he had not spent a dozen hours, 
 dwarfed all else. 
 
 He loved her so greatly that he was going to 
 die in a way she would admire — that, he told him- 
 self, was really the extent of his patriotism, 
 that was why he was able, calmly and deliber-
 
 THE VANITY OF REGRETS 199 
 
 ately, with what would have been the highest 
 self-sacrifice in another man, to go to his death. 
 
 She should always think well of him. 
 
 And then, suddenly, his mood changed. He 
 pictured her in another man's arms, another 
 man knowing, being sure of, the things which 
 he, himself, had only pictured. And he would 
 be dead, a mere vague memory to her. There 
 was madness in the thought. 
 
 Parke's voice recalled him. Whilst Gerald 
 had been sitting there, wrestHng with devils of 
 his own creating, a boy had brought along a Singa- 
 pore afternoon paper. 
 
 " Listen to this," Parke was saying. " It's the 
 Honours List ! Honours ! They ought to get a 
 new word. Joseph Darkin, recently appointed 
 Colonial Secretary, becomes a K.C.M.G. Sir 
 Joseph Darkin, companion of St. Michael and 
 St. George ! I wonder what those two would say 
 if they could be asked about it. Joe Darkin, 
 one of the Good Darkins, the Apostles of Peace, 
 and non-resistance to foreigners, being pally 
 with the mihtant Saints ! Oh, my aunt ! Won't 
 the chapels hum ! " 
 
 John Weste turned on him in sudden anger. 
 " For God's sake, shut up," he growled. " We're 
 all sick of Darkins."
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE MISSION OF THE " ZETA " 
 
 The Governor of the Straits Settlements was 
 himself a member of a great English family ; 
 therefore, he was fully aware of the status of 
 the man for whom he had sent. Also, having 
 an unpleasant and uncongenial task to perform 
 he was ill at ease. 
 
 " I have — er — er — Sir Gerald Cardine," he 
 began, " I have received instructions from the 
 Colonial Office to the effect that you contemplate 
 a raid on the territories of the Raja of Katu, 
 and that I am to warn you of the consequences 
 of doing so. The Secretary of State for the 
 Colonies goes on to state — but it doesn't matter 
 about that rubbish." His official manner seemed 
 to collapse. " You're warned now, don't you 
 know, Sir Gerald." 
 
 The latter smiled. He knew the other well, 
 by reputation. 
 
 " I am quite ready to assume the Darkin 
 message. Sir William," he answered. " It wouldn't 
 make any difference, anyway." 
 
 200
 
 THE MISSION OF THE " ZETA " 201 
 
 His Excellency snorted. " He's an insulting 
 hog. But I have to do these things, officially. 
 Also, officially, I ought to hold up your vessel. 
 How soon can you get away from here ? " 
 
 " To-night — if no one watches us transferring 
 the last of the guns and ammunition," Gerald 
 answered promptly. 
 
 Sir WilUam held out his hand. " Good ! 
 No one will watch you. . . . Good-bye, 
 and good luck, Cardine. It's the great game 
 you're playing. ... By the way, there's 
 a steamer load of Squareheads going to Mati. 
 I'll hold them up all I can, in spite of orders 
 from Downing Street to give them every facility. 
 . . . . If you come back here as a Raja, 
 you shall have a royal salute — and to hell with 
 all traitors." 
 
 Captain Hume was ready to hustle things, 
 and Wang Tu Fu knew exactly how to put the 
 machinery of hustling in motion. It was obvious, 
 too, that His Excellency had acted promptly, 
 for no one asked questions regarding the cases 
 being transferred from the cargo steamer to the 
 " Zeta." 
 
 The job was almost finished when young 
 Parke came hurrying down, evidently big with 
 news. 
 
 " I say. Sir Gerald," he exclaimed, " I just 
 came across that bounder, Reggie Burnham. 
 I had gone into a bar to get a drink, and there 
 he was, with a couple of Germans — officers by
 
 202 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 the cut of them. He was talking very loud, 
 and they were trying to stop him." 
 
 Gerald frowned. Really, the man's business 
 in Singapore seemed to make little difference ; 
 and he suspected that his plans would have 
 become known, or would have been guessed at, 
 even without Burnham's breach of confidence ; 
 but he hated to think of any one connected with 
 his stepmother being on his track. Nothing 
 but sorrow and trouble had ever come to him 
 through that woman. 
 
 Still, there was nothing to be done, and, of 
 course, there was the chance that the little 
 man's presence in Singapore was in no way con- 
 nected with himself. 
 
 That night, Gerald Cardine was in no mood 
 for talking to his companions. As soon as the 
 " Zeta " was clear of the harbour, he went down 
 to his own cabin, shut the door, threw himself 
 into a chair, and then sat very still, apparently 
 deep in thought. From time to time, he glanced 
 at the clock on the rack, with a kind of hungry 
 longing in his eyes, and, with every minute, 
 that longing seemed to grow. That horrible, 
 unspeakable tingling was in his nerves, yet, 
 not until the hour, would he take a morphia 
 pill. 
 
 Ever since he received Margaret's note — it 
 was always in his pocket — he had been going 
 through this same struggle. He was no more 
 hopeful than before of saving himself, of curing
 
 THE MISSION OF THE " ZETA " 203 
 
 himself ; he still saw only death ahead ; but he 
 was determined now to stick to the letter of his 
 promise, and not increase the doses. And he 
 had succeeded, at a terrible cost, a cost which 
 can be understood only by those who have been 
 through the agony themselves. 
 
 He had not increased the doses — in fact, 
 though he had not reahsed it yet, he was taking 
 less than had been the case in London, because 
 there were now none of those odd special pills 
 taken to meet some special strain. In spite of 
 all the misery it entailed, all the temptation to 
 secure relief in the easy way, he kept rigidly to 
 his schedule. 
 
 Margaret had trusted to his honour. 
 
 Another man — who was not of the class of 
 the Cardines — might have dwelt on the fact 
 that she had backed her faith with half-a-milhon 
 sterling ; but with Gerald that was a minor 
 consideration. All the Cardines had been ready 
 to pour out their money in the public service, 
 to make up for official meannesses or short- 
 comings. The great consideration was that the 
 woman he loved beUeved in him. He was doomed, 
 he would never see her again, even if he came 
 out of Katu alive : and she might never know 
 that he had kept faith ; but, when he died, 
 his own conscience should be clear on that 
 point. 
 
 At last, the hands of the clock pointed to the 
 hour. He got off the settee, and, with trembling
 
 204 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 fingers, took one of those tiny white pills out 
 of the box, mixed himself a whisky and soda, 
 then sat down again. 
 
 But he did not take the pill at once. He was 
 deadly white, and, several times, he coughed, 
 as though about to be sick ; but, though the pill 
 would give him almost instant relief, he was 
 going to try and hold out a little longer. 
 
 When he did take it, a momentary glance of 
 satisfaction flitted across that drawn, weary 
 face 
 
 " I've gained twenty minutes, actually 
 twenty minutes," he muttered. 
 
 A quarter of an hour later, he was on deck 
 again, alert, masterful, essentially the Comman- 
 der-in-Chief. 
 
 Young Parke was on the poop with the 
 skipper. Gerald beckoned to him. 
 
 " Did the Chinaman give you any message 
 about the Englishwomen in Mati ? " he asked. 
 
 The other coloured. " Oh, I say, I am sorry. 
 I was thinking of that bounder, Burnham, and 
 forgot. There's a letter here. It came up on 
 a little trading steamer, Wang said." 
 
 Gerald frowned. He had engaged the young- 
 ster — who had left the Service for financial 
 reasons — because of some fine work he had done 
 with native levies in Somaliland ; but he had 
 already regretted his choice bitterly. Parke 
 was a delightful companion, and his courage 
 was beyond question ; but his slackness in other
 
 THE MISSION OF THE "ZETA" 205 
 
 things totally unfitted him for the post of chief- 
 of-staff. Still, there had been neither the time 
 nor the opportunity to secure anyone else. 
 
 The letter was from Patsy. Gerald knew the 
 handwriting instantly, and, as was always the 
 case when he saw it, he was conscious of a vague 
 sense of self-reproach. There was the feeling 
 that he had not played the game with his little 
 chum of the old days. He went into the chart- 
 room, and read it by the rather dim light of the 
 swinging lamp. 
 
 " Dear Jerry," it ran. " Please don't be cross 
 with me because we have not taken advantage 
 of your generosity and left Mati. There have 
 been so many difficulties, and then, too, it would 
 seem like running away. To begin with, there 
 is Walter Blackwood. He is furious with you, 
 because you are ' upsetting business.' It seems 
 nothing to him who has the island, as long as he 
 makes money. And yet he is not a Little Eng- 
 lander at heart. Of course, I think he is a little 
 jealous to find that you are really a great man, 
 the Head of the Cardines ; because when he is 
 tired and cross, he talks about the middle-class 
 English business man being the backbone of the 
 Empire. I got so angry one day that I told 
 him the Empire wasn't a hunchback." 
 
 Gerald smiled grimly ; put the letter down 
 whilst he Ht a fresh cigar ; then went on with 
 his reading. 
 
 " Alice Blackwood, of course, won't do any-
 
 2o6 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 thing without his sanction, and I simply couldn't 
 leave her behind. Walter says you will never 
 even be allowed to leave Singapore, and that, 
 if you do get away, you will fail at the very start, 
 and probably be killed. Father agrees with 
 him. To my intense disgust, my very intense 
 disgust, they are quite friendly with the Germans, 
 It is business, business, all the time. They 
 can't bear the idea of the upset you are causing ; 
 and they can't understand your motives. Walter 
 says it is self-advertisement. . . . You ! Of 
 all men ! 
 
 " He actually had Gunther and Darkin to 
 dinner a few nights ago — to show there was 
 no ill-will ! 
 
 " ' We shall never go to war with Germany. 
 It's unthinkable. The two countries have too 
 many business interests in common,' he said at 
 table — you know his dogmatic way. 
 
 " Then Gunther grinned. ' You Enghsh busi- 
 ness men have no sentiment, hey ? You believe 
 not in the nonsense of Big Ideals ? ' 
 
 " Of course, he was pulling Walter's leg, for, 
 like all Germans, he works for Germany's World- 
 Empire — isn't that the phrase ? — but poor little 
 City-bred Walter was quite flattered. He began 
 to talk loudly about international commerce. 
 
 " I simply had to cut in. ' It's to help on that 
 commerce that Germany's racing us in building 
 battleships, isn't it ? ' I asked. 
 
 " They were very mad, all of them, except Ahce.
 
 THE MISSION OF THE " ZETA " 207 
 
 Darkin and Gunther looked at one another, and 
 the Good One said something about the need for 
 keeping Httle girls quiet. Gunther grinned. 
 
 " ' I fear you have learned much foolishness 
 from your friend, Mr. Raithe — Sir Gerald Cardine, 
 I should say,' he purred. 
 
 " Then Darkin laughed — you know that nasty 
 half-drunken, teetotaller's laugh of his. ' Car- 
 dine ! ' he echoed, ' Oh, yes, there's Margaret 
 Cardine, too, "Lady" Cardine,' and he began 
 some horrible story about her. 
 
 " I didn't care for anything or anyone, Jerry. 
 I left the table. When I saw Walter later, I 
 did go for him, for allowing it. I'm sure that, at 
 heart, he was ashamed ; but all he could do was 
 to mutter that ' it didn't pay to quarrel.' " 
 
 Probably, Walter Blackwood, correct, suburban 
 souled little business man, whose books had 
 always balanced to the farthing, who had never 
 in his life broken the letter of one of the Ten 
 Commandments — he could have recited them 
 right off, and considered them just as sacred as 
 his faith in the invincibility of British Arms and 
 the Beauties of the Albert Memorial — little 
 Walter Blackwood would have been greatly 
 surprised could he have realised that, despite all 
 his virtues, he had suddenly been wiped off the 
 Hst of those who were to be saved in Mati ; that, 
 because he had allowed a certain conversation 
 at his dinner-table, this hard-faced, grey-haired 
 young Cardine of Cardine Place was going to
 
 2o8 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 allow a savage to kill him with a kris. But then — 
 the Suburbs and the City — they are much the 
 same thing — do not understand the Cardine Way. 
 
 You cannot put the value of Cardines and their 
 kind down on a balance-sheet. A Cecil John 
 Rhodes is merely a crude financial proposition, 
 a quotation on the Stock Exchange, and it pays 
 to boom him ; but that John Mackenzie, who 
 made Rhodes' work possible, whose thunder 
 Rhodes stole, the greatest, noblest British states- 
 man who ever set foot in South Africa, is prac- 
 tically forgotten ... He never floated a 
 company. 
 
 There had been a Cardine with John Mac- 
 kenzie when the old Scotch hero pulled down 
 the Boer flag at Vryburg, and that same Cardine 
 had quarrelled savagely with Rhodes when the 
 latter handed back that flag, and had the Union 
 Jack hauled down. Rhodes had no more under- 
 stood his views than Blackwood understood those 
 of Sir Gerald Cardine. They were not business. 
 You could not state them in terms of pounds, 
 shilHngs, and pence. 
 
 " The younger men at the Club," Patsy went 
 on, " are all on your side, of course. There have 
 been a lot of quarrels over it already, and one or 
 two of the English and Americans have said, 
 openly, that, if you land here, they will join you. 
 Mr. Bartram is especially outspoken, and there is 
 quite war already between him and the Germans. 
 He is very, very brave.
 
 THE MISSION OF THE " ZETA " 209 
 
 " The Raja is more horrid than ever. I hate 
 to go out, because of the way he looks at one," 
 Gerald's hand closed convulsively, the nails 
 almost cutting into the skin. " Darkin is always 
 with him, and leers at me, too. I'm sure they 
 think I know all about your plans. I wish I 
 know whether they took you seriously or not. 
 They beheve you have no money behind you, and 
 say you can do nothing with Abdulla and the 
 other chiefs without it. On the other hand, there 
 is a rumour of a lot of Germans coming out to 
 help Ismail. 
 
 " Lady Cardine sent me such a lovely present 
 the other day, but she did not write with it, or 
 send me any address." 
 
 There was a postscript across the corner, " I 
 suppose I ought to address you as ' Dear Sir 
 Gerald,' but I always think of you as ' Jerry.' " 
 
 Gerald sighed as he folded up the letter. 
 Difficulties seemed to accumulate so fast. It was 
 bad enough to have his plans known, to have the 
 disapproval of the British Government, the 
 hostility of the German ; but, in some ways, it 
 was almost worse to know that the English women 
 were remaining in Mati. It tied his hands so 
 greatly so far as an attack on that town was 
 concerned. For a moment, he felt furious with 
 Patsy ; then his face softened. Of course, she 
 was only standing by her friends and her 
 father. 
 
 He must take some fresh precautions, that
 
 210 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 was all, alter some of his plans. What matter ? 
 It was a losing game. If only he had received 
 Margaret's money in time, so that he could have 
 organised things properly, instead of doing them 
 in this amateur way !
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 RAJA CARDINE 
 
 " The finest harbour in the Far East, Sir Gerald, 
 one of the finest harbours in the world," Captain 
 Hume glanced appreciatively round Sudang 
 Bay, broke off to say something which was not 
 appreciative to the man at the wheel, then went 
 on, " It beats Singapore hollow, and it's every bit 
 as much on the main track. I guess it's worth 
 while, this raid of yours. Kind of reminds me 
 of that old shellback with the drum — what's his 
 name ? — oh, Francis Drake." 
 
 Gerald Cardine was busy with his own thoughts, 
 but he could not forbear a smile. The " shell- 
 back " beside him, huge, hideous, utterly 
 without the sense of fear, would have agreed most 
 excellently with the Ehzabethan hero. Were 
 they not all Elizabethan, he asked himself, all, 
 with the exception of John Weste, who was in 
 the chart-house, scribbhng " copy " ? If you had 
 told him that he, himself, was really Fifteenth 
 Century, he would probably have been surprised, 
 and, perhaps, indignant. The Fifteenth Cen~ 
 
 211
 
 212 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 tury sounds so crude, even when you dilute it 
 with the pseudo-culture of the Twentieth. 
 
 The whole ship's company had mustered, bare- 
 headed, and the ship's guns — the seven-pounder 
 aft, and the two one-pounders forward — had 
 thundered out a salute as the " Zeta " had passed 
 over the spot where Sir Charles Cardine had been 
 buried ; but now this new Cardine of Cardine 
 Place found himself resenting the fact that his 
 great predecessor had not been spared to see the 
 harbour. How the old statesman's eyes would 
 have gleamed. 
 
 Fate had indeed dealt hardly with them. Had 
 Sir Charles lived another day, all his vast experi- 
 ence, all the political wisdom garnered in a life- 
 time, would have been placed at Gerald's disposal, 
 and, in all probability, an ample sum of money 
 as well. His brows contracted slightly as he 
 thought of the last. It was sweeter, far sweeter, 
 to have received it from Margaret. 
 
 Captain Hume's voice broke in on his thoughts. 
 
 " You know that kind of belfry in the Square 
 at Mati ; Sir Gerald," it said. " I've been thinking 
 it would be a fine place to hang Ismail and 
 Carl Gunther — there's plenty of room for the 
 audience." 
 
 Gerald smiled, but made no sort of answer. 
 He knew his man now, knew that when, as at the 
 present moment, he was wholly occupied with 
 some matter of navigation, he had a way of firing 
 out those apparently irrelevant remarks, of stating
 
 RAJA CARBINE 213 
 
 things which, for a long time past, had been at the 
 back of his mind. 
 
 The sails were furled, and they were running 
 now, with the auxihary screw, across the huge, 
 land-locked harbour. John Weste and Parke, 
 standing together at the break of the poop, had 
 little to say to one another. Now that they had 
 seen Sudang Bay, they realised that their leader 
 was a great man — and a great Englishman. 
 
 Germany wanted Katu, because Katu would 
 be a colony, and because the possession of it 
 would please the Colonial Party ; but Gerald 
 Cardine wanted it because Sudang Harbour was 
 one of the keys of the East. 
 
 For the two men, the affair had taken on a new 
 gravity. Hitherto, to Weste it had been " splen- 
 did copy," to Parke it had been a " fine game " ; 
 but the reaHsation of what Sudang meant had 
 sobered them. They felt that they were face to 
 face with an Imperial Duty. 
 
 As they drew near the shore — there was a 
 nipa-thatched native village where, in days to 
 come, the great dock-sheds would arise — they 
 saw a number of men, clad in white, stroll down 
 through the palm grove, and cluster together 
 on the beach. Gerald Cardine surveyed them 
 through his glasses. 
 
 " Abdulla's gang," he said. " Yes, there's the 
 old scoundrel himself. He's certainly one of the 
 most unholy blackguards in the Malay Archipelago, 
 but he suits my purpose. He will help me to
 
 214 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 smash Ismail, whom he hates, and then, I sup- 
 pose, I shall have to smash him. Meantime, he 
 wants my dollars, and my guns." 
 
 John Weste knit his brows. Bohemian though 
 he called himself, he had an innate sense of Vic- 
 torian respectability. Really, he seemed to 
 have inherited nothing from his forbears of the 
 Elizabethan Age, whilst his fifteenth century 
 ancestors would have shocked him. 
 
 " It's a pity you have to work with such tools. 
 Sir Gerald," he said, a little stiffly. 
 
 Gerald Cardine swung round quickly. He 
 was not in the mood to brook criticism or opposi- 
 tion. " I thought you understood," he retorted. 
 "It is still open to you not to land with me. 
 You can remain aboard the ' Zeta,' and write up 
 your story from the reports I send." 
 
