Barlow sprang to his feet and paced the floor; then he plumped into the chair again, saying:  “What an unholy scheme, even for India.  Gad! how I wish I’d killed the brute when I had the chance.”

“I did not know that Hunsa had proposed this—­neither did Ajeet; for they wanted to get him in their power through the decoity so that if he refused permission he might be killed.  And now Ajeet is trapped through the decoity and Bootea is going to the Pindari camp.”

“You’re not going to betray Amir Khan, have him murdered!” Barlow cried, aghast at the villainy, at the thought that one so sweet could be forced to complicity in such a ghastly crime.

“No, Sahib, to save his life, for if I do not go now Ajeet will be killed, and all the others put in prison because of the decoity.  Worse will happen Bootea,—­she will be placed in the seraglio of Nana Sahib.”

“Damn it! they can’t do that!” Barlow exclaimed angrily.  “I’ll stop that.”

“No, the Sahib can’t; and he has a mission, he is not of the service of protecting Bootea.”

“You can’t save Amir Khan’s life unless you betray the Bagrees to him?”

“Yes, Sahib, I can.  Perhaps the Chief will like Bootea, and will listen to what she says.  Men such as brave warriors always treat Bootea not as a nautchni so I will ask him not to come to the tent at night because of ill repute.  Hunsa will not be able to slay him unless it is a trap on my part to get him from the watching eyes of his men.  If Hunsa becomes suspicious, and there is real danger, I will threaten that I will expose him to the Chief.  If we come back because we have failed in our mission, having tried to succeed, it will not be like refusing to go; and perhaps there will be mercy shown.”

“Mercy!” Barlow sneered; “Nana Sahib knows nothing of mercy, he’s a tiger.”

“But if I refuse to go another nautchni will be sent, perhaps more beautiful than I am, and she would betray the Chief, and perhaps all would be killed.”

“By Jove! you’re some woman, you’re magnificent—­you’re like a Rajputni princess.”

A slim hand was placed on Barlow’s wrist and the girl said, “Sahib, I am just Bootea,—­please, please!”

“And that’s your reason for taking this awful chance, to save Ajeet and the others—­is it?”

“There is another reason, Sahib.”  The girl dropped her eyes and turning a gold bangle on her wrist gazed upon a ruby that had the contour of a serpent’s head.  Presently she asked, “Will the Sahib go to Khureyra and have a knife thrust between his ribs?”

Barlow was startled by this query.  “Why should I go to Khureyra, Gulab?”

“To see Amir Khan.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because it is known.  But the Chief is not now there—­he has taken his horsemen to Saugor.”

Again this was startling.  Also the information was of great value.  If the Pindari horde had left the territory of Sindhia and crossed the border into Saugor they were closer to the British.