been there."

"I must be mistaken, then, but it seemed to me that I knew your face."

And now he was eager to get away. He did not forget the double duty he
had to fulfil: news must be conveyed to the Ridge of the great assault
intended for the morrow. He would have been content to inform Fazl Hak
of this, and trust him to send it by one of his messengers; but the
discovery of the doctor was a matter so personal to him that he was
disinclined to entrust it to any one. Accordingly, he took leave of the
doctor, receiving from him an affectionate message for his daughter, and
then, accompanied by the khansaman, he returned by the narrow winding
stair to the upper room. The two crept silently through the passage to
the back staircase, and passed the servants' quarters, and came to the
door leading to the garden. The khansaman noiselessly drew the bolt, and
Ahmed stepped out. There was a sudden rush in the darkness. In a moment
he was overwhelmed and thrown to the ground. Struggle as he might, he
could not prevent the two men who had seized him from binding his arms,
and then he was dragged back into the house and up the stairs, being
finally deposited at the door of Minghal Khan's room.

The great man was very ill-tempered at being roused from sleep by the
loud calls of his darwan. He cried out to know why his sleep was thus
disturbed.

"Hazur, I have done a great deed!" cried the darwan; "even caught a dog
of a robber. Open, O Great One, and see what thy servant has
accomplished in his great zeal."

Minghal Khan came to the door and called for the khansaman to bring a
light. Several minutes passed, and the khansaman did not appear. Growing
impatient, Minghal dispatched the khitmutgar--the second of Ahmed's
captors--to fetch a lamp from the kitchen. Meanwhile the darwan
explained.

"Hazur, my eyes were heavy with sleep, but before seeking my charpoy I
went, as is my wont, to see that all was safe for the night. In that I
am not as other darwans, that eat and drink and take no thought for
their masters. And lo, beneath the portico, I found a lathi and a rope
with a hook at the end, and I wondered with a great wonderment. And I
called the khansaman, but he came not; peradventure he has gone out on
some evil work this night. And then I called Said the khitmutgar, and
together we talked of what this thing might be. And even as we talked we
heard the gentle drawing of the bolt, and we stood at the door, and when
this son