Finally he pushed the door aside and struck another match, which he also raised above his head and peered into the breathless darkness, waiting for the tiny flame to illuminate the interior.
Then with a horrified gasp he recoiled.
"Wana Affghar has betrayed us all!"
Only the dead body of poor Harkins was there, and that had been plundered by the Ghoojurs.
It was true: Wana Affghar had played them false.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
TOO LATE!
From the moment Wana Affghar of Puneput solemnly pledged himself to allow the fugitives to go free, in consideration of the Star of India being turned over to him, his brain was busy in devising some means of violating his vow.
Two powerful causes spurred him on. The first was his inherent viciousness and hatred of the Feringhees, and the second the necessity of doing something to placate the ruffians who had served under him during the siege. Despite his self important assertion that none of the Ghoojurs dare question his authority, his discipline was so loose that there would have been open rebellion had he sought to draw them away from the feast with their appetites unsatisfied.
In the face of the vigilance of Luchman, the chief succeeded in making known his whole scheme to Ramsurun Duss, his trusted aid, who gave him all the help he could; for like a true Asiatic, the task was the most congenial one in all the world to him.