"That there Captain Roark will be just like the Colonel when he gets a bit more sand in his boots." "In his boots?" "He'll get a lot in his face he can't spit out if he don't stop flying that secondhand casket he bought." "He handles it all right." "It ain't him." "'Tis the ship." "The motor's half bailing wire." "Besides, it don't carry enough petrol to clean the spots off your tunic." "Get along now and clean these guns here." "Get along here now." "And if I find any sand in them," "I'll wipe them out personally..." "With both of you." "I was afraid you wouldn't have enough petrol to get back, sir." "Two more backfires, and I wouldn't have had." "What- what's this, sir?" "What made these holes, sir?" "Moths, Murphy." "Moths." "In the future," "I do not anticipate any more raiding on the Dikut border, owing to the recent boundary settlement between Achaben and the Musa Tareef." "The two opposing chieftains." "New paragraph." "On this date, I'm going on two months' leave." "The post will remain in command of Captain Roark, in whom I have the utmost confidence as an officer and a diplomat." "I am, et cetera, et cetera." "Hello, Roark." "Come in." "That's all." "Thank you." "Well, what's the news?" "Sit down." "By the way, uh, I couldn't help overhearing what you said at the end of that letter you were dictating." "I appreciate that." "Thanks." "Any recommendations you get from me are in recognition of service, not friendship." "Gad, it's 2:00." "I'll never catch that train if I don't pack." "Come and lend a hand." "Right." "Help yourself to a peg." "Right." "Now, that's what I call a Democratic orderly- sleeps in your bed and snores at you." "You ought to have him tuned." "He's a bit off-key." "Hey!" "What are you doing there, Wilkins?" "I'm, uh, looking for the collar starch, sir." "Oh, well, let it go." "You'll look after my luggage." "Like lightning, sir." "These the only socks I have?" "Oh, no, sir." "You have others." "Well, where are they?" "You've got them on, sir." "All right." "All right." "I'll take it." "Yes?" "Hello, Grace." "Oh, it's you." "Were you the idiot that just flew over in that kite?" "I don't care if the Colonel does fly it." "The army's full of colonels, but I've only got one brother." "Incidentally, why aren't you on your way into town?" "The station?" "Oh, righto." "Oh, there you are." "Well, look who's here on time." "You haven't forgotten anything?" "I swear I've packed everything, even my heavy underwear." "Good." "Wilkins..." "Are you sure he has his heavy woolens?" "Yes, miss." "Uh, here and there." "Well, what do you mean, "here and there"?" "Well, uh, the "here" part's in the bag, and the "there" part, the moths have." "Oh." "Have you got the tickets?" "Almost." "I've got the vouchers." "Ha ha ha!" "Kipling should have immortalized Wilkins." "Hello." "There you are." "I've been looking all over the blooming place for you." "What's the game?" "We're giving Mr. Wilkins a going-away present." "What?" "The Colonel's flunky?" "Are you Matey with him?" "Nah." "Matey, me eye." "He's as yellow as a buttercup." "He used to be in the line until the Colonel found out about it." "He hid out on a sniping party when he'd been sent back for reinforcements." "We lost two men on account of the dirty dog." "I wonder why the Colonel didn't kick him all the way out of the blooming army instead of only halfway." "I can't figure it meself." "Ah, he's a funny bloke, the Colonel." "He's got the book of regulations for a heart, and he thinks the golden rule is a ramrod, but I've never yet seen him break a man for his first mistake." "There he goes." "Hey, Wilkins." "Wilkins." "Now, now, now." "Now, leave me alone." "I've just got the Colonel's tickets." "Leave him alone." "Now, isn't that a fine way for him to be talking?" "Well, we came to say good-bye and give you a little present from the lads." "Present?" "Well, you see, we've been kind of rough on you, and we didn't want you to be off without a little something to let you know what we really think of you." "What?" "All of you?" "Every last man contributed." "Oh, well, you might tell the lads that if they had sent me an invitation to Buckingham Palace," "I couldn't have been more obliged." "Thank you." "Thank you." "Au revoir." "Take your seats, please." "Good trip, sir." "Good luck." "Come back soon." "If I were to kiss you good-bye, do you think your little brother would object?" "I'd like to see him try." "Take care of yourself, Grace." "Have a nice holiday, John." "Good luck." "Good-bye, sir." "Good-bye." "Good-bye." "Take care of yourself." "Have a nice trip, John." "Done up nice and neat, ain't it, sir?" "Very nicely." "It's from the lads at the station, sir." "You shouldn't worry about that, Wilkins." "Just remember there's a very thin line between a man being a coward and a hero." "There's that little something that makes him go one way or the other." "If you ran the wrong way once, it doesn't mean he's entitled to receive the white feathers of cowardice." "I want you to Polish my shoes before you go to bed." "You've been lax about them lately." "Yes, sir." "Mademoiselle," "I must take advantage of shipboard levity and introduce myself." "I am Victor Romkoff, and you are mademoiselle Julia Ashton- an American." "You see, I have an eye for such things, and I've already