"Well, sir," he went on, "as I was saying, I got permission, thanks to you, to utilize my information----"
"You mean Rujjub Ali's and that sneak Elahi Buksh's, I suppose," put in Nicholson. "It was sharp work. The King only went to Humayon's Tomb yesterday. They must have had it all cut and dried before, surely?"
"The Queen has been trying to surrender on terms some time back, sir," replied Hodson hastily. "She has a lot of treasure--eight lakhs, the spies tell me--and is anxious to keep it. However, to go on. After stopping with Elahi Buksh that night--no doubt, as you say, pressure was put on them then--they went off, as agreed, to meet Bukht Khân, but refused to go with him. Of course the promise of their lives----"
"Then you were negotiating already?"[[9]]
"Not exactly--but--but I couldn't have done without the promise unless Wilson had agreed to send out troops, and he wouldn't. So I had to give in, though personally I would a deal rather have brought the old man in dead, than alive. Well, I set off this morning with fifty of my horse and sent in the two messengers while I waited outside. It was nearly two hours before they came back, for the old man was hard to move. Zeenut Maihl was the screw, and when Bahâdur Shâh talked of his ancestors and wept, told him he should have thought of that before he let Bukht Khân and the army go. In fact she did the business for me; but she stipulated for a promise of life from my own lips. So I rode out alone to the causeway by the big gate--it is a splendid place, sir; more like a mosque than a tomb, and drew up to attention. Zeenut Maihl came out first, swinging along in her curtained dhooli, and Rujjub, who was beside me, called out her name and titles decorously. I couldn't help feeling it was a bit of a scene, you know; my being there, alone, and all that. Then the King came in his palkee; so I rode up, and demanded his sword. He asked if I were Hodson-sahib bahâdur and if I would ratify the promise? So I had to choke over it, for there were two or three thousand of a crowd by this time. Then we came away. It was a long five miles at a footpace, with that crowd following us until we neared the city. Then they funked. Besides I had said openly I'd shoot the King like a dog despite the promise at the first sign of rescue. And that's all, except that you should have seen the officer's face at the Lahore gate when he asked me what I'd got in tow, and I said calmly, 'Only the King of Delhi.' So that is done."
"And well done," said Nicholson briefly, reaching out a parched right hand. "Well done, from the beginning to the end."
Hodson flushed up like a girl. "I'm glad to hear you say so, sir," he replied as nonchalantly as he could, "but personally, of course, I would rather have brought him in dead."
Even that slight action, however, had left Nicholson breathless, and the only comment for a time came from his eyes; bright, questioning eyes, seeking now with a sort of pathetic patience to grasp the world they were leaving, and make allowances for all shortcomings.
"And now for the Princes," said Hodson. "Did you write to Wilson, sir?"
Nicholson nodded, "I think he'll consent. Only--only don't make any more promises, Hodson. Some of them must be hung; they deserve death."