k replied.

"And yet you are Mohammedans?"

"Every one is Mohammedan here."

"Ah! Because it is the choice of 'death or Mohammed.' How comes it
that two young men should voluntarily leave their homes to enter this
tiger's den? You look honest youths. How come you here?"

"I trust that we are honest," Dick said. "We have assuredly not
ventured here without a reason, and that reason is a good one; but
this is not a city where one talks of such matters to a stranger in
the street, even though his face tells one that he can be trusted with
a secret."

The old man was silent for a minute; then he said:

"Come in, my sons. You can, as you say, trust me. I have a room that
you can occupy."

They followed him into the house, and he led them into a small room at
the back. It was poorly furnished, but was scrupulously clean. A pan
of lighted charcoal stood in one corner, and over this a pot of rice
was boiling.

"I bid you welcome," he said gravely.

And as the salutation was not one in use by the Mohammedans, Dick saw
that his idea that the old man was a Hindoo, who had been forced to
abjure his religion, was a correct one. The old man motioned to them
to take their seats on the divan.

"I do not ask for your confidence," he said, "but if you choose to
give it to me, it will be sacred, and it may be that, poor as I am, I
am able to aid you. I will tell you at once that I am a native of
Conjeveram and, of course, a Hindoo. I was settled as a trader at
Mysore, the old capital. But when, four years ago, the tyrant
destroyed that town, I, with over a hundred thousand of our religion,
was forced to adopt Mohammedanism. I was of high caste and, like many
others, would have preferred death to yielding, had it not been that I
had a young daughter; and for her sake I lived, and moved here from
Mysore.

"I gained nothing by my sin. I was one of the wealthiest traders in
the whole city, and I had been here but a month when Tippoo's soldiers
burst in one day. My daughter was carried off to the Tiger's harem,
and I was threatened with torture, unless I divulged the hiding place
of my money.

"It was useless to resist. My wealth was now worthless to me, and
without hesitation I complied with their demands; and all I had was
seized, save one small hoard, which was enough to keep me thus to the
end of my days. My wants are few: a handful of rice or grain a day,
and I am satisfied. I should have put an end to my life, were it no