have not asked you yet about your adventures. Tell me all that happened to
you, if you don't mind talking about it."

"Oh, it was awful," she answered, shuddering at the remembrance. "And it
was all so sudden. There was a fire in the jungle near the garden, and Fred
went with the others to put it out. He wouldn't let me accompany him, but
told me to go for my ride in the opposite direction. I didn't stay away
long. I had just returned to the bungalow and dismounted and was giving my
pony a piece of sugar, when several Bhuttias rushed at me from behind the
house and seized me. Poor Lalla, my _syce_, tried to keep them off with his
bare hands, but one brute struck him on the head with his sword. The poor
boy fell, covered with blood. I'm afraid he was killed."

"No, he isn't dead," remarked Dermot. "I saw him, and I think that he'll
live."

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear it," exclaimed the girl. "Ever since I saw it I've
had before my eyes the dreadful sight of the poor lad lying on the ground
covered with blood and apparently lifeless. Well, to go on. I called the
other servants, but no one came. The Bhuttias tied my hands and tried to
lift me on to my pony's back, but Kitty got frightened and bolted. Then
they didn't seem to know what to do, and one went to a man who had remained
at a distance from us and spoke to him. He apparently told them to fetch a
chair from the bungalow and put me into it. I tried to struggle, but I was
powerless in their grasp. I was fastened to the chair, poles were tied to
it, and at a sign from the man who stood alone--he seemed to be the
leader--I was lifted up and carried off."

"Did you notice anything about this man--the leader?" asked Dermot.