"Yes, uncle. Do you think I would speak carelessly of such a precious object? When one has discovered a treasure it is a trait of human nature to note pretty closely the place where it came to light." Mayne was yet too much taken up with puzzling side-issues to pay heed to Winifred's demeanor. He remembered the extraordinary proposal made by Roshinara to Malcolm ere she drove away to Delhi from her father's hunting lodge. Could it be possible that his young friend had met the princess on other occasions than that which Malcolm laughingly described as the lunging of Nejdi and the plunging of his master? It occurred to him now, with a certain chilling misgiving, that he had himself broken in with a bewildered exclamation when Frank seemed to regard the Princess's offer of employment in her service as worthy of serious thought. There were other aspects of the affair, aspects so sinister that he almost refused to harbor them. Rather to gain time than with any definite motive, he stooped over the pass again, meaning to read it word for word. "Of course you have not forgotten, uncle, that Mr. Malcolm took us into his confidence so far as to tell us of the curious letter that reached him after the second battle outside Delhi?" said Winifred. "It saved him at Bithoor when the men from Cawnpore meant to hang him, and, seeing that he had the one article in his possession, it is passing strange that he should have omitted to mention the other--to me." Then the man knew what it all meant to the girl. He placed his arm around her neck and drew her towards him. "My poor Winifred!" he murmured, "you might at least have been spared such a revelation at this moment." His sympathy broke down her pride. She sobbed as though her heart would yield beneath the strain. For a little while there was no sound in the room but Winifred's plaints, while ever and anon the walls shook with the crash of the cannonade and the bursting of shells. * * * * * Ahmed Ullah, Moulvie of Fyzabad, had a quick ear for the arrival of the native officer of cavalry from Lucknow. "Peace be with thee, brother!" said he, after a shrewd glance at the travel-worn and blood-stained man and horse. "Thou has ridden far and fast. What news hast thou of the Jehad,[14] and how fares it at Lucknow?" [Footnote 14: "Religious war."] "With thee be peace!" was the reply. "We fought the Nazarenes yesterday at a place called Chinhut, and sent hundreds of the infidel dogs to the fifth circle of Jehannum. The few who escaped our swords are penned up in the Residency, and its walls are now crumbling before our guns. By the tomb of Nizam-ud-din, the unbelievers must have fallen ere the present hour." The moulvie's wicked eyes sparkled. "Praise be to Allah and his Prophet forever!" he cried. "How came this thing to pass?"