This time it
was the single deep bass cough. But it was followed after half a minute
by the two high-pitched barks, and Grim held up a hand for silence. At
the end of perhaps a minute there came from the veranda a perfect
imitation of the lascar's ungrammatical, whining singsong from a
fo'castle-head:
"Hum dekta hai!--I'm on the watch."
Grim nodded--to himself, I suppose, for none had spoken to him.
"Do you mind stepping out and getting that letter from him, Ramsden?
Keep in the shadow, please, and give him this pistol; he may need it."
So I slipped out through the screen door and spent a minute looking for
Narayan Singh. I'm an old hunter, but it wasn't until Narayan Singh
deliberately moved a hand to call attention to himself that I discovered
him within ten feet of me.
The risk of being seen from the street in case some spy were lurking out
there was obvious. So I walked all the way round the house, and came
and stood below him on his left hand where the house cast impenetrable
shadow; but though I took my time and moved stealthily he heard me and
passed me a letter through the veranda rails, accepting the pistol in
exchange without comment.
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