"So much the better," said Peer Khan; "leave him to me."
I watched him and Motee as they approached the sleeper. Peer Khan touched him with his foot: he started up to a sitting position, and rubbed his eyes; but Peer Khan threw himself upon him, and he was dead in an instant, ere he had become conscious. Nothing now remained but the disposal of the bodies and the saddle. The grave, a shallow one, was quickly dug; and while the Lughaees were preparing it, myself, Peer Khan and Motee unripped the lining and pockets of the saddle, and took out the gold. There was naught else. It was in coin, and in small lumps, as the jewels he had gotten in plunders had been melted down from time to time. We had no leisure then to speculate on its value; but we cut the saddle to pieces with our knives, to make sure that none remained in it; and the fragments were buried with the bodies.
"What shall we do with the horse, Meer Sahib?" asked Motee. "We cannot take him with us, for there is not a man in the camp who does not know Ghuffoor Khan's horse; and we have no time to stain him."
I was puzzled for a while; to have retained the noble animal would have ensured our detection, and I scarcely knew what to do. At last I hit upon an expedient. "He must be destroyed," said I; "'tis a splendid beast, certainly, yet our lives are worth more than his. Beyond the camp, about an arrow's flight, is a deep ravine. Do any of you know it?"
"None of us have seen it," said all at once.
"Then I must go myself, and do you, Ghous Khan (he was one of my men), accompany me; we will throw him into it. Go and loosen him from his pickets."
I followed him, and we conducted the animal to the edge of the ravine; it was deep, and just suited our purpose, as the banks were precipitous. "That will do," said I, when he had brought the horse to the edge; "now rein his head to one side; we must kill him before he falls in."
He did so; I had prepared my sword, and drew it sharply across the poor brute's throat; the blood gushed out, he reeled backwards, fell into the dark ravine, and we heard his carcase reach the bottom with a heavy fall. I looked over, but all I saw was an indistinct mass at the bottom, while a few groans of its death-agony reached my ears.
"Enough," said I; "come away; the jackals will have a glorious feast ere morning, and no one will ever think of looking here. But it was a pity to kill the brute."