It is an immutable law,
and it is as impossible for us to relax it as it is for you to escape
from it Sooner or later we shall come to you and claim your life in
atonement for the one which you have taken.
"The same fate shall be meted out to the wretched soldier, Smith, who,
though less guilty than yourself, has incurred the same penalty by
raising his sacrilegious hand against the chosen of Buddha. If your
life is prolonged, it is merely that you may have time to repent of your
misdeed and to feel the full force of your punishment.
"And lest you should be tempted to cast it out of your mind and to
forget it, our bell--our astral bell, the use of which is one of
our occult secrets--shall ever remind you of what have been and what is
to be. You shall hear it by day and you shall hear it by night, and it
will be a sign to you that do what you may and go where you will, you
can never shake yourself clear of the _chelas_ of Ghoolab Shah.
"You will never see me more, accursed one, until the day when we come
for you. Live in fear, and in that anticipation which is worse than
death."
With a menacing wave of the hand the figure turned and swept out of my
tent into the darkness. The instant that the fellow disappeared from
my sight I recovered from my lethargy which had fallen upon me.
Springing to my feet, I rushed to the opening and looked out. A Sepoy
sentry was standing leaning upon his musket, a few paces off.
"You dog," I said in Hindustani.
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