The sirdar nodded; he seemed to regard the message as quite unimportant. Ommony followed the train of thought, however, and tried to catch him off-guard with a question asked casually, as if he were merely making conversation:
“Have you seen Miss Sanburn’s friend Elsa lately?”
But the sirdar was not to be caught. It was impossible to tell whether or not he knew any girl of that name.
“Elsa?” he said.
“I see you don’t know her,” said Ommony, unconvinced but judging it would be useless to pursue the subject. He did not see how a man who lived on the outskirts of such a small place as Tilgaun could very well be ignorant of the existence of Hannah Sanburn’s remarkable protégée, more especially since he was a trained and trusted member of the Secret Service, whose duty it would be to report any unusual circumstance. He did not doubt that the sirdar had been retained in the Secret Service roster as much to keep an eye on the Mission as for any other reason.
“When are we to leave this place?” he asked.
“To-night. The Lama asked me to suggest to you the wisdom of not leaving the tent until I come for you—after the evening meal.”
“Very well,” said Ommony, standing up to cut short the interview. There was no sense in talking to a man who was determined to say nothing. “I’ll be here when you come.”
The sirdar bowed with dignity and strode away. The moment he was out of earshot Ommony called Dawa Tsering into the tent.
“Is my trunk in sight?” he demanded.