ny notion who the man
was whom Mahommed Gunga sent to get my letters? My daughter handed them
to him one evening, late, at this door."

"I am he, sahib."

"Then--I understood--perhaps I was mistaken--I thought it was his man
who came?"

"Praised be Allah, I am his man, sahib!"

"Oh! I wonder whether my servants praise God for the privilege!" McClean
made the remark only half-aloud and in English. Ali Partab could not
have understood the words, but he may have caught their meaning, for he
glanced sideways at the old hag mumbling in the shadow and grinned into
his beard. "Are you in communication with him? Could you get a letter to
him?"

"I have no slightest notion where he is, sahib."

"If my letters could once reach him, wherever he might be, I would feel
confident of their arriving at their destination."

"I, too, sahib!"

"I sent one letter--to a government official. It cannot have reached
him, for there should have been an answer and none has come. It had
reference to this terrible suttee business. Suttee is against the law
as well as against all dictates of reason and humanity; yet the Hindoos
make a constant practice of it here under our very eyes. These native
states are under treaty to observe the law. I intend to do all in my
power to put a stop to their ghoulish practices, and Maharajah Howrah
knows what my intentions are. It must be a Mohammedan, this time, to
whom I intrust my correspondence on suttee!"

Now, a Rangar is a man whose ancestors were Hindoos but who
became converts to Islam. Like all proselytes, they adhere more
enthusiastically to their religion than do the men whose mother creed
it is; and the fact that the Rangars originally became converts under
duress is often thrown in their teeth by the Hindoos, who gain nothing
in the way of brotherly regard in the process. A Rangar hates a Hindoo
as enthusiastically as he loves a fight. Ali Partab began to drum his
fingers on his teeth and to exhibit less impatience to be off.

"There is no knowing, sahib. I, too, am no advocate of superstitious
practices involving cruelty. I might get a letter through. My commission
from the risaldar-sahib would include all honorable matters not
obstructive to the main issue. I have certain funds--"

"I, too, have funds," smiled the missionary.

"I am not allowed, sahib, to involve myself in any brawl until after my
business is accomplished. It would be necessary first to assure me on
that point. My ho