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 MACHINATIONS 
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 Cornell University Library 
 
 PR 6023.O97M2 
 
 The machinations of the Myo-ok / 
 
 3 1924 Oil 125 832 
 
B Cornell University 
 
 S Library 
 
 The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924011125832 
 
THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 THE MYO-OK 
 
THE MACHINATIONS 
 OF THE MYO-OK 
 
 CECIL LOWIS 
 
 AUTHOR OF 
 'THE TFEASURY OFPICER'S WOOING " 
 
 METHUEN & CO. 
 
 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. 
 
 LONDON 
 
 1903 
 
THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 THE MYO-OK 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE Myo-ok sighed heavily twice — full, big- 
 chested sighs, the pair of them — and gave an 
 uneasy turn in his chair. 
 
 Now when Maung Gyi sighed twice in succession, 
 deeply, the veriest fool might have known that there 
 was something seriously amiss. Despondency sat 
 like a conscious trespasser on the smug rotundity of 
 the Myo-ok's countenance. Search as one might 
 through the highways and byeways of Myothit, or, 
 for the matter of that, of any of the towns of Burma, 
 it would have been hard to come a second time by 
 a sight of so broad and comfortable an expanse of 
 feature. The cheeks were round and plump, of a 
 not unpleasing brown ; there was a latent twinkle in 
 the little piggy eyes, and over the big mouth the 
 black moustache curled with an air which no brooding 
 thoughts could rob of its almost aggressive cheerful- 
 ness. Gloom could but momentarily wrinkle the 
 surface, whatever it might do below. The exterior 
 remained unchanged ; unchanged was the set of the 
 
2 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 pink silk headcloth that crowned those glossy locks, 
 unchanged the daring yellow of the pattern stamped 
 upon the fabric ; but gaudy colour and sprightly 
 cock were alike out of keeping to-day. Black care 
 had set her seal on Maung Gyi's visage, and darkened 
 all that lay around him. 
 
 He had been sprawling spread-eagle fashion on his 
 back in the verandah of his brown teak house, his feet 
 on a level with his double chin, his hands clasped 
 above his head ; but some pang of memory had 
 brought his thick-set, white-jacketed body suddenly 
 into an upright position, and he sat, with his elbows 
 on the arms of his chair — his English long-sleeve chair 
 — gazing grimly out in front of him — out across the 
 ill-swept courtyard, over the fence, with the tamarind 
 trees beyond, into the clear blue of the morning sky, 
 where the early kites screamed and wheeled. 
 
 The verandah gave upon a level open space of 
 sun-dried earth, round three sides of which stood 
 thatched buildings, the Myo-ok's own house and 
 those of his retainers. The fourth was bounded by 
 a high palisading of split bamboo which separated 
 his premises from the road. There was a gate in 
 this, through which he who squatted might see, as in 
 a picture frame, what traffic there was passing along 
 the main thoroughfare of Myothit : now a meagre 
 matron, flapping along on her sandals to the bazaar, 
 a red lacquer tray and a buff-coloured infant skilfully 
 bestowed, the one on her head, the other astride of 
 her hip, with a hand free to manipulate a thick white 
 cheroot, and, when the latter did not occupy her 
 attention, a tongue at liberty to exchange shrill 
 guttural greetings with the passers-by or to summon 
 
THE MYO-OK 3 
 
 a juvenile laggard to her side; now a cart toiling 
 forward through a cloud of dust, the tinkle of the 
 bullocks' bells rising at times faint above the creak of 
 the wheels and the intermittent " Hi ! H^ ! " of the 
 driver ; now, maybe, a ghostly file of shaven-headed 
 figures, each and all with saffron robe and almsbowl 
 slung, gliding with noiseless tread from door to door, 
 halting for their morning dole of rice, halting and 
 passing on with never a word ; bazaar-sellers, cart- 
 men, priests, acolytes, ever the same variegated pro- 
 cession of yellowish-brown humanity moving forward 
 over a background of mat hovels, ribbed palm-stems 
 and bamboo fencing, a panorama typical of the 
 Myo-ok's charge. 
 
 That charge was by no means an inconsiderable 
 one. " Myo " in English means " town," and in 
 officialdom also "township" — the area, sometimes half 
 as large as an English county, that surrounds the 
 headquarters. " Myo-ok " * is, being interpreted, he 
 to whom the welfare of a " myo " has been entrusted, 
 and Myothit (New Town) with its surroundings was 
 the special charge of the despondent being whose 
 form loomed in the verandah. A heavy enough 
 charge, one would say ; quite sufficient in itself to 
 be a source of constant anxiety to a conscientious 
 official. Yet the veriest dullard might have seen that 
 it was not the ordinary cares of office that furrowed 
 the township officer's brow that November morning. 
 
 In the open space in front of the house an old 
 
 Burmese woman was winnowing paddy in a flat 
 
 bamboo basket. She stood clearly outlined against a 
 
 mighty paddy bin, a dusky, wrinkled dame, wrapped 
 
 * "Ok," pronounce as though printed "oak." 
 
4 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 in one straight cloth of faded brick-red that reached 
 stiffly from below her arms down to her bony knees. 
 Beyond her, on a low bamboo platform, lolled two 
 young Burmans in the morning sunshine. One lay 
 on his back in dishabille without jacket or headcloth, 
 and played with a stout, yellow baby. The other sat 
 with legs a-dangle and locks unravelled, commencing 
 the duties of the day with a leisurely alfresco toilet, 
 his fingers doing duty as both brush and comb. Two 
 pariah dogs yawned and stretched self-consciously 
 out by the stable, where the Myo-ok's pony stood 
 tethered and the horsekeeper sat polishing stirrups. 
 On the ground in the sun lay the township officer's 
 scarlet cloth saddle with its tassels and beads, and 
 here and there, through all, long-legged, anxious 
 fowls pecked and scurried. Maung Gyi's eyes 
 travelled across the scene and away again. There 
 was nothing in these domestic details to interest him 
 or shake him out of himself The fact that people 
 should be willing to sit in the sun merely reminded 
 him of the fact that the cold weather was upon them ; 
 the sight of the saddle warned him that he, and his 
 superiors no less than he, would soon have to start 
 their cold-weather inspections, and if in his present 
 frame of mind there was anything that was specially 
 distasteful to our downcast township officer, it was 
 the terrible word "inspection" and the associations 
 that it carried in its train. 
 
 The Myo-ok sighed again. 
 
 It was only one sigh this time, and being heaved 
 in public, it was made as unostentatious as possible ; 
 but it was as deep as any he had indulged in hitherto 
 
THE MYO-OK 5 
 
 that day. The police-station steps were steep, the 
 Myo-ok's habit plethoric, and, despite well-applied 
 propulsion from behind, the exertion of getting to 
 the top must have added volume to the exhalation ; 
 but there was no mistaking it for a mere sigh of 
 accomplishment. There was more in it than that. 
 Half an hour earlier Maung Gyi appeared to 
 have got the better of his morning fit of the blues. 
 In the court-house — that trim, red court-house 
 that looked down from the bank upon the broad, 
 shimmering bosom of the river — on his way from 
 the court-house to the police-station, whence he 
 was to fetch his daily supply of Government 
 money, his looks testified to a state of dogged, if not 
 precisely Christian, resignation ; but every step that 
 carried him away from the court-house towards the 
 police-station and the treasure chest seemed to hang 
 a heavy and ever heavier burden on his feet ; and 
 by the time his plump palm rested on the station 
 hand-rail his mien was as cheerless as it had been in 
 the verandah of his house four sunny hours earlier. 
 
 To one coming from the outside glare, the upper 
 story of the police-station seemed but poorly lighted. 
 It was closed in on all sides with swinging wooden 
 shutters, only sufficient light being admitted to show 
 up the square teak bars of the prisoners' cage, a row 
 of shining musket barrels, a line of leather and brass 
 accoutrements, some maps hanging against the wall, 
 and the outlines of a large green safe. There was a 
 prisoner in the cage, huddled away, a shadowy outline, 
 in a corner — a new arrival, on whose behalf the sentry 
 had extended his walk, so as to make it embrace the 
 whole compass of the enclosure, but the Myo-ok paid 
 
6 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 no heed to the captive. His little eyes, even before 
 they were accustomed to the gloom, instinctively 
 sought the safe and rested feverishly on its stiff, 
 uncompromising angles. 
 
 That Maung Gyi's first glance should be at the 
 safe was, not unnatural, considering that it was to 
 open the safe that he had come to the police-station ; 
 that the sight of it of all things should be the 
 crowning point of his woe — as anyone would have 
 judged it to be who could have taken stock of his 
 features in the half light — was not so easy to under- 
 stand. No one of those present took stock of his 
 features in the half light ; no one seemed to notice 
 the cloud that had gathered again. If it had been 
 noticed, could any one of the bystanders have divined 
 its cause? Not Maung Walk, one would think — 
 Maung Waik, police sergeant, stolid, majestic, in tight 
 ammunition boots and a medal, who stood by, his 
 body seized with official rigour while the safe was 
 being opened. Certainly not Shwe Yon, the even more 
 stolid peon, who shouldered the bag of money that 
 was taken out of the safe, and bore it to the court- 
 house at the tail of a procession of three that 
 descended in due course from the police-station. 
 How about the person that marched second in that 
 little procession — that narrow-chested, demure little 
 Arakanese, whose position as head clerk entitled him 
 to walk close behind the Myo-ok and a yard or two 
 in front of Shwe Yon, the bag-carrier ? If anyone 
 was the keeper of Maung Gyi's official conscience, 
 surely it was Maung So, the indispensable. Could 
 he say why Maung Gyi's brows blackened and the 
 corners of his big mouth drooped when light words 
 
THE MYO-OK 7 
 
 were bandied about, over the dusty office files, of 
 surprise visits and treasury verification ? It would be 
 hard to say. And if he did know a thing or two, was 
 the world likely to be the wiser by Maung So's know- 
 ledge ? One would scarcely think so. Looking at 
 that bland, almost austere countenance, the placid in- 
 clination of the neck above that neat white jacket, who 
 was there but would say that here, if anywhere, was 
 a gentleman, if not wholly devoid of guile, at any rate 
 in all circumstances a very monument of discretion ? 
 
 Maung Gyi was back in his office again, and if he 
 appeared more cheerful than at the police-station, 
 never was a face less faithful index of the thoughts 
 that lay behind it. While at the police-station he 
 had been essaying a glance into the future ; seated at 
 his office table, his mind was conjuring up the past. 
 There was nothing very bright in that train of reflec- 
 tion, and every worry and anxiety could be traced 
 back to one disagreeable incident of some three weeks 
 back, which that morning seemed to stand out in 
 grimmest blackness from the surrounding gloom. Full 
 half a dozen times during the previous half-hour he 
 had shaken his ponderous shoulders and striven to 
 concentrate his attention as well as his vision on the 
 official document before him, and as often he had felt 
 his mind drifting back, till it was brought sharply up 
 by the memory of a certain breathless moment of 
 dismay when, standing in the darkened police-station 
 beside the open safe, he had suddenly become aware 
 of a most unprecedented " shrinkage " in the contents 
 of that receptacle. How every detail came back to 
 him now — the blue-grey paint with which the interior 
 
8 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 of the safe was washed ; the brown paper envelopes 
 that held the stamps ; the tin box for the pice ; the 
 bags for the silver — one, two, three, four — yes, here was 
 something wrong, something horribly wrong ! Four 
 thousand rupees ! Four precious silver thousands, each 
 thousand in a neat canvas bag, vanished, like the morn- 
 ing mist off the river! Vanished ! How? He could 
 not say. And since when? Of that even he was not 
 sure. For the life of him he could not be certain 
 whether the bags had been there at his previous visit or 
 not. So dazed and dumbfoundered had the wretched 
 man been at the discovery that he had said not a word 
 — had slammed the door to, speechless, and gone on 
 his way as in a dream. He wanted time to think it 
 over, to grasp the full import of what he had seen, to 
 ransack his memory for some clue as to the when no 
 less than as to the how. But reflection had been of 
 no avail. His amazement had not abated a whit since 
 that day. The safe key had not been out of his 
 possession for fully three months ; to that he could 
 swear on the red lacquer-bound palm-leaf Scriptures 
 that lay on the table before him. He had worn it, 
 treasured it, slept on it day and night in the interval. 
 And nothing could possibly have happened on that 
 one solitary occasion when it had quitted his hands. It 
 was only for one short August night, and who, save 
 the discreet Maung So, knew that for once it had been 
 left inadvertently on the Myo-ok's table, instead of 
 going home with him at the end of the gilt watch- 
 chain that spanned his robust diaphragm ? Moreover 
 it was not as though the money had disappeared on 
 that August night. Not only was the key there next 
 morning, exactly as he had left it, but nothing had 
 
THE MYO-OK 9 
 
 been missing from the safe for weeks after that. He 
 had looked day after day particularly to see. The 
 bags must have been taken, not all at once, but 
 singly, after this daily scrutiny had been relaxed. 
 The whole thing was past comprehension. And — 
 fool and idiot that he was! — he had given himself 
 over to speculation, and wondered on and on without 
 telling anyone what had happened or taking counsel 
 of a soul, till now it was too late. The horrid thing 
 had happened some time ago now. A fortnight earlier 
 there might, with Maung So's assistance, have been 
 some prospect of sifting the matter to the bottom ; 
 but it was so long after the event now that he dared 
 not ask advice of anyone. The time for outside 
 counsel had passed. The situation would have to 
 be faced, as best might be, alone. 
 
 He pushed away the papers from in front of him 
 and rested his head on his hand. And after all, he 
 asked himself, after a sombre survey of the facts, 
 what need was there for confiding in anybody ? 
 Things looked bad, but he could not help thinking 
 that something could even yet be done to put matters 
 right. At worst the money could be raised on loan 
 and replaced ; but this extreme measure must, if it 
 were possible, be avoided. Heaven only knew how 
 ill he could afford to lose four thousand rupees. It 
 would take him half a lifetime to repay the money. 
 Some other plan would have to be devised, and that 
 before long. The theft would have to be brought home 
 to someone or its existence concealed. Concealed ! 
 Now how could that be managed ? Alas ! bite his pen 
 as he might, no plan of the required ingenuity could 
 Maung Gyi's brain give birth to that morning. 
 
lo THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 There was a thin partition only between the 
 Myo-ok's private office and the outer room where the 
 clerks worked. Here was a drowsy stillness. The 
 scratch of the second clerk's pen was the only sound 
 to be heard. That diligent individual, his jacket off, 
 attired in gauze vest and cotton waistcloth, was copy- 
 ing a letter. Shwe Yon, of the thews and sinews, 
 nodded, vestless, in the corner, his half-smoked 
 cheroot thrust for safety through the lobe of one of 
 his ears. Bamboo racks filled with dusty forms 
 lined the walls ; papers and registers littered the 
 tables and floor, and in the midst of this documentary 
 chaos Maung So, head clerk, was pleased to sit and 
 ruminate. His chin was in his hands, his elbows 
 rested on the green baize. 
 
 Judged of by his converse with his intimates, the 
 Burman's mind, not less than the native's of India, 
 would seem at first sight to run in a very narrow, 
 pecuniary groove ; annas and pice figure continuously 
 in his talk ; references to rupees and fractions of rupees 
 shower in rich profusion from his lips. Silver- 
 tongued he certainly is not, and yet in a manner his 
 speech smacks ever of the precious metal. He must 
 not, however, be harshly judged, for he is in reality 
 not so sordid as he seems. It is dearth of topics 
 almost as much as the argenti sacra fmnes (a taste 
 that is not unknown, after all, in more enlightened 
 communities) that drives him back on to an 
 hourly discussion of prices and wages. On the 
 whole, it was not surprising that on that morning 
 the thought that was uppermost in Maung So's mind, 
 as in Maung Gyi's, should have been money. The 
 only really surprising thing was that the amount 
 
THE MYO-OK n 
 
 should in both cases have been identical. Four 
 thousand rupees — four precious silver thousands, each 
 thousand in a neat canvas bag, deftly piled, two 
 above and two below — four thousand undeniable 
 rupees, safe in his keeping. Maung So's thoughts 
 drifted away from the stuffy office to a certain shady 
 spot in the jungle, where, near a big clump of bam- 
 boos (five steps to the north-east, then twelve to 
 the west), there was a suitable cranny between two 
 blocks of moss-covered sandstone ; a cranny that an 
 obliging tuft of fern hid almost completely from the 
 vulgar gaze ; just large enough, as he found, to hold 
 the precious deposit ; just a convenient distance from 
 the town ; attainable without much delay ; not too 
 near to be dangerously tempting ; not too far to be 
 troublesome to visit from Shwepaukbin, a village 
 near which he owned a trifle of land ; easily to be 
 recognised when once known, but with nothing to 
 attract the passer-by on the road, altogether a most 
 delectable hiding-place. How the thought of that 
 shadow-flecked spot had brightened his life during 
 the past few weeks ! He withdrew his chin from his 
 hand and, cautiously, behind the cover of a fat Penal 
 Code, drew from an inner pocket and rubbed an 
 object that seemed in a manner connected with his 
 present train of thought. A key, surely most sus- 
 piciously like the key that Maung Gyi, on the other 
 side of the partition, was nervously fingering. A 
 duplicate perhaps ? That was impossible ; the dupli- 
 cate of the safe key was with the Deputy Commis- 
 sioner at Shwedan, fifty miles away. A duplicate it 
 could not be, and yet, curiously enough, the fact 
 remained that it was a duplicate. How that key 
 
12 
 
 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 came into existence, how the occasion was snatched, 
 how the original was copied — all this will remain a 
 mystery to all time, so much may be frankly said. 
 Mystery or no mystery, however, there the key was, 
 ward for ward the same as the Myo-ok's precious 
 charge, a striking proof of what might be made of 
 an opportunity of a lifetime by an intelligent soul 
 with an antecedent training in the locksmith's craft. 
 A very neat piece of work. Maung So, as he gently 
 polished the smooth surface, ever in the shelter of the 
 Penal Code, would have been the last to withhold the 
 praise that was due. The whole affair had been 
 managed with consummate skill, and the exquisite 
 beauty of it all, in his eyes, was that absolutely 
 nothing amiss had been noticed ; at any rate, there 
 had been no to-do, no questioning so far, and a pretty 
 fuss he knew there would have been if the loss had 
 been discovered. Perhaps it might even go unobserved 
 till after the leave he had applied for had been granted, 
 and after that — well, after that 
 
 The bamboo floor creaked. Maung So's master- 
 piece slipped swiftly into Maung So's pocket. A 
 telegraph peon with a telegram for Maung Gyi, 
 Township Officer, Myothit. 
 
 It was a " deferred state." '■ Maung So turned the 
 terra-cotta envelope over in his hand before passing 
 it on into the inner room, and wondered why it had 
 been addressed to the township officer by name. 
 The peon went in and came out again with the signed 
 receipt. There was the sound of crackling paper 
 within, a grunt of surprise — or dismay, and silence. 
 Both the clerks had heard the sounds, and sat await- 
 ing developments. At length Maung So arose. The 
 
THE MYO-OK 13 
 
 second clerk had finished copying the letter he had 
 been engaged on. It lay on the table before him. 
 Maung So picked it up and glanced at it. All that it 
 required was the Myo-ok's signature. Holding the 
 sheet prominently before him, the head clerk sidled 
 into the inner room. 
 
 Maung Gyi sat back in his chair, and was gazing 
 out in front of him as though lost in a reverie. The 
 telegram lay crumpled beneath his hand. The clerk's 
 entrance seemed to bring him to himself. He signed 
 the paper that had been brought him, and while 
 Maung So lingered, curious, he smoothed the newly 
 received missive out with nervous fingers, and at 
 length handed it to the clerk with a — 
 
 "See here. Read this, Maung So." 
 
 And Maung So read. His knowledge of English 
 was slight, but he had no great difficulty in grasping 
 the drift of the following message : — 
 
 "To Maung- Gyi, From the Dy. Commr., 
 
 Township Officer, Shwedan. 
 
 Myothit. 
 
 "No.-ji,. You are transferred Shwedan. Maung 
 Pyu from Shwedan relieves you on the 20th. Make 
 over to him as soon as possible and report yourself 
 here." 
 
 Maung So handed the telegram back without a 
 word. 
 
 The 20th, and to-day was the i8th. Here was a 
 pretty to-do ! 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 '""I ^HAT was a good job done." 
 
 X The scene was again the upper story of the 
 Myothit poHce - station ; the time, the morning of 
 the 19th of November ; the occasion, the packing 
 of a remittance to headquarters. The Myo-ok, 
 scorning a proffered chair, sat at ease on his heels, 
 looking on ; while the peon Shwe Yon, hammer in 
 fist, dealt with two iron-bound wooden boxes of the 
 kind employed in sending specie from station to 
 station. The unspoken sentiment above recorded 
 did not mark the completion of the packer's labours. 
 It coincided more or less, it is true, with the grunt 
 Shwe Yon emitted as he sent home the last nail that 
 fastened down the lids ; but the end was not yet. 
 The metal bands had still to be fastened, the seals 
 to be affixed here and there, and the boxes to be 
 addressed in black paint to the Treasury Officer, 
 Shwedan, all of which would take time. The town- 
 ship officer's mental ejaculation signified not that the 
 whole business he was superintending was finished, 
 but that the most delicate part of a delicate prelimi- 
 nary in his arrangements for the future had been 
 successfully achieved. 
 
 Outwardly it was on this wise. Maung Gyi had 
 spent a sleepless night, cogitating upon the gravity 
 of the situation, and the earliest outcome of his 
 pensive vigil had been his arrival at the police-station 
 
 14 
 
THE MYO-OK 15 
 
 rather before office hours on the following morning 
 with sundry heavy bags, borne, not by his usual 
 Treasury myrmidon Maung Shwe Yon, but by a 
 private servant of his own, which said bags he de- 
 posited unostentatiously in the treasure chest. From 
 the police-station our industrious official hied to his 
 court, and there shortly took occasion to discover 
 that his cash balance was unduly large, and that, if 
 everything was to be as ship-shape as it should be 
 for his successor, a remittance must absolutely be 
 sent off that day or the next to district headquarters. 
 Maung So, a gentleman whose suspicions were un- 
 fortunately easily aroused, had no immediate oppor- 
 tunity of remarking on and drawing crude inferences 
 from the amount of the remittance the township 
 officer had thought fit to make, which happened, 
 curiously enough, to be four thousand rupees. He 
 had, shortly before this, been sent off on an errand 
 which had been calculated to keep him at the further 
 end of Myothit fully employed for at least an hour ; 
 and such had been the Myo-ok's zeal that he had not 
 waited for the head clerk's return, but had himself 
 waddled over to the police-station to see the remit- 
 tance prepared for despatch. The whole business so 
 far had been managed by Maung Shwe Yon, under 
 the township officer's personal supervision. Maung 
 So's absence accounted, no doubt, for the omission of 
 certain formalities which Shwe Yon remembered had 
 been observed on previous occasions, and had fondly 
 imagined were of the essence of the transaction ; but 
 he refrained from commenting thereon, for his initial 
 suggestion, that the money should, as on previous 
 occasions, be counted before it was put into the 
 
1 6 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 specie boxes, was so badly received by his superior 
 that he thought it best to carry out his instructions 
 blindly, offering no criticisms. The four bags were 
 dumped unceremoniously into the boxes, and the 
 Myo-ok would brook no delay till the lids had been 
 firmly nailed down. This safely done, however, he 
 seemed to be at his ease again, and calling for a 
 match for his cheroot, beamed approvingly on his 
 assistant and the sentries. 
 
 "Good,"he said. "You havewasted no time over that. 
 Yes, as you very rightly observed just now, Shwe Yon, 
 it has been customary in the past to count money be- 
 fore putting it into the specie boxes. How were you 
 to know that the rule has been recently, quite recently, 
 changed ? " He paused to light his cheroot and for 
 some moments was silent, enshrouded in smoke. Shwe 
 Yon, with bent head, was wrestling with one of the iron 
 bands and only murmured incoherently. 
 
 " I am going to send the money by land and not 
 by steamer," the township officer went on. " See 
 that a cart is ready here to-morrow morning to take 
 the boxes to Shwedan. A swift cart, remember, and 
 at daybreak. The driver must sleep here the night 
 before. Who is it that has the best bullocks ? " 
 
 Shwe Yon's mouth was full of nails, and his answer 
 was unintelligible, but Sergeant Maung Walk, who as 
 in duty bound was present, volunteered one of his own. 
 
 " Shwe Myaing," he exclaimed, shifting a betel-cud 
 laboriously from cheek to cheek. 
 
 " I will have none of Shwe Myaing's,"' cried the 
 Myo-ok. " Lazy beasts ! they were four hours bringing 
 my bedding in from Tawma only the other day. Who 
 else has good bullocks ? Stop ! I will have U Kala's." 
 
THE MYO-OK 17 
 
 Shwe Yon was understood to mutter that U Kala 
 was away and that there was nobody to drive U Kala's 
 bullocks. But Maung Gyi was not to be deterred. 
 
 " I will have JLJ_ Kala's or none," he persisted. " It 
 matters not if U Kala cannot go with them. Surely 
 there are drivers enough in Myothit. Wait, I will 
 see about a driver myself. Do you, Shwe Yon, see 
 that U Kala's wife is told. The cart must be here 
 this evening." 
 
 Maung Walk stretched himself. " And till to- 
 morrow the boxes will stop here, I suppose," he said. 
 
 " Here, under the sentry's eye " ; and the Myo-ok 
 nodded decisively. 
 
 " And how about an escort when they do go ? Has 
 that been arranged for by your Honour ? " 
 
 " Yes, I have spoken to the head constable about it. 
 One sergeant and two constables." 
 
 " A sergeant and two constables only ? " 
 
 His Honour turned on thespeaker. "Would you have 
 me send a battalion of military police ? " he inquired. 
 
 " Three men is less than usual," said Maung Walk 
 dubiously. 
 
 The Myo-ok dismissed the remark with an airy 
 flourish of his cheroot. " It is enough, quite enough," 
 he repeated. 
 
 Maung Walk wagged his head, only half convinced. 
 " It is a large sum," he persisted. " Four thousand 
 rupees." His tongue lingered lovingly on the " four 
 thousand." To him four thousand rupees meant 
 wealth inestimable. 
 
 " I have already arranged with the head constable," 
 exclaimed Maung Gyi, with testy emphasis. " Surely 
 I ought to know what is enough and what is not." 
 
1 8 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 Maung Waik fell silent. Who could say that the 
 rule about escorts, like that about the counting of 
 money, might not have recently been altered ? After 
 all, it was nothing to him. He knew that there was 
 no chance of his forming part of the treasure escort. 
 One of the other two sergeants was always selected 
 for that duty. Still, he found it none the less delight- 
 ful to speculate what he could do were circumstances 
 more propitious and the money his to spend, not 
 merely to gloat over. What could he not do, indeed ? 
 On four thousand rupees he could live, and live 
 comfortably, for fully ten long years, with no cares 
 for morning parade or night sentry-go, with no 
 inspector to be badgered by, no uniform and rifle to 
 keep clean. As in a dream he watched Shwe Yon 
 sealing up the boxes, and joined mechanically in the 
 laugh that went up when a splash of hot wax was 
 dropped, much to his tribulation, on an incautious 
 sentry's toe ; but all the time there hung before his 
 eyes a full-length portrait of himself in placid enjoy- 
 ment of, say, thirty gratuitous rupees a month, pre- 
 cisely the amount he was slaving for day and night 
 now. He was on his back in this delectable picture, 
 always on his back, in a shady bamboo verandah ; 
 there was ever a quid of betel in his cheek, and curry 
 unlimited never failed to hover artistically in the back- 
 ground. After all, his wants were few. Rice for the 
 day, a sufficiency of ngapi,*^a silk paso for the £w|^ 
 a handful of cheroots — all could be secured for many 
 a long day with less than half the sum that lay in the 
 boxes at his feet. It was positively tempting Provi- 
 dence to entrust all these riches to one frail sergeant 
 and two irresponsible constables. Really, if he him- 
 
THE MYO-OK 19 
 
 self had been in charge of the escort, he would, 
 high-principled as he was, have been near being 
 tempted to 
 
 '' It will be Po Thit who goes with the money, 
 I suppose," said Shwe Yon, emptying his mouth of 
 nails and blowing out the candle. " It's sure to be 
 Po Thit ; he has always gone before.'' 
 
 " Po Thit won't be able to go," said the sentry. 
 
 The Myo-ok rose and stretched himself. " Why 
 not ? " he asked. 
 
 " He went to Kyauktalon yesterday." 
 
 " Is that so, Maung Walk ? " inquired the town- 
 ship officer. 
 
 Maung Waik had to admit that it was so. " To be 
 sure, I had forgotten," he exclaimed. " He has gone 
 to investigate a case. He cannot be back till the third 
 waning at earliest. It will be Lu Gale who goes. He 
 has always gone before when Po Thit could not." 
 
 " Sergeant Lu Gale has hurt his foot," said Shwe 
 Yon. " I don't see how he can go." 
 
 Maung Gyi had reached the head of the steps, 
 but he turned at these words. " Hurt his foot 1 " he 
 exclaimed. " When did he do that ? " 
 
 " Last night, chopping wood, they tell me. The da 
 slipped. That comes of opening umbrellas indoors, of 
 course. He won't be able to walk for several days." 
 
 The sentry caressed his injured toe. " They say in 
 the bazaar that Saya Ku has got oil that will cure 
 any da cut, no matter how severe, in three betel- 
 chews," he murmured in parenthesis. 
 
 "That won't help Lu Gale," chuckled Shwe Yon. 
 " He will have to go to the hospital, and they won't 
 cure him in less than a week there ; their medicines 
 
 
 l.C4f£l, 
 
20 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 are too hot. So the boxes are to remain where they 
 are, Myo-ok Min, till to-morrow. Is that so?" 
 
 " To be sure. See that they are well looked after, 
 Maung Waik. Come, Shwe Yon, don't forget the 
 sealing-wax." 
 
 The township officer and his peon descended the 
 steps together. Maung Waik stood motionless mid- 
 way between the treasure chest and the specie boxes. 
 He had just begun to realise that, after all, it was he 
 who would have to escort the treasure to Shwedan, 
 and was trying, trying hard, to persuade himself that 
 he had no idea why the prospect had, of a sudden, 
 made his heart beat quicker. Really though. Four 
 thousand rupees ! 
 
 It was a grimy, thick-set Burman, squatting in the 
 dust of the courtyard, who shifted a couple of inches 
 to let Maung Gyi pass in before Shwe Yon through 
 the gate on his return home that afternoon ; so 
 dingy and uniform with his earthy setting that 
 Maung Gyi appeared to have overlooked him until 
 after his follower had deposited his office-box and 
 left. Then there was an inclination of the head, and 
 the stranger rose slowly and shuffled, with bent body, 
 to where the master of the house had seated himself 
 on a rough wooden bedstead at the foot of the 
 verandah steps. 
 
 "Sit, Tun Win," commanded the Myo-ok, and 
 Tun Win sank on to his haunches, with his elbows on 
 his knees and his joined palms supporting his chin. 
 It seemed a weight to carry, that big mop of a head 
 of his, with its short hair struggling out from under 
 a dingy headcloth. 
 
THE MYO-OK 21 
 
 " Why were you not here this morning ? " asked 
 Maung Gyi. 
 
 " I came this morning," was the reply, " but your 
 Honour had already gone to office." 
 
 " At daybreak the order was, was it not ? Amele ! 
 What did they say to you yesterday ? " 
 
 " Truly at daybreak." 
 
 " Then why did you not come at daybreak ? " 
 
 " They said ' early,' and I came early. Your 
 Honour is always in the house till the sun is at least 
 a palm tree's height up." And Tun Win lifted a shaky 
 brown hand to point well above the eastern horizon. 
 
 His Honour gave vent to a long-drawn " O-o-oh ! " 
 of disapproval. " And you have been waiting here 
 ever since then ? " he asked. 
 
 " Not I ; they said that you would be back after 
 noon, so I went and ate rice at a friend's house in the 
 village. The order was not to go to the court, so 
 I went not there." 
 
 The Myo-ok grunted. " So much, at any rate, was 
 right," he said. " Well, there are several things I 
 want to talk to you about, Tun Win." 
 
 He crossed and uncrossed a fat leg, adjusted his 
 headgear, and gazed at the villager, who shifted 
 restlessly, but kept his eyes fixed on the ground. 
 
 " The first," he said — and his voice seemed to hint 
 at unheard-of enormities — "the first is about your 
 reporting yourself at the police-station. Have you 
 been coming regularly since you were conditionally 
 released from jail ? " 
 
 " Quite regularly, your Honour." 
 
 " How often a year ? " 
 
 " Four times in the year." 
 
2 2 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 "And you have never missed yet, eh? Never 
 once ? " 
 
 " Missed ! Never once yet, your Honour, never 
 once." 
 
 "Gently, gently," said the Myo-ok, glancing 
 sharply round the courtyard, for Tun Win's voice 
 had risen in frightened, indignant protest at the 
 supposed imputation. " No one has said you have 
 missed ; there is nothing to be afraid about. When 
 did you go to the police-station last ? " 
 
 " In Thadingyut." (V'/^*<^•) 
 
 " Ah, well, what are you doing now ? " 
 
 " I am working land as usual." 
 
 " But you do cart-driving too sometimes, don't 
 you ? " 
 
 " Now and then, when there is nothing to do in the 
 fields." 
 
 " What crops have you got this year ? " 
 
 " Sesamum and millet — a little of each." 
 
 " How are they doing ? " 
 
 " Middling, only middling. There will be an eight- 
 anna crop of sesamum. If we had had a shower or 
 two more in Tazaungmon. it would have been very 
 good, and the millet too." 
 
 " A shower or two more. Yes, it is always a 
 shower or two more. Then things are not very good 
 this year ? " 
 
 " Not so very bad ; cotton is fair, and there should 
 be a good pea crop." 
 
 " But it was better before, eh, Tun Win ? " 
 
 "Better before?" Maung Tun Win's face was 
 studiously blank. "Before?" he repeated in- 
 quiringly. 
 
 4t U.il 'd^^M .^"fit Is^. 
 
THE MYO-OK 23 
 
 " Before now. Before you got out of jail. Before 
 you got into jail. When you — when you were with 
 Bo Chet." 
 
 Tun Win's eyes dropped in a flash. He sniggered 
 shyly, but did not answer. Maung Gyi lit his 
 cheroot, and went on between slow, meditative puffs. 
 
 "Tell me about Bo Chet," he said. "I have 
 never talked with anyone who had been with him. 
 Tell me of him and of the life you led. It was 
 illegal, of course, but for all that it was a free and 
 jovial life, eh? Perhaps better in many ways than 
 the life you live now. There was always enough to 
 eat and drink, I suppose, and sometimes silver and 
 gold to be got. Yes, wrong, to be sure : wrong, but 
 pleasant. Very different from now, eh? Come, 
 Tun Win, tell me all about Bo Chet. I have long 
 wished to hear what the life was like." 
 
 But nothing in the shape of an admission was to 
 be wheedled out of Tun Win. His big mouth gaped 
 once as though he were about to speak, but closed 
 again promptly, and broadened out into a sheepish 
 grin. There was a piece of stick lying on the 
 ground before him. He picked it up and traced the 
 outline of his foot with it in the dust, but no word 
 passed his lips. And so they sat together in the 
 afternoon sunlight. 
 
 It was the Myo-ok who eventually broke the 
 silence. He rose suddenly. " It is cooler within. 
 In here with you," he said. 
 
 Below the house's upper story a space between 
 the wooden piles had been shut in with mat walls 
 and formed a dark, secludsd little room, much 
 affected by the Myo-ok during the hot months. 
 
24 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 There was nothing in it now save a second rough 
 wooden bedstead, from which the township officer 
 addressed the ex-dacoit in tones that were more 
 subdued than hitherto. 
 
 " Tun Win," he said, and he prefaced his words by 
 a stealthy look round through the gloom. " Tun 
 Win, I want two thousand rupees." 
 
 Tun Win gazed up stupidly and emitted a vague 
 murmur. It was clear to him by this time that 
 preliminaries were over, and that whatever the 
 business was to which he had been so urgently 
 summoned the night before, it was about to be 
 broached ; but he failed for the moment to connect 
 this straightforward statement of fact with the 
 message that had brought him hurrying to the 
 Myo-ok. He could scarcely have been called in 
 twelve miles to be told that his Honour was in need 
 of ready cash. He was not a money-lender. Surely 
 — surely the township officer must know that the 
 supplying of large sums of money was not in the 
 line of ex-dacoits, even after they had, as he had, 
 settled down to honest avocations. It doubtless 
 pleased the great man to jest, and it struck Tun Win 
 as being exactly in keeping with this sportive humour 
 that Maung Gyi's next question should be whether 
 he, Tun Win, of all created beings, could lend him 
 the said unattainable two thousand. By the time 
 this remarkable query was put Tun Win was more 
 or less prepared, and met it with a respectful titter, 
 but his face did not lose its puzzled, expectant 
 expression till Maung Gyi, who had waited to see 
 the result of his latest effort, spoke again. 
 
 " In Bo Chefs days," he said, " I suppose none of 
 
THE MYO-OK 25 
 
 you thought twice about helping yourselves to a few 
 thousand rupees if you wanted them." 
 
 The ex-dacoit's eyes sought those of the Myo-ok 
 for a moment, but he spoke no word. He was 
 beginning to gather up his threads, but there was 
 something wanting still which prevented him from 
 grasping the situation fully. At Maung Gyi's next 
 words, however, the looked-for light shone in upon him. 
 
 "Some policemen are going in to Shwedan to- 
 morrow," said the Myo-ok ; " some policemen with 
 boxes for the Treasury." 
 
 Tun Win had brought his stick with him into the 
 lower room. He studied the point, tested it with his 
 thumb, and resumed his scratching on the ground, a 
 demure smile wreathing the corners of his downcast 
 face. Maung Gyi had to repeat what he had said, 
 but still there was silence. 
 
 " I am always nervous about sending treasure by 
 land," pursued the Myo-ok querulously. " The — the 
 responsibility is really very great. Treasure escorts 
 are so often attacked nowadays it is positively hardly 
 safe. I never know that the money may not be taken 
 by dacoits." 
 
 " Dacoits ! " said Tun Win, with his eyes bent on his 
 toes, " dacoits ! There are no dacoits nowadays." 
 
 " Perhaps not ; but there are robbers, surely." 
 Thus Maung Gyi, with persuasive intonation. " I 
 have heard people say that the Shwedan road has 
 always been a bad one for robberies." 
 
 " I have heard the same," admitted Tun Win. And 
 there was another long, significant silence. At last a 
 voice, barely audible, broke it. 
 
 " How many men go with the money ? " it said. 
 
26 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " Three." 
 
 "A sergeant, I suppose, and " 
 
 " And two constables." 
 
 " Which sergeant ? " 
 
 " Maung Waik. Do you know him ? " 
 
 " To be sure ; he has always been at the police- 
 station when I came to report myself. And which 
 constables ? " 
 
 " I cannot say at present." 
 
 " Two constables ! Is that all ? And how much 
 treasure ? " 
 
 " Four thousand." 
 
 The stick worked deliberately in the dust round Tun 
 Win's feet, forming and re-forming figures — a four, 
 followed by three cyphers ; then a sheepish voice 
 broke out again. 
 
 "When I was with Bo Chet I think we should 
 have waited in the jungle somewhere near " 
 
 The sentence remained unfinished ; the scratching 
 persisted. Maung Gyi sat pensive, his eyes intent on 
 the curls of his smoke-wreaths. He felt sure of his 
 man now and could afford to wait. 
 
 " Now that Ngwe Daung and Ba Lin are in jail," 
 the voice continued, " I shall get no one to go with me." 
 
 " That does not matter," interrupted the Myo-ok 
 briskly. " It was different then ; you had guns in those 
 days. The thing must be done without force now." 
 
 " What can one man do against three ? " 
 
 " He can do what he wishes if they are asleep." 
 
 " Asleep ! " and the ex-dacoit raised his eyes for a 
 moment to cackle deferentially. " Asleep, yes, but 
 they will take it in turns to wake, Myo-ok Min." 
 
 " Not if they take stuff to send them to sleep, idiot." 
 
THE MYO-OK 27 
 
 " Send them to sleep ! " This was a new and some- 
 what startling idea, a refinement of the old rough and 
 ready system, and the Myo-ok gave the ex-dacoit 
 ample time to assimilate it. 
 
 Tun Win pondered awhile in silence, and then, 
 " Where am I to get that stuff from, and how am I to 
 give it ? " he asked. 
 
 " If I give you the stuff, will you make two thousand 
 over to me ? That will leave two thousand for you." 
 
 " What stuff is it ? Opium ? Opium is no good." 
 
 " You shall see what it is in good time. What do 
 you say ? " 
 
 Tun Win hesitated. " I shall be suspected by the 
 police," he mumbled ; " especially if it is Maung 
 Walk." 
 
 " Suspected ! I will see to that. Am I not to get 
 two thousand ? " 
 
 " If there is to be no force, I shall have to travel 
 with them," urged the ex-dacoit ; " they will never let 
 me do that." 
 
 " I will arrange about your travelling with them." 
 
 " And about giving them the stuff? " 
 
 " And about that too." 
 
 The stick had fallen to the ground. The two men 
 faced each other, their eyes bright with the dawn of 
 mutual understanding. In a moment, however. Tun 
 Win's black head fell again. 
 
 " I don't like it," he quavered, shaking a fretful 
 shoulder at the township officer. " I don't see how 
 I can do it. The risk is too great. I am frightened." 
 
 " Listen," said the Myo-ok decisively ; and they 
 drew closer together, and their voices dropped. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 IT was but a step for the Myo-ok from his court- 
 yard to his next scene of action. There were 
 but two houses intervening between his residence 
 and a trim, shingled building with white eaves that 
 overlooked the main road of Myothit, and the 
 tamarind trees had barely commenced folding up 
 their leaves for the night before Maung Gyi found 
 himself within the Myothit hospital compound, 
 looking up the front steps of that deserving 
 institution. 
 
 The air was full of the deep-mouthed lowing of 
 the kine that were plodding homeward from the 
 grazing-ground, and the dust raised by the passage 
 of a host of pattering hoofs hung like a white haze 
 over the quarter, shrouding the blazing orange of 
 the sunset sky with a veil as of the softest gossamer, 
 and seeming to deaden the shrillness of the herd- 
 boys' distant cries. As the township officer mounted 
 the steps he could see that the mellowed western 
 light was shining above into the hospital verandah, 
 and that against it Romesh Chunder Dutt, first 
 grade hospital assistant, was holding a small measur- 
 ing glass, into which he was dropping a liquid from 
 a formidable blue bottle. The boarded verandah 
 was bare and empty save for a filter fixed upon an 
 
 25 
 
THE MYO-OK 29 
 
 upturned packing-case and a plain wooden table, on 
 which lay the hospital registers. It was at this 
 table, near the door of what a paper label testified 
 to be the dispensary, that the hospital assistant stood, 
 turning for a moment a pair of dark, melancholy eyes 
 upon the Myo-ok as the latter reached the top of the 
 steps. The presiding genius of the institution was 
 a slight, olive-complexioned Bengali, whose straight 
 black hair, neatly trimmed, framed a well-propor- 
 tioned, effeminate face. He was attired in dhoti and 
 frilled shirt of spotless white, the lower portion of 
 the latter garment being worn outside instead of 
 inside the drapery that enfolded the rest of the 
 wearer's person. This disposition of raiment might 
 well, for the uninitiated foreigner, have been alarm- 
 ingly suggestive of an interrupted toilet. It struck 
 no dissonant chord, however, in Maung Gyi's bosom. 
 The dignitaries exchanged a word or two, and 
 the Myo-ok, with the intimation that his business 
 would keep, passed into the dispensary and studied 
 the labels on the bottles, while the hospital assistant 
 turned back to his interrupted task of compounding. 
 He was by this time at the last of his out-patients, 
 a wizened Burmese crone, a fairly regular attendant, 
 the proud exhibitor of the largest tumour and the 
 most persistent ophthalmia in the town, who sat with 
 her head against the verandah rail and her fingers 
 telling her beads, patiently waiting for such drugs 
 as he of the frilled shirt might think fit to allot her. 
 A grey old head, a face seamed and furrowed like 
 the wrinkled brown seeds that were slipping through 
 her hands, a lurking hope in the feeble old brain that 
 her entreaties had been listened to and that to-day's 
 
30 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 medicine would be a trifle less unpalatable than the 
 last prescription, which had languished untasted on 
 a rafter over her bed for a month before it was thrown 
 away. From time to time she peered out from under 
 her green shade to watch the process of concoction, 
 to suggest a little more from the blue phial and a 
 little less from the white, and to see that every drop 
 of the result was poured into the old Pilsener bottle 
 with a string attached to the neck that she had 
 brought with her ; but when, after a tentative sniff 
 and then a taste, it was borne in upon her that, 
 despite his assurance to the contrary, the faithless 
 foreigner had given her the mixture " as before," the 
 welkin rang with the wail of her impassioned protest. 
 Romesh Chunder was, however, inexorable. His 
 scant knowledge of Burmese enabled him the more 
 easily to turn a deaf ear to supplications that poured 
 from the patient's skinny jaws, and the old lady left 
 at length amid the cackling of the in-patients (who, 
 rather than miss the fun, had risen from their beds 
 of sickness to peer out into the verandah), plaintively 
 threatening to cease patronising the hospital and take 
 her ophthalmia and other complications elsewhere. 
 
 Maung Gyi had emerged from the dispensary to 
 assist in pacifying the dame and in ordering the 
 patients back to their beds again. When quiet was 
 restored he turned towards the hospital assistant. 
 
 " Babu, I am not feeling well," he said in English, 
 puckering his brow and rubbing the back of his 
 head softly. " I am sure I am a little out of the 
 sorts. What shall I do to be quite myself again ? " 
 
 The hospital assistant's face exhibited a chastened, 
 professional concern. He picked up a stethoscope 
 
THE MYO-OK 31 
 
 dubiously, but, thinking better of it, laid it down 
 again and showed his teeth. "Well, you see," he 
 said judicially, after a survey of the Myo-ok's out- 
 lines, " it will be fever, I think. Yes, I will give you 
 quinine. Let me feel your pulse." 
 
 Maung Gyi suifered his wrist to be seized by the 
 Bengali's thin, delicate fingers, but lost not a moment 
 in entering into further particulars. 
 
 " No, I have no fever," he exclaimed, while Romesh 
 Chunder, with raised eyebrows, counted ominously. 
 " I have no fever, but unfortunately I am up a tree. 
 I cannot go to sleep." 
 
 " You cannot go to sleep ? " 
 
 " No, not a wink, Babuji." 
 
 "Ah, but I see, you suffer from insomnia. Your 
 blood is poor ; you are anaemic, I think." 
 
 " Yes, yes, I think so ; yes, for several days now ; 
 but not insomnia that I suffer, and no fever. It is 
 want of sleep only." 
 
 Romesh Chunder smiled for a moment a bland, 
 superior smile at a distant, visionary audience. " But 
 if you cannot sleep, that is also fever," he exclaimed. 
 "Eh, what do you say? Now tell me your symptoms. 
 Of course, how can I diagnose unless you tell ? " 
 
 "Yes, Babuji, please diagnose, my man, but not 
 for the fever, but the want of sleep." 
 
 " Yes, I will diagnose ; well, you see, at night you 
 are restless and leap about in bed, I know. Your 
 tongue is dry, your skin is feverish. Eh, undoubtedly, 
 is that not so? So I will give you quinine pills 
 and a draught, and in two or three days you will be 
 on your legs again." 
 
 " Ah, but the sleep ? " 
 
32 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " Yes, yes, that also ; let me look at your tongue. 
 Are you going on sick leave? Do you want a 
 medical certificate? I can give you a medical 
 certificate quite easily if you want. You have only 
 to ask me, of course." 
 
 Maung Gyi had somewhat reluctantly faced the 
 light, and stood with open mouth, bringing an 
 obviously healthy tongue to bear on his professional 
 adviser. He pondered thus for a moment on the 
 hospital assistant's last words with his eyes cast up, 
 but eventually brought his jaws together to say that 
 he had no wish for a medical certificate. " It is not 
 fever," he reiterated. " I am sure it is not fever ; 
 I have a little, or none at all." 
 
 " Do you eat plenty ? " inquired Romesh Chunder. 
 
 " How can I eat plenty when I cannot sleep ? " 
 cried the Myo-ok. 
 
 The hospital assistant smiled again and spread out 
 his hands protestingly. " Of course, how can I say 
 if you do not inform me?" he exclaimed. 
 
 " My good man, no, I cannot eat properly. Even 
 to look at food — Pah ! I cannot bear to see it. So, 
 as for the draught you said just now. Is that to 
 make me sleep ? " 
 
 " No, that is to produce perspiration of the pores, 
 but I can give you a mixture to cause sleep ; yes, 
 assuredly." 
 
 The township officer patted his physician ap- 
 provingly on the shoulder. " Good ! so give it to me, 
 Babuji," he exclaimed. " A draught, not a mixture." 
 
 " Well, look here, you see, you must let me know 
 your symptoms." 
 
 " My symptoms, ah, yes ; so, as for my symptoms, 
 
THE MYO-OK 33 
 
 they are my head whirls like this, you see " ; and 
 the Myo-ok, glaring truculently, imparted a rapid 
 circular motion to his head, stopping suddenly with 
 a renewed wrinkling of his features to gaze at 
 Romesh Chunder. 
 
 " Before eating ? " 
 
 " Before eating ? Eh ? " 
 
 "Yes, does your head whirl like so before you 
 eat?" 
 
 " Babuji, I tell you I can eat nothing." 
 
 " Ah, but before then ? " 
 
 "Yes, it whirls before I eat, and afterwards also. 
 It is always whirling." 
 
 " Ah, I see ! I think that is from a derangement 
 of the liver. And what else ? " 
 
 " Well, I have already said, I cannot sleep." 
 
 " Very good ; I will give you something for your 
 liver and something to make you to sleep." 
 
 " What will it be > " 
 
 " To make you to sleep, eh ? " 
 
 "Yes; what will you put in ? Will you put opium?" 
 
 " No, no opium," and Romesh Chunder wagged a 
 deprecating palm. 
 
 " That is right, no opium. See here, man, the civil 
 surgeon at Shwedan gave me once something that 
 made me sleep the whole night; something like a 
 dust, something with no taste. I like medicines with 
 no taste. What will you make it of?" 
 
 "It must be a draught; I have no sleeping powders. 
 I will put into it some — but come into the dispen- 
 sary, Myo-ok Sahib, and I will show you." 
 
 It was no vulgar Pilsener beer-bottle with string 
 attached, but a neat little phial, with tablespoon 
 D 
 
34 THE MYO-OK 
 
 marks down one side, that the Myo-ok took with 
 him when he left the hospital in the dusk of the 
 evening. The mixture it contained was dark and 
 far from attractive ; to Maung Gyi's disappointment 
 it was anything but tasteless, but there was no help 
 for that. In any case it looked potent enough to 
 combat the most intractable insomnia. Yet, though 
 the township officer's eyes barely closed once from 
 nightfall to the following dawn, it never once crossed 
 his mind to have recourse to his newly acquired 
 sedative. As a matter of fact, the bottle with the 
 tablespoon marks reposed that night under the cloth 
 that served as a pillow for Tun Win. The ex-dacoit, 
 unassisted by drugs, snored the frigid hours away, 
 curled up under the flimsiest of blankets, in a 
 covered cart ; and as the cart stood during the night- 
 watches in the police compound, and as it and the 
 bullocks tethered by it happened to be U Kala's, 
 there would appear to be good grounds for assuming 
 that, when he undertook that morning to supply a 
 driver, the Myo-ok already had in his mind's eye 
 some useful creature whom he could depend upon 
 to accompany the treasure next day from Myothit 
 to Shwedan, 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 IT was not yet light when Tun Win stretched his 
 limbs under the blanket, yawned, and crept, like 
 a deliberate rabbit from its hole, out from his resting- 
 place beneath the cover of the cart. The gong, whose 
 hourly thumping had disturbed his slumbers during 
 the earlier portion of the night, rang out a muffled 
 six through the morning mist. The police-station 
 loomed up shadowy against the still star-lit back- 
 ground of the sky. There were the ashes of a fire 
 of sticks to the lee of the compound fence, to which 
 he repaired, shivering, and before long he was 
 squatting in front of a fresh blaze. The Burman is, 
 as a rule, a fairly early riser, but no one was stirring 
 yet, so Tun Win had nothing to do for the present 
 but puff his cheroot, watch the wintry dawn steal up, 
 and ponder on what the day that was being so coldly 
 ushered in had in store for him. There was a light 
 in the upper story of the police-station, which he 
 watched dreamily through the quivering smoke. This 
 a frugal constable extinguished as the white glimmer 
 in the east spread outwards and upwards behind the 
 ink-black outlines of the palms, and presently there 
 was a movement above and in the direction of the 
 lines, a row of thatched huts some little distance from 
 the station, here and there a cough, and the rattle of 
 
 35 
 
 '— „ ' / J 
 
36 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 a rope at the well. A shrill cock woke in the neigh- 
 bourhood, and hastened to apprise the world at large 
 of the comforting fact ; a rival answered from the 
 distance. A pair of ammunition boots clumped 
 warily down the wooden station steps, shiny and 
 sodden in the pale morning light. All was now a 
 dull uniform grey. The sound of the boots dwindled 
 away into the mist by the lines. The bullocks 
 munched noisily in the corner where they were tied. 
 Slowly the eastern sky put on a tinge of yellow. A 
 crow began, conversationally, in a peepul. tree behind 
 the station. The thud of another pair of boots 
 approached from the barracks. A constable stalked 
 up, flung a roll of bedding into the cart, gazed sleepily 
 around, and seated himself by the fire opposite Tun 
 Win. Then there was a pause, while the last clear 
 star faded out and the light grew stronger. After a 
 while Shwe Yon, well swathed as to the head, emerged 
 from the direction of the town, and joined the couple 
 by the fire. At last, as the rising sun caught the 
 damp, red-shingled gables of the station, there was 
 a stir above, a clank of accoutrements, and a voice 
 called down for assistance in putting the boxes into 
 the cart. Tun Win and Shwe Yon rose from their 
 seats by the fire, shambled up the steps and down 
 again with one of the specie boxes between them. 
 The other followed, and both were leisurely placed in 
 the straw behind where the driver sat. The rest of 
 the bedding was piled in behind, the cooking pots of 
 the party were stowed, and then there was a lull until 
 it pleased Maung Walk to swagger on to the scene 
 and see to the deposit of his own particular bundle in 
 the best place beside the specie boxes. This arranged 
 
THE MYO-OK 37 
 
 to the satisfaction of the sergeant, there was a further 
 delay, caused by the sudden appearance of the 
 Myo-ok, his breath steaming out through the morn- 
 ing mist from under the Turkish towel that enveloped 
 his head. The great man had come down to satisfy 
 himself that his precious boxes were safe, and that 
 the driver he had chosen had arrived and knew his 
 business, and the station stood appalled at his energy. 
 At length, however, the bullocks were yoked, the 
 escort fixed bayonets, Tun Win squatted on the shaft, 
 there was a heave and a strain, and with a " Hoi ! " 
 of encouragement from the new cart-man, who bran- 
 dished his stick as though to the manner born, the 
 cart creaked out through the compound gate along 
 the Shwedan road. 
 
 It was not till they were well clear of the town that 
 Maung Walk felt moved to enter into conversation 
 with the driver. Immediately the police-station was 
 out of sight he had inserted his sturdy form under 
 the tilt, and had, in the depths of the straw, completed 
 his interrupted morning doze, and it was not till he 
 had had his sleep out that a sense of returning 
 sociability prompted him to shift his body along the 
 cart and to peer benignly round at the solitary figure 
 perched forward. It had not been part of Tun Win's 
 policy to court attention that morning, and he had 
 up till then sat with his head and shoulders wrapped 
 in a blue and white checked cloth that effectually hid 
 his features. He might have been anybody, and the 
 sergeant's startled bleat of " Ame ! " on discovering 
 whose face it was that the blue checks enveloped, 
 showed that it had not entered into his calculations 
 that "anybody" was to include the ex-dacoit, Tun Win. 
 
 {4-1 1 
 
 a- ■' &■!' ^''^'f^^^'. 
 
38 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 The driver grinned a shamefaced grin at the ser- 
 geant's ejaculation. " He ! Nwa ! " he shouted 
 truculently to the off bullock, and smote him with 
 his stick ; but after giving vent to his feelings thus he 
 sat silent, as though waiting for Maung Walk to 
 relieve the tension by direct speech. But if he 
 expected the sergeant to begin forthwith he was 
 clearly disappointed. That functionary made twice 
 as though he were about to say something, but 
 appeared to alter his mind, and crept slowly back 
 into the straw, where he lay on his back pondering, 
 and it was nearly an hour before he again rolled to 
 the front of the cart with renewed symptoms of 
 interest in the driver. 
 
 The millet and the sesamum had been left behind. 
 For some time past the cart had been marking with 
 puffs of white dust its snail's progress along a straight, 
 low, " bunded " road, raised a few feet above the green 
 sea of rice land that stretched on either hand. The 
 wheels bumped in and out of the ruts ; every now and 
 then there was a more violent jerk than usual, when 
 the cart blundered on to and off from a wooden 
 bridge, fearfully and wonderfully tarred, one only of 
 an interminable succession of black blots that marred 
 the sunlit harmony of blue and tender green. The 
 horizon of the rice plain was bounded by darker 
 clumps of trees, with snowy pagodas peeping from 
 their midst, and singly or in rows sentinel toddy, 
 palms stood up against the sky. The white road 
 shimmered in the haze, and straight ahead a long, 
 low line of hills showed up. On one side of the 
 embankment the telegraph posts crept by, each as 
 erect and self-important as though it carried fifty 
 
THE MYO-OK 39 
 
 wires instead of the single line on which the fly- 
 catchers and fluttering king crows sat and eyed the 
 passers-by. 
 
 " How long is it since you have taken to cart- 
 driving, Tun Win ? " 
 
 Tun Win gave a leisurely half-turn and lifted his 
 left elbow to become aware of the sergeant's black, 
 close-cropped pate reposing on the straw at his side. 
 
 "Cart-driving? Oh, some time now," he answered 
 airily, prodding one of his bullocks. " I take to it off 
 and on." 
 
 " Why aren't you working your land now ? " 
 
 " There's nothing to do now except scare birds 
 from the millet. I have no paddy. The river didn't 
 rise properly." 
 
 " How long have you been working for U Kala ? " 
 
 "UKala? Who is U Kala?" 
 
 "Amele! You drive U Kala's bullocks and don't 
 know who U Kala is. Well, to be sure ! " 
 
 " U Kala ? How should I know whose cart this 
 is ? The Myo-ok hired me." 
 
 " Does he know you ? The Myo-ok, I mean." 
 
 " To be sure. You were there, sergeant, surely, 
 when I produced my sureties before him. Know 
 me ? Of course he knows me." 
 
 " Then why did he hire you ? " inquired the ser- 
 geant, with more directness than tact. " Had he no 
 one else to send?" 
 
 " I know nothing about it. I happened to be in 
 his house at the time. He told me to go. How 
 could I disobey?" 
 
 Maung Waik said nothing, but lay still, with his 
 chin on his elbow, watching the view. Presently, 
 
40 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 with a grunt, he again subsided under the tilt of the 
 cart, and for a while addressed such remarks as he 
 vouchsafed to make to the constables who were plod- 
 ding behind ; but when the line of hill had crept 
 nearer and higher, and its azure had faded into an 
 indescribable mixture of lilac and yellow ochre, he 
 again looked out in front. There were white pagodas 
 here and there splashed along the ridge of rising 
 ground. It was to one of the most distant of these 
 that Maung Walk pointed with a propitiatory grin. 
 
 "It was there that he died, wasn't it ? " he hazarded. 
 
