To dispute with Ballantyne once more upon his delusion would be the merest waste of time.

He took up the photograph again.
"How do you come to possess it ?" he asked.

If he was to serve his host in the way he suspected he would be asked to, he must know its history.
"I was agent in a state not far from Poona before I came here." Thresk agreed.
"I know.

Bakuta." "Oh ?" said Ballantyne with a sharp look.

"How did you know that ?" He was always in alarm lest somewhere in the world gossip was whispering his secret.
"A Mrs.Carruthers at Bombay." "Did she tell you anything else ?" "Yes.