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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of Destiny, by Edmund Mitchell
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Tales of Destiny
+
+Author: Edmund Mitchell
+
+Release Date: August 10, 2006 [EBook #19017]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF DESTINY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by R. Cedron, Joseph R. Hauser and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+TALES OF DESTINY
+
+
+
+By EDMUND MITCHELL
+
+
+
+LONDON
+CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LTD
+1913
+
+
+
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1912
+UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+BY
+EDMUND MITCHELL
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  Introduction                                                     1
+
+  Chap. I. The Maid of Jhalnagor. Told by the Rajput Chief         5
+
+       II. The Hollow Column. Told by the Tax-Collector           19
+
+      III. What the Stars ordained. Told by the Astrologer        35
+
+       IV. The Spirit Wail. Told by the Merchant                  60
+
+        V. The Blue Diamonds. Told by the Fakir                  101
+
+       VI. The Tiger of the Pathans. Told by the Afghan General  128
+
+      VII. Her Mother Love. Told by the Physician                146
+
+     VIII. The Sacred Pickaxe, Told by the Magistrate            170
+
+
+
+
+TALES OF DESTINY
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Just without one of the massive bastioned gates of the city of
+Fathpur-Sikri there stood in the year 1580 a caravanserai that afforded
+accommodation for man and beast. Here would alight travellers drawn by
+the calls of homage, by business, or by curiosity to the famous Town of
+Victory, built, as the inscription over the gateway told, by "His
+Majesty, King of Kings, Heaven of the Court, Shadow of God, Jalal-ad-din
+Mohammed Akbar Padishah."
+
+At the time of our story Akbar was at the zenith of his glory. He had
+moved his court from Agra, the capital of his predecessors on the throne
+of the Moguls, after having raised for himself, on the spot where the
+birth of a son had been promised him by a hermit saint, this superb new
+city of Fathpur-Sikri, seven miles in circumference, walled and guarded
+by strong forts at its seven gateways. Emperor and nobles had vied with
+each other in erecting palaces of stately design and exquisite finish of
+adornment. A beautiful mosque commemorated the good deeds of the saint,
+and provided a place of prayer for those of the Moslem faith. In the
+palace of the Emperor was a magnificent audience hall, with marble
+columns and stone-carved galleries, in the centre of which stood the
+throne of gold sprinkled with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds, surrounded
+by a silver railing, and covered by a canopy of rich crimson brocade.
+In this audience hall the great and good Akbar was wont to receive not
+only his subjects, rich and poor, the former assembled to pay their
+court, the latter to lay their grievances before the Imperial judge; but
+he also extended welcome to strangers from afar. On the question of
+religion his mind was at this period in a state of change, for he had
+broken from the strict faith of the Moslem, had publicly announced that
+there was good in all beliefs, had overthrown ceremonial rules, whether
+of Islam or of Hinduism, and had proclaimed all things lawful except
+excess. His thoughts thus drifting toward a new religion, a divine faith
+that would bring into one fold the votaries of all religions, he was
+glad at his court to give audience to learned doctors from distant lands
+as well as from every part of India. All were welcome--Brahmins and
+Buddhists, Moslem schoolmen, Hindu fanatics, pantheists, the worshippers
+of fire, the Jews whose prophets are Abraham and Moses, even Christian
+padres from far-off Europe. It was Akbar's delight to listen to their
+expositions and discussions, and to the defence of their varied dogmas.
+
+Thus did the fame of the king for tolerance, benevolence and wisdom
+become noised abroad far and wide, so that visitors flocked in
+ever-increasing numbers to the beautiful city. At our caravanserai
+without the gate there would often, in the cool of an evening, be
+gathered together on the shaded veranda a group of travellers
+representing diverse races and classes. Some of the town-dwellers, too,
+would be there, resting and refreshing themselves after their walk to
+the city walls, while from the near-by camp of the Rajputs, who formed a
+portion of the royal bodyguard, there would oftentimes stroll over a few
+men-at-arms.
+
+On such occasions it would generally happen that the debates recently
+listened to in the Imperial Hall of Assembly would be subjected to
+comment. And from discussion of this kind the conversation would quite
+frequently change to story-telling, dear to the hearts of all natives of
+Hindustan, and by no means to be despised, for in a good story there may
+be implanted the kernel of a sound philosophy.
+
+On a summer night in the year named eight men were assembled on the
+veranda of the caravanserai. The full moon had just risen above a tope
+of tamarind trees, and its silvern radiance revealed every detail of the
+scene. A Rajput chief occupied the place of central prominence, cushions
+arranged for his convenience, on one of which rested his scimitar, the
+emblem of his soldierly profession. Not far from him, in a
+half-reclining posture, was a general of the Afghans, also of the
+bodyguard of the Emperor. A hakeem, or physician, and an astrologer,
+both in the Moslem style of dress, were seated close together, legs
+crossed beneath them; while a little apart were two Hindus, as the caste
+marks on their foreheads showed, a tax-collector from the country and a
+kotwal, or city magistrate. Just above the steps leading on to the
+veranda, surrounded by his bales of merchandise, sat a merchant from
+Bombay, a big and stalwart man, attired in spotless white raiment, on
+his head a voluminous muslin turban. In striking contrast, squatting on
+the ground below the steps, at his feet a wooden begging bowl, was a
+fakir, or religious ascetic, a loin cloth his sole covering, his face
+bedaubed with ashes, his lean chin resting on his upraised knees while
+he listened to the dialogue and watched each speaker's face with eyes of
+keen alertness.
+
+There had been some desultory conversation, which finally resulted in
+the Rajput chief being begged to relate in detail an experience at which
+he had previously hinted. The first story led to another story, and the
+third to yet another, and so on, until each member of the company had
+contributed to the general entertainment. And these are the tales that
+were told by the travellers on the veranda of the caravanserai outside
+the walls of Fathpur-Sikri that moonlight night in the days of the
+mighty Akbar:
+
+
+
+
+I. THE MAID OF JHALNAGOR
+
+TOLD BY THE RAJPUT CHIEF
+
+
+Well, since you would have it so, listen to the story of Rukpur Singh,
+hereditary chief of Jhalnagor, mansabdar of five hundred men, captain of
+the bodyguard of Akbar the Great, King of Kings, Lord of the Earth.
+
+"This day in the Hall of Assembly, in the presence of the great Padishah
+himself, we have listened to the arguments of men of diverse faiths. It
+is well. As Akbar, the Most High, himself has said, all religions are
+good; each man has the god or gods of his fathers; let there be no
+obstacle placed against worshipping the divine power in any manner that
+seemeth fit. That is both wisdom and justice. That is why I, a Hindu, a
+Rajput, one of the twice born, can serve my lord, the Moslem Emperor
+Akbar, with loyalty of heart and of sword that no man may question."
+
+At these words the captain of the bodyguard touched the jewelled hilt of
+his scimitar lying on the cushion by his side. He glanced around, as if
+to see whether anyone present dared to question the fidelity he had
+professed. But there was neither movement nor remark among his
+listeners, and with a disdainful little smile of self-complacency he
+resumed.
+
+"During to-day's discussion, in the spirit of tolerance that Akbar
+teaches to all of us, we Rajputs have had to harken to severe
+upbraiding. We are accused of inhumanity because in our homes a female
+child may be done away with at birth, lawfully and without dishonour. Be
+it so; the fact itself I shall not dispute. Nor shall I defend the
+practice except to point out that a woman more or less in the world does
+not matter, that the babe suffers no pain and knows no ill, that had she
+lived it might have been to a life of widowhood--if courage were wanting
+to choose the suttee--and therefore to long days of shame and sorrow.
+
+"Furthermore, has it to be remembered that the marriage of one of our
+daughters costs much money. According to the rules of our caste and the
+customs of our race, the ceremony must be worthy of the parents and of
+the position they occupy; all of the district must be feasted, and let
+the expense be grievous as it may it must be borne. To some who are rich
+the money thus spent is of no account. But to others who are poor yet
+proud--and all Rajputs are proud--a wedding that is seemly for a
+daughter of the house may mean poverty and ruin for the father and
+brothers during twenty years to follow. In certain circumstances this
+misfortune cannot be thought of. The honour of the race, the very safety
+of a whole clan, may depend on rigid economy as a provision against
+danger. So it may be both right and wise for an infant daughter to be
+put painlessly to her death. Such was the doctrine my father taught me,
+and his name is blessed."
+
+The speaker dropped his eyes, folded his hands across his breast, and
+for a full minute remained in silent meditation. When at last he looked
+up again, there had come over the usually stern and haughty face a
+wonderful glow of kindliness, and his voice took a softer modulation.
+
+"However, know this, my friends, that in my zenana at Jhalnagor there
+are little girls--three, and more will be welcome should the divine
+Krishna send them. Three little daughters have I, all born of my wife
+Lakmibai, the jewel of Jhalnagor. With sons also am I blessed--two brave
+little boys, of whom I may well be proud. But I love them not more than
+my daughters, nor would I change any one daughter for a son. This do I
+say out of the truth of my heart, and in no wise because fortune has
+been kind to me and mine, and has given us such prosperity that there is
+a fit dower for each daughter without my treasury knowing the loss.
+
+"So when the learned mullah from Stamboul denounced infanticide, I was
+one with him in sympathy, for my inclination is to cherish with love and
+care every female child the gods send.
+
+"Now would you hear how a Rajput came to this manner of thinking? My
+story is that of a little maid. Listen. It happened just five years gone
+by.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Under the firm and just rule of our master Akbar there has been peace
+for many years in our part of the world. Except when, as now, I come to
+Fathpur-Sikri for my yearly month of service in providing part of the
+Emperor's bodyguard, I live quietly among my own people. The soil around
+our villages is tilled, our shopkeepers buy and sell, we worship in our
+temples, and we are happy, for no enemy comes to disturb the peace of
+our beautiful little valley of Jhalnagor embosomed among the hills.
+
+"One day it befell that I had gone on a hunting trip with a party of my
+friends. In the early dawn we had descended from the fort on the hill
+top which is my home and the rallying-place for my clan--a small clan,
+numbering but a few thousands, but nobly born as any tribe in Rajputana,
+brave and of honour unsullied, men who have never yet given a daughter
+to the harem of a Moslem."
+
+The features of the Rajput flashed with pride. His brother-at-arms, the
+Afghan, met the defiant look, and said, with a quiet smile:
+
+"There are many Rajput women wed to Moslem lords."
+
+"Yes, but not Rajput women of Jhalnagor. They would have died
+first--many of them did so prefer to die when the Moslem host first
+swept over our land. In the hour of defeat, against overwhelming
+numbers, within the citadel of Jhalnagor the women of my race, refusing
+to accept dishonour, bared their bosoms to the spears of those they
+loved, husbands, brothers, and fathers, and so they died."
+
+With hands outstretched and eyes upraised in rapt pride and reverence
+for the deeds of his ancestors, again the Rajput fell into momentary
+silence.
+
+"The story of the little maid." It was the voice of the physician
+recalling the narrator to his task.
+
+"Yes, the story of the little maid," resumed the Rajput. "As I have
+said, we had gone to the hunt one morning--a party of twelve, riding on
+three elephants. For we were in pursuit of a tiger, a destroyer of men,
+which the villagers had marked down in a patch of jungle by the river
+side. Of the hunt I need say nothing; we killed the tiger, and, with the
+huge, striped body slung across the neck of my elephant, we were
+returning home. It was toward evening, for we had rested in the forest
+during the heat of the day.
+
+"We were just entering the narrow gorge that leads to the fort on the
+hill, when, right on the pathway before me, I saw the prone figure of a
+child. Almost my elephant's feet were upon it before the sage brute
+himself stopped and trumpeted a warning to us in the howdah, for, the
+tiger's body occupying the place where the mahout was wont to ride, the
+latter was walking, and he, too, had not noticed the tiny bundle of
+bright yellow clothing lying on the road.
+
+"Glancing down, I beheld a little girl with her forehead touching the
+dust. At my calling she arose, and spread her hands across her breast.
+
+"'Listen, O chief, to my warning, listen, O my lord,' she called out in
+a shrill tone of supplication. Already had I observed that her face was
+one of great beauty, although that of just a little child, but six or
+seven years old.
+
+"The other two elephants had halted behind mine, and some of the party
+had descended. But at the approach of these men the maid shrank away,
+and, keeping her eyes fixed in my direction, she continued to address
+me:
+
+"'Listen to my words, O chief, and be saved from death.'
+
+"In another moment I had sprung to the ground. As I advanced the child
+ran toward me, absolutely fearless. Taking her in my arms, I sat me down
+by the roadside. Close to my breast she nestled, and, with sobs and
+tears now, told me her story.
+
+"A robber band was in the nullah--less than a mile further along--full a
+hundred strong, fierce men and murderers. For they had already slain the
+father and the mother of the little maid, humble woodcutters. I had
+known them well; they were poor, but of mine own people, and instantly
+in my heart I vowed that I would be avenged.
+
+"The little girl, Brenda her name, as she told me in her childish way of
+confidence, had hidden in the brushwood all day, trembling and afraid.
+But at last she divined that the men had come to slay me, for as the
+afternoon advanced they disposed themselves among bushes and behind
+trees, also in the hut of her dead parents. And even now were the
+assassins in waiting for me, for the girl had seen our party ride forth
+in the early morning, and she knew that I had not yet returned.
+
+"When, with wonderful intuition for a child so tender in years, the
+thought came to her mind that I was to be assailed, she stole down the
+gorge, moving cautiously through the undergrowth, and awaited at the
+spot we found her to give me warning.
+
+"The child had described to me the leader of the gang, and I had
+immediately recognized Gunesh Tanti, accursed son of a pig, a robber
+from across the desert of Sindh, who had more than once ravaged peaceful
+villages of Rajputana. He would know that I had treasure in the fort,
+and of an instant I could read his wily plan. Moving through the
+country, he had doubtless heard a day or two before of this projected
+expedition of mine for the killing of the man-eating tiger. So he had
+designed to slay me on my homeward way, and, the deed accomplished,
+would rely on gaining access to the citadel by loading his ruffians into
+the howdahs of my elephants. Once over the drawbridge and within the
+portcullised gateway, his murderous scheme might have been easy, for my
+score of men-at-arms on duty would have been taken by surprise and so at
+a disadvantage.
+
+"But knowing now the danger, I laughed in my beard, for Gunesh Tanti,
+this human tiger and slayer of innocent men, just as had been the tiger
+now slung across the back of my elephant, was fairly delivered into my
+hand. He who had come to trap me was himself entrapped. And thanks all
+to this little maid of the glen! At the thought, I patted her soft cheek
+with my hand, and in response she smiled up into my eyes with wondrous
+trust and winsomeness.
+
+"Our party, as I have said, numbered twelve, this without counting the
+three mahouts, lithe and active men, and brave as any one of us. The
+neck of the gorge was narrow, and for a hundred yards on either side
+there were steep precipices down which rocks could be tumbled on fleeing
+men. By a goat path over the hillside the fort could be reached by one
+sure of foot and knowing the way. Such a lad was of our party, a cousin
+of my own, who could race with the deer.
+
+"In a few minutes he had girded his loins and was on his mission,
+disappearing over the crest of the almost perpendicular crag up which he
+had clambered. He was to warn the garrison, turn out every man and boy
+fully armed, and bid them to sweep down on the ambushed robbers. The
+mothers and the maidens would hold the fort. No other garrison, when
+once on the alert, was needed for such an enemy."
+
+Again the Rajput smiled proudly, but the silence of intent listening was
+unbroken, and he continued:
+
+"The firing of a matchlock was to be our signal that my men held the
+upper end of the pass, and were descending on our enemies. Meanwhile, my
+immediate followers prepared the rocks above the narrow neck of the
+defile and got them ready for instant rolling down. To this last task
+four of our number were deputed. The others abided with me. Our plan was
+to block the narrow passage by ranging the elephants abreast of each
+other, and, so that the animals themselves might not be stampeded by the
+unexpected din of battle, we chained their forelegs, first each animal
+separately, and then the middle one to his comrades on either side.
+
+"At last all our preparations were completed, the huge beasts in line,
+my companions mounted into the howdahs. I alone remained on foot, I and
+the little woodcutters' daughter, standing by my side, holding
+trustfully to my hand, and no longer weeping.
+
+"'You must come with me, my almond-sweet,' I said, as I raised the child
+in my arms, and passed her up into the howdah of my own elephant, the
+central one. Then I myself clambered aloft. The tiger's corpse had been
+flung to the ground, and our three mahouts sat in their proper places,
+iron goads in hand, ready to perform their task of keeping the elephants
+under control.
+
+"At last, after a tense period of waiting, the welcome report of the
+matchlock reverberated from among the hills.
+
+"The fight does not really concern my story," said the Rajput, grimly.
+"It is sufficient to say that Gunesh Tanti and all his band perished to
+a man--some slain by the swords of my horsemen charging down the pass,
+some crushed by the falling rocks, some of the last survivors, who flung
+themselves desperately against our living barrier, dying on our
+handpikes or being trampled under foot by the elephants. Not one of more
+than five score men lived to carry back the tale of death to the robber
+haunts whence they had come.
+
+"On our side some lives were lost, seven in all; but this is the penalty
+that brave men have to pay in the doing of righteous deeds. Their
+memory is honoured.
+
+"As for the little maid, I had nested her in the best-protected corner
+of the howdah, and in the thick of the fray, when a shower of arrows had
+fallen upon us, I had covered her tiny form with my shield. But during
+the final hand-to-hand fight, when all was din and turmoil with the
+shouting of the men and the angry trumpeting of the elephants, I had not
+paid her any special heed. From her lips came no sound to attract my
+attention--no cry of fear, nor wailing murmur.
+
+"But at the end I looked for the little child, lifting the shield that
+had partly guarded her. She met my gaze with a smile. But straightway I
+noticed that an arrow, descending almost perpendicularly, had pierced
+her soft little arm, and transfixed it to her side. Yet had she not
+cried out, nor even now, when I was tending her, did she whimper.
+
+"I drew forth the arrow, breaking it in twain, so as to let the shaft
+pass through the arm. Although blood flowed freely, I saw at a glance
+that the wound in the body was a mere puncture, and also that on the
+limb only a piercing of the flesh. Therefore was her hurt not serious,
+although of a certainty painful, and terrifying too for a child so
+young. But even now not one word of complaining did she utter. She kept
+her sweet smile on me. Brave little maid!
+
+"Tearing a length of cambric from my turban, I had bound both arm and
+tender breast, and readjusted the sari of yellow-dyed cotton that formed
+her simple garment. And now she reposed, happy and contented, in my
+arms. I remained in the howdah, while my companions cut off the heads of
+the robbers, and loaded these trophies of victory on one of the other
+elephants, so that a triumphal pile might be made in the courtyard of
+the citadel. Then, with the tiger replaced on the neck of my own
+elephant, we moved for home, a group of fifty horsemen now forming our
+escort. The headless bodies of our enemies were left as fitting spoil
+for the jackals and the vultures, the latter of whom, scenting the
+carrion, were already beginning to drop down, it might seem, from the
+blue vault of heaven.
+
+"By the time we gained the fortress the dusk was gathering. Across the
+drawbridge, promptly lowered at the sound of our joyful shouting, I saw
+my wife standing beside the big carronade that commanded the roadway up
+the hill. The smoking match was in her hand, but at sight of me she
+stooped and smothered in the dust the spark that would have dealt out
+death to the robbers had they ever gained a near approach. Descending
+from my elephant, I greeted her and thanked her for the courage of
+herself and all the other women, our loved ones.
+
+"Then my friends above handed down gently into my arms the form of the
+little maid. At sight of my wife's sweet and kindly countenance the eyes
+of the child were lighted with joyousness. But with a quick motion wife
+drew her veil completely over her features. Ere this was done, however,
+I had caught a strange look in her face--a look of mingled surprise and
+terror. At the same moment her old attendant and confidant, Rakaya,
+flung herself at my feet, and began to babble for my forgiveness.
+
+"'What means this?' I asked, glancing in profound amazement from the
+woman's prostrate form up into my wife's eyes. There again I read the
+strangely troubled expression. Puzzled, yet restraining my curiosity
+before the others gathered around, I placed the wounded child in my
+wife's arms, and, with a gesture to signify that she and Rakaya were to
+follow, I led the way to the women's quarters.
+
+"Once within the zenana, I told my story briefly: how the little damsel
+of the glen had saved me from certain death, and then, through danger
+and through pain, had been brave as the noblest-born Rajput maid could
+be. After this recital, I commended the child to my wife's affections,
+bidding her love the orphan as she would a daughter.
+
+"Then was the lovely countenance of my wife, the jewel of Jhalnagor,
+suffused with great joy. Hugging the child to her motherly bosom, she
+exclaimed:
+
+"'Oh, my lord, I have a confession to make, but now you will forgive me.
+Do you remember our first-born babe?'
+
+"My brow darkened. I felt the hot flush of shame on my cheeks. For our
+first-born had been a girl, and I--disappointed and aggrieved, because I
+was then strongly under the influence of my father's teachings, proud of
+my family's position and wealth, and fearful to be impoverished in the
+future--had given the word that the babe must die. This in spite of my
+wife's pitiful tears and pleadings. And it was not the memory of the
+deed itself that made me now ashamed, but the memory of those tears and
+of how I had repelled her. Through the intervening years I had tried
+never to think of this painful episode, and, with two little boys
+playing at my knee, had well nigh forgotten the first child that had
+come. Mention of the dead and buried past now made me resentful.
+
+"'Why do you speak thus?' I asked, angrily.
+
+"'Because, my lord,' exclaimed my wife, dropping on her knees at my
+feet, yet with the little child still pressed to her breast, and drawing
+me down to her with her free hand, so that we were all three close
+together, 'because, oh, my lord, in our arms now this very moment is our
+first-born, our daughter. We spared her, Rakaya and I; we bribed Runjit,
+who is now dead, and to whom you gave the terrible orders, and Rakaya
+smuggled the babe safe away to the cottage of the woodcutters. Since
+then I have managed to see her sometimes by stealth, and have loved her;
+but I have never dared to clothe her in any but humble garments--no
+silks, no bangles, no jewels of any kind--lest suspicion should be
+aroused.'
+
+"'Oh, great master, forgive your humble slave,' moaned the old crone,
+Rakaya, grovelling in a corner of the room.
+
+"But to my wife only I paid heed. 'Can this be?' I murmured, surprised
+and deeply moved.
+
+"'She is our very own, our little girl.' And back into my arms she
+placed the child, whose tresses I straightway fell to fondling, as her
+sweet, trustful eyes looked up into mine, beaming with love as if she
+had indeed long before divined in her heart that I was her father and
+her natural protector.
+
+"'And, oh, my dear lord,' continued my wife, her eyes brimming with
+tears, 'thou knowest now it was to save thee that, in the mysterious
+workings of fate, this little child was saved.'"
+
+The Rajput paused in his story, bending his head to hide the emotion
+that caused his lips to tremble. "A month later," he went on, softly, "a
+little sister was born to Brenda, and only last year a third daughter
+came to our home. And all, as I have said, are well beloved."
+
+The speaker's face was now upraised. The soldierly sternness had gone
+out of it: it shone only with paternal pride and love as he added:
+
+"To-day Brenda, our first-born, is the light of my home, and a year
+hence she will be married to the Rajah of Jodhpur, to make the heart of
+that great and noble prince of the Rajputs happy for ever-more."
+
+And so ended the Rajput's tale.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There was silence for a time, broken at last by the voice of the
+ash-besprinkled devotee:
+
+"Allahu akbar! God is great! Over many things he gives his servants
+power."
+
+
+
+
+II. THE HOLLOW COLUMN
+
+TOLD BY THE TAX-COLLECTOR
+
+
+"Every man's fate is fore-ordained," said the tax-collector,
+reflectively stroking his beard. "Although we may not understand it at
+the moment each particular event that happens is simply a means prepared
+for some destined end that may be many years remote in time. Vishnu the
+Preserver saved the life of the little maid of Jhalnagor so that her
+father's life might later on be saved. But none can read the future, so
+that we are all blindly doing the things of to-day without knowing their
+real bearing on the things of a far-away to-morrow. And one man can make
+or mar the happiness of another man, even though their lives be
+separated by hundreds of leagues in space or hundreds of years in time."
+
+"In your mind doubtless is some tale to illustrate the truth of what you
+teach," remarked the astrologer, with a shrewd uplifting of his
+eyebrows. "The stars can help us to read the future, as I can prove to
+you by a story of actual experience. But before I proceed to my
+narrative, pray, friend, let us hear from you."
+
+"Gladly," assented the tax-collector. "The story of this noble Rajput
+has brought to memory an incident in my own life many years ago,
+likewise serving to show that the gods prepare long years ahead for the
+working out of each particular man's destiny. Listen:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"As a youth I was a keeper of accounts in the service of a rich
+zemindar, whose estate lay in the Country of the Five Rivers. He was a
+usurer as well as a landowner, as had been his fathers before him for
+many generations. So in his castle was an accumulation of great stores
+of wealth--gold and silver and precious stones, cloth of gold, silks,
+brocades, and muslins, ivory and amber, camphor, spices, dye stuffs, and
+other merchandise of divers kinds."
+
+The Afghan general stirred, and the scabbard of his sword rattled on the
+floor as, raising himself from his elbow that rested on a cushion, he
+sat up and assumed an attitude of keen attention.
+
+"Where is this place?" he asked, a wolfish gleam in his eyes, and his
+lips curved to a smile that revealed, under the black, curled moustache,
+the white gleam of sharp-pointed teeth.
+
+The story-teller also smiled, knowingly, and raised a deprecatory hand.
+
+"Nay, friend, this zemindar, my first master, was not fated to be
+relieved of his treasure, as my story will tell, even though a skilful
+plot had been laid for his spoliation. Which is the very point of my
+tale, although I may seem to come to it by a roundabout way of telling."
+
+The Afghan sank back on his cushion, but his gaze remained riveted on
+his narrator's face.
+
+"One day I was seated in my home, casting up my books of account, for I
+had only that morning completed the taking of taxes from the crops of
+the rayats, the tenants of my lord. All of a sudden a white-robed figure
+entered the doorway and threw himself prostrate before me. When at last
+the face was raised I recognized the dhobi of the village that nestled
+under the hill on which was perched the castle of the zemindar.
+
+"'O thou washer of clothes,' I asked, 'what is thy plaint?'
+
+"'Protector of the poor,' replied my visitor, 'behold my bandaged feet,
+beaten with rods until they are swollen and torn.'
+
+"I looked, as requested, and saw the blood-stains soaked through the
+wrappings of linen.
+
+"'Thou art an honest and a peaceful man, Bhagwan. Why this cruel
+punishment?'
+
+"'I know not, indeed. But I have come to thee, because I have endured
+the wrong at the hands of thy master.'
+
+"'Tell me thy story.'
+
+"'As you have said, O my protector,' began the dhobi, assuming a sitting
+posture and spreading the folds of his loose-flowing cotton garment over
+his bandaged feet, 'I am an honest man. And it is for that very reason I
+have suffered. Yesterday, among the apparel I received from the home of
+the zemindar to be made clean and white was the bodice of a woman, and
+tied in one corner of this piece of raiment was a ring set with bright
+red stones that gleamed as if they were aflame. Straightway I returned
+to the palace of the zemindar, and, entering the audience chamber where,
+as is his wont at that particular hour each day, he was seated receiving
+the complaints of the oppressed, did my humble obeisance, and then
+placed in his hand the jewel I had discovered. He asked me where I had
+found it, and when I replied truthfully, his eyes flashed with anger,
+and his voice thundered at me in rebuke. Although I had done no wrong,
+but rather a virtuous deed, I implored for pardon. But in vain. My mind
+grew confused, and the next thing I remember was the sharp cut of bamboo
+rods upon the soles of my feet. I was in a small vaulted chamber, bound
+to a wooden bench, surrounded by the zemindar's soldiers, and powerless
+except to scream out in the agony of each blow. Thirty strokes were
+counted, and then I was flung out of the gates of the castle, to limp my
+way home.'
+
+"Tears of self-pity were in the dhobi's eyes as he recounted his tale of
+woe. Even then I was reflecting on the real cause of the zemindar's
+wrath. The jewel had been discovered in the folds of a garment worn by
+one of the women in his zenana, and his quick access of anger showed
+that the gift had come from some other hand than his. Savage jealousy,
+therefore, had prompted the act of injustice inflicted upon the
+unfortunate washerman. I knew my master so well his sullen moods, his
+outbursts of passion, that already I could arrive at this conclusion
+with certainty.
+
+"'Proceed,' I said, indifferently, for it is well that a man should
+keep his own counsel in such delicate affairs. 'What is my concern with
+your misfortune?'
+
+"'Harken, O dispenser of bounties! Last night when I lay nursing my
+wounds, I remembered that the ring which had proved the cause of my
+misery had been wrapped in a fragment of paper whereon were some strange
+marks and lines as in the books of learned men. This I had flung away,
+at that time deeming only the ring to be of any consequence. But the
+thought came to me in the night that perhaps the paper might tell
+something about the ring. So all this day have I searched among the
+bushes by the stream where I beat the clothes on stones and wash them.
+And behold, I have found that for which I have been seeking.'
+
+"Hereupon the dhobi loosened the loin cloth beneath his upper garment,
+and extracted from its folds a tiny roll of paper. This he presented to
+me, with a bow of deference to my superior understanding of such things.
+
+"'This time I have come to you,' he said, 'a man of learning and of
+justice, not like unto the cruel zemindar. Does the paper tell why I
+should have suffered such shame and pain at his hands?'
+
+"I had unrolled the scroll, the folds of which showed that it had served
+as a wrapping for the ring. The writing was in neat Persian characters,
+and I had no difficulty in deciphering it, for the four lines that met
+my eyes had been recited to me only a few days before by the very man
+who claimed to be their author.
+
+"Now did my very heart tremble with agitation. But to the dhobi I
+appeared cold as the waters of the snows that melt on the mountains.
+
+"'This writing would only add to your troubles,' I said. 'Here, let me
+destroy it.' And, turning to the red ashes burning in a brazier near at
+hand, I dexterously substituted a fragment of paper, on which I had been
+figuring my accounts, for the paper received, from the dhobi, placing
+the former on the glowing charcoal embers and bestowing the latter in
+the security of my girdle. A curl of white smoke, a puff of flame, and
+the work of destruction was, to all appearance, completed.
+
+"'In view of your misfortune, my friend,' I resumed, 'I bestow upon you
+in the name of my master ten maunds of dal, which will be sent to your
+home on the morrow.'
+
+"The recipient of this unexpected bounty prostrated himself before me.
+
+"'O prince of justice, no longer do my wounds pain me. The bellies of my
+children will be filled for many long days to come.'
+
+"'Then go thy way, rejoicing in thy heart even though limping on thy
+feet. And remember that silence is golden. Say not one word more to
+anyone about the ring or the paper, your punishment or the reward that
+has now redressed the wrong. Go in peace.'
+
+"And the dhobi, after profuse expressions of gratitude, hobbled from my
+presence.
+
+"Alone with my thoughts, I felt sorely troubled. The writer of the
+verses of ardent poetry written on the paper brought to me by the
+washerman was my cherished friend, a youth from far-away Bokhara, Abdul
+by name. This young man had come to our country only a year or so
+before, bringing several beautiful Arab horses for sale. These the
+zemindar had purchased, and had retained Abdul in his service, for the
+youth was skilled in the management of horses, and in the rearing of
+young stock.
+
+"Abdul and myself were much of an age, and my regulation of expenditures
+in the stables had brought us constantly together. So a close friendship
+had resulted, valued greatly on my side, for I had soon come to know
+that Abdul was a man of refinement and learning such as I had never
+before encountered in any man of so humble a calling. And despite the
+fact that he was a Moslem and I a Hindu, he had chosen me as his
+intimate friend, his only confidant. Thus had it come about that at
+times he had read to me of an evening songs of his own composing, and
+even on occasion had sung them to the accompaniment of a small harp, the
+strings of which he touched with wondrous skill and sensibility.
+
+"Now did I know that this dear friend of mine had endangered not only
+his well-being but his life, by sending into the zenana of our master,
+the zemindar, a love token and a love message for one of the women
+dwelling there.
+
+"Thus ran the fateful lines, written after the style of the famous
+Persian poet, Omar the Tent-Maker, which I now read again on the paper
+withdrawn from my girdle:
+
+  This ring, O idol mine, tells one is here
+  To bring thee joy, to kiss away the tear.
+    Keep in thy heart the ruby fire of love;
+  The hour of thy deliverance is near.
+
+"And, after reading, I felt thankful that the message had not fallen
+into the hands of the zemindar, else had the intriguer's identity been
+quickly determined and his fate as quickly sealed.
+
+"Yet the lines breathed the spirit of honourable love, and my heart was
+stirred to aid my friend in his daring enterprise.
+
+"Patiently during the afternoon I waited, cogitating the while, and
+counting the chances. At last about an hour before sunset Abdul came to
+me with his usual gay smile and happy greeting.
+
+"He read trouble in my look, for straightway he asked of me:
+
+"'What is wrong? What matters have gone amiss?'
+
+"I motioned him to sit by my side, and then without more ado told him of
+the evil turn that had befallen the dhobi, and showed him the quatrain
+of verses.
+
+"'These you wrote?' I questioned.
+
+"'With my own hand,' he answered, gravely, but without excess of fear.
+
+"'And the ring with the flaming red gems?'
+
+"'Was her mother's own ring. Zuleika would know it in an instant.'
+
+"'Zuleika--who is she?'
+
+"'Listen, my brother, for fate points that to thee should I give my
+fullest confidence. Zuleika is a maid of the Turkmans, betrothed to me.
+But a year ago, when gathering flowers in our valley, she was stolen by
+roving freebooters. And, true to my love, I have followed her here, to
+the home of the zemindar, your master, who purchased her from the
+marauders.'
+
+"'How came you to know that she was here?'
+
+"'Never mind. I am a man of resource and observation, and I tracked the
+maid. Moreover, gold opens the gates of confidence, and of this I have
+goodly store.' As he spoke, he touched a pouch that hung from his
+girdle, 'For I am not, as I may have seemed to you, a mere dealer in
+horses, but the son of a great chief in my own land.'
+
+"He had drawn himself up proudly, and I bowed my head, in homage as well
+as in acquiescence. For the news did not surprise me, and in a friend of
+such noble bearing and high attainments I was well content to recognize
+an overlord.
+
+"More did he tell me--about a grass-cutter in the stables who had ridden
+with the robbers, and knew where the captive had been disposed; and
+about a dancing girl who had carried the ring into the zenana, and
+brought forth Zuleika's answer in return, telling that she was well,
+that she was destined as the bride of the zemindar's eldest son, but
+that she would resist all advances until rescued by her lover, the pearl
+of her heart, now thrice dear because he had followed her so faithfully
+and so far.
+
+"Abdul, fearful of danger to Zuleika because of the discovery of the
+ring, was for instant action--the hiring of bravoes, and a bold attack
+on the zemindar's person, taking him unawares, carrying him off and
+holding him to ransom, deliverance of the captive maid of the Turkmans
+being the price of his freedom.
+
+"But I had more subtle counsel to offer. For by foreordaining of
+Providence there rested in my breast certain knowledge, the real use of
+which was only now being revealed.
+
+"'Harken to me, Abdul,' I said, 'and I shall show you a way out of your
+difficulties--a way, too, that will lead to the attainment of your
+heart's desire. Send out to-night relays of horses along the northern
+road, and reserve for your own use the fleetest and strongest steed in
+the zemindar's stables. To-morrow morning early the dancing girl will
+carry a message to Zuleika, bidding her to watch and wait for you near
+the door in the women's quarters that leads to the treasure room of the
+zemindar.'
+
+"'Of a surety you jest at me,' interposed Abdul. 'How can I gain access
+either to zenana or to treasure chamber?'
+
+"'All will presently be made clear. At the appointed place Zuleika must
+await your coming, to-morrow during the hour of the zemindar's public
+audience. Him shall I engage in business matters while you carry off
+your beloved. In this you cannot fail, for God, the Lord of the
+Universe, pitying and helping you, has long years ago prepared the
+precise means for the accomplishment of your purpose.'
+
+"'Still do you speak in riddles, friend.'
+
+"Nay; listen, Abdul, and though you, a follower of Mohammed, may think
+of me as an idol-worshipping Hindu, you will yet see that the same
+supreme spirit rules both our destinies, making me the instrument of
+your happiness, because of certain knowledge which I possess. There is a
+secret which my father entrusted to me before he died, bidding me to
+guard it jealously until occasion for its application might arise. And
+behold now the appointed hour has come.'
+
+"'You know the council chamber of our lord, the zemindar, with its
+three-and-thirty columns of white marble. These are massive, seeming to
+have been hewn out of single pieces of rock--base, pillar, and capital
+all in one, each column in its entirety a single piece of quarried
+stone. But learn that this is not so, for these monoliths are in reality
+artificially made, having been fashioned by clever workers from the
+Coromandel country, who brought with them here supplies of a certain
+hard white stone, which they first roasted to a great heat, and then
+ground to the fineness of flour, finally compounding this material with
+other things, and constructing therefrom the columns of marble you now
+behold.'
+
+"'Indeed have I marvelled at their size,' commented Abdul, 'and wondered
+how such mighty blocks of hewn stone could have been obtained or set in
+place.'
+
+"'Well, you learn now that they were not quarried but moulded. This work
+was done in the time of my father, when he was treasurer in the service
+of the zemindar, then a young man. Now, know that the architect of the
+zemindar's palace was a dishonest knave, for he contrived that one of
+the three-and-thirty columns of marble should be hollow, and fitted
+inside with steps or holding places of iron, so that a lissom man might
+ascend and gain access to the treasure chamber above. This he confided
+to my father, seeking to gain him as a confederate in systematically
+robbing their master. But my father had a heart of gold and a hand of
+steel, for he slew the would-be thief after disdainfully rejecting his
+base proposal. Yet did he keep locked up in his own breast exclusively,
+knowledge of the hollow marble column, and of the sliding sections that
+gave access to it both above and below. For knowledge is power, he
+argued, and no man should squander such power any more than he would
+squander wealth. The destined time would come for the use of the
+knowledge, and it was in this faith that, just before he died, he
+confided the secret to me, his successor in the office of treasurer.
+
+"'And with me unto this day the secret has remained. But now at last the
+workings of fate are disclosed. How old art thou, Abdul?'
+
+"'Four-and-twenty summers,' he replied.
+
+"'Well, a full score years before you were born God so contrived that
+there should be a means for you to rescue the pearl of your heart, and
+escape, both of you, back to your own country. Go now and arrange the
+relays of horses, as I have directed, and when to-morrow's sun has
+risen, send by the hand of the dancing girl the message to your
+betrothed within the zenana, bidding her to be prepared. An hour before
+the zemindar's noontide council I will meet you, and, conducting you to
+the vaults below the assembly hall with its three-and-thirty columns of
+marble, will show you that particular column which, by the touching of a
+hidden spring, will open a passage way whereby you can climb to the
+zemindar's treasury. The door of that chamber you can open on the
+inside, simply by pushing back the wooden bolt which serves as a lock
+and answers only to a key on the other side. Let the maid be waiting
+there at the appointed time for your coming. Now go, brother of my soul,
+and make your preparations. Then sleep, for sleep is the best surety of
+success when wakefulness and courage come to be required.'
+
+"Next day shortly after the hour of noon, the zemindar was seated in
+council. He was a big stout man, having waxed fat with age and
+prosperity. His beard descended to his waist like the moss on an old
+tree, and, above, his moon-like face surveyed complacently the circle of
+courtiers, soldiers, and retainers. Petitions had been presented,
+judgments had been spoken, and affairs of the day had been discussed,
+and we, the few close counsellors who tarried, were only awaiting the
+raised hand that would have bidden us go our several ways.
+
+"'Where is Abdul?' of a sudden asked the zemindar, casting a glance of
+inquiry around.
+
+"'He has been smitten with a fever, my lord,' I answered, taking upon my
+shoulders the burden of excuse, and telling no falsehood, for surely
+love is the fiercest burning fever of all.
+
+"'Ah, ha!' muttered the zemindar, in a guttural note of disappointment.
+And there and then I saw him toying with a ruby ring, not worn upon one
+of his fingers, but held lightly between his two hands.
+
+"'Does anyone here know aught of this bauble?' he added, raising the gem
+aloft.
+
+"There were glances of inquiry from all around, then bows and gestures
+and murmurs of disavowal. I alone remained irresponsive, for at that
+very moment every fibre of my being was strained to nervous rigidity. My
+senses were preternaturally at work. The marble column against which I
+was leaning with seeming carelessness, vibrated under my hand. Within
+its circular depths I could see Abdul descending stealthily and slowly,
+his one free arm pressing a silken bundle to his breast. Even to my
+nostrils there was wafted the fragrance of attar of roses, and with the
+exhalations of perfume came a gentle sigh of timidity almost at my very
+ear.
+
+"I was moistening my parched lips with my tongue, when I awoke from my
+momentary trance. The zemindar's eyes were blazing down at me.
+
+"'Villain, this ring is yours!' he cried, struggling to his feet.
+
+"'Not mine, my lord,' I protested, flinging myself at full length before
+him.
+
+"But at that very moment there rang forth the sharp tattoo of a horse's
+hoofs on the paved courtyard without, followed by the sharp challenge of
+a sentry, the bang of a matchlock, and then a very babel of excited
+yelling.
+
+"Every one in the audience hall swept outside, even the zemindar, his
+dignity all forgotten. Left alone, with swift consciousness of the
+suspicion that had fastened itself upon me, and of my powerlessness to
+deny connivance with the escape of my friend, I gathered myself up and
+fled by a side passage to a ghat on the river. Here I had a boat
+prepared for just the emergency that had happened, and because of this
+happy foresight I am enabled to-day, after more than two score of years,
+to tell the tale."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"And the zemindar?" asked the Afghan soldier.
+
+"Dead long since."
+
+"The hollow marble column?" pressed the interlocutor.
+
+"Its secret remained unrevealed," replied the tax-collector. "Trusty
+friends told me later that the flight of Abdul on a fiery stallion, with
+a female figure clinging to him on the saddle behind, ever remained a
+mystery. So the youth had had the presence of mind to close the sliding
+panels above and below."
+
+"He escaped? He lived?" queried the Rajput.
+
+"Assuredly," came the quiet reply. "I have never seen nor heard from
+Abdul from that day to this. But as destiny had provided, long years
+before the actual event, a means for the accomplishment of his
+happiness, I have ever rested content in the belief that all was well
+with him--that all is well with him even yet perhaps--with him and his
+beloved in the valley of far-away Bokhara."
+
+"I should like to find that hollow column," muttered the Afghan.
+
+"As I have said, the column was contrived for love and not for rapine,
+my friend. Should the white stone from Coromandel that can be cunningly
+wrought into marble ever cross your fate, be on your guard lest the omen
+mean, not the gaining of a fortune, but the making of a tomb."
+
+The Afghan smiled, half disdainfully, half uneasily, and silence reigned
+for a spell.
+
+
+
+
+III. WHAT THE STARS ORDAINED
+
+TOLD BY THE ASTROLOGER
+
+
+"And now, master star-gazer, your proffered story," said the
+tax-collector, bestirring the company from its meditative mood.
+
+"As I have promised," responded the astrologer, "I shall recount an
+experience that shows how the stars, if read aright, can tell us the
+influences for good or for evil that weigh upon a man and inevitably
+determine his destiny at the critical moments of his life. What is
+written is written, and it is impossible to strive against fate."
+
+"Nay," objected the Rajput, "that is a teaching of helplessness to which
+I cannot subscribe--the pitiful excuse of the coward who folds his hands
+in the hour of danger, or of the self-indulgent weakling who yields to
+seductive temptation because his heart inclines to seize the pleasure of
+the moment even when his conscience counsels otherwise. I hold that man
+is the master of his own fate. Most assuredly have I been the master of
+mine," he added with a proud smile, his fingers closing significantly on
+the handle of a dagger at his belt.
+
+"Be it so," answered the astrologer. "But as Allah knows everything that
+is to happen, so must it happen."
+
+"Which does not forbid the exercise of my own free will," argued the
+Rajput. "The Supreme Being, the presiding power of creation, call him
+Allah if you will, understanding my heart as he understands all things,
+knows beforehand what choice of action I shall make at the moment of an
+emergency. But that still leaves me responsible for the deed which I
+elect to do. Such is my understanding of destiny. It gives
+fore-knowledge to God, but leaves free will to man."
+
+"From all of which I do not dissent," rejoined the astrologer. "It is
+only the ignorant or the base that makes kismet the excuse for
+helplessness or for wrongdoing. But as the stars under which a man is
+born influence that man's acts, then does the reading of the stars guide
+us as to what the future has in store."
+
+"I know little about your stars," replied the Rajput. "But let us have
+the story," he added, crossing his hands on his knees in an attitude of
+expectancy. The astrologer, saluting his audience generally with a bow
+of acquiescence, thus began:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"By your courtesy let me first explain, as necessary to the
+understanding of the tale which is to follow, that I am from Persia,
+from the city of Teheran, where for many generations my ancestors were
+profound students of astrology, some of them famous men because of their
+skilful divinations, with reputations that reached even to Stamboul. For
+thither in my early boyhood to the court of the Sultan of the Osmanlis
+was my father summoned, and him I never beheld again. It was from my
+aged grandfather that I learned my first lessons in astrology--about the
+twelve houses, the ruling star of each day, the coming and the going of
+the planets, their conjunctions and oppositions, and the influences they
+exercise on men's lives. I learned with avidity, and was an apt pupil,
+for at fifteen I had begun the practice of my profession, casting
+horoscopes and reading the nocturnal heavens with constant care,
+understanding also the flight of birds and the cries of wild beasts of
+the jungle.
+
+"Yet at that time was my mind assailed with grievous doubts. I often
+caught myself wondering whether the stars did really rule the fates of
+men. And with this inward questioning a restless spirit grew upon me. I
+longed to see more of the world--to enlarge the sphere of my
+observations. Just then I chanced to hear some gossip in the bazaars
+about a great expedition that was getting ready at Kabul to descend upon
+Hindustan. The hunger of adventure seized me, and was not to be denied.
+Despite the tears and implorings of my family, I set forth on foot for
+Afghanistan, a stripling; in my hand the staff I used in my divinations,
+in the bag slung at my side a single change of raiment. Money I had
+none, but my ability to read the stars I knew well would earn me a
+livelihood wherever I might wander.
+
+"With my adventures during the next two years this story has no concern.
+It is enough to say that, after many vicissitudes of fortune, I found
+myself installed as astrologer in the court of a Moslem prince,
+sovereign over an extensive region in Kashmir.
+
+"My lord was a man of noble heart and of high mental gifts. He ruled
+over his people not by fear of the sword, but by absolute justice, which
+he himself personally administered, every day holding audience so that
+grievances, even those of the most poor, might be heard and wrongs
+redressed. And his royal duties were shared by his wife, who, although
+she might sit behind the screen of the women's quarters, none the less
+shared in the counsels of state, and contributed words of wisdom in the
+direction of affairs.
+
+"Never in my experience have I encountered such mutual love, trust, and
+devotion as subsisted between this pair. For no other woman in the world
+had Mirza Shah thought or regard or desire--I call him Mirza Shah, but
+that was not his real name. For reasons that will presently appear, I
+refrain from disclosing the identity of places and persons connected
+with my story.
+
+"Well, it was my privilege from the outset to be on relations of close
+intimacy with my master. He used to come through the palace gardens to
+the shrub-embowered tower which I occupied, and from the roof of which I
+nightly contemplated the heavens. For long hours he would abide with me,
+learning something of the stars while enjoying the cool of the night air
+after the heat and fatigues of the day. And many times of an afternoon
+the sultana, veiled, would come with her lord, and together they would
+seek to gain from me knowledge of the heavenly bodies and of divination.
+Some things I told to them, but others I withheld, which is just and
+right, for skill in astrology is hereditary, descending from father to
+son, and new minds are unprepared for such teachings, so that too much
+knowledge conveyed to outsiders may become a source of disturbance to
+themselves and perchance of danger and hurt to their fellow men. Thus,
+following the rules laid down for me by my grandfather, always, even
+when closely pressed with questions, did I exercise a discreet reserve.
+
+"Gradually the friendship accorded to me by my lord and his lady waxed
+stronger, and I found myself being admitted to some of their innermost
+thoughts. Thus did I come to learn the passionate longing of the wife to
+become a mother: for six years had she waited, but no child had blessed
+her love for her husband. As for Mirza Shah, just so soon as the subject
+was mentioned I could see the cloud of melancholy rest on his brow. And
+when, as time went on, sadness seemed to settle upon him continuously, I
+knew full well that this disappointment in his wedded life had at last
+taken complete possession of his mind, to the exclusion of all other
+matters.
+
+"And from the sultana's manner I could see the trepidation that filled
+her heart--the dread that her childlessness might in the end rob her of
+her husband's love. It was not given to me to look upon her face--to get
+more than a glimpse of her eyes as they shot an occasional glance at me
+through the parted folds of her veil. But in these glances I had read
+the prayers of entreaty that I should use all the spells of my art in
+her favour, so as to obtain for her from God the gift of a son.
+
+"Well, after a time an unexpected thing happened. Mirza Shah was absent
+from his home--gone on a full week's journey, engaged in the settling of
+some dispute on the confines of his territory. To me there came one
+afternoon the sultana, attended by one of her women--the most trusted
+one, I knew, for both were from the same country, near to Amritsar,
+where the famous rugs are woven. So much I had learned, and this further
+I also knew, that by birth the sultana was a Hindu, although on being
+wed to her lord as a little girl, she had of course embraced the true
+faith of Islam, in so far as it matters for a woman to have any religion
+at all.
+
+"It was the female attendant who spoke to me, her mistress listening in
+silence. But the questions came so readily that it was clear the lesson
+had been well rehearsed by the twain.
+
+"'Astrologer,' she began, 'can you swear on the Koran that the stars
+speak truth?'
+
+"'That I can swear,' I replied, with due dignity and respect for myself
+and my profession.
+
+"'Can the stars bring about the wishes of man or of woman?'
+
+"'Nay, that I do not declare. They rule the lives of men and women only
+in so far as their movements forecast the future. If we can read the
+stars aright, we may gain foreknowledge of events destined to happen.
+For what is written in the scroll of fate cannot be changed. From kismet
+there is no escape."
+
+"'Then tell me this, O astrologer, from your stars: is my noble lady
+here ever going to have a child, a son?'
+
+"'That question I cannot answer. Unless I have the horoscope of her
+highness, cast by skilled hands at the time of her birth, I cannot tell
+which planet rules her destiny.'
+
+"'Alas, we knew not these things among my people down in Amritsar,' I
+heard my lady murmur.
+
+"'Bah!' exclaimed the serving woman contemptuously. She had flung open
+her veil, unashamed as are women of her station that I, not her brother
+or her husband, should gaze upon her face. It was a pleasant enough face
+of a woman of five-and-twenty years of age; yet, methought, as I looked
+into it now, that there was unseemly boldness in her eye and even
+something of wanton abandonment in her manner.
+
+"'Bah! If your stars cannot get us what we wish, what good are they?
+Better pray at a Hindu shrine to Krishna, god of love revels, than waste
+time in consulting a Moslem astrologer. That is what I have said all
+along, dear lady'; and with undoubtedly great affection the woman folded
+to her breast her now sobbing mistress.
+
+"I turned away, as was proper, and busied myself with a chart of the
+heavens over which I had been poring when my visitors had arrived. On
+again raising my eyes, I found that I was alone.
+
+"This incident I had well nigh forgotten, and near a year had elapsed.
+For some months I had not seen the sultana; she remained in the strict
+seclusion of the harem. Her highness was unwell, most people said. But I
+knew the truth; Mirza Shah himself had told it to me, his face beaming
+with pride and pleasure. At last his dearest hopes were to be realized;
+the sultana was about to become a mother.
+
+"Meanwhile I was on the alert to cast the horoscope of the child the
+very hour it should arrive. My preparations had been all made for some
+time past. Now was I only studying the stars night by night, so that I
+should be the better prepared to read them correctly.
+
+"At last, almost at the midnight hour, came a messenger running to the
+tower with the news that a child had been born--a son, Allah be praised.
+Then I set me instantly to my task, and it was with deep thankfulness I
+saw that the conjunction of the planets and stars was highly favourable.
+I carefully recorded the exact position of each heavenly body, and had
+already read from my rough chart strength and valour for the boy that
+had just been born, beauty of figure, good endowments of mind, when once
+again I lifted my eyes to the heavens. But to my horror and dismay at
+that very instant a streak of fire shot from west to east across the
+first house, straight toward the planet there ruling, where it
+disappeared. Just the fraction of a second had passed in the passing of
+that fiery star. But I knew what it meant, for my grandfather had
+instructed me in this matter. The child into whose horoscope had come
+this dread intruder was destined, if he lived beyond infancy, to slay
+his own father. And with the heaviness of lead this foreknowledge of
+destiny settled on my soul.
+
+"My head had sunk dejectedly on my breast, when I started up at the
+touch of a hand on my shoulder, and the greeting of a joyous voice--that
+of Mirza Shah.
+
+"'A son, Syed Ali, a son. Joy, joy, joy! And now, what do the stars
+say?'
+
+"Was it cowardice, was it pity, was it sympathy for him in his long
+deferred happiness, that prompted me to act as I did? Even at this day I
+myself cannot answer the question. Perhaps it was just unthinkingly on
+the spur of the moment that I did what I did. Without a word I thrust
+into Mirza Shah's hand the roughly completed horoscope. There was no
+note in it of the flaming star that at the last had marred the
+favourable showing.
+
+"Mirza Shah, under my instructions, had become skilled enough to
+interpret the general significance of such a diagram with its
+accompanying symbols.
+
+"'Ah, my friend,' he exclaimed in fervent delight, 'this is indeed
+excellent. He will be clever and brave and handsome, everything that a
+father could wish. Get ready the emblazoned scroll at once. Now I shall
+go. There are others to whom to tell the glad news, and to your mistress
+even now shall I try to whisper the splendid omens the stars have traced
+for us here.'
+
+"He tapped the rough chart with a forefinger, then handed it back to me,
+and was gone.
+
+"Let my story hasten on, just as the years hastened on. The boy grew up
+to be a comely lad, much in my companionship, for he came to me to learn
+to read and write Persian and Arabic. But although I loved him well,
+never any single day did he come into my sight but my heart was smitten
+with self reproach. Why had I, by suppressing the truth, allowed this
+child to live even for an hour beyond the hour of his birth? The
+foreordained murderer of his good and noble father!--to my eyes the
+decree of fate was branded on the very brow of the boy.
+
+"Yet did I console myself and justify myself. At times I even dared to
+indulge a doubting mood as to the certainty of the celestial writing of
+fate. Could a bright, open-faced child like this one seated at my knee,
+book in hand, ever come to commit the most abominable of human
+crimes--to slay his own dearly loving father?
+
+"'Impossible!' I would murmur to myself, and would thus resolutely shut
+the gates of my heart to the whispering of conscience.
+
+"But in any case it was now too late to speak. The boy was endeared to
+his father and to his mother, the idol of both their lives. Mirza Shah
+would have gladly died, well I knew, for his son. Why then should I
+interfere? Kismet! Let destiny take its course. Even I, in withholding
+the truth, had been an instrument in the hand of fate. And had it not
+been written that I should so act? Who, indeed, but Allah can change the
+course of events?
+
+"By such arguments I became reconciled to abide with peace of mind the
+workings of destiny. And so years rolled on.
+
+"When Prince Hasan, as the lad had been named, had attained the age of
+seventeen, it befell that the Emperor Humayun, son of Baber, made a
+progress through the Kashmir Valley, receiving homage from his
+feudatories, among whom was Mirza Shah. And the magnificent retinue of
+the mighty Mogul so impressed our young prince, that he must needs beg
+the privilege of joining the imperial bodyguard. This request was
+readily granted, for Humayun was trying to gather around him the best
+young blood in Hindustan, Rajput as well as Moslem, so that each race
+alike might be keen in the defence and proud of the glory of the great
+Mogul Empire.
+
+"Thus it came about that Prince Hasan, superbly mounted and dressed in a
+suit of fine chain armour beneath his upper silken garments, rode forth
+from the valley where he had been reared, accompanied by the tearful
+blessings of his father and mother.
+
+"A year passed, and then Mirza Shah himself, summoned by special
+messenger, departed on a visit to the Court at Agra. When two months
+later he returned, never did I know such a change to have been wrought
+in so brief a time on any man. He was grey and haggard; his eyes were
+sunken. And to me he came almost first of all in the palace, to consult
+the stars.
+
+"And for my better guidance he told me some things. Prince Hasan had
+fallen into ways of dissipation and habits of drunkenness--most accursed
+of vices--in the city of Agra. It was in the hope of reclaiming him
+that an old friend had called Mirza Shah to the capital. But at the
+meeting of father and son, instead of repentance on the part of the
+misguided youth, there had been defiance and revilement, and at last, as
+the father confessed to me, with the tremor of shame in his voice, an
+insulting blow in the face. This was too much to endure. Mirza Shah had
+disowned his son. He declared he was henceforth childless, for, perhaps
+as I have told you, there had been no other babe born all these years to
+the sultana.
+
+"Even now did I conceal my guilty knowledge, though well I knew that the
+inexorable scroll of destiny was beginning to unfold itself. In fact, I
+was afraid to speak, for Mirza Shah had challenged me straightway to
+show a flaw in the happy horoscope I had drawn. And flaw in the
+emblazoned scroll there was none that I could lay finger on; only in my
+secret heart was the one sinister line traced--surely traced, as I
+remorsefully reflected.
+
+"For months thereafter Mirza Shah kept away from me--I knew that his
+faith in the stars or in my skill to interpret them aright had been
+shaken. But I held my place and kept to the even tenor of my ways, for I
+had resolved that, if ever Prince Hasan should return home, then
+assuredly would I be on hand to warn Mirza Shah, so that, the crisis
+approaching, steps might at least be tried to avert the blow of destiny.
+Of this I was determined, even though death itself would come to me as
+the penalty of my long silence.
+
+"But all of a sudden the storm of impending events broke. One day there
+came to Kashmir the intelligence that Prince Hasan, incensed at his
+father's just rebukes, was marching against him with a mighty host
+gathered together from the forces of his companions in revelry.
+Preparations for defence on our side were at once made, the armed men
+gathered in from the surrounding villages, and carronades mounted on the
+walls and at the gateway of the citadel, which hung on sloping ground,
+with a precipitous mountain guarding it in the rear.
+
+"Too true proved to be the news. One morning the army of Prince Hasan
+came into view ascending the valley, and before nightfall the
+semi-circle of ground beneath the walls of the citadel, at a distance of
+four or five hundred yards, was occupied by the hosts of our enemy.
+Among these were both horsemen and foot soldiers, also full two score of
+great elephants dragging a train of siege guns.
+
+"Now at last were the seals of silence broken from my lips. Without
+further delay I must tell everything to Mirza Shah. Just as the sun was
+setting I intercepted him when making a round of the walls, and begged
+of him to come with me to my tower.
+
+"'Later,' he said, sternly, as he passed on to complete his plans for
+repelling the assault expected at daybreak on the morrow.
+
+"The night was far advanced when at last my lord came to me, and, to my
+surprise, clinging to his arm, was his wife, the sultana. I placed
+cushions for her close to one of the casements, where she had been wont
+to sit on the occasions of her visits in days gone by. Without a word
+she sank into the place thus assigned to her.
+
+"But Mirza Shah strode into the centre of the little circular room, and
+took his stand right under the lamp that illuminated it.
+
+"'Now what have you to say, thou false astrologer?' he demanded, without
+word of prelude.
+
+"Then did I take my courage in both hands, and told him everything--that
+the stars had in truth revealed to me that the son was destined to be
+his father's slayer, and that in my foolish desire to give the parents
+immediate joy I had suppressed the incident of the flaming star.
+
+"As my narrative reached the end I watched the changes in the face of
+Mirza Shah. I had expected anger-righteous anger against my own self,
+but in place of this there came over his handsome countenance a serene
+look of happiness.
+
+"'I thank you, Syed Ali,' he said, 'for the service you have done me.
+Had you told me eighteen years ago what you tell me to-night, then for a
+certainty would the guilt of murder be now upon my soul. To-day I am
+indeed in sore sorrow, but, Allah be praised, there is not my own
+child's blood upon my hands.'
+
+"As he spoke he spread out his palms, as if in testimony of their
+stainlessness.
+
+"But at that moment a great burst of lamentation came from beneath the
+sultana's veil, and, in a shrill tone of agony, she began to reproach
+herself.
+
+"'It is I who am the cause of all this misery,' she wailed.
+
+"Instantly Mirza Shah bent down and silenced her, then gathered her,
+almost like a bundle, into his arms.
+
+"'I shall return straightway,' he cried to me, as he disappeared down
+the narrow stairway.
+
+"Two full hours passed, however, before Mirza Shah came back. His face
+was white as marble--every feature seemed set, as the sculptor's chisel
+fixes each line of the carved stone. He spoke to me quite abruptly:
+
+"'Syed Ali, ask no questions, but do my bidding immediately. Yours will
+be a dangerous task, but it is right that you, who have so long
+concealed the truth from me, should be called upon to take the risk. The
+successful accomplishment of your mission is the only reparation I
+require.'
+
+"'Most gladly will I die for you, Mirza Shah,' I murmured, kissing the
+hem of his robe.
+
+"'I know it,' he answered, 'and that is why I trust implicitly in you,
+relying both on your courage and on your discretion. Take this ring,' he
+went on, handing me a finger ring set with a large turquoise, 'and hide
+it among your garments. Use your best wits to evade the enemy's
+outposts. Follow the mountain path. You will get a horse from Abdulla
+Beg at the head of the gorge. Then ride night and day for Talakabad.
+There you will go to the house of a man named Gholab Khan, overlooking
+the town. You will hand to him the finger ring I have just given you.
+And this you will say: 'Mirza Shah is dead. You are to come to the
+person who has sent this ring.'
+
+"'But my lord lives--Allah be praised! he will yet live many a long
+day.'
+
+"'I like not deceit, Syed Ali, but when deceit has been used, then must
+deceit reply. Carry to Gholab Khan the ring and the exact words I have
+spoken: "Mirza Shah is dead. You are to come with me to the person who
+has sent this ring. Hasten." Gholab Khan will without delay respond to
+this summons. And here will I await your return,' added my lord grimly,
+'for your stars have told me beyond all peradventure that I can hold
+this citadel until Gholab Khan arrives. Now go. Here is the key for the
+postern in the wall.'
+
+"I had already tied the ring into a fold of my inner garment, and,
+taking only my staff, I set forth straightway.
+
+"This is not a story about myself, but about Mirza Shah and his family,"
+said the astrologer, with a glance around his circle of auditors, whose
+fixed attention showed the keen interest with which they were awaiting
+the unfolding of the destiny proclaimed by the stars. "So once again
+will I pass over my adventures. The end of them all was that, ere the
+passing of a full week, I was back in my little tower, and with me was
+Gholab Khan. It was night, for we had evaded the besiegers' watchfulness
+under cover of the darkness by taking the same mountain defile by which
+I had travelled forth on my expedition, and gaining entrance to the
+citadel by the private gateway the key of which had been entrusted to
+me.
+
+"I lighted the lamp in the tower, and then turned to Gholab Khan. He was
+a petty chieftain of the mountains, a handsome man of middle age,
+resolute-looking and daring. In a few words I bade him wait awhile. Then
+I stole forth to apprize Mirza Shah that my mission was achieved.
+
+"My lord had given orders to his attendants that he was to be
+immediately aroused, so soon as I returned, whatever the hour of the
+night might be. In a moment he strode forth from his sleeping chamber
+all ready dressed. I started back with affright, for in his hand was a
+naked sword.
+
+"'Fear not, Syed Ali,' he said to me. 'Where is this Gholab Khan?'
+
+"'In my tower,' I answered.
+
+"'Good,' he replied. 'Come.' And at the word his bodyguard, all with
+drawn blades, closed around their master.
+
+"About fifty paces from the tower he halted his men, and we two advanced
+alone.
+
+"I entered the building first. Close behind me, up the winding stairway,
+pressed Mirza Shah, and I had but crossed the threshold of the room when
+he thrust me aside.
+
+"'Surrender!' he cried, the point of his sword at Gholab Khan's neck
+before the latter could utter one word or make any movement in
+self-defence.
+
+"'Bind his hands,' went on my lord, his enemy pinned helplessly against
+the wall. Gholab Khan dared not move, but his bulging eyes mutely
+protested.
+
+"I did as I was told, using a turban cloth gathered from a peg on the
+wall. Of my own accord I tied ankles as well as wrists. Then Mirza Shah
+dropped his sword.
+
+"'Now leave us,' he said to me. 'I wish some words with this man. Remain
+on guard below. Permit no one to intrude.'
+
+"Some time passed. At the base of the stairway I could hear the voices
+from above, but could distinguish no words. Then came a call from Mirza
+Shah, bidding me to ascend.
+
+"'Syed Ali,' he said, on my entry into the room, 'this man, Gholab Khan,
+has to-night had the choice between two alternatives, either to die here
+now at my hands, or to set forth at dawn and fight in single combat the
+leader of my beleaguering enemies. He has chosen the latter--the wise
+course.'
+
+"'The only course,' interpolated Gholab Khan, with a shoulder shrug of
+protest. The fellow had recovered his equanimity, and, knowing him as I
+did from our few days of travel in company, I reflected that in mortal
+combat he would be likely to give good account of himself. But there was
+no time to indulge in surmises. Mirza Shah still claimed my attention.
+
+"'My men will guard our guest here,' he continued. 'Food will be served
+to him.'
+
+"'And some wine, please,' growled Gholab Khan.
+
+"'Wine, too, then, if you will,' assented Mirza Shah, contemptuously,
+for he never by any chance used the fermented juice of the grape
+forbidden by the Prophet, and now rendered doubly hateful to him by
+reason of his son's excesses. 'At dawn weapons will be brought to you,
+and six horses from among which you can make your choice. Meanwhile the
+challenge will have gone forth. And once again, in the presence of this
+witness, I pledge my word that if you return successful from the combat,
+Gholab Khan, having killed your man, then will you be free to return
+unscathed to your home at Talakabad, and with a lac of rupees for your
+pains.'
+
+"'Bismillah! I would fight any day and with any man for such a prize,'
+cried Gholab Khan, his face all aglow, showing that, despite the
+kidnapping trick played upon him, he was now well pleased.
+
+"'That is good,' said Mirza Shah, coldly.
+
+"Then he blew a shrill whistle, which straightway brought the guard
+running to the tower.
+
+"But my narrative must hasten. With the first morning light a messenger,
+his mission announced by the blare of trumpets, went forth from the
+citadel, daring Prince Hasan to single combat with a champion fighting
+on behalf of Mirza Shah. There came back, as we expected, an exultant
+acceptance of the challenge.
+
+"The sun had mounted only spear-high when Gholab Khan, armed with lance
+and sword, rode out through the gates of the citadel. For his reception
+the whole host of our enemies had been drawn up, and in the middle of
+the curved line was the massed troop of some forty elephants, their
+howdahs crowded with spectators eager to witness the joust at arms.
+
+"From my observation tower Mirza Shah and I watched the scene. Although
+my mind was clouded with all manner of uncertainties, yet in my heart
+was a faint flutter of hope. Would this mountain fighter break the spell
+of the stars, and actually kill Prince Hasan, before the latter could
+accomplish the portended crime of dealing death to his father? I was
+torn by distracted arguments; at one moment I believed firmly as ever in
+the stars, at the next my trust was in the lance of the burly freebooter
+I had brought down with me from the mountains.
+
+"With bated breath I watched the combat--first the riding at full tilt;
+the thud of the galloping horses we could hear at this distance. But
+both lances were successfully parried, and a moment later the combatants
+had leaped with one impulse from horseback, and were rushing upon each
+other with swords. We saw the mirror-like flash of the blades in the
+morning sun.
+
+"Then next I beheld one figure go down, and, while I was yet wondering
+which of the twain had fallen, a mighty shout of triumph from the
+beleaguering army told me, alas! that it was our champion who had been
+worsted. And now a dissevered head raised high on sword-point by Prince
+Hasan told the bloody tale with final certainty. Gholab Khan was not
+only down but dead. At this display of the gruesome trophy of victory
+there were further frantic yells of delight from the assembled hosts
+across the valley. The sack of our citadel and town seemed now assured
+to them.
+
+"I just glanced at Mirza Shah. To my surprise his face wore a look of
+perfect calm, and, on meeting my eyes, there came a gleam of triumph
+into his.
+
+"'The stars were right,' he exclaimed, in a low, tense voice. 'Praise be
+to Allah! All is well. A base bibber of wine shall never rule over my
+people and destroy their happiness, for now that he has fulfilled his
+destiny Allah will assuredly deliver him into my hands.'
+
+"I was perplexed. So far from Prince Hasan's destiny having been
+fulfilled, it appeared to me that the dread tragedy foretold by the
+stars was inexorably drawing nearer and nearer--the death of Mirza Shah
+at the hands of his unworthy son, a bibber of wine, as he had
+contemptuously called him.
+
+"While this thought was passing through my mind, all of a sudden there
+arose another mighty tumult, this time from our side--a shout of
+astonishment, followed by cries of delight. But the roar of voices was
+quickly drowned by the thunder of mighty hoofs and the excited
+trumpeting of elephants. Turning round, I saw at a glance what had
+happened. The elephants, frightened by the first wild huzzas of victory,
+had stampeded, and were madly careering in a solid body across the
+plain.
+
+"Prince Hasan, as he held aloft the severed head of his adversary, saw
+the oncoming danger. He made a dart for his horse, but the animal,
+terrified by the noise and confusion, leaped forward, and was gone up
+the valley like the wind.
+
+"The youth made no attempt to run. It would have been useless. Yes, be
+it admitted, he died like a man. Ere the elephants were upon him, he had
+folded his arms across his breast, calmly prepared to meet his doom. In
+another instant he was whirled through the air, like a straw caught up
+by a tornado; then the living, irresistible billow swept over him.
+
+"My eyes were still glued in frozen horror to the scene. The screaming
+of the frightened troop of elephants had receded into the distance. Out
+on the open, through a haze of dust, I saw the blot of coloured raiment
+that showed where the body of Prince Hasan lay. And for the moment there
+was naught but pity in my heart for the youth who had played by my side,
+and gathered knowledge, if not wisdom, from my lips.
+
+"But a hand was laid on my shoulder, and, turning round, I looked into
+the face of Mirza Shah. It was lighted by a smile of stern satisfaction.
+
+"'Syed Ali, as you have ever declared, even though I have detected that
+your faith at times has wavered, the stars cannot speak falsely. He
+died, that dog out there, but not until he had slain his own father.'
+
+"'His own father!' I stammered. The truth began to break in upon my
+dazed brain.
+
+"'Yes. It is right that you at least should have the explanation, if for
+no other reason than to confirm your trust in the stars. Beguiled to
+wrong by the arguments of a serving woman, the sultana had a son. It is
+a shameful story, yet do I know that she begot the child out of pure
+love for me. Hasan was no son of mine. Enough! I have spoken. You can
+guess the rest.'
+
+"Mirza Shah paused. I could but drop my eyes and remain silent, for I
+dared to make no comment.
+
+"After a brief pause he resumed:
+
+"'In the end she confessed everything to me, that night when you
+revealed to us the full truth of what the stars had foretold. As for me,
+I helped the stars to run their courses: that is why I sent for Gholab
+Khan. Now, you who know my secret, travel away far from here. Respect
+the confidence I have given you. There is a bag of gold for you in my
+treasurer's charge. We part friends, Syed Ali. Fate, working through
+you, its blind instrument, spared the child so that my shame might be
+fully atoned. Now go, for I, too, must be up and doing. One timely sally
+now from the citadel, and yonder disordered host will be swept back
+whence it came.'
+
+"The result was as Mirza Shah had predicted. The beleaguering army fled
+at the first onslaught, leaving many hundreds of dead on the field to
+keep the mangled corpse of their leader company.
+
+"So, you see, my friends," commented the astrologer, concluding his
+tale, "as Mirza Shah most truly said, the stars cannot speak falsely.
+Never again have I doubted. The destiny read by me in the heavens that
+night when the sultana's babe was born was fulfilled in every detail."
+
+"And the faithless wife?" asked the Rajput. "What became of her?"
+
+"Nay, do not presume to judge her," protested the astrologer. "Judgment
+is for Allah. When Mirza Shah returned from his victorious charge, it
+was to find his sultana dead on the roof of the women's quarters. She
+had seen her son--yes, _her_ son, her own flesh and blood, although not
+her husband's--pounded to death under the elephants' feet. So the
+unhappy mother had pierced her breast with a dagger, and, by her side,
+similarly self-slain, lay the serving woman who had miscounselled her to
+wrongdoing, yet, as I could quite well comprehend, from motives of
+sincere affection, to safeguard for her her husband's love and to give
+her the joy of motherhood for which she craved.
+
+"Mirza Shah lived and ruled well for five-and-twenty years longer. He
+remained to the end a childless man: Allah had decreed it so. But he
+ever revered the wife who had loved him so well, for she had sinned
+because of her very love for him, nor had she persisted in her sin.
+Mirza Shah built to her memory a splendid mosque, and these are the
+words engraved on her tomb beneath the central dome, showing how her
+virtues were esteemed and her one act of wrong was forgotten:
+
+  "'Before my tomb, O stranger, stay thy way,
+    Reflect on fate's inexorable decree;
+  But yestere'en I was as thou to-day,
+    What I am now to-morrow thou wilt be.
+  Right good the grave for those whom good deeds bless,
+    Gentle the rest of them who tried to spread
+  Around their lives the balm of gentleness.
+    Trustful in God repose the worthy dead.
+  For such as they the living need not weep--
+    Their death is only faith-abiding sleep.'
+
+"By her side now lies her husband, at rest and in peace, for only death
+brings true rest and peace. And even now, after many years, I am on my
+way to pay a pilgrimage to the tombs of that truly noble man and his
+good--aye, his worthy--spouse, for, as I have said, let no man take upon
+himself to judge her. Allah alone can search the hearts of men."
+
+
+
+
+IV. THE SPIRIT WAIL
+
+TOLD BY THE MERCHANT
+
+
+"Allah alone can search the hearts of men," said the hakeem, slowly and
+reflectively repeating the words with which the astrologer had closed
+his tale. He was a man of venerable appearance, with flowing, white
+beard that descended to his waist. And yet, although his face was
+furrowed with the lines of old age, his eyes were wonderfully youthful
+in their contemplative calm.
+
+"No truer words have been spoken to-night," he continued. "Yet must we
+further reflect that, while a man cannot sit in judgment upon his
+fellows, he can assuredly judge himself, which goes to show that within
+the breast of every man there dwells the very spirit of God, the power
+to search his own heart, whether in condemnation or for approval. Life
+is a problem, and it requires a full lifetime to solve it. Only as we
+grow older do we come to know our own souls--our strength and our
+weakness, the measure of our true nobility of character and likewise the
+measure of our inherent meanness, the temptations not merely from
+without but from within that assail us, our power to conquer these or
+our miserable yielding at times, with no one, perhaps, even guessing at
+our degradation except the divine spark of conscience that inexorably
+turns a searching ray on every thought and on every motive for action."
+
+"So you would argue that man is God?" queried the Rajput.
+
+"Not so, but that the soul of man is of the essence of God, the proof of
+which is this very power of searching out our own hearts and sitting in
+judgment on our own failings: for the judgment seat belongs to Allah
+alone."
+
+"A subtle philosophy which I do not presume fully to understand,"
+interposed the merchant from Bombay.
+
+During the night's entertainment he had shown himself to be a man of few
+words, yet an attentive listener. He was of middle age, of a mild
+dignity of mien, and of robust physique, as befitted one accustomed to
+long journeys through regions infested with robbers or with beasts of
+prey.
+
+"But in my practical experience of life," he proceeded, "I have come to
+realize that, while I may know myself, no other man can I know.
+Therefore, if it be right to be sparing of condemnation for another, it
+is also wise to be chary of undue commendation. The world too often
+acclaims a deed as noble when the real motive prompting it is utterly
+ignoble."
+
+"A true philosopher, despite your bales of merchandise," murmured the
+hakeem, with a smiling nod of approval for the sentiments expressed.
+
+"Well, I suppose that every one who travels becomes a philosopher, more
+or less," assented the trader. "Change of scene and of companionship
+stimulates new ideas. Now will I relate an actual experience which aptly
+illustrates that, in our dealings with those around us, we never really
+penetrate their minds. Man knows himself; he knows no one else--friend
+or intimate, the child of his heart or the very wife of his bosom."
+
+"It is more easy to discover a white crow," muttered the fakir, "than
+know what a woman has in her heart."
+
+The merchant paid no heed to the interruption. He went on:
+
+"Each of us is an inscrutable mystery to the other. Each soul is veiled
+to every other soul, and is naked to itself alone."
+
+"O prince of philosophers in pedlar's disguise!" murmured the hakeem.
+
+"If our souls sat naked for the common gaze," commented the Rajput, "if
+we could all read each other's hearts, then indeed would life be an
+abomination--an utter misery, with the twin devils of shame and disgust
+seated at our elbows all the time."
+
+"Most true," concurred the trader. "For too much knowledge of another's
+inmost thoughts brings only disillusionment and regret, as my tale will
+show. The story takes us among humble people, but human nature is the
+same everywhere--the same in the hut of the rayat as in the palace of
+the rajah.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Once in every two years it is my custom to travel from Bombay to
+Benares, and invariably I break the journey at a certain village some
+six or seven days from my final destination. Here dwells an old friend
+and caste brother, formerly, like myself, a merchant in the Bombay
+bazaar where silken stuffs are sold, but retired now to his own country
+with modest savings sufficient for the rest of his days. Baji Lal, as he
+is named, is all the closer to me because his wife Devaka is a sister of
+my own wife, and the two are always eager to have news of each other's
+welfare.
+
+"At the house of this friend I rest for a day or two, enjoying his
+companionship, the reminiscences of old times, and the gossip of the
+hour. So, on my long and fatiguing journeyings, I have always looked
+forward to these meetings with pleasurable anticipation and remembered
+them with tranquil satisfaction.
+
+"But on the occasion of one of my periodical visits judge of my surprise
+when I was received in silence and with apathy that made no pretence at
+disguise. Devaka did not rise from her cushions on the floor to bid me
+welcome, and her husband, similarly irresponsive, returned my customary
+cordial greeting with nothing better than a look of wearied dejection.
+
+"Disturbed, I made inquiry:
+
+"'Baji Lal, my friend, what is the matter? Are you ailing?'
+
+"But he only shook his head, and turned away.
+
+"To Devaka I then appealed.
+
+"'What is the meaning of this?' I asked. 'Sadness and silence where
+everything used to be joy.'
+
+"She drew aside the sari that had concealed her face, and I was shocked
+at its grief-stricken aspect. Her trembling lips parted to answer me,
+but her husband checked her with a sharp word, such as I had never heard
+him use to her before. Her eyes filled with tears, and I could see the
+big drops rolling down her cheeks as she silently replaced the sari over
+her head, and, bending low, rocked herself to and fro.
+
+"For the moment I imagined that I had intruded on some scene of domestic
+unhappiness which would be dissipated in an hour. So, hiding my
+embarrassment, I turned to the door, intimating that I would seek some
+other lodging for the night, and return on the morrow, when I hoped my
+friends would be in fitter mood to receive me.
+
+"At last Baji Lal spoke, raising his face but still remaining seated on
+the divan we were wont in former times to share.
+
+"'Go thy way, Chunda Das,' he said. 'The sword of fate has descended
+upon this house. Come not again to a place accursed.'
+
+"Then did I realize that the trouble was serious.
+
+"'But, my friend and brother,' I protested, 'I cannot depart and leave
+you thus. Let me at least understand what calamity has befallen you, so
+that I may help toward its repair.'
+
+"'Nothing can be done, so nothing need be said,' he answered, in a tone
+and with a look of dignified resignation to the will of God. 'If you
+must have the story of our misfortune, you have only to ask the first of
+our neighbours you encounter.'
+
+"And he, too, covered his face with his garment, leaving me no choice
+but to withdraw without further attempt at this manifestly inopportune
+time to probe the mystery.
+
+"If I was to be of service to my friends, however, knowledge of what had
+befallen was the first essential. So I took the road that would lead me
+to the great pipul tree in the village square, close to the tank and to
+the temple, where all day long there was coming and going, and where
+therefore I would be most likely to glean the information I desired. By
+a happy chance I found reclining under the pipul tree the village
+barber, a loquacious fellow, who counted it as part of his business to
+know the last detail about other people's affairs.
+
+"After greetings, and a few remarks about the weather and the crops and
+the season's epidemics, I carefully broached the real purpose of my
+interview, for a prudent man will never divulge his thoughts to another
+until he knows that other's thoughts.
+
+"'I have just come from the house of Baji Lal,' I said, in a seemingly
+casual way.
+
+"The barber's face instantly lost the smile it had worn.
+
+"'How did you find him?' he asked.
+
+"'Strangely altered,' I replied.
+
+"'And so does every one,' he concurred.
+
+"'Why so?' I ventured.
+
+"The barber looked at me squarely, and then said:
+
+"'You and he were very good friends, Chunda Das.'
+
+"'Yes, and are still, so far as I am concerned,' I answered.
+
+"'I thought so. Well, I am his friend likewise. Many years I have known
+him and his wife, Devaka. Both are good, kind people, always willing to
+help their neighbours, and ready to give their last bowl of rice to a
+vagrant beggar. Perhaps you can assist me to clear away the shadows that
+have fallen around them and obscured the sunshine of their home. Let me
+tell you the story. A few months ago a stranger came to this village. He
+was on his way to Fathpur-Sikri, to witness the glories of the court of
+the mighty Akbar. But on the road he had fallen ill, and, arriving here,
+was too sick to proceed. I am ashamed to say that none of us were
+willing to take him in, for sickness goes from one person to another. So
+we have to be careful, especially in my calling, where I come into such
+close contact with so many.
+
+"'There was quite a little crowd just here by the tank, discussing the
+situation, the sick man in their midst resting upon the ground, when
+Baji Lal and his wife, who happened to be passing, came forward to see
+what the commotion was all about. They listened to the story, and then
+told the stranger he might come with them. He gratefully accepted, and,
+after whispering some instructions to a servant by whom he was
+accompanied, he motioned to Baji Lal to lead the way. The little group
+moved off, the servant in the rear, leading the horses, which included a
+pack animal laden with the traveller's bedding, cooking pots, and other
+belongings.
+
+"'After unloading the baggage at Baji Lal's home, the servant, as we
+learned later in the day, had, in obedience to orders, straightway
+mounted his horse, and ridden away. He had exchanged no words with any
+of us.
+
+"'For weeks Baji Lal and his wife attended to the wants of the invalid,
+until at last he was able to move about the village, and talk with one
+and another. From the first we had recognized the stranger as a man of
+distinction. Now we learned his name--Sheikh Ahmed, a Moslem, I need not
+say. But in these days of Akbar all religious feuds are to be set aside,
+this by direct command of the Emperor himself--blessed be his name and
+exalted his glory! So this follower of the prophet was made quite
+welcome among us, a community of Hindus.
+
+"'Day by day the Sheikh regained his strength, and often would he come
+of an evening when the village folk gathered under this pipul tree,
+listening to the chit-chat going on, sometimes joining in the
+conversation. Soon he began to tell us stories of far lands, for he had
+travelled to many distant places, even outside of Hindustan, so we grew
+to like him, and to watch each evening for his coming.
+
+"'But all of a sudden he disappeared from our midst. The day before he
+had been with us, sitting almost on the very spot where you are seated
+now. He did not say he was going away, nor even hint that he intended
+doing so. When Baji Lal was questioned, he said that the servant had
+returned during the night with saddle and pack horses, and that, after
+conferring with Sheikh Ahmed, had gathered together his master's
+belongings, and announced their immediate departure. Baji Lal had tried
+to persuade his guest to wait until daylight, but this advice was
+unheeded. The Sheikh promised, however, that he would come again to the
+village when he passed that way on his homeward journey.
+
+"'At this time Baji Lal's story seemed a perfectly natural one, and the
+people only regretted that they had not had the opportunity of bidding
+the Sheikh farewell. Still the prospect of soon seeing him again
+softened this regretful feeling.
+
+"'And now began the change in our friends. Baji Lal ceased to come to
+our village meetings, and Devaka shunned every woman, even her most
+intimate friends. For a while this strange behaviour did not attract
+special attention, although noted and commented on afterwards. For just
+a few days after Sheikh Ahmed had gone away the monsoon had burst, and
+the stormy weather would account for Baji Lal and his wife remaining
+much at home. But as time wore on, and their furtive ways grew more and
+more pronounced, people began to talk, and from talking they took to
+watching and spying. For, believe me, there is nothing so all-absorbing
+as for once respected and well-thought-of people to be under a cloud. We
+allow our imaginations to run riot, and our tongues do not rust for want
+of wagging.
+
+"'Thus suspicion gradually filled the air, and it was whispered that
+Baji Lal and Devaka had murdered their guest for his money, and had
+merely invented the story of his midnight departure to hide their
+crime. Children who once used to run to them shrank back, or were called
+away by their parents.
+
+"'But, most extraordinary thing of all, and one that brought convincing
+confirmation to what had at first been mere suspicion, at night there
+could be heard heartbreaking cries and sobs coming from the house of
+Baji Lal. The voice was not his, nor that of his wife; it was, in all
+truth, the wail of a spirit, plaintive at times, then angry as if
+shrieking aloud for vengeance. For I myself have heard these sounds with
+mine own ears; twice in the darkness of the night I mustered courage to
+steal forth as far as the hedge that hides the house from the roadway,
+and, although the monsoon winds were still boisterous, above all other
+noises again and again arose that wail of a soul in anguish. Others,
+too, went to listen, and fled from the place in terror. And soon the
+house of Baji Lal came to be shunned by every one as if it had been
+plague-stricken.
+
+"'Now you understand why your old friends greeted you with woe-begone
+looks. The inner meaning of the story I do not know, but I have told you
+the facts that are in my possession. And glad shall I be if you can
+conceive any solution for the mystery, and free Baji Lal and his wife
+from the terrible accusation of having murdered the man who was their
+guest within the gate and had eaten of their salt. If you cannot, then
+we must just say kismet, I suppose. Man cannot strive against fate.'
+
+"'Is it your belief, Bimjee,' I asked, 'that the stranger was really
+done to death in Baji Lal's home?'
+
+"'No,' he answered decisively. 'But all the same, I have the evidence of
+my own ears that a curse has fallen upon the place.'
+
+"For the moment I made no further comment, but sat silent, revolving the
+strange story in my mind. My reverie, however, was of short duration,
+for all of a sudden Bimjee sprang to his feet in great excitement.
+
+"'Look, look,' he cried, pointing to a crowd of villagers coming in our
+direction. 'At last they have laid hold of Baji Lal and his wife, and
+are bringing them here for punishment.'
+
+"Bewildered by the suddenness of this blow, I could but watch in
+helpless silence the advancing throng, with my poor friends in their
+midst, their hands bound, their tottering footsteps directed by rude
+shoves towards the pipul tree, the accustomed assembly place of the
+villagers and the village council.
+
+"A minute later, however, I had regained my self-possession, and when
+the procession came abreast of me, I stepped in front of it and
+commanded a halt. Courtesy to me as a visitor to the village was
+sufficient to exact this measure of obedience. But when I demanded that
+the ropes should be cut and the prisoners liberated, a storm of angry
+protests was the only result.
+
+"The leader of the crowd approached me, and in a respectful voice said
+they were sorry to refuse my request, but a crime had been committed
+that disgraced the whole community. The spirit of a murdered man haunted
+the house of Baji Lal and Devaka, and cried to heaven for vengeance. The
+villagers would never prosper if they allowed this foul deed to pass
+unpunished; why, only that very morning a strange sickness had seized
+some of their cattle, and two sacred cows had died in spasms of pain--an
+omen from the gods that could not be disregarded.
+
+"I saw that it was useless to argue with the man. But I made another
+attempt to have the prisoners' bonds at least loosened, for I could see
+that the cords bit cruelly into their arms. After some consultation this
+point was conceded. Baji Lal shot at me a look of gratitude, but his
+poor little wife merely used her freed hands to hide her face in the
+folds of her sari.
+
+"'Now my friends,' I cried boldly, 'this case must be properly tried.
+Where is the patel?'
+
+"I had noticed that the headman of the village was not present, and in
+asking for him had in mind that he was my personal friend, so that I
+might appeal to him with better success for the release of the
+prisoners.
+
+"'The patel is away on a day's journey,' cried a voice in the crowd.
+
+"'Then must the accused be taken to the village constable,' I declared,
+'and kept by him until the patel returns and the council of elders can
+be properly assembled.'
+
+"My bold assumption of authority had stilled the tumult, and to my
+surprise every one now seemed willing to do my bidding.
+
+"'Come along then,' cried several voices, as the prisoners were once
+more urged forward. I kept close by their side, and when we gained the
+constable's house and the staked enclosure that served as a place of
+detention, I too passed within, leaving the leaders of the crowd to
+guard the gateway.
+
+"When we were alone, Baji Lal and Devaka threw themselves at my feet,
+and thanked me for the aid I had rendered them.
+
+"'My children,' I said, as I raised them up, 'were I not assured in my
+own mind that there is some grievous mistake, and that you can explain
+the mysterious disappearance of your guest, I should not be here by your
+side. But tell me your story, and I shall advise you to the best of my
+powers.'
+
+"Baji Lal lifted his eyes, and gazed at me mournfully but fearlessly.
+
+"'Chunda Das,' he began, 'you have known me now for many years. Have I
+ever done aught to shake your confidence?'
+
+"'Never,' I affirmed.
+
+"'Have you ever heard me tell a lie?'
+
+"'Never,' I again replied.
+
+"'Well, then, you will believe me when I say that I told the truth in
+declaring that the stranger went away in the night. His servant came
+back all in a hurry for him, and he would not tarry even until daylight,
+although I pleaded with him to stay.'
+
+"'I believe you,' I said, for, even apart from my prior trust, the
+man's look convinced me that he was speaking true words.
+
+"'Yes, this is the simple truth,' he went on. 'And yet'----here his
+voice faltered, and he glanced down pityingly on his wife crouched upon
+the ground, rocking herself and wringing her hands. 'And yet I know,
+_we_ know, Devaka and I, that Sheikh Ahmed has been murdered.'
+
+"I started aghast, and involuntarily drew my garments around me.
+
+"'Nay,' he said reproachfully, reading my unacknowledged and almost
+unformed thought, 'but not at our hands, Chunda Das.'
+
+"'Then how do you know that he is dead?' I questioned, already ashamed
+that a doubt could have crossed my mind as to my friends being art and
+part in such a dastardly deed. 'What makes you think so?'
+
+"'I do not think; I know,' he said decisively. 'And I will tell you why.
+The night after the Sheikh left was cold and windy, for the monsoon was
+approaching. Devaka and I were sitting together, and as we listened to
+the wind blowing outside she expressed the hope that our guest was
+safely at his destination, for in his state of health the inclement
+weather would be harmful. Before I could answer her we were startled to
+hear quite close to us a faint cry. I got up and looked around, and so
+did Devaka, for she is brave, my wife. But we could not find anything to
+account for the disconcerting sound.
+
+"'We sat down again, but before long we heard once more the wailing
+cry, louder now and more prolonged. We started up, and this time went
+outside in spite of the rain carried by the lashing wind. However, we
+could discover no one--neither man nor beast. So we went in again, and
+shut the door.
