“You mean--?”
“Sahib--if she said, 'Walk into the fire or over that Cliff!' there be many in these 'Hills' who would obey without murmuring!”
“I have nothing against them,” said King. “As long as they are my men I will not send them into a trap.”
“Good!” nodded Ismail and Darya Khan together, but they did not seem really satisfied.
“It is good,” said Ismail, “that she should have nothing against thee, sahib! Those three men are in thy keeping!”
“And I in thine?” King asked, but neither man answered him.
They sat in silence for five minutes. Then suddenly the two Hillmen shuddered, although King did not bat an eyelid. Din burst into being. A volley ripped out of the night and thundered down the Pass.
“How-utt! Hukkums dar?” came the insolent challenge half a minute after it--the proof positive that Ali Masjid's guards neither slept nor were afraid.
A weird wail answered the challenge, and there began a tossing to and fro of words, that was prelude to a shouted invitation:
“Ud-vance-frrrennen-orsss-werrul!”