'Love!' burst out the poor fellow, 'that is too poor a word! I--oh, God! there is no word--no word I have ever heard that can tell what I feel. She is everything to me--life, love, hope. I would give myself--I would die in slow tortures in the presence of my enemies, to save her--my darling--one moment's uneasiness. And to think--but I can't think. Thinking kills. I must act, or I must die!' 'But have you any clue?' said Bertie. He was full of the most passionate sympathy, and he dared not give it vent. His unhappy friend must be brought to take a practical view of his position if he was to be saved. 'Couldn't you tell me how you mean to set about the search?' he went on. 'I don't know. Don't ask me. Light will come. My servants are looking for horses. Give me money, like a good fellow--all the money you have. I will return it to you when we meet in Gumilcund. We shall meet'--with a strange smile. 'Yes; don't look at me in that incredulous way. And she will be there, too; and, look here, Captain Liston: if you see the others--the General, and Lady Elton, and Trixy--tell them that I am going through the land--from east to west, from north to south--deserts, jungles, forests. I will leave no stone of it all untrodden, and, sooner or later, with God's good help, I will come upon her--or'--in a terrible whisper--'her murderers!' 'Yes, yes,' said Bertie chokingly. 'But, my dear boy, you mustn't be so vague--you mustn't, really. You won't find her by riding over the country, and most likely you will get killed yourself, which wouldn't suit the book of any of us just now. I have been putting your scheme before the General, you know, and he quite falls in with it--says you are a military genius. We shall want you to help us to work it. Take my advice, and----' He paused. 'The poor fellow doesn't so much as hear me,' he said to himself. 'I wonder----' But at this moment Hoosanee interrupted them. 'May I have a word with my master?' he said. At the sound of his voice Tom started up, all his lethargy gone. 'Yes, Hoosanee, I have done with the Sahib,' he said. 'Captain Liston, good-bye. I trust we may meet in Gumilcund.' And before Bertie could speak another word he had gone. CHAPTER XXXV A BRUSH WITH MUTINEERS AND A CLUE TO THE FUGITIVES Again we must let the Rajah's Heir tell his story in his own words. The exact date of the following extracts is not given; but, from internal evidence, I judge that they were written in the month of August.