[2] Fixture.

CHAPTER XII.

THE ONE WHO WAS TAKEN.

"Have you cleared out a tent for the Rani, Bob? I was going to ask you to do it, but when I looked for you, you had disappeared."

"Yes, she and her women are safely secluded. But what I really made myself scarce for was to secure the guns."

"Old boy, you are a genius! They won't dare to try and stop us now."

"Us? That sounds good. I hoped you would see the folly of ramming your head into the lion's mouth by going back to Agpur with Sher Singh."

"He's uncommon anxious that I should—been trying to persuade me all this time. First he followed me himself, and then he sent the fakir, and then Ibrahim Khan."

"I'm not surprised. You would be a particularly welcome guest at Agpur just now, but whether the visit would be quite as agreeable to you as to your entertainers, I take leave to doubt. Have you forgot that you know the secret of the treasury, and Sher Singh don't?"

"I had forgotten. As a matter of fact, I have promised to go back as soon as I have seen the Rani to Ranjitgarh."