That this Leroux Sahib had commissioned him to copy a jewel-pattern of the Maharajah's regalia no longer presaged evil in his mind. Nor did he seek an explanation. True, it mystified him. But there were some things one should not know. And, to him, the secrets of the Government were numbered among these. The Raj had banished the old order of things, for no more did princes sit in golden howdahs upon caparisoned state elephants; nor did they indulge, as of old, in the venerable pastime of pigsticking; they rode in automobiles and played a game on horseback with an absurd ball....
Muhafiz Ali had ceased long ago to wonder at the baffling mechanism of the Government, and satisfied himself with the assurance that Allah did not intend he should understand.
When he reached the dâk bungalow he found Leroux Sahib sitting upon the veranda. The white man led him inside.
"Well?"--this with a gleam of the black eyes.
"The price?" The Mussulman named an outrageous figure--and held his breath. The man inquired:
The sahib frowned, tugged at his yellow beard.
"Impossible, O Burra Sahib!" A pause. "Unless--of course--"
A smile. "Not another rupee do you get, you old brigand!" he declared good humoredly. "And five days, I say. Settled? Thirty-five rupees extra when it is done, half the price in advance."
He drew from his pocket a wallet and counted out a number of Government of India notes.
"Remember, this is to be quiet," he cautioned. "I will call now and then to see how you are coming on."
As Muhafiz Ali made his way back to the bazaar, he congratulated himself upon getting so easily the price he had set upon the work, and regretted that he had not inflated it a little more. However, he was well pleased with the day's business. He paused once on the homeward journey to place a four-anna bit in the bowl of an emaciated, ash-painted _fakir_ who sat before the alms-house, and arrived at his shop in a state of excellent spirits.
He made a light and opened the chest in which he kept his necklaces. The instant he saw the top tray he detected a flaw. Unlike most merchants, he was very careful in the arrangement of his necklaces; in one tray were agates, in another blue sapphires; thus with all his beads.