With a snarl of gloating he rolled the ruby in a fold of his turban,
locked the box, and darted after Sookdee.
He all but fell over the seven dead bodies of the merchant and his men
as he raced to where a group was standing beyond. And there three more
bodies lay upon the ground, and beside them, held, were two horses.
"It is Ajeet Singh," Sookdee said pointing to where the Chief lay with
his head in the lap of a decoit. "These two native soldiers of the
English came riding in with swiftness, for behind them raced Ajeet who
must have seen them pass."
"And here," another added, "as the riders checked at sight of the dead,
Ajeet pulled one from his horse and killed him, but the other, with a
pistol, shot Ajeet and he is dead."
"The Chief is not dead," said the one who held his head in his lap; "he
is but shot in the shoulder, and I have stopped the blood with my hand."
"And we have killed the other soldier," another said, "for, having seen
the bodies, we could not let him live."
From Sookdee's hand dangled a coat of one of the dead.
"This that is a leather purse," he said, "contains letters; the red
thing on them I have looked upon before--it is the seal of the Englay.
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