3 4 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
quarters unless with a sufficient stock of rupees to 
provide those necessaries, without which no man could 
pass through a strange country. 
At night the Christian was allowed to retain the 
small apartment he had previously chosen as his 
dormitory ; and though when he retired he had 
some misgivings of safety, he soon fell into a tranquil 
sleep. He was shortly awoke by a hand grasping 
the girdle which contained his gold mohurs. A rude 
lamp, consisting of a small earthenware jar, in which 
a wick of cotton burned through cocoanut-oil floating 
on water, threw a dim livid light through the cham- 
ber. Upon finding himself thus assailed, the soldier 
sprang from his couch, grappled with the robber, who, 
however, instantly slipped from his hold, and in- 
flicted a severe wound on his shoulder with a knife. 
The chief, hearing the scuffle, rushed into the apart- 
ment, and perceiving the cause, drew a dagger from 
his girdle, buried it in the breast of his companion 
without uttering a word, and laid him dead at his 
feet. 
" You see,” said he to the Englishman, “ how robbers 
can punish treachery, even among their associates. I 
promised you protection, and will keep my word. 
Have no fears : while I live, you are safe.” 
The body of the man who had been killed was 
thrown among some ruins at a short distance, where 
it soon became a prey to the jackals and vultures. 
The soldier thus timely rescued from destruction was 
prevailed upon, after some hesitation, to take the 
place of the slain bandit. Balancing the peril of his 
present situation, he thought that by uniting himself 
