THEWORLDWITHOUT
Certainpeopleofimportance。
SCENE-Smoking-roomoftheDegchiClub。Time，10。30P。M。ofastuffynightintheRains。Fourmendispersedinpicturesqueattitudesandeasy-chairs。TotheseenterBLAYNEoftheIrregularMoguls，ineveningdress。
BLAYNE。Phew！TheJudgeoughttobehangedinhisownstore-godown。Hi，khitmatgarlPoorawhiskey-peg，totakethetasteoutofmymouth。
CURTISS。（RoyalArtillery。）That\'sit，isit？WhatthedeucemadeyoudineattheJudge\'s？Youknowhisbandobust。
BLAYNE。\'Thoughtitcouldn\'tbeworsethantheClub，butI\'llswearhebuysullagedliquoranddoctorsitwithginandink（lookingroundtheroom。）Isthisallofyouto-night？
DOONE。（P。W。D。）Anthonywascalledoutatdinner。Minglehadapaininhistummy。
CURTISS。MiggydiesofcholeraonceaweekintheRains，andgetsdrunkonchlorodyneinbetween。\'Goodlittlechap，though。
AnyoneattheJudge\'s，Blayne？
BLAYNE。Cockleyandhismemsahiblookingawfullywhiteandfagged。\'F（\'。malegirl-couldn\'tcatchthename-onherwaytotheHills，undertheCockleys\'charge-theJudge，andMarkynfreshfromSimla-disgustinglyfit。
CURTISS。GoodLord，howtrulymagnificent！Wasthereenoughice？WhenImangledgarbagethereIgotonewholelump-nearlyasbigasawalnut。WhathadMarkyntosayforhimself？
BLAYNE。\'Seemsthateveryoneishavingafairlygoodtimeupthereinspiteoftherain。ByJove，thatremindsme！IknowI
hadn\'tcomeacrossjustforthepleasureofyoursociety。News！
Greatnews！Markyntoldme。
DOONE。Who\'sdeadnow？
BLAYNE。NoonethatIknowof；butGandy\'shookedatlast！
DROPPINGCHORUS。Howmuch？TheDevil！Markynwaspullingyourleg。NotGANDY！
BLAYNE。（Humming。）\"Yea，verily，verily，verily！Verily，verily，Isayuntothee。\"Theodore，thegifto\'God！OurPhillup！It\'sbeengivenoutupabove。
MACKESY。（Barrister-at-Law。）Huh！Womenwillgiveoutanything。Whatdoesaccusedsay？
BLAYNE。Markyntoldmethathecongratulatedhimwarily-onehandheldout，t\'otherreadytoguard。Gandyturnedpinkandsaiditwasso。
CURTISS。PooroldCaddy！Theyalldoit。Who\'sshe？Let\'shearthedetails。
BLAYNE。She\'sagirl-daughterofaColonelSomebody。
DOONE。Simla\'sstiffwithColonels\'daughters。Bemoreexplicit。
BLAYNE。Waitashake。Whatwashername？Thresomething。
Three-
CURTISS。Stars，perhaps。Caddyknowsthatbrand。
BLAYNE。Threegan-MinnieThreegan。
MACKESY。ThreeganIsn\'tshealittlebitofagirlwithredhair？
BLAYNE。\'Boutthat-fromwhatfromwhatMarkynsaid。
MACKESY。ThenI\'vemether。ShewasatLucknowlastseason。
\'OwnedapermanentlyjuvenileMamma，anddanceddamnably。I
say，Jervoise，youknewtheThreegans，didn\'tyou？
JERVOISE。（Civilianoftwenty-fiveyears\'service，wakingupfromhisdoze。）Eh？What\'sthat？Knewwho？How？IthoughtIwasatHome，confoundyou！
MACKESY。TheThreegangirl\'sengaged，soBlaynesays。
JERVOISE。（Slowly。）Engaged-en-gaged！Blessmysoul！I\'mgettinganoldman！LittleMinnieThreeganengaged。ItwasonlytheotherdayIwenthomewiththemintheSurat-no，theMassilia-
