heir support. We have here in the city 60,000 men, but they have
not been able to win one clod of dirt from the English." The opportunity
of gaining something for the treasury was too good to be thrown away. At
the instance of his sycophants the king demanded a heavy fine from
Rahmut. The chief, curbing his wrath, begged until morning to get the
money. Before morning dawned, he had his men saddled up, and the moment
the gates were opened he dashed through the streets at the head of his
force, rode out by the Ajmir gate, and fled away into the open country.
Before the news reached the palace, before any one could think of
pursuit, the old Pathan was out of sight.

Night being as day to Ahmed in his dungeon, he set to work at once with
the file the khansaman had given him. The links of his chain were of
soft iron, and with ready wit he thought of a way by which he might for
a time disguise the fact that his fetters were loosed. He filed through
one of the links, and then a portion of the next one, until he was able
to pass this thinned portion through the gap he had made in the first.
If, therefore, he should be suddenly disturbed, he could at once replace
the links, and, by turning one of them round so that the portion yet
unfiled was brought against the part that was cut, the chain might
appear to be still unbroken.

As soon as he was free he made a tour around his dungeon, rather by way
of distraction and to stretch his legs than with any idea of making a
discovery that would further his escape.

The vault was pitch dark. He had seen it by the light of the oil-lamp
during the visits of Minghal and the khansaman, but taken no particular
note of it. He now went round it, feeling the walls with his hands. They
were of rough-hewn stones; there was no variation except at the door. He
shook that: it was locked fast. He went back to the staple and sat down;
after a time, having nothing better to do, he started again, and
examined the door by touch more carefully. There was no handle, not even
a keyhole on the inside. Thinking he heard footsteps, he retreated so
hastily that he narrowly escaped overturning the pitcher of water. It
was a false alarm. Once more he went round the walls, this time in the
opposite direction.

And now, as he drew his hand along the wall, he fancied that one of the
slabs of stone protruded a little further into the room than the others.
All the stones were rough and ill-fitting, but this protubera