 The journalist flushed. He had not expected 
 to have the thing put so crudely, and he was 
 savage with himself for what he had said. So 
 he apologised, 
 
 " I didn't mean to cry off," he added. " I want 
 to go through with you — to victory." 
 
 Gerald gave him one of his rare smiles. " I 
 know you will both stand by me. . . . That 
 is where I am going to make my base camp," he 
 pointed to a spot some five hundred feet up the 
 mountain side. " You can see what looks like 
 a ledge ? Really, there's a series of huge caves, 
 and the space outside them is not commanded 
 cither from above or from the sides. As for a
 
 RAJA CARDINE 215 
 
 frontal attack, you can see how much chance 
 anyone would have. There's plenty of good 
 water, and, if Abdulla has played the game, plenty 
 of food stored in the caves." 
 
 Just before the " Zeta " came to an anchor, 
 Gerald Cardine went down to his cabin. During 
 the last forty-eight hours, by holding on until the 
 very last moment, he had actually saved two 
 morphia pills, a half grain in two days, a very 
 small matter to the man who does not know, 
 a veritable triumph to the man who knows. Now, 
 though it was well before the schedule time, he 
 was going to take one, to brace himself up to meet 
 these semi-savage mercenaries of his. He was 
 sure that Margaret would understand — and for- 
 give. 
 
 He knew the necessity of making an impres- 
 sion on his future followers, and he landed in 
 state, as the new Raja, with an armed, uniformed 
 boat's crew. He looked the part, too. Clad all 
 in white, with a white helmet, weaponless, as 
 became a man with a bodyguard, he made a fine, 
 commanding figure, one of those which appeal, 
 instinctively, to the Asiatic mind. 
 
 The little crowd of Malays on the beach was 
 obviously impressed, whilst even Abdulla, a 
 wizened, evil-faced old man, seemed unusually 
 nervous as he saluted the new-comer. 
 
 Gerald returned the salutes gravely, then he 
 and his two white companions walked with Abdul- 
 la up to the principal house in the village.
 
 2i6 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 The leader himself never looked either to right 
 or left, but went on, side by side with the old 
 native chieftain, stalking along as though danger 
 were non-existent. But his two fellow-country- 
 men could not help glancing round at the rapidly- 
 growing crowd of natives, almost all of whom 
 were obviously fighting men. 
 
 *' A choice lot, a very choice lot," Herbert Parke 
 muttered. " No doubt, so long as they remain 
 on our side, they will be ready to murder every one 
 else. But what guarantee is there of their 
 loyalty ? " 
 
 Weste nodded in the direction of the " Zeta." 
 " I understand that our good friend, Wang Tu Fu, 
 only paid them one-third on account," he said. 
 " There is a little more on board our ' navy,' and 
 the balance is in Singapore. So they will prob- 
 ably behave themselves." 
 
 " Perhaps," the youngster looked a Httle doubt- 
 ful. " They're a tough crowd. I wonder if the 
 Raja — the rival Raja, I mean — can muster as 
 many bad-looking cut-throats." 
 
 The journahst laughed, rather mirthlessly. 
 " Time will show us that. At the present moment 
 we will content ourselves with watching the pro- 
 clamation of the new White Raja of Katu." 
 
 That ceremony did not take very long. Every 
 native present was in the secret, and there was 
 no time to waste on mere forms. Most of them 
 had heard of the other white Raja in the neigh- 
 bouring island of Borneo, of Raja Brooke, who
 
 RAJA CARDINE 217 
 
 had done such great things for the people ; and, 
 though there were very few present to whom the 
 state of peace enforced by Raja Brooke would 
 have been congenial, they were ready to approve 
 of it in theory — especially as it must be preceded 
 by a state of war. 
 
 Abdulla's men in white had now been joined by 
 men in blue jean, the followers of AH Hajji, and 
 that pious person himself — had he not been to 
 Mecca ? — was on the veranda beside Gerald 
 when old Abdulla made his speech. 
 
 Five hundred throats grunted approval at the 
 list of Gerald's proposed reforms ; but the grunts 
 became shouts when the old chieftain went on 
 to speak of the forthcoming capture of Mati, and 
 of the loot to be obtained there. Loot is a 
 tangible thing in the Far East ; reforms are mere 
 words. 
 
 AH Hajji, a cunning-faced man of about forty, 
 followed Abdulla. Himself the greatest rogue, 
 the most heartless brigand, in Katu, he dwelt on 
 the sins of Raja Ismail, his indulgence in alcohol, 
 contrary to the Law of the Prophet of God, the 
 unjust taxes he levied, his numerous petty oppres- 
 sions. Ismail must go, he declared, turning his 
 eyes upwards, and the man to turn Ismail out 
 was undoubtedly this new white Raja. Also, 
 had not the latter plenty of money wherewith 
 to reward his faithful followers ? 
 
 Then Gerald spoke, very briefly. He had only 
 to confirm the promises already made on his behalf.
 
 2i8 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 His reception was distinctly favourable, and there 
 was something very nearly akin to enthusiasm 
 when he promised his new followers modern rilEles 
 and plenty of ammunition ; but at the back of it 
 all was that apathy of the East, the feeling that a 
 change of rulers merely means a change of tyrants ; 
 and amongst the five hundred or so natives present 
 there were a good many who felt that they would 
 greatly have preferred a tyrant who was of their 
 own colour, and was also a True Believer. 
 
 Still, for good or evil, the reign of Raja Cardine 
 had begun in Katu.
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 FROM THE DIARY OF JOHN WESTE 
 
 Sir Gerald Cardine — I cannot, somehow, think 
 of him as Raja Cardine — is a wonderful man. 
 No one else I ever met could get through the 
 same amount of work in the same time. True, 
 so far as the landing of the " Zeta's " cargo is 
 concerned, he has two able assistants in Captain 
 Hume and Prout, the mate ; but he is the main 
 driving force. 
 
 All the war material is ashore now, and Parke 
 is sweltering in the job of fixing up the base camp. 
 Six hundred brigands have already been made 
 happy with the gifts of modern rifles and ammuni- 
 tion, and there are four hundred rifles still to be 
 given out. 
 
 With a thousand men — I have not yet learnt 
 the local term for a warrior — we can sweep Katu, 
 provided always that the thousand remain loyal 
 to us. 
 
 They are an unholy crowd. Already, three of 
 them have tried their rifles on their fellows, and 
 are now themselves hanging from the branches of 
 
 219
 
 220 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 a tree about four hundred yards away. Raja 
 Cardine's justice is swift. I believe he would not 
 hesitate to hang even AH Hajji himself if he 
 thought it expedient. 
 
 Parke has two seven-pounders and two maxims 
 up at the base camp — Fort Cardine, he calls it. 
 We have two mountain guns, and two of those 
 light " galloping Maxims " to take with us when 
 we attack Mati. 
 
 So far, our men are well in hand. Cardine — 
 the Chief, we usually call him — sent all his white 
 sailors back aboard the " Zeta," and has now a 
 personal guard of twenty of Abdulla's scoundrels 
 and twenty of Ali Hajji's. Armed with kris and 
 rifle, with bandoliers usually over the wrong 
 shoulder, they have some kind of military appear- 
 ance, and they are beginning to learn that, whilst 
 on sentry-go, they must hide their cigars at the 
 approach of an officer. 
 
 Certainly, every native fears the Chief. I 
 don't know what there is about the man, but 
 he has inherited, or developed, some strange 
 quality of command. I should imagine that he 
 had changed greatly from what he used to be in 
 the days when he was a trader at Mati. Men who 
 knew him then have told me that he was genial and 
 easy-going — a " good fellow." Now, he is court- 
 eous, thoughtful for others, a man to love and to 
 follow, but not a man you can approach. He has 
 his bad fits — and they are bad — fits of the most 
 intense depression, when it is almost impossible
 
 THE DIARY OF JOHN WESTE 221 
 
 to get him to answer you. True, they pass off 
 quickly, but whilst they are on he is like a Soul 
 in Hell, I wonder if it is — But, no, that seems 
 unthinkable. His brain is too clear, his will power 
 too great for such an explanation. 
 
 As I said, these Malays fear him, and, what is 
 more, respect him. I believe that, so long as he 
 was present, he would hold any force together. 
 He is a strong man, and the Asiatic wor- 
 ships a master. Even AbduUa and Ali Hajji, 
 hardened criminals though they are, are afraid 
 of him. 
 
 Messengers are constantly passing between 
 this camp and small chieftains in other parts of 
 the island. So far as I can gather, Cardine has 
 bought up most of the heads of the mountain 
 clans, who hate Raja Ismail, because Carl Gun- 
 ther has made him tax them, and who welcome 
 the idea of anything in the nature of a war, 
 especially when they are being paid for their 
 services. 
 
 It is only twenty miles from here to Mati, 
 across country, twenty miles of alternate rock and 
 mud, bog or mountain-spur ; yet, though we 
 have been here two days, Ismail and his advisers 
 do not know of our arrival. The Chief told me 
 so, only an hour ago, told me in the most casual 
 way. There are, it seems, only two roads leading 
 into the town from the interior, and the very 
 day we landed, he sent parties to watch these, 
 and deal with any messengers. There are no
 
 222 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 footpaths, he says, no possibility of getting 
 through, save by those roads. 
 
 His own spies have been into Mati — one 
 returned this morning — and they report that 
 preparations are being made against an attack 
 from the sea. Strange that they should never 
 have suspected his plan ! It is so obviously 
 the right one. 
 
 He says he has sent no message to any of the 
 British in Mati, not even to Miss Wrench. It 
 sounds pretty callous, but I can understand his 
 idea. The secret would be bound to leak out. 
 Then, too, he is very anxious for none of the 
 Europeans to take part in the revolution. He is 
 here, not as an Enghshman, a British subject, 
 but as the new Raja of Katu, who is going to oust 
 Raja Ismail. I doubt if he can keep up the role, 
 but it is worth trying. It makes things simpler, 
 because, at any rate at the outset, the business 
 is merely a local disturbance, and not an inter- 
 national affair. 
 
 Ismail, we hear, can muster some three hundred 
 native soldiers — brigands, like ours — in the 
 town itself. Then he has twenty white residents 
 on whom he can rely, more or less, and fifty 
 Germans, who have been hurried through via 
 Singapore. The Chief's face grew very grim when 
 he told me that they had been accompanied by 
 the redoubtable Reggie Burnham. That httle 
 man would have been wiser to have kept out 
 of Sir Gerald Cardine's reach.
 
 THE DIARY OF JOHN WESTE 223 
 
 They have guns and ammunition in plenty, 
 but the guns are placed with a view to an attack 
 from the sea ; and, if we make a surprise attack 
 from the land side, there will not be much chance 
 to use them. 
 
 The Palace, they say, will be the toughest 
 proposition, though, if necessary, the chief means 
 to use his mountain guns on this. He is quite 
 ruthless, in many ways. I beheve he does not 
 mind how many lives, including his own, are 
 lost over this business, provided the Empire gets 
 Katu in the end. 
 
 I wish I could learn what is his real attitude 
 towards the Darkins. It's a minor point, of course, 
 but it counts. I am sure he is in love with Lady 
 Cardine — the mere mention of her name brings a 
 flush to his face — but I am by no means sure 
 that he knows the old story. His animosity 
 against the local Darkin seems more in the 
 nature of a personal quarrel. 
 
 Whatever happens, he must not hang this Al- 
 bert Darkin. It would ahenate all public sym- 
 pathy at home, and would absolutely ruin Lady 
 Cardine' s name. At present, she seems to have 
 Hved down the scandal, or, rather, the slander. 
 
 Parke's fort will be almost impregnable. The 
 selection of the place is another proof of Cardine' s 
 genius. The ledge really seems to hang in mid- 
 air, high up the mountain-side, and nothing short 
 of very carefully timed shrapnel from a ship 
 could affect the defenders.
 
 224 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Of course, if we are successful in the attack on 
 Mati, the town itself will become our base, but 
 " Fort Cardine " will remain invaluable, as 
 giving us a hold on the northern portion of the 
 island, and control of Sudang Bay. 
 
 So far as I can make out, no Raja has yet had 
 complete power over the whole of Katu. The 
 smaller chieftains have acknowledged him grudg- 
 ingly, yielded to superior force ; the brigands, 
 like Ah Hajji's, have defied him openly. At the 
 present time, we don't know what support Ismail 
 will have in the interior, though, apparently, 
 our two main allies, Abdulla and AH Hajji, have 
 a host of personal foes, who will certainly fight 
 against them. 
 
 The most important thing seems to be to 
 get possession of Ismail himself. It would be 
 little short of a disaster if he escaped from 
 Mati, and started fighting us in the hills. If our 
 men were reliable, it would be a different 
 matter ; but I strongly suspect both Abdulla 
 and the Hajji of designs to oust Cardine in 
 the end. 
 
 We are indeed playing with fire. 
 
 What a mad enterprise it must seem to people 
 at Home, or would seem, if from the security of 
 their office chairs, they could see it in its 
 actuahty. 
 
 Battle, murder, and sudden death — they would 
 understand the real meaning of those words. 
 And they would shudder at the risks we are taking.
 
 THE DIARY OF JOHN WESTE 225 
 
 I, for one, should shudder — in fact, I do shudder 
 occasionally now. 
 
 The Pale Horse and His Rider seem always 
 circling round the outskirts of the camp, waiting 
 to accompany us when we march out. 
 
 Madness ? Of course it is. I tell myself so 
 every time I try, metaphorically, to seat myself 
 in an office chair in Fleet Street, and size it 
 all up. 
 
 Yet, when I open my eyes again and look round, 
 it seems quite natural. The setting suits it all 
 so well. One expects sudden death amidst such 
 scenery, and the murderers seem not in the least 
 out of place. 
 
 I am out of place, though, because I find I 
 value my skin ; Parke, with his superabundant 
 energy, toiling at the building of his fort, toiling 
 in the blazing sunlight, is out of place ; but Sir 
 Gerald Cardine is not, cool, masterful, slow-moving, 
 never doing a single thing with his own hands, 
 he suits the East to perfection. Given loyal 
 followers, or the means of enforcing loyalty, there 
 is nothing he could not do in the East. Even 
 as it is, he has done a marvellous thing in getting 
 this force together, single-handed, and keeping 
 the savages in order. 
 
 How long will it last though, once he is busy 
 with other matters ? It is easy to arm a rabble 
 like this, quite another thing to disarm and dis- 
 band it. 
 
 When I put the question to him, he raised his
 
 226 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 eyebrows, " My dear Weste," he answered, 
 " that will be the affair of the British Govern- 
 ment, after I have handed Katu over to them. 
 Perhaps they will send Mr. Lecher out as Com- 
 missioner, to put things right, and patch up 
 peace between Abdulla and the other scoundrel, 
 and persuade them not to use their new rifles on 
 each other." 
 
 I said that Parke and myself were out of place 
 in the drama, as our big sailorman. Captain 
 Hume, would be ; but the drama, the plot, is 
 in perfect keeping with the scenery and the 
 general atmosphere. 
 
 We are camped in the big clearing round the 
 native village, within a hundred yards of high 
 water mark. Between us and the perfectly- 
 white beach, is a cocoa-nut grove, little more than 
 a fringe of trees, through which we have a wonder- 
 ful view of this most wonderful of natural harbours; 
 On the other side, is the jungle, dense, forbidding, 
 seemingly pregnant with every possibility of 
 evil, a place of mystery and unknown perils. 
 Above us, towers the great peak of Kini-Dah, 
 a slumbering giant. They say that the fire in 
 him is dead, that, never again, will the lava 
 scar the hillside ; but to me he, too, seems 
 ominous, pregnant with danger and desolation. 
 
 The handful of local natives, mere fisher-folk, 
 watch us with ill-concealed fear in their eyes. 
 To have Ali Hajji amongst them — to mention 
 one man only — is like having a tiger loose in their
 
 THE DIARY OF JOHN WESTE 227 
 
 midst. Even the hideous water-buffalo, wallow- 
 ing in the mud at the southern end of the clearing, 
 seems to have been terrified into a kind of surly 
 civihty towards mankind, never having seen so 
 many men before. 
 
 Yes, the setting suits the plot. The waves 
 lap so lightly on the white sand that their murmur 
 really becomes part of the deadly stillness of the 
 night. Instinctively, one listens for shrieks to 
 come from the jungle. Only some ghastly tragedy 
 could break that silence. 
 
 And, already, the air seems heavy with 
 tragedy. 
 
 Later. 
 
 We are to march to-night, and attack Mati at 
 daybreak. The Chief has just given me my 
 orders. He is unusually cheerful or alert, although 
 the news he has received might well have dis- 
 concerted him. 
 
 They know about us in Mati. Of course, it 
 was inevitable that they should do so soon, just 
 as it was impossible for us to have made a start 
 from here earUer. I don't think that the Chief 
 ever really expected to take them by surprise in 
 the end. Still, he has gained a breathing space, 
 and they will not have time to throw up much 
 in the way of defences. 
 
 A party of twenty Germans broke out through 
 the western road this morning, driving back our 
 pickets. Undoubtedly, they are going to join some
 
 228 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 of the chieftains on the west coast, AbduUa's 
 especial enemies. It is difficult yet to say how 
 this will affect us. At any rate, for the time being, 
 it binds Abdulla, and AH Hajji as well, to 
 our side. 
 
 The Germans, we hear, have landed a lot of 
 rifles. Sir Gerald has received several letters 
 from Mati — one is from Miss Wrench, one from 
 Walter Blackwood, whilst the other is signed by 
 a number of young Enghshmen. It is quite 
 impossible to tell from his face what news those 
 letters may contain. He reminds me of a man 
 wearing a mask. 
 
 What a man, though ! Soldier, administrator, 
 mediaeval adventurer and hero, great English 
 gentleman, all in one ; and I am not sure that 
 one might not add " saint " as well. Saint — 
 because his motives are absolutely pure, because 
 his soul is absolutely clean. He simply could not 
 do an unclean thing, because the tradition of 
 cleanliness is bred in him, part of his 
 being. 
 
 You will laugh, perhaps, to think of me as a 
 hero-worshipper, of me, the blase Fleet Street 
 journalist, who has interviewed, and dissected 
 mentally, almost all the heroes, and pseudo-heroes, 
 of recent years. 
 
 Well, laugh away. They may be the last lines 
 I ever write. We march soon, and I am anxious 
 to get the MS. aboard the " Zeta." But, for 
 once, I am in earnest.
 
 THE DIARY OF JOHN WESTE 229 
 
 I am a hero-worshipper. My hero is Sir Gerald 
 Cardine, Raja of Katu, I would lay down my 
 life for him, and it is by no means improbable 
 that I shall have the chance of doing so before 
 many hours are past.
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 THE DASH ON MATI 
 
 Sir Gerald Cardine, by his own proclamation 
 Raja of Katu, sat in a bamboo chair in the nipa- 
 thatched shack which served him as headquarters. 
 His elbows were resting on a low table, his face 
 was buried in his hands. 
 
 Outside, a sentry, who had orders to admit no 
 one, was pacing to and fro, stolidly, wondering 
 why he was not allowed to smoke on duty. 
 
 All arrangements had been made for the dash 
 on Mati. In another hour, the column would 
 start. Dawn would see them pouring down the 
 mountain road, to the attack. He was taking 
 four hundred picked men, two mountain guns, 
 and two Maxims ; leaving Parke the remainder 
 of the force, another two hundred men or so. 
 
