{"product_id":"2940013653078","title":"THE LAMP IN THE DESERT","description":"CHAPTER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   I.--BEGGAR'S CHOICE\u003cbr\u003e  II.--THE PRISONER AT THE BAR\u003cbr\u003e III.--THE TRIUMPH\u003cbr\u003e  IV.--THE BRIDE\u003cbr\u003e   V.--THE DREAM\u003cbr\u003e  VI.--THE GARDEN\u003cbr\u003e VII.--THE SERPENT IN THE GARDEN\u003cbr\u003eVIII.--THE FORBIDDEN PARADISE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART II\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   I.--THE MINISTERING ANGEL\u003cbr\u003e  II.--THE RETURN\u003cbr\u003e III.--THE BARREN SOIL\u003cbr\u003e  IV.--THE SUMMONS\u003cbr\u003e   V.--THE MORNING\u003cbr\u003e  VI.--THE NIGHT-WATCH\u003cbr\u003e VII.--SERVICE RENDERED\u003cbr\u003eVIII.--THE TRUCE\u003cbr\u003e  IX.--THE OASIS\u003cbr\u003e   X.--THE SURRENDER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART III\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   I.--BLUEBEARD'S CHAMBER\u003cbr\u003e  II.--EVIL TIDINGS\u003cbr\u003e III.--THE BEAST OF PREY\u003cbr\u003e  IV.--THE FLAMING SWORD\u003cbr\u003e   V.--TESSA\u003cbr\u003e  VI.--THE ARRIVAL\u003cbr\u003e VII.--FALSE PRETENCES\u003cbr\u003eVIII.--THE WRATH OF THE GODS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART IV\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   I.--DEVIL'S DICE\u003cbr\u003e  II.--OUT OF THE DARKNESS\u003cbr\u003e III.--BLUEBELL\u003cbr\u003e  IV.--THE SERPENT IN THE DESERT\u003cbr\u003e   V.--THE WOMAN'S WAY\u003cbr\u003e  VI.--THE SURPRISE PARTY\u003cbr\u003e VII.--RUSTAM KARIN\u003cbr\u003eVIII.--PETER\u003cbr\u003e  IX.--THE CONSUMING FIRE\u003cbr\u003e   X.--THE DESERT PLACE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART V\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e   I.--GREATER THAN DEATH\u003cbr\u003e  II.--THE LAMP\u003cbr\u003e III.--TESSA'S MOTHER\u003cbr\u003e  IV.--THE BROAD ROAD\u003cbr\u003e   V.--THE DARK NIGHT\u003cbr\u003e  VI.--THE FIRST GLIMMER\u003cbr\u003e VII.--THE FIRST VICTIM\u003cbr\u003eVIII.--THE FIERY VORTEX\u003cbr\u003e  IX.--THE DESERT OF ASHES\u003cbr\u003e   X.--THE ANGEL\u003cbr\u003e  XI.--THE DAWN\u003cbr\u003e XII.--THE BLUE JAY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER I\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBEGGAR'S CHOICE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA great roar of British voices pierced the jewelled curtain of the\u003cbr\u003eIndian night. A toast with musical honours was being drunk in the\u003cbr\u003esweltering dining-room of the officers' mess. The enthusiastic hubbub\u003cbr\u003espread far, for every door and window was flung wide. Though the season\u003cbr\u003ewas yet in its infancy, the heat was intense. Markestan had the\u003cbr\u003ereputation in the Indian Army for being one of the hottest corners in\u003cbr\u003ethe Empire in more senses than one, and Kurrumpore, the military centre,\u003cbr\u003ehad not been chosen for any especial advantages of climate. So few\u003cbr\u003eindeed did it possess in the eyes of Europeans that none ever went there\u003cbr\u003esave those whom an inexorable fate compelled. The rickety, wooden\u003cbr\u003ebungalows scattered about the cantonment were temporary lodgings, not\u003cbr\u003eabiding-places. The women of the community, like migratory birds, dwelt\u003cbr\u003ein them for barely four months in the year, flitting with the coming of\u003cbr\u003ethe pitiless heat to Bhulwana, their little paradise in the Hills. But\u003cbr\u003ethat was a twenty-four hours' journey away, and the men had to be\u003cbr\u003econtent with an occasional week's leave from the depths of their\u003cbr\u003einferno, unless, as Tommy Denvers put it, they were lucky enough to go\u003cbr\u003esick, in which case their sojourn in paradise was prolonged, much to the\u003cbr\u003edelight of the angels.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut on that hot night the annual flitting of the angels had not yet come\u003cbr\u003eto pass, and notwithstanding the heat the last dance of the season was\u003cbr\u003eto take place at the Club House. The occasion was an exceptional one, as\u003cbr\u003ethe jovial sounds that issued from the officers' mess-house testified.\u003cbr\u003eRound after round of cheers followed the noisy toast, filling the night\u003cbr\u003ewith the merry uproar that echoed far and wide. A confusion of voices\u003cbr\u003esucceeded these; and then by degrees the babel died down, and a single\u003cbr\u003evoice made itself heard. It spoke with easy fluency to the evident\u003cbr\u003eappreciation of its listeners, and when it ceased there came another\u003cbr\u003ehearty cheer. Then with jokes and careless laughter the little company\u003cbr\u003eof British officers began to disperse. They came forth in lounging\u003cbr\u003egroups on to the steps of the mess-house, the foremost of them--Tommy\u003cbr\u003eDenvers--holding the arm of his captain, who suffered the familiarity as\u003cbr\u003ehe suffered most things, with the utmost indifference. None but Tommy\u003cbr\u003eever attempted to get on familiar terms with Everard Monck. He was\u003cbr\u003eessentially a man who stood alone. But the slim, fair-haired young\u003cbr\u003esubaltern worshipped him openly and with reason. For Monck it was who,\u003cbr\u003egrimly resolute, had pulled him through the worst illness he had ever\u003cbr\u003eknown, accomplishing by sheer force of will what Ralston, the doctor,\u003cbr\u003ehad failed to accomplish by any other means. And in consequence and for\u003cbr\u003eall time the youngest subaltern in the mess had become Monck's devoted\u003cbr\u003eadherent.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47152586129648,"sku":"2940013653078","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013653078_p0.jpg?v=1763584073","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013653078","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}