The Dalehams and their guest did not reach Malpura until after sundown, and
Dermot was persuaded to remain another night under their roof.

On the following morning the brother and sister rode out with him to the
scene of Noreen's adventure. He was on foot and was accompanied by two
coolies carrying his elephant's pad. The girl was not surprised, although
Fred Daleham was, at Badshah's appearance from the forest in response to a
whistle from his master. And when, after a friendly farewell, man and
animal disappeared in the jungle, Noreen was conscious of the fact that
they had left a little ache in her heart.



CHAPTER VII


IN THE RAJAH'S PALACE

A rambling, many-storied building, a jumbled mass of no particular design
or style of architecture, with blue-washed walls and close-latticed
windows, an insanitary rabbit-warren of intricate passages, unexpected
courtyards, hidden gardens, and crazy tenements kennelling a small army of
servants, retainers, and indefinable hangers-on--such was the palace of the
Rajah of Lalpuri. Here and there, by carved doors or iron-studded gates
half off their hinges, lounged purposeless sentries, barefooted, clad in
old and dirty red coatees, white cross-belts and ragged blue trousers. They
leant on rusty, muzzle-loading muskets purchased from "John Company" in
pre-Mutiny years, and their uniforms were modelled on those worn by the
Company's native troops before the days of Chillianwallah.