have a plan."

"Plans--plans--plans! And whither does the tangle lead us?"

"To the treasure, fool!"

"But if you know so surely where the treasure is, woman, why not tell
me and --"

Again the single note of mocking golden laughter cut him off short.

"I would trust thee with the secret, Brahman, just as far as the herdsman
trusts a tiger with his sheep."

"But I could insure that Gungadhura should divide it into three parts, and--"

"When the time comes," she answered, "the priest of Jinendra shall
come to me for his proportion, not I to the priest. Nor will there be three
portions, but one--with a little percentage taken from it for the sake of
thy fat belly. Gungadhura shall get nothing!"

"I wash my hands of it all!" the priest retorted indignantly. "The half for
me, or I wash my hands of it and tell Gungadhura that you know the
secret! I will trust him to find a way to draw thy cobra from its hole!"

"Maybe he might," she nodded, smiling, "after the English had finished
hanging thee for that matter of the strangling of Rum Dass. Thy fat belly
would look laughable indeed banging by a stretched neck from a noose.
They would need a thick rope. They might even make the knot slippery
with cow-grease for thy special benefit."