asked the purser, but you have not asked about me, no?" "One of your American magazines recently referred to me as the number-one tobacco tycoon." "You must have Brandy with me." "Steward!" "Bring me Napoleon Brandy 1811." "The big glasses." "Yes, sir." "Vite!" "You will like this Brandy." "You are traveling alone, the purser told me." "You must find it not very amusing, huh?" "At the present moment, I find it revolting." "Do you?" "How charming." "I see we understand each other." "What is this book you're reading, huh?" "When one is lonely, one reads a great deal, huh?" "But there are things in life that make" "I believe you promised to make a 4 of bridge in the card room." "You're ready to leave now." "Yes, I am." "Thank you." "Oh, but, mademoiselle." "You cannot leave now." "You- your Brandy, sir." "Shall I take it away?" "No!" "Singularly unpleasant fellow, isn't he?" "Impossible." "I'm very grateful to you." "Not at all." "Thank you again." "One day, Dikut will be a great, wealthy independent country because England had faith in it." "You love Dikut, don't you?" "15 years of my life are buried out there with a good number of my men, and, uh, well..." "So much of your past is dug under any soil, you want to see it produce a richer harvest because of it." "But that's your job." "What of the man?" "I think they're one and the same." "Probably that's what makes us chaps so stuffy." "It's difficult for a woman to understand that, isn't it?" "No." "I can understand it." "I used to know a man like that." "Well, it's rather late." "I better turn in." "Too late for a stroll around the deck?" "I'm afraid so." "I haven't packed yet, and we land tomorrow." "Well, then, this really is good-bye." "I suppose so." "Thank you for making the trip more interesting." "Good-bye." "Good-bye." "And good luck." "Thanks." "Hello, Lydia." "Colonel Wister." "I'm so glad John persuaded you to come." "So am I." "Now you must meet everybody." "This is Mrs. farnold." "How do you do?" "And this is lord Alden." "Delighted." "How do you do?" "Here." "Have a spot." "Oh, thanks." "Most of our guests don't seem to be happy unless they're perspiring." "They're all out batting some sort of a ball about." "Take your choice- tennis, golf, Polo, or ping-pong- if lord Alden feels up to it." "What about some bridge?" "What I'd really like to do is to try my hand at golf." "Well, you can't do it sitting down." "Come on." "I'll lend you my club." "Of course, you might catch up with Julia." "She just teed off, or do you mind being beaten by a woman?" "If any woman beats me," "I beat her right back, preferably with a nibbling on the head." "Julia, did you say?" "Julia Ashton." "Julia Ashton?" "By jove, we came over on the same ship together." "Really?" "Do say, hard woman to catch up with, though." "I could never get on the same planet with her." "Wound up in herself, wouldn't you say?" "In someone else, rather." "Remember Duncan Hitchin?" "Yes." "Invents airplane engines, isn't he?" "He did." "Invented the best one in the world." "The poor devil had to die to prove it, though." "Duncan Hitchin's dead?" "He went out on a night flight over the Irish sea and just didn't come back the next morning." "Oh, now I'm beginning to understand." "Pity a chap like that had to go west." "And I wonder." "As duffers like you and I plod our way over the horizon, men like Hitchin rush out to meet it, and I suppose the difference is that we know how to live and they know how to die." "Rough on her, of course." "Yes." "Memories don't die as readily as men do." "Will you two empire builders stop talking?" "After all, Colonel Wister's expressed a desire to go out and dig his divots." "Very difficult course, isn't it?" "Keep your eye on the ball, sir." "If you say that to me again," "I'll take this club and..." "Probably miss your head with it." "Ow!" "Anyone with brains enough to count up to 4 would have sense enough to shout it when they slice a ball." "Only an infernal idiot could hit a ball like that anyway." "That's a nice way to talk to a lady." "Miss Ashton." "This is a bit of luck." "What?" "Getting hit with a golf ball?" "Ha ha!" "It's worth it to see you again." "Thank you." "What are you doing here?" "We're fellow guests at the bentons'." "Really?" "How nice." "Are you badly damaged?" "No, no." "Not a bit." "It's rather rough luck, though, being hit by a golf ball and not be able to hit one back." "Off your game?" "7 years." "Well, I-I'm doing just a practice round." "We can play together if you like." "Maybe I can give you a suggestion or two." "Splendid!" "All right." "Tee off." "Here we go." "Fore, Saint Peter." "Ha ha ha ha!" "That's freedom- to escape from the world entirely and to be up there with infinity to fly through and eternity to fly it and both of them yours for the taking." "I've often thought of that." "You know, if I were that fellow," "I'm sure I shall be tempted to fly straight into the sunset until my courage gave out and turned me back." "Some men don't turn back." "Oh, I say." "I'd forgotten for the moment that you were the woman who loved Duncan Hitchin." "No." "No other woman who loves Duncan Hitchin." "I'm sorry." "For him?" "Why?" "His luck held out." "He died clean and young before anything could- could grow old or dim." "He was always ahead of life and finally lost it in the sunset before it could catch up with him and make him pay for all the beauty and glamour and laughter it gave him." "He died owing life." "I wasn't thinking of him." "Nor was I entirely." "My luck held out, too." "You know, although they're ashamed of it, every honest woman knows that a life has but one love, and however long it lasts, it's hers forever." "Mine was 3 years... 