“Never,” was the Kashmiri s reply—“at least I never heard of her doing so.”
“There was nothing to awake a suspicion in your mind that Premi was connected with Europeans? Did she talk just like those around her?”
Kripá Dé, pressing his hand over his forehead, made strong efforts to revive any faint impression left on the sands of his memory, but could not at first discover any. “If Premi’s language had at first been strange,” he observed, “I would only have thought that she was speaking in Pushtoo” (the language of the Afghans).
“My father, are you aware that the commissioner is now on circuit?” said Harold. “I accidentally heard to-day that Mr. Thole is encamped at Patwal, only six miles from this place; but he may possibly have moved on. Would it not be well to lay the whole matter before him, and procure from him a warrant for the production in court of a young widow suspected to be of English birth? If our suspicions be correct, other proofs would probably come out if the matter were thoroughly sifted by a Government official.”
It was now Kripá Dé’s turn to need an interpreter, and his eyes were anxiously turned towards Robin.
“I think that we should not lose a day in consulting Mr. Thole,” was Mr. Hartley’s reply. “I have a slight, a very slight, acquaintance with the commissioner; he knows who I am, and he will, I hope, give me audience at once.—Robin, give orders for the tattu to be saddled without delay.”
“Not, I trust, before you have taken your meal,” said Alicia pleadingly. “O father, you need rest and refreshment so much!”
“Why not let Robin and myself go, and you remain here?” suggested Harold. “You have already exerted yourself beyond your strength.”
Mr. Hartley would not hear of this arrangement. He knew the character of Mr. Thole, and that he would be far more likely to listen to an elderly man, of whom he had seen something, than to two young missionaries who were to him utter strangers. Mr. Hartley felt that the matter might need delicate handling. Mr. Thole was one of those Government officers who pride themselves on being strictly just. The commissioner could not endure the imputation of favouring a countryman, above all if that countryman happened to be engaged in mission work, with which Mr. Thole had not the slightest sympathy. The official’s justice, like ambition, thus sometimes overleaped itself, and fell on the other side; and Mr. Thole actually showed no small tendency to partiality, from the very dread of being considered partial. Mr. Thole looked upon evangelistic efforts as a waste of money, if not an actual means of disturbing the public peace. To the commissioner it was a matter of indifference whether India were Hindu, Mohammedan, or Christian; but he was very anxious to do his duty to Government, very desirous that his district should be regarded as the most quiet and prosperous in the land. Mr. Hartley knew that to bring his frank, impetuous, and not always discreet Robin into contact with a calm, cold man of the world might utterly defeat his own desire to make Mr. Thole act in a delicate, difficult matter. The missionary therefore decided that Harold and himself should go in search of Mr. Thole, and lay before him the case of Premi. The only point conceded was that the expedition should be postponed to a later hour in the day. Six miles was a short distance, and Patwal could easily be reached before sunset. After a brief rest, Mr. Hartley on his tattu and Harold on foot were on their way to the commissioner’s encampment, to seek his aid in instituting inquiries regarding the nationality of Premi. Without the weight of his authority, it would be impossible to make inquiries at all.
After watching from the veranda the departure of Mr. Hartley and her husband, Alicia, accompanied by Robin, returned to the room in which they had left the Kashmiri. Kripá Dé was not to venture out of the house, lest he should be seen by any one who might betray to his family the secret of his being amongst Christians. Alicia was struck by the anxious, thoughtful expression on the convert’s fair young face. He was seated on the floor, with his hand pressed over his eyes.