u not shake hands with me?" he asked smiling.

Now that was a thing that no sanctimonious Brahman would have dreamed of
doing, for fear of being defiled by the touch of a casteless foreigner;
so he was either above or below the caste laws, and it is common
knowledge how those who are below caste cringe and toady. So he
evidently reckoned himself above it, and the Indian who can do that has
met and overcome more tyranny and terrors than the West knows anything
about.

I wish I could make exactly clear what happened when I took his
outstretched hand.

His fingers closed on mine with a grip like marble. There are few men
who are stronger than I am; I can outlift a stage professional; yet I
could no more move his hand or pull mine free than if he had been a
bronze image with my hand set solid in the casting.

"That is for your own good," he said pleasantly, letting go at last.
"That other man knows better, but you might have been so unwise as to
try using violence."

"I'm glad you had that experience," said King in a low voice, as I went
back to the window-seat. "Don't let yourself be bewildered by it.
There's an explanation for everything. They know something that we
don't, that's all."

CHAPTER III

FEAR IS DEATH

At a sign from the Gray Mahatma all the women except Yasmini left the
room. Yasmini seemed to be in a strange mood mixed of mischief and
amused anticipation.

The Mahatma sat down exactly in the middle of the carpet, and his method
was unique. It looked just as if an unseen hand had taken him by the
hair and lowered him gradually, for he crossed his legs and dropped to
the floor as evenly and slowly as one of those freight elevators that
disappear beneath the city side-walks.

He seemed to attach a great deal of importance to his exact position and
glanced repeatedly at the walls as if to make sure that he was not
sitting an inch or two too far to the right or left; however, he had
gauged his measurements exactly at the first attempt and did not move,
once he was seated.

"You two _sahibs_," he began, with a slight emphasis on the word
_sahib_, as if he wished to call attention to the fact that he was
according us due courtesy, "you two honorable gentlemen," he continued,
as if mere courtesy perhaps were not enough, "have been chosen unknown
to yourselves. For there is but one Chooser, whose choice is never known
until the hour comes. For the chosen there is no road back again. Even
if yo