3 ecstatic years, in which I spent all the love I had to find memories so beautiful, they compensate for never being able to love again." "What was that?" "Oh, nothing." "That's one of those pat arabic phrases that fit almost anything." "What does it mean?" "It means "the hopes we have for tomorrow die today."" "Just put it over there, will you?" "And how went the golf?" "Everywhere but into the cup." "Miss Ashton's quite an expert, though." "Hits an incredibly long drive." "And miss Ashton had better jump into a hot tub immediately, or she's gonna be incredibly stiff from doing it." "See you later." "Yes." "I'll give you a revenge at backgammon." "Fine." "I hope lady Benton doesn't wait tea for us." "After two weeks, I think they'd rather enjoy missing us." "They're probably delighted at my boat sailing on Wednesday." "Wednesday?" "Mm-hmm." "I hate the thought of never seeing you again." "Good friends always meet again." "So you do think of me as a friend." "One of whom I'm very fond." "I'm fond of you, too." "In fact, I've dared to be too fond." "I love you, Julia." "Shouldn't I have said that?" "There wasn't any need." "You knew." "Yes, and I feel very flattered because I admire and respect you so much," "I'd give anything in the world if I could love you." "I want to, but..." "I just can't." "That's all." "You see, I still love him." "Oh, you must forgive me that." "Yes." "Yes." "Of course." "Have a splash more tea." "Thank you." "And there was old Tommy in the bunker, breaking his clubs one by one over his knee." ""Great heavens," I cried," ""don't do that."" ""Why not?" Said he." ""It's better than losing your temper."" "Ha ha ha ha!" "Well..." "After that, I think I'll go to bed." "Good night, lady Benton." "Good night." "A cable for you, sir." "Good night." "Oh, good night." "Good night." "Good night." "Anything wrong?" "Not here." "There seems to be some trouble in Dikut." "I have to get back." "I shall miss you, John." "I'd rather you didn't have the opportunity." "What do you mean?" "Julia, just to whom and to what are you going back in America?" "To nothing and to no one." "That's why I'm going there instead of staying here where I've been happy." "It's a little too difficult to try to build a new life from the ashes of the old one." "And what do you expect of this new life?" "Happiness?" "A career?" "I haven't the talent for a career nor the capacity for happiness anymore." "No." "All I'm looking for is contentment and the opportunity to be useful enough to justify living." "I can give you that, Julia." "You love me a great deal, don't you?" "So much that just seeing you every day and knowing that you're fond of me is enough." "No." "No." "One day, you'd grow to hate me or yourself because I couldn't love you." "No, Julia." "All I'd ever ask of you is your respect." "But there's so much more to love than that, John." "I'd only cheat you." "The only way you can cheat me is by letting me go back to Dikut alone." "John, are you sure that you understand?" "That you know?" "Yes." "I know that I love you, and I understand why you would never love me." "You see, I never expected much of love, so I can be grateful for a little and not be jealous of the man who never came back." "Julia, my job in Dikut's interesting, important." "You can help me with it, and you'll find contentment there." "The desert's so- so vast, so remote from the world you're living in that..." "In a little while, the past will seem not quite real." "All right, John." "I'll go with you." "Thank you, my dear." "Wonder where Denny is." "I cabled him we were coming." "I didn't mention you, though." "He'd probably faint." "I hope not." "I won't be a minute, dear." "Wilkins, come and check the luggage." "Yes, sir." "Great Scott, it's in." "Oh." "Excuse me." "Would you mind very much if I asked if I could be of any assistance?" "Not very much..." "Because I don't need any." "Sorry." "Hoped you'd give me a chance to do my daily good turn, that's all." "I will." "Left about turn." "Denny." "Hello, Denny!" "Hello, sir." "Good trip?" "Yes." "Fine." "Sorry to spoil your holiday with that wire." "Holiday, man?" "Honeymoon." "What?" "Let me introduce you to the Colonel's lady." "This is Captain Roark." "How do you do?" "How do you do, Captain Roark?" "Why, congratulations." "This is the best thing that's happened to Dikut for years, sir." "I think so myself." "Where's Grace?" "She's looking for you." "There she is." "Gad, you look well." "Oh, the voyage certainly did you good." "Handsomely." "Grace, this is Julia, my wife." "Julia, this is Grace, Denny's sister." "How do you do?" "I can't tell you how happy I am for both of you." "It was about time you got married." "You were beginning to get crotchety." "Well, I don't know what we can be thinking of keeping you standing here in the sun." "Come on down to the car." "Thank you." "Take care of the baggage, Wilkins." "Very good, sir." "All