"
"Reported by whom?"
"By the Afridi who is now dead."
"Who killed the Afridi?"
"Does the _burra_ sahib think I killed him?"
"I asked a question!" snapped the general.
"In the first place, then, Ranjoor Singh, the buffalo, struck the
Afridi with his foot. The Afridi, who was a dog with yellow teeth,
went outside to sing sweet compliments to Ranjoor Singh. Certain
Sikhs heard him--of whom one was the trooper who waits in another
room with Ranjoor Singh--and they beat him nearly to death because,
being buffaloes themselves, they love Ranjoor Singh, who is the
greatest buffalo of all.
"For revenge, the Afridi told tales of Ranjoor Singh, and later
knifed one Sikh trooper who had beaten him. The other trooper
followed him into the House-of-the-Eight-Half-brothers, where he soon
had opportunity for vengeance. Now the _burra_ sahib knows all.
Is it not a sweet love-story! Now the _burra_ sahib may arrest
everybody, and all will be well!"
"Where did Ranjoor Singh kick the Afridi?"
"Here--in my house!"
"Then he was here?"
"How else would he kick the man here? Could he send his foot by
messenger?"
"Was the German here? Did he have word with the German?"
"Surely. He spoke with him alone. So the Afridi reported him to the
'Rat sahib.'"
The general frowned. However deeply the military may intrigue, they
neither like nor profess to like civilians who play the same game.
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