King--of the Khyber Rifles: A Romance of AdventureMundy, Talbot
History
King--of the Khyber Rifles: A Romance of Adventure
Mundy, Talbot
British -- India -- Fiction; Historical fiction; India -- History -- Sepoy Rebellion, 1857-1858 -- Fiction; Love stories; War stories
Instead of answering, Rewa Gunga beckoned Ismail, who had stepped back
out of hearing. The giant came and loomed over them like the Spirit of
the Lamp of the Arabian Nights.
“Whither went she?” asked the Rangar.
“To the North!” he boomed.
“How knowest thou?”
“I saw her go!”
“When went she?”
“Yesterday, when a telegram came.”
The word “came” was the only clue to his meaning, for in the language he
used “yesterday” and “to-morrow” are the same word; such is the East's
estimate of time.
“By what route did she go?” asked Rewa Gunga.
“By the terrain from the station.”
“How knowest thou that?”
“I was there, bearing her box of jewels.”
“Didst thou see her buy the tikkut?”
“Nay, I bought it, for she ordered me.”
“For what destination was the tikkut?”
“Peshawur!” said Ismail, filling his mouth with the word as if he loved
it.
“Yet”--it was King who spoke now, pointing an accusing finger at him--“a
burra sahib sends a tar to me--this is it!--to say she is in Delhi
still! Who told thee to answer those questions with those words?”
“She!” the big man answered.
“Yasmini?”
“Aye! May Allah cover her with blessings!”
“Ah!” said King. “You have my leave to depart out of earshot.”
Then he turned on Rewa Gunga.
“Whatever the truth of all this,” he said quietly, “I suppose it means
she has done what there was to do in Delhi?”
“Sahib,--trust her! Does a tigress hunt where no watercourses are, and
where no game goes to drink? She follows the sambur!”
“You are positive she has started for the North?”
“Sahib, when she speaks it is best to believe! She told me she will go.
Therefore I am ready to lead King sahib up the Khyber to her!”
“Are you certain you can find her?”
“Aye, sahib,--in the dark!”
“There's a train leaves for the North to-night,” said King.
The Rangar nodded.
“You'll want a pass up the line. How many servants? Three--four--how
many?”
“One,” said the Rangar, and King was instantly suspicious of the modesty
of that allowance; however he wrote out a pass for Rewa Gunga and one
servant and gave it to him.
“Be there on time and see about your own reservation,” he said. “I'll
attend to Ismail's pass myself.”
He folded the list of names that the Rangar had marked and wrote
something on the back. Then he begged an envelope, and Rewa Gunga had
one brought to him. He sealed the list in the envelope, addressed it and
beckoned Ismail again.
“Take this to Saunders sahib!” he ordered. “Go first to the telegraph
office, where you were before, and the babu there will tell you where
Saunders sahib may be found. Having found him, deliver the letter to
him. Then come and find me at the Star of India Hotel and help me to
bathe and change my clothes.”
“To hear is to obey!” boomed Ismail, bowing; but his last glance was
for Rewa Gunga, and he did not turn to go until he had met the Rangar's
eyes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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