 The " Zeta " was to go round, and make a 
 simultaneous attack from the sea, if necessary, 
 though, until she saw the signal rockets from the 
 hills, she was to keep out of view of the batteries 
 on shore. Half a dozen of her crew were keen, 
 experienced gunners, and they were spoiHng 
 for a fight ; but, on the other hand, some of the 
 
 230
 
 THE DASH ON MATI 231 
 
 imported Germans might be equally good marks- 
 men. 
 
 He had done all he could do to ensure success. 
 
 The fact that his attack was now expected 
 had not disconcerted him in the least degree. 
 He had hardly dared to hope to be able to keep 
 Mati in ignorance for so long. So far as he could 
 ascertain, he had the stronger force, and Ismail's 
 men were far from being reliable. On the other 
 hand, the German contingent was a very import- 
 ant factor, one on which he had not counted 
 when first he laid his plans. 
 
 Still, he would capture the town. His men 
 were not of the type to retreat, with the loot of 
 Ismail's palace and the European merchants' 
 stores before their eyes. But would it end with 
 mere loot ? The Asiatic loves a massacre as 
 well, regarding it as an essential part of the 
 game. Could he save the English women ? 
 Once more, he cursed Walter Blackwood's stupid 
 obstinacy, which, by keeping the women in Mati, 
 had added so greatly to his difficulties 
 
 Several times he had almost decided against 
 the assault, had tried to persuade himself that, by 
 cutting off supplies on the land side, he could 
 bring the town to terms ; then he had stiffened 
 his back, and had remembered his duty to the 
 Empire. He would be no true Cardine if, for the 
 sake of one or two lives, he allowed Germany to 
 acquire Katu. Patsy and the others had been 
 given their chance ; if they had not taken it they
 
 232 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 must bear the consequences. Yet, none the less, 
 he grew pale at the idea of what might happen. 
 
 During the last few days, the morphia craving 
 had been strangely absent. The excitement and 
 mterest seemed to have carried him through, to 
 have supphed the stimulant. Once, indeed, 
 during a conference with the chieftains, he had 
 gone two hours beyond the usual time without 
 taking a pill. 
 
 He had done well that day : on the old schedule 
 he was a quarter of a grain to the good, and there 
 were now no extra doses ; but the cold fit was 
 coming on again, and he had the biggest task of 
 his hfe before him. If he ever needed the drug, 
 he needed it now. Probably, he would take it 
 every three hours during the coming strain. It 
 would keep him up to the mark, keep him alert, 
 clear-headed. Afterwards, when he had seized 
 Mati, and so forced the hand of the British 
 Government, the deluge might come. Vaguely, 
 he hoped that, in the hour of his triumph, a 
 bullet would take him, clean between the eyes. 
 It would be such a far simpler death, than would 
 be the case if he went down through morphia 
 poisoning. And no one, save Margaret Cardine, 
 would ever know. 
 
 Should he indulge in a little extra ? His hand 
 trembled as he took the bottle. One pill — that 
 was due, a little overdue ; it would still those 
 tremors, put an end to that deadly coldness. 
 Two pills — he put out a second one ; it would
 
 THE DASH ON MATI 233 
 
 mean exhilaration, temporary strength. Then, 
 he put the second pill back in the bottle. He 
 had promised her. 
 
 The pill did its work quickly. Within a few 
 minutes he summoned his servants to pack up 
 the last of his gear ; then stalked out to inspect 
 his troops, who were already drawn up in some 
 sort of ragged formation. 
 
 There was only a trail connecting Sudang Bay 
 with Mati, and it would be a case of doing the 
 march in single file ; but, as practically no bag- 
 gage of any sort was being taken, there was no 
 reason why the column should tail out unduly. 
 The danger of a counter attack, of some of Ismail's 
 adherents dashing out of the jungle and cutting 
 the line, was small. So far, they had hardly had 
 time to form any plans. 
 
 A murmur ran along the lines as the tall, white- 
 clad figure appeared, a murmur which spoke of 
 respect, of fear, almost of loyalty. A riding 
 switch in his hand, an automatic pistol in a white 
 buckskin holster — these were the Raja's sole 
 weapons, whilst the sole signs of his sovereignty 
 were the poise of his head, the flash in his eyes. 
 
 It was very difficult to believe that he was the 
 man who, only a few months ago, had been merely 
 a trader in Mati. 
 
 John Weste watched him with wondering 
 admiration. 
 
 " Heredity," he remarked to Herbert Parke. 
 " I suppose that is the result of being Cardine of
 
 234 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Cardine Place, of knowing you are the Head of 
 the Cardines. But if anything happens to him, 
 and that miserable little half-brother succeeds — " 
 he broke off, and shrugged his shoulders. 
 
 Parke, who was extremely unhappy at being 
 left behind in command of the base, growled, 
 " Is the kid really a Cardine ? Is it legitimate ? " 
 
 Once more, the journalist shrugged his shoulders. 
 " You know what Ettie Cardine's moral standard 
 is. But you could never be in doubt as to this 
 man's son." 
 
 Before the other could answer, Gerald Cardine 
 had turned to them. He took Parke aside, gave 
 him a few final instructions, said a few curt words 
 of appreciation concerning his work, then handed 
 him a sealed envelope. " This is for my cousin, 
 Lady Cardine, in case anything happens to me," 
 he said. " Only give it to her in that event. 
 You understand ? "
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 JOHN WESTE'S diary AGAIN 
 
 They say that a nightmare lasts only a few 
 seconds. Then it is over, and, though you may 
 awaken trembling, wet with perspiration, you 
 are in bed, safe, and it is only a question of min- 
 utes before you are a normal man again. 
 
 But imagine, if you can, a nightmare which 
 lasted, without intermission, from dusk till dawn, 
 a long-drawn-out horror, which was no mere 
 fiction of the brain, but was real, with real 
 physical sufferings, real dangers. 
 
 Owe march from Sudang Bay to Mati was such 
 a nightmare. Mud and mountains ! I have been 
 in some bad country, in Manchuria, in Thrace, 
 in South Africa, but I have never seen anything 
 to equal the jungle of Katu. Perhaps " seen " 
 is not the right word, because it was too dark to 
 make out anything. It was merely a case of 
 stumbling forward bUndly, of catching your feet 
 in the roots of trees, of plunging ankle-deep, knee 
 deep, even waist-deep, into mud, of being torn by 
 huge thorns, stung by unseen plants, of toiling up 
 impossibly steep and muddy rises, slipping back 
 
 235
 
 236 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 a foot for every two feet you gained, of having 
 your eyes so full of salt perspiration that you would 
 not have been able to see, even in broad daylight, 
 of sliding down a hillside where the twelve foot 
 high grass, heavy with cold dew, drove home a 
 chill which made you shiver to the bone, of having 
 your boots so caked with mud that it was a weari- 
 ness to lift them, of being so exhausted, so winded, 
 that, had you not been a white man amongst 
 coloured men, you would have lain down, in the 
 mud, and prayed for death. 
 
 I am not exaggerating. Candidly, I do not 
 know how I managed to pull through that night 
 trek in the jungle. From the very outset, the 
 pace was too stiff for me. I was near the head of 
 the column, just behind the Chief himself, and 
 there was no possibility of lagging, no chance of 
 even a minute's rest. 
 
 Gerald Cardine seemed absolutely tireless. Not 
 one of his native followers showed less signs of 
 fatigue. He stalked on, as though mud, hills, 
 and long grass, were non-existent. 
 
 We halted at about midnight. Heavens, how 
 glad I was to throw myself down on the wet 
 grass ! At first I was too exhausted even to 
 drink the brandy and soda which the Chief sent 
 me; but after I had recovered a little, I took 
 it, and it pulled me together ; then my head 
 servant came along, and suggested that it would 
 be well to look for leeches. They found a dozen 
 on me, some, which had recently affixed them-
 
 JOHN WESTE'S DIARY AGAIN 237 
 
 selves, like tiny caterpillars, whilst the first- 
 comers were bloated to a huge size. The leeches 
 are not amongst the least of the plagues of the 
 jungle of Katu. 
 
 After a while. Sir Gerald, who had been in 
 conference with AbduUa, sent for me. Despite 
 the hour, he had changed his muddy clothes, 
 and was smart as ever. But there was a shadow 
 in his eyes, an unwonted weariness in his voice. 
 
 " We are well up to time," he said. " We can 
 stay here another hour, and still be at Mati at 
 dawn. We're going to take the town, Weste — we 
 must take it— but I feel, somehow, I am going 
 down in the fight. If I do, you must take com- 
 mand. I think they will obey you. I know 
 you will do your best. . . . Blackwood is 
 a fool. He wrote me an insulting letter to-day, 
 saying I am interfering with business, that he 
 would probably do better under the German 
 flag than the British, and hinting that I had 
 swindled him in selling him my business. If 
 I live, he will regret that later. I had another 
 letter from Bartram, and several of the younger 
 Englishmen. They want to cut in when we 
 attack, and have managed to get rifles and 
 ammunition hidden in the Club. That may 
 
 prove useful. Then, Miss Wrench " he 
 
 paused, to hght a fresh cigar, and seemed dis- 
 inclined to continue. 
 
 " Yes, Miss Wrench ? " I broke the silence 
 at last.
 
 238 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 There was unwonted passion in his eyes. 
 " She's still there," he answered. " Why didn't 
 she leave, she and Alice Blackwood ? It isn't 
 fair to me. These men of ours will be savages, 
 if we take the town. It's piling up my anxieties. 
 My God 1 I would have given anything to have 
 had them out of it all. It's a hideous risk. But 
 they must take their chance." He flung his 
 newly-Hghted cigar away, and buried his head 
 in his hands. 
 
 When he looked up, his face was harder than 
 ever, and, somehow, it seemed to me that I had 
 never noticed before how many grey hairs he had. 
 
 " They must take their chance, Weste," he 
 said, very quietly. " This is not my private 
 concern. It is a matter for the Empire, a matter 
 of vital importance. We can't think of lives, 
 even the lives of those for whom we care," his 
 face grew suddenly grey and drawn. " It's 
 got to go on. . . . I did my best." Then, 
 with one of his quick changes of mood, he told 
 me of his plans for the attack. " You keep out 
 of danger, as far as possible," he said. " Your 
 business is to write the story, and, if I fall, to 
 take my place. That wasn't in the original 
 contract, I know, but I've got your measure 
 now, and know that you could do it. Parke is 
 just an overgrown boy." 
 
 When we started off again, the trail seemed 
 better. Perhaps I had become accustomed to 
 that abominable mud, or it may be that my
 
 JOHN WESTE'S DIARY AGAIN 239 
 
 mind was too fully occupied with other things 
 for the physical discomforts to count so greatly, 
 
 I had accepted Sir Gerald Cardine's charge, 
 I, who had never filled any post higher than that 
 of special correspondent for a London daily, 
 had promised to act as Raja of Katu, in the event 
 of the new Raja's death. 
 
 The whole thing had been done so quietly, 
 with an entire absence of emotion. Gerald 
 Cardine might have been asking me to represent 
 him at some social function. I suppose I have 
 the ordinary amount of courage served out to 
 the men of this age, but I could never face the 
 idea of death as the Chief did. As I tramped 
 along, just behind him, I tried to analyse his 
 attitude. There was nothing suicidal about 
 it, and it could hardly be described as fatalism. 
 It was rather that he seemed to see, in Death, 
 the solution of some terrible problem. With 
 the capture of Mati, the greater part of his work 
 would be done. The raid on Katu would have 
 succeeded, and it was difhcult to see how the 
 British Government could avoid taking over the 
 island. Public attention wculd be focussed on 
 Katu instantly, the pubhc would probably come 
 to realise the immense importance of the question, 
 and the authorities at Home would be compelled 
 to take action. 
 
 But why should he be so ready to die ? Why 
 should he seem almost to welcome the idea of 
 death ? There is some factor in Gerald Cardine's
 
 240 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 life which I have not yet managed to grasp, 
 something I do not understand in the least 
 degree. His manner varies so tremendously, 
 from moody silence to actual exhilaration, varies, 
 occasionally, in a few minutes. Then there are 
 times when he seems in actual pain, when his 
 face is drawn, his hand unsteady, when every 
 nerve seems to be racked. 
 
 It was about five o'clock when we halted again. 
 The first streak of dawn had just appeared in the 
 east. 
 
 Sir Gerald turned to me. " We are on the hill 
 above Mati now," he said, in a quiet voice, " I 
 am going to attack at once. Remember, I want 
 you to keep out of danger, as far as possible. If 
 I'm killed, so much will depend on you." 
 
 He stood for a moment, very still, staring to- 
 wards the town ; then, slowly, took a flask out 
 of his pocket, poured some brandy and water 
 into a cup, and stepped a little to one side, amongst 
 the bush. A few seconds later, he returned, 
 gave me a keen, questioning look, and immedi- 
 ately afterwards began to fire out his final in- 
 structions to his lieutenants. 
 
 The original plan had been for a double attack 
 from the land side, as well as an attack — shell- 
 fire — from the sea ; but, on learning that Ismail 
 knew of his presence at Sudang Bay, the Chief had 
 altered his schemes entirely. Now, we had, it 
 seemed, crossed over at the western pass, the 
 furthest from Sudang, and were to pour down
 
 JOHN WESTE'S DIARY AGAIN 241 
 
 that on to the town. It was certain that Ismail 
 would have concentrated on the defence of the 
 eastern road — herein was the explanation of that 
 terrible, cross-country trek we had just made, 
 that nightmare of mud and weariness — and that 
 the other road would not be so well guarded. 
 
 Gerald Cardine knew the Asiatic ; knew that 
 the latter would reckon on his doing the obvious 
 thing, and, therefore, did the thing which was not 
 obvious, the thing against which a white enemy 
 would have been on guard. Very few Asiatics 
 would, willingly, have undertaken that terrible 
 journey in the darkness. 
 
 The number of men who had fallen out was 
 very small — AbduUa and Ali Hajji had trained 
 their followers well — and all were surprisingly 
 fit, keenly anxious to begin killing. I had won- 
 dered several times during the night about our 
 artillery, the two mountain guns, and the two 
 galloping Maxims. During the march, I had seen 
 nothing of them, but now they were ready, dragged 
 through that awful mud, up those appalling hills, 
 by some marvel of human strength and endur- 
 ance. 
 
 It was still too dark to see the town clearly, but 
 I gathered from the Chief that our halting-place 
 commanded it entirely, and that he was going 
 to leave the two mountain guns, and fifty picked 
 men, there, under the command of one of the 
 " Zeta's " crew, an ex-naval gunner, who had been 
 picked out for the job. If necessary, he could 
 Q
 
 242 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 shell almost any building in Mati, whilst the new 
 German guns might find it hard to locate him. 
 The Maxims we were to take with us. 
 
 " All quiet in the town " — a spy slid out of the 
 gloom, and made that report. 
 
 I saw the Chief's brows contract. That same 
 quietude seemed ominous. Surely, they knew 
 we were coming ; at any rate, they knew we were 
 coming soon. 
 
 You could see the path plainly by the time we 
 were half way down the slope leading to Mati. 
 We halted again, whilst the scouts went forward, 
 then, when they had reported that all was appar- 
 ently clear, we went on once more. As we reached 
 the level ground, where several roads coming 
 from different parts of the town, join together at 
 the foot of our mountain track, we could make 
 out the sights of our rifles easily. 
 
 The Chief and Abdulla were almost at the head 
 of the column, Ali Hajji being in command of 
 the rearguard. The men were now all well 
 together. There was no longer any tailing-off. 
 Would not the laggard run the risk of losing his 
 share of the loot ? 
 
 On the level, our men spread out, noiselessly, 
 quivering with excitement, ready for the final 
 dash. There was an open space, twenty yards 
 in width on an average, strewn with large stones 
 from the hillside, then the native houses began, 
 nipa shacks perched high on bamboo frameworks, 
 six or eight feet above the ground, scores of houses,
 
 JOHN WESTE'S DIARY AGAIN 243 
 
 hundreds of hovels, apparently, huddled to- 
 gether. 
 
 A few cocks were crowing ; in the pens under- 
 neath the shacks, lean pigs were beginning to 
 grunt hungrily ; a dozen dogs stretched them- 
 selves, scratched vigorously at their parasites ; 
 then began to bark. But there was no sign of a 
 human being. 
 
 Sir Gerald Cardine glanced at his army. All 
 his men were now out of the jungle, all were ready ; 
 then he turned to Abdulla, who was standing 
 beside him, an even more wicked look than usual 
 on his face. 
 
 I could see that it was the order for the attack 
 that was being given, but that order was never 
 finished. 
 
 Suddenly, from the nipa shacks in front of us 
 a volley was poured in. Loopholes had been made 
 in those palm leaf walls, and the unseen enemy 
 was shooting at us from a few yards' range. The 
 effect on our men, massed together as they were, 
 was terrible. A dozen of them went down at 
 once, and then, with lightning rapidity, a Maxim 
 was rushed out into the road, and swung round to 
 cover us. 
 
 It was the critical moment of the whole venture. 
 
 Had that machine gun got to work, our men 
 would, inevitably, have broken and fled to cover ; 
 and it would have been impossible to induce them 
 to make a second attack. Yet, in the crisis, our 
 luck held good.
 
 244 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Our men had recovered from the first shock, and 
 were firing back, firing wildly at unseen enemies, 
 but several had the sense to fire at the Maxim, 
 and, whilst one bullet tore the cartridge belt of 
 the gun, another took the white man who was in 
 command clean through the throat. 
 
 I saw all that quite clearly, for I was standing 
 still, watching with a kind of stupefied surprise, 
 then it came home to me that Gerald Cardine was 
 charging at the head of a yelling mob, and that 
 the nearer I got to those nipa shacks, the less 
 likely I was to be shot. 
 
 How long that first episode lasted I do not know. 
 I was with the party which rushed the enemy's 
 Maxim, and I remember clearly that two Ger- 
 mans, who stood their ground splendidly, were 
 cut down, one of them by Abdulla's own kris, 
 and that the Chief swore savagely because they 
 had neither fled nor surrendered. 
 
 Every one seemed still to be shooting. Bullets 
 were flying in every direction. Then there was 
 a yell of triumph, followed by a yell of despair, a 
 fierce crackling, a wave of hot air, a dense cloud 
 of smoke enveloping us. Our men had fired the 
 shacks, to burn out the defenders. That portion 
 of Mati was doomed. 
 
 There was a lot of killing just then, as 
 Ismail's men tumbled out of the houses, and 
 they died game, as the number of our own dead 
 testified. 
 
 The heat was growing awful — I remember that
 
 JOHN WESTE'S DIARY AGAIN 245 
 
 part clearly. Next, there seemed to be no enemy 
 in front of us, and we were charging down to the 
 centre of the town. Cardine must have shouted 
 something to me, for I knew we were heading for 
 the big Square, and that the main fight had yet to 
 come, 
 
 A shell screamed overhead, and burst somewhere 
 on our front. Our gunner on the hillside had seen 
 something, and had got to work. Another shell 
 followed quickly, then another. 
 
 We were in a wide street now, cobbled, with 
 stone-built houses on either side. What a long 
 way it seemed. 
 
 Then, a turn in the road, and there was the 
 Square. And in the centre of that Square was a 
 fort, hastily constructed, crude, but equipped with 
 four seven-pounders, and full of men, white as 
 well as brown. 
 