+
+"'And all that night long this strange thing continued. Sometimes the
+sound was softly sobbing, then it would grow to a heartbreaking wail. We
+could not go to bed. Fear kept us awake, for we had come to the
+conclusion that it was the spirit of Sheikh Ahmed trying to make us
+understand that he had been murdered on the road.
+
+"'Day after day, and night after night we were haunted by the cries and
+sobs of this spirit. Can you wonder that our hearts grew weak from fear,
+that we shunned our neighbours lest they should enter our dwelling and,
+hearing these sounds, suspect that we had done some grievous wrong? That
+is my story, Chunda Das.'
+
+"And the strong man sank to the ground, as he buried his face in his
+hands.
+
+"'It is even a relief to be here,' he cried, in broken tones, 'here,
+prisoners in this place of shame, because at least we are no longer
+haunted by the voice of the dead Sheikh.'
+
+"He flung his hands out in an abhorrent gesture, and raised tear-filled,
+pleading eyes to mine.
+
+"I had been listening intently to Baji Lal's story, and had watched the
+changes on his impassioned face. When the tale was ended, Devaka threw
+herself prone at my feet, and pressed her lips to the hem of my robe. I
+was touched by her silent beseeching, though I hastily, and I fear
+roughly, commanded her to arise.
+
+"'Dear friends,' I said, 'this is indeed an extraordinary occurrence.
+And how I can help you is more than I at present know. But rest assured
+that I will exert myself to the utmost to remove from your heads the
+infamy of such an accusation.'
+
+"I mused awhile, then put a few questions as to the personal appearance
+of the stranger, Sheikh Ahmed, and also that of his servant, the exact
+hour of their departure, and the direction in which they had gone. After
+learning these things, I took my leave, commending Baji Lal and his wife
+to the care of the constable, whose promise that nothing would happen to
+his prisoners until the patel's return I sealed with a handful of
+rupees.
+
+"This matter settled, I strolled back to the pipul tree beside the tank,
+thinking that it might be useful to pick up the remarks of the
+loiterers. But to my surprise I found virtually the whole village in
+assembly, and to my dismay soon gathered that it was their fixed
+intention to kill Baji Lal, give to Devaka the privilege of committing
+suttee, and then burn down the haunted house whence the accusing sounds
+came, making of their own home the funeral pyre of both victims.
+
+"I plucked my beard in my distress; I felt so helpless. If only the
+headman was here, together we might have devised something. But alone I
+was powerless. Plunged in gloomy forebodings, I did not notice the
+approach of the barber, until he touched my sleeve to announce his
+presence.
+
+"'You have heard what they mean to do?' he asked.
+
+"I nodded.
+
+"'We must save them, Chunda Das. But I beg of you not to place any
+reliance on the patel's coming, for he sides with the rest of the
+villagers, and will help them to deal out the swift justice which he
+believes to be well deserved. Besides it was his cows that died this
+morning.'
+
+"At this statement, then indeed my last hope was gone. For we were far
+away from any town where I could have invoked the aid of the Emperor's
+soldiers. I shook my head despairingly.
+
+"'Oh, yes, Chunda Das, you will devise some way,' protested the barber,
+reading the hopelessness in my mind. 'You have a fleet horse, and can
+ride after Sheikh Ahmed, find him, and call him back again. Or, if he be
+really dead, you can bring word of how his end came.'
+
+"'Will there be time for all this?' I asked dubiously.
+
+"'We must make time,' he answered. 'The patel will be back before long.
+You can use the interval in getting some food, and in preparing for the
+road. I think your influence with him will at least secure delay for
+some days, until you can return with the information in quest of which
+you go. But mark my words, unless the Sheikh shows himself, or you can
+prove how he met his death on the road, then assuredly will the doom of
+our friends be sealed.'
+
+"'Very well,' I said, contented in my mind; for if my search for Sheikh
+Ahmed failed, I could bring back with me some of our master Akbar's
+soldiery to rescue the prisoners.
+
+"During the afternoon the headman returned, and I lost no time before
+interviewing him. I told him how firmly convinced I was that Baji Lal
+and Devaka were innocent, and that I would prove it if he gave me the
+chance to do so. At first he shook his head, but on my promising that
+the unfortunate couple would in the interval make no effort to escape,
+and that I would surely be back in two weeks' time whether or not
+success in my mission attended me, he yielded to my entreaties, the less
+reluctantly because I further undertook to pay him the value of his dead
+cows.
+
+"So, after a brief good-bye visit to Baji Lal and his wife, I set forth
+on my journey.
+
+"Six days later I entered the bazaar of Punderpur. I went to a
+travellers' rest house with which I was familiar, to see whether I could
+glean any information as to the present whereabouts of Sheikh Ahmed,
+who, in his travels, I had discovered, had been making for this place.
+
+"Seated around the courtyard of the caravanserai were many visitors and
+their friends of the town. With some of the latter I was acquainted, but
+for the present I only returned their greetings with a silent salaam. I
+was anxious to meet with an old friend, a munshi, learned in many
+languages, whose profession kept him on the outlook for the numerous
+travellers from distant parts who passed this way.
+
+"I had just espied the man of whom I was in quest, seated at some
+distance among a group of idlers, when I was accosted by a stranger
+handsomely accoutred and of line bearing. He said that he had heard I
+was recently arrived from Sengali. He had friends in that village, and
+would be glad to hear of them.
+
+"I told him that for the present I was occupied with pressing business,
+but a little later I would be at his disposal, and pleased to give him
+any information in my power. He thanked me courteously, and said he
+would return in the evening, when, perhaps, I would be more at leisure.
+I had cut short this interview, paying, indeed, little heed to the
+stranger, for I had noticed that my friend, the munshi, not knowing of
+my presence in the inn, was in the act of taking his departure. I
+hastened after him.
+
+"The venerable munshi was delighted to see me, and insisted on my
+sharing his evening meal. We moved in the direction of his home, and he
+gave me the chit-chat of the day. Until our repast was finished I did
+not mention the object of my visit. Only after we were comfortably
+seated on the veranda, enjoying the cool night air, did I approach the
+subject, discreetly, as was fitting, by talking on topics quite at
+variance from the one in my mind. But after a time I ventured to ask
+whether many travellers had passed recently. He looked at me shrewdly
+and smiled.
+
+"'At last, my friend, you tell me the reason of your coming here. You
+are in search of some one.'
+
+"'Truly I am,' I replied, 'and it is a matter of life or death to find
+the man I am seeking.'
+
+"Thereupon, without further preamble, I related the story of Baji Lal
+and the missing Sheikh.
+
+"At the end of my narrative Munshi Khyraz--such was my host's name--sat
+silent for a spell. I knew my friend, and allowed him his own time to
+make any comment. Presently he broke from his reflections.
+
+"'About the time you mention,' he began, 'just before the first rains, a
+stranger was brought into this town by some woodcutters. Their story was
+that the wounded man had been attacked by his servant when travelling,
+and left for dead in the jungle.'
+
+"I started, and leaned toward him eagerly.
+
+"'A clue!' I cried. 'A clue! Where is he now?'
+
+"The old sage looked at me with disapproval in his eyes.
+
+"'Excitement and impetuosity of speech are for the young, my friend,' he
+said, gravely. 'They are not becoming in the matured.'
+
+"I lay back again on my cushions, feeling justly censured. The light of
+displeasure dying from his eyes, the munshi proceeded:
+
+"'I had the victim of this outrage carried to my house, and, his wounds
+not proving serious, he was soon well, and able to think of resuming his
+journey. He was very reticent concerning the motive of his servant for
+attempting his life, and foolishly, to my mind, made no effort to trace
+the miscreant. When leaving he said that in all probability he would
+return this way a few weeks later. So, my friend, he may be here any
+day, for it is a good long while since he left.'
+
+"Repressing my eagerness this time, I sat still for a few minutes, then
+said:
+
+"'I think it is certain from what you have told me that the wounded man
+was the one I am now seeking.'
+
+"'Perhaps, perhaps, but only time will decide,' he replied, cautiously.
+'You must wait and see.'
+
+"'Wait! wait!' I cried, impatiently. 'There is no time to wait. I must
+act, and that quickly.'
+
+"The munshi looked at me commiseratingly, but contented himself with a
+shrug of his shoulders.
+
+"Just then a servant approached, and whispered in his master's ear. The
+old man sat up from his half-reclining attitude, and methought for a
+moment that an amused smile crept over his face.
+
+"'Admit him,' he said to the attendant. 'Admit him at once.'
+
+"Then, turning to me with his accustomed gravity, he added in
+explanation: 'A friend of mine has called. He is an interesting man, and
+I want you to know him.'
+
+"I was about to protest that I had not come there to make new
+acquaintances, when the curtain was pushed aside, and none other than
+the stranger who had addressed me at the caravanserai stepped on to the
+veranda. He crossed over to the master of the house, and greeted him
+affectionately. I decided to remain at least a short time, and waited
+quietly until my host should introduce his visitor. This he straightway
+proceeded to do, presenting us to each other with a courteous wave of
+his hand.
+
+"A glow of pleasure suffused the newcomer's face when he recognized me.
+
+"'Fate is indeed kind,' said he. 'I was going to try and find you again
+at the rest house, when, lo and behold! here you are, the guest of my
+good friend, the munshi.'
+
+"'What! Are you already acquainted?' exclaimed our host, visibly
+surprised, despite the philosophy of self-restraint he was so fond of
+preaching.
+
+"It was my turn now to bestow a reproving look.
+
+"'We have met,' I rejoined, with proper dignity, 'but as yet I have not
+the honour of acquaintance.'
+
+"To cover this well-deserved rebuke, the munshi clapped his hands and
+bade the servant who responded to the summons to bring sherbet for our
+refreshment. After the cooling draught, and when we were all comfortably
+settled, the stranger, whose name had not yet been spoken, turned to me
+and said:
+
+"'Now perhaps you will give me the news from Sengali.'
+
+"'It is grievous,' I returned, 'and it is owing to trouble there that I
+am now here.'
+
+"'Indeed. And what may the trouble be? As I told you this afternoon, I
+have friends in the village, and am consequently interested.'
+
+"'Aye, aye, tell him the story you have just told me,' called out the
+munshi.
+
+"Courteously the stranger awaited my response, in his eyes an anxious
+look of inquiry. As I proceeded with my recital his excitement grew
+apace, and he leaned forward in his eagerness to miss not a word. At the
+finish he started to his feet, and, catching hold of my arm, exclaimed:
+
+"'What! You tell me they will burn down their very home?'
+
+"I nodded assent.
+
+"'Then must we start in all haste for Sengali,' he continued, excitedly.
+'To-night, now, or it may be too late.'
+
+"I was moved by this display of fervid sympathy on the part of a
+stranger for my humble friends in their sorry plight. But I could not
+avail myself of his proffered assistance.
+
+"'Pardon me,' I replied, 'but I have first to find Sheikh Ahmed, who has
+been the cause--the innocent cause--of all this grievous anxiety, and
+whose presence is needed to put an end to the false charge of murder.'
+
+"'Don't you know that I am Sheikh Ahmed?' cried the stranger.
+
+"'Yes, yes, he is no other,' laughed our host, the munshi. 'I avoided
+giving the wounded traveller's name a while ago, Chunda Das, as a
+fitting curb to your eagerness, and now, thanks to the Sheikh paying me
+a visit, you have met somewhat quicker than I expected.'
+
+"For full a minute I was speechless. Was it possible that I had so soon
+found my man, or, to put it more correctly, that the man had found me?
+The gods be praised for working on behalf of the helpless and
+oppressed!
+
+"But my meditations were rudely interrupted. The Sheikh had again
+gripped me by the shoulder, and was speaking rapidly:
+
+"'Rouse yourself, friend; rouse yourself. This is no time for
+wonderment.'
+
+"'So you are indeed alive and well, Sheikh Ahmed?' I asked, in
+blundering fashion.
+
+"'You can see for yourself,' he replied, impatiently. 'But I little
+thought I should have been the means of doing to these kind people who
+nursed and nourished me so grievous an injury. But, Allah be praised!
+there is yet time to repair the wrong and make amends. Let us away,
+away, without the delay of another hour.'
+
+"The munshi clapped his hands once more, and the servant was quickly in
+attendance.
+
+"'These friends of mine will take the road,' he said to the man, 'so
+soon as the moon is up. Go you now to the inn, and bid the grooms make
+ready their horses for a long journey. Quick--lose no time!'
+
+"The Sheikh motioned the servant to his side, and added some whispered
+instructions. Then, turning to me, he said:
+
+"'The moon will serve us ere very long.'
+
+"By my silence I had acquiesced in the plan of speedy departure, for
+nothing could better suit my own wishes. But meanwhile there would be an
+interval of patient waiting.
+
+"'Can you account for the strange wailing around the house of Baji Lal?'
+I asked of the Sheikh.
+
+"He hesitated a moment before making answer.
+
+"'To me it is all a mystery,' he said at last. 'Some one, perhaps, is
+playing a trick upon them.'
+
+"'A sorry trick,' I commented bitterly.
+
+"'But their home must certainly be saved,' he added.
+
+"'Not merely their home,' said I. 'Their lives are also in jeopardy.'
+
+"'We must save them! we shall save them!' cried the Sheikh, with
+upraised hand and in a tone of determination that brought great comfort
+to my anxious heart.
+
+"The time soon passed, and, our horses having been brought round from
+the rest house, we took leave of our good host, Munshi Khyraz.
+
+"Just as we turned on to the high road, ten or a dozen mounted troopers
+emerged from the shadow of a tope of trees, and came clattering behind
+us.
+
+"'These are my escort,' explained the Sheikh. 'I have already
+encountered too many dangers on this road to run further risks.'
+
+"I made no comment, but inwardly reflected that once more kind fate was
+working in my favour. Of course, with Sheikh Ahmed alive, there would be
+no need to use force for Baji Lal's rescue. But safeguarded on the way,
+we should be all the quicker in reaching our destination.
+
+"It was toward noon on the fourth day from Punderpur--for there were now
+no inquiries to delay me--that we came in sight of the village of
+Sengali. It was just ten days then since the date of my departure in
+quest of the missing man. So my mind was at ease; according to the
+patel's promise, there remained yet four days of safety for Baji Lal and
+Devaka.
+
+"But all at once fear smote my heart. There was a strange absence of
+people in the fields and on the outskirts of the village. Dreading I
+know not what, I begged of the Sheikh to press forward. Our escort was
+some distance behind us on the road, but, without waiting for the
+troopers, we set our tired horses to their best speed.
+
+"Coming to the pipul tree and the tank, we found this usual place of
+congregation deserted. Now indeed was I thoroughly alarmed, likewise my
+companion, and of one accord, without waiting to visit the constable's
+compound, we turned our horses' heads in the direction of the home of
+Baji Lal.
+
+"And there indeed we found a dense crowd, the hoarse murmur of their
+voices being borne to our ears before we turned the corner. The first
+thing that smote my eyes was a thin column of smoke mounting skyward.
+
+"Sheikh Ahmed too had seen, for he whipped up his horse unmercifully. As
+he flashed past me, I was struck by the ashen grey that had stolen over
+his features. His face was drawn, his nostrils quivered from excitement.
+
+"I could not but admire his eager determination. 'What gratitude! What
+unselfishness!' I thought to myself. 'Here is this man, rich and highly
+placed, ready to endure prolonged fatigues and hardships, to face any
+adventure, and all for the sake of a humble villager and his wife who
+did but nurse him when he was sick. Not often do we find such men, not
+often do we see the rich incommoding themselves for the poor.'
+
+"Emulating his example, I urged my lagging beast to a final effort. In a
+brief minute we were on the outskirts of the crowd, where perforce we
+had to dismount. The Sheikh led the way as, afoot, we passed through the
+throng.
+
+"When we got within clear view of the house, I saw that faggots had been
+placed all around it, and that these were already alight, giving forth
+the smoke we had seen from a distance. I looked about me in dread. Where
+were Baji Lal and Devaka? I questioned a man who was blocking my way. He
+turned round, and, to my joy, I recognized Bimjee, the barber. He gazed
+at me sadly, and, without expressing surprise at seeing me, pointed to
+the flat roof.
+
+"There, beyond the low parapet, tied to a stake, was poor little Devaka.
+Her face was covered by her sari, and whether she were living or dead it
+was impossible to tell.
+
+"'And her husband?' I asked, trembling. 'Not yet dead?'
+
+"'No. But when the sun is at its highest point, which will be in a few
+minutes now, he will be dispatched with a sword and his body flung into
+the fire. See! they are already pouring oil on the faggots, so that the
+haunted house may be quickly consumed. It will soon be all over with our
+poor friends.'
+
+"'Not so, not so,' I cried, 'for Sheikh Ahmed has come back. See, there
+he is, hastening to rescue his humble friends. He has not rested day or
+night since he heard of the disaster that had befallen them.'
+
+"The crowd had parted before the Sheikh, and through the rift I now
+beheld Baji Lal, standing with his hands tied behind him at a little
+distance from his burning home. But to my surprise Sheikh Ahmed darted
+past him.
+
+"'Ah!' exclaimed the barber, noticing my disconcerted look. 'He thinks
+that Devaka is in greater peril, and leaves you to rescue her husband.'
+
+"I looked at the curling smoke, and shuddered. Assuredly there was no
+time to be lost if the woman was to be saved.
+
+"'You are right, Bimjee,' I cried. 'We'll look after Baji Lal. Come
+along.'
+
+"And I gained my friend's side none too soon, for already a sword was
+pointed at his breast. Leaping on the man who held it, I thrust the
+weapon aside.
+
+"The patel, standing by, turned on me with a ferocious look.
+
+"'How dare you hinder justice, Chunda Das?' he demanded. 'This is by
+decree of the panchayet.'
+
+"'Your promise bound the village council as well as yourself,' I
+retorted. 'It is but ten days since I departed on my quest for Sheikh
+Ahmed, and you assured me faithfully that for two weeks at least nothing
+would be done to this man and his wife.'
+
+"'More cattle have died,' he answered, sullenly.
+
+"The crowd were pressing round us, with angry gestures and threatening
+looks, like wild beasts baulked of their prey.
+
+"'Pull his beard,' 'Knock off his turban,' and such like impertinences
+were hurled at me. But, taking no heed of these, I again addressed the
+patel, raising my voice so that all around might hear.
+
+"'You gave me fourteen days to find the stranger whom you say was
+murdered, and ahead of time I have returned and brought him with me. And
+Baji Lal, whom this very minute you were about to murder--aye,
+murder--is an innocent man, and his wife a maligned woman.'
+
+"And such is human nature, that they who a short time before had been so
+keen to see Baji Lal done to death, were now loud in their acclamations
+at his escape.
+
+"But the patel looked at me with lowering brow.
+
+"'Fine words, Chunda Das, but I do not see the Sheikh?'
+
+"The crowd hushed their outburst, and faces again looked serious.
+
+"'Oh, yes,' cried some one. 'Let us see him. Where is Sheikh Ahmed?'
+
+"'Where, indeed, but in the burning house, endeavouring to save your
+other victim?' I made answer, turning round and pointing with uplifted
+arm to Devaka, who now was standing with hands held out beseechingly to
+the throng, her face uncovered, full of entreaty.
+
+"And even as we gazed the flames burst through the roof beneath her
+feet, and the clouds of smoke almost hid her from view.
+
+"There was no sign of Sheikh Ahmed, and I was greatly perturbed. What
+had happened to him? Why did he not appear on the roof? From their
+countenances I could see that the spectators were still unconvinced of
+the presence of the man.
+
+"Baji Lal up to this time had remained passive, his head bowed as if in
+helpless acknowledgement of the power of destiny. But at my call he cast
+his eyes upward with the others, and, beholding the form of his wife
+through the eddying smoke wreaths, he broke out in loud and passionate
+appeal.
+
+"'Chunda Das, friends, neighbours, do not let her burn. She is innocent
+of any crime. Do not let her perish. Chunda Das, cut my bonds, that I
+may save her or die with her.'
+
+"I was about to sever the thongs that confined his wrists and ankles,
+when the patel laid a detaining hand on my shoulder.
+
+"'Not so fast, not so fast, if you please. We have not yet seen Sheikh
+Ahmed, and Baji Lal is still condemned to die.'
+
+"I flashed an indignant look at the relentless man, but a cry of 'There
+he is, there he is,' broke from the mob. And, sure enough, through the
+clouds of smoke, could be seen the figure of the rescuer, crouching low
+as he cautiously crept along the roof, with a hand on the parapet to
+guide his movements. With bated breath we watched as he neared the
+fainting woman, and then, rising to his full height, tore at the rope
+which bound her to the stake.
+
+"At last he had released her, and gathered her senseless form in his
+arms. But a billow of black smoke blotted out the grim scene. A moment
+of tense silence and sickening uncertainty. Then a great shout from the
+throng, a shout of pent-up joy and relief, when the hero with his burden
+came staggering out through the flame-framed doorway of the building.
+
+"I rushed forward with the rest, and received Devaka in my arms. She had
+swooned. I gazed at her rescuer in admiration, his face blackened, his
+hair singed, his clothes torn. But could I believe my eyes? The brave
+man who had sunk to the ground in a heap was not Sheikh Ahmed, but
+Bimjee, the village barber!
+
+"Hastily consigning Devaka to the care of women standing by, I hurried
+forward.
+
+"'Sheikh Ahmed is in that house,' I cried, 'probably overpowered by the
+smoke. We must save him. Who will come with me?'
+
+"All remained silent. Then some one called out:
+
+"'It is no use, Chunda Das. It is impossible, the walls are falling.'
+
+"But at that very instant the Sheikh appeared through the clouds of
+smoke rolling from the doorway. He tottered forward, bearing in his arms
+a large bundle wrapped in a cotton quilt. Outstretched hands caught him
+as he fell, and carried him away from the burning ruins, for the walls
+had now indeed collapsed.
+
+"Neighbours vied with each other in offers of help. Baji Lal and Devaka
+were taken to one house. Sheikh Ahmed and myself went to another. The
+barber had recovered, and had quietly departed for his own home.
+
+"Next day I sent round word that all the villagers were to come to the
+usual place of public gathering, the widespread pipul tree. No second
+bidding was required; the open space was soon crowded, right to the edge
+of the tank and to the wall of the temple.
+
+"When all were assembled, with Sheikh Ahmed, Baji Lal and Devaka, also
+Bimjee the barber, standing by me, I faced the throng.
+
+"'Good people,' I said, 'our worthy friends, Baji Lal and his wife, have
+been publicly disgraced. They are now to be publicly reinstated as
+honoured members of the community. Sheikh Ahmed will explain the sobbing
+and wailing that used to distress them just as much as it mystified you
+all, and eventually caused suspicion of an abominable crime. Listen to
+the story Sheikh Ahmed has to tell.'
+
+"As I stepped back a pace, the Sheikh came forward. His handsome
+countenance beamed goodwill to all, and a murmur of friendly greeting
+bore testimony to his popularity. In soft, melodious voice, he addressed
+the eagerly expectant crowd.
+
+"'I am indeed heartily grieved that through any fault of mine my kind
+host and his wife Devaka should have suffered so severely. I may now
+inform you that when I tarried in your midst some time ago, I was on my
+way to the court of Akbar on an important mission. I was, as you know,
+accompanied by a servant. I had in my possession a most valuable harp,
+encrusted with diamonds, rubies, and other precious stones. It had
+formerly belonged to the Maharanee of Kholtan, and had been looted from
+her palace during the last war. Our Emperor, the Padishah, had long been
+desirous of possessing it, for the fame of the instrument, its beauty
+and value, was widespread. By a fortunate chance I became acquainted
+with the man who was hiding it in the city of Poona. I promised, in the
+name of my lord and master, the mighty Akbar, a lac of rupees, and
+undertook to carry the instrument safely to the Emperor at
+Fathpur-Sikri. On account of its extreme value we decided to conceal it
+in a rough packing, and, with a view to avoid attracting attention, that
+I should be attended on the road by no more than one body servant, a man
+who had been long in my employment and in whom I placed implicit
+confidence.
+
+"'Well, all went right until, just as we neared this village I fell
+sick--as I now believe, through the agency of my faithless attendant,
+who would have poisoned me so that he might possess himself of the
+precious harp. Fortunately I was succoured by our good friend, Baji Lal,
+and nursed back to health by him and his devoted wife Devaka. I had sent
+my servant on to Punderpur, there to await a summons when I again felt
+well enough to travel. But one night he returned of his own accord,
+bringing the news that the Padishah himself was approaching Punderpur,
+and now would be the time for me to complete my mission.
+
+"'But there was something in the fellow's manner that awakened my
+distrust. At this time my suspicions were but vague, yet sufficient to
+prompt me to caution. Without discovering my inmost thoughts, I
+acquiesced in his proposal, and, disregarding the entreaties of my kind
+hosts, prepared to take the road without an hour's delay.
+
+"'But first I had to dispose of the bejewelled harp in a place of
+safety, for I had made up my mind not to carry it any longer with me. At
+Punderpur it would be possible to get an escort of Akbar's cavalry, and
+then I could return with them for the treasure. So meanwhile I had to
+find some sure hiding-place, this in preference to burdening anyone here
+with my secret.
+
+"'The walls of my room in Baji Lal's house were covered with a thick
+tent-cloth. While my servant was feeding the horses, I loosened one edge
+of this, and to my joy found the space between the inner and the outer
+covering sufficient to take the harp. I stripped off the bulky wrappings
+in which the harp had been carried up to this time, leaving only a
+swathing of fine silk. Then I carefully bestowed the instrument in its
+place of hiding, tying it securely to a beam high up toward the ceiling,
+and finally I restored the tent-cloth wall exactly as I had found it.
+Thereafter I stuffed a few billets of wood into the empty casing of the
+harp, and when my servant returned I bade him carry forth the package,
+and secure it across my saddle-bow, just as I had been wont to travel
+heretofore. Even though it was yet dark, we rode forth on our way.
+
+"'Next day I noticed that my servant kept watching me in a furtive
+manner, and I congratulated myself on the precaution I had taken, and
+inwardly resolved to be more than ever on my guard not to be caught
+unawares. But, alas! I was still weak, and exhausted nature overcame
+vigilance, so that one night I slept soundly. I remember nothing of what
+took place. But when I came to myself some woodcutters were bathing my
+head. They said I had been beaten and wounded, and had bled profusely. I
+tried to stand up, but was seized with a great faintness, and would have
+fallen had not my succourers steadied me. With tender care I was carried
+to Punderpur, happily not far distant, where I was yet once again kindly
+bidden to the home of strangers.
+
+"'A munshi named Khyraz was the name of my new benefactor. He was most
+wishful that I should hunt down my faithless servant, who, I need not
+say, after leaving me for dead, had disappeared with my horse and the
+package which was supposed to contain the precious harp. However, as I
+had still the instrument in safe keeping, and as I did not want the
+story of its being in my possession to get noised abroad, for this would
+have robbed me of the pleasure of surprising our King of Kings with the
+production of the coveted prize, I let the rascal go, for the time being
+at all events. But his day will come, the son of a pig who betrayed the
+master whose salt he had eaten for years. May the tombs of his
+ancestors be defiled!
+
+"'Of course the news that had brought me to Punderpur was false. So far
+from Akbar being in the vicinity, I now learned that he had gone on a
+journey to Gwalior, and would not be back to Fathpur-Sikri for several
+months. Therefore, I took the opportunity of paying a business visit to
+Benares, resting content in my mind that the harp could be in no safer
+place than in its snug hiding at the home of Baji Lal, where no robbers
+would ever dream of prying.
+
+"'However, I was just on the eve of retracing my steps to this village
+when Chunda Das came to Punderpur in quest of me. We met at the house of
+Munshi Khyraz, and there I learned of the disaster to my friends here,
+and the terrible doom that was contemplated for them. Imagine my dismay,
+too, when I discovered that their house was to be burned. My beautiful
+harp! It would be destroyed! So we hurried back, sparing neither
+ourselves nor our beasts.
+
+"'When I saw the tongues of flame actually curling about the home of
+Baji Lal, I became oblivious of aught else save the rescue of the
+priceless harp from destruction. Through the blinding smoke I groped my
+way to my old sleeping room. I nearly succumbed three or four times
+before I managed to tear down the tent-cloth. Then, by the flicker of
+the flames I could see the harp reposing in its hiding place in all its
+gleaming beauty. I had no time to feel surprised that its silken
+covering had been blown aside, and indeed was at that very moment
+fluttering in a current of air.
+
+"'Just as my hand reached forth to seize the precious instrument, I was
+startled by a subdued plaintive cry. For an instant I paused and
+wondered. Then I discovered that the wind was blowing through a crevice
+in the wall just behind the harp, and that it was the breeze rushing
+through the opening that was causing the strings to vibrate and give
+forth their weird complaining.
+
+"'And this, good people, is the explanation of the unrestful spirit.
+When the wind blew strong, the cries were loud and insistent; when the
+blast came gently, the sobbing was low and wailing.
+
+"'I am distressed that so simple a thing could have caused such trouble.
+But in reparation I will undertake to build for Baji Lal and his wife a
+new home. I hereby give to their good friend, Chunda Das, an undertaking
+to that effect'--he passed a paper to me as he spoke--'whereby I make
+myself liable for all moneys expended. And to Devaka I give this chain,
+which I hope she will always wear in remembrance of her good deed in
+nursing Sheikh Ahmed back to health.'
+
+"And, throwing a long gold chain around the neck of Devaka, the Sheikh
+bowed to the company, and, with salaams of farewell, passed through the
+throng, toward his escort waiting for him all ready mounted at a little
+distance. Soon there was the clatter of hoofs, and they were riding away
+across the plain. I had noticed that at Sheikh Ahmed's saddle-bow was a
+bulky package, undoubtedly the precious harp in its wrappings.
+
+"That was all there was to be said, and after a while the crowd began to
+disperse. On every hand there was loud acclaim for the Sheikh and his
+noble generosity, and Devaka's gold chain, which she now held timidly in
+her hand, was the object of many admiring glances, and drew for her
+general words of congratulation.
+
+"At last all had gone their several ways, leaving Baji Lal and his wife,
+Bimjee and myself, alone beneath the pipul tree. A first look into each
+other's eyes showed that we were all of the same mind. In their
+excitement of the moment the unthinking throng had approved; but for us
+there was nothing but bitter disappointment.
+
+"It was Baji Lal who first voiced his feelings.
+
+"'Chunda Das,' he said slowly, 'Sheikh Ahmed has promised to recompense
+me for my losses; he has given a costly present to my wife. We want
+neither his gifts nor his promises. They are as dust to us. The little
+we did for him was not done for gold. Yet we took him into our home, and
+fought death for him, and won. He left a valuable treasure under our
+roof without consulting or trusting us. When this act of his brought
+disaster on our heads, it was no thought for Devaka or for me that
+brought him back in hot haste. It was the possible loss of the harp that
+occupied all his thoughts. When he came upon the scene, he saw me tied
+and ready for the word to die. On the roof he saw my wife with the
+flames already leaping to devour her. Yet not one finger did he put
+forth to save either her or me. He just rushed into the smoke-filled
+house, that he might secure the harp--an instrument of great price, let
+it be. But you, my dear friend, had ridden night and day to find the man
+whom our neighbours thought we had murdered. Our faithful friend
+Bimjee'--Baji Lal stretched out his hand to the barber--'defied fire and
+smoke to rescue a defenceless woman from an atrocious death. Neither of
+you had anything to gain by these deeds of bravery and self-sacrifice.
+You did them for pure love of us. What do we want with that selfish
+man's gifts? Chunda Das, give me the paper which binds him to his
+promise to restore my home, that I may tear it into fragments and
+scatter it to the winds. Devaka, my wife,'--and his voice fell to a tone
+of great gentleness--'hand the necklet to Chunda Das, that he may
+restore it to the giver.'
+
+"Devaka, who, as I have said, had already removed the chain of gold from
+her neck, looked at it perhaps a little lingeringly, let it slip through
+her fingers caressingly, then with a sigh placed it in my hands and
+turned away. But her sigh, I knew, was less for the surrender of the
+gift than for the unworthiness that had prompted its bestowal.
+
+"Her husband contemplated her compassionately. 'You have not many
+trinkets, little wife,' he said, 'but this one would not remind us so
+much of good deeds done as of base ingratitude. I have no home to take
+you to at present, but Bimjee wants us to stay with him until I can
+build you another.'
+
+"He stretched forth his hand to Devaka, and, leading her away, departed.
+Bimjee, after a salute to me, followed his bidden guests at a little
+distance. For myself, I remained awhile to ponder all these happenings.
+
+"To say that I was disappointed in Sheikh Ahmed would not adequately
+express my feelings. From the first I had been attracted to the man, by
+his handsome figure, distinguished bearing, and pleasant smile. During
+our intimacy of four days on the road I had admired the brilliancy of
+his conversation, and had taken great delight in his entertaining
+recitals of adventure in many far lands. From one like him I had
+certainly never expected this display of callous selfishness. But such
+is life. We have to keep ourselves prepared for many disillusionments.
+And, as I remarked at the outset of my narrative, an experience of this
+kind teaches that, if in judging our fellow men we are to be chary of
+condemnation, it behoves us also to be discreet in commendation."
+
+And so ended the Bombay trader's story.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After an interval of silence, the voice of the Rajput chief spoke up:
+
+"What became of Baji Lal and Devaka?"
+
+"Oh," replied the merchant, "from that day their happiness returned and
+continued. For the villagers were ashamed to have doubted them, so all
+contributed to the building and furnishing of their home, and would take
+no denial. Good fortune seemed to settle on their roof-tree. Little
+Devaka is now the mother of a fine boy, and she wears a chain of gold
+around her neck, one given to her by the women of the village when they
+heard that she had scorned the proffered gift of Sheikh Ahmed, and
+understood the reason why."
+
+"And the Sheikh and his wonderful harp?" questioned the Afghan soldier.
+"Did the costly toy reach its destination?"
+
+"The harp is in the treasury of our Sovereign Akbar. Sheikh Ahmed
+started back for Poona with the lac of rupees he had promised in the
+name of the Padishah and half a lac more for his own recompense. But he
+and his company were attacked by a swarm of Mahrattas, and perished to a
+man."
+
+"And the treacherous servant?"
+
+"About him I know nothing. My tale is told."
+
+
+
+
+V. THE BLUE DIAMONDS
+
+TOLD BY THE FAKIR
+
+
+"You have certainly improved on the moral of my story," said the
+astrologer, addressing the merchant, silent now after the telling of his
+tale. "If it is for God alone to pronounce the censure on mankind, then
+assuredly it is for God also to award the praise. As the story of Sheikh
+Ahmed and his jewelled harp well shows, deeds may be done openly by the
+hand, but the motives for their doing lie secretly in the heart. And the
+heart is the innermost temple where none but the high priest, the
+individual soul, holds communion with his God, the supreme Deity of the
+universe."
+
+"So that a man's life is an unsolvable riddle to all but himself,"
+concurred the hakeem.
+
+"And not to be solved even by himself," remarked the Afghan with a
+laugh, half of bitterness, half of bravado. "We may know in our secret
+heart the motive that prompts to a deed, but we cannot tell the
+consequences of that deed as affecting even ourselves who wrought it.
+Take this very story of the Sheikh; when recovering his precious harp he
+was but digging his own grave. So with all of us; we imagine we are
+marching bravely to accomplish some preconceived plan, when all the time
+we are merely groping with blinded eyes along the path of destiny,
+avoiding the mud holes, it may be, but failing to see the tiger,
+crouched for his spring, a few paces further along."
+
+"Shabash!" cried the fakir, in a shrill tone of approval that drew all
+eyes to the lean and naked and ash-besprinkled figure seated at the foot
+of the veranda steps. "Shabash! shabash!" he cried, again and yet again.
+
+"And your story?" asked the Rajput, with a nod of inquiry and
+encouragement.
+
+"Is one that shows how a man may keep on running all his life yet never
+reach the goal he has in sight," replied the ascetic. And with the
+sturdy independence of his calling he beat a peremptory tattoo with
+finger-tips on wooden begging-bowl to command attention to his tale.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Behold in me a man who possesses nothing in this world excepting a
+begging-bowl and a loin cloth. Yet was I at one time the owner of lands
+and of cattle, of a home bountifully stored for comfort and for
+sustenance, of wives who wore rich jewels, necklets of pearls, armlets
+of gold, and bangles of silver, with maid-servants to minister to their
+needs and children to play around them. All gone! by my own doing, or
+undoing, call it which you will.
+
+"And know, too, that in those days I also was a soldier"--this with a
+defiant glance first at the Rajput chief and then at the Afghan general.
+"At my side rattled the steel scabbard, and in my belt was the sharp
+poinard, swift messenger of death when it came to hand-to-hand fighting,
+and the horse I rode had its rich trappings of gold and silver. It may
+all seem strange, to hear me tell those things of the long ago and to
+look upon me now"--and the speaker stretched forth his skinny, twisted
+fingers and attenuated arms, and for a moment ruefully contemplated
+them.
+
+"But I speak the truth," he went on, "for to-night, prompted by the
+stories to which I have listened and the thoughts they have engendered,
+will I unseal my lips after fifty long years of wandering alone, giving
+no man my confidence, seeking no man's confidence, intent only on the
+attainment of the one desire deeply seated in my heart, and which, in my
+eager striving to achieve, seems to be ever more remote from
+accomplishment. To-night will I reveal the story of my life, so that,
+perchance, the lesson it teaches will show still more clearly the
+impotence of man to constitute himself the avenger of wrongs. For if
+judgment belongs to Allah, so does vengeance. And the choice of
+instrument, of time and place, of the very manner of the deed--all this
+belongs to God alone, as this night, listening to the stories that have
+gone before, have I for the first time come fully to comprehend."
+
+The fakir paused to gaze around his audience. The look of interest and
+expectancy on each face showed the impression his impulsive flow of
+language had made. No interrupting word was spoken, but every eye
+remained fastened on the lean, keen face peering over long slender
+shanks and hand-clasped knees. The narrator continued:
+
+"In those days I had twenty retainers at my call, and these men I
+commanded when I rode forth to service with a certain Nawab, from whom I
+held my lands for the feudal service I thus performed. It was my fate to
+take part in many a fight and in many a foray, and to send many a man to
+his doom. But God had ordained it so; the fault was not mine.
+
+"Well, it befell that a certain city was given over to sack and carnage,
+for the word had gone forth that the only way to break the power of its
+Hindu occupants was to demolish their temples, destroy their idols, and
+thereby show the impotence of their false gods to protect them."
+
+The Rajput drew himself up proudly, and a flush of resentment stole over
+his face. But the Moslem fanatic, unconscious now of anything but his
+reminiscences of the past, went on unheeding and unabashed:
+
+"It was toward the hour of sunset when a body of our soldiery broke into
+a temple devoted to the worship of Siva the Destroyer. We had battered
+in the heavy wooden doors that protected the inner court, and within the
+threshold a score or more of priests fell to our swords, and a dozen
+dancing girls as well, attendants on the idols--self-slain these women,
+for when they saw that there was no quarter for the men they rushed on
+us like female panthers and flung themselves on our dripping blades."
+
+The Hindu listeners were visibly disturbed and affected by this cold
+recital of bloody deeds. The hands of the Rajput clenched and unclenched
+themselves nervously, and the merchant gave a deep, guttural groan of
+horror as he flung the end of his robe over his face as if to shut out a
+vision of sacrilege and shame.
+
+"It was written in the beginning, nay before creation it was written,"
+murmured the Moslem astrologer, quoting, in courteous sympathy, the
+familiar formula of his faith. "And as your priests themselves say," he
+added, addressing himself more particularly to the Rajput, "'The destiny
+of each man is irrevocably inscribed on his forehead by the hand of
+Brahma himself.'"
+
+The Rajput bowed his head in acquiescent silence, and as the fakir
+proceeded with his story the trader also regained his composure and
+withdrew the covering from his face.
+
+"When the shadows of night fell, the temple made a bonfire that
+illuminated the scenes of pillage going on all around. The big idols of
+loathly aspect had been thrown down, broken to pieces, and despoiled of
+their jewels and the heavy plates of gold that encumbered them. Our
+soldiers had swarmed out of the building, past a tank to the houses of
+some priests beyond. Not one single custodian of the temple survived,
+and I stood alone in the outer courtyard, watching in idle fashion the
+tongues of flame licking the beams and rafters and paint-bedaubed walls
+of the wrecked edifice.
+
+"Then did my eyes chance to light on a small idol in the passage-way
+between the two courtyards of the temple, set in a deep niche, on which
+account it had escaped the notice of the despoilers. It was the familiar
+elephant-headed idol of the Hindus, Ganapati, as I knew they called him,
+their god of wisdom and the remover of obstacles according to their
+creed.
+
+"Even as I looked, methought that the eyes of the idol twinkled
+knowingly and entreatingly at me. After a moment I saw that this fancy
+was but due to the play of the flames on jewels, comprehending which, I
+said to myself that the little fat man might perchance be of some
+considerable value. So I plucked him from his resting-place, not without
+difficulty, for the base of the idol was fastened by iron clamps to the
+altar, and only just in time before a surge of fire and smoke swept
+through the vestibule. Then, without more ado, I carried forth this
+Ganapati, wrapped in a cotton cloth I had gathered from one of the slain
+priests, and tied it to the saddle-bow of my horse, which had been
+standing tethered under a tree close at hand.
+
+"Thus did it come about that, a full month later, I was seated in my
+home, in a secret inner chamber that served me as a treasury, and to
+which the only access was through the women's quarters. And before me on
+a stool rested the cross-legged figure of the four-armed and
+elephant-headed god, fat, complacent, smiling, to all appearance
+recovered from the fatigues of a journey of near a hundred leagues and
+thoroughly contented amidst his new surroundings. The idol was of
+bronze, and the eyes, which at times gave it such life-like semblance,
+were clusters of rubies set around with white sapphires.
+
+"And it followed that, day after day, after the siesta hour, I found
+myself in the company of this accursed idol--for accursed it came to be,
+bringing me misfortunes and ruin, as my story will unfold. No doubt it
+was by my own doing that the wrath of Allah was brought down upon my
+head. For had not I, a follower of the Prophet, and therefore a despiser
+of graven images in every shape or form, come to treat this monstrous
+and misshapen creature, half man, half beast, as a sort of familiar,
+even greeting him on my entry with the words with which I might have
+saluted a living unbeliever, 'May your days be peaceful,' spoken in
+goodnatured jest, of course, and without one thought at the time of the
+sacrilege of which I was guilty? Yea, I would pat the fat little fellow
+on the head, and, when the humour seized me, would show him my hoard of
+gold mohurs, even jingle before him a bag of silver rupees, or ask his
+opinion on the colour and quality of some gem, speaking words of
+foolishness the while, like a child playing with a toy. And when I lay
+back on my cushions, sometimes I fancied that the little jewelled eyes
+in the elephant head of bronze twinkled at me in merry and friendly
+understanding. All which things I have since remembered with bitter
+shame.
+
+"But it happened one day that I was in angry mood--some contrary thing
+among the women of my household had vexed me. And when I sat brooding
+over my trouble, it seemed that the eyes of the Ganapati laughed at me
+in mockery. And, angry now at the idol himself, I arose and pressed the
+balls of my thumbs on the two scintillating clusters of jewels, as it
+were to shut out the gleam of their impertinence, even ready, in my
+insane access of wrath, to force them from their sockets as I might have
+done with the eyeballs of a slave who had offended me.
+
+"But in a moment all passion faded from my heart. For an extraordinary
+thing happened.
+
+"As I pressed with my thumbs, the clicking sound of moving wheels smote
+my ear, and the elephant head began slowly to raise itself and revolve
+backward on some concealed pivot, forming a gaping opening right across
+the body of the Ganapati. And, as the opening gradually widened, by some
+devilish contrivance the hammer of a gong concealed within the idol was
+set in motion, and there resulted a loud continuous clanging din that
+could have been heard at a far distance. Instinctively I thrust my
+fingers in my ears to shut out the infernal noise. But after a time the
+clangor ceased, and now I observed that the elephant head had moved
+completely back on its hinges, and lay at rest, its single tusk raised
+aloft. Within the body of the Ganapati a cavity was revealed.
+
+"But before I could explore this, I was distracted by the frightened
+outcries of my womenfolk, and I sallied forth to pacify them, and give
+assurance that the bell need cause no alarm, it being one I had
+purchased in the bazaars with the intent some day to use it as a
+protection against thieves--its obvious utility, as I guessed even now.
+When all was again at peace I returned to the secret chamber. Everything
+was as I had left it a few minutes previously.
+
+"In the hollow body of the bronze idol there lay disclosed to view a
+small casket of rock crystal, round and polished, and provided with a
+cap of gold. For me to snatch this casket from its hiding-place was the
+work of an instant. Straightway I removed the golden lid, and there, in
+the smooth, transparent nest of crystal, lay a little heap of gems that
+flashed and gleamed like living fire.
+
+"Recovering from my first emotions of astonishment and delight, I poured
+forth the treasure into the hollow of my hand, and found it to be a
+necklace of diamonds, as I could tell from the dazzling sparkle of the
+stones despite their uncommon colour, which was blue, like the vault of
+the sky or the eyes of the fair-skinned women of Circassia. Each stone
+was cut with many facets, and all were strung together by a delicate
+chain of gold, a solitary large stone in the centre, then smaller ones
+on either side, each succeeding pair carefully matched as to size, and
+constantly diminishing till the last were no bigger than grains of
+millet. All the diamonds were of dazzling lustre and of the one uniform
+tint, the blue that is so rare, and, as I gazed upon my treasure trove,
+well could I believe that not such another necklace existed in any part
+of the world, not even in the jewel caskets of the Great Padishah
+himself, nor of the Kings of China or of Persia, nor of the Princes of
+the Franks, who are reputed to have untold stores of diamonds, rubies,
+topazes, and amethysts.
+
+"For a time I was stricken dumb and motionless, from very fear of the
+great wealth that reposed in my hollowed palm. Then did I replace the
+necklace in its casket, and the casket in its receptacle within the body
+of the bronze god, and, grasping the tusk, I drew forward once again the
+elephant head, which, at my gentle pressure, rose easily on its pivot,
+winding again the clicking wheels as it moved, and finally closing at
+its accustomed place with a sharp snap but without any further sounding
+of the gong, at which I was well pleased.
+
+"Overcome with varied emotions, I sank down on the carpet, and, gazing
+up at the idol, beheld the jewelled eyes once more twinkling at me,
+merrily and mockingly.
+
+"After an interval I withdrew from the chamber, securing the padlock on
+the outside, and slipping back the artfully concealed panel that hid the
+secret doorway from prying intruders. The corridor without led to the
+women's quarters, through which I passed, vouchsafing word to no one. It
+was only when I had gained the outer courtyard that I drew my breath
+freely, and recovered my wonted tranquillity of mind and mien.
+
+"Several days passed before I ventured again to visit the Ganapati, and
+this at last I did in the full belief that the whole affair had been
+naught but an idle dream. But when I pressed again on the eyes of the
+elephant head, there came once more the clicking of wheels, followed by
+the clangor of the gong. This I succeeded in muffling somewhat by
+throwing a thick cotton quilt, which I had brought for the purpose, over
+the figure of the god.
+
+"A minute later I held the necklace of flashing blue diamonds in my
+trembling hand. I lingered just long enough to satisfy myself of the
+reality of the jewels, of their flawless quality and their matchless
+lustre. Then, replacing everything as before, I left the chamber with
+the usual precautions, and gained the divan in the vestibule of the
+outer courtyard, where I was accustomed to sit and receive my friends.
+There I meditated for several hours, and at last had formed a definite
+plan.
+
+"Well I knew that to disclose the treasure would mean its instant
+surrender to the Nawab, most probably my own doing to death, so that the
+new owner of the gems might feel more secure in their possession. To
+realize the value of those blue diamonds they must be sold one by one,
+or, at most, in separate pairs, and this with infinite care, so as not
+to arouse suspicion among the banians who are the traders in precious
+stones, and are ever on the outlook to screw the last copper paisa out
+of the seller unlawfully trafficking in them. And first of all it would
+be necessary for me to gain some true idea as to the value of brilliants
+of so rare a hue.
+
+"Three days later I rode into the city of Lahore, and, after seeing to
+the wants of my horse, repaired to the bazaar of the Hindu shroffs and
+banians. All my actions having been carefully thought out and decided
+upon beforehand, I approached with a bold swagger the shop of a
+reputable-looking banian, and, in the usual manner of business, took my
+seat cross-legged before him. Two other merchants were seated near by,
+but to them I gave no heed.
+
+"After some desultory conversation with the owner of the shop, I
+unloosed my waistband, and drew therefrom a tiny piece of silk stuff, in
+whose folds were wrapped two of the smallest of the blue diamonds, a
+pair, which I had carefully detached from the necklace before setting
+forth on my journey. These I placed in the banian's hand, and I waited,
+with all proper patience, while he carefully examined them. His face
+gave no sign as at last he laid the gems on the lap of his robe. With
+this I extended my right hand, and thrust it into his right hand,
+covering both with the loosened end of my waistband, so that he could
+tell me the price he was willing to pay by the secret pressure on my
+fingers that would reveal to me the value he had set on the stones
+without disclosing it to the rival traders seated at our side.
+
+"But to my surprise his hand remained absolutely impassive, giving no
+response to my movement of inquiry. Then, looking again into the
+banian's eyes, I detected there a strange menacing look that greatly
+perturbed me. As his fingers were still limp over mine, signifying
+unmistakably that there was no willingness to buy, I hastened to
+withdraw my hand, and, retying my little package, restored it to its
+place of security. After I had adjusted my waistband, again we spoke
+some tittle-tattle of the hour before I arose and, with a courteous
+salaam, took my departure.
+
+"Glancing back from a short distance, I saw the three banians in close
+colloquy and eagerly gesticulating. Thoroughly alarmed now, and feeling
+sure that they had recognized the blue diamonds as the spoil of one of
+their temples, I made all speed to regain the caravanserai where my
+horse had been bestowed, and, offering no explanation of my hurried
+departure, immediately rode from the city. Gaining the open country, I
+gave rein to my horse, although I took the precaution of making a detour
+before I finally struck out in the direction of my home.
+
+"Before nightfall of the succeeding day I had regained my house, and had
+replaced the detached stones on the necklace by the little golden hooks
+that formed their fastenings. With all speed I quitted the presence of
+the Ganapati, vowing that I would make no more attempt for the present
+to dispose of the treasure hidden in his entrails.
+
+"A full month had elapsed, and I had ceased to give my exclusive
+thoughts to the necklace of blue diamonds; for the harvest time was
+approaching, and I had to make arrangements for the garnering of my
+crops. My house was in the open country, half a league or so from the
+nearest village. It was the evening hour, and I was seated in the
+vestibule of the outer courtyard, having just dismissed the head reaper
+with whom I had come to terms for the services of himself and his
+fellows in the fields of grain.
+
+"Glancing along the road I descried what I took to be a band of
+travelling yogis, in rags, unkempt, some hobbling on crutches. But as I
+was accustomed to treat with contempt such Hindu beggars, I gave no
+special heed to their approach.
+
+"All of a sudden, however, when within less than a bow shot of the
+house, the pretended yogis raised a loud and terrifying yell, and rushed
+toward me, brandishing staves and daggers. Then did I realize that I was
+in the presence of a gang of armed dacoits. Before I could summon help,
+I was mercilessly beaten over the head with bludgeons; after which I was
+bound hand and foot, and thrown face downward on the divan on which I
+had been seated. I could hear the sound of a scuffle in the courtyard,
+and the dying scream of the eunuch who guarded the entrance to the
+women's apartments, rising high above the frightened cries of my two
+wives and the children and of the female slaves who attended them. Then,
+because of the grievous blows that had assailed me, as well as the agony
+of my mind, consciousness fled, and I lay like one dead unto the world.
+
+"It must have been hours before I was awakened from this stupor, for the
+moon was riding high in the heavens. Over me was bending the demoniac
+face of a Hindu priest, a worshipper of Siva as I knew from the caste
+marks on his forehead.
+
+"'Where is the Ganapati?' he hissed in my ear. 'It is that which we
+want. We will spare your life if you surrender the stolen god and the
+blue diamonds.'
+
+"Instantly great joy surged through my heart, for I knew that, whatever
+other evil fortune had befallen, my secret treasure chamber had not been
+discovered. And with this joy came the determination that I would rather
+die than surrender the necklace of blue diamonds, or allow the mocking
+elephant-headed god to be returned to his place of honour before a crowd
+of idolatrous worshippers.
+
+"I shall not recount the details of that terrible night. I need but say
+that I was tortured in a dozen different ways--the soles of my feet were
+burned with hot embers, the flesh of my thighs was pierced with daggers,
+I was beaten all over with clubs, and when I lost my senses for a spell
+I was revived by chatties of cold water being dashed on my face. But I
+never spoke a word. The very spirit of Shaitan had entered into my soul;
+if they were devils, then was I the prince of devils in my resolve to
+defy them.
+
+"I was but faintly conscious of my surroundings, when I heard a
+whispered colloquy among the priests disguised as robbers.
+
+"'We must not kill him,' I heard one voice say. 'Only if he lives shall
+we recover the Ganapati.'
+
+"Then also I heard some faint cries from afar off, from the village,
+showing that the dacoits were discovered, and that courage was being
+mustered for some attempt to drive them away.
+
+"After a moment the same priest who had addressed me before bent his
+face once again over mine.
+
+"'Listen, you Moslem son of a pig,' he hissed in my ear. 'Three more
+warnings will be given to you, and if these do not succeed in making you
+restore the Ganapati and the jewels then assuredly will you die. You
+know whence you stole it. Take back the idol to Ferishtapur, or go to
+the nethermost hell to which you belong.'
+
+"With that he slapped my face again and again, with a slipper taken from
+his foot, and, writhing in my bonds, I was powerless to revenge, even at
+the cost of my life, this crowning and abominable insult.
+
+"I must have swooned once more, for dawn was breaking when the craven
+villagers, satisfied that the robbers and murderers had departed, at
+last arrived upon the scene, and, loosening the thongs that bound me,
+re-awakened me to consciousness of my pitiful plight.
+
+"My womenfolk and my three children were uninjured. I found them,
+cowering and terrified, in an inner chamber. But the infidels had
+searched every room in their quarters, scattering the contents of chests
+on the floors. And at sight of this vile desecration the iron of revenge
+even then entered into my soul.
+
+"The eunuch lay dead in the vestibule leading to the harem. My other
+servants, who had happened to be outside the house at the time of the
+assault, had fled, and in the shame of their desertion never again dared
+to show their faces in my presence. The kotwal of the district made an
+investigation, but I held my own counsel, and spoke not one word about
+the Ganapati or the blue diamonds. So the outrage was set down as the
+work of dacoits, and although in point of fact nothing had been stolen I
+felt no call on me to disturb this finding of the magistrate.
+
+"About a week later a new disaster overtook me. In the full light of
+day, when a breeze happened to be blowing, my standing crops were
+burned, and my fields left a blackened wilderness. By whose hand the
+fire-brand had been applied, no man could tell. An accident, or the
+first of the promised warnings?--this I asked myself, and I strove hard
+to believe that it was ill-luck and nothing more.
+
+"Another full week passed, and I began to hope that the threatened
+persecution had indeed been abandoned. Recovered from my wounds and
+bruises, I was able now to be out and about again, endeavouring to
+restore order to my troubled affairs. One afternoon on my home-coming, I
+found the women lamenting with loud outcries over the body of my eldest
+son, a lad of seven years. Unseen by any of the household he had been
+knocked down on the road and crushed under the wheels of a heavy wagon
+that was travelling past.
+
+"That night, when his poor little body was being made ready for burial,
+my elder wife, his mother, led me to the side of the bier. Uncovering
+the child's shoulder, she showed me a strange mark, as if branded upon
+the flesh by a hot iron. In the red, angry lines I had no difficulty in
+tracing the head of a bull, the sacred mark of Siva. I said nothing,
+and indeed commanded my wife to hold her peace.
+
+"I knew now that this cruel calamity was indeed a warning from the
+accursed priesthood, who had not even scrupled to murder an innocent
+child so that they might wreak their vengeance on me or break my will.
+
+"But, if I had been determined before, ten times more now was I resolved
+never to yield. No cowardly surrender could bring me back my child. The
+boy was dead, and what was done could not be undone, for the will of God
+is eternal.
+
+"That very night I visited the Ganapati, and in the frenzy of my bitter
+grief and righteous wrath I swore, with clenched fist shaken before his
+twinkling eyeballs, that I would break him into pieces, throw the blue
+diamonds into a fire of charcoal, and myself die, rather than restore
+him to the infidels who had destroyed my happiness and my home.
+
+"The next blow fell swifter than ever. Only four days had passed when
+the bereaved mother, who had refused to be consoled for the death of her
+only child, was found drowned at the bottom of the well in the harem
+garden. The household was plunged in lamentation over her pitiful act of
+self-destruction, and now I became vaguely conscious that friends and
+neighbours, as well as servants, were looking at me askance, and were
+beginning to shun my presence as if a curse had fallen upon my head.
+
+"It was at the funeral ceremonies of my wife that I was first made
+pointedly to feel that there rested over me the suspicion of some
+terrible crime that had drawn down the special wrath of Allah. Standing
+in isolation, at a time when my sorrowing heart yearned for brotherly
+comfort, I realized that already I was an outcast from among my own
+people, one whom they deemed to be marked by heaven for special
+vengeance, a moral leper, a menace to the community, to be shunned for
+all time by his fellow men.
+
+"And there and then I made up my mind to flee secretly to another
+country, sending later for my surviving wife and children, abandoning
+all my other possessions in the shape of land and cattle and accumulated
+stores, but clinging to the blue diamonds which would yet bring me
+riches out of all proportion to those of which fate was robbing me at
+the present time.
+
+"For the third and final warning had passed, although no one but myself
+had thought of my wife's death otherwise than as a case of
+grief-demented suicide.
+
+"But, as she had lain on her bier, I had looked secretly, and had found
+the brand of the bull on her shoulder blade, just as she had found it on
+that of her murdered boy. Allah alone knows how this last crime was
+wrought--how access to the women's quarters had been gained, and how the
+fatal seal of Siva had been impressed upon her flesh before she had been
+flung into the well.
+
+"To me has this ever remained a mystery of mysteries.
+
+"So the three warnings had been delivered--the burning of my crops, the
+slaying of my child, the drowning of my wife. Unless by the morrow I
+made signs of submission by taking the road to Ferishtapur, there to
+surrender the Ganapati, it would assuredly be upon myself that the sword
+of fate would next descend.
+
+"That very night of the funeral, after securely barricading the outer
+gates of the house, I locked myself in the treasure chamber. Not a
+servant had remained in the home upon which the curse of God had
+descended; even the two women slaves had fled in the dusk of the
+evening, gone, I knew not whither, and now I little cared. My surviving
+wife and children, tiny infants, a girl and a boy, were asleep in an
+inner room; I had glanced at their slumbering forms when passing to the
+corridor that led to the secret doorway.
+
+"I lost no time in beginning my preparations for departure. First of all
+I unlocked my strong box, and drew therefrom a small sack of gold
+mohurs, and another of gold pagodas, also sundry family jewels, armlets
+and necklets of gold, gemmed rings, and other trinkets of price. All
+these I tied tightly in a cotton cloth, forming a package that I could
+conveniently and without undue attention carry at my saddle-bow or in my
+hand. The bags of silver money, likewise the store of silver bangles, I
+would leave behind; they were cumbersome, and moreover they would serve
+to meet the necessities of my wife and children during our period of
+severance.
+
+"Then I turned to the Ganapati, and after swathing him as before in the
+cotton quilt, so as to deaden the sound of the gong, with my hands
+beneath the covering I pressed upon the jewelled eyeballs. I had not
+gazed upon the blue diamonds since the day when I had restored the two
+stones shown to the banian merchant in Lahore. As the wheels now clicked
+and the muffled bell commenced its dulled clangor, the uneasy thought
+came to my mind that perhaps the treasure had in the interval been
+spirited away by some devilish jugglery. But when at last silence fell,
+and I whipped the cloth aside, there reposed the crystal casket, and,
+the lid of gold removed, my eyes fastened with grim satisfaction upon
+the clustered heap of gems, gleaming in the light of my tiny oil lamp
+like drops of rain in a flash of lightning.
+
+"Assured of their safety, I pressed down the cap on the casket, and
+bound the crystal ball securely in my waistband.
+
+"Then I turned round to seize an iron hammer which I had brought with me
+for the deliberate purpose of smashing the accursed idol to pieces,
+partly in revenge, partly to secure the bejewelled eyeballs. But at that
+very moment I became possessed with the notion that I was not alone in
+the room. My heart beat wildly, and I raised aloft the little lamp.
+Nothing but four bare walls, and not even a window through which an
+enemy might be peering!
+
+"I breathed again, and grasped the handle of the hammer. Yet my uneasy
+dread was still with me, for I paused once more, this time to listen.
+Not a sound without, or the whisper of a sound!
+
+"But what was that?--the creak of a timber not louder than if a mouse
+had stirred. And, directed by the faint sound, I saw the wooden bolt
+that fastened the door on the inside heave, just once, as if by the
+pressure of a lever cautiously at work on the other side. The hammer
+slipped to the rug from my unnerved fingers.
+
+"Lamp in hand, I stole to the door, on tiptoe, step by step, afraid to
+awaken the echo of a footfall. I touched the wooden bolt with a finger
+tip; I pressed my ear against the panel. And now, every fibre of my
+being at tension, my senses quickened by the unseen but certain presence
+of danger, I could hear at the other side of the thin boards the eager
+breathing of the fanatic devil of a priest who had come to slay me,
+miserably trapped like a panther in a pit. At this thought the very
+blood froze in my veins. My hand relaxed its hold on the lamp, and in
+its fall the light was extinguished.
+
+"Alone in the dark with the Ganapati, and with the human tiger at the
+other side of the door, I shrieked aloud.
+
+"In prompt answer to my cry of pent-up agony came the sharp sound of
+splintering timber, and before me, revealed by the flare of a torch held
+aloft in one hand, appeared the dread visage of the Hindu priest,
+contorted now by his mingled emotions of hate and triumph. For his eyes
+had lighted on the idol, and it was with a shout of joyful recognition,
+'Ganapati! Ganapati!' that the fanatic flung himself upon me, and
+plunged a dagger into my throat. Then the curtain of black
+forgetfulness descended and covered me with its folds.
+
+"I know not what time elapsed, but I was awakened to the consciousness
+that I was yet alive by a tongue of flame that leaped at my face, and,
+scorching my skin, caused me to stir instinctively in self-preservation.
+Raising my head from the pool of blood in which it had been weltering,
+and moving my stiffened neck with difficulty because of the dagger
+wound, the mark of which I carry to this day"--upraising his chin, the
+fakir laid a finger on a tiny but palpable scar--"I struggled to a
+sitting posture, and looked about in dazed bewilderment. But ere I could
+realize what had happened, again the blistering heat of fire that ran
+along the walls of the room caused me to stagger to my feet. Then as I
+gazed around, through a haze of smoke illumined by fitful, flickering
+gleams of ruddy radiance, all of a sudden came remembrance of the deadly
+assault and comprehension of my present danger.
+
+"One swift sweeping glance showed me that the Ganapati was gone, and
+that my strong box, too, with its silver hoard had disappeared, together
+with the package of gold coin and jewellery. My hands went instantly to
+my waistband; it had been torn open, and the crystal casket that held
+the blue diamonds abstracted.
+
+"So the murderous priest had not only recovered his own, but had robbed
+me of my all!
+
+"There was no time, however, to reflect or to moralize, for the loud
+crackling of fire amid the woodwork warned of my imminent peril.
+Flinging the skirt of my robe across my face, I made one frantic dash
+for safety through the splintered panels of the door, the only exit from
+the room, regardless of the billows of mingled smoke and flame that were
+now rolling along the corridor.
+
+"Half suffocated, almost blinded by the pungent fumes, my flesh seared,
+my garments aflame, I reeled into the courtyard of the women's quarters,
+and threw myself into the fountain splashing in the middle of the marble
+pavement. Then, drawing myself out of the water like a bedraggled rat, I
+crawled on hands and knees to the apartment of my wife.
+
+"God! God! It was to find her and our two little children dead--stabbed
+to the heart on the sleeping mats where they lay."
+
+A sobbing wail burst from the narrator's lips, and he covered his face
+with his hands. After a time he recovered his self-possession, and
+resumed, although still in broken tones and with shoulders heaving from
+emotion.
+
+"I need not dwell on the pitiable story. Gaining the open country, I
+gazed upon the fierce flames now bursting in a dozen places from the
+roof of my doomed home, the funeral pyre of the last ones dear to me on
+earth.
+
+"As I gazed I rent my garments, and raised my voice in loud
+lamentations. Soon all was consumed, and there remained only the dull
+glow of red embers. Then I wandered out into the night, stupefied and
+broken-hearted by the crowning calamity that had overtaken me, afraid
+even to face my neighbours of the village, naked, penniless, and alone.
+
+"Thus did it come about that I, a man of estate, feudatory of a prince,
+within the period of a single moon lost wives and children, slaves and
+retainers, land and crops and cattle, family jewels, stores of gold and
+of silver, and also the blue diamonds of the idol for the retention of
+which I had rashly but unknowingly ventured all that I had of happiness
+in this world.
+
+"And since that day of final disaster I have journeyed over the face of
+the land trying to find, not the blue diamonds, not my stolen hoard, but
+that fiend incarnate, the priest of Siva, who slew my wives and
+children.
+
+"I go about, now a Moslem fakir with the right of entry to the mosques
+where I may worship the only true God and Mohammed his prophet, now
+disguised as a Hindu yogi, crying 'Ram, Ram,' so that I may gain access
+to the temples of the idolators, there to find the Ganapati with the
+jewelled eyes, and by that token discover the man for whom I am ever
+seeking. Every year I revisit Ferishtapur, whence the idol was
+originally taken by my hand from the wrecked temple, but thither neither
+the priest nor the Ganapati has ever returned. At other times I travel
+from one city to another, searching for temples, mingling with the
+devotees at the recurring festivals, the Holi, the Durgapuga, the feast
+of lanterns, and watching the processions when the idols and their
+custodians visit each other's shrines or go to the river for the
+blessing of the waters. But wander where I may, priest or Ganapati have
+I never seen again.
+
+"Thus have passed fifty long years, during which I have lived for one
+thing alone, and that----revenge!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Pausing before the last word, then uttering it in a scream that pierced
+the night air, the fakir sprang to his feet, and, swept by a sudden gust
+of overmastering passion, raised his hands high to heaven--a weird and
+eerie figure in the silver sheen of the moon.
+
+"Deen! deen! deen!" he cried, dancing around as he shrilly voiced the
+fanatic call to massacre--the dread call which through the centuries has
+drenched with human blood a thousand shrines, both Moslem mosques and
+Hindu temples.
+
+"Subah!" shouted the Afghan general, half rising, his hand on his sword
+hilt. "Stop that, you son of a dog, or I will make you meat for jackals.
+Subah!" At the reiterated stern command the dancing figure became
+instantly rigid. Then, just as suddenly as he had leaped from his
+crouching attitude, the fakir sank to the ground in a huddled heap, his
+face buried in the dust.
+
+"You would be happier to-day, O man of many sorrows, had you followed
+the philosophy of 'kooch perwani'--had you said to yourself: 'What is
+done is done, and cannot be undone. Let it pass. Kooch perwani--no
+matter.'"
+
+It was the Rajput who was speaking, in rebuke yet in commiseration.
+
+"Even when all seemed lost" continued the Hindu soldier, "you should
+have forgotten the blue diamonds, the abiding greed for which was the
+real cause of your undoing; you should have forgotten your lost wealth
+and honourable position, your dear ones gone to the abode of bliss, the
+enemies who had despitefully used you but who, as your own religion
+teaches, were in truth only God's emissaries sent to punish you for your
+sins. It is the philosophy of 'kooch perwani' that teaches us to forget
+the dead past, do the work of the vital present, and by doing it aright
+build for the future an edifice of happiness and contentment. Had you
+followed that philosophy, O fakir, you might have been again to-day rich
+in the good things of the world."
+
+The mendicant raised his face from the dust. "To which I reply, O
+prince,--kooch perwani. By the ordeals through which I have passed I
+have come to learn that the treasures of this world are of no account.
+Therefore is my philosophy to-day greater than your own. You wear costly
+robes, I the loin cloth of the beggar. Kooch perwani; for when death
+comes, we are equals. There is no pocket to a shroud."
+
+
+
+
+VI. THE TIGER OF THE PATHANS
+
+TOLD BY THE AFGHAN GENERAL
+
+
+"In my case the philosophy of life is of the simplest," remarked the
+Afghan general. "I neither crave the wealth of the prince, nor do I
+inflict upon myself the mortifications of the ascetic. For the one rich
+robes and the sceptre, for the other a loin cloth and a begging-bowl;
+but for me the good sword that commands respect from my enemies,
+confidence from my friends, and my due share of the good things of
+existence. In this frame of mind I find the full measure of joy in each
+day that passes."
+
+He smiled the smile of the man contented with the world and with
+himself, but there was the light of proud determination in his eyes that
+belied the mere sybarite.
+
+"Then for you the greatest good consists in the happiness you can snatch
+from the passing hour," suggested the magistrate.
+
+"That is so," concurred the soldier, "if to the word happiness you give
+the right interpretation. To me the performance of one's present duty is
+the only real thing that brings contentment. And duty need not always be
+stern and forbidding; to laugh and play and be merry may, at the proper
+time and in the proper circumstances, be a duty both to ourselves and
+to others. When one lives philosophically for the present, he takes men
+in all their moods and life in all its phases. The past is counted as
+dead and to be forgotten, except for the experience gained to guide the
+doing of the things that lie now to one's hand. The future is unseen,
+but is none the less determined by our deeds, words, and thoughts of the
+passing moment, each one of which, be it remembered, whether deed or
+rash word, or unspoken thought, has consequences that are eternal."
+
+"So for the man whose mind is thus attuned," again interposed the
+magistrate, "the present becomes all supreme, shaped by the past,
+shaping the future."
+
+"Which means that destiny never degenerates into mere blind and helpless
+fatalism," responded the Afghan. "To do the right now suffices to give
+absolute trust in God for the hereafter. That is the key of destiny, and
+each man holds it in his own keeping."
+
+"A simple religion," smiled the Rajput.
+
+"And therefore the best. It is the religion of Islam freed from all the
+controversies of rival sects and over-learned mullahs. It is the
+religion of my fathers and the religion of my youth, and in it I abide.
+Let me tell you a story of the rough school in which I received my early
+training and where such thoughts as these first began to sink deep into
+my mind.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Have you ever heard of Shir Jumla Khan? No? Well, that is doubtless
+because he has been dead for a full score of years, and because he held
+his sway in a land remote from these plains of Hindustan, up in the
+rugged mountains, where brave tribesmen guard the valleys which their
+ancestors tilled, and yield allegiance to no one but their own
+hereditary chieftains. Such was my country and my people, for I am proud
+that in my veins runs the blood of the man who for a hundred miles
+around my boyhood home was known as The Tiger of the Pathans. Behold in
+me a grandson of Shir Jumla Khan."
+
+The narrator folded his arms across his breast, in an attitude of quiet
+dignity. After just a moment's pause he continued:
+
+"We were all born fighters, the members of my clan, for during hundreds
+of years many a swarming host had swept past the gateways of our
+territory, Persians, Arabs, Afghans, Moguls, Turkmans, hordes of
+fighting men of every race and tongue, sometimes marching south bent on
+conquest, at other times returning to their homes laden with rich
+spoils, and yet at other times defeated and broken, with enemies
+pressing at their heels. And it was the patrimonial right of our tribe
+to take toll from all alike, from victors and vanquished, from pursuers
+and pursued.
+
+"Sometimes an army would pass through our mountains under safe conduct
+from all the tribes, and the price paid in money, horses, camels, and
+cattle, cloths and other goods, would be divided among the several
+clans. But in this practice there had grown to be more danger for
+ourselves than from forays or assaults on passing enemies, because over
+the division of the spoils there would be quarrelling, followed by
+fighting, among the tribes. Thus had originated many a blood feud
+enduring through many generations.
+
+"In the early days of Shir Jumla Khan it had come about that several
+rich caravans had fallen exclusively into his hands. With the money thus
+provided by the bountifulness of Allah, he had been enabled to build for
+himself a citadel that for vastness and security surpassed those of all
+his rivals among the tribal chiefs. Within its wide walls were wells and
+water tanks, gardens for the growing of fruits and vegetables,
+warehouses for goods, granaries stored with barley, wheat, and dal,
+stables for a hundred horses, sheds for the housing of cattle, sheep,
+and camels, and dwelling places for a goodly multitude of armed men,
+their wives and their children. And all of these things endure until
+this day, for the fortress town amid the mountains built by my
+grandsire, The Tiger of the Pathans, has ever remained unconquered and
+unconquerable.
+
+"But as Shir Jumla Khan grew rich in possessions and in power--for
+scores of fighting men from afar were attracted to his service--at the
+same time did his position among the tribesmen become one of increasing
+isolation. All feared him and envied him, and fear and envy have ever
+been breeders of hate. Yet was he a just and a benevolent man, honoured
+and beloved by every one within his domain, where his slightest word was
+gladly accepted law, not because of the might he wielded but because of
+his fairness to all men.
+
+"I was yet a young man when a widely spread plot among the rival
+tribesmen to destroy Shir Jumla Khan's power had come to a head, and had
+resulted in a determined and prolonged attack upon his citadel. Numbers
+had told, our outlying fields had been devastated, our flocks and herds
+driven away, and crowded within the walls of the fortress were refugees
+from all the surrounding countryside. We had been cooped up through the
+summer, we had lost our annual crops, and without the usual
+replenishment granaries and warehouses were beginning to wear an empty
+look, with but sorry promise for the winter. But, calm and undismayed,
+his proud look and serene smile ever the same, Shir Jumla Khan continued
+to feed the hungry host within his gates and now absolutely dependent
+upon his protection.
+
+"The coming of winter would mean for us some relief, for the first snows
+would scatter the beleaguering hosts, sending them back to their own
+valleys, and giving us the chance, in the intervals of the season's
+storms, to make a few forays on our own account on neighbouring
+communities, which, taken one at a time, would be pretty well at our
+mercy. But if we reasoned in this wise so did our enemies; for it was
+now toward the close of the month of August and redoubled efforts were
+being put forth to accomplish the breaching of our walls, so that The
+Tiger of the Pathans might be slain before there was the chance of his
+fangs and claws again becoming dangerous.
+
+"The tribesmen, no doubt by capture and enforced service, had secured
+the help of some engineers versed in the methods of sieges and assaults
+on fortified places as practised in Hindustan. At that time I had never
+before seen a sabat, but now from our fortifications I beheld the
+gradual extension, day by day, of a broad covered way, with bull-hide
+roof stretched across the trench being dug, and effectually protecting
+the labourers below from our guns and muskets and catapults. We had made
+several sallies with a view to try and stop this work, but these had
+only resulted in losses on our side out of all proportion to the
+harassment and delay inflicted on the besiegers. So we could but
+impotently watch the subtle and inexorable approach of the skilled men
+who would eventually reach our walls, drive mines beneath them, and blow
+us to perdition.
+
+"Our one chance lay in the question of time. If the winter began early
+we should be saved, but if the snows held off till late in the year it
+looked as if our doom must be sealed.
+
+"But quite unexpectedly a ray of hope came from another quarter.
+Dissension had broken out in the ranks of our foes!
+
+"The first word was brought to us by a deserter from the besiegers'
+camp, who one night had crept up to the gateway of the fort and whined
+for admittance, declaring that he had important news to tell and hoped
+for a reward.
+
+"I was with my grandfather when, awakened from his sleep, he listened to
+the man's story. It told of a fierce quarrel the preceding evening
+between two of the leading chieftains. They had been conversing alone in
+one of their tents, when suddenly those without had heard angry words.
+Then it would seem that the owner of the tent had sent for one of the
+slippers which his visitor had left at the doorway, and with this had
+administered five or six strokes over the head, driving his guest forth
+insulted and disgraced. Every one in the camp was on the alert for
+fighting in the morning.
+
+"With a grim smile Shir Jumla Khan listened to this narrative. But he
+made no comment; he merely issued instructions for the informer to be
+fed and for the present closely guarded.
+
+"But if there had been any lingering doubt as to the truth of the story,
+confirmation came ere the breaking of the dawn. For we were once again
+disturbed from our rest, this time by the noise of a great tumult in the
+camp of the besiegers, loud shouting followed by the discharge of
+muskets, the sounds gradually dying away in the distance as if a fight
+and a pursuit had taken place. When day broke such indeed proved to be
+the case; we could descry in the camp a row of tents thrown down and
+dismantled, also dead or wounded men being brought in from the country
+beyond, while away on a distant ridge was a considerable body of
+tribesmen retreating toward their homes.
+
+"At this sight joyful huzzas resounded through the fortress, and we did
+indeed all feel that Allah, by disrupting the forces of the enemy, was
+fighting on our side. And as I spread my prayer carpet, and prostrated
+myself toward Mecca, the pious thought in my heart was one that had many
+times been inculcated by my noble grandsire himself: 'Let the wise man
+reflect that he can in no way succeed without the help of God Most
+High.'
+
+"During the day we took counsel as to the advisability of an attack on
+the somewhat attenuated host without the walls. But from our posts of
+observation we could see that every one in the camp was under arms and
+on the alert, no doubt foreseeing that such an attempt was likely on our
+part. So we concluded to let events develop, and contented ourselves
+with watching the progress of the sabat. Here there was no relaxation of
+endeavour, for the protected trench made a considerable advance ere the
+sun once again sank over the western hills.
+
+"Darkness had not long fallen when another bleating voice of a suppliant
+for admittance was heard by the sentry at the gateway. Introduced to our
+presence, the newcomer, a goatherd by his appearance, and with the signs
+of travel on his garments, removed his head dress, untwisted the long
+locks of hair bound according to custom around his head, and, producing
+a small packet from the midst of his tresses, flung it on the floor. I
+picked up the missive, and handed it to our chieftain.
+
+"Shir Jumla Khan untied the packet, and produced therefrom a heavy gold
+signet ring. While he was examining this, the seeming goatherd raised
+his voice:
+
+"'O prince of princes, protector of the poor and oppressed, by the token
+in your hands know that I who wear this humble disguise am the son of
+Mustafa Khan, thy brother chieftain, who craves a refuge within the
+walls of this God-guarded citadel. I am empowered to propose terms which
+will bring substantial reward for you and sure deliverance from the pack
+of wolves yelping at your gates.'
+
+"The youth soon convinced us that he was none other than he claimed to
+be, an additional guarantee to the possession of the ring being afforded
+by the full and detailed messages which he brought from his father. At
+the council which followed I was privileged to be present. The son of
+Mustafa Khan first recounted the story we already knew, of the deadly
+insult inflicted on his father, and then told briefly the tale of the
+morning flight and fight. His fleeing clansmen were now concealed in a
+gorge not a mile away, some two hundred fighting men, and would be glad
+to join their forces with those of Shir Jumla Khan, so that they might
+wipe out the stain of the dishonour they had suffered. If the gates were
+opened to them, they would come to the citadel that very night.
+
+"But, watching my grandfather's face, I could see him smiling through
+his beard.
+
+"'I want no more mouths to feed, young man,' replied The Tiger of the
+Pathans. 'But take this message to your sire. Let him come here, alone
+and unattended, and thus serve as a hostage for his own good faith. Then
+shall we two together concert a plan whereby an attack by his men from
+the other side of the camp will be made at the same moment as a sortie
+by my men on this side, so that together we shall crush our common enemy
+as we would break a nut between two stones. I have spoken.'
+
+"'But my mother,' faltered the youth, 'and my sister? They and two women
+attendants are with my father, and he cannot leave them alone and
+unprotected.'
+
+"Shir Jumla Khan stroked his beard; the appeal was one that reached his
+benignant heart.
+
+"'How could they come here?' he asked, addressing the young man.
+
+"'We have a camel with panniers. In that they escaped from the camp last
+night. I myself could lead them hither.'
+
+"'Then in the name of God let the women too come into this place of
+refuge. You and your father, and the camel with the panniers, will be
+admitted, if you can reach the gates before the breaking of the dawn.'
+
+"'And a place of seclusion for the ladies?'
+
+"'What need to ask that?' exclaimed my grandsire, abruptly and angrily.
+'I will show the respect to Mustafa Khan's women which I should expect
+him to show to mine. A house will be got ready ere you return.'
+
+"And he waved the youth from his presence.
+
+"I was at the gateway in the grey of the morrow's dawn when the
+fugitives arrived--Mustafa Khan, a big burly figure wrapped in his camel
+robe, the son still in the garments of a goatherd, and, led by him, a
+camel from the back of which was slung panniers for women, one on each
+side, enveloped in the usual coverings that safeguarded those within
+from forbidden eyes.
+
+"But although, both out of proper respect for women and in duty toward
+our guests, I had not attempted to look at the camel or its burden,
+having indeed inclined my head downward as the animal passed, yet as I
+again raised my eyes did I involuntarily catch sight of a dainty white
+hand and the gleam, through momentarily parted curtains, of a beautiful
+face--that of a young girl, fair as a lily, sweet and innocent as the
+half-opened blossom of a rose. And methought that, in her very childlike
+innocence, as our eyes met for a single instant, she smiled into mine
+ere she gathered together the curtain that hid the vision of loveliness
+from my ravished gaze.
+
+"My heart was hammering against my breast as I watched the father and
+the brother, with the swaying camel, disappear under the archway of a
+building sheltered by the encompassing wall of the fortress. This I knew
+had been designated as the home of the refugees during their stay among
+us, but never had I imagined that such a treasure was to be bestowed in
+so rough a casket.
+
+"All that day Mustafa Khan and my grandfather remained in close and
+secret conclave. Again I occupied my time by watching the approaching
+sabat. The work was progressing quicker than ever. At this rate, within
+two or three days the covered trench would be within a short stone throw
+of the fortress walls. After the evening meal I reported this position
+of affairs to Shir Jumla Khan.
+
+"He only smiled gently at me.
+
+"'Rest easy in your mind,' he said. 'Everything is understood and
+arranged between me and Mustafa Khan. On the day after to-morrow our
+enemies will be delivered into our hands.'
+
+"But that night sleep would not come to my eyes. The face of the
+beautiful girl haunted me, and a great longing came over me to behold
+her again. I even began to hope that the conjoining of our fortunes
+might bring the damsel to me, to be the joy of my life and the pride of
+my future home. Already I was framing in my heart the sentences
+wherewith I would plead my cause after the battle was over, both with my
+grandsire and with Mustafa Khan. And I vowed that, in the fighting to
+come, I would do some deed of daring that would surely win the girl's
+father to my side.
+
+"Meanwhile I wandered around the battlements, and half unconsciously I
+found myself on the walls at a place that surmounted the house which
+sheltered my beloved, with her mother and their women attendants, God is
+my witness, but I had no thought of profane prying, contrary alike to
+the laws of the Prophet and to the laws of hospitality. But my eyes fell
+on a beam of light coming from a tiny window niched deep down in a
+recess of the building. And even as I saw this, there came to my ears a
+faint, regular sound--a muffled 'tap, tap, tap.' Instantly every fibre
+of my being was in a quiver.
+
+"I know not what instincts guided me--to burst asunder the bonds both of
+conventionality and of religion that might have restrained me, to make
+suspicion of some vague unseen danger stifle within my breast every
+tender thought of awakening love. But in my surge of excitement love and
+faith were alike forgotten. I ran from the walls, and without consulting
+anyone returned but a few minutes later with a coil of rope in my hands.
+To fasten this to one of the parapets, to tie a few knots at intervals
+so as to give me handhold and foothold--all this was the work of another
+minute or two. Then, slowly and cautiously, hand under hand, I was
+descending into the well-like recess toward the one tiny shaft of light
+that pierced its black darkness.
+
+"'Tap, tap, tap'--the mysterious sound grew more and more distinct as I
+dropped down and down. Then, all of a sudden, the playing of a zither
+and the full-throated song of a woman smote my ears, and I arrested my
+descent. Almost could I have climbed back again, unseeing and ashamed.
+But in a brief momentary interlude in the music I heard, loud and
+unabashed now, the steady 'thump, thump, thump' as of a hammer, and
+straightway I knew that the song and its accompaniment were but part of
+some devilish plot--a means devised to muffle the sound of the other
+operations, whatever these might be. In another moment I was abreast of
+the window, small as a loophole for musketry, but all-sufficient for my
+requirements, I had the rope twisted around my leg, and, secure against
+slipping, I craned forward to peer inside.
+
+"My irreverent eyes fell on no woman's face--the music was floating
+upward from an adjoining chamber. But in the room into which I gazed was
+a strange sight--four men stripped to the waist and toiling for all the
+world like diggers of a well. The flagstones of the floor had been torn
+up, and a great hollow cavern had been dug below. From this cavity two
+of the figures were passing up baskets of mud and gravel, into the hands
+of Mustafa Khan himself, who was bestowing the material around the walls
+of the room. The fourth man, also in the pit that had been dug, was
+tapping a long iron crowbar into a hole that had evidently been pierced
+in the soft ground in the direction of the fortress wall.
+
+"I knew little enough about engineering in those days, but it needed
+only common sense for me to realize that the miscreant Mustafa had
+betrayed our hospitality for no other purpose than to breach the walls
+of the citadel. If there had been women in one pannier there had been
+men in the other, and, to balance the camel's load, there had been
+powder and tools for the nefarious task, the crowning achievement, no
+doubt, of an elaborate conspiracy.
+
+"But I lost no time then in trying to piece together the details of the
+scheme. It was action that was needed now. So, just as silently and
+cautiously as I had descended, I climbed back again by my rope and
+regained the battlements. I paused just for a moment to listen to the
+sweeping chords of the zither, played by no unskilled hand, and to the
+rich notes of the woman's voice swelling into the midnight air. Then I
+gathered the rope in my arms, and sought the sleeping quarters of my
+grandfather.
+
+"The old Tiger of the Pathans, as I knew well, was prepared to be
+aroused at any hour of the night. Even his tulwar was buckled to his
+belt when, in answer to my summons, he stepped forth into the outer
+chamber. He listened to my eager story, peering at me the while from
+beneath his shaggy eyebrows. But not even the twitching of a muscle in
+his face betrayed surprise.
+
+"At the close of my narrative he laid a kindly hand on my shoulder.
+
+"'O son of my dead son,' he said gravely, 'if what you have seen
+to-night be not a dream, then have you done me great service. But go now
+and sleep, and prepare yourself for what is to come. Rest assured, more
+than ever before, that Allah is on our side, and that, even as I said to
+you last night, our enemies are being delivered into the hollow of our
+hands.'
+
+"But sleep still refused to come to me that night. The call for morning
+prayer found me wide awake, turning over in my mind the many
+perplexities of the situation. Had the quarrel in the camp of our
+adversaries been nothing but a cunning pretence, the fight among the
+tribesmen before the dawn a mere sham, even the gathering in of the
+supposed dead and wounded an artful deception for our eyes, all
+contrived so that this devil of devils, Mustafa Khan, should gain access
+to the citadel with skilled sappers and mining munitions? And was the
+youth who had played the part of a goatherd really a son of the man, or
+a serpent-tongued liar, a chosen master of craft whose seeming
+guilelessness had helped to delude us? It had been a crude first idea on
+his part to suggest the admission as refugees of a swarm of armed men,
+but, when this had failed, there had been glib readiness with the other
+and more subtle plan that had so nearly succeeded. And as I reflected on
+these things, I marked the young hypocrite for my own particular prey.
+
+"During the morning hours I was surprised to see the two khans, guest
+and host, betrayer and betrayed, walking around the gardens in seeming
+amity. But after a time my grandsire beckoned me to his side.
+
+"'This is a grandson of mine,' he said, presenting me to Mustafa Khan.
+'He has reported to me that the sabat is approaching too close to your
+present quarters, and that any explosion would endanger the members of
+your household.'
+
+"I saw the traitor pale under the quiet eye of The Tiger of the Pathans.
+
+"'There will be no explosion to-day,' he stammered.
+
+"'You seem to be fully and precisely acquainted with the plans of our
+enemies. Nay, do not draw that sword by your side, Mustafa Khan. Look
+behind you, man.'
+
+"With haggard face now, Mustafa turned round. It was to see half a dozen
+pikes pointed at his ribs. At a signal from their master a guard had
+noiselessly drawn near.
+
+"'You know what to do, jemadar,' said the old Tiger to the officer in
+charge. There was a vicious smile now on his face, such as I had never
+seen there before and never saw again--a savage curling of the upper lip
+that showed the white fangs of the relentless hunting animal.
+
+"And, prodded by the encircling spikes, Mustafa Khan went to his
+doom--calmly and proudly erect, be it said, for a Pathan always knows
+how to die with dignity and resignation to the will of God. Nor must we
+forget that he was a brave man, for in coming to the citadel he had
+boldly ventured his life on a desperate chance, and perfidy in the game
+of war brings shame only when it meets with discomfiture. Peace be with
+his soul!
+
+"My grandsire and I were now alone.
+
+"'You will let me fight that crawling snake, his son?' I cried, with a
+gesture of appeal.
+
+"'He is already carrion for the vultures,' was the reply. 'He was no son
+of Mustafa Khan, just a low-born hireling schemer, and it needed only a
+prod of the dagger to make him betray the whole plot, and whine for the
+mercy which I would have scorned myself to bestow. The two skilled
+sappers are still mining--under my directions this time. We shall make a
+feint of a sally to-morrow morning at the hour prearranged by Mustafa
+Khan with the tribesmen outside. But it is the sabat and its occupants
+that will be blown into the sky, and not my good stout walls'--this last
+with the old familiar smile, stern but pleasant to look upon.
+
+"'And the girl who sang?' I ventured, falteringly.
+
+"'She is safe in the protection of my home. On her rests no blame, for
+in the part she played she was but obeying her father's bidding. Now,
+that is all for the present. Keep your own counsel, and be with me
+to-morrow at the dawn.'
+
+"And with the dawn came the swarm of Mustafa Khan's clansmen, running
+eagerly toward the opened gateway of the fort, with their fellow
+conspirators shouting and shooting and waving their swords in pretended
+pursuit. But just within the entrance were ranged a dozen guns and
+arquebuses on swivels, loaded to their muzzles with slugs of iron. And
+almost at the same moment as the rain of death mowed down the onrushing
+horde, a great explosion shook the earth outside, and the fragments of a
+hundred bodies blown from the sabat by our countermine filled the air.
+Then indeed did our men-at-arms, footmen and horsemen, sally forth to
+pursue with sword and spear their scattered and dismayed enemies,
+sending scores to their deaths and the survivors scampering to their
+dens among the mountains.
+
+"And none ever again dared to attack my grandsire, The Tiger of the
+Pathans."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With a proud smile the Afghan surveyed his audience. No one ventured to
+question him, yet there was a look of unsatisfied curiosity on more than
+one face.
+
+"Oh, yes," laughed the soldier, lightly, "I heard the fair zither player
+and singer again--often again--in my own home."
+
+
+
+
+VII. HER MOTHER LOVE
+
+TOLD BY THE PHYSICIAN
+
+
+By general although unspoken assent, the eyes of all the company were
+now directed to the venerable hakeem, as if to invite from him the next
+contribution to the night's entertainment. Meditatively for a moment the
+man of medicine stroked the broad white beard that descended almost to
+his girdle, and then began:
+
+"Familiar to us all is the thought that death is but a birth into
+another state of existence, whether that state be the eternal paradise
+which is the final goal of every man's hopes, or merely another stage
+thitherward. Death is a birth, the truth of which will more forcibly
+appeal to our minds when we reflect also that birth is a death."
