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 "Why do you fear?" said the sentry and off he went.

No sooner was he out of sight than Bimala slipped away;—thus verifying the saying of Osman, "there's danger only in the eyes of Bimala."

After regaining her freedom, Bimala conceived it to be her first duty to bring intelligence of the disaster to Virendra Singha; and with this view in breathless haste she directed her steps towards Virendra's bed-chamber.

She had not gone half-way when the war-cry of allalla ho! burst upon her ear.

"Is it the victorious shoat of the Pathan soldiers?" exclaimed she distractedly. A loud uproar then breaking upon her ear convinced her that the inmates of the castle had risen up.

Flying to Virendra Singha's bed-room, Bimala witnessed the same noise and bustle there, the Pathans having broken open the door and entered the room. She peeped in and discovered Virendra with his waist fast bound, playing his sword like a maniac—his body deluged with blood. His exertions were presently rendered fruitless, for by a stroke of a long sword of a powerful Pathan, his weapon flew from his grasp and fell at a distance; Virendra Singha was taken prisoner.