The star-independent. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1904-1917, 1915-02-23

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know her mind She shrugged, and
the movement stirred the dust that
had gathered upon her shoulders.
"a rare old lot of dust: eh, Miss
Chetwood? wish we could travel by
night, but you can't trust this bloom
ing old Irrawaddy after sundown.
Charts are so much waste-paper."
II never cease wondering how those
poor coolies can carry those heavy
rice bags" she replied to the purser
"Oh. they are used to it," carelessly
The great gray stack of paddy-bags
seemed, in the eyes of the girl, fairly
to melt away.
"By Jove!" exclaimed the purser.
There's Parrot & Col" He laughed
and pointed toward one of the torches
Parrot & Co.? I do not under
stand"
That big blond chap behind the
fourth torch. Yes. there. Sometime
I'll tell you about him. Picturesque
duffer."
She could have shrieked aloud, but
all she did was to draw in her breath
with gasp that went SO deep 1t gave
her heart a twinge. Her fingers tight
ened upon the teak rail. Suddenly she
knew, and was ashamed of her weak
ness. 1t was simply a remarkable
likeness, nothing more than that; II
could not possibly be anything more
STILL ghost could not have startled
her as this living man had done.
who is he?"
"A chap named Warrington. But
over here that signifies nothing;
might just as we'll be Jones or Smith
or Brown. We call him Parrot & Co
He's always carrying that Rajputans
parrot You've seen the kind around
the palaces and forts: saber-like
wings, long tail-feathers, green and
blue and scarlet, and the ugliest little
rascals going. This one is trained to
do tricks"
But the mani" impatiently.
He eyed her, mildly surprised. "Oh,
he puzzles us all bit, you know Well
educated; somewhere back a gentle.
man; from the States. OF course ]
don't know; something shady, proba.
bly,. They don't tramp about like this
otherwise. For all that, he's rather a
decent sort; no bounder like this rol.
ter we left at Mandalay. He never
talks about himself. fancy he's lone.
some again"
"Lonesome?"
IT'S the way, you know. These
poor beggars drop aboard for the
night, merely to see white woman
again, to hear decent English, to dress
and dine like human being. They
disappear the next day, and often we
never see them again"
What do they do?" The question
came to her lips mechanically.
'Paddy-fields. White men are needed
to oversee them And then, there's
the railway, and there's the new oil
country north of Prone. You'll see
the wells tomorrow. Rather fancy this
Warrington chap has been working
along the new pipe line. They're run.
ming them down to Rangoon. II he's
with us tomorrow, I'll have him put
the parrot through its turns. An
amusing little beggar."
why not introduce him to me?"
BEG pardon?"
"I'll take II the responsibility. It's
a whim."
We'll, you American girls are the
eighth wonder of the world" The
purser was distinctly annoyed And
it may be an impertinence on my part,
, but l never yet saw an American
woman who would accept advice or
act upon it."
Thanks. What would you adviser"
with dangerous sweetness.
mot to meet this man It's irregu-
lar. ] know nothing about him. II
you had father or a brother on
"Or even husband" laughing.
There you are!" resignedly. you
laugh. You women go everywhere,
and half the time unprotected"
Never quite unprotected. We never
venture beyond the call Of gentle.
men,"
That is true" Frightening. You in.
sist on meeting this chap?"
i do not insist; only, 1 am bored,
and he might interest me for an hour"
She added: Besides, he may annoy
the others"
The purser grinned reluctantly.
"You and the colonel don't get on.
Well. I'll introduce this chap at din
ner. If don't :"
II am fully capable of speaking to
him without any introduction what
ever" She laughed again. 1T will be
very kind of YOU"
When he had gone she mused over
this impulse SO alien to her character.
An absolute stranger, man with a
past, perhaps fugitive from justice;
and because he looked like Arthur
Ellison, she was seeking his acquaint-
ance. Something. then, could break
through her reserve and aloofness?
She had travelled from San Francisco
to Colombo, unattended save by an
elderly maiden who had risen by grad
ual stages flom nurse to companion,
but who could not be made to remem-
Der that she was no longer q nurse. In
! all these four months Elsa had not
made half a dozen acquaintances, and
of these she had not sought one Yet,
she was asking to meet q stranger