andshewascrawlingaboutonherhandsandkneesamongtheayahs。\'Usedtocallmethe\"TickTackSakib\"becauseIshowedhermywatch。AndthatwasinSixty-Seven-no，Seventy。GoodGod，howtimeflies！I\'manoldman。IrememberwhenThreeganmarriedMissDerwent-daughterofoldHookyDerwent-butthatwasbeforeyourtime。Andsothelittlebaby\'sengagedtohavealittlebabyofherown！Who\'stheotherfool？
MACKESY。GadsbyofthePinkHussars。
JERVOISE。\'Nevermethim。Threeganlivedindebt，marriedindebt，and\'lldieindebt。\'Mustbegladtogetthegirloffhishands。
BLAYNE。Caddyhasmoney-luckydevil。PlaceatHome，too。
DOONE。Hecomesoffirst-classstock。\'Can\'tquiteunderstandhisbeingcaughtbyaColonel\'sdaughter，and（lookingcautiouslyroundroom。）BlackInfantryatthat！Nooffencetoyou，Blayne。
BLAYNE。（Stiffly。）Notmuch，thaanks。
CURTISS。（QuotingmottoofIrregularMoguls。）\"Wearewhatweare，\"eh，oldman？ButGandywassuchasuperioranimalasarule。
Whydidn\'thegoHomeandpickhiswifethere？
MACKESY。Theyareallalikewhentheycometotheturnintothestraight。Aboutthirtyamanbeginstogetsickoflivingalone。
CURTISS。Andoftheeternalmuttony-chopinthemorning。
DOONE。It\'sadeadgoatasarule，butgoon，Mackesy。
MACKESY。Ifaman\'soncetakenthatwaynothingwillholdhim，DoyourememberBenoitofyourservice，Doone？TheytransferredhimtoTharandawhenhistimecame，andhemarriedaplatelayer\'sdaughter，orsomethingofthatkind。Shewastheonlyfemaleabouttheplace。
DONE。Yes，poorbrute。ThatsmashedBenoit\'schancesofpromotionaltogether。Mrs。Benoitusedtoask\"Wasyougem\'tothedancethisevenin\'？\"
CURTISS。Hangitall！Gandyhasn\'tmarriedbeneathhim。There\'snotarbrushinthefamily，Isuppose。
JERVOISE。Tar-brush！Notananna。Youyoungfellowstalkasthoughthemanwasdoingthegirlanhonorinmarryingher。
You\'realltooconceited-nothing\'sgoodenoughforyou。
BLAYNE。NotevenanemptyClub，adam\'baddinnerattheJudge\'s，andaStationassicklyasahospital。You\'requiteright。
We\'reasetofSybarites。
DOONE。Luxuriousdogs，wallowingin-
CURTISS。Pricklyheatbetweentheshoulders。I\'mcoveredwithit。Let\'shopeBeorawillbecooler。
BLAYNE。Whew！Areyouorderedintocamp，too？IthoughttheGunnershadacleansheet。
CURTISS。No，worseluck。Twocasesyesterday-onedied-andifwehaveathird，outwego。IsthereanyshootingatBeora，Doone？
DOONE。Thecountry\'sunderwater，exceptthepatchbytheGrandTrunkRoad。Iwasthereyesterday，lookingatabund，andcameacrossfourpoordevilsintheirlaststage。It\'sratherbadfromheretoKuchara。
CURTISS。Thenwe\'reprettycertaintohaveaheavygoofit。
Heigho！Ishouldn\'tmindchangingplaceswithGaddyforawhile。
\'SportwithAmaryllisintheshadeoftheTownHall，andallthat。
Oh，whydoesn\'tsomebodycomeandmarryme，insteadoflettingmegointocholera-camp？
MACKESY。AsktheCommittee。
