Twenty rupees were due to the treasury by Ania on account of the rent of the little tenement he held under the Nawab; and the treasurer consented, at the request of Karim Khan, to receive this by small instalments, to be deducted out of the monthly wages he was to receive from him.  He was, moreover, assured that he should have nothing to do but to cook and eat; and should share liberally with Karim in the one hundred rupees he was taking with him in money, and the letter of credit upon the Nawab’s bankers at Delhi for one thousand rupees more.  The Nawab himself came with them as far as the village of Nagina, where he used to hunt; and there Karim requested permission to change his groom, as he thought Rupla too shrewd a man for such a purpose.  He wanted, he said, a stupid, sleepy man, who would neither ask nor understand anything; but the Nawab told him that Rupla was an old and quiet servant, upon whose fidelity he could entirely rely; and Karim consented to take him.  Ania’s little tenement, upon which his wife and children resided, was only two miles distant, and he went to give instructions about gathering in the harvest, and to take leave of them.  He told his wife that he was going to the capital on a difficult and dangerous duty, but that his companion Karim would do it all, no doubt.  Ania asked Karim before they left Nagina what was to be his reward; and he told him that the Nawab had promised them five villages in rent-free tenure.  Ania wished to learn from the Nawab himself what he might expect; and being taken to him by Karim, was assured that he and his family should be provided for handsomely for the rest of their lives, if he did his duty well on this occasion.

On reaching Delhi they took up their quarters near Colonel Skinner’s house, in the Bulvemar’s Ward,[12] where they resided for two months.  The Nawab had told Karim to get a gun made for his purpose at Delhi, or purchase one, stating that his guns had all been purchased through Colonel Skinner, and would lead to suspicion if seen in his possession.  On reaching Delhi, Karim purchased an old gun, and desired Ania to go to a certain man in the Chandni Chauk, and get it made in the form of a short blunderbuss, with a peculiar stock, that would admit of its being concealed under a cloak; and to say that he was going to Gwalior to seek service, if any one questioned him.  The barrel was cut, and the instrument made exactly as Karim wished it to be by the man whom he pointed out.  They met Mr. Fraser every day, but never at night; and Karim expressed regret that the Nawab should have so strictly enjoined him not to shoot him in the daytime, which he thought he might do without much risk.  Ania got an attack of fever, and urged Karim to give up the attempt and return home, or at least permit him to do so.  Karim himself became weary, and said he would do so very soon if he could not succeed; but that he should certainly shoot some European gentleman before he set out, and tell his master that he had taken him for Mr. Fraser—­to save appearances.  Ania told him that this was a question between him and his master, and no concern of his.