"
"Ajeet thought Nana Sahib had stolen you, Bootea."
"Yes, Sahib, for he did not find me when he went to the camp, and I did
not go there. But now he would betray the Sahibs, that is why I have
brought back the paper of protection."
"Will they kill Ajeet?" Barlow asked.
"I will tell the Sahib what is," the girl answered, drawing her _sari_
over her curled-in feet, and leaning one arm on Barlow's chair. "The
decoity that was committed last night was, as Ajeet feared, because of
treachery on the part of the Dewan. I will tell it all, though it
might be thought a treachery to the decoits. As to being false to
one's own clan Ajeet is, because he is a Bagree--but I am not."
Barlow pondered over this statement. The girl had mystified him--that
is as to her breeding. Sometimes she spoke in the first person and
again in the third person, like so many natives, as if her language had
been picked up colloquially. But then the use of the third person when
she used Bootea instead of a nominative pronoun might be due to a
cultured deference toward a Sahib.
Pages:
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180