"
By the arm he led her within and bidding her wait, passed to the
bedroom and drew the heavy curtains of the windows. Then he went
through the drawing-room and out to the verandah, where the watchman
lay asleep on his roped charpoy. Barlow woke him: "There's a thief
prowling about the bungalow. Do not sleep till I give you permission.
See that no one enters," he commanded.
He went back to his room, closed and barred the door, and told Bootea
to come.
When the girl entered he said: "You should not have come here; there
are eyes, and ears, and evil tongues."
"That is true, Sahib, but also death is evil--sometimes."
"I have brought this to the Sahib," Bootea said as she drew a paper
from her breast and passed it to the Captain. It was the pardon the
Resident had given that morning to Ajeet Singh.
Barlow, though startled, schooled his voice to an even tone as he
asked: "Where did you get this--where is Ajeet?"
"As to the paper, Sahib, what matters how Bootea came by it; as to
Ajeet, he is in the grasp of the Dewan who learned that he had been to
the Resident in the way of treachery.
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