ing him out!"

"What proof have we that he is all you came for?"

"My given word."

"But the Jaimihr-sahib--"

"You also have my given word that unless I get Ali Partab this palace
burns, with all that there is in it!"

Distrustful still, the captain of the guard called out to a sweeper,
skulking in the shadow by the stables to go and loose Ali Partab.

"Send no sweepers to him!" ordered Alwa. "He has suffered indignity
enough. Go thou!"

The captain of the guard obeyed. Two minutes later Ali Partab stood
before Alwa and saluted.

"Sahib, my master's thanks!"

"They are accepted," answered Alwa, with almost regal dignity. "Bring a
lamp!" he ordered.

One of the guard brought a hand-lantern, and by its light Alwa examined
Ali Partab closely. He was filthy, and his clothing reeked of the
disgusting confinement he had endured.

"Give this man clothing fit for a man of mine!" commanded Alwa.

"Sahib, there is none; perhaps the Jaimihr-sahib--"

"I have ordered!"

There was a movement among Alwa's men--a concerted, horse-length-forward
movement, made terrifying by the darkness--each man knew well enough
that the men they were bullying could fight; success, should they have
to force it at the sword-point, would depend largely on which side took
the other by surprise.

"It is done, sahib," said the leader of the guard, and one man hurried
off to execute the order. Ten minutes later--they were ten impatient
minutes, during which the horses sensed the fever of anxiety and could
be hardly made to stand--Ali Partab stood arrayed in clean, new khaki
that fitted him reasonably well.

"A sword, now!" demanded Alwa. "Thy sword! This man had a sword when he
was taken! Give him thine, unless there is a better to be had."

There was nothing for it but obedience, for few things were more certain
than that Alwa was not there to waste time asking for anything he would
not fight for if refused. The guard held out his long sword, hilt first,
and Ali Partab strapped it on.

"I had three horses when they took me," he asserted, "three good ones,
sound and swift, belonging to my master."

"Then take three of Jaimihr's!"

It took ten minutes more for Ali Partab and two of Alwa's men to search
the stables and bring out the three best chargers of the twenty and
more reserved for Jaimihr's private use. They were wonders of horses,
half-Arab and half-native-bred, clean-limbed and firm--worth more, each
one of them, than all