"Dhondaram?" returned Matt.
"Here!" came the eager answer. "Have you brought the basket, sahib?"
"You know why I was to meet you," replied Matt, ignoring the question.
He disguised his voice as well as he could, and the low tone in which he spoke served still further to hide his identity.
The Hindoo could see that Matt was not carrying anything, and evidently his distrust was aroused.
"The sahib is fooling me!" he exclaimed. "You have not brought with you the basket. Part of the money is mine."
Matt had supposed that the Hindoo would run, as soon as he detected the trick. But he did not. On the contrary, he bounded straight at Matt and caught him by the shoulders.
"I want you, Dhondaram!" cried Matt, dropping his attempts at concealment. "You're a prisoner!"
Matt was strong, but the Hindoo was as slippery as an eel. With his arms about him, Matt tried to hold the villain, and in a measure succeeded. Dhondaram, however, heard the running feet and the voices of Burton and McGlory and redoubled his desperate efforts to escape.
He broke from Matt's arms, but Matt caught his left wrist and clung to it like a leech. With his right hand the Hindoo jerked his knife from his sash and made a vicious lunge with it.