Evening star., 1911-05-25
FOREIGN RESORTS.
necessity an unforgivable opponent. The

necessity an unfOrgfvable opponent. The
more the men laughed at her quick and
occasionally rather pointed observations,
| the more an obvious admiration shone out
| OF their criticisms, the more determined
| the hatred became. Among themselves
they had already fulfilled Travers' proph-
ecy and had christened her "the adven-
| turess" for no other reason than that she
| was a woman with the same ambitions
as themselves, but better accoutered for
| success. Truly, she had made no bid for
| their favor, choosing to stand alone and
without their support: but even had she
| done SO it would have been useless. She
wore an enemy's color in her face, and
| keen, pitiless eyes had already probed
into the innermost depths Of her plans
| and found them dangerous.
| In the middle of the dinner the colonel
| broke the news that the whole of the
English community had been invited by
the raJah to reception in the palace
grounds. He made the announcement
| With evident reluctance, and Beatrice was
conscious that Stafford. who sat beside
| her, stiffened and frowned The sense of
| opposition and diaapproval on the part Of
| the man whom she had set out to con-
quer put her her metal, and with the
| verve and sang froid Of woman too
| sure Of her own power to know fear she
related her adventure in the temple. Her
hearers listened, according to their sex,
| with amusement. curiosity and pious hor-
ror. Some were unreservedly delighted,
others-such as the colonel and Stafford
| struggled between a certain admiration
| for her and q decided disapproval OF her
| action and its results. Yet Stafford. at
| least, was a soldier before he was a
| conventionalist, and her bold. we'll played
| comedy in the Temple Of Vishnu, told
| simply, but with fire and energy. could
| not fail to stir to flame the embers of his
to rivet his attention to the other end OF
| the table, where Lois was sitting, and
Beatrice was conscious that she had won
| the first move in the great game which
she had set herself to play.
| The next day the whole station was
made aware of the startling change in
the raJah's attitude and the means by
which It had been brought about. but no
one. not even those who were disposed to
| judge the matter in its most serious light,
guessed what passed within the palace
previous to the sending out Of the now
| famous invitation. For the greater part
| OF the English community the whole
thing was rather a bad joke. with the
-ajah for its victim. That q pretty woman
, should have unbarred the gates which no
| other force, diplomacy or cunning, had
been able to stir was a matter for light,
| somewhat contemptuous laughter. RaJah
sionabie Swain. He and Beatrice Cary
| were linked together either in good
natured chan or malicious earnest and
| curiosity. thanks to the dullness OF the
L season. STRAINED lIS0n III expectation.
Thus, beyond the marble gates the
world laughed. and inside life and death
had faced each other and for q moment
hung in the balance.
1t was toward the cool OF the evening
Behar Asor and the prince paced slowly
| backward and forward in tho chief en-
trance hall OF the palace. plunged in q
conversation which was to mark q fina
| stage In their relationship toward each
other. Both knew 1t, and on both faces
was written the same determinations
| determination curiously tempered ant
nodded by the character Of the man him.
self. On Behar Asor's furrowed, with.
cred face it was resolve armed with
treachery and all the hundred and one
weapons of oriental cunning. Neha
Singh's head was lifted in calm. un.