"We're wasting an awful lot of time!" "Nay, sahib, but a good horse is like a woman, to be loved and treated faithfully! Neither horse nor woman should be sacrificed for less than duty! Lead on, bahadur--I will join thee at the gate." He had several directions to give for the horse's better care, and Cunningham was forced to wait at least five minutes for him at the foot of the steep descent.

Then for another minute the two sat their horses side by side, while the great gate rose slowly, grudgingly, cranked upward by four men.
"If we two ever ride under here again, bahadur, we shall ride with honor thick on us," remarked Mahommed Gunga.

"God knows what thy plan may be; but I know that from now on there will be no peace for either of us until we have helped rip it with our blades from the very belly of rebellion.

Ride!" The gate clanged down behind them as--untouched by heel or spur--the two spring-limbed chargers raced for their bits across the sand.

They went like shadows, casting other shadows--moon-made--wind-driven--knee-to-knee.
"Now, sahib!" The Risaldar broke silence after fifteen minutes.