off to get the butcher-knife and sharpen it, it was noticeable that
he wore a chastened look.

"Send Sidiki after me!" Brown shouted after him, and a minute later
a nearly naked Beluchi struck a match and emerged from the darkness,
with the light of a lantern gleaming on his skin. He followed like
a snake, and only Brown's sharp, authority-conveying footfalls could
be heard as he trudged sturdily--straight-backed, eyes straight in
front of him--to where an age-old baobab loomed like a phantom in
the night. He marched like a man in armor. Not even the terrific
heat of a Central-Indian night could take the stiffening out of him.

The Beluchi ran ahead, just before they reached the tree. He stopped
and held the lantern up to let its light fall on some object that
was close against the tree-trunk. At a good ten-pace distance from
the object Brown stopped and stared. The lamplight fell on two little
dots that gleamed. Brown stepped two paces nearer. Two deadly,
malicious human eyes blinked once, and then stared back at him.

"Does he never sleep?" asked Brown.

The Beluchi said something or other in a language that was full of
harsh hard gutturals, and the owner of the eyes chuckled. His voice
seemed to be coming from the tree itself, and there was nothing of
him visible except the cruel keen eyes that had not blinked once since
Brown drew nearer.

"Well?"

"Sahib, he does not answer."