that is a man of men! So was his father! Now I will tell Alwa and the
others that I bring a man to them! By the teeth of God and my own
honor I will swear to it! His first tiger--he had never seen a
tiger!--in the dark, and unexpected--caught by it, to all seeming,
like a trapped man in a cage--no lamp--no help at hand, or so he
thought until it was all over. And he ran at the tiger! And then,
'you come with your shoes on, Mahommed Gunga--why, forsooth?' Did
you hear him? By the blood of Allah, we have a man to lead us!"




CHAPTER VIII


Now, the gist of the thing is--Be silent. Be calm.
Be awake. Be on hand on the day.
Be instant to heed the first note of alarm.
And--precisely--exactly--Obey.

AT Howrah, while Mahommed Gunga was employing each chance circumstance
to test the pluck and decision and reliability of Cunningham at almost
every resting-place along the Grand Trunk Road, the armed squire he had
left behind with a little handful of gold mohurs and three horses was
finding time heavy on his hands.

Like his master, Ali Partab was a man of action, to whom the purlieus
of a caravansary were well enough on rare occasions. He could ruffle
it with the best of them; like any of his race, he could lounge with
dignity and listen to the tales that hum wherever many horsemen