She was in riding-breeches and a turban made of cloth of green and gold. Her white silk shirt was fastened at the throat with an emerald worth her ransom, but except for the diamond aigrette in her turban she wore no other jewelry; she was out to do things and defeat her enemies, not to adorn Narada. And as usual she talked with Quorn as if he were a minister of state who knew all her personal secrets. * * * * * "Miss," he said over his shoulder, "I seen the prince, and him and me understood each other. He has all his twenty Rajputs with him. Half have lances and the other half have sabers. And if you want my guess, there's bootleg automatics under cover, but I know the law and I ain't seen nothing. The prince told me he knows a _nullah_ near the hermitage where he can hide his men perfect; there's high reeds and a swamp, with the river back o' that, so you can only come at the hiding place by one track. He took along food for men and horses and he aimed to get in there last night, or early before daylight. And he says there's a kind of island in the _nullah_, quite high, with a clump o' tall trees on it, so he can watch the hermitage and know what's going on." "Let us hope," she remarked. "Hope, miss? You can bet your boots he's on the job!" "I hope," she said, "there will be a job for him to do. It is not so simple in these days for a prince to prove his mettle. Do you know, Mr. Quorn, if it weren't for that--that Rana Raj Singh needs an opportunity to prove to himself that he is fit to be my consort--to himself, you understand?--I would have sought some other way of solving this problem." "Miss, there ain't no other way. You've got to soak it to them Brahmins good. You can't argue with 'em. They've got laws and rules and spiritual reggilations every way you turn and all amounting to the same thing: Brahmins is right and everybody else is wrong, plus damn-bad, ornery and wicked. Did Bamjee tell you all he knows?" "Bamjee never tells all he knows, but he told enough. Poor Bamjee! I have sent him to the hermitage." "Good God, miss! What for?" "Simply to make trouble on general principles. Since we are to have trouble anyhow, let us have lots of it. Bamjee told me that the Brahmins have sent about a dozen of their number to the hermitage with orders not to move out of it. Rana Raj Singh shall drive them out. When the highest spiritual authorities turn crooked they always ally themselves with the lowest elements, so I don't doubt we shall have the Chandala to deal with. Maraj has probably stirred the Chandala against me. Bamjee says the Brahmins are growing afraid of Maraj and intend to betray him--" "And Maraj, miss, he means to betray the Brahmins--" "And the Brahmins, I happen to know through reliable spies, have taken a number of ruffians with them to the hermitage." "There'll be hell to pay, miss--and no soldiers!" "Yes, this looks like real opportunity for Rana Raj Singh!"