"
Ajeet laid a hand upon his wounded shoulder, saying, "When the two
_sepoys_ rode suddenly out of the night into our camp, where there in
the moonlight lay the bodies of the merchant and his men, the Bagrees
were afraid lest the two should make report. They rushed upon the two
riders, and it was then that I was wounded. I would have been killed
but for this protection," and Ajeet rubbed affectionately the beautiful
strong shirt-of-mail that enwrapped his torso.
"And observe, Sahib, the wound is from behind, which is a wound of
treachery. As I rushed to the two and cried to them to be gone, a ball
from a short gun in the hands of some Bagree smote me upon the
shoulder, and this,--" he again touched the shirt-of-mail,--"and my
shoulder-blade turned it from my heart. Even then Hunsa thought I was
dead. And he was in league with the Dewan to obtain for Nana Sahib a
girl of my household, who is called the Gulab because she is as
beautiful as the moon."
At this statement Barlow knew why the man he had beaten with his pistol
had tried to seize the Gulab.
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