Now it is necessary to write of Kundan's situation. Esteemed readers must be eager to know her fate. We last left Kundan in the very garden of the Rohtasgarh palace where Kishori used to reside. Kundan was constantly anxious that Kishori should not, by any means, fall into Lali's clutches.

When Lali, taking Kishori with her, descended into that house through the tunnel—the house from which the underground passage began—and this news reached Kundan, she became greatly alarmed. She raised a commotion throughout the palace. She was at a loss as to what should be done. As we have previously written, after Kishori and Lali had departed, several men, shouting "Stop! Catch them!" also entered the same house through the tunnel by which Lali and Kishori had gone.

Blending in with those people, Kundan too, fastening a small bundle to her waist, entered the house, and in the confusion and tumult, no one noticed her. Inside the house, it was utterly dark. Lali had gone into another room and shut the door, so those who had been pursuing her were forced to turn back in frustration.

...was placed, and they informed the Maharaj of this, but Kundan did not return from that house; rather, she hid herself in some corner.

We have written before, and now write again, that there were three doors inside that house. One was the main entrance, outside which guards were always posted; the second stood open; and through the third door, Kishori had been taken away by Lali. The door that was open led into a small hall. It was up to this hall that those searching for Lali and Kishori had come, but finding no way forward, they had turned back. When those people had left the house, Kundan untied the bundle from her waist, took out her things, and after lighting a candle, began to look around.

It was a small hall, but closed off on all sides. On the walls of this hall were painted all manner of terrifying pictures, but Kundan paid them no heed. In the center of the hall stood eleven iron boxes, each about a hand's span in size, and on each box rested a human skull. Kundan began to examine these boxes closely. The boxes were arranged in a circle upon a low platform. On one box was only half a skull, while on the others, the skulls were whole. Kundan was amazed to see that one skull was lying on the ground—why did it not have a box beneath it like the others? Kundan began counting from the box with the half-skull. She realized that the seventh skull had no box beneath it. Suddenly, Kundan exclaimed, "Oh! Oh! Of course, Lali must have taken the box from beneath this one, for that was the real box with the key—but how did she come to know this?"

Kundan began counting again and stopped at the fifth box from the broken skull. She lifted the skull, set it aside, and picked up the box. Examining it carefully, she then struck it hard against the ground. The box broke into four pieces, as if it had been joined together at four points. From inside emerged a key. Seeing it, Kundan laughed and, delighted, said to herself, "Now let's see how I outwit Lali!"

Kundan began to use the key. In the same hall, there was a cupboard set into the wall, which Kundan unlocked with the key. Stairs leading downward were revealed, and she descended without fear. She arrived in a small chamber where, atop a small throne, lay a copper plate about a hand's length long and somewhat less wide. Kundan picked it up and examined it carefully. She saw that something was inscribed upon it—letters engraved, and smeared with some kind of oil or grease, which had protected the plate from rust all this time. Kundan read the inscription with great attention, then laughed and looked around. In the wall of that chamber were two doors on two sides, and one panel in the floor. She opened one door, which led upward...

She found a staircase leading upwards. Fearlessly, she climbed up and reached a cramped chamber, barely large enough to seat four or five people. Yet, in the walls of this chamber, there were several small holes. Extinguishing her lamp, Kundan pressed her eye to one of these holes and looked through.

Kundan found herself in a spot from where she could clearly see the terrifying idol before which a woman had already been sacrificed, as we have described above. After a short while, Kundan saw Maharaj Digvijay Singh, the warden of the underground vault, Lali, Kishori, and many other people there. Before her very eyes, another woman was sacrificed before that idol, and Kunwar Anand Singh, along with the ayyars, was captured. We have already recounted above the events concerning Kishori and Kunwar Anand Singh in this underground vault—all of which Kundan witnessed.

At last, Kundan descended and, using the same key, opened the trapdoor in the floor, entered the vault, and, lighting her lamp, began to look around. Glancing up at the ceiling, she realized that the terrifying idol seated on the throne—completely hollow from within, throne and all—was positioned directly above her head.

Kundan then ascended again and, opening another door set in the wall, entered a tunnel. After walking a few steps, she came upon a small window, which she also unlocked with her key. Now she had reached the passage that connected the audience hall to the underground vault—the very route used by the king. Kundan locked every door along the way from the vault to the audience hall with her key. Besides the locks, each door had an additional latch, which Kundan also secured. Having completed this task, she returned to the spot from where she could see the terrifying idol and all the people gathered there. With her own eyes, Kundan witnessed the anxiety that overcame Raja Digvijay Singh