"You always were a superstitious sort of chap."
Charteris's passion had faded. "Had this sort of thing before?"
"Oh yes, often."
"And the presentiments always came true?"
"No-o, not always."
"I should think not!" shouted Charteris, with a mighty burst of laughter. "Never was anything like the presentiments I had before going into action the first time, and now I remember it, you were pretty much the same, but we both came out without a scratch. Cheer up, old boy. Who would think it was you that gave Sher Singh the lie to his face, and started calmly to march to certain death? Here, let me mix you a peg. I looks towards you, sir."
"I likewise bows," said Gerrard, with a perfunctory smile. "You don't think me altogether a coward, Bob? There is something evil about the atmosphere of this place. I felt it as I rode in at the gateway."
"I should recommend the estimable Moraes and a blue-pill," said Charteris, yawning. "Coward? nonsense! an overworked conscience sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought is more your number. And now, as I march at a commendably early hour in the morning——"
"I wish you were staying on with me, Bob."
"Oh no, you don't. Think of the evil atmosphere of the place getting hold of me too. Why, we should sit in corners and grind our teeth at one another. You forget the healthy rivalry between us. No, no, you will do bear-leader to the youngster, and keep Sher Singh and the Rani from scratching each other's eyes out, and I'll knock down some more robber castles in Darwan, and demand your help when I stir up a more vicious hornets' nest than ordinary. By the bye, when there was mortar and all kinds of mess about, I took the opportunity of bringing up a little more gold from the treasury—ten thousand rupees' worth or so, as nearly as I could guess—and building it into this wall here," he indicated the parapet of the terrace with his cheroot. "It is behind this bluish stone. You may be glad of it in an emergency."