"And his, the young sahib's, was whiter than any, glittering, it seemed, with a white fire. The mem was in the boat, and Broon-sahib on the bottom step, the baby in his arms. But he, the boy, was above him facing the crowd--making time.
"Then, just as the mem stretched her hands for the child, a bullet--they were firing from the top steps--hit Broon-sahib, and he fell half in, half out of the water, pushing the boat out in his fall. So it began to slide down stream.
"Some in it would have stopped it, but the mem gave a look at those other mems, those other babies, and laid her hand on one that would have gone back.
"'No!'
"That was the cry she gave--a great cry; but a greater one rang out through the shadows and the lights, from the boy who had caught up the child as it fell upon the steps.
"I know not what it was, but it was great, and it echoed out as the boat slipped fast to safety. And he held the child to his breast and waved his sword, so that the mem's white face rose from her hands, where she had hidden it, and she looked back. That was the last thing I saw out of the shadows as the boat slipped to safety; but it held me, so that when I looked round, the boy was no longer on the steps.
"He had leaped to the plinth of the temple, and his arms were empty of his burden. Only he stood in front of the doorway with his glittering white face--his glittering white face, his glittering white sword!
"' Come on, you devils!' he shouted in our tongue. 'Come on! Mai Kâli shall have blood to-night if she wants it.'"
"And she had, brothers!
"It ran from the plinth and trickled to the river; for none could touch him from behind, and his sword was in front.