“Come here, Pagett,” he said, and cut at the sun-baked soil. After three strokes there rolled from under the blade of the hoe the half of a clanking skeleton that settled at Pagett’s feet in an unseemly jumble of bones. The M. P. drew back.
“Our houses are built on cemeteries,” said Orde. “There are scores of thousands of graves within ten miles.”
Pagett was contemplating the skull with the awed fascination of a man who has but little to do with the dead. “India’s a very curious place,” said he, after a pause.
“Ah? You’ll know all about it in three months. Come in to lunch,” said Orde.
Transcriber’s Note
Many chapters included a copyright statement at the bottom of the first page. These have been relocated to directly follow the title.
The name ‘Yardley-Orde’ (pp. 169 & 175) appears twice as ‘Yardely-Orde’ (pp. 180 & 182). References to the character in Kipling critical texts use the former, and the variant is corrected here.
Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original. The following issues should be noted, along with the resolutions.