+
+"How can that be, except for the still-born?" queried the astrologer.
+
+The hakeem raised a hand deprecating the interruption.
+
+"Nay, follow me in my argument," he continued quietly. "If death is a
+birth, then is a birth truly death. For the babe has been living through
+a prior stage of existence. To it the nine months passed in its mother's
+womb may have meant a long span of life. For time is but a relative
+term, and, measured against eternity, the whole period of man's sojourn
+on earth, be it three score or four score years, is but as the puff of
+a single breath. So the child in the womb lives there a full span of
+existence; it is nurtured and it grows, it sleeps and it wakes, it lies
+passive and it disports itself, it is sensitive to cold and to heat, to
+thirst and to hunger, and God alone knows what it thinks and what mental
+impressions it forms of the existence through which it is passing. And
+the hour of its birth is truly the hour of its death, for in pain and
+travail it is plucked from its warm and comfortable surroundings, and
+with the shock of physical change and unseeing dread it cries aloud in
+sharp anguish. Thus precisely do we ourselves die when we pass from this
+world to another existence, physically and mentally resenting the harsh
+change, terrified because of our very ignorance of what is really
+happening."
+
+The physician paused, amid a deep hush that bore eloquent testimony to
+the impressiveness of the thought to which he had given utterance.
+
+"But the parallel does not end here," he resumed.
+
+"When the infant is born, then for the first time does it see face to
+face the divinity who through all the preceding stage of its existence
+has protected it, warmed it, and nourished it. In the presence of its
+mother it is in the presence of the God who has hitherto enveloped it,
+wholly and completely, in His own divine being. So when we die will we
+be face to face with the now unseen God who everywhere encompasses us,
+beholding Him at first only with the dazzled vision and dim
+half-consciousness of the new-born babe, but growing to know Him and to
+love Him as we have all known and loved the devoted mothers who bore us.
+For mother love is man's first foretaste of God love, the full glory of
+which we shall comprehend only when by death we are born into a higher
+and more spacious sphere of existence."
+
+There was another brief interval of silence, again unbroken by any
+comment from the auditors. Then the hakeem continued in lighter tone:
+
+"Now let me point my moral by telling you a story of a mother's supreme
+devotion for her son.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"At one time I practised my profession in the capital city of a state
+ruled over by a maharajah, who, although he had been a brave and
+honourable man in his prime, had degenerated into a mere voluptuary,
+spending his days in the companionship of nautch girls and disreputable
+men, indulging constantly in immoderate potations of strong wine, and
+given at times to the use of bhang, which does more than anything else
+to dull the faculties and deaden the conscience of the unfortunate who
+surrenders himself to its seductive spells. The inevitable results were
+for him the premature loss of health and strength, and for his people
+misrule, extortion and widespread unhappiness.
+
+"It happened that, after several Hindu physicians had failed to restore
+their royal master from a fainting spell, I, a Moslem, was summoned in
+haste to the palace. I carried with me a small jar containing a certain
+pungent liquid, which I applied to the nostrils of my patient, with the
+result that he was straightway brought back from seeming death to
+consciousness of his surroundings. I take no special credit for
+effecting this recovery, but the maharajah himself deemed me to be a
+veritable worker of miracles, and, dismissing all his other doctors,
+kept me thenceforth constantly by his side. From the first I knew, by
+his trembling limbs and enfeebled condition, that death had marked him
+for its own; but I could, at least, prepare aromatic drinks to mitigate
+his pains and saffron meats to drive out the evil spirits that possessed
+him.
+
+"Thus did it come about that I gained the confidence of the maharajah,
+and when it happened that one of his favourite wives had fallen into a
+decline, and had begged for the services of a physician, the honourable
+trust of ministering to her needs was confided to me. My examination of
+the invalid was in accordance with the usual restrictions. Accompanied
+by the feeble old maharajah himself, I was conducted to an apartment
+across which a heavy curtain was suspended. After an interval of
+waiting, the rustle of silken garments behind the purdah, followed by
+the gentle sigh of a woman, told me that my patient had arrived. It was
+the husband himself who bade her thrust her tongue through an orifice in
+the curtain. My inspection of this member revealed no internal disorder,
+and I requested from my master permission to touch the lady's hand so
+that I might feel the pulsing of the blood in her veins. Not too
+willingly he ordered her to push her arm through the opening.
+
+"It was a dainty white hand, with many jewelled rings upon the taper
+fingers, and the nails, as with all ladies of quality, dyed the deep
+orange red of henna. Although I knew well that the jealously watchful
+eyes of her lord were upon me, I made no hesitancy in encompassing the
+wrist with my own fingers. But the little hand within mine was clenched
+tight, and, the better to conduct my examination, I freed my fingers
+from her wrist so as to straighten out hers as I required them. When I
+attempted to do this, however, I was conscious of some resistance and
+then of the presence of a small packet concealed in the palm of her
+hand. With a flash of comprehension I knew that the package must be
+intended to be conveyed to me surreptitiously, and, with no thought at
+that critical moment of what the ulterior object might be, I aided the
+act by a deft movement of my shoulder, which for a moment intercepted
+the maharajah's gaze.
+
+"In another second he could see my finger-tips lightly pressed on her
+wrist, and her empty hand extended; but the package was safe in my other
+hand, and not the quiver of a muscle on my face betrayed that anything
+unusual had happened. Both to mask my feelings, and to give the lady
+behind the curtain confidence that she could repose trust in my
+discretion, I counted the pulse beats aloud.
+
+"These indeed told me that the heart of my patient was beating at a mad
+gallop, but this I divined was simply caused by the daring deed she had
+essayed and successfully accomplished. I deemed it wise and prudent,
+however, to announce that the lady was suffering from a fever, and that
+I would send her a powder that would speedily restore her to good
+health. At this the maharajah was sufficiently overjoyed to permit of my
+withdrawal without obvious embarrassment. I had a smile upon my lips,
+and the secret package secure in the folds of my girdle. A chuprassi
+accompanied me to my home to bring back the medicine.
+
+"I knew, of course, that it was only a dry powder that this high-born
+Hindu lady could take from my dispensary, for to have swallowed a liquid
+drug would have been a violation of her caste. I took pains to let the
+chuprassi see that my hands did not touch the powder, which, after due
+weighing, I bestowed in a paper carefully sealed, instructing him to
+deliver it to no one but his highness the maharajah. It was only finely
+ground sugar that the man carried away. But perhaps this is a harmless
+little trick of my profession which even now I should not disclose."
+
+But a general smile among the company showed the hakeem that his calling
+was held in no undue reverence, at least by those without present need
+of his ministrations.
+
+"When I was alone with my mortars and my drugs," resumed the narrator,
+"I lost no time in examining the mysterious packet. I unwound the silk
+threads that tightly tied it, both to restrict its bulk and to render it
+secure. Soon, to my amazement, I uncovered a string of ten pearls, of a
+size and lustrous purity that bespoke a high value even to my untutored
+eyes. Also there was a little seal of red chalcedony, with the antlered
+head of a deer and some scroll of lettering engraved upon it; but there
+was not one scrap of writing to explain to me the reason of these gifts.
+
+"Had the lady, as often happens, imagined herself to be seriously sick,
+and devised this plan of invoking my interest and most skilful services
+on her behalf? But why, then, the seal, the value of which was quite
+insignificant?
+
+"Even as I was pondering these questions, there came a clapping of hands
+at the gateway of my home that announced the arrival of a visitor.
+Hastily concealing the pearls and the seal in my girdle, I stepped forth
+into the outer court and took my seat upon the divan.
+
+"Straightway there was ushered into my presence a big man clothed in
+rich garments. His sable complexion and thick lips declared him to be a
+moorman from across the seas, and his beardless chin further told at a
+glance that he was an attendant at the seraglio of some rich noble.
+
+"He salaamed me with the cool confidence of his kind, and, without
+waiting for an invitation, seated himself on the carpet at my feet.
+
+"'My name, O learned hakeem, is Malik Kafur,' he began in the shrill
+treble voice I had anticipated, 'and you know why I come here.'
+
+"As my knowledge had been taken for granted, I bowed in acquiescence.
+
+"'But her highness said that you would first of all show me her signet
+so as to prove that you are acting with her authority.'
+
+"With all due gravity I produced the chalcedony seal from my belt, and,
+without quitting hold, extended it for my visitor's inspection. There
+was a swift gleam of recognition in his eyes.
+
+"'That is right,' he murmured.
+
+"'Then proceed,' I said, quietly. 'You can speak in the fullest
+confidence.'
+
+"'I have promised the maharanee that to-morrow, when the fourth of the
+day is over, I shall conduct her into the bazaars. She bade me explain
+her plans precisely, so that you in turn should know how to act. Well,
+her highness will be, as usual, in her palankeen slung between two
+mules. When we turn from the coppersmiths' bazaar into the secluded
+bazaar where the money changers dwell, the two grooms in charge of the
+mules will be assailed by budmashes and beaten with sticks. I, too, will
+be knocked down and my clothes torn; but do not worry on my account.'
+
+"I gave a cheerful nod to signify that his anxiety on this score might
+be set at rest.
+
+"'It will devolve on you to have two men ready to take advantage of the
+confusion of the scuffle and lead away the mules with the palankeen,
+conducting the maharanee to a place which she herself will indicate.
+This you understand?'
+
+"'I understand.'
+
+"'At night, when I shall come to you again, under cover of the
+darkness, you will pay over to me the agreed-upon price--the ten pearls
+which her highness has placed in your custody.'
+
+"'They are here,' I assented, holding aloft the little string of pearls,
+the purpose they were intended to serve at last made clear to my
+understanding.
+
+"The eyes of the negro flashed with cupidity, and he reached forth a
+big, fat, black hand.
+
+"'I can be trusted to do my share of the task,' he said, eagerly. 'To
+save trouble, let me be paid now.'
+
+"'Not so, thou slave,' I replied, curtly and with authority, as I
+returned the pearls to their place of safe-keeping. 'The price will be
+paid when the service is performed. To-morrow night you will be
+admitted, Malik Kafur, if you knock three times at my gate.'
+
+"The fellow rose to his feet, with a servile and submissive smile, and,
+by a wave of my hand, I dismissed him from my presence.
+
+"Here, indeed, was an adventure thrust upon me, a man of peace and of
+studious habits, who had ever shrunk from deeds of violence; but the
+hand of fate was clearly beckoning me along the path of duty, and not
+for a moment did I shrink from the dangers into which, perchance, I was
+being hurried.
+
+"For the maharajah, worthless, besotted, and on the verge of dishonoured
+death, I could have no respect. For the lady of his household, who was
+confiding to me her very life, whose soft hand I had touched with due
+reverence, there was an instinctive feeling of sympathy. In her hour of
+dire need, most likely of extreme danger, she had turned to me, a man
+of staid repute and old enough, no doubt, to be her father. So this was
+no affair of conjugal wrong, from which my religious scruples and my
+abiding principles alike, would have repelled me. Clearly was I the
+instrument in God's directing hand for some great happening, and it was
+not for me, through thought of self or cowardice, to interpose obstacles
+to the carrying out of the divine will.
+
+"And as I thus ruminated there came from a minaret close by the call to
+evening prayer. 'The world is but an hour,' I murmured to myself as I
+spread my carpet; 'spend it in devotion, the rest is unseen.'
+
+"On the morrow I was astir even before the morning call to prayer.
+'Prayer is better than sleep'--I listened to the familiar cry of the
+muezzin. But while again I prayed I felt that a good deed done may count
+more for a man at the gates of Paradise than the record of many prayers.
+
+"Full an hour before the appointed time I was at the corner of the
+coppersmiths' and the money-changers' bazaars. Here I posted two of my
+retainers, in whom I could place complete confidence. They had already
+been instructed how to act when the proper moment arrived. For myself, I
+sauntered through the crowded and noisy bazaar of the makers and menders
+of copper vessels, so as not to attract undue attention. In my heart was
+not one flutter of excitement or of uncertainty: I felt the quiet
+confidence which in the crises of life comes to a man whose trust in
+God the Most High is implicit.
+
+"After a period of waiting there came into sight the huge black moorman,
+in his hand a white wand of office, and, following close behind him, a
+brilliantly decorated palankeen suspended between a pair of mules and
+attended by two grooms, leading the animals. The throng had parted
+before this little procession, averting their eyes from the covered
+palankeen, as was beseeming.
+
+"But suddenly, at the intersection of the two bazaars, a group of
+loiterers sprang forward, and with cries assailed the moorman and the
+grooms, turning the mules into the quieter thoroughfare. There I had now
+posted myself, and, while the shopkeepers ran up the street to see what
+had befallen, the cavalcade under my directions, and with my attendants
+at the animals' heads, hurried along, and as we threaded our way through
+the maze of streets the tumult of voices soon died away behind us.
+
+"After a little time I ventured to approach the curtained palankin.
+
+"I spoke just loud enough to be heard by its occupant:
+
+"'May your day, O queen, be peaceful! Your servant, most humble and
+devoted, awaits your orders.'
+
+"'Peace be to thee, O thou trustful and brave hakeem. Take me to the
+protection of thy wife and home.'
+
+"It was a soft, melodious woman's voice that had spoken, tremblingly,
+imploringly, and yet withal in a tone of authority.
+
+"'As thou hast commanded, so shall it be done,' was my brief reply.
+
+"After a little time the cavalcade, without any undue attention being
+attracted, had passed through the gateway of my home, and the doors had
+been barred behind us.
+
+"To my surprise a gallant youth, some twelve years of age, sprang
+through the momentarily parted curtains of the palankeen.
+
+"'I salute thee, O hakeem, our deliverer,' he exclaimed, kissing the hem
+of my robe. 'My royal mother is in the palankeen, and craves for
+sanctuary in your zenana.'
+
+"'Let her pass,' I replied, and I urged the docile mules toward the
+second archway that led to the women's courtyard.
+
+"At my bidding the inner gates opened, and they closed again when the
+palankeen had entered.
+
+"'Within is sanctuary for your royal mother, and here is sanctuary for
+yourself, O prince,' I continued, with a profound obeisance, for,
+despite the modest garments he wore, I had recognized the eldest royal
+son of the maharajah, whom I had seen several times in his father's
+presence, and on one occasion at an affair of state clad in a robe of
+honour of silk and gold brocade, festoons of jewels around his neck, and
+a tiny sword with scabbard of gold girt at his side.
+
+"Having once more impressed secrecy on my attendants, and bidding them
+give admission to no one, I led my young guest into an inner reception
+room. There, in a few concise sentences, he told me his story.
+
+"A plot had been hatched in the royal zenana that, just so soon as the
+maharajah died, this youth, and seven or eight younger brothers, sons of
+other wives, should be slain, so that the undisputed succession might
+descend on one particular son, elder by several years, but not in the
+regular line of succession because born of a slave mother. It was this
+slave woman's brother who commanded the maharajah's bodyguard, and, in
+collusion with his sister, had conceived the damnable conspiracy. Only
+by the whisper of a woman who was close to the officer, but whose heart
+was tender, had the mother of the young heir to the throne been warned.
+With my aid, and that of the eunuch who had visited me the day before,
+they had made their escape, the youth having been hidden in the
+palankeen of his mother before the latter left the seraglio on one of
+her occasional visits to the bazaars.
+
+"Such was the story. Now the future had to be planned, for up to this
+point the maharanee had acted blindly and impulsively--just swiftly--the
+moment she had realized the supreme danger for her son. In the boy I
+found high courage and a clear brain, and together we devised the
+measures to be followed that would best allay suspicion as to the
+whereabouts of the fugitives.
+
+"As a first step I sallied forth as usual to pay my professional visit
+on the maharajah a little before the noontide hour. Perhaps I felt
+that, if by any chance suspicion had already alighted upon me, I was
+taking my life in my hands by entering the palace; but, trusting to the
+protection of Allah, I gave no second thought to any fear of this kind.
+
+"I had not yet reached the palace gates when I encountered a messenger
+running in hot haste to summon me. His highness the maharajah had been
+seized with a fit, and the whole palace was in a turmoil.
+
+"When I gained the royal apartment I saw at a glance that the sufferer
+was beyond human aid. I could but watch the deep laboured breathing,
+growing ever fainter and fainter, until the death-rattle in the throat
+proclaimed the end.
+
+"During that hour of watching my soul had been gravely perturbed, not
+because of the dying debauchee, but in dread of sinister happenings in
+the royal zenana when the news of the maharajah's demise should come to
+be announced. But how was I to give warning without betraying to certain
+death the youth and his mother who had sought sanctuary in my
+defenceless home? For there, at the door of the sick room, stood the
+captain of the king's bodyguard, Todar Rao, the very man who, I knew,
+held his corrupt soldiery in leash for any villainy.
+
+"Another high officer of the court, the diwan, had shared my vigil in
+the death chamber, and just before the end came had informed me that it
+was news of an attack by budmashes on one of the royal palankeens that
+morning in the bazaars that had inflicted the fatal stroke upon his
+master. But this treasurer was an aged man, who would have quailed under
+the eye of the stern and relentless soldier keeping watch and ward at
+the doorway, and, for all I knew, he, too, might be in the
+conspiracy--indeed, his furtive glances and the nervous twitching of his
+hands forewarned me of this danger.
+
+"Surrounded by uncertainties, and utterly helpless in my isolation, I
+could but drift whither the stream of destiny carried me.
+
+"'The king is dead,' I announced, when the last flutter of the heart had
+ceased. 'May God in His compassion give him peace.'
+
+"The diwan summoned the captain of the bodyguard, and the latter, to
+make certainty doubly sure, brutally shook the dead man by the shoulder.
+I could see the savage gleam of satisfaction on his face when he threw
+from him the already stiffening arm. The two men, in close conclave,
+hastened from the chamber, and when the attendants set up the accustomed
+cries of wailing I profited by the clamour and confusion to slip
+discreetly from the palace and gain my own home.
+
+"The terrible events of the next few days were, alas! just the same as
+have befallen a hundred times on the passing of a king. The outside
+world knew few details, but the news from the palace current in the
+bazaars was that all the sons of the late maharajah had perished
+excepting only the eldest. And this youth, although the whisper passed
+freely that he was merely the son of a slave woman, duly ascended the
+throne.
+
+"Revolt by some of the nobles over such an indignity might come later
+on. But meanwhile, at all events, the show of military power quelled all
+opposition, while a judicious remission of taxes pleased the general
+populace, and indeed caused them joyfully to acclaim the new maharajah
+as he made a triumphal procession through the city, mounted on an
+elephant caparisoned with cloth of gold and bedecked with silver chains
+and bells, preceded by priests and the dancing girls of the temples, and
+surrounded by troops, both horsemen and foot soldiers.
+
+"Only I and the members of my household knew that the rightful heir to
+the throne was alive and in safe hiding. For the moorman had never come
+to claim his string of pearls, and it was not until some days later that
+I had learned of his having been summarily dispatched by order of the
+dead maharajah, in the latter's first paroxysm of anger over the
+abduction of his favourite wife when visiting the bazaars. In this
+opportune removal of a greedy hireling and possible traitor I once more
+recognized the hand of Providence working for the noble woman whose
+quick wit had aided mother love to save her son.
+
+"A noble woman I have called her, and such indeed she was. For me the
+maharanee had discarded the purdah, and in the sanctity of my harem,
+with my wife as her devoted attendant, I was privileged to converse with
+her hour after hour, gazing freely upon the most beautiful countenance
+I had ever beheld--beautiful not only by reason of soft and rounded
+features and the peach bloom of the skin, but also because of the
+soul-lit eyes that illumined it with joyous radiance. For this queen
+lived in her son, forgot every other sorrow in his safety, and now
+experienced all the glowing pride of a leader on the field of battle in
+planning the campaign for the vindication of his rightful claims to the
+royal inheritance.
+
+"Her first step had been to send secret word to her father--she was the
+daughter of a mountain chieftain--bidding him to dispatch one of her
+brothers to me as a trusted messenger. The distance was far, and three
+months elapsed before the hillman arrived, a sturdy young fellow, serene
+of eye, slow of speech, and muscled like a panther. He departed back
+home again, carrying our tale by simple word of mouth for greater
+security, and having concealed on his person some of the gems which the
+maharanee had saved and which would be readily convertible into money.
+Then, after a second interval of time, other tribesmen came sifting into
+the city by twos and threes, until we had full fifty of the finest
+material for a bodyguard a young prince could desire. These men were
+quartered at different places in the vicinity of my home, armed and
+ready for a general muster when the moment should be ripe for action.
+
+"Meanwhile a widespread spirit of dissatisfaction with the new raj was
+daily growing, and on every hand in the bazaars mutterings of trouble
+began to be heard. The young ruler had proved to be a mere puppet in
+the hands of his mother and uncle, who had not hesitated to advance
+their base-born relatives and associates to places of highest honour and
+emolument, thereby giving grievous offence among the families of proud
+and ancient lineage, both Hindu and Moslem, which had hitherto supplied
+the principal officers of state and had been the real buttresses of the
+throne. Then, to fill full the measure of discontent, came ominous
+rumours that the prince, although still a mere youth, had, like his
+father, become addicted to the use of bhang and strong wines, and,
+encouraged by a worthless following, was abandoning himself to all
+manner of expensive debauchery. And when at last the screw of heavily
+increased taxation gave proof to these stories the first timid whispers
+of displeasure among the populace swelled to sullen and continuous
+murmuring.
+
+"For the true queen mother and her son the hour of destiny was
+approaching!
+
+"But, although the embers of revolt were ready to burst into flame at
+the first fanning of a breeze, Todar Rao, now sirdar in command of the
+whole army, still dominated the situation. At his slightest word the
+mercenary soldiery under his control would have rushed into the bazaars
+with sword and torch, like ravening wolves among sheep helpless to
+defend themselves. As for the nobles, each surrounded by his own
+bodyguard, they were torn into rival factions, the one jealously
+watching the other lest open revolt should be made the excuse for
+usurpation of the throne by the strongest and best prepared among them.
+
+"In these circumstances it would have been fatal to let word go forth
+prematurely that the rightful heir was alive, for disappointed ambitions
+among the feudal lords might have become an added danger to the fury of
+the sirdar. But any prolonged delay would also be disastrous, for it was
+only now that the boy prince would be recognized and received as the
+undoubted heir to his father's throne; a few years later he would, to a
+certainty, be looked at askance as a mere pretender--a pawn in the game
+of some unscrupulous king-maker playing for his own aggrandizement.
+
+"It was the maharanee who devised the bold stroke which involved
+undoubted danger yet promised the best chance of success. Her idea was
+to take the whole court unawares at one and the same moment, so that the
+nobles might have presented to them, not only a common rallying-point
+for loyalty, but the chance by united action to break for all time the
+hated military power of the slave-born sirdar.
+
+"It was the appointed day when the recently installed maharajah,
+according to custom immemorial, was to be publicly weighed, and the gold
+he counterbalanced distributed in charity. In the great courtyard of the
+palace all the people were assembled, nobles and officers of state,
+soldiers and traders, rich and poor, among the latter the halt, the
+blind and the maimed, the deformed and the leprous, in pitiful evidence
+as fitting objects for a share of the promised bounty. On a raised
+dais, seated upon a throne covered with cloth of gold, and sheltered by
+a canopy and awnings of crimson brocade, sat the reigning maharajah, a
+puny and sickly-looking stripling.
+
+"Before the main ceremony of the day, heralds had announced that the
+sovereign was prepared to listen to any grievances or complaints from
+his people. For a few minutes no one came forward, but at last a pair of
+sleek mules, handsomely caparisoned, with a richly adorned palankeen
+slung between them, the identical equipage of the maharanee which had
+been harboured in my home, emerged from the crowd, and advanced at a
+grave pace toward the royal dais. That some high-born lady was within
+the silken coverings of the palankeen every one surmised, and at this
+extraordinary spectacle a hush of tense expectancy fell upon the
+assemblage.
+
+"But the silence changed to murmurs of amazement and admiration when a
+queenly woman stepped upon the edge of the dais, and faced, not the
+maharajah on his throne, but the nobles and courtiers and officers
+clustered around.
+
+"With a proud gesture she flung even the sari from her face, which the
+play of the sunbeams among the jewels in her hair and around her neck
+invested with a shimmering halo of radiance. On such a woman's face the
+multitude had never looked before. But stately and unabashed, serene in
+the purity of her womanhood, the dignity of her motherhood, and the
+majesty of her rank, she raised aloft a hand, and spake aloud in tones
+clear as the notes of a silver trumpet.
+
+"'O nobles and O people, the royal son and heir of my husband, the late
+maharajah, is alive, spared by divine Providence from the massacre of
+his brothers and playmates in the seraglio of the palace. Many of you
+know him well, and behold now he comes to claim his heritage.'
+
+"As these words were spoken, the crowd again parted, and there stepped
+forth the young prince, my protégé. At the edge of the throng he
+discarded a loose mantle of cotton that had concealed the rich garments
+befitting his rank. Then he advanced, looking proudly and gaily about
+him, while close behind, and pressing eagerly around his person, came
+full fifty stalwart tribesmen, treading with the bold swinging gait of
+the mountaineer, their drawn tulwars flashing in the sun, their voices
+shouting 'Jai, jai,--Hail, hail!' in deafening chorus.
+
+"The effect was instantaneous and tremendous, and from all the assembled
+multitude went up the loud acclaim--'Jai, jai, jai!' There seemed to be
+not a dissentient in the throng. And a moment later the young prince was
+standing on the dais by his mother's side, one hand resting proudly on
+her shoulder.
+
+"Among the nobles there had hitherto been the silence of stupefaction.
+But at last, one of their number, an elderly man, advanced, and
+prostrated himself on the rich carpet spread in front of the dais, thus
+rendering public homage to his rightful king. 'Jai, jai, jai!' shouted
+the mob, and soon a dozen others among the nobles had given the pledge
+of fealty.
+
+"Meanwhile the kinglet on the throne of gold had been forgotten. He had
+made no move, but had contented himself with staring around in confused
+and helpless surprise. But now Todar Rao, the sirdar, had sprung to his
+side and dragged the youth to his feet.
+
+"'O princes and people, this is your rightful king,' cried the soldier
+in stentorian tones, 'crowned and proclaimed and accepted by your
+pledges of loyalty. My orders to the troops are death to those who now
+betray him.'
+
+"But the words had hardly passed his lips, when two score of the
+mountaineers, shouting 'Deen, deen,--Kill, kill,' had swarmed over the
+silver railings surrounding the throne. There was the momentary clash of
+steel on steel, the impotent curse of an angry man, a shrill pitiful cry
+of anguish from the youth who in his terror had crouched behind the
+awnings descending from the canopy. And when the tribesmen again faced
+the multitude, the soldierly figure of Todar Rao had disappeared, and
+the throne was vacant for the reception of its rightful occupant.
+
+"Amidst a wild tumult of joy the young prince ascended from the dais and
+took the royal seat, showing in his every movement the natural grace and
+dignity that might almost in themselves have proved his right of
+heritage, and that certainly won to his cause the last waverers among
+the onlooking multitude. Even the bodyguard of the slain sirdar were
+now joining in the universal acclaim.
+
+"The first to bend a knee to the rightful king enthroned was the royal
+queen, his mother. And then the lady stepped back, a little to the rear
+and to the side of the throne, drawing her silken sari over the lovely
+countenance that would never again be beholden by the people.
+
+"'Never again!' The thought had scarce passed through my mind, as I
+watched the scene from the fringe of the crowd, when a more grim and
+terrible reality was given to the unspoken words than I had ever
+intended. Close to the spot where the maharanee had halted were some
+hangings of brocade arranged, as we understood later, so that the seated
+and veiled figure of a woman might observe the brilliant pageantry of
+the day from the privacy of this purdah.
+
+"And from out these hangings there now stretched, stealthily but
+swiftly, a bejewelled hand, which plunged a long dagger between the
+shoulders of the queen mother.
+
+"Without a cry she fell. I was quickly by her side, and the young
+maharajah and myself, as we bent over her, caught her dying words.
+
+"'All is well, my beloved son,' she murmured. 'I have accomplished that
+which I was sent into the world to perform. In peace I yield my soul to
+God.'
+
+"With the last word she breathed her last breath. And such is mother
+love."
+
+There was a suppressed sob in more than one breast at the close of the
+venerable hakeem's tale. Down his own furrowed face the tears were
+streaming.
+
+"And the woman who struck the foul blow?" inquired the Afghan in an
+eager whisper.
+
+"The slave mother of the dead pretender. Well, she too had given her all
+for mother love. The tribesmen tore her limb from limb."
+
+And the hakeem pressed a hand to his eyes to shut out the memory of a
+dreadful scene.
+
+
+
+
+VIII. THE SACRED PICKAXE
+
+TOLD BY THE MAGISTRATE
+
+
+The first wolf-grey of the dawn was creeping over the scene, and turning
+to a sickly yellow the flare of the little oil lamps arranged around the
+veranda. The morning air bit shrewdly, and more than one of the seated
+or reclining figures had gathered his robes more closely around him. All
+eyes were now turned on the kotwal. He alone of the company had not
+contributed from his store of experiences.
+
+"Methinks it is too late for any more story-telling," he protested
+diffidently, with gesture and glance toward the east in token that he
+spoke truly.
+
+"Nay, nay," cried the Rajput, "this night will not be complete without
+the full measure of our entertainment. Come, come, friend; the sun is
+yet an hour below the horizon."
+
+Murmurs of approval showed that the general wish had been interpreted.
+
+"Be it so, then," assented the magistrate. "I have heard so many stories
+this night that it would indeed be churlish on my part to refuse to give
+you one of mine. Well, listen.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Know, my friends, that I am a district judge in Delhi, presiding over
+that quarter known as the Bara Bazaar, where the merchants most do
+congregate. One day some few years ago it befell that I was seated alone
+in the hall where I hold my court. It was the afternoon hour, all the
+suits of the day had been disposed of, punishment had been meted out to
+those who deserved it, justice had been done to rich and poor alike, in
+accordance with the orders of our most righteous master Akbar, to whom
+be all honour and glory.
+
+"I had taken from my garments my silver betel-nut box, and was leisurely
+spreading on a leaf the smear of lime preparatory to enjoying my pan
+supari, musing the while on the strange little ironies of life that came
+to my knowledge each day in the discharge of my magisterial functions.
+All at once a shadow from the open doorway fell across the room. Raising
+my eyes, I beheld the tall figure of a man. On meeting my look he bowed
+his body, and with both hands outstretched, courteously salaamed me.
+
+"'Protector of the poor, listen to my story,' he said.
+
+"In silence, while I adjusted the fragments of betel-nut on the limed
+leaf and rolled up the morsel, I motioned him to a place on the edge of
+the carpet whereon I myself sat. For my first glance had shown me that
+the stranger was a man of consequence, his garments being rich and his
+look that of one accustomed to the exercise of authority.
+
+"He took his seat, and arranged his flowing and finely embroidered robes
+around him. I proffered him the pan supari I had prepared, but with a
+wave of the hand he declined this courtesy. So I placed the morsel in my
+own mouth, fell to its meditative mastication, and awaited the beginning
+of his tale.
+
+"'I am a well-to-do traveller, as you would think. O kadi--a pilgrim on
+my way to the sacred shrine of Juggernaut, as I profess myself to all
+who make inquiry and to whom an answer is due. But I am not what I
+appear to be. In reality you behold in me--a thug.'
+
+"The man lowered his voice mysteriously when he pronounced the last
+word, bending forward so that I might hear it.
+
+"'And what may be a thug?' I asked, for the name to me was quite a new
+one.
+
+"'Listen,' he said eagerly, and still in a low whisper. 'The thugs are
+worshippers of Bowani.'
+
+"'There are countless thousands who worship Kali, the dread goddess,' I
+replied.
+
+"'Yes, but we, the thugs, not only worship her as the wife of Siva, god
+of destruction, but we are her devoted priests who put men to death in
+her name and for her glory.'
+
+"Now indeed did I prick up my ears and listen intently. But I did not
+suffer my awakened interest to betray itself in look or tone of voice.
+
+"'Some fanatics may seek to justify human sacrifice,' I said. I was
+treading cautiously; later I would tell the man that such foul deeds
+were against the decrees of Akbar, and involved the penalty of death
+under the feet of elephants. But meanwhile I wanted his confession.
+
+"'Ah, you know nothing about the thugs,' continued the stranger. 'But
+hearken to me, for I have come to tell you all, and for a reason you
+will presently understand. We are thousands strong, and we live in all
+parts of Hindustan and the Deccan. We are caste brothers, and are bound
+together by our worship of Bowani. The traditions of our creed have been
+handed down for generations from father to son. You have never heard of
+the thugs, O kadi, although you sit in the place of justice. Do you know
+why? Because I am the very first of the sect who has broken his vows of
+silence, and spoken the word thug to one outside our secret
+association.'
+
+"'Yet you say you are thousands strong.'
+
+"'Yes, we are strong in numbers, but stronger still in our fidelity to
+our vows. When once we have sworn on the sacred pickaxe, it is
+impossible to speak words of treachery.'
+
+"'If it be for the good and happiness of all men,' I interpolated,
+encouraging him to keep on speaking freely, 'there can be no treachery,
+no breaking of vows in revealing the truth.'
+
+"'It is to reveal the truth that I have come to you. It is by the orders
+of Bowani herself; for I have wronged her, and she is angry and has
+loudly proclaimed to me that thuggee is ended--that her protection is
+for ever withdrawn from me and my fellows, because, O misery, we have
+grievously offended her. Hark! Do you not hear the voice of Bowani even
+now?'
+
+"The man raised his face toward the rafters of the room, and, with right
+hand uplifted, his attitude was one of intent listening.
+
+"'Unworthy, unworthy, unworthy,' he murmured, in a strange absent
+monotone, as if repeating words he was actually hearing. 'You have
+broken my laws. Go now to your doom, you and all your brothers. Such
+priests Kali will not have. Thuggee is no more. I will seek some other
+worshippers.'
+
+"After a pause of tense silence, as if the listener was awaiting for
+more, he dropped hand and eyes. And now my mind took a new turn of
+thought. There was the confused, unmistakable glare of insanity in the
+man's eyes. Half unconsciously, I leaned back on my cushions and placed
+a hand upon the dagger in my kummerbund.
+
+"The stranger noticed the movement, and, lunatic though he undoubtedly
+appeared to be, interpreted my thoughts.
+
+"'Be not afraid of me, master,' he said. 'This is the only weapon I
+carry.'
+
+"And with these words he slipped off a silken scarf that he had been
+wearing loosely around his throat, and tossed it on the carpet between
+us.
+
+"Now was I all the more confirmed in my estimate of his madness. To call
+such a thing a weapon!--a strip of soft fabric that might kill a
+butterfly but would be poor defence indeed to rely on against sword or
+dagger. I suppose I smiled contemptuously, for again the man read my
+thoughts.
+
+"Then instantly did he do a thing that made my blood run cold. With a
+toss of the scarf into the air, he formed it into a noose, and this he
+threw over one upbended knee. Next with a swift twist of fierce hands he
+drew the knot tight, and so terribly realistic was his action that for
+the moment I saw above his knee the contorted mouth and protruding eyes
+of his suddenly strangled victim.
+
+"There was horror in my gaze now, but only calm professional pride in
+his, as he flung back the still looped and knotted kerchief on to the
+carpet.
+
+"'Yes, I am a strangler,' he said calmly, 'as are all the thugs, born to
+become stranglers, and taught how to use the roomal in early youth by
+their own fathers' hands.'
+
+"Of strangling as a means of murder I of course knew, and, indeed,
+during the years of my magistracy, I had heard vague rumours of robbers
+habitually resorting to this method of dispatching their victims rather
+than to clubs or swords. But such appalling dexterity as this man
+displayed in the handling of an innocent-looking silken scarf I had
+never imagined.
+
+"'You look dismayed,' commented the miscreant, no longer a madman now to
+my thinking, but a very dangerous character indeed. 'I am not surprised.
+Now prepare yourself for a story that will freeze the very marrow in
+your bones. Know that I am from Daibul, the city by the sea where great
+Mother Indus flows into the black waters. There for six months of the
+year, just before and during the season of the monsoon, I live
+peacefully in my home, doing no wrong to my fellows, in the eyes of all
+my neighbours a man of wealth and respectability, who goes periodically
+to his own country to draw rents from his lands. Little do my friends
+know that when I do travel it is to worship Bowani by sacrificing to her
+other travellers on the road. She gives us the omen to kill and we obey
+her. Once the omen has been declared, it would be sacrilege not to kill
+her destined victim.'
+
+"'And you rob them too?' I asked discreetly.
+
+"'Oh, naturally. But that is a mere incident. We kill those marked for
+death by our divine Kali, and she freely bestows on us the wealth of her
+victims. But we never kill to rob. That would be truly abominable. We
+kill only in honour of Kali, of Bowani, the all-mighty, great Mother of
+the Universe. For to her devout worshippers, the thugs, did she not give
+one of her teeth for a pickaxe, a rib for a knife, and the hem of her
+lower garment for a noose? So we strangle in her service, and with every
+victim the act becomes more and more a delight to the soul.' As he
+spoke, his muscular fingers and wrists automatically went through the
+motions of tying and drawing the fatal noose. 'Once a man has become a
+thug, he will remain a thug all the rest of his days. Even if he come to
+possess the wealth of the world, he will continue to serve Bowani.'
+
+"I had regained my momentarily disturbed composure, and was studying the
+face of the man before me. It was a fine face, clear-cut, that of a
+clean liver, unmarked by sensuality, unharmed by wine, keen of
+intelligence, resolute of will. I could no longer deem him a madman. But
+I saw I had to do with one so filled with fanaticism that he could look
+upon murder as religion, plan it without misgiving, execute it without
+pity, and remember it without remorse. But now there had occurred
+something so to upset his mental balance that he feared the wrath of his
+own goddess and fancied he heard her threatening voice in the air.
+
+"'You have journeyed to Delhi from Daibul?' I asked, prompting him to
+resume his story.
+
+"'Yes, we were six thugs at the start, with fifteen others, merchants
+and pilgrims, all of us agreeing to journey together for greater
+protection on the road. As we proceeded day by day more travellers
+joined us, some peaceful voyagers, the others thugs to a man. Of the
+latter several were our own inveiglers, who had gone on in advance to
+gain the confidence of likely victims and delay them until our coming.
+The rest were strangers to us, yet none the less thugs. For we had left
+signs on the road telling such as could read them that more help was
+needed and in what direction we were moving; and, although those who
+responded to this call were in varied disguises, one, perhaps, coming up
+to us as a petty chief with a mounted escort, another as a merchant with
+a bullock cart to draw his packages of goods and a servant in
+attendance, yet another as a juggler or a musician, we could instantly
+recognize them as belonging to our brotherhood of Bowani by the secret
+signals with which they introduced themselves.
+
+"'So we fared onward, increasing our numbers until our caravan was full
+one hundred strong. We walked or rode together, ate together, worshipped
+at the wayside shrines together, chatted and amused ourselves at night
+around the camp fire, slept side by side, thugs and our intended
+victims, until our strength should be sufficient and a suitable place
+for the final deed attained.
+
+"'At last these two requirements were satisfied. We were now three to
+one, just the proper proportion--a strangler to use the roomal, a holder
+of legs, and a holder of arms, three thugs for each man to be
+sacrificed, so that there could be no mistake, no outcry for help, no
+possibility of escape for our victims. And one day's journey ahead, as
+we knew well from previous experience, there was a lonely gorge densely
+grown with jungle. Here the sacrifice to Bowani would be consummated, so
+the grave-choosers and the grave-diggers were sent on in advance. We
+acted now with the certainty of good fortune, for day by day every omen
+had continued to be propitious, as interpreted by the movements and
+cries of beasts and birds.'
+
+"The man's story fell on my ears in an even flow. He spoke without
+emotion. I feared to interrupt with a single word, lest any untoward
+comment from me should put an abrupt end to the appalling confession. So
+I just listened while I chewed my betel-nut.
+
+"'On the succeeding night,' continued the thug, 'we reached the nullah.
+The camp fire was lighted the bullocks and riding ponies were placed
+within the circle formed of the carts, for the gorge beneath us was full
+of wild beasts, and we had even heard the roar of a tiger disturbed from
+his hunting. The bales and boxes of merchandise had been piled up in
+heaps, close to where each of the owners would sleep, some on the open
+ground, some in tents erected by their servants. The evening meal had
+been cooked and eaten. The half-moon had risen, and at a little distance
+from the fire a troupe of musicians was performing--zithers were
+playing, cymbals clanking, tum-tums beating. From the peculiar rhythm of
+the drums, which all we thugs knew well, we were made aware that the
+appointed hour had come.
+
+"'Our leader stood in the midst of the gathering, ostensibly warming his
+hands at the blaze of the fire. Gradually and naturally we took our
+appointed places, many of them customarily taken before this night so as
+to excite no suspicion at the final moment. And little did the destined
+victims of Bowani dream that behind each of them now was an accomplished
+strangler, with the roomal ready to his hands, while on either side
+squatted a holder of legs and a holder of arms.
+
+"'Then there happened a thing that will explain, O kadi, why I have come
+to you this day to tell my story. I am an adept in my craft, and
+therefore was one of those entrusted to use the roomal. My particular
+victim was a comely youth, perhaps seventeen years of age--son of a
+landowner, he had told me in confidence, travelling with a bag of gold
+mohurs for his father. This lad had been in my close companionship
+during the journey, and he had come to show great affection for me. I
+liked him well, but there was no pity in my heart, for it is good to die
+in honour of Bowani.
+
+"'At last came the signal of death--the jhirnee we call it. Our leader
+raised aloft his right hand, and said aloud so that all could hear the
+agreed-upon words: "The moon shines bright to-night." This was our
+command to act, and in an instant every appointed victim was in the
+death throes. Five minutes later all were dead--four-and-thirty of
+them--and not one faintest cry of alarm or of agony had been uttered.
+Thus skilfully had our work been done. When all was over, the musicians
+were still playing their stringed instruments and hand-drums, softly now
+after a great volume of sound that would have overwhelmed any chance
+scream of terror.
+
+"'But in the very act of strangling, a dreadful revelation had come to
+me. Just before the signal was given the lad had turned his countenance
+toward me, and his eyes were looking into mine. In his fixed regard, as
+I realized later, there was the glow of love. But this was transformed
+of an instant into affrighted horror, as my hand at his ear gave the
+noose the deft and fatal twist. In the space of a single heart-beat, I
+saw incredulity change to the realization of sudden death, the first
+wild appeal for pity turn into rigid despair. But this momentary flash
+of revelation had shown me something else. It was a maid into whose
+soul I had gazed. I had put to death a woman.'
+
+"Now for the first time in his narrative did the strangler betray
+emotion. Bending forward, he raised a hand to shield his quivering
+features from my scrutiny. I turned away, that he might the better
+recover himself. After a little time he resumed:
+
+"'Oh, the horror of it!' he cried, uplifting haggard eyes to mine. 'The
+frightful crime against Bowani! To have killed one of her own sex! For a
+thug there is no crime in all the world to equal this one. Too late I
+realized what I had done. But in my first impulse of fear I resolved to
+keep the dread secret to myself. With my own hands I rifled the body,
+and laid the spoil of gold and other valuables on the cotton cloth
+outspread in the moonlight for the reception of such gifts to the
+goddess. I removed the outer garments, robes of cost, silken, and
+heavily wrought with gold. Then, when the grave-diggers emerged from the
+nullah to show us the places of burial prepared, one for each victim, in
+my own arms I carried the body down into the darkness, laid it in its
+narrow bed, filled in the sand, and heaped on top the stones already
+gathered together in a pile, so that hyenas or jackals should not
+disturb the grave, finally covering all with brushwood cut and ready,
+that even the signs of recent excavation should be hidden from prying
+eyes and the sacrifice to Bowani disclosed to none besides her votaries.
+
+"'I kept my secret--the terrible knowledge that a woman had died at our
+hands. By the morning dawn the spoil had been divided, and our
+cavalcade, smaller now by nearly one-third, moved on. At the first
+cross-roads we split up into several groups, and later on into smaller
+parties still, so as to divert attention from us. And thus have I come
+on to Delhi, only I and one other member of that body of thugs,
+dispersed to assemble again as the omens of the goddess should direct.
+At Delhi we two await another gathering of thugs. But meanwhile my heavy
+secret has weighed upon my soul. I have heard incessantly, these last
+few days and nights, Bowani denouncing me as false to her because I have
+taken the life of a woman in her name, and bidding me hand over all the
+thugs to the justice of Akbar. Therefore have I come first to you, O
+kadi, one of the judges of Akbar.'
+
+"I looked steadily at the man. Methought I saw once more the furtive,
+shifty eyes of the maniac.
+
+"'What proof have you of this story?' I asked.
+
+"'Take some sowars, and ride back with me three days' journey. There
+will I show you the graves of these last victims, and of some hundreds
+of others buried on previous occasions in the same gorge.'
+
+"'Where is your companion--your brother thug?'
+
+"'He has a shop at the corner of the Chota Bazaar and Dhurmtola. There
+he is now selling his merchandise.'
+
+"'But that is the shop of Kubar Bux. He dwells here in Delhi.'
+
+"'Kubar Bux is his name.'
+
+"'He is a well-known and respected merchant.'
+
+"'None the less is he a thug,' answered the informer, with what I took
+to be a vindictive little smile.
+
+"Then once again did a new thought leap into my mind. This man might
+have a feud with Kubar Bux, and peradventure he had merely invented the
+story of thugs and wholesale murder for the latter's undoing. I know
+well the wily ways of some men--how they will even imperil their own
+lives to compass the ruin of an enemy.
+
+"'If I go with you now,' I said, 'to the shop of Kubar Bux, what proof
+will you give me of his connexion with this story of thuggee?'
+
+"'On his person he carries the sacred pickaxe of Bowani, which makes him
+our leader when thugs come together. And hidden in one of his bales of
+silk you will find a case of jewelled rings that actually belonged to
+another Delhi merchant, who was of the party of travellers that recently
+perished, on his way home from a visit to Baroda. You will but have to
+inquire as to this same merchant's disappearance, and get his relatives
+to identify the casket as the dead man's property.'
+
+"'That, indeed, will be proof,' I assented. 'Come, let us go to the
+Chota Bazaar.'
+
+"As we passed out of the courthouse, I signalled to two sepoys on guard
+there to follow us.
+
+"Keeping close to the denouncer, I allowed him to lead me through the
+narrow crowded streets. Soon we were at the corner where was the shop of
+Kubar Bux, and there amidst his bales of merchandise the man himself
+was seated, a venerable and dignified figure. Yet at sight of me and my
+companion I thought an ashen pallor stole into the nut-brown of his
+complexion.
+
+"As I stood with the informer in front of the tiny shop, which was too
+small for all of us to enter, the two soldiers closed up behind us. Then
+unmistakably did Kubar Bux turn grey from trepidation.
+
+"'Kubar Bux,' I began, without ceremony, for I saw that a crowd would
+soon be gathering, 'open the bale of silk among your merchandise in
+which a casket of jewels is hidden, or I shall order your shop to be
+searched by the sepoys I have brought here with me.'
+
+"The merchant rose to his feet. I noticed now, further back in the shop,
+another figure seated--that of a man who, on our entry, had drawn his
+garments around him so as to conceal his face. But to him at the moment
+I gave no particular attention. My eyes were on Kubar Bux. He moved
+toward a pile of fabrics, silks and embroidered cloths, as if to comply
+with my demand. He pressed against the bales, and then all of a sudden
+sank down upon the floor in a huddled heap. Then I saw the crimson stain
+of blood upon the merchandise.
+
+"I sprang forward. Driven up to the very hilt, in the breast of Kubar
+Bux was a dagger. He was not quite dead, and I heard him with his last
+breath murmur the words: 'Bowani, great goddess, all hail!' Then with a
+rattle in his throat he died.
+
+"I had gathered the dying man in my arms, and now beneath the flowing
+garments, laid flat against the breast, I could feel the shape of
+something fashioned like a small pickaxe.
+
+"When I saw that Kubar Bux was indeed dead, I drew forth this implement.
+It was carefully swathed in white cloths, a pickaxe bright from the
+hammer of the smith who had forged it, unsullied by earthy stain but
+curiously marked from the head to the point by seven discs of red paint,
+showing it to be an object of worship at an altar rather than for actual
+use in the ground. But at this stage I did not pause further to
+investigate, and hastily replaced the wrappings.
+
+"'Keep close guard on this man,' I said to the sepoys, pointing to the
+informer. But he whom I would thus hold safe remained standing
+impassively, making no attempt to escape.
+
+"Then with a push of my hands I tumbled down the pile of bales. In the
+one next to the bottom was a protuberance, and from this I drew forth a
+casket of silver, delicately chased and inlaid with ivory.
+
+"By this time a throng of passers-by had stopped outside the shop, and
+some had even crowded into the little place. But these I now ordered
+out. Then I turned to seek the man who had been Kubar Bux's companion at
+the moment of our coming. He was no longer there. The shop was
+tenantless--except for myself and the dead man.
+
+"I need tell but little more. The silver box was identified by several
+people as the property of Govind Chung, a jewel-seller in the Bara
+Bazaar, who had made a recent journey to the court of the Rajah of
+Baroda, but had not yet returned home, although for some time expected.
+
+"That night the paint-bedaubed pickaxe, sacred emblem of Kali's worship,
+lay on the table in my sleeping chamber. But in the morning it had
+disappeared--gone how and where no one has ever discovered. The informer
+had been confined in the public prison, guarded by two sepoys. Thither,
+on discovering my loss, I straightway repaired.
+
+"The soldiers were still on guard in the corridor; nothing had happened
+during the night to disturb their watch.
+
+"But within his cell the informer was found dead--strangled, eyes and
+tongue protruding from blackened face, the twisted knot under his ear
+tied in the very manner I had seen him himself tie it over his upraised
+knee on the afternoon of his confession.
+
+"That is the end of my story."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The narrator of the grim tale folded his hands across his breast, bowed
+his head, and thus remained in an attitude of meditation. There was an
+interval of silence.
+
+"Who murdered the informer?" at last asked the astrologer.
+
+"We never learned," replied the magistrate.
+
+"Was he strangled with his own silken scarf?"
+
+"No. A plain cotton loin-cloth had been used for the deed. It had never
+been worn or washed. It must thus have come straight from some shop in
+the bazaars. But scores of the same kind are bought and sold every day.
+We could discover nothing from this, the only clue the murderer had left
+behind him."
+
+"The assassin must have been the mysterious individual you saw in the
+rear of the shop of Kubar Bux," commented the Afghan general. "Himself a
+member of the thug fraternity, he no doubt took swift vengeance on the
+informer for having betrayed its secrets."
+
+"As I believed then, and believe now. But the whole affair remained a
+puzzle. For how was access gained to the locked and guarded prison cell,
+and to my sleeping chamber as well whence the sacred pickaxe was
+stolen?"
+
+"Well, who can be certain even of his associates or followers? According
+to the miscreant's own story, there are thugs all around, knowing each
+other but not known to us."
+
+"Can such things be?" asked the merchant, his eyes showing the fear and
+horror that had smitten him. "Many times have I travelled in company
+with just such a promiscuously gathered crowd as the strangler
+described."
+
+"You have been in luck," laughed the Afghan.
+
+"Doubtless on those occasions the omens proved unpropitious for the
+final deed. A jackal crossing the road or the hoot of an owl at midnight
+may have spared your life, my friend."
+
+With a shudder, the trader drew his white garments more closely around
+him.
+
+"Well," remarked the magistrate, "for my own part, ever from that day
+when I heard the story of thugs and thuggee I have exercised the
+precaution of never travelling a single mile on the road with strangers,
+however fair-spoken. Although I have never again met anyone whom I could
+positively accuse of such practices, that the evil exists in our midst,
+and is widely spread, I am convinced. For a religion that provides a
+rich livelihood, while at the same time exalting the attendant crime
+into positive virtue is at least convenient enough to have many ardent
+devotees." The words were accompanied by a glance around the listening
+group, and a disdainful half-smile that expressed distrust of all
+humanity.
+
+"But of a truth," he went on, "I know no more than my story has told.
+And hark! There is the trumpet call that heralds the coming of the sun."
+
+Saying this, the kotwal uncrossed his legs and rose erect.
+
+The long winding note of a horn was floating from the camp of the
+soldiery near the city gateway, and in a moment there came from the same
+direction the confused sound of men's voices afar off, calling the one
+to the other.
+
+"I must away," exclaimed the Afghan, springing alertly to his feet, and
+buckling his sword belt. Three or four servants of the Rajput chief had
+approached, and were gathering together the cushions and rugs on which
+he had been reclining. One of them placed in his master's hand the
+bejewelled hilt of his scimitar.
+
+"This for my enemies and the enemies of Akbar," cried the Rajput,
+drawing the curved blade half way from its scabbard. "But I would not
+soil it with the heart's blood of a thug. For him the gibbet, and the
+crows to pick out his eyes."
+
+Just then the first lance-tips of the dawn flashed above the horizon,
+gilding the domes and minarets of the marble city. Away in the distance
+could be heard the wailing cry of a muezzin calling the faithful to
+prayer.
+
+Other members of the party had now arisen, each intent on his own
+affairs, one arranging his garments, another settling his turban
+straight on his head, the hakeem adjusting the little box of instruments
+and simples he carried at his girdle, the Moslem astrologer spreading
+his prayer carpet at the end of the veranda and prostrating himself in
+the direction of Mecca.
+
+Only the fakir had remained motionless; but now he gathered up in his
+hands his wooden begging-bowl, and held it forth, crying, "Ram, Ram," in
+the plaintive whine of his profession. But there was none to pay heed to
+his untimely importunity. Indeed, the Bombay merchant, when the cry
+smote his ears, started uneasily, and in descending the steps gave the
+lean, ash-bedaubed figure of the ascetic the widest berth possible.
+
+"Who can tell a thug from a honest man?" he asked of the magistrate in
+passing.
+
+"Who indeed can tell?" came the reply, in measured tone and with an
+enigmatic smile.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And a minute later all had gone their several ways.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes: Normalized punctuation and quotes
+Left one instance of fore-ordained and one of foreordained
+Page 26: Changed access to excess (Printer's error)
+Page 30: Changed four-and twenty to four-and-twenty (Printer's error)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of Destiny, by Edmund Mitchell
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+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Tales Of Destiny, by Edmund Mitchell.
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of Destiny, by Edmund Mitchell
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Tales of Destiny
+
+Author: Edmund Mitchell
+
+Release Date: August 10, 2006 [EBook #19017]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF DESTINY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by R. Cedron, Joseph R. Hauser and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+<h1>TALES OF<br />
+DESTINY</h1>
+
+<p><br /><br /></p>
+
+<h3>By<br />
+EDMUND MITCHELL</h3>
+
+<p><br /><br /></p>
+
+<h3>LONDON<br />
+CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LTD<br />
+1913</h3>
+
+<p><br /><br /></p>
+
+<h6>COPYRIGHT, 1912,<br />
+UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,<br />
+BY<br />
+EDMUND MITCHELL</h6>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="CONTENTS">
+  <tr>
+    <td align='right'></td>
+    <td align='left'><a href='#INTRODUCTION'/>Introduction</td>
+    <td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align='right'>Chap. I.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+    <td align='left'><a href='#I_THE_MAID_OF_JHALNAGOR'/>The Maid of Jhalnagor. Told by the Rajput Chief</td>
+    <td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;5</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align='right'>II.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+    <td align='left'><a href='#II_THE_HOLLOW_COLUMN'/>The Hollow Column. Told by the Tax-Collector</td>
+    <td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;19</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align='right'>III.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+    <td align='left'><a href='#III_WHAT_THE_STARS_ORDAINED'/>What the Stars ordained. Told by the Astrologer</td>
+    <td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;35</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align='right'>IV.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+    <td align='left'><a href='#IV_THE_SPIRIT_WAIL'/>The Spirit Wail. Told by the Merchant</td>
+    <td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;60</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align='right'>V.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+    <td align='left'><a href='#V_THE_BLUE_DIAMONDS'/>The Blue Diamonds. Told by the Fakir</td>
+    <td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;101</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align='right'>VI.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+    <td align='left'><a href='#VI_THE_TIGER_OF_THE_PATHANS'/>The Tiger of the Pathans. Told by the Afghan General</td>
+    <td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;128</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align='right'>VII.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+    <td align='left'><a href='#VII_HER_MOTHER_LOVE'/>Her Mother Love. Told by the Physician</td>
+    <td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;146</td></tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align='right'>VIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>
+    <td align='left'><a href='#VIII_THE_SACRED_PICKAXE'/>The Sacred Pickaxe. Told by the Magistrate.</td>
+    <td align='right'>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;170</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<p><br /></p>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h1>TALES OF DESTINY</h1>
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg&nbsp;1]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2>
+
+
+<p>Just without one of the massive bastioned gates of the city of
+Fathpur-Sikri there stood in the year 1580 a caravanserai that afforded
+accommodation for man and beast. Here would alight travellers drawn by
+the calls of homage, by business, or by curiosity to the famous Town of
+Victory, built, as the inscription over the gateway told, by "His
+Majesty, King of Kings, Heaven of the Court, Shadow of God, Jalal-ad-din
+Mohammed Akbar Padishah."</p>
+
+<p>At the time of our story Akbar was at the zenith of his glory. He had
+moved his court from Agra, the capital of his predecessors on the throne
+of the Moguls, after having raised for himself, on the spot where the
+birth of a son had been promised him by a hermit saint, this superb new
+city of Fathpur-Sikri, seven miles in circumference, walled and guarded
+by strong forts at its seven gateways. Emperor and nobles had vied with
+each other in erecting palaces of stately design and exquisite finish of
+adornment. A beautiful mosque commemorated the good deeds of the saint,
+and provided a place of prayer for those of the Moslem faith. In the
+palace of the Emperor was a magnificent audience hall, with marble
+columns and stone-carved galleries, in the centre of which stood the
+throne of gold sprinkled with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds, surrounded
+by a silver rail<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg&nbsp;2]</a></span>ing, and covered by a canopy of rich crimson brocade.
+In this audience hall the great and good Akbar was wont to receive not
+only his subjects, rich and poor, the former assembled to pay their
+court, the latter to lay their grievances before the Imperial judge; but
+he also extended welcome to strangers from afar. On the question of
+religion his mind was at this period in a state of change, for he had
+broken from the strict faith of the Moslem, had publicly announced that
+there was good in all beliefs, had overthrown ceremonial rules, whether
+of Islam or of Hinduism, and had proclaimed all things lawful except
+excess. His thoughts thus drifting toward a new religion, a divine faith
+that would bring into one fold the votaries of all religions, he was
+glad at his court to give audience to learned doctors from distant lands
+as well as from every part of India. All were welcome&mdash;Brahmins and
+Buddhists, Moslem schoolmen, Hindu fanatics, pantheists, the worshippers
+of fire, the Jews whose prophets are Abraham and Moses, even Christian
+padres from far-off Europe. It was Akbar's delight to listen to their
+expositions and discussions, and to the defence of their varied dogmas.</p>
+
+<p>Thus did the fame of the king for tolerance, benevolence and wisdom
+become noised abroad far and wide, so that visitors flocked in
+ever-increasing numbers to the beautiful city. At our caravanserai
+without the gate there would often, in the cool of an evening, be
+gathered together on the shaded veranda a group of travellers
+representing diverse races<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg&nbsp;3]</a></span> and classes. Some of the town-dwellers, too,
+would be there, resting and refreshing themselves after their walk to
+the city walls, while from the near-by camp of the Rajputs, who formed a
+portion of the royal bodyguard, there would oftentimes stroll over a few
+men-at-arms.</p>
+
+<p>On such occasions it would generally happen that the debates recently
+listened to in the Imperial Hall of Assembly would be subjected to
+comment. And from discussion of this kind the conversation would quite
+frequently change to story-telling, dear to the hearts of all natives of
+Hindustan, and by no means to be despised, for in a good story there may
+be implanted the kernel of a sound philosophy.</p>
+
+<p>On a summer night in the year named eight men were assembled on the
+veranda of the caravanserai. The full moon had just risen above a tope
+of tamarind trees, and its silvern radiance revealed every detail of the
+scene. A Rajput chief occupied the place of central prominence, cushions
+arranged for his convenience, on one of which rested his scimitar, the
+emblem of his soldierly profession. Not far from him, in a
+half-reclining posture, was a general of the Afghans, also of the
+bodyguard of the Emperor. A hakeem, or physician, and an astrologer,
+both in the Moslem style of dress, were seated close together, legs
+crossed beneath them; while a little apart were two Hindus, as the caste
+marks on their foreheads showed, a tax-collector from the country and a
+kotwal, or city magistrate. Just above the steps leading on to the
+veranda, surrounded by his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg&nbsp;4]</a></span> bales of merchandise, sat a merchant from
+Bombay, a big and stalwart man, attired in spotless white raiment, on
+his head a voluminous muslin turban. In striking contrast, squatting on
+the ground below the steps, at his feet a wooden begging bowl, was a
+fakir, or religious ascetic, a loin cloth his sole covering, his face
+bedaubed with ashes, his lean chin resting on his upraised knees while
+he listened to the dialogue and watched each speaker's face with eyes of
+keen alertness.</p>
+
+<p>There had been some desultory conversation, which finally resulted in
+the Rajput chief being begged to relate in detail an experience at which
+he had previously hinted. The first story led to another story, and the
+third to yet another, and so on, until each member of the company had
+contributed to the general entertainment. And these are the tales that
+were told by the travellers on the veranda of the caravanserai outside
+the walls of Fathpur-Sikri that moonlight night in the days of the
+mighty Akbar:</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg&nbsp;5]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="I_THE_MAID_OF_JHALNAGOR" id="I_THE_MAID_OF_JHALNAGOR"></a>I. THE MAID OF JHALNAGOR</h2>
+
+<h2>TOLD BY THE RAJPUT CHIEF</h2>
+
+
+<p>Well, since you would have it so, listen to the story of Rukpur Singh,
+hereditary chief of Jhalnagor, mansabdar of five hundred men, captain of
+the bodyguard of Akbar the Great, King of Kings, Lord of the Earth.</p>
+
+<p>"This day in the Hall of Assembly, in the presence of the great Padishah
+himself, we have listened to the arguments of men of diverse faiths. It
+is well. As Akbar, the Most High, himself has said, all religions are
+good; each man has the god or gods of his fathers; let there be no
+obstacle placed against worshipping the divine power in any manner that
+seemeth fit. That is both wisdom and justice. That is why I, a Hindu, a
+Rajput, one of the twice born, can serve my lord, the Moslem Emperor
+Akbar, with loyalty of heart and of sword that no man may question."</p>
+
+<p>At these words the captain of the bodyguard touched the jewelled hilt of
+his scimitar lying on the cushion by his side. He glanced around, as if
+to see whether anyone present dared to question the fidelity he had
+professed. But there was neither movement nor remark among his
+listeners, and with a disdainful little smile of self-complacency he
+resumed.</p>
+
+<p>"During to-day's discussion, in the spirit of tolerance that Akbar<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg&nbsp;6]</a></span>
+teaches to all of us, we Rajputs have had to harken to severe
+upbraiding. We are accused of inhumanity because in our homes a female
+child may be done away with at birth, lawfully and without dishonour. Be
+it so; the fact itself I shall not dispute. Nor shall I defend the
+practice except to point out that a woman more or less in the world does
+not matter, that the babe suffers no pain and knows no ill, that had she
+lived it might have been to a life of widowhood&mdash;if courage were wanting
+to choose the suttee&mdash;and therefore to long days of shame and sorrow.</p>
+
+<p>"Furthermore, has it to be remembered that the marriage of one of our
+daughters costs much money. According to the rules of our caste and the
+customs of our race, the ceremony must be worthy of the parents and of
+the position they occupy; all of the district must be feasted, and let
+the expense be grievous as it may it must be borne. To some who are rich
+the money thus spent is of no account. But to others who are poor yet
+proud&mdash;and all Rajputs are proud&mdash;a wedding that is seemly for a
+daughter of the house may mean poverty and ruin for the father and
+brothers during twenty years to follow. In certain circumstances this
+misfortune cannot be thought of. The honour of the race, the very safety
+of a whole clan, may depend on rigid economy as a provision against
+danger. So it may be both right and wise for an infant daughter to be
+put painlessly to her death. Such was the doctrine my father taught me,
+and his name is blessed."</p>
+
+<p>The speaker dropped his eyes, folded his hands across his breast, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg&nbsp;7]</a></span>
+for a full minute remained in silent meditation. When at last he looked
+up again, there had come over the usually stern and haughty face a
+wonderful glow of kindliness, and his voice took a softer modulation.</p>
+
+<p>"However, know this, my friends, that in my zenana at Jhalnagor there
+are little girls&mdash;three, and more will be welcome should the divine
+Krishna send them. Three little daughters have I, all born of my wife
+Lakmibai, the jewel of Jhalnagor. With sons also am I blessed&mdash;two brave
+little boys, of whom I may well be proud. But I love them not more than
+my daughters, nor would I change any one daughter for a son. This do I
+say out of the truth of my heart, and in no wise because fortune has
+been kind to me and mine, and has given us such prosperity that there is
+a fit dower for each daughter without my treasury knowing the loss.</p>
+
+<p>"So when the learned mullah from Stamboul denounced infanticide, I was
+one with him in sympathy, for my inclination is to cherish with love and
+care every female child the gods send.</p>
+
+<p>"Now would you hear how a Rajput came to this manner of thinking? My
+story is that of a little maid. Listen. It happened just five years gone
+by.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"Under the firm and just rule of our master Akbar there has been peace
+for many years in our part of the world. Except when, as now, I come to
+Fathpur-Sikri for my yearly month of service in providing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg&nbsp;8]</a></span> part of the
+Emperor's bodyguard, I live quietly among my own people. The soil around
+our villages is tilled, our shopkeepers buy and sell, we worship in our
+temples, and we are happy, for no enemy comes to disturb the peace of
+our beautiful little valley of Jhalnagor embosomed among the hills.</p>
+
+<p>"One day it befell that I had gone on a hunting trip with a party of my
+friends. In the early dawn we had descended from the fort on the hill
+top which is my home and the rallying-place for my clan&mdash;a small clan,
+numbering but a few thousands, but nobly born as any tribe in Rajputana,
+brave and of honour unsullied, men who have never yet given a daughter
+to the harem of a Moslem."</p>
+
+<p>The features of the Rajput flashed with pride. His brother-at-arms, the
+Afghan, met the defiant look, and said, with a quiet smile:</p>
+
+<p>"There are many Rajput women wed to Moslem lords."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but not Rajput women of Jhalnagor. They would have died
+first&mdash;many of them did so prefer to die when the Moslem host first
+swept over our land. In the hour of defeat, against overwhelming
+numbers, within the citadel of Jhalnagor the women of my race, refusing
+to accept dishonour, bared their bosoms to the spears of those they
+loved, husbands, brothers, and fathers, and so they died."</p>
+
+<p>With hands outstretched and eyes upraised in rapt pride and reverence
+for the deeds of his ancestors, again the Rajput fell into momentary
+silence.</p>
+
+<p>"The story of the little maid." It was the voice of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg&nbsp;9]</a></span> the physician
+recalling the narrator to his task.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, the story of the little maid," resumed the Rajput. "As I have
+said, we had gone to the hunt one morning&mdash;a party of twelve, riding on
+three elephants. For we were in pursuit of a tiger, a destroyer of men,
+which the villagers had marked down in a patch of jungle by the river
+side. Of the hunt I need say nothing; we killed the tiger, and, with the
+huge, striped body slung across the neck of my elephant, we were
+returning home. It was toward evening, for we had rested in the forest
+during the heat of the day.</p>
+
+<p>"We were just entering the narrow gorge that leads to the fort on the
+hill, when, right on the pathway before me, I saw the prone figure of a
+child. Almost my elephant's feet were upon it before the sage brute
+himself stopped and trumpeted a warning to us in the howdah, for, the
+tiger's body occupying the place where the mahout was wont to ride, the
+latter was walking, and he, too, had not noticed the tiny bundle of
+bright yellow clothing lying on the road.</p>
+
+<p>"Glancing down, I beheld a little girl with her forehead touching the
+dust. At my calling she arose, and spread her hands across her breast.</p>
+
+<p>"'Listen, O chief, to my warning, listen, O my lord,' she called out in
+a shrill tone of supplication. Already had I observed that her face was
+one of great beauty, although that of just a little child, but six or
+seven years old.</p>
+
+<p>"The other two elephants had halted behind mine,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg&nbsp;10]</a></span> and some of the party
+had descended. But at the approach of these men the maid shrank away,
+and, keeping her eyes fixed in my direction, she continued to address
+me:</p>
+
+<p>"'Listen to my words, O chief, and be saved from death.'</p>
+
+<p>"In another moment I had sprung to the ground. As I advanced the child
+ran toward me, absolutely fearless. Taking her in my arms, I sat me down
+by the roadside. Close to my breast she nestled, and, with sobs and
+tears now, told me her story.</p>
+
+<p>"A robber band was in the nullah&mdash;less than a mile further along&mdash;full a
+hundred strong, fierce men and murderers. For they had already slain the
+father and the mother of the little maid, humble woodcutters. I had
+known them well; they were poor, but of mine own people, and instantly
+in my heart I vowed that I would be avenged.</p>
+
+<p>"The little girl, Brenda her name, as she told me in her childish way of
+confidence, had hidden in the brushwood all day, trembling and afraid.
+But at last she divined that the men had come to slay me, for as the
+afternoon advanced they disposed themselves among bushes and behind
+trees, also in the hut of her dead parents. And even now were the
+assassins in waiting for me, for the girl had seen our party ride forth
+in the early morning, and she knew that I had not yet returned.</p>
+
+<p>"When, with wonderful intuition for a child so tender in years, the
+thought came to her mind that I was to be assailed, she stole down the
+gorge, moving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg&nbsp;11]</a></span> cautiously through the undergrowth, and awaited at the
+spot we found her to give me warning.</p>
+
+<p>"The child had described to me the leader of the gang, and I had
+immediately recognized Gunesh Tanti, accursed son of a pig, a robber
+from across the desert of Sindh, who had more than once ravaged peaceful
+villages of Rajputana. He would know that I had treasure in the fort,
+and of an instant I could read his wily plan. Moving through the
+country, he had doubtless heard a day or two before of this projected
+expedition of mine for the killing of the man-eating tiger. So he had
+designed to slay me on my homeward way, and, the deed accomplished,
+would rely on gaining access to the citadel by loading his ruffians into
+the howdahs of my elephants. Once over the drawbridge and within the
+portcullised gateway, his murderous scheme might have been easy, for my
+score of men-at-arms on duty would have been taken by surprise and so at
+a disadvantage.</p>
+
+<p>"But knowing now the danger, I laughed in my beard, for Gunesh Tanti,
+this human tiger and slayer of innocent men, just as had been the tiger
+now slung across the back of my elephant, was fairly delivered into my
+hand. He who had come to trap me was himself entrapped. And thanks all
+to this little maid of the glen! At the thought, I patted her soft cheek
+with my hand, and in response she smiled up into my eyes with wondrous
+trust and winsomeness.</p>
+
+<p>"Our party, as I have said, numbered twelve, this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg&nbsp;12]</a></span> without counting the
+three mahouts, lithe and active men, and brave as any one of us. The
+neck of the gorge was narrow, and for a hundred yards on either side
+there were steep precipices down which rocks could be tumbled on fleeing
+men. By a goat path over the hillside the fort could be reached by one
+sure of foot and knowing the way. Such a lad was of our party, a cousin
+of my own, who could race with the deer.</p>
+
+<p>"In a few minutes he had girded his loins and was on his mission,
+disappearing over the crest of the almost perpendicular crag up which he
+had clambered. He was to warn the garrison, turn out every man and boy
+fully armed, and bid them to sweep down on the ambushed robbers. The
+mothers and the maidens would hold the fort. No other garrison, when
+once on the alert, was needed for such an enemy."</p>
+
+<p>Again the Rajput smiled proudly, but the silence of intent listening was
+unbroken, and he continued:</p>
+
+<p>"The firing of a matchlock was to be our signal that my men held the
+upper end of the pass, and were descending on our enemies. Meanwhile, my
+immediate followers prepared the rocks above the narrow neck of the
+defile and got them ready for instant rolling down. To this last task
+four of our number were deputed. The others abided with me. Our plan was
+to block the narrow passage by ranging the elephants abreast of each
+other, and, so that the animals themselves might not be stampeded by the
+unexpected din of battle, we chained their forelegs,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg&nbsp;13]</a></span> first each animal
+separately, and then the middle one to his comrades on either side.</p>
+
+<p>"At last all our preparations were completed, the huge beasts in line,
+my companions mounted into the howdahs. I alone remained on foot, I and
+the little woodcutters' daughter, standing by my side, holding
+trustfully to my hand, and no longer weeping.</p>
+
+<p>"'You must come with me, my almond-sweet,' I said, as I raised the child
+in my arms, and passed her up into the howdah of my own elephant, the
+central one. Then I myself clambered aloft. The tiger's corpse had been
+flung to the ground, and our three mahouts sat in their proper places,
+iron goads in hand, ready to perform their task of keeping the elephants
+under control.</p>
+
+<p>"At last, after a tense period of waiting, the welcome report of the
+matchlock reverberated from among the hills.</p>
+
+<p>"The fight does not really concern my story," said the Rajput, grimly.
+"It is sufficient to say that Gunesh Tanti and all his band perished to
+a man&mdash;some slain by the swords of my horsemen charging down the pass,
+some crushed by the falling rocks, some of the last survivors, who flung
+themselves desperately against our living barrier, dying on our
+handpikes or being trampled under foot by the elephants. Not one of more
+than five score men lived to carry back the tale of death to the robber
+haunts whence they had come.</p>
+
+<p>"On our side some lives were lost, seven in all; but this is the penalty
+that brave men have to pay in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg&nbsp;14]</a></span> doing of righteous deeds. Their
+memory is honoured.</p>
+
+<p>"As for the little maid, I had nested her in the best-protected corner
+of the howdah, and in the thick of the fray, when a shower of arrows had
+fallen upon us, I had covered her tiny form with my shield. But during
+the final hand-to-hand fight, when all was din and turmoil with the
+shouting of the men and the angry trumpeting of the elephants, I had not
+paid her any special heed. From her lips came no sound to attract my
+attention&mdash;no cry of fear, nor wailing murmur.</p>
+
+<p>"But at the end I looked for the little child, lifting the shield that
+had partly guarded her. She met my gaze with a smile. But straightway I
+noticed that an arrow, descending almost perpendicularly, had pierced
+her soft little arm, and transfixed it to her side. Yet had she not
+cried out, nor even now, when I was tending her, did she whimper.</p>
+
+<p>"I drew forth the arrow, breaking it in twain, so as to let the shaft
+pass through the arm. Although blood flowed freely, I saw at a glance
+that the wound in the body was a mere puncture, and also that on the
+limb only a piercing of the flesh. Therefore was her hurt not serious,
+although of a certainty painful, and terrifying too for a child so
+young. But even now not one word of complaining did she utter. She kept
+her sweet smile on me. Brave little maid!</p>
+
+<p>"Tearing a length of cambric from my turban, I had bound both arm and
+tender breast, and readjusted the sari of yellow-dyed cotton that formed
+her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg&nbsp;15]</a></span> simple garment. And now she reposed, happy and contented, in my
+arms. I remained in the howdah, while my companions cut off the heads of
+the robbers, and loaded these trophies of victory on one of the other
+elephants, so that a triumphal pile might be made in the courtyard of
+the citadel. Then, with the tiger replaced on the neck of my own
+elephant, we moved for home, a group of fifty horsemen now forming our
+escort. The headless bodies of our enemies were left as fitting spoil
+for the jackals and the vultures, the latter of whom, scenting the
+carrion, were already beginning to drop down, it might seem, from the
+blue vault of heaven.</p>
+
+<p>"By the time we gained the fortress the dusk was gathering. Across the
+drawbridge, promptly lowered at the sound of our joyful shouting, I saw
+my wife standing beside the big carronade that commanded the roadway up
+the hill. The smoking match was in her hand, but at sight of me she
+stooped and smothered in the dust the spark that would have dealt out
+death to the robbers had they ever gained a near approach. Descending
+from my elephant, I greeted her and thanked her for the courage of
+herself and all the other women, our loved ones.</p>
+
+<p>"Then my friends above handed down gently into my arms the form of the
+little maid. At sight of my wife's sweet and kindly countenance the eyes
+of the child were lighted with joyousness. But with a quick motion wife
+drew her veil completely over her features. Ere this was done, however,
+I had caught a strange look in her face&mdash;a look of mingled sur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg&nbsp;16]</a></span>prise and
+terror. At the same moment her old attendant and confidant, Rakaya,
+flung herself at my feet, and began to babble for my forgiveness.</p>
+
+<p>"'What means this?' I asked, glancing in profound amazement from the
+woman's prostrate form up into my wife's eyes. There again I read the
+strangely troubled expression. Puzzled, yet restraining my curiosity
+before the others gathered around, I placed the wounded child in my
+wife's arms, and, with a gesture to signify that she and Rakaya were to
+follow, I led the way to the women's quarters.</p>
+
+<p>"Once within the zenana, I told my story briefly: how the little damsel
+of the glen had saved me from certain death, and then, through danger
+and through pain, had been brave as the noblest-born Rajput maid could
+be. After this recital, I commended the child to my wife's affections,
+bidding her love the orphan as she would a daughter.</p>
+
+<p>"Then was the lovely countenance of my wife, the jewel of Jhalnagor,
+suffused with great joy. Hugging the child to her motherly bosom, she
+exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"'Oh, my lord, I have a confession to make, but now you will forgive me.
+Do you remember our first-born babe?'</p>
+
+<p>"My brow darkened. I felt the hot flush of shame on my cheeks. For our
+first-born had been a girl, and I&mdash;disappointed and aggrieved, because I
+was then strongly under the influence of my father's teachings, proud of
+my family's position and wealth, and fearful to be impoverished in the
+future&mdash;had given the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg&nbsp;17]</a></span> word that the babe must die. This in spite of my
+wife's pitiful tears and pleadings. And it was not the memory of the
+deed itself that made me now ashamed, but the memory of those tears and
+of how I had repelled her. Through the intervening years I had tried
+never to think of this painful episode, and, with two little boys
+playing at my knee, had well nigh forgotten the first child that had
+come. Mention of the dead and buried past now made me resentful.</p>
+
+<p>"'Why do you speak thus?' I asked, angrily.</p>
+
+<p>"'Because, my lord,' exclaimed my wife, dropping on her knees at my
+feet, yet with the little child still pressed to her breast, and drawing
+me down to her with her free hand, so that we were all three close
+together, 'because, oh, my lord, in our arms now this very moment is our
+first-born, our daughter. We spared her, Rakaya and I; we bribed Runjit,
+who is now dead, and to whom you gave the terrible orders, and Rakaya
+smuggled the babe safe away to the cottage of the woodcutters. Since
+then I have managed to see her sometimes by stealth, and have loved her;
+but I have never dared to clothe her in any but humble garments&mdash;no
+silks, no bangles, no jewels of any kind&mdash;lest suspicion should be
+aroused.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Oh, great master, forgive your humble slave,' moaned the old crone,
+Rakaya, grovelling in a corner of the room.</p>
+
+<p>"But to my wife only I paid heed. 'Can this be?' I murmured, surprised
+and deeply moved.</p>
+
+<p>"'She is our very own, our little girl.' And back into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg&nbsp;18]</a></span> my arms she
+placed the child, whose tresses I straightway fell to fondling, as her
+sweet, trustful eyes looked up into mine, beaming with love as if she
+had indeed long before divined in her heart that I was her father and
+her natural protector.</p>
+
+<p>"'And, oh, my dear lord,' continued my wife, her eyes brimming with
+tears, 'thou knowest now it was to save thee that, in the mysterious
+workings of fate, this little child was saved.'"</p>
+
+<p>The Rajput paused in his story, bending his head to hide the emotion
+that caused his lips to tremble. "A month later," he went on, softly, "a
+little sister was born to Brenda, and only last year a third daughter
+came to our home. And all, as I have said, are well beloved."</p>
+
+<p>The speaker's face was now upraised. The soldierly sternness had gone
+out of it: it shone only with paternal pride and love as he added:</p>
+
+<p>"To-day Brenda, our first-born, is the light of my home, and a year
+hence she will be married to the Rajah of Jodhpur, to make the heart of
+that great and noble prince of the Rajputs happy for ever-more."</p>
+
+<p>And so ended the Rajput's tale.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>There was silence for a time, broken at last by the voice of the
+ash-besprinkled devotee:</p>
+
+<p>"Allahu akbar! God is great! Over many things he gives his servants
+power."</p>
+
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;'/>
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg&nbsp;19]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="II_THE_HOLLOW_COLUMN" id="II_THE_HOLLOW_COLUMN"></a>II. THE HOLLOW COLUMN</h2>
+
+<h2>TOLD BY THE TAX-COLLECTOR</h2>
+
+
+<p>"Every man's fate is fore-ordained," said the tax-collector,
+reflectively stroking his beard. "Although we may not understand it at
+the moment each particular event that happens is simply a means prepared
+for some destined end that may be many years remote in time. Vishnu the
+Preserver saved the life of the little maid of Jhalnagor so that her
+father's life might later on be saved. But none can read the future, so
+that we are all blindly doing the things of to-day without knowing their
+real bearing on the things of a far-away to-morrow. And one man can make
+or mar the happiness of another man, even though their lives be
+separated by hundreds of leagues in space or hundreds of years in time."</p>
+
+<p>"In your mind doubtless is some tale to illustrate the truth of what you
+teach," remarked the astrologer, with a shrewd uplifting of his
+eyebrows. "The stars can help us to read the future, as I can prove to
+you by a story of actual experience. But before I proceed to my
+narrative, pray, friend, let us hear from you."</p>
+
+<p>"Gladly," assented the tax-collector. "The story of this noble Rajput
+has brought to memory an incident in my own life many years ago,
+likewise serving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg&nbsp;20]</a></span> to show that the gods prepare long years ahead for the
+working out of each particular man's destiny. Listen:</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"As a youth I was a keeper of accounts in the service of a rich
+zemindar, whose estate lay in the Country of the Five Rivers. He was a
+usurer as well as a landowner, as had been his fathers before him for
+many generations. So in his castle was an accumulation of great stores
+of wealth&mdash;gold and silver and precious stones, cloth of gold, silks,
+brocades, and muslins, ivory and amber, camphor, spices, dye stuffs, and
+other merchandise of divers kinds."</p>
+
+<p>The Afghan general stirred, and the scabbard of his sword rattled on the
+floor as, raising himself from his elbow that rested on a cushion, he
+sat up and assumed an attitude of keen attention.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is this place?" he asked, a wolfish gleam in his eyes, and his
+lips curved to a smile that revealed, under the black, curled moustache,
+the white gleam of sharp-pointed teeth.</p>
+
+<p>The story-teller also smiled, knowingly, and raised a deprecatory hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, friend, this zemindar, my first master, was not fated to be
+relieved of his treasure, as my story will tell, even though a skilful
+plot had been laid for his spoliation. Which is the very point of my
+tale, although I may seem to come to it by a roundabout way of telling."</p>
+
+<p>The Afghan sank back on his cushion, but his gaze remained riveted on
+his narrator's face.</p>
+
+<p>"One day I was seated in my home, casting up my books of account, for I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg&nbsp;21]</a></span>
+had only that morning completed the taking of taxes from the crops of
+the rayats, the tenants of my lord. All of a sudden a white-robed figure
+entered the doorway and threw himself prostrate before me. When at last
+the face was raised I recognized the dhobi of the village that nestled
+under the hill on which was perched the castle of the zemindar.</p>
+
+<p>"'O thou washer of clothes,' I asked, 'what is thy plaint?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Protector of the poor,' replied my visitor, 'behold my bandaged feet,
+beaten with rods until they are swollen and torn.'</p>
+
+<p>"I looked, as requested, and saw the blood-stains soaked through the
+wrappings of linen.</p>
+
+<p>"'Thou art an honest and a peaceful man, Bhagwan. Why this cruel
+punishment?'</p>
+
+<p>"'I know not, indeed. But I have come to thee, because I have endured
+the wrong at the hands of thy master.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Tell me thy story.'</p>
+
+<p>"'As you have said, O my protector,' began the dhobi, assuming a sitting
+posture and spreading the folds of his loose-flowing cotton garment over
+his bandaged feet, 'I am an honest man. And it is for that very reason I
+have suffered. Yesterday, among the apparel I received from the home of
+the zemindar to be made clean and white was the bodice of a woman, and
+tied in one corner of this piece of raiment was a ring set with bright
+red stones that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg&nbsp;22]</a></span> gleamed as if they were aflame. Straightway I returned
+to the palace of the zemindar, and, entering the audience chamber where,
+as is his wont at that particular hour each day, he was seated receiving
+the complaints of the oppressed, did my humble obeisance, and then
+placed in his hand the jewel I had discovered. He asked me where I had
+found it, and when I replied truthfully, his eyes flashed with anger,
+and his voice thundered at me in rebuke. Although I had done no wrong,
+but rather a virtuous deed, I implored for pardon. But in vain. My mind
+grew confused, and the next thing I remember was the sharp cut of bamboo
+rods upon the soles of my feet. I was in a small vaulted chamber, bound
+to a wooden bench, surrounded by the zemindar's soldiers, and powerless
+except to scream out in the agony of each blow. Thirty strokes were
+counted, and then I was flung out of the gates of the castle, to limp my
+way home.'</p>
+
+<p>"Tears of self-pity were in the dhobi's eyes as he recounted his tale of
+woe. Even then I was reflecting on the real cause of the zemindar's
+wrath. The jewel had been discovered in the folds of a garment worn by
+one of the women in his zenana, and his quick access of anger showed
+that the gift had come from some other hand than his. Savage jealousy,
+therefore, had prompted the act of injustice inflicted upon the
+unfortunate washerman. I knew my master so well his sullen moods, his
+outbursts of passion, that already I could arrive at this conclusion
+with certainty.</p>
+
+<p>"'Proceed,' I said, indifferently, for it is well that a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg&nbsp;23]</a></span> man should
+keep his own counsel in such delicate affairs. 'What is my concern with
+your misfortune?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Harken, O dispenser of bounties! Last night when I lay nursing my
+wounds, I remembered that the ring which had proved the cause of my
+misery had been wrapped in a fragment of paper whereon were some strange
+marks and lines as in the books of learned men. This I had flung away,
+at that time deeming only the ring to be of any consequence. But the
+thought came to me in the night that perhaps the paper might tell
+something about the ring. So all this day have I searched among the
+bushes by the stream where I beat the clothes on stones and wash them.
+And behold, I have found that for which I have been seeking.'</p>
+
+<p>"Hereupon the dhobi loosened the loin cloth beneath his upper garment,
+and extracted from its folds a tiny roll of paper. This he presented to
+me, with a bow of deference to my superior understanding of such things.</p>
+
+<p>"'This time I have come to you,' he said, 'a man of learning and of
+justice, not like unto the cruel zemindar. Does the paper tell why I
+should have suffered such shame and pain at his hands?'</p>
+
+<p>"I had unrolled the scroll, the folds of which showed that it had served
+as a wrapping for the ring. The writing was in neat Persian characters,
+and I had no difficulty in deciphering it, for the four lines that met
+my eyes had been recited to me only a few days before by the very man
+who claimed to be their author.</p>
+
+<p>"Now did my very heart tremble with agitation.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg&nbsp;24]</a></span> But to the dhobi I
+appeared cold as the waters of the snows that melt on the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>"'This writing would only add to your troubles,' I said. 'Here, let me
+destroy it.' And, turning to the red ashes burning in a brazier near at
+hand, I dexterously substituted a fragment of paper, on which I had been
+figuring my accounts, for the paper received, from the dhobi, placing
+the former on the glowing charcoal embers and bestowing the latter in
+the security of my girdle. A curl of white smoke, a puff of flame, and
+the work of destruction was, to all appearance, completed.</p>
+
+<p>"'In view of your misfortune, my friend,' I resumed, 'I bestow upon you
+in the name of my master ten maunds of dal, which will be sent to your
+home on the morrow.'</p>
+
+<p>"The recipient of this unexpected bounty prostrated himself before me.</p>
+
+<p>"'O prince of justice, no longer do my wounds pain me. The bellies of my
+children will be filled for many long days to come.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Then go thy way, rejoicing in thy heart even though limping on thy
+feet. And remember that silence is golden. Say not one word more to
+anyone about the ring or the paper, your punishment or the reward that
+has now redressed the wrong. Go in peace.'</p>
+
+<p>"And the dhobi, after profuse expressions of gratitude, hobbled from my
+presence.</p>
+
+<p>"Alone with my thoughts, I felt sorely troubled. The writer of the
+verses of ardent poetry written on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg&nbsp;25]</a></span> the paper brought to me by the
+washerman was my cherished friend, a youth from far-away Bokhara, Abdul
+by name. This young man had come to our country only a year or so
+before, bringing several beautiful Arab horses for sale. These the
+zemindar had purchased, and had retained Abdul in his service, for the
+youth was skilled in the management of horses, and in the rearing of
+young stock.</p>
+
+<p>"Abdul and myself were much of an age, and my regulation of expenditures
+in the stables had brought us constantly together. So a close friendship
+had resulted, valued greatly on my side, for I had soon come to know
+that Abdul was a man of refinement and learning such as I had never
+before encountered in any man of so humble a calling. And despite the
+fact that he was a Moslem and I a Hindu, he had chosen me as his
+intimate friend, his only confidant. Thus had it come about that at
+times he had read to me of an evening songs of his own composing, and
+even on occasion had sung them to the accompaniment of a small harp, the
+strings of which he touched with wondrous skill and sensibility.</p>
+
+<p>"Now did I know that this dear friend of mine had endangered not only
+his well-being but his life, by sending into the zenana of our master,
+the zemindar, a love token and a love message for one of the women
+dwelling there.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus ran the fateful lines, written after the style of the famous
+Persian poet, Omar the Tent-Maker, which I now read again on the paper
+withdrawn from my girdle:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">This ring, O idol mine, tells one is here</span><br /><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg&nbsp;26]</a></span>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">To bring thee joy, to kiss away the tear.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Keep in thy heart the ruby fire of love;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">The hour of thy deliverance is near.</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"And, after reading, I felt thankful that the message had not fallen
+into the hands of the zemindar, else had the intriguer's identity been
+quickly determined and his fate as quickly sealed.</p>
+
+<p>"Yet the lines breathed the spirit of honourable love, and my heart was
+stirred to aid my friend in his daring enterprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Patiently during the afternoon I waited, cogitating the while, and
+counting the chances. At last about an hour before sunset Abdul came to
+me with his usual gay smile and happy greeting.</p>
+
+<p>"He read trouble in my look, for straightway he asked of me:</p>
+
+<p>"'What is wrong? What matters have gone amiss?'</p>
+
+<p>"I motioned him to sit by my side, and then without more ado told him of
+the evil turn that had befallen the dhobi, and showed him the quatrain
+of verses.</p>
+
+<p>"'These you wrote?' I questioned.</p>
+
+<p>"'With my own hand,' he answered, gravely, but without excess of fear.</p>
+
+<p>"'And the ring with the flaming red gems?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Was her mother's own ring. Zuleika would know it in an instant.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Zuleika&mdash;who is she?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Listen, my brother, for fate points that to thee should I give my
+fullest confidence. Zuleika is a maid<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg&nbsp;27]</a></span> of the Turkmans, betrothed to me.
