"Now, you fellow," said Trent, removing the improvised gag from the "thief's" mouth. "Who put you up to this?"
Sullen eyes glowed. "Yonder devourer of pork lies, Sahib!"—with a venomous look at Tambusani.
"Son of a dog!" flung back the other. "Mohammedan whelp!"
"Stop it, both of you!" ordered Trent. "Tambusami, what have you to say?"
One hand pressed to his cheek, Tambusami explained.
"He is a liar and a thief, O Presence. It was he I caught in your room in Calcutta—who got away from me! I recognized him as he passed me in the steerage—and I followed. He went to your cabin and—"
Trent broke in, directing a question at the suspected one.
"Do you deny that?"
"I am an honest man, Sahib!"—sullenness giving away to fright. "That body-louse is a sink of lies!"
Trent pressed on. "Will you tell me who gave you that—? Well, you know what you dropped in my cabin."