 For a moment Tun Win made as though he had 
 not heard, for the next as though he had heard and 
 not understood, and for yet another as though he had 
 understood and were not going to reply ; but grad- 
 ually the muscles of his face relaxed. All unwittingly 
 the sergeant had hit upon his subject of subjects, to 
 wit his career under the redoubtable leader Bo Chet. 
 It was as though one had thrust down into and probed 
 some hidden spring. The flood of speech, kept under 
 and repressed by seven years of restraint in Indian 
 jails, bubbled up irrepressible forthwith. The ex- 
 dacoit's eye brightened. His finger flew out involun- 
 tarily to the horizo.n. 
 
 " Not there," he made answer, screwing up his eyes 
 the better to take in the details of the ridge. " No, 
 not there ; the Shwemyindin is further down. A bit 
 back we could see it well, but now there is a crest in 
 front. Yes, it was about a call from the Shwemyindin 
 where he fell." 
 
 " Ah ! the Shwemyindin ! " 
 
 " Assuredly. It was an excellent place, for we 
 could see for miles around. They were feeding us 
 
THE MYO-OK 41 
 
 from Leppan. Yes, I know ; the Shwemyindin is 
 there, Leppan is there, and Legyi there" (and a 
 brown thumb indicated certain notches on the shaft). 
 " Legyi is the nearer, but the headman of Legyi was 
 frightened. We could get nothing from him. All we 
 got was from Leppan, as everybody knows now, 
 though at the time Legyi was fined as heavily as 
 Leppan. We had been there five days, and the 
 villagers were tired of toiling up the hill to bring us 
 food and water. Thus we began to starve, and most of 
 us were for making for Kyaukse and the Shan States ; 
 but the Sayegyi said, ' Wait, wait ! ' So we waited, 
 and on the sixth day they came upon us at dawn." 
 " Were they all Kalas? " 
 Ai'tt/ "All save, of course, the paddy- bird, he with the long . 
 
 neck. He was before your time, Maung Walk. Af^V"^* / ,- 
 , ^ Yazawaut wundauk he was m those days; is now a 1/ 1^/^ 
 ^y^^'.wun in the Lower Country, they tell me. I remember*-^ 
 ' ''to this day the coat of drab cloth with a.belt he wore (I 
 
 have woven stuff like it at Alipore for a year on end), 
 yes, and the blue cloth on his white hat. It was the 
 sight of that hat in the jungle by the pagoda that 
 gave the alarm. Had it not been for that the police 
 could have caught us all with their hands. The 
 Sayegyi and I were the only two that were awake. 
 It was just beginning to get light. I was the first to 
 notice the hat, and at first I took it to be the jacket of 
 the Leppan Thugyi's son moving from bush to bush ; 
 then I looked again, and ' What is that, Sayegyi ? ' I 
 said, for it had stopped suddenly. For a while he 
 said no word, then he turned and shouted, ' Jump, all 
 of you ! ' for we were near the edge of the brick 
 parapet ; so we all fled different ways." 
 
42 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 Maung Waik hitched himself on his elbows over 
 the straw nearer to the narrator. 
 
 " But it was not there that he fell, was it ? " he said. 
 
 " No, not on the pagoda platform. He and I leapt 
 together into the jungle below. I fell into a bush 
 and could not get out again, and I should have been 
 shot there had he not pulled me out, slicing the 
 f creepers that held me with his da_ (he was ever the 
 preserver of his followers), and so we ran together 
 down the path, he following, for with his help I was out 
 of the tangle before he was. Then, just at a turning, 
 where the bank on either hand was steep, we came 
 upon a Kala policeman. He was ready, for he had 
 heard the cries and shots above. His gun was to his 
 shoulder and his beard wagged as he shouted, 'Daku! 
 Daku !' He would not stop shouting to fire, and so the 
 bullet went ' Byon ! ' over my head, and I stopped 
 short, but only for a moment. We had to go on, the 
 bank was steep, there was no turning aside. The Saye- 
 gyi ran past me into the smoke with his hands up, 
 like that, and the two falling together, the rifle rolled 
 to the side of the path. There they lay as I came up, 
 struggling together on the ground. The Sayegyi 
 called to me to pick up the gun, crying out, ' Strike ! 
 strike 1 ' But what could I do ? All the time the 
 ' Kala was calling, 'Bo hai ! Bo hail' 'Ao! Ao ! ' ;^-^ 
 and there was ever the sound of the H.^ddy.-bird .j^^^g^ 
 behind descending the hill. I picked up the rifle and 
 raised it, but through fear I dropped it again and ran 
 past them as they lay together on the ground. After 
 all, it was I who had suffered privation for Nga Chet, 
 not he for me, and if I had killed the sepoy I should 
 have had to die." 
 
THE MYO-OK 43 
 
 " But you did not get away ? " 
 
 "No, there was a second Kala two gunshots further 
 down the path. Him I struck at with my hands, as 
 I had seen the Sayegyi do. I had no da, and he had 
 no time to fire, but he dropped his gun and held me 
 for a space, and after a while, a third Kala coming 
 up, I was taken to where the assistant superin- 
 tendent was." 
 
 " And the Sayegyi — Ng^a Chet ? " 
 
 " He lay on his face where I had left him, with his 
 head cut open. The Kala who had lain with him 
 on the ground was abusing him, for his beard, that 
 he had twisted tight above his ears (just like the head 
 warder's at Nagpur), was half pulled out, and his eyes 
 were full of dust, but the paddy-bird would not leave 
 off laughing. He sat on a stone with a silver cup 
 in his hand, and when he was not laughing he was 
 drinking. It was in the month of Tagu, and though 
 the sun was only just rising, it was already very hot." 
 
 Maung Waik chuckled softly. " Was it you he beat 
 there ? " he asked. " They tell me that, for joy at the 
 death of Nga Chet, he beat one that was taken on 
 that day." 
 
 " Truly it was me he beat, twice, after having well 
 drunk from his silver cup ; once, as he said, because I 
 had run away (as though I were going to stop still to 
 be shot); then, after a while, when he had drunk again 
 and 1 had told him what I had done with the gun, 
 how I had spared the Kala, in the hope that it would 
 tell in my favour, he beat me a second time, in that I 
 had not struck the Kala and saved Nga Chet. Also 
 he made the Kalas to drink much spirit, the one 
 whose beard had been torn by the Sayegyi most of 
 
44 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 all, and he, still resentful, beat me a third time, after 
 the Thakin had gone to sleep. Ko__ Walk, I have 
 undergone many lashes : twice at the Alipore jail, 
 through spite of the convict warders, once at Nagpur 
 for a bit of tobacco no bigger than your thumb-nail, 
 but never has my back suffered as on that day. Thus 
 it was that when the judge was about to sentence me 
 I asked to be hanged straight off, because, if I were 
 again flogged, I should die in any case. Howbeit, he 
 sentenced me to transportation for life, without a 
 flogging, and I went across the sea. Nevertheless 
 there were good-conduct marks and a Queen who 
 reigned sixty years and who pleaded on our behalf 
 to the superintendent of the jail, and so it came to 
 pass that, after seven years " 
 
 Tun Win's tongue had been wagging to so riotous 
 a measure that he had taken no note of an ominous 
 silence behind him in the body of the cart, but now 
 he shifted half round on his seat to see the effect his 
 narrative was producing on the sergeant ; and his 
 flow of words was rudely arrested. 
 
 " What is this ? " said Maung Walk, and the voice 
 was no longer the voice of the man who a minute 
 ago had lolled, giggling, at Tun Win's elbow. 
 
 How it happened it is impossible to say exactly, 
 but some movement on the part of Maung Walk, as 
 he shifted and wriggled on the straw, had shaken 
 into sudden prominence out of the folds of Tun 
 Win's cloth a neat glass phial containing a dark- 
 coloured liquid, which the sergeant had picked up 
 and held at arm's length inquisitorially. 
 
 Tun Win's face assumed a stony expression. 
 " Where did you find it ? " he asked. 
 
THE MYO-OK 45 
 
 " Just by your saun^^ What is it ? What do you 
 want with medicine ? " 
 
 " Medicine ! " exclaimed Tun Win. " Do you think 
 it is medicine ? " 
 
 "Of course it's medicine. Look at the Govern- 
 ment marks down the side of the bottle. Did you 
 ever see anything but medicine in a Government 
 bottle?" 
 
 " Let me have a look at it." The sergeant thrust 
 it into his hand, and he turned it over and over. It 
 was not easy to see what special interest the table- 
 spoon marks could have had for him, yet he counted 
 them lingeringly two or three times and shook the 
 bottle, as though to see what the result would be. 
 
 "It certainly looks like medicine," he said softly 
 after a while, and his face was as expressionless as 
 ever. 
 
 " How did the medicine get into your saung? " 
 The detective in Maung Waik, latent, but ever on the 
 alert, emerged, watchful, in a moment, in face of the 
 unheard-of potentialities of crime that the sight of the 
 ex-dacoit with his suspicious bottle had conjured up. 
 
 " Into my saung ! How can I say ? " came the 
 answer ; and Tun Win handed the bottle back and 
 rubbed his hand on his knee as though to free it from 
 the contagion of some unclean thing. 
 
 Maung Waik said nothing, but sat, vengeful, with 
 the bottle in his hand, gazing, ever gazing at the ex- 
 dacoit. Tun Win turned a hang-dog back, clucked 
 with a sickly show of nonchalance, and prodded his 
 bullocks forward, but it was as though the sergeant's 
 eyes were burning into the nape of his neck. He 
 squatted fascinated, his shoulders hunched by degrees 
 
46 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 higher and higher ; he cowered as though at the 
 prospect of a blow. 
 
 The cart jolted steadily forward, the line of hills 
 drew closer in upon the travellers. A mile or so 
 ahead a bundle of thatched roofs, set amid the plan- 
 tain tufts on the fringe of the paddy plain, showed a 
 village at length. A hundred yards, and Tun Win 
 essayed a sidelong glance into the body of the cart 
 to see if the sergeant were still glaring at him. He 
 caught the official eye. 
 
 "Well, what is it?" said Maung Walk. He had 
 been watching the ex-dacoit's back, testing his 
 •symptoms with the eye of an expert. His tone was 
 placable ; his diagnosis had satisfied him that there 
 was very shortly to be a confession, and he wished, by 
 every possible means, to smooth the penitent's way. 
 
 " What ? " muttered Tun Win. 
 
 " The medicine, to be sure. Is it poison ? " 
 
 " Poison ? No, it is something to make one sleep." 
 
 Maung Walk drew the cork, and with circumspec- 
 tion and half-closed eyes applied the phial to a brown 
 snub nose. There certainly seemed to be something 
 in what Tun Win said. There was a soporific frag- 
 rance about the drug, a fragrance that brought back 
 to him a time when bad fever had driven him to 
 the hospital and a fat Babu had given him some 
 stuff to soothe his pain. " Well, and who is it for ? " 
 he asked, ramming the cork home again. 
 
 " The Myo-ok told me to take it to Shwedan," 
 faltered Tun Win, and stopped to clear his voice. 
 
 Maung Walk waited awhile, and then exclaimed 
 encouragingly — 
 
 " Well, what was to be done with it at Shwedan ? " 
 
THE MYO-OK 47 
 
 " The Myo-ok's sister is at Shwedan." 
 " What has his sister got to do with it ? " 
 " His sister cannot sleep on account of boils ; and 
 I was to take the medicine to her in order that she 
 
 might drink it and " 
 
 " Silence ! " cried the sergeant imperiously. The 
 confessional aspect was no more, the sheepish grin 
 that played about the ex-dacoit's features proclaimed 
 him a hopeless novice in the art of improvisation. 
 Silence had been ordered, and silence accordingly 
 there was, while the cart creaked onward. Maung 
 Walk saw that nothing was to be got out of the 
 driver just then. Meanwhile the bottle was slipped 
 into the pocket of the sergeant's khaki jacket. The 
 possession of a possibly poisonous drug by a person 
 of such questionable antecedents as Tun Win must 
 be satisfactorily accounted for at some time or 
 another, but nothing was to be gained by making a 
 fuss just then. Who could say whether, if a portion 
 of what Tun Win had said was true, the bottle might 
 not come in useful in an interesting little experiment 
 that he had in view ? In any case, it was safer in his 
 keeping than in Tun Win's. 
 
 They were close to the village now. The plantain 
 groves on either hand curtseyed and nodded in 
 the morning breeze. There was a ruined red-brick 
 pagoda, then a new grey one, with bells a-tinkle, then, 
 standing back amid the dark green of its jack trees, 
 a monastery of rich brown teak. After that an um- 
 brageous banyan, hard by the roadside and just out- 
 side the village fence, called to the wayfarers to rest. 
 
 " Shwepaukbin. We can halt here for a while," 
 said Maung Walk, sliding nimbly out of the tail of 
 
48 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 the cart, as with a final creak it brought up at a 
 convenient spot in the shade. 
 
 The oxen were unyoked and tethered to a post 
 hard by, were allowed to discuss a bundle of dubious 
 grass ; Maung Walk seated himself on the steps of 
 a small wooden zayat, or rest-house, that had been 
 erected under the spreading branches. Tun Win, on 
 his haunches in the dust near the cart, chewed straws 
 with an air of detachment, but with an apprehensive 
 glance at the sergeant every now and then. There 
 was a row of red earthen water-pots with funnel- 
 shaped tin covers in a curly-roofed water-stand that 
 some meritorious villager had built, for the con- 
 venience of travellers, against the trunk of the 
 banyan. One of the constables, from a ladle, a half- 
 cocoanut attached to the end of a stick, helped 
 himself to a drink of water. The second produced 
 from the cart certain grimy paraphernalia and com- 
 menced a leisurely collection of firewood. 
 
 " What for ? " inquired Maung Walk from his seat 
 on the steps. 
 
 " To cook with," was the reply. 
 
 " Not now," commanded our autocrat, stifling a 
 yawn. " I know a better place in the jungle further 
 on. Wait awhile ; we shall be there before long ; it 
 is full early yet." 
 
 The constable desisted, with a grunt and a stare, 
 from his wood collecting and stretched himself at 
 full length on the floor at the further end of the 
 zayat. His companion lay down on the treasure in 
 the cart and snored. For a while there was silence. 
 A pariah dog approached daintily, stopped, snarled 
 at the uniforms, and turning, trotted to the village 
 
THE MYO-OK 49 
 
 gate, from whence it jerked a few fitful barks towards 
 the banyan tree before slinking away. A villager or 
 two strolled by, gazing curiously at the policemen 
 and the cart, but Tun Win paid no regard to them, 
 and the sergeant's mien was not of the kind to en- 
 courage advances, so they passed on unheeded by 
 Maung Waik, who was cogitating deeply. 
 
 After a while the sergeant's meditations seemed to 
 give birth to definite action. He beckoned to Tun 
 Win, who shuffled up to him. 
 
 " Are you going to tell me what this stuff is for ? " 
 he asked in a subdued voice and tapped, as he spoke, 
 his pocket, where the outlines of the bottle showed 
 up through the khaki drill. 
 
 Tun Win gazed this way and the other, as though 
 in search of escape. " I have already said," he 
 muttered at last. 
 
 " It is, then, for the Myo-ok's sister at Shwedan ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And that was what the Myo-ok was sending you 
 to Shwedan for ? " 
 
 " To be sure." 
 
 "Will it do," inquired Maung Waik in honeyed tones, 
 " if I take it instead of you to the Myo-ok's sister ? " 
 
 " I can't say." 
 
 " Why can't you say ? Have you anything else to 
 do for the Myo-ok there ? " 
 
 " No," came the mumbled answer. The sergeant's 
 eye was on the speaker, and for the life of him he 
 could not have replied otherwise. 
 
 " In that case, if I took the bottle myself to the 
 Myo-ok's sister, there would be no object in your 
 going to Shwedan." 
 E 
 
50 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " I suppose not." 
 
 " I have been thinking, too," pursued the sergeant, 
 " that it might seem strange to people if they knew 
 that you, who are so recently from jail, should be 
 accompanying a treasure escort with drugs that can 
 send one to sleep. It is rather strange ; don't you 
 think so ? It would be so easy, now, for you to give 
 us all to drink, and while we were asleep take away 
 the treasure. Nothing could be simpler, eh ? " 
 
 " It was the Myo-ok's order that I should go to 
 Shwedan," murmured Tun Win, with his eyes on the 
 ground. 
 
 " But will it not seem strange ? " 
 
 " It may." 
 
 " It will be far better, then, that you should not go 
 to Shwedan." 
 
 " There will be nobody to drive if I don't go." 
 
 " Surely there are people in the world besides 
 yourself, blockhead, who can drive a cart ! " 
 
 " I suppose so." 
 
 " Well ? " 
 
 Tun Win scratched his headcloth awry in an agony 
 of indecision. " How can I go back to the Myo-ok ?" 
 he quavered. 
 
 Maung Waik made no answer, but fixed the 
 speaker with the eye of authority — an eye of old 
 accustomed to quell the recalcitrant. Seven years 
 of jail discipline had taught the ex-convict the dread 
 meaning of that official regard. He seemed to shrivel 
 up under the sergeant's gaze. Twice he made as 
 though he would rise, and twice sank back irresolute. 
 At last, with an effort, he heaved himself up, and 
 swung his cloth round his shoulders. 
 
THE MYO-OK 51 
 
 " Why go back to the Myo-ok at all ? " exclaimed 
 Maung Walk, beaming benignly on the dejected figure 
 that stood in front of him. " I will make it all right 
 with him. Why not go back to your own village ? 
 I am sure your millet will be all the better for a little 
 bird-scaring." 
 
 Tun Win answered never a word, but turned slowly 
 away. Maung Walk smiled a grim smile as he 
 watched the figure of the ex-dacoit disappear through 
 the village gate. He would have smiled yet more 
 grimly had he been the witness of Tun Win's furtive 
 slouch through the hamlet and his despondent exit 
 through the further gate. He certainly did not look 
 like going back to the Myo-ok. 
 
 The constable in the zayat woke with a start and 
 raised himself on his elbow. 
 
 " Is it time to go on ? " he asked, yawning. 
 
 " Not yet," growled the sergeant. 
 
 " Where has the cart-man gone to ? " pursued the 
 man, gazing sleepily round. 
 
 " Into the village," said Maung Walk, " to buy 
 plantains. Do you want any ? " 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 IT was clearly a person of substance who was 
 riding Myothit-wards that morning. It was 
 later on in the day; Shwepaukbin had been left 
 behind ; the treasure escort had halted for their morn- 
 ing meal in the jungle a few paces off the main road, 
 and the constables, attracted by the pattering of 
 hoofs, watched the passage of the traveller with 
 unrestrained, open-mouthed admiration. Nor was 
 their silent tribute altogether unmerited, for the sight 
 was a dazzling one. The stranger's pony was young 
 and lusty, his saddle was of shiny English leather, 
 the cart that followed him was piled tilt-high with 
 crockery and bedding. He himself was attired in a 
 dark blue jacket trimmed with fur and white Shan 
 trousers, the ends of the latter tucked jauntily into a 
 pair of worsted stockings, striped red and black. 
 Canvas tennis-shoes encased his feet, and his features 
 were obscured by a huge Shan hat, fastened bonnet- 
 wise under his chin by a pale green silk scarf. The 
 brilliant apparition had flashed past before the con- 
 stables, unnoticed in the background, had had time 
 to take its splendours fully in, and the jungle was 
 left the darker for its transit. 
 
 " The District Overseer," said Maung Thin, constable 
 number one, glancing for confirmation towards Maung 
 
 52 
 
THE MYO-OK 53 
 
 Wa, constable number two. But Maung Wa shook 
 his head. 
 
 " No," he said. " It is like his Shan hat, but the 
 District Overseer's pony is a grey, not a bay, and he 
 never wears stockings. Besides, look at the cart. 
 No overseer travels on tour with all that baggage. 
 Did you see the swinging looking-glass and the 
 lamps — two china lamps, besides a hurricane lantern ? 
 It's an officer on transfer, you may be pretty sure." 
 
 " On transfer, you think. In that case it must be 
 the new Myo-ok," exclaimed Maung Walk from where 
 he sat. He had considered it derogatory to himself 
 to get up and gape at the procession, and had re- 
 mained seated in the lee of the cart all the time. 
 
 " The Myo-ok 1 " echoed Maung Wa. " Is he due 
 to come already ? Why, they tell me that the order 
 of transfer arrived only yesterday, or the day before, 
 and there has been no sale of furniture yet. There 
 will be a sale surely, as when U Tun Aung left the 
 station." 
 
 " Sale or not, that must be he," returned Maung 
 Waik. " Yes, I remember now, it was to-day that 
 he was to come ; that was why the treasure had to 
 go to-day, lest the new Myo-ok coming should find 
 too much in the treasure chest." 
 
 " He comes from Shwedan, then ? " 
 
 " Who ? The new Myo-ok, Maung Pyu ? Yes, 
 from Shwedan ; he has been serving there many 
 months now. The head constable at Kyaukyin is 
 his wife's brother, I hear. He will have slept the 
 night at Kyaukyin, That was a fine pony he was 
 riding, eh ? " 
 
 " He will eat at Shwepaukbin, then, I suppose," 
 
54 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 said Maung Thin, returning to his interrupted task 
 of cooking. 
 
 " Not if he is wise. No, I expect he will eat in the 
 jungle, as we are doing, between here and Shwepauk- 
 bin. Why should he not ? There is good water all 
 the way ; far better than what he will get at Shwe- 
 paukbin. Here, Maung Thin, I'm getting hungry ; 
 see if the rice is cooked, and turn it out of the pot 
 if it is. Till we get to Shwedan we may as well 
 continue sharing the labour, as we have been doing 
 up to now, eh ? Maung Thin shall be cook, Maung 
 Wa shall be water-carrier. The better water is from 
 the lower spring, fifty cubits down the nullah that 
 way, Maung Wa, One more bambooful will do for 
 the present." 
 
 "And what will your share of the work be, ser- 
 geant ? " bawled Maung Thin, his pug nose wrinkled 
 in the steam that rose from the black earthenware 
 rice-pot. 
 
 " Mine ? Oh, I will go on being cart - driver," 
 chuckled Maung Walk. "Cart-driver and toddy- 
 shop licensee." 
 
 The constables buckled to their respective tasks, 
 sniggering loyally at this last exquisite sally. Maung 
 Waik was in great form that day. But so, if the 
 truth must be told, were they all. Nor was the 
 reason far to seek, for, ever since they had been de- 
 serted at Shwepaukbin by their driver, who had failed 
 unaccountably to return from the village, a certain 
 black toddy -bottle had been circulating with con- 
 vivial celerity. They were all three well pleased with 
 themselves, and were looking forward to a period of 
 even greater content, for the toddy-bottle was still 
 
THE MYO-OK 55 
 
 half-full ; but the cheerfulness of the constables was 
 as naught compared with the cheerfulness of the 
 sergeant, though the latter had imbibed less than his 
 two companions. Yes, Maung Walk was indubitably 
 in great form. It was his suggestion, when the driver 
 did not return with the plantains, that they should 
 drive the cart on themselves. He had occupied the 
 shaft with distinction, and had prevailed on U Kala's 
 bullocks to do a record mile to the accompaniment 
 of much melody ; and it was his voice that led the 
 chorus throughout. He was still murmuring a cheery 
 stave as he sat and watched the two constables, and 
 for a few odd minutes, while Maung Thin was bend- 
 ing absorbed over the rice-pot and Maung Wa was 
 away at the spring, he toyed, ever carolling softly, 
 with the toddy-bottle, and with what looked like 
 another bottle, which he tossed negligently into the 
 bushes just before Maung Wa returned with some 
 fresh water in a length of bamboo. 
 
 It was a veritable widow's cruse, this toddy-bottle 
 of Maung Walk's. Even now, after all the calls that 
 had been made upon it, it looked no emptier than it 
 had looked half an hour before. Maung Thin com- 
 mented on this fact as the three sat together over the 
 rice-bowl and lifted to their mouths strange, evil- 
 smelling condiments from a plantain leaf spread out 
 between them ; and at the intimation Maung Walk 
 smiled largely on his colleagues. 
 
 " It is good stuff, is it not ? " he said. " Drink, 
 Ko Thin." 
 
 Maung Thin drank, nothing loth, spluttered a 
 little over the beverage, but expressed undisguised 
 approval. 
 
56 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " It is better than ever ! " he ejaculated. " There 
 is a new flavour in it, too ; a flavour that I did not 
 notice before." 
 
 " What is it hke ? " asked Maung Waik, his mouth 
 brimming with ngapi. 
 
 " Like ? It is like — well, I can't exactly say what 
 it is like. I can hardly describe it. What, more? 
 Very well, I will see if I can give a description after 
 another taste. Hm, well, it is like — it is like — but 
 taste it yourself, sergeant." 
 
 Maung Waik took a delicate, a most attenuated 
 sip, and averred that he could detect nothing new. 
 
 "What, nothing ? " exclaimed Maung Thin. "Taste 
 it, Maung Wa. See if you taste what I said ; a taste 
 of — amele 1 I can't give it a name, but it was excel- 
 lent ; like seinye, and yet not exactly the same. Taste 
 it, Maung Wa, and say what you think." 
 
 Maung Wa looked for consent towards Maung 
 Waik, and finding that it was not withheld, drank 
 generously. 
 
 " Seinyel' he said slowly and judicially, regarding 
 the bottle with his head on one side and a testing 
 smack of his thick lips. " Seinye, and yet, as you say, 
 Ko Thin, it is not altogether like — I must try again. 
 No, no, it is not seinye. There is a foreign flavour 
 about it. It was not thus before, eh, Ko Waik ? " 
 
 " I can taste no difference," said the sergeant 
 curtly ; and the present was no time for the con- 
 stables to contradict him. " If there is a difference," 
 he added, after a few reflective mouthfuls, " it must be 
 something that Tun Win has put in. These trans- 
 portation convicts learn to like strange drinks across 
 the sea." 
 
THE MYO-OK 57 
 
 " Whatever it is, it is good," chuckled Maung Wa. 
 " Drink, sergeant, you will find it to your taste. You 
 have touched none of it so far. What is the matter 
 with you ? " 
 
 Maung Walk did not answer till he had finished 
 a slowly masticated mouthful. Then he took the 
 bottle from Maung Wa, and turned it clumsily, 
 nervously, in his hand. " I don't know what Tun 
 Win can have put in," he muttered at last. " A man 
 like that — a bad character. I think it will be best to 
 throw it away." 
 
 He gave his wrist a quick turn, and what remained 
 of the liquor would have been irrevocably spilt out, 
 had not Maung Wa, quick as lightning, seized the 
 bottle and rescued it from the sergeant's grasp. 
 
 "Stop !" he cried. "Don't waste it. If it is only 
 some drink of Tun Win's, I am not afraid. There's 
 nothing to be frightened of," and, in proof of his 
 intrepidity, he gulped noisily. " Here, Ko Thin, you 
 are not afraid, are you ? " 
 
 "Afraid! not I," hiccuped Maung Thin, applying 
 his lips in his turn, with his bullet head thrown back ; 
 and before the sergeant had time to enter his half- 
 hearted protest, the balance of the toddy had dis- 
 appeared down the constables' capacious throats. 
 
 " I suppose we must go on now," sighed Maung 
 Wa, rising and girding on his belt, when the meal 
 was at length finished and nothing was left in the 
 bottle but an aromatic, nose-tickling odour. " Come, 
 Ko Thin, and help me to put those bullocks in." 
 
 Maung Thin rose in his turn, groaning laboriously 
 in the effort to make his buckle meet 
 
 " Stop ! " said the sergeant. 
 
58 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 The great man had slipped from a squatting to 
 a reclining position in sheer abandonment of reple- 
 tion. His eyes were lost in the green bamboo sprays 
 overhead ; a look of the utmost beatitude illumined 
 his shining brown face. There was a white cheroot 
 in his hand ; a box of matches lay on his chest. 
 There was clearly no intention on his part of moving 
 just yet. It was as though he were glued to the 
 earth by the shoulder-blades. 
 
 " We can go on presently," he said ; and his voice 
 was as dreamy and far away as his eyes. " Rest 
 a little longer here, you two." 
 
 Discipline forbade the neglect of an order so 
 plainly expressed, had either of the constables felt 
 disposed to demur. But they were far from raising 
 any insubordinate objection. The drowsiness be- 
 gotten of a long tramp and a hearty meal held them 
 in its grip. In their eyes nothing could exceed the pro- 
 priety of the sergeant's decision. Rest for a further 
 period was the one thing their weary limbs required. 
 Their knees relaxed simultaneously. Almost before 
 Maung Walk had finished speaking they were on the 
 ground again, reposing in picturesque, unconventional 
 attitudes, and for a while there was silence, while the 
 smoke from three cigars mounted up, incense-like, to 
 the feathery green overhead, and the bullocks rumin- 
 ated on unmolested. 
 
 There was a faint snore. The sergeant's white 
 cheroot had dropped sideways out of his mouth and 
 lay on the ground beside him. The sound appeared 
 to rouse Maung Wa. He looked at his companion. 
 
 "Whose turn is it to watch?" he inquired, and the 
 profound melancholy of his voice showed that there 
 
THE MYO-OK 59 
 
 was very little doubt in his own mind as to whose 
 turn it was. 
 
 Maung Thin, supine, his hands clasped behind 
 his head, declined to waste his breath on a verbal 
 answer, but grinned a luxurious grin at his colleague, 
 and a moment later his trumpetings clove the air, 
 blending harmoniously with the sergeant's. 
 
 Maung Wa dragged himself into a sitting posture, 
 and resigned himself disconsolately to his vigil. 
 There was a vague sense of injustice circling through 
 his brain. It seemed to him as iniquitous that he 
 should not be able to repose with dignity after a 
 meal as it was ridiculous that he should be expected 
 to keep awake to look after treasure in a lonely spot 
 in the forest like this. The times were out of joint 
 when such grotesque precautions had to be taken. 
 They were, when all things were taken into con- 
 sideration, absurd, though where the absurdity pre- 
 cisely came in he could not for the life of him have 
 said at the moment, for he was hopelessly incapable 
 of following up any single train of thought. Every 
 sense was numbed in a post-prandial torpor. His 
 eyelids were leaden. He seemed to have lost all 
 control over them. Within five minutes a sudden 
 shock apprised him of the fact that he had dozed off 
 and fallen sideways over Maung Thin's legs. That 
 Maung Thin should lie on, like a log, heedless of the 
 shock seemed to him as natural as the day. Pulling 
 himself together with a supreme effort, he extricated 
 himself from his colleague's putty-swathed shanks, 
 scrambled to his feet, and took a few turns between 
 the fire and the cart. This roused him for a moment, 
 and after a while he ventured to reseat himself, but 
 
6o THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 realising, almost immediately, on finding his head on 
 his knees, that the attitude was fatal, staggered up 
 like a drunken man, and stood, blinking round him. 
 He must actually have dozed, for a second or two, in 
 this upright position, for it was with a start that he 
 became aware that an eye was fixed on him. The 
 sight braced him up momentarily, for he could have 
 sworn that, when last he had looked at him, the 
 sergeant had been as fast asleep as Maung Thin. 
 
 The eye regarded him unwavering. The sergeant's 
 mouth opened. 
 
 " Are you tired ? " came the breezy question ; and 
 Maung Wa nodded helplessly. 
 
 " I am dead tired," he made answer. 
 
 The sergeant stretched till his khaki sleeves came 
 up to his elbows, and then recovered himself with 
 a jerk. 
 
 " Rest, then," he said, sitting bolt upright for his 
 cap. " Rest ; I will watch for a while, and wake you, 
 if need be, when it is time to go." 
 
 " Rest." Blessed word ! Maung Wa needed no 
 second bidding. Like a bullock at the shambles he 
 dropped to the ground, and the world slipped 
 away from his ken. 
 
 For the matter of a quarter of an hour the sergeant 
 sat still and gazed at the motionless figures beside 
 him. He was wonderfully wide awake, was our 
 sergeant, nay, more, he appeared at times almost 
 agitated, for his fingers jerked and quivered as, after 
 a while, he raised his hand to adjust the strap of his 
 cap under his chin before getting up. There was a 
 cat-like crouch in his shoulders, too, when he was on 
 his feet that had no hint of drowsiness in it. Step- 
 
THE MYO-OK 6i 
 
 ping noiselessly to the further side of the fire, he 
 picked up a heavy Burmese chopper that was lying 
 there and ran his finger-tips along the blade. It 
 seemed to be suited to his purpose, and he nodded 
 with an air of satisfaction as he tiptoed up to the cart. 
 Here he paused, looked back at his recumbent com- 
 panions, then in again under the mat cover of the 
 cart, then back again in the direction of the sleepers. 
 A movement caught his eye. Maung Wa was not yet 
 comfortably settled, it would seem ; he was shifting 
 about a little in his sleep. Yes, it was barely time 
 even yet for the preliminary survey of the situation 
 that would be required before the final coup could be 
 definitely decided upon. After all, he could afford to 
 wait. He laid the da on the ground again and re- 
 sumed his seat near the constables. His heart 
 thumped out the seconds noisily. 
 
 Everything had gone ridiculously smoothly so far. 
 It seemed to him now, as he looked back, as though 
 the situation had actually been thrust upon him. 
 What man of spirit and enterprise was there, he 
 asked himself, who could have fought against the 
 harmless, nay, even laudable, desire to see whether 
 Tun Win's drug actually had the properties it was 
 said to have? Suppose, further, that it did possess 
 these properties (and it really looked suspiciously 
 as if it did), what mortal was there who could 
 resist following the matter up to its legitimate 
 conclusion ? It would be nothing short of immoral 
 to leave things half done. Everything was in train 
 now. One more step, and the long-looked-for — the 
 thing he had never before yearned for as he did now 
 — might actually be within his grasp. And if it 
 
62 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 were, what then ? A short time back this supreme 
 moment had appeared so shadowy and remote that 
 it practically marked the horizon of his outlook ; now 
 that it was there, within arm's reach, its proximity 
 positively startled the sergeant, and he hardly dared 
 gaze at what lay beyond. There could be no harm, 
 however, in looking forward. He had done nothing 
 more than experiment on the constables so far. Possi- 
 bly, probably, the drug would fail to work, and the 
 whole thing would stop there. Suppose, however, for 
 the sake of argument, that the constables slept soundly 
 on ; suppose that the specie boxes were opened ; 
 suppose (for the sake of argument only, remember) 
 that the contents were abstracted. What would be 
 the next step to take? Shut the boxes up and 
 brazen it out, or disappear, leaving his spoil in some 
 safe place to be fetched away on some future fit 
 occasion ? It suddenly came upon Maung Waik as 
 ridiculous, to the verge of laughter, that a man who 
 had thought the matter out as painfully as he had 
 should not have made up his mind on this nice point 
 before. And yet, after all, perhaps it was natural. 
 In matters of so delicate a nature as this it was by 
 no means easy to make up one's mind beforehand as 
 to what one was to do. It would doubtless be easy 
 enough to settle when — or should he say, "if"? — the 
 boxes were opened, but not before. Light and leading 
 would not come till a further stage had been reached. 
 Whether that further stage would ever be reached 
 depended upon whether this wretched drug of Tun 
 Win's was going to act or not. It was barely likely 
 that it would, but if it did, guidance would surely be 
 vouchsafed at the fit time. 
 
THE MYO-OK 63 
 
 He rose, and leaning over the prostrate bodies, 
 touched Maung Thin lightly; the sleeper made no 
 movement. He pressed with his hand again, this 
 time a little harder, but with the same result. He 
 took up a portion of the constable's brawny thigh 
 between his finger and thumb and administered a 
 judicious pinch. Maung Thin grunted and turned 
 restlessly in his sleep, but did not wake. The pinch 
 was repeated, this time more venomously ; the sleeper 
 still slept on. The sergeant was not unaccustomed 
 to thick-skinned slumberers ; it had often been his 
 privilege in the past to arouse sentries found dozing 
 at their posts to a vivid sense of their responsibilities 
 as public servants. In the noble art of recruit- 
 admonishing he was an acknowledged master, and 
 never in the course of his professional career had he 
 met a member of the force who could have ignored 
 an admonition of the quality of the last he had 
 treated Maung Thin to. A man who could, like 
 the constable, sleep through that must indeed be 
 drugged. A further graduated test showed that 
 Maung Wa's epidermis was equally impervious to 
 external pressure. He looked up, almost frightened. 
 Verily there was magic in the draught. 
 
 Of course there was magic in the draught. What 
 could Tun Win have carried this stuff for if it were 
 not to bring about the effect that he had just pro- 
 duced himself in his very natural desire to sift this 
 shady business to the bottom ? It was all very well 
 for the ex-dacoit to prate about Myo-ok's sister's boils 
 and special commissions at Shwedan. What could a 
 dissolute bandit like Tun Win want with a narcotic 
 if he were not going to drug the guard with it and 
 
64 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 abscond with the treasure? As he pondered, the 
 sergeant's bile was stirred at the impudence — the 
 barefaced impudence — of the plan. That Tun 
 Win should have had any hope of success was pre- 
 posterous, and yet there could be no doubt now as to 
 what end the scoundrel had in view when he attached 
 himself to the treasure escort. In any case, he 
 would now have to take the consequences of his vile 
 promptings. Not till that moment had Maung Walk 
 (so he assured himself) crossed the Rubicon. If the 
 drug had failed to act, nothing more would have been 
 said or done ; but it had acted, and all the sergeant 
 could now do was to ask himself how it was possible 
 for him to turn back, now that he had got so far, and 
 call heaven to witness that no one could be held 
 responsible for what was about to happen save the 
 infamous Tun Win himself. It was positively with a 
 feeling of injured innocence that the sergeant stalked, 
 da in fist, up to the cart again. 
 
 He had had no idea that the boxes would be so 
 heavy. They were at an awkward angle, and it 
 required a genuine effort to hoist the first one out. 
 The second one was easier to lift down, but at the 
 critical moment, just as he had shifted it to the edge 
 of the cart and was steadying himself for the last 
 silent heave, there was a movement behind him and 
 a sound, and he leapt back with a start. The box 
 fell to the earth with a resounding thud, and the 
 sergeant whipped round, quivering. There was 
 a movement in the shapeless khaki lumps. Maung 
 Thin was turning and mumbling in his sleep. 
 Maung Walk's fingers sought for and closed round 
 the da handle. He waited, watching. Maung Thin 
 
THE MYO-OK 65 
 
 stirred again, and almost raised himself on one elbow ; 
 the sergeant crept closer, with uplifted chopper. It 
 was a case of in for a penny, in for a pound. No 
 one should see those tell-tale boxes lying below the 
 cart, and live. If anything happened, Tun Win would 
 have to bear the consequences of his indiscretion. 
 Maung Thin moved a third time, but merely to 
 shift into a more comfortable position ; then he lay 
 motionless. He was not going to wake after all. 
 
 The da dropped gradually, and for a few minutes 
 the sergeant stood. Nemesis-like, weapon in hand, 
 glaring at the two figures that lay before him. Not 
 till there had been silence for some time did he move 
 again. At last, when the deep breathing of the 
 constables assured him that there was no further fear 
 of interruption, he moved softly away. 
 
 It would have been difficult to find an instrument 
 better adapted for the opening of specie boxes than 
 a heavy chopper of the kind that Providence had 
 furnished for his use. Maung Walk plied his tool 
 with a will, and a couple of minutes after his spoil 
 had been removed behind the friendly shelter of 
 a clump of bamboos, the iron bands had been 
 whisked off, and the four bags lay exposed to the 
 vulgar gaze. The sergeant regarded them com- 
 placently. The last two minutes had enabled him, 
 as he had expected, to think out some more or less 
 detailed scheme of action. He examined the broken 
 bands again critically, and nodded his head. There 
 was no reason why the boxes should not go on to 
 Shwedan, the rupees remaining on the spot. So 
 much was clear. This settled, there was an anxious 
 casting about for a suitable place of deposit for the 
 
 F 
 
66 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 silver. At the foot of a wood-oil tree, some ten 
 yards distant, there was what seemed to be a con- 
 venient hollow. A little scraping away of the moss 
 and dust, a handful of twigs and earth thrown over 
 the depression when filled, and the business of hiding 
 the money would be completed. That done, all that 
 was required was to fill the bags with something else 
 — earth and stones would do — replace them in the 
 boxes, refasten the bands as best might be, pop the 
 boxes back into the cart — and, for the rest, let Tun 
 Win by all means get the credit for having done 
 what he intended doing when he started out that 
 morning with his medicine bottle. On whom but 
 Tun Win could suspicion fall ? Had ever cart-man so 
 damaging a previous record? Who but he could have 
 drugged the toddy the police had drunk ? Every- 
 thing pointed to Tun Win. He himself, as sergeant 
 of the guard, would not, it was true, be entirely 
 absolved from blame, but in the special circumstances 
 of the case it could only mean censure for him, the 
 loss of a grade, perhaps — nothing more. With his 
 four bagsful safely hidden, he could afford to laugh 
 alike at censure and degradation. 
 
 The bags were swung out of the boxes, the strings 
 cut, the hollow rapidly scooped out, and 
 
 Maung Walk started back as though there had 
 been a scorpion lurking at the bottom of the box. 
 He had picked up one of the bags, grasping it by the 
 lower corners, so as to be able to tilt the precious 
 contents discreetly into the hollow prepared. There 
 was something suspicious in the feel, something that 
 made him drop the bag like a hot potato, and after 
 a palpitating moment of pause to plunge his hand 
 
THE MYO-OK 67 
 
 into and feel among the contents first of the bag he 
 had just let fall, after that of the other three. Then 
 his jaw dropped, and for a space he glared blankly 
 out in front of him. 
 
 The thing that had been puzzling him a minute 
 before had been how to lay hands on something close 
 by to fill the bags with, something that was heavy 
 enough to take the place of the silver after the 
 rupees had been abstracted. And, lo ! here at his 
 feet lay a solution of the problem. If it was dummy 
 bags he wanted made up, he could not do better 
 than take a leaf from the book of the person who 
 had prepared this precious remittance for despatch. 
 Each of the four gunnies bulged to the string, not 
 with chinking silver rupees, but with as grotesque an 
 assortment of rubbish as Maung Walk had ever cast 
 eyes upon. He took out a sample fistful from each 
 and gaped at it. Bullets there were and pebbles in 
 these terrible bags, segments of bottle glass, nails 
 and screws, shreds of kerosene-oil tins, flat disks of 
 lead, two or three diminutive stone images, and 
 amid all a seasoning of copper pice (about five 
 rupees' worth), as though to give a ring of currency 
 to the whole extraordinary mixture. There was 
 absolutely nothing for him to improve upon. 
 
 The sergeant shot the contents of the bags on to 
 the ground with a mechanical jerk, poked and pried 
 through the four little mounds in a kind of trance, and 
 in a kind of trance scraped them together again and 
 shovelled them quickly out of sight into the cavity he 
 had prepared for the expected " treasure trove." He 
 felt he could not put them back into the boxes. All 
 thought of a dummy remittance on his own account 
 
68 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 had vanished with the agitating sight of what the 
 bags actually held. He could for the moment think 
 of no definite plan of action, but one thing stood out 
 clear : that was that nothing could be thought of so 
 long as these hideous, compromising heaps were on 
 the ground clamouring for all men to gaze upon 
 them. Not till they were hidden from view could he 
 draw a free breath or think two connected thoughts. 
 There was no room for the bags as well as their 
 contents in the hole, so while he scraped the mould 
 back over his hiding-place, he cast his eyes around 
 the glade, for needs must that the bags too should 
 vanish. There was a convenient cleft in the wood-oil 
 tree itself, into which they disappeared noiselessly. 
 Then the sergeant stood still to think. 
 
 Should he hide the boxes too ? No. After a 
 minute's reflection he thought it best on the whole 
 not to do so. The burying of their contents had 
 given him time to reflect. He had begun to reason 
 a little now. His whole scheme would require re- 
 casting. He was sickened of dummy bags. He 
 must go one better. Something more crude and 
 palpable was wanted. It was no easy task for this 
 immaculate being to picture to himself the workings 
 of the brain criminal, but he saw clearly that it 
 behoved him to try and place himself in the position 
 of a common malefactor (say like Tun Win) and 
 consider what such a one would do with his booty 
 had he just robbed a treasure cart, for a robbery 
 there must surely be. Would Tun Win, now, or 
 such as he, have taken the boxes away? No, as- 
 suredly not. They must, for the illusion to be 
 complete, remain exactly as they lay, in picturesque 
 
THE MYO-OK 69 
 
 confusion, exhibiting perhaps a thought more con- 
 spicuously than "they at present did the signs of a 
 hurried disgorging of their contents. A touch or 
 two of additional disorder could easily be imparted. 
 The da now ? That must return to the cart, unless 
 of course it should happen to be Tun Win's. The 
 sergeant picked it up and examined it critically. He 
 could not be sure whose it was. It might be Tun 
 Win's, it might be U Kala's, it might be anybody's. 
 In any case, it was no use risking it. It would have 
 to leave the scene of the crime and go back to where 
 it came from. And after that, what next ? The 
 signs of the robbery were there patent to all ; but he 
 had still to settle how the money was to have been 
 taken. How was the abominable outrage to have 
 been committed? With violence, or with guile, or 
 how? The sergeant's choice was absolutely unre- 
 stricted. There was a feeling almost of luxury in the 
 thought that he was at liberty to give reins to his not 
 unfertile imagination in selecting details. Violence it 
 certainly must be. It would never do to have to con- 
 fess to having been outwitted by a cooly like Tun Win, 
 to having snored an accompaniment to the Rogue's 
 March that had been stolen upon him. No, it would 
 never do, even when the admission was helped out 
 with a tale of toddy iniquitously doctored. It was 
 brute force to which the party, or one member of it, at 
 any rate, must have succumbed. Maung Waik began 
 conjuring up in his mind the sudden swoop of his 
 dacoit band. Half a score of dusky fiends, jungle- 
 stained, with lime-smeared faces, had swarmed round 
 the cart, and in a moment he was carried away by 
 the vividness of the creature of his brain. A brawny 
 
70 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 ruffian had seized one of the boxes, was dashing 
 with it into the brushwood. Like an arrow from a 
 bow he was after him, da in hand, emerging unscathed 
 from a hand-to-hand conflict with five of his assailants, 
 all now prone on mother earth behind him. In a 
 moment he had grappled with the marauder, a verit- 
 able giant in stature. To snatch the box from him 
 and hurl it to the ground was the work of the first 
 brief visionary flash ; to send the dacoit flying on to 
 the greensward that of the second. He had the 
 villain powerless in his grasp ; his thumbs were 
 meeting behind the sinewy windpipe. A moment 
 later, and the box would have been valiantly rescued, 
 had it not been for a sudden, ruthless 
 
 Humph ! Yes, that was the awkward part of it. 
 Circumstances would not allow of the box being 
 saved. Moreover, for the dacoits to have not only 
 repulsed the escort, but also got away safely with the 
 treasure, some bodily injury must have been inflicted 
 on the police, and none knew better than the sergeant 
 that some tangible evidence of the injury would be 
 required by exacting gossips not less than by official 
 superiors. The mark merely of a slight blow on the 
 person of one or other of the escort would not suffice 
 to still censorious tongues. The repulse would have 
 to be a serious one, and it would be absurd to suppose 
 that the public would not demand at least one out- 
 ward and visible sign to show that the resistance 
 offered to the robbers had been stubborn and genuine. 
 
 He pulled off" his cap and ruefully applied the edge 
 of the da to the thick black stubble that clothed his 
 scalp to see for himself with how slight an effort he 
 could create a scar to mark the precise spot where 
 
THE MYO-OK 71 
 
 the last stunning blow had fallen. But to inflict a 
 wound deep enough to penetrate his precious cuticle 
 was beyond our gallant sergeant. He pressed several 
 times downwards, but in vain, and eventually desisted. 
 Some less painful substitute would have to be thought 
 of. Besides, he reflected, with weapon still poised, 
 how was he to be sure of carrying Maung Wa and 
 Maung Thin with him ? Would they be ready to 
 bear him out in his story, and admit that they them- 
 selves had slept through the affair while he coped 
 with the robbers single-handed ? It seemed exceed- 
 ingly doubtful. Besides, it might be hardly fair upon 
 them, poor devils ! No, it was a pity to have to give 
 up the attack with all its picturesque accompaniments; 
 but till further details could be elaborated it must ab- 
 solutely be a case not of violence, but of guile. That 
 would at any rate be what, in the first instance, his 
 companions would have to imagine. Later on perhaps 
 he might secure a corpus vile to operate on with his 
 da, and in collaboration with his colleagues sketch 
 out a little drama, in which not one, but three mem- 
 bers of the force would be found to have striven 
 devotedly, but to no purpose, against overwhelming 
 odds. For the present, however, it was his duty to 
 make as much as possible of the drugged toddy. For 
 the rest, things would have to be left to shape them- 
 selves as best they might ; and as the sergeant turned 
 the whole matter over in his mind, and remembered 
 who it was that had despatched the rubbish - filled 
 bags from Myothit, it began to dawn upon him that, 
 unless he was very much mistaken, there was a certain 
 official at the township headquarters who would pro- 
 bably have to see that the course things took was one 
 
72 THE MYO-OK 
 
 that did not run counter to the interests of the 
 treasure escort. 
 
 This last thought comforted Maung Waik not a 
 Httle, as, with a final look round, he stole softly back 
 to the cart. Someone at Myothit, he felt sure, must 
 know all about the dummy bags in the specie boxes. 
 He could hardly believe it was the Myo-ok ; and yet, 
 so puzzling was the whole business, with its dacoit 
 intriguers and its mysterious sleeping draughts, that 
 it seemed impossible for anyone to say at first sight 
 who was and who was not mixed up in it. However, 
 it would go hard with him if he could not eventually 
 ascertain who it was that was responsible for the con- 
 tents of the boxes and see that that person too bore 
 his share of the consequences, whatever they might 
 be. He flung the da where he had found it, lay down, 
 and feigned to sleep beside his still slumbering 
 companions, and before long he was actually dozing ; 
 but through his dreams there ran ever a strain of 
 wondering speculation as to who was the joint owner 
 of the secret he had just discovered, and whether 
 that individual's shoulders were broad enough to 
 shelter a deserving but sorely tried sergeant of police 
 from the results of a little harmless curiosity. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 FURTHER along the Shwedan-Myothit road the 
 cart that had evoked such flattering comment 
 from the treasure escort had halted, with its attractive 
 freight, china lamps, swinging looking-glass and all, 
 in a shady hollow just off the beaten track. The 
 cart-man had unyoked the bullocks and was doling 
 out fodder to them with an impartial hand. A bright- 
 eyed Burman servant, who had been riding in the 
 cart, had already got together a fire of sticks, at 
 which he was puffing with his head well between 
 his ankles ; and he of the Shan trousers and striped 
 stockings sat on a stone, revelling in the cool air 
 of the forest. He had unloosed the scarf that 
 fastened his ungainly, flapping headgear, and, as 
 he laid the latter on his knee, disclosed a dark, weak, 
 angular face, thin slits of eyes under bony brows, 
 a jaw so heavy that it seemed as though it were it 
 that had dragged the chin away from under the long, 
 thin-lipped mouth. He sat patting and smoothing 
 his glossy topknot, and as he did so he allowed his 
 glance to rove from object to object in his neighbour- 
 hood. There was an air of placid proprietorship in 
 that glance, as who should say, " Be so good as to 
 observe the artistic finish of the township to which 
 I have been posted. Pray, look at the contour of 
 
 73 
 
74 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 that leppan tree. Admit, please, that it is not quite 
 the same as the leppans we passed on the other side 
 of the township border-line half an hour ago. Has 
 ever so elegant a clump of bamboos as that one out 
 yonder attracted your attention? Had they, I ask 
 you, bamboos like that in Shwedan?" It was 
 wonderful how everything in Maung Pyu's new charge 
 was invested, in his eyes, with a special, radiant 
 interest. The Myo-ok could have sworn that never 
 pjhad leppans and bamboos looked quite like the lep- 
 pans and bamboos around him. Even the telegraph 
 posts were not the telegraph posts of a few miles 
 back. One rose out of the brushwood hard by where 
 he was sitting ; it was scarcely a thing of beauty, but 
 Maung Pyu could not remember ever having seen 
 one that more fully realised his ideal of what a good 
 telegraph post ought to be. His glance wandered 
 from it to its neighbour further along the road, and he 
 thought of the message the pair had recently helped 
 to carry to his new headquarters. It was hard to 
 conceive, after nearly twelve toilsome hours of journey- 
 ing from post to post along the dusty road, that the 
 news of Maung Gyi's transfer had flitted across in 
 the time it took his eye to travel along a single span, 
 and was now, no doubt, ancient history in Myothit. 
 He tried to calculate when the message had actually 
 reached Maung Gyi, and in what spirit it had been 
 received. In none of the best, he imagined. Nobody 
 relished being moved from Myothit, he knew. It had 
 the reputation of being one of the most favoured 
 townships in Upper Burma. Communications were 
 good, the water was unimpeachable, food was excel- 
 lent and cheap — ridiculously cheap, he had heard. 
 
THE MYO-OK 75 
 
 " U Gyaw," he said, turning to the cart-man, " U 
 Gyaw, what is the rate of paddy at Myothit ? " 
 
 U Gyaw, a blunt, pock-marked wight of middle 
 age, paused to empty his mouth of a wad of betel 
 before replying. His answer, " Forty-six a hundred," . 
 elicited an ejaculatory grunt from Ngwe Zin as he 
 crouched by the fire. 
 
 " Forty-six ! " exclaimed Maung Pyu ; " and the 
 month of Natdaw not yet in. Wonderful ! And 
 fish, I hear, is five annas a viss." ■'' ^ 1 ''•' ) 
 
 " At times no more than three." 
 
 " My mother ! Three ! And paddy at forty-six ; 
 and lower than that after the harvest, I make no 
 doubt. A good place to come to, Myothit. Where 
 do they grow their paddy, U Gyaw ? " 
 
 " Between Shwepaukbin and the river, for the most 
 part. We shall come to the land soon after we 
 have left Shwepaukbin ; to the east and west it 
 stretches from the road. As many fields as there 
 are stars in the sky ; and fertile ! To every field, 
 however small, as many baskets, so the saying goes, 
 as there are pagodas on the hills around." 
 
 " Pagodas ! Are there many pagodas hard by, 
 then ? " 
 
 "Well over a hundred, all told, they say, with 
 treasure hidden round them more than any living 
 man can count. You have heard tell, perhaps, your 
 Honour, of the fifty men who perished once in one 
 of the caves." 
 
 " Not I. Fifty men ! When was that ? " 
 
 " It is long ago now. In Shwebo Min's reign, they 
 tell me. It was thus. In a cave under one of the 
 pagodas was a countless store of gold and jewels ; 
 
76 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 betel boxes and cups ; necklaces, anklets, and ear- 
 tubes ; pigeon-blood rubies, diamonds, spinels, and 
 emeralds as large as marian fruit. None knew of 
 the hoard for many a long year, save one pongxL 
 who practised his austerities in the cave where the 
 treasure lay hid ; and he, being freed from all love of 
 gain, lusted not for it, for he was purged of all earthly^ 
 desires. But in the end he fell sick and, dying, was 
 absorbed into the Divine Essence." 
 
 He stopped to insert a fresh chew of betel in his 
 cheek, and the Myo-ok clucked reverently. 
 
 " Him, then, the villagers sought," continued 
 U Gyaw, "in order to embalm and burn the body, 
 for his Lents were many, and his piety far-famed ; 
 and in the cave they saw the gold and jewels glitter- 
 ing, and, great greed seizing hold upon them, they 
 took counsel together how they might come by 
 all this wealth. They feared the Oktazaungs that 
 guarded the treasure, so after the funeral ceremonies 
 had been performed a hundred of them banded 
 together, and, fifty watching outside, fifty went into 
 the cave, roped in a line with a strong rope, for they 
 said to the watchers outside, ' If the Oktazaungs 
 seize us, do you pull us back.' So they, waiting, 
 stood at the entrance, holding the rope like those 
 stand who pull for rain to come ; but never any 
 sound came from within, and in the end they hauled 
 back the rope and the rope alone, and the cave closed 
 up with noise like thunder. I have been pointed out 
 the scar on the hillside, but there is little to see now, 
 for another pagoda was thereafter built near the spot 
 over the ashes of the holy man who had so long 
 withstood temptation." 
 
THE MYO-OK -j^ 
 
 " And he had known of the treasure all the time ? " 
 
 " Ay, surely, for all his sixty Lents." 
 
 " And had never once desired to take the trea- 
 sure ? " 
 
 " Never once." 
 
 " Amele ! " exclaimed Ngwe Zin from over the 
 rice-pot. " It must have been a long time ago, then ; 
 there are no such pongyis nowadays." 
 
 " Was it to that pagoda," asked the Myo-ok after a 
 pause, "that the Government sent an engineer to 
 search for hidden gold ? " 
 
 " No, not that one, but another one hard by. Yes, 
 he was specially sent, they say, and spent three 
 months there digging." 
 
 " But found nothing." 
 
 " Not a pice. How could he ? The treasure was 
 there, sure enough, but they say that the Oktazaungs 
 moved it from place to place as the ojoj^dug. All 
 that they found was a loom carved in stone ; so, at 
 any rate, the rumour goes. I was at the place for a 
 while digging for a Kala contractor (no Burman 
 would take the job), and saw no loom, nor anything 
 found save some small images ; but there are those 
 who say they have held the loom in their hands, or 
 have spoken to such as have. Saya Tu, of Payalesu, 
 was one of them. He it was who gave me this." 
 
 And from an inner pocket of his soiled jacket 
 U Gyaw drew forth a twist of cloth, which unrolling, 
 he held up before the Myo-ok a small joint of 
 bamboo some three inches long. 
 
 " What is it ? " asked Maung Pyu, and reached 
 out carelessly from where he sat. U Gyaw did not 
 trouble to unbend his knees, but shuffled along on 
 
 ;<- 
 
78 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 his heels in a sitting posture to where the Myo-ok 
 sat, and placed the object in his outstretched hand. 
 
 There was a stopper of paper tightly rolled at one 
 end of the tube. Maung Pyu drew it out, sniffed, 
 and poured some of the contents of the bamboo (a 
 blackish powder) out on to his palm. 
 
 " What do you call it ? " he asked, while Ngwe Zin 
 left his cooking for a moment and squatted at his 
 superior's elbow intent. " Is it gunpowder ? " 
 
 "What it is I can't say. I don't think Saya Tu 
 knew himself what it is called or what it is made 
 of, but he said that if the Government had a pinch 
 of it at the Shwezigon there would have been no 
 talk of a stone loom, but of a thousand pots of gold." 
 
 "Amel^!" ejaculated Ngwe Zin, taking the tube 
 from the Myo-ok and peering inquisitively into its 
 depths. " How is it that you are driving carts still, 
 U Gyaw, with a thing like this in your possession ? " 
 
 " Give it to me again," commanded the Myo-ok. 
 " Ah, so this enables one to find treasure, eh ? " he 
 continued, with a short, incredulous laugh, rubbing 
 with his finger some of the grains that adhered 
 to the paper stopper. " Have you ever tried it, 
 U Gyaw?" 
 
 " Not I." 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 U Gyaw giggled feebly and repossessed himself 
 of the tube, which he replaced with much circum- 
 spection in his pocket. " I didn't care to," he went 
 on, when his property had been securely stuffed 
 away. " I am no Saya ; I didn't know what might 
 happen." 
 
 The Myo-ok gave a superior snort and relapsed 
 
THE MYO-OK 79 
 
 again into silence, but his thoughts were given voice 
 to by Ngwe Zin, who called from the fire, as he 
 turned the contents of the rice-pot steaming into a 
 blue earthenware bowl — 
 
 " What do you do with it, U Gyaw ? How does 
 it help you to find treasure ? " 
 
 " How can I say ? I only know what Saya Tu 
 told me," U Gyaw made deliberate answer. "You 
 must take a fowl, a cock ; if possible, a young cock, 
 and rub his right eye with the powder. Then, 
 having tossed him up into the air, watch where he 
 settles and what he does. Follow him from place 
 to place, and at the spot where he first stops to 
 scratch, dig, and there, if what Saya Tu says be true, 
 you will find riches." 
 
