’Ihavenochance，’saidtheGreek’Sheistherewiththatwoman。’
’IseeIt’sabadthingtobedividedbetweenloveofwomanandthechanceoflootIsympathisewithyou，George。’
Theywenttothetelegraph-officeunquestioned，foralltheworldwasdesperatelybusyandhadscarcelytimetoturnitshead，andSuakinwasthelastplaceunderskythatwouldbechosenforholiday-ground。
OntheirreturnthevoiceofanEnglishsubalternaskedDickwhathewasdoingThebluegoggleswereoverhiseyesandhewalkedwithhishandonGeorge’selbowashereplied——
’EgyptianGovernment——mulesMyordersaretogivethemovertotheA。
CGatTanai-el-HassanAnyoccasiontoshowmypapers？’
’Oh，certainlynotIbegyourpardonI’dnorighttoask，butnotseeingyourfacebeforeI——’
’Igooutinthetrainto-night，Isuppose，’saidDick，boldly’Therewillbenodifficultyinloadingupthemules，willthere？’
’Youcanseethehorse-platformsfromhereYoumusthavethemloadedupearly。’Theyoungmanwentawaywonderingwhatsortofbroken-downwaifthismightbewhotalkedlikeagentlemanandconsortedwithGreekmuleteersDickfeltunhappyTooutfaceanEnglishofficerisnosmallthing，buttheblufflosesrelishwhenoneplaysitfromtheutterdark，andstumblesupanddownroughways，thinkingandeternallythinkingofwhatmighthavebeenifthingshadfallenoutotherwise，andallhadbeenasitwasnot。
GeorgesharedhismealwithDickandwentofftothemule-lines。
HischargesataloneinashedwithhisfaceinhishandsBeforehistight-shuteyesdancedthefaceofMaisie，laughing，withpartedlipsTherewasagreatbustleandclamourabouthimHegrewafraidandalmostcalledforGeorge。
’Isay，haveyougotyourmulesready？’Itwasthevoiceofthesubalternoverhisshoulder。
’Myman’slookingafterthemThe——thefactisI’veatouchofophthalmiaandcan’tseeverywell。
’ByJove！that’sbadYououghttolieupinhospitalforawhileI’vehadaturnofitmyselfIt’sasbadasbeingblind。’
’SoIfinditWhendoesthisarmouredtraingo？’
’Atsixo’clockIttakesanhourtocoverthesevenmiles。’
’AretheFuzziesontherampage——eh？’
’AboutthreenightsaweekFactisI’minactingcommandofthenight-trainItgenerallyrunsbackemptytoTanaiforthenight。’
’BigcampatTanai，Isuppose？’
’PrettybigIthastofeedourdesert-columnsomehow。’
’Isthatfaroff？’
’Betweenthirtyandfortymiles——inaninfernalthirstycountry。’
’IsthecountryquietbetweenTanaiandourmen？’
’MoreorlessIshouldn’tcaretocrossitalone，orwithasubaltern’scommandforthematterofthat，butthescoutsgetthroughitinsomeextraordinaryfashion。’
’Theyalwaysdid。’
’Haveyoubeenherebefore，then？’
’Iwasthroughmostofthetroublewhenitfirstbrokeout。’
’Intheserviceandcashiered，’wasthesubaltern’sfirstthought，soherefrainedfromputtinganyquestions。
’There’syoumancomingupwiththemulesItseemsratherqueer——’
’ThatIshouldbemule-leading？’saidDick。
’Ididn’tmeantosayso，butitisForgiveme——it’sbeastlyimpertinenceI
know，butyouspeaklikeamanwhohasbeenatapublicschool。
There’snomistakingthetone。’
’Iamapublicschoolman。’
’IthoughtsoIsay，Idon’twanttohurtyourfeelings，butyou’realittledownonyourluck，aren’tyou？Isawyousittingwithyourheadinyourhands，andthat’swhyIspoke。’
’ThanksIamaboutasthoroughlyandcompletelybrokeasamanneedbe。’
’Suppose——ImeanI’mapublicschoolmanmyselfCouldn’tI
perhaps——takeitasaloany’knowand——’
’You’remuchtoogood，butonmyhonourI’veasmuchmoneyasI
want。
Itellyouwhatyoucoulddoforme，though，andputmeunderaneverlastingobligationLetmecomeintothebogietruckofthetrain。
Thereisafore-truck，isn’tthere？’
’YesHowd’youknow？’
’I’v...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：