It was not known whether these Stranglers, scattered as they were very widely, obeyed one common chief, or whether they acted separately; but all were glad to leave this mysterious organisation alone, especially as they preyed only on travellers, and in no case meddled in any way with rajahs, or officials, who did not interfere with them.

Consequently, the idea occurred to me, directly, that these men who seemed like traders might be a party of these Stranglers; and when the others came up, while the leader was sitting talking to us, I felt as if cold water was running down my back, and that someone was whispering to me, 'Be on your guard, be on your guard!' Therefore, the moment something passed before my face, I threw myself back and fired at the man behind me, without a moment's thought as to what it was." "Well, certainly you saved our lives by doing so, Dick; for I suppose, if that man behind me had once got his silk scarf round my neck, he would have choked me before I had time to so much as lift my hand." "I have not the least doubt that he would, and I feel thankful, indeed, that I had such a strange feeling that these men were dangerous.

Do you know, Surajah, it seems to me that it was just the same sort of feeling that my mother tells me she has, whenever my father is in danger; and I shall be curious to know, when we get back, whether she had the same feeling about me.

Anyhow, I shall, in future, have even more faith than I had before, in her confidence that she would have certainly known if any evil had happened to my father.".