Ch. 24: The Return of Imray - Page 2

the rations of two men. She spoke to
Strickland in a language of her own; and whenever, walking abroad, she
saw things calculated to destroy the peace of Her Majesty the Queen-
Empress, she returned to her master and laid information. Strickland
would take steps at once, and the end of his labours was trouble and
fine and imprisonment for other people. The natives believed that
Tietjens was a familiar spirit, and treated her with the great reverence
that is born of hate and fear. One room in the bungalow was set apart
for her special use. She owned a bedstead, a blanket, and a drinking-
trough, and if any one came into Strickland's room at night her custom
was to knock down the invader and give tongue till some one came with a
light. Strickland owed his life to her, when he was on the Frontier, in
search of a local murderer, who came in the gray dawn to send Strickland
much farther than the Andaman Islands. Tietjens caught the man as he was
crawling into Strickland's tent with a dagger between his teeth; and
after his record of iniquity was established in the eyes of the law he
was hanged. From that date Tietjens wore a collar of rough silver, and
employed a monogram on her night-blanket; and the blanket was of double
woven Kashmir cloth, for she was a delicate dog.

Under no circumstances would she be separated from Strickland; and once,
when he was ill with fever, made great trouble for the doctors, because
she did not know how to help her master and would not allow another
creature to attempt aid. Macarnaght, of the Indian Medical Service, beat
her over her head with a gun-butt before she could understand that she
must give room for those who could give quinine.

A short time after Strickland had taken Imray's bungalow, my business
took me through that Station, and naturally, the Club quarters being
full, I quartered myself upon Strickland. It was a desirable bungalow,
eight-roomed and heavily thatched against any chance of leakage from
rain. Under the pitch of the roof ran a ceiling-cloth which looked just
as neat as a white-washed ceiling. The landlord had repainted it when
Strickland took the bungalow. Unless you knew how Indian bungalows were
built you would never have suspected that above the cloth lay the dark
three-cornered cavern of the roof, where the beams and the underside of
the thatch harboured all manner of rats, bats, ants, and foul things.

Tietjens met me in the verandah with a bay like the boom of the bell of
St. Paul's, putting her paws on my shoulder to show she was glad to see
me. Strickland had contrived to claw together a sort of meal which he
called lunch, and immediately after it was finished went out about his
business. I was left alone with Tietjens and my own affairs. The