that she was wrong, and her mistress and the other woman thought her
despicable, ridiculous, unenlightened. It was a hardship to them,
to be endured with dignity and patience, but none the less a hardship,
that they should be left and should have to die with this woman of
the Ranks Below to keep them company. She was an honest woman, or
they would never have engaged her and paid her passage all the way
to India. But she was not of their jat, and she was a fool. It
happens, however, that her point of view saved England for the English,
and that the other point of view had brought England to the brink
of utter ruin.

"If you'd leave off talking about your truly tiresome lover, and
would pray to God, Jane," said Mrs. Leslie, "the rest of us might
have a chance to pray to God too! This isn't the time, let me tell
you, to be thinking of carnal love-affairs. Recall your sins, one
by one, and ask forgiveness for them."

In the gloom of the vault, poor Jane was quite invisible. The sound
of her snuffling and sobs was the only clue to her direction. But
her bridling was a thing that could be felt through the stuffy
blackness, and there was a ring in her retort that gave the lie to
the tears that she was shedding.

"The only sin I ask forgiveness for," she answered in a level voice,
"is having let Bill come to India alone. Pray to God, is it? Go on!
Pray! If Bill was here, he'd start on that stone door without no
words nor argument, unless some one tried to stop him. Then there'd
be an argument! And he'd get it open too. Bill's the kind that does
his prayin' afterward, and God helps men like Bill!"