they had seized upon the Chief for the crime Ajeet could not then say
that the Dewan had instigated it; there would be only Hunsa's word for
this, and, of course, he would deny that the Minister was the father of
the scheme.

And in the camp Hunsa and Sookdee were clamouring at Ajeet to undertake
a decoity for they were all in need, and to be idle was not their way
of life.

Hunsa went the length of telling Ajeet that the Dewan would even send
them word where a decoity of much loot could be made and in a safe way,
too, for the Dewan would take care that neither sepoys nor police would
be in the way.

And then one day there came to the Bagree camp a mysterious message. A
yogi, his hair matted with filth till it stood twisted and writhed on
his head like the serpent tresses of Medusa, his lean skeleton
ash-daubed body clothed in yellow, on his forehead the crescent of
Eklinga, in his hand a pair of clanking iron tongs, crawled wearily to
the tents where were the decoits, and bleared out of blood-shot blobs
of faded brown at Ajeet Singh.

He had a message for the Chief from the god Bhyroo who galloped at
night on a black horse, and the message had to do with the decoits, for
if they were successful they could make offering to the priests at the
temple of Bhowanee, for in her service decoity was an honourable
occupation and of great antiquity.

Hunsa and Sookdee had come to sit on their heels, and as they listened
they knew that the wily old Dewan had sent the _yogi_ so that it could