ll out with
resolve; he swept the vast throng of horsemen with his eyes, and
realised that it was indeed true--there was nothing left but the pool
and the faint, faint chance that, powerful swimmer that he was, and
with the knife, he might cross. Once his evil eyes rested on Kassim
and involuntarily a hand twitched toward the dagger hilt; but at that
instant he was pinioned, both arms, by a Pindari on either side. Then,
standing rigid, he said:

"I am Hunsa, a Bagree, a servant of Bhowanee; I am not afraid. May she
bring the black plague upon all the Pindaris, who are dogs that worship
a false god."

He strode toward the waters, the soldiers, still a hand on either arm,
marching beside him. On the clay bank he put his hands to his
forehead, calling in a loud voice: "_Kali Mia_, receive me!" Then he
plunged head first into the pool.

A cry of "Allah! Allah!" went up from ten thousand throats as the
Bagree shot from view, smothered in the foam of the ruffled stream.
And beyond the waters were churned by huge ghoulish forms that the
blood of goats had gathered there. Five yards from the bank the ugly
head of Hunsa appeared; a brown arm flashed once, in the fingers
clutched a knife that seemed red with fresh blood. The water was
lashed to foam; the tail of a giant _mugger_ shot out and struck flat
upon the surface of the river like the crack of a pistol. Again the
head, and then the shoulders, of the swimmer were seen; and as if
something dragged the torso below, two legs shot out from the water,
gyrated spasmodically, and disappeared.

Barlow waited, his soul full of horror, but there was nothing more;
just a little lower down in the basin of the sluggish pool two bulbous
protrusions above the water where some crocodile, either gorged or
disappointed, floated lazily.

A ghastly silence reigned--no one spoke; ten thousand eyes stared out
across the pool.

Then the voice of Kassim was heard, solemn and deep, saying: "The
covenant has been kept and Allah has avenged the death of Amir Khan!"

CHAPTER XXV

Commander Kassim touched Barlow on the arm: "Captain Sahib, come with
me. The death of that foul murderer does not take the weight off our
hearts."

"He deserved it," Barlow declared.

Though filled with a sense of shuddering horror, he was compelled
involuntarily to admit that it had been a most just punishment; less
brutal, even more impressive--almost taking on the aspect of a
religious execu