The Lamp in the Desert

The Lamp in the Desert

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Dell
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Title: The Lamp in the Desert
Author: Ethel M. Dell
Release Date: October 16, 2004 [eBook #13763]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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IN THE DESERT***
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THE LAMP IN THE DESERT
by
ETHEL M. DELL
Author of The Way of an Eagle, The Knave of Diamonds, _The Rocks
of Valpré_, _The Swindler, and Other Stories_, The Keeper of the Door,
The Bars of Iron, The Hundredth Chance, _The Safety Curtain, and
Other Stories_, Greatheart 1919

[Illustration: "He knelt beside her, his arms comfortingly around her."]
Drawn by D.C. Hutchinson

I DEDICATE THIS BOOK TO

MY DEARLY-LOVED
ELIZABETH
AND TO THE MEMORY OF HER GREAT GOODNESS
WHEN SHE WALKED IN THE
DESERT WITH ME
_"He led them all the night through with a light of fire."_
PSALM lxxviii, 14.
Lamps that gleam in the city, Lamps that flare on the wall, Lamps that
shine on the ways of men, Kindled by men are all.
But the desert of burnt-out ashes, Which only the lost have trod, Dark
and barren and flowerless, Is lit by the Hand of God.
To lighten the outer darkness, To hasten the halting feet, He lifts a lamp
in the desert Like the lamps of men in the street.
Only the wanderers know it, The lost with those who mourn, That lamp
in the desert darkness, And the joy that comes in the dawn.
That the lost may come into safety, And the mourners may cease to
doubt, The Lamp of God will be shining still When the lamps of men
go out.

CHAPTER

PART I
I.--BEGGAR'S CHOICE II.--THE PRISONER AT THE BAR
III.--THE TRIUMPH IV.--THE BRIDE V.--THE DREAM VI.--THE
GARDEN VII.--THE SERPENT IN THE GARDEN VIII.--THE
FORBIDDEN PARADISE

PART II
I.--THE MINISTERING ANGEL II.--THE RETURN III.--THE
BARREN SOIL IV.--THE SUMMONS V.--THE MORNING
VI.--THE NIGHT-WATCH VII.--SERVICE RENDERED VIII.--THE
TRUCE IX.--THE OASIS X.--THE SURRENDER

PART III
I.--BLUEBEARD'S CHAMBER II.--EVIL TIDINGS III.--THE
BEAST OF PREY IV.--THE FLAMING SWORD V.--TESSA
VI.--THE ARRIVAL VII.--FALSE PRETENCES VIII.--THE
WRATH OF THE GODS

PART IV
I.--DEVIL'S DICE II.--OUT OF THE DARKNESS III.--BLUEBELL
IV.--THE SERPENT IN THE DESERT V.--THE WOMAN'S WAY
VI.--THE SURPRISE PARTY VII.--RUSTAM KARIN VIII.--PETER
IX.--THE CONSUMING FIRE X.--THE DESERT PLACE

PART V
I.--GREATER THAN DEATH II.--THE LAMP III.--TESSA'S
MOTHER IV.--THE BROAD ROAD V.--THE DARK NIGHT
VI.--THE FIRST GLIMMER VII.--THE FIRST VICTIM VIII.--THE
FIERY VORTEX IX.--THE DESERT OF ASHES X.--THE ANGEL
XI.--THE DAWN XII.--THE BLUE JAY

CHAPTER I
">
PART I

CHAPTER I
BEGGAR'S CHOICE
A great roar of British voices pierced the jewelled curtain of the Indian
night. A toast with musical honours was being drunk in the sweltering
dining-room of the officers' mess. The enthusiastic hubbub spread far,
for every door and window was flung wide. Though the season was yet
in its infancy, the heat was intense. Markestan had the reputation in the
Indian Army for being one of the hottest corners in the Empire in more
senses than one, and Kurrumpore, the military centre, had not been
chosen for any especial advantages of climate. So few indeed did it
possess in the eyes of Europeans that none ever went there save those
whom an inexorable fate compelled. The rickety, wooden bungalows
scattered about the cantonment were temporary lodgings, not
abiding-places. The women of the community, like migratory birds,
dwelt in them for barely four months in the year, flitting with the
coming of the pitiless heat to Bhulwana, their little paradise in the Hills.
But that was a twenty-four hours' journey away, and the men had to be
content with an occasional week's leave from the depths of their inferno,
unless, as Tommy Denvers put it, they were lucky enough to go sick, in
which case their sojourn in paradise was prolonged, much to the delight
of the angels.
But on that hot night the annual flitting of the angels had not yet come
to pass, and notwithstanding the heat the last dance of the season was to
take place at the Club House. The occasion was an exceptional one, as
the jovial sounds that issued from the officers' mess-house testified.
Round after round of cheers followed the noisy toast, filling the night
with the merry uproar that echoed far and wide. A confusion of voices
succeeded these; and then by degrees the babel died down,