will enter alone in the early morning."

Pundita drew close to her husband.

"You will seek Umballa and play traitor. You will pretend to betray
me."

"No, no, Mem-sahib!"

"Listen. You will demand to see him alone. You will say that you are
jealous of me. You will tell him that you are ready to lead him to my
hiding-place."

"No, Miss Kathlyn; that will not do at all," declared Bruce
emphatically.

To this Ahmed agreed with a slow shake of the head.

"Let me finish," said Kathlyn. "You will tell him, Pundita, that he
must come alone. He will promise, but by some sign or other he will
signify to his men to follow. Well, the guard may follow. Once
Umballa steps inside the bungalow we will seize and bind him. His life
will depend upon his writing a note to the council to liberate my
father. If he refuses, the leopard."

"The leopard?"

"Yes; why not? A leopard was the basic cause of all this misery and
treachery. Let us give Umballa a taste of it. Am I cruel? Well, yes;
all that was gentle and tender in me seems either to have vanished or
hardened. He has put terror into my heart; let me put it into his."

"It is all impractical," demurred Bruce.

"He will never follow Pundita," said Ahmed.

"Then shall we all sit down and wait?" Kathlyn asked bitterly. "At
least let me try. He will not harm Pundita, since it is I he wants."

"She is right," averred Pundita. "A woman can do more at this moment
than a hundred men. I will go, Mem-sahib; and, more, I will bring him
back."

"But if he should hold you as a hostage?" suggested the harried Ahmed.
"What then?"

"What will be will be," answered Pundita with oriental philosophy.

"You shall go, Pundita," said Ramabai; "and Durga Ram shall choke
between these two hands if he harms a hair of your head."

"And now to bed," said Ahmed.

Well for Kathlyn that she had not the gift of clairvoyance. At the
precise moment she put her head upon the pillow her father was writhing
under the lash; but never a sound came from his lips. Kit was free.
Kit was free!

"To-morrow and to-morrow's to-morrow you shall feel the lash," cried
Umballa when he saw that his victim could stand no more. "Once more,
where is the filigree basket?"

Feebly the colonel shook his head.

"To-morrow, then! Up till now you have known only neglect. Now you
shall feel the active hatred of the man you robbed and cheated. Ah,
rubies and pearls and emeralds; you will ne