"_Au revoir[22]_ my true friends," said the Russian.
"Indeed! But we thought you were going home?"
"Yes; but I will come again. My friends, is that road shut?" He
pointed to where the north star burned over the Khyber Pass.
"By Jove! I forgot. Of course. Happy to meet you, old man, any time
you like. Got everything you want,--cheroots, ice, bedding? That's all
right. Well, _au revoir_, Dirkovitch."
"Um," said the other man, as the tail-lights of the train grew small.
"Of--all--the--unmitigated[23]--"
Little Mildred answered nothing, but watched the north star, and
hummed a selection from a recent burlesque that had much delighted the
White Hussars. It ran:--
"I'm sorry for Mister Bluebeard,
I'm sorry to cause him pain;
But a terrible spree there's sure to be
When he comes back again."
NOTES
[1] _The Man Who Was_ was written in 1889.
[2] 46:6 anomaly. Deviation from type.
[3] 47:1 Hussars. Light-horse troopers armed with sabre and carbine.
[4] 47:1 Peshawur. City in British India.
[5] 47:7 Tyrones. From a county in Ireland by this name.
[6] 47:26 Burmah. In southeastern Asia. Part of the British Empire.
[7] 47:27 Irrawaddy. Chief river of Burma.
[8] 48:27 Sotnia. Company of the Cossacks.
[9] 50:14 rupee. Indian coin worth about forty-eight cents.
[10] 50:21 vendettas. Private blood-feuds.
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