re cast into the hands
of the Dewan, I swear by Bhowanee that I will have your life."

"Treachery!" It was the snarl of an enraged animal, and Hunsa sprang
to his feet. He whirled, and facing Sookdee, said: "Let Bhowanee
decide who is traitor--let Ajeet and me take the ordeal."

"That is but fair," Sookdee declared. "The ordeal of the heated cannon
ball will surely burn the hand of the traitor if there is one," and he
looked at Ajeet; and though suspicious that this was still another
trap, Ajeet without cowardice could not decline.

"I will take the ordeal," he declared.

"We will take the ordeal to-night," Hunsa said; "and we should prepare
with haste the method of the decoity, for the merchant may pass, and we
must take the road in a proper disguise. There is the village to be
decided upon where he will rest in his journey, and many things."

Even Ajeet was forced to acquiesce in this.

Boastfully Hunsa declared: "The ordeal will prove that I am thinking
only of our success. This method of livelihood has been our profession
for generations, and yet when we are in the protection of the powerful
Dewan Ajeet says I am a traitor to our salt."

For an hour they discussed the best manner of sallying forth in a way
that would leave them unsuspected of robbing. One of their favourite
methods was adopted; to go in a party of twenty or thirty as mendicants
and bearers of the bones of relatives to the waters of the sacred
Ganges. No doubt the yogi would accompany them as their priest,
especially if well paid for the service.

The plot was elaborated on, or rather adapted from past expeditions.
Ajeet would be represented as a petty raja, with his retinue of
servants and his guard. The Gulab Begum would be convincing as a
princess, the wife of the raja. The wife of Sookdee could be a
lady-in-waiting.

As a respectable strong party of holy men, and a prince, they would
gain the confidence of the merchant, even of the _patil_ of the village
where he would rest for a night.

They would send spies into Poona to obtain knowledge of the jewel
merchant's movements. The spies, two men who were happy in the art of
ingratiating themselves into the good graces of prospective victims,
would attach themselves to the merchant's party, and at night slip away
and join the robber band so that they might judge where he would camp
next night; at some village that would be a day's march.

When questioned, the _yogi_ told them w