"Why did you not tell me this before?" he asked.
"I did not know the date fixed for the rising until last night, when by chance I overheard some words between the palanquin wallahs. It is their wish to kill you tonight."
"I don't doubt it. How do you feel on that question?"
"Sahib, I am the friend of the missionary and his family; you are their friend."
This was Luchman's way of expressing his good will toward the Englishman, who, it cannot be said, was strongly impressed by his words.
"What are your intentions?" asked the latter.
"Sahib, I shall go to Delhi and give up my life in the hope that I may save the missionary and his family."
"And what do you expect me to do?"
The brown face of the native was eclipsed by what seemed a passing cloud of regret, as he answered:
"You must turn back, sahib. At the cantonment of Lucknow, or Cawnpore, or Allahabad you will find friends; you can die with them."