MIRRIKH.
BOOK I.
LEVITATION.
CHAPTER I.
PANOMPIN.
In 1870 I was at Panompin.
But for this—and it was only by accident that I chanced to be there—my part in the singular adventures which I am about to narrate would never have been played.
Not that there existed any reason why I should not be at Panompin in the year mentioned; still it seemed strange to be wandering alone about the streets of the Cambodian capital free from all responsibility, when only two short months before I had been loaded down with a burden of care which promised to be never-ending, and I would just as soon have thought then of going to the moon.
Permit me before proceeding any further to introduce myself.
I am George Wylde, ex-American Consul at Swatow. The addition of the prefix to my official title was purely of my own seeking. I felt that I had seen enough of Swatow, and of China too, for that matter. I resigned simply because I wanted to get away.
My reasons—well, I suppose they must be stated, and I may as well undertake the disagreeable task first as last. I had trouble with my wife, serious trouble which had been constantly increasing during the five years of our married life. This trouble had culminated in a way that would
