"That I would be sure enough to do! Shall I have it said that Mukhum
Dass keeps a dozen women in his dotage?"
"An hour before dawn I will come for them."
"None too soon!"
"Then I will write a letter to a certain man, who, on presentation of the letter, will hand you the title-deed at once without payment."
"A likely tale!"
"Was it a likely tale that Chamu would repay his son's debt?"
"Well—I will take the hazard. Bring them in. But I will not feed them. And if you fail to come for them before dawn I will turn them out and it shall be all over Sialpore that the Princess Yasmini—"
"One moment, Mukhum Dass! If one word of this escapes your lips for a month to come, you shall go to jail for receiving stolen money in payment of a debt! My name was on the money that Chamu paid you with. You knew he stole it."
"I did not know!"
"Prove that in court, then!"