CURTISS。Youruffian！You\'llstandmeanotherpegforthat。
Blayne，whatwillyoutake？Mackesyisfineonmoralgrounds。
Done，haveyouanypreference？
DONE。SmallglassKummel，please。Excellentcarminative，thesedays。Anthonytoldmeso。
MACKESY。（Signingvoucherforfourdrinks。）Mostunfairpunishment。IonlythoughtofCurtissasActaeonbeingchiviedroundthebilliardtablesbythenymphsofDiana。
BLAYNE。Curtisswouldhavetoimporthisnymphsbytrain。Mrs。
Cockley\'stheonlywomanintheStation。Shewon\'tleaveCockley，andhe\'sdoinghisbesttogethertogo。
CURTISS。Good，indeed！Here\'sMrs。Cockley\'shealth。TotheonlywifeintheStationandadamnedbravewoman！
OMNES。（Drinking。）AdamnedbravewomanBLAVNE。IsupposeGandywillbringhiswifehereattheendofthecoldweather。Theyaregoingtobemarriedalmostimmediately，Ibelieve。
CURTISS。GandymaythankhisluckthatthePinkHussarsarealldetachmentandnoheadquartersthishotweather，orhe\'dbetornfromthearmsofhisloveassureasdeath。Haveyouevernoticedthethorough-mindedwayBritishCavalrytaketocholera？It\'sbecausetheyaresoexpensive。IfthePinkshadstoodfasthere，theywouldhavebeenoutincampa。monthago。Yes，IshoulddecidedlyliketobeGandy。
MACKESY。He\'llgoHomeafterhe\'smarried，andsendinhispapers-seeifhedoesn\'t。
BLAYNE。Whyshouldn\'the？Hasn\'themoney？Wouldanyoneofusbehereifweweren\'tpaupers？
DONE。Pooroldpauper！Whathasbecomeofthesixhundredyourookedfromourtablelastmonth？
BLAYNE。Ittookuntoitselfwings。Ithinkanenterprisingtradesmangotsomeofit，andashroffgobbledtherest-orelseI
spentit。
CURTISS。Gandyneverhaddealingswithashroffinhislife。
DONE。VirtuousGandy！IfIhadthreethousandamonth，paidfromEngland，Idon\'tthinkI\'ddealwithashroffeither。
MACKESY。（Yawning。）Oh，it\'sasweetlife！Iwonderwhethermatrimonywouldmakeitsweeter。
CURTISS。AskCockley-withhiswifedyingbyinches！
BLAYNE。Gohomeandgetafoolofagirltocomeoutto-whatisitThackeraysays？-\"thesplendidpalaceofanIndianpro-consul。\"
DOONE。Whichremindsme。Myquartersleaklikeasieve。Ihadfeverlastnightfromsleepinginaswamp。Andtheworstofitis，onecan\'tdoanythingtoarooftilltheRainsareover。
CURTISS。What\'swrongwithyou？Youhaven\'teightyrottingTommiestotakeintoarunningstream。
DONE。No:butI\'mmixedboilsandbadlanguage。I\'maregularJoballovermybody。It\'ssheerpovertyofblood，andIdon\'tseeanychanceofgettingricher-eitherway。
BLAYNE。Can\'tyoutakeleave？DONE。That\'sthepullyouArmymenhaveoverus。Tendaysarenothinginyoursight。I\'msoimportantthatGovernmentcan\'tfindasubstituteifIgoaway。
Ye-es，I\'dliketobeGandy，whoeverhiswifemaybe。
CURTISS。You\'vepassedtheturnoflifethatMackesywasspeakingof。
DONE。IndeedIhave，butIneveryethadthebrutalitytoaskawomantosharemylifeouthere。
BLAvNE。OnmysoulIbelieveyou\'reright。I\'mthinkingofMrs。
Cockley。Thewoman\'sanabsolutewreck。
