hop, winkle-stall, and pork-pie purveyor on the line of
march.

For upward of an hour this sort of thing went on without any
interruption or any solitary thing out of the ordinary, Ailsa strolling
along leisurely, with the boy's hands in hers and his innocent prattle
running on ceaselessly; then, of a sudden, whilst they were moving along
close to the Park railings and in the shadow of the overhanging trees,
the figure of an undersized man in semi-European costume, but wearing on
his head the twisted turban of a Cingalese, issued from one of the
gates, and well-nigh collided with them.

He drew back, murmuring an apology in pidgin-English, then, seeing the
child, he salaamed profoundly and murmured in a voice of deep reverence,
"Holy, most holy!" and prostrated himself, with his forehead touching
the ground, until Ailsa and the child had passed on. But barely had they
taken five steps before Cleek appeared upon the scene, and did exactly
the same thing as the Cingalese.

"All right. You may go home now. I've got my man," he whispered, as
Ailsa and the boy passed by. "Look for me at Chepstow House some time
to-night." Then rose, as she walked on, and went after the man who first
had prostrated himself before the child.

He had risen and gone on his way, but not before witnessing Cleek's
obeisance, and flashing upon him a sharp, searching look. Cleek
quickened his steps and shortened the distance between them. Now or
never was the time to put to the test that wild thought which last night
had hammered on his brain, for it was certain that this man was in very
truth a Cingalese, and, as such, must know! He stretched forth his hand
and touched the man, who drew back sharply, half indignantly, but
changed his attitude entirely when Cleek, who knew Hindustani more than
well, spoke to him in the native tongue.

"Unto thee, oh, brother!" Cleek said. "Thou, too, art of us, for thou,
too, dost acknowledge the sacred shrine. These eyes have beheld thee."

All his hopes rested on the slim pillar of that one word, "shrine," and
his heart almost ceased to beat as he watched to see how it was
received. It broke, however, into a very tumult of disturbance in the
next instant, for the man positively beamed as he gave reply.

"Sacred be the shrine!" he answered in Hindustani. "Clearly thou art of
us--not of those others."

"Others? What others? I am but newly come to this country."

"Walk with me, then, to my abode, sup with me