 All this time — it can only have been a few min- 
 utes really — the Chief had been ahead. Now, 
 he held up his hand, stopping the rush. He had 
 seen barbed wire coiled on the ground, and to 
 go on was suicide. 
 
 Panting, half-blinded with perspiration, dimly 
 conscious that my side had been scored by a 
 bullet, I found myself leaning against the wall 
 of a house. Those seven-pounders had only got 
 off a couple of rounds before we were back, round 
 the turn in the road. 
 
 The next move — what was it to be ? For the 
 first time, I saw a look of indecision on Gerald
 
 246 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 Cardine's face. The men were blood-hot. It was 
 now or never. 
 
 Our httle mountain guns were still firing, and 
 it was obvious that they were shooting at that 
 fort, but they did not seem to have accomplished 
 much as yet. 
 
 Another scream in the air, a scream from the 
 harbour side, followed by a loud explosion — 
 instantly, the Chief's face cleared. It must be 
 the " Zeta," shelling the fort. But half-a-dozen 
 more shells came in such rapid succession and 
 the reports were so heavy that his frown came 
 back. The " Zeta " had no quick-firers of that 
 size. 
 
 Really, it had been little more than a question 
 of seconds, a breathing space, since we had re- 
 treated, a question of minutes only since the firing 
 of the first shot. 
 
 Cardine strode over to me. " Give the guns 
 a few minutes longer," he said hoarsely. " Those 
 fellows in the fort will find it too hot, being shelled 
 from both sides. Then, somehow, we must get 
 through that barbed wire." 
 
 Three more shells from the sea, two more from 
 the mountain guns ; then — absolute silence. 
 
 Regardless of the risk — the fort was full of 
 men with rifles waiting for us to reappear — the 
 Chief strode forward to the turn in the road, stood 
 very still for a moment, then waved his helmet. 
 
 " Tliey've surrendered," he cried as I reached 
 his side. " They've had enough. Mati is ours.
 
 JOHN WESTE'S DIARY AGAIN 247 
 
 And, by God, Weste, look at that steamer, look 
 at her, the one that's been firing, that's saved us. 
 It's not the ' Zeta ' at all. It's the ' White Lady '." 
 
 I glanced up at him, and saw that his face was 
 deadly white. 
 
 So Margaret Cardine had taken a hand in the 
 Great Game.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 IN MATI : THE DIARY AGAIN 
 
 A SHAMBLES— that was the only possible way of 
 describing the condition of that fort in the square 
 at Mati. It had been constructed very hastily, 
 though the man who made it had known his work 
 — they were never sure afterwards which body 
 was his — but it had never entered into the mind of 
 its builder that 4.7 shells, perfectly aimed, per- 
 fectly timed, might come screaming in from sea- 
 ward. He had seven pounders, a couple of Max- 
 ims, and many riflemen ; moreover, he had all 
 the houses round the Square garrisoned by loyal, 
 or pseudo-loyal, subjects of the Raja Ismail. 
 And, above all, he had that terrible barbed wire. 
 But he felt so certain of the land attack that he 
 withdrew his gunners from the harbour fort, and, 
 as I said before, the possibility of 4.7 sheUs never 
 entered into his head. 
 
 No one can blame that German ofhcer. Had 
 the first shell not killed him, he would have found 
 that Sir Gerald Cardine was as greatly surprised 
 as himself. Perhaps the greatest thing about 
 
 248
 
 IN MATI: THE DIARY AGAIN 249 
 
 Lady Cardine's achievement was that she had 
 managed to keep her plans a dead secret. 
 
 A shambles ! I could not have believed that 
 shell-fire could have been so appalhngly effective. 
 Every gun was out of action, nearly every white 
 man in the fort was killed or wounded. From 
 the houses round the square, Ismail's men were 
 pouring, their rifles left behind, scurrying to cover. 
 
 Supposing those terrible guns should be turned 
 on them ! 
 
 The mountain guns had, we found, accompHshed 
 very little, as they only commanded one corner 
 of the fort. They, alone, could never have saved 
 the situation. 
 
 From one building, however, men did not 
 scurry. Instead, they came out on to the bal- 
 cony, a score or more of them, rifles in hand, and 
 cheered and cheered again at the sight of the Chief. 
 That building was the Mati Club, which, for the 
 last twenty-four hours, had sheltered almost all 
 the British in the town. 
 
 Carl Gunther, it seemed, had urged an attack 
 on it, and Ismail had agreed ; but the German 
 officer had vetoed the idea promptly. 
 
 "It is not my affair to make a local disturb- 
 ance into an international matter," he said stiffly. 
 " Those gentlemen have done nothing which 
 would justify their being murdered. It is no 
 crime in them to wish for the success of their 
 countryman," he had looked rather hard at Albert 
 Darkin as he said the last words. Mr. Darkin had
 
 250 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 flushed. Somehow, he had never felt at ease in 
 the presence of this starched, ceremonious person, 
 who had a ridiculous " von " before his name. He 
 preferred the ordinary German, the man to whom 
 you could talk business. 
 
 This, of course, I learnt later, when Darkin was 
 waiting to be hanged, and the fear of death, and 
 what would come after death, had made him 
 slobberingly truthful. 
 
 As we entered the Square, those of the defenders 
 of the fort who were able to move, streamed out of 
 it, leaving only the dead and dying. There was to 
 be no more attempt at defence. Mati was ours. 
 
 The chief turned to AbduUa. " I shall make 
 my headquarters in the Palace," he said curtly. 
 " Take fifty men — no, wait, though. I must send 
 some one with you. . . . Mr. Weste, would 
 you go to the Club, and ask Mr. Bartram — I see 
 him in the balcony — to come here." 
 
 He was standing there, cool and unmoved, 
 when I returned, accompanied by half a dozen 
 young Englishmen. For a moment, his face 
 softened into a smile of welcome ; then he seemed 
 to remember, and to become once more the new 
 Raja. Instinctively, the others saluted. 
 
 " Gentlemen," he returned the salute gravely. 
 " I have, as you see, taken over the government 
 of this island. I trust I shall have your loyalty. 
 I appoint you all temporary members of my staff. 
 Will you, Mr. Bartram, take command of fifty 
 men, and occupy the Palace ? The chief, Abdulla,
 
 IN MATI: THE DIARY AGAIN 251 
 
 will accompany you. Be careful that there is no 
 looting, and that all the female inmates leave in 
 peace. The ex-Raja, Ismail, you will arrest." 
 
 Jack Bartram saluted again. He understood 
 the position, the necessity for stiffness before that 
 horde of semi-savages, 
 
 " I think the Palace is abandoned already, 
 sir," he answered. " From the Club, we could 
 see them streaming out just as the fort surren- 
 dered." 
 
 The chief's eyes flashed. " And Ismail ? Did 
 he bolt too ? " 
 
 The other shrugged his shoulders. " Probably, 
 Gunther and Darkin were with him," 
 
 " I want them as well, I want all white men 
 who were not in the Club with you. But, hurry, 
 hurry ! Ismail must be caught," 
 
 Already, AbduUa had his fifty men ready, and 
 within a minute or two that silent Palace was 
 echoing with the shouts of the invaders. 
 
 No difficulty had been placed in the way of the 
 escape of Ismail's men, provided they had no 
 rifles, and now practically only the dead and 
 wounded remained. Behind us, the native town 
 was still burning furiously, a blaze with which it 
 would be impossible to cope ; though, at the same 
 time, the direction of the wind made it unhkely 
 that the more solid portions of the town would 
 catch fire. 
 
 Hitherto, our men had behaved well, obeying 
 orders far more readily than I had expected.
 
 252 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 Now, however, they began to grow uneasy. They 
 were thieves by nature, many were thieves by 
 profession ; and they had come to loot Mati. 
 Were AbduUa and his fifty to get all the rich booty 
 of the Palace, whilst they remained standing there 
 in the Square ? 
 
 Evidently Cardine saw what was in their minds, 
 for he ordered our two Maxims, which had taken 
 no part in the fight, to be wheeled up to the Club, 
 and placed on the veranda ; then, after giving 
 instructions for food and drink to be supplied to 
 his troops, he, himself, walked slowly towards the 
 Club, followed by his new staff. 
 
 Just as he was entering, a rifle shot rang out 
 from the top of the Square. A single glance told 
 us what had happened. One of our men had been 
 trying to steal from a Chinaman's store, and, on 
 the owner resisting, had killed him. 
 
 " Mr. Locock," the new Raja turned sharply to 
 a tall, heavily-built young Englishman, " I 
 appoint you Provost-Marshal. Take ten of my 
 bodyguard — they are reliable — and hang that 
 man from the belfry. . . . Mr. Wheeler," 
 he addressed a man whose eyes had literally been 
 glittering with excitement all through. " You 
 have been a Gunner. You will get those two 
 Maxims into position, in case of an attempt at 
 rescue," then, for a moment, his stern manner 
 relaxed, and he placed a kindly hand on young 
 Locock 's shoulder. "I'm sorry to have to ask you 
 to do it. It's a beastly job."
 
 IN MATI: THE DIARY AGAIN 253 
 
 The other seemed to choke a Httle. " Any of us 
 would do anything for you, Jerry," he answered, 
 then hurried away. 
 
 A minute later, we were in the smoking-room, 
 and every one of the Chinese Club servants seemed 
 to be engaged in opening champagne. Now, 
 amongst his own people, his old comrades, the 
 chief was once more " Jerry " yet I noticed that, 
 though there was affection, regard, pride on their 
 faces and in their voices, there was no familiarity, 
 no slaps on the back, no attempts at hand-shaking. 
 He had made himself a man apart. 
 
 It was an elderly man, named Mallowe, the 
 former British Consul, who proposed his health. 
 
 " Raja Sir Gerald Cardine," he cried. " The 
 man who has done, single-handed, what the British 
 Government feared to do, the man who has euchred 
 the German Government and Carl Gunther, as 
 well as those sweeps. Lecher and the Darkins, 
 the traitors." 
 
 Again and again they cheered ; then Gerald 
 was holding up his hand for silence. " Gentle- 
 men, I thank you," his voice was none too steady. 
 " I hope it will not be many days before I hand 
 over my State to a British governor. But the 
 credit for to-day's victory is not mine. That 
 yacht saved us — for her help was quite unexpected 
 by me. But for her, I should have failed." 
 
 The men in the room exchanged glances of 
 astonishment. Naturally, they had imagined 
 it to be part of the plan. "It's the 'White
 
 254 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 Lady,' " some one remarked, " Lady Cardine's 
 yacht." 
 
 Cardine nodded, " Yes, my cousin's yacht," 
 he answered very quietly, so quietly that I found 
 myself looking at him anxiously. Was one of 
 those strange fits of depression coming on him at 
 this critical moment ? 
 
 " I am going to take possession of the small card- 
 room," he was speaking again, " I must form 
 my provisional government at once, and I shall 
 need all you fellows. But I want to be alone for a 
 few minutes. Will you tell the boy to bring me 
 up a small bottle of champagne, and some bis- 
 cuits ? " then, with a nod to the company in 
 general, he was gone. 
 
 Some one voiced the prevailing sentiment, 
 " Jerry's done up. We'll have to rally round him, 
 and do our best." 
 
 " He'll be all right in a quarter of an hour," 
 it was the doctor who spoke. He was a new- 
 comer in Mati, and had never seen the Chief before, 
 but I had noticed how keenly he had been watch- 
 ing the other's face. 
 
 For a minute or two, I was kept busy answering 
 questions about the raid generally, about our 
 fort at Sudang Bay, about our mountain guns on 
 the hillside, about what other chiefs in the interior 
 had given us their allegiance, 
 
 " He must have had a huge sum of money 
 to buy the scoundrels," old Mallowe remarked, 
 " And he'll have to pay a lot more to keep them,
 
 IN MATI: THE DIARY AGAIN 255 
 
 if he's not going to let them loot. He's raised a 
 Frankenstein's monster by giving them rifles. 
 And those fellows on the west side are going to 
 give trouble yet. The Germans who went out to 
 arm and organise them are pretty sharp customers." 
 
 There was a murmur of assent ; then, " Where's 
 their pal, the man with the moustache ? " some 
 one asked. " Locock told him not to come here 
 again." 
 
 "Mr. Reggie Burnham." Mallowe answered, 
 " He was with Darkin and Gunther. I expect 
 they've all cleared." 
 
 I heaved a sigh of relief, being by no means 
 anxious for any of these to fall into Sir Gerald's 
 hands. A moment later, the suggestion was made 
 that we should go on to the veranda, " to see 
 how Locock was getting on." 
 
 One glance served to show me that the Chief 
 had been very wise in placing those Maxims in 
 the Club veranda, so as to command the Square. 
 Our men were very far from relishing the swift 
 justice which was just being carried out on their 
 comrade. To hang a man merely for killing a 
 Chinese storekeeper ! Hands were gripping the 
 hafts of krises, fingers were itching on triggers ; 
 but there were always those two Maxims, with 
 their trained crews, and with that soldierly- 
 looking stranger in command. Wheeler looked 
 entirely happy as he puffed at his cigar. He had 
 the situation in hand. 
 
 By the belfry, we could see Locock's huge,
 
 256 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 ungainly figure. His men seemed busy with some 
 task, then he raised his helmet, stepped back 
 quickly, and a white clad object was danghng in 
 the air. 
 
 A murmur ran through the other men in the 
 Square, but nothing more happened. After all, 
 the dead remain dead, and these white men were 
 very masterful, men to be obeyed, at least so long 
 as they can cover you with a Maxim gun. More- 
 over, the morning meal would soon be ready, 
 and the Raja had ordered an immense distribution 
 of cigars and cigarettes. 
 
 Locock came back towards the Club slowly, 
 his head a little bent ; but he looked up sharply 
 enough when he saw one of Abdulla's men draw 
 his kris on one of AH Hajji's — they had quarrelled 
 over a fowl — and, a few seconds later, the Provost- 
 Marshal of Mati had a fresh prisoner. 
 
 " Tommy takes himself seriously," a youngster 
 remarked. 
 
 Old Mallowe growled. " A damned good thing 
 too. Hasn't it entered into your head that we're 
 sitting on a powder magazine, with lighted candles 
 about ? " 
 
 Outside the main entrance of the Palace, a 
 guard of ten men was now stationed ; but there 
 was no sign of what was happening within. 
 
 " His Highness wantee you," it was one of the 
 Chinese waiters speaking. 
 
 The window of the small card-room looked out 
 over the harbour. Cardine was standing at it,
 
 IN MATI: THE DIARY AGAIN 257 
 
 staring at the large white yacht, which was now 
 anchored some three hundred yards from the 
 shore. He was himself again now, though the 
 champagne was but half finished, alert, upright, 
 clear-headed, yet, as he turned towards me, there 
 was some quahty in his eyes, a kind of softness, 
 which I had never seen there before. 
 
 " Well ? " he asked quietly. 
 
 " Mr. Locock has hanged his man," I answered. 
 " And Mr. Bartram is still in the Palace. Our 
 brigands are setthng down to the business of 
 feeding." 
 
 He nodded thoughtfully. " I've planned out 
 how to use all these fellows," he pointed to a list 
 on the table. " You must get to Singapore, of 
 course, and cable your story. I can't think where 
 the ' Zeta ' is, but I'll commandeer one of these 
 trading steamers for you. Nothing else shall 
 leave Mati meanwhile. You will have it all to 
 yourself. First, however, I want you to go 
 aboard the yacht, and tell Lady Cardine." I 
 can swear his voice shook a Httle. " Tell Lady 
 Cardine all about things. You understand ? " 
 
 It seemed to me that I understood a good deal 
 more than he thought. " Is there any letter for 
 her ? " I asked. 
 
 He sat down at the table, and drew the writing 
 pad towards him ; then got up, abruptly. 
 
 " No," he replied. " I will go aboard, later. 
 Only, tell her I have kept my promise. ' ' He turned 
 once more towards the window, and stared again 
 
 R
 
 258 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 at the yacht, on the bridge of which I could now 
 make out the white-clad figure of a woman. 
 One of the yacht's boats was being cleared away. 
 " Go quickly," he went on. " We have been long 
 enough already." 
 
 There was one thing I wanted to say. " About 
 Darkin, Sir Gerald," I began. 
 
 He stopped me impatiently. " I haven't got 
 him yet. I'll hear what you have to say before I 
 hang him. I've sent down to the quay to have a 
 boat ready for you." 
 
 As I set foot on the deck of the " White Lady," 
 its owner came forward to meet me, both 
 hands outstretched. Heavens ! What a beautiful 
 woman she was ! Now, her pallor and agitation 
 seemed to have rendered her even more lovely 
 than when I had seen her in London. 
 
 She threw all reserve to the winds. " Is he safe, 
 is he safe ? " she asked breathlessly. 
 
 " Quite safe and well," I answered. 
 
 I would have given ten years of my life to see 
 such a light come into a woman's eyes for me. 
 To have the love of such a woman, to have her 
 for your own, soul and body, living but for you, 
 responding to your every caress — that would be 
 Life indeed ! 
 
 For a moment she stood very still, seemingly 
 too greatly moved to speak ; then she beckoned 
 to the skipper, a tall, grim-faced man named Simp- 
 son, introduced him to me, and, after that, we sat 
 together under the awning whilst I told my story.
 
 IN MATI: THE DIARY AGAIN 259 
 
 She listened in absolute silence until I told her 
 of our first arrival in the Square, and of our 
 retreat. Then she leaned forward, her wonderful 
 face glowing. 
 
 " You say we saved you all ? " she asked 
 breathlessly. " Saved him from defeat ? " — 
 she had not yet mentioned him by name. 
 
 I nodded. " There was barbed wire, as well 
 as the guns, and the riflemen in all the houses. 
 We had no possible chance. Your shell fire was 
 wonderful. Captain." 
 
 The skipper flushed awkwardly. " Her lady- 
 ship gave me a free hand to get the best men pos- 
 sible. There wasn't much waste of ammunition. 
 I guess the 4.7s surprised them. . . . Lucky 
 we were in time. We picked up the ' Zeta ' 
 yesterday. She had a head wind, and her auxil- 
 iary engine had broken down," then he relapsed 
 into silence. 
 
 That, then, was the explanation of the " White 
 Lady's " appearance at the psychological moment. 
 
 I told them of the present state of affairs in the 
 town, of the measures the Chief was taking, of 
 the necessity of keeping a very firm hold on our 
 men. 
 
 " We can let him have some good ex-bluejackets 
 can't we, Captain Simpson ? " Lady Cardine said 
 eagerly. " We have almost a double crew, all 
 ex -navy men ; and, of course our guns will com- 
 mand the whole town. But how about the white 
 women ? Did you see them ? "
 
 26o THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Curiously enough, I had forgotten that there 
 were any in Mati. I admitted as much, adding, 
 " I don't beheve Sir Gerald mentioned them 
 either — in fact, I'm sure he didn't. I suppose he 
 assumed they were safe somewhere," 
 
 A strange look of rehef, almost of exultation, 
 came into her eyes. " Did he not ask for Miss 
 Wrench ? " she demanded. 
 
 Quite truthfully, I answered in the negative. 
 I had been with him all the time ; then I remem- 
 bered his message. " He wanted me to tell you 
 something," I said. 
 
 At once the skipper got up and left us. " What 
 is it ? " she asked eagerly. 
 
 I watched her face closely as I answered, " That 
 he had kept his promise." 
 