 "How much?" 
 
 " He did not tell me, but the amount must be 
 enormous." 
 
 "But suppose the Oktazaungs move the treasure." 
 
 " Then, of course, it will not be found. Ah, but 
 the Oktazaungs won't move it." 
 
 " How do you know ? " asked the Myo-ok. But 
 before U Gyaw could answer the Myo-ok's servant 
 had chimed in with — 
 
 " Of the two fowls we brought from Shwedan, 
 Myo-ok Min, it is only the hen that has been eaten. 
 As for the cock, it is certainly a young one, for " 
 
 " Silence ! " exclaimed his master. " Have you so 
 little work, Ngwe Zin, that you can afford to sit and 
 chatter nonsense ? Bring the rice." 
 
 And he addressed himself to the repast that 
 Ngwe Zin placed before him with the mien of 
 one who was above pandering to the puerile super- 
 
8o THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 stitions of the vulgar. However, his rice eaten, and 
 his men satisfied, he looked on without audible 
 comment, with even a languid display of interest, 
 while Ngwe Zin, with business in his eye, hauled 
 slowly in, hand over hand, a loudly protesting young 
 bantam that had been pecking near the cart, tethered 
 to a string. 
 
 U Gyaw watched the tactics with a shamefaced 
 smile and a sidelong smirk at the great man, and 
 by the time the cock had been secured, kicking, 
 under Ngwe Zin's left arm, he had put down his 
 cheroot and was fumbling in an evasive pocket. 
 
 " Shall we try, Myo-ok Min ? " he inquired, holding 
 the tube aloft ; while Ngwe Zin chuckled gleefully 
 at each fresh outburst on the part of his unwilling 
 captive. 
 
 " Please yourselves," grunted Maung Pyu, settling 
 himself on his elbow, so as to get a detached, but 
 unimpeded view of the proceedings. " Only see that 
 the animal does not escape entirely." 
 
 " La, la, come then ; are you going to disobey his 
 Honour's orders, beast?" cried Ngwe Zin, apostro- 
 phising his prisoner ; and bird in position, he shifted 
 up alongside the cart-driver. U Gyaw moistened a 
 brown forefinger in his mouth and, taking up daintily 
 on its tip a few grains of the powder, leant over 
 towards his victim. Straight there arose a fresh 
 cackling wail, and amid the laughter of its tormen- 
 tors the frenzied fowl burst flapping away, and 
 sailed, with string afloat, into the jungle. 
 
 " Watch where it settles ! " shouted Ngwe Zin 
 hysterically. " Watch where it settles ! We mustn't 
 lose sight of it for a moment. See, there it is ! Yes, 
 
THE MYO-OK 8i 
 
 1 can see it out by the bamboos yonder. It is 
 shaking itself. You gave it a dose then that it won't 
 forget in a hurry, U Gyaw. It was a good eyeful 
 it got. There, it has shaken itself again. It has 
 gone on. No, it is there still. Did it stop to peck 
 then ? I think it did, just by that stone. Watch 
 it ! watch it, U Gyaw ! I can't see it properly from 
 where I am. It has gone on further. There, it did 
 peck then, and scratch too ! I am certain it did ! 
 Amele ! the beast is going right into the jungle." 
 
 " Go and fetch it back, fool 1 " exclaimed the 
 Myo-ok, roused to a practical view of the situation 
 by the prospect of the loss of four annas. " It will 
 be impossible to get it back if you don't catch it 
 soon." 
 
 " It won't fly far," cried Ngwe Zin, girding up his 
 loins for the chase. " It can go no distance in the 
 jungle with that string tied round its leg." 
 
 But here he was mistaken. On his approach, 
 crackling through the dried bamboo leaves, the 
 hapless fowl, anticipating the worst, beat an agitated 
 retreat into the depths of the jungle, and presently 
 a distant cry of " U Gyaw ! U Gyaw ! " told that 
 Ngwe Zin had found himself unable to effect the 
 capture single-handed. U Gyaw sprang up at the 
 summons with a grunt of resignation, and joined 
 in the pursuit. The voices of the hunters and the 
 hunted died away in the forest. 
 
 Silence reigned awhile. Then Maung Pyu rose 
 lazily, stifling a yawn behind his big Shan hat. 
 Stooping, he picked up from the ground near the 
 fire U Gyaw's precious bamboo tube, that its owner 
 in the stress of events had inadvertently left behind 
 
82 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 him. He turned it over in his hand, and laughed 
 as he remembered the terror-stricken shriek the 
 rooster had given as it headed for the jungle. There 
 were funny little cabalistic signs on the bamboo joint, 
 and Maung Pyu wondered what they signified. It 
 was really too absurd, this superstition of U Gyaw's. 
 He himself was not going to lower himself in the 
 eyes of these provincials by displaying any interest 
 in the matter, but now that he was alone he felt 
 inclined, just for the fun of the thing, to go and look 
 where the silly cackling beast had stopped to shake 
 itself and scratch — for it had undoubtedly scratched, 
 he had seen it do so — just beyond the nearest clump 
 of bamboos as it was mounting a slope. Here, in 
 point of fact, was the very spot, and what, amid the 
 slim, dry, fallen leaves, looked like the mark of a 
 scratch, of another scratch, of a very regiment of 
 scratches, right and left. The wretched animal would 
 seem to have knocked aside a tuft of fern in its effort 
 to scramble up a shelving stretch of bank. The 
 stems hung ragged and awry, and a black aperture 
 gaped behind them in the slope between two stones. 
 Maung Pyu had to step over the fern to mount to the 
 top of the bank. He halted before it, stooped, and 
 with a low, shamefaced laugh thrust his hand into the 
 cleft ; and on a sudden the laugh died away into 
 a hoarse gurgle, and he stood stiffened, as one stiffens 
 himself who has been roughly roused by a blow. 
 Then gradually his muscles relaxed. His little 
 eyes scanned the jungle around him ; he strained 
 his ears to try and catch the sound of his com- 
 panions' voices. They were faint in the leafy 
 distance. Swiftly he fell on his knees, wrenched 
 
THE MYO-OK 83 
 
 the fern awa}-, and groped where it had stood and 
 behind it ; and as he burrowed certain words of 
 U Gyaw's rang again in his ears : " Ah, but the 
 Oktazaungs won't move it." 
 
 In the present instance they certainly had not. 
 How it had been suffered he could not say. Perhaps 
 he had been too quick for them ; perhaps the black 
 powder had possessed its vaunted efficacy, and their 
 vigilance had been of no avail. Whatever the cause, 
 whosever the fault, the Oktazaungs had this once, 
 at any rate, failed in their duty. 
 
 There were four gunny-cloth bags, foul with the 
 grime of their hiding-place — four bags, full of 
 generously chinking something, and Maung Pyu, 
 casting over them the eye of an expert when they 
 were out amid the fallen bamboo leaves, put their 
 contents down mentally at a thousand each, provided, 
 of course, that the " something " proved to be rupees. 
 It did — at least it did in the case of the only two 
 bags that his quivering fingers allowed him to open. 
 There was no time to investigate deeper. A clear 
 shout from the depths of the jungle arrested his 
 hand as he was pulling at the string that bound the 
 neck of the third bag. U Gyaw and Ngwe Zin were 
 calling to him, he supposed, to direct them by the 
 sound of his voice back to the cart. They seemed 
 to have lost their bearings. He held his speech, 
 dumb in the clutch of a sudden, half-formed resolve. 
 
 Was there time to do it before they got back ? If 
 it could be done in one swift dash, there was. The 
 question was whether he could carry the four all at 
 once. He must try. The determination sent the 
 arrested blood coursing again through his veins. He 
 
84 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 stooped, slung a bag quickly under each armpit, 
 grasped the third and fourth in each hand, and 
 shuffled guiltily towards the place of halt. The 
 voices drew nearer and ever nearer behind him ; 
 the tones waxed impatient, but never a reply 
 came from the Myo-ok, panting under his silver 
 burden. By the time the cart had been reached 
 U Gyaw's petulant bellow seemed a bare fifty yards 
 away, the crackling of the bamboos beneath the 
 nearing feet was clearly audible. It was quickly now, 
 or not at all. 
 
 Quickly did it. When the fowl-catchers reappeared 
 on the scene, breathless but triumphant, with their ' 
 captive, the four bags were reposing under a portly 
 mattress in the cart, and the Myo-ok was discovered 
 in a picturesque attitude by the fire, his head propped 
 on his hand. 
 
 " We have got the fowl," shouted Ngwe Zin, hold- 
 ing out the bedraggled biped for inspection. " He has 
 been caught safe enough now, but a pretty dance he 
 has led us. Did not your Honour hear us calling? 
 We shouted ourselves nearly hoarse, and till that last 
 cry you gave, we could hear nothing from you. I 
 thought we were never going to get back to the cart." 
 
 " How should I hear anything ? " came the answer. 
 " I have been sitting by the fire here. It's just as 
 well you got that fowl again, Ngwe Zin ; I could ill 
 have spared it. Come, now ; it is time to push on to 
 Myothit. Put the cock back, and, whatever you do, 
 see that the things in the cart are moved about as 
 little as possible. I don't want to have my lamps 
 broken." 
 
 " Did you look where the cock scratched, Myo-ok 
 
THE MYO-OK 85 
 
 Min?" asked U Gyaw, thumping the off bullock on 
 the flank to make him bow under the yoke. 
 
 " Look ! what folly ! of course not." 
 
 " Well, it is just as well. It would have been no 
 use if you had, for we found that it was on the cock's 
 left eye that the stuff had been rubbed, not on its 
 right ; so the spell cannot possibly have worked. 
 You remember, Saya Tu told me it must be the right 
 eye. However, we have had our fun. He, Nwa ! Do 
 you think you are going to rest all day? Get on, lazy 
 ox-thing. 0-o-o-oh ! " 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 IT was high noon ere the straight, white road and 
 the paddy plain gave place to clustered pagoda 
 spires, and the thatched roofs of Myothit received the 
 travellers into their midst. The arrival of the new 
 Myo-ok was expected. A band of residents, seated 
 in what shade the town gate afforded, welcomed him 
 on the threshold of his new charge, and escorted cart 
 and rider to the zayajt^ which Maung Pyu was to 
 occupy until such time as Maung Gyi had vacated 
 his house and it had been prepared for the new- 
 comers. Here were congregated white-filleted elders 
 who had come to see the new township officer. 
 Maung Gyi himself was not present to welcome his 
 successor on his arrival. He rode up on his pony a 
 few minutes later, heavy-eyed and distraught, protest- 
 ing that a sudden press of work had prevented his 
 carrying out his intention of riding to meet his 
 colleague at Shwepaukbin. He remained a short 
 time only at the zayat, for, as he explained, there was 
 much still to be done in the shape of finishing 
 touches, before everything could be ready for his 
 successor, and, ere long, he had mounted and was 
 jogging towards his office again to do what was still 
 needful. The other officials lingered on awhile, 
 grouped in a respectful semicircle round the new 
 arrival, but as the afternoon wore on they drifted 
 away by twos and threes, and the Myo-ok, with his 
 
 86 
 
THE MYO-OK 87 
 
 servant and one or two officious attendants, were left 
 in sole possession of the zayat. 
 
 It was one of these over-zealous hangers-on from 
 Myothit who was first seized with the brilliant idea 
 of finishing the unpacking of the cart. Some, the 
 more fragile, of its contents had already been taken 
 out, and now stood ranged on the zayat floor ; 
 but when the lower strata of goods and chattels 
 had been reached, Maung Pyu had suddenly put 
 a stop to the unloading, and for some time after 
 the arrival of the party in Myothit the vehicle had 
 stood, untouched, beneath a tamarind tree hard 
 by, a source of constant apprehension to the new 
 Myo-ok, whose agitated brain had thrilled with con- 
 stant pictures of the disclosure to the assembled 
 company of what lurked below that bottom mattress, 
 for the presence of which he had not as yet been able 
 to devise a satisfactory explanation. Our busybody, 
 who had long been squatting idle, with fingers itching 
 to explore, now took it upon him to assume that, as 
 there was now no reason for standing on ceremony, 
 the remaining articles might be removed into the 
 zayat, and Maung Pyu, who was issuing instructions 
 to Ngwe Zin at the back of the building, was startled 
 by a quavering bawl of "Where shall I put the 
 money?" and, raising his eyes, stood aghast at the 
 sight of a thin, bow-legged old man, standing in the 
 full glare of the afternoon sun, with one of the com- 
 promising bags in each palsied hand. 
 
 " Money ! Where did you get that from ? It is 
 not ours," cried Ngwe Zin, moving curiously forward. 
 But he was cut short by an angry ejaculation from 
 his master. 
 
88 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " Idiot ! How do you know what is ours and what 
 is not ? The money is Government money that was 
 given me to bring. Fetch it in, old man." 
 
 The situation had been sprung upon him, unpre- 
 pared, and he had to blurt out some kind of explana- 
 tion with what modicum of ready wit had been 
 vouchsafed him. Fear and anger struggled for the 
 upper hand in his mind. If only that interfering old 
 pantaloon had waited a few minutes longer, no great 
 harm would have been done, for at the moment he 
 had burst in upon them with his high-pitched 
 question, the Myo-ok had been on the point of 
 arranging to get rid of Ngwe Zin on an errand to the 
 bazaar ; which done, it would have been compara- 
 tively easy to clear the coast, and whip the bags 
 across into one of the teak boxes he had brought 
 with him. Now all his plans were out of gear. To 
 readjust everything would mean, he could see, an 
 infinity of worry and prevarication. 
 
 " Fetch it in, old man ! " he shouted again im- 
 patiently, as the bearer of the bags halted below the 
 zayat, irresolute. " Go and fetch the other two bags, 
 Ngwe Zin ; there are two more in the cart. Govern- 
 ment money? Of course it is Government money. 
 Look at the bags. Did you ever see private money 
 in bags like that? Why should I have told you 
 about it, eh ? Fetch the other two in, and don't try 
 and make out that you know more about my affairs 
 than I do myself." 
 
 Ngwe Zin gazed open-mouthed at the two bags as 
 they were deposited alongside the swinging looking- 
 glass on the zayat floor, and at the two more that an 
 incredulous glance into the cart disclosed, nestling 
 
THE MYO-OK 89 
 
 beneath the mattress. " I never noticed them before," 
 he murmured, as he placed the four in a row on the 
 mat on to which the Myo-ok had, in high dudgeon, 
 flung himself. 
 
 " I daresay not," came the snappish rejoinder. 
 " Nobody expects you to know everything. Put them 
 further back, where they can't be seen from the road 
 by everybody. You don't want me to be dacoited, 
 do you ? " And Ngwe Zin, still in a state of semi- 
 sceptical bewilderment, put them further back. 
 
 In the cool of the evening the new Myo-ok re- 
 paired to his colleague's house to partake, with him, 
 of the evening meal. Ngwe Zin had suggested 
 accompanying him, but his suggestion was firmly 
 suppressed, and it was pointed out to him, with some 
 wealth of language (for the great man was still 
 distinctly put out), that he was required to stop in the 
 zayat and look after the property, notably, of course, 
 the four Government bags. Before proceeding to 
 Maung Gyi's house, however, the township officer 
 paced slowly down to the river, followed at a respect- 
 ful distance by a faded, nondescript youth in a gaudy 
 cotton waistcloth, who had attached himself to the 
 new Myo-ok from the moment of his first arrival, in 
 the vague hope of securing some one of the subordinate 
 posts that might possibly be going begging under the 
 new regime, and who squatted on his heels on the 
 verge of the steep, shelving bank, while Maung Pyu 
 stood, reflective, looking down upon the close-packed 
 ranks of the river craft that lined the shore. The 
 water was by no means at its lowest now, but even 
 during the drought of March and April, when the 
 stream rolled through interminable stretches of sand- 
 
90 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 bank, there was always a deep channel right up to 
 Myothit, and from the path above, where the Myo-ok 
 stood, the veriest weakling could have flicked a pebble 
 on to the thatched roofs of the boats huddled along 
 below, in places two and three abreast. Boats of 
 every kind : heavy peins, high-sterned, red-brown 
 teak galleys — aloft, aft, over the huge rudder-oar, a 
 perch, fantastically carved, where, under a bamboo 
 shelter, was the steersman's appointed seat ; lond- 
 wis, smaller, slenderer, blunt-nosed craft, with low 
 semicircular palm-leaf roofs like waggon-tilts ; dug- 
 outs of divers makes ; bamboo rafts, on which thatched 
 huts stood like excrescences ; — the whole medley 
 wedged, the one against the other, with here and there 
 a connecting plank, so that he who would might walk 
 dry-shod from end to end of the floating village. 
 From one and all the blue smoke of cooking arose. 
 Here and there could be seen a woman bent over the 
 rice-pot in the inner depths. Children scrambled 
 about the narrow bamboo platforms that ran the 
 length of each larger boat, outside ; garments dangled, 
 airing on convenient lines; cocks and hens promen- 
 aded on the roof ridges unconcerned. There was a 
 wealth of domesticity spread out before the eye. 
 Here was the deliberate trudging of a trio of cooly 
 women between the bank and a boat, a leisurely load- 
 ing of lime, snow-white and powdery, into a diminu- 
 tive hold ; but, for the rest, the fleet might have been 
 one of pleasure-seekers ; there was never a vestige or 
 hint of the trade or business that had brought it there 
 under the high bank at Myothit, and would, in fulness 
 of time, carry it thence again. The sound of a plain- 
 tive pipe rose up from a hulk in the middle distance. 
 
THE MYO-OK 91 
 
 The minstrel was just visible, lightly clad, prone on 
 his back, his eyes fixed on the evening star, his 
 fingers twiddling dreamingly. Just below where 
 Maung Pyu stood and gazed there was a group of 
 men, intent on a game of cards. A girl moved to 
 and fro in the waist of the vessel, her head and 
 shoulders appearing and reappearing at an aperture, 
 and from time to time she lent out to watch the 
 players. The new Myo-ok moved slowly along the 
 river bank, pausing every now and then to gaze at 
 this or the other object below him until he came to 
 the court-house, his court-house that was to be. 
 Here the path curved inland, and he followed it 
 mechanically till he was opposite the red-roofed 
 pile. Closed doors and deserted compound told 
 him here that Maung Gyi had already left oiifice, 
 so after a curioUiS inspection of the outside of 
 the court building from the gate of the enclosure, 
 he too bent his steps in the direction of his 
 colleague's private residence. As he neared the 
 police-station, he was aware of a portly form, the 
 outlines of which were unmistakable, descending the 
 steps laboriously. After it poured a stream of more 
 agile followers, among whom Maung Pyu thought he 
 caught a glimpse of a familiar figure, but the cortege 
 had already begun drifting away before the corner by 
 the station had been turned, and by the time he had 
 come up with Maung Gyi, the latter had but one 
 attendant, the stalwart Shwe Yon, and, in the hurry- 
 ing press of his own thoughts, Maung Pyu had for- 
 gotten to ask his colleague which of his following it 
 had been who was wearing a green head-cloth and a 
 yellow waist-cloth of precisely the shade affected by 
 that dandy Ngwe Zin. 
 
92 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 There was something in the mien of the folk con- 
 gregated about Maung Gyi's house that arrested 
 the attention of the two magnates as they turned into 
 the compound. Their arrival was the signal for a 
 rising and a scattering left and right away from a 
 rough-looking villager who sat in front of one of 
 the smaller houses in the courtyard, and whom 
 Maung Gyi approached with quickened pulse, for 
 he had already caught a stray ejaculation or two 
 from the road, and knew that he was about to be 
 apprised of the result of Tun Win's coup. 
 
 He called to the stranger, and sank heavily into 
 his accustomed seat at the foot of the steps. The 
 news, whatever it was, was not of the kind to be 
 received standing up. 
 
 " Where from ? " he asked briefly. 
 
 " From Shwepaukbin, sir." The speaker came a 
 few paces forward with body doubled, and crouched 
 submissively at the Myo-ok's feet. 
 
 That settled it. The jungle near Shwepaukbin was 
 the very spot that Maung Gyi had mentally selected 
 as the scene of Tun Win's exploit. It was clear that 
 the dacoit had been not only expeditious but dis- 
 criminating. What, now, had been the outcome of 
 his venture ? 
 
 " Well," he said, affecting a nonchalance that the 
 anxious drumming of his fingers on the bedstead vehe- 
 mently belied. "Well, have you anything to report ? " 
 
 " Nothing, your Honour," came the blank reply. 
 
 " Nothing whatever ? " 
 
 " No, nothing." There was a tone of injured sur- 
 prise in the voice that set a girl tittering in the back- 
 ground and evoked a grunt from Shwe Yon. 
 
THE MYO-OK 93 
 
 It was just what was to be expected. With all his 
 experience of Burmese witnesses, the Myo-ok should 
 have known better than to lose his temper on so 
 trivial a pretext; but he did. The state of his 
 nerves was responsible. He knew full well that all 
 that was required was a leading question or two, but 
 what he knew even better was that it was just these 
 leading questions that he dared not ask, and his im- 
 potence was gall and wormwood to him, so he fumed. 
 
 "Well, what is it?" he exclaimed, glaring im- 
 patiently at the messenger and then round at the 
 circle of faces that had gathered in again upon the 
 central figure of the group. " What have you been 
 talking about, you fools?" Then, when all was 
 silent, each one of the bystanders gazing blankly at 
 the other, he burst out, turning with unwonted fury 
 on the new arrival, " What has happened at Shwe- 
 paukbin ? What have you come here for ? " 
 
 " I have come to buy bamboos." 
 
 " Buy bamboos, is that all ? " 
 
 " That is all, your Honour." 
 
 " But — but — has nothing happened, then, at Shwe- 
 paukbin ? " 
 
 " Shwepaukbin. I was passing through Shwe- 
 paukbin only a few hours ago," interposed Maung Pyu 
 suavely ; " I heard no news of anything having hap- 
 pened there as I passed through. Why should any- 
 thing have happened ? " But Maung Gyi ignored his 
 remark, and repeated his last question sharply. 
 
 " Nothing has happened ; that is to say, nothing at 
 Shwepaukbin," stammered the villager, picking at his 
 waist-cloth. " I heard a rumour that — but it was not 
 at Shwepaukbin, it was in the jungle." 
 
94 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " A rumour ; what rumour ? In the jungle ? Has 
 
 anything befallen the . Speak up, offspring of a 
 
 dog ! If anything has happened, say so ; if you 
 know nothing, hold your tongue and go." 
 
 " I know nothing, your Honour ; I have only heard 
 a report." 
 
 " What report ? " 
 
 " A report that they have robbed on the Shwedan 
 road." 
 
 " They ! Who ? Robbed ! Robbed what ? " 
 
 " That I cannot say. There was talk of five hun- 
 dred rupees and bags of silver." 
 
 " Bags in a cart ? With the police ? Eh ? " 
 
 " I think so, sir." 
 
 " This morning, was it ? " 
 
 " I cannot say when ; it may have been this 
 morning." 
 
 " To be sure ; to be sure. Was the money taken 
 away ? " 
 
 " Taken away ? " 
 
 " Yes, taken away by the robbers." 
 
 " They said the money was robbed. I saw nothing 
 myself, but only heard what people said." 
 
 " Well, what did you hear, blockhead ? Who said 
 anything to you about it ? " 
 
 " No one spoke to me about it ; I heard them 
 speaking of it to others." 
 
 "Jungle dog! what did you hear spoken? Tell 
 me all you know about the matter." 
 
 And then, by slow degrees, it all came out. There 
 was undoubtedly a rumour current in Shwepaukbin 
 that a police escort had been robbed in the jungle 
 near the village. There was nothing definite known 
 
THE MYO-OK 95 
 
 about what had happened. All that the messenger 
 could say for certain was that people talked of a 
 robbery — of a robbery while the police slept, or were 
 absent, or were drinking; he was not sure which. 
 Nothing had been said about an attempt ; no, 
 nothing — of that he was certain. He thought he 
 knew what an "attempt" was, and in consequence 
 was disposed to think that the money (gossips had it 
 that the amount was five hundred rupees at least) had 
 actually been taken. He had an idea that it was 
 U To who had brought the news, but could not swear 
 that it might not have been Tun Gyaw. The police 
 had not put in an appearance at Shwepaukbin ; why 
 not, he could not say. When it was suggested that 
 it might be because they were pursuing the robbers, 
 he opined that that might be so, but declined to 
 commit himself to any definite expression of opinion. 
 All the information he had got was hearsay, and he 
 really could not conceive, poor man, why he had been 
 selected by the headman to bring the news, such as it 
 was, except that he had been coming into Myothit 
 that afternoon, in any case, to buy bamboos ; and he 
 supposed that the village authorities had considered 
 the opportunity of utilising his services one that 
 ought not to be missed. Had the said village 
 authorities gone out to help in catching the robbers ? 
 No ; they were waiting, he presumed, either for 
 definite information, or for orders from the township 
 headquarters. That was all he had to say, and might 
 he now go on to the shore to buy his bamboos ? Ko 
 Tun Hla had said that if he was not there before the 
 second waning there would be no chance whatever of 
 his being able to get 
 
96 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 He was allowed to go off to the river, and the two 
 Myo-oks, perched side by side on the bedstead, began 
 to review the situation. Maung Pyu, full of pious 
 gratitude to the Providence that had ordained that 
 this calamity should happen before he took over 
 charge, was overwhelmed with the gravity of the 
 business, and was all for proceeding that night, or 
 at least early the next morning, to the scene of the 
 crime ; but Maung Gyi, ever sanguine and hopeful 
 for the best, was altogether of another mind. " Alaga 
 be^' he cried negligently, with his cheek full of betel. 
 And when a Burman says of a thing that it is " alaga 
 be',' one may rest assured that there is no fear of his 
 taking it over - seriously. It was impossible for a 
 robbery to have really been committed, he protested, 
 and laughed jeeringly, with an almost indecent dis- 
 play of hilarity, when Maung Pyu pointed out, with 
 some heat, how ridiculously easy it would have been 
 for a daring dash, delivered at the right time and 
 place, to enable the treasure to be reft from the 
 escort ; citing notorious instances in which parties of 
 police, larger than the one that had left that morning, 
 had been circumvented and spoiled by absurdly petty 
 dacoit gangs. "Alaga be',' he repeated again and 
 again. It would be folly for them to go out, he 
 vowed. They had absolutely nothing definite to go 
 upon ; besides, there was the business of making 
 over charge to be first got through. In the end his 
 counsel prevailed, though Maung Pyu was by no 
 means easy to bring over. On one point, however, 
 they were in accord. Their first duty was to place 
 themselves in communication with the Deputy Com- 
 missioner, from whom alone true guidance was to be 
 
THE MYO-OK 97 
 
 looked for, informing him of the rumour that had 
 reached their ears, and soliciting his orders ; and to 
 this end a telegram was laboriously scrawled in pencil 
 in the fading twilight, at the foot of the stairs, and 
 despatched by Shwe Yon to the telegraph office. 
 
 Their minds being thus set at rest by the thought 
 that responsibility for further action reposed on other 
 shoulders than their own, the two worthies turned 
 their attention to the solemn duties of the evening 
 meal, of which seductive whiffs had been assailing 
 their nostrils as they sat and deliberated ; and in the 
 conversation that followed supper so many topics of 
 absorbing interest to the pair were touched upon, that 
 the robbery was not again referred to verbally till the 
 guest of the evening had risen to take his departure. 
 
 " Then you think with me," said Maung Gyi, as 
 Maung Pyu stood at the top of the steps, about to 
 descend, "that it is best to wait for definite orders 
 before going to Shwepaukbin." 
 
 The new Myo-ok patted the verandah rail thought- 
 fully. " Perhaps it is," he made answer. " As you say, 
 we do not know for certain that anything has happened. 
 Even if there has been a robbery, the police are on the 
 spot, and can recover the money. The head constable 
 will be in to-morrow, too, and the matter can be dis- 
 cussed further with him. By noon to-morrow, more- 
 over, orders should have arrived from the Deputy 
 Commissioner. There will be no harm in waiting." 
 
 " The orders may arrive before noon even. Mean- 
 while we should, of course, make over and receive 
 charge of the treasure chest." 
 
 " What ? Before orders come from headquarters ? " 
 
 " Why not ? I must now start for Shwedan as 
 H 
 
98 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 quickly as possible. After all, the matter of the 
 robbery is one for the police to look after. It ought 
 to give you very little trouble." 
 
 " Let us wait till midday," said Maung Pyu, " or 
 till two o'clock, at any rate. If no orders have been 
 received by then, I will take over charge." He had 
 no great wish to assume the reins of office at this 
 critical juncture ; but the thought had just occurred 
 to him that, for the sake of the bags in the zayat, it 
 would be just as well that he should as soon as 
 possible be the acknowledged custodian of all Govern- 
 ment money in Myothit. 
 
 " Very well, two o'clock to-morrow. The business 
 will not take us long." 
 
 " So much the better. There is not much in the 
 treasury chest, then ? " 
 
 " No, very little. Let me see, now ; yes, a matter 
 of some five hundred rupees only. A good deal was 
 sent off with that wretched escort this morning. Then 
 there is one bag of eight-anna bits, one of four " 
 
 " What was the exact amount of the remittance ? " 
 inquired Maung Pyu suddenly, turning at the head 
 of the steps. "You have not told me yet. Five 
 hundred, someone said. Is that so ? " 
 
 Maung Gyi puffed scornfully. " Five hundred ! 
 Who would care if it were only five hundred ? No, 
 four thousand ; four bags of a thousand each. A nice 
 haul for any gang of dacoits. Ah, so you are off now. 
 Very well, very well, if you cannot stay. You will 
 see the exact amount of the balance to-morrow. At 
 two o'clock, yes." 
 
 Maung Pyu stepped out into the darkness in a 
 kind of trance. It was latish, and there was a hush 
 
THE MYO-OK 99 
 
 through the quarter. In this thatched hut and in 
 that a tiny oil lamp threw a subdued light across 
 a bamboo verandah on to a staid group of elders 
 engaged in solemn converse. Only here and there 
 some eligible bachelor, roaming, amorous, through 
 the by-ways, sent up a jerky warble to the stars that 
 twinkled bravely above the palm-tops. All else was 
 still. Not a soul was moving out along the main 
 road that led to the zayat. The new Myo-ok's self- 
 attached hanger-on slouched up with a hand -lantern 
 and fell submissively into the rear. It was no easy 
 task for the youth to light his patron's footsteps, for 
 never had he seen august official walk as this one 
 did, slackening his pace at one moment till he almost 
 ceased to move at all ; at the next waking, as it were, 
 from a reverie, and pressing forward with impatient 
 tread, as though the ground burnt beneath his feet; 
 absent and preoccupied, muttering incoherently to 
 himself, a scandal to the highway. The great man 
 was certainly not himself Was he drunk, or crazy, 
 or both? 
 
 Thus the lantern-bearer, stalking warily behind. 
 Drunk or crazy. His conjecture embraced no third 
 alternative in its scope. 
 
 The great man was neither. Dazed he certainly 
 was ; and, in the circumstances, were not his host's 
 last words cause enough for the tumultuous whirling 
 of his brain ? Four thousand rupees ! Could it by 
 any possible means have been a coincidence ? Was 
 it conceivable that there should be, on that day and 
 in that particular stretch of jungle, two separate and 
 distinct sums of four thousand in four Government 
 gunnies? It was out of the question — manifestly, 
 
loo THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 obviously, out of the question. For the Burman the 
 age of miracles is not yet passed, yet Maung Pyu 
 knew that it was preposterous to suppose that the 
 bags he had found among the bamboos were not 
 those that the escort had been relieved of. No ; how 
 it had come about he could not guess, but there was 
 no blinking the hideous fact that the proceeds of the 
 morning's robbery were, at the moment, lying piled at 
 the foot of his bed in the zayat. And if he could not 
 persuade himself that the two sums were not the 
 same, was it likely that he would find others less 
 sceptical ? A precious wagging of old filleted heads 
 there would be when it came out, as it must do 
 shortly, that the new Myo-ok had arrived at his 
 headquarters on the afternoon of the robbery with 
 the precise amount taken by the criminals stowed, 
 with furtive solicitude, under a mattress at the bottom 
 of his cart. There was no concealing the existence 
 of those four detestable bags now. The prying old 
 clown who had started the mischief had seen them ; 
 so too had Ngwe Zin ; and half a score besides by 
 this time, he would wager, for what was to have 
 hindered that irresponsible windbag from acquaint- 
 ing the general public with what he had seen in 
 the zayat. Fool that he had been not to have 
 insisted beforehand on everything remaining in the 
 cart till, under the kindly veil of night, the bags 
 could have been extracted unobserved ! His pace 
 slackened as he pondered ; then it suddenly occurred 
 to him that perhaps it was not too late even now. 
 The old villager might be ignored. No great faith 
 would be placed in anything the dotard said that was 
 not borne out by independent witnesses. If Ngwe 
 
THE MYO-OK loi 
 
 Zin had not, by incautious confidences, spoilt all, his 
 mouth might yet be stopped. What was of prime 
 importance was to find out how much he had already 
 told. With the thought his steps quickened ; the 
 hand-lantern jingled behind him as the bearer broke 
 into a shuffling trot, in his efforts to keep pace with 
 the Myo-ok. 
 
 It was Ngwe Zin's body, swathed, corpse-like, in a 
 blanket, that was blocking the entrance to the zayat, 
 and Ngwe Zin's nasal efforts that were ringing in the 
 corrugated iron roof as the Myo-ok and his attendant 
 arrived. It was Ngwe Zin's midriff that was, a moment 
 later, assailed by an unexpected blow, and Ngwe Zin's 
 topknot that was savagely grasped and twisted. 
 
 He sat up, with a startled shout, to see his master 
 standing over him, lantern in hand. 
 
 " Where have they gone to ? " 
 
 Blinking still, he followed the direction of the 
 Myo-ok's forefinger to the empty space on the boards 
 where, a few hours earlier, the four bags had been 
 reposing ; but for a moment did not grasp the import 
 of the question. 
 
 " What is it ? " he muttered sleepily. 
 
 Maung Pyu repeated his question with added 
 fierceness in his voice. " Where are they — the bags ? " 
 he said. 
 
 " Oh, the bags!" replied Ngwe Zin, who had gradu- 
 ally grasped the situation. " The bags are all right, 
 Myo-ok Min." 
 
 " Where are they ? I don't see them here." 
 
 " They are in the Treasury." 
 
 "In the Treasury ! Who put them there ? " 
 
 " Maung So, the Myo-ok's clerk." 
 
I02 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " How did he get hold of them ? " There was a 
 sudden ominous calmness about Maung Pyu's utter- 
 ance which Ngwe Zin had no ears as yet to notice. 
 
 " He came round soon after your Honour left, and 
 seeing the bags, asked what was in them. I told him 
 Government money." 
 
 "Well, and what then?" Ngwe Zin had stopped to 
 yawn and stretch. He could not see the Myo-ok's face. 
 
 " He said they would be safest in the Treasury, so 
 I went with him to the Treasury and put them away 
 safe in an iron box there." 
 
 " How was the box opened ? Was the Myo-ok 
 there ? What did he say ? " 
 
 " The box was open at the time. The Myo-ok said 
 nothing. He did not see the money put in. He was 
 not close by at the time. He was at the other end of 
 the police-station counting stamps. There was other 
 money put in, brought from the court-house. The 
 Myo-ok locked the box up afterwards. The money 
 is quite safe, your Honour ; a sentry watches over it 
 day and night, just as at Shwedan, and Maung So 
 said that " 
 
 " Fool ! fool ! fool ! " 
 
 The nondescript place-seeker, who had been lin- 
 gering outside in the darkness, hardly determined yet 
 whether to slink home or to wait for a further crumb 
 of recognition from the exalted personage within, 
 heard the treble ejaculation and the sound of con- 
 comitant blows. A moment later Ngwe Zin's sturdy 
 form flew out of the zayat and cannoned against him. 
 He had heard and seen enough by this time to 
 realise that it was wisest to seek safety in flight, and 
 
THE MYO-OK 103 
 
 as Ngwe Zin was impelled by the same prudential 
 motive, the two raced down the road, side by side, 
 till a good two hundred yards had been placed be- 
 tween them and the zayat with its infuriated occupant. 
 Then they stopped, almost as suddenly as they had 
 started, and Ngwe Zin sat down, dishevelled and 
 lamenting, to feel his ankle, which he had twisted in 
 his descent. 
 
 "What did he do it for?" whispered he of the 
 gaudy waist-cloth in an awestruck undertone. "What 
 did you say to him ? " 
 
 Ngwe Zin gave his head a bewildered rub. " I 
 said nothing," he protested. " He must be drunk to 
 strike me like that. What have they been drinking 
 at the Myo-ok's ? " 
 
 " How can I say ? Is he often like this — the new 
 Myo-ok ? " 
 
 " He has never struck me like this before ; and he 
 will never do it again, for I go back to Shwedan to- 
 morrow. I am sick of his moods and tempers. I don't 
 know what I have done to my ankle. I can't go back 
 to him now. Let me sleep in your house to-night." 
 
 " Yes, come and sleep," said the other. " This 
 way, to the west. So you are going to leave him, eh ? 
 Tell me, what pay has he been giving you up to 
 now ? Is it better, do you think, for me to be as you 
 were, or to be a peon under him ? As a peon there 
 would be less chance, of course, of being beaten, 
 
 but then . It is as you say, I am out of work at 
 
 present This way, through the fence. The little 
 house under the tamarind tree. Yes, yes, I have 
 got a blanket I can lend you for to-night. You will 
 want one; it is bitterly cold." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 A LOOK of seraphic content suffused the visage 
 that Maung Gyi raised from his couch and bore 
 about the house the next morning ; a look that sat 
 far more fitly on his features than the one that had 
 haunted them a few days back. He had risen with 
 the dawn, and now, again horizontally filling the 
 long armchair where we were first privileged to 
 behold him, such sighs as escaped him were sighs 
 of relief. The horizon was not fully cleared yet, but 
 there was every prospect now of the clouds lifting 
 shortly ; to his prophetic eye there were already 
 showing clear glimpses of the blue. He had at 
 any rate disposed finally of the worst part of this 
 unsavoury four thousand rupees business. Finally? 
 Was it really finally ? he asked himself, as he looked 
 at his toes that morning. Well, it was very nearly 
 done with. The escort had been successfully robbed. 
 Tun Win had by this time, no doubt, discovered how 
 he had been fooled, and was now probably hastening 
 to put as many miles as possible between his own 
 unworthy carcase and the scene of his ill-starred 
 exploit. Nothing more was wanted save that things 
 should go on in the same satisfactory groove as that 
 in which they had started. He was alive, of course, 
 to the fact that accidents might happen. The police 
 
 104 
 
THE MYO-OK 105 
 
 might, in a burst of unparalleled activity, pursue and 
 capture the culprit and recover the boxes, but such a 
 contingency was improbable. It was not as though 
 he had entrusted the conduct of the affair to a raw 
 novice. If anyone in the neighbourhood could be 
 looked upon as an expert in this particular line of 
 business, it was the ex-dacoit. He might surely be 
 trusted to see that due professional care was be- 
 stowed, not only upon the robbery, but also upon the 
 subsequent measures that were taken to avoid pur- 
 suit. Moreover, what great matter if the boxes were 
 recovered? Once out of the hands of the police, 
 once for a space of time, however short, in Tun 
 Win's, the whole aspect of things would be changed. 
 Let the worst, from this point of view, come to the 
 worst, on Tun Win would rest the sole responsibility 
 for the contents of the boxes. It would be ridiculous 
 for him to try to show that he had not substituted 
 his own ballast for the original silver freight. The 
 Myo-ok wagged his head viciously in the resolve 
 that, if ever occasion so demanded, there should be 
 no lack of witnesses to prove that what had effected 
 the transformation in the boxes must have been their 
 sojourn in the ex-dacoit's hands. There might con- 
 ceivably be a difficulty if the seals were found intact, 
 but the chances of its arising were remote. Tun Win 
 would surely not be long in breaking the seals him- 
 self. Besides, all this was on the assumption that 
 the police had recaptured the boxes. They would, 
 as a matter of fact, do nothing of the kind, of this 
 he was certain. 
 
 There was a further contingency to consider (it was 
 well that they should all be faced). Put the case that 
 
io6 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 the boxes were opened by Tun Win, and that Tun 
 Win, foiled in his game, finding that he had profited 
 nothing by his hazardous undertaking, made a clean 
 breast of the matter to the authorities. The pro- 
 spect was emphatically not inviting. But was it 
 likely that he would dare ? Who was there in the 
 wide world who would believe him, a disreputable 
 bandit, with a career as full of blemishes as his legs 
 were of tattoo-marks ? Was there a soul who would 
 take his word against that of an eminently reputable 
 township officer? Things had not come to such a 
 pass, thank Heaven, that there would be any question 
 as to the weight to be given to a preposterous tale 
 like his about a sleeping-draught, if flatly contradicted 
 in high quarters? Besides, Tun Win was not the 
 man to venture on action of this defiant kind. Once 
 assured that the game was up, the cur would lose no 
 time in showing a clean pair of heels, and Myothit 
 would see his face no more. 
 
 Of course there was the further possibility of the 
 dacoit's not realising the gravity of his position, and 
 venturing back into Myothit and the arms of the 
 police, in the fond belief that he had not been 
 suspected. He might possibly have so disposed 
 things, while the escort lay drugged, that at first sight 
 it would be doubtful who it was that had perpetrated 
 the crime, in which case there was no knowing that 
 the fool might not, while all was still confusion and 
 uncertainty, take the opportunity of breaking back 
 to his principal, to upbraid, to adjure, to insist upon 
 protection, possibly to levy blackmail. Here again 
 was an awkward alternative. And yet it was hard 
 to believe that Tun Win would be so mad and blind. 
 
THE MYO-OK 107 
 
 There was no saying beforehand, it was true, what 
 the creature might not do in his unreasoning terror, 
 but as Maung Gyi reflected, it became ever and ever 
 comfortingly clearer to him that Tun Win would not 
 venture back. The facts were too glaring for sus- 
 picion to fall on any but one man. Under no 
 circumstances whatever could Tun Win flatter him- 
 self that any doubt could be entertained as to who 
 that man must be. And if by any chance he did come 
 back to Myothit, a mere word ought to suffice to show 
 him things in the awkward light of reality, and bring 
 home to him the disastrous consequences of any stay 
 in the town. Besides, he would not, he could not be 
 so outrageously foolish as to rush back into the toils. 
 Of that Maung Gyi was as certain as that, enthroned 
 aloft in his own verandah, he was gazing comfortably 
 down upon the sedate traffic of the high road and 
 
 that the guileless rustic out yonder was 
 
 It was passing strange how the ever-present thought 
 of the dacoit had disordered the Myo-ok's brain. 
 Had he not already seen him twice that morning in 
 two totally dissimilar people the township officer 
 could have sworn that the man now slouching shiftily 
 between the tamarind trees and the fence was Tun 
 Win. The apparition had vanished before the 
 resemblance had passed away. Maung Gyi, though 
 he rose to his feet at the sight, shook himself 
 incredulously ; by this time he had learnt by experi- 
 ence. He remembered how the figure under the 
 blanket in the compound, with an outline absurdly 
 like the dacoit's, had resolved itself, with the growing 
 dawn, into his own horse-keeper, asleep ; how the 
 stranger, halting for a moment near the gate, with a 
 
io8 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 head and shoulders that in a moment conjured up 
 another head and shoulders bowed over dust-tracings 
 in a darkened lower room, had proved to be a fisher- 
 man from an adjoining village. So now, when this 
 hangdog loafer came into view again by the compound 
 gate, a second glimpse would doubtless show that he 
 was 
 
 Maung Gyi stepped back involuntarily from the 
 front of the verandah. The second glimpse had 
 been vouchsafed with the reappearance of the 
 stranger between the posts of the entrance gate, 
 and, lo ! this time it was indubitably Tun Win — Tun 
 Win, furtive and dejected, but with a lowering, 
 upward glance that boded but little good to his late 
 employer. 
 
 The Myo-ok's ponderous frame quivered. The 
 verandah swam around him, and he had to steady 
 himself by a convulsive cl\itch at one of the house- 
 posts. There was no escape. The ex-dacoit's eye 
 had caught his ; the interview was not to be evaded. 
 All the set speeches that he had been formulating 
 against this most impossible of contingencies had 
 faded from him, to leave him dazed and tongue-tied 
 before the man he had fooled. The first shock, 
 however, left him with presence of mind enough to 
 realise that, if meeting there was to be — and the 
 dacoit's deliberate progress across the courtyard 
 showed clearly that he was not going to be put off — 
 it must take place below, away from all prying eyes 
 and ears. 
 
 By the time Tun Win had reached the house there 
 was a corpulent figure, breathless, at the foot of the 
 stairs, who beckoned the way to the darkened inner 
 
THE MYO-OK 109 
 
 chamber where the scheming pair had, two days 
 earlier, devised their plan of campaign. 
 
 "Well?" said the Myo-ok. 
 
 There had been silence for a space, and Maung 
 Gyi, gazing down upon the dacoit, had had time to 
 regain his breath and his composure, and to note that 
 the bearing of his visitor was not that of one who 
 had come to make himself disagreeable. There was 
 a cowed, submissive look about the crouching figure, 
 which suggested anything in the wide world but 
 blackmail, and encouraged the Myo-ok to throw an 
 added fierceness into the tone of his question. 
 
 " Well ? " he repeated. " I have heard all about it. 
 I suppose you know that ? " 
 
 " You have heard everything, your Honour ? " 
 
 " Everything. The report came in yesterday 
 evening." 
 
 Tun Win sat mute and stricken. He had hoped 
 to gain the Myo-ok's ear with his own version of the 
 facts first, and this unforeseen cutting away of the 
 ground from beneath his feet dashed him not a 
 little. It was Maung Gyi who, after a further pause, 
 broke the silence. 
 
 " Come, then," he said roughly, prompted by the 
 dacoit's abject regard to treat the whole matter 
 brazenly, professing ignorance on his own part of the 
 actual contents of the boxes, " what have you done 
 with my two thousand rupees ? Have you brought 
 them with you ? " 
 
 Tun Win gaped open-mouthed at the township 
 officer for a second, then his dull mask of gloom 
 lifted to allow a smile to break forth— a genial tribute 
 to the humour and spirit that illumined the Myo-ok's 
 
no THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 speech. It was clear that his Honour was not going 
 to take the failure of the venture very much to heart. 
 Perhaps the whole scheme had been a ruse to catch 
 him tripping — a device to test his loyalty to the 
 Government ; probably it was nothing more than a 
 gorgeous magisterial joke. Could it be possible that 
 the sergeant himself was in the secret — had been told 
 to look out for the bottle, and allowed to have his 
 share of the fun ? It was strange, now that he came 
 to think of it, that Maung Waik should have been 
 content to let him go as he did — with hardly a 
 question, with no real attempt to investigate the 
 matter to the bottom. That was what it was of 
 course — ^just a magnificent farce from beginning to 
 end. His spirits rose. 
 
 " How can I bring you two thousand rupees, your 
 Honour ? " he grinned. " If you had heard every- 
 thing you would have known that I have nothing to 
 bring you — no rupees, not a single copper pice.'' 
 
 The dacoit's levity jarred on the Myo-ok. The 
 grin struck him as being singularly out of place on 
 Tun Win's face, yet it was infectious withal. The 
 township officer's nerves were unstrung, and he was 
 so near laughing hysterically at the obligingly placid 
 way in which the man was taking things, that the 
 danger of committing himself appalled him, and 
 produced a sudden revulsion. " There is nothing to 
 laugh at, fool. I have heard quite enough!" he snap- 
 ped. " Well, and what are you going to do now ? ',' 
 
 Tun Win peered up, puzzled, at his principal. It 
 was not a practical joke, then, after all. " Now ? " he 
 repeated. " I shall go to my village again, unless 
 your Honour wishes otherwise." 
 
THE MYO-OK in 
 
 " Your village ! " and the Myo-ok's voice rose to a 
 whispered scream. " Your village ! The very place 
 where the police will search for you first ! One would 
 think you wanted them to find you. I tell you, Tun 
 Win, I can do nothing to protect you if you are 
 caught — nothing, absolutely nothing ! I will see that 
 what you have done for me is not forgotten. Here- 
 after it may be possible for you to return, but for the 
 present you must hide yourself Cannot you see 
 that yourself? Off with you now without delay." 
 
 His tone had softened into one more of earnest 
 entreaty than of command or censure. Tun Win 
 was quick to notice the change. He was beginning 
 to grasp more of the Myo-ok's mind. 
 
 "The police!" he exclaimed. "Is it the sergeant 
 you are thinking of? He will say nothing," And 
 he wagged his head confidently. " Nothing can be 
 proved against me." 
 
 " What 1 Nothing ? Are you mad, man ? " 
 
 " No ; they can but suspect me after all." 
 
 " Suspect you of what ? " 
 
 " Of bringing the drug to stupefy them." 
 
 " The drug ! Listen to him, dense beast ! If the 
 bringing of the drug were all, it would be nothing ; 
 but how about the robbery?" 
 
 " Robbery ! There was no robbery. I took 
 nothing." 
 
 It was Maung Gyi's turn to gape. The rascal had 
 shown his hand at last. It was perfectly true, of 
 course. There had been no robbery because there 
 had been nothing to take ; but the audacity of pre- 
 suming on this ! The wretch's impudence took 
 Maung Gyi's breath away. It was plain now that 
 
112 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 the scoundrel, finding that the bags contained 
 nothing, or practically nothing, had determined to 
 defy him and throw himself on the mercy of the 
 higher authorities, in the belief that they would be 
 willing to fly at higher game than an ex-convict. The 
 rascal would have to be disillusioned without delay. 
 
 " Of course you took nothing," he sneered ; " but 
 do you think that that will make any difference ? " 
 
 Tun Win scratched his head dubiously. " It cer- 
 tainly should," he said. 
 
 " Idiot ! do you really think it will ? " 
 
 " I had always thought that it would make a 
 difference," faltered the dacoit. 
 
 " Much you know about the law, then," cried the 
 Myo-ok, taking heart at the quavering tremor of the 
 speaker's lips. " No difference will be made. It is 
 the intention that is everything." 
 
 " But the intention was never carried out." 
 
 " Peace, fool ! What do you know ? Will they 
 look to that when they condemn you ? The purpose 
 to rob was there. That is enough for them." 
 
 " But how can they prove a purpose to rob ? " 
 
 " You talk like one that is crazy, Tun Win. Can 
 they think anything else when they see what has 
 been done?" 
 
 " They will think the same, then, even if nothing 
 has been taken ? " groaned the dacoit. 
 
 " Most certainly. Are you so witless that I have 
 to tell you that, Tun Win ? Now listen to me, and 
 let our words be few. Be off, now, instantly, without 
 a moment's delay, and as you value your life, beware 
 of falling into the hands of the police. If once you 
 are taken, look not to me for help, for I will give you 
 
THE MYO-OK 113 
 
 none ; mark that well. Say what you like about the 
 medicine in your own defence if they catch you, I 
 have here six witnesses who will swear that I never 
 gave it to you. Who would take your word, robber, 
 against mine ? Fly as you value your life." 
 
 " Can nothing else be done, Myo-ok Min ? " 
 
 " Absolutely nothing. Off, I say ! Do you hear ? 
 It is your only way of safety." 
 
 Tun Win rose with a moan, and blundered help- 
 lessly towards the courtyard. At the door he paused, 
 and, with his hand on the door-post, cast a half- 
 glance back. 
 
 " Why should I fly ?" he muttered over his shoulder. 
 " They can prove nothing against me ; they can only 
 suspect. If your Honour will only bear me out, 
 nothing can happen to me. Nobody would doubt 
 your word. You have only to say that my story is 
 true." 
 
 " Your story ! bear you out ! Bear you out in 
 what ? " 
 
 "In what I said about the medicine." 
 
 " What did you say about the medicine ? Come 
 back. Tun Win. You said nothing about the medi- 
 cine, surely." 
 
 " Was not that what I was about to tell your 
 Honour? As you know, the sergeant found the 
 medicine, and " 
 
 " Found the medicine ! The sergeant ! Amele ! 
 Fool ! Idiot ! After all that I told you too ! What did 
 he do, you offspring of a dog ? What did you say ? " 
 
 " I had to tell him what was not true, Myo-ok 
 Min. I said that my father-in-law had given it me 
 for his sister at Shwedan. What else could I say ? 
 
114 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 But your Honour said that he had heard every- 
 thing." 
 
 " This I have not heard. What did he do ? Tell 
 me." 
 
 " He was angry, the sergeant ; he believed me not. 
 He sat behind me in the cart, and held the bottle 
 thus, saying " 
 
 " He held the bottle ! How, then, beast, did you 
 make him and the other two drink the stuff? " 
 
 " None of them drank it." 
 
 " They never drank the medicine ! How, then, did 
 you get hold of the boxes? Did you seize them 
 without giving the police to drink ? " 
 
 " Your Honour, did I not say just now that I took 
 nothing? How could I take anything when Ko 
 Walk held the bottle in his hand thus, and abused 
 me 
 
 A light dawned in upon Maung Gyi, a light of 
 kindling fury. " What ! " he shouted. " You never 
 got hold of the boxes ! They have gone on to 
 Shwedan ! Tell me all, leper, or I will strike you 
 dead ! " 
 
 " No, I touched them not. How could I ? And if 
 I had, should I have come thus in broad daylight to 
 
 Myothit to Ame ! Ame ! Your Honour, I am 
 
 frightened ! Let go ! I am frightened ! " 
 
 He rolled in the dust, with his throat in the 
 Myo-ok's grip. His eyes bulged from their sockets ; 
 for the buzzing in his ears he could barely hear what 
 the Myo-ok was saying, though the two faces were 
 almost touching. 
 
 " Do you mean to say," hissed Maung Gyi, " that 
 the boxes are still with the police ? " 
 
THE MYO-OK 115 
 
 Tun Win gurgled helplessly. To obtain his answer 
 the township officer had to repeat his question after 
 relaxing his hold. 
 
 "Still with the police? Surely, your Honour, it 
 cannot be otherwise. Have I not said so?" gasped 
 the dacoit. " He found the bottle, and drove me 
 away with blows. I know not what happened after- 
 wards." 
 
 " And no one took the boxes ? " 
 
 " No, I took them not. Who else should take 
 them ? Ugh ! " and he choked again, as the Myo-ok's 
 fingers tightened round his weasand. 
 
 Maung Gyi flung the prostrate creature from him 
 as though he had been a lump of carrion. 
 
 " How, then has the rumour got about at Shwe- 
 paukbin," he said, after a pause, hoarsely, "that the 
 money has been taken ? " 
 
 Tun Win, huddled on the ground near the door, 
 his utterance choked with a spasm of coughing, was 
 powerless to answer for a while. At last he raised a 
 bloated head from the arm on which it had been 
 resting, and gazed stupidly at the township officer. 
 
 "Was there a rumour that the money had been 
 taken ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " I know not how it got about, then. These 
 reports grow apace. The sergeant may have said to 
 them of Shwepaukbin that medicine had been brought 
 to the end that the cart might be robbed ; more than 
 that he could not have said." He rested his head on 
 his arm again and coughed weakly, while the Myo-ok 
 stood over him, glowering. When he looked up 
 again it was to murmur — 
 
ii6 THE MYO-OK 
 
 " He may have said that, but he will say no more 
 if your Honour will but bear me out." 
 
 " Bear you out ! What is there to bear you out 
 in ? " was the bitter rejoinder. " Dolt ! I trusted you 
 to do this thing for me, and you have acted through- 
 out like a child. See here, now," and he shook the 
 cringing form. " Go now, and quickly, too, lest I be 
 prompted to take my da to you ; and know this, that 
 it will be vain throwing yourself on the mercy of the 
 Deputy Commissioner. Flight is the only thing left 
 for you. Get you away hence, and never let me or 
 any other soul in Myothit see your face again. Go 1 " 
 
 And Tun Win, gulping still and barely master of 
 his steps, went. There was no gainsaying those 
 insistent tones. Battered and dazed, he made his 
 way to the gate and turned down the street to shake 
 the dust of Myothit for ever from his feet. A most 
 pitiable, nay, repulsive object, as unenviable as a 
 human being well could be. For all that, the town- 
 ship officer, watching him as he shambled across the 
 courtyard, was not sure whether, on the whole, he 
 would not be glad enough to change places with the 
 dejected felon. There were breakers ahead for him- 
 self; that was clear. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THERE was an unwonted bustle in the police- 
 station. Clerks and peons tumbled over one 
 another in a frenzy of self-importance. The sentries' 
 boots creaked impressively, and even the prisoner in 
 the cage woke to the feeling that there was something 
 unusual in the air. The guard had just turned out 
 with ceremony in the gloomy upper story to present 
 arms — to whom they knew not exactly, for both the 
 Myo-oks were plodding up the steps together. The 
 making over and receiving charge of the treasure 
 chest was to be the finale of the formalities of the 
 afternoon, and in the interval of transfer there was a 
 species of interregnum, during which it was impossible 
 for the uninitiated to say who was the actual holder 
 of the reins of office and should be treated as such ; so 
 the salute was made as impartial and comprehensive 
 as possible, even to the inclusion of Maung So, who 
 followed his two superiors in out of the sunlight, and 
 stood behind them by the treasure chest, his demure 
 mouth pursed up as though to keep down a fluttering 
 giggle. The head clerk was the only one of the 
 three who showed any signs of self-possession. The 
 "relieved" and "relieving" officers wore the aspect 
 of unwilling victims confronted reluctantly with the 
 sacrificial altar. They moved slowly and with steps 
 that hesitated; they eyed each other askance till 
 
 117 
 
ii8 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 duller eyes than Maung So's began to note and 
 blunter brains than his to marvel. And no wonder ! 
 There was a bad quarter of an hour staring in the 
 faces of the pair. They, for their part, had nothing 
 in the shape of laughter to suppress. 
 
 The feeling that pervaded Maung Gyi was one of 
 dull despair. Up to the rude awakening of that 
 morning his sanguine temperament had buoyed him 
 up with hopes which, now that they had been dashed 
 to the ground, he could see had been baseless as the 
 air. So long as his first string held, he had resolutely 
 shut his eyes to the fact that he had no second one 
 for his bow ; and he was now to suffer for this 
 blindness. The interval between Tun Win's depar- 
 ture and the hour when it behoved him to make over 
 charge to his successor had been a whirl of frantic 
 imaginings, the first few minutes of which had been 
 spent in scribbling an agitated telegram to Maung 
 Walk at Shwedan. " Wrong boxes sent," the message 
 ran ; " return quickly, bringing back same." And be- 
 fore the quivering ink-scrawl on the paper was dry 
 he had realised that the time for telegrams was 
 already past. For one brief, blind moment he had 
 cherished the fond hope that he could put matters 
 straight if the boxes were returned to him, and the 
 idea had prompted feverish action. It must surely 
 be possible even yet, he thought, to show that 
 through some astounding oversight the four thousand 
 rupees had never been sent, but were still in the 
 treasure safe. To make everything tally, he would 
 have to do what he might have done from the very 
 first, borrow the money from some money-lender 
 or other and place it in the chest. The thing was, 
 
THE MYO-OK 119 
 
 after all, not impracticable, even at this season of the 
 year with the crops on the ground and money scarce. 
 A couple of days, even a day, ought to suffice for 
 raising the loan. But scarcely had the telegram to 
 Maung Walk been indited than it wras borne in upon 
 him with a sense of chill that he had not even a day 
 to raise the wind in. There was this cursed making 
 over of charge to be faced in a few hours' time. For 
 the time being it had passed from his memory ; now 
 it loomed up again, relentless, inevitable, not to be 
 deferred. How could he talk of mistakes, of bags 
 that had never been sent, when the cash in the 
 treasure chest was found to be short by the amount 
 of the alleged remittance? And there was nobody 
 to blame for the existing state of things but himself 
 It was entirely his own fault. If he had not been in 
 such an indecent hurry to make over charge, he might 
 have had all the time he required ; but had it been to 
 save his life he could think of no excuse now for 
 putting the thing off any longer. The telegram to 
 Maung Walk was useless, and he tossed it aside with 
 a groan. No, there was nothing for it but to face the 
 music as best he might, gathering what measure of 
 comfort he could from the fact that suspicion of foul 
 play had already fallen upon Tun Win, and hoping 
 against hope that some message might come from 
 Shwedan during the day that would delay the making 
 over of charge. 
 
