as seldom as he could, and said only two
words. 'No bacon?' he asked.

Sunni flushed. 'If it is excusable,' said he, 'I do not eat of the
pig.'

At which Colonel Starr's face expressed curiosity, amusement, and
interest all at once; but he kept silence until Sunni had finished.
'Now,' said he pleasantly, 'listen, my small prisoner. I am sure
you have a great deal to tell me about yourself. Very good, I will
hear it. I should like to hear it. But not now--there is no time.
Since you have taken the trouble to escape from this place, you do
not want to go back again, I suppose?'

'I want to go to my own country--with you,' said Sunni. 'I can
march.'

The Colonel smiled. It was the smile of a brave man, and kindly.
His men knew it as well as they knew his sterner looks. Sunni
thought it a beautiful smile.

'You shall go,' he said, 'but we are not quite ready to start yet.
Perhaps in a few days, perhaps in a few weeks, we shall be. A good
deal depends on what you can tell me.'

Sunni looked straight into the Colonel's eyes, a little puzzled.

'How do they get water in Lalpore?' asked the Colonel, to begin
with.

'There are four wells,' said Sunni, 'and two of them have no
bottom.'

'H'm! And what is that white building with the round roof that we
see from here?'

'That is the mosque of Larulla,' said Sunni, 'but it is no longer
of consequence; there is so little Mussulmans in Lalpore. The
soldiers hang their guns there now.'

'Ah! And has the Maharajah many soldiers, and have they good
guns--new guns?'

Sunni looked into the Colonel's face with eager pleasure to reply;
but there he saw something that made him suddenly close his lips.
He had not lived ten years among the Rajputs without learning to
read faces, and in Colonel Starr's he saw that all this talk the
Colonel desired about Lalpore was not for Lalpore's good. The boy
thought for a minute, and tightened his lips, while a little firm
line came on each side of his mouth. He only opened them to say,
'Burra sahib, I cannot tell you that.'

'But you must tell me,' said Colonel Starr firmly.

'No,' returned Sunni, 'not that, nor any more informations about
the fort.'

The Colonel's face grew stern. He was not accustomed to
disobedience.

'Come,' he said; 'out with it, boy. I have no time to waste.' His
tone was so serious that Sunni felt a little nervous thrill run all
over him.

'No,' said he.

The Colonel tried another way: