to me."

"Did you negotiate with him?"

"No."

"Then will you kindly tell me, why?"

"I do not know."

There was a marked pause. The eyes had become wide.

"Well--really . . . _Are_ you the sort-of-thing I've been hearing
about?"

Roderick Deal's expression was kindly-quaint; and Skag answered the
look rather than the words:

"How should I know what that is?"

"You _have_ astonished me. And I am pleased. From Bombay to Calcutta
and from Himalaya to Madras--you will find no more valuable man, than
that same Bhanah. He is called old, but he is not old. If you have
noticed, the term is always spoken as if it were one with his
name--because of his learning. He is the man of men for you. _How_
did he come to you?"

"He brought Nels with the note, that the dog was a gift. When he
spoke, he said he was committed before the gods to serve me as long as
he lived."

"How did his voice sound?"

"A queer, level tone."

"There is no doubt. _It is enough for one day_."

The words were spoken with almost affectionate inflections. Skag was
puzzled. Roderick Deal stepped to the door and spoke to a servant;
returning to his seat, he smiled openly into Skag's eyes before
speaking:

"Now you will come with me. We must lose no time."

"Yes, I want to get back to Hurda as soon as I can."

"Not before the monsoon breaks. It is due any day now, any hour. Till
ten days after it has broken, no sane man will take train."

"I want to get back. I think I will risk it."

"You will pardon me, you are not allowed."

The tone was perfect authority. The eyes smouldered, but the lips
smiled.

"You are not used to be in any way conditioned, I understand that; but
I am not willing to be responsible to my only sister for the smashed
body of her one man. Oh, I assure you _not_! And you may one day
grant that the guardianship of an elder brother is not a bad thing to
have. Why--I beg your pardon, but of course you are not here long
enough to know the situation."

He stopped abruptly and looked away, considering.

"I will put it in one word and tell you that _one_ moment _any_ train,
on _any_ track, may be perfectly safe; and the next moment, it may be
going down the khud with half a mountain. Again, we exercise the
utmost care in all bridge-building--with no reservation of resources;
but almost every year a bridge or more goes with the crash."

"The crash?"

"The reason why we say the great monsoon 'brea