"Oho! Then it _is_ true. 'When Brahm ceases to dream, the Gods die.' Now I know, indeed, what he meant. Once, too, the _guru_ said as much to me; but then I did not understand. Now I am wise." "What?" said Findlayson over his shoulder. Peroo went on as if he were talking to himself. "Six--seven--ten monsoons since, I was watch on the fo'c'sle of the _Rewah_--the Kumpani's big boat--and there was a big _tufan_, green and black water beating; and I held fast to the life-lines, choking under the waters. Then I thought of the Gods--of Those whom we saw to-night"--he stared curiously at Findlayson's back, but the white man was looking across the flood. "Yes, I say of Those whom we saw this night past, and I called upon Them to protect me. And while I prayed, still keeping my lookout, a big wave came and threw me forward upon the ring of the great black bow-anchor, and the _Rewah_ rose high and high, leaning toward the left-hand side, and the water drew away from beneath her nose, and I lay upon my belly, holding the ring, and looking down into those great deeps. Then I thought, even in the face of death, if I lose hold I die, and for me neither the _Rewah_ nor my place by the galley where the rice is cooked, nor Bombay, nor Calcutta, nor even London, will be any more for me. 'How shall I be sure,' I said, 'that the Gods to whom I pray will abide at all?' This I thought, and the _Rewah_ dropped her nose as a hammer falls, and all the sea came in and slid me backward along the fo'c'sle and over the break of the fo'c'sle, and I very badly bruised my shin against the donkey-engine: but I did not die, and I have seen the Gods. They are good for live men, but for the dead----They have spoken Themselves. Therefore, when I come to the village I will beat the _guru_ for talking riddles which are no riddles. When Brahm ceases to dream, the Gods go." "Look up-stream. The light blinds. Is there smoke yonder?" Peroo shaded his eyes with his hands. "He is a wise man and quick. Hitchcock Sahib would not trust a rowboat. He has borrowed the Rao Sahib's steam-launch, and comes to look for us. I have always said that there should have been a steam-launch on the bridge-works for us." The territory of the Rao of Baraon lay within ten miles of the bridge; and Findlayson and Hitchcock had spent a fair portion of their scanty leisure in playing billiards and shooting Black-buck with the young man. He had been bear-led by an English tutor of sporting tastes for some five or six years, and was now royally wasting the revenues accumulated during his minority by the Indian Government. His steam-launch, with its silver-plated rails, striped silk awning, and mahogany decks, was a new toy which Findlayson had found horribly in the way when the Rao came to look at the bridge-works. "It's great luck," murmured Findlayson, but he was none the less afraid, wondering what news might be of the bridge.