While the assembled camp watched spellbound, he quickly, methodically, smashed each of the silver and gold objects into small shreds. Then he broke the silver handle of the axe and again mounted the elephant. "My pledge to you." His voice pierced the stunned silence of the camp as he repeated each sentence in three languages. "My pledge to you is not to touch wine, not to lie with women, not to look on silver or gold until we have taken Ahmadnagar." The camp seemed to come apart with the cheer that followed, and again came the chant "Jadar-o-Akbar," "Jadar-o-Akbar." The sound was as one voice, and now even the distant hills echoed back the sound. Again Jadar stopped them. "Your pledge to me must be the same. And together we will take Ahmadnagar in a hundred days. By the head of the Prophet I swear it to you." Again the chant. And again Jadar stopped them. "Tonight I offer to fight for you. You must be ready to fight for me. And each must hold the other to his pledge." More cheers. "I have spilled my wine. I will stay apart from my women. I have smashed my gold and silver. I will give it to you. Each tent will have a shard. But my eyes must never see it again." The roar of approval was deafening. "That is my pledge. You must also give me yours. Leave your women in their tents and lie beside me under the stars. Empty your wine flasks into the Narbada River as we cross. As your oath to fight to the death. And all your silver, that of your vessels, that on your saddles, that on your women, must be brought here tonight. Mark it with your seal, and leave it under guard in my own wagons, away from all eyes, until the day we reach Ahmadnagar. Then we will drink wine, we will have women, we will wear our finest in victory." Jadar paused dramatically. "Tonight we are many. Tomorrow we are one. We march at sunrise!" The cheers began again, and immediately the pile of silver started to grow. Muslim nobles began bringing silver-trimmed saddles, plates, even jewelry. But the most silver came from the Hindu infantry, as their women were stripped of the silver bracelets and massive silver anklets that had been their dowries. Jadar sat unmoving on his elephant as the men began to come forward with items of silver. Soon there was a line stretching into the dark of the tents. He watched the pile growing, and his calculations began. Will it be enough? The weight must be enough or the Shahbandar, motherless thief that he is, will never agree. But I think we will have it. He thought back over the plan. It had required almost the entire afternoon to refine. But when he had convinced himself that it would succeed, he had posted the pigeons to Surat. Where, he had asked himself, can I find fifty lakhs of silver, five million rupees, within a month, and have them at Burhanpur when we arrive? I'll not squeeze a copper _pice_, penny, from Agra. If not Agra, where? And slowly in his mind a form had taken shape. He had