 Of such sort had his meditations been that morn- 
 ing. Since then the hours had come and gone, and 
 with them the last dim prospect of the order that 
 was to delay matters at Myothit. No telegram had 
 arrived from the Deputy Commissioner. At the 
 
I20 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 court-house the irksome formalities had begun. All 
 that now remained to be made over was the treasure 
 chest. There was no backing out of it now. The 
 thing would have to be carried through. But what 
 would he not have given to be able to defer for 
 twenty-four brief hours the impending ordeal ? 
 
 Though Maung Gyi knew it not, his colleague's 
 keenest desire was, like his own, for a respite from 
 the awkward function that lay before the pair. Maung 
 Pyu, too, had been formulating plans the morning 
 through. Early in the day he had tried to secure the 
 attendance of Maung So, who, he thought, might be 
 able to put him in the way of recovering the deposited 
 bags ; and when he found that the clerk was tied to 
 the office table under his superior's eye, and could not 
 come to him, brooded desperate for a space over 
 a daring coup which, among other thrilling details, 
 was to include a visit to the Treasury, armed with the 
 key, borrowed temporarily from Maung Gyi, and an 
 authority that none would dare dispute, to effect 
 a rapid rescue of the bags before the formal taking 
 over. The coup, needless to say, was never carried 
 to accomplishment ; the minutes had been allowed to 
 slip away in the hope that orders staying proceedings 
 would come from Shwedan, and all that was left him 
 now to do was to steel himself for the event and 
 prepare to meet as brazenly as in him lay the stare 
 of incredulous surprise that his very singular story 
 would be sure to evoke. 
 
 Singular it undoubtedly would be. A pretty 
 figure he would cut, forsooth ! A pretty tale he 
 would have to unfold ! Consider the facts as known 
 to a critical public. Four thousand good Govern- 
 
THE MYO-OK 121 
 
 ment rupees disappear on a certain tranquil day in 
 November ; fall, near the village of Shwepaukbin, 
 into the hands of heaven knows what gang of 
 desperadoes. A few hours later on that same tran- 
 quil day a traveller, who Jias admittedly been close 
 to the scene of the crime at or about the time it was 
 committed, arrives at Myothit with the precise sum 
 taken by the robbers stowed sedulously at the 
 bottom of his cart, asserting at first with vehemence 
 — and absurdly put out at the discovery of the bags — 
 that the money is Government money ; later on 
 committing a furious onslaught on a trusted retainer 
 on learning that this Government money has (as it 
 should be) been deposited in the Treasury ; and 
 finally, on being cornered, blurting out a cock and 
 bull story (uncorroborated, by the way, by those who 
 should have been able to bear him out) about finding 
 it in the jungle. In the jungle, if you please, con- 
 cealed in a cleft in the rock, four thousand rupees in 
 Government gunnies. A likely tale for the aforesaid 
 critical public^ to swallow. Maung Pyu had the 
 whole nauseous picture before his eyes as he followed 
 Maung Gyi's ponderously swaying figure up the 
 police-station steps — the shrugs, the sniggers, the 
 scornful affectation of credulity, the tedious, de- 
 grading investigation, the probable disgrace ; and the 
 thought of all that was in store for him was almost 
 more than he could bear. Small wonder that, at 
 the moment, the one thing that he would have 
 bartered his soul for was a chance of deferring the 
 opening of the chest, and gaining time to work him- 
 self out of the tangle. 
 
 They were by the safe now ; were both standing. 
 
122 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 dubiously facing it. Neither displayed the least 
 anxiety to commence operations. Maung Gyi dallied 
 for a while with the cash-book, and was painfully 
 slow in extracting the key from his pocket. More- 
 over, even when it was produced, he would not insert 
 it into the lock, but stood idly swinging the chain 
 at the end of which it dangled. 
 
 " I suppose it is necessary," he said, with a laboured 
 yawn, " that we should make over and receive charge 
 of the treasure chest to-day. Now that we have 
 gone so far, we may as well finish the job." 
 
 Maung Pyu did not reply for a moment. His ear 
 had been quick to detect and welcome the hint at 
 procrastination that his colleague's tone conveyed, 
 but he had no intention of committing himself " I 
 suppose it is necessary," he made reply. " It is 
 the custom, undoubtedly, when once one has begun, 
 
 to finish — and yet, if you think " and he stroked 
 
 his head-cloth reflectively and toyed with the safe 
 handle, gazing from Maung Gyi to the handle, and 
 again from the handle to Maung Gyi. " And yet, if 
 you think " 
 
 " I think nothing," Maung Gyi hastened to pro- 
 test. " It only occurred to me that possibly you 
 might " 
 
 " I ! I have no wish one way or the other. I will 
 leave it to you, but of course I am quite willing if 
 you want to put off " 
 
 " To put off making over charge for the present ? " 
 and Maung Gyi cocked his head to consider this 
 very novel suggestion. " Well, really, if you wish it, 
 I am quite agreeable. Now that you mention it 
 I " 
 
THE MYO-OK 123 
 
 "In that case I am willing to concur. No doubt, 
 what has been begun ought properly to be com- 
 pleted ; but if, as you say " 
 
 " Exactly ; you are, no doubt, right. We have 
 already to-day " 
 
 "Yes, we have spent some time and have had a 
 good deal of worry as regards the charge of the rest 
 of the office. There really seems to be no reason 
 now why we should not defer this Treasury business 
 for a short time." 
 
 " Well, I am not sure that I have not been thinking 
 much the same myself A day or two sooner or 
 later cannot make much difference. I do not, of 
 course, desire it on my own account. I am not in 
 the least fatigued, but it struck me that " 
 
 " Oh, I am not fatigued. It is not that ; but, after 
 all, upon my word, there is no very great hurry ; 
 as you say, a day or two sooner or later cannot make 
 much difference ; and then there is this dacoity to 
 think about. Really, if to - morrow, or even the 
 day " 
 
 " To be sure, there is the dacoity. After all, I am 
 not at all certain that one of us ought not to go 
 and investigate the matter on the spot. Suppose 
 we arranged to make over charge to-morrow, or even 
 the " 
 
 " Or even the day after." 
 
 " Certainly, if you wish it ; even the day after." 
 
 Things were getting on swimmingly. It was im- 
 possible to say how long this duet of mutual accom- 
 modation would have lasted, had not a thin, dry 
 cough broken in upon the florid protestations ; 
 Maung So, the incorruptible, was waiting to speak. 
 
124 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 The two officials turned at the sound. 
 "Well," said Maung Gyi, scenting an objection 
 from an unexpected quarter and resolved that it 
 should be incontinently repressed — '' well, I suppose 
 you understand, Maung So? You have heard what 
 has been decided. To-morrow or the day after the 
 charge of the treasure chest will be handed over — 
 perhaps not even till the day after that." 
 
 " No, perhaps not even till the day after that," 
 came an echoing murmur from Maung Pyu, who, 
 with his eyes fixed on the roof, was drumming 
 absently with his fingers against the bars of the 
 prisoners' cage. 
 
 "There is," said Maung So, with sententious 
 emphasis, fumbling the while with a brown paper- 
 covered pamphlet, " a circular on the subject of 
 taking over charge." 
 
 "What circular?" interrupted Maung Gyi, while 
 Maung Pyu drummed harder than ever against the 
 cage bars. Neither of the Myo-oks had looked for 
 opposition from this paragon of submissiveness. 
 Maung Gyi transfixed his subordinate with a trucu- 
 lent glare, but the head clerk was not to be deterred 
 by glances even of the fiercest. 
 
 "A circular of the Local Government's," he per- 
 sisted, fingering his papers. " A circular that lays 
 down that " 
 
 Maung Gyi retired in good order before the circular. 
 A lightning glance had shown him that support was 
 not to be looked for from the relieving officer. 
 
 " Ah, that circular ! " he exclaimed. " I had for- 
 gotten the orders in the circular." 
 
 " Yes, I had forgotten the circular," sighed Maung 
 
THE MYO-OK 125 
 
 Pyu. "In that case we must — we had better not 
 defer the matter." 
 
 There was a pause. Maung So, with downcast 
 eyes, was meekly refreshing his memory from the 
 printed page he held. The two Myo-oks stood silent. 
 At last Maung Gyi broke out with a fretful growl. 
 
 " It is a great nuisance," he cried, " when there is 
 a dacoity to inquire into that we should not be 
 able to put the thing off for a time ; and yet, 
 I suppose " 
 
 " An intolerable nuisance," grumbled Maung Pyu. 
 " I really do not see why we should not do as we 
 like in the matter ; and yet, I suppose " 
 
 " Shall I read the circular ? " said Maung So in 
 bland inquiry. 
 
 " No, it is unnecessary," said the Myo-oks together. 
 
 There was silence for a further space ; then Maung 
 Gyi, with a grunt of resignation, approached the safe 
 and laid a fat fist on the handle. The attendants 
 drew closer, 
 
 " Where is the cash-book ? " he said sulkily. 
 
 He had only just handed it to Maung So, who 
 produced it briskly from underneath his arm. 
 
 " What should the closing balance be ? " he asked. 
 
 " Rupees, five hundred and twenty-six ; annas, 
 eight ; and pies, ten only : that is, exclusive " 
 
 " Of the amount sent yesterday ? " 
 
 " Exactly, your Honour." 
 
 " Rupees, five hundred and twenty-six " began 
 
 Maung Pyu mechanically. 
 
 "Eight, ten," said Maung So, cutting glibly in. 
 " The day before yesterday it was four thousand five 
 hundred and twenty-six ; annas, eight ; and pies, ten. 
 
126 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 The remittance of the four thousand has reduced it to 
 the present amount." 
 
 Maung Gyi snatched pettishly at the cash-book 
 and subjected it to a lengthy examination, at the end 
 of which he admitted surlily that the balance was as 
 stated by the head clerk. 
 
 " Shall I open the safe, your Honour ? " inquired 
 Maung So. 
 
 " No, I can open it myself," muttered Maung Gyi. 
 He inserted the key in the lock with an impatient 
 gesture, turned it, and then, grasping the handle, 
 pulled. 
 
 The door of the safe was heavy ; its hinges were 
 in woeful need of oil, and moved noisily and with 
 deliberation. Their screech, as they turned, re-echoed 
 through the police-station, and seemed to be caught 
 up and to merge into a shrill, not dissimilar sound, 
 which, a moment later, resolved itself into a distant, 
 plaintive, long-drawn whistle, three times repeated. 
 
 Maung Gyi lifted his head alert, his fingers still 
 grasping the safe-handle. " A steamer ! " he ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 " A launch ! " cried Maung Pyu, and other voices 
 took up the tale and said, "A Government launch ! " 
 
 There was a general movement to the nearest 
 of the shuttered windows. Side by side the two 
 Myo-oks peered out over the heads of the peons and 
 police. 
 
 The police-station stood on rising ground. Below 
 and beyond the river spread majestic, five hundred 
 yards from bank to bank, winding away past white 
 sand stretches and verdant plantain groves, till it 
 disappeared, a couple of miles above the town, behind 
 
THE MYO-OK 127 
 
 a rocky, pagoda-crowned promontory. Blue were 
 the hills beyond, blue the waters that shone in the 
 evening sun ; and down the centre of that broad, 
 blue ribbon came ploughing a sturdy, white steam 
 launch, poised below a black, tapering cloud of 
 smoke. 
 
 " It is the Deputy Commissioner's launch ! " ex- 
 claimed Maung Pyu. 
 
 " He has received the telegram, and has come 
 himself to inquire about the robbery ! " cried Maung 
 Gyi. 
 
 " We must go down and meet him," said Maung 
 Pyu. 
 
 " Of course, at once ! " exclaimed Maung Gyi. 
 
 The two Myo-oks looked at each other, and Maung 
 Gyi, sighing deeply, slammed the safe door to with a 
 bang. 
 
 " At once ! " he said, as though to emphasise his 
 action. " And so the making over of the Treasury 
 will have to be deferred, eh ? Say for a day or two." 
 
 " Or longer, if necessary." 
 
 " Or longer, if necessary. Do you agree, Myo-ok 
 Min ? " 
 
 " I have the honour to concur," said Maung Pyu, 
 sliding suddenly into English. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 ANYONE would have thought that I had been 
 long enough in the country to have learnt not 
 to be put out by trifles of this kind ; but really it was 
 most inconvenient. It was my own fault, too, largely. 
 I ought to have known by this time that with a pwe, 
 and such a pwe, going on in his own particular 
 quarter of the town, my charming youth would have 
 no time whatever to spare on me, and should have 
 made my arrangements accordingly. But no, I 
 must needs fondly imagine that, as I had made a 
 special point of it, he would condescend to be back 
 in time for dinner. I had made a very special point 
 of it, because my guests happened on that particular 
 night to be the Grimhursts. It was the first time I 
 had entertained them all since the ladies' return from 
 Rangoon, and I was anxious to show Mrs. Grimhurst 
 that, while declining to be on all points amenable to 
 her wishes, I was determined that our relations should 
 be of the friendliest. I had wanted everything to 
 go off smoothly, and, of course, when I came back 
 from the club to dress I found everything upside 
 down. The soda, Maung San Dun's special depart- 
 ment, had not been put out to cool ; there were only 
 two clean napkins to be found, and either Maung 
 Nyo or Maung San (the account varied according as 
 
 128 
 
THE MYO-OK 129 
 
 Maung San or Maung Nyo recounted the details of 
 the enormity) had achieved the destruction of my 
 sixth sherry glass. I knew that the dinner itself 
 would be all right. On that I could rely. My 
 Madrasi cook never succumbs till the psychological 
 moment is past. When the dessert is safely on the 
 table he sternly annexes four bottles of beer and 
 retires to his quarters. Then I understand they do 
 well who give his "go-down" a wide berth. That, 
 however, is neither here nor there ; his innings never 
 begins until the dessert is on the table. If next 
 morning he is compos mentis and his wife moder- 
 ately intact, I generally overlook the beer, and all is 
 forgiven and forgotten. I only wish Maung San 
 Dun were as charmingly methodical in his dissipa- 
 tions. 
 
 I knew she would notice it, though things were 
 fairly shipshape by the time we sat down. The 
 missing napkins had been found (underneath Maung 
 San Dun's sleeping-mat in the lamp-room), I had to 
 do without a sherry glass, and the soda was, after all, 
 not very fiery ; but I could tell by her eyebrows, 
 before they brought the fish, that she had taken note. 
 Nothing ever seems to escape that terrible woman. 
 Presently out it came. 
 
 "Where is that nice-looking boy of yours, Mr. 
 Rymington ? " she asked. " I don't see him here 
 to-night." 
 
 " No," I said defiantly. " He's not here." 
 
 " Indeed, you don't say so ! What has happened ? 
 You surely have not got rid of him ? " 
 
 " Far from it," I made answer. " He has got rid 
 of me, but only temporarily. I am too useful to 
 K 
 
130 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 throw over for good. No, it's only for the night, I 
 imagine. Listen ! " and I enjoined silence with an 
 impressive forefinger. 
 
 The dining-room doors were open. The night 
 was still, and through the moonlit air came, borne 
 from afar, the sound of revelry — a quick chorus of 
 laughter, rising suddenly and sharply from many 
 throats, and forthwith drowned in the crash of an 
 uncouth orchestra. 
 
 " That last one must have been a spicy one," 
 observed Williams half to himself, while the Com- 
 missioner's lady brought her pince-nez to bear on me 
 with a jerk. 
 
 " You don't mean to say," she ejaculated, " that you 
 have given your boy leave to spend the night at the 
 pwe ! " 
 
 I don't know what concern it was of hers, but I 
 answered with, at any rate, an outward display of 
 civility, " Certainly not." 
 
 " Then I suppose he has gone without leave," she 
 said. 
 
 " Leave or no leave, he has gone," I made reply. 
 " It is part of the compact. After all, when you 
 come to think of it, I never ask his leave to invite 
 guests to the house on his pwe nights, and I have 
 never known him complain — never." 
 
 " I should think not, indeed. Did it never occur 
 to you to tell him not to go ? " 
 
 " Curiously enough, it did, Mrs. Grimhurst," I re- 
 plied, with engaging candour; "and if I had thought 
 it would have occurred to him to do what I told him 
 to, I might have pressed the point. But no, Heaven 
 forbid that I should pile the sin of disobedience on 
 
THE MYO-OK 131 
 
 to his other crimes — the child is far from immaculate 
 as it is." 
 
 " But surely to-night," cried Mrs. Williams, for the 
 elder lady's face, now turned towards her entree, 
 showed that she considered me past praying for. 
 
 " Ah, to-night ! Yes, I must admit that to-night I 
 did point out to him how great a benefit he would be 
 conferring on me by being back in time for dinner," I 
 said ; " but I must further explain, in justice to the 
 youth, that I was not aware at the time of the ex- 
 ceptional nature of the attraction." 
 
 " What is the attraction ? " 
 
 " You see, I thought that it was only a common or 
 garden pwe, performers from Tantabin, or perhaps 
 even from Nyaungbinhla. Instead of that, what is it 
 but a Mandalay troupe, if you please. Ma Twe Gale's 
 own particular little show ! " 
 
 "And who is Ma Twe Gale?" This from Mrs. 
 Williams, while Mrs. Grimhurst sniffed the sniff of 
 the scornful. 
 
 " What, Mrs. Williams ! " I exclaimed, " not know 
 the great prima donna, the Patti, the Taglioni of 
 Burma ? A star of the very first magnitude, I assure 
 you. You have no idea what Maung San Dun would 
 have missed had he weakly consented to attend here 
 at dinner to-night. Ma Tw^ Gales are not to be 
 seen and heard every night of the week, believe me. 
 If you cared to go round for half an hour or so after 
 dinner, I could arrange with the thugyi about chairs 
 and fans, or if you preferred " 
 
 But Mrs. Grimhurst, whom I had included in the 
 latter portion of my question, would have none of 
 Ma Twe Gale or the pwe. " Thanks ; I am afraid it 
 
132 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 will be a little too chilly," she said. " You think so, 
 don't you, Mrs. Williams ? It will be pleasanter in 
 your comfortable drawing-room, thanks, Mr. Ryming- 
 ton. Winifred has seen several pwes already, haven't 
 you, dear ? Yes, I think we will stop in the house." 
 
 " Besides, our coming might make Maung San Dun 
 uncomfortable," exclaimed Mrs. Williams archly. 
 " Anything to spare his feelings, poor man 1 " 
 
 " True," I said, " I had forgotten Maung San Dun. 
 Yes, rather than spoil his evening I think we had 
 better stop away." 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst gazed at me in majestic silence for 
 a moment, as though charitably waiting till she could 
 speak without saying something unkind. " Now do 
 you mean to say, Mr. Rymington," she said at last, 
 " that you will do absolutely nothing to that boy to- 
 morrow ? " 
 
 " That will depend greatly upon my frame of mind 
 as well as his," I said ; " but I think I shall fine him. 
 Yes, it is not improbable that I shall fine him." 
 
 "And do you imagine that that will do any good?" 
 
 " It will do my pocket good to the extent of a 
 rupee or two, provided, of course, I do not remit 
 later." 
 
 '' But him, I mean — do you suppose that it will do 
 him the least good ? I doubt it myself very much." 
 
 " It will furnish him with further data for his mis- 
 demeanour tariff ; that is about all." 
 
 " I don't understand," she said. 
 
 " He will get from the fine a rough idea of how 
 much it will cost him to repeat an experiment of this 
 kind. Next time he will count up and calculate. If 
 he is not quite sure that the fun is worth the fine, he 
 
THE MYO-OK 133 
 
 will deny himself. If he is sure (if, for instance, 
 another star visits Shwedan), he will mentally add to 
 his gate money two rupees — or one, or three, as the 
 case may be (it all depends how I feel to-morrow) — 
 and stop away from dinner." 
 
 " If you must have Burman servants," put in Grim- 
 hurst, stroking a dejected moustache, " why don't you 
 make your fines really deterrent ? " 
 
 " Two or three rupees," I said, " will probably cover 
 all ordinary cases. A recurrence of Ma Tw^ Gale 
 may be left out of consideration in our calculations. 
 Her case is, on the face of it, exceptional. It is like 
 a transit of Venus. The ordinary rules cannot be 
 held to apply. Nothing short of capital punishment 
 would be really deterrent there. I doubt whether 
 that would, as a matter of fact, deter. No ; in the 
 present case the fine can only be a nominal one." 
 
 " But perhaps the poor boy has some good excuse 
 all this time,'' urged Mrs. Williams. " He may have 
 been unavoidably detained." 
 
 " Yes ; I imagine the poor boy will have a good 
 excuse," said Grimhurst dryly, " or at any rate one 
 that he considers good. I should not be very much 
 surprised if he had more than one." 
 
 " A good excuse !" I exclaimed. " By the time he 
 sees me to-morrow (provided, of course, it suits him to 
 come back to-morrow) he will have half a score of 
 excellent excuses ; and what is more, despite his 
 embarras des rickesses, it is as likely as not that the 
 genuine one will pop out first. The time slipped by, 
 no doubt ; a friend suddenly told him the hour ; he 
 discovered that it was already past dinner-time, and 
 finding that he would be late in any case, stopped on. 
 
134 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 not wishing to cause me needless pain by his sudden 
 apparition during dinner ; or else he went to sleep ; 
 or else he . Oh, he will have lots of excuses ! " 
 
 " Well," said Mrs. Grimhurst, summing up judicially, 
 " all I can say is that if people will have Burman 
 servants, they must just take the consequences." 
 
 I smiled sweetly upon her. " That," I said, " is the 
 conclusion at which those who have Burman servants 
 have for the most part arrived. But do you consider 
 that you have ever given Burmans a fair trial ? " 
 I pursued, while Mrs. Williams interpolated reflect- 
 ively, " I had a good one once." 
 
 " A fair trial ! " she cried, with asperity. " For the 
 first five years I was in Burma practically all my 
 servants were Burmans. I bore with a succession of 
 boys for five whole years ; they came and they went. 
 they came back and they left a second time. One 
 stayed with me for six months — six months, wasn't 
 it, George ? No, not seven ; you have forgotten — six, 
 I am sure. Six months, yes, that was the longest ; the 
 rest never stopped more than three months at a time. 
 One or two bolted the day after I had engaged them." 
 
 " Indeed ! " I exclaimed ; but I was not in the least 
 surprised. I could well picture to myself the youths' 
 precipitate flight. 
 
 " The very next day," she reiterated, warming to 
 her narrative. " None of them knew the work they 
 came to do. One man who professed to be able to 
 do table work we found had only done one month's 
 service in a European household in his life, and that 
 was two years before, as a grass-cutter ! " 
 
 "Was he one of the lot that bolted the day after?" 
 I inquired. 
 
THE MYO-OK 135 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst pursed up her mouth and nodded 
 her head significantly. " He was," she said, and 
 Grimhurst chuckled, reminiscent. 
 
 " I have no doubt the beggar thought he was per- 
 fectly well qualified, all the same," said Williams. 
 
 " He did. He said he thought one class of service 
 was very much like the other ; that if he could cut 
 grass he could wait at table ; that, in any case, he 
 could learn to wait in a day or two. Needless to 
 say, he did not get an opportunity of learning. 
 Others did, though, but not one of them tried to 
 learn a thing. It was like so many children of five 
 or six. They would do anything — anything you 
 wanted except their work ; to avoid doing it they 
 would put themselves to any trouble and incon- 
 venience. They would always do somebody else's. 
 I used to make them do each other's work some- 
 times, and for a day or two the zeal would be tre- 
 mendous, but only for a day or two. At the end 
 of the five years I gave up in disgust. No, give me 
 natives of India." And she sipped her claret 
 defiantly. 
 
 "Your standard is, perhaps, rather high," I suggested. 
 
 " That may be so," she made answer. " I daresay 
 it is, but I can bring my native servants up to it, or 
 very nearly. Now Anthony, my table boy " 
 
 I looked up. Anthony, the English-speaking, was 
 standing behind his mistress's chair, hiding a spacious 
 yawn behind a white cotton-gloved hand, which the 
 mention of his name brought away with great rapidity 
 to his side. I looked at Anthony, everybody looked 
 at Anthony, and Mrs. Grimhurst, divining where the 
 subject of her speech was, broke rapidly off. 
 
136 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " I don't think my standard is much higher than 
 most ladies," she exclaimed. " Very few ladies that 
 I have met can put up with Burman servants. Of 
 course " — and she gazed significantly at me — " they 
 may do well enough for bachelors, but " 
 
 " They are excellent amateurs," I cried, trying hard 
 to head her off on to less dangerous ground, but 
 Mrs. Williams spoilt it all by chiming in. 
 
 " Well, after all," she said, '' Mr. Rymington is only 
 a bachelor." 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst needed no more. " So he is ! so 
 he is ! " she exclaimed, and her tone of veiled re- 
 proach seemed to show my condition up in the light 
 of a personal slight on the sex in general. "Still" 
 — and her voice took on a more buoyant note — '" still, 
 he will not always be a bachelor. Well, Mr. Ryming- 
 ton, you must not be surprised if, when you marry, 
 the first thing your wife does is to pack all your 
 beloved Burmans out of the house." 
 
 I raised my eyebrows with a shrug of resignation. 
 " I shall not be in the least surprised," I made answer 
 — "not in the least. If ever I find I have been weak 
 enough to commit the amazing indiscretion to which 
 you refer, I shall be astonished at nothing. Life will 
 have nothing more to offer me in the way of sur- 
 prises." 
 
 I can hardly be called a misogamist ; in fact, I 
 understand that I am looked upon as rather the 
 reverse. It was all Mrs. Grimhurst. For me she 
 was at all times so terrifying a product of matrimony 
 that to be ten minutes in her company was to dis- 
 cover in the joys of single blessedness a charm they 
 had never before possessed, while to hear her cast my 
 
THE MYO-OK 137 
 
 celibacy in my teeth, while her nefarious designs 
 upon that blessed state were still fresh in my memory, 
 was to transform me for the moment into the most 
 rabid of women-haters. I object to having young 
 ladies, and uninteresting young ladies, pressed upon 
 me. If I were an Adonis or an Admirable Crichton, 
 the case might be different ; but unfortunately I am 
 neither, and accordingly I do not consider such 
 attentions flattering. The time has yet to come 
 when mothers of the type of the Commissioner's lady 
 select sons-in-law on account of their virtues, their 
 abilities, or their personal attractions. Had I not 
 happened, as Deputy Commissioner, to be pecuniarily 
 the most eligible bachelor in the station, I have no 
 doubt that that excellent woman would have found 
 much to take exception to in my morals, no less 
 than in my profile, my colouring, and my deplorable 
 short-sightedness. My character, as characters in 
 Burma go, is fairly satisfactory ; so far as I have 
 been able to gather, I am not repulsively ugly ; yet 
 I know well enough that my reputation might have 
 been threadbare and my looks appalling for all Mrs. 
 Grimhurst cared when she selected my battered heart 
 out from among the other battered hearts of Shwedan 
 to lay vicarious siege to. No, there were a host of 
 better men than me to choose from, but, inasmuch 
 as none of them drew anything like the same number 
 of depreciated rupees or had the same " prospects " 
 (Heaven save the mark !) as I, they were utterly and 
 entirely out of the running. It was my paltry " three 
 hundred a year alive or dead " that had worked the 
 spell, and you may well conceive if the idea were 
 gratifying. 
 
138 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 Thus it was that when Mrs. Grimhurst saddled me 
 with a prospective wife, I thought fit to kick. My 
 retort was crude enough in all conscience ; how crude 
 I did not realise till the words were out of my mouth. 
 There is no valid reason, when a man has been twelve 
 years in the country and has had time to make up 
 his mind, why he should not be allowed to give out 
 that he intends living and dying a bachelor, but when 
 I remembered all that the elder lady had been plan- 
 ning on her daughter's behalf, it struck me as being 
 not in the very best of taste for me to imply so 
 plainly that it was in vain that the fowler was 
 spreading his net in the sight of the bird. It was 
 too deliberate and pointed, and for a moment I was 
 sorry I had spoken. Nobody else, however, seemed 
 to share my pangs. Mrs. Grimhurst smiled rather 
 sourly, the others only laughed ; all but Miss Grim- 
 hurst. She sat silent (she always does sit silent 
 when her mother is present) and looked down her 
 nose. Her manner was just a little marked. Even 
 Williams noticed it, and with an amiable but ill- 
 judged effort to put us all at our ease he turned 
 towards her. 
 
 " Do you hear that. Miss Grimhurst ? " he ex- 
 claimed. " There's a confession, if you like. Despair- 
 ing news, that, for the ladies, isn't it ? " 
 
 My lady made no reply at first. She continued 
 to look down her nose in her mother's best manner ; 
 though that organ, being cheerfully tiptilted, not, 
 like Mrs. Grimhurst's, a majestic aquiline, the effect 
 was not quite so impressive as in the original. 
 Presently she said, without raising her eyes, " I 
 suppose Mr. Rymington knows his own mind," and 
 
THE MYO-OK 139 
 
 then, as a kind of afterthought, " It's a great thing to 
 have made up one's mind," and went on eating. 
 
 I applauded — mentally, of course. The after- 
 thought struck me as being a trifle superfluous, but 
 I approved generally of the position the young 
 woman showed she had taken up. She clearly 
 appreciated her mother's plans for the pair of us as 
 little as I did, and I was glad to see that she had at 
 last had spirit enough to let it be known, for once and 
 all, what she felt. Where Mrs. Grimhurst was con- 
 cerned, it was by no means easy to ascertain what 
 were the views and aspirations of those who thought 
 differently from that lady, but I had already had one 
 or two pretty plain hints that the daughter was not 
 displaying that disposition to fall into line that the 
 fond parent considered she had a right to expect. 
 I had gathered this from mutinous words dropped 
 from time to time by the girl at the club, at tennis, or 
 at the Grimhursts' house, since the return from Ran- 
 goon ; still, never till now had she shown so plainly 
 that her role of victim was as irksome as mine was 
 to me. How long her present frame of mind had 
 possessed her I could not say. Before the ladies 
 went south, Mrs. Grimhurst's tactics had been less 
 of an offensive than of a defensive nature. I had 
 seen practically nothing of the daughter then. The 
 mother's energies at the time had been so devoted 
 to keeping her precious charge away from Knight, an 
 impecunious inspector of police, whom she suspected 
 of " designs," that Miss Grimhurst barely appeared 
 in public at all. I had only recently taken over 
 charge of the district when the visit to Rangoon took 
 place, and had not then had time to qualify for the 
 
I40 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 position I found imperceptibly thrust upon me after 
 the return of the ladies from Lower Burma. Rumour 
 had it that the trip was the outcome of a crisis, the 
 result of Knight's misguided devotion, and the young 
 man's subsequent transfer to the Kachin Hills was 
 always adduced as a proof of Mrs. Grimhurst's power 
 of working the oracle at headquarters. My own idea 
 was that the crisis was a figment, if not of the station's, 
 at any rate of Mrs. Grimhurst's brain. I could not 
 imagine that the girl, who, if she were nothing else, 
 was practical, could ever have been impressed enough 
 with Knight to make a flitting in mid-monsoon a 
 necessity. What Knight could have seen in her (if, 
 indeed, he had seen anything, which I take upon me 
 to doubt) had always been a puzzle to me. Knight 
 was a shallow youth, a feather-headed young jackan- 
 apes, the very last person to be attracted by a silent 
 creature with a white face and a large mouth, whose 
 sole redeeming features were a practical view of 
 things in general and a keen, unreasoning affection 
 for a rather uninteresting, hen-pecked father. There 
 was absolutely nothing about Miss Grimhurst to 
 appeal to Knight or to anyone except her common 
 sense. That quality she certainly possessed. She 
 showed it by her very rational appreciation of the 
 odiousness of her position, and I rather liked her for 
 the downright way in which she had shown her 
 feelings. I realised from that moment that there 
 was a bond of sympathy between us in that we were 
 making common cause against the mother's schem- 
 ings. At the same time it struck me — as I have 
 already remarked — that the afterthought was just a 
 trifle uncalled for. I may have been wrong, but it 
 
THE MYO-OK 141 
 
 seemed to me that, like myself, she had shown her 
 hand perhaps a thought too plainly. I suppose the 
 same thing occurred to the others. There was a 
 mild sensation round the table, and Mrs. Grimhurst 
 smiled more sourly than ever. Somehow, it is one 
 thing for a young man to fold his arms, look stern, 
 and declare ardently, " I shall never marry," and 
 another for a maiden to up forthwith and make 
 reply, " I don't much care if you don't." Where the 
 difference comes in it is hard to say, for what is sauce 
 for the hot-headed gander is doubtless also sauce for 
 the defiant goose ; but still there is a difference, and, 
 as Miss Grimhurst delivered herself of her sentiment, 
 it was reflected in the faces of the assembled com- 
 pany. Mrs. Grimhurst, as I have said, smiled more 
 sourly than ever, but with an incredulous air withal, 
 as though she had learnt by experience what weight 
 was to be given to unconsidered ramblings of this 
 kind, and Mrs. Williams burst out with a nervous 
 inquiry as to when I was next going out into camp, 
 and in what direction. 
 
 " When ? " I said, unwillingly relinquishing my 
 hold upon the last subject. " When ? Next week, I 
 imagine. In what direction I can't say just at 
 present ; down the river, I think. Why ? Do you 
 want the Burglar?" 
 
 " No, thanks," she made answer. " I am not going 
 out with Toby this cold weather." 
 
 " What ! so the virtuous fit is over ! " I laughed. 
 " I thought it couldn't last much longer. So Toby 
 will have to sew his own buttons on in camp this 
 time." 
 
 " I really haven't energy enough," she pleaded. 
 
142 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " It will be mostly tank work this year, and I cannot 
 stand tanks. No, I made up my mind last year, 
 when we were both laid up together at Gwebingauk 
 and the hospital assistant nearly finished us off, that 
 I had had about enough of camp life." 
 
 " Well, it has lasted longer with you than with 
 most of them," I said. " You have stood two cold 
 weathers, haven't you ? " 
 
 "Yes, and I should really have tried again this 
 year if it had not been for that horrid fever." 
 
 " And that horrid hospital assistant. Yes, I re- 
 member now ; the labels got mixed, didn't they ? 
 Toby started by rubbing your fever mixture on ; 
 that was it, wasn't it ? So the mistake was found 
 out before you had a chance of drinking his 
 embrocation." 
 
 " That was practically it. It was a great mercy 
 it wasn't the other way round." 
 
 " It was a great mercy for the hospital assistant. 
 Yes, after that experience, no wonder you thought 
 you had had about enough of it. And, after all, two 
 cold weathers is not at all bad. I have seen a good 
 deal of the young bride who vows that she will never 
 let the beloved go into camp without her. As a rule, 
 the first couple of months does for her. No, two 
 cold weathers is distinctly good " ; and I beamed 
 patronisingly upon her. 
 
 " What is distinctly good ? " inquired Mrs. Grim- 
 hurst from my other elbow. 
 
 " I was speaking of Mrs. Williams' devotion to 
 that husband of hers," I said; "always going out into 
 camp with him when she can — at any rate, in the 
 cold weather." 
 
THE MYO-OK 143 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst adjusted her pince-nez and spoke 
 across me to Mrs. Williams, patting the tablecloth 
 emphatically the while with her hand. 
 
 " For the first ten years after I was married," she 
 said, " I never once let Mr. Grimhurst go into camp 
 without me." 
 
 " What, rains and all ? " I inquired. 
 
 " Rains and all. Not once did he go without me. 
 As you know, I very often go out with him now." 
 
 "Rains and all!" I repeated. "Excellent! By 
 the way, Mrs. Grimhurst, that — er — that wife of 
 mine " 
 
 " That wife of yours ? " 
 
 " Yes, the lady you spoke of just now who is going 
 to evict all my Burmans. Pardon my curiosity ; 
 you see, I am naturally rather anxious to learn all 
 I can about her. Can you tell me whether she is 
 going out into camp with me ? She will have rather 
 a poor time of it, I am afraid." 
 
 " I hope," said Mrs. Grimhurst rather stiffly, " that 
 she will do everything that a good wife ought to do." 
 
 Her reply to my not over-brilliant sally was 
 decidedly ambiguous, but she allowed no doubt to 
 linger in our minds as to what her conception of 
 the wifely duty was, for she repeated a moment later, 
 with her eyes on her husband. 
 
 " Yes, even now I always try to go out with him 
 when he travels on the Mosstrooper." 
 
 Then Grimhurst opened his mouth, and there was 
 a note of meek defiance in his voice. 
 
 " You won't be able to go with me this month," 
 he said. "The Mosstrooper is going down to 
 Mandalay for repairs." 
 
144 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " What a nuisance ! " she exclaimed. " Then how 
 about your sessions at Thetpan ? " 
 
 " Oh, I shall go down in the Mosstrooper, get 
 dropped at Thetpan, send her on to Mandalay, and 
 come back by flotilla steamer, or somehow." 
 
 " Will the flotilla steamer suit ? " I asked. 
 
 " Not very well, I am afl-aid," he said. " But still, 
 that can't be helped. I may possibly be able to 
 borrow a launch from somebody down there to come 
 back in. Oh, I shall be all right." 
 
 " A launch ? " cried Mrs. Grimhurst. " What 
 launches have they down there ? Not a single 
 comfortable one, I'll be bound — things like the 
 Katha or the Guttersnipe, all rats and cockroaches ! 
 No, why should you put yourself out ? I am sure 
 Mr. Rymington will lend you the Burglar. I think 
 I heard you say just now that you didn't want her, 
 Mrs. Williams. Will you lend my husband your 
 launch, Mr. Rymington, to come up from Thet- 
 pan in?" 
 
 " Oh, don't bother about me," protested Grimhurst ; 
 " I shall be all right " I was silent ; I had stopped 
 to consider dates. 
 
 " No," she insisted, " I am not going to have you 
 put out, George. Will you lend the Commissioner 
 the Burglar, Mr. Rymington ? Or rather, will you 
 lend me and Winifred the Burglar to go down and 
 fetch him up from Thetpan in ? A little river trip 
 would do you a great deal of good, Winifred, I am 
 sure. Don't you think so, Mr. Rymington ? " 
 
 I had considered dates. It was rather inconvenient 
 lending the boat just then, but I could hardly refuse 
 to do so when I was asked like this. Besides, I was 
 
THE MYO-OK 145 
 
 not sorry of an opportunity of showing Miss Grim- 
 hurst that I bore her no ill-will ; nay, rather that 
 I was grateful to her for the outspokenness that had 
 placed matters between us on so clear and satisfactory 
 a footing. 
 
 " I shall be very happy, Mrs. Grimhurst," I said, 
 with my grandest air, " to lend you and Miss Grim- 
 hurst the launch. I have no doubt a little river trip 
 will do Miss Grimhurst a great deal of good." 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst did not reply, but favoured me 
 with a gracious inclination. Her manner showed 
 that she had condescended to treat the offer as a 
 propitiation for my recent lapse from good taste. 
 
 My guests left early. Mrs. Grimhurst eschewed 
 late hours, and took good care to see that her charges 
 did not keep her out of bed after half-past ten. 
 
 " Well, don't you think we were better off here 
 than at the pwe ? " she asked. 
 
 We were all congregated in the verandah at the 
 head of the steps. The men were discussing a final 
 mild peg each. A stern voice had just forbidden 
 Grimhurst to take a last cheroot, as it would keep 
 him up too late. 
 
 " I think perhaps we were," I made answer as I 
 helped her on with her cloak ; and I said what I 
 meant. We had, on the whole, had a very pleasant 
 evening. Mrs. Grimhurst had insisted on drawing 
 my old piano from its obscurity, and successive 
 victims had been dragged to it to sing to her accom- 
 paniment. Mrs. Williams had obliged, I had followed 
 suit ; and for a while Grimhurst had disappeared 
 from view behind the instrument, doubled up in his 
 short-sighted efforts to follow the words of a rollick- 
 L 
 
146 THE MYO-OK 
 
 ing, dare-devil ballad, the burden of which rose up at 
 times, lamblike, over the jangling of the chords. Yes, 
 we had all had a very pleasant evening, even Miss 
 Grimhurst. Having said her little say, she seemed 
 to breathe the easier, and, so long as the Gorgon 
 presided at the piano, was almost expansive to 
 Williams, and actually spoke to me once without 
 being spoken to. 
 
 " And you won't forget about the Burglar, will 
 you ? " added Mrs. Grimhurst, as we shook hands. 
 
 " No, I won't," I said. " When do you want her ? " 
 
 " Let me see. Sessions on Friday next. Say 
 about Tuesday week, to-day being Monday. By 
 the way, will you come to tennis to-morrow ? " 
 
 " I am sorry I can't," I said. " I am going out 
 into camp to-morrow." 
 
 " Till when ? " 
 
 " Till Monday week." 
 
 "It looks as if you were trying to avoid us," she 
 exclaimed. 
 
 " 1 have to fit things in," I laughed. " Anyway, I 
 shall be back in time for you to have the Burglar. 
 Good night." 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 MY first thought, as I crumpled the lemon- 
 coloured envelope up and dropped it into the 
 waste-paper basket, was one of thankfulness that the 
 telegram it contained had not arrived half an hour 
 later. My next set me calculating how much time I 
 had to catch the boat in. I looked at my watch. 
 The Burglar was not likely to start for another half- 
 hour. It was past seven already, however, so there 
 was not much time to spare. In view of the sex of 
 the travellers, I had allowed for a certain margin of 
 delay, but as I had settled to see them ofiF, I should 
 in any case have had to start almost directly for the 
 shore myself As it was, I thought I could get away 
 without even detaining the vessel. A word to Maung 
 San Dun sufficed. Sudden moves are the daily lot 
 of my household. Everything was in train before 
 my pony had been saddled. It is in emergencies 
 like this that the Burman so far forgets himself as to 
 rise to the occasion. Packing was in a moment in 
 full swing, upstairs and down ; plate rattled omin- 
 ously on plate; straw rustled on this side and on 
 that ; one of the boys had raced off to summon a 
 cart ; fowls were being hauled in under protest from 
 remote corners of the compound, to serve as nutri- 
 ment for the journey ; and by the time I tittupped 
 
 147 
 
148 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 off to the steamer ghat there was every promise of 
 my goods and chattels being at the boat almost as 
 soon as I was. 
 
 I had not, however, much time to spare. The 
 arrival of the telegram and the issue of the necessary 
 orders had delayed me a few minutes, and the ladies 
 were almost aboard when I swung myself off my 
 pony opposite the little white fussing stern-wheeler. 
 Mrs. Grimhurst was already in mid-gangway, an arm 
 on the shoulder of each of the two lascars who waded 
 alongside the planks, full of shrill-toned indignation 
 at the inadequacy of the approach from the boat to 
 the vessel. Miss Grimhurst was still on the bank, 
 and for the space of half a minute at least we stood, 
 almost side by side, watching the shipment of the 
 elder lady without her noticing me. When the 
 mother was safely on board she turned with a little 
 kind of sigh, and catching sight of me, smiled a 
 half-reluctant smile, positively the first I had ever 
 seen her vouchsafe. I smiled back at her, partly 
 because, with the memory of that broad, white-robed 
 figure with its two supporters in blue dungaree still 
 before my eyes, it was impossible to do otherwise, 
 partly because her smile had transfigured the girl's 
 face in a way that almost startled me. It was a 
 revelation, nothing more nor less, and revelations 
 of this kind, even when they startle, are things to be 
 encouraged. 
 
 " Let me carry your golf cape," I said. 
 
 At this her eyes dropped, and she murmured, with 
 a move towards the launch, " Good morning, Mr. 
 Rymington. Thanks, don't bother about my cape, 
 please ; I think I had better go on board." 
 
THE MYO-OK 149 
 
 I thought so too. Mrs. Grimhurst was already 
 waving a white umbrella at us from the launch. 
 
 " Come on board ! Come on board ! " she shouted. 
 "You're just the very person I want to see, Mr. 
 Rymington. I am going to report all these lascars 
 to you." 
 
 I groaned inwardly in spirit and turned towards 
 the gangway, and again my eyes caught Miss Grim- 
 hurst's. She gave me another look, half pleading, 
 half comical. " Bear with her," it seemed to say, and 
 for the sake of that transfigured face I formed a high 
 resolve to bear with Mrs. Grimhurst. 
 
 " I am going to report all these lascars to you," she 
 said again. 
 
 Someone had fetched her a chair from above, and 
 she sat, with her gold-rimmed pince-nez in her lap, 
 fanning herself truculently on the lower deck. Her 
 voice rose shrill above the cackling of the scran^'s 
 fowls in the coop beside her and the hissing of the 
 engines at her back. 
 
 " Did you ever hear of anything so disgraceful ? " 
 she exclaimed. 
 
 " What is it ? " I asked. 
 
 " I don't know how these men think we usually 
 get on to steamers," she ejaculated. " One would 
 think they took us for rope-dancers. Would you 
 believe it ! One single wobbling plank to walk on 
 board on — one wobbling plank, and not a sign of a 
 handrail ! I should like to know what the Marine 
 Department are about, allowing things of this kind." 
 
 "Iniquitous!" I exclaimed fervently, taking strength 
 to myself by a side glance at Miss Grimhurst. " Posi- 
 tively iniquitous ! I hope you made them put a 
 
I50 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 second one down. Yes, I see you have, with a piece 
 of wood lashed across the centre ; that's to prevent 
 one from jumping up when the other is jumping 
 down, you see. Why didn't you make them give 
 you three, Mrs. Grimhurst? They could have put 
 you down the third one in a moment." 
 
 She waved her hand deprecatingly. " Oh, two are 
 quite enough for me," she replied, " if I have a man 
 on each side to hold on to. I am not particular, 
 thank Heaven ! I can rough it well enough, if need 
 be. But did you ever hear of anything so scandalous 
 as giving a lady only one plank to walk on board 
 on? I should have been up to my ankles in the 
 middle if I had gone on ; I could see that. I told 
 all the lascars that they would be fined for it, and 
 I hope you will see that they are. That man 
 particularly, in blue trousers, by the engines.'' 
 
 " They all have blue trousers," I said meekly. 
 
 " I mean that thing with a stubbly beard and 
 prominent teeth. Yes, I see you, polishing your 
 machinery over there, and looking as though butter 
 wouldn't melt in your mouth. That wretch had the 
 face, Mr. Rymington, to laugh at me as I was 
 coming on board. Please see that he is severely 
 punished. He ought to be reported to the marine 
 transport officer." 
 
 I answered reassuringly. " I will see that our friend 
 with the prominent teeth does not forget to-day in a 
 hurry," I said. 
 
 " Thanks. I knew I had only to speak to you, 
 Mr. Rymington. And the plank ? You will see 
 that someone is fined for that ? " 
 
 " Well," I said, " now that I come to think of it^ 
 
THE MYO-OK 151 
 
 if anybody is to be fined for that, I must be, for 
 I forgot to give special orders yesterday. I was 
 down here to see that everything was right, but I 
 omitted to say anything about the planks. Stupid 
 of me ! I grieve to say that I always go on board 
 myself on a single plank. That's how it was. The 
 fine shall be deducted from my next pay-bill. How 
 much shall we say ? Five rupees ? Yes, five rupees ; 
 to be recovered, in view of my impecuniosity, in 
 monthly instalments of eight annas." 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst gave me a magnanimous smile. 
 "In that case," she made reply, "we will say no 
 more about it ; though I do think these men should 
 have known, without being specially told. Shall we 
 go on to the upper deck ? " And she rose and 
 assumed her pince-nez. "After you, please, Mr. 
 Rymington. I absolutely decline to climb these 
 ladders in front of anybody. You next, Winifred ; 
 I will follow. Yes, very nice indeed, Mr. Rymington ; 
 a most comfortable - looking little launch. What, 
 curtains on the cabin windows ? Fancy ! We didn't 
 expect this, Winifred, did we? I think — humph! 
 Yes, very nice. I don't know who put them up, 
 but I think we will have them down, all the same ; 
 they look as if they might be the better for a little 
 washing. I have brought some clean ones. In the 
 brown wraps, Winifred." 
 
 " I am sure the curtains are very nice. It would 
 be a pity to take them down," exclaimed Miss Grim- 
 hurst, while I blushed to realise how wilted an aspect 
 my poor curtains put on in the fierce light of Mrs. 
 Grimhurst's critical gaze. 
 
 The daughter's protest went ignored. " I think," 
 
152 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 she went on, " that we might have the awnings down 
 this side. Will you call one of the lascars, please, 
 Mr. Rymington? Thanks; yes, everything very nice. 
 That table might be moved further out, and we must 
 have our meals behind ; there will be too much breeze 
 in front here. Besides, I am not going to eat my 
 breakfast right under the steersman's nose. I see 
 they have swept the deck. It is a little bit cramped 
 for room, isn't it? Not so spacious as the Moss- 
 trooper, perhaps, but still we shall be able to manage. 
 I don't think we shall need that old dhurri on the 
 floor. One of Mr. Rymington's own, is it ? In that 
 case please don't move it. Why, Mr. Rymington, 
 you're not letting anybody else go down with us, are 
 you? There won't be room. I really cannot have 
 one of the subordinates " 
 
 " Oh, that kit ! " I exclaimed, for I saw that it was 
 the approach of my non-pretentious jungle equip- 
 ment, piled on a bullock cart, that had roused her. 
 " The kit is all right ; it's mine." 
 
 " Yours ! Why, surely I didn't understand that you 
 
 intended " The lady's flow of words was for 
 
 once stopped. 
 
 "Oh, that's all right," I said. "Only as far as 
 Myothit. We shall be there before dark. I'm sorry 
 to have to inflict myself on you, but, you see " 
 
 " Oh, we are only too pleased, I'm sure ; aren't we, 
 Winifred ? But — what were you going to say ? " 
 
 " It is this that has brought me," I said apologeti- 
 cally ; and I held out the telegram I had received 
 half an hour earlier. 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst perused the paper awhile in silence. 
 
 " I don't understand it," she cried at last, " ' Regret 
 
THE MYO-OK 153 
 
 stolen bags in jungle of police escort. Not known 
 whether committed robbery or dacoity. Police inquiring. 
 Orders solicited by wire.' What does it all mean ? " 
 
 "You will observe that the telegram has been 
 despatched from Myothit," I explained, " and that 
 it is from the township officer. I gather from it 
 that a police guard that was escorting treasure from 
 Myothit here has been robbed in the jungle, and that 
 the number of the robbers is not known." 
 
 " Have you only just received it ? " 
 
 " Less than an hour ago. That is why I could not 
 let you know beforehand. You see, the matter will 
 have to be inquired into on the spot, and immediately. 
 Mr. Gorringe is unfortunately away in camp, so is the 
 sub-divisional officer ; so, as the matter seemed serious, 
 I felt I ought to get down myself — provided, of course, 
 you don't mind. It's only as far as Myothit." 
 
 " Not at all ! not at all ! You will sleep at the 
 rest-house at Myothit, I suppose. The only thing I 
 am thinking of is that perhaps it is not quite safe 
 for us. I am certainly not going down if there are 
 robbers about, or perhaps even dacoits. Do you 
 think they could possibly have been dacoits?" 
 
 " That depends upon the number," I said. **" 
 
 " I don't see what the number has got to do with 
 it," she rejoined rather stiffly. " For my own part I 
 should be very sorry to meet a single dacoit, to say 
 nothing of half a dozen, as we may do, for all we 
 know." 
 
 " Quite so," I said ; " so would anybody. However, 
 I don't think there is any chance of your meeting 
 even one. The men are well away by this time. It 
 can be nothing organised. I don't see that you need 
 
154 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 put your trip off. You shall have a police guard at 
 Myothit, if you pass the night there, as perhaps you 
 had better do. I shall be in the rest-house just above 
 the bank, so that you need not be nervous." 
 
 " Well," she said, " I suppose you know best. I am 
 not going to run any risks, but if you think there is 
 no reason why we should not go on, on we go. 
 What do you think ? " 
 
 I gazed at her, stroking my head reflectively. She 
 certainly did not look like turning back. She was 
 enthroned in one of the deck-chairs that had been 
 brought on board. Her bag of knitting hung at her 
 elbow. She had not been ten minutes on board, but 
 already her presence pervaded the whole upper deck. 
 A Madrasi boy was arranging her blotting-pad in the 
 little cabin forward that I always use as an office- 
 room when travelling on the Burglar ; an ayah had 
 already begun removing my curtains and putting up 
 new ones ; the lascars were busy moving the table 
 and lowering the awning ; the cook's black head was 
 visible at the top of the companion — he was waiting 
 for orders for breakfast. Truly she was a wonderful 
 woman. 
 
 " What do you think ? " she repeated. 
 
 I cast one glance around ; then I turned and faced 
 her, squaring my shoulders. 
 
 " I don't think you need be frightened of dacoits," 
 I said, and she smiled grimly, for in my last speech 
 what slight emphasis there was was laid on the 
 " you." 
 
 "Very well," she said. "Let's be off. All your 
 baggage is on board, is it not ? Yes. Well, will you 
 kindly call the serang, Mr. Rymington ? " 
 
THE MYO-OK 155 
 
 The serang appeared. Never in the whole of my 
 official experience have I seen serang so abject before, 
 and yet so spick and span. He had donned clean 
 raiment since he had been the witness of the out- 
 pourings of the vials of Mrs. Grimhurst's wrath below. 
 The slipshod mufti he affects when I travel with him 
 had been discarded, and he stood salaaming, resplen- 
 dent in his newest regulation attire. 
 
 " Jao, serang," exclaimed the Commissioner's lady, 
 indicating by a comprehensive wave of a heavily be- 
 ringed hand that it was her pleasure that we should 
 cast off from the shore. " Cook, come here, up higher. 
 I can't hear you talking down there. Did you get 
 those prawns in the bazaar ? One gentleman having 
 breakfast with us. Making enough for three, do you 
 see ? What else getting in the bazaar this morning ? 
 Pigeons ? How many pigeons got ? If only two, 
 then " 
 
 The ordering of the meal was threatening to take 
 on so personal an aspect that I thought it advisable 
 to retire to the further end of the launch, as it swung 
 slowly out into mid-stream, ostensibly with the object 
 of looking after my luggage. It was a grand morning. 
 The cold weather was really barely on us yet, and 
 there was no foretaste in the air of the haze that the 
 winter months were to hang over the face of things. 
 The pagodas high up along the ridge above Shwedan 
 stood out, as we hugged the bank, like snow peaks 
 against the sky. The wooded heights were yet 
 exquisitely green, and the broken scarp of sandstone 
 between them and the blue water had in the morning 
 sun a tinge as of a ripe apricot. I found myself after 
 a while gazing dreamily out over the launch's rail at 
 
156 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 the steadily moving panorama; and it was almost 
 with a start that I realised on a sudden that Miss 
 Grimhurst was by my side. 
 
 She did not speak at first, but as I too, for my 
 part, held my peace, she presently broke the silence. 
 
 " It's a lovely view," she said. 
 
 " Beautiful," I made reply. 
 
 Then there was another pause, while the Burglar 
 thudded out a steady accompaniment to our thoughts. 
 I suppose it was because she and I were beginning to 
 understand each other, but during the pause it was 
 gradually borne in upon me that the girl had been 
 sent of set purpose by her mother to talk to and 
 amuse me. It required no effort of the imagination 
 to hear the elder lady's voice saying, " Now, Winifred, 
 go and make yourself agreeable to Mr. Rymington. 
 He looks so lonely by himself out in the bows there." 
 The injunction to be agreeable to Mr. Rymington 
 had been laid on her more than once before, I felt 
 pretty sure, and I happened to know that, on previous 
 occasions, Mr. Rymington, not less than Mrs. Grim- 
 hurst's emissary, had been at pains to see that nothing 
 more than the letter of the order was obeyed. Since 
 the episode at my dinner, however, a clearer under- 
 standing seemed to have sprung up between us, so 
 that I felt, somehow, not only that she knew what I 
 had just realised, but also took as keen a delight as I 
 did in recognising the futility of the old campaigner's 
 manoeuvres ; for when I looked at her, her mouth was 
 twitching, and when, with my eyes still on the distant 
 prospect, I murmured, " Yes, please go on," I had no 
 need to glance at her face to see that she was smiling. 
 Presently we both laughed simultaneously, with our 
 
THE MYO-OK 157 
 
 faces still directed steadfastly shoreward. She really 
 had a sense of humour, that girl; I ought to have 
 seen that before — with that big mouth. 
 
 " Aren't those fields a wonderful green ? " she said. 
 
 " A perfect emerald," I replied. " A kind of colour 
 one very seldom sees in nature. It was just that 
 colour that had set me thinking when you came up." 
 
 " Indeed, I should have thought that in your mind 
 you were thousands of miles away." 
 
 " So I was, several thousands ; somewhere in 
 Oxford Street — corner of Baker Street, about. What 
 does that colour remind you of? " 
 
 " I'm sure I don't know. Nothing in particular 
 that I can think of." 
 
 " Do you know your Calverley ? " I asked. 
 
 " Pretty well." 
 
 " Think again, then. And, ' oh, its hues are green,' 
 and " 
 
 " And gold ; yes, it's not unlike, now that you 
 mention it. There's a Bayswater one, too, of very 
 much the same colour." 
 
 " So there is ; so there is," I exclaimed. " Good 
 heavens ! how one misses one's opportunities at 
 home ! Do you know. Miss Grimhurst, where of 
 all places in this wicked world I should like to be 
 now ? " 
 
 " Anywhere but where you are, I should imagine," 
 and she smiled again. 
 
 " No, it sounds rude, I know, but you understand. 
 Are you not a sojourner and a pilgrim like myself? 
 Where would you like to be now ? " 
 
 " I ? Right up in the hills there, I think," she 
 said. " Do you see that high ridge, with just a tree 
 
158 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 here and there on it, with a long, wrinkled stretch 
 of cliff below, and a little dot of a white pagoda 
 at the end ? That's where I should like to be, right 
 on the ridge, able to look down on either side. What 
 a view one would have of the river and the country- 
 round — hills and hills, perhaps another river on the 
 further side! What a glorious view! Yes, I would 
 be sooner there than anywhere." 
 
 " I wouldn't," I said. " Regent's Circus for me ; 
 none of your expensive hilltop scenery. If I had 
 my wish, I should be just getting on to a 'bus at 
 Regent's Circus going south or east. No, not a 
 hansom ! You don't see enough from a hansom. 
 Just a good old jogging 'bus, going towards Trafalgar 
 Square, or away from Trafalgar Square, or anywhere, 
 for the matter of that, so long as it was somewhere 
 in that dear, dirty hole, London. Oh, lovely ! And 
 to think that it's barely two years since I've been 
 on a 'bus ! Do you know. Miss Grimhurst, one of 
 my keenest regrets when I look back upon my last 
 leave is that I didn't go on 'buses more when I was 
 in town ? " 
 
 " Nonsense ! " she cried. 
 
 " Not a bit of it ! " I returned. " I'd give anything 
 for a ride on a 'bus now." 
 
 " What ! in November ? Think of the mud ! " 
 
 " Dear old mud ! I wish I had a splotch of it on 
 my collar now ! " 
 
 " Well, that is enthusiasm, if you like ! " she laughed. 
 
 " What does the mud matter, or the fog, or any- 
 thing?" I went on. "Think of it, now; think of 
 all you see. The crowds in the streets, the posters, 
 the policemen, the shop windows, the sandwichmen. 
 
