Page:Doughty--Mirrikh or A woman from Mars.djvu/56

, though why he should have picked me out for the leader and tried that clever dodge to get me out of the way, I can’t understand.”

“Come, come!” cried Maurice, “time enough has been wasted over this adventure. Night is right on top of us, and a storm along with it, if I am any judge of Siamese meteorology. Let us get back to the place we turned off as soon as possible, and try the left hand trail.”

There was sound common sense in this, yet, in spite of myself, my thoughts would wander toward the forest. “What do you think of the shawl, Doctor?” I asked abruptly, in the effort to shake them off.

“Why, it’s a genuine camel’s hair. Did the old man give it to you, De Veber?”

“Yes; I had to accept it.”

“Had to accept it! I only wish it had been me then. Why man, that shawl would bring a good hundred pounds in London..”

“No!”

“Fact, I assure you. I didn’t notice what it was till Wylde called my attention to it. A famous present for the future Mrs. De Veber. You will do well to hold on to it.”

He was right, too. I may as well mention that the shawl was finally sold for £70. Perhaps it was the last part of Philpot’s remark that made Maurice so anxious to get rid of it. I remember well how he laughed when he answered:

“I shall hold it till it rots then before I put it to the use you suggest. Mrs. De Veber is a long way in future. I’m afraid she will never find any use for her shawl.”

“What? Opposed to the divine institution,” cried the Doctor. “Give me your hand young man? You are a fellow after my own heart. I wouldn’t marry the best woman in the world, no, not if she were hung with diamonds. But a young chap like you can scarcely be expected to feel that way.”

“I think I am one of the select few who are willing to profit by the experience of others,” laughed Maurice.

“Wise man! And have the matrimonial experiences of your friends then been so disastrous?”

“Ask Wylde,” Maurice was beginning, when I checked him with a frown. The Doctor saw it, and, with that perfect politeness of which he was certainly master when he chose to exert himself, immediately changed the subject.