 In an instant, there were tears in her eyes, 
 " Thank God, thank God ! " she murmured. 
 " Oh, Mr. Weste, that means a greater thing than 
 the taking of Mati," If ever a woman was trans- 
 figured with a wholly sacred joy, Margaret Car- 
 dine was at that moment, I remember that it 
 struck me how futile, how unreal after all, were 
 most of the pictures of the Mother of God. 
 
 As I left the " White Lady "—I had been aboard 
 over two hours — she asked me again. " He is 
 coming off, to see — us ? " 
 
 " As soon as he can," I answered. " He prom- 
 ised that, and he owes his victory to you." 
 
 She held up a protesting hand. " No, no. 
 You must never say that. Remember, my name
 
 IN MATI: THE DIARY AGAIN 261 
 
 is not to appear at all in your report. I arranged 
 that with Mr. Gloag." 
 
 I had a good deal to think about as I was rowed 
 back to the shore. So it was Margaret Cardine 
 who had pulled the strings, supplied the money — 
 and checkmated Sir Joseph Darkin ! I could 
 picture the latter' s face when he learnt the news. 
 Truly, Time brought its revenges, 
 
 Margaret Cardine, of all people, Margaret Car- 
 dine, formerly Margaret Houstoune, whom he 
 had — Faugh ! What nauseous creatures those 
 Good Darkins were ! 
 
 It was an abominable story. Still, the time 
 had come when I must tell Gerald Cardine ; and 
 I dreaded the task. 
 
 As I entered the Club, Locock stopped me. 
 " Will you go and see Mr. Mallowe ? " he said. 
 " He's in command of the town. Jerry Cardine 
 — the Raja, I mean — has started up country in 
 pursuit of Ismail, who has carried off Miss 
 Wrench."
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 RAJA Ismail's coup 
 
 The dose of morphia which Gerald had taken on 
 leaving the smoking-room had pulled him together 
 very quickly. So much had happened since the 
 last pill that he had really lost count of time ; 
 now, however, when he came to consult the watch 
 on his wrist he realised, with something like a 
 shock, that he had over-run his time by three 
 hours. 
 
 He was conscious of a strange thrill of pleasure, 
 of a new-born pride. After all, had he reason to 
 hope, was he going to conquer the abomination ? 
 Never since he had reahsed the effect it was having 
 on him, had he felt so free, been conscious of the 
 same sense of exhilaration. No increase in the 
 regular doses during the past three months, all 
 " extra doses " cut off, and, now, a clear gain of 
 three hours under particularly trying conditions. 
 
 Might he really venture to hope ? She, his 
 goddess, was there, only a few hundred yards 
 away. She had saved him that morning, saved 
 him from defeat, probably from death. Was she 
 
 262
 
 RAJA ISMAIL'S COUP 263 
 
 going to save him, too, from the Hell in which 
 he had been living ? 
 
 She loved him, that most glorious of God's 
 creatures loved him, in spite of her knowledge of 
 his faihng. The fact came home to him now. 
 Only a woman who loved would have done what 
 she had done for him. Even if they had not known 
 of the morphia, the vast majority, being placed as 
 she was, immensely wealthy, entirely independent, 
 would have shrunk from the risks and sacrifices 
 involved in marrying a man Hke himself. He 
 could not even give her the title. Already, she 
 was Lady Cardine, and the widow of the great 
 Secretary of State for War must, of necessity, 
 overshadow the wife of the new, and unknown, 
 baronet. 
 
 Yet she had come to his aid. She had made 
 him that amazing gift of half a milhon sterhng. 
 True, it had come after young Parke had given 
 away the secret to Burnham, who, in turn, had 
 betrayed it to Mrs. Cardine ; but, none the less, 
 it had made his raid possible ; and now she had 
 turned that raid into a triumphant success. 
 
 It was her victory. And she loved him, she 
 loved him ! He was utterly devoid of vanity, 
 but he knew that a woman only does such things 
 for the man she loves. 
 
 Could he conquer the morphia, could he be his 
 own master again, arbiter of his own destiny ? 
 For the last two years he had been quite hopeless, 
 reckoning himself to be doomed. He had put up
 
 264 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 a hard fight, because he hated to give way ; but, 
 to a great extent, it had been a soulless fight. 
 He had had no particular object in winning, no 
 reward at the end of it all, even if he had won. 
 Now, suddenly, he had been allowed this vision of 
 Heaven, and it seemed to have given him new 
 life, new hope. 
 
 Whatever he might have felt once, he knew 
 now that Katu itself was as nothing compared 
 with Margaret Cardine. 
 
 It is a splendid thing to have principles, en- 
 thusiasms, a mission, a noble thing, and many a 
 noble man has given his life for his ideas ; but, 
 looking at the question from a sane point of view, 
 was there ever yet a cause which was stronger 
 than the love of a woman, of the One Woman ? 
 Putting on one side those purely modern Crusades, 
 in which the Crusaders have a financial interest, 
 such as the Congo or the Balkans, was there ever 
 a real man who gave his fife for a cause except in 
 the hope of winning the love of a good woman, or 
 out of hopelessness of ever being loved by the 
 One Woman. 
 
 The man who can do great things must be 
 capable of great love, sexual love. Sex is the 
 one Reality of Life, the one driving force. By 
 love alone — and love means the sexual instinct 
 in its highest manifestations — is man brought into 
 touch with the Divine. The man is imperfect, 
 incomplete, without the woman, or, rather, with- 
 out the desire for the woman. He may never
 
 RAJA ISMAIL'S COUP 265 
 
 find her ; he may fret his hfe away in the search ; 
 but, so long as he does search, he will keep the 
 Divine in himself alive. 
 
 The correct, smug products of to-day, the earn- 
 est workers, the pale-faced students, the good 
 youths who are absorbed in their daily duties and 
 find their recreation in consorting with their 
 fellow Gadarenes, at Associations or Brother- 
 hoods — of what use are they to the world ? True, 
 many of them amass wealth, and marrying dis- 
 creetly, succeed in bringing into the world smug 
 and discreet children, who will carry on the family 
 traditions ; but is the world any better or happier 
 because they have lived in it ? 
 
 Their Brotherhoods and Societies are an insult 
 to Love, because Sex, the one great factor in hfe, 
 is reviled at every meeting, reviled by those who 
 are too debased in mind ever to have felt passion, 
 ever to have realised that the mere acquisition of 
 wealth is a waste of God's gifts, an insult to the 
 Creator, unless the Love of Woman is the ultimate 
 object. Ambition, personal ambition, the desire 
 for self-glorification, inevitably ends in crime 
 against the common cause. 
 
 Love, and Love only, counts. The man who does 
 not love, or desire to love, a woman has no right 
 to five. He merely cumbers the earth. He has 
 no spark of the Divine in him, and for him death 
 must mean the end of all things. Only those who 
 love can possibly five beyond the grave, for Love 
 alone is immortal.
 
 266 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 In the first place, Gerald Cardine had been 
 ready to give his life for the acquisition of Katu 
 because he had no hope of conquering the morphia 
 habit, and because it seemed the cleanest way out. 
 His life would not have been wholly wasted. He 
 had always hungered for love, but the drug had 
 seemed to render love an impossibihty, so he had 
 decided to die according to the way of the Car- 
 dines, die for his country, though, in his saner 
 moments, he had reahsed that, death being inevit- 
 able, the sacrifice would not be so great. 
 
 Then, Margaret Cardine had come into his life, 
 and all the latent forces in him had come out. He 
 had learnt to love wildly, passionately, hopelessly 
 it seemed. What chance could there be for a 
 man with the curse of the Poppy Heads on him ? 
 Death had become more than ever desirable. To 
 put an end to his misery, that endless longing, 
 and to die in conquering Katu for the Empire 
 seemed the finest way. His life would not have 
 been wasted, he would fall in a way befitting Car- 
 dine of Cardine Place, and, most important of all, 
 she would cherish his memory. 
 
 At times during the last few months, the agony 
 had seemed almost unendurable, the agony of 
 desire, the fear that she would belong to some one 
 else. Night after night, he had pictured her with 
 himself — and with the other man. There was a 
 fragrance about her, a sweetness which no other 
 woman had, a gracious tenderness which, with 
 the right man, would change to almost primitive
 
 RAJA ISMAIL'S COUP 267 
 
 passion. Everything about her seemed to speak 
 of the possibihties of love. 
 
 It was hopeless, hopeless, hopeless, so far as he 
 was concerned — he had told himself that, time 
 after time. And so he had come to Katu intend- 
 ing to be killed. He wanted to do the Empire's 
 work first, yet, somehow, the Empire had become 
 a secondary consideration compared with Mar- 
 garet Car dine. 
 
 Now, as he stood at the window in the Club card- 
 room, and stared towards the " White Lady," 
 all seemed changed. 
 
 She loved him — and he was holding his own 
 against the drug. Nay, more, now that he came 
 to reckon it up, he was doing more than hold his 
 own ; he was actually taking less. Formerly, 
 there had been those innumerable " extra doses " ; 
 and to-day he had gained three hours without 
 suffering. 
 
 She loved him ! He could do anything now. 
 In time, he might give it up altogether. 
 
 Then, suddenly, came the desire to live, to Hve 
 for her sake. With this new hope in him, why 
 should he seek death ? Doctors might be able to 
 help him, and with her encouragement, her love 
 — after looking for death for so long, the idea 
 that it might be possible to live on seemed inex- 
 pressibly sweet and wonderful. 
 
 Still, there was the immediate present to con- 
 sider. He pulled himself together, made out a 
 list of the men whom he intended to employ,
 
 268 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 and the positions they were to have, then sent 
 for John Weste, and dispatched him to the yacht. 
 
 In turn, he sent for the others, received their 
 promises of allegiance, and gave them a few brief 
 words of instruction as to their duties. They 
 were all men he could trust, men who did not want 
 long explanations. Just as he finished, Jack 
 Bartram stalked in, hot and excited. He had not 
 even stopped for a drink as he came up. 
 
 " Searched the Palace from top to bottom, Sir 
 Gerald," he reported, formally. " Found no 
 one at all, except some old women, half-dead with 
 fright. Phew ! Except for the banqueting hall 
 and audience chambers, it's a regular pig-sty — 
 or a combination of sty and rabbit warren. You 
 can't take up your quarters there. I've collared 
 all the papers I could find — that's what's taken 
 me so long, but I should say that enormous num- 
 bers have been burnt. They've had a regular 
 bonfire in one of the courts." 
 
 Gerald frowned. " So Ismail has escaped ! 
 That may mean a long hunt. Where are Darkin 
 and Gunther ? " 
 
 " Up at Darkin's, I expect. Earwaker, the 
 missionary, did a bunk when he heard of your 
 plans." 
 
 The new Raja took one or two turns up and 
 down the room. " Will you call Locock ? " he 
 said at last. When the Provost-Marshal came, 
 " Mr. Locock, will you kindly arrest Darkin, Gun- 
 ther, and a man named Burnham ? Have them
 
 RAJA ISMAIL'S COUP 269 
 
 watched very closely, because the charge against 
 them will be a capital one. Yes, gentlemen, I 
 am not at all incHned to be merciful," in answer 
 to their looks of surprise ; then, suddenly, he 
 seemed to remember something else. " WTiere is 
 Blackwood ? I haven't seen him yet," 
 
 Locock shrugged his shoulders. " Up at his 
 house, I suppose. He doesn't come here now. 
 There 've been rows — about you. He's pig-headed 
 you see, thinks of nothing but business. And 
 he's said rude things. Really, it seemed as though 
 he would join hands with Ismail and his crowd. 
 So we all cut him. Silly little blighter ! " 
 
 " And Miss Wrench ? " Gerald's question came 
 sharply. He was a little ashamed of himself for 
 having forgotten her for so long. 
 
 Jack Bartram answered. " We — she, I mean — 
 agreed it would be better for her to stay with the 
 Blackwoods, as she wouldn't go away. Her 
 father's there, too. ... I say, Jerry, old 
 man," he seemed suddenly to forget that the other 
 was now Raja of Katu, " Jerry, it was decent of 
 you to send that ten thousand. She told me. 
 You see, we're chums, great chums." 
 
 Somehow, the words seemed very welcome to 
 Gerald. It was as though some weight had been 
 hfted off him, " I'm glad, awfully glad," he 
 said. " It would be better, though, if she and 
 Mrs. Blackwood came down here. Their bunga- 
 low is a bit far out, and I can't trust my rufhans. 
 Lady Cardine will have them on the ' White
 
 270 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Lady,' " the thought struck him suddenly. 
 " That'll be the best plan . . . Hullo ! " 
 
 He sprang to his feet, as a white man, filthy, 
 dishevelled, blood-bespattered, staggered into the 
 room. It was a moment before he realised that 
 this was the usually-immaculate Walter Black- 
 wood. 
 
 Locock and Bartram stared at the new-comer 
 in inarticulate amazement ; but Gerald Cardine 
 took him sternly by the shoulder, 
 
 " What's this ? " he demanded. " Pull your- 
 self together, man." 
 
 Blackwood stared at him vacantly for a space 
 of seconds ; then began to curse wildly, " Damn 
 you, Jerry, this is your doing. Damn you, damn 
 you ! What's your Imperialism to me, beside 
 my wife ? Where's that confounded doctor ? 
 Alice is shot — shot, I tell you, and may be dead 
 now." 
 
 Instantly, Gerald was master of the situation. 
 " Send the doctor up with an escort of twenty 
 men. You had better go with him yourself, 
 Bartram, I expect it's all right with Patsy," 
 he laid a kindly hand on the other's shoulder. 
 " I'll see to Blackwood. . . . Locock, fetch 
 some brandy," Then, very gently, he forced the 
 merchant into a chair. Already he had divined 
 that the other was not wounded, that the blood on 
 his clothes came from some one else. 
 
 There must have been some magic in the new 
 Raja's touch ; at any rate, it seemed to calm
 
 RAJA ISMAIL'S COUP 271 
 
 Walter Blackwood. He drank off the brandy, a 
 ■*very stiff dose, lay back for a few minutes with 
 his eyes closed, then sat up, apparently a sane 
 man again. 
 
 " You sent the doctor ? " that was his first 
 question. 
 
 Gerald nodded. " Yes. What has happened ? " 
 
 Once more, Blackwood began to curse. At 
 heart, he was a weak man, perhaps a coward as 
 well. 
 
 " Stop that, and tell me the story." Gerald's 
 voice was very stern. 
 
 The other shivered. " It was Ismail, Ismail 
 and his friends, Gunther, Darkin, and that Burn- 
 ham fellow. They had cleared from the Palace 
 with about fifty men. It was Patsy he wanted, 
 Ismail said," both Gerald and Locock clenched 
 their hands. " They were all drunk. I tried to 
 argue, to appeal to Darkin and Gunther; but 
 it wasn't any good. Ismail's men made a rush, 
 and both Ahce and Patsy fired. Patsy hit Ismail 
 in the groin, and AHce got Gunther through the 
 lung. I don't know whether I hit anyone. It 
 was all over so quickly. I don't know who shot 
 Ahce, but it's bad, terrible. I did all I could. 
 They thought I was dead. I heard them say so 
 as they dragged Patsy off. What more could I 
 do ? " he ended pitifully. 
 
 Gerald Cardine's eyes were blazing. He was 
 too savagely angry to care in the least degree how 
 the other had behaved. Anyway, he could not
 
 272 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 have altered the ultimate result. A few quick 
 questions as to the time when it had happened, 
 the direction the party had taken, then he took 
 two or three turns up and down the room, appar- 
 ently trying to arrive at some decision. 
 
 Blackwood s voice broke in on his thoughts. 
 " They left Gunther behind, ' he said, " He was 
 too bad to travel." 
 
 The Raja started. " Mr. Locock, go and fetch 
 him ; and hang him, at once, over the Palace 
 door." 
 
 " You can't, you can't," the merchant laughed 
 hysterically. " You can't hang a man without a 
 head. Don't be a fool, Jerry. When they'd 
 gone I found a kris, and cut his head off. I had 
 to make three shots at it. This was his blood." 
 Then he rested his head on his hands, and began to 
 sob. 
 
 " Take him away, Locock." There was not a 
 shade of sympathy in Gerald's voice. " Send 
 Mallowe up to me at once. He'll have to take 
 charge here. I'm going after Ismail." 
 
 A few minutes later. Jack Bartram burst into 
 the room, breathless, wild-eyed. 
 
 " You've heard ? " he cried. " Give me some 
 men. I'm going after them. It's my place to go. 
 There's not a minute to lose." 
 
 Gerald's voice was quite calm now. " I'm 
 going myself. You can come too. . . One 
 thing, though, old fellow. The worst won't hap- 
 pen, yet. Ismail i^shot through the groin."
 
 RAJA ISMAIL'S COUP 273 
 
 For a moment, Jack did not seem to under- 
 stand ; then he drew his hand across his eyes. 
 " Thank God," he muttered. " Patsy — in his 
 power. By Heaven," he trembled with sudden 
 passion, " when I find him, I'll shoot him through 
 the head." 
 
 Half an hour later, a party of fifty picked natives 
 set out under the command of the Raja. Bartram 
 was the only other white man. All had volun- 
 teered, but Gerald had dechned their services. 
 This was to be a forced march in the fullest sense 
 of the term.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 THE CARELESSNESS OF GERALD CARDINE 
 
 " It's the Rule of the Rope. Hang it all, I think 
 Cardine is going too far, or Daddy Mallowe is 
 interpreting his orders too literally. Locock has 
 hanged three men out of hand this morning. 
 Why the deuce does he want to string them up in 
 front of everybody ? " The speaker, a clerk in the 
 office of the Pepper Trust, had only left his subur- 
 ban home three months previously, and had still a 
 distaste for the crude reahties of hfe. Just fancy 
 seeing a man hanged on the Sydenham tennis 
 ground, hanged without the shadow of a trial ? 
 He gulped his drink down, and looked virtuous. 
 The other man, who had known Gerald Cardine 
 for years, laughed. " You've hit off the situation, 
 quite unconsciously. ' Hang it all,' you say — 
 that is the safest rule in Katu. There's no sense 
 in being squeamish. Those unpleasant-looking 
 persons, whom our Provost-Marshal has suspended 
 from the belfry, would cheerfully have cut your 
 throat if they had happened to meet you. In- 
 stead, they cut the throats of two Chinamen and 
 
 274
 
 CARELESSNESS OF GERALD 275 
 
 three Hindoos. . . . You had better be care- 
 ful, my friend," his manner changed suddenly. 
 " It's ill work playing the fool with our new Raja. 
 Don't forget he is a Cardine, the Cardine ! " 
 
 In the small card-room of the Club, which had 
 now become the headquarters of the Government 
 of Mati — men avoided the Palace Hke a plague — 
 Daddy Mallowe was up to his eyes in work. He 
 was revelling in his task, and, incidentally, was 
 doing it extremely well. 
 
 For years, prior to the visit of Mr. Lecher, M.P., 
 he had been British Consul, and he knew the island 
 as few others did. Practically speaking, he had 
 Uved his life in Katu, and now, when he was an 
 old man, his chance had come. There was only 
 one regret — he had the power of life and death, 
 Gerald having suspended all legal formaUties, 
 and he thought of the many men he would have 
 Uked to execute in days gone by. It seemed such 
 a pity. If only Mr. Lecher would chance to land, 
 Mr. Lecher, the Sunday School teacher, who 
 arranged the Railway Strike, which coincided so 
 strangely with Germany's threats of war over the 
 North African question, the wealthy Mr. Lecher, 
 with his motor car and his three flats in town, 
 the man who, a few years before, had been jubilant 
 over a rise of a shilling a week. 
 