THE MYO-OK 159 
 
 There you sit at ease above them all and take them 
 all in. There's nothing you can get to touch it in 
 the East. I'd give a month's pay for half an hour of 
 the City now.'' 
 
 She laughed again. " Yes, it sounds all very homey 
 and nice," she said ; " but for my own part, if I 
 can't have the hills, give me the river. London in 
 November! Ugh! I consider I'm better off here. 
 Where have you got anything like that colouring 
 in Oxford Street? How the birds swarm on the 
 sandbanks ! What a grand, long-legged gentleman 
 that is over there by himself ! " 
 
 "Beefsteak bird," I said. "Yes, you should see 
 him waltzing when the humour takes him. I see 
 the duck are coming in nicely. I ought to be able 
 to get some sport at Myothit. Brahminis, too, I 
 observe." 
 
 " Which are they ? " she asked. 
 
 " The couple out at the end of the spit. Brahmini 
 geese, Hinthas, you know. Supposed to be more or 
 less sacred birds. Have you ever been to Henzada, 
 Miss Grimhurst ? It's called after them." 
 
 " What, those red birds by themselves ? " 
 
 " Yes, red when they're sitting down ; black and 
 white when they're flying. Poor eating, though. 
 Not worth powder and shot when there is anything 
 else to be had." 
 
 "The geese are all very well," she said, after a 
 longish pause, " but I should like to see a tiger.'' 
 
 She was standing with her hands clasped on the 
 iron rail in front of her, and her eyes on the wooded 
 bank that had replaced the sand stretches and was 
 now slipping away past us up the river. Her words 
 
i6o THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 aroused me to a realisation that, for the past minute 
 or so, I had been studying the girl rather critically. 
 I had never taken much note of her features before ; 
 in fact, my previous glances had stopped short at 
 her nose and mouth ; they had been quite enough 
 for me. We were, however, getting on so dangerously 
 well together now that I thought it about time, for 
 my own sake, to indulge in a little mental dis- 
 paragement of my companion. I needed something 
 to keep me in check, to bring me back to my proper 
 attitude towards this quite impossible girl. Her 
 mouth I could not but put up with better since I 
 had seen it gleefully relaxed. Her nose was certainly 
 far from classic. A small troop of freckles, for which 
 the November sun was responsible, seemed to ac- 
 centuate its lack of refinement. Yet the rays that 
 had left the freckles behind had also performed 
 the more genial office of warming and reddening 
 her white cheeks, and to my chagrin all that my 
 fastidious eyes could find to disapprove of was a 
 certain ungracefulness in her pose and carriage, 
 something irritating in the manner in which her 
 sun hat had been tilted down over her face. Yet, 
 when all was said and done, and I came to analyse 
 my thoughts, I discovered that the set of the hat 
 displeased me less because of the sharpness of the 
 angle than because it prevented my having as good 
 a sight as I should have liked to have of the young 
 woman's eyes. I remembered someone (I forget 
 who it was) saying once that Miss Grimhurst's eyes 
 would pass in a crowd, and someone else (it may 
 have been myself) laughing when another speaker 
 added brutally that the sooner the rest of her 
 
THE MYO-OK i6i 
 
 features passed him the better ; and the recollection 
 fired me with a desire to see what those passable 
 eyes were really like. However, the sun hat remained 
 obstinately lowered. 
 
 " What made you think of tigers ? " I asked. 
 
 " I don't know. It may have been the jungle. 
 What wonderful foliage ! How cool and green it all 
 looks ! Is there any chance of seeing a tiger from 
 the boat ? " 
 
 " None whatever, I should think," I said. " We may 
 see a deer or two towards the evening, but nothing 
 else four-footed. There are crowds of deer about 
 here. I have shot them from the deck of this very 
 launch." 
 
 " While the boat was moving ? " 
 
 " Yes, and the deer too. One of the luckiest shots 
 I ever brought off in my life was one at a sambur 
 stag from just about where we are standing now. 
 We were doing twelve miles an hour downstream, 
 and he was doing about twenty — away through the 
 jungle. I had just time to get my rifle up as he was 
 dodging round a tree, and, bang ! he dropped with a 
 bullet through the spine, sixty yards from the bank. 
 Not bad for a man with my eyesight. I shall never 
 do anything like it again, if I live to be a hundred." 
 
 " What is that ? " came a sudden voice, and Mrs. 
 Grimhurst's figure ranged itself at the vessel's side 
 beyond her daughter's, which seemed to shrink into 
 itself forthwith. 
 
 "A sambur," I said, with a laugh, dropping the 
 hands with which, carried away by my description, 
 I was raising a visionary rifle to my shoulder ; " only 
 a sambur." 
 M 
 
1 62 THE MYO-OK 
 
 " I don't see it," she said, gazing sternly out 
 towards the bank. " I hope you are not going to 
 shoot at anything on shore from the launch, Mr. 
 Rymington. I cannot bear the sound of firearms ; 
 besides, it is a most dangerous practice." 
 
 " You may be sure, Mrs. Grimhurst," I exclaimed, 
 " that I shall not fire while you are on board, though 
 I can assure you that the practice is not so dangerous 
 as you think. The odds are nearly always in favour 
 of the object aimed at. Talking of shooting, how- 
 ever, I expect I shall get some at Myothit in the 
 intervals of my dacoit hunting. You really must 
 stop there on your way up the river again. I hope 
 I shall have some snipe to send you." 
 
 The reproachful look on Mrs. Grimhurst's face died 
 away. " That will be very nice ! " she exclaimed, 
 with a sudden access of graciousness ; and then she 
 turned to her daughter. " Won't it, Winifred ? " she 
 said. 
 
 We both looked at Miss Grimhurst, who for a 
 while stood silent, gazing out in front of her. 
 
 " I don't care for snipe," she said at last, and moved 
 away. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 THE frost (if I may call it such) lasted just so 
 long as Mrs. Grimhurst's easy-chair, with the 
 green plush knitting-bag slung on its arm, continued 
 to be the point on the upper deck round which we 
 minor bodies gravitated. Breakfast elicited barely a 
 word from the daughter ; tiffin failed to loosen her 
 tongue. It was not till after we had had tea and 
 Mrs. Grimhurst had retired to her cabin that she 
 showed the first symptom of thawing. She was 
 sitting, withdrawn into herself, with her book in her 
 hand. I had just received her unspoken consent 
 to my smoking, and was lighting my cheroot. My 
 box of matches had been resting on a flimsy square 
 of paper, which, as I removed the weight, the fickle 
 breeze incontinently swooped down upon and swept 
 past her, aft. We made a simultaneous dash for it 
 and rescued it as it was fluttering overboard. It was 
 our sudden joint action, the excitement of the rush to 
 the vessel's side, that roused her to her more genial 
 self We stood facing each other, neither of us for 
 a moment relinquishing hold of the fugitive. I was 
 the first to let go. She turned the paper over, glanced 
 at it, and handed it back to me. 
 
 " Your precious telegram ! " she laughed. " It 
 would never have done for you to lose it, would it ? " 
 
 163 
 
1 64 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " My telegram ? What ! So it is ! " I exclaimed. 
 " Well, for all I care, the thing might have blown 
 overboard. I thought it was something of yours," 
 and I began crumpling the missive up, but she stayed 
 my hand. 
 
 " If you don't want it," she said, " do you mind my 
 having it ? " 
 
 " Not in the least, if it is any good to you," I made 
 answer. " But what, in the name of fortune, are you 
 going to do with it ? " 
 
 " Oh, I collect literary curiosities of this kind — 
 palm-leaf manuscripts, those black things (parabaiks 
 I think you call them), Antony's menu cards ; that 
 sort of thing, you know. This is something quite 
 unique." 
 
 " It is not so bad in its way, I suppose," I said, 
 smoothing out the paper before handing it back to 
 Miss Grimhurst. " Internal evidence points clearly 
 to the author too, which is a great thing. There is 
 no mistaking Maung Gyi's classic style." 
 
 " Is Maung Gyi the township officer at Myothit ?" 
 
 " He is, unless he has already made over charge. 
 By-the-by, if you go in for that sort of thing. Miss 
 Grimhurst, I have other specimens that I can show 
 you from the same pen. Have you ever seen any of 
 the gentleman's diaries ? " 
 
 " Diaries ? No. What diaries ? " 
 
 " Monthly things he and the other township officers 
 send me to show what they have been up to. I have 
 one or two here with me that are rather fetching in 
 parts. Would you like to see them ? " 
 
 " Very much indeed, if I may," she cried. " I sup- 
 pose they contain no State secrets ? " 
 
THE MYO-OK 165 
 
 " State secrets ! " I sniffed. " No, I should think 
 not," and I jerked a bundle of documents tied with 
 pink tape out of an office box, and selected an oblong, 
 doubled manuscript on dull buff paper of the kind 
 known as " bally." 
 
 "'Diary of the Township Officer of Myothit for 
 the month of October,' " I read, as Miss Grimhurst 
 sank back into her chair. " ' October ' ; yes. Hmm, 
 hmm ; (nothing very interesting for the first few days, 
 I observe." 
 
 " That doesn't matter a bit," she exclaimed. " Read 
 on, please ; it's all new to me." 
 
 " The earlier entries are all the same,'' I said. 
 
 " ' ist. At headquarters, doing ofBce works. 2nd. Ditto. 
 3rd. Ditto. 4th. Ditto. Disposed five cases of land 
 applied for lease. Examined three witnesses in the 
 Thetpan theft case. I think the case against the accused 
 will not be proved. Their demeanour shows rather sus- 
 picious as to warrant the probability of the fact. But one 
 witness seems to be very simple, and his contradictory 
 might be attributed from fear when being strictly cross- 
 examined by a Eurasian pleader. 5th. Office works. 
 6th ' 
 
 " Ah ! the sixth takes him on his travels, I see — 
 " ' 6th. I left to-day Myothit for Migaing on the morning. 
 The road is slippery, owing to heavy rain has fallen the 
 whole of last night, and the countries all round so nicely 
 covered with water. Begs to bring to the notice of the 
 Deputy Commissioner the late rain in my Township was 
 first-rate.' 
 
 " Well, that is satisfactory." 
 
 " No casualties, I hope, on the slippery road," cried 
 Miss Grimhurst. 
 
1 66 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " None recorded," I went on. " Our friend seems 
 to have escaped scathless. We meet him later on, 
 seemingly uninjured, at a village called Thetpan — 
 
 " ' Proceeded to Thetpan, and inspected the lands applied 
 for cultivation, and two cases disposed. And in some cases 
 the area is too large for me to lease and submitted the 
 Proceedings to the Subdivisional Officer to make the lease. 
 Hedges and gates were in good order and then went on to 
 Migaing.' 
 
 " Do you understand ? " 
 
 " Not a bit," she made answer ; " but I feel that it 
 is my own fault that I don't. Please go on." 
 
 " I will," I said. " He is a great disciplinarian, you 
 will notice, is Maung Gyi. 
 
 " ' Attended village matters and found all in good order, 
 but sanitation was kept in a filthy or unsanitary condition, 
 and the village was overgrown with weeds and rank of 
 vegetation. Called on the thugyi to explain why he should 
 not be reported the keeping of his villages in a state of 
 good condition.' 
 
 " And later— 
 
 " ' Called on the thugyi to explain the dilatory of pay- 
 ment about a year.' 
 
 " And here again — 
 
 " ' The thugyi should be called explanation upon him for 
 it, so as not to neglect his duty repeatedly in future.' 
 
 " Did you ever hear of such a martinet ? " 
 " That is easy enough to follow," said Miss Grim- 
 hurst gravely. " I like ' dilatory of payment ' very 
 much. I was secretary to a Girls' Friendly Society 
 branch once, and had to collect subscriptions. I 
 
THE MYO-OK 167 
 
 wish I had come across the expression then ; I feel 
 it would have lightened my labours." 
 
 " It has its merits," I said. " Take notice, however, 
 Miss Grimhurst, that he has a kind heart, this stern 
 township officer. He thinks the villagers of Migaing 
 should be lightly taxed. Hear his reasons — 
 
 " ' They are a poor people altogether. The income is, 
 in fact, a little or nothing. They are living on hand-to- 
 mouth means.' 
 
 " Wait a bit. Miss Grimhurst ; here's something 
 that lets you behind the scenes — shows you how we 
 train our villagers to stand up for their own — 
 
 " ' Examined thugyi's registers and found the thugyi has 
 been fined twenty-four inhabitants of this village who fails 
 to turn out alertly to the place where thugyi had a false 
 alarm of dacoits by beat of gaung in order to see the way 
 of resisting dacoits. The thugyi fined them of annas four 
 each who neglects to comply thugyi's requisition.' 
 
 " What do you think of that ? " 
 
 " A kind of dress rehearsal, apparently," said Miss 
 Grimhurst. " But what did they beat the gaung for ? 
 He is a village official of sorts, isn't he ? " 
 
 " He is," I said. " In this case, however, for 
 ' gaung ' please read ' gong ' when translating. Yes, 
 it is practically a kind of dress rehearsal. They 
 indulge in them from time to time when they think 
 the Deputy Commissioner is coming round their 
 way." 
 
 " The thugyis seem everything," she cried. 
 
 " So they are," I exclaimed. " Where would Burma 
 be without its village headmen, I should like to know. 
 But to resume. Our friend keeps his men well up to 
 
i68 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 the mark — is, according to his own showing, a very 
 paragon of township officers — 
 
 "'On the evening left Onhmin and reached Myaung 
 about 6 p.m. Registers were examined and kept fairly 
 well. And some of the entries were incorrectly made, and 
 explained them for future guidance and corrected accord- 
 ingly ; but the thugyi has disposed a case of bad songs in 
 which he has no power to exercise such case. I have 
 directed the thugyi and explained not to try such offence in 
 future ' 
 
 " Ah, yes, here we have something more interesting. 
 He has left Migaing apparently, and penetrated into 
 a most dark, unlettered region — 
 
 '"On arrival, about 4 p.m., I was informed that a 
 brilliancy was coming out from a pagoda situated in the 
 kaing reeds. I went to the place at once. But I did not 
 see a bit of brilliancy coming out of the pagoda, except a 
 thing something like a smoke. I think this was caused to 
 come out by the heat of an element. However, the people, 
 taking the light as brilliancy, bowed down to the pagoda, 
 putting their hands on forehead. Here I also met one 
 Burman physician, called Maung Kala. The people asked 
 him to see inside the pagoda, whether sacred relics of 
 Shingawdama was lying or no. Maung Kala took some oil 
 on which he spelled a spell, and then put a little drop of 
 oil on the nail of a boy aged about twelve years. He asked 
 the boy to look at his nail. The boy did so. Maung Kala 
 asked the boy what sort of thing the boy had seen in the 
 oil. The boy said he saw a black figure, something like a 
 figure of Gawdama Paya. Shans believed in what Maung 
 Kala told them. They offered him some money for doing so. 
 When I went to the place where Maung Kala was perform- 
 ing his magic he went away suddenly, as he was afraid of 
 
THE MYO-OK 169 
 
 me, because before my arrival here Maung Kala was jailed 
 for about a year for illegal confining a woman whom he 
 took as a wich.' " 
 
 " I like that particularly," she exclaimed. " Fancy, 
 coming across a thing like that in an official diary ! 
 I must really be allowed to copy that out. There is 
 no objection, I suppose ? " 
 
 " None whatever," I assured her. " I only wish I 
 could let you have the original," 
 
 " Oh, a copy will do very well," she protested. 
 " How I should like to meet the author ! " 
 
 " So you shall," I said, " and that before very long, 
 too ; for I may remark that while we have been 
 talking Myothit has come into sight." 
 
 We had passed a bend in the river, where a cluster 
 of dilapidated grey pagodas looked down upon us, 
 and the stream swirled silently round the base of a 
 precipitous rock. A long stretch of channel opened 
 out in front of us. Myothit, indicated by a few red, 
 upstanding roofs blotched on to a background of 
 dark foliage, lay under a straight vertical line of blue 
 haze on our starboard bow. 
 
 " To be sure, there it is ! " she cried ; " and very 
 pretty it looks, too. I suppose we shall stop there 
 this evening." 
 
 "It will hardly be worth while going on," I made 
 reply. " I expect the serang will want to wood 
 here." 
 
 We stood side by side again, looking out at our 
 destination. As we gazed the prospect seemed to 
 open out — fresh roof-ridges came into sight ; the red 
 seemed to separate themselves from the brown, the 
 trees behind them receded, and it was as though the 
 
I70 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 plantain groves shook themselves free of the sober- 
 hued tamarinds behind and stepped forward to the 
 water's edge. 
 
 " What a crowd of boats ! " said Miss Grimhurst 
 presently. " How we shall be able to wedge in 
 alongside the bank is still a mystery to me. I can't 
 see a soul on the bank. Won't there be anybody to 
 meet you?" 
 
 " I had no time to wire to say I was coming," 
 I replied ; " however, I can soon fetch them down to 
 
 the bank. Here, serang I forgot, though, Miss 
 
 Grimhurst," and I lowered my voice to a discreet 
 stage whisper, " I am not in command to-day ; your 
 mother is. Do you think now — I wonder if she 
 would have very much objection — if I — I — ventured 
 to whistle? It is customary on these occasions to 
 do so, you know. I have no wish to commit a 
 breach of discipline, but if it could be managed " 
 
 " Please whistle away ! " she laughed, and at a 
 signal from me the serang raised his hand to a string 
 that hung above the wheel, and there were emitted 
 three shrill hoots. 
 
 "Is that Myothit ?" came a sudden question from 
 within, when the last shriek had died away ; and as I 
 answered with a nervous " Yes," a stern voice con- 
 tinued : " Please tell that serang, Mr. Rymington, 
 that he is not to whistle without my orders. He 
 gave me quite a shock just now. I had just begun 
 dozing off." 
 
 It was a pair of blushing faces that turned simul- 
 taneously away towards Myothit. 
 
 "You certainly have fetched them down," exclaimed 
 Miss Grimhurst, breaking, a minute later, a most 
 
THE MYO-OK 171 
 
 impressive silence. " See them swarming down the 
 hill from that place ! I think it must be the police- 
 station. Who is that stout gentleman in front ? " 
 
 " The stout gentleman, if I mistake not," I said, " is 
 Maung Gyi." 
 
 "The diarist?" 
 
 " The same." 
 
 " How exciting ! I love meeting celebrities. And 
 the man close behind him ? " 
 
 " That," I made answer, " is Maung Pyu, who, by 
 the way, ought by this time to have taken over charge 
 from Maung Gyi. I gather from the fact that he is 
 walking behind him that he has not yet done so, 
 I suppose they have made this making over business 
 an excuse for not going out after the dacoits. Lazy 
 scoundrels ! " 
 
 " Oh, the dacoits ! " she exclaimed, turning suddenly 
 upon me. " I had forgotten all about that little 
 episode. I expect we shall have the latest news now 
 about the stolen treasure." 
 
 " I hope they have recovered it," I said. " It 
 doesn't look like it, though," I added, a few minutes 
 later, as I scanned the faces of the figures squatting 
 on the bank. " Every man jack of them looks like 
 a bear with a sore head. Why, Maung Gyi is worn 
 to a thread-paper ! " 
 
 " What must he have been before?" murmured Miss 
 Grimhurst, but only half audibly, for Mrs. Grimhurst's 
 sola topi was emerging through the cabin door. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 A SINGLE plank sufficed for me at Myothit. I 
 had no thought of the objectionable precedent 
 I was creating, but spurned aside the second board 
 that the lascars were feverishly preparing and stepped 
 ashore. The figures on the bank had sunk into 
 position, as I emerged, in due order of precedence — 
 Myo-oks in front, thugyi and clerks behind them ; to 
 the rear of the clerks minor village officials ; at their 
 backs their followers and a curious herd of villagers 
 whom the advent of the white steam launch had 
 attracted to the spot. 
 
 I stumbled rapidly up the sandy bank over a net- 
 work of cordage and faced the group. 
 
 " Have you got the robbers ? " was my first 
 question. 
 
 " Not got yet, your Honour," was the reply. 
 
 Maung Gyi, as befitted his exalted position, was 
 the spokesman of the party. Maung Pyu, the new 
 man, squatted speechless at his elbow. Both Myo-oks 
 met my gaze with a glance of martyr-like resignation, 
 and my suspicion that nothing that should have been 
 had been done was thereby incontinently confirmed. 
 There was more than resignation, however, to be read 
 in Maung Gyi's face. For a moment I was almost 
 startled by the change that the past few weeks had 
 wrought in the man. His face was drawn and puffy ; 
 
 172 
 
THE MYO-OK 173 
 
 his eyes told of more sleepless nights than one. He 
 was literally a shadow of his former ponderous self; 
 but there was no place for pity in my heart, only for 
 a mild surprise that he should have had the good 
 taste to take things so seriously. 
 
 " What is the amount taken ? " I exclaimed. 
 
 " Four thousand rupees, sir." 
 
 I whistled softly. " What is the latest news ? " I 
 went on. 
 
 " No information come since the telegram we have 
 sent your Honour." 
 
 " None since then ! Good gracious heavens, man, 
 why aren't you out after the robbers, then ? " and 
 I focussed the point of my riding-cane on Maung 
 Gyi's elephantine chest. 
 
 " We have to complete the making over charge," 
 he pleaded, evading my glance, and Maung Pyu's 
 voice came like a demure, corroborative echo : 
 " Making over charge." 
 
 " Making over charge ! " I retorted testily. " I 
 thought that would be it. You couldn't postpone 
 your precious making over, could you? Making 
 over charge, indeed ! Well, you've finished by this 
 time, I hope." 
 
 "Not yet entirely finished," was the reluctant 
 answer. " Everything done now ; only treasure 
 chest not yet made over." 
 
 " Not finished yet ! " I shouted. " My good friends, 
 are you going to be a whole year over the business ?" 
 
 " Not very long yet," began Maung Pyu, but I cut 
 him short. 
 
 " Who has gone after the robbers, then ? " I asked. 
 " Where is the head constable ? " 
 
174 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " He is at present absent, investigating a case." 
 " A case ! What case ? This robbery ? " 
 " Your Honour, no, a cattle-theft case." 
 "Well, who is inquiring into this robbery, or 
 dacoity, or whatever it is ? You idiot, didn't you say 
 in your telegram that the police were inquiring ? " 
 
 " Inquiring ? The police ? Yes, the police who 
 were robbed inquiring." 
 
 " The police who were robbed ? " 
 " Your Honour, it is said that they are pursuing." 
 " Who said they were pursuing ? Who brought 
 the news ? " 
 
 " A villager from Shwepaukbin." 
 " Was it he who said they were pursuing ? " 
 "Pursuing?" 
 
 " Yes, stupid," I roared. " Did the villager from 
 Shwepaukbin say the police were after the robbers ? " 
 I was fast losing my temper. Maung Gyi gazed 
 blankly away from me to Maung Pyu, Maung Pyu 
 away from him to someone else. " Did he not say 
 that ? " murmured Maung Gyi. " It was something 
 of the kind," faltered Maung Pyu. " He said he 
 thought that as they had not returned they must be 
 pursuing," said someone from behind (I think it was 
 a clerk). 
 
 "You're a precious lot! You don't even know, then, 
 you idiots, whether anybody has gone out after the 
 robbers!" I shouted, for the moment oblivious of the 
 ladies on the launch behind me ; and the ring of 
 squatting figures shifted back automatically. 
 
 " But it is almost certain that they have gone out," 
 protested Maung Gyi. " And, besides, it is not sure 
 
THE MYO-OK 175 
 
 that any robbery was committed. It is a mistake, 
 perhaps." 
 
 "A mistake!" I thundered. "What makes you 
 think that ? " 
 
 The fat man's eyes sought the sand-bank. " I 
 have heard of police taking themselves money and 
 saying that it has been taken by robbers," he 
 mumbled, plucking at a fold in his silk paso. " They 
 are all bad characters, the men that went for the 
 escort." 
 
 " What made you send bad characters ? " I re- 
 torted, and for a while Maung Gyi could find no 
 reply. 
 
 " The man who brought the news knows nothing 
 certain," he persisted. 
 
 " Where is the man ? " I cried. " Call him here at 
 
 once 
 
 I" 
 
 Again Maung Gyi looked helplessly at Maung 
 Pyu. Again Maung Pyu sought refuge in the eyes 
 of those who sat behind him. " I think he has gone 
 back again," hazarded one of the Myo-oks. " He is 
 still here," said somebody. " He was here an hour 
 ago." " They will know where he is among the 
 boats," cried a voice. " What is his name ? " asked 
 one. " They will know the man from Shwepaukbin," 
 exclaimed another. " But he gave his name as Tun 
 Gyaw." " No, Tun Gyaw was a different man." 
 " He has been buying shaw fibre from Ko Tun Hla." 
 " Call Ko Tun Hla." " No, call the man from Shwe- 
 paukbin," and the babel of voices that had sprung 
 out of my stormy command resolved itself gradually 
 into a cry of " The man from Shwepaukbin ! He ! 
 the man from Shwepaukbin ! " and figures began to 
 
176 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 rise from the fringe of the seated crowd, to gird up 
 their loins with much promise of action, and, urged 
 by voices of authority from in front, to dart, shout- 
 ing, hither and thither along the river's bank. 
 
 I glowered upon the assembled company, tapping 
 my boot with my riding-cane, longing to be able to 
 lay it about some of the shoulders that were cower- 
 ing before me. Where it had sprung from, this 
 radiant crew, wap past my comprehension. It was 
 as though it had risen at the stroke of a magician's 
 wand from the earth. It was barely a quarter of an 
 hour since the Burglar had slid into sight round the 
 corner, and here already was the thugyi with his 
 retainers and henchmen, the village crier, the village 
 clerk, and their hangers-on ; here also the headmen 
 of wards, the elders of blocks, and all the petty 
 officials ; each conscious of a spotless headkerchief, 
 an unimpeachable waistcloth, preening himself, with 
 downcast eyes, in the evening sunlight, firm in the 
 assurance that whatever might have gone wrong (and 
 there certainly was trouble in the air) he at any rate 
 had not failed in his duty ; each content for the 
 present to look to me for applause and further 
 initiative. 
 
 " A precious lot you are ! " I burst out in English. 
 My wrath was directed mainly towards the two 
 Myo-oks, who, after all, were the only two persons 
 present who were actually to blame for the inaction 
 of the past few days ; but a good rating, like many 
 other things that are good, loses none of its virtue by 
 being spread over a large area, and the moral effect 
 on the company generally of a castigation in an 
 unknown tongue would be excellent, I knew. " A 
 
THE MYO-OK 177 
 
 precious lot you are to let things go on like this 
 without stirring a finger. Here are over twenty-four 
 hours gone, and, so far as you know, not a single 
 thing has been done to try and recover the money. 
 None of you has taken the trouble to find out what 
 really has happened, and if I hadn't come things 
 would have been exactly the same twenty-four hours 
 hence. How are you to tell that the police are doing 
 anything ? For all you know they may have been 
 cut up by the robbers. Mind you, if this money is 
 not recovered, those who should have exerted them- 
 selves at the proper time will be held responsible." 
 
 " Mr. Rymington ! " 
 
 I affected a sudden hardness of hearing. "You 
 understand," I repeated, with even more emphasis 
 than before, " all who should have exerted themselves 
 to secure its recovery " 
 
 " Mr. Rymington ! " 
 
 I turned with a half-smothered imprecation to en- 
 counter the gaze of Mrs. Grimhurst. Framed by the 
 awning of the upper deck of the launch, which had 
 been hauled in close to the bank, she stood calmly 
 surveying denouncer and denounced alike through 
 her pince-nez. For a moment I stood tongue-tied, 
 for I realised, with a spasm of impotent wrath, that 
 my diatribe had been nipped in the bud. 
 
 " Mr. Rymington, for the third time of asking ! " 
 
 " Mrs. Grimhurst." 
 
 " I want to know which is the thugyi." 
 
 I had to swallow my feelings as best I might. 
 
 "That thing over there is the thugyi," I answered 
 
 stiffly, indicating with my cane a shrivelled old 
 
 gentleman in a pink and white silk paso, whose 
 
 N 
 
178 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 silvered topknot lurked coyly behind Maung Gyi's 
 shoulder. 
 
 " Thugyi ! " cried the Commissioner's lady ; and 
 in response to the call the headman emerged from 
 under the township officer's sheltering wing into the 
 full glare of publicity. 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst removed her pince-nez and beat 
 time with them through the following order : " Tell 
 him, please," she commanded, addressing me, "that 
 I want some milk ; some this evening ; some to- 
 morrow morning. Two bottles will do for to-night, 
 one to-morrow ; but let him see that it is milk he 
 brings, not the kind of stuff he gave us the last time 
 we were here. Milk," she repeated, and paused to 
 shake her finger at the hapless old man ; " milk, 
 milk, not milk and water. Do you understand ? — and 
 eggs too ; I forgot the eggs. One dozen good, fresh 
 eggs ; fresh ones, mind. If you can make him under- 
 stand what fresh eggs are, I think he had better go 
 off and see to getting them himself" 
 
 This opinion was shared by the thugyi, who, as the 
 wishes of the lady were communicated to him, rose 
 incontinently from the ground and shuffled off to- 
 wards the town, only too glad of an opportunity 
 of escaping from an atmosphere so perilously charged 
 with electricity. 
 
 " I am much obliged," pursued Mrs. Grimhurst in 
 dulcet tones, as the pink and white paso dwindled 
 rapidly townwards. " And now, please, go on talking 
 to those people. I have no doubt they deserve it." 
 
 I cast one look along the river's bank. The search 
 for the man from Shwepaukbin appeared to have had 
 a successful issue, for I saw a dejected-looking villager 
 
THE MYO-OK 179 
 
 being hurried towards me by a couple of zealous 
 myrmidons. He bore traces of having been sur- 
 prised in demi-toilette, for he was struggling into his 
 jacket as he ran. That he was the man I wanted 
 himself seemed clear. The one look sufficed. I 
 turned my eyes back upon the suppliant forms before 
 me. Mrs. Grimhurst's last words had robbed me of 
 all desire to administer further reproof in public. 
 
 " I think," I said, smiling sweetly over my shoulder 
 in the direction of the launch, after a moment of 
 cogitation — " I think that we will continue our 
 conference up above. I see a gentleman out there 
 who will probably have a good deal to say to me, 
 and I don't think I care about standing the whole 
 time," and without further ado I directed my steps 
 towards the slope on which, perched, crane-like, on its 
 tall, teak piles, the Myothit rest-house towered above 
 the bank. 
 
 It was almost dark by the time I returned to the 
 launch. The sun had dropped behind the hills, and 
 the crimson ripples in his wake were fading from the 
 sky. In the east the moon was rising daintily ; 
 in a row on the lower deck the lascars, with their 
 faces turned towards Mecca, were engaged in 
 devotional exercises, watched by a crowd of idlers 
 clustered on the bank. My impedimenta had already 
 been moved into the rest-house ; I had descended 
 merely to report progress to the ladies, who, seated 
 in the after-part of the deck, were watching the sun- 
 set glow. 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst seemed softened by her twilight 
 surroundings. "We are very comfortable now, 
 thanks," she made reply to the first question I put 
 
i8o THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 on my arrival. " Sit down, do. Yes, the milk has 
 come, and seems really quite drinkable. The 
 thugyi's wife and daughter have been here wanting 
 to know what they can do for us — very nice people, 
 indeed. And what have you been doing with your- 
 self," she added, " leaving us two unprotected females 
 so long to ourselves ? " 
 
 " I must apologise for deserting you," I exclaimed, 
 ' but work has to be done, you know. I have been 
 looking into this business of the treasure escort. 
 Haven't you been on shore at all ? " 
 
 " We went for a short stroll along the river's bank, 
 but there is nothing to see here except the hospital 
 and the bazaar, and by this time I imagine I have 
 seen every hospital and every bazaar in Burma. We 
 might really just as well have stopped on board." 
 
 " What have you found out about the robbery ? " 
 asked Miss Grimhurst suddenly, raising her eyes from 
 the table. 
 
 "Nothing, absolutely nothing," I answered, dropping 
 on to a camp-stool near her. " You will hardly be- 
 lieve it, but I seem to know almost less now about 
 what has occurred than when I started from Shwedan 
 this morning. These useless creatures here have done 
 nothing to find out for certain. They appear to have 
 been sitting twiddling their thumbs ever since the 
 thing happened, if it ever did happen." 
 
 " If it ever did happen ! " cried Mrs. Grimhurst. 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " I mean," I said, " that I haven't come across a 
 soul yet who has any definite information. The only 
 man that has anything that one can go upon is a 
 villager from near where the crime is supposed to 
 
THE MYO-OK i8i 
 
 have been committed, and he can only say that there 
 is a rumour in the village of the police having been 
 robbed. He believes — believes only, mind you — that 
 the escort that were surprised are trying to get the 
 treasure back ; but apparently he thinks so only 
 because they have not yet passed through his village 
 on their way back to Myothit, as though they were 
 bound to come back to Myothit if they were not 
 pursuing. For all he knows, the escort may have 
 been cut up by the dacoits." 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst dropped the book she had been 
 reading into her lap with a thud. 
 
 " Cut up by dacoits ! " she ejaculated. " Good 
 gracious heavens ! You don't mean to say, Mr. 
 Rymington, that you think there can have been as 
 many as that ? What a mercy we were able to 
 anchor somewhere where there was a police-station ! 
 Really, if I had known " 
 
 " Oh, you will be all right ! " I laughed. " You 
 will be as safe here as in your own house at Shwedan. 
 In fact, as I have already said, there may have been 
 no robbery at all. It's a funny thing, but the town- 
 ship officer, Maung Gyi, seems almost convinced that 
 there has been no robbery. He tells me that he 
 suspects foul play on the part of the police, and at 
 one time he almost persuaded me." 
 
 " If he had any suspicion he might have con- 
 descended to go out and make sure," sniffed Mrs. 
 Grimhurst. 
 
 " That's what he should have done, of course," I 
 replied. "There is no denying that there is some- 
 thing in what he says. Unless they were all done 
 for (which I can hardly believe), it seems incompre- 
 
1 82 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 hensible that the escort should not have sent word 
 giving some kind of information about what had hap- 
 pened, or asked for further men to help them follow 
 the robbers up. I can't make it out at all. What 
 can three men do, I should like to know, against a 
 gang that has been able to overpower them and take 
 away what they were looking after ? " 
 
 " What, indeed ! " interjected Mrs. Grimhurst. "But 
 you know the Burman, Mr. Rymington ; can you ever 
 tell beforehand what he will not be mad enough to 
 try and do ? " 
 
 I laughed. " It is not that way their madness lies," 
 I said, and then Miss Grimhurst cut in. 
 
 " Cannot one hear about their movements from 
 anywhere along the road to Shwedan ? " she asked. 
 
 " A very pertinent question. Miss Grimhurst," I 
 made reply. 
 
 " Mr. Rymington ! " exclaimed Mrs. Grimhurst. 
 
 "A very pertinent question, Miss Grimhurst," I 
 repeated. " That is a point that our friends here 
 appear to have overlooked. The escort should, in 
 the ordinary course, have got to Kyaukyin yesterday 
 evening, and to Nyaungbinhla, where there is a tele- 
 graph office, at the very latest by noon to-day. I 
 have just sent off a wire to Nyaungbinhla to ask 
 whether the police have arrived there yet. If they 
 have not I shall begin to suspect that there is some- 
 thing in the story of the robbery. I ought to get an 
 answer to-morrow." 
 
 " And will nothing be done till the reply arrives ? " 
 cried Mrs. Grimhurst, with fine scorn. " Are these 
 creatures to continue twiddling their thumbs till they 
 
THE MYO-OK 183 
 
 know for certain that it is no use doing anything 
 more ? " 
 
 " By no means," I rejoined. " Our friends leave 
 this evening for Shwepaukbin, and by dawn to-morrow 
 I trust they will be on the spot prosecuting inquiries." 
 
 "About time, too," she said. " I only hope that they 
 will do something when they do get there ; though 
 really, if they are no more energetic there than they 
 have been here, I doubt whether much will be done." 
 
 I hastened to reassure her. " Oh, I shall be there 
 myself to see that they bestir themselves I " I ex- 
 claimed. " They are not to be trusted to do that 
 sort of thing alone." 
 
 " You are going out with them, then ?" 
 
 " Certainly. That is what I came down to Myothit 
 to do." 
 
 " What, this evening ? " 
 
 " This evening as ever is." 
 
 There was a silence while Mrs. Grimhurst adjusted 
 her pince-nez — a silence that was only broken by a 
 little nervous cough from the daughter. 
 
 "I am surprised at you, Mr. Rymington," said 
 Mrs. Grimhurst. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," I faltered. 
 
 " You may well beg my pardon," she rejoined. " I 
 am surprised at your bringing us into this robbers' 
 den and then leaving us in the lurch in this fashion. 
 I am not speaking for myself alone. It is more of 
 Winifred's safety than of my own I am thinking, and 
 I do consider that for her sake, at any rate, you ought 
 to have thought twice before enticing us down to the 
 scene, not only of a robbery, but probably also of a 
 massacre." 
 
1 84 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 I smiled a sickly smile. " A massacre!" I exclaimed. 
 " My dear Mrs. Grimhurst, I trust it has not come to 
 that. I assure you there is nothing whatever to be 
 nervous about. You remember what I said when we 
 started this morning, don't you ? " 
 
 " I remember perfectly well both what you said 
 and what I said when we started this morning, but I 
 had no idea then of the serious nature of the crime 
 committed. Anything like the cutting up of the 
 treasure escort had never for a moment entered 
 my head." 
 
 " Nor has it entered anybody's except my excess- 
 ively stupid one," I urged. " I foolishly put it before 
 these people that, assuming such a thing had hap- 
 pened, they would have been absolutely none the 
 wiser. I have no warrant whatever for believing 
 that anything of the kind has really happened." 
 
 " In that case you should not have spoken as 
 though you had," she retorted. " However, that 
 does not matter. The fact remains that a robbery 
 has been committed." 
 
 " Is believed to have been committed," I corrected. 
 
 " Exactly — by me. Is believed — by me — to have 
 been committed. The robbers must be somewhere 
 in the neighbourhood " 
 
 " Hardly ! " I interposed. 
 
 " Please do not interrupt, Mr. Rymington ; you 
 cannot know for certain. I repeat, the robbers must 
 be somewhere in the neighbourhood, and, for all we 
 know, may be meditating an attack on Myothit. 
 The very least you can do after inveigling us down 
 (yes, Winifred, I will say ' inveigling ') — inveigling us 
 down to this terrible place, is to stop with us until we 
 
THE MYO-OK 185 
 
 go on to-morrow. No, a Burman guard is no good. 
 I must insist upon having a European close by. Don't 
 laugh, Mr. Rymington ; I mean what I say. Didn't 
 you offer this morning to sleep in the rest-house 
 to-night ? I ask you, now, didn't you ? " 
 
 " I did," I made answer. " Of course, I didn't then 
 know " 
 
 "You did. I am glad you admit it. And now I 
 hope you are going to carry out your offer." 
 
 I was effectually cornered. I looked away irreso- 
 lute towards the distant hills that stood out sharp and 
 black against a sky of saffron, and then back again at 
 the ladies. 
 
 " There is no refusing," I exclaimed at last, with a 
 laugh ; " but I must put those people off." 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst, having gained her point, could 
 afford to smile benignantly upon me in the light of 
 the lamp that was preceding Antony's white pagri up 
 the steep companion. " There will be no difficulty 
 about that," she said. " I don't suppose they will 
 break their hearts at having to wait. Tell them they 
 must be ready to start with you the first thing to- 
 morrow morning. You can call out from here to 
 your boy in the rest-house and tell him to let them 
 know. On second thoughts, though, I think you had 
 better not. It's a bad example. I have just been 
 talking to the serang about the noise the lascars were 
 making fishing. Go up to the rest-house now, make 
 your arrangements, and come back in about half an 
 hour's time, when dinner will be ready." 
 
 " Thanks, Mrs. Grimhurst," I said. " Please don't 
 bother about me. My boy has got me some kind 
 of meal together in the rest-house." 
 
1 86 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " It will keep very nicely for to-morrow, I've no 
 doubt," she replied, rising. " We shall expect you 
 back in half an hour. Come, Winifred, and get 
 ready for dinner." 
 
 She disappeared into the cabin. The ayah followed 
 her with the lamp. Miss Grimhurst and I were left 
 standing together in the gloaming. The last fading 
 relic of the western glow rested on my companion's 
 face. Behind her, on the grey river, lay a shimmer- 
 ing, dimpled bar of primrose light, framing a head 
 and shoulders that I found distinctly picturesque. 
 
 " It's a shame, keeping you from doing your duty!" 
 she exclaimed almost angrily. " Why do you stay ? 
 We can manage very well for to-night without you. 
 It's not fair on you." 
 
 She looked so attractive, standing bolt upright in 
 her indignation, in that luminous setting, that a new 
 sensation crept over me — a sensation that I felt must 
 be promptly and mercilessly suppressed. 
 
 " You are making a mountain out of a molehill, 
 Miss Grimhurst," I said rather tartly. " It's nothing 
 very dreadful to have to defer one's plans for a few 
 hours. After all, your mother knows best. You 
 must let us manage these little matters ourselves." 
 
 She did not seem to feel this snub as much as 
 I had expected, nor did she retaliate as, I must 
 confess, I should have liked her to. She merely 
 gave an almost imperceptible shrug of her shoulders 
 and with an " Oh, very well ! " turned to go to her 
 cabin. She thought me a poor sort of creature not 
 to have asserted myself; that was clear. I felt a 
 trifle put out as I trudged up the hill to the rest- 
 house to get ready for dinner, and I was more than 
 
THE MYO-OK 187 
 
 disgusted with myself for being thus ruffled. I had 
 evidently fallen in her estimation. She thought 
 the worse of me for having knuckled under so 
 ignominiously ; but it was not so much her scorn 
 that I minded. I thought little of that. What 
 galled was the idea that it should matter a straw 
 to me whether she thought the worse of me or not. 
 And — somehow — it did matter. 
 
 I was back again on the launch, my equanimity to 
 a certain extent restored, well within the half-hour 
 allotted by Mrs. Grimhurst. The two ladies were 
 already at the table awaiting my arrival. 
 
 " Post in ? " I inquired sportively, as I took my seat 
 in the empty chair opposite Miss Grimhurst. There 
 were two letters lying on my plate — two letters in 
 thin oblong envelopes. I picked them up and held 
 them out inquiringly. 
 
 " When did these come ? " I asked. 
 
 " One a minute or two ago," said Mrs. Grimhurst ; 
 " the other just after you had gone. I told the men 
 to leave them here, as you would be back directly. 
 You had better open them ; it may be something 
 important." 
 
 "Nothing pressing, I imagine." I laughed as 
 I scanned the superscriptions. "Wait a minute, 
 though," I added. "One, I see, is from Maung 
 Gyi ; the other from Maung Pyu. Now I should 
 like to know what the beggars want. They only left 
 me an hour ago. If I may, I will look and see what 
 they have got to say for themselves. It may possibly 
 be something about the robbery." 
 
 I opened the first envelope, glanced at its contents, 
 
1 88 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 and sniffed. I tore off the end of the second and 
 cast my eye over the thin blue-lined paper within. 
 My sniff grew into a snort of indignation. I laid the 
 missives down, picked up my spoon, and began eating 
 my soup. " I might have guessed," I exclaimed after 
 a few mouthfuls. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " asked Mrs. Grimhurst. 
 
 " Nothing much," I made answer ; and nothing 
 more was said until I had finished my soup. Then 
 I turned to Miss Grimhurst. " If you want more 
 documents for your collection," I said, " here are two 
 which I shall be very happy to present you with — 
 after I have disposed of them." I paused to pat the 
 letters as they lay on the table, and then I ejaculated, 
 somewhat inconsequently, " Lazy hounds ! " 
 
 "What is the matter?" asked Mrs. Grimhurst 
 again. 
 
 " If you were a hospital assistant of ten years' 
 standing, Mrs. Grimhurst," I said, "how would you 
 spell ' ague,' with an ' e ' or without ? " 
 
 " Don't ask flippant conundrums," she retorted. 
 " Who has got ague ? Did you say the letters were 
 from the two Myo-oks? Have they got ague?" 
 
 " You have the spirit of divination," I made 
 answer. " They both have, or say they have, ague — 
 fever and ague, besides compHcations of various 
 kinds which I don't think I need go into in detail." 
 
 " How long have they been ill ? Why, what 
 nonsense ! There was nothing the matter with them 
 when they were down here just now." 
 
 " I don't know how long. Their medical certifi- 
 cates are silent on the point." 
 
 " Medical certificates ! Good gracious heavens ! 
 
THE MYO-OK 189 
 
 You don't mean to say they have produced medical 
 certificates ? " 
 
 " Indeed they have," I said. " Medical certificates, 
 signed by the hospital assistant, to the effect that 
 they are so prostrated by fever and ague that their 
 going out with me to-night will be quite out of 
 the question." 
 
 " But they are not going out till to-morrow now ! " 
 
 " I don't think that will make any difference," I 
 said. " He'll be a fool of a hospital assistant if he 
 can't carry his patients' fever and ague over the next 
 forty-eight hours." 
 
 " Let me see them," she exclaimed. " So they 
 are ! Medical certificates with a letter from each of 
 the men. ' Honoured sir ' — hm, hm. ' Fever — agu ' 
 (without the ' e,' as you say) — ' insomnia — anaemia ' 
 (which is this — Maung Gyi ? Anemic ! Fiddle- 
 sticks ! That fat pig of a man anaemic ! I never 
 heard such rubbish ! ) — ' general debility.' How very 
 extraordinary ! They are shamming, of course." 
 
 " Certain to be," I said. " Though why I don't 
 know. It can't be laziness pure and simple. There 
 must be something behind." 
 
 "What can there be behind? It's sheer laziness. 
 I should insist on their going. You're not going to 
 accept this ridiculous rubbish, I trust, Mr. Rym- 
 ington." 
 
 I gave a dubious grunt. " It's not an easy matter 
 to drag a man out after dacoits from under the aegis 
 of a medical certificate," I said. " However, we shall 
 see. I'll look the two gentlemen up after dinner, 
 and find out when this sudden indisposition overtook 
 them." 
 
I90 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " Poor men ! " exclaimed Miss Grimhurst, joining 
 suddenly in. " Why can't they be left in peace to- 
 night, Mr. Rymington ? They may really be ill. 
 There can be no doubt that the fat one looked 
 poorly. Can't you go round and see them to-morrow 
 morning ? " 
 
 I gazed benignly at the speaker. " You are never 
 going to keep me from doing my duty!" I exclaimed, 
 with suggestive emphasis. 
 
 She acknowledged the allusion with a little shake 
 of her head and the ghost of a smile. " Yes, I am," 
 she said stubbornly. " I want you to let my invalids 
 have a good night's rest," and she pursed up her 
 lips. 
 
 " You know by this time. Miss Grimhurst," I said, 
 "that I cannot say 'no' to a lady. The invalids shall 
 have a good night's rest. I hope they will spend it 
 in bed. But why your invalids ? " 
 
 " Oh, I take an interest in the sick generally," she 
 made answer. And she stared rather defiantly back 
 at me, her lips still tightly pressed together, without 
 displaying the gratitude I had expected her to evince 
 at this my second concession of the evening. " Yes, 
 I think I ought to have been a hospital nurse. Sick 
 people always appeal to and interest me." 
 
 My dinner was putting me on excellent terms with 
 myself and the world in general. " Would you take 
 an interest in me if I were an invalid?" I inquired 
 jocularly. 
 
 " I might," she laughed. " Even in you. But I 
 don't think there is much fear of that. You look a 
 terribly healthy specimen." 
 
 " But what if I were wounded ? " I went on. 
 
THE MYO-OK 191 
 
 " Suppose I come across the dacoits to-morrow, and 
 get a " 
 
 " Don't let us suppose anything of the kind," she 
 said, and then a glance at her mother seemed to 
 recall her to herself, and she broke off and picked up 
 her knife and fork. 
 
 " Antony ! " said Mrs. Grimhurst, beaming seraphi- 
 cally upon us through her glasses. "Antony, give 
 Mr. Rymington a little more whisky." 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE deliberate click of an anchor chain from the 
 river below the rest-house told me the next 
 morning of the Burglar's departure. Half an hour 
 earlier, as I rose from my camp-cot, I had cast a 
 sleepy glance down at the corrugated iron roof lying 
 there under the bank, grey in the morning mist, and 
 had wondered idly whether I should really have been 
 able to carry out the jesting offer I had made Miss 
 Grimhurst the night before to wake her early by 
 throwing a stone from my verandah on to its re- 
 sonant surface. This offer was the first detail that 
 came back to my mind of the long conversation we 
 had had after dinner, sitting on deck, with voices 
 dutifully lowered so as not to disturb Mrs. Grimhurst 
 at her " Patience " ; and by the time my gaiters were 
 buttoned I had recalled, with an amazement born of 
 the sober morning hour, other phases of our moonlit 
 tete-a-tete. I remembered this, I remembered that, 
 and marvelled in each case at the memory ; but, 
 above all, I remembered that my companion had 
 been particularly anxious to be up betimes, and as 
 I stepped out into the verandah from the inner room, 
 where I had been discussing my chotahaziri, and 
 watched the corrugated iron edge, foot by foot, away 
 from the high bank, I could see that she had carried 
 out her intention. She was dressed and on deck, 
 
 192 
 
THE MYO-OK 193 
 
 a sturdy little blue serge figure, with her hands on 
 the rail and her head well up. Why she should have 
 disappeared behind the bilious yellow Venetians of 
 her cabin immediately I appeared I know not 
 Despite the early hour, we were both in appro- 
 priate attire, and so far as I could see, there was no 
 reason whatever for her ignoring my dignified wave 
 of farewell. However, she did ignore it. The white 
 launch waddled away crabwise, her stern-wheel throw- 
 ing back the spray coquettishly in my direction, and 
 I was left, teacup in hand, in the rest-house verandah, 
 a ludicrous sense of desolation warning me that, for 
 the sake of all concerned, it was, perhaps, as well 
 that Miss Frecklenose (I had to call her " Freckle- 
 nose " when I felt like this) had withdrawn her 
 distracting presence from my sphere of duty. 
 
 Stern duty was truly the order of the day ; and 
 the first task of the morning, I felt, was to impress 
 with a sense of their own unworthiness Miss Grim- 
 hurst's pair of invalids. Once in the saddle, it was 
 not long before my mounted policemen had piloted 
 me to Maung Gyi's house, and I had cornered that 
 worthy before he had fairly risen from his couch. 
 Fat and dishevelled, he appeared as I reached the 
 top of the steps, and plumped discreetly down on to 
 a mat, holding a hand over his labouring chest. 
 
 " What is the matter with you, Maung Gyi ? " I 
 said, and I administered a cheery tap on his shoulder 
 with my cane ; for I was not going to be put off by 
 symptoms so hackneyed as these. 
 
 He looked on to the ground, silent for a moment ; 
 then, " I have fever, your Honour," he murmured. 
 " I am not well." 
 O 
 
194 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " You seem indisposed " I said. 
 
 He snatched eagerly at my words. "Yes, indis- 
 posed," he repeated after me. 
 
 " Indisposed to go with me after the robbers," I 
 pursued, infusing what sarcasm I could into my 
 words. 
 
 " Yes, sir ; yes, sir," he exclaimed in grateful acknow- 
 ledgment. "Too indisposed to go with you," and 
 he looked down silent again. 
 
 " How long have you been ill ? " I asked. " This 
 is very sudden, you know, my friend." 
 
 " Been ill since soon after I left your Honour. I 
 cannot sleep, my head whirls. I can produce medi- 
 cal certificate that I am insomnic. I can do nothing 
 of work," and he flopped lower on to his mat. 
 
 " Nonsense ! " I ejaculated. " You must make an 
 effort. Call to them to get your pony ready." 
 
 " Please excuse me," he muttered. 
 
 " Don't scrimshank, Maung Gyi," I said firmly. 
 " Let me feel your hand." 
 
 " I am very hot," he said, and reached me up a 
 podgy brown fist. I felt it. It was hot. There was 
 no denying that it was singularly hot and dry. I 
 looked the man up and down. I made him lift up 
 his head and come to the light. He undoubtedly 
 was feverish. I told him to show me his tongue, but, 
 though outwardly startlingly like a European tongue, 
 it conveyed nothing to me. His breathing was short. 
 That might have been due to other causes than 
 fever, but on the whole I was satisfied that it was 
 fever mainly that had reduced the man to the flabby 
 wreck that grovelled on the boards in front of me. 
 What was more, it was clear that, in his present con- 
 
THE MYO-OK 195 
 
 dition, it would be absurd to expect the creature to 
 come out dacoit-hunting. 
 
 " You're a nice sort," I said disgustedly, when my 
 inspection was over. " Go back to bed now and take 
 some quinine or something. Was Maung Pyu taken 
 bad at the same time as you were ? " 
 
 He stared at me with his little round fever-laden 
 eyes. " I don't know, sir," he said. " I did not 
 know Maung Pyu taken bad." 
 
 " Apparently he has been taken very bad," I made 
 reply ; " and by some strange coincidence (which I 
 shall want to know more about hereafter) just about 
 at the same time and in the same manner as you. 
 Where is he now?" 
 
 " Maung Pyu, sir, he is still in the zayat." 
 
 " Which zayat?" 
 
 " In the north of the town. Not far from the gate." 
 
 " What ! Out there ? I thought he was stopping 
 with you. Well, I can't waste any more time over 
 you precious things. I suppose he must really be 
 ill too. You'll both have to stop behind, that's all. 
 But, mind, no wasting of your time. Get the treasury 
 business done as sharp as possible and be off with 
 you to Shwedan. You ought to have been there 
 days ago. Don't wait for me. I don't know when I 
 shall be back ; and, whatever you do, see that no 
 time is wasted in giving over charge." 
 
 I threw this final exhortation over my shoulder at 
 the quivering form above me as I strode down the 
 stairs. The next moment I was in my saddle in the 
 courtyard below. 
 
 " To Shwepaukbin," I said, as my mounted Bur- 
 man orderly looked back to me for instructions. 
 
196 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 The road from Myothit to Shwedan takes a bee- 
 line for the first three miles across low-lying paddy- 
 land. Shwepaukbin is the first village that is reached 
 after the plain is passed, and lies on the fringe of a 
 comparatively hilly tract of country much affected 
 by bad characters in the old dacoit days, when every 
 village harboured its own particular hero. I caught 
 up my carts, which had started before daybreak, a 
 mile or so short of the village, and from that point 
 onwards went slow, slow enough, that is to say, for a 
 man to keep pace with me at a jog-trot. I wanted 
 to arrive at Shwepaukbin with my villager, who up 
 till now had been my sole source of information 
 about the robbery and who was with the cart ; and I 
 did so. My friend was a little blown when we 
 arrived, though not so blown but what he could 
 indicate the thugyi's house to me and throw in a 
 word or two while I interrogated that functionary, 
 a jovial blackguard with a roving eye whom I sur- 
 prised in his paddy-bin. 
 
 I had looked to find fuller knowledge of what had 
 happened at Shwepaukbin than at Myothit, but dis- 
 covered that in this I was grievously in error. My 
 genial headman was a broken reed so far as news 
 was concerned. He could tell me nothing more than 
 the bearer of the original tidings, to whom he con- 
 stantly referred for confirmation, and what was more, 
 the hamlet generally was as ill-informed as he. 
 Villager after villager was called up ; not one could 
 speak to anything definite. The upshot, however, of 
 this game of cross questions and crooked answers 
 was a conviction that, if anyone could be looked upon 
 as the fountain-head of this flood of dubious rumour, 
 
THE MYO-OK 197 
 
 it was a certain Tun Gyaw. Tun Gyaw was the 
 authority to whom all ultimately referred. There 
 was a general feeling that Tun Gyaw had some 
 reliable source of information. Where, then, was the 
 indispensable Tun Gyaw? He was in the jungle, 
 as luck would have it, a daing. and a half, perhaps 
 two daings away, cutting bamboos. On this fact 
 being made public, local opinion was content to 
 treat the matter as closed. It was clear that in the 
 eyes of the villagers the remoteness of Tun Gyaw's 
 whereabouts was a final and insuperable bar to the 
 procuring of his attendance before dusk, a bar not to 
 be overcome by my assertion that it was desirable 
 that he should be found before then. No one was 
 sure of where to find him. The road was bad. He 
 would not come if he were called ; any excuse 
 sufficed. I saw it was time for me to assert my 
 authority. I took up the parable and reasoned with 
 the thugyi for three fervid minutes, and almost 
 before the sound of my dissertation on the beauty of 
 obedience had died away through the tamarind trees, 
 half the able-bodied population of Shwepaukbin had 
 vanished to fetch in Tun Gyaw — before noon — at 
 their joint and several peril. 
 
 It was just about noon when he was fetched in. 
 Half an hour earlier a mounted policeman had 
 spurred hot-foot up with a reply from the telegraph 
 master at Nyaungbinhla, from which I learnt that, 
 up till then, no treasure escort had arrived at that 
 dreary little station. "All the more need for Tun 
 Gyaw's information," I said to myself, as I mused 
 over my after-breakfast cheroot ; and Tun Gyaw, 
 escorted in a little later, guarded jealously, like a 
 
198 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 dangerous criminal, was not long in disgorging his 
 item of news. 
 
 Stripped of all its conjectural accretions, it came 
 shortly to this. Soon after midday two days earlier 
 he had met in the jungle, not far from the Myothit 
 road, three policemen on foot and armed, who asked 
 him if he had seen dacoits carrying treasure boxes, 
 and on being informed that he had not, had observed 
 that it didn't matter. Further, on his way back to 
 the village, about three or four calls' distance from 
 where he had met the policemen, and a good stone's 
 throw from the public road, he had noticed in the 
 jungle two bullocks, tethered, grazing near a cart, 
 but, bearing in mind what had been said about 
 dacoits, had not ventured to examine the phenom- 
 enon carefully, but had given cart and bullocks a 
 wide berth. 
 
 That was all I could get out of him. There was 
 nothing to show that the police were making an 
 honest effort to pursue the criminals or recover the 
 treasure ; nothing to indicate that they were doing 
 more than wander about the jungle, asking absurd 
 questions of the passers-by. I jumped to my feet, 
 scribbled a hasty note in pencil, which I handed to 
 the mounted policeman who had just brought me my 
 telegram. 
 
 " Give that to the Myo-ok,'' I said, " and see that 
 steps are taken to send the men here without delay. 
 They have got to wait here till further orders." 
 Then I turned to Tun Gyaw. " Lead me to the 
 place," I said. 
 
 " Where I saw the policemen, your Honour ? " he 
 inquired. Someone had shoved the old gentleman 
 
THE MYO-OK 199 
 
 expeditiously on to one of the village ponies and had 
 clapped a Shan hat on his head. His bony knees 
 projected at right angles to his body in the orthodox 
 fashion, the big toe of each foot was doubled over 
 the stirrup iron ; the pale blue check waistcloth he 
 wore showed up picturesquely against the maroon 
 cloth of his saddle. 
 
 " Do you think they will still be there ? " I inquired 
 sarcastically, and his wrinkled face puckered itself 
 into a smile at my tone. " No, take me to where 
 you saw the cart and bullocks." 
 
