"I will not only set you free; I will give you half a lakh of rupees; you shall have a place at my court, or, if you please, I will recommend you to another prince, in whose service you may rise to wealth and honour. If you refuse, I will kill you; no, I will not kill you, for death is sweet to a slave; I will inflict on you the tortures I reserve for those who provoke my anger: you shall lose your ears, your nose, and----"
Diggle again interposed.
"Pardon me, bhai[#]," Desmond heard him say, "that is hardly the way to deal with a boy of my nation. If you will deign to leave him to me, I think that in a little I shall find means to overcome his hesitation."
[#] Brother.
"But even then, how can I trust the boy? He may give his word to escape me; then betray me to his countrymen. I have no faith in the Firangi."
"Believe me, if he gives his word he will keep it. That is the way with us."
"It is not your way."
"I am no longer of them," said Diggle with consummate aplomb. "Dismiss him now; I will do my best with him."
"Then you must hasten. I give you three days: if within that time he has not consented, I will do to him all that I have said, and more also."
"I do not require three days to make up my mind," said Desmond quietly. "I cannot do what----"