right, you." "Come on." "Come and get this trunk." "When you're done that, come back for these bags and don't drop them, whatever you do, because they belong to the col" "Achaben's been coming across here, burning all the cotton and raiding the plantations." "Did you double the patrols?" "Yes, sir." "Native troops?" "No, sir." "Regulars." "Well, you should have used natives." "Better change them." "Oh, but I think- oh, it doesn't matter what you think." "I'm telling you what to do." "Yes, sir." "If Achaben continues with these raids, it'll cost the native government a £200,000 cotton crop and a considerable loss of life apart from our loss of prestige." "Of course, we have troops all along there." "Yes." "That's not enough." "I'm leaving tomorrow to organize a volunteer native unit." "While I'm gone, you'll be in charge." "Right, sir." "Well, let's see how the women are getting on with their unpacking." "Right, sir." "There." "Now then, guess what this cost." "20 guineas." "No. 5." "5?" "Mm-hmm." "Even a shoplifter couldn't do better." "Ha ha ha!" "Hello." "Well, this doesn't look much like my lady's boudoir." "I like it." "Everything's so different here." "Oh, there's so much that I've got to see and do." "Good." "That'll keep you busy while I'm away." "Away?" "Tomorrow." "For about a week." "Oh." "That's a nice way to treat a bride." "You've practically married a bluebeard." "I'm awfully sorry, Julia, but it can't be helped." "Grace and Denny will show you about and keep you amused." "Don't worry." "I'll quote you whole paragraphs out of the guidebook with feeling and gestures." "Thank you." "And at the same time, adding humorous, but clean, anecdotes of native Dikut." "You won't have a dull moment." "What?" "No bird imitations?" "Only the cuckoo." "Come along, Denny." "You're driving me back to town." "Oh, aren't you staying for tea?" "Yes." "Do, Grace." "No." "No." "I'm sorry." "I've" "I've got another engagement." "Cheerio." "Cheerio." "See you soon." "Mrs. Wister." "Good-bye." "See you shortly, sir." "All right." "You find it all pretty rugged?" "I think I'm going to like living in an army post." "It's very exciting." "I hope you'll be happy here, Julia- as happy as you can be." "I know I will." "I will do my best to be the kind of husband you want me to be." "You can admire me as much as a wife as I admire you as a husband." "That's all I'll ever ask." "Thank you, my dear." "I've got something for you here." "Oh, what is it?" "No." "You don't get it until just before you leave." "Oh." "There it is." "Oh, thanks." "That's for good luck." "Take care of yourself." "Oh, a trip like this is nothing- like a ride through Hyde park." "Well, happy landing." "I'm in the cavalry, you know?" "Not aviation." "I still say "happy landing."" "Oh, well, as you wish." "Ha ha ha!" "March by sections from the left." "Forward march!" "Oh, Captain Roark." "Top of the morning to you, ma'am." "Can I have a horse quickly?" "Yes." "Rather." "Mine's all settled." "Thank you." "Whoa!" "Ha ha ha!" "He's crazy about me- this horse." "Just can't keep his paws off me." "Why, hello." "What's the matter?" "Did he startle you?" "No." "No." "It's nothing." "Only I used to know someone else who laughed just like that." "Would you like something quieter?" "This chap's a bit lively." "I can handle him." "Will you give me a leg up?" "All right." "Thanks." "Listen." "What is it?" "Bedouin music." "Strange and wistful, isn't it?" "I've heard that love song a thousand times, and each time, it sounds like the first." "Somehow, it - it seems to go with the desert and the night." "Sort of a melodic will-o'- the-wisp that dares your emotions to follow it." "That's it." "That's it exactly." "That's what I've always felt and never been able to put into words." "Oh, how unmilitary of you." "A good soldier shouldn't respond to anything less plaintive than a bugle." "But that's got it, too, don't you see?" "When you hear the charge sound, it's got the same beckoning note that makes you want to rush into action to find something." "You don't know what it is." "It's not death." "It's certainly not the desire to be a hero, but it's something impelling." "I don't know what it is." "I know." "What?" "It's life..." "And the desire to live every moment so that should it be your last, you can die laughing because it owes you nothing." "Maybe that." "It is that." "I know." "That's a beautiful way to live." "Never lose that." "Never let your life live from one dawn to the other." "Fly into your tomorrows and- oh, what am I saying?" "Something quite thrilling." "For a moment, i..." "I thought I was talking to someone else, encouraging him to live the way he died." "I wish I was like him." "I'm afraid you are." "Afraid?" "Of course." "I shouldn't like anything to happen to you." "My husband seems to be quite dependent on you." "On me?" "Why, if not for him, I'd have been drummed out of the army and into perdition long ago." "He doesn't seem to think that at all." "In fact, he - he actually boasts about your dependability." "I'm sure you'll never let him down." "No." "I don't think I ever will." "Well, I'll say good night." "So soon?" "Good night." "Out!" "Out!" "Come on." "Next man up." "The commandant." "Over there." "Well, my good man, what can I do for you?" "The