ew more apparent to him that this trust of his
was something after all which a man of worth might shoulder proudly.
There was danger in it.

The talk among the traders--darkly hinted, most of it, and couched in
metaphor--was all of blood, and what would follow on the letting of it.
Now and then a loud-mouthed boaster would throw caution to the winds and
speak openly of a grim day coming for the British; he would be checked
instantly by wiser men, but not before Ali Partab had heard enough to
add to his private store of information.

Priests came from a dozen cities to the eastward, all nominally after
pilgrims for the sacred places, but all strangely indifferent to their
quest. They preferred, it would seem, to sit in rings with chance-met
ruffians--with believers and unbelievers alike--even with men of no
caste at all--and talk of other things than pilgrimages.

"Next year, one hundred years ago the English conquered India. Remember
ye the prophecy? One hundred years they had! This, then, is the last
year. Whom the gods would whelm they first deprive of reason; mark ye
this! The cartridges they serve out to the sepoys now are smeared with
the blended fat of cows and pigs. Knowing that we Hindoos hold the cow
a sacred beast, they do this sacrilege--and why? They would make us bite
the cartridges and lose our caste. And why again? Because they would
make us Christians! That is the truth! Else why are the Christian
missionaries here in Howrah?"

The listeners would nod while the little red fires glowed and purred
above the pipes, and others not included in the circle strained forward
through the dark to listen.

"The gods get ready now! Are ye ready?"

Elsewhere, a hadji--green-turbaned from the pilgrimage to Mecca--would
hold out to a throng of true believers.

"Ay! Pig's fat on the cartridges! The new drill is that the sepoy bites
the cartridge first, to spill a little powder and make priming. Which
true believer wishes to defile himself with pig's fat? Why do they
this? Why are the Christian missionaries here? Ask both riddles with one
breath, for both two are one!"

"Slay, then!"

"Up now, and slay!"

There would be an instant, eager restlessness, while Ali Partab would
glance over to where the horses stood, and would wonder why the
word that loosed him was so long in coming. The hadji would calm his
listeners and tell them to get ready, but be still and await the sign.

"There were to be one hundred yea