+But a year ago, when gathering flowers in our valley, she was stolen by
+roving freebooters. And, true to my love, I have followed her here, to
+the home of the zemindar, your master, who purchased her from the
+marauders.'</p>
+
+<p>"'How came you to know that she was here?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Never mind. I am a man of resource and observation, and I tracked the
+maid. Moreover, gold opens the gates of confidence, and of this I have
+goodly store.' As he spoke, he touched a pouch that hung from his
+girdle, 'For I am not, as I may have seemed to you, a mere dealer in
+horses, but the son of a great chief in my own land.'</p>
+
+<p>"He had drawn himself up proudly, and I bowed my head, in homage as well
+as in acquiescence. For the news did not surprise me, and in a friend of
+such noble bearing and high attainments I was well content to recognize
+an overlord.</p>
+
+<p>"More did he tell me&mdash;about a grass-cutter in the stables who had ridden
+with the robbers, and knew where the captive had been disposed; and
+about a dancing girl who had carried the ring into the zenana, and
+brought forth Zuleika's answer in return, telling that she was well,
+that she was destined as the bride of the zemindar's eldest son, but
+that she would resist all advances until rescued by her lover, the pearl
+of her heart, now thrice dear because he had followed her so faithfully
+and so far.</p>
+
+<p>"Abdul, fearful of danger to Zuleika because of the discovery of the
+ring, was for instant action&mdash;the hiring of bravoes, and a bold attack
+on the zemindar's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg&nbsp;28]</a></span> person, taking him unawares, carrying him off and
+holding him to ransom, deliverance of the captive maid of the Turkmans
+being the price of his freedom.</p>
+
+<p>"But I had more subtle counsel to offer. For by foreordaining of
+Providence there rested in my breast certain knowledge, the real use of
+which was only now being revealed.</p>
+
+<p>"'Harken to me, Abdul,' I said, 'and I shall show you a way out of your
+difficulties&mdash;a way, too, that will lead to the attainment of your
+heart's desire. Send out to-night relays of horses along the northern
+road, and reserve for your own use the fleetest and strongest steed in
+the zemindar's stables. To-morrow morning early the dancing girl will
+carry a message to Zuleika, bidding her to watch and wait for you near
+the door in the women's quarters that leads to the treasure room of the
+zemindar.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Of a surety you jest at me,' interposed Abdul. 'How can I gain access
+either to zenana or to treasure chamber?'</p>
+
+<p>"'All will presently be made clear. At the appointed place Zuleika must
+await your coming, to-morrow during the hour of the zemindar's public
+audience. Him shall I engage in business matters while you carry off
+your beloved. In this you cannot fail, for God, the Lord of the
+Universe, pitying and helping you, has long years ago prepared the
+precise means for the accomplishment of your purpose.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Still do you speak in riddles, friend.'</p>
+
+<p>"Nay; listen, Abdul, and though you, a follower of Mohammed, may think
+of me as an idol-worshipping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg&nbsp;29]</a></span> Hindu, you will yet see that the same
+supreme spirit rules both our destinies, making me the instrument of
+your happiness, because of certain knowledge which I possess. There is a
+secret which my father entrusted to me before he died, bidding me to
+guard it jealously until occasion for its application might arise. And
+behold now the appointed hour has come.'</p>
+
+<p>"'You know the council chamber of our lord, the zemindar, with its
+three-and-thirty columns of white marble. These are massive, seeming to
+have been hewn out of single pieces of rock&mdash;base, pillar, and capital
+all in one, each column in its entirety a single piece of quarried
+stone. But learn that this is not so, for these monoliths are in reality
+artificially made, having been fashioned by clever workers from the
+Coromandel country, who brought with them here supplies of a certain
+hard white stone, which they first roasted to a great heat, and then
+ground to the fineness of flour, finally compounding this material with
+other things, and constructing therefrom the columns of marble you now
+behold.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Indeed have I marvelled at their size,' commented Abdul, 'and wondered
+how such mighty blocks of hewn stone could have been obtained or set in
+place.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Well, you learn now that they were not quarried but moulded. This work
+was done in the time of my father, when he was treasurer in the service
+of the zemindar, then a young man. Now, know that the architect of the
+zemindar's palace was a dishonest knave, for he contrived that one of
+the three-and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg&nbsp;30]</a></span>-thirty columns of marble should be hollow, and fitted
+inside with steps or holding places of iron, so that a lissom man might
+ascend and gain access to the treasure chamber above. This he confided
+to my father, seeking to gain him as a confederate in systematically
+robbing their master. But my father had a heart of gold and a hand of
+steel, for he slew the would-be thief after disdainfully rejecting his
+base proposal. Yet did he keep locked up in his own breast exclusively,
+knowledge of the hollow marble column, and of the sliding sections that
+gave access to it both above and below. For knowledge is power, he
+argued, and no man should squander such power any more than he would
+squander wealth. The destined time would come for the use of the
+knowledge, and it was in this faith that, just before he died, he
+confided the secret to me, his successor in the office of treasurer.</p>
+
+<p>"'And with me unto this day the secret has remained. But now at last the
+workings of fate are disclosed. How old art thou, Abdul?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Four-and-twenty summers,' he replied.</p>
+
+<p>"'Well, a full score years before you were born God so contrived that
+there should be a means for you to rescue the pearl of your heart, and
+escape, both of you, back to your own country. Go now and arrange the
+relays of horses, as I have directed, and when to-morrow's sun has
+risen, send by the hand of the dancing girl the message to your
+betrothed within the zenana, bidding her to be prepared. An hour before
+the zemindar's noontide council I will meet you, and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg&nbsp;31]</a></span> conducting you to
+the vaults below the assembly hall with its three-and-thirty columns of
+marble, will show you that particular column which, by the touching of a
+hidden spring, will open a passage way whereby you can climb to the
+zemindar's treasury. The door of that chamber you can open on the
+inside, simply by pushing back the wooden bolt which serves as a lock
+and answers only to a key on the other side. Let the maid be waiting
+there at the appointed time for your coming. Now go, brother of my soul,
+and make your preparations. Then sleep, for sleep is the best surety of
+success when wakefulness and courage come to be required.'</p>
+
+<p>"Next day shortly after the hour of noon, the zemindar was seated in
+council. He was a big stout man, having waxed fat with age and
+prosperity. His beard descended to his waist like the moss on an old
+tree, and, above, his moon-like face surveyed complacently the circle of
+courtiers, soldiers, and retainers. Petitions had been presented,
+judgments had been spoken, and affairs of the day had been discussed,
+and we, the few close counsellors who tarried, were only awaiting the
+raised hand that would have bidden us go our several ways.</p>
+
+<p>"'Where is Abdul?' of a sudden asked the zemindar, casting a glance of
+inquiry around.</p>
+
+<p>"'He has been smitten with a fever, my lord,' I answered, taking upon my
+shoulders the burden of excuse, and telling no falsehood, for surely
+love is the fiercest burning fever of all.</p>
+
+<p>"'Ah, ha!' muttered the zemindar, in a guttural<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg&nbsp;32]</a></span> note of disappointment.
+And there and then I saw him toying with a ruby ring, not worn upon one
+of his fingers, but held lightly between his two hands.</p>
+
+<p>"'Does anyone here know aught of this bauble?' he added, raising the gem
+aloft.</p>
+
+<p>"There were glances of inquiry from all around, then bows and gestures
+and murmurs of disavowal. I alone remained irresponsive, for at that
+very moment every fibre of my being was strained to nervous rigidity. My
+senses were preternaturally at work. The marble column against which I
+was leaning with seeming carelessness, vibrated under my hand. Within
+its circular depths I could see Abdul descending stealthily and slowly,
+his one free arm pressing a silken bundle to his breast. Even to my
+nostrils there was wafted the fragrance of attar of roses, and with the
+exhalations of perfume came a gentle sigh of timidity almost at my very
+ear.</p>
+
+<p>"I was moistening my parched lips with my tongue, when I awoke from my
+momentary trance. The zemindar's eyes were blazing down at me.</p>
+
+<p>"'Villain, this ring is yours!' he cried, struggling to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"'Not mine, my lord,' I protested, flinging myself at full length before
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"But at that very moment there rang forth the sharp tattoo of a horse's
+hoofs on the paved courtyard without, followed by the sharp challenge of
+a sentry, the bang of a matchlock, and then a very babel of excited
+yelling.</p>
+
+<p>"Every one in the audience hall swept outside, even<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg&nbsp;33]</a></span> the zemindar, his
+dignity all forgotten. Left alone, with swift consciousness of the
+suspicion that had fastened itself upon me, and of my powerlessness to
+deny connivance with the escape of my friend, I gathered myself up and
+fled by a side passage to a ghat on the river. Here I had a boat
+prepared for just the emergency that had happened, and because of this
+happy foresight I am enabled to-day, after more than two score of years,
+to tell the tale."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"And the zemindar?" asked the Afghan soldier.</p>
+
+<p>"Dead long since."</p>
+
+<p>"The hollow marble column?" pressed the interlocutor.</p>
+
+<p>"Its secret remained unrevealed," replied the tax-collector. "Trusty
+friends told me later that the flight of Abdul on a fiery stallion, with
+a female figure clinging to him on the saddle behind, ever remained a
+mystery. So the youth had had the presence of mind to close the sliding
+panels above and below."</p>
+
+<p>"He escaped? He lived?" queried the Rajput.</p>
+
+<p>"Assuredly," came the quiet reply. "I have never seen nor heard from
+Abdul from that day to this. But as destiny had provided, long years
+before the actual event, a means for the accomplishment of his
+happiness, I have ever rested content in the belief that all was well
+with him&mdash;that all is well with him even yet perhaps&mdash;with him and his
+beloved in the valley of far-away Bokhara."</p>
+
+<p>"I should like to find that hollow column," muttered the Afghan.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg&nbsp;34]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"As I have said, the column was contrived for love and not for rapine,
+my friend. Should the white stone from Coromandel that can be cunningly
+wrought into marble ever cross your fate, be on your guard lest the omen
+mean, not the gaining of a fortune, but the making of a tomb."</p>
+
+<p>The Afghan smiled, half disdainfully, half uneasily, and silence reigned
+for a spell.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg&nbsp;35]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="III_WHAT_THE_STARS_ORDAINED" id="III_WHAT_THE_STARS_ORDAINED"></a>III. WHAT THE STARS ORDAINED</h2>
+
+<h2>TOLD BY THE ASTROLOGER</h2>
+
+
+<p>"And now, master star-gazer, your proffered story," said the
+tax-collector, bestirring the company from its meditative mood.</p>
+
+<p>"As I have promised," responded the astrologer, "I shall recount an
+experience that shows how the stars, if read aright, can tell us the
+influences for good or for evil that weigh upon a man and inevitably
+determine his destiny at the critical moments of his life. What is
+written is written, and it is impossible to strive against fate."</p>
+
+<p>"Nay," objected the Rajput, "that is a teaching of helplessness to which
+I cannot subscribe&mdash;the pitiful excuse of the coward who folds his hands
+in the hour of danger, or of the self-indulgent weakling who yields to
+seductive temptation because his heart inclines to seize the pleasure of
+the moment even when his conscience counsels otherwise. I hold that man
+is the master of his own fate. Most assuredly have I been the master of
+mine," he added with a proud smile, his fingers closing significantly on
+the handle of a dagger at his belt.</p>
+
+<p>"Be it so," answered the astrologer. "But as Allah knows everything that
+is to happen, so must it happen."</p>
+
+<p>"Which does not forbid the exercise of my own free will," argued the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg&nbsp;36]</a></span>
+Rajput. "The Supreme Being, the presiding power of creation, call him
+Allah if you will, understanding my heart as he understands all things,
+knows beforehand what choice of action I shall make at the moment of an
+emergency. But that still leaves me responsible for the deed which I
+elect to do. Such is my understanding of destiny. It gives
+fore-knowledge to God, but leaves free will to man."</p>
+
+<p>"From all of which I do not dissent," rejoined the astrologer. "It is
+only the ignorant or the base that makes kismet the excuse for
+helplessness or for wrongdoing. But as the stars under which a man is
+born influence that man's acts, then does the reading of the stars guide
+us as to what the future has in store."</p>
+
+<p>"I know little about your stars," replied the Rajput. "But let us have
+the story," he added, crossing his hands on his knees in an attitude of
+expectancy. The astrologer, saluting his audience generally with a bow
+of acquiescence, thus began:</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"By your courtesy let me first explain, as necessary to the
+understanding of the tale which is to follow, that I am from Persia,
+from the city of Teheran, where for many generations my ancestors were
+profound students of astrology, some of them famous men because of their
+skilful divinations, with reputations that reached even to Stamboul. For
+thither in my early boyhood to the court of the Sultan of the Osmanlis
+was my father summoned, and him I never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg&nbsp;37]</a></span> beheld again. It was from my
+aged grandfather that I learned my first lessons in astrology&mdash;about the
+twelve houses, the ruling star of each day, the coming and the going of
+the planets, their conjunctions and oppositions, and the influences they
+exercise on men's lives. I learned with avidity, and was an apt pupil,
+for at fifteen I had begun the practice of my profession, casting
+horoscopes and reading the nocturnal heavens with constant care,
+understanding also the flight of birds and the cries of wild beasts of
+the jungle.</p>
+
+<p>"Yet at that time was my mind assailed with grievous doubts. I often
+caught myself wondering whether the stars did really rule the fates of
+men. And with this inward questioning a restless spirit grew upon me. I
+longed to see more of the world&mdash;to enlarge the sphere of my
+observations. Just then I chanced to hear some gossip in the bazaars
+about a great expedition that was getting ready at Kabul to descend upon
+Hindustan. The hunger of adventure seized me, and was not to be denied.
+Despite the tears and implorings of my family, I set forth on foot for
+Afghanistan, a stripling; in my hand the staff I used in my divinations,
+in the bag slung at my side a single change of raiment. Money I had
+none, but my ability to read the stars I knew well would earn me a
+livelihood wherever I might wander.</p>
+
+<p>"With my adventures during the next two years this story has no concern.
+It is enough to say that, after many vicissitudes of fortune, I found
+myself installed as astrologer in the court of a Moslem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg&nbsp;38]</a></span> prince,
+sovereign over an extensive region in Kashmir.</p>
+
+<p>"My lord was a man of noble heart and of high mental gifts. He ruled
+over his people not by fear of the sword, but by absolute justice, which
+he himself personally administered, every day holding audience so that
+grievances, even those of the most poor, might be heard and wrongs
+redressed. And his royal duties were shared by his wife, who, although
+she might sit behind the screen of the women's quarters, none the less
+shared in the counsels of state, and contributed words of wisdom in the
+direction of affairs.</p>
+
+<p>"Never in my experience have I encountered such mutual love, trust, and
+devotion as subsisted between this pair. For no other woman in the world
+had Mirza Shah thought or regard or desire&mdash;I call him Mirza Shah, but
+that was not his real name. For reasons that will presently appear, I
+refrain from disclosing the identity of places and persons connected
+with my story.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it was my privilege from the outset to be on relations of close
+intimacy with my master. He used to come through the palace gardens to
+the shrub-embowered tower which I occupied, and from the roof of which I
+nightly contemplated the heavens. For long hours he would abide with me,
+learning something of the stars while enjoying the cool of the night air
+after the heat and fatigues of the day. And many times of an afternoon
+the sultana, veiled, would come with her lord, and together they would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg&nbsp;39]</a></span>
+seek to gain from me knowledge of the heavenly bodies and of divination.
+Some things I told to them, but others I withheld, which is just and
+right, for skill in astrology is hereditary, descending from father to
+son, and new minds are unprepared for such teachings, so that too much
+knowledge conveyed to outsiders may become a source of disturbance to
+themselves and perchance of danger and hurt to their fellow men. Thus,
+following the rules laid down for me by my grandfather, always, even
+when closely pressed with questions, did I exercise a discreet reserve.</p>
+
+<p>"Gradually the friendship accorded to me by my lord and his lady waxed
+stronger, and I found myself being admitted to some of their innermost
+thoughts. Thus did I come to learn the passionate longing of the wife to
+become a mother: for six years had she waited, but no child had blessed
+her love for her husband. As for Mirza Shah, just so soon as the subject
+was mentioned I could see the cloud of melancholy rest on his brow. And
+when, as time went on, sadness seemed to settle upon him continuously, I
+knew full well that this disappointment in his wedded life had at last
+taken complete possession of his mind, to the exclusion of all other
+matters.</p>
+
+<p>"And from the sultana's manner I could see the trepidation that filled
+her heart&mdash;the dread that her childlessness might in the end rob her of
+her husband's love. It was not given to me to look upon her face&mdash;to get
+more than a glimpse of her eyes as they shot an occasional glance at me
+through the parted folds<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg&nbsp;40]</a></span> of her veil. But in these glances I had read
+the prayers of entreaty that I should use all the spells of my art in
+her favour, so as to obtain for her from God the gift of a son.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, after a time an unexpected thing happened. Mirza Shah was absent
+from his home&mdash;gone on a full week's journey, engaged in the settling of
+some dispute on the confines of his territory. To me there came one
+afternoon the sultana, attended by one of her women&mdash;the most trusted
+one, I knew, for both were from the same country, near to Amritsar,
+where the famous rugs are woven. So much I had learned, and this further
+I also knew, that by birth the sultana was a Hindu, although on being
+wed to her lord as a little girl, she had of course embraced the true
+faith of Islam, in so far as it matters for a woman to have any religion
+at all.</p>
+
+<p>"It was the female attendant who spoke to me, her mistress listening in
+silence. But the questions came so readily that it was clear the lesson
+had been well rehearsed by the twain.</p>
+
+<p>"'Astrologer,' she began, 'can you swear on the Koran that the stars
+speak truth?'</p>
+
+<p>"'That I can swear,' I replied, with due dignity and respect for myself
+and my profession.</p>
+
+<p>"'Can the stars bring about the wishes of man or of woman?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Nay, that I do not declare. They rule the lives of men and women only
+in so far as their movements forecast the future. If we can read the
+stars aright, we may gain foreknowledge of events destined to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg&nbsp;41]</a></span> happen.
+For what is written in the scroll of fate cannot be changed. From kismet
+there is no escape."</p>
+
+<p>"'Then tell me this, O astrologer, from your stars: is my noble lady
+here ever going to have a child, a son?'</p>
+
+<p>"'That question I cannot answer. Unless I have the horoscope of her
+highness, cast by skilled hands at the time of her birth, I cannot tell
+which planet rules her destiny.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Alas, we knew not these things among my people down in Amritsar,' I
+heard my lady murmur.</p>
+
+<p>"'Bah!' exclaimed the serving woman contemptuously. She had flung open
+her veil, unashamed as are women of her station that I, not her brother
+or her husband, should gaze upon her face. It was a pleasant enough face
+of a woman of five-and-twenty years of age; yet, methought, as I looked
+into it now, that there was unseemly boldness in her eye and even
+something of wanton abandonment in her manner.</p>
+
+<p>"'Bah! If your stars cannot get us what we wish, what good are they?
+Better pray at a Hindu shrine to Krishna, god of love revels, than waste
+time in consulting a Moslem astrologer. That is what I have said all
+along, dear lady'; and with undoubtedly great affection the woman folded
+to her breast her now sobbing mistress.</p>
+
+<p>"I turned away, as was proper, and busied myself with a chart of the
+heavens over which I had been poring when my visitors had arrived. On
+again raising my eyes, I found that I was alone.</p>
+
+<p>"This incident I had well nigh forgotten, and near a year had elapsed.
+For some months I had not seen<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg&nbsp;42]</a></span> the sultana; she remained in the strict
+seclusion of the harem. Her highness was unwell, most people said. But I
+knew the truth; Mirza Shah himself had told it to me, his face beaming
+with pride and pleasure. At last his dearest hopes were to be realized;
+the sultana was about to become a mother.</p>
+
+<p>"Meanwhile I was on the alert to cast the horoscope of the child the
+very hour it should arrive. My preparations had been all made for some
+time past. Now was I only studying the stars night by night, so that I
+should be the better prepared to read them correctly.</p>
+
+<p>"At last, almost at the midnight hour, came a messenger running to the
+tower with the news that a child had been born&mdash;a son, Allah be praised.
+Then I set me instantly to my task, and it was with deep thankfulness I
+saw that the conjunction of the planets and stars was highly favourable.
+I carefully recorded the exact position of each heavenly body, and had
+already read from my rough chart strength and valour for the boy that
+had just been born, beauty of figure, good endowments of mind, when once
+again I lifted my eyes to the heavens. But to my horror and dismay at
+that very instant a streak of fire shot from west to east across the
+first house, straight toward the planet there ruling, where it
+disappeared. Just the fraction of a second had passed in the passing of
+that fiery star. But I knew what it meant, for my grandfather had
+instructed me in this matter. The child into whose horoscope had come
+this dread intruder was destined, if he lived beyond<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg&nbsp;43]</a></span> infancy, to slay
+his own father. And with the heaviness of lead this foreknowledge of
+destiny settled on my soul.</p>
+
+<p>"My head had sunk dejectedly on my breast, when I started up at the
+touch of a hand on my shoulder, and the greeting of a joyous voice&mdash;that
+of Mirza Shah.</p>
+
+<p>"'A son, Syed Ali, a son. Joy, joy, joy! And now, what do the stars
+say?'</p>
+
+<p>"Was it cowardice, was it pity, was it sympathy for him in his long
+deferred happiness, that prompted me to act as I did? Even at this day I
+myself cannot answer the question. Perhaps it was just unthinkingly on
+the spur of the moment that I did what I did. Without a word I thrust
+into Mirza Shah's hand the roughly completed horoscope. There was no
+note in it of the flaming star that at the last had marred the
+favourable showing.</p>
+
+<p>"Mirza Shah, under my instructions, had become skilled enough to
+interpret the general significance of such a diagram with its
+accompanying symbols.</p>
+
+<p>"'Ah, my friend,' he exclaimed in fervent delight, 'this is indeed
+excellent. He will be clever and brave and handsome, everything that a
+father could wish. Get ready the emblazoned scroll at once. Now I shall
+go. There are others to whom to tell the glad news, and to your mistress
+even now shall I try to whisper the splendid omens the stars have traced
+for us here.'</p>
+
+<p>"He tapped the rough chart with a forefinger, then handed it back to me,
+and was gone.</p>
+
+<p>"Let my story hasten on, just as the years hastened on. The boy grew up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg&nbsp;44]</a></span>
+to be a comely lad, much in my companionship, for he came to me to learn
+to read and write Persian and Arabic. But although I loved him well,
+never any single day did he come into my sight but my heart was smitten
+with self reproach. Why had I, by suppressing the truth, allowed this
+child to live even for an hour beyond the hour of his birth? The
+foreordained murderer of his good and noble father!&mdash;to my eyes the
+decree of fate was branded on the very brow of the boy.</p>
+
+<p>"Yet did I console myself and justify myself. At times I even dared to
+indulge a doubting mood as to the certainty of the celestial writing of
+fate. Could a bright, open-faced child like this one seated at my knee,
+book in hand, ever come to commit the most abominable of human
+crimes&mdash;to slay his own dearly loving father?</p>
+
+<p>"'Impossible!' I would murmur to myself, and would thus resolutely shut
+the gates of my heart to the whispering of conscience.</p>
+
+<p>"But in any case it was now too late to speak. The boy was endeared to
+his father and to his mother, the idol of both their lives. Mirza Shah
+would have gladly died, well I knew, for his son. Why then should I
+interfere? Kismet! Let destiny take its course. Even I, in withholding
+the truth, had been an instrument in the hand of fate. And had it not
+been written that I should so act? Who, indeed, but Allah can change the
+course of events?</p>
+
+<p>"By such arguments I became reconciled to abide<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg&nbsp;45]</a></span> with peace of mind the
+workings of destiny. And so years rolled on.</p>
+
+<p>"When Prince Hasan, as the lad had been named, had attained the age of
+seventeen, it befell that the Emperor Humayun, son of Baber, made a
+progress through the Kashmir Valley, receiving homage from his
+feudatories, among whom was Mirza Shah. And the magnificent retinue of
+the mighty Mogul so impressed our young prince, that he must needs beg
+the privilege of joining the imperial bodyguard. This request was
+readily granted, for Humayun was trying to gather around him the best
+young blood in Hindustan, Rajput as well as Moslem, so that each race
+alike might be keen in the defence and proud of the glory of the great
+Mogul Empire.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus it came about that Prince Hasan, superbly mounted and dressed in a
+suit of fine chain armour beneath his upper silken garments, rode forth
+from the valley where he had been reared, accompanied by the tearful
+blessings of his father and mother.</p>
+
+<p>"A year passed, and then Mirza Shah himself, summoned by special
+messenger, departed on a visit to the Court at Agra. When two months
+later he returned, never did I know such a change to have been wrought
+in so brief a time on any man. He was grey and haggard; his eyes were
+sunken. And to me he came almost first of all in the palace, to consult
+the stars.</p>
+
+<p>"And for my better guidance he told me some things. Prince Hasan had
+fallen into ways of dissipation and habits of drunkenness&mdash;most accursed
+of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg&nbsp;46]</a></span> vices&mdash;in the city of Agra. It was in the hope of reclaiming him
+that an old friend had called Mirza Shah to the capital. But at the
+meeting of father and son, instead of repentance on the part of the
+misguided youth, there had been defiance and revilement, and at last, as
+the father confessed to me, with the tremor of shame in his voice, an
+insulting blow in the face. This was too much to endure. Mirza Shah had
+disowned his son. He declared he was henceforth childless, for, perhaps
+as I have told you, there had been no other babe born all these years to
+the sultana.</p>
+
+<p>"Even now did I conceal my guilty knowledge, though well I knew that the
+inexorable scroll of destiny was beginning to unfold itself. In fact, I
+was afraid to speak, for Mirza Shah had challenged me straightway to
+show a flaw in the happy horoscope I had drawn. And flaw in the
+emblazoned scroll there was none that I could lay finger on; only in my
+secret heart was the one sinister line traced&mdash;surely traced, as I
+remorsefully reflected.</p>
+
+<p>"For months thereafter Mirza Shah kept away from me&mdash;I knew that his
+faith in the stars or in my skill to interpret them aright had been
+shaken. But I held my place and kept to the even tenor of my ways, for I
+had resolved that, if ever Prince Hasan should return home, then
+assuredly would I be on hand to warn Mirza Shah, so that, the crisis
+approaching, steps might at least be tried to avert the blow of destiny.
+Of this I was determined, even though death itself would come to me as
+the penalty of my long silence.</p>
+
+<p>"But all of a sudden the storm of impending events broke. One day there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg&nbsp;47]</a></span>
+came to Kashmir the intelligence that Prince Hasan, incensed at his
+father's just rebukes, was marching against him with a mighty host
+gathered together from the forces of his companions in revelry.
+Preparations for defence on our side were at once made, the armed men
+gathered in from the surrounding villages, and carronades mounted on the
+walls and at the gateway of the citadel, which hung on sloping ground,
+with a precipitous mountain guarding it in the rear.</p>
+
+<p>"Too true proved to be the news. One morning the army of Prince Hasan
+came into view ascending the valley, and before nightfall the
+semi-circle of ground beneath the walls of the citadel, at a distance of
+four or five hundred yards, was occupied by the hosts of our enemy.
+Among these were both horsemen and foot soldiers, also full two score of
+great elephants dragging a train of siege guns.</p>
+
+<p>"Now at last were the seals of silence broken from my lips. Without
+further delay I must tell everything to Mirza Shah. Just as the sun was
+setting I intercepted him when making a round of the walls, and begged
+of him to come with me to my tower.</p>
+
+<p>"'Later,' he said, sternly, as he passed on to complete his plans for
+repelling the assault expected at daybreak on the morrow.</p>
+
+<p>"The night was far advanced when at last my lord came to me, and, to my
+surprise, clinging to his arm, was his wife, the sultana. I placed
+cushions for her close to one of the casements, where she had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg&nbsp;48]</a></span> wont
+to sit on the occasions of her visits in days gone by. Without a word
+she sank into the place thus assigned to her.</p>
+
+<p>"But Mirza Shah strode into the centre of the little circular room, and
+took his stand right under the lamp that illuminated it.</p>
+
+<p>"'Now what have you to say, thou false astrologer?' he demanded, without
+word of prelude.</p>
+
+<p>"Then did I take my courage in both hands, and told him everything&mdash;that
+the stars had in truth revealed to me that the son was destined to be
+his father's slayer, and that in my foolish desire to give the parents
+immediate joy I had suppressed the incident of the flaming star.</p>
+
+<p>"As my narrative reached the end I watched the changes in the face of
+Mirza Shah. I had expected anger-righteous anger against my own self,
+but in place of this there came over his handsome countenance a serene
+look of happiness.</p>
+
+<p>"'I thank you, Syed Ali,' he said, 'for the service you have done me.
+Had you told me eighteen years ago what you tell me to-night, then for a
+certainty would the guilt of murder be now upon my soul. To-day I am
+indeed in sore sorrow, but, Allah be praised, there is not my own
+child's blood upon my hands.'</p>
+
+<p>"As he spoke he spread out his palms, as if in testimony of their
+stainlessness.</p>
+
+<p>"But at that moment a great burst of lamentation came from beneath the
+sultana's veil, and, in a shrill tone of agony, she began to reproach
+herself.</p>
+
+<p>"'It is I who am the cause of all this misery,' she wailed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg&nbsp;49]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Instantly Mirza Shah bent down and silenced her, then gathered her,
+almost like a bundle, into his arms.</p>
+
+<p>"'I shall return straightway,' he cried to me, as he disappeared down
+the narrow stairway.</p>
+
+<p>"Two full hours passed, however, before Mirza Shah came back. His face
+was white as marble&mdash;every feature seemed set, as the sculptor's chisel
+fixes each line of the carved stone. He spoke to me quite abruptly:</p>
+
+<p>"'Syed Ali, ask no questions, but do my bidding immediately. Yours will
+be a dangerous task, but it is right that you, who have so long
+concealed the truth from me, should be called upon to take the risk. The
+successful accomplishment of your mission is the only reparation I
+require.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Most gladly will I die for you, Mirza Shah,' I murmured, kissing the
+hem of his robe.</p>
+
+<p>"'I know it,' he answered, 'and that is why I trust implicitly in you,
+relying both on your courage and on your discretion. Take this ring,' he
+went on, handing me a finger ring set with a large turquoise, 'and hide
+it among your garments. Use your best wits to evade the enemy's
+outposts. Follow the mountain path. You will get a horse from Abdulla
+Beg at the head of the gorge. Then ride night and day for Talakabad.
+There you will go to the house of a man named Gholab Khan, overlooking
+the town. You will hand to him the finger ring I have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg&nbsp;50]</a></span> just given you.
+And this you will say: 'Mirza Shah is dead. You are to come to the
+person who has sent this ring.'</p>
+
+<p>"'But my lord lives&mdash;Allah be praised! he will yet live many a long
+day.'</p>
+
+<p>"'I like not deceit, Syed Ali, but when deceit has been used, then must
+deceit reply. Carry to Gholab Khan the ring and the exact words I have
+spoken: "Mirza Shah is dead. You are to come with me to the person who
+has sent this ring. Hasten." Gholab Khan will without delay respond to
+this summons. And here will I await your return,' added my lord grimly,
+'for your stars have told me beyond all peradventure that I can hold
+this citadel until Gholab Khan arrives. Now go. Here is the key for the
+postern in the wall.'</p>
+
+<p>"I had already tied the ring into a fold of my inner garment, and,
+taking only my staff, I set forth straightway.</p>
+
+<p>"This is not a story about myself, but about Mirza Shah and his family,"
+said the astrologer, with a glance around his circle of auditors, whose
+fixed attention showed the keen interest with which they were awaiting
+the unfolding of the destiny proclaimed by the stars. "So once again
+will I pass over my adventures. The end of them all was that, ere the
+passing of a full week, I was back in my little tower, and with me was
+Gholab Khan. It was night, for we had evaded the besiegers' watchfulness
+under cover of the darkness by taking the same mountain defile by which
+I had travelled forth on my expe<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg&nbsp;51]</a></span>dition, and gaining entrance to the
+citadel by the private gateway the key of which had been entrusted to
+me.</p>
+
+<p>"I lighted the lamp in the tower, and then turned to Gholab Khan. He was
+a petty chieftain of the mountains, a handsome man of middle age,
+resolute-looking and daring. In a few words I bade him wait awhile. Then
+I stole forth to apprize Mirza Shah that my mission was achieved.</p>
+
+<p>"My lord had given orders to his attendants that he was to be
+immediately aroused, so soon as I returned, whatever the hour of the
+night might be. In a moment he strode forth from his sleeping chamber
+all ready dressed. I started back with affright, for in his hand was a
+naked sword.</p>
+
+<p>"'Fear not, Syed Ali,' he said to me. 'Where is this Gholab Khan?'</p>
+
+<p>"'In my tower,' I answered.</p>
+
+<p>"'Good,' he replied. 'Come.' And at the word his bodyguard, all with
+drawn blades, closed around their master.</p>
+
+<p>"About fifty paces from the tower he halted his men, and we two advanced
+alone.</p>
+
+<p>"I entered the building first. Close behind me, up the winding stairway,
+pressed Mirza Shah, and I had but crossed the threshold of the room when
+he thrust me aside.</p>
+
+<p>"'Surrender!' he cried, the point of his sword at Gholab Khan's neck
+before the latter could utter one word or make any movement in
+self-defence.</p>
+
+<p>"'Bind his hands,' went on my lord, his enemy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg&nbsp;52]</a></span> pinned helplessly against
+the wall. Gholab Khan dared not move, but his bulging eyes mutely
+protested.</p>
+
+<p>"I did as I was told, using a turban cloth gathered from a peg on the
+wall. Of my own accord I tied ankles as well as wrists. Then Mirza Shah
+dropped his sword.</p>
+
+<p>"'Now leave us,' he said to me. 'I wish some words with this man. Remain
+on guard below. Permit no one to intrude.'</p>
+
+<p>"Some time passed. At the base of the stairway I could hear the voices
+from above, but could distinguish no words. Then came a call from Mirza
+Shah, bidding me to ascend.</p>
+
+<p>"'Syed Ali,' he said, on my entry into the room, 'this man, Gholab Khan,
+has to-night had the choice between two alternatives, either to die here
+now at my hands, or to set forth at dawn and fight in single combat the
+leader of my beleaguering enemies. He has chosen the latter&mdash;the wise
+course.'</p>
+
+<p>"'The only course,' interpolated Gholab Khan, with a shoulder shrug of
+protest. The fellow had recovered his equanimity, and, knowing him as I
+did from our few days of travel in company, I reflected that in mortal
+combat he would be likely to give good account of himself. But there was
+no time to indulge in surmises. Mirza Shah still claimed my attention.</p>
+
+<p>"'My men will guard our guest here,' he continued. 'Food will be served
+to him.'</p>
+
+<p>"'And some wine, please,' growled Gholab Khan.</p>
+
+<p>"'Wine, too, then, if you will,' assented Mirza Shah, contemptuously,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg&nbsp;53]</a></span>
+for he never by any chance used the fermented juice of the grape
+forbidden by the Prophet, and now rendered doubly hateful to him by
+reason of his son's excesses. 'At dawn weapons will be brought to you,
+and six horses from among which you can make your choice. Meanwhile the
+challenge will have gone forth. And once again, in the presence of this
+witness, I pledge my word that if you return successful from the combat,
+Gholab Khan, having killed your man, then will you be free to return
+unscathed to your home at Talakabad, and with a lac of rupees for your
+pains.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Bismillah! I would fight any day and with any man for such a prize,'
+cried Gholab Khan, his face all aglow, showing that, despite the
+kidnapping trick played upon him, he was now well pleased.</p>
+
+<p>"'That is good,' said Mirza Shah, coldly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then he blew a shrill whistle, which straightway brought the guard
+running to the tower.</p>
+
+<p>"But my narrative must hasten. With the first morning light a messenger,
+his mission announced by the blare of trumpets, went forth from the
+citadel, daring Prince Hasan to single combat with a champion fighting
+on behalf of Mirza Shah. There came back, as we expected, an exultant
+acceptance of the challenge.</p>
+
+<p>"The sun had mounted only spear-high when Gholab Khan, armed with lance
+and sword, rode out through the gates of the citadel. For his reception
+the whole host of our enemies had been drawn up,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg&nbsp;54]</a></span> and in the middle of
+the curved line was the massed troop of some forty elephants, their
+howdahs crowded with spectators eager to witness the joust at arms.</p>
+
+<p>"From my observation tower Mirza Shah and I watched the scene. Although
+my mind was clouded with all manner of uncertainties, yet in my heart
+was a faint flutter of hope. Would this mountain fighter break the spell
+of the stars, and actually kill Prince Hasan, before the latter could
+accomplish the portended crime of dealing death to his father? I was
+torn by distracted arguments; at one moment I believed firmly as ever in
+the stars, at the next my trust was in the lance of the burly freebooter
+I had brought down with me from the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>"With bated breath I watched the combat&mdash;first the riding at full tilt;
+the thud of the galloping horses we could hear at this distance. But
+both lances were successfully parried, and a moment later the combatants
+had leaped with one impulse from horseback, and were rushing upon each
+other with swords. We saw the mirror-like flash of the blades in the
+morning sun.</p>
+
+<p>"Then next I beheld one figure go down, and, while I was yet wondering
+which of the twain had fallen, a mighty shout of triumph from the
+beleaguering army told me, alas! that it was our champion who had been
+worsted. And now a dissevered head raised high on sword-point by Prince
+Hasan told the bloody tale with final certainty. Gholab Khan was not
+only down but dead. At this display of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg&nbsp;55]</a></span> gruesome trophy of victory
+there were further frantic yells of delight from the assembled hosts
+across the valley. The sack of our citadel and town seemed now assured
+to them.</p>
+
+<p>"I just glanced at Mirza Shah. To my surprise his face wore a look of
+perfect calm, and, on meeting my eyes, there came a gleam of triumph
+into his.</p>
+
+<p>"'The stars were right,' he exclaimed, in a low, tense voice. 'Praise be
+to Allah! All is well. A base bibber of wine shall never rule over my
+people and destroy their happiness, for now that he has fulfilled his
+destiny Allah will assuredly deliver him into my hands.'</p>
+
+<p>"I was perplexed. So far from Prince Hasan's destiny having been
+fulfilled, it appeared to me that the dread tragedy foretold by the
+stars was inexorably drawing nearer and nearer&mdash;the death of Mirza Shah
+at the hands of his unworthy son, a bibber of wine, as he had
+contemptuously called him.</p>
+
+<p>"While this thought was passing through my mind, all of a sudden there
+arose another mighty tumult, this time from our side&mdash;a shout of
+astonishment, followed by cries of delight. But the roar of voices was
+quickly drowned by the thunder of mighty hoofs and the excited
+trumpeting of elephants. Turning round, I saw at a glance what had
+happened. The elephants, frightened by the first wild huzzas of victory,
+had stampeded, and were madly careering in a solid body across the
+plain.</p>
+
+<p>"Prince Hasan, as he held aloft the severed head of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg&nbsp;56]</a></span> his adversary, saw
+the oncoming danger. He made a dart for his horse, but the animal,
+terrified by the noise and confusion, leaped forward, and was gone up
+the valley like the wind.</p>
+
+<p>"The youth made no attempt to run. It would have been useless. Yes, be
+it admitted, he died like a man. Ere the elephants were upon him, he had
+folded his arms across his breast, calmly prepared to meet his doom. In
+another instant he was whirled through the air, like a straw caught up
+by a tornado; then the living, irresistible billow swept over him.</p>
+
+<p>"My eyes were still glued in frozen horror to the scene. The screaming
+of the frightened troop of elephants had receded into the distance. Out
+on the open, through a haze of dust, I saw the blot of coloured raiment
+that showed where the body of Prince Hasan lay. And for the moment there
+was naught but pity in my heart for the youth who had played by my side,
+and gathered knowledge, if not wisdom, from my lips.</p>
+
+<p>"But a hand was laid on my shoulder, and, turning round, I looked into
+the face of Mirza Shah. It was lighted by a smile of stern satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"'Syed Ali, as you have ever declared, even though I have detected that
+your faith at times has wavered, the stars cannot speak falsely. He
+died, that dog out there, but not until he had slain his own father.'</p>
+
+<p>"'His own father!' I stammered. The truth began to break in upon my
+dazed brain.</p>
+
+<p>"'Yes. It is right that you at least should have the explanation, if for
+no other reason than to confirm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg&nbsp;57]</a></span> your trust in the stars. Beguiled to
+wrong by the arguments of a serving woman, the sultana had a son. It is
+a shameful story, yet do I know that she begot the child out of pure
+love for me. Hasan was no son of mine. Enough! I have spoken. You can
+guess the rest.'</p>
+
+<p>"Mirza Shah paused. I could but drop my eyes and remain silent, for I
+dared to make no comment.</p>
+
+<p>"After a brief pause he resumed:</p>
+
+<p>"'In the end she confessed everything to me, that night when you
+revealed to us the full truth of what the stars had foretold. As for me,
+I helped the stars to run their courses: that is why I sent for Gholab
+Khan. Now, you who know my secret, travel away far from here. Respect
+the confidence I have given you. There is a bag of gold for you in my
+treasurer's charge. We part friends, Syed Ali. Fate, working through
+you, its blind instrument, spared the child so that my shame might be
+fully atoned. Now go, for I, too, must be up and doing. One timely sally
+now from the citadel, and yonder disordered host will be swept back
+whence it came.'</p>
+
+<p>"The result was as Mirza Shah had predicted. The beleaguering army fled
+at the first onslaught, leaving many hundreds of dead on the field to
+keep the mangled corpse of their leader company.</p>
+
+<p>"So, you see, my friends," commented the astrologer, concluding his
+tale, "as Mirza Shah most truly said, the stars cannot speak falsely.
+Never again have I doubted. The destiny read by me in the heavens that
+night when the sultana's babe was born was fulfilled in every detail."</p>
+
+<p>"And the faithless wife?" asked the Rajput. "What became of her?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg&nbsp;58]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Nay, do not presume to judge her," protested the astrologer. "Judgment
+is for Allah. When Mirza Shah returned from his victorious charge, it
+was to find his sultana dead on the roof of the women's quarters. She
+had seen her son&mdash;yes, <i>her</i> son, her own flesh and blood, although not
+her husband's&mdash;pounded to death under the elephants' feet. So the
+unhappy mother had pierced her breast with a dagger, and, by her side,
+similarly self-slain, lay the serving woman who had miscounselled her to
+wrongdoing, yet, as I could quite well comprehend, from motives of
+sincere affection, to safeguard for her her husband's love and to give
+her the joy of motherhood for which she craved.</p>
+
+<p>"Mirza Shah lived and ruled well for five-and-twenty years longer. He
+remained to the end a childless man: Allah had decreed it so. But he
+ever revered the wife who had loved him so well, for she had sinned
+because of her very love for him, nor had she persisted in her sin.
+Mirza Shah built to her memory a splendid mosque, and these are the
+words engraved on her tomb beneath the central dome, showing how her
+virtues were esteemed and her one act of wrong was forgotten:</p>
+
+<p>
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"'Before my tomb, O stranger, stay thy way,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Reflect on fate's inexorable decree;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">But yestere'en I was as thou to-day,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What I am now to-morrow thou wilt be.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Right good the grave for those whom good deeds bless,</span><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg&nbsp;59]</a></span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gentle the rest of them who tried to spread</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Around their lives the balm of gentleness.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Trustful in God repose the worthy dead.</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 1em;">For such as they the living need not weep&mdash;</span><br />
+<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Their death is only faith-abiding sleep.'</span><br />
+</p>
+
+<p>"By her side now lies her husband, at rest and in peace, for only death
+brings true rest and peace. And even now, after many years, I am on my
+way to pay a pilgrimage to the tombs of that truly noble man and his
+good&mdash;aye, his worthy&mdash;spouse, for, as I have said, let no man take upon
+himself to judge her. Allah alone can search the hearts of men."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg&nbsp;60]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="IV_THE_SPIRIT_WAIL" id="IV_THE_SPIRIT_WAIL"></a>IV. THE SPIRIT WAIL</h2>
+
+<h2>TOLD BY THE MERCHANT</h2>
+
+
+<p>"Allah alone can search the hearts of men," said the hakeem, slowly and
+reflectively repeating the words with which the astrologer had closed
+his tale. He was a man of venerable appearance, with flowing, white
+beard that descended to his waist. And yet, although his face was
+furrowed with the lines of old age, his eyes were wonderfully youthful
+in their contemplative calm.</p>
+
+<p>"No truer words have been spoken to-night," he continued. "Yet must we
+further reflect that, while a man cannot sit in judgment upon his
+fellows, he can assuredly judge himself, which goes to show that within
+the breast of every man there dwells the very spirit of God, the power
+to search his own heart, whether in condemnation or for approval. Life
+is a problem, and it requires a full lifetime to solve it. Only as we
+grow older do we come to know our own souls&mdash;our strength and our
+weakness, the measure of our true nobility of character and likewise the
+measure of our inherent meanness, the temptations not merely from
+without but from within that assail us, our power to conquer these or
+our miserable yielding at times, with no one, perhaps, even guessing at
+our degradation except the divine spark of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg&nbsp;61]</a></span> conscience that inexorably
+turns a searching ray on every thought and on every motive for action."</p>
+
+<p>"So you would argue that man is God?" queried the Rajput.</p>
+
+<p>"Not so, but that the soul of man is of the essence of God, the proof of
+which is this very power of searching out our own hearts and sitting in
+judgment on our own failings: for the judgment seat belongs to Allah
+alone."</p>
+
+<p>"A subtle philosophy which I do not presume fully to understand,"
+interposed the merchant from Bombay.</p>
+
+<p>During the night's entertainment he had shown himself to be a man of few
+words, yet an attentive listener. He was of middle age, of a mild
+dignity of mien, and of robust physique, as befitted one accustomed to
+long journeys through regions infested with robbers or with beasts of
+prey.</p>
+
+<p>"But in my practical experience of life," he proceeded, "I have come to
+realize that, while I may know myself, no other man can I know.
+Therefore, if it be right to be sparing of condemnation for another, it
+is also wise to be chary of undue commendation. The world too often
+acclaims a deed as noble when the real motive prompting it is utterly
+ignoble."</p>
+
+<p>"A true philosopher, despite your bales of merchandise," murmured the
+hakeem, with a smiling nod of approval for the sentiments expressed.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I suppose that every one who travels becomes a philosopher, more
+or less," assented the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg&nbsp;62]</a></span> trader. "Change of scene and of companionship
+stimulates new ideas. Now will I relate an actual experience which aptly
+illustrates that, in our dealings with those around us, we never really
+penetrate their minds. Man knows himself; he knows no one else&mdash;friend
+or intimate, the child of his heart or the very wife of his bosom."</p>
+
+<p>"It is more easy to discover a white crow," muttered the fakir, "than
+know what a woman has in her heart."</p>
+
+<p>The merchant paid no heed to the interruption. He went on:</p>
+
+<p>"Each of us is an inscrutable mystery to the other. Each soul is veiled
+to every other soul, and is naked to itself alone."</p>
+
+<p>"O prince of philosophers in pedlar's disguise!" murmured the hakeem.</p>
+
+<p>"If our souls sat naked for the common gaze," commented the Rajput, "if
+we could all read each other's hearts, then indeed would life be an
+abomination&mdash;an utter misery, with the twin devils of shame and disgust
+seated at our elbows all the time."</p>
+
+<p>"Most true," concurred the trader. "For too much knowledge of another's
+inmost thoughts brings only disillusionment and regret, as my tale will
+show. The story takes us among humble people, but human nature is the
+same everywhere&mdash;the same in the hut of the rayat as in the palace of
+the rajah.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"Once in every two years it is my custom to travel from Bombay to
+Benares, and invariably I break<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg&nbsp;63]</a></span> the journey at a certain village some
+six or seven days from my final destination. Here dwells an old friend
+and caste brother, formerly, like myself, a merchant in the Bombay
+bazaar where silken stuffs are sold, but retired now to his own country
+with modest savings sufficient for the rest of his days. Baji Lal, as he
+is named, is all the closer to me because his wife Devaka is a sister of
+my own wife, and the two are always eager to have news of each other's
+welfare.</p>
+
+<p>"At the house of this friend I rest for a day or two, enjoying his
+companionship, the reminiscences of old times, and the gossip of the
+hour. So, on my long and fatiguing journeyings, I have always looked
+forward to these meetings with pleasurable anticipation and remembered
+them with tranquil satisfaction.</p>
+
+<p>"But on the occasion of one of my periodical visits judge of my surprise
+when I was received in silence and with apathy that made no pretence at
+disguise. Devaka did not rise from her cushions on the floor to bid me
+welcome, and her husband, similarly irresponsive, returned my customary
+cordial greeting with nothing better than a look of wearied dejection.</p>
+
+<p>"Disturbed, I made inquiry:</p>
+
+<p>"'Baji Lal, my friend, what is the matter? Are you ailing?'</p>
+
+<p>"But he only shook his head, and turned away.</p>
+
+<p>"To Devaka I then appealed.</p>
+
+<p>"'What is the meaning of this?' I asked. 'Sadness and silence where
+everything used to be joy.'</p>
+
+<p>"She drew aside the sari that had concealed her face, and I was shocked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg&nbsp;64]</a></span>
+at its grief-stricken aspect. Her trembling lips parted to answer me,
+but her husband checked her with a sharp word, such as I had never heard
+him use to her before. Her eyes filled with tears, and I could see the
+big drops rolling down her cheeks as she silently replaced the sari over
+her head, and, bending low, rocked herself to and fro.</p>
+
+<p>"For the moment I imagined that I had intruded on some scene of domestic
+unhappiness which would be dissipated in an hour. So, hiding my
+embarrassment, I turned to the door, intimating that I would seek some
+other lodging for the night, and return on the morrow, when I hoped my
+friends would be in fitter mood to receive me.</p>
+
+<p>"At last Baji Lal spoke, raising his face but still remaining seated on
+the divan we were wont in former times to share.</p>
+
+<p>"'Go thy way, Chunda Das,' he said. 'The sword of fate has descended
+upon this house. Come not again to a place accursed.'</p>
+
+<p>"Then did I realize that the trouble was serious.</p>
+
+<p>"'But, my friend and brother,' I protested, 'I cannot depart and leave
+you thus. Let me at least understand what calamity has befallen you, so
+that I may help toward its repair.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Nothing can be done, so nothing need be said,' he answered, in a tone
+and with a look of dignified resignation to the will of God. 'If you
+must have the story of our misfortune, you have only to ask the first of
+our neighbours you encounter.'</p>
+
+<p>"And he, too, covered his face with his garment, leaving me no choice<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg&nbsp;65]</a></span>
+but to withdraw without further attempt at this manifestly inopportune
+time to probe the mystery.</p>
+
+<p>"If I was to be of service to my friends, however, knowledge of what had
+befallen was the first essential. So I took the road that would lead me
+to the great pipul tree in the village square, close to the tank and to
+the temple, where all day long there was coming and going, and where
+therefore I would be most likely to glean the information I desired. By
+a happy chance I found reclining under the pipul tree the village
+barber, a loquacious fellow, who counted it as part of his business to
+know the last detail about other people's affairs.</p>
+
+<p>"After greetings, and a few remarks about the weather and the crops and
+the season's epidemics, I carefully broached the real purpose of my
+interview, for a prudent man will never divulge his thoughts to another
+until he knows that other's thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>"'I have just come from the house of Baji Lal,' I said, in a seemingly
+casual way.</p>
+
+<p>"The barber's face instantly lost the smile it had worn.</p>
+
+<p>"'How did you find him?' he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"'Strangely altered,' I replied.</p>
+
+<p>"'And so does every one,' he concurred.</p>
+
+<p>"'Why so?' I ventured.</p>
+
+<p>"The barber looked at me squarely, and then said:</p>
+
+<p>"'You and he were very good friends, Chunda Das.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Yes, and are still, so far as I am concerned,' I answered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg&nbsp;66]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"'I thought so. Well, I am his friend likewise. Many years I have known
+him and his wife, Devaka. Both are good, kind people, always willing to
+help their neighbours, and ready to give their last bowl of rice to a
+vagrant beggar. Perhaps you can assist me to clear away the shadows that
+have fallen around them and obscured the sunshine of their home. Let me
+tell you the story. A few months ago a stranger came to this village. He
+was on his way to Fathpur-Sikri, to witness the glories of the court of
+the mighty Akbar. But on the road he had fallen ill, and, arriving here,
+was too sick to proceed. I am ashamed to say that none of us were
+willing to take him in, for sickness goes from one person to another. So
+we have to be careful, especially in my calling, where I come into such
+close contact with so many.</p>
+
+<p>"'There was quite a little crowd just here by the tank, discussing the
+situation, the sick man in their midst resting upon the ground, when
+Baji Lal and his wife, who happened to be passing, came forward to see
+what the commotion was all about. They listened to the story, and then
+told the stranger he might come with them. He gratefully accepted, and,
+after whispering some instructions to a servant by whom he was
+accompanied, he motioned to Baji Lal to lead the way. The little group
+moved off, the servant in the rear, leading the horses, which included a
+pack animal laden with the traveller's bedding, cooking pots, and other
+belongings.</p>
+
+<p>"'After unloading the baggage at Baji Lal's home, the servant, as we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg&nbsp;67]</a></span>
+learned later in the day, had, in obedience to orders, straightway
+mounted his horse, and ridden away. He had exchanged no words with any
+of us.</p>
+
+<p>"'For weeks Baji Lal and his wife attended to the wants of the invalid,
+until at last he was able to move about the village, and talk with one
+and another. From the first we had recognized the stranger as a man of
+distinction. Now we learned his name&mdash;Sheikh Ahmed, a Moslem, I need not
+say. But in these days of Akbar all religious feuds are to be set aside,
+this by direct command of the Emperor himself&mdash;blessed be his name and
+exalted his glory! So this follower of the prophet was made quite
+welcome among us, a community of Hindus.</p>
+
+<p>"'Day by day the Sheikh regained his strength, and often would he come
+of an evening when the village folk gathered under this pipul tree,
+listening to the chit-chat going on, sometimes joining in the
+conversation. Soon he began to tell us stories of far lands, for he had
+travelled to many distant places, even outside of Hindustan, so we grew
+to like him, and to watch each evening for his coming.</p>
+
+<p>"'But all of a sudden he disappeared from our midst. The day before he
+had been with us, sitting almost on the very spot where you are seated
+now. He did not say he was going away, nor even hint that he intended
+doing so. When Baji Lal was questioned, he said that the servant had
+returned during the night with saddle and pack horses, and that, after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg&nbsp;68]</a></span>
+conferring with Sheikh Ahmed, had gathered together his master's
+belongings, and announced their immediate departure. Baji Lal had tried
+to persuade his guest to wait until daylight, but this advice was
+unheeded. The Sheikh promised, however, that he would come again to the
+village when he passed that way on his homeward journey.</p>
+
+<p>"'At this time Baji Lal's story seemed a perfectly natural one, and the
+people only regretted that they had not had the opportunity of bidding
+the Sheikh farewell. Still the prospect of soon seeing him again
+softened this regretful feeling.</p>
+
+<p>"'And now began the change in our friends. Baji Lal ceased to come to
+our village meetings, and Devaka shunned every woman, even her most
+intimate friends. For a while this strange behaviour did not attract
+special attention, although noted and commented on afterwards. For just
+a few days after Sheikh Ahmed had gone away the monsoon had burst, and
+the stormy weather would account for Baji Lal and his wife remaining
+much at home. But as time wore on, and their furtive ways grew more and
+more pronounced, people began to talk, and from talking they took to
+watching and spying. For, believe me, there is nothing so all-absorbing
+as for once respected and well-thought-of people to be under a cloud. We
+allow our imaginations to run riot, and our tongues do not rust for want
+of wagging.</p>
+
+<p>"'Thus suspicion gradually filled the air, and it was whispered that
+Baji Lal and Devaka had murdered their guest for his money, and had
+merely invented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg&nbsp;69]</a></span> the story of his midnight departure to hide their
+crime. Children who once used to run to them shrank back, or were called
+away by their parents.</p>
+
+<p>"'But, most extraordinary thing of all, and one that brought convincing
+confirmation to what had at first been mere suspicion, at night there
+could be heard heartbreaking cries and sobs coming from the house of
+Baji Lal. The voice was not his, nor that of his wife; it was, in all
+truth, the wail of a spirit, plaintive at times, then angry as if
+shrieking aloud for vengeance. For I myself have heard these sounds with
+mine own ears; twice in the darkness of the night I mustered courage to
+steal forth as far as the hedge that hides the house from the roadway,
+and, although the monsoon winds were still boisterous, above all other
+noises again and again arose that wail of a soul in anguish. Others,
+too, went to listen, and fled from the place in terror. And soon the
+house of Baji Lal came to be shunned by every one as if it had been
+plague-stricken.</p>
+
+<p>"'Now you understand why your old friends greeted you with woe-begone
+looks. The inner meaning of the story I do not know, but I have told you
+the facts that are in my possession. And glad shall I be if you can
+conceive any solution for the mystery, and free Baji Lal and his wife
+from the terrible accusation of having murdered the man who was their
+guest within the gate and had eaten of their salt. If you cannot, then
+we must just say kismet, I suppose. Man cannot strive against fate.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Is it your belief, Bimjee,' I asked, 'that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg&nbsp;70]</a></span> stranger was really
+done to death in Baji Lal's home?'</p>
+
+<p>"'No,' he answered decisively. 'But all the same, I have the evidence of
+my own ears that a curse has fallen upon the place.'</p>
+
+<p>"For the moment I made no further comment, but sat silent, revolving the
+strange story in my mind. My reverie, however, was of short duration,
+for all of a sudden Bimjee sprang to his feet in great excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"'Look, look,' he cried, pointing to a crowd of villagers coming in our
+direction. 'At last they have laid hold of Baji Lal and his wife, and
+are bringing them here for punishment.'</p>
+
+<p>"Bewildered by the suddenness of this blow, I could but watch in
+helpless silence the advancing throng, with my poor friends in their
+midst, their hands bound, their tottering footsteps directed by rude
+shoves towards the pipul tree, the accustomed assembly place of the
+villagers and the village council.</p>
+
+<p>"A minute later, however, I had regained my self-possession, and when
+the procession came abreast of me, I stepped in front of it and
+commanded a halt. Courtesy to me as a visitor to the village was
+sufficient to exact this measure of obedience. But when I demanded that
+the ropes should be cut and the prisoners liberated, a storm of angry
+protests was the only result.</p>
+
+<p>"The leader of the crowd approached me, and in a respectful voice said
+they were sorry to refuse my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg&nbsp;71]</a></span> request, but a crime had been committed
+that disgraced the whole community. The spirit of a murdered man haunted
+the house of Baji Lal and Devaka, and cried to heaven for vengeance. The
+villagers would never prosper if they allowed this foul deed to pass
+unpunished; why, only that very morning a strange sickness had seized
+some of their cattle, and two sacred cows had died in spasms of pain&mdash;an
+omen from the gods that could not be disregarded.</p>
+
+<p>"I saw that it was useless to argue with the man. But I made another
+attempt to have the prisoners' bonds at least loosened, for I could see
+that the cords bit cruelly into their arms. After some consultation this
+point was conceded. Baji Lal shot at me a look of gratitude, but his
+poor little wife merely used her freed hands to hide her face in the
+folds of her sari.</p>
+
+<p>"'Now my friends,' I cried boldly, 'this case must be properly tried.
+Where is the patel?'</p>
+
+<p>"I had noticed that the headman of the village was not present, and in
+asking for him had in mind that he was my personal friend, so that I
+might appeal to him with better success for the release of the
+prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>"'The patel is away on a day's journey,' cried a voice in the crowd.</p>
+
+<p>"'Then must the accused be taken to the village constable,' I declared,
+'and kept by him until the patel returns and the council of elders can
+be properly assembled.'</p>
+
+<p>"My bold assumption of authority had stilled the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg&nbsp;72]</a></span> tumult, and to my
+surprise every one now seemed willing to do my bidding.</p>
+
+<p>"'Come along then,' cried several voices, as the prisoners were once
+more urged forward. I kept close by their side, and when we gained the
+constable's house and the staked enclosure that served as a place of
+detention, I too passed within, leaving the leaders of the crowd to
+guard the gateway.</p>
+
+<p>"When we were alone, Baji Lal and Devaka threw themselves at my feet,
+and thanked me for the aid I had rendered them.</p>
+
+<p>"'My children,' I said, as I raised them up, 'were I not assured in my
+own mind that there is some grievous mistake, and that you can explain
+the mysterious disappearance of your guest, I should not be here by your
+side. But tell me your story, and I shall advise you to the best of my
+powers.'</p>
+
+<p>"Baji Lal lifted his eyes, and gazed at me mournfully but fearlessly.</p>
+
+<p>"'Chunda Das,' he began, 'you have known me now for many years. Have I
+ever done aught to shake your confidence?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Never,' I affirmed.</p>
+
+<p>"'Have you ever heard me tell a lie?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Never,' I again replied.</p>
+
+<p>"'Well, then, you will believe me when I say that I told the truth in
+declaring that the stranger went away in the night. His servant came
+back all in a hurry for him, and he would not tarry even until daylight,
+although I pleaded with him to stay.'</p>
+
+<p>"'I believe you,' I said, for, even apart from my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg&nbsp;73]</a></span> prior trust, the
+man's look convinced me that he was speaking true words.</p>
+
+<p>"'Yes, this is the simple truth,' he went on. 'And yet'&mdash;&mdash;here his
+voice faltered, and he glanced down pityingly on his wife crouched upon
+the ground, rocking herself and wringing her hands. 'And yet I know,
+<i>we</i> know, Devaka and I, that Sheikh Ahmed has been murdered.'</p>
+
+<p>"I started aghast, and involuntarily drew my garments around me.</p>
+
+<p>"'Nay,' he said reproachfully, reading my unacknowledged and almost
+unformed thought, 'but not at our hands, Chunda Das.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Then how do you know that he is dead?' I questioned, already ashamed
+that a doubt could have crossed my mind as to my friends being art and
+part in such a dastardly deed. 'What makes you think so?'</p>
+
+<p>"'I do not think; I know,' he said decisively. 'And I will tell you why.
+The night after the Sheikh left was cold and windy, for the monsoon was
+approaching. Devaka and I were sitting together, and as we listened to
+the wind blowing outside she expressed the hope that our guest was
+safely at his destination, for in his state of health the inclement
+weather would be harmful. Before I could answer her we were startled to
+hear quite close to us a faint cry. I got up and looked around, and so
+did Devaka, for she is brave, my wife. But we could not find anything to
+account for the disconcerting sound.</p>
+
+<p>"'We sat down again, but before long we heard once<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg&nbsp;74]</a></span> more the wailing
+cry, louder now and more prolonged. We started up, and this time went
+outside in spite of the rain carried by the lashing wind. However, we
+could discover no one&mdash;neither man nor beast. So we went in again, and
+shut the door.</p>
+
+<p>"'And all that night long this strange thing continued. Sometimes the
+sound was softly sobbing, then it would grow to a heartbreaking wail. We
+could not go to bed. Fear kept us awake, for we had come to the
+conclusion that it was the spirit of Sheikh Ahmed trying to make us
+understand that he had been murdered on the road.</p>
+
+<p>"'Day after day, and night after night we were haunted by the cries and
+sobs of this spirit. Can you wonder that our hearts grew weak from fear,
+that we shunned our neighbours lest they should enter our dwelling and,
+hearing these sounds, suspect that we had done some grievous wrong? That
+is my story, Chunda Das.'</p>
+
+<p>"And the strong man sank to the ground, as he buried his face in his
+hands.</p>
+
+<p>"'It is even a relief to be here,' he cried, in broken tones, 'here,
+prisoners in this place of shame, because at least we are no longer
+haunted by the voice of the dead Sheikh.'</p>
+
+<p>"He flung his hands out in an abhorrent gesture, and raised tear-filled,
+pleading eyes to mine.</p>
+
+<p>"I had been listening intently to Baji Lal's story, and had watched the
+changes on his impassioned face. When the tale was ended, Devaka threw
+herself prone at my feet, and pressed her lips to the hem of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg&nbsp;75]</a></span> my robe. I
+was touched by her silent beseeching, though I hastily, and I fear
+roughly, commanded her to arise.</p>
+
+<p>"'Dear friends,' I said, 'this is indeed an extraordinary occurrence.
+And how I can help you is more than I at present know. But rest assured
+that I will exert myself to the utmost to remove from your heads the
+infamy of such an accusation.'</p>
+
+<p>"I mused awhile, then put a few questions as to the personal appearance
+of the stranger, Sheikh Ahmed, and also that of his servant, the exact
+hour of their departure, and the direction in which they had gone. After
+learning these things, I took my leave, commending Baji Lal and his wife
+to the care of the constable, whose promise that nothing would happen to
+his prisoners until the patel's return I sealed with a handful of
+rupees.</p>
+
+<p>"This matter settled, I strolled back to the pipul tree beside the tank,
+thinking that it might be useful to pick up the remarks of the
+loiterers. But to my surprise I found virtually the whole village in
+assembly, and to my dismay soon gathered that it was their fixed
+intention to kill Baji Lal, give to Devaka the privilege of committing
+suttee, and then burn down the haunted house whence the accusing sounds
+came, making of their own home the funeral pyre of both victims.</p>
+
+<p>"I plucked my beard in my distress; I felt so helpless. If only the
+headman was here, together we might have devised something. But alone I
+was powerless. Plunged in gloomy forebodings, I did not notice the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg&nbsp;76]</a></span>
+approach of the barber, until he touched my sleeve to announce his
+presence.</p>
+
+<p>"'You have heard what they mean to do?' he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"'We must save them, Chunda Das. But I beg of you not to place any
+reliance on the patel's coming, for he sides with the rest of the
+villagers, and will help them to deal out the swift justice which he
+believes to be well deserved. Besides it was his cows that died this
+morning.'</p>
+
+<p>"At this statement, then indeed my last hope was gone. For we were far
+away from any town where I could have invoked the aid of the Emperor's
+soldiers. I shook my head despairingly.</p>
+
+<p>"'Oh, yes, Chunda Das, you will devise some way,' protested the barber,
+reading the hopelessness in my mind. 'You have a fleet horse, and can
+ride after Sheikh Ahmed, find him, and call him back again. Or, if he be
+really dead, you can bring word of how his end came.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Will there be time for all this?' I asked dubiously.</p>
+
+<p>"'We must make time,' he answered. 'The patel will be back before long.
+You can use the interval in getting some food, and in preparing for the
+road. I think your influence with him will at least secure delay for
+some days, until you can return with the information in quest of which
+you go. But mark my words, unless the Sheikh shows himself, or you can
+prove how he met his death on the road, then assuredly will the doom of
+our friends be sealed.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Very well,' I said, contented in my mind; for if my search for Sheikh<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg&nbsp;77]</a></span>
+Ahmed failed, I could bring back with me some of our master Akbar's
+soldiery to rescue the prisoners.</p>
+
+<p>"During the afternoon the headman returned, and I lost no time before
+interviewing him. I told him how firmly convinced I was that Baji Lal
+and Devaka were innocent, and that I would prove it if he gave me the
+chance to do so. At first he shook his head, but on my promising that
+the unfortunate couple would in the interval make no effort to escape,
+and that I would surely be back in two weeks' time whether or not
+success in my mission attended me, he yielded to my entreaties, the less
+reluctantly because I further undertook to pay him the value of his dead
+cows.</p>
+
+<p>"So, after a brief good-bye visit to Baji Lal and his wife, I set forth
+on my journey.</p>
+
+<p>"Six days later I entered the bazaar of Punderpur. I went to a
+travellers' rest house with which I was familiar, to see whether I could
+glean any information as to the present whereabouts of Sheikh Ahmed,
+who, in his travels, I had discovered, had been making for this place.</p>
+
+<p>"Seated around the courtyard of the caravanserai were many visitors and
+their friends of the town. With some of the latter I was acquainted, but
+for the present I only returned their greetings with a silent salaam. I
+was anxious to meet with an old friend, a munshi, learned in many
+languages, whose profession kept him on the outlook for the numerous
+travellers from distant parts who passed this way.</p>
+
+<p>"I had just espied the man of whom I was in quest, seated at some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg&nbsp;78]</a></span>
+distance among a group of idlers, when I was accosted by a stranger
+handsomely accoutred and of line bearing. He said that he had heard I
+was recently arrived from Sengali. He had friends in that village, and
+would be glad to hear of them.</p>
+
+<p>"I told him that for the present I was occupied with pressing business,
+but a little later I would be at his disposal, and pleased to give him
+any information in my power. He thanked me courteously, and said he
+would return in the evening, when, perhaps, I would be more at leisure.
+I had cut short this interview, paying, indeed, little heed to the
+stranger, for I had noticed that my friend, the munshi, not knowing of
+my presence in the inn, was in the act of taking his departure. I
+hastened after him.</p>
+
+<p>"The venerable munshi was delighted to see me, and insisted on my
+sharing his evening meal. We moved in the direction of his home, and he
+gave me the chit-chat of the day. Until our repast was finished I did
+not mention the object of my visit. Only after we were comfortably
+seated on the veranda, enjoying the cool night air, did I approach the
+subject, discreetly, as was fitting, by talking on topics quite at
+variance from the one in my mind. But after a time I ventured to ask
+whether many travellers had passed recently. He looked at me shrewdly
+and smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"'At last, my friend, you tell me the reason of your coming here. You
+are in search of some one.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Truly I am,' I replied, 'and it is a matter of life or death to find<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg&nbsp;79]</a></span>
+the man I am seeking.'</p>
+
+<p>"Thereupon, without further preamble, I related the story of Baji Lal
+and the missing Sheikh.</p>
+
+<p>"At the end of my narrative Munshi Khyraz&mdash;such was my host's name&mdash;sat
+silent for a spell. I knew my friend, and allowed him his own time to
+make any comment. Presently he broke from his reflections.</p>
+
+<p>"'About the time you mention,' he began, 'just before the first rains, a
+stranger was brought into this town by some woodcutters. Their story was
+that the wounded man had been attacked by his servant when travelling,
+and left for dead in the jungle.'</p>
+
+<p>"I started, and leaned toward him eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"'A clue!' I cried. 'A clue! Where is he now?'</p>
+
+<p>"The old sage looked at me with disapproval in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"'Excitement and impetuosity of speech are for the young, my friend,' he
+said, gravely. 'They are not becoming in the matured.'</p>
+
+<p>"I lay back again on my cushions, feeling justly censured. The light of
+displeasure dying from his eyes, the munshi proceeded:</p>
+
+<p>"'I had the victim of this outrage carried to my house, and, his wounds
+not proving serious, he was soon well, and able to think of resuming his
+journey. He was very reticent concerning the motive of his servant for
+attempting his life, and foolishly, to my mind, made no effort to trace
+the miscreant. When leaving he said that in all probability he would
+return this way a few weeks later. So, my friend, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg&nbsp;80]</a></span> may be here any
+day, for it is a good long while since he left.'</p>
+
+<p>"Repressing my eagerness this time, I sat still for a few minutes, then
+said:</p>
+
+<p>"'I think it is certain from what you have told me that the wounded man
+was the one I am now seeking.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Perhaps, perhaps, but only time will decide,' he replied, cautiously.
+'You must wait and see.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Wait! wait!' I cried, impatiently. 'There is no time to wait. I must
+act, and that quickly.'</p>
+
+<p>"The munshi looked at me commiseratingly, but contented himself with a
+shrug of his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"Just then a servant approached, and whispered in his master's ear. The
+old man sat up from his half-reclining attitude, and methought for a
+moment that an amused smile crept over his face.</p>
+
+<p>"'Admit him,' he said to the attendant. 'Admit him at once.'</p>
+
+<p>"Then, turning to me with his accustomed gravity, he added in
+explanation: 'A friend of mine has called. He is an interesting man, and
+I want you to know him.'</p>
+
+<p>"I was about to protest that I had not come there to make new
+acquaintances, when the curtain was pushed aside, and none other than
+the stranger who had addressed me at the caravanserai stepped on to the
+veranda. He crossed over to the master of the house, and greeted him
+affectionately. I decided to remain at least a short time, and waited
+quietly until my host should introduce his visitor. This he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg&nbsp;81]</a></span> straightway
+proceeded to do, presenting us to each other with a courteous wave of
+his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"A glow of pleasure suffused the newcomer's face when he recognized me.</p>
+
+<p>"'Fate is indeed kind,' said he. 'I was going to try and find you again
+at the rest house, when, lo and behold! here you are, the guest of my
+good friend, the munshi.'</p>
+
+<p>"'What! Are you already acquainted?' exclaimed our host, visibly
+surprised, despite the philosophy of self-restraint he was so fond of
+preaching.</p>
+
+<p>"It was my turn now to bestow a reproving look.</p>
+
+<p>"'We have met,' I rejoined, with proper dignity, 'but as yet I have not
+the honour of acquaintance.'</p>
+
+<p>"To cover this well-deserved rebuke, the munshi clapped his hands and
+bade the servant who responded to the summons to bring sherbet for our
+refreshment. After the cooling draught, and when we were all comfortably
+settled, the stranger, whose name had not yet been spoken, turned to me
+and said:</p>
+
+<p>"'Now perhaps you will give me the news from Sengali.'</p>
+
+<p>"'It is grievous,' I returned, 'and it is owing to trouble there that I
+am now here.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Indeed. And what may the trouble be? As I told you this afternoon, I
+have friends in the village, and am consequently interested.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Aye, aye, tell him the story you have just told me,' called out the
+munshi.</p>
+
+<p>"Courteously the stranger awaited my response, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg&nbsp;82]</a></span> his eyes an anxious
+look of inquiry. As I proceeded with my recital his excitement grew
+apace, and he leaned forward in his eagerness to miss not a word. At the
+finish he started to his feet, and, catching hold of my arm, exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>"'What! You tell me they will burn down their very home?'</p>
+
+<p>"I nodded assent.</p>
+
+<p>"'Then must we start in all haste for Sengali,' he continued, excitedly.
+'To-night, now, or it may be too late.'</p>
+
+<p>"I was moved by this display of fervid sympathy on the part of a
+stranger for my humble friends in their sorry plight. But I could not
+avail myself of his proffered assistance.</p>
+
+<p>"'Pardon me,' I replied, 'but I have first to find Sheikh Ahmed, who has
+been the cause&mdash;the innocent cause&mdash;of all this grievous anxiety, and
+whose presence is needed to put an end to the false charge of murder.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Don't you know that I am Sheikh Ahmed?' cried the stranger.</p>
+
+<p>"'Yes, yes, he is no other,' laughed our host, the munshi. 'I avoided
+giving the wounded traveller's name a while ago, Chunda Das, as a
+fitting curb to your eagerness, and now, thanks to the Sheikh paying me
+a visit, you have met somewhat quicker than I expected.'</p>
+
+<p>"For full a minute I was speechless. Was it possible that I had so soon
+found my man, or, to put it more correctly, that the man had found me?
+The gods be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg&nbsp;83]</a></span> praised for working on behalf of the helpless and
+oppressed!</p>
+
+<p>"But my meditations were rudely interrupted. The Sheikh had again
+gripped me by the shoulder, and was speaking rapidly:</p>
+
+<p>"'Rouse yourself, friend; rouse yourself. This is no time for
+wonderment.'</p>
+
+<p>"'So you are indeed alive and well, Sheikh Ahmed?' I asked, in
+blundering fashion.</p>
+
+<p>"'You can see for yourself,' he replied, impatiently. 'But I little
+thought I should have been the means of doing to these kind people who
+nursed and nourished me so grievous an injury. But, Allah be praised!
+there is yet time to repair the wrong and make amends. Let us away,
+away, without the delay of another hour.'</p>
+
+<p>"The munshi clapped his hands once more, and the servant was quickly in
+attendance.</p>
+
+<p>"'These friends of mine will take the road,' he said to the man, 'so
+soon as the moon is up. Go you now to the inn, and bid the grooms make
+ready their horses for a long journey. Quick&mdash;lose no time!'</p>
+
+<p>"The Sheikh motioned the servant to his side, and added some whispered
+instructions. Then, turning to me, he said:</p>
+
+<p>"'The moon will serve us ere very long.'</p>
+
+<p>"By my silence I had acquiesced in the plan of speedy departure, for
+nothing could better suit my own wishes. But meanwhile there would be an
+interval of patient waiting.</p>
+
+<p>"'Can you account for the strange wailing around the house of Baji Lal?'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg&nbsp;84]</a></span>
+I asked of the Sheikh.</p>
+
+<p>"He hesitated a moment before making answer.</p>
+
+<p>"'To me it is all a mystery,' he said at last. 'Some one, perhaps, is
+playing a trick upon them.'</p>
+
+<p>"'A sorry trick,' I commented bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>"'But their home must certainly be saved,' he added.</p>
+
+<p>"'Not merely their home,' said I. 'Their lives are also in jeopardy.'</p>
+
+<p>"'We must save them! we shall save them!' cried the Sheikh, with
+upraised hand and in a tone of determination that brought great comfort
+to my anxious heart.</p>
+
+<p>"The time soon passed, and, our horses having been brought round from
+the rest house, we took leave of our good host, Munshi Khyraz.</p>
+
+<p>"Just as we turned on to the high road, ten or a dozen mounted troopers
+emerged from the shadow of a tope of trees, and came clattering behind
+us.</p>
+
+<p>"'These are my escort,' explained the Sheikh. 'I have already
+encountered too many dangers on this road to run further risks.'</p>
+
+<p>"I made no comment, but inwardly reflected that once more kind fate was
+working in my favour. Of course, with Sheikh Ahmed alive, there would be
+no need to use force for Baji Lal's rescue. But safeguarded on the way,
+we should be all the quicker in reaching our destination.</p>
+
+<p>"It was toward noon on the fourth day from Punderpur&mdash;for there were now
+no inquiries to delay<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg&nbsp;85]</a></span> me&mdash;that we came in sight of the village of
+Sengali. It was just ten days then since the date of my departure in
+quest of the missing man. So my mind was at ease; according to the
+patel's promise, there remained yet four days of safety for Baji Lal and
+Devaka.</p>
+
+<p>"But all at once fear smote my heart. There was a strange absence of
+people in the fields and on the outskirts of the village. Dreading I
+know not what, I begged of the Sheikh to press forward. Our escort was
+some distance behind us on the road, but, without waiting for the
+troopers, we set our tired horses to their best speed.</p>
+
+<p>"Coming to the pipul tree and the tank, we found this usual place of
+congregation deserted. Now indeed was I thoroughly alarmed, likewise my
+companion, and of one accord, without waiting to visit the constable's
+compound, we turned our horses' heads in the direction of the home of
+Baji Lal.</p>
+
+<p>"And there indeed we found a dense crowd, the hoarse murmur of their
+voices being borne to our ears before we turned the corner. The first
+thing that smote my eyes was a thin column of smoke mounting skyward.</p>
+
+<p>"Sheikh Ahmed too had seen, for he whipped up his horse unmercifully. As
+he flashed past me, I was struck by the ashen grey that had stolen over
+his features. His face was drawn, his nostrils quivered from excitement.</p>
+
+<p>"I could not but admire his eager determination. 'What gratitude! What
+unselfishness!' I thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg&nbsp;86]</a></span> to myself. 'Here is this man, rich and highly
+placed, ready to endure prolonged fatigues and hardships, to face any
+adventure, and all for the sake of a humble villager and his wife who
+did but nurse him when he was sick. Not often do we find such men, not
+often do we see the rich incommoding themselves for the poor.'</p>
+
+<p>"Emulating his example, I urged my lagging beast to a final effort. In a
+brief minute we were on the outskirts of the crowd, where perforce we
+had to dismount. The Sheikh led the way as, afoot, we passed through the
+throng.</p>
+
+<p>"When we got within clear view of the house, I saw that faggots had been
+placed all around it, and that these were already alight, giving forth
+the smoke we had seen from a distance. I looked about me in dread. Where
+were Baji Lal and Devaka? I questioned a man who was blocking my way. He
+turned round, and, to my joy, I recognized Bimjee, the barber. He gazed
+at me sadly, and, without expressing surprise at seeing me, pointed to
+the flat roof.</p>
+
+<p>"There, beyond the low parapet, tied to a stake, was poor little Devaka.
+Her face was covered by her sari, and whether she were living or dead it
+was impossible to tell.</p>
+
+<p>"'And her husband?' I asked, trembling. 'Not yet dead?'</p>
+
+<p>"'No. But when the sun is at its highest point, which will be in a few
+minutes now, he will be dispatched with a sword and his body flung into
+the fire. See! they are already pouring oil on the faggots,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg&nbsp;87]</a></span> so that the
+haunted house may be quickly consumed. It will soon be all over with our
+poor friends.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Not so, not so,' I cried, 'for Sheikh Ahmed has come back. See, there
+he is, hastening to rescue his humble friends. He has not rested day or
+night since he heard of the disaster that had befallen them.'</p>
+
+<p>"The crowd had parted before the Sheikh, and through the rift I now
+beheld Baji Lal, standing with his hands tied behind him at a little
+distance from his burning home. But to my surprise Sheikh Ahmed darted
+past him.</p>
+
+<p>"'Ah!' exclaimed the barber, noticing my disconcerted look. 'He thinks
+that Devaka is in greater peril, and leaves you to rescue her husband.'</p>
+
+<p>"I looked at the curling smoke, and shuddered. Assuredly there was no
+time to be lost if the woman was to be saved.</p>
+
+<p>"'You are right, Bimjee,' I cried. 'We'll look after Baji Lal. Come
+along.'</p>
+
+<p>"And I gained my friend's side none too soon, for already a sword was
+pointed at his breast. Leaping on the man who held it, I thrust the
+weapon aside.</p>
+
+<p>"The patel, standing by, turned on me with a ferocious look.</p>
+
+<p>"'How dare you hinder justice, Chunda Das?' he demanded. 'This is by
+decree of the panchayet.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Your promise bound the village council as well as yourself,' I
+retorted. 'It is but ten days since I departed on my quest for Sheikh
+Ahmed, and you assured me faithfully that for two weeks at least nothing
+would be done to this man and his wife.'</p>
+
+<p>"'More cattle have died,' he answered, sullenly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg&nbsp;88]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"The crowd were pressing round us, with angry gestures and threatening
+looks, like wild beasts baulked of their prey.</p>
+
+<p>"'Pull his beard,' 'Knock off his turban,' and such like impertinences
+were hurled at me. But, taking no heed of these, I again addressed the
+patel, raising my voice so that all around might hear.</p>
+
+<p>"'You gave me fourteen days to find the stranger whom you say was
+murdered, and ahead of time I have returned and brought him with me. And
+Baji Lal, whom this very minute you were about to murder&mdash;aye,
+murder&mdash;is an innocent man, and his wife a maligned woman.'</p>
+
+<p>"And such is human nature, that they who a short time before had been so
+keen to see Baji Lal done to death, were now loud in their acclamations
+at his escape.</p>
+
+<p>"But the patel looked at me with lowering brow.</p>
+
+<p>"'Fine words, Chunda Das, but I do not see the Sheikh?'</p>
+
+<p>"The crowd hushed their outburst, and faces again looked serious.</p>
+
+<p>"'Oh, yes,' cried some one. 'Let us see him. Where is Sheikh Ahmed?'</p>
+
+<p>"'Where, indeed, but in the burning house, endeavouring to save your
+other victim?' I made answer, turning round and pointing with uplifted
+arm to Devaka, who now was standing with hands held out beseechingly to
+the throng, her face uncovered, full of entreaty.</p>
+
+<p>"And even as we gazed the flames burst through the roof beneath her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg&nbsp;89]</a></span>
+feet, and the clouds of smoke almost hid her from view.</p>
+
+<p>"There was no sign of Sheikh Ahmed, and I was greatly perturbed. What
+had happened to him? Why did he not appear on the roof? From their
+countenances I could see that the spectators were still unconvinced of
+the presence of the man.</p>
+
+<p>"Baji Lal up to this time had remained passive, his head bowed as if in
+helpless acknowledgement of the power of destiny. But at my call he cast
+his eyes upward with the others, and, beholding the form of his wife
+through the eddying smoke wreaths, he broke out in loud and passionate
+appeal.</p>
+
+<p>"'Chunda Das, friends, neighbours, do not let her burn. She is innocent
+of any crime. Do not let her perish. Chunda Das, cut my bonds, that I
+may save her or die with her.'</p>
+
+<p>"I was about to sever the thongs that confined his wrists and ankles,
+when the patel laid a detaining hand on my shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"'Not so fast, not so fast, if you please. We have not yet seen Sheikh
+Ahmed, and Baji Lal is still condemned to die.'</p>
+
+<p>"I flashed an indignant look at the relentless man, but a cry of 'There
+he is, there he is,' broke from the mob. And, sure enough, through the
+clouds of smoke, could be seen the figure of the rescuer, crouching low
+as he cautiously crept along the roof, with a hand on the parapet to
+guide his movements. With bated breath we watched as he neared the
+fainting woman,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg&nbsp;90]</a></span> and then, rising to his full height, tore at the rope
+which bound her to the stake.</p>
+
+<p>"At last he had released her, and gathered her senseless form in his
+arms. But a billow of black smoke blotted out the grim scene. A moment
+of tense silence and sickening uncertainty. Then a great shout from the
+throng, a shout of pent-up joy and relief, when the hero with his burden
+came staggering out through the flame-framed doorway of the building.</p>
+
+<p>"I rushed forward with the rest, and received Devaka in my arms. She had
+swooned. I gazed at her rescuer in admiration, his face blackened, his
+hair singed, his clothes torn. But could I believe my eyes? The brave
+man who had sunk to the ground in a heap was not Sheikh Ahmed, but
+Bimjee, the village barber!</p>
+
+<p>"Hastily consigning Devaka to the care of women standing by, I hurried
+forward.</p>
+
+<p>"'Sheikh Ahmed is in that house,' I cried, 'probably overpowered by the
+smoke. We must save him. Who will come with me?'</p>
+
+<p>"All remained silent. Then some one called out:</p>
+
+<p>"'It is no use, Chunda Das. It is impossible, the walls are falling.'</p>
+
+<p>"But at that very instant the Sheikh appeared through the clouds of
+smoke rolling from the doorway. He tottered forward, bearing in his arms
+a large bundle wrapped in a cotton quilt. Outstretched hands caught him
+as he fell, and carried him away from the burning ruins, for the walls
+had now indeed collapsed.</p>
+
+<p>"Neighbours vied with each other in offers of help. Baji Lal and Devaka<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg&nbsp;91]</a></span>
+were taken to one house. Sheikh Ahmed and myself went to another. The
+barber had recovered, and had quietly departed for his own home.</p>
+
+<p>"Next day I sent round word that all the villagers were to come to the
+usual place of public gathering, the widespread pipul tree. No second
+bidding was required; the open space was soon crowded, right to the edge
+of the tank and to the wall of the temple.</p>
+
+<p>"When all were assembled, with Sheikh Ahmed, Baji Lal and Devaka, also
+Bimjee the barber, standing by me, I faced the throng.</p>
+
+<p>"'Good people,' I said, 'our worthy friends, Baji Lal and his wife, have
+been publicly disgraced. They are now to be publicly reinstated as
+honoured members of the community. Sheikh Ahmed will explain the sobbing
+and wailing that used to distress them just as much as it mystified you
+all, and eventually caused suspicion of an abominable crime. Listen to
+the story Sheikh Ahmed has to tell.'</p>
+
+<p>"As I stepped back a pace, the Sheikh came forward. His handsome
+countenance beamed goodwill to all, and a murmur of friendly greeting
+bore testimony to his popularity. In soft, melodious voice, he addressed
+the eagerly expectant crowd.</p>
+
+<p>"'I am indeed heartily grieved that through any fault of mine my kind
+host and his wife Devaka should have suffered so severely. I may now
+inform you that when I tarried in your midst some time ago, I was on my
+way to the court of Akbar on an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg&nbsp;92]</a></span> important mission. I was, as you know,
+accompanied by a servant. I had in my possession a most valuable harp,
+encrusted with diamonds, rubies, and other precious stones. It had
+formerly belonged to the Maharanee of Kholtan, and had been looted from
+her palace during the last war. Our Emperor, the Padishah, had long been
+desirous of possessing it, for the fame of the instrument, its beauty
+and value, was widespread. By a fortunate chance I became acquainted
+with the man who was hiding it in the city of Poona. I promised, in the
+name of my lord and master, the mighty Akbar, a lac of rupees, and
+undertook to carry the instrument safely to the Emperor at
+Fathpur-Sikri. On account of its extreme value we decided to conceal it
+in a rough packing, and, with a view to avoid attracting attention, that
+I should be attended on the road by no more than one body servant, a man
+who had been long in my employment and in whom I placed implicit
+confidence.</p>
+
+<p>"'Well, all went right until, just as we neared this village I fell
+sick&mdash;as I now believe, through the agency of my faithless attendant,
+who would have poisoned me so that he might possess himself of the
+precious harp. Fortunately I was succoured by our good friend, Baji Lal,
+and nursed back to health by him and his devoted wife Devaka. I had sent
+my servant on to Punderpur, there to await a summons when I again felt
+well enough to travel. But one night he returned of his own accord,
+bringing the news that the Padishah himself was approaching<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg&nbsp;93]</a></span> Punderpur,
+and now would be the time for me to complete my mission.</p>
+
+<p>"'But there was something in the fellow's manner that awakened my
+distrust. At this time my suspicions were but vague, yet sufficient to
+prompt me to caution. Without discovering my inmost thoughts, I
+acquiesced in his proposal, and, disregarding the entreaties of my kind
+hosts, prepared to take the road without an hour's delay.</p>
+
+<p>"'But first I had to dispose of the bejewelled harp in a place of
+safety, for I had made up my mind not to carry it any longer with me. At
+Punderpur it would be possible to get an escort of Akbar's cavalry, and
+then I could return with them for the treasure. So meanwhile I had to
+find some sure hiding-place, this in preference to burdening anyone here
+with my secret.</p>
+
+<p>"'The walls of my room in Baji Lal's house were covered with a thick
+tent-cloth. While my servant was feeding the horses, I loosened one edge
+of this, and to my joy found the space between the inner and the outer
+covering sufficient to take the harp. I stripped off the bulky wrappings
+in which the harp had been carried up to this time, leaving only a
+swathing of fine silk. Then I carefully bestowed the instrument in its
+place of hiding, tying it securely to a beam high up toward the ceiling,
+and finally I restored the tent-cloth wall exactly as I had found it.
