private affair.
Well he knew the ingenuity and resources of his enemies at large.
There would be no rescue this night. Kathlyn Mem-sahib should die;
this time he determined to put fear into the hearts of the others.

Having drunk his king's peg, he was well fortified against any personal
qualms. The passion he had had for Kathlyn was dead, dead as he wanted
her to be.

Whom the gods destroy they first make mad; and Umballa was mad.

The palanquin waited in vain outside the wall of the garden of
brides--waited till a ripple of the news eddied about the conveyance in
the shape of a greatly agitated Lal Singh.

"He is really going to kill her!" he panted. "He lured her to her
sister's side, then captured her. She is to be placed beneath the car
of Juggernaut within an hour. It is to be done secretly. The people
are guarded and held in the bazaars. Ahmed, with an elephant and armed
keepers, will be here shortly. I have warned him. Umballa runs amuck!"

Suddenly they heard voices in the garden, first Umballa's, then
Kathlyn's. Sinister portents to the ears of the listeners, father and
lover and loyal friends. The former were for breaking into the garden
then and there; but a glance through the wicket gate disclosed the fact
that Umballa and Kathlyn were surrounded by fifteen or twenty soldiers.
And they dared not fire at Umballa for fear of hitting Kathlyn.

The palanquin was lastly carried out of sight.

At the end of the passage or street nearest the town was a gate that
was seldom closed. Through this one had to pass to and from the city.
Going through this gate, one could make the hill (where the car of
Juggernaut stood) within fifteen minutes, while a detour round the
walls of the ancient city would consume three-quarters of an hour.
Umballa ordered the gates to be closed and stationed a guard there.
The gates clanged behind him and Kathlyn. This time he was guarding
every entrance. If his enemies were within they would naturally be
weak in numbers; outside, they would find it extremely difficult to
make an entrance. More than this, he had sent a troop toward the
colonel's camp.

The gates had scarcely been closed when Ahmed, his elephant and his
armed keepers came into view. The men sent Pundita back to camp, and
the actual warfare began. They approached the gate, demanding to be
allowed to pass. The soldiers refused. Instantly the keepers flung
themselves furiously upon the soldiers. The t