Afterwards | Page 4

through--"does it hurt--death when it comes like--that?"
"No." He spoke firmly. "You must not think of that. It is all over in a second--and you know"--he hesitated--"after all, this life is not everything."
"No." A new light touched her eyes for a moment, a light brighter than that of the rising sun. "There is a life beyond, isn't there? My mother died three years ago, and I have missed her sorely," said Hilda Ryder simply. "Surely she will greet me--there. But"--for a moment a great human yearning shook her soul--"it's hard to leave this dear life behind ... the world is so wonderful, so lovely--I'm sure no other world can ever be half so beautiful as this."
A sudden clamour in the courtyard outside drove the colour from her cheeks, and instinctively she clung to him.
"Dr. Anstice, they're coming, aren't they? Is this--really--the end?"
For a second he listened, the blood running icily in his veins. Then he turned to her with a smile on his lips.
"Yes. I think they are coming--now. But"--his voice changed--"after all, there might be a chance--for you!"
Instead of reassuring her his words drove her to a white-lipped terror.
"You're not going to fail me now? Dr. Anstice, for the love of God, do as you promised--I will be brave, I will indeed--only don't let them take me--oh, don't!"
"It's all right, dear." He slipped his arm round her and drew her closely to him. "I won't fail you. I thought for a moment there might be a chance, but after all this is the better way."
"I knew you could be brave--for me," she said, very softly; and then, as a native voice outside the hut called an order, he felt her tremble in his arms. "They are coming--Dr. Anstice, let us say good-bye--or"--she actually smiled--"shall it be au revoir?"
"That, I think," he said steadily, holding the little revolver hidden in his hand as he spoke. "Dear, I'm going to do it now ... close your eyes, and then you will know nothing till you open them to see your mother's face."
A long sigh shook her from head to foot. Then she closed her eyes obediently.
"Thank you." They were the last words he heard her say as he raised the revolver; and the next moment the merciful deed was done, and Hilda Ryder was safe for ever from the vengeance of the fanatics whom she had all unwittingly enraged.
Then, as the door opened at last, and two grave-faced Indians entered and motioned to Anstice to accompany them into the courtyard, he went out unflinchingly into the sunlight to meet his fate.

II
Late that night two British officers sat on the verandah of a bungalow in the hills, discussing the tragedy which had happened at dawn.
"It's an appalling affair altogether," said the elder man, as he threw away his half-smoked cigar. "If we had been five minutes earlier we should have saved the girl, and the man would have been spared a lifetime's regret."
"Yes." The other officer, who was young and very human, spoke slowly, and his eyes were thoughtful. "It is a good deal worse for the man than the woman, after all. Shall you ever forgot his face when he realized that he was saved? And by Jove it was a near thing for him, too."
"Too near to be pleasant," rejoined his companion grimly. "Of course, no one but a lunatic would have allowed the girl to enter that Temple. Don't you remember that affair a couple of years ago, when two American fellows only just got out in time?"
"Yes." Young Payton's voice was dubious. "But you must remember, sir, Anstice was a new-comer, and didn't know the yarn--and it is just possible Miss Ryder didn't know it either. Or she may have over-persuaded him."
"Well, she's paid for her folly, poor girl." Colonel Godfrey rose. "Her uncle's off his head about it, and what the fellow she was to marry will say remains to be seen. I suppose he'll want an explanation from Anstice."
"Why, you don't mean he'll blame the man for doing what he did?" The young officer spoke boyishly. "After all, it was the only thing to do. Fancy, if the girl had fallen into the hands of those fanatics! Shooting would have been a merciful death compared to the life she might have had to endure."
"Of course, of course!" Colonel Godfrey rose and moved to the steps of the verandah, where he stood looking absently out over the moonlit world. "It was the only thing to do--and yet, what a tragedy it has all been! By the way, where is Anstice? I've not seen him since we came in."
"He's in hospital. Got a nasty swipe across the shoulder in the rough-and-tumble before we got away, and it gave Dr. Morris an excuse to shove morphia into him to keep