+Thereafter I stuffed a few billets of wood into the empty casing of the
+harp, and when my servant returned I bade him carry forth the package,
+and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg&nbsp;94]</a></span> secure it across my saddle-bow, just as I had been wont to travel
+heretofore. Even though it was yet dark, we rode forth on our way.</p>
+
+<p>"'Next day I noticed that my servant kept watching me in a furtive
+manner, and I congratulated myself on the precaution I had taken, and
+inwardly resolved to be more than ever on my guard not to be caught
+unawares. But, alas! I was still weak, and exhausted nature overcame
+vigilance, so that one night I slept soundly. I remember nothing of what
+took place. But when I came to myself some woodcutters were bathing my
+head. They said I had been beaten and wounded, and had bled profusely. I
+tried to stand up, but was seized with a great faintness, and would have
+fallen had not my succourers steadied me. With tender care I was carried
+to Punderpur, happily not far distant, where I was yet once again kindly
+bidden to the home of strangers.</p>
+
+<p>"'A munshi named Khyraz was the name of my new benefactor. He was most
+wishful that I should hunt down my faithless servant, who, I need not
+say, after leaving me for dead, had disappeared with my horse and the
+package which was supposed to contain the precious harp. However, as I
+had still the instrument in safe keeping, and as I did not want the
+story of its being in my possession to get noised abroad, for this would
+have robbed me of the pleasure of surprising our King of Kings with the
+production of the coveted prize, I let the rascal go, for the time being
+at all events. But his day will come, the son of a pig who betrayed the
+master whose salt he had eaten<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg&nbsp;95]</a></span> for years. May the tombs of his
+ancestors be defiled!</p>
+
+<p>"'Of course the news that had brought me to Punderpur was false. So far
+from Akbar being in the vicinity, I now learned that he had gone on a
+journey to Gwalior, and would not be back to Fathpur-Sikri for several
+months. Therefore, I took the opportunity of paying a business visit to
+Benares, resting content in my mind that the harp could be in no safer
+place than in its snug hiding at the home of Baji Lal, where no robbers
+would ever dream of prying.</p>
+
+<p>"'However, I was just on the eve of retracing my steps to this village
+when Chunda Das came to Punderpur in quest of me. We met at the house of
+Munshi Khyraz, and there I learned of the disaster to my friends here,
+and the terrible doom that was contemplated for them. Imagine my dismay,
+too, when I discovered that their house was to be burned. My beautiful
+harp! It would be destroyed! So we hurried back, sparing neither
+ourselves nor our beasts.</p>
+
+<p>"'When I saw the tongues of flame actually curling about the home of
+Baji Lal, I became oblivious of aught else save the rescue of the
+priceless harp from destruction. Through the blinding smoke I groped my
+way to my old sleeping room. I nearly succumbed three or four times
+before I managed to tear down the tent-cloth. Then, by the flicker of
+the flames I could see the harp reposing in its hiding place in all its
+gleaming beauty. I had no time to feel surprised that its silken
+covering had been blown aside, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg&nbsp;96]</a></span> indeed was at that very moment
+fluttering in a current of air.</p>
+
+<p>"'Just as my hand reached forth to seize the precious instrument, I was
+startled by a subdued plaintive cry. For an instant I paused and
+wondered. Then I discovered that the wind was blowing through a crevice
+in the wall just behind the harp, and that it was the breeze rushing
+through the opening that was causing the strings to vibrate and give
+forth their weird complaining.</p>
+
+<p>"'And this, good people, is the explanation of the unrestful spirit.
+When the wind blew strong, the cries were loud and insistent; when the
+blast came gently, the sobbing was low and wailing.</p>
+
+<p>"'I am distressed that so simple a thing could have caused such trouble.
+But in reparation I will undertake to build for Baji Lal and his wife a
+new home. I hereby give to their good friend, Chunda Das, an undertaking
+to that effect'&mdash;he passed a paper to me as he spoke&mdash;'whereby I make
+myself liable for all moneys expended. And to Devaka I give this chain,
+which I hope she will always wear in remembrance of her good deed in
+nursing Sheikh Ahmed back to health.'</p>
+
+<p>"And, throwing a long gold chain around the neck of Devaka, the Sheikh
+bowed to the company, and, with salaams of farewell, passed through the
+throng, toward his escort waiting for him all ready mounted at a little
+distance. Soon there was the clatter of hoofs, and they were riding away
+across the plain. I had noticed that at Sheikh Ahmed's saddle-bow was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg&nbsp;97]</a></span>
+bulky package, undoubtedly the precious harp in its wrappings.</p>
+
+<p>"That was all there was to be said, and after a while the crowd began to
+disperse. On every hand there was loud acclaim for the Sheikh and his
+noble generosity, and Devaka's gold chain, which she now held timidly in
+her hand, was the object of many admiring glances, and drew for her
+general words of congratulation.</p>
+
+<p>"At last all had gone their several ways, leaving Baji Lal and his wife,
+Bimjee and myself, alone beneath the pipul tree. A first look into each
+other's eyes showed that we were all of the same mind. In their
+excitement of the moment the unthinking throng had approved; but for us
+there was nothing but bitter disappointment.</p>
+
+<p>"It was Baji Lal who first voiced his feelings.</p>
+
+<p>"'Chunda Das,' he said slowly, 'Sheikh Ahmed has promised to recompense
+me for my losses; he has given a costly present to my wife. We want
+neither his gifts nor his promises. They are as dust to us. The little
+we did for him was not done for gold. Yet we took him into our home, and
+fought death for him, and won. He left a valuable treasure under our
+roof without consulting or trusting us. When this act of his brought
+disaster on our heads, it was no thought for Devaka or for me that
+brought him back in hot haste. It was the possible loss of the harp that
+occupied all his thoughts. When he came upon the scene, he saw me tied
+and ready for the word to die. On the roof he saw my wife with the
+flames already leaping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg&nbsp;98]</a></span> to devour her. Yet not one finger did he put
+forth to save either her or me. He just rushed into the smoke-filled
+house, that he might secure the harp&mdash;an instrument of great price, let
+it be. But you, my dear friend, had ridden night and day to find the man
+whom our neighbours thought we had murdered. Our faithful friend
+Bimjee'&mdash;Baji Lal stretched out his hand to the barber&mdash;'defied fire and
+smoke to rescue a defenceless woman from an atrocious death. Neither of
+you had anything to gain by these deeds of bravery and self-sacrifice.
+You did them for pure love of us. What do we want with that selfish
+man's gifts? Chunda Das, give me the paper which binds him to his
+promise to restore my home, that I may tear it into fragments and
+scatter it to the winds. Devaka, my wife,'&mdash;and his voice fell to a tone
+of great gentleness&mdash;'hand the necklet to Chunda Das, that he may
+restore it to the giver.'</p>
+
+<p>"Devaka, who, as I have said, had already removed the chain of gold from
+her neck, looked at it perhaps a little lingeringly, let it slip through
+her fingers caressingly, then with a sigh placed it in my hands and
+turned away. But her sigh, I knew, was less for the surrender of the
+gift than for the unworthiness that had prompted its bestowal.</p>
+
+<p>"Her husband contemplated her compassionately. 'You have not many
+trinkets, little wife,' he said, 'but this one would not remind us so
+much of good deeds done as of base ingratitude. I have no home to take
+you to at present, but Bimjee wants us to stay with him until I can
+build you another.'</p>
+
+<p>"He stretched forth his hand to Devaka, and, leading her away, departed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg&nbsp;99]</a></span>
+Bimjee, after a salute to me, followed his bidden guests at a little
+distance. For myself, I remained awhile to ponder all these happenings.</p>
+
+<p>"To say that I was disappointed in Sheikh Ahmed would not adequately
+express my feelings. From the first I had been attracted to the man, by
+his handsome figure, distinguished bearing, and pleasant smile. During
+our intimacy of four days on the road I had admired the brilliancy of
+his conversation, and had taken great delight in his entertaining
+recitals of adventure in many far lands. From one like him I had
+certainly never expected this display of callous selfishness. But such
+is life. We have to keep ourselves prepared for many disillusionments.
+And, as I remarked at the outset of my narrative, an experience of this
+kind teaches that, if in judging our fellow men we are to be chary of
+condemnation, it behoves us also to be discreet in commendation."</p>
+
+<p>And so ended the Bombay trader's story.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>After an interval of silence, the voice of the Rajput chief spoke up:</p>
+
+<p>"What became of Baji Lal and Devaka?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh," replied the merchant, "from that day their happiness returned and
+continued. For the villagers were ashamed to have doubted them, so all
+contributed to the building and furnishing of their home, and would take
+no denial. Good fortune seemed to settle on their roof-tree. Little
+Devaka is now the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg&nbsp;100]</a></span> mother of a fine boy, and she wears a chain of gold
+around her neck, one given to her by the women of the village when they
+heard that she had scorned the proffered gift of Sheikh Ahmed, and
+understood the reason why."</p>
+
+<p>"And the Sheikh and his wonderful harp?" questioned the Afghan soldier.
+"Did the costly toy reach its destination?"</p>
+
+<p>"The harp is in the treasury of our Sovereign Akbar. Sheikh Ahmed
+started back for Poona with the lac of rupees he had promised in the
+name of the Padishah and half a lac more for his own recompense. But he
+and his company were attacked by a swarm of Mahrattas, and perished to a
+man."</p>
+
+<p>"And the treacherous servant?"</p>
+
+<p>"About him I know nothing. My tale is told."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg&nbsp;101]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="V_THE_BLUE_DIAMONDS" id="V_THE_BLUE_DIAMONDS"></a>V. THE BLUE DIAMONDS</h2>
+
+<h2>TOLD BY THE FAKIR</h2>
+
+
+<p>"You have certainly improved on the moral of my story," said the
+astrologer, addressing the merchant, silent now after the telling of his
+tale. "If it is for God alone to pronounce the censure on mankind, then
+assuredly it is for God also to award the praise. As the story of Sheikh
+Ahmed and his jewelled harp well shows, deeds may be done openly by the
+hand, but the motives for their doing lie secretly in the heart. And the
+heart is the innermost temple where none but the high priest, the
+individual soul, holds communion with his God, the supreme Deity of the
+universe."</p>
+
+<p>"So that a man's life is an unsolvable riddle to all but himself,"
+concurred the hakeem.</p>
+
+<p>"And not to be solved even by himself," remarked the Afghan with a
+laugh, half of bitterness, half of bravado. "We may know in our secret
+heart the motive that prompts to a deed, but we cannot tell the
+consequences of that deed as affecting even ourselves who wrought it.
+Take this very story of the Sheikh; when recovering his precious harp he
+was but digging his own grave. So with all of us; we imagine we are
+marching bravely to accomplish some preconceived plan, when all the time
+we are merely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg&nbsp;102]</a></span> groping with blinded eyes along the path of destiny,
+avoiding the mud holes, it may be, but failing to see the tiger,
+crouched for his spring, a few paces further along."</p>
+
+<p>"Shabash!" cried the fakir, in a shrill tone of approval that drew all
+eyes to the lean and naked and ash-besprinkled figure seated at the foot
+of the veranda steps. "Shabash! shabash!" he cried, again and yet again.</p>
+
+<p>"And your story?" asked the Rajput, with a nod of inquiry and
+encouragement.</p>
+
+<p>"Is one that shows how a man may keep on running all his life yet never
+reach the goal he has in sight," replied the ascetic. And with the
+sturdy independence of his calling he beat a peremptory tattoo with
+finger-tips on wooden begging-bowl to command attention to his tale.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"Behold in me a man who possesses nothing in this world excepting a
+begging-bowl and a loin cloth. Yet was I at one time the owner of lands
+and of cattle, of a home bountifully stored for comfort and for
+sustenance, of wives who wore rich jewels, necklets of pearls, armlets
+of gold, and bangles of silver, with maid-servants to minister to their
+needs and children to play around them. All gone! by my own doing, or
+undoing, call it which you will.</p>
+
+<p>"And know, too, that in those days I also was a soldier"&mdash;this with a
+defiant glance first at the Rajput chief and then at the Afghan general.
+"At my side rattled the steel scabbard, and in my belt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg&nbsp;103]</a></span> was the sharp
+poinard, swift messenger of death when it came to hand-to-hand fighting,
+and the horse I rode had its rich trappings of gold and silver. It may
+all seem strange, to hear me tell those things of the long ago and to
+look upon me now"&mdash;and the speaker stretched forth his skinny, twisted
+fingers and attenuated arms, and for a moment ruefully contemplated
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"But I speak the truth," he went on, "for to-night, prompted by the
+stories to which I have listened and the thoughts they have engendered,
+will I unseal my lips after fifty long years of wandering alone, giving
+no man my confidence, seeking no man's confidence, intent only on the
+attainment of the one desire deeply seated in my heart, and which, in my
+eager striving to achieve, seems to be ever more remote from
+accomplishment. To-night will I reveal the story of my life, so that,
+perchance, the lesson it teaches will show still more clearly the
+impotence of man to constitute himself the avenger of wrongs. For if
+judgment belongs to Allah, so does vengeance. And the choice of
+instrument, of time and place, of the very manner of the deed&mdash;all this
+belongs to God alone, as this night, listening to the stories that have
+gone before, have I for the first time come fully to comprehend."</p>
+
+<p>The fakir paused to gaze around his audience. The look of interest and
+expectancy on each face showed the impression his impulsive flow of
+language had made. No interrupting word was spoken, but every eye
+remained fastened on the lean, keen face peering<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg&nbsp;104]</a></span> over long slender
+shanks and hand-clasped knees. The narrator continued:</p>
+
+<p>"In those days I had twenty retainers at my call, and these men I
+commanded when I rode forth to service with a certain Nawab, from whom I
+held my lands for the feudal service I thus performed. It was my fate to
+take part in many a fight and in many a foray, and to send many a man to
+his doom. But God had ordained it so; the fault was not mine.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it befell that a certain city was given over to sack and carnage,
+for the word had gone forth that the only way to break the power of its
+Hindu occupants was to demolish their temples, destroy their idols, and
+thereby show the impotence of their false gods to protect them."</p>
+
+<p>The Rajput drew himself up proudly, and a flush of resentment stole over
+his face. But the Moslem fanatic, unconscious now of anything but his
+reminiscences of the past, went on unheeding and unabashed:</p>
+
+<p>"It was toward the hour of sunset when a body of our soldiery broke into
+a temple devoted to the worship of Siva the Destroyer. We had battered
+in the heavy wooden doors that protected the inner court, and within the
+threshold a score or more of priests fell to our swords, and a dozen
+dancing girls as well, attendants on the idols&mdash;self-slain these women,
+for when they saw that there was no quarter for the men they rushed on
+us like female panthers and flung themselves on our dripping blades."</p>
+
+<p>The Hindu listeners were visibly disturbed and af<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg&nbsp;105]</a></span>fected by this cold
+recital of bloody deeds. The hands of the Rajput clenched and unclenched
+themselves nervously, and the merchant gave a deep, guttural groan of
+horror as he flung the end of his robe over his face as if to shut out a
+vision of sacrilege and shame.</p>
+
+<p>"It was written in the beginning, nay before creation it was written,"
+murmured the Moslem astrologer, quoting, in courteous sympathy, the
+familiar formula of his faith. "And as your priests themselves say," he
+added, addressing himself more particularly to the Rajput, "'The destiny
+of each man is irrevocably inscribed on his forehead by the hand of
+Brahma himself.'"</p>
+
+<p>The Rajput bowed his head in acquiescent silence, and as the fakir
+proceeded with his story the trader also regained his composure and
+withdrew the covering from his face.</p>
+
+<p>"When the shadows of night fell, the temple made a bonfire that
+illuminated the scenes of pillage going on all around. The big idols of
+loathly aspect had been thrown down, broken to pieces, and despoiled of
+their jewels and the heavy plates of gold that encumbered them. Our
+soldiers had swarmed out of the building, past a tank to the houses of
+some priests beyond. Not one single custodian of the temple survived,
+and I stood alone in the outer courtyard, watching in idle fashion the
+tongues of flame licking the beams and rafters and paint-bedaubed walls
+of the wrecked edifice.</p>
+
+<p>"Then did my eyes chance to light on a small idol<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg&nbsp;106]</a></span> in the passage-way
+between the two courtyards of the temple, set in a deep niche, on which
+account it had escaped the notice of the despoilers. It was the familiar
+elephant-headed idol of the Hindus, Ganapati, as I knew they called him,
+their god of wisdom and the remover of obstacles according to their
+creed.</p>
+
+<p>"Even as I looked, methought that the eyes of the idol twinkled
+knowingly and entreatingly at me. After a moment I saw that this fancy
+was but due to the play of the flames on jewels, comprehending which, I
+said to myself that the little fat man might perchance be of some
+considerable value. So I plucked him from his resting-place, not without
+difficulty, for the base of the idol was fastened by iron clamps to the
+altar, and only just in time before a surge of fire and smoke swept
+through the vestibule. Then, without more ado, I carried forth this
+Ganapati, wrapped in a cotton cloth I had gathered from one of the slain
+priests, and tied it to the saddle-bow of my horse, which had been
+standing tethered under a tree close at hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus did it come about that, a full month later, I was seated in my
+home, in a secret inner chamber that served me as a treasury, and to
+which the only access was through the women's quarters. And before me on
+a stool rested the cross-legged figure of the four-armed and
+elephant-headed god, fat, complacent, smiling, to all appearance
+recovered from the fatigues of a journey of near a hundred leagues and
+thoroughly contented amidst his new surround<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg&nbsp;107]</a></span>ings. The idol was of
+bronze, and the eyes, which at times gave it such life-like semblance,
+were clusters of rubies set around with white sapphires.</p>
+
+<p>"And it followed that, day after day, after the siesta hour, I found
+myself in the company of this accursed idol&mdash;for accursed it came to be,
+bringing me misfortunes and ruin, as my story will unfold. No doubt it
+was by my own doing that the wrath of Allah was brought down upon my
+head. For had not I, a follower of the Prophet, and therefore a despiser
+of graven images in every shape or form, come to treat this monstrous
+and misshapen creature, half man, half beast, as a sort of familiar,
+even greeting him on my entry with the words with which I might have
+saluted a living unbeliever, 'May your days be peaceful,' spoken in
+goodnatured jest, of course, and without one thought at the time of the
+sacrilege of which I was guilty? Yea, I would pat the fat little fellow
+on the head, and, when the humour seized me, would show him my hoard of
+gold mohurs, even jingle before him a bag of silver rupees, or ask his
+opinion on the colour and quality of some gem, speaking words of
+foolishness the while, like a child playing with a toy. And when I lay
+back on my cushions, sometimes I fancied that the little jewelled eyes
+in the elephant head of bronze twinkled at me in merry and friendly
+understanding. All which things I have since remembered with bitter
+shame.</p>
+
+<p>"But it happened one day that I was in angry mood&mdash;some contrary thing
+among the women of my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg&nbsp;108]</a></span> household had vexed me. And when I sat brooding
+over my trouble, it seemed that the eyes of the Ganapati laughed at me
+in mockery. And, angry now at the idol himself, I arose and pressed the
+balls of my thumbs on the two scintillating clusters of jewels, as it
+were to shut out the gleam of their impertinence, even ready, in my
+insane access of wrath, to force them from their sockets as I might have
+done with the eyeballs of a slave who had offended me.</p>
+
+<p>"But in a moment all passion faded from my heart. For an extraordinary
+thing happened.</p>
+
+<p>"As I pressed with my thumbs, the clicking sound of moving wheels smote
+my ear, and the elephant head began slowly to raise itself and revolve
+backward on some concealed pivot, forming a gaping opening right across
+the body of the Ganapati. And, as the opening gradually widened, by some
+devilish contrivance the hammer of a gong concealed within the idol was
+set in motion, and there resulted a loud continuous clanging din that
+could have been heard at a far distance. Instinctively I thrust my
+fingers in my ears to shut out the infernal noise. But after a time the
+clangor ceased, and now I observed that the elephant head had moved
+completely back on its hinges, and lay at rest, its single tusk raised
+aloft. Within the body of the Ganapati a cavity was revealed.</p>
+
+<p>"But before I could explore this, I was distracted by the frightened
+outcries of my womenfolk, and I sallied forth to pacify them, and give
+assurance that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg&nbsp;109]</a></span> the bell need cause no alarm, it being one I had
+purchased in the bazaars with the intent some day to use it as a
+protection against thieves&mdash;its obvious utility, as I guessed even now.
+When all was again at peace I returned to the secret chamber. Everything
+was as I had left it a few minutes previously.</p>
+
+<p>"In the hollow body of the bronze idol there lay disclosed to view a
+small casket of rock crystal, round and polished, and provided with a
+cap of gold. For me to snatch this casket from its hiding-place was the
+work of an instant. Straightway I removed the golden lid, and there, in
+the smooth, transparent nest of crystal, lay a little heap of gems that
+flashed and gleamed like living fire.</p>
+
+<p>"Recovering from my first emotions of astonishment and delight, I poured
+forth the treasure into the hollow of my hand, and found it to be a
+necklace of diamonds, as I could tell from the dazzling sparkle of the
+stones despite their uncommon colour, which was blue, like the vault of
+the sky or the eyes of the fair-skinned women of Circassia. Each stone
+was cut with many facets, and all were strung together by a delicate
+chain of gold, a solitary large stone in the centre, then smaller ones
+on either side, each succeeding pair carefully matched as to size, and
+constantly diminishing till the last were no bigger than grains of
+millet. All the diamonds were of dazzling lustre and of the one uniform
+tint, the blue that is so rare, and, as I gazed upon my treasure trove,
+well could I believe that not such another necklace existed in any part
+of the world, not even in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg&nbsp;110]</a></span> jewel caskets of the Great Padishah
+himself, nor of the Kings of China or of Persia, nor of the Princes of
+the Franks, who are reputed to have untold stores of diamonds, rubies,
+topazes, and amethysts.</p>
+
+<p>"For a time I was stricken dumb and motionless, from very fear of the
+great wealth that reposed in my hollowed palm. Then did I replace the
+necklace in its casket, and the casket in its receptacle within the body
+of the bronze god, and, grasping the tusk, I drew forward once again the
+elephant head, which, at my gentle pressure, rose easily on its pivot,
+winding again the clicking wheels as it moved, and finally closing at
+its accustomed place with a sharp snap but without any further sounding
+of the gong, at which I was well pleased.</p>
+
+<p>"Overcome with varied emotions, I sank down on the carpet, and, gazing
+up at the idol, beheld the jewelled eyes once more twinkling at me,
+merrily and mockingly.</p>
+
+<p>"After an interval I withdrew from the chamber, securing the padlock on
+the outside, and slipping back the artfully concealed panel that hid the
+secret doorway from prying intruders. The corridor without led to the
+women's quarters, through which I passed, vouchsafing word to no one. It
+was only when I had gained the outer courtyard that I drew my breath
+freely, and recovered my wonted tranquillity of mind and mien.</p>
+
+<p>"Several days passed before I ventured again to visit the Ganapati, and
+this at last I did in the full belief that the whole affair had been
+naught but an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg&nbsp;111]</a></span> idle dream. But when I pressed again on the eyes of the
+elephant head, there came once more the clicking of wheels, followed by
+the clangor of the gong. This I succeeded in muffling somewhat by
+throwing a thick cotton quilt, which I had brought for the purpose, over
+the figure of the god.</p>
+
+<p>"A minute later I held the necklace of flashing blue diamonds in my
+trembling hand. I lingered just long enough to satisfy myself of the
+reality of the jewels, of their flawless quality and their matchless
+lustre. Then, replacing everything as before, I left the chamber with
+the usual precautions, and gained the divan in the vestibule of the
+outer courtyard, where I was accustomed to sit and receive my friends.
+There I meditated for several hours, and at last had formed a definite
+plan.</p>
+
+<p>"Well I knew that to disclose the treasure would mean its instant
+surrender to the Nawab, most probably my own doing to death, so that the
+new owner of the gems might feel more secure in their possession. To
+realize the value of those blue diamonds they must be sold one by one,
+or, at most, in separate pairs, and this with infinite care, so as not
+to arouse suspicion among the banians who are the traders in precious
+stones, and are ever on the outlook to screw the last copper paisa out
+of the seller unlawfully trafficking in them. And first of all it would
+be necessary for me to gain some true idea as to the value of brilliants
+of so rare a hue.</p>
+
+<p>"Three days later I rode into the city of Lahore, and, after seeing to
+the wants of my horse, repaired<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg&nbsp;112]</a></span> to the bazaar of the Hindu shroffs and
+banians. All my actions having been carefully thought out and decided
+upon beforehand, I approached with a bold swagger the shop of a
+reputable-looking banian, and, in the usual manner of business, took my
+seat cross-legged before him. Two other merchants were seated near by,
+but to them I gave no heed.</p>
+
+<p>"After some desultory conversation with the owner of the shop, I
+unloosed my waistband, and drew therefrom a tiny piece of silk stuff, in
+whose folds were wrapped two of the smallest of the blue diamonds, a
+pair, which I had carefully detached from the necklace before setting
+forth on my journey. These I placed in the banian's hand, and I waited,
+with all proper patience, while he carefully examined them. His face
+gave no sign as at last he laid the gems on the lap of his robe. With
+this I extended my right hand, and thrust it into his right hand,
+covering both with the loosened end of my waistband, so that he could
+tell me the price he was willing to pay by the secret pressure on my
+fingers that would reveal to me the value he had set on the stones
+without disclosing it to the rival traders seated at our side.</p>
+
+<p>"But to my surprise his hand remained absolutely impassive, giving no
+response to my movement of inquiry. Then, looking again into the
+banian's eyes, I detected there a strange menacing look that greatly
+perturbed me. As his fingers were still limp over mine, signifying
+unmistakably that there was no willingness to buy, I hastened to
+withdraw my hand,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg&nbsp;113]</a></span> and, retying my little package, restored it to its
+place of security. After I had adjusted my waistband, again we spoke
+some tittle-tattle of the hour before I arose and, with a courteous
+salaam, took my departure.</p>
+
+<p>"Glancing back from a short distance, I saw the three banians in close
+colloquy and eagerly gesticulating. Thoroughly alarmed now, and feeling
+sure that they had recognized the blue diamonds as the spoil of one of
+their temples, I made all speed to regain the caravanserai where my
+horse had been bestowed, and, offering no explanation of my hurried
+departure, immediately rode from the city. Gaining the open country, I
+gave rein to my horse, although I took the precaution of making a detour
+before I finally struck out in the direction of my home.</p>
+
+<p>"Before nightfall of the succeeding day I had regained my house, and had
+replaced the detached stones on the necklace by the little golden hooks
+that formed their fastenings. With all speed I quitted the presence of
+the Ganapati, vowing that I would make no more attempt for the present
+to dispose of the treasure hidden in his entrails.</p>
+
+<p>"A full month had elapsed, and I had ceased to give my exclusive
+thoughts to the necklace of blue diamonds; for the harvest time was
+approaching, and I had to make arrangements for the garnering of my
+crops. My house was in the open country, half a league or so from the
+nearest village. It was the evening hour, and I was seated in the
+vestibule of the outer courtyard, having just dismissed the head<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg&nbsp;114]</a></span> reaper
+with whom I had come to terms for the services of himself and his
+fellows in the fields of grain.</p>
+
+<p>"Glancing along the road I descried what I took to be a band of
+travelling yogis, in rags, unkempt, some hobbling on crutches. But as I
+was accustomed to treat with contempt such Hindu beggars, I gave no
+special heed to their approach.</p>
+
+<p>"All of a sudden, however, when within less than a bow shot of the
+house, the pretended yogis raised a loud and terrifying yell, and rushed
+toward me, brandishing staves and daggers. Then did I realize that I was
+in the presence of a gang of armed dacoits. Before I could summon help,
+I was mercilessly beaten over the head with bludgeons; after which I was
+bound hand and foot, and thrown face downward on the divan on which I
+had been seated. I could hear the sound of a scuffle in the courtyard,
+and the dying scream of the eunuch who guarded the entrance to the
+women's apartments, rising high above the frightened cries of my two
+wives and the children and of the female slaves who attended them. Then,
+because of the grievous blows that had assailed me, as well as the agony
+of my mind, consciousness fled, and I lay like one dead unto the world.</p>
+
+<p>"It must have been hours before I was awakened from this stupor, for the
+moon was riding high in the heavens. Over me was bending the demoniac
+face of a Hindu priest, a worshipper of Siva as I knew from the caste
+marks on his forehead.</p>
+
+<p>"'Where is the Ganapati?' he hissed in my ear. 'It is that which we<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg&nbsp;115]</a></span>
+want. We will spare your life if you surrender the stolen god and the
+blue diamonds.'</p>
+
+<p>"Instantly great joy surged through my heart, for I knew that, whatever
+other evil fortune had befallen, my secret treasure chamber had not been
+discovered. And with this joy came the determination that I would rather
+die than surrender the necklace of blue diamonds, or allow the mocking
+elephant-headed god to be returned to his place of honour before a crowd
+of idolatrous worshippers.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not recount the details of that terrible night. I need but say
+that I was tortured in a dozen different ways&mdash;the soles of my feet were
+burned with hot embers, the flesh of my thighs was pierced with daggers,
+I was beaten all over with clubs, and when I lost my senses for a spell
+I was revived by chatties of cold water being dashed on my face. But I
+never spoke a word. The very spirit of Shaitan had entered into my soul;
+if they were devils, then was I the prince of devils in my resolve to
+defy them.</p>
+
+<p>"I was but faintly conscious of my surroundings, when I heard a
+whispered colloquy among the priests disguised as robbers.</p>
+
+<p>"'We must not kill him,' I heard one voice say. 'Only if he lives shall
+we recover the Ganapati.'</p>
+
+<p>"Then also I heard some faint cries from afar off, from the village,
+showing that the dacoits were discovered, and that courage was being
+mustered for some attempt to drive them away.</p>
+
+<p>"After a moment the same priest who had ad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg&nbsp;116]</a></span>dressed me before bent his
+face once again over mine.</p>
+
+<p>"'Listen, you Moslem son of a pig,' he hissed in my ear. 'Three more
+warnings will be given to you, and if these do not succeed in making you
+restore the Ganapati and the jewels then assuredly will you die. You
+know whence you stole it. Take back the idol to Ferishtapur, or go to
+the nethermost hell to which you belong.'</p>
+
+<p>"With that he slapped my face again and again, with a slipper taken from
+his foot, and, writhing in my bonds, I was powerless to revenge, even at
+the cost of my life, this crowning and abominable insult.</p>
+
+<p>"I must have swooned once more, for dawn was breaking when the craven
+villagers, satisfied that the robbers and murderers had departed, at
+last arrived upon the scene, and, loosening the thongs that bound me,
+re-awakened me to consciousness of my pitiful plight.</p>
+
+<p>"My womenfolk and my three children were uninjured. I found them,
+cowering and terrified, in an inner chamber. But the infidels had
+searched every room in their quarters, scattering the contents of chests
+on the floors. And at sight of this vile desecration the iron of revenge
+even then entered into my soul.</p>
+
+<p>"The eunuch lay dead in the vestibule leading to the harem. My other
+servants, who had happened to be outside the house at the time of the
+assault, had fled, and in the shame of their desertion never again dared
+to show their faces in my presence. The kot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg&nbsp;117]</a></span>wal of the district made an
+investigation, but I held my own counsel, and spoke not one word about
+the Ganapati or the blue diamonds. So the outrage was set down as the
+work of dacoits, and although in point of fact nothing had been stolen I
+felt no call on me to disturb this finding of the magistrate.</p>
+
+<p>"About a week later a new disaster overtook me. In the full light of
+day, when a breeze happened to be blowing, my standing crops were
+burned, and my fields left a blackened wilderness. By whose hand the
+fire-brand had been applied, no man could tell. An accident, or the
+first of the promised warnings?&mdash;this I asked myself, and I strove hard
+to believe that it was ill-luck and nothing more.</p>
+
+<p>"Another full week passed, and I began to hope that the threatened
+persecution had indeed been abandoned. Recovered from my wounds and
+bruises, I was able now to be out and about again, endeavouring to
+restore order to my troubled affairs. One afternoon on my home-coming, I
+found the women lamenting with loud outcries over the body of my eldest
+son, a lad of seven years. Unseen by any of the household he had been
+knocked down on the road and crushed under the wheels of a heavy wagon
+that was travelling past.</p>
+
+<p>"That night, when his poor little body was being made ready for burial,
+my elder wife, his mother, led me to the side of the bier. Uncovering
+the child's shoulder, she showed me a strange mark, as if branded upon
+the flesh by a hot iron. In the red, angry lines I had no difficulty in
+tracing the head of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg&nbsp;118]</a></span> a bull, the sacred mark of Siva. I said nothing,
+and indeed commanded my wife to hold her peace.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew now that this cruel calamity was indeed a warning from the
+accursed priesthood, who had not even scrupled to murder an innocent
+child so that they might wreak their vengeance on me or break my will.</p>
+
+<p>"But, if I had been determined before, ten times more now was I resolved
+never to yield. No cowardly surrender could bring me back my child. The
+boy was dead, and what was done could not be undone, for the will of God
+is eternal.</p>
+
+<p>"That very night I visited the Ganapati, and in the frenzy of my bitter
+grief and righteous wrath I swore, with clenched fist shaken before his
+twinkling eyeballs, that I would break him into pieces, throw the blue
+diamonds into a fire of charcoal, and myself die, rather than restore
+him to the infidels who had destroyed my happiness and my home.</p>
+
+<p>"The next blow fell swifter than ever. Only four days had passed when
+the bereaved mother, who had refused to be consoled for the death of her
+only child, was found drowned at the bottom of the well in the harem
+garden. The household was plunged in lamentation over her pitiful act of
+self-destruction, and now I became vaguely conscious that friends and
+neighbours, as well as servants, were looking at me askance, and were
+beginning to shun my presence as if a curse had fallen upon my head.</p>
+
+<p>"It was at the funeral ceremonies of my wife that I was first made
+pointedly to feel that there rested<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg&nbsp;119]</a></span> over me the suspicion of some
+terrible crime that had drawn down the special wrath of Allah. Standing
+in isolation, at a time when my sorrowing heart yearned for brotherly
+comfort, I realized that already I was an outcast from among my own
+people, one whom they deemed to be marked by heaven for special
+vengeance, a moral leper, a menace to the community, to be shunned for
+all time by his fellow men.</p>
+
+<p>"And there and then I made up my mind to flee secretly to another
+country, sending later for my surviving wife and children, abandoning
+all my other possessions in the shape of land and cattle and accumulated
+stores, but clinging to the blue diamonds which would yet bring me
+riches out of all proportion to those of which fate was robbing me at
+the present time.</p>
+
+<p>"For the third and final warning had passed, although no one but myself
+had thought of my wife's death otherwise than as a case of
+grief-demented suicide.</p>
+
+<p>"But, as she had lain on her bier, I had looked secretly, and had found
+the brand of the bull on her shoulder blade, just as she had found it on
+that of her murdered boy. Allah alone knows how this last crime was
+wrought&mdash;how access to the women's quarters had been gained, and how the
+fatal seal of Siva had been impressed upon her flesh before she had been
+flung into the well.</p>
+
+<p>"To me has this ever remained a mystery of mysteries.</p>
+
+<p>"So the three warnings had been delivered&mdash;the burning of my crops, the
+slaying of my child, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg&nbsp;120]</a></span> drowning of my wife. Unless by the morrow I
+made signs of submission by taking the road to Ferishtapur, there to
+surrender the Ganapati, it would assuredly be upon myself that the sword
+of fate would next descend.</p>
+
+<p>"That very night of the funeral, after securely barricading the outer
+gates of the house, I locked myself in the treasure chamber. Not a
+servant had remained in the home upon which the curse of God had
+descended; even the two women slaves had fled in the dusk of the
+evening, gone, I knew not whither, and now I little cared. My surviving
+wife and children, tiny infants, a girl and a boy, were asleep in an
+inner room; I had glanced at their slumbering forms when passing to the
+corridor that led to the secret doorway.</p>
+
+<p>"I lost no time in beginning my preparations for departure. First of all
+I unlocked my strong box, and drew therefrom a small sack of gold
+mohurs, and another of gold pagodas, also sundry family jewels, armlets
+and necklets of gold, gemmed rings, and other trinkets of price. All
+these I tied tightly in a cotton cloth, forming a package that I could
+conveniently and without undue attention carry at my saddle-bow or in my
+hand. The bags of silver money, likewise the store of silver bangles, I
+would leave behind; they were cumbersome, and moreover they would serve
+to meet the necessities of my wife and children during our period of
+severance.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I turned to the Ganapati, and after swathing him as before in the
+cotton quilt, so as to deaden the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg&nbsp;121]</a></span> sound of the gong, with my hands
+beneath the covering I pressed upon the jewelled eyeballs. I had not
+gazed upon the blue diamonds since the day when I had restored the two
+stones shown to the banian merchant in Lahore. As the wheels now clicked
+and the muffled bell commenced its dulled clangor, the uneasy thought
+came to my mind that perhaps the treasure had in the interval been
+spirited away by some devilish jugglery. But when at last silence fell,
+and I whipped the cloth aside, there reposed the crystal casket, and,
+the lid of gold removed, my eyes fastened with grim satisfaction upon
+the clustered heap of gems, gleaming in the light of my tiny oil lamp
+like drops of rain in a flash of lightning.</p>
+
+<p>"Assured of their safety, I pressed down the cap on the casket, and
+bound the crystal ball securely in my waistband.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I turned round to seize an iron hammer which I had brought with me
+for the deliberate purpose of smashing the accursed idol to pieces,
+partly in revenge, partly to secure the bejewelled eyeballs. But at that
+very moment I became possessed with the notion that I was not alone in
+the room. My heart beat wildly, and I raised aloft the little lamp.
+Nothing but four bare walls, and not even a window through which an
+enemy might be peering!</p>
+
+<p>"I breathed again, and grasped the handle of the hammer. Yet my uneasy
+dread was still with me, for I paused once more, this time to listen.
+Not a sound without, or the whisper of a sound!</p>
+
+<p>"But what was that?&mdash;the creak of a timber not louder than if a mouse<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg&nbsp;122]</a></span>
+had stirred. And, directed by the faint sound, I saw the wooden bolt
+that fastened the door on the inside heave, just once, as if by the
+pressure of a lever cautiously at work on the other side. The hammer
+slipped to the rug from my unnerved fingers.</p>
+
+<p>"Lamp in hand, I stole to the door, on tiptoe, step by step, afraid to
+awaken the echo of a footfall. I touched the wooden bolt with a finger
+tip; I pressed my ear against the panel. And now, every fibre of my
+being at tension, my senses quickened by the unseen but certain presence
+of danger, I could hear at the other side of the thin boards the eager
+breathing of the fanatic devil of a priest who had come to slay me,
+miserably trapped like a panther in a pit. At this thought the very
+blood froze in my veins. My hand relaxed its hold on the lamp, and in
+its fall the light was extinguished.</p>
+
+<p>"Alone in the dark with the Ganapati, and with the human tiger at the
+other side of the door, I shrieked aloud.</p>
+
+<p>"In prompt answer to my cry of pent-up agony came the sharp sound of
+splintering timber, and before me, revealed by the flare of a torch held
+aloft in one hand, appeared the dread visage of the Hindu priest,
+contorted now by his mingled emotions of hate and triumph. For his eyes
+had lighted on the idol, and it was with a shout of joyful recognition,
+'Ganapati! Ganapati!' that the fanatic flung himself upon me, and
+plunged a dagger into my throat. Then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg&nbsp;123]</a></span> the curtain of black
+forgetfulness descended and covered me with its folds.</p>
+
+<p>"I know not what time elapsed, but I was awakened to the consciousness
+that I was yet alive by a tongue of flame that leaped at my face, and,
+scorching my skin, caused me to stir instinctively in self-preservation.
+Raising my head from the pool of blood in which it had been weltering,
+and moving my stiffened neck with difficulty because of the dagger
+wound, the mark of which I carry to this day"&mdash;upraising his chin, the
+fakir laid a finger on a tiny but palpable scar&mdash;"I struggled to a
+sitting posture, and looked about in dazed bewilderment. But ere I could
+realize what had happened, again the blistering heat of fire that ran
+along the walls of the room caused me to stagger to my feet. Then as I
+gazed around, through a haze of smoke illumined by fitful, flickering
+gleams of ruddy radiance, all of a sudden came remembrance of the deadly
+assault and comprehension of my present danger.</p>
+
+<p>"One swift sweeping glance showed me that the Ganapati was gone, and
+that my strong box, too, with its silver hoard had disappeared, together
+with the package of gold coin and jewellery. My hands went instantly to
+my waistband; it had been torn open, and the crystal casket that held
+the blue diamonds abstracted.</p>
+
+<p>"So the murderous priest had not only recovered his own, but had robbed
+me of my all!</p>
+
+<p>"There was no time, however, to reflect or to moralize, for the loud
+crackling of fire amid the woodwork<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg&nbsp;124]</a></span> warned of my imminent peril.
+Flinging the skirt of my robe across my face, I made one frantic dash
+for safety through the splintered panels of the door, the only exit from
+the room, regardless of the billows of mingled smoke and flame that were
+now rolling along the corridor.</p>
+
+<p>"Half suffocated, almost blinded by the pungent fumes, my flesh seared,
+my garments aflame, I reeled into the courtyard of the women's quarters,
+and threw myself into the fountain splashing in the middle of the marble
+pavement. Then, drawing myself out of the water like a bedraggled rat, I
+crawled on hands and knees to the apartment of my wife.</p>
+
+<p>"God! God! It was to find her and our two little children dead&mdash;stabbed
+to the heart on the sleeping mats where they lay."</p>
+
+<p>A sobbing wail burst from the narrator's lips, and he covered his face
+with his hands. After a time he recovered his self-possession, and
+resumed, although still in broken tones and with shoulders heaving from
+emotion.</p>
+
+<p>"I need not dwell on the pitiable story. Gaining the open country, I
+gazed upon the fierce flames now bursting in a dozen places from the
+roof of my doomed home, the funeral pyre of the last ones dear to me on
+earth.</p>
+
+<p>"As I gazed I rent my garments, and raised my voice in loud
+lamentations. Soon all was consumed, and there remained only the dull
+glow of red embers. Then I wandered out into the night, stupefied and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg&nbsp;125]</a></span>
+broken-hearted by the crowning calamity that had overtaken me, afraid
+even to face my neighbours of the village, naked, penniless, and alone.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus did it come about that I, a man of estate, feudatory of a prince,
+within the period of a single moon lost wives and children, slaves and
+retainers, land and crops and cattle, family jewels, stores of gold and
+of silver, and also the blue diamonds of the idol for the retention of
+which I had rashly but unknowingly ventured all that I had of happiness
+in this world.</p>
+
+<p>"And since that day of final disaster I have journeyed over the face of
+the land trying to find, not the blue diamonds, not my stolen hoard, but
+that fiend incarnate, the priest of Siva, who slew my wives and
+children.</p>
+
+<p>"I go about, now a Moslem fakir with the right of entry to the mosques
+where I may worship the only true God and Mohammed his prophet, now
+disguised as a Hindu yogi, crying 'Ram, Ram,' so that I may gain access
+to the temples of the idolators, there to find the Ganapati with the
+jewelled eyes, and by that token discover the man for whom I am ever
+seeking. Every year I revisit Ferishtapur, whence the idol was
+originally taken by my hand from the wrecked temple, but thither neither
+the priest nor the Ganapati has ever returned. At other times I travel
+from one city to another, searching for temples, mingling with the
+devotees at the recurring festivals, the Holi, the Durgapuga, the feast
+of lanterns, and watching the processions when the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg&nbsp;126]</a></span> idols and their
+custodians visit each other's shrines or go to the river for the
+blessing of the waters. But wander where I may, priest or Ganapati have
+I never seen again.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus have passed fifty long years, during which I have lived for one
+thing alone, and that&mdash;&mdash;revenge!"</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>Pausing before the last word, then uttering it in a scream that pierced
+the night air, the fakir sprang to his feet, and, swept by a sudden gust
+of overmastering passion, raised his hands high to heaven&mdash;a weird and
+eerie figure in the silver sheen of the moon.</p>
+
+<p>"Deen! deen! deen!" he cried, dancing around as he shrilly voiced the
+fanatic call to massacre&mdash;the dread call which through the centuries has
+drenched with human blood a thousand shrines, both Moslem mosques and
+Hindu temples.</p>
+
+<p>"Subah!" shouted the Afghan general, half rising, his hand on his sword
+hilt. "Stop that, you son of a dog, or I will make you meat for jackals.
+Subah!" At the reiterated stern command the dancing figure became
+instantly rigid. Then, just as suddenly as he had leaped from his
+crouching attitude, the fakir sank to the ground in a huddled heap, his
+face buried in the dust.</p>
+
+<p>"You would be happier to-day, O man of many sorrows, had you followed
+the philosophy of 'kooch perwani'&mdash;had you said to yourself: 'What is
+done is done, and cannot be undone. Let it pass. Kooch perwani&mdash;no
+matter.'"</p>
+
+<p>It was the Rajput who was speaking, in rebuke yet in commiseration.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg&nbsp;127]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"Even when all seemed lost" continued the Hindu soldier, "you should
+have forgotten the blue diamonds, the abiding greed for which was the
+real cause of your undoing; you should have forgotten your lost wealth
+and honourable position, your dear ones gone to the abode of bliss, the
+enemies who had despitefully used you but who, as your own religion
+teaches, were in truth only God's emissaries sent to punish you for your
+sins. It is the philosophy of 'kooch perwani' that teaches us to forget
+the dead past, do the work of the vital present, and by doing it aright
+build for the future an edifice of happiness and contentment. Had you
+followed that philosophy, O fakir, you might have been again to-day rich
+in the good things of the world."</p>
+
+<p>The mendicant raised his face from the dust. "To which I reply, O
+prince,&mdash;kooch perwani. By the ordeals through which I have passed I
+have come to learn that the treasures of this world are of no account.
+Therefore is my philosophy to-day greater than your own. You wear costly
+robes, I the loin cloth of the beggar. Kooch perwani; for when death
+comes, we are equals. There is no pocket to a shroud."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg&nbsp;128]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="VI_THE_TIGER_OF_THE_PATHANS" id="VI_THE_TIGER_OF_THE_PATHANS"></a>VI. THE TIGER OF THE PATHANS</h2>
+
+<h2>TOLD BY THE AFGHAN GENERAL</h2>
+
+
+<p>"In my case the philosophy of life is of the simplest," remarked the
+Afghan general. "I neither crave the wealth of the prince, nor do I
+inflict upon myself the mortifications of the ascetic. For the one rich
+robes and the sceptre, for the other a loin cloth and a begging-bowl;
+but for me the good sword that commands respect from my enemies,
+confidence from my friends, and my due share of the good things of
+existence. In this frame of mind I find the full measure of joy in each
+day that passes."</p>
+
+<p>He smiled the smile of the man contented with the world and with
+himself, but there was the light of proud determination in his eyes that
+belied the mere sybarite.</p>
+
+<p>"Then for you the greatest good consists in the happiness you can snatch
+from the passing hour," suggested the magistrate.</p>
+
+<p>"That is so," concurred the soldier, "if to the word happiness you give
+the right interpretation. To me the performance of one's present duty is
+the only real thing that brings contentment. And duty need not always be
+stern and forbidding; to laugh and play and be merry may, at the proper
+time and in the proper circumstances, be a duty both to ourselves<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg&nbsp;129]</a></span> and
+to others. When one lives philosophically for the present, he takes men
+in all their moods and life in all its phases. The past is counted as
+dead and to be forgotten, except for the experience gained to guide the
+doing of the things that lie now to one's hand. The future is unseen,
+but is none the less determined by our deeds, words, and thoughts of the
+passing moment, each one of which, be it remembered, whether deed or
+rash word, or unspoken thought, has consequences that are eternal."</p>
+
+<p>"So for the man whose mind is thus attuned," again interposed the
+magistrate, "the present becomes all supreme, shaped by the past,
+shaping the future."</p>
+
+<p>"Which means that destiny never degenerates into mere blind and helpless
+fatalism," responded the Afghan. "To do the right now suffices to give
+absolute trust in God for the hereafter. That is the key of destiny, and
+each man holds it in his own keeping."</p>
+
+<p>"A simple religion," smiled the Rajput.</p>
+
+<p>"And therefore the best. It is the religion of Islam freed from all the
+controversies of rival sects and over-learned mullahs. It is the
+religion of my fathers and the religion of my youth, and in it I abide.
+Let me tell you a story of the rough school in which I received my early
+training and where such thoughts as these first began to sink deep into
+my mind.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"Have you ever heard of Shir Jumla Khan? No? Well, that is doubtless
+because he has been dead for a full score of years, and because he held
+his sway in a land remote from these plains of Hindustan, up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg&nbsp;130]</a></span> in the
+rugged mountains, where brave tribesmen guard the valleys which their
+ancestors tilled, and yield allegiance to no one but their own
+hereditary chieftains. Such was my country and my people, for I am proud
+that in my veins runs the blood of the man who for a hundred miles
+around my boyhood home was known as The Tiger of the Pathans. Behold in
+me a grandson of Shir Jumla Khan."</p>
+
+<p>The narrator folded his arms across his breast, in an attitude of quiet
+dignity. After just a moment's pause he continued:</p>
+
+<p>"We were all born fighters, the members of my clan, for during hundreds
+of years many a swarming host had swept past the gateways of our
+territory, Persians, Arabs, Afghans, Moguls, Turkmans, hordes of
+fighting men of every race and tongue, sometimes marching south bent on
+conquest, at other times returning to their homes laden with rich
+spoils, and yet at other times defeated and broken, with enemies
+pressing at their heels. And it was the patrimonial right of our tribe
+to take toll from all alike, from victors and vanquished, from pursuers
+and pursued.</p>
+
+<p>"Sometimes an army would pass through our mountains under safe conduct
+from all the tribes, and the price paid in money, horses, camels, and
+cattle, cloths and other goods, would be divided among the several
+clans. But in this practice there had grown to be more danger for
+ourselves than from forays or assaults on passing enemies, because over
+the division of the spoils there would be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg&nbsp;131]</a></span> quarrelling, followed by
+fighting, among the tribes. Thus had originated many a blood feud
+enduring through many generations.</p>
+
+<p>"In the early days of Shir Jumla Khan it had come about that several
+rich caravans had fallen exclusively into his hands. With the money thus
+provided by the bountifulness of Allah, he had been enabled to build for
+himself a citadel that for vastness and security surpassed those of all
+his rivals among the tribal chiefs. Within its wide walls were wells and
+water tanks, gardens for the growing of fruits and vegetables,
+warehouses for goods, granaries stored with barley, wheat, and dal,
+stables for a hundred horses, sheds for the housing of cattle, sheep,
+and camels, and dwelling places for a goodly multitude of armed men,
+their wives and their children. And all of these things endure until
+this day, for the fortress town amid the mountains built by my
+grandsire, The Tiger of the Pathans, has ever remained unconquered and
+unconquerable.</p>
+
+<p>"But as Shir Jumla Khan grew rich in possessions and in power&mdash;for
+scores of fighting men from afar were attracted to his service&mdash;at the
+same time did his position among the tribesmen become one of increasing
+isolation. All feared him and envied him, and fear and envy have ever
+been breeders of hate. Yet was he a just and a benevolent man, honoured
+and beloved by every one within his domain, where his slightest word was
+gladly accepted law, not because of the might he wielded but because of
+his fairness to all men.</p>
+
+<p>"I was yet a young man when a widely spread plot among the rival<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg&nbsp;132]</a></span>
+tribesmen to destroy Shir Jumla Khan's power had come to a head, and had
+resulted in a determined and prolonged attack upon his citadel. Numbers
+had told, our outlying fields had been devastated, our flocks and herds
+driven away, and crowded within the walls of the fortress were refugees
+from all the surrounding countryside. We had been cooped up through the
+summer, we had lost our annual crops, and without the usual
+replenishment granaries and warehouses were beginning to wear an empty
+look, with but sorry promise for the winter. But, calm and undismayed,
+his proud look and serene smile ever the same, Shir Jumla Khan continued
+to feed the hungry host within his gates and now absolutely dependent
+upon his protection.</p>
+
+<p>"The coming of winter would mean for us some relief, for the first snows
+would scatter the beleaguering hosts, sending them back to their own
+valleys, and giving us the chance, in the intervals of the season's
+storms, to make a few forays on our own account on neighbouring
+communities, which, taken one at a time, would be pretty well at our
+mercy. But if we reasoned in this wise so did our enemies; for it was
+now toward the close of the month of August and redoubled efforts were
+being put forth to accomplish the breaching of our walls, so that The
+Tiger of the Pathans might be slain before there was the chance of his
+fangs and claws again becoming dangerous.</p>
+
+<p>"The tribesmen, no doubt by capture and enforced service, had secured<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg&nbsp;133]</a></span>
+the help of some engineers versed in the methods of sieges and assaults
+on fortified places as practised in Hindustan. At that time I had never
+before seen a sabat, but now from our fortifications I beheld the
+gradual extension, day by day, of a broad covered way, with bull-hide
+roof stretched across the trench being dug, and effectually protecting
+the labourers below from our guns and muskets and catapults. We had made
+several sallies with a view to try and stop this work, but these had
+only resulted in losses on our side out of all proportion to the
+harassment and delay inflicted on the besiegers. So we could but
+impotently watch the subtle and inexorable approach of the skilled men
+who would eventually reach our walls, drive mines beneath them, and blow
+us to perdition.</p>
+
+<p>"Our one chance lay in the question of time. If the winter began early
+we should be saved, but if the snows held off till late in the year it
+looked as if our doom must be sealed.</p>
+
+<p>"But quite unexpectedly a ray of hope came from another quarter.
+Dissension had broken out in the ranks of our foes!</p>
+
+<p>"The first word was brought to us by a deserter from the besiegers'
+camp, who one night had crept up to the gateway of the fort and whined
+for admittance, declaring that he had important news to tell and hoped
+for a reward.</p>
+
+<p>"I was with my grandfather when, awakened from his sleep, he listened to
+the man's story. It told of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg&nbsp;134]</a></span> fierce quarrel the preceding evening
+between two of the leading chieftains. They had been conversing alone in
+one of their tents, when suddenly those without had heard angry words.
+Then it would seem that the owner of the tent had sent for one of the
+slippers which his visitor had left at the doorway, and with this had
+administered five or six strokes over the head, driving his guest forth
+insulted and disgraced. Every one in the camp was on the alert for
+fighting in the morning.</p>
+
+<p>"With a grim smile Shir Jumla Khan listened to this narrative. But he
+made no comment; he merely issued instructions for the informer to be
+fed and for the present closely guarded.</p>
+
+<p>"But if there had been any lingering doubt as to the truth of the story,
+confirmation came ere the breaking of the dawn. For we were once again
+disturbed from our rest, this time by the noise of a great tumult in the
+camp of the besiegers, loud shouting followed by the discharge of
+muskets, the sounds gradually dying away in the distance as if a fight
+and a pursuit had taken place. When day broke such indeed proved to be
+the case; we could descry in the camp a row of tents thrown down and
+dismantled, also dead or wounded men being brought in from the country
+beyond, while away on a distant ridge was a considerable body of
+tribesmen retreating toward their homes.</p>
+
+<p>"At this sight joyful huzzas resounded through the fortress, and we did
+indeed all feel that Allah, by disrupting the forces of the enemy, was
+fighting on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg&nbsp;135]</a></span> our side. And as I spread my prayer carpet, and prostrated
+myself toward Mecca, the pious thought in my heart was one that had many
+times been inculcated by my noble grandsire himself: 'Let the wise man
+reflect that he can in no way succeed without the help of God Most
+High.'</p>
+
+<p>"During the day we took counsel as to the advisability of an attack on
+the somewhat attenuated host without the walls. But from our posts of
+observation we could see that every one in the camp was under arms and
+on the alert, no doubt foreseeing that such an attempt was likely on our
+part. So we concluded to let events develop, and contented ourselves
+with watching the progress of the sabat. Here there was no relaxation of
+endeavour, for the protected trench made a considerable advance ere the
+sun once again sank over the western hills.</p>
+
+<p>"Darkness had not long fallen when another bleating voice of a suppliant
+for admittance was heard by the sentry at the gateway. Introduced to our
+presence, the newcomer, a goatherd by his appearance, and with the signs
+of travel on his garments, removed his head dress, untwisted the long
+locks of hair bound according to custom around his head, and, producing
+a small packet from the midst of his tresses, flung it on the floor. I
+picked up the missive, and handed it to our chieftain.</p>
+
+<p>"Shir Jumla Khan untied the packet, and produced therefrom a heavy gold
+signet ring. While he was examining this, the seeming goatherd raised
+his voice:</p>
+
+<p>"'O prince of princes, protector of the poor and oppressed, by the token<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg&nbsp;136]</a></span>
+in your hands know that I who wear this humble disguise am the son of
+Mustafa Khan, thy brother chieftain, who craves a refuge within the
+walls of this God-guarded citadel. I am empowered to propose terms which
+will bring substantial reward for you and sure deliverance from the pack
+of wolves yelping at your gates.'</p>
+
+<p>"The youth soon convinced us that he was none other than he claimed to
+be, an additional guarantee to the possession of the ring being afforded
+by the full and detailed messages which he brought from his father. At
+the council which followed I was privileged to be present. The son of
+Mustafa Khan first recounted the story we already knew, of the deadly
+insult inflicted on his father, and then told briefly the tale of the
+morning flight and fight. His fleeing clansmen were now concealed in a
+gorge not a mile away, some two hundred fighting men, and would be glad
+to join their forces with those of Shir Jumla Khan, so that they might
+wipe out the stain of the dishonour they had suffered. If the gates were
+opened to them, they would come to the citadel that very night.</p>
+
+<p>"But, watching my grandfather's face, I could see him smiling through
+his beard.</p>
+
+<p>"'I want no more mouths to feed, young man,' replied The Tiger of the
+Pathans. 'But take this message to your sire. Let him come here, alone
+and unattended, and thus serve as a hostage for his own good faith. Then
+shall we two together concert a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg&nbsp;137]</a></span> plan whereby an attack by his men from
+the other side of the camp will be made at the same moment as a sortie
+by my men on this side, so that together we shall crush our common enemy
+as we would break a nut between two stones. I have spoken.'</p>
+
+<p>"'But my mother,' faltered the youth, 'and my sister? They and two women
+attendants are with my father, and he cannot leave them alone and
+unprotected.'</p>
+
+<p>"Shir Jumla Khan stroked his beard; the appeal was one that reached his
+benignant heart.</p>
+
+<p>"'How could they come here?' he asked, addressing the young man.</p>
+
+<p>"'We have a camel with panniers. In that they escaped from the camp last
+night. I myself could lead them hither.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Then in the name of God let the women too come into this place of
+refuge. You and your father, and the camel with the panniers, will be
+admitted, if you can reach the gates before the breaking of the dawn.'</p>
+
+<p>"'And a place of seclusion for the ladies?'</p>
+
+<p>"'What need to ask that?' exclaimed my grandsire, abruptly and angrily.
+'I will show the respect to Mustafa Khan's women which I should expect
+him to show to mine. A house will be got ready ere you return.'</p>
+
+<p>"And he waved the youth from his presence.</p>
+
+<p>"I was at the gateway in the grey of the morrow's dawn when the
+fugitives arrived&mdash;Mustafa Khan, a big burly figure wrapped in his camel
+robe, the son still in the garments of a goatherd, and, led by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg&nbsp;138]</a></span> him, a
+camel from the back of which was slung panniers for women, one on each
+side, enveloped in the usual coverings that safeguarded those within
+from forbidden eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"But although, both out of proper respect for women and in duty toward
+our guests, I had not attempted to look at the camel or its burden,
+having indeed inclined my head downward as the animal passed, yet as I
+again raised my eyes did I involuntarily catch sight of a dainty white
+hand and the gleam, through momentarily parted curtains, of a beautiful
+face&mdash;that of a young girl, fair as a lily, sweet and innocent as the
+half-opened blossom of a rose. And methought that, in her very childlike
+innocence, as our eyes met for a single instant, she smiled into mine
+ere she gathered together the curtain that hid the vision of loveliness
+from my ravished gaze.</p>
+
+<p>"My heart was hammering against my breast as I watched the father and
+the brother, with the swaying camel, disappear under the archway of a
+building sheltered by the encompassing wall of the fortress. This I knew
+had been designated as the home of the refugees during their stay among
+us, but never had I imagined that such a treasure was to be bestowed in
+so rough a casket.</p>
+
+<p>"All that day Mustafa Khan and my grandfather remained in close and
+secret conclave. Again I occupied my time by watching the approaching
+sabat. The work was progressing quicker than ever. At this rate, within
+two or three days the covered trench would be within a short stone throw
+of the fortress<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg&nbsp;139]</a></span> walls. After the evening meal I reported this position
+of affairs to Shir Jumla Khan.</p>
+
+<p>"He only smiled gently at me.</p>
+
+<p>"'Rest easy in your mind,' he said. 'Everything is understood and
+arranged between me and Mustafa Khan. On the day after to-morrow our
+enemies will be delivered into our hands.'</p>
+
+<p>"But that night sleep would not come to my eyes. The face of the
+beautiful girl haunted me, and a great longing came over me to behold
+her again. I even began to hope that the conjoining of our fortunes
+might bring the damsel to me, to be the joy of my life and the pride of
+my future home. Already I was framing in my heart the sentences
+wherewith I would plead my cause after the battle was over, both with my
+grandsire and with Mustafa Khan. And I vowed that, in the fighting to
+come, I would do some deed of daring that would surely win the girl's
+father to my side.</p>
+
+<p>"Meanwhile I wandered around the battlements, and half unconsciously I
+found myself on the walls at a place that surmounted the house which
+sheltered my beloved, with her mother and their women attendants, God is
+my witness, but I had no thought of profane prying, contrary alike to
+the laws of the Prophet and to the laws of hospitality. But my eyes fell
+on a beam of light coming from a tiny window niched deep down in a
+recess of the building. And even as I saw this, there came to my ears a
+faint, regular sound&mdash;a muffled 'tap, tap, tap.' Instantly every fibre
+of my being was in a quiver.</p>
+
+<p>"I know not what instincts guided me&mdash;to burst asunder the bonds both of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg&nbsp;140]</a></span>
+conventionality and of religion that might have restrained me, to make
+suspicion of some vague unseen danger stifle within my breast every
+tender thought of awakening love. But in my surge of excitement love and
+faith were alike forgotten. I ran from the walls, and without consulting
+anyone returned but a few minutes later with a coil of rope in my hands.
+To fasten this to one of the parapets, to tie a few knots at intervals
+so as to give me handhold and foothold&mdash;all this was the work of another
+minute or two. Then, slowly and cautiously, hand under hand, I was
+descending into the well-like recess toward the one tiny shaft of light
+that pierced its black darkness.</p>
+
+<p>"'Tap, tap, tap'&mdash;the mysterious sound grew more and more distinct as I
+dropped down and down. Then, all of a sudden, the playing of a zither
+and the full-throated song of a woman smote my ears, and I arrested my
+descent. Almost could I have climbed back again, unseeing and ashamed.
+But in a brief momentary interlude in the music I heard, loud and
+unabashed now, the steady 'thump, thump, thump' as of a hammer, and
+straightway I knew that the song and its accompaniment were but part of
+some devilish plot&mdash;a means devised to muffle the sound of the other
+operations, whatever these might be. In another moment I was abreast of
+the window, small as a loophole for musketry, but all-sufficient for my
+requirements, I had the rope<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg&nbsp;141]</a></span> twisted around my leg, and, secure against
+slipping, I craned forward to peer inside.</p>
+
+<p>"My irreverent eyes fell on no woman's face&mdash;the music was floating
+upward from an adjoining chamber. But in the room into which I gazed was
+a strange sight&mdash;four men stripped to the waist and toiling for all the
+world like diggers of a well. The flagstones of the floor had been torn
+up, and a great hollow cavern had been dug below. From this cavity two
+of the figures were passing up baskets of mud and gravel, into the hands
+of Mustafa Khan himself, who was bestowing the material around the walls
+of the room. The fourth man, also in the pit that had been dug, was
+tapping a long iron crowbar into a hole that had evidently been pierced
+in the soft ground in the direction of the fortress wall.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew little enough about engineering in those days, but it needed
+only common sense for me to realize that the miscreant Mustafa had
+betrayed our hospitality for no other purpose than to breach the walls
+of the citadel. If there had been women in one pannier there had been
+men in the other, and, to balance the camel's load, there had been
+powder and tools for the nefarious task, the crowning achievement, no
+doubt, of an elaborate conspiracy.</p>
+
+<p>"But I lost no time then in trying to piece together the details of the
+scheme. It was action that was needed now. So, just as silently and
+cautiously as I had descended, I climbed back again by my rope and
+regained the battlements. I paused just for a moment to listen to the
+sweeping chords of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg&nbsp;142]</a></span> zither, played by no unskilled hand, and to the
+rich notes of the woman's voice swelling into the midnight air. Then I
+gathered the rope in my arms, and sought the sleeping quarters of my
+grandfather.</p>
+
+<p>"The old Tiger of the Pathans, as I knew well, was prepared to be
+aroused at any hour of the night. Even his tulwar was buckled to his
+belt when, in answer to my summons, he stepped forth into the outer
+chamber. He listened to my eager story, peering at me the while from
+beneath his shaggy eyebrows. But not even the twitching of a muscle in
+his face betrayed surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"At the close of my narrative he laid a kindly hand on my shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"'O son of my dead son,' he said gravely, 'if what you have seen
+to-night be not a dream, then have you done me great service. But go now
+and sleep, and prepare yourself for what is to come. Rest assured, more
+than ever before, that Allah is on our side, and that, even as I said to
+you last night, our enemies are being delivered into the hollow of our
+hands.'</p>
+
+<p>"But sleep still refused to come to me that night. The call for morning
+prayer found me wide awake, turning over in my mind the many
+perplexities of the situation. Had the quarrel in the camp of our
+adversaries been nothing but a cunning pretence, the fight among the
+tribesmen before the dawn a mere sham, even the gathering in of the
+supposed dead and wounded an artful deception for our eyes, all
+contrived so that this devil of devils, Mustafa Khan, should gain access
+to the citadel with skilled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg&nbsp;143]</a></span> sappers and mining munitions? And was the
+youth who had played the part of a goatherd really a son of the man, or
+a serpent-tongued liar, a chosen master of craft whose seeming
+guilelessness had helped to delude us? It had been a crude first idea on
+his part to suggest the admission as refugees of a swarm of armed men,
+but, when this had failed, there had been glib readiness with the other
+and more subtle plan that had so nearly succeeded. And as I reflected on
+these things, I marked the young hypocrite for my own particular prey.</p>
+
+<p>"During the morning hours I was surprised to see the two khans, guest
+and host, betrayer and betrayed, walking around the gardens in seeming
+amity. But after a time my grandsire beckoned me to his side.</p>
+
+<p>"'This is a grandson of mine,' he said, presenting me to Mustafa Khan.
+'He has reported to me that the sabat is approaching too close to your
+present quarters, and that any explosion would endanger the members of
+your household.'</p>
+
+<p>"I saw the traitor pale under the quiet eye of The Tiger of the Pathans.</p>
+
+<p>"'There will be no explosion to-day,' he stammered.</p>
+
+<p>"'You seem to be fully and precisely acquainted with the plans of our
+enemies. Nay, do not draw that sword by your side, Mustafa Khan. Look
+behind you, man.'</p>
+
+<p>"With haggard face now, Mustafa turned round. It was to see half a dozen
+pikes pointed at his ribs. At a signal from their master a guard had
+noiselessly drawn near.</p>
+
+<p>"'You know what to do, jemadar,' said the old Tiger to the officer in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg&nbsp;144]</a></span>
+charge. There was a vicious smile now on his face, such as I had never
+seen there before and never saw again&mdash;a savage curling of the upper lip
+that showed the white fangs of the relentless hunting animal.</p>
+
+<p>"And, prodded by the encircling spikes, Mustafa Khan went to his
+doom&mdash;calmly and proudly erect, be it said, for a Pathan always knows
+how to die with dignity and resignation to the will of God. Nor must we
+forget that he was a brave man, for in coming to the citadel he had
+boldly ventured his life on a desperate chance, and perfidy in the game
+of war brings shame only when it meets with discomfiture. Peace be with
+his soul!</p>
+
+<p>"My grandsire and I were now alone.</p>
+
+<p>"'You will let me fight that crawling snake, his son?' I cried, with a
+gesture of appeal.</p>
+
+<p>"'He is already carrion for the vultures,' was the reply. 'He was no son
+of Mustafa Khan, just a low-born hireling schemer, and it needed only a
+prod of the dagger to make him betray the whole plot, and whine for the
+mercy which I would have scorned myself to bestow. The two skilled
+sappers are still mining&mdash;under my directions this time. We shall make a
+feint of a sally to-morrow morning at the hour prearranged by Mustafa
+Khan with the tribesmen outside. But it is the sabat and its occupants
+that will be blown into the sky, and not my good stout walls'&mdash;this last
+with the old familiar smile, stern but pleasant to look upon.</p>
+
+<p>"'And the girl who sang?' I ventured, falteringly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg&nbsp;145]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"'She is safe in the protection of my home. On her rests no blame, for
+in the part she played she was but obeying her father's bidding. Now,
+that is all for the present. Keep your own counsel, and be with me
+to-morrow at the dawn.'</p>
+
+<p>"And with the dawn came the swarm of Mustafa Khan's clansmen, running
+eagerly toward the opened gateway of the fort, with their fellow
+conspirators shouting and shooting and waving their swords in pretended
+pursuit. But just within the entrance were ranged a dozen guns and
+arquebuses on swivels, loaded to their muzzles with slugs of iron. And
+almost at the same moment as the rain of death mowed down the onrushing
+horde, a great explosion shook the earth outside, and the fragments of a
+hundred bodies blown from the sabat by our countermine filled the air.
+Then indeed did our men-at-arms, footmen and horsemen, sally forth to
+pursue with sword and spear their scattered and dismayed enemies,
+sending scores to their deaths and the survivors scampering to their
+dens among the mountains.</p>
+
+<p>"And none ever again dared to attack my grandsire, The Tiger of the
+Pathans."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>With a proud smile the Afghan surveyed his audience. No one ventured to
+question him, yet there was a look of unsatisfied curiosity on more than
+one face.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes," laughed the soldier, lightly, "I heard the fair zither player
+and singer again&mdash;often again&mdash;in my own home."</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg&nbsp;146]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="VII_HER_MOTHER_LOVE" id="VII_HER_MOTHER_LOVE"></a>VII. HER MOTHER LOVE</h2>
+
+<h2>TOLD BY THE PHYSICIAN</h2>
+
+
+<p>By general although unspoken assent, the eyes of all the company were
+now directed to the venerable hakeem, as if to invite from him the next
+contribution to the night's entertainment. Meditatively for a moment the
+man of medicine stroked the broad white beard that descended almost to
+his girdle, and then began:</p>
+
+<p>"Familiar to us all is the thought that death is but a birth into
+another state of existence, whether that state be the eternal paradise
+which is the final goal of every man's hopes, or merely another stage
+thitherward. Death is a birth, the truth of which will more forcibly
+appeal to our minds when we reflect also that birth is a death."</p>
+
+<p>"How can that be, except for the still-born?" queried the astrologer.</p>
+
+<p>The hakeem raised a hand deprecating the interruption.</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, follow me in my argument," he continued quietly. "If death is a
+birth, then is a birth truly death. For the babe has been living through
+a prior stage of existence. To it the nine months passed in its mother's
+womb may have meant a long span of life. For time is but a relative
+term, and, measured against eternity, the whole period of man's sojourn
+on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg&nbsp;147]</a></span> earth, be it three score or four score years, is but as the puff of
+a single breath. So the child in the womb lives there a full span of
+existence; it is nurtured and it grows, it sleeps and it wakes, it lies
+passive and it disports itself, it is sensitive to cold and to heat, to
+thirst and to hunger, and God alone knows what it thinks and what mental
+impressions it forms of the existence through which it is passing. And
+the hour of its birth is truly the hour of its death, for in pain and
+travail it is plucked from its warm and comfortable surroundings, and
+with the shock of physical change and unseeing dread it cries aloud in
+sharp anguish. Thus precisely do we ourselves die when we pass from this
+world to another existence, physically and mentally resenting the harsh
+change, terrified because of our very ignorance of what is really
+happening."</p>
+
+<p>The physician paused, amid a deep hush that bore eloquent testimony to
+the impressiveness of the thought to which he had given utterance.</p>
+
+<p>"But the parallel does not end here," he resumed.</p>
+
+<p>"When the infant is born, then for the first time does it see face to
+face the divinity who through all the preceding stage of its existence
+has protected it, warmed it, and nourished it. In the presence of its
+mother it is in the presence of the God who has hitherto enveloped it,
+wholly and completely, in His own divine being. So when we die will we
+be face to face with the now unseen God who everywhere encompasses us,
+beholding Him at first only with the dazzled vision and dim
+half-consciousness of the new-<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg&nbsp;148]</a></span>born babe, but growing to know Him and to
+love Him as we have all known and loved the devoted mothers who bore us.
+For mother love is man's first foretaste of God love, the full glory of
+which we shall comprehend only when by death we are born into a higher
+and more spacious sphere of existence."</p>
+
+<p>There was another brief interval of silence, again unbroken by any
+comment from the auditors. Then the hakeem continued in lighter tone:</p>
+
+<p>"Now let me point my moral by telling you a story of a mother's supreme
+devotion for her son.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"At one time I practised my profession in the capital city of a state
+ruled over by a maharajah, who, although he had been a brave and
+honourable man in his prime, had degenerated into a mere voluptuary,
+spending his days in the companionship of nautch girls and disreputable
+men, indulging constantly in immoderate potations of strong wine, and
+given at times to the use of bhang, which does more than anything else
+to dull the faculties and deaden the conscience of the unfortunate who
+surrenders himself to its seductive spells. The inevitable results were
+for him the premature loss of health and strength, and for his people
+misrule, extortion and widespread unhappiness.</p>
+
+<p>"It happened that, after several Hindu physicians had failed to restore
+their royal master from a fainting spell, I, a Moslem, was summoned in
+haste to the palace. I carried with me a small jar containing a certain
+pungent liquid, which I applied to the nos<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg&nbsp;149]</a></span>trils of my patient, with the
+result that he was straightway brought back from seeming death to
+consciousness of his surroundings. I take no special credit for
+effecting this recovery, but the maharajah himself deemed me to be a
+veritable worker of miracles, and, dismissing all his other doctors,
+kept me thenceforth constantly by his side. From the first I knew, by
+his trembling limbs and enfeebled condition, that death had marked him
+for its own; but I could, at least, prepare aromatic drinks to mitigate
+his pains and saffron meats to drive out the evil spirits that possessed
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Thus did it come about that I gained the confidence of the maharajah,
+and when it happened that one of his favourite wives had fallen into a
+decline, and had begged for the services of a physician, the honourable
+trust of ministering to her needs was confided to me. My examination of
+the invalid was in accordance with the usual restrictions. Accompanied
+by the feeble old maharajah himself, I was conducted to an apartment
+across which a heavy curtain was suspended. After an interval of
+waiting, the rustle of silken garments behind the purdah, followed by
+the gentle sigh of a woman, told me that my patient had arrived. It was
+the husband himself who bade her thrust her tongue through an orifice in
+the curtain. My inspection of this member revealed no internal disorder,
+and I requested from my master permission to touch the lady's hand so
+that I might feel the pulsing of the blood in her veins. Not too
+willingly he ordered her to push her arm through the opening.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg&nbsp;150]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"It was a dainty white hand, with many jewelled rings upon the taper
+fingers, and the nails, as with all ladies of quality, dyed the deep
+orange red of henna. Although I knew well that the jealously watchful
+eyes of her lord were upon me, I made no hesitancy in encompassing the
+wrist with my own fingers. But the little hand within mine was clenched
+tight, and, the better to conduct my examination, I freed my fingers
+from her wrist so as to straighten out hers as I required them. When I
+attempted to do this, however, I was conscious of some resistance and
+then of the presence of a small packet concealed in the palm of her
+hand. With a flash of comprehension I knew that the package must be
+intended to be conveyed to me surreptitiously, and, with no thought at
+that critical moment of what the ulterior object might be, I aided the
+act by a deft movement of my shoulder, which for a moment intercepted
+the maharajah's gaze.</p>
+
+<p>"In another second he could see my finger-tips lightly pressed on her
+wrist, and her empty hand extended; but the package was safe in my other
+hand, and not the quiver of a muscle on my face betrayed that anything
+unusual had happened. Both to mask my feelings, and to give the lady
+behind the curtain confidence that she could repose trust in my
+discretion, I counted the pulse beats aloud.</p>
+
+<p>"These indeed told me that the heart of my patient was beating at a mad
+gallop, but this I divined was simply caused by the daring deed she had
+essayed and successfully accomplished. I deemed it wise and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg&nbsp;151]</a></span> prudent,
+however, to announce that the lady was suffering from a fever, and that
+I would send her a powder that would speedily restore her to good
+health. At this the maharajah was sufficiently overjoyed to permit of my
+withdrawal without obvious embarrassment. I had a smile upon my lips,
+and the secret package secure in the folds of my girdle. A chuprassi
+accompanied me to my home to bring back the medicine.</p>
+
+<p>"I knew, of course, that it was only a dry powder that this high-born
+Hindu lady could take from my dispensary, for to have swallowed a liquid
+drug would have been a violation of her caste. I took pains to let the
+chuprassi see that my hands did not touch the powder, which, after due
+weighing, I bestowed in a paper carefully sealed, instructing him to
+deliver it to no one but his highness the maharajah. It was only finely
+ground sugar that the man carried away. But perhaps this is a harmless
+little trick of my profession which even now I should not disclose."</p>
+
+<p>But a general smile among the company showed the hakeem that his calling
+was held in no undue reverence, at least by those without present need
+of his ministrations.</p>
+
+<p>"When I was alone with my mortars and my drugs," resumed the narrator,
+"I lost no time in examining the mysterious packet. I unwound the silk
+threads that tightly tied it, both to restrict its bulk and to render it
+secure. Soon, to my amazement, I uncovered a string of ten pearls, of a
+size and lustrous<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg&nbsp;152]</a></span> purity that bespoke a high value even to my untutored
+eyes. Also there was a little seal of red chalcedony, with the antlered
+head of a deer and some scroll of lettering engraved upon it; but there
+was not one scrap of writing to explain to me the reason of these gifts.</p>
+
+<p>"Had the lady, as often happens, imagined herself to be seriously sick,
+and devised this plan of invoking my interest and most skilful services
+on her behalf? But why, then, the seal, the value of which was quite
+insignificant?</p>
+
+<p>"Even as I was pondering these questions, there came a clapping of hands
+at the gateway of my home that announced the arrival of a visitor.
+Hastily concealing the pearls and the seal in my girdle, I stepped forth
+into the outer court and took my seat upon the divan.</p>
+
+<p>"Straightway there was ushered into my presence a big man clothed in
+rich garments. His sable complexion and thick lips declared him to be a
+moorman from across the seas, and his beardless chin further told at a
+glance that he was an attendant at the seraglio of some rich noble.</p>
+
+<p>"He salaamed me with the cool confidence of his kind, and, without
+waiting for an invitation, seated himself on the carpet at my feet.</p>
+
+<p>"'My name, O learned hakeem, is Malik Kafur,' he began in the shrill
+treble voice I had anticipated, 'and you know why I come here.'</p>
+
+<p>"As my knowledge had been taken for granted, I bowed in acquiescence.</p>
+
+<p>"'But her highness said that you would first of all show me her signet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg&nbsp;153]</a></span>
+so as to prove that you are acting with her authority.'</p>
+
+<p>"With all due gravity I produced the chalcedony seal from my belt, and,
+without quitting hold, extended it for my visitor's inspection. There
+was a swift gleam of recognition in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"'That is right,' he murmured.</p>
+
+<p>"'Then proceed,' I said, quietly. 'You can speak in the fullest
+confidence.'</p>
+
+<p>"'I have promised the maharanee that to-morrow, when the fourth of the
+day is over, I shall conduct her into the bazaars. She bade me explain
+her plans precisely, so that you in turn should know how to act. Well,
+her highness will be, as usual, in her palankeen slung between two
+mules. When we turn from the coppersmiths' bazaar into the secluded
+bazaar where the money changers dwell, the two grooms in charge of the
+mules will be assailed by budmashes and beaten with sticks. I, too, will
+be knocked down and my clothes torn; but do not worry on my account.'</p>
+
+<p>"I gave a cheerful nod to signify that his anxiety on this score might
+be set at rest.</p>
+
+<p>"'It will devolve on you to have two men ready to take advantage of the
+confusion of the scuffle and lead away the mules with the palankeen,
+conducting the maharanee to a place which she herself will indicate.
+This you understand?'</p>
+
+<p>"'I understand.'</p>
+
+<p>"'At night, when I shall come to you again, under<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg&nbsp;154]</a></span> cover of the
+darkness, you will pay over to me the agreed-upon price&mdash;the ten pearls
+which her highness has placed in your custody.'</p>
+
+<p>"'They are here,' I assented, holding aloft the little string of pearls,
+the purpose they were intended to serve at last made clear to my
+understanding.</p>
+
+<p>"The eyes of the negro flashed with cupidity, and he reached forth a
+big, fat, black hand.</p>
+
+<p>"'I can be trusted to do my share of the task,' he said, eagerly. 'To
+save trouble, let me be paid now.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Not so, thou slave,' I replied, curtly and with authority, as I
+returned the pearls to their place of safe-keeping. 'The price will be
+paid when the service is performed. To-morrow night you will be
+admitted, Malik Kafur, if you knock three times at my gate.'</p>
+
+<p>"The fellow rose to his feet, with a servile and submissive smile, and,
+by a wave of my hand, I dismissed him from my presence.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, indeed, was an adventure thrust upon me, a man of peace and of
+studious habits, who had ever shrunk from deeds of violence; but the
+hand of fate was clearly beckoning me along the path of duty, and not
+for a moment did I shrink from the dangers into which, perchance, I was
+being hurried.</p>
+
+<p>"For the maharajah, worthless, besotted, and on the verge of dishonoured
+death, I could have no respect. For the lady of his household, who was
+confiding to me her very life, whose soft hand I had touched with due
+reverence, there was an instinctive feeling of sympathy. In her hour of
+dire need,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg&nbsp;155]</a></span> most likely of extreme danger, she had turned to me, a man
+of staid repute and old enough, no doubt, to be her father. So this was
+no affair of conjugal wrong, from which my religious scruples and my
+abiding principles alike, would have repelled me. Clearly was I the
+instrument in God's directing hand for some great happening, and it was
+not for me, through thought of self or cowardice, to interpose obstacles
+to the carrying out of the divine will.</p>
+
+<p>"And as I thus ruminated there came from a minaret close by the call to
+evening prayer. 'The world is but an hour,' I murmured to myself as I
+spread my carpet; 'spend it in devotion, the rest is unseen.'</p>
+
+<p>"On the morrow I was astir even before the morning call to prayer.
+'Prayer is better than sleep'&mdash;I listened to the familiar cry of the
+muezzin. But while again I prayed I felt that a good deed done may count
+more for a man at the gates of Paradise than the record of many prayers.</p>
+
+<p>"Full an hour before the appointed time I was at the corner of the
+coppersmiths' and the money-changers' bazaars. Here I posted two of my
+retainers, in whom I could place complete confidence. They had already
+been instructed how to act when the proper moment arrived. For myself, I
+sauntered through the crowded and noisy bazaar of the makers and menders
+of copper vessels, so as not to attract undue attention. In my heart was
+not one flutter of excitement or of uncertainty: I felt the quiet
+confidence which in the crises<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg&nbsp;156]</a></span> of life comes to a man whose trust in
+God the Most High is implicit.</p>
+
+<p>"After a period of waiting there came into sight the huge black moorman,
+in his hand a white wand of office, and, following close behind him, a
+brilliantly decorated palankeen suspended between a pair of mules and
+attended by two grooms, leading the animals. The throng had parted
+before this little procession, averting their eyes from the covered
+palankeen, as was beseeming.</p>
+
+<p>"But suddenly, at the intersection of the two bazaars, a group of
+loiterers sprang forward, and with cries assailed the moorman and the
+grooms, turning the mules into the quieter thoroughfare. There I had now
+posted myself, and, while the shopkeepers ran up the street to see what
+had befallen, the cavalcade under my directions, and with my attendants
+at the animals' heads, hurried along, and as we threaded our way through
+the maze of streets the tumult of voices soon died away behind us.</p>
+
+<p>"After a little time I ventured to approach the curtained palankin.</p>
+
+<p>"I spoke just loud enough to be heard by its occupant:</p>
+
+<p>"'May your day, O queen, be peaceful! Your servant, most humble and
+devoted, awaits your orders.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Peace be to thee, O thou trustful and brave hakeem. Take me to the
+protection of thy wife and home.'</p>
+
+<p>"It was a soft, melodious woman's voice that had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg&nbsp;157]</a></span> spoken, tremblingly,
+imploringly, and yet withal in a tone of authority.</p>
+
+<p>"'As thou hast commanded, so shall it be done,' was my brief reply.</p>
+
+<p>"After a little time the cavalcade, without any undue attention being
+attracted, had passed through the gateway of my home, and the doors had
+been barred behind us.</p>
+
+<p>"To my surprise a gallant youth, some twelve years of age, sprang
+through the momentarily parted curtains of the palankeen.</p>
+
+<p>"'I salute thee, O hakeem, our deliverer,' he exclaimed, kissing the hem
+of my robe. 'My royal mother is in the palankeen, and craves for
+sanctuary in your zenana.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Let her pass,' I replied, and I urged the docile mules toward the
+second archway that led to the women's courtyard.</p>
+
+<p>"At my bidding the inner gates opened, and they closed again when the
+palankeen had entered.</p>
+
+<p>"'Within is sanctuary for your royal mother, and here is sanctuary for
+yourself, O prince,' I continued, with a profound obeisance, for,
+despite the modest garments he wore, I had recognized the eldest royal
+son of the maharajah, whom I had seen several times in his father's
+presence, and on one occasion at an affair of state clad in a robe of
+honour of silk and gold brocade, festoons of jewels around his neck, and
+a tiny sword with scabbard of gold girt at his side.</p>
+
+<p>"Having once more impressed secrecy on my attendants, and bidding them
+give admission to no one,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg&nbsp;158]</a></span> I led my young guest into an inner reception
+room. There, in a few concise sentences, he told me his story.</p>
+
+<p>"A plot had been hatched in the royal zenana that, just so soon as the
+maharajah died, this youth, and seven or eight younger brothers, sons of
+other wives, should be slain, so that the undisputed succession might
+descend on one particular son, elder by several years, but not in the
+regular line of succession because born of a slave mother. It was this
+slave woman's brother who commanded the maharajah's bodyguard, and, in
+collusion with his sister, had conceived the damnable conspiracy. Only
+by the whisper of a woman who was close to the officer, but whose heart
+was tender, had the mother of the young heir to the throne been warned.
+With my aid, and that of the eunuch who had visited me the day before,
+they had made their escape, the youth having been hidden in the
+palankeen of his mother before the latter left the seraglio on one of
+her occasional visits to the bazaars.</p>
+
+<p>"Such was the story. Now the future had to be planned, for up to this
+point the maharanee had acted blindly and impulsively&mdash;just swiftly&mdash;the
+moment she had realized the supreme danger for her son. In the boy I
+found high courage and a clear brain, and together we devised the
+measures to be followed that would best allay suspicion as to the
+whereabouts of the fugitives.</p>
+
+<p>"As a first step I sallied forth as usual to pay my professional visit
+on the maharajah a little before<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg&nbsp;159]</a></span> the noontide hour. Perhaps I felt
+that, if by any chance suspicion had already alighted upon me, I was
+taking my life in my hands by entering the palace; but, trusting to the
+protection of Allah, I gave no second thought to any fear of this kind.</p>
+
+<p>"I had not yet reached the palace gates when I encountered a messenger
+running in hot haste to summon me. His highness the maharajah had been
+seized with a fit, and the whole palace was in a turmoil.</p>
+
+<p>"When I gained the royal apartment I saw at a glance that the sufferer
+was beyond human aid. I could but watch the deep laboured breathing,
+growing ever fainter and fainter, until the death-rattle in the throat
+proclaimed the end.</p>
+
+<p>"During that hour of watching my soul had been gravely perturbed, not
+because of the dying debauchee, but in dread of sinister happenings in
+the royal zenana when the news of the maharajah's demise should come to
+be announced. But how was I to give warning without betraying to certain
+death the youth and his mother who had sought sanctuary in my
+defenceless home? For there, at the door of the sick room, stood the
+captain of the king's bodyguard, Todar Rao, the very man who, I knew,
+held his corrupt soldiery in leash for any villainy.</p>
+
+<p>"Another high officer of the court, the diwan, had shared my vigil in
+the death chamber, and just before the end came had informed me that it
+was news of an attack by budmashes on one of the royal palankeens that
+morning in the bazaars that had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg&nbsp;160]</a></span> inflicted the fatal stroke upon his
+master. But this treasurer was an aged man, who would have quailed under
+the eye of the stern and relentless soldier keeping watch and ward at
+the doorway, and, for all I knew, he, too, might be in the
+conspiracy&mdash;indeed, his furtive glances and the nervous twitching of his
+hands forewarned me of this danger.</p>
+
+<p>"Surrounded by uncertainties, and utterly helpless in my isolation, I
+could but drift whither the stream of destiny carried me.</p>
+
+<p>"'The king is dead,' I announced, when the last flutter of the heart had
+ceased. 'May God in His compassion give him peace.'</p>
+
+<p>"The diwan summoned the captain of the bodyguard, and the latter, to
+make certainty doubly sure, brutally shook the dead man by the shoulder.
+I could see the savage gleam of satisfaction on his face when he threw
+from him the already stiffening arm. The two men, in close conclave,
+hastened from the chamber, and when the attendants set up the accustomed
+cries of wailing I profited by the clamour and confusion to slip
+discreetly from the palace and gain my own home.</p>
+
+<p>"The terrible events of the next few days were, alas! just the same as
+have befallen a hundred times on the passing of a king. The outside
+world knew few details, but the news from the palace current in the
+bazaars was that all the sons of the late maharajah had perished
+excepting only the eldest. And this youth, although the whisper passed
+freely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg&nbsp;161]</a></span> that he was merely the son of a slave woman, duly ascended the
+throne.</p>
+
+<p>"Revolt by some of the nobles over such an indignity might come later
+on. But meanwhile, at all events, the show of military power quelled all
+opposition, while a judicious remission of taxes pleased the general
+populace, and indeed caused them joyfully to acclaim the new maharajah
+as he made a triumphal procession through the city, mounted on an
+elephant caparisoned with cloth of gold and bedecked with silver chains
+and bells, preceded by priests and the dancing girls of the temples, and
+surrounded by troops, both horsemen and foot soldiers.</p>
+
+<p>"Only I and the members of my household knew that the rightful heir to
+the throne was alive and in safe hiding. For the moorman had never come
+to claim his string of pearls, and it was not until some days later that
+I had learned of his having been summarily dispatched by order of the
+dead maharajah, in the latter's first paroxysm of anger over the
+abduction of his favourite wife when visiting the bazaars. In this
+opportune removal of a greedy hireling and possible traitor I once more
+recognized the hand of Providence working for the noble woman whose
+quick wit had aided mother love to save her son.</p>
+
+<p>"A noble woman I have called her, and such indeed she was. For me the
+maharanee had discarded the purdah, and in the sanctity of my harem,
+with my wife as her devoted attendant, I was privileged to converse with
+her hour after hour, gazing freely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg&nbsp;162]</a></span> upon the most beautiful countenance
+I had ever beheld&mdash;beautiful not only by reason of soft and rounded
+features and the peach bloom of the skin, but also because of the
+soul-lit eyes that illumined it with joyous radiance. For this queen
+lived in her son, forgot every other sorrow in his safety, and now
+experienced all the glowing pride of a leader on the field of battle in
+planning the campaign for the vindication of his rightful claims to the
+royal inheritance.</p>
+
+<p>"Her first step had been to send secret word to her father&mdash;she was the
+daughter of a mountain chieftain&mdash;bidding him to dispatch one of her
+brothers to me as a trusted messenger. The distance was far, and three
+months elapsed before the hillman arrived, a sturdy young fellow, serene
+of eye, slow of speech, and muscled like a panther. He departed back
+home again, carrying our tale by simple word of mouth for greater
+security, and having concealed on his person some of the gems which the
+maharanee had saved and which would be readily convertible into money.
