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VISTA

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But no one would tell her anything and her Ayah did not come .
She was actually left alone as the morning went on , and at last she wandered out into the garden and began to play by herself under a tree near the veranda .
She pretended that she was making a flower-bed , and she stuck big scarlet hibiscus blossoms into little heaps of earth , all the time growing more and more angry and muttering to herself the things she would say and the names she would call Saidie when she returned .
" Pig !
Pig !
Daughter of Pigs ! " she said , because to call a native a pig is the worst insult of all .
She was grinding her teeth and saying this over and over again when she heard her mother come out on the veranda with some one .
She was with a fair young man and they stood talking together in low strange voices .
Mary knew the fair young man who looked like a boy .
She had heard that he was a very young officer who had just come from England .
The child stared at him , but she stared most at her mother .
She always did this when she had a chance to see her , because the Mem Sahib -- Mary used to call her that oftener than anything else -- was such a tall , slim , pretty person and wore such lovely clothes .
Her hair was like curly silk and she had a delicate little nose which seemed to be disdaining things , and she had large laughing eyes .
All her clothes were thin and floating , and Mary said they were " full of lace . "
They looked fuller of lace than ever this morning , but her eyes were not laughing at all .
They were large and scared and lifted imploringly to the fair boy officer 's face .
" Is it so very bad ?
Oh , is it ? "
Mary heard her say .
" Awfully , " the young man answered in a trembling voice .
" Awfully , Mrs. Lennox .
You ought to have gone to the hills two weeks ago . "
The Mem Sahib wrung her hands .
" Oh , I know I ought ! " she cried .
" I only stayed to go to that silly dinner party .
What a fool I was ! "
At that very moment such a loud sound of wailing broke out from the servants ' quarters that she clutched the young man 's arm , and Mary stood shivering from head to foot .
The wailing grew wilder and wilder .
" What is it ?
What is it ? "
Mrs. Lennox gasped .
" Some one has died , " answered the boy officer .
" You did not say it had broken out among your servants . "
" I did not know ! " the Mem Sahib cried .
" Come with me !
Come with me ! " and she turned and ran into the house .
After that , appalling things happened , and the mysteriousness of the morning was explained to Mary .
The cholera had broken out in its most fatal form and people were dying like flies .
The Ayah had been taken ill in the night , and it was because she had just died that the servants had wailed in the huts .
Before the next day three other servants were dead and others had run away in terror .
There was panic on every side , and dying people in all the bungalows .
During the confusion and bewilderment of the second day Mary hid herself in the nursery and was forgotten by everyone .
Nobody thought of her , nobody wanted her , and strange things happened of which she knew nothing .
Mary alternately cried and slept through the hours .
She only knew that people were ill and that she heard mysterious and frightening sounds .
Once she crept into the dining-room and found it empty , though a partly finished meal was on the table and chairs and plates looked as if they had been hastily pushed back when the diners rose suddenly for some reason .
The child ate some fruit and biscuits , and being thirsty she drank a glass of wine which stood nearly filled .
It was sweet , and she did not know how strong it was .
Very soon it made her intensely drowsy , and she went back to her nursery and shut herself in again , frightened by cries she heard in the huts and by the hurrying sound of feet .
The wine made her so sleepy that she could scarcely keep her eyes open and she lay down on her bed and knew nothing more for a long time .
Many things happened during the hours in which she slept so heavily , but she was not disturbed by the wails and the sound of things being carried in and out of the bungalow .
When she awakened she lay and stared at the wall .
The house was perfectly still .
She had never known it to be so silent before .
She heard neither voices nor footsteps , and wondered if everybody had got well of the cholera and all the trouble was over .
She wondered also who would take care of her now her Ayah was dead .
There would be a new Ayah , and perhaps she would know some new stories .
Mary had been rather tired of the old ones .
She did not cry because her nurse had died .
She was not an affectionate child and had never cared much for any one .
The noise and hurrying about and wailing over the cholera had frightened her , and she had been angry because no one seemed to remember that she was alive .
Everyone was too panic-stricken to think of a little girl no one was fond of .
When people had the cholera it seemed that they remembered nothing but themselves .
But if everyone had got well again , surely some one would remember and come to look for her .
But no one came , and as she lay waiting the house seemed to grow more and more silent .
She heard something rustling on the matting and when she looked down she saw a little snake gliding along and watching her with eyes like jewels .
She was not frightened , because he was a harmless little thing who would not hurt her and he seemed in a hurry to get out of the room .
He slipped under the door as she watched him .
" How queer and quiet it is , " she said .
" It sounds as if there were no one in the bungalow but me and the snake . "
Almost the next minute she heard footsteps in the compound , and then on the veranda .
They were men 's footsteps , and the men entered the bungalow and talked in low voices .
No one went to meet or speak to them and they seemed to open doors and look into rooms .
" What desolation ! " she heard one voice say .
" That pretty , pretty woman !
I suppose the child , too .
I heard there was a child , though no one ever saw her . "
Mary was standing in the middle of the nursery when they opened the door a few minutes later .
She looked an ugly , cross little thing and was frowning because she was beginning to be hungry and feel disgracefully neglected .
The first man who came in was a large officer she had once seen talking to her father .
He looked tired and troubled , but when he saw her he was so startled that he almost jumped back .
" Barney ! " he cried out .
" There is a child here !
A child alone !
In a place like this !
Mercy on us , who is she ! "
" I am Mary Lennox , " the little girl said , drawing herself up stiffly .
She thought the man was very rude to call her father 's bungalow " A place like this ! "
" I fell asleep when everyone had the cholera and I have only just wakened up .
Why does nobody come ? "
" It is the child no one ever saw ! " exclaimed the man , turning to his companions .
" She has actually been forgotten ! "
PROLOGUE IT was 2 p.m. on the afternoon of May 7 , 1915 .
The _ Lusitania _ had been struck by two torpedoes in succession and was sinking rapidly , while the boats were being launched with all possible speed .
The women and children were being lined up awaiting their turn .
Some still clung desperately to husbands and fathers ; others clutched their children closely to their breasts .
One girl stood alone , slightly apart from the rest .
She was quite young , not more than eighteen .
She did not seem afraid , and her grave , steadfast eyes looked straight ahead .
“ I beg your pardon . ”