Chapter 18
As soon as Bathurst began to remove the covering of the hole, a voice came from below.

"Is that you, Bathurst?"

"All right, Doctor."

"Heaven be praised! You are back sooner than I expected, by a long way. I heard voices talking, so I doubted whether it was you."

"The ladder is still there, I suppose, Doctor?"

"Yes; it is just as you got off it. What are you going to do about the hole?"

"Rujub is here; he will cover it up after me."

"Then you were right," the Doctor said, as Bathurst stepped down beside him; "and you found the juggler really waiting for you?"

"At the bungalow, Doctor, as I expected."

"And what have you done? You can hardly have seen Por Sing; it is not much over an hour since you left."

"I have seen him, Doctor; and what is more, he has pledged his word for our safety."

"Thank God for that, lad; it is more than I expected. This will be news indeed for the poor women. And do you think he will be strong enough to keep his pledge?"

"I think so; he asked me to wait until tomorrow afternoon before going out with a flag of truce, and said that by that time he would get the other Zemindars to stand by him, and would make terms whether the Sepoys liked it or not."