"
I felt as though a thunderbolt had fallen; and I must say, that even
up to this day I think that the Consul might have been a little less
abrupt. "We can get in here," said he, evidently in a hurry, and
pointing to a small door which opened out from one corner of the
house to the quay. What could I do but follow him? I did follow
him, and in a few words learned the remainder of the story. When he
had once withdrawn me from the public walk he seemed but little
anxious about the rest, and soon left me again alone. The facts, as
far as I could learn them, were simply these.
Sir George Walker, who was now going out to Pegu as Governor, had
been in India before, commanding an army there. I had never heard
of him before, and had made no attempt to pass myself off as his
relative. Nobody could have been more innocent than I was--or have
received worse usage. I have as much right to the name as he has.
Well; when he was in India before, he had taken the city of Begum
after a terrible siege--Begum, I think the Consul called it; and
Mahmoud had been there, having been, it seems, a great man at Begum,
and Sir George had spared him and his money; and in this way the
whole thing had come to pass. There was no further explanation than
that. The rest of it was all transparent. Mahmoud, having heard my
name from the porter, had hurried down to invite me to his party.
So far so good. But why had he been afraid to face me in the
morning? And, seeing that the fault had all been his, why had he
not asked me to join the expedition? Sir George and I may, after
all, be cousins.
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