re no longer
haunted by the voice of the dead Sheikh.'

"He flung his hands out in an abhorrent gesture, and raised tear-filled,
pleading eyes to mine.

"I had been listening intently to Baji Lal's story, and had watched the
changes on his impassioned face. When the tale was ended, Devaka threw
herself prone at my feet, and pressed her lips to the hem of my robe. I
was touched by her silent beseeching, though I hastily, and I fear
roughly, commanded her to arise.

"'Dear friends,' I said, 'this is indeed an extraordinary occurrence.
And how I can help you is more than I at present know. But rest assured
that I will exert myself to the utmost to remove from your heads the
infamy of such an accusation.'

"I mused awhile, then put a few questions as to the personal appearance
of the stranger, Sheikh Ahmed, and also that of his servant, the exact
hour of their departure, and the direction in which they had gone. After
learning these things, I took my leave, commending Baji Lal and his wife
to the care of the constable, whose promise that nothing would happen to
his prisoners until the patel's return I sealed with a handful of
rupees.

"This matter settled, I strolled back to the pipul tree beside the tank,
thinking that it might be useful to pick up the remarks of the
loiterers. But to my surprise I found virtually the whole village in
assembly, and to my dismay soon gathered that it was their fixed
intention to kill Baji Lal, give to Devaka the privilege of committing
suttee, and then burn down the haunted house whence the accusing sounds
came, making of their own home the funeral pyre of both victims.

"I plucked my beard in my distress; I felt so helpless. If only the
headman was here, together we might have devised something. But alone I
was powerless. Plunged in gloomy forebodings, I did not notice the
approach of the barber, until he touched my sleeve to announce his
presence.

"'You have heard what they mean to do?' he asked.

"I nodded.

"'We must save them, Chunda Das. But I beg of you not to place any
reliance on the patel's coming, for he sides with the rest of the
villagers, and will help them to deal out the swift justice which he
believes to be well deserved. Besides it was his cows that died this
morning.'

"At this statement, then indeed my last hope was gone. For we were far
away from any town where I could have invoked the aid of the Emperor's
soldiers. I shook my head despairingly.

"'Oh,