His musings were disturbed by the sound of horses advancing quietly across a paddy field which skirted that side of the wall running at a right angle with the river. It was impossible to see far owing to the mist that clung close to the ground, but he could not be mistaken as to the presence of a small body of mounted men within a few yards. They had halted, too, but his alert ears caught the occasional clink of accouterments, and the pawing of a horse in the soft earth. He racked his brain to try to discover some connection between this cavalry post and the parting admonition given by the Begum Roshinara, and he might have guessed the riddle in part had he not heard hurried footsteps in the garden. They came, not from the door by which he was admitted, but from the Palace itself. Whoever the newcomers were they made straight for the pavilion, and, as he was unarmed, he did not hesitate to show himself against the sky line. For ill or well, he wanted to know his fate, and he determined to spring over the battlements in the hope of reaching the river if he received the slightest warning of hostile intent by those who sought him. "Is that you, Malcolm?" said a low voice, and his heart leaped when he recognized Mr. Mayne's accents. "Yes. Can it be possible that you are here?" He ran down the stone steps. On the level of the garden he could see three figures, one a white-robed native, one a man in European garments, and the third a woman wrapped in a dark cloak. A suppressed sob uttered by the woman sent a gush of hot blood to his face. He sprang forward. In another instant Winifred was in his arms. And that was their unspoken declaration of love--in the garden of Nana Sahib's house at Bithoor--while within hail were thousands who would gladly have torn them limb from limb, and the southern horizon was aflame with the light of their brethren's dwelling-places. "Oh, Frank, dear," whispered the girl brokenly, "what evil fortune has led you within these walls? Yet, I thank God for it. Promise you will kill me ere they drag me from your side again." "Hush, Winifred. For the sake of all of us calm yourself," said her uncle. "This man says he has brought us here to help us to escape. Surely you can find in Malcolm's presence some earnest of his good faith."