as the mildest choc'late cream
you ever saw. He slumped there on the chair, shiverin' as if he had a
chill comin' on, and rollin' his eyes like a cat in a fit. He was so
scared he didn't know the day of the month from the time of night.

"Cheer up, Rinkey," says I, "and act sociable. Now tell the gentleman
what's ailin' your boss."

It was like talkin' into a 'phone when the line's out of business.
Rinkey goes on sendin' Morse wireless with his teeth, and never
unloosens a word.

"Look here, Br'er Singh," says I, "you ain't gettin' any third
degree--yet! Cut out the ague act and give Mr. Pinckney the straight
talk. He's got a date here and wants to know why the gate is up."

More silence from Rinkey.

"Oh, well," says I, "I expect it ain't etiquette to jump the outside
guard; but if we're goin' to get next to Sir Hunter, it looks like we
had to announce ourselves. Here goes!"

I starts for the inside door; but I hadn't got my knuckles on the panel
before Rinkey was givin' me the knee tackle and splutterin' all kinds
of language.

"Hey!" says I. "Got the cork out, have you?"

With that Rinkey gets up and beckons us over into the far corner.

"The lord sahib," says he, rollin' his eyes at the bed room door--"the
lord sahib desire that none should come near. He is in great anger."

"What's he grouchy about?" says I.

"The lord sahib," says he, "will destroy to death poor Ringhi Singh if
he reveals."

"Destroy to death is good," says I; "but it don't sound convincin'. I
think we're bein' strung."

Pinckney has the same idea, so I gets a good grip on Rinkey's neck.

"Come off!" says I. "As a liar you're too ambitious. You tell us
what's the matter with your boss, or I'll do things to you that'll make
bein' destroyed to death seem like fallin' on a feather bed!"

And it come, quick. "Yes, sahib," says he. "It is that there has been
lost beyond finding the lord sahib's glorious eye."

"Sizzlin' sisters! Another pane gone!" says I. "This must be my eye
retrievin' day, for sure."

But Pinckney takes it mighty serious. He says that the dinner at the
club don't count for so much, but that the other affair can't be
sidetracked so easy. It seems that the girl has lived through one
throw down, when the feller skipped off to Europe just as the tie-up
was to be posted, and it wouldn't do to give her a second scare of the
same kind.

Rinkey was mighty reluctant about goin' into details, but we get