let them see the bracelet again as for any other reason.
“Aye! If we fail, Allah do more to us!”
King laughed. “Ye shall leave this place as my prisoners. Here ye have no friends. Here ye must obey. But what when ye come to your 'Hills' at last? Can one man hold thirty men prisoners then? In the 'Hills' will ye still obey me?”
They answered him in chorus. Every man of the thirty, and Ismail into the bargain, threw his right hand in the air.
“Allah witness that we will obey!”
“Ah-h-h!” said King. “I have heard Hillmen swear by Allah many a time! Many a time!”
The answer to that was unexpected. Ismail knelt--seized his hand--and pressed the gold bracelet to his lips!
In turn, every one of them filed by, knelt reverently and kissed the bracelet!
“Saw ye ever a Hillman do that before?” asked Ismail. “They will obey thee! Have no fear!”
“Kutch dar nahin hai!” King answered. “There is no such thing as fear!” and Ismail grinned at him, not knowing that King was feeling as Aladdin must have done.
“I have heard you swear,” said King; “be ye true men!”
“Ah-h-h!”
“Have they belongings that ought to be collected first?” he asked, and Ismail laughed.
“No more than the dead have! A shroud apiece! Ali gave them bitterness to eat and picked their teeth afterward for gleanings! They stand in what they own!”
“Then, come!” ordered King, turning his back confidently on thirty savages whom Saunders, for instance, would have preferred to drive in front of him, after first seeing them handcuffed. But when he is not pressed for time neither pistols, nor yet handcuffs, are included in King's method.
“Each lock has a key, but some keys fit all locks,” says the Eastern proverb. King has been chosen for many ticklish errands in his time, and Saunders is still in Delhi.
Prev.
Back
Top