Part 26 (1/2)
”There were two troopers whom I meant to catch,” she said hurriedly, for it was evident that the general did not at all approve of the turn affairs had taken ”I had a trap for theht-Half-brothers, and some hillmen in there ready to rush out and seize them as they passed But a fool Afridi ot there in the nick of tih, who is a buffalo, should be troubled about his troopers and suspected on his own account, for he and I have a private quarrel I did not mean to catch him, or make use of him But he walked into the trap What shall be done with hiesture was iniave, for a h the blood of a slit throat eneral took no notice whatever of that, for wise men of the West understand the East's atte amusement of Yaslish are even more blood careless than themselves, just as it is their practise to build confidently on the opposite fact
”Did you fire the House-of-the-Eight-Half-brothers?” asked the general suddenly ”Am I a sweeper?” she retorted
”Did you order it done?”
”Did Juood cobras ofof the bones of a dead Afridi! Nay, sahib, I ordered a clear trail left froh to the Ger of an Afridi murderer I left a trail that even the police could follow!”
”Whose property is that house?”
”Whose? Ask the lawyers! They have fought about it in the courts until lawyers own every stick and stone of it, and now the lawyers fight one another! The govern whoood to see the lawyers run to cover!”
”This is a bad business!” said the general sternly; and he used tords in the native tongue that are thirty times more expressive of badness as applied to lish for them ”The plan was to kidnap a trooper, or two troopers-to teive them certain work to do And what have you done?”
Yas hienuine She did not need to tell hih in his face and make the truth sink deeper
”And noill the burra sahib do?” she reat war-a war of all the world-but Yased a murdered Sikh First let us punish Yasmini! Shall I send for police to arrest me, burra sahib? Or shall I send a ame may continue?”
”What do you want Sita Ram for?”
”Sita Rae now He is a fool who likes to meddle where he thinks none notice hiest hours Who, for instance, sahib, is to balk Kirby sahib when he grows suspicious and begins to search in earnest for his Ranjoor Singh? He knew that Ranjoor Singh was at the House-of-the-Eight-Half-brothers; there was a h has been reported to hi talked with Germans in my house”
”Reported by whom?”
”By the Afridi who is now dead”
”Who killed the Afridi?”
”Does the burra sahib think I killed hieneral
”In the first place, then, Ranjoor Singh, the buffalo, struck the Afridi with his foot The Afridi, as a dog with yellow teeth, went outside to sing sweet coh Certain Sikhs heard him-of whom one was the trooper aits in another rooh-and they beat hi buffaloes thereatest buffalo of all
”For revenge, the Afridi told tales of Ranjoor Singh, and later knifed one Sikh trooper who had beaten hiht-Half-brothers, where he soon had opportunity for vengeance Now the burra sahib knows all Is it not a sweet love-story! Now the burra sahib may arrest everybody, and all will be well!”
”Where did Ranjoor Singh kick the Afridi?”
”Here-in my house!”