 Daddy Mallowe had done well in the few hours 
 which had followed Gerald's departure. The 
 guns in Ismail's fort were all useless — the 4.7 
 shells had settled them — but he had sent for the
 
 276 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 two mountain guns, and, with the aid of the 
 Maxims and some sandbags, had turned the club 
 into a very serviceable fort. Then Home, the 
 shipping agent, who had been years on the China 
 Coast, was enlisting all the Chinese, the Malays' 
 natural enemies, whilst Wheeler had collected 
 together some twenty Sikhs, all ex-soldiers. Of 
 course, too, the guns of the " White Lady " com- 
 manded the whole town. Consequently, it was 
 not likely that either Abdulla or Ah Hajji would 
 try a counter-revolution, especially as they still 
 had the balance of their pay to come, and had 
 already quarrelled with one another. 
 
 The problem of feeding and housing the poorer 
 natives was hkely to become a serious one. All 
 the nipa shacks had been burnt, and their former 
 owners seemed dazed and helpless. True, Gerald 
 had given his deputy a free hand so far as money 
 went, power to draw on Wang Tu Fu for whatever 
 he needed, but the difhculty of getting the people 
 to start rebuilding remained. So long as they 
 had free food, they would merely loaf about, shel- 
 tering anywhere, breeding disease. 
 
 John Weste had left for Singapore within an 
 hour of his return from the " White Lady," left 
 in a small tramp steamer which had happened to 
 be in the harbour, but all other shipping was to be 
 held up for forty-eight hours. Gerald knew the 
 value of the censorship ; moreover, the Comet 
 was to have the exclusive story. 
 
 Several hours had elapsed since Gerald's hurried
 
 CARELESSNESS OF GERALD 277 
 
 departure, when Captain Simpson landed with 
 twenty well-armed, uniformed sailors. The men 
 in the Club hurried out and greeted him with 
 cheers, remembering the gunnery of that morn- 
 ing ; the sailor flushed and saluted awkwardly. 
 " It wasn't my doing," he said, as they rushed him 
 into the smoking-room, and shouted for cham- 
 pagne. " You must cheer her ladyship. I just 
 obeyed orders. Now, she's sent off these fellows 
 as a bodyguard for Sir Gerald." 
 
 " Sir Gerald's not here. He's gone in pursuit 
 of Ismail," a dozen voices gave the skipper the 
 news. 
 
 There was no mistaking Captain Simpson's 
 consternation. " Gone ! Why ? When ? " 
 
 They explained things to him, at rather unnec- 
 essary length, for champagne had been flowing 
 freely all day, and the really useful members were 
 all busy, carrying out Daddy Mallowe's orders. 
 As soon as he had the gist of the story, the skipper 
 would hsten to no more. 
 
 " I must go back on board and report," he said. 
 " Meantime, who's commandant here? I'll turn 
 these feflows of mine over to him." 
 
 The eyes of Wheeler, formerly subaltern in the 
 R.F.A., glowed when they fell on those twenty 
 ex-bluejackets. He understood now why every 
 one of those 4.7 shells had burst in the right place, 
 and he felt an unholy desire to egg either Abdulla 
 or Ali Hajji on to start a counter-revolution. He 
 had left the ser\dce under a cloud — how could he
 
 278 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 prove that the major's stupid young wife was 
 lying about him to shield another man ? — but his 
 professional keenness remained, and he did not 
 love Malays. It was hard to think that he had 
 taken no active part in the fight of that morning. 
 Still, there was the chance that Jerry Cardine 
 would give him regular employment ; anything 
 would be better than grinding away as clerk for a 
 pepper-growing company. He put his hand 
 tenderly on the mountain guns, and thought of 
 the ledgers he had been handhng of late. Those 
 had never sent any thrill through him. 
 
 It was barely an hour later when Daddy Mal- 
 lowe, who was taking a few minutes' rest, his feet 
 on the table, an extra large cigar between his 
 hps, suddenly came to attention. Lady Cardine 
 was downstairs, and wished to see him at 
 once. 
 
 For a moment, he was dumfounded. A 
 woman in the Mati Club ! Even Patsy Wrench 
 had never dared to set foot on the steps. Then 
 he remembered. The Club had become Head- 
 quarters, and it was Margaret Cardine who had 
 saved the situation. He turned forward to meet 
 her. 
 
 One glance showed him that she was in trouble. 
 Her beauty remained — that could never change — 
 but she was pale, agitated, almost nervous, and 
 there was a shadow of pain in her glorious 
 eyes. 
 
 She wasted no words. " Why did you let him
 
 CARELESSNESS OF GERALD 279 
 
 go ? " she demanded. " Why didn't some one 
 else go? Surely his place was here." 
 
 It was years since Mallowe had met a woman 
 like this, and he blundered badly. " Wei', you 
 see, Lady Cardine, he's not an easy man to con- 
 trol. He goes his own way ; and he was always 
 awfully fond of Patsy." 
 
 " No one else would do ? I see." She was trying 
 to speak calmly. " He thought it was his duty ? 
 But the dangers — the dangers must be terrible. 
 This was his place, here, to complete his work. 
 Was he the only man who dared to go ? " 
 
 Mallowe winced under her sarcasm, and, a 
 moment later, she knew how unjust she had 
 been. " They all wanted to go," he answered, 
 quietly. " But he would take only Bartram." 
 
 For a full half-minute, she stared out of the 
 window ; then turned to him with shining 
 eyes, 
 
 " Forgive me, Mr. Mallowe," she said, making 
 no attempt at concealing her emotion. " My — my 
 cousin is very dear to me, and it seems such a ter- 
 rible risk to have taken, after all he had been 
 through. If they cut him off in those dreadful 
 hills — " she thrust out her hands with a hopeless 
 gesture. 
 
 Looking at Daddy Mallowe, at his yellow, 
 wrinkled face and grey, mutton-chop whiskers, 
 no one would have suspected him of sentiment ; 
 yet he took those hands in his, and kissed them, 
 reverently.
 
 28o THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 " He will come back, dear lady," he said. " God 
 looks after His own, and a brave man is the finest 
 thing He ever makes." 
 
 Now she broke down completely. She had 
 reached the point when she could no longer hide 
 her feehngs, and — the man she loved had gone to 
 rescue the woman whom she regarded as her rival, 
 gone, probably, to give his hfe for her. But she 
 soon pulled herself together. 
 
 " Forgive me," she said, as she wiped her eyes. 
 " I'm over-excited, I think . . . Mrs. Black- 
 wood, how is she ? I must see her. Perhaps 
 they can bring her off to the yacht." 
 
 The man seemed glad of a chance to escape for 
 a minute. " I'll go and ask," he said. " The 
 doctor is somewhere about." 
 
 When he had gone, Margaret glanced idly at 
 the table, which was strewn with papers. Mal- 
 lowe had been working at lightning speed, and 
 had just pushed unnecessary things out of his 
 way, up to the other end. A worn pocket-book, 
 stamped G. C, caught her eye. So Gerald had 
 left that behind in his haste. Almost uncon- 
 sciously, she reached out her hand for it. As 
 she picked it up, a Httle glass tube rolled out, 
 a glass tube containing a number of tiny white 
 pills. 
 
 She had been pale before, but now she was 
 absolutely ghastly. " What will he do, what 
 will he do ? " she muttered. " Without them, 
 Beloved, you'll go mad and die. And I shall
 
 CARELESSNESS OF GERALD 281 
 
 never see you again," and she rocked herself to 
 and fro in her agony. 
 
 When Mallowe returned, she did not wait for 
 his report regarding Mrs. Blackwood. " You 
 must send a messenger to catch up Sir Gerald," she 
 said. " How long will it take him to do it ? " 
 
 The man stared at her in astonishment. " I 
 doubt if he would do it at all. They've got a long 
 start, and they'd travel fast. Still, we can try." 
 
 " Of course, we shall try," she stamped her foot 
 impatiently, almost furiously, " Send for a man 
 at once, whilst I get the letter ready." She had 
 no thought of being rude, but her mind was full 
 of the horror hanging over Gerald, the terror of 
 the " Abstinence Storm," which must inevitably 
 come on him amongst the gloom and dangers of 
 the jungle, when he was exhausted physically and 
 mentally, utterly unable to meet it. 
 
 Mallowe obeyed, wondering vaguely. It did 
 not even occur to him to ring the bell for a boy. 
 She had told him to go, so he went. Meanwhile, 
 she, herself, took his chair, addressed an envelope 
 to Gerald, wrapped the tube up carefully in a 
 sheet of paper, then paused. Should she, her- 
 self, put in a line to him ? Would Patsy mind ? 
 
 Quite unconsciously, she opened the pocket 
 case. It was a very small one, and there were 
 only two papers in it. She could not help looking 
 at them. A moment later, her face was glowing. 
 One of them was her brief note to him, the other 
 a portrait of herself cut out of an illustrated paper.
 
 282 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Instinctively, she knew that he had been looking 
 at them just before he left. 
 
 Then she took a sheet of paper and wrote to 
 him. 
 
 The envelope was sealed down by the time 
 Daddy Mallowe returned with the messenger.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 A SOUL ON FIRE 
 
 "It's no use trying to go on to-night," Gerald 
 Cardine said. " The men can't stand any more. 
 They're taihng out for over a mile as it is, and if 
 we were attacked — " he shrugged his shoulders 
 expressively, but he did not mention that he, too, 
 had been trekking all through the last night 
 with those men, and that he had not had a 
 moment's rest. 
 
 Jack Bartram sank down at the foot of a big 
 tree. Although he had started quite fresh, he 
 was more done than any one else in the party. 
 He was wild to go on; his spirit, his passion, 
 would have carried him on all night ; but nature 
 forbade it. He was done. The hills, the mud, 
 and the sweltering heat had been too much for 
 him. He rested his head on his arm, and gave 
 a queer Httle sob. 
 
 " No, it's no use, Jerry. I can't go another 
 yard. But they can't go on, either, can they ? 
 You're sure that that swine's shot, that they'll 
 have to carry him ? " 
 
 283
 
 284 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Gerald, who had himself sat down on the root 
 of a tree, practically the only dry place, nodded. 
 
 " They've not only got to carry Ismail, but 
 they're also hampered with Darkin and Burnham. 
 We shall catch them all right." 
 
 The other man raised himself on his elbow. 
 ' Where are they making for ? I don't know this 
 accursed island at all." 
 
 " For Murad AH's country," Gerald answered. 
 " He's a minor chief with a very mountainous 
 district. I couldn't come to terms with him, 
 because he and Abdulla have a blood feud. But 
 we shall be in time, and, remember, Ismail is 
 wounded." 
 
 Bartram drew his hand across his eyes. 
 
 " Aye, thank God," he muttered. " Other- 
 wise, I should go clean mad," then he seemed 
 to fall asleep, from sheer exhaustion. 
 
 Gerald Cardine smiled to himself, bitterly. 
 Already he had discovered that he had left his 
 pocket-book, and his morphia, behind, already 
 he had begun to need a dose, to need it 
 terribly. 
 
 He tried to smoke, but the cigar had lost its 
 flavour ; he took a pull at his flask, but the brandy 
 only made him feel sick ; he rolled himself up in 
 his one blanket, assured himself that he was 
 deadly tired, yet it was utterly impossible to keep 
 still. He flung his Hmbs about, despite all 
 his desperate attempts to rest them ; every 
 minute, his fingers seemed to be swelhng to a
 
 A SOUL ON FIRE 285 
 
 greater size ; every moment, his lips seemed to 
 grow more unsteady, to twitch more rapidly. 
 
 Hell — to go on was to remain in torments of 
 Hell for days. Would it grow worse and worse ? 
 Could it become worse ? Could anything be worse 
 than what he was suffering already ? Hell ! — 
 he remembered Omar, " the shadow of a soul 
 on fire." Fire itself could be no worse than 
 this. 
 
 How the minutes dragged by ! It was only 
 two hours since they had camped down. He 
 could have shot Jack Bartram, sleeping there so 
 calmly. 
 
 A soul on fire ! A soul on fire ! He flung his 
 hands out wildly. 
 
 " God ! " he cried. " God, if You do exist, 
 help me. . . . Margaret ! Blargaret ! " then 
 he shivered all over. 
 
 Days of agony, unending hours of torment — 
 could he face the prospect ? If he turned back 
 then, he could hold out, somehow or another, 
 until he re-entered Mati — where the morphia 
 was. 
 
 \\Tiere the morphia was — and where IMargaret 
 was, too. 
 
 She would ask, and he would have to tell her, 
 to tell her how, for the sake of the drug, he had 
 left Patsy Wrench to her fate at the hands of 
 that blackguard Malay. 
 
 No, he must go on, he must face it out. It 
 might mean, probably it would mean, death from
 
 286 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 sheer exhaustion, from the lack of the stimulant, 
 but he must see it through. He could never face 
 Margaret, if he turned back. 
 
 And, then, gradually, the horrors ceased. 
 Warmth came back to his body ; he was able to 
 lie fairly still. An hour later, he was shaken, 
 trembhng, utterly weak, but no longer in agony. 
 Really, during the last few months, when he had 
 been fighting to keep down the doses, he had been 
 training his system to meet the terrible " absti- 
 nence storm." Now, he admitted to himself, 
 with a kind of dull amazement, that it had not 
 been so bad as he had expected. A few minutes 
 later, he was asleep. 
 
 In accordance with his orders, they awoke Ger- 
 ald Cardine an hour before dawn. It had been 
 raining heavily, and his blanket was soaked, 
 yet he had slept through it all. He sat up at 
 once, alert, clear-headed, yet with a strange 
 sense of unreality. Then he remembered. 
 Since noon the previous day, he had had no 
 morphia. 
 
 Sixteen hours without it ! God in Heaven, 
 was it possible ! He rose to his feet unsteadily ; 
 his fingers still felt swollen ; but there was no 
 tingling of the nerves, and he did not want to put 
 his hand to his Ups. 
 
 Sixteen hours ! Another eight hours, and 
 it would be a whole day. He was going on ; he 
 must go on, without morphia — and he was strong 
 enough to go on. He could have cried out in his
 
 A SOUL ON FIRE 287 
 
 joy of his once-found independence. It was as 
 though a prisoner under sentence of death had 
 suddenly been liberated. 
 
 The horrors of the previous night were forgotten. 
 They could not come on again with the same in- 
 tensity. Ordinarily, he was not what one would 
 call a " rehgious " man ; but now he went aside 
 into the bush, knelt down, and, incoherently, 
 thanked His Maker, then the thanks changed 
 into a prayer for Margaret Cardine. 
 
 Set down on paper, it would have seemed a 
 weird appeal, the cry of a strong man, who felt 
 himself as a child in the hands of a Greater Power ; 
 but, still, it was a cry from his heart, a cry of un- 
 utterable gratitude. 
 
 He would never touch it again — he was certain 
 of that ; but, because the final struggle had been 
 so short, though sharp, he did not assume that 
 the break was really easy. It was because he 
 had fought so hard before, to keep down the 
 doses, that he had triumphed now. But for 
 that fighting, they would now be carrying him 
 back to Mati in a state of utter collapse, perhaps 
 as a lunatic. 
 
 Yes, it was Margaret's victory, all hers. 
 
 Jack Bartram, haggard, worn, impatient to be 
 off on the trail of Ismail, stared at Gerald in aston- 
 ishment when the latter returned. The Raja's 
 face was haggard too, and there were black shad- 
 ows under the eyes, but, in it, there was a fierce 
 joy, which was not only the joy of the coming
 
 288 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 fight that must end the pursuit. There was 
 the joy of Life, a strong man revelhng in 
 his strength, a strong man who knew his own 
 strength. 
 
 A httle food — they had brought but a meagre 
 supply with them — then, as soon as it was hght 
 enough to see the trail, the column was off. An 
 hour later, the leading man gave a grunt of sur- 
 prise. 
 
 " Fires ahead," he said. " They slept here," 
 then drew his kris. 
 
 There were half a dozen heaps of white ash 
 amongst the trampled grass, and one fire which 
 was still flickering. Also there were some palm 
 leaf shelters. 
 
 " We're close on their heels," Gerald turned to 
 Bartram. The latter nodded, then, suddenly, 
 made a dive forward. A piece of ribbon, cerise- 
 coloured, was hanging on a bush, just a scrap of it. 
 But he remembered the cerise ribbon which Patsy 
 had been wearing. 
 
 " Do you Uke it ? It would suit very few 
 women," she had said to him, only a couple of 
 days before. 
 
 A cry broke suddenly from some of the men 
 who had begun to explore the shelters ; then there 
 were the sounds of a scuffle, and curses in English. 
 Both Gerald and Bartram sprang forward, in time 
 to see two white men dragged out. 
 
 They were filthy, dishevelled, unsteady on their 
 feet, but there was no mistaking who they were
 
 A SOUL ON FIRE 289 
 
 — Albert Darkin and Reggie Burnham. Ismail, 
 finding that they merely hampered his flight, and 
 having no more use for them, had left them 
 behind. They had been saturated with drink 
 when they started out with him, otherwise they 
 would never have left Mati, never have consented 
 to be parties to the abduction of Patsy ; but as 
 the spirits worked out of them, so they had reahsed 
 the madness of their conduct. During the night, 
 there had been a furious quarrel with Ismail, a 
 quarrel which had ended in his abandoning them. 
 The wretched young degenerate's nerve was gone, 
 but for that he would certainly have had them 
 shot. 
 
 Now, hungry, wet, miserable, conscious of 
 their own vileness, they were ready to crawl to 
 the new Raja. 
 
 But there was no mercy in Gerald Cardine's 
 eyes. They had offended against the code of the 
 white man. 
 
 He would not even address them directly. 
 
 " Ask them about Ismail, Bartram," he said. 
 They were eager to tell. They would have be- 
 trayed any one just then to curry favour with this 
 man at whom they had once scoffed. 
 
 Ismail was terribly bad, they said. The bullet 
 was still in his groin, and he was suffering agonies. 
 They were carrying him in a Utter, and, of course, 
 carrying Patsy too. Ismail was mad. He must 
 have been mad all along. He had compelled 
 them to come with him
 
 290 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 Gerald cut the story short. " Bring them along, 
 Mr. Bartram," he said. " I will deal with them 
 later. Tell Sergeant Mahomned to see they don't 
 delay the column. They've got to be well enough 
 to travel — at once." 
 
 It was only two hours later when they struck 
 Ismail's rearguard. There was no attempt at a 
 fight. Ismail's men simply scattered into the 
 bush. They were already the defeated side, and 
 they saw no sense in throwing away their lives. 
 
 The panic spread like wildfire up the Une. 
 
 Not a single shot was fired, but when they 
 came on the two litters not a native was in sight. 
 Patsy had got out of hers, and was standing 
 beside it, dazed, whilst in his Ismail was groaning 
 heavily. 
 
 " Jack, oh, Jack ! " it was to Bartram that 
 Patsy ran, with hands outstretched, Bartram 
 who gathered her to him, and covered her face 
 with kisses. 
 
 Sir Gerald Cardine turned away, a grim smile 
 on his face. Women change quickly. . . . 
 Yet he was unfeignedly glad. It eased his con- 
 science immensely. Since he had learnt what 
 Love meant, the thought of Patsy had often 
 worried him. If she had cared for him as Gerald 
 Raithe, the unknown, would she not think more of 
 Cardine of Cardine Place ? 
 
