"The way may be beset. Have I not said that it is perilous?"
"Well, perhaps we shall not go," replied the other, with an unfathomable smile; and with low salaams they separated, each quite ready for and prepared to outwit the other.
One fact they had both learned: Ackbar Khan was defeated, and not victorious!
CHAPTER XIX.
THE ALARM.
"Then you have seen the fighting against the Kaffirs, I suppose?" asked Saleh Mohammed, grimly.
"Seen! Nay, Khan, I fought against them in person; at Jugdulluck, the defence of the village was entrusted to me——"
"And lost by a Hadji," said the Khan, with a sneer.
"Yes, even as the heights of Tizeen were lost by a Khan," retorted the other.
"A Khan—who?"