"Good or bad, I know not, my lord," replied the man; "but it is at least curious, and you may understand it. I do not." "Indeed!--say on, friend," returned the Kótwal, settling himself into an attitude of attention. "My lord the secretary," said the man calmly, "was out late last night. He went to a temple somewhere, and there was another with him. He then returned to the palace, and the Peer Zadah and Neelkunt Rai were sent for and admitted. They sat till nearly dawn, when a Fakeer came, and was taken up to the Palace of the Seven Stories by the secretary." Jehándar Beg took his beard in his hand, rubbed and stroked it, and mused for several minutes. "Anything more?" he asked. "Some money was taken," added the man. "That is all I know, except that a Durbar is ordered after the mid-day prayer." These tidings, strange as they seemed to be, troubled Jehándar Beg sorely. He had not been told of the Durbar. What could have happened? "Thou must go and find out who was with the secretary," he said. "If I might speak," said the spy timidly, looking about him--"I think it was--" and he advanced and whispered in the Kótwal's ear--"the King himself." "The King? Impossible; he never left the palace," returned the Kótwal, aloud. "I know that he did not. The King?----" "My lord cannot be mistaken," replied the spy, deferentially. "Nevertheless, I heard it----" "Quite impossible! He could not have gone without my knowing of it, Mahmood; nor dare he venture out without being attended. Who were with the secretary?" "Bundagee Sahib, and five others only; and the man who went with the secretary entered the private apartments with him when they returned. This I saw, for I was watching." "Thou shouldst have gone into the court with them," said the Kótwal. "What neglect is this?" "I was going, but the guard stopped me," said the spy, as if ashamed. "They knew me, and turned me out of the fort-gate. What could I do? Since the last time I was drunk, they will not admit me." "And the Fakeer?" "I heard him calling inside, 'Ulla dilâyâ to léonga;' and when he got outside he ran, still shouting, towards the Goruk Imlee trees, and I lost sight of him." "Then who told you he went into the palace?" "O, the men on guard said one of the ladies had seen demons, and that the Syn had been sent for, to say incantations over her." "Very likely," said the Kótwal, calmly. "Now go and bring me the news I want. Was it the King who went with the Meerza, or his own son? Find this out for me, and return directly." "Jo hookum!" returned the spy, "your slave will do his best," and he departed. We need not follow Jehándar Beg in his other private audiences. He had many spies over many people. If he had not been delayed by these communications and his own meditations upon them, and had gone to his prisoners at once, it is possible, perhaps, that the Khan and his son might have been taken by surprise; but they had been warned, and were prepared for him.