"My half-brother Suliman."
"Agreed!"
"He must go with us to the hiding-place and stay there as her servant."
"Is he a silent man?"
"Silent as the dead, unless I bid him speak!"
"Then, that is agreed; he and thou and I know of this secret, and
none other is to know it! Why wait? Let us remove her to the hiding-
place!"
"Wait yet for Suliman. How long will I be gone, think you, on my
pretended flight?"
"Nay, what think you, sahib?"
"I think many hours. There may be those that watch, or some that
ride after me. I think I shall not return until long after daylight,
and then there will be no suspicions. Give me a token that will admit
me safely back into Hanadra--some sign that the priests will know,
and a pass to show to any one that bids me halt."
The priest held out his hand. "Take off that ring of mine!" he answered.
"That is the sacred ring of Kharvani--and all men know it. None will
touch thee or refuse thee anything, do they have but the merest sight
of it!"
The Risaldar drew off a clumsy silver ring, set with three stones--
a sapphire and a ruby and an emerald, each one of which was worth a
fortune by itself.
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