you're
right. I'll see what I can do for you."

Calling "Qui hai {'Is there any one?'--used as a summons}!" he ordered
the peon who appeared in answer to his summons to go to the black
merchants' houses, a row of two-story buildings some forty yards from the
southwest bastion, and bring back with him Babu Joti Lal Chatterji.

In less than ten minutes the man returned with an intelligent-looking
young Bengali. Mr. Watts addressed the latter in Hindustani, bidding him
hasten to Murshidabad and find out quietly what the Faujdar was doing
with the dastaks. When he had gone, Mr. Watts showed Desmond over the
fort, introduced him to his wife, and then took him round the English
settlement.

Next day Joti Lal Chatterji returned from Murshidabad with the news that
the dastaks, duly signed by the Faujdar, had been delivered to Coja
Solomon a fortnight before.

"'Tis rather worse than I expected," said Mr. Watts gravely. "There is
something in this that I do not understand. We will send for Coja
Solomon."

No one could have seemed more genuinely surprised than the Armenian when
informed of what had been learned. He had received no dastaks, he
declared; either a mistake had been made, or the papers had been
intercepted, possibly by some enemy who had a grudge against him and
wished to embroil him with his employer. It was annoying, he agreed; and
he offered to go to Murshidabad himself and, if necessary, get other
dastaks signed.

"Very well," said Mr. Watts, from whose manner no one could have guessed
that he suspected his visitor. "We shall look for you tomorrow."

The man departed. Nothing was heard of him for two days. Then a letter
arrived, saying that he remained in Murshidabad, awaiting the return of
the Faujdar, who had been summoned to Rajmahal by the Nawab Sirajuddaula.
Three more days slipped by, and nothing further was heard from Coja
Solomon.

Desmond became more and more impatient. Bulger suggested that they should
break into the godown and remove the goods without any ceremony--a course
that Desmond himself was not disinclined to adopt; but when he hinted at
it to Mr. Watts that gentleman's look of horror could not have been more
expressive if his consent had been asked to commit a crime.

"Why, Mr. Burke, if we acted in that impetuous way we'd have all Bengal
at our throats. Trade must pass through the usual channels; to convey
goods from here to Calcutta without a dastak would be a grave