Page:Doughty--Mirrikh or A woman from Mars.djvu/7



In 1870 I was at Panompin.

But for this—and it was only by accident that I chanced to be there—my part in the singular adventures which I am  about to narrate would never have been played.

Not that there existed any reason why I should not be at Panompin in the year mentioned; still it seemed strange  to be wandering alone about the streets of the Cambodian  capital free from all responsibility, when only two short  months before I had been loaded down with a burden of  care which promised to be never-ending, and I would just  as soon have thought then of going to the moon.

Permit me before proceeding any further to introduce myself.

I am George Wylde, ex-American Consul at Swatow. The addition of the prefix to my official title was purely of my own seeking. I felt that I had seen enough of Swatow, and of China too, for that matter. I resigned simply because I wanted to get away.

My reasons—well, I suppose they must be stated, and I may as well undertake the disagreeable task first as last. I had trouble with my wife, serious trouble which had been  constantly increasing during the five years of our married  life. This trouble had culminated in a way that would