er."

"In a few moments it will be dark and we shall be lost," said Mr. Y----,
the colonel's secretary.

And, indeed, the sun was dipping below the horizon, and every moment was
precious. In the meanwhile, the Sadhu had fastened the rope round the
cow's neck again and stood before us on the pathway, evidently not
understanding a word of our conversation. His tall, slim figure seemed
as if suspended in the air above the precipice. His long, black hair,
floating in the breeze, alone showed that in him we beheld a living
being and not a magnificent statue of bronze. Forgetting our recent
danger and our present awkward situation, Miss X----, who was a born
artist, exclaimed: "Look at the majesty of that pure profile; observe
the pose of that man. How beautiful are his outlines seen against the
golden and blue sky. One would say, a Greek Adonis, not a Hindu!" But
the "Adonis" in question put a sudden stop to her ecstasy. He glanced at
Miss X---- with half-pitying, half-kindly, laughing eyes, and said with
his ringing voice in Hindi--

"Bara-Sahib cannot go any further without the help of someone else's
eyes. Sahib's eyes are his enemies. Let the Sahib ride on my cow. She
cannot stumble."

"I! Ride on a cow, and a five-legged one at that? Never!" exclaimed the
poor colonel, with such a helpless air, nevertheless, that we burst out
laughing.

"It will be better for Sahib to sit on a cow than to lie on a chitta"
(the pyre on which dead bodies are burned), remarked the Sadhu with
modest seriousness. "Why call forth the hour which has not yet struck?"

The colonel saw that argument was perfectly useless, and we succeeded in
persuading him to follow the Sadhu's advice, who carefully hoisted him
on the cow's back, then, recommending him to hold on by the fifth leg,
he led the way. We all followed to the best of our ability.

In a few minutes more we were on the verandah of our vihara, where we
found our Hindu friends, who had arrived by another path. We eagerly
related all our adventures, and then looked for the Sadhu, but, in the
meanwhile, he had disappeared together with his cow.

"Do not look for him, he is gone by a road known only to himself,"
remarked Gulab-Sing carelessly. "He knows you are sincere in your
gratitude, but he would not take your money. He is a Sadhu, not a buni,"
added he proudly.

We remembered that it was reported this proud friend of ours also
belonged to the Sadhu sect. "Who can tell," whispere