One after one
I said -- I meant to say -- seeing she is Yasmini , and he having been to see her once -- and being again in a great hurry -- whither goes he ? '' So the squadron chose a sub-committee of inquiry , seven strong , that being a lucky number the wide world over , and the movements of the risaldar-major were reported one by one to the squadron with the infinite exactness of small detail that seems so useless to all save Easterns . Fifteen minutes after he had left his quarters , no longer in khaki uniform , but dressed as a Sikh gentleman , the whole squadron knew the color of his undershirt , also that he had hired a _ tikka-gharri _ , and that his only weapon was the ornamental dagger that a true Sikh wears twisted in his hair . One after one , five other men reported him nearly all the way through Delhi , through the Chandni Chowk -- where the last man but one nearly lost him in the evening crowd -- to the narrow place where , with a bend in the street to either hand , is Yasmini 's . The last man watched him through Yasmini 's outer door and up the lower stairs before hurrying back to the squadron . And a little later on , being almost as inquisitive as they were careful for their major , the squadron delegated other men , in mufti , to watch for him at the foot of Yasmini 's stairs , or as near to the foot as might be , and see him safely home again if they had to fight all Asia on the way . These men had some money with them , and weapons hidden underneath their clothes ; for , having betted largely on the quail-fight at Abdul 's stables , the squadron was in funds .