No More Learning

He waited till Mrs. Vansuythen was driving back to her own house,
and, she being freed from the embarrassment of Mrs. Boulte's presence,
learned for the second time her opinion of himself and his actions.

In the evenings, it was the wont of all Kashima to meet at the platform
on the Narkarra Road, to drink tea, and discuss the trivialities of
the day. Major Vansuythen and his wife found themselves alone at the
gathering-place for almost the first time in their remembrance; and
the cheery Major, in the teeth of his wife's remarkably reasonable
suggestion that the rest of the Station might be sick, insisted upon
driving round to the two bungalows and unearthing the population.

"Sitting in the twilight! " said he, with great indignation to the
Boultes. "That'll never do! Hang it all, we're one family here! You must
come out, and so must Kurrell. I'll make him bring his banjo. " So great
is the power of honest simplicity and a good digestion over guilty
consciences that all Kashima did turn out, even down to the banjo; and
the Major embraced the company in one expansive grin. As he grinned,
Mrs. Vansuythen raised her eyes for an instant and looked at all
Kashima. Her meaning was clear.
Major Vansuythen would never know
anything. He was to be the outsider in that happy family whose cage was
the Dosehri hills.

"You're singing villainously out of tune, Kurrell," said the Major,
truthfully. "Pass me that banjo. "

And he sang in excruciating-wise till the stars came out and all Kashima
went to dinner.

* * * * *

That was the beginning of the New Life of Kashima--the life that Mrs.
Boulte made when her tongue was loosened in the twilight.

Mrs. Vansuythen has never told the Major; and since be insists upon
keeping up a burdensome geniality, she has been compelled to break her
vow of not speaking to Kurrell. This speech, which must of necessity
preserve the semblance of politeness and interest, serves admirably to
keep alive the flame of jealousy and dull hatred in Boulte's bosom, as
it awakens the same passions in his wife's heart. Mrs. Boulte hates
Mrs. Vansuythen because she has taken Ted from her, and, in some curious
fashion, hates her because Mrs. Vansuythen--and here the wife's eyes see
far more clearly than the husband's--detests Ted. And Ted--that gallant
captain and honorable man--knows now that it is possible to hate a woman
once loved, to the verge of wishing to silence her forever with blows.
Above all, is he shocked that Mrs.