'And so you see, Mr. Raymond,' came the girl's voice, 'the odds are----'
'The odds!' he echoed quickly, almost mischievously. 'Ah! if it is a question of odds, it's my innings--I'll take twenty to one on Bonnie Lesley!' He held out his hand.
She essayed a frown, she essayed a smile, and then she said, 'Really, you are too foolish----Jack!'
* * * * *
And so in the years to come, the old Thakoor of Dhurmkote will no doubt rescind his reproof, and, having forgotten Jerry, will call another little laddie 'a son of heroes.' And he may be; but Jack Raymond himself will keep that name for a boy who, by that time, will be at Eton or Harrow. And that boy will think of the graves in the Hollow of Heroes, and wonder if Jân-Ali-shân ever came back to claim his.
He has not yet, and so the two hundred and odd thousand people in the city of Nushapore, and the fifty thousand people in cantonments, still expect him to be there some day, when he is wanted.
And he will, no doubt; for it is only the Spirit of Slaves that dies; the Spirit of Kings lives for ever.
FOOTNOTES
[Footnote 1]: Barrister.
[Footnote 2]: Members of Municipal Committee.