If they had only done
that, the matter would not have been worth inquiring into. But they
have done more. They have succeeded to the organisation which their
predecessors established in this country. Don't start! The organisation
is a very trumpery affair, according to our ideas, I have no doubt. I
should reckon it up as including the command of money; the services,
when needed, of that shady sort of Englishman, who lives in the byways
of foreign life in London; and, lastly, the secret sympathy of such
few men of their own country, and (formerly, at least) of their own
religion, as happen to be employed in ministering to some of the
multitudinous wants of this great city. Nothing very formidable, as you
see! But worth notice at starting, because we may find occasion to
refer to this modest little Indian organisation as we go on. Having now
cleared the ground, I am going to ask you a question; and I expect your
experience to answer it. What was the event which gave the Indians their
first chance of seizing the Diamond?"
I understood the allusion to my experience.
"The first chance they got," I replied, "was clearly offered to them by
Colonel Herncastle's death.
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