look in his eyes, back there in
the desert, back in the first day when they had fled together from the
ordeals. And yet . . . !

On his part, Bruce did not particularly welcome the sea. There might
be another man somewhere. No woman so beautiful as Kathlyn could
possibly be without suitors. And when the journey down to the sea was
resumed he became taciturn and moody, and Kathlyn's heart
correspondingly heavy.

The colonel was quite oblivious to this change. He swung his legs free
of the primitive stirrups and whistled the airs which had been popular
in America at the time of his departure.

There was no lightness in the expressions of Ramabai and Pundita. They
were about to lose these white people forever, and they had grown to
love, nay, worship them. More, they must return to face they knew not
what.

As for Ahmed, he displayed his orientalism by appearing unconcerned.
He had made up his mind not to return to America with his master.
There was much to do in Allaha, and the spirit of intrigue had laid
firm hold of him. He wanted to be near at hand when Ramabai struck his
blow. He would break the news to the Colonel Sahib before they sailed.

It was four o'clock when the caravan entered the little seaport town.
A few tramp steamers lay anchored in the offing. A British flag
drooped from the stem of one of them. This meant Bombay; and Bombay,
in turn, meant Suez, the Mediterranean and the broad Atlantic.

The air was still and hot, for the Indian summer was now beginning to
lay its burning hand upon this great peninsula. The pale dust, the
white stucco of the buildings, blinded the eyes.

They proceeded at once to the single hotel, where they found plenty of
accommodation. Then the colonel hurried off to the cable office and
wired Winnie. Next he ascertained that the British ship Simla would
weigh anchor the following evening for Bombay; that there they could
pick up the _Delhi_, bound for England. There was nothing further to
do but wait for the answer to the colonel's cable to Winnie, which
would arrive somewhere about noon of the next day.

And that answer struck the hearts of all of them with the coldness of
death. Umballa had beaten them. Winnie had sailed weeks ago for
Allaha, in search of father and sister!

Ahmed spat out his betel-nut and squared his shoulders. Somehow he had
rather expected something like this. The reason for Umballa's
half-hearted pursuit stood forth clearly.