was carefully concealed from the view of curious eyes outside by so drawing off and arranging the twigs of adjacent boughs that the whole thatch wore the appearance of the top of a bush higher than the rest. The inside of this small and wretched habitation, if such it could be called, was gloomy and damp. The walls were of bamboo and darmá,[1] and two or three darmás were spread over the humid floor. Blackened pots and cooking utensils were stowed in one corner of the hovel, though apparently they were not often put to use. It was still early in the morning and the streaks of sunbeams that had penetrated inside through crevices had the length that [slanting] rays alone could possess. Its only inhabitants [were] men of a deep black complexion and of a stature and muscular formation that promised vast strength. A short and coarse cloth of small width lightly covered the waist of each, but their legs and thighs and the rest of their dark bodies were completely naked. Latties[2] and swords lay scattered beside them and betokened that their profession was anything but peaceful. The noxious fume of ganja which was being smoked by the two by turns, filled the whole cabin. They were engaged in conversing with each other in a guarded tone which the secluded locality made little necessary.
"What will the business bring?" asked one in whom the reader will recognize Bhiku.
