"The King? Impossible; he never left the palace," returned the Kótwal, aloud. "I know that he did not. The King?——"
"My lord cannot be mistaken," replied the spy, deferentially. "Nevertheless, I heard it——"
"Quite impossible! He could not have gone without my knowing of it, Mahmood; nor dare he venture out without being attended. Who were with the secretary?"
"Bundagee Sahib, and five others only; and the man who went with the secretary entered the private apartments with him when they returned. This I saw, for I was watching."
"Thou shouldst have gone into the court with them," said the Kótwal. "What neglect is this?"
"I was going, but the guard stopped me," said the spy, as if ashamed. "They knew me, and turned me out of the fort-gate. What could I do? Since the last time I was drunk, they will not admit me."
"And the Fakeer?"
"I heard him calling inside, 'Ulla dilâyâ to léonga;' and when he got outside he ran, still shouting, towards the Goruk Imlee trees, and I lost sight of him."
"Then who told you he went into the palace?"