And upon
second thought the doctor-sahib decided that precautions were
necessary. He told the man with the goat, therefore, that when the
ayah received two pounds of milk she would pay him the five rupees.
As he put the money into Tooni's hand she stayed him gently.
'We are to go without, beyond the walls, to the ghat?' she asked in
her own tongue.
'Yes,' said the doctor, 'in two hours. I have spoken.'
'Hazur![1] the Nana Sahib--'
[1] 'Honoured one.'
'The Nana Sahib has written it. Bus!'[1] the doctor replied
impatiently. Put the memsahib into her clothes. Pack everything
there is, and hasten. Do you understand, foolish one?'
[1] 'Enough.'
'Very good said the ayah submissively, and watched the doctor out
of sight. Then she insisted--holding the rupees, she could insist--
that the goat-keeper should bring his goat into the hut to milk
it; there was more safety, Tooni thought, in the hut. While he
milked it Tooni sat upon the ground, hugging her knees, and
thought.
The memsahib had said nothing all this time, had known nothing.
For two days the memsahib had been, as Tooni would have said,
without sense--had lain on the bed in the corner quietly staring at
the wall, where the looking-glass hung, making no sign except when
she heard the Nana Sahib's guns.
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