DONE。Exactly。Becauseshestaysdownhere。TheonlywaytokeepherfitwouldbetosendhertotheHillsforeightmonths-andthesamewithanywoman。IfancyIseemyselftakingawifeonthoseterms。
MACKESY。Withtherupeeatoneandsixpence。ThelittleDooneswouldbelittleDebraDoones，withafineMussooriechi-chianenttobringhomefortheholidays。
CURTISS。Andapairofbe-ewtifulsambhur-hornsforDonetowear，freeofexpense，presentedby-DONE。Yes，it\'sanenchantingprospect。Bytheway，therupeehasn\'tdonefallingyet。Thetimewillcomewhenweshallthinkourselvesluckyifweonlylosehalfourpay。
CURTISS。Surelyathird\'slossenough。Whogainsbythearrangement？That\'swhatIwanttoknow。
BLAYNE。TheSilverQuestion！I\'mgoingtobedifyoubeginsquabblingThankGoodness，here\'sAnthony-lookinglikeaghost。
EnterANTHONY，IndianMedicalStaff，verywhiteandtired。
ANTHONY。\'Evening，Blayne。It\'sraininginsheets。Whiskeypeglao，khitmatgar。Theroadsaresomethingghastly。
CURTISS。How\'sMingle？
ANTHONY。Verybad，andmorefrightened。IhandedhimovertoFew-ton。Minglemightjustaswellhavecalledhiminthefirstplace，insteadofbotheringme。
BLAYNE。He\'sanervouslittlechap。Whathashegot，thistime？
ANTHONY。\'Can\'tquitesay。Averybadtummyandabluefunksofar。Heaskedmeatonceifitwascholera，andItoldhimnottobeafool。Thatsoothedhim。
CURTIS。Poordevil！Thefunkdoeshalfthebusinessinamanofthatbuild。
ANTHONY。（Lightingacheroot。）Ifirmlybelievethefunkwillkillhimifhestaysdown。Youknowtheamountoftroublehe\'sbeengivingFewtonforthelastthreeweeks。He\'sdoinghisverybesttofrightenhimselfintothegrave。
GENERALCHORUS。Poorlittledevil！Whydoesn\'thegetaway？
ANTHONY。\'Can\'t。Hehashisleaveallright，buthe\'ssodippedhecan\'ttakeit，andIdon\'tthinkhisnameonpaperwouldraisefourannas。That\'sinconfidence，though。
MACKESY。AlltheStationknowsit。
ANTHONY。\"IsupposeIshallhavetodiehere，\"hesaid，squirmingallacrossthebed。He\'squitemadeuphismindtoKingdomCome。AndIknowhehasnothingmorethanawet-weathertummyifhecouldonlykeepahandonhimself。
BLAYNE。That\'sbad。That\'sverybad。PoorlittleMiggy。Goodlittlechap，too。Isay-
ANTHONY。Whatdoyousay？
BLAYNE。Well，lookhere-anyhow。Ifit\'slikethat-asyousay-I
sayfifty。
CURTISS。Isayfifty。
MACKESY。Igotwentybetter。
DONE。BloatedCroesusoftheBar！Isayfifty。Jervoise，whatdoyousay？Hi！Wakeup！
JERVOISE。Eh？What\'sthat？What\'sthat？
CURTISS。Wewantahundredrupeesfromyou。You\'reabachelordrawingagiganticincome，andthere\'samaninahole。
JERVOISE。Whatman？Anyonedead？
BLAYNE。No，huthe\'lldieifyoudon\'tgivethehundred。Here！
Here\'sapeg-voucher。Youcanseewhatwe\'vesignedfor，andAnthony\'smanwillcomeroundto-morrowtocollectit。Sotherewillbenotrouble。
JERVOISE。（Signing。）Onehundred，E。M。J。Thereyouare（feebly）。Itisn\'toneofyourjokes，isit？
