that in that little
serai of yours there is much treasure--gotten, moreover, from others
besides the Feringhis? Surely I will set a guard over it: thou shalt not
be robbed of the little thou hast. Better were it if thou had nothing;
for is it not the empty traveller that dances before robbers?"

Rahmut went away well satisfied. Minghal was in a very different case
when he too had had an interview with the commander-in-chief. Not a word
was said by Bakht Khan to show that the duty he laid upon Minghal had
been suggested by his enemy and rival; he rather hinted that his design
was to learn from Minghal how the old chief comported himself in the
fight. Minghal had, perforce, to acquiesce in the arrangement; his
position was not so secure that he could afford to show open reluctance
to meet the enemy. Their orders were to lead an attack on the breastwork
before the Mori gate, and then, having succeeded in that task, to work
round on two sides to the ruined mosque that stood a little nearer the
Ridge, and slaughter all the enemy they found there.

The attack was to be made after nightfall. Rahmut knew nothing of the
ground between the city walls and the breastwork, and in the afternoon
he went out with one of his men to reconnoitre. Both were mounted, and
since the ground was covered with gardens which would give them cover,
they ventured to ride a good distance in the direction of the goal of
the night's operations.

All at once Rahmut caught sight of a man a little ahead of them, dodging
among the trees in a stealthy manner, that suggested a keen desire to
avoid observation. Rahmut was a born scout, and, without appearing to
see the man, he kept him well in view, until convinced that he was
making for the British lines. Then he gave chase suddenly, and the man,
though he ran hard, was soon overtaken. Hauling him to the shade of some
trees, Rahmut questioned his trembling captive, and was not long in
wresting from him a confession that he was indeed on his way to the
Ridge to give warning of the night attack.

Rahmut had been rendered suspicious by his recent experiences in Delhi.
He was not satisfied with a general statement, but pressed the man for a
precise account of his errand, and he was not greatly surprised when it
came out that the informer had been sent by Minghal Khan himself, and
that the important part of his message was the disclosure of the exact
quarter on which Rahmut's attack was to be made. It was jus