safe. And besides, you are too weak--you would
fall in the street."

"No, I am strong enough now. See, I can walk quite well."

There was a brief silence; then Ahmed heard a groan.

"Did I not say so, sahib? It would be folly; it would kill you. You must
be patient."

"I could be patient if I were certain of Mary's safety. Did not your
messenger return? Are you sure he has not returned?"

"I have neither seen nor heard of him, sahib."

"It is this anxiety that is sapping my strength. My wounds were healed
long ago. Is there no one in this great city you can trust to go and
come again?"

And then Ahmed pushed the door wide open, and entered the room.

CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FIRST

Master and Servant

Ahmed found himself in a small square chamber, dimly lit by an oil-lamp.
The air was close, and pervaded by an odour new to him: the pungent
odour that salutes one at the entrance of a chemist's shop. The room was
naturally lofty, but its height was artificially diminished now by a
large blanket spread from corner to corner.

Against the further wall stood a charpoy, and on it lay a tall
grey-bearded man clad in the customary garments of a respectable
Mohammedan. A table was at his side, with a tray holding a dish and a
phial or two. The khansaman was standing at the foot of the bed. At the
entrance of Ahmed he uttered a cry, and seized a knife from the table.
There was a silence, in the tenseness of which time seemed to be
abolished. The khansaman stared with eyes that spoke his fear. Then
Ahmed held up his hand and spoke: "Be at peace, good khansaman," he
said; "I have news of the sahib's daughter."

The man's overcharged feelings found relief in a sob, and the recumbent
figure started up.

"Is it true? You do not mock me?" he cried. "Who are you?"

"I am Ahmed Khan, of Lumsden Sahib's Guides, and I am sent into this
city by Hodson Sahib, to say that the hazur's daughter is safe at
Karnal."

The shock of this good news rendered the doctor speechless. He was
seized with a violent trembling, and the khansaman hastily poured a
little liquid into a glass and gave it to his master. When he had
recovered he asked Ahmed many questions: whether he had seen the missy
sahib, how she looked, whether she had received his note, why the
messenger had not returned. To these Ahmed replied as well as he could,
but he said nothing of the part he had himself played in the saving of
the girl.

Then he himself asked