BLAYNE。No，itreallyiswanted。Anthony，youwerethebiggestpoker-winnerlastweek，andyou\'vedefraudedthetax-collectortoolong。Sign！
ANTHONY。Let\'ssee。Threefiftiesandaseventy-twotwenty-threetwenty-sayfourhundredandtwenty。That\'llgivehimamonthclearattheHills。Manythanks，youmen。I\'llsendroundthechaprassito-morrow。
CURTISS。Youmustengineerhistakingthestuff，andofcourseyoumustn\'t-
ANTHONY。Ofcourse。Itwouldneverdo。He\'dweepwithgratitudeoverhiseveningdrink。
BLAYNE。That\'sjustwhathewoulddo，damnhim。Oh！Isay，Anthony，youpretendtoknoweverything。HaveyouheardaboutGandy？
ANTHONY。No。DivorceCourtatlast？
BLAYNE。Worse。He\'sengaged！
ANTHONY。Howmuch？Hecan\'tbe！
BLAYNE。Heis。He\'sgoingtobemarriedinafewweeks。MarkyntoldmeattheJudge\'sthisevening。It\'spukka。
ANTHONY。Youdon\'tsayso？HolyMoses！There\'llbeashineinthetentsofKedar。
CURTISS。\'Regimentcutuprough，thinkyou？
ANTHONY。\'Don\'tknowanythingabouttheRegiment。
MACKESY。Itisbigamy，then？
ANTHONY。Maybe。Doyoumeantosaythatyoumenhaveforgotten，oristheremorecharityintheworldthanIthought？
DONE。Youdon\'tlookprettywhenyouaretryingtokeepasecret。
Youbloat。Explain。
ANTHONY。Mrs。Herriott！
BLAYNE。（Afteralongpause，totheroomgenerally。）It\'smynotionthatweareasetoffools。
MACKESY。Nonsense。Thatbusinesswasknockedontheheadlastseason。Why，youngMallard-
ANTHONY。Mallardwasacandlestick，paradedassuch。Thinkawhile。Recollectlastseasonandthetalkthen。MallardornoMallard，didGandyevertalktoanyotherwoman？
CURTISS。There\'ssomethinginthat。Itwasslightlynoticeablenowyoucometomentionit。Butshe\'satNainiTatandhe\'satSimla。
ANTHONY。HehadtogotoSimlatolookafteraglobe-trotterrelativeofhis-apersonwithatitle。Uncleoraunt。
BLAYNEAndtherehegotengaged。Nolawpreventsamangrowingtiredofawoman。
ANTHONY。Exceptthathemustn\'tdoittillthewomanistiredofhim。AndtheHerriottwomanwasnotthat。
CURTISS。Shemaybenow。TwomonthsofNainiTalworkswonders。
DONE。CuriousthinghowsomewomencarryaFatewiththem。
TherewasaMrs。DeegieintheCentralProvinceswhosemeninvariablyfellawayandgotmarried。ItbecamearegularproverbwithuswhenIwasdownthere。Irememberthreemendesperatelydevotedtoher，andtheyall，oneafteranother，tookwives。
CURTISS。That\'sodd。NowIshouldhavethoughtthatMrs。
Deegie\'sinfluencewouldhaveledthemtotakeothermen\'swives。
ItoughttohavemadethemafraidofthejudgmentofProvidence。
ANTHONY。Mrs。HerriottwillmakeGandyafraidofsomethingmorethanthejudgmentofProvidence，Ifancy。
BLAYNE。Supposingthingsareasyousay，he\'llbeafooltofaceher。He\'llsittightatSimla。
ANTHONY。\'Shouldn\'tbeabitsurprisedifhewentofftoNainitoexplain。He\'sanunaccountablesortofman，andshe\'slikelytobeamorethanunaccountablewoman。
DONE。Whatmakesyoutakehercharacterawaysoconfidently？
