286 RIFLE AND ROMANCE 



at hand, and that Jhapoo's senile attendant his wife, or 

 his daughter it might be, perchance would surely see to 

 it that the contents of the bamboo receptacle were disposed 

 to the best effect on this final occasion. That she would 

 employ its unctuous virtues freely was fairly certain, and 

 that it would then be left awhile in the mummy's coffer 

 seemed equally unavoidable, since its presence in an unpre- 

 pared position during the hours of night might be provoca- 

 tive of disaster. 



Somehow or other I felt certain that the old G6ndni 

 would endeavour to make sure work of Jhdpoo's apotheosis, 

 of the finishing touch to the deception so long and success- 

 fully carried on, so it was with small surprise that I turned 

 a corner of the steep path on my homeward way to find 

 a crouching figure squatted in the shade of the outer gate- 

 way of the fort. As I approached it was as easy to note the 

 gleam in those cunningly dulled eyes as to supply a reason 

 for so wrinkled a dame braving the scorching glare of the 

 Indian summer day; and, as I would have passed by in 

 seeming unconcern, a sound like the creaking of a rust- 

 bound hinge vibrated on my ear and brought me to a halt. 



" Why all this tamdsha (ceremony) and beatings of the 

 jungle by day?" it said. "Will not the sahib do according 

 to his wont as in the old time?" Then, as if anticipating 

 my intention, almost the very words that formed themselves 

 on my tongue, she continued 



" See ! tigers shall be present, sahib t this very night, and 

 without fail ! They shall assuredly come. Behold ! I see 

 them approach the machdn." 



And then, worked up to a kind of senile frenzy as the 

 hag seemed to be, the cracked voice suddenly ceased ; 

 shrewd cunning displaced the temporary excitement, and 

 with a film of vacuity overspreading the sunken eyes, a 

 withered hand went up in a slow salaam. . . . 



Evening had fallen still, warm, unusually cloudy, with- 

 out a breath of air; and night, succeeding the short tropical 



