follower of the Prophet."

But Bootea raised a slim hand, and, her voice trembling with intensity,
cried: "Commander, Amir Khan was not slain with the dagger, he was
killed by the _towel_. Look you at his throat and you will see the
mark."

"Bismillah!" came in a cry of astonishment from the Commander's throat,
and the marble walls of the _Surya-Mahal_ (room of audience) echoed
gasps and curses. Kassim himself had knelt by the dead Chief, and now
rising, said: "By Allah! it is true. That dog--" his finger was
thrusting like a dagger at Barlow.

But Bootea's clear voice hushed the rising clamour: "No, Commander, the
sahibs know not the thug trick of the _roomal_, and few thugs could
have overcome the Chief."

"Who then killed him--speak quick, and with the truth," Kassim
commanded.

He was interrupted by one of Hunsa's guards, crying: "Here, where go
you--you had not leave!" And Hunsa, who had turned to slip away, was
jerked back to where he had stood.

"It is that one," Bootea declared, sweeping a hand toward Hunsa.
"About his waist is even now the yellow-and-white _roomal_ that is the
weapon of Bhowanee. With that he killed Amir Khan. Take it from him,
and see if there be not black hairs from the beard of the Chief in its
soft mesh."

"By the grace of Allah it is a truth!" the Commander ejaculated when
the cloth passed to him had been examined. "It is a revelation such as
came to Mahomet, and out of the mouth of a woman. Great is Allah!"

"Will the Commander have Hunsa searched for the paper the Sahib has
spoken of?" Bootea asked.

"In his turban--" Kassim commanded--"in his turban, the nest of a
thief's loot or the hiding-place of the knife of a murderer. Look ye
in his turban!"

As the turban was stripped from the head of Hunsa the Pindari gave it a
whirling twist that sent its many yards of blue muslin streaming out
like a ribbon and the parchment message fell to the floor.

"Ah-ha!" and a man, stooping, thrust it into the hands of the Commander.

The Pindari who held the turban, threw it almost at the feet of Bootea,
saying, "Methinks the slayer will need this no more."

Bootea picked up the blue cloth and rolled it into a ball, saying, "If
it is permitted I will take this to those who entrusted Hunsa with this
foul mission to show them that he is dead."

"A clever woman thou art--it is a wise thought; take it by all means,
for indeed that dog's head will need little when they have finish