CHAPTER XV.
When the party met at dinner they were for a time somewhat silent, for all were exhausted by their hard work under a blazing sun, but their spirits rose under their surroundings.
The native servants had laid the table with as scrupulous care as usual; and, except that there was no display of flowers, no change was observable.
All had dressed after the work was over, and the men were in white drill, and the ladies had, from custom, put on light evening gowns.
The cook had prepared an excellent dinner, and as the champagne went round no stranger would have supposed that the party had met under unusual circumstances.

The Doctor and the two subalterns were unaffectedly gay, and as the rest all made an effort to be cheerful, the languor that had marked the commencement of the dinner soon wore off.
"Wilson and Richards are becoming quite sportsmen," the Doctor said.
"They have tried their hands at tigers but could hardly have expected to take part in elephant shooting.

They can't quite settle between themselves as to which it was who sent the Rajah's elephant flying among the crowd.

Both declare they aimed at that special beast.

So, as there is no deciding the point, we must consider the honor as divided." "It was rather hard on us," Isobel said, "to be kept working below instead of being up there seeing what was going on.