Page:Henry rideout--The siamese cat.djvu/192

 Julia, hugging the cat with a frantic tension. His dragon squirming seemed to recall her to herself.

"I shall not alarm Laura," she whispered. "Come soon and tell me—everything." He was rushing away, when she recalled him. "Oh, please! Please, without fail, get passage for us on the earliest steamer possible—yes, Colombo—to-morrow, any day, the sooner the better. I've had quite enough of this—"

Owen was off, running, to the gate. No one was there; the carriage had gone; well down the road echoed a rumble and a clatter. He recaptured his rickshaw and gave chase; but though the coolie bounded along at a flying stride, the ponies drew steadily away, and after many corners, disappeared.

Next morning he learned that a German mail steamer would sail for Colombo that