"We will talk more of this anon, comrade! At all events, it is settled
that we travel together. I hope most fervently that in the great theatre
of the world your nation is at this present moment standing shoulder to
shoulder with mine against England."




V

THE CAPTAIN'S WIFE


As a married man, Captain Irwin was not quartered in one of the wooden
barracks of the English camp, but had his own bungalow in the suburbs.

It was a house of one story with a broad verandah, was surrounded by
a large well-kept garden, and formerly served a high official of the
Maharajah as a residence. Apart from it lay two smaller buildings used
as servants' quarters, of which, however, only one was at present in
use.

The sun of that same day, that had brought Hermann Heideck face to face
with such momentous matters affecting his future for his final decision,
was sinking rapidly into the heavens as he passed through the cactus
hedge and bamboo thicket of the garden surrounding Irwin's bungalow.

He was attired in an evening dress of the lightest black cloth, such as
is prescribed by English custom for a visit paid at the dinner-hour in
those climes.