Page:Hugh Pendexter--Tiberius Smith.djvu/278

 utes of the sub-boss's time to conclude all details, and on the next day we were afloat for Shanghai.

"It was the same old trip, and I was heartily ennuied before we struck Hong-Kong. Then, down around that sore thumb of a peninsula and up to Calcutta. There we struck it rich, as we got a tip from the consul that a whole invoice of white apes had just been received at one of the depots. In a trice we had the trick turned and the bric-à-brac neatly stored away on a home-bound boat.

"Ordinarily we would have quit right there, but remembering Danby we studied the map and located him thirty miles from Bhamo. As we felt entitled to a bit of a rest—dear, dear! how many times I've started out gunning for rest and quiet with that man—Tib wrote a short letter, and as soon as a reply could be received we were urgently invited to visit him and his wife. His bungalow, he said, was three miles from the nearest plantation, and somehow I drew the inference that our coming would fracture some kind of a monotony. As I read his epistle I fell to wondering what on earth an Englishwoman could find to enjoy up there alone with her hubby and a dozen of unwholesome coolies.

"No dropping in to tea, no theatres, no lawn-parties, just a sun-baked existence minus the latest fashions. I remarked that the lady must be lonely at times, but Tib waxed enthusiastic and spoke