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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Biddy Maloney stood at the window of her mistress's bedroom, and surveyed the world with eyes of stern disapproval. There was nothing of the smart lady's maid about Biddy. She abominated smart lady's maids. A flyaway French cap and an apron barely reaching to the knees were to her the very essence of flighty impropriety. There was just such a creature in attendance upon Lady Grace de Vigne who occupied the best suite of rooms in the hotel, and Biddy very strongly resented her existence. In her own mind she despised her as a shameless hussy wholly devoid of all ideas of "dacency." Her resentment was partly due to the fact that the indecent one belonged to the party in possession of the best suite, which they had occupied some three weeks before Biddy and her party had appeared on the scene.

BEGGARS"My dear Maud, I hope I am not lacking in proper pride. But it is an accepted--though painful--fact that beggars cannot be choosers."Lady Brian spoke with plaintive emphasis the while she drew an elaborate initial in the sand at her feet with the point of her parasol."I cannot live in want," she said, after a thoughtful moment or two. "Besides, there is poor little Bunny to be considered." Another thoughtful pause; then: "What did you say, dear?"Lady Brian's daughter made an abrupt movement without taking her eyes off the clear-cut horizon; beautiful eyes of darkest, deepest blue under straight black brows that gave them a somewhat forbidding look. There was nothing remarkable about the rest of her face. It was thin and sallow and at the moment rather drawn, not a contented face, and yet possessing a quality indefinable that made it sad rather than bitter. Her smile was not very frequent, but when it came it transfigured her utterly. No one ever pictured that smile of hers beforehand. It came so brilliantly, so suddenly, like a burst of sunshine over a brown and desolate landscape, making so vast a difference that all who saw it for the first time marvelled at the unexpected glow.But it was very far from her face just now. In fact she looked as if she could never smile again as she said: "Bunny would sooner die of starvation than have you do this thing. And so would I.""You are so unpractical," sighed Lady Brian. "And really, you know, dear, I think you are just a wee bit snobbish too, you and Bunny. Mr. Sheppard may be a self-made man, but he is highly respectable.""Oh, is he?" said Maud, with a twist of the lips that made her look years older than the woman beside her."I'm sure I don't know why you should question it," protested Lady Brian. "He is extremely respectable. He is also extremely kind,--in fact, a friend in need.""And a beast!" broke in her daughter, with sudden passionate vehemence. "A hateful, familiar beast! Mother, how can you endure the man? How can you for a single moment demean yourself by the bare idea of--of marrying him?"Lady Brian sighed again. "It isn't as if I had asked you to marry him," she pointed out. "I never even asked you to marry Lord Saltash, although--as you must now admit--it was the one great chance of your life."Again Maud made that curious, sharp movement of hers that was as if some inner force urged her strongly to spring up and run away."We won't discuss Lord Saltash," she said, with lips that were suddenly a little hard."Then I don't see why we should discuss Giles Sheppard either," said Lady Brian, with a touch of querulousness. "Of course I know he doesn't compare well with your poor father. Second husbands so seldom do--which to my mind is one of the principal objections to marrying twice. But--as I said before--beggars cannot be choosers and something has got to be sacrificed, so there is an end of the matter."CONTENTSBeggarsThe IdolThe New AcquaintanceThe Accepted SuitorIn the DarkThe Unwilling GuestThe MagicianThe OfferThe Real ManThe Head of the FamilyThe Declaration of WarThe ReckoningThe Only PortThe Way of EscapeThe Closed DoorThe ChampionThe Wedding MorningThe Wedding NightThe Day AfterA Friend of the FamilyThe Old LifeThe Faithful WidowerThe Narrowing CircleBrothersMisadventureThe Word UnspokenThe TokenThe VisitorHer Other SelfThe Rising CurrentLight ReliefThe Only SolutionThe FurnaceThe SacrificeThe Offer of FreedomThe BondHusksThe Poison PlantConfidencesThe LetterRebellionThe ProblemThe Land of MoonshineThe WarningThe InvitationThe MistakeThe ReasonRefugeThe Lamp before the AltarThe Open DoorThe Downward PathThe RevelationThe Last ChanceThe WhirlpoolThe Outer DarknessDeliveranceThe Poison FruitThe LoserThe Storm WindThe Great BurdenThe BlowThe Deed of GiftThe ImpossibleThe First of the VulturesThe Dutiful WifeThe Lane of FireThe New BossOld ScoresThe Finish

Ethel M. Dell was a British writer of over 30 popular romance novels and several short stories from 1911 to 1939. She began to write stories while very young and many of them were published in popular magazines. Beneath her shy exterior, she had a passionate heart and most of her stories were stories of passion and love set in India and other old British colonial possessions.Her debut novel is very characteristic of Ethel M. Dell's novels. There is a very feminine woman, an alpha male, a setting in India, passion galore liberally mixed with some surprisingly shocking violence and religious sentiments sprinkled throughout.Ethel Dell worked on a novel for several years, but it was rejected by eight publishers. Finally the publisher T. Fisher Unwin bought the book for their First Novel Library, a series which introduced a writer's first book. This book, entitled The Way of an Eagle, was published in 1911 and by 1915 it had gone through thirty printings.This Edition Contains 10 Works;● The Way of an Eagle● The Knave of Diamonds● Greatheart● The Rocks of Valpre● The Keeper of the Door● The Bars of Iron● The Hundredth Chance● The Lamp in the Desert● The Top of the World● The Obstacle RaceThis Edition Features:● Biography of Ethel M. Dell ● Active Table of Contents● Well Kindle FormattingAnd if you enjoy this volume, don't forget to search your favorite ebook store for "Jame-Books" to see all the other entries of Jame-Books Publishing.

Ethel May Dell (1881-1939) was a British writer of popular romance novels who produced about thirty novels and several volumes of short stories. Her stories are often full of passion and love and are set in India and other British colonial possessions. She worked on her first novel, The Way of an Eagle, for several years, until it was finally published in 1911. The public loved it and the book was hugely popular. Her other works include the bestselling Greatheart (1912), The Bars of Iron (1916) and Hundredth Chance (1917). When published in 1912, Greatheart proved enormously popular and its popularity grew over the following years. According to the New York Times it was the bestselling novel in the United States in 1918.

The classic book has always read again and again. 1912. Dell, British writer, began writing at a young age. Most of her stories were stories of passion and love set in India and other British colonial possessions. The Knave of Diamonds begins: There came a sudden blare of music from the great ballroom below, and the woman who stood alone at an open window on the first floor shrugged her shoulders and shivered a little. The night air blew in brisk and cold upon her uncovered neck, but except for that slight, involuntary shiver she scarcely seemed aware of it. The room behind her was brilliantly lighted but empty. Some tables had been set for cards, but the cards were untouched. Either the attractions of the ballroom had remained omnipotent, or no one had penetrated to this refuge of the bored-no one save this tall and stately woman robed in shimmering, iridescent green, who stood with her face to the night, breathing the chill air as one who had been on the verge of suffocation. It was evidently she who had flung up the window. Her gloved hands leaned upon the woodwork on each side of it. There was a certain constraint in her whole attitude, a tension that was subtly evident in every graceful line. Her head was slightly bent as though she intently watched or listened for something. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.