h his other hand he
slightly altered the set of the turban and rearranged the folds of the
robe.

"That is excellent, sahib," he said. "A little more girth would perhaps
have been better, but in the distance no one will notice."

Then calling to Hubbo, he said that all was ready. Hossain clambered
through the hatchway, leaving Desmond concealed behind a large timber
upright, supporting the deck. As soon as the serang had reached his side,
Hubbo called to the men on watch and said:

"Hai, Ali, Chedi, come here!"

"Jo hukm {as ordered}!" replied one of the men. Two of the three hurried
aft, and at Hubbo's bidding, swung down into the hold. The serang ordered
them to go towards the lamp. They groped their way in that direction;
Desmond sprang up through the hatchway; it was clapped down and firmly
secured, and the subahdar with two-thirds of his crew was a prisoner in
the hold. The third man at the far end of the boat had not seen or heard
anything of what had happened.

So far the plot had succeeded admirably. Whatever order might reach the
waiting vessels, it would not be given by the subahdar. The question now
was, how to prevent the men in charge of the vessels and the authorities
in Tanna Fort from becoming suspicious. The latter would not be
difficult. Manik Chand would gain nothing by blocking the fairway unless
it were absolutely necessary to do so, and, in common with other of the
Nawab's lieutenants, he had an overweening confidence in the power of the
forts to repel an attack from the English ships. For this reason it was
advisable to make the minds of the other men easy, and Desmond soon hit
on a plan.

"You had better return to your sloop, Hubbo," he said. "Send a message to
the men on the other vessels that I--the subahdar, you know--have made up
my mind to allow one of the enemy's ships to pass me before giving the
signal. I shall thus capture one at least, and it may be the admiral's."

Hubbo set off, and when he reached his own vessel he sent a boat with a
message to each of the ships in turn. Meanwhile, thinking the appearance
of a petala alongside of the subahdar's sloop might awaken suspicion or
at least curiosity in the fort, Desmond decided to send it down the river
in charge of Hossain. He was thus left alone on deck with the subahdar's
third man.

For a time the man, standing far forward, was unaware of the striking
change in the personality garbed in the subahdar's clothes. But glancin