He took the talisman signet from his thumb, and slipping it into Philip's hand left the hut. The next ten minutes seemed interminable; and the relief of action when it came was great. This time Belle proved an easier burden, when wrapped closely in a shawl and lifted leisurely. Once amongst the tall tiger-grass in the _nullah_ he rested his knee against a high tussock and still holding her in his arms waited anxiously, for he was now on the direct route to the house and liable to come across a straggling rioter at any moment. The risk, however, had to be run, as the only available bridge over a cut from the river lay a few yards further on. Sheltered by the high grass, Philip's eyes were practically useless to him, and the pony's hoofs being deadened by the sand, it needed a low whistle from the Khân to bring him out on to the road beside the pink-nosed pony. "Give me her here, across the pummel, _Huzoor_," said the old man briefly. "Your legs are younger than mine, and time is precious. So, gently! _Mashallah!_ I have seen women carried thus before this!--women who gave the rider more trouble than she is like to do. Now, if you are ready, _Huzoor_; for though 'tis dark enough there will be a blaze ere long. Those low-caste, pig-leather-working dogs had got to the _sahib's_ brandy-bottles, and you know what that means." "Did they try to stop you?" asked Philip, when after crossing the bridge in silent anxiety they struck into the comparative safety of the jungle. The old man grunted softly, his anger tempered by the necessity for caution. "By the twelve Imaums they said I was afraid!--_I_, Mahomed Lateef Syyed!--that I was sneaking away! And I,--I never even called them pigs."