The Adventures of Kathlyn

Poor child! Every move had been watched as a cobra watches its prey.

She was to pretend illness at once. Plans had been changed. She stood

up, swayed slightly and staggered back to the seat. In truth, she was

pale enough, and her heart beat so fast that she was horribly dizzy.

"A doctor!" she cried, forgetting that she would not be understood.

The native girl stared at her. She did not understand the words, but

the signs were enough. The young white woman looked ill; and Umballa

would deal harshly with those who failed to stem the tide of any

illness which might befall his captive. There was a commotion behind

the fretwork of the palace. Three other girls came out, and Winnie was

conducted back to the zenana.

All this Kathlyn observed. She bade the mahout go to the house of the

zenana's doctor, where she donned the habiliments familiar to the

guards and inmates of the zenana.

Everything went forward without a hitch; so smoothly that had the

object of her visit been other than Winnie, Kathlyn must have sensed

something unusual. She entered the palace and even led the way to

Winnie's chamber--a fact which appeared natural enough to the women

about, but which truly alarmed Umballa's spy, who immediately set off

in search of the man.

One thing assured her: the hands of the zenana's real physician were

broad and muscular, while the hands she saw were slender and beautiful,

brown though they were. She had seen those hands before, during the

episode of the leopards of the treasury.

It was very hard for Kathlyn to curb the wild desire to crush Winnie in

her arms, arms that truly ached for the feel of her. Even as she

fought this desire she could not but admire Winnie's superb acting.

She and her father had misjudged this butterfly. To have come all this

way alone in search of them, unfamiliar with the customs and the

language of the people! How she had succeeded in getting here without

mishap was in itself remarkable.

She took Winnie's wrist in her hand and pressed it reassuringly, then

puttered about in her medical bag. Very softly she whispered: "I shall remain with you till dusk. Give no sign whatever that you

know me, for you will be watched. To-night I will smuggle you out of

the palace. Take these, and soon pretend to be quieted."

Winnie swallowed the bits of sugar and lay back. Kathlyn signified

that she wished to be alone with her patient. Once alone with Winnie,

she cast aside her veil.

"Oh, Kit!"

"Hush, baby! We are going to get you safely away."

"I am afraid."

"So are we all; but we must not let any one see that we are. Father

and Ahmed are near by. But oh, why did you attempt to find us?"