rescued
by force, the larger the force employed the better. If you
were to attack with your two companies before I reached you,
you probably would be repulsed, and would, I think, endanger
the lives of any prisoners that the enemy may hold. I am
coming with my whole command as fast as possible.
Your Obedient Servant,
A. E. Turner
Genl. Officer Commanding

"Men!" said Colonel Carter, in a ringing voice that gave not the
slightest indication of his feelings, "we're to wait here for a while
until the whole division overtakes us. The general has vacated Jundhra.
Lie down and get all the rest you can!"

The murmur from the ranks was as difficult to read as Colonel Carter's
voice had been. It might have meant pleasure at the thought of rest,
or anger, or contempt, or almost anything. It was undefined and
indefinable.

But there was no doubt at all as to how young Bellairs felt. He was
sitting on a trunnion, sobbing, with his head bent low between his
hands.

IX.

"Come, then!" said the High Priest.

Mahommed Khan threw open the outer door and bowed sardonically.
"Precedence for priests!" he sneered, tapping at his sword-hilt. "Thou
goest first! Next come I, and last Suliman with the memsahib! Thus can I
reach thee with my sword, O priest, and also protect her if need be!"

"Thou art trusting as a little child!" exclaimed the priest, passing out
ahead of him.

"A priest and a liar and a thief--all three are one!" hummed the
Risaldar. "Bear her gently, Suliman! Have a care, now, as you turn on
the winding stairs!"

"Ha, sahib!" said the half-brother, carrying Ruth as easily as though
she had been a little child.

At the foot of the stairway, in the blackness that seemed alive with
phantom shadows, the High Priest paused and listened, stretching out
his left hand against the wall to keep the other two behind him. From
somewhere beyond the courtyard came the din of hurrying sandaled feet,
scudding over cobblestones in one direction. The noise was incessant and
not unlike the murmur of a rapid stream. Occasionally a voice was raised
in some command or other, but the stream of sound continued, hurrying,
hurrying, shuffling along to the southward.

"This way and watch a while," whispered the priest.

"I have heard rats run that way!" growled the Risaldar.

They cli