The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-03-16
The Rains
Came
Continued on Page 100

for = moment save in the still
hours Of the morning when she
kept watch over more than 200 Ill
! and dying people. For the first
/ time in her life she OWNED that
4 privacy. which she had always
taken for granted. was great and
/ precious luxury.
{ Now as she walked through the
/ ruined streets into the park of the
Maharajah. with Miss Hodge trot-
ting happily at her side. she was
filled with wonder at the thing
which had happened TO her-that
/ at 81 she was in love for the first
time. That it happened after so
much experience only increased the
sense of wonder; despairing some
! times. she had believed that she
would never find the thing for
which she had been searching,
without knowing what it was. And
now she knew.
The major was the first man for
whom she had respect She want
! ed to be like him, to lose her own
identity in his. to work as he
worked, to make herself seem
worthy of his respect The weari-
ness, the boredom were gone now,
they were, she believed, gone for
ever.
Now she was free; she asked no
more than the privilege of being
near him. of working for him. OF
talking to him now and then.
Then she was aware of the bull
lock carriage and of the hubbub
about it, and the figures of Gopal
Rao and Mrs. Hoggett-Eg ourry
and Mrs. Simon and Aunt Phoebe.
the coolies, the multitude of bum
dies and the complaining bullocks.
They appeared dimly to her. She
heard Mrs. Hoggett-Egburry adj
dressing her, and she was aware
of answering, but stronger than
anything in that moment was the
sudden sense of the richness Of
life, of the comic quality of the
scene beneath the arch of the
Great Gateway. 1t was all excit-
| ing now, as if she were child who
was seeing the great world for the
first time.
AS they passed the music school
Edwina said I'm going in here
moment. You wait for me here
under this tree"
| She had meant to speak to Fern,
to give her a friendly Hello" in
passing, but now she did not know
how to find her in this strange.
desolate place. Then, as she turned
+ to close the door. she saw Ransome
dimly coming down the corridor
beyond the pool of water.
/ AS he came nearer he recognized
her and sand, What are you doing
here ?"
Il had an hour off. dropped in
to see Fern"
Shes asleep. Since the new
nurse came it's easier for her. The
Swiss is dead"
Cholera ,"
Eyes"
rs that why you are here"
mo. I've come to stay. I'm in
charge here now-with Fern and
the new nurse"
II don't envy you"
1t isn't very pleasant. You
oughtn't to come here and you
oughtn't to stay. There are too
many mysterious ways of getting
cholera"
What about yourself ?"
My luck always holds for this
sort of thing. And l believe in dis
infectant." He took her arm.
Come along. If you want to talk,
let S go out into the air"
She went with him, thinking
! that somehow he had changed.
How, she could not discover but he
was different, less cynical less
negative. Perhaps" she thought.
IT'S only because he's sober now
Outside he told her that he had
asked for the Job. He didn't sup
pose he'd have it for long. or that
they would need her much longer
at the hospital.
/ The railroad will be open in a
day or two and then they'll have
experts. They won't need ANA
tours any longer
It's a pity -. ] mean as far as
we're concerned. It's very satisfac-
tory to feel useful" He didn't an
swer her and she said, 1--WE got
to be back at the hospital in ten
minutes. Drop in and see me when
you have time
THE major doesn't want us to
go near the hospital You should
have better sense than to come
here
IN take whole bath in alcohol
when ] return"
She went away 10 pick Up Miss
Hodge under the peepul tree, leav-
ing him TO go back into the stencil.
The coolies began carrying out the
bodies TO pile them on a freshly
built pyre.
AS they neared the hospital two
hgures went up the drive a little
ahead of them. One was Mrs. Ban
nerJee and the other Miss Murga.
troyd, no longer wearing the tired
pale blue with the rosettes, but
clad in a tennis dress. They dis
appeared into Miss MacDaid's little
office, closing the door behind
them.
In their little room Lady Esketh
and Miss Hodge lay down on their
Indian beds. In monsoon weather
any effort was exhausting and the
walk through the rain left them
both limp and bereft of ali vitality.
Edwina = head ached with a slow,
dull ache as if there was a weight
inside IL.
Wher Miss MacDsid came to
summon Edwins she said: Mr..
Bannerjee has cholera He had