+Then, after a second interval of time, other tribesmen came sifting into
+the city by twos and threes, until we had full fifty of the finest
+material for a bodyguard a young prince could desire. These men were
+quartered at different places in the vicinity of my home, armed and
+ready for a general muster when the moment should be ripe for action.</p>
+
+<p>"Meanwhile a widespread spirit of dissatisfaction with the new raj was
+daily growing, and on every hand in the bazaars mutterings of trouble
+began to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg&nbsp;163]</a></span> be heard. The young ruler had proved to be a mere puppet in
+the hands of his mother and uncle, who had not hesitated to advance
+their base-born relatives and associates to places of highest honour and
+emolument, thereby giving grievous offence among the families of proud
+and ancient lineage, both Hindu and Moslem, which had hitherto supplied
+the principal officers of state and had been the real buttresses of the
+throne. Then, to fill full the measure of discontent, came ominous
+rumours that the prince, although still a mere youth, had, like his
+father, become addicted to the use of bhang and strong wines, and,
+encouraged by a worthless following, was abandoning himself to all
+manner of expensive debauchery. And when at last the screw of heavily
+increased taxation gave proof to these stories the first timid whispers
+of displeasure among the populace swelled to sullen and continuous
+murmuring.</p>
+
+<p>"For the true queen mother and her son the hour of destiny was
+approaching!</p>
+
+<p>"But, although the embers of revolt were ready to burst into flame at
+the first fanning of a breeze, Todar Rao, now sirdar in command of the
+whole army, still dominated the situation. At his slightest word the
+mercenary soldiery under his control would have rushed into the bazaars
+with sword and torch, like ravening wolves among sheep helpless to
+defend themselves. As for the nobles, each surrounded by his own
+bodyguard, they were torn into rival factions, the one jealously
+watching the other lest open revolt should be made the excuse for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg&nbsp;164]</a></span>
+usurpation of the throne by the strongest and best prepared among them.</p>
+
+<p>"In these circumstances it would have been fatal to let word go forth
+prematurely that the rightful heir was alive, for disappointed ambitions
+among the feudal lords might have become an added danger to the fury of
+the sirdar. But any prolonged delay would also be disastrous, for it was
+only now that the boy prince would be recognized and received as the
+undoubted heir to his father's throne; a few years later he would, to a
+certainty, be looked at askance as a mere pretender&mdash;a pawn in the game
+of some unscrupulous king-maker playing for his own aggrandizement.</p>
+
+<p>"It was the maharanee who devised the bold stroke which involved
+undoubted danger yet promised the best chance of success. Her idea was
+to take the whole court unawares at one and the same moment, so that the
+nobles might have presented to them, not only a common rallying-point
+for loyalty, but the chance by united action to break for all time the
+hated military power of the slave-born sirdar.</p>
+
+<p>"It was the appointed day when the recently installed maharajah,
+according to custom immemorial, was to be publicly weighed, and the gold
+he counterbalanced distributed in charity. In the great courtyard of the
+palace all the people were assembled, nobles and officers of state,
+soldiers and traders, rich and poor, among the latter the halt, the
+blind and the maimed, the deformed and the leprous, in pitiful evidence
+as fitting objects for a share of the pro<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg&nbsp;165]</a></span>mised bounty. On a raised
+dais, seated upon a throne covered with cloth of gold, and sheltered by
+a canopy and awnings of crimson brocade, sat the reigning maharajah, a
+puny and sickly-looking stripling.</p>
+
+<p>"Before the main ceremony of the day, heralds had announced that the
+sovereign was prepared to listen to any grievances or complaints from
+his people. For a few minutes no one came forward, but at last a pair of
+sleek mules, handsomely caparisoned, with a richly adorned palankeen
+slung between them, the identical equipage of the maharanee which had
+been harboured in my home, emerged from the crowd, and advanced at a
+grave pace toward the royal dais. That some high-born lady was within
+the silken coverings of the palankeen every one surmised, and at this
+extraordinary spectacle a hush of tense expectancy fell upon the
+assemblage.</p>
+
+<p>"But the silence changed to murmurs of amazement and admiration when a
+queenly woman stepped upon the edge of the dais, and faced, not the
+maharajah on his throne, but the nobles and courtiers and officers
+clustered around.</p>
+
+<p>"With a proud gesture she flung even the sari from her face, which the
+play of the sunbeams among the jewels in her hair and around her neck
+invested with a shimmering halo of radiance. On such a woman's face the
+multitude had never looked before. But stately and unabashed, serene in
+the purity of her womanhood, the dignity of her motherhood, and the
+majesty of her rank, she raised aloft a hand, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg&nbsp;166]</a></span> spake aloud in tones
+clear as the notes of a silver trumpet.</p>
+
+<p>"'O nobles and O people, the royal son and heir of my husband, the late
+maharajah, is alive, spared by divine Providence from the massacre of
+his brothers and playmates in the seraglio of the palace. Many of you
+know him well, and behold now he comes to claim his heritage.'</p>
+
+<p>"As these words were spoken, the crowd again parted, and there stepped
+forth the young prince, my prot&eacute;g&eacute;. At the edge of the throng he
+discarded a loose mantle of cotton that had concealed the rich garments
+befitting his rank. Then he advanced, looking proudly and gaily about
+him, while close behind, and pressing eagerly around his person, came
+full fifty stalwart tribesmen, treading with the bold swinging gait of
+the mountaineer, their drawn tulwars flashing in the sun, their voices
+shouting 'Jai, jai,&mdash;Hail, hail!' in deafening chorus.</p>
+
+<p>"The effect was instantaneous and tremendous, and from all the assembled
+multitude went up the loud acclaim&mdash;'Jai, jai, jai!' There seemed to be
+not a dissentient in the throng. And a moment later the young prince was
+standing on the dais by his mother's side, one hand resting proudly on
+her shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Among the nobles there had hitherto been the silence of stupefaction.
+But at last, one of their number, an elderly man, advanced, and
+prostrated himself on the rich carpet spread in front of the dais, thus
+rendering public homage to his rightful king. 'Jai, jai, jai!' shouted
+the mob, and soon a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg&nbsp;167]</a></span> dozen others among the nobles had given the pledge
+of fealty.</p>
+
+<p>"Meanwhile the kinglet on the throne of gold had been forgotten. He had
+made no move, but had contented himself with staring around in confused
+and helpless surprise. But now Todar Rao, the sirdar, had sprung to his
+side and dragged the youth to his feet.</p>
+
+<p>"'O princes and people, this is your rightful king,' cried the soldier
+in stentorian tones, 'crowned and proclaimed and accepted by your
+pledges of loyalty. My orders to the troops are death to those who now
+betray him.'</p>
+
+<p>"But the words had hardly passed his lips, when two score of the
+mountaineers, shouting 'Deen, deen,&mdash;Kill, kill,' had swarmed over the
+silver railings surrounding the throne. There was the momentary clash of
+steel on steel, the impotent curse of an angry man, a shrill pitiful cry
+of anguish from the youth who in his terror had crouched behind the
+awnings descending from the canopy. And when the tribesmen again faced
+the multitude, the soldierly figure of Todar Rao had disappeared, and
+the throne was vacant for the reception of its rightful occupant.</p>
+
+<p>"Amidst a wild tumult of joy the young prince ascended from the dais and
+took the royal seat, showing in his every movement the natural grace and
+dignity that might almost in themselves have proved his right of
+heritage, and that certainly won to his cause the last waverers among
+the onlooking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg&nbsp;168]</a></span> multitude. Even the bodyguard of the slain sirdar were
+now joining in the universal acclaim.</p>
+
+<p>"The first to bend a knee to the rightful king enthroned was the royal
+queen, his mother. And then the lady stepped back, a little to the rear
+and to the side of the throne, drawing her silken sari over the lovely
+countenance that would never again be beholden by the people.</p>
+
+<p>"'Never again!' The thought had scarce passed through my mind, as I
+watched the scene from the fringe of the crowd, when a more grim and
+terrible reality was given to the unspoken words than I had ever
+intended. Close to the spot where the maharanee had halted were some
+hangings of brocade arranged, as we understood later, so that the seated
+and veiled figure of a woman might observe the brilliant pageantry of
+the day from the privacy of this purdah.</p>
+
+<p>"And from out these hangings there now stretched, stealthily but
+swiftly, a bejewelled hand, which plunged a long dagger between the
+shoulders of the queen mother.</p>
+
+<p>"Without a cry she fell. I was quickly by her side, and the young
+maharajah and myself, as we bent over her, caught her dying words.</p>
+
+<p>"'All is well, my beloved son,' she murmured. 'I have accomplished that
+which I was sent into the world to perform. In peace I yield my soul to
+God.'</p>
+
+<p>"With the last word she breathed her last breath. And such is mother
+love."</p>
+
+<p>There was a suppressed sob in more than one breast at the close of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg&nbsp;169]</a></span>
+venerable hakeem's tale. Down his own furrowed face the tears were
+streaming.</p>
+
+<p>"And the woman who struck the foul blow?" inquired the Afghan in an
+eager whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"The slave mother of the dead pretender. Well, she too had given her all
+for mother love. The tribesmen tore her limb from limb."</p>
+
+<p>And the hakeem pressed a hand to his eyes to shut out the memory of a
+dreadful scene.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg&nbsp;170]</a></span></p>
+<h2><a name="VIII_THE_SACRED_PICKAXE" id="VIII_THE_SACRED_PICKAXE"></a>VIII. THE SACRED PICKAXE</h2>
+
+<h2>TOLD BY THE MAGISTRATE</h2>
+
+
+<p>The first wolf-grey of the dawn was creeping over the scene, and turning
+to a sickly yellow the flare of the little oil lamps arranged around the
+veranda. The morning air bit shrewdly, and more than one of the seated
+or reclining figures had gathered his robes more closely around him. All
+eyes were now turned on the kotwal. He alone of the company had not
+contributed from his store of experiences.</p>
+
+<p>"Methinks it is too late for any more story-telling," he protested
+diffidently, with gesture and glance toward the east in token that he
+spoke truly.</p>
+
+<p>"Nay, nay," cried the Rajput, "this night will not be complete without
+the full measure of our entertainment. Come, come, friend; the sun is
+yet an hour below the horizon."</p>
+
+<p>Murmurs of approval showed that the general wish had been interpreted.</p>
+
+<p>"Be it so, then," assented the magistrate. "I have heard so many stories
+this night that it would indeed be churlish on my part to refuse to give
+you one of mine. Well, listen.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>"Know, my friends, that I am a district judge in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg&nbsp;171]</a></span> Delhi, presiding over
+that quarter known as the Bara Bazaar, where the merchants most do
+congregate. One day some few years ago it befell that I was seated alone
+in the hall where I hold my court. It was the afternoon hour, all the
+suits of the day had been disposed of, punishment had been meted out to
+those who deserved it, justice had been done to rich and poor alike, in
+accordance with the orders of our most righteous master Akbar, to whom
+be all honour and glory.</p>
+
+<p>"I had taken from my garments my silver betel-nut box, and was leisurely
+spreading on a leaf the smear of lime preparatory to enjoying my pan
+supari, musing the while on the strange little ironies of life that came
+to my knowledge each day in the discharge of my magisterial functions.
+All at once a shadow from the open doorway fell across the room. Raising
+my eyes, I beheld the tall figure of a man. On meeting my look he bowed
+his body, and with both hands outstretched, courteously salaamed me.</p>
+
+<p>"'Protector of the poor, listen to my story,' he said.</p>
+
+<p>"In silence, while I adjusted the fragments of betel-nut on the limed
+leaf and rolled up the morsel, I motioned him to a place on the edge of
+the carpet whereon I myself sat. For my first glance had shown me that
+the stranger was a man of consequence, his garments being rich and his
+look that of one accustomed to the exercise of authority.</p>
+
+<p>"He took his seat, and arranged his flowing and finely embroidered robes
+around him. I proffered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg&nbsp;172]</a></span> him the pan supari I had prepared, but with a
+wave of the hand he declined this courtesy. So I placed the morsel in my
+own mouth, fell to its meditative mastication, and awaited the beginning
+of his tale.</p>
+
+<p>"'I am a well-to-do traveller, as you would think. O kadi&mdash;a pilgrim on
+my way to the sacred shrine of Juggernaut, as I profess myself to all
+who make inquiry and to whom an answer is due. But I am not what I
+appear to be. In reality you behold in me&mdash;a thug.'</p>
+
+<p>"The man lowered his voice mysteriously when he pronounced the last
+word, bending forward so that I might hear it.</p>
+
+<p>"'And what may be a thug?' I asked, for the name to me was quite a new
+one.</p>
+
+<p>"'Listen,' he said eagerly, and still in a low whisper. 'The thugs are
+worshippers of Bowani.'</p>
+
+<p>"'There are countless thousands who worship Kali, the dread goddess,' I
+replied.</p>
+
+<p>"'Yes, but we, the thugs, not only worship her as the wife of Siva, god
+of destruction, but we are her devoted priests who put men to death in
+her name and for her glory.'</p>
+
+<p>"Now indeed did I prick up my ears and listen intently. But I did not
+suffer my awakened interest to betray itself in look or tone of voice.</p>
+
+<p>"'Some fanatics may seek to justify human sacrifice,' I said. I was
+treading cautiously; later I would tell the man that such foul deeds
+were against the decrees of Akbar, and involved the penalty of death<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg&nbsp;173]</a></span>
+under the feet of elephants. But meanwhile I wanted his confession.</p>
+
+<p>"'Ah, you know nothing about the thugs,' continued the stranger. 'But
+hearken to me, for I have come to tell you all, and for a reason you
+will presently understand. We are thousands strong, and we live in all
+parts of Hindustan and the Deccan. We are caste brothers, and are bound
+together by our worship of Bowani. The traditions of our creed have been
+handed down for generations from father to son. You have never heard of
+the thugs, O kadi, although you sit in the place of justice. Do you know
+why? Because I am the very first of the sect who has broken his vows of
+silence, and spoken the word thug to one outside our secret
+association.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Yet you say you are thousands strong.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Yes, we are strong in numbers, but stronger still in our fidelity to
+our vows. When once we have sworn on the sacred pickaxe, it is
+impossible to speak words of treachery.'</p>
+
+<p>"'If it be for the good and happiness of all men,' I interpolated,
+encouraging him to keep on speaking freely, 'there can be no treachery,
+no breaking of vows in revealing the truth.'</p>
+
+<p>"'It is to reveal the truth that I have come to you. It is by the orders
+of Bowani herself; for I have wronged her, and she is angry and has
+loudly proclaimed to me that thuggee is ended&mdash;that her protection is
+for ever withdrawn from me and my fellows, because, O misery, we have
+grievously offended her. Hark! Do you not hear the voice of Bowani even
+now?'</p>
+
+<p>"The man raised his face toward the rafters of the room, and, with right<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg&nbsp;174]</a></span>
+hand uplifted, his attitude was one of intent listening.</p>
+
+<p>"'Unworthy, unworthy, unworthy,' he murmured, in a strange absent
+monotone, as if repeating words he was actually hearing. 'You have
+broken my laws. Go now to your doom, you and all your brothers. Such
+priests Kali will not have. Thuggee is no more. I will seek some other
+worshippers.'</p>
+
+<p>"After a pause of tense silence, as if the listener was awaiting for
+more, he dropped hand and eyes. And now my mind took a new turn of
+thought. There was the confused, unmistakable glare of insanity in the
+man's eyes. Half unconsciously, I leaned back on my cushions and placed
+a hand upon the dagger in my kummerbund.</p>
+
+<p>"The stranger noticed the movement, and, lunatic though he undoubtedly
+appeared to be, interpreted my thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>"'Be not afraid of me, master,' he said. 'This is the only weapon I
+carry.'</p>
+
+<p>"And with these words he slipped off a silken scarf that he had been
+wearing loosely around his throat, and tossed it on the carpet between
+us.</p>
+
+<p>"Now was I all the more confirmed in my estimate of his madness. To call
+such a thing a weapon!&mdash;a strip of soft fabric that might kill a
+butterfly but would be poor defence indeed to rely on against sword or
+dagger. I suppose I smiled contemptuously, for again the man read my
+thoughts.</p>
+
+<p>"Then instantly did he do a thing that made my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg&nbsp;175]</a></span> blood run cold. With a
+toss of the scarf into the air, he formed it into a noose, and this he
+threw over one upbended knee. Next with a swift twist of fierce hands he
+drew the knot tight, and so terribly realistic was his action that for
+the moment I saw above his knee the contorted mouth and protruding eyes
+of his suddenly strangled victim.</p>
+
+<p>"There was horror in my gaze now, but only calm professional pride in
+his, as he flung back the still looped and knotted kerchief on to the
+carpet.</p>
+
+<p>"'Yes, I am a strangler,' he said calmly, 'as are all the thugs, born to
+become stranglers, and taught how to use the roomal in early youth by
+their own fathers' hands.'</p>
+
+<p>"Of strangling as a means of murder I of course knew, and, indeed,
+during the years of my magistracy, I had heard vague rumours of robbers
+habitually resorting to this method of dispatching their victims rather
+than to clubs or swords. But such appalling dexterity as this man
+displayed in the handling of an innocent-looking silken scarf I had
+never imagined.</p>
+
+<p>"'You look dismayed,' commented the miscreant, no longer a madman now to
+my thinking, but a very dangerous character indeed. 'I am not surprised.
+Now prepare yourself for a story that will freeze the very marrow in
+your bones. Know that I am from Daibul, the city by the sea where great
+Mother Indus flows into the black waters. There for six months of the
+year, just before and during the season of the monsoon, I live
+peacefully in my home, doing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg&nbsp;176]</a></span> no wrong to my fellows, in the eyes of all
+my neighbours a man of wealth and respectability, who goes periodically
+to his own country to draw rents from his lands. Little do my friends
+know that when I do travel it is to worship Bowani by sacrificing to her
+other travellers on the road. She gives us the omen to kill and we obey
+her. Once the omen has been declared, it would be sacrilege not to kill
+her destined victim.'</p>
+
+<p>"'And you rob them too?' I asked discreetly.</p>
+
+<p>"'Oh, naturally. But that is a mere incident. We kill those marked for
+death by our divine Kali, and she freely bestows on us the wealth of her
+victims. But we never kill to rob. That would be truly abominable. We
+kill only in honour of Kali, of Bowani, the all-mighty, great Mother of
+the Universe. For to her devout worshippers, the thugs, did she not give
+one of her teeth for a pickaxe, a rib for a knife, and the hem of her
+lower garment for a noose? So we strangle in her service, and with every
+victim the act becomes more and more a delight to the soul.' As he
+spoke, his muscular fingers and wrists automatically went through the
+motions of tying and drawing the fatal noose. 'Once a man has become a
+thug, he will remain a thug all the rest of his days. Even if he come to
+possess the wealth of the world, he will continue to serve Bowani.'</p>
+
+<p>"I had regained my momentarily disturbed composure, and was studying the
+face of the man before me. It was a fine face, clear-cut, that of a
+clean liver, unmarked by sensuality, unharmed by wine, keen of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg&nbsp;177]</a></span>
+intelligence, resolute of will. I could no longer deem him a madman. But
+I saw I had to do with one so filled with fanaticism that he could look
+upon murder as religion, plan it without misgiving, execute it without
+pity, and remember it without remorse. But now there had occurred
+something so to upset his mental balance that he feared the wrath of his
+own goddess and fancied he heard her threatening voice in the air.</p>
+
+<p>"'You have journeyed to Delhi from Daibul?' I asked, prompting him to
+resume his story.</p>
+
+<p>"'Yes, we were six thugs at the start, with fifteen others, merchants
+and pilgrims, all of us agreeing to journey together for greater
+protection on the road. As we proceeded day by day more travellers
+joined us, some peaceful voyagers, the others thugs to a man. Of the
+latter several were our own inveiglers, who had gone on in advance to
+gain the confidence of likely victims and delay them until our coming.
+The rest were strangers to us, yet none the less thugs. For we had left
+signs on the road telling such as could read them that more help was
+needed and in what direction we were moving; and, although those who
+responded to this call were in varied disguises, one, perhaps, coming up
+to us as a petty chief with a mounted escort, another as a merchant with
+a bullock cart to draw his packages of goods and a servant in
+attendance, yet another as a juggler or a musician, we could instantly
+recognize them as belonging to our brotherhood of Bowani by the secret
+signals with which they introduced themselves.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg&nbsp;178]</a></span></p>
+
+<p>"'So we fared onward, increasing our numbers until our caravan was full
+one hundred strong. We walked or rode together, ate together, worshipped
+at the wayside shrines together, chatted and amused ourselves at night
+around the camp fire, slept side by side, thugs and our intended
+victims, until our strength should be sufficient and a suitable place
+for the final deed attained.</p>
+
+<p>"'At last these two requirements were satisfied. We were now three to
+one, just the proper proportion&mdash;a strangler to use the roomal, a holder
+of legs, and a holder of arms, three thugs for each man to be
+sacrificed, so that there could be no mistake, no outcry for help, no
+possibility of escape for our victims. And one day's journey ahead, as
+we knew well from previous experience, there was a lonely gorge densely
+grown with jungle. Here the sacrifice to Bowani would be consummated, so
+the grave-choosers and the grave-diggers were sent on in advance. We
+acted now with the certainty of good fortune, for day by day every omen
+had continued to be propitious, as interpreted by the movements and
+cries of beasts and birds.'</p>
+
+<p>"The man's story fell on my ears in an even flow. He spoke without
+emotion. I feared to interrupt with a single word, lest any untoward
+comment from me should put an abrupt end to the appalling confession. So
+I just listened while I chewed my betel-nut.</p>
+
+<p>"'On the succeeding night,' continued the thug, 'we reached the nullah.
+The camp fire was lighted<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg&nbsp;179]</a></span> the bullocks and riding ponies were placed
+within the circle formed of the carts, for the gorge beneath us was full
+of wild beasts, and we had even heard the roar of a tiger disturbed from
+his hunting. The bales and boxes of merchandise had been piled up in
+heaps, close to where each of the owners would sleep, some on the open
+ground, some in tents erected by their servants. The evening meal had
+been cooked and eaten. The half-moon had risen, and at a little distance
+from the fire a troupe of musicians was performing&mdash;zithers were
+playing, cymbals clanking, tum-tums beating. From the peculiar rhythm of
+the drums, which all we thugs knew well, we were made aware that the
+appointed hour had come.</p>
+
+<p>"'Our leader stood in the midst of the gathering, ostensibly warming his
+hands at the blaze of the fire. Gradually and naturally we took our
+appointed places, many of them customarily taken before this night so as
+to excite no suspicion at the final moment. And little did the destined
+victims of Bowani dream that behind each of them now was an accomplished
+strangler, with the roomal ready to his hands, while on either side
+squatted a holder of legs and a holder of arms.</p>
+
+<p>"'Then there happened a thing that will explain, O kadi, why I have come
+to you this day to tell my story. I am an adept in my craft, and
+therefore was one of those entrusted to use the roomal. My particular
+victim was a comely youth, perhaps seventeen years of age&mdash;son of a
+landowner, he had told<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg&nbsp;180]</a></span> me in confidence, travelling with a bag of gold
+mohurs for his father. This lad had been in my close companionship
+during the journey, and he had come to show great affection for me. I
+liked him well, but there was no pity in my heart, for it is good to die
+in honour of Bowani.</p>
+
+<p>"'At last came the signal of death&mdash;the jhirnee we call it. Our leader
+raised aloft his right hand, and said aloud so that all could hear the
+agreed-upon words: "The moon shines bright to-night." This was our
+command to act, and in an instant every appointed victim was in the
+death throes. Five minutes later all were dead&mdash;four-and-thirty of
+them&mdash;and not one faintest cry of alarm or of agony had been uttered.
+Thus skilfully had our work been done. When all was over, the musicians
+were still playing their stringed instruments and hand-drums, softly now
+after a great volume of sound that would have overwhelmed any chance
+scream of terror.</p>
+
+<p>"'But in the very act of strangling, a dreadful revelation had come to
+me. Just before the signal was given the lad had turned his countenance
+toward me, and his eyes were looking into mine. In his fixed regard, as
+I realized later, there was the glow of love. But this was transformed
+of an instant into affrighted horror, as my hand at his ear gave the
+noose the deft and fatal twist. In the space of a single heart-beat, I
+saw incredulity change to the realization of sudden death, the first
+wild appeal for pity turn into rigid despair. But this momentary flash
+of revelation had shown me something else. It was a maid into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg&nbsp;181]</a></span> whose
+soul I had gazed. I had put to death a woman.'</p>
+
+<p>"Now for the first time in his narrative did the strangler betray
+emotion. Bending forward, he raised a hand to shield his quivering
+features from my scrutiny. I turned away, that he might the better
+recover himself. After a little time he resumed:</p>
+
+<p>"'Oh, the horror of it!' he cried, uplifting haggard eyes to mine. 'The
+frightful crime against Bowani! To have killed one of her own sex! For a
+thug there is no crime in all the world to equal this one. Too late I
+realized what I had done. But in my first impulse of fear I resolved to
+keep the dread secret to myself. With my own hands I rifled the body,
+and laid the spoil of gold and other valuables on the cotton cloth
+outspread in the moonlight for the reception of such gifts to the
+goddess. I removed the outer garments, robes of cost, silken, and
+heavily wrought with gold. Then, when the grave-diggers emerged from the
+nullah to show us the places of burial prepared, one for each victim, in
+my own arms I carried the body down into the darkness, laid it in its
+narrow bed, filled in the sand, and heaped on top the stones already
+gathered together in a pile, so that hyenas or jackals should not
+disturb the grave, finally covering all with brushwood cut and ready,
+that even the signs of recent excavation should be hidden from prying
+eyes and the sacrifice to Bowani disclosed to none besides her votaries.</p>
+
+<p>"'I kept my secret&mdash;the terrible knowledge that a woman had died at our
+hands. By the morning dawn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg&nbsp;182]</a></span> the spoil had been divided, and our
+cavalcade, smaller now by nearly one-third, moved on. At the first
+cross-roads we split up into several groups, and later on into smaller
+parties still, so as to divert attention from us. And thus have I come
+on to Delhi, only I and one other member of that body of thugs,
+dispersed to assemble again as the omens of the goddess should direct.
+At Delhi we two await another gathering of thugs. But meanwhile my heavy
+secret has weighed upon my soul. I have heard incessantly, these last
+few days and nights, Bowani denouncing me as false to her because I have
+taken the life of a woman in her name, and bidding me hand over all the
+thugs to the justice of Akbar. Therefore have I come first to you, O
+kadi, one of the judges of Akbar.'</p>
+
+<p>"I looked steadily at the man. Methought I saw once more the furtive,
+shifty eyes of the maniac.</p>
+
+<p>"'What proof have you of this story?' I asked.</p>
+
+<p>"'Take some sowars, and ride back with me three days' journey. There
+will I show you the graves of these last victims, and of some hundreds
+of others buried on previous occasions in the same gorge.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Where is your companion&mdash;your brother thug?'</p>
+
+<p>"'He has a shop at the corner of the Chota Bazaar and Dhurmtola. There
+he is now selling his merchandise.'</p>
+
+<p>"'But that is the shop of Kubar Bux. He dwells here in Delhi.'</p>
+
+<p>"'Kubar Bux is his name.'</p>
+
+<p>"'He is a well-known and respected merchant.'</p>
+
+<p>"'None the less is he a thug,' answered the informer, with what I took<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg&nbsp;183]</a></span>
+to be a vindictive little smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Then once again did a new thought leap into my mind. This man might
+have a feud with Kubar Bux, and peradventure he had merely invented the
+story of thugs and wholesale murder for the latter's undoing. I know
+well the wily ways of some men&mdash;how they will even imperil their own
+lives to compass the ruin of an enemy.</p>
+
+<p>"'If I go with you now,' I said, 'to the shop of Kubar Bux, what proof
+will you give me of his connexion with this story of thuggee?'</p>
+
+<p>"'On his person he carries the sacred pickaxe of Bowani, which makes him
+our leader when thugs come together. And hidden in one of his bales of
+silk you will find a case of jewelled rings that actually belonged to
+another Delhi merchant, who was of the party of travellers that recently
+perished, on his way home from a visit to Baroda. You will but have to
+inquire as to this same merchant's disappearance, and get his relatives
+to identify the casket as the dead man's property.'</p>
+
+<p>"'That, indeed, will be proof,' I assented. 'Come, let us go to the
+Chota Bazaar.'</p>
+
+<p>"As we passed out of the courthouse, I signalled to two sepoys on guard
+there to follow us.</p>
+
+<p>"Keeping close to the denouncer, I allowed him to lead me through the
+narrow crowded streets. Soon we were at the corner where was the shop of
+Kubar Bux, and there amidst his bales of merchandise the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg&nbsp;184]</a></span> man himself
+was seated, a venerable and dignified figure. Yet at sight of me and my
+companion I thought an ashen pallor stole into the nut-brown of his
+complexion.</p>
+
+<p>"As I stood with the informer in front of the tiny shop, which was too
+small for all of us to enter, the two soldiers closed up behind us. Then
+unmistakably did Kubar Bux turn grey from trepidation.</p>
+
+<p>"'Kubar Bux,' I began, without ceremony, for I saw that a crowd would
+soon be gathering, 'open the bale of silk among your merchandise in
+which a casket of jewels is hidden, or I shall order your shop to be
+searched by the sepoys I have brought here with me.'</p>
+
+<p>"The merchant rose to his feet. I noticed now, further back in the shop,
+another figure seated&mdash;that of a man who, on our entry, had drawn his
+garments around him so as to conceal his face. But to him at the moment
+I gave no particular attention. My eyes were on Kubar Bux. He moved
+toward a pile of fabrics, silks and embroidered cloths, as if to comply
+with my demand. He pressed against the bales, and then all of a sudden
+sank down upon the floor in a huddled heap. Then I saw the crimson stain
+of blood upon the merchandise.</p>
+
+<p>"I sprang forward. Driven up to the very hilt, in the breast of Kubar
+Bux was a dagger. He was not quite dead, and I heard him with his last
+breath murmur the words: 'Bowani, great goddess, all hail!' Then with a
+rattle in his throat he died.</p>
+
+<p>"I had gathered the dying man in my arms, and now<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg&nbsp;185]</a></span> beneath the flowing
+garments, laid flat against the breast, I could feel the shape of
+something fashioned like a small pickaxe.</p>
+
+<p>"When I saw that Kubar Bux was indeed dead, I drew forth this implement.
+It was carefully swathed in white cloths, a pickaxe bright from the
+hammer of the smith who had forged it, unsullied by earthy stain but
+curiously marked from the head to the point by seven discs of red paint,
+showing it to be an object of worship at an altar rather than for actual
+use in the ground. But at this stage I did not pause further to
+investigate, and hastily replaced the wrappings.</p>
+
+<p>"'Keep close guard on this man,' I said to the sepoys, pointing to the
+informer. But he whom I would thus hold safe remained standing
+impassively, making no attempt to escape.</p>
+
+<p>"Then with a push of my hands I tumbled down the pile of bales. In the
+one next to the bottom was a protuberance, and from this I drew forth a
+casket of silver, delicately chased and inlaid with ivory.</p>
+
+<p>"By this time a throng of passers-by had stopped outside the shop, and
+some had even crowded into the little place. But these I now ordered
+out. Then I turned to seek the man who had been Kubar Bux's companion at
+the moment of our coming. He was no longer there. The shop was
+tenantless&mdash;except for myself and the dead man.</p>
+
+<p>"I need tell but little more. The silver box was identified by several
+people as the property of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg&nbsp;186]</a></span> Govind Chung, a jewel-seller in the Bara
+Bazaar, who had made a recent journey to the court of the Rajah of
+Baroda, but had not yet returned home, although for some time expected.</p>
+
+<p>"That night the paint-bedaubed pickaxe, sacred emblem of Kali's worship,
+lay on the table in my sleeping chamber. But in the morning it had
+disappeared&mdash;gone how and where no one has ever discovered. The informer
+had been confined in the public prison, guarded by two sepoys. Thither,
+on discovering my loss, I straightway repaired.</p>
+
+<p>"The soldiers were still on guard in the corridor; nothing had happened
+during the night to disturb their watch.</p>
+
+<p>"But within his cell the informer was found dead&mdash;strangled, eyes and
+tongue protruding from blackened face, the twisted knot under his ear
+tied in the very manner I had seen him himself tie it over his upraised
+knee on the afternoon of his confession.</p>
+
+<p>"That is the end of my story."</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>The narrator of the grim tale folded his hands across his breast, bowed
+his head, and thus remained in an attitude of meditation. There was an
+interval of silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Who murdered the informer?" at last asked the astrologer.</p>
+
+<p>"We never learned," replied the magistrate.</p>
+
+<p>"Was he strangled with his own silken scarf?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. A plain cotton loin-cloth had been used for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg&nbsp;187]</a></span> deed. It had never
+been worn or washed. It must thus have come straight from some shop in
+the bazaars. But scores of the same kind are bought and sold every day.
+We could discover nothing from this, the only clue the murderer had left
+behind him."</p>
+
+<p>"The assassin must have been the mysterious individual you saw in the
+rear of the shop of Kubar Bux," commented the Afghan general. "Himself a
+member of the thug fraternity, he no doubt took swift vengeance on the
+informer for having betrayed its secrets."</p>
+
+<p>"As I believed then, and believe now. But the whole affair remained a
+puzzle. For how was access gained to the locked and guarded prison cell,
+and to my sleeping chamber as well whence the sacred pickaxe was
+stolen?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, who can be certain even of his associates or followers? According
+to the miscreant's own story, there are thugs all around, knowing each
+other but not known to us."</p>
+
+<p>"Can such things be?" asked the merchant, his eyes showing the fear and
+horror that had smitten him. "Many times have I travelled in company
+with just such a promiscuously gathered crowd as the strangler
+described."</p>
+
+<p>"You have been in luck," laughed the Afghan.</p>
+
+<p>"Doubtless on those occasions the omens proved unpropitious for the
+final deed. A jackal crossing the road or the hoot of an owl at midnight
+may have spared your life, my friend."</p>
+
+<p>With a shudder, the trader drew his white garments more closely around<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg&nbsp;188]</a></span>
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," remarked the magistrate, "for my own part, ever from that day
+when I heard the story of thugs and thuggee I have exercised the
+precaution of never travelling a single mile on the road with strangers,
+however fair-spoken. Although I have never again met anyone whom I could
+positively accuse of such practices, that the evil exists in our midst,
+and is widely spread, I am convinced. For a religion that provides a
+rich livelihood, while at the same time exalting the attendant crime
+into positive virtue is at least convenient enough to have many ardent
+devotees." The words were accompanied by a glance around the listening
+group, and a disdainful half-smile that expressed distrust of all
+humanity.</p>
+
+<p>"But of a truth," he went on, "I know no more than my story has told.
+And hark! There is the trumpet call that heralds the coming of the sun."</p>
+
+<p>Saying this, the kotwal uncrossed his legs and rose erect.</p>
+
+<p>The long winding note of a horn was floating from the camp of the
+soldiery near the city gateway, and in a moment there came from the same
+direction the confused sound of men's voices afar off, calling the one
+to the other.</p>
+
+<p>"I must away," exclaimed the Afghan, springing alertly to his feet, and
+buckling his sword belt. Three or four servants of the Rajput chief had
+ap<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg&nbsp;189]</a></span>proached, and were gathering together the cushions and rugs on which
+he had been reclining. One of them placed in his master's hand the
+bejewelled hilt of his scimitar.</p>
+
+<p>"This for my enemies and the enemies of Akbar," cried the Rajput,
+drawing the curved blade half way from its scabbard. "But I would not
+soil it with the heart's blood of a thug. For him the gibbet, and the
+crows to pick out his eyes."</p>
+
+<p>Just then the first lance-tips of the dawn flashed above the horizon,
+gilding the domes and minarets of the marble city. Away in the distance
+could be heard the wailing cry of a muezzin calling the faithful to
+prayer.</p>
+
+<p>Other members of the party had now arisen, each intent on his own
+affairs, one arranging his garments, another settling his turban
+straight on his head, the hakeem adjusting the little box of instruments
+and simples he carried at his girdle, the Moslem astrologer spreading
+his prayer carpet at the end of the veranda and prostrating himself in
+the direction of Mecca.</p>
+
+<p>Only the fakir had remained motionless; but now he gathered up in his
+hands his wooden begging-bowl, and held it forth, crying, "Ram, Ram," in
+the plaintive whine of his profession. But there was none to pay heed to
+his untimely importunity. Indeed, the Bombay merchant, when the cry
+smote his ears, started uneasily, and in descending the steps gave the
+lean, ash-bedaubed figure of the ascetic the widest berth possible.</p>
+
+<p>"Who can tell a thug from a honest man?" he asked of the magistrate in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg&nbsp;190]</a></span>
+passing.</p>
+
+<p>"Who indeed can tell?" came the reply, in measured tone and with an
+enigmatic smile.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 45%;' />
+
+<p>And a minute later all had gone their several ways.</p>
+
+
+<h4>THE END.</h4>
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+
+<p><b>Transcriber's Notes:<br />
+Normalized punctuation and quotes<br />
+Left one instance of fore-ordained and one of foreordained<br />
+Page 26: Changed access to excess (Printer's error)<br />
+Page 30: Changed four-and twenty to four-and-twenty (Printer's error)</b></p>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of Destiny, by Edmund Mitchell
+
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+</html>
diff --git a/19017.txt b/19017.txt
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+++ b/19017.txt
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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of Destiny, by Edmund Mitchell
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Tales of Destiny
+
+Author: Edmund Mitchell
+
+Release Date: August 10, 2006 [EBook #19017]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TALES OF DESTINY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by R. Cedron, Joseph R. Hauser and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+TALES OF DESTINY
+
+
+
+By EDMUND MITCHELL
+
+
+
+LONDON
+CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LTD
+1913
+
+
+
+
+COPYRIGHT, 1912
+UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
+BY
+EDMUND MITCHELL
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  Introduction                                                     1
+
+  Chap. I. The Maid of Jhalnagor. Told by the Rajput Chief         5
+
+       II. The Hollow Column. Told by the Tax-Collector           19
+
+      III. What the Stars ordained. Told by the Astrologer        35
+
+       IV. The Spirit Wail. Told by the Merchant                  60
+
+        V. The Blue Diamonds. Told by the Fakir                  101
+
+       VI. The Tiger of the Pathans. Told by the Afghan General  128
+
+      VII. Her Mother Love. Told by the Physician                146
+
+     VIII. The Sacred Pickaxe, Told by the Magistrate            170
+
+
+
+
+TALES OF DESTINY
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+Just without one of the massive bastioned gates of the city of
+Fathpur-Sikri there stood in the year 1580 a caravanserai that afforded
+accommodation for man and beast. Here would alight travellers drawn by
+the calls of homage, by business, or by curiosity to the famous Town of
+Victory, built, as the inscription over the gateway told, by "His
+Majesty, King of Kings, Heaven of the Court, Shadow of God, Jalal-ad-din
+Mohammed Akbar Padishah."
+
+At the time of our story Akbar was at the zenith of his glory. He had
+moved his court from Agra, the capital of his predecessors on the throne
+of the Moguls, after having raised for himself, on the spot where the
+birth of a son had been promised him by a hermit saint, this superb new
+city of Fathpur-Sikri, seven miles in circumference, walled and guarded
+by strong forts at its seven gateways. Emperor and nobles had vied with
+each other in erecting palaces of stately design and exquisite finish of
+adornment. A beautiful mosque commemorated the good deeds of the saint,
+and provided a place of prayer for those of the Moslem faith. In the
+palace of the Emperor was a magnificent audience hall, with marble
+columns and stone-carved galleries, in the centre of which stood the
+throne of gold sprinkled with rubies, emeralds, and diamonds, surrounded
+by a silver railing, and covered by a canopy of rich crimson brocade.
+In this audience hall the great and good Akbar was wont to receive not
+only his subjects, rich and poor, the former assembled to pay their
+court, the latter to lay their grievances before the Imperial judge; but
+he also extended welcome to strangers from afar. On the question of
+religion his mind was at this period in a state of change, for he had
+broken from the strict faith of the Moslem, had publicly announced that
+there was good in all beliefs, had overthrown ceremonial rules, whether
+of Islam or of Hinduism, and had proclaimed all things lawful except
+excess. His thoughts thus drifting toward a new religion, a divine faith
+that would bring into one fold the votaries of all religions, he was
+glad at his court to give audience to learned doctors from distant lands
+as well as from every part of India. All were welcome--Brahmins and
+Buddhists, Moslem schoolmen, Hindu fanatics, pantheists, the worshippers
+of fire, the Jews whose prophets are Abraham and Moses, even Christian
+padres from far-off Europe. It was Akbar's delight to listen to their
+expositions and discussions, and to the defence of their varied dogmas.
+
+Thus did the fame of the king for tolerance, benevolence and wisdom
+become noised abroad far and wide, so that visitors flocked in
+ever-increasing numbers to the beautiful city. At our caravanserai
+without the gate there would often, in the cool of an evening, be
+gathered together on the shaded veranda a group of travellers
+representing diverse races and classes. Some of the town-dwellers, too,
+would be there, resting and refreshing themselves after their walk to
+the city walls, while from the near-by camp of the Rajputs, who formed a
+portion of the royal bodyguard, there would oftentimes stroll over a few
+men-at-arms.
+
+On such occasions it would generally happen that the debates recently
+listened to in the Imperial Hall of Assembly would be subjected to
+comment. And from discussion of this kind the conversation would quite
+frequently change to story-telling, dear to the hearts of all natives of
+Hindustan, and by no means to be despised, for in a good story there may
+be implanted the kernel of a sound philosophy.
+
+On a summer night in the year named eight men were assembled on the
+veranda of the caravanserai. The full moon had just risen above a tope
+of tamarind trees, and its silvern radiance revealed every detail of the
+scene. A Rajput chief occupied the place of central prominence, cushions
+arranged for his convenience, on one of which rested his scimitar, the
+emblem of his soldierly profession. Not far from him, in a
+half-reclining posture, was a general of the Afghans, also of the
+bodyguard of the Emperor. A hakeem, or physician, and an astrologer,
+both in the Moslem style of dress, were seated close together, legs
+crossed beneath them; while a little apart were two Hindus, as the caste
+marks on their foreheads showed, a tax-collector from the country and a
+kotwal, or city magistrate. Just above the steps leading on to the
+veranda, surrounded by his bales of merchandise, sat a merchant from
+Bombay, a big and stalwart man, attired in spotless white raiment, on
+his head a voluminous muslin turban. In striking contrast, squatting on
+the ground below the steps, at his feet a wooden begging bowl, was a
+fakir, or religious ascetic, a loin cloth his sole covering, his face
+bedaubed with ashes, his lean chin resting on his upraised knees while
+he listened to the dialogue and watched each speaker's face with eyes of
+keen alertness.
+
+There had been some desultory conversation, which finally resulted in
+the Rajput chief being begged to relate in detail an experience at which
+he had previously hinted. The first story led to another story, and the
+third to yet another, and so on, until each member of the company had
+contributed to the general entertainment. And these are the tales that
+were told by the travellers on the veranda of the caravanserai outside
+the walls of Fathpur-Sikri that moonlight night in the days of the
+mighty Akbar:
+
+
+
+
+I. THE MAID OF JHALNAGOR
+
+TOLD BY THE RAJPUT CHIEF
+
+
+Well, since you would have it so, listen to the story of Rukpur Singh,
+hereditary chief of Jhalnagor, mansabdar of five hundred men, captain of
+the bodyguard of Akbar the Great, King of Kings, Lord of the Earth.
+
+"This day in the Hall of Assembly, in the presence of the great Padishah
+himself, we have listened to the arguments of men of diverse faiths. It
+is well. As Akbar, the Most High, himself has said, all religions are
+good; each man has the god or gods of his fathers; let there be no
+obstacle placed against worshipping the divine power in any manner that
+seemeth fit. That is both wisdom and justice. That is why I, a Hindu, a
+Rajput, one of the twice born, can serve my lord, the Moslem Emperor
+Akbar, with loyalty of heart and of sword that no man may question."
+
+At these words the captain of the bodyguard touched the jewelled hilt of
+his scimitar lying on the cushion by his side. He glanced around, as if
+to see whether anyone present dared to question the fidelity he had
+professed. But there was neither movement nor remark among his
+listeners, and with a disdainful little smile of self-complacency he
+resumed.
+
+"During to-day's discussion, in the spirit of tolerance that Akbar
+teaches to all of us, we Rajputs have had to harken to severe
+upbraiding. We are accused of inhumanity because in our homes a female
+child may be done away with at birth, lawfully and without dishonour. Be
+it so; the fact itself I shall not dispute. Nor shall I defend the
+practice except to point out that a woman more or less in the world does
+not matter, that the babe suffers no pain and knows no ill, that had she
+lived it might have been to a life of widowhood--if courage were wanting
+to choose the suttee--and therefore to long days of shame and sorrow.
+
+"Furthermore, has it to be remembered that the marriage of one of our
+daughters costs much money. According to the rules of our caste and the
+customs of our race, the ceremony must be worthy of the parents and of
+the position they occupy; all of the district must be feasted, and let
+the expense be grievous as it may it must be borne. To some who are rich
+the money thus spent is of no account. But to others who are poor yet
+proud--and all Rajputs are proud--a wedding that is seemly for a
+daughter of the house may mean poverty and ruin for the father and
+brothers during twenty years to follow. In certain circumstances this
+misfortune cannot be thought of. The honour of the race, the very safety
+of a whole clan, may depend on rigid economy as a provision against
+danger. So it may be both right and wise for an infant daughter to be
+put painlessly to her death. Such was the doctrine my father taught me,
+and his name is blessed."
+
+The speaker dropped his eyes, folded his hands across his breast, and
+for a full minute remained in silent meditation. When at last he looked
+up again, there had come over the usually stern and haughty face a
+wonderful glow of kindliness, and his voice took a softer modulation.
+
+"However, know this, my friends, that in my zenana at Jhalnagor there
+are little girls--three, and more will be welcome should the divine
+Krishna send them. Three little daughters have I, all born of my wife
+Lakmibai, the jewel of Jhalnagor. With sons also am I blessed--two brave
+little boys, of whom I may well be proud. But I love them not more than
+my daughters, nor would I change any one daughter for a son. This do I
+say out of the truth of my heart, and in no wise because fortune has
+been kind to me and mine, and has given us such prosperity that there is
+a fit dower for each daughter without my treasury knowing the loss.
+
+"So when the learned mullah from Stamboul denounced infanticide, I was
+one with him in sympathy, for my inclination is to cherish with love and
+care every female child the gods send.
+
+"Now would you hear how a Rajput came to this manner of thinking? My
+story is that of a little maid. Listen. It happened just five years gone
+by.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Under the firm and just rule of our master Akbar there has been peace
+for many years in our part of the world. Except when, as now, I come to
+Fathpur-Sikri for my yearly month of service in providing part of the
+Emperor's bodyguard, I live quietly among my own people. The soil around
+our villages is tilled, our shopkeepers buy and sell, we worship in our
+temples, and we are happy, for no enemy comes to disturb the peace of
+our beautiful little valley of Jhalnagor embosomed among the hills.
+
+"One day it befell that I had gone on a hunting trip with a party of my
+friends. In the early dawn we had descended from the fort on the hill
+top which is my home and the rallying-place for my clan--a small clan,
+numbering but a few thousands, but nobly born as any tribe in Rajputana,
+brave and of honour unsullied, men who have never yet given a daughter
+to the harem of a Moslem."
+
+The features of the Rajput flashed with pride. His brother-at-arms, the
+Afghan, met the defiant look, and said, with a quiet smile:
+
+"There are many Rajput women wed to Moslem lords."
+
+"Yes, but not Rajput women of Jhalnagor. They would have died
+first--many of them did so prefer to die when the Moslem host first
+swept over our land. In the hour of defeat, against overwhelming
+numbers, within the citadel of Jhalnagor the women of my race, refusing
+to accept dishonour, bared their bosoms to the spears of those they
+loved, husbands, brothers, and fathers, and so they died."
+
+With hands outstretched and eyes upraised in rapt pride and reverence
+for the deeds of his ancestors, again the Rajput fell into momentary
+silence.
+
+"The story of the little maid." It was the voice of the physician
+recalling the narrator to his task.
+
+"Yes, the story of the little maid," resumed the Rajput. "As I have
+said, we had gone to the hunt one morning--a party of twelve, riding on
+three elephants. For we were in pursuit of a tiger, a destroyer of men,
+which the villagers had marked down in a patch of jungle by the river
+side. Of the hunt I need say nothing; we killed the tiger, and, with the
+huge, striped body slung across the neck of my elephant, we were
+returning home. It was toward evening, for we had rested in the forest
+during the heat of the day.
+
+"We were just entering the narrow gorge that leads to the fort on the
+hill, when, right on the pathway before me, I saw the prone figure of a
+child. Almost my elephant's feet were upon it before the sage brute
+himself stopped and trumpeted a warning to us in the howdah, for, the
+tiger's body occupying the place where the mahout was wont to ride, the
+latter was walking, and he, too, had not noticed the tiny bundle of
+bright yellow clothing lying on the road.
+
+"Glancing down, I beheld a little girl with her forehead touching the
+dust. At my calling she arose, and spread her hands across her breast.
+
+"'Listen, O chief, to my warning, listen, O my lord,' she called out in
+a shrill tone of supplication. Already had I observed that her face was
+one of great beauty, although that of just a little child, but six or
+seven years old.
+
+"The other two elephants had halted behind mine, and some of the party
+had descended. But at the approach of these men the maid shrank away,
+and, keeping her eyes fixed in my direction, she continued to address
+me:
+
+"'Listen to my words, O chief, and be saved from death.'
+
+"In another moment I had sprung to the ground. As I advanced the child
+ran toward me, absolutely fearless. Taking her in my arms, I sat me down
+by the roadside. Close to my breast she nestled, and, with sobs and
+tears now, told me her story.
+
+"A robber band was in the nullah--less than a mile further along--full a
+hundred strong, fierce men and murderers. For they had already slain the
+father and the mother of the little maid, humble woodcutters. I had
+known them well; they were poor, but of mine own people, and instantly
+in my heart I vowed that I would be avenged.
+
+"The little girl, Brenda her name, as she told me in her childish way of
+confidence, had hidden in the brushwood all day, trembling and afraid.
+But at last she divined that the men had come to slay me, for as the
+afternoon advanced they disposed themselves among bushes and behind
+trees, also in the hut of her dead parents. And even now were the
+assassins in waiting for me, for the girl had seen our party ride forth
+in the early morning, and she knew that I had not yet returned.
+
+"When, with wonderful intuition for a child so tender in years, the
+thought came to her mind that I was to be assailed, she stole down the
+gorge, moving cautiously through the undergrowth, and awaited at the
+spot we found her to give me warning.
+
+"The child had described to me the leader of the gang, and I had
+immediately recognized Gunesh Tanti, accursed son of a pig, a robber
+from across the desert of Sindh, who had more than once ravaged peaceful
+villages of Rajputana. He would know that I had treasure in the fort,
+and of an instant I could read his wily plan. Moving through the
+country, he had doubtless heard a day or two before of this projected
+expedition of mine for the killing of the man-eating tiger. So he had
+designed to slay me on my homeward way, and, the deed accomplished,
+would rely on gaining access to the citadel by loading his ruffians into
+the howdahs of my elephants. Once over the drawbridge and within the
+portcullised gateway, his murderous scheme might have been easy, for my
+score of men-at-arms on duty would have been taken by surprise and so at
+a disadvantage.
+
+"But knowing now the danger, I laughed in my beard, for Gunesh Tanti,
+this human tiger and slayer of innocent men, just as had been the tiger
+now slung across the back of my elephant, was fairly delivered into my
+hand. He who had come to trap me was himself entrapped. And thanks all
+to this little maid of the glen! At the thought, I patted her soft cheek
+with my hand, and in response she smiled up into my eyes with wondrous
+trust and winsomeness.
+
+"Our party, as I have said, numbered twelve, this without counting the
+three mahouts, lithe and active men, and brave as any one of us. The
+neck of the gorge was narrow, and for a hundred yards on either side
+there were steep precipices down which rocks could be tumbled on fleeing
+men. By a goat path over the hillside the fort could be reached by one
+sure of foot and knowing the way. Such a lad was of our party, a cousin
+of my own, who could race with the deer.
+
+"In a few minutes he had girded his loins and was on his mission,
+disappearing over the crest of the almost perpendicular crag up which he
+had clambered. He was to warn the garrison, turn out every man and boy
+fully armed, and bid them to sweep down on the ambushed robbers. The
+mothers and the maidens would hold the fort. No other garrison, when
+once on the alert, was needed for such an enemy."
+
+Again the Rajput smiled proudly, but the silence of intent listening was
+unbroken, and he continued:
+
+"The firing of a matchlock was to be our signal that my men held the
+upper end of the pass, and were descending on our enemies. Meanwhile, my
+immediate followers prepared the rocks above the narrow neck of the
+defile and got them ready for instant rolling down. To this last task
+four of our number were deputed. The others abided with me. Our plan was
+to block the narrow passage by ranging the elephants abreast of each
+other, and, so that the animals themselves might not be stampeded by the
+unexpected din of battle, we chained their forelegs, first each animal
+separately, and then the middle one to his comrades on either side.
+
+"At last all our preparations were completed, the huge beasts in line,
+my companions mounted into the howdahs. I alone remained on foot, I and
+the little woodcutters' daughter, standing by my side, holding
+trustfully to my hand, and no longer weeping.
+
+"'You must come with me, my almond-sweet,' I said, as I raised the child
+in my arms, and passed her up into the howdah of my own elephant, the
+central one. Then I myself clambered aloft. The tiger's corpse had been
+flung to the ground, and our three mahouts sat in their proper places,
+iron goads in hand, ready to perform their task of keeping the elephants
+under control.
+
+"At last, after a tense period of waiting, the welcome report of the
+matchlock reverberated from among the hills.
+
+"The fight does not really concern my story," said the Rajput, grimly.
+"It is sufficient to say that Gunesh Tanti and all his band perished to
+a man--some slain by the swords of my horsemen charging down the pass,
+some crushed by the falling rocks, some of the last survivors, who flung
+themselves desperately against our living barrier, dying on our
+handpikes or being trampled under foot by the elephants. Not one of more
+than five score men lived to carry back the tale of death to the robber
+haunts whence they had come.
+
+"On our side some lives were lost, seven in all; but this is the penalty
+that brave men have to pay in the doing of righteous deeds. Their
+memory is honoured.
+
+"As for the little maid, I had nested her in the best-protected corner
+of the howdah, and in the thick of the fray, when a shower of arrows had
+fallen upon us, I had covered her tiny form with my shield. But during
+the final hand-to-hand fight, when all was din and turmoil with the
+shouting of the men and the angry trumpeting of the elephants, I had not
+paid her any special heed. From her lips came no sound to attract my
+attention--no cry of fear, nor wailing murmur.
+
+"But at the end I looked for the little child, lifting the shield that
+had partly guarded her. She met my gaze with a smile. But straightway I
+noticed that an arrow, descending almost perpendicularly, had pierced
+her soft little arm, and transfixed it to her side. Yet had she not
+cried out, nor even now, when I was tending her, did she whimper.
+
+"I drew forth the arrow, breaking it in twain, so as to let the shaft
+pass through the arm. Although blood flowed freely, I saw at a glance
+that the wound in the body was a mere puncture, and also that on the
+limb only a piercing of the flesh. Therefore was her hurt not serious,
+although of a certainty painful, and terrifying too for a child so
+young. But even now not one word of complaining did she utter. She kept
+her sweet smile on me. Brave little maid!
+
+"Tearing a length of cambric from my turban, I had bound both arm and
+tender breast, and readjusted the sari of yellow-dyed cotton that formed
+her simple garment. And now she reposed, happy and contented, in my
+arms. I remained in the howdah, while my companions cut off the heads of
+the robbers, and loaded these trophies of victory on one of the other
+elephants, so that a triumphal pile might be made in the courtyard of
+the citadel. Then, with the tiger replaced on the neck of my own
+elephant, we moved for home, a group of fifty horsemen now forming our
+escort. The headless bodies of our enemies were left as fitting spoil
+for the jackals and the vultures, the latter of whom, scenting the
+carrion, were already beginning to drop down, it might seem, from the
+blue vault of heaven.
+
+"By the time we gained the fortress the dusk was gathering. Across the
+drawbridge, promptly lowered at the sound of our joyful shouting, I saw
+my wife standing beside the big carronade that commanded the roadway up
+the hill. The smoking match was in her hand, but at sight of me she
+stooped and smothered in the dust the spark that would have dealt out
+death to the robbers had they ever gained a near approach. Descending
+from my elephant, I greeted her and thanked her for the courage of
+herself and all the other women, our loved ones.
+
+"Then my friends above handed down gently into my arms the form of the
+little maid. At sight of my wife's sweet and kindly countenance the eyes
+of the child were lighted with joyousness. But with a quick motion wife
+drew her veil completely over her features. Ere this was done, however,
+I had caught a strange look in her face--a look of mingled surprise and
+terror. At the same moment her old attendant and confidant, Rakaya,
+flung herself at my feet, and began to babble for my forgiveness.
+
+"'What means this?' I asked, glancing in profound amazement from the
+woman's prostrate form up into my wife's eyes. There again I read the
+strangely troubled expression. Puzzled, yet restraining my curiosity
+before the others gathered around, I placed the wounded child in my
+wife's arms, and, with a gesture to signify that she and Rakaya were to
+follow, I led the way to the women's quarters.
+
+"Once within the zenana, I told my story briefly: how the little damsel
+of the glen had saved me from certain death, and then, through danger
+and through pain, had been brave as the noblest-born Rajput maid could
+be. After this recital, I commended the child to my wife's affections,
+bidding her love the orphan as she would a daughter.
+
+"Then was the lovely countenance of my wife, the jewel of Jhalnagor,
+suffused with great joy. Hugging the child to her motherly bosom, she
+exclaimed:
+
+"'Oh, my lord, I have a confession to make, but now you will forgive me.
+Do you remember our first-born babe?'
+
+"My brow darkened. I felt the hot flush of shame on my cheeks. For our
+first-born had been a girl, and I--disappointed and aggrieved, because I
+was then strongly under the influence of my father's teachings, proud of
+my family's position and wealth, and fearful to be impoverished in the
+future--had given the word that the babe must die. This in spite of my
+wife's pitiful tears and pleadings. And it was not the memory of the
+deed itself that made me now ashamed, but the memory of those tears and
+of how I had repelled her. Through the intervening years I had tried
+never to think of this painful episode, and, with two little boys
+playing at my knee, had well nigh forgotten the first child that had
+come. Mention of the dead and buried past now made me resentful.
+
+"'Why do you speak thus?' I asked, angrily.
+
+"'Because, my lord,' exclaimed my wife, dropping on her knees at my
+feet, yet with the little child still pressed to her breast, and drawing
+me down to her with her free hand, so that we were all three close
+together, 'because, oh, my lord, in our arms now this very moment is our
+first-born, our daughter. We spared her, Rakaya and I; we bribed Runjit,
+who is now dead, and to whom you gave the terrible orders, and Rakaya
+smuggled the babe safe away to the cottage of the woodcutters. Since
+then I have managed to see her sometimes by stealth, and have loved her;
+but I have never dared to clothe her in any but humble garments--no
+silks, no bangles, no jewels of any kind--lest suspicion should be
+aroused.'
+
+"'Oh, great master, forgive your humble slave,' moaned the old crone,
+Rakaya, grovelling in a corner of the room.
+
+"But to my wife only I paid heed. 'Can this be?' I murmured, surprised
+and deeply moved.
+
+"'She is our very own, our little girl.' And back into my arms she
+placed the child, whose tresses I straightway fell to fondling, as her
+sweet, trustful eyes looked up into mine, beaming with love as if she
+had indeed long before divined in her heart that I was her father and
+her natural protector.
+
+"'And, oh, my dear lord,' continued my wife, her eyes brimming with
+tears, 'thou knowest now it was to save thee that, in the mysterious
+workings of fate, this little child was saved.'"
+
+The Rajput paused in his story, bending his head to hide the emotion
+that caused his lips to tremble. "A month later," he went on, softly, "a
+little sister was born to Brenda, and only last year a third daughter
+came to our home. And all, as I have said, are well beloved."
+
+The speaker's face was now upraised. The soldierly sternness had gone
+out of it: it shone only with paternal pride and love as he added:
+
+"To-day Brenda, our first-born, is the light of my home, and a year
+hence she will be married to the Rajah of Jodhpur, to make the heart of
+that great and noble prince of the Rajputs happy for ever-more."
+
+And so ended the Rajput's tale.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+There was silence for a time, broken at last by the voice of the
+ash-besprinkled devotee:
+
+"Allahu akbar! God is great! Over many things he gives his servants
+power."
+
+
+
+
+II. THE HOLLOW COLUMN
+
+TOLD BY THE TAX-COLLECTOR
+
+
+"Every man's fate is fore-ordained," said the tax-collector,
+reflectively stroking his beard. "Although we may not understand it at
+the moment each particular event that happens is simply a means prepared
+for some destined end that may be many years remote in time. Vishnu the
+Preserver saved the life of the little maid of Jhalnagor so that her
+father's life might later on be saved. But none can read the future, so
+that we are all blindly doing the things of to-day without knowing their
+real bearing on the things of a far-away to-morrow. And one man can make
+or mar the happiness of another man, even though their lives be
+separated by hundreds of leagues in space or hundreds of years in time."
+
+"In your mind doubtless is some tale to illustrate the truth of what you
+teach," remarked the astrologer, with a shrewd uplifting of his
+eyebrows. "The stars can help us to read the future, as I can prove to
+you by a story of actual experience. But before I proceed to my
+narrative, pray, friend, let us hear from you."
+
+"Gladly," assented the tax-collector. "The story of this noble Rajput
+has brought to memory an incident in my own life many years ago,
+likewise serving to show that the gods prepare long years ahead for the
+working out of each particular man's destiny. Listen:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"As a youth I was a keeper of accounts in the service of a rich
+zemindar, whose estate lay in the Country of the Five Rivers. He was a
+usurer as well as a landowner, as had been his fathers before him for
+many generations. So in his castle was an accumulation of great stores
+of wealth--gold and silver and precious stones, cloth of gold, silks,
+brocades, and muslins, ivory and amber, camphor, spices, dye stuffs, and
+other merchandise of divers kinds."
+
+The Afghan general stirred, and the scabbard of his sword rattled on the
+floor as, raising himself from his elbow that rested on a cushion, he
+sat up and assumed an attitude of keen attention.
+
+"Where is this place?" he asked, a wolfish gleam in his eyes, and his
+lips curved to a smile that revealed, under the black, curled moustache,
+the white gleam of sharp-pointed teeth.
+
+The story-teller also smiled, knowingly, and raised a deprecatory hand.
+
+"Nay, friend, this zemindar, my first master, was not fated to be
+relieved of his treasure, as my story will tell, even though a skilful
+plot had been laid for his spoliation. Which is the very point of my
+tale, although I may seem to come to it by a roundabout way of telling."
+
+The Afghan sank back on his cushion, but his gaze remained riveted on
+his narrator's face.
+
+"One day I was seated in my home, casting up my books of account, for I
+had only that morning completed the taking of taxes from the crops of
+the rayats, the tenants of my lord. All of a sudden a white-robed figure
+entered the doorway and threw himself prostrate before me. When at last
+the face was raised I recognized the dhobi of the village that nestled
+under the hill on which was perched the castle of the zemindar.
+
+"'O thou washer of clothes,' I asked, 'what is thy plaint?'
+
+"'Protector of the poor,' replied my visitor, 'behold my bandaged feet,
+beaten with rods until they are swollen and torn.'
+
+"I looked, as requested, and saw the blood-stains soaked through the
+wrappings of linen.
+
+"'Thou art an honest and a peaceful man, Bhagwan. Why this cruel
+punishment?'
+
+"'I know not, indeed. But I have come to thee, because I have endured
+the wrong at the hands of thy master.'
+
+"'Tell me thy story.'
+
+"'As you have said, O my protector,' began the dhobi, assuming a sitting
+posture and spreading the folds of his loose-flowing cotton garment over
+his bandaged feet, 'I am an honest man. And it is for that very reason I
+have suffered. Yesterday, among the apparel I received from the home of
+the zemindar to be made clean and white was the bodice of a woman, and
+tied in one corner of this piece of raiment was a ring set with bright
+red stones that gleamed as if they were aflame. Straightway I returned
+to the palace of the zemindar, and, entering the audience chamber where,
+as is his wont at that particular hour each day, he was seated receiving
+the complaints of the oppressed, did my humble obeisance, and then
+placed in his hand the jewel I had discovered. He asked me where I had
+found it, and when I replied truthfully, his eyes flashed with anger,
+and his voice thundered at me in rebuke. Although I had done no wrong,
+but rather a virtuous deed, I implored for pardon. But in vain. My mind
+grew confused, and the next thing I remember was the sharp cut of bamboo
+rods upon the soles of my feet. I was in a small vaulted chamber, bound
+to a wooden bench, surrounded by the zemindar's soldiers, and powerless
+except to scream out in the agony of each blow. Thirty strokes were
+counted, and then I was flung out of the gates of the castle, to limp my
+way home.'
+
+"Tears of self-pity were in the dhobi's eyes as he recounted his tale of
+woe. Even then I was reflecting on the real cause of the zemindar's
+wrath. The jewel had been discovered in the folds of a garment worn by
+one of the women in his zenana, and his quick access of anger showed
+that the gift had come from some other hand than his. Savage jealousy,
+therefore, had prompted the act of injustice inflicted upon the
+unfortunate washerman. I knew my master so well his sullen moods, his
+outbursts of passion, that already I could arrive at this conclusion
+with certainty.
+
+"'Proceed,' I said, indifferently, for it is well that a man should
+keep his own counsel in such delicate affairs. 'What is my concern with
+your misfortune?'
+
+"'Harken, O dispenser of bounties! Last night when I lay nursing my
+wounds, I remembered that the ring which had proved the cause of my
+misery had been wrapped in a fragment of paper whereon were some strange
+marks and lines as in the books of learned men. This I had flung away,
+at that time deeming only the ring to be of any consequence. But the
+thought came to me in the night that perhaps the paper might tell
+something about the ring. So all this day have I searched among the
+bushes by the stream where I beat the clothes on stones and wash them.
+And behold, I have found that for which I have been seeking.'
+
+"Hereupon the dhobi loosened the loin cloth beneath his upper garment,
+and extracted from its folds a tiny roll of paper. This he presented to
+me, with a bow of deference to my superior understanding of such things.
+
+"'This time I have come to you,' he said, 'a man of learning and of
+justice, not like unto the cruel zemindar. Does the paper tell why I
+should have suffered such shame and pain at his hands?'
+
+"I had unrolled the scroll, the folds of which showed that it had served
+as a wrapping for the ring. The writing was in neat Persian characters,
+and I had no difficulty in deciphering it, for the four lines that met
+my eyes had been recited to me only a few days before by the very man
+who claimed to be their author.
+
+"Now did my very heart tremble with agitation. But to the dhobi I
+appeared cold as the waters of the snows that melt on the mountains.
+
+"'This writing would only add to your troubles,' I said. 'Here, let me
+destroy it.' And, turning to the red ashes burning in a brazier near at
+hand, I dexterously substituted a fragment of paper, on which I had been
+figuring my accounts, for the paper received, from the dhobi, placing
+the former on the glowing charcoal embers and bestowing the latter in
+the security of my girdle. A curl of white smoke, a puff of flame, and
+the work of destruction was, to all appearance, completed.
+
+"'In view of your misfortune, my friend,' I resumed, 'I bestow upon you
+in the name of my master ten maunds of dal, which will be sent to your
+home on the morrow.'
+
+"The recipient of this unexpected bounty prostrated himself before me.
+
+"'O prince of justice, no longer do my wounds pain me. The bellies of my
+children will be filled for many long days to come.'
+
+"'Then go thy way, rejoicing in thy heart even though limping on thy
+feet. And remember that silence is golden. Say not one word more to
+anyone about the ring or the paper, your punishment or the reward that
+has now redressed the wrong. Go in peace.'
+
+"And the dhobi, after profuse expressions of gratitude, hobbled from my
+presence.
+
+"Alone with my thoughts, I felt sorely troubled. The writer of the
+verses of ardent poetry written on the paper brought to me by the
+washerman was my cherished friend, a youth from far-away Bokhara, Abdul
+by name. This young man had come to our country only a year or so
+before, bringing several beautiful Arab horses for sale. These the
+zemindar had purchased, and had retained Abdul in his service, for the
+youth was skilled in the management of horses, and in the rearing of
+young stock.
+
+"Abdul and myself were much of an age, and my regulation of expenditures
+in the stables had brought us constantly together. So a close friendship
+had resulted, valued greatly on my side, for I had soon come to know
+that Abdul was a man of refinement and learning such as I had never
+before encountered in any man of so humble a calling. And despite the
+fact that he was a Moslem and I a Hindu, he had chosen me as his
+intimate friend, his only confidant. Thus had it come about that at
+times he had read to me of an evening songs of his own composing, and
+even on occasion had sung them to the accompaniment of a small harp, the
+strings of which he touched with wondrous skill and sensibility.
+
+"Now did I know that this dear friend of mine had endangered not only
+his well-being but his life, by sending into the zenana of our master,
+the zemindar, a love token and a love message for one of the women
+dwelling there.
+
+"Thus ran the fateful lines, written after the style of the famous
+Persian poet, Omar the Tent-Maker, which I now read again on the paper
+withdrawn from my girdle:
+
+  This ring, O idol mine, tells one is here
+  To bring thee joy, to kiss away the tear.
+    Keep in thy heart the ruby fire of love;
+  The hour of thy deliverance is near.
+
+"And, after reading, I felt thankful that the message had not fallen
+into the hands of the zemindar, else had the intriguer's identity been
+quickly determined and his fate as quickly sealed.
+
+"Yet the lines breathed the spirit of honourable love, and my heart was
+stirred to aid my friend in his daring enterprise.
+
+"Patiently during the afternoon I waited, cogitating the while, and
+counting the chances. At last about an hour before sunset Abdul came to
+me with his usual gay smile and happy greeting.
+
+"He read trouble in my look, for straightway he asked of me:
+
+"'What is wrong? What matters have gone amiss?'
+
+"I motioned him to sit by my side, and then without more ado told him of
+the evil turn that had befallen the dhobi, and showed him the quatrain
+of verses.
+
+"'These you wrote?' I questioned.
+
+"'With my own hand,' he answered, gravely, but without excess of fear.
+
+"'And the ring with the flaming red gems?'
+
+"'Was her mother's own ring. Zuleika would know it in an instant.'
+
+"'Zuleika--who is she?'
+
+"'Listen, my brother, for fate points that to thee should I give my
+fullest confidence. Zuleika is a maid of the Turkmans, betrothed to me.
+But a year ago, when gathering flowers in our valley, she was stolen by
+roving freebooters. And, true to my love, I have followed her here, to
+the home of the zemindar, your master, who purchased her from the
+marauders.'
+
+"'How came you to know that she was here?'
+
+"'Never mind. I am a man of resource and observation, and I tracked the
+maid. Moreover, gold opens the gates of confidence, and of this I have
+goodly store.' As he spoke, he touched a pouch that hung from his
+girdle, 'For I am not, as I may have seemed to you, a mere dealer in
+horses, but the son of a great chief in my own land.'
+
+"He had drawn himself up proudly, and I bowed my head, in homage as well
+as in acquiescence. For the news did not surprise me, and in a friend of
+such noble bearing and high attainments I was well content to recognize
+an overlord.
+
+"More did he tell me--about a grass-cutter in the stables who had ridden
+with the robbers, and knew where the captive had been disposed; and
+about a dancing girl who had carried the ring into the zenana, and
+brought forth Zuleika's answer in return, telling that she was well,
+that she was destined as the bride of the zemindar's eldest son, but
+that she would resist all advances until rescued by her lover, the pearl
+of her heart, now thrice dear because he had followed her so faithfully
+and so far.
+
+"Abdul, fearful of danger to Zuleika because of the discovery of the
+ring, was for instant action--the hiring of bravoes, and a bold attack
+on the zemindar's person, taking him unawares, carrying him off and
+holding him to ransom, deliverance of the captive maid of the Turkmans
+being the price of his freedom.
+
+"But I had more subtle counsel to offer. For by foreordaining of
+Providence there rested in my breast certain knowledge, the real use of
+which was only now being revealed.
+
+"'Harken to me, Abdul,' I said, 'and I shall show you a way out of your
+difficulties--a way, too, that will lead to the attainment of your
+heart's desire. Send out to-night relays of horses along the northern
+road, and reserve for your own use the fleetest and strongest steed in
+the zemindar's stables. To-morrow morning early the dancing girl will
+carry a message to Zuleika, bidding her to watch and wait for you near
+the door in the women's quarters that leads to the treasure room of the
+zemindar.'
+
+"'Of a surety you jest at me,' interposed Abdul. 'How can I gain access
+either to zenana or to treasure chamber?'
+
+"'All will presently be made clear. At the appointed place Zuleika must
+await your coming, to-morrow during the hour of the zemindar's public
+audience. Him shall I engage in business matters while you carry off
+your beloved. In this you cannot fail, for God, the Lord of the
+Universe, pitying and helping you, has long years ago prepared the
+precise means for the accomplishment of your purpose.'
+
+"'Still do you speak in riddles, friend.'
+
+"Nay; listen, Abdul, and though you, a follower of Mohammed, may think
+of me as an idol-worshipping Hindu, you will yet see that the same
+supreme spirit rules both our destinies, making me the instrument of
+your happiness, because of certain knowledge which I possess. There is a
+secret which my father entrusted to me before he died, bidding me to
+guard it jealously until occasion for its application might arise. And
+behold now the appointed hour has come.'
+
+"'You know the council chamber of our lord, the zemindar, with its
+three-and-thirty columns of white marble. These are massive, seeming to
+have been hewn out of single pieces of rock--base, pillar, and capital
+all in one, each column in its entirety a single piece of quarried
+stone. But learn that this is not so, for these monoliths are in reality
+artificially made, having been fashioned by clever workers from the
+Coromandel country, who brought with them here supplies of a certain
+hard white stone, which they first roasted to a great heat, and then
+ground to the fineness of flour, finally compounding this material with
+other things, and constructing therefrom the columns of marble you now
+behold.'
+
+"'Indeed have I marvelled at their size,' commented Abdul, 'and wondered
+how such mighty blocks of hewn stone could have been obtained or set in
+place.'
+
+"'Well, you learn now that they were not quarried but moulded. This work
+was done in the time of my father, when he was treasurer in the service
+of the zemindar, then a young man. Now, know that the architect of the
+zemindar's palace was a dishonest knave, for he contrived that one of
+the three-and-thirty columns of marble should be hollow, and fitted
+inside with steps or holding places of iron, so that a lissom man might
+ascend and gain access to the treasure chamber above. This he confided
+to my father, seeking to gain him as a confederate in systematically
+robbing their master. But my father had a heart of gold and a hand of
+steel, for he slew the would-be thief after disdainfully rejecting his
+base proposal. Yet did he keep locked up in his own breast exclusively,
+knowledge of the hollow marble column, and of the sliding sections that
+gave access to it both above and below. For knowledge is power, he
+argued, and no man should squander such power any more than he would
+squander wealth. The destined time would come for the use of the
+knowledge, and it was in this faith that, just before he died, he
+confided the secret to me, his successor in the office of treasurer.
+
+"'And with me unto this day the secret has remained. But now at last the
+workings of fate are disclosed. How old art thou, Abdul?'
+
+"'Four-and-twenty summers,' he replied.
+
+"'Well, a full score years before you were born God so contrived that
+there should be a means for you to rescue the pearl of your heart, and
+escape, both of you, back to your own country. Go now and arrange the
+relays of horses, as I have directed, and when to-morrow's sun has
+risen, send by the hand of the dancing girl the message to your
+betrothed within the zenana, bidding her to be prepared. An hour before
+the zemindar's noontide council I will meet you, and, conducting you to
+the vaults below the assembly hall with its three-and-thirty columns of
+marble, will show you that particular column which, by the touching of a
+hidden spring, will open a passage way whereby you can climb to the
+zemindar's treasury. The door of that chamber you can open on the
+inside, simply by pushing back the wooden bolt which serves as a lock
+and answers only to a key on the other side. Let the maid be waiting
+there at the appointed time for your coming. Now go, brother of my soul,
+and make your preparations. Then sleep, for sleep is the best surety of
+success when wakefulness and courage come to be required.'
+
+"Next day shortly after the hour of noon, the zemindar was seated in
+council. He was a big stout man, having waxed fat with age and
+prosperity. His beard descended to his waist like the moss on an old
+tree, and, above, his moon-like face surveyed complacently the circle of
+courtiers, soldiers, and retainers. Petitions had been presented,
+judgments had been spoken, and affairs of the day had been discussed,
+and we, the few close counsellors who tarried, were only awaiting the
+raised hand that would have bidden us go our several ways.
+
+"'Where is Abdul?' of a sudden asked the zemindar, casting a glance of
+inquiry around.
+
+"'He has been smitten with a fever, my lord,' I answered, taking upon my
+shoulders the burden of excuse, and telling no falsehood, for surely
+love is the fiercest burning fever of all.
+
+"'Ah, ha!' muttered the zemindar, in a guttural note of disappointment.
+And there and then I saw him toying with a ruby ring, not worn upon one
+of his fingers, but held lightly between his two hands.
+
+"'Does anyone here know aught of this bauble?' he added, raising the gem
+aloft.
+
+"There were glances of inquiry from all around, then bows and gestures
+and murmurs of disavowal. I alone remained irresponsive, for at that
+very moment every fibre of my being was strained to nervous rigidity. My
+senses were preternaturally at work. The marble column against which I
+was leaning with seeming carelessness, vibrated under my hand. Within
+its circular depths I could see Abdul descending stealthily and slowly,
+his one free arm pressing a silken bundle to his breast. Even to my
+nostrils there was wafted the fragrance of attar of roses, and with the
+exhalations of perfume came a gentle sigh of timidity almost at my very
+ear.
+
+"I was moistening my parched lips with my tongue, when I awoke from my
+momentary trance. The zemindar's eyes were blazing down at me.
+
+"'Villain, this ring is yours!' he cried, struggling to his feet.
+
+"'Not mine, my lord,' I protested, flinging myself at full length before
+him.
+
+"But at that very moment there rang forth the sharp tattoo of a horse's
+hoofs on the paved courtyard without, followed by the sharp challenge of
+a sentry, the bang of a matchlock, and then a very babel of excited
+yelling.
+
+"Every one in the audience hall swept outside, even the zemindar, his
+dignity all forgotten. Left alone, with swift consciousness of the
+suspicion that had fastened itself upon me, and of my powerlessness to
+deny connivance with the escape of my friend, I gathered myself up and
+fled by a side passage to a ghat on the river. Here I had a boat
+prepared for just the emergency that had happened, and because of this
+happy foresight I am enabled to-day, after more than two score of years,
+to tell the tale."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"And the zemindar?" asked the Afghan soldier.
+
+"Dead long since."
+
+"The hollow marble column?" pressed the interlocutor.
+
+"Its secret remained unrevealed," replied the tax-collector. "Trusty
+friends told me later that the flight of Abdul on a fiery stallion, with
+a female figure clinging to him on the saddle behind, ever remained a
+mystery. So the youth had had the presence of mind to close the sliding
+panels above and below."
+
+"He escaped? He lived?" queried the Rajput.
+
+"Assuredly," came the quiet reply. "I have never seen nor heard from
+Abdul from that day to this. But as destiny had provided, long years
+before the actual event, a means for the accomplishment of his
+happiness, I have ever rested content in the belief that all was well
+with him--that all is well with him even yet perhaps--with him and his
+beloved in the valley of far-away Bokhara."
+
+"I should like to find that hollow column," muttered the Afghan.
+
+"As I have said, the column was contrived for love and not for rapine,
+my friend. Should the white stone from Coromandel that can be cunningly
+wrought into marble ever cross your fate, be on your guard lest the omen
+mean, not the gaining of a fortune, but the making of a tomb."
+
+The Afghan smiled, half disdainfully, half uneasily, and silence reigned
+for a spell.
+
+
+
+
+III. WHAT THE STARS ORDAINED
+
+TOLD BY THE ASTROLOGER
+
+
+"And now, master star-gazer, your proffered story," said the
+tax-collector, bestirring the company from its meditative mood.
+
+"As I have promised," responded the astrologer, "I shall recount an
+experience that shows how the stars, if read aright, can tell us the
+influences for good or for evil that weigh upon a man and inevitably
+determine his destiny at the critical moments of his life. What is
+written is written, and it is impossible to strive against fate."
+
+"Nay," objected the Rajput, "that is a teaching of helplessness to which
+I cannot subscribe--the pitiful excuse of the coward who folds his hands
+in the hour of danger, or of the self-indulgent weakling who yields to
+seductive temptation because his heart inclines to seize the pleasure of
+the moment even when his conscience counsels otherwise. I hold that man
+is the master of his own fate. Most assuredly have I been the master of
+mine," he added with a proud smile, his fingers closing significantly on
+the handle of a dagger at his belt.
+
+"Be it so," answered the astrologer. "But as Allah knows everything that
+is to happen, so must it happen."
+
+"Which does not forbid the exercise of my own free will," argued the
+Rajput. "The Supreme Being, the presiding power of creation, call him
+Allah if you will, understanding my heart as he understands all things,
+knows beforehand what choice of action I shall make at the moment of an
+emergency. But that still leaves me responsible for the deed which I
+elect to do. Such is my understanding of destiny. It gives
+fore-knowledge to God, but leaves free will to man."
+
+"From all of which I do not dissent," rejoined the astrologer. "It is
+only the ignorant or the base that makes kismet the excuse for
+helplessness or for wrongdoing. But as the stars under which a man is
+born influence that man's acts, then does the reading of the stars guide
+us as to what the future has in store."
+
+"I know little about your stars," replied the Rajput. "But let us have
+the story," he added, crossing his hands on his knees in an attitude of
+expectancy. The astrologer, saluting his audience generally with a bow
+of acquiescence, thus began:
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"By your courtesy let me first explain, as necessary to the
+understanding of the tale which is to follow, that I am from Persia,
+from the city of Teheran, where for many generations my ancestors were
+profound students of astrology, some of them famous men because of their
+skilful divinations, with reputations that reached even to Stamboul. For
+thither in my early boyhood to the court of the Sultan of the Osmanlis
+was my father summoned, and him I never beheld again. It was from my
+aged grandfather that I learned my first lessons in astrology--about the
+twelve houses, the ruling star of each day, the coming and the going of
+the planets, their conjunctions and oppositions, and the influences they
+exercise on men's lives. I learned with avidity, and was an apt pupil,
+for at fifteen I had begun the practice of my profession, casting
+horoscopes and reading the nocturnal heavens with constant care,
+understanding also the flight of birds and the cries of wild beasts of
+the jungle.
+
+"Yet at that time was my mind assailed with grievous doubts. I often
+caught myself wondering whether the stars did really rule the fates of
+men. And with this inward questioning a restless spirit grew upon me. I
+longed to see more of the world--to enlarge the sphere of my
+observations. Just then I chanced to hear some gossip in the bazaars
+about a great expedition that was getting ready at Kabul to descend upon
+Hindustan. The hunger of adventure seized me, and was not to be denied.
+Despite the tears and implorings of my family, I set forth on foot for
+Afghanistan, a stripling; in my hand the staff I used in my divinations,
+in the bag slung at my side a single change of raiment. Money I had
+none, but my ability to read the stars I knew well would earn me a
+livelihood wherever I might wander.
+
+"With my adventures during the next two years this story has no concern.
+It is enough to say that, after many vicissitudes of fortune, I found
+myself installed as astrologer in the court of a Moslem prince,
+sovereign over an extensive region in Kashmir.
+
+"My lord was a man of noble heart and of high mental gifts. He ruled
+over his people not by fear of the sword, but by absolute justice, which
+he himself personally administered, every day holding audience so that
+grievances, even those of the most poor, might be heard and wrongs
+redressed. And his royal duties were shared by his wife, who, although
+she might sit behind the screen of the women's quarters, none the less
+shared in the counsels of state, and contributed words of wisdom in the
+direction of affairs.
+
+"Never in my experience have I encountered such mutual love, trust, and
+devotion as subsisted between this pair. For no other woman in the world
+had Mirza Shah thought or regard or desire--I call him Mirza Shah, but
+that was not his real name. For reasons that will presently appear, I
+refrain from disclosing the identity of places and persons connected
+with my story.
+
+"Well, it was my privilege from the outset to be on relations of close
+intimacy with my master. He used to come through the palace gardens to
+the shrub-embowered tower which I occupied, and from the roof of which I
+nightly contemplated the heavens. For long hours he would abide with me,
+learning something of the stars while enjoying the cool of the night air
+after the heat and fatigues of the day. And many times of an afternoon
+the sultana, veiled, would come with her lord, and together they would
+seek to gain from me knowledge of the heavenly bodies and of divination.
+Some things I told to them, but others I withheld, which is just and
+right, for skill in astrology is hereditary, descending from father to
+son, and new minds are unprepared for such teachings, so that too much
+knowledge conveyed to outsiders may become a source of disturbance to
+themselves and perchance of danger and hurt to their fellow men. Thus,
+following the rules laid down for me by my grandfather, always, even
+when closely pressed with questions, did I exercise a discreet reserve.
+
+"Gradually the friendship accorded to me by my lord and his lady waxed
+stronger, and I found myself being admitted to some of their innermost
+thoughts. Thus did I come to learn the passionate longing of the wife to
+become a mother: for six years had she waited, but no child had blessed
+her love for her husband. As for Mirza Shah, just so soon as the subject
+was mentioned I could see the cloud of melancholy rest on his brow. And
+when, as time went on, sadness seemed to settle upon him continuously, I
+knew full well that this disappointment in his wedded life had at last
+taken complete possession of his mind, to the exclusion of all other
+matters.
+
+"And from the sultana's manner I could see the trepidation that filled
+her heart--the dread that her childlessness might in the end rob her of
+her husband's love. It was not given to me to look upon her face--to get
+more than a glimpse of her eyes as they shot an occasional glance at me
+through the parted folds of her veil. But in these glances I had read
+the prayers of entreaty that I should use all the spells of my art in
+her favour, so as to obtain for her from God the gift of a son.
+
+"Well, after a time an unexpected thing happened. Mirza Shah was absent
+from his home--gone on a full week's journey, engaged in the settling of
+some dispute on the confines of his territory. To me there came one
+afternoon the sultana, attended by one of her women--the most trusted
+one, I knew, for both were from the same country, near to Amritsar,
+where the famous rugs are woven. So much I had learned, and this further
+I also knew, that by birth the sultana was a Hindu, although on being
+wed to her lord as a little girl, she had of course embraced the true
+faith of Islam, in so far as it matters for a woman to have any religion
+at all.
+
+"It was the female attendant who spoke to me, her mistress listening in
+silence. But the questions came so readily that it was clear the lesson
+had been well rehearsed by the twain.
+
+"'Astrologer,' she began, 'can you swear on the Koran that the stars
+speak truth?'
+
+"'That I can swear,' I replied, with due dignity and respect for myself
+and my profession.
+
+"'Can the stars bring about the wishes of man or of woman?'
+
+"'Nay, that I do not declare. They rule the lives of men and women only
+in so far as their movements forecast the future. If we can read the
+stars aright, we may gain foreknowledge of events destined to happen.
+For what is written in the scroll of fate cannot be changed. From kismet
+there is no escape."
+
+"'Then tell me this, O astrologer, from your stars: is my noble lady
+here ever going to have a child, a son?'
+
+"'That question I cannot answer. Unless I have the horoscope of her
+highness, cast by skilled hands at the time of her birth, I cannot tell
+which planet rules her destiny.'
+
+"'Alas, we knew not these things among my people down in Amritsar,' I
+heard my lady murmur.
+
+"'Bah!' exclaimed the serving woman contemptuously. She had flung open
+her veil, unashamed as are women of her station that I, not her brother
+or her husband, should gaze upon her face. It was a pleasant enough face
+of a woman of five-and-twenty years of age; yet, methought, as I looked
+into it now, that there was unseemly boldness in her eye and even
+something of wanton abandonment in her manner.
+
+"'Bah! If your stars cannot get us what we wish, what good are they?
+Better pray at a Hindu shrine to Krishna, god of love revels, than waste
+time in consulting a Moslem astrologer. That is what I have said all
+along, dear lady'; and with undoubtedly great affection the woman folded
+to her breast her now sobbing mistress.
+
+"I turned away, as was proper, and busied myself with a chart of the
+heavens over which I had been poring when my visitors had arrived. On
+again raising my eyes, I found that I was alone.
+
+"This incident I had well nigh forgotten, and near a year had elapsed.
+For some months I had not seen the sultana; she remained in the strict
+seclusion of the harem. Her highness was unwell, most people said. But I
+knew the truth; Mirza Shah himself had told it to me, his face beaming
+with pride and pleasure. At last his dearest hopes were to be realized;
+the sultana was about to become a mother.
+
+"Meanwhile I was on the alert to cast the horoscope of the child the
+very hour it should arrive. My preparations had been all made for some
+time past. Now was I only studying the stars night by night, so that I
+should be the better prepared to read them correctly.
+
+"At last, almost at the midnight hour, came a messenger running to the
+tower with the news that a child had been born--a son, Allah be praised.
+Then I set me instantly to my task, and it was with deep thankfulness I
+saw that the conjunction of the planets and stars was highly favourable.
+I carefully recorded the exact position of each heavenly body, and had
+already read from my rough chart strength and valour for the boy that
+had just been born, beauty of figure, good endowments of mind, when once
+again I lifted my eyes to the heavens. But to my horror and dismay at
+that very instant a streak of fire shot from west to east across the
+first house, straight toward the planet there ruling, where it
+disappeared. Just the fraction of a second had passed in the passing of
+that fiery star. But I knew what it meant, for my grandfather had
+instructed me in this matter. The child into whose horoscope had come
+this dread intruder was destined, if he lived beyond infancy, to slay
+his own father. And with the heaviness of lead this foreknowledge of
+destiny settled on my soul.
+
+"My head had sunk dejectedly on my breast, when I started up at the
+touch of a hand on my shoulder, and the greeting of a joyous voice--that
+of Mirza Shah.
+
+"'A son, Syed Ali, a son. Joy, joy, joy! And now, what do the stars
+say?'
+
+"Was it cowardice, was it pity, was it sympathy for him in his long
+deferred happiness, that prompted me to act as I did? Even at this day I
+myself cannot answer the question. Perhaps it was just unthinkingly on
+the spur of the moment that I did what I did. Without a word I thrust
+into Mirza Shah's hand the roughly completed horoscope. There was no
+note in it of the flaming star that at the last had marred the
+favourable showing.
+
+"Mirza Shah, under my instructions, had become skilled enough to
+interpret the general significance of such a diagram with its
+accompanying symbols.
+
+"'Ah, my friend,' he exclaimed in fervent delight, 'this is indeed
+excellent. He will be clever and brave and handsome, everything that a
+father could wish. Get ready the emblazoned scroll at once. Now I shall
+go. There are others to whom to tell the glad news, and to your mistress
+even now shall I try to whisper the splendid omens the stars have traced
+for us here.'
+
+"He tapped the rough chart with a forefinger, then handed it back to me,
+and was gone.
