Mandala of Sherlock Holmes Read Online Free PDF

informative on the subject.’
    ‘By Thunder!’ exclaimed Strickland, shaking his head in wonder. ‘It’s a good thing we aren’t living in the Middle Ages, Mr Holmes, you’d have surely been burnt at the stake.’ He leaned back on his chair and sighed, ‘The Saat Bhai or Seven Brothers was an old Tantric organisation that had long been extinct, but which Mr Hurree Chunder Mookerjee here, revived for the benefit of some of us in the Department. This amulet, the hawa-dilli (heart lifter), was given to me by the blind witch Huneefa, after the initiation dawat or ceremony. She makes them only for us. The old hag actually believes she’s making them for a real secret society and she inserts a scrap of paper in each bearing the names of saints, gods and what not. The amulet helps us to recognise one another if we’ve never met before or are in disguise. Of course the whole thing is unofficial.’
    Strickland’s tone gave me to understand that the so-called ‘Norwegian’ was not an outsider but someone definitely connected to the Department, probably in an important and influential way.
    ‘You see, Sir,’ I explained helpfully,‘it is also a kind of insurance. There is an established belief among natives that the Saat Bhai is not only extant but that it is a powerful society with many members. And most natives, if they are not too excited, always stop to think before they kill a man who says he belongs to any specific organisation. So in a tight spot — if someone is attempting to cut your throat or something — you could say, “I am Son of the Charm,” which means that you may be a member of the Saat Bhai — and you get — perhaps — ah, your second wind.’
    ‘I used to belong to a lot of cults and things,’ sighed Strickland wistfully. ‘But the powers that be felt that I was letting down the side by traipsing about the country in various native guises, and I was told to drop it. 3 All I’ve got now is the Saat Bhai, so I hope you won’t peach on me.’
    ‘My dear fellow,’ said the Norwegian, laughing in a peculiar noiseless fashion,‘so long as your Society’s soirees are not enlivened by human sacrifices and ritual murder, I will carry your secret to my grave.’
    ‘Well then, that’s that,’ said Strickland brightly. ‘I’d better get along and send a telegram to the Colonel of your safe arrival. The manager ought to have your suite ready for you by now.’
    ‘Well, there is one little matter that needs to be taken care of.’ The Norwegian looked at me. ‘Mr Mookerjee has, through his own exertions, discovered quite a bit about my affairs, and I feel that it is pointless, maybe even unwise, not to take him fully into our confidences.’
    ‘Of course,’ Strickland replied. ‘Huree here is the soul of discretion, and you can trust him to keep a secret.’ He turned to me with a superior smile. ‘Well Huree, this gentleman on whom you unwisely inflicted your irrepressible curiosity is none other than the world’s greatest detective, Mr Sherlock Holmes.’
    ‘By blushes, Strickland,’ he said in a deprecatory voice.
    At that moment a blood-curdling scream burst through the corridors of the Taj Mahal Hotel.
    1. Milton, Paradise Lost.
    2. Kipling’s indiscretions regarding the Indian Secret Service do not seem to have been confined to just the affair concerning ‘The Pedigree of the White Stallion. Kipling readers will know that Strickland and his undercover activities are mentioned not only in Kim but in a number of short stories as well. Strickland is depicted as a proficient investigator, though certainly less cerebral than Holmes. He is a master of disguise and possesses a wide knowledge of native Indian customs and folklore, especially the more arcane and shady kind.
    3. For a fuller account of Strickland’s problem, see Kipling’s short story ‘Miss Yougal’s Sais’ in Plain Tales from the Hills.

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    The Red Horror
    The unlikely concurrence of Strickland’s amazing