uty to the colors. Here was Anstruther-sahib, of the
Belgaum Rissala, in dire peril. Very well, then, Corporal Mir Jan, late
of the 19th Bengal Lancers, must dare all to save him.

Jenks was profoundly moved. He reflected how best to utilize the
services of this willing volunteer without exposing him to certain
death in the manner suggested. The native misinterpreted his silence.

"I am not a _budmash_,[Footnote: Rascal.] sahib," he exclaimed
proudly. "I only killed a man because--"

"Listen, Mir Jan. You cannot well mend what you have said. The Dyaks,
you are sure, will not come before morning?"

"They have carried the wounded to the boats and are making the ladders.
Such was their talk when I left them."

"Will they not miss you?"

"They will miss the _mussak_,[Footnote: Goatskin.] sahib. It was
the last full one."

"Mir Jan, do as I bid, and you shall see Delhi again, Have you ever
used a Lee-Metford?"

"I have seen them, sahib; but I better understand the Mahtini."

"I will give you a rifle, with plenty of ammunition, Do you go inside
the cave, there, and----"

Mir Jan was startled.

"Where the ghost is, sahib?" he said.

"Ghost! That is a tale for children. There is no ghost, only a few
bones of a man murdered by these scoundrels long ago. Have you any
food?"

"Some rice, sahib; sufficient for a day, or two at a pinch."

"Good! We will get water from the well. When the fighting begins at
dawn, fire at every man you see from the back of the cave. On no
account come out. Then they can never reach you if you keep a full
magazine. Wait here!"

"I thought you were never coming," protested Iris when Jenks reached
the ledge. "I have been quite creepy. I am sure there is some one down
there. And, please, may I have another drink?"

The sailor had left the crowbar beneath. He secured a rifle, a spare
clip, and a dozen packets of cartridges, meanwhile briefly explaining
to Iris the turn taken by events so far as Mir Jan was concerned. She
was naturally delighted, and forgot her fears in the excitement caused
by the appearance of so useful an ally. She drank his health in a
brimming beaker of water.

She heard her lover rejoin Mir Jan, and saw the two step out into the
moonlight, whilst Jenks explained the action of the Lee-Metford.
Fortunately Iris was now much recovered from the fatigue and privation
of the earlier hours. Her senses were sharpened to a pitch little
dreamed of by stay-at-home young lad