esmond when they were halfway down. "If you hear any
one coming up, rejoin me above."

He himself crept noiselessly back to the upper floor. No sooner had he
reached the top than he heard Diggle moving in the room he had recently
left. He darted to a khashkas {a fragrant plant whose roots are used for
making screens} curtain, through the meshes of which he could see into
the two intercommunicating rooms. Diggle was carefully searching the
apartment; he clearly knew it was the one lately occupied by the ladies.

As he stooped to pick up a cushion that lay on the floor beside a divan,
his eye was caught by a scrap of crumpled paper. He snatched at it like a
hawk and with quick fingers straightened it out--the fingers of the
mittened hand that Desmond knew so well. On the paper was writing; the
characters were English, but Diggle appeared to have some difficulty in
making them out.

"'Your servant Surendra Nath Chuckerbutti,'" he said slowly, aloud.

"Who is Surendra Nath Chuckerbutti?" he asked his man, standing behind.

"Truly, huzur, I know not. It is a common name in Bengal--a vile Hindu;
an unbeliever--"

"How did this paper come here?" cried Diggle impatiently.

"How should I know, sahib? I am a poor man, an ignorant man; I do not
read--"

"Come with me and search the back of the house," said Diggle, turning
away with an oath.

Desmond stepped noiselessly across the floor and joined the khansaman.
They made their way out stealthily down the stairs, through the garden at
the back, into a mango grove. There they remained hidden until Diggle,
finding his search fruitless, remounted with his men and galloped away.

Desmond felt in a maze of bewilderment. It was clear that Diggle was
ignorant of the whereabouts of the ladies; where had they been spirited
to, and by whom? Apparently there had been an attack on the house, and
they had been carried away: was it by friends or foes? What was the
meaning of the paper found by Diggle? Had the Babu had any hand in the
latest disappearance, or was it his letter that had put someone else on
their track? Desmond had heard nothing of Surendra Nath or his father
since the sack of Calcutta.

There was no clue to the solution of the problem. Meanwhile it was
necessary to get back to Calcutta. The journey had been delayed too long
already, and Hossain's employer, the grain merchant, would have good
reason for complaint if he felt that his business was being neglected.

"We