commandant." "Me?" "Oh, no, no." "I'm not the commandant, but I'm very close to him." "Then I'll tell you." "And what are you going to tell me?" "One moment." "Now, you're not gonna draw a knife on me, are you?" "Oh, no, sahib." "An invitation to the mutah sarif's ball." "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" "No." "Not again." "Hadn't you better let me tie that tie for you, sir?" "Why?" "Don't you think I can do it?" "Oh, if you'd rather, sir, yes, sir, but when you tie them, they-they turn, sir, just like the Colonel." "He's turned so far, sir, he looks like he's wearing a propeller half the time." "Well, see if you can make mine look like an electric fan." "This shirt's gonna be hotter than the mutah sarif's cocktails." "Yeah." "About your Adam's apple, sir." "What's the matter with my Adam's apple?" "Well, would you mind not encouraging it by swallowing, sir?" "Perhaps you'd like me to stop breathing altogether, would you, Wilkins?" "Yes, sir." "Oh, no, sir." "No, sir." "There you are, sir." "If you was a Christmas present, you couldn't have a prettier bow than that." "Thank you, Wilkins." "Christmas present, eh?" "You've put me right at my ease." "Madam, you look ravishing." "Thank you." "Young man, your tie is turning." "Oh, dear." "I knew that would." "Are we picking up Grace?" "No." "She just phoned and said she's laying plans for a sick headache." "Oh, I'm sorry." "Oh, you needn't be." "She says she knows she's going to enjoy that much more than the mutah sarif's party." "They're terrible things." "An hour at one of them will induce sleeping sickness, and an entire evening's been known to embalm people." "As a matter of fact, that's how we account for the mummies." "Really?" "Beautiful." "Oh, forgive me." "You?" "I'm the one- no." "No, I think we both can be forgiven." "It was just one of those things that happens without a cause and has no meaning." "We'd be very foolish if we made anything of it." "Yes." "You're right." "I can only apologize." "We won't talk about it anymore." "Now i..." "I think we better be getting back." "Care for a nightcap?" "No, thank you." "Good night." "Good night." "Who is it?" "John." "Oh, it's you." "Hello, my dear." "Just got in." "Am I disturbing you?" "Not a bit." "Captain Roark and I just got back from the mutah sarif's party." "Oh." "Then I know you must be having a hard time keeping awake." "Pretty awful, aren't they?" "But tell me about your trip." "Oh, I'll tell you in the morning." "That is, if you'll be up before I leave." "Leave?" "You're not going away again?" "Dawn." "Paying a call on that scoundrel Achaben." "Got to wangle some sort of a truce out of him." "Oh, John, must you?" "I'm afraid so." "It's a job of work, but it's got to be done." "But-but couldn't you send someone else?" "Oh, I-i know I shouldn't interfere like this, but I just don't want you to leave." "How about Captain Roark?" "Yes, I could send Denny, but I rather hate to send him when I could go myself." "He wouldn't mind, would he?" "Mind?" "Good lord, no." "I've never known anyone get more enjoyment out of a bit of trouble than that lad." "Then why don't you ask him?" "After all, you went on the other march." "All right, but you'll have to be responsible." "Thank you, John." "Well, you fit?" "I'm fine, sir." "I'm empowering you to make any reasonable concessions to Achaben in return for his promise not to cross the border again." "I'll wheedle as well as I can, sir." "Of course, it's not greed that prompts his raiding." "It's a good Muslim hatred of christians." "I shouldn't forget that on the march if I were you." "I'm anticipating a little target practice at our expense." "Beg pardon, sir." "I should like permission to go with Captain Roark." "Well, Wilkins, you know- yes, sir, I know, but it won't happen again, sir." "I swear it." "Well, it's up to Captain Roark." "Please, sir." "The men know your record, Wilkins." "They may not make it easy for you." "Well, they haven't been making it easy for the last two years, sir." "That's just why I asked you to let me go." "Don't you see, sir?" "Yes." "I believe I do." "All right." "Report to sergeant Murphy." "Thank you, sir." "Sergeant!" "Sergeant!" "You're all right now." "I'm coming with you!" "All present and correct, sir." "Advance by half sections from the right." "Forward march!" "Well, good luck." "Look sharp." "Don't bring back any wound stripes." "I'll try not to, sir." "They do rather mess up one's uniform, don't they?" "Julia." "Yes, John." "Good morning." "Good morning." "Ready for breakfast?" "In a moment." "I'm not quite dressed yet." "Right-ho." "Hope we're back on our own side of the border by sunset." "It's glad to be back I'll be, sir." "Now, you wouldn't suspect that nice Mr. Achaben of treachery, would you, sergeant?" "Oh, no, but it isn't by accident that the buglers in this part of the desert can play the last post better than anything else." "Will you have a gasper, Henderson?" "I wouldn't smoke one of yours if I was gonna be shot for it." "Dismount!" "Take cover!" "How many you got, Archie?" "One." "How many you got?" "Chalk up two." "And wipe off one." "You dirty, yellow-bellied heathen, you!" "Stick your head up!" "Set up, sir." "Take over, Shaw." "Send in this report." ""Are 8 miles south of the kurbin border..." "And two miles east of the