 But, apparently, she was a true woman. She 
 had cared for him, as a girl ; she loved Jack 
 Bartram as a woman. His rank was nothing to
 
 A SOUL ON FIRE 
 
 291 
 
 her, just as it would have been nothing to Mar- 
 garet Cardine. After all, those two were kin in 
 nature. 
 
 Now, she came across to him, with a new shy- 
 ness on her. " Sir Gerald — Jerry, dear, I mean, 
 I am so glad. It was good of you. And you've 
 won, after all. Jack and I — oh, you understand." 
 
 He bent down, and kissed her on the forehead. 
 Never before had he known her incoherent. 
 
 " I understand. Patsy," he said gravely. 
 " And I'm very glad. . . . Now, go away and 
 talk to Jack." 
 
 Ismail was dying — there was no question about 
 that. The mud and the rain had set up mortifica- 
 tion, and it was merely a matter of so many 
 hours of agony. He was not really conscious 
 now, and to move him again would have been sheer 
 brutality. 
 
 Gerald turned away from the litter, and paced 
 to and fro. He could not abandon the unfortun- 
 ate creature, yet he knew how urgently his own 
 presence was needed in Mati. And he knew what 
 sufferings there were yet before that writhing form. 
 Bitterly though he had hated his rival, now he 
 pitied him. 
 
 To die by inches — ugh ! Part of him was 
 already dead. 
 
 For five minutes he tried to make up his mind ; 
 then he ordered a camp to be made a hundred 
 yards down the track. 
 
 Curiously enough, none of them heard the
 
 292 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 pistol shot. He had pulled Ismail's shirt to one 
 side, and when they buried him, none of them 
 saw the tiny hole above the heart. . . . But 
 Patsy noticed how grey and worn Jerry was look- 
 ing. 
 
 Somehow, he felt very worn and very grey 
 when he sat down beside Jack and Patsy, and 
 tried to eat some food. He was shaky again now, 
 terribly shaky, yet, somehow, it did not seem the 
 old shakiness. 
 
 Noon ! He had been twenty-four hours with- 
 out any morphia. Suddenly, the shakiness 
 seemed to leave him. Twenty-four hours ! He 
 was his own master again. He was free, free ! 
 And he was master of Katu. There would be no 
 more opposition. With Ismail dead, it would be 
 futile for the chieftains on the west coast, and their 
 German advisers, to carry on a campaign. 
 
 Twenty-four hours without morphia ! He 
 found himself wondering if anyone who had not 
 been a morphia-victim could possibly understand 
 what that meant. It sounded such a small thing 
 to the man-in-the-street. " You've merely got 
 to make up your mind to do without it," the latter, 
 in his ineffable stupidity, says. He classes it with 
 alcohol, which is an indulgence, whereas the 
 other is a Horror. 
 
 If only it were possible to induce the non-mor- 
 phia-taker to understand ! If only it were pos- 
 sible for the victim to pour out his woes into 
 sympathetic ears ! But he has as much chance
 
 A SOUL ON FIRE 293 
 
 of help as has a girl who has gone astray, and has 
 confessed to an average woman imbued with the 
 " principles " of Victorian morahty. 
 
 Unless he meets a Margaret Cardine, he must 
 fight it out single-handed, or go under. In nine 
 cases out of ten, the latter happens. A word of 
 kindness might mean hfe, but the unctuous repro- 
 bation of those who have never been tempted 
 means death. And they go to the funeral, 
 murmuring, " The Lord gave, the Lord has taken 
 away," and would be inexpressibly shocked were 
 any one to suggest that the poor, tortured soul, 
 which had gone at last to the Peace of God, was 
 dearer to its Maker, because of its brave struggles 
 and its sufferings, than was all their smugness. 
 
 Still, you will never convince the British middle 
 class that on the Last Day the Almighty will not 
 examine their pass-books, and judge them accord- 
 ingly. He will look at the balance, they tell 
 themselves. There will be no time for Him to 
 inquire how that balance was obtained. After 
 all, being Respectable Himself, He will understand 
 and appreciate their Respectability. 
 
 To-day, Respectability means broken hearts 
 and ruined lives, means the negation of all that 
 is good and noble and generous in this world, 
 means a continual insult to Love, a clout flung 
 in the face of that Deity who, in the words of His 
 Own Son, is the God of Love. Yet, until the 
 cataclysm comes, we shall go on being Respect- 
 able, and the hearts of the Fit, those with brains,
 
 294 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 will break, and the Unfit — the smug, the unctuous, 
 and the dishonourable — will flourish, and go on 
 placing copper coins in church plates. 
 
 Twenty-four hours without morphia ! Half- 
 unconsciously, Sir Gerald Cardine had been listen- 
 ing to the conversation between Patsy and Jack 
 Bartram. They were too frankly in love, and 
 had too much to say, to worry about him. They 
 were happy, but what was their happiness to 
 his? 
 
 He was free, free ! And the most perfect woman 
 in the world loved him. Incidentally, he had 
 made himself Raja of Katu ; but that seemed 
 a very small matter now. 
 
 Free ! Free of that ghastly morphia, safely 
 through the Abstinence Storm ! God in Heaven, 
 if only he could tell her what he owed to her ! 
 But she would understand. She, herself, had been 
 through it. She knew. 
 
 He stood up, and lighted a cigar. Tobacco 
 tasted different now. As he threw away the 
 match, a runner came up with a letter. 
 
 Gerald's hand trembled violently as he took the 
 envelope. Margaret's writing ! 
 
 He knew, instinctively, what was rolled up in 
 that sheet of paper, and he threw it straight into 
 the fire. The tube cracked, and the morphia 
 pills sizzled. 
 
 Then he read the letter. 
 
 The conditions were abnormal, and, possibly, 
 they were abnormal people. Certainly, they were
 
 A SOUL ON FIRE 295 
 
 abnormal in so far that they loved as man and 
 woman should love. 
 
 Anyway, Margaret Cardine, fearing that he 
 would be half crazy for want of the drug, had 
 thrown all else to the winds. 
 
 The first word in her letter was " Beloved."
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 THE ONE THING WORTH WINNING 
 
 A PICKET of Chinese, under the command of one 
 of Gerald's former clerks, was guarding the head 
 of the road leading down to Mati. The Maxim 
 which had been captured in the first attack had 
 been placed so as to cover the approach. 
 
 Gerald gave a little nod of satisfaction. Evi- 
 dently, matters had gone on smoothly during his 
 absence. 
 
 The white man came forward and saluted. 
 At home, he had been a volunteer ; now, he 
 was revelling in being on actual service, being in 
 charge of an important post. " All quiet in the 
 town, sir," he reported, then he caught sight of 
 Patsy in her litter. " By Jove, I am glad," he 
 burst out, in a most unmilitary tone of voice. 
 
 For a minute, Gerald stood very still, looking 
 down over Mati. At the foot of the hill were the 
 blackened remains of the native town, the nipa 
 shacks, but the desolation did not worry him 
 greatly. It would soon be rebuilt, and its sani- 
 tary condition had long been a menace to the 
 
 296
 
 ONE THING WORTH WINNING 297 
 
 whole community. Probably, the fire had done 
 a very definite amount of good. 
 
 Out in the bay, he could see the " White Lady," 
 and his heart leapt at the sight. The woman 
 he loved, the woman who loved him, was aboard 
 her. An hour at the outside, and he would be 
 with Margaret, telHng her the things which had 
 been in his heart for months, the things which, 
 hitherto, he had not had the right to say, the 
 things he had fought so hard to banish from his 
 mind. 
 
 The Impossible had become the Possible. He 
 was a free man. 
 
 Margaret ! Margaret ! Really, it was only of 
 her that he thought at that moment. He forgot 
 that he had made himself Raja of Katu, that he 
 had done a more sensational thing than had any 
 Cardine before him, that England, Europe, the 
 whole world would be ringing with his name, in 
 praise or blame. He remembered only that Mar- 
 garet loved him, and that he had conquered the 
 morphia. 
 
 He had kept up splendidly throughout the long 
 march back. He was terribly shaken, like a man 
 who had suffered from some violent shock, and, 
 every now and then, a cold shiver would run 
 through him, and, for a few minutes, that ghastly 
 tingling of the nerves would assail him. But, 
 with each hour that passed, it became easier to 
 bear. His new-born pride in himself helped him 
 through. The first break had been through
 
 298 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 sheer accident, the chance of his having left his 
 supply of the drug behind ; but he had deliber- 
 ately destroyed the pills which the runner had 
 brought him. 
 
 More than anything else, however, the thought 
 of Margaret carried him through. He could 
 picture how she would look when he told her ; 
 almost, he could imagine what she would say, 
 words to match the love-light in her eyes. 
 
 How wonderful it all was, the years of misery 
 and self-reproach, of utter hopelessness, ended in 
 that one short struggle. Of course, the physical 
 exhaustion, the strain of the march on Mati and 
 the pursuit of Ismail, had helped him by making 
 sleep a necessity, and the excitement had helped 
 him still more, but, even after allowing for these, 
 it seemed a miracle. Vaguely, he had always 
 imagined that abstinence would mean a long 
 drawn-out agony, ending only in death. 
 
 " There's the ' Zeta ' coming in." Jack Bar- 
 tram's voice broke in on his thoughts. 
 
 He started, and followed the pointing finger 
 Yes, the schooner was just coming round the head 
 of the bay, under sail. Really, he had forgotten 
 her entirely, but now it was a great relief to know 
 that she was safe, especially as on board her was 
 all the money for the payment of Abdulla and his 
 kind. 
 
 Already, the Square in Mati had resumed its 
 wonted aspect. The temporary fort had been 
 entirely cleared away ; the belfry no longer bore
 
 ONE THING WORTH WINNING 299 
 
 signs of the Provost-Marshal's activity ; the stores 
 and offices were open again. True, there were 
 pickets at every street corner, and the guns on 
 the club veranda, but, otherwise, the place was 
 normal. Daddy Mallowe had done his work thor- 
 oughly. 
 
 It was close on sunset, and most of the white 
 men were in the Club, but they hurried out when 
 the sentry on the veranda passed in the news of 
 Gerald's return. 
 
 " He's rescued her ! By Jove ! He's rescued 
 her ! And he's got Darkin and Burnham too ! " 
 Locock cried, then waved his helmet as a signal 
 for the cheers. 
 
 The one shadow on Gerald's triumph seemed to 
 have been removed. Patsy's glowing face as she 
 got out of the Utter told every one that she had 
 come to no harm. They cheered her, even more 
 loudly than they had cheered Gerald, but every 
 one noticed that it was close beside Jack Bartram 
 she stood, as she gave her nervous little nods of 
 acknowledgment . 
 
 Locock came up to her — as Secretary of the 
 Club. " You must come in," he said. " For 
 the time being, this is Government House. Mrs. 
 Blackwood is in there. She is much better, going 
 on splendidly," and, with a tact strangely out of 
 keeping with his clumsy appearance, he piloted 
 her inside, allowing no one a chance to speak to 
 her. 
 
 Bartram watched her go rather ruefully, then
 
 300 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 allowed himself to be hustled into the smoking- 
 room, where, to the accompaniment of the popping 
 of corks, he told the story. 
 
 " And Darkin and the other bounder ? " some 
 one asked. 
 
 Jack's face grew black as thunder. " The 
 hogs. They're prisoners. I tried to get at 
 Jerry's intentions, but it was no use. He's 
 beastly unapproachable in some ways." 
 
 " Swollen head, I suppose," the speaker was 
 the same youth who had objected to the hangings. 
 
 A moment later, half the men in the room 
 seemed to be giving him advice, tempered with 
 most unflattering estimates of his character and 
 mental attainments. 
 
 " Jerry'll be pretty rough on those fellows," 
 an American planter spoke reflectively. " He's 
 white all through, and they've gone clean beyond 
 the mark. Still, there'll be the devil to pay if he 
 hangs them. Darkin' s folk in England will make 
 a squeal." 
 
 Half a dozen voices answered him. " Hang 
 them ! Rot ! He won't do that. He'll just 
 deport them." 
 
 The American shrugged his shoulders. " As 
 you like," he drawled, " But I guess our new 
 Raja's a tough case, and he's got it up against 
 those two. As I came in just now I heard him 
 telHng our Provost-Marshal to iron them, and 
 lock them up. It kind of suggested the con- 
 demned cell."
 
 ONE THING WORTH WINNING 301 
 
 A curious hush fell on the assembly. So far, 
 they had supported Gerald Cardine enthusiasti- 
 cally, and, whilst the excitement lasted, they were 
 quite willing not to look ahead. 
 
 They had recognised the necessity for the swift 
 justice dealt out to the looters ; but when it was 
 a question of hanging white men, and one of those 
 white men the brother of the Secretary for the 
 Colonies, it was another matter. A chill seemed 
 to fall on them. Darkin had proved himself a 
 traitor to his country and his colour, but — none 
 of them wanted to be implicated in his death. Sir 
 Joseph Darkin had a long reach, 
 
 Bartram alone was on the Raja's side. Darkin 
 had helped to put Patsy in Ismail's hands. He 
 wondered now why he had not shot the creature 
 on sight. It would have saved this trouble. 
 
 " I stand by Jerry, whatever he does," he 
 declared manfully. " If Darkin had helped a 
 native to abduct your womenkind, how many of 
 you would talk of mercy ? Miss Wrench is my 
 future wife," he flung the words at them, " and 
 if Jerry lets him go, by God, I shan't." 
 
 A hand was laid on Bartram's shoulder, and 
 a quiet voice broke in. " Thank you. Jack." 
 None of them had noticed the Raja's entrance. 
 "Don't worry. Justice will be done." He swept 
 the room with his eyes, and saw that his critics 
 consisted entirely of men whom Daddy Mallowe 
 had declined to employ in his temporary adminis- 
 tration.
 
 302 THE WAY OF THE CARDINES 
 
 " None of you gentlemen will be in any way 
 responsible for my actions," he said coldly, then 
 he drew Bartram aside. " I am going off to the 
 ' White Lady.' They say that Mrs. Blackwood 
 can be moved now, so she and Patsy had better 
 go aboard. In a little while, I will get Lady Car- 
 dine to send off a boat for them." 
 
 Margaret Cardine was waiting for him in that 
 same music room in which they had first met. 
 Then, she had bowed gravely : now, she came for- 
 ward, with both hands outstretched, with shining 
 eyes. 
 
 For a moment, nothing was said. ^Vhat did 
 mere words of greeting mean to them, when each 
 knew the other's secret ? He bent down and 
 kissed her hands. As he looked up again, she 
 noted some subtle change in him, a new expression. 
 
 " Gerald ! Gerald ! " she cried breathlessly. 
 
 He drew her to him, unresisting. " It's thirty- 
 six hours," he said hoarsely. " And the craving 
 has gone. I burnt all those you sent me, every one. 
 It will never come back, if you help." 
 
 She freed herself, but it was only so that she 
 could put her arms round his neck, and draw his 
 face down to hers. 
 
 " Beloved," she whispered. " It will never 
 come back ; it shall never come back. I have 
 been through it, and I know. But I shall be 
 always by your side — if you will have me." 
 
 His kisses, the first kisses of love he had ever 
 given, answered her. And the kiss she gave him
 
 ONE THING WORTH WINNING 303 
 
 back told equally of passion and adoration, the 
 warmth and the fragrance of it seemed to linger 
 unforgettable memories. 
 
 Now, he felt the thrill of her body against his, 
 as he held her to him, felt her hair sweeping his 
 face, the softness of her arms. What was Katu, 
 what was anything, compared with the joys in 
 store for him ? For the first time for years, he 
 laughed happily, naturally. He had ceased to be 
 a Cardine, who was going to die for the Empire, 
 and had become a man, who was desperately 
 anxious to live for the woman he loved. 
 
 After a while, they sat down on the settee, and 
 he began to tell her of the rescue of Patsy. 
 
 " Darkin must pay the price of his crime," he 
 said. " He's a drunken degenerate, and three- 
 quarters of the time he doesn't know what he's 
 doing, but " 
 
 She got up suddenly, — pale-faced, trembhng. 
 
 " Gerald, oh, Gerald ! Don't you know ? 
 Oh, I thought you did, I thought every one did. 
 Why, oh, why didn't I tell you ? Now, you will 
 hate me." 
 
 Gerald, too, rose. " What do you mean ? " 
 he cried. "All I know, all I care about, is that 
 we love one another, and that you are to be my 
 wife!" He tried to take her in his arms again, 
 but she pushed him back, very gently. 
 
 " No, wait. I must tell you." Her voice was 
 low, but, with a tremendous effort, she kept it 
 steady. " I knew Joseph Darkin only too well,
 
 304 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 I was just his secretary at first ; then there was a 
 ceremony, in some sort of chapel ; and I beheved 
 I was his wife. When he wanted to marry the 
 Soap King's daughter, I found mine was no 
 marriage. He turned me out of the house, and 
 preached that Sunday at a Young Men's Service. 
 , . . I met Sir Charles — no matter how — 
 and he married me. He knew everything. 
 Then the Darkins and their friends talked, boasted, 
 jeered, made the story public property. A 
 Royal lady, none of whose family had ever been 
 fit to black the boots of a Cardine of Cardine 
 Place," her eyes flashed proudly now, " left me 
 out of an invitation ; and Sir Charles resigned. 
 He said that no German, living on British bounty, 
 should insult his wife. When he resigned, the 
 Ministry fell, and the Darkins and their friends 
 came into power. That is all," she stopped 
 abruptly, and stood looking at him with pitiful, 
 tear-filled eyes. Had she lost this new-found 
 Heaven on earth ? 
 
 His answer came swiftly, in the one way pos- 
 sible. She was in his arms again, and though he 
 was trembling now, it was with fury at the thought 
 of her sufferings. His kisses were even more pas- 
 sionate than before. After a while, " It only makes 
 you dearer to me — if that is possible. . . . 
 Fate is on our side. By conquering Katu, we 
 have ruined Joseph Darkin's prestige with his 
 German friends ; and now I can deal with his 
 brother."
 
 ONE THING WORTH WINNING 305 
 
 " No, no ! " she tried to free herself. " Gerald, 
 if you do anything to him, they will say it is 
 revenge. . . . Dearest, it is the first favour 
 I ask of you. Think of how it would affect me, 
 and let the creature go. Do let him go, do let 
 him go ! It would be awful for me, for both of us. 
 In their hearts, they would be glad to know he 
 was dead ; but it would give them such a handle 
 against us." 
 
 Gerald's face was very black. At that moment, 
 he would gladly have shot, with his own hand, 
 every one of the " Good Darkins " ; but he could 
 not resist the appeal in her voice. 
 
 " Very well," he said at last. " He shall go 
 free, and so shall the other little cad. He has 
 admitted that he is my stepmother's envoy. 
 . . . And, now, let us talk of the Future, our 
 Future, the long, sweet years together, you and I 
 as one, against the whole world." 
 
 She nestled down to him. " And am I to be 
 Ranee of Katu ? " she asked. 
 
 But he shook his head. " Weste had instruc- 
 tions to state that the sooner the British Govern- 
 ment took over the island, the better I should be 
 pleased. ... I had expected to die here ; 
 now I want to hve, with you, at Cardine Place." 
 
 u
 
 CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 THE LAST 
 
 " Oh ! my brethren, there are ships of war, two 
 ships of war, coming in through the eastern pas- 
 sage." 
 