+
+"Let my story hasten on, just as the years hastened on. The boy grew up
+to be a comely lad, much in my companionship, for he came to me to learn
+to read and write Persian and Arabic. But although I loved him well,
+never any single day did he come into my sight but my heart was smitten
+with self reproach. Why had I, by suppressing the truth, allowed this
+child to live even for an hour beyond the hour of his birth? The
+foreordained murderer of his good and noble father!--to my eyes the
+decree of fate was branded on the very brow of the boy.
+
+"Yet did I console myself and justify myself. At times I even dared to
+indulge a doubting mood as to the certainty of the celestial writing of
+fate. Could a bright, open-faced child like this one seated at my knee,
+book in hand, ever come to commit the most abominable of human
+crimes--to slay his own dearly loving father?
+
+"'Impossible!' I would murmur to myself, and would thus resolutely shut
+the gates of my heart to the whispering of conscience.
+
+"But in any case it was now too late to speak. The boy was endeared to
+his father and to his mother, the idol of both their lives. Mirza Shah
+would have gladly died, well I knew, for his son. Why then should I
+interfere? Kismet! Let destiny take its course. Even I, in withholding
+the truth, had been an instrument in the hand of fate. And had it not
+been written that I should so act? Who, indeed, but Allah can change the
+course of events?
+
+"By such arguments I became reconciled to abide with peace of mind the
+workings of destiny. And so years rolled on.
+
+"When Prince Hasan, as the lad had been named, had attained the age of
+seventeen, it befell that the Emperor Humayun, son of Baber, made a
+progress through the Kashmir Valley, receiving homage from his
+feudatories, among whom was Mirza Shah. And the magnificent retinue of
+the mighty Mogul so impressed our young prince, that he must needs beg
+the privilege of joining the imperial bodyguard. This request was
+readily granted, for Humayun was trying to gather around him the best
+young blood in Hindustan, Rajput as well as Moslem, so that each race
+alike might be keen in the defence and proud of the glory of the great
+Mogul Empire.
+
+"Thus it came about that Prince Hasan, superbly mounted and dressed in a
+suit of fine chain armour beneath his upper silken garments, rode forth
+from the valley where he had been reared, accompanied by the tearful
+blessings of his father and mother.
+
+"A year passed, and then Mirza Shah himself, summoned by special
+messenger, departed on a visit to the Court at Agra. When two months
+later he returned, never did I know such a change to have been wrought
+in so brief a time on any man. He was grey and haggard; his eyes were
+sunken. And to me he came almost first of all in the palace, to consult
+the stars.
+
+"And for my better guidance he told me some things. Prince Hasan had
+fallen into ways of dissipation and habits of drunkenness--most accursed
+of vices--in the city of Agra. It was in the hope of reclaiming him
+that an old friend had called Mirza Shah to the capital. But at the
+meeting of father and son, instead of repentance on the part of the
+misguided youth, there had been defiance and revilement, and at last, as
+the father confessed to me, with the tremor of shame in his voice, an
+insulting blow in the face. This was too much to endure. Mirza Shah had
+disowned his son. He declared he was henceforth childless, for, perhaps
+as I have told you, there had been no other babe born all these years to
+the sultana.
+
+"Even now did I conceal my guilty knowledge, though well I knew that the
+inexorable scroll of destiny was beginning to unfold itself. In fact, I
+was afraid to speak, for Mirza Shah had challenged me straightway to
+show a flaw in the happy horoscope I had drawn. And flaw in the
+emblazoned scroll there was none that I could lay finger on; only in my
+secret heart was the one sinister line traced--surely traced, as I
+remorsefully reflected.
+
+"For months thereafter Mirza Shah kept away from me--I knew that his
+faith in the stars or in my skill to interpret them aright had been
+shaken. But I held my place and kept to the even tenor of my ways, for I
+had resolved that, if ever Prince Hasan should return home, then
+assuredly would I be on hand to warn Mirza Shah, so that, the crisis
+approaching, steps might at least be tried to avert the blow of destiny.
+Of this I was determined, even though death itself would come to me as
+the penalty of my long silence.
+
+"But all of a sudden the storm of impending events broke. One day there
+came to Kashmir the intelligence that Prince Hasan, incensed at his
+father's just rebukes, was marching against him with a mighty host
+gathered together from the forces of his companions in revelry.
+Preparations for defence on our side were at once made, the armed men
+gathered in from the surrounding villages, and carronades mounted on the
+walls and at the gateway of the citadel, which hung on sloping ground,
+with a precipitous mountain guarding it in the rear.
+
+"Too true proved to be the news. One morning the army of Prince Hasan
+came into view ascending the valley, and before nightfall the
+semi-circle of ground beneath the walls of the citadel, at a distance of
+four or five hundred yards, was occupied by the hosts of our enemy.
+Among these were both horsemen and foot soldiers, also full two score of
+great elephants dragging a train of siege guns.
+
+"Now at last were the seals of silence broken from my lips. Without
+further delay I must tell everything to Mirza Shah. Just as the sun was
+setting I intercepted him when making a round of the walls, and begged
+of him to come with me to my tower.
+
+"'Later,' he said, sternly, as he passed on to complete his plans for
+repelling the assault expected at daybreak on the morrow.
+
+"The night was far advanced when at last my lord came to me, and, to my
+surprise, clinging to his arm, was his wife, the sultana. I placed
+cushions for her close to one of the casements, where she had been wont
+to sit on the occasions of her visits in days gone by. Without a word
+she sank into the place thus assigned to her.
+
+"But Mirza Shah strode into the centre of the little circular room, and
+took his stand right under the lamp that illuminated it.
+
+"'Now what have you to say, thou false astrologer?' he demanded, without
+word of prelude.
+
+"Then did I take my courage in both hands, and told him everything--that
+the stars had in truth revealed to me that the son was destined to be
+his father's slayer, and that in my foolish desire to give the parents
+immediate joy I had suppressed the incident of the flaming star.
+
+"As my narrative reached the end I watched the changes in the face of
+Mirza Shah. I had expected anger-righteous anger against my own self,
+but in place of this there came over his handsome countenance a serene
+look of happiness.
+
+"'I thank you, Syed Ali,' he said, 'for the service you have done me.
+Had you told me eighteen years ago what you tell me to-night, then for a
+certainty would the guilt of murder be now upon my soul. To-day I am
+indeed in sore sorrow, but, Allah be praised, there is not my own
+child's blood upon my hands.'
+
+"As he spoke he spread out his palms, as if in testimony of their
+stainlessness.
+
+"But at that moment a great burst of lamentation came from beneath the
+sultana's veil, and, in a shrill tone of agony, she began to reproach
+herself.
+
+"'It is I who am the cause of all this misery,' she wailed.
+
+"Instantly Mirza Shah bent down and silenced her, then gathered her,
+almost like a bundle, into his arms.
+
+"'I shall return straightway,' he cried to me, as he disappeared down
+the narrow stairway.
+
+"Two full hours passed, however, before Mirza Shah came back. His face
+was white as marble--every feature seemed set, as the sculptor's chisel
+fixes each line of the carved stone. He spoke to me quite abruptly:
+
+"'Syed Ali, ask no questions, but do my bidding immediately. Yours will
+be a dangerous task, but it is right that you, who have so long
+concealed the truth from me, should be called upon to take the risk. The
+successful accomplishment of your mission is the only reparation I
+require.'
+
+"'Most gladly will I die for you, Mirza Shah,' I murmured, kissing the
+hem of his robe.
+
+"'I know it,' he answered, 'and that is why I trust implicitly in you,
+relying both on your courage and on your discretion. Take this ring,' he
+went on, handing me a finger ring set with a large turquoise, 'and hide
+it among your garments. Use your best wits to evade the enemy's
+outposts. Follow the mountain path. You will get a horse from Abdulla
+Beg at the head of the gorge. Then ride night and day for Talakabad.
+There you will go to the house of a man named Gholab Khan, overlooking
+the town. You will hand to him the finger ring I have just given you.
+And this you will say: 'Mirza Shah is dead. You are to come to the
+person who has sent this ring.'
+
+"'But my lord lives--Allah be praised! he will yet live many a long
+day.'
+
+"'I like not deceit, Syed Ali, but when deceit has been used, then must
+deceit reply. Carry to Gholab Khan the ring and the exact words I have
+spoken: "Mirza Shah is dead. You are to come with me to the person who
+has sent this ring. Hasten." Gholab Khan will without delay respond to
+this summons. And here will I await your return,' added my lord grimly,
+'for your stars have told me beyond all peradventure that I can hold
+this citadel until Gholab Khan arrives. Now go. Here is the key for the
+postern in the wall.'
+
+"I had already tied the ring into a fold of my inner garment, and,
+taking only my staff, I set forth straightway.
+
+"This is not a story about myself, but about Mirza Shah and his family,"
+said the astrologer, with a glance around his circle of auditors, whose
+fixed attention showed the keen interest with which they were awaiting
+the unfolding of the destiny proclaimed by the stars. "So once again
+will I pass over my adventures. The end of them all was that, ere the
+passing of a full week, I was back in my little tower, and with me was
+Gholab Khan. It was night, for we had evaded the besiegers' watchfulness
+under cover of the darkness by taking the same mountain defile by which
+I had travelled forth on my expedition, and gaining entrance to the
+citadel by the private gateway the key of which had been entrusted to
+me.
+
+"I lighted the lamp in the tower, and then turned to Gholab Khan. He was
+a petty chieftain of the mountains, a handsome man of middle age,
+resolute-looking and daring. In a few words I bade him wait awhile. Then
+I stole forth to apprize Mirza Shah that my mission was achieved.
+
+"My lord had given orders to his attendants that he was to be
+immediately aroused, so soon as I returned, whatever the hour of the
+night might be. In a moment he strode forth from his sleeping chamber
+all ready dressed. I started back with affright, for in his hand was a
+naked sword.
+
+"'Fear not, Syed Ali,' he said to me. 'Where is this Gholab Khan?'
+
+"'In my tower,' I answered.
+
+"'Good,' he replied. 'Come.' And at the word his bodyguard, all with
+drawn blades, closed around their master.
+
+"About fifty paces from the tower he halted his men, and we two advanced
+alone.
+
+"I entered the building first. Close behind me, up the winding stairway,
+pressed Mirza Shah, and I had but crossed the threshold of the room when
+he thrust me aside.
+
+"'Surrender!' he cried, the point of his sword at Gholab Khan's neck
+before the latter could utter one word or make any movement in
+self-defence.
+
+"'Bind his hands,' went on my lord, his enemy pinned helplessly against
+the wall. Gholab Khan dared not move, but his bulging eyes mutely
+protested.
+
+"I did as I was told, using a turban cloth gathered from a peg on the
+wall. Of my own accord I tied ankles as well as wrists. Then Mirza Shah
+dropped his sword.
+
+"'Now leave us,' he said to me. 'I wish some words with this man. Remain
+on guard below. Permit no one to intrude.'
+
+"Some time passed. At the base of the stairway I could hear the voices
+from above, but could distinguish no words. Then came a call from Mirza
+Shah, bidding me to ascend.
+
+"'Syed Ali,' he said, on my entry into the room, 'this man, Gholab Khan,
+has to-night had the choice between two alternatives, either to die here
+now at my hands, or to set forth at dawn and fight in single combat the
+leader of my beleaguering enemies. He has chosen the latter--the wise
+course.'
+
+"'The only course,' interpolated Gholab Khan, with a shoulder shrug of
+protest. The fellow had recovered his equanimity, and, knowing him as I
+did from our few days of travel in company, I reflected that in mortal
+combat he would be likely to give good account of himself. But there was
+no time to indulge in surmises. Mirza Shah still claimed my attention.
+
+"'My men will guard our guest here,' he continued. 'Food will be served
+to him.'
+
+"'And some wine, please,' growled Gholab Khan.
+
+"'Wine, too, then, if you will,' assented Mirza Shah, contemptuously,
+for he never by any chance used the fermented juice of the grape
+forbidden by the Prophet, and now rendered doubly hateful to him by
+reason of his son's excesses. 'At dawn weapons will be brought to you,
+and six horses from among which you can make your choice. Meanwhile the
+challenge will have gone forth. And once again, in the presence of this
+witness, I pledge my word that if you return successful from the combat,
+Gholab Khan, having killed your man, then will you be free to return
+unscathed to your home at Talakabad, and with a lac of rupees for your
+pains.'
+
+"'Bismillah! I would fight any day and with any man for such a prize,'
+cried Gholab Khan, his face all aglow, showing that, despite the
+kidnapping trick played upon him, he was now well pleased.
+
+"'That is good,' said Mirza Shah, coldly.
+
+"Then he blew a shrill whistle, which straightway brought the guard
+running to the tower.
+
+"But my narrative must hasten. With the first morning light a messenger,
+his mission announced by the blare of trumpets, went forth from the
+citadel, daring Prince Hasan to single combat with a champion fighting
+on behalf of Mirza Shah. There came back, as we expected, an exultant
+acceptance of the challenge.
+
+"The sun had mounted only spear-high when Gholab Khan, armed with lance
+and sword, rode out through the gates of the citadel. For his reception
+the whole host of our enemies had been drawn up, and in the middle of
+the curved line was the massed troop of some forty elephants, their
+howdahs crowded with spectators eager to witness the joust at arms.
+
+"From my observation tower Mirza Shah and I watched the scene. Although
+my mind was clouded with all manner of uncertainties, yet in my heart
+was a faint flutter of hope. Would this mountain fighter break the spell
+of the stars, and actually kill Prince Hasan, before the latter could
+accomplish the portended crime of dealing death to his father? I was
+torn by distracted arguments; at one moment I believed firmly as ever in
+the stars, at the next my trust was in the lance of the burly freebooter
+I had brought down with me from the mountains.
+
+"With bated breath I watched the combat--first the riding at full tilt;
+the thud of the galloping horses we could hear at this distance. But
+both lances were successfully parried, and a moment later the combatants
+had leaped with one impulse from horseback, and were rushing upon each
+other with swords. We saw the mirror-like flash of the blades in the
+morning sun.
+
+"Then next I beheld one figure go down, and, while I was yet wondering
+which of the twain had fallen, a mighty shout of triumph from the
+beleaguering army told me, alas! that it was our champion who had been
+worsted. And now a dissevered head raised high on sword-point by Prince
+Hasan told the bloody tale with final certainty. Gholab Khan was not
+only down but dead. At this display of the gruesome trophy of victory
+there were further frantic yells of delight from the assembled hosts
+across the valley. The sack of our citadel and town seemed now assured
+to them.
+
+"I just glanced at Mirza Shah. To my surprise his face wore a look of
+perfect calm, and, on meeting my eyes, there came a gleam of triumph
+into his.
+
+"'The stars were right,' he exclaimed, in a low, tense voice. 'Praise be
+to Allah! All is well. A base bibber of wine shall never rule over my
+people and destroy their happiness, for now that he has fulfilled his
+destiny Allah will assuredly deliver him into my hands.'
+
+"I was perplexed. So far from Prince Hasan's destiny having been
+fulfilled, it appeared to me that the dread tragedy foretold by the
+stars was inexorably drawing nearer and nearer--the death of Mirza Shah
+at the hands of his unworthy son, a bibber of wine, as he had
+contemptuously called him.
+
+"While this thought was passing through my mind, all of a sudden there
+arose another mighty tumult, this time from our side--a shout of
+astonishment, followed by cries of delight. But the roar of voices was
+quickly drowned by the thunder of mighty hoofs and the excited
+trumpeting of elephants. Turning round, I saw at a glance what had
+happened. The elephants, frightened by the first wild huzzas of victory,
+had stampeded, and were madly careering in a solid body across the
+plain.
+
+"Prince Hasan, as he held aloft the severed head of his adversary, saw
+the oncoming danger. He made a dart for his horse, but the animal,
+terrified by the noise and confusion, leaped forward, and was gone up
+the valley like the wind.
+
+"The youth made no attempt to run. It would have been useless. Yes, be
+it admitted, he died like a man. Ere the elephants were upon him, he had
+folded his arms across his breast, calmly prepared to meet his doom. In
+another instant he was whirled through the air, like a straw caught up
+by a tornado; then the living, irresistible billow swept over him.
+
+"My eyes were still glued in frozen horror to the scene. The screaming
+of the frightened troop of elephants had receded into the distance. Out
+on the open, through a haze of dust, I saw the blot of coloured raiment
+that showed where the body of Prince Hasan lay. And for the moment there
+was naught but pity in my heart for the youth who had played by my side,
+and gathered knowledge, if not wisdom, from my lips.
+
+"But a hand was laid on my shoulder, and, turning round, I looked into
+the face of Mirza Shah. It was lighted by a smile of stern satisfaction.
+
+"'Syed Ali, as you have ever declared, even though I have detected that
+your faith at times has wavered, the stars cannot speak falsely. He
+died, that dog out there, but not until he had slain his own father.'
+
+"'His own father!' I stammered. The truth began to break in upon my
+dazed brain.
+
+"'Yes. It is right that you at least should have the explanation, if for
+no other reason than to confirm your trust in the stars. Beguiled to
+wrong by the arguments of a serving woman, the sultana had a son. It is
+a shameful story, yet do I know that she begot the child out of pure
+love for me. Hasan was no son of mine. Enough! I have spoken. You can
+guess the rest.'
+
+"Mirza Shah paused. I could but drop my eyes and remain silent, for I
+dared to make no comment.
+
+"After a brief pause he resumed:
+
+"'In the end she confessed everything to me, that night when you
+revealed to us the full truth of what the stars had foretold. As for me,
+I helped the stars to run their courses: that is why I sent for Gholab
+Khan. Now, you who know my secret, travel away far from here. Respect
+the confidence I have given you. There is a bag of gold for you in my
+treasurer's charge. We part friends, Syed Ali. Fate, working through
+you, its blind instrument, spared the child so that my shame might be
+fully atoned. Now go, for I, too, must be up and doing. One timely sally
+now from the citadel, and yonder disordered host will be swept back
+whence it came.'
+
+"The result was as Mirza Shah had predicted. The beleaguering army fled
+at the first onslaught, leaving many hundreds of dead on the field to
+keep the mangled corpse of their leader company.
+
+"So, you see, my friends," commented the astrologer, concluding his
+tale, "as Mirza Shah most truly said, the stars cannot speak falsely.
+Never again have I doubted. The destiny read by me in the heavens that
+night when the sultana's babe was born was fulfilled in every detail."
+
+"And the faithless wife?" asked the Rajput. "What became of her?"
+
+"Nay, do not presume to judge her," protested the astrologer. "Judgment
+is for Allah. When Mirza Shah returned from his victorious charge, it
+was to find his sultana dead on the roof of the women's quarters. She
+had seen her son--yes, _her_ son, her own flesh and blood, although not
+her husband's--pounded to death under the elephants' feet. So the
+unhappy mother had pierced her breast with a dagger, and, by her side,
+similarly self-slain, lay the serving woman who had miscounselled her to
+wrongdoing, yet, as I could quite well comprehend, from motives of
+sincere affection, to safeguard for her her husband's love and to give
+her the joy of motherhood for which she craved.
+
+"Mirza Shah lived and ruled well for five-and-twenty years longer. He
+remained to the end a childless man: Allah had decreed it so. But he
+ever revered the wife who had loved him so well, for she had sinned
+because of her very love for him, nor had she persisted in her sin.
+Mirza Shah built to her memory a splendid mosque, and these are the
+words engraved on her tomb beneath the central dome, showing how her
+virtues were esteemed and her one act of wrong was forgotten:
+
+  "'Before my tomb, O stranger, stay thy way,
+    Reflect on fate's inexorable decree;
+  But yestere'en I was as thou to-day,
+    What I am now to-morrow thou wilt be.
+  Right good the grave for those whom good deeds bless,
+    Gentle the rest of them who tried to spread
+  Around their lives the balm of gentleness.
+    Trustful in God repose the worthy dead.
+  For such as they the living need not weep--
+    Their death is only faith-abiding sleep.'
+
+"By her side now lies her husband, at rest and in peace, for only death
+brings true rest and peace. And even now, after many years, I am on my
+way to pay a pilgrimage to the tombs of that truly noble man and his
+good--aye, his worthy--spouse, for, as I have said, let no man take upon
+himself to judge her. Allah alone can search the hearts of men."
+
+
+
+
+IV. THE SPIRIT WAIL
+
+TOLD BY THE MERCHANT
+
+
+"Allah alone can search the hearts of men," said the hakeem, slowly and
+reflectively repeating the words with which the astrologer had closed
+his tale. He was a man of venerable appearance, with flowing, white
+beard that descended to his waist. And yet, although his face was
+furrowed with the lines of old age, his eyes were wonderfully youthful
+in their contemplative calm.
+
+"No truer words have been spoken to-night," he continued. "Yet must we
+further reflect that, while a man cannot sit in judgment upon his
+fellows, he can assuredly judge himself, which goes to show that within
+the breast of every man there dwells the very spirit of God, the power
+to search his own heart, whether in condemnation or for approval. Life
+is a problem, and it requires a full lifetime to solve it. Only as we
+grow older do we come to know our own souls--our strength and our
+weakness, the measure of our true nobility of character and likewise the
+measure of our inherent meanness, the temptations not merely from
+without but from within that assail us, our power to conquer these or
+our miserable yielding at times, with no one, perhaps, even guessing at
+our degradation except the divine spark of conscience that inexorably
+turns a searching ray on every thought and on every motive for action."
+
+"So you would argue that man is God?" queried the Rajput.
+
+"Not so, but that the soul of man is of the essence of God, the proof of
+which is this very power of searching out our own hearts and sitting in
+judgment on our own failings: for the judgment seat belongs to Allah
+alone."
+
+"A subtle philosophy which I do not presume fully to understand,"
+interposed the merchant from Bombay.
+
+During the night's entertainment he had shown himself to be a man of few
+words, yet an attentive listener. He was of middle age, of a mild
+dignity of mien, and of robust physique, as befitted one accustomed to
+long journeys through regions infested with robbers or with beasts of
+prey.
+
+"But in my practical experience of life," he proceeded, "I have come to
+realize that, while I may know myself, no other man can I know.
+Therefore, if it be right to be sparing of condemnation for another, it
+is also wise to be chary of undue commendation. The world too often
+acclaims a deed as noble when the real motive prompting it is utterly
+ignoble."
+
+"A true philosopher, despite your bales of merchandise," murmured the
+hakeem, with a smiling nod of approval for the sentiments expressed.
+
+"Well, I suppose that every one who travels becomes a philosopher, more
+or less," assented the trader. "Change of scene and of companionship
+stimulates new ideas. Now will I relate an actual experience which aptly
+illustrates that, in our dealings with those around us, we never really
+penetrate their minds. Man knows himself; he knows no one else--friend
+or intimate, the child of his heart or the very wife of his bosom."
+
+"It is more easy to discover a white crow," muttered the fakir, "than
+know what a woman has in her heart."
+
+The merchant paid no heed to the interruption. He went on:
+
+"Each of us is an inscrutable mystery to the other. Each soul is veiled
+to every other soul, and is naked to itself alone."
+
+"O prince of philosophers in pedlar's disguise!" murmured the hakeem.
+
+"If our souls sat naked for the common gaze," commented the Rajput, "if
+we could all read each other's hearts, then indeed would life be an
+abomination--an utter misery, with the twin devils of shame and disgust
+seated at our elbows all the time."
+
+"Most true," concurred the trader. "For too much knowledge of another's
+inmost thoughts brings only disillusionment and regret, as my tale will
+show. The story takes us among humble people, but human nature is the
+same everywhere--the same in the hut of the rayat as in the palace of
+the rajah.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Once in every two years it is my custom to travel from Bombay to
+Benares, and invariably I break the journey at a certain village some
+six or seven days from my final destination. Here dwells an old friend
+and caste brother, formerly, like myself, a merchant in the Bombay
+bazaar where silken stuffs are sold, but retired now to his own country
+with modest savings sufficient for the rest of his days. Baji Lal, as he
+is named, is all the closer to me because his wife Devaka is a sister of
+my own wife, and the two are always eager to have news of each other's
+welfare.
+
+"At the house of this friend I rest for a day or two, enjoying his
+companionship, the reminiscences of old times, and the gossip of the
+hour. So, on my long and fatiguing journeyings, I have always looked
+forward to these meetings with pleasurable anticipation and remembered
+them with tranquil satisfaction.
+
+"But on the occasion of one of my periodical visits judge of my surprise
+when I was received in silence and with apathy that made no pretence at
+disguise. Devaka did not rise from her cushions on the floor to bid me
+welcome, and her husband, similarly irresponsive, returned my customary
+cordial greeting with nothing better than a look of wearied dejection.
+
+"Disturbed, I made inquiry:
+
+"'Baji Lal, my friend, what is the matter? Are you ailing?'
+
+"But he only shook his head, and turned away.
+
+"To Devaka I then appealed.
+
+"'What is the meaning of this?' I asked. 'Sadness and silence where
+everything used to be joy.'
+
+"She drew aside the sari that had concealed her face, and I was shocked
+at its grief-stricken aspect. Her trembling lips parted to answer me,
+but her husband checked her with a sharp word, such as I had never heard
+him use to her before. Her eyes filled with tears, and I could see the
+big drops rolling down her cheeks as she silently replaced the sari over
+her head, and, bending low, rocked herself to and fro.
+
+"For the moment I imagined that I had intruded on some scene of domestic
+unhappiness which would be dissipated in an hour. So, hiding my
+embarrassment, I turned to the door, intimating that I would seek some
+other lodging for the night, and return on the morrow, when I hoped my
+friends would be in fitter mood to receive me.
+
+"At last Baji Lal spoke, raising his face but still remaining seated on
+the divan we were wont in former times to share.
+
+"'Go thy way, Chunda Das,' he said. 'The sword of fate has descended
+upon this house. Come not again to a place accursed.'
+
+"Then did I realize that the trouble was serious.
+
+"'But, my friend and brother,' I protested, 'I cannot depart and leave
+you thus. Let me at least understand what calamity has befallen you, so
+that I may help toward its repair.'
+
+"'Nothing can be done, so nothing need be said,' he answered, in a tone
+and with a look of dignified resignation to the will of God. 'If you
+must have the story of our misfortune, you have only to ask the first of
+our neighbours you encounter.'
+
+"And he, too, covered his face with his garment, leaving me no choice
+but to withdraw without further attempt at this manifestly inopportune
+time to probe the mystery.
+
+"If I was to be of service to my friends, however, knowledge of what had
+befallen was the first essential. So I took the road that would lead me
+to the great pipul tree in the village square, close to the tank and to
+the temple, where all day long there was coming and going, and where
+therefore I would be most likely to glean the information I desired. By
+a happy chance I found reclining under the pipul tree the village
+barber, a loquacious fellow, who counted it as part of his business to
+know the last detail about other people's affairs.
+
+"After greetings, and a few remarks about the weather and the crops and
+the season's epidemics, I carefully broached the real purpose of my
+interview, for a prudent man will never divulge his thoughts to another
+until he knows that other's thoughts.
+
+"'I have just come from the house of Baji Lal,' I said, in a seemingly
+casual way.
+
+"The barber's face instantly lost the smile it had worn.
+
+"'How did you find him?' he asked.
+
+"'Strangely altered,' I replied.
+
+"'And so does every one,' he concurred.
+
+"'Why so?' I ventured.
+
+"The barber looked at me squarely, and then said:
+
+"'You and he were very good friends, Chunda Das.'
+
+"'Yes, and are still, so far as I am concerned,' I answered.
+
+"'I thought so. Well, I am his friend likewise. Many years I have known
+him and his wife, Devaka. Both are good, kind people, always willing to
+help their neighbours, and ready to give their last bowl of rice to a
+vagrant beggar. Perhaps you can assist me to clear away the shadows that
+have fallen around them and obscured the sunshine of their home. Let me
+tell you the story. A few months ago a stranger came to this village. He
+was on his way to Fathpur-Sikri, to witness the glories of the court of
+the mighty Akbar. But on the road he had fallen ill, and, arriving here,
+was too sick to proceed. I am ashamed to say that none of us were
+willing to take him in, for sickness goes from one person to another. So
+we have to be careful, especially in my calling, where I come into such
+close contact with so many.
+
+"'There was quite a little crowd just here by the tank, discussing the
+situation, the sick man in their midst resting upon the ground, when
+Baji Lal and his wife, who happened to be passing, came forward to see
+what the commotion was all about. They listened to the story, and then
+told the stranger he might come with them. He gratefully accepted, and,
+after whispering some instructions to a servant by whom he was
+accompanied, he motioned to Baji Lal to lead the way. The little group
+moved off, the servant in the rear, leading the horses, which included a
+pack animal laden with the traveller's bedding, cooking pots, and other
+belongings.
+
+"'After unloading the baggage at Baji Lal's home, the servant, as we
+learned later in the day, had, in obedience to orders, straightway
+mounted his horse, and ridden away. He had exchanged no words with any
+of us.
+
+"'For weeks Baji Lal and his wife attended to the wants of the invalid,
+until at last he was able to move about the village, and talk with one
+and another. From the first we had recognized the stranger as a man of
+distinction. Now we learned his name--Sheikh Ahmed, a Moslem, I need not
+say. But in these days of Akbar all religious feuds are to be set aside,
+this by direct command of the Emperor himself--blessed be his name and
+exalted his glory! So this follower of the prophet was made quite
+welcome among us, a community of Hindus.
+
+"'Day by day the Sheikh regained his strength, and often would he come
+of an evening when the village folk gathered under this pipul tree,
+listening to the chit-chat going on, sometimes joining in the
+conversation. Soon he began to tell us stories of far lands, for he had
+travelled to many distant places, even outside of Hindustan, so we grew
+to like him, and to watch each evening for his coming.
+
+"'But all of a sudden he disappeared from our midst. The day before he
+had been with us, sitting almost on the very spot where you are seated
+now. He did not say he was going away, nor even hint that he intended
+doing so. When Baji Lal was questioned, he said that the servant had
+returned during the night with saddle and pack horses, and that, after
+conferring with Sheikh Ahmed, had gathered together his master's
+belongings, and announced their immediate departure. Baji Lal had tried
+to persuade his guest to wait until daylight, but this advice was
+unheeded. The Sheikh promised, however, that he would come again to the
+village when he passed that way on his homeward journey.
+
+"'At this time Baji Lal's story seemed a perfectly natural one, and the
+people only regretted that they had not had the opportunity of bidding
+the Sheikh farewell. Still the prospect of soon seeing him again
+softened this regretful feeling.
+
+"'And now began the change in our friends. Baji Lal ceased to come to
+our village meetings, and Devaka shunned every woman, even her most
+intimate friends. For a while this strange behaviour did not attract
+special attention, although noted and commented on afterwards. For just
+a few days after Sheikh Ahmed had gone away the monsoon had burst, and
+the stormy weather would account for Baji Lal and his wife remaining
+much at home. But as time wore on, and their furtive ways grew more and
+more pronounced, people began to talk, and from talking they took to
+watching and spying. For, believe me, there is nothing so all-absorbing
+as for once respected and well-thought-of people to be under a cloud. We
+allow our imaginations to run riot, and our tongues do not rust for want
+of wagging.
+
+"'Thus suspicion gradually filled the air, and it was whispered that
+Baji Lal and Devaka had murdered their guest for his money, and had
+merely invented the story of his midnight departure to hide their
+crime. Children who once used to run to them shrank back, or were called
+away by their parents.
+
+"'But, most extraordinary thing of all, and one that brought convincing
+confirmation to what had at first been mere suspicion, at night there
+could be heard heartbreaking cries and sobs coming from the house of
+Baji Lal. The voice was not his, nor that of his wife; it was, in all
+truth, the wail of a spirit, plaintive at times, then angry as if
+shrieking aloud for vengeance. For I myself have heard these sounds with
+mine own ears; twice in the darkness of the night I mustered courage to
+steal forth as far as the hedge that hides the house from the roadway,
+and, although the monsoon winds were still boisterous, above all other
+noises again and again arose that wail of a soul in anguish. Others,
+too, went to listen, and fled from the place in terror. And soon the
+house of Baji Lal came to be shunned by every one as if it had been
+plague-stricken.
+
+"'Now you understand why your old friends greeted you with woe-begone
+looks. The inner meaning of the story I do not know, but I have told you
+the facts that are in my possession. And glad shall I be if you can
+conceive any solution for the mystery, and free Baji Lal and his wife
+from the terrible accusation of having murdered the man who was their
+guest within the gate and had eaten of their salt. If you cannot, then
+we must just say kismet, I suppose. Man cannot strive against fate.'
+
+"'Is it your belief, Bimjee,' I asked, 'that the stranger was really
+done to death in Baji Lal's home?'
+
+"'No,' he answered decisively. 'But all the same, I have the evidence of
+my own ears that a curse has fallen upon the place.'
+
+"For the moment I made no further comment, but sat silent, revolving the
+strange story in my mind. My reverie, however, was of short duration,
+for all of a sudden Bimjee sprang to his feet in great excitement.
+
+"'Look, look,' he cried, pointing to a crowd of villagers coming in our
+direction. 'At last they have laid hold of Baji Lal and his wife, and
+are bringing them here for punishment.'
+
+"Bewildered by the suddenness of this blow, I could but watch in
+helpless silence the advancing throng, with my poor friends in their
+midst, their hands bound, their tottering footsteps directed by rude
+shoves towards the pipul tree, the accustomed assembly place of the
+villagers and the village council.
+
+"A minute later, however, I had regained my self-possession, and when
+the procession came abreast of me, I stepped in front of it and
+commanded a halt. Courtesy to me as a visitor to the village was
+sufficient to exact this measure of obedience. But when I demanded that
+the ropes should be cut and the prisoners liberated, a storm of angry
+protests was the only result.
+
+"The leader of the crowd approached me, and in a respectful voice said
+they were sorry to refuse my request, but a crime had been committed
+that disgraced the whole community. The spirit of a murdered man haunted
+the house of Baji Lal and Devaka, and cried to heaven for vengeance. The
+villagers would never prosper if they allowed this foul deed to pass
+unpunished; why, only that very morning a strange sickness had seized
+some of their cattle, and two sacred cows had died in spasms of pain--an
+omen from the gods that could not be disregarded.
+
+"I saw that it was useless to argue with the man. But I made another
+attempt to have the prisoners' bonds at least loosened, for I could see
+that the cords bit cruelly into their arms. After some consultation this
+point was conceded. Baji Lal shot at me a look of gratitude, but his
+poor little wife merely used her freed hands to hide her face in the
+folds of her sari.
+
+"'Now my friends,' I cried boldly, 'this case must be properly tried.
+Where is the patel?'
+
+"I had noticed that the headman of the village was not present, and in
+asking for him had in mind that he was my personal friend, so that I
+might appeal to him with better success for the release of the
+prisoners.
+
+"'The patel is away on a day's journey,' cried a voice in the crowd.
+
+"'Then must the accused be taken to the village constable,' I declared,
+'and kept by him until the patel returns and the council of elders can
+be properly assembled.'
+
+"My bold assumption of authority had stilled the tumult, and to my
+surprise every one now seemed willing to do my bidding.
+
+"'Come along then,' cried several voices, as the prisoners were once
+more urged forward. I kept close by their side, and when we gained the
+constable's house and the staked enclosure that served as a place of
+detention, I too passed within, leaving the leaders of the crowd to
+guard the gateway.
+
+"When we were alone, Baji Lal and Devaka threw themselves at my feet,
+and thanked me for the aid I had rendered them.
+
+"'My children,' I said, as I raised them up, 'were I not assured in my
+own mind that there is some grievous mistake, and that you can explain
+the mysterious disappearance of your guest, I should not be here by your
+side. But tell me your story, and I shall advise you to the best of my
+powers.'
+
+"Baji Lal lifted his eyes, and gazed at me mournfully but fearlessly.
+
+"'Chunda Das,' he began, 'you have known me now for many years. Have I
+ever done aught to shake your confidence?'
+
+"'Never,' I affirmed.
+
+"'Have you ever heard me tell a lie?'
+
+"'Never,' I again replied.
+
+"'Well, then, you will believe me when I say that I told the truth in
+declaring that the stranger went away in the night. His servant came
+back all in a hurry for him, and he would not tarry even until daylight,
+although I pleaded with him to stay.'
+
+"'I believe you,' I said, for, even apart from my prior trust, the
+man's look convinced me that he was speaking true words.
+
+"'Yes, this is the simple truth,' he went on. 'And yet'----here his
+voice faltered, and he glanced down pityingly on his wife crouched upon
+the ground, rocking herself and wringing her hands. 'And yet I know,
+_we_ know, Devaka and I, that Sheikh Ahmed has been murdered.'
+
+"I started aghast, and involuntarily drew my garments around me.
+
+"'Nay,' he said reproachfully, reading my unacknowledged and almost
+unformed thought, 'but not at our hands, Chunda Das.'
+
+"'Then how do you know that he is dead?' I questioned, already ashamed
+that a doubt could have crossed my mind as to my friends being art and
+part in such a dastardly deed. 'What makes you think so?'
+
+"'I do not think; I know,' he said decisively. 'And I will tell you why.
+The night after the Sheikh left was cold and windy, for the monsoon was
+approaching. Devaka and I were sitting together, and as we listened to
+the wind blowing outside she expressed the hope that our guest was
+safely at his destination, for in his state of health the inclement
+weather would be harmful. Before I could answer her we were startled to
+hear quite close to us a faint cry. I got up and looked around, and so
+did Devaka, for she is brave, my wife. But we could not find anything to
+account for the disconcerting sound.
+
+"'We sat down again, but before long we heard once more the wailing
+cry, louder now and more prolonged. We started up, and this time went
+outside in spite of the rain carried by the lashing wind. However, we
+could discover no one--neither man nor beast. So we went in again, and
+shut the door.
+
+"'And all that night long this strange thing continued. Sometimes the
+sound was softly sobbing, then it would grow to a heartbreaking wail. We
+could not go to bed. Fear kept us awake, for we had come to the
+conclusion that it was the spirit of Sheikh Ahmed trying to make us
+understand that he had been murdered on the road.
+
+"'Day after day, and night after night we were haunted by the cries and
+sobs of this spirit. Can you wonder that our hearts grew weak from fear,
+that we shunned our neighbours lest they should enter our dwelling and,
+hearing these sounds, suspect that we had done some grievous wrong? That
+is my story, Chunda Das.'
+
+"And the strong man sank to the ground, as he buried his face in his
+hands.
+
+"'It is even a relief to be here,' he cried, in broken tones, 'here,
+prisoners in this place of shame, because at least we are no longer
+haunted by the voice of the dead Sheikh.'
+
+"He flung his hands out in an abhorrent gesture, and raised tear-filled,
+pleading eyes to mine.
+
+"I had been listening intently to Baji Lal's story, and had watched the
+changes on his impassioned face. When the tale was ended, Devaka threw
+herself prone at my feet, and pressed her lips to the hem of my robe. I
+was touched by her silent beseeching, though I hastily, and I fear
+roughly, commanded her to arise.
+
+"'Dear friends,' I said, 'this is indeed an extraordinary occurrence.
+And how I can help you is more than I at present know. But rest assured
+that I will exert myself to the utmost to remove from your heads the
+infamy of such an accusation.'
+
+"I mused awhile, then put a few questions as to the personal appearance
+of the stranger, Sheikh Ahmed, and also that of his servant, the exact
+hour of their departure, and the direction in which they had gone. After
+learning these things, I took my leave, commending Baji Lal and his wife
+to the care of the constable, whose promise that nothing would happen to
+his prisoners until the patel's return I sealed with a handful of
+rupees.
+
+"This matter settled, I strolled back to the pipul tree beside the tank,
+thinking that it might be useful to pick up the remarks of the
+loiterers. But to my surprise I found virtually the whole village in
+assembly, and to my dismay soon gathered that it was their fixed
+intention to kill Baji Lal, give to Devaka the privilege of committing
+suttee, and then burn down the haunted house whence the accusing sounds
+came, making of their own home the funeral pyre of both victims.
+
+"I plucked my beard in my distress; I felt so helpless. If only the
+headman was here, together we might have devised something. But alone I
+was powerless. Plunged in gloomy forebodings, I did not notice the
+approach of the barber, until he touched my sleeve to announce his
+presence.
+
+"'You have heard what they mean to do?' he asked.
+
+"I nodded.
+
+"'We must save them, Chunda Das. But I beg of you not to place any
+reliance on the patel's coming, for he sides with the rest of the
+villagers, and will help them to deal out the swift justice which he
+believes to be well deserved. Besides it was his cows that died this
+morning.'
+
+"At this statement, then indeed my last hope was gone. For we were far
+away from any town where I could have invoked the aid of the Emperor's
+soldiers. I shook my head despairingly.
+
+"'Oh, yes, Chunda Das, you will devise some way,' protested the barber,
+reading the hopelessness in my mind. 'You have a fleet horse, and can
+ride after Sheikh Ahmed, find him, and call him back again. Or, if he be
+really dead, you can bring word of how his end came.'
+
+"'Will there be time for all this?' I asked dubiously.
+
+"'We must make time,' he answered. 'The patel will be back before long.
+You can use the interval in getting some food, and in preparing for the
+road. I think your influence with him will at least secure delay for
+some days, until you can return with the information in quest of which
+you go. But mark my words, unless the Sheikh shows himself, or you can
+prove how he met his death on the road, then assuredly will the doom of
+our friends be sealed.'
+
+"'Very well,' I said, contented in my mind; for if my search for Sheikh
+Ahmed failed, I could bring back with me some of our master Akbar's
+soldiery to rescue the prisoners.
+
+"During the afternoon the headman returned, and I lost no time before
+interviewing him. I told him how firmly convinced I was that Baji Lal
+and Devaka were innocent, and that I would prove it if he gave me the
+chance to do so. At first he shook his head, but on my promising that
+the unfortunate couple would in the interval make no effort to escape,
+and that I would surely be back in two weeks' time whether or not
+success in my mission attended me, he yielded to my entreaties, the less
+reluctantly because I further undertook to pay him the value of his dead
+cows.
+
+"So, after a brief good-bye visit to Baji Lal and his wife, I set forth
+on my journey.
+
+"Six days later I entered the bazaar of Punderpur. I went to a
+travellers' rest house with which I was familiar, to see whether I could
+glean any information as to the present whereabouts of Sheikh Ahmed,
+who, in his travels, I had discovered, had been making for this place.
+
+"Seated around the courtyard of the caravanserai were many visitors and
+their friends of the town. With some of the latter I was acquainted, but
+for the present I only returned their greetings with a silent salaam. I
+was anxious to meet with an old friend, a munshi, learned in many
+languages, whose profession kept him on the outlook for the numerous
+travellers from distant parts who passed this way.
+
+"I had just espied the man of whom I was in quest, seated at some
+distance among a group of idlers, when I was accosted by a stranger
+handsomely accoutred and of line bearing. He said that he had heard I
+was recently arrived from Sengali. He had friends in that village, and
+would be glad to hear of them.
+
+"I told him that for the present I was occupied with pressing business,
+but a little later I would be at his disposal, and pleased to give him
+any information in my power. He thanked me courteously, and said he
+would return in the evening, when, perhaps, I would be more at leisure.
+I had cut short this interview, paying, indeed, little heed to the
+stranger, for I had noticed that my friend, the munshi, not knowing of
+my presence in the inn, was in the act of taking his departure. I
+hastened after him.
+
+"The venerable munshi was delighted to see me, and insisted on my
+sharing his evening meal. We moved in the direction of his home, and he
+gave me the chit-chat of the day. Until our repast was finished I did
+not mention the object of my visit. Only after we were comfortably
+seated on the veranda, enjoying the cool night air, did I approach the
+subject, discreetly, as was fitting, by talking on topics quite at
+variance from the one in my mind. But after a time I ventured to ask
+whether many travellers had passed recently. He looked at me shrewdly
+and smiled.
+
+"'At last, my friend, you tell me the reason of your coming here. You
+are in search of some one.'
+
+"'Truly I am,' I replied, 'and it is a matter of life or death to find
+the man I am seeking.'
+
+"Thereupon, without further preamble, I related the story of Baji Lal
+and the missing Sheikh.
+
+"At the end of my narrative Munshi Khyraz--such was my host's name--sat
+silent for a spell. I knew my friend, and allowed him his own time to
+make any comment. Presently he broke from his reflections.
+
+"'About the time you mention,' he began, 'just before the first rains, a
+stranger was brought into this town by some woodcutters. Their story was
+that the wounded man had been attacked by his servant when travelling,
+and left for dead in the jungle.'
+
+"I started, and leaned toward him eagerly.
+
+"'A clue!' I cried. 'A clue! Where is he now?'
+
+"The old sage looked at me with disapproval in his eyes.
+
+"'Excitement and impetuosity of speech are for the young, my friend,' he
+said, gravely. 'They are not becoming in the matured.'
+
+"I lay back again on my cushions, feeling justly censured. The light of
+displeasure dying from his eyes, the munshi proceeded:
+
+"'I had the victim of this outrage carried to my house, and, his wounds
+not proving serious, he was soon well, and able to think of resuming his
+journey. He was very reticent concerning the motive of his servant for
+attempting his life, and foolishly, to my mind, made no effort to trace
+the miscreant. When leaving he said that in all probability he would
+return this way a few weeks later. So, my friend, he may be here any
+day, for it is a good long while since he left.'
+
+"Repressing my eagerness this time, I sat still for a few minutes, then
+said:
+
+"'I think it is certain from what you have told me that the wounded man
+was the one I am now seeking.'
+
+"'Perhaps, perhaps, but only time will decide,' he replied, cautiously.
+'You must wait and see.'
+
+"'Wait! wait!' I cried, impatiently. 'There is no time to wait. I must
+act, and that quickly.'
+
+"The munshi looked at me commiseratingly, but contented himself with a
+shrug of his shoulders.
+
+"Just then a servant approached, and whispered in his master's ear. The
+old man sat up from his half-reclining attitude, and methought for a
+moment that an amused smile crept over his face.
+
+"'Admit him,' he said to the attendant. 'Admit him at once.'
+
+"Then, turning to me with his accustomed gravity, he added in
+explanation: 'A friend of mine has called. He is an interesting man, and
+I want you to know him.'
+
+"I was about to protest that I had not come there to make new
+acquaintances, when the curtain was pushed aside, and none other than
+the stranger who had addressed me at the caravanserai stepped on to the
+veranda. He crossed over to the master of the house, and greeted him
+affectionately. I decided to remain at least a short time, and waited
+quietly until my host should introduce his visitor. This he straightway
+proceeded to do, presenting us to each other with a courteous wave of
+his hand.
+
+"A glow of pleasure suffused the newcomer's face when he recognized me.
+
+"'Fate is indeed kind,' said he. 'I was going to try and find you again
+at the rest house, when, lo and behold! here you are, the guest of my
+good friend, the munshi.'
+
+"'What! Are you already acquainted?' exclaimed our host, visibly
+surprised, despite the philosophy of self-restraint he was so fond of
+preaching.
+
+"It was my turn now to bestow a reproving look.
+
+"'We have met,' I rejoined, with proper dignity, 'but as yet I have not
+the honour of acquaintance.'
+
+"To cover this well-deserved rebuke, the munshi clapped his hands and
+bade the servant who responded to the summons to bring sherbet for our
+refreshment. After the cooling draught, and when we were all comfortably
+settled, the stranger, whose name had not yet been spoken, turned to me
+and said:
+
+"'Now perhaps you will give me the news from Sengali.'
+
+"'It is grievous,' I returned, 'and it is owing to trouble there that I
+am now here.'
+
+"'Indeed. And what may the trouble be? As I told you this afternoon, I
+have friends in the village, and am consequently interested.'
+
+"'Aye, aye, tell him the story you have just told me,' called out the
+munshi.
+
+"Courteously the stranger awaited my response, in his eyes an anxious
+look of inquiry. As I proceeded with my recital his excitement grew
+apace, and he leaned forward in his eagerness to miss not a word. At the
+finish he started to his feet, and, catching hold of my arm, exclaimed:
+
+"'What! You tell me they will burn down their very home?'
+
+"I nodded assent.
+
+"'Then must we start in all haste for Sengali,' he continued, excitedly.
+'To-night, now, or it may be too late.'
+
+"I was moved by this display of fervid sympathy on the part of a
+stranger for my humble friends in their sorry plight. But I could not
+avail myself of his proffered assistance.
+
+"'Pardon me,' I replied, 'but I have first to find Sheikh Ahmed, who has
+been the cause--the innocent cause--of all this grievous anxiety, and
+whose presence is needed to put an end to the false charge of murder.'
+
+"'Don't you know that I am Sheikh Ahmed?' cried the stranger.
+
+"'Yes, yes, he is no other,' laughed our host, the munshi. 'I avoided
+giving the wounded traveller's name a while ago, Chunda Das, as a
+fitting curb to your eagerness, and now, thanks to the Sheikh paying me
+a visit, you have met somewhat quicker than I expected.'
+
+"For full a minute I was speechless. Was it possible that I had so soon
+found my man, or, to put it more correctly, that the man had found me?
+The gods be praised for working on behalf of the helpless and
+oppressed!
+
+"But my meditations were rudely interrupted. The Sheikh had again
+gripped me by the shoulder, and was speaking rapidly:
+
+"'Rouse yourself, friend; rouse yourself. This is no time for
+wonderment.'
+
+"'So you are indeed alive and well, Sheikh Ahmed?' I asked, in
+blundering fashion.
+
+"'You can see for yourself,' he replied, impatiently. 'But I little
+thought I should have been the means of doing to these kind people who
+nursed and nourished me so grievous an injury. But, Allah be praised!
+there is yet time to repair the wrong and make amends. Let us away,
+away, without the delay of another hour.'
+
+"The munshi clapped his hands once more, and the servant was quickly in
+attendance.
+
+"'These friends of mine will take the road,' he said to the man, 'so
+soon as the moon is up. Go you now to the inn, and bid the grooms make
+ready their horses for a long journey. Quick--lose no time!'
+
+"The Sheikh motioned the servant to his side, and added some whispered
+instructions. Then, turning to me, he said:
+
+"'The moon will serve us ere very long.'
+
+"By my silence I had acquiesced in the plan of speedy departure, for
+nothing could better suit my own wishes. But meanwhile there would be an
+interval of patient waiting.
+
+"'Can you account for the strange wailing around the house of Baji Lal?'
+I asked of the Sheikh.
+
+"He hesitated a moment before making answer.
+
+"'To me it is all a mystery,' he said at last. 'Some one, perhaps, is
+playing a trick upon them.'
+
+"'A sorry trick,' I commented bitterly.
+
+"'But their home must certainly be saved,' he added.
+
+"'Not merely their home,' said I. 'Their lives are also in jeopardy.'
+
+"'We must save them! we shall save them!' cried the Sheikh, with
+upraised hand and in a tone of determination that brought great comfort
+to my anxious heart.
+
+"The time soon passed, and, our horses having been brought round from
+the rest house, we took leave of our good host, Munshi Khyraz.
+
+"Just as we turned on to the high road, ten or a dozen mounted troopers
+emerged from the shadow of a tope of trees, and came clattering behind
+us.
+
+"'These are my escort,' explained the Sheikh. 'I have already
+encountered too many dangers on this road to run further risks.'
+
+"I made no comment, but inwardly reflected that once more kind fate was
+working in my favour. Of course, with Sheikh Ahmed alive, there would be
+no need to use force for Baji Lal's rescue. But safeguarded on the way,
+we should be all the quicker in reaching our destination.
+
+"It was toward noon on the fourth day from Punderpur--for there were now
+no inquiries to delay me--that we came in sight of the village of
+Sengali. It was just ten days then since the date of my departure in
+quest of the missing man. So my mind was at ease; according to the
+patel's promise, there remained yet four days of safety for Baji Lal and
+Devaka.
+
+"But all at once fear smote my heart. There was a strange absence of
+people in the fields and on the outskirts of the village. Dreading I
+know not what, I begged of the Sheikh to press forward. Our escort was
+some distance behind us on the road, but, without waiting for the
+troopers, we set our tired horses to their best speed.
+
+"Coming to the pipul tree and the tank, we found this usual place of
+congregation deserted. Now indeed was I thoroughly alarmed, likewise my
+companion, and of one accord, without waiting to visit the constable's
+compound, we turned our horses' heads in the direction of the home of
+Baji Lal.
+
+"And there indeed we found a dense crowd, the hoarse murmur of their
+voices being borne to our ears before we turned the corner. The first
+thing that smote my eyes was a thin column of smoke mounting skyward.
+
+"Sheikh Ahmed too had seen, for he whipped up his horse unmercifully. As
+he flashed past me, I was struck by the ashen grey that had stolen over
+his features. His face was drawn, his nostrils quivered from excitement.
+
+"I could not but admire his eager determination. 'What gratitude! What
+unselfishness!' I thought to myself. 'Here is this man, rich and highly
+placed, ready to endure prolonged fatigues and hardships, to face any
+adventure, and all for the sake of a humble villager and his wife who
+did but nurse him when he was sick. Not often do we find such men, not
+often do we see the rich incommoding themselves for the poor.'
+
+"Emulating his example, I urged my lagging beast to a final effort. In a
+brief minute we were on the outskirts of the crowd, where perforce we
+had to dismount. The Sheikh led the way as, afoot, we passed through the
+throng.
+
+"When we got within clear view of the house, I saw that faggots had been
+placed all around it, and that these were already alight, giving forth
+the smoke we had seen from a distance. I looked about me in dread. Where
+were Baji Lal and Devaka? I questioned a man who was blocking my way. He
+turned round, and, to my joy, I recognized Bimjee, the barber. He gazed
+at me sadly, and, without expressing surprise at seeing me, pointed to
+the flat roof.
+
+"There, beyond the low parapet, tied to a stake, was poor little Devaka.
+Her face was covered by her sari, and whether she were living or dead it
+was impossible to tell.
+
+"'And her husband?' I asked, trembling. 'Not yet dead?'
+
+"'No. But when the sun is at its highest point, which will be in a few
+minutes now, he will be dispatched with a sword and his body flung into
+the fire. See! they are already pouring oil on the faggots, so that the
+haunted house may be quickly consumed. It will soon be all over with our
+poor friends.'
+
+"'Not so, not so,' I cried, 'for Sheikh Ahmed has come back. See, there
+he is, hastening to rescue his humble friends. He has not rested day or
+night since he heard of the disaster that had befallen them.'
+
+"The crowd had parted before the Sheikh, and through the rift I now
+beheld Baji Lal, standing with his hands tied behind him at a little
+distance from his burning home. But to my surprise Sheikh Ahmed darted
+past him.
+
+"'Ah!' exclaimed the barber, noticing my disconcerted look. 'He thinks
+that Devaka is in greater peril, and leaves you to rescue her husband.'
+
+"I looked at the curling smoke, and shuddered. Assuredly there was no
+time to be lost if the woman was to be saved.
+
+"'You are right, Bimjee,' I cried. 'We'll look after Baji Lal. Come
+along.'
+
+"And I gained my friend's side none too soon, for already a sword was
+pointed at his breast. Leaping on the man who held it, I thrust the
+weapon aside.
+
+"The patel, standing by, turned on me with a ferocious look.
+
+"'How dare you hinder justice, Chunda Das?' he demanded. 'This is by
+decree of the panchayet.'
+
+"'Your promise bound the village council as well as yourself,' I
+retorted. 'It is but ten days since I departed on my quest for Sheikh
+Ahmed, and you assured me faithfully that for two weeks at least nothing
+would be done to this man and his wife.'
+
+"'More cattle have died,' he answered, sullenly.
+
+"The crowd were pressing round us, with angry gestures and threatening
+looks, like wild beasts baulked of their prey.
+
+"'Pull his beard,' 'Knock off his turban,' and such like impertinences
+were hurled at me. But, taking no heed of these, I again addressed the
+patel, raising my voice so that all around might hear.
+
+"'You gave me fourteen days to find the stranger whom you say was
+murdered, and ahead of time I have returned and brought him with me. And
+Baji Lal, whom this very minute you were about to murder--aye,
+murder--is an innocent man, and his wife a maligned woman.'
+
+"And such is human nature, that they who a short time before had been so
+keen to see Baji Lal done to death, were now loud in their acclamations
+at his escape.
+
+"But the patel looked at me with lowering brow.
+
+"'Fine words, Chunda Das, but I do not see the Sheikh?'
+
+"The crowd hushed their outburst, and faces again looked serious.
+
+"'Oh, yes,' cried some one. 'Let us see him. Where is Sheikh Ahmed?'
+
+"'Where, indeed, but in the burning house, endeavouring to save your
+other victim?' I made answer, turning round and pointing with uplifted
+arm to Devaka, who now was standing with hands held out beseechingly to
+the throng, her face uncovered, full of entreaty.
+
+"And even as we gazed the flames burst through the roof beneath her
+feet, and the clouds of smoke almost hid her from view.
+
+"There was no sign of Sheikh Ahmed, and I was greatly perturbed. What
+had happened to him? Why did he not appear on the roof? From their
+countenances I could see that the spectators were still unconvinced of
+the presence of the man.
+
+"Baji Lal up to this time had remained passive, his head bowed as if in
+helpless acknowledgement of the power of destiny. But at my call he cast
+his eyes upward with the others, and, beholding the form of his wife
+through the eddying smoke wreaths, he broke out in loud and passionate
+appeal.
+
+"'Chunda Das, friends, neighbours, do not let her burn. She is innocent
+of any crime. Do not let her perish. Chunda Das, cut my bonds, that I
+may save her or die with her.'
+
+"I was about to sever the thongs that confined his wrists and ankles,
+when the patel laid a detaining hand on my shoulder.
+
+"'Not so fast, not so fast, if you please. We have not yet seen Sheikh
+Ahmed, and Baji Lal is still condemned to die.'
+
+"I flashed an indignant look at the relentless man, but a cry of 'There
+he is, there he is,' broke from the mob. And, sure enough, through the
+clouds of smoke, could be seen the figure of the rescuer, crouching low
+as he cautiously crept along the roof, with a hand on the parapet to
+guide his movements. With bated breath we watched as he neared the
+fainting woman, and then, rising to his full height, tore at the rope
+which bound her to the stake.
+
+"At last he had released her, and gathered her senseless form in his
+arms. But a billow of black smoke blotted out the grim scene. A moment
+of tense silence and sickening uncertainty. Then a great shout from the
+throng, a shout of pent-up joy and relief, when the hero with his burden
+came staggering out through the flame-framed doorway of the building.
+
+"I rushed forward with the rest, and received Devaka in my arms. She had
+swooned. I gazed at her rescuer in admiration, his face blackened, his
+hair singed, his clothes torn. But could I believe my eyes? The brave
+man who had sunk to the ground in a heap was not Sheikh Ahmed, but
+Bimjee, the village barber!
+
+"Hastily consigning Devaka to the care of women standing by, I hurried
+forward.
+
+"'Sheikh Ahmed is in that house,' I cried, 'probably overpowered by the
+smoke. We must save him. Who will come with me?'
+
+"All remained silent. Then some one called out:
+
+"'It is no use, Chunda Das. It is impossible, the walls are falling.'
+
+"But at that very instant the Sheikh appeared through the clouds of
+smoke rolling from the doorway. He tottered forward, bearing in his arms
+a large bundle wrapped in a cotton quilt. Outstretched hands caught him
+as he fell, and carried him away from the burning ruins, for the walls
+had now indeed collapsed.
+
+"Neighbours vied with each other in offers of help. Baji Lal and Devaka
+were taken to one house. Sheikh Ahmed and myself went to another. The
+barber had recovered, and had quietly departed for his own home.
+
+"Next day I sent round word that all the villagers were to come to the
+usual place of public gathering, the widespread pipul tree. No second
+bidding was required; the open space was soon crowded, right to the edge
+of the tank and to the wall of the temple.
+
+"When all were assembled, with Sheikh Ahmed, Baji Lal and Devaka, also
+Bimjee the barber, standing by me, I faced the throng.
+
+"'Good people,' I said, 'our worthy friends, Baji Lal and his wife, have
+been publicly disgraced. They are now to be publicly reinstated as
+honoured members of the community. Sheikh Ahmed will explain the sobbing
+and wailing that used to distress them just as much as it mystified you
+all, and eventually caused suspicion of an abominable crime. Listen to
+the story Sheikh Ahmed has to tell.'
+
+"As I stepped back a pace, the Sheikh came forward. His handsome
+countenance beamed goodwill to all, and a murmur of friendly greeting
+bore testimony to his popularity. In soft, melodious voice, he addressed
+the eagerly expectant crowd.
+
+"'I am indeed heartily grieved that through any fault of mine my kind
+host and his wife Devaka should have suffered so severely. I may now
+inform you that when I tarried in your midst some time ago, I was on my
+way to the court of Akbar on an important mission. I was, as you know,
+accompanied by a servant. I had in my possession a most valuable harp,
+encrusted with diamonds, rubies, and other precious stones. It had
+formerly belonged to the Maharanee of Kholtan, and had been looted from
+her palace during the last war. Our Emperor, the Padishah, had long been
+desirous of possessing it, for the fame of the instrument, its beauty
+and value, was widespread. By a fortunate chance I became acquainted
+with the man who was hiding it in the city of Poona. I promised, in the
+name of my lord and master, the mighty Akbar, a lac of rupees, and
+undertook to carry the instrument safely to the Emperor at
+Fathpur-Sikri. On account of its extreme value we decided to conceal it
+in a rough packing, and, with a view to avoid attracting attention, that
+I should be attended on the road by no more than one body servant, a man
+who had been long in my employment and in whom I placed implicit
+confidence.
+
+"'Well, all went right until, just as we neared this village I fell
+sick--as I now believe, through the agency of my faithless attendant,
+who would have poisoned me so that he might possess himself of the
+precious harp. Fortunately I was succoured by our good friend, Baji Lal,
+and nursed back to health by him and his devoted wife Devaka. I had sent
+my servant on to Punderpur, there to await a summons when I again felt
+well enough to travel. But one night he returned of his own accord,
+bringing the news that the Padishah himself was approaching Punderpur,
+and now would be the time for me to complete my mission.
+
+"'But there was something in the fellow's manner that awakened my
+distrust. At this time my suspicions were but vague, yet sufficient to
+prompt me to caution. Without discovering my inmost thoughts, I
+acquiesced in his proposal, and, disregarding the entreaties of my kind
+hosts, prepared to take the road without an hour's delay.
+
+"'But first I had to dispose of the bejewelled harp in a place of
+safety, for I had made up my mind not to carry it any longer with me. At
+Punderpur it would be possible to get an escort of Akbar's cavalry, and
+then I could return with them for the treasure. So meanwhile I had to
+find some sure hiding-place, this in preference to burdening anyone here
+with my secret.
+
+"'The walls of my room in Baji Lal's house were covered with a thick
+tent-cloth. While my servant was feeding the horses, I loosened one edge
+of this, and to my joy found the space between the inner and the outer
+covering sufficient to take the harp. I stripped off the bulky wrappings
+in which the harp had been carried up to this time, leaving only a
+swathing of fine silk. Then I carefully bestowed the instrument in its
+place of hiding, tying it securely to a beam high up toward the ceiling,
+and finally I restored the tent-cloth wall exactly as I had found it.
+Thereafter I stuffed a few billets of wood into the empty casing of the
+harp, and when my servant returned I bade him carry forth the package,
+and secure it across my saddle-bow, just as I had been wont to travel
+heretofore. Even though it was yet dark, we rode forth on our way.
+
+"'Next day I noticed that my servant kept watching me in a furtive
+manner, and I congratulated myself on the precaution I had taken, and
+inwardly resolved to be more than ever on my guard not to be caught
+unawares. But, alas! I was still weak, and exhausted nature overcame
+vigilance, so that one night I slept soundly. I remember nothing of what
+took place. But when I came to myself some woodcutters were bathing my
+head. They said I had been beaten and wounded, and had bled profusely. I
+tried to stand up, but was seized with a great faintness, and would have
+fallen had not my succourers steadied me. With tender care I was carried
+to Punderpur, happily not far distant, where I was yet once again kindly
+bidden to the home of strangers.
+
+"'A munshi named Khyraz was the name of my new benefactor. He was most
+wishful that I should hunt down my faithless servant, who, I need not
+say, after leaving me for dead, had disappeared with my horse and the
+package which was supposed to contain the precious harp. However, as I
+had still the instrument in safe keeping, and as I did not want the
+story of its being in my possession to get noised abroad, for this would
+have robbed me of the pleasure of surprising our King of Kings with the
+production of the coveted prize, I let the rascal go, for the time being
+at all events. But his day will come, the son of a pig who betrayed the
+master whose salt he had eaten for years. May the tombs of his
+ancestors be defiled!
+
+"'Of course the news that had brought me to Punderpur was false. So far
+from Akbar being in the vicinity, I now learned that he had gone on a
+journey to Gwalior, and would not be back to Fathpur-Sikri for several
+months. Therefore, I took the opportunity of paying a business visit to
+Benares, resting content in my mind that the harp could be in no safer
+place than in its snug hiding at the home of Baji Lal, where no robbers
+would ever dream of prying.
+
+"'However, I was just on the eve of retracing my steps to this village
+when Chunda Das came to Punderpur in quest of me. We met at the house of
+Munshi Khyraz, and there I learned of the disaster to my friends here,
+and the terrible doom that was contemplated for them. Imagine my dismay,
+too, when I discovered that their house was to be burned. My beautiful
+harp! It would be destroyed! So we hurried back, sparing neither
+ourselves nor our beasts.
+
+"'When I saw the tongues of flame actually curling about the home of
+Baji Lal, I became oblivious of aught else save the rescue of the
+priceless harp from destruction. Through the blinding smoke I groped my
+way to my old sleeping room. I nearly succumbed three or four times
+before I managed to tear down the tent-cloth. Then, by the flicker of
+the flames I could see the harp reposing in its hiding place in all its
+gleaming beauty. I had no time to feel surprised that its silken
+covering had been blown aside, and indeed was at that very moment
+fluttering in a current of air.
+
+"'Just as my hand reached forth to seize the precious instrument, I was
+startled by a subdued plaintive cry. For an instant I paused and
+wondered. Then I discovered that the wind was blowing through a crevice
+in the wall just behind the harp, and that it was the breeze rushing
+through the opening that was causing the strings to vibrate and give
+forth their weird complaining.
+
+"'And this, good people, is the explanation of the unrestful spirit.
+When the wind blew strong, the cries were loud and insistent; when the
+blast came gently, the sobbing was low and wailing.
+
+"'I am distressed that so simple a thing could have caused such trouble.
+But in reparation I will undertake to build for Baji Lal and his wife a
+new home. I hereby give to their good friend, Chunda Das, an undertaking
+to that effect'--he passed a paper to me as he spoke--'whereby I make
+myself liable for all moneys expended. And to Devaka I give this chain,
+which I hope she will always wear in remembrance of her good deed in
+nursing Sheikh Ahmed back to health.'
+
+"And, throwing a long gold chain around the neck of Devaka, the Sheikh
+bowed to the company, and, with salaams of farewell, passed through the
+throng, toward his escort waiting for him all ready mounted at a little
+distance. Soon there was the clatter of hoofs, and they were riding away
+across the plain. I had noticed that at Sheikh Ahmed's saddle-bow was a
+bulky package, undoubtedly the precious harp in its wrappings.
+
+"That was all there was to be said, and after a while the crowd began to
+disperse. On every hand there was loud acclaim for the Sheikh and his
+noble generosity, and Devaka's gold chain, which she now held timidly in
+her hand, was the object of many admiring glances, and drew for her
+general words of congratulation.
+
+"At last all had gone their several ways, leaving Baji Lal and his wife,
+Bimjee and myself, alone beneath the pipul tree. A first look into each
+other's eyes showed that we were all of the same mind. In their
+excitement of the moment the unthinking throng had approved; but for us
+there was nothing but bitter disappointment.
+
+"It was Baji Lal who first voiced his feelings.
+
+"'Chunda Das,' he said slowly, 'Sheikh Ahmed has promised to recompense
+me for my losses; he has given a costly present to my wife. We want
+neither his gifts nor his promises. They are as dust to us. The little
+we did for him was not done for gold. Yet we took him into our home, and
+fought death for him, and won. He left a valuable treasure under our
+roof without consulting or trusting us. When this act of his brought
+disaster on our heads, it was no thought for Devaka or for me that
+brought him back in hot haste. It was the possible loss of the harp that
+occupied all his thoughts. When he came upon the scene, he saw me tied
+and ready for the word to die. On the roof he saw my wife with the
+flames already leaping to devour her. Yet not one finger did he put
+forth to save either her or me. He just rushed into the smoke-filled
+house, that he might secure the harp--an instrument of great price, let
+it be. But you, my dear friend, had ridden night and day to find the man
+whom our neighbours thought we had murdered. Our faithful friend
+Bimjee'--Baji Lal stretched out his hand to the barber--'defied fire and
+smoke to rescue a defenceless woman from an atrocious death. Neither of
+you had anything to gain by these deeds of bravery and self-sacrifice.
+You did them for pure love of us. What do we want with that selfish
+man's gifts? Chunda Das, give me the paper which binds him to his
+promise to restore my home, that I may tear it into fragments and
+scatter it to the winds. Devaka, my wife,'--and his voice fell to a tone
+of great gentleness--'hand the necklet to Chunda Das, that he may
+restore it to the giver.'
+
+"Devaka, who, as I have said, had already removed the chain of gold from
+her neck, looked at it perhaps a little lingeringly, let it slip through
+her fingers caressingly, then with a sigh placed it in my hands and
+turned away. But her sigh, I knew, was less for the surrender of the
+gift than for the unworthiness that had prompted its bestowal.
+
+"Her husband contemplated her compassionately. 'You have not many
+trinkets, little wife,' he said, 'but this one would not remind us so
+much of good deeds done as of base ingratitude. I have no home to take
+you to at present, but Bimjee wants us to stay with him until I can
+build you another.'
+
+"He stretched forth his hand to Devaka, and, leading her away, departed.
+Bimjee, after a salute to me, followed his bidden guests at a little
+distance. For myself, I remained awhile to ponder all these happenings.
+
+"To say that I was disappointed in Sheikh Ahmed would not adequately
+express my feelings. From the first I had been attracted to the man, by
+his handsome figure, distinguished bearing, and pleasant smile. During
+our intimacy of four days on the road I had admired the brilliancy of
+his conversation, and had taken great delight in his entertaining
+recitals of adventure in many far lands. From one like him I had
+certainly never expected this display of callous selfishness. But such
+is life. We have to keep ourselves prepared for many disillusionments.
+And, as I remarked at the outset of my narrative, an experience of this
+kind teaches that, if in judging our fellow men we are to be chary of
+condemnation, it behoves us also to be discreet in commendation."
+
+And so ended the Bombay trader's story.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+After an interval of silence, the voice of the Rajput chief spoke up:
+
+"What became of Baji Lal and Devaka?"
+
+"Oh," replied the merchant, "from that day their happiness returned and
+continued. For the villagers were ashamed to have doubted them, so all
+contributed to the building and furnishing of their home, and would take
+no denial. Good fortune seemed to settle on their roof-tree. Little
+Devaka is now the mother of a fine boy, and she wears a chain of gold
+around her neck, one given to her by the women of the village when they
+heard that she had scorned the proffered gift of Sheikh Ahmed, and
+understood the reason why."
+
+"And the Sheikh and his wonderful harp?" questioned the Afghan soldier.
+"Did the costly toy reach its destination?"
+
+"The harp is in the treasury of our Sovereign Akbar. Sheikh Ahmed
+started back for Poona with the lac of rupees he had promised in the
+name of the Padishah and half a lac more for his own recompense. But he
+and his company were attacked by a swarm of Mahrattas, and perished to a
+man."
+
+"And the treacherous servant?"
+
+"About him I know nothing. My tale is told."
+
+
+
+
+V. THE BLUE DIAMONDS
+
+TOLD BY THE FAKIR
+
+
+"You have certainly improved on the moral of my story," said the
+astrologer, addressing the merchant, silent now after the telling of his
+tale. "If it is for God alone to pronounce the censure on mankind, then
+assuredly it is for God also to award the praise. As the story of Sheikh
+Ahmed and his jewelled harp well shows, deeds may be done openly by the
+hand, but the motives for their doing lie secretly in the heart. And the
+heart is the innermost temple where none but the high priest, the
+individual soul, holds communion with his God, the supreme Deity of the
+universe."
+
+"So that a man's life is an unsolvable riddle to all but himself,"
+concurred the hakeem.
+
+"And not to be solved even by himself," remarked the Afghan with a
+laugh, half of bitterness, half of bravado. "We may know in our secret
+heart the motive that prompts to a deed, but we cannot tell the
+consequences of that deed as affecting even ourselves who wrought it.
+Take this very story of the Sheikh; when recovering his precious harp he
+was but digging his own grave. So with all of us; we imagine we are
+marching bravely to accomplish some preconceived plan, when all the time
+we are merely groping with blinded eyes along the path of destiny,
+avoiding the mud holes, it may be, but failing to see the tiger,
+crouched for his spring, a few paces further along."
+
+"Shabash!" cried the fakir, in a shrill tone of approval that drew all
+eyes to the lean and naked and ash-besprinkled figure seated at the foot
+of the veranda steps. "Shabash! shabash!" he cried, again and yet again.
+
+"And your story?" asked the Rajput, with a nod of inquiry and
+encouragement.
+
+"Is one that shows how a man may keep on running all his life yet never
+reach the goal he has in sight," replied the ascetic. And with the
+sturdy independence of his calling he beat a peremptory tattoo with
+finger-tips on wooden begging-bowl to command attention to his tale.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Behold in me a man who possesses nothing in this world excepting a
+begging-bowl and a loin cloth. Yet was I at one time the owner of lands
+and of cattle, of a home bountifully stored for comfort and for
+sustenance, of wives who wore rich jewels, necklets of pearls, armlets
+of gold, and bangles of silver, with maid-servants to minister to their
+needs and children to play around them. All gone! by my own doing, or
+undoing, call it which you will.
+
+"And know, too, that in those days I also was a soldier"--this with a
+defiant glance first at the Rajput chief and then at the Afghan general.
+"At my side rattled the steel scabbard, and in my belt was the sharp
+poinard, swift messenger of death when it came to hand-to-hand fighting,
+and the horse I rode had its rich trappings of gold and silver. It may
+all seem strange, to hear me tell those things of the long ago and to
+look upon me now"--and the speaker stretched forth his skinny, twisted
+fingers and attenuated arms, and for a moment ruefully contemplated
+them.
+
+"But I speak the truth," he went on, "for to-night, prompted by the
+stories to which I have listened and the thoughts they have engendered,
+will I unseal my lips after fifty long years of wandering alone, giving
+no man my confidence, seeking no man's confidence, intent only on the
+attainment of the one desire deeply seated in my heart, and which, in my
+eager striving to achieve, seems to be ever more remote from
+accomplishment. To-night will I reveal the story of my life, so that,
+perchance, the lesson it teaches will show still more clearly the
+impotence of man to constitute himself the avenger of wrongs. For if
+judgment belongs to Allah, so does vengeance. And the choice of
+instrument, of time and place, of the very manner of the deed--all this
+belongs to God alone, as this night, listening to the stories that have
+gone before, have I for the first time come fully to comprehend."
+
+The fakir paused to gaze around his audience. The look of interest and
+expectancy on each face showed the impression his impulsive flow of
+language had made. No interrupting word was spoken, but every eye
+remained fastened on the lean, keen face peering over long slender
+shanks and hand-clasped knees. The narrator continued:
+
+"In those days I had twenty retainers at my call, and these men I
+commanded when I rode forth to service with a certain Nawab, from whom I
+held my lands for the feudal service I thus performed. It was my fate to
+take part in many a fight and in many a foray, and to send many a man to
+his doom. But God had ordained it so; the fault was not mine.
+
+"Well, it befell that a certain city was given over to sack and carnage,
+for the word had gone forth that the only way to break the power of its
+Hindu occupants was to demolish their temples, destroy their idols, and
+thereby show the impotence of their false gods to protect them."
+
+The Rajput drew himself up proudly, and a flush of resentment stole over
+his face. But the Moslem fanatic, unconscious now of anything but his
+reminiscences of the past, went on unheeding and unabashed:
+
+"It was toward the hour of sunset when a body of our soldiery broke into
+a temple devoted to the worship of Siva the Destroyer. We had battered
+in the heavy wooden doors that protected the inner court, and within the
+threshold a score or more of priests fell to our swords, and a dozen
+dancing girls as well, attendants on the idols--self-slain these women,
+for when they saw that there was no quarter for the men they rushed on
+us like female panthers and flung themselves on our dripping blades."
+
+The Hindu listeners were visibly disturbed and affected by this cold
+recital of bloody deeds. The hands of the Rajput clenched and unclenched
+themselves nervously, and the merchant gave a deep, guttural groan of
+horror as he flung the end of his robe over his face as if to shut out a
+vision of sacrilege and shame.
+
+"It was written in the beginning, nay before creation it was written,"
+murmured the Moslem astrologer, quoting, in courteous sympathy, the
+familiar formula of his faith. "And as your priests themselves say," he
+added, addressing himself more particularly to the Rajput, "'The destiny
+of each man is irrevocably inscribed on his forehead by the hand of
+Brahma himself.'"
+
+The Rajput bowed his head in acquiescent silence, and as the fakir
+proceeded with his story the trader also regained his composure and
+withdrew the covering from his face.
+
+"When the shadows of night fell, the temple made a bonfire that
+illuminated the scenes of pillage going on all around. The big idols of
+loathly aspect had been thrown down, broken to pieces, and despoiled of
+their jewels and the heavy plates of gold that encumbered them. Our
+soldiers had swarmed out of the building, past a tank to the houses of
+some priests beyond. Not one single custodian of the temple survived,
+and I stood alone in the outer courtyard, watching in idle fashion the
+tongues of flame licking the beams and rafters and paint-bedaubed walls
+of the wrecked edifice.
+
+"Then did my eyes chance to light on a small idol in the passage-way
+between the two courtyards of the temple, set in a deep niche, on which
+account it had escaped the notice of the despoilers. It was the familiar
+elephant-headed idol of the Hindus, Ganapati, as I knew they called him,
+their god of wisdom and the remover of obstacles according to their
+creed.
+
+"Even as I looked, methought that the eyes of the idol twinkled
+knowingly and entreatingly at me. After a moment I saw that this fancy
+was but due to the play of the flames on jewels, comprehending which, I
+said to myself that the little fat man might perchance be of some
+considerable value. So I plucked him from his resting-place, not without
+difficulty, for the base of the idol was fastened by iron clamps to the
+altar, and only just in time before a surge of fire and smoke swept
+through the vestibule. Then, without more ado, I carried forth this
+Ganapati, wrapped in a cotton cloth I had gathered from one of the slain
+priests, and tied it to the saddle-bow of my horse, which had been
+standing tethered under a tree close at hand.
+
+"Thus did it come about that, a full month later, I was seated in my
+home, in a secret inner chamber that served me as a treasury, and to
+which the only access was through the women's quarters. And before me on
+a stool rested the cross-legged figure of the four-armed and
+elephant-headed god, fat, complacent, smiling, to all appearance
+recovered from the fatigues of a journey of near a hundred leagues and
+thoroughly contented amidst his new surroundings. The idol was of
+bronze, and the eyes, which at times gave it such life-like semblance,
+were clusters of rubies set around with white sapphires.
+
+"And it followed that, day after day, after the siesta hour, I found
+myself in the company of this accursed idol--for accursed it came to be,
+bringing me misfortunes and ruin, as my story will unfold. No doubt it
+was by my own doing that the wrath of Allah was brought down upon my
+head. For had not I, a follower of the Prophet, and therefore a despiser
+of graven images in every shape or form, come to treat this monstrous
+and misshapen creature, half man, half beast, as a sort of familiar,
+even greeting him on my entry with the words with which I might have
+saluted a living unbeliever, 'May your days be peaceful,' spoken in
+goodnatured jest, of course, and without one thought at the time of the
+sacrilege of which I was guilty? Yea, I would pat the fat little fellow
+on the head, and, when the humour seized me, would show him my hoard of
+gold mohurs, even jingle before him a bag of silver rupees, or ask his
+opinion on the colour and quality of some gem, speaking words of
+foolishness the while, like a child playing with a toy. And when I lay
+back on my cushions, sometimes I fancied that the little jewelled eyes
+in the elephant head of bronze twinkled at me in merry and friendly
+understanding. All which things I have since remembered with bitter
+shame.
+
+"But it happened one day that I was in angry mood--some contrary thing
+among the women of my household had vexed me. And when I sat brooding
+over my trouble, it seemed that the eyes of the Ganapati laughed at me
+in mockery. And, angry now at the idol himself, I arose and pressed the
+balls of my thumbs on the two scintillating clusters of jewels, as it
+were to shut out the gleam of their impertinence, even ready, in my
+insane access of wrath, to force them from their sockets as I might have
+done with the eyeballs of a slave who had offended me.
+
+"But in a moment all passion faded from my heart. For an extraordinary
+thing happened.
+
+"As I pressed with my thumbs, the clicking sound of moving wheels smote
+my ear, and the elephant head began slowly to raise itself and revolve
+backward on some concealed pivot, forming a gaping opening right across
+the body of the Ganapati. And, as the opening gradually widened, by some
+devilish contrivance the hammer of a gong concealed within the idol was
+set in motion, and there resulted a loud continuous clanging din that
+could have been heard at a far distance. Instinctively I thrust my
+fingers in my ears to shut out the infernal noise. But after a time the
+clangor ceased, and now I observed that the elephant head had moved
+completely back on its hinges, and lay at rest, its single tusk raised
+aloft. Within the body of the Ganapati a cavity was revealed.
+
+"But before I could explore this, I was distracted by the frightened
+outcries of my womenfolk, and I sallied forth to pacify them, and give
+assurance that the bell need cause no alarm, it being one I had
+purchased in the bazaars with the intent some day to use it as a
+protection against thieves--its obvious utility, as I guessed even now.
+When all was again at peace I returned to the secret chamber. Everything
+was as I had left it a few minutes previously.
+
+"In the hollow body of the bronze idol there lay disclosed to view a
+small casket of rock crystal, round and polished, and provided with a
+cap of gold. For me to snatch this casket from its hiding-place was the
+work of an instant. Straightway I removed the golden lid, and there, in
+the smooth, transparent nest of crystal, lay a little heap of gems that
+flashed and gleamed like living fire.
+
+"Recovering from my first emotions of astonishment and delight, I poured
+forth the treasure into the hollow of my hand, and found it to be a
+necklace of diamonds, as I could tell from the dazzling sparkle of the
+stones despite their uncommon colour, which was blue, like the vault of
+the sky or the eyes of the fair-skinned women of Circassia. Each stone
+was cut with many facets, and all were strung together by a delicate
+chain of gold, a solitary large stone in the centre, then smaller ones
+on either side, each succeeding pair carefully matched as to size, and
+constantly diminishing till the last were no bigger than grains of
+millet. All the diamonds were of dazzling lustre and of the one uniform
+tint, the blue that is so rare, and, as I gazed upon my treasure trove,
+well could I believe that not such another necklace existed in any part
+of the world, not even in the jewel caskets of the Great Padishah
+himself, nor of the Kings of China or of Persia, nor of the Princes of
+the Franks, who are reputed to have untold stores of diamonds, rubies,
+topazes, and amethysts.
+
+"For a time I was stricken dumb and motionless, from very fear of the
+great wealth that reposed in my hollowed palm. Then did I replace the
+necklace in its casket, and the casket in its receptacle within the body
+of the bronze god, and, grasping the tusk, I drew forward once again the
+elephant head, which, at my gentle pressure, rose easily on its pivot,
+winding again the clicking wheels as it moved, and finally closing at
+its accustomed place with a sharp snap but without any further sounding
+of the gong, at which I was well pleased.
+
+"Overcome with varied emotions, I sank down on the carpet, and, gazing
+up at the idol, beheld the jewelled eyes once more twinkling at me,
+merrily and mockingly.
+
+"After an interval I withdrew from the chamber, securing the padlock on
+the outside, and slipping back the artfully concealed panel that hid the
+secret doorway from prying intruders. The corridor without led to the
+women's quarters, through which I passed, vouchsafing word to no one. It
+was only when I had gained the outer courtyard that I drew my breath
+freely, and recovered my wonted tranquillity of mind and mien.
+
+"Several days passed before I ventured again to visit the Ganapati, and
+this at last I did in the full belief that the whole affair had been
+naught but an idle dream. But when I pressed again on the eyes of the
+elephant head, there came once more the clicking of wheels, followed by
+the clangor of the gong. This I succeeded in muffling somewhat by
+throwing a thick cotton quilt, which I had brought for the purpose, over
+the figure of the god.
+
+"A minute later I held the necklace of flashing blue diamonds in my
+trembling hand. I lingered just long enough to satisfy myself of the
+reality of the jewels, of their flawless quality and their matchless
+lustre. Then, replacing everything as before, I left the chamber with
+the usual precautions, and gained the divan in the vestibule of the
+outer courtyard, where I was accustomed to sit and receive my friends.
+There I meditated for several hours, and at last had formed a definite
+plan.
+
+"Well I knew that to disclose the treasure would mean its instant
+surrender to the Nawab, most probably my own doing to death, so that the
+new owner of the gems might feel more secure in their possession. To
+realize the value of those blue diamonds they must be sold one by one,
+or, at most, in separate pairs, and this with infinite care, so as not
+to arouse suspicion among the banians who are the traders in precious
+stones, and are ever on the outlook to screw the last copper paisa out
+of the seller unlawfully trafficking in them. And first of all it would
+be necessary for me to gain some true idea as to the value of brilliants
+of so rare a hue.
+
+"Three days later I rode into the city of Lahore, and, after seeing to
+the wants of my horse, repaired to the bazaar of the Hindu shroffs and
+banians. All my actions having been carefully thought out and decided
+upon beforehand, I approached with a bold swagger the shop of a
+reputable-looking banian, and, in the usual manner of business, took my
+seat cross-legged before him. Two other merchants were seated near by,
+but to them I gave no heed.
+
+"After some desultory conversation with the owner of the shop, I
+unloosed my waistband, and drew therefrom a tiny piece of silk stuff, in
+whose folds were wrapped two of the smallest of the blue diamonds, a
+pair, which I had carefully detached from the necklace before setting
+forth on my journey. These I placed in the banian's hand, and I waited,
+with all proper patience, while he carefully examined them. His face
+gave no sign as at last he laid the gems on the lap of his robe. With
+this I extended my right hand, and thrust it into his right hand,
+covering both with the loosened end of my waistband, so that he could
+tell me the price he was willing to pay by the secret pressure on my
+fingers that would reveal to me the value he had set on the stones
+without disclosing it to the rival traders seated at our side.
+
+"But to my surprise his hand remained absolutely impassive, giving no
+response to my movement of inquiry. Then, looking again into the
+banian's eyes, I detected there a strange menacing look that greatly
+perturbed me. As his fingers were still limp over mine, signifying
+unmistakably that there was no willingness to buy, I hastened to
+withdraw my hand, and, retying my little package, restored it to its
+place of security. After I had adjusted my waistband, again we spoke
+some tittle-tattle of the hour before I arose and, with a courteous
+salaam, took my departure.
+
+"Glancing back from a short distance, I saw the three banians in close
+colloquy and eagerly gesticulating. Thoroughly alarmed now, and feeling
+sure that they had recognized the blue diamonds as the spoil of one of
+their temples, I made all speed to regain the caravanserai where my
+horse had been bestowed, and, offering no explanation of my hurried
+departure, immediately rode from the city. Gaining the open country, I
+gave rein to my horse, although I took the precaution of making a detour
+before I finally struck out in the direction of my home.
+
+"Before nightfall of the succeeding day I had regained my house, and had
+replaced the detached stones on the necklace by the little golden hooks
+that formed their fastenings. With all speed I quitted the presence of
+the Ganapati, vowing that I would make no more attempt for the present
+to dispose of the treasure hidden in his entrails.
+
+"A full month had elapsed, and I had ceased to give my exclusive
+thoughts to the necklace of blue diamonds; for the harvest time was
+approaching, and I had to make arrangements for the garnering of my
+crops. My house was in the open country, half a league or so from the
+nearest village. It was the evening hour, and I was seated in the
+vestibule of the outer courtyard, having just dismissed the head reaper
+with whom I had come to terms for the services of himself and his
+fellows in the fields of grain.
+
+"Glancing along the road I descried what I took to be a band of
+travelling yogis, in rags, unkempt, some hobbling on crutches. But as I
+was accustomed to treat with contempt such Hindu beggars, I gave no
+special heed to their approach.
+
+"All of a sudden, however, when within less than a bow shot of the
+house, the pretended yogis raised a loud and terrifying yell, and rushed
+toward me, brandishing staves and daggers. Then did I realize that I was
+in the presence of a gang of armed dacoits. Before I could summon help,
+I was mercilessly beaten over the head with bludgeons; after which I was
+bound hand and foot, and thrown face downward on the divan on which I
+had been seated. I could hear the sound of a scuffle in the courtyard,
+and the dying scream of the eunuch who guarded the entrance to the
+women's apartments, rising high above the frightened cries of my two
+wives and the children and of the female slaves who attended them. Then,
+because of the grievous blows that had assailed me, as well as the agony
+of my mind, consciousness fled, and I lay like one dead unto the world.
+
+"It must have been hours before I was awakened from this stupor, for the
+moon was riding high in the heavens. Over me was bending the demoniac
+face of a Hindu priest, a worshipper of Siva as I knew from the caste
+marks on his forehead.
+
+"'Where is the Ganapati?' he hissed in my ear. 'It is that which we
+want. We will spare your life if you surrender the stolen god and the
+blue diamonds.'
+
+"Instantly great joy surged through my heart, for I knew that, whatever
+other evil fortune had befallen, my secret treasure chamber had not been
+discovered. And with this joy came the determination that I would rather
+die than surrender the necklace of blue diamonds, or allow the mocking
+elephant-headed god to be returned to his place of honour before a crowd
+of idolatrous worshippers.
+
+"I shall not recount the details of that terrible night. I need but say
+that I was tortured in a dozen different ways--the soles of my feet were
+burned with hot embers, the flesh of my thighs was pierced with daggers,
+I was beaten all over with clubs, and when I lost my senses for a spell
+I was revived by chatties of cold water being dashed on my face. But I
+never spoke a word. The very spirit of Shaitan had entered into my soul;
+if they were devils, then was I the prince of devils in my resolve to
+defy them.
+
+"I was but faintly conscious of my surroundings, when I heard a
+whispered colloquy among the priests disguised as robbers.
+
+"'We must not kill him,' I heard one voice say. 'Only if he lives shall
+we recover the Ganapati.'
+
+"Then also I heard some faint cries from afar off, from the village,
+showing that the dacoits were discovered, and that courage was being
+mustered for some attempt to drive them away.
+
+"After a moment the same priest who had addressed me before bent his
+face once again over mine.
+
+"'Listen, you Moslem son of a pig,' he hissed in my ear. 'Three more
+warnings will be given to you, and if these do not succeed in making you
+restore the Ganapati and the jewels then assuredly will you die. You
+know whence you stole it. Take back the idol to Ferishtapur, or go to
+the nethermost hell to which you belong.'
+
+"With that he slapped my face again and again, with a slipper taken from
+his foot, and, writhing in my bonds, I was powerless to revenge, even at
+the cost of my life, this crowning and abominable insult.
+
+"I must have swooned once more, for dawn was breaking when the craven
+villagers, satisfied that the robbers and murderers had departed, at
+last arrived upon the scene, and, loosening the thongs that bound me,
+re-awakened me to consciousness of my pitiful plight.
+
+"My womenfolk and my three children were uninjured. I found them,
+cowering and terrified, in an inner chamber. But the infidels had
+searched every room in their quarters, scattering the contents of chests
+on the floors. And at sight of this vile desecration the iron of revenge
+even then entered into my soul.