ANTHONY。Primumternpus。Caddywasherfirstandawomandoesn\'tallowherfirstmantodropawaywithoutexpostulation。
Shejustifiesthefirsttransferofaffectiontoherselfbyswearingthatitisforeverandever。Consequently-
BLAYNE。Consequently，wearesittingheretillpastoneo\'clock，talkingscandallikeasetofStationcats。Anthony，it\'sallyourfault。WewereperfectlyrespectabletillyoucameinGotobed。
I\'moff，Good-nightall。
CURTISS。Pastone！It\'spasttwobyJove，andhere\'sthekhitcomingforthelatecharge。JustHeavens！One，two，three，four，fiverupeestopayforthepleasureofsayingthatapoorlittlebeastofawomanisnobetterthansheshouldbe。I\'mashamedofmyself。
Gotobed，youslanderousvillains，andifI\'msenttoBeorato-morrow，bepreparedtohearI\'mdeadbeforepayingmycardaccount！
THETENTSOFKEDAR
OnlywhyshoulditbewithpainatallWhymustI\'twixtheleavesofcorona！Putanykissofpardononthybrow？Whyshouldtheotherwomenknowsomuch，Andtalktogether-SuchthelookandsuchThesmileheusedtolovewith，thenasnow-AnyWifetoanyHusband。
SCENE-ANainiTaldinnerforthirty-four。Plate，wines，crockery，andkhitmatgarscarefullycalculatedtoscaleofRs。6000permensem，lessExchange。Tablesplitlengthwaysbybankofflowers。
MRS。HERRIOTT。（Afterconversationhasrisentoproperpitch。）
Ah！\'Didn\'tseeyouinthecrushinthedrawing-room。（Sottovoce。）
Wherehaveyoubeenallthiswhile，Pip？
CAPTAINGADSBY。（Turningfromregularlyordaineddinnerpartnerandsettlinghockglasses。）Goodevening。（Sottovoce。）
Notquitesoloudanothertime。You\'venonotionhowyourvoicecarries。（Aside。）Somuchforshirkingthewrittenexplanation。It\'llhavetobeaverbalonenow。Sweetprospect！HowonearthamI
totellherthatIamarespectable，engagedmemberofsocietyandit\'salloverbetweenus？
MRS。H。I\'veaheavyscoreagainstyou。WherewereyouattheMondayPop？WherewereyouonTuesday？WherewereyouattheLamonts\'tennis？Iwaslookingeverywhere。
CAPT。G。Forme！Oh，Iwasalivesomewhere，Isuppose。
（Aside。）It\'sforMinnie\'ssake，butit\'sgoingtobedashedunpleasant。
MRS。H。HaveIdoneanythingtooffendyou？InevermeantitifI
have。Icouldn\'thelpgoingforaridewiththeVaynorman。Itwaspromisedaweekbeforeyoucameup。
CAPT。G。Ididn\'tknow-
MRS。H。Itreallywas。
CAPT。G。Anythingaboutit，Imean。
MRS。H。Whathasupsetyoutoday？Allthesedays？Youhaven\'tbeennearmeforfourwholedays-nearlyonehundredhours。Wasitkindofyou，Pip？AndI\'vebeenlookingforwardsomuchtoyourcoming。
CAPT。G。Haveyou？
MRS。H。YouknowIhave！I\'vebeenasfoolishasaschoolgirlaboutit。Imadealittlecalendarandputitinmycard-case，andeverytimethetwelveo\'clockgunwentoffIscratchedoutasquareandsaid:\"ThatbringsmenearertoPip。MyPip！\"
CAPT。G。（Withanuneasylaugh）。WhatwillMacklerthinkifyouneglecthimso？
MRS。H。Andithasn\'tbroughtyounearer。Youseemfartherawaythanever。Areyousulkingaboutsomething？Iknowyourtemper。