"
"Is the Gulab jealous of the Missie Baba?" Barlow asked mundanely,
almost out of confusion.
"No, Sahib, because--because one is not jealous of a princess; because
that is to question the ways of the gods. If I had been an Englay and
he loved me, and the Missie Baba claimed him, Bootea would kill her."
This was said with the simple conviction of a child uttering a weird
threat, but Barlow shivered.
"And now, Gulab," he persisted, "if you thought I loved you would you
kill the Missie Baba?"
"No, Sahib, because it is Bootea's fault. It can't be. It is
permitted to Bootea to love the Sahib, but at the shrine Omkar will
take that sin and all the other sins away when she makes sacrifice--"
"What sacrifice, Gulab?"
"Such as we make to the gods, Sahib."
Then something curious happened. The girl broke, she clung to Barlow
convulsively; sobs choked her.
He clasped her tight and laid his cheek against hers soothingly, and
said, "Gulab, what is it? Don't go to the Shrine of Omkar. Come with
me to your people at Chunda, and if you do not want to remain with them
I will have it arranged, through the Resident, that the British will
reward you with protection.
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