ew hours tomorrow morning. Do you think twenty rupees would suffice?"

The native opened his eyes. He himself would not have offered so much.
But he said:

"Doubtless that will suffice, sahib. The matter is settled."

"I shall meet you in an hour. Thank you."

Returning to the budgeros, Desmond instructed Hossain to go into the
bazaar and buy up all the fresh fruit he could find. The sales for the
day were over; but Hossain hunted up the fruit sellers and bargained so
successfully that when he returned he was accompanied by a whole gang of
coolies, bearing what seemed to Desmond an appalling quantity of melons,
all for thirty rupees.

Before this, however, Aghor Nath Bose had reported that the hire of the
two boats was duly arranged. They were open boats, little more than
barges, with a small cabin or shelter aft. Their crews had been dismissed
and had taken their belongings ashore; both were empty of cargo. Desmond
went with Bulger on board and arranged a number of bamboos crosswise on
the boats, covering up the empty spaces which would usually be occupied
by merchandise. Over the bamboos he placed a layer of thin matting, and
on this, when Hossain returned, he ordered the coolies to put the melons.
To a casual observer it would have appeared that the boats were laden
with a particularly heavy cargo of the golden fruit.

An hour before dawn, the lascars and others from the Hormuzzeer slipped
quietly from the budgeros on board the country boats, and bestowed
themselves as best they could under the bamboo deck supporting the
melons. It was cool in the early morning, although the hot season was
approaching; but Desmond did not envy the men their close quarters. They
were so much excited, however, at the adventure before them, and so eager
to earn the liberal reward promised them if it succeeded, that not a man
murmured. The Europeans had cooler quarters in the rude cabins, where
they were hidden from prying eyes under miscellaneous native wraps.

Desmond had learned from the pilot that it would be nearly eight o'clock
before the depth of water over the bar was sufficient to allow a ship
like the Good Intent to proceed with safety. A little before daybreak the
two boats crept out from the ghat. It was well to avoid curiosity before
Mayapur woke up. Desmond steered the first, Hossain the second; and
besides the steersmen there were two men visible on the deck of each.

The tide was running up, but the wind still he