she is often--very near me?"

Sir Lakshman gravely inclined his head. "As I believe in Brahma, Lord of
all."

And for both the silence that fell seemed pulsating with her unseen
presence....

When they spoke again it was of mundane things. Roy vividly described
his sensations, riding through the City; the culminating incident, and
his recognition of the offender.

"The queerest thing, running into the beggar again like that! He looks
as sulky and shifty as ever. That's how I knew."

"Sulky and shifty--and wearing English clothes?" Sir Lakshman's brows
contracted sharply. "What name did you say?"

"Chandranath, we called him."

"And you don't know his whereabouts?"

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't suppose his whereabouts mattered a damn to any
one."

The stern old Rajput smiled. It did his heart good to hear the familiar
slang phrases again. "Whether it matters a damn--as you say--depends on
whether he is the undesirable I have in mind. Quite young; but much
influence, and a bad record. Mixed up with German agents, before the
War, and the Ghadr party in California; arrested for seditious activity
and deported: but of course, on appeal, allowed to return. Always the
same tale. Always the same result. Worse mischief done. And India--the
true India--must be grateful for these mercies! Sometimes I think the
irony is too sharp between the true gifts given, unnoticed, by
Englishmen working sincerely for the good of our people, and the false
gifts proclaimed from the house-tops, filling loyal Indians with
bewilderment and fear. I have had letters from scores of these, because
I am known to believe that loyal allegiance to British government gives
India the best chance for peaceful progress she is likely to have for
many generations. And from every one comes the same cry, begging to be
saved from this crazy nightmare of Home Rule, not understood and not
desired except by those who invented it. But what appeal is possible to
those who stop their ears? And all the time, by stealthy and open means,
the poison of race-hatred is being poured into India's veins----"

"But, Grandfather--what about the War--and pulling together--and all
that?"

Sir Lakshman's smile struck Roy as one of the saddest he had ever seen.
"Four years ago, my dear Boy, we all had many radiant illusions. But
this War has dragged on too long. It is too far away. For our Princes
and warlike races it has had some reality. For the rest it means mostly
news