After the surrender of Pondicherry, this
hero and heroine---But hey---what the devil are
you thinking of?---If you stare at her that way,
you will make a scene; for she will think nothing
of scolding you across the table.''
But without attending to his friend's remonstrances,
Hartley bolted from the table at which he sat,
and made his way, with something less than the
decorum which the rules of society enjoin, towards
the place where the lady in question was seated.
``The Doctor is surely mad this morning---''
said his friend Major Mercer to old Quartermaster
Calder.
Indeed Hartley was not perhaps strictly in his
senses; for looking at the Queen of Sheba as he
listened to Major Mercer, his eye fell on a light
female form beside her, so placed as if she desired
to be eclipsed by the bulky form and flowing robes
we have described, and to his extreme astonishment,
he recognised the friend of his childhood, the
love of his youth---Menie Gray herself!
To see her in India was in itself astonishing. To
see her apparently under such strange patronage,
greatly increased his surprise. To make his way
to her, and address her, seemed the natural and
direct mode of satisfying the feelings which her
appearance excited.
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