"
This information coming from Bootea was astounding. Neither Resident
Hodson nor Captain Barlow had suspected that there had been a leak.
"And was there talk of this message from the British to--?" Barlow
checked.
"To the Sahib?" Bootea asked. "Not of the message; but it was
whispered that one would go to the Pindari camp to talk with Amir Khan,
and perhaps it was the Sahib they meant. And perhaps they knew he
waited for orders from the government."
Then suddenly it flashed upon Barlow that because of this he had been
marked. The foul riding in the game of polo that so nearly put him out
of commission--it had been deliberately foul, he knew that, but he had
attributed it to a personal anger on the part of the Mahratta officer,
bred of rivalry in the game and the fanatical hate of an individual
Hindu for an Englishman.
"Now that a message has come will the Sahib go to the Pindari camp?"
Bootea persisted.
"Why do you ask, Gulab?"
"Not in the way of treachery, but because the Sahib is now like a god;
and because I may again be of service, for those who will slay Amir
Khan will also slay the Sahib.
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