“You are young to have learnt that lesson; bear it well in mind. And now you can go.”
Old Ibrahim heard the splendid news that same night, as he and his adopted grandson sat on the rug in the middle of the shop, with the oil-lamp swinging between them; heard it with puckered face, twitching claw-like fingers, and glittering eyes. What was the store he had buried beneath the floor in comparison to this? Two camel-loads of gold and jewels! Oh! if he had only taken the worthless-looking amulet when he appropriated the ponies and the money; it was the richest prize of all; but alas! he was ever unfortunate.
“Let us go forth and seek it now,” he panted; “we will arise and take two ekkas with strong ponies, and spades, and sacks, and start. I will aver that we are gone to a marriage at Aligarh.”
“You would not be believed,” returned Kareem scornfully; “and how would you get the ekkas, or buy spades, without raising suspicion? The place is full of robbers and budmashes, and the distance is too long for an old man like you; we would both be murdered. No, I will wait and go with the collector sahib; he will lend carts, and we need have no fear—we shall have the protection of the Sircar.”
“Oh yes, but you are a young man,” whined Ibrahim, twisting his hands convulsively, “and in two months I may be dead! Oh! and I know so well where to sell gold and precious stones; where we shall get a great price quietly, and without question or dispute.”
“You will surely live two months,” rejoined Kareem. “At any rate, I have given my word to the sahib, and it must be as he wills.”
From this time forward, a great change came over Kareem; he no longer laughed and gesticulated and showed his teeth—white as the slit of a cocoanut; he no longer gossiped in the serai, or gambled below the bridge; he found his secret very burdensome, and his veins seemed filled with a burning fever of restlessness; his eyes looked large and his cheeks hollow; his song was no longer on his lips.
As for old Ibrahim, he now cared nought for his trade; and what, asked the neighbours, had he and Kareem in common that they were so often together, conferring earnestly in low whispers?
Kareem was much at home, too, and people began to marvel; he seemed preoccupied and strange and proud; he refused to gamble; he took no interest in kite-flying; instead of which, he was constantly muttering into the ear of his grandfather. “Why? What were they talking about? What was their secret?”
Kareem was recounting the list of spoil for the hundredth time, and Ibrahim was bestowing much sage advice on his protégé.