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Page 107
"She exacted an oath from me that I would never divulge anything
which I had seen or heard in the City of Fire. She urged that I
must leave India as quickly as possible. I had already learned
that this remote society was closely in touch with the affairs of
the outside world. And, because I knew I was leaving my heart
behind there in the Indian hills, I recognized that this dreadful
parting must be final.
"Therefore I scarcely heeded her when she assured me that, should
I ever be in danger because of what had happened, a message in
the Times of India would reach her. I never intended to insert
such a message, gentlemen. I knew that it would need all my
strength to close this door which I had opened.
"I will spare you and myself the details of our parting. I passed
out from the City of Fire in the darkest hour of the night,
through a long winding tunnel, half a mile in length. I had
protested to Naida that the secret mark might be painted upon my
arm and not branded, but she had assured me that the latter was a
necessity, and this now became evident; for, not only three times
was it subjected to scrutiny, but by the last of the guards,
posted near the outer end of the tunnel, it was tested with some
kind of solution.
"Silence and the salutation with the moistened finger tips,
together with the brand upon my arm, won me freedom from the
abode of Fire-Tongue.
"From a village situated upon one of the tributaries of the
Ganges I readily obtained a guide, to whom such silent,
yellow-robed figures as mine were evidently not unfamiliar; and,
crossing the east of Nepal, I entered Bengal, bearing a strange
secret. I found myself in an empty world--a world which had
nothing to offer me. For every step south took me farther from
all that made life worth living."
CHAPTER XXXIV. NICOL BRINN'S STORY (CONCLUDED)
"The incidents of the next seven years do not concern you,
gentlemen. I had one aim in life--to forget. I earned an
unenviable reputation for foolhardy enterprises. Until this very
hour, no man has known why I did the things that I did do. From
the time that I left India until the moment when fate literally
threw me in the way of the late Sir Charles Abingdon, I had heard
nothing of the cult of Fire-Tongue; and in spite of Naida's
assurance that its membership was not confined to Orientals, I
had long ago supposed it to be a manifestation of local
fanaticism, having no political or international significance.
"Then, lunching with the late Sir Charles after my accident in
the Haymarket, he put to me a question which literally made me
hold my breath.
"'Do you know anything of the significance of the term
Fire-Tongue?' he asked.
"I am not accustomed to any display of feeling in public, and I
replied in what I think was an ordinary tone:
"'In what connection, Sir Charles?'
"'Well,' said he, watching me oddly, 'I know you have travelled
in India, and I wondered if you had ever come in contact with the
legend which prevails there, that a second Zoroaster has arisen,
to preach the doctrine of eternal fire.'
"'I have heard it,' I replied, guardedly.
"'I thought it possible,' continued Sir Charles, 'and I am
tempted to tell you of a curious experience which once befell me
during the time that I was a guest of my late friend Colonel
Banfield in Delhi. My reputation as an osteologist was not at
that time so fully established as it later became, but I already
had some reputation in this branch of surgery; and one evening a
very dignified Hindu gentleman sought an interview with me,
saying that a distinguished native noble, who was a guest of his,
had met with a serious accident, and offering me a fee equivalent
to nearly five hundred pounds to perform an operation which he
believed to be necessary.
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