"Ask him what he has done with the Pearl," said the peer.
Ramma Lal put the question.
"I have not got it. It was not here when I came."
The Baboo repeated this to Lord Illingworth.
"It is a lie," he replied. "It was here an hour ago. I saw it myself."
"The sahib knows that thou liest," said Ramma Lal to his friend. "Tell him a finer tale."
But the Hindoo only protested his innocence.
"What does he say?" demanded Lord Illingworth.
"He says," replied the facile Baboo, "that no sooner had he taken the Pearl than there was the flash of fire and much smoke. When it cleared away the stone had vanished. Doubtless Agni the god had come for his own."