najuit river."" "Tell Mr. quinlan and Mr. seals" "I want to see them at once." "Yes, sir." "Inform Captain Roark we're sending help immediately." "Yes, sir." "Quinlan, you and your men follow the river." "Seals, you cut straight across the Ridge." "You've only got one chance in a hundred to get in there in time, and that's to keep going." "That's all." ""Outnumbered 6-1, 5 dead." ""Ammunition running low." ""Sufficient water." ""Can hold out until sunset." ""Having a marvelous time." "Wish you were here." "Roark."" "He hasn't a chance, has he?" "Yes, he has." "We've sent help." "He'll pull through." "He hasn't, has he?" "He's got one chance in a hundred." "We've done everything we can." "All we can do now is wait." "Thank you." "Why don't you go and lie down?" "I'll send news as soon as anything comes through." "No." "No, I'll wait here." "It's the least I can do." "They're coming in, sir." ""Running out of ammunition... but not arabs." ""5 of us left." ""Good fight." "Can't win all the time."" "Something's wrong." "All I can get is one long call." "Well, that's that." "We're out of ammunition, sir." "What'll we do, sir?" "The arabs will think up something." "Well, we've still got our bayonets." "Hawkins." "Around my neck, a medal." "Take it off and throw it away." "What, throw your good luck away?" "I won't need it no more." "Besides, I don't want those heathens finding me dead with a Saint Christopher on me." "They might think it don't work." "These arabs have pretty nasty ideas for entertaining prisoners." "Look!" "Look!" "One of our ammunition boxes!" "Looks like it." "There's only one way to find out." "He's gone off his head, the little blighter." "No, he hasn't." "He's after that box." "We've done them in, sir." "We've done them all in." "Pity there weren't more of them." "Well done, Wilkins." "Thank you, sir." "Would you mind telling the Colonel that I-i picked up me own white feathers?" "I'll tell him." "Poor little blighter." "He went out the right way." "Your coat, sir." "Thanks." "Get the horses ready, Hawkins." "Let's make a start." "Yes, sir." "Where to, sir?" "Achaben's headquarters on the najuit river." "Achaben?" "But you're wounded, sir." "That can't be helped." "Those are orders." "Right-ho, sir." "May we see him now?" "Yes, sir, but only for a minute." "All right." "No, John, you go in." "I don't think both of us would be good for him." "You're right." "I wouldn't bother him either." "Only, I must get that report." "Hello, Denny." "Have a bad time of it?" "Pretty thick, sir." "I saw Achaben." "He promised not to cross the border again if we withdraw the native troops at Dikut." "Do you believe him?" "Never knew the heathen to lie, sir." "Nor i." "It would save a lot of bloodshed to take his word." "I would, sir." "How many men do you think he had?" "Well, counting the- by the way," "Wilkins asked me to give you... message." "He said he picked up his own white feathers." "I'm glad to hear that, but about Achaben." "Would you think me frightfully rude if I dropped off for 40 winks?" "Come." "He was due to faint, sir." "Just fought it off a little too long." "Why so pensive?" "This wind sandpapering your nerves a little?" "It is a bit nagging, isn't it?" "Rather." "They've been known to make mutes scream." "The natives call them winds of madness." "They're so full of electricity that anybody's liable to blow a fuse." "Thanks." "Julia." "You sure you're quite happy?" "Of course." "Why do you ask?" "Well, I suppose it's because I love you so." "It makes me afraid you're not happy." "Well, I am." "However, I don't see how you could tell very well." "I've seen so little of you in the past few weeks." "I know." "I'm awfully sorry." "I've been pretty busy with Denny away." "Oh, by the way, you know, you really ought to go and see him." "You haven't been near him either at the hospital or since he came home to Grace." "I've been meaning to go." "I'll make a point of it." "I wish you would." "He might think it odd." "I should go today." "By tomorrow, this wind will have whipped itself up into a sirocco." "Hello, Grace." "Hello, my dear." "Well, ill as this wind is," "I had no idea it could blow in anything so charming." "How are you?" "Blown to bits." "Oh, ghastly, isn't it?" "Always gets worse, too." "I hope you came to see Denny exclusively." "Oh, not at all." "Oh, please say you did." "I have some calls to make, and I hate leaving him alone." "Is he worse?" "Worse?" "No, confound him, he's better." "You don't mind if I duck out for a while, do you?" "Of course not." "Good." "He's in the library, playing solitaire." "I'll send Ali in with some drinks." "Thank you, Grace." "The black 6 on the red 7." "Hello." "Oh." "What frightful marksmen those arabs must be to miss anything so tall." "Oh, but when there's any shooting going on," "I can telescope up so small," "I look like a jockey." "Won't you sit down, talk to me?" "You're looking awfully well." "Thanks." "I'm feeling pretty fit." "Why haven't you come to see me?" "Oh, I've been busy, doing a million things." "I see." "I was rather expecting you." "You know why I didn't come." "Yes, I suppose I do." "Because I love you." "Oh, Denny, how out of character." "Captain Roark might be infatuated, but in love?" "Never." "It just doesn't suit you, that's all." "Today, it might be