For a week he lingered in the "City of God," and daily haunted the post and telegraph offices.
He had sent on to the Delhi Club a note for the maw of the local gossips, and also had dispatched a skillfully constructed letter to the unsuspecting Hugh Johnstone.

With a veiled flattery of the old civilian's wisdom and experience, he referred to his desire to consult him as to a secret journey in the direction of the Pamirs.

The opportune windfall of Anstruther's ecarte and Berthe Louison's liberal advance enabled Major Alan Hawke to maintain a dignified and easy port as he wandered through Allahabad.

Strolling by the waters of the Ganges and Jumna, he invoked anew the blessings of the goddess Fortuna, as he gazed out upon the majestic heaven descended stream.

The daily tide of travel toward Delhi brought on each day some familiar faces, and yet Alan Hawke lingered gently, declining their traveling company.