Also, he informed her that there was no way--positively no way practicable even for a monkey or a bird--of following further.

He was a sweeper-intimate acquaintance of creeper ladders, trap-doors, gutters drains, and byways; she realized at once that there would be no wisdom in attempting to find within an hour what he had not discovered in a lifetime.
So Joanna, her beady eyes glittering between the wrinkled folds of skin, slunk deeper in a shadow and began to think.

She, the looker-on, had seen the whole play from its first beginning and could judge at least that part of it which had its bearing on her missionary masters.

First, she knew what Jaimihr's ambition was--every man in Howrah knew how he planned to seize Miss McClean when the moment should be propitious--and her Eastern wisdom warned her that Jaimihr, foiled, would stop at nothing to contrive vengeance.

If he could not seize Miss McClean, he would be likely to use every means within his power to bring about her death and prevent another from making off with his prize.