"
"You could do no good, even if you did ride on," said the colonel,
not unkindly.
"I'm thinking, sir, that Mahommed Khan--"
"Risaldar Mahommed Khan?"
"Yes, sir."
"Of the Rajput Horse?"
"Yes, sir. My father's Risaldar."
"You left your wife in his charge, didn't you?"
"Yes, sir, but I'm thinking that--that perhaps the Risaldar--I mean--
there seem to be Mohammedans at the bottom of this business, as well
as Hindus. Perhaps--"
"Bellairs! Now hear me once and for all. You thank your God that
the Risaldar turned up to guard her! Thank God that your father was
man enough for Mahommed Khan to love and that you are your father's son!
And listen! Don't let me hear you, ever, under any circumstances,
breathe a word of doubt as to that man's loyalty! D'you understand me,
sir? You, a mere subaltern, a puppy just out of his 'teens, an
insignificant jackanapes with two twelve-pounders in your charge,
daring to impute disloyalty to Mahommed Khan!--your impudence! Remember
this! That old Risaldar is the man who rode with your father through
the guns at Dera! He's a pauper without a pension, for all his loyalty,
but he went down the length of India to meet you, at his own expense,
when you landed raw-green from England! And what d'you know of war,
I'd like to know, that you didn't learn from him? Thank your God,
sir, that there's some one there who'll kill your wife before she
falls into the Hindus' hands!"
"But he was going to ride away, sir, to bring an escort!"
"Not before he'd made absolutely certain of her safety!" swore the
colonel with conviction.
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