Gilpin observer., 1911-10-05
CHAPTER X. (contInued).

PARDON, hazoor. but La this worth
thy while? l am no child; what /
know I know. II thou art indeed not
Har Dyal Rutton. how IL It that thou
dost wear upon thy finger the signet
Of thy house"-Salig Singh indicated
the emerald which Amber had for
gotten-"the Token sent thee by the
Bell! II thou are not my lord the
rightful Maharana Of Khandawar. how
10 It that thou hast answered the
summons of the Bell? Are the serv-
ants Of the Body fools who have fol-
lowed thee hither. losing trace Of thee
no single instant since thou didst slay
the Bengal who bore the Token to
thee? Am l blind-I. Salig Singh. thy
childhood's playmate. the grand vizier
OF thy toobrief rule. to whom thou
didst surrender the reins of govern
ment of Khandawar! l know thee:
thou canst not deceive me. True It is
that thou art changed-eadly changed.
my lord; and the years have not
worn upor thee as they might had
thought to find thee an older man
and. by thy grace. wiser. But even
az l am Salig Singh, thou are none
other than my lord. Har Dyal Rut-
ton"
Salig Singh put his shoulders
against the wall and. leaning SO with
arms folded. regarded Amber with q
triumph not unmixed with contempt
1t was plain that he considered his
argument final. his case complete, the
verdict his. While Amber found no
words with which to combat his false
Impression. and could only stare. open
mouthed and fascinated. But at
length he recollected himself and
called his wits together.
That's all very pretty" he admitted
fairly. but It won't hold water.
don't suppose these faithful servants
Of tho Bell you mentioned happened
70 tell you that Chatterji himself mis-
took me for Rutton. to begin with.
and just found out his mistake in
time to recover the Token Did they?"
The man shook his head wearily.
Nothing to that import hath come
70 mine ears" he said.
"All right And Of course they didn't
cell you that Rutton committed sui
eide down there on Long Island. Just
after he had killed the babu1"
Again salig Singh replied by making
. negative movement Of his head
We'll. all I've got to say is that
your internal Body employs q
giddy lot Of incompetents to run its
errands."
salig Singh said nothing. and Amber
pondered the situation briefly. He
understood now how the babu's COM
panion had fallen into error; how
Chatter1i. possessing sufficient intel
ngence to recognize his initial mis-
take. had. having rectined It, saved
his face by saying nothing to his COM
panion of the incident: and how the
latter had remained in ignorance Of
Rutton's death after the staying Of
Chatter1i. and had pardonably mis-
taken Amber for the man he had been
sent to spy upon. The prologue was
plain enough. but how to deal with
this, It's sequel. was a problem that
taxed his ingenuity. A single solution
seemed practicable, Of the many he
debated: to get In touch with Laber-
touche and leave the rest to him.
He stood for SO long in meditation
that the Rajput began to show traces
Of impatience. He moved restlessly.
yawned, and at length spoke.
us not my lord content7 Can he
not see. the dice are cast? What
profit can he think TO win through
furtherance Of this farce?"
WELL" curiosity prompted Amber
to ask. what do you want OF me.
then?"
rs there need to ask? Through the
Mouthpiece. the Bengali Behari Lal
Chatterji. whom thou didst slay. the
message Of the Bell was brought to
thee. Thou hast been calledl It is for
thee to answer"
"Called-T
ITO the Gateway Of Swords. ha-
roor."
"Oh. yes; to be sure. But whero
thunderation In r. ?"