“Will you tell us what you know of Mr. Thresk’s visit to the Captain?” Travers resumed, and Baram Singh told how a camel had been sent to the dak-house by the station of Jarwhal Junction.

“Yes,” said Mr. Travers, “and he dined in the tent.  How long did he stay?”

“He left the camp at eleven o’clock on the camel to catch the night train to Bombay.  The Captain-sahib saw him off from the edge of the camp.”

“Ah,” said Mr. Travers, “Captain Ballantyne saw him off?”

“Yes—­from the edge of the camp.”

“And then went back to the tent?”

“Yes.”

“Now I want to take you to another point.  You waited at dinner?”

“Yes.”

“And towards the close of dinner Mrs. Ballantyne left the room?”

“Yes.”

“She did not come back again?”

“No.”

“No.  The two men were then left alone?”

“Yes.”

“After dinner was the table cleared?”

“Yes,” said Baram Singh, “the Captain-sahib called to me to clear the table quickly.”

“Yes,” said Travers.  “Now, will you tell me what the Captain-sahib was doing while you were clearing the table?”

Baram Singh reflected.

“First of all the Captain-sahib offered a box of cheroots to his visitor, and his visitor refused and took a pipe from his pocket.  The Captain-sahib then lit a cheroot for himself and replaced the box on the top of the bureau.”

“And after that?” asked Travers.

“After that,” said Baram Singh, “he stooped down, unlocked the bottom drawer of his bureau and then turned sharply to me and told me to hurry and get out.”

“And that order you obeyed?”

“Yes.”

“Now, Baram Singh, did you enter the room again?”

Baram Singh explained that after he had gone out with the table-cloth he returned in a few moments with an ash-tray, which he placed beside the visitor-sahib.

“Yes,” said Travers.  “Had Captain Ballantyne altered his position?”

Baram Singh then related that Captain Ballantyne was still sitting in his chair by the bureau, but that the drawer of the bureau was now open, and that on the ground close to Captain Ballantyne’s feet there was a red despatch-box.

“The Captain-sahib,” he continued, “turned to me with great anger, and drove me again out of the room.”

“Thank you,” said Mr. Travers, and he sat down.

The prosecuting counsel rose at once.

“Now, Baram Singh,” he said with severity, “why did you not mention when you were first put in the witness-box that this gentleman was present in the camp that night?”

“I was not asked.”

“No, that is quite true,” he continued, “you were not asked specifically, but you were asked to tell all that you knew.”

“I did not interfere,” replied Baram Singh.  “I answered what questions were asked.  Besides, when the sahib left the camp the Captain-sahib was alive.”