to purchase food, had been set upon,
beaten and robbed; that the conflagration had been caused by the fire
from a gun that one of the debased villagers had poked through a hole
in the roof to shoot his servants.

"As my name is Ragganath, it is a visitation upon these scoundrels,"
the merchant declared.

"It is indeed, Sethjee."

Ajeet had diplomatically used the "Sethjee," which was a friendly
rendering of the name "Seth," meaning "a merchant," and the wily Hindu,
not to be outdone in courtesy, promoted Ajeet.

"Such an outrage, Maharaja, on the part of these low-caste people in
the presence of the sainted one, and the pilgrims upon such a sacred
mission to Mother Gunga, has brought upon them the wrath of the gods.
May the village be destroyed; and the _patil_ when he dies come back to
earth a snake, to crawl upon his belly."

"The headman even refused to give the holy one the gift of
silver--tendering instead threats," Ajeet added.

The merchant spat his contempt: "Wretches!" he declared; "debased
associates of skinners of dead animals, and scrapers of skulls; Bah!"
and he spat again. "And to think but for the Presence having arrived
here first I most assuredly would have gone into the village, and
perhaps have been slain for my--"

He stopped and rolled his eyes apprehensively. He had been on the
point of mentioning his jewels, but, though he was amongst saints and
kings, he suddenly remembered the danger.

"We would not have camped here," Ajeet declared, "had we not been a
strong party, because this village has an evil reputation. You have
been favoured by the gods in finding honest men in the way of
protection, and, no doubt, it is because you are one who makes
offerings to the deity."

"And if the Maharaja will suffer the presence of a poor merchant, who
is but a shopkeeper, I will rest here in his protection."

Ajeet Singh graciously consented to this, and the merchant commanded
his men to erect his small tent beneath the limbs of the deep green
mango trees.

The decoits watched closely the transport of the merchant's effects
from the cart to the tent. When a strong iron box, that was an evident
weight for its two carriers, was borne first their eyes glistened.
Therein was the wealth of jewels the flying horsemen of the night had
whispered to the yogi about.

CHAPTER VIII

When the merchant's tent had been erected, and he had gone to its
shelter, the jamadars, sitting well beyond the r