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 be a little inferno despite our combined efforts if the beggars rushed us under the moon.

"‘But the soldiers will be here by to-morrow afternoon, and that will end it all,' laughed Danby, as his wife brought out the tea things and placed some civilized food before us.

"This obvious fact, that even her domestics had fled, caused another wave of uneasiness to sweep up my spine and ruffle my back hair.

"‘No chance of your runner being held up, is there?' asked Tib, keenly, as he stood by the rail and scrutinized the deep foliage.

"‘Why, yes,' confessed Danby, slowly. 'That's what bothers me. I ought to have sent two or three. But if any one can get through, Shingah Lal can.'

"‘And yet if they are as near as that, why weren't we stopped from coming here?' asked Tib.

"‘Because you were coming here and not leaving here,' replied Danby, in a low voice, so that his wife might not hear him.

"‘I see,' smiled Tib. 'Kind of a trap, eh? Well, I've been in others worse than this, and I've always got away with the bait.'

"And, sir, as if in mockery at his little boast, a long knife hurtled from out of the shadows somewhere and stood trembling in a veranda post three inches from his head. In one jump we were all