"If she discovers you're not Rawul Din, the Rajput, what then?"
Kerth shrugged. "_Adrushtam!_" he said, which means, "It is Fate!" Then he lighted a cheroot and leaned upon his elbows, a queer smile lurking in the corners of his mouth. "It means this, major," he continued. "If she's loyal, as the Old Man believes, she will either be very angry and throw over the whole business, or overlook it and simply demand that espionage be discontinued. But"--his face, veiled by smoke, looked more satanic than ever--"if she isn't loyal, then--well, we'll both probably...." He finished with a lift of his eyebrows.
Trent watched the bronze-haired girl as she left the dining-hall--as did others, for she was a type to draw eyes.
"To-night's the test," Kerth observed aloud. "If you succeed in forcing your point, good. Otherwise, I return to Delhi." He looked at his watch. "It's close to seven now, and my metamorphosis will require some time. Shall we adjourn?"
Before Trent left his room he placed the oval of coral in his handbag; then he went out on the portico to smoke and watch the stars gather about the cleaving silhouette of a church steeple across from the hotel grounds.
At one end of the veranda two shadowy forms were conversing; a woman's voice drifted to him, a soft voice that slurred and caressed the words it spoke. It was vaguely familiar, and in a detached manner he identified it with the girl of the dining-hall.
The phosphorescent hands of his wrist-watch crept to five minutes to eight before Euan Kerth put in his appearance. A heavy footstep announced a turbaned man. He halted in the light cast from a window; executed a salaam. He wore white breeches, an alpaca coat and a white shawl. A huge turban shadowed a brown face and a carefully waxed mustache. Had it not been for that and the slim hands, Trent would not have recognized him.
"_Salaam, Huzoor!_" was his greeting. "Is the _Huzoor_ ready?"--this in the manner of a native trying to affect an Oxford accent.
Trent nodded and rose, and Kerth fell in behind.
"There's no need to take a gharry," said Kerth. "The Sadar Bazaar isn't far."
Their walk led them past the dusty red brick barracks that Trent had seen that afternoon, and within a short while they reached the Sadar Bazaar, where, after many inquiries, they were directed to the shop of Abdul Kerim--a dingy little hole in a narrow lane. A native was lounging in the doorway, but at their approach he straightened up and salaamed.