Water in abundance was laid on from the river.
Natives of superior caste, who had proved their capacity for order,
were put in charge of the different blocks and made responsible for
their condition. Of more value than all this was the energy and
willingness with which the people entered into the project. More
workers offered themselves than were required, and could only be
comforted with the assurance that very soon a new enterprise would be
set on foot in which they, too, would find occupation.
A month after the first stone had been laid, Stafford paid a visit of
inspection in company with the Rajah and Travers. On his way back be
passed the Carys' bungalow, and seeing Beatrice on the verandah, he
had ridden up, as he said, to make his salaams. Very little persuasion
tempted him into the cool, shady drawing-room. He knew that Lois would
be up at the club, and, _faute de mieux_, Beatrice's company was
something to be appreciated after a hot and exhausting afternoon. For
a rather curious friendship had sprung up between these two. They had
nothing in common. His stiffly honest and orthodox character was oil
to the water of her outspoken indifference to the usual codes and
morals of ordinary society. And yet he liked her, and, strangely
enough, he never found that her supercilious criticisms and daring
opinions jarred on him. Perhaps it was his honesty which recognized
the honesty in her, just as, on the reverse side, the sanctimonious
Philistinisms of Maud Berry left him glowing with irritation because
his instincts told him that they were not even sincere.
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