somewhat of him?"

"It was told me that he was slain. How know you that he is yet alive?"

"A chit was carried from him to his daughter in Karnal; therefore am I
here."

"I knew it not, and it is good knowledge, for Craddock Sahib is a good
hakim, and cured me of a fever."

"Then you will help me to find him?"

"That I cannot do; I have too much to do otherwise, and further, it
might bring me into great peril. Already I run great risks. Is it not
known who carried the chit?"

"A man who would say nothing, if indeed he knew anything. The missy
sahib thought that her father might have been saved by one of his
servants: the khansaman, Kaluja Dass, seemed to be a true servant. Know
you aught of him?"

"No. I know much, as you have perceived, but I do not know the
whereabouts of every khansaman who served the English before the
troubles. But I can soon discover."

He clapped his hands, and a chaprasi appeared. The maulavi gave him a
few instructions in a low tone, and the man went out again.

"He will assuredly learn what we desire to know. Until he returns
refresh yourself. There are sherbets at your service, also a hookah."

Ahmed took the sherbets, but declined the hookah. In the course of an
hour the man came back, and spoke apart with his master. Then he
disappeared.

"It is vain," said Fazl Hak. "The khansaman has become a rebel. He
serves Minghal Khan, who now occupies Craddock Sahib's house. The
khansaman, Kaluja Dass, is heard daily cursing the sahibs whom formerly
he served, and verily he hates them above measure, or he would not have
taken service with Minghal Khan. You must seek elsewhere for the
preserver of the hakim. And if you find him, let me know; I would do
somewhat for Craddock Sahib."

CHAPTER THE SIXTEENTH

The Coming of Bakht Khan

Ahmed left the house doubly disappointed--at his failure to supply any
information worth carrying to the Ridge, and at the bad news concerning
the khansaman. He had been full of confidence when he entered Fazl Hak's
presence. His confidence had been rudely shaken, and further, he had now
a certain feeling of personal insecurity which he had not before. Not
that he had been unaware of the risks that he was running. If his
disguise were penetrated, if his connection with the English was so much
as suspected, he would be hanged or shot without mercy. But his peril
had not come home to him as it did now, when he found that, so far from
being unknown i