+
+"The eunuch lay dead in the vestibule leading to the harem. My other
+servants, who had happened to be outside the house at the time of the
+assault, had fled, and in the shame of their desertion never again dared
+to show their faces in my presence. The kotwal of the district made an
+investigation, but I held my own counsel, and spoke not one word about
+the Ganapati or the blue diamonds. So the outrage was set down as the
+work of dacoits, and although in point of fact nothing had been stolen I
+felt no call on me to disturb this finding of the magistrate.
+
+"About a week later a new disaster overtook me. In the full light of
+day, when a breeze happened to be blowing, my standing crops were
+burned, and my fields left a blackened wilderness. By whose hand the
+fire-brand had been applied, no man could tell. An accident, or the
+first of the promised warnings?--this I asked myself, and I strove hard
+to believe that it was ill-luck and nothing more.
+
+"Another full week passed, and I began to hope that the threatened
+persecution had indeed been abandoned. Recovered from my wounds and
+bruises, I was able now to be out and about again, endeavouring to
+restore order to my troubled affairs. One afternoon on my home-coming, I
+found the women lamenting with loud outcries over the body of my eldest
+son, a lad of seven years. Unseen by any of the household he had been
+knocked down on the road and crushed under the wheels of a heavy wagon
+that was travelling past.
+
+"That night, when his poor little body was being made ready for burial,
+my elder wife, his mother, led me to the side of the bier. Uncovering
+the child's shoulder, she showed me a strange mark, as if branded upon
+the flesh by a hot iron. In the red, angry lines I had no difficulty in
+tracing the head of a bull, the sacred mark of Siva. I said nothing,
+and indeed commanded my wife to hold her peace.
+
+"I knew now that this cruel calamity was indeed a warning from the
+accursed priesthood, who had not even scrupled to murder an innocent
+child so that they might wreak their vengeance on me or break my will.
+
+"But, if I had been determined before, ten times more now was I resolved
+never to yield. No cowardly surrender could bring me back my child. The
+boy was dead, and what was done could not be undone, for the will of God
+is eternal.
+
+"That very night I visited the Ganapati, and in the frenzy of my bitter
+grief and righteous wrath I swore, with clenched fist shaken before his
+twinkling eyeballs, that I would break him into pieces, throw the blue
+diamonds into a fire of charcoal, and myself die, rather than restore
+him to the infidels who had destroyed my happiness and my home.
+
+"The next blow fell swifter than ever. Only four days had passed when
+the bereaved mother, who had refused to be consoled for the death of her
+only child, was found drowned at the bottom of the well in the harem
+garden. The household was plunged in lamentation over her pitiful act of
+self-destruction, and now I became vaguely conscious that friends and
+neighbours, as well as servants, were looking at me askance, and were
+beginning to shun my presence as if a curse had fallen upon my head.
+
+"It was at the funeral ceremonies of my wife that I was first made
+pointedly to feel that there rested over me the suspicion of some
+terrible crime that had drawn down the special wrath of Allah. Standing
+in isolation, at a time when my sorrowing heart yearned for brotherly
+comfort, I realized that already I was an outcast from among my own
+people, one whom they deemed to be marked by heaven for special
+vengeance, a moral leper, a menace to the community, to be shunned for
+all time by his fellow men.
+
+"And there and then I made up my mind to flee secretly to another
+country, sending later for my surviving wife and children, abandoning
+all my other possessions in the shape of land and cattle and accumulated
+stores, but clinging to the blue diamonds which would yet bring me
+riches out of all proportion to those of which fate was robbing me at
+the present time.
+
+"For the third and final warning had passed, although no one but myself
+had thought of my wife's death otherwise than as a case of
+grief-demented suicide.
+
+"But, as she had lain on her bier, I had looked secretly, and had found
+the brand of the bull on her shoulder blade, just as she had found it on
+that of her murdered boy. Allah alone knows how this last crime was
+wrought--how access to the women's quarters had been gained, and how the
+fatal seal of Siva had been impressed upon her flesh before she had been
+flung into the well.
+
+"To me has this ever remained a mystery of mysteries.
+
+"So the three warnings had been delivered--the burning of my crops, the
+slaying of my child, the drowning of my wife. Unless by the morrow I
+made signs of submission by taking the road to Ferishtapur, there to
+surrender the Ganapati, it would assuredly be upon myself that the sword
+of fate would next descend.
+
+"That very night of the funeral, after securely barricading the outer
+gates of the house, I locked myself in the treasure chamber. Not a
+servant had remained in the home upon which the curse of God had
+descended; even the two women slaves had fled in the dusk of the
+evening, gone, I knew not whither, and now I little cared. My surviving
+wife and children, tiny infants, a girl and a boy, were asleep in an
+inner room; I had glanced at their slumbering forms when passing to the
+corridor that led to the secret doorway.
+
+"I lost no time in beginning my preparations for departure. First of all
+I unlocked my strong box, and drew therefrom a small sack of gold
+mohurs, and another of gold pagodas, also sundry family jewels, armlets
+and necklets of gold, gemmed rings, and other trinkets of price. All
+these I tied tightly in a cotton cloth, forming a package that I could
+conveniently and without undue attention carry at my saddle-bow or in my
+hand. The bags of silver money, likewise the store of silver bangles, I
+would leave behind; they were cumbersome, and moreover they would serve
+to meet the necessities of my wife and children during our period of
+severance.
+
+"Then I turned to the Ganapati, and after swathing him as before in the
+cotton quilt, so as to deaden the sound of the gong, with my hands
+beneath the covering I pressed upon the jewelled eyeballs. I had not
+gazed upon the blue diamonds since the day when I had restored the two
+stones shown to the banian merchant in Lahore. As the wheels now clicked
+and the muffled bell commenced its dulled clangor, the uneasy thought
+came to my mind that perhaps the treasure had in the interval been
+spirited away by some devilish jugglery. But when at last silence fell,
+and I whipped the cloth aside, there reposed the crystal casket, and,
+the lid of gold removed, my eyes fastened with grim satisfaction upon
+the clustered heap of gems, gleaming in the light of my tiny oil lamp
+like drops of rain in a flash of lightning.
+
+"Assured of their safety, I pressed down the cap on the casket, and
+bound the crystal ball securely in my waistband.
+
+"Then I turned round to seize an iron hammer which I had brought with me
+for the deliberate purpose of smashing the accursed idol to pieces,
+partly in revenge, partly to secure the bejewelled eyeballs. But at that
+very moment I became possessed with the notion that I was not alone in
+the room. My heart beat wildly, and I raised aloft the little lamp.
+Nothing but four bare walls, and not even a window through which an
+enemy might be peering!
+
+"I breathed again, and grasped the handle of the hammer. Yet my uneasy
+dread was still with me, for I paused once more, this time to listen.
+Not a sound without, or the whisper of a sound!
+
+"But what was that?--the creak of a timber not louder than if a mouse
+had stirred. And, directed by the faint sound, I saw the wooden bolt
+that fastened the door on the inside heave, just once, as if by the
+pressure of a lever cautiously at work on the other side. The hammer
+slipped to the rug from my unnerved fingers.
+
+"Lamp in hand, I stole to the door, on tiptoe, step by step, afraid to
+awaken the echo of a footfall. I touched the wooden bolt with a finger
+tip; I pressed my ear against the panel. And now, every fibre of my
+being at tension, my senses quickened by the unseen but certain presence
+of danger, I could hear at the other side of the thin boards the eager
+breathing of the fanatic devil of a priest who had come to slay me,
+miserably trapped like a panther in a pit. At this thought the very
+blood froze in my veins. My hand relaxed its hold on the lamp, and in
+its fall the light was extinguished.
+
+"Alone in the dark with the Ganapati, and with the human tiger at the
+other side of the door, I shrieked aloud.
+
+"In prompt answer to my cry of pent-up agony came the sharp sound of
+splintering timber, and before me, revealed by the flare of a torch held
+aloft in one hand, appeared the dread visage of the Hindu priest,
+contorted now by his mingled emotions of hate and triumph. For his eyes
+had lighted on the idol, and it was with a shout of joyful recognition,
+'Ganapati! Ganapati!' that the fanatic flung himself upon me, and
+plunged a dagger into my throat. Then the curtain of black
+forgetfulness descended and covered me with its folds.
+
+"I know not what time elapsed, but I was awakened to the consciousness
+that I was yet alive by a tongue of flame that leaped at my face, and,
+scorching my skin, caused me to stir instinctively in self-preservation.
+Raising my head from the pool of blood in which it had been weltering,
+and moving my stiffened neck with difficulty because of the dagger
+wound, the mark of which I carry to this day"--upraising his chin, the
+fakir laid a finger on a tiny but palpable scar--"I struggled to a
+sitting posture, and looked about in dazed bewilderment. But ere I could
+realize what had happened, again the blistering heat of fire that ran
+along the walls of the room caused me to stagger to my feet. Then as I
+gazed around, through a haze of smoke illumined by fitful, flickering
+gleams of ruddy radiance, all of a sudden came remembrance of the deadly
+assault and comprehension of my present danger.
+
+"One swift sweeping glance showed me that the Ganapati was gone, and
+that my strong box, too, with its silver hoard had disappeared, together
+with the package of gold coin and jewellery. My hands went instantly to
+my waistband; it had been torn open, and the crystal casket that held
+the blue diamonds abstracted.
+
+"So the murderous priest had not only recovered his own, but had robbed
+me of my all!
+
+"There was no time, however, to reflect or to moralize, for the loud
+crackling of fire amid the woodwork warned of my imminent peril.
+Flinging the skirt of my robe across my face, I made one frantic dash
+for safety through the splintered panels of the door, the only exit from
+the room, regardless of the billows of mingled smoke and flame that were
+now rolling along the corridor.
+
+"Half suffocated, almost blinded by the pungent fumes, my flesh seared,
+my garments aflame, I reeled into the courtyard of the women's quarters,
+and threw myself into the fountain splashing in the middle of the marble
+pavement. Then, drawing myself out of the water like a bedraggled rat, I
+crawled on hands and knees to the apartment of my wife.
+
+"God! God! It was to find her and our two little children dead--stabbed
+to the heart on the sleeping mats where they lay."
+
+A sobbing wail burst from the narrator's lips, and he covered his face
+with his hands. After a time he recovered his self-possession, and
+resumed, although still in broken tones and with shoulders heaving from
+emotion.
+
+"I need not dwell on the pitiable story. Gaining the open country, I
+gazed upon the fierce flames now bursting in a dozen places from the
+roof of my doomed home, the funeral pyre of the last ones dear to me on
+earth.
+
+"As I gazed I rent my garments, and raised my voice in loud
+lamentations. Soon all was consumed, and there remained only the dull
+glow of red embers. Then I wandered out into the night, stupefied and
+broken-hearted by the crowning calamity that had overtaken me, afraid
+even to face my neighbours of the village, naked, penniless, and alone.
+
+"Thus did it come about that I, a man of estate, feudatory of a prince,
+within the period of a single moon lost wives and children, slaves and
+retainers, land and crops and cattle, family jewels, stores of gold and
+of silver, and also the blue diamonds of the idol for the retention of
+which I had rashly but unknowingly ventured all that I had of happiness
+in this world.
+
+"And since that day of final disaster I have journeyed over the face of
+the land trying to find, not the blue diamonds, not my stolen hoard, but
+that fiend incarnate, the priest of Siva, who slew my wives and
+children.
+
+"I go about, now a Moslem fakir with the right of entry to the mosques
+where I may worship the only true God and Mohammed his prophet, now
+disguised as a Hindu yogi, crying 'Ram, Ram,' so that I may gain access
+to the temples of the idolators, there to find the Ganapati with the
+jewelled eyes, and by that token discover the man for whom I am ever
+seeking. Every year I revisit Ferishtapur, whence the idol was
+originally taken by my hand from the wrecked temple, but thither neither
+the priest nor the Ganapati has ever returned. At other times I travel
+from one city to another, searching for temples, mingling with the
+devotees at the recurring festivals, the Holi, the Durgapuga, the feast
+of lanterns, and watching the processions when the idols and their
+custodians visit each other's shrines or go to the river for the
+blessing of the waters. But wander where I may, priest or Ganapati have
+I never seen again.
+
+"Thus have passed fifty long years, during which I have lived for one
+thing alone, and that----revenge!"
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Pausing before the last word, then uttering it in a scream that pierced
+the night air, the fakir sprang to his feet, and, swept by a sudden gust
+of overmastering passion, raised his hands high to heaven--a weird and
+eerie figure in the silver sheen of the moon.
+
+"Deen! deen! deen!" he cried, dancing around as he shrilly voiced the
+fanatic call to massacre--the dread call which through the centuries has
+drenched with human blood a thousand shrines, both Moslem mosques and
+Hindu temples.
+
+"Subah!" shouted the Afghan general, half rising, his hand on his sword
+hilt. "Stop that, you son of a dog, or I will make you meat for jackals.
+Subah!" At the reiterated stern command the dancing figure became
+instantly rigid. Then, just as suddenly as he had leaped from his
+crouching attitude, the fakir sank to the ground in a huddled heap, his
+face buried in the dust.
+
+"You would be happier to-day, O man of many sorrows, had you followed
+the philosophy of 'kooch perwani'--had you said to yourself: 'What is
+done is done, and cannot be undone. Let it pass. Kooch perwani--no
+matter.'"
+
+It was the Rajput who was speaking, in rebuke yet in commiseration.
+
+"Even when all seemed lost" continued the Hindu soldier, "you should
+have forgotten the blue diamonds, the abiding greed for which was the
+real cause of your undoing; you should have forgotten your lost wealth
+and honourable position, your dear ones gone to the abode of bliss, the
+enemies who had despitefully used you but who, as your own religion
+teaches, were in truth only God's emissaries sent to punish you for your
+sins. It is the philosophy of 'kooch perwani' that teaches us to forget
+the dead past, do the work of the vital present, and by doing it aright
+build for the future an edifice of happiness and contentment. Had you
+followed that philosophy, O fakir, you might have been again to-day rich
+in the good things of the world."
+
+The mendicant raised his face from the dust. "To which I reply, O
+prince,--kooch perwani. By the ordeals through which I have passed I
+have come to learn that the treasures of this world are of no account.
+Therefore is my philosophy to-day greater than your own. You wear costly
+robes, I the loin cloth of the beggar. Kooch perwani; for when death
+comes, we are equals. There is no pocket to a shroud."
+
+
+
+
+VI. THE TIGER OF THE PATHANS
+
+TOLD BY THE AFGHAN GENERAL
+
+
+"In my case the philosophy of life is of the simplest," remarked the
+Afghan general. "I neither crave the wealth of the prince, nor do I
+inflict upon myself the mortifications of the ascetic. For the one rich
+robes and the sceptre, for the other a loin cloth and a begging-bowl;
+but for me the good sword that commands respect from my enemies,
+confidence from my friends, and my due share of the good things of
+existence. In this frame of mind I find the full measure of joy in each
+day that passes."
+
+He smiled the smile of the man contented with the world and with
+himself, but there was the light of proud determination in his eyes that
+belied the mere sybarite.
+
+"Then for you the greatest good consists in the happiness you can snatch
+from the passing hour," suggested the magistrate.
+
+"That is so," concurred the soldier, "if to the word happiness you give
+the right interpretation. To me the performance of one's present duty is
+the only real thing that brings contentment. And duty need not always be
+stern and forbidding; to laugh and play and be merry may, at the proper
+time and in the proper circumstances, be a duty both to ourselves and
+to others. When one lives philosophically for the present, he takes men
+in all their moods and life in all its phases. The past is counted as
+dead and to be forgotten, except for the experience gained to guide the
+doing of the things that lie now to one's hand. The future is unseen,
+but is none the less determined by our deeds, words, and thoughts of the
+passing moment, each one of which, be it remembered, whether deed or
+rash word, or unspoken thought, has consequences that are eternal."
+
+"So for the man whose mind is thus attuned," again interposed the
+magistrate, "the present becomes all supreme, shaped by the past,
+shaping the future."
+
+"Which means that destiny never degenerates into mere blind and helpless
+fatalism," responded the Afghan. "To do the right now suffices to give
+absolute trust in God for the hereafter. That is the key of destiny, and
+each man holds it in his own keeping."
+
+"A simple religion," smiled the Rajput.
+
+"And therefore the best. It is the religion of Islam freed from all the
+controversies of rival sects and over-learned mullahs. It is the
+religion of my fathers and the religion of my youth, and in it I abide.
+Let me tell you a story of the rough school in which I received my early
+training and where such thoughts as these first began to sink deep into
+my mind.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Have you ever heard of Shir Jumla Khan? No? Well, that is doubtless
+because he has been dead for a full score of years, and because he held
+his sway in a land remote from these plains of Hindustan, up in the
+rugged mountains, where brave tribesmen guard the valleys which their
+ancestors tilled, and yield allegiance to no one but their own
+hereditary chieftains. Such was my country and my people, for I am proud
+that in my veins runs the blood of the man who for a hundred miles
+around my boyhood home was known as The Tiger of the Pathans. Behold in
+me a grandson of Shir Jumla Khan."
+
+The narrator folded his arms across his breast, in an attitude of quiet
+dignity. After just a moment's pause he continued:
+
+"We were all born fighters, the members of my clan, for during hundreds
+of years many a swarming host had swept past the gateways of our
+territory, Persians, Arabs, Afghans, Moguls, Turkmans, hordes of
+fighting men of every race and tongue, sometimes marching south bent on
+conquest, at other times returning to their homes laden with rich
+spoils, and yet at other times defeated and broken, with enemies
+pressing at their heels. And it was the patrimonial right of our tribe
+to take toll from all alike, from victors and vanquished, from pursuers
+and pursued.
+
+"Sometimes an army would pass through our mountains under safe conduct
+from all the tribes, and the price paid in money, horses, camels, and
+cattle, cloths and other goods, would be divided among the several
+clans. But in this practice there had grown to be more danger for
+ourselves than from forays or assaults on passing enemies, because over
+the division of the spoils there would be quarrelling, followed by
+fighting, among the tribes. Thus had originated many a blood feud
+enduring through many generations.
+
+"In the early days of Shir Jumla Khan it had come about that several
+rich caravans had fallen exclusively into his hands. With the money thus
+provided by the bountifulness of Allah, he had been enabled to build for
+himself a citadel that for vastness and security surpassed those of all
+his rivals among the tribal chiefs. Within its wide walls were wells and
+water tanks, gardens for the growing of fruits and vegetables,
+warehouses for goods, granaries stored with barley, wheat, and dal,
+stables for a hundred horses, sheds for the housing of cattle, sheep,
+and camels, and dwelling places for a goodly multitude of armed men,
+their wives and their children. And all of these things endure until
+this day, for the fortress town amid the mountains built by my
+grandsire, The Tiger of the Pathans, has ever remained unconquered and
+unconquerable.
+
+"But as Shir Jumla Khan grew rich in possessions and in power--for
+scores of fighting men from afar were attracted to his service--at the
+same time did his position among the tribesmen become one of increasing
+isolation. All feared him and envied him, and fear and envy have ever
+been breeders of hate. Yet was he a just and a benevolent man, honoured
+and beloved by every one within his domain, where his slightest word was
+gladly accepted law, not because of the might he wielded but because of
+his fairness to all men.
+
+"I was yet a young man when a widely spread plot among the rival
+tribesmen to destroy Shir Jumla Khan's power had come to a head, and had
+resulted in a determined and prolonged attack upon his citadel. Numbers
+had told, our outlying fields had been devastated, our flocks and herds
+driven away, and crowded within the walls of the fortress were refugees
+from all the surrounding countryside. We had been cooped up through the
+summer, we had lost our annual crops, and without the usual
+replenishment granaries and warehouses were beginning to wear an empty
+look, with but sorry promise for the winter. But, calm and undismayed,
+his proud look and serene smile ever the same, Shir Jumla Khan continued
+to feed the hungry host within his gates and now absolutely dependent
+upon his protection.
+
+"The coming of winter would mean for us some relief, for the first snows
+would scatter the beleaguering hosts, sending them back to their own
+valleys, and giving us the chance, in the intervals of the season's
+storms, to make a few forays on our own account on neighbouring
+communities, which, taken one at a time, would be pretty well at our
+mercy. But if we reasoned in this wise so did our enemies; for it was
+now toward the close of the month of August and redoubled efforts were
+being put forth to accomplish the breaching of our walls, so that The
+Tiger of the Pathans might be slain before there was the chance of his
+fangs and claws again becoming dangerous.
+
+"The tribesmen, no doubt by capture and enforced service, had secured
+the help of some engineers versed in the methods of sieges and assaults
+on fortified places as practised in Hindustan. At that time I had never
+before seen a sabat, but now from our fortifications I beheld the
+gradual extension, day by day, of a broad covered way, with bull-hide
+roof stretched across the trench being dug, and effectually protecting
+the labourers below from our guns and muskets and catapults. We had made
+several sallies with a view to try and stop this work, but these had
+only resulted in losses on our side out of all proportion to the
+harassment and delay inflicted on the besiegers. So we could but
+impotently watch the subtle and inexorable approach of the skilled men
+who would eventually reach our walls, drive mines beneath them, and blow
+us to perdition.
+
+"Our one chance lay in the question of time. If the winter began early
+we should be saved, but if the snows held off till late in the year it
+looked as if our doom must be sealed.
+
+"But quite unexpectedly a ray of hope came from another quarter.
+Dissension had broken out in the ranks of our foes!
+
+"The first word was brought to us by a deserter from the besiegers'
+camp, who one night had crept up to the gateway of the fort and whined
+for admittance, declaring that he had important news to tell and hoped
+for a reward.
+
+"I was with my grandfather when, awakened from his sleep, he listened to
+the man's story. It told of a fierce quarrel the preceding evening
+between two of the leading chieftains. They had been conversing alone in
+one of their tents, when suddenly those without had heard angry words.
+Then it would seem that the owner of the tent had sent for one of the
+slippers which his visitor had left at the doorway, and with this had
+administered five or six strokes over the head, driving his guest forth
+insulted and disgraced. Every one in the camp was on the alert for
+fighting in the morning.
+
+"With a grim smile Shir Jumla Khan listened to this narrative. But he
+made no comment; he merely issued instructions for the informer to be
+fed and for the present closely guarded.
+
+"But if there had been any lingering doubt as to the truth of the story,
+confirmation came ere the breaking of the dawn. For we were once again
+disturbed from our rest, this time by the noise of a great tumult in the
+camp of the besiegers, loud shouting followed by the discharge of
+muskets, the sounds gradually dying away in the distance as if a fight
+and a pursuit had taken place. When day broke such indeed proved to be
+the case; we could descry in the camp a row of tents thrown down and
+dismantled, also dead or wounded men being brought in from the country
+beyond, while away on a distant ridge was a considerable body of
+tribesmen retreating toward their homes.
+
+"At this sight joyful huzzas resounded through the fortress, and we did
+indeed all feel that Allah, by disrupting the forces of the enemy, was
+fighting on our side. And as I spread my prayer carpet, and prostrated
+myself toward Mecca, the pious thought in my heart was one that had many
+times been inculcated by my noble grandsire himself: 'Let the wise man
+reflect that he can in no way succeed without the help of God Most
+High.'
+
+"During the day we took counsel as to the advisability of an attack on
+the somewhat attenuated host without the walls. But from our posts of
+observation we could see that every one in the camp was under arms and
+on the alert, no doubt foreseeing that such an attempt was likely on our
+part. So we concluded to let events develop, and contented ourselves
+with watching the progress of the sabat. Here there was no relaxation of
+endeavour, for the protected trench made a considerable advance ere the
+sun once again sank over the western hills.
+
+"Darkness had not long fallen when another bleating voice of a suppliant
+for admittance was heard by the sentry at the gateway. Introduced to our
+presence, the newcomer, a goatherd by his appearance, and with the signs
+of travel on his garments, removed his head dress, untwisted the long
+locks of hair bound according to custom around his head, and, producing
+a small packet from the midst of his tresses, flung it on the floor. I
+picked up the missive, and handed it to our chieftain.
+
+"Shir Jumla Khan untied the packet, and produced therefrom a heavy gold
+signet ring. While he was examining this, the seeming goatherd raised
+his voice:
+
+"'O prince of princes, protector of the poor and oppressed, by the token
+in your hands know that I who wear this humble disguise am the son of
+Mustafa Khan, thy brother chieftain, who craves a refuge within the
+walls of this God-guarded citadel. I am empowered to propose terms which
+will bring substantial reward for you and sure deliverance from the pack
+of wolves yelping at your gates.'
+
+"The youth soon convinced us that he was none other than he claimed to
+be, an additional guarantee to the possession of the ring being afforded
+by the full and detailed messages which he brought from his father. At
+the council which followed I was privileged to be present. The son of
+Mustafa Khan first recounted the story we already knew, of the deadly
+insult inflicted on his father, and then told briefly the tale of the
+morning flight and fight. His fleeing clansmen were now concealed in a
+gorge not a mile away, some two hundred fighting men, and would be glad
+to join their forces with those of Shir Jumla Khan, so that they might
+wipe out the stain of the dishonour they had suffered. If the gates were
+opened to them, they would come to the citadel that very night.
+
+"But, watching my grandfather's face, I could see him smiling through
+his beard.
+
+"'I want no more mouths to feed, young man,' replied The Tiger of the
+Pathans. 'But take this message to your sire. Let him come here, alone
+and unattended, and thus serve as a hostage for his own good faith. Then
+shall we two together concert a plan whereby an attack by his men from
+the other side of the camp will be made at the same moment as a sortie
+by my men on this side, so that together we shall crush our common enemy
+as we would break a nut between two stones. I have spoken.'
+
+"'But my mother,' faltered the youth, 'and my sister? They and two women
+attendants are with my father, and he cannot leave them alone and
+unprotected.'
+
+"Shir Jumla Khan stroked his beard; the appeal was one that reached his
+benignant heart.
+
+"'How could they come here?' he asked, addressing the young man.
+
+"'We have a camel with panniers. In that they escaped from the camp last
+night. I myself could lead them hither.'
+
+"'Then in the name of God let the women too come into this place of
+refuge. You and your father, and the camel with the panniers, will be
+admitted, if you can reach the gates before the breaking of the dawn.'
+
+"'And a place of seclusion for the ladies?'
+
+"'What need to ask that?' exclaimed my grandsire, abruptly and angrily.
+'I will show the respect to Mustafa Khan's women which I should expect
+him to show to mine. A house will be got ready ere you return.'
+
+"And he waved the youth from his presence.
+
+"I was at the gateway in the grey of the morrow's dawn when the
+fugitives arrived--Mustafa Khan, a big burly figure wrapped in his camel
+robe, the son still in the garments of a goatherd, and, led by him, a
+camel from the back of which was slung panniers for women, one on each
+side, enveloped in the usual coverings that safeguarded those within
+from forbidden eyes.
+
+"But although, both out of proper respect for women and in duty toward
+our guests, I had not attempted to look at the camel or its burden,
+having indeed inclined my head downward as the animal passed, yet as I
+again raised my eyes did I involuntarily catch sight of a dainty white
+hand and the gleam, through momentarily parted curtains, of a beautiful
+face--that of a young girl, fair as a lily, sweet and innocent as the
+half-opened blossom of a rose. And methought that, in her very childlike
+innocence, as our eyes met for a single instant, she smiled into mine
+ere she gathered together the curtain that hid the vision of loveliness
+from my ravished gaze.
+
+"My heart was hammering against my breast as I watched the father and
+the brother, with the swaying camel, disappear under the archway of a
+building sheltered by the encompassing wall of the fortress. This I knew
+had been designated as the home of the refugees during their stay among
+us, but never had I imagined that such a treasure was to be bestowed in
+so rough a casket.
+
+"All that day Mustafa Khan and my grandfather remained in close and
+secret conclave. Again I occupied my time by watching the approaching
+sabat. The work was progressing quicker than ever. At this rate, within
+two or three days the covered trench would be within a short stone throw
+of the fortress walls. After the evening meal I reported this position
+of affairs to Shir Jumla Khan.
+
+"He only smiled gently at me.
+
+"'Rest easy in your mind,' he said. 'Everything is understood and
+arranged between me and Mustafa Khan. On the day after to-morrow our
+enemies will be delivered into our hands.'
+
+"But that night sleep would not come to my eyes. The face of the
+beautiful girl haunted me, and a great longing came over me to behold
+her again. I even began to hope that the conjoining of our fortunes
+might bring the damsel to me, to be the joy of my life and the pride of
+my future home. Already I was framing in my heart the sentences
+wherewith I would plead my cause after the battle was over, both with my
+grandsire and with Mustafa Khan. And I vowed that, in the fighting to
+come, I would do some deed of daring that would surely win the girl's
+father to my side.
+
+"Meanwhile I wandered around the battlements, and half unconsciously I
+found myself on the walls at a place that surmounted the house which
+sheltered my beloved, with her mother and their women attendants, God is
+my witness, but I had no thought of profane prying, contrary alike to
+the laws of the Prophet and to the laws of hospitality. But my eyes fell
+on a beam of light coming from a tiny window niched deep down in a
+recess of the building. And even as I saw this, there came to my ears a
+faint, regular sound--a muffled 'tap, tap, tap.' Instantly every fibre
+of my being was in a quiver.
+
+"I know not what instincts guided me--to burst asunder the bonds both of
+conventionality and of religion that might have restrained me, to make
+suspicion of some vague unseen danger stifle within my breast every
+tender thought of awakening love. But in my surge of excitement love and
+faith were alike forgotten. I ran from the walls, and without consulting
+anyone returned but a few minutes later with a coil of rope in my hands.
+To fasten this to one of the parapets, to tie a few knots at intervals
+so as to give me handhold and foothold--all this was the work of another
+minute or two. Then, slowly and cautiously, hand under hand, I was
+descending into the well-like recess toward the one tiny shaft of light
+that pierced its black darkness.
+
+"'Tap, tap, tap'--the mysterious sound grew more and more distinct as I
+dropped down and down. Then, all of a sudden, the playing of a zither
+and the full-throated song of a woman smote my ears, and I arrested my
+descent. Almost could I have climbed back again, unseeing and ashamed.
+But in a brief momentary interlude in the music I heard, loud and
+unabashed now, the steady 'thump, thump, thump' as of a hammer, and
+straightway I knew that the song and its accompaniment were but part of
+some devilish plot--a means devised to muffle the sound of the other
+operations, whatever these might be. In another moment I was abreast of
+the window, small as a loophole for musketry, but all-sufficient for my
+requirements, I had the rope twisted around my leg, and, secure against
+slipping, I craned forward to peer inside.
+
+"My irreverent eyes fell on no woman's face--the music was floating
+upward from an adjoining chamber. But in the room into which I gazed was
+a strange sight--four men stripped to the waist and toiling for all the
+world like diggers of a well. The flagstones of the floor had been torn
+up, and a great hollow cavern had been dug below. From this cavity two
+of the figures were passing up baskets of mud and gravel, into the hands
+of Mustafa Khan himself, who was bestowing the material around the walls
+of the room. The fourth man, also in the pit that had been dug, was
+tapping a long iron crowbar into a hole that had evidently been pierced
+in the soft ground in the direction of the fortress wall.
+
+"I knew little enough about engineering in those days, but it needed
+only common sense for me to realize that the miscreant Mustafa had
+betrayed our hospitality for no other purpose than to breach the walls
+of the citadel. If there had been women in one pannier there had been
+men in the other, and, to balance the camel's load, there had been
+powder and tools for the nefarious task, the crowning achievement, no
+doubt, of an elaborate conspiracy.
+
+"But I lost no time then in trying to piece together the details of the
+scheme. It was action that was needed now. So, just as silently and
+cautiously as I had descended, I climbed back again by my rope and
+regained the battlements. I paused just for a moment to listen to the
+sweeping chords of the zither, played by no unskilled hand, and to the
+rich notes of the woman's voice swelling into the midnight air. Then I
+gathered the rope in my arms, and sought the sleeping quarters of my
+grandfather.
+
+"The old Tiger of the Pathans, as I knew well, was prepared to be
+aroused at any hour of the night. Even his tulwar was buckled to his
+belt when, in answer to my summons, he stepped forth into the outer
+chamber. He listened to my eager story, peering at me the while from
+beneath his shaggy eyebrows. But not even the twitching of a muscle in
+his face betrayed surprise.
+
+"At the close of my narrative he laid a kindly hand on my shoulder.
+
+"'O son of my dead son,' he said gravely, 'if what you have seen
+to-night be not a dream, then have you done me great service. But go now
+and sleep, and prepare yourself for what is to come. Rest assured, more
+than ever before, that Allah is on our side, and that, even as I said to
+you last night, our enemies are being delivered into the hollow of our
+hands.'
+
+"But sleep still refused to come to me that night. The call for morning
+prayer found me wide awake, turning over in my mind the many
+perplexities of the situation. Had the quarrel in the camp of our
+adversaries been nothing but a cunning pretence, the fight among the
+tribesmen before the dawn a mere sham, even the gathering in of the
+supposed dead and wounded an artful deception for our eyes, all
+contrived so that this devil of devils, Mustafa Khan, should gain access
+to the citadel with skilled sappers and mining munitions? And was the
+youth who had played the part of a goatherd really a son of the man, or
+a serpent-tongued liar, a chosen master of craft whose seeming
+guilelessness had helped to delude us? It had been a crude first idea on
+his part to suggest the admission as refugees of a swarm of armed men,
+but, when this had failed, there had been glib readiness with the other
+and more subtle plan that had so nearly succeeded. And as I reflected on
+these things, I marked the young hypocrite for my own particular prey.
+
+"During the morning hours I was surprised to see the two khans, guest
+and host, betrayer and betrayed, walking around the gardens in seeming
+amity. But after a time my grandsire beckoned me to his side.
+
+"'This is a grandson of mine,' he said, presenting me to Mustafa Khan.
+'He has reported to me that the sabat is approaching too close to your
+present quarters, and that any explosion would endanger the members of
+your household.'
+
+"I saw the traitor pale under the quiet eye of The Tiger of the Pathans.
+
+"'There will be no explosion to-day,' he stammered.
+
+"'You seem to be fully and precisely acquainted with the plans of our
+enemies. Nay, do not draw that sword by your side, Mustafa Khan. Look
+behind you, man.'
+
+"With haggard face now, Mustafa turned round. It was to see half a dozen
+pikes pointed at his ribs. At a signal from their master a guard had
+noiselessly drawn near.
+
+"'You know what to do, jemadar,' said the old Tiger to the officer in
+charge. There was a vicious smile now on his face, such as I had never
+seen there before and never saw again--a savage curling of the upper lip
+that showed the white fangs of the relentless hunting animal.
+
+"And, prodded by the encircling spikes, Mustafa Khan went to his
+doom--calmly and proudly erect, be it said, for a Pathan always knows
+how to die with dignity and resignation to the will of God. Nor must we
+forget that he was a brave man, for in coming to the citadel he had
+boldly ventured his life on a desperate chance, and perfidy in the game
+of war brings shame only when it meets with discomfiture. Peace be with
+his soul!
+
+"My grandsire and I were now alone.
+
+"'You will let me fight that crawling snake, his son?' I cried, with a
+gesture of appeal.
+
+"'He is already carrion for the vultures,' was the reply. 'He was no son
+of Mustafa Khan, just a low-born hireling schemer, and it needed only a
+prod of the dagger to make him betray the whole plot, and whine for the
+mercy which I would have scorned myself to bestow. The two skilled
+sappers are still mining--under my directions this time. We shall make a
+feint of a sally to-morrow morning at the hour prearranged by Mustafa
+Khan with the tribesmen outside. But it is the sabat and its occupants
+that will be blown into the sky, and not my good stout walls'--this last
+with the old familiar smile, stern but pleasant to look upon.
+
+"'And the girl who sang?' I ventured, falteringly.
+
+"'She is safe in the protection of my home. On her rests no blame, for
+in the part she played she was but obeying her father's bidding. Now,
+that is all for the present. Keep your own counsel, and be with me
+to-morrow at the dawn.'
+
+"And with the dawn came the swarm of Mustafa Khan's clansmen, running
+eagerly toward the opened gateway of the fort, with their fellow
+conspirators shouting and shooting and waving their swords in pretended
+pursuit. But just within the entrance were ranged a dozen guns and
+arquebuses on swivels, loaded to their muzzles with slugs of iron. And
+almost at the same moment as the rain of death mowed down the onrushing
+horde, a great explosion shook the earth outside, and the fragments of a
+hundred bodies blown from the sabat by our countermine filled the air.
+Then indeed did our men-at-arms, footmen and horsemen, sally forth to
+pursue with sword and spear their scattered and dismayed enemies,
+sending scores to their deaths and the survivors scampering to their
+dens among the mountains.
+
+"And none ever again dared to attack my grandsire, The Tiger of the
+Pathans."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With a proud smile the Afghan surveyed his audience. No one ventured to
+question him, yet there was a look of unsatisfied curiosity on more than
+one face.
+
+"Oh, yes," laughed the soldier, lightly, "I heard the fair zither player
+and singer again--often again--in my own home."
+
+
+
+
+VII. HER MOTHER LOVE
+
+TOLD BY THE PHYSICIAN
+
+
+By general although unspoken assent, the eyes of all the company were
+now directed to the venerable hakeem, as if to invite from him the next
+contribution to the night's entertainment. Meditatively for a moment the
+man of medicine stroked the broad white beard that descended almost to
+his girdle, and then began:
+
+"Familiar to us all is the thought that death is but a birth into
+another state of existence, whether that state be the eternal paradise
+which is the final goal of every man's hopes, or merely another stage
+thitherward. Death is a birth, the truth of which will more forcibly
+appeal to our minds when we reflect also that birth is a death."
+
+"How can that be, except for the still-born?" queried the astrologer.
+
+The hakeem raised a hand deprecating the interruption.
+
+"Nay, follow me in my argument," he continued quietly. "If death is a
+birth, then is a birth truly death. For the babe has been living through
+a prior stage of existence. To it the nine months passed in its mother's
+womb may have meant a long span of life. For time is but a relative
+term, and, measured against eternity, the whole period of man's sojourn
+on earth, be it three score or four score years, is but as the puff of
+a single breath. So the child in the womb lives there a full span of
+existence; it is nurtured and it grows, it sleeps and it wakes, it lies
+passive and it disports itself, it is sensitive to cold and to heat, to
+thirst and to hunger, and God alone knows what it thinks and what mental
+impressions it forms of the existence through which it is passing. And
+the hour of its birth is truly the hour of its death, for in pain and
+travail it is plucked from its warm and comfortable surroundings, and
+with the shock of physical change and unseeing dread it cries aloud in
+sharp anguish. Thus precisely do we ourselves die when we pass from this
+world to another existence, physically and mentally resenting the harsh
+change, terrified because of our very ignorance of what is really
+happening."
+
+The physician paused, amid a deep hush that bore eloquent testimony to
+the impressiveness of the thought to which he had given utterance.
+
+"But the parallel does not end here," he resumed.
+
+"When the infant is born, then for the first time does it see face to
+face the divinity who through all the preceding stage of its existence
+has protected it, warmed it, and nourished it. In the presence of its
+mother it is in the presence of the God who has hitherto enveloped it,
+wholly and completely, in His own divine being. So when we die will we
+be face to face with the now unseen God who everywhere encompasses us,
+beholding Him at first only with the dazzled vision and dim
+half-consciousness of the new-born babe, but growing to know Him and to
+love Him as we have all known and loved the devoted mothers who bore us.
+For mother love is man's first foretaste of God love, the full glory of
+which we shall comprehend only when by death we are born into a higher
+and more spacious sphere of existence."
+
+There was another brief interval of silence, again unbroken by any
+comment from the auditors. Then the hakeem continued in lighter tone:
+
+"Now let me point my moral by telling you a story of a mother's supreme
+devotion for her son.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"At one time I practised my profession in the capital city of a state
+ruled over by a maharajah, who, although he had been a brave and
+honourable man in his prime, had degenerated into a mere voluptuary,
+spending his days in the companionship of nautch girls and disreputable
+men, indulging constantly in immoderate potations of strong wine, and
+given at times to the use of bhang, which does more than anything else
+to dull the faculties and deaden the conscience of the unfortunate who
+surrenders himself to its seductive spells. The inevitable results were
+for him the premature loss of health and strength, and for his people
+misrule, extortion and widespread unhappiness.
+
+"It happened that, after several Hindu physicians had failed to restore
+their royal master from a fainting spell, I, a Moslem, was summoned in
+haste to the palace. I carried with me a small jar containing a certain
+pungent liquid, which I applied to the nostrils of my patient, with the
+result that he was straightway brought back from seeming death to
+consciousness of his surroundings. I take no special credit for
+effecting this recovery, but the maharajah himself deemed me to be a
+veritable worker of miracles, and, dismissing all his other doctors,
+kept me thenceforth constantly by his side. From the first I knew, by
+his trembling limbs and enfeebled condition, that death had marked him
+for its own; but I could, at least, prepare aromatic drinks to mitigate
+his pains and saffron meats to drive out the evil spirits that possessed
+him.
+
+"Thus did it come about that I gained the confidence of the maharajah,
+and when it happened that one of his favourite wives had fallen into a
+decline, and had begged for the services of a physician, the honourable
+trust of ministering to her needs was confided to me. My examination of
+the invalid was in accordance with the usual restrictions. Accompanied
+by the feeble old maharajah himself, I was conducted to an apartment
+across which a heavy curtain was suspended. After an interval of
+waiting, the rustle of silken garments behind the purdah, followed by
+the gentle sigh of a woman, told me that my patient had arrived. It was
+the husband himself who bade her thrust her tongue through an orifice in
+the curtain. My inspection of this member revealed no internal disorder,
+and I requested from my master permission to touch the lady's hand so
+that I might feel the pulsing of the blood in her veins. Not too
+willingly he ordered her to push her arm through the opening.
+
+"It was a dainty white hand, with many jewelled rings upon the taper
+fingers, and the nails, as with all ladies of quality, dyed the deep
+orange red of henna. Although I knew well that the jealously watchful
+eyes of her lord were upon me, I made no hesitancy in encompassing the
+wrist with my own fingers. But the little hand within mine was clenched
+tight, and, the better to conduct my examination, I freed my fingers
+from her wrist so as to straighten out hers as I required them. When I
+attempted to do this, however, I was conscious of some resistance and
+then of the presence of a small packet concealed in the palm of her
+hand. With a flash of comprehension I knew that the package must be
+intended to be conveyed to me surreptitiously, and, with no thought at
+that critical moment of what the ulterior object might be, I aided the
+act by a deft movement of my shoulder, which for a moment intercepted
+the maharajah's gaze.
+
+"In another second he could see my finger-tips lightly pressed on her
+wrist, and her empty hand extended; but the package was safe in my other
+hand, and not the quiver of a muscle on my face betrayed that anything
+unusual had happened. Both to mask my feelings, and to give the lady
+behind the curtain confidence that she could repose trust in my
+discretion, I counted the pulse beats aloud.
+
+"These indeed told me that the heart of my patient was beating at a mad
+gallop, but this I divined was simply caused by the daring deed she had
+essayed and successfully accomplished. I deemed it wise and prudent,
+however, to announce that the lady was suffering from a fever, and that
+I would send her a powder that would speedily restore her to good
+health. At this the maharajah was sufficiently overjoyed to permit of my
+withdrawal without obvious embarrassment. I had a smile upon my lips,
+and the secret package secure in the folds of my girdle. A chuprassi
+accompanied me to my home to bring back the medicine.
+
+"I knew, of course, that it was only a dry powder that this high-born
+Hindu lady could take from my dispensary, for to have swallowed a liquid
+drug would have been a violation of her caste. I took pains to let the
+chuprassi see that my hands did not touch the powder, which, after due
+weighing, I bestowed in a paper carefully sealed, instructing him to
+deliver it to no one but his highness the maharajah. It was only finely
+ground sugar that the man carried away. But perhaps this is a harmless
+little trick of my profession which even now I should not disclose."
+
+But a general smile among the company showed the hakeem that his calling
+was held in no undue reverence, at least by those without present need
+of his ministrations.
+
+"When I was alone with my mortars and my drugs," resumed the narrator,
+"I lost no time in examining the mysterious packet. I unwound the silk
+threads that tightly tied it, both to restrict its bulk and to render it
+secure. Soon, to my amazement, I uncovered a string of ten pearls, of a
+size and lustrous purity that bespoke a high value even to my untutored
+eyes. Also there was a little seal of red chalcedony, with the antlered
+head of a deer and some scroll of lettering engraved upon it; but there
+was not one scrap of writing to explain to me the reason of these gifts.
+
+"Had the lady, as often happens, imagined herself to be seriously sick,
+and devised this plan of invoking my interest and most skilful services
+on her behalf? But why, then, the seal, the value of which was quite
+insignificant?
+
+"Even as I was pondering these questions, there came a clapping of hands
+at the gateway of my home that announced the arrival of a visitor.
+Hastily concealing the pearls and the seal in my girdle, I stepped forth
+into the outer court and took my seat upon the divan.
+
+"Straightway there was ushered into my presence a big man clothed in
+rich garments. His sable complexion and thick lips declared him to be a
+moorman from across the seas, and his beardless chin further told at a
+glance that he was an attendant at the seraglio of some rich noble.
+
+"He salaamed me with the cool confidence of his kind, and, without
+waiting for an invitation, seated himself on the carpet at my feet.
+
+"'My name, O learned hakeem, is Malik Kafur,' he began in the shrill
+treble voice I had anticipated, 'and you know why I come here.'
+
+"As my knowledge had been taken for granted, I bowed in acquiescence.
+
+"'But her highness said that you would first of all show me her signet
+so as to prove that you are acting with her authority.'
+
+"With all due gravity I produced the chalcedony seal from my belt, and,
+without quitting hold, extended it for my visitor's inspection. There
+was a swift gleam of recognition in his eyes.
+
+"'That is right,' he murmured.
+
+"'Then proceed,' I said, quietly. 'You can speak in the fullest
+confidence.'
+
+"'I have promised the maharanee that to-morrow, when the fourth of the
+day is over, I shall conduct her into the bazaars. She bade me explain
+her plans precisely, so that you in turn should know how to act. Well,
+her highness will be, as usual, in her palankeen slung between two
+mules. When we turn from the coppersmiths' bazaar into the secluded
+bazaar where the money changers dwell, the two grooms in charge of the
+mules will be assailed by budmashes and beaten with sticks. I, too, will
+be knocked down and my clothes torn; but do not worry on my account.'
+
+"I gave a cheerful nod to signify that his anxiety on this score might
+be set at rest.
+
+"'It will devolve on you to have two men ready to take advantage of the
+confusion of the scuffle and lead away the mules with the palankeen,
+conducting the maharanee to a place which she herself will indicate.
+This you understand?'
+
+"'I understand.'
+
+"'At night, when I shall come to you again, under cover of the
+darkness, you will pay over to me the agreed-upon price--the ten pearls
+which her highness has placed in your custody.'
+
+"'They are here,' I assented, holding aloft the little string of pearls,
+the purpose they were intended to serve at last made clear to my
+understanding.
+
+"The eyes of the negro flashed with cupidity, and he reached forth a
+big, fat, black hand.
+
+"'I can be trusted to do my share of the task,' he said, eagerly. 'To
+save trouble, let me be paid now.'
+
+"'Not so, thou slave,' I replied, curtly and with authority, as I
+returned the pearls to their place of safe-keeping. 'The price will be
+paid when the service is performed. To-morrow night you will be
+admitted, Malik Kafur, if you knock three times at my gate.'
+
+"The fellow rose to his feet, with a servile and submissive smile, and,
+by a wave of my hand, I dismissed him from my presence.
+
+"Here, indeed, was an adventure thrust upon me, a man of peace and of
+studious habits, who had ever shrunk from deeds of violence; but the
+hand of fate was clearly beckoning me along the path of duty, and not
+for a moment did I shrink from the dangers into which, perchance, I was
+being hurried.
+
+"For the maharajah, worthless, besotted, and on the verge of dishonoured
+death, I could have no respect. For the lady of his household, who was
+confiding to me her very life, whose soft hand I had touched with due
+reverence, there was an instinctive feeling of sympathy. In her hour of
+dire need, most likely of extreme danger, she had turned to me, a man
+of staid repute and old enough, no doubt, to be her father. So this was
+no affair of conjugal wrong, from which my religious scruples and my
+abiding principles alike, would have repelled me. Clearly was I the
+instrument in God's directing hand for some great happening, and it was
+not for me, through thought of self or cowardice, to interpose obstacles
+to the carrying out of the divine will.
+
+"And as I thus ruminated there came from a minaret close by the call to
+evening prayer. 'The world is but an hour,' I murmured to myself as I
+spread my carpet; 'spend it in devotion, the rest is unseen.'
+
+"On the morrow I was astir even before the morning call to prayer.
+'Prayer is better than sleep'--I listened to the familiar cry of the
+muezzin. But while again I prayed I felt that a good deed done may count
+more for a man at the gates of Paradise than the record of many prayers.
+
+"Full an hour before the appointed time I was at the corner of the
+coppersmiths' and the money-changers' bazaars. Here I posted two of my
+retainers, in whom I could place complete confidence. They had already
+been instructed how to act when the proper moment arrived. For myself, I
+sauntered through the crowded and noisy bazaar of the makers and menders
+of copper vessels, so as not to attract undue attention. In my heart was
+not one flutter of excitement or of uncertainty: I felt the quiet
+confidence which in the crises of life comes to a man whose trust in
+God the Most High is implicit.
+
+"After a period of waiting there came into sight the huge black moorman,
+in his hand a white wand of office, and, following close behind him, a
+brilliantly decorated palankeen suspended between a pair of mules and
+attended by two grooms, leading the animals. The throng had parted
+before this little procession, averting their eyes from the covered
+palankeen, as was beseeming.
+
+"But suddenly, at the intersection of the two bazaars, a group of
+loiterers sprang forward, and with cries assailed the moorman and the
+grooms, turning the mules into the quieter thoroughfare. There I had now
+posted myself, and, while the shopkeepers ran up the street to see what
+had befallen, the cavalcade under my directions, and with my attendants
+at the animals' heads, hurried along, and as we threaded our way through
+the maze of streets the tumult of voices soon died away behind us.
+
+"After a little time I ventured to approach the curtained palankin.
+
+"I spoke just loud enough to be heard by its occupant:
+
+"'May your day, O queen, be peaceful! Your servant, most humble and
+devoted, awaits your orders.'
+
+"'Peace be to thee, O thou trustful and brave hakeem. Take me to the
+protection of thy wife and home.'
+
+"It was a soft, melodious woman's voice that had spoken, tremblingly,
+imploringly, and yet withal in a tone of authority.
+
+"'As thou hast commanded, so shall it be done,' was my brief reply.
+
+"After a little time the cavalcade, without any undue attention being
+attracted, had passed through the gateway of my home, and the doors had
+been barred behind us.
+
+"To my surprise a gallant youth, some twelve years of age, sprang
+through the momentarily parted curtains of the palankeen.
+
+"'I salute thee, O hakeem, our deliverer,' he exclaimed, kissing the hem
+of my robe. 'My royal mother is in the palankeen, and craves for
+sanctuary in your zenana.'
+
+"'Let her pass,' I replied, and I urged the docile mules toward the
+second archway that led to the women's courtyard.
+
+"At my bidding the inner gates opened, and they closed again when the
+palankeen had entered.
+
+"'Within is sanctuary for your royal mother, and here is sanctuary for
+yourself, O prince,' I continued, with a profound obeisance, for,
+despite the modest garments he wore, I had recognized the eldest royal
+son of the maharajah, whom I had seen several times in his father's
+presence, and on one occasion at an affair of state clad in a robe of
+honour of silk and gold brocade, festoons of jewels around his neck, and
+a tiny sword with scabbard of gold girt at his side.
+
+"Having once more impressed secrecy on my attendants, and bidding them
+give admission to no one, I led my young guest into an inner reception
+room. There, in a few concise sentences, he told me his story.
+
+"A plot had been hatched in the royal zenana that, just so soon as the
+maharajah died, this youth, and seven or eight younger brothers, sons of
+other wives, should be slain, so that the undisputed succession might
+descend on one particular son, elder by several years, but not in the
+regular line of succession because born of a slave mother. It was this
+slave woman's brother who commanded the maharajah's bodyguard, and, in
+collusion with his sister, had conceived the damnable conspiracy. Only
+by the whisper of a woman who was close to the officer, but whose heart
+was tender, had the mother of the young heir to the throne been warned.
+With my aid, and that of the eunuch who had visited me the day before,
+they had made their escape, the youth having been hidden in the
+palankeen of his mother before the latter left the seraglio on one of
+her occasional visits to the bazaars.
+
+"Such was the story. Now the future had to be planned, for up to this
+point the maharanee had acted blindly and impulsively--just swiftly--the
+moment she had realized the supreme danger for her son. In the boy I
+found high courage and a clear brain, and together we devised the
+measures to be followed that would best allay suspicion as to the
+whereabouts of the fugitives.
+
+"As a first step I sallied forth as usual to pay my professional visit
+on the maharajah a little before the noontide hour. Perhaps I felt
+that, if by any chance suspicion had already alighted upon me, I was
+taking my life in my hands by entering the palace; but, trusting to the
+protection of Allah, I gave no second thought to any fear of this kind.
+
+"I had not yet reached the palace gates when I encountered a messenger
+running in hot haste to summon me. His highness the maharajah had been
+seized with a fit, and the whole palace was in a turmoil.
+
+"When I gained the royal apartment I saw at a glance that the sufferer
+was beyond human aid. I could but watch the deep laboured breathing,
+growing ever fainter and fainter, until the death-rattle in the throat
+proclaimed the end.
+
+"During that hour of watching my soul had been gravely perturbed, not
+because of the dying debauchee, but in dread of sinister happenings in
+the royal zenana when the news of the maharajah's demise should come to
+be announced. But how was I to give warning without betraying to certain
+death the youth and his mother who had sought sanctuary in my
+defenceless home? For there, at the door of the sick room, stood the
+captain of the king's bodyguard, Todar Rao, the very man who, I knew,
+held his corrupt soldiery in leash for any villainy.
+
+"Another high officer of the court, the diwan, had shared my vigil in
+the death chamber, and just before the end came had informed me that it
+was news of an attack by budmashes on one of the royal palankeens that
+morning in the bazaars that had inflicted the fatal stroke upon his
+master. But this treasurer was an aged man, who would have quailed under
+the eye of the stern and relentless soldier keeping watch and ward at
+the doorway, and, for all I knew, he, too, might be in the
+conspiracy--indeed, his furtive glances and the nervous twitching of his
+hands forewarned me of this danger.
+
+"Surrounded by uncertainties, and utterly helpless in my isolation, I
+could but drift whither the stream of destiny carried me.
+
+"'The king is dead,' I announced, when the last flutter of the heart had
+ceased. 'May God in His compassion give him peace.'
+
+"The diwan summoned the captain of the bodyguard, and the latter, to
+make certainty doubly sure, brutally shook the dead man by the shoulder.
+I could see the savage gleam of satisfaction on his face when he threw
+from him the already stiffening arm. The two men, in close conclave,
+hastened from the chamber, and when the attendants set up the accustomed
+cries of wailing I profited by the clamour and confusion to slip
+discreetly from the palace and gain my own home.
+
+"The terrible events of the next few days were, alas! just the same as
+have befallen a hundred times on the passing of a king. The outside
+world knew few details, but the news from the palace current in the
+bazaars was that all the sons of the late maharajah had perished
+excepting only the eldest. And this youth, although the whisper passed
+freely that he was merely the son of a slave woman, duly ascended the
+throne.
+
+"Revolt by some of the nobles over such an indignity might come later
+on. But meanwhile, at all events, the show of military power quelled all
+opposition, while a judicious remission of taxes pleased the general
+populace, and indeed caused them joyfully to acclaim the new maharajah
+as he made a triumphal procession through the city, mounted on an
+elephant caparisoned with cloth of gold and bedecked with silver chains
+and bells, preceded by priests and the dancing girls of the temples, and
+surrounded by troops, both horsemen and foot soldiers.
+
+"Only I and the members of my household knew that the rightful heir to
+the throne was alive and in safe hiding. For the moorman had never come
+to claim his string of pearls, and it was not until some days later that
+I had learned of his having been summarily dispatched by order of the
+dead maharajah, in the latter's first paroxysm of anger over the
+abduction of his favourite wife when visiting the bazaars. In this
+opportune removal of a greedy hireling and possible traitor I once more
+recognized the hand of Providence working for the noble woman whose
+quick wit had aided mother love to save her son.
+
+"A noble woman I have called her, and such indeed she was. For me the
+maharanee had discarded the purdah, and in the sanctity of my harem,
+with my wife as her devoted attendant, I was privileged to converse with
+her hour after hour, gazing freely upon the most beautiful countenance
+I had ever beheld--beautiful not only by reason of soft and rounded
+features and the peach bloom of the skin, but also because of the
+soul-lit eyes that illumined it with joyous radiance. For this queen
+lived in her son, forgot every other sorrow in his safety, and now
+experienced all the glowing pride of a leader on the field of battle in
+planning the campaign for the vindication of his rightful claims to the
+royal inheritance.
+
+"Her first step had been to send secret word to her father--she was the
+daughter of a mountain chieftain--bidding him to dispatch one of her
+brothers to me as a trusted messenger. The distance was far, and three
+months elapsed before the hillman arrived, a sturdy young fellow, serene
+of eye, slow of speech, and muscled like a panther. He departed back
+home again, carrying our tale by simple word of mouth for greater
+security, and having concealed on his person some of the gems which the
+maharanee had saved and which would be readily convertible into money.
+Then, after a second interval of time, other tribesmen came sifting into
+the city by twos and threes, until we had full fifty of the finest
+material for a bodyguard a young prince could desire. These men were
+quartered at different places in the vicinity of my home, armed and
+ready for a general muster when the moment should be ripe for action.
+
+"Meanwhile a widespread spirit of dissatisfaction with the new raj was
+daily growing, and on every hand in the bazaars mutterings of trouble
+began to be heard. The young ruler had proved to be a mere puppet in
+the hands of his mother and uncle, who had not hesitated to advance
+their base-born relatives and associates to places of highest honour and
+emolument, thereby giving grievous offence among the families of proud
+and ancient lineage, both Hindu and Moslem, which had hitherto supplied
+the principal officers of state and had been the real buttresses of the
+throne. Then, to fill full the measure of discontent, came ominous
+rumours that the prince, although still a mere youth, had, like his
+father, become addicted to the use of bhang and strong wines, and,
+encouraged by a worthless following, was abandoning himself to all
+manner of expensive debauchery. And when at last the screw of heavily
+increased taxation gave proof to these stories the first timid whispers
+of displeasure among the populace swelled to sullen and continuous
+murmuring.
+
+"For the true queen mother and her son the hour of destiny was
+approaching!
+
+"But, although the embers of revolt were ready to burst into flame at
+the first fanning of a breeze, Todar Rao, now sirdar in command of the
+whole army, still dominated the situation. At his slightest word the
+mercenary soldiery under his control would have rushed into the bazaars
+with sword and torch, like ravening wolves among sheep helpless to
+defend themselves. As for the nobles, each surrounded by his own
+bodyguard, they were torn into rival factions, the one jealously
+watching the other lest open revolt should be made the excuse for
+usurpation of the throne by the strongest and best prepared among them.
+
+"In these circumstances it would have been fatal to let word go forth
+prematurely that the rightful heir was alive, for disappointed ambitions
+among the feudal lords might have become an added danger to the fury of
+the sirdar. But any prolonged delay would also be disastrous, for it was
+only now that the boy prince would be recognized and received as the
+undoubted heir to his father's throne; a few years later he would, to a
+certainty, be looked at askance as a mere pretender--a pawn in the game
+of some unscrupulous king-maker playing for his own aggrandizement.
+
+"It was the maharanee who devised the bold stroke which involved
+undoubted danger yet promised the best chance of success. Her idea was
+to take the whole court unawares at one and the same moment, so that the
+nobles might have presented to them, not only a common rallying-point
+for loyalty, but the chance by united action to break for all time the
+hated military power of the slave-born sirdar.
+
+"It was the appointed day when the recently installed maharajah,
+according to custom immemorial, was to be publicly weighed, and the gold
+he counterbalanced distributed in charity. In the great courtyard of the
+palace all the people were assembled, nobles and officers of state,
+soldiers and traders, rich and poor, among the latter the halt, the
+blind and the maimed, the deformed and the leprous, in pitiful evidence
+as fitting objects for a share of the promised bounty. On a raised
+dais, seated upon a throne covered with cloth of gold, and sheltered by
+a canopy and awnings of crimson brocade, sat the reigning maharajah, a
+puny and sickly-looking stripling.
+
+"Before the main ceremony of the day, heralds had announced that the
+sovereign was prepared to listen to any grievances or complaints from
+his people. For a few minutes no one came forward, but at last a pair of
+sleek mules, handsomely caparisoned, with a richly adorned palankeen
+slung between them, the identical equipage of the maharanee which had
+been harboured in my home, emerged from the crowd, and advanced at a
+grave pace toward the royal dais. That some high-born lady was within
+the silken coverings of the palankeen every one surmised, and at this
+extraordinary spectacle a hush of tense expectancy fell upon the
+assemblage.
+
+"But the silence changed to murmurs of amazement and admiration when a
+queenly woman stepped upon the edge of the dais, and faced, not the
+maharajah on his throne, but the nobles and courtiers and officers
+clustered around.
+
+"With a proud gesture she flung even the sari from her face, which the
+play of the sunbeams among the jewels in her hair and around her neck
+invested with a shimmering halo of radiance. On such a woman's face the
+multitude had never looked before. But stately and unabashed, serene in
+the purity of her womanhood, the dignity of her motherhood, and the
+majesty of her rank, she raised aloft a hand, and spake aloud in tones
+clear as the notes of a silver trumpet.
+
+"'O nobles and O people, the royal son and heir of my husband, the late
+maharajah, is alive, spared by divine Providence from the massacre of
+his brothers and playmates in the seraglio of the palace. Many of you
+know him well, and behold now he comes to claim his heritage.'
+
+"As these words were spoken, the crowd again parted, and there stepped
+forth the young prince, my protege. At the edge of the throng he
+discarded a loose mantle of cotton that had concealed the rich garments
+befitting his rank. Then he advanced, looking proudly and gaily about
+him, while close behind, and pressing eagerly around his person, came
+full fifty stalwart tribesmen, treading with the bold swinging gait of
+the mountaineer, their drawn tulwars flashing in the sun, their voices
+shouting 'Jai, jai,--Hail, hail!' in deafening chorus.
+
+"The effect was instantaneous and tremendous, and from all the assembled
+multitude went up the loud acclaim--'Jai, jai, jai!' There seemed to be
+not a dissentient in the throng. And a moment later the young prince was
+standing on the dais by his mother's side, one hand resting proudly on
+her shoulder.
+
+"Among the nobles there had hitherto been the silence of stupefaction.
+But at last, one of their number, an elderly man, advanced, and
+prostrated himself on the rich carpet spread in front of the dais, thus
+rendering public homage to his rightful king. 'Jai, jai, jai!' shouted
+the mob, and soon a dozen others among the nobles had given the pledge
+of fealty.
+
+"Meanwhile the kinglet on the throne of gold had been forgotten. He had
+made no move, but had contented himself with staring around in confused
+and helpless surprise. But now Todar Rao, the sirdar, had sprung to his
+side and dragged the youth to his feet.
+
+"'O princes and people, this is your rightful king,' cried the soldier
+in stentorian tones, 'crowned and proclaimed and accepted by your
+pledges of loyalty. My orders to the troops are death to those who now
+betray him.'
+
+"But the words had hardly passed his lips, when two score of the
+mountaineers, shouting 'Deen, deen,--Kill, kill,' had swarmed over the
+silver railings surrounding the throne. There was the momentary clash of
+steel on steel, the impotent curse of an angry man, a shrill pitiful cry
+of anguish from the youth who in his terror had crouched behind the
+awnings descending from the canopy. And when the tribesmen again faced
+the multitude, the soldierly figure of Todar Rao had disappeared, and
+the throne was vacant for the reception of its rightful occupant.
+
+"Amidst a wild tumult of joy the young prince ascended from the dais and
+took the royal seat, showing in his every movement the natural grace and
+dignity that might almost in themselves have proved his right of
+heritage, and that certainly won to his cause the last waverers among
+the onlooking multitude. Even the bodyguard of the slain sirdar were
+now joining in the universal acclaim.
+
+"The first to bend a knee to the rightful king enthroned was the royal
+queen, his mother. And then the lady stepped back, a little to the rear
+and to the side of the throne, drawing her silken sari over the lovely
+countenance that would never again be beholden by the people.
+
+"'Never again!' The thought had scarce passed through my mind, as I
+watched the scene from the fringe of the crowd, when a more grim and
+terrible reality was given to the unspoken words than I had ever
+intended. Close to the spot where the maharanee had halted were some
+hangings of brocade arranged, as we understood later, so that the seated
+and veiled figure of a woman might observe the brilliant pageantry of
+the day from the privacy of this purdah.
+
+"And from out these hangings there now stretched, stealthily but
+swiftly, a bejewelled hand, which plunged a long dagger between the
+shoulders of the queen mother.
+
+"Without a cry she fell. I was quickly by her side, and the young
+maharajah and myself, as we bent over her, caught her dying words.
+
+"'All is well, my beloved son,' she murmured. 'I have accomplished that
+which I was sent into the world to perform. In peace I yield my soul to
+God.'
+
+"With the last word she breathed her last breath. And such is mother
+love."
+
+There was a suppressed sob in more than one breast at the close of the
+venerable hakeem's tale. Down his own furrowed face the tears were
+streaming.
+
+"And the woman who struck the foul blow?" inquired the Afghan in an
+eager whisper.
+
+"The slave mother of the dead pretender. Well, she too had given her all
+for mother love. The tribesmen tore her limb from limb."
+
+And the hakeem pressed a hand to his eyes to shut out the memory of a
+dreadful scene.
+
+
+
+
+VIII. THE SACRED PICKAXE
+
+TOLD BY THE MAGISTRATE
+
+
+The first wolf-grey of the dawn was creeping over the scene, and turning
+to a sickly yellow the flare of the little oil lamps arranged around the
+veranda. The morning air bit shrewdly, and more than one of the seated
+or reclining figures had gathered his robes more closely around him. All
+eyes were now turned on the kotwal. He alone of the company had not
+contributed from his store of experiences.
+
+"Methinks it is too late for any more story-telling," he protested
+diffidently, with gesture and glance toward the east in token that he
+spoke truly.
+
+"Nay, nay," cried the Rajput, "this night will not be complete without
+the full measure of our entertainment. Come, come, friend; the sun is
+yet an hour below the horizon."
+
+Murmurs of approval showed that the general wish had been interpreted.
+
+"Be it so, then," assented the magistrate. "I have heard so many stories
+this night that it would indeed be churlish on my part to refuse to give
+you one of mine. Well, listen.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Know, my friends, that I am a district judge in Delhi, presiding over
+that quarter known as the Bara Bazaar, where the merchants most do
+congregate. One day some few years ago it befell that I was seated alone
+in the hall where I hold my court. It was the afternoon hour, all the
+suits of the day had been disposed of, punishment had been meted out to
+those who deserved it, justice had been done to rich and poor alike, in
+accordance with the orders of our most righteous master Akbar, to whom
+be all honour and glory.
+
+"I had taken from my garments my silver betel-nut box, and was leisurely
+spreading on a leaf the smear of lime preparatory to enjoying my pan
+supari, musing the while on the strange little ironies of life that came
+to my knowledge each day in the discharge of my magisterial functions.
+All at once a shadow from the open doorway fell across the room. Raising
+my eyes, I beheld the tall figure of a man. On meeting my look he bowed
+his body, and with both hands outstretched, courteously salaamed me.
+
+"'Protector of the poor, listen to my story,' he said.
+
+"In silence, while I adjusted the fragments of betel-nut on the limed
+leaf and rolled up the morsel, I motioned him to a place on the edge of
+the carpet whereon I myself sat. For my first glance had shown me that
+the stranger was a man of consequence, his garments being rich and his
+look that of one accustomed to the exercise of authority.
+
+"He took his seat, and arranged his flowing and finely embroidered robes
+around him. I proffered him the pan supari I had prepared, but with a
+wave of the hand he declined this courtesy. So I placed the morsel in my
+own mouth, fell to its meditative mastication, and awaited the beginning
+of his tale.
+
+"'I am a well-to-do traveller, as you would think. O kadi--a pilgrim on
+my way to the sacred shrine of Juggernaut, as I profess myself to all
+who make inquiry and to whom an answer is due. But I am not what I
+appear to be. In reality you behold in me--a thug.'
+
+"The man lowered his voice mysteriously when he pronounced the last
+word, bending forward so that I might hear it.
+
+"'And what may be a thug?' I asked, for the name to me was quite a new
+one.
+
+"'Listen,' he said eagerly, and still in a low whisper. 'The thugs are
+worshippers of Bowani.'
+
+"'There are countless thousands who worship Kali, the dread goddess,' I
+replied.
+
+"'Yes, but we, the thugs, not only worship her as the wife of Siva, god
+of destruction, but we are her devoted priests who put men to death in
+her name and for her glory.'
+
+"Now indeed did I prick up my ears and listen intently. But I did not
+suffer my awakened interest to betray itself in look or tone of voice.
+
+"'Some fanatics may seek to justify human sacrifice,' I said. I was
+treading cautiously; later I would tell the man that such foul deeds
+were against the decrees of Akbar, and involved the penalty of death
+under the feet of elephants. But meanwhile I wanted his confession.
+
+"'Ah, you know nothing about the thugs,' continued the stranger. 'But
+hearken to me, for I have come to tell you all, and for a reason you
+will presently understand. We are thousands strong, and we live in all
+parts of Hindustan and the Deccan. We are caste brothers, and are bound
+together by our worship of Bowani. The traditions of our creed have been
+handed down for generations from father to son. You have never heard of
+the thugs, O kadi, although you sit in the place of justice. Do you know
+why? Because I am the very first of the sect who has broken his vows of
+silence, and spoken the word thug to one outside our secret
+association.'
+
+"'Yet you say you are thousands strong.'
+
+"'Yes, we are strong in numbers, but stronger still in our fidelity to
+our vows. When once we have sworn on the sacred pickaxe, it is
+impossible to speak words of treachery.'
+
+"'If it be for the good and happiness of all men,' I interpolated,
+encouraging him to keep on speaking freely, 'there can be no treachery,
+no breaking of vows in revealing the truth.'
+
+"'It is to reveal the truth that I have come to you. It is by the orders
+of Bowani herself; for I have wronged her, and she is angry and has
+loudly proclaimed to me that thuggee is ended--that her protection is
+for ever withdrawn from me and my fellows, because, O misery, we have
+grievously offended her. Hark! Do you not hear the voice of Bowani even
+now?'
+
+"The man raised his face toward the rafters of the room, and, with right
+hand uplifted, his attitude was one of intent listening.
+
+"'Unworthy, unworthy, unworthy,' he murmured, in a strange absent
+monotone, as if repeating words he was actually hearing. 'You have
+broken my laws. Go now to your doom, you and all your brothers. Such
+priests Kali will not have. Thuggee is no more. I will seek some other
+worshippers.'
+
+"After a pause of tense silence, as if the listener was awaiting for
+more, he dropped hand and eyes. And now my mind took a new turn of
+thought. There was the confused, unmistakable glare of insanity in the
+man's eyes. Half unconsciously, I leaned back on my cushions and placed
+a hand upon the dagger in my kummerbund.
+
+"The stranger noticed the movement, and, lunatic though he undoubtedly
+appeared to be, interpreted my thoughts.
+
+"'Be not afraid of me, master,' he said. 'This is the only weapon I
+carry.'
+
+"And with these words he slipped off a silken scarf that he had been
+wearing loosely around his throat, and tossed it on the carpet between
+us.
+
+"Now was I all the more confirmed in my estimate of his madness. To call
+such a thing a weapon!--a strip of soft fabric that might kill a
+butterfly but would be poor defence indeed to rely on against sword or
+dagger. I suppose I smiled contemptuously, for again the man read my
+thoughts.
+
+"Then instantly did he do a thing that made my blood run cold. With a
+toss of the scarf into the air, he formed it into a noose, and this he
+threw over one upbended knee. Next with a swift twist of fierce hands he
+drew the knot tight, and so terribly realistic was his action that for
+the moment I saw above his knee the contorted mouth and protruding eyes
+of his suddenly strangled victim.
+
+"There was horror in my gaze now, but only calm professional pride in
+his, as he flung back the still looped and knotted kerchief on to the
+carpet.
+
+"'Yes, I am a strangler,' he said calmly, 'as are all the thugs, born to
+become stranglers, and taught how to use the roomal in early youth by
+their own fathers' hands.'
+
+"Of strangling as a means of murder I of course knew, and, indeed,
+during the years of my magistracy, I had heard vague rumours of robbers
+habitually resorting to this method of dispatching their victims rather
+than to clubs or swords. But such appalling dexterity as this man
+displayed in the handling of an innocent-looking silken scarf I had
+never imagined.
+
+"'You look dismayed,' commented the miscreant, no longer a madman now to
+my thinking, but a very dangerous character indeed. 'I am not surprised.
+Now prepare yourself for a story that will freeze the very marrow in
+your bones. Know that I am from Daibul, the city by the sea where great
+Mother Indus flows into the black waters. There for six months of the
+year, just before and during the season of the monsoon, I live
+peacefully in my home, doing no wrong to my fellows, in the eyes of all
+my neighbours a man of wealth and respectability, who goes periodically
+to his own country to draw rents from his lands. Little do my friends
+know that when I do travel it is to worship Bowani by sacrificing to her
+other travellers on the road. She gives us the omen to kill and we obey
+her. Once the omen has been declared, it would be sacrilege not to kill
+her destined victim.'
+
+"'And you rob them too?' I asked discreetly.
+
+"'Oh, naturally. But that is a mere incident. We kill those marked for
+death by our divine Kali, and she freely bestows on us the wealth of her
+victims. But we never kill to rob. That would be truly abominable. We
+kill only in honour of Kali, of Bowani, the all-mighty, great Mother of
+the Universe. For to her devout worshippers, the thugs, did she not give
+one of her teeth for a pickaxe, a rib for a knife, and the hem of her
+lower garment for a noose? So we strangle in her service, and with every
+victim the act becomes more and more a delight to the soul.' As he
+spoke, his muscular fingers and wrists automatically went through the
+motions of tying and drawing the fatal noose. 'Once a man has become a
+thug, he will remain a thug all the rest of his days. Even if he come to
+possess the wealth of the world, he will continue to serve Bowani.'
+
+"I had regained my momentarily disturbed composure, and was studying the
+face of the man before me. It was a fine face, clear-cut, that of a
+clean liver, unmarked by sensuality, unharmed by wine, keen of
+intelligence, resolute of will. I could no longer deem him a madman. But
+I saw I had to do with one so filled with fanaticism that he could look
+upon murder as religion, plan it without misgiving, execute it without
+pity, and remember it without remorse. But now there had occurred
+something so to upset his mental balance that he feared the wrath of his
+own goddess and fancied he heard her threatening voice in the air.
+
+"'You have journeyed to Delhi from Daibul?' I asked, prompting him to
+resume his story.
+
+"'Yes, we were six thugs at the start, with fifteen others, merchants
+and pilgrims, all of us agreeing to journey together for greater
+protection on the road. As we proceeded day by day more travellers
+joined us, some peaceful voyagers, the others thugs to a man. Of the
+latter several were our own inveiglers, who had gone on in advance to
+gain the confidence of likely victims and delay them until our coming.
+The rest were strangers to us, yet none the less thugs. For we had left
+signs on the road telling such as could read them that more help was
+needed and in what direction we were moving; and, although those who
+responded to this call were in varied disguises, one, perhaps, coming up
+to us as a petty chief with a mounted escort, another as a merchant with
+a bullock cart to draw his packages of goods and a servant in
+attendance, yet another as a juggler or a musician, we could instantly
+recognize them as belonging to our brotherhood of Bowani by the secret
+signals with which they introduced themselves.
+
+"'So we fared onward, increasing our numbers until our caravan was full
+one hundred strong. We walked or rode together, ate together, worshipped
+at the wayside shrines together, chatted and amused ourselves at night
+around the camp fire, slept side by side, thugs and our intended
+victims, until our strength should be sufficient and a suitable place
+for the final deed attained.
+
+"'At last these two requirements were satisfied. We were now three to
+one, just the proper proportion--a strangler to use the roomal, a holder
+of legs, and a holder of arms, three thugs for each man to be
+sacrificed, so that there could be no mistake, no outcry for help, no
+possibility of escape for our victims. And one day's journey ahead, as
+we knew well from previous experience, there was a lonely gorge densely
+grown with jungle. Here the sacrifice to Bowani would be consummated, so
+the grave-choosers and the grave-diggers were sent on in advance. We
+acted now with the certainty of good fortune, for day by day every omen
+had continued to be propitious, as interpreted by the movements and
+cries of beasts and birds.'
+
+"The man's story fell on my ears in an even flow. He spoke without
+emotion. I feared to interrupt with a single word, lest any untoward
+comment from me should put an abrupt end to the appalling confession. So
+I just listened while I chewed my betel-nut.
+
+"'On the succeeding night,' continued the thug, 'we reached the nullah.
+The camp fire was lighted the bullocks and riding ponies were placed
+within the circle formed of the carts, for the gorge beneath us was full
+of wild beasts, and we had even heard the roar of a tiger disturbed from
+his hunting. The bales and boxes of merchandise had been piled up in
+heaps, close to where each of the owners would sleep, some on the open
+ground, some in tents erected by their servants. The evening meal had
+been cooked and eaten. The half-moon had risen, and at a little distance
+from the fire a troupe of musicians was performing--zithers were
+playing, cymbals clanking, tum-tums beating. From the peculiar rhythm of
+the drums, which all we thugs knew well, we were made aware that the
+appointed hour had come.
+
+"'Our leader stood in the midst of the gathering, ostensibly warming his
+hands at the blaze of the fire. Gradually and naturally we took our
+appointed places, many of them customarily taken before this night so as
+to excite no suspicion at the final moment. And little did the destined
+victims of Bowani dream that behind each of them now was an accomplished
+strangler, with the roomal ready to his hands, while on either side
+squatted a holder of legs and a holder of arms.
+
+"'Then there happened a thing that will explain, O kadi, why I have come
+to you this day to tell my story. I am an adept in my craft, and
+therefore was one of those entrusted to use the roomal. My particular
+victim was a comely youth, perhaps seventeen years of age--son of a
+landowner, he had told me in confidence, travelling with a bag of gold
+mohurs for his father. This lad had been in my close companionship
+during the journey, and he had come to show great affection for me. I
+liked him well, but there was no pity in my heart, for it is good to die
+in honour of Bowani.
+
+"'At last came the signal of death--the jhirnee we call it. Our leader
+raised aloft his right hand, and said aloud so that all could hear the
+agreed-upon words: "The moon shines bright to-night." This was our
+command to act, and in an instant every appointed victim was in the
+death throes. Five minutes later all were dead--four-and-thirty of
+them--and not one faintest cry of alarm or of agony had been uttered.
+Thus skilfully had our work been done. When all was over, the musicians
+were still playing their stringed instruments and hand-drums, softly now
+after a great volume of sound that would have overwhelmed any chance
+scream of terror.
+
+"'But in the very act of strangling, a dreadful revelation had come to
+me. Just before the signal was given the lad had turned his countenance
+toward me, and his eyes were looking into mine. In his fixed regard, as
+I realized later, there was the glow of love. But this was transformed
+of an instant into affrighted horror, as my hand at his ear gave the
+noose the deft and fatal twist. In the space of a single heart-beat, I
+saw incredulity change to the realization of sudden death, the first
+wild appeal for pity turn into rigid despair. But this momentary flash
+of revelation had shown me something else. It was a maid into whose
+soul I had gazed. I had put to death a woman.'
+
+"Now for the first time in his narrative did the strangler betray
+emotion. Bending forward, he raised a hand to shield his quivering
+features from my scrutiny. I turned away, that he might the better
+recover himself. After a little time he resumed:
+
+"'Oh, the horror of it!' he cried, uplifting haggard eyes to mine. 'The
+frightful crime against Bowani! To have killed one of her own sex! For a
+thug there is no crime in all the world to equal this one. Too late I
+realized what I had done. But in my first impulse of fear I resolved to
+keep the dread secret to myself. With my own hands I rifled the body,
+and laid the spoil of gold and other valuables on the cotton cloth
+outspread in the moonlight for the reception of such gifts to the
+goddess. I removed the outer garments, robes of cost, silken, and
+heavily wrought with gold. Then, when the grave-diggers emerged from the
+nullah to show us the places of burial prepared, one for each victim, in
+my own arms I carried the body down into the darkness, laid it in its
+narrow bed, filled in the sand, and heaped on top the stones already
+gathered together in a pile, so that hyenas or jackals should not
+disturb the grave, finally covering all with brushwood cut and ready,
+that even the signs of recent excavation should be hidden from prying
+eyes and the sacrifice to Bowani disclosed to none besides her votaries.
+
+"'I kept my secret--the terrible knowledge that a woman had died at our
+hands. By the morning dawn the spoil had been divided, and our
+cavalcade, smaller now by nearly one-third, moved on. At the first
+cross-roads we split up into several groups, and later on into smaller
+parties still, so as to divert attention from us. And thus have I come
+on to Delhi, only I and one other member of that body of thugs,
+dispersed to assemble again as the omens of the goddess should direct.
+At Delhi we two await another gathering of thugs. But meanwhile my heavy
+secret has weighed upon my soul. I have heard incessantly, these last
+few days and nights, Bowani denouncing me as false to her because I have
+taken the life of a woman in her name, and bidding me hand over all the
+thugs to the justice of Akbar. Therefore have I come first to you, O
+kadi, one of the judges of Akbar.'
+
+"I looked steadily at the man. Methought I saw once more the furtive,
+shifty eyes of the maniac.
+
+"'What proof have you of this story?' I asked.
+
+"'Take some sowars, and ride back with me three days' journey. There
+will I show you the graves of these last victims, and of some hundreds
+of others buried on previous occasions in the same gorge.'
+
+"'Where is your companion--your brother thug?'
+
+"'He has a shop at the corner of the Chota Bazaar and Dhurmtola. There
+he is now selling his merchandise.'
+
+"'But that is the shop of Kubar Bux. He dwells here in Delhi.'
+
+"'Kubar Bux is his name.'
+
+"'He is a well-known and respected merchant.'
+
+"'None the less is he a thug,' answered the informer, with what I took
+to be a vindictive little smile.
+
+"Then once again did a new thought leap into my mind. This man might
+have a feud with Kubar Bux, and peradventure he had merely invented the
+story of thugs and wholesale murder for the latter's undoing. I know
+well the wily ways of some men--how they will even imperil their own
+lives to compass the ruin of an enemy.
+
+"'If I go with you now,' I said, 'to the shop of Kubar Bux, what proof
+will you give me of his connexion with this story of thuggee?'
+
+"'On his person he carries the sacred pickaxe of Bowani, which makes him
+our leader when thugs come together. And hidden in one of his bales of
+silk you will find a case of jewelled rings that actually belonged to
+another Delhi merchant, who was of the party of travellers that recently
+perished, on his way home from a visit to Baroda. You will but have to
+inquire as to this same merchant's disappearance, and get his relatives
+to identify the casket as the dead man's property.'
+
+"'That, indeed, will be proof,' I assented. 'Come, let us go to the
+Chota Bazaar.'
+
+"As we passed out of the courthouse, I signalled to two sepoys on guard
+there to follow us.
+
+"Keeping close to the denouncer, I allowed him to lead me through the
+narrow crowded streets. Soon we were at the corner where was the shop of
+Kubar Bux, and there amidst his bales of merchandise the man himself
+was seated, a venerable and dignified figure. Yet at sight of me and my
+companion I thought an ashen pallor stole into the nut-brown of his
+complexion.
+
+"As I stood with the informer in front of the tiny shop, which was too
+small for all of us to enter, the two soldiers closed up behind us. Then
+unmistakably did Kubar Bux turn grey from trepidation.
+
+"'Kubar Bux,' I began, without ceremony, for I saw that a crowd would
+soon be gathering, 'open the bale of silk among your merchandise in
+which a casket of jewels is hidden, or I shall order your shop to be
+searched by the sepoys I have brought here with me.'
+
+"The merchant rose to his feet. I noticed now, further back in the shop,
+another figure seated--that of a man who, on our entry, had drawn his
+garments around him so as to conceal his face. But to him at the moment
+I gave no particular attention. My eyes were on Kubar Bux. He moved
+toward a pile of fabrics, silks and embroidered cloths, as if to comply
+with my demand. He pressed against the bales, and then all of a sudden
+sank down upon the floor in a huddled heap. Then I saw the crimson stain
+of blood upon the merchandise.
+
+"I sprang forward. Driven up to the very hilt, in the breast of Kubar
+Bux was a dagger. He was not quite dead, and I heard him with his last
+breath murmur the words: 'Bowani, great goddess, all hail!' Then with a
+rattle in his throat he died.
+
+"I had gathered the dying man in my arms, and now beneath the flowing
+garments, laid flat against the breast, I could feel the shape of
+something fashioned like a small pickaxe.
+
+"When I saw that Kubar Bux was indeed dead, I drew forth this implement.
+It was carefully swathed in white cloths, a pickaxe bright from the
+hammer of the smith who had forged it, unsullied by earthy stain but
+curiously marked from the head to the point by seven discs of red paint,
+showing it to be an object of worship at an altar rather than for actual
+use in the ground. But at this stage I did not pause further to
+investigate, and hastily replaced the wrappings.
+
+"'Keep close guard on this man,' I said to the sepoys, pointing to the
+informer. But he whom I would thus hold safe remained standing
+impassively, making no attempt to escape.
+
+"Then with a push of my hands I tumbled down the pile of bales. In the
+one next to the bottom was a protuberance, and from this I drew forth a
+casket of silver, delicately chased and inlaid with ivory.
+
+"By this time a throng of passers-by had stopped outside the shop, and
+some had even crowded into the little place. But these I now ordered
+out. Then I turned to seek the man who had been Kubar Bux's companion at
+the moment of our coming. He was no longer there. The shop was
+tenantless--except for myself and the dead man.
+
+"I need tell but little more. The silver box was identified by several
+people as the property of Govind Chung, a jewel-seller in the Bara
+Bazaar, who had made a recent journey to the court of the Rajah of
+Baroda, but had not yet returned home, although for some time expected.
+
+"That night the paint-bedaubed pickaxe, sacred emblem of Kali's worship,
+lay on the table in my sleeping chamber. But in the morning it had
+disappeared--gone how and where no one has ever discovered. The informer
+had been confined in the public prison, guarded by two sepoys. Thither,
+on discovering my loss, I straightway repaired.
+
+"The soldiers were still on guard in the corridor; nothing had happened
+during the night to disturb their watch.
+
+"But within his cell the informer was found dead--strangled, eyes and
+tongue protruding from blackened face, the twisted knot under his ear
+tied in the very manner I had seen him himself tie it over his upraised
+knee on the afternoon of his confession.
+
+"That is the end of my story."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The narrator of the grim tale folded his hands across his breast, bowed
+his head, and thus remained in an attitude of meditation. There was an
+interval of silence.
+
+"Who murdered the informer?" at last asked the astrologer.
+
+"We never learned," replied the magistrate.
+
+"Was he strangled with his own silken scarf?"
+
+"No. A plain cotton loin-cloth had been used for the deed. It had never
+been worn or washed. It must thus have come straight from some shop in
+the bazaars. But scores of the same kind are bought and sold every day.
+We could discover nothing from this, the only clue the murderer had left
+behind him."
+
+"The assassin must have been the mysterious individual you saw in the
+rear of the shop of Kubar Bux," commented the Afghan general. "Himself a
+member of the thug fraternity, he no doubt took swift vengeance on the
+informer for having betrayed its secrets."
+
+"As I believed then, and believe now. But the whole affair remained a
+puzzle. For how was access gained to the locked and guarded prison cell,
+and to my sleeping chamber as well whence the sacred pickaxe was
+stolen?"
+
+"Well, who can be certain even of his associates or followers? According
+to the miscreant's own story, there are thugs all around, knowing each
+other but not known to us."
+
+"Can such things be?" asked the merchant, his eyes showing the fear and
+horror that had smitten him. "Many times have I travelled in company
+with just such a promiscuously gathered crowd as the strangler
+described."
+
+"You have been in luck," laughed the Afghan.
+
+"Doubtless on those occasions the omens proved unpropitious for the
+final deed. A jackal crossing the road or the hoot of an owl at midnight
+may have spared your life, my friend."
+
+With a shudder, the trader drew his white garments more closely around
+him.
+
+"Well," remarked the magistrate, "for my own part, ever from that day
+when I heard the story of thugs and thuggee I have exercised the
+precaution of never travelling a single mile on the road with strangers,
+however fair-spoken. Although I have never again met anyone whom I could
+positively accuse of such practices, that the evil exists in our midst,
+and is widely spread, I am convinced. For a religion that provides a
+rich livelihood, while at the same time exalting the attendant crime
+into positive virtue is at least convenient enough to have many ardent
+devotees." The words were accompanied by a glance around the listening
+group, and a disdainful half-smile that expressed distrust of all
+humanity.
+
+"But of a truth," he went on, "I know no more than my story has told.
+And hark! There is the trumpet call that heralds the coming of the sun."
+
+Saying this, the kotwal uncrossed his legs and rose erect.
+
+The long winding note of a horn was floating from the camp of the
+soldiery near the city gateway, and in a moment there came from the same
+direction the confused sound of men's voices afar off, calling the one
+to the other.
+
+"I must away," exclaimed the Afghan, springing alertly to his feet, and
+buckling his sword belt. Three or four servants of the Rajput chief had
+approached, and were gathering together the cushions and rugs on which
+he had been reclining. One of them placed in his master's hand the
+bejewelled hilt of his scimitar.
+
+"This for my enemies and the enemies of Akbar," cried the Rajput,
+drawing the curved blade half way from its scabbard. "But I would not
+soil it with the heart's blood of a thug. For him the gibbet, and the
+crows to pick out his eyes."
+
+Just then the first lance-tips of the dawn flashed above the horizon,
+gilding the domes and minarets of the marble city. Away in the distance
+could be heard the wailing cry of a muezzin calling the faithful to
+prayer.
+
+Other members of the party had now arisen, each intent on his own
+affairs, one arranging his garments, another settling his turban
+straight on his head, the hakeem adjusting the little box of instruments
+and simples he carried at his girdle, the Moslem astrologer spreading
+his prayer carpet at the end of the veranda and prostrating himself in
+the direction of Mecca.
+
+Only the fakir had remained motionless; but now he gathered up in his
+hands his wooden begging-bowl, and held it forth, crying, "Ram, Ram," in
+the plaintive whine of his profession. But there was none to pay heed to
+his untimely importunity. Indeed, the Bombay merchant, when the cry
+smote his ears, started uneasily, and in descending the steps gave the
+lean, ash-bedaubed figure of the ascetic the widest berth possible.
+
+"Who can tell a thug from a honest man?" he asked of the magistrate in
+passing.
+
+"Who indeed can tell?" came the reply, in measured tone and with an
+enigmatic smile.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And a minute later all had gone their several ways.
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes: Normalized punctuation and quotes
+Left one instance of fore-ordained and one of foreordained
+Page 26: Changed access to excess (Printer's error)
+Page 30: Changed four-and twenty to four-and-twenty (Printer's error)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Tales of Destiny, by Edmund Mitchell
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