e. And there
sat Charteris, listening with knitted brows to the lucubrations of the
witnesses in this dispute over stolen cattle, pulling them up sharply
when their flights of imagination became more than usually daring, and
apparently oblivious alike of the disappointed messenger squatting in
the corner and of the men relying upon him outside Agpur. Gerrard's
breath came faster, and he wondered whether he could frame a plausible
excuse for getting out of the tent and starting immediately on his
return journey to Habshiabad. If Charteris was at a loss what to do,
Sadiq Ali and the Rani would joyfully send every fighting man they
possessed to deal a blow at Sher Singh. Suddenly Charteris turned
round.

"You are precious bored by all this, I can see," he said casually.
"Never mind; it will soon be over now. Take a cigar," and as he held
out the case, his fingers again met Gerrard's with that warning
pressure. His friend accepted the cheroot, and resigned himself to
further waiting. It was not for long. Charteris's brief summing-up
was masterly, so incisive, so searching, so constantly punctuated with
popular proverbs and familiar references to the domestic affairs of the
litigants, that it drew applause from both sides. Then he pronounced
judgment, and the winning side rent the air with their shouts, while
the losing party threw dust on their heads and lamented that they had
ever been born. They went off peacefully enough, however, and
fraternised with their late opponents over a sheep sent out to them by
Charteris, while the two Englishmen, alone at last, faced one another
in the hot shade of the tent.

"Bob, I don't think you realise how bad it is," said Gerrard hurriedly.
"They can't hold out in Ratan Singh's tomb if they are attacked with
anything like vigour. We have lost too much time already."

"Steady, old boy. No harm done. There's no starting until just before
sunset, unless you think sunstroke all round would improve the
efficiency of the relieving force. We have all afternoon for making
arrangements."

"But we have wasted a full hour when we might have been laying our
plans."

"Plans are laid all right. Got 'em here," said Charteris, tapping his
forehead. "What! you thought I was wholly engrossed in my family of
perjurers? Purely mechanical, my boy--interest and interruptions and
all. Brain working like clockwork at more than railroad speed the
entire time. Everything cut and dried.