"I am one at your service, noble sir," he replied; "and I know well the richest warehouses, and can lead you to any you wish; and," added he, "there is not a sahoukar or dealer in the city who will not readily give your poor servant, Moheno Das, a character for sobriety and trustworthiness." "You had better not say much of your good qualities till they have been proved," said my father; "your tribe has not the best reputation on these points." "Ah," said the man, "my lord is well aware of what (alas that I should say it!) the majority of our tribe are--a sad set; nevertheless, his slave will not be found to be like them, for having begun by being honest, he has not found it worth his while to be otherwise." "That is as much as to say you would be dishonest if it suited your interests," said I; "but come, the day wears fast, and we are anxious to be out of this crowd before dark." The fellow gave me a knowing look, accompanied by a shrug of his shoulders, which could not be mistaken; what I had said had proved to him that we were on our guard. "What description of goods may you be in search of?" said he; "any may be procured, from the shawls of Cashmere and brocades of Benares to the meanest article." "Benares fabrics are what we require," said I; "a few handsome roomals and doputtas, and a turban or two, to adorn ourselves for the minister's durbar." "You shall see them," said the dullal, girding his shawl about his waist. "Now follow me, and keep a good eye on me, lest you lose me in the crowd." And so saying, he descended the steps of the building, and led us along some of the principal streets, till we dived into an obscure alley, and stopped at the door of a house which certainly promised nothing from its exterior. "A very unsatisfactory search we should have had," said I to my father, "had we endeavoured to find out a merchant ourselves. It is well we took this fellow with us." "These merchants, I have heard, usually choose these secluded places on account of their security," replied my father. "It would not do in a lawless place like this to expose goods for sale as they do in other cities. But they are well known, and easily found out by strangers if they apply to the dullals as we have done."