try to judge of his taste in literature. And with feminine curiosity she
studied the photographs on the walls and tables and wondered who were
the originals of the portraits of some beautiful women among them and
what was their relation to Dermot.

While her brother, who picked up strength at once in the pure air,
delighted in the military sights and sounds around him, the girl revelled
in the loveliness of their surroundings, the beauty of the scenery, the
splendour of the hills, and the glorious panorama of forest and plains
spread before her eyes. To Parker, who had awaited their arrival at
Dermot's gate and hurried forward to help down from Badshah's back the
first Englishwoman who had ever visited their solitary station, she took an
instant liking, which increased when she found that he openly admired his
commanding officer as much as she did secretly.

In the days that followed it seemed quite natural that the task of
entertaining Noreen should fall to the senior officer's lot, while the
junior tactfully paired off with her brother and took him to shoot on the
rifle range or join in games of hockey with the sepoys on the parade
ground, which was the only level spot in the station.

Propinquity is the most frequent cause of love--for one who falls headlong
into that passion fifty drift into it. In the isolation of that solitary
spot on the face of the giant mountains, Kevin Dermot and Noreen Daleham
drew nearer to each other in their few days together there than they ever
would have done in as many months of London life. As they climbed the hills
or sat side by side on the Mess verandah and looked down on the leagues of
forest and plain spread out like a map at their feet, they were apt to
forget that they were not alone in the world.