ssion he might be killed. And now Ajeet is trapped
through the decoity and Bootea is going to the Pindari camp."

"You're not going to betray Amir Khan, have him murdered!" Barlow
cried, aghast at the villainy, at the thought that one so sweet could
be forced to complicity in such a ghastly crime.

"No, Sahib, to _save_ his life, for if I do not go now Ajeet will be
killed, and all the others put in prison because of the decoity. Worse
will happen Bootea,--she will be placed in the seraglio of Nana Sahib."

"Damn it! they can't do that!" Barlow exclaimed angrily. "I'll stop
that."

"No, the Sahib can't; and he has a mission, he is not of the service of
protecting Bootea."

"You can't save Amir Khan's life unless you betray the Bagrees to him?"

"Yes, Sahib, I can. Perhaps the Chief will like Bootea, and will
listen to what she says. Men such as brave warriors always treat
Bootea not as a _nautchni_ so I will ask him not to come to the tent at
night because of ill repute. Hunsa will not be able to slay him unless
it is a trap on my part to get him from the watching eyes of his men.
If Hunsa becomes suspicious, and there is real danger, I will threaten
that I will expose him to the Chief. If we come back because we have
failed in our mission, having tried to succeed, it will not be like
refusing to go; and perhaps there will be mercy shown."

"Mercy!" Barlow sneered; "Nana Sahib knows nothing of mercy, he's a
tiger."

"But if I refuse to go another _nautchni_ will be sent, perhaps more
beautiful than I am, and she would betray the Chief, and perhaps all
would be killed."

"By Jove! you're some woman, you're magnificent--you're like a Rajputni
princess."

A slim hand was placed on Barlow's wrist and the girl said, "Sahib, I
am just Bootea,--please, please!"

"And that's your reason for taking this awful chance, to save Ajeet and
the others--is it?"

"There is another reason, Sahib." The girl dropped her eyes and
turning a gold bangle on her wrist gazed upon a ruby that had the
contour of a serpent's head. Presently she asked, "Will the Sahib go
to Khureyra and have a knife thrust between his ribs?"

Barlow was startled by this query. "Why should I go to Khureyra,
Gulab?"

"To see Amir Khan."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because it is known. But the Chief is not now there--he has taken his
horsemen to Saugor."

Again this was startling. Also the information was of great value. If
the Pi