 As on that historic day, when the " White 
 Lady " made her first appearance, the fisherman's 
 cry cut through the clear morning air, finally 
 resulting in the awakening of all Mati. But this 
 time it was different. Mati was no longer taking 
 long pubHc holidays in order to finish the cock- 
 fighting tournaments, and, for nearly a fortnight 
 past, Raja Ismail had been lying under the 
 ground, up on the hills, 
 
 John Weste heard the cry, and, having had its 
 meaning explained to him by his boy, sprang out 
 of bed. It was over a week since he had returned 
 from Singapore, after having sent the Comet one 
 of the longest, most brilliant, and most sensational 
 cables in the history of journahsm. Singapore 
 had tried to retain him, to pay Gerald Cardine 
 homage through him. The story of the great 
 raid had, hterally, made the town seethe. Men 
 saw in Sudang Harbour, not a rival port, but a 
 
 306
 
 THE LAST 307 
 
 port which should be the complement of their own, 
 a British port. 
 
 A British port — that was the main thing, the 
 essential factor. For years past, those who had 
 eyes to see had dreaded the growing German power 
 in the Far East, the menace to our control of the 
 World's Great Highway. Even out there, that 
 ugly word " treason " had been whispered. It had 
 been on men's Hps when Mr. Lecher, M.P., the 
 Labour leader, had paid his unwelcomed visit ; 
 it had been breathed again when Joseph Darkin, 
 head of the " Good Darkins " had become 
 Colonial Secretary, and had been officially iden- 
 tified with the two Militant Saints. 
 
 Now, however, it seemed as if Gerald Cardine 
 had put an end to the whole hateful business. 
 The country would support him, it must support 
 him, and Germany's policy in the Far East would 
 be frustrated, absolutely. 
 
 The Governor saw John Weste, privately, 
 and spoke as a great English gentleman does in 
 such a case ; but unofficial Singapore surged round 
 him publicly, and honoured Gerald Cardine vicari- 
 ously, through him. 
 
 " Two ships of war coming through the eastern 
 passage." 
 
 The Raja of Katu went out into the balcony of 
 the club in his pyjamas. His first look was 
 towards the " White Lady," his first thought was 
 of Margaret ; then he saw the incoming vessels, 
 a large grey British cruiser, purposeful, splendid,
 
 3o8 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 and a small white-painted gunboat flying the 
 German flag. 
 
 Gerald Cardine's brows contracted. Some 
 instinct told him what was going to happen. 
 
 An hour later, he received the British captain 
 in the small card-room, which he still used as his 
 office. The visitor was stiff, uncomfortable, evi- 
 dently conscious of having an unpleasant task to 
 perform. 
 
 He bowed, but made no offer to shake hands. 
 " Sir Gerald Cardine ? " he said. 
 
 The other nodded." I am Gerald Cardine, Raja 
 of Katu. Perhaps you do not know of the recent 
 changes here, as I noticed that you did not 
 salute my flag." 
 
 The naval officer flushed. He himself was an 
 English gentleman, and. Heavens, how he hated 
 his present task ! To have to do the dirty work of 
 that gang in Downing Street ! Still, he had re- 
 ceived certain orders, and he must obey them. He 
 was the servant of the nation, and the nation 
 had placed the Darkins and their kind in the Seats 
 of the Mighty. 
 
 " My orders were not to recognise your sove- 
 reignty," he answered. " His Majesty's Govern- 
 ment has no intention of annexing Katu ; in fact 
 it has come to an arrangement with the 
 authorities at Berlin, by which the German Gov- 
 ernment is to establish a protectorate here. My 
 instructions are to endeavour to induce you to 
 leave peaceably ; otherwise, I and my colleague
 
 THE LAST 309 
 
 in the German cruiser are to take active steps 
 to enforce the arrangement." 
 
 Gerald Cardine had gone very white. So this 
 was the end, the end ! 
 
 He had won this great prize for the nation, and 
 now the nation was betrayed, he was betrayed. 
 
 Sold ! Sold to Germany ! Probably, for a 
 few paltry thousands, our control of the World's 
 Highway endangered, our grip on the Far East 
 threatened. The food supplies of the teeming mil- 
 lions of England, of the workers who had elected 
 these smug traitors, endangered,so that those same 
 traitors might give more freely to chapel funds, 
 and, perhaps, keep an extra flat in Mar3'lebone 
 as well. 
 
 Probably, at that moment, he was a greater 
 man than he had ever been before. Another 
 might have agreed, protested, cursed. Gerald 
 Cardine accepted the inevitable. It was impos- 
 sible to fight. In half an hour, that cruiser could 
 have reduced Mati to a heap of smoking ruins, 
 and then — the Germans would have marched in 
 to celebrate their cheaply-won triumph. 
 
 He clenched and unclenched his hands convul- 
 sively ; then, suddenly, he became calm. 
 
 " Very well," he said, " I will hand the island 
 I have conquered over to you — but not to that 
 damned German. You must do that dirty job." 
 
 For a moment, the other man's eyes blazed 
 with passion ; then, as suddenly, the fire died out 
 of them.
 
 310 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 " A dirty job, yes," his voice was very low. 
 " Sir Gerald Cardine, you will believe me when I 
 say I would sooner have lost my right hand than 
 have had to be an agent in this disgraceful deal. 
 . . By God ! " He got up abruptly. " I 
 know all it means, to the nation — and to you. I — 
 I'm sorry, damnably sorry," all his stiffness had 
 gone now, and his voice was more than unsteady. 
 He was not the servant of the public now, but 
 merely an Englishman sorrowing over England's 
 disgrace. 
 
 They shook hands in silence ; then, " I shall 
 salute your flag before it comes down," the sailor 
 said huskily. " And I shall send a guard of 
 honour for you when you come off. I suppose I 
 may offer you a passage to Singapore ? " 
 
 Gerald shook his head. " No. I shall go on 
 Lady Cardine 's yacht. We shall sail this after- 
 noon. There is nothing to keep me here now. 
 I shall destroy all my guns ; then I shall go round 
 to Sudang Bay, and pick up my officers there." 
 
 Somehow, by the time the captain of the cruiser 
 left, the news had spread through Mati. The 
 Germans, who had kept out of the way since 
 Carl Gunther's death, came down to the Club in 
 a body, blatant, perspiring, swaggering. Walter 
 Blackwood, too, and one or two other EngHshmen 
 who boasted of being purely business men, now 
 openly expressed their satisfaction. 
 
 " Theories are no good now-a-days," Black- 
 wood said, voicing the ideas of his kind. " A
 
 THE LAST 311 
 
 theory won't swell your bank balance. Jerry 
 Cardine has upset everything. It will take us 
 months to get straight ; but, at any rate, those 
 Germans will run the island on business Hues." 
 
 The only comment came from Miss Patricia 
 Wrench, who had happened to come ashore from 
 the " White Lady." 
 
 She looked Blackwood full in the eyes. 
 " Coward ! " she said quietly, " I am sorry for 
 Alice." 
 
 Locock, Bartram, Wheeler, and a score of 
 others came to Gerald, cursing, half-hysterical 
 with rage, begging him to stay, to fight, to do a 
 thousand impossibilities. But they went away 
 very quietly, after a few quiet words from him. 
 They had got to go on living there, and it was no 
 use kicking against the pricks. 
 
 No man from the German vessel landed whilst 
 Gerald was in Mati — the British captain had in- 
 sisted on that ; and, in spite of all that the 
 authorities at Home might say afterwards, the 
 landing party from the cruiser treated him as an 
 independent sovereign. 
 
 He went through it all without any outward 
 sign of emotion, his voice quiet and courteous, 
 though his face was set hard. Not until he was 
 in that music room on the " White Lady," did 
 he give way ; then, for the first time for many 
 years, the tears came into his eyes. 
 
 He knelt down beside Margaret, and she drew 
 his head to her bosom.
 
 312 THE WAY OF THE CARBINES 
 
 " Beloved," she murmured, as her Hps caressed 
 that prematurely grey hair, " You have done 
 all you could, more than any other man could 
 have done. Always remember that. Let me 
 try and comfort you." 
 
 Then he looked up at her, with wet, flashing 
 eyes. " Comfort me ! Comfort me ! " he echoed. 
 " If I have lost Katu, I have won you. And 
 Love is the Greatest Thing of all." 
 
 THE LONDON ASD NORWICH PRESS LIMITED, LONDON AND NORWICH
 
 T. WERNER LAURIE'S 
 
 LIST OF NOVELS 
 AT ONE SHILLING NET. 
 
 WITH PICTURE COVERS IN COLOURS 
 
 A LIST OF DELIGHTFUL BOOKS 
 TO READ, BY 
 
 Victoria Cross 
 Maud Churton Braby 
 James BIytb 
 Fergus Hume 
 Florence Warden 
 Frank Richardson 
 
 Gertie de S. Wentwortli^James 
 Mary Qaunt 
 Bart Kennedy 
 Stanley Portal Hyatt 
 Hubert Bland 
 Eden Phillpotts 
 
 and Arnold Bennett 
 
 [ 
 
 ON ALL BOOKSTALLS AND OF ALL B00K5ELLER5 
 Published at CLIFFORD'S INN, LONDON, by 
 
 T. WERNER LAURIE, LIMITED
 
 LIFE'S SHOP WINDOW 
 
 By VICTORIA CROSS 
 
 Is. net. 
 
 The book is a vivid and brilliant presentment of the 
 varying phases of a woman's life, and displays all that 
 keen analysis of motive and character, that acute under- 
 standing of the emotions, that joy in life and vigorous 
 vitality which make Victoria Cross so remarkable a 
 writer, and secured for her last book, "Six Women," 
 such a noteworthy success in all parts of the world. 
 
 SIX WOMEN 
 
 By VICTORIA CROSS 
 
 Is. net. 
 
 '* \Vhat is so marked in tliese stories is the beauty of the writing. 
 Her atmosphere is delightful. The Eastern stories are full of the 
 colour and the atmosphere of the East. No one can do anything 
 but envy the author's touch in the description of Eastern buildings 
 and gardens." — 2'he Queen. 
 
 THE UNCOUNTED COST 
 
 By MARv GmUNT 
 
 Is. net. 
 
 In this amazing novel, the doctrine that a woman can 
 "live her own life" is set forth, together with all the 
 penalties ind consequences of this theory. A story of 
 intense interest. Grips your attention at the very start, 
 and leads vou, fascinated and spellbound, to the final 
 page.
 
 DOVYNWAHD: A ** Slice of Life" 
 
 By MAUD CHURTON BRABY 
 
 The extraordinary vivid presentment of Dolly, the 
 brilliant and undisciplined hospital nurse who is the 
 heroine of this story, will not easily be forgotten. Her 
 temptations and adventures in the Wiinpole Street 
 nursing home, her tragic love affair and the depths to 
 which it brings her, together make up a most uncon- 
 ventional and life-like study of modern life 
 
 "It is a brave, true book by a fearless woman, who, having seen 
 clearly, dares to speak faithfully, and by so doing has made us all 
 her debtors." — W. T. Stead in his Review of Reviews. 
 
 MODERM MARRIAGE AND HOW TO 
 BEAR IT 
 
 By MAUD CHURTON BRABY 
 
 Contents. — Part I. — Signs of Unrest. — The Mutual Dissatis- 
 faction of the Sexes — Why Men Don't Marry — Why Women Don't 
 Marry — The Tragedy of the Undesired. 
 
 Part II. — Causes of Failitre. — The Various Kinds of Marriage. — 
 Why We Fall Out : Divers Discords— The Age to Marry— Wild 
 Oats for Wives — A Plea for the Wiser Training of Girls — '• Keeping 
 Only to Her " : the Crux of Matrimony. 
 
 Part III. — Suggested Alternatives. — Leasehold Marriage a la 
 Meredith — Leasehold Marriage in Practice : a Dialogue in 1999 — 
 The Fiasco of Free Love — Polygamy at the Polite Dinner Tabic — 
 Is Legalised Polyandry the Solution ? — A Word for " Duogamy " — 
 The Advantages of the Preliminary Canter. 
 
 Part IV. — Children— the Cul-de-sac of all Reforms.— To Beget 
 or Not to Beget : the Question of the Day — The Pros and Cons of 
 the Limited Family — Parenthood : the Highest Desti.-»» 
 
 Part V. — How to Bear It. — A Few SuggetMons §. Reform — 
 Some Practical Advice to Husbands and Wives 
 
 THE HUWGER LINE 
 
 By BART KEIMF^EDY 
 
 A powerful little volume dealing with the pressing 
 problem of those whose lives are spent on the border 
 line of starvation.
 
 T. WERMR lURirs I;,, K0YE18 
 
 1 
 
 LADY JIM OF CURZON STREET 
 
 By FERGUS HUME 
 
 Author of "The Mystery of a Hansom Cab." 
 Is. net. 
 
 While this is a smart Society novel in place of his 
 more familiar detective work, Mr Hume gives his readers 
 plenty of mystery and excitement from his first page to 
 his last, and they will find in the book just those qualities 
 which have made his work so popular. 
 
 " A witty, sparkling Society novel." — Ladies^ Field, 
 
 THE SALVING OF A DERELICT 
 
 By MAURICE DRAKE 
 
 Is. net. 
 
 The Daily iT/a// offered a prize of p£"ioo for the best 
 novel, and over 600 competitors sent in manuscripts. 
 
 The prize was awarded to this thrilling and romantic 
 adventure story. 
 
 THE SINEWS OF WAR 
 
 By EDEN PHILLPOTTS and ARNOLD BENNETT 
 
 Is. net. 
 
 An astonishing murder opens the way to the story, 
 and the coroner's inquest introduces to the reader one of 
 the most original characters in modern sensational fiction. 
 From the lodging-houses, clubs, and theatres of the metro- 
 polis, the scene changes to London Docks, thence to 
 mid-ocean, and finally to the West Indies. Inhere the 
 mystery of "The Sinews of War" becomes at last un- 
 ravelled, and a title that will puzzle the reader until the 
 end is explained.
 
 T. WERNER LADRIE'S 1^„ KOYELS 
 
 LETTERS TO A DAUGHTER 
 
 By HUBERT BLAND 
 
 Is. net. 
 
 These letters are from a father to his daughter. The 
 father's character is shown in an introductory sketch. It 
 is an odd compound of philosopher and man of the 
 world, and his intellectual interchanges with his daughter 
 are more intimate and more frank than is usual in that 
 relationship. When the letters were written the daughter 
 was away on a round of visits. She seems to have put 
 to her father many bravely candid questions, to which he 
 has replied with an equally candid courage. 
 
 The girl's questions refer to those problems which 
 present themselves inevitably to one who is intelligent, 
 nineteen and a girl. And the letters deal with such 
 problems. Here are the titles of some of them : — ^' 
 
 A Letter on being Delightful — On Going to Church — On Scandal 
 — On Earning One's Living — On the Limits of Flirtation — On 
 Different Sorts of Men — On the Glamour of the Footlights — On 
 Marriage. 
 
 THE HAPPY MORALIST 
 
 By HUBERT BLAND 
 
 Is. net. 
 
 A delightfully fresh and charming volurne by the 
 author of " Letters to a Daughter." 
 
 THE EMPRESS OF THE ANDES 
 
 By FLORENCE WARDEN 
 
 Is. net. 
 
 This exciting tale of mystery deals largely with life in 
 Paris and London.
 
 T. WERNER LAURIE'S 1^- NOVELS 
 
 I NET 
 
 FALLEN AMONG THIEVES 
 
 By STANLEY PORTAL HYATT 
 
 Is. not 
 
 A detective story concerning a gang of German Jews 
 connected with the "White Slave" traffic in London. 
 
 2838 MAYFAIR 
 
 By FRANK RICHARDSON 
 
 Is. net 
 
 A tale of London, and all that therein is; it starts with 
 a murder, and it is not till long after the corpse comes 
 to life that the mystery of the murder is solved. 
 
 MISS FERRIBY'S CLIENTS 
 
 By FLORENCE WARDEN 
 
 Is. net 
 
 One of Miss Warden's best mystery tales, belonging to 
 the same category as " The House on the Marsh." 
 
 I
 
 T. WERNER LAURIE'S V HOVELS 
 
 I NET. 
 
 THE WILD WIDOW 
 
 By GERTIE DE 8. WENTWORTH-JAMES 
 
 is. net 
 
 "There are many genuine surprises in this fresh and well- written 
 novel, and altogether it is an ingenious and fascinating piece of 
 work." — Aforning Leader. 
 
 "The story is packed full of life and mirth and humour. ... A 
 bright and breezy novel thoroughly up-to-date and clever. . . " — 
 Bystander. 
 
 "Shows powers and qualities far beyond the standard of the 
 ordinary output of fiction. — Dublin Express. 
 
 " Proves the author to be capable of inventing and unfolding ft 
 complicated plot with considerable skill."— Z)a«i?^ Telegraph. 
 
 RED LOYE 
 
 By GERTIE DE 8. WENTWORTH-JAMES 
 
 Is. net 
 
 " A novel that is, above all, lively. . . . Cleverly satirical. . . . 
 The writing is smart . . . and the dialogue amusing. There is a 
 somewhat violently emotional atmosphere about the tale, but tested 
 by the criterion of entertainment pure and simple, it may be said to 
 pass with flying colours." — Glasgow Herald. 
 
 ". . . Clear perceptions and marked creative gifts. Mrs 
 Wentworth-James writes bitterly concerning the jealousy and malice 
 of the male reviewer in respect of women writers ; but we assure 
 her we are not actuated by feelings of sex-antagonism when we state 
 that she has within her the seeds of greatness. ... A writer who 
 so clearly possesses the gift of seeing that which is in front of 
 her." — Clarion. 
 
 THE NIGHT SIDE OF LONDOM 
 
 By ROBERT MACHRAY 
 
 With 05 Pictures by Tom Browne, R.I., R.B.A. 
 Is. net 
 
 Piccadilly Circus (ii p.m. to i a.m.); In the Streets (Ratcliff 
 Highway); "In Society"; Not "In Society"; An East End 
 Music Hall ; Earl's Court ; The Masked Ball ; The Shilling Hop ; 
 Club Life ; A Saturday Night with the " Savages " ; With the 
 " Eccentrics" (3 A.M.) ; " La Vie de P.olieme " ; Sunday Night at 
 the New Lyric; A "Night Club"; The National Sporting Club ; 
 A School for Neophytes; "Wonderland"; New Year's Eve at 
 St Paul's ; The Hoppers' Saturday Night.
 
 T. WERNER LACRIE'S I*' NOVELS 
 
 B N Ell 
 
 THE METHODS OF VICTOR AMES 
 
 Bj> the Author of "The Adventures of John Johns." 
 
 Is. net. 
 
 Imbued with some of the principles of Machiavelli, 
 possessed of enormous wealth, distrustful of all passions 
 that limit the pursuit of power, courted by many women 
 for his affluence and beauty, but courting rarely, a legis- 
 lator and controller of opinion through his organs in the 
 Press, ingenious, forceful, esoteric, humorous and shrewd, 
 deserving the venality of his contemporaries, developing 
 a morality out of his distaste for current conduct, helpful 
 to those whom his mcBSiria defeats; Ames is a figure 
 which is probably unique in fiction. 
 
 THE KIMG AMD ISABEL 
 
 By the Author of "Ih'b. Adventures of John Tohns." 
 
 Is. net. 
 
 THE WEANING 
 
 By JAMES BLYTH 
 
 l3. net. 
 
 An exciting motor story, in which Mr Blyth presents 
 a careful study of the birth, development, and termina- 
 tion of one of those attacks of Calf Love, or Sentimental 
 Fever, to which every large-hearted boy of education is 
 subject.
 
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 LOS Angeles
 
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