 I had a kind of idea that the cart and bullocks 
 possibly might still be there and be able to tell me 
 something. I was right, so far as the first part of my 
 surmise went. The light blue waistcloth bobbed up 
 and down over the maroon saddle in front of me for 
 a matter of three miles along the road, and then 
 suddenly deviated to the right at a point where the 
 down-trodden grass in an open glade amid the tree- 
 trunks showed that a party had halted. There were 
 cart-tracks leading away from the glade into the 
 denser jungle beyond, which we followed, forcing our 
 way as best we might along the passage that the 
 wheels had cloven for themselves through the under- 
 growth till we came upon the cart itself, tilted 
 artistically against a tree. The cattle were beyond 
 it. One had broken free from its tether and was 
 browsing aimlessly close by, unwilling to leave its 
 fellow, which, less fortunate, was still fastened to a 
 bough. The poor beast's neck, head, and horns were 
 one tangle of rope, and I took it well of blue checks 
 that, before doing anything else, he released the 
 prisoner. I peered into the cart. There was nothing 
 
200 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 in it, save a sleeping-mat, some rough twine, two 
 black earthenware pots, and a three-legged iron ring 
 used for cooking purposes. The police had appar- 
 ently taken all their portable paraphernalia with 
 them, from which I inferred that their pursuit had 
 not been a headlong one. Indeed, I had gathered as 
 much from Tun Gyaw's tale, which I made him 
 repeat to me, as I sat on the slope of the shaft, 
 solacing myself with a few hurried whiffs. 
 
 " They were going in the direction of Mindan," 
 he exclaimed, pointing westwards. " They had their 
 blankets with them, as I told your Honour, and one 
 of them (it was a fat man) was carrying a bundle. 
 Each of the three had his rifle. No, they had no 
 signs of wounds on them, nor did they seem much 
 alarmed, or put out, for they were talking loud and 
 laughing as they approached." 
 
 " Could you hear anything of what they said be- 
 fore they came up to you ? " I asked. 
 
 The old man picked up the iron ring that had 
 been found in the cart and kneaded it slowly in his 
 hands, as though thereby to concentrate his mind on 
 the past. 
 
 " Only something about being asleep," he said 
 presently, looking up with a jerk. " Nothing about 
 dacoits." 
 
 " About being asleep," I said. " What was it they 
 were saying about being asleep ? " 
 
 " I cannot say." 
 
 " But what were the words you heard ? " 
 
 "Only these," your Honour. "'He, Ko Thin! 
 Are you still asleep ? Can't you walk properly ? ' 
 Then one of them laughed, and they came upon me 
 
THE MYO-OK 201 
 
 where I stood behind a tree, for I had drawn to one 
 side, fearing dacoits." 
 
 " Why dacoits ? " 
 
 " Truly because of the gunshots, my lord." 
 
 " What gunshots ? Did anybody fire ? You have 
 told me nothing about gunshots so far." 
 
 " I thought I heard gunshots before then, while 
 I was cutting bamboos, but I was not sure ; and 
 when I heard the police laughing I knew that it 
 could not have been they that fired." 
 
 "Why didn't you tell me that you heard firing 
 before?" I asked impatiently. "You must have 
 known that it was an important matter." 
 
 " Sir, I could not say whether they were gunshots 
 or not that I heard. I cannot think now that they 
 could have been." 
 
 " Why not ? Because the police were laughing just 
 before they passed you ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 I grunted. " How about their asking whether you 
 had seen dacoits ? " I went on. 
 
 " They said, ' Keiksa ma shi bu ' " (" It's of no 
 consequence "), " so I thought perhaps there had 
 been no dacoity.'' 
 
 " When did you hear what you thought were gun- 
 shots?" I continued. "How long before you met 
 the police ? " 
 
 " Some time." 
 
 " How long ? A betel chew ? Two betel chews .' 
 Say what you think." 
 
 " I cannot say. It may have been four or five or 
 eight betel chews." 
 
202 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 I rubbed my chin reflectively. " How far off is it 
 to Mindan ? " I asked. 
 
 Tun Gyaw scratched his grizzled head and began 
 to calculate. At the question my mounted constable, 
 who was holding the ponies near the cart, executed a 
 half-left turn towards me. " Eight miles," he said, 
 and closed his mouth with a snap. 
 
 " Are there any villages between here and there ? " 
 
 " There is Kangyi ; but it lies a little off the road." 
 
 " How many houses in Mindan ? " 
 
 " Twenty-four." 
 
 " Any bad characters there ? " 
 
 My man's eyes glistened. " Two," he made reply. 
 " Nga Chein, son of Shwe Byu, fourteen months out 
 of jail, short of stature, with cropped hair and a 
 wheaten complexion, now following the profession of 
 a toddy-tree climber ; Nga Meik, son of Maung Lu 
 Gale, tall, elderly, dark-complexioned, has two da-cuts 
 on his left shoulder, hires his cattle and works land, 
 ten months out of jail, moved to Mindan recently 
 from Myothit." 
 
 He spoke as one having authority. I looked at 
 the man. He had suddenly stiffened out. The hand 
 that held the reins was instinctively seeking the 
 seam of his khaki knickerbockers. His eyes were 
 fixed on the upper branches of the teak tree before 
 him. Each sentence left his lips in a succession of 
 automatic clicks. I saw at a glance that I had be- 
 fore me that admirable product of latter-day civilisa- 
 tion, the village patrol constable, and my heart leapt 
 within me, for I had really begun to be a little puzzled 
 as to my next move. 
 
 " Is this your beat?" I inquired. 
 
THE MYO-OK 203 
 
 The creature became, if possible, more rigid than 
 ever at my question. " My beat, your Honour ; beat 
 No. 3," he made reply, and his right hand, as though 
 released by a spring, flew up to his pocket, from 
 which projected a small, blue-paper covered book. 
 
 This was superb ; here was the very man to en- 
 lighten me as to the antecedents of the neighbour- 
 hood. I threw away my cheroot and, pacing up and 
 down near the cart, proceeded to find out what there 
 was to be found out about beat No. 3. 
 
 " What other bad characters are there about here?" 
 I asked. 
 
 His head went back and his quick, jerky sing-song 
 began again. " Nga Pyo, of Shwepaukbin," he 
 chanted. " Nga Pyo, apprenticed to a goldsmith ; 
 his time will be up next month. Nga Po Hla and 
 Nga San Dun, fishermen, both of Gwel^on " 
 
 " Gwegon lies beyond Kangyi and Mindan, does 
 it not ? " I said. 
 
 " Even so, your Honour, beyond Mindan. Nga 
 Po Hla and Nga San Dun at Gwfegon ; both out of 
 jail three months ; complexion " 
 
 " About ten miles from here ? " I went on. 
 
 " Gwfegon, my lord ? True. A good ten miles 
 from here. At Gwegon Nga Po Hla and Nga " 
 
 " Any other suspicious characters besides at 
 Gwegon ? " I inquired, tapping my boot with my 
 riding-cane. 
 
 " None, except at Chaungzon, sir. At Chaungzon 
 Nga Tun Win, son of Maung Tun Aung, a re- 
 leased dacoit — under surveillance — works his own 
 land." 
 
 " Humph ! " I said. " Well, what do you think, my 
 
204 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 son ? Do you believe that the police suspect the 
 Mindan men and have gone there to try and find the 
 treasure ? " 
 
 Thus recalled from his official trance by a demand 
 for an expression of personal opinion, my constable 
 scratched his nose dubiously and was reluctant to 
 commit himself, but at length admitted that he 
 thought it must have been Mindan that the escort 
 had chosen for its objective. 
 
 "In that case," I exclaimed, as I threw away my 
 cheroot, " I don't think we can do better than follow 
 them there. Gentlemen, I must ask you to get on 
 your ponies again." 
 
 A beat constable ought, no doubt, to know the 
 shortest and most direct route from one village to 
 another in his beat, and to this day I cannot con- 
 ceive how it was that we took so long in covering 
 the eight miles that lay between us and Mindan. It 
 may have been partly our digression to Kangyi, 
 which, as our friend had put it, lay " a little off the 
 road " (a distance which, I found, meant two measured 
 miles or more). I had no wish to go out of my way. 
 Mindan was my destination, and I was particularly 
 anxious to get there with as little delay as possible ; so 
 when a pagoda suddenly hove into sight over the trees 
 and I was told that we were close to Kangyi, I waxed 
 wrath and would not go into the village, but turned 
 straight off again into the road for Mindan that we 
 had temporarily forsaken. Still, a good half-hour 
 was wasted. Our delay was to some extent due also 
 to the tardiness of Tun Gyaw's pony, which, in the 
 first instance fresh and restive, even to the projecting 
 of the blue silk paso in parabolic fashion into a cane- 
 
THE MYO-OK 205 
 
 brake, sobered down eventually into a snail's pace, 
 out of which none of our little party could coax him. 
 I was in two minds about sending the old man back 
 to his village, but he seemed to be the only real link 
 I had with the treasure escort, and I could not say 
 in what way he might not possibly be useful. Be- 
 sides, he was a comical, kindly fossil, whose un- 
 rehearsed drolleries lightened our tramp through, the 
 jungle not a little ; so I bore, as best might be, with 
 the laggard and thanked Heaven that it was not pitch 
 dark when a line of black hedge, showing up in the 
 dusk, and the clamour of a conclave of village whelps, 
 told me that Mindan lay before us. 
 
 I was incensed at the slowness of our march, and 
 such information as I received when the village gate 
 had been passed did not serve to put me on better 
 terms with the world in general. The thugyi was 
 away, there was no one in authority, the villagers 
 were exasperatingly thick-headed, and not a living 
 soul had heard anything about a robbery or seen any- 
 thing of the police. I sat in the moonlight and 
 fumed for two hours by the clock till my carts came 
 up ; now questioning the residents, including Nga 
 Chein of the cropped hair and the dark-complex- 
 ioned Nga Meik, who were able to prove to me 
 that they had not been out of the village for a fort- 
 night ; now taking counsel with Tun Gyaw and my 
 patrol constable; now sitting silent, reviewing the 
 situation ; while harsh-voiced women came and went 
 with water and wood and grass, and village elders 
 crept whispering about the zayat I had taken up my 
 quarters in, laying mats and screening me round from 
 the chill November air with gaudy kalagas. At the 
 
2o6 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 end of the two hours my carts arrived, and I swallowed 
 a hasty soup and curry and turned in, tired, cross, with 
 no plan for the morrow ; certain only of one thing, 
 which was that I was woefully off the scent. 
 
 Things bore no brighter an aspect next day. The 
 thugyi had been hurried in from a distant village 
 during the small hours, and I interviewed him next 
 morning in the grey dawn wrapped in a blanket at the 
 head of the zayat steps, but a less resourceful man 
 than that thugyi it has never been my fortune to 
 meet. He was in the same state of distressful ignor- 
 ance as his villagers and, when placed in possession of 
 the facts of the case, was absolutely void of suggestion 
 or advice. I think it was Tun Gyaw who counselled 
 my going on to Gwegon, a cluster of tumbledown 
 palm-leaf huts plastered against a bleak hillside a few 
 miles further on ; and as in the existing state of un- 
 certainty one village seemed as likely as another, to 
 Gwegon I went, and from Gwegon returned, empty 
 as I had gone, in time for a late breakfast. There 
 was no news of the police at the hamlet on the hill, 
 and that a robbery should have occurred no farther 
 off than Shwepaukbin was so unmistakably a sur- 
 prise to the villagers that I saw it was useless wasting 
 time over them. Their unfeigned amazement at my 
 tale showed me that I was wandering further and 
 further from the track, and the early afternoon saw 
 me on my return journey to my base, Shwepaukbin. 
 
 What prompted me to look in at Kangyi on my 
 way back I can hardly, after this lapse of time, 
 remember. It was a little bit of a village, a dozen or 
 so of houses embowered in tamarind trees, with a slim, 
 pallid pagoda behind them, and I had been so dis- 
 
THE MYO-OK 207 
 
 gusted the day before at being taken out of my way 
 towards it that I felt no very great desire to turn 
 aside to it again. It must have been the finger of 
 Providence that directed me a second time towards 
 the tamarind grove with its aggressive landmark 
 above it, though my frame of mind at the time was 
 anything but calm and receptive, and I was very far 
 from divining the rare nature of my guidance. I 
 could find nothing attractive even in the pagoda as I 
 jogged up to it. It tapered gracefully enough, but I 
 could only liken it in my mind to a white-washed 
 hock bottle with a gilt neck, and I held the silly thing 
 responsible for the thirst that the image forthwith 
 evoked in me. It may possibly also have been a hope 
 that I should be able to get a drink of moderately 
 pure water at one of the wells that brought me to the 
 village gate. In any case, into the village I trotted, 
 and in the village came plump upon my truants at a 
 moment when I least expected to find them. 
 
 It was a zayat close to the village gate that caught 
 my eye as I rode in past the little thatched watch- 
 house where the village gate-keepers slept at night, 
 and I turned my pony's nose towards it with a vague, 
 momentary idea that the Myo-oks, in a fit of remorse, 
 had trodden their fever and ague underfoot and had 
 followed me out on my wild-goose chase, for, lo ! 
 kalagas, pale blue and lemon yellow, sage-green and 
 crimson, dangled round the exterior of the building, 
 indicating the presence of a notable or notables 
 within. There was no one at this sultry hour in sight 
 near the zayat nor any villager within hail, so, as the 
 shout I raised to attract attention seemed to go un- 
 heeded, I rode up to the zayat with my cortege 
 
2o8 THE MYO-OK 
 
 behind me. Arrived at the steps, I dismounted 
 quietly and threw my reins to the beat constable, and 
 as my feet touched the ground something told me, 
 against my will almost, that I had run my men to 
 earth. Not that there was any sign of policemen. 
 The zayat might have passed as untenanted, but for 
 the fact that at times there rose and fell a plaintive, 
 almost melodious sound which suddenly brought 
 before my eyes — for the life of me I could not say 
 why — the picture of a crowded beach, of a straight 
 blue sea-line, of paper bags, wooden spades, and white 
 bathing machines. For a moment I stood, arrested 
 by a flood of memories, and then, my second call 
 being, like the first, ignored, I stepped up to the 
 zayat, and, lifting a corner of one of the kalagas, 
 peered in. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 IT was the trio of khaki jackets dangling from the 
 smoke-blackened teak rafters that first assured 
 me of what I had till then stubbornly refused to 
 believe, to wit that the occupants of the zayat were 
 the police. Each of the three recumbent figures that 
 met my gaze was clearly labelled by his hanging 
 garment, and the three red chevrons on the sleeve 
 that showed up over the central form said " sergeant " 
 with no uncertain voice. It was from below the 
 chevrons that the sounds I had heard outside the 
 zayat proceeded, and immediately my eyes had 
 become accustomed to the half-light and I could 
 distinguish this from that, the gap in my mental 
 seaside picture was filled by a vision of a straw- 
 hatted nigger minstrel in an atrocious jacket of 
 striped flannel, backed by a spindle-shanked pier and 
 a line of breakers. It was a meek, inglorious con- 
 certina that the sergeant was playing, and for a few 
 moments I watched him, fascinated, as he lay with 
 swaying arms and manipulated the keys to the accom- 
 paniment of his companions' snores. By its sound 
 I judged that the instrument had already seen its 
 best days, and its end must have been brought 
 appreciably nearer within the next few seconds, for 
 it yelped like a living thing as the sergeant dashed 
 P 209 
 
2IO THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 it to the ground, on becoming aware of my head and 
 shoulders, dark below the glories of the kalaga. 
 
 He scrambled to his feet and saluted guiltily. 
 I recognised in him a thick-headed, able-bodied guard- 
 writer whom Gorringe had recently promoted. 
 
 " You, Maung Walk ! " I exclaimed, as I heaved 
 myself up into the zayat. 
 
 " Hman ba Paya," he gasped, saluting again ; and 
 as he saluted he delivered a sidelong kick at the 
 figures that still lay on either side of him on the 
 plank flooring. They both grunted protestingly, but 
 neither moved a finger. 
 
 " You seem to be pretty sound sleepers ! " I cried, 
 with crushing emphasis. 
 
 The sergeant appeared to find more in my words 
 than I had intended to convey, for he looked down 
 silent for several seconds, his thumbs twitching the 
 while, at his khaki knickerbockers. It was not till 
 I gave vent to an inquiring " Well " that he spoke. 
 Then he muttered enigmatically, " It was the medi- 
 cine." And with that his heels flew right and left 
 again against the ribs of the two sleepers. 
 
 " What medicine ? " I asked ; but I did not wait for 
 a reply. The two constables at this juncture, as 
 though moved by a common impulse, sat up and 
 rubbed their eyes simultaneously. I allowed the 
 apparition of the Deputy Commissioner to hold them 
 spell-bound for one brief second ; then I gave forth a 
 truculent " Attention ! " And in the twinkling of an 
 eye the three were on end and facing me. 
 
 I looked them up and down in silence, rubbing 
 every glance into them, so to speak ; after which 
 I turned and gazed round the zayat. It had suddenly 
 
THE MYO-OK 211 
 
 struck me that possibly the police might, after all, 
 have recovered the treasure, and have merely been 
 disturbed enjoying a trifle of well-earned rest after 
 their labours ; but of specie boxes or sign of such 
 I saw none — nothing but three rifles, the same 
 number of police das, a bundle or two of clothes, and 
 a few waterpots on the floor. 
 
 " Have you got the money back ? " I asked. 
 
 " Not yet, sir," said all three of them together. 
 
 " How was it taken ? " was my next query. 
 
 No one replied. Both the constables gazed side- 
 ways at their superior officer, as though waiting for 
 their cue, but the sergeant stood tongue-tied. 
 
 " How was it taken ? " I repeated, glaring in- 
 sistently at the stouter of the two constables. 
 " Speak up, fat man, do you hear ? " 
 
 " We were set upon on the road not far from 
 Shwepaukbin," he began, after a despairing glance 
 in the direction of the sergeant. " Set upon by 
 dacoits (I cannot say how many), who stopped the 
 cart and took the treasure out." 
 
 " Were they armed ? " 
 
 " They had das, and two — no, three — of them had 
 guns, which they fired off" as they approached." 
 
 " Three guns only ! The same number as you 
 had. How, then, could they get hold of the treasure 
 if you resisted ? Did you resist ? " 
 
 " My lord, we resisted, firing back at them, but it 
 was of no avail." 
 
 " No avail ! " I shouted, but pulled myself up 
 immediately, as I did not wish to fluster my men 
 more than need be. " Well," I went on, " so they 
 
212 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 carried the money off. Did you follow them up 
 directly ? " 
 
 " Your Honour, we followed them up forthwith and 
 carried their tracks up to near Mindan, where we lost 
 them. Having searched everywhere yesterday in 
 vain, we determined to return to headquarters, report 
 the matter to the head constable, and await further 
 orders." 
 
 " Have you reported the robbery to any of the 
 thugyis ? " 
 
 " No, your Honour.'' 
 
 " Not even to the thugyi of this village ? " 
 
 " Not yet." 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 There was silence. During the pause I suddenly 
 found myself connecting a rather peculiar utterance 
 of the sergeant's with some of the words that had 
 dropped from Tun Gyaw the day before, and for the 
 life of me I could not help bursting out with " And 
 when did you take the medicine ? " 
 
 A three-fold gasp that went up to the grimy rafters 
 told me that I had had an inspiration. "What 
 medicine ? " faltered the fat constable. 
 
 " The medicine that sent you to sleep," I said. 
 
 This was fairly a home-thrust. The dauntless three 
 huddled closer to each other, as though for mutual 
 protection. The two constables looked helplessly at 
 the sergeant for guidance, but that officer's eyes were 
 glued to the floor. At last the fat constable broke 
 the silence with a visible effort. " I know of no 
 medicine," he said. 
 
 I smiled indulgently upon them. " Well," I said, 
 "the medicine will keep. We need say no more 
 
THE MYO-OK 213 
 
 about that at present. So they set upon you near 
 Shwepaukbin, and kept you off while they looted the 
 cart. You say you did resist, fired at them, and that 
 sort of thing. Did you do nothing else but fire from 
 a distance ? Were you never at close quarters ? " 
 
 My question was addressed to the fat constable. 
 The man's face suddenly brightened. He sighed a 
 sigh as of a relieved sentry, and glanced across at his 
 thin colleague with a look that said, " It's your turn 
 now." Thus appealed to, his companion took up the 
 tale, holding out an arm which now for the first time 
 I saw was bandaged. 
 
 " I seized one of the dacoits as he was taking the 
 boxes out of the cart," he said. " He was a tall man 
 with short hair ; was not that so, sergeant ? I had 
 him round the waist thus, but as I held him another 
 one, who was standing near, came up with a da and 
 his hand drawn back to strike — see, like that. Him 
 I also seized and held in this fashion — one with each 
 arm. However, what could I do for any time against 
 two? After a while we all three fell to the ground 
 together. The man with the da shook himself free — 
 so, and, standing over me as I lay, struck at me on 
 the arm with his da, like this." And he illustrated 
 the action with his unbandaged arm — a sharp, down- 
 ward cut, swift and merciless. 
 
 It was a finished performance. I could see the tall, 
 crop-haired dacoit at bay, the sudden dash which 
 involved the three in a precipitate fall, the confused 
 welter of limbs agitated on the ground, the sudden 
 detachment and uprising of the single form, and the 
 lightning swoop of the keen blade from above. His 
 description had carried the narrator zigzagging away 
 
214 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 from his companions against one of the walls of the 
 zayat, where he now stood facing us, his chest heav- 
 ing, for the moment inspired. It was a gem from an 
 Adelphi melodrama. The thin constable had clearly 
 mistaken his vocation. 
 
 " Excellent ! " I said, with undisguised approval. 
 " Excellent ; it could not have been done better. But 
 business is business. Show me your arm." 
 
 The bandaged member was thrust out towards me. 
 
 " Take off the bandages," I continued. 
 
 The cloth was elaborately unrolled, and the arm 
 below exposed to the light. 
 
 Nowhere is the step from the sublime to the ridicu- 
 lous more imperceptible than in Burma. So soaked 
 was I in the atmosphere of the country that my lip 
 barely twitched when I was bidden inspect the gash 
 inflicted by the dacoit's da — a thin, clean, red line on 
 the wrist below the wrappings ; a delicate cut, barely 
 skin deep, and already almost healed ; a deplorably 
 poor finish to the performance I had just been privi- 
 leged to witness. 
 
 I grunted sceptically, and, turning, cast a second 
 glance round the zayat. On the floor near the water- 
 pots was a da of the regulation police pattern, lying 
 by its brass-bound teak scabbard. I walked towards 
 it, picked it up, and passed my thumb along the 
 blade. 
 
 " Did it hurt much ? " I inquired, with bland signifi- 
 cance. I had hit upon a portion of the edge that 
 seemed sharper than is the wont of das of the regu- 
 lation police pattern, and I tested it daintily, ostenta- 
 tiously, with my forefinger. 
 
 No one replied. The fat constable bowed his head 
 
THE MYO-OK 215 
 
 and passed his hand once or twice nervously across 
 his mouth. 
 
 " Did it hurt much ? " I repeated. 
 
 " What ? " asked the thin constable. 
 
 I made no verbal reply, but held out the da at 
 arm's length, grasping the tip of the blade between 
 my forefinger and thumb. 
 
 " I don't understand," muttered my interlocutor. 
 
 There was a muffled snort from the fat constable 
 that spoke volumes. I looked away loftily at the 
 point of the da, but with the tail of my eye I could 
 see that the man had turned his back upon me in 
 a paroxysm of coughing, and take note of the savage 
 dig with which the sergeant admonished him. It 
 was quite sufficient for me. I affected an interest in 
 the da, which I scrutinised just so long as allowed of 
 the fat constable recovering. Then I turned round 
 again upon the three. 
 
 " We will go into the wound question again later," 
 I said, " but for the present I want to know some- 
 thing else. Did you recognise any of the dacoits ? " 
 
 " One man, Nga Tun Win." It was the sergeant 
 who had found his voice and spoke with some 
 eagerness. 
 
 "Tun Win, of Chaungzon ? " I hazarded. 
 
 " Of Chaungzon, your Honour." 
 
 " Are you sure you recognised him ? " I exclaimed. 
 
 " Certain — quite certain. He had been driving our 
 cart just before." 
 
 " Just before ? Before the attack, I suppose you 
 mean. Driving your cart, had he ? But not when 
 you were attacked ; how long before ? " 
 
 " An hour, or may be two." 
 
2i6 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " How was it that he was not driving then ? " 
 
 " He had left us at Shwepaukbin." 
 
 " What for ? " 
 
 " I cannot say. He said he wanted to buy plan- 
 tains in the village, and went off, but never returned." 
 
 " Is this true ? " I exclaimed, and the two constables 
 gave vent to emphatic confirmatory murmurs as I 
 glanced at each in turn. There was a subtle some- 
 thing in the tone of their voices that had been 
 conspicuously absent hitherto, and I was moved to 
 further questionings. 
 
 "And never came back till the dacoits attacked 
 you," I said. "In that case has it not struck you 
 that the people of Shwepaukbin ought to know 
 a good deal about the dacoity? What made you 
 come in this direction ? " 
 
 " The dacoits seemed to go to the west, and their 
 footsteps led in the first instance towards Mindan, 
 though those we soon lost." 
 
 I pondered a moment over what I had heard. 
 "Who was driving the cart at the time you were 
 attacked ?" I asked. " Did you get another driver 
 in the place of Tun Win ? " 
 
 " No, we drove ourselves." 
 
 I spun on my heel. " Come back with me to the 
 place where the robbery was committed," I ex- 
 claimed over my shoulder as I scrambled down off 
 the zayat. " We shall have to start afresh, I see, right 
 from the beginning again. You've made a precious 
 mess of it so far, my sons." 
 
 A crowd of villagers had collected near the zayat 
 during the course of my interview within. I came 
 upon them squatting near the ponies as I emerged. 
 
THE MYO-OK 217 
 
 Foremost among the sightseers was the village head- 
 man. 
 
 "You seem to have made those people pretty 
 comfortable, thugyi," I remarked dryly to the latter, 
 pointing back over my shoulder. " Do you always 
 put up kalagas for the police when they come to your 
 village ? " 
 
 " They said it was important Government business 
 they were on," explained the functionary. "They 
 called for kalagas, so I supplied them." 
 
 "And instruments of music too, I observe," I 
 added. The sergeant had just pulled aside the 
 hangings and stood above the steps, bearing the 
 concertina sheepishly in his disengaged hand. The 
 other held his rifle. 
 
 The thugyi grinned. " They borrowed that," he 
 said. " He, Ko Yon ! " 
 
 A shock-headed youth sidled simpering out of the 
 crowd, took the instrument from the sergeant, and, 
 reseating himself among his fellows, fingered it 
 lovingly, his head coyly tilted. The two constables 
 emerged with their rifles from the zayat, and ranged 
 themselves at attention alongside the sergeant in 
 front of me. 
 
 " Right about ! " I roared suddenly, in a voice that 
 sent half a dozen of the children on the fringe of 
 the crowd scampering to their mothers. The three 
 righted about like one, and while men might count 
 a hundred the village was duly edified by the sight 
 of three shamefaced backs that twitched in silence 
 in the sunshine. 
 
 " No more concertina-playing for you to-day, my 
 children I " I exclaimed. " You are under marching 
 
2i8 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 orders now, do you understand ? Back you go now 
 to where you were surprised in the jungle. If you 
 are not there within an hour's time, or as soon as 
 I am, I shall want to know the reason why. Off 
 with you now ! Double ! " 
 
 A few days later, when I told Gorringe the time 
 his three policemen had taken in covering the five 
 miles that lay between Kangyi and the scene of the 
 crime, that incredulous district superintendent would 
 not believe me. When I persisted and brought 
 proofs to bear, he averred that my conduct had 
 been infamous, and that he would hold me respon- 
 sible for the after results, if disastrous. As a matter 
 of fact, however, he was really rather proud than 
 otherwise of the achievement, as testifying to the 
 stamina of the corps, and eventually condescended 
 to introduce his own engaging personality into his 
 narrative of the incident, describing in his own vivid 
 manner how he and a party of his men, in heavy 
 marching order, had on an emergency ("about as 
 jumpy a dacoity as they make 'em, my dear sir") 
 covered a good five miles (" P.W.D. measurement, 
 every inch of it, my boy ") in a little under forty-five 
 minutes. However, Gorringe has no concern with 
 the present veracious history. Suffice it that sergeant 
 and constables were alongside the up-turned cart in 
 the jungle, breathless and perspiring, within five 
 minutes of the time my mounted followers and I 
 had cantered on to the scene. I gave them a few 
 minutes to regain their breaths in, while I stalked 
 circumspectly about the cart, taking in all the details 
 of its surroundings, and trying to fit the locality 
 on to the story that had been told me by the police. 
 
THE MYO-OK 219 
 
 " And now," I said at last, " let us get to business. 
 Tell me, in the first place, how it was that the cart 
 got out here in the jungle. It was not here that you 
 were attacked, surely." 
 
 The sergeant, still puffing stormily, explained. "No, 
 we were resting close to the road when the attack was 
 made," he said. " The firing and shouting alarmed 
 the bullocks ; they took fright and bolted. They 
 knocked up against this tree, and here the cart was 
 overset." 
 
 " So I see," I made reply. " But I don't quite 
 understand one thing. There are no signs of many 
 people having been here. Did the bullocks bolt before 
 or after the dacoits had driven you off?" 
 
 "Before we were driven off," said the constable, 
 addressed as Maung Wa, for the sergeant was silent, 
 not appearing to understand my question. 
 
 " Ah, then it was actually here that the boxes were 
 taken out?" 
 
 " Yes," said the two constables in a breath ; but 
 " No," said the sergeant, frowning his subordinates 
 fiercely down. " No ; it was down below nearer the 
 road that they were taken out." 
 
 " How could that be, if the bullocks took fright 
 immediately ? " I exclaimed. " They must have been 
 taken out here." 
 
 " But they are down below," he persisted. 
 
 " What ! the boxes ! " I shouted. 
 
 " The boxes," he repeated doggedly ; " but they are 
 empty." 
 
 I caught him by the ear and drew him towards me 
 caressingly. 
 
 " Show me where the boxes are," I said. " Here 
 
2 20 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 have we been wasting our time near the cart when 
 everything that can give us a clue is elsewhere. Do 
 you mean to say, my friend, that they emptied the 
 boxes before they left ? " 
 
 He said not a word in reply, but started down the 
 slope like a dog at the end of a chain. I followed 
 at arm's length, puzzled ; for pinch his ear as I might, 
 the man's bearing showed that he had something defi- 
 nite to go upon. Two score of paces led us to an 
 open glade in the jungle, just off the main road, at the 
 exact point where Tun Gyaw had left it as our guide 
 the day before. "We halted here to eat our rice," 
 said the sergeant, pointing, and the murmurs of assent 
 raised by the two constables were superfluous, for 
 there were the ashes of a recent fire on the ground, 
 and clear signs of an encampment. I nodded, and 
 the sergeant stepped off a few yards to the right, 
 behind a bamboo clump, to a second tiny clearing. 
 
 " Here they are," he said, taking advantage of my 
 start of astonishment to slip his ear from between 
 my fingers. 
 
 And there they undoubtedly were. Two specie 
 boxes, with their lids wrenched off, lying empty on 
 the greensward. There was no mistaking the story 
 that they told. For a while I could only gaze open- 
 mouthed at the wretched things, then, as the full 
 meaning of everything was borne in upon me, I 
 turned fiercely on the three. 
 
 " And you let them open the boxes under your 
 very nose ! " I vociferated. " What sort of police 
 do you call yourselves, eh ? " I broke off and stooped 
 to examine the boxes from close. They had been 
 deliberately wrenched open. The iron fastenings 
 
THE MYO-OK 221 
 
 had been rudely burst. No time had been wasted 
 over them, but to prise the lids open must have 
 meant a good ten minutes' work, and how it was 
 that the robbers had been allowed those ten minutes 
 was what I had to learn without delay. I smote 
 the hollow sides with my riding-cane till they rang. 
 " What were you doing all the time they were 
 opening the boxes?" I cried, rising again to face 
 the delinquents. " Standing by and watching, I 
 suppose. Helping, perhaps. No, I know now ; you 
 were asleep. Listen, my men, this passes all bounds. 
 Unless you can give some satisfactory explanation 
 of what has happened, you shall all three be placed 
 under arrest the moment we get back to Shwepauk- 
 bin ! " and I wagged my cane viciously in their faces. 
 
 I had really worked myself up into a very fine 
 fury. The sergeant flashed a glance at his two 
 companions, then his hands went together as the 
 hands of no sergeant in uniform are ever allowed 
 to go. 
 
 " Your Honour, I will tell the truth ! " he ex- 
 claimed. 
 
 "About the medicine?" I asked. 
 
 " Your Honour, about the medicine." 
 
 " Indeed you won't," I said decisively. " It's some- 
 one else's turn. You, now ! " I cried, whirling round 
 upon the stout constable. "Tell me all about the 
 medicine that sent you to sleep." 
 
 A left-hander in the midriff could not have dis- 
 concerted the man more than this sudden appeal. 
 He could only blink piteously at the sergeant, till a 
 ringing thwack I applied to my gaiter with my 
 riding-cane made him leap. 
 
2 22 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " I don't know what kind of medicine it was," he 
 babbled ; and then, seeming to gather guidance from 
 his superior, he blurted out, "We were drinking 
 toddy, and he drugged the stufif." 
 
 "Who? Tun Win?" 
 
 " Tun Win, your Honour." 
 
 " How do you know ? Did you see him do it ? " 
 
 " We did not see him, but none other than he 
 could have done it. He was in the cart — in the cart 
 with the bottle of toddy — and at Shwepaukbin he 
 fled." 
 
 "Was it his toddy?" 
 
 " Yes. No, no ; the sergeant's. But it was in the 
 cart, and so was he.'' 
 
 " And did he give it you to drink ? " 
 
 "It was the sergeant who gave it to us to drink ; 
 but it was after Tun Win had had it in the cart with 
 him. So we all drank thereof, and " 
 
 " And " I said encouragingly. 
 
 " And, having drunk it, we could not but go to 
 sleep afterwards." 
 
 " And when you awoke, the treasure boxes " 
 
 " Were on the ground, empty, and the dacoits were 
 gone." 
 
 " So, for fear of being punished for being asleep, 
 you made up the story of the attack, and cut that 
 man's wrist with a da. Is that not so ? " 
 
 The trio cast their eyes down, each scouring a 
 puttied ankle with a bare instep. " We were afraid," 
 they murmured naively at last. 
 
 I looked them up and down. " And how am I to 
 believe you now ? " I scoffed. " If you can tell one 
 lie, you can tell two — or twenty. Can you show me 
 
THE MYO-OK 223 
 
 that you were drugged ? Have you any of the toddy 
 left?" 
 
 "It is finished," faltered the fat man ; and as I 
 looked at him I realised that I had asked a foolish 
 question. He was not of the kind that does things 
 by halves in the drinking line. 
 
 "All finished! That is rather unfortunate," I 
 observed dryly ; " for, unless you can produce proofs 
 of some kind that you were drugged, it will be my 
 painful duty to put the three of you under arrest " ; 
 and I signed to my mounted policeman, who had 
 been a thrilled but passive spectator of all that was 
 going forward. 
 
 " Ride to Shwepaukbin," I said. " At Shwepaukbin 
 you will find the head constable, with ten constables, 
 waiting in the zayat near the village gate. Tell him 
 to come here with his men immediately. It will not 
 be necessary to tell him to bring handcuffs with him ; 
 he will, no doubt, have brought them without special 
 orders " ; and I cast a significant glance in the 
 direction of the treasure escort. 
 
 The man mounted his jaded pony and cantered 
 off, obedient, along the road. The three culprits 
 stood silent, following my every movement with guilt- 
 laden eyes. After a while the sergeant spoke. 
 
 " I can produce proof of the drugging," he 
 muttered in a sulky monotone. 
 
 " What proof is that ? " I asked. 
 
 " I saw a small bottle fall out of the cart as we sat 
 and drank. I think it must have been the bottle in 
 which Tun Win brought the medicine." 
 
 I emitted a sceptical snort. This succession of 
 fresh disclosures was beginning to weary me. " You 
 
2 24 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 think you saw a bottle fall," I cried. "Well, if it 
 fell, it will be there still, I suppose. It can hardly 
 have walked away. You had better look for it." 
 
 I pulled a cheroot from my pocket and, lighting 
 it with a match provided by one of the mounted 
 villagers who had accompanied me, waited to see 
 what the next move would be. Maung Walk stepped 
 back into the glade where the encampment had been, 
 and commenced a careful search among the brush- 
 wood at one corner. The bystanders watched him 
 without a word, the constables gaping, and apparently 
 as unprepared for what was coming as I was. 
 
 " Did either of you see the bottle drop ? " I in- 
 quired, addressing them as they followed the move- 
 ments of the searcher, open-mouthed. 
 
 Their eager duet of repudiation bore a marked 
 contrast to their previous half-hearted, colourless 
 utterances. " We ? We saw nothing drop, your 
 Honour," they asseverated. " The sergeant told us 
 nothing about seeing a bottle drop." 
 
 The sergeant's cropped poll peered for a moment 
 over a leafy bush. He had heard the last remark. 
 "Why should I have told you?" he snapped, and 
 dived again below the surface, intent on his quest. 
 It appeared clear to the onlookers before long, how- 
 ever, that his efforts were not likely to be crowned 
 with success. He groped feverishly among the 
 bushes, pulHng the undergrowth aside, shaking the 
 branches, thrusting his fingers through the dead 
 leaves and grass, but all to no purpose. He was at 
 fault, and presently he stood up and scratched his 
 head. 
 
 " I cannot find it," he said. 
 
THE MYO-OK 225 
 
 I seated myself on the stump of a felled tree a 
 little distance off and turned my cheroot in my 
 mouth. 
 
 " Don't on any account stop ! " I exclaimed. " Go 
 on ; you will find the thing in good time, I have no 
 doubt. No, don't leave off. Let the two constables 
 help you to look for it. Go on searching till — well, 
 till the head constable arrives. I will give you till 
 then to find the bottle. If it is not found then " 
 
 I did not finish my sentence, but I knew I was 
 appealing to experts when I spanned my left wrist 
 with the thumb and middle finger of my right hand. 
 Like athletes at the starting pistol-shot, the two 
 constables sprang to the sergeant's side and flung 
 themselves on to the undergrowth. I settled myself 
 comfortably on my tree stump and stretched my 
 legs. The three policemen grovelled amid the bushes, 
 rustling and grunting like big game in a covert. My 
 followers sniggered to each other in the background. 
 I had consigned myself to a lengthy wait, for I looked 
 upon the bottle wholly as a figment of the sergeant's 
 brain. However, suddenly, to my surprise, there was 
 a jubilant whoop of " Ya byi, ya byi !" (" I've got it") ; 
 and the fat constable, hoisting himself stiffly on to 
 his legs, held aloft in triumph a small object. 
 
 I started up incredulous. 
 
 " Give it to me," I said. 
 
 They gave it to me. It was a bottle — and a 
 medicine bottle at that ; it bore the name of a firm 
 of Rangoon chemists in raised letters on the glass, 
 and there were marks for doses. There was no 
 label, and the cork was gone, but it was undoubtedly 
 what the sergeant had said it was ; and this new 
 
 Q 
 
226 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 development of affairs deranged me not a little. 
 Medicine bottles are not to be picked up incidentally 
 every day in mid-jungle, and I felt that the stout 
 constable's find vi^ould have to be assigned its proper 
 place — and that an important one — in my review 
 of the situation. Could it be possible, after all, that 
 the story of the drugging was true ? If it were, why 
 should the sergeant have said nothing to the con- 
 stables about the bottle, and how on earth could 
 it have got to where my portly friend had found it ? 
 
 I smelt the bottle, but there was nothing to be 
 learnt from the very faint odour that remained. 
 I held it up against the light ; I turned it round 
 and round in my hand. With it lying palpable on 
 my outstretched palm, I was really almost persuaded. 
 
 " Before doing anything else, we must get hold 
 of Tun Win," I exclaimed. " Do you think that 
 he knows he is suspected?" I asked this of the 
 sergeant, who — discipline for the nonce thrown to 
 the winds — had squatted, civilian fashion, a few yards 
 off, very limp after his exertions, but with a bolder 
 front than heretofore. 
 
 " I think so," he made reply, wiping the perspira- 
 tion from his brow with a moist coat-sleeve. " I think 
 so ; but I cannot be sure. He is a fool, is Tun 
 Win." 
 
 I rose from my tree-stump and knocked the ashes 
 off my cheroot. " Stop here while I have a look 
 at the boxes again," I said. "When the head 
 constable comes, tell him that we will all return 
 together to Myothit this evening." I held up the 
 bottle against the light again and shut one eye. 
 Then I turned and surveyed the bedraggled three 
 
THE MYO-OK 227 
 
 with a glance full of meaning. " You can tell the 
 head constable that there will be no immediate use 
 for the handcuffs — not just yet, at any rate," I 
 added, as I moved slowly, alone, towards the inner 
 glade. 
 
 I wished to be by myself for a short time, so 
 as to be able to think the matter dispassionately over. 
 When I was out of sight of my followers I walked 
 up to the specie boxes and turned first one and then 
 the other over with my foot, and, gazing round me 
 through my glasses, tried to gather what inspiration 
 I could from my surroundings. I must have stood 
 like that, stock-still, for several minutes ; then, as 
 no inward prompting had reached me, I proceeded 
 to prowl around the glade. I scanned the earth 
 to see what message it had for me, but it was 
 hard and dry ; I could not recognise the imprint 
 of my own foot upon it, even when I stamped 
 deliberately. I noticed no marks near the boxes to 
 show what had happened after they had been torn 
 open, and I cursed my defective eyesight and thought 
 enviously of the companions of my boyhood to 
 whom the reading of the riddle that was all blank 
 to me would have been veritable child's play. How 
 soon the dark ways would have been made clear had 
 one of the grizzled, leather-clad veterans who move 
 and have their being in the pages of Mayne Reid 
 and Fenimore Cooper stepped forth, ministrant, to 
 my side ! One eagle glance would have sufficed ; a 
 shred of cloth would have been plucked from an 
 appropriate thorn ; a dent in the dust would have 
 been examined ; a microscopic abrasion on a tree- 
 trunk would have yielded up its tale, and the oracle 
 
228 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 would have spoken, with chapter and verse for each 
 weighty pronouncement. "The robbers," it would 
 doubtless have said, " were five in number. One of 
 the gang was wearing a bluish black ' Yaw ' paso. 
 The third toe of the left foot of the man who carried 
 the boxes into the glade (a shortish, elderly man) 
 was missing. This da mark on the bark of this teak 
 tree, and the footsteps that I can, but you un- 
 fortunately cannot, see, show that the miscreants 
 left hurriedly for the east, four carrying a bag each, 
 the fifth (who went ahead) laden with the guns of 
 the party. So the tracks lead, but there is every 
 indication that this route was taken as a mere ruse 
 and that their flight will eventually lead north." So 
 simple, so absurdly simple when the art is there. 
 Alas ! the art with me was missing. I stood alone, 
 with no venerable trapper at my elbow, a short- 
 sighted, unobservant Briton amid uncongenial sur- 
 roundings, with never a penn'orth of craft to show 
 for a boyhood's devotion to the classics of the 
 backwoods. It was pitiable. But I had to do my 
 best. I peered around a second time, on this 
 occasion with rather more success. The dead leaves 
 that lay everywhere made the tracing of anything 
 on the ground a most despairing business, but 
 towards the edge of the glade, at the foot of a 
 wood-oil tree, there were some marks that caught 
 my eye. The earth appeared to have been recently 
 tampered with; there were one or two seemingly fresh 
 clods among the twigs, though the litter of decaying 
 vegetation made it impossible for one to be sure 
 of anything. I had, however, stooped down and 
 was poking around to try and ascertain the origin 
 
THE MYO-OK 229 
 
 of the marks, when a sound behind me brought me 
 up suddenly like a soldier at the drill sergeant's 
 word of command. 
 
 " Good evening," said a voice — a cheerful, banter- 
 ing voice. " Quite the amateur detective, I see, 
 Mr. Rymington." 
 
 I jerked round, passing my hand guiltily over my 
 chin. Up to that moment my state of dishevelment 
 had not given me a moment's tribulation, but now in 
 a flash it was borne in upon me that with my travel- 
 stained features, my soiled riding-breeches, and 
 stubble of forty-eight hours' growth, I was scarcely 
 in a fit condition to be thrust into the presence of a 
 young lady. 
 
 " Good evening. Miss Grimhurst,'' I said. " Who- 
 ever would have thought of seeing you here? I'm 
 afraid I'm a beastly object ; haven't shaved since I 
 don't know when. How are they all down at Thet- 
 pan ? Have you been having a good time there ? " 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 " 'T'^HEY are all very well at Thetpan," she said. 
 X " The Warings asked to be remembered to 
 you." 
 
 To each and all of us there come at times moments 
 of awakening when we realise that a throng of loose, 
 second-hand opinions that we have absorbed, we 
 know not how, and clung to mechanically, we cannot 
 say why, have got to make way for our own self- 
 formed views, grown clamorously assertive. As I 
 have already been at pains to explain, I had never in 
 the past concerned myself, except with critical intent, 
 with anything so abstract as a certain lady's looks or 
 apparel ; and, up to the moment I was surprised near 
 the specie boxes, I had been quite content to accept 
 all kinds of heretical statements about her unchal- 
 lenged. But as I stood and rubbed my unmown 
 chin at the foot of the wood-oil tree I discovered that 
 one of the moments for readjusting my mental focus 
 had overtaken me, and that they erred grievously, 
 nay, unpardonably, who held that Miss Grimhurst 
 did not look well in a riding habit. I could at the 
 time have carried the proposition still further, and 
 added, '" or in any kind of dress," but preferred to 
 confine myself to the narrower aspect of the ques- 
 tion, and tried to take her all in as she stood there, 
 holding up her skirt, looking at me from under her 
 
 230 
 
THE MYO-OK 231 
 
 sun hat (now poised in a manner that I found rather 
 piquant than otherwise), and smiling the smile that 
 had been so chary of shining at Shwedan. Over her 
 shoulder I could catch a glimpse of the classic out- 
 lines of Grimhurst's sola topi, with his sad eyes and 
 thin, grey moustache below it, towards which I waved 
 a hand of greeting ; and I took heart at the bearing 
 of the pair, for I recognised by the carriage of the 
 Commissioner's headgear, not less than by the 
 sprightliness of his daughter's mien, that Mrs. Grim- 
 hurst was not of the party. 
 
 " Ah, the Warings ! " I exclaimed. " I hope those 
 dear good people are well. But you are back very 
 soon, aren't you ? " 
 
 Grimhurst took off his topi and wiped his brow. 
 " My wife refused to stop more than one night at 
 Thetpan," he made answer. " So we left again this 
 morning at daybreak and were at Myothit quite 
 early in the afternoon — in time for a ride, a good 
 long ride, eh, Winifred?" 
 
 "And when are you off again to Shwedan?" I 
 inquired. 
 
 "Well, that I can't exactly say," he made reply. 
 " It's a great nuisance, and I feel I owe you an 
 apology for its happening while the boat was in my 
 charge, but the fact is that the serang came alongside 
 so clumsily at Myothit this afternoon that he dam- 
 aged the Burglat's stern wheel badly, and says that 
 he will have to lie up for three days at least for 
 repairs." 
 
 " It is I who ought to apologise for having such a 
 serang," I said, with an assumption of vexation, 
 though, as a matter of fact, I found myself exulting 
 
232 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 inwardly — queer creature that I was — at the 
 prospect of the Grimhursts' detention at Myothit. 
 " I shall have to twist the idiot's tail. He shall catch 
 it when I get back." 
 
 " My wife has already seen to that," chuckled 
 Grimhurst, and then he added, " Well, naturally she 
 is rather put out," and I began to understand why it 
 was that the Commissioner and his daughter had 
 elected to take a good long ride that evening instead 
 of remaining on the launch. 
 
 I grinned. " St'll it's no joke," I pursued. " No 
 Flotilla boat up for the next four days, you know ; 
 so here you will have to stick till the stern wheel is 
 rigged up. Most unfortunate." 
 
 " Never mind ! " cried Miss Grimhurst. " We shall 
 find lots to do, shan't we, father? We've had ex- 
 citement enough already tracking Mr. Rymington 
 down. We heard when we got to Myothit this 
 afternoon that you were somewhere out here," she 
 continued, turning to me. " So father and I settled 
 to ride out and look for you, and it has been no 
 easy matter finding you, believe me. No one at the 
 village further back (Shwepaukbin, isn't it?) could 
 tell us anything except that you left there yesterday. 
 It was only a few minutes ago that we learnt where 
 you were from a mounted orderly we met on the 
 road. There is a party of policemen waiting at 
 Shwepaukbin for orders from you. We saw them 
 hanging about by the zayat near the village gate and 
 spoke to them. I suppose you know. What have 
 you been doing (there are all kinds of rumours 
 current), and what are those boxes on the ground ? " 
 
 "Yes," echoed Grimhurst, following the direction 
 
THE MYO-OK 233 
 
 of his daughter's gaze. "What are those boxes? 
 Not the specie boxes, surely. By Jove ! so there has 
 been a robbery, after all. I had hoped there was 
 nothing in the story. What ! Four thousand 1 I 
 say, this looks bad," and he groaned lugubriously. 
 
 " Specie boxes they are," I said. " Empty specie 
 boxes. And a pretty dance I was led before I 
 could get a sight of them even. Let me my tale 
 unfold, Miss Grimhurst ; " and alongside of the 
 aforesaid specie boxes I recounted in brief the in- 
 cidents of the past thirty-six hours. 
 
 Grimhurst was completely mystified long before I 
 had finished. For some time he had persisted in 
 interjecting theories of his own, as fresh facts sug- 
 gested fresh inferences ; but by the time I had piloted 
 him down to the empty medicine bottle, he had re- 
 lapsed into silence, realising that only the unforeseen 
 was to be looked for at each fresh turn and that 
 logical speculation was a sheer waste of time. 
 
 " Most extraordinary ! " he crooned, when I had 
 finished. " Most extraordinary ! Yes, as you say, 
 nothing much can be done till that man Tun Win 
 has been got hold of. A most suspicious thing, that 
 medicine bottle business. Now, why didn't the 
 sergeant tell the constables that he had seen the 
 bottle drop? That's what I want to know. No, I 
 don't like it at all ; I don't like it at all. Eh ? What 
 do you think ? Those police must know more than 
 they have told you, Rymington. Which are they? 
 Those three out by the road ? " 
 
 " The same," I said. 
 
 '' I think we want a second opinion," he muttered, 
 stroking his grey moustache pensively. "Yes, a 
 
234 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 second opinion will be the thing. Look here, Rym- 
 ington, I don't want to interfere. I Hke letting my 
 district officers have a free hand in matters of this 
 kind, but I think a second opinion, you know, might 
 throw a fresh light on the subject. If you don't 
 mind, I'll question those police again while you are — 
 what were you doing when we disturbed you ? — got 
 a clue, eh ? Good. Or think you have ? Well, you 
 can't do better than follow it up. Yes, follow it up, 
 and I'll have at those police again for a few minutes 
 — that is, if you don't mind." 
 
 " All right," I exclaimed ; " let 'em have it." And 
 he toddled off into the outer glade, with a grateful 
 exclamation. I knew he would do no earthly good, 
 might possibly make matters more involved ; but I 
 will say that when Grimhurst does the wrong thing, 
 he does it nicely. To Miss Grimhurst the following 
 up of the clue appeared to promise greater attractions 
 than the further examination of the police, for she 
 stopped behind when her father left. 
 
 " This is really exciting ! " she exclaimed delight- 
 edly. " I never expected anything like this when I 
 started out. It's like a bit out of one of those lovely 
 detective novels. Do let me help you, Mr. Ryming- 
 ton. Tell me, do you think I can be of any use?" 
 
 " You certainly can," I made answer. " Your eyes, 
 I imagine, are far sharper than mine. I wonder 
 whether you can see anything out of the common 
 anywhere near the boxes that can serve as a clue. 
 I have looked in vain so far. Down here, I mean," 
 and I peered at the spot I had been scrutinising when 
 I was surprised. 
 
 She cast a glance in the direction indicated. " It 
 
THE MYO-OK 235 
 
 certainly looks as if someone had been fiddling about 
 here," she said ; " but it is very hard to say for certain. 
 Let me first prepare for action, though." And as she 
 spoke she removed her topi, the better to take in the 
 details of her environment, and then, before I knew 
 what she was up to, she had made a pounce upon 
 something that had escaped my notice under a bush. 
 
 " Do you call this anything out of the common ? " 
 she said. 
 
 " What is it ? " I asked, and as she handed it to 
 me I burst out with a sudden exclamation. " You 
 are chalks better at this game than I am, Miss Grim- 
 hurst," I cried. " Can you of your wisdom connect 
 this barefaced little rip in any way with the robbery?" 
 
 " Don't call him names," she rejoined. " I consider 
 him rather good-looking." 
 
 It was a diminutive image of Buddha, about two 
 inches long, cut out of some dark-coloured stone, 
 that I held in my hand. It was his angular, 
 almost Egyptian physiognomy that had evoked our 
 comment. 
 
 " I'll do the finding," she continued, " if you'll do 
 the connecting. What do you make of the little 
 gentleman ? " 
 
 I balanced the thing on my thumb-nail. " A 
 charm," I said didactically. " Probably dropped by 
 the dacoits. One of the gang had it on him no 
 doubt, tied up, perhaps, in the corner of his waist- 
 cloth, in the hope of thereby becoming invulnerable. 
 It's a way these funny people have. Sometimes it's 
 a tattoo mark, sometimes it's a jewel or a trifle of 
 that kind let in under the skin. I remember once at 
 Tharrawaddy " 
 
236 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 But she was paying no heed to my words. She 
 had made another rapid dive into the leaves. It was 
 exactly like a lady thought-reader I had once been 
 privileged to see. 
 
 " Are these charms too ? " she inquired, holding up 
 her fresh find. 
 
 I was dumbfoundered. My disquisition on the 
 superstitions of the aborigines died away from my 
 lips, and for a moment I could only stare at her and 
 at what she displayed to view in either hand. 
 
 " Bottle-necks," I said, when I had partially re- 
 gained my composure, " are not altogether without 
 their uses. I have found them handy on occasions 
 when punkah-wheels were not procurable ; but where 
 a bottle-neck could have come in useful in a dacoity, 
 for the purposes either of offence or defence, passes 
 my limited comprehension. No," and I took it from 
 her ; " I give up the bottle-neck. It beats me. What 
 is the other thing you have there that looks like, a 
 bullet?" 
 
 " And that is a bullet," she made reply, dropping it 
 from a height into my outstretched palm. " Who 
 knows, perhaps it is the bullet that the charm diverted 
 from its course.'' 
 
 " Very possibly," I said gravely. I laid the stone 
 image, the bottle-neck, and the bullet on a bare tree 
 stump, stood the medicine phial the police had found 
 up beside them, and, with my arms folded, regarded 
 them critically from a distance. 
 
 " Exhibits," I said. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," she exclaimed. " What was 
 that ? " 
 
 " Exhibits," I repeated. " Exhibits in the case 
 
THE MYO-OK 237 
 
 Queen-Empress versus— nov! who shall we say? Tun 
 Win? Well— Tun Win and others. Exhibit A: One 
 glass medicine bottle, bearing the legend 'D'Souza 
 and Company, Rangoon.' No cork ; empty. Exhibit 
 B : One pocket image of Gaudama ; stone of sorts. 
 Exhibit C : One bottle-neck (Pilsener beer, if I mis- 
 take not). Exhibit D : One leaden bullet ; has the 
 appearance of having once been spherical. Now, Miss 
 Grimhurst, what do you make of these exhibits ? " 
 
 " Not much at present," she made answer. " But 
 remember, I am only responsible for the finding — 
 which reminds me that I must not stand here idle. 
 I must see if I can hunt out some more." 
 
 And she addressed herself in the most business-like 
 way to the search for further clues. On my own 
 account I gazed hither and thither in my aimless, bat- 
 like fashion, but it was not long before I desisted. I 
 had no eyes for anything save the bare-headed, deter- 
 mined little body who moved about, with gathered 
 habit-skirt, from bush to bush, with the evening sun- 
 light glinting on her hair. The earth yielded nothing 
 further for guidance in the shape of images or bullets, 
 but she seemed to have gathered inspiration from a 
 piece of string she had picked up ; and presently I 
 saw her opposite the wood-oil tree I had been brought 
 up short at, gazing up the stem. She tip-toed once 
 or twice tentatively. Then for the first time she 
 turned to me for assistance. 
 
 " I am not tall enough," she said pathetically. 
 " Can you reach up, Mr. Rymington ? " 
 
 " What ! That hole ! " I exclaimed, with an indul- 
 gent smile. " What do you expect to find in there ? " 
 
 " Another exhibit," she said. 
 
238 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 I laughed, and strode up to her side. My incredu- 
 lous tone had spurred her to a fresh independent 
 effort. She was again on tip-toe, trying to insert her 
 fingers into a deft in the bark, and for one brief 
 second, as I looked at her, I felt an almost uncon- 
 trollable desire to catch her in my arms, and with one 
 swing bring, not only her hands, but also her face to 
 the required level, just to see what she would say. I 
 withstood the temptation, however. Instead I looked 
 down into that face — a set, determined little face. 
 
 " ' . . . de profundis, accentibus laetis, 
 Cantate ! ' quoth I, as I got a rake, 
 
 And up I fished his delectable treatise," 
 
 I declaimed, and then I chuckled as I thrust my 
 hand into the gaping aperture. 
 
 " Exhibit E," I said with deliberation, as my 
 fingers worked round and round the hollow. " Ex- 
 hibit E : One tree frog, in a state of indifferent repair." 
 
 My eyes were on hers as my hand explored the 
 cleft, and I saw a look of half-expected delight steal 
 across her face as my features gradually went stiff, 
 and I ejaculated " By Jove ! " 
 
 " Quick ! quick ! Let me see ! " she exclaimed, 
 suddenly springing back and clapping her hands with 
 excitement. " I don't know what it was that told 
 me, but I knew — I knew there was something there." 
 
 My hand was fuller than when it went into the 
 hole, and it required an effort to withdraw the fistful 
 of coarse, rasping stuff that there was inside. 
 
 " From this day forward, Miss Grimhurst," I said 
 impressively, "please consider yourself attached to 
 the District Executive Force as detective-in-chief. 
 
THE MYO-OK 239 
 
 Name your own terms, please. Money is no object 
 with us." 
 
 My detective-in-chief snatched the objects I was 
 holding out of my hand, and, brandishing them aloft, 
 executed a most unprofessional pirouette. 
 
 " Four more exhibits ! " she cried gaily. " Exhibits 
 E, F, G, and H : Four empty bags, bearing traces of 
 having contained one thousand rupees each " ; and in 
 a moment she had deposited them, neatly folded, by 
 A, B, C, and D, and had turned and faced me with 
 a triumphant air. " Father, father ! come and see 
 what we've found ! " she cried out. 
 
 I raised my hand. " Don't call him just yet," I 
 said. " I don't want you to be interrupted, for fear 
 the spell should be broken. You have got the bags. 
 Now tell me where the money is ; quick, before it is 
 too late." 
 
 She gazed round the glade with compressed lips 
 and thoughtful eyes, but she seemed at fault when 
 her glance encountered mine again. 
 
 She shook her head. " There's no money here," 
 she said at last emphatically. " I'm certain there's 
 no money." 
 
 " They have taken it all away again then, eh ? " 
 
 " They must have. There is nothing more here.'' 
 
 There was a longish pause, and then, "Is that 
 divination or surmise ? " I asked. 
 
 " I can't say. Somehow I seem to feel that there 
 are no rupees here, if there ever were any." 
 
 "If there ever were any ! " I echoed. 
 
 " If there ever were any," she repeated. " Yes, if 
 there ever were any they have been taken away." 
 
 "In what? When? By whom?" 
 
240 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " That I can't say, but there's nothing here." 
 
 " Not even under that thing," I said, after a silence, 
 and as I spoke I kicked in the direction of the wood- 
 oil tree. " It looks as though someone had been 
 grubbing around there lately. Is it any good digging 
 there, do you think ? " 
 
 " There's no money there," she said thoughtfully, 
 and so perfect was my trust in her instinct that I 
 turned my back on the wood-oil tree forthwith. 
 
 " What makes you think there never was any 
 treasure?" I asked. 
 
