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 floor. At last all was settled for the start before dawn, and he turned to me.

"We shall meet again in Simla, Griggs, of course?"

"I hope so. Of course we shall, unless you are killed by those fellows at Keitung. I would not trust them."

"I do not trust them in the least, but I have an all-powerful ally in Ram Lal. Did you not think it very singular that the Brahmin should know all about Ram Lal's warning? and that he should have the same opinion?"

"We live in a country where nothing should astonish us, as I remember saying to you a fortnight ago, when we first met," I answered. "That the Brahmin possesses some knowledge of yog-vidya is more clearly shown by his speech about Ram Lal than by that ridiculous trick with my water-carrier."

"You are not easily astonished, Griggs. But I agree with you as to that. I am still at a loss to understand why I should not have come or let the others come. I was startled at the Brahmin."

"I saw you were; you were as white as a sheet, and yet you turned up your nose at Ram Lal when he told you not to come."

"The Brahmin said something more than Ram Lal. He said I should not have brought the white-haired lady into the tiger's jaws. I saw that the first warning had been on her account, and I suppose the impression of possible danger for her frightened me."