all where I found you that night, near Beeka Mull's
shop?'

'Yes, indeed I do,' answered the merchant.

'Well,' continued Kooshy Ram, 'this afternoon you must go and stand in
that same spot and watch; and when someone gives you a signal, you
must go up to Beeka Mull and salute him and say, "Oh, Lala-ji, will
you kindly let me have back that box of mine which you have on
trust?"'

'What's the use of that?' asked the merchant. 'He won't do it any more
now than he would when I asked him before.'

'Never mind!' replied Kooshy Ram, 'do exactly what I tell you, and
repeat exactly what I say, word for word, and I will answer for the
rest.'

So, that afternoon, the merchant at a certain time went and stood by
the wall as he was told. He noticed that Beeka Mull saw him, but
neither took any heed of the other. Presently up the bazaar came a
gorgeous palanquin like those in which ladies of rank are carried
about. It was borne by four bearers well dressed in rich liveries, and
its curtains and trappings were truly magnificent. In attendance was
a grave-looking personage whom the merchant recognized as one of the
friends who visited Kooshy Ram; and behind him came a servant with a
box covered with a cloth upon his head.

The palanquin was borne along at a smart pace and was set down at
Beeka Mull's shop. The fat shop-keeper was on his feet at once, and
bowed deeply as the gentleman in attendance advanced.

'May I inquire,' he said, 'who this is in the palanquin that deigns to
favour my humble shop with a visit? And what may I do for her?'

The gentleman, after whispering at the curtain of the palanquin,
explained that this was a relative of his who was travelling, but as
her husband could go no further with her, she desired to leave with
Beeka Mull a box of jewels for safe custody. Lala bowed again to the
ground. 'It was not,' he said, 'quite in his way of business; but of
course, if he could please the lady, he would be most happy, and would
guard the box with his life.' Then the servant carrying the box was
called up; the box was unlocked, and a mass of jewellery laid open to
the gaze of the enraptured Lala, whose mouth watered as he turned over
the rich gems.

All this the merchant had watched from the distance, and now he
saw--could he be mistaken?--no, he distinctly saw a hand beckoning
through the curtain on that side of the palanquin away from the shop.
'The signal! Was this the signal?' thought he. The hand becko