The Star of India
Copyright© 2026 by Edward S. Ellis
Chapter 35: Eureka!
As soon as the Ghoojurs learned that the Europeans had fled, their courage came back, and they made a scrambling rush for the interior of the temple. A brief search proved the truth of their leader’s declaration, the only objects found being the overturned idol and the inanimate body of Harkins. The latter was plundered so shamelessly that it told the truth to Luchman the moment his eyes fell upon it.
The Feringhees had departed, and, when the Ghoojurs found that nothing remained for them to do, they took up their march to the camp of Wana Affghar, which they reached a half hour after the departure of Luchman the guide.
The time has come in to make an explanation.
Going back a few hours in the thread of our narrative, the reader will remember that Dr. Avery and the family of the missionary were grouped together in the passage way, watching the meeting between Luchman and Wana Affghar. Not an eye was removed until the departure of their friend in the company of the Ghoojur chieftain.
They could not mistake the meaning of what they saw. The bargain had been struck between the two. The fugitives must remain within the temple until the hour fixed upon by Luchman for their departure.
“If nothing is seen or heard of them,” said the surgeon, “by the time it is dark we shall gain the start that ought to secure safety for us all. But I wouldn’t give much for the life of Luchman after he parts with the diamond.”
At this juncture, while the conversation was of no special interest, Marian related her singular experience of the night before. Avery was interested at once.
“Have you any idea of the hour?” he asked.
“It must have been near midnight, —perhaps a little later.”
“Are you sure of that?”
“As sure as I can be of anything.”
“Then you are altogether mistaken in supposing it was Luchman. He can prove an alibi. There was not a minute from the time you withdrew to rest, or rather from the time he fired the pistol that you all heard, that he was not within my reach and under my eye. Not once did he pass inside.”
“Who then could it have been?”
“A stranger.”
“But he could not have come through the archway without being seen by one of you.”
“He didn’t come through it. My friends,” said the surgeon, “that confirms a suspicion which I have entertained all along. There is some communication with the temple of which we know nothing.”
“What can it be?”
“It is subterranean, such as you find in hundreds of buildings, in every country. I have no doubt it leads to the river bank, and was constructed with a view of allowing the priests and fakirs of the temple to go in and out unknown to others.”
“But why was it not used against us?” asked the missionary.
“It may not have been known to Wana Affghar; some of his men, no doubt the guard along the river bank, stumbled upon it, and one of them explored it to find out whether it could be used. They didn’t tell their leader, or, if they did, the old wretch must have seen that it was unknown to us. As a consequence, he has simply guarded the outlet.”
“I wonder that it has not been employed against us.”
“I believe it would have been used tonight, but for this ransom business. Wana Affghar is such a scoundrel that I am convinced he will attack us if we leave by the regular way. Let us hunt for the underground passage.”
“I agree with you,” remarked Mr. Hildreth, much impressed by what was said.
“Keep watch, then, for a few minutes, while I make search for it,” said Avery, hurrying away in considerable excitement.
The story of Marian Hildreth proved that the intruder of the night before came from the larger apartment into the smaller, so that the opening must be looked for in the former. There, then, the doctor began his explorations.
He first stamped upon the floor, treading upon every portion of the stone and cement, and listening for the hollow sound which tells of the excavation below.
After making a complete circuit, he thought he detected this peculiarity near one of the corners, though it was not pronounced. He struck a light and carefully scrutinized the floor, but saw nothing to explain the phenomenon.
“In whatever way he entered, he did not come up through the floor. Since the opening can’t be in the roof, it must be in the wall.”
The same manipulation was repeated around the sides of the apartment. The only portion that gave the hollow response was in the corner where he had observed it before.
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