on the other hand, lest the English, finding
themselves in great straits, should levy heavy contributions on
them--the native princes--for the consolidation of what they term the
'Empire.' They have not much sense, these poor old kings and boy
princes, or they would see that the English do not dare to try any of
those old-fashioned Clive tactics now. But old Baithopoor has heard all
about the King of Oude, and thinks he may share the same fate."

"I think he may make his mind easy on that score. The kingdom of
Baithopoor is too inconveniently situated and too full of mosquitoes to
attract the English. Besides, there are more roses than rubies there
just now."

"True, and that question interests me closely, for the old man owes me a
great deal of money. It was I who pulled him through the last famine."

"Not a very profitable investment, I should think. Shall you ever see a
rupee of that money again?"

"Yes; he will pay me; though I did not think so a week ago, or indeed
yesterday. I lent him the means of feeding his people and saving many of
them from actual death by starvation, because there are so many
Mussulmans among them, though the maharajah is a Hindoo. As for him, he
might starve to-morrow, the infidel hound; I would not give him a
_chowpatti_ or a mouthful of _dal_ to keep his wretched old body alive."

"Do I understand that this interview relates to the repayment of the
moneys you have advanced?"

"Yes; though that is not the most interesting part of it. He wanted to
pay me in flesh--human flesh, and he offered to make me a king into the
bargain, if I would forgive him the debt. The latter part of the
proposal was purely visionary. The promise to pay in so much humanity he
is able to perform. I have not made up my mind."

I looked at Isaacs in utter astonishment. What in the world could he
mean? Had the maharajah offered him some more wives--creatures of
peerless beauty and immense value? No; I knew he would not hesitate now
to refuse such a proposition.

"Will you please to explain what you mean by his paying you in man?" I
asked.

"In two words. The Maharajah of Baithopoor has in his possession a man.
Safely stowed away under a triple watch and carefully tended, this man
awaits his fate as the maharajah may decide. The English Government
would pay an enormous sum for this man, but Baithopoor fears that they
would ask awkward questions, and perhaps not believe the answers he
would give them. So, as