"I could look the other way, sir," whispered Warrington, for the regiment's need was very real.
"Nay, both of you! Ye shall both beg!" said Yasmini, "or Ranjoor Singh shall taste a hillman's mercy. He shall die so dishonored that the regiment shall hang its head in shame."
"Impossible!" said Kirby. "His honor is as good as mine!'
"Then beg for his and thine—on your knees, Colonel sahib!"
Then it seemed to Colonel Kirby that the room began to swim, for what with the heat and what with an unconquerable dread of snakes, he was not in shape to play his will against this woman's.
"What if I kneel?" he asked.
"I will promise you Ranjoor Singh, alive and clean!"
"When?"
"In time!"
"In time for what?"