se in their wrath and secure for themselves what is their
just due. As a servant of our lord the king, and a loyal lieutenant of
Bakht Khan, our commander-in-chief, I could not countenance such a
transgression of his strict command; but I am a man like them: I know
what hunger is: am I not myself often at my wit's end for the
wherewithal to buy a meal, with many months' pay due to me? And as a man
I could assuredly not blame any action that our sowars might take."

The simple jamadar gulped at the bait. Minghal had no need to say more.
That same night, a Pathan trader who had entered the city by the Ajmir
gate at sundown, just before all the gates were closed, witnessed a
scene not unfamiliar in Delhi at this time of unrest and relaxed
authority. In the space before a serai near the Jama Masjid, a great
crowd of men was engaged in desperate rioting. He thought at first that
it was one of those little affairs in which the princes of the blood,
notably Abu Bakr, sometimes disported themselves: a raid upon a banker,
or a silversmith, or some merchant who was suspected of having feathered
his nest. But inquiring of an onlooker who stood out of harm's way
watching the conflict, he learnt that the regiment of Minghal Khan--that
bold warrior, and friend of the commander-in-chief--was attacking the
quarters of a troop of three hundred Irregulars, men of all castes and
no country, who had arrived in the city that day and been granted
quarters in this serai by the king.

"And thou art a Pathan, too, by thy speech, O banijara," said the man.
"Pathans are ever unruly--I mean no offence to thee, who art a man of
peace. The noble subahdar, Minghal Khan, is a Pathan, and the leader of
the new-comers is a Pathan also."

"What is his name, O bariya?" asked the trader, judging by his
informant's attire that he was a swordsmith.

"Men call him Asadullah, and say he is a very great warrior. Bah! There
is too much talk of very great warriors, and too little fighting. I am a
good Musalman, and no man can say I am not a faithful subject of the
king--may Allah be his peace!--but it is nevertheless the truth, O
banijara, that I was more prosperous under the English raj than I am
this day."

"There will be work for thee to-morrow, O grinder of swords, for many
edges will be blunted. Hai! What a din they make! I can hardly hear
myself speak. Why are they using no firearms?"

"That is easy to understand. I speak to a friend--thou and I are m