 " Don't ask me," she said. " It feels quite uncanny 
 now, but for the moment I seemed almost to have 
 second sight. I can't tell you all the things I 
 realised." 
 
 " What things ? " I asked. But she did not answer. 
 
 " Well," I said, with a deep breath, " if you think 
 there is nothing more to be got here the best thing 
 we can do will be to collect our spoils and wend our 
 way back to Myothit. What do you say ? Give me 
 your advice. I have the utmost reliance on your 
 opinion '' ; and I faced her squarely, smiling down 
 upon her. 
 
 Her glance fell. The moment of inspiration had 
 clearly passed. " I don't think there is much to rely 
 on me for," she murmured, so much in her old 
 manner that I involuntarily looked up, half expecting 
 to see Mrs. Grimhurst looming through the trees. 
 But we were alone ; no one was in sight. The only 
 sign of life in our neighbourhood was a confidential 
 monotone which filtered in from where Grimhurst 
 was interrogating the treasure escort. 
 
 I smiled. " I am not so sure about that," I said. 
 
THE MYO-OK 241 
 
 " However, I think we had better be thinking of 
 getting back." I turned to pick up the exhibits 
 from off the tree-stump, and then faced her again, 
 " Tell me some of the other things you learnt in 
 your fine frenzy," I cried. " Did you divine all that 
 
 I thought of you just now, as we " I broke off 
 
 with rather an awkward laugh, as I remembered 
 that there was a good deal of what I had then 
 thought that would have startled her not a little 
 had she realised it, and then I added half seriously, 
 " Come, you should make the most of these rare 
 moments and not keep them all to yourself." 
 
 But she was silent. She still looked down. "Don't!" 
 she said at last. She struck me as being quite un- 
 strung. It was a kind of reaction after her minute 
 of exaltation. 
 
 " What is the matter ? " I asked. 
 
 " Nothing," she murmured ; but she seemed to be 
 shivering. 
 
 I stared at her in some surprise. " I am afraid 
 you have tired yourself," I exclaimed. " I was a 
 dufifer to let you excite yourself like this. It's not 
 good for you." 
 
 " I'm really, honestly, perfectly well," she protested, 
 looking suddenly up. "Yes, I am sure it is quite 
 time we were starting"; and with that she turned 
 and cried a second time, " Father ! father ! come and 
 see what we have found ! " 
 
 R 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 THE heaven was all a merry flare of orange and 
 turquoise when we emerged from the jungle 
 near Shwepaukbin on to the road across the paddy- 
 fields, but ere the further edge of the plain was 
 reached the black and silver of the night had closed 
 down over the tardiest streaks of colour in the west. 
 We were all tired and spoke but little on our home- 
 ward way. Nor was there any need for conversation. 
 The fading of the sunset, the measured creep of the 
 dusk, the birth of each successive star, were like 
 movements of majestic sphere music that it would 
 have been sacrilege to spoil by speech. The softest 
 of breezes stirred the rice stems and moaned in the 
 telegraph wires. From time to time across the low- 
 lands came the eerie cry of some bird, the voice, 
 as it were, of one invoking the spirits of the twilight. 
 These plaintive evening notes, mingling with the 
 jingle of the bits and the soft pad of the ponies, 
 grew into a tenderly modulated refrain, a foreground 
 behind which the mightier harmonies rose and fell. 
 There was a glimmer in the east where the moon was 
 rising, but it was not till we had reached Myothit 
 and were alongside the steam launch and the rest- 
 house that she began to mount the sky and to gaze 
 at her own waning charms — coy virgin ! — in the river. 
 A steady hammering that was audible in the stern 
 242 
 
THE MYO-OK 243 
 
 of the vessel testified to the zeal that was being 
 displayed in repairing the damaged wheel, and a 
 commanding voice that proceeded from the same 
 quarter showed that Mrs. Grimhurst was giving her 
 personal supervision to the labours of the serang and 
 engineer. " You must dine with us," Grimhurst had 
 said, as we alighted on the bank, and as Miss Grim- 
 hurst took it upon herself to add, " Of course," as 
 I helped her off her pony, I felt that, even had my 
 own dinner been ready (which it was not) it would 
 have been churlish to refuse. All I stipulated for 
 was that time should be given me to shave with a 
 borrowed razor before sitting down to table, and 
 to this end stepped briskly up to the rest-house after 
 I had seen my two companions on to the steamer. 
 
 In the shadow cast by the moon behind the rest- 
 house stairs there lurked one in a white jacket who 
 discharged himself towards me as my foot rested on 
 the bottom step. 
 
 " Who's that ? " I asked, for the figure, after one or 
 two forward steps, crouched irresolute in the dark. 
 " Is that you, Maung Gyi?" 
 
 " Your Honour," came the reply. 
 
 "Ah ! " I said dryly, and paused, trying to pierce the 
 gloom that enveloped the township officer. " Well," I 
 said, after a while, " here's a nice business. Perhaps 
 you'll know better next time than to send only three 
 policemen with a remittance of four thousand rupees." 
 
 He did not apparently catch my remark in full. 
 He only murmured, " Yes, your Honour ; three 
 policemen sent." 
 
 " Yes, three policemen ! " I reiterated testily. " I 
 suppose you know that it ought to have been at least 
 
244 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 double the number with a native officer in charge. 
 Three men, indeed ! Mind you, Maung Gyi, I shall 
 hold you responsible for the robbery. It was simply 
 putting temptation in the way of bad characters." 
 
 He leant forward eagerly, as though not to miss a 
 word of what I was saying. It was clear that up till 
 then he had refused to realise the worst. " Robbery 
 committed?" he ejaculated vaguely. 
 
 I stamped. " Robbery committed ! " I shouted. 
 " Of course a robbery has been committed ! Every 
 pice of that four thousand rupees has been taken. 
 There are only the empty boxes left." 
 
 He sat silent, overpowered by his emotions. I 
 stood and glared at him through the darkness till 
 I was aware of someone standing by my elbow. I 
 turned. It was Antony, the Grimhursts' boy. 
 
 " My master sending razor, soap, brush," he said, 
 holding out a bundle folded in a towel. " Missis 
 sending salaams, and will master please shave quick 
 and come down to dinner. Missis saying not waiting 
 more than a quarter of an hour." 
 
 " All right. Give me the things," I said. I took 
 them from him. " Now look here, Maung Gyi," I 
 went on. " I've no time to waste upon you down 
 here just at present, but I've got other things to talk 
 to you about. ■ Come upstairs and listen to what I've 
 got to say while I'm shaving." 
 
 I started up the stairs with my bundle, and had 
 got three or four steps up when a voice from below 
 arrested me. 
 
 " As for the escort," it said, " I think I can ex- 
 plain to the satisfaction of your Honour. The head 
 constable and I, on conferring together " 
 
THE MYO-OK 245 
 
 It was not the substance of what was spoken, but 
 the speaker's tone that brought me to a standstill. 
 The Myo-ok's voice was cheerful, confident, almost 
 patronising. I could not in any way connect it with 
 the figure that but a minute before had cowered in 
 the shadow under the steps. I stared mutely at my 
 friend, who was following me with a brisk tread up 
 the stairs, but for a moment not being able to find 
 words in which to express my feelings, I turned round 
 again with a snort and preceded the township officer 
 through the bare, boarded verandah, which rang to 
 the sound of my tread, into the inner room, where 
 a hurricane lantern on a table twinkled amid the 
 darkness. I placed the light by the one cracked 
 looking-glass the rest-house boasted of, unrolled the 
 towel and took out the razor, the soap, and the brush. 
 There was water ; Maung Gyi had fetched it for me 
 deftly in a tin pot before I could turn round. I 
 lathered myself freely and commenced to scrape. 
 The Myo-ok squatted on the floor behind. 
 
 " So you can give a satisfactory explanation, can 
 you?" I said presently over my shoulder, tackling 
 the bristles cautiously. " I hope you can, for allow me 
 to tell you that, though you seem to treat the matter 
 very lightly, it is an exceedingly serious one. To 
 have sent so large a sum with such a ridiculously 
 small escort is enough in itself to get you into 
 trouble ; and then, on the top of that, to have it 
 stolen I It is as likely as not that, unless that satis- 
 factory explanation you spoke of is forthcoming, all 
 the officials concerned will have to make good the 
 greater part, if not the whole, of what has been taken. 
 
246 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 Neither you nor the head constable would like to 
 have to fork out two thousand rupees each, eh?" 
 
 " It would be very hard," murmured Maung Gyi in 
 a meekly philosophic tone, and without the accent of 
 despair that I had expected my presentation of the 
 facts to evoke. 
 
 " Very hard ! " I echoed. " I should think so. Very 
 hard for you to pay, I expect. I am afraid it would 
 be equally hard if they let you off with only a 
 thousand each, wouldn't it ? How many months' pay 
 would that mean ? " 
 
 " I should pay," said the Myo-ok, wagging his head 
 resignedly. 
 
 I shrugged at this affectation of stoicism. " I will 
 see you and the head constable together to-morrow 
 about the escort," I said. " However, that is not what 
 I wanted to speak to you about. There is another 
 little matter.'' I scraped for a while in silence, and 
 then I asked — 
 
 " Look here, Maung Gyi, do you know this man 
 Tun Win ? " 
 
 I plumped my words out without warning. Maung 
 Gyi had risen to his feet during the pause, and, as 
 I spoke, was in the act of pushing the tin pot of water 
 towards me. At the mention of the name " Tun 
 Win " the hand that was close to my elbow jumped, 
 and a splash of water flicked out on to the dressing 
 table. He mopped the water up very deliberately with 
 a corner of the towel before answering, and then, " I 
 know him, your Honour," he said. 
 
 " I suppose you know he is suspected of being in 
 this business," I went on. 
 
 " I did not know, your Honour," he murmured. 
 
THE MYO-OK 247 
 
 He had retired to his old position on the floor at my 
 back, and his voice seemed to have suddenly lost its 
 cheery, self-confident ring. I gave a glance round at 
 him. 
 
 " And of having drugged the police before robbing 
 them," I went on. 
 
 There was silence behind me. 
 
 " Do you hear ? " I asked sharply, reaching out for 
 the shaving brush. 
 
 " Yes, sir, drugged the police, repeated the voice 
 in my rear. " No, sir, I do not think that is true. 
 I cannot say what he will do on his own account, for 
 he is a bad character, a dacoit. He might play that 
 game, sir, but I know nothing." 
 
 " Well, it is most suspicious," I went on, relather- 
 ing my chin. " He starts out with the escort driving 
 the cart, he disappears almost immediately, very 
 soon after his disappearance the robbery is com- 
 mitted, and in the jungle close to the spot is picked 
 up a medicine bottle " 
 
 " A medicine bottle ! " cried Maung Gyi, 
 
 " Yes," I said, " an empty medicine bottle, which 
 the sergeant says contained a drug that was used to 
 stupefy the escort." 
 
 A hoarse cackle rose up behind me. " The 
 sergeant ! " exclaimed Maung Gyi scornfully. " How 
 could the sergeant tell that the bottle held a drug ? " 
 
 " It is only what he suspects," I said, " nothing 
 more, of course. We shall want further evidence 
 on this point. That is one of the reasons why Tun 
 Win must be got hold of." 
 
 " How could Tun Win give the medicine if he left 
 the cart ? " pursued the township officer. 
 
248 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 I was at the final stages of my shaving, and did 
 not speak for a moment. " That has still to be seen," 
 I said, as I gave the finishing touches to my right 
 cheek, " and that is another reason why the man Tun 
 Win must be got hold of without delay. I have 
 already sent word to the head constable to have 
 a search made for him at Chaungzon and elsewhere ; 
 and I look to you, Maung Gyi, to see that all possible 
 measures are taken to secure his arrest. All the 
 thugyis in the township must be warned. I will 
 make it worth anybody's while to catch the beggar. 
 Luckily, there will be no difficulty about identifying 
 him, for the police have his description. Do you see, 
 he has got to be arrested at any cost, and that with- 
 out delay." 
 
 " I see, your Honour," replied the Myo-ok, but 
 rather faintly. 
 
 I gave a final flourish with the razor, wiped it on 
 my sleeve, and folded it up. Then I turned on the 
 Myo-ok. 
 
 "And how about the treasure chest?" I inquired. 
 " When did you make over to Maung Pyu ? " 
 
 " Not given over yet," he faltered. 
 
 " Not given over yet ! " I ejaculated, and I took 
 a step towards him. Like a bull-fighter evading the 
 on-rush of a bull, he retreated before me, holding out 
 the towel as a kind of propitiatory offering. I was 
 disarmed. I took the proffered cloth and wiped my 
 face with it. " Why not yet, in Heaven's name ? '' 
 I inquired. 
 
 " Until to-day both of us still indisposed," he 
 pleaded, sinking into a squatting posture. " But to- 
 morrow, without fail, doing the making over." 
 
THE MYO-OK 249 
 
 My bark is always worse than my bite. The poor 
 man's alarm was so ludicrously unfeigned that it was 
 as much as I could do to suppress a smile. " If it is 
 not done to-morrow you shall both be placed under 
 suspension," I cried. " I am sick of this shilly- 
 shallying. What is more, I shall see myself this 
 time that the thing is properly done. Tell Maung 
 Pyu that you have had orders to hand over to him 
 to-morrow, at ten o'clock sharp. Let there be no 
 mistake about it this time. I shall be at the police- 
 station at ten." 
 
 I washed my hands and face rapidly, dried them, 
 tossed the towel over the back of a chair, picked up 
 the hurricane lantern and tramped sharply through 
 the verandah and down the steps, with the Myo-ok 
 at my heels. A constable at the foot of the steps 
 saluted and took the lantern from me. " The head 
 constable has sent me," he explained. " News has 
 already been received about Tun Win. He was seen 
 in the village the day of your Honour's arrival in 
 Myothit, and again yesterday. He is believed to 
 have gone towards Chaungzon. A man met him 
 this morning walking in that direction. A couple of 
 mounted constables have started in pursuit." 
 
 " Good," I said. " Do you hear that, Maung Gyi ? " 
 
 Maung Gyi had heard, and at the hearing had 
 perched frog-like on the bottom step but one with 
 his fat face shining in the moonlight. He gulped 
 once or twice, and then exclaimed, " Don't believe 
 him, sir. He always tells lies." 
 
 "Who always tells lies?" I queried, and turned 
 away towards the launch. There was silence behind 
 me as I descended the bank, and I received no answer 
 
250 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 to my question. I did not, however, require one. I 
 knew it could not be the police constable that Maung 
 Gyi was taxing with dissimulation. It was obviously 
 Tun Win's credit that he intended to impeach. 
 
 "Am I within my quarter of an hour?" I asked of 
 Mrs. Grimhurst, as I topped the companion, to find 
 my hosts congregated by the side of the steamer 
 revelling in the moonrise. 
 
 " You are exactly two and a half minutes to the 
 good," she replied, consulting her watch. " You have 
 been very quick, I must say, and, considering all 
 things, are really quite respectable," and she looked 
 me up and down with a grim smile. 
 
 I bowed with mock humility as I took the seat 
 indicated by her at the dinner -table. "With that 
 knowledge I can dine happy," I said. 
 
 " I said, ' Considering all things,' " she pursued, un- 
 folding her napkin and smoothing it out upon her 
 knee. 
 
 "Exactly; I quite understand," I rejoined. "And, 
 after all, one can't expect much in twelve minutes 
 and a half But I must tell you that I have done a 
 lot in that time besides shave. I have had a little 
 chat with Maung Gyi, and have got an idea into my 
 head that that gentleman knows something about 
 Tun Win, the cart-man, that he doesn't want us to 
 get hold of. Yes, I have had all kinds of fresh lights 
 thrown on this little business. What do you think 
 of it, Mrs. Grimhurst ? A bit what the Burmans 
 would call 'shqk thi," isn't it?" 
 
 " I don't know what the Burmans would call it," 
 she replied acridly, "and I must say I don't care 
 
THE MYO-OK 251 
 
 (thank Heaven, I have never been prevailed on to 
 learn Burmese !) ; but I call the business most out- 
 rageous. The whole affair, so far as I can see, is one 
 network of intrigue and villainy. It seems impossible 
 to believe anybody. It all comes from dealing with 
 Burmans. They are always the same. Terrible 
 people ! This kind of thing would never have hap- 
 pened in India, and if it had we should have known 
 where we were." 
 
 " It is oriental," I admitted, " delightfully oriental ; 
 but the only typically Burman feature about it, it 
 strikes me, is that the intriguing part of the business 
 has been rather clumsily done. There is a want of 
 finish about it. Now if things had been managed 
 by fellow-countrymen of your syces, who are doubt- 
 less from Fyzabad, or of your cook, who probably 
 hails from Black Town, it would not have appeared 
 a quarter as perplexing, for the — what shall I call 
 them ? — the conjectural embellishments would have 
 been more skilfully worked in, the bits dovetailed 
 together more artistically, and, though you would 
 probably know far less about what had happened 
 than you do here, the impression that you fondly 
 cherished would be that you knew a great deal more." 
 
 " I decline to have my syces and cook dragged in, 
 Mr. Rymington," said the Commissioner's lady. 
 "They are as honest and respectable as any of your 
 servants. Cook does drink a little, but not nearly so 
 much as yours, and I won't have a word said against 
 him or the syces, or have them compared with these 
 Burmans. Go on and eat your dinner, now; it's 
 getting cold. You ought to be hungry after all your 
 tramping about. You really must have some sherry." 
 
252 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " I won't have any sherry, thanks," I replied. " No, 
 I can't have my Burmans maligned. I am going, if 
 you please, to stand up for them. I'm like you — 
 nobody shall go for my people but myself We seem 
 to be in the thick of a very questionable affair here, 
 I admit ; but I have no doubt that we shall be able 
 to account for a good deal of it satisfactorily. There 
 have been indiscretions committed, no doubt (yes, 
 you needn't scoff, Mrs. Grimhurst ; I grant you the 
 indiscretions). What can you expect otherwise from 
 these children, these deplorably childish children ? 
 But after all give me these impulsive infants who, 
 when they have got into a stupid scrape, are such big 
 babies that they can only tell half a very obvious 
 falsehood to extricate themselves. They are a great 
 deal more refreshing than your plausible grown-ups, 
 who will venture into nothing that they cannot be 
 certain of lying themselves out of" 
 
 " Your impulsive infants seem to have managed to 
 get into an extraordinary number of stupid scrapes 
 here," she ejaculated. 
 
 " That may be," I said. " I won't say that this 
 particular lot of babies is even up to the average 
 nursery standard ; in fact, we seem to have come 
 upon a positive galaxy of most exceptionally inju- 
 dicious blockheads. All I contend is that creatures 
 of this sort are, in the long run, less exasperating and 
 more reliable than the specious individuals that you 
 decline to have made the subject of an invidious 
 comparison." 
 
 " I see," she said. " Most eloquent ; but all you mean 
 to say is that you would sooner have a fool to deal 
 with than a knave." 
 
THE MYO-OK 253 
 
 "Well, if you like to put it that way," I said, "it is." 
 
 " I don't agree with you then — not in a case like 
 the present, where you've to get at the bottom of 
 something, and try and find motives, and all that sort 
 of thing. You don't know where you are with a fool 
 — what he is going to do next. You can never trust 
 him to play the game properly." 
 
 " Tell me the rules of the game," I retorted ; but 
 she did not reply. 
 
 " I'm sure the police took the money themselves," 
 she went on. 
 
 "In that case," I said, "how do you get over 
 Tun Win?" 
 
 " Who is Tun Win ? " she demanded. 
 
 " The man who was driving the cart that morning 
 — an ex-dacoit and a regular shady customer." 
 
 " That man ! Ex-dacoit ! Ex-fiddlesticks ! Who 
 says he was a shady customer? The police, I 
 suppose. Anything to get a scapegoat. A pure 
 invention on their part, of course ! " 
 
 " Not at all ! " I cried. " Maung Gyi has admitted 
 himself that the man went with the escort and that he 
 is a shady customer." 
 
 " Maung Gyi ! Do you believe everything that 
 Maung Gyi says? I daresay he — why, didn't you 
 say just now that Maung Gyi seemed to know some- 
 thing about this man Tun Win that he did not want 
 generally known? Probably the creature sent this 
 scamp of an ex-dacoit out with the escort in order 
 that he might rob it. I shouldn't be a bit surprised, 
 I have no doubt he was promised half the proceeds. 
 Oh, they're all in it, you may be pretty sure " ; and 
 with a sniff of derision the good lady began her dinner. 
 
254 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 I followed suit, with an almost audible sniff, myself. 
 When it came to wild, libellous imputations like the 
 last, the kindest thing, I thought, was to ignore them 
 wholly. But I remember that it struck me that a 
 woman of Mrs. Grimhurst's penetration might have 
 managed to display a little more reasoning power 
 than was apparent in her last few utterances. 
 
 The same thought seemed to have struck Grim- 
 hurst. He had finished his soup while his wife and I 
 were sparring, and now wiped his mouth deliberately. 
 
 " I suppose you are not aware, Maria," he said in 
 his best bench manner, " that Maung Gyi will probably 
 have to pay up the four thousand rupees that have 
 been taken." 
 
 " Well, I should think so ! " she cried. " He ought 
 to consider himself lucky if he gets off with that only." 
 
 "In that case perhaps you will realise the injustice 
 of the charge you have just brought against the man. 
 It is hardly likely that he would be so foolish as to 
 steal what he knew he would have to make good 
 later, is it?" 
 
 But his spouse did not deign to answer the judicial 
 query. She turned to me. " I think you had better 
 change your mind about the sherry,'' she said. 
 
 I would not change my mind. " To talk of some- 
 thing else," I said, " I hope you have been giving the 
 serang a good time to-day. He deserves to have a 
 good time. I should have liked to have a word with 
 him just now, when I came on board, but I didn't 
 want to keep you waiting." 
 
 A sudden gleam lit up her face, and she settled her- 
 self more firmly in her chair. " I have already had 
 a word or two with him," she said ; and the corners 
 
THE MYO-OK 255 
 
 of her mouth twitched. "If the damages are not 
 repaired by to-morrow, I am going to get the 
 marine transport officer to dismiss the gentleman. I 
 am, and he knows it too, and is bestirring himself 
 He and the engineer have been at it all day. I 
 wouldn't even let them go and get their meals." 
 
 " They have both been in very good hands, I feel 
 sure," I laughed. " Well, Mrs. Grimhurst, my impul- 
 sive infants have not had a monopoly of the scrapes 
 this time ; even impeccable Chittagonians fall from 
 grace sometimes, don't they? I doubt whether a 
 Burman could have made more of a bungle of the 
 going alongside business." 
 
 " A Burman would never have brought us along- 
 side at all ; he would have sunk us in mid-stream," 
 she retorted, while Grimhurst murmured querulously, 
 " It's a terrible nuisance," and then added, looking 
 at his daughter, "You'll miss the tennis tourna- 
 ment, I'm afraid, Winifred." 
 
 " I don't mind a bit," she cried. " I think it's great 
 fun being here. I've enjoyed to-day thoroughly. I 
 don't know how long it is since I've had such an 
 exciting afternoon. So far as I am concerned, we 
 may stop here for a week." And she really looked as 
 if she meant what she said. Quanta mutata ab ilia ! 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 IT is not often that I indulge in what is known 
 to the sojourners in the gorgeous East as a 
 " Europe morning," but it struck me as a kind of 
 inspiration at dawn on the following day when 
 I heard my boy bestirring himself in the verandah, 
 on chotahaziri intent, that my labours of the previous 
 day had justified my getting up an hour or so later 
 than usual, so I shouted out that I did not want tea 
 till half-past seven, and relapsed again into slumber. 
 Maung San Dun's preliminary skirmish with the 
 teacups had roused me from what promised to be 
 a most thrilling encounter with dacoits, a gang armed 
 with weapons of precision and attired in a chaste and 
 appropriate uniform of scarlet with yellow facings. 
 For the benefit, no doubt, of my poor eyes, their 
 equipment included tennis shoes with soles of red 
 corrugated rubber, the impress of which I had been 
 tracking triumphantly along the sandy bed of a 
 stream for several miles before I came upon the 
 party, thirty or forty strong, entrenched behind a 
 rocky bend. They were surprisingly up to date, 
 these dacoits, with their Winchester repeaters and 
 their machine guns. Indeed, it seemed an imperti- 
 nence to look among these marauders for the female 
 prisoner that no self-respecting robber band of the 
 old school would have been complete without. 
 
 256 
 
THE MYO-OK 257 
 
 I determined, however, to search for and, what was 
 more, to find the captive ; and (I suppose it was a 
 concession to the old-fashioned scruples of the seniors) 
 I found her in due course. She had her hands tied 
 behind her back in the conventional manner ; her 
 attitude was quite in keeping with traditional usage. 
 For all her misery she carried herself like a queen. 
 1 could not, however, see the well-known look of woe 
 upon her cold, proud face, because, for some reason 
 best known to herself, her sun hat was drawn forward 
 over her eyes, so that at the moment that the 
 clicking of the Winchesters was definitely trans- 
 formed in the jingle of crockery I had not yet been 
 able to make her features out. My determination 
 to sleep a little longer, if possible, was partly due 
 to the fact that I wished to confirm a suspicion that 
 had been growing in my mind as to the identity of 
 the fair prisoner with the exasperating topi ; but, 
 alas ! when I had closed my eyes and looked again 
 the face proved to be that of Ma Tw^ Galh, the 
 Burmese prima donna, and, as the figures surrounding 
 her turned out, on examination, to be those of a 
 troupe of indigenous musicians and actors, I felt 
 I had been a fool not to guess who the lady was 
 before. It was all that beggar San Dun. I could 
 see Ma Twe Gale or dancers as good as her any 
 night I chose to at Shwedan, and it came over me 
 with a rush that if there was nothing more on show 
 in the land of dreams than a Burmese pw6, I might 
 just as well get up and have my chotahaziri ; so 
 I opened my eyes and mouth, countermanded my 
 previous order, and rolled out from under the 
 mosquito curtains. 
 S 
 
258 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 Captives were so the order of the morning that 
 it hardly seemed a coincidence that San Dun should 
 remark, as I was finishing my last piece of buttered 
 toast, that there were two policemen waiting down 
 below with a prisoner. Prisoners are, moreover, 
 I regret to say, a part of my daily lot, and it was 
 nothing out of the common that one should have 
 been brought round to me. I thought nothing of 
 it until after I had sent down word to say that the 
 man was to be taken to the lock-up ; then I over- 
 heard a word or two of what was being said down 
 below, and caught a name that started a train of 
 ideas, and from my seat I shouted, " If that is Tun 
 Win you have got there, bring him up here to me." 
 
 It was Tun Win in the custody of two sleepy, 
 moon-faced constables, barely recovered yet from 
 their surprise at having so expeditiously effected 
 the capture of their prisoner, a squat, shock-headed 
 scoundrel who crouched with an air of desolation 
 in the verandah, propped on knees and elbows on 
 the floor. He was handcuffed, and one of the 
 constables held one end of the chain that was 
 attached to his wrists. It was clear that the police 
 were determined that their prize should not escape 
 them. I pushed my plate away and swung round 
 in my chair on to the group. 
 
 " Good ! " I exclaimed, with undisguised approval, 
 and the moon faces expanded rapturously. " Where 
 did you get him ? " 
 
 " At Ywama, your Honour. We found him sleep- 
 ing in a zayat close to the old pongyi kyaung outside 
 the village." 
 
 " Was anyone with him ? " 
 
THE MYO-OK 259 
 
 " No one. He was alone and said he had but 
 yesterday come alone from here." 
 
 " Is it true that you were in Myothit yesterday ? " 
 I asked of the ex-dacoit. 
 
 He made a frightened gesture of assent. 
 
 " What were you doing here ? " 
 
 " I was doing nothing, my lord," mumbled the 
 culprit from behind his hands. 
 
 " Sit up," I exclaimed, " and talk properly. How 
 long had you been in Myothit before then ? " 
 
 A jerk at the chain brought my man up into a 
 sitting position in a trice. His eyes wandered round 
 the room. " About four or five or eight days before 
 that," he said. 
 
 "And did you never once go away during that time ? " 
 
 " Never once." 
 
 " Do you mean to say that you did not go two days 
 ago with a treasure escort in the direction of Shwedan?" 
 
 He shuffled anxiously with his feet behind him. 
 " May it please your Honour, I went with the treasure 
 escort," he made reply. 
 
 " Why did you not say so at once ? " I demanded. 
 
 " Of a truth, sir, I had forgotten." 
 
 " Forgotten ! " I scoffed. " A pretty tale ! How 
 far did you go with the escort?" 
 
 " As far as Shwepaukbin." 
 
 " Why did you come back from Shwepaukbin ? " 
 
 By way of an answer the creature fell forward on his 
 elbows again and dropped his head on to his wrists. 
 
 " Don't you hear what his Honour says ? Why 
 did you come back from Shwepaukbin ? " echoed one 
 of his captors, tugging officiously at his leading chain. 
 
 Still there was silence. I leant over, picked up 
 
26o THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 from the further corner of the table Exhibit A, and 
 held it up in front of me. 
 
 " Do you know this bottle ? " I asked. 
 
 For a few seconds the black shock head was pre- 
 sented immovably towards me. After a while, how- 
 ever, it shifted gradually round, and, for the fraction 
 of a second, a glimpse of a white eyeball showed 
 me that Tun Win had seen and marked. Then the 
 head fell forward again. 
 
 " Do you know this bottle ? " I repeated. 
 
 An unintelligible murmur proceeded from the 
 shaking bundle that lay at my feet. " Sit up ! " I 
 vociferated, and again the miserable being raised 
 himself before me. 
 
 " You recognise it, then," I said, for his face, now 
 that he saw the bottle clearly, told an obvious tale. 
 
 " Your Honour, yes." 
 
 " What was there in it ? " 
 
 " A drug." 
 
 " To send the police to sleep with ? " 
 
 " It was medicine, a drug to send one to sleep." 
 
 " Did you take it with you ? " 
 
 " I was told to take it with me." 
 
 " A likely story ! By whom ? " 
 
 "By U Gyi." 
 
 " The Myo-ok ? " 
 
 " The Myo-ok, your Honour." 
 
 At this the two policemen chimed in with an 
 incredulous ejaculation, and one of them gave the 
 chain an impatient jerk, as though in protest against 
 the profane innuendo. I repressed him with an im- 
 patient wave of my hand. " What did the Myo-ok 
 give it to you for ? " I asked. 
 
THE MYO-OK 261 
 
 " It was for his sister at Shwedan. She suffers 
 from boils at night, and cannot get any rest. The 
 bottle held medicine to send her to sleep." 
 
 " To sleep ? " I repeated, and paused to scratch my 
 chin. " So, instead of taking it to Shwedan," I went 
 on, '■ you used it on the escort, and after sending 
 them to sleep robbed them of their treasure." 
 
 The dacoit bounded forward. His sudden gesture 
 of repudiation almost pulled his guard off their feet. 
 " I never drugged the escort," he cried, speaking for 
 the first time earnestly and convincingly ; " hear me, 
 your Honour, I will speak the truth. I took the 
 bottle with me in the cart, but I gave nothing to the 
 police to drink. Ask the sergeant, my lord. He 
 will tell you that I left the cart at Shwepaukbin and 
 went no further. Ask the two constables. They will 
 say the same." 
 
 " Well," I said, " that brings us back to a question 
 that I have already asked you. Why did you leave 
 the cart at Shwepaukbin ? " 
 
 He would have fallen forward on his face again had 
 not his guard, with a cunning that his moon face 
 belied, shortened the chain in his hand, and brought 
 him up unexpectedly. Thus checked, he could do 
 nothing but gape helplessly at me with his joined 
 palms pressed against his chin. 
 
 "If you cannot tell me," I observed dryly, " perhaps 
 I can tell you. You left at Shwepaukbin because by 
 that time you had drugged the toddy of the police 
 and had done all you wanted to do." 
 
 Again he burst out in vehement protest. " I drugged 
 no toddy ! " he babbled, with staring eyes. 
 
 " Who drugged it, then," I asked, " for you must 
 
262 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 know that the police were drugged and the money 
 taken ? " 
 
 If the man was not really astounded at my words 
 it was a singularly able piece of acting. His jaw 
 dropped and quivered. " They were drugged, and 
 the money taken ! " he ejaculated. 
 
 " Exactly," I cried, " and I suppose you have no 
 idea who did the drugging and the taking." 
 
 My man looked up sharply. " If anybody drugged 
 the toddy," he exclaimed, " it was the sergeant. He 
 had the bottle last." 
 
 " How did he get hold of it ? " I asked. 
 
 " He found it in my saung." 
 
 " In your saung ? " 
 
 " In my saung," he persisted. " May I die if that is 
 not the truth." 
 
 I stared at him for a while in silence. " Then tell 
 me why you left the cart at Shwepaukbin," I said at 
 last. 
 
 " I wanted to get back to my work in the fields. 
 My crops would all have been spoilt had I stopped 
 away any longer," he murmured ; and though I had 
 my doubts as to whether there was really anything in 
 this explanation, I did not press him with further 
 questions, for the man's last words had suggested an 
 array of possible solutions of my agitating problem, 
 and I wanted leisure to think them out. 
 
 " Take him away ! " I said sharply. " I can get 
 nothing out of him. Let him be kept for the present 
 in the lock-up." 
 
 He was led forth jingling down the steps, and I sat 
 on in my chair, cogitating. Here was clearly a fresh 
 field for the exercise of my speculative faculties. 
 
THE MYO-OK 263 
 
 When I said that I had been able to get nothing out 
 of my reluctant criminal, I meant that I had failed to 
 extract from him the admission I required. Up till 
 then I had thought that all would be plain sailing 
 when once Tun Win had been interrogated. I had 
 never looked to get the truth, pure and undiluted, 
 from so questionable a source, but I had certainly 
 not expected his statements — some of which had a 
 curiously genuine ring — to leave me as puzzled as I 
 was when he had clanked off towards the lock-up. 
 Do what I would, I could not fit Maung Walk at all 
 into my mental image of the facts of the case ; and I 
 was as far off a solution as ever when, at about ten, I 
 heard Maung Gyi's voice in the verandah. 
 
 " I am on the way to the police-station, to make 
 over charge of the treasure chest," it said ; and though 
 my back was to the door and the speaker, there was 
 somfthing in the tone that impelled me to rise. 
 " Your Honour said that the making over to be done 
 in your presence," it went on ; " so, in accordance with 
 your orders, I have come to go with your Honour to 
 the police-station." 
 
 " Quite right ; I am ready," I made answer, looking 
 round for my hat. " Is Maung Pyu out with you 
 there ? " 
 
 " Maung Pyu awaiting your arrival at the treasure 
 chest," he replied. 
 
 I picked up my topi and put it on. " Come along, 
 then," I said, emerging from the inner room. " Why, 
 what is the matter with you now, Maung Gyi ? " for 
 the man was quivering like an aspen leaf at the head 
 of the stairs. 
 
 " Nothing, your Honour," he asseverated. "It is 
 
264 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 nothing but the fever pure and simple. May I ask, 
 sir," and he cleared his throat, "whether you have 
 seen the man Tun Win?" 
 
 " I have. I had a talk with him here a short time 
 ago. 
 
 " Your Honour will not believe everything that 
 man says," he exclaimed. " He is a dacoit, a bad 
 character, and a liar. I am recommending him that 
 he should be prosecuted for bad livelihood, and he 
 has heard and bears grudges against me. I have sent 
 the papers through the subdivisional officer to your 
 Honour's court yesterday. Therefore he will do what 
 he can to ruin my character, sir." 
 
 " You need not be afraid of him," I rejoined curtly. 
 " He has accused you of nothing." 
 
 " But the police reporting to me," he persisted, 
 " that he has spoken to your Honour about a bottle, 
 which he says I have given him when escort left for 
 Shwedan." 
 
 " Yes ; I have the bottle here," I cried, and I pointed 
 towards the table where it stood. 
 
 Maung Gyi glanced in the direction of the table, 
 wriggled, pulled his fingers till they cracked, and 
 looked down. " I hope," he exclaimed, " that your 
 Honour does not believe that I gave him the 
 medicine — — " 
 
 I gave vent to an impatient ejaculation. " To drug 
 the escort with ? " I said, finishing his sentence. 
 " You may rest assured, Maung Gyi, that I am going 
 to give you credit for not being such an utter fool as 
 all that ; and I think you might have given me credit 
 for not being such a fool as to believe that you would 
 do anything so idiotic. I don't see why you should 
 
THE MYO-OK 265 
 
 have made such a secret about sending the stuff to 
 your sister at Shwedan, but " 
 
 " My sister at Shwedan ! " he cried. 
 
 " Wasn't it your sister ? Well, your mother or 
 your aunt ; the relationship is immaterial. Good 
 Lord, man, there's nothing to be ashamed of ! You 
 can send medicine to anyone you like, though I wish 
 to goodness you hadn't in the present instance, for it 
 has complicated matters most abominably. Look 
 here, one thing before you go. Do you know any- 
 thing of Maung Walk, the sergeant who went in 
 charge of the treasure, in command of the escort ? " 
 
 Maung Gyi gazed quickly round the verandah with 
 the air of an arch-conspirator. " He also is a bad 
 character," he whispered ; " a gambler, a liar, and a 
 man who habitually assaults others. If anything has 
 happened to the treasure, I think it has been him 
 who has done that thing — not Tun Win. Tun Win 
 would be alarmed to do anything, having been seven 
 years in jail. Besides, he went away at Shwepaukbin. 
 No, I think that Maung Waik must have taken the 
 money, and afterwards pretended that there has been 
 a robbery. I have heard that such things have been 
 done before." 
 
 " So have I ; the thing is not impossible," I rejoined, 
 my mind full of an utterance of Tun Win's. "By 
 the way, Maung Gyi, can you tell me how these 
 things got to the place where the robbery was com- 
 mitted ? " The things were Exhibits B, C, and D, 
 which I had taken off the table in the inner room and 
 now held aloft. 
 
 The Myo-ok blinked stupidly at them. "Where 
 robbery was committed ? " he repeated after me. 
 
266 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " Yes," I said ; " they were found on the spot. 
 Can you connect them in any way with Maung 
 Waik ? " 
 
 Maung Gyi paused, as though to consider. " I 
 have seen Gaudamas like that one in Maung Waik's 
 house," he replied. " I have also seen a bullet resem- 
 bling that bullet in Maung Waik's hands. As for 
 the piece of bottle, it is the same as a piece of bottle 
 that I once saw Maung Waik " 
 
 " Never mind about the piece of bottle," I said, 
 cutting him short. " It is just possible that you may 
 be mistaken about it. Pieces of bottle have a curious 
 knack of looking like each other. Then you suspect 
 Maung Waik ? " 
 
 " Your Honour, I suspect Maung Waik. He is an 
 associate of bad characters and a liar. I think he 
 will tell lies about the taking of the treasure, for he 
 also bears grudges to me for having reported him to 
 the head constable about a year ago. Your Honour 
 will not believe what a shady man like him will say. 
 So, as for Tun Win, I think he may be released ; 
 there is no case against him." 
 
 " Not at all, my friend," I exclaimed. " There is 
 a great deal against him which will have to be ex- 
 plained away, as well as against Maung Waik. 
 However, more of that hereafter. Come along now 
 to the police-station. I am not going to have Maung 
 Pyu kept waiting." 
 
 A telegraph peon was lying in wait for me outside 
 the police-station with a telegram. I signed the 
 receipt, which I handed back to the man, but was so 
 intent on what was waiting for me above that I did 
 not read the message, which I saw was a Government 
 
THE MYO-OK 267 
 
 one, and could probably afford to wait a few minutes. 
 I climbed the police-station steps in front of Maung 
 Gyi, and found myself in a kind of semi-twilight in 
 front of the prisoners' cage and the treasure chest 
 There was a small group standing by the chest, of 
 whom I could see that Maung Pyu was one. 
 
 "Is Maung Waik here?" I inquired. 
 
 A figure stepped out and saluted. 
 
 " I want a word or two with you," I said. " Come 
 to the further end of the building and talk. Let the 
 business of taking over be done now," I continued, 
 turning to the Myo-oks. " When the money in the 
 chest has been counted and checked with the cash- 
 book, let me know, and I will come and have a look 
 at it before the books are signed." 
 
 It was then that Maung Pyu spoke. " Before 
 taking over charge," he said, " I wish to explain a 
 little about the money in the chest. There is " 
 
 But I was hungering to be up and at Maung Waik, 
 and would brook no delay. "What do you know 
 about the money in the chest.'" I exclaimed. " It is 
 not your business to know anything about it till after 
 you have taken over." 
 
 "It is thus," he said. " I wish to explain that, as 
 regards the balance " 
 
 " Any explanation you may wish to make," I cried, 
 " you can make later on, after the balance has been 
 examined and you have taken over charge. I cannot 
 hear any representations just at present. This way, 
 Maung Waik." 
 
 I stalked to the other end of the police-station, an 
 uneven step behind me telling me that the sergeant 
 was in my wake. Arrived at the further side of the 
 
268 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 prisoners' cage, I faced round upon Maung Waik and 
 fixed him with a steady glare. The gloom did not 
 hide the blank look of apprehension that crept across 
 his face. For a moment he stood upright to atten- 
 tion, then his knees collapsed under him, and he 
 crouched, as any convict might have crouched, in 
 front of me. 
 
 For a while there was an ominous silence at our 
 end of the building. Out by the treasure chest there 
 was a subdued murmur and the rustling of pages. 
 The two Myo-oks were apparently examining the 
 cash-book together. Someone said, " Five hundred 
 and twenty-five," and a voice corrected him. " Six," 
 it said, " not five. One has to be carried here from 
 the anna column. Five hundred and twenty-six." 
 Then there was more rustling. 
 
 I gave a preliminary impressive cough. " Maung 
 Waik,'' I said, " I am tired of lies." 
 
 Maung Waik uttered no sound. The murmuring 
 on the further side of the cage continued. 
 
 " I am tired of lies, Maung Waik," I repeated. 
 " Tell me all about that bottle." 
 
 For a second he looked up, and his eyes encountered 
 mine with a sickly stare. " I have told your Honour 
 all ! " he exclaimed piteously. 
 
 " Tell me again," I said. 
 
 " Truly it was Tun Win who brought the drug. 
 So much, I think. How he put it into the toddy I 
 know not, but it must have been before we reached 
 Shwepaukbin, for there he left us, and we saw him no 
 more." 
 
 " Did you see the bottle before you got to Shwe- 
 paukbin ? " 
 
THE MYO-OK 269 
 
 " On my honour, no, my lord." 
 
 " Tun Win says you found it in his saung and took 
 it from him. Is that true ? " 
 
 " It is a lie ! " cried the sergeant fervently. 
 
 " It is true !" came a voice from behind the speaker, 
 and I gave a start. For a moment I had forgotten 
 that in the gloom of the cage there lurked a prisoner, 
 and that that prisoner was none other than Tun Win. 
 I strained my eyes, and beyond Maung Walk, through 
 the bars, I descried a form wrapped in a blue and 
 white blanket, which shifted softly forward till it 
 almost touched the sergeant's back. 
 
 A thrill ran through the latter. Even in the half 
 light I could see that this interruption had come upon 
 him like a thunderbolt. He did not, however, lift his 
 head. 
 
 "It is true,'' persisted the voice. "Ask him, your 
 Honour, if he did not find the bottle in my saung, 
 and when he learnt what was to be done with it, say 
 that he would deliver it himself to the Myo-ok's sister 
 at Shwedan." 
 
 " Did you do that, Maung Walk ? " I asked. 
 
 He grovelled in silence before me. The figure 
 behind him crept closer. I was aware of two brown 
 hands clasping the bars immediately above the quiver- 
 ing, khaki-clad shoulders. Out by the treasure chest 
 there was a creaking sound as of the safe door being 
 opened. 
 
 " Did you do that, Maung Walk ? " I repeated. 
 
 He lifted his head an inch or so. " How could I 
 leave the bottle with a bad character like that ? " he 
 muttered. " He would have poisoned the lot of us." 
 
 As though by magic the brown hands disappeared 
 
270 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 from the wooden bars, and I heard a sharp, trium- 
 phant clap from within the cage. 
 
 " He has admitted it, your Honour. He took the 
 stuff from me ; he owns he did now. What more do 
 you want? Ask him now what he did with the 
 bottle." 
 
 Why, I cannot say, but I obeyed mechanically. 
 "Maung Walk," I said, with deliberate emphasis, 
 " what did you do with that bottle ? " 
 
 There was no reply. 
 
 At the further end of the police-station the mur- 
 mur of voices, which Tun Win's cry of exultation 
 had momentarily silenced, recommenced. I stood 
 flicking the telegram that I held in my hand. I 
 waited for the sergeant to speak ; but he cowered 
 there dumb. I was determined not to move till I 
 had got some kind of answer to my query, and as I 
 stood there I mechanically tore open the envelope of 
 the telegram I held and cast my eye over its con- 
 tents. My mind was not on what I read. All that 
 I gathered from my preoccupied persual of the first 
 few lines was that it had something to do with the 
 sergeant, and I remember wondering vaguely what 
 concern Maung Waik could have with office boxes, 
 for there was a reference to boxes in the message. I 
 was about to glance at it again when I became aware 
 that the murmur by the treasure chest was growing 
 in volume and that smothered ejaculations were 
 rising above the hum. I heard the chinking sound of 
 money-bags being deposited on the wooden flooring 
 and cries of " Two, three, four ! " Then someone 
 burst out into a wild cackle of laughter, nervous and 
 unsteady, and Maung Waik suddenly raised his head. 
 
THE MYO-OK 271 
 
 After the laugh came rapidly approaching footsteps, 
 and Maung Gyi stood, panting, by my side. 
 
 " Sir," he exclaimed, " there are in the chest 
 four thousand five hundred and twenty-six rupees, 
 instead of five hundred and twenty- six, as there 
 should be." 
 
 " Four thousand too much ! " I cried. " Why, 
 that is exactly the amount of the remittance ! " 
 
 " It is so, your Honour." 
 
 " In that case the remittance can never have been 
 sent," I shouted. 
 
 " It was never sent," said Maung Waik, raising 
 himself solemnly and dusting his knees. " I was 
 about to tell your Honour so when we were in- 
 terrupted." 
 
 " It is all a mistake," cried Maung Gyi. 
 
 I looked the couple deliberately up and down 
 before turning towards the treasure chest. 
 
 " It appears to be very much of a mistake," I said 
 dryly, as I moved to the further end of the police- 
 station, " and," I added, " one that will need a good 
 deal of explanation." 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 THE little crowd of clerks and police that had 
 gathered round the treasure chest fell back as 
 I approached and showed me a heap of money-bags 
 on the floor, with Maung Pyu squatting beside them, 
 cash-book on knee. I held out my hand for the 
 volume and cast my eyes over the figures. Then I 
 looked at the bags again. There was clearly some- 
 thing amiss. The balance according to the book was 
 five hundred and twenty-six rupees with a few odd 
 annas and pice. A mere glance at the bags told me 
 that here was at least eight times the amount. 
 
 I looked sharply up at Maung Gyi. 
 
 "How do you explain this? " I demanded. "Some- 
 thing seems to have gone very wrong. Did or did 
 you not send the money ? " 
 
 He sank on to the floor beside his brother ofificer 
 with his eyes bent on the bags before him. 
 
 " I think I can explain," he said slowly. 
 
 He was clearly hard at work inventing. My pent- 
 up feelings were getting the better of me ; I was 
 about to burst out with something more forcible than 
 my wont, when a remark from one of the bystanders 
 brought me up sharp. " The wrong boxes must have 
 been sent," he said, with a subdued titter ; and the 
 word " boxes " brought my eyes suddenly down upon 
 the paper I held in my hand, for I had in a flash 
 
 272 
 
THE MYO-OK 273 
 
 realised that the boxes alluded to in the telegram 
 were not office boxes. 
 
 The message, which was addressed to me by my 
 head clerk at Shwedan, was, I found, as follows : — 
 
 " Following received from Myo-ok, Myothit, for Maung 
 Waik, sergeant, charge treasure escort, addressed Nyaung- 
 binhla, re-addressed Shwedan. Begins. Wrong boxes sent. 
 Return wthout delay, bringing same. Ends. Maung 
 Waik not arrived Shwedan. As message seems to refer 
 dacoited remittance, am communicating you." 
 
 I read it over three or four times, so as to grasp its 
 meaning fully ; then I threw it down to Maung Gyi. 
 
 " It's no use your prevaricating, Maung Gyi," I said. 
 " Tell me why you sent that wire to Maung Waik." 
 
 " I sent no wire to Maung Waik," he protested, 
 looking up as he clasped the paper. 
 
 " Read that ! " I cried sternly, pointing to what he 
 held in his hand. 
 
 His lips moved vacantly as he spelt the message 
 out. He seemed to dwell on the words of his own 
 repeated telegram, his face exhibiting the while the 
 liveliest stupefaction. Then he looked up sharply at 
 his peon. 
 
 " Shwe Yon ! " he exclaimed. " Did you send off 
 a telegram that was lying on my table ? " 
 
 " Your Honour, yes. I sent it yesterday." 
 
 " Ame ! Why was that ? I gave you no orders." 
 
 " That is true, your Honour, but I thought you 
 wished it sent all the same. I did not wish to trouble 
 you by asking, as you lay ill." 
 
 The Myo-ok turned to me. " I wrote this telegram, 
 sir," he said ; " but I did not know it has been sent." 
 
 " That is immaterial," I exclaimed. " The im- 
 T 
 
2 74 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 portant thing is, is what the wire says correct? 
 Were the wrong boxes sent ? " 
 
 " The wrong boxes were sent, sir. It came about 
 in this way " 
 
 I Hfted a hand. " Presently," I said. " I will take 
 your explanation later. Now, Maung Walk, you will 
 kindly tell me what you were going to tell me when 
 we were interrupted." 
 
 " My lord," said the sergeant, " I will tell you the 
 whole truth this time." 
 
 " By all means," I cried. " Let me hear the whole 
 truth. I have had my full of the other thing." 
 
 And Maung Walk, steadying himself on legs that 
 still quivered treacherously, with his back against the 
 bars of the prisoners' cage, through which Tun Win's 
 face peered, anxiously puckered, proceeded to deliver 
 himself of the whole truth. 
 
 " We left Myothit on the morning of the thirteenth 
 waxing, Maung Wa, Maung Thin, and I, with Tun 
 Win as the driver of the cart. The two boxes 
 of specie were in the cart, and I sat in the cart and 
 spoke with Tun Win. When we had arrived at a 
 place about a daing from Myothit and half a daing 
 or so from Shwepaukbin, I found a bottle with 
 medicine in it in Tun Win's saung. That is the 
 truth. What I said to you before, sir, was, through 
 fear of blame, a little wrong. Yes, I found the 
 bottle in Tun Win's saung, and asked him what 
 it was. At first he would not say. He declared 
 he did not recognise the bottle. He swore he knew 
 nothing about it." 
 
 " The sergeant was angry, and I was frightened," 
 interpolated a voice quickly from behind. 
 
THE MYO-OK 275 
 
 There was a sudden angry cry of " Silence ! " from 
 the group that surrounded the treasure chest, and one 
 of the police kicked at the cage bars with an 
 ammunition boot. Tun Win's voice was hushed, 
 but I could see him edge nearer and ever nearer 
 to the sergeant. He was drinking in every word 
 of the narrative. 
 
 " He declared he knew nothing about it at first," 
 continued the speaker. "That is, till I threatened 
 him. Then he said he would tell me, but even then 
 he only uttered lies," 
 
 " What lies ? " I asked. 
 
 " He said that he had been given the drug by the 
 Myo-ok Min," and by a motion of his head the 
 sergeant indicated Maung Gyi. "It was for his 
 Honour's sister at Shwedan, he said; to send her to 
 sleep. For boils she could not go to sleep at night, 
 he said. I knew that this was untrue, so I " 
 
 " Wait a minute," I exclaimed. " How did you 
 know that it was untrue ? " 
 
 For a space the narrator gazed at me blankly 
 enough. Then a sickly smile played about his thick 
 lips. "Your Honour can ask the Myo-ok Min," he 
 said, and glanced with raised eyebrows at Maung 
 Gyi. I did the same. 
 
 " Was what Tun Win said about the bottle true or 
 not ? " I asked airily. 
 
 " It was true, sir," grunted the Myo-ok, with his 
 eyes on the floor. 
 
 The sergeant was nonplussed. " I did not 
 know " he faltered. 
 
 " Apparently not," I observed. " However, that does 
 not affect the case. You did not know, but you 
 
2 76 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 thought that what Tun Win said was untrue ; so 
 you — what did you do ? " 
 
 " I took the bottle from him, sir, fearing that he might 
 do harm with it, and at Shwepaukbin he left the cart." 
 
 " What did he leave the cart for ? " 
 
 " Of a truth I know not. It may have been 
 through fear of punishment. It may have been 
 unwillingness to work. All I can say is that at 
 Shwepaukbin he went into the village and did not 
 return, and that from Shwepaukbin onwards we 
 drove the cart ourselves." 
 
 " Did you make no search for him at Shwepaukbin ? 
 Could you get no driver in the village ? " 
 
 " It was getting late, and I thought it best to wait 
 till we got to Nyaungbinhla before hiring a fresh 
 driver. Shwepaukbin has always been a bad village." 
 
 " I have never heard that before," I said. " How- 
 ever, you went on, and what happened afterwards ? " 
 
 " Some little further on we halted to eat our 
 morning meal. After eating it, the two constables 
 rested for a while, and I watched by the cart. While 
 watching I took out the bottle and opened it to see 
 what there was inside. For I thought it might be 
 some drug that Tun Win had brought for getting the 
 money out of the boxes without our knowledge." 
 
 " My good fool, how could he do that ? " I asked. 
 
 " I cannot say, your Honour, but there are many 
 stories current round Shwepaukbin of the power the 
 nats have there over treasure. I have seen powder 
 that, if properly used, will enable one to find bowls 
 and anklets of silver by digging in the earth, and 
 there is a leaf that grows on the hills near Shwepauk- 
 bin that, if plucked at the right time, will show one 
 
THE MYO-OK 277 
 
 where gold is hidden, so I wondered what power 
 there might be in this drug in the bottle. I opened 
 the bottle near the two boxes in the cart, and some 
 of the contents falling on to the boxes, I grew 
 frightened and, looking closely, I saw that the 
 fastenings of the boxes were not firm, that the lids 
 were loose." 
 
 " They were quite firm when they left, as you 
 know, sergeant," interposed the peon Shwe Yon ; 
 but he was silenced by a gesture from Maung Gyi. 
 
 " Upon that I grew more frightened," continued 
 Maung Walk, "for I thought that the strange drug 
 had worked some mischief with the boxes, and on 
 opening them (for the lids came off in my hand) 
 I found that there were bags truly therein, but that 
 there were no rupees in the bags." 
 
 " How did you find that out ? Did you open the 
 bags ? " 
 
 "They were already open. They were not tied 
 with string." 
 
 " What was there inside, then ? " 
 
 " Useless things of all kinds." 
 
 " Of what kinds ? " I asked. 
 
 " There were bits of glass," he made reply, " and a 
 few copper coins ; also stones of different sorts and 
 iron. I saw some small images too, some nails and 
 some lumps of lead ; everything save silver.'' 
 
 " What were the images like ? " I inquired 
 
 " Very small," he returned. " Small, of black stone." 
 
 " Like this one ? " and I held up my little Gaudama 
 for inspection. It had accompanied me to the police- 
 station in my pocket. 
 
 " Like that one, your Honour ! " he exclaimed. 
 
278 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " Just like that one. There were four of that kind in 
 the bags." 
 
 " Four, were there ? " I said. " Well, what did you 
 do?" 
 
 " I thought, sir, that the drug in the bottle had 
 transformed the silver into stone and iron, and fearing 
 that I should get into trouble, and that no one would 
 believe me, I hid the contents of the bags under a tree 
 hard by and the bags in a hole in the tree itself, where 
 your Honour found them, throwing the bottle away 
 into the jungle." 
 
 " And then invented your story about the attack ? " 
 I went on. 
 
 " When all was hidden away, your Honour, I woke 
 the constables. I told them at first that we had all 
 been drugged by Tun Win ; and in very truth the 
 two slept as though they had taken opium." 
 
 " But you did not show them the bottle ? " 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 "It was fear that prevented me.'' 
 
 " Well," I said ; " go on." 
 
 " So sound had the constables slept," he continued, 
 " that they doubted not themselves that a drug had 
 been employed ; but after a while, when we had 
 spoken together and considered, for the sake of the 
 two, who suffered shame at having been found asleep, 
 we thought it best to say that we had been attacked 
 and robbed ; so we made as though we were pursuing 
 dacoits, and going to Kangyi, halted there till you, 
 my lord, found us. We feared much, your Honour. 
 All things were most bewildering. We trust that we 
 shall be forgiven for this one untruth. Never shall 
 
THE MYO-OK 279 
 
 such a thing happen again." And dropping on his 
 knees, the penitent did obeisance before me, pressing 
 his joined palms thrice on the police-station floor. 
 
 I looked away from him to Maung Gyi. 
 
 " What have you to say to this ? " I asked. " How 
 was it that the money was not sent in the boxes, and 
 how was it that boxes of rubbish were sent ? " 
 
 " Sir," he made reply, " I cannot say who sent the 
 boxes that the sergeant found. All that I know of the 
 matter is this. Soon after the boxes had been sent, 
 I thought that perhaps there has been an error. It 
 was not all quite right." 
 
 " Not all quite right ? What do you mean ? " 
 I asked. 
 
 " There were four boxes near the treasure chest on 
 the day the escort despatched. Two were filled with 
 rupees ; the others were empty — or I thought so. 
 The day after, when I looked at the two boxes that 
 were left, I saw, through the marks that were on them, 
 that they were the boxes that should have gone, and, 
 at the time that I looked, it seemed that they were 
 full of rupees." 
 
 " It seemed ! " I repeated. " Didn't you see to make 
 sure ? " 
 
 " No, sir." 
 
 " Why not ? " 
 
 " I cannot say, sir. My mind was disturbed at the 
 time. However, thinking that the boxes that are left 
 hold the rupees, and that the wrong ones have been 
 sent, I wrote the telegram to Maung Walk that your 
 Honour just seen. Then, looking later again, I saw 
 that the boxes that have been left behind are empty, 
 so, not knowing what to think, and fearing to open 
 
28o THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 the treasure chest till all was made clear, I was 
 hesitating to send the telegram. However, the peon, 
 without my orders, sent it. I was doubtful in my 
 mind, but the telegram was right ; the wrong boxes 
 have been sent." 
 
 I grunted sceptically. "A most extraordinary story," 
 I said. " However, it explains your singular reluctance 
 to make over charge of the chest. If yoU had any 
 doubt about the matter, why didn't you speak up ? " 
 
 " I was not quite sure," he pleaded. " I waited till 
 all had been made clear." 
 
 " Not quite sure ! Rubbish ! " I exclaimed. " You 
 had only to open the boxes to be sure. Well, tell me 
 now. You say you thought at first that the boxes 
 that were left behind were full. What made you 
 think that?" 
 
 " I lifted them," he said, " and they felt quite heavy ; 
 but when I examined them later they were light, and 
 there was nothing in them." 
 
 " How long after was that ? " 
 
 " A few hours only, sir." 
 
 " That is more extraordinary still ! " I exclaimed. 
 " If what you say is true, it looks as though the rupees 
 had been for some time in the boxes, but outside the 
 treasure chest, and had then been taken away." 
 
 " I think they were removed from the boxes," said 
 the Myo-ok. 
 
 " And taken away ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir, taken away again." 
 
 " Then how, in the name of all that's wonderful," 
 I cried, '' did they get back again into the treasure 
 chest ? " 
 
 I looked at Maung Gyi, but he could only pick 
 
THE MYO-OK 281 
 
 at his jacket-hem. I gazed at Maung Pyu, at 
 Maung Waik, at the small circle of bystanders 
 that had crowded close in upon me, but their blank 
 faces showed that I had put a poser. I even turned 
 round upon the prisoners' cage and peered into its 
 depths, to see if Tun Win had any suggestion to 
 volunteer, but the dacoit squatted silent. The matter 
 had, it appeared, passed altogether out of his sphere 
 of cognisance. At last one of the sentries who had 
 joined the group around the treasure chest suddenly 
 spoke. 
 
