the pistol in my box. But my feet refused to leave the window in quest of it. Was I not awaiting my fate?
The gong of the watch solemnly struck ten. A little later, groups of lights appeared in the distance and a great crowd wound its way, like some great serpent, along the roads in the darkness, towards the palace gates.
The Dewan rushed to the gate at the sound. Just then a rider came galloping in. 'What's the news, Jata?' asked the Dewan.
'Not good,' was the reply.
I could hear these words distinctly from my window. But something was next whispered which I could not catch.
Then came a palanquin, followed by a litter. The doctor was walking alongside the palanquin.
'What do you think, doctor?' asked the Dewan.
'Can't say yet,' the doctor replied. 'The wound in the head is a serious one.'
'And Amulya Babu?'
'He has a bullet through the heart. He is done for.'
the end
