"I am at any rate a martyr!" Measel answered.

The man could walk by that time--he was presumably abstemious and
recovered from shock quickly. Monty sent me to see him to his room,
which turned out to be next the German's, and until Will came over
from our quarters with first-aid stuff from our chest I spent the
minutes telling the German what should happen to him in case he should
so far forget discretion as to resume the offensive. He said nothing
in reply, but sat in his doorway looking up at me with an expression
intended to make me feel nervous of reprisals without committing him
to deeds.

Later, when we had done our best for "the martyred biped Measel,"
as Fred described him, Will and I found Rustum Khan with Fred and
Monty seated around the charcoal brazier in Monty's room, deep in
the valley of reminiscences. Our entry rather broke the spell, but
Rustum Khan was not to be denied.

"You used to tell in those days, Colonel sahib bahadur," he said,
addressing Monty with that full-measured compliment that the chivalrous,
old East still cherishes, "of a castle of your ancestors in these
parts. Do you remember, when I showed you the ruins of my family
place in Rajputana, how you stood beside me on the heights, sahib,
and vowed some day to hunt for that Crusaders' nest, as you called it?"

"That is the immediate purpose of this trip of ours," said Monty.

"Ah!" said the Rajput, and was silent for about a minute. Fred Oakes
began to hum through his nose. He has a ridiculous belief that doing