me, and tomorrow, it can be someone else who, for the moment, seems to mix in with moonlight and music." "That's how it was before the night in the garden." "But that didn't mean anything." "We said it didn't, but it did." "You know that." "Now, I suppose, you're trying to stop me from making a fool of myself, but there's no use, Julia." "I love you." "That's why you stayed away." "Julia." "Oh... oh, it's all so futile." "Completely." "And wrong, too, I suppose." "We can't be blamed for what we want, only for what we do." "One can't stop loving." "I tried." "I thought I never could love again, but I did." "Oh, Denny." "Denny, can you understand that?" "Yes, but it's not he that's standing between us." "It's John." "We'll never be happy without each other, but we can never be happy together either, not only because he's your husband, but because he's my friend." "I owe him more than I even owe myself." "I, too, because he asked so very little." "The hopes we have for tomorrow die today." "He said that to me once." "Ironic, isn't it?" "He didn't know he was talking about our hopes." "He says we better batten down the windows." "We're in for a blow." "Here's to the Colonel's lady." "And to the Judy o'Grady she'd like to be." "When was this taken?" "In Dublin when I was in Trinity college." "Why couldn't we have met then?" "I suppose because it took from then till now to live enough to find out what we really wanted." "We aren't exactly taking it with a smile, are we?" "Have you ever been in Ireland?" "No." "Is it beautiful?" "Beautiful." "So beautiful, it becomes the entire world and everything else outside doesn't matter." "We could have been happy there." "Terribly happy." "There's a little cottage in meath on the boyne." "I only saw it once, but I always remember it." "It had a stone wall running round the garden, and roses used to creep up, peek over the top, and look down on the river." "If you stood very still, you could hear the bees buzzing in the orchard, and if you laughed suddenly, all the birds scolded you for it." "We could have sat outside there and had tea and thrown crumbs to them." "And had birdhouses..." "And a fountain." "Yes, for all the little setter puppies to fall into." "Oh, Denny." "Darling." "Very well, miss." "Well?" "Miss Roark just telephoned from the consulate that she is caught there, but that Mrs. Wister is at miss Roark's home." "Oh, I'm glad." "I was worried." "Did you telephone there?" "I've tried to, sir, but the operator told me that the wires were all down." "We can't go on seeing each other." "Grace." "Mm-hmm." "I'm applying for transfer, getting out of Dikut." "Why?" "Oh, I don't know." "I'm getting stale here, I think." "You realize, of course, what it'll mean to your career?" "Oh, it won't affect it much." "That's not true, nor is your reason for going." "You love Julia, and you're trying to escape it." "Then you know." "Yes, I know now." "Then you know why I can't stay." "Seeing her day after day, pretending I don't love her, watching him, it's impossible." "No one could stand it." "Oh, yes, they can." "It's easy for you to say." "But hard for me to do sometimes, but I do, and so must you." "You see, I've loved John for 7 of the longest years of my life." "My dear." "That must have been awful for you." "Why did you stay here?" "Because I've learned another kind of love than that which comes from wanting and having, a quiet kind that watches and shares in someone's life without that someone knowing." "I've watched John's career, and it's made me proud." "I've seen his fineness of character, and it's dignified my love, justified it." "I've see him in love." "It hurts, but I'm even sharing that because she can never love him any more than he can love me." "You can learn to love that way, too." "No man could love as much as that." "Excuse me, sir, but this message just came through, and I thought you tter see it right away." "Thank you." "Has Captain Roark reported this morning?" "Yes, sir." "Ask him to come here at once, please." "Yes, sir." "Hello, Denny." "Good morning, sir." "We've blundered." "Seriously, sir?" "To the extent of a £200,000 cotton crop and about 500 lives, and we can't blunder out of it again." "Achaben's tricked us." "He's crossed the border?" "No, but he's dammed the najuit river where it crosses his territory, cutting off the water from our cotton district and leaving about 500 men, women, and children with only enough water to last 24 hours." "And I disbanded the native troops for him." "Right." "How far from the border is that dam?" "About 50 miles." "It will take troops about 4 days to fight their way that far." "Yeah, which will be too late." "What a fool I was." "We were." "Denny, you know Achaben." "Can he be bribed?" "He might, sir, but for a terrific amount." "That I'm instructing the Mutah Sarif to pay Achaben any amount necessary to have that dam destroyed within 12 hours." "The government will reimburse him." "You'll have to answer to the war office for that." "It's liable to cost you your command." "Liable to cost 500 lives if I don't." "My mistake, and I'll pay for it." "It's our mistake you'll be paying for." "Get the operator, will you?" "Send this off at once, then wait at that key until you get a reply." "Yes, sir." "You know, I feel pretty much responsible