had one brought to him. He sealed the list in the envelope, addressed
it and beckoned Ismail again.

"Take this to Saunders sahib!" he ordered. "Go first to the telegraph
office, where you were before, and the babu there will tell you where
Saunders sahib may be found. Having found him, deliver the letter
to him. Then come and find me at the Star of India Hotel and help
me to bathe and change my clothes."

"To hear is to obey!" boomed Ismail, bowing; but his last glance
was for Rewa Gunga, and be did not turn to go until he had met the
Rangar's eyes.

When Ismail had gone striding down the room, with no glance to spare
for the whispering women in the window, and with dignity like an
aura exuding from
him, King looked into the Rangar's eyes with that engaging frankness
of his that disarms so many people.

"Then you'll be on the train to-night?" he asked.

"To hear is to obey! With pleasure, sahib!"

"Then good-by until this evening."

King bowed very civilly and walked out, rather unsteadily because
his head ached. Probably nobody else, except the Rangar, could
have guessed what an ordeal he had passed through or how near he
had been to losing self-command.