 " I saw four bags placed in the safe two days ago," 
 he remarked. 
 
 " What is that ? " exclaimed Maung Gyi, whisking 
 sharply round upon the speaker. "When was that? 
 I don't remember." 
 
 "It was two days ago, about sunset, when your 
 Honour was closing the chest for the day." 
 
 " Were they taken from boxes near the chest ? " 
 I asked. 
 
 " No, they were brought in from outside." 
 
 " Was I present when they were placed in the 
 chest ? " inquired the township officer. " I saw no 
 bags put in that evening." 
 
 " Your Honour was at the further end of the 
 station at the time, talking to someone, on the spot 
 where his Honour the Deputy Commissioner stood 
 just now. The chest was open then, and the bags were 
 put straight into it. Almost directly afterwards your 
 Honour finished talking and came back to the chest, 
 which was then shut, and after that everybody went 
 away. I thought the bags had been put in under 
 your orders." 
 
2»2 
 
 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " Who put them in ? " cried the Myo-ok, and the 
 query was echoed from half a dozen mouths. 
 
 " It was the clerk Maung So and a man whom 
 I did not know," said the sentry. 
 
 We all looked at each other, and I exclaimed, 
 " Where is Maung So ? It strikes me that he must 
 know more than anybody about this matter." 
 
 But Maung So was not present. 
 
 " Where can he have gone to ? " quavered the 
 Myo-ok peevishly. " He was here a few minutes 
 ago. Did no one see him go ? " 
 
 But in the hurry of events no one had seen him go. 
 When he had slipped away it was impossible to say, 
 but he was not where he had been when the treasure 
 chest was opened. 
 
 " He has returned to the office ! " I cried. 
 
 " I have this moment come from the office," said 
 one of the constables. " He is not there, and I did 
 not meet him on the road." 
 
 " He may have gone home. Go to his house and 
 see if he is there," I said to the peon Shwe Yon. 
 " If he is, tell him to come here immediately. If he 
 is not there, find out where he is and fetch him here." 
 The messenger disappeared. I took two or three turns 
 up and down, pondering ; then I turned upon the sentry. 
 
 " Did it not strike you as strange," I demanded, 
 "that money should be placed in the chest without the 
 Myo-ok's knowledge, while his back was turned ? " 
 
 The man sniggered. " Not if it was the sayegyi 
 Maung So who did it," he said, with a note of scorn 
 in his voice. 
 
 " Why not ? " I asked. 
 
 The policeman looked down, rubbing one foot 
 
THE MYO-OK 283 
 
 against the other. "He does what he Hkes with 
 the treasure chest," he muttered, with a grin, and 
 a subdued titter that ran through the group of 
 constables at his words spoite volumes. 
 
 " What is that ? " thundered the Myo-ok ; but a 
 glance from me quelled him instantaneously, and he 
 shrank into himself. 
 
 The laughter of the bystanders and the sudden 
 silencing of the township officer seemed to embolden 
 my friend in khaki. 
 
 " If he put back four thousand," he said archly, 
 with an eye to the gallery, " it was only right and 
 fair. I thought at the time that it was no doubt the 
 four thousand he had already taken out by himself." 
 
 " When did he take out four thousand by himself? " 
 roared Maung Gyi ; and I repeated the question 
 myself, though in more dulcet tones. 
 
 I had looked to see the rascal cornered. On the 
 contrary, he was ready with chapter and verse. " Once 
 in Wazo, two bags," he made reply ; "' once in the 
 waxing of Tawthalin, a bag ; and once a bag in the 
 waning of Tawthalin ; four bags altogether. Ask 
 Maung Myit, your Honour; he will tell you the same." 
 And from the head of the steps a voice cried, " It 
 is as he says, my lord." 
 
 " How could he take the bags out without a key ? " 
 I exclaimed. " You must be dreaming ! " 
 
 " He had a key with him," the constable made 
 answer, " a key that opened the safe, just like the key 
 that the Myo-ok uses when he comes to the chest. 
 The sayegyi said that it was the Myo-ok's key, and 
 that he was getting money out for his Honour. Even 
 at the time I doubted him, but what could I do ? " 
 
284 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " He lies, your Honour ! " shouted the Myo-ok 
 fiercely. " May I die if I ever gave him the key to 
 open the chest with. I have never once parted with 
 the key." And before my eyes he jingled a gilt 
 watch-chain with a key attached. 
 
 " Ask Maung Myit," persisted the policeman. " He 
 will tell you the same." 
 
 " It will be even more to the point if we ask Maung 
 So himself," I observed, taking the key from Maung 
 Gyi and holding it up against the light. " See if that 
 is he coming back with Shwe Yon." 
 
 But it was not. It was Shwe Yon returning by 
 himself, brimful of news, that set the crowd staring. 
 He had been, it appeared, to Maung So's house, which 
 was close by, and had there ascertained from Maung 
 So's wife that her husband had just left hurriedly on 
 his pony, though on what errand she could not say. 
 
 " Just left ! " I exclaimed. " Why, he was seen 
 here only a few minutes ago. Are you sure you 
 heard aright ? " 
 
 " Quite sure, your Honour," said the peon. " A 
 minute or two before I arrived he rode away, she 
 declared." 
 
 "In which direction ? " 
 
 " Of that nobody in the house is sure, sir. His 
 wife says that when he rides out it is usually towards 
 Shwepaukbin, where he owns land ; but she thought 
 that to-day it was towards the southern gate that he 
 went." ^ 
 
 " Amele ! " burst out Maung Gyi. " Now I under- 
 stand ! " And he brought his hand down on to his 
 fat thigh till it quivered again. 
 
THE MYO-OK 285 
 
 " What do you understand?" I demanded, rounding 
 upon him fiercely. 
 
 " I see it all now 1 " he ejaculated. " He is an 
 arrant scoundrel, Maung So, sir ! " 
 
 " We shall know more about that when we have 
 got hold of him," I exclaimed. " Let a couple of 
 mounted men go out after him and fetch him back 
 immediately. When he has been found, let him be 
 brought to me at the rest-house. Put the money 
 back into the chest now and have the books signed, 
 treating the remittance of four thousand rupees as 
 cancelled. Then let nothing more be done here till 
 further orders from me are received." 
 
 " And I may be let out, your Honour," piped a 
 voice from between the bars. " Nothing has been 
 proved against me." 
 
 I was at the head of the steps, preparing to descend. 
 I turned at the sound. I had forgotten all about 
 Tun Win. " Yes, he may be let out now," I said, " if 
 anybody can be found to give security for him. 
 Somebody must hold himself responsible for his 
 production if need be." 
 
 " I will hold myself responsible," said Maung Gyi, 
 with a grand air, and nodded to the sentry to open 
 the cage door. 
 
 I swung round sharply upon him. " You ! " I cried. 
 " You may consider yourself lucky that you are not 
 in with him there. Take my advice, and get hold of 
 Maung So as quickly as possible ; for unless you can 
 show that he is at the bottom of this key business, 
 you may find yourself in an uncommonly nasty hole. 
 Just bear that in mind, my friend." 
 
 And with that I stalked off to breakfast. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 "AND you are actually not going to suspend any- 
 _r\. body, George ! " said Mrs. Grimhurst. 
 
 George leant back in his chair, pushed up his 
 spectacles, and scratched his head. 
 
 " My dear," he said, " I thought we had already 
 decided that, so far as we at present know, there is 
 not sufficient proof against anybody to justify sus- 
 pension." 
 
 " What ! You don't mean to say you think that 
 what we know already is not enough ! " 
 
 " A good deal has come to light," he said ; " but I 
 doubt very much whether we have yet got sufficient 
 grounds for the extreme measure you suggest." 
 
 " Well," she said, as she picked up her knitting, " if 
 what Mr. Rymington has told us is not sufficient 
 grounds, I should rather like to be told what is. 
 Sufficient grounds, indeed ! I only wish we women 
 had charge of these investigations ; we should soon 
 show you men what is sufficient grounds." 
 
 I had gone down to the launch to report progress 
 to Grimhurst, and to learn what action he wished to 
 have taken in the matter on hand. To report to 
 Grimhurst meant, as I had already learnt by experi- 
 ence, to report to Mrs. Grimhurst, whose paraphernalia 
 littered three-fourths of the table at which the Com- 
 
 286 
 
THE MYO-OK 287 
 
 missioner sat, poring apologetically over a heap of 
 official papers, and to report to Mrs. Grimhurst was 
 to evoke an animated disquisition on the better 
 management of Burma. If that lady had had the 
 final voice in the matter, the heads of all concerned 
 in the remittance business would have garnished the 
 walls of Myothit forthwith ; but feeling that he was 
 carrying me with him, Grimhurst had for once been 
 firm, with the result that all it had been decided to 
 suspend was judgment, until Maung So had been got 
 hold of and questioned as to the treasure chest key 
 and the handling of the four bags. When this end 
 was to be secured seemed doubtful, for so far the 
 search for the Myo-ok's head clerk had had no result. 
 The searchers on the south had only recently returned, 
 but with no news of the truant, and the couple I had 
 detailed later to try the road in the direction of 
 Shwepaukbin had not yet started. These latter were, 
 in fact, waiting for me on the bank while I was 
 conferring with the Commissioner, for I had decided 
 to ride out with them that afternoon towards the 
 scene of the alleged crime, in order to satisfy my 
 curiosity on a certain point connected with the affair 
 of the hour. As Mrs. Grimhurst completed her 
 peroration with the words above recorded, and re- 
 lapsed temporarily into silence, I rose to my feet, and 
 signalled to the pair on the bank to bring my pony. 
 It was at this moment that Miss Grimhurst emerged 
 from her cabin. 
 
 " Where are you off to now ? " demanded Mrs. 
 Grimhurst. " You really are the most unsociable of 
 men. I thought you were going to stop and have 
 tea with us. They will be bringing it directly." 
 
288 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " Thanks," I said, " I won't stop to tea. I want to 
 get off to Shwepaukbin as soon as possible in order 
 to verify the sergeant's story." 
 
 "What! That absurd fable about the stuff in 
 the boxes? Well, of all credulous creatures, Mr. 
 Rymington " 
 
 "Wait till I have verified, Mrs. Grimhurst," I re- 
 torted. " I should not be very much surprised if, in 
 substance, that fable was true. In any case, I can 
 easily make sure. If the rubbish was buried under 
 the tree, it will be there still." 
 
 " Rubbish ? Buried ? Under what tree ? " ex- 
 claimed Miss Grimhurst, who had come up behind 
 her father's chair, and now stood, with both her 
 hands on his shoulders, looking at her mother and 
 me. " Surely not under that " 
 
 " Yes," I rejoined, " the same as ever is. I know 
 the one you mean. You were quite right about the 
 money. There was none under the tree, but there was 
 something there, if what Maung Waik says is true.'' 
 
 " Maung Waik ! The sergeant ! Something ! 
 What?" 
 
 " All kinds of things. Odds and ends, like what 
 you found on the spot yesterday, broken bottles and 
 lead, stone images, and such like. The boxes, he 
 says, were filled with rubbish of that kind, not with 
 rupees at all." 
 
 " How did he find out ? " 
 
 '' By accident, poor innocent thing," said Mrs. 
 Grimhurst, with her nose on her knitting needles, 
 " quite by accident." 
 
 " And why didn't he tell us yesterday, instead of 
 letting us waste our time hunting around in the 
 jungle ? " 
 
THE MYO-OK 289 
 
 " Another accident," sniffed Mrs. Grimhurst. 
 
 " It is a long story," I said, "which I am afraid I 
 cannot give you at length now, though I shall be 
 able to give you full particulars later, I hope. I am 
 off now to see if what the man says is true, if the stuff 
 is still there under the tree." 
 
 " Under the tree ! " she echoed. " Whatever made 
 him bury it there for ? How delightfully exciting ! 
 
 And what a puzzle ! How I wish " she broke 
 
 off, and then suddenly bent her head down till it 
 touched her father's. '' Do you think you and I 
 might go with Mr. Rymington, father ? " she said. 
 " I should so like to see if what the man says is true — 
 that is to say, if we shall not be in your way, Mr. 
 Rymington," she added, looking up. 
 
 " In my way ? Not in the least," I made answer. 
 " In fact, I shall not feel I am doing the thing 
 properly unless you are there to advise me." 
 
 " Well, I am agreeable," said Grimhurst. " What 
 do you say, Maria ? " 
 
 "What? About Winifred's going? Certainly not." 
 
 " Why not ? I think she might," murmured 
 Grimhurst dubiously. 
 
 " Certainly not. The child knocked herself up, as 
 it was, yesterday. She was dead tired when she 
 came home, and I am not going to let her fatigue 
 herself again." 
 
 " Oh, mother, I was not tired!" cried Miss Grimhurst, 
 and I joined in. "You positively must let Miss 
 Grimhurst go," I exclaimed, " if only to bear out 
 your theory." 
 
 " What theory ? " 
 
 " I think you were pleased to say just now," I 
 
 U 
 
290 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 observed, " that if you ladies had the management of 
 these inquiries, things would be much better done 
 than they are by us poor men. Didn't you, now? 
 And didn't you say you wished you could be given a 
 chance ? " 
 
 " I did," she replied, " though I don't see what that 
 has got to do with your going out to that place." 
 
 " It has everything to do with it," I exclaimed. 
 " This is one of the opportunities you have been 
 pining for of proving your case up to the hilt. Here 
 is a lady who has displayed detective capacities of no 
 mean order, and who, if " 
 
 " Nonsense ! " she cried, cutting me short. " Any- 
 body with sharp eyes could have found those things 
 yesterday, if that is what you mean. Yes, the child 
 has sharp eyes, though who she inherited them from 
 I don't know, for my eyesight is none of the best and 
 her father is just as " 
 
 " I must beg of you not to interrupt me, Mrs. 
 Grimhurst," I cried, taking, with an audacity that 
 surprised myself, a leaf from the lady's own book. 
 " I consider that the finding of those things, especially 
 the bags, was an uncommonly smart piece of detec- 
 tion, a feat that shows the possession of talents that 
 ought not to be wasted. Now, in order that the work 
 that has been so well begun may be properly finished, 
 it is absolutely necessary that I should have again the 
 services of my indispensable lady detective; and, 
 after what you have said, it would be most incon- 
 sistent of you to refuse to let me have those services. 
 It is a question of public expediency, nothing more 
 nor less. I will change my mind about the tea, 
 please, Mrs. Grimhurst. It will do very nicely if you 
 
THE MYO-OK 291 
 
 will let us have a cup before we start. Go and get 
 your habit on, Miss Grimhurst. We must start as 
 soon as possible if we are to be back before dark." 
 
 And Miss Grimhurst went. Her mother fixed me 
 for a moment with a stony glare, but gradually her 
 face relaxed, and she nodded twice approvingly. " I 
 like to see a man who knows his own mind," she 
 said. " Antony, bring tea. George, why don't you go 
 and get your riding things on ? Winifred, see that 
 you put on a thick jacket this time ; that white one is 
 no good at all these cold evenings." 
 
 I had never been profoundly interested in the 
 ruined pagoda that stands off the road just this side 
 of Shwepaukbin. I knew that it was old, and I knew 
 that near it there were stones with inscriptions on 
 them that Grimhurst had once spent the better part 
 of a hot July day poring over, but that was all. I 
 had always thought that the Commissioner had on 
 that occasion exhausted the possibilities of those 
 stones, of which he had taken several rubbings ; but 
 I was apparently mistaken, for as we neared Shwe- 
 paukbin his eyes began to wander hungrily to the 
 right, and presently, when we were alongside the 
 dilapidated red-brick cone, he pulled up. 
 
 " How much further is this place we are going to ?" 
 he demanded. "About a couple of miles, isn't it?" 
 
 " Somewhere about that," I replied ; " nearer three 
 than two probably. Why, you are surely not going 
 for those Kyauksas again, are you ? I'm afraid you 
 won't have time." 
 
 He looked away towards the pagoda, patting his 
 knee thoughtfully. " There's a date I want to settle," 
 
292 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 he murmured. " Do you remember, Rymington, 
 whether I ever tackled that little one out beyond the 
 zayat? I doubt whether I did it properly, and it 
 struck me as I came along that perhaps it might have 
 
 the very . You know, it isn't often I presume to 
 
 differ from poor old Forchhammer . But how 
 
 should you know ? These things don't interest you, 
 do they ? Look here," and he turned upon us as we 
 sat on our ponies waiting, " will you two ride on to 
 this place ? I will follow and catch you up if I have 
 time. If not, you can call for me here on the way 
 back, can't you ? I suppose you won't be gone more 
 than an hour." 
 
 " About that," I said ; " perhaps a bit more." 
 
 " I shan't be so long over the business," he ex- 
 claimed. " Yes, you ride on with the two mounted 
 men. I will follow when I have settled the knotty 
 point. It won't take me long, if there's anything about 
 it. It's only a difference of five years or so. I won't 
 swear that he's wrong, but I must say I should " 
 
 His voice died away as he turned his pony's head 
 towards the pagoda. Miss Grimhurst and I looked 
 at each other. I had expected my companion to 
 offer to stop with the archseologist, but apparently 
 her own researches were of more engrossing interest. 
 
 " Are you coming on with me ? " I asked. 
 
 " If I may," she replied. " Father will be far 
 happier if I am away. He loves prowling round 
 these old places by himself He knows then that 
 he is not putting anybody out. Besides, I'm very 
 anxious to see the place again." 
 
 " Come along, then," I said, and we turned off, with 
 our escort behind us. " Shall we canter for a bit ? It 
 
THE MYO-OK 293 
 
 will be cool and shady now right up to the spot. One 
 moment, though. I'll send one of the constables into 
 the village to borrow a grubbing instrument of some 
 sort ; we may need it." 
 
 As a matter of fact, we had no need of a grubbing 
 instrument when, twenty minutes later, we arrived on 
 the spot. One of my mounted men had, after a brief 
 raid into the village, produced an implement like a 
 glorified cheese-scoop at the end of a bamboo, but it 
 was not called into play. A couple of scrapes with 
 my boot sent the thin layer of earth and sticks flying, 
 and I found my riding-switch the most convenient 
 thing for raking about in the debris that lay below. 
 
 " Two more Gaudamas," I said. " Bullets, yes ; the 
 lid of what looks like a mustard-tin, half a broken 
 saucer, a jagged bit of bottle (don't touch it, Miss 
 Grimhurst, unless you want to cut your fingers ; it's 
 not such an attractive bit as what we found yesterday), 
 some pice, too, by Jove ! a leaden paper-weight. Upon 
 my word, it looks as if my friend the sergeant had 
 been obliged to fall back upon facts. Up till now I 
 have had to reverse the ordinary rule with him and 
 refuse to believe him till I have actually detected him 
 in a truth ; but really this time it does look as if he 
 had been guilty of that weakness." 
 
 "In that case," she laughed, "if the analogy is to 
 hold good, you ought now to believe him for ever 
 afterwards." 
 
 " I am afraid the analogy stops short there," I replied. 
 
 " I think you are a little hard on him," she said, 
 sinking on her knees on the ground by my side and 
 watching me as I explored among the rubbish. "Now 
 whoever could have thought of putting these things 
 into the boxes ? " she added after a while. 
 
294 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " That's just what I want to know myself," I said, 
 still peering and poking, scavenger-like, through the 
 heap that lay before us, " also why he put them in, and 
 I want you to help me to answer both those questions." 
 
 "The second question seems to be a good deal 
 easier to answer than the first," she replied. " Don't 
 you think they were put in so as to make the bags 
 seem full after the rupees had been taken out ? " 
 
 " It certainly looks like it," I admitted. " The col- 
 lection is a most elaborate one, and cannot be the 
 result of accident; but if this stuff was put in, why were 
 the rupees shoved back into the treasure chest .' No, 
 before we can tackle the why we must settle the who." 
 
 "It must have been the man who has disappeared. 
 What is his name ? Maung So, was it ? Yes, Maung 
 So," she cried. 
 
 " I don't see who else it can have been," I said ; 
 " but I want you to help me to settle the point. I 
 had hoped that the contents of the boxes might give 
 me some kind of clue as to the person who put them 
 in, but I must say I haven't come across much so far 
 that can be brought home to anyone in particular. 
 However, why should I puzzle my stupid head when 
 I have you here ? " I added. " This paper-weight, 
 now. It looks a sort of official thing, that's all I can 
 say. Take this paper-weight into your hand, please, 
 Miss Grimhurst, and oblige me by telling me who 
 placed it in the box. Mind you, now that I have got 
 you safely here I expect great things of you." 
 
 " The best way to get nothing out of me is to 
 expect a great deal," she laughed. " I'm just one 
 mass of ' cussedness,' " and she put her hands behind 
 her back. 
 
THE MYO-OK 295 
 
 " Nonsense ! " I cried. " I mean what I say, really. 
 Please ! " 
 
 " It's too absurd," she said, but she held out her 
 hand again. 
 
 I laid the thing on her outstretched palm as she 
 knelt by my side. " Now tell me," I cried. 
 
 Her fingers closed round the leaden weight, and 
 her eyes met mine. For nearly half a minute she 
 kept them fixed upon me in a way I found most em- 
 barrassing ; then her glance dropped. " I'm afraid 
 I'm no good to-day," she murmured. " It was all 
 chance yesterday." 
 
 " Try with a graven image ! " I exclaimed, holding 
 out one of the Gaudamas ; but she put it back depre- 
 catingly. 
 
 " It's no use," she cried, " You know I would if I 
 could, but I can't." 
 
 " Well, I can wait," I said ; " the inspiration may 
 come later. I shall take away the most likely-looking 
 of the things with me. These figures, for instance, 
 this paper-weight, and some of these nails. It hardly 
 seems worth while burdening ourselves with anything 
 more just at present. I don't see that any of the 
 other things are likely to be of the slightest help to 
 us. They are things anybody might have filled the 
 boxes up with." 
 
 She knelt, with her hands in her lap, watching me 
 sift the likely from the unlikely, as listless to-day 
 as she had been alert the day before. " I'm afraid 
 I can't help you with that," she said. " I wonder 
 whether there is anything I can do to make myself 
 useful. Let me see if I can see anything more lying 
 about that will give a further clue," And she wan- 
 
296 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 dered round the glade again, glancing from bush to 
 bush, only to return after a minute or two to stand by 
 my side. 
 
 "I'm no good at all to-day. I'm afraid you will 
 have to wait till you can get hold of the man who 
 has disappeared," she said dreamily, as I finished my 
 sorting. 
 
 " Who ? Maung So ? Yes, I expect we shall," I 
 said. " He holds the key of the problem if anyone 
 does. Here ! " and I signalled to one of the mounted 
 men who had accompanied us to the spot to take 
 charge of my gleanings from the rubbish heap. 
 " Come hither, my son ; catch ! " and I tossed him 
 the handkerchief in which I had tied up my selections. 
 " Why," I cried, as the bundle left my hand, and my 
 eyes encountered the man's — "why, it's my old friend 
 Hla Byu, the patrol constable ! " 
 
 My words seemed to rouse her from her reverie. 
 "What patrol constable?" she asked, looking round. 
 
 " My attendant of yesterday," I replied. " My 
 faithful follower on my treasure escort hunt. A most 
 deserving individual. I didn't realise till just this 
 moment that it was this man that they had sent out 
 with me again. I hope he has got a fresh pony. 
 His steed of yesterday was about ridden off its legs. 
 Well, Miss Grimhurst, if you are ready to start back 
 I am. I don't think there is anything more to detain 
 us here. We must be off and tear the enthusiast 
 from his inscriptions." 
 
 We returned home more sedately than we had 
 come. Though I had hastened my companion away, 
 I was in no particular hurry to rejoin Grimhurst, It 
 was pleasant enough pacing side by side on our 
 
THE MYO-OK 297 
 
 ponies through the forest. At intervals the sun, 
 drooping drowsily westward, peeped in upon us like 
 a jealous duenna through the foliage, lighting the 
 pair of us up with sudden flashes of gold. All 
 around us was one great hush. Only at rare intervals 
 there would come from our chaperons in khaki, who 
 had dropped discreetly far into the rear, a snatch 
 of song that the distance softened down into some- 
 thing almost melodious. Her voice, when it broke in 
 on my meditations, made me start. 
 
 " I'm afraid I haven't been much of a help to you," 
 she said in a tone so penitent that I found myself 
 wondering what I had done to make her think I was 
 disappointed in her. 
 
 " What ? Do you mean this evening ? " I asked. 
 
 "Yes. Mother let me come because she thought 
 I might be useful, and I was no good at all. You 
 can't think what a horrid fraud I feel." 
 
 " What does it matter," I cried, " whether you were 
 useful or not ? Good gracious ! It was not because 
 I expected you to be useful that I asked for you to 
 come, but because I knew you were anxious to see 
 the place. You surely understood that." 
 
 " Ah, but you did expect me to be useful. You 
 told mother you thought I would be, and mother let 
 me come on that understanding." 
 
 " I thought you might possibly help me again," 
 I cried, "just as you did yesterday, but I never 
 expected anything. Heaven forbid ! As a matter 
 of fact, after what you did yesterday, my excellent 
 detective, there was practically nothing more for you 
 to do to-day." 
 
 " Ah, but you did expect," she persisted piteously. 
 
298 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 "You reckoned upon me, and I failed you. It's 
 always like that. Didn't I tell you I was just one 
 mass of ■ cussedness ' ? If I'm expected to do a 
 thing, I either can't do it, or I won't." 
 
 I laughed loudly, in my effort to set this in- 
 explicable creature at her ease. " My dear Miss 
 Grimhurst," I exclaimed, "you are taking it 
 horribly seriously. You did your best. Nobody 
 can do more. In any case, nobody can say it was 
 a question of ' won't ' this time with you." 
 
 " Perhaps not," she murmured. " Though I'm 
 afraid," she added, " it generally is the case in things 
 I'm expected to do." She was silent for a space ; 
 then she went on with a sudden laugh. " Don't you 
 hate to be ' expected ' to do things ? " 
 
 " Like poison," I said lightly, though the tone of 
 her voice made me wonder what she meant. 
 
 " So does everybody, I suppose," she said. " Some- 
 how, though, I seem to think that I hate it more than 
 most people. I don't know how it is, but being 
 ' expected ' to do a thing sets me dead against it at 
 once; I simply can't look at it with unprejudiced eyes. 
 Do you know what I mean ? " 
 
 " Your case is not an exceptional one," I said. 
 " The symptoms you describe are far from rare." 
 
 She nodded reflectively. " There's curry now," she 
 went on. 
 
 " Curry ? " I echoed vaguely. 
 
 " Yes. As a small girl I was expected to eat curry 
 and to dote on curry, because mother used to send 
 us home curry powder — bottles and bottles of it. It 
 was an unwritten law of the nursery that we were all 
 to love curry, and therefore, of course, I loathed it. 
 
THE MYO-OK 299 
 
 declined to eat it from my earliest years. Don't you 
 call that perversity ? " 
 
 " It may have been instinct," I suggested. " Curry 
 powder is apt to play havoc with even youthful 
 insides." 
 
 " There you are right," she said. " It is horribly 
 unwholesome. Somebody told mother so once, and 
 she immediately stopped sending the stuff home, and 
 said we were never to touch it." 
 
 " And I suppose you can trace an extraordinary 
 predilection for curry back to that date ? " 
 
 " You would have thought so, wouldn't you ? " 
 
 " Certainly. It's what 1 should have expected from 
 the terrible description you have given of yourself." 
 
 " I suppose it is. However, it's not what happened. 
 I kept on disliking curry." 
 
 " Well, I call that a refinement of ' cussedness,' " 
 I laughed, and we rode on in silence for a while, 
 I wondering what she was driving at with her curry 
 powder. I was just beginning to trace a connection 
 between Mrs. Grimhurst's provision of Eastern condi- 
 ments and her allotment of matrimonial delicacies, 
 and to speculate whether Miss Grimhurst had in- 
 tended me to infer that I was fated to be the curry 
 powder of her riper years, which she was expected to 
 but declined to swallow, when something caught my 
 eye and arrested my attention. We were passing 
 a little glade which opened out from the roadside, 
 and in the jungle on the further side was an object 
 which my companion appeared to notice at the same 
 time as I did. 
 
 " What is that?" she cried. " It looks like a 
 
 No, it's nothing but a pony," 
 
300 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 " You think it's a pony ? " I said, straining my eyes 
 in the direction in which she was gazing. 
 
 " Yes, a dun pony. I thought it was a deer at first." 
 
 " A pony ? " I repeated absently, and we rode on, 
 but, ere we had put fifty yards between ourselves and 
 the glade, I pulled up with a jerk. 
 
 " A dun pony, did you say ? " I demanded. 
 
 " Yes, a dun pony with what looked like a claret- 
 coloured saddle." 
 
 I dealt my own saddle a violent blow with my 
 clenched fist. " I think I must have taken leave of 
 my senses," I exclaimed, " not to have thought of it 
 before. Do you know. Miss Grimhurst, I shouldn't 
 be very much surprised if we had run that beggar 
 Maung So to earth ! One moment, please." 
 
 My two policemen had arrived opposite the glade 
 by the time I was level with it again. They too had 
 been attracted by the pony, which had just answered 
 to a confidential whinny from Maung Hla Byu's beast. 
 
 " Is that Maung So's pony ? " I asked, as I pulled 
 up beside them. 
 
 My patrol constable shaded his eyes and gazed into 
 the glade. " It is like it," he said. " Shall I go and see?" 
 
 I slipped off my pony and handed the reins to the 
 second constable. Something told me that it was 
 Maung So and none other that we had thus come 
 upon, and I recollect that, at the time, there flitted 
 through my brain some wild idea of laying violent 
 hands on the man, and then and there, in the solitude 
 of the jungle, extracting from him the secret that he 
 held. " Wait a bit," I said. " Come with me." 
 
 The pony with a claret-coloured saddle stood 
 tethered to a tree at the further end of the glade. 
 
THE MYO-OK 301 
 
 There was no one near it. I scanned the brushwood 
 on all sides, but there was never a sign of any living 
 being with the animal. I gazed round me, and in a 
 moment saw that I could learn a good deal more 
 from my surroundings than I had been able to learn 
 the evening before in another place. Even my eyes 
 could tell that a cart had recently been into the glade. 
 There were the marks of wheels in the soft earth, and 
 at first I thought they must have been made by the 
 treasure-escort's cart till I noticed the remains of a 
 fire of sticks and remembered that the treasure guard 
 could not have camped during a single day in places 
 so close to each other as this and the spot we had 
 just visited. It was evidently some other traveller, 
 a traveller who had had roast fowl to eat, for cock's 
 feathers, of a hue not to be overlooked, were lying 
 scattered near the dead ashes. I took these details 
 in mechanically as I gazed round ; then, all of a 
 sudden, I became aware of something white which 
 seemed to have risen out of the ground near the 
 pony. I realised at the moment that my constable 
 uttered a warning cry, that it was a Burman in a 
 white jacket who stood and pointed what looked like 
 a derisive forefinger at me. The next moment I had 
 staggered back against a tree. 
 
 I put up my hand to my head, dazed. The first 
 thing I was aware of as I began collecting my 
 scattered wits was that there had been a pistol shot ; 
 the second, that the white figure had disappeared, 
 absorbed, as it were, into that cloud of white smoke 
 towards which I incontinently headed ; it was not till 
 I had taken two or three steps forward that I began 
 to connect the white figure and the shot with the 
 
302 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 smarting seam on my left temple that was sending a 
 sticky trickle on to the top of my left ear. I pressed 
 forward blindly, mechanically, partly because I was 
 aware of retreating footsteps in front of me, partly 
 because I felt, rather than saw, that Maung Hla Byu 
 was running forward, brandishing his da with ferocious 
 cries. I had no idea what I was going to do. My 
 only weapon was my riding-switch, but I felt that I 
 must not, at any price, lose sight of the white jacket, 
 which, as I blundered along, I could see dodging 
 through the bamboos ahead of me. It disappeared 
 and reappeared twice; then it vanished for good, 
 and after a few steps Maung Hla Byu pulled up, 
 panting, with a " Take care, your Honour, he is going 
 to fire again," and I was able to catch him up. 
 
 " Was that Maung So ? " I asked. 
 
 " It was Maung So. He has got a pistol," he made 
 answer. He had crouched suddenly behind a bush, 
 through the branches of which he was peering in the 
 direction of the spot where the white jacket had last 
 been visible. " Take care; your Honour, he is going 
 to fire again," he repeated, and he laid an entreating 
 hand on my arm. 
 
 " Let go ! " I said. I took off my hat, examined the 
 two holes in the grey felt that marked the entrance 
 and exit of the bullet, and mopped the side of my 
 head with my sleeve. I made no effort to conceal 
 myself It did not seem to matter a straw to me 
 whether Maung So were going to fire again or not. 
 I had been shot at once already, and hit, and the 
 result seemed at the moment so trifling that I 
 conceived a magnificent contempt for the clerk's 
 puny weapon. 
 
THE MYO-OK 303 
 
 " Is he mad, do you think ? " I asked, and getting 
 no reply from Maung Hla Byu, I stirred him with 
 my foot as he crouched beside me, and put another 
 query. " Where did he get that pistol from ? " 
 
 " I can't say," muttered the patrol constable, his 
 eyes ever bent on the jungle in front ; and just then 
 a second shot rang out, and he ducked swiftly to the 
 ground and grasped my ankle, as though to pull me 
 down beside him. 
 
 The bullet must this time have gone very wide of 
 its mark. I heard no " zipp " in the bushes, nor any 
 further sound of footsteps out where the shot had been 
 fired. I felt it was really getting absurd. I shook my 
 ankle free, clapped my topi on again, and marched 
 steadily forward till I had cleared a clump of bamboos, 
 and could get a glimpse of the white jacket in the 
 brushwood. 
 
 " Maung So ! " I shouted. " Put that pistol down I " 
 
 There was a rustling in the undergrowth, as though 
 a third shot was about to be fired, but I heeded it not. 
 I felt as though the pistol that could stop me had 
 yet to be made. 
 
 " Put it down ! Do you hear ? " I cried, and I took 
 half a dozen steps forward, till I could see the white 
 jacket plainly through the leaves. Then I pulled up 
 suddenly and cried, with a wild laugh, " No, you 
 don't ! You won't catch me that way ! " 
 
 One of my earliest recollections as a child was of 
 the contortions of an impostor, whom I remember 
 being picked up and brought, in the throes of a sham 
 epileptic fit, into the kitchen at home, there to be 
 tended, fed, and sent on his way rejoicing, and ever 
 since I have regarded that form of convulsive twitch- 
 
304 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 ing with instinctive distrust ; so that my first impulse, 
 when I could see what the figure on the ground was 
 doing, was to imagine that Maung So was playing 
 some kind of trick upon me. " No, you don't ! " I 
 exclaimed again. " Put that pistol down and get up." 
 And I shifted warily round, prepared for emergencies. 
 A couple of steps, however, took me to where the 
 upper end of the body was visible, clear of a bush, 
 and a glance at the head showed me that it was no 
 epileptic fit that Maung So was feigning. I called 
 out to my man, who still cowered in the undergrowth. 
 " Come here. He can't hurt you now." Then I 
 stepped up to and stooped over the body, which by 
 this time was still. 
 
 It was Maung So, sure enough. I could have 
 recognised him by his dapper turn out — the trim, 
 dandified cut of his apparel, even had his features 
 been past recognition, which they were not. It was 
 only the upper portion of the head that was shattered. 
 The lower was still intact, but it was very far from 
 being an agreeable object to look at, and I covered it 
 rapidly with the yellow head-cloth that lay on the 
 ground beside ft, just as Maung Hla Byu's footsteps 
 began approaching cautiously. The fingers were still 
 cramped round the trigger of the revolver, a cheap, 
 shoddy-looking weapon, and I left them as they were. 
 Maung Hla Byu's heavy breathing behind me came 
 closer and closer. I lifted a corner of the head-cloth 
 for a second to show what there was underneath. 
 " Do you think it was an accident ? " I called out 
 over my shoulder. 
 
 The panting stopped with a jerk. " He has shot 
 himself," came an awe-struck voice ; and next 
 
THE MYO-OK 305 
 
 moment Maung Hla Byu had turned and, as though 
 demented, was careering wildly towards the road, 
 shouting incoherently as he ran. 
 
 I gave vent to an impatient ejaculation at this 
 hysterical outburst and turned back to the head 
 clerk's body. It was lying on a fern-clad slope, with 
 one shoulder wedged into a dark cavity that yawned 
 amid the stones. The left hand, the one that was not 
 holding the revolver, was doubled stiffly over the 
 chest. Below the thin, brown wrist a sharp outline 
 showed through the white linen, and with the un- 
 defined thrill of recognition that ran through me, 
 came the knowledge that I was on the threshold of 
 a discovery. For a moment I stood irresolute. It 
 went very much against the grain to have to rifle a 
 corpse, but see that key I must. Overcoming my 
 repugnance, I plunged my hand into the pocket and 
 possessed myself of its contents, and the first glance 
 at them told me that all my suspicions were con- 
 firmed. I had been poring too long that morning 
 over the Myothit treasure chest key not to recognise 
 its silly, weak profile in the object that I held between 
 my fingers. Here was a perfect, home-made copy of 
 the original that Maung Gyi had brandished in my 
 face in the police-station a few hours earlier ; one 
 more link in the chain of evidence that pointed to 
 Maung So as the source of all the trouble at Myothit. 
 But it was only one. The how, the when, and the 
 wherefore of much that had happened was still all 
 dark to me. The key that had opened the safe was 
 in my hand, but the key to the problem that I had set 
 myself the task of solving had not been delivered up. 
 It had passed, with the Myo-ok's head clerk, into the 
 X 
 
3o6 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 great Unknown. His single legacy, however, had 
 made one point absolutely clear. I knew, as I glanced 
 from it to the corpse before me, that it was not 
 accident, but design that had just lodged a bullet in 
 Maung So's brain. 
 
 I had knelt, lost to the world, for nearly a minute, 
 when a sharp pattering of footsteps that were not the 
 footsteps of a Burman behind my back brought me 
 to myself, and before I had time to rise Miss Grim- 
 hurst, wide-eyed and white-faced, was at my side. 
 
 I scrambled to my feet and looked her up and 
 down. The pace at which she had come had left 
 her breathless ; she could only gaze speechless back 
 at me. 
 
 " I don't think you had better stop here," I said 
 sternly. I was not a little put out at this unmaidenly 
 display of curiosity on her part. I did think she 
 might have kept a little in the background at this 
 juncture. " There has been a bit of a catastrophe," 
 I went on, " and this is hardly the place for you." 
 
 But she did not seem to hear. She looked at me 
 and then at the body at my feet, but she seemed to 
 have no anxiety to know what the nature of the 
 catastrophe was. For a moment she appeared to 
 take the corpse on the ground as a matter of course. 
 There was something else she wanted to know, for 
 hardly had she regained her breath when she burst 
 out with this amazing question — 
 
 " What ! Did he mean him ? " 
 
 " Did who mean him ? " I asked impatiently. 
 
 " The policeman — ^just now." 
 
 " What do you mean ?" 
 
 " He came rushing out, shouting, ' The byi ! the 
 
THE MYO-OK 307 
 
 byi ! ' I don't know much Burmese, but I do know 
 what that means. He must have meant that this man 
 was dead, but how was I to know? I thought it 
 
 was you — and you thought I came because " 
 
 And then, without another word of warning, this 
 paradoxical young woman burst into tears. "You 
 don't understand! you don't understand!" she sobbed 
 between the gasps. " How horrible it all is ! Poor 
 man ! Of course, I shouldn't have come if I hadn't 
 thought it was you, but — but I couldn't bear it " 
 
 I was still rather ruffled. " It's just as well that 
 it wasn't me," I said. "The beggar would have 
 made very short work of you if you had come up." 
 
 "What does that matter?" she burst out 
 passionately. 
 
 " It would have mattered a great deal if you had 
 been shot," I exclaimed ; and my words reminding 
 me of the graze on my temple, I put up my hand 
 involuntarily to feel if the blood were still trickling 
 down. 1 had kept this side of my head away from 
 her, as I did not wish to alarm her unnecessarily. 
 " I couldn't bear not to be here ; I couldn't bear it," she 
 was wailing, and at that moment she caught a glimpse 
 of my fingers as they came away from the scratch, 
 and forthwith the fountain of tears was dried and she 
 faced me, with her mouth still quivering, but cool 
 and collected. 
 
 " You are hurt after all ! " she cried. " He did hit 
 you, then ! Let me see. You must ! " 
 
 She would take no denial. She made me sit 
 down, and then and there, oblivious of the grisly 
 object at her elbow, she stood over me, staunching 
 the flow of blood and binding up my head with her 
 
3o8 THE MYO-OK 
 
 handkerchief. She only desisted from her self- 
 imposed labours once ; that was to say, " How did 
 it all happen ? Tell me one thing. You didn't shoot 
 him, did you ? " 
 
 " No," I said ; " he shot himself ; though whether 
 by accident or not I cannot say. I can't believe that 
 it was an accident, though. I have just found on 
 him what I am certain is a duplicate of the key of 
 the treasure chest. He must have been at the bottom 
 of all this ; if so, it quite explains." 
 
 "Poor fellow!" she whispered, and fell to her 
 bandaging again. 
 
 " That ought to do for the present," she said, as 
 she laid the final fold. 
 
 I sat on silent for a moment when all was finished 
 and she stood over me ; then I muttered gruffly, 
 without looking up, " Miss Grimhurst, I haven't 
 deserved this. I must apologise for misjudging you 
 just now. I was a brute and an ass — a blind ass. 
 You see, I didn't realise " 
 
 " Please, don't," came a muffled voice. " How 
 were you to know ? " After that there was silence 
 for a space, and something splashed down on to 
 my hand. I thought it was a drop of blood till 
 I looked. 
 
 " I beg your pardon," she exclaimed. " What a 
 little silly I am ! " 
 
 And for half a minute Maung So's corpse might 
 have been a thousand miles away for all we two 
 foolish young people cared. Only for half a minute, 
 however. At the end of that time she drew herself 
 up with a little shudder. " Let us go away," she 
 said. " Do you feel up to walking to the road ? " 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 " AND you are absolutely certain," said Mrs. Grim- 
 Xx hurst, " that this is not the regular duplicate ? " 
 
 " Absolutely," I replied. " I telegraphed to my 
 head clerk the first thing after I got back last night 
 to make quite sure, and here is his reply, saying that 
 the duplicate — the authorised duplicate, I ought to 
 say — is safe in the Treasury at Shwedan. Besides, 
 look at the key ; observe how much rougher the 
 workmanship is. It is not the finished article at all, 
 nor — do you see ? — has it the name of the maker 
 stamped upon it. No, it is Maung So's handiwork, 
 sure enough. The police found a whole betel box 
 full of earlier attempts in his house this morning. It 
 appears that the man served an apprenticeship as a 
 locksmith in his early days. His father was in that 
 line of business, and our friend worked with him for 
 some time before he entered Government service." 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst turned the key over in her hand. 
 " That is all very well," she remarked ; " but how 
 could he have got time to imitate it ? There is a lot 
 of work in the thing. Somebody must have been 
 disgracefully careless." 
 
 " Somebody was disgracefully careless, no doubt," 
 I said, " but how the thing was done we shall 
 probably never know. Maung Gyi, I find, admits 
 having once left the original in the office for a short 
 
 309 
 
3IO THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 time, but he swears by all that is holy that it was not 
 nearly long enough for anybody to copy the key in." 
 "A lot of good his swearing will do. How long 
 does he think it takes to copy a key, I should like to 
 know ? The thing has been copied ; that's enough, 
 I should think, for anyone. And it was through his 
 negligence that the clerk was able to copy it. I hope 
 he is going to be prosecuted." 
 
 " Prosecuted ! " I cried. " Good heavens, no ! 
 There's nothing to prosecute him for." 
 
 " It will be scandalous if he isn't ! Well, what will 
 be done to him ? " 
 
 " Oh," 1 replied, " he'll be called upon to show cause 
 why he should not be this, that, and the othered. In 
 fact, I sent him a memorandum to that effect, after 
 holding a sort of informal inquiry this morning. 
 There'll be a further inquiry later, too, I expect. 
 Still, I doubt whether he will get more than a wigging. 
 You see, it would have been a very different matter if 
 the money had been taken." 
 
 " Why ? " 
 
 " There is no real reason why it should make a 
 difference, but it would. Believe me, it would have 
 gone very hard with him if the bags had disappeared. 
 As it is " 
 
 " Ah, but that's only the key. The key isn't every- 
 thing, though. Another thing that I should like to 
 know " (it never seemed to strike Mrs. Grimhurst that 
 there should be any question as to her right to know 
 these little things) " is how the clerk managed to get 
 the wrong boxes taken. Can you conceive anybody 
 having been such an idiot as to allow such a thing to 
 be done ? " 
 
THE MYO-OK 311 
 
 I shrugged my shoulders as I took back the key 
 from her. " It is positively incomprehensible," I said ; 
 " but here, again, we shall never know all the facts. 
 There was evidently some juggling with the boxes at 
 the time they were put into the cart. We shall have all 
 kinds of theories, I have no doubt, in Maung Gyi's ex- 
 planation; but even here there is barely enough to break 
 a man over, especially as the money was put back." 
 
 " Yes," she cried ; " that I call the most astonishing 
 part of the whole story. Whatever can have prompted 
 the fool to do that ? Do you know, it's my belief 
 that the money was never taken out at all. What do 
 you think ? " 
 
 " Upon my word, Mrs, Grimhurst," I exclaimed, 
 " if Maung So, instead of loosing off revolvers at me, 
 had up and said that the cash had never been touched, 
 I think I should have believed that the whole thing 
 was just one majestic blunder of Maung Gyi's ; but 
 there is no getting over the key and the — that nasty 
 business in the jungle. There has been foul play 
 somewhere, and Maung Gyi has been the victim." 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst gave vent to an ejaculation, from 
 which I gathered that her views as to Maung Gyi's 
 having been victimised diverged considerably from 
 mine. " There is more in that gentleman," she 
 observed, "than meets the eye. He will be an 
 uncommonly lucky man if he gets off with what you 
 call a wigging. There's something behind all this, 
 mark my word, Mr. Rymington. There's the sergeant, 
 now. The lies that man told you ! A precious tale, 
 this last one of his, about his thinking the boxes 
 bewitched. Is any sane man to believe it ? " 
 
 "It is decidedly queer," I admitted, "and yet it 
 
312 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 seems to fit in with what I found on the spot and 
 what the other people say. Of course, you think 
 nothing of that, but I do. However," I went on 
 lamely, " I am not going into his defence. He and 
 the two constables will have to make out as good a 
 case as they can to Mr. Gorringe, to whose tender 
 mercies I have delivered them. The variations in 
 their stories will take a lot of explaining away, I fear 
 me ; but really, when all is said and done, there is 
 nothing very desperate against them. They were 
 frightened, and, after all, the apparent transformation 
 of silver into rubbish was enough to startle anybody." 
 
 " You think they will be let off with a reprimand, 
 then ? " 
 
 " I can't say, but I should think so." 
 
 " Humph ! Victims again, I've no doubt. Well, 
 how about the other injured innocent, the dacoit — 
 what's the creature's name ? " 
 
 I scratched my head, for I felt it was no easy 
 matter justifying my views in the eyes of this monster 
 of scepticism, but I stuck to my guns. 
 
 "Tun Win?" I replied. "Oh, well, don't you 
 agree with me in thinking that nothing definite has 
 been proved against him ? " 
 
 " I most emphatically do not agree," she retorted. 
 " If he was not up to some mischief, why did he take 
 a sleeping draught with him in the cart? Because 
 the Myo-ok gave it him, you will say. Well, why 
 did he leave the cart suddenly for no earthly reason ? 
 Why did he try and deny ever having been with the 
 cart, as you say he did ? Tell me that, please." 
 
 " He has given his reasons," I returned, '' and we 
 must take them for what they are worth, We can't 
 
THE MYO-OK 313 
 
 disprove them. The fact is, Mrs. Grimhurst, that we 
 have got to realise once and for all that we are deal- 
 ing with Burmans, and that it is hopeless for us to 
 follow, much less anticipate, the workings of the silly, 
 wobbling things they call their minds. No one but 
 an Asiatic would have made a secret about sending a 
 sleeping-draught to a female relative ; no one but an 
 Asiatic would have gone out of his way to He in the 
 way Tun Win lied about going with the cart ; no one 
 but an Asiatic, I may say no one but a Burman, when 
 he discovered that boxes he was in charge of, instead 
 of being full of money were actually full of odds and 
 ends, would have imagined that there was witchcraft 
 at work, and that unless he had some stock explana- 
 tion for the phenomenon he would be held responsible 
 for the mischief the spirits had wrought." 
 
 " And no one but a Burman would have been idiotic 
 enough to put money he had stolen from a safe back 
 into the safe again," she added. " Yes. That's the 
 truest thing you have said for a long time, and it 
 just bears out what I said to you some little time 
 ago. They do not know how to play the game 
 properly. Oh, these Burmans, these Burmans ! " 
 
 " My dear Mrs. Grimhurst," I exclaimed, " you are 
 making the great mistake of treating an extreme case 
 as typical. You have been long enough in Burma by 
 this time, I should hope, to know that this kind of 
 thing does not happen every day. As I have already 
 remarked, my children here are not even up to the 
 average nursery standard. Yes, I don't know how it 
 is but there is no doubt that the batch of babes we 
 have to deal with is an exceptionally naughty one. 
 It would be a great mistake to imagine that it was at 
 
314 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 all representative of the class. You may say what 
 you like about your native of India, Mrs. Grimhurst, 
 but I say, take him as a whole and keep temptation 
 out of his way, and you will find your Burman as 
 useful, intelligent, and cheerful an instrument of 
 administration as anybody in the East could wish 
 for. No, give me the Burman to work with. Don't 
 take too much notice of him, treat him kindly, put 
 him on his mettle and keep him there, don't expect 
 very much of him, but try and make out you do, and, 
 in his way, you'll find him hard to beat," 
 
 " You're welcome to him 1 " she cried. " No, you're 
 too absurdly prejudiced ; it's useless arguing with you. 
 Talk about pig-headedness — which reminds me that 
 you said you wanted some more zinc ointment put on 
 that cut of yours. I may as well do it before we start. 
 Don't talk any more ; you're not going to convince me, 
 and it only excites you. Sit down again and let me 
 have a look at the place. There ! Dear, dear, it's a 
 nasty wound ! " 
 
 It never struck me till later that it was anything 
 out of the common that I should be discussing what 
 was, after all, a purely official matter with Mrs. 
 Grimhurst, that I should be giving reasons for my 
 opinions, fortifying them by such arguments as I 
 could muster, suffering her to represent her views, 
 and, as best I might, answering her criticisms. It 
 seemed to be nothing but natural that I should be 
 talking business with this exceedingly business-like 
 female. She had been arranging everything for me. 
 She it was who had decided that the Burglar, whose 
 stern-wheel had by now been repaired, should be 
 detained until I had finished my preliminary inquiry 
 
THE MYO-OK 315 
 
 at Myothit, and had so disposed matters that I now 
 found myself, not on the bank waving a farewell to 
 the Commissioner's party, but in Grimhurst's long 
 armchair on deck, while the boat was casting slowly 
 oflf from the bank. " Not on any account am I going 
 to leave you in charge of that Bengali thing up there 
 at the hospital," she had asserted. " A man who can 
 forget in two days who he made a prescription up for 
 is capable of forgetting the difference between vaseline 
 and sulphuric acid. To Shwedan you go, sir, im- 
 mediately you have finished everything you can't put 
 off till later, to have that place on your temple 
 properly looked to. We are not going without you, 
 so please consider the discussion as finally closed." 
 
 And so the matter had to remain. I was not 
 going to raise any objection. I had done everything 
 that could not conveniently be deferred, and was, 
 moreover, excessively comfortable where I was. 
 From the chair in which I reclined I could see below 
 the awning, if not the youth and beauty of Myothit, 
 at any rate its dignity and worth, clustered squatting 
 as it had clustered on the bank the evening of our 
 arrival a few days back. Thugyis, village elders, 
 clerks, all were there. The only difference was that 
 the eyes of the company, instead of being directed 
 towards the bows, where I sat with the ladies, were 
 glued to the after-part of the vessel, whither Grim- 
 hurst and his office table had been temporarily 
 banished. My light had, for the moment, been 
 swallowed up in the glory of a greater constellation. 
 From that all-engrossing quarter could be heard the 
 voice of the Commissioner rising and falling in a final 
 exhortation to the two Myo-oks, who had remained 
 
3i6 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 after the vulgar rabble had been hunted off the 
 launch to pay their devoirs in full up to the last 
 moment. 
 
 Mrs. Grimhurst looked up as the anchor chain 
 ceased clanking. We were just swinging off. The 
 Burglars head was well away from the bank. The 
 crew had begun hauling in the last of the planks that 
 connected us with the land. She turned sharply 
 in her chair. 
 
 " George," she cried, " if those two men don't get 
 off directly they'll have to go up with us. Make 
 them go off at once ! " 
 
 George's harangue ended abruptly. Maung Gyi 
 and Maung Pyu darted past us, their bodies doubled, 
 murmuring inarticulate farewells. There was a 
 scuffle of bare feet down the companion, and the 
 two dignitaries flounced with gathered skirts from 
 the end of the plank into the mud by the water's 
 edge. The gangway rattled home. " Izzy Yead ! " 
 piped the serang, spinning the wheel with hand and 
 bare foot. " Izzy Yead ! " came from the engine- 
 room below. All the heads on the bank ducked 
 reverently, and the Burglar slid out into the current 
 with her nose towards Shwedan. 
 
 So far as I remember it was at Nyaungbinhla that 
 we anchored that evening. In any case it was a 
 place that boasted of a rest-house, as at Myothit, 
 close to the landing-stage, in which Grimhurst and 
 I passed the night, leaving the ladies in undisturbed 
 occupation of the two bunks on the Burglar. I re- 
 member that our beds were not over-comfortable, 
 but it transpired the next morning that we men had 
 
THE MYO-OK 317 
 
 had a better time there than the ladies had had on 
 board. The breakfast hour was enlivened by Mrs. 
 Grimhurst's enumeration of the causes that had com- 
 bined to militate against her wooing sleep. There 
 had been a hole in the net, and a consequent inroad 
 of mosquitoes ; a pariah dog on the bank had been 
 making night immeasurably hideous ; the fiends 
 in the engine-room had started getting up the steam 
 at an unconscionable hour. Her state of mind was 
 none of the most equable, and I have always taken 
 considerable credit to myself for having succeeded 
 by the end of breakfast in chaffing her into a condi- 
 tion of placid sleepiness, which drove her into her 
 cabin at noon and kept her there for the greater part 
 of the rest of the day. 
 
 It was ridiculous treating me as an invalid. My 
 head had ceased smarting long ere this, and I was for 
 tackling some correspondence that I had had for 
 some time on my mind as a matter of course ; but 
 Mrs. Grimhurst would have none of it. She kept me 
 ruthlessly to my long armchair so long as she her- 
 self remained on deck, and, when she retired to her 
 somewhat protracted siesta, left Miss Grimhurst 
 standing, or rather sitting, guard over me. 
 
 " I see you are bent on making an interesting 
 patient of me, whether I am willing or not," I ex- 
 claimed, after the third ineffectual attempt to rise 
 and fend for myself. 
 
 " And what if we are ? " she rejoined, looking up 
 from the book she was reading ; " you ought to make 
 the most of it. It isn't often that you get anybody 
 to look after you, I imagine." 
 
 " Indeed it isn't," I said. " All the same, I feel a 
 
3i8 THE MACHINATIONS OF 
 
 most abominable fraud. I like you to take an interest 
 in me, but I hate to get sympathy under such shocking 
 false pretences." 
 
 "Interest? How do you know I take an interest 
 in you?" she demanded, throwing down her book 
 with a smile. 
 
 " I assume so," I answered. " You said yourself 
 once that you took an interest in all invalids, that if 
 I were damaged, or, say, wounded, you might even 
 take an interest in me." 
 
 " Yes, ' might,' " she said. " Might possibly. You 
 mustn't assume too much," and she smiled at me again. 
 " It doesn't follow." 
 
 " Then you don't ? " 
 
 " I won't say that." 
 
 " Well, you do, then." 
 
 " Well, as an invalid perhaps, yes." 
 
 " Then immediately I am convalescent I shall cease 
 to interest?" 
 
 " Of course," she laughed. 
 
 " In that case I have no intention of convalescing," 
 I rejoined, and I let my head, which I had raised, fall 
 back upon the cushion. 
 
 " You'll have to," she said. 
 
 " I won't," quoth I. 
 
 " You'll have to," she reiterated, " if I'm to keep up 
 my reputation as a nurse." 
 
 " I don't care a bit about your reputation as a 
 nurse," I said. " I care about something far more 
 important." 
 
 " Which is ? " 
 
 I did not reply at first. With closed eyes I was 
 reviewing the incidents of the four wonderful days 
 
THE MYO-OK 319 
 
 that had passed at the same time that I was hunting 
 feverishly for words to say what I wanted to say. 
 
 " It is something that I must have before I can 
 expect to be quite myself again," I said at last. 
 
 "Can't you possibly recover without it?" she asked. 
 
 "In a sense, no. I shall never be quite what I 
 ought to be till I get it." 
 
 "In that case we must see if we can get it for you," 
 she exclaimed. " Remember, my reputation is at 
 stake." 
 
 " You promise ? " I said. 
 
 " Let me hear what it is first." 
 
 I opened my eyes and gazed at her. "Where is 
 your gift of second sight ? " I asked softly. " If you 
 were only inspired now as you were then, you would 
 know." 
 
 She was silent for a moment. " How do you know 
 that I didn't know then ? " she murmured, after a 
 pause. 
 
 I sat up eagerly. "Didn't know what?" I de- 
 manded, 
 
 " You know," she replied. 
 
 " Do you mean what I mean ? " 
 
 " What do you mean ? " 
 
 " Shall I tell you ? " 
 
 For answer she rose, and walking to the edge of 
 the launch shaded her eyes for a glance up-stream. 
 
 " We ought to be able to get a sight of Shwedan 
 directly," she said, 
 
 " Bother Shwedan !" I cried, "Come and sit down, 
 Miss Grimhurst ; there's something I want to tell you." 
 
 But she would not. She faced up the river with 
 her back to me as though she did not hear. 
 
320 THE MYO OK 
 
 The role of the invalid was no longer for me. 
 I lifted myself out of my chair and stepped to her 
 side, and we stood as we had stood together on the 
 morning we left Shwedan with our hands on the rail, 
 while the Burglar breasted the green water of the 
 river, and Myothit, with its memories, dropped further 
 and further behind us. 
 
 " You had no business to get up," she murmured, 
 but without looking at me. " You will be knocking 
 yourself up." 
 
 " I shan't knock myself up," I replied, " if I can get 
 my perfect cure." 
 
 " And what is your perfect cure ? " she asked, with 
 her face still averted. 
 
 And if to name the panacea was the first step 
 towards the commission of a certain amazing in- 
 discretion, no one can say that I am the first person 
 who has had to modify his views in regard to indis- 
 cretions of this nature. 
 
 PLYMOUTH 
 WILLIAM bl.ENDON AND SON, PRINTERS 
 
A CATALOGUE OF BOOKS 
 
 AND ANNOUNCEMENTS OF 
 
 METHUEN AND COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS : LONDON 
 
 36 ESSEX STREET 
 
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 *In "The Gateless Barrier" it is at once 
 
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34 
 
 Messrs. Methuen's Catalogue 
 
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Fiction 
 
 35 
 
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36 
 
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Fiction 
 
 37 
 
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38 
 
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