Not a tremor crossed the Hindoo's face.
"Ah, ha!" said he. "I lose the peg and Motor Matt Sahib find it. But it is nothing. There are many things that can be used as pegs—a splinter, a bit of wood, almost anything. Where you pick it up, sahib?"
"Oh, out on the grounds," answered Matt indefinitely.
"Sahib recognize the peg when he find him? You have much observation, Mattrao Sahib."
The suffix "rao" is added to a name as a sign of great respect. Probably Dhondaram felt that he was paying Matt a high compliment, although, naturally, Matt knew nothing about that.
Dhondaram got up slowly and lifted the red cloth from the ground.
"I will now go," said he, "and find how my bad Rajah is conducting himself. He must be watched carefully, and spoken to."
With a courteous nod the Hindoo left the tent. As soon as he was gone Matt rolled over and lifted one side of the canvas wall.
The Hindoo, with never a look behind, walked in his easy way around the calliope "lean-to" and into the "animal top," by the front entrance.
"Nerve!" sputtered McGlory, "he's got a square mile of it. Never turned a hair. Even the sight of that peg didn't phase him."