“Captain Brace will not fire on his host,” he said, in very good English, and I saw his nostrils quivering as he spoke and stepped forward. “We have eaten salt and are brothers.”
Brace lowered his piece and I did the same.
“Yes, I knew of it,” said the rajah, quietly.
“That the men of the native regiment meant to mutiny,” cried Brace, “and did not warn us?”
“I knew and did not warn you,” said the rajah, quietly.
“What treachery!”
“No,” said the rajah, “not treachery. I have held my hand. I would not join, but I could not go against the people.”
“But why—why have the men mutinied?” cried Brace, as the doctor and my companions listened excitedly.
“Because they were told,” replied the rajah. “Can you not see? The storm has been gathering for years, and now it is spreading fast. The great Koompanni is no more, and their people are being scattered like the dust.”
“What I have always feared,” muttered the doctor.