for this." "After all, it was I who- no, no, no, no." "I'm responsible." "Sit down, Denny." "Peg?" "Uh, no, thanks." "I found your application for a transfer on my desk this morning." "Why?" "Oh, I don't know." "I think I must have lost my nerve a bit after the last scrap with the arabs." "Oh, you've had scraps before." "Never wounded before." "I know you too well, Denny." "Don't ask me to believe you're afraid." "I'm not asking you to believe anything." "Merely asking you to be kind enough to Grant that application." "But why?" "Because if I stay here," "I won't be able to carry on." "I'm sorry, Denny, not to be able to Grant the only favor you ever asked." "Knowing the General unrest, the present situation, you must understand why." "The service needs you here." "I tell you, I can't do it." "You will stay here, and that's final." "Denny, in my career as a soldier," "I've never asked a man to take a duty" "I couldn't take myself, and it's much harder to give orders when you understand." "Are..." "You sure you understand?" "Yes." "It's no good, Grace." "I can't give him a transfer." "The service needs him here." "Do you know what you're doing?" "Yes, I do." "Every hour will be agony for you." "If I could only blame them, it would be easier, but I can't." "Oh, there must be some solution." "There is." "That's to play the game according to the rules." "You've been trained longer in discipline than either of them." "Perhaps you're asking too much." "Perhaps they can't go on playing the game according to the rules." "Well, what else is there to do?" "Julia married me because she thought she could never love again." "I was her bargain." "I can let her out of it, but she can't let herself out of it." "If they were less honorable, there would be a solution, but unfortunately, you can't discard honor anymore than you can love." "So you think you can go on, the 3 of you?" "Yes." "Come in." "Denny, I must talk to you." "Julia." "You shouldn't be here, should you?" "It's quite all right." "You see, I-I've come to say good-bye." "I'm leaving you and John and Dikut forever." "Reply, sir." "Just a minute." "Where's Captain Roark?" "In his quarters, sir." "All right." "Don't you see, Denny?" "I'm the only one who can escape this hideous trap the 3 of us are caught in." "One of us must go." "If we don't..." "Something terrible will happen." "You and I aren't strong enough." "Julia, you can't." "What will happen to him?" "He'll go on, like you, fighting deeper and deeper into the desert, helping to build a nation." "That's your life, and I can go on just being Julia Ashton." "You can't end a thing like this by running away, Julia." "No." "No, I'll still keep on loving you." "That won't end, but I can't stay here, Denny." "I can't!" "Respecting him, loving you, hating myself." "It's just not possible." "There's no way out, Julia." "The Colonel would like to see you in his office." "Thank you, orderly." "Look at that." "What'll we do?" "We can't get troops there in time." "If that dam is destroyed, it'll take 10 days to rebuild, giving us time to move up." "How can it be destroyed?" "I'm taking your plane, loaded with explosives." "It's got a cruising range sufficient to get it there." "But not sufficient to get back." "If you're not shot down at the dam, you'll be forced down in the desert, which is worse." "Very well." "You'll take over." "I'm sorry." "That plane happens to be my personal property." "But I happen to be in command." "Then order me to fly my own plane and blow up the dam." "If it hadn't been for my error, those troops would be there now." "I reserve the right to eradicate my own mistakes." "I demand the same right." "Satisfactory?" "Perfectly." "The winner goes." "Right." "Heads." "Sorry, Denny." "Good luck." "Thanks." "I'll need it." "John." "Yes?" "I don't like curtain speeches or the kind of people who make them, but if I don't come back," "I'd like you to know that I did fight against loving her because I respected you." "Anyway, rather takes the sting out of losing when it's to a better man." "Cheero." "Time's getting short." "I'll tell them to get the plane ready." "Thanks." "You'll find Julia in there." "That's all for tonight." "Good night." "Julia." "Denny." "What is it?" "I just came to tell you," "I'm off upcountry to do a job of work." "Permanent station." "Orders." "Orders?" "Official orders that cannot be disobeyed." "At least fate showed us one kindness." "Showed us the way out." "Good-bye." "Denny." "It's not dangerous, is it?" "Oh." "If it were, you'd hear my knees rattling all over the place." "I'm frightened." "Well, you shouldn't be." "Why, if I thought there were any risk," "I'd be saying all sorts of silly things to you like... i love you." "You mustn't say that." "I won't again." "Denny, what's the matter?" "John- he's taking it up." "What does it mean?" "He's gone out there to die..." "For me." "You- you mean, he won't come back?" "Only a miracle can save him." "Dawn, and he's not here yet." "Excuse me, sir." "He's not coming back." "Why did he do it, Denny?" "To give us that." "Another dawn." "Leaving us all his tomorrows to live out." "I guess he had the courage to die to give us those." "I think it made him happy." "Why do you say that?" "Because he knew that we 3 could always be together only if he went away."