"Then you mean to tell me that this old man and the tiger were real?" demanded King.
"What do you think they were?" asked Che.
"I thought they were of the same stuff as were the other dreams that the fever brought into my brain," replied King.
"No," said Che, "they were not dreams. They were real. And it was good for you and for me and for Vay Thon that you killed the tiger, though how you did it neither Vay Thon nor I can understand."
"It was certainly good for Vay Thon," said King.
"And good for you and for me, too," insisted Che.
"Why was it so good for us?" asked the American.
"Vay Thon is the high priest of Siva in the city of Lodidhapura. He is very powerful. Only Lodivarman, the King, is more powerful. Vay Thon had wandered far from the city immersed in deep thought. He did not know where he was. He did not know how to return to Lodidhapura. Kangrey and I are runaway slaves of Lodidhapura. Had we been discovered before this happened, we should have been killed; but Vay Thon promised us our freedom if I would lead him back to the city. In gratitude to you for having saved my life he charged Kangrey and me to nurse you back to health and to take care of you. So you see it was good for all of us that you killed the tiger that would have killed Vay Thon."
"And you would not have nursed me back to health, Che, had Vay Thon not exacted the promise from you?" inquired King.
"We are runaway slaves," said the native. "We fear all men, or until Vay Thon promised us our freedom, we did fear all men; and it would have been safer for us to let you die, since you were unknown to us and might have carried word to the soldiers of Lodidhapura and led them to our hiding-place."