The ripple effects of Wave 2014 will change the economic and political landscape forever.

The results of several opinion polls, large and small, reliable and questionable, all point to one conclusion: a Narendra Modi wave. Of course, they could be wrong, and we all know how such polls missed the emergence of a new party on the Delhi scene. But several, indeed all, opinion polls pointed to a Modi wave in the three other states that went into elections in November-December 2013 — the large states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh.

The poll forecasts were spot on, albeit with a slight miss on the Modi wave in each of the three states. Overall, the track record of these polls in India is pretty good, and if there weren’t occasionalNINETEENTH
       A BARGAIN WITH THE REVENUE

CHAPTER THE TWENTIETH
       THE LAST DEAL

CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FIRST
       THE ATTACK ON THE TOWERS

CHAPTER THE TWENTY-SECOND
       JOHN TREVANION IN THE TOILS

CHAPTER THE TWENTY-THIRD
       THE PRICE OF TREACHERY

CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FOURTH
       PEACE AND GOODWILL




                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


"THERE LOOMED OUT OF THE MIST A THREE-MASTED VESSEL" . . . . . .
_Frontispiece, see page_ 175


"'HALT, IN THE KING'S NAME!' CRIED MR. MILDMAY"


"'STAND!' CRIED DICK, DASHING FORWARD. 'LEAVE