"Patience, Sahib!" warned the priest.
The colonel, upon seeing Umballa, made an attempt to draw his revolver,
but the soldiers prevented him from carrying into execution his wild
impulse.
The priest explained what had happened. The Colonel Sahib, his friend
Bruce Sahib, and his youngest daughter would be permitted to depart in
peace; but Kathlyn Mem-sahib must wed Durga Ram.
When the dazed colonel produced the document which had been legally
canceled, Umballa laughed and declared that he himself had forged that
particular document, that the true one, which he held, was not legally
destroyed.
Burning with the thought of revenge, of reprisal, how could Durga Ram
know that he thus dug his own pit? Had he let them go he would have
eventually been crowned, as surely as now his path led straight to the
treadmill.
Ahmed alone escaped, because Umballa had in his triumph forgot him!