Hurrying to the stream, it did not take him long to learn the thrilling truth: there in the soft soil he saw the tracks of the two men and the two ladies.
Luchman was happy again, and, despite the frightful temperature, he pressed on with greater ardor than before. He saw that while Wana Affghar had played him traitor, Heaven had brought his schemes to naught.
"Won't he pursue us when he finds we are gone?" asked the doctor.
"No; the distance is too far; he knows he cannot overtake us. Besides, it was the diamond, not we, that he was seeking."
"What a pity he should have got it after playing us false!"
"Without it, sahib, we could not have got away."
"I know that, but he is entitled to no thanks therefor: he broke his pledge to us. But it is too late now to remedy it. A fortune has gone, but what would not a man give for his life? Perhaps, Luchman, some day you may get the Star of India back."
The native made no reply, but there were strange thoughts filtering through his brain—thoughts which he kept to himself, but the time came when they were known to Dr. Avery.
"What is to be our course?" asked the latter, observing that his friend did not wish to talk about the diamond. "Shall we follow the stream to its source?"
"No, sahib, since it makes a turn to the west a few miles further on, and we shall have to leave it. But the task is easier now than at any time since we left the Cashmere Gate."