ut it in the other woman's food! So Jimgrim
will be rid of her, and all will be well!"

I got Narayan Singh to keep his eye on the chest, and walked up
to where Grim was going through the form of Moslem prayer, facing
Mecca on his mat on the low hilltop. That was for the benefit of
the prisoners, no doubt.

To save time I got down on my knees beside him and went through
the same motions, keeping a bright lookout for interruptions and
telling him in low tones all that had taken place, repeating
conversations word for word as well as I could recall them.

At last we both squatted, facing each other, and he lighted a
cigarette; but it was several minutes yet before he answered.

"Wants to make terms in a hurry, eh? And has the Lion's seal with
her?" he said at last.

"Well, as old Ali Baba keeps repeating, Allah makes all things
easy! It's a little soon to talk yet, but I think we've got the
Lion of Petra on the hip!"

CHAPTER X

"There's No Room for the Two of You!"

Of course, no committee in the world ever yet did more than cloud
an issue with argument. It takes one man to lead the way through
any set of circumstances, and the only wise course for a
committee is to make that man's decision unanimous and back
it loyally. But men have their rights, as Grim is always the
first to admit.

Ali Baba came and joined us on the cliff-top, and Narayan Singh
was not long following suit. The Sikh said nothing, but Ali Baba
was conscious of the weight that years should give to his
opinion, as well as justly proud of his night's work, and not
at all disposed to sit in silence.

"Now the right course, Jimgrim, is to make a great circuit and
carry these two women back across the British border," he began
at once. "The Lion of Petra will then pay us all large sums of
money, without which you will refuse to intercede with the
government on his behalf for their return. Thus every one will be
satisfied except the Lion, who will be too poor for a long time
afterward to have much authority in these parts. Moreover, it
will be told for a joke against him, and he will lose in
prestige. I am an old man, who knows all about these matters."

"What do you think, Narayan Singh?" Grim asked.

"Sahib, what are we but a flying column? Swiftness and surprise
are our two advantages. We should be like a javelin thrown from
ambush that seeks out the enemy's heart. If we fail we are but a
lost javelin--an officer, a sepoy,