“Velo is dead, Maratha. He was shot in the big battle. You must have been praying when he died, if I know thee still. And I was shot, too, a little, and must ever walk lame. I tell thee this so no one else may tell thee first. I am only a little lame, though. In a day or two I take ship for America and so back to school, as thou heardst His Highness, my father, plan that last night. Close the house, and go thou to the lodge. Keep all the servants who have served my father for more than ten years and pay them from the money I shall send thee each month. And be very good to Maratha, for I shall come back some day, and she must not be too old or too lame to take care of me.
“Good-bye, Maratha. I am always
“Thy boy,
“Zaidos.”
Zaidos sealed the letters and sent them off with a sigh of relief. He had now but one cause of worry. He had promised to write to Helen’s sister, and he didn’t know what to say! He forgot the fact that he would not have to write the letter until he reached America. But at last he forgot even that when the parting came.
Helen tore herself away from Tony and went down to London to see him off; and Jack went rushing around making all sorts of work for himself. They were early at the pier, and after Zaidos’ baggage was settled in his stateroom, the three people sauntered back to the dock for the half hour that remained before the first warning call. Three familiar figures came down, looking here and there. Helen saw them and exclaimed, “Why, there’s father, and mother, and Alice!”
And sure as fate it was! The rector had had to take the next train for London most unexpectedly, and so thought he would bring his wife and daughter to join in the leave-takings.
So Zaidos had quite a little group of people waving him good-bye as the ship went slowly out into the west. But the gaze that held him longest and the face he saw the last was not Helen’s!
The End
Transcriber’s Note:
The Contents was added by the transcriber. Punctuation has been standardised. Hyphenation has been retained as it appeared in the original publication. Changes have been made as follows: